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| Car bombs kill 28 in Shi'ite districts of Baghdad Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 12:37 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 28 people were killed in five car bombings in predominantly Shi'ite districts of the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Saturday, police and medics said. The deadliest explosion took place in the northern neighborhood of Tobchi, where 10 people were killed when a bomb exploded in car parked in a busy commercial street. Another car bomb exploded in a commercial street in the Karrada neighborhood, killing at least four people. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Egyptian prime minister seeks dialogue, end to divisions Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 12:28 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi appealed on Saturday for a return to dialogue between the country's political parties, still in tumult following the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. "Now I see we have to return to harmony. Divisions cannot last," Beblawi said in an interview with state television. Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood has denounced the ousting of the president as a military coup and has said it will not enter into any dialogue until he is restored to power. (Reporting by Yasmine Saleh; editing by Crispian Balmer) Full Story | Top |
| Weakened Chile conservatives pick woman to take on Bachelet Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 12:17 PM PDT SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile's weakened conservative UDI party said on Saturday it has picked Labor Minister Evelyn Matthei as its new candidate in the November presidential election, which is expected to see former president Michelle Bachelet triumph. Matthei steps in after the right-wing's former candidate Pablo Longueira unexpectedly quit the campaign on Wednesday due to depression, sending the bloc into disarray. ... Full Story | Top |
| Five people sentenced to jail for Costa Concordia disaster Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 11:41 AM PDT  By Silvia Ognibene and Naomi O'Leary ROME (Reuters) - Four Costa Concordia crew members and a company official were sentenced to jail in Italy on Saturday for their part in the 2012 cruise ship disaster that killed 32 people, leaving only the captain still on trial. The five received sentences of between 18 and 34 months for multiple manslaughter, negligence and shipwreck - relatively short terms for the crimes, in exchange for pleading guilty. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel, Palestinians still at odds over borders ahead of talks Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 11:30 AM PDT  By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel will not bow to the Palestinians' demand on the borders of their future state before peace talks begin but will meet their request for the release of some prisoners, Israeli officials said on Saturday. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that Israel and the Palestinians had laid the groundwork to resume talks after an almost three-year stalemate, but that the deal was not final and required more diplomacy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Portugal ruling party vows to meet bailout goals after pact talks fail Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 11:10 AM PDT  By Andrei Khalip LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's ruling Social Democrats (PSD) said on Saturday their coalition government would press on with meeting the country's economic bailout goals after talks on a broader political deal sought by the president collapsed. Reigniting a three-week-old political crisis, the two centre-right coalition parties and main opposition Socialists broke off talks on Friday on a "national salvation" pact to ensure an EU/IMF bailout stays on track, leaving it to the president to decide how to proceed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish police fire water cannon at Istanbul protesters Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 11:02 AM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police fired water cannon on Saturday to disperse hundreds of protesters who gathered to march to Gezi Park in central Istanbul, which has been at the heart of fierce demonstrations against Prime Minister Erdogan's rule. Saturday's protests were triggered when police blocked access to the park where a couple, who met during last month's anti-government rallies, were planning to get married and had posted an invitation for guests to attend online. Groups of riot police chased protesters down side streets leading away from Taksim square where Gezi park is located. ... Full Story | Top |
| Navalny embodies generation of rebellious Russians Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 10:48 AM PDT  By Timothy Heritage MOSCOW (Reuters) - In a battle against President Vladimir Putin that has moved from the streets of Moscow to a courtroom, Alexei Navalny has emerged as the figurehead of a new generation of Russian opposition. The 37-year-old anti-corruption campaigner, who was handed a five-year jail sentence for theft on Thursday then freed on bail on Friday, was one of the first protest leaders arrested when demonstrations against Putin took off in December 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt seeks assertive role, worries about Nile dam Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 10:47 AM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh and Noah Browning CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's new military-backed cabinet made clear on Saturday it wanted to play an assertive role in regional politics, urging Ethiopia to attend talks over a dam on the Nile and stressing it sought change in Syria. "Egypt's leadership is inevitable," said Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy, a member of an interim government sworn into office just four days ago following the ousting of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on July 3. ... Full Story | Top |
