Syria deputy FM travels to Moscow

THE Syrian deputy foreign minister, Faisal Muqdad, was headed for Moscow, an airport source in Beirut told AFP, amid reports of a US-Russian initiative for a transition in Syria.

The Syrian deputy foreign minister, Faisal Muqdad, was headed for Moscow, an airport source in Beirut said, amid reports of a US-Russian initiative for a transition in Syria.

"Accompanied by foreign ministry official Ahmed Arnus, Muqdad's Aeroflot flight to Moscow took off from Beirut airport at midnight (2200 GMT)" Tuesday, the airport source said, on condition of anonymity.

French daily Le Figaro has reported that the new initiative would see Syrian President Bashar al-Assad staying in power until 2014 while preventing him from further renewing his mandate.

Mr Muqdad's visit to Moscow comes as UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi visits Syria in a bid to persuade the warring parties to negotiate an end to the conflict in which monitors say 45,000 people have been killed.

Mr Brahimi himself is to hold talks in Moscow on Saturday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency. The foreign ministry said Mr Brahimi had requested the meeting.

The UN-Arab League envoy met with Assad on Monday and a day later with three opposition groups tolerated by the regime, but diplomats say he has so far made little headway.

On December 6, Mr Brahimi met in Dublin with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss possible solutions to the Syrian crisis.

No details of the Dublin discussion have been released.

23.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

UAE busts Saudi-Emirati 'terror' cell

UAE authorities have announced busting a cell of Saudi and Emirati members plotting "terror" attacks in the two countries and other states.

The suspects "imported material and equipment with the aim of committing terror acts," said an official statement on WAM state news agency. The arrests came after coordination between security authorities in the two Gulf states.

The suspects were described as members of the "deviant group," a term usually used in Saudi Arabia to refer to al-Qaida-linked Islamists.

23.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tube strike can't stop London shoppers

STRIKE action has heavily disrupted London's Underground train network, as hundreds of thousands of bargain hunters headed to the shops for the traditional Boxing Day sales.

All 13 of the Tube lines were running a reduced service after just a third of drivers turned up for work in a dispute between the Aslef union and the network operators over payments for working on public holidays.

Howard Collins, London Underground's chief operating officer, said: "This strike action is completely unnecessary.

"Train drivers are paid a salary that reflects some bank holiday working, but the Aslef leadership is demanding to be paid twice for the same work and has rejected our attempts to resolve the matter."

Despite the transport problems, shoppers formed long queues from the early hours of the morning outside London's top department stores including Harrods and Selfridges.

Many of the bargain hunters were Chinese, with Harrods creating a separate queue outside its store in the upmarket district of Knightsbridge for those looking for reductions on designer goods such as Gucci.

Sue West, director of operations at Selfridges, said handbags and menswear were particularly popular items in the sale at its flagship branch on London's main shopping thoroughfare of Oxford Street.

"Of the people queuing to get inside 60 per cent or 70 per cent were men. It's a great day for men's shopping. It's a tradition and people want to experience it," she said.

"Online sales for us have been great but year on year people still want to experience the Boxing Day sales."

British retailers slash prices on the day after Christmas Day, with big-ticket items such as TVs and computers carrying the biggest reductions.

The price comparison site MoneySupermarket.com estimates that shoppers in Britain will spend STG2.9 billion ($4.6 billion) in the sales.

The British Retail Consortium had described high-street spending as "acceptable but not exceptional" during the Christmas period.

23.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

National holiday road toll reaches 17

AUSTRALIA'S national road toll stands at 17 after a man was killed in a single car accident in Western Australia.

Perth Now reports the man died when his car flipped on the North West Coastal Highway at Yannarie, which is about 1200km north of Perth and 200km southeast of Exmouth, about noon (WST) on Wednesday.

Police in WA say the first death on the state's roads happened on Christmas Eve, when a young man died after his car hit a power pole at Esperance, about 720 kilometres southeast of Perth.

Meanwhile, NSW police are pleading for drivers to slow down after accidents on the state's roads left five people dead in one day, including an elderly Fijian couple, who died when their can left the Hume Highway near Holbrook in the state's south and rolled.

Queensland has recorded its first holiday road death after a sedan veered off the Bruce Highway on the state's east coast and rolled early on Wednesday.

The losses take the toll for NSW to six, five people have died on Victoria's roads, and two in South Australia.

One person each has been killed on roads in Queensland and Tasmania.

