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| Australia's top Catholic cardinal says abuse claims have fallen Monday, May 27, 2013 12:18 AM PDT  By James Grubel CANBERRA (Reuters) - The head of the Catholic Church in Australia on Monday blamed a former culture of silence for the cover-up of child abuse by clergy, making it difficult to know the full extent of abuse, but added that the number of cases had dropped significantly since the church started taking stronger action. Cardinal George Pell, an advisor to Pope Francis on Vatican reforms, told a parliamentary hearing the church had been slow to address the suffering of victims and again issued an apology. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: The maverick challenging Spanish politics Sunday, May 26, 2013 11:10 PM PDT  By Fiona Ortiz and Elisabeth O'Leary MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's rising political star is a 61-year-old former Socialist whose message of changing the system from within is drawing voters in despair at economic ruin and official corruption in the euro zone's fourth biggest economy. Lacking the raucous anti-establishment appeal of Italy's Beppe Grillo and Greek leftist hero Alexis Tsipras, Rosa Diez relies on sharp debate to deliver her reform message to a country pushed to the brink by the euro zone debt crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU to close excessive deficit procedure vs Italy on Wednesday: media Sunday, May 26, 2013 11:05 PM PDT  MILAN (Reuters) - The European Commission will close on Wednesday a procedure against Italy started in 2009 when Rome breached the European Union's deficit ceiling of 3 percent of gross domestic product, several Italian newspapers said quoting Commission documents. The decision is much awaited in Italy, which has introduced strict fiscal discipline under the government of former prime minister Mario Monti even as it was fighting a deep recession. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Europe's austerity-to-growth shift largely semantic Sunday, May 26, 2013 10:55 PM PDT  By Paul Taylor PARIS (Reuters) - To listen to some European leaders, especially in France, you would think the era of austerity was over and the euro zone was going full steam ahead to revive economic growth. In a striking change of tone, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said last month that austerity - the policy of cutting public debt by reducing spending and raising taxes - had reached the limits of public acceptance. In reality, the shift is more in words than deeds. The rhetoric has changed but there has been no policy U-turn. ... Full Story | Top |
| French lesbian love story wins top prize at Cannes Sunday, May 26, 2013 09:45 PM PDT  By Belinda Goldsmith and Alexandria Sage CANNES (Reuters) - An intimate lesbian love story by French director Abdellatif Kechiche won the top prize in Cannes on Sunday, and the film festival's director immediately urged the large crowds protesting against gay marriage in Paris to go and see it. "La Vie d'Adele - Chapitre 1 & 2" (Blue is the Warmest Colour) was chosen from a field of 20 films exploring sex, violence and emotional anguish which were vying for the Palme d'Or, one of the most coveted film awards after the Oscars. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas Legislature passes measure to prevent Medicaid expansion Sunday, May 26, 2013 09:30 PM PDT By Corrie MacLaggan AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The Republican-majority Texas House and Senate on Sunday sent Governor Rick Perry a proposal to prevent the state from expanding its Medicaid program as outlined by President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law. Perry, a Republican, notified the Obama administration last summer his state would not expand Medicaid, which provides healthcare for low-income people. He repeated his opposition in an April news conference at which he called expansion "foolish. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Jersey governor to look into charge against new Rutgers athletic director Sunday, May 26, 2013 09:01 PM PDT  (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Sunday vowed to investigate a report that the athletic director hired by Rutgers University after a basketball coach was fired for abusing players had herself been accused of similar abuse 16 years ago. "I've got to talk to university officials and try to get the complete story. It would be irresponsible for me to comment at this point on it," Christie told NBC News. "I'm as curious as anybody and given my position, I get to ask questions more quickly than others so I'll be asking questions and we'll see what happens. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition shake-up falters ahead of peace conference Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:49 PM PDT  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A crisis in Syrian opposition ranks deepened on Monday when a Western and Arab-backed liberal bloc was offered only token representation in the Islamist-dominated Syrian National Coalition. To the dismay of envoys of Western and Arab nations who have been monitoring four days of opposition talks in Istanbul, the 60-member coalition thwarted a deal to admit a bloc headed by opposition campaigner Michel Kilo with up to 22 new seats. His group received an offer of only five seats after a session that stretched nearly to dawn, coalition sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas lawmakers pass budget restoring money cut from schools Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:19 PM PDT By Corrie MacLaggan AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas lawmakers on Sunday gave final approval to a two-year budget that restores money cut from schools in 2011, adds funds for mental health services and calls for an 8.3 percent increase in state spending over the previous cycle. The Republican-majority House on Sunday voted, 118-29, to send Governor Rick Perry the $94.6 billion spending plan for 2014-2015. The Senate, which also has a Republican majority, approved it on Saturday on a 27-4 vote. The total budget, including federal funds, is $196.9 billion, a 3.7 percent increase. ... Full Story | Top |
| Europe investigates Apple's iPhone tactics: FT Sunday, May 26, 2013 07:20 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The European Commission is investigating whether Apple Inc is using anti-competitive iPhone sales tactics and technical restrictions to squeeze out rival smartphone makers from the European market, according to documents seen by the Financial Times. According to a questionnaire sent last week to several European mobile network operators, the Commission is focusing on distribution terms that might favour Apple by ensuring no rival can secure a better sales deal, said the newspaper. Apple said its contracts comply with EU laws, said the FT. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia, FARC rebels reach agreement on agrarian reform Sunday, May 26, 2013 06:07 PM PDT  By Jeff Franks HAVANA (Reuters) - Colombia and the Marxist-led FARC rebels have reached agreement on the critical issue of agrarian reform, the two sides said on Sunday in a major step forward for the peace process aimed at ending their long war. They said the accord called for the economic and social development of rural areas and providing land to the people living there, which addresses one of the main issues that led the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, to form in 1964 as a communist agrarian reform movement and launch its insurgency. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama calls Oklahoma tornado's toll 'hard to comprehend' Sunday, May 26, 2013 05:22 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Standing by a pile of debris that once was an elementary school, President Barack Obama on Sunday called the destruction last week's tornado wrought in Moore, Oklahoma, "hard to comprehend" and vowed to provide long-term federal help in rebuilding. The tornado, rated at the top of a five-step scale used to measure the destructive power of twisters, killed 24 people - including seven children at the school site Obama visited. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rockets hit south Beirut after Hezbollah vows Syria victory Sunday, May 26, 2013 05:06 PM PDT  By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Two rockets hit a Shi'ite Muslim district of Beirut on Sunday, driving home the risk of spillover from Syria's civil war, after the head of Lebanese Shi'ite movement Hezbollah said it would keep fighting on the Syrian government's side until victory. It was the first attack to apparently target Hezbollah's stronghold in the south of the Lebanese capital since the outbreak of the two-year conflict in neighboring Syria, which has sharply heightened Lebanon's own sectarian tensions. ... Full Story | Top |
| French gay marriage opponents stage big Paris march Sunday, May 26, 2013 03:23 PM PDT  By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor PARIS (Reuters) - Several hundred thousand opponents of same-sex marriage marched in central Paris on Sunday against a reform the unpopular French government passed last month at the price of deepening political polarization. Large park grounds around Les Invalides monument were full of protesters waving pink and blue flags, while far-right activists hung a banner on the ruling Socialist Party headquarters urging President Francois Hollande to quit. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rocket fired from Lebanon towards Israel: residents Sunday, May 26, 2013 02:56 PM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - A rocket was fired from south Lebanon towards Israel on Sunday, Lebanese security sources said, and residents of a northern Israeli town reported hearing a blast. "An explosion was heard. Soldiers are searching the area. The cause is still being investigated," an Israeli military spokeswoman said. A second Israeli military source said the explosion was probably caused by a mortar. The incident came amid heightened tensions in the region over Syria's civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kentucky policeman shot and killed in apparent highway ambush Sunday, May 26, 2013 02:37 PM PDT (Reuters) - A Kentucky policeman was shot and killed in an apparent ambush when he stopped to pick up debris on a highway exit ramp, the Courier-Journal newspaper said on Sunday. Bardstown Police Officer Jason Ellis, 33, was found shot to death on an exit ramp on the Blue Grass Parkway in north central Kentucky early Saturday morning. Investigators could not be reached for comment on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chill breeze of politics stills Australian renewables Sunday, May 26, 2013 02:23 PM PDT  By Rob Taylor BUNGENDORE, Australia (Reuters) - On a line of low hills standing sentinel beside a dry lake bed near Australia's capital, giant turbines turning slowly in a chill winter breeze give no hint of a multi-billion-dollar storm building around renewable energy. Infigen Energy's Capital Windfarm, built five years ago, was a vanguard for wind power as Australia sought to wean itself from cheap fossil-fuel power in the face of climate shift blamed in part for Lake George's transformation to a vast plain. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry backs private West Bank economic plan, but little detail Sunday, May 26, 2013 02:07 PM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed DEAD SEA, Jordan (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry sketched out a plan on Sunday to spur Palestinian growth with up to $4 billion in private investment, but did not say where the money would come from. Kerry drew a picture of prosperity in the West Bank that could spread to Israel and Jordan, while acknowledging it would not fully materialize without movement toward peace between Israel and the Palestinians. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arab League chief urges Hezbollah to stop fighting in Syria Sunday, May 26, 2013 01:43 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby on Sunday urged Lebanon's Shi'ite militant Hezbollah to stop fighting alongside government forces in Syria's civil war, after two rockets hit a Shi'ite Muslim district of Beirut. Sunday's rocket attack was the first to apparently target Hezbollah's stronghold in the south of the Lebanese capital since the outbreak of the two-year conflict in neighboring Syria, which has heightened Lebanon's own sectarian tensions. ... Full Story | Top |
| RBS board has held CEO successor talks: report Sunday, May 26, 2013 01:34 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Directors of Royal Bank of Scotland have held recent talks on identifying a replacement for its chief executive Stephen Hester, Sky News said on Sunday citing sources. Sky News said Philip Hampton, Chairman of the state-backed lender, called a meeting of the bank's non-executive directors earlier this month to inform them he was drawing up a list of potential replacements for Hester, including Standard Chartered finance director Richard Meddings. RBS declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rebels attack army base in Sudan's top oil-producing state Sunday, May 26, 2013 01:01 PM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Rebels with tanks attacked an army base in Sudan's top oil-producing state of South Kordofan on Sunday, and both sides claimed victory. The Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), an umbrella of insurgent groups which aims to topple President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has stepped up attacks in the past month, trying to force the army to fight on fronts hundreds of miles apart to drain stretched state resources. Sudan has accused neighbor South Sudan of backing rebels in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile border states. Juba denies this, but diplomats say the allegation is credible. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel, Li call for end to EU-China solar trade row Sunday, May 26, 2013 11:21 AM PDT  By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Sunday called for an end to a trade row between Europe and China over solar panels and wireless equipment, telling a joint news conference they were both for free trade. The European Union accuses China of pricing its solar panels and mobile telecom devices too cheaply and "dumping" them in Europe to corner the market. It plans to impose duties on Chinese panel makers. China denies the allegations. ... Full Story | Top |
| China PM says stable euro in best interests of China and world Sunday, May 26, 2013 11:13 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - China's Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday a stable euro was in the best interests of China and the whole world. Speaking at a news conference in Berlin with Chancellor Angela Merkel, Li said China has offered its help throughout the euro zone crisis. "We've stood by Europe and we hope that the European Union can overcome these momentary difficulties," he said. "We hope the euro zone can remain stable. I've said before that China is ready to offer its assistance. It's mutually beneficial. If Europe prospers, it's good for Europe (and) also for China's development. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kion, Shandong Heavy get 500 million euro to enhance cooperation Sunday, May 26, 2013 10:40 AM PDT FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Kion Group , the world's second biggest maker of fork lift trucks, and shareholder Shandong Heavy are getting as much as 500 million euros ($647 million) in financing from the China Development Bank to support their cooperation, Kion said. The two companies will also be receiving unspecified financial services from the bank as part of an agreement signed on Sunday at a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Kion said. "The three parties agreed that Weichai Power and Kion will intensify their cooperation ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Kuwait oil minister's resignation accepted: media Sunday, May 26, 2013 10:36 AM PDT  KUWAIT (Reuters) - The resignation of Kuwait's oil minister Hani Hussein has been accepted, local media reported, after he came under pressure from lawmakers wanting to question him over a $2.2 billion compensation payment to Dow Chemical Co. Earlier this month the parliament speaker said some members of the cabinet had offered to resign, without giving details. Hussein's resignation was accepted on Sunday, al-Rai and al-Watan newspapers reported on their websites, citing sources. Under Kuwait's constitution the ruling emir needs to approve any resignations. ... Full Story | Top |
