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| Riots over Egyptian death sentences kill at least 32 Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 04:52 PM PST  PORT SAID, Egypt/CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 32 people were killed on Saturday when Egyptians rampaged in protest at the sentencing of 21 people to death over a soccer stadium disaster, violence that compounds a political crisis facing Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. Armored vehicles and military police fanned through the streets of Port Said, where gunshots rang out and protesters burned tires in anger that people from their city had been blamed for the deaths of 74 people at a match last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| French, Malian forces capture Gao rebel stronghold Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 04:45 PM PST  KONNA, Mali/PARIS (Reuters) - French and Malian forces fighting Islamist rebels took control on Saturday of the rebel bastion of Gao, the biggest military success so far in an offensive against al Qaeda-allied insurgents occupying the country's north. The United States and Europe back the U.N.-mandated Mali operation as a counterstrike against the threat of Islamist jihadists using the West African state's inhospitable Sahara desert as a launching pad for international attacks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela's Chavez overcomes infection, still having treatment Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 04:02 PM PST  SANTIAGO/CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has overcome a respiratory infection, but is still being treated for breathing problems after cancer surgery in Cuba last month, a government minister said on Saturday. Official statements have sounded upbeat about the socialist president's condition in recent weeks, following rumors he was gravely ill in a hospital in Havana and might be unable to keep governing after being re-elected in October to a third term. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands march against gun violence in Washington Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 01:15 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of marchers rallied in Washington in favor of gun control on Saturday, including residents of Newtown, Connecticut, where a mass elementary school shooting reignited the U.S. gun violence debate. Speakers - including Education Secretary Arne Duncan, lawmakers and actors - urged the protesters carrying such signs as "What Would Jesus Pack?" to lobby Congress and state legislators to back gun control measures. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy central bank approves Monte Paschi bailout request Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 01:51 PM PST  ROME/MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's central bank on Saturday gave its approval to a request by scandal hit bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena for 3.9 billion euros ($5.3 billion) of state loans, the latest step in the battle to revive the ailing bank. The Bank of Italy's backing was the final stage required to free up the financial help for Italy's third biggest lender, which this week revealed loss-making derivatives trades that could cost it about 720 million euros. ... Full Story | Top |
| Leading Senate liberal Harkin of Iowa to retire Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 08:00 PM PST  DES MOINES (Reuters) - Senator Tom Harkin, a veteran Iowa Democrat and one of the most liberal senators, said on Saturday he will not seek re-election in 2014, putting at risk what was considered a safe Democratic seat. Harkin, 73, who has focused much of his nearly 40-year congressional career on farm policy, education and expanding rights for people with disabilities, is the third senator facing re-election next year who has announced his retirement, following Democrat Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia. "It's somebody else's turn. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU, U.S. on verge of "difficult" free-trade negotiations Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 05:47 PM PST  SANTIAGO (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union are wrapping up final preparations for talks on a free-trade agreement that would encompass half the world's economic output, Europe's trade chief said on Saturday, while warning of "difficult negotiations." EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht will travel to Washington on February 5 to put the finishing touches on a joint EU-U.S. report. He gave his clearest signal yet that Brussels and Washington are ready to embark on the accord. "Essentially the report is ready. ... Full Story | Top |
| Medvedev says Magnitsky fallout not bad for Russian business Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 11:44 AM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev used a prime-time TV interview on Saturday to dismiss concerns growing fallout from the 2009 death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky would damage Russia's business interests. Medvedev said the whistleblower's death in jail, for which no one has been brought to justice, was being used by Kremlin critics to score points but was of no import to business leaders. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU, Mercosur to unblock trade talks, hurdles remain Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 04:36 PM PST  SANTIAGO (Reuters) - EU leaders won a promise from Argentina and Brazil on Saturday to revive stalled talks on a free-trade deal that would be a major prize for Europe as it emerges from crisis, but disputes over key issues mean a breakthrough appears distant. At a summit in Santiago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel led the Europeans in a new push in the negotiations with the South American trade bloc Mercosur that is made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraqi Sunnis mourn protesters shot dead by troops Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 12:52 PM PST  FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Thousands of mourners rallied on Saturday at funerals for Sunni Muslims shot by troops in demonstrations against Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Troops on Friday shot dead five people in Falluja, in the Sunni-dominated western province of Anbar. Sunnis have taken to the streets since December to protest what they call mistreatment of their minority sect, heightening fears Iraq may return to the Shi'ite-Sunni bloodletting that killed tens of thousands in 2006-2007. ... Full Story | Top |
| Singapore ruling party rebuked in by-election as disquiet rises Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 10:33 AM PST  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's long-dominant People's Action Party (PAP) lost heavily in a single-seat by-election on Saturday, a barometer of how the government is dealing with discontent in the wealthy Asian country over immigration and the high cost of living. The result in the Punggol East ward - 54.5 percent of the vote for the Workers Party and 43.7 percent for the PAP, with the rest split by two others - does not alter the balance of power in parliament, where the ruling party will still hold 80 of 87 elected seats. ... Full Story | Top |
