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| U.S. deploys warship off South Korea amid soaring tensions on peninsula Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 12:16 AM PDT  By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States has positioned a warship off the Korean coast as a shield against ballistic missile attack as South Korea's new president vowed swift retaliation against a North Korean strike amid soaring tensions on the peninsula. But Washington also said it had seen no worrisome mobilization of armed forces by the North Koreans despite bellicose rhetoric over a ramping up of international sanctions against Pyongyang over nuclear weapons tests. ... Full Story | Top |
| China expresses regret at North Korea restarting nuclear plant Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 12:16 AM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Foreign Ministry expressed regret on Tuesday that North Korea will restart all nuclear facilities, including its shuttered Yongbyon nuclear reactor. Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the comments at a daily news briefing. North Korea will rebuild and restart nuclear facilities, including its mothballed uranium enrichment facility and the 5 MW Yongbyon reactor which it closed in 2007, its official KCNA news service said. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Writing by Sui-Lee Wee) Full Story | Top |
| CA-NEWS Summary Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 12:10 AM PDT U.S. deploys warship off South Korea amid soaring tensions on peninsula SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States has positioned a warship off the Korean coast as a shield against ballistic missile attack as South Korea's new president vowed swift retaliation against a North Korean strike amid soaring tensions on the peninsula. But Washington also said it had seen no worrisome mobilization of armed forces by the North Koreans despite bellicose rhetoric over a ramping up of international sanctions against Pyongyang over nuclear weapons tests. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fire at Islamic school kills 13 boys in Myanmar Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 12:10 AM PDT  By Aung Hla Tun and Min Zayar Oo YANGON (Reuters) - A fire caused by faulty electrical equipment killed 13 boys at an Islamic school in Yangon on Tuesday, the fire service said, although some Muslims voiced concern since it came after a wave of anti-Muslim violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. The boys suffocated after the fire broke out in a dormitory of the school in the central, multi-ethnic Botataung district of the former capital at about 2:40 a.m. (4:10 p.m. ET on Monday), neighbors and officials said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspected militants attack Pakistan power station, seven dead Monday, Apr 01, 2013 11:49 PM PDT By Jibran Ahmad PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Dozens of suspected militants attacked a major power station in northwest Pakistan with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and killed seven people, police said on Tuesday. The assault, in the run-up to May 11 general elections, destroyed the biggest power station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, suspending electricity supply to half of the major city of Peshawar. It served as a reminder that Pakistan's leaders have failed to tackle a Taliban insurgency that remains potent despite a series of security crackdowns. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korean leader dials down hostile rhetoric Monday, Apr 01, 2013 09:27 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's leader appeared to tamp down hostile rhetoric that had threatened impending war with the United States and South Korea in a key speech published on Tuesday that implied the isolated country was shifting its focus to development. Pyongyang has launched relentless verbal attacks and threats against the United States and South Korea since new U.N. sanctions punishing it for its February nuclear test were adopted and during military drills by the South and U.S. forces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinian Islamist group Hamas re-elects Meshaal as its leader Monday, Apr 01, 2013 08:40 PM PDT  GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas re-elected Khaled Meshaal on Tuesday as the Islamist group's leader, at a marathon overnight closed-door meeting held in Cairo, an official with the organization said. Once reviled as a hardliner but now seen increasingly in the Arab world and by some Westerners as a moderate, Meshaal, 56, has headed the movement that rejects Israel's existence and controls the Palestinian territory of Gaza, since 2004. Born near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Meshaal steered Hamas through the upheaval unleashed by the Arab Spring uprisings. ... Full Story | Top |
| Assange appoints WikiLeaks Party campaign director for Australian Senate bid Monday, Apr 01, 2013 08:01 PM PDT  By Rob Taylor CANBERRA (Reuters) - Fugitive WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, holed up in London's Ecuadorian embassy for nine months, has appointed a high-profile opponent of Britain's monarchy to run his campaign for a seat in Australia's upper house of parliament. Former Australian Republican Movement head and lawyer Greg Barns said on Monday he would be campaign director for the WikiLeaks Party spearheading Assange's rare absentee bid for a Senate seat in Australia's September 14 election, which even if successful would not bring him any legal protection. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dissident Cuban blogger gets warm reception from Miami exiles Monday, Apr 01, 2013 07:15 PM PDT  By David Adams MIAMI (Reuters) - Cuba's best-known dissident, journalist Yoani Sanchez, received a hero's welcome on Monday from the Cuban-American exile community in Miami, her latest stop in an 80-day tour of more than a dozen countries. It was the largest and most politically unified reception in at least a decade for a dissident from the island by Miami's Cuban-American exile community, which has often clashed with opposition figures in Cuba over political strategy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan's Bashir orders release of all political prisoners Monday, Apr 01, 2013 05:19 PM PDT  By Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Monday ordered the release of all political prisoners, a move cautiously welcomed by the opposition in the tightly-controlled African country. The announcement comes after Sudan and South Sudan agreed in March to end hostilities and resume cross-border oil flows after coming close to war a year ago. Khartoum had accused its southern neighbor of supporting rebels trying to topple Bashir. "I announce today my decision to release all political prisoners," Bashir told parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ghost of Chavez dominates Venezuela election campaign Monday, Apr 01, 2013 04:47 PM PDT  By Brian Ellsworth CARACAS (Reuters) - Weeks after his death, Venezuelan socialist leader Hugo Chavez still leads supporters in singing the national anthem. The late president's recorded voice booms over rallies for his protégé, acting President Nicolas Maduro, who stands under billboards of Chavez's face and waves to crowds carrying signs emblazoned with his name. Maduro, who is favored to win a snap election triggered by Chavez's death last month, rarely misses a chance to lionize the man many Venezuelans know as "El Comandante. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea vows fast response to North; U.S. positions destroyer Monday, Apr 01, 2013 03:24 PM PDT By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's new president vowed on Monday to strike back quickly if North Korea stages any attack, but the United States said it has seen no worrisome mobilization of armed forces by the North Koreans despite their bellicose rhetoric. "If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations," South Korean President Park Geun-hye told the defense minister and senior officials at a meeting on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen attack Iraq's Akkas gasfield, three workers killed Monday, Apr 01, 2013 02:30 PM PDT By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked a contracting company in Iraq's Akkas gasfield on Monday, killing at least three local workers and kidnapping two more before burning their camp in the remote western desert. Akkas, operated by Korea Gas Company (KOGAS) in Anbar province near the Syrian border, is still not producing gas. But the attack is another indication of increased insurgent presence along the frontier where Syria's war is spilling into Iraq. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's anger at North Korea overcomes worry over U.S. stealth flights Monday, Apr 01, 2013 02:02 PM PDT  By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - A show of force by U.S. stealth jets over the Korean Peninsula after talk of war by Pyongyang has caused only minor concern in China, a measure of Beijing's belief that the North is to blame for the tensions and that hostilities are not imminent. The presence of U.S. forces in places like South Korea and Japan has long worried Beijing, feeding its fears that it is being surrounded and "contained" by Washington and its allies, especially following the U.S. strategic pivot to Asia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela's Capriles complains about Maduro's Hitler slur Monday, Apr 01, 2013 01:30 PM PDT CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles expressed outrage on Monday at the description of his supporters as "heirs of Hitler" by election rival and acting President Nicolas Maduro. The buildup to the South American OPEC nation's April 14 vote has been characterized by highly personalized attacks between both candidates hoping to replace the late Hugo Chavez. At the weekend, Maduro compared opposition complaints about Cuban doctors working in Venezuela with the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic opposition says to boycott new government Monday, Apr 01, 2013 01:18 PM PDT  By Ange Aboa BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's opposition said on Monday it would not participate in a caretaker government nominated by the country's self-proclaimed president, claiming it has been stacked with rebel sympathizers. The move will complicate a planned transition back to civilian rule in the resource-rich former French colony after fighters from the Seleka rebel coalition stormed the capital on March 24 and ousted President Francois Bozize. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. accuses Egypt of stifling freedom of expression Monday, Apr 01, 2013 12:14 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday accused Egypt of muzzling freedom of speech after prosecutors questioned the most popular Egyptian television satirist over allegations he insulted President Mohamed Mursi and Islam. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also suggested the Egyptian authorities were selectively prosecuting those accused of insulting the government while ignoring or playing down attacks on anti-government demonstrators. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House not seeing major mobilizations by North Korea Monday, Apr 01, 2013 10:46 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States takes seriously North Korea's war threats but has not seen any sort of large-scale mobilization of troops or positioning of forces by Pyongyang, the White House said on Monday. "We haven't seen actions to back up the rhetoric," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. North Korea said last week it is in a "state of war" with South Korea and issued other threats that heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lebanese gunmen kidnap eight Syrians, demand hostage exchange Monday, Apr 01, 2013 10:26 AM PDT TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - Gunmen kidnapped eight men from Syria's Alawite minority as they crossed into northern Lebanon on Monday, residents and security sources said, in a bid to gain the release of a Sunni Muslim man believed to be held by Syrian forces. Lebanon's frontier has increasingly been drawn into violence from neighboring Syria's civil war, now in its third year. Sectarian tensions have been on the rise in both countries, with Sunni Muslims in Lebanon supporting the largely Sunni revolt against President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. General Assembly to vote on draft arms trade treaty? Monday, Apr 01, 2013 09:47 AM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly is tentatively planning to vote on Tuesday on a draft treaty to regulate the $70 billion global trade in conventional arms. Iran, Syria and North Korea last week prevented a treaty drafting conference at U.N. headquarters from reaching the required consensus to adopt the treaty. That left delegations that support it no choice but to turn to the General Assembly to adopt it. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's Mandela visited by family after weekend improvement Monday, Apr 01, 2013 09:33 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, who is being treated in hospital for pneumonia, was visited by members of his family on Monday after doctors had reported an improvement in his condition over the weekend. A statement from South Africa's presidency said there was "no significant change" in the condition of the 94-year-old former president, who has been in hospital since late Wednesday suffering from a recurrence of a lung infection. "Former President Mandela is still in hospital where he is receiving treatment ... ... Full Story | Top |
| March was bloodiest month in Syria war: rights group Monday, Apr 01, 2013 09:20 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - March was the bloodiest month yet in Syria's two-year conflict, with more than 6,000 people killed, a third of them civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday. The group opposes President Bashar al-Assad but has monitored human rights violations on both sides of a revolt that began as peaceful protests but is now a brutal war between forces loyal to Assad and an array of rebel militias. The Britain-based Observatory, which has a network of sources across Syria, has documented 62,554 dead in the conflict, said Rami Abdelrahman, the head of the group. ... Full Story | Top |
| Death toll hits 36 in Tanzania building collapse Monday, Apr 01, 2013 08:48 AM PDT  DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - The death toll from the collapse of a multi-storey building in Tanzania rose to 36 on Monday, a senior police chief said, after more bodies were pulled from the rubble of the building which was under construction near the centre of Dar es Salaam. Police said it was unlikely more bodies would be recovered from the site in the Kariakoo district where rescue workers had cleared most of the debris and reached the basement of the building that collapsed on Friday morning. "The final death toll from the collapse of the building is 36 ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey scraps flights to Armenia after Azeri resistance Monday, Apr 01, 2013 08:44 AM PDT By Jonathon Burch ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey has canceled the first ever scheduled Turkish flights to its long-time rival Armenia, days before the first plane was due to take off, officials have said, following fierce opposition from Turkey's ally and energy partner Azerbaijan. The twice-weekly flights between Turkey's eastern city of Van and the Armenian capital Yerevan were due to begin on April 3 and, encouraged by a U.S. push for rapprochement, were meant to boost bilateral tourism and trade. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-President Carter says China pressuring Nepal on Tibetans Monday, Apr 01, 2013 08:30 AM PDT  By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - China is putting pressure on Nepal to interrupt the flow of Tibetan refugees into the Himalayan nation, former United States President Jimmy Carter said on Monday. Hundreds of refugees from the Chinese province of Tibet cross treacherous mountain passes to reach Nepal each year, but as the influence of China grows in its impoverished neighbor, their passage is becoming increasingly difficult. ... Full Story | Top |
| Peace restored in stronghold of Kenya's election loser Odinga Monday, Apr 01, 2013 08:21 AM PDT  By Hezron Ochiel KISUMU, Kenya (Reuters) - Calm returned to the western Kenyan stronghold of defeated presidential candidate Raila Odinga on Monday after two days of running battles with police following the Supreme Court's confirmation of his rival Uhuru Kenyatta as president-elect. Two people were shot dead in the unrest, but the violence was on a much smaller scale than the nationwide bloodshed that followed the 2007 election when the western city of Kisumu was one of the places worst affected places by deadly riots. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central bank to reopen in Central African Republic after coup Monday, Apr 01, 2013 07:23 AM PDT By Ange Aboa BANGUI (Reuters) - Central Africa's regional central bank said it would reopen its branch in Bangui on Tuesday, and urged commercial lenders to do the same, offering a financial lifeline to cash-starved businesses a week after a coup. Rebels who accused the government of breaking past peace deals, stormed into the capital of Central African Republic on March 24, triggering days of looting. Banks and businesses closed their doors in the dilapidated riverside city, forcing residents to barter for food and cover long distances by foot. "Without the banks, there is no life ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Hamas law promotes gender segregation in Gaza schools Monday, Apr 01, 2013 06:56 AM PDT  GAZA (Reuters) - New rules from the Education Ministry of the Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip will bar men from teaching at girls' schools and mandate separate classes for boys and girls from the age of nine. The law, published on Monday, would go into effect next school year and applies throughout the coastal enclave, including in private, Christian-led and United Nations schools. Critics of the new measures say the Islamist movement is trying to force its ideology on society, but proponents say they merely want to codify conservative Palestinian values into law. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea names Kim clan associate to premiership Monday, Apr 01, 2013 05:37 AM PDT  By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea named former premier Pak Pong-ju, a key confidant of the leadership dynasty who was sacked in 2007 for failing to implement economic reforms, as its cabinet chief on Monday in a move that would further cement the ruling family's grip on power. Pak, believed to be in his 70s, is a key ally of Jang Song-thaek, the uncle of the isolated state's young ruler Kim Jong-un, and worked for Jang's wife, Kim's aunt Kyong-hui, the last remaining personal link to the state's revolutionary founder, Kim Il-sung, grandfather of the current leader. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bulgaria's ousted center-right extends lead before May poll Monday, Apr 01, 2013 05:12 AM PDT  SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's center-right GERB party, which was forced from power by nationwide protests in February, has extended its lead ahead of elections in May which are likely to produce a hung parliament, an Alpha Research poll showed on Monday. Support for GERB, led by former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, stood at 21.9 percent in March, up from 20.9 percent in January, while backing for the Socialists fell to 17.4 percent, according to the poll. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kosovo and Serbia near accord to end ethnic partition Monday, Apr 01, 2013 05:06 AM PDT  By Matt Robinson and Fatos Bytyci MITROVICA, Kosovo (Reuters) - It's a dangerous job being a municipal clerk in the Kosovan town of Mitrovica, where the Ibar river forms a natural barrier between Serbs and Albanians. Since Adrijana Hodzic began issuing the identification cards of mainly Albanian Kosovo to Serbs on the north side of the river, her deputy has been shot in the leg and hand grenades lobbed at the homes of her staff. "Sometimes I feel like we're fighting against everyone," said mother-of-two Hodzic, a Mitrovica native. ... Full Story | Top |
| Private dailies re-emerge in Myanmar, face difficulties Monday, Apr 01, 2013 04:55 AM PDT  By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Four private dailies hit the newsstands for the first time in almost 50 years in Myanmar on Monday, but many others failed to appear, hamstrung by poor financing, archaic equipment and a dearth of reporters. Sixteen dailies were granted licenses by authorities, but only four were published. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bomber in fuel truck kills nine in Iraq's Tikrit Monday, Apr 01, 2013 03:59 AM PDT TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide bomber drove an oil tanker packed with explosives into a local Iraqi government compound on Monday, killing at least nine people, mostly policemen, in the northern city of Tikrit. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Sunni Muslim insurgents tied to al Qaeda have been redoubling their efforts to weaken Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and stoke inter-communal conflict. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenya looks for economic peace dividend after calm vote Monday, Apr 01, 2013 03:23 AM PDT  By Drazen Jorgic and Joseph Akwiri NAIROBI/MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenya's tourism industry may be a swift winner from the election of Uhuru Kenyatta, owner of hotels and a vast business empire, as east Africa's biggest economy seeks to benefit from a vote that avoided a re-run of bloodshed of five years ago. Tourism is a vital sector for the nation of more than 40 million people and was one of the worst hit after a disputed presidential poll in December 2007 led to weeks of tribal blood-letting, scaring away investors and tourists by the planeload. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali troops hunt for rebels after Timbuktu clash Monday, Apr 01, 2013 03:04 AM PDT  BAMAKO (Reuters) - Malian troops searched house-to-house in Timbuktu on Monday morning following hours of fighting with Islamist rebels who had infiltrated the northern desert town. Residents said calm had returned by late Sunday after heavy clashes and airstrikes by French fighter jets backing the Malian troops forced them to shelter indoors. The fighting reflected the difficulty of securing Mali after a French intervention in January that pushed the rebels out of their northern strongholds. "Things are quiet this morning. ... Full Story | Top |
| Adviser to Libyan PM seized in Tripoli: source Monday, Apr 01, 2013 02:56 AM PDT  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - An adviser to Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was grabbed from his car by unknown assailants on the outskirts of Tripoli on Sunday evening, a government source said. Mohamed Ali Ghatous, in his 50s, was seized after passing a checkpoint into the eastern Tripoli suburb of Tajoura. A source at Zeidan's office said Ghatous was a senior adviser to the prime minister. "Nobody knows where he is. They left his car behind, probably they thought it could be traced," he said. Ghatous had last spoken to his family by mobile phone from his car before he was taken. ... Full Story | Top |
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