Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Exclusive: Key China insurer to stop covering tankers with Iran oil
Wed,4 Apr 2012 11:27 PM PDT
Reuters - SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Key ship insurer the China P&I Club will halt indemnity coverage for tankers carrying Iranian oil from July amid tightening Western sanctions against OPEC's second largest producer, two club officials told Reuters on Thursday. This is the first sign that refiners in China, Iran's top crude buyer, may struggle to obtain the shipping and insurance to keep importing from the Middle Eastern country. ... Full Story | Top |
Japan rushes to restart reactors to avoid total shutdown
Wed,4 Apr 2012 10:28 PM PDT
Reuters - TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government is racing to get two nuclear reactors, idled after the Fukushima crisis, running again by next month out of what experts say is fear that a total shutdown would make it hard to convince a wary public that atomic power is vital. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and three cabinet ministers are to meet on Thursday to discuss the possible restarts of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co's Ohi plant in Fukui, western Japan - a region dubbed the "nuclear arcade" for the string of atomic plants that dot its coast. ... Full Story | Top |
Rocket from Egypt's Sinai hits Israeli city -police
Wed,4 Apr 2012 10:25 PM PDT
Reuters - JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A rocket fired from Egypt's Sinai desert struck the southern Israeli city of Eilat on Thursday causing no casualties or damage, Israeli police said. The head of Eilat police, Ron Gertner, told Army Radio that explosions were heard in the holiday resort soon after midnight. Police found the remains of one rocket in a construction site, about 400 meters from a residential area. Asked if the rocket was fired from Sinai, Gertner said: "Based on our working assumptions and the (rocket) range, yes." He added that police were searching for more rockets that may have landed. ... Full Story | Top |
Analysis: South Korea's unloved chaebol
Wed,4 Apr 2012 10:08 PM PDT
Reuters -  SEOUL (Reuters) - If you are a South Korean you might well wake up in a Samsung-built apartment, watch the news on an LG television, drive a Hyundai car to work and make a dinner reservation at a Lotte Hotel restaurant on a Samsung phone. If you are really lucky, you could be one of the tens of thousands of graduates hired each year by the family-run conglomerates or chaebol whose annual revenues are equivalent to the country's gross domestic product. And if you actually own one of the chaebol in this election year, you will find yourself the target of growing popular anger. ...
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Myanmar's old guard under pressure after Suu Kyi win
Wed,4 Apr 2012 10:00 PM PDT
Reuters -  YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's ruling party, created by the military, says it must re-think strategy after by-election victories for the party of Aung San Suu Kyi who has raised suspicion in the ranks by suggesting the generals will need to withdraw from politics. To prevent more losses in a 2015 general election that could cripple its influence, the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) acknowledges it must reinvent itself, possibly by adopting the pro-democratic ideas and populism the junta brutally suppressed for years. ...
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Chavez back in Venezuela after more cancer treatment
Wed,4 Apr 2012 09:57 PM PDT
Reuters -  CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez returned home to Venezuela on Wednesday after his latest session of cancer treatment in Cuba, as he aims to fight off the illness and win a new six-year term in an October election. The 57-year-old socialist leader walking unaided from his plane after it landed in his home state of Barinas and he was greeted on the runway by relatives, the vice president and several government ministers. "The socialist revolution is irreversible ... ...
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Exclusive: Low ratings could end cable deal for Gore's Current TV
Wed,4 Apr 2012 09:20 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Al Gore's Current TV has bigger problems to deal with than a potential lawsuit from fired news anchor Keith Olbermann - namely not getting kicked off Time Warner Cable for low ratings. According to three sources with knowledge of the situation, Time Warner Cable Inc's carriage agreement with Current TV stipulates that, if the left-leaning political news network fails to meet a minimum threshold for overall viewers in a given quarter, financial penalties such as Current TV being required to increase marketing and promotion spending on the cable operator's systems are triggered. ...
