Analysis: Japan's Abe gets second chance at loosening limits on military

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• Analysis: Japan's Abe gets second chance at loosening limits on military
• Philippine typhoon toll passes 700
• VIDEO: Chavez in Cuba for cancer surgery
• Crashes raise concern about Pakistani air force
• iSolated: Bad Apple Maps directions lead to desert
• Quake hits near Indonesian islands of Moluccas
• VIDEO: Chavez in Cuba for cancer surgery
• Japan's LDP, partner on track for big election win: surveys
• Investigators study Mexico crash that took singer
• VIDEO: Christmas home's 180,000 light bulbs
• Japan's LDP, partner on track for big election win: surveys
• Meeting delay a sign of cooling US-Vietnam ties
• AP Interview: Mexico leader to continue drug fight
• Costa Rica passes law banning hunting as a sport
• Mali PM Diarra resigns after arrest
• Costa Rica passes law banning hunting as a sport
• Mali's PM resigns after being arrested by junta
• Mexican architect given light prison term for smuggling drugs to U.S. under duress
• Mexican architect given light prison term for smuggling drugs to U.S. under duress
• AP Interview: Mexico pres will continue drug fight

Analysis: Japan's Abe gets second chance at loosening limits on military Posted: 10 Dec 2012 10:55 PM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - A likely win by Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democrats in this weekend's election will give the ex-Japanese premier a second chance to achieve his goal of easing the limits of a pacifist constitution on the military to let Tokyo play a bigger global security role.

Philippine typhoon toll passes 700 Posted: 10 Dec 2012 11:09 PM PST Hundreds missing and thousands living in temporary shelters as government struggles in the aftermath of disaster.

VIDEO: Chavez in Cuba for cancer surgery Posted: 10 Dec 2012 10:33 PM PST The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, has arrived in Cuba for his fourth cancer operation, having spoken openly for the first time about handing over to a possible successor.

Crashes raise concern about Pakistani air force Posted: 10 Dec 2012 10:50 PM PST Over a dozen Pakistani air force planes have crashed in roughly the past 18 months, raising concerns about the health of an aging fleet that officials are struggling to upgrade because of a lack of funds.

iSolated: Bad Apple Maps directions lead to desert Posted: 10 Dec 2012 10:31 PM PST The city of Mildura is not at the end of a dirt road in the Australian bush, in tire-choking desert sand far from food and water. Unfortunately, Apple's much-maligned mapping application thinks it is.

Quake hits near Indonesian islands of Moluccas Posted: 10 Dec 2012 10:40 PM PST (Reuters) - A 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck near the Indonesian islands of the Moluccas on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

VIDEO: Chavez in Cuba for cancer surgery Posted: 10 Dec 2012 10:33 PM PST The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, has arrived in Cuba for his fourth cancer operation, having spoken openly for the first time about handing over to a possible successor.

Japan's LDP, partner on track for big election win: surveys Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:59 PM PST TOKYO/TAKATSUKI (Reuters) - Conservative former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its smaller ally are heading for a resounding victory in Sunday's election, winning more than 300 seats in parliament's 480-member lower house, media surveys showed on Tuesday. Abe, 58, who resigned abruptly as premier in 2007 after a troubled year in office, is pushing the Bank of Japan (BOJ) for more powerful monetary stimulus and promises to boost public works to rev up a stagnant economy. ...

Investigators study Mexico crash that took singer Posted: 10 Dec 2012 10:05 PM PST Tearful fans set up candlelight shrines and memorials to Jenni Rivera from California to Mexico, as investigators said it would take days to piece together the wreckage of the plane carrying the Mexican-American music superstar and find out why it went down.

VIDEO: Christmas home's 180,000 light bulbs Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:34 PM PST One Wiltshire family turns their home into a 180,000 bulb Christmas display.

Japan's LDP, partner on track for big election win: surveys Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:59 PM PST TOKYO/TAKATSUKI (Reuters) - Conservative former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its smaller ally are heading for a resounding victory in Sunday's election, winning more than 300 seats in parliament's 480-member lower house, media surveys showed on Tuesday.

Meeting delay a sign of cooling US-Vietnam ties Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:39 PM PST The U.S. and Vietnam, former enemies who share concerns about China's rise, are finding that one issue — human rights — is keeping them from becoming closer friends.

