| | |
| CA-NEWS Summary Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 08:30 PM PDT South Korea wants talks with North to reopen joint industrial zone SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said on Thursday it was proposing formal talks with North Korea to discuss restarting work at a joint factory zone located just north of the rivals' heavily armed border that was suspended in early April amid growing security tensions. The offer is the first formal proposal for direct talks by Seoul aimed at making a breakthrough in a deadlock over the Kaesong factory project, which was the last remaining channel open between the two Koreas until it was forced to close. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. had more tips on Boston suspect; Congress asks questions Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 08:30 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle, Samuel P. Jacobs and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON/CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence was alerted when one of the Boston bombing suspects traveled to a volatile region of Russia last year, U.S. officials said on Wednesday, raising new questions about the government's handling of the case and how well law enforcement agencies share information and cooperate with one another. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea wants talks with North to reopen joint industrial zone Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 07:14 PM PDT  SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said on Thursday it was proposing formal talks with North Korea to discuss restarting work at a joint factory zone located just north of the rivals' heavily armed border that was suspended in early April amid growing security tensions. The offer is the first formal proposal for direct talks by Seoul aimed at making a breakthrough in a deadlock over the Kaesong factory project, which was the last remaining channel open between the two Koreas until it was forced to close. ... Full Story | Top |
| Death toll in Bangladesh building collapse rises to 147 Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 06:52 PM PDT  DHAKA (Reuters) - The number of people killed by the collapse of a building in Bangladesh's capital rose to 147 overnight and the death toll could climb further because many people are still trapped inside, Dhaka's district police chief told Reuters on Thursday. "The death toll could go up as many are still trapped under the rubble," Habibur Rahman said, a day after the collapse of the eight-storey building on the outskirts of Dhaka that housed several garment factories. Officials said on Wednesday more than 1,000 people had been injured in the accident. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea summons Japan envoy over war shrine visits, Abe remarks Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 06:41 PM PDT  SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea summoned the Japanese ambassador in Seoul on Thursday in protest over visits by senior officials and lawmakers to a shrine seen by Japan's neighbors as a symbol of wartime aggression, the Yonhap news agency reported. South Korea's Yonhap said the South's foreign ministry had called in Tokyo's envoy in protest over the shrine visits and comments made by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. China and South Korea chastised Japan after more than 160 lawmakers visited Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine this week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela's parliament launches probe into Capriles Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 06:35 PM PDT  By Deisy Buitrago and Daniel Wallis CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's government-controlled parliament set up an inquiry on Wednesday into violence over a disputed election that authorities blame on opposition leader Henrique Capriles. Nine people died and dozens were injured after opposition protests against Nicolas Maduro's narrow April 14 presidential poll win turned violent around the South American nation. The government said the unrest was evidence the opposition was planning a coup. ... Full Story | Top |
| Budget cuts back in spotlight as flight delays mount Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 06:32 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal and Alwyn Scott WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Wednesday backed a plan that would temporarily eliminate spending cuts disrupting U.S. air travel, while lawmakers in Washington scrambled to avoid blame as the impact of the reductions began being felt across the country. Airlines pushed for the government to act as flight delays increased and planes stacked up at airports, with one chief executive saying, "We can't do this for long. ... Full Story | Top |
| African Union brings Sudan, rebels together for peace talks Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 04:53 PM PDT  By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The African Union on Wednesday brought together for the first time for peace talks Sudan and insurgents fighting government troops in two states bordering South Sudan, in a conflict that has affected almost a million people. Fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, or SPLM-North, in the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile around the time of South Sudan's secession from Khartoum in 2011. The violence has displaced or severely affected more than 900,000 people, according to the United Nations. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. rights chief urges Angola to cut "huge" rich-poor gap Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 03:54 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The United Nations' top human rights official urged Angola's government on Wednesday to reduce the huge disparities between rich and poor that have developed in the oil-rich country despite considerable progress since the end of a 27-year civil war in 2002. Angola, which is Africa's No. 2 oil producer, has posted rapid growth since the end of the war, but opposition parties and rights groups have long accused President Jose Eduardo dos Santos of doing too little to combat widespread poverty. Speaking in the capital, Luanda, after a three-day visit, U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bangladesh factory building collapse kills nearly 100 Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 02:53 PM PDT  By Serajul Quadir and Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) - A block housing garment factories and shops collapsed in Bangladesh on Wednesday, killing nearly 100 people and injuring more than a thousand, officials said. Firefighters and troops dug frantically through the rubble at the eight-storey Rana Plaza building in Savar, 30 km (20 miles) outside Dhaka. Television showed young women workers, some apparently semi-conscious, being pulled out. One fireman told Reuters about 2,000 people were in the building when the upper floors slammed down onto those below. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. defense chief reaffirms military ties with Egypt Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 02:24 PM PDT By David Alexander CAIRO (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel underscored Washington's military commitment to Egypt on Wednesday and pledged American support as Egyptian forces evolve to address new and shifting security threats, U.S. defense officials said. "I wanted to stop in Egypt to ... reaffirm American commitment to Egypt's emerging democracy, encourage the democratic and economic reforms that are underway here," Hagel told reporters after a day of meetings with Egyptian officials. "This is a large country, an important country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three under investigation over topless Kate photos: source Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 02:24 PM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - The publisher of a French celebrity magazine was placed under formal investigation for breach of privacy over the publication of topless pictures of Britain's Duchess of Cambridge, a judicial source said on Wednesday. The photographer who snapped the pictures of the Duchess, or Kate Middleton, in the summer last year and a regional daily were also put under investigation, the last step in France before being charged, the source said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Five people murdered in Illinois town, suspect dead -police Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 02:01 PM PDT By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) - Five people, including two small boys, were shot to death in their home early on Wednesday in Manchester, Illinois, before the suspect was killed in a shootout with police, state police said. Illinois State Police also said that a 6-year-old girl was critically injured in the shooting and taken to a hospital. State officials identified the suspect as Rick Smith, 43, who had a criminal history including for reckless homicide. ... Full Story | Top |
| In Myanmar, cheap SIM card draw may herald telecoms revolution Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 01:58 PM PDT  By Jared Ferrie YANGON (Reuters) - Introduced a decade and a half ago under Myanmar's former military rulers, SIM cards sold for as much as $7,000 apiece. Today, they still cost more than $200. From Thursday, lucky winners of a lottery-style sale may get one for as little as $2. This is telecoms deregulation, Myanmar-style. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraq on edge after raid fuels deadly Sunni unrest Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 01:54 PM PDT  By Patrick Markey and Suadad al-Salhy BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - More than 30 people were killed in gun battles between Iraqi forces and militants on Wednesday, a day after a raid on a Sunni Muslim protest ignited the fiercest clashes since American troops left the country. The second day of fighting threatens to deepen sectarian rifts in Iraq where relations between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims are still very tense just a few years after inter-communal slaughter pushed the country close to civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian judges accuse Mursi backers of attacking their independence Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 01:33 PM PDT  By Paul Taylor and Shaimaa Fayed CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian judges accused President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday of trying to clamp down on judicial independence by conducting a campaign ostensibly aimed at rooting out corruption. A rift between Egypt's Islamist rulers and the judiciary is steadily widening amid a broader struggle over the future character of the country following the 2011 uprising that overthrew autocratic President Hosni Mubarak. ... Full Story | Top |
| Train plot suspect rejects Canadian law, cites "holy book" Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 01:22 PM PDT  By Allison Martell TORONTO (Reuters) - One of two men accused in an alleged al Qaeda-backed plan to derail a passenger train in Canada appeared in court on Wednesday and disputed the authority of Canadian law to judge him, saying the criminal code was not a holy book. Chiheb Esseghaier, a Tunisian-born doctoral student, faces charges that include conspiracy to murder and working with a terrorist group. He and another suspect, Raed Jaser, are charged with plotting to derail a passenger train, and U.S. security sources say they sought to attack at a bridge near the U.S.-Canada border. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Iran's unlikely al Qaeda ties: fluid, murky and deteriorating Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 12:54 PM PDT  By Myra MacDonald LONDON (Reuters) - When al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri spoke in an audio message broadcast to supporters earlier this month, he had harsh words for Iran. Its true face, he said, had been unmasked by its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against fighters loyal to al Qaeda. Yet it is symptomatic of the peculiar relationship between Tehran and al Qaeda that in the same month Canadian police would accuse "al Qaeda elements in Iran" of backing a plot to derail a passenger train. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judgment on Syrian chemical arms report won't be rushed: Hagel Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 12:23 PM PDT  By David Alexander CAIRO (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday the U.S. effort to determine whether Syria has used chemical weapons is a "serious business" that cannot be decided in a rush just because several countries believe evidence supports that conclusion. "Suspicions are one thing, evidence is another," Hagel told reporters as he wrapped up a visit to Egypt that included talks about Syria and other regional issues. "I think we have to be very careful here before we make any conclusions (and) draw any conclusions based on real intelligence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Top Israeli lawyer rebuffs criticism of email checks at border Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 12:21 PM PDT  By Ori Lewis JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's top legal adviser on Wednesday rebuffed criticism of authorities for asking travelers entering the Jewish state to show border officers their emails, saying the checks affecting only certain foreign nationals were lawful. Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein's written legal opinion was given in response to a query by the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) which first questioned the practice last year. On Wednesday the group called the checks a "drastic invasion of privacy ... not befitting a democracy". ... Full Story | Top |
