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Annan in Syria to press Assad for ceasefire
Fri,9 Mar 2012 11:50 PM PST
Reuters -  listair Lyon BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan arrived in Damascus on Saturday to press President Bashar al-Assad for a political solution to Syria's year-long uprising and bloody crackdown in which thousands of people have been killed. Airport sources said Annan headed for a hotel after Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad met him at the airport. ...
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Yemen air raids kill 10 suspected Qaeda militants
Fri,9 Mar 2012 10:31 PM PST
Reuters - SANAA (Reuters) - Air strikes launched by the Yemeni air force on positions of al Qaeda-linked fighters in the south killed 10 militants including some of their leaders, a government source said on Saturday. The raids against the militants, who have expanded their base in southern Yemen during the months of turmoil that eventually ousted the president, targeted Bayda, about 130 km (80 miles) southeast of the capital Sanaa, late on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
Afghan foreign minister to visit Qatar to discuss Taliban talks
Fri,9 Mar 2012 10:07 PM PST
Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasool will visit Qatar to meet government officials to discuss reconciliation with the Taliban, a ministry spokesman said on Saturday, a sign the nascent peace process could gain momentum. Rasool is scheduled to leave for Qatar in under ten days, Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
Government to seek court approval of $25 billion mortgage pact
Fri,9 Mar 2012 09:51 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) - A previously announced $25 billion settlement between five major banks accused of abusive mortgage practices and government officials will be filed in federal court on Monday, people familiar with the matter said late Friday. The pact unveiled February 9 is expected to result in payments and other mortgage relief for about one million borrowers, but must first be approved by a judge. ...
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Import surge sends China trade to decade-deep deficit
Fri,9 Mar 2012 09:50 PM PST
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's trade balance plunged $31.5 billion into the red in February as imports swamped exports to leave the largest deficit in at least a decade and fuel doubts about the extent to which frail foreign demand or seasonal distortion drove the drop. Import growth of 39.6 percent on the year in February was the strongest in a year, well ahead of the 27 percent expected and more than twice the rate of export growth of 18.4 percent that was barely more than half the pace forecast -- albeit at a six month high. ...
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Afghan foreign minister to visit Qatar to discuss Taliban talks
Fri,9 Mar 2012 09:00 PM PST
Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasool will visit Qatar to meet government officials to discuss reconciliation with the Taliban, a ministry spokesman said on Saturday, in a sign the nascent peace process could gain momentum. Rasool is scheduled to leave for Qatar in under ten days, Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
Afghan foreign minister to visit Qatar to discuss Taliban talks
Fri,9 Mar 2012 08:39 PM PST
Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasool will visit Qatar to meet government officials to discuss reconciliation with the Taliban, a spokesman said, in a sign the nascent peace process could gain momentum. Rasool is scheduled to leave for Qatar in under ten days, Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
Government to cut Texas women's health funds in abortion dispute
Fri,9 Mar 2012 08:36 PM PST
Reuters -  AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The federal government will withdraw funding for a Texas program providing more than 100,000 poor women with birth control and other health services because Planned Parenthood clinics are not allowed to participate, a U.S. Health and Human Services spokeswoman said on Friday. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the decision in Houston on Friday, prompting a furious response from Texas Governor Rick Perry, who called it an "egregious federal overreach. ...
