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| Rival Sudans signal border concessions before summit Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 10:44 AM PST  ROSEIRIS, Sudan/JUBA (Reuters) - Sudan and South Sudan said on Tuesday they wanted to set up a demilitarized border zone, signaling possible concessions ahead of a summit which will test whether they can mend ties and restore vital oil flows. Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and South Sudan's Salva Kiir are expected to hold a summit this month hosted by the African Union to discuss how to secure their disputed border after the neighbors came close to war April. Both nations agreed in September in Ethiopia to resume oil exports from the landlocked South through Sudan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt satirist faces probe for insulting president Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 10:43 AM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian satirist who made fun of President Mohamed Mursi on television will be investigated by prosecutors following an accusation that he undermined the leader's standing, a judicial source said on Tuesday. Bassem Youssef's case will increase worries about freedom of speech in the post-Hosni Mubarak era, especially when the country's new constitution includes provisions criticized by rights activists for, among other things, forbidding insults. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Fiscal cliff" moves to House, timing and outcome uncertain Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 09:58 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington's last-minute scramble to step back from a recession-inducing "fiscal cliff" shifted to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday after the Senate approved a bipartisan deal to avoid steep tax hikes and spending cuts. In a rare late-night show of unity, the Senate voted 89 to 8 to raise some taxes on the wealthy while keeping income taxes low on more moderate income voters. The bill's prospects were less certain in the House, where a vote had not yet been scheduled. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran warns off foreign planes during naval drill: report Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 09:32 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has warned off foreign surveillance planes that have tried to approach its forces during naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz, an Iranian military spokesman said on Tuesday. The drills, which began on Friday, are aimed at showcasing Iran's military capability in the shipping route through which 40 percent of the world's sea-borne oil exports pass. Iran has threatened to block the strait if it comes under military attack over its disputed nuclear program. The United States has said it would not tolerate any obstruction of commercial traffic through the strait. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Egyptian party set to split Islamist vote further Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 09:22 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Leading members of Egypt's hardline Islamist movement unveiled a new political party on Tuesday, pointing to new rivalries that could split the Islamist vote in an impending parliamentary election. The creation of the al-Watan ('Homeland') Party is part of a political landscape that was dominated by a variety of Islamist parties in the last election a year ago, but is still evolving. ... Full Story | Top |
| India rape victim's ashes scattered, more attacks stoke debate Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 09:10 AM PST  LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - The ashes of an Indian student who died after being gang-raped were scattered in the Ganges river on Tuesday as reports of more attacks stoked a growing national debate on violence against women. The death of the 23-year-old woman, who has not been named, prompted street protests across India, international outrage and promises from the government of tougher punishments for offenders. Police on Tuesday confirmed they would push for the death penalty for her attackers - the force can recommend prosecutors pursue particular punishments in Indian trials. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb kills two, injures 50 in Pakistani city of Karachi Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 08:44 AM PST  KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - A bomb exploded in a crowded area of Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Tuesday, killing at least two people and wounding 50, police said. Two of the injured were in a critical condition, police spokesman Imran Shaukat said. The bomb appeared to have been planted on a motorbike. It was not immediately clear who or what was the target of the blast in the Aisha Manzil area of Karachi, although a political rally was happening nearby. The explosion was heard several kilometers (miles) away. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood cell detained in UAE: paper Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 07:53 AM PST ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has arrested an "Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood cell" that trained local Islamists in how to overthrow Arab governments, a Sharjah-based newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source familiar with the investigation. The oil-rich Gulf state - of which Sharjah is one part - has previously voiced strong distrust of the Islamist political movement which after long years of being banned took power in free elections in Egypt last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen in Pakistan shoot dead seven aid workers near capital Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 07:42 AM PST  PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Gunmen ambushed and shot dead six Pakistani women aid workers and a male doctor on Tuesday, police said, and the charity they worked for said it suspected the attacks were linked to recent murders of polio vaccination workers. Their vehicle was raked with gunfire as they returned home from work at a children's community center run by Pakistani charity Ujala, or Light, said district police officer Abdur Rashid Khan. Their driver was seriously wounded in the attack. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian government forces go on attack on first day of year Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 07:41 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Government war planes bombed opposition-held areas of Syria and President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels fought on the outskirts of the capital Damascus on New Year's Day on Tuesday. A year ago, many diplomats and analysts predicted Assad would leave power in 2012. But despite international pressure and rebel gains, he has proved resilient. His inner circle remains largely intact and retains control of the armed forces, even if it relies on air strikes and artillery power to hold back the rebels fighting to overthrow him. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraqi civilian deaths rise in "low-level war": study Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 07:01 AM PST BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A total of 4,471 civilians died in Iraq's festering "low-level war" with insurgents in 2012, the first annual climb in the death toll in three years, campaigners said on Tuesday. The deaths, up from 4,059 in 2011, showed militant fighters were still bent on carrying out large-scale bomb attacks, said rights group Iraq Body Count (IBC) in its annual report. Tensions between Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni factions in Iraq's power-sharing government have been on the rise this year and the civil war in neighboring Syria is whipping up sectarian tension across the region. ... Full Story | Top |
