| | |
| Colombian FARC leader Catatumbo joins peace talks in Havana Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 12:33 PM PDT BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian rebel leader Pablo Catatumbo has joined the team of FARC negotiators hammering out a peace deal in Havana, a move that could help the Marxist group garner more support from low-ranking guerrillas to end the country's five-decade conflict. Catatumbo, who is sought by the United States for drug trafficking, went to Havana with other members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, to reinforce the negotiating team, the rebel group said in a statement on Sunday. "Colombia's destiny cannot be war ... ... Full Story | Top |
| One dead, 66 wounded in Cairo clashes after funeral: MENA Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 12:26 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - One person was killed and 66 were wounded during clashes that broke out in central Cairo on Sunday after a funeral service at the Coptic cathedral for four Christians killed during sectarian violence on Friday, the state news agency MENA said. State television showed fighting continuing late into the night. (Reporting by Ahmed Tolba and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Full Story | Top |
| Door still open on Iran atom talks, but not forever: U.S Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 12:14 PM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed ISTANBUL (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday world powers would pursue further talks with Iran to resolve a decade-old dispute over its nuclear programme, but stressed that the process could not go on forever. The six powers and Iran failed again to bridge wide differences at weekend talks in Kazakhstan, prolonging a stand-off that could yet erupt into a new Middle East war. No new talks were scheduled. ... Full Story | Top |
| Powers and Iran fail to end nuclear deadlock in Almaty Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 12:14 PM PDT  By Justyna Pawlak and Yeganeh Torbati ALMATY (Reuters) - World powers and Iran failed again to end the deadlock in a decade-old dispute over Tehran's nuclear program in talks that ended in Kazakhstan on Saturday, prolonging a standoff that could yet spiral into a new Middle East war. No new talks were scheduled but big power negotiators, who earlier this year were insisting that time was running out, were at pains to say the diplomatic process would continue. Iran's critics accuse it of covertly seeking the means to produce nuclear bombs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghan attack kills young, promising U.S. diplomat Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 12:12 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A young U.S. diplomat killed in Afghanistan was remembered by colleagues and family members as an intelligent woman who was still in the early stages of her career. Anne Smedinghoff, 25, was killed along with four other Americans in a car bomb blast as their convoy traveled in Zabul province on Saturday. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry praised her on Sunday, describing her as "everything that is right" about the U.S. foreign service. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghan attacks kill U.S. diplomat, soldiers, others Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 12:12 PM PDT KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A car bomb blast killed five Americans, including three U.S. soldiers and a young diplomat, on Saturday, while an American civilian died in a separate attack in the east. The diplomat and other Americans were in a convoy of vehicles in Zabul province when the blast occurred, Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement. The soldiers and the diplomat died in the blast along with a civilian employee of the Defense Department and Afghan civilians, Kerry said. His statement gave no overall death toll. ... Full Story | Top |
| China confident it can control bird flu outbreak Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 12:09 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China is confident it can control an outbreak of a new strain of bird flu, a senior Chinese health official said on Sunday as the World Health Organization (WHO) said there had now been 21 human cases of the H7N9 flu with six deaths. China has said it is mobilizing resources nationwide to combat the new strain, monitoring hundreds of close contacts of confirmed cases and culling tens of thousands of birds where traces of the virus were found. ... Full Story | Top |
| Portugal to cut spending after court ruling Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 11:47 AM PDT  LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's government will cut spending to meet targets agreed with its lenders after a court overturned key austerity measures, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said on Sunday. Passos Coelho said in a televised address Friday's Constitutional Court ruling posed "serious obstacles and risks" this year and next, but reaffirmed his commitment to the fiscal and economic adjustment program under an EU/IMF bailout. ... Full Story | Top |
| Republican senator sees Obama budget offer as positive Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 11:44 AM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham on Sunday became the first prominent Republican to publicly praise, however lukewarmly, the budget proposal the White House outlined last week. Graham said that while he believes President Barack Obama's plan is overall bad for the economy, "there are nuggets of his budget that I think are optimistic," and that could set the stage for a broad bargain to put the nation's finances on a stronger footing. He was speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" program. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU's Ashton seeks consensus in Egypt on economy and reform Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 11:43 AM PDT  By Paul Taylor CAIRO (Reuters) - The European Union's foreign policy chief met Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on Sunday against a backdrop of sectarian violence to encourage feuding political leaders to seek a national consensus in tackling mounting problems. "This is a critical time for Egypt's transition. The country is facing huge economic and political challenges," Catherine Ashton said before the talks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian Copts and Muslims clash again, in central Cairo Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 11:43 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Clashes broke out between Coptic Christians and Muslims in central Cairo on Sunday after the funeral of four Copts killed in sectarian violence outside the Egyptian capital on Friday night, a witness said. The state news agency MENA said 17 people had been injured in fighting after a funeral ceremony at the city's Coptic Orthodox cathedral. Public television showed riot police firing tear gas to disperse the crowd. ... Full Story | Top |
