| Top Asian News at 12:30 a.m. GMT Posted: 25 Jan 2015 04:32 PM PST MANILA, Philippines (AP) — More than 30 police commandos were killed in a clash with Muslim insurgents Sunday in the southern Philippines in the biggest single-day combat loss for Filipino forces in many years, officials said. Dozens of commandos had entered the far-flung village of Tukanalipao at dawn looking for a top terror suspect, but had a "misencounter" with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Mayor Tahirudin Benzar Ampatuan of Mamasapano town told The Associated Press by telephone. |
| Japan stunned by video claiming death of 1 of 2 IS hostages Posted: 25 Jan 2015 04:21 PM PST  TOKYO (AP) — From the prime minister to ordinary people, Japanese were shocked Sunday at a video purportedly showing one of two Japanese hostages of the extremist Islamic State group had been killed.
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| Obama: Counterterrorism operations in Yemen not affected Posted: 25 Jan 2015 04:13 PM PST  NEW DELHI (AP) — President Barack Obama defended his counterterrorism strategy in tumultuous Yemen Sunday, saying efforts to root out a dangerous al-Qaida affiliate there would not be affected by the political vacuum in the country.
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| UK stars from Sting to Emma Thompson call on PM to help Syrian refugees Posted: 25 Jan 2015 04:09 PM PST  A star-studded list of UK celebrities from Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, to musician Sting and designer Vivienne Westwood wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday, criticizing the government for not welcoming more Syrian refugees. A year ago, Britain announced it would accept several hundred of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees as part of a special resettlement program.
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| Reuters Sports Schedule at 0001 GMT on Monday, Jan 26 Posted: 25 Jan 2015 04:01 PM PST Reuters sports schedule at 0001 GMT on Monday: - - - - TENNIS Australian Open, Melbourne (to Feb 1) Serena to face tricky Muguruza at Melbourne Park MELBOURNE - Top seed Serena Williams returns to Melbourne Park to face heavy-hitting Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, while the battle of Madisons will see a showdown between American friends Keys and Brengle in fourth-round action. Novak Djokovic also continues his quest for a fifth title against Luxembourg's Gilles Muller. ... |
| Morocco arrests suspected Algerian militant tied to Frenchman's murder Posted: 25 Jan 2015 03:34 PM PST  Moroccan authorities said on Sunday they arrested a suspected Algerian member of the militant group responsible for kidnapping and beheading French tourist Herve Gourdel east of Algiers in September. An al Qaeda splinter group known as Caliphate Soldiers kidnapped Gourdel when he was hiking in the Algerian mountains. The suspect, who was with another individual still on the run, was arrested in Beni Drar, near the Moroccan city of Oujda, a statement from the Moroccan interior ministry said. Oujda is located a few kilometers from the Algerian border.
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| Controversial 'Sniper' tops US box office for second week Posted: 25 Jan 2015 02:55 PM PST  Clint Eastwood's mega-hit "American Sniper" was the top film at North American movie houses for a second week, despite controversy over what some feel is a jingoistic message and graphic violence. The war drama, based on the true story of Iraq War Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, earned $64.4 million this weekend, industry estimates showed, after last weekend's massive haul of nearly $90 million -- a record January opening. Nearly half of all movie tickets sold over the weekend were for "American Sniper" and all told, the film has so far earned more than $200 million since its release, giving it bona fide blockbuster status. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said Muslims are facing increased threats in the United States after the release of the movie "American Sniper," because of the way it portrays Arabs and Muslims.
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| Kerry in Nigeria to warn against postelection violence Posted: 25 Jan 2015 01:45 PM PST  LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — In a rare high-level visit to Africa's most populous country, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged Nigeria's leading presidential candidates to refrain from fomenting violence after next month's vote, and he condemned savage attacks by Boko Haram, an al-Qaida-linked insurgency.
