Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
|
|
U.S. lawmakers take next step on new Iran sanctions
Mon,30 Jan 2012 07:49 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee plan to vote on a new round of sanctions targeting Iran's energy sector, aimed at choking off funds they suspect Tehran uses to develop nuclear weapons. The committee released details of its 61-page bipartisan bill late on Monday and lawmakers will consider the measures and vote on them at a hearing on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
Myanmar says will put stability ahead of economy: report
Mon,30 Jan 2012 07:26 PM PST
Reuters -  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Myanmar President Thein Sein said his government was committed to political reform and would put the stability of the country ahead of economic development, Singapore's Straits Times newspaper reported on Tuesday. The president, in Singapore for a three-day official visit that began on Sunday, has overseen dramatic reforms over the past few months, including the freeing of hundreds of political prisoners, a loosening of media controls and engagement with Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the fight for democracy in Myanmar. ...
Full Story | Top |
Insight: From darkest India, an enlightened leader
Mon,30 Jan 2012 07:03 PM PST
Reuters -  PATNA, India (Reuters) - There's an apocryphal story about Bihar, a sprawling state on the Gangetic plains of eastern India that for decades held the dubious honor of being the most violent, poverty-stricken and corrupt in the land. A Japanese minister visiting in the 1990s, shocked at the decrepit buildings, the darkness at night even in the centre of town and the crumbling roads, declared that it was all solvable. "Give me three years," he told a state leader, "and I can turn Bihar into Japan." "That's nothing," came the laconic reply from his host. ...
Full Story | Top |
Romney leads by 15 points in Florida: Reuters/Ipsos poll
Mon,30 Jan 2012 06:47 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House hopeful Mitt Romney's lead over rival Newt Gingrich has stretched to 15 percentage points in Florida, according to results of a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday, just a day before the state's Republican primary. Support for Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and private equity executive, edged up to 43 percent among likely voters in Florida's January 31 primary, according to the online tracking poll. It had been at 42 percent on Sunday. ...
Full Story | Top |
U.S. seeks to allay Russia concerns on UN plan on Syria
Mon,30 Jan 2012 06:33 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is seeking to overcome Russian objections to a proposed U.N. resolution against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by allaying concerns it could open the door to a Libya-style military intervention in Syria, a senior U.S. official said on Monday. Washington hopes to convince Moscow not to stand in the way of the Arab League's initiative, to be presented to the Security Council in New York on Tuesday, calling for Assad to transfer power to help resolve a bloody, 10-month-old crisis in Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
Will Russia veto Syria resolution at U.N.?
Mon,30 Jan 2012 05:57 PM PST
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Arab League will ask the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to adopt a resolution endorsing an Arab plan for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to transfer powers to his deputy, but it is unclear whether Russia will veto, abstain or vote "yes." Tuesday's meeting of the 15-nation council will include Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, among other officials. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is not expected to attend. ... Full Story | Top |
Syria forces retake Damascus suburbs; showdown at U.N.
Mon,30 Jan 2012 05:57 PM PST
Reuters -  AMMAN/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces have taken the upper hand in escalating battles on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, while top Western and Arab diplomats are seeking a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for him to go. Rebels who seized suburbs of Damascus were driven out after three days of fighting that activists say killed at least 100 people. Activist organizations said 25 people were killed on Monday in Damascus suburbs and dozens more died in other parts of the country, mostly in raids in Homs and the surrounding countryside. ...
Full Story | Top |
U.S. urges UN council to end "neglect," act on Syria
Mon,30 Jan 2012 05:12 PM PST
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States together with its allies and a Syrian opposition group all urged the U.N. Security Council on Monday to end its "neglect" of the violence raging in Syria and rapidly endorse an Arab League plan for a political transition there. "We have seen the consequences of neglect and inaction by this council over the course of the last 10 months, not because the majority of the council isn't eager to act - it has been," said Washington's U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. ... Full Story | Top |
Syria says will foil Western efforts to sow chaos
Mon,30 Jan 2012 05:12 PM PST
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria dismissed on Monday U.S. and Western criticism of Damascus and said it would defeat what it called foreign attempts to spread chaos, hours after the White House said President Bashar al-Assad had lost control and would inevitably fall from power. "We are not surprised at the lack of wisdom or rationality of these statements and regret that they are still issued by countries that are used to making the Middle East an arena for their follies and failures," the state news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry source as saying late on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. disappointed Americans barred from leaving Egypt
Mon,30 Jan 2012 05:12 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Monday criticized Egypt's move to bar several American citizens from leaving the country. "We have made clear our concerns about this issue and our disappointment that these several citizens are not being permitted to leave Egypt," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. (Reporting By Caren Bohan and Laura MacInnis; Editing by Sandra Maler) Full Story | Top |
Syrian authorities agree to Moscow talks - Russia
Mon,30 Jan 2012 05:12 PM PST
Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria has agreed to take part in Moscow-mediated talks on solving the country's crisis, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday, calling on the Syrian opposition to join the planned negotiations. However, a senior member of the Syrian opposition council said that no invitation had been received from Moscow and that it would be refused anyway. Moscow, a permanent U.N. Security Council member with veto powers, has offered to host the talks in an effort to end the bloodshed since protests began 10 months ago against President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
White House says supports political solution to Syria
Mon,30 Jan 2012 05:12 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday it supported a political solution that would stop the violence in Syria after Russia's Foreign Ministry said Syria agreed to Russian-brokered negotiations over the crisis. Asked about Russia's initiative to hold talks in Moscow, White House spokesman Jay Carney said: "We don't have details at this point on that meeting. But in general we support efforts to reach a political solution that stops the violence in Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
Gulf Arabs have plans against Hormuz closure: official
Mon,30 Jan 2012 04:43 PM PST
Reuters - ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Coastguards and naval forces of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) group of Arab countries have contingency plans for a possible attempt by Iran to shut the Strait of Hormuz, a Kuwaiti maritime official said on Monday. Five of the six GCC members - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Kuwait - rely on the world's most important energy shipping lane being open to export most of their oil or gas. ... Full Story | Top |
Iran vows to stop "some" oil sales as inspectors visit
Mon,30 Jan 2012 04:43 PM PST
Reuters -  TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran sent conflicting signals in a dispute with the West over its nuclear ambitions, vowing to stop oil exports soon to "some" countries but postponing a parliamentary debate on a proposed halt to crude sales to the European Union. The Islamic Republic declared itself optimistic about a visit by U.N. nuclear experts that began Sunday but also warned the inspectors to be "professional" or see Tehran reducing cooperation with the world body on atomic matters. ...
Full Story | Top |
Iranian arms smugglers using European ship firms: study
Mon,30 Jan 2012 04:43 PM PST
Reuters - STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Iranian traffickers, trying to dodge an embargo imposed by Western nations over Iran's nuclear program, are smuggling weapons on container ships owned by firms from the countries that imposed the sanctions, a think-tank said on Monday. Before 2008, when the United Nations toughened arms embargoes on Iran, the majority of arms and dual-use goods shipments to and from Iran were being transported aboard Iranian ships, or ships chartered by Iranian companies, it said. ... Full Story | Top |
Palestinians blame Israel for exploratory talks'
Mon,30 Jan 2012 03:52 PM PST
Reuters -  RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian leaders blamed Israel for the failure of exploratory talks aimed at resuming peace negotiations, and said they planned to explore other ways of bringing about a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The talks ended in Jordan on January 25 without achieving any progress and Palestinian officials said President Mahmoud Abbas planned to consult fellow Arabs on his next move. ...