| Unmanned Navy planes near big milestones in May Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 11:40 AM PDT By Andrea Shalal-Esa NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Maryland (Reuters) - The Navy plans to carry out the first catapult takeoff of its new X-47B unmanned plane from an aircraft carrier next month and other shipboard tests despite mandatory budget cuts this year, according to the admiral who runs the programs. Rear Admiral Mathias Winter, program executive officer for unmanned aviation and strike weapons, said Northrop Grumman Corp's X-47B program and other unmanned aircraft programs should survive the fiscal 2013 budget cuts largely intact because they are still early in development. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria Delta militants kill 12 police in boat ambush Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 11:32 AM PDT By Tife Owolabi YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian militants have ambushed a police boat in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, killing 12 police officers, authorities said on Sunday. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the main delta militant group before a 2009 amnesty, claimed responsibility for Friday's attack, staged shortly after it had threatened to resume its campaign of violence. However, another of the armed groups roaming Africa's top oil producer said it had carried out the ambush near the village of Azuzama, which a further 38 police officers ... Full Story | Top |
| Rocket fired from Gaza strikes southern Israel: police Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 11:28 AM PDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck southern Israel on Sunday, causing no damage or injuries, a police spokesman said. Last week rockets fired by Gaza militants spurred Israel to carry out air strikes on the territory, the first since the ceasefire that ended an eight-day war between Israel and Hamas in November. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the rocket, fired after sundown as Israel began commemorating its national remembrance day of the Nazi Holocaust, landed in an open area. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Stephen Powell) Full Story | Top |
| Shaping up for another tricky vintage Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 11:05 AM PDT By Andy Bruce LONDON (Reuters) - Just three months in, and already there is a nagging sense that 2013, like last year and the one before, will produce another disappointing vintage for the world economy. Japan's $1.4 trillion monetary barrage stole the show last week, but it was the dismal turn in data from the United States and Europe that brought home how this year is panning out worse than many had hoped. News that American employers hired far fewer staff in March than even the gloomiest predictions managed to derail the heady rise of stock markets over the last few months. ... Full Story | Top |
| Opposition holds big rally in Venezuela government stronghold Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 11:02 AM PDT  By Diego Ore and Eyanir Chinea CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition candidate Henrique Capriles called tens of thousands of supporters onto the streets of the government's stronghold in downtown Caracas on Sunday, in a show of strength a week before he faces Nicolas Maduro in a presidential vote. Acting leader Nicolas Maduro has vowed to continue the hard-line socialism of his late boss, Hugo Chavez, if he wins the election on April 14. Maduro was holding a giant rally on Sunday in rural Apure state, on the border with Colombia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guinea opposition says it will return to election talks Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 10:35 AM PDT CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's opposition said on Sunday it would reopen talks with the government on preparations for legislative elections after the ruling party agreed to its conditions. Parliamentary polls are a final step in Guinea's transition to civilian rule after a 2008 military putsch, but they have been repeatedly delayed due to opposition complaints about how they are being organized. "The government has accepted all of our conditions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope installed as bishop of Rome, appeals to lapsed faithful Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 10:21 AM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - Pope Francis was formally installed as bishop of Rome on Sunday and he urged lapsed Catholics not to be afraid to return to God. Francis celebrated a Mass before thousands of people in the Rome Basilica of St. John in Lateran to formally take possession of the cathedral in his capacity as bishop of the Italian capital, his other major role along with the papacy. Francis, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, has indicated that he intends to embrace his role as Rome's bishop as well as leader of the 1.2-billion-member Catholic Church. ... Full Story | Top |
| Oceans may explain slowdown in climate change: study Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 10:04 AM PDT  By Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) - Climate change could get worse quickly if huge amounts of extra heat absorbed by the oceans are released back into the air, scientists said after unveiling new research showing that oceans have helped mitigate the effects of warming since 2000. Heat-trapping gases are being emitted into the atmosphere faster than ever, and the 10 hottest years since records began have all taken place since 1998. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers say China has failed to rein in North Korea Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 09:55 AM PDT By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China has failed to use its influence to stop North Korea's warlike rhetoric against the United States and U.S.-backed South Korea, despite an escalating crisis that could trigger armed conflict by accident, U.S. lawmakers said on Sunday. Republican Senator John McCain, a member of the Armed Services Committee, criticized China's "failure to rein in what could be a catastrophic situation," saying Beijing could step up pressure on Pyongyang by using its influence over North Korea's economy. "China does hold the key to this problem. ... Full Story | Top |
