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| Muslim Brotherhood faces ban as Egypt rulers pile on pressure Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 03:59 PM PDT  By Crispian Balmer and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood risks political elimination, with the new army-backed government threatening to ban the Islamist organization after launching a fierce crackdown on its supporters that has killed hundreds. Struggling to stamp its authority on Egypt following the ousting last month of President Mohamed Mursi, the country's new rulers have upped the rhetoric, saying the Arab world's most populous nation is at war with terrorism. More than 700 people have died, most of them backers of Mursi, in four days of violence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sunni leader says Hezbollah leading Lebanon into 'Syrian fire' Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 09:33 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri accused Hezbollah on Saturday of dragging the country deeper into Syria's civil war after the Shi'ite militant group's leader said he was ready to go to Syria himself to fight. Hariri, a former prime minister, was responding to a speech by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah who said that a car bomb in Shi'ite southern Beirut would only redouble the group's military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "(Nasrallah's) speech takes Lebanon into deeper involvement in the Syrian fire," Hariri tweeted. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guessing game as Pakistan's powerful army chief prepares to retire Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 02:11 PM PDT  By Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Maria Golovnina ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - In a nation long plagued by military coups, the question of who will replace Pakistan's all-powerful army chief has taken on new urgency this year as the country tries to shake off the legacy of decades of military dictatorship. General Ashfaq Kayani, arguably the most powerful man in the nuclear-armed country, is expected to step down after six years in November - presenting Pakistan's new premier with the toughest of choices yet since coming to power in May. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ill-fated UPS jet was on autopilot seconds before crash Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 04:56 PM PDT  By Verna Gates BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - The UPS cargo jet that crashed in Alabama this week, killing its two crew members, was flying on autopilot until seconds before impact, even after an alert that it was descending too quickly, authorities said on Saturday "The autopilot was engaged until the last second of recorded data," said Robert Sumwalt, a senior official with the National Transportation Safety Board. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran has 18,000 uranium centrifuges, says outgoing nuclear chief Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 02:30 PM PDT  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has installed 18,000 uranium-enrichment centrifuges, the country's outgoing nuclear chief was quoted as saying by Iranian media on Saturday. The U.S. and its Western allies are pressing Iran to curb its uranium enrichment program, which they suspect is aimed at developing a nuclear weapons capability, but Iran refuses and insists its nuclear activity is for purely peaceful purposes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wildfire threatens Idaho resort towns as 2,250 homes evacuated Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 05:30 PM PDT  By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - A fast-moving central Idaho wildfire forced the evacuation of 2,250 homes near the tourist towns of Hailey and Ketchum as firefighters lost ground on Saturday against the blaze that also threatens the Sun Valley ski resort. Blaine County Sheriff Gene Ramsey called for occupants on the outskirts of both towns to leave without delay. He expanded evacuation zones to include residential developments north of Ketchum. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan nationalists return after nearing islands disputed with China Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 09:26 PM PDT By Ruairidh Villar EAST CHINA SEA (Reuters) - Boats carrying about 20 members of a Japanese nationalist group headed back to port on Sunday after sailing near tiny islands in the East China Sea that are at the center of a dispute between Japan and China. Members of the Ganbare Nippon ("Stand Firm, Japan") group did not attempt to land on the uninhabited islands, which are known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, but had said they wanted to send a message to China. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel warns against over-confidence ahead of September election Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 09:36 AM PDT  By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel warned her supporters on Saturday against complacency ahead of the September 22 election, voicing fears that three leftist parties could unexpectedly join forces to oust her center-right coalition after ballots are counted. Even though Merkel's conservatives hold a 16-point lead over the Social Democrats (SPD) in opinion polls, the chancellor told a rally in Cloppenburg the SPD might still break a vow and form a coalition with the ostracized far left "Linke", or Left Party. ... Full Story | Top |
| Though silent, Israel remains worried by Egypt upheaval Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 07:41 AM PDT  By Allyn Fisher-Ilan JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has looked on at upheaval in Egypt largely in silence, keen to avoid disrupting strategic security cooperation with a military it sees as critical to curbing attacks by Islamist militants in neighboring Sinai, officials and analysts said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had aides instruct cabinet ministers to avoid public comment about Egypt, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Philippines suspends hunt for ferry disaster survivors; 32 dead, 170 missing Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 04:58 PM PDT  By Enrique de Castro CEBU, Philippines (Reuters) - Worsening weather and sea conditions on Saturday forced the Philippines to suspend a search for survivors of a ferry disaster that killed at least 32 people and left 170 missing, authorities said. The ferry sank on Friday after a collision just outside the central port of Cebu with a cargo vessel owned by a company involved in the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster nearly 30 years ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japanese nationalists sail close to islands in dispute with China Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 04:10 PM PDT By Ruairidh Villar EAST CHINA SEA (Reuters) - Five boats carrying about 20 members of a Japanese nationalist group arrived on Sunday in waters near tiny islands in the East China Sea at the center of a dispute between Japan and China, a move that risks escalating tensions between the two nations. Members of the Ganbare Nippon ("Stand Firm, Japan") group said they did not plan to land on the uninhabited islands, which are known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, but wanted to send a message to China. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wildfire threatens Idaho ski resort towns as 200 homes evacuated Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 12:33 PM PDT  By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - A wildfire raging across the central mountains of Idaho forced the evacuation of 200 homes in the tourist town of Hailey on Saturday as firefighters lost ground against a blaze threatening the nearby international ski destination of Sun Valley. Blaine County Sheriff Gene Ramsey and his deputies went door to door at 3 a.m. local time urging people to leave their homes on the west side of Hailey. Authorities lifted the evacuation order for Hailey neighborhoods before midday on Saturday but warned it could be imposed again. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb hits Iraq's main commodity port, traffic unaffected Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 06:44 AM PDT By Aref Mohammed BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - A truck bomb exploded at Iraq's main commodities port near the oil-exporting southern city of Basra, wounding four people on Saturday, but officials said shipping traffic at the Umm Qasr docks was not affected. Umm Qasr port, near Iraq's border with Kuwait, sits at the top of the strategic Gulf waterway and does not export oil. Imports handled there include grain shipments and heavy equipment used in the energy industry. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian youth leader backs army in battle with Brotherhood Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 01:25 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Mahmoud Badr, whose petition campaign helped to bring down Egypt's Islamist president, insists the bloodshed that has followed is a necessary price for saving the nation from the Muslim Brotherhood. And he has a message for U.S. President Barack Obama, who has expressed alarm at the violent crackdown on the Brotherhood that has led to more than 700 deaths: "Don't lecture us on how to deal with the Brotherhood's terrorism." As for aid money, he says, Obama can keep it - and "go to hell". ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey's Erdogan says Kurds have not withdrawn as agreed Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 06:26 AM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has said the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has failed to withdraw its fighters from Turkey as agreed, a condition for Kurdish rights to be expanded as part of a peace process. Erdogan did not say what this meant for the process, seen by many as the best chance yet to end a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people, mainly Kurds, since 1984, but indicated that a Kurdish rights package would be unveiled soon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Up to 100,000 face evacuation in Russia's flood-hit far east Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 04:06 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - As many as 100,000 people may be evacuated from their homes near Russia's border with China if the region's biggest floods for 120 years get worse, Russian media reported on Saturday. The floods, caused by a month of unusually heavy rain, are not expected to start receding until early September, the head of Russia's hydrometeorology monitoring service told news agency Ria Novosti. ... Full Story | Top |
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