CA-NEWS Summary

Cyprus reworks divisive bank tax, delays vote

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cypriot ministers scrambled to revise a plan to seize money from bank deposits before a parliamentary vote on Tuesday that will either secure the island's financial rescue or threaten its default. The weekend announcement that Cyprus would impose a tax on bank accounts as part of a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout by the European Union broke with previous practice that depositors' savings were sacrosanct. The euro and stock markets fell on concern the euro zone crisis was reigniting.

Many questions, few answers await Obama on Mideast visit

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is due to make his first official visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories this week, looking to improve ties after sometimes rocky relations with both sides during his first term in office. Obama is not expected to come with any new Palestinian peace initiative and will spend most of his time in Israel, the closest U.S. ally in the Middle East, where he will make a keynote speech to hundreds of students.

Nigeria Islamists holding hostages threaten Cameroon

PARIS (Reuters) - The father of a family of seven French tourists kidnapped by a Nigerian Islamist group read out a threat by them in an audio tape to increase kidnappings and suicide bombings in Cameroon if authorities there detain more of the group's followers. Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, in a tape obtained by local journalists in Nigeria on Monday and whose authenticity was being checked by the French Foreign Office, appealed to the government of Cameroon, where his family was kidnapped last month, to free prisoners of Islamist sect Boko Haram as a condition of the family's release.

Jailed Kurdish rebel to make "historic call" in Turkey peace process

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan said he would make a "historic" appeal on Thursday, raising expectations of ceasefire in a 28-year-old conflict which has riven Turkey, killing some 40,000 people, and battered its economy. Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) leader Selahattin Demirtas, a member of parliament, conveyed Ocalan's statement on his return to Istanbul on Monday from a visit to his prison on the island of Imrali. A ceasefire could cement talks with the government that have been progressing tentatively since October.

Car bomb kills at least 10 in Somali capital

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A suicide bomber who set out to assassinate a senior Somali security official blew up his car in central Mogadishu on Monday, missing his target but killing at least 10 people in the city's deadliest attack this year, police and rebels said. Witnesses said the car bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying Mogadishu security chief Khalif Ahmed Ilig and other officers along the capital's busy Maka al Mukarram road.

Argentina's Fernandez asks Pope to intervene over Falklands

ROME (Reuters) - Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez has asked Pope Francis to intervene in support of Buenos Aires in a dispute with Britain over the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, she said on Monday. Fernandez had lunch with the former Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio in the Vatican shortly after arriving in Rome to attend his inaugural papal mass on Tuesday.

Lawyers for Kenya's Kenyatta say war crimes case in tatters

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Lawyers for Kenya's president-elect Uhuru Kenyatta said charges of crimes against humanity against him should be withdrawn after the collapse of the case against his co-accused, but prosecutors at the International Criminal Court said they had new evidence. Kenyatta, whose election earlier this month is being challenged by his rival, faces charges at the ICC over bloodshed in the aftermath of Kenya's 2007 election.

Europe wants actions from Azerbaijan on human rights

TBILISI (Reuters) - Azerbaijan must uphold European human rights standards and move from promises to real promotion of basic freedoms, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights said on Monday. Azerbaijan, a mainly Muslim former Soviet republic, has been governed by President Ilham Aliyev since he succeeded his father in 2003. It has been courted by the West because of its role as an alternative to Russia in supplying oil and gas to Europe.

NATO chief says Karzai accusation "absolutely ridiculous"

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The head of NATO said on Monday it was "absolutely ridiculous" for Afghan President Hamid Karzai to accuse the United States of colluding with the Taliban and said Kabul should recognize sacrifices made by other countries on Afghanistan's behalf. Karzai marred a debut visit to Afghanistan by the new U.S. defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, on March 10 by accusing Washington and the Taliban of colluding to convince Afghans that foreign forces were needed beyond 2014, when NATO is set to wrap up its combat mission and most foreign troops are to withdraw.

Rwanda says war crimes suspect surrenders at U.S. Embassy

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Rwandan-born former Congolese general Bosco Ntaganda, wanted by the International Criminal Court for suspected war crimes in Congo, has given himself up at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said on Monday. "We have learned today that Bosco Ntaganda entered Rwanda and surrendered to (the) U.S. Embassy in Kigali," she posted on Twitter.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-002901942.html

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