Japan's Abe to visit Southeast Asia to boost economic ties

26, 2012. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's first overseas trip will see him visit Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand in January, aiming to bolster ties with the growing Asian economies as relations with Beijing stay tense.
Abe had hoped to first visit Washington in order to strengthen Japan's alliance with the United States, but the visit was postponed due to President Barack Obama's tight schedule, Japan's top government spokesman said on Thursday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the ASEAN-member countries that Abe will visit are at the forefront of Asian economic growth and Japan, mired in deflation and stuck in its fourth recession since 2000, should expand economic ties.
"It's important to strengthen the cooperation with the ASEAN countries to ensure peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region," said Suga, adding that the countries were also strategically important for Tokyo.
Japan's relations with China took a dive last September after a flare up in a long-standing territorial dispute over islets in the East China Sea claimed by both countries.
Aiming to offset the economic impact of the feud, Abe has been reaching out to other Asian neighbors, sending its foreign minister on a tour around Southeast Asian countries and dispatching special envoys to South Korea and Russia.
Suga, however, stressed that Abe's trip was not aimed at counter-balancing China's influence in the region, which has seen an increase in territorial disputes amid fierce competition for natural resources.
"China is an important country for Japan," he said stressing the strategic nature of Tokyo's bilateral ties with the world's second largest economy.
Before his election last month, Abe had pledged a tough stance in the territorial row with China, but experts are hoping he will take a pragmatic stance now that he is in power.
Abe came to power partly on a nationalist platform and wants to revise Japan's U.S.-drafted constitution adopted after World War Two. U.S. officials have indicated they would like to see Tokyo loosen constitutional restraints on its military to allow a bigger global security role.
But Abe's government will stand by a landmark 1995 apology for Japan's wartime aggression, said Suga. Any revision to would upset Asian nations that suffered from Tokyo's past militarism.

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China newspaper publishes after deal ends standoff

GUANGZHOU, China (AP) — An influential weekly newspaper whose staff rebelled to protest heavy-handed censorship by China's government officials published as normal Thursday after a compromise that called for relaxing some intrusive controls but left lingering ill-will among some reporters and editors.
The latest edition of the Southern Weekly bore no hints of the dispute that erupted last week over a New Year's editorial that was rewritten to praise the Communist Party and that drove some staff to stop work in protest. Still fuming, some editors and reporters tried late Wednesday to insert a carefully-worded commentary praising the newspaper as a tribune of reform, but were rebuffed by management, an editor said.
The editor, who asked not to be named because he had been repeatedly warned not to talk to foreign media, described the mood among editorial staff as indignant. He predicted that some would resign, either voluntarily out of anger or forced out by management.
Academics spoke of a coming reckoning by authorities to reassert control at the Southern Weekly and any other media that might take encouragement.
"Overall, the authorities do not want this situation to spread," Peng Peng, a political science researcher at the Guangdong province Social Sciences Academy, told reporters.
The weeklong fracas at the Southern Weekly evolved quickly from a row over censorship at one newspaper to a call for free speech and political reform across China, handing an unexpected test to the party leadership headed by Xi Jinping just two months into office.
Hopes that the dispute would strike a blow against censorship initially ran high. Internet microblogs crackled with messages of support. Liberal-minded academics wrote open letters. And hundreds of people this week gathered outside the newspaper's offices off a busy street in the southern commercial center of Guangzhou, waving signs that called for freedom of expression.
But expectations for change began fizzling Wednesday as a compromise to end the dispute took shape. Under the deal, according to the editor and another staff member, editors and reporters would not be punished for protesting, and propaganda officials would no longer directly censor content prior to publication, though directives, self-censorship, threats of dismissal and many other longstanding measures would stay in place to ensure obedience to the party.
The outpouring challenged one of the key levers of party rule — its right to control the media and dictate content — and officials pushed back this week to reassert authority.
"This crisis rings alarm bells for journalists and liberal intellectuals. The new government might kick-start economic reforms in certain areas, to ensure continued growth. But swift political reforms are not on the top leaders' agenda, as they are still calculating resistance from conservative blocs," Zhang Hong, deputy editor-in-chief of the business newspaper Economic Observer, wrote in a commentary Thursday in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.
In a further sign of tightening, police attempted Thursday to prevent more of the protests outside the compound housing the Southern Weekly and its parent company, the Nanfang Media Group, in Guangzhou, a city long at the forefront of reforms. About 30 police officers guarded the area and ordered people to move on, chasing away any who wouldn't and detaining at least one local university student who came with a group of friends.
The standoff at the Southern Weekly echoed through the newsroom of the Beijing News, which is co-owned by Nanfang Media and has a reputation for aggressive reporting. Editors at the newspaper all week defied an order to run a commentary that many other newspapers carried that blamed resistance to censorship on meddling foreign forces, but a propaganda official visited the newspaper late Tuesday and forced publication of the commentary.
The Southern Weekly dispute was touched off after provincial propaganda chief Tuo Zhen rewrote the New Year's editorial, which called for better constitutional government, to insert heavy praise for the party. The revised editorial was not submitted for review by editors before publication, violating an unwritten practice in censorship and enraging the staff, which saw it as an attack.
The Southern Weekly has been a standard-bearer for hard-edged reporting and liberal commentary since the 1990s. Throughout, senior party politicians and propaganda functionaries have repeatedly attempted to rein in the newspaper, cashiering editors and reporters who breach often unstated limits.
The special commentary that reporters and editors tried late Wednesday to insert into Thursday's edition was meant to extol that legacy, said the editor. Many other editors and reporters declined comment or refused to answer phone calls and emails. Dai Zhiyong, the columnist who drafted the original New Year's editorial, also declined comment, but posted to his Twitter-like microblog account an essay he had written three years ago; its title: "Before becoming free, one must suffer."
Even if censorship largely remains intact, the standoff has showed the breadth of support independent-minded media like Southern Weekly have among many Chinese, who are wired to the Internet and increasingly sophisticated in their expectations of the government. Peng, the politics scholar, said the confrontation showed that the party's censorship system needs to change, though the pace may not be as quick as many in the media would like.
"To put it simply, the media cannot go beyond the existing system to pursue radical reform, but the management method also needs to change," said Peng.

