Sudan's President Bashir calls time on Darfur talks

Sudan will withdraw from peace talks with rebels in the western Darfur region if no deal is reached by Thursday, its president has said.

The talks would go back to Darfur and anyone bearing arms would be dealt with decisively, Omar al-Bashir said.

Mediators at the Qatar talks are currently in discussion with representatives of both sides.

Rebels in Darfur have been fighting government troops and Arab militias, said to be backed by Khartoum.

'Declaration of war'

President Bashir told a rally in Darfur he had set a deadline of Thursday for the negotiations to be successful.

"But if there is no agreement, we will withdraw our negotiating team and the talks will then be held in Darfur," he said.

"We will fight those who choose to take up arms, but we will sit next to those who want development."

The most heavily-armed rebel movement, the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), called Mr Bashir's speech "a declaration of war".

Khartoum has been seeking a comprehensive peace agreement with all the rebel groups at the Qatar talks.

It had hoped to secure a deal before the end of the year, as an independence referendum in southern Sudan is set to dominate the government's agenda in January.

Mr Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court, accused of war crimes and genocide in Darfur, but he strongly denies the charges.

About 300,000 people have died since fighting began in Darfur in 2003, and some 2.7 million people have fled their homes as a result of the conflict, the UN says. BBC News

Obama bypasses Senate with ambassador appointments

The US President Barack Obama has bypassed the Senate to name six new appointees during the recess.

Those named included four new US ambassadors - to Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Syria and Turkey - as well as a deputy attorney general.

Recess appointments are made when the Senate is not in session and last until the end of Congress's next session.

Nominations for many of those selected had been blocked for months by lawmakers.

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Mr Obama named Robert Ford as the new ambassador to Syria, an appointment process that he began in February.

Senators had stalled on nominating an ambassador, arguing it would reward the country for good behaviour.

The BBC's Iain Mackenzie in Washington says the White House has long argued that re-engaging with Syria is the best way of tackling extremist groups and ensuring its involvement is the search for peace in the Middle East.

The last American ambassador was withdrawn in 2005 after Syria was implicated in the assassination of the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

Another of the Obama recess appointments is James Cole, to the position of deputy attorney general to the justice department.

Republicans had expressed concerns about his links to American International Group, where he was an independent consultant until its near collapse and government bailout in 2008.

The other ambassador appointments are Matthew Bryza (Azerbaijan); Norman Eisen (Czech Republic) and Francis Ricciardone (Turkey).

Some senators had opposed confirmations for a variety of reasons.

The recess appointment system has been regularly used by both Democratic and Republican presidents, our correspondent says. BBC News

Israel - Iran nuclear bomb 'still three years away'

Iran's nuclear programme has been hit by technical problems, and it could be still three years away from making a bomb, an Israeli minister has said.

The statement came a month after Iran said centrifuges used in uranium enrichment had been sabotaged.

There are suspicions, denied by Iran, that the centrifuges were targeted by the Stuxnet computer worm.

The West fears Iran's goal is to build nuclear weapons but Iran says its programme is for peaceful energy use.

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon said the programme had faced "a number of technological challenges and difficulties".

"These difficulties have postponed the timetable," he told Israeli radio.

"So we can't talk about a point of no return. Iran does not have the ability to create nuclear weapons by itself at the moment".

Iran said in September that the Stuxnet worm had attacked its computers but denied that it had damaged the nuclear programme.

However, experts say the worm has been specially configured to damage motors commonly used in uranium enrichment centrifuges by sending them spinning out of control.

The computer worm is a form of customised malware, written to attack a precise target.

Analysts say the complexity of the code suggests it was created by a "nation state" in the West, rather than an organised crime group.

Israel considers Iran the greatest threat to its security, because of the nuclear programme and anti-Israeli comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. BBC News

African leaders will try again to persuade Gbagbo to step down

Abidjan, Ivory Coast (CNN) -- The three leaders representing a West African bloc will return to Ivory Coast next Monday to again try to defuse an escalating political crisis sparked by self-declared President Lauren Gbagbo's refusal to cede power.

Tension in Ivory Coast increased Wednesday with a call by a key backer of Gbagbo for supporters to "liberate" the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, the capital, where President-elect Alassane Ouattara has his headquarters.

Youth and Employment Minister Charles Ble Goude said on state television RTI that Gbagbo's supporters should "liberate this place with your bare hands" after January 1st.

