Cyprus lawmakers reject bank tax; bailout in disarray
NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus overwhelmingly rejected a proposed levy on bank deposits as a condition for a European bailout on Tuesday, throwing international efforts to rescue the latest casualty of the euro zone debt crisis into disarray. The vote in the tiny legislature was a stunning setback for the 17-nation currency bloc, angering European partners and raising fears the crisis could spread; lawmakers in Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy have all accepted austerity measures over the last three years to secure European aid.
Obama heads to Israel amid low expectations
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Barack Obama arrives in Israel on Wednesday without any new peace initiative to offer disillusioned Palestinians and facing deep Israeli doubts over his pledge to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. Making his first official visit here as president, Obama hopes to reset his often fraught relations with both the Israelis and Palestinians in a carefully choreographed three-day stay that is high on symbolism but low on expectations.
Al Qaeda in Africa says it beheads French hostage: agency
NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's wing in north Africa said it had beheaded a French hostage in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali, Mauritania's ANI news agency reported on Tuesday, citing a spokesman for the group. In what ANI reported was a telephone call to the agency, which has close links to Islamist militants, the commander said Philippe Verdon had been beheaded on March 10 "in response to the French military intervention in the north of Mali", ANI reported.
China's new diplomats signal thaw with Japan, keeping U.S. at bay
BEIJING (Reuters) - New Chinese leader Xi Jinping's appointment of two top diplomats last week displays a desire to repair relations with long-time rival Japan after months of disruption, while keeping the United States and its strategic pivot to Asia at bay. Yang Jiechi, a hard-nosed former ambassador to Washington, has been named the state councilor in charge of the foreign ministry, its top post. A fluent English-speaker, he firmly believes the United States should stay out of regional Asian affairs such as the South China Sea dispute.
Pope sets tone for humbler papacy, calls for defense of the weak
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis set the tone for a new, humbler papacy at his inaugural Mass on Tuesday where he called for the Church to defend the weak and protect the environment. Addressing up to 200,000 people including many foreign leaders gathered under bright sunshine in St. Peter's Square, the Argentine pope underlined his central message since he was elected by a secret conclave of cardinals last Wednesday - that the Church's mission was to defend the poor and disadvantaged.
Alleged chemical attack kills 25 in northern Syria
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's government and rebels accused each other of launching a deadly chemical attack near the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday in what would, if confirmed, be the first use of such weapons in the two-year conflict. U.S. President Barack Obama, who has resisted overt military intervention in Syria, has warned President Bashar al-Assad that any use of chemical weapons would be a "red line". There has, however, been no suggestion of rebels possessing such arms.
Bombs kill nearly 60 on Iraq invasion anniversary
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than a dozen car bombs and suicide blasts tore through Shi'ite Muslim districts in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and other areas on Tuesday, killing nearly 60 people on the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. Sunni Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda are regaining ground in Iraq, invigorated by the war next door in Syria and have stepped up attacks on Shi'ite targets in an attempt to provoke a wider sectarian confrontation.
U.S. working out transfer of Congo war suspect to ICC
KIGALI (Reuters) - The U.S. Embassy in Rwanda was on Tuesday working out the logistics of transferring a Congolese warlord to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a day after Bosco Ntaganda walked off the street to face war crimes charges. Ntaganda stunned embassy staff in Kigali when he gave himself up, a seemingly meek end to a 15-year long career that saw him fight as a rebel and government soldier on both sides of the Rwanda-Congo border.
U.N. arms embargoes don't work, arms treaty needed: rights group
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. arms embargoes inevitably fail because international arms trade is a virtual free-for-all due to the lack of regulation for the $70 billion global weapons commerce, the rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday. "The United Nations Security Council arms embargoes are always flouted and circumvented and violated because the system of state regulation around the world is not strict enough," Brian Wood, Amnesty's head of arms control and human rights said on the sidelines of a U.N. arms treaty drafting conference.
Rwanda refuses visas for two U.N. Congo sanctions experts
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Rwanda has refused to issue entry visas to two members of a U.N. expert panel that accused Kigali last year of arming rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, describing them as biased, Rwandan and other diplomats said on Tuesday. Several U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, disputed the allegations of bias.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-000945250.html
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Born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1909, Eudora Welty was one of the greatest writers the American South produced. In 1933, however, she was just a recent college grad, ?six weeks on the loose in N.Y.,? and she needed a job. In pursuit of that, she wrote one of the most charming cover letters I?ve ever read. That letter to the New Yorker breaks all the rules of cover letters: It?s too long, it meanders far from her accomplishments and qualifications, she makes a cheesy pun, she insults her most recent job, and she speaks openly of needing money. But it?s also beautiful and intriguing, and she promises ?I would work like a slave,? which every employer wants to hear.