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Prince William's wife Kate gives birth to baby boy Monday, Jul 22, 2013 12:41 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Prince William's wife Kate gave birth on Monday to a baby boy, who becomes third in line to the British throne, his office said. The baby, the couple's first child, was born at 4:24 p.m. (11:24 a.m. ET), weighing 8 lbs and 6 oz. "Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well and will remain in hospital overnight," said a statement from the royal household. (Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Full Story | Top |
Palestinians, Israelis play down chances of imminent talks Monday, Jul 22, 2013 12:15 PM PDT By Ali Sawafta and Allyn Fisher-Ilan RAMALLAH, West Bank/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israelis and Palestinians played down on Monday the prospects of their envoys meeting in Washington any time soon, and the White House said getting the two sides to agree a peace deal remained an "enormous challenge". Palestinians said negotiations could not begin unless it was clear in advance that they would be about a future state based on pre-1967 borders, while an Israeli official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would seek the approval of his cabinet before going ahead. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
Francis lands in Brazil for first trip abroad as pope Monday, Jul 22, 2013 12:08 PM PDT By Paulo Prada and Philip Pullella RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Pope Francis touched down in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, starting his first foreign trip as pontiff and a weeklong series of events expected to attract more than a million people to a gathering of young faithful in Brazil, home to the world's largest Roman Catholic population. Welcomed by a committee of local dignitaries, including President Dilma Rousseff, Francis waved to onlookers before proceeding to a motorcade through Rio's city center, where local Catholics, visiting pilgrims and the curious were gathered to receive him. ... Full Story | Top |
EU adds Hezbollah's military wing to terrorism list Monday, Jul 22, 2013 12:06 PM PDT By Justyna Pawlak and Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union agreed on Monday to put the armed wing of Hezbollah on its terrorism blacklist, a move driven by concerns over the Lebanese militant group's involvement in a deadly bus bombing in Bulgaria and the Syrian war. The powerful Lebanese Shi'ite movement, an ally of Iran, has attracted concern in Europe and around the world in recent months for its role in sending thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, an intervention that has turned the tide of Syria's two-year-old civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
Al Qaeda militants flee Iraq jail in violent mass break-out Monday, Jul 22, 2013 12:06 PM PDT By Kareem Raheem and Ziad al-Sinjary BAGHDAD/MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Hundreds of convicts, including senior members of al Qaeda, broke out of Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail as comrades launched a military-style assault to free them, authorities said on Monday. The deadly raid on the high-security jail happened as Sunni Muslim militants are gaining momentum in their insurgency against the Shi'ite-led government that came to power after the U.S. invasion to oust Saddam Hussein. ... Full Story | Top |
Spain taps social security reserve fund to pay pensions Monday, Jul 22, 2013 12:03 PM PDT MADRID (Reuters) - Spain tapped its social security reserve fund for the second time in a month on Monday, the Labour Ministry said, to help with extra summer pension payments as unemployment and retirement costs deplete government funds. The government turned to the fund for 3.5 billion euros ($4.6 billion) on July 1 then for a further 1 billion euros on Monday. Spanish pensioners receive two cheques in summer and two over the Christmas holidays. Spain was forced to tap the reserve for the first time last year to help pay pension costs, using some 7 billion euros. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. backs EU for designating Hezbollah wing as terrorist Monday, Jul 22, 2013 11:56 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House backed the European Union's decision to designate the military wing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization on Monday, saying it sends a strong message that the group cannot operate with impunity. White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters the decision should have an impact on Hezbollah's fundraising, logistical activities and "terrorist plotting on foreign soil." "The EU's decision today sends a clear message that Europe stands firmly against Hezbollah's terrorist activities. ... Full Story | Top |
Pro and anti-Mursi protesters clash near Cairo's Tahrir square Monday, Jul 22, 2013 11:42 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Supporters and opponents of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi clashed in central Cairo on Monday, hurling stones and firing birdshot and fireworks at each other, witnesses said. The state news agency said one person was killed from a gun shot to the chest, while 21 people needed hospital treatment, the head of the paramedics said. Blood stains and broken glass littered the pavement between the dueling sides, and injured people were whisked away from the clashes on motorbikes in the worst political violence in Cairo since July 16, when seven died in confrontations. ... Full Story | Top |
Uganda police arrest opposition figure to prevent rallies Monday, Jul 22, 2013 10:58 AM PDT By Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA (Reuters) - Police arrested Uganda's leading opposition figure on Monday saying he was about to stage illegal rallies, in what will be seen as the latest crackdown on dissent in the oil-rich African country. Kizza Besigye has been detained several times since he championed opposition demonstrations over high fuel and food prices that rocked parts of the capital and other cities in 2011. A security crackdown on those protests left at least nine people dead and tarnished the image of veteran President Yoweri Museveni. ... Full Story | Top |
Cuba still allergic to private property as reforms creep forward Monday, Jul 22, 2013 10:56 AM PDT By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) - Every Monday in the bowels of Cuba's Palace of the Revolution, a group of men and women charged with revamping the island's moribund economy meets to review progress in building what they have dubbed "a prosperous and sustainable socialism." They have their work cut out for them, as demonstrated by the recent discovery by Panama of decrepit Cuban weaponry on its way to North Korea for repair, a walk down any potholed Havana street or the Cuban government's admission that 58 percent of water pumped from reservoirs is lost to leaky pipes. ... Full Story | Top |
Afghan lawmakers vote to sack minister over security Monday, Jul 22, 2013 10:07 AM PDT By Rob Taylor and Mirwais Harooni KABUL (Reuters) - Lawmakers voted to sack Afghanistan's interior minister on Monday, accusing him of failing to quell attacks from militants as international troops accelerate their exit from the country. The vote to dismiss Ghulam Mujtaba Patang came as America's top general Martin Dempsey arrived in Kabul to try and restart talks on a pact to keep some U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan after the official deadline for withdrawal at the end of 2014. ... Full Story | Top |
Family of Egypt's Mursi alleges abduction, new clashes in Cairo Monday, Jul 22, 2013 10:00 AM PDT By Maggie Fick and Tom Finn CAIRO (Reuters) - The family of Egypt's ousted Islamist president said on Monday it would take legal action against the army as his supporters and opponents clashed in street battles in Cairo. Mohamed Mursi has been held at an undisclosed military facility since the army deposed him on July 3 and suspended the constitution in the wake of street protests against his one-year rule. The army says he is being held for his own safety. ... Full Story | Top |
Egypt waives visa fees for Syrians after Mursi overthrow Monday, Jul 22, 2013 09:52 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt said on Monday it would cancel visa fees for Syrians, the latest effort to ease diplomatic tensions between the two Arab states after the army ousted President Mohamed Mursi this month. Mursi, a member of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, had cut off diplomatic relations with Syria, led by President Bashar al-Assad, a follower of the Shi'ite's Alawite sect, last month at a rally packed with hardline Sunni Islamists calling for holy war in Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
EU calls for Mursi's release, democratic elections in Egypt Monday, Jul 22, 2013 09:48 AM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union called on Monday for the release of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi and demanded democratic elections as soon as possible. Mursi has been held at an undisclosed military facility since the Egyptian army removed him from office on July 3 and suspended the constitution in the wake of street protests against his one-year rule. The army says Islamist Mursi is being held for his own safety. ... Full Story | Top |
Turkey set to overshoot budget targets as elections approach Monday, Jul 22, 2013 09:42 AM PDT By Asli Kandemir ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey is likely to overshoot its budget deficit targets this year as the government spends in the run-up to elections to help keep the economy growing, economists said on Monday. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government, which has built its reputation on Turkey's economic transformation over the past decade, is keen to maintain that record as it faces three elections in the next two years. ... Full Story | Top |
After post-protest flurry, Brazil's politicians resist reform Monday, Jul 22, 2013 09:39 AM PDT By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - One month after demonstrators climbed onto the roof of Congress demanding an end to corruption and the clean-up of Brazil's political stables, lawmakers are procrastinating. In an initial flurry of activity, rattled congressmen abandoned a constitutional amendment that would have made it harder to prosecute corrupt politicians, senators voted to stiffen penalties for corruption, and Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the arrest of a lawmaker convicted of embezzlement. ... Full Story | Top |
Mali interim president meets with Tuareg rebel leaders Monday, Jul 22, 2013 09:30 AM PDT BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traore has met for the first time with members of two northern Tuareg separatist groups, provoking anger among many in the country's south as ethnic tensions rise ahead of a presidential poll on Sunday. The election is meant to unify the West African nation after a March 2012 coup allowed Tuareg rebels and their al Qaeda-linked Islamist allies to seize the West African nation's desert north. A French-led offensive earlier this year routed and scattered the Islamist fighters, though sporadic attacks continue. ... Full Story | Top |
One killed, seven injured in Cairo clashes: state TV Monday, Jul 22, 2013 09:20 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian man was killed and seven were injured in clashes on Monday between supporters and opponents of the ousted President Mohamed Mursi, state television reported. The opposing camps threw stones and shot fireworks at each other near Cairo's Tahrir square as security forces fired tear gas to try to disperse them, witnesses said. (Reporting by Asma Alsharif) Full Story | Top |
Protest halts Libyan port's oil exports for sixth day Monday, Jul 22, 2013 09:10 AM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Protesters demanding jobs closed off the eastern Libyan port of Zueitina for a sixth day on Monday, extending a halt in oil exports, according to a senior oil industry source and to one of the demonstrators. Roughly a dozen men last Tuesday evening forced their way into the port, just hours after Zueitina Oil Company workers had temporarily suspended a strike and resumed production at oilfields that pump to the terminal. "The situation is still the same," a senior Libyan oil industry source said. "Exports are still down as of yesterday evening. ... Full Story | Top |
Madagascar police fire teargas at opposition protesters Monday, Jul 22, 2013 08:55 AM PDT ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Police in Madagascar fired teargas on Monday at supporters of a political party opposed to the transitional government of President Andry Rajoelina, demanding immediate elections and his departure. The former French colony has been in crisis since 2009 when Rajoelina took power with military support, ousting former President Marc Ravalomanana and triggering turmoil that scared off investors and tourists. ... Full Story | Top |
Leaker Snowden hopes to be able to leave airport by Wednesday: lawyer Monday, Jul 22, 2013 08:45 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden hopes to be granted papers by Wednesday allowing him to end his month-long stay in the transit area of a Moscow airport and move to the city center, his Russian lawyer said on Monday. Anatoly Kucherena, who helped the American file his bid for temporary asylum in Russia on July 16, said Snowden believed it would be unsafe to try to travel to Latin America soon because of U.S. efforts to return him to the United States to face espionage charges. ... Full Story | Top |
Israel moves to protect Eilat-bound planes from Sinai jihadis Monday, Jul 22, 2013 08:30 AM PDT By Dan Williams EILAT, Israel (Reuters) - An airliner full of carefree vacationers dips out of a cloudless sky on a final descent to Eilat and the desert around Israel's toehold on the Red Sea sizzles with unseen military activity. The scene repeats every half hour or so, servicing the busy Israeli hotels squeezed into the 11-km (7-mile) sliver of coast between Jordan and Egypt. But with the threat of anti-aircraft missile attacks from Egypt-based militants increasing, security precautions are being stepped up to unprecedented levels. ... Full Story | Top |
Italian doctors strike over cuts to health service Monday, Jul 22, 2013 07:58 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Thousands of doctors went on strike across Italy on Monday to protest against cuts to the country's health service, raising pressure on Prime Minister Enrico Letta's government as it seeks further ways to slash spending. About a hundred medics observing the four-hour strike gathered outside the Economy Ministry in Rome, waving banners and demanding more state resources for healthcare. ... Full Story | Top |
China quake death toll more than doubles to 54, hundreds hurt Monday, Jul 22, 2013 07:52 AM PDT By Megha Rajagopalan BEIJING (Reuters) - The death toll from a 6.6 magnitude earthquake in China's western Gansu province on Monday more than doubled to 54 people, the municipal government said, with hundreds injured as many homes in affected areas collapsed. The quake hit Minxian and Zhangxian counties, about 170 km (105 miles) southeast of the provincial capital of Lanzhou, at 7.45 on Monday morning (7.45 p.m. ET Sunday), the official Xinhua news agency said. It put the number of people seriously injured at 296. Earlier reports by the official Xinhua news agency said 22 people had died. ... Full Story | Top |
France stands by veil ban after riots Monday, Jul 22, 2013 07:49 AM PDT By Nicholas Vinocur PARIS (Reuters) - France's interior minister on Monday defended a ban on wearing full-face veils in public after a police check on a Muslim woman caused two nights of rioting near Paris, exposing tensions in immigrant-heavy suburbs. The 2010 law was brought in by conservative former president Nicolas Sarkozy and targets burqa and niqab garments that conceal the face, rather than the headscarf that is more common among French Muslim women. ... Full Story | Top |
Ethiopian troops quit Somali city, but no full withdrawal planned Monday, Jul 22, 2013 07:08 AM PDT By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia has begun pulling troops out of a former rebel stronghold in Somalia, but it has no plans for a complete withdrawal from the fight against al Qaeda-linked insurgents, its foreign minister said on Monday. Somalia has enjoyed relative calm after military offensives by African Union (AMISOM) peacekeepers and Ethiopian troops, who have pushed al Qaeda-allied al Shabaab from urban strongholds in central and southern Somalia. ... Full Story | Top |
Britain says EU membership review reveals pros and cons Monday, Jul 22, 2013 06:53 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's biggest review of its membership of the European Union in 40 years found evidence it had boosted economic growth and helped consumers, but also highlighted the need to keep control of its own tax policy, a government report said on Monday. The first six of 32 reports on Britain's EU ties will form the basis of Prime Minister David Cameron's renegotiation of the country's role in Europe before an in/out referendum he has promised to hold before the end of 2017. ... Full Story | Top |
Pirates release oil tanker hijacked off West Africa Monday, Jul 22, 2013 05:17 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Pirates have released an oil products tanker and its 24 Indian crew after it was hijacked off the Gabon coast last week, the vessel's operator said on Monday, in the most southerly attack yet off the coast of West Africa. A surge in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea region including waters off Nigeria, Africa's No. 1 oil producer and a significant source of cocoa and metals for world markets, is jacking up costs for shipping firms. Pirates seized the Maltese-flagged Cotton tanker on July 15 near Gabon's Port Gentil in the first reported attack in that area in the past five years. ... Full Story | Top |
PREVIEW-San Jose and unions set for court battle over pensions Monday, Jul 22, 2013 05:15 AM PDT By Jim Christie SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's third-largest city, San Jose, and its employee unions face off in court on Monday over public pension reforms in a case that has major implications for other local authorities in the state trying to rein in the costs of retirement benefits. The lawsuit brought against the measure, led by San Jose's police union, shows how difficult it is for local governments to break benefit promises to current and past employees even when other public services are being cut to pay for them. ... Full Story | Top |
Afghan parliament sacks interior minister over security issues Monday, Jul 22, 2013 05:08 AM PDT By Rob Taylor and Mirwais Harooni KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's parliament voted on Monday to dismiss one of the country's top security chiefs by impeaching the interior minister in a potential blow to stability as NATO-led international forces speed their withdrawal from the country. Fractious lawmakers said Ghulam Mujtaba Patang, head of a 157,000-strong police force for less than a year, had been unable to tackle a worsening security environment, which included insurgent attacks on the major highway from the capital Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar. ... Full Story | Top |
Mandela's health showing 'sustained improvement': government Monday, Jul 22, 2013 05:06 AM PDT JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela is showing "sustained improvement" in hospital although he remains in a critical condition, the government said on Monday. The government statement said President Jacob Zuma had visited the 95-year-old Mandela in the Pretoria hospital where he has been for the last seven weeks receiving treatment for a recurring lung infection. (Reporting by Peroshni Govender; Editing by Ed Cropley) Full Story | Top |
Portugal PM confirms reshuffle request, Portas to be deputy PM Monday, Jul 22, 2013 04:58 AM PDT LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's prime minister confirmed on Monday his intention to make junior coalition party leader Paulo Portas his deputy, coordinating talks with Lisbon's EU and IMF lenders that has been a key condition to heal a rift within the government. He told reporters he is yet to formalize the request to the president who will the announce the final terms of the reshuffle, which would promote Portas from his current position of foreign minister. ... Full Story | Top |
Radical Myanmar Buddhist monk unhurt in bomb blast Monday, Jul 22, 2013 04:44 AM PDT YANGON (Reuters) - A bomb exploded meters away from a radical Buddhist monk as he delivered a mass sermon in Myanmar, police said on Monday, the latest flare-up in tensions pitting Buddhists against minority Muslims. Wirathu, the prominent monk who heads a movement accused of stirring violence against Muslims, said he believed the blast on Sunday evening in Myanmar's second city, Mandalay, was intended to silence him. The home-made bomb went off inside a parked car, according to police and witnesses. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. ... Full Story | Top |
President cools but not cures Portuguese crisis Monday, Jul 22, 2013 04:07 AM PDT By Shrikesh Laxmidas LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's president has soothed investor concerns by keeping the government in place until 2015, but unresolved tensions over austerity mean the country's political crisis has not been laid to rest. Essentially the immediate symptoms of crisis have been treated, but the cure for underlying condition remains elusive. Anibal Cavaco Silva on Sunday ruled out a snap election and kept the centre-right coalition government in place until the end of its term. ... Full Story | Top |
Palestinians say no peace talks without '67 borders agreement Monday, Jul 22, 2013 03:34 AM PDT By Ali Sawafta and Allyn Fisher-Ilan RAMALLAH, West Bank/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Palestinians played down on Monday the significance of an imminent meeting in Washington of their top peace envoy with his Israeli counterpart, saying formal negotiation would not begin unless their opening terms were satisfied. The Palestinian position seemed to run counter to U.S. hopes that bringing together Saeb Erekat and Israel's Tzipi Livni in the coming days would kick-start peacemaking stalled for almost three years over Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. ... Full Story | Top |
Syria rebels seize government town in Aleppo province Monday, Jul 22, 2013 02:13 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels seized the northern town of Khan al-Assal on Monday, activists said, one of the last towns in the western part of Aleppo province that was held by President Bashar al-Assad's forces. An army build-up around the province in order to retake Aleppo city has been dogged by rebel counter-attacks, although a string of government victories elsewhere in Syria has shifted the battlefield tide in Assad's favor after more than two years of bloodshed. ... Full Story | Top |
Japan PM Abe's mandate is much smaller than it looks Monday, Jul 22, 2013 02:12 AM PDT By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's landslide election victory at the weekend was anything but a ringing endorsement from voters. The vast majority never voted for his coalition. Abe's mandate is much smaller than his ruling bloc's win in the upper house poll suggests: only about one in four voters gave their support. Three-quarters of the electorate either did not vote at all or backed opposition parties. ... Full Story | Top |
Japan's Abe vows to keep focus on economy after big election win Monday, Jul 22, 2013 12:57 AM PDT By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, fresh from a strong election victory, vowed on Monday to stay focused on reviving the stagnant economy and sought to counter suspicions he might instead shift emphasis to his nationalist agenda. The victory in parliament's upper house election on Sunday cemented Abe's hold on power and gave him a stronger mandate for his prescription for reviving the world's third-biggest economy. ... Full Story | Top |
Syrian government, opposition must work to expel "terrorists": Russia Monday, Jul 22, 2013 12:56 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov issued a new call on Monday for the Syrian government and opposition to work together to expel all "terrorists and extremists from Syria", Russian news agencies reported. At the start of talks with Syrian Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Qadri Jamil, Lavrov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency that last month's agreement in Northern Ireland for the two sides to work together to expel the "terrorists and extremists" should "become one of the main points of the proposed international (peace) conference". ... Full Story | Top |
Japan PM Abe: Will lose public confidence if retreat from reform Sunday, Jul 21, 2013 10:17 PM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that his government would lose public confidence if it retreated from reform. Abe's comment comes after his ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner won a decisive election victory on Sunday, cementing his grip on power but raising the possibility that he could lose interest in difficult economic reforms and shift focus to his nationalist agenda instead. (Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Edmund Klamann) Full Story | Top |
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