Reuters: World News

Homs fears big push by Syrian tanks on stronghold

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:12:08 -0500

AMMAN (Reuters) - Tanks amassed outside opposition neighborhoods in Homs on Friday as Alawite-led forces bombarded the Syrian city for the fifth day and residents expected a major push to subdue the centre of revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

Maldives ex-president defiantly awaits arrest

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:03:13 -0500

MALE (Reuters) - Maldives ex-president Mohamed Nasheed awaited arrest in his house on Thursday, vowing to stay and fight against the government he says ousted him in a coup with the connivance of the police and the military.

Japan priest fights invisible demon: radiation

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:26:44 -0500

FUKUSHIMA (Reuters) - On the snowy fringes of Japan's Fukushima city, now notorious as a byword for nuclear crisis, Zen monk Koyu Abe offers prayers for the souls of thousands left dead or missing after the earthquake and tsunami nearly one year ago.

Afghanistan says children killed in NATO airstrike

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:44:00 -0500

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai accused NATO on Thursday of killing a number of children in an airstrike, a case which could stoke tensions between the government and its western backers over a mounting civilian death doll.

Iran turns to barter for food as sanctions cripple imports

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:43:59 -0500

PARIS/TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran is turning to barter - offering gold bullion in overseas vaults or tankerloads of oil - in return for food as new financial sanctions have hurt its ability to import basic staples for its 74 million people, commodities traders said Thursday.

Yemen army kills two at anti-election protest

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:53:10 -0500

ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - Yemeni troops killed two people on Thursday when they opened fire on a rally in the southern province of Dalea calling for a boycott of an election to replace outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh, activists said.

Romania's new government wins parliamentary approval

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:12:41 -0500

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's new prime minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu won parliamentary approval on Thursday for a government that offers little political change but might ease some austerity measures as an election nears.

Russian oligarchs should pay privatization fee: Putin

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:35:04 -0500

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, seeking to return to the presidency in an election next month, said on Thursday large Russian companies privatized "dishonestly" in the 1990s should pay a fee to win public acceptance for the deals.

Garzon trial forces Spain to confront painful past

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:58:21 -0500

MADRID (Reuters) - Sitting at a wooden table before the judges of Spain's Supreme Court, Maria Martin Lopez recalls the day a lifetime ago when fascists loyal to General Francisco Franco shot her mother.

Italy cruise lawsuits will force higher standards: lawyer

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:56:23 -0500

ROME (Reuters) - Insurers stung by multi-million dollar claims over the Concordia shipwreck will demand higher safety standards from the cruise industry, a lawyer who will file suits this month against Carnival Corp for more than 70 plaintiffs said on Thursday.