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| Powers to offer sanctions relief if Iran curbs nuclear program Monday, Feb 25, 2013 07:46 PM PST ALMATY (Reuters) - Major powers will offer Iran some sanctions relief during talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan, this week if Tehran agrees to curb its nuclear program, a U.S. official said on Monday. But the Islamic Republic could face more economic pain if it fails to address international concerns about its atomic activities, the official said ahead of the February 26-27 meeting in the central Asian state, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There will be continued sanctions enforcement ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy faces stalemate after election shock Monday, Feb 25, 2013 07:16 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italy faced political deadlock on Tuesday after a stunning election that saw the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo become the strongest party in the country but left no group with a clear majority in parliament. The center-left coalition led by Pier Luigi Bersani won the lower house by around 125,000 votes and claimed the most seats in the Senate but was short of the majority in the upper house that it would need to govern. Bersani claimed victory but said it was obvious that Italy was in "a very delicate situation". ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea firm had U.S. contract while investing in Iran gas: GAO Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:48 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A South Korean construction company reported to have recently engaged in Iran's energy sector had a contract with the U.S. government even as Tehran came under pressure for its disputed nuclear program, a U.S. government watchdog said on Monday. Daelim Industrial Co had a nearly $1.5 million U.S. government contract to build family housing at a military base in South Korea at some point between mid-2011 and late 2012, the General Accountability Office said in a report on Monday. The GAO is the investigative arm of Congress. Under U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria says ready to talk with armed opposition Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:25 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria is ready for talks with its armed opponents, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Monday, in the clearest offer yet to negotiate with rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad. But Moualem said at the same time Syria would pursue its fight "against terrorism," alluding to the conflict in which the United Nations says 70,000 people have been killed. His offer of talks drew a dismissive response from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was starting a nine-nation tour of European and Arab capitals in London. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia to send committee for release of German hostages Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:12 PM PST  BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government on Monday authorized a committee of civilians and Red Cross officials to travel to a jungle zone where it hopes two German hostages will be freed by the nation's second-largest guerrilla group. The National Liberation Army (ELN) said in early February they had captured two German men in Catatumbo, near the border with Venezuela, the second time in a month it seized foreigners. "They sent us a message saying that if we authorized the Red Cross and a committee that already exists to interact with the ELN ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Castro successor lacks charisma but is experienced manager Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:37 PM PST  HAVANA (Reuters) - When Cuban President Raul Castro named former engineering professor and long-time Communist Party insider Miguel Diaz-Canel as his first vice president and potential successor on Sunday, he chose managerial skills over flair. Diaz-Canel, 52, is the youngest non-military man to come so close to the pinnacle of power in Cuba since the Castro brothers took power in 1959. He was appointed first vice president on Sunday at a meeting of the National Assembly where Castro also announced he would step down in 2018 at the end of his second five-year term as president. ... Full Story | Top |
| California couple vanishes during cycling trip in Peru Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:09 PM PST (Reuters) - Authorities in Peru have launched a search for a California couple reported missing while on a cycling trip through the Andean country in an area where U.S. citizens have been warned of kidnapping risks, U.S. Embassy officials in Lima said on Monday. Families of the couple, Garrett Hand and Jamie Neal, said they last heard from the pair on January 25, a day before they were expected to arrive in Lima after a journey of several hundred miles from Cusco, in the country's mountainous interior southeast of the capital, the embassy said in a statement. "Embassy officers are ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama urged to back tough arms trade treaty at U.N. talks Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:02 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Three dozen arms control and human rights groups have written to U.S. President Barack Obama ahead of new arms-trade negotiations at the United Nations next month, urging him to back a tough treaty that would end loopholes in international weapons sales. Arms control campaigners say one person every minute dies worldwide as a result of armed violence and a convention is needed to prevent the unregulated and illicit flow of weapons into conflict zones and fueling wars and atrocities. The U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK police to review sex scandal claims at coalition party Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:13 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - British police said they would review accusations of sexual misconduct made against a former official of the coalition's Liberal Democrats, intensifying a scandal that threatens to overwhelm the party ahead of a by-election. Detectives from London's police force will consider whether "criminal activity" took place relating to the allegations of sexual impropriety made against the party's former chief executive Chris Rennard, the Metropolitan Police Service said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands mourn Palestinian prisoner, revolt fears grow Monday, Feb 25, 2013 02:46 PM PST  SE'EER, West Bank (Reuters) - Masked Palestinian gunmen fired in the air and youths clashed with police on Monday as thousands marched at the West Bank funeral of a prisoner following days of rioting that have stoked Israeli fears of a new uprising. Israeli police shot and wounded five Palestinian youths during confrontations in Bethlehem and outside a West Bank prison, leaving one 15-year-old boy in a critical condition, Israeli and Palestinian medical sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's center left claims win in lower house: statement Monday, Feb 25, 2013 02:45 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Italy's center left said in a statement on Monday it has won the lower house and gathered more votes than its center-right rival in the Senate in parliamentary elections. According to official results on the Interior Ministry's website, the center left is leading by fewer than 200,000 votes with about 2,000 voting stations left to count. Projections by television channels also gave the center-left a very narrow lead. Whoever wins the lower house will automatically be awarded 340 of the 630 seats. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia arrests suspect in killing that sparked unrest Monday, Feb 25, 2013 02:31 PM PST  TUNIS (Reuters) - A hardline Islamist has been arrested in connection with the killing of a Tunisian opposition politician whose death earlier this month touched off protests across the country, a security source said on Monday. Tunisia was plunged into political crisis when the secular opposition politician Chokri Belaid was gunned down outside his house on February 6, igniting the biggest street protests since the overthrow of strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali two years ago. "The police arrested a Salafist suspected of killing Belaid," the source told Reuters without giving more details. ... Full Story | Top |
| Main suspect in Spain graft scandal has passport seized Monday, Feb 25, 2013 02:30 PM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - A former treasurer of Spain's ruling party, at the heart of a corruption scandal that has hurt Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, was ordered to surrender his passport on Monday while judges investigate millions of euros he deposited in Swiss banks. Luis Barcenas is accused of using his position to take bribes, evade taxes by hiding the proceeds in Switzerland and launder money through shell companies, charges that carry prison sentences of up to six years and fines. ... Full Story | Top |
| United Nations removes Osama bin Laden from sanctions list Monday, Feb 25, 2013 02:16 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Almost two years after his death at the hands of U.S. special forces in Pakistan, a U.N. Security Council committee has removed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from its sanctions list, although an order freezing any assets of the Islamist extremist remains in place. Bin Laden had been subjected to a travel ban and asset freeze since he was listed by the Security Council al-Qaeda sanctions committee on January 25, 2001. He was shot and killed on May 2, 2011 by U.S. forces who stormed his compound in Pakistan. The U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Monti says parties must allow government to be formed Monday, Feb 25, 2013 02:04 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Monday that all parties had a responsibility to ensure that a government could be formed after inconclusive elections left no party able to form a majority in the upper house. "A government for the country must be assured," he said but added that it would be premature to discuss possible outcomes. (Reporting By James Mackenzie) Full Story | Top |
| Comic Grillo stuns Italy with astonishing election showing Monday, Feb 25, 2013 01:53 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - The outcome of Italy's national election is still uncertain but what is already clear is that the massive winner is Beppe Grillo, a shaggy haired comedian whose anti-establishment 5-Star movement could well become the country's largest party. It had been clear from weeks that Grillo, with his fiery invective against the traditional parties, was making impressive progress in the polls, but no pundits had imagined he could win around a quarter of the votes cast. ... Full Story | Top |
