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| CA-NEWS Summary Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:50 PM PDT Syrian opposition shake-up falters ahead of peace conference ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A crisis in Syrian opposition ranks deepened on Monday when a Western and Arab-backed liberal bloc was offered only token representation in the Islamist-dominated Syrian National Coalition. To the dismay of envoys of Western and Arab nations who have been monitoring four days of opposition talks in Istanbul, the 60-member coalition thwarted a deal to admit a bloc headed by opposition campaigner Michel Kilo with up to 22 new seats. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition shake-up falters ahead of peace conference Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:49 PM PDT  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A crisis in Syrian opposition ranks deepened on Monday when a Western and Arab-backed liberal bloc was offered only token representation in the Islamist-dominated Syrian National Coalition. To the dismay of envoys of Western and Arab nations who have been monitoring four days of opposition talks in Istanbul, the 60-member coalition thwarted a deal to admit a bloc headed by opposition campaigner Michel Kilo with up to 22 new seats. His group received an offer of only five seats after a session that stretched nearly to dawn, coalition sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia, FARC rebels reach agreement on agrarian reform Sunday, May 26, 2013 06:07 PM PDT  By Jeff Franks HAVANA (Reuters) - Colombia and the Marxist-led FARC rebels have reached agreement on the critical issue of agrarian reform, the two sides said on Sunday in a major step forward for the peace process aimed at ending their long war. They said the accord called for the economic and social development of rural areas and providing land to the people living there, which addresses one of the main issues that led the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, to form in 1964 as a communist agrarian reform movement and launch its insurgency. ... Full Story | Top |
| French gay marriage opponents stage big Paris march Sunday, May 26, 2013 03:23 PM PDT  By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor PARIS (Reuters) - Several hundred thousand opponents of same-sex marriage marched in central Paris on Sunday against a reform the unpopular French government passed last month at the price of deepening political polarization. Large park grounds around Les Invalides monument were full of protesters waving pink and blue flags, while far-right activists hung a banner on the ruling Socialist Party headquarters urging President Francois Hollande to quit. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rocket fired from Lebanon towards Israel: residents Sunday, May 26, 2013 02:56 PM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - A rocket was fired from south Lebanon towards Israel on Sunday, Lebanese security sources said, and residents of a northern Israeli town reported hearing a blast. "An explosion was heard. Soldiers are searching the area. The cause is still being investigated," an Israeli military spokeswoman said. A second Israeli military source said the explosion was probably caused by a mortar. The incident came amid heightened tensions in the region over Syria's civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chill breeze of politics stills Australian renewables Sunday, May 26, 2013 02:23 PM PDT  By Rob Taylor BUNGENDORE, Australia (Reuters) - On a line of low hills standing sentinel beside a dry lake bed near Australia's capital, giant turbines turning slowly in a chill winter breeze give no hint of a multi-billion-dollar storm building around renewable energy. Infigen Energy's Capital Windfarm, built five years ago, was a vanguard for wind power as Australia sought to wean itself from cheap fossil-fuel power in the face of climate shift blamed in part for Lake George's transformation to a vast plain. ... Full Story | Top |
| Robots to drones, Australia eyes high-tech farm help to grow food Sunday, May 26, 2013 02:14 PM PDT  By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Moving carefully along a row of apple trees, two of Australia's newest agricultural workers check if the fruit is ripe or the soil needs water or fertilizer. Meet "Mantis" and "Shrimp", agricultural robots being tested to do these tasks and more in a bid to cut costs and improve productivity in Australia's economically vital farm sector, which exported A$39.6 billion ($38.8 billion)of produce in 2012. Australia is one of the leaders in the field and, with a minimum wage of A$15. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry backs private West Bank economic plan, but little detail Sunday, May 26, 2013 02:07 PM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed DEAD SEA, Jordan (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry sketched out a plan on Sunday to spur Palestinian growth with up to $4 billion in private investment, but did not say where the money would come from. Kerry drew a picture of prosperity in the West Bank that could spread to Israel and Jordan, while acknowledging it would not fully materialize without movement toward peace between Israel and the Palestinians. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arab League chief urges Hezbollah to stop fighting in Syria Sunday, May 26, 2013 01:43 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby on Sunday urged Lebanon's Shi'ite militant Hezbollah to stop fighting alongside government forces in Syria's civil war, after two rockets hit a Shi'ite Muslim district of Beirut. Sunday's rocket attack was the first to apparently target Hezbollah's stronghold in the south of the Lebanese capital since the outbreak of the two-year conflict in neighboring Syria, which has heightened Lebanon's own sectarian tensions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rebels attack army base in Sudan's top oil-producing state Sunday, May 26, 2013 01:01 PM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Rebels with tanks attacked an army base in Sudan's top oil-producing state of South Kordofan on Sunday, and both sides claimed victory. The Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), an umbrella of insurgent groups which aims to topple President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has stepped up attacks in the past month, trying to force the army to fight on fronts hundreds of miles apart to drain stretched state resources. Sudan has accused neighbor South Sudan of backing rebels in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile border states. Juba denies this, but diplomats say the allegation is credible. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rockets hit south Beirut after Hezbollah vows Syria victory Sunday, May 26, 2013 12:59 PM PDT  By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Two rockets hit a Shi'ite Muslim district of Beirut on Sunday, driving home the risk of spillover from Syria's civil war, after the head of Lebanese Shi'ite movement Hezbollah said it would keep fighting on the Syrian government's side until victory. It was the first attack to apparently target Hezbollah's stronghold in the south of the Lebanese capital since the outbreak of the two-year conflict in neighboring Syria, which has sharply heightened Lebanon's own sectarian tensions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kuwait oil minister's resignation accepted: media Sunday, May 26, 2013 10:36 AM PDT  KUWAIT (Reuters) - The resignation of Kuwait's oil minister Hani Hussein has been accepted, local media reported, after he came under pressure from lawmakers wanting to question him over a $2.2 billion compensation payment to Dow Chemical Co. Earlier this month the parliament speaker said some members of the cabinet had offered to resign, without giving details. Hussein's resignation was accepted on Sunday, al-Rai and al-Watan newspapers reported on their websites, citing sources. Under Kuwait's constitution the ruling emir needs to approve any resignations. ... Full Story | Top |
| French soldier's stabbing could be act of terrorism: minister Sunday, May 26, 2013 10:34 AM PDT  By Nicholas Vinocur PARIS (Reuters) - The stabbing of a French soldier near Paris by a man who is still on the run bore the hallmarks of Islamist terrorism, the interior minister said on Sunday, and police said it may have been inspired by the murder of a British serviceman in London. Anti-terrorism investigators are hunting for a bearded man aged about 30, possibly of North African origin, who fled into a crowded train station after attacking the 23-year-old soldier from behind with a knife or a box-cutter on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libyan congress approves new interior minister Sunday, May 26, 2013 09:50 AM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's national assembly on Sunday approved a new interior minister after the incumbent submitted his resignation amid a rise in violence in the North African country. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan last week nominated Tripoli police colonel Mohammed Khalifa al-Sheikh to take over from Ashour Shuail, after the latter said he would quit his post for "personal reasons", official sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenyan police kill Muslim cleric with ties to Somali militants Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:54 AM PDT By Joseph Akwiri MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - A Muslim cleric accused of possessing explosives and radicalizing Kenyan youths into joining the Somali Islamist rebel group al Shabaab was killed in a shootout with police on Sunday, Kenyan authorities said. Police said Khalid Ahmed, a Somali with a Kenyan passport, had been a close friend of Aboud Rogo, a slain Muslim cleric whom the Kenyan government and the United States accused of helping al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants in Somalia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition unity talks hit snags before peace conference Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:25 AM PDT  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Talks by Syria's opposition to choose a new leadership before an international peace conference stalled on Sunday over proposals to lessen Qatar's influence on the rebel forces, opposition sources said. The disarray in the opposition ranks emerged as the Syrian foreign minister said President Bashar al-Assad's government would take part "in principle" in the conference, which could take place in the next few weeks in Geneva. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU faces Syria sanctions crunch over push to arm rebels Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:25 AM PDT By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union may end this week either helping Syrian rebels or the Damascus government they detest, depending on how EU ministers resolve differences over a package of sanctions on Syria that is about to lapse. At a meeting in Brussels on Monday, the main EU military powers, Britain and France, will argue forcefully for easing some of that embargo to help channel weapons to rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad. But Austria, Sweden and several others will defend maintaining the sanctions across the board. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rome votes for new mayor as Italian government struggles Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:18 AM PDT  By Gavin Jones ROME (Reuters) - Romans went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new mayor of Italy's capital in a vote which could have repercussions for the fragile national government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta. His center-left Democratic Party (PD) is in crisis since it threw away a 10-point lead before February's national election. Many of its voters are unhappy with the decision to govern with the center-right led by traditional adversary Silvio Berlusconi. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspected killer of British soldier was held in Kenya Sunday, May 26, 2013 07:49 AM PDT  By Peter Griffiths and Drazen Jorgic LONDON/NAIROBI (Reuters) - One of two men arrested over the murder of a British soldier in a London street was detained in Kenya in 2010 on suspicion of seeking to train with an al Qaeda-linked group in Somalia, Kenyan police said on Sunday. Confirmation that Michael Adebolajo was held in Kenya and deported to London will intensify calls for Britain's spy agencies to explain what they knew about the suspect and whether they could have done more to prevent Lee Rigby's killing on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Karzai's brother plans independent run in Afghan election Sunday, May 26, 2013 07:34 AM PDT  By Sarwar Amani and Ismail Sameen KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai's older brother Qayum will run in next year's presidential election, their younger brother said, as the country's most powerful family seeks to maintain a political hold in Afghanistan. President Karzai is constitutionally prohibited from running for a third term when the country votes for a new head of state on April 5. "Qayum will announce his candidacy soon and will represent our political movement ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Scandal engulfs Indian cricket; web of players, bookies faces scrutiny Sunday, May 26, 2013 07:32 AM PDT  By Amlan Chakraborty and Sudipto Ganguly NEW DELHI (Reuters) - It wasn't a typical photo opportunity for Indian cricketer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth as he stood outside a New Delhi court in a pair of faded jeans and a dark blue full-sleeve tee-shirt. Flanked by two policemen and his face covered with a black cloth, one of the most recognizable sportsmen in India kept his head bowed as newspaper photographers clicked away. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bahrain calls Hezbollah head a terrorist, says must be stopped Sunday, May 26, 2013 07:04 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain's foreign minister has called the head of Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah a "terrorist" after Hassan Nasrallah said his fighters would help bring victory to its ally President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war. The comments represent a departure from the traditional Arab view of Hezbollah as a main force against Israel and show the widening sectarian divisions in the region over the war in Syria. Sunni-ruled Bahrain has been rocked by political turmoil since majority Shi'ite Muslims took to the streets in 2011 to push for reforms and more say in the government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel not scaring off conservative voters, Schaeuble says Sunday, May 26, 2013 06:56 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel has not alienated conservative German voters by pushing her Christian Democrats into the center but has instead put the party on course to win for a third straight term in September, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine on Sunday, the powerful leader of the CDU's conservative wing made it clear to fellow right wingers they should stop sniping at Merkel if they want to help keep the party in power for four more years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain says soldier murder suspect was arrested in Kenya Sunday, May 26, 2013 06:19 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - One of the two men arrested on suspicion of the murder of a British soldier hacked to death in a London street was arrested in Kenya in 2010, Britain's Foreign Office said on Sunday. Michael Adebolajo, 28, was detained by Kenyan police and British officials provided consular assistance. Confirmation that Adebolajo was arrested in Kenya could increase pressure on Britain's security services to set out what they knew about him and whether they could have done more to prevent Wednesday's killing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's Abe ends Myanmar visit with aid, debt write-off Sunday, May 26, 2013 06:10 AM PDT  YANGON (Reuters) - Japan on Sunday endorsed Myanmar's reform program by writing off nearly $2 billion in debt and extending new aid, some of which will help support an industrial zone being developed by Japanese firms near the commercial capital, Yangon. As foreign businesses move into Myanmar after years of economic sanctions, Tokyo wants to ensure Japanese firms gain privileged access. Analysts also say Japan wants to counterbalance the growing economic and military might of China, Myanmar's neighbor. Japan agreed a year ago to forgive 176.1 billion yen ($1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspected Indian Maoist rebels kill 19 in Congress convoy ambush Sunday, May 26, 2013 05:45 AM PDT  By Devidutta Tripathy NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Suspected Maoist rebels killed at least 19 people when they ambushed a convoy carrying regional leaders from India's ruling Congress party in dense forest on Saturday, officials said, one of the deadliest such attacks in recent years. The rebels felled trees to block the 20-car convoy in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh and then detonated a landmine and raked the vehicles with gunfire, Indian media reported. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen kill regional special forces commander in Yemen Sunday, May 26, 2013 05:44 AM PDT ADEN (Reuters) - Gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a special forces commander in Yemen's eastern Hadramaut region on Sunday, a security official said. The attackers were believed to be al Qaeda members, the official said. They shot Captain Majed Muttair as he left his home in the city of al-Qatar. A bomb planted in a military vehicle killed a soldier and a civilian and wounded six other soldiers in Hadramaut on Saturday evening. ... Full Story | Top |
| French budget minister warns tax evaders to confess now Sunday, May 26, 2013 04:53 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - Budget Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said French taxpayers holding bank accounts abroad must make them known to authorities now or face much tougher penalties for tax evasion, as France seeks to end years of lax oversight. The Socialist government, in line with European partners, is leading a crackdown on tax avoidance that deprives the state of up to 50 billion euros ($64.6 billion) in revenue annually, according to a Senate commission report published last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bulgaria's PM-designate pledges help for poor Sunday, May 26, 2013 04:42 AM PDT  By Tsvetelia Tsolova SOFIA (Reuters) - The man most likely to form Bulgaria's next government pledged on Sunday to spend more to help society's most deprived, but said he would keep public debt low enough to maintain a currency peg to the euro. Plamen Oresharski, 53, offers the best chance for ending a political stalemate that has dragged on since the government quit in February in the face of protests against austerity measures in the European Union's poorest country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria says will attend Geneva talks 'in principle' Sunday, May 26, 2013 04:36 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Syria's government will "in principle" attend multilateral talks planned for June in Geneva and believes the conference will be an opportunity to resolve the country's conflict, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Sunday. Russia and the United States are sponsoring a proposed peace conference planned for next month on the war, which has killed 80,000 people and risks spilling over its borders and stirring regional sectarian violence. ... Full Story | Top |
| When Israel hits Syria, it hones military edge for wider war Sunday, May 26, 2013 04:34 AM PDT  By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - When Israeli jets bomb Syria to deny it or its allies "game-changer" weapons, they play according to one core rule: ensuring the Jewish state maintains the military superiority to swiftly prevail in any war. On Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's target list are four types of advanced arms, Russian- or Iranian-supplied, whose transfer from Syria to Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas next door would hinder Israel's strategic options. ... Full Story | Top |
| Somali militants attack Kenyan police in cross-border raid Sunday, May 26, 2013 04:26 AM PDT By Feisal Omar MOGADISHU (Reuters) - The Somali militant group al Shabaab said on Sunday its fighters had killed eight Kenyans, including policemen, in a cross-border raid and had taken two captives back into Somalia. A Kenyan official confirmed two policemen had been killed and two were missing but could not confirm if they were kidnapped during the attack on Saturday night. "We have gone 35 km into Kenya and burnt their base, Damajale, last night," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, said. ... Full Story | Top |
