Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Suicide bomber kills two in Kabul attack
Tue,1 May 2012 08:24 PM PDT
Reuters -  KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide bomber rammed a car full of explosives into a blast wall in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, killing a guard and a civilian passerby, an interior ministry spokesman said. Sediq Sediqqi said that there was only one attacker, dismissing reports that more than one insurgent was involved in the assault against a housing compound for westerners. An Afghan health ministry official said that 17 people were wounded. (Reporting by Hamid Shalizi, Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)
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Suu Kyi in Myanmar parliament to take oath as lawmaker
Tue,1 May 2012 08:10 PM PDT
Reuters -  NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Aung San Suu Kyi, who led a nearly quarter-century struggle for democracy in Myanmar, stepped inside parliament and prepared to take her oath as a lawmaker on Wednesday, ushering in a historic new political era after years of oppressive military rule. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept by-elections on April 1 but its successful candidates initially refused to take their seats because of a dispute over part of the oath relating to the constitution. ...
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Clinton confronts dissident case ahead of China talks
Tue,1 May 2012 08:09 PM PDT
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in China on Wednesday for top-level talks that risk being upstaged by the fate of a blind dissident whose supporters say is under U.S. protection in Beijing after escaping from detention. Washington has not even commented on the whereabouts of the dissident, legal activist Chen Guangcheng, whose plight has overshadowed the Strategic and Economic Dialogue due to begin on Thursday. ...
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Afghan Taliban claims Kabul bomb attacks
Tue,1 May 2012 07:50 PM PDT
Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack in eastern Kabul on Wednesday which police said targeted a housing compound for westerners in the city. "One of our mujahideen detonated his car in front of a military base. Other mujahideen are inside the base fighting. There are very heavy casualties for the enemy," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters in a phone call. President Barack Obama left Kabul only hours before the attacks after signing a strategic agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. to designate Afghanistan major non-NATO ally: officials
Tue,1 May 2012 06:22 PM PDT
Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - The United States will designate Afghanistan a major non-NATO ally, U.S. officials told reporters on Tuesday, marking the first such designation of President Barack Obama's presidency. The president, who arrived in Kabul on Tuesday for an unannounced visit, will not make specific decisions on further drawdowns of U.S. forces in the country until at least September 2012, the officials said. (Reporting by Caren Bohan, writing by Jeff Mason; Editing by Doina Chiacu) Full Story | Top |
Obama swoops into Afghanistan on bin Laden death anniversary
Tue,1 May 2012 06:22 PM PDT
Reuters -  BAGRAM AIRBASE, Afghanistan (Reuters) - President Barack Obama marked the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death with a speedy trip to Afghanistan, signing a strategic pact with Kabul on Wednesday and delivering an election-year message to Americans that the war is winding down. Shortly after arriving under the cover of darkness, Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a strategic partnership agreement at the Afghan leader's palace that sets out a long-term U.S. role in Afghanistan, including aid and advisers. ...
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Mexico presidential front-runner with steady lead: poll
Tue,1 May 2012 05:58 PM PDT
Reuters -  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican presidential front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto, of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), saw his big lead over the ruling party candidate recede slightly ahead of the July 1 election, a survey showed on Tuesday. The latest opinion poll by pollster Consulta Mitofsky showed Pena Nieto with 38 percent support, down 2.1 percentage points from the Mitofsky survey published on April 24. That still gave him a big lead over Josefina Vazquez Mota from the ruling National Action Party (PAN). Her support of 22 percent was up just 0. ...
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Canada's Northwest Territories open to LNG option
Tue,1 May 2012 05:57 PM PDT
Reuters - CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - The government of Canada's Northwest Territories, hit by persistent delays in development of a C$16.2 billion ($16.5 billion) natural gas pipeline, could support a liquefied natural gas alternative for vast reserves in the region's Mackenzie Delta, one of its ministers said on Tuesday. A month after proponents of the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline said they had chopped spending on the project, David Ramsay, the territories' minister of industry, tourism and development, said LNG has to be looked at as an option. ... Full Story | Top |
RIM BlackBerry 10 prototype fails to wow investors
Tue,1 May 2012 05:36 PM PDT
Reuters -  ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd gave developers a glimpse at its next-generation BlackBerry 10 smartphone on Tuesday and a set of software tools to create flashy apps to run on its new operating system, but investors were unimpressed and RIM's shares tumbled. At RIM's annual BlackBerry World conference in Orlando, new CEO Thorsten Heins took center stage to unveil a prototype of the devices RIM expects to launch later this year. The BlackBerry 10 devices will navigate with fewer keystrokes than the legacy smartphones, relying on swipe gestures and word suggestions. ...