AP Interview: Mexico leader to continue drug fight Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:15 PM PST Newly elected President Enrique Pena Nieto promised Monday to continue combatting all illegal drug production and trafficking in Mexico, including marijuana, despite its legalization in two U.S. states and liberalized use for medical purposes in others.

Costa Rica passes law banning hunting as a sport Posted: 10 Dec 2012 08:40 PM PST SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Costa Rica on Monday became the first Latin American country to ban hunting as a sport, following an unanimous and final vote from Congress. Lawmakers had provisionally approved a reform to its Wildlife Conservation law back in October. With a population of 4.5 million people, Costa Rica is one of the world's most biodiverse nations. The Central American country is already known for its environmental mindset, with some 25 percent of its land protected as national parks or reserves. ...

Mali PM Diarra resigns after arrest Posted: 10 Dec 2012 10:22 PM PST Cheick Modibo Diarra announces his resignation, hours after being arrested by coup leaders, state TV reports.

Costa Rica passes law banning hunting as a sport Posted: 10 Dec 2012 08:40 PM PST SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Costa Rica on Monday became the first Latin American country to ban hunting as a sport, following an unanimous and final vote from Congress.

Mali's PM resigns after being arrested by junta Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:44 PM PST Mali's prime minister resigned on state television early Tuesday, hours after soldiers who led a recent coup burst into his home and arrested him, in the latest sign of the volatile political situation in this once-stable nation in West Africa.

Mexican architect given light prison term for smuggling drugs to U.S. under duress Posted: 10 Dec 2012 08:05 PM PST SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A Tijuana architect who admitted smuggling drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border was ordered on Monday to serve six months in prison in an unusually lenient sentence taking into account that he committed the crime under threats to his family.

Mexican architect given light prison term for smuggling drugs to U.S. under duress Posted: 10 Dec 2012 08:05 PM PST SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A Tijuana architect who admitted smuggling drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border was ordered on Monday to serve six months in prison in an unusually lenient sentence taking into account that he committed the crime under threats to his family. Eugenio Velazquez, who designed one of Tijuana's most widely recognized landmarks - the cube-shaped addition to the Tijuana Cultural Center - also was ordered to remain under home confinement for six months following his release from federal prison. ...

AP Interview: Mexico pres will continue drug fight Posted: 10 Dec 2012 08:14 PM PST Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto says he'll mount a "real fight" against production and trafficking of marijuana, despite its legalization in two U.S. states.

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Chinese Police Detain Two Tibetans in Self-Immolation Protests

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• Chinese Police Detain Two Tibetans in Self-Immolation Protests
• Gunmen Assassinate Afghan Women’s Affairs Official
• Facebook shuts down Taliban recruiting account
• Pirate Bay proxy in legal threat
• Kidnappers urged to release Nigerian minister's mother
• Hungarian students block Danube bridges in anti-cuts protest
• Bosnian regional PM urges reshuffle to end stalemate
• DealBook: HSBC Expected to Settle Case on Laundering for $1.9 Billion
• Strauss-Kahn settles suit with hotel maid
• Man shot dead near Central Park
• A poem for Damascus
• Video: the al-Jazeera documentary that Burma's government publicly condemned
• U.S., France differ over how to deal with "explosive" Mali
• Police attacked before car burnt
• Suspension over 'suicide essay'
• Georgia, Russia to hold first bilateral talks since war
• Strauss-Kahn and Hotel Housekeeper Settle Suit Over Alleged Attack
• City Room: Man Fatally Shot on Midtown Street
• Ministers 'plan childcare change'
• Romanian president weighs options for PM after vote

Chinese Police Detain Two Tibetans in Self-Immolation Protests Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:48 PM PST A Tibetan monk and his nephew are accused of helping others set fire to themselves in protest of Chinese rule, China's state news agency reported.

Gunmen Assassinate Afghan Women’s Affairs Official Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:45 PM PST Najia Sediqi, the acting head of women's affairs in Laghman Province, was the second woman in that post to be killed in less than six months.

