CA-NEWS Summary

Boston Marathon bombs believed packed in pressure cookers

BOSTON (Reuters) - Authorities suspect whoever perpetrated the Boston Marathon attacks carried heavy bombs made from pressure cookers in nylon bags or backpacks to launch the worst bombings on U.S. soil since security was stepped up following the September 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks. The twin blasts on Monday killed three people including an 8-year-old boy and injured 176 others, some of whom were maimed by bombs packed with ball bearings and nails. Seventeen victims remained in critical condition.

Pakistan bears brunt of Iranian earthquake, 35 killed

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake struck a border area of southeast Iran on Tuesday killing at least 35 people in neighboring Pakistan, destroying hundreds of houses and shaking buildings as far away as India and Gulf Arab states. Communications with the sparsely-populated desert and mountain region were largely cut off, making it difficult to assess Iranian casualties. But an Iranian provincial governor later said there were no reports of deaths there so far.

Venezuela accuses opposition of plotting coup, seven dead

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President-elect Nicolas Maduro accused the opposition on Tuesday of planning a coup against him after seven government supporters were killed in clashes over his disputed election victory. Opposition leader Henrique Capriles wants a full recount of votes from Sunday's election after official results showed a narrow victory for Maduro, who is late socialist leader Hugo Chavez's hand-picked successor.

At least nine killed in blast at Pakistan election rally

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - At least nine people were killed and more than 50 wounded on Tuesday when a suicide bomber attacked an election rally for a party opposed to Pakistan's Taliban movement, police said. The blast struck a gathering called by senior politicians of the Awami National Party (ANP) in the northwestern city of Peshawar ahead of the May 11 general elections.

Ivory Coast wants surveillance drones to replace U.N. troops

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council should consider deploying surveillance drones in Ivory Coast to aid the world body's peacekeeping mission in the west African country, Ivory Coast's U.N. envoy said on Tuesday, echoing a recommendation by the U.N. chief. Ivory Coast U.N. Ambassador Youssoufou Bamba told the 15-member council that surveillance drones should be deployed to offset any planned cuts to the peacekeeping force in the world's biggest cocoa producer.

Britain stages grand funeral for "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher

LONDON (Reuters) - London will stage its biggest political funeral in almost half a century on Wednesday when Britain's governing elite join the Queen and global leaders to bid farewell to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, better known as the "Iron Lady". In an event comparable to that of Winston Churchill's funeral in 1965, Thatcher's coffin will be carried atop a horse-drawn gun carriage through streets lined with admirers, and some detractors, from parliament to the city's most famous cathedral.

Brahimi eyes new U.N. envoy role in Syria, dropping Arab League: envoys

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N.-Arab League Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi hopes to revamp his role as an international peace mediator in the Syrian conflict as a United Nations envoy without any official link to the Arab bloc, U.N. diplomats said on Tuesday. Brahimi has become increasingly frustrated with the league's moves to recognize the Syrian opposition, which he feels has undermined his role as a neutral mediator, diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Quake of 6.8 magnitude recorded off Papua New Guinea: USGS

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 was recorded off the remote northern coast of Papua New Guinea at a depth of about 8 km (5 miles) on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said in a statement there was no threat of a widespread tsunami from the quake, although it warned that earthquakes of that size could generate destructive tsunamis within 100 km (60 miles) of the epicenter.

Serbian U.N. official blasts "intimidation" over justice meeting

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Serbian president of the U.N. General Assembly accused his critics on Tuesday of trying to intimidate and pressure him into canceling a special meeting on international criminal justice that the United States and other nations boycotted. The meeting last week was set up by former Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, who is serving as president of the 193-nation assembly, a largely ceremonial but high-profile post. Critics of the event said Jeremic organized it as an excuse to attack the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia - an allegation Jeremic rejected.

Plea deal talks under way for U.S. soldier accused in Iraq killings: lawyer

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier charged with killing five fellow servicemen in 2009 at a military counseling center in Iraq is seeking a plea deal with Army prosecutors that would spare him from facing the death penalty, his lawyer told Reuters on Tuesday. Army Sergeant John Russell, under confinement at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington, is accused of going on a shooting frenzy at Camp Liberty, adjacent to the Baghdad airport, in an attack his lawyers have insisted stemmed from combat stress.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-000739406.html

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