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TOP STORIES
British PM regrets 'deeply shameful' colonial Indian
massacre
AMRITSAR, India - David Cameron becomes first serving
British prime minister to voice regret about one of bloodier
episodes in colonial India, massacre of unarmed civilians in
Amritsar in 1919. (BRITAIN-INDIA/AMRITSAR (UPDATE 2, PIX, TV),
moved, by Andrew Osborn, 803 words)
+ See also:
- INDIA-STRIKE/(UPDATE 1, PIX, TV), moved, by Annie Banerji,
611 words
Tunisia seeks new premier to escape political crisis
TUNIS - Tunisian leaders begin search for new prime minister
to try to lead North African nation out of its gravest political
crisis since uprising that inspired wave of Arab revolts two
years ago. (TUNISIA-POLITICS/ (UPDATE 2, PIX), moved, by Tarek
Amara, 787 words)
+ See also:
- TUNISIA-ECONOMY/POLITICS, moved, by Tarek Amara, 1,005
words
Witness heard 'non-stop shouting' before Pistorius shooting
PRETORIA - Witness hears "non-stop shouting" in home of
South African athletics star Oscar Pistorius shortly before his
girlfriend is shot dead, detective leading murder investigation
says. (SAFRICA-PISTORIUS/ (UPDATE 6, PIX, TV), moved, by David
Dolan and Peroshni Govender, 919 words)
Rome will burn, regardless of Italian election result
ROME - Regardless of who wins next weekend's parliamentary
election, Italy's long economic decline is likely to continue
because next government won't be strong enough to pursue tough
reforms needed to make its economy competitive again.
(ITALY-ELECTION/ (INSIGHT, PIX, GRAPHIC), moved, by Michael
Stott, 1,997 words)
+ See also:
- ITALY-VOTE/FAKE (PICTURE), moved, by Naomi O'Leary, 484
words
- ITALY-VOTE/NIGHTMARE (ANALYSIS, PIX, TV, GRAPHICS), moved,
by Steve Scherer, 1,000 words
French special forces in Cameroon helping hostage probe
YAOUNDE - French special forces arrive in northern Cameroon
to help locate French family who were kidnapped and moved to
Nigeria, local governor says. (CAMEROON-KIDNAPPING/FRANCE
(UPDATE 2, TV, PIX), moved, by Tansa Musa, 710 words)
UNITED STATES
Panetta notifies Congress of Pentagon civilian furloughs
WASHINGTON - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta formally
notifies Congress that Pentagon plans to put civilian defense
employees on unpaid leave this year if $46 billion in
across-board budget cuts take effect March 1.
(USA-FISCAL/DEFENSE (UPDATE 1), moved, by David Alexander, 391
words)
Obama goes on local TV in fight with Republicans over budget
cuts
WASHINGTON - President Obama turns to local television
stations across United States to increase public pressure on
congressional Republicans to avert $85 billion in budget cuts
set to begin in nine days. (USA-FISCAL/OBAMA, moved, by Roberta
Rampton, 426 words)
Ex-congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. pleads guilty to fund
misuse
WASHINGTON - Former U.S. congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., son
of civil rights leader and one-time rising star in Democratic
politics, pleads guilty to misusing about $750,000 in campaign
money. (USA-CRIME/JACKSON (UPDATE 2), moved, by David Ingram,
455 words)
White House targets trade secret theft with new strategy
WASHINGTON - White House will tackle theft of U.S. trade
secrets with new strategy to protect American companies from
losing hundreds of billions of dollars in area of growing
concern in relations with China. (USA-TRADE/SECRETS (UPDATE 1),
moved, by Doug Palmer, 609 words)
U.S. congressional delegation leaves Cuba empty-handed
HAVANA - U.S. congressional delegation leaves Cuba after
meetings with President Raul Castro and other top officials, but
no sign countries resolve their latest dispute: fate of
imprisoned U.S. contractor Alan Gross. (CUBA-USA/(PIX, TV),
moved, by Marc Frank, 640 words)
U.S. top court bars defendant's retrial after judge errs
WASHINGTON - U.S. Supreme Court says Michigan cannot retry
defendant whose arson conviction had been thrown out by trial
judge who mistakenly required state prosecutors to prove more
than they needed to. (USA-COURT/DOUBLEJEOPARDY (UPDATE 3),
moving shortly, by Jonathan Stempel, 762 words)
ASIA
Boeing close to fixing Dreamliner battery -source
NEW DELHI - Boeing finds way to fix battery problems on its
grounded 787 Dreamliner jets that involves increasing space
between the lithium ion battery cells, source familiar with U.S.
company's plans tells Reuters. (BOEING-DREAMLINER/BATTERY
(UPDATE 2), moved, by Anurag Kotoky, 495 words)
China says U.S. hacking accusations lack technical proof
BEIJING - Accusations by U.S. computer security company that
secretive Chinese military unit is likely behind series of
hacking attacks are scientifically flawed and hence unreliable,
China's Defence Ministry says. (CHINA-HACKING/ (UPDATE 1, TV),
moved, 500 words)
MIDDLE EAST
Syrian violence threatens ancient treasures
AMMAN - Syrian museums locked away thousands of ancient
treasures to protect them from looting and violence but one of
humanity's greatest cultural heritages remains in grave peril,
the archaeologist charged with their protection says.
(SYRIA-CRISIS/ANTIQUITIES (INTERVIEW, PICTURES), moved, by
Suleiman Al-Khalidi, 1,200 words)
+ See also:
- SYRIA-CRISIS/GULF, moved, by Angus McDowall and Regan
Doherty, 857 words
- SYRIA-CRISIS/BORDER (TV, PIX), moved, by Suleiman
Al-Khalidi, 814 words
- SYRIA-CRISIS/REBEL (UPDATE 3), moved, 300 words
Israel's Livni faces rough road in peace push with
Palestinians
JERUSALEM - Tzipi Livni's coalition pact with right-winger
Benjamin Netanyahu speaks volumes about obstacles ahead for
moderate former Israeli foreign minister in her new task of
pursuing peace with Palestinians. (PALESTINIANS-ISRAEL/LIVNI
(ANALYSIS, TV, PIX), moved, by Jeffrey Heller, 800 words)
Tehran's Azadi Tower, witness to history, victim of neglect
DUBAI - Tehran's Azadi Tower stood through Iran's explosive
revolution in 1979 and eight-year-long war with Iraq in 1980s.
But monument falls victim to neglect and shoddy repairs, and
suffers from extensive internal water damage. (IRAN-AZADI/
(PIX), moved, by Yeganeh Torbati, 950 words)
EUROPE
Bulgarian government resigns amid growing protests
SOFIA - Bulgaria's government resigns after violent
nationwide protests against high power prices, joining long list
of European administrations felled by austerity during Europe's
debt crisis. (BULGARIA-GOVERNMENT/ (UPDATE 4, PIX, TV), moved,
by Sam Cage and Tsvetelia Tsolova, 800 words)
Thousands of Greeks rally in anti-austerity strike
ATHENS - Tens of thousands of Greeks take to streets of
Athens during nationwide strike against wage cuts and high taxes
that keep ferries stuck in ports, schools shut and hospitals
with only emergency staff. (GREECE-STRIKE/ (UPDATE 5, PIX, TV),
moved, by Renee Maltezou and Lefteris Papadimas, 650 words)
Russia central banker slams vast criminal cash export
MOSCOW - Russia's central bank chief complains that some 2.5
percent of national income was illegally siphoned abroad last
year -- revelation critics say shows extent of corruption under
Vladimir Putin. (RUSSIA-CBANK/ (UPDATE 3, PIX), moved, by
Douglas Busvine and Katya Golubkova, 836 words)
Putin ally quits Russian parliament in property scandal
MOSCOW - Ally of Vladimir Putin resigns from Russian
parliament to fight accusations that he failed to declare
ownership of property in United States and to protect reputation
of president's party. (RUSSIA-ETHICS/ (TV, PIX), moved, by
Timothy Heritage, 660 words)
+ See also:
- BRAZIL-RUSSIA/ (PIX), moved, by Alexei Anishchuk, 526
words
Belgium seeks to tighten diamond transfers after heist
BRUSSELS - Belgium asks how it can protect diamond transfers
into and out of country and preserve its pre-eminence in gem
trading after robbers steal $50 million consignment from tarmac
of Brussels airport. (BELGIUM-DIAMONDS/, moved, 450 words)
'Keep your so-called workers,' U.S. boss tells France
PARIS - CEO of U.S. tyre maker delivers crushing summary of
how some outsiders view France's work ethic in letter saying he
would have to be stupid to take over factory whose staff only
put in three hours work per day. (FRANCE-WORKERS/ (UPDATE 1),
moved, by Emmanuel Jarry and Catherine Bremer, 802 words)
Minister accuses Serb opposition of smear campaign over milk
BELGRADE - Serbia's agriculture minister accuses opposition
of preying on public health fears over contaminated milk to try
to topple government already under pressure over allegations of
links between politicians and mafia. (SERBIA-MILK/ (TV, PIX),
moved, by Aleksandar Vasovic, 638 words)
AFRICA
Sudan rebels launch attack to retake border town
JUBA/KHARTOUM - Rebels in Sudanese border state say they
occupy airport and fight with government troops to retake town
that became flashpoint during civil war, but army denies it
loses any territory. (SUDAN-FIGHTING/, moved, by Hereward
Holland and Khalid Abdelaziz, 482 words)