Taliban kills 12 demining workers in Afghanistan, police say

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The Taliban shot dead 12 demining workers near the former British base of Camp Bastion in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province on Saturday, opening fire from motor bikes, police said. Farid Ahmad Obaid, a spokesman for the provincial police chief, said Afghan forces later launched a counter attack, killing four of the Islamist militants and capturing three. (Reporting by Mohammad Stanekzai; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel) Read More http://ift.tt/1uzisvf

In overtime, UN climate talks head for watered-down deal in Lima

By Alister Doyle and Valerie Volcovici LIMA (Reuters) - United Nations climate talks, which ran on into a an extra day on Saturday, are heading for a watered-down deal on limiting global warming, leaving many of the toughest issues for next year's Paris summit. Peruvian Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, hosting the talks, told delegates that a new text on Saturday morning to try to break impasses was not perfect, but reflected common ground. ... Read More http://ift.tt/1slTSDL

Two foreign soldiers killed by Taliban attack near Afghan capital

KABUL (Reuters) - A Taliban bomb killed two foreign soldiers in a NATO convoy late on Friday night the U.S. Bagram Airfield base north of Kabul, adding to a spate of deadly attacks in and around the Afghan capital as international forces leave the country. "Two International Security Assistance Force service members died as a result of an enemy forces attack in eastern Afghanistan on Dec. 12, 2014," a coalition press release said on Saturday. (Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Nick Macfie) Read More http://ift.tt/1spzCLW

Russia would react if U.S. imposes new sanctions: minister

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will take counter measures if Washington imposes new sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to an Interfax news agency report published on Saturday. Late on Thursday, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives unanimously passed the Ukraine Freedom Support Act, which would impose new sanctions on Russian weapons companies and investors in the country's high-tech oil projects. U.S. President Barack Obama is yet to sign the bill into law. ...

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Confusion at JFK as Korean Air nut incident broke

By James Pearson and Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - "You mean you need to replace a crew member?" The Korean Air Lines official was speaking to staff aboard flight 086, which had just left the gate at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, bound for South Korea. "Oh, so he's been told to get off?" the official asked in Korean, according to recordings on an air traffic broadcast website. ... Read More http://ift.tt/1wqxveR

Taliban shoot dead Supreme Court official in Afghan capital

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents gunned down a top official of Afghanistan's Supreme Court as he left his home in Kabul on Saturday, the latest in a spate of strikes by the hardline Islamists on a broad range of targets in and around the Afghan capital. Heavily fortified Kabul is on high alert after insurgents stepped up attacks in recent weeks, targeting guesthouses, government officials and civilians as most foreign troops prepare to leave the country by the end of this month. ... Read More http://ift.tt/1yLEu5f

India police hunt man said to be behind pro-Islamic State Twitter posts

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian police were trying to track down a man on Saturday that a British television report identified as a publicist for the Islamic State, pumping out a stream of Twitter updates on the militant group's campaign from his base in Bangalore. Channel 4 said the man behind "Shami Witness", a Twitter handle followed by thousands of people including most foreign fighters for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, was an Indian professional in the country's high-tech capital. ... Read More http://ift.tt/1z44w2v

China opens key section of massive water project

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Friday opened a key section of a massive and ambitious plan to transport water from wetter central and southern parts of the country up to its arid north, including the capital Beijing, state media reported. The $62 billion undertaking - dreamed up by former Communist Party leader Mao Zedong in the 1950s - is designed to supply China's parched and pollution-ridden north, home to more than 300 million people and countless water-intensive businesses. ... Read More http://ift.tt/1DlWsOM

Indonesian editor faces blasphemy accusation over IS cartoon

By Michael Taylor JAKARTA (Reuters) - Police in Indonesia have name the editor-in-chief of its largest English-language newspaper a suspect in a blasphemy case, the newspaper said in a statement, over a cartoon depicting the Islamic State militant group. The media in Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, has enjoyed broad freedom since the establishment of democratic rule in the late 1990s. ... Read More http://ift.tt/1GsS3Wm

In HK, China likely to use pressure, intimidation to ward off more protests

By James Pomfret HONG KONG (Reuters) - As the dust settles on Hong Kong's pro-democracy 'Occupy' protests, China is likely to embark on a sweeping but covert campaign across the territory's judiciary, media and universities to ensure there is no recurrence, activists and politicians say. The surprisingly resilient, 75 days of protest for a fully democratic vote to choose Hong Kong's next leader was the most serious challenge to China's authority since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations and crackdown in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. ...

