Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Japan to give Y600 billion in aid to Mekong nations over 3 years
Fri,20 Apr 2012 08:15 PM PDT
Reuters - TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will provide 600 billion yen ($7.35 billion) in official development aid to Mekong region countries in three years from April 2013 to help improve the region's infrastructure and boost the area's economy, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Saturday. Noda made the announcement following a meeting with leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar - countries with strong growth prospects. "There is no development in east Asia without the stability and growth in the Mekong region," Noda told reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
Strong quake hits eastern Indonesia
Fri,20 Apr 2012 08:29 PM PDT
Reuters - JAKARTA (Reuters) - An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck eastern Indonesia on Saturday off Irian Jaya, the United States Geological Survey said, and the Indonesian disaster mitigation agency said the quake has no tsunami potential. The USGS said the quake was recorded offshore, 51 miles south-southeast of the town of Manokwari, at a depth of 18.5 miles. It had initially estimated the magnitude of the tremor at 6.9 and 7.0. At least one major aftershock was recorded. ... Full Story | Top |
U.N. council schedules Saturday vote on Syria monitors
Fri,20 Apr 2012 06:24 PM PDT
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council has scheduled a vote on a draft resolution on Saturday to authorize the deployment to Syria of up to 300 unarmed military observers, despite U.S. and European concerns that Damascus has yet to fully implement a ceasefire. The United Nations announced on Friday the 15-nation council planned to hold the vote at 11:00 a.m. EDT. It will be considering a compromise resolution that combines Russian and European drafts. ... Full Story | Top |
Iraq calls Turkey "hostile state" as relations dim
Fri,20 Apr 2012 06:19 PM PDT
Reuters -  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday branded Turkey a "hostile state" with a sectarian agenda, the latest in a series of bitter exchanges between the neighbors. Maliki was responding to comments made by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday in which Erdogan accused the Iraqi leader of fanning tensions between the country's Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds with his "self-centered" ways. "The recent announcements by Mr. Erdogan represent another return to flagrant interference in Iraqi internal affairs," Maliki said in a statement on his website. ...
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G20 doubles IMF's war chest amid fears on Europe
Fri,20 Apr 2012 04:53 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leading world economies on Friday pledged $430 billion in new funding for the International Monetary Fund, more than doubling its lending power in a bid to protect the global economy from the euro-zone debt crisis. The promised funds from the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies aim to ensure the IMF can respond decisively should the debt problems that have engulfed three euro zone countries spread and threaten a fragile global recovery. "This is extremely important, necessary, an expression of collective resolve," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said. ...
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AMR unions want to take a chance on US Air merger
Fri,20 Apr 2012 04:34 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Labor groups at bankrupt American Airlines said on Friday they support a potential merger with rival US Airways Group Inc in a deal they say would save more jobs than a plan by parent AMR Corp to reorganize as a stand-alone carrier. The unions representing American's pilots, flight attendants and ground workers said they struck a deal with US Airways that would preserve 6,200 of the 14,200 jobs American says it would cut if it pursues its current plan. ...
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Trayvon Martin's killer gets bail, apologizes to family
Fri,20 Apr 2012 03:51 PM PDT
Reuters -  SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman apologized to the family of Trayvon Martin on Friday, stunning a rapt courtroom and a national television audience at a hearing in which the judge granted Zimmerman $150,000 bail on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of the unarmed black teenager. Zimmerman's surprise appearance on the witness stand added an unexpected twist to a saga that has riveted the country, provoked civil rights protests nationwide and fired a national debate over guns, self-defense laws and race in America. ...
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43 killed in Mexico after truck, bus collide
Fri,20 Apr 2012 03:45 PM PDT
Reuters -  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - At least 43 people were killed when a cargo truck crashed into a bus on a highway in eastern Mexico, in one of the worst traffic accidents the country has suffered in recent years. Pictures of the crash site near the municipality of Alamo Temapache in Veracruz state showed the side of the bus ripped open, with seats mangled by the impact and debris and luggage strewn across the road. Mexican officials said the vehicles were traveling in opposite directions along the highway early on Friday when the rear trailer of the truck decoupled, smashing into the bus. ...