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North Korean refugee stands for parliament in the South
Wed,4 Apr 2012 07:37 PM PDT
Reuters - SEOUL (Reuters) - By the time Pyongyang's rubber stamp parliament meets on April 13 to anoint Kim Jong-un as the third of his line to rule the impoverished state, 53-year old Cho Myung-chul will likely have become the first North Korean to win a free election. The rub is that Cho, once part of North Korea's elite who defected in 1994 during the 17-year rule of Kim Jong-il, is standing in parliamentary elections in South Korea April 11 - the first defector to do so. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. suspends $13 million in aid to Mali
Wed,4 Apr 2012 07:01 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is suspending at least $13 million of its roughly $140 million in annual aid to Mali following last month's coup in the West African nation, the State Department said on Wednesday. The suspension affects U.S. assistance for Mali's ministry of health, public school construction and the government's efforts to boost agricultural production. The United States, which sees Mali as an important partner in regional efforts to combat Islamic extremism, has warned that Mali's political crisis was putting the territorial integrity of the country at risk. U.S. ...
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New Zealand charges wrecked ship's owners over grounding
Wed,4 Apr 2012 06:55 PM PDT
Reuters - WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The owners of a stricken container ship wrecked on a reef off a popular New Zealand holiday spot have been charged with causing the country's worst environmental disaster in decades, maritime officials said on Thursday. Daina Shipping, a unit of Greece's Costamare Inc., has been charged with discharging harmful substances after its 47,230-tonne Liberian-flagged ship Rena struck a reef about 20 km (12 miles) off Tauranga, New Zealand's biggest export port, in early October. The charge carries a maximum fine of NZ$600,000 ($488,000). ... Full Story | Top |
With $10 million bounty on his head, Pakistan militant taunts U.S.
Wed,4 Apr 2012 06:35 PM PDT
Reuters -  RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Who wants to be a millionaire? In Pakistan, all you have to do is give the United States information leading to the arrest or conviction of Hafiz Saeed - an Islamist leader whose whereabouts are usually not a mystery. Saeed is suspected of masterminding the attack on India's financial capital Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people, including six Americans. U.S. ...
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Yahoo to lay off 2,000 employees
Wed,4 Apr 2012 06:10 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc will lay off 2,000 people, or 14 percent of its workforce, in its deepest round of job cuts in years as new Chief Executive Scott Thompson tries to jumpstart growth with a leaner, more agile company while saving hundreds of millions of dollars. Wall Street's reaction was lukewarm, after two previous Yahoo CEOs failed to find an answer to rivals like Web-search leader Google and the Facebook social-networking site. ...
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Accused September 11 mastermind to face trial at Guantanamo
Wed,4 Apr 2012 06:09 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four suspected co-conspirators were ordered on Wednesday to stand trial before a Guantanamo war crimes tribunal, the Pentagon said, a move that throws the politically charged case into the limelight in an election year. Convictions on the most serious charges, which include terrorism, hijacking, conspiracy and murder in violation of the law of war, could carry the death penalty. ...
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Russia warns West, Arabs against arming Syria rebels
Wed,4 Apr 2012 06:08 PM PDT
Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia warned Western and Arab nations on Wednesday against arming opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying it would lead to years of bloodshed without helping the rebels to defeat government forces. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the "Friends of Syria" group of Western and Arab nations is undermining international envoy Kofi Annan's efforts to end more than a year of violence, and criticized countries that support arming the opposition. ... Full Story | Top |
Text of Annan's six-point peace plan for Syria
Wed,4 Apr 2012 06:08 PM PDT
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - The 15-member United Nations Security Council is expected to endorse a deadline agreed to by Syria for a military withdrawal by April 10 and a comprehensive ceasefire no more than 48 hours later with rebel forces. The ceasefire is the key part of special envoy Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan, which was presented to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on March 10 and accepted by him on March 27. ... Full Story | Top |
U.N. peacekeeper due in Damascus for ceasefire talks
Wed,4 Apr 2012 06:08 PM PDT
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - A senior Norwegian U.N. peacekeeper flies into Damascus on Thursday to try to broker an agreement that will allow observers to be deployed across Syria to monitor a ceasefire demanded by an international peace plan. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accepted the plan, which calls for him to withdraw heavy weapons from cities, and his ally Russia said Syrian forces had begun to pull back. ...
