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| CA-NEWS Summary Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 12:40 PM PDT Powers, Iran fail to end nuclear stalemate in Almaty talks 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Lebanese hope consensus premier can calm tensions Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 10:04 AM PDT By Dominic Evans and Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) - Tammam Salam's father served six times as prime minister in the turbulent years leading up to Lebanon's civil war. With his country threatened once again by sectarian rift and regional conflict, Salam the son was named prime minister on Saturday by Lebanese politicians hoping his soft-spoken calm may help to avert a fresh conflict in their fraught Mediterranean state. "I am aware of the critical stage the country is facing," the 67-year-old consensus choice for premier said after winning an overwhelming parliamentary endorsement. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Soldier killed, four wounded as Yemen army fights separatists Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 07:50 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 |
| 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 |
| South Africa's Mandela leaves hospital after pneumonia Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 06:56 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 |
| 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 |
| Nigerian fuel tanker explosion kills at least 36 Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 01:48 AM PDT LAGOS (Reuters) - At least 36 people were killed when a fuel tanker exploded after crashing into a crowded bus in southern Nigeria, officials said on Saturday. The Federal Road Safety Commission said the crash happened on Friday on the Benin-Ore road linking the commercial hub of Lagos with southeast Nigeria. Three people were injured. Traffic accidents are common in Nigeria, where roads are bad and safety standards poor. At least 95 people were killed in July last year in southern Nigeria when a petrol tanker crashed and caught fire as people crowded around it to scoop up the fuel. ... 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 |
| Death toll rises to 72 in Mumbai building collapse Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 12:06 AM PDT  By Vivek Prakash MUMBAI (Reuters) - The death toll from a collapsed building in India's financial center Mumbai rose to 72 on Saturday, as an injured woman trapped for 36 hours was freed from the rubble of the illegal and half-constructed building. Rescue workers using cranes and bulldozers continued to search through the wreck of twisted steel and concrete after the seven-storey building collapsed "like a pack of cards" on Thursday evening, officials and witnesses said. ... Full Story | Top |
| World powers and Iran start second day of nuclear talks Friday, Apr 05, 2013 11:04 PM PDT  ALMATY (Reuters) - World powers and Iran started the second day of nuclear talks on Saturday with little hope of striking a quick deal in the long-standing dispute that threatens to erupt into war. Negotiators failed to narrow their differences in talks on Friday, which followed a round of negotiations in February, also in Kazakhstan's commercial hub, Almaty. The six nations - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - suspect Iran's nuclear program has the covert aim of giving Tehran the capability to make an atom bomb. ... Full Story | Top |
| Earthquake measuring 7.2 magnitude strikes eastern Indonesia: USGS Friday, Apr 05, 2013 10:28 PM PDT SYDNEY (Reuters) - A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia's mountainous West Papua province on Saturday but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The quake hit 256 km (159 miles) east of Enarotali and was 58 km (36 miles) deep, the U.S. Geological Survey said. An Indonesian meteorological survey official said the quake struck on land and there was no danger of a tsunami off the thinly populated province, formerly called Irian Jaya, in Indonesia's far east. The sprawling Indonesian archipelago is on the Pacific's "Ring of Fire" and gets regular earthquakes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant leaking contaminated water Friday, Apr 05, 2013 07:48 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - As much as 120 tons of radioactive water may have leaked from a storage tank at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, contaminating the surrounding ground, Tokyo Electric Power Co said on Saturday. The power company has yet to discover the cause of the leak, detected on one of seven tanks that store water used to cool the plants reactors, a spokesman for the company, Masayuki Ono, said at a press briefing. The company plans to pump 13,000 cubic meters of water remaining in the tank to other vessels over the next two weeks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Magnitude 5.6 quake hits near Vladivostok, Russia: USGS Friday, Apr 05, 2013 05:57 PM PDT (Reuters) - A magnitude 5.6 quake struck near Vladivostok, in Russia's far east near the border with China and North Korea, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Friday. The quake hit on Saturday morning local time, 54 miles west-southwest of the major Pacific port of Vladivostok, at a depth of 356 miles, the USGS said. (Editing by Peter Cooney) Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Former News Corp President Chernin bids $500 million for Hulu Friday, Apr 05, 2013 04:22 PM PDT  By Ronald Grover and Jennifer Saba LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former News Corp president Peter Chernin has bid around $500 million for Hulu, the online video streaming service he helped create in 2007, according to two sources with knowledge of Hulu's sale process. The website, jointly controlled by News Corp and Walt Disney Co, reached out to potential buyers in March after initially contemplating a deal in which one would buy out the other. It is not clear whether that transaction is still being contemplated. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain says believes "terrorists" planning attacks in Mogadishu Friday, Apr 05, 2013 03:21 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday it feared imminent terrorist attacks in the Somali capital Mogadishu, in an update of its advice for travelers 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 |
| No deal in sight on final day of Iran nuclear talks Friday, Apr 05, 2013 03:14 PM PDT  By Justyna Pawlak and Yeganeh Torbati ALMATY (Reuters) - Iran enters a second day of talks with world powers on Saturday no closer to resolving a nuclear dispute that has led to sanctions on its oil exports and talk of a new Middle East war. The final day of negotiations is unlikely to achieve more than a willingness to keep talking, after Iran responded on Friday to a limited offer to ease sanctions with a proposal of its own that puzzled Western diplomats and which Russia said raised more questions than answers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rebels say take army post near Syria's southern border Friday, Apr 05, 2013 03:02 PM PDT By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels said they overran an army garrison that defends the main southern border crossing with Jordan on Friday and vowed to press on to take control of the major transit route. Fighters from the Free Syrian Army said they captured the Um al-Mayathen post on the main Damascus-Jordan highway in heavy fighting overnight that ended a siege that lasted more than a week. Dozens died in the clashes they said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian journalists kidnapped in Syria: Foreign Ministry Friday, Apr 05, 2013 03:02 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italian journalists were taken hostage in Syria on Friday, the Foreign Ministry said, without providing any details about their capture. Italian media reported that four Italian reporters were taken hostage in northern Syria, near the Turkish border. Syria has been fighting a bloody civil war for two years. The ministry said only that "some" Italians were kidnapped but gave no further details. The families of those taken have been informed, and a crisis unit has been formed to handle the case, a ministry spokesman said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guatemalan president rejects testimony linking him to war crimes Friday, Apr 05, 2013 02:58 PM PDT  GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemalan President Otto Perez on Friday labeled as "a lie" testimony given during the trial of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt that implicated Perez in atrocities carried out by the military during the country's 1960-1996 civil war. Giving evidence at Rios Montt's trial, a former army engineer said on Thursday that Perez commanded soldiers who burned down homes and killed unarmed civilians during a particularly bloody phase of the war. "It's a lie and I'm not going to comment on the lies they're telling," Perez, a retired general, told reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela's Maduro says campaign sabotage suspects arrested Friday, Apr 05, 2013 02:46 PM PDT  By Daniel Wallis and Marianna Parraga CARACAS (Reuters) - Acting President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday that Venezuelan authorities have arrested several people suspected of plotting to sabotage one of his campaign rallies before an April 14 election by cutting the power. Both sides have accused the other of dirty tricks during a bitter run-up to the vote to choose the successor to late socialist leader Hugo Chavez. Opinion polls give Maduro a double-digit lead over his opposition rival, Henrique Capriles. "We've captured some of the saboteurs. ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Mauritania says holding Canadian linked to suspected militants Friday, Apr 05, 2013 02:32 PM 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 |
| Two adults dead in Canada daycare shooting, police say Friday, Apr 05, 2013 01:42 PM PDT  GATINEAU, Quebec (Reuters) - A shooting at a daycare center near Ottawa on Friday left two adults dead, one of them the gunman, but police said all 53 children at the center were unharmed. Police said they received a call for help Friday morning after shots were fired in the Montessori daycare center in Gatineau, Quebec, just across the Ottawa River from the Canadian capital. "We have two deceased. One of the males is the person responsible for the shooting and the second person is another male who works here at the daycare," Gatineau Police Chief Mario Haren told reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| France wants to keep 1,000 soldiers in Mali permanently Friday, Apr 05, 2013 01:36 PM 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 |
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