| Syrian violence ignores peace diplomacy Posted:  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces bombarded cities and towns in southern and northern Syria on Wednesday and stormed villages, forcing thousands to flee after President Bashar al-Assad accepted a peace plan calling for the army to withdraw to barracks. Assad's ally Iran backed the peace plan, saying Syria's crisis "should be dealt with patiently", and Russia said it was now up to Syria's opposition groups to also endorse the proposals, which do not require Assad to give up power. But the United States, Germany and the Arab League called for action not words. ...
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| BRICS nations voice concern over pace of IMF reforms Posted:  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The BRICS group of emerging market nations voiced concern about the slow pace of reforms within the IMF in a draft summit declaration that also called for a transparent process to select the next World Bank president. The leaders of the so-called BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - were meeting in the Indian capital Delhi on Thursday. Promised changes to give the emerging powers greater voting rights at the International Monetary Fund have yet to be ratified by the United States, adding to frustration over reform of the G7 and the U.N. ...
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| Australia PM stands by Huawei ban despite China plea Posted:  CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard backed a ban on Chinese telecoms firm Huawei from tendering for major government contracts on Thursday after Beijing raised concerns about fair treatment for Chinese firms. Australia has blocked Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world's largest telecoms company, from tendering for contracts in Australia's $38 billion high-speed broadband network (NBN) due to undefined security concerns. Gillard told reporters she stood by the decision, saying the move was not against trade rules, and pointed to China's own rules on telecoms ...
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| Zimbabwe court says no foul play in general's death Posted:  HARARE (Reuters) - A Zimbabwean magistrate has ruled out foul play in the death last August of retired army general Solomon Mujuru, a major player in the contest to succeed ageing President Robert Mugabe. Mujuru's death led to speculation in the media he had been killed in a political power play that would help Mugabe, who has ruled the destitute country for more than 30 years, and his supporters in his ruling ZANU-PF. But in a report published on Thursday, magistrate Walter Chikwanha said he could not recommend further investigations following evidence gathered at an inquest in January. ...
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| Poverty drives central Europe's great exodus Posted:  LUPSANU, Romania (Reuters) - Maria Ene's traditional white house on a muddy, unnamed Romanian street doesn't have running water, but it does have two satellite dishes sprouting from its fence. Three of Ene's five children have moved to Spain. It's not that far, but with everyone feeling the pinch of Europe's economic downturn, she sees them once a year at most, and needs to feel connected. "I saw them on the Internet," said Ene, 69, who lives in the small village of Lupsanu, 75 km east of Bucharest. ...
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| Yemen frees Ethiopians held by gunman seeking ransom Posted: SANAA (Reuters) - Yemeni police have freed 21 Ethiopian illegal migrants who were tortured by armed men to force their relatives in Saudi Arabia to send ransom money, the government said on Thursday. The group, which included 14 women, were held in a house in Hajja province near the border with Saudi Arabia, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. "Security forces stormed the building, arresting three of the kidnappers, including two who were torturing the Ethiopians with electric cables and iron chains," it said. ... |
| Torture marred rule of fallen Chinese leader: lawyer Posted:  BEIJING (Reuters) - Lawyer Li Zhuang remembers the snap as police buckled him into a "tiger seat", an instrument for sleep deprivation that he said was a staple in the crusade against organized crime that won fame for China's now fallen leadership aspirant Bo Xilai. Li has been the most outspoken lawyer to challenge Bo's crackdown on crime syndicates, an offensive that boosted Bo's nationwide popularity and hopes for climbing from his base in Chongqing, a huge city in the southwest, to the centre of power when China's new leadership is chosen later this year. ...
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| Spanish strike tests tolerance for austerity Posted:  MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish unions said a high turnout for a general strike to protest government budget cuts and reforms on Thursday had almost brought heavy industry to a halt while the government said the day was proceeding normally. Spaniards have been tolerant of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's efforts to meet strict European deficit goals but he has promised an austere 2012 budget on Friday and the strike shows that patience may be wearing thin. ...
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| Japan hangs 3 murderers in first executions since 2010 Posted:  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan hanged three convicted multiple murderers on Thursday, the Justice Ministry said, its first executions in almost two years putting it back alongside the United States as the only leading developed nations to carry out the death penalty. Justice Minister Toshio Ogawa authorized the executions of the three men and they were hanged in jails in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, the ministry said. They were the first executions in Japan since two death row inmates were hanged in July 2010. ...
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| Pope urges greater openings in vast Cuban Mass Posted:  Pope Benedict XVI demanded more freedom for the Catholic Church in communist-run Cuba and preached against "fanaticism" in an unusually political sermon before hundreds of thousands at Revolution Plaza, with President Raul Castro in the front row.
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| Destruction as Syrian forces take opposition town Posted:  Syrian activists said Wednesday a government offensive in northern Syria during which troops overran a major opposition stronghold has left behind scenes of destruction, with corpses in the streets, homes burned to the ground and shops that have been pillaged and looted.
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| Cuban-Americans find hope on return to homeland Posted:  Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Cuba drew nearly 300 Americans to the island they or their parents long ago fled. What they found was a country that was different from the one they had imagined, yet somehow still close to the place they had dreamed of.
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| Reports: Japan hangs 3, 1st executions since 2010 Posted: Three death row inmates have been executed by hanging in Japan, the country's first executions in more than a year and a half, according to media reports. |
| Prominent Pakistani acid victim commits suicide Posted:  Pakistani acid attack victim Fakhra Younus had endured more than three dozen surgeries over more than a decade to repair her severely damaged face and body when she finally decided life was no longer worth living.
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| Cuban-American in emotional return to family home Posted:  Cecilia Dalmau's mother made only one request before her daughter flew to Cuba for Pope Benedict XVI's visit: "I would love to see pictures from my childhood home."
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| Arab summit appears divided over approach to Syria Posted:  Arab leaders gathering here Thursday will call for Syria to implement a cease-fire, but there's little faith that President Bashar Assad will do anything to halt his crackdown on the year-old uprising.
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| Salvadoran leader: I wasn't involved in gang truce Posted:  The president of El Salvador denied Wednesday that his government had rewarded his country's two largest street gangs for striking a truce credited with a dramatic drop in the staggering national homicide rate.
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| Mumbai, Miami on list for big weather disasters Posted:  Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts and heat waves that nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly weather disasters, an international panel of climate scientists said in a new report issued Wednesday.
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| Tibetan monk, 20, latest to self-immolate in China Posted: A 20-year-old Tibetan monk in western China has become the latest to set himself on fire in protest against the authoritarian government, Tibetan exiles said Thursday. |
| Egypt's Brotherhood to hold talks with government Posted: Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would begin talks Sunday with the government to try to end the country's political crisis but made clear it would insist on the immediate ouster of longtime authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak. |
| Police evict indigenous Easter Island protesters Posted: Relatives of activists occupying a posh Easter Island hotel say Chilean police have raided and removed the last of the indigenous protesters. They have been battling for ancestral lands and a share of profits from the thousands of tourists who come to see the Pacific Island's famed statues of giant heads. |
| Cuban opposition leader urges end to hunger strike Posted: A leader of the Ladies in White opposition group says she will urge a colleague to end a 10-day old hunger strike she launched to demand freedom for her jailed husband. |
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