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Magnitude 6.3 quake hits off southwest Mexico
Tue,1 May 2012 05:30 PM PDT
Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck off the coast of southwest Mexico near the Guatemalan border on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The quake hit 51 miles west-southwest of Suchiate, Chiapas, at a depth of 27.3 miles, the USGS said. The quake's magnitude was originally listed as 6.0. An official with the Chiapas public safety office said there were no reports of injuries or damage after the tremor. Earlier on Tuesday, a 5.5 magnitude quake that struck 130 miles from Mexico City shook the capital, but officials had no reports of damage in the city. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S., Alabama urge no delay in BP oil spill trial
Tue,1 May 2012 05:30 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - The U.S. government said a trial to assign blame and damages among BP Plc and others over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill should not be delayed until after a hearing over a $7.8 billion settlement of private party claims. BP has asked U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans to delay any trial over the spill until after he holds a November 8 fairness hearing over the settlement of more than 125,000 economic, property and medical claims. ...
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Nigeria Islamist video warns of more attacks on media
Tue,1 May 2012 05:24 PM PDT
Reuters -  KANO (Reuters) - Islamist group Boko Haram released a video late on Tuesday celebrating its bombing of a Nigerian newspaper and warning of more attacks on local and foreign media if they published reports that were biased to the sect or insulting to Islam. Suicide car bombers targeted the offices of This Day in the capital, Abuja, and northern city of Kaduna last Thursday, killing at least five people in apparently coordinated strikes. ...
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Mali junta foils counter-coup bid
Tue,1 May 2012 05:00 PM PDT
Reuters -  BAMAKO (Reuters) - Soldiers from Mali's ruling junta foiled a counter-coup bid by presidential guardsmen on Tuesday, overrunning their base in the capital and fending off their assaults on the airport and the state broadcaster. The clashes in the West African state - a posterchild of African democracy before a March 22 putsch and a Tuareg rebellion thrust it into chaos - came as a setback to early international efforts to restore constitutional order. ...
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Magnitude 6.3 quake hits off southwest Mexico
Tue,1 May 2012 04:37 PM PDT
Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck off the coast of southwest Mexico near the Guatemalan border on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Service said. The quake hit 51 miles west-southwest of Suchiate, Chiapas, at a depth of 27.3 miles, the USGS said. The quake's magnitude was originally listed as 6.0. An official with the Chiapas public safety office said there were no reports of injuries or damage after the tremor. Earlier on Tuesday, a 5.5 magnitude quake that struck 130 miles from Mexico City shook the capital, but officials had no reports of damage in the city. ... Full Story | Top |
UK lawmakers: Rupert Murdoch unfit to run company
Tue,1 May 2012 04:17 PM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch is not fit to run a major international company, British lawmakers said on Tuesday, finding him ultimately responsible for the illegal phone hacking that has corroded his global media empire and damaged the political establishment. The lawmakers said the 81-year-old News Corp chief lacked credibility, his son James appeared incompetent and the company was guilty of "willful blindness" towards its staff at the News of the World tabloid. ...
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Canada still keen to buy F-35s despite problems
Tue,1 May 2012 03:44 PM PDT
Reuters -  OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada still wants to buy F-35 fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin, the head of the air force said on Tuesday, despite an official report that blasted the way military officials selected the plane. Canada announced in July 2010 it would buy 65 of the Joint Strike Fighters, which have been hit by a string of cost overruns and delays. Ottawa did not hold an open competition. Last month, the government's spending watchdog said the decision to buy the jets was based on bad data from military officials who deliberately downplayed the costs and risks. ...
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Western authorities fear militants will carry implanted bombs
Tue,1 May 2012 03:42 PM PDT
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and allied officials said they are increasingly concerned that doctors working with al Qaeda's Yemen-based affiliate will implant bombs inside living militants in order to try to circumvent airport security measures and bring down aircraft. Earlier this year, a missile fired by a CIA-operated drone killed a Yemeni doctor who had devised medical procedures which could be used to surgically plant explosive devices in humans, several U.S. officials told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
Clinton heads to China and into dissident drama
Tue,1 May 2012 03:08 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton left on Monday on a high-stakes trip to Beijing, where a blind dissident is reportedly holed up in the U.S. embassy in a drama threatening to overshadow top-level meetings between the two governments. Dissident Chen Guangcheng, according to one of his helpers, will demand to stay in China and press on with his campaign for reform, adding to tension between Beijing and Washington that poses risks for both governments as well as to relations between the world's two biggest economies. ...
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Northwest Territories open to LNG option
Tue,1 May 2012 03:06 PM PDT
Reuters - CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - The government of Canada's Northwest Territories, hit by persistent delays in development of a C$16.2 billion ($16.5 billion) natural gas pipeline, could support a liquefied natural gas alternative for vast reserves in the region's Mackenzie Delta, one of its ministers said on Tuesday. A month after proponents of the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline said they had chopped spending on the project, David Ramsay, the territories' minister of industry, tourism and development, said LNG has to be looked at as an option. ... Full Story | Top |
Bolivia nationalizes unit of Spain's Red Electrica
Tue,1 May 2012 03:04 PM PDT
Reuters -  LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales marked May Day on Tuesday by nationalizing the local unit of Spain's Red Electrica, ratcheting up tension between the former colonial power and South American governments eager to assert control over energy resources. Morales ordered the army to take over the Cochabamba headquarters of the power transmission company known as TDE. The move came two weeks after Argentina unveiled a plan to take control of the country's No. 1 oil company, YPF, from majority shareholder Repsol, based in Madrid. ...
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Libya says to wind up Gaddafi son investigation soon
Tue,1 May 2012 02:30 PM PDT
Reuters -  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Libya said on Tuesday it would complete its investigation into Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, within weeks for crimes including murder and torture, and asked the International Criminal Court once again to hold off ordering his surrender. Libya's government and the war crimes court - which indicted Saif al-Islam in June for crimes against humanity stemming from the crackdown on last year's revolt - have argued for months over where he should be tried. ...
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Mexico presidential front-runner with steady lead-poll
Tue,1 May 2012 01:58 PM PDT
Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican presidential front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto, of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), saw his big lead over the ruling party candidate recede slightly ahead of the July 1 election, a survey showed on Tuesday. The latest opinion poll by pollster Consulta Mitofsky showed Pena Nieto with 38 percent support, down 2.1 percentage points from the Mitofsky survey published on April 24. That still gave him a big lead over Josefina Vazquez Mota from the ruling National Action Party (PAN). Her support of 22 percent was up just 0. ...
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Israel army closes probe into deadly 2009 shelling
Tue,1 May 2012 12:27 PM PDT
Reuters -  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's military on Tuesday closed an investigation into a 2009 shelling of a house in Gaza that killed 21 members of a Palestinian family, saying it did not constitute a war crime and that the civilians had not been targeted purposefully. The incident occurred during a three-week war in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Witnesses at the time said that on January 4, 2009 Israeli troops had ordered about 100 civilians in the Zeitun district to enter the house and stay there, out of their way. ...
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UK Conservatives tried to soften Murdoch criticism
Tue,1 May 2012 12:09 PM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Members of Britain's ruling Conservative party repeatedly tried to soften language directed at Rupert Murdoch and his son James in a parliamentary report, before they ultimately decided to vote against it in its entirety. The Culture, Media and Sport committee found after its five-year investigation that Rupert Murdoch was unfit to run a major global company and was responsible for a culture of illegal phone-hacking that has shaken his media empire. ... Full Story | Top |
Myanmar's Suu Kyi poised for historic debut in parliament
Tue,1 May 2012 12:05 PM PDT
Reuters -  NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is set to make her debut in parliament on Wednesday marking a historic development for the country and for the Nobel laureate who waged a two-decade struggle against military dictatorship. The 66-year-old Suu Kyi will take the oath at parliament in Naypyitaw, joining a political system making a transition to a fragile democracy in a country that wilted under 49 years of inept and oppressive army rule. ...
