Reuters: Top News - Breaking News - World News [March ‘11 Diet]

[Reuters]

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrian forces fired into the air on Monday to disperse a pro-democracy protest in the southern flashpoint city of Deraa, where reformists want to overthrow the 41-year rule of the Assad family.

Source: Syrian forces fired warning shots in Deraa

[Reuters]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of U.S. Army soldiers accused of killing unarmed Afghan civilians in cold blood did not act clandestinely as the Pentagon has implied but in plain view of their combat unit, Rolling Stone magazine reported on Monday.

Source: Soldiers in Afghan killings operated openly: report

[Reuters]

SANAA (Reuters) - Yemeni protesters demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule said on Tuesday they would insist he leave power soon, blaming him for violence that has raised U.S. fears of chaos that could benefit militants.

Source: Yemenis blame Saleh as security deteriorates

[Reuters]

TOKYO (Reuters) - Over the past two weeks, Japanese government officials and Tokyo Electric Power executives have repeatedly described the deadly combination of the most powerful quake in Japan's history and the massive tsunami that followed as "soteigai," or beyond expectations.

Source: Special Report: Japan engineers knew tsunami could overrun plant

[Reuters]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former portfolio manager at Raj Rajaratnam's Galleon Group described pressure at the hedge fund to get "an edge" in trading and said he gave inside tips from a Morgan Stanley investment banker to his boss.

Source: Rajaratnam manager testifies he gave his boss tips

[Reuters]

MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) - A Wisconsin judge issued a revised order on Tuesday blocking implementation of a controversial state law curbing collective bargaining by public unions while she hears a legal challenge to the proposed law.

Source: Judge again blocks Wisconsin's anti-union law

[Reuters]

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on Tuesday signed into law a controversial bill that makes the state the first in the nation to outlaw abortions performed on the basis of the race or gender of the fetus.

Source: Arizona enacts ban on abortions based on gender, race

[Reuters]

LONDON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's most influential English-language preacher said revolts sweeping the Arab world would help rather than harm its cause by giving Islamists freed from tyranny greater scope to speak out.

Source: Qaeda: Arab revolts herald "great leap forward"

[Reuters]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to kill President Barack Obama's signature program to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Source: House votes to kill main Obama foreclosure aid

[Reuters]

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad defied calls on Wednesday to lift a decades-old emergency law and said Syria was the target of a foreign conspiracy to stir up protests in which more than 60 people have been killed.

Source: Assad sees Syria plot, unyielding on emergency law