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| Bangladesh withdraws request for WB funding after graft allegation Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 11:33 PM PST DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh has dropped plans to seek World Bank funding for a bridge over the Padma river after the bank withheld assistance until the government completed an investigation into allegations of corruption in the project. The World Bank last year cancelled a $1.2 billion credit for the 6.2-km (4-mile) bridge, which would be the country's longest water crossing, after it found "credible evidence" of high-level corruption among Bangladeshi officials. On Friday, the bank said it had received a letter from the government, withdrawing its request for funds to help build the bridge. ... Full Story | Top |
| Somali-American man guilty in Oregon Christmas bomb plot Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 11:26 PM PST  PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - A Somali-American man was found guilty on Thursday of trying to blow up a Christmas-tree lighting ceremony in Oregon using a fake bomb supplied to him by undercover agents posing as Islamist militants, the public defender's office said. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a naturalized U.S. citizen and former Oregon State University student, faces a possible life prison term on his conviction on a single charge of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Sentencing is set for May 14. ... Full Story | Top |
| G20 should focus on debts, not Japan-bashing: Russia Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 10:33 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's top financial diplomat said the Group of 20 should focus on making new commitments to curb borrowing, and not rush to judge Japan's bid to reflate its economy when policy makers meet this month. Moscow hosts finance ministers and central bankers on February 15-16 as controversy over "currency wars" has opened a rift between indebted rich nations and faster-growing exporters who fear a wave of competitive devaluations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ivory Coast seeks to quadruple rice output in Louis Dreyfus deal Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 10:29 PM PST ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast will seek to quadruple its annual rice production to around 400,000 tonnes through a partnership agreed on Thursday with agricultural goods processor Louis Dreyfus Commodities, the company's CEO said. The West African nation is a leading producer of agricultural commodities and is the world's top cocoa grower. It was also a rice exporter until the 1970s but now imports around 1 million tonnes of its national staple food each year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria says signs $1 bln MoU with GE for factory Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 10:21 PM PST ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria signed a memorandum of understanding with General Electric on Thursday for $1 billion in investment over the next five years into a factory in the southeast, the trade ministry said. The government of Africa's top energy producer is keen to try to diversify its economy away from oil and gas and into sectors like manufacturing. GE has been increasing its exposure to Nigeria, Africa's second biggest economy, which is growing at around 7 percent, but faces major infrastructure bottlenecks. ... Full Story | Top |
| France deports Moroccan it says has radical Islam ties Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 10:17 PM PST PARIS (Reuters) - France deported a Moroccan man on Thursday suspected of links to the radical Islamist group Forsane Alizza, the Interior Ministry said, after the threat of domestic attack escalated following its intervention in Mali. Ali Benhammou, who was sent back to Morocco, had been involved in two cells linked to the French group Forsane Alizza (Knights of Pride) which "had made France a priority target," the ministry said in a statement. Benhammou been trying to travel to Iran, with the ultimate objective of reaching Afghanistan, the ministry said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt opposition to protest after deadly week Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 10:15 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi have called mass demonstrations on Friday, raising the prospect of more bloodshed despite a pledge by politicians to back off after the deadliest week of his seven months in office. Protests marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak have killed nearly 60 people since January 25. It prompted the head of the army - the institution that effectively ran Egypt for six decades until Mursi's election - to warn that the state was on the verge of collapse. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen kill five north Nigeria police, ceasefire in doubt Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 10:14 PM PST KADUNA/KANO (Reuters) - Gunmen killed at least five police in two attacks in northern Nigeria on Thursday, casting doubt on the ceasefire declared days earlier by a purported Islamist commander and highlighting how difficult it will be to end insecurity in the region. Around 60 gunmen in the Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna state attacked the divisional police station and branches of Ecobank and First Bank with grenade launchers and assault rifles, killing three policemen, police said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malian president offers Tuareg rebels talks Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 10:13 PM PST  TIMBUKTU, Mali/PARIS (Reuters) - Mali's president offered talks to Tuareg rebels on Thursday in a bid for national reconciliation after a French-led offensive drove their Islamist former allies into desert and mountain hideaways in the country's vast north. France's three-week ground and air campaign has dislodged al Qaeda-linked fighters from northern Mali's major towns, ending the first phase of an operation designed to prevent Islamists using the region as a launchpad for attacks on neighbouring West African countries and Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Explosion at Mexican oil giant Pemex headquarters kills 25 Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 10:08 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A powerful explosion rocked the Mexico City headquarters of state-owned oil giant Pemex on Thursday, killing at least 25 people, injuring more than 100 and trapping others inside. The mid-afternoon blast in a neighboring building shattered the lower floors of the downtown tower, throwing debris into the streets and sending frightened workers running outside. A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a preliminary line of investigation was that the blast came from a gas boiler that exploded in the adjacent Pemex building. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jailed Pussy Riot member suffering headaches, fatigue: bandmate Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 10:07 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - One of the jailed members of Russian punk protest collective Pussy Riot has been moved to a prison with a hospital after suffering headaches and fatigue, her bandmate said in remarks broadcast on Friday. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23, was one of three women sentenced to two years in prison for a "punk prayer" in Russia's main cathedral last February in which they called on the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Vladimir Putin. Tolokonnikova was sent to a Corrective Colony No. 14 in the Mordovia region after losing her appeal in October. ... Full Story | Top |
| China factories in mild rebound amid patch Asia recover Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 09:56 PM PST  BEIJING (Reuters) - Asia's manufacturers face a challenging business climate in the coming months, a clutch of surveys suggested on Friday, with China's vast factory sector managing only a shallow rebound at the start of 2013 as feeble foreign demand dragged on sales. Two separate versions of China's purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed on Friday that factory output in the world's second-biggest economy rose in January, but the pace of the revival in activity was uneven. The patchy nature of the recovery on Chinese factory floors was repeated in other PMI releases across Asia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Report warns of U.S. state inactivity on consumer health reforms Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 09:06 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Only 11 of the 50 U.S. states have moved to implement new consumer safeguards under President Barack Obama's healthcare law, raising questions about how major health insurance reforms will be enforced, a report released on Friday says. The report by the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund found 39 states have yet to pass laws or issue regulations on seven reforms, including coverage for people with preexisting medical conditions, a ban on coverage waiting periods and limits for out-of-pocket consumer costs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Civil libertarians challenge Anchorage sidewalk-sitting ban Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 08:18 PM PST ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Civil libertarians filed suit in Alaska on Thursday to challenge an Anchorage ban on sitting or lying on public sidewalks they said was enacted partly as a response to one man's prolonged protest outside City Hall. The lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court by the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, called the 2011 ordinance a violation of the right to free speech and peaceful assembly. The suit also targets a related ban on panhandling in downtown Anchorage. ... Full Story | Top |
| Biden to meet Syrian opposition leader in Europe - White House Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 07:30 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is set to meet with Syrian opposition leader Mouaz Alkhatib during a European trip in coming days and will discuss U.S. concerns about the Syrian conflict with Russia as well, White House officials said on Thursday. It would be the highest-level U.S. meeting with the Syrian opposition, which is fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad in a 22-month-old war that has killed more than 60,000 people and forced more than 700,000 to flee Syria, according to the United Nations. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. skeptical about Argentina-Iran "truth commission" Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 07:28 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday voiced doubt that Argentina and Iran's planned "truth commission" would bring to justice those responsible for the deadly 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center. Argentine courts have said Iran was behind the attack on the Jewish center, which killed 85 people. The commission agreement, announced over the weekend but subject to the approval of Argentina's Congress, outlines plans for Argentine officials to interview suspects in Iran rather than in a third country, as originally proposed by Argentina. ... Full Story | Top |
| California's Hispanic population projected to outnumber white in 2014 Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 07:05 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's Hispanic population will equal that of whites this year before becoming the state's largest demographic group in 2014 for the first time since statehood in 1850, a government report showed on Thursday. That change in the most populous U.S. state will make it the third where whites do not comprise a plurality of the population, after New Mexico and Hawaii. The shift is occurring alongside nationwide growth in the Hispanic population, which grew to 16.7 percent of the total in 2011 from 12.5 percent in 2000, according to U.S. Census figures. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clinton warns Russia, Iran of Syria conflict spreading Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 06:43 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Iran and Russia on Thursday to rethink their support for Syria, saying the most dire scenarios of the conflict spilling beyond its borders could come to pass. Clinton told reporters there are signs Iran is sending more people and increasingly sophisticated weaponry to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his 22-month battle against rebels seeking to end his family's four-decades of authoritarian rule. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK government drags heels on flood protection - MPs Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 06:34 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - The government came under fire on Friday from a committee of MPs for dragging its heels on flood protection, after 2012 went down as the second wettest year since records began and floods wreaked havoc across the country. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee criticised the government's approach to tackling flooding in a review of the government's draft water bill which proposes market reform among water utilities. ... Full Story | Top |
| Taiwan names new premier in reshuffle which may see new central bank chief Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 06:32 PM PST  TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's vice premier Jiang Yih-Huah will replace premier Sean Chen, the presidential office said in statement issued late on Thursday, as part of a cabinet reshuffle that could see a new central bank chief. Central bank chief Perng Fai-nan wants to retire as part of the reshuffle, two lawmakers told a Taiwanese television station on Thursday. A central bank official refused to comment on Perng's possible retirement. Perng's third five-year term is due to end in February. ... Full Story | Top |
| Republicans assail Pentagon nominee Hagel at confirmation hearing Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 06:29 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers attacked Chuck Hagel on Thursday at a contentious hearing over his nomination to become the next U.S. defense secretary, questioning his judgment on war strategy and putting him broadly on the defensive. In one of the most heated exchanges, Senator John McCain aggressively questioned Hagel, interrupting him and talking over him at times. He voiced frustration at the former Republican senator's failure to say plainly whether he was right or wrong to oppose the 2007 "surge" of U.S. troops in Iraq. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boy held hostage in Alabama bunker for third day: officials Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 05:58 PM PST MIDLAND CITY, Alabama (Reuters) - A hostage-taking by a gunman accused of fatally shooting a school bus driver and then disappearing with a young boy into an underground bunker entered its third night on Thursday in a rural corner of southeast Alabama. Law enforcement officials remained tight-lipped about the standoff near Midland City, a small town about 30 miles west of Alabama's border with Georgia, after cancelling a planned news conference. ... Full Story | Top |
| House lawmakers mull path to citizenship for illegal immigrants Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 05:42 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group in the U.S. House of Representatives is attempting to craft a bill that would give millions of illegal immigrants a way to become citizens, House aides said on Thursday, mirroring an effort in the Senate. One of the aides said the House legislation would be tougher in some ways than the plan put forward on Monday by four Democrats and four Republicans in the U.S. Senate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arkansas Senate passes ''fetal heartbeat'' law to ban most abortions Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 05:33 PM PST LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - The Arkansas state Senate approved a bill on Thursday to ban most abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected, a move that would prohibit the procedure as early as five weeks into pregnancy. The Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act would also require women to undergo a vaginal probe to detect the heartbeat. The Republican-controlled Senate passed the bill 26-8. Governor Mike Beebe, a conservative Democrat, is concerned the law could violate federal laws and court rulings, said spokesman Matt DeCample. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clinton: window for Iran talks can't stay open "too much longer" Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 05:20 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The window for negotiations with Iran about its nuclear program cannot stay open for "too much longer," outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday but she declined to provide a deadline. "I don't think the window can remain open for too much longer (but) I am not going to put days, weeks or months on it," Clinton told a small group of reporters on the eve of her departure from the State Department. The United States and its Western allies suspect that Iran is using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop a bomb. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two years on, Benghazi threatens "another revolution" in Libya Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 05:05 PM PST  BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - As night fell over Benghazi, a familiar sound echoed across the eastern Libyan city - an explosion, and then gunfire. A bomb had just been thrown at a police car on patrol, injuring an officer. It was the latest of many attacks on local security forces. Two months before, the man whose job it was to ensure Benghazi was safe, the police chief, was shot dead outside his home. ... Full Story | Top |
| Stalingrad gets its name back - for a day Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 04:42 PM PST  VOLGOGRAD, Russia (Reuters) - Josef Stalin and the city of Stalingrad are making a comeback - if only for a short time. The Russian city of Volgograd has approved the use of its wartime name at events on Saturday commemorating the 70th anniversary of the 200-day Battle of Stalingrad that turned the tide of World War Two. In a move not sanctioned by the city authorities, admirers also plan to display portraits of the late Soviet dictator in minibuses to honor his role in the defeat of Nazi Germany. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Colorado Lieutenant Governor a top pick for US Labor chief - sources Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 04:29 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Colorado Lieutenant Governor Joe Garcia is a leading candidate to become secretary of labor in President Barack Obama's second-term cabinet, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Thursday. Garcia, a Hispanic former president of Colorado State University-Pueblo, would bring racial diversity and a Western flair to Obama's team. The president has faced criticism for failing to choose women and minority candidates for cabinet vacancies at the departments of state, defense, and treasury. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Hospital chain defies NLRB rulings after court decision Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 04:23 PM PST (Reuters) - A California-based hospital company says it will not comply with at least two National Labor Relations Board rulings from the past year after a federal court invalidated three of President Barack Obama's recess appointments to the NLRB last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Taiwan's vice premier Jiang to be premier Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 04:12 PM PST TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's vice premier Jiang Yih-Huah will replace premier Sean Chen as part of a cabinet reshuffle, the presidential office said in statement issued late on Thursday. Mao Chi-kuo, the transportation minister, will take over as vice premier, the statement said. (Reporting by Faith Hung; Editing by Paul Tait) Full Story | Top |
| Teenage student wounded in Atlanta school shooting Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 03:58 PM PST  ATLANTA (Reuters) - A 14-year-old student was wounded on Thursday in a shooting outside a middle school in Atlanta and police said another student was arrested in the latest outbreak of gun violence in a U.S. school. The afternoon shooting occurred outside Price Middle School in Atlanta, Georgia. Neither the wounded student nor the suspected shooter were identified by authorities. Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Erroll Davis and Police Chief George Turner said at a news conference that multiple gunshots were fired from a small-caliber handgun outside the main school building. ... Full Story | Top |
| Somali-American man guilty in Christmas bomb plot Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 03:56 PM PST PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - A Somali-American man was found guilty on Thursday of trying to blow up a Christmas-tree lighting ceremony in Oregon using a fake bomb supplied to him by undercover agents posing as Islamist militants, the public defender's office said. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a naturalized U.S. citizen and former Oregon State University student, faces a possible life term in prison on his conviction on a charge of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction linked to the 2010 plot. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Colorado Lieutenant Governor a top pick for Labor chief - sources Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 03:50 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Colorado Lieutenant Governor Joe Garcia is a leading candidate to become secretary of labor in President Barack Obama's second-term cabinet, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Thursday. Garcia, a Hispanic former president of Colorado State University-Pueblo, would bring racial diversity and a Western flair to Obama's team. The president has faced criticism for failing to choose women and minority candidates for cabinet vacancies at the departments of state, defense, and treasury. ... Full Story | Top |
| Armenia presidential candidate shot, election in doubt Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 03:48 PM PST YEREVAN (Reuters) - An Armenian presidential candidate was wounded by unknown gunmen in the capital Yerevan on Thursday night, police said, in an attack that could delay February's election. Paruyr Hayrikyan, whose life was not in danger after the shooting, is one of eight candidates running in the February 18 vote but is not seen as a strong challenger to Serzh Sarksyan, who is expected to be re-elected for a second five-year term. However, according to Armenia's constitution, the election could be postponed by two weeks if a candidate is unable to campaign or run. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clinton: Iran may be sending more people, arms to Syria Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 03:43 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There are signs that Iran is sending growing numbers of people and increasingly sophisticated weaponry to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday. "It appears that they may be increasing that involvement and that is a matter of great concern to us," she told reporters as she prepares to step down on Friday. "I think the numbers (of people) have increased ... There is a lot of concern that they are increasing the quality of the weapons, because Assad is using up his weaponry. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida governor seeks higher school aid, business tax cuts Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 03:40 PM PST TALLAHASSEE (Reuters) - Florida's Republican governor on Thursday proposed a hefty $4 billion hike in state spending in a budget plan that includes a $1.2 billion increase in school aid, cuts in business taxes, and relies on fatter state sales-tax collections. Accompanied by teachers, business leaders and state employees, Gov. Rick Scott told reporters at the Capitol that his $74.2 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2013-14 illustrated economic recovery in Florida and tough budget decisions made by lawmakers over the last few years when revenues were faltering. ... Full Story | Top |
| Argentina rejects meeting with Falklands government Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 03:35 PM PST BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina on Thursday rejected an invitation from Britain to a meeting that would include representatives of the government of the Falkland Islands, further hardening the diplomatic stalemate over the South Atlantic archipelago. Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said in an open letter to his British counterpart William Hague that only a bi-lateral meeting between Argentina and Britain would be acceptable. The two countries fought a 10-week war in 1982 over the Falklands, which are part of Britain's self-governing overseas territories. ... Full Story | Top |
| At desolate Algeria gas plant, hope for new start Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 03:32 PM PST  TIGUENTOURINE, Algeria (Reuters) - Algerian engineers at the In Amenas natural gas plant are working to get at least some of the desert facility back to work in the coming days, two weeks after three dozen foreign workers were killed in an Islamist hostage siege. Lying deep in the Sahara, the site was surrounded by troops with armored vehicles when Algerian officials gave journalists a first view of the area since gunmen attacked on January 15 and seized hundreds of hostages before the army stormed in four days later. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mother loses fourth child to Chicago gun violence Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 03:24 PM PST  CHICAGO (Reuters) - Shirley Chambers of Chicago had four children - three boys and a girl. Now they're all gone. Chambers will bury her son, Ronnie Chambers, on Monday. He was the last of the single mother's children - all victims of gun violence in Chicago over a period of 18 years. "I was in shock, truly, because I'm just knowing that Ronnie's going to grow up and be an old man. That was in my heart," said Chambers, 54. The loss of four siblings to the same fate illustrates the depth of Chicago's stubborn gun violence problem and the city leaders' struggle to bring it under control. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama might back territorial tax system: business chief Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 03:19 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief of a group of more than 200 CEOs said on Thursday that President Barack Obama had told the business community last month he might back a territorial tax system, a regime that would exempt offshore corporate profits from U.S. taxation. Corporate America is pushing for the United States to move to such a regime to make businesses more competitive against foreign rivals that pay no taxes on overseas earnings. The United States currently taxes corporate profits earned abroad only when they are brought into the country. ... Full Story | Top |
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