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| 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 die in NATO plane crash in Afghanistan Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 11:21 AM PDT KABUL (Reuters) - Four members of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed on Saturday when their plane crashed in southern Afghanistan, the coalition said in a statement. ISAF said there was no insurgent activity in the area when the plane went down over the volatile province of Zabul. The province's police chief Rogh Lewanai told Reuters that bad weather caused the plane to crash, in the district of Shahjoi. Zabul, wedged between Kandahar and Ghazni, has seen much violence over recent weeks, including a suicide bomb attack in early April which killed a young U.S. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Analysis: No good military options for U.S. in Syria Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 12:49 PM PDT  By Phil Stewart and Peter Apps WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite President Barack Obama's pledge that Syria's use of chemical weapons is a "game changer" for the United States, he is unlikely to turn to military options quickly and would want allies joining him in any intervention. Possible military choices range from limited one-off missile strikes from ships - one of the less complicated scenarios - to bolder operations like carving out no-fly safe zones. One of the most politically unpalatable possibilities envisions sending tens of thousands of U.S. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Bomb damages police station in Libya's Benghazi, no injuries Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 05:30 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 |
| 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 |
| Analysis: Bangladesh still works for retailers, despite disasters Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 05:22 AM PDT  By Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Jessica Wohl (Reuters) - The factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 300 people this week is a stark reminder of the risks in the global retail industry's search for cheap production. But there have been few signs that safety issues and other questionable labor conditions are sending shockwaves through the major Western retailers, their shareholders or the people who buy the clothes in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama talks tough, shows no rush to act on Syria chemical arms evidence Friday, Apr 26, 2013 06:08 PM PDT  By Matt Spetalnick and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama warned Syria on Friday that its use of chemical weapons would be a "game changer" for the United States but made clear he was in no rush to intervene in the civil war there on the basis of evidence he said was still preliminary. Speaking a day after the disclosure of U.S. intelligence that Syria had likely used chemical weapons against its own people, Obama talked tough while calling for patience as he sought to fend off pressure for a swift response against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Taliban vow suicide and "insider" attacks in new spring offensive Saturday, Apr 27, 2013 02:26 AM PDT  KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban in Afghanistan vowed on Saturday to start a new campaign of mass suicide attacks on foreign military bases and diplomatic areas, as well as damaging "insider attacks", as part of a new spring offensive this year. The offensive was announced via emails from Taliban spokesmen. The Islamist group has made similar announcements in recent years, which have sometimes been followed by spikes in violence after Afghanistan's harsh winter months. ... Full Story | Top |
| Growth falls short of forecasts, weakness ahead Friday, Apr 26, 2013 09:53 PM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The economy regained speed in the first quarter, but not as much as expected, heightening fears it could struggle to cope with deep government spending cuts and higher taxes. Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.5 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday, after growth nearly stalled in the fourth quarter. Economists had expected a 3.0 percent growth pace. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rush to help airlines, travelers could crack open budget door Friday, Apr 26, 2013 08:16 PM PDT  By David Lawder and Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress got rid of a headache on Friday when it rescued the flying public from flight delays caused by its budget cutting. But in the view of many lawmakers, the pain is just about to begin. Members of Congress and groups representing people hit by across-the-board budget cuts, ranging from cancer patients to welfare recipients, say the quick action on air traffic control staffing underscored the importance of being visible to millions of Americans. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boston bombing suspect in prison, brother's body unclaimed Friday, Apr 26, 2013 02:10 PM PDT  By Scott Malone and Svea Herbst-Bayliss BOSTON (Reuters) - The surviving suspect in last week's Boston Marathon bombing was moved to a prison medical center outside Boston on Friday, while the body of his older brother who died in a shootout with police remained unclaimed, officials said. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a 19-year-old ethnic Chechen charged with the bombing that killed three people and wounded 264, was moved from the hospital where he was kept under guard since he was arrested, badly wounded, a week ago, the U.S. Marshals Service said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Froman, Pritzker in line for trade and commerce posts: sources Friday, Apr 26, 2013 04:22 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is close to choosing White House deputy national security adviser Mike Froman to be the next trade representative, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Friday. After a long vetting process, Chicago businesswoman and Obama fundraiser Penny Pritzker is still in line to be nominated as commerce secretary, the sources said. The two trade jobs are among the final positions Obama has to fill in his second-term cabinet. Both require confirmation by the Senate. An announcement of their nominations is likely to be made next ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan police break up protest against land sale to Arab investors Friday, Apr 26, 2013 03:09 PM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese police used tear gas and batons to break up a protest of more than 250 people on Friday demanding that the government revoke the sale of farming land to Gulf Arab investors, witnesses said. Protesters blocked the main road of Um Dum outside the capital Khartoum to urge the government to give them land in the area instead of to investors planning an agricultural project there, the witnesses said. Police said it had been forced to act after protesters hurled rockets at officers and burned tires, the state-linked Sudanese Media Center (SMC) said on it website. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congress passes plan to ease flight delays Friday, Apr 26, 2013 01:43 PM PDT By Richard Cowan and Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress on Friday approved a plan to ease nationwide air-traffic delays caused by federal spending cuts, seeking to calm irritated travelers but sparking a backlash from groups still being hit by budget cuts. The Senate unanimously voted for the plan late Thursday and the House of Representatives approved it Friday by a 361-41 vote. White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama intends to sign the bill. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama talks tough, shows no rush to act on Syria chemical arms evidence Friday, Apr 26, 2013 03:59 PM PDT By Matt Spetalnick and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama warned Syria on Friday that its use of chemical weapons would be a "game changer" for the United States but made clear he was in no rush to intervene in the Syrian civil war on the basis of evidence he said was still preliminary. Speaking a day after the disclosure of U.S. intelligence that Syria had likely used chemical weapons against its own people, Obama mixed talked tough while calling for patience as he sought to fend off pressure for a swift response against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
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