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Spain targets Argentine biodiesel in YPF reprisal
Fri,20 Apr 2012 03:35 PM PDT
Reuters -  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain retaliated against Argentina on Friday for seizing control of Spanish-owned energy company YPF with a measure that could curtail multimillion-dollar imports of biodiesel from the Latin American nation. The Spanish industry ministry will approve a biodiesel plan later on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said after a weekly cabinet meeting. She gave no details, but one possibility would be a measure giving preference to European Union-produced biofuel in meeting compulsory motor fuel blending requirements. ...
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Bahrain Grand Prix to go ahead as protests flare
Fri,20 Apr 2012 03:29 PM PDT
Reuters -  MANAMA (Reuters) - Bahrain was under tight security on Saturday after violent clashes between police and anti-government protesters overshadowed this weekend's Formula One Grand Prix race meeting in the Gulf state.
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F1 bosses "comfortable" with Bahrain GP security
Fri,20 Apr 2012 03:23 PM PDT
Reuters - MANAMA (Reuters) - Leading Formula One team principals expressed confidence in security measures at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday even as police and protesters faced off with teargas and petrol bombs half an hour up the road. On a day again dominated by politics and safety concerns, as well as a visit to the circuit by the country's Crown Prince, those charged with running the teams battled to focus on motor racing. ... Full Story | Top |
F1 teams rattled by Bahrain petrol bombs
Fri,20 Apr 2012 03:23 PM PDT
Reuters - MANAMA (Reuters) - Sauber revealed their Bahrain Grand Prix mechanics had witnessed masked protestors throwing petrol bombs and Force India pulled out of second practice for safety reasons on Friday after an earlier scare. Swiss-based Sauber said in a statement that the mechanics had seen flames in the road after they left the Sakhir circuit in a minibus on Thursday night to return to their hotel in Manama. "At 20:50 hrs the 12 mechanics being on that bus noticed fire on the medial strip of the highway. The traffic was slow, cars had their hazard flashers on," the Formula One team said. ... Full Story | Top |
Cancelling F1 would "empower extremists": Bahrain Prince
Fri,20 Apr 2012 03:23 PM PDT
Reuters - MANAMA (Reuters) - Cancelling Sunday's Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix would only "empower extremists", the country's Crown Prince told reporters on Friday as police in the small Gulf state battled to put down pro-democracy protests. Prince Salman did not respond directly to questions about whether he could guarantee the safety of teams, however, saying instead that he was able to guarantee that the protests were not directed against Formula One. ... Full Story | Top |
Egyptians mass to demand army retreat from power
Fri,20 Apr 2012 03:02 PM PDT
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Egyptians demanded on Friday that their military rulers stick to a pledge to hand over power by mid-year after a row over who can run in the presidential election raised doubts about the army's commitment to democracy. Two leading Islamist candidates, one representing the Muslim Brotherhood who was seen as the frontrunner, were among those disqualified this week from a vote that starts on May 23-24, drawing a storm of criticism from supporters and the candidates. ...
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Obama, courting youth vote, sets student-loan push
Fri,20 Apr 2012 02:30 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will use a tour of election battleground states next week to push Congress to prevent interest rates on federal student loans from doubling, a move that could appeal to middle-class and younger voters crucial to his re-election chances. Obama will make his pitch in speeches at universities in North Carolina, Colorado and Iowa, three states expected to play a major role in the November election. The youth vote is a key national constituency his campaign team hopes to re-energize. ...
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U.N. Council negotiating Syria monitors resolution
Fri,20 Apr 2012 02:22 PM PDT
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia and the European Union on Friday circulated separate draft U.N. Security Council resolutions to authorize the deployment to Syria of up to 300 more ceasefire observers and a vote over the weekend was likely, diplomats said. There are seven monitors already in Syria after the council authorized an advance team of up to 30 on Saturday. A new resolution is needed for a further "initial deployment" of up to 300 as recommended by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. ... Full Story | Top |
South Sudan withdraws from oil area, easing border crisis
Fri,20 Apr 2012 02:06 PM PDT
Reuters -  JUBA/KHARTOUM (Reuters) - South Sudan said on Friday it would withdraw its troops from the disputed Heglig oil region more than a week after seizing it from Sudan, pulling the countries back from the brink of a full-blown war. Sudan quickly declared victory, saying its armed forces had "liberated" the area by force as thousands of people poured onto the streets of Khartoum cheering, dancing, honking car horns and waving flags. ...
