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| December 28, 2013 |
 War shrine shows limit in US support to Japan Washington (AFP) Dec 26, 2013 - The United States on Thursday criticized Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a war shrine visit that infuriated Japan's neighbors, in a rare break to usually unstinting US support to its ally. US advocacy of a stronger Japan - including a more active security role by the officially pacifist country - has been a core principle for Washington in a region marked by the rise of China and an increasi ... more |  |
 US sending missiles, drones to Iraq: official Washington (AFP) Dec 26, 2013 - The United States is sending Iraq dozens of missiles and surveillance drones to help combat a recent surge there in Al-Qaeda-backed violence, a State Department official said Thursday. The official confirmed a New York Times report about the weapons shipment. The daily said 75 Hellfire missiles were purchased by Iraq and delivered by Washington last week. The State Department official co ... more |  |
 Outside View: Yemen's wars intensify Arlington, Va. (UPI) Dec 27, 2013 - Yemen is grabbing sensational headlines again, this time over a controversial Dec. 12 drone attack that killed 14 civilians. Detractors say the target was a wedding convoy, not a terrorist caravan as Washington says. Drones are sideshow to the real issues at stake, however. The real headlines are that Yemen's complex and messy war is threatening to sink Yemen as a country, which also je ... more |  |
Truce near Damascus broken as warplanes bomb Aleppo Beirut (AFP) Dec 26, 2013 - A day-old truce in a besieged rebel-held town near Damascus broke down Thursday as Syrian warplanes bombed the divided northern city of Aleppo for a 12th straight day, activists said. By Wednesday, the Aleppo air blitz that began on December 15 had killed at least 422 people, mostly civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group relying on activists an ... more |  |
 Pakistan to raise drone issue at UN Human Rights Council Islamabad (AFP) Dec 26, 2013 - Pakistan on Thursday said it would raise the issue of US drone strikes inside its territory at the United Nations Human Rights Council. "We will go to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva if the drone strikes continue" Tasneem Aslam, the spokeswoman for the ministry of foreign affairs said in a weekly news conference. The UN General Assembly passed a resolution on De ... more |  |
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Man who oversaw Saddam hanging recalls dictator's end Baghdad (AFP) Dec 27, 2013 - Mowaffak al-Rubaie sits in his office with a statue of Saddam Hussein behind him, the rope used to hang the dictator around its neck, recalling his final minutes. The former national security advisor, who oversaw Saddam's 2006 execution, said he remained strong until the end, and never expressed any regret. "A criminal? True. A killer? True. A butcher? True. But he was strong until the e ... more |  |
 S.Korea condemns 'rude' N. Korean attitude Seoul (AFP) Dec 26, 2013 - South Korea Thursday slammed North Korea for issuing a "rude" questionnaire which urged President Park Geun-Hye to choose between peace and confrontation. The South's Unification Ministry said instability was growing in and around the Korean peninsula because of Pyongyang's "unethical and irrational" attitude. "North Korea must bear in mind that our government and the international commu ... more |  |
Israel says to free Palestinians, build more settlements Jerusalem (AFP) Dec 26, 2013 - Israel will announce plans for new settlement construction next week, coinciding with the release of a third batch of Palestinian prisoners as part of peace talks, an official said Thursday. Palestinians have warned repeatedly that settlement building destroys the fragile US-brokered peace talks process that resumed in July after a three-year hiatus. "The Israeli government will announce ... more |  |
Outside View: No halt to executions while EU delegation visits Iran London (UPI) Dec 26, 2013 - Last week a European Parliament delegation returned from a six-day visit to Tehran, the first official visit to Iran in more than six years. The five-member delegation was led by the chairwoman of European Parliament's friendship delegation with Iran, Tarja Cronberg from Finnish Greens and included Cornelia Ernst, German communist; Isabelle Durant, Belgian Greens; Marietje Schaake, Dutc ... more |  |
 Taiwan's HTC designer indicted for leaks to China Taipei (AFP) Dec 27, 2013 - Taiwanese prosecutors on Friday indicted a chief designer and five employees at leading smartphone maker HTC for allegedly leaking crucial trade secrets to China and breach of trust. Chien Chih-lin, vice president of product design, was charged with leaking information relating to "highly valuable" designs for a yet-to-be-launched smartphone interface to unidentified individuals in Beijing i ... more |  |
