| | |
| Egyptians flood streets to force Mursi out Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 12:46 PM PDT  By Shaimaa Fayed and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians flooded into the streets on the first anniversary of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi's inauguration on Sunday to demand that he resign in the biggest challenge so far to rule by his Muslim Brotherhood. Waving national flags and chanting "Get out!", a crowd of more than 200,000 massed on Cairo's central Tahrir Square. It was the largest demonstration since the 2011 uprising that overthrew Mursi's predecessor, Hosni Mubarak. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU confronts U.S. over reports it spies on European allies Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 09:28 AM PDT  By Ben Deighton and Annika Breidthardt BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union has demanded that the United States explain a report in a German magazine that Washington is spying on the group, using unusually strong language to confront its closest trading partner over its alleged surveillance activities. A spokeswoman for the European Commission said on Sunday the EU contacted U.S. authorities in Washington and Brussels about a report in Der Spiegel magazine that the U.S. secret service had tapped EU offices in Washington, Brussels and at the United Nations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wikileaks founder says Snowden info will keep getting published Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 10:39 AM PDT  By Deborah Charles WASHINGTON (Reuters) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Sunday that Edward Snowden made sure that the information he took about U.S. surveillance programs will continue to be published regardless of what happens to the former U.S. spy agency contractor. Assange criticized the United States for revoking Snowden's passport and said it would not stop the classified information taken by the 30-year-old former contractor from getting out. "Look, there is no stopping the publishing process at this stage," Assange said in an interview with ABC's "This Week" television show. ... Full Story | Top |
| Democrat predicts House will pass Senate immigration bill Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 10:56 AM PDT  By John Whitesides WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled House of Representatives will bow to political pressure and pass the immigration bill approved by the Democratic-led Senate by the end of the year, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer predicted on Sunday. Schumer, a member of the bipartisan Senate group that crafted the immigration measure, said House Republicans who are now vowing they will not pass the Senate measure will ultimately be convinced by political concerns about the party's future. "I believe that by the end of this year, the House will pass the Senate bill. ... Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Court justice denies bid to stop California gay marriages Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 12:35 PM PDT  By Casey Sullivan (Reuters) - A U.S. Supreme Court justice on Sunday rejected a long-shot bid to halt same-sex marriages in California, days after the high court let stand a trial judge's order declaring the ban unconstitutional. Justice Anthony Kennedy denied the application verbally, spokeswoman Kathy Arberg told Reuters. Supporters of the gay marriage ban known as Proposition 8, which California voters approved in 2008, asked the high court on Saturday to overrule a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order that lifted an injunction barring same-sex unions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Blast in Pakistani city of Quetta kills at least 28 Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 12:00 PM PDT By Gul Yousufzai QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - At least 28 people were killed and dozens wounded in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Sunday when a suicide bomber attacked a largely Shi'ite Muslim neighborhood, police said. The blast appeared to be the latest in an escalating campaign of gun and bomb attacks by militants on ethnic Hazaras in Quetta because they belong to Pakistan's Shi'ite minority. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry plans return to Middle East after visit yields no deal Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 08:37 AM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton TEL AVIV (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ended a shuttle diplomacy mission on Sunday without an agreement on resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, but said gaps had been narrowed and he would return to the region soon. "I'm pleased to tell you that we have made real progress on this trip. And I believe that with a little more work, the start of final status negotiations could be within reach," he told a news conference before his departure from Tel Aviv's airport. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ecuador's Correa says Snowden's fate in hands of Russia Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 11:03 AM PDT  By Alexandra Valencia PORTOVIEJO, Ecuador (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said on Sunday the fate of former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden is in the hands of the authorities in Russia, where he is holed up in hope of obtaining asylum in the South American nation. Correa said his government cannot begin considering asylum for Snowden, wanted by Washington for leaking confidential information about a surveillance program, until he reaches Ecuador or an Ecuadorean embassy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mired in recession, Croatia joins troubled EU Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 08:07 AM PDT  By Zoran Radosavljevic ZAGREB (Reuters) - Croatia becomes the 28th member of the European Union at midnight on Sunday, passing a milestone in its recovery from war but anxious over the troubled state of its economy and the bloc it is joining. Croatia joins the bloc just over two decades after declaring independence from federal Yugoslavia, a step that triggered four years of war in which some 20,000 people died. Facing a fifth year of recession and record unemployment of 21 percent, few Croatians are in the mood to party. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kurdish protesters clash with Turkish security forces Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 11:24 AM PDT  By Seyhmus Cakan DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Police fired teargas and water cannon on Sunday to disperse thousands of protesters in Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast, during demonstrations across the country to pressure the government to carry out reforms. Turkey's main pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, the BDP, had called for marches in at least three major cities, to launch a summer of protests against what it sees as a lack of commitment by Ankara to a peace process with Kurdish militants. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says oil market can cope with more Iran export cuts Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 10:04 AM PDT  By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - The top U.S. energy official said he believed the oil market could cope with any further reduction of Iran's oil exports from the tightening of sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program. U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz also said on Sunday he expected a "fair amount of action" by his department in 2013 in evaluating applications by U.S. firms to export natural gas. Companies hoping to ship gas abroad have been frustrated by lengthy delays and rule changes as they await Department of Energy approval of their applications. ... Full Story | Top |
