| Stunning Film Takes You Into the Heart of the Egyptian Revolution Posted: 17 Dec 2013 01:23 PM PST From 2011's nightly protests in Tahrir Square that sought to overthrow Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, to 2013, the new documentary The Square gives an on-the-ground view of the North African country's revolution. the documentary comes to Netflix next month. The film is the latest effort from director Jehane Noujaim, whose previous documentary, 2004's Control Room, revealed the inner workings of Al Jazeera in the early years of America's post-9/11 war with Iraq. it won the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival's jury award and an honorable mention from the International Documentary Association. |
| Analysis: Aerospace M&A likely to get boost from U.S. budget deal Posted: 17 Dec 2013 12:19 PM PST  By Andrea Shalal-Esa and Brenda Goh WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - A U.S. budget agreement making its way through Congress could set off the most robust series of mergers and acquisitions in the aerospace and defense sectors in years, industry leaders and experts say. The two-year agreement, which is likely to pass the Senate this week, is expected to reassure contractors on government spending and unleash pent-up demand for deals, according to analysts. The House of Representatives approved the budget plan last week. ...
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| Britain says Syria 'murdered' jailed doctor Posted: 17 Dec 2013 12:14 PM PST  Britain accused Syria on Tuesday of effectively murdering a surgeon who was detained after volunteering to work at a hospital in the war-torn country and then died in jail. Abbas Khan, a 32-year-old orthopaedic surgeon from south London, travelled to the northern city of Aleppo last year to help civilians but was captured by the Syrian regime. Syrian officials reportedly said Khan had committed suicide, but British junior Foreign Office minister Hugh Robertson said the Assad regime was responsible. "There is no excuse whatsoever for the treatment that he has suffered by the Syrian authorities, who have in effect murdered a British national who was in their country to help people injured during their civil war," Robertson told the BBC.
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| The latest sign that the US is losing Saudi Arabia over Syria Posted: 17 Dec 2013 11:53 AM PST Saudi Arabia hasn't been shy about pressuring the US into direct involvement in the Syrian civil war on the rebels' side. The latest prominent Saudi to throw his hat into the ring is Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz al Saud, a member of the ruling family and the ambassador to Britain. In an Op-Ed in The New York Times today, Prince Nawaf tied Syria policy with his own country's longstanding rivalry with Iran in the region, writing that "we believe that many of the West's policies on both Iran and Syria risk the stability and security of the Middle East." Under President Bashar al-Assad, Syria is one of only two Arab countries friendly to Iran. |
| Exclusive: West signals to Syrian opposition Assad may stay Posted: 17 Dec 2013 11:38 AM PST  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Western nations have indicated to the Syrian opposition that peace talks next month may not lead to the removal of President Bashar al-Assad and that his Alawite minority will remain key in any transitional administration, opposition sources said. The message, delivered to senior members of the Syrian National Coalition at a meeting of the anti-Assad Friends of Syria alliance in London last week, was prompted by rise of al Qaeda and other militant groups, and their takeover of a border crossing and arms depots near Turkey belonging to the moderate Free Syrian Army, the sources told Reuters. "Our Western friends made it clear in London that Assad cannot be allowed to go now because they think chaos and an Islamist militant takeover would ensue," said one senior member of the Coalition who is close to officials from Saudi Arabia.
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| Germany's Merkel starts 3rd term with new allies Posted: 17 Dec 2013 11:38 AM PST  BERLIN (AP) — Angela Merkel has won over Germans once again.
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| Syria Kurds aim for unified front ahead of peace talks Posted: 17 Dec 2013 10:48 AM PST  Arbil (Iraq) (AFP) - The two main Syrian Kurdish groups held talks in Iraq on Tuesday, aiming to establish a unified front ahead of a peace conference in Switzerland next month, an official said. The People's Council of Western Kurdistan (PCWK) and the Kurdish National Council (KNC) have been at odds since last month when the former announced a transitional autonomous administration for Kurdish-majority areas of northeastern and northwestern Syria without the latter's backing. The dispute has led to the closure of the border between Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, which backs the KNC, and Kurdish areas of northeastern Syria.
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| Turkish photographer missing in Syria Posted: 17 Dec 2013 10:44 AM PST  Ankara (AFP) - Turkish photographer Bunyamin Aygun has disappeared in neighbouring Syria while covering the civil war there, his newspaper said on Tuesday.
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| Cameron under fire for Afghan mission accomplished remark Posted: 17 Dec 2013 10:18 AM PST  British Prime Minister David Cameron faced criticism Tuesday for saying that foreign troops had accomplished their mission of providing security in Afghanistan, in an echo of former US president George W. Bush's much-derided comments on Iraq in 2003. During an annual Christmas visit to British troops in Afghanistan on Monday, Cameron was asked about the ongoing unrest ahead of the scheduled end of international combat operations in a year's time. Asked if British soldiers will be coming home with "mission accomplished", Cameron told British media: "Yes, I think they do. Bush infamously stood in front of a huge banner saying "Mission Accomplished" on a US aircraft carrier six weeks after the March 2003 invasion of Iraq and declared that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended."
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| Iran inaugurates powerful long-range radar system Posted: 17 Dec 2013 09:13 AM PST Iran's state TV is saying it has inaugurated a powerful new long-range radar system capable of detecting small drone aircraft. Gen. Farzad Esmaili, head of Iran's air defense headquarters, told the station ... |
| Militants kill eight Shiite pilgrims in Iraq Posted: 17 Dec 2013 08:08 AM PST  Militants killed at least eight Shiite pilgrims in and around Baghdad on Tuesday, after car bombs targeted others the day before, Iraqi security officials said. A suicide bomber detonated explosives among pilgrims walking south of Baghdad, killing four, while militants in a car threw hand grenades at pilgrims in the capital, killing at least four others. The violence came after two car bombs targeted Shiite pilgrims south of the Iraqi capital on Monday night, killing at least 24 people and wounding over 50.
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| US boosts support for Philippines security forces Posted: 17 Dec 2013 07:26 AM PST  The United States will provide the Philippines' security forces with $40 million in new assistance in part to help the country protect its territorial waters amid rising tensions with China over disputes ...
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| Syria peace conference to open Jan. 22 in Montreux Posted: 17 Dec 2013 05:44 AM PST  GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations plans to precede its internationally brokered peace talks between Syria's warring sides next month with a one-day meeting of foreign ministers in the Swiss city of Montreux, officials said Tuesday.
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| 'Soldier of Allah' evidence not a defence to Rigby murder, court hears Posted: 17 Dec 2013 05:44 AM PST  By Costas Pitas LONDON (Reuters) - The jury in the trial of two men accused of murdering British soldier Lee Rigby heard on Tuesday that the evidence by one of them that Muslims are engaged in a war against Western nations was not a defence to the charge of murder in law. Michael Adebolajo, 29, and co-defendant Michael Adebowale, 22, are accused of running over Rigby in Woolwich, southeast London, on May 22 before attacking his unconscious body with knives and a meat cleaver. Last week, Adebolajo sat in the witness box just metres away from Rigby's family and said he was waging a war for Allah in response to Western wars in nations such as Iraq and Afghanistan. But Judge Nigel Sweeney told the Old Bailey jury that did not amount to a defence in law.
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| Thousands of foreigners have fought in Syria: research group Posted: 17 Dec 2013 05:43 AM PST  Between 3,300 and 11,000 fighters from more than 70 nations, including a rising number from Western Europe, have joined the struggle in Syria against President Bashar al-Assad, a research group reported on Tuesday. After security forces repressed peaceful protests against more than 40 years of Assad family rule in 2011, an armed revolt ensued with an increasingly sectarian element. "We estimate that - from late 2011 to 10 December 2013 - between 3,300 and 11,000 individuals have gone to Syria to fight against the Assad government," said the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), a partnership of five universities based at King's College London. "These figures include those who are currently present (in Syria) as well as those who have since returned home, been arrested or killed." The ICSR said it used 1,500 sources, including media reports, government estimates, jihadi statements and social media to collect the data.
