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| Portugal ruling poses difficulties for bailout goals: government Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 12:39 PM PDT  LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's government said on Saturday the constitutional court's rejection of key austerity measures from this year's budget creates "serious difficulties" in meeting international commitments under a bailout. Following an extraordinary cabinet meeting after the court ruling late on Friday, State Secretary for Cabinet Affairs Luis Marques Guedes told reporters the decision "jeopardizes the country's hard-earned credibility" gained with its European partners and lenders. ... Full Story | Top |
| FBI interviews Petraeus at his Virginia home: report Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 12:25 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI agents met with former CIA Director David Petraeus at his northern Virginia home as part of an investigation into whether an ex-lover improperly handled classified documents, USA Today reported. Petraeus resigned in November after it emerged that he had had an extra-marital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, an Army reserve intelligence officer who is also married. It was a stunning downfall for a respected Army general who led troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and was considered a potential White House contender. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three dead in Mozambique bus shooting Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 12:16 PM PDT MAPUTO (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked a bus and a truck in central Mozambique on Saturday near the opposition stronghold of Muxungue, killing three people and raising fears of sustained political violence ahead of elections next year, local media said. The bus travelling from the capital, Maputo, to the second city of Beira was ambushed from the front and side, the first such attack on a civilian vehicle in the war-scarred southern African nation in a decade, the O Pais newspaper said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Air strike kills 15 in Aleppo, Assad warns of regional turmoil Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 11:59 AM PDT By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian government air strike killed 15 people on Saturday, including nine children, in a district of the northern city of Aleppo where Kurdish fighters have been battling forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, a violence monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a warplane had bombarded the western edges of the Sheikh Maqsoud district of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city, where Assad's forces have been battling rebels for nine months. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy to pay 40 billion euros of state debt to companies Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 11:34 AM PDT  By Catherine Hornby and Giuseppe Fonte ROME (Reuters) - Italy's caretaker government said on Saturday it would pay 40 billion euros ($52 billion) that the state owes to private companies over the next 12 months, while vowing to stick within the European Union's deficit limit. The cabinet approved a decree intended to provide funds to cash-strapped firms and help tackle a deep recession in the euro zone's third-largest economy. But some industry groups said it would be difficult for businesses to claim their money despite the measures. ... Full Story | Top |
| Embassies staying put in North Korea despite tension Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 11:06 AM PDT  By Jane Chung SEOUL (Reuters) - Staff at embassies in North Korea appeared to be remaining in place on Saturday despite an appeal by authorities in Pyongyang for diplomats to consider leaving because of heightened tension after weeks of bellicose exchanges. North Korean authorities told diplomatic missions they could not guarantee their safety from next Wednesday - after declaring that conflict was inevitable amid joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises due to last until the end of the month. Whatever the atmosphere in Pyongyang, the rain-soaked South Korean capital, Seoul, was calm. ... Full Story | Top |
| Five die in Christian-Muslim clashes in Egypt Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 11:04 AM PDT  By Ashraf Fahim EL KHUSUS, Egypt (Reuters) - Five Egyptians were killed and eight wounded in clashes between Christians and Muslims in a town near Cairo, security sources said on Saturday, in the latest sectarian violence in the most populous Arab state. Christian-Muslim confrontations have increased in Muslim-majority Egypt since the overthrow of former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 gave freer rein to hardline Islamists repressed under his rule. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia slams expansion of U.N. Syria chemical arms probe Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 10:51 AM PDT By Megan Davies and Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia criticized Western moves to expand a planned United Nations probe into chemical weapons in Syria and compared it to the build-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Russia, which has used its clout as a veto-wielding Security Council state to blunt Western pressure on Syria, says the U.N. probe announced last month should focus on Syrian government allegations rebels used chemical arms near Aleppo. Western countries want two additional rebel claims about the use of such arms investigated as well. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi to propose eight bills to Italian parliament Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 10:47 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday his center-right party would soon present eight bills to parliament, including a proposal to abolish a hated housing tax, in an attempt to seize the initiative despite Italy's political deadlock. Since elections in February, Italy has been in limbo with a huge protest vote for the populist 5-Star Movement splitting parliament three ways and leaving no group with enough support to rule alone. Center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani has rebuffed overtures from Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party to form a grand coalition with him. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kosovo too high a price to pay for EU, Serbian church says Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 10:43 AM PDT  By Matt Robinson BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's Orthodox Church warned on Saturday against a 'betrayal' of Kosovo, piling pressure on the ruling coalition as it weighs whether to cede the country's last foothold in its former province in exchange for talks on joining the European Union. The appeal by the patriarch comes before a Tuesday deadline for the government to tell the EU whether it accepts a plan to tackle Kosovo's ethnic partition between its Albanian majority and a small northern pocket populated by Serbs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Assad says rebel victory would destabilize Middle East Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 10:41 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad has warned that if rebel forces battling to overthrow him take power in Syria, they could destabilize the Middle East for decades. The Syrian leader, locked in a two-year conflict that he says has been fuelled by his regional foes, also criticized Turkey's leaders as "foolish and immature", and Arab neighbors who he said were arming and sheltering rebel fighters. "If the unrest in Syria leads to the partitioning of the country, or if the terrorist forces take control ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Two new bird flu cases in China amid poultry crackdown Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 10:08 AM PDT  By Adam Jourdan SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Two more people have contracted bird flu in Shanghai, China's health ministry said on Saturday, as authorities closed live poultry markets and culled birds to combat a new virus strain that has killed six people. State-run Xinhua news agency said authorities planned to slaughter birds at two live poultry markets in Shanghai and another in Hangzhou after new samples of the H7N9 virus were detected in birds at the three sites. More than 20,000 birds have been culled at another Shanghai market where traces of the virus were found this week. ... Full Story | Top |
| New premier pledges to shield Lebanon from Syria dangers Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 10:04 AM PDT  By Dominic Evans and Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese politician Tammam Salam was named prime minister on Saturday after he won a sweeping parliamentary endorsement, pledging to bridge the country's deep divisions and shield it from the dangers of neighboring Syria's civil war. Salam was designated after the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whose two years in office were dominated by efforts to contain sectarian tensions, violence and economic fallout from the Syrian conflict. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. official says no "breakdown" in Iran nuclear talks Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 09:49 AM PDT ALMATY (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official said on Saturday there had been no breakdown in nuclear negotiations with Iran, and that the major powers pressing Iran to curb its nuclear program intended to continue with diplomacy. Speaking after two days of talks in the Kazakh city of Almaty produced no breakthrough, the official said the six powers needed time to decide how best to approach the dispute, which threatens to trigger into a new Middle East war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy economy minister to discuss new decree with EU Commissioner: source Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 09:48 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italian Economy Minister Vittorio Grilli will meet with the European Union's economics affairs chief Olli Rehn in Brussels on Monday to explain a new government decree to pay state debts to private firms, a government source said on Saturday. Italy's caretaker cabinet on Saturday said it had approved a decree to pay some 40 billion euros of the state's debts to private companies over the next 12 months, seeking to provide businesses with vital liquidity and help tackle a deep recession. (Reporting By Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Catherine Hornby) Full Story | Top |
