Reuters: Top News

Largest Bulgarian party clears way for new government

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:30:19 GMT

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's largest party GERB declined on Thursday to try to form a new government, opening the way for the rival Socialists to put together a technocrat administration and end a political impasse.

London attackers known to British security services

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:24:59 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Two British men of Nigerian descent accused of hacking a soldier to death on a London street in revenge for wars in Muslim countries were known to security services, a source close to the investigation said Thursday.

Jobless claims data suggests labor market strength

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:47:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, pointing to resilience in the labor market despite belt-tightening by Washington.

North Korea says willing to take China's advice to start talks

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:18:31 GMT

BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea is willing to take China's advice and enter into talks, Chinese state television cited an envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as saying, following weeks of tension on the Korean peninsula after the North's latest nuclear test.

Factory activity slips to seven-month low in May: Markit

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:17:35 GMT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Manufacturing slowed for a second straight month in May as weak overseas demand and government belt-tightening at home led to the sector's most sluggish rate of growth since October, a survey showed on Thursday.

France wants Hezbollah armed wing on EU terror list by end-June

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:13:41 GMT

PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Thursday it hoped an initiative could be agreed by the end of June to put the armed wing of Hezbollah on the EU's list of terrorist organizations on grounds the group is importing Syria's war into Lebanon.

Taliban claim bomb in southwest Pakistan that kills 13

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:01:07 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility on Thursday for a bomb that killed 11 security personnel and two civilians in the southwestern city of Quetta.

Suicide bombers strike mine, military barracks in Niger

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:28:13 GMT

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Suicide bombers struck a military barracks and a mine run by French nuclear group Areva in Niger on Thursday, killing and wounding several people in separate attacks that showed the fight against Islamist militants was spreading across West Africa.

Kerry meets Israelis, Palestinians in bid to revive talks

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:19:44 GMT

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials on Thursday and acknowledged there was considerable skepticism that the two sides would resume peace negotiations.

Exclusive :China urbanization plan hits roadblock over spending fears - sources

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:03:34 GMT

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's plan to spend $6.5 trillion on urbanization to bolster the economy is running into snags, sources close to the government said, as top leaders fear another spending binge could push up local debt levels and inflate a property bubble.

Assad foe tells Syrian leader to cede power to officials

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:02:02 GMT

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian opposition leader urged President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday to hand power to his deputy or his prime minister and then go abroad with 500 members of his entourage, without immunity from prosecution.

ECB seeks new tools while Fed toys with exit

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:57:45 GMT

PARIS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is looking into expanding its range of policy tools, while the U.S. central bank is mulling scaling back its support measures, highlighting the contrasting fortunes between the world's two biggest economic blocs.

IMF's Lagarde in court for French arbitration case

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:16:43 GMT

PARIS (Reuters) - IMF chief Christine Lagarde was questioned in court by a French magistrate on Thursday over her role in a 285-million-euro ($366 million) arbitration payment made to a supporter of former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Barred from poll, Rafsanjani calls Iranian leaders ignorant

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:45:56 GMT

DUBAI (Reuters) - Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has accused Iran's leadership of incompetence and ignorance just days after he was barred from standing in an election next month, the opposition Kaleme website reported on Thursday.

Malaysia police arrest opposition figures in crackdown

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:12:43 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police arrested several opposition politicians and activists on Thursday, launching a crackdown on dissent three weeks after an election exposed deep divisions in the country and sparked a series of opposition protest rallies.

Portuguese leaders build faith in bailout exit

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:14:58 GMT

LISBON (Reuters) - President Anibal Cavaco Silva thanked Portugal's patron saint for a long-delayed approval of Lisbon's bailout review last week, but the head of state could claim a share of the credit for himself.

Five killed, 50 wounded in Lebanon's Tripoli

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:03:11 GMT

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - Five people were killed and more than 50 wounded in overnight clashes in Tripoli between Lebanese gunmen backing rival factions in Syria's civil war, doctors and security sources said on Thursday.

M23 rebels announce ceasefire for UN chief's Congo visit

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:02:21 GMT

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Rebels in eastern Congo announced a ceasefire on Thursday in fighting with government troops hours before a visit to the conflict-plagued zone by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.

Miners Vale, Rio Tinto accused of neglecting displaced Mozambicans

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:23:45 GMT

MAPUTO (Reuters) - Human Rights Watch accused Mozambique's government and foreign mining companies on Thursday of "serious shortcomings" in resettling communities to make way for coal mines, leaving thousands without proper homes, food or sources of income.

Analysis: Crackdown on radical Islamists tests Tunisia's stability

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:15:46 GMT

TUNIS (Reuters) - For the first time since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, relations between mainstream Islamists in government and radical Salafist Muslim activists have reached breaking point, sparking deadly clashes in two Tunisian cities.

Man linked to Boston bombing suspect killed by FBI in Florida

Thu, 23 May 2013 03:11:01 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Chechen immigrant who was being questioned about his possible links to one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects was shot and killed by a federal agent in Florida on Wednesday after he suddenly turned violent, the FBI said.

West may boost Syria rebels if Assad won't talk peace

Thu, 23 May 2013 02:47:19 GMT

AMMAN (Reuters) - Washington threatened on Wednesday to increase support for Syria's rebels if President Bashar al-Assad refuses to discuss a political end to a civil war that is spreading across borders.

Oklahoma tornado victims astounded at how they survived

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:58:09 GMT

MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Tornado survivors thanked God, sturdy closets and luck in explaining how they lived through the colossal twister that devastated an Oklahoma town and killed 24 people, an astonishingly low toll given the extent of destruction.

Man linked to Boston bombing suspect killed by FBI in Florida

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:58:13 GMT

West may boost Syria rebels if Assad won't talk peace

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:52:14 GMT