Saturday, May 26, 2012

Afghan parliament approves U.S.-Afghan security pact

Afghan parliament approves U.S.-Afghan security pact

Afghan parliament approves U.S.-Afghan security pact

Posted: 25 May 2012 11:18 PM PDT

Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, Task Force Bulldog look at a Taliban position in Logar provinceKABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's parliament approved on Saturday a strategic pact between Kabul and Washington, clearing the way for a U.S. presence in the country for at least a decade after most foreign combat troops leave in 2014. "This was done for the interest of Afghanistan," said Daoud Kalakani, an MP from Kabul. Around 180 MPs were present and only four voted against, Kalakani said. The deal, signed by U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai in Kabul on May 2, sets out a long-term U.S. role in Afghanistan, including aid and advisers. ...

Muslim Brotherhood seeks unity ahead of Egypt runoff

Posted: 25 May 2012 06:06 PM PDT

Deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood El-Erian talks during a news conference in CairoCAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood is reaching out to rivals including politicians knocked out of the presidential race in an attempt to rally support around its own candidate who faces a runoff against Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq. Warning of "determined efforts to recreate the old regime," the Brotherhood said parties that supported the uprising that swept Mubarak from power must unite "so that the revolution is not stolen from us. ...

Lebanese Syria hostage release delayed, massacre claimed

Posted: 25 May 2012 04:04 PM PDT

Demonstrators protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayer in BinshBEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Lebanon said on Friday that a group of Lebanese Shi'ites kidnapped in Syria had been freed and were safe in Turkey, but produced no sign of the hostages at the centre of a kidnap drama heightening tensions over the conflict in neighboring Syria. The twist in a hostage drama that has inflamed political tensions in a country divided between foes and friends of the uprising in Syria came as Syrian activists said government troops killed at least 50 people in the centre of the country. ...

Exclusive: U.S. probes China's ZTE over tech sales to Iran

Posted: 25 May 2012 09:40 AM PDT

Employees of ZTE chat on the roof of its headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong provinceWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Department of Commerce is investigating Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE Corp for allegedly selling embargoed U.S. computer products to Iran. The investigation was launched following reports by Reuters in March and April that ZTE had signed contracts to ship millions of dollars worth of hardware and software from some of America's best-known tech firms to Telecommunication Co of Iran (TCI) and a unit of the consortium that controls it along with the Iranian regime. TCI is Iran's largest telecom carrier. ...

Bud weakens to storm off Mexico's Pacific coast

Posted: 25 May 2012 08:23 PM PDT

Hurricane Bud appoaches landfall in MexicoMANZANILLO, Mexico (Reuters) - Hurricane Bud weakened to a tropical storm as it churned closer to Mexico's coast on Friday, but brought heavy rains and strong winds that downed trees and closed schools and a major Pacific shipping port. The first hurricane of the 2012 season, Bud was downgraded to a tropical storm with winds up to 60 miles per hour on Friday afternoon. ...

Clinton to visit Scandinavia, Caucasus, Turkey

Posted: 25 May 2012 08:24 PM PDT

U.S. Secretary of State Clinton, U.S. Secretary of Defense Panetta and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dempsey, testify at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in WashingtonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves next week on an eight-day trip to Scandinavia, the Caucasus and Turkey that will cover security issues such as Iran and Syria as well as the environment and health. The State Department said Clinton begins her May 31-June 7 trip with visits to Denmark, Norway and Sweden that will largely concentrate on the environment. ...

Rooftop gunman kills one, wounds 8 in Finland

Posted: 26 May 2012 01:05 AM PDT

HELSINKI (Reuters) - A gunman opened fire from a rooftop in a Finnish town centre in the early hours of Saturday, killing an 18-year-old woman and wounding eight other people, police said. An 18-year-old man wearing camouflage clothing was detained several hours after the shooting outside bars and restaurants in Hyvinkaa, a small town 56 km (34 miles) north of the capital Helsinki, just before 2 a.m. (7.00 p.m. EDT). The motive for the shooting was unclear. ...

Qaeda-linked suicide bomber kills 12 in Yemen

Posted: 25 May 2012 02:19 PM PDT

SANAA (Reuters) - Two al Qaeda-linked suicide bombers targeting Shi'ite Muslims blew themselves up at a school and a protest march in northern Yemen on Friday killing at least 12 people, the defence ministry said. The attacks came less than a week after a suicide bomber in army uniform detonated an explosive belt at a military parade rehearsal in Sanaa, killing more than 90 soldiers and wounding at least 200 more. ...

Ex-Mexico cop pleads guilty in U.S. to organizing cartel hit squad

Posted: 25 May 2012 04:13 PM PDT

(Reuters) - A former Mexican police officer accused of organizing a hit squad for the once-powerful Tijuana drug cartel pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court on Friday to racketeering and drug trafficking, prosecutors said. Carlos Cosme, 36, was an officer with the Baja California State Attorney General's Office when he hired a colleague to set up a hit squad for the Tijuana cartel, which dominated trafficking to California in the 1980s and 1990s. ...

US missile attack kills 3 in northwest Pakistan

Posted: 25 May 2012 10:28 PM PDT

Oil tankers, which were used to transport NATO fuel supplies to Afghanistan, are parked in a compound in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, May 25, 2012. Pakistan's parliament has unanimously approved new guidelines for the country in its troubled relationship with the United States, a decision that could pave the way for the reopening of supply lines to NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)A U.S. drone fired two missiles at a bakery in northwest Pakistan Saturday morning, killing at least three suspected militants, two local intelligence officials said.

Afghan parliament approves US partnership

Posted: 25 May 2012 11:44 PM PDT

French President Francois Hollande prepares to deliver his speech after visiting troops at Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Nijrab, Kapisa region of Afghanistan Friday, May 25, 2012, where most of French troops are stationed in Afghanistan. France's new President Francois Hollande arrived early Friday in Afghanistan to meet with troops and the country's president and discuss plans for an early pullout. (AP Photo/Joel Saget, Pool)Legislators say Afghanistan's parliament has approved a strategic partnership agreement with the United States.

Morocco hosts world's artists, imprisons its own

Posted: 26 May 2012 12:23 AM PDT

US singer Lenny Kravitz performs on stage during the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco, Friday May 25, 2012. The Morocco's biggest music festival also highlights Morocco's contradictions, as well-paid international performers sing on stages while dissident Moroccan musicians are imprisoned for their anti-establishment lyrics. (AP Photo/Abdeljalil Bounhar)Morocco's glittering Mawazine international music festival wraps up this weekend with performances by Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz, after nine days of showcasing the North African kingdom's cool factor — even as dissident Moroccan musicians are imprisoned for their anti-establishment lyrics.

Finland gunman who killed 1, wounded 8 is arrested

Posted: 26 May 2012 01:09 AM PDT

A body covered with a sheet lies on the street in Hyvinkaa, Finland, Saturday May 26, 2012. A gunman in southern Finland has killed one person and wounded eight others in what appeared to be a random shooting, police said Saturday. (AP Photo/Lehtikuva/Sari Gustafsson) FINLAND OUTAn 18-year-old gunman killed one person and wounded eight others in what appeared to be a random shooting in a southern Finnish town, police said Saturday.

For something so simple, pasta is serious business

Posted: 26 May 2012 12:28 AM PDT

A woman touches pasta in a hotel conference room in Rome, Friday, May 18, 2012. Pasta sales worldwide have grown steadily over the past three years. Pasta is serious business in Italy, and the recent blind taste test organized by the world's biggest pasta maker, Barilla, drove home that an awful lot of thought goes into making the simple combination of durum wheat semolina and water from which Italy's national dish is made. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)They twirled, they sniffed, they slurped, they chewed.

Myanmar power protests put new reforms to the test

Posted: 26 May 2012 12:10 AM PDT

Protesters hold candles during a candlelight vigil in Yangon, Myanmar Friday, May 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)Protests in Myanmar over persistent power shortages have provided a test of how the country's elected but military-backed government will respond to rising expectations sparked by the past year's democratic reforms.

Egypt results point to deeply divisive runoff race

Posted: 25 May 2012 04:05 PM PDT

COMBO - This combination of three photos shows Egyptian presidential candidates, from left, Ahmed Shafiq, Hamdeen Sabahi and Mohammed Morsi. The candidate of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood won a spot in a runoff election, according to partial results Friday, May 25, 2012 from Egypt's first genuinely competitive presidential election. A former prime minister and a leftist were in a tight race for second place and a chance to run against him to become the country's next leader. (AP Photo/STR; Amr Nabil; Nasser Nasser; )The Muslim Brotherhood's candidate and a veteran of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak's autocratic regime will face each other in a runoff election for Egypt's president, according to first-round results Friday. The divisive showdown dismayed many Egyptians who fear either one means an end to any democratic gains produced by last year's uprising.

Activists: Troops kills up to 50 in central Syria

Posted: 25 May 2012 02:50 PM PDT

This image made from amateur video released by Shaam News Network and accessed Friday, May 25, 2012 purports to show shelling in Jobar, Syria. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIALPresident Bashar Assad's forces killed at least 50 civilians, including 13 children, in central Syria on Friday, activists said, in one of the highest death tolls in one specific area since an internationally-brokered cease-fire went into effect last month.

Greek euro exit would be a recipe for hardship

Posted: 25 May 2012 05:14 PM PDT

Signs advertising that each item of merchandise is on sale for one euro are seen in a discount shop in central Athens on Friday, May 25, 2012. Uncertainty over Greece's future in the eurozone has hammered markets ahead of June 17 general elections in the crisis-hit country. The Greek share index touched new 22-year lows, dipping below 500 points on Friday. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)As Greece creaks under its untenable debt and a shrinking economy, the possibility that it could stop using the euro is becoming increasingly likely. The effects of such a move would be as quick as they would be brutal for ordinary Greeks, who would essentially take a 50-percent pay cut just as prices soar.

UN agency finds higher enrichment at Iranian site

Posted: 25 May 2012 03:01 PM PDT

World powers negotiators arrive at the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. Negotiators from the U.S. and five other world powers sat down Wednesday with a team of Iranian diplomats to try to hammer out specific goals in the years-long impasse over Tehran's nuclear program.(AP Photo/Mohammed Ameen, Pool)Inspectors have located radioactive traces at an Iranian underground bunker, the U.N. atomic agency said Friday — a finding that could mean Iran has moved closer to reaching the uranium threshold needed to arm nuclear missiles.
Posted by Harshad at 1:39 AM

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