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| Malaysians vote to decide fate of world's longest-ruling coalition Saturday, May 04, 2013 07:48 PM PDT  By Anuradha Raghu and Niluksi Koswanage JOHOR BARU, Malaysia (Reuters) - Malaysians began voting on Sunday in an election that could weaken or even end the rule of one of the world's longest-lived coalitions, which faces a stiff challenge from an opposition pledging to clean up politics and end race-based policies. Led by former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition is aiming to build on startling electoral gains in 2008, when the Barisan Nasional, or National Front, ruling coalition lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority. ... Full Story | Top |
| Idea that American held by Venezuela is a spy 'ridiculous:' Obama Saturday, May 04, 2013 07:42 PM PDT  By Steve Holland SAN JOSE (Reuters) - The Venezuelan government's suggestion that an American citizen it has detained is a spy is "ridiculous," U.S. President Barack Obama said in a television interview recorded on Saturday during a visit to Costa Rica. Venezuela said late last month it had detained an American called Timothy Hallet Tracy, accusing him of financing opposition student demonstrations after April's disputed presidential election and saying he had clearly been trained as an intelligence agent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Explosions shake Damascus, Syria blames Israel Saturday, May 04, 2013 07:05 PM PDT By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Powerful explosions struck the outskirts of Damascus early on Sunday, sending columns of fire into the night sky, and Syrian state television said Israeli rockets had struck a military facility just north of the capital. Israel declined to comment on the attack, but the blasts occurred a day after an Israeli official said his country had carried out an air strike targeting a consignment of missiles in Syria intended for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tribal leader killed in Sudan's flashpoint Abyei region Saturday, May 04, 2013 04:39 PM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A top tribal leader allied to South Sudan was killed in clashes involving a rival Sudanese tribe in the Abyei region disputed by the African neighbors on Saturday, both sides said, an incident that risks fuelling new tensions in the flashpoint area. Abyei, straddling the border between Sudan and South Sudan, is claimed by both sides, which fought one of Africa's longest civil wars. In March, both countries agreed to resume cross-border oil flows and defuse tensions which have plagued them since South Sudan's secession in 2011 after an independence vote. ... Full Story | Top |
| NRA chief: Boston-area residents were vulnerable without guns Saturday, May 04, 2013 04:37 PM PDT  By Andrea Lorenz HOUSTON (Reuters) - Heavy-handed gun laws and a culture disapproving of gun ownership put citizens in a vulnerable position during the door-to-door search for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev last month, NRA Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre said on Saturday. "How many Bostonians wished they had a gun two weeks ago?" LaPierre asked in a speech at the National Rifle Association's annual convention in Houston. ... Full Story | Top |
| NRA's next president to lead its court fights against gun control Saturday, May 04, 2013 03:49 PM PDT  By Andrea Lorenz HOUSTON (Reuters) - Alabama lawyer Jim Porter, in line to become the next president of the National Rifle Association, is expected to spearhead the group's court challenges of gun-control laws enacted in several states since the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting massacre. Porter, 64, the son of another Alabama lawyer who served as NRA president from 1959 to 1961, is likely to succeed David Keene on Monday in the two-year post at the nation's leading gun-rights organization. ... Full Story | Top |
| NRA seeks to highlight its 'armed and fabulous' women Saturday, May 04, 2013 03:10 PM PDT  By Corrie MacLaggan and Amanda Orr HOUSTON (Reuters) - The National Rifle Association is showcasing women members and emphasizing that increasingly it's not just men who own firearms and oppose gun-control efforts. Female membership is up, the nation's leading advocate for gun ownership says, and its revamped website features profiles of "armed and fabulous" women and describes how women are bringing "new energy" to the NRA. "This is the National Rifle Association catering to demand," NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraq PM's coalition emerges as strongest force in local vote Saturday, May 04, 2013 03:02 PM PDT  By Raheem Salman BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition came top in provincial elections two weeks ago, results released on Saturday showed, but failed to win a majority in any district, meaning it will need alliances to hold onto senior provincial posts. Maliki's State of Law won the most seats in seven out of 12 provinces, in a vote that was the biggest test of Iraqi democracy since U.S. troops pulled out in December 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel bombs Hezbollah-bound missiles in Syria: official Saturday, May 04, 2013 02:45 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Israel has carried out an air strike targeting a consignment of missiles in Syria bound for Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon, an Israeli official said on Saturday. The Jewish state had long made clear it is prepared to use force to prevent advanced weapons reaching Lebanon's powerful Shi'ite Muslim guerrillas from Syria. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah are allied to Iran, Israel's arch-enemy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Communal clashes in Nigeria kill at least 39: police Saturday, May 04, 2013 02:36 PM PDT ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Clashes between rival ethnic groups have killed at least 39 people in eastern Nigeria's Taraba state since they erupted on Friday, police said. Members of the Jukun were marching through the small commercial town of Wukari to a funeral when an argument broke out with local Hausa and Fulani youths, which quickly degenerated into pitched battles with guns and machetes. Attackers set fire to around 40 houses, police said. "At the end of the clash, 39 people were counted killed," said the police spokesman for Taraba state, Joseph Kwaji. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ruling coalition faces fight of its life in Malaysian vote Saturday, May 04, 2013 02:34 PM PDT  By Stuart Grudgings KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysians vote on Sunday in an election that could weaken or even end the rule of one of the world's longest-lived coalitions, which faces a stiff challenge from an opposition pledging to clean up politics and end race-based policies. Led by former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition is aiming to build on startling electoral gains in 2008, when the Barisan Nasional (BN), or National Front, ruling coalition lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli strike in Syria targeted missiles from Iran - report Saturday, May 04, 2013 02:15 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The air strike Israel carried out in Syria targeted a shipment of missiles from Iran bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon, the New York Times reported on Saturday. The newspaper, citing a U.S. official, said the Israeli air force hit a warehouse on Friday at Damascus International Airport that it believed contained Fateh-110 surface-to-surface missiles made in Iran. The Jewish state has long said it is prepared to use force to prevent advanced Syrian weapons from reaching Lebanon's militant Shi'ite Muslim guerrillas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama on airstrikes: Israel has to guard against Hezbollah Saturday, May 04, 2013 12:56 PM PDT SAN JOSE (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday that Israel has the right to guard against the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah a day after Israel attacked a Hezbollah-bound missile shipment in Syria. Israel has long made clear it is prepared to resort to force to prevent advanced Syrian weapons from reaching Hezbollah or jihadi rebels. Israeli warplanes went after the shipment inside Syria, where a two-year civil war is raging. ... Full Story | Top |
| Investigators believe Boston bombs likely made at Tsarnaev home Saturday, May 04, 2013 12:47 PM PDT  By Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Mark Hosenball BOSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Investigators believe Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, likely made the bombs they are suspected of setting off at last month's Boston Marathon in Tamerlan's home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, law enforcement officials said on Friday. FBI agents have been questioning Tamerlan's wife, Katherine Russell, and other witnesses for days to try to piece together exactly how and where the devices were made and what people knew about the brothers' beliefs and plans. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb kills five U.S. soldiers in Afghan south Saturday, May 04, 2013 12:45 PM PDT KABUL (Reuters) - Five U.S. soldiers were killed by a bomb in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar on Saturday, a U.S. authorities said, capping off one of the bloodiest weeks for international forces this year. The attack underscored the dangers faced by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), even as they hand over much of the fighting to the Afghans before a planned departure next year. Nineteen U.S. personnel have been killed in the last week in three air crashes and Saturday's bombing. ... Full Story | Top |
| France spurns call to take over Saint-Nazaire shipyard Saturday, May 04, 2013 12:03 PM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - France's government dismissed a call to nationalize the Saint-Nazaire shipyard on Saturday but said it was committed to the survival of the facility after a South Korean shareholder threatened to sell its stake. The Korean company, STX Offshore & Shipbuilding , has been hurt by a shipping industry downturn since the financial crisis and may also sell shipyards in Finland and China. The French government came to Saint-Nazaire's rescue at the end of 2012, helping it win new contracts to stave off the threat of bankruptcy, including a 1 billion euro ($1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suicide attack kills two Malian soldiers in north Saturday, May 04, 2013 11:57 AM PDT GAO, Mali (Reuters) - Two Malian soldiers and at least two Islamist militants were killed on Saturday in a suicide attack on an army unit in the north of the country, a senior Malian officer told Reuters. The attack comes as France, which launched an offensive to drive al Qaeda-linked Islamists from Mali, is looking to withdraw thousands of troops from its former colony and hand over security duties to a United Nations peacekeeping mission. ... Full Story | Top |
| Peru deputy minister resigns as Humala rolls back indigenous law Saturday, May 04, 2013 11:49 AM PDT LIMA (Reuters) - A key Peruvian official tasked with implementing a law to give indigenous groups more rights has resigned to protest efforts by President Ollanta Humala's cabinet to roll back the law to protect mining investments. Deputy Culture Minister Ivan Lanegra, who confirmed his resignation on Saturday on Twitter, was upset the government decided to exclude Quechua-speaking communities in the mineral-rich Andes from being covered by Peru's "prior consultation law," a number of sources told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel: Syrian chemical arms safe, Hezbollah does not want them Saturday, May 04, 2013 10:22 AM PDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad retains control of the country's reputed chemical weapons and they are not sought by his Hezbollah guerrilla allies in neighboring Lebanon, a senior Israeli official said on Saturday. Defense Ministry strategist Amos Gilad spoke after another Israeli official said Israel had sent warplanes on Friday to attack a Hezbollah-bound missile shipment in Syria, where Assad is battling a more than two-year-old insurgency. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudanese police detain newspaper editor without charge Saturday, May 04, 2013 10:15 AM PDT By Hereward Holland JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's police have detained a newspaper editor without charge and refused him access to a lawyer for three days, he told a Reuters reporter who visited him in a crowded police cell on Saturday. Rights groups frequently accuse security forces of harassing and illegally detaining journalists in South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan almost two years ago after more than two decades of civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian Sunnis flee coastal town after night of killing Saturday, May 04, 2013 10:07 AM PDT By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hundreds of Sunni Muslim families fled the Syrian coastal town of Banias on Saturday after fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed at least 62 people overnight and left bloodied and burned corpses piled in the streets, activists said. A pro-opposition monitoring group posted a video online showing the mutilated bodies of 10 people it said were killed in a southern district of Banias, half of them children. Some lay in pools of blood and one toddler was covered in burns, her clothes singed and her legs charred. ... Full Story | Top |
| First oil from South Sudan's Upper Nile to reach Sudan May 10 Saturday, May 04, 2013 10:01 AM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - South Sudan will ship its first oil from its largest fields in Upper Nile state to export facilities in Sudan on May 10, Sudan's oil ministry told state news agency SUNA on Saturday. In March, the African neighbors agreed to resume cross-border oil flows. Landlocked South Sudan had shut down its production of up to 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January 2012 after failing to agree with Sudan over oil fees. The new nation, which seceded from Sudan in 2011, needs to export its oil through Sudan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dubai aims to triple tourism income by 2020 Saturday, May 04, 2013 08:34 AM PDT  By Matt Smith DUBAI (Reuters) - Dubai aims to triple its annual income from tourism to 300 billion dirhams ($82 billion) by 2020, which would involve doubling the number of its hotel rooms, a senior official said. Tourism is crucial to Dubai's economy, which had a gross domestic product of around $90 billion last year; it supports the emirate's large retail industry as well as its hospitality sector. Occupancy at Dubai's 599 hotels, which have 80,500 rooms combined, was 78 percent in 2012 as the number of visitors rose 9.3 percent from a year ago to 10. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt eyes 5.5 pct budget deficit in 2016-17 - Fin Min Saturday, May 04, 2013 08:14 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt hopes to lower its budget deficit to 5.5 percent in the 2016-1017 fiscal year from 10.7 percent in 2012/13, the finance minister told Egypt's Al-Ahram daily newspaper on Saturday. Egypt's budget deficit will reach 197.5 billion Egyptian pounds or 9.5 percent of gross domestic product in the fiscal year starting July 1 after a revised 184.9 billion pounds or 10.7 percent in 2012/13, according to a draft budget previously seen by Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU's Barnier calls on France to pursue economic reforms Saturday, May 04, 2013 08:03 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - European Union Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier, the EU's top financial regulator, called on the French government to pursue its planned reforms despite the Commission allowing two more years to meet its budget deficit target. Olli Rehn, the European monetary affairs commissioner, said on Friday France badly needed to unlock its growth potential and create jobs, adding Spain, Italy and the Netherlands as well as France - four of the euro zone's five largest economies - would remain in recession this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tanzania says Malawi returns to border dispute talks Saturday, May 04, 2013 07:57 AM PDT DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania said on Saturday that neighbouring Malawi had returned to talks aimed at resolving a border dispute over Lake Malawi that has soured relations and delayed exploration for oil and gas. East Africa has become hot property for the oil industry since huge gas finds off the shores of Tanzania and Mozambique and oil strikes in Uganda and Kenya. Rich hydrocarbon deposits are believed to lie below Lake Malawi. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hungarian far-right decries 'Israeli plot' before Jewish meeting Saturday, May 04, 2013 07:33 AM PDT  By Tom Heneghan and Gergely Szakacs BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Leaders of a far-right Hungarian party accused Israelis of plotting to buy up the country as several hundred nationalists protested on Saturday on the eve of a meeting of the World Jewish Congress in Budapest. Senior figures from the opposition Jobbik party, the third biggest with 43 seats in the 386-member parliament, harangued the crowd with charges that Israeli President Shimon Peres had praised Jews for buying property in Hungary. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boeing demonstrator breaks hypersonic flight record Saturday, May 04, 2013 07:01 AM PDT By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co's X-51A Waverider made history this week when it achieved the longest hypersonic flight by a jet-fuel powered aircraft, flying for 3-1/2 minutes at five times the speed of sound, the U.S. Air Force said on Friday. The last of four unmanned experimental military aircraft built by Boeing flew for at a top speed of Mach 5.1 over the Pacific Ocean on May 1, the Air Force said. The total flight covered 230 nautical miles in just over six minutes before the hypersonic cruiser plunged into the ocean. ... Full Story | Top |
| Junior Italy minister removed after comment on gays Saturday, May 04, 2013 06:33 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - A junior Italian equal opportunities minister was removed from her post on Saturday less than 24 hours after being sworn in to the new coalition government, after she said gays invited discrimination by "ghettoizing" themselves. The abrupt departure of Michaela Biancofiore to another ministry was a fresh reminder of just how delicate Prime Minister Enrico Letta's fledgling left-right coalition is. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rock, pop, country singers to headline Boston benefit concert Saturday, May 04, 2013 06:08 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Boston bands Aerosmith and New Kids on the Block, singer-songwriter James Taylor and country singer Jason Aldean will headline a concert to benefit the victims of last month's Boston Marathon bombing, organizers said on Friday. The May 30 concert at the city's TD Garden arena is also aimed at showing support for the people of Boston after the bombing that killed three people and injured 264. Other artists lined up for "Boston Strong: An Evening of Support and Celebration" include singers Jimmy Buffett and Carole King, the band Boston and the J. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bangladesh urges no harsh EU measures over factory deaths Saturday, May 04, 2013 06:03 AM PDT  By Ruma Paul and Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh urged the European Union on Saturday not to take tough measures against its economically crucial textile industry in response to the collapse of a garment factory that killed 550 people. Bodies were still being pulled from the ruins on Saturday as tearful families stood by waiting for news of victims of the country's worst ever industrial accident. ... Full Story | Top |
| Moldovan parliament moves to sack judges as crisis deepens Saturday, May 04, 2013 05:06 AM PDT  By Alexander Tanas CHISINAU (Reuters) - Moldova's parliament gave itself powers to sack constitutional judges and change election rules, moves Brussels said would harm the country's bid for closer ties with the European Union. Politicians passed the new laws late on Friday in the latest round of maneuvering in a political crisis that has paralyzed legislation in the impoverished former Soviet republic for months. Moldova's last government, led by Prime Minister Vlad Filat, resigned in March after losing a confidence vote amid feuding among leaders of a dominant pro-European coalition. ... Full Story | Top |
