| Mali rebels advance in north, mutineers seek president Posted:  BAMAKO, March 23 (Reuters) - Tuareg rebels in northern Mali pushed south to occupy positions vacated by government forces, sources said, as mutinous soldiers in the distant capital sought to complete a coup by arresting the president. The MNLA rebels were approaching towns in the desert north, apparently taking advantage of the confusion created by a coup attempt in the capital Bamako by low-ranking soldiers angry at the government's handling of the uprising. ...
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| Three-way World Bank race seen as deadline looms Posted:  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States faces an unprecedented challenge to its grip on the World Bank presidency, with emerging economies poised to nominate at least one candidate on Friday to set up the first contested bid for the top job at the global development lender. Less than a day before the deadline to nominate, Washington has yet to announce its candidate. South Africa is set to confirm the candidacy of Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a respected economist, diplomat and former World Bank managing director. ...
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| Japan mayors, governors want nuclear safety assurances Posted:  TOKYO (Reuters) - Most Japanese mayors and governors whose communities host nuclear plants want fresh safety assurances beyond government-imposed stress tests before agreeing to the restart of reactors taken off line after the Fukushima crisis, a Reuters poll showed, amid concerns about a looming power crunch this summer. All but two of Japan's 54 reactors have been taken off line since the March 2011 nuclear disaster, mostly for checks or maintenance, and the remaining pair will be shut by early May. ...
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| Dispute with Egypt triggers fuel crisis in Gaza Posted:  GAZA (Reuters) - Petrol pumps have run dry and power cuts are blacking out the Gaza Strip because of a dispute over fuel supplies between Egypt and the enclave's Hamas Islamist rulers. Taxis are scarce, with would-be passengers fighting for rides, and the government has ordered civil servants with vehicles to pick up hitchhikers. Gaza's emergency medical service has halved the number of ambulances it puts on the streets. At least one hospital has cancelled non-essential operations to conserve power for its generator. ...
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| Angry UK police to seek right to strike Posted:  LONDON (Reuters) - British police officers angry with the coalition government's plans to cut jobs and freeze pay will vote on whether they want the right to strike, the body representing them said on Thursday. The Police Federation, which represents 135,000 ordinary "bobbies" and low ranking officers in England and Wales, said the move to seek full industrial rights showed its members were infuriated by the government's austerity drive. "Officers genuinely feel what the government is doing is decimating the best of British policing," a Federation spokesman said. ...
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| Army sergeant faces 17 murder counts in Afghan killings Posted:  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, accused of killing Afghan civilians in a shooting rampage in Kandahar province last week, will be charged with 17 counts of murder, a U.S. official said on Thursday. Earlier accounts of the incident, which has damaged U.S.-Afghan relations, had tallied 16 victims, including nine children and three women. Bales, a four-tour combat veteran, will also face other charges, including attempted murder, but the official was unable to say how many additional counts there would be. ...
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| Pope in Latin America in shadow of John Paul Posted:  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A ghost will be following Pope Benedict at every step of his trip to Mexico and Cuba -- that of his predecessor John Paul. John Paul, who died in 2005, was a huge draw in many places. But, apart from his native Poland, nowhere was he a more towering figure than in Latin America, visiting every one of the region's countries at least once. He drew oceanic, throbbing crowds, sloshed through swampy slums in Ecuador, challenged Maoist guerrillas in the Peruvian highlands and defended miners' rights in Bolivia. ...
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| Hackers attack Hong Kong "civil referendum" ahead of poll Posted: HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hackers have disabled an independent Hong Kong "civil referendum" aimed at gauging how people might have voted if allowed in a scandal-laced, undemocratic leadership election on Sunday, the director of the initiative told reporters on Friday. The Hong Kong chief executive will be chosen by a 1,200-strong election commission, stacked with Beijing loyalists, as public frustration grows over the two leading candidates amid a series of highly publicized scandals. Hong Kong's seven million people have no say in their choice of leader. ... |
| Vatican: Pope will bond with Mexico on first trip Posted:  Pope Benedict XVI's arrival in Mexico on Friday will reveal his ability to communicate with a people whose passionate adoration of his predecessor threatens to overshadow the pontiff's message of peace and continuing faith for a country shaken by horrific drug violence, the Vatican's ambassador pledged on the eve of the trip.
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| Poland exhumes some 2010 plane crash victims Posted:  One autopsy report describes organs that had been removed years before. Another adds 20 centimeters (nearly 8 inches) to a short man, making no mention of bones disfigured by childhood polio. One family doubts whether an autopsy was performed at all.
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| 17 detainees escape in Iraq prison break Posted:  An Iraqi police official says 17 detainees have broken out of prison in a northern city.
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| Ukraine rape victim searches for justice Posted: The 18-year-old woman, prosecutors say, was gang-raped by three young men, who tried to cover up their crime by strangling her with a cord, wrapping her naked body in a blanket and dumping her at an abandoned construction site — where they set her on fire. |
| New Zealand yields to world on quirky road rules Posted:  New Zealand is finally yielding to the rest of the world when it comes to its unique set of road rules, after decades of confounding drivers from overseas.
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| French standoff ends with suspect shot in the head Posted:  Inspired by radical Islam and trained in Afghanistan, the gunman methodically killed French schoolchildren, a rabbi and paratroopers and faced down hundreds of police for 32 hours. Then he leapt out a window as he rained down gunfire and was fatally shot in the head.
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| China to phase out prisoner organ donation Posted: China will abolish the transplanting of organs from executed prisoners within five years and try to spur more citizens to donate, a top health official says. |
| 2 injured in Mexico quake have died, mayor says Posted: Two people caught in this week's big earthquake died Thursday, the first deaths reported from the 7.4-magnitude temblor that damaged hundreds of homes in southern Mexico and caused panic far off in the national capital. |
| Argentina to stock markets: Falklands oil illegal Posted:  Argentina has asked stock markets in New York and London to warn investors of its claim that five oil exploration companies are working illegally off the Falkland Islands, which Argentina contends were stolen by Britain more than a century ago.
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