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| Indian state's industrial dream mired in delays, protests Monday, Oct 29, 2012 12:24 AM PDT  ANGUL, India (Reuters) - A few hundred meters from the high walls and barbed wire guarding billionaire Naveen Jindal's upcoming steel plant, a dozen men have gathered at a tea stall. Their plan for this and every day: disrupt any attempt by Jindal's company to lay a water pipeline. The men, from villages near Angul in India's Odisha state, have twice scuttled efforts to lay the pipeline in protest against Jindal Steel & Power's unwillingness to increase compensation and offer permanent jobs for taking over their land. "The company doesn't come clean on exact terms. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus police say foil murder bid on island's top prosecutor Monday, Oct 29, 2012 12:18 AM PDT NICOSIA (Reuters) - Police in Cyprus said they believed they foiled an assassination attempt against the island's chief prosecutor, the attorney-general, after the arrest of three men in the capital Nicosia. Acting on a tip-off, authorities on the east Mediterranean island discovered an anti-tank missile, explosives and detonators in a basement on Sunday evening. "It appears the target was the attorney-general," a police spokeswoman said, declining to give further details. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy menaces U.S. coast, closing schools, markets, businesses Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 11:56 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy, a mammoth storm menacing the East Coast, took aim at the most densely populated U.S. region on Monday, forcing hundreds of thousands to seek higher ground, halting public transport and closing schools, businesses and government departments. About 50 million people from the Mid-Atlantic to Canada were in the path of the storm, which forecasters say could be the largest ever to hit the U.S. mainland. It is expected to topple trees, damage buildings and cause widespread power outages over the next few days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine ruling party set for election win, nationalists gain Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 11:07 PM PDT  KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich's party was on course on Monday to secure a parliamentary majority after an election, but will face an opposition boosted by resurgent nationalists and a liberal party led by boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko. Victory for the ruling Party of the Regions in Sunday's vote will cement the leadership of Yanukovich, who faces re-election in 2015 and whose rule has been marked by an accumulation of presidential powers and antagonism with the West over the imprisonment of his rival, opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. ... Full Story | Top |
| Petronas agrees to renew bid for Canada's Progress: sources Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 10:10 PM PDT  KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian state oil firm Petronas will renew a bid for gas producer Progress Energy Resources, Petronas sources said, seeking to assure the Canadian government that the C$5.17 billion ($5.2 billion) deal will benefit the country. Canada blocked Petronas' bid for Progress this month after Industry Minister Christian Paradis said it was not likely to bring a "net benefit" to the country. He gave Petronas 30 days to make additional representations to amend its bid. ... Full Story | Top |
| Philippines' Arroyo enters no plea in plunder case, seeks bail Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 09:25 PM PDT  MANILA (Reuters) - A Philippine court entered a not guilty plea for former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on a plunder charge on Monday, a case that will be a litmus test of the government's ability to tackle entrenched corruption in the poor Southeast Asian nation. Arroyo, 65, who ruled the Philippines from 2001 to 2010, sat silently beside her family and lawyer during the arraignment hearing while charges that she had misused state lottery funds from 2008 to 2010 were read to the court. She could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if she is sent to trial and found guilty. ... Full Story | Top |
| Narendra Modi: the Indian leader who came in from the cold Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 08:41 PM PDT  AHMEDABAD/ALINA, India (Reuters) - For many Indians, Narendra Modi is the man of the moment, a possible prime minister. Others see the chief minister of western Gujarat state as a Hindu zealot who did not stop the massacre of Muslims in religious riots a decade ago. As the 62-year-old moved from village to village on the campaign trail this month, he was greeted by ecstatic crowds, surging forward to catch a glimpse or to touch him as though he were a living god. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lithuania opposition talks on government after austerity backlash election Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 05:46 PM PDT VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lithuanian opposition parties that won Sunday's election in a backlash against years of spending cuts and austerity held talks early on Monday on a new government that could determine the country's path to the euro zone. In a warning to other governments in the midst of budget cuts, the Social Democratic Party, the Labour Party and the party of an impeached former president said they had displaced Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius in an election on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine ruling party seems set for election win, nationalist surge seen Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 05:39 PM PDT  KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich's party looks set to win a parliamentary majority after Sunday's election, but it may be hard pressed by an opposition boosted by resurgent nationalists and a liberal party headed by boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko. Leaders of the ruling Party of the Regions claimed victory after exit polls put it in the lead with 28-30 percent of the voting in the part of balloting conducted by party lists. ... Full Story | Top |
| Finnish eurosceptics gain local seats but lose momentum Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 05:01 PM PDT  HELSINKI (Reuters) - The anti-euro Finns Party won 12.3 percent of votes in Finnish municipal polls on Sunday, showing its popularity down from last year's national election while still strong enough to pressure the pro-Europe government. Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen's conservative National Coalition party won the most seats with 21.9 percent of votes, followed by his coalition partners the Social Democrats with 19.6 percent. The Finns Party was fourth, behind another opposition group, the traditionally agrarian Centre Party, which got 18.7 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lithuania opposition wins vote in austerity backlash Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 03:49 PM PDT VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lithuanians angry at spending cuts put left-wing opposition parties on the path to power in an election on Sunday that likely spelled the end for a conservative government praised abroad as a model of austerity. The Social Democratic Party and the Labour Party, which have promised to raise the minimum wage and shift the tax burden to the better off, were headed for a parliamentary majority in combination with their likely partner, the Paksas Party, according to preliminary results from the second-round vote. ... Full Story | Top |
| Evacuations, shutdowns on East Coast before storm Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 03:21 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tens of millions of East Coast residents scrambled on Sunday to prepare for Hurricane Sandy, which could make landfall as the largest storm to hit the United States, bringing battering winds, flooding and even heavy snow. The massive storm, which has already killed 66 people in the Caribbean, was headed toward a densely populated region that includes Washington, New York and Boston and its effects could be felt for hundreds of miles, officials warned. It could be the largest storm to hit the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hurricane Sandy blows election off course Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 03:18 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy blew the U.S. presidential race off course on Sunday even before it came ashore, forcing Republican Mitt Romney to shift his campaign inland and fueling fears that the massive storm bearing down on the East Coast could disrupt an election that is already under way. As he juggled his governing duties with his re-election effort, President Barack Obama said the heavily populated East Coast could face power failures and other disruptions for several days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hawaii tsunami warning canceled after lower than expected waves Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 03:12 PM PDT  HONOLULU (Reuters) - Hawaii state officials on Sunday canceled a tsunami advisory prompted by a powerful earthquake off the Canadian coast that sent thousands of people fleeing to higher ground, but did not cause major damage. The advisory was canceled shortly before 4 a.m. local time (1400 GMT) after the anticipated waves rolled in lower than expected, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Kevin Richards, earthquake and tsunami manager for Hawaii State Civil Defense, said water, gas and power lines were not damaged by the smaller-than-expected waves. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's ruling party leads in election: exit polls Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 02:35 PM PDT KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich's pro-business party seemed likely to hold on to a majority in parliament after an election on Sunday, but it will face a revitalized opposition boosted by a resurgent nationalist party, exit polls showed. Leaders of the Party of the Regions claimed victory after two exit polls put it in the lead with between 28 percent and 30.5 percent of the voting in the part of balloting conducted by party lists. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria air force bombs cities, truce "practically over" Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 02:30 PM PDT  AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian jets bombarded Sunni Muslim regions in Damascus and around the country on Sunday, activists said, as President Bashar al-Assad kept up air strikes against rebels despite a U.N.-brokered truce that now appears to be in tatters. The Local Coordination Committees activists' organization said air raids killed 14 civilians, including women and children, in the town of Bara in the northern province of Idlib, where fighting has continued between Assad's forces and rebels who have seized large parts of the rugged region. "The ceasefire is practically over. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greece says EU/IMF lenders refuse to concede on reforms Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 01:44 PM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's foreign lenders have refused to make any further concessions on changes to labour laws contested by a junior coalition partner, the country's finance minister said on Sunday, prolonging an impasse on a crucial austerity package. Athens has been locked in talks with its European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders on the austerity package for months, but a final agreement has been held up by the small Democratic Left party's refusal to back the new wage laws. ... Full Story | Top |
| Opposition parties take lead in Lithuanian election Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 01:21 PM PDT VILNIUS (Reuters) - Two opposition centre-left parties appeared to be lead contenders to form a coalition government in Lithuania after a second-round election on Sunday, partial results showed. With votes counted in 1,359 polling stations out of a total 1,861, the Social Democratic Party and Labour Party, which aim to work together, were set for a combined 68 seats in the 141-seat parliament. A likely third coalition partner, the party of an impeached ex-president, was headed for 11 seats. ... Full Story | Top |
| Opposition parties lead in Lithuanian poll: partial results Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 01:04 PM PDT VILNIUS (Reuters) - Two opposition centre-left parties were on track in Lithuania's election on Sunday to be in pole position to form a new ruling coalition, partial results showed. The Social Democratic and Labour parties have benefited from voter anger at years of austerity under Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius. (Reporting by Patrick Lannin; Editing by Ralph Gowling) Full Story | Top |
| Governments to debate 50 billion euro cut to EU budget Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 12:58 PM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union governments will debate a cut of at least 50 billion euros this week as the starting point for negotiations on the bloc's proposed 1 trillion-euro ($1.3 trillion) long-term budget, a source familiar with the issue said. The cut will be proposed in the latest EU negotiating text on the bloc's spending plan for 2014-2020, but is unlikely to be deep enough to satisfy Britain, Germany, France and other net budget contributors. ... Full Story | Top |
| 7.7 magnitude quake hits Canada's British Columbia Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 12:20 PM PDT (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 hit Canada's Pacific coastal province of British Columbia late Saturday, setting off a small tsunami, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, officials said. The U.S. Geological Survey said an earthquake with a 7.7 magnitude had hit the province, centered 123 miles south-southwest of Prince Rupert at a depth of 6.2 miles. Earthquakes Canada said the quake in the Haida Gwaii region has been followed by numerous aftershocks as large as 4.6 and said a small tsunami has been recorded by a deep ocean pressure sensor. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bomber kills 8, wounds 100 in Nigerian church Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 12:11 PM PDT  KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) - A suicide bomber drove a jeep full of explosives into a Catholic church during morning mass in northern Nigeria on Sunday, killing at least eight people, wounding more than 100 and triggering reprisal attacks that killed at least two more. There was no claim of responsibility but Islamist sect Boko Haram has bombed several churches in the past in its fight to create an Islamic state in Nigeria where the 160 million population is evenly split between Christians and Muslims. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine leader's party expects majority in parliament Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 11:51 AM PDT KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich's Party of the Regions expects to secure a parliamentary majority after the election on Sunday, Borys Kolesnikov, deputy prime minister and one of the Regions' leaders, said after voting ended. "There are 225 single-seat constituencies and we see our candidates winning 2/3 of them," he said after exit polls showed the Regions winning about 30 percent in party-list voting, in which the other 225 seats are allocated. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Richard Balmforth) Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi threat to topple Monti shows party divisions Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 11:09 AM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - Former premier Silvio Berlusconi's threat to bring down Italy's government underscores deep divisions in his center-right party ahead of next year's elections and risks rattling markets which see Prime Minister Monti as Italy's saviour. Berlusconi made the unexpected threat on Saturday, still fuming from his conviction 24 hours earlier on charges of tax fraud and a jail sentence of four years which he will not have to serve until all appeals are exhausted. ... Full Story | Top |
| Miners take "rail-veyors" and robots to automated future Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 10:18 AM PDT  SUDBURY, Ontario (Reuters) - In an office trailer parked outside a mine shaft in northern Ontario, operator Carolyn St-Jean leans back in her chair and monitors a machine loading nickel-rich ore into rail cars deep underground. Once filled, the automated train will snake through a series of narrow tunnels, emerge from a rocky outcropping, then loop past St-Jean's window and dump its payload for sorting. Vale SA, the Brazilian company that owns the mine near this nickel-rich Canadian town, has spent nearly $50 million in two years to install and test the "rail-veyor. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisian Salafis attack alcohol sellers in capital Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 09:15 AM PDT TUNIS (Reuters) - Clashes broke out between alcohol sellers and hardline Salafi Muslims in the Tunisian capital, a security official said on Sunday, wounding a police commander in the latest illustration of religious tensions in the home of the "Arab Spring". Tunisia, whose authoritarian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was overthrown by a popular uprising last year, now has an elected Islamist-led government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Catalans want referendum on independence - poll Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 09:02 AM PDT MADRID (Reuters) - An overwhelming majority in the powerful northeastern region of Catalonia want a referendum on independence, an opinion poll showed on Sunday, highlighting increasing dissatisfaction with Spain's central government as it struggles with economic crisis. Although a referendum has been rejected by Madrid, which says it would be against the constitution, the poll published by La Vanguardia newspaper also showed a majority in favor of independence in Catalonia, one of Spain's richer regions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malaysians arrested in Lebanon for Al Qaeda links Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 08:58 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Two Malaysians, suspected of links to al Qaeda, have been arrested in Lebanon, Malaysia's foreign minister Anifah Aman said on Sunday. Local newspapers said the two were believed to have been trying to make their way to Syria to join the 19-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, where Islamist militants are taking an increasingly prominent role. The two, aged 28 and 21, were arrested on October 18 and were expected to appear in court on Monday, the foreign minister said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel kills Hamas gunman, Gaza salvo hits Israeli city Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 08:57 AM PDT GAZA (Reuters) - Israel killed a Hamas gunman it accused of preparing to fire a rocket from the Gaza Strip on Sunday and a separate Palestinian salvo struck a southern Israeli city, causing no damage. The incidents followed a three-day lull since an upsurge in violence last week in which Israel killed at least four Gaza militants as dozens of rockets were fired at Israeli towns, damaging some homes and wounding several agricultural workers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rebels in Sudan's Darfur say they shelled state capital Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 08:53 AM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Rebels in Sudan's Darfur region said on Sunday they had shelled a state capital, in a rare attack on the government stronghold where international peacekeepers are also based. The government did not immediately comment on the report and the claim could not be immediately independently verified. War has ravaged Darfur since rebels took up arms in 2003, complaining the central government had neglected the region. The United States and the International Criminal Court accuse Sudan's government of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope, ending synod, urges lapsed Catholics to return to fold Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 08:38 AM PDT  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, closing a gathering of bishops who discussed how to win back lapsed and lukewarm Catholics, on Sunday said the Church had to develop new ways of reaching out to those who had drifted from the faith. Benedict, 85, said a solemn Mass in St Peter's Basilica to close the three-week synod of some 260 bishops from around the world on the theme of the "New Evangelisation," or how to stem the haemorrhaging of the faithful. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek editor arrested over list of Swiss accounts Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 08:22 AM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police arrested the editor of a weekly magazine for publishing a list of more than 2,000 names of wealthy Greeks who have placed money in Swiss bank accounts, police said on Sunday. The so-called "Lagarde List" - given to Greece by French authorities in 2010 with names to be probed for possible tax evasion - has been a topic of heated speculation in the Greek media. It is named after International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, who was French finance minister when the list was handed over. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian jihadist spillover haunts Jordan Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 08:19 AM PDT AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan's announcement that it has foiled an al Qaeda plot to bomb the capital highlights the threat to Washington's ally from Islamist fighters hardened by conflict in neighboring Syria, and the danger of Damascus trying to export its crisis. The kingdom is no stranger to turmoil. For decades it has navigated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on its western border and more recently bloodshed in Iraq to the east, which spilled over to Jordan with hotel bombings in Amman seven years ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Muslim survivors of Myanmar's sectarian violence relive ordeals Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 08:17 AM PDT  SITTWE, Myanmar (Reuters) - Muslim survivors of six days of sectarian violence in western Myanmar spoke on Sunday of fleeing bullets and burning homes to escape on fishing boats after an attack by once-peaceable Rakhine neighbors. The United Nations said 22,587 people had now been displaced after unrest between Muslim Rohingyas and Buddhist Rakhines claimed at least 84 lives in Rakhine State and tested the reformist mettle of the quasi-civilian government that replaced Myanmar's oppressive ruling junta last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraq searches Syrian-bound Iran flight, finds no arms Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 07:58 AM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has stopped and searched an Iranian flight bound for Syria to check for weapons being shipped to President Bashar al-Assad, but found only humanitarian aid, authorities said on Sunday. The search was the second carried out by Baghdad since Washington warned Iraq not to allow Iran to ship weapons through its airspace to help Assad in his battle against a 19-month-long revolt. "Yesterday morning we stopped an Airbus plane from Iran heading to Syria... ... Full Story | Top |
| Picture shows captured Turkish journalist in Syria alive Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 07:58 AM PDT ANKARA (Reuters) - A Turkish relief agency trying to secure the release of a Turkish journalist captured by government troops in Syria has obtained a photograph showing him in apparent good health. Cuneyt Unal, who works for the U.S.-funded al-Hurra television channel, went missing with Jordanian colleague Bashar Fahmi shortly after crossing into Syria from Turkey on August 20. Unal appeared in an interview with a Syrian pro-government television channel several days later, in which he described his capture by Syrian soldiers in the city of Aleppo, but there has been no news of him since. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York City to suspend subway, bus, train service ahead of storm: governor Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 07:42 AM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City will suspend its train, subway and bus service Sunday night ahead of Hurricane Sandy, which is expected to bring strong winds and dangerous flooding to the East Coast, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference. "If it turns and moves off, great. Really great. But if not then we will be prepared for it," Cuomo said. The service is expected to resume operations about 12 hours after the storm ends, officials said at the news conference. New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority said service on subways will be curtailed beginning at 7 ... Full Story | Top |
| Drone hits suspected al Qaeda target in north Yemen Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 07:24 AM PDT SANAA (Reuters) - At least four men suspected of being al Qaeda members were killed in what a local official said was a U.S. drone strike on Islamist militants in northern Yemen on Sunday. It was a rare attack on al Qaeda-linked targets in northern Yemen, an area dominated by Shi'ite Muslim Houthi rebels battling Yemeni government forces for control of the rugged mountainous region. The official said that a drone attacked two houses in the Abu Jabara area in Saada Province, killing four people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine votes, Yanukovich's party expected to keep majority Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 07:23 AM PDT  * Yanukovich's main rival in jail as vote goes ahead * His Regions party likely to secure slim majority * But faces new opposition force led by popular boxer * Observers will pronounce on whether vote free and fair KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainians voted on Sunday in an election that President Viktor Yanukovich's pro-business ruling party seemed likely to win, but it may now face a re-energized opposition which has promised to fight growing authoritarianism and corruption. ... Full Story | Top |
| British woman, held in Pakistan on drug charges, has baby Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 06:51 AM PDT ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A British woman, held in Pakistan on charges of drug smuggling, has been sent back to prison with her newborn daughter after giving birth in a hospital, a British legal group said Sunday. Khadija Shah, 25, is being held on charges of trying to smuggle heroin worth nearly $5 million onto a flight to Britain. She gave birth to her baby girl Malaika a few weeks ago but was returned from hospital to Adiala prison near the capital Islamabad. The birth was not reported until Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
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