US to recognise Somali government

US to recognise Somali government


US to recognise Somali government

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:32 PM PST

The US will on Thursday officially recognise Somalia's government in Mogadishu after more than 20 years, says a US official.

China Arrests 7 in New Effort to Stop Tibetan Self-Immolations

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:59 PM PST

The arrests suggest that the government is embracing a new strategy against politically motivated suicides: punishing friends and relatives of those who self-immolate.

US economic activity 'increasing'

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:50 PM PST

The US Federal Reserve's latest report on the economy says activity has picked up slightly in the past two months.

Clinton highlights concern over missing Lao activist

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:43 PM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Laos on Thursday to mount a transparent investigation into the disappearance of a prominent activist who rights groups believe has been taken into government custody.

In India, suicide of another rape victim puts spotlight on inaction

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:08 PM PST

BADSHAHPUR, India/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - On the evening of December 26, as an Indian government-chartered jet was heading to Singapore with a critically injured New Delhi gang rape victim on board, the teenage survivor of another gang rape was taking her own life.

UK's Cameron risks "dangerous gamble" on EU

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:53 PM PST

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron will be taking a "dangerous gamble" if tries to win concessions from the European Union by exploiting a crisis among the bloc's euro zone nations, one of his senior ministers said on Thursday.

VIDEO: Obama announces gun control plans

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:14 PM PST

US President Obama has called for the biggest changes to American gun laws in 20 years, in response to the Sandy Hook shooting last month.

Crash pilot was 'highly skilled'

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 01:26 PM PST

Tributes are paid to a pilot who died when a helicopter crashed into a crane in London.

Some Uruguayan doctors refuse to perform abortions despite law

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:38 PM PST

MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) - Fierce opposition to abortion among many Uruguayan gynecologists is overshadowing the implementation of a new law legalizing the procedure in the mainly Roman Catholic South American nation.

Deadly shooting in eastern Kenya

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:21 PM PST

At least five people have been killed and four others wounded in a shooting at a restaurant in the town of Garissa in eastern Kenya, police say.

Kurd activists' bodies sent home

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 11:44 AM PST

Thousands of Kurds gather in Istanbul as the bodies of activists shot dead in Paris return, amid reports of a third day of Turkish air strikes on the PKK.

India and Pakistan 'to ease' Kashmir tensions

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:38 PM PST

Day after Pakistan accused India of killing a soldier along the border, both sides agree to "de-escalate" tensions.

Turkey to pursue Kurd rebels till they lay down arms: PM

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:13 PM PST

ANKARA/DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday military operations against Kurdish rebels would continue until they laid down their arms, as Turkish media reported warplanes had bombed militants in northern Iraq for a third day.

Conflict hits Damascus daily life

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:13 PM PST

The fabled city of Damascus is now being squeezed by an ever-encroaching war, as queues for bread and fuel grow longer.

Russian crime boss gunned down in Moscow

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 11:45 AM PST

MOSCOW — One of Russia's biggest criminal bosses — call him the country's Don Corleone — was gunned down in the center of Moscow on Wednesday as he left his favorite hangout surrounded by bodyguards.

Aslan Usoyan, a 75-year-old gangster known as Grandpa Khasan, was hit by a sniper perched on the sixth floor of an apartment building, shot in the head by an assailant armed with a silenced assault rifle, the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement. He died at a hospital, leaving behind a nephew he was grooming for succession and the prospect of a bloody war over turf.

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Mali asked U.S. for military aid last week, State Dept. official says

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 11:32 AM PST

The besieged government in Mali asked the United States last week for military help to repel al-Qaeda-linked militants, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday. The disclosure appeared to contradict earlier U.S. characterizations that only France had been asked to intervene.

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U.S. to recognize Somali government, opening door to new aid

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:07 PM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will on Thursday officially recognize the Somali government in Mogadishu, ending a hiatus of more than 20 years and opening the door to increased U.S. and international economic help for the violence-plagued African nation, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.

