Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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China official declines comment on escaped activist
Fri,27 Apr 2012 07:50 PM PDT
Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - A senior Chinese diplomat declined to comment on Saturday on unconfirmed reports that blind activist Chen Guangcheng had fled into the U.S. embassy in Beijing. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said the question did not come within the scope of the news briefing, which was about high level talks next week in Beijing between the United States and China. "So I have no information to give you," he said when asked about Chen, a blind rural campaigner whom supporters have said escaped house arrest and is probably inside the U.S. embassy. ... Full Story | Top |
Thousands march on capital centre in Malaysia election protest
Fri,27 Apr 2012 07:10 PM PDT
Reuters - KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters calling for fair elections converged on Kuala Lumpur's centre on Saturday for a major demonstration that will test the Malaysian government's reformist credentials and may affect the timing of national polls. Police have shut down much of the city centre and closed off the historic Merdeka (Independence) Square with barriers and barbed wire, enforcing a court order that the protesters should not enter the symbolically important site. ... Full Story | Top |
El Salvador economy minister quits
Fri,27 Apr 2012 05:48 PM PDT
Reuters -  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - El Salvador's economy minister, Hector Dada, quit on Friday citing discrepancies with President Mauricio Funes over the economic direction of the tiny Central American nation. El Salvador failed to meet some public spending goals in 2011, which led the International Monetary Fund to suspend a $750 million loan to the country this week. The international agency said El Salvador's economic growth of 1.5 percent last year was lower than projected, while public spending and debt soared past expectations. The country's gross domestic product is seen rising between 2. ...
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Canada to offer more insight on blocked deals
Fri,27 Apr 2012 05:22 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - The Canadian government said on Friday it intends to make its reviews of foreign takeovers more transparent, by stating when it has reservations about a deal and perhaps even going so far as to provide details about its concerns. The move comes as a nod to those who have complained about opaque rules that allow the government to block takeovers that it does not think will provide a "net benefit" to Canada. ... Full Story | Top |
Bissau president and ex-premier freed by soldiers
Fri,27 Apr 2012 04:59 PM PDT
Reuters -  BISSAU (Reuters) - Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau released two leading politicians they had arrested in an April 12 coup and said on Friday they would accept the planned deployment to the country of over 600 soldiers from West African regional bloc ECOWAS. Carlos Gomes Junior, the ex-premier and presidential election front-runner, and interim President Raimundo Pereira were freed on Friday afternoon after a visit by ECOWAS military chiefs and later flew to Abidjan, Ivory Coast. ...
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Peru rebels kill 3 security forces, injure 2 on army search
Fri,27 Apr 2012 04:07 PM PDT
Reuters -  LIMA (Reuters) - Shining Path rebels on Friday killed three members of Peru's security forces and wounded two others while they were searching for police who disappeared in an earlier ambush, the armed forces said. It was the latest setback to the government's push to retake a lawless bundle of jungle valleys in southeastern Peru where a remnant band of Maoist rebels runs cocaine trafficking in the world's most densely planted region of coca plantations. "Two patrol groups of the armed forces clashed with narco-terrorists," the high command of the armed forces said in a statement. ...
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Strauss-Kahn suspects "political enemies" in sex scandal: paper
Fri,27 Apr 2012 04:02 PM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - The Guardian newspaper said on its website on Friday that former International Monetary Fund boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn believes his French presidential bid was scuppered last year by "political enemies" who made sure his sexual encounter with a New York maid was made public. It is the first time Strauss-Kahn has spoken publicly about the events surrounding a sexual encounter with a maid in a Sofitel hotel in New York last May, which put an end to his political ambitions. ...
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Blind China activist makes mystery "escape"
Fri,27 Apr 2012 03:31 PM PDT
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - Blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng, one of the China's most prominent human rights advocates, has escaped from home imprisonment, activists said on Friday, but uncertainty over his whereabouts and fears about his health have worried supporters. Chen, a self-schooled legal advocate who campaigned against forced abortions, had been restricted to his village home in Linyi in eastern Shandong province since September 2010 when he was released from jail. ...
