| Japan, U.S. differ on China in talks on 'grey zone' military threats Posted: 09 Mar 2014 03:43 PM PDT  By Nobuhiro Kubo, Linda Sieg and Phil Stewart TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Japan and the United States start talks on how to respond to armed incidents that fall short of a full-scale attack on Japan, officials in Tokyo worry that their ally is reluctant to send China a strong message of deterrence. Tokyo hopes to zero in on specific perceived threats, notably China's claims to Japanese-held islands in the East China Sea, while Washington is emphasizing broader discussions, officials on both sides say. Washington takes no position on the sovereignty of the islands, called the Senkaku by Japan and the Diaoyu by China, but recognizes that Japan administers them and says they fall under the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, which obligates America to come to Japan's defense.
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| In Iran, EU's Ashton says no guarantee on nuclear deal Posted: 09 Mar 2014 02:20 PM PDT  EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Sunday a final accord on Iran's nuclear programme cannot be guaranteed, during a landmark visit underscoring a thaw in Tehran's ties with the West. Ashton's official visit to Tehran comes after Iran signed a preliminary deal in November with world powers under which it agreed to curb its disputed nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. The breakthrough was made possible after last year's election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, viewed as a relative moderate who has the ear of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "This interim agreement is really important but not as important as a comprehensive agreement (which is)... difficult, challenging, and there is no guarantee that we will succeed," Ashton told a joint news conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
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| Saudi jails Islamist for 8 years for Twitter protest call Posted: 09 Mar 2014 01:08 PM PDT  A Saudi court Sunday jailed an Islamist for eight years on charges of inciting protests, mocking the monarch and criticising the security services on Twitter, official news agency SPA reported. Prosecutors also found the defendant guilty of "mocking" King Abdullah, Saudi scholars and the judiciary, as well as criticising security services for arresting "promoters of extremist ideology". The sentence came two days after the Saudi interior ministry published a list of "terror" groups including the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Nusra Front, which is Al-Qaeda's official Syrian affiliate, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, another jihadist group fighting in Syria and Iraq. Saudi Arabia's interior ministry has said it will prosecute those who back such groups "financially or morally", or seek to promote them in the media and on social networks.
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| US general's accuser was ambitious soldier too Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:54 PM PDT  FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — The Army captain who has accused Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair of sexually assaulting her during their three-year relationship was an ambitious soldier with plans to make the military her career, much like the boss she loved and admired.
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| Israel: 40 rockets in alleged Iranian shipment Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:08 PM PDT  EILAT, Israel (AP) — Israel's military said Sunday that a cargo ship it intercepted in the Red Sea last week carried 40 rockets with a range of up to 160 kilometers (100 miles).
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| Iraq minister apologises for Lebanon plane row Posted: 09 Mar 2014 10:46 AM PDT  Iraq's transport minister apologised on Sunday for a row in which a Lebanese airliner en route to Baghdad was ordered to turn back mid-flight to pick up his son. Hadi al-Ameri pledged to turn his son in if an Iraqi investigation found he had carried out any wrongdoing and insisted he would personally bear the costs of the Middle East Airlines flight having to turn around while travelling from Beirut to Baghdad. "I ask you to forgive me for what happened," Ameri said during a press conference at Baghdad airport in which he refused to take questions. Lebanon's Middle East Airlines said on Thursday Iraqi authorities forced its airliner to turn around some 20 minutes after leaving Beirut because Ameri's son, Mahdi, had missed the flight.
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| Iraqi minister speaks out on plane-landing denial Posted: 09 Mar 2014 10:41 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's transportation minister is speaking out after a flight that his son missed out of Beirut was stopped from landing in Baghdad. |
| Suicide bomber kills 37 at crowded Iraq checkpoint Posted: 09 Mar 2014 09:21 AM PDT  Hilla (Iraq) (AFP) - A suicide bomber killed 37 people, including two state television employees, at a checkpoint near Baghdad Sunday, after Iraq's premier accused Riyadh and Doha of fuelling bloodshed in the country. Iraq has been hit by a year-long surge in violence that has reached levels not seen since 2008, driven principally by widespread discontent among its Sunni Arab minority and by the civil war in neighbouring Syria.
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| Suicide car bomb, attacks kill at least 42 in Iraq Posted: 09 Mar 2014 08:41 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (AP) — A suicide car bomber set off his explosive-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint Sunday in southern Iraq, the deadliest of a series of attacks that killed 42 people, officials said. The violence, which comes a few weeks before scheduled elections, is the latest by insurgents bent on destabilizing the country.
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| Will Iran's 'end to extremism' take hold? Posted: 09 Mar 2014 07:23 AM PDT Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who as an Iraqi Kurdish leader has worked with Iran's leadership for decades, thinks the change runs deep. Nearly 10 years ago, Iran was the leader of a powerful arc of Shiite influence that stretched from Tehran to Baghdad to Damascus to Beirut. |
| Suicide bomber kills 45 in Iraqi city of Hilla Posted: 09 Mar 2014 07:04 AM PDT  By Ali al-Rubaie HILLA, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide bomber driving a minibus packed with explosives killed at least 45 people and wounded 157 on Sunday in the southern Iraqi city of Hilla, police and medical sources said. The attacker approached a main checkpoint at a northern entrance to the largely Shi'ite Muslim city and detonated the minibus, a police officer said on condition of anonymity. Sunni Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda have been regaining ground in Iraq over the past year, particularly in the western province of Anbar bordering Syria. No one claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack, but the deputy chairman of Hilla provincial council, Aqeel al-Rubaie, accused al Qaeda of being behind the bombing.
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| UAE backs Saudis with Muslim Brotherhood blacklist Posted: 09 Mar 2014 04:15 AM PDT DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates has thrown its support behind neighboring Saudi Arabia's decision to label the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, increasing Gulf Arab pressure on the Islamist group. |
| Suicide car bomb kills at least 22 in Iraq Posted: 09 Mar 2014 04:04 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (AP) — A suicide car bomber set off his explosive-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint in southern Iraq on Sunday, killing at least 22 people, officials said. The attack, which comes a few weeks before scheduled elections, was the latest by insurgents bent on destabilizing the country.
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| Iraq: Suicide car bomb kills at least 22 Posted: 09 Mar 2014 01:43 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A suicide car bomber set off his explosive-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint in southern Iraq on Sunday, killing at least 22 people, officials said. The attack, which comes a few weeks before scheduled elections, was the latest by insurgents bent on destabilizing the country. |
| Iraqi PM Maliki says Saudi, Qatar openly funding violence in Anbar Posted: 09 Mar 2014 01:16 AM PST  Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of openly funding the Sunni Muslim insurgents his troops are battling in western Anbar province, in his strongest such statement since fighting started there early this year. Security forces have been fighting insurgents from the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Anbar's two main cities - Fallujah and Ramadi - since January after the arrest of a Sunni lawmaker and the clearing of an anti-government protest camp prompted a tribal revolt and allowed ISIL to set up fighting positions in the cities. Maliki's remarks play to Iraqi fears of the Sunni Arab states as he tries to burnish his standing as a defender of the mainly Shi'ite country before elections at the end of April. Violence has escalated in the last 12 months - ISIL has led a devastating campaign of suicide bombings since mid-2013 - and Maliki said in a mid-February speech that Saudi Arabia and Qatar were offering money to recruit fighters in Fallujah.
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| Iraq: Suicide car bomb kills at least 9 Posted: 08 Mar 2014 11:36 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Officials say a suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into a security checkpoint in southern Iraq, killing nine. |
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