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| Venezuela rejects "absurd" rumors over Chavez's death Friday, Mar 01, 2013 06:58 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Senior aides and relatives of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez countered on Friday a crescendo of rumors that the socialist president may be dead from cancer, saying he was still battling for his life. "There he is, continuing his fight, his battle, and we are sure of victory!" his older brother Adan Chavez, the governor of Barinas state, told cheering supporters. Speculation about Chavez, 58, hit fever pitch this week, fed in part by assertions from Panama's former ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Guillermo Cochez, that the Venezuelan leader had died. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. review gives boost to Keystone oil pipeline Friday, Mar 01, 2013 05:12 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Keystone XL oil pipeline got a boost on Friday when the State Department said the project would not likely change the rate at which Canada's oil sands are developed, discounting warnings from environmentalists that it would lead to a spike in greenhouse gas emissions. The report is far from the last word on Keystone. The environmental assessment must be finalized after the public comment. Federal agencies will then have 90 days to work with the State Department to determine whether the pipeline is in the national interest, with U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Buffett: Performance streak may end this year Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:54 PM PST  (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway may end a long streak of outperforming the S&P 500 this year, Chief Executive Warren Buffett warned shareholders on Friday, even as he said he was still eagerly hunting for acquisitions to grow the ice-cream-to-insurance conglomerate. In his annual letter to investors, Buffett opened up with a caution that this year, for the first time, the growth in Berkshire's book value per share may underperform the growth in the S&P 500 when measured over a five-year period. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. aid to Syria should be "non-lethal," new Pentagon chief says Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:37 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Friday he believed U.S. policy of giving only "non-lethal support" to Syria's opposition was the correct one. Hagel's comments, at his first news briefing since taking over the Pentagon on Wednesday, came a day after the United States said it would for the first time give non-lethal aid to Syrian rebels and more than double its aid to Syria's civilian opposition. The moves disappointed opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who are clamoring for Western weapons, something U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Putin see need to advance Syria transition: White House Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:37 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed agreement in a telephone call on Friday on "the need to advance a political transition" to end the violence in Syria as soon as possible, the White House said. The two leaders also stressed the importance of new Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who met in Berlin earlier this week, "continuing their engagement" on Syria. The White House statement did not elaborate further on the discussion between Obama and Putin on the Syria crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Assad forces take Aleppo village, reopening supply line Friday, Mar 01, 2013 03:37 PM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces seized a village southeast of the city of Aleppo on Friday, reopening a supply line to the country's biggest city where they have been battling rebels for eight months, a monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the capture of Tel Shghaib marked the last step to creating a land supply route north into Aleppo from Hama province, crucial for Assad's forces who have lost control of part of the main north-south highway. Rebels say they hold most of the city itself and nearly all the rural hinterland. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish PM's Zionism comments "objectionable": Kerry Friday, Mar 01, 2013 02:14 PM PST  ANKARA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday criticized a comment by Turkey's prime minister likening Zionism to crimes against humanity in a disagreement that cast a shadow over talks between the NATO allies. Kerry, on his first trip to a Muslim nation since taking office, met Turkish leaders for talks meant to focus on the civil war in neighboring Syria and bilateral interests from energy security and Iran's nuclear program to counter-terrorism. But the comment by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at a U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ethnic clashes flare in Guinea, president asks for calm Friday, Mar 01, 2013 01:55 PM PST  CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinean President Alpha Conde appealed for calm on Friday after rival ethnic gangs fought with knives and truncheons in the capital in a third day of violence over an upcoming election in the volatile West African nation. Security forces in full anti-riot gear took to the streets of the crumbling seaside capital Conakry to try to stem violence in which at least 65 people were injured, according to a statement from the presidency. "All sides must avoid provocation, personal vengeance and taking justice into their own hands," Conde said in a televised address to the nation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Argentine president rejects constitution reform, backs judicial changes Friday, Mar 01, 2013 01:43 PM PST  BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez told Congress on Friday she will not push for a constitutional overhaul that would let her run for a third consecutive term but will go ahead with a broad judicial reform proposal. Fernandez, who has been in power for six years, will now have to step down after the next presidential election in 2015. Some of her supporters had sought a constitutional change allowing her to stand again. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hagel to meet Israeli Defense Minister Barak at Pentagon Friday, Mar 01, 2013 01:35 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, whom Republican critics have sought to portray as anti-Israel, will meet Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak at the Pentagon on Tuesday for his first face-to-face visit with a foreign counterpart. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the talks between the U.S. and Israeli defense chiefs would include discussions on Iran, but did not offer details. ... Full Story | Top |
| Legalize rhino horn trade to try to save species - scientists Friday, Mar 01, 2013 12:58 PM PST A worldwide ban on the trade in rhino horns has been ineffective and a regulated market should be set up as part of a last-ditch attempt to save the endangered animals from extinction, four leading environmental scientists say. Full Story | Top |
| Former basketball star Rodman calls North Korean leader "awesome kid" Friday, Mar 01, 2013 12:58 PM PST  BEIJING (Reuters) - Former NBA basketball star Dennis Rodman emerged from four days in North Korea on Friday, calling the leader of the reclusive country "an awesome kid". Rodman, known for his tattoos, body piercings and flamboyance, was in North Korea to film a sports documentary, and watched a basketball game alongside the country's leader, Kim Jong-un. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's Queen Elizabeth has stomach bug, cancels trip Friday, Mar 01, 2013 12:28 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's 86-year-old Queen Elizabeth has canceled a planned trip to the Welsh city of Swansea because of a stomach upset, Buckingham Palace said on Friday. "She will be assessed in the coming days but her majesty is currently spending the weekend at Windsor as usual," said a palace spokesman, referring to her official residence. The spokesman added the monarch, who had been due to attend a military ceremony in the south Wales city on Saturday, was experiencing symptoms of gastroenteritis, an infection of the stomach and bowel caused by bacteria or viruses. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian Muslims in clash over conversion to Christianity rumor Friday, Mar 01, 2013 12:24 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - A crowd of Egyptian Muslims angered by rumors a woman had converted to Christianity clashed with police on Friday outside the church where they believe she has taken shelter, security sources said. The disturbances outside the church in Kom Ombo near Aswan, around 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Cairo, were the latest case of a rumored conversion sparking strife between Christian and Muslim communities - an incendiary issue that has often fed sectarian tensions here. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan violating sanctions with Darfur air strikes: U.N. panel Friday, Mar 01, 2013 12:07 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Sudan's government has violated U.N. sanctions on the Darfur region by carrying out air strikes and using aircraft from Belarus and Russia despite pledging not to in the vast arid area in the country's west, U.N. experts say. The U.N. Security Council's independent panel of experts - who monitor sanctions imposed on Darfur in 2005 - also said it was investigating whether Sudanese troops had violated the sanctions by using Iranian armored personnel carriers in Darfur. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kremlin says Putin, Obama seek "new initiatives" on Syria Friday, Mar 01, 2013 11:52 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama have told their foreign ministers to keep in close touch and seek "new initiatives" to end Syria's civil war, the Kremlin said after a telephone conversation between the two leaders. The Kremlin said Putin and Obama also pledged to seek to avoid steps that would harm Russian-U.S. relations, which have been strained by differences over Syria and other issues including Putin's treatment of opponents since he began a new term as president last May. The phone call took place three days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and new U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada expresses frustration over latest U.S. crisis Friday, Mar 01, 2013 11:24 AM PST  OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty expressed rare public frustration with the United States on Friday, saying it was regrettable that Canada's main trading partner kept lurching from crisis to crisis. Political deadlock in Washington means the U.S. government is due to start imposing $85 billion worth of automatic federal spending cuts on Saturday. Canada sends 75 percent of all its exports to the United States and is very reliant on the economic health of its southern neighbor. Flaherty said he was confident Canada would not suffer too badly from the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chad says al Qaeda commander killed in Mali, France cautious Friday, Mar 01, 2013 11:15 AM PST  N'DJAMENA/GAO, Mali (Reuters) - One of al Qaeda's most feared commanders in Africa, Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, has been killed by Chadian forces in northern Mali, Chad's President Idriss Deby said on Friday. French officials said they could not confirm the report. "It was Chadian forces who killed two jihadi leaders, including Abou Zeid," Deby told opposition politicians in the presence of journalists after a funeral ceremony for Chadian soldiers killed in fighting at the weekend. ... Full Story | Top |
| Netanyahu seeks time to build new Israeli coalition Friday, Mar 01, 2013 10:51 AM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Deadlocked talks with potential coalition partners have forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek more time to build a new government and avert a possible snap election, officials said on Friday. They said Netanyahu would meet President Shimon Peres on Saturday to ask for a two-week extension after his right-wing party, the narrow victor in Israel's January 22 ballot, exhausted the standard four weeks allotted to build a coalition. Peres is expected to accept Netanyahu's request. ... Full Story | Top |