| India court sentences six to life in prison in rape of Swiss woman Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 10:23 AM PDT NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Indian court on Saturday sentenced six men convicted of the gang rape of a Swiss woman to life in prison, in one of several recent cases that have fueled a public outcry over the high rate of sex crimes in India. The 39-year-old Swiss woman was raped while camping with her husband in a forest in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh in mid-March. "It was a good judgment. It came early," said Rajendra Tiwari, a lawyer for the government. The National Crime Records Bureau says more than 24,200 rapes were reported across India in 2011 - about one every 20 minutes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian security forces raid office of Iranian TV channel Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 09:58 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces raided the office of the Iranian Al Alam Arabic language satellite channel in Cairo and detained its director, the outlet reported on Saturday. "The security forces also seized equipment and devices from the channel without giving any explanation for these actions," Al Alam said on its website. A security source confirmed their account and said the raid was conducted because the channel lacked a license. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four election officials kidnapped in northern Mali Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 09:49 AM PDT BAMAKO (Reuters) - Four electoral officials and a deputy mayor were kidnapped by suspected Tuareg separatists in northern Mali on Saturday, officials said, adding to tensions stirred by ethnic clashes before next week's presidential vote. Earlier on Saturday, Mali's government accused the MNLA rebels of violating a ceasefire deal this week after four people died in clashes between pro-separatist Tuareg youths and black Africans in the northern town of Kidal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Algeria kills two deputies to AQIM leader: source Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 09:26 AM PDT By Lamine Chikhi ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algerian special forces have shot dead four Islamist militants, including two deputies to the leader of al Qaeda's North African wing AQIM, a security source told Reuters. The raid on Friday night in the region of Bouira, east of the capital, also uncovered a cache of money that was likely to have been paid to secure the freedom of Western hostages, said the source, who asked not to be named. "We have also seized a big amount of euros, very likely from the ransoms paid by Western governments to AQIM during hostage taking operations," the source told ... Full Story | Top |
| Dozens of child migrants sleeping on bare earth at Italy's Lampedusa Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 09:24 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Dozens of African child migrants are having to sleep on the bare earth outside the reception center on Italy's Lampedusa following an upsurge in the number of boats reaching the tiny island, agency Save the Children said on Saturday. Lampedusa is wrestling with a big backlog in unaccompanied minors because Italian authorities stopped considering North Africa as being in a state of emergency some months ago, meaning no national agency is now charged with housing them. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela says it ends efforts for better U.S. ties Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 09:19 AM PDT  By Daniel Wallis CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela said it was ending efforts to improve ties with Washington after the Obama administration's nominee for envoy to the United Nations vowed to oppose what she called a crackdown on civil society in the "repressive" OPEC nation. In an echo of the many bust-ups between the two countries during the late Hugo Chavez's 14-year rule, President Nicolas Maduro has demanded an apology and said the United States had no moral right to criticize his government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fatal Indian school meal contained pesticide, police confirms Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 09:00 AM PDT  PATNA, India (Reuters) - An initial forensic report has confirmed that the free school lunch that killed 23 children this week in India's eastern state of Bihar was contaminated with a pesticide, a senior police official said on Saturday. The children fell ill within minutes of eating a meal of rice and potato curry in their one-room school on Tuesday, vomiting and convulsing with agonizing stomach cramps. The deaths sparked protests in Bihar. The lunch was part of India's Mid-Day Meal Scheme that covers 120 million children and aims to tackle malnutrition and encourage school attendance. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's President issues decree to start work on constitution Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 08:49 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's new president has issued a decree for legal experts to start work amending the country's constitution, which was suspended this month by the military, the state-run news website of Al-Ahram said on Saturday. The committee of 10 experts will meet on Sunday and has just 15 days to come up with proposals to put before a broader-based body that will have a further 60 days to deliver a final draft, opening the way for fresh elections. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bailed Russian opposition leader vows to become Moscow mayor Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 08:35 AM PDT  By Gabriela Baczynska and Maria Tsvetkova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny told cheering supporters on Saturday he wants to contest and win an election to become Moscow mayor after being freed on bail while he fights a five-year jail sentence. Hundreds of people, some waving white roses, gave one of President Vladimir Putin's biggest critics a hero's welcome when he arrived in Moscow on the overnight train from Kirov, the industrial city where he was convicted of theft on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Disgruntled man hurt after detonating explosion in Beijing airport Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 08:02 AM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - A man in a wheelchair detonated a home-made explosive in Beijing airport on Saturday, injuring himself and sending smoke billowing through the exit area of the international arrivals section of Terminal 3. There were no other injuries and operations were normal after the blast, the airport said on its microblog. China's official Xinhua news agency said the man, 34-year-old Ji Zhongxing from the eastern province of Shandong, had detonated the loud device after being prevented from handing out leaflets that drew attention to unspecified complaints. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian rebels advance on northern army-held town Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 08:00 AM PDT  By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels advanced on the northern town of Khan al-Assal on Saturday, activists said, and appeared close to seizing one of the last towns in western part of Aleppo province still held by President Bashar al-Assad's forces. The army has been attempting a slow build-up of troops around the province in order to retake Aleppo city, once Syria's biggest commercial hub. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four election officials seized by gunmen in north Mali Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 07:55 AM PDT BAMAKO (Reuters) - Five people, including four election officials, were kidnapped by gunmen in northern Mali on Saturday close to the town of Tessalit, army and local government sources said, ahead of a presidential vote next weekend. An official in the local governor's office said the gunmen were suspected to be members of the MNLA Tuareg separatist group, which signed a ceasefire with the government last month. It was not immediately possible to confirm this. (Reporting by Adama Diarra; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Alison Williams) Full Story | Top |
| Mali says separatists break peace deal after ethnic clashes Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 07:17 AM PDT BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's government accused northern Tuareg separatists on Saturday of violating a ceasefire deal signed last month after 4 people were killed in ethnic violence in the northern town of Kidal, a week ahead of elections. The violence raised fears about disruptions to the July 28 presidential election, pushed for by France and Western donors and meant to draw a line under a March 2012 coup that led to a 10-month seizure of northern Mali by al Qaeda-linked rebels. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Detroit filing sends benefits warning to other cities Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 07:03 AM PDT  By Tiziana Barghini NEW YORK (Reuters) - Many U.S. cities have a much better economic outlook than struggling Detroit, but the Motor City's bankruptcy filing on Thursday should still set off alarm bells elsewhere as the cost of paying retirement benefits swells. In recent decades, many municipalities have provided their workers with generous retirement benefits, both pensions and health coverage, often in lieu of pay increases. But this has created an unsustainable future burden for budgets that has only been exacerbated by the loss of real estate and other tax revenue in the financial crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani clerics ban women from shopping alone in northwest area Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 06:15 AM PDT By Saud Mehsud DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Clerics in northwest Pakistan have issued a temporary ban on women shopping unless accompanied by a male relative, a police official said on Saturday, in a step designed to keep men from being distracted during the holy month of Ramadan. Police are supporting the ban, announced over mosque loudspeakers on Friday in Karak district in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, district police official Fazal Hanif told Reuters. Unaccompanied women will be arrested and shopkeepers may be punished for selling items to women on their own. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt 'deeply worried' by Nile water row with Ethiopia Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 05:41 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt said on Saturday it was highly concerned that Ethiopia had not responded to an invitation to discuss a dispute over a giant dam that Ethiopia plans to build on the river Nile. "Egypt is deeply worried that Ethiopia has not yet reacted to the invitation Egypt's minister of water and irrigation made to conduct a meeting in Cairo on the consequences of the dam," a statement issued by the foreign ministry said. Egypt fears the dam will reduce water flows vital for its 84 million people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Algerian army kills regional al Qaeda leader's deputy: Ennahar TV Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 05:05 AM PDT (Reuters) - Algerian special forces shot dead four Islamist militants, including regional al Qaeda deputy leader Abu Al Walid Tuhami, in an ambush on Friday night, privately owned television station Ennahar said on Saturday, citing unnamed sources. Tuhami, 36, joined Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in 2002 and became close to leader Abdelmalek Droukdel, one security analyst, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel agrees Palestinian prisoner release to resume peace talks Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 05:04 AM PDT  By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has agreed to release Palestinian prisoners in order to resume peace talks, but will not yield to other demands the Palestinians say must be met before they return to the negotiating table. Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Saturday that Israel was prepared to release some "heavyweight" prisoners but could not accept Palestinian demands over the borders of their future state before talks begin. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Six held over violence in France after police check veiled woman Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 05:03 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - Six people were arrested after overnight violence that erupted in a Paris suburb after police checked the identity of a woman wearing a Muslim veil, French authorities said on Saturday. Public disturbances have shaken depressed, largely immigrant quarters of major French cities at regular intervals for years, often triggered by resentment over spot police checks. It is illegal in France for women to wear full face veils in public but the law is contested in the mainly Muslim suburbs that ring major cities - where tensions reign in relations between residents and police. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria war widens rift between Shi'ite clergy in Iraq, Iran Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 04:14 AM PDT  By Suadad al-Salhy NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - The civil war in Syria is widening a rift between top Shi'ite Muslim clergy in Iraq and Iran who have taken opposing stands on whether or not to send followers into combat on President Bashar al-Assad's side. Competition for leadership of the Shi'ite community has intensified since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 toppled Saddam Hussein, empowering majority Shi'ites through the ballot box and restoring the Iraqi holy city of Najaf to prominence. ... Full Story | Top |
| China detains six over death of watermelon vendor: report Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 03:46 AM PDT SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese police have detained six security officials involved in a spat that led to the death of a watermelon vendor and sparked online fury over perceived abuses of power by city patrols. The six men were suspected of causing "intentional injury", the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday, quoting unidentified sources in the south-central province of Hunan. The rapid action by authorities could help defuse growing public anger after the vendor, Deng Zhengjia, 56, died following the fight with the security officials on Wednesday morning. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt has no intention of waging Syria 'jihad': minister Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 03:38 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt has no intention of a waging a holy war against Syria, but still supports the Syrian peoples' hopes for freedom, newly installed foreign minister Nabil Fahmy said on Saturday. The Muslim Brotherhood movement of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi last month joined a call by some Sunni clerics for a jihad against the Syrian government and its Shi'ite allies. Signaling a different approach, Fahmy told reporters: "There are no intentions for jihad in Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia's FARC says holding U.S. soldier, willing to release Friday, Jul 19, 2013 11:34 PM PDT By Nelson Bocanegra BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's FARC rebels said late on Friday they were holding a U.S. soldier captured on June 20, but were willing to release him to a humanitarian commission as they pursue peace talks with the government. The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, said on its website it had caught the soldier, identified as Kevin Scott Sutay, in a jungle region in the south of the country, describing him as a mine clearance expert from New York who has served in Afghanistan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Taliban-style edict for women spreads alarm in Afghan district Friday, Jul 19, 2013 10:44 PM PDT  By Rob Taylor and Folad Hamdard KABUL/DEH SALAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - One of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's main religious advisers will not overturn a decree issued by clerics in the north reimposing Taliban-style curbs on women, in another sign of returning conservatism as NATO forces leave the country. Just days after the United States launched a $200 million program to boost the role of women in Afghanistan, a senior member of the country's top religious leaders' panel said he would not intervene over a draconian edict issued by clerics in the Deh Salah region of Baghlan province. ... Full Story | Top |
| Saudi suspect in underwear bomb plots trained others, U.S. says Friday, Jul 19, 2013 07:32 PM PDT  By Phil Stewart ASPEN, Colo. (Reuters) - The United States believes the Saudi man suspected of designing underwear bombs for al Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate has trained a small number of people on his advanced bomb-making techniques, a senior U.S. official said on Friday. The remarks by John Pistole, who heads the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, were some of the most detailed public comments to date about Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri and the thwarted May 2012 plot by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, to blow up a plane with an underwear bomb. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry says Israel, Palestinians lay groundwork for peace talks Friday, Jul 19, 2013 06:31 PM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed AMMAN (Reuters) - Israel and the Palestinians have laid the groundwork for resuming peace talks after an almost three-year stalemate, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday, although he cautioned the deal was not final and required more diplomacy. Kerry, winding up his sixth Middle East brokering mission this year, gave few details. He anticipated Israeli and Palestinian envoys would come to Washington soon for what a U.S. official said would mark the launch of direct negotiations. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korean ship was carrying sugar donation, Cuba told Panama Friday, Jul 19, 2013 06:09 PM PDT  By Lomi Kriel and David Adams PANAMA CITY/MIAMI (Reuters) - When a North Korean ship carrying Cuban arms was seized last week in Panama on suspicion of smuggling drugs, Cuba first said it was loaded with sugar for the people of North Korea, according to a Panamanian official familiar with the matter. Cuban officials were quick to request the ship be released, pledging there were no drugs on board, and made no mention of the weapons which two days later were found hidden in the hold under 220,000 sacks of brown sugar, the official told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Biden calls Brazil's Rousseff over NSA spying tensions Friday, Jul 19, 2013 06:01 PM PDT  BRASILIA (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Friday to try to smooth tensions caused by allegations that the United States spied on Brazilian Internet communications, Rousseff's office said. Latin America's largest nation has said Washington's explanations about the National Security Agency's secret surveillance programs have been unsatisfactory. "He lamented the negative repercussions in Brazil and reiterated the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Panama checking for explosive material in North Korean ship Friday, Jul 19, 2013 05:47 PM PDT  PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Investigators unloading the cargo of a seized North Korean ship that carried arms from Cuba may have discovered explosive material on board, a senior Panamanian official said on Friday. Javier Caraballo, Panama's top anti-drug prosecutor, said officials removed three more containers from the Chong Chon Gang, but had decided not to open them for "security reasons." "Experts in the matter tell us that they could contain some type of explosive material," Caraballo told reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi supporters rally in Egypt, army shows muscle Friday, Jul 19, 2013 05:18 PM PDT  By Ulf Laessing and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Three Egyptians were killed during clashes between supporters and opponents of deposed President Mohamed Mursi late on Friday, after thousands rallied in Egyptian cities demanding the reinstatement of the Islamist leader. Two women and a 13-year-old boy were killed and eight others were injured, including one in critical condition, in the clashes that erupted in the Nile Delta town of Mansoura, Health Ministry official Saed Zaghloul told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two killed in clashes between pro- and anti-Mursi protesters Friday, Jul 19, 2013 04:29 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian woman and a 13-year-old boy were killed when supporters and opponents of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi clashed in the Nile Delta town of Mansoura, the website of state-run newspaper Al-Ahram said on Saturday. Thousands of Mursi supporters took to the streets of Egyptian cities on Friday to demand the reinstatement of the Islamist leader who was removed by the army on July 3 after mass protests. (Reporting by Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Yasmine Saleh; Editing by Eric Beech) Full Story | Top |
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