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| Nicaragua's Ortega expects Colombia to respect border ruling Friday, Nov 23, 2012 07:36 PM PST  (Reuters) - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega expressed confidence on Friday that Colombia would recognize an international court ruling this week that grants Nicaragua jurisdiction over resources-rich Caribbean waters near a Colombian archipelago. Ortega did not mention Bogota's announcement on Wednesday that it would keep navy ships in the disputed waters until the International Court of Justice rules on a possible appeal from the country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Middle East nuclear talks will not occur next month: U.S. Friday, Nov 23, 2012 07:07 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Talks planned for next month on banning nuclear weapons in the Middle East will not take place, the United States said on Friday, a development likely to anger Arab states but please Israel. The State Department announced that the mid-December conference on creating a zone free of weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, would not occur and did not make clear when, or whether, it would take place. Earlier this month, diplomats told Reuters that the talks were likely to be postponed, rather than canceled outright. "As a co-sponsor of the proposed conference ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Argentine bondholders fear U.S. court ruling could trigger default Friday, Nov 23, 2012 06:27 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors holding $1 billion worth of restructured Argentine debt say they are preparing to appeal a U.S. court ruling that they fear would trigger another default and prevent them from being paid principal and interest due on their bonds next month. U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa ordered late on Wednesday that Argentina immediately pay a separate group of holdout investors who rejected two debt restructuring offers the $1.33 billion in judgments they have won in court, a stinging blow to the country's efforts to overcome a 2002 debt crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico arrests suspected murderer on FBI most wanted list Friday, Nov 23, 2012 03:49 PM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican federal police have captured suspected murderer, rapist and drug gang member Joe Luis Saenz, one of the 10 most wanted fugitives on the FBI's list, the government said on Friday. Saenz, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in the city of Guadalajara in western Mexico on Thursday following an investigation carried out by the federal police in conjunction with the FBI, the government said in a statement. According to the FBI, Saenz is suspected of shooting and killing two rival gang members in Los Angeles in July 1998. For the FBI's most wanted list, see: www.fbi. ... Full Story | Top |
| Violence in cities; Mubarak deja vu? Friday, Nov 23, 2012 03:01 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Angry youths hurled rocks at security forces and burned a police truck as thousands gathered in central Cairo to protest at Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's decision to grab sweeping new powers. Police fired tear gas near Tahrir Square, heart of the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak at the height of the Arab Spring. Thousands demanded that Mursi should quit and accused him of launching a "coup". There were also violent protests in Alexandria, Port Said and Suez. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Israel wins U.S. support on Gaza but differences remain Friday, Nov 23, 2012 02:52 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As conflict erupted in Gaza last week, Israel's officials and supporters embarked on what proved a successful diplomatic and media campaign to ensure the United States remained right behind them. Israel's ambassador to Washington Michael Oren became a regular fixture on cable news channels and talk shows. Pro-Israel lobby groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the Israel Project bombarded journalists with e-mails offering footage of Hamas rocket strikes and interviews with ordinary Israelis in the line of fire. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU budget summit ends without deal, retry in 2013 Friday, Nov 23, 2012 02:50 PM PST  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders failed to reach agreement on Friday on a new seven-year budget for their troubled bloc, calling off talks in less than two days after most countries balked at far deeper spending cuts demanded by Britain and its allies. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said they decided to end a special summit on the 2014-2020 EU budget, worth about 1 trillion euros, and would try again early next year rather than continue negotiating into the weekend. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sierra Leone's Koroma promises growth in new term Friday, Nov 23, 2012 02:08 PM PST  FREETOWN (Reuters) - Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma was sworn in for a second term on Friday after winning elections, promising to boost foreign investment and crack down on corruption in the war-scarred nation. Koroma took 58.7 percent of the ballots in a November 17 poll, just above the 55 percent he needed to avoid a run-off, election officials announced. His main rival, Julius Maada Bio, a 48-year-old retired army brigadier, took 37.4 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. has concerns about Egyptian president Mursi's moves Friday, Nov 23, 2012 01:25 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is concerned about Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's decision to assume sweeping powers, the U.S. State Department said on Friday. Mursi on Thursday issued a decree that puts his decisions above legal challenge until a new parliament is elected, causing angry protests by his opponents and violent clashes in central Cairo and other cities on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congo rebels push on after repelling counter-attack Friday, Nov 23, 2012 12:59 PM PST  SAKE/GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Rebels advanced in eastern Congo on Friday, seeking to strengthen their grip before a regional summit intended to damp down the insurgency in an area long plagued by ethnic and political conflict. Fighters from the M23 group, who are widely thought to be backed by neighboring Rwanda, pushed south along Lake Kivu near the new rebel stronghold of Goma on the Rwandan border. In the capital Kinshasa, protesters accused the rebels of abuses including the rape of pregnant women while the United Nations reported killings of civilians and ... Full Story | Top |