Full Story | Top |
Libya rejects MSF torture allegations: minister
Mon,30 Jan 2012 03:41 PM PST
Reuters - ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The Libyan government rejected Monday allegations it had tortured detainees who had fought for Muammar Gaddafi's forces, saying that if there had been cases of torture it had not known about them. The aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said last Thursday it had stopped its work in detention centers in the city of Misrata because its medical staff were being asked to patch up detainees mid-way through torture sessions so they could go back for more abuse. ... Full Story | Top |
Haiti's Duvalier faces trial for corruption, not abuses
Mon,30 Jan 2012 03:37 PM PST
Reuters -  PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Former Haitian dictator Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier will face trial for corruption during his 15-year rule, but not for human rights abuses, the judge handling the case said on Monday. A 20-page ruling on the charges was delivered to the government prosecutor's office on Monday, Carves Jean, the judge responsible for investigating the case, told Reuters. It does not include charges for the murders, disappearances, torture and other rights abuses allegedly committed during Duvalier's rule, Jean said. ...
Full Story | Top |
Brazil leader arrives in Cuba to talk trade, ties
Mon,30 Jan 2012 03:29 PM PST
Reuters -  HAVANA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff arrived in Havana on Monday for a two-day visit focused on trade, but nagged by Cuba's ever-present human rights issues. She was scheduled to tour the port of Mariel near Havana, where Brazil is helping finance an $800 million renovation by Brazilian engineering giant Odebrecht; witness the signing of new trade agreements with the Communist island; and meet with President Raul Castro and possibly his older brother Fidel Castro. ...
Full Story | Top |
Relief in U.S. food prices seen as crop supplies grow
Mon,30 Jan 2012 02:54 PM PST
Reuters -  CHICAGO (Reuters) - After being hammered by record high food prices in 2011, which helped ignite the Arab Spring uprisings, consumers worldwide may find some relief in 2012 if U.S. farmers, induced by last year's high crop prices, plant more fields to grain this year. Analysts polled by Reuters expect prices of corn, soybeans and wheat to tumble as much as 15 percent from a year ago, which will benefit companies that produce meat like Pilgrim's Pride Corp, Sanderson Farms and Tyson Foods Inc in terms of lower feed costs. U.S. ...
Full Story | Top |
U.S. Embassy shelters Americans amid Egypt NGO crackdown
Mon,30 Jan 2012 02:54 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several American citizens have taken refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Cairo amid a sharpening dispute between Washington and Egypt over U.S.-funded pro-democracy groups in the country, the State Department said on Monday. The unusual step of offering ordinary U.S. citizens diplomatic refuge follows a crackdown by Egypt's military-led authorities on non-governmental organizations which has thrown a question mark over the future of U.S. aid to Egypt's military, now running at about $1.3 billion per year. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said a "handful" of U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
Syria says will foil Western efforts to sow chaos
Mon,30 Jan 2012 02:44 PM PST
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria dismissed on Monday U.S. and Western criticism of Damascus and said it would defeat what it called foreign attempts to spread chaos, hours after the White House said President Bashar al-Assad had lost control and would inevitably fall from power. "We are not surprised at the lack of wisdom or rationality of these statements and regret that they are still issued by countries that are used to making the Middle East an arena for their follies and failures," the state news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry source as saying late on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
Iranian arms smugglers using European ship firms: study
Mon,30 Jan 2012 02:12 PM PST
Reuters - STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Iranian traffickers, trying to dodge an embargo imposed by Western nations over Iran's nuclear program, are smuggling weapons on container ships owned by firms from the countries that imposed the sanctions, a think-tank said on Monday. Before 2008, when the United Nations toughened arms embargoes on Iran, the majority of arms and dual-use goods shipments to and from Iran were being transported aboard Iranian ships, or ships chartered by Iranian companies, it said. ... Full Story | Top |
Assad troops fight back against Syria rebels
Mon,30 Jan 2012 01:40 PM PST
Reuters -  AMMAN (Reuters) - Street battles raged at the gates of the Syrian capital on Monday as President Bashar al-Assad's troops sought to consolidate their grip on suburbs that rebel fighters had seized only a few miles from the centre of government power. Fighting subsided by nightfall as members of the anti-Assad Free Syrian Army (FSA) pulled out to the edges of the capital's suburbs, activists said by telephone, adding they believed 19 civilians and six FSA members had been killed. ...
