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One killed, 6 wounded in Toronto mall shooting
Sat,2 Jun 2012 07:23 PM PDT
Reuters -  TORONTO (Reuters) - One man was killed and six other people were wounded, two critically, in a shooting at Toronto's main downtown mall on Saturday, a rare occurrence of major gun violence in Canada's largest city. One of the victims in critical condition was a 13-year-old boy, a police spokesman said. Seven people in total were shot or grazed, while a pregnant woman was knocked down in the melee that followed and went into labor. Police said the shooter was still at large. ...
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Ron Paul supporter arrested at Louisiana Republican convention
Sat,2 Jun 2012 07:20 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Police said a Ron Paul supporter was arrested and complained of injury after refusing to leave the Louisiana Republican State Convention on Saturday, a boisterous event where backers of the Texas congressman argued for a greater voice. The fracas follows Paul's decision last month to suspend active campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, which Mitt Romney clinched on Tuesday with a resounding victory in the Texas primary. ...
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Egyptians storm Shafiq campaign office: state website
Sat,2 Jun 2012 06:43 PM PDT
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Dozens of young Egyptians ransacked the campaign office of presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq in Fayoum city south of Cairo on Sunday, the state's Al-Ahram news website reported. "Tens of young Egyptians stormed into the headquarters of presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq in Fayoum destroying all the contents of the headquarters including furniture and computer devices," Al-Ahram online said. It was the second attack on a Shafiq campaign office in recent days. ... Full Story | Top |
German Left party picks new leaders amid fears of collapse
Sat,2 Jun 2012 06:12 PM PDT
Reuters -  GOETTINGEN, Germany (Reuters) - Germany's Left party spurned an experienced campaign manager and instead picked two little-known candidates to lead the far-left alliance through the worst crisis in its four-year history at a tumultuous party congress on Saturday. Amid warnings from other leaders that the party was showing signs of disintegration, delegates to the Left party's annual congress elected western German hard-line leftist Bernd Riexinger and little-known easterner Katja Kipping as co-leaders of the second largest opposition party in parliament. ...
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Raul Castro turning 81, trying to preserve communism
Sat,2 Jun 2012 05:33 PM PDT
Reuters -  HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro turns 81 on Sunday, another year on in his race against time to reform Cuba's economy and try to assure the survival of communism after he and his elderly colleagues are gone. Their task, he has said, is to correct mistakes made during their 53 years of leadership, which will require "days and years of work" that he intends to finish. ...
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Insight: Malaysia government losing Chinese support, putting reforms at risk
Sat,2 Jun 2012 05:07 PM PDT
Reuters -  KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Ethnic Chinese voters, upset over policies that favor majority Malays, have become increasingly alienated from Malaysia's ruling coalition, raising the risk of racial polarization and a slowdown in the pace of reforms. Support for Prime Minister Najib Razak among Chinese voters plunged to 37 percent in May from 56 percent in February, a survey by the independent Merdeka Center showed on Friday. It found 56 percent of Chinese were dissatisfied with the government, compared to 30 percent of Indians and 23 percent of Malays. ...
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Young Egyptians storm Shafiq HQ: state website
Sat,2 Jun 2012 04:50 PM PDT
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Dozens of young Egyptians stormed into the campaign headquarters of presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq for the Fayoum area south of Cairo on Sunday, the state's Al-Ahram news website reported. "Tens of young Egyptians stormed into the headquarters of presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq in Fayoum destroying all the contents of the headquarters including furniture and computer devices," Al-Ahram online said. It was the second attack on Shafiq's headquarters in few days. ... Full Story | Top |
Group seeking to buy EFG Hermes to appeal to regulator
Sat,2 Jun 2012 04:48 PM PDT
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - Shareholders of Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes voted on Saturday against a group of investors seeking to buy the bank, but the investors will appeal to Egypt's regulator to suspend the decision, the group targeting the bank said. The group, called Planet IB, said it intended to offer 13.50 Egyptian pounds ($2.23) per share to buy the Cairo-based investment bank, Egypt's biggest. Shares in EFG closed at 10.99 pounds on Thursday, the last day of Egypt's trading week. ...
