• Nigeria arrests 45 illegal Chinese textile traders

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria has arrested 45 Chinese illegal textiles traders in its main northern city of Kano and plans to deport them, the city's top immigration official said on Wednesday. Nigerian law forbids foreigners from certain trades meant to be reserved for locals, including selling clothes. "Our men arrested 45 Chinese, 11 of them are women. We carried out this exercise to salvage our economy," Kano controller of immigration Emmanuel Ifeadi told Reuters. "We were directed to clear them from the market and this is going to be a continuous exercise ... ... More »Nigeria arrests 45 illegal Chinese textile traders

  • U.S. Secret Service chief apologizes for prostitution scandal

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Secret Service, in his first public appearance since a scandal involving Colombian prostitutes and his employees, apologized for the misconduct on Wednesday but lawmakers expressed doubt that this was an isolated incident. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, gray-haired in a blue striped suit and tie, faced the Senate Homeland Security Committee and asserted that the behaviour of a dozen employees in Cartagena last month did not reflect the culture of the agency. ... More »U.S. Secret Service chief apologizes for prostitution scandal

  • Young Azerbaijanis stage Eurovision democracy protest

    AFP - Wed, May 23, 2012

    Hundreds of young Azerbaijanis on Wednesday used the Eurovision song contest as the focus for a rare march for democracy in central Baku as the ex-Soviet state hosts the glitzy pop fiesta this week. More »Young Azerbaijanis stage Eurovision democracy protest

  • Mali leader to head to France for health checks - sources

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's interim leader Dioncounda Traore is due to fly to France on Wednesday for medical checks after he was attacked by protesters earlier this week, two diplomatic sources and an official at Bamako airport said. Traore was injured in the face after hundreds of protesters broke into the presidential palace on Monday. The extent of his injuries was not clear but the diplomatic sources said Dioncounda was due to have checks on his pacemaker. (Reporting by Adama Diarra and David Lewis; writing by Mark John) More »Mali leader to head to France for health checks - sources

  • Strauss-Kahn asks French court to lift gag order

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    LILLE, France (Reuters) - Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn asked a French court on Wednesday to lift a gagging order that prevents him from speaking to the media during a judicial investigation into his links with a suspected prostitution ring. Strauss-Kahn is under investigation in France to establish whether he knew he was dealing with prostitutes and pimps when he attended sex parties in northern France, Paris and Washington in 2010 and 2011 allegedly organised by business acquaintances. He denies knowing that the women at the parties were prostitutes or that there was any violence. ... More »Strauss-Kahn asks French court to lift gag order

  • Costa Rica assures fair trial for anti-whaling crusader

    AFP - Wed, May 23, 2012

    Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla said Wednesday that anti-whaling activist Paul Watson would have a fair trial if extradited to the Central American country following his arrest in Germany. More »Costa Rica assures fair trial for anti-whaling crusader

  • Iran presents new proposals to world powers-media

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has proposed a "new and comprehensive" package of proposals to six world powers during talks on Wednesday in Baghdad over its disputed nuclear programme, Iranian media reported. "In this session of negotiations, Iran presented to the P5+1 a package comprising five points that include a range of nuclear and non-nuclear issues," the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported. "In the first session, the P5+1 presented its proposals to Iran, but apparently from the Iranian point of view this package is not balanced," the report said, without citing a source. ... More »Iran presents new proposals to world powers-media

  • EU's Almunia backs calls for euro zone bonds

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The euro zone must gradually move towards mutualised euro zone debt to overcome the sovereign debt crisis and build a stronger union, the European Union's antitrust chief said on Wednesday, echoing calls from countries such as France. "...We must gradually advance towards the mutualisation of public debt at euro-area level," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in the text of a speech to the European Financial Congress in Sopot, Poland. ... More »EU's Almunia backs calls for euro zone bonds

  • Syria violence shakes Lebanon's fragile stability

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    BEIRUT (Reuters) - Gunmen clash in deadly street battles, protesters block roads with burning tyres and opposition politicians demand the prime minister's downfall, denouncing the army as an agent of a foreign power. Fragile Lebanon's sectarian tensions, which festered for two decades since the end of its ruinous civil war, have been re-ignited by the turmoil in powerful neighbour Syria and threaten to plunge the country into a sustained period of unrest. "There is now ... ... More »Syria violence shakes Lebanon's fragile stability

  • Czech govt approves tax hikes, says will quit if rejected in parliament

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech Republic's revamped cabinet committed on Wednesday to push ahead with plans to raise sales tax and slap an extra tax on high wage earners, and warned it would quit if the deficit-cutting measures were not passed by parliament. That raises a risk of further political turmoil in the country which narrowly avoided a government collapse last month. The tax increases would extend an austerity drive that has hammered consumer sentiment, helping push the Czech economy into recession and causing widespread public anger. ... More »Czech govt approves tax hikes, says will quit if rejected in parliament

  • Stage set for Hollande-Merkel showdown at EU summit

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European leaders will try to breathe life into their stricken economies at a summit over dinner on Wednesday, but disagreement over a plan for mutual bond issuance and other measures to alleviate two years of debt turmoil has already been laid bare. For the first time in more than two years of debt-crisis meetings, the leaders of France and Germany have not huddled beforehand to agree positions, marking a significant shift in the Franco-German axis which has traditionally driven European policymaking. ... More »Stage set for Hollande-Merkel showdown at EU summit

  • Gaza fleet leashed by Israel, starved for fuel

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli gunboats and an Egyptian clampdown on fuel smuggling into the Gaza Strip are strangling the Palestinian enclave's little fishing fleet, slowly turning a generation of fishermen into fishmongers. Since 2009, they have been unable to sail out beyond three miles because of Israel's strictly enforced blockade. This year they can hardly afford to go out at all because diesel has nearly tripled in price. There are about 3,700 full-time fishermen in the Gaza Strip ready to serve a market of 1.7 million Palestinians. They used to export to Israel. ... More »Gaza fleet leashed by Israel, starved for fuel

  • Donors pledge $4 bln aid to Yemen

    AFP - Wed, May 23, 2012

    Donors, with Saudi Arabia in the lead, pledged $4 billion (3.2 billion euros) in aid to impoverished Yemen on Wednesday as it grapples with a fragile political transition and struggles to contain a growing threat by Al-Qaeda. More »Donors pledge $4 bln aid to Yemen

  • Donors pledge $4 billion aid to Qaeda-hit Yemen

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and Western and Gulf states pledged more than $4 billion in aid to Yemen at a Riyadh conference two days after more than 90 Yemeni soldiers were killed in a suicide attack, deepening concerns about al Qaeda's presence in the country. In a statement issued in London, seven aid agencies called for urgent food and other aid to head off a humanitarian disaster. They said almost a half of Yemen's population did not have enough to eat At the Riyadh conference, Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, pledged $3.25 billion of a total $4 billion in aid. ... More »Donors pledge $4 billion aid to Qaeda-hit Yemen

  • Russia tests new missile after NATO summit

    AFP - Wed, May 23, 2012

    Russia staged Wednesday the first successful test-launch of a new intercontinental missile designed to pierce the defence system now being deployed by NATO despite Moscow's fierce complaints. More »Russia tests new missile after NATO summit

  • Russia warns Syrian violence could spread to Lebanon

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday that a spillover of Syria's conflict into Lebanon could "end very badly" and suggested some Western states were playing a double game by calling for peace but supporting rebels seeking President Bashar al-Assad's ouster. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Western and Islamic countries should increase pressure on Assad's armed opponents to stop attacks and try to avert what he said were deliberate efforts to sow discord between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims. Russia, which has protected Assad by vetoing U.N. ... More »Russia warns Syrian violence could spread to Lebanon

  • Syria's downtrodden flock to Lebanon for work

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    BEIRUT (Reuters) - Huddled under Beirut's concrete bridges and around street corners are thousands of Syrian men who have left home and crossed the border in recent months in the hope of finding work as day labourers. From 13-year-old schoolboys to limping elderly men, most of them represent impoverished families from Syria's rural regions who are suffering the brunt of a deepening economic crisis as a 14-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad drags on. "We could barely buy a pack of bread. ... More »Syria's downtrodden flock to Lebanon for work

  • Saudi battles excess heat, dust to build solar power

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    RIYADH/DAMMAM (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, may finally be getting serious about overcoming the technical and financial hurdles for tapping its other main resource: sunshine. Thousands of solar power panels have sprung up across Europe over the past few years, thanks to generous subsidies that make the technology an attractive alternative to conventional energy. Saudi Arabia too, wants to generate much more solar power as it lacks coal or enough natural gas output to meet rapidly rising power demand. ... More »Saudi battles excess heat, dust to build solar power

  • Factbox - Egyptians speak about their first free leadership vote

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians savoured the first opportunity to choose their leader freely on Wednesday in a presidential election made possible by last year's overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. Here are some comments from citizens as voting began: Saad Abd Raboh, an education ministry employee in his mid-fifties voting in Alexandria: "Our vote will make Egypt's voice in the Arab world ring loud and clear... For 30 years, Egypt's voice was muted." Amal Khedr, an accountant in Cairo wearing a veil who said she would vote for Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister: "He has political experience. ... More »Factbox - Egyptians speak about their first free leadership vote

  • Donors pledge $4 billion aid to Yemen - British minister

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    RIYADH (Reuters) - International donors pledged more than $4 billion in aid to Yemen at a meeting in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said. "More than $4 billion was pledged today. But the significance of today was it was important to reconfirm the support of such a large group of countries for Yemen," he said. Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, had earlier said it would give the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country $3.25 billion in aid. (Reporting By Angus McDowall) More »Donors pledge $4 billion aid to Yemen - British minister

  • Missing Belgian girl's body parts found in freezer

    AFP - Wed, May 23, 2012

    A missing four-year-old girl's body parts were found wrapped in plastic bags in the family freezer on Wednesday, a Belgian prosecutor said. More »Missing Belgian girl's body parts found in freezer

  • Grannies Woo Eurovision With Housework Song

    Sky News - Wed, May 23, 2012

    A Russian octet of folk-singing grannies from a remote village in the Ural mountains will attempt to conquer Eurovision in Azerbaijan this weekend - with a song about housework. More »Grannies Woo Eurovision With Housework Song

  • Syria violence shakes Lebanon's fragile stability

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    BEIRUT (Reuters) - Gunmen clash in deadly street battles, protesters block roads with burning tyres and opposition politicians demand the prime minister's downfall, denouncing the army as an agent of a foreign power. Fragile Lebanon's sectarian tensions, which festered for two decades since the end of its ruinous civil war, have been re-ignited by the turmoil in powerful neighbour Syria and threaten to plunge the country into a sustained period of unrest. ... More »Syria violence shakes Lebanon's fragile stability

  • Russia says Iran ready to discuss nuclear gestures

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday Iran appears ready to agree specific steps to end a standoff over its nuclear programme but warned that additional U.S. sanctions would undermine efforts to ensure Tehran does not develop atomic weapons. Speaking in Moscow as a meeting between Iran and six global powers began in Baghdad [ID:nL5E8GN43L], Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said expert-level talks had indicated Tehran, often accused by Western states of playing for time, was now prepared for serious negotiations. ... More »Russia says Iran ready to discuss nuclear gestures

  • AU forces intensify attack on Somali rebels

    Reuters - Wed, May 23, 2012

    MOGADISHU (Reuters) - African Union and Somali government troops stepped up their assault on al Shabaab militants in the capital's northern outskirts on Wednesday, forcing hundreds of families to flee their makeshift homes and head for the city centre. The AU force, which already controls most of the capital, is trying to advance through the Afgoye corridor, once a rural area northwest of Mogadishu but now home to hundreds of thousands of Somalis uprooted from their homes. ... More »AU forces intensify attack on Somali rebels

Pagination

  1. 9
  2. 10
  3. 11
  4. 12
  5. 13
(6804 stories)