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| South Africa's Mandela 'improving' as Obama flies in Friday, Jun 28, 2013 12:13 PM PDT  By Peroshni Govender and Jeff Mason PRETORIA/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's ailing anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela is doing much better in hospital, his ex-wife Winnie said on Friday, as U.S. President Barack Obama arrived for a visit that will pay homage to a man he calls his "personal hero". The faltering health of the first black president of South Africa, a revered symbol of racial reconciliation, has drawn world attention since the 94-year-old was rushed to hospital with a recurring lung infection nearly three weeks ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt clerics warn of 'civil war' amid skirmishes Friday, Jun 28, 2013 11:16 AM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh and Abdelrahman Youssef CAIRO/ALEXANDRIA (Reuters) - Egypt's leading religious authority warned of "civil war" and appealed for calm amid scattered violence on Friday, days before mass demonstrations that the opposition hopes can force the Islamist president to quit. One man was shot dead and dozens wounded in Alexandria when protest marchers and Islamists clashed. A member of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood was also shot dead overnight in the city of Zagazig. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama pledges to help Africa, pays tribute to Mandela Friday, Jun 28, 2013 10:03 AM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal and Jeff Mason ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama paid tribute to anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela as he flew to South Africa on Friday but played down expectations of a meeting with the ailing black leader during an Africa tour promoting democracy and food security. White House officials hope Obama's three-nation tour of Africa - his first substantial visit to the continent since taking office in 2009 - will compensate for what some view as years of neglect by America's first black president. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry steps up shuttle talks with Abbas and Netanyahu Friday, Jun 28, 2013 12:37 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accelerated his Middle East shuttle diplomacy on Friday in the hope of persuading Israel and the Palestinians to resume direct peace negotiations. After seeing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan, Kerry flew by helicopter to Jerusalem for evening talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - a meeting that had been originally expected to take place on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Eyewitness describes Trayvon Martin's fatal struggle to Florida jury Friday, Jun 28, 2013 12:10 PM PDT  By Barbara Liston SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - A witness in the murder trial of neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman testified on Friday that he saw Trayvon Martin on top of Zimmerman during a struggle that led to the unarmed black teenager's shooting death in a central Florida gated community last year. But Jonathan Good, a former resident at the townhouse complex, told the jury in Seminole County criminal court that he never saw Martin slam Zimmerman's head into the concrete sidewalk, undermining a key element in Zimmerman's defense. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bloomberg's legacy under fire for police tactics in NY City Friday, Jun 28, 2013 10:07 AM PDT  By Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - A growing chorus of critics has challenged Mayor Michael Bloomberg's approach to fighting crime, pushing back against policies that he credits for making New York the safest major city in America. With a few months left in office, Bloomberg can say crime fell 34 percent over a decade during his tenure. For much of his first two terms, he also was heralded as a healer for the city's tense race relations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish security forces fire on protest in southeast, one dead Friday, Jun 28, 2013 12:30 PM PDT  By Seyhmus Cakan DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkish security forces killed one person and wounded ten on Friday when they fired on a group protesting against the construction of a new gendarmerie outpost in Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkey, a Kurdish party lawmaker said. The incident, in the village of Kayacik in Diyarbakir province, appeared to be the most violent in the region since a ceasefire declaration by Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan in March in the conflict between his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Turkish state. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-FBI agent says 'Whitey' Bulger files contain lies Friday, Jun 28, 2013 09:33 AM PDT  By Richard Valdmanis BOSTON (Reuters) - Retired FBI agent John Morris testified at the trial of accused mobster James "Whitey" Bulger on Friday that he signed off on several FBI reports relating to Bulger that he knew were inaccurate or misleading. The testimony from a man who has admitted taking cash from gangsters and tipping them off on investigations comes as Bulger's lawyers seek to discredit FBI evidence against their client, who is accused of murder and racketeering as head of Boston's Winter Hill Gang. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Brazil's mass protests peak, ball in politicians' court Friday, Jun 28, 2013 11:15 AM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - The massive protests that paralyzed Brazil last week appear to have peaked after sending the country's shaken political establishment a loud message that it needs to change its ways. It's now up to the politicians to deliver improvements to the country's deficient public services and more transparent and accountable government demanded by frustrated Brazilians, or the crescendo of angry protests could suddenly return. ... Full Story | Top |
| Peru peasant squads rally against U.S. firm's $5 billion gold mine Friday, Jun 28, 2013 12:12 PM PDT  By Mitra Taj CAJAMARCA, Peru (Reuters) - Forty years ago, peasants in rural Peru banded together as "ronderos" - Spanish for "people who make the rounds" - to curb cattle rustling. Today, squads of these ronderos are working toward a different aim - thwarting an American mining company's planned $5 billion gold mining project that they contend would spoil lakes vital to the local population high in the Andes. Operating according to Andean customs, the squads act as a de facto judicial system in places where public institutions are weak and policing is scant. ... Full Story | Top |
| House panel says IRS official waived rights, contempt possible Friday, Jun 28, 2013 09:32 AM PDT  By Kim Dixon WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An IRS official effectively waived her right not to testify about the tax agency's targeting of conservative groups, a Republican-led congressional committee concluded on Friday in a vote that cleared the way for Congress to hold her in contempt. Lois Lerner, former head of the Internal Revenue Service's tax-exempt division, angered Republicans last month when she invoked her constitutional right not to answer their questions at a hearing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iranian official signals no early scaling back in nuclear work Friday, Jun 28, 2013 08:01 AM PDT  By Alissa de Carbonnel ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Iran will press ahead with its uranium enrichment program, its nuclear energy chief said on Friday, signaling no immediate change of course despite the victory of a relative moderate in the June 14 presidential election. But once Hassan Rouhani takes office in early August, Tehran's current hardline team in nuclear talks with six world powers, led by Saeed Jalili who was a rival election candidate, is likely to be overhauled. Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani's tenure as head of Iran's atomic energy agency may be in jeopardy as well. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia criticizes groups setting conditions for Syria talks Friday, Jun 28, 2013 07:01 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is committed to arranging a peace conference on the Syria conflict but other countries and groups are complicating matters by trying to set preconditions, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. Lavrov, who will meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry next week to discuss the planned conference, also said shipments of weapons to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "contradict the concept of the conference". Russia, which has backed Assad by sending Damascus arms and protecting him from U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry steps up shuttle talks with Abbas, Netanyahu Friday, Jun 28, 2013 05:18 AM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accelerated his Middle East shuttle diplomacy on Friday in the hope of persuading the Palestinians to resume direct peace negotiations with Israel stalled over its West Bank settlements. After seeing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan, Kerry traveled to Jerusalem for evening talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - a meeting that had been originally expected on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Murdoch editors lose bid to have UK hacking charges dropped Friday, Jun 28, 2013 07:16 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Two former editors of a British tabloid newspaper shut down by owner Rupert Murdoch over a phone-hacking scandal lost a legal battle on Friday to have criminal charges against them dropped. Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, both former News of the World editors and close associates of Prime Minister David Cameron, have pleaded not guilty to charges that they conspired to intercept people's voicemail messages in pursuit of stories. ... Full Story | Top |
| Snowden's father says former contractor may return if conditions met Friday, Jun 28, 2013 05:48 AM PDT By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The father of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden said in an interview that while he has not had recent contact with him, he is reasonably confident his son would return to the United States if certain conditions were met. Those conditions could include not detaining Snowden before trial, not subjecting him to a gag order and letting him choose the location of his trial, NBC News said on Friday. The NBC report added that Lonnie Snowden plans to make those points in a letter to U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Syria peace conference: Don't hold your breath Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 10:14 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - How deep is the divide separating Russia and the United States on Syria? A photo from the recent G8 summit in Northern Ireland says it all - two grim-faced leaders slouched in their chairs, Barack Obama biting his lip and Vladimir Putin staring at the floor. The awkward photo opportunity, which went viral on the Internet, highlights the increasingly tense relationship between the former Cold War foes who find it difficult to agree on a series of high-profile issues, including Syria and a fugitive U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. watchdog raps Pentagon for buying aircraft for Afghan unit Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 09:06 PM PDT  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A government watchdog criticized the Pentagon on Friday for forging ahead with controversial helicopter purchases from a Russian arms dealer despite warnings the Afghan special forces unit due to receive the aircraft could not fly or maintain them. The watchdog - the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction - urged the Pentagon to suspend the $553 million Russian arms deal as well as a $218 million contract for 18 planes from a U.S. firm until plans were in place to fully recruit and train the Afghan special forces unit. ... Full Story | Top |
