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West may boost Syria rebels if Assad won't talk peace
Wed, 22 May 2013 19:52:11 -0400

By Arshad Mohammed and Suleiman Al-Khalidi 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. Rebels called for reinforcements to combat an "invasion" by Hezbollah and its Iranian backers, days after Assad's forces launched an offensive against a strategic town that could prove to be a turning point in the war. ...

British soldier hacked to death in suspected Islamist attack
Thu, 23 May 2013 02:02:53 -0400

By Maria Golovnina and Guy Faulconbridge LONDON (Reuters) - A British soldier was hacked to death by two men shouting Islamic slogans in a south London street on Wednesday, in what the government said appeared to be a terrorist attack. A dramatic clip filmed by an onlooker just minutes after the killing showed a man with hands covered in blood, brandishing a bloodied meat cleaver and a knife. "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. ...

Analysis: Crackdown on radical Islamists tests Tunisia's stability
Thu, 23 May 2013 01:15:35 -0400

By Tarek Amara 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. The rupture between the Ennahda party, the Tunisian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood which governs in coalition with secular parties, and the Ansar al-Sharia movement could have ramifications across north Africa, potentially fuelling armed insurrection in Tunisia and neighboring Algeria. ...

Exclusive: Glencore, Trafigura deals with Iran may have skirted sanctions - U.N
Wed, 22 May 2013 18:59:35 -0400

By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Metals swap deals with Iran by Switzerland-based commodities giants Glencore Xstrata and Trafigura could have been a way of skirting international sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program, according to a confidential U.N. Panel of Experts report seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Reuters reported on March 1 that Glencore had supplied thousands of tons of alumina to an Iranian firm that has provided aluminum to Iran's nuclear program, an allegation Glencore confirmed as accurate. ...

Canadian businessman goes on trial in Cuban corruption crackdown
Thu, 23 May 2013 01:12:59 -0400By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) - A Canadian businessman who has confessed to bribing Cuban officials was scheduled to go on trial in Havana on Thursday, almost two years after his arrest in a sweeping government crackdown on corruption. The closed trial of 53-year-old Sarkis Yacoubian, originally from Armenia and the owner of import firm Tri-Star Caribbean, was expected to last two days. An associate of Yacoubian, Lebanese citizen Krikor Bayassalian, is a co-defendant. ...

Japan's wartime brothels were wrong, says 91-year-old veteran
Wed, 22 May 2013 23:52:58 -0400

By Linda Sieg and Ruairidh Villar SAGAMIHARA, Japan (Reuters) - When Masayoshi Matsumoto joined the Japanese army in 1943 and was sent to occupied China as a medic, he thought he was taking part in a righteous war to free Asia from the yoke of Western imperialism. Seven decades later, the 91-year-old retired Christian pastor says it's his mission to speak out about the injustice of the war and the sufferings of women, mostly Asian and many Korean, forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels. "I feel like a war criminal. ...

Immigration reform: After step forward in Senate, a leap back in House?
Wed, 22 May 2013 21:10:15 -0400If immigration reform took one step forward in the Senate this week, it could take a leap backward in the House if bipartisan negotiators cannot, by their self-imposed Thursday deadline, figure out how newly legalized immigrants can have access to affordable health care under President Obama’s signature legislation.

US acknowledges killing four American citizens in drone strikes
Wed, 22 May 2013 19:22:03 -0400The US government has acknowledged the killing of four American citizens as part of its drone attack program – one person intentionally and three others not specifically targeted but killed in strikes aimed at terrorist suspects.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Tightens Grip After Disqualifying Two Top Presidential Candidates
Wed, 22 May 2013 18:18:44 -0400For the cleric who runs Iran, there’s no such thing as a pleasant surprise, especially on election day. Ayatullah Ali Khamenei was not pleased when a librarian named Mohammed Khatami was swept into the President’s office in 1997, leading a wave of reformists who challenged the status quo in which Khamenei, as the unelected Supreme Leader of the Revolution, was most heavily invested. In every election cycle since, the self-appointed portion of Iran’s government has done all it can to winnow the choices placed before Iranian voters. ...

Obamas hosting Carole King: What's the special occasion?
Wed, 22 May 2013 16:57:32 -0400President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are hosting singer/songwriter Carole King at the White House tonight. Is it a special occasion? Why yes, it is – they’re honoring Ms. King for winning the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

Brutal attack in London heightens terror fears
Wed, 22 May 2013 21:16:40 -0400

LONDON (AP) — Two men with butcher knives hacked another to death Wednesday near a London military barracks and one then went on video to explain the crime — shouting political statements, gesturing with bloodied hands and waving a meat cleaver. Soon after, arriving police shot and wounded the unidentified assailants and took them into custody.

Mexico cartel dominates, torches western state
Wed, 22 May 2013 19:07:06 -0400

LA RUANA, Mexico (AP) — The farm state of Michoacan is burning. A drug cartel that takes its name from an ancient monastic order has set fire to lumber yards, packing plants and passenger buses in a medieval-like reign of terror.

Building materials blamed in Bangladesh disaster
Thu, 23 May 2013 01:18:23 -0400

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A government investigation found that "extremely" poor quality construction materials and a series of violations caused the collapse of a garment factory building in Bangladesh that has been called the worst garment-industry disaster in history, the committee head said Thursday.

Malaysian charged with sedition, 2 more arrested
Thu, 23 May 2013 02:30:55 -0400

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian authorities detained two anti-government figures and charged a student activist with sedition Thursday, raising political tensions after recent national elections triggered claims of fraud.

Police: Car bomb kills 12 in southwest Pakistan
Thu, 23 May 2013 02:02:12 -0400QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A car bomb targeting a police vehicle killed 11 policemen and one civilian Thursday in an area of southwest Pakistan wracked by a separatist insurgency and Islamic militancy, police said.

Japanese climber, 80, becomes oldest atop Everest
Thu, 23 May 2013 01:48:48 -0400

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — An 80-year-old Japanese mountaineer became the oldest person to reach the top of Mount Everest on Thursday — although his record may last only a few days. An 81-year-old Nepalese man, who held the previous record, plans his own ascent next week.

Iran pushes ahead with nuclear plant that worries West
Thu, 23 May 2013 02:01:37 -0400

By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran is pressing ahead with the construction of a research reactor that Western experts say could eventually produce plutonium for a nuclear weapon if Tehran decides to make one, a U.N. report showed on Wednesday. In another development likely to worry the United States and its allies, the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had added to its capacity to refine uranium, which can also provide the fissile core of a bomb if enriched to a high level. The IAEA also said Iran had asphalted a part of a military site, Parchin, that the U.N. ...

Lawyer: Malaysian accused of rape married the girl
Thu, 23 May 2013 01:24:35 -0400KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Prosecutors in Malaysia are pursuing rape charges against a 40-year-old man who allegedly had sex with a 13-year-old girl and then married her.

Asia stocks slide as China factory output slips
Thu, 23 May 2013 00:49:52 -0400

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stock markets slid Thursday, pulled down by a contraction in China's manufacturing that adds to signs that the shaky recovery in the world's No. 2 economy is slowing.

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