| Sarkozy courts French far right after Hollande win Posted:  (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy appealed directly to far right voters on Monday with pledges to get tough on immigration and security, after a record showing in a first round election by the National Front made them potential kingmakers. Polls show centre-right leader Sarkozy on course to become the first French president to lose a bid for re-election in more than 30 years, trailing Socialist challenger Francois Hollande ahead of a May 6 run-off. Hollande pipped Sarkozy in Sunday's 10-candidate first round by 28.6 percent to 27. ...
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| Venezuela's Chavez calls home to squash death rumors Posted:  CARACAS (Reuters) - A healthy-sounding President Hugo Chavez called Venezuelan state television from Cuba on Monday to dispel rumors fanned by a nine-day silence that he had died undergoing cancer treatment at a hospital in Havana. "It seems we will have to become accustomed to live with these rumors, because it is part of the laboratories of psychological war, of dirty war" the 57-year-old socialist leader said in the telephone call. ...
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| Norway killer says hoped to have massacred more Posted:  OSLO (Reuters) - The Norwegian who massacred 77 people to protest against Muslim immigration to Europe said on Monday he had hoped to kill as many as 150 and kept on killing because police failed to respond urgently to his phone call. Breivik has given a detailed account of his car bomb attack at government headquarters in Oslo on July 22, which killed eight people, followed hours later by his shooting of 69 people, mostly teenagers, at a Labour Party island camp. He said on Monday his "gruesome" actions were to prevent a civil war caused, he said, by a Muslim takeover of Europe. ...
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| U.S. says has raised North Korea missile-linked sale with China Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday it had raised with China new allegations that a Chinese firm sold North Korea components for a missile transporter showcased in a recent military parade, despite a U.N. ban on such sales. The Obama administration suspects that the Chinese manufacturer supplied chassis and other parts for the vehicle, and Washington planned to use the incident to press Beijing to tighten enforcement of sanctions on Pyongyang, a senior U.S. official said on Saturday. The U.S. ... |
| Sudan market bombing a "declaration of war": South Posted:  OUTSIDE BENTIU, South Sudan (Reuters) - Sudanese war planes bombed a market in the capital of South Sudan's oil-producing Unity State on Monday, residents and officials said, an attack the southern army called a declaration of war. Sudan denied carrying out any air raids but its President Omar Hassan al-Bashir ramped up the political tension by ruling out a return to negotiations with the South, saying its government only understood "the language of the gun". ...
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| U.N. chief to visit Myanmar to encourage reforms Posted:  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on Monday he would visit Myanmar soon to encourage the Southeast Asian nation to press ahead with democratic reforms. "I have accepted an invitation from President Thein Shein to visit Myanmar," Ban told reporters. "I will depart at the end of this week." "We have seen encouraging political and economic reforms over the past year and a half," he said. "The recent elections were a landmark. We see Myanmar reopening to the world." U.N. officials said Ban would arrive in Myanmar at the weekend and stay for several days. ...
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| Egypt rejects licenses for U.S. groups Posted: CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt has rejected a request from eight U.S.-based civil society groups for licenses to operate in the country after a crackdown on their activities sparked the first diplomatic spat with Washington since the ousting of Hosni Mubarak. In a move that may damage Cairo's relations with Washington, the Insurance and Social Affairs Ministry rejected the applications because it believed the groups' activities violated state sovereignty, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported on Monday. It said requests from the Carter Center for Human Rights, set up by former U.S. ... |
| Russian envoy warns on U.S. human rights bill Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Proposed U.S. legislation to punish Russian officials involved in human rights abuses could have "a significant negative impact" on U.S.-Russian relations, Moscow's envoy to the United States warned on Monday Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak said the U.S. Congress should not tie the so-called Sergei Magnitsky bill to an expected vote this year on establishing "permanent normal trade relations" between the two countries. ... |
| Ex-PM cleared of major charges in Iceland crisis trial Posted:  REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland's former prime minister was found innocent on Monday of three major charges of negligence related to the country's 2008 economic collapse, and guilty of a smaller count that carried no prison sentence. The verdict by a special court was seen by many as little more than a slap on the wrist for Geir Haarde, the only leader in the world to face prosecution over the global crisis. He had faced up to two years in prison if found guilty of the more serious charges, including neglecting to deal with an overblown banking sector. ...
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| Exclusive: Half Iran tanker fleet storing oil at sea Posted:  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Iran has been forced to deploy more than half its fleet of supertankers to store oil at anchorage in the Gulf as buyers of its crude cut back because of sanctions, two Iran-based shipping sources said. The sources, who are familiar with operations at Iran's main export terminal Kharg Island in the north of the Gulf, said 14 of National Iranian Tanker Company's (NITC) fleet of 25 very large crude carriers, each loaded with about 2 million barrels of oil, are now at anchor acting as floating storage. ...
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| Sarkozy targets far-right in bid to win runoff Posted:  President Nicolas Sarkozy starkly laid out his path to re-election Monday: He will be plunging deep into far-right territory to hunt the votes he needs to beat Socialist challenger Francois Hollande in the runoff.
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| ECB officials resist nudge from IMF, US to do more Posted:  Officials from the European Central Bank are pushing back against calls from the United States and the International Monetary Fund to offer more support to the struggling economies of the 17 countries that use the euro and indebted governments.
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| Son: Robin Gibb beat the odds in waking from coma Posted:  The son of Robin Gibb says the Bee Gees star has beaten the odds by waking from a coma just days after doctors said he may not survive.
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| Official: Sudan bombs 3 areas in South Sudan Posted:  Sudanese warplanes bombed a market and an oil field in South Sudan on Monday, killing at least two people after Sudanese ground forces had reportedly crossed into South Sudan with tanks and artillery, elevating the risk of all-out war between the two old enemies.
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| Syrian forces kill dozens after UN monitors' visit Posted:  A day ago, crowds in the Syrian city of Hama welcomed a U.N. team sent in to observe a shaky truce. On Monday, government troops opened fire on the same streets, killing dozens, activists said, raising fears the regime is targeting opponents emboldened to protest by the U.N. monitors.
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| EU imposes new sanctions on Syrian regime Posted:  The European Union on Monday banned the sale of luxury goods and products to Syria that can have military as well as civilian uses as the U.N. political chief demanded that the Syrian government stop using heavy weapons and comply with a cease-fire.
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| Wild bison with TB may have to be killed in Poland Posted:  A herd of 25 wild European bison infected with tuberculosis should be killed to prevent the disease from spreading to other herds in southeastern Poland, officials said Monday.
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| US-Afghan security pact sends warning to al-Qaida Posted:  A new strategic partnership that commits the U.S. to defend Afghanistan militarily for 10 years after most foreign forces leave in 2014 is intended to signal that the U.S. will not tolerate a resurgent al-Qaida or attacks launched by militants from neighboring Pakistan.
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| Trial sharpens focus on Breivik's mental state Posted:  Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik vehemently defended his sanity Monday after a forensic panel found flaws in a psychiatric report that declared him sane in the eyes of the law.
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| Egypt denies 8 US nonprofits license to operate Posted:  Egyptian authorities have denied permission to eight American nonprofit groups to operate locally, including a center headed by former President Jimmy Carter that monitors elections, a ministry official said Monday.
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