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| Dutch gather in Amsterdam as royals prepare for handover Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 12:27 AM PDT  By Thomas Escritt and Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Willem-Alexander becomes the first King of the Netherlands in more than 120 years on Tuesday when Queen Beatrix passes the crown to her eldest son. Thousands of well-wishers gathered in Amsterdam's Dam Square early on Tuesday, waiting to see the new King and Queen when they step out on the balcony of the Royal Palace. ... Full Story | Top |
| China dissident's brother says home attacked nightly with dead poultry, bottles Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 12:23 AM PDT  By Terril Yue Jones BEIJING (Reuters) - Security personnel in eastern China are carrying out a nightly harassment campaign against the brother of blind rights activist Chen Guangcheng, the two said on Tuesday, throwing rocks, bottles and dead poultry at his house for 12 nights in a row. The attacks on the village home of Chen Guangfu continued early on Tuesday, he said. Two cars parked outside his house in Shandong province, shining their headlights through the windows and again security personnel threw rocks and beer bottles at the house and into the yard, he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus parliament decides on bailout, likely to vote yes Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 12:06 AM PDT  By Michele Kambas NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus's parliament decides on Tuesday whether to back a bailout imposed by its EU partners, with approval likely from a thin majority against mounting calls for the island to exit the euro. Lawmakers were due to meet in an extraordinary session to ratify the terms of the aid, which is conditional on Cyprus winding down its second-largest bank and imposing heavy losses on uninsured depositors in another. Voting was expected on Tuesday afternoon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy wants to renegotiate stability pact: minister Monday, Apr 29, 2013 11:35 PM PDT  MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's new government wants to renegotiate the pact of stability with the European Union, the industry minister said in an interview on Tuesday. Flavio Zanonato said Italy needed to pursue a credible economic policy to maintain its reputation in Europe and keep the spread between Italian and German bond yields low. "But we are also interested in renegotiating with the union the pact of stability," he told La Repubblica newspaper. Zanonato said other countries such as France were calling for similar actions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinian kills Israeli settler in West Bank Monday, Apr 29, 2013 11:33 PM PDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Palestinian man stabbed and shot dead an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Israeli ambulance service and police said. It was the first time an Israeli has been killed by a Palestinian in the West Bank since 2011. Israeli media said the attacker was standing at a bus stop used by settlers, Israeli soldiers and Palestinians at a junction near the Palestinian city of Nablus. He then stabbed the settler, before seizing the man's gun and shooting him. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Why did Cypriot banks keep buying Greek bonds? Monday, Apr 29, 2013 10:33 PM PDT  By Michele Kambas, Stephen Grey and Stelios Orphanides NICOSIA (Reuters) - One day last October, a memory stick containing special software for deleting data was placed into a desktop computer at Bank of Cyprus. Within minutes, 28,000 files were erased, according to investigators who had wanted to copy the data for an official report into the collapse of the Cypriot banking system. ... Full Story | Top |
| Saudi-U.S. relations to withstand North American oil boom Monday, Apr 29, 2013 10:03 PM PDT  By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Experts say Asia and Iran are the keys to maintaining a strong - but evolving - U.S.-Saudi Arabia energy relationship. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi is expected to share his optimistic view on the future of Asian oil demand on Tuesday when he gives a major energy speech, billed as the first in the United States in four years. As the United States produces oil at the highest levels in 20 years thanks to the shale boom, Saudi Arabia's confidence in Asian markets could help keep relations between the two countries on track. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arab League seems to soften Israeli-Palestinian peace plan Monday, Apr 29, 2013 09:39 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Arab states appeared to soften their 2002 peace plan on Monday when a top Qatari official said Israel and the Palestinians could trade land rather than conform exactly to their 1967 borders. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, made the comment after he and a group of Arab officials met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss how to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sanford deflects talk of affair in South Carolina debate Monday, Apr 29, 2013 09:21 PM PDT  By Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Former Governor Mark Sanford deflected criticism of an extramarital affair leveled in a debate on Monday by his opponent for a South Carolina congressional seat, political newcomer Elizabeth Colbert Busch. Sanford, a Republican, is hoping to revive his political career after he famously disappeared from the state in 2009 while he was governor to visit his mistress in Argentina, telling aides that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arizona law forces cities to resell guns from buy-back programs Monday, Apr 29, 2013 09:11 PM PDT  By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on Monday signed legislation forcing municipalities to resell firearms from gun buy-back programs rather than destroy them, closing a loophole in the conservative state's laws. Brewer, a Republican and staunch gun rights advocate, signed the bill preventing local governments from melting down the weapons obtained from these popular civic events. Before the new law, the state had allowed such firearms to be destroyed. A spokesman for Brewer could not immediately be reached for comment late on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Retailers to compensate victims of Bangladesh disaster Monday, Apr 29, 2013 08:45 PM PDT  By Ruma Paul and Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - Two Western retailers have promised to compensate families of garment workers killed while making their clothes in a Bangladesh factory building that collapsed last week in the country's worst industrial accident. The pledge from Britain's Primark and Canada's Loblaw came after the owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza was brought before a court in Dhaka on Monday, where lawyers and protesters chanted "hang him, hang him". ... Full Story | Top |
| Task force calls for routine HIV testing for all adults Monday, Apr 29, 2013 07:42 PM PDT  By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - An influential U.S. panel is calling for HIV screening for all Americans aged 15 to 65, regardless of whether they are considered to be at high risk, a change that may help lift some of the stigma associated with HIV testing. The new guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a government-backed panel of doctors and scientists, now align with longstanding recommendations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing of all adults aged 15 to 65, regardless of their risk. ... Full Story | Top |
| China says detains 19, seizes weapons after Xinjiang unrest Monday, Apr 29, 2013 07:39 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have detained 19 people and seized homemade explosives and weapons following a bloody clash between residents and officials which killed 21 people last week in the restive region of Xinjiang, state media reported. The violence, in the heavily ethnic Uighur part of Xinjiang near the old Silk Road city of Kashgar, was the deadliest in the far western region since July 2009, when nearly 200 people were killed in riots in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge questions fraud statute's use against Bank of America Monday, Apr 29, 2013 07:27 PM PDT  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Manhattan judge indicated Monday he was "troubled" by how the U.S. government applied a rarely used law in a suit against Bank of America Corp over the sale of toxic mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac . The hearing before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff marked a challenge of the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to bring fraud lawsuits against Wall Street banks under a powerful law enacted following the savings and loan scandals of the 1980s. ... Full Story | Top |
| New database focuses on China's secretive aid to Africa Monday, Apr 29, 2013 06:27 PM PDT By Paul Eckert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Economic development researchers on Monday unveiled a database of China's aid to Africa in an effort to work around Beijing's secrecy about the numbers, as a debate rages over the intentions and impact of Chinese assistance. The study and database by the Washington-based Center for Global Development and AidData, a research project, includes 1,673 Chinese development finance projects worth $75 billion in 50 African countries from the years 2000-2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Death penalty expert Clarke joins defense of Boston bomb suspect Monday, Apr 29, 2013 06:13 PM PDT By Terry Baynes (Reuters) - Prominent criminal defense lawyer Judy Clarke, who has represented defendants in some of the most high-profile death penalty cases in recent years, has joined the legal defense team for accused Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, according to court documents. San Diego-based Clarke defended Jared Loughner, who pleaded guilty last year to an Arizona shooting rampage that wounded then-U.S. representative Gabrielle Giffords and was spared the death penalty. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mississippi man makes court appearance in ricin letters case Monday, Apr 29, 2013 05:55 PM PDT  By Robbie Ward TUPELO, Mississippi (Reuters) - A Mississippi martial arts instructor suspected of mailing letters containing the deadly poison ricin to President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials appeared in federal court on Monday for a brief hearing. James Everett Dutschke, 41, was arrested on Saturday in Tupelo, Mississippi, after authorities searched his home and former business. He is charged with developing and possessing ricin and attempting to use the poison as a weapon. ... Full Story | Top |
| United order boosts Embraer outlook despite profit miss Monday, Apr 29, 2013 05:54 PM PDT  By Brad Haynes SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's Embraer SA , the world's biggest maker of regional jets, said an order for at least 30 new planes from United Airlines on Monday raised the odds of greater production next year. The order, which included options for 40 additional E-175 jets, is worth a combined $2.9 billion at list prices, providing a silver lining for the company after weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian prime minister survives Damascus bombing, six die Monday, Apr 29, 2013 05:51 PM PDT  By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's prime minister survived a bomb attack on his convoy in Damascus on Monday, as rebels struck in the heart of President Bashar al-Assad's capital. Six people were killed in the blast, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Previous rebel attacks on government targets included a December bombing which wounded Assad's interior minister. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the bombing, which he described as a "terrorist attack. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama stresses Syria chemical weapons worries in call with Putin Monday, Apr 29, 2013 05:51 PM PDT By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama took U.S. concerns about Syrian chemical weapons to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, reaching out to one of the Syrian government's staunchest allies. The United States is trying to determine the facts around alleged Syrian use of chemical weapons. Last week U.S. officials said they had "varying degrees of confidence" that Syria had likely used the nerve agent sarin on a small scale against rebel fighters. If proved with certainty, the chemical weapons' usage could triggered unspecified U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian reporter in Syria missing for 20 days: newspaper Monday, Apr 29, 2013 05:51 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italian journalist Domenico Quirico, a correspondent for Turin's la Stampa newspaper, has not been heard from for 20 days after entering Syria from Lebanon earlier this month, the daily's editor-in-chief Mario Calabresi said on Monday. The 62-year-old Quirico, an experienced war reporter, entered Syria on April 6 to report on the country's civil war, and has not been in contact since April 9. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria access essential for credible chemical weapons inquiry: U.N. Monday, Apr 29, 2013 05:51 PM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said on Monday that investigators have been gathering and analyzing available information on alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria, but access to the war-torn country is essential for a "credible and comprehensive inquiry." A U.N. push for unconditional access for its inspection team gained fresh momentum after the United States and Britain said last week they had limited evidence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's troops used the nerve agent sarin against rebels. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chilean center-right's hopes sag as top candidate quits race Monday, Apr 29, 2013 05:32 PM PDT  By Anthony Esposito SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean businessman Laurence Golborne abandoned his presidential candidacy on Monday over a billing scandal and allegations of undeclared offshore assets, dealing a blow to the ruling center-right coalition's hopes of retaining power in the November election. "I don't want to be an obstacle ... right now I'm withdrawing my candidacy," Golborne, a former public works and mining minister who spearheaded the 2010 rescue of 33 trapped miners in the Atacama desert, said at a news conference in Santiago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Prominent Americans who have come out as gay Monday, Apr 29, 2013 05:29 PM PDT (Reuters) - Jason Collins, a veteran player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), announced on Monday that he was gay, breaking one of the final frontiers in U.S. sports amid the shifting mood of American society. Collins became the first active player from any of the four major U.S. men's professional sports leagues to come out about his homosexuality. Other prominent Americans in politics, sports and entertainment also have publicly revealed that they were gay. Here are some of them: * Martina Navratilova, 56, revealed that she was a lesbian in 1981 shortly after becoming a U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Case of U.S. abortion doctor accused of running "House of Horrors" goes to jury soon Monday, Apr 29, 2013 05:27 PM PDT By Dave Warner PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The attorney for a Philadelphia doctor accused of killing four infants and a patient during late-term abortions wrapped up his defense on Monday, arguing that prosecutors hyped the case for publicity and denied his client's clinic was a "house of horrors." Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, who ran the now-shuttered Women's Medical Society Clinic, faces the death penalty if convicted. The jury in the six-week-long trial was expected to begin deliberations on Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sacramento Kings should stay put, NBA panel recommends Monday, Apr 29, 2013 05:12 PM PDT  By Sharon Bernstein and Eric M. Johnson (Reuters) - A committee of NBA owners recommended on Monday that the league reject a proposal by an investor group to move the Sacramento Kings to Seattle, a decision seen as a long-shot victory for a group of California investors trying to keep the basketball team from leaving town. The unanimous decision by the National Basketball Association's 12-member Relocation Committee, announced in a brief statement, came as a surprise as the bid to keep the team in Sacramento, a smaller media market, was widely viewed as the dark horse. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Army sees savings on upgrades for Vietnam-era helicopter Monday, Apr 29, 2013 05:04 PM PDT By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army will hold a flight demonstration on Tuesday of a newly upgraded version of the Vietnam-era OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter, an Army-led initiative that officials say will save $600 million in coming years. The Army managed the project, which first began in December 2010 and was aimed at improving the capabilities of the existing helicopters by giving them a new common sensor, upgrading their cockpit displays, and cutting their weight by about 160 pounds (73 kg). ... Full Story | Top |
| Court allows Bolivia's Morales to seek second re-election Monday, Apr 29, 2013 05:01 PM PDT  LA PAZ (Reuters) - Leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales will be allowed to seek re-election again next year, according to a Constitutional Court ruling on Monday that sparked opposition protests. Morales was elected in late 2005 and re-elected in 2009 after leading a push for a new constitution that allows only one re-election for a sitting president. However in a ruling, the country's Constitutional Court said the clock started ticking after the new constitution was signed into law, meaning that next year's vote will be legally counted as Morales' first re-election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-AFC presidential candidate Sheikh Salman Monday, Apr 29, 2013 04:59 PM PDT April 30 (Reuters) - Factbox on Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, who is standing in the Asian Football Confederation's presidential elections in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Election day dawns for Asian soccer Monday, Apr 29, 2013 04:58 PM PDT By Patrick Johnston SINGAPORE, April 30 (Reuters) - The Asian Football Confederation heads to the polls on Thursday to finally elect a new leader, but with question marks over the candidates and only a two-year term for the winner, hopes for reform at the crisis-hit body may have to be put on hold. United Arab Emirates soccer chief Yousuf Al Serkal, Saudi Arabian Hafez Al Medlej, Thailand's Worawi Makudi and Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa of Bahrain are running to succeed disgraced former president Mohamed Bin Hammam, banned from