Thursday, January 3, 2013

Central African Republic rebels halt advance, agree to peace talks

Central African Republic rebels halt advance, agree to peace talks

Central African Republic rebels halt advance, agree to peace talks

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 11:15 AM PST

Soldiers from the Chadian contingent of the Central African Multinational Force (FOMAC) hold up their weapons in DamaraDAMARA, Central African Republic (Reuters) - Rebels in Central African Republic said they had halted their advance on the capital on Wednesday and agreed to start peace talks, averting a clash with regionally backed troops. The Seleka rebels had pushed to within striking distance of Bangui after a three-week onslaught and threatened to oust President Francois Bozize, accusing him of reneging on a previous peace deal and cracking down on dissidents. ...

U.S. drone strike kills important Taliban commander: sources

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 10:53 PM PST

A pro-Taliban Pakistani tribal leader Mullah Nazir speaks during a news conference in WanaWANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A U.S. drone strike killed a Taliban commander, his deputy and eight others in northwest Pakistan, intelligence sources and tribal leaders said Thursday, weeks after he was wounded in a bomb attack believed to have been launched by Taliban rivals. Maulvi Nazir Wazir, also known as Mullah Nazir, was killed on Wednesday night when missiles struck a house in Angoor Adda, near the capital of Wana, South Waziristan, near the Afghan border, intelligence sources and residents said. His deputy, Ratta Khan, was also killed, sources said. ...

South Korea budgets for sunnier ties with reclusive North

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 07:55 PM PST

South Korean President Lee attends the 21st ASEAN and East Asia summits in Phnom PenhSEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea has increased its budget to fund North Korea-related projects this year, government data showed on Thursday, with a new president seeking closer relations due to take office in Seoul and signs of an opening from Pyongyang. The two Koreas remain technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended with a truce, not a treaty, and relations plunged under South Korean President Lee Myung-bak who cut aid dramatically after the shooting of a South Korean tourist in the North in 2008. ...

U.N. lifts Syria death toll to "truly shocking" 60,000

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 02:58 PM PST

Free Syrian Army fighters and civilians search for bodies under rubble after an air strike by a fighter jet loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo's al-Marja districtAMMAN/GENEVA (Reuters) - More than 60,000 people have died in Syria's uprising and civil war, the United Nations said on Wednesday, dramatically raising the death toll in a struggle that shows no sign of ending. In the latest violence, dozens were killed in a rebellious Damascus suburb when a government air strike turned a petrol station into an inferno, incinerating drivers who had rushed there for a rare chance to fill their tanks, activists said. "I counted at least 30 bodies. They were either burnt or dismembered," said Abu Saeed, an activist who arrived in the area an hour after the 1 ...

Venezuela's opposition demands "whole truth" about Chavez health

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 03:52 PM PST

People talk in front of a mural in CaracasCARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition on Wednesday demanded the government tell "the whole truth" about the health of cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez, who has not been heard from in three weeks after undergoing a grueling operation in Cuba. Officials have acknowledged the usually garrulous former soldier's health is delicate after his fourth cancer surgery in 18 months, but they have offered scant details on his condition. He has not spoken in public in more than three weeks. ...

Three dead in Swiss shooting, suspect wounded, arrested

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 08:20 PM PST

A policeman controls entering traffic at the entrance of the Swiss village of Daillon near SionGENEVA (Reuters) - Three people were killed and two wounded late on Wednesday when a gunman opened fire in the Swiss village of Daillon, Swiss police said on Thursday. The suspect threatened police when they tried to arrest him, and officers shot and wounded him before taking him into custody, police of the Swiss canton of Valais said in a statement. No police officers were wounded. Swiss website 20minutes.ch reported that the gunman was a resident of the village aged about 30 who was armed with an assault rifle and had been drinking heavily. ...