| Swiss bring back quotas to control EU immigration Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 12:08 PM PDT  By Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) - Switzerland said it will reintroduce quotas for European Union workers, bowing to growing unease about immigration from poorer neighbors, in a decision Brussels says violates an accord. Prosperous, landlocked Switzerland has seen the net influx of workers rise to up to 80,0000 a year, contributing to a house price bubble and prompting criticism from right-wing parties. The Swiss Federal Council said on Wednesday the quotas, effective for 12 months, will apply to eight central and eastern European countries including Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congress demands more FBI answers on Boston bomb suspect Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 12:03 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle and Samuel P. Jacobs WASHINGTON/CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers demanded more answers on the Boston Marathon bombing on Wednesday, unsatisfied with the FBI reaction to warnings about one suspect and expressing doubt about the other suspect's claims that he and his dead brother acted alone. Some on Capitol Hill questioned whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. prods Albania to end election commission "charade" Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 11:44 AM PDT  By Benet Koleka TIRANA (Reuters) - The United States has brought its influence to bear in Albania to try to end a stalemate over reconstituting the country's electoral commission to assure free and fair voting in June. Albania, a member of NATO, has yet to hold an election deemed free and fair by international monitors in more than two decades since its transition to democracy from the Stalinist rule of late dictator Enver Hoxha. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's Xinjiang says "terrorist" ax, knife and arson attack kills 21 Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 11:30 AM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - A confrontation involving axes, knives, at least one gun and ending with the burning down of a house left 21 people dead in China's troubled far-west region of Xinjiang, a government spokeswoman said on Wednesday, calling it a "terrorist attack". It was the deadliest violence in the region since July 2009, when Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi, was rocked by clashes between majority Han Chinese and minority Uighurs that killed nearly 200 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy president names center-left's Letta as new premier Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 11:07 AM PDT  By Barry Moody and Paolo Biondi ROME (Reuters) - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Wednesday asked center-left politician Enrico Letta to form a new government, signaling the end of a damaging two-month stalemate since elections in the euro zone's third largest economy in February. Letta, from the Democratic Party (PD), said he would start talks to form a broad-based coalition on Thursday. It is likely to go to parliament for a vote of confidence by early next week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali's Tuareg rebels reject elections, disarming before talks Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 10:50 AM PDT By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - Mali's Tuareg separatist rebels dismissed French calls to disarm ahead of July elections on Wednesday saying they would fight to the death if Malian troops entered areas under its control, underscoring the challenge of unifying the West African state. Mahamadou Djeri Maiga, the group's vice-president and chief negotiator, said Paris had a moral obligation to force the interim Malian government to the negotiating table to flesh out a deal that would create a framework for autonomy in the north and provide international guarantees. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghan quake, floods kills at least 33 Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 10:26 AM PDT  JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - An earthquake in Afghanistan's east and flash floods in the north killed at least 33 people on Wednesday as hundreds of traditional mud-brick homes collapsed, officials said. The 5.7 magnitude quake, which hit before 2 p.m. (0930 GMT) was felt as far away as the Indian capital New Delhi and was the latest in a spate of tremors to shake Asia this month. The quake was 65 km (40 miles) deep with an epicenter 11 km (seven miles) from Mehtar Lam, capital of the eastern province of Laghman, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. ... Full Story | Top |
| Journalist group says Kuwait planning "repressive" law Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 10:23 AM PDT KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait should scrap plans for a "repressive" new media law, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Wednesday, saying the draft legislation would severely undermine press freedom. As the government of the Gulf Arab monarchy faces ongoing opposition protests, the law would steeply increase fines on journalists deemed to have insulted the state. ... Full Story | Top |
| Baghdad car bomb kills eight people: police Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 10:17 AM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least eight people were killed and 23 more wounded when a car bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad, police and medical sources said on Wednesday. No one claimed responsibility for the blast, but Iraq's al Qaeda wing and other Sunni Islamist insurgents often hit the capital in their campaign to undermine the country's Shi'ite-led government. (Reporting by Suadad al-Salhy; editing by Patrick Markey) Full Story | Top |
