Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Egypt's Mursi back at palace after night of protests

Egypt's Mursi back at palace after night of protests

Egypt's Mursi back at palace after night of protests

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 12:37 AM PST

A woman stands near barbed wire in front of the presidential palace in CairoCAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi returned to work in Cairo on Wednesday, although scores of protesters angered by his drive to push through a new constitution were still blocking one gate of the presidential palace. The Islamist leader left the palace in the northern Cairo district of Heliopolis on Tuesday evening as tens of thousands of demonstrators surged around it, clashing briefly with police. A presidential source said Mursi was back at work in the palace, even though up to 200 demonstrators had camped out near one entrance overnight. ...

"Board and search" sea rules likely had Beijing's sign-off: official

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:21 AM PST

Combination photo shows two Chinese surveillance ships in the Scarborough Shoal, a small group of rocky formations contested by the Philippines and China, in the South China SeaSHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - New Chinese regulations allowing police to board vessels deemed to be breaking the law off the southern island of Hainan were a provincial-level initiative, but Beijing likely signed off on them, an official said on Wednesday. China is in an increasingly angry dispute with neighbors including the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia over claims to parts of the potentially oil and gas-rich South China Sea and U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke said the United States was seeking clarification on the new rules. ...

Osborne tries to sweeten pill for austerity Britain

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 12:04 AM PST

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne leaves Downing Street in LondonLONDON (Reuters) - More austerity looks certain when British finance minister George Osborne presents a half-yearly budget statement on Wednesday, even if he tries to juggle some spending around to ease the pain. A darker economic outlook means Osborne is likely to commit to further spending cuts years into the future to save his flagship deficit reduction plan, though he also plans some new investment to sweeten the pill in the short term. Osborne, who will update parliament with new growth and budget deficit figures just after 7.30 a.m. ...

Panel seeks accountability after Benghazi attacks

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 10:07 PM PST

An exterior view of the U.S. consulate, which was attacked and set on fire by gunmen yesterday, in BenghaziWASHINGTON (Reuters) - After a car bomb struck the U.S. ambassador's residence in Lima in 1992, the State Department convened a special panel to answer the same questions now hovering over a review of the September attacks in Benghazi, Libya: How much security is enough? What is the right role for U.S. diplomats? The Lima panel, known as an Accountability Review Board, issued a final report "that didn't find anybody had been delinquent," former U.S. Ambassador to Peru Anthony Quainton said. That report was never made public. ...

Philippines typhoon kills at least 230, hundreds missing

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 12:54 AM PST

Residents retrieve their belongings after their house was destroyed by a fallen tree caused by Typhoon Bopha in Cagayan de Oro CityMANILA (Reuters) - The death toll from the Philippines' strongest typhoon this year rose on Wednesday to around 230, with hundreds missing in landslides and floodwaters, as the storm continued its destructive path across the island nation. Typhoon Bopha, with central winds of 120 kph (75 mph) and gusts of up to 150 kph (93 mph), battered beach resorts and dive spots in northern Palawan on Wednesday, but there was little damage as the storm began to weakened. ...

NATO warns Syria not to use chemical weapons

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 11:44 AM PST

NATO foreign ministers meet at the Alliance's headquarters in BrusselsBRUSSELS/BEIRUT (Reuters) - NATO told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday that any use of chemical weapons in his fight against encroaching rebel forces would be met by an immediate international response. The warning from NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen came as U.S. government sources said Washington had information that Syria was making what could be seen as preparations to use its chemical arsenal. ...

Far left outsider "winner" in Korean presidential debate

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:14 AM PST

File photo of South Korea's presidential candidates Lee, Moon and Park posing before a televised debate in SeoulSEOUL (Reuters) - Sounding at times like a mouthpiece for hostile North Korea, a candidate with no chance of winning South's presidential election made the biggest impact in a televised debate and may have scuppered the chances of the main opposition candidate. Lee Jung-hee of the pro-North Korea United Progressive Party is polling less than one percent ahead of the December 19 election, but her strident performance in the debate on Tuesday evening may well have fatally damaged the mainstream left-wing candidate Moon Jae-in, whose party is allied with hers in parliament. ...

