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| CA-NEWS Summary Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:41 PM PDT U.S. flies Stealth bombers over South Korea in warning to North SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States flew two Stealth bomber practice runs over South Korea on Thursday, in a second show of force to North Korea after a B52 bomber made a similar run earlier this week amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula. The flights came after North Korea said it would attack American bases in the Pacific following a U.S.-led drive to impose sanctions on North Korea for its third nuclear weapons test. ... Full Story | Top |
| Irish PM's party wins by-election, junior partner suffers Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:41 PM PDT  By Stephen Mangan ASHBOURNE, Ireland (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny's Fine Gael party held its seat in a by-election on Thursday, but its junior coalition partner Labor was beaten into fifth place in a humiliating defeat. Labour went into government for the first time since the late 1990s two years ago on a promise to end the previous administration's Laboradherence to "Frankfurt's Way", an austerity plan the party said was dictated by the European Central Bank. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. approves creation of special combat force for Congo Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:28 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on Thursday approved the creation of a special combat force that is to carry out "targeted offensive operations" to neutralize armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The 15-member Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution establishing the so-called intervention brigade within the existing 20,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo, known as MONUSCO. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Vicki Allen) Full Story | Top |
| Kenyatta apologizes for judges gaffe before Kenya poll ruling Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:24 PM PDT  By James Macharia NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's president-elect, whose victory is being challenged in the Supreme Court, apologized on Thursday for seeming to dismiss the judges as "some six people" who will "decide something or other". Uhuru Kenyatta, who also faces trial at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity over post-election violence five years ago, made the remarks - which went viral on social media - while consulting allies at a resort. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinian journalist gets jail term for Abbas insult Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:21 PM PDT  By Noah Browning RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - A Palestinian court sentenced a local journalist to a year in jail on Thursday over a picture posted on Facebook that was deemed insulting to President Mahmoud Abbas. The ruling against Mamdouh Hamamreh, who works for the al-Quds TV channel in Bethlehem, is the second this year in which Palestinians have been given jail terms over caricatures of the president. ... Full Story | Top |
| NATO approves Breedlove's nomination as top commander Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:17 PM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO has approved the nomination of U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove to be the Western alliance's top military commander, it said on Thursday. Breedlove will succeed Admiral James Stavridis as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe. U.S. Marine General John Allen, who led NATO forces in Afghanistan, was originally nominated to the job. After being caught up but later cleared in the scandal that forced CIA chief David Petraeus to resign, Allen announced his retirement last month. (Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Michael Roddy) Full Story | Top |
| Attempt to end Italy crisis fails, president mulls next move Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:09 PM PDT  By James Mackenzie and Barry Moody ROME (Reuters) - Center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani has failed in his attempt to find a way out of Italy's intractable political crisis and President Giorgio Napolitano will now try to find another solution, the president's palace said on Thursday. Bersani reported back to Napolitano on Thursday night after being given a mandate almost a week ago to see if there was a way to form a government after an inconclusive election in February which plunged Italy into deadlock. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mortar kills 15 at Damascus University, Syria says Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:06 PM PDT  By Oliver Holmes and Hamdi Istanbullu BEIRUT/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Fifteen Syrian students were killed when rebel mortar bombs hit a Damascus University canteen on Thursday, state-run news agency SANA said, as attacks intensified in the center of the capital. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group, said a mortar killed 13 people at the university, without saying who fired the bombs. Other activists confirmed the attack but no opposition group has denied or claimed responsibility. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy center-left says Bersani has not given up on government hopes Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 11:48 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italian center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani has not given up hopes of forming a government despite the failure of his consultations with rival political parties, a spokesman for his Democratic Party said on Thursday. Earlier, an official from President Giorgio Napolitano's office said that the talks had produced no result and that Napolitano would now assess possible options. "Bersani has not given up, you need to keep to the Quirinale statement," the spokesman said. (Reporting By Paolo Biondi; writing by James Mackenzie) Full Story | Top |
| Turkey denies mass deportation of Syrian refugees Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 11:44 AM PDT  By Hamdi Istanbullu and Jonathon Burch ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey denied on Thursday it had rounded up and deported hundreds of Syrian refugees following unrest at a border camp, highlighting the strain the exodus from Syria's civil war is placing on neighboring states. Witnesses said hundreds of Syrians were bussed to the border after Wednesday's clashes in which refugees in the Suleymansah camp, near the Turkish town of Akcakale, threw rocks at military police, who fired teargas and water cannon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Beleaguered Hollande to reach out to nation on TV Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 11:41 AM PDT  By Catherine Bremer PARIS (Reuters) - With his approval ratings and most of his economic pledges in tatters, French President Francois Hollande will try to convince a disillusioned nation on television on Thursday to keep faith in him to restore the economy to health. Hollande will be grilled in a 45-minute interview on France 2 television, his first such appearance in several months, in a studio whose backdrop and lighting have been prepared by his media team to create a somber mood. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Napolitano to assess options after Bersani government bid fails Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 11:39 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - President Giorgio Napolitano will assess the political situation after center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani failed to muster enough support to form a government, an official from the president's office said on Thursday. Donato Marra, the secretary general of Napolitano's office in the Quirinale palace said Bersani had reported to the president that his attempt to form a government had not achieved a solution and Napolitano would now look at options himself. ... Full Story | Top |
| German police arrest Pakistani in drone spying case Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 11:36 AM PDT BERLIN (Reuters) - German police have arrested a 28-year-old Pakistani man on suspicion of spying on high-tech military data, the office of the federal public prosecutor said in a statement on Thursday. A German magazine has said the case involves a firm that did research on reconnaissance drones made by Israel and used by the German army in Afghanistan. "The case is amazing," Focus magazine quoted one of the investigators as saying. German authorities declined to name the firm. The man, identified only as Umar R. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Islamic authority asserts role, clashes with Brotherhood Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 11:28 AM PDT  By Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's leading Islamic authority Al-Azhar said on Thursday its clerics must be consulted on a law allowing the state to issue Islamic bonds, setting it at odds with the Muslim Brotherhood which drove the legislation through parliament last week. It marks the first time Al-Azhar, a thousand-year-old seat of Islamic learning, has said its Senior Scholars Authority should be consulted on issues pertaining to Islamic law as set out in Egypt's new, Islamist-tinged constitution. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic army chiefs pledge allegiance to coup leader Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 11:15 AM PDT  By Ange Aboa BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's army chiefs pledged allegiance to the country's self-proclaimed president Michel Djotodia on Thursday as the ex-rebel leader consolidated control four days after his fighters seized the capital. Djotodia seized control of the resource-rich nation after thousands of his rebel fighters swept into the riverside capital Bangui on Sunday, ousting President Francois Bozize and triggering days of looting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia's Putin calls NGO inspections "routine" Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 11:11 AM PDT By Gabriela Baczynska and Denis Dyomkin MOSCOW/SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday dismissed criticism of state inspections of non-governmental organizations, saying the office searches that have prompted charges of harassment and caused concern in the West are routine. Rights activists say a wave of inspections at hundreds of NGO offices in recent weeks are aimed at scaring them into registering as "foreign agents" and silencing criticism of Putin, a former KGB spy now in his third term at the Kremlin. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope includes women for first time in Holy Thursday rite Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 11:09 AM PDT  By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) - Two young women were among 12 people whose feet Pope Francis washed and kissed at a traditional ceremony in a Rome youth prison on Holy Thursday, the first time a pontiff has included females in the rite. The pope traveled to the Casal del Marmo prison on Rome's outskirts for the traditional Mass, which commemorates Jesus's gesture of humility towards his apostles the night before he died. The ceremony has been traditionally limited to men because all of Jesus' apostles were male. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia says Arab League abandons Syria peace bids Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 10:45 AM PDT By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Thursday accused the Arab League of abandoning support for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Syria and said it had cast doubt over the mandate of U.N.-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi by giving a summit seat to the Syrian opposition. Opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib took Syria's vacant seat on Tuesday at the Arab summit, which also has lent its support to giving military aid to rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad. "We view the results of the Arab League summit in Doha with regret. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canadian Pacific oil spill cleanup to last two days Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 10:31 AM PDT  By Edward McAllister (Reuters) - Recovery efforts were underway on Thursday to clean up an oil spill in western Minnesota a day after a mile-long Canadian Pacific Railway train derailed, rupturing three tankers and leaking around 15,000 gallons of fuel. The cleanup was expected to take another day or two, officials said, after 11 cars on a 94-car train heading for the Chicago area left the tracks on Wednesday about 150 miles northwest of Minneapolis near the town of Parkers Prairie. ... Full Story | Top |
| Azerbaijan, Armenia deal on disputed area unlikely: Karabakh PM Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 10:06 AM PDT By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - Azerbaijan and Armenia are unlikely to reach a deal this year over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and there is a risk of the region sliding towards a war, the enclave's prime minister said on Thursday. A conflict between ethnic Azeris and Armenians erupted in 1991 over the area - a mountainous enclave within Azerbaijan with a majority Armenian population - after Armenian-backed forces seized it and seven surrounding Azeri districts. A truce was signed in 1994 after about 30,000 people had been killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Putin flexes Russia's military muscle in Black Sea exercises Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 09:35 AM PDT  By Alexei Anishchuk MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin ordered the launch of large-scale military exercises in the Black Sea on Thursday, projecting Russian power towards Europe and the Middle East in a move that may vex its neighbors. Officials suggested the surprise drills were designed to test the reaction speed and combat readiness of Russian forces, but Putin's order also seemed aimed at sending a signal to the West that Russia is an important presence in the region. ... Full Story | Top |
| UN gives Congo days to prosecute soldier rapists Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 09:21 AM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations has given the Democratic Republic of the Congo four more days to begin prosecuting soldiers accused of raping scores of women in an eastern town or it will halt support to two battalions, the world body said on Thursday. The United Nations said 126 women were raped in Minova in November after Congolese troops fled to the town as so-called M23 rebels briefly captured the nearby provincial capital of Goma. The U.N. special envoy to Congo, Roger Meece, informed Congolese authorities in a March 25 letter that they had seven days to take action. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's Mandela "responding positively" to treatment Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 09:19 AM PDT  By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela is "responding positively" to treatment for a recurring lung infection after being admitted to hospital overnight, the government said on Thursday. "He remains under treatment and observation in hospital," it added in a statement, without giving further details about the health of the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mortar strike kills 15 in Damascus University: state media Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 09:19 AM PDT  By Oliver Holmes BEIRUT (Reuters) - Fifteen Syrian students were killed when rebel mortar bombs hit a Damascus University canteen on Thursday, state-run news agency SANA said, as attacks intensify in the center of the capital. A bastion for President Bashar al-Assad's forces, the city is a crucial prize in a two-year-old uprising that has developed into a war in which more than 70,000 people have been killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Blade Runner" Pistorius gets passport back Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 09:03 AM PDT  PRETORIA (Reuters) - "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius was granted permission to travel abroad on Thursday when a South African judge relaxed bail conditions imposed after the Paralympic and Olympic track star was charged with murdering his girlfriend. Judge Bert Bam said the 26-year-old, a double amputee who won worldwide fame last year when he reached the semi-finals of the 400m in the London Olympics, could have his passport back and no longer needed to report to a probation officer. ... Full Story | Top |
| Slovak court moves toward imprisoning Hungary war criminal Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 09:00 AM PDT  PRAGUE (Reuters) - A Slovak court has commuted a death sentence imposed on a Hungarian World War Two criminal to life imprisonment although he remains under house arrest in his native country, the prosecution said on Thursday. Laszlo Csatary, 98, was found guilty in absentia in 1948 of whipping or torturing Jews and helping to deport them to the Auschwitz death camp when he served as police commander in the eastern Slovak city of Kosice. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sufi shrine blown up in Libyan capital Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 08:30 AM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Unknown assailants blew up a major Sufi shrine in the Libyan capital on Thursday, residents said, the first such attack since several last year in the North African country. Ultra-conservative Islamists have targeted sites belonging to Islam's Sufi tradition, which they brand idolatrous, since the end of a 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi. There were about a dozen attacks on Sufi shrines last spring and summer. Thursday's bombing took place in the early morning and struck the Sidi Al-Andlusi mausoleum in the Tripoli suburb of Tajoura, residents said. ... Full Story | Top |
| French police probe death threats after Sarkozy ruling Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 08:13 AM PDT  By Gérard Bon and Claude Canellas PARIS/BORDEAUX (Reuters) - Paris prosecutors launched an anti-terrorism probe on Thursday into death threats against a judge who put ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy under formal investigation in a party funding case, and into similar threats against several journalists. Investigating magistrate Jean-Michel Gentil's decision about Sarkozy last Thursday raised hackles on the political right. Many conservatives question the impartiality of judges given wide powers to conduct secret proceedings to investigate important criminal cases. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus court jails Hezbollah man for plotting to attack Israelis Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 08:09 AM PDT NICOSIA (Reuters) - A Cyprus court sentenced a member of Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah movement to four years in jail on Thursday on charges of plotting to attack Israeli interests on the island. In a case bearing similarities to a deadly bus bombing in Bulgaria targeting Israelis last year, the Cypriot court convicted Hossam Taleb Yaccoub on five counts of participating in a criminal organization and agreeing to commit a crime. Yaccoub, 24 when he was arrested, was accused of tracking movements of Israeli tourists at Larnaca airport, and routes of buses transporting them. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mandela responding to treatment: South African government Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 08:04 AM PDT JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela is "responding positively" to treatment for a recurring lung infection, President Jacob Zuma's office said on Thursday. The 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader was admitted to hospital overnight. "He remains under treatment and observation in hospital," the statement said, without giving further details. (Reporting by Ed Cropley; Editing by Ed Stoddard) Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers invite divisive Indian Hindu nationalist to visit Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 07:11 AM PDT  By Ross Colvin NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A visiting U.S. congressional delegation on Thursday invited the chief minister of India's Gujarat state, Narendra Modi, to the United States, despite the fact that Washington has denied him a visa since 2005 because of deadly religious riots. The invitation was a symbolic victory for Modi, a popular but divisive Hindu nationalist leader who is widely seen as harboring ambitions to become prime minister in 2014 and has been trying to win greater international acceptance. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. checks reports Turkey deported hundreds of Syrian refugees Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 06:59 AM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday it was very worried by reports of mass deportations of Syrians from Turkey and said it had taken up the issue with Turkish authorities. Turkish officials said that Turkey sent hundreds of refugees back to Syria after clashes with military police at their camp near the border in a protest over living conditions, although a government official later denied this and said that 50-60 Syrians had returned voluntarily. ... Full Story | Top |
| Portuguese government may teeter if court blocks austerity Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 06:49 AM PDT  By Andrei Khalip LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal is facing a potential political crisis if its constitutional court rejects government austerity measures, risking more euro zone turmoil on top of the Cyprus bailout this month. Publico newspaper said on Thursday Portugal's premier Pedro Passos Coelho had told his closest colleagues his government may fall if the court rejects more than 1 billion euros worth of austerity measures from this year's budget. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. flies Stealth bombers over South Korea in warning to North Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 06:20 AM PDT  SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States flew two Stealth bomber practice runs over South Korea on Thursday, in a second show of force to North Korea after a B52 bomber made a similar run earlier this week amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula. The flights came after North Korea said it would attack American bases in the Pacific following a U.S.-led drive to impose sanctions on North Korea for its third nuclear weapons test. The North has also threatened U.S. "puppet" South Korea with war and the U.S. mainland with nuclear attack. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hollande to fight for his political life in TV interview Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 06:08 AM PDT  By Catherine Bremer PARIS (Reuters) - With approval ratings and most of his economic pledges in tatters, French President Francois Hollande will try to convince a disillusioned nation on primetime TV on Thursday to keep faith in him to restore the economy to health. Hollande will be grilled in a 45-minute interview on France 2 television, his first such appearance in several months, in a studio whose backdrop and lighting have been carefully prepared by his media team to create a somber mood. Ten months into his term, the Socialist leader is battling to keep the public behind him. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey foreign ministry denies forcibly deporting Syria refugees Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 05:36 AM PDT ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's foreign ministry denied forcibly deporting Syrian refugees from a camp on the border after Wednesday's clashes with Turkish military police, and said about 50-60 had returned to Syria voluntarily. "Some people have returned since last night, the numbers are closer to 50 or 60, and yes some of these may have been involved in the provocations from yesterday but they returned of their own free will," foreign ministry spokesman Levent Gumrukcu said on Thursday. (Reporting by Jonathon Burch; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Louise Ireland) Full Story | Top |
| Somalia to get small arms after U.N. lifts embargo Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 05:06 AM PDT  By Yara Bayoumy DOHA (Reuters) - The Somali government expects to get its first shipment of light weapons within two months after the United Nations partially lifted an arms embargo to strengthen security forces fighting al Qaeda-linked militants, Somalia's president said. Aware of international wariness about sending arms to a volatile country already awash in weapons, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said he knew the world was closely watching how his government would manage a fresh inflow of arms. "We take full responsibility. ... Full Story | Top |
| Foul play not impossible in Berezovsky death: British police Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 04:56 AM PDT  By Maria Golovnina WINDSOR (Reuters) - British police believe foul play cannot be completely ruled out in the death of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, whose body was found at the weekend with a piece of material around his neck, an inquest heard on Thursday. Berezovsky, a sworn enemy of President Vladimir Putin, was found dead on Saturday in a luxury mansion in Ascot, an affluent English town near Queen Elizabeth's Windsor Castle, west of London. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazilian doctor charged with 7 murders, may have killed 300: investigator Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 04:47 AM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - A Brazilian doctor who was charged with killing seven patients to free up beds at a hospital intensive care unit may have been responsible for as many as 300 deaths, according to a Health Ministry investigator. Prosecutors said Dr. Virginia Soares de Souza and her medical team administered muscle relaxing drugs to patients, then reduced their oxygen supply, causing them to die of asphyxia at the Evangelical Hospital in the southern city of Curitiba. ... Full Story | Top |
| Putin orders large-scale military exercises in Black Sea Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 04:46 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin ordered the launch of large-scale Russian military exercises in the Black Sea region on Thursday, his spokesman said, in a move that may create tensions with Russia's post-Soviet neighbors Ukraine and Georgia. Putin issued the order to start the previously unannounced maneuvers at 4 a.m. Moscow time (12.00 a.m. EDT) as he flew back from an international summit in South Africa, his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters by telephone. ... Full Story | Top |
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