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| CA-NEWS Summary Thursday, May 02, 2013 08:19 PM PDT Boston bombing suspects had planned July 4 attack BOSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The two brothers suspected of carrying out the deadly attacks on the Boston Marathon had originally planned to set off their bombs on July 4, a law enforcement official said. The official said the suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, advanced the date of their attack because they completed building bombs more quickly then they originally anticipated. The official declined to be identified and did not offer more details. North Korea could reach U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. seeks North Korean amnesty for American jailed for 15 years Thursday, May 02, 2013 08:19 PM PDT  By Ju-min Park and Paul Eckert SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea sentenced an American citizen to 15 years of hard labor on Thursday for what it said were crimes against the state, prompting the United States to call for his immediate release to keep him from becoming a bargaining chip between the two countries. Kenneth Bae, 44, was born in South Korea but is a naturalized U.S. citizen and studied psychology for two years at the University of Oregon. His sentencing comes after two months of saber-rattling that saw North Korea threaten the United States and South Korea with nuclear war. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea could reach U.S. with nuclear arms: Pentagon Thursday, May 02, 2013 07:20 PM PDT  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea's continuing development of nuclear technology and long-range ballistic missiles will move it closer to its stated goal of being able to hit the United States with an atomic weapon, a new Pentagon report to Congress said on Thursday. The report, the first version of an annual Pentagon assessment required by law, said Pyongyang's Taepodong-2 missile, with continued development, might ultimately be able to reach parts of the United States carrying a nuclear payload if configured as an intercontinental ballistic missile. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boston bombing suspects had planned July 4 attack Thursday, May 02, 2013 07:18 PM PDT  By Ross Kerber, Jim Finkle and Mark Hosenball BOSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The two brothers suspected of carrying out the deadly attacks on the Boston Marathon had originally planned to set off their bombs on July 4, a law enforcement official said. The official said the suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, advanced the date of their attack because they completed building bombs more quickly then they originally anticipated. The official declined to be identified and did not offer more details. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guatemala declares emergency in four towns to quell mining protests Thursday, May 02, 2013 07:00 PM PDT  GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala declared an emergency in four southeastern towns on Thursday, suspending citizens' constitutional rights in an area where deadly protests over a proposed silver mine have erupted in recent weeks. Guatemalan President Otto Perez announced the move in an effort to quell protests targeting the mine belonging to Canadian miner Tahoe Resources Inc. Two people have been killed in the demonstrations. The company's security guards shot and wounded six demonstrators on Saturday, said Mauricio Lopez, Guatemala's security minister. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tear gas fired as Egyptian Islamists target security HQ Thursday, May 02, 2013 06:42 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces fired tear gas to disperse a small group of hardline Islamist protesters who were attempting to scale the walls of the state security headquarters in a Cairo suburb late Thursday night. Around 2,000 protesters from several Salafi Islamist groups had staged a protest earlier on Thursday night outside the security headquarters against what they said was a return to the force's pre-revolution methods. After security forces fired tear gas, the remaining protesters, some of whom had also attempted to break into a nearby police officers' club, left the ... Full Story | Top |
| Anti-EU group beats British PM's party into third place in vote Thursday, May 02, 2013 06:20 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour party won an election for a single parliamentary seat in northern England on Friday, but the anti-European Union UK Independence Party (UKIP) came second, pushing Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives into third place. The result underlined the threat that UKIP, which wants Britain to leave the EU and an end to "open-door immigration", poses to the Conservatives and other parties ahead of a national election in 2015 and could renew pressure on Cameron's leadership. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama blesses Mexican security plan, eyes deeper business ties Thursday, May 02, 2013 06:05 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal and Steve Holland MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama gave his blessing on Thursday to a new security arrangement with Mexican leader Enrique Pena Nieto, in which Mexico will make reducing violence a priority over hunting drug cartel kingpins in the war against organized crime. The two presidents said they also want to step up trade and business ties that have been overshadowed by the battle against drug trafficking. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australia backs F-35 fighter jets in new defense strategy Thursday, May 02, 2013 05:41 PM PDT  By James Grubel CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia committed to long-term plans to buy up to 100 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 Joint Strike Fighters as part of its new defense strategy on Friday, easing concerns about the future of the controversial fighter from a major foreign buyer. Canberra, a close U.S. ally, would also buy 12 Boeing Co EA-18G electronic attack planes, modified versions of the 24 Super Hornets already equipping Australia's air force, as a stopgap until the F-35 is delivered. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela opposition challenges Maduro's win in court Thursday, May 02, 2013 05:17 PM PDT  By Brian Ellsworth and Diego Ore CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles challenged President Nicolas Maduro's narrow election victory before the Supreme Court on Thursday, prolonging what appears to be a futile effort to overturn last month's vote. Capriles refused to accept the results of the April 14 vote for a successor to late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, and called on supporters to take the streets. That led to unruly demonstrations in which the government says nine people died. ... Full Story | Top |
| Court jails supporters of black-clad Egypt protest group Thursday, May 02, 2013 04:56 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Six men were jailed by a Cairo court on Thursday in the first ruling against a little-known group opposed to Islamist President Mohamed Mursi that the government has accused of participating in "terrorist acts". State security prosecution last month ordered the detention of the men it said were Black Bloc members on accusations that the group seeks the destruction of the country, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported at the time. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. head, Security Council envoys discuss Syria as mediator wants out Thursday, May 02, 2013 04:51 PM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and ambassadors from the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China discussed on Thursday "possible diplomatic moves to end" the Syria conflict after U.N. diplomats said mediator Lakhdar Brahimi was determined to quit. Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said Brahimi wanted to resign from the joint U.N.-Arab League role because he is frustrated with international deadlock over how to end Syria's two-year civil war, which has killed 70,000. ... Full Story | Top |
| For India's ruling party, a rare state election win is likely Thursday, May 02, 2013 04:40 PM PDT By Aradhana Aravindan BANGALORE (Reuters) - Crony capitalism, plunder of resources and corruption in government are usually issues India's main opposition party loves to talk about, but not in the southern state of Karnataka, where it faces elections after five chaotic years in power. Polls show the centrist Congress party, which heads the national government, is likely to win the Karnataka elections on Sunday, after what critics say is shoddy governance by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. rethinking its opposition to arming Syrian rebels: Hagel Thursday, May 02, 2013 04:06 PM PDT  By Phil Stewart and David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is rethinking its opposition to arming the Syrian rebels, President Barack Obama's defense chief said on Thursday, even as Obama himself signaled that no decision to deepen U.S. involvement in the conflict was imminent. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel cautioned that giving weapons to the forces fighting President Bashar al-Assad was only one option being considered by the United States. It carries the risk of arms finding their way into the hands of anti-American extremists among the insurgents, such as the Nusra Front. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guatemalan judge reopens genocide trial of Rios Montt Thursday, May 02, 2013 03:46 PM PDT  By Mike McDonald GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - A Guatemalan judge on Thursday restarted the genocide trial of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt following a two-week suspension due to a fight over who should oversee the case. Judge Yasmin Barrios resumed the trial from the point at which it abruptly stopped on April 19, accepting video evidence from the defense set to have been presented last month. "We are continuing with the trial of Jose Efrain Rios Montt for genocide and crimes against humanity," she told the court. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lifts more sanctions on Myanmar to support reforms Thursday, May 02, 2013 03:37 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday lifted another set of sanctions against Myanmar to support reforms in the formerly army-ruled country, while retaining visa and investment bans against individuals accused of human rights abuses. The Obama administration decided that a 1996 ban on granting U.S. entry visas to the former Burma's military rulers, their business partners and immediate families was no longer necessary after two years of reforms, the State Department said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel's Netanyahu says would put peace deal to referendum Thursday, May 02, 2013 03:05 PM PDT  By Crispian Balmer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he would put any peace deal with the Palestinians to a referendum, raising expectations that direct negotiations might soon resume following a two-year stalemate. It was the second time in just three days that Netanyahu has publicly mentioned the possibility of holding a nationwide vote on an eventual accord and came as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Israeli politicians in Washington to discuss talks. ... Full Story | Top |
| FBI releases photos of three men from Benghazi attack site Thursday, May 02, 2013 02:41 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI on Thursday released the photographs of three men it said were at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, when it was attacked last September. The FBI did not call the three men suspects in the attacks, saying only that they "may be able to provide information to help in the investigation." "The FBI is now asking Libyans and people around the world for additional information related to the attacks," the U.S. investigative agency said in a statement with the photographs. Four Americans including U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malaysia's "class war" fuels opposition election hopes Thursday, May 02, 2013 02:08 PM PDT  By Niluksi Koswanage KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Boasting a fast-growing economy and riding a $2.6 billion deluge of government handouts to poorer voters, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak would seem to have the recipe for electoral success on Sunday. Instead he faces what some say is a class war between aspiring young Malays and ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities against the rich, powerful and long-ruling Malay elite. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama visits Mexico; immigration, energy, security in focus Thursday, May 02, 2013 01:19 PM PDT By Mark Felsenthal and Steve Holland MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Mexico on Thursday for a visit he hopes will draw attention to Mexico's emerging economic might, even as worries about containing drug-trafficking and related violence remain an inescapable subtext. Obama meets with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and is then due to hold a news conference at 4:10 p.m. CDT (4.10 p.m. EDT). The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam appears briefly in court Thursday, May 02, 2013 01:12 PM PDT  By Ghaith Shennib ZINTAN, Libya (Reuters) - Saif al-Islam, a son of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, appeared in court on Thursday in the town of Zintan, where he had been held since his capture by former rebels in November 2011. Saif al-Islam, at the center of a legal tussle between Libya and the International Criminal Court (ICC), smiled and told reporters he was in good health during his brief appearance. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dozens dead as Assad's forces storm coastal village Thursday, May 02, 2013 01:11 PM PDT  By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - State forces and militias loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stormed the coastal village of Baida on Thursday, killing at least 50 people including women and children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The pro-opposition monitoring group said the final death toll was likely to exceed 100. Many of those killed appeared to have been executed by shooting or stabbing, it said, and other bodies were found burned. Activist reports on the killings could not be independently verified as the Syrian government restricts access for independent media. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU's Ashton to meet Iran's nuclear negotiator on May 15 Thursday, May 02, 2013 12:59 PM PDT  By Justyna Pawlak BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Negotiators from the European Union and Iran will meet in Istanbul this month to discuss future diplomatic efforts to resolve a decade-old dispute over Tehran's nuclear program. The May 15 meeting between the EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who leads diplomacy with Iran on behalf of six world powers, and Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili follows a failed round of talks in Kazakhstan in April. Its outcome may be crucial in deciding whether a new round of negotiations can take place, and when, Western diplomats say. ... Full Story | Top |
| Peru and Ecuador temporarily recall ambassadors after supermarket brawl Thursday, May 02, 2013 12:13 PM PDT LIMA (Reuters) - Ecuador and Peru on Thursday temporarily recalled their ambassadors after relations between the neighbors soured following a supermarket brawl in Lima involving Ecuador's envoy to Peru and female shoppers. Rodrigo Riofrio, Ecuador's ambassador to Peru, allegedly hit two Peruvian women and insulted them with racist slurs after an argument in a checkout line on April 21. Ecuador has argued that Riofrio acted in self-defense and rejected Peru's request to remove him from his post. ... Full Story | Top |
| No plan for Jimmy Carter to visit North Korea to free American Thursday, May 02, 2013 12:00 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who has traveled to North Korea before to try to free a detained American, has no plans to do so for an American sentenced on Thursday to 15 years of hard labor, Carter's spokeswoman said. "President Carter has not had an invitation to visit North Korea and has no plans to visit," Carter's press secretary, Deanna Congileo, told Reuters in an email. North Korea sentenced U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae to 15 years hard labor for what it said were crimes against the state. ... Full Story | Top |
| Up to 100 feared dead in Syrian 'massacre': monitoring group Thursday, May 02, 2013 11:55 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - State forces and militias loyal to President Bashar al-Assad committed a "massacre" when they stormed Syria's coastal village of Baida on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, killing at least 50 people including women and children. The Observatory said the final toll was expected to exceed 100 dead. Many of those killed appeared to be executed by gunfire or knives, it said, and other bodies were found burned. (Reporting by Erika Solomon; Editing by Michael Roddy) Full Story | Top |
| Two generals, pro-Deby MP arrested over Chad coup plot Thursday, May 02, 2013 11:54 AM PDT By Madjiasra Nako N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chadian authorities arrested two senior generals and a member of parliament allied to President Idriss Deby on suspicion of involvement in a foiled coup plot that security sources said left at least four people dead. The incident has pointed to high-level divisions in the oil-producing nation that has sought to leave behind a turbulent past to become an ally of the West against al Qaeda-linked militants across Africa's arid Sahel region. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jamaican prime minister's brother beaten, stabbed and robbed Thursday, May 02, 2013 11:50 AM PDT By Horace Helps KINGSTON (Reuters) - The elder brother of Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller was held up, beaten and stabbed at his business early on Thursday, police said. Vincent Simpson, 71, is the managing director of Simpson's Dollar Saver clothing and dry goods store in the heart of volatile downtown Kingston. He was attacked shortly after he turned up to open the store around 4 a.m., police said. "He was pounced upon by men, beaten, stabbed and he suffered facial wounds," a policeman who is part of the investigating team told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ivory Coast's ICC-indicted former first lady in hospital Thursday, May 02, 2013 11:10 AM PDT  ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's former first lady, wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, was rushed to hospital on Thursday with an unspecified ailment, her lawyer and an official from her political party said. Simone Gbagbo was a leading figure in her husband Laurent's FPI party while he was president of Ivory Coast. The pair were arrested in 2011 after months of armed conflict that followed a disputed presidential election the year before. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Nigeria faces long, bumpy road to making the lights work Thursday, May 02, 2013 10:19 AM PDT By Joe Brock ABUJA (Reuters) - In an unwanted daily routine lasting 17 years, Phillip Cleatus sits in the dark doorway of his shoe-making shop in Nigeria's northern city of Kaduna, waiting for the lights to come back on. President Goodluck Jonathan is trying to persuade Cleatus and some 170 million other Nigerians that will soon change. Yet while his plan to privatize power is creeping forward, it is likely to take decades to end the chronic electricity shortages that are among the main barriers to investment and growth in Africa's second biggest economy and top oil producer. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cuban blogger says underground networks changing society Thursday, May 02, 2013 10:04 AM PDT By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - A thriving underground social media network is challenging the Communist government's grip on power and information in Cuba and beginning to bring change, a leading dissident said on Thursday. But blogger Yoani Sanchez, who has been able to travel abroad due to an easing of exit restrictions, said authorities were still trying to silence critics through detentions. "There is a network of clandestine information, the volume, speed and efficiency of which you cannot imagine. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish guard killed in clashes on Syrian border Thursday, May 02, 2013 10:02 AM PDT ANKARA (Reuters) - One Turkish border guard was killed and six others were wounded on Thursday in a clash at the Syrian border with armed men, a security source said. A Turkish official described them as smugglers and a Syrian opposition activist said some of them were Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel fighters, two of whom were killed in the clash. Media reports said 10 people, including civilians, were wounded in the clash. Private broadcaster NTV said the Syrians had been waiting to cross at the border gate and opened fire when they were refused entry. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenya convicts two Iranians of plotting attacks Thursday, May 02, 2013 09:37 AM PDT By Humphrey Malalo NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Kenyan court on Thursday found two Iranian men guilty of possessing 15 kg (33 pounds) of explosives and planning to carry out bombings in Kenyan cities last year. Ahmad Mohammed and Sayed Mousavi were arrested in Nairobi last June. Kenyan Investigators said at the time it was unclear whether the pair had ties to al Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia or were part of another network. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two generals, pro-Deby MP arrested for Chad coup plot: prosecutor Thursday, May 02, 2013 09:35 AM PDT N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chad's security forces have arrested two generals and a member of parliament allied to President Idriss Deby on suspicion of involvement in a foiled coup plot, the chief prosecutor said on Thursday. Prosecutor Mahamat Saleh Youssouf named the generals as Weiddig Assi Assoue and Ngomine Beadmadji David. Mahamat Malloum Kadre, a member of parliament for the ruling coalition, was arrested alongside opposition figure Saleh Maki, the prosecutor said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Minimum wage row could scupper revival of Merkel's FDP ally Thursday, May 02, 2013 09:32 AM PDT  By Thorsten Severin and Alexandra Hudson BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Free Democrats, fighting to renew their coalition with Angela Merkel's conservatives in September's election, could face damaging new splits when they thrash out a position on a minimum wage at their weekend congress. Merkel's Christian Democrats are riding high in the polls yet she needs the Free Democrats (FDP) to consolidate their comeback from the depths of voter distrust if she is to see off the opposition Social Democrats and Greens, who are almost as strong as her center-right bloc. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan, Afghan forces in high-stakes clash along border Thursday, May 02, 2013 09:15 AM PDT  ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - An Afghan border policeman was killed and two Pakistani soldiers were wounded in an exchange of fire along the border late on Wednesday, officials from both countries said, in a clash likely to unsettle already troubled ties between the neighbors. A senior Afghan official said hundreds of additional Afghan troops had been sent to the disputed Gursal border gate after the exchange of fire, which lasted for more than two hours. The stakes are high. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. plans to seek North Korean amnesty for jailed U.S. citizen Thursday, May 02, 2013 09:12 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States plans on Thursday to call on North Korea to grant amnesty to Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen sentenced to 15 years hard labor for what Pyongyang said were crimes against the state, a U.S. official told Reuters. (Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Editing by Vicki Allen) Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Pope Benedict back at Vatican to live out retirement Thursday, May 02, 2013 09:11 AM PDT  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Benedict XVI moved back to the Vatican on Thursday, opening an uncertain era in Catholic Church history where an "emeritus pope" and a ruling pontiff will live as neighbors for the first time. Benedict, the first pope to abdicate in 600 years, will live out his retirement in a restored convent in the Vatican gardens with a view of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica and just a short walk from the residence of his successor, Francis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Quarter of Somalis still rely on aid despite weakening of Shabaab Thursday, May 02, 2013 09:08 AM PDT  NAIROBI (Reuters) - About a quarter of Somalia's population still need aid to keep them from starvation and rebuild their livelihoods, even though much of the country has been stabilized by a campaign to drive back Islamist militants, the United Nations said on Thursday. A U.N. report said around 260,000 people, half of them children, had died between 2010 and 2012 in a famine that had been exacerbated and kept out of view by the al Shabaab group, who at the time controlled large swathes of Somalia. ... Full Story | Top |
| French favor more drastic pension change than Hollande Thursday, May 02, 2013 08:45 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - Nearly two thirds of French support pension reform that includes raising the retirement age, a poll showed on Thursday, indicating the public would be willing to accept more drastic change than President Francois Hollande has proposed. The Socialist leader is preparing a cautious reform to fix a hole in retirement coffers, hoping to avoid a repeat of huge protests in 2010 when former President Nicolas Sarkozy hiked the retirement age to 62 from 60. ... Full Story | Top |
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