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Greek bond swap offer "going well": government official
Wed,7 Mar 2012 11:36 PM PST
Reuters - ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece has seen a strong take-up of its bond swap offer to private investors, a government official said on Thursday ahead of a 2000 GMT deadline for accepting the deal, a key element in an 130 billion euro international rescue package. "The pace of responses to the bond offer is good, the percentage of bondholders tendering voluntarily is very high," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
China says told Syria to stop violence, help U.N. aid
Wed,7 Mar 2012 11:24 PM PST
Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - China's envoy to Syria told President Bashar al-Assad's government to stop violence immediately and help the United Nations and International Committee for the Red Cross send aid to strife-hit areas, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Liu Weimin, also told reporters that the envoy, Li Huaxin, had also promoted Beijing's backing for a mediation process between the Syrian government and opposition groups facilitated by the United Nations and Arab League. ... Full Story | Top |
Implats: no offer made to Zimbabwe on local unit
Wed,7 Mar 2012 11:13 PM PST
Reuters - JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Impala Platinum has denied it made an "irrevocable offer" to hand over a stake in its local unit to the government of Zimbabwe. "Implats has not made an irrevocable offer to the Zimbabwe government today," the company said in a statement late on Wednesday. A senior Zimbabwe minister told Reuters on Wednesday that the world's second-largest platinum producer had made the offer to hand over a 29.5 percent stake in its Zimplats unit to a state-run fund. ... Full Story | Top |
GM CEO sees European losses continuing for 1-2 years
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:34 PM PST
Reuters -  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - General Motors Co chief executive Dan Akerson said it may be two years before its European division is back in profit as the continent sheds over-capacity the same way the U.S. industry had to over the past half decade. The world's largest automaker has lost money in Europe for the last 12 years. "I think it'll be a good year or two before we can achieve profitability in Europe again," Akerson said at an on-stage interview conducted in San Francisco on Wednesday night. ...
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New fighting in Sudan's Darfur region
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:30 PM PST
Reuters - KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's armed forces and a rebel group clashed in the Western Darfur region, both sides said on Wednesday, the latest violence in the troubled region. Mostly African insurgents in Darfur took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in 2003, accusing the government in Khartoum of neglecting the remote territory. Khartoum mobilised troops and allied Arab tribes to quell the rebellion, unleashing a wave of violence that the United Nations and other observers estimate may have killed hundreds of thousands of people. ... Full Story | Top |
Egypt advisory council head to run for president
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:29 PM PST
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - A veteran Egyptian politician who is close to the country's military rulers and the powerful Muslim Brotherhood announced on Wednesday he would run in a presidential election on May 23. Mansour Hassan, the head of the advisory council to Egypt's military rulers and a culture and information minister under the late President Anwar Sadat, confirmed his presidential plans to Reuters by phone. State news agency MENA had previously reported he was planning to stand in the election. ... Full Story | Top |
Briton charged in Kenya with theft of police rifles
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:25 PM PST
Reuters - NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Briton already serving a jail term in Kenya was charged on Wednesday with robbery with violence, a capital offence that carries a death sentence. Briton Jermaine John Grant and others were accused of robbing four police officers of their loaded rifles at a police post in Wajir, near the border between Kenya and Somalia, in 2008, and escaping from police custody. ... Full Story | Top |
US eyes Summers and Rice for World Bank: sources
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:22 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former White House adviser Lawrence Summers, diplomat Susan Rice and PepsiCo Inc CEO Indra Nooyi are on a "short list" of possible U.S. candidates to head the World Bank, a person with knowledge of the Obama administration's thinking said on Wednesday. The source and a second person familiar with the administration's thinking said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry was also on the list, although a Kerry spokeswoman said he had not been contacted and was not interested. ... Full Story | Top |
Bomb kills 4 Thai soldiers in Muslim south
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:20 PM PST
Reuters -  NARATHIWAT, Thailand (Reuters) - Four soldiers were killed and one was critically wounded when insurgents detonated a roadside bomb in Thailand's Muslim south, police said on Thursday. The attack took place late on Wednesday in Narathiwat, one of three mainly Muslim provinces bordering Malaysia, where a shadowy insurgency has claimed more than 5,000 lives since 2004, when a low-level separatist rebellion from the 1970s resurfaced. The soldiers were travelling in two vehicles and had been providing security during a Buddhist festival. ...
