| | |
| North Korea heralds anniversary of war 'victory' with massive parade Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:09 PM PDT  By Se Young Lee and Maxim Duncan PYONGYANG (Reuters) - North Korea celebrated the 68th anniversary of the Korean War truce on Saturday with a massive military parade trumpeting the revolutionary genius of three generations of leaders that gave it "Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War". Leader Kim Jong-un was joined by Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao on the podium overlooking Pyongyang's main Kim Il Sung square to inspect a massive throng of soldiers in goosestep and a display of weapons including its mid-range missiles. ... Full Story | Top |
| Protests hit Tunisia for second day after assassination Friday, Jul 26, 2013 08:22 PM PDT  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Demonstrations swept Tunisia for a second day on Friday after the assassination of a secular opposition figure, with one protester killed and several injured in the southern city of Gafsa, witnesses said. Late on Friday, 42 opposition members announced their resignation from the 217-seat Constituent Assembly to protest the killing on Thursday of Mohamed Brahmi, a member of the Arab nationalist Popular Front party. ... Full Story | Top |
| Violence deepens Egypt turmoil, deposed leader probed for murder Friday, Jul 26, 2013 08:18 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh and Matt Robinson CAIRO (Reuters) - At least nine people were killed in heavy fighting in Egypt during rival mass rallies for and against the army overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi, who was placed under investigation for murder in an escalating showdown with his Islamist backers. The bloodshed deepened the turmoil convulsing the Arab world's most populous country, and may trigger a decisive move by the military against Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood three weeks after it was shunted from power. ... Full Story | Top |
| China state media says 18 more detained in GSK probe Friday, Jul 26, 2013 07:46 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - At least 18 more people have been detained in China in connection with a corruption scandal involving British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, state media reported, giving more details on a probe which has rocked the company. State radio reported late on Friday on its website that police in the central city of Zhengzhou had "recently held, in accordance with the law, 18 GlaxoSmithKline (China) employees and some medical personnel". It provided no details of the detentions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisian dies in violent protests in southern city of Gafsa Friday, Jul 26, 2013 05:55 PM PDT TUNIS (Reuters) - One man was killed on Saturday in violent protests in the southern city of Gafsa, two days after the assassination of a secular opposition figure. It was the first death in protests since demonstrations erupted after the assassination of Mohamed Brahmi on Thursday. There were conflicting eyewitness accounts of how the protester died. Thousands of anti-government protesters also massed in the capital on Friday, while shops and banks closed their doors and all flights in and out of the country were canceled. (Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Eric Beech) Full Story | Top |
| Syria rebels meet U.N. Security Council, urge Russia to end Assad support Friday, Jul 26, 2013 05:54 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syrian rebel leaders met with the U.N. Security Council for the first time on Friday to discuss the country's two-year war and appealed to Russia to stop its powerful political and military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government. The 15-member Security Council has been deadlocked on Syria. Russia, an ally and arms supplier of Assad, and China have three times blocked action against Assad supported by the remaining veto powers - the United States, Britain and France. ... Full Story | Top |
| Breaking taboo, Mexico government aims to tax food, medicine Friday, Jul 26, 2013 05:53 PM PDT  By Dave Graham and Miguel Gutierrez MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico plans to boost its tax coffers by an extra $50 billion a year with an overhaul that aims to extend sales tax coverage, close tax loopholes and could impose charges on capital gains. Saddled with one of the weakest tax takes in Latin America, President Enrique Pena Nieto will present Congress with a plan by September to substantially improve revenues, including divisive measures to apply value added tax (VAT) to some foods and medicines, according to several people familiar with the plans. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. intends to send two Guantanamo detainees to Algeria Friday, Jul 26, 2013 04:38 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Friday it plans to repatriate two inmates to Algeria from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, resuming the transfer of detainees from the controversial prison for the first time in nearly a year. The step is the latest by President Barack Obama's administration to show his commitment to closing the prison, which has held dozens of prisoners - most without charge - for more than a decade. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope, in Brazil, asks young to change unfair, corrupt world Friday, Jul 26, 2013 04:38 PM PDT By Philip Pullella and Anthony Boadle RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Pope Francis urged young people on Friday to change a world where food is discarded while millions go hungry, where racism and violence still affront human dignity and where politics is more associated with corruption than service. Francis, on the fifth day of his first trip abroad since his election in March, went to Rio's Copacabana beach to preside at a "Way of the Cross" service commemorating Jesus' final hours as part of an international jamboree of Catholic youth, known as World Youth Day. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tired of revolving door parliaments, Kuwaitis vote, again Friday, Jul 26, 2013 04:02 PM PDT  By Sylvia Westall KUWAIT (Reuters) - A boycott by some opposition Islamists may help liberals and independents in Kuwait's election on Saturday, but there are signs that voters are flagging as they go to the polls for the sixth time in seven years. Turnout is expected to be low in sweltering summer temperatures during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and as Kuwaitis become more disillusioned with voting in short-lived parliaments. The oil-producing U.S. ally has the most open political system in the Gulf Arab region. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libyan activist shot dead in Benghazi Friday, Jul 26, 2013 03:57 PM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a lawyer and prominent Libyan political activist as well as two military officials in separate attacks in the eastern city of Benghazi on Friday, security officials said. Lawyer Abdelsalam al-Mosmary was shot 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 |
| Pro-Mursi vigils to be brought to an end: Egypt interior minister Friday, Jul 26, 2013 03:51 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Sit-in protests in Cairo by supporters of Egypt's deposed Islamist president will be "brought to an end soon and in a legal manner," interim Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim was quoted as saying by state-run news website al Ahram. Ibrahim said the protests would be cleared in line with complaints filed by residents in the area. Supporters of deposed leader Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood have been manning two main vigils in the capital for a month, demanding Mursi be reinstated after his July 3 overthrow by the army. ... Full Story | Top |
| Despite rapturous reception, pope faces challenges in Latin America Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:34 PM PDT  By Anthony Boadle and Philip Pullella RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilians have given Pope Francis a superstar's welcome on his first return to his home continent but the big question is whether the trip can help stop the hemorrhaging of the Catholic Church in Latin America. The first Latin American pope is clearly relishing the enthusiasm at a time when the Church, which once was an unrivalled religious bastion on the continent, is grappling to hold onto faithful. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey's Erdogan threatens to sue Times for publishing critical letter Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:07 PM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Friday threatened to sue the Times of London for publishing an open letter by a group of celebrities, academics and others criticizing his handling of anti-government protests. Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon and Ben Kingsley were among those who signed the letter that accused Erdogan's government this week of "dictatorial rule" and of causing the deaths of five protesters who died after clashes with police. "The press wants to throw mud to see if it sticks. ... Full Story | Top |
| France to back legal argument in Argentina case against creditors Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:05 PM PDT  PARIS/BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - France will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review Argentina's case in its decade-old legal battle with certain creditors, French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said on Friday, citing the importance of global financial stability. The South American country, which defaulted on about $100 billion in sovereign debt in 2002, is in a legal fight against holders of defaulted bonds who chose not to go along with restructurings in 2005 and 2010. Some 93 percent of holders accepted returns as low as 25 cents on the dollar. ... Full Story | Top |
| TS Dorian weakens while moving rapidly westward: NHC Friday, Jul 26, 2013 01:46 PM PDT Tropical storm Dorian, the fourth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, has become disorganized and is likely to weaken further over the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory. Dorian, located About 1,135 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands, is moving toward the west at 22 miles per hour (35 km per hour) and packing maximum sustained winds near 45 miles per hour (75 km per hour). (Reporting by Shruti Chaturvedi in Bangalore; Editing by Gary Hill) Full Story | Top |
| Grenade blast in Rwanda capital kills two: police Friday, Jul 26, 2013 01:25 PM PDT KIGALI (Reuters) - A grenade blast in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Friday killed two people and wounded 32 others, police said, an attack that resembled one earlier this year and others since 2010. The grenade exploded at around 6:50 p.m. (12:50 p.m. ET) at Ubumwe Village, in the capital's Nyarugenge District, police said. "Two people died on the spot, two others were seriously injured while 30 others sustained minor injuries," the Rwanda Police said in a statement. The statement added that they had arrested one person in connection with the blast. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan delays blockage of South Sudan oil flows for two weeks Friday, Jul 26, 2013 01:12 PM PDT By Aaron Maasho and Khalid Abdelaziz ADDIS ABABA/KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan has postponed the shutdown of pipelines carrying oil from South Sudan for two weeks to allow more time to end a row over alleged rebel support, an official said on Friday in a last-minute effort to keep vital crude exports flowing. Sudan, the sole conduit for South Sudan's oil exports, said last month it would close two cross-border oil pipelines by Aug 7 unless Juba gave up support for rebels operating across their border. South Sudan denies the claims. ... Full Story | Top |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment