Obama warns of Scrooge Christmas

30 November 2012 Last updated at 16:33 ET

US President Barack Obama has warned of a "Scrooge Christmas" if tax breaks are not renewed for working families in a deal to avert a so-called fiscal cliff.

Mr Obama made the remarks as he tried to win public support for his plan on a visit to a toy-maker in Pennsylvania.

But Republican House Speaker John Boehner said talks with the White House had gone "almost nowhere".

He said President Obama's plan to raise $1.6tn (£1tn) of revenue over 10 years was not a "serious proposal".

Planned tax rises and spending cuts due to take effect on 1 January could send the US back into recession, economists warn.

'Lump of coal'

On Friday, Mr Obama toured the Rodon Group manufacturing facility, where parts for the children's toy K'nex are made.

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"Start Quote

There's a stalemate - let's not kid ourselves"

End Quote John Boehner Speaker of the House

The Democratic president said it was the type of company that depended on middle-class customers to buy its goods, adding it would be hurt if ordinary Americans faced a tax rise.

In a speech at the factory, Mr Obama said both parties would have to "get out of our comfort zones" in order to negotiate a deal on the fiscal cliff, and pledged he would be willing to do the same.

He said that if Congress did not extend soon-to-expire tax breaks for the middle-class, it would be like receiving a "lump of coal" at Christmas.

"That's a Scrooge Christmas," Mr Obama added.

Tax cuts passed during the presidency of George W Bush are due to expire under the fiscal cliff.

Mr Obama favours extending the break for households earning below $250,000. But he wants taxes to rise for those on income above that sum.

Mr Boehner said that asking the top 2% of US taxpayers to pay more would deal a "crippling blow" to a fragile economy.

He also criticised as inadequate spending cuts that were proposed on Thursday by the Obama administration.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner put forward a plan to congressional leaders that would raise $1.6 trillion in higher taxes over a decade.

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What is the fiscal cliff?

• Under a deal reached last year between President Obama and the Republican-controlled Congress, existing stimulus measures - mostly tax cuts - will expire on 1 January 2013
• Cuts to defence, education and other government spending will then automatically come into force - the "fiscal cliff" - unless Congress acts
• The economy does not have the momentum to absorb the shock from going over the fiscal cliff without going into recession

The proposal also envisages spending more money to help the unemployed and struggling homeowners.

And it called for savings of as much as $400bn from Medicare and other benefit programmes over 10 years.

Mr Boehner told reporters on Friday: "There's a stalemate. Let's not kid ourselves. Right now, we're almost nowhere."

Some Republicans have said they would consider increased tax revenue as part of a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.

But the White House believes that simply ending tax deductions would not address the yawning budget deficit.

White House press secretary Jay Carney has indicated Mr Obama would not support any deal that did not increase tax rates on the wealthiest.

The fiscal cliff would suck about $600bn (£347bn) out of the economy.

The measures were partly put in place within a 2011 deal to curb the yawning US budget deficit.

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Mexico's Pena Nieto set for power

30 November 2012 Last updated at 22:04 ET

Mexico's incoming president, Enrique Pena Nieto, has named a 20-member cabinet hours before his inauguration.

Only three women will be in government as the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) returns to power after a 12-year absence.

Mr Pena Nieto wants to boost economic growth and cut drug-related violence.

Mexico's foreign minister will be Jose Antonio Meade, who was treasury minister in President Felipe Calderon's outgoing government.

Organised crime

The PRI governed without interruption for 71 years until 2000, and its opponents often accused it of being authoritarian and corrupt, and of having links to the drug cartels.

But during his election campaign Mr Pena Nieto, 46, was adamant that the PRI had evolved.

"I can say categorically that in my government, there won't be any form of pact or agreement with organised crime," he told the BBC.

"It's not the path nor the route to greater security for the Mexican people."

The new cabinet was presented by the man selected as interior minister, Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, a close friend of the president-elect and former Hidalgo state governor.

He will have what is likely to be one of the most difficult jobs, as Mr Pena Nieto wants to transfer responsibility for co-ordinating the drugs war from the public security ministry to the interior ministry.

One of Mr Osorio Chong's main tasks will be to reduce the country's murder rate. More than 50,000 people have died in Mexico in the fight against drug trafficking in the past six years.

A general, Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, will head the defence ministry.

The new finance minister, Luis Videgaray, was in charge of Mr Pena Nieto's presidential campaign and has experience in local government, congress and the private sector.

Pedro Joaquin Coldwell will take the role of energy minister, a key job due to the importance of Mexico's huge oil industry. A former tourism minister, he will oversee plans to open the Pemex oil monopoly to foreign investors.

He has been been leading the PRI for almost a year. But earlier this month, he denied that the party's return to power would be a return to the past. "It is not, because this is a different country," he said.

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Kuwaitis vote after mass protest

1 December 2012 Last updated at 02:30 ET

Kuwaitis are casting their votes for the second time this year as they head to the polls to choose a new parliament amid growing unrest.

On the eve of the election, tens of thousands of protesters in Kuwait City called for a boycott over changes made to the voting rules last month.

Opposition MPs say the amendment manipulates the ballot in favour of pro-government candidates.

Kuwait has had months of confrontations between the opposition and government.

Polling stations in the affluent Rumaithiya district of the capital appeared busy on Saturday morning, despite the calls for a boycott, the BBC's Shaimaa Khalil reports from Kuwait City.

However, the AFP news agency reported a far thinner turnout at a polling station in Salwa, 15km (10 miles) south of Kuwait City.

Defiant mood

The main opposition grievance is a 19 October decree ordered by the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Sabah, whose family dominates Kuwait's government.

The crisis was sparked in June, when the Constitutional Court annulled parliamentary elections held in February, in which the Islamist-led opposition made significant gains. The court also reinstated the previous assembly, allied to the ruling family.

After months of protests, Kuwait's emir ordered the dissolution of that parliament and announced new elections.

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The road from the square on Gulf street to the famous Kuwait Towers was covered in orange, the colour the opposition chose for its campaign called "Moqate'oon" or "boycotters".

Despite the tension that's been building up in Kuwait for the last two months, this rally on the eve of the second parliamentary elections felt different.

It was defiant and angry at times, but it was also jubilant and confident and, most importantly, peaceful.

It was a cross section of Kuwaiti society: Islamists, tribal elders, young men and women, and parents who even brought their children.

Women in black Abaya dresses and full face cover marched next to trendy young women in jeans and t-shirts. They looked different , but they all wanted to send the same message.

The emir's decree last month cut the number of candidates a voter can elect from four to one, saying it would ensure a fairer representation of people in the parliament.

But critics of the amendment say it gives the government greater influence over the outcome of the ballot.

Opposition MPs say the changes breaches the Gulf state's constitution. As a result they decided not to participate in the election.

Friday's protesters were angry at what they say is a unilateral decision by the emir to skew the election, which will not create a parliament representing the people, our correspondent reports.

This level of political polarisation is unusual in Kuwait, which has traditionally had a more unified political scene, she adds.

Carrying banners reading "absolute power corrupts", demonstrators marched through Kuwait City chanting, "we are boycotting" and "the people want to bring down the decree".

The rally was led by former Islamist MPs, by liberals and by young people, our correspondent says, adding that the mood was jubilant but defiant.

Unlike recent unauthorised protests, which ended in clashes between protesters and police, authorities had issued a permit for Friday's peaceful march.

Former MP Falah Al Sawagh told our correspondent the rally was not just about an electoral law, but about a long-term plan for real reform in Kuwait. "This is just the beginning," he said.

Demonstrator Rana Abdel Razak said the march would continue even after the election was held.

"We want real democracy, having elections doesn't mean we have democracy," she added.

Kuwait's parliament has the most powers of any elected body in the Gulf and opposition MPs openly criticise the ruling Sabah family.

However, the Sabahs retain full control over key government and executive posts.

The emir has dissolved parliament four times since 2006.

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Arrest after Australia navy raid

1 December 2012 Last updated at 03:35 ET

A man has been arrested in the northern Australian city of Darwin after weapons were stolen in a raid on a navy vessel.

Two shotguns and 12 pistols had been taken from a navy patrol boat moored at HMAS Coonawarra naval base at about midnight on Thursday. All the weapons have been recovered.

The attacker, dressed in military clothing and wearing a balaclava, had overpowered and tied up a sailor.

The navy has announced an inquiry into the breach of security.

'Significant result'

Northern Territory police said they had raided an apartment in Darwin at about 14:30 (05:00 GMT) on Saturday.

Commander Richard Bryson said: "This is a significant result for the Northern Territory Police and the community to recover these weapons and remove them from the streets so quickly."

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Vice Admiral Ray Griggs speaks before the arrest was announced

The attack took place on the Armidale-class patrol boat, Bathurst.

The sailor was chained with cable ties, but had released himself to raise the alarm. He suffered only minor injuries.

HMAS Coonawarra is a key navy base, with about 600 naval personnel.

The navy has launched an investigation into the incident.

Royal Australian Navy chief Vice Admiral Ray Griggs said this was a security breach "we need to obviously look into very carefully".

He added: "There is an investigation under way from a police perspective, but I have also initiated a review of security on board our ships and establishments."

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Australia crocodile death feared

1 December 2012 Last updated at 05:07 ET

Police in northern Australia are searching for a 12-year-old boy feared killed by a crocodile, the second potential fatality in two weeks.

The boy was swimming with a group of people at Port Bradshaw in East Arnhem Land, police said.

Other members of the group tried to spear the animal but it reportedly dragged the boy to deeper waters.

A girl aged seven disappeared two weeks ago and human remains were later found in a crocodile's stomach.

That attack took place at the Gumarrirnbang outstation, about 500km (300 miles) east of Darwin, the capital of Northern Territory.

'Tragic circumstance'

Saturday's attack was at Port Bradshaw, 80km south of the town of Nhulunbuy.

Police Superintendent Michael White said in a statement: "Initial reports suggest adults within the group tried to save the boy by spearing the animal, but the crocodile dragged the child out to deeper water.

"Officers from Nhulunbuy police station are currently at the scene of the attack and searching for the boy and the crocodile."

Supt White added: "This is a tragic circumstance for the child's family and friends, and highlights the dangers of swimming in waterways in the Top End."

A day after the attack two weeks ago, police rangers shot dead a three-metre-long reptile in the same waterhole - or billabong - where the girl went missing.

Tests suggest its stomach contained human remains.

Fatal attacks in Australia by saltwater crocodiles - a protected species - remain rare.

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N Korea date for rocket launch

1 December 2012 Last updated at 06:09 ET

North Korea is to launch a long-range rocket between 10 and 22 December, its official news agency says.

The KCNA agency said the aim was to launch a satellite.

Previous - unsuccessful - launches have been criticised as breaches of a UN ban on North Korean ballistic missile tests.

The announcement is likely to increase tensions with North Korea's neighbours, with South Korea expressing concern over Pyongyang's announcement.

South Korean officials called the move a "grave provocation" and a "challenge to the international community".

The atmosphere in South Korea is especially tense as the country prepares for a presidential election scheduled for 19 December, the BBC's Lucy Williamson reports from Seoul.

North Korea's most recent rocket launch, in April, was a failure.

The US, Japan and South Korea said the rocket flew only for a short time before breaking up and crashing into waters off the Korean peninsula.

Earlier this week South Korea halted a satellite launch minutes before take-off after problems were found during the final checks.

'Peaceful purposes'

North Korean scientists and technicians had now "analysed the mistakes" of the April launch, the Korean Committee for Space Technology said, via KCNA.

