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| Egypt sees IMF loan agreement in two weeks Thursday, Apr 04, 2013 12:35 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's planning minister said on Thursday the government expects to reach a final agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a $4.8 billion loan within two weeks, the state news agency MENA reported. Ashraf al-Araby also said that Cairo had not requested an increase in the amount of the loan, needed to avert a deepening economic crisis. An IMF delegation resumed long-delayed negotiations with Egypt on Wednesday and government officials have said it is expected to stay until April 15. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jailed Kurdish rebel leader calls for unarmed withdrawal- paper Thursday, Apr 04, 2013 12:26 AM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his fighters to withdraw from Turkey without their weapons under a peace process to end a decades-old insurgency, the Yeni Safak daily reported on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| China mobilizes to fight new bird flu; Japan, Hong Kong on guard Thursday, Apr 04, 2013 12:18 AM PDT  By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - China said it was mobilizing resources nationwide to combat a new strain of deadly bird flu that has killed three people, as Japan and Hong Kong stepped up vigilance against the virus and Vietnam banned imports of poultry from the mainland. The new H7N9 bird flu strain does not appear to be transmitted from human to human but authorities in Hong Kong raised a preliminary alert and said they were taking precautions at the airport. ... Full Story | Top |
| RBS faces $6 billion investor action Thursday, Apr 04, 2013 12:18 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - A group of shareholders in Royal Bank of Scotland is suing the lender and four former directors for losses they claim they incurred when the bank succumbed to a state bailout in 2008. The RBoS Shareholders Action Group has issued proceedings against RBS, Fred Goodwin, Tom McKillop, Johnny Cameron and Guy Whittaker, in the chancery division of Britain's High Court to recover billions of pounds lost on the value of their shares in the run up to the bank's 45 billion pound taxpayer rescue. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt aims to remove subsidies on basics in 3-5 years: minister Thursday, Apr 04, 2013 12:10 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt aims to phase out subsidies for bread, other basic foodstuffs and oil in three to five years, state-run Al-Ahram newspaper quoted oil minister Osama Kamal as saying on Thursday. "We are putting into consideration to start increasing the prices of salaries and decrease the subsidies until we manage to completely end subsidies in three to five years," Kamal said. Full Story | Top |
| Connecticut lawmakers pass post-Newtown gun controls Thursday, Apr 04, 2013 12:01 AM PDT  By Ebong Udoma HARTFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - Connecticut lawmakers voted on Thursday to approve a new gun-control bill in response to last December's shooting at a school in Newtown in which 20 children and six adults were killed. After nearly 8 hours of debate that lasted until early Thursday morning, the House voted 105-44 in favor of the bill, which supporters described as one of the toughest in the United States. It followed a 26-10 vote in the Senate Wednesday evening. Governor Dannel Malloy, a Democrat who pushed for passage of the law, is expected to sign it on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to send missile defenses to Guam over North Korea threat Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:49 PM PDT  By Jack Kim and Phil Stewart SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said it would soon send a missile defense system to Guam to defend it from North Korea, as the U.S. military adjusts to what Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called a "real and clear danger" from Pyongyang. Hours later, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said North Korea had moved what appeared to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast. It was not clear if the North planned to fire the rocket or was just putting it on display as a show of force, one South Korean government source was quoted as saying. ... Full Story | Top |
| Western envoys to attend ICC-indictee Kenyatta's inauguration Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:36 PM PDT  By Edmund Blair NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United States and several other European nations are expecting to send ambassadors to attend the swearing in next week of Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya's president-elect who is indicted for crimes against humanity at The Hague. Western diplomats said this level of attendance was in line with their policy of having only "essential contacts" with indictees of the International Criminal Court. A European Union official also said EU envoys were seeking to meet Kenyatta. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt plans to impose tax on bank loans Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:18 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will impose a tax of 0.001 percent on bank credit, loans and advances, according to a law approved in principle by the upper house of parliament on Wednesday, the state news agency and a lawmaker said. The law is part of a package of tax reforms that includes a previously announced 0.001 percent tax on paid by both buyer and seller in all Egyptian stock market transactions. It was provisionally endorsed as an International Monetary Fund mission was in Cairo for talks on a $4.8 billion loan needed to help overcome Egypt's deep economic malaise. ... Full Story | Top |
| Angola govt approves bidding round for onshore oil blocks Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:17 PM PDT LISBON (Reuters) - Angola's government on Wednesday approved the guidelines of a plan to hold bidding for licences to explore for oil onshore in the Kwanza and Lower Congo basins, the cabinet office said on Wednesday. The government said in a statement that it has asked parliament to approve the plan. President Jose Eduardo dos Santos' ruling MPLA party has a large parliamentary majority. Angola, which is Africa's second-largest oil producer after Nigeria, plans to ramp up crude output to 2 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 2015 from around 1.75 mbpd last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt court bars Gaddafi cousin's extradition to Libya Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:13 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court barred the extradition of a cousin of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to his home country on Wednesday, saying Ahmed Gaddaf Alddam should be tried in Egypt, officials said. Gaddaf Alddam, who is wanted in Libya for alleged counterfeiting, forgery, fraud and money laundering, is under investigation on suspicion of attacking Egyptian police during his arrest last month. ... Full Story | Top |
| US offers up to $5 mln reward for Uganda warlord Kony, others Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:12 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday offered a reward of up to $5 million each for fugitive Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony and some of his top aides in the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group. Kony, who has been accused of terrorizing northern Uganda for 20 years and was ejected from the country along with his rebel group in 2005, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. The warlord and a few hundred followers are now believed to roam the remote jungle straddling the borders of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic. ... Full Story | Top |
| Regional leaders refuse to recognise CAR coup leader Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:11 PM PDT  By Madjiasra Nako N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - African heads of state on Wednesday refused to recognise rebel leader Michel Djotodia's self-appointment as president of Central African Republic, calling instead for the creation of a new transitional body to guide the country to elections. The decision, taken at a summit of leaders from the central African region, further isolates Djotodia, who led thousands of insurgents into the former French colony's crumbling riverside capital Bangui on March 24, ousting President Francois Bozize. ... Full Story | Top |
| Desmond Tutu wins $1.7 million Templeton Prize Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:10 PM PDT  By Maria Golovnina LONDON (Reuters) - South African anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu has won the 2013 Templeton Prize worth $1.7 million for helping inspire people around the world by promoting forgiveness and justice, organisers said on Thursday. A leading human rights activist of the late 20th century, the former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town played a pivotal role in the downfall of apartheid and subsequently worked to heal wounds in South Africa's traumatised society. Tutu, 81, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for standing up against white-minority rule. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinian youths shot to death as West Bank seethes Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:56 PM PDT  By Ali Sawafta RAMALLAH (Reuters) - Israeli troops have shot dead two Palestinian youths in the occupied West Bank, medical officials said on Thursday, as confrontations entered a third day following the death of a prisoner in an Israeli jail. The Israeli army said troops fired on Palestinians who threw fire bombs after dark on Wednesday at a guard post near Tulkarm in the northern West Bank. One body was swiftly recovered and a second was found in the early hours of Thursday. Palestinian officials named the dead men as Amer Nassar, 17, and Naji Belbisi, 18. ... Full Story | Top |
| At fundraisers Obama talks climate, regaining U.S. House Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:48 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama used fundraisers on Wednesday to assuage supporters' concerns about a transnational oil pipeline and his commitment to tackling climate change, while urging them to drive Republicans out of power in Congress in 2014. The Obama administration is expected to decide later this year whether to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from Canada's oil sands to Texas. Environmentalists oppose the project, saying its carbon emissions would contribute unnecessarily to global warming. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Violence mars Ronaldinho show in Libertadores Cup Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:24 PM PDT By Rex Gowar BUENOS AIRES, April 3 (Reuters) - Atletico Mineiro's 5-2 victory over Arsenal in the Libertadores Cup was marred by fighting between members of the Argentine team and Brazilian military police on the pitch at the end of the match on Wednesday. Ronaldinho had inspired Atletico, who had already qualified for the knockout phase, with two goals as they extended their perfect record in South America's elite club competition to five wins in five Group Three matches. ... Full Story | Top |
| Delta sues Ex-Im Bank over loan guarantees for foreign airlines Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:44 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc has sued the Export-Import Bank of the United States over loan guarantees given to support purchases of Boeing Co's widebody planes by certain foreign airlines, according to a court filing. Delta said that Ex-Im bank's subsidies to foreign airlines, including Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways and Korean Air Co Ltd, to help them buy Boeing planes would cause adverse economic effects on airlines and their employees. Delta said in the filing that the bank did not properly analyze the adverse economic impact and has requested the district court in Washington D.C. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two white supremacists sought in probe of Colorado prison chief's slaying Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:27 PM PDT  DENVER (Reuters) - Colorado authorities probing the killing of the state's prisons chief, who was shot at the door of his home last month, were seeking two members of a white supremacist prison gang in connection with the case, a sheriff's spokesman said on Wednesday. The men being sought were known associates of a gang called the 211 Crew and were considered armed and dangerous, said Lieutenant Jeff Kramer, a spokesman for Colorado's El Paso County Sheriff's Office. Kramer named them as James Franklin Lohr, 47, and Thomas James Guolee, 31. ... Full Story | Top |
| Demand for space in U.S. strip malls still weak in first quarter Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:26 PM PDT  By Ilaina Jonas NEW YORK (Reuters) - Limited supply of new U.S. strip malls helped offset weak demand for space in the first quarter, easing the national vacancy rate to 10.6 percent from 10.7 percent the prior quarter, according to a report released on Thursday. With retail sales struggling to recover and muted demand for space, new construction for neighborhood strip centers remained near record low levels during the quarter, according to the report by real estate research firm Reis Inc. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea again blocks access to industry zone, Southerners remain Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:51 PM PDT  By Ju-min Park PAJU, South Korea (Reuters) - North Korea barred entry to a joint industrial complex it shares with the South for a second day on Thursday, Seoul's Unification Ministry said, and demanded extended notice of when hundreds of South Korean workers planned to leave. The state's KCNA news agency again threatened complete closure of the zone, a lucrative money-spinner for impoverished Pyongyang, if South Korea kept up what the agency termed its insults against the North's government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama cutting own pay in solidarity with federal workers Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:34 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plans to give back 5 percent of his pay in a gesture of solidarity with government workers who must take unpaid leave as a result of deep spending cuts that went into effect last month. The president's self-imposed pay cut would be effective from March 1, when the spending cuts began, and would last through the end of December, an administration official said on Wednesday. Obama earns $400,000 a year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kansas abortion clinic reopens four years after doctor's murder Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:33 PM PDT  By Kevin Murphy KANSAS CITY, Kan (Reuters) - A Kansas abortion clinic closed since the 2009 murder of its doctor, one of the few physicians in the country who performed late-term abortions, reopened on Wednesday in Wichita, the owner of the clinic said. The clinic has been closed since Dr. George Tiller was slain in a Wichita church in May 2009. Scott Roeder is serving a life sentence over the slaying after testifying that he killed Tiller, 67, to stop abortions. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea repeats threat to shut down Kaesong Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:30 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea repeated its threat to shut down Kaesong industrial zone, where 123 South Korean firms operate factories, if the South's government continued to insult it and worsen the situation by mentioning a possible military action against it. "The puppet conservative group and its media have refused to drop their confrontational ways and continued to say that we will not dare to do anything about the Kaesong industrial zone ... because it is a 'source of cash'," KCNA quoted the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland as saying. ... Full Story | Top |
| One person killed in shooting at Fort Knox Army post Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:27 PM PDT By Bob Driehaus CINCINNATI (Reuters) - A man who worked as a civilian Army employee was shot to death on Wednesday in a parking lot at the Fort Knox Army base in Kentucky in an incident that prompted a security lockdown there, officials said. Authorities said the shooting was "not a random act" and the shooter remained at large on Wednesday night. The shooting, which came less than two weeks after a U.S. Marine shot dead two colleagues at a Virginia base, occurred on Wednesday afternoon outside the U.S. Army Human Resources Command headquarters, the Army said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea tells South firms in Kaesong to pullout by April 10 Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:21 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has told the association of companies that are operating factories in the Kaesong industrial zone to complete pulling out by April 10, an executive of the association said on Thursday. The association has asked the North to extend the deadline until April 13 but has not received a reply, Ok Sung-suk, vice president of the association, said. (Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by David Chance) Full Story | Top |
| Mitsubishi recalls Outlander Sport vehicles for several issues Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:18 PM PDT DETROIT (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Motors Corp is recalling 6,496 Outlander Sport crossover vehicles in the United States and Puerto Rico for three different issues related to brake lights, fuel gauges and shifting the vehicles out of park, federal regulators said on Wednesday. Model year 2013 Outlander Sport vehicles made from June 11 to September 11 last year may have brake lamps that either work intermittently or illuminate continuously without the pressing of the brake pedal, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on its website. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hagel tells military to brace for further belt-tightening Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:02 PM PDT  By David Alexander and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned the military to brace for more belt-tightening on Wednesday as he conducts a review that could cut the number of generals, pare back the civilian workforce and stem the spiraling cost of new weapons. Hagel, in his first major policy speech as Pentagon chief, told students at the National Defense University that the United States could not allow its current budget crisis to force it to retreat from the world. But he underscored the limits of U.S. military power. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea government says report of North ordering Kaesong pullout "distorted" Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 07:53 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said reports that North Korea had ordered companies in the Kaesong joint industrial zone to pull out by April 10 were "distorted" and it had merely requested a list of people who planned to leave by that date. "The North's request to several companies for a schedule of people returning to the South by April 10 has been distorted to say the North had requested a total pullout," the Unification Ministry said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sees Australia decision on F/A-18 jets by summer Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 07:30 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Maryland (Reuters) - Australia is expected to decide on the purchase of up to 24 additional Boeing Co F/A-18 fighter jets by late spring or early summer, according to the U.S. Navy captain who runs the foreign fighter jet sales program on behalf of the Pentagon. A number of buyers in Asia and the Middle East remain interested in the warplane, and the Navy is also staying in "pretty close touch" with Brazil, said Captain Frank Morley, program manager for the F/A-18 Hornet, Super Hornet and Growler electronic attack versions of the plane. ... Full Story | Top |
| Native American tribe seeks to halt Paris artifact auction Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 07:30 PM PDT By Brad Poole TUCSON, Ariz (Reuters) - Plans by a top Paris auction house to sell scores of antique tribal masks revered as sacred ritual artifacts by a traditional Arizona Native American tribe has triggered a furor and calls for their return. The Hopi Tribe, living in a dozen scattered villages in on the Hopi Reservation northeastern Arizona, is calling on auctioneer Neret-Minet Tessier & Sarrou to cancel its sale of 70 objects including the sacred Katsinam masks on April 12. ... Full Story | Top |
| Detroit emergency manager disavows letter on union contracts Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 06:58 PM PDT  By Steve Neavling DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit's new state-appointed emergency manager on Wednesday disavowed letters sent by the mayor's office saying that the city would stop honoring contracts with its police, fire and paramedics' labor unions. The apparent miscommunication between Mayor Dave Bing and Kevyn Orr, the former bankruptcy lawyer brought in to clean up Detroit's finances, highlights the challenges Orr may face as he assumes increasing power in the biggest state takeover of an American city in more than two decades. ... Full Story | Top |
