Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Death toll mounts as Syria holds referendum
Sat,25 Feb 2012 07:01 PM PST
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian government kept up its onslaught on Homs and other towns, with at least 100 killed according to human rights campaigners, as the country prepared to hold a referendum on Sunday on a new constitution. "No one is going to vote," activist Omar, speaking by Skype from the rebel-held Baba Amro district of Homs, said in advance of the referendum staged by President Bashar al-Assad's government. "This was a constitution made to Bashar's tastes and meanwhile we are getting shelled and killed," he added. ...
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Two killed in blaze at Brazil Antarctica base
Sat,25 Feb 2012 04:03 PM PST
Reuters -  BRASILIA (Reuters) - A fire broke out at Brazil's research station in Antarctica on Saturday, killing two navy personnel and forcing the evacuation by helicopter of about 40 other people, the government said. A third navy member was injured but stable after the fire, which broke out in a building housing power generators at the Comandante Ferraz base, the navy said in a statement. It said those evacuated had been flown to Chile's Antarctica station. ...
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Senegalese to vote in test of nation's stability
Sat,25 Feb 2012 03:57 PM PST
Reuters -  DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade faces re-election on Sunday, having defied opposition efforts to block him from standing and warnings that his candidacy risked destabilizing the usually tranquil West African state. Overshadowing voting is a row over whether the octogenarian leader should be able to run for a third term. It has sparked violent street protests and a stream of warnings that Senegal's reputation as an established democracy now hangs in the balance. ...
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U.S. democracy activists to go on trial in Egypt
Sat,25 Feb 2012 03:15 PM PST
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - Dozens of democracy activists including 16 Americans go on trial in Egypt Sunday in a politically charged case which has set off a crisis in relations between Cairo and Washington and threatened $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid. Forty-three foreign and Egyptian non-profit workers - including the son of the U.S. transportation secretary - are accused of receiving illegal funds from abroad and carrying out political activities unrelated to their civil society work. A senior U.S. ...
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U.S., Egypt seek to resolve NGO dispute within days
Sat,25 Feb 2012 03:10 PM PST
Reuters - RABAT (Reuters) - The United States and Egypt are holding intense talks to try to resolve within days the case of democracy activists who have been barred from leaving the country, a senior U.S. official said on Saturday. "We are in intense discussions with the government of Egypt to try to resolve the situation with the NGOs within days," said the senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed, Writing by Maria Golovnina) Full Story | Top |
Libya and France boost military cooperation
Sat,25 Feb 2012 02:43 PM PST
Reuters - TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya and France have agreed to look into boosting maritime security and controlling the North African country's borders, their defense ministers said on Saturday. On a visit to Tripoli, French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet met his Libyan counterpart Osama al-Juwali to discuss the issues and sign a letter of intent to boost cooperation. Foreign states are worried about the Libyan interim government's capacity to secure its Mediterranean coast, which could be used as a gateway into Europe for arms traffickers, al Qaeda insurgents and illegal migrants. ... Full Story | Top |
As violence rages, Syria holds referendum
Sat,25 Feb 2012 02:39 PM PST
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria holds a referendum on Sunday on a new constitution, dismissed by the opposition as a charade amid an intensifying crackdown on the 11-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. Forces loyal to Assad took the bombardment of rebel-held areas in Homs into a fourth week. Activists say hundreds of people have died in the violence in the central city. "No one is going to vote. This was a constitution made to Bashar's tastes and meanwhile we are getting shelled and killed," said activist Omar, speaking by Skype from the rebel-held Baba Amro district of Homs. ...
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American officers killed in Afghan Interior Ministry
Sat,25 Feb 2012 01:52 PM PST
Reuters -  KABUL (Reuters) - Two American officers were shot dead at close range in Afghanistan's Interior Ministry on Saturday, a U.S. official said, as rage gripped the country for a fifth day over the burning of the Muslim holy book at a NATO base. NATO recalled all staff working at ministries in the Afghan capital, Kabul, following the attack, with its top commander in Afghanistan calling the killer a coward. ...
