CA-NEWS Summary

Three men charged with undermining Boston bombing probe

BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Wednesday charged three men with interfering with the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing, saying they hid fireworks and a backpack belonging to one of the suspected bombers as a manhunt was under way. The three, two students from Kazakhstan and a U.S. citizen, were described as college friends of surviving bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. They were not charged with direct involvement in the April 15 marathon bombings, which killed three people and injured 264.

Italy's Letta wins French backing for focus on growth

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's new prime minister Enrico Letta won French backing on Wednesday for calls to spur economic growth alongside budget rigor, but problems lay closer to home with coalition partners demanding tax cuts that would blow a hole in the budget. Letta, who took his message to Berlin on Tuesday, met French President Francois Hollande and said he was "100 percent satisfied" with the meeting and Hollande's response to his calls for Europe to start focusing on growth as well as consolidation.

EU considers trade action after Bangladesh factory collapse

DHAKA (Reuters) - The European Union is considering trade action against Bangladesh, which has preferential access to EU markets for its garments, to pressure Dhaka to improve safety standards after a building collapse killed more than 400 factory workers. Duty-free access offered by Western countries and low wages have helped turn Bangladesh's garment exports into a $19 billion a year industry, with 60 percent of clothes going to Europe.

From Toronto to Dagestan; Canadian jihadi draws parallels with Tsarnaev

UTAMYSH, Dagestan, Russia (Reuters) - A mess of rubble, ash and charred vehicles is all that's left at the desolate farmhouse where a Canadian Muslim convert died fighting his last battle alongside Islamist insurgents in the Russian region of Dagestan. At the time, few people beyond local villagers noticed William Plotnikov's death in a region where skirmishes occur daily. But almost a year on, Plotnikov has emerged into the limelight following the Boston Marathon bombings.

Most Americans do not want U.S. involved in Syria: Reuters/Ipsos poll

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans do not want to intervene in Syria's civil war, although the percentage in favor more than doubles if President Bashar al-Assad's forces use chemical weapons against their people, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday. Only 10 percent of those surveyed in the online poll said the United States should intervene in the fighting. Sixty-one percent opposed getting involved.

Turkey investigates use of chemical weapons in Syria

REYHANLI, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey is testing blood samples taken from Syrian casualties brought over the border from fighting in recent days to determine whether they were victims of a chemical weapons attack, local government and health officials said on Wednesday. The samples were sent to Turkey's forensic medicine institute after several Syrians with breathing difficulties were brought to a Turkish hospital on Monday in the town of Reyhanli in Hatay province along the Syrian border.

Bolivia expels U.S. aid agency after Kerry 'backyard' comment

LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivian President Evo Morales expelled a U.S. development agency from his country on Wednesday, marking the latest confrontation between Washington and a bloc of left-wing governments in Latin America. Morales said he was kicking out the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as a "protest" after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently referred to Latin America as Washington's "backyard." The term evokes strong emotions in the region, which experienced several U.S.-backed coups during the Cold War.

At least 22 killed in Iraq attacks

RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - At least 22 people were killed in attacks across Iraq on Wednesday, police and medics said, after weeks of intensifying violence that threatens all-out sectarian conflict. Iraq has become increasingly volatile as the civil war in neighboring Syria strains fragile relations between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims. Tensions are at their highest since U.S. troops pulled out of the country more than a year ago.

Japan PM's "stealth" constitution plan raises civil rights fears

TOKYO (Reuters) - Shinzo Abe makes no secret of wanting to revise Japan's constitution, which was drafted by the United States after World War Two, to formalize the country's right to have a military - but critics say his plans go deeper and could return Japan to its socially conservative, authoritarian past. Abe, 58, returned to office in December for a second term as prime minister and is enjoying sky-high support on the back of his "Abenomics" recipe for reviving the economy through hyper-easy monetary policy, big spending and structural reform.

Venezuelans hold rival May Day marches as vote dispute drags on

CARACAS (Reuters) - Opposition and government supporters flooded Venezuelan streets in rival May Day marches on Wednesday as a continuing dispute over the results of last month's presidential vote kept political tensions high in the OPEC nation. On Tuesday, opposition deputies were beaten in a fracas in Congress resulting from their refusal to recognize the presidency of Nicolas Maduro, who narrowly won the April 14 election triggered by the death of socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-005657182.html

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