Mouse Study Discovers DNA That Controls Behavior

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:10 PM PST

Scientists have identified four regions of DNA that play a major role in controlling animal behavior: telling a mouse how long a burrow to dig and whether to add an escape tunnel.

Body found in ferry teen search

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 11:27 AM PST

A body is found in the River Tamar by police searching for missing teenager Jordan Cobb who leapt from the Torpoint ferry.

Pakistan tells anti-government cleric protesters are at risk

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 10:33 AM PST

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Interior Minister warned an anti-government Muslim cleric backed by thousands of protesters camped out in the heart of the capital near parliament to disperse, saying they were at risk of attack from militants.

China's FDI inflow drops amid economic slowdown

China's FDI inflow drops amid economic slowdown


China's FDI inflow drops amid economic slowdown

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:10 AM PST

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China dropped in December for a seventh consecutive month amid the country's economic slowdown, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

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Nunchaku

Posted: 16 Jan 2013 12:03 AM PST

Christmas has been over for a few weeks now, but Lim Guan Eng's Christmas message now just begins to take its effects.

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Somali Islamist militants say French hostage sentenced to death

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:31 PM PST

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali militants linked to al Qaeda have sentenced a French agent to death several days after an attempt by French armed forces to rescue him failed, the al Shabaab rebel group said on Wednesday.


Japanese airlines ground Dreamliners after emergency landing

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:30 PM PST

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's two leading airlines grounded their fleets of Boeing 787s on Wednesday after one of the Dreamliner passenger jets made an emergency landing, the latest and most serious in a series of incidents to heighten safety concerns over a plane many see as the future of commercial aviation.


Suicide bomber kills 10 in Iraq's Kirkuk - officials

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:23 PM PST

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least ten people were killed in north Iraq on Wednesday when a suicide bomber in a truck detonated his explosives outside a Kurdish party office in Kirkuk, security officials said.

Spanish cuts widen Europe's north-south research divide

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 10:57 PM PST

MADRID (Reuters) - Amanda Bolanos, a young Spanish scientist, knows she will not be coming home.

New food magazine app comes with no recipes, lots of stories

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:52 PM PST

Award-winning blog Honest Cooking has released a new iPad app and culinary magazine void of recipes and heavy on food stories from around the world.

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Taiwan confiscates 435 dog penises at illegal abattoir

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:50 PM PST

Animal disease officials in Taiwan Wednesday said they had confiscated more than 400 dried dog penises, testicles and various internal organs in a raid on an illegal slaughterhouse.

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Money does not buy happiness in China: survey

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:48 PM PST

China's super-rich suffer because of the pressures brought about by their fortunes and are less happy than ordinary millionaires, according to a survey by a leading wealth magazine.

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Samsung puts plans for Microsoft Surface tablet on hold

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:41 PM PST

Samsung has canceled plans for a Windows RT tablet due to a belief the devices would be too expensive and that potential customers are still confused about the difference between the Windows RT and Windows 8 operating systems.

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Oracle patches dangerous Java holes

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:39 PM PST

Oracle on Monday was distributing a patch for Java software flaws deemed so dangerous that the US Department of Homeland Security said that people should stop using it.

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Strawberries, blueberries can boost a woman's heart health: study

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:36 PM PST

According to a new study published in Circulation, one delicious way women can reduce their risk of a heart attack is to eat blueberries and strawberries.

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VIDEO: Scores killed at Syria university

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 02:36 PM PST

More than 80 people have been killed by two blasts in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, activists and officials say.

VIDEO: Deaf twins end lives as sight fails

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:12 PM PST

A hospital in the Belgian capital Brussels has helped identical twin brothers to die by lethal injection, reopening the debate on euthanasia.

VIDEO: Protesters urge Pakistan leaders to go

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:32 PM PST

Crowds of Pakistani protesters have braved bitter cold conditions overnight in the capital, Islamabad, to demand the immediate resignation of the government they see as corrupt and inept.

VIDEO: Chavez deputy gives state address

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:38 PM PST

Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolas Maduro has given the annual state of the nation speech in place of Hugo Chavez, who is still recuperating in Cuba after cancer surgery.