Full Story | Top |
U.S. urges UN council to end "neglect," act on Syria
Mon,30 Jan 2012 01:33 PM PST
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States together with its allies and a Syrian opposition group all urged the U.N. Security Council on Monday to end its "neglect" of the violence raging in Syria and rapidly endorse an Arab League plan for a political transition there. "We have seen the consequences of neglect and inaction by this council over the course of the last 10 months, not because the majority of the council isn't eager to act - it has been," said Washington's U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. ... Full Story | Top |
World lacks enough food, fuel as population soars: U.N.
Mon,30 Jan 2012 01:06 PM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - The world is running out of time to make sure there is enough food, water and energy to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and to avoid sending up to 3 billion people into poverty, a U.N. report warned on Monday. As the world's population looks set to grow to nearly 9 billion by 2040 from 7 billion now, and the number of middle-class consumers increases by 3 billion over the next 20 years, the demand for resources will rise exponentially. ...
Full Story | Top |
Netanyahu set to win party primary ahead of U.S. poll
Mon,30 Jan 2012 10:51 AM PST
Reuters -  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to win a new mandate to lead his right-wing Likud party Tuesday in a primary vote which may signal he favors an early parliamentary election to strengthen his hand with Washington. National elections are not due until late 2013, and Netanyahu's decision to hold the Likud primaries now has raised speculation that he intends to call a national vote closer to the time of the U.S. presidential election late this year. Political commentators say a Likud victory in a parliamentary poll held before or shortly after the U.S. ...
Full Story | Top |
White House says supports political solution to Syria
Mon,30 Jan 2012 10:43 AM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday it supported a political solution that would stop the violence in Syria after Russia's Foreign Ministry said Syria agreed to Russian-brokered negotiations over the crisis. Asked about Russia's initiative to hold talks in Moscow, White House spokesman Jay Carney said: "We don't have details at this point on that meeting. But in general we support efforts to reach a political solution that stops the violence in Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
Angola approves Sonangol CEO exit in election year
Mon,30 Jan 2012 10:34 AM PST
Reuters - LISBON (Reuters) - Angola's government on Monday approved a decree by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos for the departure of Manuel Vicente from his role as chief executive of state oil firm Sonangol, state news agency Angop reported. The government did not provide any detail on the reasons behind the decision, but Vicente's departure from the company is likely to fuel speculation that he has been selected to succeed Dos Santos at the presidency. ... Full Story | Top |
Syrian authorities agree to Moscow talks - Russia
Mon,30 Jan 2012 10:22 AM PST
Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria has agreed to take part in Moscow-mediated talks on solving the country's crisis, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday, calling on the Syrian opposition to join the planned negotiations. However, a senior member of the Syrian opposition council said that no invitation had been received from Moscow and that it would be refused anyway. Moscow, a permanent U.N. Security Council member with veto powers, has offered to host the talks in an effort to end the bloodshed since protests began 10 months ago against President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
African Union fails to elect new chief
Mon,30 Jan 2012 10:21 AM PST
Reuters -  ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The African Union failed to elect a new head on Monday, highlighting the weakness of a group criticized for slow decision-making during political turmoil on the continent last year. Former South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was up against incumbent commission chairman Jean Ping of Gabon, who failed to win an outright majority in four rounds of voting. The commission is the AU secretariat's top organ and the chair its public face. ...