Ouattara is residing at the U.N.-protected hotel and using it as his headquarters.

In the television broadcast, Ble Goude said Ouattara supporters were taunting Gbagbo's government by calling for international intervention in the political standoff. CNN

Chelsea secure vital win as Arsenal held at Wigan

(CNN) -- Defending champions Chelsea secured their first win in seven league games to beat Bolton 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

A goal on the hour mark by Florent Malouda ended Chelsea's dire run and lifted them back into fourth in the English Premier League, but they trail leaders Manchester United by four points, having played a game more.

Arsenal, who beat Chelsea 3-1 on Monday night, missed the chance to go level on points with United as they were held 2-2 at lowly Wigan.

Ben Watson put the home side ahead from the penalty spot after 18 minutes, but two goals in six minutes near the end of the first half from Arsenal's Andrey Arshavin and Nicklas Bendtner saw the Gunners 2-1 up at the DW Stadium.

Wigan looked headed for defeat when Charles N'Zogbia was sent-off in the 78th minute for leaning his head into Arsenal substitute Jack Wilshere. CNN

'No Anorexia' model Isabelle Caro dies aged 28

A French model who posed nude for an anti-anorexia campaign while suffering from the illness herself has died at the age of 28, her colleagues confirm.

Isabelle Caro died on 17 November after being treated for an acute respiratory illness, Swiss singer Vincent Bigler told journalists.

He added that he did not know the exact cause of death.

Ms Caro appeared in posters for an anti-anorexia campaign in 2007, but the ads were banned in several countries.

It was not clear why it took so long for her death to be made public.

The anti-anorexia campaign came amid a debate among fashion circles on the use of "ultra-skinny" models on the catwalk.

The AFP news agency reported her as saying at the time: "I thought this could be a chance to use my suffering to get a message across, and finally put an image on what thinness represents and the danger it leads to - which is death".

The model, who was 5ft 4in tall (1.65m) at the time of the poster campaign, reportedly weighed 32kg (five stones).

Ms Caro's acting instructor, Daniele Dubreuil-Prevot, told the Associated Press news agency that Ms Caro had died after returning to France from a job in Tokyo.

She said family and close friends had held a funeral ceremony in Paris last month.

Mr Bigler, who was a friend of Ms Caro, told Swiss media: "She was hospitalised for 15 days with acute respiratory disease and was recently also very tired, but I do not know the cause of her death". BBC News

Large gas reserves confirmed at Israel's Leviathan deposit

Test drilling at Israel's Leviathan gas deposit in the Mediterranean Sea has confirmed large gas reserves there, which allows Israel to begin exporting gas, the project operator, U.S. company Noble Energy, said.

Leviathan, located to the west of the Mediterranean port of Haifa, contains 450 billion cubic meters of gas, the company said, quoting the results of test drilling. Additional drilling will be carried out at the gas field to specify the figure, it said.

The discovery is believed to assure the country's energy independence and is likely to put an end to Russia's plans to export natural gas to Israel.

Gas extraction at Leviathan, which is 6.5 times the size of Tel Aviv, is expected to provide Israel with some $300 billion over the life of the field – one-and-a-half times the national GDP.

Noble Energy earlier said there was a 50 percent chance that test drilling would confirm Leviathan's estimated gas deposits.

In 2009, a U.S.-Israeli consortium discovered another large gas deposit 60 miles off the coast of Haifa, called Tamar. The Leviathan field is estimated to be twice that size.

Analysts say that altogether, the basin in the eastern Mediterranean to which those fields belong could contain an amount of gas equivalent to one-fifth of U.S. natural gas reserves.

Noble Energy holds a 39,66-percent stake in the Leviathan project, while Israeli Delek Energy's subsidiaries, Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration, own 22.67 percent.

Another Israeli company, Ratio Oil Exploration, holds a 15-percent stake. RIA Novosti

Lithuania resumes probe into Soviet 'atrocities' in 1991

Lithuania has set up a new working group to continue an investigation into crimes allegedly committed by Soviet servicemen against Lithuanian citizens in January 1991.

Last week, the Lithuanian parliament passed amendments to the Criminal Code that would facilitate the prosecution of foreign citizens accused of serious crimes on the Lithuanian territory and hiding from justice abroad.

"The new amendments will give the [Lithuanian] courts the possibility to conduct trials and pass sentences against these suspects in absentia," the country's Prosecutor-General's Office said on Wednesday.