Indian filmmaker accused of raping actress: police

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:29 PM PST

An Indian film producer was due to appear in court on Wednesday after his arrest for allegedly raping an aspiring actress whom he had promised a role in his next movie, police said.

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Black sheep

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:24 PM PST

After Guang Ming Daily deputy crime chief Ang Kean Siang was assaulted by Lim Ah Chye, a member of voluntary patrol unit (PPS) set up by the Penang state government, many people, like me, could not believe it as such an ugly incident actually involved a civil organisation set up to maintain law and order and to protect the people.

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Moderation best approach to counter terrorism

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:20 PM PST

Malaysia believes that the moderates must be the only dominant voice to occupy the mainstream as the voice of moderation will strongly contribute to eradicating terrorism.

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Indian police target single women, couples out after dark

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 11:17 PM PST

An anti-harassment police squad launched in a district near Mumbai is targeting single women and young couples out on the streets after dark, following a brutal gang-rape and murder in India last month.

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Why Facebook's Graph Search Is A Very Big Deal

Why Facebook's Graph Search Is A Very Big Deal


Why Facebook's Graph Search Is A Very Big Deal

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 05:44 PM PST

MENLO PARK, CA - JANUARY 15: Facebook Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg introduces Graph Search features during a presentation January 15, 2013 in Menlo Park. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife) Online pundits almost immediately declared Facebook's new Graph Search, announced Tuesday morning after days of frenzied media hype, to [...]

Young Afghan musicians to tour US

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 10:33 PM PST

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Not so long ago Fakira roamed the mean streets of the Afghan capital, hawking magazines for 13 U.S. cents apiece to support her poverty-stricken family.  Next month, the 15-year-old cellist appears in America's most prestigious concert halls, performing alongside other former street children and orphans of Afghanistan's decades of violence.

Emergency landing grounds Boeing 787 jets in Japan

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 10:27 PM PST

An All Nippon Airways flight sits at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan after it made an emergency landing Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. The flight to Tokyo from Ube in western Japan landed at the airport after a cockpit message showed battery problems, in the latest trouble for the Boeing 787 TOKYO (AP) — Boeing Co.'s 787 planes were grounded for safety checks Wednesday by two major Japanese airlines after one was forced to make an emergency landing in the latest blow for the new jet.


Workers at South Africa's Amplats down tools: labor leader

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 09:46 PM PST

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Workers at the Rustenburg operations of South Africa's Anglo American Platinum refused to go underground for overnight shifts to protest company plans to close mines, a labor leader said on Wednesday.

FDA Releases St. Jude Warning Letter

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 04:38 PM PST

The FDA on Tuesday released the full text of a warning letter sent last week to St. Jude Medical. The company had previously disclosed the existence of the letter in an SEC filing but did not make clear the full extent of the FDA warning. The letter from the FDA is the latest in a [...]

Pakistan says to protest to India over new Kashmir killing

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 09:29 PM PST

Indian BSF soldiers walk during night patrol near the fenced border with Pakistan in AbdullianISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Pakistani army said on Wednesday it will protest to India over the killing of a Pakistani soldier in Kashmir, the fifth fatality in hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbors this year. Indian troops shot dead the soldier at a position called Kundi during firing from the Indian side of the Line of Control in the disputed Himalayan territory, Pakistan's army said in a statement. The Indian defense ministry declined to comment. ...


Israeli watchdog rips Netanyahu over settlements

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 09:14 PM PST

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli watchdog says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's settlement policies during his four-year term show intent to make a Palestinian state impossible to create.

VIDEO: Passengers rescued from Dreamliner

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 08:58 PM PST

A Boeing 787 aircraft operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA) has made an emergency landing at Takamatsu airport after a battery malfunction.

VIDEO: Behind the scenes at Yugoslavia trials

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 09:16 PM PST

A BBC exclusive behind the scenes access to the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia).

