Developing

  • Papal butler arrested in Vatican leaks investigation

    Reuters - 19 hours ago

    VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The butler who serves in the apartments of Pope Benedict was arrested on Friday in connection with an investigation into leaks of confidential documents, a senior Vatican source said. The source confirmed reports by Italian media about the identity of the person. "It is very serious," the source said. Vatican spokesmen said earlier on Friday that a person in possession of confidential documents had been arrested but that they could not disclose his position or identity until they were given permission from Vatican investigators. (Reporting By Philip Pullella) More »Papal butler arrested in Vatican leaks investigation

  • French banks plan for Greek euro zone exit - sources

    Reuters - 19 hours ago

    PARIS (Reuters) - French banks, which are among the lenders most exposed to Greece, have stepped up their efforts on contingency plans for the debt-laden country leaving the euro zone, sources familiar with the situation said. The heightened preparations by banks, including Credit Agricole , BNP Paribas and Societe Generale , come after euro zone sources told Reuters earlier this week that each member of the common currency would have to prepare a plan for a possible Greek exit. ... More »French banks plan for Greek euro zone exit - sources

  • Turmoil weighs on Greek tourist industry

    Reuters - 19 hours ago

    ATHENS (Reuters) - Significantly fewer German and British tourists visited Greece in the early months of 2012, the central bank said on Friday, kept away by the political turmoil that prompted one foreign holiday operator to delay payments on hotel bookings. In further bad news for an economy mired in its fifth year of recession and struggling with record unemployment, visitor receipts fell 15.1 percent year on year in the first quarter. ... More »Turmoil weighs on Greek tourist industry

  • Lebanese hostages in Syria released

    Reuters - 19 hours ago

    BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese hostages kidnapped in northern Syria were set free on Friday and were on their way to Beirut, Lebanon's prime minister and an Islamist cleric who brokered their release said. The Lebanese Shi'ite men were among a group of pilgrims returning to Lebanon from Iran on Tuesday when gunmen stopped their bus after it crossed into Syria from Turkey. The kidnapping had triggered protests in Shi'ite areas of Beirut and raised fears it could ignite sectarian conflict in Lebanon. ... More »Lebanese hostages in Syria released

  • Putin tells Shtokman gas partners to hurry up

    Reuters - 20 hours ago

    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin urged partners in the Gazprom-led Shtokman project to make a final investment decision on its plan to extract gas from the Arctic seabed, delayed by years of talks over financing. Sources earlier on Friday said Royal Dutch Shell may join the initiative in an attempt to inject new life into the venture, while another source said the future participation of Norway's Statoil is in doubt. ... More »Putin tells Shtokman gas partners to hurry up

  • Suicide bomber kills 12 in northern Yemen

    Reuters - 20 hours ago

    SANAA (Reuters) - A suicide bomber drove into a school in northern Yemen's al-Jawf province where members of a Shi'ite Muslim rebel group had gathered for Friday prayers and killed 12 people, the defence ministry said. A local official said several people were wounded in the attack. The province borders oil giant Saudi Arabia. Western and Gulf Arab states have watched with mounting alarm as al Qaeda-linked militants have exploited political instability in Yemen to gain a foothold there. ... More »Suicide bomber kills 12 in northern Yemen

  • Myanmar protests an opportunity to show more reform

    Reuters - 20 hours ago

    YANGON (Reuters) - A week of protests in Myanmar over chronic power outages gained momentum on Friday after opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi gave them her blessing and the government's response added to popular outrage. The protesters who gathered in Yangon as night fell, holding candles and praying for electricity, are testing their newfound freedoms in a fledgling democracy led by many of the same former generals who violently crushed past expressions of dissent. ... More »Myanmar protests an opportunity to show more reform

  • Cameron defends role in Murdoch takeover deal

    Reuters - 20 hours ago

    LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron rejected calls to fire his Culture Minister on Friday after a public inquiry heard how the minister had ignored warnings from staff to lend his support to a major Rupert Murdoch takeover deal. Appearing on a morning television show more commonly known for light-hearted issues, Cameron was tackled on his judgment in appointing a minister to rule on News Corp's bid for BSkyB who he already knew supported the deal. ... More »Cameron defends role in Murdoch takeover deal

  • African Union troops say seize key Somali town

    Reuters - 20 hours ago

    MOGADISHU (Reuters) - African Union troops on Friday seized a rebel stronghold near Mogadishu from al Qaeda-linked insurgents, marking a major blow against the al Shabaab rebels who have used the town to stage sporadic attacks on the capital. The capture of Afgoye by the AU force AMISOM and Somali government troops, who already control most of Mogadishu, also paves the way to securing a corridor to the capital giving access to agencies providing humanitarian aid to displaced people. ... More »African Union troops say seize key Somali town

  • English FA happy with FIFA changes one year on

    Reuters - 20 hours ago

    BUDAPEST (Reuters) - English FA chairman David Bernstein, who called for last year's FIFA presidential election to be called off in the wake of a bribery scandal, said on Friday he was very impressed with the changes underway within world soccer's governing body. Since last year's near-meltdown when FIFA was besmirched by one scandal after another, president Sepp Blatter has instigated a number of far-reaching reforms with some adopted at Congress on Friday and the rest due to be implemented at next year's gathering in Mauritius. ... More »English FA happy with FIFA changes one year on

  • Bosnian Serbs jailed for Srebrenica warehouse killings

    Reuters - 20 hours ago

    SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Two former Bosnian Serb police chiefs were jailed for 35 and 30 years on Friday for the killing of 1,000 Muslim men at a warehouse near the town of Srebrenica in July 1995, part of the worst massacre in Europe since World War Two. Bosnia's war crimes court found Dusko Jevic, 55, and Mendeljev Djuric, 52, guilty of aiding and abetting genocide but not guilty of genocide, judge Mira Smajlovic told the court. ... More »Bosnian Serbs jailed for Srebrenica warehouse killings

  • Gaga 'Won't Tone Down Shows' For Asian Tour

    Sky News - 20 hours ago

    Lady Gaga's manager has denied suggestions the singer will tone down her act to allow her to perform in some countries on her Asian tour. More »Gaga 'Won't Tone Down Shows' For Asian Tour

  • Berlusconi party girl says masqueraded as Obama

    Reuters - 20 hours ago

    ROME (Reuters) - One of the young women who attended Silvio Berlusconi's "bunga bunga" parties told a court on Friday that she dressed up as a burlesque version of U.S. President Barack Obama to entertain the former Italian prime minister. In testimony during a trial against the 75-year-old Berlusconi on charges of paying for sex with an underage prostitute, Marysthell Polanco said she had also dressed as prosecutor Ilda Boccassini. ... More »Berlusconi party girl says masqueraded as Obama

  • Russia switching Shtokman to LNG production: Gazprom

    AFP - 20 hours ago

    Russia's Gazprom energy giant said on Friday it was switching its vast Shtokman field to LNG production and seeking new clients in Asia from initial plans to use half of it to pipe supplies to Europe. More »Russia switching Shtokman to LNG production: Gazprom

  • Spain's Catalonia seeks government help to pay debt

    Reuters - 20 hours ago

    MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's wealthiest autonomous region, Catalonia, needs financing help from the central government because it is running out of options for refinancing debt this year, Catalan President Artur Mas said on Friday. "We don't care how they do it, but we need to make payments at the end of the month. Your economy can't recover if you can't pay your bills," Mas told a group of reporters from foreign media. A spokesman for the Catalan government later emphasised that Mas was referring to payments that must be met routinely each month and not a specific deadline this month. ... More »Spain's Catalonia seeks government help to pay debt

  • Factbox - UK queen's 60 year reign - by numbers

    Reuters - 20 hours ago

    (Reuters) - Here is a look at the queen's reign by numbers: POLITICS: - The queen is the second longest serving monarch. Only five other kings and queens in British history have reigned for 50 years or more: • Victoria (63 years) • George III (59 years) • Henry III (56 years) • Edward III (50 years) • James VI of Scotland (James I of England) (58 years) - The queen is the 40th monarch since William the Conqueror obtained the crown of England. - Since 1952 The queen has given Royal Assent to more than 3,500 Acts of Parliament. ... More »Factbox - UK queen's 60 year reign - by numbers

