Monday, July 2, 2012

Mexico's old rulers claim presidential election victory

Mexico's old rulers claim presidential election victory

Mexico's old rulers claim presidential election victory

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 12:14 AM PDT

Pena Nieto, presidential candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, stands next to campaign manager Videgaray and President of the PRI party Coldwell as he greets supporters after exit polls showed him in first place, in Mexico CityMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's old rulers claimed victory in a presidential election on Sunday, ending 12 years in opposition after a campaign dominated by a sputtering economy and rampant drug violence. After pledging to restore order and ramp up economic growth, Enrique Pena Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) had a clear lead over his rivals in exit polls and a "quick count" conducted by electoral authorities. ...

Exclusive: U.N. drops Saudi dissident from al Qaeda blacklist

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 06:42 PM PDT

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. Security Council committee is removing Saudi dissident Saad al-Faqih from the United Nations' al Qaeda sanctions list, despite strong objections from Saudi Arabia, a U.N. diplomat said on Sunday. The London-based Faqih was added to the list in December 2004, days after the U.S. Treasury Department hit him with sanctions for suspected links to the late Osama bin Laden's militant network, which was responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001. ...

Four foreign aid workers rescued in Somalia

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 12:11 AM PDT

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali government troops have rescued four foreign aid workers held hostage inside Somalia, three days after they were seized from a refugee camp in neighboring Kenya, a Somali military commander said on Monday. Colonel Abduallahi Moalim said government soldiers in the Lower Juber region that borders Kenya stopped a vehicle carrying supplies for the attackers on Sunday. The army seized three of the occupants who directed the force to the hostages, he said. They were being held near the border between the towns of Diff and Dhobley. ...

Arms trade treaty negotiations begin, Syria casts shadow

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 10:05 PM PDT

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Delegates from around the world gather in New York on Monday for the start of month-long U.N.-hosted negotiations to hammer out the first-ever binding treaty to regulate the global weapons market, valued at more than $60 billion a year. Arms control campaigners say one person every minute dies as a result of armed violence around the world and that a convention is needed to prevent illicitly traded guns from pouring into conflict zones and fueling wars and atrocities. Most U.N. member states favor a strong treaty. ...

Analysis: Mexico's creaky economy to test Pena Nieto's ambitions

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 12:37 AM PDT

Supporters of Pena Nieto presidential candidate of Institutional Revolutionary Party celebrate at the party headquarters in Mexico CityMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's creaky domestic economy, riddled with monopolies and inefficiencies, makes the next government's goal of boosting growth to rates last seen in the 1970's seem like a pipe dream. The return to power of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, in Sunday's presidential election may be a chance for the most significant economic remodeling in a generation. But the checkered history of reforms in Latin America's second-biggest economy, producing failure as often as success, underscores the size of the challenge. ...

Revolt in Japan ruling party, but government keeps majority

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 11:09 PM PDT

Japan's ruling Democratic Party of Japan powerbroker Ozawa attends a lower house plenary session in TokyoTOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese political heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa, one of the key figures behind the ruling party's rise to power, led dozens of lawmakers out of the party on Monday, but the government will retain its majority in the powerful lower house of parliament. Indeed, the departure of Ozawa, 70, and his followers could put Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in a better position to consolidate control on his fractious party and cut deals with the opposition, whose help he needs to pass laws since they control the upper house, which can block bills. "I'm sure Noda has the champagne on ice. ...

Iran threatens Israel; new EU sanctions take force

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 11:50 AM PDT

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attends a news conference during the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development summit in Rio de JaneiroDUBAI (Reuters) - Iran announced missile tests on Sunday and threatened to wipe Israel "off the face of the earth" if the Jewish state attacked it, brandishing some of its starkest threats on the day Europe began enforcing an oil embargo and harsh new sanctions. The European sanctions - including a ban on imports of Iranian oil by EU states and measures that make it difficult for other countries to trade with Iran - were enacted earlier this year but mainly came into effect on July 1. ...

U.S., EU raise concerns over media freedom in Sri Lanka

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 12:45 AM PDT

COLOMBO (Reuters) - The United States and European Union have raised concerns over media freedom in Sri Lanka after police shut down two anti-government news websites, a move press groups said was intended to intimidate critics of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Sri Lanka is already under heavy pressure to address rights issues after a U.S.-backed U.N. resolution was passed in March urging the country to prosecute war criminals. The police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Friday raided and closed news websites srilankamirror.com and srilankaxnews. ...

