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| Pakistan says protects rights, West disagrees Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:12 PM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - Pakistan, plagued by Islamists militancy, sectarian violence and frequent disasters that push its people deeper into poverty, told the United Nations on Tuesday it is a democratic and progressive state working to protect human rights. But Western countries and the normally anti-Western Belarus countered that in Pakistan religious minorities were persecuted, that dissent was often brutally suppressed by the army, and that little was done to tackle human trafficking. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Protesters storm Libya congress after prime minister presents government Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:04 PM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Protesters stormed Libya's national assembly on Tuesday, forcing the cancellation of a vote on a proposed coalition government named by the country's new prime minister just hours earlier. Fewer than 100 people, made up of civilians and former rebel fighters, charged into the meeting hall of the General National Congress as it voted on Prime Minister Ali Zeidan's cabinet line-up, which was drawn from liberal and Islamist parties. In chaotic televised scenes, congress members negotiated with the protesters, unhappy with some of the nominations, to leave. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. and EU push for progress in troubled Balkans Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:01 PM PDT  SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Europe and the United States teamed up on Tuesday to press Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo to overcome the legacy of Yugoslavia's bloody collapse as a condition of closer integration with the West. "If you do not make progress you will be left behind," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned at the start of a trip to the region with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. NATO member Croatia will follow Slovenia in joining the 27-nation EU next year, but accession is a very distant prospect for the other five countries carved from federal Yugoslavia in the 1990s. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek coalition allies snub PM's appeal on austerity Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:01 PM PDT  ATHENS (Reuters) - The Greek prime minister's appeal for a united front to push through more austerity fell on deaf ears on Tuesday, with one ally promising to vote against reforms and another scolding him for prematurely saying talks had ended. A flurry of contradictory statements from the three parties in Greece's ruling coalition highlighted the chaos ahead of a crucial vote on austerity measures, which is turning into the government's biggest test since taking power in June. Near-bankrupt Greece needs to push through spending cuts and tax measures worth 13. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian air force on offensive after failed truce Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:51 AM PDT  AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian warplanes bombed rebel targets with renewed intensity on Tuesday after the end of a widely ignored four-day truce between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and insurgents. State television said "terrorists" had assassinated an air force general, Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khalidi, in a Damascus suburb, the latest of several rebel attacks on senior officials. In July, a bomb killed four of Assad's aides, including his brother-in-law Assef Shawkat and the defense minister. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran pulls back from nuclear bomb goal: Israeli defense minister Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:42 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Iran has drawn back from its ambitions to build a nuclear weapon, Israel's defense minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday, while warning that his country may still have to decide next year whether to launch a military strike against it. Tehran denies its nuclear work has any military dimensions but governments in Europe and the United States are increasingly concerned over its intentions. Diplomacy and successive rounds of economic sanctions have so far failed to end the decade-old row, raising fears of Israeli military action against its arch-enemy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek Socialist deputies to back austerity, reforms: sources Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:37 AM PDT  ATHENS (Reuters) - The overwhelming majority of lawmakers from Greece's Socialist PASOK party, the second-biggest partner in the country's ruling coalition, will support a raft of austerity and reform measures in a parliamentary vote, two lawmakers told Reuters on Tuesday. "We took a majority decision to back the measures," one Socialist deputy told Reuters after the end of a party meeting to decide its stance. All but about four of the party's 33 deputies backed the decision, one of the lawmakers said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guinea opposition cries foul over new electoral body Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:21 AM PDT CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's opposition on Tuesday accused the government of tampering with its list of nominees to a newly formed electoral commission, casting doubt on the country's latest efforts to jumpstart election preparations. A political stalemate in the world's top bauxite supplier, nestled in the midst of Africa's fragile 'coup belt', has stalled legislative polls needed to restart foreign aid and complete a shift to civilian rule after a 2008 coup. ... Full Story | Top |
| Monster storm leaves U.S. East Coast crippled; 30 dead Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:05 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Millions of people were left reeling in the aftermath of monster storm Sandy on Tuesday as New York City and a wide swathe of the eastern United States struggled with epic flooding and massive power outages. The death toll climbed to at least 30. Sandy, which crashed ashore with hurricane-force winds in New Jersey overnight as the biggest storm to hit the country in generations, swamped parts of New York's subway system and Manhattan's Wall Street district, closing financial markets for a second day. ... Full Story | Top |