The rocket will be of the same Unha-3 variety as was used in the April test. It will be launched "southward" from the Sohae base near the Chinese border, KCNA said, implying it would be directed over the East China Sea.

The flight path had been chosen to avoid debris falling on neighbouring countries, the agency said.

"Unha" is Korean for "galaxy", and is the name given by North Korea to the space launcher version of its Taepodong-2 missile, which has an estimated range of 2,200km. The missile has not yet been successfully tested.

There had been recent speculation that North Korea would attempt another launch soon, with a UN Security Council committee on Thursday warning the country against such a move.

Saturday's statement insisted the forthcoming launch would be for "peaceful purposes".

The test will be the second to take place under the leadership of Kim Jong-un, who took over leadership of the country after the death of his father Kim Jong-il almost a year ago.

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Egypt Islamists rally for Morsi

1 December 2012 Last updated at 06:31 ET

Islamist backers of Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi are holding mass rallies to support his sweeping new powers and the drafting of a constitution.

The demonstrations in Cairo come after days of rival protests by supporters and opponents of the president.

His opponents are angry that the draft constitution was hastily passed by an Islamist-dominated assembly on Friday.

The assembly acted before Egypt's top court could meet to rule on whether the body of MPs should be dissolved.

Senior judges have been in a stand-off with the president since he granted himself sweeping new powers last week.

'God's law'

Thousands of supporters of Mr Morsi, carrying flags and portraits of the president, gathered outside Cairo university on Saturday.

"The people support the president's decision!" they chanted, while a banner read: "The people want the implementation of God's law."

Riot police stood by, with roadblocks erected to contain crowds.

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• Sharia remains the main source of legislation
• Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's leading authority, to be consulted on "matters related to Sharia"
• Christianity and Judaism to be the main source of legislation for Christians and Jews
• Religious freedom to be limited to Muslims, Christians and Jews
• Limits president to two four-year terms of office

Mr Morsi's supporters in the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties had called for a huge turnout to show that the president's recent moves were supported by the public.

Under an emergency decree issued last week, Mr Morsi's decisions cannot be revoked by any authority, including the judiciary, until the new constitution has been ratified and a fresh parliamentary election held.

The decree also states that the courts cannot dissolve the constituent assembly.

Mr Morsi says he will give up his extraordinary powers once the new constitution is approved by a referendum.

Members of the constituent assembly are scheduled to hand him the draft of the constitution they quickly adopted at 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on Friday.

The president is then expected to ratify the draft and schedule a referendum.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says Mr Morsi may announce the referendum on Saturday and hold it in as little as two weeks' time.

Our correspondent says the key question will be whether the opposition can mobilise its support and get it to the ballot boxes to vote in the referendum.

On Friday, tens of thousands of people opposed to the president rallied in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Demonstrators chanted slogans, including "The people want the fall of the regime!" - one of the rallying cries against former President Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled last year.

In the city of Alexandria, supporters and opponents of the president clashed on the streets.

'Divisive move'

The extent of Mr Morsi's new powers has raised fears that he might become a new dictator.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay has written to the president, asking him to reconsider his decree.

In her letter, Ms Pillay "warned that approving a constitution in these circumstances could be a deeply divisive move", her spokesman said.

Mr Morsi's decree of 22 November gave the 100-member constituent assembly until January to complete the draft constitution.

Opponents filed 43 separate lawsuits challenging the process.

When the Supreme Constitutional Court, Egypt's highest judicial authority, said it would soon rule on the lawsuits, supporters of the president in the assembly decided to pass a rushed draft to head off the threat of dissolution.

During a marathon session that began on Thursday and continued through the night, the assembly voted on and passed all 234 articles.

Among the historic changes to Egypt's system of government, the draft limits the amount of time a president can serve to two four-year terms.

It also introduces some civilian oversight of the military establishment.

The draft keeps in place an article defining "principles of Sharia", or Islamic law, as the main source of legislation.

