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| CA-NEWS Summary Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 12:07 AM PDT Egyptian president sees elections in October: MENA 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. Quake measuring 6. ... 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 |
| Quake measuring 6.1 shakes Taiwan, no reports of damage Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:58 PM PDT  TAIPEI (Reuters) - An earthquake with a magnitude of at least 6.1 shook Taiwan on Wednesday, official agencies said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The U.S. Geological Survey registered the quake with a magnitude of 6.3. The epicenter of the quake was near central Taiwan at a depth of about 15 km (9 miles), said Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau, which uses the Richter scale. Earthquakes occur frequently in Taiwan, which lies on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific basin. In September 1999, a 7. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| F-35 fighter transforming defense industry says retiring chief Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 08:29 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The retiring chief of the trouble-plagued F-35 Joint Strike Fighter says he remains bullish about the hi-tech war plane, with costs soon to be further reduced as production takes off, and believes the program will transform the aerospace industry. Tom Burbage, a former Navy test pilot and general manager of the F-35 program since its inception 12 years ago, said the $396 billion weapons program, which will create a supersonic, single-engine fighter jet for use by the United States and its allies, still made strategic sense. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| Kenya to hear petition challenging Kenyatta's vote win Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 04:07 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 |
| Guinea opposition abandons vote talks, threatens protests Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 04:01 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 |
| 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 |
| What's at stake in U.N. arms trade treaty negotiations? Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 02:28 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Members of the United Nations are in the final days of negotiations on what could become the first international treaty to regulate the $70 billion global conventional arms trade. The treaty drafting conference at the U.N.'s headquarters in New York City will continue through Thursday. A new draft text was circulated to the states participating in the conference last Friday, which rights groups criticized as disappointing. Following are questions and answers about the arms treaty conference. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N.'s Ban recommends African troops in Mali become peacekeepers Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 02:23 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 |
| Delays in Poland's CIA jails case "endangering evidence" Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 01:44 PM PDT By Christian Lowe WARSAW (Reuters) - Delays in Poland's investigation into whether the CIA ran secret jails on its soil could have caused evidence to be lost and given security services time to cover their tracks, according to a submission to the European Court of Human Rights. Lawyers for Saudi-born Abu Zubaydah, who alleges he was held illegally by the CIA in Poland, on Tuesday submitted an application the court to hear their client's case. They argued there was no hope of him receiving fair treatment inside Poland. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea says ready for combat as sanctions tighten Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 01:16 PM PDT  By Jack Kim and Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea repeated threats on Tuesday to target U.S. military bases as Washington and its allies tightened economic sanctions against the isolated country by targeting Pyongyang's main foreign exchange bank with new measures. The rhetoric from North Korea - which has threatened the United States with nuclear war and rehearsed drone attacks on South Korea - and Washington's hardening reaction, drew more concern from China, Pyongyang's only major ally, which said the situation was "sensitive". ... Full Story | Top |
| Rwanda grenade attack kills one, injures eight: police Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 12:39 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 |
| Arab leaders set up $1 billion Arab fund for Jerusalem Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 12:38 PM PDT By Sami Aboudi DOHA (Reuters) - The Arab League on Tuesday approved a Qatari proposal to set up a $1 billion fund for Arab East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as the capital of an independent state under any peace deal with Israel. Arabs say that Israeli settlement-building on land captured in the 1967 Middle East war, including Arab East Jerusalem, has made a two-state solution backed by the United States unfeasible. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt activist released in case that raises fears for democracy Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 12:18 PM PDT  By Asma Alsharif CAIRO (Reuters) - A prominent Egyptian political activist accused of inciting violence against President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood was released without bail on Tuesday after he turned himself in for questioning, the prosecutor general's office said. Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a blogger who became a symbol of the uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak in 2011, was among five activists the prosecutor general ordered on Monday be arrested - a step the opposition decried as a reversal for democracy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain's rejection of talks will delay political resolution: ETA Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 12:13 PM PDT MADRID (Reuters) - Basque separatists ETA on Tuesday said the Spanish government's rejection of talks with the group until it dissolves itself would delay the process initiated to end a four-decade armed struggle for independence. In a statement published by Basque newspaper Naiz, ETA said the government stance was a step backwards "which would delay and make more difficult the resolution of the conflict." Spain's government in November rejected an offer of talks and demanded the group dissolve without conditions after ETA called for negotiations on prisoners and a weapons handover. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guinea election talks fail, opposition threatens protests Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:56 AM PDT  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 not respecting terms of a planned dialogue over preparations for elections due in May. 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 |
| Ethiopia's ruling coalition completes transition after Meles Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:48 AM 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 |
| Italy parties still far from deal: Berlusconi ally Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:38 AM PDT  By Naomi O'Leary ROME (Reuters) - Formation of a new Italian government is still a long way off and unless political differences can be overcome, the country may be headed for fresh elections, a senior official of Silvio Berlusconi's center-right party said on Tuesday. Last month's elections created a political deadlock, but pressure to form a government to address Italy's heavy debt burden and sluggish economy increased this week, when a difficult bailout of Cyprus rattled markets and stirred concerns about the return of crisis to the euro zone periphery. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian foreign minister resigns over marines' return to India Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:34 AM PDT  By Steve Scherer ROME (Reuters) - Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi resigned on Tuesday over his government's decision to return two marines to India to face trial for the murder of local fishermen while on anti-piracy duty. Terzi said he was stepping down to protect the "honor of the country, of the armed forces, and Italian diplomacy", during testimony to the lower house of parliament, drawing loud applause from lawmakers. "I can no longer be part of this government and I announce my resignation," he said. "My reservations about sending the marines back to India were not listened to. ... Full Story | Top |