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Obama backs NATO security steps after deadly Afghan attack
Sat,25 Feb 2012 01:41 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday backed steps by NATO's commander in Afghanistan to protect U.S. service members there after the killing of two U.S. officers in the Interior Ministry, and welcomed President Hamid Karzai's call for calm, the White House said. Obama spoke to U.S. General John Allen after NATO withdrew all staff working in Afghan ministries following the attack, which came amid violent protests against the burning of copies of the Koran at a NATO military base near Kabul. ... Full Story | Top |
Berkshire identifies Buffett successor, not by name
Sat,25 Feb 2012 01:00 PM PST
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Warren Buffett told investors on Saturday the Berkshire Hathaway board has identified his successor, easing some shareholder concern about the future of the company once the famed 81-year-old investor steps down as chief executive. Buffett did not disclose who the next CEO will be in his annual letter to Berkshire shareholders. But he began the dispatch with the succession topic, one that's been a huge issue for shareholders for years. ...
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Two missing after fire at Brazil Antarctica base
Sat,25 Feb 2012 12:12 PM PST
Reuters - BRASILIA (Reuters) - A fire broke out at Brazil's research station in Antarctica on Saturday, leaving two navy personnel missing and forcing the evacuation by helicopter of roughly 40 other people. A third navy member was injured but stable after the fire, which broke out in a building housing power generators at the Comandante Ferraz base, the navy said in a statement. It said those evacuated had been flown to Chile's Antarctica station. Local newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo, quoting scientists stationed at the base, said two military personnel had been killed in the blaze. ... Full Story | Top |
Pakistan begins demolishing bin Laden house: police
Sat,25 Feb 2012 12:10 PM PST
Reuters -  PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces on Saturday began demolishing the house where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces in Abbottabad last May, a senior police official in the town said. The boundary wall and upper portion of the building had already been destroyed by midnight, Karim Khan told Reuters, without giving further details or saying why the compound was being demolished. (Writing by Chris Allbritton; Editing by Alison Williams)
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Iran uranium "discrepancy" still unresolved: IAEA
Sat,25 Feb 2012 11:49 AM PST
Reuters -  VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has yet to give an explanation over a small quantity of uranium metal missing from a research site, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said in a report that voiced concern over possible military links to Tehran's nuclear program. The discrepancy found at the research site in the Iranian capital came to light after measurements by international inspectors last year failed to match the amount declared by the laboratory. Experts say the quantity of natural uranium not accounted for is too small to be used for a bomb, but that it could be relevant to weapons-linked tests. ...
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Taliban militants say they shot down U.S. drone
Sat,25 Feb 2012 11:49 AM PST
Reuters -  PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A U.S. drone crashed on Saturday in North Waziristan, not far from the Afghan border, Pakistan intelligence officials said, while Taliban militants said they had shot it down. Taliban militants led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur said they had collected wreckage of the destroyed drone and would provide its pictures to the media on Sunday. "The drone today in Machikhel was flying at low altitude and our fighters fired at and shot it down," a local commander of the Taliban said. "We have trained people for such type of job. ...
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US urges Afghanistan to protect NATO forces
Sat,25 Feb 2012 11:42 AM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called on the Afghan government on Saturday to take decisive action to protect NATO forces and curtail violence sweeping the country, after two American military officers were shot dead inside Afghanistan's interior ministry. The killings came as Afghanistan reels from a wave of bloody protests that have gripped the country for the past five days over the burning of copies of the Koran at a NATO base, an incident that NATO described as a tragic blunder. ... Full Story | Top |
Clinton urges Tunisians to protect new freedoms
Sat,25 Feb 2012 11:37 AM PST
Reuters - SIDI BOU SAID, Tunisia (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Tunisians on Saturday to protect their newly won freedoms and called on Islamist and secular parties to work together in the country that inspired the Arab Spring. Addressing about 200 students, Clinton urged young people to use social media and other technologies that enabled popular revolts last year to hold their new rulers to account. "After a revolution, history shows it can go one of two ways. It can move in the direction you are now headed, building a strong, democratic country, or it can derail ... ... Full Story | Top |
Al Qaeda kill 26 as new Yemeni leader is sworn in
Sat,25 Feb 2012 11:02 AM PST
Reuters -  SANAA/ADEN (Reuters) - A suicide bombing claimed by al Qaeda killed at least 26 people outside a presidential palace in southern Yemen on Saturday, hours after the newly-elected president was sworn in and said the battle against the Islamists was a "national duty." A car was driven at the gates of the building in the port city of Mukalla, Yemen's fourth-largest city, far from the capital Sanaa where Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was sworn in. Dozens were injured. ...
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Syria condemns meeting with opposition in Tunis
Sat,25 Feb 2012 10:49 AM PST
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria condemned statements issued by participants at the "Friends of Syria" conference in Tunis, official state television said on Saturday, dubbing the gathering of the opposition and Western and Arab states as "the enemies of Syria" meeting. "Syria rejects all that was said and issued at the meeting for the enemies of Syria in Tunis," Syria TV reported in an urgent news break. "Syria deplores all voices calling for financing the armed groups which could lead to support for terrorism and hurt the interests of the Syrian people." (Reporting by Erika Solomon) Full Story | Top |
Italy's Berlusconi bribery trial ends with no verdict
Sat,25 Feb 2012 10:39 AM PST
Reuters -  MILAN (Reuters) - Italian judges on Saturday ended former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's trial on charges of bribing British lawyer David Mills, saying the statute of limitations had run out and a verdict could not be reached. The case surrounding Mills was one of the most prominent of the scandals involving Berlusconi, Italy's richest media entrepreneur as well as its dominant political figure of the past two decades. ...
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Libya urges neighbors to hand over Gaddafi supporters
Sat,25 Feb 2012 10:38 AM PST
Reuters -  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya urged its neighbors to hand over supporters of toppled leader Muammar Gaddafi who have fled the country, saying bilateral ties could be threatened if they did not cooperate. Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC), named no specific countries but said Libya had spoken to Arab and African states about the matter. ...
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Taliban didn't shoot down drone in Pakistan: US official
Sat,25 Feb 2012 09:57 AM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. official denied Taliban claims on Saturday that the militants shot down a U.S. drone in Pakistan but declined further comment. Pakistani intelligence officials said a U.S. drone may have crashed in North Waziristan, not far from the Afghan border. (Reporting By Phil Stewart) Full Story | Top |
Zimbabwe's Mugabe says ready for polls, slams violence
Sat,25 Feb 2012 09:36 AM PST
Reuters -  MUTARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Octogenarian Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe called on Saturday for his supporters to avoid violence in elections he says should happen this year and which he says his ZANU-PF party is poised to win resoundingly. The veteran ruler told supporters at a rally for his 88th birthday the time had come to make up with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), with whom Mugabe was forced to share power after disputed and violent elections in 2008. ...
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Mandela in hospital, expected to go home soon
Sat,25 Feb 2012 08:59 AM PST
Reuters -  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African president Nelson Mandela was comfortable in hospital on Saturday after undergoing a "diagnostic procedure" for abdominal pains, the government said, telling people not to panic about the health of the 93-year-old anti-apartheid leader. A statement from President Jacob Zuma said Mandela, who is popularly known by his clan name, Madiba, should be discharged on Sunday or Monday after being checked out for a "long-standing abdominal complaint. ...
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Al Shabaab says extends reach into Somalia's Puntland
Sat,25 Feb 2012 08:10 AM PST
Reuters - MOGADISHU (Reuters) - An Islamist militia group in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region has merged with the al Shabaab rebel group, said the insurgents on Saturday, a union which threatens to destabilize the relatively secure area targeted by oil explorers. Al Shabaab said it wanted to scrap the licenses of Western oil and gas firms drilling in Puntland. The al Qaeda-backed insurgents used social media site twitter to declare all oil and gas exploration and drilling licenses nullified. ... Full Story | Top |
World Bank chief says U.S. should lead some global bodies
Sat,25 Feb 2012 07:43 AM PST
Reuters -  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A solid U.S. candidate to head the World Bank would be good for the United States and the bank because the world's largest economy should be represented in top international bodies, outgoing President Robert Zoellick said on Saturday, while emphasizing he has no role in the selection process. ...
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NATO recalls staff in Kabul ministries after officer deaths
Sat,25 Feb 2012 07:38 AM PST
Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - NATO's top commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, said on Saturday he was recalling all staff working at ministries in the Afghan capital after two American officers were shot dead inside the Interior Ministry. "For obvious force protection reasons, I have also taken immediate measures to recall all other ISAF personnel working in ministries in and around Kabul," Allen said in a statement. (Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by Michael Georgy) Full Story | Top |
Factbox: Nelson Mandela
Sat,25 Feb 2012 06:49 AM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela was admitted to hospital on Saturday with a "long-standing abdominal complaint," intensifying fears for the health of the 93-year-old who became a world symbol of resistance to apartheid, then worked for reconciliation as South Africa's first black president. Here is a short summary of Mandela's career: * EARLY LIFE - Born July 18, 1918, son of a counselor to the paramount chief of the Thembu people near Qunu in what is now the Eastern Cape. He is widely known in South Africa by his clan name, Madiba. ... Full Story | Top |
Libya amending bank law to attract foreigners
Sat,25 Feb 2012 06:39 AM PST
Reuters - TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya is amending its banking laws to attract foreign investment and stimulate its private sector as it seeks to create an investor-friendly environment following last year's war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, the central bank governor said. In an interview with Reuters, Saddeq Omar Elkaber said the new Libyan leadership was working on creating the legal framework and necessary infrastructure, including updating a 2005 banking law which first allowed foreign banks in the North African country. ... Full Story | Top |
Venezuela's Chavez has shot at a cure: doctors
Sat,25 Feb 2012 06:06 AM PST
Reuters -  CHICAGO (Reuters) - As Hugo Chavez heads to Cuba to have surgery on a second lesion in his pelvis, medical experts say the Venezuelan president still has a chance to be cured, but he may have to battle fatigue as he campaigns for re-election in October. After declaring himself cancer-free last October, Chavez now says he has a 2 centimeter (0.79 inch) lesion in the same pelvic area where doctors in Cuba removed a baseball-sized tumor during his original treatment last year. ...
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Factbox: Referendum on Syria's new constitution
Sat,25 Feb 2012 06:04 AM PST
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrians vote in a referendum on Sunday on a new constitution which President Bashar al-Assad, fighting an 11-month-old revolt against his rule, says will pave the way for a multi-party parliamentary election within three months. Assad insists he is committed to reforms in a country ruled by his family for four decades, but has also vowed to crush a rebellion he blames on foreign-backed terrorists. Thousands of people have been killed in the crackdown on protests. ... Full Story | Top |
Nigeria bombers attempt prison break, 12 people dead
Sat,25 Feb 2012 05:59 AM PST
Reuters - LAGOS (Reuters) - Gunmen set off bombs in an attempted prison break in the northeast Nigerian city of Gombe late on Friday and then blew up the local police station, triggering hours of battles that killed 12 people, the city's commissioner of police said. Witnesses in Gombe heard multiple explosions and gunfire late on Friday in the city, which has been largely free of the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency plaguing the north of Africa's top oil producer. "There were several explosions. ... Full Story | Top |
North Korea vows "sacred war"' against S.Korea, U.S.
Sat,25 Feb 2012 05:02 AM PST
Reuters - SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea threatened on Saturday to wage a "sacred war" in response to joint military exercises planned by its arch-rival South Korea and the United States, saying it was determined to keep Washington from imposing its political will on it. The statement was issued by the North's National Defense Commission a day after the secretive state held its first round of talks with the United States since the young and untested Kim Jong-un took office in December upon the death of his father. ... Full Story | Top |
Factbox: Casamance region suffering from conflict, isolation
Sat,25 Feb 2012 03:15 AM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - An on-off low-level rebellion in Senegal's Casamance region, now entering its fourth decade, is one of Africa's longest-running insurgencies. An often dormant conflict has picked up in recent weeks and remains an unhealed blemish on Senegal's otherwise enviable reputation as the only country in mainland West Africa that has not suffered a coup or a civil war since independence. ... Full Story | Top |
Casamance conflict is unhealed sore for Senegal
Sat,25 Feb 2012 03:13 AM PST
Reuters - ZIGUINCHOR, Senegal (Reuters) - When he took office in 2000, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade promised to end decades of separatist rebellion in his country's southern Casamance region within his first 100 days in power. Over a decade later, as Wade hunts votes for a controversial third stint in power, he is still proposing peace plans - this time offering farming projects to lure rebels out of the bush in a bid to end one of Africa's longest running insurgencies. ... Full Story | Top |
Yemen's Saleh returns home after U.S. medical visit
Fri,24 Feb 2012 07:04 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Yemen's outgoing president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, returned to his home in Sanaa late on Friday after receiving medical treatment in the United States, a spokesman for Yemen's embassy in Washington said. Saleh, 69, arrived in the United States in January to receive treatment for wounds inflicted during an assassination attempt last year. Saleh is a long-time U.S. ally, but his 33-year rule of Yemen formally ended on Tuesday after an uncontested election. His deputy, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, is taking over as president. ... Full Story | Top |
Haiti's prime minister resigns after four months
Fri,24 Feb 2012 07:01 PM PST
Reuters -  PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille resigned on Friday after just four months in office, plunging the country into political paralysis in the midst of rebuilding efforts two years after a devastating earthquake. Conille submitted his resignation in a letter to President Michel Martelly, according to a statement by the president's office. There was no immediate word on a possible replacement. ...
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Yemen says vote turnout over 60 percent despite boycott
Fri,24 Feb 2012 05:13 PM PST
Reuters - SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen said on Friday more than 60 percent of eligible voters had taken part in a one-candidate election to replace President Ali Abdullah Saleh with his deputy Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, though many areas of the country boycotted the poll. Mohammed Hussein al-Hakimi, head of the body that oversaw Tuesday's election, said 6.6 million people voted out of a total of some 10 million who registered, plus others who were of voting age but had not been registered. "This number...6,653,192 who voted for the presidential candidate, represents 99. ... Full Story | Top |
SWIFT said ready to expel Iran central bank from nework
Fri,24 Feb 2012 04:36 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The world's biggest electronic banking system is ready to block Iran's central bank from using its network to transfer funds, a U.S. congressional aide said on Friday after a briefing from the Belgium-based group earlier this week. Such a move by SWIFT, or Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, would prevent Tehran from sending payment orders electronically around the world and give the West another tool in its effort to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Tehran maintains its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful purposes. ... Full Story | Top |
Iran has expanded sensitive nuclear work: U.N. agency
Fri,24 Feb 2012 04:00 PM PST
Reuters -  VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has sharply stepped up its controversial uranium enrichment drive, the U.N. nuclear agency said on Friday in a report that will further inflame Israeli fears the Islamic Republic is pushing ahead with atomic bomb plans. The nuclear watchdog also gave details of its mission to Tehran this week where Iran failed to respond to allegations of research relevant to developing nuclear arms - a blow to the possible resumption of diplomatic talks that could help calm worries about a new war in the Middle East. ...
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Haiti's prime minister resigns after four months
Fri,24 Feb 2012 03:58 PM PST
Reuters -  PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille resigned on Friday after just four months in office, plunging the country into political paralysis in the midst of rebuilding efforts two years after a devastating earthquake. Conille submitted his resignation in a letter to President Michel Martelly, according to a statement by the president's office. There was no immediate word on a possible replacement, though Martelly announced he would address the nation on Friday evening. ...
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