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US missiles kill 5 suspected militants in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan intelligence officials say U.S. drone-fired missiles have hit a house in the country's northwest tribal region, killing five suspected militants.
The officials say the attack occurred Thursday in a village near Mir Ali, one of the main towns in the North Waziristan tribal area, the main sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaida militants in Pakistan.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

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Cricket-South Africa beat New Zealand by an innings and 27 runs

CAPE TOWN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - South Africa beat New Zealand by an innings and 27 runs on the third day of the first test on Friday.
Scores: New Zealand 45 (V. Philander 5-7) and 275 (D. Brownlie 109, B. McCullum 51); South Africa 347 for eight declared (A. Petersen 106, A.B. de Villiers 67, H. Amla 66, J. Kallis 60). (Reporting by Michael Todt; Editing by John Mehaffey)

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Cricket-South Africa v New Zealand 1st test scoreboard

CAPE TOWN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Scoreboard on the third day of
the first test between South Africa and New Zealand at Newlands
on Friday.
New Zealand first innings 45 (V. Philander 5-7)
South Africa first innings 347 for eight declared
(A.Petersen 106, H.Amla 66, J.Kallis 60, AB de Villiers 67)
New Zealand second innings
M. Guptill c Amla b Steyn 0
B. McCullum lbw b Peterson 51
K. Williamson c Petersen b Kallis 15
D. Brownlie c Peterson b Morkel 109
D. Flynn c de Villiers b Kallis 14
BJ Watling c Smith b Philander 42
J.Franklin b Steyn 22
D.Bracewell c Petersen b Philander 0
J.Patel b Steyn 8
T.Boult not out 2
C.Martin run out 0
Extras (b-1 lb-8 w-3) 12
Total (all out, 102.1 overs) 275
Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-29 3-118 4-155 5-229 6-252 7-252
8-265 9-274 10-275
Bowling: Steyn 30-6-67-3, Philander 24-8-76-2 (1w), Morkel
21-6-50-1 (1w), Kallis 11.1-3-31-2 (1w), Peterson 16-6-42-1
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat
Result: South Africa won by an innings and 27 runs

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UPDATE 1-Cricket-South Africa complete innings victory

