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| Bomb kills 12 soccer players, fans in Iraq Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 12:24 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A bomb planted near a yard where people were playing soccer in Iraq killed 12 people on Sunday, police and medics said. A further 24 people were wounded in the blast in the town of Nahrawan, south of the capital Baghdad. The violence is part of a trend of increasing militant attacks since the start of the year, which claimed more than 1,000 lives in May alone, making it the deadliest month since the sectarian bloodletting of 2006-7. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| Gunmen free 175 prisoners in Nigeria jailbreak Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 11:23 AM PDT ONITSHA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead two civilians and then used explosives to free 175 inmates from a prison in Nigeria's southern town of Akure overnight, a prison official said on Sunday. Islamist sect Boko Haram and al Qaeda-linked group Ansaru have been behind several prison raids in recent years. It was not clear whether they were behind this jail break at Olokuta prison in Ondo state or whether they had members held there. ... Full Story | Top |
| One dead, 30 wounded in clash south of Cairo Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 11:15 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - One person was killed and more than two dozen injured in fighting on Sunday between supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi in the Nile city of Beni Suef, south of Cairo, security sources said. It was the first death reported on a day when hundreds of thousands of opposition protesters took to the streets demanding that Mursi quit, on the first anniversary of his inauguration. (Reporting by Shadia Nasralla Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Paul Taylor) Full Story | Top |
| Obama says Zimbabwe has opportunity, needs free and fair poll Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 11:07 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday Zimbabwe's economic recovery gave the southern African country an opportunity to advance but only if upcoming elections were "free and fair." Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, at 89 Africa's oldest leader, is seeking to extend his three-decade rule in elections scheduled for July 31. The opposition wants to delay the poll to allow reforms designed to prevent a repeat of the bloodshed that marred the 2008 election. "Zimbabweans have a new constitution. The economy is beginning to recover. ... 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 |
| Egypt Brotherhood says Cairo HQ under attack Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 11:02 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood said its Cairo headquarters came under attack on Sunday from scores of anti-government protesters firing shotguns and throwing petrol bombs and rocks. The attack came amid mass protests across Egypt calling for Islamist President Mohamed Mursi to resign. Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said he was in contact by telephone with staff at the compound, who told him its fortified perimeter had not been penetrated. Several provincial offices of the movement have been attacked in recent days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fifteen people injured at motor rally in Poland Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 10:49 AM PDT WARSAW (Reuters) - At least 15 people, including two children, were injured at a motor rally in the Polish city of Poznan on Sunday after a luxury car skidded into a group of spectators, a local police spokesman said. The accident occurred at the start of the three-day Gran Turismo Polonia event which draws amateur motor enthusiasts from all over Europe. At least 150 luxury cars are taking part in the event. Police spokesman Andrzej Borowiak said police were questioning the Norwegian motorist involved in the accident. (Reporting by Dagmara Leszkowicz, editing by Gareth Jones) Full Story | Top |
| In Egypt, many complain - but don't protest Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 10:41 AM PDT  By Asma Alsharif CAIRO (Reuters) - Politics is all very well, reckons Zeeka, but it doesn't sell tomatoes and it doesn't pay the rent. "It's nothing to do with me," said the 23-year-old vegetable seller, in an eerily quiet downtown Cairo. "I'm the tomato guy." He was one of millions of Egyptians on Sunday who were not joining in mass protests against President Mohamed Mursi and who cursed factional rivalry for making it harder to make a living. "I won't go out on any protest," he said as demonstrations got under way in central Cairo. "If we vote for one guy he won't feed us. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptians flood streets to demand Mursi ouster Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 10:30 AM 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. Waving national flags and chanting "Get out!", a crowd of more than 200,000 had massed by sunset on Cairo's central Tahrir Square in the biggest demonstration since the 2011 uprising that overthrew Mursi's predecessor, Hosni Mubarak. ... Full Story | Top |
| France's Hollande said to back away from reshuffle Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 10:09 AM PDT  By Elizabeth Pineau PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande is unlikely to reshuffle his government before the summer break and will instead urge ministers to sharpen their focus on unemployment and other issues sapping their popularity, sources told Reuters. Hollande, who had hinted in May that changes to his top team were in the works, has since backed away from the idea of a ministerial shake-up, an Elysee source said. A reshuffle "is not currently envisaged and we don't think it's what voters expect", said the source, who asked not to be identified. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraqi Kurdish President set to rule for two more years Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 09:45 AM PDT  ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - The president of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani is set to stay in office for another two years, after lawmakers voted on Sunday to extend his tenure amid scuffles in parliament and an outcry from opposition parties. Barzani's presidency had been due to end this summer, when his second term of four years ends, but in recent months members of his party said legal ambiguities might allow him to remain longer or run again. The region's presidential law places a limit of two four-year terms on the position. "We are against the extension. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hungary to raise teachers' wages in September: minister Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 09:36 AM PDT  BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary will raise teachers' wages from September, a government minister said on Sunday, in a move that could help the ruling Fidesz party cement its robust opinion poll lead ahead of a national election expected next April or May. The announcement comes just nine days after the European Union took Hungary off the list of member states which must take measures to cut their budget deficits, removing the threat of cuts in development funds from Brussels. ... 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 |
| Assad's forces battle to tighten control of central Syria Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 09:02 AM PDT  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad's forces pounded Sunni Muslim rebels in the city of Homs with artillery and from the air on Sunday, the second day of an offensive to expand loyalist control over Syria's strategic centre, activists said. They said rebels defending the old centre of Homs and five adjacent Sunni districts had largely repelled a ground attack on Saturday by Assad's forces but reported fresh clashes and deaths within the city on Sunday. ... 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 |
| German Social Democrats mull ruling out coalition with Merkel: media Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 08:16 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's opposition Social Democrats are considering formally ruling out a coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats after September's election, according to media reports on Sunday. Welt am Sonntag newspaper said party leaders hoped this could give supporters and election campaigners a motivational boost, much needed at a time when the Social Democrats trail Merkel by more than 15 percentage points. Der Spiegel reported that party leader Sigmar Gabriel hinted at this in a parliamentary group meeting last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Chad leader Habre arrested ahead of trial in Senegal Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 08:09 AM PDT  DAKAR (Reuters) - Hissene Habre, Chad's former leader, was arrested on Sunday in Senegal, where he has been living in freely in exile for 22 years despite accusations of political killing and torture during his time in power, a court spokesman said. Habre, who led Chad between 1982 and 1990, will be tried in a special court set up this year by Senegalese authorities in agreement with the African Union. The case against Habre follows years of procrastinating by Senegal under former president Abdoulaye Wade. It will be first time the former leader of an African state has been tried by another. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Kazakhstan trade trip poses human rights test for UK's Cameron Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 07:02 AM PDT  By Andrew Osborn ATYRAU, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron flew into Kazakhstan on Sunday to help inaugurate the world's costliest oil project and seal new business deals, but faced immediate pressure to denounce the country's poor human rights record. Cameron's visit, the first by a serving British prime minister, is seen by the Central Asian government as a coup it hopes will cement its status as a rising economic power and confer a degree of legitimacy from the West it has long sought. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arrested Vatican monsignor felt he could act with impunity: judge Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 06:21 AM PDT  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A senior Catholic cleric arrested in a plot to smuggle tens of millions of dollars into Italy controlled vast amounts of money and felt he could act with impunity because of his connections to the Vatican bank, according to a judge's investigative document. In the latest blow to the Vatican's image, Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, 61, was arrested on Friday along with an Italian secret service agent and a financial broker. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thai PM sacks commerce minister after rice fiasco Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 05:44 AM PDT  BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's commerce minister was sacked on Sunday after coming under fire over a rice intervention scheme that resulted in huge losses to the budget and saw the country lose its place as the world's top rice exporter. In another move, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra added the post of defense minister to her duties, giving her more say in the affairs of the country's powerful military, with which she has enjoyed an uneasy relationship since coming to power in 2011. Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted by the military in 2006 when he was prime minister. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malaysia urges Myanmar to stem anti-Muslim violence Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 05:36 AM PDT  By Manuel Mogato (Reuters) - Malaysia urged Myanmar on Sunday to take stronger action to prevent persecution of Muslims and bring the perpetrators to justice, the latest sign that the inter communal violence is straining ties in Southeast Asia. Thousands of ethnic Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar to escape the violence and worsening living conditions, many of them making their way by boat or overland to Muslim-majority Malaysia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Seven Saudis jailed for urging protests on Facebook: HRW Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 05:13 AM PDT (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has sentenced seven activists from its restive Eastern Province to prison terms ranging from five to 10 years for posting messages on Facebook calling for anti-government protests, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Sunday. The New York-based rights group urged EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and other European officials who were meeting with Gulf counterparts, including Saudi Arabia, in Manama on Sunday to condemn the convictions. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| Britain and Pakistan pledge to tackle terrorism, Afghanistan Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 04:44 AM PDT  ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged on Sunday to work with Pakistan to fight terrorism and try to bring peace to Afghanistan, while also offering to help with security at sporting events possibly enabling foreign teams to visit. In a brief visit to Pakistan on Sunday, Cameron became the first head of government to hold face-to-face talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif since his election in May, a victory Cameron said could translate into a "golden moment" for Pakistan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel holds Gaza Palestinian who vanished in Egypt Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 04:40 AM PDT By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - A Palestinian from the Gaza Strip who vanished while visiting Egypt this month is under arrest in Israel for alleged security offences, his family and his Israeli lawyer said on Sunday. They said they did not know how Wael Abu Rida, 35, ended up in the Jewish state. The possibility he was seized from Egyptian Sinai territory could embarrass the Islamist-rooted government in Cairo at a time of major domestic unrest. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry: gaps narrowed toward renewing Mideast peace talks Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 04:32 AM PDT TEL AVIV (Reuters) - 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. We started out with very wide gaps, and we have narrowed those considerably," he told a news conference before his departure at Tel Aviv airport. ... Full Story | Top |
| China says 'religious extremists' behind Xinjiang attack Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 04:12 AM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - The deadliest unrest in years in China's western region of Xinjiang was carried out by a gang engaged in "religious extremist activities", state media reported, saying the group had been busy buying weapons and raising money. Beijing initially called last week's incident in which 35 people were killed a "terrorist attack". Xinjiang is home to the mainly Muslim Uighur people who speak a Turkic language. Many deeply resent what they call Chinese government restrictions on their culture, language and religion. Beijing accuses extremists of separatism. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chile's Bachelet seen winning primary, rival a toss-up Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 04:06 AM PDT  By Anthony Esposito SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet is seen easily winning a primary election on Sunday to lead the center-left's presidential ticket in November, competing against one of two seasoned politicians from the debilitated right-wing bloc. A popular pediatrician turned politician, Bachelet is largely expected to win back the presidency after governing from 2006 to 2010. She would take over from President Sebastian Pinera, a wealthy businessman who has struggled to connect with everyday Chileans and is barred from running for re-election. ... Full Story | Top |
| No breakthrough after Kerry meets Abbas: Palestinian official Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 03:24 AM PDT  RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry made no breakthrough in talks on Sunday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on efforts to resume Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, a senior Palestinian official said. "There is some progress but we can't say there's a breakthrough," said Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat after Kerry and Abbas ended their meeting. (Reporting by Ali Sawafta, Editing by Jeffrey Heller) Full Story | Top |
| Somalia clan leader tightens grip on strategic port city Sunday, Jun 30, 2013 03:13 AM PDT  By Abdi Sheikh MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A clan leader opposed by Somalia's federal government has strengthened his grip on Kismayu after three days of fighting against rival militias battling for control of the strategic southern port city, residents said on Sunday. Scores are feared to have been killed in clashes since Ahmed Madobe, head of the Ras Kamboni militia, was chosen in May by a regional assembly to preside over the Jubaland region, where the port lies. He now appears to have extended his control. ... 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 |
| Petrocaribe leaders agree to focus efforts on boosting trade Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 10:11 PM PDT  By Ivan Castro MANAGUA (Reuters) - Delegations from over a dozen countries that are members of the Venezuelan-led oil alliance Petrocaribe agreed on Saturday to adopt a framework for promoting trade within the block. At the close of the eighth-annual Petrocaribe summit hosted by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega in this Central American capital, leaders agreed to focus efforts on boosting trade in regional transportation, communication, agriculture, tourism and social service projects. "The journey has been very encouraging because in short order ... ... Full Story | Top |
| WHO wants HIV patients treated sooner to save lives, halt spread Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 09:49 PM PDT  By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Doctors could save three million more lives worldwide by 2025 if they offer AIDS drugs to people with HIV much sooner after they test positive for the virus, the World Health Organization said on Sunday. While better access to cheap generic AIDS drugs means many more people are now getting treatment, health workers, particularly in poor countries with limited health budgets, currently tend to wait until the infection has progressed. But in new guidelines aimed at controlling and eventually reducing the global AIDS epidemic, the U.N. ... 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 |
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