| Burundi gets $2 billion aid pledge, U.N. says Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:46 AM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - Donors have pledged more than $2 billion for Burundi's 2012-2015 development strategy to help the central African nation rebuild after civil war, the United Nations said on Tuesday. "We ended up with more than $2 billion registered commitments at the conference," Pamphile Muderega of the National Aid Coordination Committee said in a statement. "This represents a doubling of our already optimistic expectations," he said. The statement was issued by the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU considers sending 200 troops to train Mali army Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:40 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is considering sending about 200 troops to train Mali's army to retake the Islamist-held north, but is not willing to deploy them in battle, EU officials said on Tuesday. Fears are growing in Europe that the African country could turn into a platform for terrorist attacks, after Islamist fighters seized two-thirds of its territory earlier this year. "There is a willingness among member states to put boots on the ground - but only on the parade ground," one of the EU officials said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy strikes in Canada too, far from storm's center Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:26 AM PDT  (Reuters) - More than 100,000 Canadians were still without power on Tuesday after the huge storm Sandy toppled trees and power lines in Canada's most populous provinces, killed one person, and halted units at an Ontario refinery. But Canada was far from the center of the storm and the impact was tiny compared to the vast outages and widespread flooding seen in the U.S. East Coast on Monday and Tuesday. The weakened storm is expected bring rain to Eastern Canada and Quebec on Tuesday and into Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Czech tax vote delayed as PM tries to stave off revolt Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:25 AM PDT  PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech Republic's ruling coalition postponed on Tuesday a vote on a law to raise taxes that will double as a vote of confidence in the government, hoping extra time will allow them to prevent a lawmakers' rebellion. Prime Minister Petr Necas' cabinet will resign if the 22 billion crowns ($1.14 billion) mainly in additional value-added and income tax is rejected. ... Full Story | Top |
| Putin foe Navalny fined over weekend protest Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:19 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's most prominent opposition activist, Alexei Navalny, was fined $1,000 by a Moscow court on Tuesday for his role in a weekend protest under a new law that President Vladimir Putin's opponents say is aimed at smothering dissent. The anti-graft blogger was among three of Putin's foes briefly detained at a protest in central Moscow on Saturday following the first meeting a new opposition body to which Navalny was elected head in an online vote. ... Full Story | Top |
| Support for Hungary's ruling party, opposition, up in October Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:08 AM PDT  BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Public support for Hungary's ruling Fidesz party and its main opposition rivals, the Socialists, increased in October, a survey by pollster Tarki showed on Tuesday. Backing for Prime Minister Viktor Orban's governing party rose three points month-on-month to 18 percent, while at 15 percent support for the Socialists was four points higher, the survey published on the pollster's website said. Meanwhile, the proportion of undecided voters dropped to half the electorate, down from 56 percent in September, the survey said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Europe rights court condemns Poland in abortion rape case Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:06 AM PDT STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday condemned Poland for the inhumane and degrading treatment of a 14-year-old rape victim whom the authorities tried to stop having an abortion. The girl's right to a private and family life had been flouted in 2008, the court ruled, saying she had been arbitrarily detained after being briefly placed in a home to separate her from her mother, who favored an abortion. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy leaves unprecedented challenges for New York City subways Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:55 AM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - The giant storm Sandy wreaked havoc on the New York City subway system, flooding tunnels, garages and rail yards and threatening to paralyze the nation's largest mass-transit system for days. "The New York City subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night," Joseph Lhota, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, said in a statement early on Tuesday. He later said that water was "literally up to the ceiling" at one downtown station. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's Yanukovich shrugs off criticism of election Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:50 AM PDT  KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich shrugged off international criticism on Tuesday of an election which showed his party on a winning course, while opposition nationalists alleged vote-rigging and threatened possible street protests. With the count from Sunday's vote nearing its end, Yanukovich's Party of the Regions and its communist allies were set to retain a comfortable majority in the 450-seat parliament to cement his grip before he seeks a second term in 2015. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan dismisses Israeli concerns on arms supplies Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:47 AM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan dismissed as "misleading" Israeli allegations it supplies arms to foes of the Jewish state and said there was no foreign involvement in a munitions factory Khartoum says was bombed by Israel. The poor Muslim East African country has long been seen by Israel as a conduit for weapons smuggled to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, via the Egyptian Sinai desert. Four people were killed after fire broke out a week ago at the Yarmouk arms factory in the south of Khartoum, and the following day Sudan said an Israeli air strike was responsible. Israel has not commented on the fire. ... Full Story | Top |
| Netanyahu says strike on Iran would be good for Arabs Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:45 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought on Tuesday to convince Arab states that an Israeli military strike on Iran would benefit them, removing a potential threat and easing tensions across the Middle East. Netanyahu has made a number of veiled threats to attack Iran's nuclear program and has appealed to the United States and the United Nations to set a limit for Tehran on its further development. In an interview published on Tuesday with French magazine Paris Match, Netanyahu said such a strike would not worsen regional tensions, as many critics have warned. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK police might sell New Scotland Yard headquarters Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:44 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - London's cash-strapped police force may sell its New Scotland Yard headquarters as part of plans to save 500 million pounds ($800 million). The 1960s-era complex in the Victoria district could fetch between 150-200 million pounds, property agents said. The Metropolitan Police bought the block from Land Securities in 2008 for 122 million pounds. The possible sale is part of a wider cost-cutting drive to shrink the force's 900,000 square meters estate by one third by 2016, the Met said in an e-mailed statement. "We won't keep older buildings any longer than we need to... ... Full Story | Top |
| Kurdish leaders eat kebab while followers hunger strike: Erdogan Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:39 AM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused Kurdish leaders of hypocrisy by ordering jailed militants to go on hunger strike while they feasted on kebabs. Some 900 people, most of them imprisoned in more than 50 jails, have refused food for 49 days now against a backdrop of increased violence between Turkish troops and the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which the United States and European Union list as a terrorist organization. ... Full Story | Top |
| Qatari draft media law criticized by rights group Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:18 AM PDT DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar's draft media law came under fire on Tuesday from Human Rights Watch, which singled out "loosely worded provisions" penalizing criticism of the Gulf emirate and its neighbors. The New York-based organization urged Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani not to approve the law as drafted, calling it "a commitment to censorship". Qatari officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Freedom of expression is tightly controlled in the tiny autocratic Gulf state, with self-censorship prevalent among national newspapers and other media outlets. A close U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rwandan opposition politician jailed for eight years Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 08:43 AM PDT KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda's high court on Tuesday sentenced a leading opposition politician to eight years in prison, in a case linked to the 1994 genocide and seen as a test of the judiciary's independence. Victoire Ingabire, leader of the unregistered FDU-Inkingi party, had faced six charges and was found guilty of two: conspiring to harm the country through war and terror and minimizing the genocide. Ingabire had pleaded not guilty. She was accused of transferring money to FDLR Hutu rebels and of questioning why no Hutu victims were mentioned in a genocide memorial. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbian general opens appeal with Libya warning for Britain and France Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 08:42 AM PDT  THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The former head of the Serbian army, who was convicted last year for war crimes during the Balkans wars of the 1990s, told an appeal court on Tuesday he could not be held responsible for the actions of an army that was not under his direct control. General Momcilo Perisic is appealing against his conviction for murder, persecution and attacks on civilians in Bosnia and Croatia, including the killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica and the 42-month siege of Sarajevo by Bosnian Serb forces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek Socialists urge PM to seek more concessions Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 08:06 AM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's Socialist party on Tuesday criticized the prime minister for saying talks on an austerity package had concluded and urged him to seek further concessions from foreign lenders before a November 12 meeting of euro zone finance ministers. "We call on the government to do its best, make use of the national forces, to seek the best possible result of this crucial Eurogroup meeting," PASOK party chief Evangelos Venizelos told party officials, according to a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Poland denies explosives found on wreck of crashed jet Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 07:47 AM PDT  WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish prosecutors denied a newspaper report that investigators found traces of explosives on the wreckage of the government jet that crashed in Russia two years ago, killing Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others. Rzeczpospolita daily said on Tuesday that Polish investigators who examined the remains of the plane in Russia found signs of TNT and nitro-glycerine on the wings and in the cabin, including on 30 seats. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen kill religious leader in Russia's Dagestan Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 07:19 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead a Muslim religious leader in Russia's Dagestan region on Tuesday in an attack likely to worsen a spiral of militant violence that threatens Moscow's hold on the restive North Caucasus. Karimulla Ibragimov was at least the fifth Muslim leader killed this year in Dagestan following a rise in tension between moderate and more radical Muslims in the southern Russian republic. Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Ibragimov in the town of Derbent at around 6:30 a.m (0230 GMT), Russia's Investigative Committee said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinians lobby for convincing win in U.N. vote Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 07:15 AM PDT RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinians have launched a diplomatic blitz aimed at garnering a strong majority for a vote granting the non-member statehood at the United Nations slated for next month, officials said on Tuesday. Despite heading for a sure victory in the U.N General Assembly, mostly consisting of post-colonial states historically sympathetic to the Palestinians, West Bank diplomats are courting European countries to further burnish their campaign. "From the E.U. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek coalition ally confirms will vote against reforms Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 07:15 AM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - A Greek coalition partner confirmed on Tuesday it would vote against labor reforms proposed by foreign lenders, ignoring the prime minister's appeal for a united front to push through more unpopular austerity. The Democratic Left party's refusal to back the reforms leaves the government facing an unpredictable vote when they are presented in parliament next week, making it the fragile coalition's biggest test since taking power in June. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek PM appeals to coalition allies to back austerity Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 06:04 AM PDT  ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras appealed to his coalition partners on Tuesday to approve in parliament a new wave of austerity measures demanded by international lenders. The government had completed negotiations on the 2013 budget and the austerity measures after working until the very end to obtain concessions from lenders, Samaras said in a statement. "What would happen if the deal isn't passed and the country is led to chaos?" he said in the statement. "Such dangers must be avoided. That is the responsibility of each party and every lawmaker individually. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek journalists strike over suspension of presenters Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 05:56 AM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek state television journalists accused the government of censorship and began a series of work stoppages on Tuesday after two well-known presenters were suspended for criticizing a government minister. Their removal came on the same day an editor went on trial for printing a list of 2,000 Greeks with Swiss bank accounts, prompting outrage at the swift pursuit of journalists in comparison to the sluggish crackdown on suspected tax evaders. ... Full Story | Top |
| Czech government threatened as PM's party stays split on tax Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 05:51 AM PDT  PRAGUE (Reuters) - The ruling Czech Civic Democrats will try to delay a confidence vote tied to an unpopular law to raise taxes, after failing on Tuesday to quell a rebellion by six of its lawmakers that threatens to bring down the cabinet. The government has insisted it use tax hikes and spending cuts to bring its budget deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product next year, a stance that has brought the cost of borrowing to all-time lows but also extended the longest recession in the European Union's emerging east. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Libya PM presents coalition government to congress Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 05:49 AM PDT  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's new prime minister on Tuesday presented a coalition cabinet drawn from liberal and Islamist parties to the national congress, which had rejected his predecessor's line-up. Ali Zeidan has said his transitional government, if approved by congress, will focus on restoring security in the oil-producing North African country where many militias have yet to disarm since last year's overthrow of strongman Muammar Gaddafi. Zeidan's transitional government would replace an interim administration appointed in November after Gaddafi's death. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., Japan to hold joint military drill amid island row with China Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 05:30 AM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan and the United States will hold a biennial joint military exercise in Japan in November in a move likely to further anger China amid heightened tensions between the two Asian giants over disputed islets in the East China Sea. About 37,400 military personnel from Japan will join some 10,000 U.S. troops in the November 5-16 drill, an official at Japan's Self-Defence Forces said. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's Zuma rides out strikes, on re-election path Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 05:25 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A storm of violent wildcat strikes in South Africa's mines has eased, leaving President Jacob Zuma battered but defiant, and buoying his chances of heading off rivals to win a party leadership election in December. With most strikers in gold and platinum mines returning to work after threats of dismissal and some sweeteners on pay, the 70-year-old head of state appears to be weathering the biggest threat so far to his plans to stay on as leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa police fire rubber bullets at striking miners Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 05:09 AM PDT  RUSTENBURG, South Africa (Reuters) - South African police fired rubber bullets and teargas on Tuesday at striking Amplats miners who were protesting against a union-brokered deal to end a six-week wildcat walkout at the top platinum producer. As they moved into a shanty town near the mines, police also deployed water cannons and stun grenades against groups of protesters armed with wooden sticks and stones. Women and children fled as they fanned out through the maze of tin huts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy president says Monti government must continue until spring Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 04:20 AM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Mario Monti's government must complete its natural term, due to end in spring, following Silvio Berlusconi's threat to withdraw support before next year's election. "The legislature must come to its natural conclusion," Napolitano said at an institutional ceremony on Tuesday. Napolitano has a largely ceremonial role, but he exerted a strong influence during Italy's political crisis last November when its bond yields were soaring and Monti was brought in to replace Berlusconi as prime minister. ... Full Story | Top |
| Finland, Sweden to help NATO in Iceland air policing Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 04:02 AM PDT  HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland and Sweden plan to join some NATO air surveillance operations over Iceland, their prime ministers said on Tuesday, in a sign the neutral Nordic states are ready for more cooperation with the Western alliance. Iceland, a NATO member without its own air force, had asked Finland and Sweden to help the alliance monitor its airspace. The move has been politically sensitive, particularly in Finland where many fear it would breach the country's neutrality and provoke neighboring Russia. ... Full Story | Top |
| French PM sparks controversy with 35-hour week remark Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 03:57 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault delighted business and angered labor leaders on Tuesday by suggesting the 35-hour work week was not sacrosanct, although he stressed the Socialist government had no plans to change it. The comment came ahead of a government-commissioned report to be unveiled next Monday on proposals to boost the flagging industrial competitiveness of Europe's second largest economy. The shift to a shorter work week was the flagship reform of the Socialist government that ruled France during a boom at the end of the 1990s. ... Full Story | Top |
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