CAPE TOWN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - South Africa completed an innings victory over New Zealand on Friday in a result which was never in doubt after the visitors collapsed to 45 all out before lunch on the opening day of the first test.
Dean Brownlie's maiden test century helped New Zealand to 232 for five at lunch on the third day after South Africa had declared their first innings closed at 347 for eight on Thursday.
However five wickets fell for 23 runs in a lower order collapse in the second session and the New Zealanders ended up 27 runs short of making the world number one side bat again.
Brownlie, who had been brought into the team as a replacement for Ross Taylor who opted out of the tour after he was replaced as captain by Brendon McCullum, resumed on day three with wicketkeeper BJ Watling, who was on 10.
The duo were resolute in the morning session and a frustrated Proteas' outfit were forced to watch as Brownlie reached his century with a big six over long-off from the bowling of Robin Peterson.
South Africa eventually got their man in the penultimate over before lunch as Brownlie cut a Morne Morkel delivery straight to Alviro Petersen on the point boundary having made 109.
Watling and James Franklin continued to frustrate the Proteas in the first hour following the break as they looked to avoid an innings defeat.
Three dropped catches had marred the hosts fielding display on day two and Franklin was next to be given a reprieve as ro Petersen grassed his second chance of the innings at gully.
A double-strike by Vernon Philander shortly before the drinks break crippled the New Zealand innings though, as Watling edged to first slip and was out for 42.
Doug Bracewell was caught at gully for a duck to reduce the Black Caps to 252 for seven and Jeetan Patel (8) was clearly rattled by the fearsome pace of Dale Steyn before eventually chopping on to his stumps.
The final two wickets fell in quick succession, as Franklin too played onto his stumps for 22 having lasted 103 minutes to leave New Zealand on the brink at 274 for nine.
The test match ended in a fittingly shambolic fashion for the Black Caps when Chris Martin was run out one delivery later without having faced a ball after being sent back by Trent Boult.
Philander won the man-of-the-match award for his match figures of 7-83, which included five for seven in the first innings.

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Chefs offer their take on Jerusalem

LONDON (AP) — Two London-based chefs with roots in Jerusalem one day. The next, poster boys for peace.
Such has been the reaction to "Jerusalem," a bestselling cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi, an Israeli, and Sami Tamimi, a Palestinian, built on their memories of a shared city and its delicious food.
"Regardless of all the trouble, food is always there," Tamimi said.
The men run gourmet delis and restaurants in London and have written an earlier cookbook together. They were known not for politics, but for saving some chic London neighborhoods from culinary boredom with Mediterranean-based recipes infused with fresh, exotic flavors.
That changed with the publication of "Jerusalem," as observers took note of their unusual partnership.
An Anglican minister used the chefs as an example of interfaith dialogue in a commentary on the BBC's influential Today program. The New Yorker piled on with a profile titled "The Philosopher Chef." Britain's Daily Telegraph featured the partners on its news pages — no recipes attached.
Suddenly it wasn't just about how much garlic goes into hummus. It was about them.
"We've been very successful at attracting (attention)," Ottolenghi said. "We didn't go out there declaring a political stance. All we did is say, this is the food that we like."
The book contains a mixture of Palestinian and Jewish food, and the authors occasionally discuss what bothers them about their hometown, with its largely Jewish west and predominantly Arab east.
"We would both like to see the city divided more equally between its peoples so it's not a one-sided story as it is at the moment," Ottolenghi said. "And it's controversial. People can be offended or upset. But I don't think they are, and I don't think (they) should be."
Their lucrative collaboration, built around five establishments carrying the Ottolenghi name, would have been harder to pull off in the city that gives the book its title. There is little social interaction between Jews and Palestinians in Jerusalem, and business partnerships are very rare.
London was a different story. Perhaps largely because of its postwar history of appalling cuisine, the city was ready for them. Unlike other European countries that find it hard to stray from celebrated local specialties, London has long been willing to experiment, offering a welcoming home to this political odd couple.
Their establishments quickly gained attention with a high-flying crowd that wanted the staff to know their names when they picked up their cappuccino in the morning or their seared tuna at night.
They don't prepare comfort food in the traditional sense, but it is certainly comfortable to those whose food horizons are open to offerings such as roasted eggplant with feta yogurt, caramelized onions, crispy kale, sumac and lemon zest or chargrilled fillet of English beef with sweet coriander-mustard sauce
The company now employs some 200 people, a dozen of whom were beavering away recently at their London test kitchen and bakery tucked into the arches that form the base of a railroad bridge in the borough of Camden. While trains rumbled overhead, flour-covered bakers stacked pastry circles and rolled out breadsticks one by one under a corrugated steel roof.
Ottolenghi moved to London in the late 1990s after escaping a career path to academia and began to work as a pastry chef. In 1999, while riding his scooter, he happened upon the elegant deli Baker & Spice, and found all the things he loved: Fresh greens, rotisserie chicken and a California feel.
Tamimi had created the concept, and the two bonded over their love of food. Ottolenghi ended up working there, and when he started his own place in 2002, he asked Tamimi to join him.
The men, both 44, never met in Jerusalem, but they have shared interests. Their recipes trace their adventures, like the time Tamimi and a childhood friend crept onto the roof of his friend's house to snatch the figs laid out to dry. The roasted sweet potato and fresh fig salad recipe evokes this memory.
Joan Nathan, author of "Jewish Cooking in America," says she was drawn to the book's personal touch. The book isn't the definitive work on the region's cuisine, she says, pointing out for example that the famed Palestinian chicken dish Mousakhan is not included. But she says that doesn't hurt its appeal. Nathan, who lived in Jerusalem in the 1970s, likes the way the book encompasses both east and west.
"It struck a chord with me," she said.
Though the two men stress their book is about food, they expected people to talk about its context. Politics touches everything in — and about — Jerusalem. Even food is contentious. There have long been arguments, with political overtones, about the origin of that Middle Eastern staple, hummus, with both Arabs and Jews claiming credit.
The chefs would prefer to prepare and enjoy hummus rather than analyze its history. But they know it's impossible to avoid politics.