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| Bombings kill 10 Shiite pilgrims in Iraq Posted: 17 Dec 2013 05:21 AM PST  BAGHDAD (AP) — Bombings in and near Baghdad killed 10 Shiite pilgrims on Tuesday as they were making their way on foot to a holy city in southern Iraq, officials said.
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| Officials: Bombing kills 4 Shiite pilgrims in Iraq Posted: 17 Dec 2013 03:55 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials say a roadside bomb explosion in Baghdad has killed four Shiite pilgrims. |
| Iranian Bombs and Black Swans Posted: 17 Dec 2013 02:45 AM PST  Many improbable catastrophes might wreck the all-important Iran negotiations. One of them is named Giuliani.
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| Is Putin One of Us? Posted: 17 Dec 2013 12:00 AM PST With America clearly in mind, Putin declared, "In many countries today, moral and ethical norms are being reconsidered." President Reagan once called the old Soviet Empire "the focus of evil in the modern world." President Putin is implying that Barack Obama's America may deserve the title in the 21st century. Nor is he without an argument when we reflect on America's embrace of abortion on demand, homosexual marriage, pornography, promiscuity, and the whole panoply of Hollywood values. Our grandparents would not recognize the America in which we live. |
| Exclusive: Syria region where polio found excluded from 2012 vaccination drive Posted: 16 Dec 2013 10:24 PM PST  By Oliver Holmes BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian government excluded the largely rebel-held province of Deir al-Zor - where polio broke out this year - from a 2012 vaccination campaign, arguing that most residents had fled although hundreds of thousands were still there, a Reuters investigation shows. Public health researchers say missing out the Syrian province contributed to the reemergence there of polio, a highly infectious, incurable disease that can paralyze a child within hours but has been wiped out in many parts of the world. In November, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said 13 cases had been found in the province. Two more have since been recorded there and the virus has surfaced in Aleppo city and near Damascus, the first outbreak since 1999 in Syria, where civil war has raged since a crackdown on protests in 2011.
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| Scores killed in Iraq bloodshed ahead of Shi'ite holy day Posted: 16 Dec 2013 05:25 PM PST  By Ghazwan Hassan TIKRIT (Reuters) - Suicide bombers and gunmen killed scores of people in Iraq on Monday in attacks mostly targeting Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims and official buildings ahead of a major Shi'ite ritual next week. Al Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim militants have intensified attacks on the security forces, civilians and anyone seen as supporting the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad, tipping Iraq back into its deadliest levels of violence in five years. The first major attack of the day came in Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, when four men wearing explosive belts took over a police station after detonating a car bomb outside, police sources said. "All the militants were killed before they reached the police department building where the detainees are held." No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suicide bombings are the trademark of al Qaeda's Iraqi wing, which merged this year with its Syrian counterpart to form the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
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| Man accused of taking Army IDs to stay in custody Posted: 16 Dec 2013 05:17 PM PST  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — An Iraq War veteran accused of stealing identification information of roughly 400 members of his former Army unit so he could make fake IDs for his militia was ordered Monday to remain in federal custody.
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| Syria peace talks to open in Montreux: UN Posted: 16 Dec 2013 04:30 PM PST  The long-delayed "Geneva II" peace conference for Syria will open in the Swiss lakeside town of Montreux because of a lack of hotel space in Geneva, the United Nations said Tuesday. "The international conference on Syria... will be held due to logistical reasons... in Montreux," said Khawla Mattar, spokeswoman for UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who is trying to organise the conference. But a luxury watch fair will be taking place in Geneva at the same time. Montreux was decided upon, Mattar said, because of a variety of reasons, including security considerations and the availability of hotel space in the scenic town at the other end of Lake Geneva known for its jazz festival.
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