| India's grain mountain grows despite push for exports Monday, Feb 25, 2013 01:49 PM PST  SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will be unable to consume or export enough wheat and rice to rein in a record stockpile after another bumper harvest, a failure that means crops risk rotting in fields instead of being sold on world markets to cash in on higher prices. In March, farmers in India will begin to harvest the sixth consecutive wheat crop expected to exceed demand, and when threshing is over in June the government's combined wheat and rice stocks are set to hit 100 million metric tons (110.23 million tons). That is about a fifth higher than the volume in storage a year ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy center-left leader says no new elections Monday, Feb 25, 2013 01:44 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - The deputy head of Italy's center-left Democratic Party (PD) dismissed talk of new elections on Monday and said his coalition should win a lower house majority and would have the responsibility of trying to form a government, despite deadlock in the Senate. The center-left coalition holds a narrow lead in the race for the lower house, according to television projections and PD deputy leader Enrico Letta said it was legitimate to expect that the winner in the Chamber of Deputies would be tasked with forming a government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Five killed by Damascus car bomb: monitor group Monday, Feb 25, 2013 01:41 PM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Five members of Syria's security forces were killed by a car bomb in eastern Damascus on Monday, and the blast was followed by heavy clashes between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, a monitoring group said. The force of the explosion in the Qaboun neighborhood shook the Syrian capital at around 9 p.m., residents said. State television and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has monitored the violence in Syria since the uprising against Assad erupted nearly two years ago, said the blast was caused by a car bomb. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. chief calls for special force to combat Congo rebels Monday, Feb 25, 2013 01:27 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon will urge the Security Council to approve a force to fight rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a draft report seen on Monday, which also applauded suspension of aid to Rwanda over claims it backs the insurgents. In the draft of a special report to the 15-member council, Ban said a brigade of several thousand soldiers should be created within the existing U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo, known as MONUSCO, and be deployed initially for one year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese transport "workhorses" extending military's reach Monday, Feb 25, 2013 01:17 PM PST  HONG KONG (Reuters) - China is expanding its long-neglected fleet of supply ships and heavy-lift aircraft, bolstering its military prowess in support of missions to enforce claims over disputed territory and to defend Chinese interests abroad. These transport workhorses are unlikely to arouse the same regional unease as the steady rollout of high performance fighters, long-range missiles or potent warships, but they are a crucial element of the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) three-decade military build-up, defense analysts say. ... Full Story | Top |
| Complaints on U.S.-led Afghan troops to be checked, Kerry says Monday, Feb 25, 2013 01:11 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday complaints against Afghans working for U.S. special forces in Afghanistan would be investigated, a day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered U.S. troops to leave a critical battleground province. Karzai's spokesman on Sunday said Karzai had decided that all U.S. special forces must leave Wardak province within two weeks, after accusations that Afghans working for them had tortured and killed innocent people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Huge protest vote pushes Italy towards deadlock Monday, Feb 25, 2013 12:54 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - A huge protest vote by Italians enraged by economic hardship and political corruption pushed the country towards deadlock after an election on Monday, with voting projections showing no coalition strong enough to form a government. With more than two thirds of the vote counted, the projections suggested the center left could have a slim lead in the race for the lower house of parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic rebels threaten to resume fighting Monday, Feb 25, 2013 12:37 PM PST  BANGUI (Reuters) - Rebels in Central African Republic threatened on Monday to resume fighting, accusing President Francois Bozize of failing to honor a peace deal signed last month. Bozize agreed in mid-January to form a national unity government to end an insurgency which swept to within striking distance of Bangui, the capital of the mineral-rich former French colony. Opposition figures and members of the rebel Seleka coalition did take up key posts in that government in February - but the insurgents said they were still waiting for the president to free prisoners and meet other demands. ... Full Story | Top |
