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| CA-NEWS Summary Friday, Mar 29, 2013 09:07 PM PDT North Korea says enters "state of war" against South SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea in a continuing escalation of angry rhetoric directed at Seoul and Washington, but the South brushed off the statement as little more than tough talk. The two Koreas have been technically in a state of war for six decades under an armistice that ended their 1950-53 conflict. Despite its threats few people see any indication Pyongyang will risk a near-certain defeat by re-starting full-scale war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Muslims vanish as Buddhist attacks approach Myanmar's biggest city Friday, Mar 29, 2013 08:48 PM PDT  By Jason Szep SIT KWIN, Myanmar (Reuters) - The Muslims of Sit Kwin were always a small group who numbered no more than 100 of the village's 2,000 people. But as sectarian violence led by Buddhist mobs spreads across central Myanmar, they and many other Muslims are disappearing. Their homes, shops and mosques destroyed, some end up in refugee camps or hide in the homes of friends or relatives. Dozens have been killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope leads traditional Good Friday rite at Rome Colosseum Friday, Mar 29, 2013 07:25 PM PDT  By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) - Thousands of people holding candles turned out at Rome's Colosseum to see Pope Francis mark the first Good Friday of his pontificate with a traditional "Way of the Cross" procession around the ancient amphitheatre. Francis, who was elected on March 13, sat under a red canopy on Rome's Palatine Hill as representatives of the faithful from around the world alternated carrying a wooden cross on the day Christians commemorated Jesus's death by crucifixion. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenyans await ruling in disputed presidential race Friday, Mar 29, 2013 07:20 PM PDT  By Edmund Blair NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's Supreme Court rules on Saturday on a challenge to Uhuru Kenyatta's presidential election win, a judgment seen as a test of the democratic system five years after another disputed vote triggered tribal bloodshed. The country's outgoing president called for calm ahead of the decision that will either confirm the victory of Kenya's richest man Kenyatta or force another vote. Defeated candidate Raila Odinga says the March 4 poll was marred by technical problems and widespread rigging. Both politicians have promised to abide by the court's final word. ... Full Story | Top |
| Big depositors in Cyprus to lose far more than feared Friday, Mar 29, 2013 07:09 PM PDT  By Michele Kambas NICOSIA (Reuters) - Big depositors in Cyprus's largest bank stand to lose far more than initially feared under a European Union rescue package to save the island from bankruptcy, a source with direct knowledge of the terms said on Friday. Under conditions expected to be announced on Saturday, depositors in Bank of Cyprus will get shares in the bank worth 37.5 percent of their deposits over 100,000 euros, the source told Reuters, while the rest of their deposits may never be paid back. ... Full Story | Top |
| Investors wary of "slow panic" on growth after Cyprus rescue Friday, Mar 29, 2013 06:29 PM PDT By Mike Dolan LONDON (Reuters) - World markets have reacted calmly to the twists and turns of Cyprus's financial rescue in the last fortnight but many investors fear the economic fallout is yet to come. They have sold European assets, rather than make a global dash for safety that could signal concerns about a euro breakup. Euro blue chip and bank equity prices, regional bank bonds and the euro exchange rate have all fallen sharply this week but Wall St stocks set a record closing high. ... Full Story | Top |
| In Cyprus, the bank run that wasn't Friday, Mar 29, 2013 06:29 PM PDT By Karolina Tagaris and Michele Kambas NICOSIA (Reuters) - In the end it was hardly even a stroll, let alone the widely predicted run on the banks of Cyprus. Commentators had been confident that as soon as the banks reopened on Thursday at noon after Cyprus signed a rescue deal with the European Union to stave off national bankruptcy, there would be scenes of chaos. The experts were right, but it wasn't the Cypriots causing the pandemonium. Television crews from around the world crowded into tiny Eleftheria Square in central Nicosia, the convenient location of two of the capital's main banks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Big depositors in Bank of Cyprus to get 37.5 percent equity: source Friday, Mar 29, 2013 06:29 PM PDT NICOSIA (Reuters) - Big depositors in Cypriot lender Bank of Cyprus will get shares in the bank worth 37.5 percent of their deposits over 100,000 euros, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday. The rest of their big deposits may never be paid back. About 22.5 percent of deposits over 100,000 euros will attract no interest. The remaining 40 percent will continue to attract interest, but will not be repaid unless the bank does well. ... Full Story | Top |
| Slovenia will not be the next Cyprus: finance minister Friday, Mar 29, 2013 06:29 PM PDT By Marja Novak and Zoran Radosavljevic LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Slovenia will not be the next euro member to need a financial rescue as it can afford to wait for lower borrowing costs before issuing new debt, its top economic official said on Friday. The new center-left government was widely expected to raise money on financial markets shortly after taking office on March 20 but has not done so because Slovenia's borrowing costs have soared due to the turmoil in Cyprus. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea says enters "state of war" against South Friday, Mar 29, 2013 09:07 PM PDT  By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea in a continuing escalation of angry rhetoric directed at Seoul and Washington, but the South brushed off the statement as little more than tough talk. The two Koreas have been technically in a state of war for six decades under an armistice that ended their 1950-53 conflict. Despite its threats few people see any indication Pyongyang will risk a near-certain defeat by re-starting full-scale war. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. B-2 bombers sent to Korea on rare mission: diplomacy not destruction Friday, Mar 29, 2013 03:42 PM PDT  By Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The stealthy, nuclear-capable U.S. B-2 bomber is a veteran of wars in Iraq and Libya, but it isn't usually a tool of Washington's statecraft. Yet on Thursday, the United States sent a pair of the bat-winged planes on a first-of-its-kind practice run over the skies of South Korea, conducting what U.S. officials say was a diplomatic sortie. The aim, the officials said, was two-fold: to reassure U.S. allies South Korea and Japan in the face of a string of threats from North Korea, and to nudge Pyongyang back to nuclear talks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former Alberta premier Ralph Klein dead at 70 Friday, Mar 29, 2013 03:27 PM PDT  By Jeffrey Jones CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Ralph Klein, the rough-edged "King Ralph" who ruled Canada's energy-producing province of Alberta from 1992 to 2006 with conservative policies that included deep public spending cuts and debt reduction, died on Friday, his family said. He was 70. Klein, a one-time television reporter who was also mayor of Calgary, had been suffering from dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and had been out of the public spotlight that he basked in for much of his adult life. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic coup leader says will review resource deals Friday, Mar 29, 2013 02:28 PM PDT  By Ange Aboa and Paul-Marin Ngoupana BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's new President Michel Djotodia, who seized power last week, said on Friday he would review resource deals signed by the previous government and promised to step down at elections in 2016. Djotodia, a former civil servant turned rebel leader, said he would seek aid from former colonial power France and the United States to retrain the ill-disciplined army, which was easily overrun by fighters from his Seleka rebel coalition. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's Xi wraps up Africa tour in Republic of Congo Friday, Mar 29, 2013 02:14 PM PDT  BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - China's newly appointed President Xi Jinping wrapped up a six-day tour of Africa on Friday in Republic of Congo, where he signed off on infrastructure projects and pledged deeper cooperation between his country and the continent. Thousands of people, many wearing T-shirts bearing the president's likeness, turned out under a blazing equatorial sun to welcome the new Chinese leader to the former French colony's sprawling riverside capital, Brazzaville. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guinea to hold polls with or without opposition: minister Friday, Mar 29, 2013 01:15 PM PDT By Bate Felix and Saliou Samb CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea will hold long-delayed parliamentary elections this year, to conclude its transition to civilian rule, with or without the participation of the country's main opposition coalition, a government minister said on Friday. The mineral-rich country was originally supposed to hold the vote in 2011 - but it was held up amid wrangling over the makeup of the electoral commission and opposition accusations that the government was planning to rig it. ... Full Story | Top |
| Seven killed in northern Mexican bar shooting Friday, Mar 29, 2013 12:44 PM PDT CIUDAD JUAREZ (Reuters) - Seven people were killed when a gunman opened fire in the early hours of Friday in a bar in northern Mexico, which has seen a resurgence in drug-related violence in recent weeks. The man, armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, killed four men who were clients in the bar in Chihuahua state as well as three women who worked there, said a spokesman for the state attorney general's office. "It has not been determined whether the attack is connected to drug trafficking, but by the type of weapon involved, it is to be assumed," said spokesman Carlos Gonzalez. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hundreds of migrants rescued off Italian coast Friday, Mar 29, 2013 12:43 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italian coastguards said on Friday they had intercepted almost 700 mostly African migrants trying to get to the country on board 10 flimsy and rickety boats. One vessel crammed with 150 people sent out a distress call about 80 miles off the tiny Sicilian island of Lampedusa on Friday afternoon, the service said. Emergency services were sent to rescue them and another 70 people in a rubber craft nearby. All the other boats were stopped over the last two days. Italy's coast is a common destination for migrants from north and sub-Saharan Africa. ... Full Story | Top |
| No end to Italy deadlock despite president's efforts Friday, Mar 29, 2013 12:42 PM PDT  By James Mackenzie and Barry Moody ROME (Reuters) - Italy remained in political deadlock on Friday after a new round of talks led by President Giorgio Napolitano failed to break the stalemate created by elections last month that left no group able to form a government alone. Napolitano, 87, conducted a swift round of talks with the three main forces in parliament on Friday after the failure of a week of efforts by center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani to win support for a new government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's centre-left rejects coalition with Berlusconi Friday, Mar 29, 2013 12:05 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italy's center-left Democratic Party (PD) on Friday rejected a coalition proposed by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as the way out of a deep political crisis, leaving Italy in total deadlock following an election last month. The PD's deputy leader Enrico Letta said after meeting President Giorgio Napolitano that a grand coalition between the traditional parties "would not be the choice of change the country has asked for." PD leader Pier Luigi Bersani this week failed to gather enough support for a government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Azeri election monitor under attack, rights worries grow Friday, Mar 29, 2013 11:53 AM PDT  By Lada Evgrashina and Margarita Antidze BAKU (Reuters) - Azerbaijan said on Friday it was investigating a U.S. vote-monitoring group for fraud ahead of presidential elections in October that are expected to extend President Ilham Aliyev's decade in power in the former Soviet republic. Mainly Muslim Azerbaijan has been governed by Aliyev since he succeeded his father in 2003. It has been courted by the West because of its role as an alternative to Russia in supplying oil and gas to Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gabon jails activist for defaming ally of president Friday, Mar 29, 2013 11:49 AM PDT  LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - A prominent environmental activist was sentenced to six months in prison for defamation in Gabon, his lawyer said on Friday, after he accused an ally of the president of secretly owning the local unit of commodities giant Olam International. Marc Ona Essangui said during a television broadcast that President Ali Bongo's chief of staff, Liban Souleymane, controlled Olam Gabon, which is developing timber, palm oil and rubber projects in the tiny Central African nation. ... Full Story | Top |
| More trouble for Cohen's SAC Capital as Steinberg indicted in NY Friday, Mar 29, 2013 11:35 AM PDT  By Nate Raymond and Matthew Goldstein (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Friday charged Michael Steinberg, a veteran portfolio manager at Steven A. Cohen's hedge fund, with insider trading in two technology stocks, the most senior SAC Capital Advisors' employee to be indicted in the government's long-running probe. FBI agents arrested Steinberg at his Park Avenue home in New York City at around 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT). Steinberg, wearing a blue sweater, pleaded "not guilty" to charges of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities when he appeared at a late morning arraignment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy leftist party rules out coalition with Berlusconi Friday, Mar 29, 2013 11:20 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - The junior partner in Italy's center-left alliance ruled out a coalition with Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party following talks on Friday to try to form a government after last month's deadlocked election. "Any possibility of a broad coalition government is out of the question," said Nichi Vendola, leader of the Left, Ecology, Freedom party, the junior partner in the center-left alliance led by Pier Luigi Bersani. ... Full Story | Top |
| Armenia opposition chief ends hunger strike, calls for protests Friday, Mar 29, 2013 11:14 AM PDT  YEREVAN (Reuters) - Defeated Armenian presidential candidate Raffi Hovannisian said on Friday he was ending a hunger strike over allegations President Serzh Sarksyan rigged last month's vote, but vowed to continue street protests. Armenia's Constitutional Court has rejected challenges lodged by Hovannisian over the February 18 poll which Sarksyan won with 58.6 percent of the vote. Hovannisian came second with 37 percent. The head of the opposition Heritage Party said he would end his two-week-old hunger strike on Easter Sunday to make sure he had enough energy to keep up his political work. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sicily revokes permission for U.S. military satellite station Friday, Mar 29, 2013 11:04 AM PDT PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) - The Sicilian regional government in Italy has revoked permission for the United States to build a military satellite station on the island, its governor said on Friday, after protests by residents who said it could pose a health risk. The planned ground station was part of the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), an ultra high-frequency satellite network aimed at significantly boosting communications capacity for the U.S. military and its allies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy centrists willing to form coalition with main parties Friday, Mar 29, 2013 10:23 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italy's centrist group is willing to form a grand coalition with the main parties that emerged from a deadlocked election, an official told reporters on Friday after the Italian president held talks with parties to try to form a government. "We expressed our full willingness and commitment to form a grand coalition between the three main parties," said Andrea Olivero, a Senator of the Civic Choice party led by outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti. ... Full Story | Top |
| Landslide traps 83 mine workers in Tibet: report Friday, Mar 29, 2013 10:00 AM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - Rescuers worked on Saturday to reach 83 workers trapped by a landslide in a mining area of Tibet, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported. The landslide, over an area of about 3 km, struck in Maizhokunggar County on Friday, Xinhua said. It buried the camp of the workers, who were employed by Tibet Huatailong Mining Development Co Ltd, according to the report. There was no immediate word on any deaths or injuries. (Reporting by Terril Yue Jones; Editing by Pravin Char) Full Story | Top |
| Italian coastguard intercepts more than 470 migrants Friday, Mar 29, 2013 09:43 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italy's coastguard said on Friday it had intercepted eight flimsy and rickety boats carrying more than 470 migrants, mostly from Africa, who were attempting to reach Italian shores over the past two days. Italy bears the brunt of clandestine seaborne migration to southern Europe. Most migrants risk the voyage across the Mediterranean Sea in small and overcrowded fishing boats. Thousands have died as a result of shipwreck, harsh conditions at sea or a lack of food and water in recent years, activists say. ... Full Story | Top |
| Latvia rescues 220 people stranded on ice Friday, Mar 29, 2013 09:42 AM PDT RIGA (Reuters) - Latvia's emergency services rescued more than 220 people who were stranded on ice floes in the Gulf of Riga on Friday. About 180 people, mostly fishermen, were rescued from a floe off the town of Vakarbulli, while another 43 people were taken off the ice near the seaside resort of Jurmala. The State Fire and Rescue Service used boats, ships and helicopters in an operation that took more than three hours, said Viktorija Sembele, a spokeswoman for the service. The ice had drifted in strong winds about 4 km (2-1/2 miles) from the shore by the end of the operation, she said. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House condemns assaults on women at Egyptian demonstrations Friday, Mar 29, 2013 09:31 AM PDT  ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - The White House on Friday condemned the rape and assault of women at recent demonstrations in Egypt and called on the Cairo government to prevent sexual violence and prosecute those responsible. The New York Times reported that on January 25, the second anniversary of the Tahrir Square revolution in Cairo, at least 18 cases of sexual assaults were reported by human groups. White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that the United States is deeply concerned at reports of rapes and sexual assaults in public squares in Egypt. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ruling Serb Progressive Party stays popular: opinion poll Friday, Mar 29, 2013 09:26 AM PDT  By Aleksandar Vasovic BELGRADE (Reuters) - The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the strongest in Serbia's coalition government, kept its popularity in March, indicating it could win any snap election, an opinion poll published on Friday said. The poll conducted this month put support for the SNS, led by Vice-Premier Aleksandar Vucic, at 38.6 percent, well ahead of the 14.8 percent scored by its closest rival, the opposition Democratic Party, which lost power in an election in May. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kyrgyz MPs jailed for plotting coup Friday, Mar 29, 2013 09:21 AM PDT By Olga Dzyubenko BISHKEK (Reuters) - A court in Kyrgyzstan sentenced three opposition members of parliament to up to 18 months in jail on Friday for leading a protest the judge said had aimed to seize power by force in the Central Asian nation. Prosecutors had sought jail terms of up to 10 years for nationalist MPs Kamchibek Tashiyev, Sadyr Zhaparov and Talant Mamytov, who led a crowd which tried to storm government headquarters last October. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's 5-Star Movement rejects deal with other parties Friday, Mar 29, 2013 09:18 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement said on Friday that it would not give a confidence vote to any government led by other politicians or technocrats like outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti. "We repeat our determination not to give a confidence vote to political or pseudo-technocrat governments," Vito Crimi, head of the 5-Star Movement's senators, told reporters after meeting President Giorgio Napolitano. Crimi said his movement would only support a government that it led. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish police seize firearms cache on Syrian border Friday, Mar 29, 2013 08:58 AM PDT AKCAKALE, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkish authorities said they had seized thousands of guns in a warehouse by the Syrian border, and a local news agency said the weapons had been destined for Turkey's war-torn neighbor. The firearms - including more than 5,000 shotguns and rifles, starting pistols, gunstocks and 10,000 cartridges - were discovered during a raid in a village on the edge of the Turkish town of Akcakale and displayed to journalists on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
| China to spend $16 billion to tackle Beijing pollution crisis Friday, Mar 29, 2013 07:46 AM PDT  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will spend 100 billion yuan ($16 billion) over three years to deal with Beijing's pollution, an official newspaper reported on Friday, as the government tries to defuse mounting public anger over environmental degradation. Beijing's government has pledged to improve sewage disposal, garbage treatment and air quality, as well as crack down on illegal construction, the China Daily newspaper said, citing a three-year plan released on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tanzanians dig for survivors after building collapse Friday, Mar 29, 2013 07:38 AM PDT  DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - A building under construction collapsed in the center of Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam on Friday and rescuers searched for survivors under the rubble, with conflicting reports about the number of dead. A senior police officer initially told reporters 15 people were killed and two people were pulled out alive. Hours later, the mayor for central Dar es Salaam, Jerry Silaa, said two people were killed and 17 survivors had been found. The building, in the Kariakoo district, was at least 12 storeys high. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bombs at five Iraqi Shi'ite mosques kill 19 Friday, Mar 29, 2013 07:31 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Car bombs hit five Shi'ite mosques in Baghdad and the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk just after prayers on Friday, killing 19 worshippers and injuring another 130. Ten years after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq is still grappling with political turmoil and Sunni Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda, who are stepping up attacks on Shi'ite targets and security forces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Montenegrin jailed for 45 years over Sarajevo killings Friday, Mar 29, 2013 06:50 AM PDT  By Maja Zuvela SARAJEVO (Reuters) - A Montenegrin warlord was jailed for 45 years on Friday for the murder, rape and torture of non-Serb civilians in Sarajevo in the Bosnian war, receiving the longest sentence handed down so far by the Bosnian war crimes court. Veselin Vlahovic, nicknamed Batko, was found guilty of the murders of 31 people, rapes of at least 13 women and torture and robbery of dozens of civilians in Grbavica and Vraca, Serb-occupied areas of Sarajevo, in 1992, said presiding judge Zoran Bozic. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy center-left rebuffs coalition deal with Berlusconi Friday, Mar 29, 2013 06:36 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italy's center-left Democratic Party on Friday rebuffed former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's offer of a coalition deal to end political deadlock since an election last month. "It is very difficult to think of a government supported by (Berlusconi's) PDL and the Democratic Party (PD). There are too many important issues in PDL policies that are light-years from those of the Democratic Party," said Luigi Zanda, PD leader in the Senate. Zanda spoke after Berlusconi insisted a coalition with the center-left was the only way to end the crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Putin promotes Russian People's Front as new power base Friday, Mar 29, 2013 06:16 AM PDT  By Darya Korsunskaya ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin staged a televised meeting on Friday with a loyal support group called the People's Front, suggesting he may promote it as an alternative power base to his scandal-plagued ruling party. At an event that mixed echoes of Soviet Communist Party congresses with the atmospherics of a U.S. talk show, Putin said he planned to raise the Front's status by making it a "public movement" and holding a formal founding congress in June. ... Full Story | Top |
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