| S&P downgrades maverick Hungary on weak growth Friday, Nov 23, 2012 12:50 PM PST BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's on Friday cut Hungary's long-term credit rating, already in junk territory, by one notch to BB, saying its government's unpredictable policies could hurt medium-term growth. The move came almost a year after S&P slashed Hungary to below investment grade on similar grounds and could hit the forint currency and Hungarian bonds when markets reopen on Monday, analysts said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sarkozy judge mistook hostage for billionaire: lawyer Friday, Nov 23, 2012 11:50 AM PST  PARIS (Reuters) - A judge investigating Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign funding mistook a Colombian hostage for a billionaire backer of France's right-wing party when he queried a meeting in the ex-president's diary, a lawyer for Sarkozy said. Sarkozy, who lost power in May, was questioned for 12 hours on Thursday by a judge who is trying to establish whether his election win in 2007 was aided by illegal funding from France's richest woman, 90-year-old Liliane Bettencourt. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four new cases of SARS-like virus found in Saudi, Qatar Friday, Nov 23, 2012 11:17 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - A new virus from the same family as SARS which sparked a global alert in September has now killed two people in Saudi Arabia, and total cases there and in Qatar have reached six, the World Health Organisation said. The U.N. health agency issued an international alert in late September saying a virus previously unknown in humans had infected a Qatari man who had recently been in Saudi Arabia, where another man with the same virus had died. On Friday it said in an outbreak update that it had registered four more cases and one of the new patients had died. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria says Turkey's bid for NATO missiles "provocative" Friday, Nov 23, 2012 11:06 AM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria on Friday condemned Turkey's request for NATO to deploy Patriot defense missiles near their common border, calling it "provocative", after a spate of clashes there that has raised fear of the Syrian civil war embroiling the wider region. The 20-month-old uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has turned increasingly bloody and heavy fighting has often erupted right along Syria's northern border with Turkey. Ankara has repeatedly scrambled fighter jets and responded in kind to stray shells and mortars flying into its territory. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK government reaches compromise on renewable subsidies Friday, Nov 23, 2012 10:59 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will triple subsidies for low-carbon power generation by 2020 after its coalition government this week forged a compromise over how to fund wind farms without harming the future of gas-fired power. The compromise became possible after the government agreed to postpone until 2016 setting a target for decarbonization, which was opposed by many members of Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party. The target is the extent to which carbon emissions are to be reduced by 2030. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congo miners pin hopes on distance from rebel push Friday, Nov 23, 2012 10:52 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Never a destination for the faint-hearted investor, the Democratic Republic of Congo is again worrying those betting on its mines and vast mineral wealth, as rebels battle government troops in the country's east. Goma - a lakeside trade town at the centre of an eastern region that once exported significant quantities of tin, gold and tantalum, a metal used in electronics - has been taken by the M23 fighters, who are now progressing south. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian lawmakers introduce law on "foreign agent" media Friday, Nov 23, 2012 10:36 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian lawmakers introduced a bill to the state Duma, or lower house of parliament, on Friday which would force foreign-funded media to register as 'foreign agents', adding to a raft of bills that critics say is aimed at cracking down on dissent. The law would complement another piece of legislation that forces non-government organizations that engage in "political activities" and receive money from abroad to register themselves using the same term, which is steeped in Cold-War era hostility. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy center-left leads in latest opinion poll Friday, Nov 23, 2012 10:30 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - Italy's center-left Democratic Party holds a steady lead, ahead of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's deeply divided People of Freedom party, an opinion poll released on Friday showed. The most recent entrant, the centrist Italia Futura movement, scored just under 5 percent, according to the survey by pollsters SWG. The movement, headed by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, chairman of sports-car maker Ferrari, backs the agenda of Prime Minister Mario Monti. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy Monti declines comment on running for election Friday, Nov 23, 2012 10:30 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti declined to comment on Friday when asked for his reaction to remarks from President Giorgio Napolitano who said that Monti could not stand as a candidate in next year's parliamentary election. "I have no comment to make," he said at a news conference after a European Council meeting in Brussels. Napolitano said on Thursday that Monti's status as Senator for Life meant he could not run for parliament, dampening growing speculation that the former European Commissioner could join a centrist force to contest the election, expected in March. ... Full Story | Top |