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Iran says talks with big powers to be held in January

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Iran has agreed to hold talks with six major powers about its atomic program in January but the date and venue has yet to be decided, the country's top nuclear negotiator said on Friday.
The six powers want to rein in Iran's uranium enrichment program to ensure it is geared only for civilian energy, through a mix of diplomacy and sanctions. Iran denies Western assertions it is seeking nuclear weapons capability.
"We have accepted that these talks should be held in January, but until now, the details have not been finalized," Jalili said through a translator during a trip to India.
The six powers - the United States, Russia, France, Britain, Germany and China - have failed to achieve a breakthrough in three rounds of talks since April. But neither side has been willing to break off totally, partly because of concern this could lead to war if Israel attacked its arch-foe.
The powers last met Iran for talks in Moscow. That meeting was followed by low-level technical talks in Istanbul.
Jalili is the second member of Iran's nuclear team to visit India in the past month. He said he welcomed the two countries' strong ties but said India had no particular role in getting nuclear talks restarted.

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Victims: I. Coast stampede caused by barricades

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Two survivors of the New Year's stampede in Ivory Coast that killed 61 people say barricades that were set up unofficially created the crush of thousands of people who were leaving a fireworks display.
The two survivors, who are hospitalized at Cocody Hospital, said Wednesday that after the fireworks they were prevented from moving along the Boulevard de la Republic by wooden barricades. Newspapers in Ivory Coast have speculated that the roadblocks were set up so pickpockets could steal money and mobile phones.
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, who declared three days of national mourning starting Wednesday, has ordered an immediate investigation into the causes of the stampede. He said the government would open a crisis center to help families find missing people and to take testimony from witnesses.

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Angola: Stampede kills 13 at religious gathering

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The death toll in a stampede on New Year's Eve at a sports stadium in Angola has risen to 13, and some of the victims were children, Angolan media reported Wednesday.
Officials said about 120 people were also injured in the incident, which happened when tens of thousands of people tried to enter a stadium in the capital, Luanda, for a religious gathering, according to Angop, the Angolan news agency.
Faustino Sebastiao, spokesman for the national firefighters department, said those who died were crushed and asphyxiated.
The event in the southern African nation was organized by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, an evangelical group founded in Brazil.
In western Africa, a crowd in Ivory Coast stampeded after leaving a New Year's fireworks show early Tuesday, killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 200.