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Pentagon report paints mixed picture of war in Afghanistan
Tue,1 May 2012 11:58 AM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military presented a mixed picture of the war in Afghanistan on Tuesday, saying President Barack Obama's surge of 33,000 extra troops had weakened the Taliban but that a resilient insurgency, persistent corruption, and selective cooperation from Pakistan posed a major threat to U.S. efforts. In a twice-annual report to Congress, the Defense Department said overall insurgent attacks declined in 2011 for the first time in five years, even though violence increased in areas surrounding the Taliban's southern stronghold of Kandahar, a region where U.S. ...
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Manufacturing PMI hits 2012 high in April
Tue,1 May 2012 11:42 AM PDT
Reuters - TORONTO (Reuters) - The pace of growth in Canadian manufacturing advanced at its strongest rate of the year in April as business conditions improved for a third straight month, reflecting a slow but steady recovery in the export-reliant sector. The RBC Canadian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, released on Tuesday, rose to a reading of 53.3 in April versus 52.4 in March, above the 50 no-change mark that separates expansion from contraction. "As the economy south of the border strengthens, we expect the Canadian manufacturing sector will continue to reap the benefits of increasing U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
Europeans protest austerity at May Day rallies
Tue,1 May 2012 11:39 AM PDT
Reuters -  ATHENS (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of workers across southern Europe protested against spending cuts at May Day rallies on Tuesday, before weekend elections in Greece and France where voters are expected to punish leaders for austerity. Unions in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Greece used the traditional marches to express anger over a savings drive across the euro zone, aimed at shoring up public finances but criticized for forcing countries deeper into recession. ...
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MI6 "kept evidence related to dead spy" - testimony
Tue,1 May 2012 11:37 AM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's MI6 intelligence agency failed to hand over to police the belongings of a spy found dead inside a bag in his home, including computer memory sticks, an inquest heard on Tuesday. Gareth Williams, 31, was on secondment to MI6 at the time of his death in 2010. Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire told the inquest that MI6 agents searched Williams' electronic media without informing police, the BBC reported. Police only learned of the memory sticks on Monday. ...
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UK lawmakers: Rupert Murdoch unfit to run company
Tue,1 May 2012 11:27 AM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch is not fit to run a major international company, British lawmakers said on Tuesday, finding him ultimately responsible for the illegal phone hacking that has convulsed his media empire and damaged the political establishment. Pulling few punches, the lawmakers said the 81-year-old News Corp chief lacked credibility, his son James appeared incompetent and the company was guilty of "wilful blindness" towards its staff at the News of the World tabloid. ... Full Story | Top |
Mali junta overruns loyalist base in blow to counter-coup
Tue,1 May 2012 11:09 AM PDT
Reuters -  BAMAKO (Reuters) - Soldiers from Mali's ruling junta overran the main presidential guard barracks in the capital Bamako on Tuesday, striking a heavy blow to the loyalist unit that has been fighting since Monday to reverse a March coup. Dozens of residents near the Djicoroni camp, scene of heavy shooting since late Monday, broke into applause when junta soldiers entered the deserted compound and fired their weapons into the air in celebration. "The camp has fallen, it is empty and the red berets have left," a junta officer told Reuters, asking not to be named. ...
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Murdoch conclusion stirs memories of his old foe Maxwell
Tue,1 May 2012 11:08 AM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - If he had not died 20 years ago, Robert Maxwell, the disgraced newspaper tycoon, might have allowed himself a wolfish grin at the verdict of a British parliamentary committee on his old rival, Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch, according to the House of Commons select committee on culture, media and sport, which examined the phone-hacking scandal now convulsing the Australian-born mogul's media empire, "is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company". ... Full Story | Top |
Libyans register to vote in landmark elections
Tue,1 May 2012 11:07 AM PDT
Reuters -  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyans began registering on Tuesday to vote in June elections for a national assembly, as the country prepared for its first free polls following the removal of Muammar Gaddafi. One registration centre at a Tripoli school was closed after armed former rebel fighters turned up in pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns. About 1,500 registration centers have been set up across the country for the landmark polls, after which Libya will have a new constitution. ...
