World

UNITED NATIONS/ BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria has pledged to withdraw all military units from towns by April 10 to pave the way for a ceasefire with rebels two days later, though Western envoys were skeptical yesterday about Damascus’ intent to halt its year-long assault on opponents.

SANFORD, Fla (Reuters) – George Zimmerman will surrender to authorities if he is charged in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, his attorney said yesterday.

OAKLAND, Calif (Reuters) – A gunman opened fire at a private Christian college in California yesterday, killing at least seven people and wounding three others after telling former classmates to “get in line … I’m going to kill you all.”

(Reuters) – Coty Inc disclosed yesterday that it had offered $10 billion for Avon Products Inc but the larger company, which is grappling with sliding sales and a bribery probe, rejected the bid as too low and “opportunistic”.

A Haitian woman working at a Maryland, US McDonald’s is one of three persons to win the Mega Millions US jackpot of US$656M but there is some controversy over whether her co-workers should also benefit.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Britain is to allow one of its intelligence agencies to monitor all phone calls, texts, emails and online activities in the country to help tackle crime and militant attacks, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.

ISTANBUL, (Reuters) – Western and Arab nations stepped up verbal pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad yesterday, mistrusting his acceptance of a plan to end a year of bloodshed, but stopped short of arming rebels or fully recognising an opposition council.

YANGON, (Reuters) – Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi won a seat in parliament yesterday, her party said, after an historic by-election that is testing the country’s nascent reform credentials and could persuade the West to end sanctions.

BAMAKO, (Reuters) – Mali’s junta yielded to the threat of sanctions yesterday, pledging to start handing power back to civilians before a midnight deadline, while in the north, separatist rebels seized the ancient trading post of Timbuktu.

MIAMI, (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters gathered in a downtown bayfront park yesterday demanding the arrest of the neighbourhood watch volunteer who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin, in central Florida a month ago.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Former Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid, who struggled to overcome one of the country’s worst economic crises and a devastating earthquake in the 1980s, died yesterday at the age of 77.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, in a policy U-turn, yesterday named its deputy leader and businessman Khairat al-Shater as its presidential candidate for a vote in May after initially pledging it would not run for the nation’s top job.

YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar holds crucial by-elections today that are expected to see Aung San Suu Kyi, who led the fight for democracy under the former junta, entering parliament for the first time and could lead to an easing of sanctions by the West.

GAO/BAMAKO (Reuters) – Mali’s army abandoned its military bases around the key northern garrison town of Gao yesterday after a fierce assault by heavily armed rebels, military and civilian sources said.

ATLANTA (Reuters) – Three lucky ticket-holders in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland will share the largest lottery jackpot in US history of $656 million, after about 1.5 billion $1 tickets were sold, lottery officials said yesterday.

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba has declared next week’s Good Friday a holiday following a request from Pope Benedict during his visit to the island, state media said yesterday.

BEIRUT, (Reuters) – Syrian artillery hit parts of Homs city and at least 37 people were killed in clashes around Syria yesterday, opposition activists said, as peace envoy Kofi Annan told President Bashar al-Assad his forces must be first to cease fire and withdraw.

BEIJING,  (Reuters) – The scandal shaking China’s ruling Communist Party just as it readies for leadership change was triggered by claims that the wife of one ambitious candidate was involved in the death of a British businessman, said a source with close ties to key individuals involved.

LONDON/PARIS, (Reuters) – Total repeatedly assured workers on its North Sea Elgin platform that a leak was impossible until just hours before evacuating them as potentially explosive gas spread, a senior union official said yesterday.

ROME, (Reuters) – The Italian professor who led an experiment which initially appeared to challenge one of the fundaments of modern physics by showing particles moving faster than the speed of light, has resigned after the finding was overturned earlier this month.