Politics News Headlines - Yahoo! News UK

Iceland's new PM rejects EU, but embraces EU economic goals

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:09:22 +0100

By Jon Thor Viglundsson REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland must find stability by aiming for the same economic goals as those set for European Union states, even though it is sceptical about joining the EU and will keep its own currency, the new prime minister said. Iceland is still recovering from the collapse of its top three banks in late 2008 and although growth has returned, many Icelanders are disappointed at what they see as a slow recovery. ...

Stretched by riots, Swedish police call reinforcements

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:02:20 +0100

By Ilze Filks and Mia Shanley STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Police in Stockholm called in reinforcements on Friday after youths set cars and a school ablaze in a fifth night of rioting, the worst to hit Sweden for years. Pupils at a primary school in Kista - an IT hub that is home to the likes of telecoms equipment maker Ericsson and the Swedish office of Microsoft - arrived to find the inside of the small red wooden building had been completely burnt out. ...

Syria opposition seeks to unify as momentum for talks builds

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:59:55 +0100

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Syria's fractious opposition scrambled to agree a new leadership on Friday in a bid to present a coherent front at peace talks which the United States and Russia are convening to seek an end to more than two years of civil war. A major assault by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on a rebel held town over the past week is shaping into a pivotal battle. It has drawn in fighters from Assad's Lebanese allies Hezbollah, justifying worry that a war that has killed 80,000 people would cross borders at the heart of the Middle East. ...

Kerry, Lavrov hold phone call on Syria peace conference

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:46:09 +0100

MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone on Friday to discuss efforts to bring Syria's warring parties to a peace conference, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "The situation in Syria was discussed in the context of an international conference for a political settlement in the country," the ministry said in a statement on its website. Kerry and Lavrov last met on May 7 in Moscow and agreed to try to get the Syrian government and opposition to discuss an end to the more than 2-year-old civil war. ...

Swiss tax diplomat to quit as U.S., Europe talks heat up

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:44:12 +0100

By Oliver Hirt and Caroline Copley ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's top tax diplomat will step down at the end of August, the finance ministry said on Friday, as talks with foreign governments eager to crack down on funds hidden in Swiss bank accounts enter a critical phase. Michael Ambuehl, state secretary for international financial matters since 2010, will take up a job in September at Zurich's Technical University (ETH) as professor of negotiation and conflict management, the ministry said. ...

Threats made aboard diverted Pakistan plane - passenger

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:40:16 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - A passenger aboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane flying from Lahore to Manchester that was diverted under military jet escort to Stansted, northeast of London on Friday said someone had made threats against its crew. "We landed safely and then he (the pilot) announced that they had had some kind of threat from someone and that's why he landed the plane," the passenger, identified only as Munsif, told BBC television. He said he was sitting in the front of the plane but that the incident had happened at the back. ...

Henrik Fisker joins Hong Kong tycoon to salvage Fisker - sources

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:35:50 +0100

By Deepa Seetharaman and Norihiko Shirouzu DETROIT/BEIJING (Reuters) - Henrik Fisker is working with an investor group to salvage Fisker Automotive, the "green" car company he co-founded nearly six years ago that is now struggling to stave off bankruptcy, people familiar with the matter said this week. The discussions follow Henrik Fisker's resignation from the company in March after finding himself increasingly at odds with other top executives over strategy. The well-regarded car designer is now teamed up with an investor group led by Hong Kong billionaire and Fisker investor Richard Li. ...

Exiled cleric who taught UK knifeman praises 'courage'

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:24:17 +0100

By Dominic Evans TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - A Syrian-born Islamist cleric who taught one of the men accused of hacking to death an off-duty British soldier on a London street praised the attack for its "courage" and said Muslims would see it as a strike on a military target. In an interview in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, where he has lived since being banished from Britain in 2005, Omar Bakri, founder of banned British Islamist group Al Muhajiroun, said he knew suspect Michael Adebolajo from his lectures a decade ago. ...

British police arrest two men on diverted Pakistan flight

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:14:35 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - British police arrested two men on a Pakistan International Airlines flight on Friday on suspicion of "endangerment of an aircraft" after it was escorted to a different airport by fighter jets. The plane had been flying from Lahore in Pakistan to Manchester, before it was diverted to Stansted, in Essex, southern England. (Reporting by Kate Holton and Brenda Goh; Editing by Peter Griffiths)

EU watchdog seeks powers over cross-border insurers

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:04:42 +0100

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - EU insurance watchdog EIOPA on Friday set out a wish list of new powers it is seeking, including stepped-up supervision rights over the bloc's big insurers. The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), which currently supervises the insurance sector though national regulators in the 27 EU member states, said it wanted direct access to information on individual companies. ...

Spain's Princess Cristina faces new tax probe charge

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:00:41 +0100

MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish judge has opened an investigation into Princess Cristina's tax returns after an earlier charge of being an accomplice in an embezzlement case against her husband was dropped. In a judicial writ made public on Friday, Examining Magistrate Jose Castro said he has asked the tax agency for information to determine whether Cristina, daughter of Spain's King Juan Carlos, engaged in tax evasion or money laundering between 2007 and 2010. ...

China solar companies shun home market in pursuit of margins

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:57:51 +0100

By Swetha Gopinath and Thyagaraju Adinarayan (Reuters) - Chinese solar panel makers are shunning their overcrowded home market in favor of lucrative exports, a switch that has helped to arrest a two-year slump in margins and push shares to 12-month peaks. Manufacturers such as JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd and ReneSola Ltd , reliant on low-margin Chinese sales after trade wars with the United States and Europe, are pushing into Japan and emerging economies where solar panel demand is rising. ...

U.S.casts doubt on credibility of Iranian election

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:50:56 +0100

By Arshad Mohammed TEL AVIV (Reuters) - The United States on Friday called into question the credibility of Iran's presidential election next month, criticising the disqualification of candidates and accusing Tehran of disrupting Internet access. On a visit to Israel, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also warned that time was running out to resolve the deadlock over Iran's contested nuclear programme. ...

Source says appears Pakistani plane not subject of terror attack

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:41:07 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - A British security source said early indications suggested that a Pakistan International Airlines plane diverted from Manchester to Stansted Airport on Friday was not the subject of a terror attack. The Defence Ministry said earlier on Friday that it had scrambled fighter jets to escort the plane to Stansted, to the north east of London. A spokesman for Stansted Airport said the plane was being held in an isolated area and that the rest of the airport was operating as normal. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Brenda Goh, editing by Kate Holton)

Kerry says Israelis, Palestinians must make tough decisions

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:38:41 +0100

By Arshad Mohammed TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli and Palestinian leaders must decide soon on whether to revive long-dormant peace negotiations to end their decades-old conflict, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday. Ending two days of meetings in the region, Kerry said he had had "very productive" talks. But there were no obvious signs of any breakthrough, with neither side offering the sort of compromises needed to end a three-year stalemate. ...

British police say investigating incident on plane

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:27:12 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - British police said they were investigating an incident aboard a plane on Friday, after the Defence Ministry said it had scrambled fighter jets to escort a plane from Lahore. "Police and partners are responding," the spokeswoman for Essex police said. The plane is being diverted to Stansted Airport in Essex, to the east of London. (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

Russia's oldest rights group fights 'foreign agent' tag

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:24:31 +0100

By Timothy Heritage MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's oldest rights group began a legal battle on Friday to avoid being branded a "foreign agent" under a new law it sees as a tool of repression by President Vladimir Putin. Memorial, which has fought to preserve the memory of Josef Stalin's victims for a quarter of a century, has faced problems ever since Mikhail Gorbachev gave it his blessing in the Soviet Union's dying days. Its employees have faced harassment and bureaucratic obstacles at almost every turn. ...

HSBC Chairman urges acceleration of bank reform

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:13:15 +0100

By Steve Slater and Matt Scuffham LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC's Chairman Douglas Flint called for an acceleration in the speed of reform within the industry as the bank was criticised by shareholders for compliance failings and accusations it aided tax avoidance. Flint told around 400 shareholders at the bank's annual meeting that the fallout from recent scandals had created a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity to reform banking and the broader financial industry. "As a first priority we need to speed up the reform process. ...

Kerry, Lavrov to meet on Syria in Paris on Monday

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:10:54 +0100

AMMAN (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet privately in Paris on Monday to discuss their efforts to bring Syria's warring parties to a peace conference, a U.S. official said on Friday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the two men would "continue their conversation (from) Moscow," a reference to their May 7 agreement to try to get the Syrian government and opposition to discuss an end to the more than 2-year-old civil war. ...

