World

MOSCOW/KIEV,  (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin raised the pressure on Ukraine yesterday, saying Russia would wait until it forms a new government before fully implementing a $15 billion bailout deal that Kiev urgently needs.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – In experiments that could open a new era in stem cell biology, scientists have found a simple way to reprogramme mature animal cells back into an embryonic-like state that allows them to generate many types of tissue.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve yesterday decided to trim its bond purchases by another $10 billion as it stuck to a plan to wind down its extraordinary economic stimulus despite recent turmoil in emerging markets.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – President Barack Obama vowed yesterday to bypass a divided Congress and take action on his own to bolster America’s middle class in a State of the Union speech that he used to try to breathe new life into his second term after a troubled year.

GENEVA (Reuters) – The United States yesterday demanded that Syria allow aid into the “starving” city of Homs, as talks aimed at ending three years of civil war hit more trouble over the future of President Bashar al-Assad.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico said yesterday it had captured a leader of the Knights Templar, a violent drug cartel that has created a major security problem for President Enrique Pena Nieto.

(Reuters) – The number of passengers and crew who fell ill aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship climbed to more than 600 yesterday, many vomiting and using biohazard bags for anything they touch.

THE HAGUE/SANTIAGO (Reu-ters) – The maritime border between Chile and Peru was reset by an international court yesterday, in a compromise decision that politicians hope will end one of Latin America’s last remaining border disputes.

LONDON (Reuters) – British members of parliament criticised Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Household today for blowing its annual budget while neglecting repairs at Buckingham Palace, which two lawmakers suggested was falling apart.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US Vice President Joe Biden called Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich yesterday to urge the government not to declare a state of emergency and work with the opposition to bring a peaceful end to unrest.

BANGUI,  (Reuters) – At least eight people were killed in mob violence in Central African Republic’s capital, Bangui, yesterday as senior officers from the Seleka rebel movement fled the city, according to the country’s Red Cross and a rights group.

BUDAPEST,  (Reuters) – Hungarians collaborated with Nazis in sending nearly half a million Jews to their deaths, Hungary’s president said yesterday in a rare public acknowledgement of a war-time past that Jewish groups say is often glossed over.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The U.S. military carried out a missile strike in Somalia yesterday targeting a suspected militant leader with ties to al Qaeda and al Shabaab, a U.S.

COLUMBIA, Md., (Reuters) – A gunman who shot and killed two people at a Maryland mall was a 19-year-old who lived with his mother in a nearby Washington suburb and arrived at the shopping center in a taxi about an hour before opening fire, police said yesterday.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Twenty-nine people were killed during anti-government marches yesterday while thousands rallied in support of the army-led authorities, underlining Egypt’s volatile political fissures three years after the fall of autocrat President Hosni Mubarak.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Five Egyptian embassy staff kidnapped in Tripoli were abducted in retaliation for the arrest of a Libyan militia commander by Egyptian authorities, the Libyan government said yesterday.

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Francois Hollande announced his separation from first lady Valerie Trierweiler yesterday following a media storm over allegations he is having an affair with an actress.

KIEV (Reuters) – A Ukrainian opposition leader who was offered the post of prime minister by embattled President Viktor Yanukovich yesterday said the opposition was ready to lead the country.

GENEVA (Reuters) – Syria’s civil war foes held their first face-to-face meeting yesterday, launching talks aimed at ending nearly three years of conflict which has killed 130,000 people and destabilised the wider Middle East.

COLUMBIA, Md (Reuters) – A gunman opened fire with a shotgun in a skate shop at a crowded shopping mall near Baltimore yesterday, killing two store employees and wounding another person, then apparently killing himself, police said.