Friday, January 4, 2013

Eleven dead in Damascus gas station blast

Eleven dead in Damascus gas station blast

Eleven dead in Damascus gas station blast

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 05:27 PM PST

Men stand amidst wreckage and debris, after a car bomb exploded at a crowded petrol station in Barzeh al-Balad district in DamascusAZAZ, Syria (Reuters) - At least 11 people were killed and 40 wounded when a car bomb exploded at a crowded petrol station in the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday, opposition activists said. The station was packed with people queuing for fuel that has become increasingly scarce during the country's 21-month-long insurgency aimed at overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad. The semi-official al-Ikhbariya television station showed footage of 10 burnt bodies and Red Crescent workers searching for victims at the site. ...

Chavez still has "severe" respiratory problem

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 06:48 PM PST

Venezuela's Vice President Maduro speaks during a visit to Fama de America's coffee processing plant in CaracasCARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is still suffering a "severe" respiratory infection that has hindered his breathing as he struggles to recover from cancer surgery in Cuba, the government said on Thursday. The 58-year-old socialist leader has not been seen in public nor heard from in more than three weeks. Officials say he is in delicate condition after his fourth operation in just 18 months for an undisclosed form of cancer in his pelvic area. ...

Iran says talks with big powers to be held in January

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 11:52 PM PST

Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Jalili answers questions during a joint news conference in BaghdadNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Iran has agreed to hold talks with six major powers about its atomic program in January but the date and venue has yet to be decided, the country's top nuclear negotiator said on Friday. The six powers want to rein in Iran's uranium enrichment program to ensure it is geared only for civilian energy, through a mix of diplomacy and sanctions. Iran denies Western assertions it is seeking nuclear weapons capability. ...

Suicide car bomber kills 27 Shi'ite pilgrims in Iraq

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 09:29 AM PST

HILLA, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide bomber driving a car killed at least 27 Shi'ite Muslims at a bus station in the Iraqi town of Mussayab on Thursday, police and medics said, as they were gathering to return home from a religious rite. The attack, which also wounded at least 60, underlines sectarian tensions that threaten to further destabilize the country a year after U.S. troops left. ...

South Korea says Japan must heal wounds of wartime excesses

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:45 AM PST

South Korea's conservative President-elect Park Geun-hye speaks during a news conference at the main office of ruling Saenuri Party in SeoulSEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's president-elect said on Friday that Japan needed to come to terms with its colonial history as tension between two Asian allies of the United States simmered over Japan's rule of Korea and an island dispute. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he wants to issue a statement that would supersede a landmark 1995 apology for Japan's past military aggression, a move that would likely raise hackles in South Korea, ruled by Japan from 1910-1945, and in China, where bitter wartime memories run deep. ...

Indian rape accused charged; victim's father calls for hanging

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 06:24 AM PST

People arrive at a district court in New DelhiNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Five Indian men were formally charged in court on Thursday with the gang rape and murder of a physiotherapy student in a case that has generated widespread anger about the government's inability to prevent violence against women. The December 16 attack on the 23-year-old student and a male companion provoked furious protests close to the seat of government in New Delhi and has fuelled a nationwide debate about the prevalence of sexual crime in India, where a rape is reported on average every 20 minutes. ...

Libyan police captain abducted in Benghazi

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 12:06 PM PST

Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan speaks during a news conference at the headquarters of the Prime Minister's Office in Tripoli LibyaBENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - A police investigator was missing after being abducted in the militia-ridden Libyan city of Benghazi, police said on Thursday, but tests on a charred body showed it was not his. The corpse charred with hydrochloric acid and found in the Buhmeida district was not that of the missing Captain Abdel-Salam al-Mahdawi, head of the city's criminal investigation unit, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said. "The body that was found in Benghazi was that of another man's and not Captain al-Mahdawi," Zeidan told reporters. "We wish that he is returned home safely to his family. ...

Turkish Kurd deputies meet jailed militant leader Ocalan: lawmaker

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 10:36 AM PST

Kurdish demonstrators hold a banner that reads Abdullah Ocalan during a protest in StrasbourgDIYARBAKIR (Reuters) - Two Kurdish lawmakers made a rare visit to Abdullah Ocalan at his island prison on Thursday, signaling that Turkey is negotiating with the influential militant leader over ending a conflict that has killed tens of thousands over three decades. Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy Ayla Akat Ata and prominent Kurdish politician Ahmet Turk went with a lawyer to Imrali, where Ocalan has been held in virtual isolation since his capture in 1999, a Kurdish lawmaker said. ...

Court hearing delayed for former Haitian President Aristide

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 03:44 PM PST

Supporters of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide react outside a courthouse in Port-au-PrincePORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Thursday won a delay until next week in a court hearing to address accusations he exploited former street children for political gain. Aristide, who did not appear in court, has not been charged with a crime and a judge will ultimately decide whether any charges should be filed. His lawyer successfully argued that the hearing should be delayed to next Wednesday because the court summons was served improperly. ...