"Ironical" tweet was defamatory, context was key, court rules

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:10:16 +0100

By Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) - A tweet by a British parliamentarian's wife that pointed her 56,000 followers to online traffic wrongly naming a retired politician as a paedophile was defamatory, even though it did not spell out the false allegation. That was the judgment of the High Court in London on Friday in Britain's mostly closely watched Twitter libel case, brought by Alistair McAlpine, an elderly ally of late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, against Sally Bercow, the flamboyant wife of the speaker of parliament. ...

Italians getting glummer on economy, Letta government

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:59:11 +0100

By Gavin Jones ROME (Reuters) - Italian consumer morale fell unexpectedly in May despite the tax-cutting promises of a new government whose approval ratings are already sliding. Prime Minister Enrico Letta took office last month at the head of a left-right coalition which is bickering on a daily basis and its problems were underlined by the marked decline in sentiment on the economy. Statistics office ISTAT's consumer confidence index, the first to be conducted since the government was formed, slid to 85.9 in May from 86.3. ...

BoE's King calls for 'common sense' in austerity debate

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:58:18 +0100

HELSNKI (Reuters) - Opposing sides in the debate about whether countries should focus on austerity or growth overstate the true difference between their positions, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said on Friday. "What we need is more common sense," King told an event here. "This debate has been vastly exaggerated by people who want to make political arguments." King was speaking two days after the International Monetary Fund called on Britain to spend more to fund investment, a call unlikely to be heeded by Chancellor George Osborne. ...

Death toll from Guinea opposition march rises to four

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:46:38 +0100

CONAKRY (Reuters) - The official death toll from Thursday's clashes between Guinean opposition protesters and police and government supporters rose to four on Friday, meaning at least 22 people have now been killed in unrest since March. The opposition, which held a rally against plans for a June election that it fears will be rigged, said three protesters were shot dead and a fourth beaten to death at the march. ...

North Korea says will take 'positive steps' for peace

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:28:28 +0100

By Terril Yue Jones and Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - A North Korean envoy told China's president on Friday that his reclusive country was willing to take "positive actions" to ensure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, as China steps up diplomatic efforts to bring Pyongyang back to talks. But Choe Ryong-hae, a special envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, made no offer to abandon North Korea's nuclear programme. The United States insists North Korea takes meaningful steps on denuclearisation before there can be dialogue. ...

WikiLeaks documentary spotlights complexity of Julian Assange

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:08:46 +0100

By Zorianna Kit LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may claim to be a champion of transparency, but when an Oscar-winning filmmaker wanted to shine a light on his rise to fame after publishing secret U.S. diplomatic cables on his website, Assange was none too pleased. Alex Gibney set out to uncover the story behind Assange, 41, and the website he founded in 2006 to leak classified information submitted by anonymous sources, but received little cooperation from the former computer hacker. ...

Portugal may need new easing of 2014 deficit goal - PM

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:58:04 +0100

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal is on course to meet this year's deficit target but the government may require a further easing of the goals agreed with its EU and IMF lenders for 2014, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said on Friday. Under the recently revised terms of a 78 billion euro ($100.6 billion) bailout agreed in 2011, Lisbon has to reduce the public deficit to 5.5 percent of gross domestic product this year from last year's 6.4 percent, then to 4 percent in 2014 and 2.5 percent in 2015. ...

Analysis - German economy to pick up but fall short of traditional pace

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:55:06 +0100

By Sarah Marsh BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's economy will recover from a bout of winter weakness but fall well short of the dynamic growth rates of previous years as euro zone recession and global slowdown stunt exports and investment. There are homegrown problems too. What hue of government will result from September elections is injecting uncertainty and foreign investors cite worries about over-regulation and Germany's future energy mix after Chancellor Angela Merkel turned her back on nuclear power. ...

Children raised on diet of porn a 'risky experiment'

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:22:32 +0100

Children are being "raised on a diet of pornography" which is leading to increasingly troubling sexual behaviour, a recent study has found.

Yemen's main oil pipeline attacked, pumping stopped

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:22:16 +0100

SANAA (Reuters) - Attackers blew up Yemen's main oil export pipeline on Friday, halting the flow of crude, the government and industry sources said. "Subversive elements" in Serwah in central Maarib province had blown up the pipeline, which leads to the Red Sea, at dawn on Friday, the Defence Ministry said in a statement. The Arabian Peninsula state, which relies on crude exports to replenish its reserves and finance up to 70 percent of budget spending, has suffered frequent bombings of its main oil pipeline since an uprising broke out in 2011. ...

