| | |
| Seven Tibetans burn themselves in anti-Beijing protests -group Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 09:00 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - A total of seven Tibetans have set fire to themselves in the past week in protest against what they claim is heavy-handed Chinese rule in the Himalayan region, a human rights group said in a statement issued late on Saturday. Cousins Tsepo, 20, and Tenzin, 25, set themselves aflame outside a government building in Driru County, north of regional capital Lhasa on Thursday, London-based group Free Tibet said. Tsepo died on the way to hospital and Tenzin was taken away by officials, Free Tibet said. His whereabouts are unknown. ... Full Story | Top |
| Threat of Hurricane Sandy grows as it targets East Coast Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 08:34 PM PDT  HATTERAS ISLAND, North Carolina (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy closed in on the United States on Saturday as coastal communities along the East Coast scrambled to prepare for torrential rains, high winds, major flooding and power outages a week before the presidential election. Governors in states in the hurricane's path declared emergencies, announcing mandatory evacuations of vulnerable areas. New York City officials discussed whether to shut the subway system on Sunday in advance of the storm. Rain accumulations of up to 12 inches and heavy snowfall inland are considered likely in some areas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Magnitude 7.7 earthquake hits Canada's British Columbia, USGS reports Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 08:24 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit Canada's Pacific coast province of British Columbia on Saturday night, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The quake was centered 123 miles south-southwest of Prince Rupert at a depth of 6.2 miles, the USGS said. (Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Peter Cooney) Full Story | Top |
| Lawyers for China premier's family deny "hidden riches" claim Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 07:41 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - Lawyers representing the family of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have rejected claims made by the New York Times on Friday that they have accumulated at least $2.7 billion in "hidden riches", Hong Kong media reported on Sunday. The New York Times, citing corporate and regulatory records, reported on Friday that Wen's mother, siblings and children had amassed the majority of their wealth since Wen was named Vice Premier in 1998. ... Full Story | Top |
| Saudi authorities disperse anti-Assad protest in Mecca Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 06:08 PM PDT  MECCA (Reuters) - Saudi authorities quickly dispersed a protest by hundreds of Syrian pilgrims calling for the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and denouncing what they said was international failure to stop bloodshed in Syria, a Reuters witness said. Protesters held up rebel flags and marched toward the Jamarat Bridge in Mina, east of the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, where more than 3 million Muslim pilgrims congregated for the annual haj. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel kills Palestinian militant in Gaza: Palestinian officials Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 05:09 PM PDT GAZA (Reuters) - Israel killed a Palestinian militant from the Hamas Islamist group and wounded another in an air strike on a motorcycle in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Palestinian officials said. The Israeli military confirmed there was an attack but had no further details. The violence followed a three-day lull since a surge last week in which Israel killed at least four Gaza militants as dozens of rockets were launched at Israeli towns, damaging a couple of homes and wounding several agricultural workers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Satellite images suggest Sudan arms factory was bombed: group Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 04:59 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Analysis of satellite imagery of a Sudanese munitions factory that Khartoum accused Israel of bombing earlier this week suggests the site may have been hit with aerial bombardment as Sudan claims, a monitoring group said on Saturday. The Satellite Sentinel Project, whose founders include Hollywood actor George Clooney and the Enough Project, said it conducted a comparative analysis of DigitalGlobe imagery of the arms factory in Khartoum, where a huge explosion on Tuesday killed two people and caused a large fire. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek editor's arrest sought over list with Swiss accounts Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 04:47 PM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police are seeking to arrest the editor of a weekly magazine for publishing a list of more than 2,000 names of wealthy Greeks who have placed money in Swiss bank accounts, police said on Saturday. The so-called "Lagarde List" - given to Greece by French authorities in 2010 with names to be probed for possible tax evasion - has been a topic of heated speculation in Greek media in recent weeks. It is named after International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, who was French finance minister when the list was handed over. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guinea Bissau arrests suspected counter-coup bid leader Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 04:27 PM PDT BISSAU (Reuters) - The suspected leader of a failed October 21 counter-coup attempt in Guinea-Bissau was arrested on Saturday, witnesses and a security official said. Captain Pansao Ntchama, a bodyguard to the then head of the army under ousted Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, and four other suspects were detained at a farm on an island near the West African country's capital Bissau. "Ntchama and his men have been incarcerated in a cell at the headquarters of the armed forces," an army officer told Reuters, requesting not to be named. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lithuania left eyes vote win after years of austerity Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 03:41 PM PDT VILNIUS (Reuters) - Centre-left parties look set to be propelled to power in Lithuania's election on Sunday by voters angry at years of austerity, but an incoming government may have little choice but to stick to tough budget policies. Economists said the Baltic nation's high borrowing needs mean a coalition likely to be formed by the Labour Party and the Social Democratic Party will have little room for maneuver as it strives for euro membership in the next few years. The parties have said they can ease hardship while being fiscally responsible. ... Full Story | Top |
| Presidential race still virtually even: Reuters/Ipsos poll Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 03:39 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama holds a narrow lead of 2 percentage points over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in Reuters/Ipsos poll results released on Saturday, leaving the race effectively tied as fewer voters say they are likely to change their minds. Obama led Romney by 47 percent to 45 percent among likely voters, a slim margin within the daily national online tracking survey's credibility interval. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukrainian President Yanukovich's party set to win poll Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 03:14 PM PDT  KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich's pro-business ruling party seems likely to win parliamentary elections on Sunday, but will face a re-energized opposition which has vowed to fight growing authoritarianism and corruption. The former Soviet republic of 46 million is more isolated internationally than it has been for years. The imprisonment of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Yanukovich's main rival, has put it at odds with the United States and European Union, while Russia turns a deaf ear to Kiev's calls for cheaper gas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Massive Hurricane Sandy takes aim at East Coast Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 02:29 PM PDT HATTERAS ISLAND, North Carolina (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy closed in on the United States on Saturday as it threatened to smack the eastern third of the country with torrential rains, high winds, major flooding and power outages a week before the U.S. presidential election. On its current projected track, Sandy could make U.S. landfall on Monday night or Tuesday anywhere between Maryland and southern New England, forecasters said. Rain accumulations of up to 12 inches and heavy snowfall inland are considered likely in some areas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four Belgians killed in Jordanian bus crash Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 02:01 PM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Four Belgian tourists were killed when a tourist bus had an accident near the Jordanian city of Aqaba, the Belgian foreign ministry said on Saturday. Of 18 passengers on board with passports from Belgium or Luxembourg, another six were severely injured and the status of eight more was unknown, the ministry said in an emailed statement. (Reporting By Robert-Jan Bartunek; editing by Jason Webb) Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi threatens to bring down Monti government Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 01:54 PM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday his centre-right bloc may withdraw its support from the government of Mario Monti, a move that could throw Italy into political chaos ahead of next April's national elections. "We have to recognize the fact that the initiative of this government is a continuation of a spiral of recession for our economy," Berlusconi told a news conference in northern Italy a day after he was convicted and sentenced to four years for tax fraud related to his Mediaset media empire. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two dead as police clash with protesters in Peru's capital Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 01:39 PM PDT  LIMA (Reuters) - Two people died and 21 others were injured in Peru's capital on Saturday as protesters clashed with police trying to shut down a sprawling wholesale market, raising the death toll to four since street battles erupted at the site on Thursday. The unrest in Lima's downtown has stunned residents and could hurt Mayor Susana Villaran's chances of winning a recall election in the chaotic city of 8 million. The date of the vote has not been set, but must occur within 40 days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Indonesia arrests 11 suspected militants over U.S. embassy plot Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 01:31 PM PDT  JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's anti-terrorist squad arrested 11 suspected Islamic militants it said planned to attack the U.S. embassy, a plaza near Australia's embassy and the offices of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, a police spokesman said on Saturday. The Detachment 88 squad seized bomb-making equipment and one bomb ready to be used by a new militant group called Harakah Sunni for the Indonesian Society (HASMI), said National Police spokesman Suhardi Alius in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Six new cases reported in meningitis outbreak Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 01:02 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Six new cases of fungal meningitis have been reported in an outbreak tied to contaminated steroid injections that has led to 25 deaths in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday. The CDC reported three new cases in Florida, two in Ohio and one in Indiana, raising the total number of meningitis cases attributed to the tainted steroid to 337 in 18 states. This type of meningitis cannot be spread person-to-person. ... Full Story | Top |
