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| U.S. didn't need rough interrogation to get bin Laden: Panetta Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 10:56 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leon Panetta, who as CIA director oversaw the U.S. operation that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, said the job could have been done without resorting to controversial interrogation methods that some have said constitute torture. The outgoing defense secretary, in remarks aired Sunday on the NBC program "Meet the Press," said there had been many pieces to the "puzzle" solved to find bin Laden, who was held responsible for the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Barclays finance director Lucas, top counsel to retire Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 11:14 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays said its finance director Chris Lucas and its top legal expert are to retire, adding to change at the top of the British bank as it struggles to put a series of scandals behind it. Lucas, aged 52, has been finance director for a tough six years that spanned the global financial crisis, but the past nine months have been particularly difficult. He is one of four current and former employees being investigated by UK authorities regarding a capital injection by Qatar in 2008. Group General Counsel Mark Harding will also retire, the bank said in a statement on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran hedges on nuclear talks with six powers or U.S. Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 10:42 AM PST  MUNICH (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday it was open to a U.S. offer of direct talks on its nuclear program and that six world powers had suggested a new round of nuclear negotiations this month, but without committing itself to either proposal. Diplomatic efforts to resolve a dispute over Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is peaceful but the West suspects is intended to give Iran the capability to build a nuclear bomb, have been all but deadlocked for years, while Iran has continued to announce advances in the program. ... Full Story | Top |
| French planes pound Islamist camps in north Mali desert Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 11:13 AM PST  PARIS/BAMAKO (Reuters) - French warplanes pounded Islamist rebel camps in the far north of Mali on Sunday, military sources said, a day after French President Francois Hollande was hailed as a savior during a visit to the West African country. Thierry Burkhard, spokesman for the French army in Paris, said the overnight raids targeted logistics bases and training camps used by the al Qaeda-linked rebels near the town of Tessalit, close to the Algerian border. "These were important air strikes," Burkhard told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition chief under fire for talks with Assad allies Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 09:18 AM PST  MUNICH (Reuters) - Syria's opposition leader flew back to his Cairo headquarters from Germany on Sunday to explain to skeptical allies his decision to talk with President Bashar al-Assad's main backers Russia and Iran, in hope of a breakthrough in the crisis. The Russian and Iranian foreign ministers, and U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, portrayed Syrian National Coalition leader Moaz Alkhatib's new willingness to talk with the Assad regime as a major step towards resolving the two-year-old war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani girl shot by Taliban has successful skull surgery Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 10:59 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - A Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls' education has undergone successful surgery at a British hospital to reconstruct her skull and help restore lost hearing. A team of doctors carried out a five-hour operation on Saturday on 15-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was shot in October and brought to Britain for treatment. The procedures carried out were cranial reconstruction, aimed at mending parts of her skull with a titanium plate, and a cochlear implant designed to restore hearing on her left side, which was damaged in the attack. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain's opposition Socialists tell Rajoy to resign Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 06:38 AM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's opposition Socialist Party called for the resignation of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy over a corruption scandal on Sunday as a poll showed the lowest support on record for his centre-right People's Party (PP). Media reports over the past two weeks alleged at least a dozen senior PP officials, including Rajoy, received payments from a slush fund operated by its former treasurer. Rajoy denies wrongdoing, but the scandal has provoked fury among Spaniards already disenchanted by deep recession and high unemployment, as support for the two biggest parties slumps. ... Full Story | Top |
| Istanbul police say U.S. tourist was murdered: report Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 11:51 AM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - An American tourist whose body was found in the ruins of Istanbul's old city wall was murdered by a blow to the head, the city's police chief was quoted as saying on Sunday. The husband of Sarai Sierra, 33, from New York, identified her body late on Saturday at an Istanbul morgue, state broadcaster TRT reported. She had been travelling alone when she was reported missing on January 21. "It's certain she was killed by a blow to the head," police chief Huseyin Capkin was quoted as saying by CNN Turk television. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bolshoi ballet chief says he knows who is behind acid attack on him Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 10:59 AM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Bolshoi Ballet's artistic director was quoted on Sunday as saying he knew who was behind an attack on him in which a masked assailant splashed acid over his face threatening his eyesight. Sergei Filin, who has undergone several operations on his eyes and face since the January 17 attack, did not give any names but made clear he linked the case to his job. "I not only have a suspicion about who did this, but I'm absolutely certain I know who did this. ... Full Story | Top |
