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| Peres asks Netanyahu to form new Israeli government Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 11:38 AM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli President Shimon Peres on Saturday formally asked incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new governing coalition following the January 22 general election. Netanyahu will initially have 28 days to form a coalition. His rightist Likud-Beitenu party took a battering at the ballot box and won 31 seats, 11 fewer than it had going into the election, but it nevertheless emerged as the largest party. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition leader to meet Iran's foreign minister Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 11:33 AM PST MUNICH (Reuters) - Syrian opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib said on Saturday he would meet Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Germany this weekend to discuss finding a solution to the Syrian crisis. "I confirm that I will be meeting the Iranian foreign minister to discuss finding a way to remove the regime with the least possible bloodshed and loss of life. I had already met (Russian Foreign Minister) Sergei Lavrov and (U.S. Vice-President) Joe Biden for this purpose," he told Reuters. Alkhatib, Salehi, Lavrov and Biden are all attending a security conference in Munich. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbia coalition rocked by leaks against prime minister Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 11:17 AM PST  BELGRADE (Reuters) - A close aide to Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic accused Dacic's SNS coalition partners on Saturday of staging a smear campaign after media reports linked Dacic to an alleged drug trafficker. The scandal, drip-fed to media by unnamed 'police sources', fuelled speculation that Dacic's SNS coalition partner, riding high in opinion polls, is looking to leave the government and force an early election. ... Full Story | Top |
| French army to stay in Mali until "sovereignty restored:" Hollande Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 11:11 AM PST BAMAKO (Reuters) - France will withdraw its troops from Mali once the Sahel state has restored sovereignty over its national territory and a U.N.-backed African military force can take over from the French soldiers, French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday. "We have not yet finished our mission. But we do not foresee staying indefinitely. Once the sovereignty of Mali is restored, once MISMA (the African force) can replace our own troops, we will withdraw," he told a news conference in Bamako during a one-day visit to Mali. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia's FARC to free 3 kidnapped members of security forces Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 11:04 AM PST BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's FARC rebels on Saturday admitted to holding two police patrolmen and a soldier it seized last week and pledged to free them in an apparent goodwill gesture at the end of a tense week of peace negotiations with the government. The captured soldier had not previously been announced by the Defense Ministry. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the biggest armed group in Latin America, said in a statement it would release the three security officials to the International Committee of the Red Cross and a local peace group. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain's Rajoy denies wrongdoing in kickbacks scandal Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 11:00 AM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Saturday denied wrongdoing in a growing corruption scandal that threatens his credibility just as he makes headway against economic crisis. The ruling People's Party (PP) has been buffeted all week by media reports alleging its former treasurers operated a slush fund with donations from construction industry executives that were then doled out to Rajoy and other party leaders. "I need only two words: it's false," Rajoy said in a televised address after an extraordinary meeting of party leaders to discuss the allegations. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House offers proof Obama wasn't just shooting from the lip Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:45 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seeking to put to rest questions on whether Barack Obama was a straight shooter when he claimed he went skeet shooting "all the time," the White House on Saturday offered proof: a photo of the president blasting away at clay targets. Obama drew skepticism when he made the assertion in a recent interview with the New Republic magazine, an attempt to show sympathy for hunters even as he pushes for tighter gun controls after the Newtown school shooting massacre in December. ... Full Story | Top |
| Efforts to end Alabama hostage situation shrouded in secrecy Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:39 AM PST  MIDLAND CITY, Alabama (Reuters) - Efforts to free a 5-year-old boy from a gunman in an underground bunker, where he fled after killing the boy's school bus driver, were shrouded in secrecy on Saturday as the standoff in rural Alabama dragged into a fifth straight day. Police sources said the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, often described as federal law enforcement's only full-time counterterrorism unit, was leading negotiations aimed at securing the boy's safe release. ... Full Story | Top |
| Eritrean refugees protest in support of renegade soldiers Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:37 AM PST ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia demonstrated on Saturday in support of soldiers who forced state media in the Eritrean capital Asmara to call for all political prisoners to be freed. Dissident Eritrean soldiers with tanks stormed the information ministry on January 21 and obliged the director general of state television to appeal for the prisoners' release. Between 5,000 and 10,000 political prisoners are held in the country of 6 million people, the U.N. human rights chief said last year, accusing Eritrea of torture and summary executions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia commemorates pivotal Battle of Stalingrad Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:34 AM PST  VOLGOGRAD, Russia (Reuters) - The city of Volgograd re-adopted its old name of Stalingrad for a few hours on Saturday as Russia commemorated the 70th anniversary of the epic battle that turned the tide of World War Two. The victory in the six-month Battle of Stalingrad, which killed about 2 million people, is a symbol of national pride that has produced an outburst of patriotic fervor and, for some, nostalgia for the Soviet era and dictator Josef Stalin. President Vladimir Putin flew to Volgograd, which was known as Stalingrad from 1925 until 1961. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malians say "Thank you, France!" as Hollande visits Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:27 AM PST  TIMBUKTU, Mali (Reuters) - Malians chanting "Thank you, France!" mobbed President Francois Hollande on Saturday as he visited the desert city of Timbuktu, retaken from Islamist rebels, and pledged France's sustained support for Mali to expel jihadists. Hollande, accompanied by his ministers for defense, foreign affairs and development, was on a one-day trip to the Sahel nation to support French troops who in three weeks have ousted fighters allied with al Qaeda from Mali's main northern towns. ... Full Story | Top |
| One dead, dozens hurt as police clash with Egypt protesters Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:26 AM PST  CAIRO/PORT SAID, Egypt (Reuters) - At least one protester was shot dead and dozens wounded on Friday when riot police clashed with demonstrators demanding the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi. Youths threw petrol bombs and shot fireworks at the outer wall of Mursi's Cairo presidential compound as night fell. Police responded by firing water cannon and teargas leading to skirmishes in the surrounding streets. Two witnesses said they had seen a protester shot dead in Cairo with live ammunition in front of them. "It's verified. I am at the morgue. ... Full Story | Top |
| Video of protester stripped and beaten fires Egypt fury Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:26 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - After eight days of protests that killed nearly 60 people, a video of one demonstrator stripped naked, dragged across the ground and beaten with truncheons by helmeted riot police has fired Egyptians to a new level of outrage. Hamada Saber, 48, lay in a police hospital on Saturday, the morning after he was shown on television naked, covered in soot and thrashed by half a dozen policemen who had pulled him to an armored vehicle near the presidential palace. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey says tests confirm leftist bombed U.S. embassy Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:24 AM PST  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A member of a Turkish leftist group that accuses Washington of using Turkey as its "slave" carried out a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. embassy, the Ankara governor's office cited DNA tests as showing on Saturday. Ecevit Sanli, a member of the leftist Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), blew himself up in a perimeter gatehouse on Friday as he tried to enter the embassy, also killing a Turkish security guard. ... Full Story | Top |
| French parliament backs main clause in gay marriage law Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:21 AM PST  PARIS (Reuters) - The French parliament on Saturday adopted the main clause of a bill that would allow same-sex marriage and grant gay couples the right to adopt children. Deputies voted 249-97 to back the clause eliminating opposite gender as a condition of the right to marriage. The draft law, the first major social reform of Francois Hollande's presidency, has sparked major protests. Several hundred thousand people massed at the Eiffel Tower in Paris last month to protest against the plan. The approval of the key clause prompted fresh protests in several towns on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition talks with Russia, seeking breakthrough Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:01 AM PST  MUNICH (Reuters) - The Syrian opposition leader met Russia's foreign minister on Saturday and a diplomatic source said he would also see Iran's foreign minister, opening a window to a possible breakthrough in efforts to broker an end to Syria's civil war. Russia and Iran have been the staunchest allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad throughout an armed uprising against his rule, and any understandings they might reach with Assad's foes could help overcome the two sides' refusal to negotiate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Myanmar to hold peace talks in China with Kachin rebels Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 09:32 AM PST YANGON (Reuters) - The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) said on Saturday it had agreed to hold talks with Myanmar's government in China next week, to try to end stubborn conflict with the military that has intensified in the past two months. The KIA said in a statement the Chinese government "will take a role as a witness and mediate during the meeting" adding that it urged "the Kachin community, our friends and supporters around the world to pray for our leaders. ... Full Story | Top |
| German opposition SPD threatens to block Cyprus aid -Spiegel Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 09:16 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's opposition Social Democrats (SPD) will only back a bailout for Cyprus if Nicosia agrees to consolidate its banks among other conditions, the party's challenger to Chancellor Angela Merkel was quoted as saying on Saturday. "SPD agreement will only come under certain conditions," Peer Steinbrueck, who takes on Merkel in September's election, was quoted in Der Spiegel weekly as saying. Before any rescue deal, Cyprus would have to consolidate "its completely bloated banking sector" and wind up some institutions, the magazine quoted Steinbrueck as saying. ... Full Story | Top |
| DNA tests confirm Turkish leftist bombed U.S. embassy Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 09:15 AM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - DNA tests showed that Ecevit Sanli, a member of the Turkish leftist group DHKP-C, was the suicide bomber in Friday's attack on the U.S. embassy in Ankara, the city governor's office said on Saturday. "The person who detonated the explosives strapped to his body while trying to enter the US embassy ... was Ecevit Sanli, a militant from the terrorist organization DHKP-C," the governor's office said in a statement. (Reporting by Seltem Iyigun; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Stephen Powell) Full Story | Top |
| Palestinians clash with Israeli soldiers at West Bank encampment Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:52 AM PST  BURIN, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers used tear gas and stun grenades on Saturday to disperse about 150 Palestinians trying to block expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Both sides sustained light injuries as the soldiers removed about a dozen tents and small huts from land adjacent to the Palestinian northern West Bank village of Burin, Palestinian witnesses and the Army said. It was the third time in recent weeks that Palestinians had set up an encampment in what they said was an attempt to hamper the expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank. ... Full Story | Top |
| Argentina aims at bond "holdouts" ahead of court showdown Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:47 AM PST BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina has made its final written arguments ahead of a February 27 U.S. courtroom showdown against "holdout" bondholders demanding 100 cents on the dollar for debt that the South American country defaulted on more than a decade ago. Oral arguments in the case, which could raise emerging market sovereign borrowing costs by complicating future restructurings, are set for the end of this month before the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamist threatens to attack Germany, Merkel: paper Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:46 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - A German Islamist has threatened to attack Berlin this summer and kill Chancellor Angela Merkel in a video posted on the Internet, a newspaper reported on Saturday. A spokesman for Germany's intelligence service, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, confirmed its agents had seen such a video. "This is an Islamist battle song. It is known to the security services and is being evaluated," said the spokesman. ... Full Story | Top |
| Illinois police recapture killer after accidental release Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:35 AM PST (Reuters) - A convicted Indiana murderer was back in custody on Saturday after being recaptured following his mistaken release from an Illinois jail due to an apparent clerical error. Cook County authorities arrested Steven Robbins, 44, on Friday in Kankakee, Illinois, about 60 miles south of Chicago, after interviews with family and friends and "various leads" helped locate him, according to a statement from the Cook County Sheriff's Office. Robbins was serving time in Indiana when he was taken to Illinois to face a drug charge that dated back to 1992. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ahmadinejad to make first Egypt visit by Iran head in decades Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:27 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Cairo next week, becoming the first Iranian president to travel to Egypt since Iran's 1979 revolution ruptured diplomatic ties between the two most populous countries in the Middle East. Ahmadinejad will head Iran's delegation to a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Cairo, said Amani Mojtaba, head of Iran's interest section in Cairo, which it maintains in the absence of an official embassy. "I hope that Iranian-Egyptian relations return to the full diplomatic level," he told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands of Vukovar Croats rally against Serb Cyrillic signs Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:14 AM PST VUKOVAR, Croatia (Reuters) - More than 20,000 Croats rallied on Saturday in Vukovar, a town destroyed in the 1991-95 war with rebel Serbs, to protest against the government's plan to introduce signs in the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet. The Social Democrat-led government, which will take the country into the European Union on July 1, wants to put up bilingual signs, in both the Latin script used for Croatian and in Cyrillic, in areas where the population is more than one third ethnic Serb later this month. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey detains three after U.S. embassy bombing: state TV Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:13 AM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Authorities in Turkey detained three people in Istanbul and Ankara on Saturday in connection with Friday's suicide bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Ankara, state broadcaster TRT said. A Turkish leftist group, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), said earlier it was responsible for the attack, which killed the bomber and a Turkish security guard. (Reporting by Seltem Iyigun; Writing by Nick Tattersall) Full Story | Top |
| Nepal Maoist PM says to accept unity government for May polls Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 07:57 AM PST HETAUDA, Nepal (Reuters) - Nepal's Maoist prime minister said on Saturday he was ready for a unity government to oversee May elections, in an attempt to break a deadlock threatening a peace process that ended a decade-long civil war. "We are ready to accept a national unity government under anybody's leadership to hold elections for the constituent assembly," Baburam Bhattarai told party delegates gathered for the six-day conference in the industrial town of Hetauda, 80 km (50 miles) southeast of Kathmandu. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four killed, including Frenchman, in southern Senegal Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 07:56 AM PST DAKAR (Reuters) - Four people, including a Frenchman, were killed in Senegal's southern Casamance region when suspected separatist rebels clashed with government soldiers, a military source said on Saturday. The shoot-out took place late on Friday after suspected members of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), which has led a low-level insurgency in the region since the 1980s, robbed a bank in the town of Kafoutine. "There are four dead including a Frenchman," said the source. He said the French victim had lived in Casamance and was married to a Senegalese woman. ... Full Story | Top |
| Monte Paschi probe to widen as Italian election nears Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 07:53 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - A plan by Italy's central bank to use bonds to bail out the troubled Monte Paschi bank can go ahead, a court ruled on Saturday, as a scandal surrounding the world's oldest lender looked likely to widen three weeks before a national election. Magistrates in three cities investigating the Tuscan bank were poised to issue new summonses for more witnesses to give information next week following testimony by a raft of bankers in the past few days, leading newspapers said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria opposition chief meets Russia's Lavrov in Munich Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 07:51 AM PST MUNICH (Reuters) - The head of the Syrian opposition Moaz Alkhatib told Reuters he had met Russia's foreign minister on Saturday on the sidelines of a conference in Munich and had been invited to visit Moscow. Alkhatib, president of the Syrian National Coalition, said he had received a "clear invitation" from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to visit Moscow, a breakthrough in relations that could help pave the way for a solution to the Syrian crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Woman's trial raises concerns over rape victims in Somalia Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 07:32 AM PST MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A woman who said she was raped by Somali soldiers and a journalist who interviewed her went on trial on Saturday in a case that has sparked international concerns over sexual violence and press freedom in the country. The woman, her husband and journalist Abdiaziz Abdinur face charges including insulting a government body, making false accusations, and seeking to profit from the allegations. Neither the 27-year-old woman nor her husband have been named. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbian coalition rocked by leaks against prime minister Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 07:23 AM PST BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic warned on Saturday that "certain forces" were trying to topple his coalition government after media reports linked him to an alleged drug trafficker. The reports emerged just as speculation grows that Dacic's SNS coalition partner, riding high in the polls, will quit the government and try to force an early election if Serbia clinches accession talks with the European Union by mid-year. A close aide to Dacic said the SNS was waging a smear campaign against the prime minister, but Dacic distanced himself from that accusation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazil defense says wants to buy Russian antiaircraft