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| U.S., Mexico reach tomato deal to avert trade war Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 07:13 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government and Mexican tomato growers reached a tentative agreement on Saturday that reduces the threat of a costly trade war stemming from a U.S. decision last year to pull out of a 1996 bilateral tomato trade pact. "I am pleased that we were able to come to an agreement on fresh tomato imports from Mexico that restores stability and confidence to the U.S. tomato market and meets the requirements of U.S. law," U.S. Commerce Under Secretary for International Trade Francisco Sanchez said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey says tests confirm leftist bombed U.S. embassy Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 07:07 PM PST  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A member of a Turkish leftist group that accuses Washington of using Turkey as its "slave" carried out a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. embassy, the Ankara governor's office cited DNA tests as showing on Saturday. Ecevit Sanli, a member of the leftist Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), blew himself up in a perimeter gatehouse on Friday as he tried to enter the embassy, also killing a Turkish security guard. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House rebuffed Clinton-Petraeus plan to arm Syrian rebels: report Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 06:39 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A plan developed last summer by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then-CIA Director David Petraeus to arm and train Syrian rebels was rebuffed by the White House, The New York Times reported on Saturday. The United States has sent humanitarian aid to Syria but has declined requests for weapons by rebels fighting to overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tennis-Spain stays alive with doubles win over Canada Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 05:31 PM PST Feb 2 (Reuters) - Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez produced a gritty doubles win over Canada on Saturday, to keep Spain from a shock first round exit from the Davis Cup world group. Trailing 2-0 after dropping both singles matches on Friday, Spain were forced to go the distance on the Vancouver hardcourt before they nervously claimed a 4-6 6-4 6-7 6-3 6-2 victory. Daniel Nestor, an Olympic gold medalist and 13-time Grand Slam winner, and partner Vasek Pospisil appeared ready to send Canada through to the last eight for the first time as the hosts took a two sets to one lead. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chicago marchers urge Obama to come home to address gun violence Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 05:28 PM PST CHICAGO (Reuters) - Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and relatives of victims of fatal shootings in Chicago urged President Barack Obama on Saturday to come back to his hometown and address the gun violence plaguing the city. Before a march on the city's South Side, Jackson, a former Democratic presidential candidate, said America's third most populous city needed more help than Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police superintendent Garry McCarthy could offer. "When the president shows up, it shows ultimate national seriousness," said Jackson, a Chicago resident. He also called for the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali hails "savior" Hollande, he says fight not over Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 04:47 PM PST  TIMBUKTU, Mali/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Cheering, grateful Malians mobbed French President Francois Hollande on Saturday as he visited French troops fighting Islamist jihadist rebels, and he pledged France would finish the job of restoring government control in the Sahel state. In a one-day trip to Mali accompanied by his ministers for defense, foreign affairs and development, Hollande was hailed as a liberator in the ancient northern city of Timbuktu, which French and Malian forces retook from the rebels six days ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Video of protester stripped and beaten fires Egypt fury Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 04:19 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - After eight days of protests that killed nearly 60 people, a video of one demonstrator stripped naked, dragged across the ground and beaten with truncheons by helmeted riot police has fired Egyptians to a new level of outrage. Hamada Saber, 48, lay in a police hospital on Saturday, the morning after he was shown on television naked, covered in soot and thrashed by half a dozen policemen who had pulled him to an armoured vehicle near the presidential palace. ... Full Story | Top |
| One dead, dozens hurt as police clash with Egypt protesters Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 04:18 PM PST  CAIRO/PORT SAID, Egypt (Reuters) - At least one protester was shot dead and dozens wounded on Friday when riot police clashed with demonstrators demanding the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi. Youths threw petrol bombs and shot fireworks at the outer wall of Mursi's Cairo presidential compound as night fell. Police responded by firing water cannon and teargas leading to skirmishes in the surrounding streets. Two witnesses said they had seen a protester shot dead in Cairo with live ammunition in front of them. "It's verified. I am at the morgue. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela's Maduro accuses rival of "conspiring" against country Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 03:55 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro accused opposition leader Henrique Capriles on Saturday of "conspiring" against the OPEC nation during meetings in neighboring Colombia, stepping up his attacks on his most likely potential election rival. The government is upbeat about President Hugo Chavez's recovery from cancer surgery in Cuba. But the socialist maverick has not been seen in public or heard from in eight weeks, calling into question the future of his self-styled revolution. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition talks with Russia and Iran Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 03:11 PM PST  MUNICH (Reuters) - The Syrian opposition leader met the foreign ministers of Russia and Iran on Saturday, opening a window to a possible breakthrough in efforts to broker an end to Syria's civil war. Russia and Iran have been the staunchest allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad throughout an armed uprising, and any understandings they might reach with Assad's foes could help overcome the two sides' refusal to negotiate. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., Mexico in weekend talks on tomato pact Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 02:57 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Department officials and Mexican tomato growers on Saturday were in intense talks aimed at reaching a deal to govern tomato trade between the two countries, a Commerce Department official said. The two sides hope to reach an agreement by a Monday deadline, the official told Reuters, while declining to characterize how close the two sides were. The department made a preliminary decision in September to terminate a 1996 U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Istanbul police find body thought to be missing U.S. tourist Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 02:49 PM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police believe they have found the body of an American tourist reported missing in Istanbul 12 days ago, a police official said on Saturday. Sarai Sierra, 33, from New York City, had been travelling alone and was reported missing on January 21. State-run Anatolian news agency said the body was discovered in the ruins of the old city wall by residents in the low-income Sarayburnu neighborhood and that Sierra's driving licence was found on the body. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition leader to meet Iran's foreign minister Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 02:42 PM PST MUNICH (Reuters) - Syrian opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib said on Saturday he would meet Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Germany this weekend to discuss finding a solution to the Syrian crisis. "I confirm that I will be meeting the Iranian foreign minister to discuss finding a way to remove the regime with the least possible bloodshed and loss of life. I had already met (Russian Foreign Minister) Sergei Lavrov and (U.S. Vice-President) Joe Biden for this purpose," he told Reuters. Alkhatib, Salehi, Lavrov and Biden are all attending a security conference in Munich. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria opposition chief meets Russia's Lavrov in Munich Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 02:42 PM PST MUNICH (Reuters) - The head of the Syrian opposition Moaz Alkhatib told Reuters he had met Russia's foreign minister on Saturday on the sidelines of a conference in Munich and had been invited to visit Moscow. Alkhatib, president of the Syrian National Coalition, said he had received a "clear invitation" from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to visit Moscow, a breakthrough in relations that could help pave the way for a solution to the Syrian crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran threat is paramount for new Israeli government: Netanyahu Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 02:36 PM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday took on the job of forming a new government and said its most important task would be to ensure that Iran does not gain nuclear arms. President Shimon Peres formally called on Netanyahu to assemble a new coalition following the January 22 general election in which Netanyahu's rightist Likud-Beitenu emerged as the biggest party. It controls 31 seats in the 120-seat parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| French parliament backs main clause in gay marriage law Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 02:29 PM PST  PARIS (Reuters) - The French parliament on Saturday adopted the main clause of a bill that would allow same-sex marriage and grant gay couples the right to adopt children. Deputies voted 249-97 to back the clause eliminating opposite gender as a condition of the right to marriage. The draft law, the first major social reform of Francois Hollande's presidency, has sparked major protests. Several hundred thousand people massed at the Eiffel Tower in Paris last month to protest against the plan. The approval of the key clause prompted fresh protests in several towns on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thirty-five killed as militants attack Pakistan checkpoint Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 02:27 PM PST  DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Militants attacked an isolated army checkpoint in Pakistan's restive northwest on Saturday, with at least 35 people killed in the initial assault, subsequent crossfire and a rocket attack on a house, officials said. The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the attack was in response to a U.S. drone strike in neighboring North Waziristan last month in which two commanders were killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nebraska Lieutenant Governor Sheehy resigns over phone scandal Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 02:20 PM PST (Reuters) - Nebraska Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy, the leading candidate to replace the current governor in the next election, resigned on Saturday after a newspaper investigation raised questions about improper cell phone calls made to women. The Omaha World-Herald investigation found that the 53-year-old Republican made about 2,000 late-night calls to four women, other than his wife, on his state-issued cell phone over four years. The newspaper plans to publish results of the investigation on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| A second Republican voices support for Hagel to lead Pentagon Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 01:57 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Mike Johanns said on Saturday he would support fellow Nebraskan Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense, becoming the second Republican in the Senate to express public support for President Barack Obama's embattled nominee. The Lincoln, Nebraska, JournalStar reported on its website that Johanns, a former Nebraska governor who holds Hagel's old Senate seat, issued a statement supporting Hagel. An aide to Johanns confirmed the report. ... Full Story | Top |
| French army to stay in Mali until "sovereignty restored:" Hollande Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 01:38 PM PST BAMAKO (Reuters) - France will withdraw its troops from Mali once the Sahel state has restored sovereignty over its national territory and a U.N.-backed African military force can take over from the French soldiers, French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday. "We have not yet finished our mission. But we do not foresee staying indefinitely. Once the sovereignty of Mali is restored, once MISMA (the African force) can replace our own troops, we will withdraw," he told a news conference in Bamako during a one-day visit to Mali. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemen says intercepted ship carrying weapons was Iranian Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 12:37 PM PST SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen confirmed on Saturday that a ship intercepted last month off its coast was an Iranian vessel trying to smuggle explosives and surface-to-air missiles to the country, the state news agency Saba reported. Officials in Washington said earlier this week that the seizure of the ship on January 23 had been coordinated with the U.S. Navy and that the intercepted shipment was believed to have been from Iran and destined for insurgents, likely to be Shi'ite Muslim Houthi rebels mainly based in northern Yemen. ... Full Story | Top |
| Biden raises possibility of direct U.S.-Iran talks Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 12:01 PM PST  MUNICH (Reuters) - The United States is ready for direct talks with Iran if it is serious about negotiations, Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday, backing bilateral contact many see as crucial to easing a dispute over Tehran's nuclear program. Speaking at a security conference in Munich, Biden said Iran - which says it is enriching uranium for peaceful energy only - now faced "the most robust sanctions in history" meant to ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbia coalition rocked by leaks against prime minister Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 11:17 AM PST  BELGRADE (Reuters) - A close aide to Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic accused Dacic's SNS coalition partners on Saturday of staging a smear campaign after media reports linked Dacic to an alleged drug trafficker. The scandal, drip-fed to media by unnamed 'police sources', fuelled speculation that Dacic's SNS coalition partner, riding high in opinion polls, is looking to leave the government and force an early election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia's FARC to free 3 kidnapped members of security forces Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 11:04 AM PST BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's FARC rebels on Saturday admitted to holding two police patrolmen and a soldier it seized last week and pledged to free them in an apparent goodwill gesture at the end of a tense week of peace negotiations with the government. The captured soldier had not previously been announced by the Defense Ministry. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the biggest armed group in Latin America, said in a statement it would release the three security officials to the International Committee of the Red Cross and a local peace group. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain's Rajoy denies wrongdoing in kickbacks scandal Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 11:00 AM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Saturday denied wrongdoing in a growing corruption scandal that threatens his credibility just as he makes headway against economic crisis. The ruling People's Party (PP) has been buffeted all week by media reports alleging its former treasurers operated a slush fund with donations from construction industry executives that were then doled out to Rajoy and other party leaders. "I need only two words: it's false," Rajoy said in a televised address after an extraordinary meeting of party leaders to discuss the allegations. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House offers proof Obama wasn't just shooting from the lip Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:45 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seeking to put to rest questions on whether Barack Obama was a straight shooter when he claimed he went skeet shooting "all the time," the White House on Saturday offered proof: a photo of the president blasting away at clay targets. Obama drew skepticism when he made the assertion in a recent interview with the New Republic magazine, an attempt to show sympathy for hunters even as he pushes for tighter gun controls after the Newtown school shooting massacre in December. ... Full Story | Top |
| Efforts to end Alabama hostage situation shrouded in secrecy Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:39 AM PST  MIDLAND CITY, Alabama (Reuters) - Efforts to free a 5-year-old boy from a gunman in an underground bunker, where he fled after killing the boy's school bus driver, were shrouded in secrecy on Saturday as the standoff in rural Alabama dragged into a fifth straight day. Police sources said the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, often described as federal law enforcement's only full-time counterterrorism unit, was leading negotiations aimed at securing the boy's safe release. ... Full Story | Top |
| Eritrean refugees protest in support of renegade soldiers Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:37 AM PST ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia demonstrated on Saturday in support of soldiers who forced state media in the Eritrean capital Asmara to call for all political prisoners to be freed. Dissident Eritrean soldiers with tanks stormed the information ministry on January 21 and obliged the director general of state television to appeal for the prisoners' release. Between 5,000 and 10,000 political prisoners are held in the country of 6 million people, the U.N. human rights chief said last year, accusing Eritrea of torture and summary executions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia commemorates pivotal Battle of Stalingrad Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 10:34 AM PST  VOLGOGRAD, Russia (Reuters) - The city of Volgograd re-adopted its old name of Stalingrad for a few hours on Saturday as Russia commemorated the 70th anniversary of the epic battle that turned the tide of World War Two. The victory in the six-month Battle of Stalingrad, which killed about 2 million people, is a symbol of national pride that has produced an outburst of patriotic fervor and, for some, nostalgia for the Soviet era and dictator Josef Stalin. President Vladimir Putin flew to Volgograd, which was known as Stalingrad from 1925 until 1961. ... Full Story | Top |
| Myanmar to hold peace talks in China with Kachin rebels Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 09:32 AM PST YANGON (Reuters) - The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) said on Saturday it had agreed to hold talks with Myanmar's government in China next week, to try to end stubborn conflict with the military that has intensified in the past two months. The KIA said in a statement the Chinese government "will take a role as a witness and mediate during the meeting" adding that it urged "the Kachin community, our friends and supporters around the world to pray for our leaders. ... Full Story | Top |
| German opposition SPD threatens to block Cyprus aid -Spiegel Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 09:16 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's opposition Social Democrats (SPD) will only back a bailout for Cyprus if Nicosia agrees to consolidate its banks among other conditions, the party's challenger to Chancellor Angela Merkel was quoted as saying on Saturday. "SPD agreement will only come under certain conditions," Peer Steinbrueck, who takes on Merkel in September's election, was quoted in Der Spiegel weekly as saying. Before any rescue deal, Cyprus would have to consolidate "its completely bloated banking sector" and wind up some institutions, the magazine quoted Steinbrueck as saying. ... Full Story | Top |
| DNA tests confirm Turkish leftist bombed U.S. embassy Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 09:15 AM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - DNA tests showed that Ecevit Sanli, a member of the Turkish leftist group DHKP-C, was the suicide bomber in Friday's attack on the U.S. embassy in Ankara, the city governor's office said on Saturday. "The person who detonated the explosives strapped to his body while trying to enter the US embassy ... was Ecevit Sanli, a militant from the terrorist organization DHKP-C," the governor's office said in a statement. (Reporting by Seltem Iyigun; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Stephen Powell) Full Story | Top |
| Palestinians clash with Israeli soldiers at West Bank encampment Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:52 AM PST  BURIN, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers used tear gas and stun grenades on Saturday to disperse about 150 Palestinians trying to block expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Both sides sustained light injuries as the soldiers removed about a dozen tents and small huts from land adjacent to the Palestinian northern West Bank village of Burin, Palestinian witnesses and the Army said. It was the third time in recent weeks that Palestinians had set up an encampment in what they said was an attempt to hamper the expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank. ... Full Story | Top |
| Argentina aims at bond "holdouts" ahead of court showdown Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:47 AM PST BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina has made its final written arguments ahead of a February 27 U.S. courtroom showdown against "holdout" bondholders demanding 100 cents on the dollar for debt that the South American country defaulted on more than a decade ago. Oral arguments in the case, which could raise emerging market sovereign borrowing costs by complicating future restructurings, are set for the end of this month before the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamist threatens to attack Germany, Merkel: paper Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:46 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - A German Islamist has threatened to attack Berlin this summer and kill Chancellor Angela Merkel in a video posted on the Internet, a newspaper reported on Saturday. A spokesman for Germany's intelligence service, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, confirmed its agents had seen such a video. "This is an Islamist battle song. It is known to the security services and is being evaluated," said the spokesman. ... Full Story | Top |
| Illinois police recapture killer after accidental release Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:35 AM PST (Reuters) - A convicted Indiana murderer was back in custody on Saturday after being recaptured following his mistaken release from an Illinois jail due to an apparent clerical error. Cook County authorities arrested Steven Robbins, 44, on Friday in Kankakee, Illinois, about 60 miles south of Chicago, after interviews with family and friends and "various leads" helped locate him, according to a statement from the Cook County Sheriff's Office. Robbins was serving time in Indiana when he was taken to Illinois to face a drug charge that dated back to 1992. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ahmadinejad to make first Egypt visit by Iran head in decades Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:27 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Cairo next week, becoming the first Iranian president to travel to Egypt since Iran's 1979 revolution ruptured diplomatic ties between the two most populous countries in the Middle East. Ahmadinejad will head Iran's delegation to a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Cairo, said Amani Mojtaba, head of Iran's interest section in Cairo, which it maintains in the absence of an official embassy. "I hope that Iranian-Egyptian relations return to the full diplomatic level," he told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands of Vukovar Croats rally against Serb Cyrillic signs Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:14 AM PST VUKOVAR, Croatia (Reuters) - More than 20,000 Croats rallied on Saturday in Vukovar, a town destroyed in the 1991-95 war with rebel Serbs, to protest against the government's plan to introduce signs in the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet. The Social Democrat-led government, which will take the country into the European Union on July 1, wants to put up bilingual signs, in both the Latin script used for Croatian and in Cyrillic, in areas where the population is more than one third ethnic Serb later this month. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey detains three after U.S. embassy bombing: state TV Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 08:13 AM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Authorities in Turkey detained three people in Istanbul and Ankara on Saturday in connection with Friday's suicide bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Ankara, state broadcaster TRT said. A Turkish leftist group, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), said earlier it was responsible for the attack, which killed the bomber and a Turkish security guard. (Reporting by Seltem Iyigun; Writing by Nick Tattersall) Full Story | Top |
| Nepal Maoist PM says to accept unity government for May polls Saturday, Feb 02, 2013 07:57 AM PST HETAUDA, Nepal (Reuters) - Nepal's Maoist prime minister said on Saturday he was ready for a unity government to oversee May elections, in an attempt to break a deadlock threatening a peace process that ended a decade-long civil war. "We are ready to accept a national unity government under anybody's leadership to hold elections for the constituent assembly," Baburam Bhattarai told party delegates gathered for the six-day conference in the industrial town of Hetauda, 80 km (50 miles) southeast of Kathmandu. ... Full Story | Top |
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