| Baghdad blasts kill more than 30 over Eid holiday Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 12:25 PM PDT  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bombings on Shi'ite neighborhoods in Baghdad and a blast on an Iranian pilgrim bus killed more than 30 people on Saturday, marring Iraqi celebrations of the second day of the Islamic Eid al Adha religious festival. Violence in Iraq has eased sharply, but Sunni Islamist insurgents and al Qaeda's Iraq wing often target Shi'ites in an attempt to stir up the kind of sectarian tensions that dragged the country close to civil war in 2006-2007. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tens of thousands protest against austerity in Rome Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 11:50 AM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people marched through Rome in a "No Monti Day" on Saturday, some throwing eggs and spraying graffiti to protest against austerity measures introduced by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti's government. Appointed in November when Italy risked being sucked into the euro zone debt crisis, Monti has pushed through painful tax hikes, spending cuts and a pension overhaul. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's centre-right may withdraw confidence in Monti: Berlusconi Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 11:20 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - The center-right bloc will decide "in the next few days" whether to withdraw confidence for Prime Minister Mario Monti in parliament or support him until elections in April, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday. Monti's government of non-elected technocrats is backed by the center-left, the center and the center-right. It would have to resign if it lost the support of the entire center-right. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Ralph Gowling) Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi says he won't be candidate for PM in next poll Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 11:20 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday he would not be a candidate for prime minister in national elections next April. Earlier on Saturday, he said he would "stay in the field", prompting speculation he had changed his mind after a Milan court convicted him of tax fraud on Friday. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Ralph Gowling) Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus "very close" to deal with troika: finmin in paper Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 11:15 AM PDT (Reuters) - Cyprus is close to an agreement on financial aid from international creditors, with only a few issues outstanding, its finance minister said in an interview. Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly, in talks with a collective of lenders from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank, known as the Troika, told the Cyprus edition of Kathimerini newspaper there were "four or five" issues pending, which concerned matters of principle. "We are very close. We believe the differences which remain with the Troika can be bridged ... ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. officials pull Pakistani politician off plane Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 10:32 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pakistani politician Imran Kahn, a vocal critic of U.S. drone strikes, was briefly delayed and questioned by U.S. immigration officials in Toronto before being allowed to board a flight to New York, prompting his party to demand an apology from Washington. Khan told his followers on Twitter that he was detained and interrogated Friday about his views on drones. A State Department official confirmed Khan had been briefly detained, but said the former Pakistani cricket star was later released to go the United States. "The issue was resolved and Mr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria bombards major cities, weakening truce Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 10:14 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad renewed their bombardment of major cities on Saturday and rebels launched several attacks, further undermining a truce meant to mark the Muslim Eid al-Adha religious holiday. The violence, reported by residents, opposition supporters and Syria's government, came on the second day of the ceasefire called by international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who had hoped to use it to build momentum to end the 19-month-old conflict in which an estimated 32,000 people have been killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia activists detained after opposition council meets Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 10:06 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Three prominent opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin were briefly detained at a protest in central Moscow on Saturday that followed the first meeting of a new opposition body elected in an online vote. Police arrested politicians Alexei Navalny, Ilya Yashin and Sergei Udaltsov as they tried to take part in a march of several dozen opposition supporters after the inaugural session of the newly-formed Coordination Council. ... Full Story | Top |
| French Alps murder victims shot after car got stuck: paper Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 09:44 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - A British father killed in the French Alps last month made a desperate bid to drive his family to safety under a hail of bullets, but his car got stuck on a verge and the gunmen moved in to finish them off at close range, police believe, according to newspaper Le Monde. Saad al-Hilli, an Iraqi-born British engineer, was found shot dead with his wife and mother-in-law in their BMW car on a remote mountain road near the village of Chevaline, not far from the Swiss and Italian borders. ... Full Story | Top |
| South African mine strikes wind down with Amplats deal Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 07:35 AM PDT JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Workers have reached a deal with Anglo American Platinum to reinstate 12,000 miners sacked for an illegal strike, which could end the last big industrial action that has rocked South Africa's massive mining sector. Months of often violent wildcat strikes have cut production in the platinum and gold sectors, raising concerns about slowing economic growth as well as awkward questions about President Jacob Zuma's management of the most damaging labor strife since the end of apartheid in 1994. ... Full Story | Top |
| AngloGold says Tanzania law changes worry investors Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 07:29 AM PDT ARUSHA, Tanzania (Reuters) - Tanzania should stick to existing agreements in the fast-growing mining sector or investors will lose confidence, the company which owns the country's biggest gold mine said on Saturday. Major international miners are still in talks with the government two years after it passed mining legislation that included a rise in royalties on gold exports to 4 percent of gross value from 3 percent of netback value. The law also required mining companies to pay the government 0.3 percent of their annual turnover, up from the previous requirement of a maximum $200,000 a year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hungary government to take on $2.8 billion of municipal debt Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 06:53 AM PDT BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's government will take over 612 billion forints ($2.8 billion) of local government debt in a bid to give debt-laden municipalities a fresh start, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday. Local governments in Hungary, the most indebted among the European Union's eastern nations, have struggled with a debt stock of well over 1.2 trillion forints ($5.5 billion) and many have warned they could become insolvent by early next year. The debt, taken on in the years of economic growth, often financed projects that added little to Hungary's productivity, Orban said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan rebels shell southern city during defense minister visit Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 06:11 AM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese rebels shelled the main city of the oil-producing South Kordofan state during a visit of Sudan's defense minister, Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, rebels and residents said. Sudan's army has been fighting rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) in South Kordofan, which borders South Sudan, since June last year. But the state capital Kadugli was until this month mainly kept out of the fighting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tropical cyclone Sandy regains hurricane strength Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 05:39 AM PDT  MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical cyclone Sandy regained hurricane strength on Saturday after flagging wind speeds earlier in the day triggered its downgrade to a tropical storm, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. At 8 a.m. EDT, the Miami-based Hurricane Center said Sandy's top sustained winds were 75 miles per hour (120 km per hour), making it a weak Category 1 hurricane. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Berlusconi sentenced to jail for tax fraud Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 05:24 AM PDT  MILAN (Reuters) - Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to four years in jail on Friday for tax fraud in connection with the purchase of broadcasting rights by his Mediaset television company. The 76-year-old billionaire media magnate, who was convicted three times during the 1990s in the first degree before being cleared by higher courts, has the right to appeal the ruling two more times before the sentence becomes definitive. That process is likely to be lengthy and he will not be jailed unless he loses the final appeal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Berlusconi says plans to stay in politics Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 04:48 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, reacting to a Milan court's conviction of him for tax fraud, said on Saturday he will stay in politics. Berlusconi told an Italian television interviewer that he felt "obliged to stay in the field" in order to protect other Italians from what he called judicial injustices. (Reporting By Philip Pullella) Full Story | Top |
| UAE upbraids European Parliament over human rights resolution Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 04:08 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has condemned a European Parliament resolution criticizing its human rights record as "biased and prejudiced", accusing the chamber of insufficient research. The resolution, which was passed on Friday, attacked the Gulf Arab state's treatment of political dissidents and its use of the death penalty while calling on the major oil producer to respect the rights of women and migrant workers. The UAE is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and is an important business partner for the European Union, with bilateral trade last year reaching 41. ... Full Story | Top |
| European Parliament visit to Iran canceled Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 04:00 AM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Iran has canceled a European Parliament delegation visit to Tehran after the group asked to meet two Iranian activists awarded a top EU rights prize, a parliament spokeswoman said on Saturday. The decision came after senior officials at the parliament, which on Friday awarded its Sakharov prize for human rights and freedom of thought to human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and filmmaker Jafar Panahi, said they wanted the delegation to meet the two activists. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fleeing Muslims seek food, shelter after Myanmar sectarian chaos Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 03:33 AM PDT  PAUKTAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Boatloads of Muslims struggled to reach refugee camps and sought safety on islands and in coastal villages on Saturday as Myanmar tried to put out the fires of a week of sectarian unrest that has shaken its fragile democratic transition. Dozens of rickety wooden vessels packed with the stateless Rohingya Muslims who fled clashes with Buddhists in western Rakhine state had reached land by Saturday after two days at sea, but nine boats were still unaccounted for, according to several Rohingya refugee sources reached by telephone. ... Full Story | Top |
| Al Qaeda's Zawahri calls for kidnap of Westerners Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 01:44 AM PDT  DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri has called on Muslims to kidnap Westerners, join Syria's rebellion and to ensure Egypt implements sharia, SITE Monitoring reported on Saturday, citing a two-part film posted on Islamist websites. The Egypt-born cleric, who became al Qaeda leader last year after the death of Osama bin Laden, spoke in a message that lasted more than two hours. ... Full Story | Top |
| Police disperse east China chemical plant protesters Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 12:47 AM PDT  NINGBO, China (Reuters) - Police dispersed more than a thousand protesters in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo on Saturday who were demonstrating against plans to expand a petrochemical plant. The protests, which had turned violent on Friday, illustrate a major challenge for the leadership as it readies for its once-in-a-decade power transition, and tries to maintain social stability but also show it is listening to the complaints of ordinary people. Protesters had gathered early on Saturday in a central shopping street in Ningbo. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment