| "We don't have that sort of power," Murdoch tells inquiry Posted:  LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch is used to slipping into Downing Street by the back door for discreet meetings with prime ministers, but there was no such privacy on Wednesday when he faced a grilling about his political influence in the full glare of the world's media. It was one of the most extraordinary days in a career spanning six decades that has seen the owner of a provincial Australian newspaper morph into a global media magnate credited with the power to make or break governments. ...
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| Mexico starts investigation in Wal-Mart bribery case Posted:  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico said on Wednesday it would open an investigation into allegations that the Mexican unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc bribed officials to expand its business there, piling pressure onto the embattled retail giant. The Mexican federal comptroller's office said it had begun checking the federal paperwork and permits that Wal-Mart de Mexico, known as Walmex, obtained to open and operate its stores in Mexico. The comptroller's office added that it would ask U.S. ...
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| Syria violence rages, France tells U.N. to hurry Posted:  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces shot dead four civilians on a bus on Wednesday and fighting raged near Damascus, dissidents said, as international pressure mounted on President Bashar al-Assad to honor U.N.-backed ceasefire pledges to order his troops back to barracks. In the city of Hama, an anti-Assad hotbed, an explosion ripped through a building, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens more, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. ...
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| Egypt lets Mubarak PM back in presidential race Posted:  CAIRO (Reuters) - The last prime minister to serve under deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been allowed to re-enter the race for the presidency, one day after electoral authorities disqualified him, the state news agency reported on Wednesday. Analysts said Ahmed Shafiq's re-entry into the race will make him the favorite of the military and a very strong contender to win Egypt's presidential elections set for May 23-24, with a run-off scheduled in June. ...
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| With eye on elections, Merkel pushes minimum wage Posted:  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have agreed plans to introduce a mandatory minimum wage for sectors of the economy that do not already have one, in the latest policy shift to try to win over left-leaning voters before next year's election. Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) have long opposed a blanket minimum wage, arguing that it would amount to excessive political interference in the wage-bargaining process between workers and employers. ...
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| U.S. accuses two Taiwanese in China military sale case Posted: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors on Wednesday accused two Taiwanese nationals of trying to buy U.S. military technology on behalf of people they claimed worked in the Chinese government. Federal prosecutors in Newark, New Jersey said Hui Sheng Shen, 45, and Huan Ling Chang, 41, had been under U.S. investigation since February 2011, when they agreed to sell methamphetamine to undercover federal agents. But in a series of meetings in September and October 2011 in Las Vegas, Shen and Chang began asking the undercover agents for U.S. military technology, court documents said. ... |
| South Sudan frees prisoners; clashes abate Posted:  JUBA/BEIJING (Reuters) - South Sudan freed prisoners of war on Wednesday as clashes appeared to abate between north and south, after cross-border fighting that threatened to tip into all-out war. Sitting on some of Africa's most significant oil reserves, Sudan and South Sudan have been unable to resolve a dispute over oil revenues and border demarcation since the South gained independence in July. ...
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| Israel's top general says Iran unlikely to make bomb Posted:  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's military chief said he does not believe Iran will decide to build an atomic bomb and called its leaders "very rational" - comments that clashed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assessment. Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz's remarks, in an interview published on Wednesday in the left-wing Haaretz newspaper, drew little attention in Israel on its annual remembrance day for fallen soldiers, when political discourse is suspended. ...
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| Accused drug dealer says paid off fugitive Venezuela judge Posted:  CARACAS (Reuters) - An accused Venezuelan drug lord wanted by the United States said on Wednesday he made monthly payments to a former judge who recently embarrassed President Hugo Chavez with accusations of widespread manipulation in the OPEC nation's justice system. The statement by Walid Makled, considered a major trafficker who is now on trial in Venezuela, is likely to fuel criticism by opposition leaders and U.S. authorities over the socialist government's alleged complicity with the drug trade. ...
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| Court to give Taylor verdict in war crimes milestone Posted:  THE HAGUE (Reuters) - A special court delivers its verdict on Thursday on whether Liberian ex-president Charles Taylor is guilty of crimes against humanity by supporting and directing rebels who pillaged, raped and murdered during the Sierra Leone civil war. The verdict will be the first passed on a former head of state by The Hague's international courts in what human rights advocates say is a reminder that even the most powerful do not enjoy impunity. Yugoslav ex-president Slobodan Milosevic died in The Hague in 2006 before the war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia could reach a verdict. ...
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| France raises prospect of military action in Syria Posted:  France raised the prospect of military intervention in Syria on Wednesday, saying the U.N. should consider harsher measures if an international peace plan that has been shaken by violence ultimately collapses.
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| I'm not that powerful, Rupert Murdoch tells judge Posted:  News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch said Wednesday that his globe-spanning TV and newspaper empire doesn't carry as much political sway as is often believed, telling a British inquiry into media ethics that he wasn't the power behind the throne often depicted by his enemies.
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| Breivik's publicity at trial just what he wanted Posted:  As Anders Behring Breivik has given shocking and remorseless accounts to a Norwegian court of how he massacred 77 people, his testimony has revived a debate about how much of a public platform mass-murderers should be given in trials.
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| In fiery crash, challenges of Nigeria exposed Posted:  Government corruption and deteriorating roads caused a fiery multiple car and truck crash in Nigeria that killed at least 18 people in 2010, a coroner said Wednesday, highlighting major challenges facing Africa's most populous nation.
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| AP Interview: Iraqi Kurd leader hints at secession Posted:  The president of Iraq's self-rule Kurdish region demanded Wednesday that Shiite leaders agree on sharing power with their political opponents by September or else the Kurds could consider breaking away from Baghdad.
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| Draghi says Europe needs growth pact Posted:  European Central Bank head Mario Draghi gave a muted outlook for the European economy and called for a "growth compact" to restore lost competitiveness across Europe.
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| Wills, Kate attend 'African Cats' London premiere Posted:  Prince William and his wife Kate were guests of honor at the U.K. premiere of Disneynature's "African Cats" on Wednesday.
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| Egypt body reinstates ex-premier in president race Posted: In a surprise move, Egypt's election commission has reinstated deposed leader Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister in the presidential race, a day after disqualifying him. |
| France's Hollande to renegotiate European treaty Posted:  French presidential front-runner Francois Hollande says that if he's elected, he would immediately ask other European leaders to renegotiate the fiscal treaty aimed at reducing debts to include measures to encourage growth.
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| Israel marks 64 years of independence Posted:  Israelis celebrated their country's 64th anniversary Wednesday with fireworks and military processions at a national ceremony in Jerusalem.
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