Facebook shuts down Taliban recruiting account Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:20 PM PST For a few brief weeks, you could see posts from the Pakistani Taliban in your Facebook feed, right next to Post articles and baby photos. But over the weekend, Facebook shut down a recruiting page for the TTP, or Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan — much to nobody's surprise. Read full article >>

Pirate Bay proxy in legal threat Posted: 10 Dec 2012 10:55 AM PST The UK's music industry body threatens legal action against the Pirate Party UK over service offering a workaround to a banned site.

Kidnappers urged to release Nigerian minister's mother Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:34 PM PST OGWASHI-UKU/ABUJA (Reuters) - The family of Nigeria's finance minister made an emotional appeal for kidnappers to free her 82-year-old mother on Monday, saying the elderly woman was in fragile health.

Hungarian students block Danube bridges in anti-cuts protest Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:32 PM PST BUDAPEST (Reuters) - More than 1,000 students rallied in Budapest on Monday against the Hungarian government's planned cuts in subsidies to finance college tuition, blocking bridges over the Danube in freezing weather.

Bosnian regional PM urges reshuffle to end stalemate Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:19 PM PST SARAJEVO (Reuters) - The prime minister of one of Bosnia's two regional governments called for the removal of eight opposition ministers on Monday, in a bid to clear a political blockage he has said risks hurting the country's relationship with the IMF.

DealBook: HSBC Expected to Settle Case on Laundering for $1.9 Billion Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:31 PM PST Federal and state authorities plan to announce a $1.9 billion settlement with HSBC on Tuesday, a major victory in the government's broader crackdown on money laundering at banks.

Strauss-Kahn settles suit with hotel maid Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:17 PM PST New York judge says two sides have reached a deal, but that details of the settlement will not be made public.

Man shot dead near Central Park Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:15 PM PST A man is fatally shot in the head at a busy Manhattan intersection near New York City's Central Park.

A poem for Damascus Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:48 PM PST A New York Times story on the growing violence in Damascus, Syria's capital and long a center of culture and history in the Middle East, ends with a nod to a poem about life in that city. "Damascus, What Are You Doing to Me?" is by the Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani, who died in 1998, long before the rebels began advancing on his hometown, a place that would probably feel very different to him today. Here are three of my favorite of the poem's 14 numbered sections. Read full article >>

Video: the al-Jazeera documentary that Burma's government publicly condemned Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:10 PM PST An al-Jazeera English documentary on violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma's western province of Rakhine has earned a formal, public rebuke from the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "The Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar strongly opposes and rejects the attempt made by Al Jazeera to broadcast the documentary by exaggerating and fabricating the incidents in Rakhine State," a seven-point statement concludes. Read full article >>

U.S., France differ over how to deal with "explosive" Mali Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:56 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Northern Mali, plagued by Islamist extremists and gripped by an aid disaster, is "one of the potentially most explosive corners of the world," the United Nations warned on Monday, as the United States and France differed over how to tackle the crisis.

Police attacked before car burnt Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:11 PM PST A police patrol car has been attacked by a masked gang of 15 men in east Belfast, then burnt out outside Alliance Party MP Naomi Long's office.

Suspension over 'suicide essay' Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:45 PM PST A teacher in western France is suspended after asking students to write an essay about wanting to kill themselves.

Georgia, Russia to hold first bilateral talks since war Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:34 PM PST TBILISI (Reuters) - Russia and Georgia will hold the first bilateral talks since their 2008 war this week marking an improvement in ties after bitter Russia foe President Mikheil Saakashvili's party lost control of parliament in October elections.

Strauss-Kahn and Hotel Housekeeper Settle Suit Over Alleged Attack Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:19 PM PST Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the housekeeper differed whether the sex was consensual; details of the settlement were not released.

City Room: Man Fatally Shot on Midtown Street Posted: 10 Dec 2012 01:37 PM PST The victim was fatally shot on Monday afternoon a block south of Central Park.

Ministers 'plan childcare change' Posted: 10 Dec 2012 12:12 PM PST Downing Street plans to announce changes to childcare costs in England and Wales as part of an effort to get more women into work, the BBC understands.

Romanian president weighs options for PM after vote Posted: 10 Dec 2012 11:59 AM PST BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian President Traian Basescu weighed his options for a new prime minister on Monday and could seek to split his rival Victor Ponta's leftist alliance, even though it scored a resounding electoral victory.

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