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| At least 17 killed in protests on anniversary of Egypt uprising Posted: 25 Jan 2015 01:45 PM PST  By Maggie Fick and Shadi Bushra CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 17 people were killed on Sunday in Egypt's bloodiest protests since Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was elected president, as security forces fired at protesters marking the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Gunfire and sirens could be heard in Cairo into the night as armoured personnel carriers moved through the centre of a city where security forces had once again used lethal force against dissenters. A Health Ministry spokesman said at least 17 people had been killed at protests across the country. The anniversary was a test of whether Islamists and liberal activists had the resolve to challenge a government that has persistently stamped out dissent since the then-army chief Sisi ousted elected Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in July 2013 after mass protests against his rule.
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| White House on the Hot Seat on Counter-Terror Tactics Posted: 25 Jan 2015 01:24 PM PST It was a tall order, given the events of the past week when House Republicans threatened to derail ongoing negotiations about Iran's development of nuclear technology by promising to pass new and tougher sanctions against Tehran. On Saturday, the terrorist group ISIS apparently beheaded another hostage -- Japanese journalist Haruna Yukawa -- and threatened to do the same to others in its custody, including Yukawa's colleague, Kenji Goto and an American woman whose identity her family has asked not be publicized. |
| Iranian lawmakers honor Guard commander over IS victories Posted: 25 Jan 2015 01:01 PM PST TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian lawmakers are publicly praising a senior Guard commander for his work fighting the militant Islamic State group. |
| Philippine forces, rebels report casualties in rare clash Posted: 25 Jan 2015 12:57 PM PST  Philippine security forces and a Muslim rebel group clashed Sunday in the country's south killing at least six police officers, both sides confirmed, in violence rarely seen since the signing of a peace treaty. Police commandos and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members fought near the remote town of Mamasapano on the main southern island of Mindanao before dawn, regional military spokesman Captain Joan Petinglay said. Regional police chief Noel Armillo told AFP that they have so far recovered the bodies of six police officers, adding that the extraction of more is ongoing. Mohagher Iqbal, the lead MILF negotiator in a landmark peace deal signed in March last year, also confirmed the incident, but would not say how many fighters were wounded or killed.
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| IS claims it executed Japanese hostage Posted: 25 Jan 2015 12:24 PM PST  The Islamic State group said Sunday it executed one of two Japanese hostages it has been holding, in an apparent beheading branded "outrageous and unforgivable" by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The claim comes a day after the release of a video announcing the murder of security contractor Haruna Yukawa by the jihadist group which has beheaded five Western hostages since August last year. It sought to raise the pressure on Japan by saying the fate of the other captive, freelance journalist Kenji Goto, depended on the release of an Iraqi would-be female bomber who is on death row in Jordan. "The Islamic State has carried out its threat... it has executed Japanese hostage Haruna Yukawa after the expiry of the deadline given," the jihadist group said on its Al-Bayan radio.
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| Jolie in Iraq, says more needed for Iraq and Syria refugees Posted: 25 Jan 2015 12:15 PM PST  DOHUK, Iraq (AP) — Actress Angelina Jolie, the special envoy for the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, appealed Sunday for urgent funding to assist more than three million displaced Iraqis and Syrians living in dire conditions in northern Iraq.
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| On Iraq visit, Jolie says world failing to avert disaster Posted: 25 Jan 2015 11:40 AM PST  The international community is failing in its duty to protect civilians affected by the conflict in Iraq and Syria, US actress Angelina Jolie said Sunday in northern Iraq. In her capacity as special envoy for the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR), the Hollywood star visited Syrian refugees and displaced Iraqis near Dohuk, in the autonomous region of Kurdistan. This is my fifth visit to Iraq since 2007 and the suffering is worse than anything I've seen in that time," she told reporters at a camp in Khanke. Jolie last visited Iraq in 2012, before the Islamic State jihadist group became a dominant force in large parts of Syria and launched a devastating offensive in Iraq last year.
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| Failed Iraq woman bomber wanted by IS in Japan hostage case Posted: 25 Jan 2015 11:10 AM PST  Sajida al-Rishawi, whose release is demanded by the Islamic State jihadist group that claimed the murder of a Japanese hostage, is a would-be Iraqi female suicide bomber on death row in Jordan. Rishawi was sentenced to death in 2006 for triple hotel bomb attacks in Amman that killed 60 people on November 9. The 44-year-old woman was arrested four days after the attacks in which her husband Ali Hussein al-Shammari and two other Iraqis, blew themselves up. The heaviest casualties came when Shammari detonated his explosives belt at the Radisson SAS hotel as a wedding was in full swing.