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Chinese police shoot dead 4 in raid in Xinjiang: report
Fri,9 Mar 2012 08:15 PM PST
Reuters - SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese police have shot dead four people suspected of making bombs in the far western region of Xinjiang, which has been beset by ethnic strife and violent unrest, Radio Free Asia reported on Saturday. The pre-dawn raid on a farmhouse took place on Thursday after a man was injured while making a bomb at home, which raised suspicions, the U.S.-based broadcaster quoted local police as saying. China has blamed violence in Xinjiang on Islamic separatists who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan. ... Full Story | Top |
Man charged over threatening letters sent to US Congress
Fri,9 Mar 2012 07:26 PM PST
Reuters - PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - A man was arrested and charged on Friday in connection with about 100 envelopes containing threatening letters and a suspicious powdery substance mailed from Oregon to members of Congress and the news media, authorities said. A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging Christopher Lee Carlson, 39, of the Portland area, with one count of mailing a threatening communication to a member of Congress and one count of mailing a letter threatening to use a biological weapon to a U.S. senator. Carlson was arrested at his home on Friday morning, the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
Toronto builds airport tunnel, loses ferry romance
Fri,9 Mar 2012 05:07 PM PST
Reuters - TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's biggest city is starting work on a tunnel that will eliminate the need for a short ferry ride to its downtown island airport, promising an extra draw to travelers seeking quick access to Toronto's business core. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the pedestrian link, to be operational by 2014, would help give Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport the service it deserves. "Toronto is a world class city, and airports in world class cities must provide world class service," Harper told an event on Friday marking the start of construction. ... Full Story | Top |
Cocoa smugglers on motorbikes evade Ivorian guards
Fri,9 Mar 2012 05:04 PM PST
Reuters -  OSSEIKRO, Ghana (Reuters) - In the dusty town of Osseikro just inside Ghana's border with Ivory Coast, the only billboard for miles welcomes visitors with the order: "Stop Smuggling Cocoa". But the garish sign, put up by Ghana's cocoa sector body during this year's harvest, has done little to deter smuggling through a town which is a hotspot for the illicit trade. "All of our cocoa is going to Ghana this year because of the prices," said Eric Comoe, head of a cocoa-growers cooperative in the Ivorian town of Abengourou, 30 km (20 miles) over the border. ...
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U.S. defends treated meat dubbed "pink slime" in school meals
Fri,9 Mar 2012 05:04 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Department of Agriculture is defending the use of ammonium-treated beef, dubbed "pink slime" by detractors, in meals destined for schoolchildren as part of the national school lunch program. The Internet news source The Daily reported this week that 7 million pounds (3.2 million kg) of the product -- beef trimmings treated partly with ammonium hydroxide to fight contamination -- would appear in school lunches this spring. "All USDA ground beef purchases must meet the highest standards for food safety," the agency said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
Strauss-Kahn bundled away from UK speech protests
Fri,9 Mar 2012 05:03 PM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was bundled into the back of a police car to escape protesters after a speaking engagement at Britain's Cambridge University on Friday that angered women's rights activists. About 150 demonstrators, waving banners and chanting "2, 4, 6, 8, no more violence, no more rape" had circled the Cambridge Union Society where Strauss-Kahn delivered a speech on globalization and the Eurozone to a select group of students. ...
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Thousands rally in Libya against autonomy for east
Fri,9 Mar 2012 05:02 PM PST
Reuters -  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Thousands of people protested in Libya's two biggest cities on Friday in a show of opposition to moves from some in the oil-producing east to declare autonomy from central rule. A group of civic leaders in the eastern city of Benghazi this week said they would run their own affairs, defying the government in Tripoli which is already struggling to assert its authority after Muammar Gaddafi was ousted last year. ...
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Slovak left poised to win election, sink reformists
Fri,9 Mar 2012 04:59 PM PST
Reuters -  BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Leftist former prime minister Robert Fico is poised to sweep to victory in Slovakia's election on Saturday on a pledge to tax the rich and better protect the working class as the country grapples with high unemployment and economic turmoil. Polls show the 47-year-old lawyer could win 40 percent of the vote, potentially knocking his reformist rival Mikulas Dzurinda's centre-right SDKU out of power and possibly out of parliament. ...
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Sarah Palin dismisses ''Game Change'' as unimportant
Fri,9 Mar 2012 04:57 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sarah Palin is shrugging off a controversial new HBO movie on Friday that portrays her as unstable and unprepared for the 2008 vice presidential run that made her a Republican political star. The television premiere of "Game Change" is on Saturday, based on a book of the same name by journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin about Republican John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. Both Palin, who is portrayed by Julianne Moore in the movie, and McCain have said they will not watch the movie. ...
