Friday January 10th 2014
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South Sudan troops 'recapture key oil city of Bentiu'
South Sudanese government forces have recaptured the oil hub of Bentiu from rebels, an army spokesman has told the BBC.
Col Philip Aguer said the final resistance - a tank
protecting a bridge to the city - had been overcome at 14:30 local time
(11:30 GMT).The rebels have not commented.
UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous says the conflict has killed "very substantially in excess" of 1,000 people since 15 December.
Ceasefire talks in neighbouring Ethiopia have stalled.
Bentiu is the capital of the oil-rich Unity state. The fighting has seen South Sudan's oil output fall by about 20%.
Col Aguer told Reuters news agency: "When you control Bentiu you control all the oil fields in Unity state."
Ahead of the government advance, thousands of people fled Bentiu, one of two main cities seized by rebel forces.
Nearly 500 dead in clashes between rebel groups in Syria, activists say
Fighting between an al Qaeda-linked group and a loose alliance of more moderate and ultraconservative rebel brigades has killed nearly 500 people over the past week in northern Syria, an activist group said Friday.
The rebel-on-rebel violence that broke out a week ago has spread across four provinces in opposition-held parts of the north in what amounts to the most serious infighting among opponents of President Bashar Assad since the country's conflict began in March 2011.The clashes pit fighters from a variety of Islamist and moderate factions against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an extremist group that has alienated many Syrians over the past several months by using brutal tactics to implement its strict interpretation of Islamic law.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday that at least 482 people have been killed in the fighting. It said 240 of the dead were rebel fighters, while another 157 were from the "Islamic State." The remaining 85 were civilians, the Observatory said.
'Pakistan's toughest cop' killed by Taliban
A top Pakistani policeman renowned for his tough stance on criminals and Islamist militants has been killed by a Taliban car bomb in the volatile southern city of Karachi on Thursday, police said.The Taliban described Superintendent Chaudhry Aslam's death as a "huge victory". Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the bombing.
Three other officers were killed alongside Aslam, said senior police officer Raja Umar Khattab, after a car packed with explosives rammed his vehicle
.Chain-smoking Aslam, dubbed "Pakistan's toughest cop" by local media and a celebrated figure in a country where citizens decry authorities' failure to crack down on criminals and militants, has been targeted by the Taliban before.
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In 2011, the militant group rammed his house with a huge car bomb, killing eight people but leaving his family unscathed."I will not be cowed. I will teach a lesson to generations of militants," he said at the time, adding that he had already survived eight other attempts on his life.
Karachi police chief Shahid Hayat praised Aslam's courage, adding: "We have given hundreds of lives in the line of duty to save this city."
Police regularly pick up a dozen bodies a day in Karachi, home to 18 million people and one of the world's most violent cities. About 200 police officers were killed there in 2013.
In recent years, the Taliban has expanded its influence in the city, especially in areas dominated by ethnic Pashtuns fleeing fighting along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Michel Djotodia, Central African Republic President, And Nicolas Tiangaye, PM, To Resign
N'DJAMENA, Chad (AP) — Michel Djotodia, the rebel leader who seized control of Central African Republic only to see the desperately poor country tumble toward anarchy and sectarian bloodshed, agreed to resign Friday along with his prime minister, regional officials announced.There has been growing pressure for Djotodia to step aside and the resignation should help placate the armed militias who have used to violence to seek his ouster. However, his departure could also create an even greater power vacuum in a land that has long known coups and dictatorship.
Ahmat Allami, the secretary-general of the Economic Community of Central African States, made the announcement following a summit in neighboring Chad on the crisis. Legislators from Central African Republic also were flown to the Chadian capital of N'Djamena on Thursday to take part in the discussions.
Djotodia's departure leaves the country in the hands of a weak transitional government. Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye, a longtime opposition leader prior to the March 2013 coup, is also stepping aside, Allami said.
Central African Republic has long been one of the world's most unstable countries. The March 2013 coup brought heavily armed rebels to power who then proceeded to carry out atrocities against civilians. The rebels are mostly from the minority Muslim population and hail from the country's long-marginalized north, and the resentment toward their abuses transformed the conflict into one with religious undertones.
In early December, a Christian militia backed by loyalists of ousted President Francois Bozize attacked the capital. In the violent aftermath, more than 1,000 people were killed and nearly 1 million fled their homes in fear. An estimated 100,000 people alone have sought shelter at the airport being guarded by French troops.
Kenyan military says its fighter jets have killed 30 militants in Somalia
The Kenyan military says it has killed at least 30 Islamic militants in an airstrike on a militant camp in Somalia.
A statement from the military Friday said fighter jets attacked the camp at Garbarahey in the Gedo region in Somalia on Thursday, where a meeting was being held.Military spokesman Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir said on his Twitter account that al-Shabab leader Ahmed Godane was among the targets but was not killed. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the Sept. 21 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi in which 67 died at hands of gunmen. Kenya sent troops into Somalia to fight al-Shabab militants in 2011 following a cross- border attacks blamed on the militant group.
China surpasses US as world's largest trading nation
Beijing describes 2013 figures as 'a landmark milestone' as annual trade in goods passes the $4tn mark for the first time
China became the world's largest trading
nation in 2013, overtaking the US in what Beijing described as "a landmark milestone" for the country.China's annual trade in goods passed the $4tn (£2.4tn) mark for the first time last year according to official data, after exports from the world's second largest economy rose 7.9% to $2.21tn and imports rose 7.3% to $1.95tn.
As a result total trade rose 7.6% over the year to $4.16tn. The US is yet to publish its 2013 trade figures, but with trade totalling $3.5tn in the first 11 months of the year, it is unlikely to beat China.
The shift in the trading
pecking order reflected China's rising global dominance, despite a slowdown in economic growth last year.Zheng Yuesheng, a spokesman for China's customs administration, said: "It is very likely that China overtook the US to become the world's largest trading
country in goods in 2013 for the first time. This is a landmark milestone for our nation's foreign trade development."China had already become the world's largest exporter of goods in 2009.
The country's trade surplus rose 12.8% in 2013 to almost $260bn, but the December surplus of $25.6bn was down 17.4% and fell short of the $31.15bn predicted by economists in a Reuters poll.
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Erekat: Israel sabotaging US peace efforts with new settler homes
Israel is sabotaging the US efforts to broker a peace deal, warned Palestinian chief negotiator Sa'eb Erekat as he lashed out at Israel on Friday for publishing tenders for 800 new homes in
West Bank settlements and 600 in east Jerusalem.“The announcement of yet more settlement units at this particular moment is a test for the US administration's ability to hold Israel accountable for actively sabotaging their efforts for peace,” said Erekat.
He urged the international community “to sever all ties with the Israeli occupation, including companies and institutions involved in the colonization of Palestine.”
By doing so, Erekat said, “the international community can protect and help to realize the two-state solution.”
Israel on Friday published tenders for 600 new homes in
east Jerusalem and 801 in West Bank settlements.Finance
Minister Yair Lapid (Yes Atid) vowed that the party he heads would do
everything it could to block the building of the 1400 new units over the
pre-1967 lines. US names militants involved in Benghazi attack
WASHINGTON: The Obama administration for the first time is identifying specific groups as being involved in the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
The state department is issuing terrorist designations for three militants and three extremist groups, including two it says were involved in the 2012 attack.
The department is designating the Darnah and Benghazi branches of Ansar al-Sharia in Libya and a third branch in Tunisia as foreign terrorist organizations.
It also designated militants including Sufian bin Qumu, leader of the Darnah branch released from Guantanamo Bay in 2007. He and two others are specially designated as global terrorists, barring anyone from supporting them.
Workers clash with police in Vietnam
Workers building a massive Samsung factory in Vietnam have battled police and torched motorbikes, in a rare outbreak of labour violence in the tightly controlled country.On Thursday, 11 people were injured in the incident, which Samsung said occurred after a disagreement between workers and security guards took place over safety protocols at the site.
Samsung and other tech companies such as Intel and Nokia are increasingly moving production to Vietnam, where labour costs are cheaper than in neighbouring China.
Vietnam's Communist rulers are encouraging them with tax breaks, eager to move away from traditional exports of clothes, shoes and shrimps to higher value products.
Bystanders took video footage of the riot at the complex under construction in Thai Nguyen province and quickly posted it on YouTube.
Motorbikes and containers housing security guards were set alight, sending thick smoke over the complex. People threw rocks at police in riot gear who huddled together.
Local official Duong Ngoc Long said police restored order after three hours. One police officer was among the injured, according to a doctor from a nearby military hospital.
"We will do our utmost to prevent any such incidents from recurring in the future,'' Samsung said in a statement. It said construction was unaffected.
Vietnam's tech exports, mostly phones and tablets assembled from parts made in China and elsewhere, increased sharply over the last three years, but the country's trade remains dominated by less sophisticated products.
Olympic Construction Sins: The Leaning Houses of Sochi
Vladimir Putin
promised the Olympics in Sochi would be as green as could be. Instead,
the construction of facilities has had disastrous consequences for the
environment, particularly for the residents of Baku Street, whose homes
have become the victims of man-made erosion.
When Tigran Skiba, 52, leaves home in his delivery truck
each morning to supply fresh bread throughout Sochi, he gets a view of
the new sporting facilities: Fisht Olympic Stadium in the valley and the
grand ice-skating palace, which shimmers in the moonlight like a pearl.
It looks as if it's all right nextdoor. Oympia Park is located less than two kilometers away from Skiba's home. What worries him these days, though, is the fact that this distance isn't remaining constant. The space between his home and the stadium is decreasing, slowly but ever so surely. The hillside upon which his home is built is sliding down into the valley at a pace of 1.5 meters (nearly five feet) per year, Skiba claims.
