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| Venezuela expels top U.S. diplomat for fomenting 'sabotage' Monday, Sep 30, 2013 06:30 PM PDT  By Brian Ellsworth and Eyanir Chinea CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday he was expelling the top U.S. diplomat in the South American nation and two others, accusing them of meeting with opposition leaders and encouraging "acts of sabotage" against his country. It was the latest of several public disputes between the socialist leader and the United States since Maduro won an April election following the death of his mentor and predecessor Hugo Chavez. Maduro said Venezuelan authorities had for months followed the three U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico rescues 73 suspected kidnap victims near U.S. border Monday, Sep 30, 2013 05:59 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Seventy-three suspected kidnap victims were rescued in northern Mexico near the border city of Reynosa after police followed their alleged captors to a house and heard frantic calls for help, authorities said on Monday. Of the victims, 37 were Mexicans, 19 were from Honduras, 14 from Guatemala and another three from El Salvador, federal police said in a statement. Among the victims were women and minors, some of whom reported having been sexually abused. ... Full Story | Top |
| Netanyahu to Obama: Tighten sanctions if Iran defies West Monday, Sep 30, 2013 05:59 PM PDT  By Matt Spetalnick and Dan Williams WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged President Barack Obama on Monday to step up sanctions on Iran if it pursues its nuclear drive even as Tehran exchanges overtures with Washington and restarts negotiations with the West. Seeking to reassure Israel about the emerging U.S. diplomatic engagement with Iran, Obama said Tehran must prove its sincerity with actions, insisted that Washington would not ease sanctions prematurely and reaffirmed U.S. readiness to resort to military action if all else fails. ... Full Story | Top |
| At U.N., Syria compares rebel violence to 9/11 attacks Monday, Sep 30, 2013 04:09 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria's foreign minister on Monday compared what he described as an invasion of foreign terrorists across his country to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, remarks that Washington dismissed as offensive and disingenuous. In a speech to the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem also said that "terrorists from more than 83 countries are engaged in the killing of our people and our army" under the appeal of global jihad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria at U.N. compares militant onslaught to 9/11 attacks Monday, Sep 30, 2013 03:51 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria's foreign minister on Monday compared what he described as an invasion of foreign terrorists across his country to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, remarks that Washington dismissed as offensive and disingenuous. In a speech to the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem also said that "terrorists from more than 83 countries are engaged in the killing of our people and our army under the appeal of global Takfiri jihad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Myanmar says won't allow political opening to spur sectarian violence Monday, Sep 30, 2013 03:21 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Myanmar will not allow those eager to incite ethnic and religious violence to exploit the Southeast Asian country's newfound openness as it struggles along the path to democracy, Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin said on Monday. The comments from the country formerly known as Burma came as terrified Muslims hid in their homes in the Northwest after armed police dispersed a Buddhist mob that torched houses and surrounded a mosque - the latest outbreak of sectarian tension. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan arrests 700 people in week of deadly anti-government unrest Monday, Sep 30, 2013 03:05 PM PDT By Ulf Laessing and Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Seven hundred people have been arrested during a week of the worst unrest in central Sudan in years, the government said on Monday, as protests continued against President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. One week after the start of demonstrations against subsidy cuts, police once again used teargas on protesters, this time women students at the Ahfad university in Khartoum's twin-city of Omdurman who chanted "We don't want Bashir", witnesses said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali fights rebels in north as army officers protest in south Monday, Sep 30, 2013 02:59 PM PDT By Tiemoko Diallo and Adama Diarra BAMAKO (Reuters) - Tuareg rebels battled soldiers in northern Mali for a second day and disgruntled army officers staged an unruly protest at a southern military base on Monday, underscoring the dual challenge facing the new government. In the center of the remote northern town of Kidal, MNLA Tuareg separatists traded fire with soldiers early on Monday before an uneasy calm returned. The fighting began on Sunday night, with both sides accusing the other of firing first. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nepali official denies labor abuses in Qatar Monday, Sep 30, 2013 02:46 PM PDT  DOHA (Reuters) - Officials from Nepal and Qatar sought on Monday to play down a news report that Nepali laborers face deadly conditions on the Gulf state's building sites, holding a joint news conference to say the migrant workers were "safe and fully respected." Britain's Guardian newspaper reported that dozens of Nepali workers had died on Qatari building sites over the summer. Nepal recalled its ambassador from Qatar on Thursday after it emerged that she had called the country an "open jail" for Nepalis who suffer labor abuses. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi in new storm as relations sour with president Monday, Sep 30, 2013 02:32 PM PDT By Gavin Jones ROME (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi was at the center of a new storm on Monday after a private phone call in which he made assertions about President Giorgio Napolitano was aired on television, prompting a furious reaction from the president. A current affairs program on private channel La 7 broadcast a phone tap in which Berlusconi said he had been informed that Napolitano had exerted influence on Italy's top appeals court in a case involving Berlusconi's media empire. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey says Chinese missile deal not final Monday, Sep 30, 2013 02:23 PM PDT By Jonathon Burch ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey said on Monday it could still reconsider its decision to co-produce a long-range air and missile defense system with a Chinese firm currently under U.S. sanctions, but said it felt no obligation to heed other countries' blacklists. Turkey's Defense Ministry announced last week it had chosen the FD-2000 missile defense system from China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp, or CPMIEC, over rival systems from Russian, U.S. and European firms. Turkey is a member of the NATO transatlantic military alliance. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian along Gaza border Monday, Sep 30, 2013 01:56 PM PDT (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian near the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip on Monday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the soldiers fired at two people who had approached and tampered with the fence and that "a hit was confirmed". She gave no further information. Hospital officials in the Gaza Strip said a Palestinian had been shot dead, but it was not immediately clear whether the man was a militant or civilian. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ashton, asked about Iran sanctions, says she wants best atmosphere for talks Monday, Sep 30, 2013 01:21 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top EU official, asked if new sanctions should be imposed on Iran as talks about its nuclear program unfold, said she wanted to go to the October 15-16 talks with Iran in Geneva with "the best possible atmosphere." "I am not in the business of telling Congress what to do," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in response to a question at a Washington think tank about whether Congress, or others, should impose additional sanctions on Iran. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi faces obstacles in bid to topple government Monday, Sep 30, 2013 01:16 PM PDT  By Giselda Vagnoni ROME (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi on Monday faced dissent within his People of Freedom Party, complicating his plans to bring down Prime Minister Enrico Letta's coalition government. But even if Letta survives a confidence vote on Wednesday the prospects for stability and reform in Italy look more fragile than ever as he will face a larger and stronger opposition backed by Berlusconi's media empire. ... Full Story | Top |
| Norway's new government concedes on oil, immigration for support Monday, Sep 30, 2013 01:15 PM PDT By Balazs Koranyi and Joachim Dagenborg OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's Conservative leader Erna Solberg said she would form a minority cabinet with the populist Progress Party after talks with two centrist parties broke down on Monday, giving ground on oil exploration and immigration. Solberg agreed to give up plans to drill for oil in several promising Arctic areas and also agreed to tighten asylum policies to win the support of her eventual coalition partner and the outside backing of the centrist Liberals and Christian Democrats. "We were very close to finding good solutions... ... Full Story | Top |
| Car bombs kill 54 in Shi'ite districts of Baghdad Monday, Sep 30, 2013 12:34 PM PDT  By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Car bombs killed at least 54 people in mostly Shi'ite Muslim areas of Baghdad on Monday as suspected Sunni Muslim militants pursued a campaign to plunge Iraq back into sectarian strife. Altogether 14 bombs shook Baghdad, the deadliest of them in Sadr City, where a white car blew up near where men had gathered to seek work, killing seven people, including two soldiers. "The driver said he would move the car soon, but it exploded a few minutes later," said Abu Mohammed, a worker at the scene, where bits of molten metal lay among cars wrecked in the blast. ... Full Story | Top |
| At least 13 drown in migrant boat off Sicily Monday, Sep 30, 2013 12:27 PM PDT By James Mackenzie ROME (Reuters) - At least 13 people on a migrant boat arriving in eastern Sicily drowned, apparently after trying to get off their stranded vessel while it was just a few meters from the shore, Italian authorities said on Monday. Television pictures showed the bodies, all of adult men, wrapped in white sheets lying on the beach. Davide Roccasalva, a lifeguard at the Sampieri beach near Scicli in eastern Sicily, told the Corriere della Sera website that he had helped an offduty policemen pull some of the struggling people out of the surf. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. tells Spain to revoke Franco-era amnesty law Monday, Sep 30, 2013 12:04 PM PDT MADRID (Reuters) - The United Nations called on Monday for Spain to overturn a 1977 amnesty law that pardons crimes committed during the 36-year dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. Hundreds of thousands of people died or disappeared during Spain's civil war and subsequent dictatorship, but the crimes have been shielded under an amnesty law passed two years after Franco's death, protecting former members of the regime. The United Nations, which sent a working group to Spain to see how the country was investigating Franco-era disappearances, said the government should act quickly. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK's Osborne seeks political capital from recovery before 2015 vote Monday, Sep 30, 2013 11:50 AM PDT  By Andrew Osborn and Guy Faulconbridge MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - British finance minister George Osborne on Monday placed the government's economic record at the heart of his Conservative party's campaign for re-election in 2015, offering the promise of welfare reform, tax cuts and a new wave of home ownership. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cameroon's president seeks to strengthen grip in election Monday, Sep 30, 2013 11:13 AM PDT YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Voters in Cameroon went to the polls on Monday in local and parliamentary elections expected to be dominated by supporters of President Paul Biya, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders. Biya, 80, has ruled over Central Africa's largest economy for three decades after coming to power in 1982 following the resignation of his predecessor. His Cameroon People's Democratic Movement swept Senate elections in April, taking 56 of the 70 seats contested in the new upper house. The president appointed another 30 senators, guaranteeing his control over the 100-seat body. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's octogenarian president may be called to rescue again Monday, Sep 30, 2013 11:06 AM PDT  By Steve Scherer ROME (Reuters) - Italy's 88-year-old president, Giorgio Napolitano, is an unlikely hero, but this week marks the third time in two years that he may be called to the country's rescue. Just five months into his unprecedented second term as president, Napolitano is facing a potential political crisis in the euro zone's third-biggest economy that has already roiled financial markets. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemen's army retakes base seized by Qaeda militants Monday, Sep 30, 2013 10:45 AM PDT  ADEN (Reuters) - Yemeni special forces retook an army base and freed several hostages hours after al Qaeda militants disguised as security personnel seized the site in southeast Yemen, killing at least four soldiers, a military official said on Monday. Dozens of militants had stormed the headquarters of the army's Second Division in the city of al-Mukalla and captured some military personnel. At least nine soldiers were wounded, the official said. "The anti-terrorism special forces clashed with al Qaeda militants and killed a number of them," the official said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Traders say Kenyan forces looted mall during siege Monday, Sep 30, 2013 10:16 AM PDT  By Richard Lough NAIROBI (Reuters) - Store owners in the upmarket Nairobi shopping mall where 67 people were killed this month in Kenya's bloodiest militant attack in years said on Monday soldiers sent in to end the four-day siege looted electronics, jewelry and cash tills. The government said it took such allegations seriously but had also acted to protect stock in the Westgate center, where prosperous Kenyans and foreigners who frequented the complex could buy iPads, Swiss watches and jewel-encrusted necklaces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Party lawmaker says not satisfied after meeting with Berlusconi Monday, Sep 30, 2013 10:15 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - A senior lawmaker from Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party said on Monday he was not satisfied after a party meeting at which Berlusconi sought to quell internal dissent with his decision to pull PDL's ministers from the government. Up to 20 PDL Senators may be willing to defy Berlusconi and support Prime Minister Enrico Letta in a confidence vote on Wednesday, a PDL source told Reuters earlier on Monday. "The situation has not been clarified," the PDL's former lower house leader Fabrizio Cicchitto told reporters after the meeting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia says to push for Mideast free of mass-destruction weapons Monday, Sep 30, 2013 10:13 AM PDT  By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia wants to revive plans for a conference on ridding the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction now that Syria has pledged to abandon its chemical arms, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in comments published on Monday. Such a move could put Moscow at odds with Washington which announced the conference would be delayed last year. Analysts said it feared the event would be used to criticize its ally Israel, believed to be the region's only nuclear-armed state. Russia has been pushing to extend its influence in the Middle East. It initiated a U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| 'We must stay united', Berlusconi tells party dissenters: source Monday, Sep 30, 2013 09:52 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italian center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi told his People of Freedom lawmakers that they must stick together after some party officials expressed dissent at his decision to withdraw the group's ministers from Prime Minister Enrico Letta's government. "We must remain united," Berlusconi said, according to a parliamentarian present at the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity. He added he was willing to conditionally support the 2014 budget to be presented next month and other tax measures, but Italy should then hold a new election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen kill three Egyptian policemen, one soldier in Sinai Monday, Sep 30, 2013 09:48 AM PDT By Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Gunmen killed three policemen and a soldier in Egypt's Sinai region on Monday, security sources said, and Islamist militants released a video of an earlier drive-by shooting of an army colonel, highlighting growing security risks to the government. Violent disorder has gripped the Sinai Peninsula since the army overthrew elected President Mohamed Mursi, an Islamist, in July, plunging the most populous Arab nation into turmoil. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria beefs up school security after attacks: sources Monday, Sep 30, 2013 09:45 AM PDT  MAIDUGURI/DAMATURU, Nigeria (Reuters) - After Islamists killed 40 students in a dormitory attack, Nigerian authorities are taking measures to improve security around schools, including stepping up patrols and putting armed soldiers outside them and guarding school buses. Government sources told Reuters on Monday that the move aimed to restore confidence in the Western style schools that have been scenes of bloody massacres by Boko Haram militants fighting for an Islamic state, and who are seen as the main security threat to Africa's top oil producer. ... Full Story | Top |
| Stop asking me how to fix Congo, says Rwanda's Kagame Monday, Sep 30, 2013 09:42 AM PDT  By Dan Williams NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rwandan President Paul Kagame says he doesn't understand why people keep asking him how to end decades of conflict in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, despite accusations by U.N. experts that Rwanda backs Congolese rebels. "It's like, you know, the world has decided, for Congo, you ask Rwanda. Why? I don't understand," Kagame told Reuters on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK Cameron's party pledges budget surplus if it wins election Monday, Sep 30, 2013 09:34 AM PDT  By Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Finance minister George Osborne promised he would continue to cut spending to wipe out Britain's budget deficit if the Conservatives won the 2015 election, but signaled there could be more money for infrastructure investment. At an annual conference where the Conservatives are setting out policy ideas before the election, Osborne said he would return Britain to a budget surplus during the next parliament, as long as the country's economy continued to mend. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greece plans new anti-racism law amid Golden Dawn crackdown Monday, Sep 30, 2013 09:28 AM PDT  By Karolina Tagaris ATHENS (Reuters) - The Greek government said on Monday it would present a bill targeting racist hate speech, part of a crackdown on the far-right Golden Dawn party after the killing of an anti-fascist rapper. Greece's ruling coalition had been at loggerheads over whether it needed a new anti-racism law to deal with racist and inflammatory talk used by Golden Dawn. "(The bill) will be submitted to parliament in a matter of days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Berlusconi says took decision alone to pull ministers Monday, Sep 30, 2013 09:24 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italian center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi told lawmakers from his People of Freedom party (PDL) on Monday that he was not influenced by anyone in his decision to withdraw PDL ministers from the government at the weekend. Berlusconi's shock decision undermined Prime Minister Enrico Letta's coalition government and created significant dissent and a risk of a breakaway in his own party. "It made no sense to remain in the government, I took this decision alone," Berlusconi said, according to one of the parliamentarians present at the meeting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon chief, at Korean DMZ, says U.S. will not cut force in Korea Monday, Sep 30, 2013 09:19 AM PDT  By David Alexander PANMUNJOM, Korean Demilitarized Zone (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel toured the Korean DMZ on Monday under the watchful eye of North Korean soldiers and said the Pentagon had no plans to reduce its 28,500-member force in the South despite budget constraints. "This is probably the only place in the world where we have always a risk of confrontation," Hagel said after visiting a blue, single-story building with a corrugated metal roof where talks are held with North Koreans in the truce village of Panmunjom. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cardinals to begin reform summit with pope Monday, Sep 30, 2013 08:58 AM PDT  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Eight cardinals will begin closed-door meetings with Pope Francis on Tuesday to help him reform the Vatican's troubled administration and map out possible changes in the worldwide Church. Francis, who has brought a new style of openness, simplicity and a conciliatory tone to the papacy, wants to consult more with Church officials around the world before making decisions affecting the life of the 1.2-billion-member Church. ... Full Story | Top |
| France's Sarkozy appeals against vote funding investigation Monday, Sep 30, 2013 08:48 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - Former president Nicolas Sarkozy appealed to France's highest court on Monday to stop a criminal inquiry into accusations that he duped a billionaire heiress into donating campaign funds, a case that threatens his political future. Sarkozy's lawyer asked the Court of Cassation to overturn an appeals court ruling this month upholding the investigation into allegations that he took advantage of the mental frailty of L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, France's richest woman, to obtain money for his 2007 presidential campaign. Sarkozy denies the accusations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey presents reforms aimed at pressing Kurdish peace process Monday, Sep 30, 2013 08:34 AM PDT  By Jonathon Burch and Gulsen Solaker ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey on Monday announced reforms seen as designed to salvage a peace process with Kurdish insurgents, including changes to the electoral system, broadening of language rights and permission for villages to use their original Kurdish names. The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) said the proposals, presented by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, were not enough to satisfy Kurdish militants who this month halted their withdrawal from Turkish territory. ... Full Story | Top |
| Competition between Islamist militants may fuel big attacks Monday, Sep 30, 2013 08:19 AM PDT  By Myra MacDonald LONDON (Reuters) - The assault on Kenya's Westgate shopping mall has brought into sharp relief a pattern likely to complicate efforts to counter Islamist militants - competition among jihadis can increase the risk of a major attack. As with the 2008 assault on the Indian city of Mumbai and this year's raid on an Algerian desert gas plant, the attack in Nairobi by Somalia's al Shabaab was preceded by in-fighting or loss of supporters to other militant groups. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel plans to talk with SPD and Greens on coalition Monday, Sep 30, 2013 08:05 AM PDT  By Alexandra Hudson BERLIN (Reuters) - Angela Merkel will hold preliminary coalition talks with the Social Democrats (SPD) on Friday and also plans to meet with the Greens, as she tries to play her potential partners off against each other at the start of a tough horse-trading marathon. The SPD are seen as the chancellor's most likely partner, but they said on Monday they would not be rushed into a deal, suggesting the formation of a new government could drag on until January. ... Full Story | Top |
| German farm minister steps down to re-enter local politics Monday, Sep 30, 2013 07:52 AM PDT HAMBURG (Reuters) - German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner stepped down on Monday to return to local politics in her home state of Bavaria, her ministry said. Aigner had said last year she would leave following a parliamentary election on September 22, prompting speculation that she was eyeing the post of Bavarian prime minister should the incumbent, Horst Seehofer, step down. Aigner's southern conservative party CSU has long held power in the state. ... Full Story | Top |
| France opens corruption probe into uncle of Syria's Assad Monday, Sep 30, 2013 07:46 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - Paris prosecutors said on Monday they had opened a preliminary investigation into whether an uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad illegally acquired millions of dollars of assets in France. Two French anti-corruption campaign groups, Sherpa and Transparency International France, filed a complaint earlier this month alleging corruption, money-laundering, embezzlement of public funds and misuse of corporate assets by Rifaat al-Assad, a former military commander. ... Full Story | Top |
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