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Kenyan parliament clears c.bank governor in shilling row
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:09 PM PST
Reuters -  NAIROBI (Reuters) - A majority of Kenyan lawmakers voted on Wednesday to clear the central bank governor Njuguna Ndung'u of any responsibility over the local currency's plunge to a historic low late last year. A report by a parliamentary committee had demanded that Ndung'u steps aside from his post and be investigated over the shilling's tumble to a record low of 107 per dollar on October 11. ...
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Nigeria, South Africa feud over yellow fever jabs
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:07 PM PST
Reuters -  ABUJA (Reuters) - South Africa and Nigeria are embroiled in a diplomatic spat after the authorities at Johannesburg airport deported 125 Nigerians, alleging their yellow fever vaccination certificates were fakes - the latest twist in a long-standing rivalry between Africa's two biggest economies. Nigeria has responded with undisguised tit-for-tat deportations of 84 South Africans in the past two days, according to a senior official at the State Security Service who could not be named. ...
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Families of Munich dead want IOC to remember 1972 tragedy
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:05 PM PST
Reuters -  TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Forty years after 11 Israelis were killed by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Munich Games, the families of the dead are urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to organize an official commemoration. Two widows of athletes who were killed have long campaigned for the 1972 victims to be remembered at Olympic opening ceremonies - either through the IOC president's welcome speech or with a moment of silence - but they fear their call for a commemoration in London on July 27 will again be ignored. "We want the International Olympic Committee ... ...
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"Deliberative" Senate gripped by paralysis
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:02 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate is under the gun to pass a transportation bill that would rev up road construction and create or save millions of jobs. But in the month since the chamber started considering the bill, it has faced gridlock worse than a Los Angeles freeway at rush hour. Feuding parties loaded up the highway bill with more than 100 amendments covering everything from birth control to foreign money laundering. After weeks of partisan squabbling, passage remains uncertain. At one point, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vented a common frustration. ...
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Russia accuses Libya of training Syrian rebels
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:00 PM PST
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia accused Libya during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday of running a training center for Syrian rebels and arming the fighters in their battle to overthrow the country's President Bashar al-Assad. "We have received information that in Libya, with the support of the authorities, there is a special training center for the Syrian revolutionaries and people are sent to Syria to attack the legal government," Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, told the U.N. Security Council. "This is completely unacceptable ... ... Full Story | Top |
China parliament unveils dissident detention powers
Wed,7 Mar 2012 09:59 PM PST
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's parliament unveiled legislation on Thursday solidifying police powers to hold dissidents in secret criminal detention, prompting an outcry from artist Ai Weiwei and rights advocates caught in a surge of clandestine detentions last year. Others said, however, the ruling Communist Party had retreated from the most draconian part of new rules for another kind of secretive detention, called "residential surveillance", which were proposed last year. ...