football for life by FIFA for bribery in 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Coach Luxemburgo banned after Libertadores brawl Monday, Apr 29, 2013 04:42 PM PDT * Gremio coach suspended for six matches and fined * Assistant Emerson handed eight-match suspension * players also banned for brawl at Chile's Huachipato (Adds details, quotes) By Rex Gowar April 29 (Reuters) - Gremio coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo has been suspended for six South American matches for his part in a brawl at the end of his team's Libertadores Cup match away to Chile's Huachipato 11 days ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus parliament decides on bailout, thin majority to vote yes Monday, Apr 29, 2013 04:31 PM PDT  By Michele Kambas NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus's parliament decides on Tuesday whether to back a bailout imposed by its EU partners, with approval likely from a thin majority against mounting calls for the island to exit the euro. Lawmakers were due to meet in an extraordinary session at 4 p.m. (1300 GMT) to ratify the terms of the aid, which is conditional on Cyprus winding down its second-largest bank and slapping heavy losses on uninsured depositors in another. ... Full Story | Top |
| FBI takes DNA samples from family home of Boston suspect's widow Monday, Apr 29, 2013 04:11 PM PDT By Svea Herbst-Bayliss BOSTON (Reuters) - Investigators on Monday removed bags of evidence including some containing DNA samples from the home in Rhode Island where the widow of suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev has been living, according to a person familiar with the investigation. FBI agents spent hours at the home of Katherine Russell's parents in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and came out carrying bags market DNA samples, a person familiar with the case said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guatemala judge looks set to restart Rios Montt trial: lawyers Monday, Apr 29, 2013 04:11 PM PDT By Mike McDonald GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - A Guatemalan judge is likely to order the resumption of the genocide trial of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, sources at the attorney general's office and a human rights lawyer said on Monday. The trial has been up in the air after judges squabbled over who should hear the case following an order to annul nearly 18 months of proceedings. Hector Reyes, a lawyer who represents a human rights advocacy group pressing the case against Rios Montt, said Judge Yasmin Barrios had convened attorneys for a meeting on Tuesday morning. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK to risk EU court challenge over tougher insurance rules Monday, Apr 29, 2013 04:09 PM PDT  By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Britain intends to implement a tougher version of European Union rules on capital adequacy for its own insurers, even at the risk of a legal challenge in the bloc's courts, a top regulator has said. Andrew Bailey, chief executive of Britain's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), said EU rules known as Solvency II, due to come into effect in 2016 at the earliest, would not be comprehensive enough. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate foes of gun bill suffer in polls Monday, Apr 29, 2013 03:41 PM PDT  By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five senators - four Republicans and one Democrat - could face voter backlash for opposing President Barack Obama's bid to expand background checks for gun buyers, opinion polls released on Monday showed. According to the surveys conducted by Public Policy Polling, a private firm based in Raleigh, N.C., respondents said they are more apt to oppose than support these lawmakers for re-election for joining other senators in rejecting a bipartisan background check measure on April 17. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dutch party on streets as royals prepare for handover Monday, Apr 29, 2013 03:33 PM PDT  By Thomas Escritt and Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Willem-Alexander will become the first King of the Netherlands in more than 120 years when Queen Beatrix passes the crown to her eldest son on Tuesday morning. "He's ready, in every way," Queen Beatrix said of her 46-year-old son, a water management specialist who is expected to bring a less formal touch to the monarchy, as she bid farewell to the nation in a subdued televised address on Monday night. ... Full Story | Top |
| Haitian businessman pleads not guilty in Miami to U.S. drug charges Monday, Apr 29, 2013 03:33 PM PDT MIAMI (Reuters) - A Haitian businessman pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges in federal court in Miami on Monday, days after he was arrested in a luxury hotel in the Dominican Republic. U.S. law enforcement officials took Rodolphe Jaar into custody on Saturday after he was extradited to the United States, said Mia Ro, a spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Gremio coach Luxemburgo banned after Libertadores brawl Monday, Apr 29, 2013 03:28 PM PDT April 29 (Reuters) - Gremio coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo has been suspended for six South American matches for his part in a brawl at the end of his team's Libertadores Cup match away to Chile's Huacipato 11 days ago. The former Real Madrid and Brazil coach, alleged to have sparked the brawl, was also fined $25,000 by the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), which posted the sanctions on its website (www.conmebol.com) on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela opposition leader charged with spurring violence Monday, Apr 29, 2013 03:17 PM PDT  CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuelan court charged retired General Antonio Rivero on Monday with inciting post-election violence in the latest political flash point in the bitterly divided nation. Opposition leaders say Rivero, a member of the Popular Will movement that is a driving force of Venezuela's opposition coalition, became new President Nicolas Maduro's first political prisoner when he was arrested over the weekend. Authorities say he was one of those behind a wave of violence, on the day after Maduro's disputed April 14 election, that represented a coup attempt and killed nine people. ... Full Story | Top |
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