Italy's Monti fires opening salvo of second-term campaign

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 08:31 AM PST

Italy's outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti gestures during a news conference in RomeROME (Reuters) - Italy's outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti pledged to cut labor taxes to fuel growth on Wednesday as he shed his neutral technocrat stance and fired the opening salvo of his campaign for a second term. The former European Commissioner was appointed in November 2011 to lead an unelected right-left government of experts to save Italy from financial crisis after Silvio Berlusconi quit amid a sex scandal and a crisis that threatened the euro. ...

Mandela's recovery "on track" at home: South African government

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 07:50 AM PST

Former South African president Nelson Mandela looks on as he celebrates his birthday at his house in QunuJOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela's recovery is 'on track' at his home in Johannesburg, the government said on Wednesday in its first statement since the anti-apartheid hero was released from hospital a week ago. Mandela, 94, who has been in frail health for several years, spent nearly three weeks in a Pretoria hospital in December for treatment of a lung infection and surgery to remove gallstones, his longest stay for medical care since his release from prison in 1990. ...

Nominee to be Libyan foreign minister turns down the job

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 01:04 PM PST

Aujali, Libyan Ambassador to the United States, speaks during a public memorial service for slain U.S. Ambassador to Libya Stevens in San FranciscoTRIPOLI (Reuters) - The man proposed as Libya's foreign minister has rejected the post despite being cleared by an Integrity Commission which was asked to examine his ties to deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi. Ali Aujali, Libya's former ambassador to the United States was among eight of the 27 ministers nominated by Prime Minister Ali Zeidan who were referred to the commission, which studies the backgrounds of public officials, after protests outside congress over the makeup of his cabinet. ...

Google's Schmidt plans North Korea trip: AP

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 08:28 PM PST

Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt poses prior to a meeting at the Culture Ministry in ParisSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, will travel this year to reclusive North Korea, where Internet use is subject to some of the world's tightest controls, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. Schmidt, one of the highest-profile leaders of the U.S. technology industry, could visit as early as this month, the AP said. The announcement was made days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the third member of his family to rule the country since its inception in the Cold War, signaled a willingness to improve relations with South Korea. ...

Putin grants Depardieu Russian citizenship

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 01:24 AM PST

MOSCOW (AP) — Gerard Depardieu, the French actor who has been sparring with his home country over taxes, has been granted Russian citizenship.

TEST:Pakistan: US drones kill 13, including commander

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 12:36 AM PST

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A pair of U.S. drone strikes in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border killed 13 people Thursday, including a senior militant commander who had a truce with the Pakistani military, intelligence officials and residents said.

Icelandic girl fights for right to her own name

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 12:33 AM PST

In this Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012 photo, Blaer Bjarkardottir, 15, left, and her mother, Bjork Eidsdottir, are photographed outside a court building in Reykjavik. Blaer Bjarkardottir is bringing legal action against the Icelandic government to allow her to use her name, which is not on the list of 1,853 government-approved female names. Blaer's mother is supporting her daughter's right to have her name recognized. She said she did not know the name wasn't on the list when she chose it for her daughter. Icelandic law requires names to comply with Icelandic grammar and orthography. The name means "light breeze" in Icelandic. There are 1,712 approved male names. (AP Photo/Anna Andersen)REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Call her the girl with no name.

Fighting rages around Syrian military air base

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 01:02 AM PST

A Syrian rebel plays football in the Saif al-Dawlah neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The United Nations estimated Wednesday that more than 60,000 people have been killed in Syria's 21-month-old uprising against authoritarian rule, a toll one-third higher than what anti-regime activists had counted. The U.N. human rights chief called the toll "truly shocking." (AP Photo/Andoni Lubacki)BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian activists and state media are reporting intense fighting around a strategic air base in the country's north.

Egypt panel implicates Mubarak, military in deaths

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 01:07 PM PST

FILE - In this June 2, 2012 file photo, Egypt's ex-President Hosni Mubarak lays on a gurney inside a barred cage in the police academy courthouse in Cairo, Egypt. Ousted President Hosni Mubarak watched the uprising against him unfold through a live TV feed, despite his earlier denial that he knew the extent of the protests and violence, according to a fact-finding mission member said Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013, which could lead to the retrial of the 84-old ousted leader already serving a life sentence.(AP Photo/File)CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian fact-finding mission determined that Hosni Mubarak watched the uprising against him unfold through a live TV feed at his palace, despite his later denial that he knew the extent of the protests and crackdown against them, a member of the mission said Wednesday.