Northern Irish police injured as flag row turns violent again

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 03:39 PM PST

A Union flag flies from a lamp post in the Shankill Road area of West BelfastBELFAST (Reuters) - Eight police officers were injured in Northern Ireland on Thursday when protests at the removal of the British flag from Belfast City Hall turned violent for the first time in more than two weeks. Pro-British loyalists began rioting and fighting street battles with police after a decision a month ago by mostly nationalist pro-Irish councilors to end the century-old tradition of flying the British flag from City Hall every day in the British-controlled province. More than 40 police officers were injured in the initial wave of violence, which stopped over Christmas. ...

Venezuela's Chavez fighting severe lung infection

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 11:55 PM PST

FILE - In this Oct 9, 2012 file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez holds a miniature copy of his country's constitution during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela. The ailing president's health crisis has raised contentious questions ahead of the swearing-in set for Jan. 10, including whether the inauguration could legally be postponed. Officials have raised the possibility that Chavez might not be well enough to take the oath of office, without saying what will happen if he can't. The constitution says that if a president or president-elect dies or is declared unable to continue in office, presidential powers should be held temporarily by the president of the National Assembly and that a new presidential vote should be held within 30 days. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is being treated for "respiratory deficiency" after complications from a severe lung infection, his government said, pointing to a deepening crisis for the ailing 58-year-old president.

Rebel area shows limits of rebel push for Damascus

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 07:07 PM PST

In this image taken from video obtained from Bambuser, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Syrians help an inured man after an airstrike hit Douma City, Syria on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Airstrikes continued across Syria on Thursday as Syrian President Bashar Assad's military stepped up its assault on areas that surround the nation's capital. (AP Photo/Bambuser via AP video)BEIRUT (AP) — Twin airstrikes by government jets on a large, rebel-held suburb of Damascus on Thursday sheered the sides off apartment towers and left residents digging through rubble for the dead and wounded.

Indian court to rule on generic drug industry

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 11:42 PM PST

FILE - In this March 13, 2012 file photo, Indian scientists work inside a laboratory of the Research and Development Centre of Natco Pharma Ltd. in Hyderabad, India. From Africa's crowded AIDS clinics to the malarial jungles of Southeast Asia, the fate of millions of people awaits a ruling by India's highest court that could determine whether the country's drug companies can continue to provide cheap versions of many life-saving medicines. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A., File)NEW DELHI (AP) — From Africa's crowded AIDS clinics to the malarial jungles of Southeast Asia, the lives of millions of ill people in the developing world are hanging in the balance ahead of a legal ruling that will determine whether India's drug companies can continue to provide cheap versions of many life-saving medicines.

Swiss bank to pay $57.8M in US tax evasion plea

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 01:05 PM PST

NEW YORK (AP) — Switzerland's oldest bank became the first foreign bank to plead guilty in the United States to tax charges when it admitted Thursday that it helped American clients hide more than $1.2 billion from the Internal Revenue Service.

Chefs offer their take on Jerusalem

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 11:46 PM PST

In this Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012 photo, chefs Yotam Ottolenghi, left, and Sami Tamimi, right, pose for the photographer at their company's bakery in London. One chef is Israeli, the other a Palestinian. So it is with 'Jerusalem' their latest cookbook, that traces their memories of a shared city, the Jewish west and the Arab east, together with the food_ the commodity held in common in a city riven by division. Ottolenghi and Tamimi who have been business partners for about 10 years, run two restaurants and three delis in London and wrote their first cookbook four years ago. They were simply known for saving London's chicest neighborhoods from culinary boredom with Mediterranean-based recipes infused with exotic flavors. Their new book 'Jerusalem' explores the cuisine of the ancient city. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)LONDON (AP) — Two London-based chefs with roots in Jerusalem one day. The next, poster boys for peace.

US drones kill senior Taliban figure in Pakistan

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 02:49 PM PST

ALTERNATE CROP - In this April, 20, 2007 file photo, Pakistani militant commander Maulvi Nazir meets his associates in South Waziristan, Pakistan near the Afghani border. Five Pakistani security officials said the commander, Nazir, was reportedly among nine people killed in a missile strike on a house in the village of Angoor Adda in the South Waziristan tribal region early Thursday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. (AP Photo/Ishtiaq Mahsud)ISLAMABAD (AP) — An American drone strike in Pakistan has killed a top Taliban commander who sent money and fighters to battle the U.S. in Afghanistan but had a truce with the Pakistani military, officials said Thursday.

New law points to Philippine church's waning sway

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 05:45 PM PST

An anti-abortion sign flashes on an electric signboard outside the Roman Catholic Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in downtown Manila, Philippines on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III last month signed the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012. The law that provides state funding for contraceptives for the poor pitted the dominant Roman Catholic Church in an epic battle against the popular Aquino and his followers. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Twenty-six years after Roman Catholic leaders helped his mother marshal millions of Filipinos in an uprising that ousted a dictator, President Benigno Aquino III picked a fight with the church over contraceptives and won a victory that bared the bishops' worst nightmare: They no longer sway the masses.

Report: Israeli ex-spy chief criticizes PM on Iran

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 11:25 PM PST

JERUSALEM (AP) — A recently retired Israeli spy chief says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acted irresponsibly regarding Iran's nuclear program and accuses him of prioritizing personal concerns over national interests.

Swiss gunman kills 3 people, had troubled history

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 11:44 AM PST

Policemen investigate the house of the gunman and the shooting scene after a shooting in Daillon, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. A man shot and killed three people and wounded another two in the Swiss village, and was then arrested by officers who shot and injured him, police said Thursday. Police in the southern canton (state) of Valais said they were alerted to the shooting in the village of Daillon just before 9 p.m. (20:00GMT) Wednesday. Three of the victims died at the scene and the two injured people were taken to hospitals. A police statement early Thursday gave no detail on their injuries. (AP Photos/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)GENEVA (AP) — A shooting in southern Switzerland has left three women dead, two men wounded and raised questions about how a troubled suspect was able to go on a rampage with an old military rifle.

Depardieu, in tax fight, gets Russian citizenship

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 12:24 PM PST

FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010 file photo Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, and French actor Gerard Depardieu, left, attend the Russian Museum, in St. Petersburg. Gerard Depardieu, the French actor who has been sparring with his native country over taxes, has been granted Russian citizenship. A brief announcement on the Kremlin website said President Vladimir Putin signed the citizenship grant on Thursday Jan. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Pool)MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin has cast Gerard Depardieu in one of the most surprising roles of his life — as a new Russian citizen.

Could gang-rape protests mark beginning of an age of activism for India?

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 02:03 PM PST

The large-scale protests triggered by the gang rape of a 23-year-old student in New Delhi has renewed debate over the rise of a new urban middle-class activism in India.

Good Taliban, Bad Taliban? Pakistani commander's killing exposes blurry lines

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 12:53 PM PST

File photo of Mullah Nazir speaking during a news conference in WanaThe US drone killing of Pakistani Taliban commander Maulvi Nazir threatens to unleash new anti-government violence against the country's weak government or civilian targets, and expose fractures in the country's military and security forces, analysts say.

Amid bloodshed and chaos, Syrian wages a war for neutral reporting

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 12:00 PM PST

While Syria's state-run news outlets run a steady stream of reports about "terrorists" and international conspiracies against President Bashar al-Assad, opposition activists roll out their own endless barrage of footage highlighting atrocities and destruction by regime forces, with little in the way of context.

Libyan cop in Benghazi kidnapped

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 11:21 AM PST

Abdelsalam al-Mahdawi, the head of Benghazi's criminal investigation department, was kidnapped on his way to work today by gunmen at an intersection in Libya's second largest city.

Falklands again? Why Argentina's Kirchner keeps pushing the issue with Britain.

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 10:13 AM PST

Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner relaunched her offensive over the Falkland Islands today, a move that coincides with the 180th anniversary of Britain's allegedly illegal usurpation of the South Atlantic archipelago.

Backward step for reform in Myanmar?

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 09:43 AM PST

Myanmar's military has stepped up attacks on ethnic Kachin rebels in recent days with airstrikes. This move calls into question efforts by the United States and other international powers to richly and quickly reward the nominally civilian regime there for a series of gestures toward political reform.

Gerard Depardieu's latest drama: a Russian passport

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 09:15 AM PST

Vladimir Putin flourished his pen Thursday morning and signed what must be the oddest decree of his long years in power: an order granting a Russian passport to French actor and tax exile Gerard Depardieu.

Russia plans biggest war games since Soviet era

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 07:58 AM PST

The Russian navy has announced that it will hold its biggest war games since Soviet times in the Mediterranean and Black seas later this month.

US drone strike in Pakistan kills influential Taliban commander

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 06:31 AM PST

Key Pakistani Taliban commander Maulvi Nazir – considered a "good" Taliban by some among the Pakistani military – died in a US drone strike that left at least six dead on Thursday, according to local reports.

Taiwan undersea oil plans raise neighbors' eyebrows

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 06:21 AM PST

Taiwan, a normally quiet claimant to portions of the disputed South China Sea, plans to explore for undersea oil there, a move likely to test fragile relations with China and upset major Southeast Asian nations.
Posted by Harshad at 1:41 AM

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