| Chad says it killed Algeria hostage mastermind in Mali Posted: 02 Mar 2013 04:21 PM PST  N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chadian soldiers in Mali have killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the al Qaeda commander who masterminded a bloody hostage-taking at an Algerian gas plant in January, Chad's military said on Saturday. The death of one of the world's most wanted jihadists would be a major blow to al Qaeda in the region and to Islamist rebels already forced to flee towns they had seized in northern Mali by an offensive by French and African troops. "On Saturday, March 2, at noon, Chadian armed forces operating in northern Mali completely destroyed a terrorist base (... ...
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| A push for change in China as new leaders take the helm Posted: 02 Mar 2013 03:02 PM PST  YUANGUDUI, China (Reuters) - For Chen Qiuyang, the new Chinese leadership that formally takes over this month can radically improve her life by doing just one thing: providing running water in her village in a remote corner of the northwestern province of Gansu. "We have to carry water from the well on our shoulders several times day. It's exhausting," Chen, who looked older than her 28 years, said in Yuangudui village, resting on a stool outside her home after completing another trip to the well. ...
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| Venezuela's Chavez undergoing "tough" chemotherapy, VP says Posted: 02 Mar 2013 02:41 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been undergoing "tougher" new treatment for cancer, including chemotherapy at the military hospital where he has been for the past two weeks, his vice president said. Speaking after a Catholic Mass to pray for Chavez's health, Nicolas Maduro described how the socialist president had personally given the order to leave Cuba in mid-February, two months after his latest cancer surgery there. ...
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| Syria and Iran condemn U.S. plan to aid anti-Assad rebels Posted: 02 Mar 2013 02:55 PM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria and Iran joined forces on Saturday to condemn moves by Western powers to aid rebels fighting against President Bashar al-Assad, with the Syrian leader singling out Britain as a "shallow and immature" power. In an television interview with The Sunday Times newspaper shown in London late on Saturday, Assad said Britain's involvement in the Syria crisis had been naive and unrealistic. "I think they (Britain) are working against us, and they are working against the interests of the UK itself," Assad said in English-language remarks broadcast by Britain's Sky TV. ...
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| Mexico's ruling party opens door to tax, energy changes Posted: 02 Mar 2013 03:27 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party on Saturday paved the way for possible tax hikes and an overhaul of state oil giant Pemex as it seeks to spur growth in Latin America's second-biggest economy. PRI delegates from across Mexico voted to change the party's platform during a congress in Mexico City, lifting a ban on imposing value-added tax (VAT) on food and medicines and giving it scope to open up Pemex to more private capital. ...
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| Netanyahu gets 14 more days to form new Israeli government Posted: 02 Mar 2013 04:37 PM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli President Shimon Peres on Saturday gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an additional 14 days to try to form a new government after he was unable to complete the task during an initial 28-day period. Talks with potential partners have been deadlocked since elections on January 22 and if he is unable to form a government by March 16 a new poll could be called - a delay that also puts into question a planned visit by President Barack Obama. ...
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| Indian steel-project protestors killed by bomb blasts Posted: 02 Mar 2013 02:08 PM PST BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - At least three people protesting against plans for a $12 billion steel project by South Korea's POSCO in southeastern India were killed by crude bombs on Saturday, police said. Police said those killed in the village of Patna in Odisha state were probably making the bombs themselves, but a protest group spokesman said the dead activists were victims of an attack by supporters of the steel project. ... |
| Egypt needs to fix economy, strike IMF deal: Kerry Posted: 02 Mar 2013 04:35 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday it is vital that Egypt revive its economy and that the country's fractious political parties reach agreement on painful economic reforms to secure an IMF loan. The country's foreign currency reserves have dived to little more than a third of levels before the 2011 revolution and the budget deficit is soaring as a sliding Egyptian pound pushes up the cost of state subsidies for imported fuel and food. ...
