Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Myanmar votes in historic election; spotlight on Suu Kyi
Sat,31 Mar 2012 10:35 PM PDT
Reuters -  YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar votes on Sunday in its third election in half a century, a crucial test of its nascent reform credentials that could propel opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi into parliament and convince the West to end sanctions. The United States and European Union have hinted that economic sanctions - imposed years ago in response to human rights abuses - may be lifted if the election is free and fair, unleashing a wave of investment in the impoverished but resource-rich country bordering rising powers India and China. ...
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Japan to support U.S. nominee to head World Bank
Sat,31 Mar 2012 07:39 PM PDT
Reuters -  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will support Jim Yong Kim, the U.S. nominee for the next World Bank head, Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi said on Sunday after meeting the candidate who is in Tokyo on his world tour to seek support for the candidacy. Kim, a Korean-American, will be contesting against two nominees from emerging market countries - Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo - for the Washington-based institution's top job. ...
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Insight: Lifting the veil on Afghanistan's female addicts
Sat,31 Mar 2012 06:30 PM PDT
Reuters -  KABUL (Reuters) - Anita lifted the sky-blue burqa from her face, revealing glazed eyes and cracked lips from years of smoking opium, and touched her saggy belly, still round from giving birth to her seventh child a month ago. "I can't give breast milk to my baby," said the 32-year-old Anita, who like other women interviewed for this story, declined to give her full name. "I'm scared he'll get addicted She was huddled with other women at the U.N. ...
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Rebels advance in Mali, deadline for coup leaders
Sat,31 Mar 2012 06:26 PM PDT
Reuters - BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's army has abandoned bases around the northern town of Gao to rebels while the leaders of a coup faced a deadline to start handing back power or face sanctions. The defeat in the key garrison town was the latest for the army after a lightning 48-hour advance by northern rebels seeking to capitalize in chaos in the West African country after the March 22 coup. "Given the proximity of the camps to residential areas, our forces decided not to fight," a statement by junta leader Captain Amadou Sanogo, read out on state television, said. ... Full Story | Top |
Mali army abandons northern town after rebel attack
Sat,31 Mar 2012 06:21 PM PDT
Reuters -  GAO/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's army abandoned its military bases around the key northern garrison town of Gao on Saturday after a fierce assault by heavily armed rebels, military and civilian sources said. It was the latest defeat for the army after a lightning 48-hour advance by northern rebels seeking to capitalize in chaos in the West African country after last week's coup. "Given the proximity of the camps to residential areas, our forces decided not to fight," a statement by junta leader Captain Amadou Sanogo read out on state television said. ...
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Fighting continues in Syria as West, opposition to meet
Sat,31 Mar 2012 05:32 PM PDT
Reuters -  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Syrians trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad meet their Western backers on Sunday while fighting has continued despite the Syrian government saying the year-long revolt is over. The political opposition remains divided and has not yet formally accepted a peace plan brokered by United Nations-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan. Prospects of Western-led military intervention are close to zero, although Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal renewed calls on Saturday to arm the Syrian opposition, describing it as a "duty". ...
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Romney predicts victory in Wisconsin primary
Sat,31 Mar 2012 05:24 PM PDT
Reuters -  FITCHBURG, Wisc. (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Saturday predicted a victory on Saturday in Wisconsin's upcoming primary contest and said he believed it could help put him on a path to clinching the nomination. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, has come from behind in the polls in Wisconsin to take the lead over chief rival Rick Santorum. The state will vote on Tuesday along with Maryland and Washington, D.C. "This was an uphill battle for me if you looked back three or four weeks ago. ...
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Haitian president urged to control ex-soldiers
Sat,31 Mar 2012 04:28 PM PDT
Reuters - PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - A Haitian government panel has urged the president to appoint an interim commander to take charge of former soldiers, a panel member said on Saturday, as the leader of a successful 2004 uprising warned that ex-members of the military could seize power. Several thousand former members of the military that was disbanded in 1995 by then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide after a series of coups, have occupied government buildings and former army camps, defying injunctions from the government to leave. ... Full Story | Top |
In U-turn, Egypt's Brotherhood names presidential candidate
Sat,31 Mar 2012 04:26 PM PDT
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, in a policy U-turn, said on Saturday it would back its deputy leader for president, an endorsement that guarantees Khairat al-Shater a place among the frontrunners after the group initially said it would not field a candidate. The Brotherhood said it changed tack after reviewing other candidates in the race and after parliament, where its Freedom and Justice Party controls the biggest bloc, was unable to meet "the demands of the revolution", a reference to its mounting criticism of the ruling army's handling of the transition. ...