Pakistan turmoil deepens as court orders PM's arrest

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 09:05 PM PST

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the prime minister on Tuesday on corruption allegations, ratcheting up pressure on a government that is also facing street protests led by a cleric who has a history of ties to the army.

Pakistan turmoil deepens as court orders PM's arrest

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 09:05 PM PST

Supporters of Sufi cleric and leader of Minhaj-ul-Quran Qadri gather around as he addresses them on the second day of protests in IslamabadISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the prime minister on Tuesday on corruption allegations, ratcheting up pressure on a government that is also facing street protests led by a cleric who has a history of ties to the army. The combination of the arrest order and the mass protest in the capital, Islamabad, led by Muslim cleric Muhammad Tahirul Qadri, raised fears among politicians that the military was working with the judiciary to force out a civilian leader. ...


U.S. pushing for North Korean sanctions at U.N.

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 08:46 PM PST

North Koreans pay their respects in front of the statues of the North's founder Kim Il-sung and late leader Kim Jong-il on the first day of new year in PyongyangSEOUL (Reuters) - The United States is pushing hard for tough sanctions against North Korea, one of its top envoys for Asia said on Wednesday, although diplomats at the United Nations said it appeared unlikely that the North's ally, China, would support them. Washington, along with South Korea, Japan and European Union states, want to punish North Korea for its December rocket launch with a United Nations Security Council resolution and tougher sanctions against Pyongyang. "We anticipate formal steps in the Security Council in the immediate future," Kurt Campbell, the top U.S. ...


Star Wars: The Old Republic 'Gay Planet' Controversy Gets Its Own Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Game

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 03:43 PM PST

Last week, Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) announced players could romance NPCs of the same gender in their soon-to-be-released expansion, "Rise of the Hutt Cartel." But this step into the 21st century was catapulted back to a long time ago with the news that same-gender romances would be confined to one planet.

U.S. pushing for North Korean sanctions at U.N.

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 08:46 PM PST

SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States is pushing hard for tough sanctions against North Korea, one of its top envoys for Asia said on Wednesday, although diplomats at the United Nations said it appeared unlikely that the North's ally, China, would support them.

VIDEO: Sri Lanka Chief Justice fears for life

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 08:37 PM PST

Sri Lanka's first ever female Chief Justice has said her life is in danger after President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government evicted her from office and swore in a replacement.

Japan's Abe turns to SE Asia to counter China

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 08:03 PM PST

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during a news conference at his official residence in TokyoTOKYO/JAKARTA (Reuters) - The last time he was prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe's inaugural foreign trip was to China. In the job again 7 years later and relations with Beijing now chilly, Abe is turning first this time to the rising economic stars of Southeast Asia. A hawkish Abe wants them to help counterbalance the growing economic and military might of China at a time when Japan needs new sources of growth for its languishing economy and is debating whether to make its own military more muscular. ...


Boeing 787 jets in Japan grounded after problems

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 09:27 PM PST

An All Nippon Airways flight sits at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan after it made an emergency landing Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. The flight to Tokyo from Ube in western Japan landed at the airport after a cockpit message showed battery problems, in the latest trouble for the Boeing 787 TOKYO (AP) — Boeing Co.'s 787 planes were grounded for safety checks Wednesday by two major Japanese airlines after one was forced to make an emergency landing in the latest blow for the new jet.


Japan's Abe turns to SE Asia to counter China

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 08:03 PM PST

TOKYO/JAKARTA (Reuters) - The last time he was prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe's inaugural foreign trip was to China. In the job again 7 years later and relations with Beijing now chilly, Abe is turning first this time to the rising economic stars of Southeast Asia.

Pakistan says to protest to India over new Kashmir killing

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 09:29 PM PST

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Pakistani army said on Wednesday it will protest to India over the killing of a Pakistani soldier in Kashmir, the fifth fatality in hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbors this year.

VIDEO: Another victim in America's murder capital

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 07:41 PM PST

The BBC's Mark Mardell meets the mother of one of the 506 people killed in Chicago, America's murder capital, in 2012.