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Canada adds charges for dismemberment murder suspect
Sat,2 Jun 2012 04:30 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - An arrest warrant for a Canadian accused of murdering an acquaintance, dismembering his body and posting a video of the gruesome crime online lists four charges besides that of first-degree murder, according to documents posted online on Saturday. The documents, posted by CBC News, said police also wanted to charge Luka Rocco Magnotta, 29, with indignities to a body, publishing and mailing obscene matter, and harassing Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other members of Parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
Italian sailors freed on bail in India murder case
Sat,2 Jun 2012 04:07 PM PDT
Reuters -  ROME (Reuters) - Italian sailors charged with murdering two Indian fishermen were released on bail on Saturday to await trial, one step closer to the climax of a major diplomatic row between Rome and New Delhi. An Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the two marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, had moved to a hotel in the port city of Kochi in the western Indian state of Kerala, where they are obliged to stay under conditions of their bail. ...
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Nine killed in Syrian-linked clashes in Lebanon
Sat,2 Jun 2012 03:56 PM PDT
Reuters -  TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - Clashes erupted between heavily-armed supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Lebanon's port of Tripoli on Saturday, killing nine people and prompting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to rush there to try to stop the violence. Mikati held talks with ministers and officials in the northern city, as gunmen a few kilometers (miles) away fired machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades at each other. Residents and a doctor said 42 people had been wounded. ...
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Annan talks tough to Syria's Assad
Sat,2 Jun 2012 03:45 PM PDT
Reuters -  DOHA (Reuters) - International peace envoy Kofi Annan accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces of atrocities and arbitrary arrests, and said on Saturday he had delivered a blunt message to Assad to act now to implement all points of a peace plan. Annan, appointed as envoy on Syria by both the United Nations and the Arab League, said the specter of an all-out civil war was growing daily to the concern of other Middle East countries. ...
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Canadian miner's complaint can proceed under El Salvador law
Sat,2 Jun 2012 03:06 PM PDT
Reuters - TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian company Pacific Rim can move forward under El Salvador law with a case against that country's government for blocking a gold mining project, but cannot file suit under a regional trade agreement, a World Bank arbitration panel ruled. The panel, known as the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, found Pacific Rim "did not and does not have substantial activities in the USA" to argue its case under the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States, or CAFTA. ... Full Story | Top |
Darfur rebels attack Sudanese troops
Sat,2 Jun 2012 03:04 PM PDT
Reuters - KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Rebels in Sudan's Darfur region launched an attack on government troops on Saturday, with both sides claiming to have inflicted heavy casualties. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), part of a rebel alliance that wants to topple the government in Khartoum, said it attacked an army camp in Wad Ganja in northeastern Darfur, killing several soldiers, destroying 15 army vehicles and taking several prisoners. Army spokesman al-Sawarmi Khalid confirmed the attack but said the rebels had been defeated. "They suffered heavy losses. ... Full Story | Top |
Spain calls for new euro fiscal authority
Sat,2 Jun 2012 02:34 PM PDT
Reuters -  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain, the latest combat zone in Europe's long-running debt wars, urged the euro zone to set up a new fiscal authority to manage the bloc's finances and send a clear signal to markets that the single currency project is irreversible. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the authority would also go a long way to alleviating Spain's woes which, along with the prospect of a Greek euro exit, have threatened to derail the single currency project. ...
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Democrat Warren talks tough in tight Senate race
Sat,2 Jun 2012 02:21 PM PDT
Reuters -  BOSTON (Reuters) - Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren took the offensive against Republican Senator Scott Brown on Saturday, attempting to put questions about her ethnic heritage in the rear-view mirror with a fiery speech at a state convention. Warren's attack came as two opinion polls showed the rivals locked in a tight race for Brown's Senate seat for Massachusetts, one of the most closely watched Congressional contests in the November election, in which the Democrats are seeking to protect a slim Senate majority. "Scott Brown is a Wall Street Republican. A big oil Republican. ...
