CA-NEWS Summary

China appoints Li Keqiang as new premier

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's legislature formally chose Li Keqiang as premier on Friday, installing an English-speaking bureaucrat as the man in charge of the economy, the world's second-largest, and its aim of reviving growth through consumer-led expansion. The largely rubber-stamp National People's Congress, as expected, chose Li, 57, to replace Wen Jiabao.

Voters deliver backlash over Greenland's minerals rush

NUUK (Reuters) - Aleqa Hammond looked set to be Greenland's first female prime minister on Wednesday after winning 42 percent of votes in elections on a platform of greater control and heavier taxation of foreign mining. The opening of the country of 57,000, which is a quarter the size of the United States, to foreign miners has sparked a backlash from its traditional Inuit people, many of whom fear both Chinese influence and environmental damage.

Canada eyes "Buy America" relief in Trans-Pacific pact

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canada is pushing hard in trade talks with the United States and nine other countries for changes to U.S. "Buy America" provisions that have complicated cross-border trade, a top Canadian official said on Friday. "Those provisions don't only have a negative impact on Canada, they have a negative impact on American businesses who are dependent on our integrated supply chains," Canadian Trade Minister Ed Fast said in an interview.

Syria threatens to strike at rebels in Lebanon

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria has warned it may strike at rebels hiding in neighboring Lebanon if the Lebanese army does not act, as its patience "is not unlimited", the state news agency SANA said on Friday. Syria's Foreign Ministry told its Lebanese counterpart late on Thursday that a "large number" of militants had crossed Lebanon's northern border into the Syrian town of Tel Kalakh over the past two days, SANA said.

Blasts, clashes kill at least 25 in central Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Coordinated blasts killed at least 25 people in the heart of Baghdad on Thursday near the heavily fortified Green Zone, where several Western embassies are located, police and medics said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosions, but Sunni Muslim insurgents have been redoubling their efforts to undermine Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and foment inter-communal conflict this year.

Afghanistan's biggest-ever truck bomb defused in Kabul: spy agency

KABUL (Reuters) - Security forces in the Afghan capital have defused a truck bomb packed with nearly eight tonnes of explosives, the biggest of its kind discovered in the country, the spy agency said on Friday amid heightened security. Intelligence forces discovered the explosives in eastern Kabul, wired and ready for detonation, security officials said. Five al-Qaeda linked Haqqani network insurgents were killed in a resulting firefight.

New pope urges Church to return to its Gospel roots

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - In his first public Mass, Pope Francis urged the Catholic Church on Thursday to stick to its Gospel roots and shun modern temptations, warning that it would become just another charitable group if it forgot its true mission. In a heartfelt, simple homily, the Argentinian pope laid out a clear moral path for the 1.2-billion-member Church, which is beset by scandals, intrigue and strife.

Analysis: Obama won't trip over Netanyahu's Iran "red line"

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Barack Obama visits Israel next week at the onset of spring - the "red line" previously drawn by his host, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to trigger an attack on Iran's nuclear sites. But an Israeli-Iranian war, Washington's nightmare as it tries to scale back defense commitments abroad and avoid a draining Gulf oil crisis, does not appear trip-wire imminent.

Israelis, Palestinians pin no peace hopes on Obama trip

SDEROT, Israel/GAZA (Reuters) - Five years ago, a few months after a Palestinian rocket crashed through his kitchen ceiling, Pinhas Amar received a more welcome guest at his southern Israeli home - Barack Obama, then running for president of the United States. Amar holds up a picture he now keeps in a back room - unframed and glued to thin cardboard with crumpled corners - of himself showing the missile damage to Obama. He was impressed by the candidate, he says. The president Obama became: less so.

Iraq war costs U.S. more than $2 trillion: study

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, a study released on Thursday said. The war has killed at least 134,000 Iraqi civilians and may have contributed to the deaths of as many as four times that number, according to the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-024231975.html

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