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 Former Xinjiang vice party chief probed in China Beijing (AFP) Dec 27, 2013 - A former deputy Communist party chief in China's restive Xinjiang region is being investigated for "disciplinary and law violations", authorities said Friday, the latest high-ranking official to fall in the country's anti-graft campaign. Yang Gang, 60, who was the Communist number two in Xinjiang from 2006 to 2010, is being probed for "suspected severe violation of discipline and the law", t ... more |  |
Taiwan soldiers get pay raises amid recruitment woes Taipei (AFP) Dec 26, 2013 - Taiwan on Thursday announced pay rises for its professional soldiers to try to boost recruitment as it moves towards ending conscription. From January 1, volunteer soldiers and sergeants will receive an additional monthly allowance of up to Tw$4,000 ($133), according to the cabinet. This will bring the lowest-ranked private's monthly salary to Tw$33,625 ($1,120). Special allowances ... more |  |
Three NATO personnel killed in Kabul suicide car bomb Kabul, Afghanistan (AFP) Dec 27, 2013 - A Taliban suicide attacker detonated an explosives-packed car next to a NATO military convoy in Kabul on Friday, killing three NATO personnel and injuring six civilian passers-by, officials said. The blast in the Afghan capital left the twisted remains of the attacker's car spread across the scene along with several other badly-damaged vehicles, including a NATO sports utility vehicle, witne ... more |  |
Arak reactor cannot make plutonium for bomb: Iran Tehran (AFP) Dec 27, 2013 - Iran's Arak heavy water reactor is incapable of producing plutonium for use in a nuclear weapon, a major fear of the West, Tehran's atomic chief said Friday. "The Arak research reactor cannot produce plutonium that could be used to make an atomic bomb since the plutonium will remain in the reactor's core for a year," Ali Akbar Salehi told the ISNA news agency. "Plutonium destined to make ... more |  |
 Russia buries Kalashnikov in new 'pantheon' for heroes Mytishchi, Russia (AFP) Dec 27, 2013 - Russia on Friday buried Mikhail Kalashnikov, the designer of the iconic AK-47 assault rifle that was the favoured weapon of guerrillas worldwide, at a newly-opened cemetery for national heroes. To the sound of a final salute fired from the AK-47 machine guns that made him world-famous, Kalashnikov was laid to rest with full state honours at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery (FVMK) in th ... more |  |
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Abe's shrine visit raises risk of conflict: analysts Tokyo (AFP) Dec 27, 2013 - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's inflammatory visit to a Tokyo war shrine demonstrates his determination to drag pacifist Japan to the right, and nudges Northeast Asia a significant step closer to conflict, analysts say. Already-frayed regional ties will be further damaged by what Abe claimed was a pledge against war, but what one-time victims of Japan's aggression see as a glorification of past ... more |  |
China must retaliate for Japan PM shrine visit: media Beijing (AFP) Dec 27, 2013 - China's state media on Friday urged "excessive" counter-measures after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's inflammatory war shrine visit, as analysts warned against the dangers of provoking smouldering regional resentments. The comment came after China summoned Tokyo's ambassador on Thursday to deliver a "strong reprimand" after Abe paid respects at the Yasukuni shrine earlier in the day. ... more |  |
US hails deal on relocating airbase in Japan Washington (AFP) Dec 27, 2013 - Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel on Friday hailed a decision by Japanese officials to allow the relocation of a US air base in Okinawa, saying it was a "milestone" for relations with Tokyo. Hagel welcomed the approval of the long-delayed move of the US Marine Corps base, which he said would permit a redeployment of American forces in the area and bolster Washington's strategic "rebalance" to the A ... more |  |
13 killed as Yemen tank blasts funeral tent Aden (AFP) Dec 27, 2013 - An army tank shelled a funeral tent erected by the Southern Movement at a school in Yemen on Friday, killing 13 people including children, a medic and witnesses said. Tensions are running high in the formerly independent south, home to an increasingly assertive secessionist movement, raising fears that Al-Qaeda's powerful Yemen affiliate could exploit the growing unrest in the Arab world's p ... more |  |
Japan's PM set for breakthrough on controversial US base Tokyo (AFP) Dec 25, 2013 - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks set to win approval from Okinawa this week for the long-stalled relocation of a US military base after a meeting Wednesday with the island's pugnacious governor. A deal with Okinawa would end a long-running dispute that has been a source of friction with Washington and also mark a significant achievement for Abe, who has sought closer US ties amid a ... more | |
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