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Staff ReporterSyrian forces shell Homs; truce in mountain town
AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces bombarded districts of the city of Homs on Saturday in their drive to crush a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, whose ally Russia said it would not support an Arab peace plan circulating at the United Nations. Activists said 11 people were killed in the latest attacks in a week-long government siege of Homs, Syria's third largest city, which has been at the heart of an uprising that broke out 11 months ago.
Greece warns bailout rebels of disaster
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos told lawmakers to back a deeply unpopular EU/IMF rescue in a vote on Sunday or condemn the country to a "vortex" of recession. He spoke in a televised address to the nation, ahead of Sunday's vote on 3.3 billion euros ($4.35 billions) in wage, pension and job cuts as the price of a 130-billion-euro bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
Pressure builds for probe into Maldives' crisis
MALE (Reuters) - New Maldives President Mohamed Waheed Hussain Manik said on Saturday he was open to an inquiry into how he took office after his predecessor said he had been forced out in a coup. Diplomats from the United States, Britain, India, the United Nations and the Commonwealth have been pressing for an independent inquiry after President Mohamed Nasheed quit office on Tuesday.
Iran to announce nuclear progress: Ahmadinejad
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that the Islamic Republic, targeted by tougher Western sanctions, would soon announce advances in its nuclear program. He was speaking on the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. Tens of thousands of Iranians joined state-organized rallies to mark the occasion.
British police arrest five at Murdoch's Sun newspaper
LONDON (Reuters) - British police on Saturday arrested five senior staff at News Corporation's mass-circulation newspaper The Sun as part of investigations into journalists paying police for information. The probe is part of a wider investigation into illegal news gathering practices that has rocked Britain's political, media and police establishments and last year prompted the closure of the Sun's sister Sunday title, the News of the World.
Rock star welcome for Suu Kyi on Myanmar campaign trail
WARTHINKHA, Myanmar (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people lined the streets to give a rapturous welcome on Saturday to Myanmar Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi as she hit the campaign trail for the first time in her bid to win a seat in the country's parliament. Riding in a convoy of three dozen cars and flanked by hundreds of motorcycles, Suu Kyi received rock star treatment from crowds of cheering, flag-waving supporters chanting "long live mother Suu" throughout her seven-hour crawl to the rustic constituency where she will contest April by-elections.
Top U.S. general discusses NGO case in Cairo
CAIRO (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer met Egypt's ruling generals in Cairo on Saturday and discussed the case of U.S. pro-democracy activists charged in an investigation that has strained ties between Cairo and Washington. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was the first senior U.S. official to visit Cairo since the charges were brought against 43 foreign and Egyptian activists following a probe into civil society groups.
Bahraini police fire teargas at protesters
Manama (Reuters) - Bahraini police fired teargas and stun grenades to stop mainly Shi'ite protesters trying to march towards the roundabout at the centre of a failed pro-democracy uprising last year and detained two American rights activists who came to monitor. The activists had come as part of a group called Witness Bahrain which says it wants to observe events on the eve of the first anniversary of protests led mainly by the Shi'ite majority for democratic reforms in the Gulf Arab state.
Over 100,000 rally in Lisbon against austerity
LISBON (Reuters) - More than 100,000 people packed Lisbon's vast Palace Square on Saturday in the largest rally against austerity and economic hardships since the country resorted to an EU/IMF bailout last May, and organizers vowed to step up protests and labor action. The mass rally occurred just four days before Portugal's international lenders were due to start the quarterly evaluation of the bailout implementation on Wednesday in the finance ministry building which overlooks the square by the river Tagus. They come amid concerns Portugal may need more bailout funds, if not a debt restructuring like Greece.
Tunisian secular parties merge to face Islamists
TUNIS (Reuters) - Five secular Tunisian parties merged on Saturday in an attempt to create a rival to Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party that swept to power in the first free elections last year. Ennahda, which was banned under ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, won more than 40 percent of seats in a new constituent assembly last October and has gone on to form a government in coalition with two non-religious parties.