| Syrian army seizes strategic town near capital Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 10:05 AM PDT By Mariam Karouny and Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad seized a strategic town east of Damascus on Wednesday, breaking a critical weapons supply route for the rebels, activists and fighters said. Rebels have held several suburbs ringing the southern and eastern parts Damascus for months, but they have been struggling to maintain their positions against a ground offensive backed by fierce army shelling and air strikes in recent weeks. "The disaster has struck, the army entered Otaiba. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rally in Italy's debt to continue if new government revives reforms Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 09:56 AM PDT By Francesca Landini MILAN (Reuters) - A rally that has pushed Italy's long-term borrowing costs to their lowest since late 2010 is seen continuing if the newly-designated prime minister can form a government and revive the reform agenda put on hold at the end of 2012. Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Wednesday asked center-left deputy leader Enrico Letta to form a new executive, signalling the end of a damaging vacuum since elections in the euro zone's third largest economy in February. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria accuses U.N. envoy Brahimi of interfering Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 09:50 AM PDT By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria accused international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Wednesday of bias and interference after he criticized its response to an opposition offer of talks and suggested Bashar al-Assad should not stand again for president. Brahimi told a closed-door session of the United Nations Security Council last Friday that Damascus was "surprised and embarrassed" by a January offer of talks from opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib, and its response was "slow and confused". At the conclusion of his remarks, which were later circulated by U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two militants shot dead in Russia's Dagestan Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 09:38 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Security officers shot dead two suspected militants in Russia's volatile North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, the epicenter of an Islamist insurgency, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said on Wednesday. Moscow is struggling to quell the persistent attacks by Islamist militants more than a decade after it fought two separatist wars in the adjacent republic of Chechnya. Security officers surrounded a house in the village of Sogratl, some 100 km (60 miles) southwest of the regional capital Makhachkala, where the two suspected insurgents were hiding, the statement said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Embassy attack spreads Libyan instability to capital Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 09:34 AM PDT  By Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Ghaith Shennib TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's central government has long had only a tenuous grip on the eastern city of Benghazi, but the bombing of the French embassy in Tripoli shows its control of the capital may now also be under threat. The early morning car bomb devastated France's embassy, wounding two French guards, in the most significant attack against foreign interests in Libya since September's deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. seeks to ease Afghan-Pakistan tensions in Brussels talks Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 09:26 AM PDT  By David Brunnstrom BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's army chief and a foreign ministry official held "productive" talks on Wednesday on easing tensions between the neighboring states, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who hosted the meeting, said. Kerry cautioned, however, that any results of the Brussels talks would have to be measured in improving relations as NATO winds down its Afghanistan mission. "We had a very extensive and ... a very productive and constructive dialogue ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran parks millions of oil barrels on tankers as buyers retreat Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 08:50 AM PDT  By Jonathan Saul LONDON (Reuters) - Iran is storing millions of barrels of oil on tankers in its territorial waters as Tehran struggles with tougher Western sanctions on its vital seaborne export trade, ship industry sources say. Iran's oil revenues have fallen by about 50 percent since tough EU and U.S. measures were imposed last year, hurting business and cutting living standards for ordinary Iranians. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Italy crisis close to an end but problems not over Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 08:41 AM PDT  By Barry Moody ROME (Reuters) - Months of paralyzing political deadlock seem close to an end in Italy with a new government possible by early next week, but there are many questions over how long the stability can last. Center-left deputy leader Enrico Letta, 46, on Wednesday accepted a mandate from President Giorgio Napolitano to form a broad-based coalition government, which is expected to be a mix of technocrats and politicians. ... Full Story | Top |
| France launches push to expose wealthy lawmakers' assets Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 08:15 AM PDT  By Catherine Bremer PARIS (Reuters) - France unveiled draft legislation on Wednesday aimed at making hundreds of parliamentarians and other elected officials disclose their wealth and business activities to a new watchdog. A response to a scandal over a former minister's secret bank account, the bill would create one of the most transparent systems in the West, exposing lawmakers' assets and barring them from non-governmental work that means a conflict of interest. ... Full Story | Top |
| Royal editor at Murdoch's Sun charged over payments to soldier Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 08:08 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - The royal editor of Rupert Murdoch's biggest British newspaper is to be charged with conspiring to make illegal payments to a soldier based at a military academy when Princes William and Harry were training, prosecutors said on Wednesday. The charge is another blow to Murdoch's British news empire which was rocked by a phone hacking scandal that led to the closure of the biggest Sunday paper and a painful overhaul of press regulation. ... Full Story | Top |
| German SPD says EU can't ditch austerity Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 08:05 AM PDT  By Stephen Brown BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's opposition Social Democrats (SPD) do not believe the time for debt and deficit reduction in Europe is over yet, but see a need to focus more on growth to combat unemployment in southern Europe, a top SPD politician told Reuters. As Europe debates whether it can stand more of the austerity led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom the SPD aims to oust in an election in September, Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he did not think the European Commission was ready to call the dogs off. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment