CA-NEWS Summary

Cardinals head to conclave to elect pope for troubled Church

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Roman Catholic cardinals prayed on Tuesday for divine help in choosing a new pope, hours before they go into a conclave to elect a pontiff who will face one of the most difficult periods in the Church's history. The red-hatted cardinals filed into St. Peter's Basilica as choirs sang at a solemn Mass that traditionally precedes the secret conclave, which could last for several days.

Falkland Islanders vote overwhelmingly to keep British rule

STANLEY, Falkland Islands (Reuters) - Residents of the Falkland Islands voted almost unanimously to stay under British rule in a referendum aimed at winning global sympathy as Argentina intensifies its sovereignty claim. The official count on Monday showed 99.8 percent of islanders voted in favor of remaining a British Overseas Territory in the two-day poll, which was rejected by Argentina as a meaningless publicity stunt. There only three "no" votes out of about 1,500 cast.

Deadly abuses intensify in Syria as war worsens: U.N.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The Syrian government has stepped up indiscriminate, heavy bombardments of cities while rebels are executing prisoners condemned in their own makeshift courts without due process, U.N. investigators said on Monday. The independent investigators said they were looking into 20 massacres committed by one or the other side and hundreds of "unlawful killings", cases of torture and arbitrary arrests since September in the two-year-old conflict.

No "smoking gun" from last month's North Korean nuclear test

VIENNA (Reuters) - A month after North Korea's nuclear test, a monitoring agency said on Tuesday it was highly unlikely to find any "smoking gun" radioactive traces from the blast, potentially leaving key questions about the device unresolved. The lack of this kind of scientific evidence may make it difficult to determine what fissile material was used in the isolated Asian state's third nuclear test, which was detected by seismic monitors.

Russian suspect rejects British inquiry into polonium death

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian suspect in the death of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko said on Tuesday he would no longer cooperate with a British inquiry into the former KGB agent's radiation poisoning in London. Andrei Lugovoy, a former security agent who is now a member of Russia's parliament, told a news conference in Moscow that Britain was trying to hide the truth about Litvinenko's death in November 2006 by keeping evidence secret.

Snow disrupts transport across northwestern Europe

BRUSSELS/PARIS (Reuters) - An overnight snowstorm in northwestern Europe forced the closure of Frankfurt Airport, caused record traffic jams in Belgium, and left British and French drivers sleeping in their cars. Take-offs and landings at Europe's third-busiest airport were halted at around noon on Tuesday to clear snow from the runways. It was set to reopen at around 8.30 a.m. ET.

Bulgaria president taps diplomat as interim PM: sources

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's president was set to name diplomat Marin Raikov as interim prime minister on Tuesday, two sources with direct knowledge of the process said, as he seeks to shore up confidence after protests felled the previous administration. Rosen Plevneliev's choice of an independent figure as prime minister is designed to show protesters a clean break with a political class they view as corrupt and unable to improve living standards in the European Union's poorest member.

Russian forces kill seven suspected militants in Caucasus: report

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian security forces killed seven suspected Islamist militants in the restive North Caucasus province of Kabardino-Balkaria on Tuesday, the Interfax news agency reported. Three suspected militants were killed when security forces fired on two cars whose drivers did not respond to demands to show identification documents, Interfax cited unidentified law enforcement officials as saying.

EU targets Iranian judges, media bosses with sanctions

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union imposed sanctions on Tuesday on an Iranian police unit monitoring the Internet, as well on several judges and media bosses the bloc blames for human rights violations in the Islamic Republic. The sanctions reflect mounting concerns about human rights in Iran and are separate from measures against Tehran over its nuclear program, which governments in the European Union and elsewhere suspect has a covert military dimension.

Myanmar copper mine told to compensate for land grabs

YANGON (Reuters) - People whose land was seized to allow the expansion of a copper mine in northwestern Myanmar, prompting protests that were crushed by police, should be compensated before the project goes ahead, according to an official report published on Tuesday. The report, led by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, also found that inexperienced police fired smoke bombs containing harmful phosphorous into a protesters' camp at the Monywa copper mine last November, causing serious injuries.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-002612806.html

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