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U.N. council draft demands Syria meet April 10 deadline
Wed,4 Apr 2012 06:08 PM PDT
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.S.-drafted U.N. Security Council statement would have the 15-nation panel step up the pressure on Syria by ordering it to comply with an April 10 deadline to halt fighting and withdraw its forces from Syrian population centers. U.N. Arab League envoy Kofi Annan told the council on Monday that the Syrian government had accepted the deadline, adding that he would push for an end of rebel operations within 48 hours after the government stops fighting and pulls its forces back. Annan urged the council to support the deadline. ... Full Story | Top |
TSX slides to 12-week low as resources sink
Wed,4 Apr 2012 06:03 PM PDT
Reuters -  TORONTO (Reuters) - Sinking commodity stocks led Canadian equities to a near 12-week low on Wednesday, a day after the U.S. central bank crushed hopes for more monetary stimulus and as a weak Spanish bond auction signaled the effects of earlier European funding operations may be waning. Big names on the downside included Suncor Energy, which plunged 4.5 percent to C$31.26, Goldcorp, which lost 4.9 percent to C$40.98 and Barrick Gold, which slid 3.2 percent to C$41.16 as the price of gold fell to its lowest levels in nearly three months. ...
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U.S. moves to ease Myanmar sanctions after reforms
Wed,4 Apr 2012 05:57 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday it was ready to relax some sanctions on Myanmar to recognize its fledgling democratic transition, including a ban on U.S. companies investing in or offering financial services to the country. However, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stressed the Obama administration wanted to move cautiously, saying that the resource-rich Southeast Asian country has a long way to go to shake off decades of military rule. ...
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Islamist rebels bomb Somali theater, killing six
Wed,4 Apr 2012 04:25 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - At least six people, including two of Somalia's top sports officials, were killed when a female suicide bomber struck a ceremony at Mogadishu's national theater in an attack Islamist rebels said was aimed at assassinating government ministers. Al Shabaab insurgents claimed responsibility for the blast on Wednesday that killed the heads of Somalia's soccer federation and Olympic committee in yet another stark reminder of the fragile security in the capital Mogadishu. ...
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U.N. peacekeeper due in Damascus for ceasefire talks
Wed,4 Apr 2012 04:07 PM PDT
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - A senior Norwegian U.N. peacekeeper flies into Damascus on Thursday to try to broker an agreement that will allow observers to be deployed across Syria to monitor a ceasefire demanded by an international peace plan. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accepted the plan, which calls for him to withdraw heavy weapons from cities, and his ally Russia said Syrian forces had begun to pull back. ...
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Text of Annan's six-point peace plan for Syria
Wed,4 Apr 2012 04:03 PM PDT
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - The 15-member United Nations Security Council is expected to endorse a deadline agreed to by Syria for a military withdrawal by April 10 and a comprehensive ceasefire no more than 48 hours later with rebel forces. The ceasefire is the key part of special envoy Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan, which was presented to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on March 10 and accepted by him on March 27. ... Full Story | Top |
U.N. council draft demands Syria meet April 10 deadline
Wed,4 Apr 2012 04:03 PM PDT
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.S.-drafted U.N. Security Council statement would have the 15-nation panel step up the pressure on Syria by ordering it to comply with an April 10 deadline to halt fighting and withdraw its forces from Syrian population centers. U.N. Arab League envoy Kofi Annan told the council on Monday that the Syrian government had accepted the deadline, adding that he would push for an end of rebel operations within 48 hours after the government stops fighting and pulls its forces back. Annan urged the council to support the deadline. ... Full Story | Top |
Red Crescent aid centre torched in Syria's Homs
Wed,4 Apr 2012 04:03 PM PDT
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian Red Crescent distribution centre in Homs - a flashpoint city in the anti-government uprising - was burned to the ground on Wednesday, activists and a source close to the aid group said. There were conflicting reports about what caused the fire. Some activists said the building had burst into flames after shelling on Qarabees, a neighborhood in Homs that has seen heavy clashes between the army and rebels in the year-long uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule. ... Full Story | Top |
Russia warns West, Arabs against arming Syria rebels
Wed,4 Apr 2012 04:03 PM PDT
Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia warned Western and Arab nations on Wednesday against arming opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying it would lead to years of bloodshed without helping the rebels to defeat government forces. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the "Friends of Syria" group of Western and Arab nations is undermining international envoy Kofi Annan's efforts to end more than a year of violence, and criticized countries that support arming the opposition. ... Full Story | Top |
Mexican conservatives revamp presidential bid
Wed,4 Apr 2012 03:52 PM PDT
Reuters -  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Conservative candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota will re-jig her campaign to become Mexico's first woman president in an effort to close a yawning gap with the opposition front-runner, only five days after the race officially began. Gustavo Madero, chairman of the ruling National Action Party, or PAN, announced the changes in the election strategy following splits within the party and a series of campaign mishaps as the vote looms just 12 weeks away. "The strategies are being reviewed," Madero told reporters on Wednesday. "There will be adjustments. ...
