CA-NEWS Summary

Five criteria Obama may weigh in seeking Bernanke successor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the summer of 2009, with the U.S. economy badly wounded and the nation's financial calamity still a vivid memory, President Barack Obama's closest aides began a vital discussion about who he should nominate to run the Federal Reserve. It was, according several former insiders, a short conversation. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was battling resolutely to restore growth, hiring and financial stability, and little serious consideration was given to an alternative.

Russia can replace Austria in U.N. Golan monitoring force: Putin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is ready to replace peacekeepers from Austria in the Golan Heights, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, after Vienna said it would recall its troops from a U.N. monitoring force due to worsening fighting in Syria. Austria, whose peacekeepers account for about 380 of the 1,000-strong U.N. force observing a four-decade-old ceasefire between Syria and Israel, said it would pull out after intense clashes between Syrian government forces and rebels on the border.

Iraq bomber hits Iranian pilgrims, at least nine dead

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber rammed his car into a bus carrying Iranian Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims in Iraq on Friday, killing at least nine people in an attack likely carried out by Sunni Muslim insurgents trying to ignite sectarian conflict. Al Qaeda's local wing and other Sunni insurgents have been on the offensive since the start of the year in an attempt - spurred in part by the mainly Sunni rebellion in neighboring Syria - to provoke the kind of Shi'ite-Sunni bloodshed that killed thousands in Iraq in 2006-2007.

Leftist former French prime minister Mauroy dies

PARIS (Reuters) - Former French prime minister Pierre Mauroy, who pushed through a string of worker benefits as the head of modern France's first Socialist government, has died aged 84, the government said on Friday. Mauroy had been admitted to a hospital in the Paris region last weekend, a year after undergoing surgery for a cancerous tumor in his lung.

North Korea reopens hotline with South, seeks weekend talks

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea reopened a Red Cross hotline with South Korea on Friday and invited officials from Seoul to talks over the weekend, a further sign the North wants to improve ties after a barrage of threats to wage war this year. On Thursday, North Korea proposed talks to normalize commercial projects, including a joint industrial zone it shut down at the height of tension in early April.

Iran not U.N. nuclear watchdog's only headache, report shows

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran may be the U.N. nuclear watchdog's biggest headache but it is not the only country stalling inspectors' requests for atomic-related information, a new IAEA report suggests. Tasked with preventing the spread of nuclear bombs in the world, the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency inspects reactors and related sites globally to ensure that sensitive fissile material is not diverted for military purposes.

Russia's Putin and wife say their marriage is over

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, told Russians on Thursday that their 30-year marriage was over, confirming longstanding speculation that they had separated. In a rare appearance together on state television, Putin was asked about rumors that they no longer lived together and answered: "That is true."

Turkish PM to protesters: Stop now

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan flew back to a Turkey rocked by days of anti-government unrest on Friday and declared before a sea of flag-waving supporters at Istanbul airport: "These protests must end immediately." "No power but Allah can stop Turkey's rise," he told thousands who gathered in the early hours to greet him in the first pro-Erdogan rally since demonstrations began a week ago.

China grants dissident's brother passport ahead of Xi-Obama meet

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has granted passports to the mother and eldest brother of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng which they hope to use to visit him in the United States, the brother said in Friday, a concession by Beijing ahead of a Sino-U.S. summit. The treatment of Chen Guangcheng's family has received prominent attention from the United States, especially as Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama meet this week in California.

Japan approves national security council bills amid China tensions

TOKYO (Reuters) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government on Friday approved legislation to set up a national security council, moving to strengthen the premier's grip on foreign policy in the face of North Korean missile threats and a territorial dispute with China. The hawkish Abe has pursued the formation of Japan's version of the White House's National Security Council to centralize information gathering and speed up decision-making, a move welcomed by U.S. security experts.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-000055334.html

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