| Steinbrueck says SPD-Greens ahead of Merkel bloc before vote Friday, Nov 23, 2012 09:41 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's center-left opposition is closer to winning a majority in next September's election than Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right alliance, Social Democrat (SPD) chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrueck said on Friday. In a fiery speech to SPD leaders, Steinbrueck acknowledged having initial problems in his campaign to oust Merkel's government but pointed out that the SPD and their allies, the Greens, had moved ahead of Merkel's coalition in the polls. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: With eye on Iran, Gaza conflict reassures Netanyahu Friday, Nov 23, 2012 09:37 AM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Both on the diplomatic and military front, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will draw some comfort from his offensive against Gaza as he switches his gaze once more to his main strategic challenge -- Iran. Israel views Iran's nuclear program as an existential threat in a totally different league to the problems posed by the Islamist group Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu fears a nuclear-armed Iran could one day eradicate Israel and has promised that Tehran will not get the bomb should he win a third term in office in elections on January 22. ... Full Story | Top |
| Debate rages over Sudan's Bashir after "plot" arrests Friday, Nov 23, 2012 09:26 AM PST  KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's information minister had one clear message after security agents moved in to arrest their former spy chief - that a plot had been uncovered, the culprits caught and the situation in the country was now "totally stable". Khartoum did appear quiet a day later on Friday - but on the desert city's dusty streets the detention amplified a debate about the future of the country's leader, and posed new questions about who might one day unseat him. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pussy Riot protester alone in cell after inmate tension Friday, Nov 23, 2012 09:02 AM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Jailed Pussy Riot punk protester Maria Alyokhina has been moved to a single-person cell for her own protection because of tension with other prisoners, her lawyer and Russia's federal penitentiary service said on Friday. Alyokhina, 24, is serving a two-year sentence for a raucous protest against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main Russian Orthodox cathedral. Activists said her trial, and that of two band mates, was part of a crackdown on dissent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former Russian Defence Ministry official charged with fraud Friday, Nov 23, 2012 09:01 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - A former bureaucrat was charged with fraud on Friday in a $100 million embezzlement case that has cost the defense minister his job and shone a spotlight on corruption in President Vladimir Putin's administration. Yevgeniya Vasilyeva, who had valuable paintings, rare antiques and more than 100 expensive rings seized in an early morning raid on her central Moscow apartment last month, was charged with large-scale fraud. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ireland opens new probe into death of woman denied abortion Friday, Nov 23, 2012 08:54 AM PST  DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland has opened a new investigation into the death of a woman denied an abortion of her dying fetus, as the government scrambled to stem criticism of its handling of an incident that polarized the overwhelmingly Catholic country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian parliament backs cut in pension savings Friday, Nov 23, 2012 08:11 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma, has approved a pension reform law that will cut savings without raising retirement ages, ducking a tough decision on how to finance the budget burden of an ageing population. The parliament made one concession to Russia's nascent asset management industry, retaining a higher levy for workers who opt to keep their retirement account with a private asset manager. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sweden's rich and poor tussle over tutor tax breaks Friday, Nov 23, 2012 08:07 AM PST  STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Swedish government plan to offer tax breaks to parents who hire tutors for their children has sparked fresh fears about rising class divisions in the traditionally egalitarian nation. Though the country is home to the Swedish model of high taxes and generous welfare, data from the OECD club of wealthy nations has shown inequalities rising. The centre-right government of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has over six years chipped away at the social welfare system and rolled out wide tax rebates. ... Full Story | Top |
| Saudi dynasty faces generational choice Friday, Nov 23, 2012 08:04 AM PST RIYADH (Reuters) - Two royal deaths and two cabinet reshuffles in just over a year have edged Saudi Arabia's ruling family toward a tough decision: turning to a new generation after 60 years of rule by sons of the founding patriarch. The succession beyond King Abdullah - the fifth of Ibn Saud's sons to reign and who is, at 89, recovering from major surgery - is a sensitive subject among the al-Saud dynasty's hundreds of princes; but it will determine the path of the world's top oil exporter and main Arab ally of the United States as it navigates domestic change and regional turmoil. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bumbling bomb plot exposes Poland's dark side Friday, Nov 23, 2012 08:00 AM PST  KRAKOW, Poland (Reuters) - The Polish man arrested for plotting to blow up parliament was not difficult for intelligence agents to spot. Acquaintances say he put up posters advertising classes on home-made explosives, and anti-government comments were posted on the Internet from his email address. But even if it was destined to fail, the story of this alleged bomb plot reveals some uncomfortable truths about Poland, a country hailed abroad as a success story for its transition from Communism to democracy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy soccer attack stokes fears of neo-fascist violence Friday, Nov 23, 2012 07:49 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - A brutal attack on fans of English football club Tottenham Hotspur in Rome has stoked fears in Italy of rising right-wing and anti-Semitic violence. Italy's capital has been rattled by increasing militancy by the extreme right since October, with weekly demonstrations by the neo-fascist youth group Blocco Studentesco often ending in clashes with police. Local media initially blamed Thursday's attack on hard-core fans or 'ultras' supporting Lazio, who Tottenham had traveled to the capital to play in the Europa League. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek police clash with migrants at detention centre Friday, Nov 23, 2012 07:47 AM PST ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police fired teargas at dozens of immigrants pelting them with sticks and metal objects during a protest at a detention center in the northeastern city of Komotini on Friday, police said. The clashes broke out after more than 400 of about 550 immigrants held at the center protested against their living conditions, shouting "Freedom!" and "Send us home!". Some set fire to dozens of mattresses. At least four immigrants and four police officers were injured, police said. Greece is a gateway for mostly Asian and African migrants trying to enter the European Union. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan cuts phones in hope of stopping attacks on Shi'ites Friday, Nov 23, 2012 07:41 AM PST  ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan is suspending phone coverage in many cities this weekend, an important one in the Shi'ite Muslim calendar, after a series of bomb attacks on Shi'ites triggered by mobile phones. Hardline Sunnis have threatened more attacks as the Shi'ite mourning month of Muharram comes to a climax. More than a dozen people have already been killed this week attending Muharram processions. "All the blasts that occurred in the last 15 days were mobile phone-based," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan accuses Sudan of bombing and of massing troops Friday, Nov 23, 2012 07:28 AM PST JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan on Friday accused Sudan of killing seven people in air strikes on a disputed area and said its northern neighbor was jeopardizing a plan to restart cross-border oil flows by massing troops along their joint border. Sudan has already denied the accusations of bombing - which South Sudan said lasted for three days - and a Sudanese military spokesman was not immediately available on Friday to respond to the new troop movement allegation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sarkozy judge mistook hostage for billionaire backer: lawyer Friday, Nov 23, 2012 07:19 AM PST  PARIS (Reuters) - A judge investigating Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign funding mistook a Colombian hostage for a billionaire backer of France's right-wing party when he queried a meeting in the ex-president's diary, a lawyer for Sarkozy said. Sarkozy, who lost power in May, was questioned for 12 hours on Thursday by a judge who is trying to establish whether his election win in 2007 was aided by illegal funding from France's richest woman, 90-year-old Liliane Bettencourt. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sri Lanka says U.N. report on Tamil war casualties wrong, biased Friday, Nov 23, 2012 07:13 AM PST COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka on Friday rejected a U.N. report that more than 70,000 civilians were unaccounted for when its war with Tamil Tiger rebels ended in 2009, calling its findings "erroneous and replete with conjecture and bias". Released on November 14, the report said the United Nations failed to call proper attention to the plight of hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankan civilians during the bloody final stage of the three-decade war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Police fire teargas on edge of Cairo's Tahrir Friday, Nov 23, 2012 06:59 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Police fired teargas at protestors on the edge of Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday where thousands of people were demonstrating against President Mohamed Mursi. The teargas was fired in a street leading off Tahrir towards the cabinet and parliament buildings, with some canisters landing on the edge of the square, a witness said. Some protestors lit small fires in the street. (Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Angus MacSwan) Full Story | Top |
| Russia airs concern over Turkey's request for NATO missiles Friday, Nov 23, 2012 06:55 AM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia emphasized its opposition on Friday to NATO's potential deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey near the Syrian border, which the Western alliance says would increase security and Moscow argues would undermine it. NATO is considering the request for the surface-to-air missiles that alliance member Turkey has made because of fears of a spillover from the civil war in Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Mursi praises judiciary, says will clean up corrupt elements Friday, Nov 23, 2012 06:51 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, defending sweeping new powers he has assumed, praised the judiciary on Friday but said he would uncover corrupt elements. "The Egyptian judiciary has always had and will always have honorable men who love justice, however, the judiciary has been affected by what affected the nation. It has some in it who are trying to take cover. I will remove that cover," Mursi said, addressing supporters outside the presidential palace. ... Full Story | Top |
| Amid protests, president says Egypt moving forward Friday, Nov 23, 2012 06:40 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi told worshippers at a mosque in Cairo on Friday that Egypt was moving forward and his actions were taken to satisfy God and the nation, the official news agency reported. "We are, God willing, moving forward, and no one stands in our way," he said in the mosque in a Cairo suburb after Friday prayers, speaking after issuing a decree that gave him sweeping powers and led to protests. "I fulfill my duties to please God and the nation and I take decisions after consulting with everyone," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU calls on Egypt to respect democratic process Friday, Nov 23, 2012 06:40 AM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union on Friday called on Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi to respect the democratic process in his country after he issued a decree exempting all his decisions from legal challenge until a new parliament is elected. "It is of utmost importance that (the) democratic process be completed in accordance with the commitments undertaken by the Egyptian leadership," a spokesman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
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