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Mexico reports no damage after 5.5-magnitude earthquake
Tue,1 May 2012 11:02 AM PDT
Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - An earthquake 130 miles miles away shook Mexico City on Tuesday but officials had no reports of damage in the capital. Traffic and street life continued as normal moments after the tremor that hit on a public holiday, witnesses said. "I've lived through plenty of earthquakes. But I didn't feel that one," said Elias Munoz, 70, who runs a kiosk in Mexico City's central Roma. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake that hit the central state of Michoacan had a magnitude of 5.5 and was recorded at a depth of 48 miles. ... Full Story | Top |
China, Russia resist West's push to threaten Sudan, South Sudan
Tue,1 May 2012 10:59 AM PDT
Reuters -  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China and Russia are resisting a Western push for the U.N. Security Council to threaten Sudan and South Sudan with sanctions if the two countries fail to comply with demands to halt their escalating conflict, U.N. envoys said on Tuesday. The U.N. negotiations on Sudan and South Sudan, former civil war foes that split when the south seceded last year, follow weeks of border fighting that have raised fears Khartoum and Juba could launch an all-out war, after failing to resolve a string of disputes over oil revenues and border demarcation. ...
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Factory growth best in 10 months; bolsters outlook
Tue,1 May 2012 10:52 AM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Manufacturing grew in April at the strongest rate in 10 months, easing concerns the economy had lost momentum at the start of the second quarter. The Institute for Supply Management said on Tuesday its index of national factory activity rose to 54.8 from 53.4 in March. The figure topped expectations for the reading to decline to 53.0 and was also above the top end of forecasts in a Reuters poll. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in the manufacturing sector, while a number above 50 indicates expansion. ...
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Bahrain breaks up protests, faces calls to free prisoners
Tue,1 May 2012 10:42 AM PDT
Reuters -  MANAMA (Reuters) - Riot police firing tear gas and stun grenades routed protesters in Bahrain's capital on Tuesday as the government came under mounting international pressure to release jailed leaders of last year's uprising. An appeals court decision on Monday to grant a retrial to 21 opposition figures was not enough to defuse resurgent unrest among the Gulf Arab state's majority Shi'ite Muslims, and street rallies resumed on Tuesday. ...
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Murdoch says internal probe clears Times papers
Tue,1 May 2012 10:38 AM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - An internal probe at Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper arm found no evidence of wrongdoing within the group's Times and Sunday Times papers, the media mogul said on Tuesday. The 81-year-old head of News Corp said the group had found no evidence of illegal conduct at the respected British papers other than one incident which it made public months ago. An internal investigation into the Sun tabloid, also part of his British newspaper arm, has resulted in a string of arrests over allegations of bribing public officials. ... Full Story | Top |
Syria violence kills 23, U.N. criticizes both sides
Tue,1 May 2012 10:25 AM PDT
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Violence hit two Syrian provinces on Tuesday with a rights group reporting 10 civilians dead in an army mortar attack and 12 soldiers killed in a firefight with rebel gunmen as U.N. monitors sought to shore up a flimsy ceasefire. The United Nations accused both sides of breaching the truce and said it had credible reports that at least 34 children had been killed since the accord took effect on April 12. ...
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Obama targets evaders of Iran, Syria sanctions
Tue,1 May 2012 09:52 AM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama signed an order giving the Treasury Department more power to go after individuals and groups who try to evade America's sanctions against Iran and Syria. Treasury said on Tuesday the order gives it "a new authority to tighten further the U.S. sanctions on Iran and Syria." "Treasury now has the capability to publicly identify foreign individuals and entities that have engaged in these evasive and deceptive activities, and generally bar access to the U.S. financial and commercial systems," the department said in a statement. ...
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