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| Germany, Brazil to propose anti-spying resolution at U.N. Friday, Oct 25, 2013 07:57 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Germany and Brazil are drafting a U.N. General Assembly resolution that would demand an end to excessive spying and invasion of privacy after a former U.S. intelligence contractor revealed massive international surveillance programs, U.N. diplomats said on Friday. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have both condemned the widespread snooping by the U.S. National Security Agency. Charges that the NSA accessed tens of thousands of French phone records and monitored Merkel's mobile phone have caused outrage in Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's top TV satirist back on air, pokes fun at all political camps Friday, Oct 25, 2013 07:08 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's most prominent television satirist, Bassem Youssef, known for his fierce jabs at ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi, returned to the airwaves on Friday following a summer break, poking equal fun at the fan frenzy surrounding Egypt's defense minister that has gripped the nation in recent months. Youssef rose to fame with a satirical online show after the uprising that swept Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011. His program, which has been compared to the U.S. satirical comedy "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", is now broadcast on Egyptian TV. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. aid chief demands Security Council action on Syria aid access Friday, Oct 25, 2013 04:21 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. aid chief Valerie Amos demanded stronger action by the U.N. Security Council on Friday to get desperately needed aid into Syria, where 2.5 million people in need have not received help for almost a year. Violence and excessive red tape have slowed aid delivery to a trickle in Syria. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the 2 1/2-year civil war and some 2.1 million have fled. After months of talks, the 15-member Security Council approved a non-binding statement October 2 urging increased humanitarian access. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guantanamo lawyers want Obama to declassify CIA prison program Friday, Oct 25, 2013 04:10 PM PDT  By Tom Ramstack FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - Attorneys for five Guantanamo prisoners charged with plotting the September 11, 2001, attacks have asked President Barack Obama to declassify the CIA program that subjected the defendants to interrogation techniques that have been described as torture. In a letter made public on Friday, the lawyers asked the president to release potentially mitigating information that could spare the defendants from execution if they are convicted on charges of hijacking, terrorism and murdering nearly 3,000 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel to seek 'no spy deal' within EU as well as with U.S. Friday, Oct 25, 2013 02:44 PM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants the European Union's 28 member states to reach a "no spy deal" similar to an agreement France and Germany seek with the United State following allegations Washington tapped her mobile phone. A German government spokesman late on Friday confirmed Merkel had made such a proposal to European leaders gathered at a summit in Brussels. Sources who attended the meeting said they appeared to be open to the suggestion. Charges that the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama chides Republicans on spending cuts at school event Friday, Oct 25, 2013 02:17 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama warned congressional Republicans on Friday that their next budget negotiations will need to be about more than just spending cuts after a fiscal stalemate that resulted in a 16-day government shutdown. Visiting a school that offers students a fast track to technology jobs to underline his point, Obama said some tax loopholes need to be eliminated to create more tax revenue for the government that can be used to trigger more job growth. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chile court freezes Glencore hydro project to weigh appeal Friday, Oct 25, 2013 02:03 PM PDT  SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A Chilean appeals court has preventively blocked a recently approved $733 million hydroelectric dam to weigh an environmental appeal, a surprise setback for owners Origin Energy and Glencore Xstrata PLC. Opponents of the 640-megawatt Rio Cuervo project planned in the remote southern Aysen region say it would harm the environment and would be built above a geological fault line in highly-seismic Chile. Lawyers from the environmental prosecutor's office lodged the appeal, claiming the plant's environmental permit granted last month was not legal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bombs targeting Shi'ites kill 16 across Iraq Friday, Oct 25, 2013 01:53 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A series of bombs killed at least 16 people across Iraq on Friday as Shi'ite Muslims celebrated a holy festival, police and medical sources said. Nine bombs were detonated by remote control. The deadliest were two roadside devices that exploded in quick succession in a market in the Shi'ite town of Yousufiya, 20 km (12 miles) south of Baghdad, killing at least seven people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Georgian PM promises not to try to jail Saakashvili Friday, Oct 25, 2013 01:43 PM PDT  By Margarita Antidze and Timothy Heritage TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, hoping to ease fears of instability, says he will not try to jail President Mikheil Saakashvili when his rival steps down after Sunday's election. In an interview with Reuters on Friday, he reaffirmed a plan to quit as the former Soviet republic's premier in the weeks after Sunday's vote and revealed he would nominate a member of his government to replace him, but gave no name. ... Full Story | Top |
| West African bloc approves single customs regime from 2015 Friday, Oct 25, 2013 01:33 PM PDT DAKAR (Reuters) - Leaders of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed on Friday to implement a single customs tariff regime from 2015 in an effort to accelerate economic integration. The Common External Tariff is designed to harmonize customs charged on imported goods to the bloc of some 300 million people. "This is an objective ECOWAS has pursued since its creation 38 years ago and today we have crossed an important stage in the integration of our peoples," the president of the Ecowas commission, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia's ruling Islamist party, opposition start crisis talks Friday, Oct 25, 2013 01:00 PM PDT  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's ruling Islamist party and the opposition began talks on Friday to form a caretaker government and prepare for elections under an agreement to end months of unrest in the country that inspired the "Arab Spring" revolts. The North African nation has been in turmoil since July when the assassination of an opposition leader ignited anti-government protests that threatened to derail a democratic transition once seen as a model for the region. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi resurrects old party but center-right deeply divided Friday, Oct 25, 2013 12:21 PM PDT  By Massimiliano Di Giorgio ROME (Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday resurrected the party with which he burst into politics 20 years ago, but the move deeply divided Italy's political center-right. A leadership meeting of People of Freedom (PDL), as the center-right party has been called since 2007, voted to change its name back to Forza Italia (Go Italy!). Berlusconi said the revived party would support the government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta, as the PDL has done. But the move caused a rift among his followers. ... Full Story | Top |
| No confirmation Iran has halted higher-grade enrichment -diplomats Friday, Oct 25, 2013 11:52 AM PDT By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Diplomats accredited to the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday they had no information to substantiate word from a senior Iranian parliamentarian that Tehran has halted its most sensitive atomic activity. Iran's enrichment of uranium to a fissile level of 20 percent is a major technical step taking it just short of the concentration needed for a nuclear weapon. Iran says it needs the material only to fuel a medical research reactor. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant undamaged after quake Friday, Oct 25, 2013 11:36 AM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - The operator of Japan's wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant said on Saturday there was no damage or spike in radiation levels at the station after a large earthquake struck in the ocean east of Japan, triggering a small tsunami. There were no immediate reports of damage on land from the quake, classified as magnitude 7.1 by the Japan Meteorological Agency, which struck about 370 km (230 miles) out to sea. Earlier the agency said the quake had a magnitude of 6.8. Japanese television said a 30 cm (1 foot) tsunami had reached Japan's east coast. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenyan deputy president must attend his trial, ICC says Friday, Oct 25, 2013 11:23 AM PDT  By Thomas Escritt and James Macharia THE HAGUE/NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto must attend all sessions of his trial at the International Criminal Court unless specifically excused, appeals judges ruled on Friday, putting the court at odds with Kenya and the African Union (AU). Prosecutors promptly requested a similar ruling in the separate case of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who had like Ruto been granted blanket permission to be absent for the bulk of his trial. ... Full Story | Top |
