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| CA-NEWS Summary Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:19 AM PDT North Korea to cut all channels with South SEOUL (Reuters) - Reclusive North Korea is to cut the last channel of communications with the South because war could break out at "any moment", it said on Wednesday, days of after warning the United States and South Korea of nuclear attack. The move is the latest in a series of bellicose threats from North Korea in response to new U.N. sanctions imposed after its third nuclear test in February and to "hostile" military drills under way joining the United States and South Korea. ... Full Story | Top |
| Red-tape Belgium falls behind euro zone peers Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:18 AM PDT  (Please note strong language in line 62) By Robin Emmott and Ben Deighton CHARLEROI, Belgium (Reuters) - Just a day after giving birth, Belgian entrepreneur Esmeralda Desart was back at work running her export business, putting in the kind of 16-hour day that has become the norm since she started up a company selling printer parts in 2007. Refused bank loans, looking after a baby was just one more concern as Desart confronted the problems of red tape and rising costs that entrepreneurs say are making her homeland at the heart of the euro zone a bad place for business. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's Mandela back in hospital with lung infection Thursday, Mar 28, 2013 12:14 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been admitted to hospital with a recurrence of a lung infection, the government said on Thursday. A statement said the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader was admitted shortly before midnight. It gave no further details other than to say he was receiving the "best possible expert medical treatment and comfort". Mandela was admitted briefly to hospital earlier this month for a check up. However, he spent nearly three weeks in hospital in December with a lung infection and after surgery to remove gallstones. ... Full Story | Top |
| Democratic hopes dashed for Hong Kong 2017 election Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 11:11 PM PDT  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hopes that Hong Kong's 2017 election will be genuinely democratic have been dashed after a senior Chinese leader said, regardless of the vote, Beijing will have the final say on who is appointed Hong Kong's next leader. Qiao Xiaoyang, chairman of the law committee of the National People's Congress, said China will not allow someone who "confronts" Beijing to become Hong Kong's leader. "First, the nomination committee will decide. Then voters in Hong Kong will decide. ... Full Story | Top |
| Train hauling Canadian oil derails in Minnesota Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 08:44 PM PDT  By David Sheppard and Jeffrey Jones NEW YORK/CALGARY (Reuters) - A mile-long train hauling oil from Canada derailed, spilling 30,000 gallons of crude in western Minnesota on Wednesday, as debate rages over the environmental risks of transporting tar sands across the border. The major spill, the first since the start of a boom in North American crude-by-rail transport three years ago, came when 14 cars on a 94-car Canadian Pacific train left the tracks about 150 miles northwest of Minneapolis near the town of Parkers Prairie, the Otter Tail Sheriff's Department said. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea to cut all channels with South Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 08:14 PM PDT  SEOUL (Reuters) - Reclusive North Korea is to cut the last channel of communications with the South because war could break out at "any moment", it said on Wednesday, days of after warning the United States and South Korea of nuclear attack. The move is the latest in a series of bellicose threats from North Korea in response to new U.N. sanctions imposed after its third nuclear test in February and to "hostile" military drills under way joining the United States and South Korea. The North has already stopped responding to calls on the hotline to the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Despite threats, North Korea keeps border factories open Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 08:13 PM PDT  By Ju-min Park PAJU, South Korea (Reuters) - A heavily armed border crossing between North and South Korea that allows the North access to $2 billion in trade a year, one of its few avenues to foreign currency, remained open on Thursday despite Pyongyang's move to cut communications. North Korea on Wednesday severed the last of three telephone hotlines with South Korea as it readied its troops to face what it believes to be "hostile" action from Seoul and Washington. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nations close to deal on U.N. arms trade treaty: envoys Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 07:39 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations members on Wednesday were close to a deal on the first international treaty to regulate the $70 billion global conventional arms trade, though delegates and rights groups said India, Iran or others could still block agreement. Arms control campaigners and human rights groups say one person dies every minute worldwide as a result of armed violence and a treaty is needed to halt the uncontrolled flow of arms and ammunition they say fuels wars, atrocities and rights abuses. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former Chilean leader Bachelet seeking presidential comeback Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 06:01 PM PDT  By Alexandra Ulmer SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet ended months of speculation late on Wednesday by announcing she will run in a November presidential election that she is favored to win. A popular center-leftist who ruled the copper-exporting nation from 2006 to 2010, Bachelet will likely face a candidate from the right-wing bloc of President Sebastian Pinera, who is barred from seeking a consecutive term under the constitution. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain opens inquest into Berezovsky's unexplained death Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 04:55 PM PDT  By Maria Golovnina LONDON (Reuters) - Britain opens a judicial inquiry into the death of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky on Thursday to establish how he died in the locked bathroom of his vast mansion near London. Berezovsky, who survived years of intrigue, power struggles and assassination attempts in Russia, was found dead on Saturday in his home in Ascot, a town close to Queen Elizabeth's Windsor Castle. Police said there was no sign of a struggle and the 67-year-old's death was "consistent with hanging", suggesting he might have killed himself. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazilian doctor charged with 7 murders, may have killed 300: investigator Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 04:39 PM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - A Brazilian doctor who was charged with killing seven patients to free up beds at a hospital intensive care unit may have been responsible for as many as 300 deaths, according to a Health Ministry investigator. Prosecutors said Dr. Virginia Soares de Souza and her medical team administered muscle relaxing drugs to patients, then reduced their oxygen supply, causing them to die of asphyxia at the Evangelical Hospital in the southern city of Curitiba. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council concerned Syria war spilling over into Golan Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 04:23 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council voiced concern on Wednesday about repeated violations of the ceasefire line between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and the danger to U.N. peacekeepers there due to the escalating Syrian civil war. The armed struggle between rebels and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has posed increasing difficulties for the 1,000-strong U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). U.N. peacekeepers monitoring the line halted patrols this month after rebels held 21 Filipino observers for three days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Eritrean man gets 9 years in prison for aiding Somalia's al Shabaab Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 04:18 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Eritrean man who admitted to having ties to the al Qaeda-linked militant group al Shabaab was sentenced on Wednesday to 9-1/4 years in prison, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan said. Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to provide material support to al Shabaab, and to conspiring to receive military-type training from the group. Ahmed, 38, was arrested in Nigeria in November 2009 and brought to Manhattan federal court to face U.S. terrorism charges in March 2010. He is an Eritrean national and a permanent resident of Sweden. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition opens first embassy, says world lets it down Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 04:11 PM PDT  By Yara Bayoumy and Regan Doherty DOHA (Reuters) - A Syrian opposition bloc recognized by the Arab League as the sole representative for Syria opened its first embassy in Qatar on Wednesday in a diplomatic blow to President Bashar al-Assad. But opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib, who took Syria's seat at an Arab summit in Doha on Tuesday, used the ribbon-cutting ceremony to voice his frustration with world powers for failing to do more to help in the two-year-old struggle to topple Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sanctions noose makes it harder for Japan's Koreans to help their own Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 03:57 PM PDT  By Ju-min Park TOKYO (Reuters) - When the now elderly man left Japan on a Soviet ship in 1960 for North Korea, he thought he was headed to the promised land. In reality, he survived 47 years there thanks only to $1 million in support from his half-brother in Japan. The man's Korean-born parents decided to migrate to North Korea when he was a teenager, lured by the promise of free education and healthcare in a country that at the time was richer than South Korea in the wake of the 1950-53 Korean War. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy politics still stuck as Bersani to face president Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 01:51 PM PDT  By James Mackenzie ROME (Reuters) - Italian center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani was left on Wednesday with only slim hope of forming a government after talks with rival party leaders ended with rejection from Beppe Grillo's 5-Star Movement. Bersani said he would report back to President Giorgio Napolitano on Thursday and called on all parties to "accept their responsibilities" and allow a government to be formed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamist leader threatens to oust Tunisian Prime Minister Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 01:22 PM PDT  By Tarek Amara Tunis (Reuters) - The fugitive leader of a radical Islamist group threatened on Wednesday to overthrow Tunisia's government, one day after the prime minister accused him of smuggling weapons into the North African country. Saif-Allah Benahssine, leader of radical Islamists Ansar al-Sharia, said in a statement on its web page that he would topple Prime Minister Ali Larayedh and throw him into the "dustbin of history" if the government interfered with the group. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt could hold delayed election in October: Mursi Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 12:53 PM PDT  By Tom Perry and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi said on Wednesday parliamentary elections could be delayed until October, a postponement which could give his cash-strapped administration breathing space to negotiate an IMF deal. 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 fell apart this month when a court canceled the presidential decree setting the dates. "Perhaps the elections will be held in the coming October," state news agency MENA quoted Mursi as saying. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hollande's popularity at new low as he grapples with French economy: poll Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 12:35 PM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande's popularity rating has fallen to its lowest level since he came to power, a poll found on Wednesday, a day before he is due to address the nation to ask for patience as he attempts to revive the economy. Ten months into his tenure, the Socialist president is struggling to reverse rising jobless claims, which are at their highest level in 15 years, and to stimulate an economy teetering near recession. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy center-right says Bersani has closed door on government deal Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 12:13 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - There will be no scope for a deal to form a government in Italy unless center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani changes his negotiating position, the national secretary of Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party said on Wednesday. "The question is closed, and it is Bersani who has closed it," Angelino Alfano said in a strongly worded statement. Alfano said that after refusing the PDL's offer to join forces in a coalition government Bersani now finds himself in "blind alley." However, Alfano still left the door ajar to a deal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pockets of resistance still in Central African Republic Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 12:02 PM PDT  By Ange Aboa BANGUI (Reuters) - Rebel forces and international peacekeepers mopped up pockets of resistance on Wednesday in Central African Republic after a weekend coup but life in the capital was mostly returning to normal after three days of looting. Up to 5,000 rebels swept into the riverside town on Sunday, killing at least 13 South African soldiers in intense fighting and forcing President Francois Bozize to flee in the latest conflict to destabilize the landlocked former French colony. ... Full Story | Top |
| Czech court throws out treason charges against ex-president Klaus Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 11:57 AM PDT  By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - A Czech court threw out treason charges against former President Vaclav Klaus on Wednesday, clearing the euroskeptic politician of accusations that marred his final days in office and underlined the deep divisions he left in society. Klaus was impeached by the upper house of parliament, the Senate, on March 4, in a dramatic but mostly symbolic vote. It accused him of violating the constitution by refusing to sign European treaties and by granting an amnesty that freed thousands of prisoners and halted dozens of fraud prosecutions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy PM Monti says he "can't wait" to leave office Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 11:20 AM PDT By Steve Scherer ROME (Reuters) - Caretaker Prime Minister Mario Monti, looking tired and distraught, said on Wednesday he was ready to leave office a day after a prominent member of his government resigned over the handling of a dispute with India. Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi - without informing Monti of his intentions - announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying he disagreed with the government's decision to send two marines accused of murder to India to stand trial. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. hopes chemical arms team deploys to Syria soon: envoys Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 11:15 AM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations hopes that a team investigating allegations about the use of chemical weapons in Syria's civil war will deploy to the country as early as next week, U.N. diplomatic sources said on Wednesday. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday named Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom to head the U.N. team. ... Full Story | Top |
| Knox case puts spotlight on Italy's dysfunctional legal system Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 11:05 AM PDT  By Barry Moody ROME (Reuters) - The decision to order a retrial of American Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of her British housemate has put the spotlight back on Italy's courts, where years of legal process often fail to uncover the truth. Knox and the family of murdered British student Meredith Kercher said they hoped the case would finally be solved after Italy's highest court on Tuesday ordered a retrial for the 2007 murder in the Umbrian hill town of Perugia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libya considers aid for Egypt, no decision yet: PM Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 10:46 AM PDT DOHA (Reuters) - Libya is considering extending financial aid to Egypt to help its North African neighbor overcome a severe economic crisis, Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zaidan said on Wednesday. Egypt, which has endured more than two years of political instability since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, is struggling with sliding currency reserves, falling tourism and a soaring budget deficit. OPEC-producer Libya is itself rebuilding after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bosnian Serb policemen get 22 years for Yugoslavia war crimes Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 10:40 AM PDT  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Judges in The Hague on Wednesday sentenced two former Bosnian Serb police officers to 22 years' jail for their role in war crimes and crimes against humanity during the break-up of Yugoslavia more than 20 years ago. They ruled Mico Stanisic and Stojan Zupljanin contributed to a plan to permanently remove non-Serbs from the territory of a planned Serb state in parts of multi-ethnic Bosnia by committing acts of violence against Muslims and ethnic Croats. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Devil's Advocate" convicted in London of being fake lawyer Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 10:30 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - An Italian man known as the "Devil's Advocate" who said he provided legal representation to the likes of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, was not a genuine lawyer but a fraudster, a jury at a London court ruled on Wednesday. Giovanni Di Stefano, 57, conned clients out of large sums of money by setting himself up as a lawyer when he had no legal qualifications and was not registered to work as a lawyer in Italy or Britain. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian refugees clash with police in Turkish camp Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 10:29 AM PDT By Kadir Celikcan AKCAKALE, Turkey (Reuters) - Syrian refugees threw rocks at Turkish military police who fired teargas and water cannon on Wednesday, the latest unrest in camps struggling to cope with a flood of people fleeing a civil war. Reuters TV filmed the scenes at the Suleiman Shah refugee camp, near the Turkish town of Akcakale on the Syrian border, as dozens of protesters threw stones and smashed the windows of a fire truck. Camp residents said young men started the protest after faulty electrics set a tent on fire which injured three brothers aged seven, 18 and 19. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia seeks to underpin Afghan security after NATO pullout Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 10:22 AM PDT  By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia wants play a role in keeping Afghanistan stable after the withdrawal of most NATO combat troops by maintaining government military hardware on Afghan soil, a senior military official said on Wednesday. In a meeting with foreign military attaches in Moscow, Sergei Koshelev underscored that Russia is worried about threats to its security after the pullout of most foreign forces from Afghanistan, which borders ex-Soviet states in Central Asia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenya's Odinga says technology failures led to vote fraud Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 10:12 AM PDT  By James Macharia NAIROBI (Reuters) - Lawyers challenging Uhuru Kenyatta's victory in the Kenyan presidential election said on Wednesday new technology meant to counter fraud had broken down, leading to a manipulated vote count. Losing candidate Raila Odinga is contesting the result in court and both sides have agreed to accept the outcome. A disputed vote five years ago ignited tribal violence that dented Kenya's reputation as a stable democracy but the presidential election on March 4 took place without bloodshed. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. aims to approve Congo "search and destroy" force Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 10:10 AM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council aims to approve on Thursday the creation of a special force that would carry out "targeted offensive operations" to wipe out armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, council diplomats said. The 15-member Security Council was still negotiating on Wednesday a draft resolution to establish the so-called intervention brigade within the existing 20,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo, known as MONUSCO. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kosovo hopeful on deal with Serbia to end ethnic partition Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 10:06 AM PDT  By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - Kosovo's foreign minister said on Wednesday he anticipated a breakthrough with Serbia when the two countries' prime ministers meet next week to discuss an end to the ethnic partition of the former Serbian province. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's 2008 secession, but is under pressure from the European Union to improve ties and help overcome a split between Kosovo's Albanian majority and a small Serb enclave in the north. ... Full Story | Top |
| Saudi prosecutor demands execution of Shi'ite cleric Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 10:03 AM PDT  RIYADH (Reuters) - A Saudi Arabian prosecutor has demanded the death penalty for a Shi'ite Muslim cleric whose arrest last summer triggered deadly protests in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, local media reported on Wednesday. Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, long seen as a radical leader in the Shi'ite minority, appeared in court on Monday for the first time since his arrest in July, the Saudi Gazette reported. ... Full Story | Top |
| Communal violence kills at least 27 in central Nigeria Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 10:00 AM PDT JOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - Clashes between rival ethnic groups in central Nigeria killed at least 27 people on Wednesday, witnesses said, in a region straddling the country's largely Christian south and mostly Muslim north that is prone to civil unrest. Witnesses said armed Fulani herdsmen attacked the villages of Da Jak and Attakar in Plateau state in the early hours, spraying residents with automatic gunfire and torching houses. "They came at night and overran the village. They were shooting people, just murdering, and burned down the houses," villager Dung Sati told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian court portrays dead whistleblower as money-hungry schemer Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 09:56 AM PDT  By Maria Tsvetkova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian prosecutors portrayed a dead anti-corruption lawyer as a money-hungry schemer who used mentally disabled people to avoid paying taxes, in a case that has highlighted human rights concerns following Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency. The courtroom cage normally reserved for defendants stood empty as prosecutors called witnesses to testify that Sergei Magnitsky, who worked for a law firm hired by Hermitage Capital Management, exploited loopholes for financial gain. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition chief stakes out independent line Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 09:53 AM PDT By William Maclean DOHA (Reuters) - Could the head of Syria's fractious opposition achieve the seemingly impossible - build a unified movement capable of toppling President Bashar al-Assad, without becoming beholden to foreign powers or a particular sect or ideology? An assertive performance at an Arab summit in Qatar this week showed that independent-minded Moaz Alkhatib is prepared to take risks in pursuit of this goal, banking on populist rhetoric and his personal popularity inside Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea to cut all channels with South as "war may break out any time" Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 09:43 AM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - Reclusive North Korea is to cut the last channel of communications with the South because war could break out at "any moment", it said on Wednesday, days of after warning the United States and South Korea of nuclear attack. The move is the latest in a series of bellicose threats from North Korea in response to new U.N. sanctions imposed after its third nuclear test in February and to "hostile" military drills under way joining the United States and South Korea. The North has already stopped responding to calls on the hotline to the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former Kyrgyz leader's son sentenced in absentia for graft Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 09:42 AM PDT  BISHKEK (Reuters) - A court in Kyrgyzstan has sentenced the son of fugitive former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to 25 years in absentia for corruption, the prosecutor general's office said on Wednesday. Maksim Bakiyev, who, like his father, fled the central Asian country after a popular uprising in April 2010, now lives in Britain, where he is already awaiting possible extradition to the United States on fraud charges. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: After pact, much still divides the Sudans Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013 09:25 AM PDT  By Hereward Holland JAU, South Sudan (Reuters) - South Sudan's deal to sell oil to Swiss-based trader Trafigura, made public on Wednesday, shows how new detente with Sudan may revive trade, but much can yet derail a pact meant to stifle hostility along their disputed border. Landlocked South Sudan, independent since 2011 after decades of civil war, is to resume oil exports it shut off 14 months ago in a dispute over transit fees with Sudan's government in Khartoum. The Trafigura deal, to pump crude to Sudan's Red Sea terminal at Port Sudan, is a mark of its intent. ... Full Story | Top |
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