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| December 14, 2013 |
 US, Chinese warships nearly collide in S. China Sea Washington (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - A Chinese naval vessel came dangerously close to a US warship during a tense incident in the South China Sea last week, US military officials said Friday. The USS Cowpens, a guided missile cruiser, was forced to maneuver to avoid a collision with the Chinese ship that had crossed directly in front of it and halted, according to naval officers and defense officials. China's amphibious doc ... more |  |
Japan seeks ASEAN backing on China with $20 bn pledge Tokyo (AFP) Dec 14, 2013 - Japan pledged $20 billion in aid and loans to Southeast Asia on Saturday, in its latest charm offensive to woo global public opinion in a territorial dispute with China. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered the cash over five years for members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a celebratory summit to mark 40 years of ties with the bloc. The announcement crowns a year ... more |  |
 Iran quits nuclear talks protesting US blacklist move Tehran (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - Iran has quit nuclear talks with world powers, accusing Washington on Friday of going against the spirit of a landmark agreement reached last month by expanding its sanctions blacklist. US Secretary of State John Kerry and a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the major powers in the talks, both played down the suspension and said talks were expected to res ... more |  |
 US to cut funding on Turkish Chinese-missile purchase Washington (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - The US Congress is set to adopt a law next week forbidding Turkey from using American funds to acquire a $4 billion missile system from a Chinese company blacklisted by Washington. The United States has voiced deep concern over Turkey's decision in September to enter negotiations with China Precision Machinery Export-Import Corporation for its first long-range anti-missile system. CPMIEC ... more |  |
 Commentary: Middle East: Bloody quicksands Washington (UPI) Dec 13, 2013 - Iran's secret nuclear ambitions enjoy widespread approval among Iranians who don't approve of the clerical dictatorship that has ruled them for the past 30 years. Polling conducted by the U.S. firm Zogby Research Services indicated that while roughly half the people support the regime, two-thirds of them want Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. And a staggering 96 percent said acquiring nu ... more |  |
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 US to keep NSA and cyber command chief's job unified Washington (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - A White House review will conclude that a sweeping US spy agency program to collect data on telephone calls and Internet use should continue but with new privacy safeguards, a report said Friday. The New York Times also reported that President Barack Obama's study would recommend making public the privacy protections foreign citizens can expect when their telephone or Internet records are ga ... more |  |
Lawmakers stall new Iran sanctions as US hits violators Washington (AFP) Dec 12, 2013 - Washington on Thursday blacklisted a dozen overseas companies and individuals for evading sanctions on Iran, as US lawmakers were persuaded to hold off on new punitive measures against the country. Only hours after the surprise blacklist announcement, seen as a clear warning to Tehran to comply with a nuclear deal, two top senators bowed to White House pleas not to introduce new sanctions. ... more |  |
Beyond Obama-Castro handshake, Cuban reconciliation takes shape Havana (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - Beyond this week's handshake between the presidents of the United States and Cuba, a slow thaw in bilateral ties has helped foster reconciliation among Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits. The rare encounter between Barack Obama and Raul Castro during a memorial in South Africa for anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela came as the two countries work towards revamping their longstanding ... more |  |
FireEye report: Chinese hackers target foreign ministries Beijing (UPI) Dec 13, 2013 - Cybersecurity company FireEye claims Chinese hackers broke into the computer systems of five European foreign ministries over the summer. The hackers sent emails with malware attachments purporting to detail a possible U.S. intervention in Syria, the BBC reported. Nine computers were compromised, the company told the BBC. The company hasn't revealed which ministries were t ... more |  |
 Karzai warns against 'intimidation' on US troop deal New Delhi (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - Afghanistan will not be bullied into signing a security pact allowing US troops to stay on after next year, President Hamid Karzai said as he pressed India on Friday for more military hardware. Karzai met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid at the start of a three-day visit, with the United States hoping New Delhi can persuade him to ink the troubled pac ... more |  |
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 Iraq violence kills 37 as 'terrorism' suspects escape Baquba, Iraq (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - Violence in Iraq including an attack by gunmen on workers on a gas pipeline from Iran killed 37 people Friday, while "terrorism" suspects escaped a Baghdad detention facility, officials said. Unrest has reached a level this year not seen since 2008, when Iraq was just emerging from a period of brutal sectarian killings, and the surge has raised fears the country is falling back into all-out ... more |  |
N. Korea announces execution of leader's 'traitor' uncle Seoul (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - North Korea said Friday it has executed the uncle of leader Kim Jong-Un, branding veteran fixer Jang Song-Thaek a "traitor for all ages", as the US and South Korea voiced concern at the shock purge. In a stunning downfall, Jang - who had been seen as Kim's political regent and the country's unofficial number two - was executed on Thursday immediately after a special military trial, state n ... more |  |
Panel hands Obama US surveillance report: official Washington (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - A review panel handed President Barack Obama a report Friday on surveillance by US spy agencies in the wake of explosive revelations on vast phone and Internet sweeps by fugitive Edward Snowden. The report contains more than 40 recommendations the White House will consider, and Obama will make a speech after a full-scale internal review of US eavesdropping activity concludes in January, Nati ... more |  |
Abbas rejects US security plan for future Palestinian state Jerusalem (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - The Palestinians rejected US proposals for Israel to keep a military presence in a future Palestinian state, as US Secretary of State John Kerry Friday wrapped up his latest peace push. Kerry, on his way to Vietnam, made a stop in Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah in a bid to promote his security plans for a future Palestinian state in his second visit in less than a week. On ... more |  |
Syria chemical attackers should be sanctioned, as storm delay relief: UN United Nations, United States (AFP) Dec 14, 2013 - UN chief Ban Ki-moon called on the international community Friday to sanction those responsible for Syrian chemical weapons attacks documented in a newly released report. The UN report, issued Thursday, concluded that such banned arms were used at least five times before Damascus agreed to dismantle its arsenal. "I deplore in the strongest possible terms the use of chemical weapons in Sy ... more |  |
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Apple removes censorship bypass app on Chinese orders: developers Beijing (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - US technology giant Apple has removed an anti-censorship application from its Chinese app store on orders from Beijing, the software's developers said Friday. The FreeWeibo app is intended to allows users to read sensitive postings on Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter, that have been censored and deleted, one of its designers said. Beijing maintains strict controls on the Inter ... more |  |
US hails DRC-M23 deal as step to regional peace Paris (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - The United States on Friday hailed the successful conclusion of peace talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo and M23 rebels as a step towards lasting peace in Africa's Great Lakes region. Russ Feingold, the US special envoy for the region, helped broker the deal, which was clinched late Thursday in Nairobi. The talks concluded with the M23, which laid down its arms a month ago, u ... more |  |
Push for Cyprus peace talks 'deadlocked' Nicosia (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - A resumption of UN-backed Cyprus peace talks remains a long way off despite recent optimism, President Nicos Anastasiades said Friday. He told reporters the rival Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides were nowhere near agreeing on a roadmap that would allow the long-stalled peace talks to resume. Anastasiades, the Greek Cypriot leader, insists that a joint statement be agreed before th ... more |  |
 Navy agent to plead guilty in corruption case Washington (AFP) Dec 13, 2013 - A senior US law enforcement agent has provided a major breakthrough in a Navy corruption scandal by agreeing to plead guilty to taking bribes, The Washington Post reported Thursday. The case has already implicated half a dozen navy officers and could taint more. John B. Beliveau II, a supervisory special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, will enter a guilty plea next w ... more |  |
Philippines narrows down frigate bidders to four Manila, Philippines (UPI) Dec 13, 2013 - The Philippine government has chosen four foreign shipyards to proceed to the second stage of bidding to construct two frigates for the navy. Navantia Sepi - RTR Ventures of Spain is vying for the contract along with Korean shipbuilders Hyundai Heavy Industries, STX Offshore & Shipbuilding and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. The Philippine Star newspaper reported that 1 ... more |  |
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