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U.S. Air Force sees Afghan plane issue as "isolated"
Fri,9 Mar 2012 04:53 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. Air Force weapons buyer said on Friday he believed the paperwork problem that prompted him to cancel a $355 million contract for 20 planes to be sold to Afghanistan was an "isolated situation." David Van Buren, acting assistant secretary for acquisition, said an investigation was still under way, but he did not believe the case revealed a systemic problem with the Air Force acquisition process. "It's my belief from any information I know, subject to further analysis by the commander-directed investigation ... ... Full Story | Top |
Mideast Quartet to meet amid stalled peace talks
Fri,9 Mar 2012 04:34 PM PST
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Quartet of Middle East negotiators - the United States, Russia, the United Nations and European Union - will meet on Monday to discuss the long-stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, the United Nations said. The U.N. press office on Friday said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would meet at U.N. headquarters ahead of a special U.N. Security Council session on the Arab Spring uprisings. ... Full Story | Top |
Israel kills 10 Palestinian militants in Gaza strikes
Fri,9 Mar 2012 04:34 PM PST
Reuters -  GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli air strikes killed 10 militants in the Gaza Strip on Friday and Palestinian gunmen fired more than two dozen rockets at the Jewish state, officials said, in the worst violent flareup along the restive frontier in months. The violence escalated after Israel blew up a car in Gaza City, killing two militant leaders, shortly after two rockets were fired at Israel from the coastal Hamas-ruled territory, officials said. The rockets caused no damage or injury. ...
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January trade gap widens as imports hit record high
Fri,9 Mar 2012 04:20 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit widened more than expected in January as high oil prices and resurgent demand helped pushed imports to a record high, a Commerce Department report showed on Friday. The trade gap swelled more than 4 percent to $52.6 billion, the highest since October 2008. The department also raised its estimate of the December trade deficit to $50.4 billion, from its previous figure of $48.8 billion. Imports rose 2.1 percent to a record $233.4 billion. China accounted for a big share of the gain, with imports from that country rising 4.7 percent to $34.4 billion. ...
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Israel kills two more militants in Gaza strike: Hamas
Fri,9 Mar 2012 04:19 PM PST
Reuters - GAZA (Reuters) - Israel killed two militants in the Gaza Strip on Friday after rockets were fired at the Jewish state, Hamas officials said. The reported attack came hours after Israel's military said it had killed two other militant leaders in an air strike. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the new report. (Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Andrew Heavens) Full Story | Top |
U.S. glum on prospects for new U.N. Syria resolution
Fri,9 Mar 2012 04:14 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Friday that, amid ongoing opposition from Russia, it was not optimistic the U.N. Security Council could agree on a new resolution urging an end to the Syrian government's brutal crackdown on its opponents. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that negotiations between the five permanent Security Council members and Morocco - the sole Arab state on the 15-nation council - aimed at agreeing on the language for the U.S.-drafted resolution had made no progress. ... Full Story | Top |
Police, Islamists wage gun battle in Nigeria's Kano
Fri,9 Mar 2012 04:09 PM PST
Reuters - KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) - A gun battle broke out on Friday between suspected Islamist militants and police in Nigeria's biggest northern city of Kano, after gunmen opened fire on a police station, a police spokesman said. At least three police officers were wounded in the attack, spokesman Ibrahim Idris said, adding the area had since been cordoned off. "There was an attack on the police station but we were able to repel them. It is a big area so we can't say anything yet on the casualties," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
Nigeria detains five suspects over deadly kidnapping
Fri,9 Mar 2012 04:09 PM PST
Reuters - SOKOTO, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian authorities have detained five Islamist militants suspected of involvement in kidnapping two Westerners killed during a failed British-Nigerian rescue operation, security officials said on Friday. The suspects included the ringleader of the kidnappers, a man going by the name of Abu Mohammed, a senior source at the State Security Service (SSS) told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
Boko Haram spokesman denies link to Nigeria kidnap