The so-called January Events occurred in the capital, Vilnius, in January 1991 when Moscow attempted to overthrow the Lithuanian government after the Baltic country proclaimed its independence from the Soviet Union.

From January 8-9, several special Soviet military units, including paratroopers of the 76th Airborne Division based at Pskov, were flown to Lithuania to capture key strategic facilities.

On the night of January 13, Russian troops moved to downtown Vilnius in an attempt to capture the TV tower and clashed with crowds of Lithuanian government supporters, killing at least 14 and injuring 600 civilians.

A Vilnius district court sentenced six Russian servicemen in 1999, but the trials against another 23 suspects have not been held, pending further investigation.

According to prosecutors, "all suspects have taken refuge in Russia and Belarus, and these countries refuse to extradite them to Lithuania". RIA Novosti

South African poultry makers 'racist', politician says

The leader of the South African Communist Party has accused poultry manufacturers of racism.

Blade Nzimande said that the poultry industry was selling "rotten" meat to black people.

He said chicken past its best-before date was being recycled - thawed, washed and injected with flavouring - then sold to shops in black townships.

A spokesman for the poultry industry admitted the practice takes place, but said it was both safe and legal.

The meat is removed from major chains of supermarkets and is re-distributed to spaza shops - smaller, family-run shops which serve black communities - and independent wholesalers. BBC News

Angola jails man for 24 years over Togo bus attack

An Angolan court has sentenced a man to 24 years in jail for the deadly attack on Togo's football team in January.

Joao Antonio Puati's lawyer told the AFP news agency he was found guilty for committing "armed rebellion".

The bus carrying the team was attacked in the province of Cabinda as it arrived for the African Cup of Nations.

Mr Puati had pleaded not guilty at the opening of his trial and denied having links to a separatist group which said it was behind the shooting.

Another man, Daniel Simbai, was acquitted of the same charges.

Two Togolese officials were killed in the 30-minute gun attack which a faction of the Front for the Liberation of the State of Cabinda (Flec) said it carried out. BBC News

Denmark holds 'Muhammad cartoon plotters'

Five suspected Islamist militants have been arrested for planning a gun attack at the Copenhagen offices of a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005, police say.

The men intended to burst into the Jyllands-Posten office and kill as many people as possible, officials said.

Justice Minister Lars Barfoed said the "outrageous" plot was "the most serious attempt at terror so far in Denmark".

Four suspects were held in Denmark and the fifth was detained in Sweden.

Denmark's security agency Pet said the suspects included two Swedish residents with Tunisian backgrounds, one Lebanon-born Swede, and an Iraqi. The other was described only as Swedish.

Earlier this month, an Iraq-born Swedish Muslim blew himself up in Stockholm - apparently as he was preparing a suicide bombing.

Swedish police say the suspects held on Wednesday are not thought to be linked to the Stockholm bomber.

The publication of the cartoons in 2005, one of which depicted the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb-shaped turban, caused mass protests among Muslims across the world.

Muslims regard any visual representation of the Prophet as blasphemous. BBC News

Husband defends reading wife's e-mails

(CNN) -- Detroit, Michigan, computer technician Leon Walker faces a jury trial in February for allegedly hacking into his then-wife's e-mail account.

"She'd asked me to read her e-mails before," Walker said in an interview this week. "She gave me the password before. She didn't hide it".

Walker says the e-mails revealed that Clara Walker, who has been married three times, was having an affair with her second husband.

Walker, the third husband, shared the documents with his wife's first husband, who then used them to file an emergency motion to obtain custody of his son with Clara Walker. Leon Walker said he and the first husband were both concerned because, according to Walker, husband No. 2 had been previously arrested on a domestic violence charge.

"He took action with the courts to have himself protected and I took action with the court to have my daughter protected," Walker said. CNN

Building blast traps 2, injures 1 in Detroit suburb

(CNN) -- Two people were trapped after an explosion in a building in Wayne, Michigan, and another person who was rescued earlier was in critical condition, city officials told CNN Wednesday.

City Manager John Zech identified the man as Paul Franks, the owner of a well-known furniture business in the city.

Fire and police rescuers remained outside the building while a gas company crew shut off a 2-inch gas main that was leaking before the explosion, according to a gas company spokeswoman.

A Consumers Energy gas worker was two blocks away investigating the reported gas leak, company spokeswoman Debra Dodd said.

"In the course of that investigation, the building down the road here exploded," Dodd said.

Zech said he felt the explosion two miles from the scene. "There was a large thump".

Aerial footage from the scene Wednesday afternoon by CNN affiliate WDIV showed dozens of firefighters working to shore up the remaining structure and heavy equipment queued up to assist.

"It's a very precarious situation," Dodd told CNN.

Fire departments from around the Detroit suburbs were helping Wayne emergency officials in the rescue efforts, he said. CNN

Teen gets adult trial in N.Y. gang killing

NEW YORK, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A teenage gang member will be tried as an adult in the killing of a young mother and toddler on New York's Long Island, a federal judge has ruled.

In February, a Salvadoran member of the MS-13 gang, 17 at the time, allegedly lured Vanessa Argueta, 19, and her 2-year-old son, Diego, to an industrial park and shot them in the head, the New York Daily News reported.

Judge Joseph Bianco approved murder in aid of racketeering charges against the unnamed defendant, now 18.

"It is hard to imagine a more compelling case for transfer to adult status," Bianco wrote in his ruling. "The juvenile justice system, including the limited sentencing options ... is simply ill-equipped and woefully insufficient under the circumstances".

Argueta had been dating another MS-13 member, court papers said. After breaking up with him, she asked members of the rival 18th Street Gang, based in Los Angeles, to beat him up, the report said.

The ex told the alleged killer, authorities say. After the crime, they fled to El Salvador and were arrested in April at the Miami airport when they tried to return, court papers show. UPI

Pa. man accused of robbing open coffin

MONTGOMERY, Pa., Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A man allegedly stole items from the open casket of a 17-year-old accident victim, Pennsylvania State Police say.

Jody Bennett, 38, of Pine Township, Pa., took a Game Boy, three games and a Game Boy Light during public visitation for Bradley McCombs Jr. of Clymer at the Rairigh Funeral Home in Monday, the boy's family told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bradley died in a crash on Christmas.

Bennett is charged with vandalism, theft, harassment, disorderly conduct and abuse of a corpse.

Bradley's relatives said his brother found the Game Boy in Bennett's car. Police said Bennett fled when confronted.

The families have been friends for many years.

Bennett has a history of drug and alcohol-related charges, the newspaper said.

"He even had a brother killed when he was drinking and driving," his aunt Dianna Bennett said. "You think that would make him think, but I don't know". UPI

India's coast scoured for LeT fighters

MUMBAI, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Indian security teams are patrolling coastal areas in search of militants with Lashkar-e-Toiba who are suspected of plotting Mumbai attacks, an official said.

New Delhi issued a nationwide alert for attacks that could coincide with New Year's celebrations. Sources told The Times of India that the threat to Mumbai was "very specific".

Similar alerts were raised for coastal states in India, though intelligence sources revealed that security officials had very clear and specific details about suspected terrorists moving in and around Mumbai.

State officials told the news agency that there was a high state of alert "with special focus on coastal areas where terrorists are likely to infiltrate".

Authorities believe most of the targets were checked by David Coleman Headley, a former informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Headley is in custody in the United States on charges he helped LeT plot 2008 attacks on Mumbai that left hundreds of people dead.

The surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks told a court in 2009 that he met Headley while in jail after the attacks.

Indian authorities said they didn't have "specific" intelligence on the latest plots but LeT "sleeper cells" were mentioned as possible targets of security probes. UPI

Floods force evacuations in Queensland

BRISBANE, Australia, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Queensland, Australia, ordered evacuations as floodwaters rose Wednesday, officials said.

In Bundaberg, the Burnett River is expected to peak at 25 feet, and 200 residents were urged to leave their homes, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Premier Anna Bligh visited the scene and said it is was the worst flood in living memory for the area.

Rockhampton was preparing for the Fitzroy River to crest early next week.

And the Vince Lester Bridge leading to Emerald was shut down as the Nogoa River swelled.

More than 160 people spent Wednesday night in shelters in Emerald, a figure expected to surpass 1,000 Thursday, the report said. Nursing home residents were taken to the Emerald Agricultural College and others to the town hall.

In Theodore, west of Bundaberg, all 300 residents were relocated to Moura.

