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| Italians head to polls in crucial vote for euro zone Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 11:40 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italians began voting on Sunday in one of the most closely watched elections in years, with markets nervous about whether it will produce a strong government to pull Italy out of recession and help resolve the euro zone debt crisis. A huge final rally by anti-establishment-comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo on Friday before a campaigning ban kicked in has highlighted public anger at traditional parties and added to uncertainty about the election outcome. Voters started casting their ballots at 0700 GMT. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus votes for president as clock ticks on bailout deal Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 11:21 PM PST  NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cypriots started voting in a runoff on Sunday to elect a president who must clinch a bailout deal for the island nation to avoid a financial meltdown that would revive the euro zone crisis. Conservative leader Nicos Anastasiades, who favors hammering out a quick deal with foreign lenders, is favored to win against Communist-backed rival Stavros Malas, who is more wary of the austerity terms accompanying any rescue. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomber killed near Afghan capital's diplomatic zone: police Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 11:19 PM PST  KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan security forces shot dead at least one would-be suicide bomber on Sunday in a high-security area of Kabul, home to government departments and diplomatic missions, police said. Violence across the country has increased over the last 12 months, sparking concern about how the 350,000-strong Afghan security forces will manage once most foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014. The shooting happened near a construction site that was stormed by Taliban gunmen in April last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Justices poised to query voting rights focus on South Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 11:08 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When the Supreme Court last scrutinized the 1965 Voting Rights Act in 2009, Justice Anthony Kennedy peered down from the bench and asked why federal rules were tougher for Alabama and Georgia than for Michigan and Ohio. Chief Justice John Roberts pointedly added that it seemed lawyers defending the rules, which were created to protect black voters, believed that even in modern times "southerners are more likely to discriminate than northerners. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former envoy Pickering on problems at Benghazi mission Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 10:08 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former American diplomat Thomas Pickering said what struck him most during a review of last year's attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, were the frequent personnel changes, second-guessing on security upgrades, and dismissive attitude toward dozens of security incidents. The temporary status of the mission also led to uncertainty about providing additional funding, including for security, he said in an interview. The United States established a diplomatic presence in the eastern Libyan city after the 2011 revolt against former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry makes first foreign trip as top U.S. diplomat Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 10:06 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Kerry views his first trip as U.S. secretary of state as a listening tour, but the leaders he meets will want to hear whether he has any new ideas on Syria, Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Kerry leaves on Sunday for London, the first stop on a nine-nation, 11-day trip that will also take him to Berlin, Paris, Rome, Ankara, Cairo, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Doha before he returns home on March 6. It is an introductory trip for a man who needs little introduction abroad after spending 28 years in the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Catholic activists petition LA cardinal not to join papal conclave Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 09:41 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Roman Catholic activists on Saturday petitioned a U.S. cardinal to recuse himself from taking part in selecting a new pope so as not to insult survivors of sexual abuse by priests committed while he was archbishop of Los Angeles. The activists delivered a petition with nearly 10,000 signatures to the North Hollywood church where Cardinal Roger Mahony resides. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspect named in Las Vegas shooting that killed aspiring rapper Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 07:50 PM PST  (Reuters) - Police have identified a suspect in the fatal shooting of an aspiring rapper as he drove on the Las Vegas Strip in a Maserati before dawn on Thursday, sparking a fiery crash that also killed a cab driver and his passenger. Ammar Asim Faruq Harris, described as armed and dangerous, was still at large on Saturday, but the black Range Rover from which he is suspected of opening fire had been impounded, Las Vegas police said. Authorities said a gunman in a Range Rover opened fire early on Thursday on the silver Maserati being driven by 27-year-old Kenneth Wayne Cherry Jr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Radioactive waste leaking from six tanks at Washington state nuclear site Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 07:48 PM PST SEATTLE (Reuters) - Six underground storage tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation along the Columbia River in Washington state were recently found to be leaking radioactive waste, but there is no immediate risk to human health, state and federal officials said on Friday. The seeping waste adds to decades of soil contamination caused by leaking storage tanks at Hanford in the past and threatens to further taint groundwater below the site but poses no near-term danger of polluting the Columbia River, officials said. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House directs open access for government research Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 07:23 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House has moved to make the results of federally funded research available to the public for free within a year, bowing to public pressure for unfettered access to scholarly articles and other materials produced at taxpayers' expense. "Americans should have easy access to the results of research they help support," John Holdren, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote on the White House website. ... Full Story | Top |
| Half-inch crack blamed for F-35 fighter jet grounding: sources Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 07:12 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The engine blade crack that prompted the U.S. military to ground all 51 F-35 fighter jets was over half an inch long, according to three sources familiar with the matter, but it remained unclear if the crack was caused by a manufacturing anomaly or some larger design issue. Engineers at Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, will conduct a detailed examination of the turbine blade as soon as it arrives at the company's Middletown, Connecticut, site, said spokesman Matthew Bates. ... Full Story | Top |
| Banksy street murals pulled from Miami auction after controversy Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 06:59 PM PST  MIAMI (Reuters) - Two spray-paint murals by the elusive street artist Banksy, including one that vanished last week from a North London wall, were pulled in the 11th hour from a Miami auction on Saturday. Who owns the London mural remains a mystery, as does how it ended up in a Miami auction house shortly after going missing. Frederic Thut, owner of Fine Art Auctions Miami, which had been due to sell the piece, has said his firm did "all necessary due diligence" to establish the ownership of the work. But the London piece and another Banksy mural were pulled nevertheless. ... Full Story | Top |
| Virginia approves transportation funding overhaul Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 05:52 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Virginia's Legislature approved on Saturday an overhaul of its transportation funding system, moving the state away from a reliance on gasoline taxes to fix its roads and highways. The bill providing $880 million a year for transportation passed on the last day of the state's legislative session and is now headed to Governor Bob McDonnell to sign. The legislation includes McDonnell's proposal to scrap the state's 17.5 cent-per-gallon gasoline tax charged at the pump. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bank of Japan contest becoming more open race as Muto loses momentum Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 05:21 PM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Former top bureaucrat Toshiro Muto is losing some momentum in the race to become Japan's next central bank governor, making for a more open contest, which will kick off in full force this week following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's return from his U.S. trip. Muto had been considered the leading candidate to replace incumbent Masaaki Shirakawa, who leaves on March 19 after a five-year term. Muto remains on the short list with strong backing from bureaucrats at the powerful Ministry of Finance. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Spiral of Karachi killings widens Pakistan's sectarian divide Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 05:01 PM PST  KARACHI (Reuters) - When Aurangzeb Farooqi survived an attempt on his life that left six of his bodyguards dead and a six-inch bullet wound in his thigh, the Pakistani cleric lost little time in turning the narrow escape to his advantage. Recovering in hospital after the ambush on his convoy in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital, the radical Sunni Muslim ideologue was composed enough to exhort his followers to close ranks against the city's Shi'ites. ... Full Story | Top |
| Governors press for alternative to impending spending cuts Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 04:56 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Less than a week before billions of dollars of U.S. spending cuts are set to begin, governors meeting in Washington ratcheted up the pressure on Congress and President Barack Obama to find an alternative to the reductions and give states more say in bringing down the federal debt. "I certainly join the chorus of voices that are calling for that administration and members of Congress to come together and find more responsible cuts," said Indiana Governor Mike Pence, a Republican who served in the House of Representatives during the 2011 negotiations that led to the cuts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran says it has brought down a foreign spy drone Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 04:12 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards have brought down a foreign surveillance drone during a military exercise, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said on Saturday. "We have managed to bring down a drone of the enemy. This has happened before in our country," the agency quoted war games spokesman General Hamid Sarkheli as saying in Kerman, southeast Iran, where the military exercise is taking place. The agency gave no details on who the drone belonged to. In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said he had seen the reports. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK downgrade pressures reluctant Osborne to change course Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 04:07 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's finance minister insisted on Saturday he would not change course after the loss of the country's 'AAA' credit rating but George Osborne is facing pressure to do just that as his bet on austerity falters ahead of the 2015 election. Moody's dealt Britain its first sovereign rating downgrade on Friday, saying the $2.5 trillion economy faced years more sluggish growth and debt would continue to rise until 2016. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Justice, Gulf states crafting BP spill settlement Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 02:05 PM PST  (Reuters) - The U.S. government and Gulf Coast states are considering offering BP Plc a deal under which it pays $16 billion to settle civil suits stemming from the deadly 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The deal would cover the company's potential penalties under the Clean Water Act and payments under the Natural Resources Damage Assessment, the newspaper said, citing sources familiar with the discussions. It was unclear if the deal has been formally offered to BP. The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tens of thousands in Spain protest economic policy, corruption Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 01:56 PM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched through cities across the country on Saturday to protest deep austerity, the privatization of public services and political corruption. Gathering under the banner of the "Citizen Tide", students, doctors, unionists, young families and pensioners staged rowdy but non-violent demonstrations as a near five-year economic slump shows no sign of recovery and mass unemployment rises. "I'm here to add my voice. They're cutting where they shouldn't cut; health, education ... basic services. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy urges high turnout in key election for euro zone Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 01:17 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italy pressed citizens to get out and vote in one of the most closely watched elections in years on Sunday and Monday, with markets on edge at the prospect of a political stalemate that could reignite the debt crisis. A campaigning ban kicked in the day before the vote but center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi, on trial for a sex crime, broke the rules to launch an attack on magistrates, saying on Saturday that claims he held "Bunga Bunga" parties were a sham. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kurdish militant leader signals Turkish prisoners may be freed Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 12:54 PM PST  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The jailed leader of Turkey's Kurdish rebellion on Saturday signaled that his followers could release captives and further a fledgling peace process that may be the best hope in years of ending the decades-long conflict. The call by Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the autonomy-seeking Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), came after a rare meeting with members of parliament's only pro-Kurdish party at his prison on an island in the Sea of Marmara south of Istanbul. ... Full Story | Top |
| RBS seen planning Citizens Financial IPO Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 12:43 PM PST  (Reuters) - The Royal Bank of Scotland will unveil plans next week to float a portion of its stake in U.S. retail bank Citizens Financial Group Inc, the Telegraph newspaper reported late on Friday. A full sale of Providence, Rhode Island-based Citizens could raise more than 8 billion pounds ($12.21 billion) for Britain's largest state-backed lender, which has been under pressure from regulators to strengthen its balance sheet. ... Full Story | Top |
| Austrian Yemen hostage appeals for ransom in video Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 11:59 AM PST VIENNA (Reuters) - An Austrian man taken hostage in Yemen in December has appeared in a video posted on YouTube, saying he would be killed if ransom money was not paid to a Yemeni tribe within a week. Pictured with what appeared to be an AK47 automatic rifle pointed at his head, Dominik Neubauer said he was in good health and appealed to the Yemeni and Austrian governments and the European Union to give his hostage takers what they wanted. "Mum, Dad, Lucas, Angela, I love you more than anything. ... Full Story | Top |
| Horsemeat with banned drug entered French food chain Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 11:34 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - Meat from three horse carcasses contaminated with a banned drug has entered the human food chain in France but there is no danger to the public, the French farm minister said on Saturday. The meat, which came from a lot of six British carcasses exported to France, contained traces of phenylbutazone - known as bute - an anti-inflammatory painkiller for sporting horses, banned for animals intended for eventual human consumption. French Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll said there was no danger to public health. ... Full Story | Top |
| France's Hollande hails quality meat at farm show Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 11:26 AM PST  PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande sang the praises of local produce at the annual French farm show, where the horse meat scandal added to French cattle breeders' downbeat mood. Hollande, who was long the head of the rural Correze region, spent hours talking to livestock farmers, who worry that the discovery of horse meat in lasagnas and other processed foods labeled as beef-based will cast another cloud over their sector. "We need to promote French quality, French production and French cattle breeding," Hollande told reporters at Europe's largest farm show. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian marines held in India return home to vote Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 11:17 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Two Italian marines charged in India with killing two fishermen while on anti-pirate duty a year ago arrived home on Saturday to vote in parliamentary elections this weekend. "We are happy to be back home. This has been possible because India's Supreme Court ... has shown itself to be very democratic by recognizing our right to vote," Massimiliano Latorre said on arrival at Rome Fiumicino airport with his colleague, Salvatore Girone. ... Full Story | Top |
| More fighting erupts in Sudan's Darfur region Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 11:10 AM PST  KHARTOUM (Reuters) - New fighting erupted between Arab tribes in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, tribal leaders said on Saturday, threatening to displace more people after clashes last month killed more than 100 and forced around 130,000 to flee. Law and order has collapsed in swathes of the arid western region since mainly non-Arab tribes revolted against the Arab government in Khartoum in 2003, accusing it of neglect. Violence has ebbed since 2004 but picked up again in recent months. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinians demand inquiry into death in an Israeli jail Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 10:51 AM PST  RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian officials on Saturday demanded an international investigation into the death of a Palestinian detainee who died in an Israeli jail hours earlier. A spokeswoman for Israel's Prison Authority said that the detainee, 30-year-old Arafat Jaradat, had apparently died of cardiac arrest. An emergency service team had tried to resuscitate him but failed, she said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisian secularists protest against new Islamist PM Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 10:35 AM PST  Tunis (Reuters) - Thousands of Tunisians protested on Saturday against the new prime minister-designate Ali Larayedh, a hardliner from the main Islamist Ennahda party. President Moncef Marzouki asked Larayedh to form a government on Friday, in the aftermath of the February 6 assassination of secular opposition politician Chokri Belaid. Outgoing prime minister Hamadi Jebali resigned on Tuesday because Ennahda rejected his plan for an apolitical technocrat cabinet to prepare for elections. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghan cabinet gives preliminary approval to delayed mining law Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 10:32 AM PST  KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's cabinet gave preliminary approval to a long-delayed package of laws to govern mining, which officials hope will become a key driver of the troubled country's economy, the government said on Saturday. The news will be greeted with relief by Western donors, who committed to provide $4bn in aid from 2012 to 2015 based partly on projections of future mining earnings, only to see cabinet reject the legislation in July due to concern the laws failed to protect national interests from foreign exploitation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt parliament election start moved to April 22 Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 10:08 AM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's parliamentary elections, previously scheduled to begin on April 27, have been brought forward to start on April 22, the presidential spokesman said on his Facebook page on Saturday. Members of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority had criticized the planned timing of the elections because some voting would take place during their Easter holiday. (Reporting by Alexander Dziadosz; editing by David Stamp) Full Story | Top |
| Yemen security chief escapes gunmen as three die in south Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 09:55 AM PST  ADEN (Reuters) - A Yemeni security chief survived an assassination attempt on Saturday in the south of the country, where three people were killed in clashes between his forces and separatists. The Defence Ministry said Abdulwahab al-Wali, head of the central security forces, escaped the attack by unknown gunmen in the town of Mukalla, but two of his bodyguards were wounded. Southern Yemen, which was an independent state until 1990, is troubled by both separatist unrest and an insurgency led by Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda, a source of concern to Gulf states and the West. ... Full Story | Top |
| France warns of kidnappings, attack risk in Benin Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 09:48 AM PST  DAKAR (Reuters) - France said on Saturday its nationals were at risk of kidnappings or attacks in the West African state of Benin, warning of a specific danger close to neighboring Niger. The advisory came after a French family of seven, including four children, were abducted by suspected Islamist militants in Cameroon on Tuesday, the first case of foreigners being seized in the mostly Muslim north of the country. It highlighted the threat to French interests in West Africa since Paris deployed thousands of troops to Mali to oust al Qaeda-linked Islamists who controlled the country's north. ... Full Story | Top |
| Patriots in Turkey send clear warning to Syria: Germany Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 09:36 AM PST  KAHRAMANMARAS, Turkey (Reuters) - Germany's defense minister inspected Patriot missile batteries close to the Syria-Turkey border on Saturday and said they delivered a "clear warning" to Damascus that NATO would not tolerate missiles being fired into Turkey. Thomas de Maiziere and his Dutch counterpart Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert travelled to the Turkish cities of Adana and Kahramanmaras to inspect the batteries provided by their countries at Turkey's request. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was scheduled to visit the same area on Sunday when she begins a two-day visit to Turkey. ... Full Story | Top |
| Maldives ex-president leaves Indian embassy refuge Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 09:33 AM PST  MALE (Reuters) - Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed on Saturday left the Indian High Commission, his party said, after taking refuge for 11 days to avoid arrest on charges related to his presidency. The government has said he no longer faces arrest. Nasheed, the Maldives' first democratically elected leader, left office last year in contested circumstances. He entered the Indian High Commission, or embassy, in the capital on February 13 as police tried to arrest him in connection with a court case. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel backs new EU talks for Turkey but has doubts Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 09:29 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she favored new talks to revive Turkey's stalled European Union membership bid, following warnings by the Turkish prime minister its half-century wait was "unforgivable". Yet Merkel, who favors a "privileged partnership" for Turkey in place of full EU membership, stressed the outcome of Ankara's talks with Brussels should be open, and she remained skeptical about whether Turkey should join. ... Full Story | Top |
| European Parliament Deputy President injured in car crash Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 09:18 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - The deputy president of the European Parliament, Alexander Alvaro, was seriously injured in a car crash in western Germany overnight, a spokesman for the European liberals group ALDE said on Saturday. Alvaro, 37, is a member of Germany's Free Democrats. "I have been informed of a car crash involving Alexander Alvaro, I am deeply shocked by the horrific accident. On behalf of the European Parliament and his colleagues, I wish him a speedy and full recovery," European Parliament President Martin Schulz said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada to end biofuel subsidy in 2017: report Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 08:56 AM PST WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - The Canadian government plans to end its subsidy for production of biofuels when its current program ends in 2017, a newspaper reported on Saturday. The Globe and Mail quoted a letter from Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver to the biofuels industry on Thursday explaining that Ottawa needed to cut spending to tame its deficit. Oliver said that the ethanol industry now produces the necessary volume of renewable fuel for Canada to meet its target of 5 percent ethanol in the country's gasoline supply, the newspaper reported. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pistorius must live with his conscience - slain girlfriend's father Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 08:54 AM PST JOHANNESBURG, Feb 23 (Reuters) - South African Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius will have to live with his conscience after he shot dead his girlfriend on Valentine's Day and said it was a tragic mistake, the victim's father Barry Steenkamp was quoted as saying in the local media. The athlete shot dead model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp at his luxury home near Pretoria in the early hours of Feb. 14. He was charged with premeditated murder after the shooting. Pistorius said he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder. ... Full Story | Top |
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