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Olympic flame makes symbolic journey to Northern Ireland
Sat,2 Jun 2012 02:18 PM PDT
Reuters -  BELFAST (Reuters) - The flame for the London Olympics arrived in Northern Ireland on Saturday in a celebration that would have seemed impossible a generation earlier amid a bloody war between Catholic Irish nationalists and pro-British Protestants.
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Wisconsin recall vote to resonate in presidential race
Sat,2 Jun 2012 02:14 PM PDT
Reuters -  The battle over whether to recall Wisconsin's Republican governor, Scott Walker, has sharply divided the state and become a nationally watched test of his party's push to limit government, slash spending and challenge public-sector labor unions. Tuesday's recall vote also has the attention of two very interested outsiders: Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, who are gearing up for their November 6 showdown for the White House. ...
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Marijuana initiative could make or break Obama in Colorado
Sat,2 Jun 2012 02:06 PM PDT
Reuters -  DENVER (Reuters) - Throughout his presidency, Barack Obama hasn't exactly been a friend to marijuana users. Sure, he has acknowledged smoking pot as a young man, but he has disappointed marijuana advocates by opposing its legalization, regulation and taxation like alcohol. And the Justice Department's occasional crackdown under his administration on medical marijuana dispensaries, which 17 states and the District of Columbia allow, has angered others. ...
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Florida weighs warning against voter purge
Sat,2 Jun 2012 01:47 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Florida, a key electoral battleground where the 2000 presidential election was decided by a few hundred ballots, will decide in the coming days whether to heed a Justice Department warning to stop its campaign to purge ineligible voters, a state spokesman said on Saturday. The warning issued this week by the head of the Justice Department's voting section said the effort appeared to violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which protects minorities. It demanded a response by Wednesday. ...
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Timeline: Egypt's Mubarak -- from presidency to prison
Sat,2 Jun 2012 12:45 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Here is a look at Hosni Mubarak from the start of his presidency to when he was sentenced to life imprisonment on Saturday for his role in killing protesters involved in a uprising that toppled him from power last year: October 6, 1981 - Vice-President Mubarak is thrust into office when Islamist radicals gun down President Anwar Sadat at a military parade. He is approved as president in a referendum in November. June 26, 1995 - Gunmen attack Mubarak's car as he arrives at an African summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. He escapes unhurt and returns to Egypt. ... Full Story | Top |
Italy's Monti sees eurobonds becoming reality
Sat,2 Jun 2012 11:40 AM PDT
Reuters - ATHENS (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti believes eurobonds will become a reality in the 17-nation euro zone and that Greece will remain in the single currency, he told a Greek newspaper on Saturday. Monti, a respected former European commissioner who became Italy's prime minister in November, was known to be a supporter of eurobonds - unlike politicians in European Union paymaster Germany - but his comments were some of his strongest on the subject yet and looked like an attempt to sway Berlin. ... Full Story | Top |
Obama takes time to relax in Chicago hometown
Sat,2 Jun 2012 11:28 AM PDT
Reuters -  CHICAGO (Reuters) - Life's simple pleasures are complicated when you are the president of the United States. Barack Obama, savoring fine late spring weather after a rare night under his own roof - the first since April, 2011 - took a three-block stroll early on Saturday through his old Chicago neighborhood. He was preceded by a wave of dark-suited secret service agents and stalked by a slow-rolling convoy of armored SUVs. Looking relaxed and chatting with close adviser Valerie Jarrett, Obama was paying a visit on long-time Chicago friend Martin Nesbitt. ...
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Egypt's Mubarak sentenced to life, protests erupt
Sat,2 Jun 2012 11:24 AM PDT
Reuters -  Hosni Mubarak, toppled by an uprising last year after 30 years ruling Egypt, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Saturday for his role in killing protesters after a trial that sets a precedent for holding Middle East autocrats to account. But it was not enough for thousands of Egyptians who poured onto the streets afterwards in a nation already on edge before a deciding presidential vote in two weeks. Some wanted Mubarak executed, others feared the judge's ruling exposed weaknesses in the case that could let the ex-military strongman off on appeal. ...
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Photo of breastfeeding National Guardswomen stirs U.S. debate
Sat,2 Jun 2012 10:56 AM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Two members of the U.S. National Guard photographed breastfeeding in uniform are not expected to face discipline in spite of rules forbidding the use of uniforms to promote a cause, a military spokesman said on Saturday. Instead, the incident will be used as a "teachable moment" to make clear the U.S. military is not opposed to breastfeeding, Washington National Guard spokesman Keith Kosik said. "I believe recent events are being viewed as an educational opportunity and I do not anticipate the citizen-airmen in question will receive formal disciplinary action," Kosik said. ... Full Story | Top |
Brits obsessed with sex and divorce - bishop
Sat,2 Jun 2012 10:54 AM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - An obsession with sex and divorce is running rampant through British society, the Bishop of London said on Saturday, urging Britons to use the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations as a chance to reflect and change their ways. Taking stock of the changes in Britain since Elizabeth came to the throne in 1952, Richard Chartres said rapid economic and progress had not come without its cost. "Promiscuity, separation and divorce have reached epidemic proportions in our society," Chartres said in a pamphlet written to mark this weekend's festivities. ... Full Story | Top |
Peacemaker Annan talks tough to Syria's Assad
Sat,2 Jun 2012 09:26 AM PDT
Reuters - DOHA (Reuters) - International envoy Kofi Annan on Saturday criticised President Bashar al-Assad for failing to comply with a peace plan to end the Syria conflict and said his forces were carrying out atrocities, arbitrary arrests and other abuses regardless of the world outcry against him. At a meeting with members of the Arab League, Annan gave a bleak assessment of the situation in Syria 15 months on from the start of the anti-Assad uprising. ... Full Story | Top |
Verdict on Egypt's Mubarak sparks courtroom chaos
Sat,2 Jun 2012 09:15 AM PDT
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - A judge handed down life terms to former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his interior minister for their part in the killings of protesters last year, but Saturday's long-awaited verdict produced some curious reactions. Lawyers on the defence team congratulated each other. Those representing the families of the dead were downcast. Moments later, the courtroom dissolved into chaos, as the plaintiff lawyers chanted slogans against the judiciary in one area and unrelated fistfights breaking out in another. ...
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NATO forces rescue four aid workers in north Afghanistan
Sat,2 Jun 2012 09:05 AM PDT
Reuters - KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A NATO rescue team dropped by helicopter in the remote mountains of northern Afghanistan early on Saturday freed four aid workers, including two foreigners, who had been seized by the Taliban last month, the alliance said. The aid workers, employed by Swiss-based Medair, were en route to flood-stricken parts of Badakhshan province when they were kidnapped. ... Full Story | Top |
Egypt's Mubarak sentenced to life, protests erupt
Sat,2 Jun 2012 09:03 AM PDT
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - Hosni Mubarak, toppled by an uprising last year after 30 years ruling Egypt, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Saturday for his role in killing protesters after a trial that sets a precedent for holding Middle East autocrats to account. But it was not enough for thousands of Egyptians who poured onto the streets after the verdict. Some wanted Mubarak executed, others feared the judge's ruling exposed weaknesses in the case that could let the former military strongman off on appeal. ...
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Verdict on Egypt's Mubarak sparks courtroom chaos
Sat,2 Jun 2012 08:57 AM PDT
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - A judge handed down life terms to former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his interior minister for their part in the killings of protesters last year, but Saturday's long-awaited verdict produced some curious reactions. Lawyers on the defence team congratulated each other. Those representing the families of the dead were downcast. Moments later, the courtroom dissolved into chaos, as the plaintiff lawyers chanted slogans against the judiciary in one area and unrelated fistfights breaking out in another. ... Full Story | Top |
Verdict on Egypt's Mubarak sparks courtroom chaos
Sat,2 Jun 2012 08:45 AM PDT
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - A judge handed down life terms to former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his interior minister for their part in the killings of protesters last year, but Saturday's long-awaited verdict produced some curious reactions. Lawyers on the defense team congratulated each other. Those representing the families of the dead were downcast. Moments later, the courtroom dissolved into chaos, as the plaintiff lawyers chanted slogans against the judiciary in one area and unrelated fistfights breaking out in another. ... Full Story | Top |
Insight: California city's pension vote: a precedent for U.S.?
Sat,2 Jun 2012 08:25 AM PDT
Reuters - SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A radical plan to slash public employee pension benefits gets voted on by the residents of Silicon Valley's San Jose on Tuesday - a decision that could set an important precedent for many other cities, not only in California but across the nation. The nation's 10th-largest city is also one of the wealthiest, but over the past several years it has cut its municipal workforce by a quarter, laying off cops and firefighters, shuttering libraries and letting street repairs fall by the wayside. ... Full Story | Top |
Greco elected after Generali coup ousts Perissinotto
Sat,2 Jun 2012 08:07 AM PDT
Reuters -  MILAN (Reuters) - Europe's third-largest insurer Generali said it named Mario Greco, a top executive at Zurich Insurance Group , as its new CEO on Saturday, after Giovanni Perissinotto was ousted in a rapid boardroom coup. The push to oust Perissonotto -- who spent more than 30 years at the group - happened suddenly last week and was led by chief shareholder Mediobanca and private investors including Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio. ...
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Seven dead, 30 wounded in north Lebanon clashes
Sat,2 Jun 2012 07:46 AM PDT
Reuters - TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - Seven people were killed and 30 wounded in Lebanon's port city of Tripoli on Saturday in clashes between Lebanese supporters and opponents of a popular uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an army doctor at the scene said, Residents of neighboring districts have fought on-off skirmishes in recent weeks, but Saturday's death toll is the highest in a single day in Tripoli, raising fears that Syria's unrest will spill over into its smaller neighbor. (Reporting by Nazih Saddiq) Full Story | Top |
Berlusconi says idea Italy should dump euro was "joke"
Sat,2 Jun 2012 07:35 AM PDT
Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday he was only joking when he suggested that Italy should dump the euro unless the European Central Bank agreed to inject more cash into the economy. "We have to go to Europe and say forcefully that the ECB should start printing money. If it doesn't, we should have the strength to say 'ciao, ciao' and leave the euro," Berlusconi said on Friday in an entry on his Facebook page. ... Full Story | Top |
Egypt's Mubarak enters prison hospital: state news agency
Sat,2 Jun 2012 07:33 AM PDT
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's deposed President Hosni Mubarak was admitted to a prison hospital following a "health crisis" on Saturday after he was sentenced to life in prison, the state's news agency MENA reported. "Mubarak has entered to Tora prison hospital after coming out from the aircraft that was transferring him from court to prison," the agency said. Mubarak, who had been in a military hospital during the trial, flew in a helicopter from the court.
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"Big Four" to audit Spain's banking sector
Sat,2 Jun 2012 07:19 AM PDT
Reuters - MADRID (Reuters) - Spain has picked the "Big Four" accounting firms KPMG , PwC , Deloitte and Ernst & Young to carry a full, individual audit of its ailing banks, a source with knowledge of the decision told Reuters on Saturday. The review, which should take a few months, will complement an ongoing exercise to stress test Spain's banking sector by consultors Oliver Wyman and Roland Berger, whose first results are expected around mid-June. "I can confirm (the names)," the source said. ... Full Story | Top |
German Left leader warns of party collapse
Sat,2 Jun 2012 07:14 AM PDT
Reuters - GOETTINGEN, Germany (Reuters) - Germany's radical Left party risks disintegration, one of its leaders warned on Saturday, in a fight for supremacy between eastern and western wings which could undermine the re-election prospects of Chancellor Angela Merkel. The party, the second largest opposition group in parliament with 76 of 622 seats, could fall below the 5 percent threshhold for voter support and so boost the chances of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens winning a majority over Merkel's conservatives in 2013. The Left party polled 11. ... Full Story | Top |
Afghan mission will prompt NATO reform: Canada minister
Sat,2 Jun 2012 07:07 AM PDT
Reuters - SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The NATO alliance will emerge strengthened from its decade-long mission to crush Taliban militants in Afghanistan with a general will to reform the 28-nation bloc, Canada's defense minister said on Saturday. Peter MacKay, in an interview with Reuters, said both Canada and NATO had learned tough lessons about counter-insurgency during their efforts to maintain stability after the removal of the Taliban from power in 2001. ... Full Story | Top |
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