EGYPT’S MORSI FACES NATIONWIDE PROTESTS
CAIRO: Clashes between police and protesting youths erupted near Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Tuesday, ahead of a mass rally against a decree by Islamist President Mohamed Morsi granting himself broad powers.

On the edge of the square near the US embassy in Cairo, teenagers threw rocks at police who responded with tear gas. In Tahrir itself, protesters took to the podium urging an end to the confrontation between the teenagers and the police, which threatened to spill into the square. Demonstrations have also been called in several Egyptian provinces including Alexandria on the Mediterranean, in the Nile Delta and in central Egypt. On Thursday, Morsi issued a decree that allows him to “issue any decision or law that is final and not subject to appeal”, effectively placing him beyond judicial oversight. The decree put him on a collision course with the judiciary and consolidated the long-divided opposition, which accuses him of taking on dictatorial powers.

SRI LANKAN JUSTICE IMPEACHMENT ILLEGAL - LAWYERS
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to declare parliament’s impeachment of the chief justice illegal, a legal spokesman said on Tuesday, a move that could trigger a constitutional crisis. The influential Bar Association representing the country’s 11,000 lawyers has petitioned the Supreme Court to rule against the impeachment by a parliamentary panel. It was the first time that the main professional legal body had united to oppose the move against Shirani Bandaranayake, which has raised international concern that the government is trying to control the judiciary. A parliamentary committee on Friday held the first day of a closed-door hearing against Bandaranayake, who has said there was not an “iota” of truth in allegations against her.

S. KOREA SACKS US SOCIALITE OVER PETRAEUS SCANDAL
SEOUL: South Korea said on Tuesday that it was dismissing Jill Kelley, the Florida socialite at the heart of the scandal that brought down Central Intelligence Agency Chief David Petraeus, from her post as an “honorary consul”. “We’re following the necessary procedures for relieving her from the post as it’s not suitable for her to carry out her duties because of the scandal,” a foreign ministry official said. Kelley’s complaint that she had received threatening emails triggered the Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry, which uncovered Petraeus’ affair with his biographer, 40-year-old military reservist Paula Broadwell. Kelley, a 37-year-old Tampa woman who organized events for US military officers, was appointed as an honorary consul in August following a recommendation from the South Korean embassy in the United States.

CHINESE DRIVERS PAY PROTEST IN SINGAPORE
SINGAPORE: About 60 mainland Chinese bus drivers in Singapore stayed off work on Tuesday, the second day of a rare labor stoppage in the city-state. State-linked transport firm SMRT said that of the 102 who refused to work on Monday over a pay dispute, 60 did not turn up on Tuesday, despite an agreement to do so.

JAPAN STORM BLACKS OUT 41,000 HOMES
TOKYO: A snow storm cut electricity to 41,000 homes in northern Japan on Tuesday, officials said, as biting winds buffeted the area. Gusts of up to 144 kilometers-per-hour were recorded in Muroran, an industrial city on Hokkaido’s Pacific coast, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Tens of thousands of homes in and around the city were without power by at 10 a.m. (9 a.m. in Manila) after winds and snow hit transmission cables, Hokkaido Electric Power Co. said. A spokesman for the company said that work was continuing to restore power, with the blackout for some only lasting a few hours. According to media reports, about 90 train runs and 10 domestic flights were canceled due to the storm.

CAR BOMB HITS SYRIA’S DAMASCUS
BEIRUT: A car bomb hit a police checkpoint in a town southwest of Damascus on Tuesday, as the army deployed in large numbers nearby in a bid to suppress insurgents there, a monitoring group said. “A car bomb exploded at dawn, targeting a military police checkpoint in Jdeidet Artouz,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “This was followed by intense shooting, as regular troops continued to be deployed in the fields between Kfar Sousa and Daraya.” It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed by the car bomb or the fighting that ensued. AFP