May 31 () – TOP STORIES
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BRUSSELS – The European Central Bank stepped up pressure on
Thursday for a joint guarantee for bank deposits across the euro
zone, saying Europe needed new tools to fight bank runs as the
bloc’s debt crisis drives investors to flee risk.
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VIENNA – A U.S. think-tank has published satellite images
which it says underscore suspicions that Iran is trying to
destroy evidence of possible nuclear weapons-related research at
a site that U.N. inspectors have not been allowed to visit.
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ATHENS – Greece’s pro-bailout New Democracy (ND) party is
ahead of the anti-bailout SYRIZA party in the run-up to a June
17 parliamentary election that may decide whether the debt-laden
country remains in the euro, two polls showed on Thursday.
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BAGHDAD – Six explosions hit neighbourhoods across Baghdad
on Thursday, killing at least 17 people and wounding dozens more
in the most deadly attacks on the Iraqi capital in more than a
month.
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RAMALLAH – The remains of 91 Palestinian militants whose
attacks killed hundreds of Israelis were returned to the West
Bank and Gaza on Thursday in a gesture Israel said it hoped
could help revive peace efforts.
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NEW DELHI – India’s economic growth slumped to its lowest
level in nine years in the first three months of 2012, marking a
dramatic slide in the fortunes of a country whose economy was
boasting nearly double-digit growth before the global recession.
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BEIJING – Hundreds of Tibetans in Lhasa have been detained
by Chinese security officers after two self-immolation protests
against Chinese rule over Tibet, a U.S.-broadcaster said,
stoking concerns of spreading unrest amo n g Tibetans in China.
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MADRID – Spaniards alarmed by the dire state of their banks
are squirrelling money abroad at the fastest rate since records
began, figures showed on Thursday, and the credit ratings of
eight regions were cut.
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SEATTLE – A gunman killed four people at a popular Seattle
cafe on Wednesday then fled to a downtown parking lot where he
killed a fifth person and stole her car before shooting himself
in the head as police closed in, authorities said.
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DERA ISMAIL KHAN/PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Deepening the mystery
in a case that is straining Islamabad’s relations with
Washington, a Pakistani militant group said on Thursday it never
had ties to a doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden,
even though he was jailed for aiding them.
