Saturday, January 5, 2013

Chavez swearing-in can be delayed: Venezuelan VP

Chavez swearing-in can be delayed: Venezuelan VP

Chavez swearing-in can be delayed: Venezuelan VP

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 06:40 PM PST

Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro speaks while holding a copy of his country's constitution during an interview in CaracasCARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez's formal swearing-in for a new six-year term scheduled for January 10 can be postponed if he is unable to attend due to his battle to recover from cancer surgery, Venezuela's vice president said on Friday. Nicolas Maduro's comments were the clearest indication yet that the Venezuelan government is preparing to delay the swearing-in while avoiding naming a replacement for Chavez or calling a new election in the South American OPEC nation. In power since 1999, the 58-year-old socialist leader has not been seen in public for more than three weeks. ...

"Nobody helped us for an hour:" Indian rape witness

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:53 PM PST

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Passers-by left a gang-raped Indian student lying unclothed and bleeding in the street for almost an hour, a male friend who was assaulted with her said on Friday in his first public comments on the case that provoked a global outcry. The 23-year-old student died in hospital two weeks after she was attacked on December 16 in a private bus in New Delhi, prompting street protests over the Indian authorities' failure to stem rampant violence against women. ...

Pakistani girl shot by Taliban leaves British hospital

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:56 PM PST

Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai waves with nurses as she is discharged from The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in this handout photographLONDON (Reuters) - A Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls' education has been discharged from a British hospital after doctors said she was well enough to spend time recovering with her family. Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by the Taliban in October and brought to Britain for treatment, was discharged on Thursday but is due to be re-admitted in late January or early February for reconstructive surgery to her skull, doctors said. ...

Japan likely to increase defense spending due to isles row: media

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 08:51 PM PST

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government is likely to increase defense spending for the first time in 11 years, Japanese media reported on Saturday, as newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledges a sterner response to a territorial dispute with China. The government is considering increasing defense spending by around 2 percent to more than 4.7 trillion yen ($53.4 billion) in the fiscal year starting in April, the Mainichi newspaper reported. It gave no source for its information. ...

U.N. Security Council voices worry about Central African Republic rebels

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 04:59 PM PST

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council voiced alarm on Friday at an advance by rebels in Central African Republic that has brought them within striking distance of the mineral-rich nation's capital, and renewed its call for a negotiated solution to the crisis. Central African Republic President Francois Bozize will refuse to leave power during talks with the Seleka rebel alliance, his spokesman said on Thursday, rejecting the insurgents' main demand and raising the prospect of a return to fighting. ...

EU says Iran not responded to nuclear talks proposal

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 08:52 AM PST

Mann, spokesman of European Union Foreign Policy Chief Ashton, gestures as he attends a meeting with the media in MoscowBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union has proposed a time and place for further talks on Iran's nuclear program, but Iran has yet to respond, an EU spokesman said on Friday. Iran said earlier on Friday it had agreed to resume talks in January with six major powers - represented by the EU - but the EU spokesman said Tehran had not yet replied to proposals made on December 31. ...

Northern Irish fighting rages on as rioters branded "a disgrace"

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 04:55 PM PST

Loyalist protesters block Cregagh Road in East Belfast after a decision was made to remove the British flag from Belfast's City HallBELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Irish police came under attack by pro-British loyalists on Friday as the province's first minister branded rioters "a disgrace" and said they were playing into the hands of rival militant nationalists. Rioting began a month ago after a vote by mostly nationalist pro-Irish councilors to end the century-old tradition of flying the British flag from Belfast City Hall every day unleashed the most sustained period of violence in the city for years. ...

Leaders of Sudan, South Sudan start talks to defuse tension

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 01:54 PM PST

South Sudan's President Kiir shakes hands with Ethiopia's PM Desalegn as he arrives for talks with leaders from Sudan in Addis AbabaADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan met late on Friday to try to defuse hostility that has simmered since the south broke away in 2011 and restart cross-border oil flows to rescue their crumbling economies. No details emerged as Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir and South Sudan's Salva Kiir met in the presence of Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn who is trying to mediate between the neighbors who came close to war in April. Both leaders will meet alone for the first time at a summit on Saturday, Sudan's state news agency SUNA said. ...

