| | |
| Venezuela's Chavez still suffers breathing trouble Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 07:29 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's cancer-stricken president, Hugo Chavez, is still suffering respiratory problems after surgery in Cuba two months ago, the government said on Thursday in a somber first communiqué since his homecoming this week. Struggling to talk and breathing through a tracheal tube, the 58-year-old socialist leader is being treated at a Caracas military hospital after returning unseen before dawn on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia leases planes to Cuba, writes off Soviet debt Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 07:27 PM PST  HAVANA (Reuters) - Russia will lease eight jets worth $650 million to its Cold War- era ally Cuba and will partially write off the country's multi-billion-dollar, Soviet-era debt under agreements signed during Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Havana on Thursday. Moscow will write off part of the $30 billion debt and will offer a 10-year refinancing plan for the remaining amount, according to the preliminary agreement, Russia's industry and trade minister Denis Manturov told reporters on the sidelines of the talks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Reformer's drive to change Indonesia state firms hits roadblocks Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 07:05 PM PST  JAKARTA (Reuters) - On an overcast Saturday in early January, the man in charge of modernizing Indonesia's state companies suddenly lost control of his prototype electric sports car and ploughed into the side of a mountain in East Java. State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan was unhurt, but the $300,000 bright red "Tucuxi", dubbed "Indonesia's Ferrari" by local media, was a write-off. It looks like his chances of pulling off an ambitious reform of the bloated state sector are heading the same way. ... Full Story | Top |
| Argentine Senate approves deal with Iran to probe 1994 bombing Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 06:17 PM PST  BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's Senate approved on Thursday an agreement with Iran to set up an international "truth commission" to investigate the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. The two governments reached the agreement last month on how to deal with the attack in which Argentine court authorities have accused Iranian officials, including the defense minister, of involvement. Iran has denied any link to the bombing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran move to speed up nuclear program troubles West Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 05:46 PM PST  VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has begun installing advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment plant, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday, a defiant step that will worry Western powers ahead of a resumption of talks with Tehran next week. In a confidential report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said 180 so-called IR-2m centrifuges and empty centrifuge casings had been put in place at the facility near the town of Natanz in central Iran. They were not yet operating. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition says Assad cannot be part of deal Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 04:53 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - The opposition Syrian National Coalition is willing to negotiate a peace deal to end the country's civil war but President Bashar al-Assad must step down and cannot be a party to any settlement, members agreed after debating a controversial initiative by their president. The meeting of the 70-member Western, Arab and Turkish-backed coalition began on Thursday before Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem is due for talks in Moscow, one of Assad's last foreign allies, and as U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi renews efforts for a deal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Mursi calls elections beginning April 27 Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 03:49 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi on Thursday called parliamentary elections that will begin on April 27 and finish in late June, a four-stage vote that the Islamist leader hopes will conclude Egypt's turbulent transition to democracy. The vote will take place in a country deeply divided between Islamist parties that have come out on top in all elections held since Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011 and more secular-minded opposition parties that have struggled to get organized. ... Full Story | Top |
| Duvalier defies court order to face human rights accusations Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 02:55 PM PST  PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier defied a judge's order to appear in court on Thursday to face charges he was responsible for corruption and serious human rights violations during his 15-year rule. Duvalier had already boycotted two previous court hearings, and Judge Jean-Joseph Lebrun, head of the court of appeals, responded to the latest snub by ordering that Duvalier be escorted to court by law enforcement officials next week. The presence of the 61-year-old former "president for life" was "imperative," Lebrun said. ... Full Story | Top |
| French, Malian forces fight Islamist rebels in Gao Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 02:46 PM PST  GAO, Mali (Reuters) - French and Malian troops fought Islamists on the streets of Gao and a car bomb exploded in Kidal on Thursday, as fighting showed little sign of abating weeks before France plans to start withdrawing some forces. Reuters reporters in Gao in the country's desert north said French and Malian forces fired at the mayor's office with heavy machineguns after Islamists were reported to have infiltrated the Niger River town during a night of explosions and gunfire. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria peace mediator Brahimi to stay through 2013: U.N. Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 02:22 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N.-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi will continue his bid to broker peace in war-torn Syria until at least the end of the year, the United Nations said on Thursday. The veteran Algerian diplomat took up the role in September when he replaced former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Annan blamed a Security Council impasse for hampering his six-month bid to broker peace and leading to his decision to step down. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's Abe to showcase alliance, get Obama to back Abenomics Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 02:02 PM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be seeking to put a strong U.S.-Japan alliance on full display in the face of potential threats from a nuclear North Korea and an assertive China when he meets U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday. Abe, who has kept his ratings high since taking office in December, also needs Obama's signoff on his economic revival recipe of big spending and hyper-easy monetary policy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Plan ahead for Syria transition, U.S. Senator Rubio says Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 01:59 PM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States must ensure that a new Syrian leadership is well armed and can run the country after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio said on Thursday. The Florida Republican, who is seen as a rising star on the right flank of his party, and who gave the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, spoke about Syria and Iraq during a visit to Israel. "Our hope is to continue to ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Maduro could run Venezuela if Chavez resigned: Correa Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 01:03 PM PST QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said on Thursday that Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is recovering from cancer surgery, but if he had to step down Vice President Nicolas Maduro would be "extremely capable" of running the OPEC nation. Correa, who won a sweeping re-election victory on Sunday, told Reuters he thinks Maduro is the right person to take over in Venezuela if the socialist leader needs to step down. "Regardless of who may take charge, my main concern is that Chavez recovers ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Car bomb kills over 50 near Damascus ruling party office Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 12:32 PM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb killed more than 50 people and wounded 200 in central Damascus on Thursday when it blew up on a busy highway close to ruling Baath Party offices and the Russian Embassy, state media and activists said. Syrian television showed charred and bloodied bodies strewn across the street after the blast, which it described as a suicide bombing by "terrorists" battling President Bashar al-Assad. It said 53 people were killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU considers easing sanctions on rebel-held areas of Syria Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 12:32 PM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European governments might ease economic sanctions on rebel-held areas of Syria, including a ban on importing oil, in an effort to tilt the balance of the conflict against President Bashar al-Assad. Germany has proposed that sanctions be reviewed, and possibly lifted, in coming months in territory under opposition control. That might allow EU states to resume trade there and create sources of cash for the opposition, EU diplomats said on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| NATO may keep Afghan forces at peak strength longer Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 12:27 PM PST  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO officials are strongly considering a proposal to keep Afghan forces at their peak strength of 352,000 until at least 2018, as opposed to current plans to cut the force by a third after 2015, alliance officials said on Thursday. Backers say the proposal, disclosed to a small group of reporters during NATO talks in Brussels, would send a crucial signal of enduring support for Afghanistan and bolster Afghan confidence after the United States and its allies declare their long, unpopular war in the country over at the end of 2014. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawmakers target ECB to stop Iran from using euros Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 12:10 PM PST  WASHINGTON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are crafting a bill designed to stop the European Central Bank from handling business from the Iranian government, a congressional aide said on Thursday, an attempt to keep Tehran from using euros to develop its nuclear program. The bill, in the early stages of drafting, would target the ECB's cross-border payment system and impose U.S. economic penalties on entities that use the European Central Bank to do business with Iran's government, the aide said on condition of anonymity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ecuador's Correa plans no sweeping reforms, wants investment Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 12:08 PM PST  QUITO (Reuters) - Beaming after his re-election last weekend, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said on Thursday he is not planning sweeping reforms and instead hopes to attract investors and diversify the economy from its dependence on oil exports. Since taking office in 2007, the U.S.-trained economist defaulted on $3.2 billion of debt, rewrote contracts with oil companies to squeeze more revenue from them, and pushed through a new constitution that gave him more power. "Everything has been done and there will not be any more big changes. There will not be tax reforms either. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia's outgoing PM apologizes to Tunisian people Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 11:59 AM PST Tunis (Reuters) - Tunisia's outgoing prime minister Hamadi Jebali apologized on Thursday to the Tunisian people and urged them to unite to pull the country out of its political crisis. Jebali, head of government for 14 months, has refused to lead the next administration and his Islamist Ennahda party says it will soon name a replacement. Jebali, secretary-general of Ennahda, resigned on Tuesday after his plan for an apolitical technocrat cabinet to prepare for elections collapsed, largely because of opposition from within his party and its leader Rached Ghannouchi. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda to pick hardliner for PM Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 11:59 AM PST  TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's main Islamist Ennahda party will pick a hardliner to replace moderate outgoing Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali after he declined to head the next government, a party official said on Thursday. Jebali, who is secretary-general of Ennahda, resigned on Tuesday after his plan for an apolitical technocrat cabinet to prepare for elections collapsed, largely because of opposition from within his own party and its leader, Rached Ghannouchi. "Jebali declined to accept nomination (for next prime minister)," Ennahda said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bombers kill three police in Iraq's Mosul city Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 11:52 AM PST MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Three suicide bombers targeted checkpoints in Iraq's northern city of Mosul late on Thursday, killing three policemen, police sources said. The violence is part of a recent wave of attacks that is stoking fears of a return to the intercommunal strife following the withdrawal of U.S. troops in December 2011. Police sources said two of the bombers drove cars into checkpoints in the city of Mosul. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb blasts rock southern Indian city; at least 11 dead Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 11:47 AM PST  HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - Two bombs placed on bicycles exploded in a crowded market-place in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad on Thursday, and the federal home minister said at least 11 people were killed and 50 wounded. All major cities in the country were placed on high alert, television channels said, adding that as many as 15 people may have been killed in the explosions. Hyderabad is a major IT center in India, only second to Bangalore. Microsoft and Google have major centers in the city. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali war aims to crush rebels: African commander Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 11:42 AM PST BAMAKO (Reuters) - French and African forces aim to hunt down and eradicate Islamist rebels in northern Mali, not contain them, the African contingent commander said on Thursday. The African military force (AFISMA) drawn mainly from Mali's neighbors is accelerating deployment in support of around 4,000 French soldiers already on the ground in the Sahel nation, said its commander Nigerian Major General Shehu Abdul-Kadir. "This is not a containment mission, this is an eradication mission," Abdul-Kadir told Reuters in an interview in Bamako. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt election to begin April 28: presidential adviser Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 11:37 AM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian parliamentary elections will begin on April 28 and be held in four stages, Mohamed Gadallah, a legal adviser to President Mohamed Mursi, told Reuters on Thursday. "Parliamentary elections for 2013 will begin on April 28, over four stages," presidential adviser Mohamed Gadallah said. (Reporting by Marwa Awad; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Michael Roddy) Full Story | Top |
| U.S. General Breedlove eyed for top NATO job after Allen withdraws Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 11:31 AM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A top U.S. Air Force commander, General Philip Breedlove, has emerged as the leading contender to become NATO's supreme allied commander after Marine General John Allen withdrew his name from consideration this week, a NATO official told Reuters on Thursday. Allen, who was caught up but later cleared in the scandal that forced CIA chief David Petraeus to resign last year, commanded U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan until February 10 and had been President Barack Obama's nominee for the U.S. military's top job in Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germany passes new election law to help small parties Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 11:04 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's parliament approved a new election law on Thursday that will help smaller political parties in September's federal poll, when Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) are tipped to remain the strongest force. Merkel's party reluctantly had to draft new legislation after Germany's constitutional court struck down the previous law, which had strengthened the CDU in the last federal election in 2009. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenyan prime minister denounces plot to rig presidential vote Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 11:03 AM PST  NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Thursday accused the head of the civil service of recruiting officials to back his main rival's presidential campaign as part of a wider plan to rig the election next month. Analysts warned the infighting in top government ranks may raise tensions ahead of the closely-watched March 4 vote, the first since a disputed presidential contest unleashed violence that took the country to the brink of civil war five years ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. calls possible Iranian nuclear step "another provocation" Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 10:55 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday that Iran's installation of advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment plant would be "yet another provocative step." "The installation of new advanced centrifuges would be a further escalation and a continuing violation of Iran's (U.N.) obligations," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said when asked about a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog saying that Iran has done so. "It would mark yet another provocative step." (Reporting By Arshad Mohammed; Editing by David Brunnstrom) Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi's last throw of the dice in Italy election Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 10:52 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Billionaire showman Silvio Berlusconi has again astonished Italy with a storming comeback that has frayed nerves in European capitals and among investors, but the signs are his final gamble has failed. The 76-year-old media magnate and four-times prime minister looked down and out for much of 2012 after a jeering crowd hounded him from office in November 2011 as Italy tottered towards a Greek-style debt crisis. His indecision over whether to stand in this weekend's election brought his People of Freedom Party (PDL) to the brink of disintegration. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy center-left ally says EU must loosen budget rules Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 10:52 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - A leading member of Italy's center-left coalition, frontrunner in polls for this weekend's election, said on Thursday the country should seek revisions of European Union budget rules. "We have a duty to renegotiate the fiscal compact," Nichi Vendola, leader of the Left Ecology Freedom party (SEL), told a briefing for foreign reporters. "Europe needs expansive economic policies. ... Full Story | Top |
| French hostages probably separated, Hollande says Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 10:28 AM PST  PARIS/MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Seven French hostages abducted by suspected Nigerian Islamist militants have probably been separated into two groups and efforts are continuing to locate them, French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday. French, Nigerian and Cameroonian officials earlier denied French media reports that the seven family members, who were seized in Cameroon on Tuesday and taken over the border, had been freed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Leftist may hold key to stable rule in Italy Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 09:27 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - Italy's chance of stable government after elections this weekend may rely on forcing two awkward partners into coalition: former European Commissioner Mario Monti and an openly gay leftist he has vowed not to work with. The mutual sniping between Monti and Nichi Vendola, governor of the southern region of Puglia, has intensified during the final weeks of campaigning for elections on Sunday and Monday and both have declared their visions for Italy "incompatible". ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's best are emigrating at time of crisis Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 09:07 AM PST MILAN (Reuters) - For more than a century unskilled Italians have gone abroad to escape poverty, but these days the people running for the exits are among the country's top brains. A growing wave of technologists, researchers and entrepreneurs is flowing away from the motherland. Few think this weekend's elections will do much to alleviate the gloom. "I am Italian and I love Italy. But every time I come back to visit, I see the country is sliding a little further back," said Andrea Ballarini, an economics graduate who left for the U.S. West Coast nearly three years ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| NATO urges allies to reverse defense spending cuts Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 08:59 AM PST  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged allies on Thursday to reverse damaging defense-spending cuts once their economies improve as U.S. officials warned of the impact that across-the-board U.S. budget reductions could have on the alliance. "If defense cuts continue, it will have a negative impact on our ability to provide effective defense and protection of our populations," Rasmussen told reporters at the start of a NATO defense ministers' meeting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy election stalemate worst option for markets Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 08:54 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - An inconclusive result in Italy's elections this weekend could prompt an even bigger sell-off in some markets than the return to power of scandal-mired Silvio Berlusconi, who led the country to the financial precipice in 2011. Italian stocks, bonds and, to a lesser extent, the euro are all expected to rise if, as the latest polls suggest, the centre-left led by Pier Luigi Bersani wins a majority in the lower house and forms a stable pact in the Senate with outgoing centrist Prime Minister Mario Monti to head a reform-minded government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Newsmaker: Battered Monti may still be key player in Italy vote Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 08:49 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - Prime Minister Mario Monti has put his image as an independent technocrat at risk by joining the hurly-burly of Italy's election campaign but investors hope he will retain a key role in government after the vote, whatever the outcome. Monti's centrist bloc is expected to come a lowly fourth in this weekend's election, which polls suggest will be won by the center-left, but it may still be needed to help form a stable government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Asda says horse meat scandal could mean higher prices Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 08:48 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's cash-strapped shoppers may have to bear some of the cost of a more rigorous food testing and policing regime in the wake of a scandal over the discovery of horse meat in beef products, the boss of the country's second-biggest grocer said. "Can I say that nothing will be passed on (to consumers)? No I can't," Andy Clarke, chief executive of Asda, the British arm of U.S. retailer Wal-Mart, told reporters on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bulgaria faces deadlock after government quits Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 08:27 AM PST  SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's parliament on Thursday accepted the government's decision to resign in the face of anti-austerity protests, opening the way for an early election that may benefit fringe parties and make it hard to form a stable government. Outgoing Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, praised by investors for cutting the budget deficit, lost support from voters in the European Union's poorest state over his failure to raise living standards or stamp out graft. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ireland plans to apply for OMT, but not yet - finance minister Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 08:24 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Ireland plans to apply for the European Central Bank's bond purchase plan, dubbed Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT), but is not ready to do so yet, its finance minister Michael Noonan said on Thursday. "The OMT arrangement is an option, in due course, which we will probably apply for, but we have no plans to do so yet," Noonan told a Bloomberg event in London. The ECB has said countries have to be within a support programme but have a normal level of access to bond markets to qualify for the OMT. ... Full Story | Top |
| Twin bomb blasts in Indian city kill 11: interior minister Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 08:14 AM PST NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bombs placed on bicycles exploded in a crowded market-place in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad on Thursday, and the federal home (interior) minister said at least 11 people were killed and 50 wounded. "I talked to the chief minister who said both blasts took place within a radius of 150 meters," Home Minister Sushil Shinde told reporters. "Eight people died at one place, three at the other. (Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Jeremy Laurence) Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment