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| Vietnam police swoop on anti-China protest, 20 detained Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 11:12 PM PDT  HANOI (Reuters) - Police in Vietnam moved swiftly to break up an anti-China protest on Sunday, making at least 20 arrests in the latest sign of the communist regime's tough stance on dissent, and even after it chided Beijing for aggression in the South China Sea. As crowds gathered in response to the recent ramming of a Vietnamese trawler by Chinese navy vessels, uniform and plain clothes police blocked off rallying points and quickly put protesters on to waiting buses, Reuters witnesses said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cuba says Venezuela's spat with Colombia could hurt peace talks Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 09:56 PM PDT  HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba expressed support on Saturday for its ally Venezuela in a row with Colombia, which Havana suggested could hurt peace talks it has been hosting to end Colombia's long war with leftist rebels. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez declared in a statement Cuba's "unvarying position of solidarity with Venezuela and of recognition of the legitimate government of President Nicolas Maduro. ... Full Story | Top |
| Despite series of scandals, China backs Hong Kong leader Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 09:30 PM PDT  By Greg Torode HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying is facing fresh uncertainty over the political support he has from China after his campaign manager and close ally quit the cabinet last month because of a police investigation into his commodities trading business. It was the latest in a series of scandals to hit Leung since he took office last July in a move orchestrated by Beijing. In other embarrassments, his development minister has been arrested, there have been mass public protests against the government and opponents have attempted to impeach him. ... Full Story | Top |
| China not disputing Japan sovereignty over Okinawa Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 08:28 PM PDT  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China does not dispute Japanese sovereignty over Okinawa and recent comments in Chinese newspapers merely reflects the views of some academics, a senior Chinese military leader said on Sunday. "China's position has not changed... Scholars can put forth any idea they want and they do not represent the views of the Chinese government," the deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Lieutenant General Qi Jianguo, told delegates at a security conference in Singapore. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyber hacking to overshadow summit between Obama and China's Xi Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 07:34 PM PDT  By Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A shirt-sleeves summit between the world's two top economic powers is shaping up as anything but relaxing, with an assertive new Chinese leadership seeking a bigger place at the global table and the United States pushing back, especially in the battle over cyberspace. U.S. President Barack Obama and newly installed Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet on Friday in Southern California at a relatively informal retreat aimed at allowing the pair to get to know each other away from the spotlight of Washington. High-level U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| As Philippines booms, overseas workers eye return home Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 06:40 PM PDT  By Karen Lema MANILA (Reuters) - Mateo Ragonjan took a leap of faith in August last year. The executive sous-chef of a seven-star luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi packed his bags to take up a similar job back home in the Philippines. He is one of a small group of like-minded Filipinos returning to jobs back home, a sign of confidence in an economy that for decades has seen millions leave in search of better prospects overseas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bombs, boredom threaten Pakistan's "Pashto" song-and-dance cinema Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 06:38 PM PDT  By Jibran Ahmad and Nick Macfie PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A projectionist lies asleep in the sweltering Pakistani heat, his face covered by a cloth. A colleague rewinds a reel manually while on screen, through the hashish smoke, a woman bounces on a bed singing "hello, hello, hello" into a cellphone. To this, her would-be lover, who is in another room and is old and apparently drunk, sings "hello, hello, hello" back to her while splashing his head and shoulders with aftershave. Then the two of them, both fully clothed, sing it again. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia blocks U.N. Security Council declaration on Syria's Qusair Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 05:20 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia on Saturday blocked a U.N. Security Council declaration of alarm over the bloody siege of the Syrian town of al-Qusair by Syrian troops and Hezbollah guerrillas, Security Council diplomats said. Britain, president of the 15-nation council, had circulated a draft statement to fellow members voicing "grave concern about the situation in al-Qusair, Syria, and in particular the impact on civilians of the ongoing fighting." Qusair, near the Syrian-Lebanese border, is usually home to an estimated 30,000 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Presidency beckons for Jakarta's rags-to-riches governor Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 05:17 PM PDT  By Kanupriya Kapoor and Andrew R.C. Marshall JAKARTA (Reuters) - Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, the governor of Jakarta, might well be the future of Indonesian democracy. Here's why. On a recent afternoon he visited Tambora, a densely populated area of west Jakarta, to inspect the aftermath of a slum fire. Within minutes, the narrow streets were a moshpit of jostling well-wishers. Women embraced him. Men kissed his hand. ... Full Story | Top |
| Protesters defiant as Turkey unrest goes into third day Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 05:13 PM PDT  By Can Sezer and Parisa Hafezi ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Protesters lit fires and scuffled with police in parts of Istanbul and Ankara early on Sunday, but the streets were generally quieter after two days of Turkey's fiercest anti-government demonstrations for years. Hundreds of protesters set fires in the Tunali district of the capital Ankara, while riot police fired tear gas and pepper spray to hold back groups of stone-throwing youths near Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office in Istanbul. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wall Street Week Ahead: Good news on jobs may be bad for stocks Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 04:56 PM PDT  By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) - Standing conventional stock market wisdom on its head, investors may wish for weaker-than-expected employment numbers next Friday. A strong jobs report could prompt an early end to the Federal Reserve's policy of pumping money into the banking system to rescue the economy and set off the stock market's long-awaited pullback. The Fed's loose monetary policy since the end of 2008 has kept interest rates low and propelled stocks to record highs. Last week, stocks fell and bond yields surged after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bank of England's King plans to waltz into the sunset Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 04:04 PM PDT  By David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) - Dance lessons are one of Bank of England Governor Mervyn King's few clear plans for his retirement when he steps down later this month after 20 years at the Bank of England. In a rare personal interview to be broadcast later on Sunday, the 65-year-old, who was previously a professor at the London School of Economics, expressed sadness that his focus on work had damaged his private life. "The career always came first. That was probably a mistake," he said when asked if he regretted not having children and only marrying in 2007. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Tough going ahead on path to Illinois pension reform Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 03:29 PM PDT  By Karen Pierog (Reuters) - As Illinois lawmakers sift through the wreckage of a session that failed to produce major pension reform for their state, they are holding out hope that meetings in the coming days could lead to a resolution not achieved after months of political wrangling. Governor Patrick Quinn, a Democrat, said late Friday he intends to summon legislative leaders to a meeting this week to seek a compromise solution. But significant political obstacles remain. With the spring session adjourned, passing pension reform will require a three-fifths majority vote in the Legislature. ... Full Story | Top |
| Beyonce headlines sell-out UK gig to promote gender equality Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 03:13 PM PDT  By Dasha Afanasieva LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. singer Beyonce performed a set full of female anthems on Saturday at a London concert to raise funds for women's health, education and justice. The concert, which organizers hoped would reach a billion viewers, was staged by Chime For Change, a charity started by Italian fashion house Gucci which crowdfunds donations for projects to advance gender equality in more than 70 countries. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. transfers suspected senior al Qaeda member to Mauritania Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 03:04 PM PDT  By Laurent Prieur NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have transferred Younis al-Mauritani, a suspected senior member of al Qaeda previously held in Afghanistan, to Mauritania, officials in the West African nation said on Saturday. Pakistan said in September 2011 it arrested al-Mauritani, better known in his homeland Mauritania as Youssouf Al Mauritani, during a joint operation with U.S. intelligence services. Witnesses at the airport in Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott, saw a U.S. military plane deliver a prisoner late on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Frankfurt 'Blockupy' protesters clash with police Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 02:48 PM PDT  By Eva Kuehnen FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German police used pepper spray and batons against thousands of anti-capitalist demonstrators from the Blockupy movement on Saturday during a second day of protests in Frankfurt against Europe's austerity policies. Planned rallies in struggling euro zone members Spain and Portugal drew fewer people than expected, but in Germany's financial capital around 7,000 protesters marched with signs reading "Make love, not war" and "IMF - get out of Greece". ... Full Story | Top |
| More than 1,000 killed in Iraq violence in May Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 01:51 PM PDT  By Patrick Markey BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than 1,000 people were killed in violence in Iraq in May, making it the deadliest month since the sectarian slaughter of 2006-07, the United Nations said on Saturday, as fears mounted of a return to civil war. Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in the last two months as al Qaeda and Sunni Islamist insurgents, invigorated by the Sunni-led revolt in Syria and by Sunni discontent at home, seek to revive the kind of all-out inter-communal conflict that killed tens of thousands five years ago. "That is a sad record," Martin Kobler, the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish PM Erdogan calls for end to protests as clashes flare Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 01:23 PM PDT  By Nick Tattersall and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan made a defiant call for an end to the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years on Saturday as authorities arrested almost a thousand people in protests across the country. Riot police backed by armored vehicles and helicopters fired tear gas and water cannons in Istanbul and Ankara for a second day. Interior Minister Muammer Guler said 939 arrests had been made in more than 90 separate demonstrations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Runaway oligarch says Kazakh leader takes revenge on family Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 01:21 PM PDT By Dmitry Solovyov ALMATY (Reuters) - Fugitive Kazakh oligarch and dissident Mukhtar Ablyazov said on Saturday his wife and daughter were with relatives in the city of Almaty, after earlier accusing President Nursultan Nazarbayev of "kidnapping" them following their deportation from Italy. Ablyazov, 50, fled the oil-rich Central Asian state after his bank BTA was nationalized and declared insolvent in 2009. The former government minister, who says his life is in danger, was granted political asylum in Britain in 2011. BTA has brought fraud charges against Ablyazov and his allies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three NATO soldiers, civilian killed in attacks in Afghanistan Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 01:19 PM PDT KABUL (Reuters) - Three NATO soldiers and a civilian working with the international military coalition in Afghanistan were killed in three incidents on Saturday, officials said. The attacks underscored the dangers faced by ISAF troops, even as they hand over much of the fighting to Afghan security forces ahead of a planned withdrawal next year. In the east, a soldier and a civilian were killed in one incident, and a second soldier was killed in another, said a spokeswoman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). ... Full Story | Top |
| Leading Sunni Muslim cleric calls for "jihad" in Syria Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 01:04 PM PDT DOHA (Reuters) - Leading Sunni Muslim cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi called on Saturday for holy war against the Syrian government after fighters from Shi'ite Lebanese group Hezbollah intervened to help President Bashar al-Assad. His website said Qaradawi had "called on all those able to undertake jihad and fighting to head to Syria to stand by the Syrian people who are being killed at the hands of the regime and are now being killed at the hands of what he called the party of Satan". ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain PM sees hope for unemployment on day of protests Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 12:36 PM PDT  By Clare Kane MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish unemployment figures next week may strike a more encouraging note, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told an economic conference on Saturday, holding out some hope for an economy deep in its second year of recession. Anger is high in Spain over the budget cuts and labor market changes that have left more than six million out of work, and a protest in Madrid on Saturday drew up to several thousand protestors, although that was fewer than similar events in the recent past. Unemployment in Spain, the euro zone's fourth-biggest economy, jumped to a record 27. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish police detained 939 people in protests: Interior Minister Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 12:30 PM PDT ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish police detained 939 people in 90 different demonstrations across Turkey, interior minister Muammer Guler said on Saturday. "There have been 939 detentions in various cities. Some of them have already been released," Guler told reporters in comments broadcast by Turkish state television. He added that 79 people were wounded during the unrest, which was triggered by government plans for a replica Ottoman-era barracks housing shops or apartments in Istanbul's Taksim Square but widened into a broader show of defiance against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Second man charged with murder of soldier in London Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 11:50 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - British counter-terrorism police charged a second man on Saturday with the May 22 murder of Lee Rigby, a serving soldier, on a London street. Michael Adebolajo, 28, was also charged with the attempted murder of two police officers and with possession of a firearm, a 9.4 mm revolver, with intent to cause others to believe that violence would be used. Adebolajo was remanded in custody to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday, police said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraq says captures al Qaeda chemical gas team Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 11:30 AM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has captured a suspected al Qaeda cell that planned to produce chemical poisons such as mustard gas to attack Iraqi forces and to ship overseas for attacks on Europe and the United States, the government said on Saturday. The announcement was made as investigators look into allegations over the use of sarin nerve gas in next-door Syria where rebels and President Bashar al-Assad's forces have blamed each other for using chemical weapons. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspect under investigation in Toulouse killings probe: source Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 11:28 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - A French judge put under formal investigation on Saturday a 31-year-old man suspected of helping an al Qaeda-inspired gunman prepare a shooting spree in the southern France city of Toulouse last year, a judicial source said. The man is suspected of providing weapons and a bullet-proof vest to Mohamed Merah, who killed seven people including three Jewish children and three soldiers in and around Toulouse in March 2012 before he was shot dead by police. ... Full Story | Top |
| London police contain rival protests over soldier's killing Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 11:23 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Police intervened to separate about 150 far-right protesters from a much larger anti-racism crowd in London on Saturday to stop them from coming to blows over the killing of a British soldier on a busy street last week. A number of protests and counter-protests have taken place in the wake of the May 22 killing of Lee Rigby, a serving soldier and veteran of the war in Afghanistan, which the authorities are treating as a terrorist incident. Michael Adebowale and Michael Adebolajo are now in custody on suspicion of killing Rigby. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy aims to axe youth jobless rate below 30 percent: PM Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 11:03 AM PDT  TRENTO, Italy (Reuters) - Italy's Prime Minister Enrico Letta said on Saturday his government aims to reduce youth unemployment to below 30 percent in the next few years with a mixture of fiscal breaks and different contracts for young employees. Italy's overall jobless rate and youth unemployment edged up in April to the highest levels on record, data showed on Friday, with the youth jobless rate at 40.5 percent. Reducing unemployment in the midst of Italy's longest recession since World War Two is likely to be no easy task. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two dead, around 10 wounded in prison raid in Niger's capital Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 10:59 AM PDT NIAMEY (Reuters) - Gunmen killed two guards and wounded around 10 other people in an attack on a prison in Niger's capital Niamey on Saturday, a week after al Qaeda-linked groups raided a uranium mine and an army barracks. Local residents said the assault began at around 3 p.m. (1500 GMT) when a group of attackers opened fire on guards at the entrance to the prison. They said they also heard a loud explosion. Ila Yaye, who lives near the prison, told Reuters she saw several of the guards fall and not get back up. It was not immediately clear who had carried out the attack. ... Full Story | Top |
| Convicted murderer Sloot eyes Peru marriage for 'love,' says lawyer Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 10:58 AM PDT  LIMA (Reuters) - Jailed murderer Joran van der Sloot plans to wed his Peruvian girlfriend for love, not to avoid extradition to the United States in connection with the disappearance of an Alabama teenager, his lawyer said on Saturday. Van der Sloot, a 25-year-old Dutch citizen, is serving 28 years in prison for killing Peruvian business student Stephany Flores, 21, in 2010 after meeting her playing poker in a Lima casino. When his term ends, he is also slated to be sent to the United States to face charges of extortion stemming from the unsolved disappearance of U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Death toll rises to nine from Oklahoma tornadoes Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 10:21 AM PDT  By Heide Brandes OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Nine people were killed in tornadoes that swept through central Oklahoma on Friday, part of a storm system that caused widespread flooding in Oklahoma City and its suburbs, the state's chief medical examiner said on Saturday. The dead included two children and seven adults, said Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office. The death toll earlier had been reported as five. The tornadoes struck just 11 days after a twister ranked as EF5, the most powerful ranking, tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore and killed 24 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| China accuses U.S. of 'prejudice' over 1989 protest comments Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 10:13 AM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China accused the United States of "prejudice" on Saturday after the U.S. State Department renewed a call for Beijing to fully account for its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in June 1989. The United States should "immediately rectify its wrongdoings and stop interfering in China's internal affairs so as not to sabotage China-U.S. relations", Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in an English-language statement released via the official Xinhua news agency. China has already reached a "clear conclusion" about the events of 1989, Hong said. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germany's Schaeuble denies election spending splurge Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 10:00 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble rejected on Saturday suggestions the government will significantly loosen public purse strings for September's federal election, though he said there may be scope for modest additional spending. Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose conservatives are well ahead in opinion polls, signaled this week that more funds could be made available for families and for infrastructure projects. ... Full Story | Top |
| Runaway oligarch says Kazakh leader takes revenge on his family Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 09:58 AM PDT By Dmitry Solovyov ALMATY (Reuters) - Fugitive Kazakh oligarch and dissident Mukhtar Ablyazov said on Saturday Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev had "kidnapped" his wife and daughter after Italy deported them for being there illegally. Ablyazov, 50, fled the oil-rich Central Asian state after his bank BTA was nationalized and declared insolvent in 2009. The former government minister, who says his life is in danger, was granted political asylum in Britain in 2011. BTA has brought fraud charges against Ablyazov and his allies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Basque peace group dissolves, says it's no longer needed Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 09:41 AM PDT  BILBAO (Reuters) - A peace movement set up 28 years ago to counter the violence of the Basque militant group ETA formally dissolved on Saturday, saying that it had achieved its objective now that ETA has laid down its arms. Three hundred people congregated for a minute's silence in Bilbao's Circular Square, the scene of A Gesture for Peace's first protest, when 200 people gathered in silence to protest the murder of four people by ETA in 1985. ... Full Story | Top |
| France's Le Pen could lose immunity over anti-Muslim remarks Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 09:39 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen could face charges over remarks comparing Muslims praying in the streets to the wartime Nazi occupation, after European lawmakers voted to strip her of parliamentary immunity. The French justice ministry asked the European Parliament last year to waive Le Pen's immunity over the comments, made at a rally in 2010 before she took over leadership of the National Front party founded by her father, Jean-Marie. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fighting in Syria's Qusair, U.N. says world watching Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 08:58 AM PDT  By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian troops and Hezbollah guerrillas besieging the border town of Qusair fought with rebels on Saturday as the United Nations warned all sides they would be held accountable for the suffering of trapped civilians. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting was taking place inside Qusair and in villages around it, largely controlled by President Bashar al-Assad's forces who have cut off access to the town. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria rebukes Erdogan over Turkish protest violence Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 08:50 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria gleefully turned the tables on Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday over his response to anti-government demonstrations, calling on him to halt the violent repression of peaceful protests or resign. Erdogan, a former ally of Bashar al-Assad, turned against him after the Syrian president sought to crush largely peaceful protests which broke out in March 2011 and have since descended into a brutal civil war that has left at least 80,000 dead. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pussy Riot bandmember ends hunger strike Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 08:44 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - One of the three members of the Pussy Riot band jailed for performing a profanity-laced punk song against Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main cathedral ended a hunger strike on Saturday after prison authorities gave in to her demands. Maria Alyokhina, 25, went on hunger strike last month after officials prevented her from attending a parole hearing and was hospitalized as her physical condition got worse. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia detains Dagestan mayor on murder charges Saturday, Jun 01, 2013 08:24 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - The mayor of the capital of the troubled Russian region of Dagestan has been detained on suspicion of organizing the murder of a senior state investigator, the Investigative Committee said on Saturday. Car bombs, suicide bombings and murders of officials are common in Dagestan, home to a deadly mixture of Islamist insurgency rooted in two post-Soviet wars against separatist rebels in neighboring Chechnya, and booming organized crime. ... Full Story | Top |
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