| Unclear if new nuclear talks before Iran vote: U.S. official Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 09:22 AM PDT ALMATY (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official said on Saturday it was unclear whether a new round of nuclear talks with Iran could be held before the Islamic state's presidential election in June. Analysts say the run-up to the election is likely to complicate decision-making in Tehran and make it more difficult for it to make any concessions in the decade-old dispute over its nuclear program. Asked after two days of inconclusive talks in the Kazakh city of Almaty whether a new meeting could be held before the election, the U.S. official said: "We don't know. I don't rule it out. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt economic situation "worrisome", needs fast action: minister Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 09:19 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's economic situation is "worrisome" and it needs quick measures to restore economic activity, the planning minister told the state news agency MENA on Saturday as Egypt holds talks with the IMF on a $4.8 billion loan. After two years of political turmoil, Egypt is struggling with an economic crisis and a high budget deficit. Foreign currency reserves are critically low, limiting its ability to import wheat and fuel. ... Full Story | Top |
| Powers, Iran fail to end nuclear stalemate in Almaty talks Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 09:02 AM PDT  By Justyna Pawlak and Yeganeh Torbati ALMATY (Reuters) - World powers and Iran failed again to ease their decade-old dispute over Tehran's disputed nuclear program in talks that ended on Saturday, prolonging a stand-off that risks spiraling into a new Middle East war. The lack of a breakthrough in the two-day meeting in Kazakhstan aimed at easing international concern over Iran's contested nuclear activity marked a further setback for diplomatic efforts to resolve the row peacefully. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazil to investigate ex-president Lula in vote-buying scandal Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 08:42 AM PDT  BRASILIA (Reuters) - A Brazilian federal prosecutor has opened an investigation into allegations that former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was involved in a vote-buying scheme in Congress that led to the conviction of close aides for corruption. The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement late on Friday it asked the federal police to probe accusations of a businessman at the center of the corruption case, Marcos Valerio, who alleged that Lula not only knew about the illegal scheme but received money from it. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bomber kills 22 in Iraq election attack Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 08:39 AM PDT BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 22 people and wounded 60 in a crowded election campaign tent in the Iraqi city of Baquba on Saturday, police and medics said. A decade after the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq is still struggling with political instability and violence that in recent weeks has killed at least 10 candidates who had planned to run in forthcoming local elections. The vote is due to be held across the country later in April, but has already been delayed in two Sunni Muslim-majority governorates due to security concerns. ... Full Story | Top |
| Battle erupts in California over clothes donation boxes Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 08:33 AM PDT By Sharon Bernstein LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A political fight over charity collection boxes is brewing in California, where property owners complain that the boxes are sometimes dropped onto their land without permission, becoming magnets for graffiti and shelter for transients. Goodwill Industries International, the most established of such U.S. charities, has pushed for years for regulation of donation boxes, and a California state senator has taken up the cause with a bill that would make it easier for property owners to have unauthorized boxes towed away. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kansas set to enact sweeping anti-abortion law Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 08:27 AM PDT  By Kevin Murphy KANSAS CITY, Kansas (Reuters) - Kansas lawmakers sent the governor a sweeping anti-abortion bill that bans Planned Parenthood from providing sex education materials in schools and defines life as beginning at conception. The 70-page bill passed 90-30 in the Kansas House of Representatives late on Friday night after easily clearing the Senate earlier in the day. Governor Sam Brownback, a Republican strongly against abortion, was expected to sign it. Opponents of the measure say it contains numerous provisions that limit a woman's right to an abortion. ... Full Story | Top |
| Calls for Britain to offer asylum to Afghan interpreters Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 08:27 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - British military and political figures on Saturday called on the government to offer asylum to hundreds of Afghan interpreters at risk of Taliban reprisals now that the soldiers they helped start pulling out of the country. In an open letter to the Times newspaper, signatories including Britain's former army chief said there were about 600 interpreters helping British troops in Afghanistan. To date, about 20 have been killed in action and dozens more wounded. ... Full Story | Top |
