[World] US to Expand Role in Africa

US to Expand Role in Africa
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323644904578270374130708196.html
The U.S. signed an agreement Monday with the West African country of Niger that clears the way for a stepped-up American military presence on the edges of the conflict in neighboring Mali.

Brazil Nightclub Fire Probe to Focus on Safety Code Violations
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57566102/missteps-hiked-brazil-night-club-blaze-death-toll/
The police investigation into a nightclub blaze that killed at least 231 during a weekend concert in southern Brazil is centering on the legality of the pyrotechnics display that allegedly caused the fire and whether the venue had adequate emergency exits.

Chaos and Lawlessness Grow After Days of Unrest in Egypt
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/world/middleeast/egypt-protests-cairo-port-said.html?pagewanted=all
PORT SAID, Egypt - The police fired indiscriminately into the streets outside their besieged station, a group of protesters arrived with a crate of gasoline bombs, and others cheered a masked man on a motorcycle who arrived with a Kalashnikov.

Bundaberg's worst flood crisis in history
http://m.smh.com.au/environment/weather/brisbane-expected-to-flood-20130127-2deip.html
The Burnett River in Bundaberg is already two metres higher than it was during the 2011 floods and is still rising. The rapidly rising water has forced more than seven thousand residents to seek shelter in evacuation centres.

The Netherlands: Queen Says She Will Step Down
http://m.smh.com.au/world/dutch-queens-sudden-abdication-20130129-2dhwm.html
Queen Beatrix announced Monday that she would abdicate on April 30 after serving as the Netherlands' head of state for 33 years.

France Says Syrian Rebels Need Aid to Fend Off 'Chaos'
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jan-28/204104-rebels-seeks-funds-and-arms-syrias-assad-says-winn.ashx
PARIS - France's foreign minister warned countries supporting the Syrian opposition on Monday that unless they honored their pledges of aid, the control of Syria could fall to militant Islamist groups.

Juvenile, most brutal of rapists, may get away with least penalty
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/gang-rape-case-plea-for-bone-ossification-test-turned-down/article4353611.ece?homepage=true
He took out the intestines of the 23-year-old physiotherapist with his bare hands before raping her twice. But the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) declared on Monday that the minor accused among six who raped the girl and assaulted her friend on board a bus ...

Russia Moves to Prosecute A Lawyer Who Died in Jail
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9832867/Russia-shuns-euro-bonds-on-North-South-rift-rotates-into-stocks.html
MOSCOW - Russia took the unusual step on Monday of attempting to put a dead man on trial, when it tried to open posthumous proceedings against Sergei L. Magnitsky, the whistle-blowing lawyer who died three years ago in a Moscow jail cell.

Chuck Hagel's colleague: So many Jews, so much disloyalty
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9827223/Lib-Dem-MP-condemned-for-linking-Israeli-treatment-of-Palestinians-with-Holocaust.html
As I have noted a couple times, Chuck Hagel has served as chairman for the Atlantic Council. His vice chairman is Chas Freeman. In a speech in Moscow on December, Freeman took to decrying the “fifth column” of disinformation agents in the United States ...

AU Security Council Calls for More Troops in Mali
http://www.voanews.com/content/au_security_council_calls_for_more_troops_in_mali/1591260.html
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - The African Union Peace and Security Council says more troops are needed for the African military force being deployed in Mali.

France's gay marriage fight
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21200685
While same-sex marriage is now well established in some European countries, proposals to introduce it in France have provoked a strong backlash.

Political climates in Japan and China ratchet up island dispute
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-01/26/content_16176115.htm
GIVEN PRESIDENT Obama's preoccupation with ending what he calls “a decade of war,” it's hard to believe that the United States could be dragged into a military conflict in the western Pacific over a group of tiny, uninhabited islands claimed by both Japan ...

Ex-Premier Opposing Cabinet Leads in Czech President Vote
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/01/26/wrd-czech-republic-election-zeman-win.html
Former Prime Minister Milos Zeman was elected president of the Czech Republic in the country's first direct vote following a campaign slamming the government's austerity measures in the midst of a recession.

Australian teenager survives nine weeks in wild
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/9830976/Australian-teenager-survives-nine-weeks-in-wild.html
Matthew Allen's family feared the worst after the 18-year-old disappeared in late November from Westleigh, near Cherrybrook in northwest Sydney and his mobile phone and bank accounts went untouched.