Fri,9 Mar 2012 04:09 PM PST
Reuters - MAIDUGURI (Reuters) - A purported spokesman for Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram on Friday denied any part in the kidnapping of a Briton and an Italian who were killed by their captors in northwest Nigeria during a rescue operation. Briton Chris McManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara were kidnapped last May while working for a construction company in northwest Nigeria, and were killed during an attempt to free them by allied Nigerian-British forces on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
Italy condemns botched British raid in Nigeria
Fri,9 Mar 2012 04:09 PM PST
Reuters -  ROME (Reuters) - A diplomatic row broke out between London and Rome on Friday over Britain's failure to inform the Italian government before launching a botched hostage rescue mission in Nigeria. The raid resulted in the deaths of a Briton and an Italian held hostage by what Nigerian authorities said was a militant Islamist group. Chris McManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara had been kidnapped last May while working for a construction company in northwest Nigeria. ...
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IMF chief proposes 28 billion euro Greek loan for 4 years
Fri,9 Mar 2012 03:59 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund next week will consider making a loan worth 28 billion euros ($36.7 billion) to Greece over a four year period, as part of a second international bailout package for Athens. The loan size would be at the upper end of the amount expected and for a year longer than similar IMF programs. ...
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Strauss-Kahn bundled away from UK speech protests
Fri,9 Mar 2012 03:58 PM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was bundled into the back of a police car to escape protesters after a speaking engagement at Britain's Cambridge University on Friday that angered women's rights activists. About 150 demonstrators, waving banners and chanting "2, 4, 6, 8, no more violence, no more rape" had circled the Cambridge Union Society where Strauss-Kahn delivered a speech on globalisation and the Eurozone to a select group of students. ...
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Annan to meet Assad, seeking end to Syria violence
Fri,9 Mar 2012 03:49 PM PST
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan meets President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday to press for a political solution to Syria's year-long uprising and bloody crackdown in which thousands of people have been killed. Annan's talks in Damascus come a day after activists said Assad's forces killed at least 68 people as they sought to extend control over the rebellious city of Homs and crush armed opposition in the northern province of Idlib. Arab foreign ministers were also due to hold talks in Cairo with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Russia and China vetoed a U.N. ...
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Israel kills 10 Palestinian militants in Gaza strikes
Fri,9 Mar 2012 03:43 PM PST
Reuters -  GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli air strikes killed 10 militants in the Gaza Strip on Friday and Palestinian gunmen fired more than two dozen rockets at the Jewish state, officials said, in the worst violent flareup along the restive frontier in months. The violence escalated after Israel blew up a car in Gaza City, killing two militant leaders, shortly after two rockets were fired at Israel from the coastal Hamas-ruled territory, officials said. The rockets caused no damage or injury. ...
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South Carolina lieutenant governor is indicted, resigns
Fri,9 Mar 2012 03:34 PM PST
Reuters - CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - South Carolina Republican Lieutenant Governor Ken Ard resigned on Friday just hours before the state attorney announced his indictment on seven counts of violating ethics laws by misusing campaign money. State Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a statement that Ard was charged with trying "to create the false appearance of a groundswell of political support through fictitious or bogus campaign contributions." "To our knowledge, the creation of such a fictitious campaign has never been criminally charged before in this state's history," Wilson said. ... Full Story | Top |
Regulator approves Cap One: HSBC deal
Fri,9 Mar 2012 03:32 PM PST
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Bank regulators approved Capital One Financials acquisition of HSBC's $30 billion U.S. credit card business, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced on Friday. McLean, Virginia-based Capital One has been expanding through acquisitions recently and received approval from the Federal Reserve last month to acquire ING Groep NV's U.S. online banking unit in a $8.9 billion deal. Capital One in August announced its plan to acquire HSBC's U.S. credit card portfolio in a $2.6 billion deal. ...