| At least 30 killed by fuel truck explosion in Uganda Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 07:33 AM PDT  KAMPALA (Reuters) - At least 30 people were killed and scores more injured when a fuel tanker exploded on a highway in Uganda, a major transit route for fuel heading from Kenya to land-locked east African states, a police spokesman said on Sunday. The truck exploded late on Saturday a few miles north of the capital Kampala after it had stopped when it was involved in an accident with another vehicle and people nearby crowded round trying take fuel from the tanker, the spokesman said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Helicopter lands in New York river, all five aboard safe Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 10:18 AM PDT (Reuters) - A sightseeing helicopter made an emergency landing in the Hudson River in New York City on Sunday and all five people aboard were rescued unharmed, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The Bell 206 helicopter landed in the river near West 79th Street about noon EDT, police said. The pilot and four passengers were safe, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. The helicopter was floating and was being towed ashore by the Coast Guard, she said. (Reporting by Jane Sutton; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Bill Trott) Full Story | Top |
| Blast in Pakistani city of Peshawar kills 14 Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 04:47 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Fourteen people were killed in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Sunday when a powerful roadside bomb attack narrowly missed a passing convoy of security forces but ravaged a busy market area, police said. Two paramilitary personnel riding with the convoy were wounded but the brunt of the blast was borne by passers-by in the tense Badhber neighborhood of Peshawar, a frequent scene of attacks on the police and army by Pakistan's Taliban militants. ... Full Story | Top |
| China agrees South China Sea talks amid new row with Manila Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 05:11 AM PDT  By Stuart Grudgings and Manuel Mogato BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Reuters) - China agreed to hold formal talks with Southeast Asian nations on a plan to ease maritime tensions on Sunday as the Philippines accused it of causing "increasing militarization" of the South China Sea, one of Asia's naval flashpoints. The rebuke by Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario at a regional summit in Brunei came a day after China's state media warned of an inevitable "counterstrike" against the Philippines if it continued to provoke Beijing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obamas tour Mandela's island jail before Africa speech Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 07:47 AM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Mark Felsenthal CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and his family visited South Africa's bleak former prison of Robben Island on Sunday to pay tribute to ex-inmate Nelson Mandela, now critically ill in hospital. Obama was expected to later cite the legacy of Mandela, who was imprisoned on the windswept island for most of the 27 years he spent in jail before becoming the country's first black president, in a speech at the University of Cape Town. ... Full Story | Top |
| Western United States swelters amid dangerously high heat Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 06:36 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Scorching heat baked the western United States and Sunday's forecast offered no relief from the soaring temperatures that prompted health warnings and sent scores of people to the hospital with heat-related illness. Cities in California, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Utah and Texas all recorded temperatures over 100 degrees (38 Celsius) on Saturday. Paramedics in Las Vegas, where the temperature hit 115 F (46 C), found an elderly man dead in his un-air-conditioned apartment on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. taps half-billion German phone, internet links in month: report Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 02:39 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States taps half a billion phone calls, emails and text messages in Germany in a typical month and has classed its biggest European ally as a target similar to China, according to secret U.S. documents quoted by a German newsmagazine. The revelations of alleged U.S. surveillance programs based on documents taken by fugitive former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden have raised a political furor in the United States and abroad over the balance between privacy rights and national security. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis - After selloff, some dip toes back in emerging markets Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 04:09 AM PDT  By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - The threat of less central bank stimulus and higher interest rates has crushed emerging markets more than most assets in the past two months, in some cases slashing the value of stocks and bonds in developing countries to levels not seen since the last financial crisis. The slump after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled in May that the Fed expects to curb and then end its bond-buying program in the next year if the economy improves has pushed prices to levels that would have looked very appealing only a few weeks ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama meets Mandela family, police disperse protesters Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 04:59 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Mark Felsenthal JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama met the family of South Africa's ailing anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela on Saturday, offering words of comfort and praising the critically ill retired statesman as one of history's greatest figures. The faltering health of Mandela, 94, a figure admired globally as a symbol of struggle against injustice and racism, is dominating Obama's two-day visit to South Africa. But Obama also faced protests by South Africans against U.S. foreign policy, especially American drone strikes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama sees no threat in China rivalry for Africa business Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 08:16 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Mark Felsenthal PRETORIA (Reuters) - The United States does not feel threatened by the growth of trade and investment in Africa by China and other emerging powers, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday. Suggestions that he has allowed China to steal a march over the United States in doing business with Africa have dogged Obama's three-nation swing through the continent, but he said the increased Chinese engagement was beneficial for all. "I don't feel threatened by it. I feel it's a good thing," Obama told a news conference during a visit to South Africa. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gay marriage opponents ask Supreme Court to reimpose California ban Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 07:23 AM PDT  By Steve Gorman and Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Opponents of gay marriage filed a long-shot petition on Saturday with the Supreme Court asking the justices to immediately halt same-sex weddings taking place in California since Friday, when an appeals court lifted a 5-year-old ban on gay matrimony. Marriage ceremonies of gay and lesbian couples went ahead after a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco removed its stay of a trial judge's order declaring the gay marriage ban, known as Proposition 8, unconstitutional. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. asked Ecuador not to give Snowden asylum: Correa Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 04:07 PM PDT  By Brian Ellsworth QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said on Saturday the United States had asked him not to grant asylum for former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden in a "cordial" telephone conversation he held with Vice President Joe Biden. Correa said he vowed to respect Washington's opinion in evaluating the request. The Andean nation says it cannot begin processing Snowden's request unless he reaches Ecuador or one of its embassies. Snowden, who is wanted by the United States for leaking details about U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama to unveil broad African electrical power initiative Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 09:31 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Pointing to Africa's crippling lack of electrical power, President Barack Obama is due to announce on Sunday a $7 billion initiative over five years to double access to power in sub-Saharan Africa. "We see this as the next phase in our development strategy and a real focal point in the president's agenda going forward," deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters traveling with the president. Obama is midway through a three-country tour of Africa and is due to give what aides bill as his fullest description of his vision for the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rousseff's popularity plummets in wake of Brazil protests Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 01:35 PM PDT  By Silvio Cascione and Todd Benson SAO PAULO (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff's approval rating sank by 27 percentage points in the last three weeks, a poll showed on Saturday in the strongest evidence yet that the recent wave of street protests sweeping Brazil poses a serious threat to her likely re-election bid next year. The share of people who consider Rousseff's administration "great" or "good" plummeted to 30 percent from 57 percent in early June, according to a Datafolha opinion poll published in local newspaper Folha de S.Paulo. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel and Palestinians cautious as Kerry extends peace bid Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 04:09 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry extended his Middle East peace mission on Saturday, shuttling between Jerusalem and Amman for more talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on reviving their stalled negotiations. But officials on both the feuding sides played down prospects of the bustle bringing about any imminent diplomatic breakthrough that would restart the talks. Cancelling a trip to Abu Dhabi, Kerry flew from Jerusalem to the Jordanian capital for a second meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mired in recession, ex-Yugoslav Croatia joins troubled EU Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 03:44 PM PDT  By Zoran Radosavljevic ZAGREB (Reuters) - Croatia becomes the 28th member of the European Union at midnight on Sunday, a milestone that caps the Adriatic republic's recovery from war but is tinged with anxiety over the state of the economy and the bloc it joins. EU flags fluttered from a stage in Zagreb's central square ahead of the evening's festivities, though there have been few signs of the gushing welcome that marked past expansions to ex-communist Eastern Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt protests set for showdown, violence feared Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 04:58 PM PDT  By Alastair Macdonald and Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - Mass demonstrations across Egypt on Sunday may determine its future, two and half years after people power toppled a dictator they called Pharaoh and ushered in a democracy crippled by bitter divisions. The protesters' goal again is to unseat a president, this time their first freely elected leader, the Islamist Mohamed Mursi. Liberal leaders say nearly half the voting population - 22 million people - have signed a petition calling for change. But with the long dominant, U. ... Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Court petitioned to reimpose California gay marriage ban Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 04:49 PM PDT  By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Opponents of gay marriage petitioned the Supreme Court on Saturday to immediately reinstate a 5-year-old ban on same-sex matrimony in California, saying a federal appeals court had acted prematurely in removing the prohibition on gay nuptials. Supporters of the gay marriage ban, known as Proposition 8, which California voters approved in 2008, asked the high court to overrule a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order on Friday lifting a stay that had kept same-sex unions outlawed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's Cameron in thwarted Afghan peace talks push Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 04:53 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn KABUL (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron flew into Afghanistan on Saturday to try to inject momentum into stalled peace talks, but left empty-handed after the Afghan president said his country could break up if a deal was done with the Taliban. Cameron, who hosted President Hamid Karzai for talks in February about Afghanistan's future, has cast himself as an honest broker able to use Britain's relations with Afghanistan's influential neighbor, Pakistan, to get the Taliban to talk peace. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. bugged EU offices, computer networks: German magazine Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 03:43 PM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States has bugged European Union offices and gained access to EU internal computer networks, according to secret documents cited in a German magazine on Saturday, the latest in a series of exposures of alleged U.S. spy programs. Der Spiegel quoted from a September 2010 "top secret" U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) document that it said fugitive former NSA contractor Edward Snowden had taken with him, and the weekly's journalists had seen in part. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment