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| U.S. worried by lack of transparency in lead-up to Zimbabwe poll Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:24 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it was "deeply concerned" by lack of transparency in preparations for Zimbabwe's July 31 general election and called on the government to ensure the vote was peaceful, fair and credible. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said elections that were not seen as credible would have implications for U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe, suggesting Washington could maintain or increase its sanctions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian PM warns of 'huge risk' that Britain leaves EU Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:20 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Italy's prime minister said on Tuesday that there was a "huge risk" that Britain would leave the European Union in the next few years and he urged other countries to work to reduce the prospect of an exit. "We are convinced that in the European Union countries, we are (underestimating) the risk of having the UK out of Europe. In my view, it's a huge risk," Enrico Letta told an audience in London after making a speech. "We have to be very cautious ... and we have to prepare a discussion on trying to prevent this risk," he said in response to a question. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombian, Venezuelan leaders to hold first meeting since spat Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:13 PM PDT  BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, plan to meet next week in their first encounter since a diplomatic spat in May triggered by Santos' meeting with Venezuela's main opposition leader. Maduro was infuriated by what he called Santos' "betrayal" for meeting Henrique Capriles, who narrowly lost Venezuela's presidential election in April, and accused Santos of being part of a plot to overthrow him. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gaddafi's old Tripoli fortress to be turned into park Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:04 PM PDT  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's Tripoli compound, the city within a city from which he orchestrated eccentric defiance of Western powers and disdain for his own people for four decades, is to be turned into a public park, Tourism Minister Ikram Abdusalam Bash Imam said on Tuesday. The sprawling 6 sq km (2.5 sq mile) Bab al-Aziziya complex once housed a swimming pool, sports pitches, senior officials' villas and gardens as well as an underground bunker, government offices and buildings belonging to the feared and pervasive security apparatus. ... Full Story | Top |
| Stranded fugitive Snowden seeks temporary asylum in Russia Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:00 PM PDT  By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden applied for temporary asylum in Russia on Tuesday after three weeks holed up at a Moscow airport trying to avoid prosecution in the United States on espionage charges. The White House said Snowden is "not a dissident" and should be expelled and returned to the United States to face trial. Snowden is seeking refuge in Latin America after leaking details of U.S. government surveillance programs, but has not risked taking any flight that might be intercepted by the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali's main parties say will accept election result Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:55 AM PDT  By Tiemoko Diallo DAKAR (Reuters) - Mali's two main political parties pledged on Tuesday to accept the results of this month's presidential election even though it was likely to be marred by technical problems as the West African country struggles to emerge from conflict. Both local politicians and international advocacy groups have voiced concern that voting materials will not be properly distributed in time for the July 28 election, which is meant to turn the page on a military coup in March 2012 and the subsequent Islamist seizure of northern Mali last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Czech cabinet raises minimum wage as one of first steps: agency Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:47 AM PDT  PRAGUE (Reuters) - The new Czech cabinet of leftist Prime Minister Jiri Rusnok raised the minimum wage on Tuesday as one of its first decisions since being appointed last week, news agency CTK said. The previous center-right cabinet resisted trade unions' calls for such a step for years. The government voted to raise the minimum gross monthly wage by 500 crowns to 8,500, the first rise since 2007, the agency said. The minimum wage applies to about 120,000 people in the country of 10.5 million, it said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rousseff's popularity sinks after Brazil's protests Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:39 AM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff's approval rating plummeted and her re-election chances have dimmed in the month since massive protests of poor public services, corruption and other complaints shook Brazil, a new poll published on Tuesday showed. The number of Brazilians who approve of her government's performance fell to 31.3 percent in July from 54.2 percent in June. The number of those who think it has done a bad job soared to 29.5 percent from 9 percent, the survey by polling firm MDA Pesquisa said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Czech court deals blow to prosecutors in graft scandal Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:32 AM PDT By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - A Czech court struck down on Tuesday the main part of charges against two former deputies involved in a bribery scandal that toppled the Czech government last month, weakening the prosecution case. The Supreme Court ruled that the former deputies, in custody pending investigation of accepting posts at state companies in return for dropping a rebellion against Prime Minister Petr Necas last year, were covered by parliamentary immunity. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. worried by lack of transparency in lead-up to Zimbabwe vote Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:28 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it was "deeply concerned" by the lack of transparency in election preparations in Zimbabwe and warned that a July 31 vote that is not peaceful, fair and credible risked undermining political and economic progress made since the 2008 formation of a unity government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Panama detains North Korean-flagged ship carrying suspected weapons Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:21 AM PDT  By Lomi Kriel PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama detained a North Korean-flagged ship headed to the Panama Canal from Cuba and said Tuesday it was carrying suspected missile equipment hidden under tons of brown sugar, after a standoff in which the ship's captain tried to commit suicide. President Ricardo Martinelli said the undeclared weapons were detected when Panamanian authorities stopped the ship, suspecting it was carrying drugs. "We found containers which presumably contain sophisticated missile equipment. That is not allowed. ... Full Story | Top |