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Senate to tackle highway bill amendments, House struggles
Wed,7 Mar 2012 09:38 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate leaders struck a deal on Wednesday to move forward on stalled transportation legislation that now will include votes on a string of amendments, some controversial and unrelated to highway and transit construction. Majority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said the chamber would begin slogging through 30 amendments on Thursday, and could wrap up work on the $109 billion proposal later in the day. ... Full Story | Top |
China cyber capability puts U.S. forces at risk: report
Wed,7 Mar 2012 09:11 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chinese cyberwarfare would pose a "genuine risk" to the U.S. military in a conflict, for instance over Taiwan or disputes in the South China Sea, according to a report prepared for the U.S. Congress. Operations against computer networks have become fundamental to Beijing's military and national development strategies over the past decade, said the 136-page analysis by Northrop Grumman Corp released on Thursday by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. ... Full Story | Top |
Cash-poor schools raid rivals in bid to boost student rosters
Wed,7 Mar 2012 09:07 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - As American public school administrators look to bring in more money by recruiting students overseas, they are also hunting closer to home - hoping to poach pupils from rival schools and to draw in home-schooled children. Schools generally get more state funding as their enrollment rises, so districts across the United States are seeking to boost their numbers by attracting students from other public schools in their town or even elsewhere in the state. They're also trying to reel back in students who have left the public system to be home-schooled. ... Full Story | Top |
Group asks FDA to treat superbugs like rare diseases
Wed,7 Mar 2012 09:02 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A research group is proposing a new tool in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria: turn infections into a rare disease. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) offered a plan on Thursday that would allow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review certain kinds of antibiotics like it reviews "orphan" drugs for rare diseases, making it easier for companies to gain approval. Misuse of medications and other factors have fueled the evolution of multi-drug resistant bacteria, or "superbugs", for which there are few treatment options. ...
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Berlin berates Athens for bureaucracy stopping investment: paper
Wed,7 Mar 2012 08:41 PM PST
Reuters -  BERLIN (Reuters) - Athens' failure to accept Germany's help on reducing bureaucracy and boosting private investment is disappointing, German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler was cited as saying by a newspaper on Thursday. Germany pledged last October to advise Greece on cutting red tape and attracting investment to help its economy get back on its feet and have a fighting chance to cope with its debt. The agreement was struck during Roesler's visit to Greece as head of a 70-strong delegation of German industry representatives seeking business in the country. ...
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Six British soldiers killed in Afghan blast
Wed,7 Mar 2012 08:20 PM PST
Reuters -  LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Six British soldiers were killed when their armoured vehicle was hit by an explosion in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, British military officials said on Wednesday, taking the British toll to 404 since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban. The soldiers, five from the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, were on a mounted patrol on Tuesday when their Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle was struck, the British Ministry of Defence said. ...
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Syria's deputy oil minister defects from Assad
Wed,7 Mar 2012 08:02 PM PST
Reuters -  AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian Deputy Oil Minister Abdo Hussameldin has announced his defection on YouTube, becoming the first high-ranking civilian official to abandon President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising against his rule erupted a year ago. "I Abdo Hussameldin, deputy oil and mineral wealth minister in Syria, announce my defection from the regime, resignation from my position and withdrawal from the Baath Party," Hussameldin said in the video, the authenticity of which could not be immediately confirmed. ...
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Conservative Republicans seek deeper spending cuts
Wed,7 Mar 2012 07:56 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives are not satisfied with spending caps mandated by last year's debt limit deal and are seeking deeper cuts - even if this raises the risk of another government shutdown fight. Republican aides said on Wednesday some members of the House Budget Committee are pressing for a budget resolution that holds discretionary spending at least $97 billion below the $1.047 trillion cap set by the Budget Control Act for fiscal 2013. ... Full Story | Top |
Timeline: Crackdown on protests in Syria
Wed,7 Mar 2012 07:51 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Following is a timeline of events in Syria since protests began. March 16, 2011 - Security forces break up gathering of 150 protesters in Damascus holding pictures of imprisoned relatives. March 18 - Security forces kill three protesters in Deraa, in the most violent response to anti-government protests. April 19 - Government passes bill lifting 48 years of emergency rule. April 22 - Security forces and gunmen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad kill at least 100 protesters, rights group says. ... Full Story | Top |
Man barred from entering City Hall wins race for mayor
Wed,7 Mar 2012 07:25 PM PST
Reuters - SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - A man facing extortion charges and forbidden from entering City Hall or speaking with city employees won the election for mayor in the town of Sunland Park, New Mexico. Daniel Salinas was arrested in late February for extortion, New Mexico State Police spokesman Robert McDonald said. Salinas was accused of trying to blackmail a mayoral opponent, Gerardo Hernandez, to drop out of the race with a tape showing Hernandez receiving a lap dance from a topless stripper, McDonald said. ... Full Story | Top |
Murdoch internal watchdog seeks improved security
Wed,7 Mar 2012 07:20 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior member of the unit Rupert Murdoch created to clean up reporting practices at his British newspapers has consulted a private firm about improving the security system at his home, a spokesman for the official said. The spokesman said the security firm had been consulted by Will Lewis, a key member of the Management and Standards Committee (MSC) Murdoch's News Corp created last year to respond to uproar over phone-hacking and other activities by his British newspapers. ...
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Cuba to skip regional summit, averting diplomatic flap
Wed,7 Mar 2012 07:07 PM PST
Reuters - HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba has decided not to attend an upcoming hemispheric summit following talks with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, averting a diplomatic showdown with U.S. leaders who had insisted Cuba not attend, Santos told reporters. Santos flew to the Caribbean island on Wednesday to discuss the summit with Cuban President Raul Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is recovering from cancer surgery. ... Full Story | Top |
Syria's deputy oil minister defects: YouTube video
Wed,7 Mar 2012 06:53 PM PST
Reuters - AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian Deputy Oil Minister Abdo Hussameldin has announced his defection on YouTube, becoming the first high ranking civilian official to abandon President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising against his rule erupted a year ago. "I Abdo Hussameldin, deputy oil and mineral wealth minister in Syria, announce my defection from the regime, resignation from my position and withdrawal from the Baath Party. I join the revolution of this dignified people," Hussameldin said in a YouTube video uploaded on Wednesday and seen early on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
Detroit mayor's new plan: sell city lots for $200
Wed,7 Mar 2012 06:47 PM PST
Reuters - Detroit (Reuters) - Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, under pressure to stanch cash outflows, unveiled a new plan Wednesday night that would allow property owners in the city to buy vacant city-owned lots for $200. The initiative, which Bing said is designed to "reduce blight in our neighborhoods," specifically targets 500 home owners who have vacant city land sitting adjacent to their own property. Detroit has made headlines in recent years due to rock-bottom land values throughout much of the city, including in historic neighborhoods with stately homes and relatively solid safety records. ... Full Story | Top |
New lawsuit seeks to block Empire State Building IPO
Wed,7 Mar 2012 06:32 PM PST
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - A group of investors is suing to block a proposed initial public offering by the owner of the 102-storey Empire State Building in at least the second lawsuit of its kind, on grounds that it unfairly undervalues their interests. The Malkin family, which controls the company that owns the skyscraper, is trying to engineer a "self-interested and one-sided" transaction that leaves smaller investors in the dark about whether the possible $1 billion IPO is fair, according to a complaint filed on Wednesday with the New York state court in Manhattan. ... Full Story | Top |
Former central bank chief killed in Haiti
Wed,7 Mar 2012 06:29 PM PST
Reuters - PORT-AU-PRINCE/MIAMI (Reuters) - A Haitian banker whose son is cooperating with authorities in a major bribery investigation involving former Haitian government officials has been shot and killed, police said on Wednesday. Venel Joseph was shot on his way home in the capital, Port-au-Prince, late on Tuesday, said police spokesman Gary Desrosiers. Authorities are investigating the circumstances of the shooting, he said. Joseph served as the governor of Haiti's central bank under former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. ... Full Story | Top |
Oklahoma House approves pistol-packing in public
Wed,7 Mar 2012 06:13 PM PST
Reuters - OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Law abiding citizens of Oklahoma who want to publicly carry a pistol on their hip or in a shoulder holster may do so under a bill overwhelmingly approved on Wednesday by the state House of Representatives. The bill, which passed 85 to 9, will now go to the Oklahoma state Senate, where Representative Steve Martin, the Republican who sponsored the measure, said he believes it will be approved and then signed into law by Republican Governor Mary Fallin. ... Full Story | Top |
Colombia says Chavez will head home early next week
Wed,7 Mar 2012 05:30 PM PST
Reuters -  CARACAS (Reuters) - - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Wednesday Venezuela's Hugo Chavez will return home next week from Cuba where he is recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. The two presidents were meeting in Havana to discuss a regional summit and bilateral trade. "We found him in good health, happy, in high spirits. He told me his recovery is going well," Santos told reporters as he left the island. "He said we would stay a few more days and he thinks he will return to Venezuela at the beginning of next week. ...
