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| Obama accuses Republican rival of suffering "Romnesia" Friday, Oct 19, 2012 07:13 PM PDT  FAIRFAX, Va./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama turned his rival's name into an ailment on Friday, accusing Mitt Romney of suffering from "Romnesia" for emphasizing moderate positions rather than the conservative ones he put forward in the Republican primary race. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has closed a gap in opinion polls with the Democratic incumbent after giving a strong performance in the first presidential debate on October 3, when he sounded a moderate note on healthcare reform and the need for government regulation - highlights of Obama's platform. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boy dies in violent protests over new Panama land law Friday, Oct 19, 2012 07:00 PM PDT  PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - At least one person, a 9-year-old boy, died on Friday in violent protests over a new law allowing the sale of state-owned land in a dilapidated port city within the duty-free zone next to the Panama Canal. Several residents and police were also injured in Colon, Panama's second-largest city, in a third day of protests against the plan, which the National Assembly approved early on Friday and President Ricardo Martinelli signed into law hours later. Hundreds of people burned tires and threw objects and shot at police, who fired back and used teargas to disperse the ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan's vice president dismisses talk of military coup Friday, Oct 19, 2012 06:36 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - South Sudan's vice president, Riek Machar, dismissed on Friday rumors of a planned military coup, saying it would be "unwise" for army officers to attempt a takeover of the year-old state. The speculation was serious enough to prompt South Sudan's President Salva Kiir to visit the headquarters of Sudan's army (SPLA) this week to warn that any successful coup leaders would be isolated internationally, according to the Sudan Tribune. ... Full Story | Top |
| Protests, gunfire in Lebanon after Beirut killing Friday, Oct 19, 2012 06:08 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Sunni Muslims took to the streets and burned tires across Lebanon in protest against the killing of senior intelligence official Wissam al-Hassan in a car bomb on Friday, witnesses said. Protesters, infuriated by the death of the prominent Sunni, blocked roads in the eastern Bekaa valley region, the northern area of Akkar, neighborhoods of the capital Beirut and in the southern city of Sidon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lebanese opposition bloc calls for PM to quit after bombing Friday, Oct 19, 2012 06:08 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's opposition March 14 bloc said it held Prime Minister Najib Mikati responsible for the death of a senior intelligence official in a car bombing on Friday and called on his government to resign. Mikati was responsible "for the blood of Wissam al-Hassan and the blood of the innocents who died" in the bombing, the group said in a statement. "This government must go, and the prime minister is asked to present his resignation." (Editing by Ralph Gowling) Full Story | Top |
| Lebanon's former PM Hariri blames Assad for Beirut bomb Friday, Oct 19, 2012 06:08 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday of being behind the huge car bomb which killed a senior Lebanese intelligence official in central Beirut. Asked by Lebanon's Future Television who was responsible for the killing, Hariri replied: "Bashar Hafez al-Assad," giving the full name of the Syrian president. "Who killed Wissam al-Hassan is as clear as day. Certainly the Lebanese people will not be silent over this heinous crime and I, Saad Hariri, promise that I will not be silent," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani girl shot by Taliban "doing well" Friday, Oct 19, 2012 05:43 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - A Pakistani girl shot in the head by Taliban gunmen is "not out of the woods" but is doing well and has been able to stand for the first time, doctors at the British hospital treating her said on Friday. Malala Yousufzai, who was shot for vocally opposing the Taliban, was flown from Pakistan to Birmingham to receive treatment after the attack earlier this month, which drew widespread international condemnation. She has become a symbol of resistance to the Islamist group's effort to deny women education and other rights. ... Full Story | Top |
| Leaders meet on Mali crisis but little progress made Friday, Oct 19, 2012 04:49 PM PDT  BAMAKO/DAKAR (Reuters) - Regional leaders and international organizations met in Mali's capital Bamako on Friday to seek a response to the occupation of the north of the country by al Qaeda-linked Islamists, but failed to resolve differences on how to tackle the growing security threat. Mali remains paralyzed by twin crises, with the leadership in Bamako still divided since a March coup that toppled the president and the rebel takeover of the north of the country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Katatni elected as Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood party chief Friday, Oct 19, 2012 04:36 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood's political party, Egypt's biggest, chose veteran conservative Saad al-Katatni as its new leader on Friday to replace Mohamed Mursi who went on to become his country's first elected president. Katatni, 61, a microbiologist who joined the Islamist movement in 1979, is seen as more conservative than his main challenger for the post, Essam el-Erian, and less ready to compromise with liberals and leftists. ... Full Story | Top |