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C. African Republic leader dismisses son

DAMARA, Central African Republic (AP) — The embattled president of Central African Republic has dismissed his son as the country's defense minister.
The move late Wednesday comes as President Francois Bozize faces a coalition of rebel groups who are seeking his ouster.
National radio announced that his son Francis Bozize will no longer be the defense minister.
Chief of Staff Gen. Guillaume Lapo is also leaving the government, according to the announcement.
Francois Bozize has been in power since 2003 and in the past month he has faced a growing threat as rebels have seized 10 towns across the north.
Bozize has announced he's willing to negotiate with the rebels but he said he will not leave office before his current term ends in 2016.

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Ivory Coast stampede survivors blame barricades

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Survivors of a stampede in Ivory Coast that killed 61 people, most of them children and teenagers, after a New Year's Eve fireworks display said Wednesday that makeshift barricades stopped them from moving along a main boulevard, causing the crush of people.
Ivory Coast police said unknown people put tree trunks across the Boulevard de la Republique where the trampling took place.
"For security, because there were so many important people at the event, we closed certain main streets," said a police officer who was overheard briefing Ivory Coast President Alassane Outtara on the incident. The police officer said the tree trunks were put out unofficially by people who are not known.
"After the fireworks we reopened the other streets, but we had not yet removed the tree trunks from the Boulevard de la Republique, in front of the Hotel Tiana near the National Assembly (parliament) building," she said. "That is where the stampede happened when people flooded in from the other streets."
Ouattara ordered three days of national mourning and launched an investigation into the causes of the tragedy.
Two survivors, in interviews with The Associated Press, indicated why so many died in what would normally be an open area, the Boulevard de la Republique. An estimated 50,000 people had gathered near the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium and elsewhere in Abidjan's Plateau district to watch the fireworks. As they streamed away from the show some encountered the blockades.
"Near the Justice Palace we were stopped by some people who put blockades of wood in the street," 33-year-old Zoure Sanate said from her bed in Cocody Hospital. "They told us we must stay in the Plateau area until morning. None of us accepted to stay in Plateau until the morning for a celebration that ended at around 1 a.m.
"Then came the stampede of people behind us," she said. "My four children and I were knocked to the ground. I was hearing my kids calling me, but I was powerless and fighting against death. Two of my kids are in hospital with me, but two others are missing. They cannot be found."
Another hospital patient, Brahima Compaore, 39, said he also was caught in the pile of people stopped by the roadblock.
"I found myself on the ground and people were walking on me," said Compaore. "I was only saved by people who pulled me onto the sidewalk."
Local newspapers are speculating that thieves put up the roadblocks so that pickpockets could steal money and mobile phones from the packed-in people.
Ouattara pledged to get answers. Some observers wondered why police did not prevent the tragedy.
"The investigation must take into account all the testimonies of victims," he said Wednesday. "We will have a crisis center to share and receive information."
Ouattara also postponed the traditional New Year's receptions at his residence, which had been scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
The leader of a human rights organization said that deadly incidents were predictable because the police and civil authorities had not taken adequate protective measures.
"The situation is deplorable," said Thierry Legre, president of the Ivorian League of Human Rights. "It is our first tragedy of 2013 but in 2012 we could already see possibility of such a tragedy because there are not adequate authorities patrolling our roads and waters."
Legre said the New Year's stampede "exposes our weak and dysfunctional civil protection system. This must be corrected immediately. The government cannot invite people to this kind of public gathering without taking adequate precautions to protect their safety and their lives."
He called on the government "to implement measures to avoid such tragedies in the future by reinforcing the civil protection system."
The government organized the fireworks to celebrate Ivory Coast's peace, after several months of political violence in early 2011 following disputed elections.
Just one night before the New Year's incident, there had been a big concert at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium where American rap star Chris Brown performed. That Sunday night event was for the Kora Awards for African musicians. No serious incidents were reported from that event.
In 2009, 22 people died and over 130 were injured in a stampede at a World Cup qualifying match at the Houphouet Boigny Stadium, prompting FIFA, soccer's global governing body, to impose a fine of tens of thousands of dollars on Ivory Coast's soccer federation. The stadium, which officially holds 35,000, was overcrowded at the time of the disaster.
Another African stadium tragedy occurred on New Year's Eve in Angola where 13 people, including four children, died in a stampede during a religious gathering at a sports stadium in Luanda, the capital.
Angop, the Angolan news agency, cited officials as saying Tuesday that 120 people were also injured. The incident happened on New Year's Eve when tens of thousands of people gathered at the stadium and panic ensued. Faustino Sebastiao, spokesman for the national firefighters department, says those who died were crushed and asphyxiated.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed "deep sorrow" at the heavy human toll and put "a medical team and all available logistical means at the disposal of the government," to help deal with the situation, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