| Summit says Arab states have right to arm Syria rebels Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:21 AM PDT DOHA (Reuters) - An Arab summit agreed on Tuesday that Arab League member states had the right to provide military support to Syrians fighting President Bashar al-Assad, according to a draft declaration obtained by Reuters. The summit, meeting in the Gulf state of Qatar, urged regional and international organizations to recognize the opposition National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people, the draft said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Looters, gunmen roam Central African Republic capital after coup Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 11:20 AM PDT  By Ange Aboa BANGUI (Reuters) - Looters and gunmen roamed the streets of Central African Republic's capital Bangui on Tuesday as rebels and regional peacekeepers struggled to restore order two days after a coup plunged the mineral-rich country into chaos. The ousting of President Francois Bozize and the political turmoil around it has raised fears of a humanitarian crisis in the former French colony - and embarrassed regional power South Africa which had sent troops to defend the government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Polish PM takes gamble by endorsing euro referendum Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 10:44 AM PDT  By Pawel Sobczak WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's prime minister paved the way for a referendum on joining the euro, dropping objections to a ballot that could all but extinguish emerging Europe's waning love affair with a currency that has lost much of its luster. Adopting the euro has been a central goal for Donald Tusk since he came to power in 2007, and he said that failure to join the currency bloc could leave Warsaw stuck on the periphery of European affairs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia says it seeks to stop recruitment to fight in Syria Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 10:36 AM 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 radicalized. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa jails Nigerian militant for 24 years Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 10:35 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African court sentenced suspected former Niger Delta rebel leader Henry Okah to 24 years in jail on Tuesday for masterminding two deadly car bombings in the Nigerian capital in 2010, officials said. The bombs killed at least 10 people during Independence Day celebrations in Abuja. Okah was convicted in January on 13 counts, including conspiracy to commit terrorism and detonating explosives. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bulgaria ex-minister faces corruption charge over EU food scheme Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 10:15 AM PDT SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's former agriculture minister Miroslav Naidenov was charged on Tuesday with corruption linked to a EU-backed food distribution scheme and trying to bribe a subordinate, as the interim government tries to tackle widespread graft. Naidenov is the first minister to be charged from the previous government led by Boiko Borisov's GERB party that was widely accused of failing to tackle chronic crime and resigned last month after protests against low living standards. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Monti says "astonished" by foreign minister resignation Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 10:13 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italian caretaker Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi had not informed him of his plan to resign, and that he would address parliament on the return of the marines to India to face trial on Wednesday. Monti said he was "astonished" by Terzi's decision to step down because the two met earlier on Tuesday and Terzi did not tell him he would resign. ... Full Story | Top |
| Saudis say have evidence of spy suspects' links to Iran Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 10:07 AM PDT RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that people it arrested on suspicion of spying this month had direct links to the intelligence services of Iran, its main rival for influence in the Gulf. "Preliminary investigations, physical evidence which has been collected and statements from the accused in this case have shown a direct link between members of this cell and Iran's intelligence apparatus," said a security spokesman for the Interior Ministry quoted by the official news agency. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan asks rebels to help draft constitution as tensions ease Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 09:58 AM 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 neighbor 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 |
| Car bomb hits Syrian capital as rebels press closer Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 09:53 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb killed at least three people, wounded dozens and blew the windows out of buildings in northeastern Damascus on Tuesday as rebel fighters stepped up attacks in the Syrian capital, pro-government television stations said. The al-Ikhbariya news channel said the explosion went off near a military supply office. Addounia TV gave a preliminary toll of three people killed. Both attributed the blast to a suicide bomber in a car. But opposition activists in the area said it was not clear if it was by a bomb or a mortar round. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian raids on German groups may harm ties: Berlin Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 09:22 AM PDT  By Gareth Jones BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany complained to Russia on Tuesday about a series of tax raids on non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including two German think tanks, saying the action could harm bilateral ties already strained by the Cyprus crisis. The tax inspections of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) appear to be part of a wider ongoing probe by Moscow of Russian and Western NGOs that activists say is aimed at stifling political dissent. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. slams North Korea threats, warns ready for "any contingency" Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 09:10 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Tuesday condemned North Korea's threats to target U.S. military bases, saying the United States was ready to respond to "any contingency." "We're concerned about any threat raised by the North Koreans," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters. "They need to stop threatening peace on the peninsula, that doesn't help anyone ... and we stand ready to respond to any contingency." (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Vicki Allen) Full Story | Top |
| Egypt court postpones ruling on Muslim Brotherhood's legality Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 08:43 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court postponed on Tuesday a ruling on whether President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood is illegal, agreeing to the Islamist group's request for more time to present evidence in a case that has put it on the defensive. Brought by anti-Brotherhood lawyers, the court case points to the deep antipathy some harbor towards a group that was formally dissolved in 1954 and forced to operate underground until President Hosni Mubarak was ousted two years ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: "Rock star" campaign may not be enough for Venezuela's Capriles Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 08:07 AM PDT  By Andrew Cawthorne MATURIN, Venezuela (Reuters) - Emerging from his bus, Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles is engulfed by frenzied female supporters who push past bodyguards to hug, kiss and photograph their idol. Most are young and have been waiting for hours under the sun to see him. ... Full Story | Top |
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