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| Japan condemns 'outrageous' hostage murder Posted: 25 Jan 2015 10:21 AM PST  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday branded the murder of a Japanese hostage by Islamic State militants as "outrageous and unforgivable" and demanded the immediate release of a second captive, amid a tide of global revulsion. The apparent beheading of self-employed security contractor Haruna Yukawa was announced in a video generally agreed to be credible, and appeared to mark a grave turn of events in a crisis that has gripped Japan for nearly a week. "I condemn it strongly and resolutely," he said, calling for the immediate freeing of Yukawa's fellow captive, freelance journalist Kenji Goto. In a city outside Tokyo, Shoichi Yukawa told of the horror he had felt when he learnt that threats to kill his son had been carried out.
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| Boko Haram wages new Nigeria attacks as Kerry visits Posted: 25 Jan 2015 10:18 AM PST  Boko Haram fighters on Sunday overran a strategic town in northeastern Nigeria and seized a military base, as Secretary of State John Kerry pledged further US support against the militants. The Islamists captured the town of Monguno in Borno State, which lies about 125 kilometres (80 miles) north of the state capital Maiduguri, which was targeted in a simultaneous dawn raid. "Monguno has fallen, Monguno has fallen," said a senior military officer, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media. The military in Abuja said that "scores" of Boko Haram fighters were killed as troops restored order in Maiduguri and Konduga, some 40 kilometres away.
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| Iran's protest over Iraqi player rejected Posted: 25 Jan 2015 10:16 AM PST  Iran's protest that Iraq fielded an ineligible player in their stormy Asian Cup quarter-final was shot down following lengthy deliberation by tournament organisers on Sunday. Iran lodged a formal complaint, claiming that midfielder Alaa Abdulzehra failed a drugs test while playing for an Iranian club last year, but it was rejected by the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) disciplinary committee. "Iraq tomorrow can play ... tomorrow morning we fly (home)," he added. An AFC statement released later said that the protest was "unfounded", without giving further details.
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| Officials say bombings kill 15 in Iraq's capital, Baghdad Posted: 25 Jan 2015 09:30 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A string of bombings ripped mainly through commercial areas in Iraq's capital Sunday, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, officials said. |
| Three protesters killed on anniversary of Egypt uprising as tension grows Posted: 25 Jan 2015 07:29 AM PST  By Maggie Fick and Shadi Bushra CAIRO (Reuters) - Three people were killed during pro-democracy protests in Egypt and a bomb wounded two policemen on Sunday, the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, security sources said. The anniversary is a test of whether Islamists and liberal activists facing one of Egypt's toughest crackdowns have the resolve to challenge the U.S.-backed government once again. Security forces have been stamping out dissent in Egypt since then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted elected president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July 2013 after mass protests against his rule.
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| Iran's foreign minister summoned to parliament over walk with Kerry Posted: 25 Jan 2015 07:11 AM PST  Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is to appear before parliament following controversy over a promenade with his American counterpart during intense nuclear negotiations in Geneva, state media reported on Sunday. Zarif, who leads Tehran's talks with "P5+1" - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - had a 15-minute walk down Geneva sidewalks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during discussions on Jan. 14 aimed at reaching a settlement of the 12-year nuclear dispute between Iran and the West. On Friday, conservative-leaning prayer leaders heaped scorn on Zarif and President Hassan Rouhani for the "diplomatic slip-up" and newspapers said 21 members of parliament had signed a petition to call in the moderate minister to provide an explanation. "Given the Great Satan's endless demands and sabotage during the course of the nuclear negotiations, there is no conceivable ground for intimacy between the foreign ministers of Iran and America," said the petition published in hard-line Fars News.