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Switzerland seeks arrest of German tax collectors
Sat,31 Mar 2012 03:17 PM PDT
Reuters - BERLIN/ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland has issued arrest warrants for three German civil servants, accusing them of industrial espionage for buying the bank details of German tax evaders, the finance ministry of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) said on Saturday. In the latest chapter of an ugly dispute over tax evasion that has strained ties between the two neighbors, a spokeswoman for the ministry confirmed a report about the arrest warrants due to appear in Sunday's Bild am Sonntag newspaper. ... Full Story | Top |
Clinton: "regret" over closure of U.S.-backed group in Dubai
Sat,31 Mar 2012 02:59 PM PDT
Reuters - RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday raised concerns over a move by the United Arab Emirates, a key U.S. ally in the Gulf, to shut down a U.S.-funded pro-democracy group. "We very much regret it," Clinton said after a meeting in Riyadh with foreign ministers from Gulf States, referring to the closure of the Dubai office of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), which was also the subject of a crackdown in Egypt. Clinton said she discussed the issue with Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan. ... Full Story | Top |
One person killed in Kenyan coast explosions
Sat,31 Mar 2012 02:23 PM PDT
Reuters -  MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Two blasts in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa and a nearby town killed one person and wounded more than 20 on Saturday, the latest in a string of attacks to hit the east African country since it sent troops into neighboring Somalia. Up until now, attacks had centered on the capital, Nairobi, and near the border with Somalia following its deployment of troops last October. Saturday's blasts were the first in Mombasa, a popular holiday destination with locals and foreigners, since Kenya began its mission to fight Islamist rebels north of the border. ...
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Mali army abandons northern town after rebel attack
Sat,31 Mar 2012 02:19 PM PDT
Reuters - GAO/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's army abandoned its military bases around the key northern garrison town of Gao on Saturday after a fierce assault by heavily armed rebels, military and civilian sources said. It was the latest defeat for the army after a lightning 48-hour advance by northern rebels seeking to capitalize in chaos in the West African country after last week's coup. "Given the proximity of the camps to residential areas, our forces decided not to fight," a statement by junta leader Captain Amadou Sanago read out on state television said. ...
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Sudan and South Sudan accuse each other of border attacks
Sat,31 Mar 2012 01:44 PM PDT
Reuters - JUBA/ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Sudan and South Sudan have accused each of launching further attacks in the oil-producing area straddling their border, dashing hopes for a new round of talks designed to end the dispute. Clashes first broke out on Monday in the worst direct confrontation between the two since South Sudan became independent in July 2011 but died down two days later when South Sudanese troops moved out of the disputed Heglig area, inside Sudan. But on Friday Sudan launched an aerial bombardment on South Sudanese army border positions, according to South Sudan's army. ... Full Story | Top |
Mali army deserts Gao bases: sources
Sat,31 Mar 2012 01:20 PM PDT
Reuters - GAO/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Soldiers in the Malian army deserted the main military bases around the key northern town of Gao on Saturday after a rebel assault, military and civilian sources said. One civilian source said rebels already occupied the two main bases around the town while another source just one of the two camps was now under rebel control. A Reuters reporter in Gao said there was no fighting in the town itself. (Reporting by Cheick Dioura and Tiemoko Diallo; writing by Mark John) Full Story | Top |
Support for Greek socialists rises ahead of election
Sat,31 Mar 2012 01:04 PM PDT
Reuters -  ATHENS (Reuters) - Support for Greece's co-ruling socialists is ticking up ahead of an election expected in May, though backing for the country's biggest parties remains low, an opinion poll showed on Saturday. Greece is expected to hold the election on May 6 after a successful debt swap deal to cut its massive debt allowed it to secure a 130 billion euro bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund earlier this month. ...
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Hungarians rally as pressure rises on president to quit
Sat,31 Mar 2012 12:57 PM PDT
Reuters -  BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hundreds of Hungarian protesters called on President Pal Schmitt to resign on Saturday over a plagiarism scandal that could become a distraction to the government as it tries to win financial support from international lenders. They chanted "Pal Schmitt, pack your things" at the hilltop presidential palace. The rally follows an interview with Schmitt on state television M1 late on Friday, in which he resisted calls to quit even though a day earlier he was stripped of his doctorate after a months-old plagiarism row. ...
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Who are the lucky 3 to share record $656 million U.S. lottery?
Sat,31 Mar 2012 12:39 PM PDT
Reuters -  ATLANTA (Reuters) - Three lucky ticket-holders in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland will share the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history of $656 million, after about 1.5 billion $1 tickets were sold, lottery officials said on Saturday. At least two of the winners' tickets were "quick picks" - meaning all six numbers of the Mega Millions lottery computer picked the winning numbers announced at the drawing Friday night in Atlanta: 2-4-23-38-46 and Mega Ball 23. ...
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Cuba declares Good Friday a holiday at pope's request
Sat,31 Mar 2012 12:35 PM PDT
Reuters -  HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba has declared next week's Good Friday a holiday following a request from Pope Benedict during his visit to the island, state media said on Saturday. The communist government will decide later whether to make Good Friday, the day Christians commemorate Christ's death, a permanent holiday, it said. Benedict requested the holiday - celebrated on April 6 this year - as part of Easter celebrations during a meeting with President Raul Castro in Havana on Tuesday, the Vatican said. ...
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Grenade attacks in, near Kenya's Mombasa injure 15: media
Sat,31 Mar 2012 12:05 PM PDT
Reuters - NAIROBI (Reuters) - Five people were injured in a grenade attack at a packed restaurant in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa on Saturday, media and a police source said, after an earlier explosion near the city injured 10 others. Media and the police source said the first blast was also thought to be a grenade which went off at a religious meeting in Mtwapa, outside Mombasa, but there was no official confirmation. "One hand grenade was thrown into a pub and restaurant opposite the stadium. ... Full Story | Top |
Former Iran negotiator says nuclear deal possible
Sat,31 Mar 2012 12:03 PM PDT
Reuters -  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - An end to a nearly decade-long nuclear standoff between Iran and major world powers will be possible if the United States and its European allies recognize Tehran's right to enrich uranium, a former Iranian negotiator said in an editorial. "Talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany (P5+1), scheduled for next month, provide the best opportunity to break the nine-year deadlock over Iran's nuclear program," Hossein Mousavian, Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator, wrote in an editorial in the Boston Globe. ...
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Qaeda-linked militants kill at least 20 Yemeni soldiers
Sat,31 Mar 2012 12:00 PM PDT
Reuters - ADEN (Reuters) - Islamist militants stormed a military checkpoint in southern Yemen early on Saturday, killing at least 20 soldiers, a senior military official said, the latest in a spate of attacks claimed by an al Qaeda-linked group. Local officials said heavy fighting broke out between the militants and army reinforcements sent from the port city of Aden to retake the checkpoint, located on the road linking the southern provinces of Lahej and Abyan, which was still closed off on Saturday evening. ... Full Story | Top |
Libya says 147 dead in week of southern tribal clashes
Sat,31 Mar 2012 11:47 AM PDT
Reuters -  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A week of fighting between rival tribes deep in Libya's south has killed 147 people, the government said on Saturday, but it said it had brokered a fresh ceasefire agreement between the two sides. The clashes in the desert oasis city of Sabha were between members of the Tibu ethnic group, many of whom are originally from neighboring Chad, and local militias from Sabha. ...
