| Obama says enough world oil to crack down on Iran Posted:  BURLINGTON, Vt./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed on Friday to forge ahead with tough sanctions on Iran, saying there was enough oil in the world market - including emergency stockpiles - to allow countries to cut Iranian imports. In his decision, required by a sanctions law he signed in December, Obama said increased production by some countries as well as "the existence of strategic reserves" helped him come to the conclusion that sanctions can advance. ...
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| Clinton, Saudi's Abdullah discuss world oil balance Posted:  RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed Saudi Arabia's role in maintaining a stable world oil supply in talks on Friday with Saudi King Abdullah, a U.S. official said. The United States and Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, have been strategic allies since the 1940s, but discord over how to respond to Arab popular uprisings strained relations last year. Although the two states have mended the rift, differences persist on regional policy and how to tackle high oil prices. ...
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| Lawyer says U.S. blocks investigation of Afghan massacre Posted:  SEATTLE (Reuters) - The lawyer defending the U.S. soldier accused of murdering 17 Afghan civilians claims U.S. authorities are blocking his ability to investigate the incident. John Henry Browne, the lawyer for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, said U.S. forces in Afghanistan have prevented his team from interviewing injured civilians at a hospital in Kandahar, and are allowing other potential witnesses to scatter, making it difficult to track them down. "My gut is the reason is they don't have much of a case," said Browne at a press conference at his downtown Seattle office on Friday. ...
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| Mexican presidential favorite vows to restore peace Posted:  GUADALAJARA, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican presidential front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto vowed to overcome the drug-fueled violence engulfing his country as the campaign for the July 1 election kicked off with the ruling conservatives struggling to avoid defeat. Pena Nieto, the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party's (PRI) candidate, is favored to succeed President Felipe Calderon, whose term in office has been dominated by the government's battle to crack down on brutal drug gangs. ...
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| Exclusive: Iran helps Syria ship oil to China: sources Posted:  LONDON (Reuters) - Iran is helping its ally Syria defy Western sanctions by providing a vessel to ship Syrian oil to a state-run company in China, potentially giving the government of President Bashar al-Assad a financial boost worth an estimated $80 million. Iran, itself a target of Western sanctions, is among Syria's closest allies and has promised to do all it can to support Assad, recently praising his handling of the year-long uprising against Assad in which thousands have been killed. ...
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| U.N.'s Ban to appoint new judges for Cambodia tribunal Posted:  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on Friday that he would appoint two new judges for Cambodia's troubled U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal and urged the government of the Southeast Asian nation to cooperate with them. Swiss judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet quit as reserve co-investigating judge of the tribunal earlier this month, while his predecessor, German judge Siegfried Blunk, left the post in October. ...
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| U.S. drones attack militants in Pakistan, Yemen Posted:  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-operated drones carried out deadly missile strikes against suspected al Qaeda targets in Pakistan and Yemen on Friday, U.S. government sources said. There was no connection between the targets in the two locations, other than the fact that both sets of militants who were attacked were believed to have had some connection with al Qaeda affiliates, according to the sources. Reports from Aden said that at least five suspected al Qaeda militants traveling in a car in southern Yemen's Shabwa province were killed when a drone strike set their vehicle on fire. ...
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| With U.S. okay, Cuban agent returns home to see brother Posted:  HAVANA (Reuters) - A Cuban agent on parole in the United States after 13 years behind bars for his activities in an espionage ring has returned temporarily to the communist island to visit his critically ill brother, state television reported on Friday. Rene Gonzalez, one of what Cuba calls the "Five Heroes," returned on Friday "on a private family visit," it said. U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard granted Gonzalez his request for the visit on March 19 with the proviso that he had to obtain permission from the U.S. government and return within 15 days. ...
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| Mali coup leader seeks help as rebels seize towns Posted: BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's junta leader appealed for outside help to secure the West African country on Friday as separatist Tuareg rebels took the strategic northern town of Kidal and advanced towards new targets further south. Arms spilling out of Libya from last year's conflict have bolstered a northern rebellion in Mali. President Amadou Toumani Toure was facing rising unpopularity over his failure to halt the rebellion before he was toppled in last week's coup. ... |
| Exclusive: Germany makes last-ditch attempt to save transaction tax Posted:  COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Germany made a last ditch attempt on Friday to salvage the prospect of a financial transaction tax in Europe by proposing to apply the charge initially only to trading in company stock, but still faced resistance to its plans. A document circulated at a meeting of EU ministers and obtained by Reuters describes a two-stage approach of advancing towards a "comprehensive financial transaction tax", with the first step being a scaled-down levy. ...
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| Cuba: Freed agent on island to visit brother Posted:  A Cuban intelligence agent on probation after imprisonment in the United States arrived Friday for a two-week visit to see his ailing brother in Cuba, where authorities consider him and four other agents national heroes.
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| Yemen: Airstrikes kill 4 al-Qaida militants Posted:  An airstrike killed four al-Qaida militants on Friday in a southern district of Yemen that has been under the group's control for around a year, officials said.
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| Doctor saves babies caught in Romania corruption Posted:  Dr. Catalin Cirstoveanu runs a cardio unit with state-of-the-art equipment at a Bucharest children's hospital. But not a single child has been treated in the year-and-a-half since it opened.
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| Young Syrian activists put life on hold in revolt Posted:  Last year, Khalid was a 19-year-old Syrian university student whose modest dreams were to land a job and earn enough to marry his girlfriend — not simple tasks given Syria's weak economy and his lack of connections to the ruling elite.
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| Residents: South Libya tribal fighting continues Posted: A senior Libyan government official said Friday that warring tribes in the south have brokered a cease-fire after five days of deadly clashes, but residents said the fighting continues and is inching toward another city. |
| Brazil: Critics slam court's underage sex verdict Posted: A Brazilian court decision that sex with a 12-year-old does not necessarily constitute statutory rape has caused outrage among human rights activists in the country. |
| Mexico: 2 kids, woman killed in Saint Death ritual Posted:  Eight people have been arrested for allegedly killing two 10-year-old boys and a 55-year-old woman in ritual sacrifices by the cult of La Santa Muerte, or Saint Death, prosecutors in northern Mexico said Friday.
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| Cuba dissident identifies papal Mass protester Posted:  A leading Cuban dissident has identified the mystery man who yelled anti-government slogans just before a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI this week before being hustled away by security agents.
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| 1 wounded in man's shooting spree in Finland Posted:  A 23-year-old gunman wounded the father of his former girlfriend in an office building in Finland on Friday, then went to a nearby school and fired several shots through a classroom door, police said.
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| Headstone of Hitlers' parents' grave removed Posted:  The tombstone marking the grave of Adolf Hitler's parents, a place of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis, has been removed from an upper Austrian village cemetery at the request of a descendant, and the grave is ready for a new burial, officials said Friday.
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