| French soldier's stabbing could be act of terrorism: minister Sunday, May 26, 2013 10:34 AM PDT  By Nicholas Vinocur PARIS (Reuters) - The stabbing of a French soldier near Paris by a man who is still on the run bore the hallmarks of Islamist terrorism, the interior minister said on Sunday, and police said it may have been inspired by the murder of a British serviceman in London. Anti-terrorism investigators are hunting for a bearded man aged about 30, possibly of North African origin, who fled into a crowded train station after attacking the 23-year-old soldier from behind with a knife or a box-cutter on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libyan congress approves new interior minister Sunday, May 26, 2013 09:50 AM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's national assembly on Sunday approved a new interior minister after the incumbent submitted his resignation amid a rise in violence in the North African country. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan last week nominated Tripoli police colonel Mohammed Khalifa al-Sheikh to take over from Ashour Shuail, after the latter said he would quit his post for "personal reasons", official sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Chechen leader Kadyrov sacks Grozny coach Cherchesov Sunday, May 26, 2013 09:34 AM PDT By Gennady Fyodorov MOSCOW, May 26 (Reuters) - Terek Grozny sacked coach Stanislav Cherchesov on Sunday after the Chechen club finished eighth in the 16-team Russian Premier League and missed out on a place in Europe. "Unfortunately our team didn't qualify for the Europa League and didn't reach the Russian Cup final," Chechnya's strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who serves as honorary Terek president, wrote on his internet page. The Chechen capital Grozny will stage the Cup final for the first time on June 1 with champions CSKA Moscow facing Anzhi Makhachkala. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenyan police kill Muslim cleric with ties to Somali militants Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:54 AM PDT By Joseph Akwiri MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - A Muslim cleric accused of possessing explosives and radicalizing Kenyan youths into joining the Somali Islamist rebel group al Shabaab was killed in a shootout with police on Sunday, Kenyan authorities said. Police said Khalid Ahmed, a Somali with a Kenyan passport, had been a close friend of Aboud Rogo, a slain Muslim cleric whom the Kenyan government and the United States accused of helping al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants in Somalia. ... Full Story | Top |
| China, EU to discuss trade disputes on Monday Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:34 AM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China will hold informal talks with the European Commission on Monday to try to defuse a trade row over solar panels and wireless equipment. The European Union accuses China of pricing its solar panels and mobile telecom devices too cheaply and "dumping" them in Europe to corner the market. It plans to impose duties on Chinese panel makers. China denies the allegations and Premier Li Keqiang, who is touring Europe this week said the EU plans would "harm others without benefiting oneself. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition unity talks hit snags before peace conference Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:25 AM PDT  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Talks by Syria's opposition to choose a new leadership before an international peace conference stalled on Sunday over proposals to lessen Qatar's influence on the rebel forces, opposition sources said. The disarray in the opposition ranks emerged as the Syrian foreign minister said President Bashar al-Assad's government would take part "in principle" in the conference, which could take place in the next few weeks in Geneva. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU faces Syria sanctions crunch over push to arm rebels Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:25 AM PDT By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union may end this week either helping Syrian rebels or the Damascus government they detest, depending on how EU ministers resolve differences over a package of sanctions on Syria that is about to lapse. At a meeting in Brussels on Monday, the main EU military powers, Britain and France, will argue forcefully for easing some of that embargo to help channel weapons to rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad. But Austria, Sweden and several others will defend maintaining the sanctions across the board. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rome votes for new mayor as Italian government struggles Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:18 AM PDT  By Gavin Jones ROME (Reuters) - Romans went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new mayor of Italy's capital in a vote which could have repercussions for the fragile national government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta. His center-left Democratic Party (PD) is in crisis since it threw away a 10-point lead before February's national election. Many of its voters are unhappy with the decision to govern with the center-right led by traditional adversary Silvio Berlusconi. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Slavia keeper and coach get bodyguards after death threats Sunday, May 26, 2013 08:15 AM PDT (Repeats to more codes) SOFIA, May 26 (Reuters) - Bulgarian soccer club Slavia Sofia assigned bodyguards to keeper Georgi Petkov and coach Velislav Vutsov after the pair received death threats following their team's 1-1 draw at city rivals Levski on the final day of the season on Saturday. Levski had seemed certain to win a 27th league title but, in a dramatic finale, defender Dimitar Vezalov scored a bizarre own goal 16 minutes from time to shock home fans into silence as main rivals Ludogorets beat Montana to lift the trophy for a second straight year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspected killer of British soldier was held in Kenya Sunday, May 26, 2013 07:49 AM PDT  By Peter Griffiths and Drazen Jorgic LONDON/NAIROBI (Reuters) - One of two men arrested over the murder of a British soldier in a London street was detained in Kenya in 2010 on suspicion of seeking to train with an al Qaeda-linked group in Somalia, Kenyan police said on Sunday. Confirmation that Michael Adebolajo was held in Kenya and deported to London will intensify calls for Britain's spy agencies to explain what they knew about the suspect and whether they could have done more to prevent Lee Rigby's killing on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Karzai's brother plans independent run in Afghan election Sunday, May 26, 2013 07:34 AM PDT  By Sarwar Amani and Ismail Sameen KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai's older brother Qayum will run in next year's presidential election, their younger brother said, as the country's most powerful family seeks to maintain a political hold in Afghanistan. President Karzai is constitutionally prohibited from running for a third term when the country votes for a new head of state on April 5. "Qayum will announce his candidacy soon and will represent our political movement ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Bahrain calls Hezbollah head a terrorist, says must be stopped Sunday, May 26, 2013 07:04 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain's foreign minister has called the head of Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah a "terrorist" after Hassan Nasrallah said his fighters would help bring victory to its ally President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war. The comments represent a departure from the traditional Arab view of Hezbollah as a main force against Israel and show the widening sectarian divisions in the region over the war in Syria. Sunni-ruled Bahrain has been rocked by political turmoil since majority Shi'ite Muslims took to the streets in 2011 to push for reforms and more say in the government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four-star general in eye of U.S. cyber storm Sunday, May 26, 2013 07:03 AM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Depending on your point of view, U.S. General Keith Alexander is either an Army four-star trying to stave off a cyber Pearl Harbor attack, or an overreaching spy chief who wants to eavesdrop on the private emails of every American. Alexander, 61, has headed the National Security Agency since 2005, making him the longest-serving chief in the history of an intelligence unit so secretive that it was dubbed "No Such Agency." Alexander also runs U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel not scaring off conservative voters, Schaeuble says Sunday, May 26, 2013 06:56 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel has not alienated conservative German voters by pushing her Christian Democrats into the center but has instead put the party on course to win for a third straight term in September, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine on Sunday, the powerful leader of the CDU's conservative wing made it clear to fellow right wingers they should stop sniping at Merkel if they want to help keep the party in power for four more years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbia gives state funeral to former king and family Sunday, May 26, 2013 06:41 AM PDT  By Branko Filipovic OPLENAC, Serbia (Reuters) - Serbian government officials and hundreds of mourners attended the reburial of King Petar II Karadjordjevic and other members of the deposed Yugoslavian royal family on Sunday decades after their deaths in exile - an event seen as an important act of national reconciliation. The bodies of Petar, his wife Queen Aleksandra, mother Queen Maria and brother Prince Andrej, had been exhumed from cemeteries in the United States, Britain and Greece. ... Full Story | Top |
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