| WHO, Islamic leaders summit to stop polio worker attacks Friday, Mar 01, 2013 10:46 AM PST  CANBERRA (Reuters) - Top World Health Organization officials and Islamic leaders will meet in Egypt next week in an effort to stop attacks on polio workers, which are hampering the eradication of the virus in some countries with large Muslim populations. "Shooting health workers who are protecting kids from this crippling disease is against the Koran and everything Islam stands for," WHO's Assistant Director-General Bruce Aylward told Reuters in Canberra said on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria risks "dissolution", U.N. chief says Friday, Mar 01, 2013 10:37 AM PST  GENEVA (Reuters) - Syria will fall apart if its government and rebels keep fighting instead of seeking a negotiated peace, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday. He said the situation in Syria was deteriorating by the day after almost two years of conflict in which 70,000 people have died, but there was now a slim chance for peace talks. "This is a very small window of opportunity which we strongly support and encourage them to use that. The opportunity may soon close," Ban said at a news conference in Geneva. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chechen suspects released without charge in France Friday, Mar 01, 2013 10:33 AM PST MADRID/PARIS (Reuters) - Three Chechens arrested on Friday on suspicion of being Islamist militants have been released without charge, the Paris prosecutor's office told Reuters. Agents from France's secret service had arrested the trio on Tuesday as part of a joint French-Spanish operation. One suspect, Ali Dokaev, was arrested in Noyon, around 100 km from Paris, while the other two, Elsy Issakov and Mourad Idrissov, were detained in the French capital. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four million South Sudanese may struggle to eat in 2013: U.N. Friday, Mar 01, 2013 10:29 AM PST  JUBA (Reuters) - More than four million South Sudanese, a third of the African country's population, may go hungry at some point in 2013 despite a higher harvest last year, the United Nations said on Friday. South Sudan's cereal deficit will be 371,000 metric tons, just over one-third of its total cereal requirement, despite an increase in output thanks to good rains and higher sown area, the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Food Program (WFP) said in a report. ... Full Story | Top |
| Portugal Socialists say enough austerity, government sticks to adjustment Friday, Mar 01, 2013 10:28 AM PST  LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal would be left "rudderless in a storm of risks" if it does not complete budget adjustments under a bailout, its finance minister said, as the main opposition hardened its anti-austerity stance. With the worst economic recession since the 1970s making tough budget goals harder to reach, the center-right government is under growing pressure to ease austerity measures imposed under the 2011 rescue programme. ... Full Story | Top |
| Anti-EU party humiliates UK's Cameron in vote Friday, Mar 01, 2013 10:18 AM PST  EASTLEIGH, England (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party has been beaten into third place in a vote in southern England by a party that wants Britain to leave the European Union, prompting some lawmakers in his party to question his leadership credentials. The UK Independence Party has no MPs and Cameron once described its members as "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists", but UKIP came second in Thursday's election for the parliamentary seat in Eastleigh, winning its biggest share of the vote ever. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chadian troops killed al Qaeda commander in Mali: Deby Friday, Mar 01, 2013 10:08 AM PST N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chadian troops killed one of al Qaeda's most feared commanders in Africa, Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, during fighting with Islamist rebels in northern Mali, President Idriss Deby said on Friday. "It was Chadian forces who killed two jihadi leaders, including Abou Zeid," Deby told opposition politicians in the presence of journalists after a funeral ceremony for Chadian soldiers killed in the fighting. (Reporting by Madjiasra Nako; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by John Irish/Mark Heinrich) Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: From builders to managers: educating China's leadership Friday, Mar 01, 2013 09:57 AM PST  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Sun Zhengcai earned his PhD from China Agricultural University in 1997, experimenting with different fertilizers for crop rotation in northern China, according to his doctoral thesis. For the world's biggest grain grower and consumer, this type of research is crucial for improving yields. But it was an unlikely qualification for political leadership in China where engineers have traditionally held many of the top posts. Sun represents one of the more far reaching changes in Chinese politics. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela decries "absurd" rumors over Chavez death Friday, Mar 01, 2013 09:32 AM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Senior aides and relatives of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez countered on Friday a crescendo of rumors that the socialist president may be dead from cancer, saying he was still battling for his life. "There he is, continuing his fight, his battle, and we are sure of victory!" his brother Adan Chavez, the governor of Barinas state, told cheering supporters during an event. ... Full Story | Top |
| Djibouti police battle crowds protesting election result Friday, Mar 01, 2013 09:31 AM PST DJIBOUTI (Reuters) - Riot police in Djibouti city fought street battles on Friday with protesters alleging fraud in last week's parliamentary election and demanding the release of detained opposition activists. The unrest follows clashes earlier this week and raises the specter of mounting instability in a Red Sea state that is an important ally of the United States in its fight against militant Islam. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. chief Ban seeks speedy talks on Mali peacekeepers Friday, Mar 01, 2013 08:54 AM PST  GENEVA (Reuters) - United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said on Friday talks should be held as soon as possible on deploying a United Nations peacekeeping force in Mali, where French-led forces are pursuing Islamist rebels ousted from cities in the north. "The idea of deploying United Nations peacekeeping operations, transforming this African-led support mission in Mali, AFISMA, is now being seriously discussed," Ban told a news conference in Geneva. "Since I have received a letter from interim president (Dioncounda) Traore requesting me and the Security Council to deploy the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigerian court rules President Jonathan can run again Friday, Mar 01, 2013 08:50 AM PST  ABUJA (Reuters) - A Nigerian court ruled on Friday that President Goodluck Jonathan can run for office again in 2015, rejecting his opponents' complaints that he has already reached the constitutional limit of two terms. An increasingly bitter battle is raging between Jonathan's supporters and opponents over whether he should run for office in 2015, in what analysts say is a distraction from such urgent tasks as fixing the power sector and passing crucial oil legislation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands flee rebel clashes in eastern Congo Friday, Mar 01, 2013 08:46 AM PST KINSHASA (Reuters) - Thousands of Congolese civilians fled to neighboring Uganda on Friday to escape clashes between rebel factions, one of them led by a renegade general wanted on war-crimes charges, witnesses said. Fighting in eastern Congo spilled into a second day after the M23 rebel group's military command sacked the group's political leader on Thursday for his links with renegade Bosco Ntaganda, prompting fighters to turn their weapons on each other. The violence risks exacerbating a humanitarian crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cardinals meet in shadow of scandal, discord and intrigue Friday, Mar 01, 2013 08:14 AM PST VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Roman Catholic cardinals gathering to choose a successor to "Pope Emeritus Benedict" will be worrying about a Vatican hierarchy hit by scandals, intrigue and betrayals befitting a Renaissance court. As well as sexual abuse by priests around the world, the scandals closer to home involve the leak of Benedict's personal papers, media reports of sexual misconduct in the Vatican, wiretapping, bureaucratic bungling and mishaps that many say could have been avoided. ... Full Story | Top |
| South African policemen arrested, to face murder charges Friday, Mar 01, 2013 08:04 AM PST  PRETORIA (Reuters) - Eight South African policemen have been arrested on suspicion of murder after dragging a man tied to the back of a police truck through a busy Johannesburg street in an incident broadcast around the world, a government watchdog said on Friday. The video-recorded treatment of the Mozambican taxi driver has further damaged the reputation of the police force in South Africa where more than 1,200 people a year die in police custody. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine urged not to extradite Tajik ex-PM Friday, Mar 01, 2013 07:53 AM PST KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Friday it was considering an appeal from the U.N. refugee agency against the extradition of a former Tajik prime minister, on the grounds that the United States has already granted him refugee status. Abdulmalik Abdullojonov, 64, was held on February 5 after flying to Ukraine from the United States where he has lived since 1998. At home, he has been accused of being behind an assassination attempt on veteran Tajik leader Imomali Rakhmon. ... Full Story | Top |
| PM comments deepen Bulgaria leadership crisis Friday, Mar 01, 2013 07:51 AM PST  SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's outgoing prime minister on Friday criticized the idea of forming a grand coalition to calm anti-government protests, deepening uncertainty over who will lead the European Union's poorest economy. The mass demonstrations against high electricity prices and low living standards have left Bulgaria facing an early parliamentary election in May in which protest votes could leave the main parties struggling to form a majority. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bombs kill civilian at Somali beach restaurant Friday, Mar 01, 2013 07:49 AM PST  MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Suicide bombers killed a civilian at a beach front restaurant in the Somali capital on Friday, officials said, underscoring how fragile security remains 18 months after African troops drove Islamist militants out of the city. Ali Abdi, a waiter at Mogadishu's Indian Ocean restaurant, said one bomber wearing a vest laden with explosives walked inside and blew himself up moments before a car bomb exploded a few meters away. "I see blood and human flesh all over the walls and floor. Chairs and tables litter the area," Abdi told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Finn to become new chief U.N. nuclear inspector: diplomats Friday, Mar 01, 2013 07:47 AM PST VIENNA (Reuters) - A senior Finnish nuclear official is to become new chief United Nations nuclear inspector in charge of monitoring Iran's disputed atomic activities and other sensitive issues, diplomats said on Friday. Tero Varjoranta, now head of Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), is to succeed Herman Nackaerts as deputy director general for safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), they said. One Western envoy said he was an "excellent" choice. ... Full Story | Top |
| South African policemen arrested, due to face murder charges Friday, Mar 01, 2013 07:37 AM PST JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Eight South African policeman have been arrested on suspicion of murder after dragging a man from the back of a police vehicle through a busy Johannesburg street, a government watchdog said on Friday. "They will answer to a charge of murder when they appear in court on Monday," Moses Dlamini, spokesman for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, told Reuters. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Alison Williams) Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine hints at compromise in gas talks with Russia Friday, Mar 01, 2013 07:05 AM PST  KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's president, set for tough talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin on the price of gas imports, hinted on Friday that Kiev might compromise over its gas pipeline network to try to secure lower energy prices from its giant neighbor. Ukraine, a transit route for more than half of Russian gas shipped to the European Union, and itself heavily reliant on Russian supplies, has repeatedly clashed with Moscow over the price of its imports. ... Full Story | Top |
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