Young Indian rape suspect held alone for own safety, says innocent

Young Indian rape suspect held alone for own safety, says innocent


Young Indian rape suspect held alone for own safety, says innocent

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 01:02 PM PST

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Behind a barbed wire-topped wall by a busy New Delhi highway a teenager sits alone in a locked room, accused of taking part in a gang rape that first sparked nationwide protests and now a debate over whether Indian law is too lenient on juveniles.

Obama plans visit to Middle East

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:53 PM PST

Barack Obama is planning his first trip to Israel as US president, in a spring trip that will include the West Bank and Jordan, says the White House.

Iran nuclear talks set for February 26; signals from Tehran mixed

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:49 PM PST

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran and world powers announced new talks on Tehran's nuclear program on February 26, but hopes of progress after Tuesday's announcement were tempered when an Iranian official said the West's goal in talking was to undermine the Islamic republic.

Tuareg rebels say they extend control in Mali's northeast

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:24 PM PST

KIDAL, Mali (Reuters) - Pro-autonomy Tuareg rebels in Mali said on Tuesday they had occupied the town of Menaka, extending their control of the remote northeast as they position for talks with the government after the retreat of al Qaeda-linked insurgents.

A staggering map of the 54 countries that reportedly participated in the CIA's rendition program

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:21 PM PST

After Sept. 11, 2001, the CIA launched a program of "extraordinary rendition" to handle terrorism suspects. The agency's problem, as it saw it, was that it wanted to detain and interrogate foreign suspects without bringing them to the United States or charging them with any crimes. Their solution was to secretly move a suspect to another country. Sometimes that meant a secret CIA prison in places such as Thailand or Romania, where the CIA would interrogate him. Sometimes it meant handing him over to a sympathetic government, some of them quite nasty, to conduct its own "interrogation."

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Ahmadinejad makes first Cairo visit

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:20 PM PST

TEHRAN — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Cairo on Tuesday as Iran's first head of state to visit Egypt since the two nations ended diplomatic relations in 1980, another sign of the regional shifts triggered by the Arab Spring.

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No full state apology for Ireland’s Magdalene laundry inmates

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 11:41 AM PST

DUBLIN — The inscription above the door claims it was a place of refuge. But for Margaret Bullen and thousands like her, the Magdalene laundry on Sean McDermott Street in Dublin's city center was a prison and a workhouse.

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Brennan nomination opens Obama to criticism on secret targeted killings

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 11:19 AM PST

President Obama's plan to install his counterterrorism adviser as director of the CIA has opened the administration to new attack over secret targeted killing policies that it has fought to keep hidden from the public.

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The debate over King Richard III’s legacy continues

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 11:03 AM PST

A team of archaeologists confirmed Monday that ancient remains found under a parking lot belong to long-lost King Richard III, successfully ending a search that sparked a modern-day debate about the legacy of the reputed tyrant. Eliza Mackintosh reports:

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Teens' fingers lost in tug-of-war

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:10 PM PST

Two teenagers whose fingers were cut off in a tug-of-war accident at a California school are awake and alert after surgery, a medical official says.

Wounded Armenian candidate will not delay election

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 11:50 AM PST

YEREVAN (Reuters) - An Armenian presidential candidate who was shot last week will not seek a postponement to this month's election to avoid the risk of further instability in the former Soviet republic, his lawyer and other backers said on Tuesday.

Israel boosts defenses along Syria, Lebanon borders

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:05 PM PST

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has deployed a third Iron Dome missile defense system near its northern borders with Syria and Lebanon, security sources said on Tuesday.

Argentine minister, UK lawmakers trade barbs in stormy meeting

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 11:43 AM PST

LONDON (Reuters) - Argentina accused Britain on Tuesday of promoting Israeli-type settlement on occupied land in the Falkland Islands, while British parliamentarians said Buenos Aires was using "megaphone diplomacy" to assert its claims to the islands.

Warm Weather Forces Changes Ahead of Iditarod Race

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:55 PM PST

Temperatures in the 30s and 40s mean several dog-sledding events before the Iditarod have been rerouted, postponed or canceled.

Singapore 'helping' match-fixing inquiry

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 11:19 AM PST

Full cooperation with enforcement agencies pledged after Europol probe shows city-state as centre of betting syndicate.

U.S. Voting Flaws Are Widespread, Study Shows

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 11:40 AM PST

Problems in the election system extend beyond isolated voting issues in a few locations, according to a study from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

House G.O.P. Looks at Immigration Path Short of Citizenship

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 11:26 AM PST

House Republicans staked out what they cast as a middle-ground option, pushing an approach that could include legalization but not a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Germany says two nationals seized by Colombian rebels are tourists

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 11:24 AM PST

BERLIN/BOGOTA (Reuters) - Two German men kidnapped by Colombia's ELN rebels in a sparsely populated jungle area near the Venezuelan border are retirees travelling as tourists, Germany's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, after their captors suggested they were spies.

Obama to visit Israel in spring in possible Mideast peace push

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:07 PM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plans to visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan this spring, the White House said on Tuesday, raising the prospects of a new U.S. push to restart long-stalled Israel-Palestinian peace efforts.

VIDEO: Iconic buildings sculpted in snow

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 11:20 AM PST

The northern Japanese city of Sapporo is hosting the country's largest snow festival with giant sculptures of iconic Asian buildings on show.

Ashes of Cambodia's revered ex-king lowered into river

Ashes of Cambodia's revered ex-king lowered into river


Ashes of Cambodia's revered ex-king lowered into river

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:25 AM PST

Cambodians lined the banks of the Mekong River on Tuesday as the ashes of their revered former King Norodom Sihanouk were lowered into the murky water a day after his cremation in Phnom Penh.

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It's tough, but not impossible to recapture Penang - Muhyiddin

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:14 AM PST

It will be tough for the Barisan Nasional (BN) to wrest Penang from the opposition, but not impossible, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

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Child freed, kidnapper dead, in Alabama bunker drama

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:13 AM PST

A 5-year-old boy held hostage in an underground Alabama bunker for almost a week was rescued Monday in a raid that left the kidnapper dead, authorities said.

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HP launches its first Google-powered notebook

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:03 AM PST

The world's leading PC manufacturer becomes the first company to offer a 14-inch Chromebook. Initially available in the US only, the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook will retail from $329.99.

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Crazy Talk gives voice to pictures

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:01 AM PST

There was Crazy Talk at Macworld on Friday.

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Under Obama, coal country fights for its way of life

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 12:02 AM PST

BEALLSVILLE, Ohio (Reuters) - Leon Lieser has been a coal miner 49 years, his bent fingers testament to his first job, loading coal by hand into a bucket. Mining also led to a hip replacement and a knee replacement. He loves his job and his industry, despite what it has done to his body.


South Africa police arrest 19 suspected Congolese rebels

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 11:57 PM PST

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African police arrested 19 suspected Congolese rebels, including two senior members of the M23 group, on suspicion of running an illegal military operation, police said on Tuesday.


Insight - Rage over bad governance fuels Nigeria Islamists

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 11:44 PM PST

KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) - Few in Nigeria's second city of Kano would admit to supporting the Islamist insurgents waging a bloody northern rebellion against the central government in Abuja.


Kim Jong-Un and the mystery smartphone

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 11:55 PM PST

A picture of North Korea's Kim Jong-Un with a smartphone has triggered fevered speculation about which brand is favoured by the leader of one of the world's most repressive nations.

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China TV extra dies 8 times a day as Japanese soldier

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 11:51 PM PST

For one Chinese TV extra, playing with the enemy has proved the secret of his success -- one that requires him to die as often as eight times a day.

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Paris women finally allowed to wear trousers

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 11:50 PM PST

Women in Paris can finally wear trousers without fear of criminal prosecution after the government said a more than 200-year-old ban no longer had any legal effect.

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The heat of general election

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 11:47 PM PST

Could the BN gain the support of Chinese voters, who seem to tend to support the Pakatan Rakyat, by distributing ang pows during the CNY?

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Teachers wanting to be involved in politics advised to resign

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 11:35 PM PST

Teachers who want to be active in politics have been advised to ensure that their focus are not distracted while teaching in class, Terengganu Education Director Zakaria Husin reminded today.

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Don't jump the gun, says EC chief

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 11:34 PM PST

The Election Commission (EC) is requesting all parties not to jump to conclusions implicating the EC in the on-going Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) investigating the illegal immigrants issue in Sabah.

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China police chief accused of having 192 houses

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 11:28 PM PST

A Chinese police chief is alleged to have had at least 192 houses and a fake identity card, state media said Tuesday, the latest in a number of similar cases that have sparked outrage online.

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Court again blocks Philippines cybercrime law

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 11:28 PM PST

The Philippine Supreme Court has again stopped the government from enforcing a controversial cybercrime law, officials said Tuesday, amid concern it would severely curb Internet freedoms.

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Pro-Ahmadinejad former Iranian prosecutor arrested

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 11:25 PM PST

DUBAI (Reuters) - A former Iranian prosecutor linked to the deaths of anti-government protesters and at the centre of a power struggle between the country's president and parliamentary speaker has been arrested, the Tehran prosecutor's office said.


Mali Tuaregs seize two fleeing Islamist leaders

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 10:01 PM PST

KIDAL, Mali, Feb 5 — Tuareg rebels in northern Mali said yesterday they had captured two senior Islamist insurgents fleeing French air strikes towards the Algerian border, and France pressed ahead with its bombing campaign against al Qaeda's Saharan desert camps. Pro-autonomy Tuareg MNLA rebels said one of their patrols seized Mohamed Moussa Ag ...


North Korea nuclear test would face ‘firm UN action’

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 07:32 PM PST

NEW YORK, Feb 5 – The UN Security Council is united on North Korea's nuclear arms programme and will undoubtedly approve tough measures against Pyongyang if it carries out a new atomic test as expected, South Korean UN Ambassador Kim Sook said yesterday. "The North Korean nuclear test seems to be imminent," Kim, who is president of the Security ...


Special prosecutor to review Sandusky scandal

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 07:19 PM PST

PENNSYLVANIA, Feb 5 – A former federal prosecutor has been named to lead an investigation of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett's handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. H. Geoffrey Moulton Jr, who worked in the US Attorney's office in Philadelphia, will lead the long-awaited review of the Penn State abuse case, state attorney ...