Platini repeats call for European sports police force

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:59:54 +0100

By Mike Collett LONDON (Reuters) - UEFA president Michel Platini renewed his call for the formation of a European sports police force on Friday, telling delegates at the opening of the UEFA Congress he was upset that his appeal for one had been ignored for six years. "Six years ago now, in response to...problems of betting, corruption and match-fixing, as well as the problems of hooliganism and doping, I called for the establishment of a European sports police force," Platini said. "There has been no response to those calls so far. ...

Africa backs Kenya call for Hague court to drop Kenyatta case

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:52:27 +0100

By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - African nations have backed a request by Kenya for charges of crimes against humanity by its president to be referred back to the east African country, African Union documents show. President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, are both facing trial in the International Criminal Court (ICC), accused of masterminding ethnic bloodshed in post-election violence five years ago that killed more than 1,200 people. Both deny the charges. ...

Security services in spotlight after soldier murder

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:51:33 +0100

By Peter Griffiths LONDON (Reuters) - Security services faced questions on Friday over whether they could have done more to prevent the murder of a soldier hacked to death in a busy London street after it emerged that his suspected killers were known to intelligence officers. The two suspects, Michael Adebolajo, 28 and Michael Adebowale, 22, are under guard in hospitals after being shot and arrested by police after the murder of 25-year-old Afghan war veteran Lee Rigby on Wednesday in broad daylight. They have not yet been charged. ...

Russia's leading social network banned by "mistake"

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:49:16 +0100

By Douglas Busvine MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's leading online social network was briefly banned on Friday, in a move dismissed as a "mistake" but which follows intensifying official pressure on the company as President Vladimir Putin consolidates his power. VKontakte (www.vk.com), Europe's largest homegrown social network with 210 million registered users, was put overnight on a "black list" of sites barred from distributing content inside Russia. Hours later, the ban was lifted. ...

HSBC urges acceleration of banking reform

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:43:57 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC's Chairman Douglas Flint said on Friday the pace of reform in the banking industry must be accelerated to avoid investor confidence in the sector being undermined. "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform banking and the broader financial industry," Flint told shareholders at the bank's annual general meeting. "As a first priority we need to speed up the reform process. Otherwise investor confidence in the sector will continue to be undermined," he added. (Reporting by Matt Scuffham, editing by Sinead Cruise)

North Korea willing to take action to ensure peace, envoy tells China

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:40:00 +0100

BEIJING (Reuters) - A North Korean envoy told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday that North Korea is willing to take "positive actions" to safeguard peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, China's state media reported. Choe Ryong-hae, a "special envoy" of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, also said that North Korea was willing to make joint efforts to resolve problems through six-party talks and other forms of dialogue, the state-run China News Service said on its website. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Robert Birsel)

North Korea envoy hands letter from Kim Jong-un to China's Xi

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:36:50 +0100

BEIJING (Reuters) - A North Korean envoy handed on Friday a letter from North Korea's top leader, Kim Jong-un, to Chinese President Xi Jinping, state media reported. Choe Ryong-hae, a "special envoy" of the North Korean leader, handed the letter in Kim's own writing to Xi on Friday, the state-run China News Service said on its website, without providing any details. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Korean women scrap meeting Japanese mayor over brothel remarks

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:35:01 +0100

By Yoshiyuki Osada OSAKA, Japan (Reuters) - Two elderly South Korean women forced to work in Japanese war-time military brothels cancelled a meeting on Friday with the mayor of the city of Osaka after he refused to withdraw remarks asserting the brothels were "necessary" at the time. The mayor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, an outspoken populist who has often stirred controversy, sparked a storm of criticism at home and abroad when he said last week that the military brothels had been needed, and Japan has been unfairly singled out for wartime practices common among other militaries. ...

Three mainland Chinese charged in HK mercantile exchange probe

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:30:09 +0100

By James Pomfret HONG KONG (Reuters) - Three men were charged on Friday in a Hong Kong court with possessing false documents including a cheque for $460 million in connection with an investigation into the city's shuttered Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange. The exchange, which operated a trading platform for gold and silver futures, surrendered its licence to the Securities and Futures Commission at the weekend, saying it did not have enough trading revenues to support its operating expenses. ...