Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Nicaraguan court sentences Colombian in spying case
Thu,12 Jul 2012 06:55 PM PDT
Reuters -  MANAGUA (Reuters) - A Nicaraguan court on Thursday sentenced a Colombian to 16 years in prison on charges of spying and passing information to his home country. The court sentenced Luis Rios to two consecutive eight-year prison terms for violating state secrets and meddling in domestic affairs. Rios was captured last month and accused of bribing two Nicaraguan military officers for secrets he then passed to Colombian intelligence officials. ...
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Police find drug tunnel under U.S.-Mexico border
Thu,12 Jul 2012 05:13 PM PDT
Reuters -  PHOENIX (Reuters) - Police have discovered a sophisticated drug smuggling tunnel the length of two football fields running beneath the Arizona border with Mexico, and arrested three suspects, authorities said on Thursday. The tunnel measuring 240 yards linked a building in San Luis, a small town in far western Arizona, to an ice plant in the Mexican border city of San Luis Rio Colorado, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said in a news release. The clandestine passageway descended more than 55 feet into the ground and measured six feet in height. ...
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Romanian prime minister pledges to address EU concerns
Thu,12 Jul 2012 05:04 PM PDT
Reuters -  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The Romanian government will quickly address European concerns over rule of law and will respect any Constitutional Court decisions regarding a referendum on the impeachment of President Traian Basescu, the prime minister said on Thursday. Victor Ponta met European Union leaders in Brussels to defend his campaign to oust Basescu and to address charges that it failed to respect constitutional checks and balances. ...
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U.S. cracks down on Iran's oil tanker company, exposes fronts
Thu,12 Jul 2012 04:25 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States ramped up pressure on Iran's ability to export oil on Thursday, identifying Tehran's main tanker firm and exposing dozens of its vessels as government-controlled entities. In the latest set of measures designed to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the U.S. Treasury identified the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), 58 of its vessels and 27 of its affiliates as extensions of the state, which would undermine Iran's attempts to use renamed, disguised vessels to evade sanctions, the department said. ...
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Over 200 massacred in Syrian government forces attack: activists
Thu,12 Jul 2012 04:25 PM PDT
Reuters -  AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - More than 200 Syrians, mostly civilians, were massacred in a village in the rebellious Hama region when it was bombarded by helicopter gunships and tanks and then stormed by militiamen, opposition activists said. If confirmed, it would be the worst single incident of violence in 16 months of conflict in which rebels are fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad and diplomacy to halt the bloodshed has been stymied by jostling between world powers. ...
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Chile's Pinera signs hate crime law after gay youth death
Thu,12 Jul 2012 04:04 PM PDT
Reuters - SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile on Thursday became one of the last Latin American nations to pass an anti-discrimination law, after a brutal beating that led to a young gay man's death put pressure on conservative president Sebastian Pinera's government to act. The hate-crime bill, which was originally introduced by ex-president Ricardo Lagos, was signed into law by Pinera after being tied up in Congress for seven years. Chile, one of Latin America's richest countries, remains conservative and heavily influenced by the Catholic Church, which considers homosexual acts sinful. ... Full Story | Top |
Russia says no to Syria sanctions as U.N. talks begin
Thu,12 Jul 2012 03:53 PM PDT
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday it would not agree to a threat of sanctions to end the 16-month conflict in Syria as a deeply divided U.N. Security Council began negotiations on a resolution to extend a U.N. monitoring mission there. The 15-member council must decide the future of the U.N. mission, known as UNSMIS, before July 20, when its 90-day mandate expires. UNSMIS was deployed to monitor a failed truce as part of international envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan. ... Full Story | Top |
Sweden to watch British interests in Iran