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Rebels begin withdrawal from Goma

1 December 2012 Last updated at 06:59 ET

Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have begun to withdraw from the key city of Goma under a regionally brokered agreement.

The M23 rebels were seen boarding trucks and heading out of the city, 11 days after seizing it from government troops backed by UN peacekeepers.

The deal calls for the rebels to withdraw towards the town of Kibumba.

The M23 rebels deserted from the army in April, with some 500,000 people fleeing their homes in ensuing unrest.

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• Named after the 23 March 2009 peace accord which they accuse the government of violating
• This deal saw them join the army before they took up arms once more in April 2012
• Also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army
• Mostly from minority Tutsi ethnic group
• Deny being backed by Rwanda and Uganda
• Believed to have 1,200 to 6,000 fighters
• International Criminal Court indicted top commander Bosco "Terminator" Ntaganda in 2006 for allegedly recruiting child soldiers
• The UN and US imposed a travel ban and asset freeze earlier this month on the group's leader, Sultani Makenga

The UK has suspended aid to Rwanda, amid concerns about the country's role in the conflict.

Both Rwanda and neighbouring Uganda strongly deny UN accusations that they are backing the M23.

Humanitarian crisis

Reports on Saturday spoke of a number of flat-bed trucks carrying several hundred rebels out of Goma.

Some 1,500 M23 fighters were reported to have occupied the city.

M23 deputy spokesman Amani Kabasha told Reuters: "The M23 is leaving Goma."

According to the withdrawal accord, mediated by Uganda, the rebels are to pull back to a 20km (13 mile) buffer zone around Goma.

The accord had stipulated that the M23 would leave behind 100 soldiers to guard the airport in conjunction with a UN contingent and a government unit.

However, Sy Koumbo, a spokesman for the UN in Congo, told Associated Press that the rebels had tried but failed to force their way into the airport to seize weapons on Friday.

The rebels said recovering the materiel was part of the withdrawal process.

More than 270 Congolese policemen have arrived in Goma's port as part of the transition.

The UN has warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in the region because of the recent fighting.

Goma is the key city in an eastern border area that has seen years of conflict sparked by ethnic and political differences, and grievances over mineral resources.

Some five million people died during the 1997-2003 DR Congo conflict, which drew in several regional countries, including both Rwanda and Uganda.

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'Fierce clashes' by Syria airport

29 November 2012 Last updated at 16:46 ET

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The road to the airport in the Syrian capital Damascus has been closed and flights cancelled amid reports of fierce clashes with rebels in the area.

The government appears to be mounting an unprecedented offensive against rebel-held districts in the east of the city, BBC correspondents report.

The clashes came as internet and phone systems in the country went down.

The Syrian government has previously cut off access to the internet during major operations.

However, correspondents say a nationwide switch-off is unprecedented.

But Syria's information minister said "terrorists" had cut off the internet and that engineers were working to repair the fault.

'Passengers trapped'

Emirates airline and Egypt Air have cancelled flights to Damascus.

Government sources said a plane carrying 150 staff from the UN peacekeeping force had taken off from Damascus airport on Thursday evening.

A replacement team had already arrived earlier in the day, the sources said.

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The road to Damascus International Airport bears special significance to the family of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

In January 1994, the president's older brother, Bassel, was killed on this road when his car hit a roundabout. His death forced Bashar to abandon his job as an ophthalmologist and take his brother's place as heir to their father, Hafez. Now, almost 19 years later, this road once again plays a role in the destiny of the Assad family.

The closure of the airport road, and the cancellation of flights by a number of international airlines, may be a sign that the rebels are now able to inflict damage on pro-Assad forces in crucial areas. In the 20 months of Syria's conflict, President Assad's forces have normally been able to re-assert supremacy by carrying out air strikes.

But in recent days, the government's control of the skies has come into question. On Tuesday, Syrian rebels announced the shooting down of a military helicopter near the northern city of Aleppo. There are reports that rebels have got hold of a number of shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles. These weapons may play a part in changing the balance of the conflict.

State TV reported on Thursday evening that the airport road had been "secured" after military intervention. But correspondents say the highway remains closed and there are more reports of fighting.

It is believed that Syrian government reinforcements were sent into the area after rebels fired mortars at the runway, the BBC's Paul Wood in Beirut reports.

A source in the Free Syrian Army told our correspondent the attack on the airport had been planned for a long time and that rebel fighters had been "inching closer and closer" over the past few days and hours.

The aim of the plan was to capture the airport and not just conduct a hit-and-run attack, the source said.

The rebels carrying out the attack were all from Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of the capital, and were well armed after capturing government weapons, including heavy weapons, in recent weeks, the source added.

Our correspondent says there have also been reports of passengers still being trapped inside the terminal and at an airport hotel. No rebels appear to be inside the airport.

UN peacekeepers injured

Despite the communications blackout, the BBC was able to get through to residents in the centre of Damascus, who said they could hear and see what they believed to be the biggest army offensive so far against rebel-held districts.

The offensive appeared to be going on in the east of the city, extending to the airport 27km (17 miles) south-east of the centre.

The main road to the airport passes through rebel-held territory which has regularly been the target of government air strikes.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group, also reported a major government offensive, saying clashes were most intense in the suburb of Babbila, near the rebel stronghold of Tadamun.

The group, whose information cannot be independently verified, said there were clashes all along the road.

State TV said government forces were fighting "al-Qaeda elements", mostly in the suburbs of Duma and Daraya.

Two Austrian soldiers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights were wounded as their convoy came under fire on the road to the airport. Their injuries were not life-threatening, the Austrian defence ministry said.

The Syrian ambassador in Vienna was to be summoned to the foreign ministry to explain what happened, Austrian government officials said in an official statement.

"Syria is responsible for the safety of our [UN] soldiers and must ensure that they can fulfil their international mandate", they said.

Meanwhile the UN and Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said he had "the elements of a peace plan" but could not move ahead without the backing of the Security Council.

"No doubt what is very, very urgently needed is a ceasefire that can hold and that, I believe, will require a peacekeeping mission," he said on Thursday.

"It bears repeating that the situation is bad in Syria and getting worse, that unfortunately the parties themselves are not ready to have an internal solution.

"The region is also not really capable, at this time, of helping for a peaceful solution. The place where a peaceful solution can be initiated is the Security Council."

On Wednesday, two car bombs hit Druze and Christian areas, also to the south-east of Damascus, killing 34 people.

No group has said it was behind the bombings, and there was no immediately obvious military or government target, reports the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut.

Activists say more than 40,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.

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Canada 'eco-terrorist' surrenders

29 November 2012 Last updated at 23:49 ET

A Canadian woman accused of involvement in the "largest eco-terrorism case" in the US history has surrendered after a decade on the run.

Rebecca Jeanette Rubin, 39, handed herself over to FBI agents on the Canadian-US border.

She is alleged to have been one of 13 members of a cell - known as The Family - linked to arson attacks in the western United States from 1996-2001.

The group believed their targets were damaging the environment.

The damage to the targets, including forest ranger stations and meat processing plants, ran to more than $40m (£25m).

'Protection oath'

Ms Rubin turned herself in to FBI agents at the Canadian border in Blaine, Washington state.

"Rubin's arrest marks the end of her decade-long period as an international fugitive in the largest eco-terrorism case in United States history," a statement by the Justice Department said.

The reason for Ms Rubin's surrender was not immediately known.

She faces arson and conspiracy charges and is expected to be tried in the state of Oregon.

Ten members of the cell - the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front - pleaded guilty in 2007 to conspiracy and arson charges and were sentenced to between 37 and 156 months in prison.

After Ms Rubin's surrender, two other members remain at large.

The cell members had reportedly taken oaths to protect each other from the authorities - making it a long and difficult investigation.

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