Scandal mars Obama's wooing of Latin America
CARTAGENA, Colombia (Reuters) - A prostitution scandal involving U.S. security personnel in Colombia and an unprecedented regional push to end the isolation of Cuba threatened on Saturday to eclipse President Barack Obama's charm offensive to Latin America. In a major embarrassment for Washington at the Summit of the Americas attended by more than 30 heads of state, 11 U.S. Secret Service agents were sent home and five military servicemen grounded over "misconduct" allegations in a hotel. Prostitutes were taken to the hotel, according to a Colombian police source. ...Read More ...
Clashes in Syria as U.N. ceasefire monitors due
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces shelled the city of Homs on Sunday, resident opposition activists and a rights activist said, as a six-person advance party of U.N. observers is due to arrive in Syria to monitor a ceasefire meant to start four days ago. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that the 30 unarmed observers who have been sanctioned to enter Syria by a unanimous vote at the Security Council on Saturday was insufficient and had to be "beefed up. ...Read More ...
At least five dead in Oklahoma as tornadoes pound Plains
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Dozens of tornadoes tore through parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa overnight and one twister killed at least five people early on Sunday as storm sirens failed to sound in an Oklahoma town and caught people unaware. Storms skipped across what is often called "Tornado Alley" in the U.S. Central and Southern Plains and more were forecast. But casualties appeared limited because many of the twisters hit sparsely populated areas, and during daylight hours or evening when people were still awake. ...Read More ...
Gunmen attack embassies, parliament in Afghan capital
KABUL (Reuters) - Gunmen launched multiple attacks in the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday, assaulting Western embassies in the heavily guarded, central diplomatic area and at the parliament in the west, witnesses and officials said. Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the assault, one of the boldest on the capital since U.S.-backed Afghan forces removed the group from power in 2001. The Taliban said their main targets were the German and British embassies and the headquarters of Afghanistan's NATO-led force. ...Read More ...
Iran, big powers agree - to keep talking
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - After a year of sanctions and sabre-rattling over Iran's nuclear programme, negotiators from Tehran and six world powers finally resumed talks and found at least enough common ground to agree to meet again next month. With threats of war hanging over an already unsettled Middle East, U.S. and other Western diplomats welcomed an Iranian willingness in Istanbul on Saturday to discuss their nuclear activities - something they had refused since early last year. But though they will meet again, in Baghdad on May 23, they remained poles apart. ...Read More ...
Secure despite rocket fiasco, N.Korea's Kim lauds military
PYONGYANG (Reuters) - North Korea's new leader delivered his first major public speech on Sunday as the impoverished state celebrated the centenary of its founder's birth, calling for a push to "final victory" despite a failed rocket launch two days earlier. A jowly Kim Jong-un, clad in black and the third of his line to rule North Korea, read monotonously from a script in Pyongyang's central square after goose-stepping soldiers and sailors showcased the North's military power in a parade in spring sunshine. ...Read More ...
Obama calls on Romney to release tax returns: Univision
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called on likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to release more of his tax returns, in an interview with Univision released on Saturday. Obama's campaign has been pushing Romney, a multi-millionaire former private equity executive, to release several years of his prior tax returns to shed light on how he amassed his wealth. In an interview conducted on Friday and released on Saturday, an anchor for the Spanish-language network noted Obama had released his tax returns for 12 years and asked him if Romney should do the same. ...Read More ...
Analysis: China currency move nails hard landing risk coffin
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's weekend reform of its currency regime nails shut the coffin on the last remains of doubt about whether the world's second biggest economy has successfully steered a course past a hard economic landing. Investors were questioning whether the worst sequential slowdown in China's economy since the 2008-09 global financial crisis could enter a sixth quarter after data on Friday revealed the weakest three months of annual growth in three years and a run rate below the official 7.5 percent 2012 target. ...Read More ...
IMF funds drive caught in global power shift
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tensions among some of the world's leading economies have boiled up over a plan to raise new resources for the International Monetary Fund to contain the euro zone debt crisis, and a quest by emerging economies to win more say in the global lender. World financial leaders gathering in Washington next week will focus on proposals for countries to contribute more money to the IMF so it is better prepared in case of fallout from any further escalation of Europe's debt problems. ...Read More ...
Argentina ex-dictator admits dirty war "disappeared"
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla has admitted for the first time that the country's brutal 1976-1983 dictatorship "disappeared" leftist opponents, a euphemism for kidnapped and murdered, and said babies were taken from their parents. Videla, 86, who was jailed for life in 2010 for murder, torture and kidnapping, has repeatedly justified the brutality of the military junta in the so-called Dirty War crackdown on left-wing opponents. Until now, he has also denied the forced disappearances. ...Read More ...
Midwest tornadoes: authorities say 5 dead in Okla.
Tornadoes erupting across the Midwest and Plains left five people dead and at least 29 injured in Oklahoma and damaged houses, a hospital, a jail, an Air Force base and other buildings elsewhere during a weekend outburst of severe weather, authorities said.Read More ...
Explosions, gunfire shake Afghan capital
Militants launched a series of coordinated attacks in the Afghan capital Sunday, with blasts and gunfire rocking three neighborhoods that are home to Afghan government buildings, Western embassies and NATO bases.Read More ...
New North Korean leader makes first public speech
North Korea's new leader addressed his nation and the world for the first time Sunday, vowing before cheering troops and bouquet-waving citizens to place top priority on his impoverished nation's military, which promptly unveiled a new long-range missile.Read More ...
1 dead, 4 missing in yacht race accident
A powerful wave swept four crew members off a sailboat during a race near San Francisco, leaving one person dead and four others missing, the Coast Guard said early Sunday.Read More ...
For Obama abroad, side issues tend to befall him
President Barack Obama might be noticing a familiar pattern. Whether it's allegations of Secret Service personnel consorting with prostitutes, candid moments caught live on microphones or launching bombs over Libya, his foreign trips seem to get overshadowed by distractions.Read More ...
Syrian city shelled, UN truce observers to arrive
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Prayers and silence mark Titanic centenary
Cruise ship passengers and crew said prayers Sunday at the spot in the North Atlantic where the Titanic sank 100 years ago with the loss of more than 1,500 lives.Read More ...
Officials: Human remains at Titanic shipwreck site
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Guns N' Roses jams way into Rock Hall
On their way into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Guns N' Roses got together for one more gig.Read More ...
Biffle pulls away to give Roush another Texas win
Greg Biffle regained the lead when he charged under Jimmie Johnson with 30 laps left Saturday night, then pulled away to end his 49-race winless streak while giving owner Jack Roush another NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in Texas.Read More ...
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