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No loan for Detroit without turnaround plan: governor
Fri,9 Mar 2012 03:30 PM PST
Reuters - DETROIT (Reuters) - The state of Michigan has not received any request from Detroit for short-term funding to help the city avoid running out of money soon, the governor's office said on Friday. But a spokeswoman for Michigan Governor Rick Snyder reiterated Snyder's view that the city needs a strong turnaround plan more than anything else. "Short-term cash infusions alone without a clear path to resolving this financial crisis will not work," said Geralyn Anne Lasher, the spokeswoman. Even if Bing convinces Snyder to approve a loan, Detroit faces additional hurdles. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. aid agency prepares switch to Afghan security
Fri,9 Mar 2012 03:28 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The main U.S. foreign aid agency is preparing to switch from private security contractors in Afghanistan to Afghan government-provided security this month under a new policy mandated by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, raising concern in Washington that this could put U.S. civilians at greater risk. U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah says the agency may be able to negotiate waivers from the policy for some major infrastructure projects so that they could continue to have access to private security. But U.S. ...
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Ottawa takes hard line on Air Canada labor disputes
Fri,9 Mar 2012 02:56 PM PST
Reuters - TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada promised on Friday that it would do what was needed to keep Air Canada flying, a day after it headed off a simultaneous strike and lockout by referring two disputes at the country's largest airline to a federal tribunal. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said a shutdown at Air Canada would hit the whole Canadian economy, which remains fragile as it recovers from recession. "As much as a side of me doesn't like to do this, I think these actions are essential to keep the airline flying," Harper told reporters at Toronto's downtown island airport. ... Full Story | Top |
Poland blocks EU efforts on carbon limits
Fri,9 Mar 2012 02:45 PM PST
Reuters - BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Coal-reliant Poland on Friday vetoed European Union efforts to move further towards a low carbon economy, pitting itself against the rest of the 27-member bloc. Denmark, holder of the rotating EU presidency, has placed the environment at the heart of its leadership, backed by the Commission and the business community on the need for clear direction on EU climate policy beyond an existing set of 2020 goals. ... Full Story | Top |
Job creation heralds stronger recovery
Fri,9 Mar 2012 02:44 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Employers added more than 200,000 workers to their payrolls for a third straight month in February, a sign the economy was strengthening and in less need of further monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve. Friday's Labor Department report, which showed nonfarm payrolls increased 227,000 last month, also bolstered President Barack Obama's chances for re-election. The jobless rate held at a three-year low of 8.3 percent even as people flooded back into the labor force to hunt for work, and 61,000 more jobs were created in December and January than previously thought. ...
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Air Canada back-to-work bill being readied
Fri,9 Mar 2012 02:41 PM PST
Reuters - OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian government is preparing back-to-work legislation for Air Canada so that it can respond quickly if there is any work stoppage at the country's biggest airline, the government said on Friday. For now, any strike or lockout is prohibited while the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) considers whether a disruption would pose a health or safety risk. Labour Minister Lisa Raitt asked the CIRB to rule on that matter on Thursday, averting a simultaneous strike and lockout that could have grounded the carrier during a spring school break, when many families ... Full Story | Top |
Police, Islamists wage gun battle in Nigeria's Kano
Fri,9 Mar 2012 02:34 PM PST
Reuters - KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) - A gun battle broke out on Friday between suspected Islamist militants and police in Nigeria's biggest northern city of Kano, after gunmen opened fire on a police station, a police spokesman said. At least three police officers were wounded in the attack, spokesman Ibrahim Idris said, adding the area had since been cordoned off. "There was an attack on the police station but we were able to repel them. It is a big area so we can't say anything yet on the casualties," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
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