| Man stripped and beaten blames Egyptian police Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 10:55 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - A man who was beaten and dragged naked across the ground during a demonstration on Friday told the public prosecution that Egyptian riot police were responsible for the incident, reversing an earlier statement in which he blamed demonstrators. A video of Hamada Saber, 48, being beaten with truncheons by helmeted police has infuriated the opposition, which accuses President Mohamed Mursi of ordering a harsh crackdown on protests two years after the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey says tests confirm leftist bombed U.S. embassy Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 07:07 PM 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 |
| White House rebuffed Clinton-Petraeus plan to arm Syrian rebels: report Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 06:39 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A plan developed last summer by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then-CIA Director David Petraeus to arm and train Syrian rebels was rebuffed by the White House, The New York Times reported on Saturday. The United States has sent humanitarian aid to Syria but has declined requests for weapons by rebels fighting to overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran threat is paramount for new Israeli government: Netanyahu Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 02:36 PM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday took on the job of forming a new government and said its most important task would be to ensure that Iran does not gain nuclear arms. President Shimon Peres formally called on Netanyahu to assemble a new coalition following the January 22 general election in which Netanyahu's rightist Likud-Beitenu emerged as the biggest party. It controls 31 seats in the 120-seat parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thirty-five killed as militants attack Pakistan checkpoint Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 02:27 PM PST  DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Militants attacked an isolated army checkpoint in Pakistan's restive northwest on Saturday, with at least 35 people killed in the initial assault, subsequent crossfire and a rocket attack on a house, officials said. The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the attack was in response to a U.S. drone strike in neighboring North Waziristan last month in which two commanders were killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Biden raises possibility of direct U.S.-Iran talks Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 10:40 AM PST  MUNICH (Reuters) - The United States is ready for direct talks with Iran if it is serious about negotiations, Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday, backing bilateral contact many see as crucial to easing a 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 develop nuclear weapons. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali hails "savior" Hollande, he says fight not over Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 04:47 PM PST  TIMBUKTU, Mali/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Cheering, grateful Malians mobbed French President Francois Hollande on Saturday as he visited French troops fighting Islamist jihadist rebels, and he pledged France would finish the job of restoring government control in the Sahel state. In a one-day trip to Mali accompanied by his ministers for defense, foreign affairs and development, Hollande was hailed as a liberator in the ancient northern city of Timbuktu, which French and Malian forces retook from the rebels six days ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| A second Republican voices support for Hagel to lead Pentagon Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 01:57 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Mike Johanns said on Saturday he would support fellow Nebraskan Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense, becoming the second Republican in the Senate to express public support for President Barack Obama's embattled nominee. The Lincoln, Nebraska, JournalStar reported on its website that Johanns, a former Nebraska governor who holds Hagel's old Senate seat, issued a statement supporting Hagel. An aide to Johanns confirmed the report. ... Full Story | Top |
| Biden raises possibility of direct U.S.-Iran talks Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 12:01 PM PST  MUNICH (Reuters) - The United States is ready for direct talks with Iran if it is serious about negotiations, Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday, backing bilateral contact many see as crucial to easing a 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 develop nuclear weapons. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey says tests confirm leftist bombed U.S. embassy Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 02:34 PM 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 |
| Mali hails "savior" Hollande, he says fight not over Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 01:38 PM PST  TIMBUKTU, Mali/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Cheering, grateful Malians mobbed French President Francois Hollande on Saturday as he visited French troops fighting Islamist jihadist rebels, and he pledged France would finish the job of restoring government control in the Sahel state. In a one-day trip to Mali accompanied by his ministers for defense, foreign affairs and development, Hollande was hailed as a liberator in the ancient northern city of Timbuktu, which French and Malian forces retook from the rebels six days ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| One dead, dozens hurt as police clash with Egypt protesters Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 12:08 PM 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 |
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