Residents of Baku Street had long been puzzled by the erosion that was causing their homes to slide or lean. A thick forest begins just behind the home of Skiba's neighbors. Sometimes they collect firewood there. It's in this forest that they first discovered the reason for the landslide. Excavators there dug out a pit where trucks had been dumping rubble -- waste from the Olympic construction sites. "The garbage dump has altered the groundwater flow on the hill," says Vladimir Kimayev, a member of the group Environmental Watch. "That's why the homes are sliding."
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US job growth in surprise slowdown
The US economy created only 74,000 jobs in December, with many Americans giving up looking for work, latest figures show.
The number of jobs created was the lowest for three years and was well under half the number expected by analysts., latest figures show.The US unemployment rate fell to a five-year low of 6.7%.
However, that was mostly due to a drop in the number of Americans looking for work
as they become discouraged.The US had bad weather in December, which may have stalled hiring plans.
The labour force participation
rate - a closely watched measure - fell noticeably. The share of
Americans who are either working or looking is now 62.8%, close to
35-year lows.The government counts people as unemployed only if they say they are actively searching for work
.The leisure, manufacturing and services sectors added jobs in December, but construction cut 16,000 jobs, the biggest drop in the industry in 20 months.
Related stories: White House downplays December jobs numbers
House passes bill targeting health care law
The House has passed a bill that would impose new security requirements on the Obama administration's implementation of the health care law.The vote was 291-122. Republicans say the bill was necessary to deal with potential security breaches, though they have offered no examples of cases in which personal data had been compromised.
They cited the case of Target Corp., which was the victim of hacking last year.
Democrats say the bill is designed to scare Americans from enrolling for coverage.
The administration opposes the bill, which stands no chance in the Democratic-led Senate.
The House voted more than 40 times last year to repeal, replace or undo parts of the law. Republicans see the law's troubles as paying political dividends in this election year.
Obama administration to end contract with CGI Federal, company behind HealthCare.gov
The Obama administration has decided to jettison CGI Federal, the main IT contractor that was responsible for building the defect-ridden online health insurance marketplace and has been immersed in the work of repairing it, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Federal
health officials are preparing to sign a 12-month contract worth roughly
$90 million, probably early next week, with a different company,
Accenture, after concluding that CGI has not been effective enough in
fixing the intricate computer system underpinning the federal Web site, HealthCare.gov, the individual said.'She is not a political pit bull':
Mother-of-four Christie aide fired over 'Bridgegate' was made a 'scapegoat' claim friends and co-workers
Bridget Anne Kelly wasn't known as an aggressive political animal who would take delight in snarling up the traffic for schoolchildren and emergency services to score petty political points.
She
is a mother-of-four after all. One who rose quickly up the political
ladder in New Jersey with the words 'pleasant' and 'integrity' attached
to her by those who worked and shared the school run with her.
But
her reputation is today in tatters after Chris Christie fired his
$140,000-a-year loyal deputy chief of staff for 'lying' and 'betraying'
him over the 'Bridgegate' plan to close two lanes of traffic on the
George Washington Bridge. And for her friends, those who know her the best, this just doesn't fit, she was 'no political pit bull'. They are convinced she's the scapegoat, the fall guy, or at the very least has been set up.
'The young lady did not just wake up one morning, when you see the emails, she didn’t just wake up one morning and decide let’s screw up the traffic in Fort Lee,' former colleague and ex-congressman Bill Pascrell Jr told North Jersey.com.
And a childhood friend of Ms Kelly, who asked to remain anonymous, insisted to MailOnline the 41-year-old had been burned after going into politics to help others.
'The noose has been out around her neck to take the fall for this. It's appalling ... They're saying, "We've got them ... See we're punishing somebody and that's the end of it",' the source said.
Hollywood figures spied for CIA, book asserts
WASHINGTON
-- It’s well known that Hollywood loves a good spy story. But what is
also true, according to a new memoir by a former senior CIA official, is
that movie makers regularly do some real-life spying.
“The CIA has long had a special relationship with the entertainment industry, devoting considerable attention to fostering relationships with Hollywood movers and shakers—studio executives, producers, directors, big-name actors,” John Rizzo, the former acting CIA general counsel, wrote in his new book, “Company Man: Thirty Years of Crisis and Controversy in the CIA.”
People might assume that since Hollywood leans to the political left, the CIA’s relationships “would be with the sort of conservative picket of Hollywood,” Rizzo said in an interview. “Well, that’s not true. People one would normally associated with liberal causes have assisted CIA.”
Alas, Rizzo is prohibited from naming names. They are...
“The CIA has long had a special relationship with the entertainment industry, devoting considerable attention to fostering relationships with Hollywood movers and shakers—studio executives, producers, directors, big-name actors,” John Rizzo, the former acting CIA general counsel, wrote in his new book, “Company Man: Thirty Years of Crisis and Controversy in the CIA.”
People might assume that since Hollywood leans to the political left, the CIA’s relationships “would be with the sort of conservative picket of Hollywood,” Rizzo said in an interview. “Well, that’s not true. People one would normally associated with liberal causes have assisted CIA.”
Alas, Rizzo is prohibited from naming names. They are...
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