Suicide bombers attack Pakistan army base, one soldier dead

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 08:08 PM PST

WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers rammed their explosives-laden vehicle into the gate of an army base in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least one soldier and wounding eight, security officials said on Wednesday. The attackers, who drove in from Afghanistan, were stopped before they could get into the camp in the South Waziristan capital of Wana, where thousands of soldiers are stationed, army officials said. "Security forces intercepted the car and opened fire as it neared the camp. The two men then blew themselves up," said one army official who declined to be identified. ...

China investigates top provincial official for corruption

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 11:53 PM PST

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Communist Party has begun a corruption inquiry into a top official in the southwestern province of Sichuan, state media reported on Wednesday, the most senior person to be investigated since Xi Jinping became the party's leader. Sichuan's deputy party boss, Li Chuncheng, was being investigated by the party's discipline watchdog, according to several reports, including one from the official Xinhua news agency, citing the Youth Daily's online edition. ...

EU considers response to Israeli settlement building plans

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 02:25 PM PST

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union states struggled to agree on Tuesday on a common response to Israel's plans to expand settlements in the West Bank, highlighting the divisions within the bloc over how to tackle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. At a meeting in Brussels, ambassadors responsible for security issues discussed the possibility of all 27 EU states writing to Tel Aviv to express their displeasure or calling in Israeli ambassadors for consultations, as five EU countries have already done. ...

Officials: Serbia's NATO ambassador leaps to death

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:39 AM PST

Officials say Serbia's ambassador to NATO committed suicide by leaping from a busy parking garage platform at Brussels Airport.

AP Interview: UN chief blames rich for warming

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 12:55 AM PST

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks to a journalist during an exclusive interview with the Associated Press, in Doha, Qatar,Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. Ban has hinted that he would not favor an asylum deal for Syrian President Bashir Assad as a way to end the country's civil war. (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)The U.N. chief says rich countries are to blame for global warming and should take the lead in forging a worldwide climate pact by 2015.

World Bank: Arab World hit hard by climate change

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:20 AM PST

This Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012 photo, shows the general view of a gas station in Doha, Qatar. The host of the current U.N. climate talks, Qatar, is among dozens of nations that keep gas prices low through subsidies that exceeded $500 billion globally last year. (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)The Middle East and North Africa will be especially hard hit by climate change in the coming decades, the World Bank said in a report Wednesday, saying the region will see less rainfall, more recording-breaking temperatures and rising sea levels.

Class of 2012: Young Europeans trapped by language

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:29 AM PST

FILE - In this June 19, 2012 file photo, architectural student Rafael Gonzalez del Castillo poses for a photograph prior to an interview with The Associated Press at his home in Madrid. The European Union was built on a grand vision of free labor markets in which talent could be matched with demand in a seamless and efficient manner, much in the way workers in the U.S. hop across states in search of opportunity. But today only 3 percent of working age EU citizens live in a different EU country, research shows. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza, File)Maria Menendez, a 25-year-old caught in Spain's job-destroying economic crisis, would love to work in Germany as a veterinarian. Germany, facing an acute shortage of skilled workers, would love to have her.

Georgian president and premier in battle of wills

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:37 AM PST

This Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012 photo shows the official residence of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in Tbilisi, Georgia. In a graphic symbol of President Mikhail Saakashvili's fading glory, the outdoor lights that illuminate his official residence will soon go off because his nemesis, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, has refused to keep paying the bill. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)It is a battle of egos that could not be more visible: The shining palace of the president and the lavish glass villa of the new billionaire prime minister vie for attention on hills overlooking the capital of Georgia, a U.S.-allied former Soviet republic in the throes of a leadership shakeup.

UN chief warns Syria's Assad on chemical weapons

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 12:33 AM PST

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the opening of the high-level segment of the annual U.N. climate talks involving environment ministers and climate officials from nearly 200 countries, in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012. Ban has urged governments to speed up slow-moving talks to forge a joint response to global warming and warned that climate change was an "existential challenge for the whole human race." (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged Syria's regime against using its stockpile of chemical weapons, warning of "huge consequences" if Bashar Assad resorts to such weapons of mass destruction.

Survey: Greece seen as most corrupt in EU

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 12:00 AM PST

An international watchdog group says a new survey shows the countries worst hit by the European financial crisis are also seen as among the most corrupt in the European Union.

Class of 2012: Would you move elsewhere in EU?

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:33 AM PST

A language trap is blocking young people from seeking opportunity across the European Union. The Associated Press asks the Class of 2012: Would you move to another non-English speaking EU country in search of work?

Death toll from Philippine typhoon passes 270

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:34 AM PST

Relatives grieve as they view bodies recovered from floods in New Bataan, Compostela Valley province, southern Philippines Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. The death toll from Typhoon Bhopa climbed to more than 100 people Wednesday, while scores of others remain missing in the worst-hit areas of the southern Philippines. (AP Photo/Karlos Manlupig)Mud-stained bodies covered with banana leaves were laid out in a row and survivors dried their soiled belongings on the roadside under a bright sun Wednesday, a day after a typhoon killed more than 270 people in the southern Philippines.

Palestinians to UN: Stop 2 big Israeli settlements

Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:21 AM PST

A West Bank official says the Palestinians will ask the U.N. Security Council to halt two massive Israeli settlement projects that he warns will destroy last hopes for a Mideast peace deal.

Egypt freedoms in balance during constitutional showdown

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 03:33 PM PST

"You are reading this message because Egypt Independent objects to continued restrictions on media liberties, especially after hundreds of Egyptians gave their lives for freedom and dignity."

Israel faces lowest point in Europe relations in decades

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:51 PM PST

The unusually strong European rebuke of Israel's plans to tighten its grip on land sought for a Palestinian state marks at least a 30-year low point in relations, say Israeli foreign policy scholars. While the nature of Europe's complaint is not new, the tone reflects both heightened urgency about salvaging the two-state solution, and accumulated impatience with a government seen as diplomatically tone deaf.

Syrian rebels riding momentum to Damascus

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 02:04 PM PST

After avoiding much of the sustained fighting seen throughout Syria over the course of the nation's 20-month revolution turned civil war, Damascus entered its fifth day of ongoing clashes on Tuesday.

Did Egypt's President Morsi overplay his hand?

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 01:04 PM PST

On Dec. 15, Egypt is scheduled to hold a referendum on a new constitution that had already sharply polarized the Arab world's largest nation. But after today's events, it's hard to not conclude that something is going to have to give between now and then.

India's sports bureaucracy booted from the Olympics

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:50 PM PST

In a rare move, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided Tuesday to suspend India's national Olympic body, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), citing bad governance and meddling by the Indian government.

Inside the mind of Iran's Khamenei

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 10:09 AM PST

Deep inside an old Tehran political prison, three turns off a dark corridor and through a small gap, lies a bleak cell for solitary confinement. Too narrow for a prisoner to extend his arms, it was once the cell of the man who today holds the official title in Iran, "God's deputy on earth."

North Korea preps for rocket launch despite international warnings

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 09:20 AM PST

North Korea appears certain to fire a long-range rocket this month in defiance of appeals by friends and foes alike to give up the plan in the interests of regional stability.

Analysis: For Hamas, a validation

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 08:35 AM PST

Palestinians in Gaza are rebuilding homes and businesses and mourning the 176 residents who died in the latest round of fighting with Israel.

Watch your tongue: Prejudiced comments illegal in Brazil.

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 08:11 AM PST

In an amateur online video, Afonso Henrique Alves Lobato describes how he and fellow members of his Evangelical church snuck into a spiritual center of Umbanda, an Afro-Brazilian faith that venerates deities originating from Africa in services led by a religious figure called a pai de santo.

Europe's big powers unify to push against Israel settlement plans

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 08:13 AM PST

Last month, the British government was among those backing Israel's assault against Hamas targets in the Gaza strip. Days ago, it endured strong criticism at home for refusing to support the Palestinians' bid for enhanced recognition at the UN.

Analysis: Positions remain entrenched after Gaza conflict

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 07:30 AM PST

The roar of Gazan rockets and the rumble of Israel's missile-defense system have been silenced by a cease-fire that has held up better than expected but which neither side considers a permanent solution.

Fight over snack in China lights up blogosphere

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 05:47 AM PST

A banal dispute over the price of a snack on an anonymous street in central China has triggered a fireball of angry comment in the Chinese blogosphere, revealing deep and widespread resentment at the way Beijing treats ethnic minorities under its rule.

Did Iran just down a US drone by 'spoofing'?

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 05:27 AM PST

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
Posted by Harshad at 1:49 AM

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