| French president Hollande's popularity inches up: poll Sunday, May 26, 2013 03:19 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande's popularity rating inched up in May from a record low the previous month, a poll showed on Sunday, a rare positive sign after a first year in office marked by rising unemployment. Hollande's approval rating rose by 4 percentage points to 29 percent in May, as perceptions improved among his own Socialist Party voters, pensioners, blue-collar workers and women, the survey by pollster IFOP in weekly paper JDD showed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: In West Bank shadows, repressed Hamas breathes on Sunday, May 26, 2013 03:17 AM PDT  By Noah Browning and Ali Sawafta DURA, West Bank (Reuters) - In his sparse village home adorned only with framed verses from the Quran, Mohammed Ghannam opens his shirt, pointing silently to his bruised chest. Ghannam, 44, whose job was to deliver the call to prayer in Dura's local mosque, said plainclothes security forces from the Palestinian Authority (PA) detained him last month for belonging to the Islamist movement Hamas and beat him mute. "They didn't ask me any questions, just punched me hard in the face and the chest," he wrote limply on a notepad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Nigeria's 'war on terror' wins tentative support Sunday, May 26, 2013 03:16 AM PDT  By Joe Brock MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nuradin Mohammed used to resent and fear the troops who swept past his fish stall in this northeast Nigerian city on the trail of Islamist insurgents Boko Haram. Now, for the first time, he thinks they may be on his side. "We are pleased the president has finally recognized our peril and we pray his plan works," Mohammed said, frying fish by the roadside as a crowd of young children looked on hungrily and trucks packed with troops rumbled past. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ireland considering reform of corporate tax system: paper Sunday, May 26, 2013 03:15 AM PDT  DUBLIN (Reuters) - The Irish government is examining options to close a loophole in its tax system that has allowed multinational companies to significantly reduce taxes they pay on profits, the Sunday Business Post newspaper reported. Ireland has been criticized by British and U.S. legislators in recent weeks for the fact that multinationals like Apple and Google reduced their global tax bills by channeling profits through Irish subsidiaries. ... Full Story | Top |
| Swiss parliament won't vote on details of U.S. tax deal: paper Sunday, May 26, 2013 03:12 AM PDT  ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's parliament may only get to vote on a general legal framework for a tax agreement with U.S. authorities that would pave the way for individual solutions with banks, a Swiss newspaper reported on Sunday. "Parliament will determine the legal framework allowing the banks to negotiate individual solutions with the United States," Lorenz Hess, vice-president of Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf's BDP party, told weekly NZZ am Sonntag. "The results of State Secretary Michael Ambuehl's negotiations will not be discussed directly in parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pirates free crew kidnapped from ship off Equatorial Guinea Sunday, May 26, 2013 03:02 AM PDT ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Four crew members kidnapped from a container ship off the West African nation of Equatorial Guinea in April have been released, the vessel's management company said. Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea region, which includes Africa's biggest oil producer Nigeria, is pushing up costs for shipping firms operating there. Many experts believe the region's pirate gangs grew out of insurgent groups involved in oil theft in Nigeria's restless Delta region. Pirates raided the Liberia-flagged ship, the Hansa Marburg, on April 22. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Africa defense force never more needed but still a paper tiger Sunday, May 26, 2013 02:32 AM PDT By Pascal Fletcher and Drazen Jorgic JOHANNESBURG/MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A website created for Africa's proposed continental defense force proclaims a lofty mission "to support and keep peace for Africa's prosperity and a better life for all in the world". But click on current operations on the African Standby Force site (www.africa-union.org/root/au/auc/departments/psc/AMISCE/AMISCE.htm) and the response is a dispiriting "page cannot be found". ... Full Story | Top |
| Bitter election aftermath undermines Malaysian PM Najib Sunday, May 26, 2013 12:01 AM PDT  By Niluksi Koswanage KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak may have won this month's disputed election but he faces a fight for legitimacy that could slow reforms, embolden a strong opposition protest movement and spark a leadership battle. Already the signs are not good. At a busy intersection across from one of Kuala Lumpur's fanciest shopping malls, a huge poster of Najib and his deputy has been defaced, a rare display of public disrespect in the Southeast Asian nation. ... Full Story | Top |
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