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Canada offers more transparency on takeover rules
Fri,27 Apr 2012 02:41 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - The Canadian government promised on Friday to make its reviews of foreign takeovers more transparent, allowing it to explain when it has concerns about a proposed investment and perhaps even saying why. A government statement said Canada will change the way it reviews foreign investments, a nod to those who have complained about opaque rules that allow the government to block takeovers that it does not think will provide a "net benefit" to Canada. ... Full Story | Top |
Iran says to resume talks with nuclear watchdog in May
Fri,27 Apr 2012 02:18 PM PDT
Reuters -  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will resume talks with the U.N. nuclear watchdog in Vienna on May 13-14, state media quoted the Iranian ambassador to the body as saying on Friday. Western diplomats said last week Iran had expressed readiness to restart discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) two months after their last meeting ended in failure. But they added that Tehran still appeared to be stonewalling over the body's most pressing demand to let its inspectors visit a key military site. ...
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U.S. adds muscle to financial fraud investigations
Fri,27 Apr 2012 02:12 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Obama administration task force probing misconduct that fueled the financial crisis is increasing its ranks, adding five financial analysts and 10 new federal prosecutors spread across the country, according to a senior Justice Department official. The increased staffing reflects a new push by the administration to aggressively pursue cases against firms and individuals who contributed to the 2007-2009 financial crisis, especially ahead of the November election. The U.S. Justice Department has so far brought few cases against high-profile targets since the crash. ...
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Russia warns EU Iran oil embargo will be costly
Fri,27 Apr 2012 01:56 PM PDT
Reuters -  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia pressed its case against new sanctions over Iran's nuclear program on Friday, saying an European Union ban on purchasing Iranian oil would end up hurting the bloc's member countries. "The European Union is rejecting purchases of Iranian oil, even though very many EU countries depend on this oil," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview on state-run Rossiya 24 television. "One can say, of course, that the deficit will be covered, but (some) refineries are geared specifically to Iranian oil ... ...
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Comic campaigns for Italian default, lira: seriously
Fri,27 Apr 2012 01:34 PM PDT
Reuters -  ROME (Reuters) - An Italian comic who is campaigning for local elections riding a wave of discontent among voters says the solution to the economic crisis is default on the country's enormous debt and a return to the lira. Beppe Grillo isn't joking when he says Italy needs to get out of the euro zone fast and rejuvenate a political system dominated by parties he says are dead. "We need to try get out of the euro zone with as little damage as possible. ...
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TransCanada profit falls; eyes new oil pipeline
Fri,27 Apr 2012 01:33 PM PDT
Reuters - CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp reported a 14 percent drop in quarterly profit on Friday as the natural gas-transport segment of the country's biggest pipeline company was hurt by the depressed state of North America's gas industry. Chief Executive Russ Girling said the company is looking at several regulatory and operational measures to deal with pressures on its Canadian gas mainline after an unusually warm winter slashed demand for the fuel, cutting volume on the system to less than half its roughly 6 billion cubic foot a day capacity. ... Full Story | Top |
Mali junta rejects West African troop deployment
Fri,27 Apr 2012 12:24 PM PDT
Reuters - DAKAR (Reuters) - Mali's junta said on Friday it would resist any deployment of West African soldiers in the country and treat foreign forces sent there under a regional plan as "the enemy". The comments came a day after regional bloc ECOWAS said it would send troops to Mali and Guinea-Bissau to tackle the aftermath of coups that, in the case of Mali, has left more than half the country in rebel hands. "We will not accept any ECOWAS soldiers on our territory. This is non-negotiable. ... Full Story | Top |
Bombs wound 27 in Ukrainian city
Fri,27 Apr 2012 12:19 PM PDT
Reuters -  DNIPROPETROVSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Four bombs exploded in a city in eastern Ukraine on Friday, wounding 27 people, including nine children, in what authorities described as an "act of terrorism". President Viktor Yanukovich said the blasts in Dnipropetrovsk, six weeks before Ukraine plays host to the European soccer championship, represented "a challenge ... to the whole country." Bomb attacks are a rare occurrence in the former Soviet republic and the blasts one after the other traumatized people in the city, one of Ukraine's main industrial centers with a population of around 1.3 million. ...
