Political News from Yahoo
Ahmadinejad to make first Egypt visit by Iran head in decades
CAIRO (Reuters) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Cairo next week, becoming the first Iranian president to travel to Egypt since Iran's 1979 revolution ruptured diplomatic ties between the two most populous countries in the Middle East. Ahmadinejad will head Iran's delegation to a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Cairo, said Amani Mojtaba, head of Iran's interest section in Cairo, which it maintains in the absence of an official embassy. "I hope that Iranian-Egyptian relations return to the full diplomatic level," he told Reuters. ...
Syrian opposition leader to meet Iran Foreign Minister: diplomatic source
MUNICH (Reuters) - The head of the Syrian opposition Moaz Alkhatib will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Saturday on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich, a diplomatic source told Reuters. "The talks about Syria are intensifying and the Iranians have been drawn in. Let's see how it all ends," the source said. Earlier Alkhatib, president of the Syrian National Coalition, met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who invited him to visit Moscow, a breakthrough in relations that could help pave the way for a solution to the Syrian crisis. ...
Thousands of Vukovar Croats rally against Serb Cyrillic signs
VUKOVAR, Croatia (Reuters) - More than 20,000 Croats rallied on Saturday in Vukovar, a town destroyed in the 1991-95 war with rebel Serbs, to protest against the government's plan to introduce signs in the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet. The Social Democrat-led government, which will take the country into the European Union on July 1, wants to put up bilingual signs, in both the Latin script used for Croatian and in Cyrillic, in areas where the population is more than one third ethnic Serb later this month. ...
Turkey detains three after U.S. embassy bombing: state TV
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Authorities in Turkey detained three people in Istanbul and Ankara on Saturday in connection with Friday's suicide bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Ankara, state broadcaster TRT said. A Turkish leftist group, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), said earlier it was responsible for the attack, which killed the bomber and a Turkish security guard. (Reporting by Seltem Iyigun; Writing by Nick Tattersall)
Conservatives make gun issue new rallying cry
Nepal Maoist PM says to accept unity government for May polls
HETAUDA, Nepal (Reuters) - Nepal's Maoist prime minister said on Saturday he was ready for a unity government to oversee May elections, in an attempt to break a deadlock threatening a peace process that ended a decade-long civil war. "We are ready to accept a national unity government under anybody's leadership to hold elections for the constituent assembly," Baburam Bhattarai told party delegates gathered for the six-day conference in the industrial town of Hetauda, 80 km (50 miles) southeast of Kathmandu. ...
FTC issues guidelines for mobile applications
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission has issued a wide-reaching set of new guidelines for makers of mobile platforms and developers of applications for mobile telephones and tablets to safeguard users' privacy. The non-binding guidelines, published in a report on Friday, include the recommendation that companies should obtain consumers' consent before including location tracking in software and applications, consider developing icons to depict the transmission of user data, and consider offering a "Do Not Track" mechanism for smartphone users. ...
Syria opposition chief meets Russia's Lavrov in Munich
MUNICH (Reuters) - The head of the Syrian opposition Moaz Alkhatib told Reuters he had met Russia's foreign minister on Saturday on the sidelines of a conference in Munich and had been invited to visit Moscow. Alkhatib, president of the Syrian National Coalition, said he had received a "clear invitation" from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to visit Moscow, a breakthrough in relations that could help pave the way for a solution to the Syrian crisis. ...
Woman's trial raises concerns over rape victims in Somalia
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A woman who said she was raped by Somali soldiers and a journalist who interviewed her went on trial on Saturday in a case that has sparked international concerns over sexual violence and press freedom in the country. The woman, her husband and journalist Abdiaziz Abdinur face charges including insulting a government body, making false accusations, and seeking to profit from the allegations. Neither the 27-year-old woman nor her husband have been named. ...
Serbian coalition rocked by leaks against prime minister
BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic warned on Saturday that "certain forces" were trying to topple his coalition government after media reports linked him to an alleged drug trafficker. The reports emerged just as speculation grows that Dacic's SNS coalition partner, riding high in the polls, will quit the government and try to force an early election if Serbia clinches accession talks with the European Union by mid-year. A close aide to Dacic said the SNS was waging a smear campaign against the prime minister, but Dacic distanced himself from that accusation. ...
Brazil defense says wants to buy Russian antiaircraft systems
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's Defense Ministry said it will recommend the government buy anti-aircraft defense systems from Russia pending advanced talks with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev this month. The ministry said in a statement on its website late on Friday it hoped to acquire Russian anti-aircraft systems and would present a proposal to President Dilma Rousseff for approval. "We are interested in acquiring three batteries of medium level Pantsir-S1 missiles and two batteries of Igla missiles," General Jose Carlos De Nardi said in the statement. ...
Turkish leftist group claims U.S. embassy bombing: website
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish leftist group DHKP-C claimed responsibility on Saturday for a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Ankara, according to a statement on a website close to the group. "Our warrior Alisan Sanli carried out an act of self-sacrifice on Feb 1, 2013, by entering the Ankara embassy of the United States, murderer of the peoples of the world," the statement on "The People's Cry" website said. ...
Turkish leftist group claims U.S. embassy bombing: website
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish leftist group DHKP-C said on Saturday it was responsible for a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, according to a statement on a website close to the group. "Our warrior Alisan Sanli carried out an act of self-sacrifice on Feb 1, 2013, by entering the Ankara embassy of the United States, murderer of the people of the world," the statement said. (Reporting by Seltem Iyigun; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Jon Hemming)
Germany, Italy protest at U.S. axing of missile defense funding
MUNICH (Reuters) - Germany and Italy have told the United States they expect it to fulfill its obligations after the U.S. Congress blocked funding for a missile defense program involving the three countries, Germany said on Saturday. A defense bill passed by Congress in December prohibited a final U.S. payment of $400.9 million for development of the Medium Extended Air and Missile Defense System, known as MEADS, which is being developed by Lockheed Martin with partners in Italy and Germany. U.S. lawmakers said Washington has no plans to produce the system. ...
Yemen drives militants from mountain retreat
ADEN (Reuters) - Yemeni government forces have driven a group of Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda from their mountain retreat in the country's south after killing 21 militants during two days of fighting, a military source said on Saturday. The army and pro-government militias battled militants on Thursday and Saturday near the town of Shuqra in Abyan province, an impoverished, rugged region of southern Yemen where tribal law holds sway and armed Islamists have a strong presence. Five soldiers and two militia members were also killed, the source said. ...
Four killed, including French man, in Senegal's Casamance
DAKAR (Reuters) - Four people, including one French citizen, were killed in Senegal's southern Casamance region when suspected separatist rebels clashed with government soldiers, a military source said on Saturday. "There are four dead including a French man," said the source. He said it was not clear whether the death of the French citizen was directly related to the rebels' long-running low-intensity bush war for independence in the mostly-Christian southern region of predominantly Muslim Senegal. The others killed in the attack late on Friday were Senegalese, the source said. ...
Biden raises possibility of direct U.S.-Iran talks
MUNICH (Reuters) - The United States is ready to hold direct talks with Iran if it is serious about negotiations, Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday, backing bilateral contacts that many see as crucial to easing an international dispute over Tehran's nuclear program. Speaking at a security conference in Munich, Biden said Iran - which says it is enriching uranium for peaceful energy only - now faced "the most robust sanctions in history" meant to ensure it does not use its program to develop nuclear weapons. ...