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U.S. to guarantee loans to help Tunisian transition
Fri,20 Apr 2012 02:00 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will provide as much as "several hundred million dollars" of loan guarantees to support Tunisia's democratic transition and economic recovery, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday. "Last October, President (Barack) Obama made clear the United States' commitment to supporting Tunisia's historic transformation," U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement after signing a declaration of intent with Tunisian Finance Minister Houcine Dimassi. ...
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Pakistani plane crashes with 127 on board
Fri,20 Apr 2012 01:49 PM PDT
Reuters -  ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistani airliner with 127 people on board crashed in bad weather as it came in to land in Islamabad on Friday, scattering wreckage and leaving no sign of survivors. The Boeing 737, operated by local airline Bhoja Air, was flying to the capital from Pakistan's biggest city and business hub Karachi. It crashed into wheat fields more than 5 miles from the airport. Rawal Khan Maitla, director general of Emergency Disaster Management for the Capital Development Authority, said there were no survivors. ...
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In easing Myanmar sanctions, U.S. seeks to boost reforms
Fri,20 Apr 2012 01:36 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is moving to ease bans on U.S. companies investing in and providing financial services to Myanmar, and will first target those sectors that could support democratic reforms in the country, a senior U.S. official said on Friday. The official said that final reviews were under way following Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's pledge earlier this month to begin unwinding U.S. business sanctions, with decisions expected in coming weeks. ...
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Sudan pipelines will not open for South's oil: Bashir
Fri,20 Apr 2012 01:25 PM PDT
Reuters - KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Friday Sudan did not want fees from South Sudanese oil and threatened to keep Sudan's oil pipelines closed to the South's crude exports following fighting in a disputed border region. "We don't want fees from the oil of South Sudan and we will not open the pipeline. There is no oil from South Sudan that will pass through our pure land, so that not one dollar goes to these criminals," Bashir told a rally in Khartoum attended by thousands of people. ... Full Story | Top |
CAR blames Sudan rebels for cross-border ambush
Fri,20 Apr 2012 01:25 PM PDT
Reuters - BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic said on Friday that Sudanese rebels killed 11 of its soldiers in a cross-border ambush aimed at stealing weapons and ammunition. The attack took place on Tuesday at a military post in Amdafok, a few kilometers from the border with Sudan's Darfur region, officials said. "The Central African contingent ... was attacked Tuesday at Amdafok, with 11 killed and 11 injured," the government said in a statement read over national radio. ... Full Story | Top |
Mexico's Pena Nieto offers new start to PRI
Fri,20 Apr 2012 01:24 PM PDT
Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - If Enrique Pena Nieto becomes the first member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to win a Mexican presidential vote in 18 years this July, he will represent a new start for the centrist faction in more ways than one. For more than two years, the telegenic Pena Nieto, 45, has led opinion polls to succeed conservative President Felipe Calderon when his term ends on November 30. ... Full Story | Top |
PENPIX-Mexico's leftist hope struggles to recapture old form
Fri,20 Apr 2012 01:16 PM PDT
Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Charismatic leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador came within a whisker of winning Mexico's presidency in 2006 but is struggling to build momentum for his campaign this year. Often referred to as AMLO or "Peje" - a type of tough swamp fish in his native state of Tabasco - Lopez Obrador, 58, has long been famous for leading his supporters out on huge protest marches and making impassioned speeches condemning Mexico's "mafia" of rich and powerful oligarchs. ... Full Story | Top |
Mexico's conservatives bet on woman presidential hopeful
Fri,20 Apr 2012 01:16 PM PDT
Reuters -  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's ruling conservatives took a bold step by becoming the first major party to nominate a woman presidential candidate, but Josefina Vazquez Mota is struggling to close a big gap with the front-runner, hamstrung by internal party divisions. Three weeks into a compressed campaign season before the July 1 vote, Vazquez Mota trails Enrique Pena Nieto from the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, by double digits in most opinion polls. ...