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Netherlands could pass some budget cuts before Sept poll: finance minister
Fri,27 Apr 2012 12:15 PM PDT
Reuters - THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The Dutch parliament may approve some of the last-minute cuts agreed on to save its budget from breaching EU rules ahead of a September 12 election, the finance minister said on Friday, protecting the country's credentials as a champion of fiscal discipline. The minority government collapsed at the weekend in a row over the budget cuts, which are required if the Netherlands, one of the last triple-A rated euro zone members, is to meet strict European Union limits on budget deficits. ... Full Story | Top |
Clashes in Bahrain as police block protest march
Fri,27 Apr 2012 12:00 PM PDT
Reuters -  DUBAI (Reuters) - Protesters trying to march to the heart of Bahrain's capital clashed with riot police on Friday, witnesses said, hours after a massive show of force by the mainstream Shi'ite Muslim opposition. They said dozens of youths threw stones at police who used teargas and stun grenades to block the planned march to the Pearl roundabout, the centre of an uprising last year which the government suppressed with the help of troops from neighbors, including Saudi Arabia. There were no immediate reports of casualties. ...
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Czech centre-right government survives confidence vote
Fri,27 Apr 2012 11:56 AM PDT
Reuters - PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech centre-right cabinet won a parliamentary vote of confidence on Friday, gaining a new lease on life after the break-up of a junior ruling party brought the austerity-driven administration to the brink of collapse. The result was expected after a faction from the split coalition partner declared allegiance to the cabinet, but Prime Minister Petr Necas still faces a tough task to push ahead with his fiscal and health reforms in an evenly split parliament. Analysts say an early election before regular polls in 2014 is still possible. ... Full Story | Top |
Austerity topples Romanian government, Czech survives
Fri,27 Apr 2012 11:52 AM PDT
Reuters -  BUCHAREST/PRAGUE (Reuters) - Romania's left-leaning opposition will try to form a new government after torpedoing the centre-right cabinet in a confidence vote on Friday, the latest collapse of an austerity-minded ruling coalition in Europe. Like other governments in the European Union, ousted Prime Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu's two-month-old cabinet has faced a wave of public anger against plans for spending cuts and tax hikes. Violent protests toppled his predecessor, Emil Boc. "Today justice was done," said Victor Ponta, head of the left-leaning opposition Social Liberal Union (USL). ...
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China's Wen: Auschwitz visit "unforgettable, dark"
Fri,27 Apr 2012 11:51 AM PDT
Reuters -  OSWIECIM, Poland (Reuters) - China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said on Friday a visit to the Auschwitz death camp where Nazis gassed to death 1.5 million people had left an indelible impression, and reinforced the importance of learning the lessons of history. "This is an unforgettable, dark page in the history of humankind and cannot be forgotten," Wen said after touring the former death camp in southern Poland that is now a museum containing gas chambers and crematoria, as well as personal items like shoes and even hair of those who perished there. ...
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Elite Afghan soldier kills U.S. special forces mentor
Fri,27 Apr 2012 11:48 AM PDT
Reuters - KANDAHAR (Reuters) - An elite Afghan soldier shot dead an American mentor and his translator at a U.S. base, Afghan officials said on Friday, in the first rogue shooting blamed on the country's new and closely vetted special forces. The soldier opened fire at an American military base on Wednesday in Shah Wali Kot district, in volatile Kandahar province, said General Abdul Hamid, the commander of Afghan army forces in the Taliban's southern heartland. ... Full Story | Top |
Chavez ally raises specter of opposition violence
Fri,27 Apr 2012 11:47 AM PDT
Reuters - LOS TEQUES, Venezuela (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez's big poll lead puts him in a strong position ahead of Venezuela's presidential election, but it could also convince radical opponents violence is the only way to beat him, a senior campaign strategist said. Despite ongoing cancer treatment, Chavez is favored to extend his 13-year rule at the October 7 vote, with most opinion polls giving him an advantage of at least 10 percentage points over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. State Department keeps mum on China activist
Fri,27 Apr 2012 11:42 AM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Friday repeatedly declined to answer questions about blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng amid speculation that he had taken refuge at the U.S. embassy in Beijing after escaping from house arrest. "I don't have anything for you on that subject," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in response to questions about Chen. "I don't have anything on this issue at all." The U.S. Embassy in Beijing also did not respond to questions about Chen. U.S. ...
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Russia, China to announce progress on fund during Li visit
Fri,27 Apr 2012 11:28 AM PDT
Reuters - MOSCOW/NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia (Reuters) - Russia and China will announce progress on a joint investment fund during a visit by the man expected to be China's next premier, while their leaders hinted on Friday at differences behind a show of amity and common ground on global issues. Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang, who is on track to succeed Premier Wen Jiabao this autumn, met Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin and outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev during a trip that will also take him to Hungary and Belgium. ... Full Story | Top |
Kiir, back from China, says Heglig belongs to South Sudan
Fri,27 Apr 2012 11:23 AM PDT
Reuters -  JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, back from an official visit to China, said on Friday that his armed forces had not damaged the contested Heglig oilfield they seized for 10 days earlier this month because it belongs to South Sudan. Both South Sudan, which seceded from Sudan and became independent last July, and Sudan claim the Heglig oilfield. South Sudan said its forces withdrew from the area last Friday after coming under intense diplomatic pressure to pull back. "Panthou and the oil on top of it is ours ... ...
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Bin Laden's family deported to Saudi Arabia
Fri,27 Apr 2012 11:09 AM PDT
Reuters -  JEDDAH (Reuters) - Pakistan deported the family of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to Saudi Arabia on Friday, their lawyer and a diplomat said, nearly a year after U.S. special forces killed the world's most wanted man in a northwestern Pakistani town. The move ended months of speculation about the fate of the three widows and 11 children, who were detained by Pakistani security forces after the May 2 raid. ...
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Cool Nordic head faces uphill task as Syria U.N. monitor
Fri,27 Apr 2012 10:48 AM PDT
Reuters -  OSLO (Reuters) - Robert Mood, the tall, square-jawed and fair-haired Norwegian general heading the Syria ceasefire observer mission, appears the archetypal cool Nordic head who will use an image of impartiality to bridge what he has called an "abyss of suspicion." Mood is a veteran of struggling Middle East truces and knows Syria well. The stern-looking 54-year-old general weighs his words carefully and listens attentively. He once warned against peacekeepers' acting like "an elephant in a glass house." His job may be doomed, given mistrust in Syria. ...
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Romania president nominates opposition leader as PM
Fri,27 Apr 2012 10:35 AM PDT
Reuters - BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's President Traian Basescu nominated leftist opposition leader Victor Ponta as new prime minister on Friday, to form a government after parliament torpedoed a two-month old centre-right cabinet in a no-confidence vote. "Victor Ponta is the prime minister designate. He was the only proposition made by three political parties," Basescu told a news briefing. "I do hope the new government will be installed rapidly." Ponta must draft a governing programme, the cabinet lineup and ask parliament for backing within 10 days. ... Full Story | Top |
Ukrainian ex-PM asks court to adjourn tax trial
Fri,27 Apr 2012 10:23 AM PDT
Reuters -  KIEV (Reuters) - Former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, sentenced to seven years in prison last year in a case condemned by the West, has asked a local court to adjourn a fresh trial against her on health grounds, her political party said on Friday. The conviction in October of Tymoshenko, President Viktor Yanukovich's key political opponent, drew criticism from the European Union which saw the abuse-of-office charge as politically motivated and urged her release. ...
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Wrangling hampers Libyan drive to try Gaddafi son
Fri,27 Apr 2012 10:22 AM PDT
Reuters -  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Putting the son of fallen leader Muammar Gaddafi on trial on their own soil is a matter of national pride for Libya's leaders, but the lack of a properly functioning state is making it hard for them to convince the outside world they are up to the task. Libya is standing firm on trying Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, once the heir apparent to his father's one-man rule. But so is the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, which indicted him in June for crimes against humanity stemming from the crackdown on last year's revolt. ...
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Nine dead in suicide bomb near Damascus mosque
Fri,27 Apr 2012 10:08 AM PDT
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed nine people including security officers at a Damascus mosque on Friday, Syria's interior ministry said, in another blow to a fraying U.N.-brokered truce between President Bashar al-Assad and rebels fighting for his downfall. The explosion happened as worshippers were leaving the Zain al-Abideen mosque, which was under heavy security due to its reputation as a launchpad for anti-Assad demonstrations after Friday prayers. ...
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Spanish economy in "huge crisis" after credit downgrade
Fri,27 Apr 2012 09:34 AM PDT
Reuters -  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's sickly economy faces a "crisis of huge proportions", a minister said on Friday, as unemployment hit its highest level in almost two decades and Standard and Poor's downgraded the government's debt by two notches. Unemployment shot up to 24 percent in the first quarter, one of the worst jobless figures in the developed world. Retail sales slumped for the twenty-first consecutive month as a recession cuts into consumer spending. "The figures are terrible for everyone and terrible for the government ... ...
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White House says plans to ramp up pressure on Syria
Fri,27 Apr 2012 09:34 AM PDT
Reuters - ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - The United States is disappointed that Damascus has failed to live up to promises made to adhere to a U.N.-backed peace plan and will increase pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Friday. "We intend to continue to ramp up the international pressure against the Assad regime and encourage them in the strongest possible terms to live up to the obligations and commitments that they made in the context of the Kofi Annan plan," Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. oil report seen supporting Iran sanctions
Fri,27 Apr 2012 09:33 AM PDT
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Global oil and fuel supply exceeded demand by 500,000 barrels per day in the last two months even as Western sanctions have hit Iranian crude production, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a report on Friday. The report, required every 60 days by the Iran sanctions law President Barack Obama signed in December, gave a mixed view of global oil markets that could lend support to moving forward with U.S. sanctions without eliminating the possibility of release of the country's emergency oil stock piles to cool down high fuel prices. ... Full Story | Top |
Bolivia investigating complaint over Iranian ships
Fri,27 Apr 2012 09:26 AM PDT
Reuters - LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia said on Friday it is investigating a complaint that its ship registry has allowed Iranian-owned ships to fly under the Andean nation's flag, in possible violation of a U.N. resolution. Zoilo Roca Kikunaga, executive director of landlocked Bolivia's international ship registry, said the complaint was made the non-governmental organization Avaaz but that Bolivia has not received complaints from the United States or the United Nations. "When we became aware of possible links to an organization banned by the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
Analysis: Mexican women voters back "alpha male" over female rival
Fri,27 Apr 2012 09:25 AM PDT
Reuters -  GUADALAJARA, Mexico (Reuters) - Women shout and jostle to get close to Enrique Pena Nieto, mob him for kisses or a hug, and snap photographs with the kind of excitement more commonly reserved for teenage heartthrobs than Mexican presidential candidates. The 45-year-old Pena Nieto, candidate for the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), is favorite to win Mexico's July 1 presidential election, which for the first time will feature a woman as one of Mexico's main contenders. ...
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Hunger-striking Tymoshenko has chronic back pain-doctor
Fri,27 Apr 2012 08:52 AM PDT
Reuters -  BERLIN (Reuters) - A hunger strike staged by jailed former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko may become life-threatening although now still in its early stages given her low physical and psychological state, a German doctor who has examined her said on Thursday. Dr Karl Max Einhaeupl told Reuters Television that Tymoshenko was suffering chronic pain from a slipped disc and this back problem needed to be tackled, but she did not trust Ukrainian doctors because they had botched earlier treatment. ...
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Could North Korea test "uranium bomb" for first time?
Fri,27 Apr 2012 08:43 AM PDT
Reuters -  VIENNA (Reuters) - North Korea, believed to be preparing for a third nuclear test, would probably be able to make and explode a uranium device for the first time after earlier relying on plutonium, a former chief U.N. inspector said. If it were to do so, that would show North Korea had developed the technology to produce highly enriched uranium (HEU), putting it in a position to build up larger stocks of weapons-grade material. ...
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Hopes for a new Egypt marred by pervasive corruption
Fri,27 Apr 2012 08:37 AM PDT
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - At a Cairo vehicle license bureau, despondency finally gave way to despair. In the heaving crowd, which had been waiting with little to do but watch the insects creep across the walls, scuffles broke out. The clerk behind the glass sat sipping tea, apparently unperturbed by the tumult. With no waiting list, he smiled across the crowd at the best-dressed man in the room and a woman wearing pricey sunglasses, who acknowledged his glance and pressed forward to be served first. ...
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