Reuters World News Highlights 200 GMT March 13
TOP STORIES
-----------
VATICAN CITY - Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the troubled Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years, and said he would take the name Francis I.
- - - -
WASHINGTON - Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican budget chairman Representative Paul Ryan tamped down expectations for any kind of deficit-reducing budget deal this year, even as Obama prepared for a meeting on Wednesday with Republicans on Capitol Hill.
- - - -
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country, according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters.
- - - -
NEW YORK - Four months after suffering a bruising loss in the presidential campaign, Republican lawmakers and conservative activists will meet Thursday for a three-day conclave which will lay bare the many contradictions of a party in search of its identity.
- - - -
BEIRUT - Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged Arab states to help Lebanon cope with a flood of Syrian refugees who are stretching its scarce resources and will need at least $370 million in support this year.
- - - -
CAIRO - An Egyptian court will hear an appeal on Sunday against a ruling that led to the cancellation of parliamentary elections called by President Mohamed Mursi, the latest hurdle in Egypt's tortuous political transition.
- - - -
TUNIS - Tunisia's new Islamist-led government won a confidence vote on Wednesday, as the death of an unemployed man who had set himself on fire in despair underscored the scale of its task.
- - - -
NUUK - An Inuit woman brought up to skin seals looked set to become Greenland's first female prime minister after a backlash against foreign miners and fears over environmental damage carried her party to election victory.
- - - -
NEW DELHI - Indian police investigating the AgustaWestland bribery case raided homes and business premises in the New Delhi area and two other cities on Wednesday after formally launching a probe into the helicopter firm and its parent company, Finmeccanica.
- - - -
SRINAGAR, India - Two militants hiding automatic rifles and grenades in cricket kit opened fire on a paramilitary camp on the Indian side of Kashmir on Wednesday, killing five Indian personnel and wounding five, police said.
- - - -
MELBOURNE/BEIJING - The U.S. government is investigating top global miner BHP Billiton Ltd for possible corrupt practices, the company confirmed, after media reports said it was being probed for its sponsorship of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.