| Madagascar counts presidential election, economy at stake Friday, Oct 25, 2013 11:06 AM PDT  By Richard Lough and Alain Iloniaina ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Counting began on Friday in Madagascar's presidential election which voters hope will encourage investors and donors to return to the Indian Ocean island, four years after a coup sent its economy reeling. Madagascar, famed for its wildlife and eyed by foreign firms for its minerals, has struggled to lure back tourists and court oil and mining giants since street protests and mutinous troops swept former disc jockey Andry Rajoelina into power in 2009. The economy has slumped and poverty has deepened. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rebels and Congo army clash; Rwanda says it was shelled Friday, Oct 25, 2013 10:55 AM PDT By Kenny Katombe GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Congo's M23 rebels clashed with government troops for the first time in nearly two months on Friday, and neighboring Rwanda said Congolese army shells had landed on its territory, raising tensions in the volatile region. The fighting came after peace talks broke down in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Monday. It sent some 5,000 civilians fleeing across the border into Rwanda, a U.N. peacekeeping spokesman said. General Sultani Makenga, M23's military commander, said the rebels came under attack at 4 a.m. ... Full Story | Top |
| Special Report: Help wanted in Fukushima: Low pay, high risks and gangsters Friday, Oct 25, 2013 10:45 AM PDT  By Antoni Slodkowski and Mari Saito IWAKI, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Tetsuya Hayashi went to Fukushima to take a job at ground zero of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. He lasted less than two weeks. Hayashi, 41, says he was recruited for a job monitoring the radiation exposure of workers leaving the plant in the summer of 2012. Instead, when he turned up for work, he was handed off through a web of contractors and assigned, to his surprise, to one of Fukushima's hottest radiation zones. He was told he would have to wear an oxygen tank and a double-layer protective suit. ... Full Story | Top |
| Earthquake of magnitude 7.6 strikes off Japan Friday, Oct 25, 2013 10:27 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck 231 miles east of the Japanese island of Honshu on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. A U.S. Pacific tsunami warning center said there was no destructive widespread tsunami threat following the quake. (Writing by Tom Pfeiffer) Full Story | Top |
| DNA tests show Bulgarian couple are parents of girl found in Greece Friday, Oct 25, 2013 10:10 AM PDT By Tsvetelia Tsolova and Angel Krasimirov SOFIA (Reuters) - A Bulgarian Roma couple are the biological parents of a four-year-old blonde girl found in Greece last week, DNA tests showed on Friday, clearing some of the mystery around a case that has captured global attention. Bulgarian prosecutors are investigating whether the mother, Sasha Ruseva, 35, sold her child. Ruseva denies this, but admits leaving a seven-month-old baby in Greece - where she was working as an olive-picker - in 2009 because she could not look after the child and had to return to Bulgaria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chile's Bachelet eyes changes to land, water use rules Friday, Oct 25, 2013 09:29 AM PDT  By Alexandra Ulmer SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean Presidential frontrunner Michelle Bachelet said on Friday she is mulling reforms of land and water-use rules, in the latest hint of what may be in store for the copper powerhouse's crucial mining and energy sectors. Land-use plans need to be reformed to clarify where energy projects can be built and the country's dictatorship-era rules on water usage need to be reviewed, Bachelet said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian police use teargas on protests in Alexandria and Suez Friday, Oct 25, 2013 09:21 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Police used teargas on Friday to disperse demonstrations by supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in Egypt's second city, Alexandria, and in Suez. Mursi's supporters have staged frequent protests in towns and cities across Egypt, many of them following Friday prayers, since the army deposed him on July 3 in response to mass protests against his rule. In Suez, police fired tear gas to disperse around 4,000 pro-Mursi demonstrators, a local witness said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey, Iraq eye closer cooperation on Syria as relations thaw Friday, Oct 25, 2013 09:06 AM PDT  By Humeyra Pamuk and Tulay Karadeniz ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey and Iraq, both concerned by the rise of al Qaeda in Syria, said on Friday their strained relations were improving and they would cooperate more closely to limit the spillover from Syria's civil war. The two countries' dealings have been tense in recent years, not least because of Turkey's strengthening ties with northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, locked in a dispute with the federal government over oil and land rights. ... Full Story | Top |