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C. African Republic leader faces rebel threat

DAMARA, Central African Republic (AP) — More than 30 truckloads of troops from Chad line the two-lane highway just outside of Damara, supporting Central African Republic government forces who want to block a new rebel coalition from reaching the capital.
In a display of force, the turbaned fighters hold their rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons they threaten to use if the rebels seeking to oust President Francois Bozize push this far south.
Gen. Jean Felix Akaga, who heads the regional force known as FOMAC, says a push on Damara, just 75 kilometers (45 miles) north of the capital, would be "a declaration of war" on the 10 Central African states.
"For us, Damara is the red line that the rebels cannot cross," Akaga said Wednesday. "If they attack Damara, we will attack."
The United Nations called for talks between the government and rebels and the Security Council scheduled closed consultations on the Central African Republic on Thursday afternoon.
The multinational force brought journalists up to Damara, where they touted the strength of the Chadian troops, who along with forces from Republic of Congo and Gabon are helping to stabilize the area.
The rebels, though, appear to be holding their positions after taking a string of towns including Sibut, which is 70 miles (112 kilometers) further north from Damara.
Back in 2003, troops under Bozize seized the capital amid volleys of machine-gun and mortar fire, and he then dissolved the constitution and parliament. Now a decade later it is Bozize who himself could be ousted from power.
On Wednesday, he announced through a decree read on state radio that he was dismissing his son, Francis, as defense minister. Chief of Staff Guillaume Lapo also was being replaced.
The president already has promised to form a coalition government with rebels and to negotiate without conditions. It's a sign of how seriously Bozize is threatened by the rebel groups who call themselves Seleka, which means alliance in the Sango language.
Bozize says there's one point not up for negotiation: he does not intend to leave office before his term ends in 2016.
"We can't destroy the country. I don't think that a transition is a good solution for the rebels, for Central African Republic or for the international community," said Cyriaque Gonda, a spokesman for the political coalition behind Bozize.
But mediators for the government and others note the rebels — an alphabet soup of acronyms in French, UFDR, CPJP, FDPC and CPSK — want Bozize gone. And that's the only issue the disparate group seems unified on. Seleka is a shaky alliance that lumps together former enemies.
In September 2011, fighting between the CPJP and the UFDR left at least 50 people dead in the town of Bria and more than 700 homes destroyed.
"Even if they show unity in the military action, we know that they are politically very disunited, the only thing that holds them together is the opposition to the current president," said Roland Marchal, a Paris-based expert on Central African Republic. "If they take control of the capital I think that divisions would appear quickly."
Gonda, who has negotiated on behalf of the government with the rebels, says some of them couldn't even accept sitting together as recently as 2008.
Meanwhile, in some parts of the capital, Bangui, a city of 700,000, life continued as normal, while in others the military buildup was evident.
Trucks full of soldiers bounced on rutted roads dotted with shacks where people can charge mobile phones. Police officers stopped vehicles at intersections. Troops from neighboring nations have arrived including about 120 soldiers each from Republic of Congo and Gabon to help stabilize the area between rebel and the government forces.
In the Bimbo neighborhood, traders went about their business, selling everything from leafy greens to meat at roadside stands.
"We don't support what the rebels are doing," said banana farmer Narcisse Ngo, as a young boy played nearby with a monkey corpse for sale along with other meat. "They should be at the table negotiating without weapons. We are all Central Africans."
Bozize, who seized power while the democratically elected president was traveling outside the country, managed to win elections in 2005 but in the years since he has faced multiple low-level rebellions that have shattered security across the northern part of this large but desperately poor country.
He won the 2011 election with more than 64 percent of the vote, though the United States said the voting was "widely viewed as severely flawed." The U.S. evacuated its diplomats from Bangui last week.
The most prominent among the rebel groups in Seleka is the UFDR, or Union of Democratic Forces for Unity.
Human Rights Watch, which has documented abuses by both government forces and rebel groups operating in the country's north, says the UFDR rebellion "has its roots in the deep marginalization of northeastern CAR, which is virtually cut off from the rest of the country and is almost completely undeveloped."
The rebels, though, also have included some of Bozize's former fighters who helped bring him to power in 2003 but later accused him of failing to properly pay them, among other grievances, Human Rights Watch says.
For the people now caught in the middle, they want life to return to normal.
"Everyone is suffering here — we have nothing to eat," said Daniel Ngakou, 55, as he watched the Chadian troops patrol his hometown of Damara. "The women are searching in the bush all day for food. We just don't know what will happen."
The United Nations called on the government and the rebels Wednesday to focus on dialogue that can avert violence and lead to a peaceful resolution of the conflict and respect for the 2008 Libreville Comprehensive Peace Agreement. That deal was signed by the government and three major rebel groups.
U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky reiterated the U.N. Security Council's call last week for all parties to refrain from any acts of violence against civilians, respect human rights and seek a peaceful solution.
"We welcome regional efforts to seek a political solution and reinforce security," Nesirky told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.
While the United Nations has temporarily withdrawn its staff from Central African Republic, Nesirky said the world body remains engaged in efforts to resolve the crisis.
He said U.N. special representative Margaret Vogt "has remained in close dialogue with the key parties in the Central African Republic and the region and has offered support to political negotiations," he said.