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House speaker gives Republicans highway bill ultimatum
Wed,7 Mar 2012 05:15 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner implored fellow Republicans on Wednesday to pass a $260 billion transportation bill, their party's flagship job creation measure, which has fallen victim to internal squabbling. The legislation to rebuild roads, bridges and rail transit over the next five years was meant to help the Republican-controlled House stake an election-year claim to being the party of job creation, funding as many as 7.8 million new jobs in the U.S. construction industry. ...
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U.S. tech groups alarmed by India purchasing plan
Wed,7 Mar 2012 05:11 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leading software and technology companies on Wednesday pressed President Barack Obama's administration for quick action on a new Indian government policy that they said threatens exports to the fast-growing economy. The Business Software Alliance, Telecommunications Industry Association and other groups said in a letter to Trade Representative Ron Kirk that they were "deeply concerned" by a plan that would require the Indian government to give domestic electronic goods preferential treatment in its purchases. ...
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Syria's deputy oil minister defects: YouTube video
Wed,7 Mar 2012 05:03 PM PST
Reuters - AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian Deputy Oil Minister Abdo Hussameldin announced his defection on Thursday, becoming the highest ranking civilian official to abandon President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising against his rule erupted a year ago. "I Abdo Hussameldin, deputy oil and mineral wealth minister in Syria, announce my defection from the regime, resignation from my position and withdrawal from the Baath Party. I join the revolution of this dignified people," Hussameldin said in a YouTube video. The authenticity of the video could not be immediately confirmed. ... Full Story | Top |
EU moves to help free Italian sailors held in India
Wed,7 Mar 2012 05:01 PM PST
Reuters -  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union said on Wednesday it was intervening to seek a resolution to the dispute between Italy and India after two Italian marines were detained for allegedly shooting dead two Indian fishermen they believed to be pirates. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, in a phone call to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday, said it is still not clear who actually shot the fishermen, and repeated that India had no jurisdiction over the matter because it occurred in international waters. ...
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Romney camp tells rivals: You can't catch him
Wed,7 Mar 2012 04:53 PM PST
Reuters -  BOSTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's campaign told his Republican presidential rivals on Wednesday they could not catch him and pushed them to quit the race even though he failed to deliver a knockout blow in the biggest round of nominating contests. Romney won six of the 10 "Super Tuesday" states, including a narrow victory in Ohio's marquee match-up, expanding his lead in delegates and solidifying his front-runner status in the race to find the Republican challenger to President Barack Obama in the November 6 election. ...
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Yemen Qaeda-linked group demands prisoner release
Wed,7 Mar 2012 04:52 PM PST
Reuters -  ADEN (Reuters) - An al Qaeda-linked group in Yemen has threatened the lives of 73 government troops it says it has captured, demanding the authorities release its fellow Islamist fighters from jail in exchange for the soldiers' safety. The threat from the Ansar al-Sharia group (Partisans of Islamic Law), whose precise ties to al Qaeda remain unclear, was delivered via a text message sent to Reuters on Wednesday, and followed a fierce fire fight in the south of the country on Sunday between government troops and militants that left at least 110 government troops dead. ...
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Maryland drops charges against doctors over late-term abortions
Wed,7 Mar 2012 04:50 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - A Maryland prosecutor has dropped murder charges against two doctors accused of performing late-term abortions on fetuses that could have lived outside the womb, in a case that drew national attention as a test of fetal homicide law. Last December, Cecil County State's Attorney Ellis Rollins brought murder charges against Drs. Nicola Riley and Steven Brigham. But Rollins said on Tuesday a medical expert who originally offered his opinion that a late-term abortion performed by the doctors in 2010 was in Maryland, now said he was not sure whether it was in Maryland or New Jersey. ... Full Story | Top |
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