| Muslim protesters fight police in Tanzania, popular cleric freed Friday, Oct 19, 2012 04:26 PM PDT  STONE TOWN/DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Muslim protesters clashed with police in Tanzania's commercial capital and on the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar on Friday, raising religious tensions in the east African country. In Dar es Salaam, protests against the arrest of a hardline Muslim cleric turned violent, while in Zanzibar, supporters of an Islamist separatist group have repeatedly fought police over the disappearance of their spiritual leader, who was then released after nearly four days in captivity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinian push for U.N. upgrade likely to succeed: Jeremic Friday, Oct 19, 2012 04:14 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The push by the Palestinians for upgraded status at the United Nations is likely to succeed, the president of the U.N. General Assembly said on Friday, while warning the United States against cutting U.N. funding over the issue. In his first major interview since winning a divisive campaign for the largely ceremonial U.N. post in June, former Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic also said he was seeking to improve coordination between the world body and the Group of 20 bloc of key developed and developing nations. Having failed last year to secure full U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Beirut bomb kills anti-Syrian intelligence official Friday, Oct 19, 2012 03:10 PM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - A prominent Lebanese intelligence official opposed to President Bashar al-Assad was killed in a huge car bomb in Beirut in another sign that Syria's civil war is dragging its volatile neighbor into the conflict. Wissam al-Hassan, who led an investigation that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, and seven other people were killed when the bomb exploded in central Beirut on Friday afternoon. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's "richest tribe" offers platinum model Friday, Oct 19, 2012 03:01 PM PDT  PHOKENG, South Africa (Reuters) - While South African mining companies try to halt the spread of deadly labor strife, a kingdom that partly governs a small stretch of the country's platinum belt has managed to transform mineral wealth into social stability. The Royal Bafokeng Nation has funneled money it earns from its Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPLat) company into a mini sovereign wealth fund that provides cash for schools, clinics and infrastructure. ... Full Story | Top |
| Catholicism and sex shops: the struggle for Poland's soul Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:55 PM PDT  WARSAW (Reuters) - At the sound of a bell from the altar, relayed over loud-speakers, about 50,000 people at an open-air mass last month in the Polish capital dropped down to kneel in the street. It was a powerful symbol of Poland's deeply felt Roman Catholicism, a reminder of the scenes in the 1980s when, inspired by Polish Pope John Paul II, people prayed in the streets and brought down Communist rule. But modernity intruded on this recent moment of spiritual contemplation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kuwait ruler orders electoral system changes Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:49 PM PDT  KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait's emir said on Friday he had ordered partial changes to the Gulf Arab state's electoral system to fix deficiencies ahead of expected elections, prompting opposition threats to boycott the vote. Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah dissolved parliament last week to pave the way for new election which many hoped would end a persistent political turmoil that had held up development projects in the major oil producer and U.S. ally. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbian, Kosovo prime ministers have rare talks, to meet again Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:28 PM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo met on Friday for the first time since the breakaway province gained independence, in hopes of thawing relations and opening the way for progress in their respective bids for European Union membership. The EU wants Serbia and Kosovo to cooperate better on issues such as security and trade even though Belgrade refuses to recognize the sovereignty of its former ethnic Albanian majority province, which declared independence in 2008. ... Full Story | Top |
| Seven risk imminent execution in Gambia: Amnesty Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:20 PM PDT BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambia's former army chief and six others risk imminent execution after the West African nation's supreme court dismissed their appeal against conviction on treason charges, Amnesty International said on Friday. President Yahya Jammeh provoked an international outcry in August when he ordered the execution by firing squad of nine prisoners. Their deaths marked the first executions in the country in nearly 30 years. Although he later suspended plans to execute the remaining 38 prisoners on death row, the government said the decision was only temporary. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. condemns "terrorist" killing of Lebanese security official Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:00 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council condemned a bomb attack on Friday that killed senior Lebanese intelligence official Wissam al-Hassan, widely seen as a foe of Syria, and demanded an end to attempts to destabilize Lebanon through political assassinations. "The members of the Security Council strongly condemned the terrorist attack on 19 October 2012 in Beirut, which killed Brigadier General Wissam al-Hassan," the 15-nation council said in a unanimously agreed-upon statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council plans sanctions on Congo rebels, others Friday, Oct 19, 2012 01:50 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council intends to impose sanctions on the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels and others violating an arms embargo on the country, according to a statement the council unanimously adopted on Friday. Rwandan Defense Minister James Kabarebe is commanding the insurgency in eastern Congo that is being armed by Rwanda and Uganda, both of which also sent troops to aid deadly attacks, according to a U.N. experts' confidential report seen by Reuters on Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Newsmaker: Kabarebe, Rwanda and Congo's killing fields Friday, Oct 19, 2012 01:47 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Swept up in the mid-1990s in a conflict that has killed an estimated 5 million people, former child soldier Gabriel struggles to reconcile his feelings towards the man who led him into battle, James Kabarebe. "He was very disciplined. He looked after us child soldiers. He took time to speak to us," Gabriel, who was 12 when he became a fighter, said of Kabarebe, Rwanda's defense minister, who was accused by the United Nations this week of fomenting war in neighboring Congo. ... Full Story | Top |
| Freed Russian punk band member takes case to European court Friday, Oct 19, 2012 01:19 PM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The sole member of anti-Kremlin punk group Pussy Riot freed on appeal has taken her case to the European Court of Human Rights, she and her lawyer said on Friday, accusing Russia of violating her right to freedom of speech and illegally detaining her. Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, was one of three band members sentenced to two years in jail in August for belting out a profanity-laced song against President Vladimir Putin in a cathedral in a case that sparked an international outcry. ... Full Story | Top |
| Peace envoy Brahimi pushes in Syria for ceasefire Friday, Oct 19, 2012 12:56 PM PDT  DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Mediator Lakhdar Brahimi will meet Syrian officials over the next few days in an effort to secure a brief ceasefire in the worsening war between President Bashar al-Assad's government and rebel forces. Brahimi, who arrived in the capital Damascus on Friday afternoon, will meet Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem on Saturday morning, the U.N. spokesman in Damascus, Khaled al-Masri, said. He did not say whether the envoy would meet Assad. "We will talk about the ceasefire and the Syrian issue in general. ... Full Story | Top |
| Conflict displaces 900,000 in Sudan border areas Friday, Oct 19, 2012 12:44 PM PDT  KHARTOUM (Reuters) - More than 900,000 people have been displaced or severely affected by fighting in two Sudanese border states, the United Nations said on Friday, sharply increasing its estimates and urging Sudan and rebels to let in badly needed aid. Fighting between Sudan's army and SPLM-North rebels broke out in the oil-producing state of South Kordofan in June 2011, shortly before South Sudan became independent. The violence spread in September 2011 to nearby Blue Nile state which also borders the new African republic. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hearing shows captain to blame for Italy ship disaster: prosecutor Friday, Oct 19, 2012 12:44 PM PDT  GROSSETO, Italy (Reuters) - A pre-trial hearing in Italy this week on the sinking of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that cost 32 lives has put the responsibility for the disaster squarely on the shoulders of Captain Francesco Schettino, prosecutors said on Friday. Schettino is accused of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning ship before the evacuation of more than 4,000 passengers and crew was complete. He has admitted making mistakes but says he should not be the only person blamed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kuwait opposition to boycott election over "meddling:" politician Friday, Oct 19, 2012 12:12 PM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - A Kuwaiti politician on Friday criticized the emir's decision to amend the election law as meddling in the constitution and said opposition leaders were meeting with the aim of taking a decision to boycott the next election. "We have announced our position that if there was any meddling, there will be a boycott of the election, and what happened was meddling with the constitution of Kuwait," said Hamad al-Matar, a former member of parliament. (Reporting by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Pravin Char) Full Story | Top |
| Air Canada flight helps rescue Australian sailor Friday, Oct 19, 2012 11:47 AM PDT  SYDNEY (Reuters) - A lucky sailor is back on dry land after passengers and crew on a commercial flight from Canada helped find his crippled yacht adrift in rough seas hundreds of miles off the Australian coast, rescue authorities said. The Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Sydney was one of two diverted on Wednesday to look for solo yachtsman Glenn Ey, who activated an emergency beacon after his 11-metre (36 foot) yacht flipped and was dismasted. The Boeing 777 dropped down to 5,000 feet and cut its speed while the crew peered out using binoculars borrowed from passengers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Families of slain UK soldiers win right to sue government Friday, Oct 19, 2012 11:39 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Relatives of four British soldiers killed in the war in Iraq won the right to sue the government for negligence, in a landmark appeal court ruling on Friday that could open the door for other claims. Families of some of the soldiers who lost their lives in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion had said Britain sent them to the front line with inadequate equipment. Many of the early casualties were inflicted on troops travelling in lightly armored Snatch Land Rover vehicles designed to confront rioters in Northern Ireland, but ineffective against insurgents' roadside bombs in Iraq. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lebanon must stay united after blast: France Friday, Oct 19, 2012 11:20 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - Lebanon's politicians must stay united and guard against attempts to destabilize the country, French President Francois Hollande said after a car bomb killed a senior intelligence officer in Beirut on Friday. He did not spell out who might be trying to undermine the country through the attack. But France, the former colonial power in Lebanon, has repeatedly warned of the risk of the conflict in neighboring Syria spilling over the border. ... Full Story | Top |
| Top Lebanese security official killed in Beirut blast: official Friday, Oct 19, 2012 11:04 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Senior Lebanese intelligence official Wissam al-Hassan, who led the investigation that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the killing of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, was killed in the Beirut explosion on Friday, a Lebanese official said. "I can just say that it is true, he is dead," the official, who worked with al-Hassan, told Reuters. Al-Hassan was also the brain behind uncovering a recent bomb plot that led to the arrest of a Lebanese politician allied to President Bashar al-Assad. Al-Hassan was no ordinary officer. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia's Santos: Land restitution law undermines rebels Friday, Oct 19, 2012 11:03 AM PDT  BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Friday defended his signature law that returns land seized by illegal armed groups to peasants after leftist rebels assailed the measure at the start of peace talks. Negotiations to end five decades of war started out bumpy this week when Ivan Marquez, lead negotiator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, called Santos' restitution law a "trap. "When these gentlemen from the FARC say this law is a lie it's because ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Freed Pussy Riot band member takes case to European court Friday, Oct 19, 2012 11:02 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - The sole member of anti-Kremlin punk group Pussy Riot freed on appeal has taken her case to the European Court of Human Rights, she and her lawyer said on Friday, accusing Russia of violating her right to freedom of speech and illegally detaining her. Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, was one of three band members sentenced to two years in jail in August for belting out a profanity-laced song against President Vladimir Putin in a cathedral in a case that sparked an international outcry. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kremlin backer resigns seat, Russia opposition sees ploy Friday, Oct 19, 2012 10:43 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - A backer of President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he was resigning his parliament seat over allegations about his business interests, but opponents saw it as a cover for moves to stifle dissent. Alexei Knyshov, a lawmaker for less than a year, posted a blog saying he decided to quit over allegations he violated a law barring members of parliament from running a business while serving in office. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK minister Mitchell quits over "pleb" police outburst Friday, Oct 19, 2012 10:38 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - British cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell resigned from the government on Friday after failing to shake off accusations he had sworn at police and called them "plebs" during a row outside Prime Minister David Cameron's Downing Street office. Mitchell, the so-called "Chief Whip" responsible for keeping discipline among lawmakers in Cameron's Conservative Party, denied using the offending words but admitted making unacceptable comments after being told to get off his bicycle as he left Downing Street last month. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian comic Grillo's party gains ground in opinion poll Friday, Oct 19, 2012 10:35 AM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - The popularity of comic Italian Beppe Grillo's 5-Star Movement edged higher in October, a poll showed on Friday, putting it just five percentage points behind the top placed party six months before a national vote. Deep recession and a series of recent corruption scandals are stoking popular disillusionment with the traditional parties that have governed Italy for the past two decades, and many turning Italians toward newcomers like Grillo. Support for the 5-Star Movement rose to 21 percent from 18 percent a month ago, with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) at 25. ... Full Story | Top |
| Myanmar to be invited to major U.S.-Thai military exercise Friday, Oct 19, 2012 10:07 AM PDT  BANGKOK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Myanmar will be invited to a major U.S. and Thai-led multinational military exercise, a powerful symbolic gesture toward a military with a grim human rights record and a milestone in its rapprochement with the West. Officials from participating countries told Reuters Myanmar would be asked to send observers to the annual Kobra Gold exercise, which involves thousands of American and Thai military personnel and participants from other Asian countries. "This appears to be the first step on the part of the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Muslim protesters fight police in Tanzania Friday, Oct 19, 2012 10:01 AM PDT STONE TOWN/DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Muslim protesters clashed with police in Tanzania's commercial capital and on the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar on Friday, raising religious tensions in the east African country. In Dar es Salaam, protests against the arrest of a hardline Muslim cleric turned violent, while in Zanzibar, supporters of an Islamist separatist group have repeatedly fought police over the disappearance of their spiritual leader. ... Full Story | Top |
| German court convicts 10 Somalis of piracy Friday, Oct 19, 2012 09:49 AM PDT HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Ten Somalis were given jail sentences of up to seven years on Friday for hijacking a cargo ship, in Germany's first modern-day piracy trial. The raid on the German vessel MV Taipan, 530 miles off the Horn of Africa in April 2010, had been conducted with near military precision, the judge said, rejecting the defendants' claim that they had been forced into it. The pirates had hoped to extort a ransom of at least $1 million, Judge Bernd Steinmetz told the Hamburg state court. ... Full Story | Top |
| Al Qaeda attack on Yemen army base kills 24 Friday, Oct 19, 2012 09:41 AM PDT ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - Al Qaeda killed 16 soldiers in an attack on an army base in south Yemen on Friday, medical and military sources said, in a further show of strength by Islamist militants despite a U.S. campaign of drone strikes to neutralize them. Militants tightened their hold on parts of Yemen during an uprising that ousted veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh in February, raising concern for the security of top oil exporter Saudi Arabia next door and nearby shipping lanes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Blast halts Iran gas flow to Turkey, 28 troops hurt Friday, Oct 19, 2012 09:04 AM PDT ANKARA (Reuters) - Saboteurs bombed a gas pipeline in eastern Turkey, halting the flow of Iranian gas and causing minor injuries to 28 soldiers, Turkish officials said on Friday. The overnight attack, less than a week after gas flow was restarted following a previous strike, prompted Russia's Gazprom to increase its supplies to Turkey to offset the shortfall. Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said the line would be back in operation soon, but gave no firm timescale. "Despite the cut in the gas flow, there is no problem in meeting natural gas demand," Taner told reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian advice leaflet for migrants stirs outrage Friday, Oct 19, 2012 09:00 AM PDT ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - A leaflet depicting migrant workers as talking work tools has stirred outrage among human rights activists in Russia's second largest city and prompted accusations of state-sponsored xenophobia. The leaflet, whose authors say it was intended to promote tolerance, provides advice on medical assistance, safety and observing immigration rules. It has cartoons depicting migrant workers as a broom, a paint roller and paintbrushes. "In fact it sets those who come to us and those who live here against each other. ... Full Story | Top |
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