| Powers to offer Iran sanctions relief at nuclear talks Monday, Feb 25, 2013 12:31 PM PST  ALMATY (Reuters) - Major powers will offer Iran some sanctions relief during talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan, this week if Tehran agrees to curb its nuclear program, a U.S. official said on Monday. But the Islamic Republic could face more economic pain if it fails to address international concerns about its atomic activities, the official said ahead of the February 26-27 meeting in the central Asian state, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There will be continued sanctions enforcement ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy center-left seen with slim lead in lower house: TV polls Monday, Feb 25, 2013 11:50 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - Italy's center-left coalition holds a slim lead over former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right bloc in the election for the lower house of parliament, three TV projections indicated on Monday. A Mediaset projection showed the center-left group led by Pier Luigi Bersani winning 29.6 percent in the lower house, the center-right on 28.2 percent, with the 5-Star Movement on 26 percent and Mario Monti's centrist bloc on 10.8 percent. A Sky Italia forecast had the center-left on 30.9 percent, followed by the center-right on 27.7 percent, Beppe Grillo's movement on 25. ... Full Story | Top |
| After election win, Anastasiades tackles Cyprus bailout Monday, Feb 25, 2013 11:46 AM PST  NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cypriot president-elect Nicos Anastasiades, armed with a clear mandate from voters to spare the island from insolvency, said on Monday he was committed to reforms in return for a financial bailout. The Conservative Anastasiades won decisive backing in a presidential election on Sunday for an aggressive approach to resolving the island's worst financial crisis in four decades. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawyer told me to say I heard voices, Belgian killer tells court Monday, Feb 25, 2013 11:18 AM PST GHENT, Belgium (Reuters) - A Belgian charged with stabbing two babies to death at a day-care centre stunned a court on Monday when he said it had been his lawyer's idea to tell investigators he had been driven by voices in his head. Kim De Gelder, 24, who is also accused of killing a carer and an elderly woman a week before the nursery attack, admits the acts, leaving his trial to decide whether or not he is sane. "My lawyer wanted to get me committed. That's why I kept saying that," De Gelder said when asked by the judge whether there were voices in his head which commanded him to kill. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus remains stumbling block in Turkey's EU ambition: Merkel Monday, Feb 25, 2013 11:03 AM PST  ANKARA (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she was in favor of reviving Turkey's stalled talks on its relationship with the European Union but a dispute over the divided island of Cyprus remained a stumbling block. Speaking during a two-day visit to Turkey, Merkel, who favors a "privileged partnership" for Turkey in place of full EU membership, said it would be right to open a new chapter in Ankara's negotiations with Brussels. ... Full Story | Top |
| No majority seen in Italy Senate: RAI TV projection Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10:59 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - None of the four main groups running in the Italian parliamentary election is likely to win a majority in the Senate, a projection for RAI state TV indicated on Monday. Italy's center-right is seen getting 113 Senate seats, with the center-left gaining 105, Beppe Grillo's 5-Star Movement at 63 and Mario Monti's centrists 20, RAI said. A coalition or party must win at least 158 of the 315 Senate seats to gain a majority in the upper house, which a government would need to pass legislation. (Reporting by Steve Scherer) Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus appoints economist Sarris Finance Minister Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10:46 AM PST NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus's president-elect Nicos Anastasiades on Monday appointed economist Michael Sarris as finance minister, tasked with negotiating a bailout with international lenders for the cash-starved island threatened with insolvency. It will be the second time Sarris serves as finance minister in the past decade. He had served under a previous Cypriot administration which successfully ushered Cyprus into the euro zone in 2008. Sarris, 67, is a respected economist with good contacts in Europe and the U.S., where he was based for years as a senior economist for the World Bank. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. told atheists face discrimination around globe Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10:45 AM PST  GENEVA (Reuters) - Atheists, humanists and freethinkers face widespread discrimination around the world with expression of their views criminalized and subject in some countries to capital punishment, the United Nations was told on Monday. In a document for consideration by the world body's Human Rights Council, a global organization linking people who reject religion said atheism was banned by law in a number of states where people were forced to officially adopt a faith. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamists threaten to kill French kidnapped in Cameroon Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10:33 AM PST  DAKAR (Reuters) - Gunmen claiming to be from Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist group threatened on Monday to kill a kidnapped French family of seven if authorities in Nigeria and Cameroon do not release Muslim militants held there. French ministers said they believed the three adults and four children seized in Cameroon's far north near the Nigerian border on Tuesday were being held by Boko Haram which has killed hundreds to try to carve out an Islamist state in Nigeria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libyan militia brings pay protest to minister's office Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10:23 AM PST  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A group of unarmed militiamen demanding better pay for guarding Libya's borders barged into the prime minister's headquarters on Monday, but the man they'd come to see was away, an official said. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was in Geneva to address the United Nations Human Rights Council when about 30 men forced their way into the government compound in central Tripoli, in the latest example of volatility plaguing the North African country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boko Haram claiming to hold French family: French PM Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10:15 AM PST  PARIS (Reuters) - Islamist militant group Boko Haram has claimed that it is holding seven French nationals captured in Cameroon last week, France's Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Monday. "(We) have received information that the group Boko Haram is claiming to be holding the French family," Ayrault told reporters, adding that French experts were examining a video posted on YouTube appearing to show the hostages to determine whether it was authentic. (Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Vicky Buffery; Editing by Michael Roddy) Full Story | Top |
| Israel says it successfully tests new missile defense Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10:02 AM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel carried out a successful first test on Monday of its upgraded Arrow interceptor, which is designed to destroy in space the kind of missiles held by Iran and Syria, defense officials said. The U.S.-backed Arrow III will deploy "kamikaze" satellites that track and slam into ballistic missiles above the earth's atmosphere, high enough to allow for any chemical, biological or nuclear warheads to disintegrate safely. Monday's test was the first flight of the system, but did not involve the interception of any target. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey, Qatar denounce Syria's war on own people Monday, Feb 25, 2013 09:50 AM PST GENEVA (Reuters) - Turkey and Qatar accused Syria on Monday of attacking Syrian towns with bombs, shells and Scud missiles and called at the main U.N. human rights forum for perpetrators of atrocities to be brought to justice. Britain and Switzerland urged the United Nations Security Council to refer war crimes in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution. "The (Syrian) regime has lost its legitimacy. It is no longer governing. It is surviving by oppression, terror and massacres," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu declared in a speech to the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cardinal's departure darkens mood as pope allows early conclave Monday, Feb 25, 2013 09:49 AM PST  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A senior cleric resigned under duress on Monday and Pope Benedict took the rare step of changing Vatican law to allow his successor to be elected early, adding to a sense of crisis within the Roman Catholic Church. With just three days left before Benedict becomes the first pope in some six centuries to step down, he accepted the resignation of Britain's only cardinal elector, Archbishop Keith O'Brien, who was to have voted for the next pope. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy center-right seen with 121 Senate seats, centre-left 96: RAI Monday, Feb 25, 2013 09:47 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - Italy's center-right is ahead in the tally for Senate seats, according to a projection by RAI state TV. The center-right is seen taking 121 seats, with the center-left at 96, Beppe Grillo's 5-Star Movement at 65, and outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti's party at 19. A Senate majority is 158. Senate seats are awarded on a regional basis. Projections for the overall vote showed both blocs tied at 30.7 percent. (Reporting by Steve Scherer and Philip Pullella.) Full Story | Top |
| EU leaders give Kiev until May to prove it wants to look West Monday, Feb 25, 2013 09:30 AM PST  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU leaders on Monday gave visiting Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich until May to show his nation had made progress towards political reform if it is serious about clinching a free trade deal which would move it away from Moscow's orbit. Both the European Union and Ukraine are keen to cut their dependency on gas giant Russia, but Ukraine has yet to make a clear choice between closer EU ties or tighter links with Moscow. ... Full Story | Top |
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