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| Costa Rica's San Jose airport reopens after plane runway skid Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 06:55 PM PDT SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Costa Rica's main international airport reopened on Thursday after shutting down for two hours when the tires of a plane burst upon landing, sending it skidding along the runway. The capital's Juan Santamaria International Airport, the biggest passenger hub for the popular tourist destination, resumed operations shortly after the plane was removed from the runway at about 6 p.m. local time, said Maria Amalia Revelo, commercial director for the company that manages the airport. ... Full Story | Top |
| Diplomacy inbox fills up as U.N. awaits U.S. presidential vote Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 06:34 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - As the United States prepares for a presidential election next month, thorny diplomatic issues like an arms trade treaty, the Palestinians' U.N. aspirations and talks on banning weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East have had to wait. For months, U.N. officials and diplomats have complained privately that discussions at the United Nations aimed at resolving a range of problems have been delayed until after the November 6 election in which President Barack Obama, a Democrat, faces off against Republican contender Mitt Romney. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombian government, FARC rebels to meet in Cuba for peace talks Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 06:02 PM PDT  HURDAL, Norway/BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian government and leftist rebel negotiators agreed to meet in Cuba in mid-November to start what are likely to be thorny peace talks aimed at patching together an end to half a century of conflict, both sides said on Thursday. Talks, which opened in Norway this week, are the latest in a long history of attempts to resolve the war which has left tens of thousands dead and millions more displaced since the founding of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in 1964. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is betting that a decade of U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Under fire over Congo rebels, Rwanda wins Security Council seat Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 05:35 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Rwanda won a seat on the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, despite accusations by a U.N. panel that Rwanda's defense minister commands a rebellion in Democratic Republic of Congo, and warned countries against cutting off aid over the charges. Rwanda was unopposed in its bid for the African seat on the council that South Africa will vacate at the end of December, but still needed approval from two-thirds of the U.N. General Assembly members present to secure the two-year term. It won 148 votes in the 193-nation assembly. ... Full Story | Top |
| Costa Rica's San Jose airport shut after plane runway skid Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 04:49 PM PDT SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Costa Rica's busy main international airport was shut down on Thursday afternoon after the tires of a plane burst upon landing, sending it skidding along the runway, the country's fire chief said. The plane, a Taca Airlines Airbus 321 originating in El Salvador, touched down at Juan Santamaria International Airport about 4 p.m. local time (2100 GMT). The plane carried 146 passengers and no injuries were reported, Hector Chaves, the national fire chief, said. The airport closure was ordered after the plane skidded to a halt and blocked a runway. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. offers rewards for Iran-based al Qaeda operatives Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 03:59 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it was offering millions of dollars for information leading to the location of two al Qaeda members accused of facilitating the movement of funds and operatives through Iran. The Obama administration is offering up to $7 million for information leading to the location of Iran-based financier Muhsin al-Fadhli, who was among the few al Qaeda leaders who received advance notification of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the State Department said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic says foils another coup Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 03:50 PM PDT BANGUI (Reuters) - Security forces in Central African Republic arrested three men suspected of plotting to overthrow President Francois Bozize, the country's chief prosecutor said on Thursday. CAR is one of the world's poorest and least stable countries, and the government of Bozize has claimed over the years to have uncovered several coup plans, including one earlier this year. "Interrogations are ongoing, but the three plotters have already confessed their plan to overthrow the head of state," Alain Tomo said at a press conference. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pressure grows on Peru's Humala as public health strike widens Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 03:42 PM PDT LIMA (Reuters) - Hundreds of hospital managers have resigned from Peru's public health service in solidarity with striking doctors who accused President Ollanta Humala on Thursday of ignoring their demands for a bigger share of a record fiscal surplus. The resignations, in support of the lingering strike by 11,000 doctors in the nation's health system, underscore growing criticism of the government over its inability to negotiate labor accords and forestall closures of hospitals and schools. Humala is also still struggling to end strife with the national teachers' union. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Cuba's immigration reform casts spotlight on decades-old U.S. law Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 03:32 PM PDT  MIAMI (Reuters) - Cuba's decision this week to make it easier to leave and enter the country is unlikely in the short term to prompt a sudden exodus, but could result in a rethinking of preferential treatment Cuban migrants have long received in the United States. Alarmed by the number of Cubans arriving in Miami for economic reasons, rather than the political causes that prompted earlier waves of migration from the island, even some Cuban exiles are increasingly questioning a decades-old law that has guaranteed Cubans safe haven in the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kuwait's ruling family calls for obedience to the emir Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 03:13 PM PDT KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait's ruling Al-Sabah family issued a rare statement on Thursday calling for obedience to the emir after a series of opposition gatherings and a large rally earlier this week. The Gulf oil producer has seen regular demonstrations since last year, stemming from a struggle between the government dominated by the ruling family and mainly Islamist and tribal lawmakers in parliament. But tensions have increased after Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah dissolved parliament last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Council of Europe says some Greek labor reforms illegal Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 03:03 PM PDT STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - Reforms to Greek labor law aimed at cutting costs for the country's recession-hit employers were illegal because they violated workers' rights, a committee at the Council of Europe ruled on Friday in a non-binding judgment. In a decision it said could be used by trade unions to mount a legal challenge in Greece, the Council's social rights committee ruled that two reforms undertaken at the behest of the country's international creditors contravened the European Social Charter and should be scrapped. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clashes erupt at Greek anti-austerity protests Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 03:03 PM PDT  ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police clashed with anti-austerity protesters hurling stones and petrol bombs on the day of a general strike that brought much of the near-bankrupt country to a standstill. In the second major walkout in three weeks on Thursday, almost 40,000 protesters marched in Athens in a bid to show EU leaders meeting in Brussels that new wage and pension cuts will only worsen their plight after five years of recession. ... Full Story | Top |
| After 79 years in print, Newsweek goes digital only Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 02:52 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Newsweek, one of the most internationally recognized magazine brands in the world, will cease publishing a print edition after nearly 80 years. The decision to go all-digital underscores the problems faced by newsweeklies, as more consumers favor tablets and mobile devices over print in an increasingly commoditized, 24-hour news cycle. The final print edition of the weekly current affairs magazine will hit newsstands on December 31. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Libyan Islamist says he was at U.S. consulate during attack Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 02:43 PM PDT  BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - A Libyan militia commander who U.S. officials say is under investigation in connection with the attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi which led to the death of the ambassador said he was present during the incident but was not one of the ringleaders. Some American newspapers have quoted unnamed Libyan officials as pointing to Ahmed Abu Khattala as the leader of the attacks on Sept, 11. The newspapers also reported that the officials said Abu Khattala's whereabouts were unknown. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tweeting pianist Say denies Turkish religious insult charge Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 02:32 PM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish concert pianist Fazil Say's exuberance has won him fans around the world, but it has also helped land him in court as a cause célèbre for those alarmed by Turkey's creeping Islamic conservatism. On trial for insulting religion in citing a thousand-year-old poem on his Twitter account, the 42-year-old performer and composer told a first brief hearing in Istanbul on Thursday that he denied the charge, which can carry an 18-month sentence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt prosecutor keeps job in blow to Mursi Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 02:28 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's public prosecutor said on Saturday he will keep his job, in a blow to President Mohamed Mursi who just two days ago sought to replace the Hosni Mubarak-era official by appointing him as ambassador to the Vatican. Mursi's effort to remove Abdel Maguid Mahmoud from his post was seen as a response to the acquittal of senior Mubarak-era officials who had been standing trial on charges of organizing violence during the uprising against the deposed leader. But the move triggered an outcry from judges who said Mursi had exceeded his powers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada: new manager won't alter tainted beef plant review Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 02:26 PM PDT WINNIPEG, Manitoba/CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Canadian government said on Thursday that management changes at an Alberta plant responsible for one of the country's biggest-ever meat recalls would not affect a nearly completed review of changes made to improve the plant's safety. Canadian food inspectors are set to recommend this week when, or if, XL Foods' Lakeside beef processing plant in Brooks, Alberta, can reopen after E. coli contamination of its products sickened 15 people in Canada and prompted the recall of millions of pounds of beef. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. military vows new measures in Okinawa after suspected rape Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 02:26 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Thursday it would soon announce new measures to "ensure responsible behavior" by American troops on Japan's southern island of Okinawa, after the suspected rape of a Japanese woman threatened to strain ties between the allies. The incident, which led to the arrests on Tuesday of two U.S. servicemen, has thrown new scrutiny on the behavior of the large contingent of American military troops on the island, located in the East China Sea close to mainland China. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada's top court rules for Glaxo in tax case Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 02:16 PM PDT  OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday in favor of GlaxoSmithKline Plc in a tax case centered on whether the drug conglomerate charged its Canadian unit excessive prices for ingredients so that it could avoid Canadian taxes. Dealing with the taxes of GlaxoSmithKline's Canadian subsidiary in 1990-93, the case marked the first time that Canada's top court has dealt with the issue of transfer pricing, an area of tax law under growing scrutiny worldwide. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exxon seeks to quit flagship Iraq oil project Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 02:05 PM PDT  LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil wants to leave its giant oilfield project in southern Iraq, diplomatic sources said, in a move likely to aggravate the country's internal tensions and hamper Baghdad's ambitious energy expansion plans. The desire of the world's largest publicly traded oil company to quit was due to prospects of slim profits from the estimated $50 billion West Qurna-1 project, the sources said. An exit from the project would contrast with a deal Exxon signed a year ago to explore in Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdish region, where incentives are better. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rwanda warns against cutting aid over Congo rebels Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 01:51 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Rwanda's foreign minister warned on Thursday that it would be "the biggest mistake" for any countries to withdraw aid to Kigali over a U.N. report accusing Rwanda's defense minister of commanding rebels in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. The United States, Sweden and the Netherlands have all suspended some aid to Rwanda, which relies on donors for about 40 percent of its budget. Last month the European Union froze further budgetary support to Rwanda. However, Britain unblocked part of its cash in September, praising Rwanda for constructively pursuing peace. ... Full Story | Top |
| Putin's foes search for leaders in online Russia vote Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 01:35 PM PDT  MOSCOW/YEKATERINBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Opponents of President Vladimir Putin say elections in Russia are rigged in favor of his ruling party and are instead holding their own Internet contest to choose a "shadow parliament" they hope will reinvigorate the flagging opposition movement. Putin has dismissed those who took part in the biggest protests against his 12-year rule this year and last as "chattering monkeys", but has said the movement may produce civic leaders. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ghana's Mahama vows high growth, low inflation if elected Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 01:24 PM PDT ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana President John Dramani Mahama said he would aim to oversee annual economic growth of at least 8 percent while keeping consumer prices in check in the West African State, if he wins elections in December. Mahama became interim leader of the oil, cocoa, and gold producer nation after the death of late president John Atta Mills in July and is expected to face a tough election contest against the country's opposition. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraq says signs contract for 18 F-16 fighter jets Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 01:10 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has signed a new contract to buy its second set of 18 F-16 fighters from the United States, part of a deal to purchase 36 of the jets to rebuild its air force, Iraq's acting defense minister said on Thursday. Baghdad signed an initial deal for the first set of 18 jets in September last year valued at roughly $3 billion and those aircraft are scheduled to be delivered by September 2014 with the second batch due four years later. "We signed the contract ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Top negotiators in the Colombian peace talks Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 12:45 PM PDT Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has started peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Latin America's biggest and oldest armed insurgent group. Here are some details on the peace negotiators appointed by the Andean country's government and the Marxist-inspired FARC: GOVERNMENT NEGOTIATORS * HUMBERTO DE LA CALLE - The chief government negotiator held the vice presidency under President Ernesto Samper in the mid-1990s and cabinet posts under several former leaders. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia's FARC say ready to discuss ceasefire Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 12:45 PM PDT HURDAL, Norway (Reuters) - Colombia's Marxist FARC guerillas are willing to discuss a ceasefire deal at any point during their peace talks with the government, negotiator Ricardo Tellez told a news conference on Thursday. "I'm sure they need a few more dead, a few more mutilated," Tellez said. "We believe the country needs no more, at any point we are willing to consider this." Government negotiators earlier said there would be no ceasefire until a comprehensive deal is reached. (Reporting by Alister Doyle and Balazs Koranyi) Full Story | Top |
| Ivory Coast, Liberia plan joint military operation on border Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 11:34 AM PDT ABIDJAN (Reuters) - West African neighbors Ivory Coast and Liberia will launch a joint military operation by the end of the year along their volatile and porous border, the two nations' presidents announced on Thursday. Western Ivory Coast has been the target of deadly raids blamed on supporters of former president Laurent Gbagbo, who was ousted in a civil war last year after he rejected the election victory of rival Alassane Ouattara. In a report published on Wednesday, U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada may have to downgrade growth forecasts: Flaherty Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 11:31 AM PDT  OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada may have to downgrade its economic and fiscal forecasts to take into account the European debt crisis and the choppy U.S. recovery, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Thursday. In the government's fall fiscal update due in the coming weeks, Flaherty will update the outlook for the federal budget deficit, based on the average growth forecast of private sector experts whom the government consults regularly. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rosneft's Sechin marks rise of Kremlin as oil power Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 11:07 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - From darkness into the limelight, Igor Sechin's emergence from the Kremlin shadows to run one of the world's great oil firms reflects how Vladimir Putin has used energy resources to recover influence Moscow had lost with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Mysterious Cold War-era activities in Africa and substantial blanks in his biography preceded Sechin's arrival in the Kremlin in 2000 when Putin became president; even then, as deputy chief-of-staff to the former KGB officer, Sechin kept such a low profile that Russian media dubbed him "Darth Vader". ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian opposition leader aide held on plotting riots charges Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 10:46 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - An aide to a prominent protest leader who organized street demonstrations against President Vladimir Putin was charged on Thursday with plotting mass disorder and violence across Russia. A Moscow court said Konstantin Lebedev would remain in custody until at least December 16. His boss Sergei Udaltsov, known for his shaved head and black leather jacket, was released on condition he remain in Moscow. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Treasury targets Iran-backed al Qaeda operative Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 10:31 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday named a member of an al Qaeda group operating with Iranian support and banned Americans from any dealing with him. The U.S. Treasury accused Adel Radi Saqr al-Wahabi (al-Harbi) of working with a network that served as a pipeline for al Qaeda to move operatives and funds in South Asia and the Middle East. It had previously targeted six other members of the group in June 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali Islamists bulldoze more tombs in Timbuktu Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 10:26 AM PDT BAMAKO (Reuters) - Heavily armed Islamists bulldozed the tombs of three local Sufi saints near Mali's desert city of Timbuktu on Thursday, residents said, the latest in a series of attacks in the rebel-held north that critics say threaten its cultural heritage. "They arrived aboard six or seven vehicles, heavily armed," said Garba Maiga, a resident of Timbuktu, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site for its ancient shrines. "They flattened everything with a bulldozer and pulled up the skeletal remains. ... Full Story | Top |
| Zanzibar Islamists fight police in leader protest-witnesses Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 10:19 AM PDT STONE TOWN, Zanzibar (Reuters) - Supporters of a separatist Islamist group in Zanzibar looted shops and fought with police on Thursday after their leader disappeared, witnesses said, the third outbreak of violence this year on the Indian Ocean archipelago. Supporters of Sheikh Farid Hadi, a leader of the Islamic Uamsho (Awakening) movement who has not been seen since Tuesday, threw stones at police, blocked roads with cut-down trees and burned tyres in the island's main town. "Police are everywhere and firing teargas. There is nobody around town and the shops are closed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libyan army to head to Bani Walid after clashes Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 10:05 AM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's army is heading towards the former Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid hoping to impose order in the town after deadly clashes there, the chief of staff said on Thursday. At least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded as Libyan militias linked to the army shelled Bani Walid and faced counter-attacks on Wednesday. Many of those in the militias were from the rival town of Misrata, which has been enraged by the death of rebel fighter Omran Shaban after two months in detention in Bani Walid. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel approves more expansion of settlement near Jerusalem Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 09:58 AM PDT  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel on Thursday issued a detailed plan for the building of some 800 new homes on annexed land in the West Bank that is certain to attract further international condemnation of its settlement policies. A planning committee issued a call for bids from contractors to start building 797 housing units on the western slopes of the urban settlement of Gilo, an area that Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war and later declared part of Jerusalem. The annexation has never been recognized internationally. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. uses excessive force along Mexican border: U.N. Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 09:46 AM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has used excessive force against immigrants along the Mexican border and should cooperate in investigating border killings, including those of many young people, the top United Nations human rights official said on Thursday. "There have been very many young people, teenagers, who have been killed at the border," Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told a news conference. "The reports reaching me are that there has been excessive use of force by the U.S. border patrols while they are enforcing the immigration laws," she added. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lonmin miners strike again in South Africa Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 09:35 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Gold Fields said most miners returned to work at its strike-hit South African operations on Thursday but a new walkout at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine dampened hopes of an end to the worst labor unrest since apartheid. More than 80,000 miners have downed tools since August in often violent strikes that are hitting growth and investor confidence in Africa's biggest economy and raising questions about President Jacob Zuma's leadership. ... Full Story | Top |
| Man sets himself on fire outside Italy president's palace Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 09:21 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - A man who had lost his job and feared he could no longer support his family doused himself in alcohol and set himself on fire in front of the presidential palace in Italy on Thursday. The 55-year-old Romanian severely burned his legs and torso, but does not have life-threatening injuries, police said. A police officer burned his hand trying to put out the flames in the incident in Rome outside the 16th century palace, which serves as residence and office for Italy's head of state, Giorgio Napolitano. ... Full Story | Top |
| Peace envoy to visit Syria to work out Eid ceasefire Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 09:20 AM PDT  AMMAN (Reuters) - The international mediator on Syria will go to Damascus in the next few days to try to broker a brief ceasefire in the war between President Bashar al-Assad's government and rebels during the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival. Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.-Arab League envoy, told reporters on Thursday after meeting Jordan's foreign minister that a respite in hostilities could build confidence and help bring about a longer truce in the 19-month-old conflict. "Yes I am going to Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Italian firms fight to hold head above political water Thursday, Oct 18, 2012 09:13 AM PDT  BOLOGNA, Italy (Reuters) - It's not long into a chat with an Italian businessmen before talk turns to how a costly state is sucking the air out of Europe's third-largest economy, endangering the euro along the way. "In the end we're asking for only one thing: a normal government for a normal country," said Maurizio Marchesini, the president of Confindustria, Italy's main employers' association, in the wealthy north-central region of Emilia-Romagna. Emilia-Romagna, of which Bologna is the capital, is doing better than much of Italy. ... Full Story | Top |
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