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U.S. to relax Myanmar sanctions amid "dramatic" progress
Wed,4 Apr 2012 03:21 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday it was ready to relax some sanctions on Myanmar to recognize its fledgling democratic transition, including a ban on U.S. companies investing in or offering financial services to the country. However, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stressed the Obama administration wanted to move cautiously, saying that the resource-rich Southeast Asian country has a long way to go to shake off decades of military rule. ...
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ICC rejects Libya's request over Gaddafi son surrender
Wed,4 Apr 2012 02:40 PM PDT
Reuters -  AMSTERDAM/TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday ordered Libya to immediately hand over for trial Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the late Libyan leader, but Libya's new authorities said they still wanted to try him themselves. The court in The Hague ordered Tripoli to "comply with its obligations to enforce the warrant of arrest" and surrender him into the court's custody without delay, rejecting a Libyan request to delay the handover. The ICC says it has jurisdiction in the case and that a U.N. Security Council Resolution obliges Libya to cooperate. ...
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Sunnis seek own voice in Bahrain's turmoil
Wed,4 Apr 2012 02:34 PM PDT
Reuters -  MANAMA (Reuters) - Bahrain's Sunni Muslim minority, fearful of Shi'ite political assertiveness, is spawning factions that rail against compromise with the island's sectarian majority, while nursing their own grudges against its Sunni ruling family. The emergence of hardline Sunni groups is further evidence of sectarian polarization in Bahrain, where a Shi'ite-led opposition movement persists despite the crushing of the mass protests it organized during last year's burst of Arab revolts. Shi'ite reformists want an end to the Al Khalifa family's monopoly on political and economic power. ...
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Mali postpones talks, Qaeda stokes fear
Wed,4 Apr 2012 02:25 PM PDT
Reuters -  PARIS/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's military rulers on Wednesday postponed a national convention to end a crisis sparked by a coup, which has led to international isolation and allowed rebels to seize control of the northern half of the country. Colonel Moussa Coulibaly, an adviser to the head of the junta, said the talks, which political parties and civil society groups had earlier said they would boycott, were postponed to provide more time for preparations. "Given material difficulties and the short time we had to prepare for it, we have decided today ... ...
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Wounded survivor revisits massacre island as Norway trial looms
Wed,4 Apr 2012 02:08 PM PDT
Reuters -  UTOEYA, Norway (Reuters) - She last saw Anders Behring Breivik when he raised his rifle at her on the shore of a small Norwegian island and calmly pulled the trigger. Now, 18-year-old Alexandra Peltre will face him in court as he stands trial for killing 77 people that summer's day. "I saw him right in the eyes, and poof! I had a hole in my leg," she said during a return to the wooded island where Breivik, an anti-Islam fanatic, killed 69 of his victims as they attended a Labour Party youth summer camp. ...
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Draghi dismisses ECB exit talk as premature
Wed,4 Apr 2012 01:54 PM PDT
Reuters -  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi dismissed a German-led push for the bank to start planning a retreat from emergency crisis-fighting, but stressed it was keeping a close eye on price pressures. After holding interest rates at a record low of 1.0 percent on Wednesday, Draghi said "downside risks to the economic outlook prevail" and the ECB would need time to see the full impact of bumper funding operations it has used to help banks. ...
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With $10 million bounty on his head, Pakistan militant taunts U.S
Wed,4 Apr 2012 01:35 PM PDT
Reuters -  RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Who wants to be a millionaire? In Pakistan, all you have to do is give the United States information leading to the arrest or conviction of Hafiz Saeed - an Islamist leader whose whereabouts are usually not a mystery. Saeed is suspected of masterminding the attack on India's financial capital Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people, including six Americans. U.S. ...
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Greek pensioner kills himself outside parliament
Wed,4 Apr 2012 01:09 PM PDT
Reuters -  ATHENS (Reuters) - A cash-strapped Greek pensioner shot and killed himself outside parliament in Athens on Wednesday saying he refused to scrounge for food in the rubbish, touching a nerve among ordinary Greeks feeling the brunt of the country's economic crisis. The public suicide of the 77-year-old retired pharmacist quickly triggered an outpouring of sympathy in a country where one in five is jobless and a sense of national humiliation has accompanied successive rounds of salary and pension cuts. ...
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Angry soccer fans shake Egypt's fragile peace
Wed,4 Apr 2012 01:03 PM PDT
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - Lingering enmity between Egyptian soccer fans and police since the country's deadliest stadium disaster could shatter a fragile calm on the streets as the army prepares to hand power to civilians. Many soccer supporters are convinced a post-match stampede that left 74 people dead in Port Said on February 1 was deliberately provoked by state security officials still loyal to ousted President Hosni Mubarak. ...
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U.S.-Afghan deal could delay operations, curb raids
Wed,4 Apr 2012 12:26 PM PDT
Reuters -  KABUL (Reuters) - U.S.-Afghan talks on a judicial veto for Kabul over military raids on Afghan homes at night could delay anti-insurgent operations and curb the use of what coalition generals see as one of their most effective weapons, senior Afghan officials said. Night raids seeking suspected militants, hated by most Afghans but supported by NATO as a counter-insurgency tactic, are seen as the biggest hurdle in negotiations on a broader strategic pact that will underpin a future U.S. troop presence. U.S. ...
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Japan, Britain in talks on joint arms development
Wed,4 Apr 2012 12:09 PM PDT
Reuters -  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan and Britain hope to reach a deal to begin joint development of arms following Tokyo's easing of its ban on exports of military equipment late last year, Britain's Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday. It would mark the first time that Japan has worked with a country other than the United States on military equipment after making an exception for the U.S. missile defence program. ...
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Mexican conservatives shake up presidential campaign
Wed,4 Apr 2012 12:05 PM PDT
Reuters -  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Conservative candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota will re-jig her campaign to become Mexico's first woman president in an effort to close a yawning gap with the opposition front-runner, her party leader said on Wednesday. Gustavo Madero, head of the ruling National Action Party, or PAN, announced the changes in the election strategy as the vote looms just 12 weeks away. "The strategies are begin reviewed," Madero told reporters. "There will be adjustments." Madero did not specify what the new strategy will entail but said that campaign director Roberto Gil will keep his job. ...
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Quarter of a million Pakistanis flee fighting in Khyber: group
Wed,4 Apr 2012 11:26 AM PDT
Reuters - NEW DELHI, April 4 (AlertNet) - A quarter of a million Pakistanis are in desperate need of food, water and medicine after being forced to flee their homes due to intensified fighting between the army and militants near the Afghan border, a leading aid group warned on Wednesday. Save the Children says hundreds of thousands of people living in the volatile Khyber Agency have flooded into neighboring areas of Nowshera and Peshawar since January due to military operations against the Pakistani Taliban. ... Full Story | Top |
James Murdoch's BSkyB exit puts Rupert in firing line
Wed,4 Apr 2012 10:40 AM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - James Murdoch's exit from the chairmanship of BSkyB moves his father Rupert into the firing line in Britain, just as an inquiry into a phone-hacking scandal turns its focus on his peculiar influence in the country. Rupert Murdoch, News Corp's chief executive, is due to appear this month before a judge-led inquiry into ethics and standards in the British press, which will be turning its attention to newspaper proprietors and politicians. So far, James has taken most of the heat for a scandal over phone hacking at the Murdochs' best-selling Sunday tabloid, the News of the World. ...
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