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| Migrant boat sinks off Libya, Italian coastguard seeks missing Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:59 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italy's coastguard said it helped rescue 22 migrants on Friday and is coordinating a search for missing people after receiving a distress call from a boat that ran into difficulties off the coast of Libya. Coastguards in Sicily directed two Panamanian-flagged merchant ships towards the migrant boat, which they located about 29 miles off the Libyan coast when they received the call. One of the ships rescued 20 people from the sea and discovered their half-submerged inflatable boat. The second ship picked up two people, the coastguard said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canadian, jailed in Mauritania for terror link, reported back home Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:57 PM PDT OTTAWA/NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - A Canadian man jailed for "terrorist conspiracy" in the west African nation of Mauritania arrived back in Canada under police escort on Friday after his sentence was cut on appeal, Canadian television said. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp and CTV News both quoted a government official as saying Aaron Yoon had flown into Toronto. Canada's foreign ministry said earlier in the day that it was aware Yoon had been released by Mauritanian authorities. ... Full Story | Top |
| Was 'recklessness' to blame for Spanish train crash? Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:49 PM PDT  By Teresa Medrano and Tracy Rucinski SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (Reuters) - Spanish police were investigating on Friday if the driver of a train that crashed in Santiago de Compostela killing dozens had been driving at reckless speed when he took a tight curve. Spain's worst train accident in decades on Wednesday evening killed at least 78, with three bodies still unidentified and 81 people in hospital, raising questions about the experienced railwayman's actions. The driver, Francisco Garzon, 52, was under arrest at a hospital in Santiago, the capital of the northwestern region of Galicia. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says it intends to send two Guantanamo detainees to Algeria Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:32 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States intends to repatriate two detainees held at its controversial prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Algeria, the White House said on Friday, marking the first such transfer to another country in nearly a year. The step is the latest by President Barack Obama's administration meant to show his commitment to closing the prison. Obama promised as a presidential candidate in 2008 to do away with the facility but has been unable to do so. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel blocks EU projects in West Bank Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:26 PM PDT  By Allyn Fisher-Ilan JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has blocked the European Union from aiding tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank, in retaliation for an EU ban on financial assistance to Israeli organizations in the occupied territories. The EU imposed its restrictions last week, citing its frustration over the continued expansion of Jewish settlements in territory captured by Israeli forces in the 1967 Middle East War. The new guidelines render Israeli entities operating there ineligible for EU grants, prizes or loans, beginning next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Interpol snubs Moscow again in chase of fund manager Browder Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:23 PM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - Interpol on Friday rejected a second request from Moscow to put British investment fund head William Browder on its search list, dealing a fresh blow to Russia's drive to jail the man behind a campaign to expose corruption and rights violations. The decision is the latest twist in a long-running battle between the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Browder, whose investment company Hermitage Capital was once the largest investor in Russia's equity market. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cuba's Raul Castro promises succession has started Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:23 PM PDT  By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro assured his people on Friday that a transfer of power to younger generations had begun, in a televised address marking the 60th anniversary of the start of the Cuban revolution. Castro spoke in the city of Santiago in eastern Cuba, where on July 26, 1953, the young Castro and a group of rebels, led by his brother Fidel, attacked the Moncada military barracks in a failed assault that sparked the movement that eventually toppled the U.S.-backed government of dictator Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hostility radiates as two Egypts take to the streets Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:18 PM PDT  By Noah Browning and Asma Alsharif CAIRO (Reuters) - Rival camps struggling for Egypt's future radiated mistrust and hostility from competing mass protests in Cairo on Friday, with Islamists proclaiming justice as their only weapon and their opponents demanding the army fight terrorism. Supporters and opponents of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi evoked a battle of good against evil, exchanging vitriolic accusations of treachery in language suggesting the Arab world's biggest nation faces a long period of conflict. "They call us terrorists, but justice is on our side. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptians stage rival rallies as Mursi charges fuel tension Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:14 PM PDT By Noah Browning and Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets in rival mass rallies on Friday, hours after the state news agency said ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi was being investigated for charges including murder. In Cairo, huge crowds heeded a call by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to give him a popular mandate to confront violence unleashed by his July 3 overthrow of Mursi, many of them clutching pictures of the general in full ceremonial uniform. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan's Machar sets sights on presidency, challenges Kiir Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:11 PM PDT  By Andrew Green JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's former Vice President Riek Machar said on Friday he planned to become the frontrunner for the ruling SPLM party in elections in 2015, throwing down the gauntlet to President Salva Kiir who dismissed him three days ago. Kiir touched off a power struggle in the African oil-producing country by firing Machar and his cabinet and placing under investigation his top Sudan negotiator, Pagan Amum, in the biggest shakeup since the South gained independence in 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey warns Syrian Kurds against 'dangerous' moves Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:07 PM PDT  By Humeyra Pamuk and Gulsen Solaker ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey urged Syrian Kurds on Friday not to establish a break-away entity in northern Syria by force, with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warning against any "wrong and dangerous" moves that could hurt Turkish security. The warning was issued at a meeting in Istanbul between Turkish intelligence officials and Saleh Muslim, head of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), whose militias have been fighting for greater autonomy for Kurdish parts of northern Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Vivendi overhaul gathers pace with $8.2 billion Activision sale Friday, Jul 26, 2013 11:43 AM PDT  By Christian Plumb and Leila Abboud PARIS (Reuters) - Vivendi agreed to sell most of its stake in Activision Blizzard, the world's largest videogames publisher, for $8.2 billion on Friday, paving the way for a broader split of the French conglomerate's media and telecoms assets. Vivendi has been looking to sell assets since Chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou said 18 months ago there would be no taboos as it tried to make sense of a diverse portfolio built up in a frantic spending spree under a former CEO Jean-Marie Messier in the late 1990s. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek shipowner jailed pending money laundering trial Friday, Jul 26, 2013 11:05 AM PDT  By Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek shipowner Victor Restis has been imprisoned pending trial on money laundering and embezzlement charges, court officials said on Friday, making him one of only a few prominent businessmen to be jailed amid public anger over corruption. Restis, who owns a shipping fleet and has a stake in Greece's top-selling newspaper, is being investigated over bad loans of up to 500 million euros from First Business Bank (FBBank), in which his family owned a majority stake until it was wound down this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU wants to strengthen its fledgling diplomatic service Friday, Jul 26, 2013 10:50 AM PDT  By Adrian Croft and Justyna Pawlak BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's fledgling diplomatic service, which has faced criticism over its leadership and focus, should take a stronger role in drawing up sanctions and look at making its overseas posts more like embassies, an EU report said on Friday. The European External Action Service was launched in 2011 under reforms intended to simplify EU decision-making and give the bloc, which now has 28 members, more clout in world affairs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamists rally to defend Tunisian government after assassination Friday, Jul 26, 2013 10:04 AM PDT  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Several thousand Islamists took to the streets of Tunis on Friday to defend the Islamist-led government from popular demands for it to resign over the assassination of a secular opposition politician. As Islamists and secular opponents staged rival protests over the future of Tunisia's Ennahda government, the interior minister pointed the finger of suspicion at a hardline Islamist, saying the same gun had been used in Thursday's killing as in an assassination earlier this year that provoked violent protests. ... Full Story | Top |
