CA-NEWS Summary

Heading to G7, U.S. tells Japan to stick to currency rules

AYLESBURY, England (Reuters) - The United States told Japan on Friday to stick to the rules when it came to the value of its currency, setting the stage for a potentially frank meeting of G7 finance ministers outside London. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Japan had "growth issues" that needed to be dealt with but that its attempts to stimulate its economy needed to stay within the bounds of international agreements to avoid competitive devaluations.

Woman pulled alive from rubble of Bangladesh factory

SAVAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Rescuers pulled a woman on Friday from the rubble of a Bangladesh garment factory 17 days after it collapsed, astonishing workmen who had been searching for bodies of victims of a disaster that has killed more than 1,000 people. Hundreds of onlookers burst into cheers as army engineers pulled the woman from the basement of the building after a workman helping to clear the wreckage reported hearing her faint cries of "Save me, save me" from beneath the ruins.

Explosions hit two police stations in Libya's Benghazi

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A bomb exploded outside a police station in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi in the early hours of Friday, damaging the building and shattering the windows of a school opposite but causing no injuries, a police official said. Around the same time, about 4 a.m., a second police station was hit by a smaller explosive device that may have been a grenade, a witness said. No injuries were reported there either.

Khamenei adviser enters Iran's presidential contest

DUBAI (Reuters) - An adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei joined the presidential race on Friday, with powerful conservatives keen to make the June vote a peaceful contrast to the upheaval that followed the disputed 2009 poll. Khamenei has the final say on all matters in Iran and in theory stands above the political fray, but it is thought he wants a reliable follower in the presidency after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's two turbulent terms in office.

Deadlock looms for Bulgaria as election nears

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's two main political parties were making their final attempts to woo frustrated voters before an election on Sunday that is likely to lead to a prolonged period of horse-trading to form a government. Former bodyguard Boiko Borisov's center-right GERB was forced to resign in February after thousands of people took to the streets to protest against high utility bills, entrenched corruption and low living standards.

Russia says no plans to sell air defense system to Syria: agency

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has no plans to sell Syria an advanced air defense system, its foreign minister said on Friday, denying media reports that it planned such a sale. Itar-Tass news agency quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying Russia would be fulfilling contracts it has already concluded with Damascus but that this did not include sales of the S-300 system.

Radical cleric Abu Qatada to leave Britain voluntarily

LONDON (Reuters) - Radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada will return to Jordan voluntarily when the Jordanian parliament ratifies a deal with Britain that ensures he will receive a fair trial, the cleric's lawyer told a London court on Friday. Abu Qatada's pledge is a victory for the British government after nearly eight years of unsuccessful attempts to deport the cleric, who is accused of spreading radical ideas that once inspired one of the September 11, 2001 hijackers.

Police shield Jewish women activists in confrontation at Western Wall

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police held back thousands of ultra-conservative Jews who tried to drive liberal women worshippers from Judaism's sacred Western Wall on Friday, marking a shift in the authorities' handling of a long-running religious schism. Ultra-Orthodox protesters dressed in traditional dark clothing threw chairs and water at the women, then later stoned their buses. Two policemen were hurt.

Three suicide attacks strike army, Nigerien soldiers in Mali

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Suspected Islamists carried out three attacks on soldiers from Mali and Niger in northern Mali on Friday, injuring one Malian soldier and leaving at least five suicide bombers dead, a spokesman for Mali's army said. The attacks took place between 4 and 5 a.m. in Menaka and Gossi, near Gao - the first major town freed from the control of Islamist fighters during a French-led military intervention earlier this year.

Insight: In eastern Syria oil smugglers benefit from chaos

BEIRUT (Reuters) - In Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zor, a network of tribes and smugglers has exploited the chaos of war to create an illicit oil trade that makes European hopes of buying crude from President Bashar al-Assad's opponents a distant prospect. Powerful Sunni Muslim tribes have deployed armed fighters around oil production facilities and pipelines that have fallen under their control and set up smuggling and trade deals, according to sources in the province including rebels, an oil company employee and people with ties to the tribes.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-000638230.html

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