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Strict Gun Control - Fewer Shootings in Australia, Japan and the UK; Would It Work in US?

Six days after the tragic shooting in Newtown and one day after President Obama announced a gun control task force, hundreds of you wrote in asking about future legislation and the consequences of this new task force.
Pam Ramagano tweeted asking "What can the president really do? Doesn't he need the approval of Congress to do anything?"
Kevin Boutelle wondered "What about the support that is so desperately needed for the mentally insane?…Those that would still do harm to others regardless of the weapon they wield? Where is that "task force"?"
And @ViPearson asked "Do you think that the media is partly responsible for the violence…?"
Excellent questions, and here are the answers:
Keep the questions coming via Twitter and Facebook. I'll see you tomorrow on GMA and Sunday on This Week.

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Cricket-NZ board to meet former captains to improve communication

Dec 21 (Reuters) - New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will meet with former skippers in a bid to improve communication within the national set-up in the wake of the controversy surrounding the handling of Ross Taylor's demotion from the captaincy.
Taylor was stripped of the one-day and Twenty20 captaincy this month at the recommendation of head coach Mike Hesson following their tour of Sri Lanka and the disgruntled batsman then turned down an offer to continue as test skipper.
Former players criticised NZC for the controversy, forcing the board to make a public apology to the cricketer, who made himself unavailable for the South Africa tour.
Taylor's absence and the unavailability of former skipper Daniel Vettori due to injury meant that opener Brendon McCullum, another former captain, was handed the reins of the team.
"Former captains will be invited to attend the meeting which is intended to be an annual event designed to provide quality input from both the former captains and the players who were part of their era in cricket," NZC said in a statement.
"NZC has reached the conclusion that there was obviously misunderstanding and miscommunication between the parties involved," the board's Chief Executive David White said.
"We've already acknowledged mistakes were made on this issue and we have learned from those mistakes. Team management has given an undertaking to improve communication and to ensure nothing similar occurs again.
"The board and management of NZC make that same commitment. NZC believes it now serves no useful purpose to further rake over the events of the captaincy change. It is time to draw a line under the issue."
The Black Caps will open their campaign in South Africa with a T20 game in Durban on Friday. The tour includes two tests, three ODIs and three Twenty20 matches. (Writing by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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Australian boy's egg collection turns into snakes