Italy's Monti unveils alliance, rules out minister role

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 02:41 PM PST

Outgoing Italian PM Monti unveils the symbol of his party reading "Civil choice with Monty for Italy" during a news conference in RomeROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Friday unveiled the alliance he will lead into February's parliamentary election and said he was unlikely to agree to serve as a minister in another premier's cabinet after the vote. The 69-year-old former European commissioner, who replaced Silvio Berlusconi as prime minister in November 2011 when Italy was scrambling to avert a financial crisis, announced last week that he would run for a second term. ...

Pakistani girl shot by Taliban leaves UK hospital

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 09:11 AM PST

LONDON (AP) — Three months after she was shot in the head for daring to say girls should be able to get an education, a 15-year-old Pakistani hugged her nurses and smiled as she walked out of a Birmingham hospital.

Fatah rally in Gaza looks toward unity with Hamas

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:27 PM PST

Palestinians wave yellow Fatah flags during celebrations marking the 48th anniversary of the Fatah movement in Gaza City, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. The secular-leaning Fatah party staged a massive rally Friday in the Gaza Strip, the first such gathering in the territory since the Islamist Hamas group violently took control there in 2007 - a reflection of the warming ties between the two rival Palestinian factions.(AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Tens of thousands of Fatah supporters rallied in the Hamas stronghold of Gaza on Friday for the first time since they were routed from power in the territory by the Islamist militants in 2007.

India gang-rape victim's friend recounts attack

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 10:31 PM PST

School children and staff watch a self defense training program at a school in Mumbai, India, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. An attack on a 23-year-old woman, who died of severe internal injuries over the weekend, has provoked a fierce debate across India about the routine mistreatment of women and triggered daily protests demanding action. Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde announced a special recruitment drive for women police officers Thursday and ordered every police station in the capital to be staffed by at least nine female officers to make them more attentive to women's needs. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)NEW DELHI (AP) — The suffering of a university student and her male friend who were brutally attacked aboard a bus in India's capital did not end after the woman was gang-raped and both were savagely beaten for 2 1/2 hours. Dumped naked on a roadside, the pair encountered shocking apathy as passersby offered only cursory looks and police debated jurisdiction for 30 minutes before taking them to a hospital, where the man received no treatment as he sat without clothes on the floor, the friend recounted in a television interview.

Venezuela VP: Chavez can be sworn in by Court

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 10:54 PM PST

A heart-shaped mural shows an image of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez hugging a woman in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. Chavez hasn't spoken publicly or been seen since his Dec. 11 operation in Cuba, and the latest report from his government Thursday night increased speculation that he is unlikely to attend his Jan. 10 inaugural ceremony. The message above the mural reads in Spanish; "Love is repaid with love." (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez can take the oath of office for his next term before the Supreme Court at a later date if the ailing leader isn't fit to be sworn in next week, his vice president said.

Italy: 6 Russian tourists die in snowmobile crash

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 11:32 PM PST

ROME (AP) — Italian news reports say six Russian tourists were killed and two others were injured after their snowmobile slammed into a fence and flipped over into a ditch during a night run down an Italian ski slope.

Syrian forces bombard rebel areas near capital

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 01:23 PM PST

A Jordanian boy wears a headband with Arabic writing that reads "there is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his Prophet." during a rally by Jordanian and Syrian followers of the banned Islamic-oriented Hizb Al-Tahrir, Liberation Party, after the Friday prayer in front of the Syrian embassy, in Amman, Jordan, Jan. 4, 2013. Hundreds of protesters shouted slogans proclaiming that Syria will have an Islamic state after the toppling of Bashar Assad and his regime. Russia's foreign minister said Saturday that Assad has no intention of stepping down and it would be impossible to try to persuade him otherwise. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon)BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian government warplanes and artillery pounded restive suburbs of Damascus on Friday and anti-regime activists said a car bomb targeted an intelligence building north of the capital.

Colombia firm makes armored clothes for kids

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:37 PM PST

A worker inspects armored vests designed for children at the Miguel Caballero factory on the outskirts of Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Miguel Caballero who has made armored vests for adults for more than 20 years, said he had never thought about making bulletproof goods for children. But that changed after the Dec. 14 slaying of 20 small children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. His new line of products are designed for children ranging in age from 8-16 years and are priced at anywhere from $150-$600 depending on the complexity of their construction. Each piece weighs between 2-4 pounds. (AP Photo/William Fernando Martinez)BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A Colombian firm that makes bulletproof vests is now creating armored clothing for children.

Starbucks enters entrenched Vietnam coffee market

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 11:46 PM PST

In this photo taken Jan. 5, 2013, customers drink coffee on Trieu Viet Vuong Street in Hanoi, Vietnam. Starbucks announced Thursday Jan. 3, it would enter Vietnam in early February with a cafe in Ho Chi Minh City. But the Seattle-based company faces a unique market in Vietnam, where French-inspired coffee culture reigns supreme; two homegrown chains have established presences; and family-run sidewalk cafes are as ubiquitous as noodle shops. (AP Photo /Mike Ives)HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Nghiem Ngoc Thuy has been slinging coffees to thirsty Vietnamese for 20 years in her colonial-style villa with peeling shutters, and she and her customers aren't too worried that the imminent arrival of U.S. giant Starbucks will alter their time-tested coffee traditions.

Different challenges in Central African Rep., Mali

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 07:49 AM PST

The final contingent of reinforcements under current deployment plans, a group of around forty soldiers from Cameroon, departs by truck after arriving to bolster the multinational central-african regional force known as FOMAC which now numbers around a thousand troops, at the airport in Bangui, Central African Republic Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Facing an insurgency by a new rebel coalition, Central African Republic President Bozize consolidated military power under his control Thursday after dismissing his own son as acting defense minister along with his army chief of staff. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Two land-locked, desperately poor African countries are gripped by rebellions in the north that have left huge chunks of both nations outside of government control. Neighboring countries are rushing troops into Central African Republic only a few weeks after rebels started taking towns but Mali's government is still awaiting foreign military help nearly one year after the situation there began unraveling. Here's a look at why there's been quick action in one country, and not in the other.

Chile: Couple dies defending home amid protests

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 03:18 PM PST

A firefighter, left, works to extinguish the flames of the home of a wealthy landowner in Temuco, Chile, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. The elderly couple, Werner Luchsinger, 75, and wife wife Vivian McKay, whose family's vast landholdings have long been targeted by Mapuche Indians in southern Chile were killed in the arson attack early Friday while trying to defend their home. Chile's president quickly flew to the scene and announced new security measures, including the application of Chile's tough anti-terrorism law and the creation of a special police anti-terror unit backed by Chile's military. (Hector Andrade/Agenciauno)SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — An elderly couple whose family's vast landholdings have long been targeted by Mapuche Indians in southern Chile were killed in an arson attack early Friday while trying to defend their home. The president quickly flew to the scene and announced new security measures, including the application of Chile's tough anti-terrorism law and the creation of a special police anti-terror unit backed by Chile's military.

What does Google want with North Korea?

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 06:04 AM PST

Google chairman Eric Schmidt plans to visit North Korea as early as next week in what analysts see as part of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's drive to give an appearance of closing the vast digital divide between his isolated country and the rest of the world.

Poll: Spike in Palestinian support for military operations against Israel

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 10:36 AM PST

Palestinian support for military operations against Israel has registered its most significant jump in 10 years, spurred by the recent Gaza conflict, ongoing Israeli settlement expansion, and frustration over a peace process that has been essentially deadlocked for more than four years.

Israel tells underweight models to gain weight or get off the runway

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 09:40 AM PST

"You're a knockout! Did you gain a little weight?" Israeli fashion photographer and model agent Adi Barkan crows as he greets one of his top models, a towering brunette decked out in a chic black minidress surrounded by the exuberant chaos of the photo shoot in downtown Tel Aviv.

Why so much secrecy around Chávez's health? Venezuela's not alone.

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 09:36 AM PST

The government of Hugo Chávez has, for the first time, characterized the Venezuelan leader's health condition as "severe" following his Dec. 11 surgery in Cuba for a recurrence of cancer.

India anti-rape protesters: Don't just get angry, do something

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 07:48 AM PST

Among the many anti-rape protests that have been held in Indian cities over the past few weeks, something has stood out at a demonstration this week: Protest signs that didn't cry shame or call for the death penalty, but pledged personal action.

Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani teen shot by Taliban, is released from UK hospital

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 05:40 AM PST

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