| China calls Xinjiang unrest a 'terrorist attack', ups death toll to 35 Friday, Jun 28, 2013 01:39 AM PDT By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - China's state media has raised to 35 the death toll from unrest this week in far western Xinjiang region, and denounced the clashes, the deadliest in four years, as a "terrorist attack". Xinjiang is home to a large Muslim Uighur community and violence focusing on its discontent had been confined recently to southern districts. The altercations in Shanshan county on Wednesday marked a return of unrest to Xinjiang's north. ... Full Story | Top |
| Missing nuclear material may pose attack threat: IAEA Friday, Jun 28, 2013 02:47 AM PDT By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Nuclear and radioactive materials are still going missing and the information the United Nations atomic agency receives about such incidents may be the tip of the iceberg, said a senior U.N. official. Any loss or theft of highly enriched uranium, plutonium or different types of radioactive sources is potentially serious as al Qaeda-style militants could try to use them to make a crude nuclear device or a so-called dirty bomb, experts say. Khammar Mrabit, a director of the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. suspends trade benefits for Bangladesh over safety Friday, Jun 28, 2013 12:17 AM PDT  By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama cut off long-time U.S. trade benefits for Bangladesh on Thursday in a mostly symbolic response to conditions in the country's garment industry that have cost more than 1,200 lives in the past year. The U.S. move does not directly affect Bangladesh's multi-billion-dollar clothing exports, since garments are not eligible for U.S. duty cuts. But it could prompt the European Union into similar action, which would have a bigger impact as Bangladesh's clothing and textiles exports to the EU are duty-free. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australian PM Rudd urges China action on trade deal Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 11:30 PM PDT  By James Grubel CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's Sinophile Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Friday urged China - the country's largest trading partner - to conclude a stalled free trade deal, using his first news conference since regaining power to praise the current bilateral relationship. Rudd, a former diplomat who speaks fluent Mandarin, said China's concerns that its farm industry could be hurt by a free trade pact with Canberra were unfounded given the size of Australia's agricultural output. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate passes sweeping immigration legislation Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:59 PM PDT  By Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate approved a landmark immigration bill on Thursday that would provide millions of undocumented immigrants a chance to become citizens, but the leader of the House of Representatives said the measure was dead on arrival in the House. In a rare show of bipartisanship, the Democratic-controlled Senate passed the bill by a vote of 68-32, with 14 of the Senate's 46 Republicans joining all 52 Democrats and two independents in support of the bill. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama jabs Russia, China on failure to extradite Snowden Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:33 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Mark Felsenthal DAKAR (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday he would not start "wheeling and dealing" with China and Russia over a U.S. request to extradite former American spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. Obama, who appeared concerned that the case would overshadow his three-country tour of Africa begun in Senegal, also dismissed suggestions that the United States might try to intercept Snowden if he were allowed to leave Moscow by air. ... Full Story | Top |
| Defense challenges testimony of woman on phone with Trayvon Martin Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:32 PM PDT  By Barbara Liston SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - A woman who was on the phone with unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin moments before he was shot by a neighborhood watchman rejected attempts by a lawyer in a Florida court to depict Martin as the aggressor in a struggle that ended in his death. A former resident of the gated community where Martin was killed also testified on Thursday that she saw the watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, on top of Martin during the fatal encounter. ... Full Story | Top |
| What an NSA charm offensive looks like Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:02 PM PDT  By Jack Shafer (Reuters) - Banged and bruised in the press over the NSA secrets liberated by Edward Snowden and serialized in the Guardian and the Washington Post, the national security establishment resorted to a little media offense earlier this week with a series of conversations with major news outlets. As media blitzes go, it was sedate and vague. The "natsec" establishment made its first landing in the Washington Post's June 25 print edition, where two unnamed senior intelligence officials speculated about the damage done to U.S. national security by the leaks ("U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
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