| Syria says revolt over, but army still shooting Posted:  Syria says the year-long revolt to topple President Bashar al-Assad is now over, but it will keep its forces in cities to "maintain security" until it is safe to withdraw in keeping with a U.N.-backed peace deal. The agreement proposed by United Nations-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan says the Syrian authorities must be first to withdraw troops and stop violence immediately. The army kept up an offensive against opposition strongholds on Saturday, pummelling the Khalidiya district of Homs city. ...
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| Clinton promises U.S. will back Gulf security Posted:  RIYADH (Reuters) - The United States will work with Gulf Arab nations to strengthen their shared defenses against threats including Iran, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday. Speculation about Tehran's nuclear ambitions is a source of anxiety among Sunni-led Gulf Arab states, for whom Shi'ite Iran has long been a regional rival. "The commitment of the United States to the people and the nations of the Gulf is rock-solid and unwavering. ...
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| Suu Kyi runs for parliament in crucial Myanmar poll Posted:  YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar holds crucial by-elections on Sunday that are expected to see Aung San Suu Kyi, who led the fight for democracy under the former junta, entering parliament for the first time and could lead to an easing of sanctions by the West. The United States and European Union have hinted economic sanctions - imposed years ago in response to human rights abuses - could be lifted if the election is free and fair, which could unleash a wave of investment in the impoverished but resource-rich country bordering India and China. ...
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| Former Iran negotiator says nuclear deal possible Posted:  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - An end to a nearly decade-long nuclear standoff between Iran and major world powers will be possible if the United States and its European allies recognize Tehran's right to enrich uranium, a former Iranian negotiator said in an editorial. "Talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany (P5+1), scheduled for next month, provide the best opportunity to break the nine-year deadlock over Iran's nuclear program," Hossein Mousavian, Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator, wrote in an editorial in the Boston Globe. ...
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| In U-turn, Egypt's Brotherhood names presidential candidate Posted:  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, in a policy U-turn, said on Saturday it would back its deputy leader for president, an endorsement that guarantees Khairat al-Shater a place among the frontrunners after the group initially said it would not field a candidate. The Brotherhood said it changed tack after reviewing other candidates in the race and after parliament, where its Freedom and Justice Party controls the biggest bloc, was unable to meet "the demands of the revolution", a reference to its mounting criticism of the ruling army's handling of the transition. ...
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| Hungarians rally as pressure rises on president to quit Posted:  BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hundreds of Hungarian protesters called on President Pal Schmitt to resign on Saturday over a plagiarism scandal that could become a distraction to the government as it tries to win financial support from international lenders. They chanted "Pal Schmitt, pack your things" at the hilltop presidential palace. The rally follows an interview with Schmitt on state television M1 late on Friday, in which he resisted calls to quit even though a day earlier he was stripped of his doctorate after a months-old plagiarism row. ...
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| Mali army abandons northern town after rebel attack Posted:  GAO/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's army abandoned its military bases around the key northern garrison town of Gao on Saturday after a fierce assault by heavily armed rebels, military and civilian sources said. It was the latest defeat for the army after a lightning 48-hour advance by northern rebels seeking to capitalize in chaos in the West African country after last week's coup. "Given the proximity of the camps to residential areas, our forces decided not to fight," a statement by junta leader Captain Amadou Sanago read out on state television said. ...
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| One person killed in Kenyan coast explosions Posted:  MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Two blasts in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa and a nearby town killed one person and wounded more than 20 on Saturday, the latest in a string of attacks to hit the east African country since it sent troops into neighboring Somalia. Up until now, attacks had centered on the capital, Nairobi, and near the border with Somalia following its deployment of troops last October. Saturday's blasts were the first in Mombasa, a popular holiday destination with locals and foreigners, since Kenya began its mission to fight Islamist rebels north of the border. ...
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| Haitian president urged to control ex-soldiers Posted: PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - A Haitian government panel has urged the president to appoint an interim commander to take charge of former soldiers, a panel member said on Saturday, as the leader of a successful 2004 uprising warned that ex-members of the military could seize power. Several thousand former members of the military that was disbanded in 1995 by then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide after a series of coups, have occupied government buildings and former army camps, defying injunctions from the government to leave. ... |
| Switzerland seeks arrest of German tax collectors Posted: BERLIN/ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland has issued arrest warrants for three German civil servants, accusing them of industrial espionage for buying the bank details of German tax evaders, the finance ministry of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) said on Saturday. In the latest chapter of an ugly dispute over tax evasion that has strained ties between the two neighbors, a spokeswoman for the ministry confirmed a report about the arrest warrants due to appear in Sunday's Bild am Sonntag newspaper. ... |
| Voting begins in crucial Myanmar by-election Posted:  Voters in Myanmar have begun casting ballots in historic polling that's widely expected to see opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi elected to parliament for the first time.
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| Canadian man released from Lebanese jail Posted: A Canadian farmer returned home Saturday after being released from a Lebanese jail where he had been held for a year on allegations that he exported rotten potatoes to Algeria. |
| Stricken cruise ship repaired, heading to Malaysia Posted:  A cruise ship with 1,000 people on board that had drifted for 24 hours after being disabled by a fire was headed toward Malaysia following repairs, the Philippine coast guard said Saturday.
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| Bombs in southern Thailand kill 14, wound 341 Posted: Suspected Muslim insurgents staged the most deadly coordinated attacks in years in Thailand's restive south, killing 14 people and wounding 340 with car bombs that targeted Saturday shoppers and a high-rise hotel frequented by foreign tourists. |
| Syria says it won't be first to lay down arms Posted:  Syria rejected international envoy Kofi Annan's call for the regime to halt violence first just days after the government agreed to a cease-fire plan. A senior official declared victory over the opposition.
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| Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood to bid for presidency Posted:  The fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood named its chief strategist and financier as a candidate for president on Saturday, a surprising reversal of an earlier pledge to stay out of the race and a move that sets the group on a collision course with Egypt's military rulers.
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| Libya: 147 killed in 6 days of clashes in south Posted: Six days of tribal clashes in a remote desert town in southern Libya have killed 147 people, the country's health minister said Saturday. |
| Venezuelan leader returning to Cuba for treatment Posted: President Hugo Chavez says he's returning to Cuba for another round of cancer treatment. |
| Clashes between Yemeni army, militants kill 30 Posted:  Al-Qaida-linked militants staged a surprise attack on a Yemeni army base in the south Saturday, setting off clashes that left 30 dead on both sides before air strikes forced the militants to retreat, military officials said.
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| World landmarks dimmed for Earth Hour Posted:  Hundreds of world landmarks from Berlin's Brandenburg Gate to the Great Wall of China went dark Saturday, part of a global effort to highlight climate change.
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