The weather bureau says the rain is abating in the southeast but will continue for a few more days in central Queensland. UPI

Peacekeepers attacked in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A soldier with the U.N. mission in the Ivory Coast was slashed with a machete as the political impasse moves closer to regional conflict, officials warned.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Ivory Coast said a crowd attacked its convoy in Abidjan, torching the vehicles and slashing a member of the peacekeeping force.

"(The mission) vigorously condemns this attack and reiterates its determination to pursue its work in the service of the Ivorian people," a U.N. statement read.

Security forces in the Ivory Coast managed to intervene and calm the situation, the U.N. peacekeeping mission added.

Political violence flared in the Ivory Coast after a November presidential election brought rival claims to power. Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo has refused to give up power despite international support for opposition leader Alassane Ouattara.

Gbagbo had warned that U.N. forces could be viewed as rebel fighters.

West African leaders are said to be weighing military action in the Ivory Coast as the stalemate drags on. Military forces remain loyal to Gbagbo and more than 100 are reported to have been killed in post-election violence.

Eric Ane, a spokesman for Gbagbo, told Bloomberg News that West African leaders planned to return to Abidjan in an effort to break the political impasse.

"They said they're going to Abuja to discuss the situation with (Nigerian President) Goodluck Jonathan, and promised to come back after," he said. UPI

Rabbis' Wives in Israel Warn Against Dating Arab Men

At least 27 wives of Israeli rabbis have signed a letter urging Jewish women to avoid dating Arab men, after dozens of rabbis signed a religious ruling that forbids renting homes to non-Jews.

The letter warns Jewish women that they will suffer if they date Arab men. It also warns against working in places where Arabs are employed. It was distributed Tuesday by the Jewish group, Lehava. 

Earlier this month, dozens of Israeli rabbis signed the letter forbidding home rentals. In their appeal, the clerics said "different lifestyles from Jews" could endanger lives.  

The letter fueled charges of racism and was condemned by some lawmakers and human rights activists. 

The letters could raise tensions between Israel's Jews and its Arab minority at a time when international efforts are underway to revive direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. VOA News

4 arrested over suspected plot to attack Danish paper

(CNN) -- Four men have been arrested on suspicion of preparing a terror attack against a Danish newspaper, a spokesman for the Danish intelligence agency PET said Wednesday.

Searches carried out after Wednesday's arrests uncovered a machine gun with a matching silencer and live ammunition, and plastic strips that can be used as handcuffs, the intelligence agency said.

An attack could have been carried out in the coming days, it said.

The arrests were made at two apartments on the outskirts of the Danish capital, Copenhagen, the agency said.

Three of the men live in Sweden and entered Denmark in the past two days, PET said. They are a 44-year-old Tunisian national, a 29-year-old Swedish national born in Lebanon,and a 30-year-old Swedish national whose country of origin was not yet known.

The fourth man is a 26-year-old Iraqi asylum seeker living in Denmark, the intelligence agency said.

At the same time, Swedish authorities arrested a 37-year-old Swedish national of Tunisian origin, the agency said.

Agency Director-General Jakob Scharf said authorities succeeded in repelling an "imminent" terrorist attack.

The targeted newspaper may have been Jyllands-Posten, according to the agency. That is the same paper that published controversial political cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed five years ago.

At a news conference Wednesday, Scharf said the joint investigation between Swedish and Danish authorities had been going on for quite a while.

"We have been following them very closely until the arrests made today," he said. "We believe that the situation has been under control, but we also found it was necessary to intervene now in order to prevent a specific attack in Copenhagen".

Denmark, because it was the country where the controversial cartoons were published, has seen specific terrorist threats. CNN

Australia's PM promises aid to flood-ravaged towns

(CNN) -- Australia's prime minister is promising aid to flood-ravaged towns in the country's northeast after half of Queensland was declared a disaster zone.

The government provided two Blackhawk helicopters to help evacuate all 300 residents from the town of Theodore, one of the worst affected by the floods. The Theodore River remained at high levels Wednesday, with only police and essential services personnel staying in the town, the Queensland government said.

Queensland Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said Theodore was one of about 20 communities that had to be evacuated because of the floods.

"Most of our major river systems have been in flood over the last week," Roberts told CNN.

Major flooding is now heading toward two cities -- Rockhampton, a city of 50,000 on the coast, and the central city of Emerald, with 15,000 residents, he said.

Forecasters have said the weather will clear over the next 48 hours, Roberts said, but the heavy rain the area has had so far means water has built up in river catchment areas. CNN