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French election rivals in final race for workers
Fri,20 Apr 2012 12:46 PM PDT
Reuters -  PARIS (Reuters) - Socialist presidential frontrunner Francois Hollande appealed to French voters to throw out conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and shun the far right in a final push for working-class votes before Sunday's first round of the election. As Sarkozy campaigned in the Mediterranean city of Nice, where the far right enjoys strong support, Hollande urged those angry over unemployment and economic gloom and tempted by National Front leader Marine Le Pen to listen to him instead. ...
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Britain's Cameron offered air tanker as VIP jet
Fri,20 Apr 2012 12:45 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Senior British politicians and royals might consider making foreign visits in converted air force refueling jets after a row over the use of a rented Boeing for a trade mission to tout European-made Airbus planes. Britain's aerospace industry lobby group said proposals were being drawn up by the industry that could allow Prime Minister David Cameron and even Queen Elizabeth to use modified Airbus jetliners that double as refueling planes. ...
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Argentina seeks Petrobras collaboration in YPF
Fri,20 Apr 2012 12:32 PM PDT
Reuters -  BRASILIA (Reuters) - Argentine Planning Minister Julio De Vido approached Brazil and its state-run oil company Petrobras on Friday to invite greater investment and collaboration with oil company YPF, which the government announced this week it would seize. Brazilian Energy Minister Lobao responded after the meetings that Petrobras' investments in its southern neighbor would remain at roughly $500 million in 2012, unchanged from 2011. Although he did not dismiss Vido's call for Petrobras to double its oil and gas output in Argentina, he said it would only happen "in due time. ...
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Peru's army prepares for "all-out" assault on rebels
Fri,20 Apr 2012 12:26 PM PDT
Reuters -  LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's army is preparing one of its largest offensives in two decades against Shining Path rebels, officials said on Friday, hoping to quash remnants of the group that embarrassed the government over the weekend. To avoid civilian casualties, the military was evacuating hundreds of indigenous people from villages in a treacherous bundle of serpentine jungle valleys known as the "Dog's Ear," where the Maoist rebels have used landmines, snipers and ambushes against government forces. ...
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Strike law tests Moroccan government reforms
Fri,20 Apr 2012 12:14 PM PDT
Reuters -  RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco's plans to introduce a law this year to regulate strikes will test the Islamist-led government's ability to carry out reforms to modernize an economy that is badly in need of foreign investment. The North African country averaged a strike a day last year, the highest number in a decade, often paralyzing public services and leading to the loss of more than 300,000 working days, a near threefold rise from 2010, official figures show. Those are high numbers for a country where barely 10 percent of the 10-million workforce is affiliated to trade unions. ...
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Vatican crackdown on U.S. nuns a long time brewing
Fri,20 Apr 2012 11:45 AM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - When Pope John Paul II arrived in the United States in 1979, the president of the nation's most powerful organization of nuns met him with a challenge. In a bold welcoming address, Sister Theresa Kane called on the pope to include women "in all ministries of our church," including the priesthood. The pope sat silent, his expression stony. That moment did not change Vatican policy. But it unveiled growing tensions between the Vatican and American nuns. ... Full Story | Top |
U.N. seeks Syria nod for major aid operation
Fri,20 Apr 2012 11:35 AM PDT
Reuters - GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations hopes to get permission from the Syrian government in the coming days to launch a major aid operation to help at least 1 million people affected by the country's violence, a senior U.N. humanitarian official said on Friday. Syria has recognized there are "serious humanitarian needs" and that action is needed, but logistical issues and visas for aid workers are still being discussed, said John Ging, director of operations of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). "Now it's a question of implementing those plans. ... Full Story | Top |
Crisis proves a curse for Greece's Orthodox Church
Fri,20 Apr 2012 11:32 AM PDT
Reuters -  ATHENS (Reuters) - Close links between the Greek state and the Orthodox Church are turning from a blessing for the clergy into a curse as the debt-laden government struggles to fund the ancient institution, just as impoverished Greeks need its charitable work most. Starved of money as the state makes huge spending cuts, the deeply conservative church which grew from one of the earliest centers of Christianity is seeking new sources of funds. ...
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Crisis heightens regional tensions in Spain
Fri,20 Apr 2012 11:18 AM PDT
Reuters -  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's deepest economic crisis in decades has disrupted the delicate power balance between the central government and highly autonomous regions like wealthy Catalonia, complicating the country's austerity drive to renew investor confidence. Spain's 17 autonomous regions were granted autonomy in the 1978 Constitution recognizing their nationalistic ambitions, but the bulk of power remained in Madrid. ...
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China's Wen in Iceland, eyes on Arctic riches
Fri,20 Apr 2012 11:06 AM PDT
Reuters -  REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - China signed accords on energy cooperation and the Arctic in Iceland on Friday as Premier Wen Jiabao started a tour of northern Europe that will focus on Chinese investment in a continent eager for funds and to trade with the rising world power. Centrepiece of the trip will be a visit to Germany, where Wen and Chancellor Angela Merkel will on Sunday and Monday burnish industrial ties that have done much for both economies. ...
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Wary UAE tightens screws on Islamists
Fri,20 Apr 2012 11:06 AM PDT
Reuters -  ABU DHABI/RAS AL-KHAIMAH, United Arab Emirates (Reuters) - Wary of the Muslim Brotherhood's growing influence in the Arab world, the United Arab Emirates is clamping down on Islamists, anxious they could be emboldened to challenge a government that has weathered "Arab Spring" uprisings unscathed. Long confined to the margins of the political scene or thrown in prison to ensure they stayed that way, Islamists have emerged as key actors in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt following the overthrow of their autocratic rulers. ...
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Analysis: Assad foes doubt Syria truce but have few options
Fri,20 Apr 2012 10:59 AM PDT
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Barely had the first U.N. ceasefire monitors set foot on Syrian soil this week than Bashar al-Assad's enemies were discussing the likelihood of the mission failing and warning of punitive measures against the Syrian president. The emir of Qatar gave Syria's flawed truce a three percent chance of holding while U.S. officials, pointing to continued army shelling of rebel strongholds, questioned whether there was any point adding to the handful of international monitors in place. France said it put no faith in the ceasefire because Assad was not sincere and even U.N. ...
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Road accident kills 43 in eastern Mexico
Fri,20 Apr 2012 10:55 AM PDT
Reuters -  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - At least 43 people were killed in a road accident when a cargo truck crashed into a tour bus in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, local government authorities said on Friday. The early morning collision occurred near the municipality of Alamo Temapache in northern Veracruz, and four minors were among the dead, a municipal spokesman said. According to initial investigations, the vehicles collided after the truck's trailer decoupled, said Gina Dominguez, a spokeswoman for the Veracruz state government. She confirmed the death toll reported by local authorities. ...
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Analysis: Mexican women voters back "alpha male" over female rival
Fri,20 Apr 2012 10:51 AM PDT
Reuters -  GUADALAJARA, Mexico (Reuters) - Women shout and jostle to get close to Enrique Pena Nieto, mob him for kisses or a hug, and snap photographs with the kind of excitement more commonly reserved for teenage heartthrobs than Mexican presidential candidates. The 45-year-old Pena Nieto, candidate for the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), is favorite to win Mexico's July 1 presidential election, which for the first time will feature a woman as one of Mexico's main contenders. ...
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Murdochs face UK court showdown over political ties
Fri,20 Apr 2012 10:44 AM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch faces a two-day grilling at Britain's High Court next week by a judge investigating whether the political ties of the world's most powerful media tycoon created a company culture where illegal phone hacking could flourish. The 81-year-old mogul and his son James are battling to defend their business in Britain after a year-long phone hacking scandal which has convulsed his media empire, embarrassed politicians and provoked a wave of public revulsion. ...
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