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Mexico's early frontrunner formalizes presidential bid
Sun,27 Nov 2011 07:39 PM PST
Reuters -  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The frontrunner in Mexico's 2012 presidential race pledged on Sunday to break past decades of political paralysis and deliver the country from a deepening spiral of drug violence and sluggish economic growth. Thousands of cheering supporters rallied around Enrique Pena Nieto, the charismatic young ex-governor of Mexico's most populous state, after he registered in Mexico City as the official presidential candidate of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). ...
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ECB's Noyer: market confidence in Italy should return
Sun,27 Nov 2011 06:56 PM PST
Reuters - TOKYO (Reuters) - European Central Bank governing council member Christian Noyer said on Monday the level of Italian government debt is high but market confidence should return if the country can demonstrate fiscal discipline. Noyer said he is not in a position to comment on reports about intensifying talks between the International Monetary Fund and Italy about possible assistance. Noyer, also governor of the Bank of France, told a news conference that markets have overlooked the fact that Italy has a primary surplus and a strong industrial base. ... Full Story | Top |
Arab sanctions tighten noose on Syria's Assad
Sun,27 Nov 2011 06:51 PM PST
Reuters -  AMMAN (Reuters) - The Arab League approved unprecedented economic sanctions against Syria, isolating President Bashar al-Assad's government over its eight-month crackdown on protests against his rule. Britain said the sanctions could help enlist support at the United Nations for action against Damascus, which launched the crackdown against protesters calling for Assad's removal soon after the uprising began eight months ago. The United Nations says Syrian security forces have killed more than 3,500 people in the crackdown. ...
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Mexico eyes legal action against ICC case "slander"
Sun,27 Nov 2011 05:57 PM PST
Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico is exploring legal action against activists who asked the International Criminal Court to investigate officials for allowing subordinates to kill and torture civilians as the government battles against drug gangs, President Felipe Calderon's office said on Sunday. Calderon's office called the accusations "absurd" and said the security policy of a democratic state that investigates human rights abuses could not be compared to the war crimes committed by authoritarian states. ... Full Story | Top |
ECB's Noyer: resistance to big-scale bond buys to pay
Sun,27 Nov 2011 05:39 PM PST
Reuters - TOKYO (Reuters) - The European Central Bank's refusal to engage in large-scale purchases of the region's sovereign debt will eventually be rewarded as this will preserve price stability and protect the value of the euro over the long term, governing council member Christian Noyer said on Monday. It is up to European governments to provide a lasting backstop for liquidity, Noyer said, as a two-year-old sovereign debt crisis now threatens Germany and France, Europe's two largest economies. ... Full Story | Top |
Saboteurs blow up Egypt gas pipeline to Jordan, Israel
Sun,27 Nov 2011 04:38 PM PST
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Saboteurs blew up Egypt's gas pipeline to Jordan and Israel on Monday, witnesses and security sources said, a few hours before the country holds its first free election since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February. The explosion struck the pipeline west of al-Arish in Sinai, witnesses said. There was a second consecutive blast, about 100 meters away, sources said. State news agency MENA said the explosion was in al-Sabeel area. Security forces and fire trucks raced to the scene. ... Full Story | Top |
Saboteurs blow up Egypt gas pipeline to Jordan, Israel
Sun,27 Nov 2011 03:59 PM PST
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Saboteurs blew up Egypt's gas pipeline to Jordan and Israel on Monday, witnesses and security sources said, a few hours before the country holds its first free election since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February. The explosion was set off west of al-Arish in Sinai, witnesses said. Security forces and fire trucks raced to the scene. (Reporting by Yusri Mohamed and Dina Zayed; editing by Elizabeth Piper) Full Story | Top |
Congo to vote despite violence
Sun,27 Nov 2011 03:55 PM PST
Reuters -  KINSHASA (Reuters) - Congo plans to push ahead with the country's second-post war election on Monday, defying fears that a delay would be needed due to logistical problems and critics who called for the process to be reviewed because of irregularities. After repeated delays, the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary vote turned violent in the capital at the weekend. Final rallies were canceled due to clashes between rival supporters, security forces opened fire on crowds and the main presidential challenger was prevented from campaigning. ...
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Last chance to save Kyoto deal at climate talks
Sun,27 Nov 2011 03:35 PM PST
Reuters -  DURBAN (Reuters) - Countries will make a last ditch effort to save a dying Kyoto Protocol at global climate talks starting on Monday aimed at cutting the greenhouse gas emissions blamed by scientists for rising sea levels, intense storms and crop failures. Kyoto, which was adopted in 1997 and entered into force in 2005, commits most developed states to binding emissions targets. The talks are the last chance to set another round of targets before the first commitment period ends in 2012. ...
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Italy's Monti in austerity race as IMF role eyed
Sun,27 Nov 2011 03:27 PM PST
Reuters -  ROME (Reuters) - Prime Minister Mario Monti faces a testing week seeking to shore up Italy's strained public finances, with an IMF mission expected in Rome and market pressure building to a point where outside help may be needed to stem a full-scale debt emergency. Monti is expected to unveil measures on December 5 that could include a revamped housing tax, a rise in sales tax and accelerated increases in the pension age. But pressure from the markets could force him to act more quickly. ...
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China keen to invest in Western infrastructure: CIC head
Sun,27 Nov 2011 03:22 PM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - China is keen to invest in the ailing infrastructure of Western countries, especially Britain, the chairman and chief executive of the Asian country's sovereign wealth fund wrote in the Financial Times. "Now, infrastructure in Europe and the U.S. badly needs more investment," China Investment Corporation's (CIC) Lou Jiwei wrote in an op ed piece. He said while China had traditionally confined itself to the role of contractor in overseas infrastructure projects, the country's investors now saw a need to invest in, develop and operate such projects. ...
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Islamists win most seats in Moroccan vote
Sun,27 Nov 2011 03:18 PM PST
Reuters -  RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco's moderate Islamist PJD party won the most seats in the country's parliamentary election, final results showed Sunday, in the latest sign of a resurgence of faith-based movements since the Arab Spring uprisings. The victory for Morocco's Justice and Development Party came a month after Tunisia handed power to a previously-banned party of moderate Islamists. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is also expected to do well in an election starting Monday. ...
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Think-tank proposes short-term euro zone bond fix
Sun,27 Nov 2011 03:08 PM PST
Reuters - BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone states should pool their short-term borrowing via a joint fund to enable countries pursuing EU-approved policies, but unable to borrow at normal rates, to access affordable funding, a European think-tank panel proposed on Monday. A group of bankers, economists and market experts from the European League for Economic Cooperation suggested an EMU Bond Fund as a bridging solution to the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis, aimed at restoring market confidence. ... Full Story | Top |
Egypt vote tests troubled political transition
Sun,27 Nov 2011 02:53 PM PST
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians vote on Monday in the first big test of a transition born in popular revolutionary euphoria that soured into distrust of the generals who replaced their master, Hosni Mubarak. In the nine months since a revolt ended the ex-president's 30-year rule, political change in Egypt has faltered, with the military apparently more focused on preserving its power and privilege than on fostering any democratic transformation. ... Full Story | Top |
Factbox: Political parties, groups in post-Mubarak Egypt
Sun,27 Nov 2011 02:52 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Egypt starts voting on Monday in its first parliamentary election since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February, with more than 50 registered political parties. Details on the most influential parties and groups follow: * FREEDOM AND JUSTICE PARTY The Freedom and Justice Party was set up in April as the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was banned under Mubarak and has emerged as one of the most influential forces. The party has not issued a detailed manifesto. Brotherhood leaders say the party is a civil group that has Islam as a "reference" point. ... Full Story | Top |
Egypt's new PM says new parliament may change government
Sun,27 Nov 2011 02:36 PM PST
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Any parliamentary majority that emerges from Egyptian legislative elections may move to install a new government, Egypt's new prime minister-designate Kamal Ganzouri said on Sunday. The comments appeared at odds with remarks by a member of the ruling military council who said on Saturday the new parliament, to be elected in a vote that begins on Monday, would not be able to dismiss the government or pick new ministers. ... Full Story | Top |
Factbox: Mexican presidential hopefuls
Sun,27 Nov 2011 02:32 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - The frontrunner in Mexico's 2012 presidential race, Enrique Pena Nieto, formally registered his candidacy to run for the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party on Sunday. Following is a list of the main potential candidates, with the ruling National Action Party nomination still undecided: PAN - SANTIAGO CREEL Interior minister under former president Vicente Fox, Creel is a seasoned politician who lost his party's 2005 nomination to the eventual winner, President Felipe Calderon. ... Full Story | Top |
Mexico's early frontrunner formalizes presidential bid
Sun,27 Nov 2011 02:21 PM PST
Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The frontrunner in Mexico's 2012 presidential race on Sunday pledged to break past decades of political paralysis and deliver the country from a deepening spiral of drug violence and sluggish economic growth. Thousands of cheering supporters rallied around Enrique Pena Nieto, the charismatic young ex-governor of Mexico's most populous state, after he registered in Mexico City as the official presidential candidate of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). ...
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Moroccan opposition warns of silent majority
Sun,27 Nov 2011 02:18 PM PST
Reuters - RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco's parliamentary election shows most people are not interested in King Mohammed's reforms, the main opposition group said, vowing to push ahead with protests to press for a constitutional monarchy and an end to corruption. Final results from Friday's vote, brought forward by almost a year as part of the reform drive, handed the Justice and Development Party (PJD) the second victory for Islamists in the region in the wake of the "Arab Spring" uprisings. Morocco has not had a revolution of the kind seen elsewhere in north Africa and its monarch is still firmly in charge. ... Full Story | Top |
Egypt's undecided voters brace for complex poll
Sun,27 Nov 2011 02:07 PM PST
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians go to the polls on Monday for the country's first free parliamentary election in living memory, but many don't know where to vote, let alone who they should vote for. Voters, emerging from decades of oppression, will have to choose between a confusing mass of candidates and rival parties. [ID:nL5E7MQ0CJ] Analysts fear the result of the historic ballot could turn on the last minute decisions of an inexperienced electorate, who have only been given a few weeks to come to grips with a highly complex voting system. "I have never voted before ... ... Full Story | Top |
Rage grips Pakistan over NATO attack
Sun,27 Nov 2011 02:03 PM PST
Reuters -  ISLAMABAD/KABUL (Reuters) - Fury spread in Pakistan Sunday over a NATO cross-border air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and could undermine the U.S. effort to wind up the war in Afghanistan. Sunday night in Pakistan, more than 40 hours after the incident, many questions remained. NATO described the killings as a "tragic unintended incident" and said an investigation was underway. A Western official and an Afghan security official who requested anonymity said NATO troops were responding to fire from across the border. ...
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Police break up tent protest in Ukraine, one dies
Sun,27 Nov 2011 01:35 PM PST
Reuters -  DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - One of about 30 protesters who had been on hunger strike in an eastern Ukrainian city over pension cuts died Sunday night after police broke up their tent encampment, the protest leader said. The group were survivors of Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear accident and had been staging their protest in the mining city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine since November 14 after reductions in the state pensions they receive for their part in fighting the 1986 disaster. ...
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Analysis: Deficit flop turns spotlight on tax reform
Sun,27 Nov 2011 12:57 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For the economy to prosper, major tax reform is emerging as a vital ingredient toward lowering the budget deficit and increasing America's competitiveness. Yet the acrimonious collapse last week of talks in Congress to start fixing the budget deficit has left the country at a political standstill and limits the prospects for a tax overhaul. President Barack Obama and his likely Republican challenger in 2012, Mitt Romney, show little zest for making tax reform a centerpiece of their campaigns which would give them a mandate for overhauling a system riddled with loopholes. ...
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Yemen names interim PM, violence kills at least 25 in north
Sun,27 Nov 2011 12:31 PM PST
Reuters - SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen named an opposition leader as interim prime minister on Sunday under a deal aimed at ending months of protests which have brought the country to the verge of civil war. However, unrest continued to plague Yemen with violence between Shi'ite rebels and Sunni Islamists killing at least 25 people in the north - including six foreign citizens, according to the Sunni side. Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi named as premier Mohammed Basindwa, a foreign minister from 1993 to 1994 who later joined the opposition, the state news agency Saba said. ... Full Story | Top |
Occupy LA campers face midnight eviction deadline
Sun,27 Nov 2011 12:30 PM PST
Reuters -  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hundreds of anti-Wall Street protesters who have camped outside Los Angeles City Hall for weeks faced a midnight eviction deadline on Sunday with plans to throw a party they hoped might forestall a raid. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said on Friday that the Occupy LA protesters would be given until 12:01 a.m. on Monday to dismantle their tents, pack up their belongings and clear out -- or face forcible removal. ...
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French unemployment rose in Oct, figure "not good": minister
Sun,27 Nov 2011 11:27 AM PST
Reuters - PARIS (Reuters) - Unemployment in France rose in October from an 11-year high the previous month, Labor Minister Xavier Bertrand said on Sunday, in more bad economic news for the government five months from elections. Bertrand told LCI television in an interview that France's monthly unemployment figures due to be released on Monday were "not good". "Unemployment is going to rise in October," the minister said. Data for September had shown the number of registered jobseekers in mainland France rose to 2.78 million -- the highest reading since 2.8 million in February 2000. ... Full Story | Top |
French centrist Morin says to run in 2012 election
Sun,27 Nov 2011 11:26 AM PST
Reuters -  PARIS (Reuters) - French centrist politician Herve Morin said he would run for the French presidency on Sunday, a move which could eat into the support of conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy at April's election. Morin, a former defense minister who polls see winning only between 1-2 percent of the vote, is the head of the New Center party and has the support of about 20 deputies, senators and European parliamentarians. ...
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Mexican ruling party smears rivals with drug gangs
Sun,27 Nov 2011 11:24 AM PST
Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Slowly but surely, drug cartels have ground down support for Mexico's ruling conservatives with a trail of dead over the past five years. Now, President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party (PAN) is trying to use the same gangs as a quick fix for its fading hopes of re-election next year - by painting rivals for the presidency as corrupt and in the pockets of the cartels. ... Full Story | Top |
Protests against military rule cloud Egypt election
Sun,27 Nov 2011 10:59 AM PST
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - Protesters rallied again in Cairo on Sunday to try to evict Egypt's ruling generals, in a trial of strength that has muddied the run-up to Egypt's first vote since a popular revolt deposed former leader Hosni Mubarak. The parliamentary election that gets under way on Monday and Tuesday is the first step in a transfer to civilian rule, promised by the ruling army council that replaced Mubarak. ...
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Republicans to reconfigure budget cuts: lawmaker
Sun,27 Nov 2011 10:47 AM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans will try to spare defense programs by reconfiguring the $1.2 trillion in spending cuts that are to be triggered starting in 2013 by the collapse of a congressional deficit-cutting committee, a leading Republican senator said on Sunday. "I think there's a broad consensus that too much of the cuts are weighted on our defense's capabilities and would really, really cut in deeply into our ability to defend this nation," said Senator Pat Toomey, a member of the "super committee" that failed last week to reach a deal to reduce the huge U.S. debt. ...
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More Ethiopian troops seen in central Somalia: residents
Sun,27 Nov 2011 10:46 AM PST
Reuters - MOGADISHU (Reuters) - New convoys of heavily-armed Ethiopian troops have crossed into Somalia and are heading for central areas, residents said Sunday, days after Addis Ababa said it planned to send troops to help Somali and Kenya forces fighting Islamist insurgents. Ethiopia, which intervened in Somalia between 2006 and 2009, said Friday that it would deploy troops inside Somalia again for a "brief period." An Ethiopian government official also acknowledged Friday that a small force was already there on a reconnaissance mission. ... Full Story | Top |
German wise man sees real disaster if ECB doesn't act
Sun,27 Nov 2011 10:42 AM PST
Reuters - DUBLIN (Reuters) - Europe risks real disaster if the European Central Bank (ECB) does not ignore the fears of Germany and act as the currency bloc's lender of last resort, German "wise man" Peter Bofinger said on Sunday. Chancellor Angela Merkel is resisting calls for the ECB to take on a bigger crisis-fighting role despite a stampede out of European government bonds and a failed bond auction last week in Germany, viewed as Europe's safest haven. ... Full Story | Top |
Yemen names opposition leader Basindwa as premier
Sun,27 Nov 2011 10:42 AM PST
Reuters -  SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen's vice president named Sunday opposition leader Mohammed Basindwa as the country's new interim prime minister, the state news agency Saba reported, under a deal aimed at ending months of protests which have rocked the country. If the agreement goes according to plan, Saleh will become the fourth Arab ruler brought down by mass demonstrations that have reshaped the political landscape of the Middle East. Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi named Basindwa in a decree carried by the agency. ...
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Canada to eliminate tariffs on more goods: Flaherty
Sun,27 Nov 2011 10:36 AM PST
Reuters -  TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Sunday the government would eliminate tariffs on dozens more products used by Canadian manufacturers, aiming to lower their costs and encourage more hiring. The initiative would scrap custom duties on 70 items used by businesses in sectors such as food processing, furniture and transportation equipment. Flaherty, who estimated the tariff cuts would save Canadian businesses C$32 million ($30.5 million) a year, said the cuts were part of the Conservative government's overall free trade policy. ...
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At least 25 dead in north Yemen conflict, fighters say
Sun,27 Nov 2011 10:29 AM PST
Reuters - SANAA (Reuters) - At least 25 people have been killed and dozens wounded in northern Yemen in what Sunni Islamist Salafi fighters said was shelling by Shi'ite Muslim rebels on Saturday and Sunday. The shelling killed 10 people on Saturday and continued on Sunday afternoon, a Salafi spokesman said, bringing the death toll to 25 with a further 48 wounded in the latest flare-up in Damaj, about 150 km (90 miles) north of the capital Sanaa. The defense ministry put the death toll at 32. ... Full Story | Top |
Libyan Berbers vent rage over cabinet exclusion
Sun,27 Nov 2011 10:01 AM PST
Reuters - TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Several hundred Berbers marched into the courtyard of the Libyan prime minister's office Sunday to express their anger at the country's new cabinet, which does not include anyone from their large ethnic group. The Amazigh, or Berber, people were stunned when the country's new interim government was announced Tuesday and none of the 26 ministerial posts went to one of their own. They say they make up around 10-15 percent of the population and played an important role in the rebellion that toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi. ... Full Story | Top |
EU exec welcomes Belgium's 2012 budget deal
Sun,27 Nov 2011 10:00 AM PST
Reuters - BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission welcomed on Sunday an agreement by Belgian parties on the country's 2012 budget, which cuts the deficit to levels required by the European Union, and urged a quick implementation of the remaining formalities. Belgian parties, under chief negotiator Elio Di Rupo, reached a deal on the 2012 budget on Saturday after ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Belgium on Friday citing, as one of the reasons, uncertainty over the country's funding. ... Full Story | Top |
Citizens declare war on abuses in Egypt vote
Sun,27 Nov 2011 09:57 AM PST
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians desperate to stop bullies and cheats stitching up the country's first free election in decades are lining up by the thousand, cameras and mobile phones at the ready, to help monitors document abuses and expose the perpetrators. Democracy activists fear wealthy candidates and well-funded Islamists will use time-worn tactics to edge out their rivals -- cajoling voters, stuffing polling station queues with supporters and handing out food and medicine to sway voters. ...
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Factbox: Egypt's parliamentary election voting timetable
Sun,27 Nov 2011 09:45 AM PST
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians start voting in a parliamentary election on November 28, the first such vote since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted by a popular uprising in February, although the poll has been overshadowed by clashes between police and protesters in the run-up. Demonstrators are demanding the ruling military council hand powers to a civilian government. Even after parliament is elected, presidential powers will stay with the military council until a vote for the presidency, due in mid-2012. ... Full Story | Top |
Q+A: How does Egypt's parliamentary election system work?
Sun,27 Nov 2011 09:41 AM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Egyptians start voting on November 28 in their first free parliamentary election in decades after a popular uprising ended President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule in February. Below are some questions and answers about how voting works and what is at stake: WHAT'S UP FOR GRABS? The staggered vote starting on Monday is to fill 498 seats in the lower house. The last run-off vote will take place on January 10. The military council will appoint 10 more deputies. Voting for the 270-strong upper house starts on January 29 and ends on March 11. ... Full Story | Top |
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