The Northern Territory and ACT remain fatality-free.

* The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2012, until 2359 January 3, 2013, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

23.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

US stocks up ahead of 'fiscal cliff' talks

US stocks have opened slightly higher, as President Barack Obama heads back to Washington to try to secure a year-end "fiscal cliff" deal with Republican lawmakers.

In roughly the first 15 minutes of trade on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 22.59 points, or 0.17 per cent, at 13,161.67.

The broad-market S&P 500 was up 0.99 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 1,427.65.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite gained 0.82 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 3,013.42.

"The action today through Friday will be heavily influenced by news on the fiscal cliff negotiations. Underlying that will be support from the traditional year-end bullish bias," said Briefing.com's Dick Green.

"At least for today, it looks like the seasonal support is enough to boost the stock market given the uncertain outlook for the budget negotiations."

On Christmas Eve, the Dow was down 0.39 per cent, while the S&P 500 lost 0.24 per cent and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite shed 0.28 per cent. Markets were closed for Christmas Day.

23.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

Spain seizes 11 tonnes of hashish

SPANISH police have seized 11 tonnes of hashish smuggled from Morocco on trucks with fuel tanks rigged to hide the drugs and arrested 35 people in what has been described as the breakup of a major smuggling ring feeding the European market.

The haul was displayed across a patio outside the headquarters of the National Police, with some hashish packaged in small amounts resembling bars of soap, while much of it was held in suitcases made out of tape and packaging material.

It was described as one of Spain's biggest drug seizures, but officials did not provide details of previous confiscations for comparison purposes.

Authorities said the hashish travelled in trucks that took cargo ferries from Morocco to southern Spain, and were then driven to a Madrid suburb where the hashish was extracted from the vehicles' fuel tanks. From there, some of the hashish was sent to Madrid for sale while the rest was put aboard other trucks carrying legal merchandise to countries including Belgium, Britain, France and Holland.

Those arrested included 31 Moroccans, three Spaniards and a Belgian woman. One of the Spaniards and the Belgian woman were truckers driving rigs with loads of carrots and clothing with the hashish hidden amid the legitimate cargo, National Police chief Ignacio Cosido said.

Cosido declined to put a value on the hashish seized except to say "it's very profitable".

Police in 17 raids also seized numerous bags of marijuana, 150,000 euros ($A190,000) in cash, 14 vehicles valued at 400,000 euros and 109 mobile phones during the course of an eight-month investigation that started when authorities broke up a Madrid hashish selling ring and went after that group's suppliers.

The ring used GPS systems to track the movements of their hashish loads, and the specially designed fuel tanks to hold the drugs were put back together again for reuse after being dismantled, said Jose Luis Conde, who heads the National Police's Madrid division.

Conde declined to say whether the hashish originally came from Morocco, a major producer, saying only that it was from North Africa.

23.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

Oil rises on housing data

THE price of oil is rising sharply on higher US home prices and hopes of a budget deal in Washington.

US benchmark crude jumped $2.31, or 2.6 per cent, to $90.92 a barrel overnight in thin post-Christmas trading.

US home prices rose in most major cities in October compared with a year ago, according to a key report. The improvement is adding to economic growth, which generally boosts energy consumption and lifts prices.

Also, President Barack Obama will return to Washington today after a brief holiday to resume budget talks with Congress. Negotiations are aimed at avoiding the "fiscal cliff," the deep budget cuts and tax increases that could slow US growth.

On Monday, concerns over the budget pushed down oil prices. Benchmark crude closed 5 cents lower at $88.61.

23.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

Russia parliament says no to US adoptions

RUSSIA'S lower house of parliament has given key support to a bill banning Americans from adopting children, resulting in a huge outcry from rights groups.

The bill, which came in retaliation for a US measure that punishes Russia for its rights record under President Vladimir Putin, was approved by 400 MPs in the 450-seat chamber.

Only four deputies voted against the bill while two parliamentarians in the Kremlin-controlled legislature abstained.

The bill now needs to be passed in the largely symbolic third reading on Friday before moving on to the upper house of parliament, which often gives unanimous approval to Kremlin-sponsored legislation.

Putin will then need to sign the bill before it enters into law, possibly as early as the start of next year.

The tough measure bans adoption of Russian children by US families, ends the bilateral adoption agreement between the two countries, and forbids US adoption agencies from working in the Russia.

With several dozen people protesting outside, police officers placed the Duma building under virtual lockdown, bringing reinforcements in anticipation of large rallies.

