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| Algerian President Bouteflika has health crisis: TV Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 12:38 PM PDT  ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has a "health crisis" and has been told by his doctor to rest, a private Algerian television station reported on Saturday in a news flash. Bouteflika's health is a central factor in the stability of an oil-exporting country of 37 million emerging from a long conflict between government forces and Islamist insurgents. Ennahar TV provided no detailed information on the president's condition. Bouteflika, 75, was elected in 1999. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. top court justice Breyer has surgery after bicycle fall Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 12:34 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer had shoulder surgery Saturday to repair a broken bone after a fall from his bicycle, the top court said. Breyer, 74, injured his right shoulder in a fall from his bicycle on Friday afternoon near the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington. He was taken by ambulance to Georgetown University Hospital, where he had surgery on Saturday morning, the court said in a statement. Breyer, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, is viewed as a moderate on the liberal wing of the nine-member court. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Letta sets moderate course with new government Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 12:25 PM PDT By Gavin Jones ROME (Reuters) - There is much about Italy's new center-left prime minister Enrico Letta, who named his cabinet on Saturday, that is likely to please financial markets and Rome's international partners. He is young, moderate and pro-European, and despite his low public profile he has been a member of the European political elite for many years. Letta speaks fluent English and has a sound grasp of economics. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mississippi man charged with attempted use of a biological weapon Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 12:15 PM PDT  By Robbie Ward Tupelo, Mississippi (Reuters) - A Mississippi martial arts instructor arrested early on Saturday was charged with possession of the biological agent ricin and with attempting to use it as a weapon, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. James Everett Dutschke, age 41, was arrested following searches of his home and a former business as part of an investigation into ricin-laced letters sent to President Barack Obama and two other public officials. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Saccomanni moves from central banker to economy minister Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 11:55 AM PDT By Gavin Jones ROME (Reuters) - Italy's new Economy Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni is a 70-year-old central banker virtually unknown to the general public, who should reassure financial markets and the rest of Europe that the country will not stray from fiscal orthodoxy. He has spent most of the last 46 years at the Bank of Italy, where he is deputy governor, having been passed over for the top job when Mario Draghi left in 2011 to head the European Central Bank. ... Full Story | Top |
| Stalemate over, Italy's Letta names new government Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 11:47 AM PDT  By James Mackenzie and Gavin Jones ROME (Reuters) - Italian center-left politician Enrico Letta named a coalition government on Saturday, making one of Silvio Berlusconi's closest allies deputy prime minister and ending two months of damaging political stalemate. Letta has said his priorities would be the economy, unemployment and restoring faith in Italy's discredited political institutions as well as trying to turn Europe away from austerity to focus more on growth and investment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt president invites judges to discuss judicial reform crisis Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 11:03 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has invited senior figures from the judiciary to discuss a crisis triggered by proposed reforms that would push out thousands of judges, state media said on Saturday. Islamist lawmakers have put forward a bill that would force out more than 3,000 judges by lowering the retirement age, causing a revolt among the judiciary and widening political divisions in the country more than two years after a popular uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak. ... Full Story | Top |
| FAA says air travel system to be normal Sunday night Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 10:56 AM PDT  (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Saturday it had suspended all employee furloughs and that it expects the U.S. air travel system to return to normal by Sunday evening Eastern Time. The suspension follows passage on Friday of a bill allowing the agency to shift money within its budget to halt furloughs of air-traffic controllers that started April 21. The furloughs, prompted by automatic budget cuts, caused thousands of flight delays and hundreds of cancellations throughout the week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Comoros protests against anti-government plot, mercenary involvement Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 10:47 AM PDT  MORONI (Reuters) - Politicians and civil society groups on the coup-prone Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros on Saturday protested against an attempt to destabilize the government and warned that people linked to an infamous mercenary were at the heart of the plot. Comoros authorities said there was a conspiracy to undermine the country's rulers and last week arrested around 10 people for alleged involvement in the attempt to destabilize the government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan rebels attack city, push closer to capital Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 10:39 AM PDT By Khalid Abdelaziz and Ulf Laessing KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Rebels from Sudan's Darfur region launched a dawn attack on the city of Um Rawaba on Saturday, taking their fight closer to the capital Khartoum, witnesses said. The attack marks the biggest push by a rebel alliance that is seeking to topple President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Fighting had hitherto been limited mainly to remote regions of Darfur and South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, which border South Sudan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Authorities arrest Mississippi man in ricin case Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 10:18 AM PDT  By Robbie Ward TUPELO, Mississippi (Reuters) - Federal agents arrested a Mississippi martial arts instructor on Saturday after his home and a former business were searched as part of an investigation into ricin-laced letters sent to President Barack Obama and two other public officials. Everett Dutschke, 41, was taken into custody by U.S. marshals at his Tupelo home early Saturday morning without incident, the city's police chief, Tony Carleton, told Reuters. It was not immediately known if Dutschke has been charged in the ricin investigation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former Madagascar president Ratsiraka to contest July election Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 10:13 AM PDT  By Alain Iloniaina ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Madagascar's former president Didier Ratsiraka will contest national elections in July in a bid to become the Indian Ocean island state's leader for the third time, his supporters said on Saturday. Madagascar has been in crisis since Andry Rajoelina, now president, led an uprising that ousted former President Marc Ravalomanana from office in 2009, triggering turmoil that scared off investors and devastated the vital tourism sector. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Key ministers in Enrico Letta's new Italian government Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 10:11 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italian center-left politician Enrico Letta named a new coalition government on Saturday after reaching a deal with Silvio Berlusconi's center-right party ended the stalemate since February's deadlocked election. The government will be sworn in on Sunday before a vote of confidence expected on Monday with support from Letta's Democratic Party, Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) and the centrist bloc led by outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hague judges issue sharp rebuke to Kenyatta prosecutors Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 09:59 AM PDT  By Thomas Escritt AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Judges hearing the case against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at the International Criminal Court have sharply rebuked prosecutors for failing to disclose evidence that could be used in his defense, but stopped short of restarting the trial. While the reprimand will have no impact on the trial itself, it is a fresh blow to prosecutors who accuse Kenya's newly-elected president of orchestrating bloody post-election clashes five years ago in which 1,200 people died. ... Full Story | Top |
| Luxembourg's Juncker reshuffles government Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 09:53 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker on Saturday reshuffled his government following the resignation of his justice minister earlier this month. Juncker will take responsibility for religion in addition to his duties as prime minister, two sources in his Christian Social Party (CSV) told Reuters. Finance Minister Luc Frieden stays in office, but also gets responsibility for communications. Francois Biltgen resigned to stand for office as a judge in the Court of Justice of the European Union, the bloc's highest court, which is based in Luxembourg. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea says detained American tourist to face trial Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 09:50 AM PDT  By Jane Chung SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday that a Korean-American tourist, jailed by the reclusive state since late last year, will face trial for "committing crimes" against the North. The move comes amid a diplomatic standoff between North Korea and the United States, and as Pyongyang has threatened to attack U.S. military bases in the Pacific and the South. A number of U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four arrested as Bangladesh building toll rises to 352 Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 09:30 AM PDT  By Serajul Quadir and Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) - Two factory bosses and two engineers were detained in Bangladesh on Saturday, three days after the collapse of a building where low-cost garments were made for Western brands killed at least 352 people. More were being pulled alive from the rubble at the building, where police said as many as 900 people were still missing in Bangladesh's worst ever industrial accident. The owner of the eight-storey building that fell like a pack of cards around more than 3,000 mainly young women workers was still on the run. ... Full Story | Top |
| President says Libya harbors Chadian mercenaries Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 09:25 AM PDT  N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chad's President Idriss Deby on Saturday that Chadian mercenaries had set up a training camp in neighboring Libya from where they could seek to destabilize his country, an accusation Libyan authorities denied. Deby said during a radio interview that the mercenaries were free to roam around the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, hundreds of kilometers (miles) north of the Chadian border. "I do not want the new Libya to serve as the source of any plot to destabilize Chad," Deby said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Militants kill five Iraqi soldiers, Sunni protesters form "army" Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 09:21 AM PDT  By Kamal Naama RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - Militants shot dead five Iraqi soldiers in the Sunni Muslim stronghold province of Anbar on Saturday and protesters said they were forming an "army" after four days of unrest that raised fears of a return to widespread sectarian civil conflict. More than 170 people have been killed since Tuesday when security forces stormed a Sunni protest camp in the town of Hawija, triggering clashes that spread to other Sunni areas in western and northern areas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigerian senator says 228 killed in gunfight with Islamists Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 08:40 AM PDT  MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - A gunbattle between security forces and Islamist insurgents in Nigeria a week ago killed 228 people, a local senator said on Saturday, putting the death toll six times higher than the government's estimate. A large number of civilian deaths will fuel accusations that the military acted heavy-handedly and failed to protect bystanders and might also increase pressure on the government to seek a negotiated settlement with the radical group Boko Haram. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jews revive annual pilgrimage to Africa's oldest synagogue Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 08:23 AM PDT  By Tarek Amara DJERBA, Tunisia (Reuters) - Africa's oldest synagogue is playing host to that rarity in the Arab world - a religious gathering of hundreds of Jews drawn from Europe and Israel. Guarded by armed Tunisian police, Jewish revelers chant and dance in a three-day pilgrimage to the El Ghriba synagogue at an island resort 500 km south of Tunis. In 2011, after the uprising that toppled former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the annual celebration was canceled and in 2012 only a few dozen Jews attended out of fear of possible attacks by hardline Islamists. ... Full Story | Top |
| FBI removes boat used by Boston bombing suspect to storage Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 08:21 AM PDT  By Karen Brooks (Reuters) - Investigators have removed from its Watertown, Massachusetts, backyard the now-famous boat used as a hiding spot by one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, and have taken it to an evidence storage facility, the FBI said on Saturday. The boat was the scene of high drama when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a 19-year-old ethnic Chechen charged with the April 15 bombing that killed three people and wounded 264, was captured by authorities on April 19 after a tense day of searching in the Boston area. ... Full Story | Top |
| French Socialists soften tone on Merkel Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 08:17 AM PDT By Sybille de La Hamaide PARIS (Reuters) - France's ruling Socialist party will remove strongly worded criticism of German Chancellor Angela Merkel from a draft text on Europe that revealed the level of hostility Berlin's focus on austerity, its coordinator for Europe said on Sunday. Cooperation between France and Germany has long provided the main motor for decision-making in the European Union. But a debt crisis has strained those ties in the past year as ideologically opposed leaders have disagreed on points of economic policy. ... Full Story | Top |
| German SPD leader woos Greens for anti-Merkel alliance Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 07:54 AM PDT  By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - The leader of Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) took the stage at a Greens party congress on Saturday with an unashamed pitch for them to throw in their lot with the SPD to defeat Chancellor Angela Merkel in September. It was the first time an SPD leader had addressed a Greens congress. Sigmar Gabriel, whose party would need a coalition with the rising pro-environment party to have any chance of leading the next government, delivered a passionate plea to the Greens to stop flirting with Merkel's conservatives. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida approves online-only public university education Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 07:41 AM PDT By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Public university students in Florida next year will be able to start working toward college degrees without actually going to college, under a law Governor Rick Scott signed on Monday in front of educators and business lobbyists. The state-run University of Florida plans to start a series of online bachelor's degree programs next year, with $15 million start-up funds for 2014. Until now full-time online education has just been available to elementary and high schools in the state. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian court rejects Nomura seizure order: sources Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 07:19 AM PDT  By Silvia Ognibene SIENA, Italy (Reuters) - An Italian judge has rejected an order to seize around 1.8 billion euros ($2.3 billion) of assets from Nomura as part of a probe into suspected fraud involving troubled lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena, legal sources said on Saturday. Assets worth 140 million euros that were already seized from the Japanese bank have been released under the judge's ruling, which was made on Friday, the judicial source said. A spokeswoman for Nomura in Italy declined to comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine says too early to consider pardoning Tymoshenko Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 07:15 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ukraine's presidential pardon commission said on Saturday it was too soon to consider pardoning Yulia Tymoshenko, the president's main political rival whose continuing detention is a major obstacle to improved ties with the West. The commission said that as some criminal charges against Tymoshenko were still being investigated and the courts had not yet ruled, the "issue of her pardon is premature. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinians' Abbas says to start talks on unity government Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 06:53 AM PDT  By Ali Sawafta RAMALLAH (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he would begin talks with rival factions including Islamist Hamas to form a unity government, a crucial step towards healing years of damaging internal divisions. But, underscoring the chasm between Abbas's Fatah movement and Hamas, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Abbas had not consulted his group about his move and the Islamists had only heard about it in media reports. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fresh Slovenian protests amid bailout fears Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 06:37 AM PDT  By Marja Novak LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Around 2,500 anti-corruption protesters gathered in the center of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana on Saturday, the first such demonstrations since the center-left government of Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek took power on March 20. Similar protests helped bring down the previous conservative government of Janez Jansa, which lost a majority in parliament in January over a corruption scandal, although those involved crowds of up to 20,000 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemen military intelligence official assassinated Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 06:35 AM PDT ADEN (Reuters) - Two suspected Islamist militants shot dead a provincial military intelligence chief in Yemen on Saturday, a security official said, the latest in a series of assassinations in the impoverished state's lawless south and east. The gunmen opened fire from a motorbike, killing Colonel Ahmed Abdulrazzaq, intelligence head in Yemen's Hadramawt Province, outside his home in Mukalla on the Arabian Sea. Stability in Yemen is seen as important beyond the country's own borders because of its location next to top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and international shipping routes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Erdogan hails Kurd rebel pullout as end of "dark era" for Turkey Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 06:20 AM PDT  By Ayla Jean Yackley ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday hailed the planned withdrawal of Kurdish rebel fighters from Turkey as the end of a "dark era" but warned against potential sabotage of a historic peace process. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which seeks autonomy for Turkey's Kurdish southeast, on Thursday ordered its fighters in Turkey to begin withdrawing to its main base in the mountains of northern Iraq under a carefully choreographed peace plan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb damages police station in Libya's Benghazi, no injuries Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 05:35 AM PDT  BENGHAZI (Reuters) - A bomb exploded outside a police station in the restive eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Saturday causing extensive damage to the building but no injuries. A spate of bombings and assassinations in Benghazi, cradle of the 2011 uprising that ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has been attributed to Islamic militants. "Around six o'clock this morning, an explosive device placed under one of the windows of the building exploded, causing severe damage," said station commander Colonel Matar Mohammer. He said he had no information on who carried out the attack. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt may be 65-70 pct self-sufficient in wheat this year -PM Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 05:33 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt may reach 65 to 70 percent self-sufficiency in wheat production this year because of an expected boost in the local harvest, the prime minister said on Saturday. Egypt usually imports around 10 million tonnes of wheat a year but this year the state says it will buy only around 4 to 5 million tonnes from abroad, hoping to get the rest from local production. More than two years of political turmoil since a popular uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak have frightened away tourists and foreign investors, draining the foreign currency reserves used to pay for imports. ... Full Story | Top |
| FBI's longtime director faces criticism of bureau again Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 05:24 AM PDT  By Susan Cornwell and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As he nears the end of a dozen years as director of the FBI, Robert Mueller finds himself defending the agency over its handling of two high-profile cases. It is a familiar spot for the low-key ex-Marine. At the request of President Barack Obama, Mueller stayed on for two years beyond the job's 10-year term to help stabilize law enforcement's fight against domestic and international threats to U.S. security. Recent events - the bombing at the Boston Marathon and ricin-laced letters sent to Obama and a U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy president to meet PM designate Letta, who may announce government Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 05:20 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Saturday summoned Prime Minister-designate Enrico Letta to meet him in the Quirinale Palace at 11:00 a.m. EDT, a statement from Napolitano's office said. The statement did not specify the nature of the meeting, but Letta has been working to form a government since Wednesday and was expected to present the composition of his cabinet to Napolitano on Saturday. If Letta has finalized his government, it could be sworn in either on Saturday evening or Sunday morning. (Reporting by Steve Scherer) Full Story | Top |
| Iranian scientist freed by U.S. returns home: local media Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 04:54 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iranian scientist held for more than a year in California on charges of violating U.S. sanctions arrived in Iran on Saturday, Iranian media reported, after being freed in what the Omani foreign ministry said was a humanitarian gesture. Mojtaba Atarodi, 55, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Iran's Sharif University of Technology, had been detained on suspicion of buying high-tech U.S. laboratory equipment, previous Iranian media reports said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ethiopian Airlines first to fly 787 Dreamliner since grounding Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 04:53 AM PDT  By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopian Airlines on Saturday became the world's first carrier to resume flying Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner passenger jets, landing the first commercial flight since the global fleet was grounded three months ago following incidents of overheating in the batteries providing auxiliary power. The flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was the first since regulators grounded all Dreamliners on January 16 after two lithium-ion battery meltdowns that occurred on two jets with other airlines within two weeks that month. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey's leader hits a nerve over country's "national drink" Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 04:50 AM PDT  By Jonathon Burch ANKARA (Reuters) - If you are looking for one sure way to split public opinion in Turkey, just bring up the word alcohol. That is what Turkey's often divisive prime minister did late on Friday when he pronounced that the national drink was not beer, nor the aniseed spirit raki - choice tipple of Turkey's founding father - but the non-alcoholic yoghurt drink ayran. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mauritius FinMin: 2013 inflation seen below c.bank forecast Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 03:36 AM PDT  PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius' annual average inflation rate in 2013 is expected to fall below the central bank forecast of 4.7 percent to 4.9 percent, Finance Minister Xavier Duval said on Saturday. The rate is expected at 4.5 percent or 4.6 percent this year, Duval said, adding that the bigger concern is flagging economic growth in the Indian Ocean island state. Mauritius cut growth forecast from 3.7 percent to 3.5 percent last month, citing deeper contraction in the construction industry. "Macroeconomic priority should be given to growth as inflation is less a problem. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama chides lawmakers over flight delay fix, budget conflict Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 03:03 AM PDT  By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama chided Republicans on Saturday for approving a plan to ease air-traffic delays caused by federal spending cuts while leaving budget cuts that affect children and the elderly untouched. The Senate and the House of Representatives backed a plan this week to give the Department of Transportation flexibility to cover immediate salaries of air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration who had been furloughed as part of budget cuts known as "sequester. ... Full Story | Top |
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