Var Local

Burkina Faso presidential guard should be disbanded, panel says | Reuters

OUAGADOUGOU Burkina Faso's powerful presidential guard should be dismantled, according to a commission charged with proposing reforms after a popular uprising toppled the West African nation's longtime president. The elite unit, known locally as the RSP, was a key pillar of President Blaise Compaore's regime before mass demonstrations forced him to flee the country last October, ending 27 years of rule

Egyptian forces mistake Mexicans for militants, kill 12 in air raid | Reuters

CAIRO Egyptian Army aircraft hunting for militants in the desert mistakenly bombed a convoy of mostly Mexican tourists, killing 12 people and wounding 10, authorities said on Monday. Survivors said their group was bombed from a plane and helicopters. As members of the tourist convoy tried to flee, additional forces on the ground fired on them, Egyptian security sources said.

Embattled Australian PM dismisses speculation over leadership, election | Reuters

SYDNEY Conservative Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott dismissed mounting speculation on Monday that his position is in danger, playing down talk that he may call a snap election to stem off a leadership coup from within his own party. Abbott emerged badly weakened from a leadership challenge by lawmakers in his own Liberal Party in February, which came about after weeks of infighting and dismal poll numbers, and pledged a new spirit of conciliation. He and his government have since consistently lagged the centre-left opposition Labor Party in opinion polls, helping to fuel speculation over how long his party would give him to turn things around.

Afghan Taliban storm jail, release hundreds of prisoners - police | Reuters

GHAZNI, Afghanistan Taliban insurgents stormed a prison in the central Afghan city of Ghazni early on Monday, killing police and releasing hundreds of prisoners, police said. A Reuters reporter at the scene saw the bodies of two men who appeared to be suicide bombers and a blown-up car that had apparently been used to destroy the main entrance of the jail. It appeared almost all the prisoners had escaped.

Twenty eight refugees drown off Greek island | Reuters

ATHENS Twenty eight refugees drowned off a Greek island on Sunday when their boat sank, the coastguard said, thought to be the largest recorded death toll from any single accident in Greek waters since the refugee crisis began. "A wooden vessel carrying them overturned about three miles east of Farmakonisi early Sunday," a coastguard spokeswoman told Reuters. The accident coincided with a plea from Greek caretaker Prime Minister Vasiliki Thanou for the European Union to agree a more comprehensive policy for dealing with the increasing numbers fleeing to the region to escape war and poverty

China unveils details of state-firm reform as growth sputters | Reuters

BEIJING China unveiled details on Sunday of how it would restructure its mammoth state enterprise sector, including partial privatisation, as data pointed to a cooling in the world's second-largest economy.

Utility debts threaten Modi's power-for-all drive | Reuters

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI With a three-year government rescue package coming to a close, the highly indebted state of Rajasthan is getting tough - it's demanding farmers start paying for their electricity.

In India, utility debts threaten Modi's power-for-all drive | Reuters

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI With a three-year government rescue package coming to a close, the highly indebted northern Indian state of Rajasthan is getting tough - it's demanding farmers start paying for their electricity. In a country where rural communities have become used to free power by hook or by crook, the state that is home to some 70 million is tasking private firms with running power distribution in its big cities as it tries to recoup what it's owed. Restructured power distribution debts alone amount to a quarter of Indian banks' problematic loans, and Rajasthan's state-run utilities owe about 610 billion Indian rupees ($9.2 billion), with some 30 billion rupees due by end-March.

At least 65 dead in Grand Mosque in Mecca from falling crane | Reuters

RIYADH At least 65 people were killed when a crane crashed in Mecca's Grand Mosque on Friday, Saudi Arabia's Civil Defence authority said, in an accident that came just weeks before Islam's annual haj pilgrimage. The civil defence said on its Twitter account 154 people were also injured in the accident. Al Arabiya television earlier said the crane had fallen because of strong storms - western Saudi Arabia has been hit by strong sand storms in the last few days

Oil slides as Goldman Sachs cuts price forecast | Reuters

NEW YORK Crude futures fell on Friday after Wall Street's most influential voice in oil trading, Goldman Sachs, slashed its price outlook through next year, citing oversupply and concerns about China's economy. Joining Germany's Commerzbank and a long list of other banks in cutting price projections, Goldman lowered its 2016 forecast for U.S. crude to $45 a barrel from $57 previously, and Brent to $49.50 from $62