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| Norway frees Iraq cleric after prison term for death threats Posted: 25 Jan 2015 06:14 AM PST HELSINKI (AP) — An Iraqi-born cleric convicted of making death threats against a Norwegian politician and intimidating witnesses has walked free from prison. |
| Soccer-Iraq confirmed as Asian Cup semi-finalist after Iran protest Posted: 25 Jan 2015 06:07 AM PST (Corrects to semi-final in intro) By Julian Linden SYDNEY, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Iraq were cleared to take their place in Monday's Asian Cup semi-final against South Korea after the Asian Football Confederation dismissed a protest from Iran. Iraq beat their old foes on penalties in the quarter-finals but Iran submitted a formal protest, asking for the result to be overturned. In the protest, Iran alleged that Iraq had fielded an ineligible player during the quarter-final match in Canberra on Friday. |
| Body of slain French hostage to be flown home from Algeria Posted: 25 Jan 2015 05:55 AM PST  The body of a French tourist who was kidnapped and beheaded by jihadists in Algeria last September is to be flown home on Monday, a source close to the case told AFP. DNA tests have confirmed that the headless corpse found in a booby-trapped grave in the mountainous Kabylie region, east of Algiers, on January 15 was that of Herve Gourdel, the source said on Sunday. Gourdel's sister had flown to Algiers with two French pathologists to help with the formal identification of the body and the release of the death certificate. Gourdel was beheaded days later in a video posted online after France rejected the jihadists' demand.
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| Iran want life ban for Aussie referee after Asian Cup loss Posted: 25 Jan 2015 05:36 AM PST  Delegation chief Houshang Moghaddas said Iran would lodge a formal complaint against Williams following the dismissal of their protest that had Iraq fielded an ineligible player. Iran were furious with Williams after he questionably yellow-carded defender Mehdrad Pooladi for simulation in the first half of their rollercoaster quarter-final with Iraq. Williams started to run off before being reminded he had already cautioned Pooladi, and returned to brandish a red card -- an incident which enraged Iran coach Carlos Queiroz. Iran, Asia's top-ranked side, were leading 1-0 at the time but the game finished 3-3 after extra time before Iraq won a penalty shootout 7-6 in Canberra.
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| Report: Germany halts arms exports to Saudi Arabia Posted: 25 Jan 2015 05:30 AM PST BERLIN (AP) — A German newspaper says a top-secret government panel has halted arms exports to Saudi Arabia. |
| Undermanned SKorea sweat on Son for Asian Cup semifinals Posted: 25 Jan 2015 05:23 AM PST  Iraq has shrugged off the distraction of the Alaa Abdulzehra eligibility drama and been given the all clear for the Asian Cup semifinal on Monday against South Korea, which has its own concerns over the health of key playmaker Son Heung-min.
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| U.S. ambivalence towards Moscow talks shows pressure easing on Syria's Assad Posted: 25 Jan 2015 05:15 AM PST  By Sylvia Westall BEIRUT (Reuters) - An ambivalent U.S. response to a Moscow peace conference on Syria, despite a firm boycott by the main opposition, shows how the fight against Islamic State fighters has reduced international pressure against President Bashar al-Assad. Moscow says the aim of the conference, which it is hosting from Monday, is to find ways to restart peace talks that collapsed in Geneva last year. Russia's longstanding proposals for a peace plan do not require Assad to leave power, which Assad's main opponents consider the basis for any talks. The United States - still publicly committed to removing Assad - might once have been expected to denounce a conference held on such a basis as a sham.
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| AFC rejects Iran's protest over Asian Cup quarterfinal Posted: 25 Jan 2015 04:58 AM PST  SYDNEY (AP) — The Asian Football Confederation has dismissed a protest from Iran over its quarterfinal loss to Iraq in the continental championship, saying the complaint over the eligibility of Alaa Abdulzehra was unfounded.
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| Bombs kill 11 at central Baghdad restaurants Posted: 25 Jan 2015 04:31 AM PST Bombs killed at least 11 civilians in central Baghdad on Sunday when they exploded at two restaurants in the Iraqi capital, police and medical sources said. Police said the deadliest explosion took place near Tahrir Square when a bomb placed in a plastic bag exploded near a popular restaurant, killing seven people and wounding 11 others. In a separate incident, four people were killed and eight wounded when a bomb went off near a small restaurant in central Baghdad's Sibaa district, police and medics said. Sunni Islamist insurgents from Islamic State, which controls large swathes of territory in Iraq's north and west, have claimed responsibility for several recent bombings and suicide attacks in the capital. |
| Republicans Rip Obama for Misleading Americans on ISIS Posted: 25 Jan 2015 03:30 AM PST  President Obama's rosy assessment of the U.S. war effort against ISIS terrorists in his State of the Union address Tuesday night continues to draw sharp rejoinders from prominent Republicans and some foreign policy experts who believe the president is misleading the public. The latest to weigh in on Thursday was Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, the new chair of the House Armed Services Committee, who called the situation in Syria a "horrible" mess. During his nationally televised SOTU address, Obama said his administration's plan has halted the momentum of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. "On the Syria side they have grown in territory, so I think factually what the president said is simply not true," Thornberry told reporters.
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| Australian police probe Labor Party member over Syria conflict Posted: 25 Jan 2015 02:31 AM PST By Morag MacKinnon PERTH, January 25 (Reuters) - Australian police said on Sunday they were investigating a former trade union official and member of the Australian Labor Party following reports that he has traveled to Syria to join the fight against Islamic State militants. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported that Matthew Gardiner, 43, has left for Syria where he intends to join Kurdish fighters battling against the Islamists. The Australian Federal Police confirmed to Reuters that Gardiner is under investigation but declined to comment further. Gardiner is also president of the Northern Territory branch of the Australian Labor Party, and its secretary Kent Rowe told the ABC that he was on leave and hadn't been heard from in weeks. |
| South Korea wary of another Iraq shock at Asian Cup Posted: 25 Jan 2015 02:20 AM PST  South Korea will be praying lightning does not strike twice when they face Iraq in the Asian Cup semi-finals on Monday, having limped to the last four battered and bruised. The Koreans have failed to win Asia's showcase tournament since 1960 -- a curious anomaly for a country with a proud footballing pedigree and who famously reached the last four of the World Cup in 2002. South Korea were stunned on penalties in the semi-finals by Iraq, who went on to beat Saudi Arabia in the final in Jakarta, talisman Younis Mahmoud heading the winner to bring a small measure of comfort to the war-torn country. "Of course it was very special for Iraq won the Asian Cup in 2007," Iraq coach Radhi Shenaishil told reporters.
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| Spain arrests four in swoop of suspected militant cell in north Africa Posted: 25 Jan 2015 12:56 AM PST Police in Spain's north African enclave of Ceuta arrested four men on Saturday suspected of belonging to a militant Islamist network that may have been planning an attack in Spain, the interior ministry said. Spain has stepped up security as well as efforts to prevent the radicalisation of young Muslim citizens following attacks in Paris this month in which Islamist gunmen killed 17 people. "The four men, of Spanish nationality and Moroccan origin, have a very similar profile to those who carried out the attacks in Paris," the interior ministry said in a statement. "They are two pairs of brothers, highly radicalised and highly trained," Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz told reporters. |
| Japanese hostage crises: a timeline Posted: 24 Jan 2015 10:27 PM PST  The apparent execution of Haruna Yukawa, one of two Japanese hostages being held by Islamic State militants, marks one of the darkest moments in Japan's experience of kidnapping. Here are some key hostage crises that have embroiled Japanese nationals abroad in the past: September 1977: Five armed Japanese Red Army (JRA) members hijack a Japan Airlines plane with 156 people on board, en route from Paris to Tokyo. Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda accepts the hijackers' demands, saying that "human life outweighs the Earth". April 2004: Three Japanese spend a week in captivity in Iraq, after being snatched by a group calling itself the "Mujahedeen Brigades".
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| Father of Japanese hostage reported killed still hopeful Posted: 24 Jan 2015 08:58 PM PST  TOKYO (AP) — The father of the Japanese hostage purportedly shown in a video as having been killed by Islamic State militants is hoping against hope his son could still be alive.
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