Full Story | Top |
Romania sentences ex-PM Nastase to jail for graft
Mon,30 Jan 2012 10:13 AM PST
Reuters - BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's top court gave former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase a two year jail sentence for corruption on Monday, a landmark conviction in the graft-prone European Union country that has prosecuted few senior officials. Nastase would be the first former prime minister to be sent to jail since the fall of communism in 1989. He remains free pending an appeal. Prosecutors had said the state budget lost $2 million in 2004 when profits from an event organized by a state construction watchdog were used to finance Nastase's campaign for the presidency. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. disappointed Americans barred from leaving Egypt
Mon,30 Jan 2012 10:09 AM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Monday criticized Egypt's move to bar several American citizens from leaving the country. "We have made clear our concerns about this issue and our disappointment that these several citizens are not being permitted to leave Egypt," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. (Reporting By Caren Bohan and Laura MacInnis; Editing by Sandra Maler) Full Story | Top |
Extending French reactors would cost least -report
Mon,30 Jan 2012 10:07 AM PST
Reuters - PARIS (Reuters) - France's EDF expects extending the life of its nuclear plants to cost up to 860 million euros ($1.1 billion) per reactor, making this the cheapest option for providing power to 2040, according to a draft government report leaked to media. By comparison, building a new-generation reactor such as Areva's 1,600 megawatt reactor would cost roughly 5 billion euros. ... Full Story | Top |
Mexican envoy kidnapped, freed in Venezuela
Mon,30 Jan 2012 10:01 AM PST
Reuters - CARACAS (Reuters) - Mexico's envoy to Caracas was seized overnight then freed on Monday in the latest high-profile kidnapping in Venezuela, where violent crime is routinely listed as citizens' No. 1 worry. In the classic style of "express" kidnappings that are rife in Venezuela, four armed men seized ambassador Carlos Pujalte and his wife in their car after a reception in the upscale Country Club zone of Caracas around midnight (0430 GMT), diplomats and officials said. The kidnappers released the couple in a slum before dawn. ... Full Story | Top |
Up to 500,000 new refugees could flee to S. Sudan: WFP
Mon,30 Jan 2012 10:00 AM PST
Reuters - JUBA (Reuters) - Conflict and food shortages could push up to half a million Sudanese refugees to flee to South Sudan in the next couple months if Khartoum does not allow aid agencies more access to its restive border regions, the World Food Program said. South Sudan seceded in July under a 2005 peace deal that ended a decades-long civil war with the north, but fighting has continued on both sides of the poorly drawn border. ... Full Story | Top |
After the wreck, cruise ship crew hanker for the sea
Mon,30 Jan 2012 08:37 AM PST
Reuters -  ROME (Reuters) - Hours after the Costa Concordia's captain had abandoned ship, and after helping dozens of passengers to safety, Carlos Garrone stripped off his clothes and plunged into the freezing waters off Giglio island and rescued a drowning fellow crew member. As the operation to salvage the massive cruise liner moves forward, its pace governed by the vagaries of the winter weather, passengers are lining up to claim to compensation. But like several of his shipmates, and despite the trauma of the midnight wreck, Garrone has no plans to leave his job. ...
Full Story | Top |
Keystone XL bill gets 44 senators on board
Mon,30 Jan 2012 07:46 AM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of 44 senators, all but one Republican, have signed on to proposed legislation that would authorize the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline despite the refusal of President Barack Obama to advance the project. Republican Senator John Hoeven is set to introduce the bill on Monday that, if passed into law, would allow work to begin immediately on all but the sensitive Nebraska portion of TransCanada's $7 billion controversial project. It's not yet clear how the bill will advance in the Democratic-controlled Senate. ...
Full Story | Top |
Afghan Hazara leader skeptical of Taliban peace
Mon,30 Jan 2012 07:03 AM PST
Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - Skepticism is growing inside Afghanistan's ethnic communities that a peace deal can be struck with the Taliban, under whose rule they were brutalized and persecuted, with many fearing a return to civil war, a prominent Hazara minority leader says. Mohammad Mohaqiq said he was deeply worried about NATO plans to pull out combat troops by end-2014, and a French government proposal to leave a year earlier, by 2013. ... Full Story | Top |
Iran vows to stop "some" oil sales as inspectors visit
Mon,30 Jan 2012 06:06 AM PST
Reuters -  TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran sent conflicting signals in a dispute with the West over its nuclear ambitions, vowing to stop oil exports soon to "some" countries but postponing a parliamentary debate on a proposed halt to crude sales to the European Union. The Islamic Republic declared itself optimistic about a visit by U.N. nuclear experts that began Sunday but also warned the inspectors to be "professional" or see Tehran reducing cooperation with the world body on atomic matters. ...
Full Story | Top |
| |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment