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| EADS says Spain may sell 1.15 percent of group as cuts stake Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 12:30 AM PDT  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Spain plans to sell 1.15 percent of EADS as the aerospace company switches to a new corporate structure, EADS said on Wednesday. Spain, which owns more than 5 percent of the Airbus parent company, had been expected to keep a core stake of 4 percent and place the rest in a special foundation set up to handle surplus government stakes in order to keep EADS within Dutch takeover rules. EADS said in a statement that the parties to the agreement, which include France and Germany, had agreed an amendment allowing Spain to sell 1.15 percent by April 9. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian president sees elections in October: MENA Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 12:12 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt may hold parliamentary elections in October, state news agency MENA quoted President Mohamed Mursi as saying on Wednesday, dragging out the country's turbulent political transition for at least six months. President Mohamed Mursi's original plan was for a four-stage election that would start in late April and put a parliament in place by July, but the schedule was turned on its head when a court overruled his decree setting out the timetable. Mursi said the approval of a new election law could take two and a half months. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Man with key to Italy crisis has only weeks left in job Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 12:06 AM PDT  By Barry Moody ROME (Reuters) - The chaos and uncertainty following Italy's parliamentary election last month is compounded by the imminent retirement of the one man who has any chance of solving the crisis, President Giorgio Napolitano. A wave of support for the populist 5-Star Movement produced an electoral earthquake in the Feb 24-25 poll, shaking the traditional political system to its foundations and creating an enormous headache for the head of state, who combines figurehead functions with the key power of appointing governments. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi sees parliamentary vote in October: MENA Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:59 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian parliamentary elections could begin in October, six months later than originally planned, state news agency MENA has reported President Mohamed Mursi as saying. Mursi said he expected the new parliament to convene before the end of the year, MENA reported. Mursi had called a four-stage parliamentary election starting in late April but the plan was thwarted by a court ruling that overturned his decree calling the vote. Under the original plan, the new parliament would have convened in early July. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malaysia's Najib says economy at risk from weak election result Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:50 PM PDT  By Stuart Grudgings PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) - Malaysian leader Najib Razak has warned that nascent reforms can't be done "overnight" and that Southeast Asia's third-largest economy risks slipping backwards if he does not win a strong majority in an election he must call within weeks. Prime minister Najib said a reduced parliamentary majority could weaken his drive to curb Malaysia's budget deficit and raise investment, and even cost him his job. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guinea opposition abandons vote talks, threatens protests Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:29 PM PDT By Saliou Samb and Bate Felix CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's opposition leaders on Tuesday abandoned talks with the government and threatened to resume street protests, accusing the president's camp of disrespecting the terms of a planned dialogue over election preparations. Earlier this month, opposition leaders accepted to take part in talks with the government following two weeks of sporadic protest that killed eight and wounded hundreds more in the world's top bauxite-producing nation. ... Full Story | Top |
| UN's Ban recommends African troops in Mali become peacekeepers Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:28 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - An African force currently in Mali should be converted into a U.N. peacekeeping operation and a separate combat force should be created to confront Islamist threats, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recommended to the Security Council on Tuesday. The U.N.-backed African force in Mali is due to take over from France when it starts withdrawing its 4,000 troops from the country in late April. In a report to the 15-member Security Council, Ban recommended that the African force, known as AFISMA, become a U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rwanda grenade attack kills one, injures eight: police Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:27 PM PDT KIGALI (Reuters) - A grenade blast in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Tuesday killed one person and injured eight others, a police spokesman said, in an attack reminiscent of similar incidents beginning in 2010. The grenade exploded in the early evening between a bus station and a market in the Kimironko area of Kigali, the spokesman said. Police later said on their Twitter site that two suspects had been arrested. There were at least three grenade attacks last year, all in March. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ethiopia's ruling coalition completes transition after Meles Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:26 PM PDT  By Aaron Maasho BAHIR DAR, Ethiopia (Reuters) - Ethiopia's ruling coalition re-elected Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn as chairman on Tuesday, completing a smooth transition after the death last year of his predecessor Meles Zenawi who kept a tight grip on power for 21 years. Hailemariam, 47, was appointed premier in September, a month after the death of Meles, who was praised for steering economic growth into double figures but drew criticism from his opponents and rights groups for squeezing out dissent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia says it seeks to stop recruitment to fight in Syria Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:25 PM PDT TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's Islamist-led government is investigating networks it believes are sending young people to fight in Syria, the Justice Ministry said on Tuesday. According to local media, thousands of young Tunisians recruited by local and regional networks are fighting government forces in Syria. President Moncef Marzouki said last week that fighters returning from Syria could threaten Tunisia's efforts to restore security, likening them to Algerians who went to fight in Afghanistan and became radicalised. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan asks rebels to help draft constitution as tensions ease Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:23 PM PDT  By Khalid Abdelaziz and Alexander Dziadosz KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's vice president on Tuesday invited rebel groups to help prepare a new constitution, a sign of Khartoum's newly-relaxed stance toward the insurgents since signing border security deals with South Sudan this month. Relations between Sudan and its southern neighbour have been tumultuous since the two split apart in July 2011 under a peace deal that ended decades of civil war - and both have accused the other of continuing to support rebels in their territories. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigerian police say British businessman kidnapped in Lagos Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:19 PM PDT LAGOS (Reuters) - A British businessman has been abducted from an upmarket district of Lagos, Nigerian police said on Tuesday, a rare case of an expatriate being taken hostage in Nigeria's main commercial city. Kidnapping of expatriates by armed gangs seeking ransom money has been rife over the years in Nigeria's oil producing southeast, but in Lagos victims have usually been locals. Police spokesman Frank Mba said reports indicated the man was abducted at about 11 p.m. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenya to hear petition challenging Kenyatta's vote win Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:17 PM PDT  By James Macharia and Edmund Blair NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's Supreme Court hears a petition on Wednesday challenging the victory by Uhuru Kenyatta in this month's presidential election, a case that will test Kenyan democracy five years after a disputed vote ignited tribal violence. Peaceful voting on March 4 went a long way to restoring Kenya's reputation as one of Africa's more stable democracies, reinforced when losing candidate Raila Odinga took his challenge to court rather than letting it play out on the streets. ... Full Story | Top |
| Deal on development bank eludes BRICS nations at summit Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:14 PM PDT  By Agnieszka Flak and Marina Lopes DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - BRICS nations failed on Tuesday to resolve differences over funding for and the location of a proposed joint development bank, indicating the emerging powers group would not achieve the goal at a summit in South Africa. Agreeing on the share of funding contributions for the BRICS bank from each of the members - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - had already been a thorny issue for a group which brings together vastly disparate economies and governments. ... Full Story | Top |
| Petraeus apologizes for affair, moves to mend image Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:12 PM PDT  By Brandon Lowrey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former CIA Director David Petraeus apologized on Tuesday for the extramarital affair that forced his November resignation and acknowledged the toll it took on his family, career and reputation. His appearance at an event honoring University of Southern California veterans and Reserve Officers' Training Corps students was his first public speech since the storied Army general's career was cut short by the scandal. Petraeus noted that "life doesn't stop with such a mistake. It can and must go on. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran condemns Arab League for handing seat to opposition Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:08 PM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran lambasted the Arab League for allowing an opposition leader to fill Syria's vacant seat at the organization's annual summit and described it as "dangerous behavior", Iranian media reported late on Tuesday. With Syrian membership to the Arab League suspended in November 2011, the seat at Tuesday's summit was filled by Moaz Alkhatib, the leading figure among Syria's opposition coalition that is battling to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Shiite Iran has given crucial backing to Assad since the protests erupted in Syria in 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Watch your tongue, North Korea warns South's new leader Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 10:14 PM PDT  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea warned South Korea's new president to "watch her tongue" on Wednesday, as tension between the two sides mounts, reprising the kind of vitriolic language that it dished out to her predecessor on a regular basis. North Korea has in recent days threatened the United States with nuclear war and rehearsed drone attacks on South Korea, prompting Washington, involved in military drills with the South, to say it is ready for any contingency. ... Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Court, in next gay marriage case, eyes federal law Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 10:01 PM PDT  By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For the second day running, the Supreme Court on Wednesday will confront the issue of gay marriage, hearing arguments on a U.S. law that denies federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples. Almost two hours of oral argument before the court will focus on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), just a day after the nine justices considered the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage. Both cases come before the court as polls show growing support among Americans for gay marriage but division among the 50 states. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's "black clinics" flourish as government debates health reform Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 09:31 PM PDT  By Hui Li and Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - A one-room shack with a single, bare light bulb on a non-descript Beijing side street is 29-year-old Chinese migrant worker Zhang Xuefang's best recourse to medical care. Not recognized as a Beijing resident, she does not qualify for cheaper healthcare at government hospitals, and her hometown is too far away to take advantage of medical subsidizes there. Like millions of other migrant workers, Zhang, on whose labor China's economic boom depends, is forced into a seedy and unregulated world of back ally "black clinics" if she falls ill. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colorado medical pot system lacks oversight, plagued by money woes Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 06:54 PM PDT  By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - The agency charged with regulating Colorado's medical marijuana industry has not adequately defined its mission, squandered money on capital projects and underreported tax revenues, state auditors said in a scathing report released on Tuesday. The Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division, a division of Colorado's Department of Revenue, failed to follow the framework laid out by the state legislature when lawmakers approved the program in 2010, auditors said in the 96-page report. ... Full Story | Top |
| Oklahoma lawmakers pass horse slaughter bill Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 06:45 PM PDT  By Steve Olafson OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Oklahoma lawmakers approved a bill on Tuesday that will allow horses to be slaughtered in the state for human consumption in other countries. The state Senate passed the measure in a 32-14 vote, sending it to Republican Governor Mary Fallin who is expected to sign it into law. Fallin's office did not return requests for comment. The bill became an emotional issue, pitting the United States Humane Society and animal rights activists against livestock interests led by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization. ... Full Story | Top |
| Knox, Sollecito to face Italy retrial in Kercher murder Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 05:32 PM PDT  By Virginia Alimenti and Catherine Hornby ROME (Reuters) - Italy's top court on Tuesday ordered a retrial of American Amanda Knox and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, re-opening a case that prompted harsh criticism of the Italian justice system. Kercher's half-naked body, with more than 40 wounds and a deep gash in the throat, was found in the apartment she shared with Knox in Perugia, where both were studying during a year abroad in 2007. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Knox case could pit extradition treaty against U.S. Constitution Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 05:25 PM PDT By Terry Baynes NEW YORK (Reuters) - The possibility that American Amanda Knox could be convicted of murder and extradited to Italy for punishment could force U.S. courts to enter legal territory that is largely uncharted, legal experts said. Italy's top court on Tuesday ordered the retrial of Knox, 25, for the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher. The move potentially pits a U.S. constitutional ban on double jeopardy, or being tried twice for the same offense after an acquittal, against international extradition agreements, experts said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Police on alert after white group vows patrols in Maryland Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 05:22 PM PDT By Medina Roshan ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (Reuters) - Police at Maryland's Towson University will increase their campus presence at night, the university said on Tuesday, after a group calling itself the White Student Union promised its own patrols to curb what it sees as rising black-on-white crime. The White Student Union has been drawing attention since one of its members defended segregation during a panel discussion earlier this month at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an influential forum in Republican Party politics. ... Full Story | Top |
| European Union in "denial" that sick economy costs lives, health experts say Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 05:09 PM PDT By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's financial crisis is costing lives, with suicides and infectious diseases on the rise, yet politicians are not addressing the problem, health experts said on Wednesday. Deep budget cuts and growing unemployment are tipping more people into depression, and falling incomes mean fewer people can see their doctors or afford to buy medicines. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK says efficiency steps to cut 11 percent from power bill rise by 2020 Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 05:03 PM PDT  By Susanna Twidale LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government said household energy bills were headed for an 18 percent increase by 2020 but its policies promoting domestic energy efficiency, including its so-called Green Deal, would make the rise significantly smaller. The average British household could face an energy bill of 1,496 pounds per year by 2020, according to a report published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) on Wednesday, up from the 1,267 pounds it expects homes to pay this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Swedish scientist to head U.N. Syria chemical weapons probe Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 05:00 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom to head a U.N. investigation into allegations that chemical weapons were used in Syria, Ban's spokesman said on Tuesday. "He is an accomplished scientist with a solid background in disarmament and international security," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Some healthcare costs may rise when "Obamacare" implemented: official Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 04:25 PM PDT By Jeff Mason and David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's top healthcare adviser acknowledged on Tuesday that costs could rise in the individual health insurance market, particularly for men and younger people, because of the landmark 2010 healthcare restructuring due to take effect next year. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said definitive data on costs will not be available until later this year when private health plans become authorized to sell federally subsidized coverage on new state-based online marketplaces, known as exchanges. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama appoints first woman Secret Service director Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 04:02 PM PDT  By Tabassum Zakaria and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday chose veteran agent Julia Pierson as Secret Service director, the first woman to lead the male-dominated agency, a year after its reputation was tarnished by a scandal involving agents and prostitutes in Colombia. Pierson will replace Mark Sullivan, who retired in February and was in charge during the Colombia scandal - one of the worst in the agency's history. ... Full Story | Top |
| Red Cross moves up Guantanamo visit because of hunger strike Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 03:56 PM PDT  By Jane Sutton MIAMI (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross sent a doctor and another delegate to the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo a week earlier than planned because of concern about a growing hunger strike among detainees, an ICRC spokesman said on Tuesday. About a dozen ICRC representatives were scheduled to make a regular two-week visit to the detention camp on April 1, ICRC spokesman Simon Schorno said. "Because of the current tensions and hunger strike we decided to send a couple of delegates to the island starting this week," Schorno said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus readies capital controls to avert bank run Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 03:50 PM PDT  By Michele Kambas and Costas Pitas NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus is expected to complete capital control measures on Wednesday to prevent a run on the banks by depositors anxious about their savings after the country agreed a painful rescue package with international lenders. Cypriots have taken to the streets of Nicosia in their thousands to protest at a bailout deal that they fear will push their country into an economic slump and cost many their jobs. European leaders said the deal averted a chaotic national bankruptcy that might have forced Cyprus out of the euro. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three more charged in insider trading probe Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 03:31 PM PDT By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors announced criminal charges on Tuesday against three new defendants in the government's broad-based insider trading probe. Authorities said David Riley, a former chief information officer at Foundry Networks Inc, leaked tips about the company's pending $3 billion takeover in 2008 by Brocade Communications Systems Inc , to hedge fund analyst Matthew Teeple. The government said Teeple then tipped others, resulting in trades that led to more than $27 million in profits and avoided losses. ... Full Story | Top |
| Too soon to draw financial-stability lessons from Cyprus: U.S. official Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 03:25 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A top U.S. regulator said on Tuesday that it was too soon to draw conclusions on financial stability from the bailout of Cyprus, which rattled markets globally over the last week. It is still "early days," Richard Berner, the newly appointed director of the U.S. Treasury's Office of Financial Research, said when asked what lessons the United States might learn. (Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Paul Simao) Full Story | Top |
| In snub to Assad, opposition takes Syria's Arab summit seat Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 03:12 PM PDT  By Sami Aboudi and Yara Bayoumy DOHA (Reuters) - To applause from Arab heads of state, a foe of Bashar al-Assad took Syria's vacant seat at an Arab summit on Tuesday, deepening the president's diplomatic isolation and diverting attention from rifts among his opponents. Speaking at an annual gathering of Arab leaders in the Gulf state of Qatar, Moaz Alkhatib said he had asked U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for American forces to help defend rebel-controlled northern parts of Syria with Patriot surface-to-air missiles now based in Turkey. NATO swiftly rebuffed the idea. ... Full Story | Top |
| Outside U.S. Supreme Court, another kind of gay marriage debate Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 03:11 PM PDT By Joseph Ax and Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the U.S. Supreme Court began deliberations Tuesday on California's gay marriage ban, thousands of protesters outside staged their own version of oral arguments, underscoring the social and political tensions at stake. Gay marriage opponents paraded past the Supreme Court building as part of the March for Marriage, while gay marriage advocates held a rally at the steps of the white-columned high court. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: History casts doubt on bold Japan economic reform Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 02:51 PM PDT  By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - If past is precedent, optimists hoping Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will defy vested interests to take bold action to open the country to more competition as a way to spur growth could well be in for disappointment. Japan's list of reports urging reforms date back almost three decades and have rarely led to the bold action that critics say is needed to dig the economy out of stagnation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Court to weigh IRS penalties on alleged tax dodges Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 02:49 PM PDT By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Internal Revenue Service's practice of slapping steep, 40-percent penalties on participants in certain alleged tax shelters will soon come to trial before the Supreme Court. Though it rarely hears tax matters, the court has decided to weigh in on a case involving Texas billionaire Billy Joe "Red" McCombs, a former owner of professional sports teams. The court's decision, not expected until June 2014, will likely have implications beyond McCombs' case, tax lawyers said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Supreme Court seems poised to avoid same-sex marriage tide Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 02:44 PM PDT  By Joan Biskupic WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For nearly four years, proponents of same-sex marriage have been strategically building a test case aimed at convincing the conservative-leaning Supreme Court to declare that gay marriage is a constitutional right. The advocates felt they were ready. But on Tuesday, after an intense, wide-ranging hearing, it appeared the justices were not. Over the course of the 80-minute session, it seemed that for the array of gay rights supporters across the country, neither their greatest hopes nor worst fears would be realized. ... Full Story | Top |
| Monsanto, DuPont strike $1.75 billion licensing deal, end lawsuits Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 02:40 PM PDT  By Carey Gillam (Reuters) - DuPont Co will pay Monsanto Co at least $1.75 billion in a new licensing deal and both companies have agreed to dissolve their bitter legal battles over rights to technology for genetically modified seeds, the world's top seed companies said on Tuesday. The companies agreed to drop antitrust and patent claims against each other while forging the new collaboration, and agreed to toss out a $1 billion jury verdict DuPont was ordered to pay Monsanto last August. Separately, DuPont will make at least $1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Little hope seen for millions priced out of health overhaul Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 02:39 PM PDT  By Tom Brown MIAMI (Reuters) - Millions of Americans will be priced out of health insurance under President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul because of a glitch in the law that adversely affects people with modest incomes who cannot afford family coverage offered by their employers, a leading healthcare advocacy group said on Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
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