| Democrats lose fight in Montana Senate over ballot measures Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 08:10 AM PDT  By Dan Boyce HELENA, Mont (Reuters) - Over loud objections from Democrats, Montana's Republican-controlled Senate on Friday voted to put proposals on the 2014 ballot that would tighten voter registration and restrict the rights of third parties to compete in general elections. The measures, which are expected to be approved by the Republican-majority House, do not need approval from the Democratic governor. They would go before Montana voters in November of next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soldier killed, four wounded as Yemen army fights separatists Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 08:09 AM PDT ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - A Yemeni soldier was killed and two others wounded, along with two passers-by, during a clash between the army and southern separatists near Aden on Saturday, a security official said. The clash took place in the town of al-Hawat, in al-Lahej province just north of Yemen's second city and main seaport, after separatists tried to close the marketplace. Bringing stability to impoverished, turbulent Yemen is a priority for Washington and Gulf Arab states who fear that a further collapse of central rule will allow al Qaeda to build a launchpad for attacks with global reach. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran says still gap in positions after nuclear talks Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 07:52 AM PDT ALMATY (Reuters) - Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said on Saturday there was some distance between the positions of Tehran and world powers but its disputed uranium enrichment could be a subject for confidence-building cooperation. Saeed Jalili spoke after two days of talks in the Kazakh city of Almaty failed to achieve substantive progress in the decade-old dispute over Iran's nuclear program. "We proposed our plan of action and the other party was not ready and they asked for some time to study the idea," Jalili told a news conference. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four civilians, three NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 07:35 AM PDT KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Six foreigners and an Afghan were killed in two separate attacks in Afghanistan on Saturday, local and international officials said. Six people, including three NATO soldiers, died in a car bomb attack on a convoy of vehicles in Zabul province's capital, Qalat. Provincial governor Mohammad Ashraf Nasery, travelling in the convoy, was unharmed but a local doctor was killed, as were three American soldiers and two foreign civilians, according to local and NATO officials. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt court turns down Islamist lawsuit against TV satirist Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 07:19 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court on Saturday threw out a lawsuit calling for a popular television satirist to be banned for insulting the president and Islam, but he still faces a criminal investigation on similar charges. Critics of the government see the cases against Bassem Youssef, who has cited U.S. satirist Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" as a model, as part of a crackdown on dissent. This is denied by the government of President Mohamed Mursi and its Islamist allies, the Muslim Brotherhood. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's Mandela leaves hospital after pneumonia Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 07:14 AM PDT  By Jon Herskovitz JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African president Nelson Mandela left hospital on Saturday after more than a week of treatment of pneumonia that raised global concern about the health of the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader. "(He) has been discharged from hospital today ... following a sustained and gradual improvement in his general condition," the South African presidency said in a statement. A military ambulance pulled into Mandela's spacious Johannesburg home before the statement was released. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia says nuclear talks with a Iran a step forward Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 07:07 AM PDT ALMATY (Reuters) - Iran and six global powers failed to reach a compromise at negotiations in Kazakhstan but took a step forward, the Russian negotiator said after the talks aimed to ease concerns over Tehran's nuclear program ended on Saturday. "Certainly, these talks were a step forward," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters. But he said: "We could not reach a compromise this time," and he added that it was premature to name a date and venue for further talks. (Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Megan Davies and Andrew Roche) Full Story | Top |
| Powers and Iran remain far apart after Almaty talks: EU's Ashton Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 06:51 AM PDT ALMATY (Reuters) - World powers and Iran remain far apart despite two days of intensive talks over Tehran's nuclear program, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said after the negotiations ended on Saturday. "Over two days of talks we had long and intensive discussions on the issues addressed in our confidence-building proposal," Ashton told a news conference in the Kazakh city of Almaty, where the negotiations took place. "It became clear that our positions remain far apart," she said. ... Full Story | Top |
| World powers and Iran end two days of nuclear talks: diplomat Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 06:30 AM PDT ALMATY (Reuters) - World powers and Iran ended two days of talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear program on Saturday, a Western diplomat said, giving no details on whether any progress had been made in the discussions. Iran's ISNA news agency also said the negotiations in the Kazakh city of Almaty had ended, and that a news conference would be held. (Reporting by Justyna Pawlak and Zahra Hosseinian; writing by Fredrik Dahl; editing by Andrew Roche) Full Story | Top |
| Italy cabinet approves 40 bln euros of state payments to firms Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 06:06 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italy's caretaker cabinet approved a decree on Saturday to pay some 40 billion euros of the state's debts to private companies over the next 12 months. The decree, intended to provide vital liquidity to cash-strapped firms and help tackle a deep recession, had been scheduled to be approved last Wednesday but was delayed due to doubts over how to fund the measure. . ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan resumes oil production -state oil company Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 05:18 AM PDT  JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan has restarted oil production after agreeing with Sudan to resume cross-border oil flows last month, an executive at the state oil company said on Saturday. "Yes it has started," Paul Adong Bith Deng, managing director of state oil firm Nile Petroleum (Nilepet), told Reuters by phone from an oilfield in Unity state, South Sudan, when asked whether oil production had been resumed. After months of negotiations both African countries agreed in March to resume oil exports from the landlocked South Sudan through Sudan. Full Story | Top |
| EU's Rehn: Big depositors could suffer in future bank bailouts under new law Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 03:03 AM PDT  HELSINKI (Reuters) - Big bank depositors could take a hit under planned European Union law if a bank fails, the EU's economic affairs chief Olli Rehn said on Saturday, but noted that Cyprus's bailout model was exceptional. "Cyprus was a special case ... but the upcoming directive assumes that investor and depositor liability will be carried out in case of a bank restructuring or a wind-down," Rehn, the European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, said in a TV interview with Finland's national broadcaster YLE. ... Full Story | Top |
| Al Qaeda denies Saharan leader killed by France Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 01:53 AM PDT RIYADH (Reuters) - Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the movement's North African arm, said French statements that its forces had killed the group's leader in the Sahara were "blatant fallacy", a monitoring website said on Saturday. AQIM, as the group is known, did not name the leader but it appeared to be referring to Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, whose death in Mali in February was confirmed by Paris "with certainty" on March 23. The militant group, which attacked a gas plant in Algeria in January, denied the death in a statement published on Friday on Islamist internet forums, SITE, a U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain says believes "terrorists" planning attacks in Mogadishu Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 01:17 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday it feared imminent terrorist attacks in the Somali capital Mogadishu, in an update of its advice for travellers to the east African country. Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) already advises against any travel to any part of Somalia. "Our advice makes clear that there continues to be a high threat from terrorism and that the FCO believes that terrorists are in the final stages of planning attacks in Mogadishu," the Foreign Office said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| France wants to keep 1,000 soldiers in Mali permanently Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 01:13 AM PDT  By Adama Diarra and John Irish BAMAKO/PARIS (Reuters) - France has proposed keeping a permanent force of 1,000 French troops in Mali to fight armed Islamist militants, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday. Fabius, on a visit to Bamako, said France was pushing ahead with plans to reduce its 4,000-strong military presence from the end of this month but planned to keep a combat force in Mali to support a future U.N. peacekeeping mission. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called last week for the deployment of a U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Al Qaeda denies Saharan leader killed by France: SITE Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 01:10 AM PDT RIYADH (Reuters) - Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the movement's North African arm, said French statements that its forces had killed the group's leader in the Sahara were "blatant fallacy", a monitoring website said on Saturday. AQIM, as the group is known, did not name the leader but it appeared to be referring to Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, whose death in Mali in February was confirmed by Paris "with certainty" on March 23. The militant group, which attacked a gas plant in Algeria in January, denied the death in a statement published on Friday on Islamist internet forums, SITE, a U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mauritania says holding Canadian linked to suspected militants Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 01:06 AM PDT By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The North African nation of Mauritania says it has detained a Canadian citizen linked to two other Canadians who died while fighting with militants during an attack on a natural gas plant in Algeria in January. The confirmation that Mauritania is holding the man, Aaron Yoon, follows a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation report that, before his arrest, Yoon had studied the Koran there with unidentified Americans and Europeans. ... Full Story | Top |
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