| China warns against "troublemaking" on Korean peninsula Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 09:55 AM PDT  By Ben Blanchard and Jane Chung BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) - China warned against "troublemaking" on its doorstep, in an apparent rebuke to North Korea, and the United States said it was postponing a missile test to help calm high tension on the divided Korean peninsula. The North, led by 30-year-old Kim Jong-un, has been issuing vitriolic threats of war against the United States and U.S.-backed South Korea since the United Nations imposed sanctions in response to its third nuclear weapon test in February. Pyongyang's anger appears heightened by U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises. ... Full Story | Top |
| Montenegrin president bids for new five-year term Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 09:49 AM PDT  By Petar Komnenic PODGORICA (Reuters) - Montenegro voted on Sunday in a presidential election expected to return incumbent Filip Vujanovic for a third term with the tiny Adriatic republic trying to shed a reputation for crime and corruption to smooth its way into the European Union. Vujanovic, 58, has held the largely ceremonial post since 2003. The country of 680,000 people became independent in 2006 when it narrowly voted to end an 88-year union with Serbia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan officers get jail terms for alleged coup attempt Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 09:49 AM PDT  KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A Sudanese court sentenced nine army officers to prison terms of up to five years on Sunday for their role in an alleged coup attempt against President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, a lawyer said. In November, Sudan arrested its former spy chief Salah Gosh and other senior military and security officials after foiling what the government says was a coup plot. In the first verdict since the arrests, a military court in the capital Khartoum handed down jail terms of between two and five years to nine army officers, said Hisham al-Ja'ali, a lawyer for the defendants. ... Full Story | Top |
| Expatriates apprehensive over Saudi Arabia labor crackdown Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 09:18 AM PDT By Marwa Rashad RIYADH (Reuters) - Like many expatriates in Saudi Arabia, Umm Hajar, a 30-year-old Moroccan beautician, stopped going to work two weeks ago fearful of government inspectors checking her residency status. She has lived in the capital Riyadh with her Egyptian husband for two years, but while they both have residence permits, they are in breach of official regulations because they are not sponsored by their employers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Immigration bill expected this week, senators say Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 09:13 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill to overhaul the immigration system would likely be completed by the end of this week, two senior senators said on Sunday. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York said that senators in the bipartisan "Group of Eight" have resolved all major issues in a pending deal and that their staffs are putting the bill into legislative language. "All of us have said that they'll be no deal until the eight of us agree to a big, specific bill, but hopefully we can get that done by the end of the week," he said on CBS's "Face the Nation" program. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt releases weapons ship after investigation: sources Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 09:00 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities released a ship loaded with heavy weapons and its crew three days after they were seized for entering Egyptian territorial waters in the Red Sea, two security sources told Reuters on Sunday. The Togolese-flagged ship named COMR, with a crew of 14, was escorted into the port of Safaga, 569 km (356 miles) south of Cairo, on Wednesday after straying into Egyptian waters off the Sinai Peninsula. Authorities found weapons and ammunition, and detained the crew members for investigation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's top judicial body urges prosecutor to quit Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 09:00 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's top judicial body urged the prosecutor general appointed by President Mohamed Mursi but reviled by the liberal opposition to resign voluntarily and return to his former job as a judge. The removal of Talaat Ibrahim has been a key demand of liberals, leftists and civil rights campaigners, who accuse him of bias by targeting independent media, opposition activists and critics of Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement, such as popular television satirist Bassem Youssef. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mubarak's last PM found not guilty on corruption charge Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 09:00 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court acquitted Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister of deposed president Hosni Mubarak, on a charge of embezzling public funds when he was civil aviation minister, a court official said on Sunday. Shafik, who is on a watch list at border points, was tried in his absence over allegations that he, former civil aviation minister Ibrahim Mannaa, and former Egypt Air chief Tawfiq el-Asi embezzled over 23 million Egyptian pounds ($3.4 million). All three were found not guilty, advisor Ahmed Yousef said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Luxembourg says willing to ease banking secrecy: paper Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 08:35 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - Luxembourg is prepared to ease its banking secrecy rules and work more closely with foreign tax authorities, Finance Minister Luc Frieden told a paper, in a comment welcomed by Germany which wants to crack down on tax havens. Frieden told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung there was an international trend towards automatically exchanging information about depositors, adding; "We no longer strictly reject this, in contrast to before." "Luxembourg does not rely on clients who want to save tax," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's Labour says welfare should be linked to contributions Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 08:26 AM PDT  By Natalie Huet LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour Party is set to overhaul its welfare policies to link state help to individual contributions, countering charges by the governing Conservatives that it is soft on benefit scroungers. Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman said people in work should go to the top of social housing waiting lists and the unemployed should take up job offers or lose benefits after two years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's center left divided over nemesis Berlusconi Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 08:17 AM PDT  By Catherine Hornby ROME (Reuters) - Two months after placing first in a vote but falling short of winning power, Italy's main center-left party is still divided over whether to swallow its animosity and consider a government with its scandal-plagued nemesis, Silvio Berlusconi. Italy has been in limbo since a February election gave no bloc enough votes to govern alone. The center left won a majority in the lower house but not in the Senate, and a huge protest vote for the populist 5-Star Movement has split parliament three ways. ... Full Story | Top |