| Top Russian opposition leader appeals conviction ahead of Moscow vote Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:50 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's most prominent opposition leader and anti-graft blogger, Alexei Navalny, on Friday filed an appeal against his conviction and sentencing to five years in prison for embezzling funds from a state timber company. Navalny, a stringent critic of President Vladimir Putin, denies any wrongdoing and says his conviction in the remote Russian city of Kirov is a Kremlin-driven attempt to stop his opposition activism and part of a wider crackdown on dissent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two killed in clashes during rival rallies in Egypt - agency Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:50 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Two Egyptians were killed in clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted President Mohamed Mursi in Egypt's second biggest city of Alexandria on Friday, Egypt's MENA news agency reported. It said 19 others were injured in clashes that erupted after thousands took to the streets in response to a call by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for a popular mandate to tackle violence unleashed since the ouster of Mursi on July 3. That triggered calls for pro-Mursi rallies. (Reporting by Omar Fahmy; writing by Yasmine Saleh; editing by Edmund Blair) Full Story | Top |
| Gangs have won parts of troubled Mexican region: president Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:33 AM PDT  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has said that organized crime has gained the upper hand in a violent part of the country, in unusually frank comments about the difficulties his government is facing to subdue powerful drug cartels. Speaking to Mexican media on board his plane late on Thursday after a trip to the Gulf port of Veracruz, Pena Nieto said he was determined to restore order to the western state of Michoacan, where 22 people were killed in clashes on Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cat-and-mouse in Zimbabwe's election cyber war Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:26 AM PDT  By Cris Chinaka HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's government has blocked mass SMS bursts ahead of next week's election, hobbling a powerful source of non-official information in the tightly controlled southern African state, activists and a phone company source said on Friday. With the clock ticking to the July 31 poll in which President Robert Mugabe is looking to add to his 33 years in power, web portal Kubatana.net said it had noticed this week that its mass text messages were mysteriously getting lost. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bombs kill 39 near Shi'ite mosques in Pakistan Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:18 AM PDT  By Javed Hussain and Jibran Ahmad PARACHINAR/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Suicide bombers on motorcycles blew themselves up within a minute of each other outside Shi'ite mosques in a volatile Pakistani town near the Afghan border on Friday, killing at least 39 people, officials said. Sectarian violence has been on the rise in nuclear-armed Pakistan, where hardline Sunni militant groups have been relentlessly attacking Shi'ites whom they see as heretics. The first explosion took place meters away from a Shi'ite mosque near a busy market in Parachinar, capital of the tribal Kurram area. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan's Machar says accepts sacking as VP but sees vacuum Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:15 AM PDT  JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's former Vice President Riek Machar said on Friday he accepted his sacking but criticized President Salva Kiir for creating a political vacuum in the African oil producer by firing his entire cabinet. On Tuesday, Kiir dismissed Machar and his cabinet and put under investigation his top Sudan negotiator Pagan Amum, in the biggest political shakeup since the country's independence in 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ransom likely motive for reporter kidnapping in Syria: Polish PM Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:06 AM PDT WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish journalist Marcin Suder was probably taken hostage by a particularly radical and dangerous group of militants in Syria seeking ransom, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday. Suder was abducted by Islamist militants in northwest Syria from an opposition media office in the rebel-held town of Saraqeb in Idlib province, activists from the area told Reuters on Wednesday. "We have received initial information that it is quite likely that the motive for the kidnapping has the character of a robbery," Tusk said at a press conference. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-IMF chief Strauss-Kahn to be tried for pimping Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:02 AM PDT  By Gérard Bon and Alexandria Sage PARIS (Reuters) - Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be tried in France on pimping charges, prosecutors said on Friday, after a long inquiry into sex parties attended by the man whose presidential hopes were dashed by a separate 2011 U.S. sex scandal. Investigating judges in the case determined that Strauss-Kahn, 64, should be judged by a criminal court over allegations he was complicit in a pimping operation involving prostitutes at the Carlton hotel in the northern city of Lille. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawyers in Turkey seek retrial for Kurdish rebel leader Ocalan Friday, Jul 26, 2013 08:43 AM PDT  By Ayla Jean Yackley ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Lawyers for Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, serving a life sentence in Turkey for treason, on Friday filed a request for his retrial, arguing recent legislative changes pave the way for new legal proceedings and a fairer trial. Ocalan, 64, is viewed by nationalist Turks as responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people in a 29-year war between the army and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) before his capture and conviction in 1999. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libyan activist shot dead in Benghazi Friday, Jul 26, 2013 08:33 AM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a lawyer and prominent Libyan political activist in the eastern city of Benghazi on Friday, a security official and residents said. The attack appeared to be the first against an activist in the city although security forces have been frequently targeted. Lawyer Abdelsalam al-Mosmary was killed after he left a mosque to make his way home. "He was coming out of Friday prayers when he was shot," Benghazi security spokesman Mohammed al-Hijazy said. "It seems it may have been the work of a sniper because he was shot in the heart. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bulgaria PM refuses to quit, says protests hamper reforms Friday, Jul 26, 2013 08:18 AM PDT  By Gareth Jones and Tsvetelia Tsolova SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's prime minister pledged on Friday to stay in power despite daily street protests demanding his resignation, but said his government's lack of broad public support would delay major reforms that the Balkan nation needs. Thousands of Bulgarians, mostly young and well-educated, have been staging noisy rallies outside the parliament in Sofia for nearly seven weeks against Plamen Oresharski's government, saying it is corrupt and dominated by murky business interests. ... Full Story | Top |
| Profile: Spanish disaster driver grew up with trains Friday, Jul 26, 2013 08:16 AM PDT  By Tracy Rucinski MONFORTE DE LEMOS, Spain (Reuters) - Francisco Garzon, driver of the train that crashed at high speed in one of Spain's worst railway accidents, grew up around trains and spent his whole life working with them. At least 80 people died after the train jackknifed into a concrete wall on Wednesday a few kilometers before the station in Santiago de Compostela, a pilgrim destination and capital of the northwestern region of Galicia. Garzon, who walked away bleeding heavily from a gash to the head, survived. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel blocks EU projects in West Bank over settlement measures Friday, Jul 26, 2013 08:00 AM PDT  By Allyn Fisher-Ilan JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has blocked the European Union from aiding tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank in retaliation for Brussels' ban on financial assistance to Israeli organizations in the occupied territories. An Israeli official said on Friday the move was a result of the EU decision "to sanction or boycott the settlements". "From our standpoint we cannot just ignore this or treat spitting in our face as though it is rain," the official said. ... Full Story | Top |
| United Nations gives Rwanda $400 million to fight hunger and poverty Friday, Jul 26, 2013 07:08 AM PDT  KIGALI (Reuters) - The United Nations has pledged $400 million over five years to help Rwanda reduce poverty, hunger and disease, the government said. Rwanda relies on external funding, including aid, for about 40 percent of its budget, which stands at 1,653 billion francs ($2.6 billion) for the fiscal year that started this month. Some $276 million will go towards development - including health, nutrition, education and the environment - while the rest will go to economic and governance projects, the government said in a statement issued on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dutch embassy in Kenya warns of attack against foreigners Friday, Jul 26, 2013 07:00 AM PDT NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Dutch embassy in Kenya has warned of a possible attack against foreigners, shortly after police in the east African country discovered a large quantity of explosives on a bus in the capital Nairobi. Kenya has seen a series of grenade and gun attacks since October 2011, when its troops went into neighboring Somalia in pursuit of al Qaeda-linked insurgents it blames for kidnapping security personnel and Western tourists from its territory. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamists rally in Tunis to defend government Friday, Jul 26, 2013 06:47 AM PDT  TUNIS (Reuters) - Several thousand Islamists took to the streets of Tunis on Friday to defend the Islamist Ennahda government against calls for it to resign in favor of a unity government after the assassination of a secular opposition figure. A Reuters correspondent saw demonstrators chanting "The people want Ennahda again!" and "No to a coup against democracy!". Opposition politician Mohamed Brahmi was shot dead on Thursday in the second such assassination this year, setting off violent protests against the Islamist-led government in the capital and elsewhere. ... Full Story | Top |
| All flights to and from Tunisia canceled on Friday Friday, Jul 26, 2013 06:39 AM PDT TUNIS (Reuters) - All flights to and from Tunisia will be canceled on Friday after a general strike was called by the main labor organization in protest at the killing of a prominent opposition figure, the civil aviation office said. "All flights to and from Tunisia will be canceled tomorrow because the workers at the airport responded to the calling of the general strike", a spokesman said. (Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Alison Williams) Full Story | Top |
| Sri Lanka's president orders probe into war-time disappearances Friday, Jul 26, 2013 06:35 AM PDT  By Shihar Aneez COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, under pressure from the United Nations and the West to address alleged rights abuses during a nearly three-decade war, ordered an inquiry on Friday into mass disappearances during the war, his office said. But analysts said any inquiry would have to be credible in order to stave off further criticism of Sri Lanka's human rights record by Western countries and international groups. Hundreds of people are still missing four years after the end of the war to defeat Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey to warn Syrian Kurdish group over 'dangerous' moves: PM Friday, Jul 26, 2013 06:32 AM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's intelligence agency will warn the head of a Syrian Kurdish group that has seized control of areas of northern Syria near the Turkish border that it is taking "wrong and dangerous" steps, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. "Necessary warnings will be made to them that these steps they are taking are wrong and dangerous," Erdogan told reporters, as intelligence agents met with the head of Syria's Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Istanbul. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian military patrols Suez Canal, shipping normal: sources Friday, Jul 26, 2013 06:24 AM PDT  ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Egyptian military aircraft patrolled the Suez Canal on Friday to ensure shipping was not disrupted during a day of rallies by supporters and foes of deposed President Mohamed Mursi, security sources said. An official with the authority that runs the Suez Canal, a major source of foreign currency for Egypt, said shipping was moving as normal, uninterrupted by the demonstrations gathering pace in Cairo and other cities. The security sources said naval vessels were also stationed at both ends of the canal as a precaution. ... Full Story | Top |
| Uganda to deport U.S. journalist for illegal presence Friday, Jul 26, 2013 06:19 AM PDT By Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda said on Friday it would deport a U.S. freelance journalist arrested while filming opposition activists clashing with police in Kampala, accusing him of working in Uganda illegally. Authorities have recently stepped up a crackdown on independent media at a time of growing opposition to President Yoweri Museveni's government, which critics say has become corrupt and authoritarian. Taylor Krauss was arrested while filming police as they dispersed an opposition rally. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan delays shutdown of oil pipelines: Ethiopia Friday, Jul 26, 2013 06:14 AM PDT  By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Sudan has postponed the shutdown of pipelines carrying oil from South Sudan to allow time for investigating claims that both sides support rebels in one another's territories, Ethiopia's Foreign Affairs ministry said. Sudan, the sole conduit for South Sudan's oil exports, said earlier this month it would close two cross-border oil pipelines within two months and insisted that South Sudan shut oil production by August 7 unless it gave up support for rebels operating across their border. ... Full Story | Top |
| Head of Syrian Kurdish group meets Turkish intelligence: Erdogan Friday, Jul 26, 2013 06:07 AM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The head of a Syrian Kurdish group with links to militants in Turkey met officials from Turkey's intelligence agency in Istanbul on Friday, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said. Saleh Muslim, head of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), whose militias have seized control of districts in northern Syria near the Turkish border over the past year, met with members of the National Intelligence Agency, Erdogan told reporters. (Reporting by Seda Sezer and Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Full Story | Top |
| Zimbabwe PM warns of vote-rigging, questions AU head's integrity Friday, Jul 26, 2013 05:58 AM PDT  By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai accused the rival party of President Robert Mugabe of planning to cheat in next week's election, and questioned the fitness of the African Union's top official to monitor it fairly. Tsvangirai told reporters on Friday he was 'very bullish' about defeating Mugabe at his third attempt, but made clear his unease about the conduct and monitoring of the July 31 election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Secular politician Brahmi killed with same gun as Belaid Friday, Jul 26, 2013 05:34 AM PDT  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's interior minister said on Friday that secular opposition politician Mohamed Brahmi had been killed with the same gun that was used to kill his party leader Chokri Belaid six months ago, suggesting the involvement of the same radical Islamist group. Brahmi was shot dead on Thursday, setting off violent protests against the Islamist-led government in the capital and elsewhere. Lotfi Ben Jeddou told a news conference: "The same 9mm automatic weapon that killed Belaid also killed Brahmi. ... Full Story | Top |
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