systems Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 07:10 AM PST SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's Defense Ministry said it will recommend the government buy anti-aircraft defense systems from Russia pending advanced talks with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev this month. The ministry said in a statement on its website late on Friday it hoped to acquire Russian anti-aircraft systems and would present a proposal to President Dilma Rousseff for approval. "We are interested in acquiring three batteries of medium level Pantsir-S1 missiles and two batteries of Igla missiles," General Jose Carlos De Nardi said in the statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish leftist group claims U.S. embassy bombing: website Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 06:31 AM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish leftist group DHKP-C said on Saturday it was responsible for a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, according to a statement on a website close to the group. "Our warrior Alisan Sanli carried out an act of self-sacrifice on Feb 1, 2013, by entering the Ankara embassy of the United States, murderer of the people of the world," the statement said. (Reporting by Seltem Iyigun; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Jon Hemming) Full Story | Top |
| Germany, Italy protest at U.S. axing of missile defense funding Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 06:15 AM PST MUNICH (Reuters) - Germany and Italy have told the United States they expect it to fulfill its obligations after the U.S. Congress blocked funding for a missile defense program involving the three countries, Germany said on Saturday. A defense bill passed by Congress in December prohibited a final U.S. payment of $400.9 million for development of the Medium Extended Air and Missile Defense System, known as MEADS, which is being developed by Lockheed Martin with partners in Italy and Germany. U.S. lawmakers said Washington has no plans to produce the system. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemen drives militants from mountain retreat Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 06:08 AM PST ADEN (Reuters) - Yemeni government forces have driven a group of Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda from their mountain retreat in the country's south after killing 21 militants during two days of fighting, a military source said on Saturday. The army and pro-government militias battled militants on Thursday and Saturday near the town of Shuqra in Abyan province, an impoverished, rugged region of southern Yemen where tribal law holds sway and armed Islamists have a strong presence. Five soldiers and two militia members were also killed, the source said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four killed, including French man, in Senegal's Casamance Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 06:05 AM PST DAKAR (Reuters) - Four people, including one French citizen, were killed in Senegal's southern Casamance region when suspected separatist rebels clashed with government soldiers, a military source said on Saturday. "There are four dead including a French man," said the source. He said it was not clear whether the death of the French citizen was directly related to the rebels' long-running low-intensity bush war for independence in the mostly-Christian southern region of predominantly Muslim Senegal. The others killed in the attack late on Friday were Senegalese, the source said. Full Story | Top |
| Biden raises possibility of direct U.S.-Iran talks Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 05:56 AM PST  MUNICH (Reuters) - The United States is ready to hold direct talks with Iran if it is serious about negotiations, Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday, backing bilateral contacts that many see as crucial to easing an international dispute over Tehran's nuclear program. Speaking at a security conference in Munich, Biden said Iran - which says it is enriching uranium for peaceful energy only - now faced "the most robust sanctions in history" meant to ensure it does not use its program to develop nuclear weapons. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Israeli security chiefs speak out in Oscar documentary nominee Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 05:00 AM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Oscar-nominated documentary "The Gatekeepers" focuses on Israel, but its director says that all countries can gain insight about the risks that arise if secretive security agencies operate without adequate restraints. In "The Gatekeepers," six former heads of Israeli internal security and intelligence agency Shin Bet reflect on their failures and successes in gathering information on state enemies, orchestrating secret operations and tracking militants. They also offer some unexpected perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nine arrested in right-wing Austria ball protest Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 04:33 AM PST  VIENNA (Reuters) - Nine protesters have been arrested for civil disorder in demonstrations against a right-wing ball in Vienna's imperial Hofburg Palace, Austrian police said on Saturday. More than 2,500 joined protests against the Academics' Ball on Friday night which was hosted by Austria's far-right Freedom Party and has in the past attracted right-wing icons such as France's Marine le Pen. ... Full Story | Top |
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