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| U.N. nuclear watchdog backs Iran's denial of Fordow explosion Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 11:22 AM PST VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. atomic watchdog backed up on Tuesday Iran's denial of media reports of an explosion at one of the Islamic state's most sensitive nuclear plants. The reports had said there had been an explosion early last week at the underground Fordow uranium enrichment facility near the holy Iranian city of Qom. Iran denied the reports on Monday. "We understand that Iran has denied that there has been an incident at Fordow. This is consistent with our observations," Gill Tudor, spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in an emailed statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali secures retaken towns, donors pledge funds Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 11:04 AM PST  DOUENTZA/GAO, Mali (Reuters) - French-backed Malian troops searched house-to-house in Gao and Timbuktu on Tuesday uncovering arms and explosives abandoned by Islamist fighters, and France said it would look to hand over longer-term security operations in Mali to an African force. An 18-day offensive in France's former West African colony has pushed the militants out of major towns and into hideouts in the deserts and mountains. French and Malian troops retook the two Saharan trading towns of Timbuktu and Gao at the weekend virtually unopposed. ... Full Story | Top |
| For Mali Islamist rebels, death came from the sky Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 11:03 AM PST DOUENTZA, Mali (Reuters) - The group of Islamist rebels occupying this dusty northern Malian town at the gateway to Timbuktu had been slaughtering a cow to eat at a small hotel. The next instant, they were caught in an explosive blizzard of flying concrete and shrapnel. "They ate no meat. Many were killed, maybe 40," said Hamidou Dicko, a neighbor who had peered over his mud-brick wall at the hotel - used by the rebels as a base - after the French warplanes attacked late on January 12. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraqi Kurds woo more oil majors in contest with Baghdad Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 11:02 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdistan said it is negotiating with two or three major international companies to operate oilfields and expects to announce the outcome in about a month, in a move likely to further heighten tensions with Baghdad. The remarks by Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami on Tuesday highlight the autonomous region's resolve to push ahead with development of its oil resources independently of the Baghdad-based central government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazilian cities crack down on nightclubs after deadly fire Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 10:47 AM PST  SANTA MARIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Cities across Brazil are beginning to crack down on nightclubs to ensure they comply with fire regulations following a weekend blaze that killed 231 people at a club in the southern university town of Santa Maria. The fire was Brazil's deadliest in half a century and resonated across the country, with many people demanding those responsible be prosecuted and that the government tighten up on safety. Brazilians are outraged at what they see as lax regulation and corrupt officials whose oversights led to the tragedy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain ups aid for Mali, Africa but wary of mission creep Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 10:37 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Britain increased its offer of aid to France and African governments on Tuesday to help them counter Islamist militants in Africa but limited the scope of its support for fear of being dragged into an Afghanistan-style quagmire. Defense Secretary Philip Hammond told parliament that up to 240 soldiers could take part in missions to train African troops, and that at least 90 more are already taking part in logistical operations to support French troops fighting in Mali. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuelan vice president says Chavez is "very optimistic" of recovery Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 10:34 AM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Hugo Chavez is upbeat about recovering from cancer and confident in his medical team, his No. 2 said on Tuesday in the latest message from the Venezuelan leader's sickbed in Cuba. "He told us with great strength: 'I am very optimistic, I trust completely in the treatments I am undergoing, I will beat this again. I'm holding onto Christ and life,'" Vice President Nicolas Maduro said of Chavez's words to him on a recent visit. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wife of deposed Honduran leader leads presidential race: poll Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 10:29 AM PST TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduran presidential candidate Xiomara Castro, the wife of deposed former President Manuel Zelaya, is leading the race to become the next head of the Central American country, according to a poll released on Tuesday. Political newcomer Castro, the Liberty and Refoundation Party candidate who established her reputation while fighting for her husband's right to rule after his 2009 military-led ouster, leads with 25 percent of those questioned saying they would vote for her, according to the CID Gallup poll. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU could deploy peace force in post-conflict Syria: adviser Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 10:24 AM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union planners are looking at ways to help stabilize Syria when the civil war is over, and sending an EU military force to keep the peace could be an option, the bloc's top military officer said on Tuesday. The EU has a 2,000-strong rapid reaction force, known as a battle group, on standby at all times, ready for peace keeping or humanitarian action in an emergency, but it has never yet been deployed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Army warns unrest pushing Egypt to the brink Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 10:16 AM PST  CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt's army chief said political unrest was pushing the state to the brink of collapse - a stark warning from the institution that ran the country until last year as Cairo's first freely elected leader struggles to curb bloody street violence. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a U.S.-trained general appointed by President Mohamed Mursi last year to head the armed forces, added in a statement on Tuesday that one of the primary goals of deploying troops in cities on the Suez Canal was to protect the waterway that is vital for Egypt's economy and world trade. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sixty-five found executed in Syria's Aleppo: activists Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 10:09 AM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 65 people were found shot dead with their hands bound in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday in a "new massacre" in the near two-year revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, activists said. Opposition campaigners blamed the government but it was impossible to confirm who was responsible. Assad's forces and rebels have been battling in Syria's commercial hub since July and both have been accused of carrying out summary executions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian investigators search liberal governor's office Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 10:06 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Masked Russian police searched the office of a liberal regional governor who has connections with opponents of Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in what Kremlin critics said was part of a campaign to put pressure on foes of the president. The federal Investigative Committee said law enforcement officers searched the office of Kirov region governor Nikita Belykh as part of a criminal investigation into the alleged theft of 90 million roubles ($3 million). Belykh denied any wrongdoing and said he was cooperating with the investigation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama to tread carefully in immigration debate Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 10:01 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will move cautiously into the debate over U.S. immigration reform on Tuesday, seeking to build momentum for a new bipartisan plan to offer a pathway to citizenship for the country's 11 million illegal immigrants. Reflecting the growing clout of Hispanic voters, Obama will travel to Nevada little more than a week after his second inauguration and make the case for swift action by Congress to overhaul immigration laws. The trip comes a day after a group of influential Senate Democrats and Republicans laid out a broad plan of their own. ... Full Story | Top |
| As Suez cities burn, canal shipping sails on, for now Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 09:48 AM PST ABOARD RMS QUEEN MARY (Reuters) - Egypt's army stepped forward on Tuesday from its new place in the shadows of the fledgling democracy and pledged to defend the state after a week of bloody street violence in cities along the Suez Canal. It was a measure of the canal's place in Egypt's economy, and the world's, that army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi explained the military deployment ordered by President Mohamed Mursi in terms primarily of protecting a waterway he called a "vital strategic interest" - it handles about a tenth of all global trade by sea. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea's Kim dashes early hope but U.S. still seeks change: Clinton Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 09:43 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea's missile tests and menacing rhetoric have disappointed U.S. expectations that young leader Kim Jong-un would be different than his father but Washington still hopes to persuade Pyongyang to change course, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday. "With a new young leader we all expected something different," Clinton said in a town hall-style session put together by the State Department and broadcast worldwide. "We expected him to focus on improving the lives of the North Korea people, not just the elite, but everyone. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tourists out in force despite slowdown, set for strong year in 2013: U.N. Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 09:37 AM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - Global tourism is proving resilient in the face of an economic slowdown, with tourist numbers growing at close to pre-crisis levels in 2012 and expected to increase by almost as much this year, the UN World Tourism Organisation said on Tuesday. Europe held onto its position as the world's most-visited region in 2012 but the Asia-Pacific is catching up, recording the biggest increase in tourists in 2012 and expecting another strong performance this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel boycotts U.N. human rights scrutiny Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 09:33 AM PST GENEVA (Reuters) - Israel boycotted the United Nations' human rights forum on Tuesday, becoming the first country ever to decline to attend a session that was due to scrutinize its own rights record. Israel's no-show at the Human Rights Council drew widespread criticism, including a tacit rebuke from the United States which said the U.N. process of reviewing human rights was a "valuable mechanism" as it was applied to all countries. The council had been due to examine Israel under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of human rights in all U.N. member states. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gay German minister raps Russia on homosexual rights: Spiegel Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 09:29 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's openly gay foreign minister has told Moscow's envoy to Berlin a Russian draft law banning "homosexual propaganda" contravenes human rights and could harm the country's ties with Europe, Spiegel online said on Tuesday. The German foreign ministry confirmed the meeting on Monday evening between Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Russia's ambassador in Berlin, Vladimir Grinin, but declined to comment on what they discussed. Westerwelle had made clear that in Germany's view the law violated the European human rights convention, the report said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali crisis could exacerbate security challenges in Libya: U.N. Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 09:26 AM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A military intervention by France in Mali to combat Islamist rebels could exacerbate a "precarious" security situation in Libya, where armed groups have targeted security officials and diplomats, the United Nations said on Tuesday. U.N. special envoy Tarek Mitri, head of the U.N. mission in Libya, said that country's government faced a serious security challenge in the east, where the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed in September. ... Full Story | Top |
| Noting progress, Obama to lay out immigration reform vision Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 09:04 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will move cautiously into the debate over U.S. immigration reform on Tuesday, seeking to build momentum for a new bipartisan plan to offer a pathway to citizenship for the country's 11 million illegal immigrants. Reflecting the growing clout of Hispanic voters, Obama is traveling to Nevada little more than a week after his second inauguration to make the case for swift action by Congress to overhaul immigration laws. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama giving $155 million in humanitarian aid to Syrians Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 08:33 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday said the United States would boost humanitarian aid to Syria and urged other nations to do more to help the United Nations, which is struggling to assist some 4 million people in the war-torn country and more than 700,000 who have fled it. Obama said he authorized an additional $155 million in aid for food, medical care and clothing for Syrians and refugees, bringing the U.S. total to $365 million. He issued a video statement on youtube.com with Arabic subtitles speaking directly to Syrians. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greens' push for conservative vote gives Merkel headache Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 08:16 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Greens are on a roll after a big jump in their support in a regional election this month confirmed the growing mainstream appeal of a party once seen as a fringe leftist movement but which now poses a challenge to Angela Merkel. Worryingly for the conservative Chancellor ahead of a federal election in September, support for the Greens is spreading from the cities to rural areas once dominated by her Christian Democrats. In Lower Saxony on Jan 20. ... Full Story | Top |
| Timeline of Germany's Greens Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 08:16 AM PST (Reuters) - Formed in 1980 as a loose coalition of pacifists, socialists environmentalists and feminists, the Greens may become kingmakers after Germany's September 2013 federal election. Here is a look at significant Greens moments in Germany: October 1992 - Germany's Greens co-founder Petra Kelly is found dead. Kelly was one of its first members of parliament. She was shot dead by her partner, former general and Green politician Gert Bastian, who then killed himself. Sept/Oct 1998 - Social Democrats under Gerhard Schroeder win the federal election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt pounds slides, worries about IMF loan weigh Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 08:14 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's pound weakened further against the dollar at the central bank's foreign exchange auction on Tuesday on worries that turmoil on the streets could further delay a long-awaited IMF loan. At Tuesday's foreign exchange auction, the central bank set a cut-off price of 6.6525 pounds to the dollar, prompting the currency to weaken to 6.6857 on the interbank market, where the authorities limit how far the currency can move. The pound has now lost 7. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hundreds of Qaeda-linked militants reinforce south Yemen bastion Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 08:11 AM PST SANAA (Reuters) - Hundreds of al Qaeda-linked militants arrived in southern Yemen on Tuesday to reinforce Islamist fighters facing a major government offensive following the breakdown of talks to free three Western hostages, an official and residents said. Air strikes against militant targets in the al Qaeda stronghold of al-Manaseh and ambushes by the Islamist fighters after Monday's army assault, killed at least six insurgents and 14 soldiers, including 11 killed by a suicide bomber. ... Full Story | Top |
| Debris of F-16 missing in Italy believed found, search focuses on spot Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 08:08 AM PST  RAVENNA, Italy (Reuters) - Italian Coast Guard divers searching for a missing American F-16 and its pilot were focusing on Tuesday on waters where a fishing boat found debris believed to belong to the jet, a Coast Guard official said. The debris, including fragments of carbon steel, was found floating in the northern Adriatic overnight, Rear Admiral Francesco Saverio Ferrara said. The U.S. Air Force said in a statement on Tuesday it was thought to be wreckage from the missing aircraft. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria cautiously welcomes Boko Haram ceasefire Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 08:04 AM PST MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian authorities on Tuesday welcomed a ceasefire declaration by a commander of Islamist sect Boko Haram, but security forces said they would not lower their guard. Sheik Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez, who security sources say is a Boko Haram commander, called on sect members on Monday to halt attacks that have killed many hundreds since it launched an uprising to carve out an Islamic state in Nigeria in 2009. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kurdish militants set for Turkey ceasefire in February: paper Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 07:55 AM PST  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Kurdish militants will halt hostilities with Turkey in February according to the timetable of a fledgling peace process aimed at ending 28 years of insurgency, a report in a mainstream newspaper said on Tuesday. Turkish intelligence officials began talks with jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in late 2012 and preliminary talks have also been held with PKK members in northern Iraq, where most of the group's several thousand militants are based, it said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suicide blast kills two near Somali president's palace Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 07:42 AM PST MOGADISHU (Reuters) - An Islamist militant persuaded Somali government officials he had defected, then walked up to the president's palace compound on Tuesday and blew himself up near the gates, killing at least two soldiers, witnesses and rebels said. Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels said the early morning suicide attack was the start of a new campaign against the country's Western-backed government and its leaders. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt prosecutor urges arrest of black-clad hardcore protesters Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 07:18 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's public prosecutor urged the security forces and members of the public on Tuesday to seize members of a new black-clad group vehemently opposed to President Mohamed Mursi which has emerged among the vanguard of recent protests. Egypt's army chief has warned political strife was pushing the state to the brink of collapse following a wave of protests in which 52 people have been killed in the last week. Mursi has imposed emergency rule in the Suez Canal cities of Port Said, Ismailia and Suez in an attempt to stem the violence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Phone video of South Africa mine massacre pressures police Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 07:15 AM PST  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A cell phone video broadcast this week of the police shooting of 34 miners in South Africa last year has piled more pressure on the security forces, showing officers bragging about the killings and undermining claims that they fired in self-defense. Reuters television footage of some of the killings at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine showed a dozen striking miners being cut down in a hail of police bullets. ... Full Story | Top |
| CP Rail profit falls on restructuring charges Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 07:10 AM PST  (Reuters) - Canadian Pacific Railway reported a 93 percent fall in fourth-quarter profit as it took charges related to labor restructuring and an impairment, but said it expects 2013 adjusted earnings per share to rise more than 40 percent. CP, the No. 2 Canadian rail carrier behind Canadian National Railway Co, said it expects 2013 revenue growth in the high single digits and an operating ratio in the low 70s. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clinton says successor to explore Middle East peace openings Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 07:10 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Last week's parliamentary elections in Israel open new avenues for Middle East Peace and the United States will pursue potential opportunities, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday. "I actually think that this election opens doors, not nails them shut," she told an assembly in Washington that was broadcast worldwide. "I know that President Obama (and) my successor, soon-to-be Secretary of State John Kerry, will pursue this, will look for every possible opening," said Clinton. (Reporting by Paul Eckert; Editing by Jackie Frank) Full Story | Top |
| Second set of NATO Patriot missiles in Turkey go active Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 06:49 AM PST ANKARA (Reuters) - A second pair of Patriot missile batteries being sent by NATO countries to defend Turkey against possible attack from Syria are now operational, a German security official said on Tuesday. The United States, Germany and the Netherlands each committed to sending two batteries and up to 400 soldiers to operate them after Ankara asked for help to bolster its air defenses against possible missile attack from Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Sunni discontent and Syria fears feed Iraqi unrest Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 06:46 AM PST  RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - Across Iraq's western desert, thousands of Sunni Muslims block highways, chant and pray in protests against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that grow more defiant by the day. Their demands are many, but the old Iraqi flags from Saddam Hussein's era and Sunni tribal colors fluttering among them are a clear message to Maliki: Enough, our time has come again. In Iraqi cities like Ramadi and Falluja, where tribal ties are strong, many Sunnis have harbored a sense of marginalization ever since Saddam's fall and the Shi'ite majority's empowerment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali targets July 31 for elections: interim president Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 06:07 AM PST ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Mali is hoping to organize elections on July 31, Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traore said on Tuesday as French and Malian forces consolidated the hold on northern towns recaptured during a two-week offensive against Islamists. "I'd like to reiterate our commitment here to conduct the transition in Mali with one agenda, one program, which is to recover the north and also in particular, bring Mali back to a normal situation," Traore told a donor's conference in Ethiopia. (Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Pascal Fletcher) Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria cautiously welcomes claimed Islamist ceasefire Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 05:37 AM PST MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - - Security forces in Nigeria's volatile northeast welcomed on Tuesday a ceasefire declaration by a commander of the Islamist sect Boko Haram, but said they would not lower their guard. Sheik Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez, a man local security sources say is a Boko Haram commander, called on sect members to halt attacks that have left many hundreds dead since it launched an uprising to carve out an Islamic state in Nigeria in 2009. ... Full Story | Top |
| Passenger plane crash kills 21 in Kazakhstan Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 05:29 AM PST  KYZYL TU, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - A passenger plane crashed in thick fog near Kazakhstan's commercial capital Almaty on Tuesday and broke into pieces when it hit the ground, killing all 21 people on board. After several hours, rescue teams recovered the plane's flight recorder, the central communications service for Kazakhstan's president said on its Twitter page. A list published by the prosecutor-general's office showed there had been 16 passengers and five crew members on board. The Canadian-built Bombardier Challenger CRJ-200 belonged to private Kazakh airline SCAT. ... Full Story | Top |
| Could Scottish, Catalan independence votes reshape Europe? Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 05:23 AM PST  BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - The separatist flag of Catalonia - with its yellow and red stripes, blue triangle and white star - was a rare sight on the streets of Barcelona a decade ago. Now, it is almost ubiquitous. Two thousand km to the north in Scotland, the blue-and-white saltire has always been popular. But that flag too increasingly symbolizes something new, that after more than 400 years within the United Kingdom Scotland may be on the verge of demanding a divorce. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bodies of missing Mexican band members found in well Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 04:47 AM PST  MONTERREY (Reuters) - Police found a dozen bodies inside a well in northern Mexico, some of them members of a band abducted last week by an armed group, a spokesman for the state of Nuevo Leon, Jorge Domene, said on Monday. Authorities have identified four of the bodies, including that of a Colombian national. All were wearing jeans and T-shirts with the logo of the music group - "Poderoso Kombo Kolombia." One band member who managed to escape told police that after he and the others were kidnapped, their armed men captors asked them if they belonged to an organized crime gang. ... Full Story | Top |
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