WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) –
TOP STORIES
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BEIRUT/PARIS – Gunfire and protests near a team of U.N.
observers in Syria and diplomatic wrangling over the scope of
their mission underlined the precarious prospects for a week-old
truce which has so far failed to halt a year of bloodshed.
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BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON – U.S. troops are seen posing with the
maimed bodies of suspected Afghan insurgents in photos published
on Wednesday, an incident that threatened to further fray
U.S.-Afghan ties and prompted yet another apology from
Washington for soldiers’ misbehaviour.
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SEOUL – A bristling North Korea said on Wednesday it was
ready to retaliate in the face of international condemnation
over its failed rocket launch, increasing the likelihood the
hermit state will push ahead with a third nuclear test.
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ELYRIA, Ohio/CHARLOTTE, N.C. – President Barack Obama
launched a new effort to woo Hispanics and took a swipe at
Republican Mitt Romney’s “silver spoon” background on Wednesday
as the two presidential rivals laid out sharply different
economic visions to win over U.S. voters.
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OSLO – Norwegian anti-Islamic fanatic Anders Behring Breivik
said on Wednesday he should be executed or acquitted after
killing 77 people last summer in what he said was a battle to
defend Europe against mass immigration.
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BHUBANESWAR, India – India on Wednesday postponed the test
launch of its first long-range missile capable of reaching deep
into China and as far as Europe due to bad weather, a government
official said.
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PARIS – French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s re-election hopes
suffered a double setback four days from the first round of
voting when a string of public defections compounded the
impression that his tumble in opinion polls is pushing victory
beyond reach.
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WASHINGTON – The top Republican in the U.S. Congress on
Wednesday defended his party’s proposed deficit-cutting federal
budget plan against complaints by Roman Catholic bishops that it
would hurt the poor and violate certain “moral criteria.”
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ABUJA – The United States warned its citizens in Nigeria on
Wednesday that Islamist militant group Boko Haram might be
planning attacks on the capital Abuja – but the Nigerian
government dismissed the alert saying it would create â??undue
panic.”
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CAIRO – A leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said on
Wednesday his removal from the presidential ballot showed the
army wanted to cling to power, a charge that turns up the heat
between generals and Islamists, who both say they back a
transition to democracy.
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KHARTOUM/JUBA – Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir
vowed on Wednesday to “liberate” South Sudan from its ruling
party, a sharp escalation of rhetoric after fierce border
clashes that edged the African neighbours closer to all-out war.
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YANGON – Nobel Peace Prize laureate and newly elected
lawmaker Aung San Suu Kyi will travel outside Myanmar for the
first time in 24 years after accepting invitations to visit
Norway and Britain in June, her party said on Wednesday.
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PHNOM PENH – After a string of false starts, Cambodia’s
stock market finally started trading on Wednesday, marking a
significant step forward for an impoverished country blighted by
corruption and scarred by decades of civil war.
(Editing By Todd Eastham)