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| Portuguese march against austerity, want government out Posted: 02 Mar 2013 11:37 AM PST  LISBON (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Portuguese poured into the streets of Lisbon and other cities on Saturday to demand an end to austerity dictated by an international bailout and the resignation of the center-right government. The rallies, which follow the introduction of the biggest tax hikes in living memory, mark the greatest public show of discontent since demonstrations last September forced the government to adjust some of its austerity measures. ...
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| Guinea says investigating shootings as protest death toll mounts Posted: 02 Mar 2013 10:34 AM PST  CONAKRY (Reuters) - At least one person was killed by gunfire and three others injured in ongoing street clashes in Guinea on Saturday, and the government said it was investigating whether security forces used live rounds against civilians. Two civilians and one police officer have been killed and hundreds of people injured since tensions over upcoming legislative polls triggered unrest in the West African nation's capital Conakry last week. ...
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| Head of Chadian army claims troops kill Belmoktar Posted: 02 Mar 2013 02:32 PM PST  N'DJAMENA, Chad (AP) — Chad's military chief announced late Saturday that his troops deployed in northern Mali had killed Moktar Belmoktar, the terrorist who orchestrated the attack on a natural gas plant in Algeria that left 36 foreigners dead.
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| Contentious quotes upend Kenya presidential vote Posted: 02 Mar 2013 01:19 PM PST  NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya's top two presidential candidates held their final rallies before large and raucous crowds Saturday, a day of political attacks and denials following published comments attributed to the prime minister that election violence could be worse than in 2007-08.
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| Kerry: Divided Egypt needs political compromise Posted: 02 Mar 2013 01:32 PM PST  CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's bickering government and opposition need to overcome their differences to create "a sense of political and economic viability" if the country is to thrive as a democracy, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday.
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| Syria, Iran say Assad to remain in power till 2014 Posted: 02 Mar 2013 03:36 PM PST  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Iran and Syria condemned a U.S. plan to assist rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad on Saturday and signaled the Syrian leader intends to stay in power at least until 2014 presidential elections.
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| Venezuela says Chavez receiving chemotherapy Posted: 01 Mar 2013 10:35 PM PST  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez has been receiving chemotherapy since recovering from a severe respiratory infection in mid-January and "continues his battle for life," his vice president said late Friday.
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| At least 22 people injured in Macedonia riots Posted: 02 Mar 2013 02:09 PM PST  SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Violent ethnic riots rattled Macedonia's capital, culminating on Saturday with hundreds raging through the city center, clashing with police, overturning cars and attacking a bus station. At least 22 people were injured, 13 of them police officers.
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| Benedict's obedience to new pope part of tradition Posted: 02 Mar 2013 05:19 AM PST  VATICAN CITY (AP) — He slipped it in at the end of his speech, and said it so quickly and softly it almost sounded like an afterthought.
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| Libyan official: Egyptian detainees to be deported Posted: 02 Mar 2013 07:16 AM PST TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — A Libyan security official says 50 Egyptians, who were arrested in Benghazi last week for allegedly spreading Christianity, are being charged with illegally entering and working in the country and will be deported. |
| Austrian cardinal: a conservative open to reform Posted: 02 Mar 2013 02:30 AM PST  VIENNA (AP) — Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn is a soft-spoken conservative who is ready to listen to those espousing reform. That profile that could appeal to fellow cardinals looking to elect a pontiff with widest-possible appeal to the world's 1 billion Catholics.
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| Violent protests outside Cairo as protests spread Posted: 02 Mar 2013 12:29 PM PST  PORT SAID, Egypt (AP) — Violent protests erupted outside Egypt's capital on Saturday as activists accused police of using excessive force in two cities and running over protesters, including one who was crushed to death by an armored vehicle.
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| Out of the sheds: Women fight segregation in rural Nepal Posted: 02 Mar 2013 05:00 AM PST In this tiny riverside town in Nepal's remote Far West region, a spitfire activist explains his fight against chaupadi, the local custom of isolating women from their families during menstruation. |