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A 3-year-old Australian boy was lucky to escape uninjured after a collection of eggs he found in his yard hatched into a slithering tangle of deadly snakes.
Reptile specialist Trish Prendergast said Friday that young wildlife enthusiast Kyle Cummings could have been killed if he had handled the eastern brown snakes — the world's most venomous species on land after Australia's inland taipan.
Kyle found a clutch of nine eggs a few weeks ago in the grass on his family's 1.2-hectare (3-acre) property on the outskirts of the city of Townsville in Queensland state, Prendergast said. He had no idea what kind of eggs they were.
He put the eggs into a plastic takeout food container and stashed them in his bedroom closet, where his mother, Donna Sim, found them Monday. Seven had hatched, but the snakes remained trapped under the container's lid. The remaining two eggs were probably infertile and were rotten, Prendergast said.
"I was pretty shocked, particularly because I don't like snakes," Sim told the Townsville Bulletin newspaper.
Prendergast, who is the Townsville-based reptile coordinator of the volunteer group North Queensland Wildlife Care, was handed the container on Tuesday and released the snakes into the wild that night.
She was relieved that no one had handled the snakes.
"Their fangs are only a few millimeters long at that age, so they probably couldn't break the skin, but they're just as venomous as full-grown snakes," Prendergast said.
"If venom had got on Kyle's skin where there was a cut of if he put it in his mouth, it could have been fatal," she added.
Eastern brown snakes — which can grow to more than 2 meters (6 1/2 feet) long — usually stay with their eggs but sometimes leave for short periods to feed.
"He's very lucky he didn't encounter the mother while he was taking her eggs. That also could have been fatal," Prendergast said.
The snakes were 12 to 15 centimeters (5 to 6 inches) long and had probably hatched around five days before they were released, she said, adding that they were thirsty but otherwise healthy.
Australia averages around three fatal snake bites a year, and eastern browns are responsible for the majority of them.

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3-year-old Australian boy's egg collection hatches into slithering tangle of 7 deadly snakes

CANBERRA, Australia - A 3-year-old Australian boy was lucky to escape uninjured after a collection of eggs he found in his yard hatched into a slithering tangle of deadly snakes.
Reptile carer Trish Prendergast said Friday that young wildlife enthusiast Kyle Cummings could have been killed if he had handled the eastern brown snakes — the world's most venomous species on land after Australia's inland taipan.
Kyle found a clutch of nine eggs a few weeks ago in the grass on his family's 1.2-hectare (3-acre) property on the outskirts of the city of Townsville in Queensland state, Prendergast said. He had no idea what kind of eggs they were.
He put the eggs into a plastic takeout food container and stashed them in his bedroom closet, where his mother, Donna Sim, found them Monday. Seven had hatched, but the snakes remained trapped under the container's lid. The remaining two eggs were probably infertile and were rotten, Prendergast said.
"I was pretty shocked, particularly because I don't like snakes," Sim told the Townsville Bulletin newspaper.
Prendergast, who is the Townsville-based reptile co-ordinator of the volunteer group North Queensland Wildlife Care, was handed the container on Tuesday and released the snakes into the wild that night.
She was relieved that no one had handled the snakes.
"Their fangs are only a few millimeters long at that age, so they probably couldn't break the skin, but they're just as venomous as full-grown snakes," Prendergast said.
"If venom had got on Kyle's skin where there was a cut of if he put it in his mouth, it could have been fatal," she added.
Eastern brown snakes — which can grow to more than 2 metres (6 1/2 feet) long — usually stay with their eggs but sometimes leave for short periods to feed.
"He's very lucky he didn't encounter the mother while he was taking her eggs. That also could have been fatal," Prendergast said.
The snakes were 12 to 15 centimetres (5 to 6 inches) long and had probably hatched around five days before they were released, she said, adding that they were thirsty but otherwise healthy.
Australia averages around three fatal snake bites a year, and eastern browns are responsible for 60 per cent of the country's fatalities.

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Tennis-Zvonareva misses Australian Open with shoulder injury

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Former world number two Vera Zvonareva of Russia has pulled out of the Australian Open with a shoulder injury, organisers of the opening grand slam of the season said on Friday.
"Sorry to report that Vera Zvonareva has withdrawn from the AO due to a continuing right shoulder injury," organisers of the Jan. 14-27 event said on their Twitter account.
The injury-prone 28-year-old 2010 Wimbledon and U.S. Open finalist will also miss the Auckland Classic starting on Dec. 31.
Tournament director Karl Budge lamented world number 96 Zvonareva's last minute withdrawal but insisted the Auckland tournament still enjoyed a strong field.
"We have six top 30 players gracing our courts in just over a week's time headlined by world number four Agnieszka Radwanska, who is in world-beating form.
"We also have three former champions competing with 2003 and 2004 winner Elena Daniilidou given a wildcard yesterday," he added.

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