| Shed the elitist image, Britain's Cameron is warned Saturday, May 04, 2013 04:52 AM PDT  By Stephen Addison LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron must shed his elitist image and connect with ordinary voters, a senior party member said on Saturday, after the anti-EU UK Independence Party scored major gains in local polls at the expense of the ruling Conservatives. Discontent with immigration levels was a key factor behind UKIP's dramatic victory in Thursday's local council elections, in which it won over 25 percent of votes and recorded the best result for a party outside the big three since World War Two. ... Full Story | Top |
| Karzai urges Taliban to fight Afghan enemies after Pakistan clash Saturday, May 04, 2013 04:20 AM PDT  KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the Taliban on Saturday to fight Afghanistan's enemies in what was widely seen as a swipe against Pakistan days after the neighbors' security forces clashed on their border. Karzai's remarks are likely to unsettle already shaky ties with Pakistan and come as the United States wants Pakistan to help Afghanistan persuade the Taliban to engage in peace talks ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Protests in Chinese city over planned chemical plant Saturday, May 04, 2013 04:16 AM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - Hundreds of people took to the streets of the Chinese city of Kunming on Saturday to protest against the planned production of a chemical at a refinery, in the latest show of concern over the effects of rapid growth on the environment. China's increasingly affluent urban population has begun to object to the model of growth at all costs that has fuelled the economy for three decades, with the environment emerging as a focus of protests. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia, FARC say progress made in talks Saturday, May 04, 2013 02:31 AM PDT By Jeff Franks HAVANA (Reuters) - Colombia and Marxist-led FARC rebels reported important advances on Friday on the critical issue of agrarian reform in their talks to end half a century of war but the government complained the negotiations were still moving too slowly. The rebels also put a possible chill in the process by rejecting the notion of legal prosecution for their actions in the conflict, which has left thousands of people dead and millions displaced. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian rebels say Israel targeted missile convoy headed to Hezbollah Saturday, May 04, 2013 02:13 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebel commander Qassim Saadedine said on Saturday an Israeli strike targeted a convoy of missiles being sent to Hezbollah in Lebanon. "Our information indicates there was an Israeli strike on a convoy that was transferring missiles to Hezbollah. We have still not confirmed the location," said Saadedine, a defected colonel, speaking to Reuters by telephone from his base on the Turkish-Syrian border. An Israeli official said on Saturday that Israeli warplanes had targeted a shipment of missiles in Syria believed en route to Hezbollah guerrillas in neighboring Lebanon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two bodies found at U.S. plane crash site in Kyrgyzstan Saturday, May 04, 2013 02:08 AM PDT  By Olga Dzyubenko BISHKEK (Reuters) - Remains of two bodies have been found in the wreckage of a U.S. military plane that crashed in Kyrgyzstan, and authorities are still looking for a third person who was on board, officials said. The refueling plane exploded in mid air when its cargo of fuel ignited on its way to Afghanistan on Friday, accident investigators said. Experts were still trying to work out what led up to the crash, said Kuvan Mamakeev, the Kyrgyz state prosecutor responsible for investigating transport crimes and accidents. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel confirms Syria strike, says hit Hezbollah-bound missiles Saturday, May 04, 2013 01:56 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Israeli official said on Saturday that Israeli warplanes had targeted a shipment of missiles in Syria believed en route to Hezbollah guerrillas in neighboring Lebanon. The air strike took place on Friday after it was approved in a secret meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet on Thursday night, the official said on condition of anonymity. (Editing by Mark Heinrich) Full Story | Top |
| Israeli warplanes hit Syria, target not chemical arms site: source Saturday, May 04, 2013 01:45 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes have carried out an air strike on a target in Syria, a security source in the region said on Saturday, confirming a disclosure by a U.S. official. The target of Friday's raid was not a Syrian chemical weapons facility, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Israeli officials have declined all comment on the event, which was reported by American media on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
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