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Kosovo accuses Serbia of police "abduction"
Sat,31 Mar 2012 11:39 AM PDT
Reuters - PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo accused former master Serbia on Saturday of abducting two Kosovo Albanian police officers patrolling their joint border and demanded the European Union intervene, in the latest sign of tension ahead of Serbian elections in May. Serbia's interior ministry said it had arrested the two men on Serbian-controlled territory and released photographs of them handcuffed and face down in a wooded area. Weapons and radios were scattered on the ground and masked members of the Serbian gendarmerie stood over them. ... Full Story | Top |
Suu Kyi runs for parliament in crucial Myanmar poll
Sat,31 Mar 2012 11:32 AM PDT
Reuters -  YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar holds crucial by-elections on Sunday that are expected to see Aung San Suu Kyi, who led the fight for democracy under the former junta, entering parliament for the first time and could lead to an easing of sanctions by the West. The United States and European Union have hinted economic sanctions - imposed years ago in response to human rights abuses - could be lifted if the election is free and fair, which could unleash a wave of investment in the impoverished but resource-rich country bordering India and China. ...
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Second grenade hits restaurant in Kenya's Mombasa: police source
Sat,31 Mar 2012 11:10 AM PDT
Reuters - NAIROBI (Reuters) - Five people were injured in a grenade attack at a packed restaurant in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa on Saturday, media and a police source said, after an earlier explosion near the city injured 10 others. Media and the police source said they were wounded when a suspected grenade went off at a religious meeting in Mtwapa, a place outside of Mombasa, although there was no official confirmation. "One hand grenade was thrown into a pub and restaurant opposite the stadium. The place was full of people," said a police source at the scene by telephone of the second attack. ... Full Story | Top |
Bahraini protester dies after being shot at demonstration
Sat,31 Mar 2012 11:06 AM PDT
Reuters - DUBAI (Reuters) - A Bahraini man died on Saturday after being shot during an anti-government march a day earlier, his relative and the opposition said, blaming his death on what they described as loyalist militia members. The government's media arm, known as the Bahrain Information Affairs Authority (IAA), confirmed that Ahmed Ismail, 22, bled to death after being shot on Friday. Mohammed bu Daniel said his cousin was taking pictures of a demonstration when what he described as "militia members" in an unmarked car opened fire on him. ... Full Story | Top |
Riot police detain Russians demanding free assembly
Sat,31 Mar 2012 10:44 AM PDT
Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Anti-government protesters shouting "Russia without Putin!" tussled with police in Moscow on Saturday, and dozens of activists were detained and bundled into police vans. Police detained about 75 people rallying in Moscow and St Petersburg against Vladimir Putin - who will return to the presidency in May after four years as prime minister - and demanding the freedom of assembly. In Moscow, riot police in black helmets and body armor locked elbows and pushed a crowd of about 300 protesters and journalists along sidewalks and roadways near a central square. ... Full Story | Top |
Cuba declares Good Friday a holiday at Pope's request
Sat,31 Mar 2012 10:36 AM PDT
Reuters - Cuba has declared next week's Good Friday as a holiday in recognition of a request by Pope Benedict and his "transcendental visit" to the island, state media said on Saturday. The communist government will decide later whether to make Good Friday, the day Christians commemorate Christ's death, a permanent holiday, it said. It will be celebrated this year on April 6. Benedict requested the holiday, part of Easter celebrations, in a meeting on Tuesday in Havana with President Raul Castro, the Vatican said. ... Full Story | Top |
We'll cease fire if tanks, big guns go: Syria rebels
Sat,31 Mar 2012 09:13 AM PDT
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels are ready to stop fighting the moment the army withdraws its tanks, artillery and heavy weapons from opposition areas, a spokesman for Free Syrian Army commanders inside Syria said on Saturday. Rebels taking part in the year-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's rule say they are still skeptical the government will commit to a meaningful ceasefire. ...
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U.S. deports Liberian ex-rebel for alleged abuses
Sat,31 Mar 2012 09:02 AM PDT
Reuters - MONROVIA (Reuters) - A former Liberian rebel leader accused of commissioning killings and recruiting child soldiers during a bloody civil war in the 1990s arrived in his West African country a free man late on Friday after being deported from the United States. George Saigbe Boley, 62, was targeted by the first removal order made by a U.S. immigration court using the 2008 Child Soldiers Accountability Act, which allows a resident to be deported if they have recruited and used child soldiers. ... Full Story | Top |
Mali rebels launch assault on key northern town
Sat,31 Mar 2012 08:56 AM PDT
Reuters - GAO/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Heavily armed Malian rebels in pick-up trucks attacked the northern garrison town of Gao on Saturday, capitalizing on the chaos after last week's military coup to make further gains. The assault came a day after rebels - a loose alliance of separatist nomad Tuaregs and local Islamists - seized the town of Kidal, which is one of the three main towns of Mali's north, along with Gao and the historic trading city of Timbuktu. ... Full Story | Top |
UK tells Britons to leave Mali
Sat,31 Mar 2012 08:56 AM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Britons should leave Mali and those considering visiting the West African nation should stay away, Britain's foreign ministry said on Saturday. A coup in Mali was triggered last week by anger at President Amadou Toumani Toure's handling of a rebellion in the north of the country which has continued to gain momentum since the military takeover. "We advise against all travel to Mali," the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said. "Given ongoing instability in the country, and now that the airport has re-opened, you should leave if you have no pressing need to remain. ... Full Story | Top |
China shuts websites, detains six for spreading online rumors
Sat,31 Mar 2012 08:46 AM PDT
Reuters - SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese authorities shut 16 websites and detained six people accused of spreading rumors of unusual military vehicle movements in Beijing, state media reported, after the political downfall of one of the ruling communist party's senior leaders. Authorities closed the websites for spreading rumors of "military vehicles entering Beijing and something wrong going on in Beijing," Xinhua news agency said late on Friday, citing a spokesman with the State Internet Information Office (SIIO). ... Full Story | Top |
Syria says revolt over, but army still shooting
Sat,31 Mar 2012 08:40 AM PDT
Reuters - Syria says the year-long revolt to topple President Bashar al-Assad is now over, but it will keep its forces in cities to "maintain security" until it is safe to withdraw in keeping with a U.N.-backed peace deal. The agreement proposed by United Nations-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan says the Syrian authorities must be first to withdraw troops and stop violence immediately. The army kept up an offensive against opposition strongholds on Saturday, pummelling the Khalidiya district of Homs city. ...
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Iran talks due in Istanbul on April 13-14: Clinton
Sat,31 Mar 2012 07:49 AM PDT
Reuters - RIYADH (Reuters) - Iran and six world powers will meet in Turkey on April 13-14 for a round of talks over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday. The previous such meeting took place in Istanbul in January 2011, when the two sides failed even to agree on an agenda. Speaking alongside Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on a visit to Riyadh, Clinton confirmed earlier speculation that negotiations would resume on April 13-14. ... Full Story | Top |
Clinton promises U.S. will back Gulf security
Sat,31 Mar 2012 07:48 AM PDT
Reuters -  RIYADH (Reuters) - The United States will work with Gulf Arab nations to strengthen their shared defenses against threats including Iran, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday. Speculation about Tehran's nuclear ambitions is a source of anxiety among Sunni-led Gulf Arab states, for whom Shi'ite Iran has long been a regional rival. "The commitment of the United States to the people and the nations of the Gulf is rock-solid and unwavering. ...
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Mali's junta pledges to seek quick power handover
Sat,31 Mar 2012 07:44 AM PDT
Reuters - OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - Mali's junta promised on Saturday to quickly come up with new proposals aimed at handing power back to civilians after last week's widely condemned coup. "We do not want to confiscate power," senior junta member Colonel Moussa Sinko Coulibaly told a news conference in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, after talks with Burkina President Blaise Compaore, the main mediator in the crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
Arming Syria opposition a "duty": Saudi foreign minister
Sat,31 Mar 2012 07:29 AM PDT
Reuters - DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal renewed calls to arm the Syrian opposition on Saturday, describing it as a "duty". "The arming of the opposition is a duty, I think, because it cannot defend itself except with weapons," Faisal said during a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (Reporting by Isabel Coles; Editing by Ben Harding) Full Story | Top |
U.S. and Gulf nations urge timeline for Syria plan
Sat,31 Mar 2012 06:57 AM PDT
Reuters - RIYADH (Reuters) - The United States and Gulf nations on Saturday pressed Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League special envoy on the conflict in Syria, to set a timeline for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to adopt a new peace proposal and put an end to violence against protesters. "Given the urgency of the joint envoy's mission, (U.S. and Gulf foreign ministers) urged the joint envoy to determine a timeline for next steps if the killing continues," the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council said in a statement following a meeting in Riyadh. ... Full Story | Top |
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