While Putin last week welcomed the parliament's decision to retaliate against the so-called Magnitsky Act, named in honour of a whistle-blowing lawyer who died in jail before going on trial, the Kremlin was more ambiguous about supporting the measure on Wednesday.

Putin's spokesman Sergei Peskov told state television that "the line of the executive branch of the government is more restrained" than that of the pro-Kremlin MPs in the Duma.

Speaking ahead of Putin's press conference on Thursday, which is also expected to address the bill, Peskov added however that "such a tough emotional reaction by Russian parliament members is quite understandable."

Unusually, several political heavyweights, including Education Minister Dmitry Livanov, opposed the bill, publicly saying that an "eye-for-an-eye logic" would put at risk children who fail to find adoptive parents in Russia.

Of the 3400 Russian children adopted by foreign families in 2011, 956 - nearly a third - were adopted by Americans, according to official figures. Eighty nine of those adopted were disabled children.

Although Russian adoptions have declined over the past five years due to increased regulations, Russia is still the third largest source of adoptions for the United States, according to official figures.

23.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iraqi leader set for German hospital

KURDISH officials say Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will be flown to Germany for further treatment after suffering a stroke earlier this week.

Medical experts from Germany and other countries began arriving on Wednesday to assess the 79-year-old president's condition.

Talabani is a senior Kurdish leader and has been a symbol of unity in Iraq.

Firyad Rawndouzi, a senior member of Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, says the German team recommended he be moved, possibly as early as Thursday.

The head of the president's media office, Barazan Sheikh Othman, says he is expected to depart on Thursday or Friday.

Questions remain about the graveness of Talabani's illness. Hospital officials and his office have released few details to the public, though they say he is showing signs of improvement.

23.34 | 0 komentar | Read More

Outrage grows in India over bus gang-rape

THE hours-long gang-rape and near-fatal beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus in New Delhi has triggered outrage and anger across the country as Indians demand action from authorities who have long ignored persistent violence and harassment against women.

In the streets and in parliament, calls rose for stringent and swift punishment against those attacking women, including a proposal to make rapists eligible for the death penalty. As the calls for action grew louder, two more gang-rapes were reported, including one in which the 10-year-old victim was killed.

"I feel it is sick what is happening across the country.It is totally sick, and it needs to stop," said Smitha, a 32-year-old protester who goes by only one name.

Thousands of demonstrators clogged the streets in front of New Delhi's police headquarters, protested near parliament and rallied outside a major university. Angry university students set up roadblocks across the city, causing massive traffic jams.

Hundreds rallied outside the home of the city's top elected official before police dispersed them with water cannons, a move that earned further condemnation from opposition leaders, who accused the government of being insensitive.

"We want to jolt people awake from the cozy comfort of their cars. We want people to feel the pain of what women go through every day," said Aditi Roy, a Delhi University student.

As protests raged in cities across India, at least two girls were gang-raped, with one of them killed.

Police on Wednesday fished out the body of a 10-year old girl from a canal in Bihar state's Saharsa district. Police superintendent Ajit Kumar Satyarthi said the girl had been gang-raped and killed and her body dumped in the canal. Police were investigating and a breakthrough was expected soon, Satyarthi said.

Elsewhere, a 14 -year old schoolgirl was in critical condition in Banka district of Bihar after she was raped by four men, said Jyoti Kumar, the district education officer.

The men have been identified, but police were yet to make any arrests, Kumar said.

Meanwhile, the 23-year-old victim of the first rape lay in critical condition in the hospital with severe internal injuries, doctors said.

Police said six men raped the woman and savagely beat her and her companion with iron rods on a bus driving around the city - passing through several police checkpoints - before stripping them and dumping them on the side of the road Sunday night.

Delhi police chief Neeraj Kumar said four men have been arrested and a search was underway for the other two.

Rapes in India remain drastically underreported. In many cases, families do not report rapes due to the stigma that follows the victim and her family. In other instances, families may decide not to report a rape out of frustration with the long delays in court and harassment at the hands of the police. Police themselves are reluctant to register cases of rape and domestic violence in order to keep down crime figures or to elicit a bribe from the victim.

In a sign of the protesters' fury, Khushi Pattanaik, a student, said death was too easy a punishment for the rapists, they should instead be castrated and forced to suffer as their victim did.

"It should be made public so that you see it, you feel it and you also live with i. The kind of shame and guilt," she said.

23.34 | 0 komentar | Read More