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| Bombs target Iraqi shoppers, killing more than 50 Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 08:57 PM PDT  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A series of car bombs targeting busy markets and shopping streets in and around Baghdad killed at least 51 people and wounded more than 100 on Tuesday, Iraqi medical and police sources said, part of a surge in violence in recent months. Insurgent attacks have multiplied in Iraq since the start of the year, with more than 1,000 people killed in July, the highest monthly death toll since 2008, according to the United Nations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Singapore drops contempt charges against cartoonist in return for apology Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 08:54 PM PDT SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore has dropped charges against a political cartoonist in return for an apology for publishing comic strips deemed to be in contempt of court, an offence that could have landed him in jail. Chew Peng Ee, known to followers of his "Demon-cratic Singapore" site on Facebook as Leslie Chew, had committed contempt "by scandalizing the judiciary of the Republic of Singapore", the Attorney-General's Chambers said last month. ... Full Story | Top |
| Seventeen killed in drug gang fight in Honduras: officials Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 08:12 PM PDT TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - At least 17 people died in a battle between drug gangs over a cocaine shipment in the isolated Mosquito Coast of Honduras, government officials said on Tuesday. A Nicaraguan who allegedly led a local drug gang was among the dead, said prosecutor Roberto Ramirez, and some of the other victims may also have been foreigners. The battle took place on Monday in the swampy, rugged coast where traffickers move most of the cocaine that passes through Honduras on its way to Mexico and the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan must support Tepco in containing Fukushima water problem: Suga Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 07:47 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government must support the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in its efforts to contain buildups and leaks of radioactive water at the facility, the top government spokesman said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will order the government later in the day to strengthen its response on water containment, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, indicating the government will get directly involved in combating the worsening problem. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran's leader reaches out to U.S., vows to resolve nuclear row Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 07:09 PM PDT  By Marcus George and Yeganeh Torbati DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's incoming President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday offered an olive branch to the United States in talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear program, raising hopes of progress after years of stalemate. Rouhani, seen in the West as a relatively moderate leader, told his first news conference since taking the oath on Sunday that he was "seriously determined" to resolve the dispute and was ready to enter "serious and substantive" negotiations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tens of thousands rally to oust Tunisian government Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 07:04 PM PDT  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Tunisians crowded the streets of downtown Tunis on Tuesday to demand the transitional government's ouster, in the largest opposition protest since the country's political crisis began two weeks ago. The secular opposition, angered by two assassinations in its ranks and emboldened by the army-backed toppling of Egypt's Islamist president, is trying to topple Tunisia's government led by the moderate Islamist party Ennahda. ... Full Story | Top |
| New U.S. spying revelations coming from Snowden leaks: journalist Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 06:43 PM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Glenn Greenwald, the American journalist who published documents leaked by fugitive former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, plans to make new revelations "within the next 10 days or so" on secret U.S. surveillance of the Internet. "The articles we have published so far are a very small part of the revelations that ought to be published," Greenwald on Tuesday told a Brazilian congressional hearing that is investigating the U.S. internet surveillance in Brazil. "There will certainly be many more revelations on spying by the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia ruling party official calls parliament freeze a 'coup' Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 06:13 PM PDT TUNIS (Reuters) - The suspension on Tuesday of Tunisia's embattled Constituent Assembly is an "unacceptable coup" by the body's leader, Mustafa Ben Jaafar, said an Assembly member from the country's ruling Islamist party. "What Ben Jaafar did is part of an internal coup. It is an unacceptable coup," Nejib Mrad of the Islamist party Ennahda told local television station Al Mutawassit. Ben Jaafar's Ettakatol party is part of Ennahda's ruling coalition, which the secular opposition wants to oust from power. The opposition also wants to dissolve the Constituent Assembly. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian government to say mediation failed to end crisis Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 05:24 PM PDT  By Maggie Fick and Shaimaa Fayed CAIRO (Reuters) - The chances for a negotiated end to Egypt's political crisis looked to have hit the rocks on Tuesday with the army-installed government reportedly ready to declare that foreign mediation efforts had failed. State-run Al-Ahram newspaper, citing official sources, said the government would make an announcement to that effect soon. It would also declare that Muslim Brotherhood protests against the army's overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi were non-peaceful - a signal that the government intends to end them by force. ... Full Story | Top |
| Haiti to hold parliamentary elections this year: U.S. senator Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 05:23 PM PDT  MIAMI (Reuters) - Haitian President Michel Martelly plans to hold overdue elections before the end of the year, according to U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, who is on a four-day visit to the Caribbean nation. The elections are needed to fill one-third of Haiti's 30-member Senate and dozens of municipal posts. Elections were supposed to be held in late 2011, but disagreements over an elections law halted the process. Nelson, a Florida Democrat, issued a statement on Tuesday saying he was "surprised at the degree of political polarization" between Martelly and Haiti's opposition leaders in parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Senator McCain, in Cairo, says Egypt near 'all-out bloodshed' Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 04:51 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Unrest in Egypt could turn into "all-out bloodshed" in coming days if efforts to find a political solution fail, U.S. Senator John McCain warned on Tuesday during a visit to Cairo. "Oh my God, I didn't know it was this bad. These folks are just days or weeks away from all-out bloodshed," McCain said during an interview in Cairo with "CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt army chief shows political agility in crisis Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 04:09 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - For a man who says he doesn't want to be president, Egypt's army chief is proving to be a skillful politician so far. Since he deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on July 3, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has built on a web of contacts he began nurturing after his appointment as army chief last year. He has met everyone from top clerics to writers and youth activists through the crisis unleashed by Mursi's downfall, while juggling sensitive foreign relations with the United States, Europe and Arab allies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australia's opposition promises company tax cut in election race Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 03:56 PM PDT CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's conservative opposition promised on Wednesday to cut the country's 30 percent company tax rate if it wins September elections, saying the move would boost business confidence and help support flagging economic growth. The conservatives, leading in opinion polls in an election race centered on jobs and management of the $1.5 trillion economy, said it would cut 1.5 percentage points off the tax, helping defray the cost of a new paid parental leave scheme for about 3,000 of the country's biggest companies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico energy reform due this week, debate over contracts Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 03:38 PM PDT  By David Alire Garcia and Adriana Barrera MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Tuesday that his government will present its energy reform proposal this week, an overhaul aimed at luring more private capital to the oil, gas and electricity sectors to boost flagging output. The energy reform will be presented to the Congress and is a key plank of a wider economic overhaul designed to boost growth in Latin America's No. 2 economy to 6 percent a year, create jobs and lower energy costs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan PM to call for stronger response to Fukushima water crisis: Nikkei Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 03:33 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to call on Wednesday for a stronger response to try to stop highly radioactive water leaking into the ocean from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the Nikkei newspaper reported. It also said the government would commit taxpayer money to halt the buildup of radioactive water at the plant. On Monday, an official from Japan's nuclear watchdog told Reuters the leakage had become an "emergency", adding that the operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), was struggling to contain the problem. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan ejects U.N. refugee agency staff from North Darfur Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 03:20 PM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - Sudan has ejected 20 United Nations staff working to help hundreds of thousands of people who have been uprooted by war in Darfur region, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday. Of UNHCR's 37 international staff in Darfur, 20 have not had their work permits renewed, UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva. "Most of them were asked to leave at short notice in July. As a result we've been unable to effectively undertake our work there," she said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Son of former Saudi crown prince named deputy defense minister Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 02:44 PM PDT RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi King Abdullah appointed Prince Salman bin Sultan as deputy defense minister late on Tuesday in a move that strengthens his credentials for future high office in the world's top oil exporter. The move was made in a royal decree carried by state news agency SPA. It did not give a reason for the switch. Prince Salman is a deputy head of the national security council, was born in 1976 and is a son of the late Crown Prince Sultan, a veteran defense minister until his death in 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Most Israelis object to withdrawing to pre-1967 borders: poll Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 02:29 PM PDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Most Israelis would oppose any peace deal with the Palestinians that involved withdrawing to pre-1967 ceasefire lines, even if land swaps were agreed to accommodate Jewish settlements, a poll showed on Tuesday. The survey by the liberal Israeli Democracy Institute showed 65.6 percent of those questioned did not expect to see a deal in talks between Israel and the Palestinians within a year. The talks resumed last month after a three-year hiatus. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| No ties? No problem as China courts Taiwan's remaining allies Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 02:05 PM PDT By Lucy Hornby and Luc Cohen BEIJING/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Taiwan's last remaining diplomatic allies are developing increasingly tight economic ties with China, in a trend that could increase Taiwan's diplomatic isolation if the current detente between Beijing and Taipei fails. The world's second-largest economy is gaining soft power with a series of investment commitments in Central America, home to the last significant bloc of countries that still maintain formal ties with Taiwan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tribesmen shoot down Yemeni army helicopter, nine dead Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 01:34 PM PDT SANAA (Reuters) - At least nine Yemeni military personnel were killed on Tuesday when tribesmen shot down an army helicopter in central Yemen where gunmen had repeatedly blown up oil pipelines, a military source said. The government has been frustrated by repeated attacks on Yemen's main oil export pipeline, often carried out by disgruntled tribesmen seeking personal gain or trying to force authorities to release jailed relatives. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. flies some diplomats out of Yemen, tells citizens to leave Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 01:29 PM PDT  By Mohammed Ghobari SANAA (Reuters) - The Air Force flew some U.S. diplomatic personnel out of Yemen on Tuesday and Washington told nationals to leave the country immediately after warnings of potential attacks that pushed the United States to shut missions across the Middle East. Yemen, one of the poorest Arab countries, is the base for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), one of the most active branches of the network founded by Osama bin Laden, and militants have launched attacks from there against the West. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. military judge trims potential sentence in WikiLeaks case Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 01:25 PM PDT  By Tom Ramstack FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The military judge who last week convicted soldier Bradley Manning of committing the biggest breach of classified data in U.S. history through WikiLeaks on Tuesday trimmed the maximum prison sentence the private first class could face. ... Full Story | Top |
| Car bomb kills 10 in village north of Baghdad Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 01:20 PM PDT BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) - A car bomb in a village outside the Iraqi capital Baghdad killed at least 10 people and wounded 15 on Tuesday, police sources said. The attack in Anbakiya, a mainly Shi'ite village around 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, was the latest in a wave of bombings in and around the capital on Tuesday. (Writing by Sylvia Westall; editing by Mike Collett-White) Full Story | Top |
| Car bomb kills at least 18 people in Damascus: state media Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 01:14 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 18 people were killed on Tuesday by a car bomb in the southeastern district of Jaramana in the Syrian capital, state media said. State news agency SANA said women and children were among those killed. It said a bus was also burned out in the explosion and several shops were damaged in a crowded street. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. Last month a car bomb ripped through Jaramana, home to many of Syria's Druze minority as well as Christians who have fled violence elsewhere, killing at least 10 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisian police kill Islamist militant in suburb of capital Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 01:01 PM PDT TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian police shot dead an Islamist militant on Tuesday in a suburb on the outskirts of the capital Tunis, an interior ministry official said. The incident comes after a spike in Islamist militant attacks in the country, which is also grappling with the worst political crisis since the 2011 ouster of its autocratic president. Also on Tuesday, the head of the Constituent Assembly, which is only weeks away from finishing a draft constitution and electoral law, suspended the body's work until the Islamist-led government and secular opposition opened up a dialogue. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt to say foreign mediation has failed to end crisis Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 12:58 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's presidency is expected to announce that foreign mediation efforts to end the political crisis have failed, a state-run newspaper said on Tuesday. Al-Ahram newspaper, citing official sources, also reported that the presidency would declare that Muslim Brotherhood protests against the army's overthrow of president Mohamed Mursi were non-peaceful. (Reporting by Shaimaa Fayed; editing by Mike Collett-White) Full Story | Top |
| George W. Bush receives stent for blocked heart artery Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 12:49 PM PDT By Marice Richter DALLAS (Reuters) - Former President George W. Bush underwent successful surgery at a Dallas hospital on Tuesday to place a stent in a blocked heart artery. Doctors discovered a blockage on Monday during Bush's annual physical at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas and recommended a stent, a wire mesh coil used to prop open arteries, a Bush spokesman said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria rebels strike Assad's Alawite stronghold, seize airport Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 12:22 PM PDT  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Mariam Karouny AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian Islamist rebels have killed around 200 people in a three-day offensive in the mountain stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect and driven hundreds of villagers to seek refuge on the Mediterranean coast, activists said on Tuesday. Since launching the surprise assault at dawn on Sunday, the mainly Islamist rebel brigades led by two al Qaeda-linked groups have captured half a dozen villages on the northern edges of the Alawite mountain range, the activists say. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ugandan passes bill critics say seeks to silence opponents Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 12:19 PM PDT  By Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan lawmakers on Tuesday passed a controversial public order law that drew sharp criticism from the opposition and human rights campaigners who said it was intended to silence dissent. Critics contend the law is designed to keep a lid on what they say is mounting frustration at veteran President Yoweri Museveni who has faced intermittent anti-government street protests over the high cost of living, corruption and inadequate public services. ... Full Story | Top |
| Head of Tunisia assembly suspends its work, wants dialogue Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 12:13 PM PDT TUNIS (Reuters) - The head of Tunisia's Constituent Assembly has suspended the body's work until the Islamist-led government and the secular opposition begin a dialogue, the state news agency said on Tuesday. Mustafa Ben Jaafar said he was ordering the suspension in the interests of solving Tunisia's political crisis. The opposition is demanding the government's ouster as well as the dissolution of the Assembly, which is only weeks away from finishing a draft constitution and electoral law. (Reporting by Erika Solomon; Editing by Michael Roddy) Full Story | Top |
| U.N. aid chief sends Security Council ideas to ease aid distribution in Syria Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 12:02 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. aid chief Valerie Amos has sent the U.N. Security Council a wish list of ways aid can be better distributed in Syria that includes allowing cross-border deliveries, humanitarian pauses in fighting and advance notice of military offensives. In a confidential document given to the 15 council members and obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, Amos outlined 30 potential "measures that could be taken to address current humanitarian challenges in Syria and neighboring countries," and which could be the basis for a U.N. resolution. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says it awaits Iran's 'credible steps' on nuclear issue Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 11:58 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The inauguration of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is a chance for that country to move quickly to resolve concerns about its nuclear program, but the United States wants to see actions from Tehran, the State Department said on Tuesday. The inauguration of Rouhani, who took his oath on Sunday, "presents an opportunity for Iran to act quickly to resolve the international community's deep concerns over their nuclear program," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boys in Canada believed killed by snake that escaped cage: police Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 11:39 AM PDT  By Victoria Cavaliere (Reuters) - Two young brothers found dead in an apartment over a reptile store in New Brunswick, Canada, were believed to have been strangled by a snake that escaped its enclosure and slithered into the building's ventilation system, police said on Monday. The boys, ages 5 and 7, were sleeping over at a friend's apartment above Reptile Ocean in the city of Campbellton. Their bodies were discovered on Monday morning, said Constable Jullie Rogers-Marsh of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel challenger Steinbrueck takes aim at ECB low rates policy Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 10:50 AM PDT  By Edward Taylor and Kathrin Jones FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's main challenger in next month's German election criticized ECB President Mario Draghi's pledge to keep interest rates at record lows for an extended period, saying the move put savers in an "unspeakable situation". In an interview in Frankfurt, Peer Steinbrueck, a former finance minister fighting to oust Merkel in Germany's September 22 national election, also took aim at large banks, corporations and tax havens in an effort to revive his flagging campaign. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. finalizing Syria visit by chemical weapons experts Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 10:39 AM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Tuesday it is finalizing the legal and logistical details of a mission by U.N. inspectors to Syria to investigate claims of chemical weapons attacks. "It is anticipated that these preparations will be completed within the next days, following which the date of the mission in Syria will be announced," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's press office said in a statement. The United Nations said last week the Syrian government had agreed to let a team of experts travel to three sites where chemical weapons are reported to have been used. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. plans to go ahead with high-level Russia talks: sources Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 10:34 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will hold talks with Russia's defense and foreign ministers in Washington on Friday despite Moscow's decision to grant asylum to former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, U.S. officials told Reuters on Tuesday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity. Moscow's decision to reject U.S. pleas to hand over Snowden has prompted President Barack Obama to rethink whether to hold a summit in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month. The status of this week's so-called "2+2" talks between U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malta insists rescued migrants to be denied entry Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 10:32 AM PDT VALLETTA/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Malta said on Tuesday it would not allow a tanker which picked up 102 migrants off the Libyan coast to dock, despite a call from the European Union for it to do so on humanitarian grounds. National Security Minister Manuel Mallia told a press conference that the captain of the Liberian-registered Salamis had ignored instructions by Malta and Italy to take the migrants back to Libya. He said the migrants were picked up 24 miles off the Libyan coast and they should have been returned to Libya, which was the nearest safe harbour when the rescue was made. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb threat at U.S. consulate in Italy was false alarm Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 09:58 AM PDT MILAN (Reuters) - The U.S. consulate in central Milan was evacuated on Tuesday after a bomb alert, but police who searched the premises said it was a false alarm, a police officer said. Police were called in by consulate employees when they received a suspicious letter that mentioned an explosive device, the officer said. No further details were immediately available. (Reporting by Ilaria Polleschi, writing by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Michael Roddy) Full Story | Top |
| Turkey's Ergenekon trial verdicts set to entrench divisions Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 09:52 AM PDT  By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The conviction of more than 250 people on conspiracy charges may be seen by supporters of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as a triumph for Turkish democracy, but for many the landmark rulings have exposed deep divisions over the country's political future. A court on Monday jailed a former military chief for life and imprisoned scores of other retired officers, journalists, academics and opposition politicians for plotting to overthrow Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria seeks extradition of al Qaeda suspect to U.S. Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 09:32 AM PDT ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria has asked a court to grant an extradition request for one of its citizens to the United States over charges of aiding the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda, court documents seen by Reuters on Tuesday showed. U.S. and Nigerian authorities have accused Lawal Olaniyi Babafemi of travelling to Yemen with members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in 2010 and 2011 and receiving $8,600 in order to return to Nigeria and recruit English-speaking radicals. "Olaniyi ... ... Full Story | Top |
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