| Riots over Egyptian death sentences kill at least 32 Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 02:18 PM PST  PORT SAID, Egypt/CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 32 people were killed on Saturday when Egyptians rampaged in protest at the sentencing of 21 people to death over a soccer stadium disaster, violence that compounds a political crisis facing Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. Armored vehicles and military police fanned through the streets of Port Said, where gunshots rang out and protesters burned tires in anger that people from their city had been blamed for the deaths of 74 people at a match last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| French, Malian forces capture Gao rebel stronghold Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 01:33 PM PST KONNA, Mali/PARIS (Reuters) - French and Malian forces fighting Islamist rebels took control on Saturday of the rebel bastion of Gao, the biggest military success so far in an offensive against al Qaeda-allied insurgents occupying the country's north. The United States and Europe back the U.N.-mandated Mali operation as a counterstrike against the threat of radical Islamist jihadists using the West African state's inhospitable Sahara desert as a launching pad for international attacks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Time to open up to trade, EU tells Argentina, Brazil Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 12:27 PM PST  SANTIAGO (Reuters) - EU leaders told Argentina and Brazil on Saturday to open up their markets and push ahead on a free-trade deal that would be a major prize for Europe as it tries to emerge from three years of economic crisis. Treading carefully in a region whose fortunes are markedly better than Europe's, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Buenos Aires and Brasilia not to revert to the kind of protectionism of the 1930s that deepened the Great Depression. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela's Chavez overcomes infection, treatment continues Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 02:45 PM PST  SANTIAGO/CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has overcome a respiratory infection, but is still being treated for breathing problems after cancer surgery last month, a government minister said on Saturday. Official statements have sounded upbeat about the socialist president's condition in recent weeks following rumors he was gravely ill in a hospital in Cuba. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ten Afghan police officers killed in suicide bombing Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 09:04 AM PST KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Ten police officers, including the local counter-terrorism chief, were killed in a suicide bombing in northern Afghanistan on Saturday. Shortly after 5 p.m. (1230 GMT) a man driving a motorbike detonated a large bomb at a busy roundabout in the north city of Kunduz near a group of police officers, provincial police chief spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said. "As a result of a suicide attack 10 policemen were killed, including the head of the traffic department and the head of the counter-terrorism office," said Hussaini. ... Full Story | Top |
| Leftist ex-PM Zeman wins Czech presidential election Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 09:03 AM PST  PRAGUE (Reuters) - Leftist former prime minister Milos Zeman won the Czech Republic's first direct presidential election on Saturday, beating a conservative opponent he had accused of favoring foreign interests in a bitter campaign. Zeman, a 68-year-old who favors more integration within the European Union, won by 54.8 to 45.2 percent over Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, results from 99.9 percent of voting districts showed. Economic forecaster Zeman, a Communist Party member before the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, will steer Czechs closer to Europe's mainstream. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clash between Pakistani Taliban, militia said to kill 31 Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 11:30 AM PST PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - At least 31 people were killed when Pakistan Taliban attacked a pro-government militia, according to reports from the two sides on Saturday, but the Taliban were beaten back after hours of fierce fighting. About 300 Taliban armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades launched the overnight assault in the Maiden area of Tirah, a maze of valleys on a route from Afghanistan to the city of Peshawar, a fighter of the pro-government Ansar ul-Islam militia said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: ECB rejects Irish bid on promissory note - sources Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 07:24 AM PST  (Reuters) - The European Central Bank has rejected Ireland's preferred solution to a dispute over the cost of servicing money borrowed to rescue a failed bank, EU sources familiar with the talks said on Saturday. Dublin wants to avoid having to pay 3.1 billion euros a year until 2023 to service a promissory note it issued to underwrite failed Anglo Irish Bank during a meltdown of the main Irish lenders after a real estate bubble burst in 2008. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bankers, policymakers say Europe's crisis not over Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 04:10 AM PST  DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - International bankers and finance ministers warned on Saturday that Europe's crisis was not over even though the euro currency is now stabilized, it will take years to overcome economic malaise and mass unemployment in Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela prison riot kills dozens: report Friday, Jan 25, 2013 10:06 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - A jail riot in southwestern Venezuela killed dozens of people on Friday, local media reported, the latest incident in the ongoing crisis in the South American nation's crowded prisons. Violence broke out after news of an inspection to confiscate weapons at the Centro Occidental jail, Prisons Minister Iris Varela said in a statement, without providing a death toll. Local media reports say between 26 and 54 people were killed and dozens wounded. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's ANA cancels more Dreamliner flights; no quick fix in sight Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 12:58 AM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - All Nippon Airways Co, which has the biggest fleet of Boeing Co's troubled Dreamliner jets, on Saturday cancelled hundreds of flights until February 18, signaling a quick fix to the plane's safety problems was unlikely. ANA, Asia's biggest airline by revenue and an important launch customer for Boeing's newest plane, said another 379 flights scheduled for February 1-18 had been scrapped, bringing to 838 the number of cancellations since one of its Dreamliners made an emergency landing in western Japan on January 16. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt court sentences 21 to death for stadium disaster Saturday, Jan 26, 2013 03:44 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced to death 21 people found guilty of involvement in the Port Said soccer stadium disaster in which 74 people died last year. The ruling could help reduce prospects of fresh clashes on Egypt's turbulent streets. Soccer fans and families of those killed had threatened more violence if the punishments did not satisfy them, and many had demanded the accused be executed. ... Full Story | Top |
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