| About 60 crushed to death in Ivory Coast stampede Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 06:21 AM PST ABIDJAN (Reuters) - About 60 people were crushed to death in a stampede outside a stadium in Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan after a New Year's Eve fireworks display, the government said on Tuesday. The incident took place near Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium where a crowd had gathered to watch fireworks, emergency officials said. One of the injured, speaking to Reuters at a hospital, said security forces had arrived to break up the crowd, triggering a panic in which many people fell over and were trampled. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands march against Hong Kong's leader Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 06:16 AM PST  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Tens of thousands in Hong Kong protested on Tuesday against the city's leader Leung Chun-ying as pressure mounts against the Beijing-backed politician who has been embroiled in an illegal construction scandal since taking office in July. Thronging the streets on New Year's Day, crowds of people, some dressed in black with colorful banners and wearing long-nosed Pinocchio masks, chanted "Leung Chun-ying step down" in a rally that snaked several kilometers towards government headquarters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Expats who bounce cheques may no longer risk prison in UAE: paper Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 05:53 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Newspapers printed contradictory reports on Tuesday on whether the United Arab Emirates was ending prison terms for foreign nationals living in the Gulf Arab state who write bad cheques. The UAE's tough penalties for defaulting on cheques were relaxed for Emirati citizens in October after a royal decree, but the threat of jail for the country's large expat population remains. In the UAE writing cheques that bounce is a criminal offence instead of a civil one. ... Full Story | Top |
| CAR president urges rebels to let him finish his term Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 05:45 AM PST  BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic President Francois Bozize on Tuesday urged rebels threatening to enter the capital to lay down their arms and let him complete the last three years of his term. Fighters encamped within 75 km (45 miles) of the capital Bangui accuse Bozize of reneging on a 2007 deal to give money and jobs to former rebels, and their leaders are now split over whether to accept an offer of new talks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Korean unification may cost South 7 percent of GDP: ministry Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 04:55 AM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - Unification of the two Koreas could cost the South up to 7 percent of annual GDP for a decade though the South would benefit in various ways such as cheap labor and the North's resources, South Korea's Finance Ministry said on Wednesday. Korea has been divided since the end of World War Two and the Stalinist North and capitalist South have been fierce rivals since the 1950-53 Korean war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope hopes for 2013 of peace, slams unbridled capitalism Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 04:20 AM PST  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict said in his New Year's message on Tuesday he hoped 2013 would be a year of peace and that the world was under threat from unbridled capitalism, terrorism and criminality. The 85-year-old pope rang in the new year with a mass for about 10,000 people in St Peter's Basilica on the day the Roman Catholic Church marks its World Day of Peace with initiatives around the world. He also spoke of peace after the mass, addressing tens of thousands of people who had followed the service from outside in St Peter's Square. "A new year is like a trip. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korean leader seeks end to confrontation with South Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 03:31 AM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for an end to confrontation between the two Koreas, technically still at war in the absence of a peace treaty to end their 1950-53 conflict, in a surprise New Year speech broadcast on state media. The address by Kim, who took over power in the reclusive state after his father, Kim Jong-il, died in 2011, appeared to take the place of the policy-setting New Year editorial published in leading state newspapers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Expats who bounce cheques no longer risk prison in UAE: paper Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 01:39 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates will stop imprisoning expatriates for writing cheques that bounce, Abu Dhabi daily The National reported on Tuesday, citing a senior official. The UAE's tough penalties for defaulting on loans, which is a criminal offence in the Gulf Arab monarchy, were relaxed for Emirati citizens in October after a royal decree. "In line with the directives of Sheikh Khalifa... ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan willing to withdraw army from Sudan border: president Monday, Dec 31, 2012 11:54 PM PST JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan is willing to withdraw its army from the disputed border with Sudan, President Salva Kiir said, signaling a possible compromise at a summit with his Sudanese counterpart. Kiir and Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir agreed in September to withdraw troops from the disputed border as a precondition to resume oil exports from landlocked South Sudan through Sudan. Oil revenues are vital to both economies. But both countries still have troops 10 km (6 miles) from each other's border, and both accuse each other of supporting rebels on the other's territory. ... Full Story | Top |
| Top Afghan negotiator optimistic over peace prospects Monday, Dec 31, 2012 09:32 PM PST  KABUL (Reuters) - A top Afghan peace negotiator said he was cautiously optimistic about prospects for reconciliation with the Taliban and that all sides now realized a military solution to the war was not possible. Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai also told Reuters that the Kabul government hoped to transform the Afghan Taliban, who have proved resilient after more than a decade of war against U.S.-led NATO and Afghan troops, into a political movement. ... Full Story | Top |
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