Thu,12 Jul 2012 03:37 PM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Thursday Sweden would look after its interests in Iran as part of a deal hammered out after the UK closed its Tehran embassy late last year at the height of a diplomatic confrontation. Iranian protesters broke into two British diplomatic compounds in Tehran in November, ransacking offices and burning British flags in protest against new sanctions. The incident sparked a major row between the two countries, with Britain shutting its embassy in Tehran and then expelling all Iranian diplomats from London. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. says Syria envoy's defection shows Assad losing grip
Thu,12 Jul 2012 03:30 PM PDT
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that the defection of a Syrian ambassador showed that desperation was growing within President Bashar Assad's government and was a further sign that he was losing his grip on power. "Those around him, both in his inner circle and more broadly in the military and governmental leadership are beginning to assess Assad's chances of remaining in power ... and making the choice that they will abandon him in favor of the Syrian people," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
Death toll in attack on Syrian village is over 200: activists
Thu,12 Jul 2012 03:15 PM PDT
Reuters - AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian government forces killed more than 200 people, most of them civilians, in a village in the province of Hama on Thursday, opposition activists said. The village of Taramseh was shelled by Syrian troops and later stormed by pro-government Shabbiha militia, they said. Several people in the village were killed by the shelling and more were shot later in the head, execution-style, they added. Syrian television said three security personnel had been killed in fighting in Taramseh, and accused "armed terrorist groups" of committing a massacre there. ... Full Story | Top |
Libya's Jibril in election landslide over Islamists
Thu,12 Jul 2012 02:03 PM PDT
Reuters -  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The moderate National Forces Alliance of wartime prime minister Mahmoud Jibril scored a landslide victory over rival Islamist parties in Libya's first free national election in a generation, partial tallies showed on Thursday. Counts from across the North African country attested to a resounding defeat for the political wing of Libya's Muslim Brotherhood, bucking a trend of success for Islamist groups in other Arab Spring countries such as Egypt and Tunisia. Final official results are not due until next week. ...
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Leftist seeks to void Mexico's presidential election, again
Thu,12 Jul 2012 01:53 PM PDT
Reuters -  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The runner-up in Mexico's presidential election will ask the electoral tribunal to void the results, arguing that the winner violated campaign finance laws to buy votes, his lawyers said on Thursday. Left-wing candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador came in 3.3 million votes behind Enrique Pena Nieto from the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), according to the official count from the July 1 vote. ...
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Kazakh leader raps police for security lapses
Thu,12 Jul 2012 01:26 PM PDT
Reuters - ALMATY (Reuters) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev rebuked his secret police for lapses after the discovery of guns and religious literature on Thursday in the garage of a house destroyed by fire. Nazarbayev said law enforcement agencies, including the Committee for National Security (KNB), successor to the Soviet-era KGB, were not gathering enough intelligence to prevent militant groups from operating in the Central Asian state. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. urges China to open talks on South China Sea
Thu,12 Jul 2012 01:08 PM PDT
Reuters -  PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The United States urged China to open talks with Southeast Asian nations on Thursday to calm tensions over their rival claims to the potentially oil-rich and increasingly militarized South China Sea. While U.S. and Chinese officials sounded conciliatory notes as they met at an annual forum for regional foreign ministers, it remained unclear whether China was willing to seriously engage on rules of the road for the strategic waters. ...
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Most Greeks think new government cannot solve woes: poll
Thu,12 Jul 2012 01:01 PM PDT
Reuters -  ATHENS (Reuters) - Most Greeks believe their new government is unable to resolve their near-bankrupt country's problems, a poll found on Thursday. Greece depends on a second 130 billion-euro bailout from the International Monetary Fund and European Union, who demand spending cuts that have helped push it into its worst recession since World War Two and put one in five out of work. ...
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Nigeria petrol tanker fire kills 95
Thu,12 Jul 2012 12:50 PM PDT
Reuters - NIGER DELTA (Reuters) - At least 95 men, women and children were killed on Thursday in Nigeria after a petrol tanker crashed and caught fire as people crowded around it to try and scoop up fuel, officials said. Fuel tanker crashes are common on Nigeria's poorly maintained roads, and in a region where most people live on less than $2 a day the chance to collect spilt petrol was too much of a temptation, despite the high risk of fires. "The tanker driver was trying to avoid a head-on collision with two oncoming vehicles. ... Full Story | Top |
Talks to free Libya journalists break down
Thu,12 Jul 2012 11:53 AM PDT
Reuters - TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Talks to release two Libyan journalists kidnapped in a former stronghold of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi while covering the country's elections have broken down, the official mediating in the stand-off said on Thursday. Since last year's uprising against Gaddafi, the interim government has struggled to control a myriad armed groups who refuse to lay down their weapons and often take the law into their own hands and detain people. ... Full Story | Top |
Libya's rebel PM Jibril seen as unifying figure
Thu,12 Jul 2012 11:53 AM PDT
Reuters - TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Mahmoud Jibril, the U.S.-trained consultant who abandoned the Gaddafi administration to become the face of the Libyan revolution, is positioning himself as a potentially unifying force as the country emerges from four decades of dictatorship. The wartime rebel prime minister's National Forces Alliance (NFA) is headed for a landslide victory over other parties as votes are counted from Saturday's national assembly election, the first in a generation. ... Full Story | Top |
Putin stands firm in Ukraine gas talks
Thu,12 Jul 2012 11:43 AM PDT
Reuters - YALTA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to lower the price of gas for Ukraine on Thursday during his first visit to the former Soviet republic since returning to the Kremlin in May, a meeting which Kiev had hoped would resolve the energy stalemate. Ukraine, which depends heavily on gas imports from Russia, has long wanted to revise a 2009 gas deal with Moscow which it argues set an exorbitant price for the fuel. ... Full Story | Top |
U.N. calls for international probe into deadly Kazakh riots
Thu,12 Jul 2012 11:42 AM PDT
Reuters -  ASTANA (Reuters) - The United Nations urged Kazakhstan on Thursday to allow an international investigation into deadly oil town riots that it said exposed rights abuses and growing inequality in Central Asia's largest economy. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the December riots in Zhanaozen, during which police opened fire on protesters, should serve as a "warning" to Kazakhstan not to pursue financial prosperity at the expense of human rights. ...
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Manager to oversee Georgia tycoon's seized assets
Thu,12 Jul 2012 11:34 AM PDT
Reuters - TBILISI (Reuters) - A Georgian court appointed a manager to oversee the confiscated assets of billionaire opposition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili on Thursday, the latest twist in the confrontation between the government and opposition ahead of a parliamentary vote. Ivanishvili, 56, whose fortune is estimated at $6.4 billion by Forbes magazine, has united opposition parties in the Caucasus state of 4.5 million into a Georgian Dream coalition, angering the government, which still leads the opinion polls. ... Full Story | Top |
Pope's butler denied release from police 'safe room'
Thu,12 Jul 2012 10:56 AM PDT
Reuters -  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict's butler, suspected of leaking documents that allege corruption in the Vatican, was denied a requested transfer to house arrest and ordered on Thursday to remain in a small police 'safe room', where he prays daily. The Vatican said a prosecutor had decided to keep Paolo Gabriele, 46, in preventive custody beyond the usual 50 days that Vatican law says a defendant can be held before being ordered to stand trial. The period can be doubled in some cases. ...
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Nine dead, four missing in French Alps avalanche
Thu,12 Jul 2012 10:53 AM PDT
Reuters -  CHAMONIX, France (Reuters) - Nine climbers were killed in an avalanche near Chamonix in the French Alps on Thursday when a wall of snow swept them away as they tried to scale one of Europe's tallest peaks, authorities said. Rescue efforts to find four other climbers still missing were called off until Friday and French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said an investigation would be launched to establish what had happened and how similar avalanches could be avoided. The dead included three Britons, three Germans, two Spaniards and one Swiss, authorities said. ...
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Riot breaks out in Belfast after Protestant march
Thu,12 Jul 2012 10:19 AM PDT
Reuters -  BELFAST (Reuters) - Police fired water cannon at Catholic youths in Belfast on Thursday after rioting erupted when a small Protestant parade, celebrating a 17th century military victory over Catholic forces, passed their estate. The violence came at the culmination of a series of parades that pro-British Protestants stage annually in the British-ruled province, a tradition seen as provocative by Irish nationalists who want to be part of a united Ireland. ...
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Only minor relief from the drought stressing U.S. crops
Thu,12 Jul 2012 10:16 AM PDT
Reuters -  CHICAGO (Reuters) - Little relief from the near relentless drought plaguing corn and soybeans in the U.S. Midwest was indicated by fresh weather forecast maps on Thursday, with only minor amounts of rain expected in some areas over the next week to 10 days, an agricultural meteorologist said. "There's not much change in the forecast. Some light rains are expected in the southeast Midwest into the weekend and some showers in the eastern Dakotas," said John Dee, meteorologist with Global Weather Monitoring. Rainfall amounts from 0.30 to 0. ...
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Santos ex-ally Zuluaga turns rival for 2014 Colombia vote
Thu,12 Jul 2012 10:15 AM PDT
Reuters - BOGOTA (Reuters) - Frustrated by increased rebel attacks and Colombia's surprising friendship with socialist neighbor Venezuela, a former ally of President Juan Manuel Santos has become the first to throw his hat in the ring for the 2014 presidential election. Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, who was finance minister under Santos' predecessor Alvaro Uribe, says he worries Colombia is going back to the days when it was too dangerous to go out at night as drug-funded FARC rebels erode security gains of the past decade. ... Full Story | Top |
White House offers $10 million for Mali refugee aid
Thu,12 Jul 2012 09:58 AM PDT
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House released up to $10 million on Thursday for emergency relief efforts to aid Malian refugees fleeing the West African country, which has seen a coup and rising violence from Islamic extremists with links to al Qaeda. The money, which comes from an emergency fund designed to provide refugee assistance, will finance relief and protection operations headed by the United Nations. Almost 230,000 people have left Mali, according to the White House, while 155,000 are internally displaced, fueling concerns of a massive humanitarian crisis in the region. ... Full Story | Top |
War crimes trial adjourned as Mladic is hospitalized
Thu,12 Jul 2012 09:47 AM PDT
Reuters -  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic is expected to stay in hospital for a second day of tests after being taken ill during his war crimes trial on Thursday, his lawyer said. Mladic, 70, is accused of genocide over the siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo and the 1995 killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, Europe's worst massacre since World War Two. He was rushed to hospital on Thursday morning after he was taken ill in court. ...
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In South Africa's slums, mob justice rules
Thu,12 Jul 2012 09:14 AM PDT
Reuters -  KHAYELITSHA, South Africa (Reuters) - Beaten and set alight, Ncedile Gigi's unrecognizable remains have not been buried since March, when a mob fed up with poor policing took the law into their own hands, torching the 26-year-old in a crime-ridden South African township. Accused of theft, Gigi was one of three men who had petrol-laced tyres shoved over their shoulders in Khayelitsha, a shanty town 40 km (25 miles) east of Cape Town. ...
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Military intervention in Mali "probable": French foreign minister
Thu,12 Jul 2012 08:57 AM PDT
Reuters - PARIS/DAKAR (Reuters) - Foreign powers will probably intervene militarily in Mali after al-Qaeda-linked militants took control of territory in the north of the West African country, France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Thursday. Regional and Western governments have compared the situation in Mali to Afghanistan, as a mix of local and foreign Islamists have hijacked a rebellion initially launched in January by secular Tuareg separatist rebels. ... Full Story | Top |
Egypt's Mursi visits Saudi Arabia to mend ties
Thu,12 Jul 2012 08:56 AM PDT
Reuters -  JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia gave a lavish reception to Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on Thursday, a gesture analysts said indicated the Arab world's wealthiest country was ready to put old tensions behind it to do business with the new Islamist president. In his first official foreign visit since his election in June, Mursi, who belonged to Egypt's influential Muslim Brotherhood movement which had long had strained ties with Saudi Arabia, arrived in Jeddah late on Wednesday. ...
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German circumcision ban unites religions, worries doctors
Thu,12 Jul 2012 08:50 AM PDT
Reuters - BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court's ban on circumcising baby boys has provoked a rare show of unity between Jews, Muslims and Christians who see it as a threat to religious freedom, while doctors warn it could increase health risks by forcing the practice underground. European rabbis meeting in Berlin on Thursday promised to defy the ruling by a court in the city of Cologne last month. They plan further talks with Muslim and Christian leaders in Stuttgart next week to see how they can fight the ban together. ... Full Story | Top |
Two found innocent in Mauritius honeymoon murder
Thu,12 Jul 2012 08:26 AM PDT
Reuters - PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Two men accused of murdering an Irish woman while she was on honeymoon on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius were found not guilty, the trial judge said on Thursday. Michaela Harte, the 27-year-old daughter of Gaelic football manager Mickey Harte, was found strangled during her honeymoon at the Legends Hotel in the village of Grande Gaube in January 2011. The accused, Avinash Treebohun and Sandip Moonea, worked at the hotel. Justice Prithviraj Fecknah who presided over the high profile case which lasted eight weeks said jurors had returned a not guilty verdict. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. must tighten pressure on Iran: Israeli minister
Thu,12 Jul 2012 08:24 AM PDT
Reuters - JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States must do more to show Iran it is serious about curtailing its nuclear ambitions because the current pressure is not working, Israel's vice prime minister said on Thursday. Moshe Yaalon also fired a warning at the armed Hezbollah movement in neighboring Lebanon, saying the Shi'ite group would be crushed if it tried to attack Israel at the behest of Tehran in any future war. Speaking just days before U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
Russia says will not support new U.N. draft resolution on Syria
Thu,12 Jul 2012 08:23 AM PDT
Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday it will not support a draft U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria that would allow the council to authorize sanctions ranging from diplomatic and economic sanctions to military intervention. "If they decide to do it (put the resolution to a vote on Thursday), knowing it would be unacceptable to us, we will not let it pass," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told Interfax news agency. (Reporting By Nastassia Astrasheuskaya; Editing by Diana Abdallah) Full Story | Top |
U.S., OSCE say Belarus bans activist from travelling
Thu,12 Jul 2012 08:05 AM PDT
Reuters - VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States and Europe's main security and rights body accused Belarus of preventing an activist from leaving the former Soviet republic to attend a meeting in Vienna to discuss democratic elections on Thursday. The U.S. mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Viktor Kornienko, co-chair of the "For Fair Elections" initiative, was denied the right to travel to the Austrian capital and that it was deeply concerned. "The United States must protest this latest disregard for fundamental freedoms by Belarus," U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
Ferrari boss's party gears up for Italy 2013 polls
Thu,12 Jul 2012 07:54 AM PDT
Reuters - MILAN (Reuters) - The political movement founded by Ferrari's chairman held its first meeting in Italy's wealthy Lombardy region on Thursday, extending its footprint as it gears up to contest national elections in 2013. The question of who will run Italy after Prime Minister Mario Monti steps down came sharply into focus this week when Monti repeated he would not run and ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's party indicated the billionaire businessman would. Opinion polls point to a victory for the center left, but with ample space for other groupings to grab votes. ... Full Story | Top |
Turkish military sows confusion over downed jet
Thu,12 Jul 2012 07:40 AM PDT
Reuters - ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish armed forces statements over the loss of a warplane off the Syrian coast last month are fuelling speculation the military may be revising its initial assertion the plane was shot down by Syrian air defenses in international airspace. Turkish government spokesman Bulent Arinc, seeking to allay confusion over apparent contradictions emerging in official accounts of the plane's loss along with its two pilots, reasserted the original version to reporters on Thursday. "It is better not to come to different conclusions by getting hung up on certain nuances. ... Full Story | Top |
Far-right drive for "Greek" blood bank angers medics
Thu,12 Jul 2012 07:17 AM PDT
Reuters -  ATHENS (Reuters) - A drive by the far-right Golden Dawn party to get Greeks to donate blood only for their fellow citizens has outraged doctors and medical authorities, who have slammed the initiative as racist and inhuman. Golden Dawn, which enjoyed unprecedented success in last month's election after promising to rid Greece of all immigrants, put up posters in Athens calling for volunteers to donate blood "only for Greeks who need our help." "All the bottles of blood we collect will be handed over to patients we choose and to no one else," the party said in a statement. ...
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Secure social network helps U.S. detect bomb chemicals
Thu,12 Jul 2012 07:12 AM PDT
Reuters - BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A U.S.-led effort to stop the spread of roadside bombs in places like Afghanistan and Iraq is meeting with some success, by using a secure Facebook-style network to trade tips with other countries about suspect chemical shipments. Operation Global Shield tracks chemicals that can be used as bomb ingredients, building on knowledge from the fight against drug trafficking, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) head John Morton told Reuters in an interview. ... Full Story | Top |
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