Egypt's new president faces burden of expectation

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 09:26 AM PDT

Egypt's new President Mursi and Field Marshal Tantawi, head of Egypt's ruling SCAF, pose for a picture during a ceremony where the military handed over power to Mursi at a military base in HikstepCAIRO (Reuters) - If Egypt's new president, Mohamed Mursi, needs any reminder of the weight of expectations bearing down as he begins work, he can glance from a window of the presidential palace. Citizens seeking jobs, compensation from the state or clemency for jailed relatives crowded at the palace gates on Sunday, showing how Mursi's unprecedented popular mandate has raised hopes for a more responsive kind of government. "My name is Alaa Ahmed Bayoumy and I am here to ask for a higher pension," said one 52-year-old among the group mingling with palace security officials. ...

Mexico's former ruling party voted back to office

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 12:55 AM PDT

Enrique Pena Nieto, presidential candidate for the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), greets supporters at his party's headquarters in Mexico City, early Monday, July 2, 2012. Mexico's old guard sailed back into power after a 12-year hiatus Sunday as the official preliminary vote count handed a victory to Pena Nieto, whose party was long accused of ruling the country through corruption and patronage. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)The party that ruled Mexico with an iron grip for most of the last century has sailed back into power, promising a government that will be modern, responsible and open to criticism.

China court: Apple pays $60M to settle iPad case

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 10:22 PM PDT

FILE - In this Feb. 28, 2012 file photo, a man walks by an advertisement of Apple's iPad 2 in Shanghai, China. Apple has agreed to pay China's Shenzhen Proview Technology $60 million to settle a dispute over ownership of the iPad name, a court announced Monday, July 2, 2012, removing a potential obstacle to sales of the popular tablet computer in the key Chinese market. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)Apple has paid $60 million to settle a dispute in China over ownership of the iPad name, a court announced Monday, removing a potential obstacle to sales of the popular tablet computer in the key Chinese market.

Palestinians detain dozens in weapons crackdown

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 11:21 PM PDT

Palestinian police say they have arrested more than 150 people, including security officers, during a crackdown on illegal weapons dealing in the West Bank.

Dozens quit Japan's ruling party in blow to PM

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 09:30 PM PDT

A powerful member of Japan's ruling party and dozens of his followers have decided to quit the group and will likely form their own rival bloc, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

NATO says 3 service members killed in Afghanistan

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 10:01 PM PDT

A man in an Afghan police uniform on Sunday shot and killed three foreign troops in southern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement.

Barclays chairman steps down after rates scandal

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 11:46 PM PDT

The chairman of U.K.-based Barclays bank has stepped down, accepting responsibility for a scandal regarding the manipulation of data by his bank which led to a massive fine.

Syrian opposition rejects new international plan

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 10:33 AM PDT

In this citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and accessed on Friday, June 29, 2012, a Syrian girl chants slogans during a demonstration in Idlib, north Syria. Syria's main opposition group said nearly 800 people have been killed in violence across the country in the past week which saw some of the bloodiest violence in the 16-month uprising against President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTOSyria's main opposition groups rejected on Sunday a new international plan that calls for a transitional government because the compromise agreement did not bar President Bashar Assad from participating.

Moderate earthquake hits Iranian town

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 11:10 PM PDT

Iran's state TV is reporting that a 5.4 magnitude earthquake has jolted a sparsely populated area in the eastern part of the country.

Philippine crocodile declared largest in captivity

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 08:04 PM PDT

FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011 file photo, Bunawan Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde pretends to measure a huge crocodile which was captured by residents and crocodile farm staff along a creek in Bunawan in Bunawan town in Agusan del Sur province, southern Philippines. Guinness World Records has declared Sunday, July 1, 2012 that the huge crocodile blamed for deadly attacks is the largest in captivity in the world. Guinness spokeswoman Anne-Lise Rouse says the saltwater crocodile nicknamed "Lolong" measured 6.17 meters (20.24 feet) and weighed more than a ton. (AP Photo)A huge crocodile known as Lolong has brought pride, fear, tourism revenue and attention to the remote southern Philippines town where it was captured. And now it has claimed a world record, too.

Iran feels pinch of new EU oil sanctions

Posted: 01 Jul 2012 01:13 PM PDT

FILE - In this Tuesday, April 15, 2008 file photo, Iranian oil technician Majid Afshari makes his way to the oil separator facilities in Iran's Azadegan oil field southwest of Tehran. Iran has stored up imported goods and hard currency for a "battle" against EU sanctions targeting the country's vital oil sector that went into effect Sunday, officials said. They acknowledged though that the measures, which aim at pressuring the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program, may cause economic disruptions. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)As new European Union sanctions targeting Iran's vital oil industry took effect Sunday, Tehran acknowledged the measures aimed at reining in its disputed nuclear program were taking a toll. The vice president said authorities had stockpiled imported goods and hard currency to help cushion the blow to the economy.
Posted by Harshad at 1:09 AM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)