World News liveblog
Reuters live coverage of events around the world. Follow @ReutersWorld on Twitter for top news and @ReutersLive for live video events.
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World Wrap: Pakistan prepares for weekend election, Bangladeshi woman pulled from rubble after 17 days, and EU-bound Croatia may miss out. Read more on today's top stories here. -
Woman pulled alive from rubble of Bangladesh factory
Rescuers pulled a woman on Friday from the rubble of a Bangladesh garment factory 17 days after it collapsed, astonishing workmen who had been searching for bodies of victims of a disaster that has killed more than 1,000 people.
by Clare Richardsonon May 10, 2013 at 1:47 PM -
Sanctions help to stoke Iran property boom
While the sanctions threaten to bring the Iranian economy to its knees, million dollar apartments fitted out with the best imported equipment have become ever more common in Tehran.
Read the full story here. -
A team of Japanese and Brazilian scientists say they may have discovered part of the earth's original continent off the coast of Brazil before the land masses drifted apart. Jessica Gray reports.
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With China's high net worth individuals moving from wealth creation to wealth preservation, a Bain study shows the siren call of overseas investments is stronger than ever. Jon Gordon reports.
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World Wrap: China brushes off Pentagon’s hacking allegations, Bank of China shutters North Korean account, and Israeli strikes on Syria highlight possible Assad vulnerabilities. Read more on today's top stories here.
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Reuters: OBAMA SAYS SO FAR US AND SOUTH KOREA HAVE NOT SEEN INDICATIONS FROM NORTH KOREA THAT IT IS PREPARED TO MOVE IN A PEACEFUL DIRECTION -
Reuters: OBAMA, SOUTH KOREA'S PARK VOW THEY WILL NOT REWARD NORTH KOREAN PROVOCATIONS, WILL MAINTAIN DETERRENT CAPABILITY
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World Wrap: Bahrain arrests opposition activists before big race, university snubs the Dalai Lama, and Pakistan’s former president makes a run for it. Read more on today's top stories here.
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World Wrap: Britain bids adieu to the Iron Lady, anti-Putin blogger stands trial, and New Zealand legalizes gay marriage. Read more here.
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World Wrap: Dispute over Venezuela’s election turns violent, huge earthquake rocks Iran and Pakistan, and officials investigate Boston Marathon bombings. Read more on today's top stories here.
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World Wrap: A new wave of Syrians escape violence in Damascus, North Korea bars entry to joint factory zone, and rockets fly over Israeli-Gaza border. Read more on today's top stories here.
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Turkey deports 600 Syrian refugees over camp unrest, official says
ISTANBUL, March 28 (Reuters) - Turkey has deported at least 600 Syrians staying at a refugee camp near the border after clashes with Turkish military police in a protest over living conditions, a Turkish official said on Thursday.
"These people were involved in yesterday's violence, they were seen by the security cameras in the camp," an official in the camp told Reuters by telephone. "Between 600 and 700 have been deported. The security forces are still looking at the footage, and if they see more they will deport them."
(Reporting by Hamdi Istanbullu; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Louise Ireland) -
World Wrap: Jailed Kurd rebel leader declares ceasefire with Turkey, Obama gets cool welcome in the West Bank, and euro zone leaders bemoan the Cyprus mess. Read more on today's top stories here.
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Chemical weapons regulator to help probe Syria attack allegations
AMSTERDAM, March 21 (Reuters) - The Hague-based chemical weapons regulator has been asked to assist the United Nations in an investigation into a possible attack in Syria, it said in a statement on Thursday.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said the allegations were serious and it would comply with the request.
(Reporting By Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Sara Webb) -
Iraqis examine damage inflicted on their house by a car bomb attack in AL-Mashtal district in Baghdad, March 19, 2013. Car bombs and a suicide blast hit Shi'ite districts of Baghdad and south of Iraq's capital on Tuesday, killing at least 50 people on the 10th anniversary of the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen
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Firefighters hose down a destroyed vehicle at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad's Sadr City March 19, 2013. A dozen car bombs and suicide blasts tore into Shi'ite districts in Baghdad and south of the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, killing more than 50 people on the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. REUTERS/Wissm al-Okili
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Residents gather at the site of a car bomb attack in the AL-Mashtal district in Baghdad March 19, 2013. A series of coordinated car bombs and blasts hit Shi'ite districts across Baghdad and south of the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, killing at least 25 people on the tenth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion. REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen
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Insight: International court's credibility in dock over failed prosecutions
The collapse of the International Criminal Court's case against an ally of Kenya's president-elect Uhuru Kenyatta is the latest blow to a tribunal under close scrutiny for securing just one conviction since it was set up more than a decade ago.
Read on.
(Thomas Escritt) -
Cyprus reworks divisive bank tax, delays vote
Cypriot ministers were trying to revise a plan to seize money from bank deposits before a parliamentary vote on Tuesday that will secure the island's financial rescue or could lead to its default, with reverberations across the euro zone. (Read on.)
Get live coverage on the euro zone crisis here. -
President Obama's statement on International Women's Day
On International Women’s Day we celebrate the many milestones on the road to gender equality, and recommit ourselves to fight for the rights and opportunities of women and girls around the world.
Empowering women isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do. When women succeed, nations are more safe, more secure, and more prosperous. Over the last year, we’ve seen women and girls inspiring communities and entire countries to stand up for freedom and justice, and I’m proud of my Administration’s efforts to promote gender equality worldwide.
As a nation, we’ve launched new efforts to promote women’s economic empowerment and political participation, to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, and to strengthen our commitment to helping more women participate in peacebuilding and conflict resolution. We are promoting food security initiatives that recognize the rights and needs of women farmers, and ensuring that women and girls are at the center of global health programs. And we will continue to focus on empowering women and girls at home and abroad.
We’ve also worked with a wide range of partners – from the United Nations and civil society groups to the private sector – to advance this important agenda. Because when it comes to creating a world -
U.N. Security Council hits North Korea with more sanctions
In response to North Korea's third nuclear test, the U.N. Security Council voted on Thursday to tighten financial restrictions on Pyongyang and crack down on its attempts to ship and receive banned cargo in breach of U.N. sanctions.
The U.S.-drafted resolution, approved unanimously by the 15-nation council, was the product of three weeks of negotiations between the United States and China after North Korea's February 12 test.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, said the resolution "sent an unequivocal message to (North Korea) that the international community will not tolerate its pursuit of nuclear weapons."
Read more of this story... -
A look at the state of the Venezuelan oil industry under the leadership of late President Hugo Chavez (Reuters)
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Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov writes in a condolence book as he visits the Venezuelan embassy to pay his tribute to the late Hugo Chavez in Moscow, March 6, 2013. Venezuelan President Chavez's death has unleashed a flood of emotional tributes that his allies hope will help ensure the survival of his self-styled socialist revolution when voters elect a successor. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
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Residents read the news of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez on the newspapers in a store in Sao Paulo on March 6, 2013. Chavez died on Tuesday after a two-year battle with cancer, ending 14 years of tumultuous, divisive rule that won him passionate support from the poor but the hatred of business leaders and wealthier Venezuelans. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker
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Can "Chavismo" outlast Venezuela's Chavez?
wenty years ago, Hugo Chavez launched the most powerful movement in Venezuela's history with an improvised speech of just 90 seconds.
Bound for prison after a failed February 4, 1992, coup that was the culmination of years of conspiring within the military, the then-lieutenant colonel was allowed by his captors to address the nation to exhort fellow dissident soldiers to surrender.
Read on. -
Over at the Economist, the Americas View blog argues that an election within thirty days is a tall order, both technically and politically for Chavez's allies.With millions of fervent supporters of Mr Chávez now grieving the loss of their “commander”—some of them heavily armed—the vice-president must know that he is playing with fire. Among his aims is presumably to hold together the heterogeneous coalition behind Mr Chávez’s leadership, by exaggerating the threat from its domestic and external adversaries. Despite their public show of unity, the factions within the “Bolivarian revolution” have different interests and ideologies. But they share the short-term goal of fending off an electoral challenge from an opposition that won 44% of the presidential vote last year.
Read the rest here. -
Chavez's work program did everything but work
Even with all the benefits of rising oil prices, the average Venezuelan’s standard of living increased by only 9 percent over Chavez’s tenure. Furthermore, the economy became more dependent on oil, which accounted for 96 percent of exports in 2012 compared with 76 percent in 1999.
Chavez’s aggressive economic populism seemed new, but at heart it was little more than a Bolivarian twist on the 1940s policies of Argentina’s President Juan Peron. Thanks to the world’s continuing thirst for oil Chavez’s irresponsible economic policies may, like Peron’s, retain popular appeal long after his death.
Read more from Reuters Breakingviews columnist Martin Hutchinson here.
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In January, Javier Corrales looked at Chavismo after Chavez over at Foreign Affairs.
Eager to emulate him, the revolution's caretakers will follow his lead. Since there are limits to the Chinese market for Venezuelan oil, preserving access to the U.S. oil market will thus remain the unstated goal of the Chavista revolution. Anti-imperialism will live long in Venezuela, but only if it stays true to the conservative variety that Chávez invented.
Read the rest here. -
Over at the Guardian, Rory Carroll, the author of a new biography of Hugo Chavez, remembers his life and considers the Venezuela he left behind. Watch the video here.
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Here's our latest wrap-up, looking forward to Hugo Chavez's funeral and the forthcoming presidential election that will put Chavez's VP Nicholas Maduro against opposition leader Henrique Capriles
Venezuelans mourn Chavez as focus turns to funeral, then election
Venezuelans mourned the death of Hugo Chavez and prepared on Wednesday for his body to lie in state as attention turns to a new election to succeed the socialist leader after 14 years of tumultuous and divisive rule.
Read more from Daniel Wallis and Andrew Cawthorne here. -
Death of Chavez leaves leftist void in Latin America
Allies such as Bolivian President Evo Morales vowed to carry on Chavez's dream of "Bolivarian" unity in the hemisphere, but in Cuba, heavily dependent on Venezuelan aid and oil, people fought back tears when they heard he had lost his battle with cancer.
His influence was felt throughout the region from small Caribbean islands to impoverished Nicaragua in Central America, and larger, emerging energy economies such as Ecuador and Bolivia and even South America's heavyweights Brazil and Argentina, where he found favor with left-leaning governments.
Without his ideological presence, Venezuela's influence is likely to wane and the pure financial weight of the Brazilian juggernaut could fill the gap in the region's diplomatic realignment.
Read more from Jeff Franks here. -
Despite new hopes, U.S. treads cautiously after death of Chavez
For Washington, a major test will be whether Venezuela follows its own constitution - which has been widely interpreted to require a special election to pick Chavez's successor - and if such a vote is conducted in a free and fair way in "accordance with hemispheric norms," the official said.
"We're not interested in having a confrontational relationship with Venezuela," a senior U.S. official told Reuters. "We're going to have to see how things evolve. It's a dynamic period."
Washington's challenge will be to figure out how far to go in seizing the opening to engage with Venezuelan leaders as well as its political opposition without giving the impression of U.S. meddling following the socialist president's death after a two-year battle with cancer.
Read more from Matt Spetalnick here. -
Stunned Cuba ponders future without Chavez
Chavez's resolute ideological embrace of Cuba helped propel the once isolated communist island back into the center of regional politics, and oil-rich Venezuela's largesse under Chavez proved a life saver for the embargoed and near bankrupt Caribbean island after the collapse of its longtime benefactor, the Soviet Union.
Read more from Marc Frank here. -
Supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez react to the announcement of his death in Caracas, March 5, 2013. REUTERS/Jorge Silva
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Oil analysts' reaction to death of Venezuela's Chavez
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died on Tuesday after 14 years in power, during which he remodeled the OPEC country's oil sector and nationalized foreign-run oil fields.
Oil production fell sharply during his era, dropping from some 3.5 million barrels per day when he was elected. After years of decline, Venezuela pumped just 2.34 million barrels per day last month, according to a Reuters survey of analysts who track OPEC output levels.
Read more from Reuters reporters Joshua Schneyer, Cezary Podkul, Erwin Seba, Matthew Robinson and David Sheppard -
A woman folds laundry as she watches TV after the announcement of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's death, in Managua March 5, 2013. REUTER/Inti Ocon
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Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will travel to Venezuela tomorrow, according to daily newspaper The Buenos Aires Herald. Fernandez and her late husband, the former president of Argentina, both enjoyed a strong relationship with Chavez.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (L) speaks with his Argentine counterpart Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner during a meeting to sign agreements between Venezuela and Argentina, at the Argentine Embassy in Brasilia, July 31, 2012. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelinoby Clare Richardsonon Mar 6, 2013 at 1:00 AM -
An article published today by Human Rights Watch says Chavez's tenure was marked by an "open disregard for basic human rights guarantees."
By his second full term in office, the concentration of power and erosion of human rights protections had given the government free rein to intimidate, censor, and prosecute Venezuelans who criticized the president or thwarted his political agenda.
Read the full report here. -
Who is Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles?
* A law graduate, Capriles became Venezuela's youngest legislator at the age of 26, then won the mayorship of a Caracas municipality before beating a die-hard Chavez loyalist, Diosdado Cabello, to the Miranda governor's office in 2008.
* Despite his Jewish roots, Capriles is a devout Catholic, who says his faith deepened in jail. He wears a rosary and likes to visit a shrine on Margarita island each year.
* The governor is single. He receives a torrent of marriage offers via Twitter and Facebook. He says he will find his wife and start a family in his own good time.
* Though describing himself as center-left, Capriles belongs to the more conservative Primero Justicia (First Justice) party which he helped found in 2000. Foes say he is really an "ultra-right" politician, in the pay of Venezuela's pro-U.S. traditional elite, but masquerading as a progressive.
Read more from this December 2012 article. -
The photo referenced earlier in a tweet from Patrick Witty, part of a larger Reuters Photographer's blog by Jorge Silva on Hugo Chavez, chronicling one of the final days Hugo Chavez would spend among a mass audience of Venezuelans.
by anthony.derosa via Blogs.reuters 3/5/2013 11:40:39 PM -
Video: Venezuela's VP Maduro announces death of Hugo Chavez -
Chavez supporters react to his death in Caracas. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
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Outstanding photo of Chavez in the rain by @reuters Jorge Silva. Reminiscent of Winters/Kraft Obama photo. reut.rs/RSCkYV
— Patrick Witty (@patrickwitty) March 5, 2013 -
Interactive timeline: Chavez's fight against cancer (click here for interactive)
Putin says Russia will follow up fast after Ukraine call with Biden
MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would send ideas to Washington within a week to follow up his talks with U.S. President Joe Biden on the Ukraine crisis.
