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| Greek police arrest leader of far-right Golden Dawn party Saturday, Sep 28, 2013 12:33 AM PDT  ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police arrested the leader and the spokesman of the far-right Golden Dawn party on Saturday on charges of founding a criminal organization, and have issued arrest warrants for dozens more party members and lawmakers, police officials said. Police are investigating the party for links with the killing of an anti-fascist rapper by a self-proclaimed Golden Dawn supporter. The stabbing to death of Pavlos Fissas on September 17 sparked violent protests in the capital of Athens. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council demands elimination of Syria chemical arms Friday, Sep 27, 2013 11:56 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution on Friday that demands the eradication of Syria's chemical weapons but does not threaten automatic punitive action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government if it does not comply. The unanimous vote by the 15-member Security Council capped weeks of intense diplomacy between Russia and the United States. It was based on a deal between the two countries reached in Geneva earlier this month following an August 21 sarin nerve gas attack on a Damascus suburb that killed hundreds. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese police rescue 92 children kidnapped for sale: state media Friday, Sep 27, 2013 09:58 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have rescued 92 children and two women kidnapped by a gang for sale and arrested 301 suspects, state media said on Saturday, in one of the biggest busts of its kind in years. Police simultaneously swooped on locations in 11 provinces recently after a six-month investigation, China Central Television and state news agency Xinhua said, quoting the Ministry of Public Security. An exact date of when the children were rescued and the arrests made was not given. State media also did not give a breakdown of how many boys and how many girls were kidnapped. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria U.N. envoy says chemical weapons resolution addresses Syria's concerns Friday, Sep 27, 2013 06:37 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A resolution adopted by the U.N. Security Council to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons covers most of Damascus' concerns, Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said on Friday. Ja'afari, reacting after the Security Council unanimously adopted the resolution, said countries supporting Syria's rebels - Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France and the United States - should also abide by the resolution. He said the Syrian government was "fully committed" to attending a proposed November peace conference in Geneva aimed at ending Syria's civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia says U.N. prepared to punish breaches of Syria resolution Friday, Sep 27, 2013 05:51 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council would be prepared to take punitive steps in the event of confirmed violations of a resolution demanding the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. "The United Nations Security Council ... will stand ready to take action under Chapter 7 of the (U.N.) charter, quite clearly," Lavrov said after the council unanimously approved the resolution. He was referring to the part of the charter covering the council's power to enforce its decisions with sanctions or military force. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Iran's Rouhani hold historic phone call Friday, Sep 27, 2013 05:05 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Louis Charbonneau WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani spoke by telephone on Friday, the highest-level contact between the two countries in three decades and a sign that they are serious about reaching a pact on Tehran's nuclear program. The call is the culmination of a dramatic shift in tone between Iran and the United States, which cut diplomatic relations with Iran a year after the 1979 revolution that toppled U.S. ally Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and led to the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chemical weapons watchdog to begin Syria inspections next week Friday, Sep 27, 2013 04:47 PM PDT By Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Experts from the world's chemical weapons watchdog will begin inspecting Syria's stockpile of toxic munitions by Tuesday, according to an agreement passed in The Hague on Friday. The agreement enables the U.N. Security Council to vote later on Friday on a draft resolution on eradicating Syria's chemical arsenal. The decision adopted by the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, OPCW, called on members to make cash donations to fund Syria's fast-tracked destruction operation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jesse Jackson arrives in Cuba on mission of reconciliation Friday, Sep 27, 2013 04:20 PM PDT  HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S. civil rights activist Jesse Jackson arrived in Cuba on Friday where he said he hoped to facilitate improved relations with the United States and see imprisoned U.S. contractor Alan Gross. Jackson is on a private visit to the communist-run island being hosted by the Roman Catholic Church. He has visited Cuba a number of times and met with former President Fidel Castro. "The church is concerned about peace ... and Cuba's relations with the United States and the rest of the Caribbean. I hope we can facilitate that," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council set to vote on Syria chemical arms resolution Friday, Sep 27, 2013 04:07 PM PDT  By John Irish and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is set to adopt a resolution on Friday on eradicating Syria's chemical arsenal after Russia and the United States overcame a bitter deadlock to avert U.S. military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government. Amid newfound unity of the veto-wielding council members - Russia, China, France, the United States and Britain - French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he hoped a date would also be agreed on Friday for so-called Geneva 2 peace talks on Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran makes payments on old loans to World Bank Friday, Sep 27, 2013 04:03 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran resumed payments on old loans to the World Bank, the bank said on Friday, just as the country held the highest level conversation with the United States in more than three decades. The poverty-fighting World Bank, which did not provide a reason for the resumption of payments, announced in July that Iran had not made any payments for more than half a year, a possible sign of the strain on the sanctions-hit Iranian economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chemical arms watchdog agrees Syria plan, U.N. set to vote Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:58 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Executive Council on Friday adopted a decision on a plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, enabling the U.N. Security Council to vote shortly on a draft resolution. "White smoke in the Hague," British U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant announced on his Twitter feed. "OPCW decision adopted by consensus. UNSC (Security Council) can vote at 2000 (EDT)." The OPCW, the international chemical weapons watchdog based in The Hague, confirmed the decision. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau) Full Story | Top |
| Eight held over Nairobi mall attack, al Shabaab issues new threat Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:55 PM PDT By James Macharia and Matthew Mpoke Bigg NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan authorities are holding eight people in connection with an attack by Islamist militants on a Nairobi shopping mall and have released three others after the assault that killed 67 civilians and soldiers, the interior minister said on Friday. Somali Islamist group al Shabaab said Saturday's attack, which ended after a four-day siege by soldiers and police, was "just the premiere of Act 1" and suggested it would be followed by other actions by its "warriors". ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudanese police fire teargas as crowd demands Bashir resign Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:27 PM PDT  By Khalid Abdelaziz and Ulf Laessing KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Police fired teargas on Friday to disperse thousands of Sudanese demanding that President Omar Hassan al-Bashir step down, a day after clashes in which rights groups accused security forces of shooting dead at least 50 people. Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 coup, has not faced the sort of Arab Spring uprising that unseated autocratic rulers from Tunisia to Yemen since 2011, but anger has risen over corruption and rising inflation in the vast African country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian PM to call confidence vote as government nears collapse Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:25 PM PDT  By Francesca Piscioneri and Giuseppe Fonte ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta will call a confidence vote in parliament after a showdown with center-right partners in his fragile coalition scuppered a vital package of budget measures on Friday and took his government to the brink of collapse. Letta flew back from a visit to New York with coalition unity already in tatters after a threat by center-right lawmakers to walk out over former premier Silvio Berlusconi's battle against a conviction for tax fraud. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbia bans gay pride march again; EU criticizes decision Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:16 PM PDT  By Aleksandar Vasovic BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's government banned a weekend gay pride march for the third consecutive year on Friday, citing the threat of violence from right-wing hooligans, in a move that sparked protests by gay activists and criticism from the European Union. Denying that the government had given in to right-wing threats, Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said on state television that the ban on Saturday's event was a public safety matter. The last gay pride march in 2010 triggered a day of rioting and arson by nationalists in the capital Belgrade. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria rebels struggle to rally practical backing on U.N. stage Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:05 PM PDT  By Asma Alsharif and John Irish UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - International opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reaffirmed support for the country's opposition coalition at the U.N. General Assembly this week, but with rebel forces splitting and delivery of weapons slow, the coalition looks increasingly marginalized. After weeks of frustration as the international community turned its attention to negotiating a deal to rid Assad of his chemical weapons, the Syrian National Coalition, or SNC, had hoped to use the annual meeting to push its cause. "We came to the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama call was 'totally unexpected' for Iran's Rouhani: source Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:02 PM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's telephone call to new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was "totally unexpected," a source close to Rouhani told Reuters on Saturday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said that the U.S. had reached out on Friday after the positive meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry a day earlier. (Reporting by Marcus George in Dubai, writing by Louis Charbonneau) Full Story | Top |
| Gambian president says gays a threat to human existence Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:01 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Gambia's president warned the United Nations General Assembly on Friday that gays were a threat to human existence, along with excessive greed and obsession with world domination, and criticized other countries for regarding homosexuality as a human right. "Those who promote homosexuality want to put an end to human existence," Gambian President Yahya Jammeh told the gathering of world leaders in New York. "It is becoming an epidemic and we Muslims and Africans will fight to end this behavior. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian PM to seek confidence vote in parliament: minister Friday, Sep 27, 2013 02:42 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta plans to call a confidence vote in parliament after failing to secure backing for a vital package of fiscal measures at a cabinet meeting on Friday, his regional affairs minister said. Letta said in a statement after the meeting that he was not willing to go on without clear support from the parties in his coalition, as divisions with center-right partners drove the government close to collapse. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germany's left wants grassroots blessing before joining Merkel Friday, Sep 27, 2013 02:05 PM PDT  By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's opposition Social Democrats decided on Friday to put any decision to join a 'grand coalition' with Angela Merkel to a vote of its 472,000 grassroots members, an unwieldy process that could complicate the creation of a new government. But an extraordinary meeting on Friday of 200 party leaders also gave embattled chairman Sigmar Gabriel a green light to begin exploratory talks with Chancellor Merkel's victorious conservatives to see if there is scope for full-fledged talks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Building collapse kills 13 in Mumbai, more feared trapped Friday, Sep 27, 2013 01:55 PM PDT By Rajendra Jadhav MUMBAI (Reuters) - A five-storey apartment block collapsed on Friday in Mumbai, killing at least thirteen people. Rescuers worked into the night to pull out survivors and casualties from the concrete rubble. City authorities said 46 people were rescued by evening. It was not clear how many more were still in the rubble. Employees of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (BMC) were housed in the building. A neighbour in the next block said she heard a loud cracking sound as the building caved in. ... Full Story | Top |
| Building collapse kills 13 in India's Mumbai, more feared trapped Friday, Sep 27, 2013 01:52 PM PDT  By Rajendra Jadhav MUMBAI (Reuters) - A five-storey apartment block collapsed on Friday in the Indian financial center of Mumbai, killing at least thirteen people. Rescuers worked into the night to pull out survivors and casualties from the concrete rubble. City authorities said 46 people were rescued by evening. It was not clear how many more were still in the rubble. Employees of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, also known as the BMC, were housed in the building. A neighbor in the next block said she heard a loud cracking sound as the building caved in. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama speaks by phone to Iran's Rouhani, sees chance for progress Friday, Sep 27, 2013 01:30 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani spoke by phone on Friday, the highest-level contact between the two countries since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and a sign that both sides are serious about reaching a pact on Iran's nuclear program. Obama had hoped to meet with Rouhani earlier this week while both men were in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, but Iran decided a meeting would be too complicated. "I reiterated to President Rouhani what I said in New York. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former bin Laden associate facing U.S. charges seeks UK spy evidence Friday, Sep 27, 2013 01:20 PM PDT  By Mark Hosenball and Karen Freifeld WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former London-based associate of Osama bin Laden facing U.S. terrorism charges has asked a judge for authorization to seek testimony from an officer of Britain's internal spy agency, MI5, which his lawyers claim might prove his innocence. Lawyers for Khalid Al Fawwaz filed papers in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday seeking a court order requiring testimony from a MI5 officer with whom Fawwaz claims he was in regular contact with during four years he lived in London in the 1990s. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbia bans gay pride march again, citing right-wing threat Friday, Sep 27, 2013 12:38 PM PDT  By Aleksandar Vasovic BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's government banned gay activists from marching in Belgrade for the third year running on Friday, citing a threat to public safety from right-wing hooligans but risking EU condemnation before the expected start of accession talks. The last Gay Pride march in 2010 triggered a day of rioting by right-wing nationalists in the capital, Belgrade. Western ambassadors had heaped pressure on Serbia to allow this year's event to go ahead on Saturday, as a litmus test of the Balkan country's commitment to tolerance and diversity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran's Rouhani says he wants quick results from nuclear talks Friday, Sep 27, 2013 12:17 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau and Yeganeh Torbati NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Friday he wanted talks with major powers on Iran's nuclear program to yield results in a short time, while France challenged Tehran to address Western concerns even sooner than it has proposed. Rouhani made his remarks shortly before he left for Tehran at the end of his debut visit to the United Nations for its annual meeting of the General Assembly. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Nour Party rejects move against religious parties Friday, Sep 27, 2013 12:01 PM PDT By Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's second biggest Islamist party, Nour, on Friday rejected proposed changes to the constitution that would outlaw parties founded on religious grounds, and called the move a "sword drawn" against Islamists. The proposal, made during meetings of the constitutional committee this week but not yet formally approved, came days after a Cairo court separately banned the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's dominant Islamist force. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudanese police fire teargas as crowds demand Bashir resign Friday, Sep 27, 2013 11:29 AM PDT  By Khalid Abdelaziz and Ulf Laessing KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Police fired teargas on Friday to disperse thousands of Sudanese demanding that President Omar Hassan al-Bashir step down, a day after clashes in which rights groups accused security forces of shooting dead at least 50 people. Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 coup, has been spared the sort of Arab Spring uprising that unseated autocratic rulers from Tunisia to Yemen since 2011, but anger has risen over corruption and rising inflation in the vast African country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's Abe says no concessions, but no escalation in islet spat with China Friday, Sep 27, 2013 10:54 AM PDT  By Paul Eckert NEW YORK (Reuters) - Japan will make no concessions on sovereignty over Pacific islets also claimed by China, but will not make any moves to escalate the situation, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday. Tokyo is locked in a territorial dispute with Beijing over a group of East China Sea islets, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. They have become a theater for cat-and-mouse operations by patrol vessels from both sides. "The intrusions by Chinese government vessels in our territorial waters are continuing, to our regret. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazil polls show Rousseff's popularity still on the rebound Friday, Sep 27, 2013 10:35 AM PDT  By Maria Carolina Marcello BRASILIA (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff continues to recover popularity lost after the massive protests that shook Brazil in June, bolstering her chances of re-election next year, two polls published on Friday showed. The polls confirm the results of other recent public opinion surveys showing Rousseff has overcome the dramatic drop in support she suffered after the protests, which targeted all of Brazil's political elite, including her ruling Workers' Party. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli forces clash with Palestinians over al-Aqsa visits Friday, Sep 27, 2013 10:33 AM PDT By Crispian Balmer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police clashed with Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem's Old City, the occupied West Bank and Gaza on Friday, reflecting growing tensions over an increase in Jewish visits to the al-Aqsa mosque compound. Palestinian militants and youth groups have called for a general uprising in response to the entry by Jewish groups under police escort to the Jerusalem holy site, which is revered by both Muslims and Jews. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan closes office of Sky News Arabia Friday, Sep 27, 2013 10:27 AM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan has closed the office of Abu Dhabi-based news channel Sky News Arabia, banned its correspondent from working and confiscated its equipment, the station said on Friday. Authorities had given no reason, Sky said on its website. Al-Arabiya television, based in Dubai, had earlier said it had also been ordered to halt work in Sudan after the government had complained about its coverage of recent unrest. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Reem Shamseddine; Editing by Angus MacSwan) Full Story | Top |
| At least three killed in explosion at Paris work site Friday, Sep 27, 2013 10:25 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - At least three people were killed on Friday in a large explosion on a work site in central Paris which the fire brigade said was likely an accident caused by a fuel tank igniting. The blast on a narrow street in northern Paris ripped through an underground garage where several workers were gathered, causing surrounding buildings to shake. A building across from the blast site had been evacuated and the fire brigade was reinforcing its foundations to avoid collapse, a fireman said. A fuel tank was the most likely cause of the blast, he added. ... Full Story | Top |
| More rebel groups reject Syrian opposition coalition - statement Friday, Sep 27, 2013 10:24 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - More than 30 rebel factions have broken with the Western-backed Syrian opposition organization and its military wing, according to a video statement posted on the Internet. Though representing a small percentage of the rebel forces, the announcement by dozens of units from different areas across the country further undermines international efforts to build a pro-Western military force to replace President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Scientists more convinced mankind is main cause of warming Friday, Sep 27, 2013 10:20 AM PDT  By Alister Doyle and Simon Johnson STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Leading climate scientists said on Friday they were more convinced than ever that humans are the main culprits for global warming, and predicted the impact from greenhouse gas emissions could linger for centuries. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in a report that a hiatus in warming this century, when temperatures have risen more slowly despite growing emissions, was a natural variation that would not last. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan closes al-Arabiya bureau after complaining about protest coverage Friday, Sep 27, 2013 10:07 AM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan closed the bureau of al-Arabiya television station after complaining about its coverage of anti-government protests, the Saudi-owned station said. Authorities earlier summoned the Sudan correspondent to protest about its reports on recent unrest, the Dubai-based al-Arabiya said on its website. A source at the station said security agents had come to the Khartoum office and asked staff to leave. Sudanese officials could not be immediately reached for comment. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Reem Shamseddine; Editing by Angus MacSwan) Full Story | Top |
| Sudan summons U.S. charge d'affairs for failing to give visa to Bashir Friday, Sep 27, 2013 10:07 AM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan summoned the U.S. charge d'affairs in Khartoum to protest against the United States' failure to issue President Omar Hassan al-Bashir a visa to attend the U.N. General Assembly, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday. The failure was "damaging Sudan's essential national interests," a Foreign Ministry statement said. Bashir has been indicted for war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region by the International Criminal Court. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Angus MacSwan) Full Story | Top |
| Russia's jailed punk band member hospitalized, husband says Friday, Sep 27, 2013 09:51 AM PDT  By Gabriela Baczynska MOSCOW (Reuters) - A jailed member of Russian punk band Pussy Riot was hospitalized on Friday after going on a hunger strike to protest prison conditions, her husband said, but her condition was not clear. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was admitted to the hospital at the prison where she is serving a two-year term for a protest against President Vladimir Putin in Russia's main Orthodox Christian cathedral, Pyotr Verzilov said. Verzilov said the acting head of the prison had described Tolokonnikova's condition as "horrible" but had given no further details. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran, U.N. nuclear agency to meet again after "constructive" talks Friday, Sep 27, 2013 09:47 AM PDT  By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran and the U.N. nuclear agency held "constructive" talks on Friday and made plans to meet again in one month, adding to momentum for a negotiated end to a standoff that could otherwise potentially flare into war. The discussions in Vienna, home of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), took place as new President Hassan Rouhani was telling world powers in New York he wanted a deal within months to end the long-running dispute. ... Full Story | Top |
| Maldives cancels presidential run-off election Friday, Sep 27, 2013 09:31 AM PDT  MALE (Reuters) - The Maldives has cancelled a presidential run-off election that was due to take place on Saturday after the Supreme Court ordered officials to postpone it. The archipelago's election commission took the decision on Friday - hours after the court, in a special midnight session, ruled the poll should be delayed indefinitely and told security forces to act against anyone who did not obey its order. ... Full Story | Top |
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