  • Nsereka becomes first woman on FIFA executive committee

    Reuters - 21 hours ago

    BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Lydia Nsereka, the president of the Burundi Football Association, became the first woman ever to sit on the executive committee of soccer's world governing body FIFA at the annual congress on Friday. "I am delighted we have the first ever lady in our executive committee in 108 years," FIFA president Sepp Blatter told delegates after she took her seat on the podium to a standing ovation of delegates from 209 member states. Her appointment came a few minutes after South Sudan became FIFA's 209th member association. ... More »Nsereka becomes first woman on FIFA executive committee

  • Pieth urges FIFA to take singular chance to reform

    Reuters - 21 hours ago

    BUDAPEST (Reuters) - FIFA has a real chance to reform itself in a way that will be remembered by future generations and it must not pass up this "singular" opportunity, its anti-corruption advisor Mark Pieth told Congress delegates on Friday. Pieth, the Swiss law professor appointed to look at how the 108-year-old organisation can modernise itself following a series of scandals in the last 18 months, urged delegates to be "courageous" and not just "cherry pick" areas for reform. ... More »Pieth urges FIFA to take singular chance to reform

  • Car bomb in central Turkey kills 3, wounds 18

    Reuters - 21 hours ago

    ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Two militants set off a bomb inside their car by a police headquarters in the central Turkish province of Kayseri on Friday, killing themselves and one policeman and wounding 18 others, Turkey's interior minister said. Kurdish separatists, Islamist militants - including al Qaeda - as well as groups on the far left and right have all carried out bomb attacks in Turkey, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday's blast. ... More »Car bomb in central Turkey kills 3, wounds 18

  • 13 killed in suicide attack on Yemen Shiite rebels

    AFP - 21 hours ago

    A suicide attacker drove an explosives-packed car into a post held by Shiite Zaidi rebels in north Yemen on Friday, killing 13 people, including three children, a tribal chief and witnesses said. More »13 killed in suicide attack on Yemen Shiite rebels

  • Briton completes Olympic mission to Everest summit

    AFP - 21 hours ago

    British climber Kenton Cool reached the summit of Everest on Friday, his website announced, fulfilling an 88-year-old promise to carry an Olympic gold medal to the top of the world's highest peak. More »Briton completes Olympic mission to Everest summit

  • Pieth urges FIFA to take singular chance to reform

    Reuters - 21 hours ago

    BUDAPEST (Reuters) - FIFA has a real chance to reform itself in a way that will be remembered by future generations and it must not pass up this "singular" opportunity, its anti-corruption advisor Mark Pieth told Congress delegates on Friday. More »Pieth urges FIFA to take singular chance to reform

  • South Sudan becomes FIFA's 209th member

    Reuters - 21 hours ago

    BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The newly independent state of South Sudan became the 209th member of FIFA on Friday, when it was voted into full membership of world soccer's governing body by delegates at FIFA's annual congress. South Sudan, which ceded from Sudan in 2005 and became fully independent last July, joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in February when it also became eligible to become a full member of FIFA after FIFA dropped its two-year waiting rule for new members. ... More »South Sudan becomes FIFA's 209th member

  • BP to invest $11 billion in Indonesia gas project - Yudhoyono

    Reuters - 21 hours ago

    JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Friday oil major BP will invest 7 billion pounds ($11 billion) in the train 3 gas project in Indonesia and said he hoped it would help supply more gas to the domestic market. Yudhoyono said around 40 percent of the production from the project in eastern Indonesia will be distributed to the local market. "BP will add investment in the train 3 project. Its gas investment is $11 billion," said Yudhoyono. (Reporting by Jakarta Bureau; Writing by Janeman Latul; Editing by Matthew Bigg and Anthony Barker) More »BP to invest $11 billion in Indonesia gas project - Yudhoyono

  • Lebanon PM's office says freed hostages on way to Beirut

    Reuters - 21 hours ago

    BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati has received confirmation from Turkey that Lebanese hostages who had been kidnapped in Syria have been released and were on their way to Beirut, his office said on Friday. "The prime minister received a call from (Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet) Davutoglu (saying) the Lebanese hostages in Syria are well and are on their way to Beirut," an aide to Mikati said. (Reporting by Mariam Karouny) More »Lebanon PM's office says freed hostages on way to Beirut

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