| Eritreans protest in Italy as more migrants are rescued Friday, Oct 25, 2013 09:04 AM PDT By Naomi O'Leary and Steve Scherer ROME (Reuters) - Hundreds of Eritreans staged a symbolic funeral procession in front of Italy's parliament on Friday to remember refugees who drowned in a shipwreck this month, as ships rescued more than 700 seaborne migrants overnight. Italian naval and coast guard vessels rescued the migrants, including dozens of women and children, from five different boats in the waters between Sicily and North Africa, as European leaders tried to address a deepening immigration crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Czech left set to win election but new parties cloud outlook Friday, Oct 25, 2013 08:59 AM PDT  By Jason Hovet PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czechs went to the polls on Friday in an election that will swing the nation leftwards after unpopular budget cuts and graft scandals felled a center-right government. The pro-European Union Social Democrats, promising to slap new taxes on big firms and high earners to pay for social programs, were likely to win the most votes but fall short of a majority and find it hard to form a strong cabinet. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran, powers to have expert-level nuclear talks in Vienna October 30-31 Friday, Oct 25, 2013 08:57 AM PDT  By Justyna Pawlak BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Experts from Iran and six world powers will meet in Vienna on October 30-31 to prepare the next round of high-level talks on the contested Iranian nuclear program with hopes of a breakthrough rising thanks to a diplomatic opening from Tehran. Western diplomats say the meeting, scheduled to take place a week before the next round of negotiations in Geneva in November, could be instrumental in defining the contours of any preliminary agreement on Iran's uranium enrichment campaign. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germany to send spymasters to U.S. over Merkel allegations Friday, Oct 25, 2013 08:36 AM PDT By Alexandra Hudson BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will send its top intelligence chiefs to Washington next week to seek answers from the White House on allegations that U.S. security officials tapped the mobile phone of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel has demanded action from President Barack Obama, not just apologetic words, following the accusations that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) accessed tens of thousands of French phone records as well as monitoring her own private phone. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sierra Leone's top medical official cleared of graft Friday, Oct 25, 2013 08:32 AM PDT FREETOWN (Reuters) - Sierra Leone's Chief Medical Officer and four other people have been acquitted of all charges relating to the disappearance of half a million dollars provided by the GAVI Alliance, a senior government official said. Kisito Daoh was indicted along with 16 others after an internal audit revealed $523,303 unaccounted for from funds provided by Gavi, a vaccination provider launched in 2000 with a $750 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukrainian jailed for life for killing Muslim, planting bombs in UK Friday, Oct 25, 2013 08:22 AM PDT By Costas Pitas LONDON (Reuters) - A Ukrainian man who murdered an elderly Muslim five days after arriving in Britain and planted bombs outside mosques was jailed for life on Friday. Pavlo Lapshyn, 25, admitted stabbing the Muslim grandfather three times in the back and setting explosive devices which exploded near mosques in Walsall, Wolverhampton and Tipton in central England. No one was injured in the blasts but police said more attacks would probably have followed after they found chemicals and bomb-making equipment at his home in searches following his arrest in July. ... Full Story | Top |
| A year after Superstorm Sandy, federal aid trickles in Friday, Oct 25, 2013 08:14 AM PDT  By Hilary Russ (Reuters) - A year after Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc across the eastern United States, only a fraction of the aid money earmarked for recovery has been used, in what some claim is a painfully slow and opaque process. Only $5.2 billion of the pledged $47.9 billion had been tapped by cities and states by the end of August, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. And tracking those funds has been complicated, lawmakers said. "Transparency is woefully lacking. We don't know where the money is. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU leaders rebuff calls for action on Europe's migration crisis Friday, Oct 25, 2013 07:55 AM PDT  By Adrian Croft and Justyna Pawlak BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders rebuffed calls from southern European states on Friday for emergency action to tackle a wave of illegal migration from Africa despite the deaths of hundreds of people in Mediterranean boat disasters. EU leaders meeting in Brussels expressed "deep sadness" at the drownings, which have killed up to 550 migrants this month alone, but postponed any new action until December. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraq to press U.S. on drones, F-16s to fight al Qaeda Friday, Oct 25, 2013 07:27 AM PDT  By Peg Mackey BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Baghdad government wants the immediate delivery of U.S. drones and F-16 fighter jets in order to combat al Qaeda insurgents, who are making swift advances in the west of the Iraq, a senior Iraqi security official said. Washington agreed in August to supply a $2.6 billion integrated air defense system and F-16 fighter jets, with delivery due in autumn 2014. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who will meets U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington next week, has also requested drones to carry out surveillance of Iraq's desert border with Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germany wants a German Internet as spying scandal rankles Friday, Oct 25, 2013 07:15 AM PDT  By Leila Abboud and Peter Maushagen PARIS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - As a diplomatic row rages between the United States and Europe over spying accusations, state-backed Deutsche Telekom wants German communications companies to cooperate to shield local internet traffic from foreign intelligence services. Yet the nascent effort, which took on new urgency after Germany said on Wednesday that it had evidence that Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone had been monitored, faces an uphill battle if it is to be more than a marketing gimmick. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria says kills 74 Islamists in ground, air assault Friday, Oct 25, 2013 07:12 AM PDT MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian troops killed 74 members of Boko Haram in an air and ground assault, the military said on Friday, a further sign of stepped up operations against the Islamist sect. The offensive on Thursday targeted Boko Haram camps in the remote villages of Galangi and Lawanti in northeast Borno state where the militants have their strongest presence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenyan deputy president must attend his trial: ICC judges Friday, Oct 25, 2013 07:10 AM PDT  By Thomas Escritt and James Macharia THE HAGUE/NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto must attend all sessions of his trial at the International Criminal Court unless specifically excused, appeals judges ruled on Friday, putting the court at odds with Kenya and the African Union (AU). Ruto, accused along with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta of orchestrating a wave of violence after a 2007 election, had hoped judges would uphold an earlier decision to let him stay away from large parts of his trial. ... Full Story | Top |
| Liberals asked to form Luxembourg government, sidelining Juncker Friday, Oct 25, 2013 06:47 AM PDT  By Michele Sinner LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Xavier Bettel, the mayor of Luxembourg City, has been asked to form the next government of the tiny country, sidelining long-serving Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker, the royal palace said. Bettel, leader of the Democratic Party (DP) which increased its parliamentary presence after last Sunday's election, is set to form a government with the Greens and Socialists, the palace said. The three parties have already said they are ready to work together in a coalition. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel's party to push on C02 backloading in coalition talks Friday, Oct 25, 2013 06:46 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives will argue for a new push in support of backloading of CO2 emissions certificates in coalition talks with the Social Democrats (SPD), according to a document prepared for the negotiations. In the document, which lists the key positions of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian allies the Christian Social Union (CSU) in looming talks on financial issues, the parties urge a "new impetus" on backloading. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK's Cameron says Snowden and media spy leaks 'helping enemies' Friday, Oct 25, 2013 06:42 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday accused U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden and unnamed newspapers of assisting Britain's enemies by helping them avoid surveillance by its intelligence services. In his strongest remarks on the subject yet, Cameron told a news conference in Brussels that the classified information which Snowden had leaked was going to make it harder for Britain and other countries to keep its citizens safe from people who wanted to "blow up" families. ... Full Story | Top |
| Aid and investment at stake as Madagascar votes Friday, Oct 25, 2013 06:29 AM PDT  By Richard Lough and Alain Iloniaina ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - The people of Madagascar voted on Friday in a presidential election they hope will end a political crisis and prompt investors and donors to return to the Indian Ocean island, four years after a coup sent its economy reeling. Street protests backed by mutinous troops propelled former disc jockey Andry Rajoelina, 39, to power in 2009 in the country of 22 million people, famed for its exotic wildlife and eyed by foreign firms for its oil, nickel, cobalt and gold. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soviets conducted nuclear blasts at oilfield to be tapped with China Friday, Oct 25, 2013 06:14 AM PDT By Vladimir Soldatkin MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Siberian oilfield that Russia and China plan to develop together was the site of Soviet nuclear blasts in the 1970s and 1980s, Russian officials said on Friday. The government and state oil firm Rosneft said the field was safe, rejecting environmentalists' concerns that oil extracted from it could be contaminated with radiation. But the revelation raises questions for a strategic joint venture announced a week ago in which Russia, the world's top energy producer, ceded a share of its oil wealth to China, the leading consumer. ... Full Story | Top |
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