News / World
Iran says would act against enemies if endangered
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran would take pre-emptive action against its enemies if it felt its national interests were endangered, the deputy head of the Islamic Republic’s armed forces was quoted by a semi-official news agency as saying yesterday. “Our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran’s national interests, and [...]
Violence as Yemen elects sole candidate to replace toppled leader
SANAA/ADEN (Reuters) – Separatist violence in the south loomed over a presidential election in Yemen that had just a single candidate, but Washington praised the vote ending three decades of rule by its ally Ali Abdullah Saleh. The uncontested vote anointed Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi – a general who served as Saleh’s vice president and close [...]
Red Cross seeks Syria ceasefires; more than 100 killed
BEIRUT/GENEVA (Reuters) – Syrian government forces killed at least 100 people yesterday in assaults on villages and an artillery barrage in the restive city of Homs, activists said, and the Red Cross called for daily ceasefires to allow in urgently needed aid. Washington, which is preparing for a “Friends of Syria” meeting of Western and [...]
Strauss-Kahn held in French prostitution probe
LILLE, France (Reuters) – Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was questioned by police yesterday over his dealings with an alleged prostitution ring that was run from the northern French city of Lille and organized sex parties in Paris, Brussels and Washington. Strauss-Kahn, a former finance minister seen as a strong contender for France’s 2012 presidential [...]
Investigators say prison fire likely caused by cigarette
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – A devastating prison fire that killed 360 inmates in a Honduran penitentiary was likely caused by a candle or cigarette that set a mattress alight, investigators said yesterday. Danelia Ferrera, a senior official in Honduras’ attorney general’s office, said an investigation involving Honduran and US agents found no signs that arsonists set [...]
Syrian forces fire on Damascus protests
AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian forces opened fire with live ammunition on demonstrators in Damascus overnight, wounding at least four, activists said early today as unrest continued to spread in the capital. Demonstrations and clashes with security forces have hit Damascus in the past week, undermining President Bashar al-Assad’s argument that an 11-month uprising has been [...]
Tunisian parliament bloc proposes Islamic constitution
TUNIS (Reuters) – The third-largest party in Tunisia’s constituent assembly, charged with writing a new constitution, yesterday proposed a draft document based on Islamic law which will likely alarm the country’s secularists. The moderate Islamist Ennahda party won a 40 per cent share in the assembly, or 89 seats, in Tunisia’s first election since the [...]
Rains let loose land mines, shut Peru-Chile border
LIMA (Reuters) – Flooding rivers in Peru and Chile have ruined houses, displaced people, and turned up something more sinister: land mines, which closed the border between the two countries yesterday. Heavy summer rains, which meteorologists attribute to a series of low pressure systems that originated in the southern Atlantic Ocean this month, have wiped [...]
Yemen votes for post-Saleh era under violence cloud
ADEN/SANAA (Reuters) – Yemenis vote today for a successor to President Ali Abdullah Saleh in hopes of ending a year-long struggle that began with mass protests to oust him and almost led to the collapse of the state. The vote, which Washington and Yemen’s richer neighbours led by Saudi Arabia support in order to avoid [...]
Britain revamps border force over lax security
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain said yesterday it was putting its border guards under separate control ahead of the London Olympics after a critical report found hundreds of thousands of people had been allowed into the country without full security checks. Ministers are under pressure to ensure Britain’s borders are secure as the island nation prepares [...]
Mugabe praises coalition government with rivals
HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe praised the coalition pact that has seen him share power with his political enemies, saying in an interview yesterday that he and long-time foe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai can now share a cup of tea. Mugabe, who turns 88 today, has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in [...]
Dempsey says premature to attack Iran now
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top US military officer said yesterday that a military strike against Iran would be premature, because it is unclear that Tehran will actually use its nuclear capabilities to build an atomic bomb. There has been public discussion in Israel about whether it should attack Iran to stop it from developing a [...]
Reuters World News highlights
AMMAN/BEIRUT – Police and militia patrols fan out in the Syrian capital’s Mezze district to prevent a repeat of protests against President Bashar al-Assad that have threatened his grip on Damascus, opposition activists say. ATHENS – Several thousand Greeks demonstrate against punishing austerity measures to reduce the country’s debt, on the eve of make-or-break talks [...]
Egypt delays announcing final date for presidential vote
CAIRO (Reuters) – The judicial committtee supervising Egypt’s first presidential election since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown last year said yesterday it had yet to finalise a date for the vote, although an election official said it would be in the first week of June. The committee had been expected to announce a date yesterday, but [...]
Iran halts oil sales to UK, France on eve of talks
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran ordered a halt to its oil sales to Britain and France yesterday in a move seen as retaliation against tightening EU sanctions, as a team of UN inspectors flew to Tehran to press the Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear programme. The European Union enraged Tehran last month when it decided [...]
Mexico prison fight leaves 44 dead
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A fight between rival gangs at a prison on the outskirts of the northern Mexican manufacturing city of Monterrey left at least 44 dead yesterday, authorities said. Victims were beaten, knifed and stoned when a fight broke out early yesterday, the officials said. Inmates at the prison in Monterrey, about 140 [...]
Stars mourn Whitney Houston at rousing New Jersey funeral
(Reuters) – Stars, family and friends mourned Whitney Houston in a spirited Baptist funeral service at her hometown church yesterday, a week after the death of the singer whose spectacular voice made her one of the biggest pop stars of her era. Gospel and soul music greats, celebrities and family members swayed to gospel hits [...]
Syrian forces fire on anti-Assad crowd in capital
(Reuters) – Syrian security forces fired on a huge protest against President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus yesterday, soon after a Chinese envoy had appealed for a halt to 11 months of violence, opposition activists said. The shooting took place at the funerals of three youths killed on Friday in an anti-Assad protest that was one [...]
Greek cabinet backs extra austerity measures
(Reuters) – Greece’s cabinet yesterday approved a final set of austerity measures sought by the EU and IMF as a condition for a 130-billion euro ($171 billion) rescue package, raising the chances of a deal next week to avert a chaotic default on its debt. The approval was largely a formality after Athens last week [...]
Prostitution probe to quiz Strauss-Kahn: source
(Reuters) – Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is to be questioned next week by police investigating an alleged prostitution ring in Lille, northern France, a police source said. The former finance minister, who left the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last May to face attempted rape charges in New York that were later dropped, had publicly [...]
Santorum says Obama agenda not “based on Bible”
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum challenged President Barack Obama’s Christian beliefs yesterday, saying White House policies were motivated by a “different theology.” A devout Roman Catholic who has risen to the top of Republican polls in recent days, Santorum said the Obama administration had failed to prevent gas prices rising and [...]
German president resigns in setback for Merkel
BERLIN (Reuters) – Angela Merkel’s hand-picked choice for the ceremonial post of president resigned yesterday in a scandal over political favors, dealing a blow to the German chancellor in the midst of the euro zone debt crisis. In a curt five-minute statement at the Bellevue presidential palace, Christian Wulff acknowledged that he had lost the [...]
US, EU welcome Iran nuclear letter, suggest talks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and European Union expressed cautious optimism on Friday over prospects that Iran may be willing to engage major powers in new talks, but underscored any resumed negotiations must be sustained and focus on the nuclear issue. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine [...]
Xi waves off China economy fears, triggers deals
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – China’s leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping yesterday dismissed worries of a hard landing for his country’s economy and turned to courting American companies and states hungry for a slice of Chinese growth on the final day of his US visit. Vice President Xi and his US counterpart Joe Biden also suggested Xi’s five-day [...]