Danish soldier killed in Afghanistan

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 01:09 AM PST

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — An elite Danish soldier has been killed in southern Afghanistan by an explosive device, military officials said Thursday.

Shooter kills 3 people, injures 2 in Swiss village

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 11:44 PM PST

GENEVA (AP) — A man shot and killed three people and wounded another two in a Swiss village, and was then arrested by officers who shot and injured him, police said Thursday.

Report: Ex-military chief detained in Turkey

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 11:48 PM PST

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The state-run agency says Turkey's former military chief has been detained for questioning over his role in the ousting of a pro-Islamic government in the 1990s.

C. African Republic leader faces rebel threat

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 03:10 PM PST

A Chadian soldier fighting in support of Central African Republic president Francois Bozize, sits on a truck in a convoy of other Chadian soldiers near Damara, about 70km (44 miles) north of the capital Bangui, Central African Republic Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. After troops under Bozize seized the capital in 2003 amid volleys of machine-gun and mortar fire, he dissolved the constitution and parliament, and now a decade later it is Bozize himself who could be ousted from power with rebels having seized more than half the country and made their way to the doorstep of the capital in less than a month. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)DAMARA, Central African Republic (AP) — More than 30 truckloads of troops from Chad line the two-lane highway just outside of Damara, supporting Central African Republic government forces who want to block a new rebel coalition from reaching the capital.

Venezuela opposition: Chavez secrecy feeds rumors

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 06:59 PM PST

A man walks past a mural of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. Both supporters and opponents of Chavez have been on edge in the past week amid shifting signals from the government about the president's health. Chavez has not been seen or heard from since his Dec. 11 operation, and officials have reported a series of ups and downs in his recovery. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's opposition demanded that the government reveal specifics of President Hugo Chavez's condition Wednesday, criticizing secrecy surrounding the ailing leader's health more than three weeks after his cancer surgery in Cuba.

For Egypt's satirists, Morsi's power is no joke

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 11:14 AM PST

There are few things dictators hate more than satirists, with their uncomfortable habit of piercing hypocrisy and self-importance with just a few well-placed verbal or written barbs.

5 female teachers killed: Pakistan aid work imperiled

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 10:17 AM PST

Pakistani police on Wednesday searched for the gunmen behind the brazen murder of five teachers and two health workers, amid fears that public health campaigns would suffer and lead to a resurgence of polio and other preventable diseases.

Myanmar launches air-strikes on Kachin rebels

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 10:08 AM PST

Heavy fighting between the Myanmar Army and the rebel Kachin Independence Army (KIA), is raising concern that a major escalation of violence is under way in the region, casting a shadow over Myanmar's much-touted reforms.

Is Russia trying a dead whistle-blower because of a US law?

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 09:30 AM PST

At the center of the stormiest US-Russia diplomatic crisis since the cold war stands the enigmatic figure of Sergei Magnitsky, for whom the US Senate has named a punitive new law that imposes harsh visa and economic sanctions against scores of Russian officials who are deemed to have committed serious human rights violations.

After 'peaceful' 2012, Kashmiris urge end to war-time measures

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 09:28 AM PST

Government tallies in Kashmir find that 2012 was the most peaceful year since an armed rebellion began in the disputed region in 1989. Despite that, no measures have been taken to demilitarize the region or to revoke the draconian laws that provide impunity to paramilitary forces here.

In South Korea, Kim Jong-un's New Year speech generates surprise - and doubt

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 07:01 AM PST

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un signaled his desire for improved relations with South Korea in a New Year's Day address that South Korean officials see as an unsatisfying attempt to appear conciliatory.

Any end in sight? Syrian conflict enters third calendar year

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 05:33 AM PST

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