| Washington state to clamp down on marijuana use in bars Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 06:42 PM PDT  By Eric M. Johnson SEATTLE (Reuters) - Washington state will clamp down on bars that have been sidestepping a ban on consuming marijuana in public by converting part of their space into private clubs. The move comes as the state considers ways to regulate marijuana after voters legalized the drug for recreational use last year. In November Washington and Colorado became the first U.S. states to approve marijuana for adult recreational use. The Washington law would ultimately permit cannabis to be sold and taxed at state-licensed stores. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas activists seek pardon for late boxer Jack Johnson Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 06:38 PM PDT By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Civil rights activists in Texas are seeking a pardon from President Barack Obama for the late boxer Jack Johnson, an African-American convicted a century ago for the crime of taking a woman across state lines. "Here in 2013, this man shouldn't still be carrying the stigma of being convicted," said Leon Phillips of the Galveston County Coalition for Justice. Johnson, who died in 1946, was born in Galveston and fought under the nickname The Galveston Giant. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea seen moving mid-range missile to east coast: reports Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 06:13 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has moved what appears to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said on Thursday, quoting multiple government sources privy to intelligence from U.S. and South Korean authorities. It was not clear if the missile was mounted with a warhead or whether the North was planning to fire it or was just putting it on display as a show of force, one South Korean government source was quoted as saying. "South Korean and U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| West Virginia sheriff shot dead, suspect wounded Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 06:12 PM PDT By Lee Mueller WILLIAMSON, W., Virginia (Reuters) - A drug-fighting West Virginia sheriff was shot to death as he ate lunch in his car on Wednesday and the suspected gunman was wounded and captured after a chase, police said. Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum was at a parking lot in the city of Williamson when a man ran up and shot him, then fled in his own vehicle, Williamson Police Chief Dave Rockel said at a news conference. Authorities identified the suspect as Tennis Melvin Maynard, 37, of Ragland, West Virginia. Maynard fled south on U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea can likely revive reactor in six months, needs years for more bombs Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 05:58 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea can probably restart a mothballed plutonium-producing reactor in six months if it is determined to do so and the site has suffered no major structural damage, but it may take years to produce significant new atom bomb material. Pyongyang announced on Tuesday that it would revive the aged Yongbyon five-megawatt research reactor that yields bomb-grade plutonium, but stressed it was seeking a deterrent capacity. ... Full Story | Top |
| New prosecutors named to Texas Aryan Brotherhood prison gang probe Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 05:43 PM PDT  By Chris Francescani KAUFMAN, Texas (Reuters) - Authorities named a new lead prosecutor on Wednesday in the 2012 indictment of 34 suspected members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang after the previous head of the case abruptly quit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hileman stepped aside on Tuesday in the wake of the second killing of a Texas prosecutor in two months. While investigators have not named a suspect or person of interest in the twin killings, crime experts identified the Aryan Brotherhood as a group that would come under suspicion. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Serial" defector steals trawler, sails back to North Korea Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 05:38 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - A "serial" North Korean defector has given a substantial U.S. and South Korean military presence the slip, stealing a 9-tonne fishing trawler to return to the impoverished North, the Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday. South Korea's Yonhap described the 28-year-old crab fisherman, identified only as Lee, as a "serial" defector who had made what appeared to be his fourth dash to the North. ... Full Story | Top |
| Capriles mocks "skin-deep" socialists before Venezuela vote Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 05:04 PM PDT  By Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate tore into government leaders on Wednesday as false revolutionaries lining their pockets while professing faith to the late Hugo Chavez's radical socialism. Trailing in opinion polls ahead of the April 14 vote, Henrique Capriles is attacking acting President Nicolas Maduro and other senior officials as a corrupt and incompetent coterie unable to solve Venezuelans' basic problems. "They talk of socialism, but it's on the surface only. ... Full Story | Top |
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