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Exclusive: Cash-strapped Iraq seeks Kuwait war reparation delay

By Dominic Evans BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is seeking to postpone a final $4.6 billion installment of reparations for its 1990-91 occupation of Kuwait, Finance Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told Reuters, as it faces a cash crisis caused by falling oil prices and war with Islamic State. Since Iraq was first allowed to resume oil sales nearly two decades ago it has paid funds into a United Nations body overseeing compensation for looting and damage inflicted during Saddam Hussein's seven-month occupation of Kuwait. More than a million claimants have been paid and nearly all the $52. ... Read More http://ift.tt/1zXHM2H

Russia's Lavrov says peace talks in Ukraine needed swiftly: TASS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated on Friday Moscow's calls to convene as soon as possible another round of peace talks on the conflict in east Ukraine's Donbass region, TASS news agency reported. "A chance emerged to establish peace in Ukraine. With difficulties, but a ceasefire, a truce has been established," TASS quoted him as telling a meeting with foreign policy experts. "There is constructive base to move forward on... the economic restoration of Donbass, establishing political dialogue that should eventually lead to a constitutional reform. ...

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Major storm moves into southern California, prompts evacuations

By Curtis Skinner SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A major storm that pummeled northern California and the Pacific Northwest with heavy rain and high winds and killed two people moved south overnight, prompting evacuation orders in areas prone to floods and mud flows. The National Weather Service forecast the system to track through southwestern California late on Thursday and into Friday, brining the possibility of strong thunderstorms, as well as waterspouts and small tornadoes along the coast. ... Read More http://ift.tt/1BCObEf

Shots fired at Israeli embassy in Athens

ATHENS (Reuters) - Unidentified assailants opened fire on the Israeli embassy in Athens with a Kalashnikov assault rifle in the early hours of Friday, police said, but no injuries or damage were reported. Four people on two motorcycles fired shots at the embassy building in a northern suburb of Athens, a police official said. Bullets were lodged in the walls and 54 spent bullet cases were found about 40 meters (yards) from the building, police said. The Greek government condemned the incident. ... Read More http://ift.tt/1yGWe1F

China expresses regret at U.S. failure to pass IMF reforms

BEIJING (Reuters) - China expressed regret on Friday at the failure of U.S. Congress to pass reforms to give emerging markets greater say at the International Monetary Fund. The White House signed off on the reforms in 2010, but U.S. lawmakers need to back changes in how the IMF is funded before they can be put into place, given Washington's position as a controlling shareholder in the global lender. But a must-pass $1.1 trillion U.S. spending bill unveiled late on Tuesday omits the IMF voting reform provision, dooming prospects that it will get passed by a year-end deadline. ...

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Islamic State suicide bomber detonates tank in eastern Syria

BEIRUT (Reuters) - An Islamic State suicide bomber detonated a tank at a Syrian air base in the province of Deir al-Zor, one of the last remaining government strongholds in eastern Syria, jihadist social media and a monitoring group said on Friday. One Islamic State Twitter account published two photos of a smiling man it named Abu al-Farouq al-Libi, who it said carried out the "suicide operation". The al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State has been gradually consolidating control of the oil-producing Deir al-Zor region this year. ... Read More http://ift.tt/1qDpXWH

Lack of ideas, leadership in Swedish politics may benefit far right

By Johan Ahlander and Simon Johnson STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's mainstream parties head into March's snap election unloved by voters and short on seasoned leadership, raising the risk the far-right will increase its support and be able to force a shift in generous immigration policies. Center-left Prime Minister Stefan Lofven's need to call a new election two months into office underlines his weakness. His likely rival for the top political post - Moderate party economic spokeswoman Anna Kinberg Batra - will not even head her own party until January. ... Read More http://ift.tt/1wGJSqq

Japan LGBT candidate hopes to raise awareness in election campaign

By Olivier Fabre TOKYO (Reuters) - Taiga Ishikawa has an uphill battle in his bid to become Japan's only openly gay member of parliament, but hopes his campaign for Sunday's general election will raise awareness in a nation where gay rights hardly get a nod in the mainstream political agenda. Ishikawa is keen for his candidacy, which has attracted considerable attention on the Internet, to help others in Japan's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community come out of the closet. "It is said that 3 to 5 percent of the population in Japan is LGBT. ... Read More http://ift.tt/13fkD1p

Ukraine’s Chocolate King president finds promise tough to keep

By Steve Stecklow and Anjuli Davies KIEV (Reuters) - The Chocolate King is finding it difficult to relinquish his throne. Petro Poroshenko, one of Ukraine's richest men and owner of a sweets empire, made an unusual promise last spring while campaigning to be president - if elected, he would sell most of his business assets. "As president of Ukraine, I only want to concern myself with the good of the country and that is what I will do," he told an interviewer. Poroshenko won the election, but he hasn't succeeded yet at keeping his campaign promise. ...

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Ahead of election win, Japan's Abe pivots away from painful reforms

By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Izumi Nakagawa TOKYO (Reuters) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is signaling that retooling Japan's economy with painful structural reforms must take a back seat to reviving growth, even though he is poised to win a big referendum on his economic policies in an election on Sunday. In the three weeks since he delayed a sales tax increase and called the election, Abe has shifted the debate from curbing the government's runaway debt to finding ways to stimulate the economy and put more money in voters' hands. ...

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