| First glimpse at Canada disaster site shows scale of devastation Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:39 PM PDT  By Phil Wahba LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (Reuters) - Street lights melted and heavy rail lines buckled into a 5-foot arch after the explosion of a runaway train in the little Quebec town of Lac-Megantic, where police on Tuesday gave outsiders a first, closely monitored look at the edges of the devastation. "Go in, listen, be silent and understand, and explain to the world what happened here," Quebec police Lieutenant Michel Brunet told a small group of journalists who have been reporting on the disaster, which killed 50 people and destroyed the center of this lakeside town near the Maine border. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Egypt cabinet sworn in without a single Islamist Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:15 AM PDT By Maggie Fick and Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army-backed leaders swore in a new interim cabinet on Tuesday after a night of street violence, with not a single minister representing either of the main Islamist groups that have won five straight elections since 2011. Seven people were killed overnight and more than 260 wounded in running battles between supporters of toppled president Mohamed Mursi and the security forces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrians fleeing war at rate not seen since Rwandan genocide: U.N. Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:13 AM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The number of people fleeing the conflict in Syria has escalated to an average of 6,000 a day during 2013 - a rate not seen since the genocide in Rwanda nearly two decades ago, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday. Guterres said two-thirds of the nearly 1.8 million refugees registered with the United Nations in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and elsewhere had left Syria since the beginning of the year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libya moves a step closer to new post-Gaddafi constitution Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:09 AM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's national assembly passed a law on Tuesday providing for the election of a committee to draft a new constitution following the overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The 60 members of the constitutional committee will be elected by popular vote, and will have 120 days to draft the charter, lawmakers said. They will be divided equally between Libya's three regions: Tripolitania in the west, Cyrenaica in the east and Fezzan in the south. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain says arrests Briton as one of Europe's 10 most wanted Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:04 AM PDT MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish police said on Tuesday they had arrested a Briton they described as one of Europe's top 10 most wanted criminals and had helped dismantle a transatlantic cocaine-smuggling ring. In a statement, police said Brian Charrington was taken into custody along with his son in the Mediterranean resort town of Alicante and that his girlfriend, who was not named, was arrested in Venezuela while organizing a cocaine shipment. Thirteen people in all were arrested in the two countries, accused of smuggling drugs into Spain for sale across Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy minister defends handling of Kazakh deportation case Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:44 AM PDT  By Steve Scherer ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano fought growing calls on Tuesday for his resignation over the deportation of the wife of a dissident Kazakh oligarch, saying he had not been told of the police operation in which she was seized and expelled. Speaking hours after the head of his private office resigned over the affair, Alfano, a key member of Prime Minister Enrico Letta's fragile coalition government, read a detailed statement in the Senate on the incident. ... Full Story | Top |
| European center-right concerned by Czech government formation Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:40 AM PDT  PRAGUE (Reuters) - A group of European center-right parties criticized Czech President Milos Zeman on Tuesday for forming a government against the will of the political parties and called on the European Commission to examine if he breached European values. Zeman appointed a cabinet led by his adviser Jiri Rusnok last week, following the resignation of center-right Prime Minister Petr Necas over a bribery and illegal surveillance scandal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Egypt's 'road not taken' could have saved Mursi Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:27 AM PDT  By Paul Taylor CAIRO/PARIS (Reuters) - Mohamed Mursi might still be president of Egypt today if he had grasped a political deal brokered by the European Union with opposition parties in April, Egyptian politicians and Western diplomats say. Convinced that election victories gave them a sufficient basis to rule, Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood spurned the offer to bridge the most populous Arab nation's deep political divide. Less than three months later, the army overthrew him after mass anti-government protests. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pressure grows on Merkel to take U.S. to task over spying Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:08 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced pressure on Tuesday to toughen her stance against the United States over its spy program, after her interior minister failed to convince lawmakers he had received answers during a trip to Washington. Hans-Peter Friedrich briefed a confidential parliamentary committee in charge of intelligence issues about his talks in the United States last week, saying these were just the start of a long process of discussion and investigation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain's Socialists threaten Rajoy with no-confidence vote Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:01 AM PDT  By Fiona Ortiz MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's opposition Socialists said on Tuesday they would call a symbolic vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy if he refused to appear before Parliament to answer questions about a deepening scandal over party financing. Rajoy's ruling centre-right People's Party has an absolute majority in Parliament and unless there were significant defections from members of his party, he would survive the vote. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Drug kingpin's capture spurs hope Mexico can subdue violent cartels Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 09:55 AM PDT  By Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The dramatic capture of the boss of the Zetas drug cartel provides fresh evidence that Mexican authorities are starting to win their protracted fight against a gang that has done more than any other to stain the country's name with its brutality. But even with Miguel Angel Trevino now in custody, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto still has the difficult task of taming other cartels even as he creates a new militarized police force to take over the fight waged for years by the military. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says 'strongly supports' Panama inspection of North Korea ship Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 09:43 AM PDT  By Paul Eckert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday commended Panama's search and seizure of a North Korean-flagged ship traveling from Cuba to the Panama Canal and offered Washington's help if requested. "The United States strongly supports Panama's decision to inspect the DPRK flagged vessel," said State Department deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell, using the initials for North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "The United States commends the action that the government of Panama took in this case," he added. ... Full Story | Top |
| Algeria's Bouteflika back home from treatment in France Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 09:40 AM PDT  By Hamid Ould Ahmed ALGIERS (Reuters) - President Abdelaziz Bouteflika returned home to Algeria on Tuesday to convalesce, three months after he was rushed to hospital in France suffering from a stroke. The presidency said the veteran leader would "continue a period of rest and rehabilitation" but did not say when he would resume state activities. Bouteflika, 76, has ruled over the North African oil and gas producer for more than a decade and has not said if he plans to run for another term in a presidential election in April 2014. ... Full Story | Top |
| World powers hope to resume Iran talks quickly Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 09:38 AM PDT  By Justyna Pawlak BRUSSELS (Reuters) - World powers expressed hope on Tuesday of resuming negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear program "as soon as possible" but gave no indication of a possible date for any new talks. Senior diplomats from the six countries negotiating with Tehran - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - met in Brussels to map out plans for diplomacy following the June 14 presidential election in Iran. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: new cabinet 'illegitimate' Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 09:25 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood denounced as "illegitimate" a new cabinet sworn in by interim President Adli Mansour on Tuesday. "It's an illegitimate government, an illegitimate prime minister, an illegitimate cabinet. We don't recognize anyone in it. We don't even recognize their authority as representatives of the government," spokesman Gehad El-Haddad told Reuters. (Reporting by Maggie Fick; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Mike Collett-White) Full Story | Top |
| State holding company executive appointed Egypt's oil minister Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 09:16 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Sherif Ismail, head of an Egyptian state-owned oil holding company operating in the south of the country, was sworn in on Tuesday as interim oil minister. Ismail is chairman of the Ganoub El-Wadi Petroleum Holding Company (GANOPE) which manages exploration and production concessions, establishes joint ventures with private companies and constructs oil infrastructure. (Reporting by Patrick Werr; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Michael Roddy) Full Story | Top |
| UK Dreamliner fire probe confirms looking at Honeywell part Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 09:08 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - British investigators said on Tuesday a transmitter made by U.S. firm Honeywell was one of several components that may have caused a fire on a Boeing Dreamliner in London last week. "We can confirm that Honeywell have been invited to join the investigation," a spokesman for Britain's Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) said on Tuesday. "The emergency locator transmitter (ELT) is one (of) several components being looked at in detail as part of the investigation and it would be premature to speculate on the causes of the incident at this stage. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's head of armed forces sworn in as first deputy PM Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 09:02 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - The head of Egypt's armed forces was sworn in on Tuesday as interim first deputy prime minister, as well as keeping his posts as minister of defense and military production. The new interim government has been backed by General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi's army that overthrew elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on July 3. According to analysts, the new post is likely to further increase the military's influence over political decisions. Liberal politician Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, a Christian, was sworn in as interim trade and industry minister. ... Full Story | Top |
| Algerian in 'Jihad Jane' case says Irish jail unfit for animals Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 08:55 AM PDT  By Sarah O'Connor DUBLIN (Reuters) - An Algerian man jailed in Ireland and wanted by the United States on terrorism charges filed a damages suit against the Irish state on Tuesday, saying his prison conditions were "not even suitable for animals". Ali Charaf Damache is wanted by the FBI for conspiracy in a foiled international plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist whose depiction of the Prophet Mohammad with the body of a dog caused outrage in Muslim countries. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three hurt as bomb hits Hezbollah convoy in Lebanon Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 08:37 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - A convoy carrying members of Hezbollah was hit by a roadside bomb near the Lebanese-Syrian border on Tuesday, wounding three of its officials in the third attack on the Shi'ite militant group since May, security sources said. The injured men were Hezbollah security officials travelling in a convoy of two vehicles heading towards Syria. A barrage of gunfire hit the convoy after the blast, security sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lithuania accused of stonewalling over CIA jail case Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 08:34 AM PDT By Christian Lowe and Andrius Sytas WARSAW/VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lawyers for a man who alleges he was held in a secret CIA jail in Lithuania have accused the Baltic state of failing to give proper answers to judges considering the case at the European Court of Human Rights. Saudi-born Abu Zubaydah alleges that he was held, seven years ago, in Lithuania as part of a global CIA program to detain and interrogate suspected al Qaeda operatives. Abu Zubaydah, now an inmate at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, has asked the Strasbourg-based court to rule that Lithuania acted illegally. ... Full Story | Top |
| At least eight people killed in ethnic clashes in Guinea Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 08:28 AM PDT CONAKRY (Reuters) - At least eight people have been killed in ethnic violence in southeastern Guinea which entered a second day on Tuesday, witnesses said, underscoring tensions in the West African nation ahead of parliamentary elections. In Nzerekore, Guinea's second largest town, ethnic gangs prowled the streets and witnesses reported shooting. The violence erupted on Monday after a man accused of being a thief was killed in the nearby town of Koule, residents said. "Everything is closed: the market, banks, shops. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rousseff's popularity sinks after Brazil's protests: poll Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 08:15 AM PDT  BRASILIA (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff's approval rating plummeted and her re-election chances have dimmed in the month since massive protests of poor public services, corruption and other complaints shook Brazil, a new poll published on Tuesday showed. The number of Brazilians who approve of her government's performance fell to 31.3 percent in July from 54.2 percent in June. The number of those who think it has done a bad job soared to 29.5 percent from 9 percent, the survey by polling firm MDA Pesquisa said. The poll is the second to be released since the protests began. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel says has allowed Egypt to boost forces in Sinai Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 08:08 AM PDT  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has allowed Egypt to boost its forces in the Sinai peninsula after Cairo requested additional troops to fight Islamist militants in the lawless region, Israel's defense minister said on Tuesday. Sinai is largely demilitarized, in accordance with a 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace deal, but Egypt has been battling militants there who have stepped up attacks on security checkpoints since the army ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi two weeks ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain: Iran can join Syria peace talks only if it changes tack Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 07:47 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Tuesday that Iran would have to accept proposals to bring about peace in Syria agreed at an international conference in Geneva last year before it could take part in any new peace talks. "A good starting point would be acceptance of 'Geneva One' ... and that is something we haven't heard from Iran as yet," Hague told lawmakers. The conference agreed that Syria needed a transitional government with executive powers to attain peace, he said. (Reporting By Andrew Osborn; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Full Story | Top |
| Egypt warns Turkey not to meddle in its affairs Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 07:40 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt warned Turkey on Tuesday against interfering in its internal affairs following Ankara's condemnation of the overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi, which has reoriented diplomatic relations across the region. Turkey's government, which like Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood has Islamist roots, denounced the Egyptian military's removal of Mursi, an elected leader, as an "unacceptable coup" in what Cairo views as the strongest criticism from overseas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Leftist alliance proposal could complicate Portugal crisis talks Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 07:30 AM PDT By Andrei Khalip LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's small Left Bloc party called on Tuesday for leftist groups including the main opposition Socialists to form an alliance before elections that may be called next year and which opinion polls show they could win. The proposal could complicate efforts to end a political crisis caused by splits within the centre-right ruling coalition, and which risks derailing Portugal's planned exit next year from its 78 billion euro international bailout. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan's Bashir leaves Nigeria, ICC calls for arrest Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 07:14 AM PDT  ABUJA (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has left Nigeria, where his presence at an African Union HIV/AIDS summit defied International Criminal Court (ICC) calls for his arrest on charges of genocide and war crimes, officials said on Tuesday. His press secretary and Nigerian hosts both denied reports in the local media that he had left early fearing arrest. Monday was the main day of the two-day summit. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kremlin says decision on asylum for Snowden not up to Putin Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 07:02 AM PDT  CHITA, Russia (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin will not be the person deciding whether to grant fugitive American Edward Snowden temporary asylum in Russia, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. "If we are talking about temporary asylum, then this is an issue not for the president but for the Federal Migration Service," Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said after Snowden's application for temporary asylum after spending three weeks at a Moscow airport. (Reporting by Denis Dyomkin; Writing by Steve Gutterman, Editing by Timothy Heritage) Full Story | Top |
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