| To crack human brain's code, a search for visionaries Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 08:08 AM PDT  By Deborah Zabarenko WASHINGTON (Reuters) - To crack the code of the human brain, Cori Bargmann figures it's best to keep an open mind. As one of two leaders of a scientific "dream team" in the initial phase of President Barack Obama's ambitious $100 million project to map the brain, Bargmann said the first step is to find the right combination of people to set research priorities. "You might start with people who are very senior and are household words in their fields, and then you may realize that what (you) actually need is the young Turk who's a visionary wild man," Bargmann said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sri Lanka to probe mass grave with more than 150 dead Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 07:52 AM PDT  By Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka is setting up a presidential commission to investigate a mass grave with the remains of more than 150 people, an official spokesman said on Sunday. Two reports submitted to a court last week said that the human remains, in the town of Matale 142 km (88 miles) north of the capital, dated back to the period 1986-1989 when Sri Lanka faced a Marxist insurrection. "The president has decided to appoint a presidential commission to inquire into the mass grave. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ousted GERB woos Bulgarians with promises of fiscal stability Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 07:39 AM PDT SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's center-right GERB party, forced from power by protests over low living standards in February, pledged on Sunday to keep taxes unchanged and boost incomes only in line with economic growth if it wins an early election in May. GERB's leader and ex-premier Boiko Borisov said that was the way to protect the country's currency peg to the euro and avoid economic and financial meltdown. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yields on Egypt T-bills rise at Sunday's auction Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 07:34 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - The average yield on Egyptian 91 and 273 day treasury bills rose at an auction on Sunday, data from the central bank showed. The yield on 91-day treasury bills rose to 13.805 percent from 13.260 percent at the previous auction on March 31. The yield on 273-day treasury bills rose to 14.772 from 13.934 at the previous auction on March 24. The central bank said it sold 3 billion Egyptian pounds each of 91 and 273 day t-bills, the full amounts it had offered. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine leader pardons jailed allies of ex-PM Tymoshenko Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 07:30 AM PDT  By Richard Balmforth KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich pardoned two jailed allies of his main political opponent, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, on Sunday but took no steps to free the imprisoned opposition leader herself. The European Union, which has curbed its ties with Ukraine over the jailing of Yanukovich opponents, hailed the pardons for former interior minister Yuri Lutsenko and former ecology minister Heorhiy Filipchuk as an important initial step in addressing what it considers "selective justice". ... Full Story | Top |
| Twelve Afghan civilians dead in air strike: Afghan officials Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 06:13 AM PDT By Mohammad Anwar SHIGAL, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Eleven children and a woman were killed by an air strike during a NATO operation targeting Taliban commanders in eastern Afghanistan, officials in the region said Sunday. Civilian deaths have been a long-running source of friction between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his international backers. Karzai has forbidden Afghan troops from calling for air strikes and NATO advise crews not to fire at or bomb in populated areas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Xi promises peaceful, prosperous China helping neighbors Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 06:07 AM PDT  BOAO, China (Reuters) - China's President Xi Jinping pledged on Sunday that change and peaceful development will power his country's economic rise and sustain growth within its borders and beyond. Stressing that peace was pivotal for the future of the world's second biggest economy, Xi appealed to business and political leaders to use diplomacy and dialogue to resolve disputes and allow wealth to spread and solve problems. ... Full Story | Top |
| Croat war veterans protest against Cyrillic signs Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 05:49 AM PDT  ZAGREB (Reuters) - Around 20,000 Croats, mostly war veterans, rallied on Sunday on the central square in the capital Zagreb to protest against a plan to introduce signs in the Cyrillic alphabet used by Serbs. The Croatian and Serbian languages are mutually intelligible, but Croats use the Latin script while Serbs, like Russians, Ukrainians and Bulgarians, use Cyrillic script. Some Croats see the Serbian script as a reminder of the suffering of the country during fighting against the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army and Serbian militias during the 1991-95 war of independence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry urges Turkey, Israel to take steps to normalizing ties Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 05:24 AM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed and Jonathon Burch ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry urged Turkey and Israel on Sunday to restore full relations, calling this vital to regional stability, but said it was not up to Washington to dictate the conditions of rapprochement. An Israeli-Turkish reconciliation could improve regional coordination to contain spillover from the Syrian civil war and ease Israel's diplomatic isolation in the Middle East as it faces the challenge of Iran's nuclear program. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment