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| Leader of Greek far-right Golden Dawn party jailed pending trial Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 07:59 PM PDT  By Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos ATHENS (Reuters) - The leader of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party was sent to jail pending trial on charges of belonging to a criminal group, a court official told Reuters early on Thursday, the first such action in decades against an elected party chief. Golden Dawn leader Nikolaos Mihaloliakos appeared before investigating magistrates and a prosecutor during a six-hour plea session to respond to charges of founding and participating in a criminal organization. "He will be jailed pending trial," the court official said on condition of anonymity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali president dissolves army reform committee Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 05:08 PM PDT  By Tiemoko Diallo and Adama Diarra BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's new president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, on Wednesday dissolved an army reform committee dominated by former members of a military junta after blasting disgruntled officers for staging an unruly protest at a military base earlier this week. Officers who participated in a military coup last year fired into the air on Monday in the southern garrison town of Kati, close to the capital, Bamako, in protest at not receiving promotions they said had been promised. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama, congressional leaders still deadlocked on shutdown Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 04:44 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama met with Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress on Wednesday to try to break a deadlock that has shut down wide swaths of the federal government, but there was no breakthrough. After more than an hour of talks, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said Obama refused to negotiate, while House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid accused Republicans of trying to hold the president hostage over Obamacare. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazilian police stop Indians from storming Congress Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 04:43 PM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian police used pepper spray to stop hundreds of protesting Indians from storming Congress on Wednesday, clamping down on the second day of indigenous rights marches. Tribes across Brazil blocked highways and occupied government offices to oppose what they see as a steady undermining of their rights to ancestral lands by farmers supported by politicians in disputes that have occasionally turned violent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guinea's ruling party takes early lead in legislative polls Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 04:04 PM PDT  CONAKRY (Reuters) - The party of Guinean President Alpha Conde has taken an early lead, according to the first results from weekend legislative polls published by the elections commission late on Wednesday. The National Electoral Commission (CENI) initially said it would take days longer than expected to release a result but pledged earlier on Wednesday to announce tallies as they trickled in from 12,000 polling stations. ... Full Story | Top |
| BP's well control exec says he was unprepared for U.S. Gulf blowout Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 03:46 PM PDT  By Kathy Finn NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - BP's manager in charge of controlling the Macondo blowout in 2010 was never trained to permanently plug a ruptured oil well and said in court on Wednesday the British company was not fully prepared for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. On day three of the second phase of a federal trial in New Orleans over the accident in the Gulf of Mexico, BP's James Dupree also said "yes" when asked if the company was "starting from scratch" when it scrambled to stop the leak. The U.S. District Court trial could lead to fines of more than $17 billion. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gambia pulls out of 'neo-colonial' Commonwealth Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 03:38 PM PDT BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambia has withdrawn from the Commonwealth, the 54-member grouping including Britain and most of its former colonies, branding it a "neo-colonial institution," according to a statement released by the West African nation on Wednesday. "The government has withdrawn its membership of the British Commonwealth and decided that the Gambia will never be a member of any neo-colonial institution and will never be a party to any institution that represents an extension of colonialism," read a statement broadcast on state television. No further reason for the decision was given. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clashes flare at pro-Mursi march in Egyptian city, one dead Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 03:37 PM PDT  ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - A high school student was killed when opponents and supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi clashed in the city of Suez on Wednesday night, medical and security sources said. The two sides exchanged gunfire and threw petrol bombs after supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mursi chanted anti-army slogans as they marched in the city, the sources said. Abdullah Mohamed Attia, 17, died from a bullet wound, the state news agency reported. The student was a supporter of Mursi, the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. expels three Venezuelan diplomats in tit-for-tat move Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 02:53 PM PDT  By Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - Washington has expelled Venezuela's highest-ranking diplomat in the United States and two others from its embassy in retaliation for Venezuela's booting out three American diplomats accused of fomenting sabotage, both governments said on Wednesday. The flare-up appears to derail some tentative moves to improve relations between Caracas and Washington since President Nicolas Maduro took over this year from the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, whose 14-year rule was halted by cancer. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan's top police bomb disposal unit starved of money and men Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 02:29 PM PDT  By Katharine Houreld PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A technician from Pakistan's top bomb disposal unit packed some aging detonator cord confiscated from the Taliban into a plastic water bottle and reached for a roll of sticky tape. With his low-cost, improvised - and extremely dangerous - device he demonstrated how he destroys militant bombs, but also revealed desperate shortages of money and equipment for bomb disposal experts. Twelve years into the war on militancy, Pakistan's police are chronically under-funded. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council urges easier access for Syria aid Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 02:09 PM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Building on a fragile unity, the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday urged Syria's government to allow cross-border aid deliveries and called on combatants in the country's war to agree humanitarian pauses in fighting and aid convoy routes. Millions of people in Syria are in desperate need of help as a result of a 2-1/2-year civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people, but aid has slowed to a trickle because of violence and excessive red tape. ... Full Story | Top |
| World powers on 'right track' on Syria chemical arms: Putin Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 02:06 PM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday global powers were "on the right track" with a plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons and could avert military intervention in the conflict if they worked together. Agreement on the plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons was reached after U.S. President Barack Obama asked Congress to approve air strikes to punish Syria's government over an August 21 gas attack the United States says killed more than 1,400 people. "There is every reason to believe we are on the right track," Putin told an investment conference. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian Embassy in Libya comes under fire, attack repelled Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 02:01 PM PDT  By Ghaith Shennib and Thomas Grove TRIPOLI/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's embassy in the Libyan capital of Tripoli came under fire on Wednesday and a group of people tried to force their way into the compound, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Diplomatic sources in Libya said security guards fired shots to disperse a group of about 60 people that had approached the embassy. An attempt to enter the building was repelled and according to the Foreign Ministry no diplomats were wounded. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian president warns parties against renewed turbulence Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 02:00 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - President Giorgio Napolitano warned the parties in Italy's governing coalition on Wednesday against renewed political turbulence after Prime Minister Enrico Letta won a confidence vote in parliament. Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, facing revolt in his own centre-right party, earlier backtracked from threats to bring down the government. "The government has stood the test, beaten the challenge," Napolitano said in a statement. He said Letta and his cabinet could not allow a renewal of daily political turmoil. (Reporting by Catherine Hornby; Editing by Mark Heinrich) Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi U-turn secures Italian government survival Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 02:00 PM PDT  By Paolo Biondi ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta won a confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday after Silvio Berlusconi, facing revolt in his own center-right party, backtracked on threats to bring down the government. As dozens of center-right senators prepared to defy their media magnate leader and salvage the left-right coalition led by Letta, Berlusconi staged an abrupt U-turn and said he too would back the center-left prime minister, just days after he sparked the crisis by pulling his ministers out of Letta's cabinet. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan unrest a warning to government to seek dialogue: Britain Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 01:53 PM PDT  KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A week of deadly unrest in Sudan should serve as a warning to the government to solve conflicts through national dialogue, a senior British official said on Wednesday, in the strongest foreign criticism of Khartoum's crackdown on protests. Protests and riots erupted in Khartoum and other Sudanese cities last week against the lifting of fuel subsidies, triggering a clampdown by security forces. Sudanese human rights activists and some diplomats say that up to 150 people died after security forces opened fire on crowds. ... Full Story | Top |
| More remains found at site of cruise ship wreck in Italy Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 01:46 PM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - Divers have recovered what could be more human remains from the sea where the Costa Concordia cruise liner sank last year off the Italian island of Giglio, the head of Italy's civil protection agency said on Wednesday. The agency said last week it had found remains that could belong to the last two missing victims from the disaster on January 13, 2012, when the ship capsized after striking rocks, killing 32 people. "Other remains have also been found and are currently undergoing DNA tests," the agency's chief Franco Gabrielli told reporters on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali frees Tuareg rebel prisoners in bid to revive peace process Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 12:46 PM PDT BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's government freed 23 rebel prisoners on Wednesday under terms of a June ceasefire deal in an effort to revive a stalled peace process after Tuareg separatists pulled out last week. Violence has flared in northern Mali since the MNLA rebel group abandoned the ceasefire on Thursday. A grenade attack that wounded two soldiers in the Tuareg stronghold of Kidal on Friday was followed by two days of clashes which began on Sunday. Justice Minister Ali Bathily said the government hoped the release of the rebel prisoners would help calm the situation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian PM Letta wins lower house confidence vote Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 12:30 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta won a confidence vote in the lower house as expected following his earlier victory in the Senate on Wednesday after center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi backtracked on his threat to bring down the government. The Chamber of Deputies, where Letta has a commanding majority, voted 435 to 162 in favor of the government, after the Senate earlier backed the prime minister in a similar vote. (Reporting By Catherine Hornby) Full Story | Top |
| Situation at Russian embassy in Tripoli calming after attack: diplomatic sources Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 12:18 PM PDT TUNIS (Reuters) - The situation at Russia's embassy in the Libyan capital of Tripoli is calming down, and "coming under control" after an attack on Wednesday during which assailants tried to enter the compound, diplomatic sources said. (Reporting by Patrick Markey) Full Story | Top |
| Indonesia anti-graft agency arrests top judge for alleged bribery Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 11:36 AM PDT JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's main anti-graft agency arrested the chief justice of the constitutional court for alleged bribery on Wednesday, an agency official said, the latest high-profile corruption case to hit Southeast Asia's largest economy. Akil Mochtar, who was elected as chief justice for a five-year term in August, was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission after investigators confiscated some 2-3 billion rupiah ($260,200) from his residence, according to agency spokesman Johan Budi. Budi told Reuters the money was believed to be linked to a regional election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greece's Golden Dawn lawmakers freed before trial Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 10:45 AM PDT  By Renee Maltezou and Yorgos Karahalis ATHENS (Reuters) - Three senior lawmakers from Greece's far-right Golden Dawn were freed on Wednesday pending trial on criminal charges, an unexpected setback to the government's efforts to clamp down on a party it has labeled a neo-Nazi criminal gang. The decision to free the men after an 18-hour court session raises questions about the solidity of the state's case against Golden Dawn after one of its sympathizers stabbed to death an anti-fascism rapper. ... Full Story | Top |
| Belarus leader says Obama surprises him, 'blacks were slaves' Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 10:39 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, a frequent critic of the United States, said recent comments by President Barack Obama about American 'exceptionalism' had surprised him, given the country's history of slavery. Obama termed the United States exceptional last month in a speech made when Washington was mulling military strikes on Syria for a chemical attack it blames on President Bashar al-Assad. The concept of American "exceptionalism" supposes a particular U.S. commitment to democratic values and an obligation to promote those values globally. ... Full Story | Top |
| Uganda president dares exiled general to try to remove him by force Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 10:38 AM PDT  By Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni dared a dissident general in exile on Wednesday to try to overthrow him and said anyone seeking to use violence to seize power would be eliminated. Museveni has come under increasing criticism for his reluctance to cede power after 27 years as president and over his alleged failure to tackle corruption in Uganda, Africa's leading coffee exporter. He denies such allegations. Many Ugandans say Museveni wants to hand power to his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba when the president retires. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lithuania frees Irish man sentenced over gun-running to Real IRA Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 10:16 AM PDT  VILNIUS (Reuters) - An Irish citizen sentenced to 12 years in prison in Lithuania for trying to arm a Northern Irish Republican militant group was freed on Tuesday by a court of appeal. Michael Campbell, 41, was arrested in the Baltic state in January 2008 after a sting operation involving Lithuanian, Irish and British secret services. Lithuania's Court of Appeal overturned the sentence on Wednesday, deciding British security services had illegally encouraged Campbell to go to Lithuania to attempt to buy arms and explosives. ... Full Story | Top |
| Five Yemenis jailed for role in 2012 al Qaeda suicide attack Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 10:15 AM PDT SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen jailed five people for up to 10 years on Wednesday for their part in an al Qaeda suicide bombing last year that killed more than 90 soldiers rehearsing for a military parade. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) - one of the most active franchises of the Islamist group - claimed responsibility for the bombing as part of its on-going campaign against the strategically positioned state which is a major concern for Western governments. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexican conservatives show openness on reform tied to energy bill Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 09:50 AM PDT By Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's main opposition party has signaled it is ready to compromise over demands for electoral reform that risk impeding a government bill to liberalize the oil industry. Last month, the conservative National Action Party (PAN) proposed an electoral reform that seeks to curb the power of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which has dominated Mexican politics for most of the past century. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hamas hangs Palestinian man convicted of murders Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 09:49 AM PDT By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - The Islamist Hamas group said they had executed a Palestinian man in Gaza on Wednesday despite appeals from human rights groups not to hang him because he was under 18 when one of two murders for which he was convicted occurred. Hani Abu Eleyan, 28, was the 17th Palestinian executed by Hamas since it seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. At least eight others were killed as alleged spies for Israel. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said Eleyan was convicted of two murders, one in 2000, involving the rape and killing of a minor, and another in 2009. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alfano turns on his master in bid to lead Italy's right Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 09:49 AM PDT  By Gavin Jones ROME (Reuters) - Angelino Alfano may have changed the future of Italian politics by leading the internal party revolt that thwarted Silvio Berlusconi's attempt to bring down the country's coalition government. Few thought he had it in him. The 42-year-old former Christian Democrat from Sicily was considered so loyal to Berlusconi that his name had become almost a by-word for subservience. "Alfano Betrays" screamed the front page banner headline of Berlusconi's family newspaper Il Giornale on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| International court charges Kenyan with bribing witnesses Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 09:15 AM PDT By Thomas Escritt and James Macharia AMSTERDAM/NAIROBI (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court said on Wednesday it had issued an arrest warrant for a Kenyan charged with trying to bribe witnesses to withdraw testimony against Deputy President William Ruto. Walter Barasa, a journalist in Ruto's political stronghold of Eldoret, northwest of Nairobi, told Reuters he denied the charges and said police had not tried to detain him. There was no immediate comment from Kenyan police. ... Full Story | Top |
| Political row threatens Slovenia government, efforts to avert bailout Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 08:55 AM PDT  By Marja Novak LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - A dispute over the leadership of Slovenia's ruling party erupted on Wednesday, posing a threat to the euro zone state's four-party coalition government and its efforts to avert an international bailout. The mayor of Slovenia's capital Ljubljana, Zoran Jankovic, announced he would run for the leadership of the center-left Positive Slovenia (PS), the main ruling party, in a move that prompted dismay among the other coalition parties. ... Full Story | Top |
| Al Qaeda-linked group advances on Syrian rebels near Turkey Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 08:53 AM PDT By Alexander Dziadosz and Stephen Kalin BEIRUT (Reuters) - Al Qaeda-linked fighters fought rival Syrian rebels near the border with Turkey on Wednesday, activists said, in an outbreak of violence driven by the divisions between factions battling President Bashar al-Assad. The fighting illustrates the volatile situation in Syria as a team of chemical weapons experts start the process of eliminating Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, with inspections expected to begin next week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish government seeks renewed mandate to send troops to Syria Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 08:53 AM PDT  By Jonathon Burch ANKARA (Reuters) - The Turkish parliament is likely to extend by a year a mandate authorizing the sending of troops into Syria if needed after the government said the possible use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad posed a threat to Turkey. The government motion, due to be voted on by parliament on Thursday, paints a bleak picture of the conflict in its southern neighbor and says Turkey would be the country the most affected by escalating violence there. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chemical experts in Syria to dismantle weapons program Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 08:45 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - International experts charged with starting the process of verifying and eliminating chemical weapons arrived in Syria on Tuesday for the mission endorsed by the U.N. Security Council. A convoy of about 20 United Nations vehicles carrying the team of experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) arrived in Damascus shortly after 5 p.m. (1400 GMT), witnesses said, after crossing the border from Lebanon earlier in the day. The mission, which Washington and Moscow hammered out after an August 21 chemical weapons attack in Damascus prompted U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan-U.S. security talks likely to highlight Tokyo's cyber-defense woes Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 08:27 AM PDT  By Ruairidh Villar TOKYO (Reuters) - Top U.S. security officials meet their Japanese counterparts on Thursday as concerns are growing that the hosts cannot protect themselves from malicious internet hackers. Cyber security is on the agenda when the military and diplomatic chiefs of the two countries hold their first joint meeting in Japan. But even Japanese officials acknowledge they cannot keep up with the proliferating threat of attacks on computer networks from private or state-sponsored hackers. ... Full Story | Top |
| China says U.S. shutdown exposes 'ugly side of partisan politics' Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 08:20 AM PDT SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China on Wednesday said the U.S. government shutdown had exposed "the ugly side of partisan politics" in Washington and expressed concern about its effect on the world economy. An editorial on the state-run Xinhua news service, considered a channel for Beijing's official views, said: "The United States, the world's sole superpower, has engaged in irresponsible spending for years." The commentary said the shutdown might lead to the U.S. failing to meet its debt obligations, referring to a similar conflict in 2011 over raising the government's debt ceiling. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hungary flags possible legal action against Croatia over MOL Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 08:15 AM PDT By Krisztina Than BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary may take legal action against Croatia in a long-running dispute over oil and gas group MOL's investment in Croatian peer INA, the Hungarian government said on Wednesday after Croatia issued an arrest warrant for MOL's chief executive. Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government, the largest single shareholder in MOL, said it would ask MOL's management to consider selling its near-50 percent stake in INA to the Croatian government or a third party, after what it said were "unacceptable" steps taken by Zagreb against MOL. ... Full Story | Top |
| Amnesty condemns Turkey's 'brutal' crackdown on summer protests Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 08:14 AM PDT By Dasha Afanasieva ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish authorities committed widespread rights abuses in their crackdown on popular demonstrations in June, beating, abusing and harassing protesters, and using unnecessary force, Amnesty International said on Wednesday. In a 72-page report, "Brutal denial of the right to peaceful assembly in Turkey", the rights group said police fired plastic bullets directly at protesters' heads and tear gas canisters were fired into residential buildings and medical facilities. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hopes of deal to unblock Bosnia's EU bid hang in the balance Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 08:12 AM PDT  By Daria Sito-Sucic SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Hopes that Bosnia's fractious leaders were near a deal to end a standoff blocking the country's bid to join the European Union receded on Wednesday, when one top official said they were only "halfway there". Seven leaders from the main Serb, Croat and Bosniak (Muslim) parties issued a joint statement in Brussels on Tuesday saying they had agreed to "urgently" settle their differences over Bosnia's constitution, set down under a peace deal to end the country's 1992-95 war. For a moment the statement raised expectations of an imminent breakthrough. ... Full Story | Top |
| TransCanada's southern Keystone XL leg to be completed soon: report Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 08:07 AM PDT  (Reuters) - The construction of the southern leg of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline is expected to be completed by the end of October, TransCanada Corp executive Les Cherwenuk said on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg News. The 700,000 barrel per day pipeline will carry crude oil from Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point of the U.S. crude oil future contract, to the Gulf Coast. Cherwenuk said the company would start filling the line shortly after construction is completed, the Bloomberg report said. The company has been targeting completion of the project before the end of 2013. ... Full Story | Top |
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