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Sunday, July 22, 2012 8:30 PM PDT

Today's Politics - Bloomberg News Headlines - Yahoo! News: Obama visits Colorado, tries to comfort shooting spree victims After Colorado shootings, Romney cautiously returns to campaign trail Greece now in "Great Depression", PM says Global economy: No winners in race for growth medals Famed Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya dead in car crash Heaviest rains in 60 years kill 37 in Beijing Assad's forces overrun two Damascus districts Syrian forces execute 20 unarmed men in Damascus: activists Thailand: Land of smiles or tourist trap? Thousands march in Mexico to protest Pena Nieto win Obama campaign keeps ads off Colorado airwaves all week Assad brother's forces overrun Damascus district Global economy weekahead: No winners in race for growth medals Hezbollah may get chemical arms if Assad folds: Netanyahu Lost boys of Bagram still live in prison's shadow Fires kill three, rage on in Girona in northern Spain Rebels seize Syrian army infantry school: defector Rake shuns Barclays chairman role: sources Analysis: Braving crowds, waiting for hours for free medicine in India China's tight job market defies economic downturn Colorado mourns dead in cinema massacre as Obama heads to scene Somalia's al Shabaab executes three of its own for treason Madagascar army quells mutiny, kills rebel leader Eight killed in deadly 24 hours for NATO in Afghanistan Eight injured in riots at Syrian refugee camp in Turkey Syrian army overruns Damascus district: activists Madagascar army says camp mutiny put down, rebel leader killed Bombs kill 20 and wound 80 across Iraq Former Stanford executive says in limbo as SEC case drags Market bombs kill five and wound 14 near Baghdad: sources Madagascar arrests rebels in camp mutiny, shot captain dies Senior Yemen army officer survives roadside bomb: government Afghan social media war steps up with new campaign Abducted Lebanese well, to stay in custody: Syria rebel Madagascar army starts assault to quell mutiny Murcia next Spain region in spotlight for aid Assad still in Damascus and retains army's loyalty: Israel Sudan wants S.Sudan deal but pins impasse on Juba Iran adds batch of fuel to reactor: nuclear chief Sudan wants South Sudan deal but pins impasse on Juba Obama visits Colorado, tries to comfort shooting spree victims Sun,22 Jul 2012 07:10 PM PDT Reuters - AURORA, Colo. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Sunday traveled to Colorado and offered hope and comfort to victims of the gunman who killed 12 people and wounded 58 in a Denver-area movie theater. The shooting spree early on Friday shocked the nation and dominated the news. Obama met privately with the families of victims and said he had listened to stories about those who were killed and those who risked their lives to help others. ... Full Story Top After Colorado shootings, Romney cautiously returns to campaign trail Sun,22 Jul 2012 06:46 PM PDT Reuters - SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gingerly returned to the presidential race on Sunday, telling a San Francisco fundraiser that he would not be "as partisan." Addressing donors at roughly the same time President Barack Obama was speaking after meeting with survivors of last week's shooting spree in Colorado, Romney sought to focus his remarks on the state of the economy and not Obama's handling of it. ... Full Story Top Greece now in "Great Depression", PM says Sun,22 Jul 2012 06:40 PM PDT Reuters - ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece is in a "Great Depression" similar to the American one in the 1930s, the country's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras told former U.S. President Bill Clinton on Sunday. Samaras was speaking two days before a team of Greece's international lenders arrive in Athens to push for further cuts needed for the debt-laden country to qualify for further rescue payments and avoid a chaotic default. ... Full Story Top Global economy: No winners in race for growth medals Sun,22 Jul 2012 06:30 PM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - "Faster, Higher, Stronger" is the motto of the Olympics opening in London on Friday. "Slower, Lower, Weaker" would be a better description of the economic performance of many of the countries competing in the games. None of the big names will look worthy of a place on the podium if forecasts for a raft of data due this week from the euro zone, the United States and Britain prove accurate. Even China, the longstanding growth champion, is huffing and puffing. ... Full Story Top Famed Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya dead in car crash Sun,22 Jul 2012 06:29 PM PDT Reuters - HAVANA (Reuters) - One of Cuba's best-known dissidents, Oswaldo Paya, leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, died on Sunday in a car crash, religious and dissident sources said. Paya, 60, was traveling in eastern Granma province at the time of the accident, the details of which are not known, the sources said. According to dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez, who broke the news on Twitter, Paya's death was confirmed by the bishop of Granma, Carlos Amador. Paya's family was not immediately available for comment. ... Full Story Top Heaviest rains in 60 years kill 37 in Beijing Sun,22 Jul 2012 06:24 PM PDT Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese capital's heaviest rainstorm in six decades killed at least 37 people, flooded streets and stranded 80,000 people at the main airport, state media and the government said on Sunday. The storm, which started on Saturday afternoon and continued late into the night, flooded major roads and sent torrents of water tumbling down steps into underpasses. The Beijing city government said on its official microblog at least 37 people had died, including 25 drowned, six crushed in collapsing homes, five electrocuted and one struck by lightning. ... Full Story Top Assad's forces overrun two Damascus districts Sun,22 Jul 2012 06:01 PM PDT Reuters - BAB AL-SALAM, Syria (Reuters) - Syrian troops have driven rebel fighters out of two districts of Damascus a week after the insurgents launched a major assault on the capital. Government troops retook control of the Damascus neighborhood of Mezzeh on Sunday and executed at least 20 unarmed men who they suspected of aiding rebels, opposition activists in the district said. ... Full Story Top Syrian forces execute 20 unarmed men in Damascus: activists Sun,22 Jul 2012 05:32 PM PDT Reuters - AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian troops executed at least 20 unarmed men in the Damascus neighborhood of Mezzeh on Sunday who they suspected of aiding rebels in the area, opposition activists in the district said. The bodies of 20 men, aged approximately 20 to 30, were collected from the neighborhoods of al-Ikhlas, al-Zayat, al Farouk, Hawakir al-Sabbarah and al-Basatin, several activists said by phone from Mezzeh. "The bodies were taken to al-Mustafa Mosque. Most had bullet holes, one with as many as 18. Three had their hands tied behind their back. Some of the men were in their pajamas. ... Full Story Top Thailand: Land of smiles or tourist trap? Sun,22 Jul 2012 05:30 PM PDT Reuters - BANGKOK (Reuters) - Two Canadian sisters die mysteriously in their rented bungalow on an idyllic Thai island, believed poisoned. Less than a week later, a 60-year-old Australian woman is stabbed to death in a botched robbery outside a luxury resort in Phuket. Their deaths are the latest in a tumult of violence and intrigue to shake tourism in postcard-perfect Thailand, raising questions over whether it is squandering a prized asset by failing to protect travelers arriving in record numbers. ... Full Story Top Thousands march in Mexico to protest Pena Nieto win Sun,22 Jul 2012 04:16 PM PDT Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Thousands of people marched through Mexico City on Sunday to denounce the July 1 election of Enrique Pena Nieto as president, though the protest was smaller than one held earlier this month. Pena Nieto's capture of the presidency for the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, has been challenged by his rival, leftist runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who alleges the PRI resorted to vote-buying and money laundering to win. ... Full Story Top Obama campaign keeps ads off Colorado airwaves all week Sun,22 Jul 2012 04:11 PM PDT Reuters - AURORA, Co. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's re-election team, maintaining an unofficial time-out on full-scale campaigning following a deadly shooting at a movie theater, said on Sunday it will keep its advertisements off the airwaves in Colorado for the rest of the week. Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney both set aside the previously harsh tone of the November 6 election campaign to speak soothingly to the nation on Friday, after the shooting rampage that killed 12 at a midnight movie screening outside Denver. ... Full Story Top Assad brother's forces overrun Damascus district Sun,22 Jul 2012 04:08 PM PDT Reuters - BAB AL-SALAM, Syria (Reuters) - Syrian troops commanded by the brother of President Bashar al-Assad and backed by helicopter gunships have driven rebel fighters out of a district of Damascus a week after the insurgents launched a major assault on the capital. Members of the Syrian army's Fourth Division under the command of Maher al-Assad, a feared hardliner, executed several young men during the operation to regain control of the northern Damascus district of Barzeh, a witness and activists said. ... Full Story Top Global economy weekahead: No winners in race for growth medals Sun,22 Jul 2012 03:46 PM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - "Faster, Higher, Stronger" is the motto of the Olympics opening in London on Friday. "Slower, Lower, Weaker" would be a better description of the economic performance of many of the countries competing in the games. None of the big names will look worthy of a place on the podium if forecasts for a raft of data due this week from the euro zone, the United States and Britain prove accurate. Even China, the long-standing growth champion, is huffing and puffing. ... Full Story Top Hezbollah may get chemical arms if Assad folds: Netanyahu Sun,22 Jul 2012 03:11 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The "great threat" to Israel from the Syrian conflict is that the Damascus government may collapse and its stock of chemical weapons and missiles fall into the hands of the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. Interviewed on the U.S. "Fox News Sunday" television program, Netanyahu said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government would fall and that he was worried that a chaotic "regime collapse" might leave Syria's weapons sites unguarded. ... Full Story Top Lost boys of Bagram still live in prison's shadow Sun,22 Jul 2012 02:58 PM PDT Reuters - KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - During some sleepless nights when his stark bedroom walls remind him too much of his old prison cell in Afghanistan, Jan Sher Khan scans Internet dating sites he'd heard about from U.S. soldiers who once guarded him. The 24-year-old Pakistani never contacts anyone on the dating sites. He doesn't know how he'd tell them he spent more than six years in the U.S. military prison of Bagram after being detained as a 16-year-old and accused of being a suicide bomber. ... Full Story Top Fires kill three, rage on in Girona in northern Spain Sun,22 Jul 2012 02:50 PM PDT Reuters - MADRID (Reuters) - Forest fires that broke out on Sunday in Girona, a tourist spot bordering with France in Spain's northern Catalonia region, have killed three people and were still out of control in the evening, local media said. The area is home to one of the most popular beach destinations in Spain, the Costa Brava. Strong winds hindered firefighters' efforts and have so far spread two fires over 9,000 hectares (22,000 acres). The interior minister of Catalonia, Felip Puig, was quoted in Spanish media as confirming the deaths. ... Full Story Top Rebels seize Syrian army infantry school: defector Sun,22 Jul 2012 02:40 PM PDT Reuters - AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebel forces on Sunday seized an army infantry school in the town of Musalmiyeh, 16 km (10 miles) north of the city of Aleppo, a senior military defector based in Turkey and rebel sources inside Syria said. "This is of big strategic and symbolic importance. The school has ammunition depots and armored formations and it protects the northern gate to Aleppo," Brigadier General Mustafa al-Sheikh told Reuters by phone from the town of Apayden on the Turkish border with Syria. ... Full Story Top Rake shuns Barclays chairman role: sources Sun,22 Jul 2012 02:30 PM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Michael Rake, deputy chairman of Barclays Plc , has ruled himself out of contention to be its new chairman, striking a blow to the UK bank as it hunts for new leadership to steer it through its interest rate-rigging scandal. Rake, who was considered the favorite for the job, is not interested in the role, three people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. His retreat follows protests by several top shareholders who were determined that the next chairman should come from outside Barclays, according to FT. The next Barclays chairman faces a stiff challenge. ... Full Story Top Analysis: Braving crowds, waiting for hours for free medicine in India Sun,22 Jul 2012 02:22 PM PDT Reuters - CHENNAI, India (Reuters) - For Ramaiyah Venkat, a retired Indian schoolteacher, the two-hour bus journey every three months to get free insulin is worth it even if he has to queue for hours at the dispensary and sometimes gets less than he needs. Thousands of people like Venkat flock to the huge Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital in Chennai city every day. Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu, one of two Indian states offering free medicine for all. The state provides a glimpse of the hurdles India faces as it embarks on a program to extend free drug coverage nationwide. ... Full Story Top China's tight job market defies economic downturn Sun,22 Jul 2012 02:16 PM PDT Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - Workers living through the slowest run of global economic growth in more than three years are in fear for their jobs everywhere except in the very place investors are most concerned about - China. Despite six straight quarters of slowing growth, there are more job vacancies in China than there have been for around a decade, giving workers the unlikely luxury of job-hopping during a downturn. ... Full Story Top Colorado mourns dead in cinema massacre as Obama heads to scene Sun,22 Jul 2012 01:45 PM PDT Reuters - AURORA, Co. (Reuters) - Residents of a Denver suburb mourned their dead on Sunday from a shooting rampage by a "demonic" gunman who killed 12 people and wounded 58 after opening fire at a cinema showing the new Batman movie. President Barack Obama headed to Aurora, Colorado, on Sunday to meet families grieving their losses Friday's mass shooting that has stunned the nation and rekindled debate about guns and violence in America. ... Full Story Top Somalia's al Shabaab executes three of its own for treason Sun,22 Jul 2012 01:02 PM PDT Reuters - MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's Islamist al Shabaab militants said on Sunday they had executed three of their own members for treason, two of them for guiding U.S. missiles to kill fellow militants. It was the first time al Shabaab, under pressure from African Union, Kenyan and Ethiopian troops as well as U.S. drone strikes, had admitted to killing its own fighters for betrayals. Al Shabaab, which is affiliated with al Qaeda, said last January that a missile launched from a drone had killed Bilal el Berjawi, a Lebanese al Shabaab fighter with a British passport. ... Full Story Top Madagascar army quells mutiny, kills rebel leader Sun,22 Jul 2012 01:01 PM PDT Reuters - ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Madagascar's army stormed a military barracks near the island country's main airport in order to quell a mutiny, killing the corporal who led it and arresting a number of mutineers, the army said on Sunday. The soldiers had seized the barracks located 10km (6.2 miles) from the capital Antananarivo at dawn 16 hours earlier. It was unclear what their grievances or demands were, but the drama escalated dramatically when they shot and fatally wounded an officer who had been sent in to negotiate with them. ... Full Story Top Eight killed in deadly 24 hours for NATO in Afghanistan Sun,22 Jul 2012 12:30 PM PDT Reuters - HERAT (Reuters) - A gunman wearing an Afghan uniform turned his weapon against foreign trainers working for NATO in the western province of Herat on Sunday, killing three, in a grim 24 hours for the coalition which also saw five NATO soldiers killed. The latest rogue shooting by an Afghan in a police or army uniform happened at a regional training center in the relatively peaceful western province near Afghanistan's border with Iran, which is normally patrolled by Italian forces. ... Full Story Top Eight injured in riots at Syrian refugee camp in Turkey Sun,22 Jul 2012 12:28 PM PDT Reuters - KILIS, Turkey (Reuters) - Four Syrian refugees and four members of the Turkish security forces were hurt on Sunday when riots broke out at a refugee camp in Turkey near the Syrian border, the Dogan News Agency said. The clashes erupted when a group of 1,500 or so ethnic Turkmen refugees from Syria arrived at the camp, near the town of Islahiye, witnesses told Dogan. Television footage showed armored personnel carriers entering the camp and police firing weapons into the air to disperse groups of men fighting each other with fists and clubs. ... Full Story Top Syrian army overruns Damascus district: activists Sun,22 Jul 2012 12:06 PM PDT Reuters - AMMAN (Reuters) - Members of a Syrian army division under the command of President Bashar al-Assad's brother drove rebels out of the northern Damascus district of Barzeh on Sunday and summarily executed several young men, a witness and opposition activists said. "At least 20 Fourth Division tanks and hundreds of its members entered Barzeh this afternoon. I saw troops go into the home of 26-year-old Issa al-Arab. They left him dead with two bullets in his head," opposition activist Abu Kais said by phone from the district. ... Full Story Top Madagascar army says camp mutiny put down, rebel leader killed Sun,22 Jul 2012 11:30 AM PDT Reuters - ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Madagascar's army said on Sunday that the situation at a mutinous army base was under control and that the leader of the rebellion had been killed. "The situation is under control. Corporal Koto Mainty, alias Black, has been killed," General Raphael Ramasy, chief of staff of the defense minister, told the public television station TVM. "The other mutineers gave themselves up or were arrested ... Four other civilians were arrested ... Two mutineers and two other elements of the security forces are wounded. ... Full Story Top Bombs kill 20 and wound 80 across Iraq Sun,22 Jul 2012 11:09 AM PDT Reuters - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Car bombs in two towns south of Baghdad and in the Iraqi city of Najaf killed a total of 20 people on Sunday and wounded 80, police and hospital sources said, in one of the most violent days of the past two weeks. Three car bombs killed 11 people and wounded 38 in Mahmudiya, a town 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, according to police. The first detonated in a car in a parking lot, the second in another car as police arrived at the scene and a third at the town's police station, the police sources said. ... Full Story Top Former Stanford executive says in limbo as SEC case drags Sun,22 Jul 2012 11:04 AM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bernerd Young has waited more than two years for a final decision from U.S. securities regulators about whether he will be charged over his role as compliance officer at the brokerage owned by convicted Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford. In those two years, Young says his life has been put on hold as the cloud of the Securities and Exchange Commission probe has overshadowed his attempts to move on professionally. ... Full Story Top Market bombs kill five and wound 14 near Baghdad: sources Sun,22 Jul 2012 10:38 AM PDT Reuters - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two bombs killed five people and wounded 14 in a busy market southeast of Baghdad on Sunday, police and hospital sources said. The bombs detonated in Madaen, a town 20 miles southeast of the Iraqi capital. (Reporting by Kareem Raheem; Writing by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Full Story Top Madagascar arrests rebels in camp mutiny, shot captain dies Sun,22 Jul 2012 10:29 AM PDT Reuters - ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Madagascar's security forces have arrested a number of mutineers inside a military camp the rebels had taken over earlier on Sunday, the army said. "Security forces are carrying out a sweep of the camp. Arrests have taken place but we do not know yet how many mutineers have been arrested," said the head of the army's communication service, Philibert Ratovonirina. He said an army captain who had been sent in to negotiate with the mutineers but had been shot by them had died of his wounds. (Reporting by Alain Iloniaina; Writing by Yara Bayoumy) Full Story Top Senior Yemen army officer survives roadside bomb: government Sun,22 Jul 2012 10:04 AM PDT Reuters - ADEN (Reuters) - A senior military official in Yemen survived an assassination attempt on Sunday in the southern province of Hadramaut, residents and the defense ministry said. A roadside bomb went off as a convoy carrying Colonel Yahia al-Rusaishan, the commander of the air force in Hadramaut, passed through the port city of al-Mukalla, wounding him and three of his aides, residents said. The Ministry of Defence described the attack in a text message as an "act of terror". ... Full Story Top Afghan social media war steps up with new campaign Sun,22 Jul 2012 09:45 AM PDT Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's intensifying war by social media has stepped up a notch with free speech activists launching a campaign using Twitter and Facebook to fight wide confusion over competing NATO and Taliban claims, as well as looming government media curbs. Foreign troops and insurgents have for years sparred on Twitter over the extent of victories against one another, while Afghan journalists are locked in a row with their government over press freedoms and new media laws. ... Full Story Top Abducted Lebanese well, to stay in custody: Syria rebel Sun,22 Jul 2012 09:33 AM PDT Reuters - BAB AL-SALAM, Syria (Reuters) - A Syrian rebel commander told Reuters on Sunday that 11 kidnapped Lebanese Shi'ites are staying in air-conditioned rooms and are in good health but will not be released until President Bashar al-Assad leaves power and a new parliament is elected. "Their health is good and they're fine and they're eating and drinking well, staying in a farm with full comfort and air conditioning, and they're alive," Abu Omar, commander of the Storm of the North brigade, told Reuters at the Bab al-Salam border crossing with Turkey, which his men had overrun on Sunday. ... Full Story Top Madagascar army starts assault to quell mutiny Sun,22 Jul 2012 09:19 AM PDT Reuters - ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Madagascar's army stormed a military camp near the main airport on Sunday after mutinous troops took over the barracks and shot an officer sent in to negotiate with them, the army said. An army statement asked people to "remain calm and evacuate the areas" near the military barracks as the troops moved "to the stage of arresting these mutineers". "The assault has already begun," said the head of the army's communication service, Philibert Ratovonirina. ... Full Story Top Murcia next Spain region in spotlight for aid Sun,22 Jul 2012 09:08 AM PDT Reuters - MADRID (Reuters) - Tiny Murcia was on course on Sunday to be the second Spanish region to request help from the central government to keep it afloat, as media reported half a dozen local authorities were ready to follow in the footsteps of Valencia. How Spain's 17 indebted autonomous regions, locked out of international debt markets, refinance 36 billion euros in debt this year has been a major source of concern for investors ever since they missed deficit targets last year. Spain's central government set up an 18 billion euro ($22 billion) fund earlier this month to ease their funding pain. ... Full Story Top Assad still in Damascus and retains army's loyalty: Israel Sun,22 Jul 2012 09:01 AM PDT Reuters - JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad is still in the Syrian capital Damascus and retains the loyalty of his armed forces in the face of an advancing rebellion, the Israeli military said on Sunday. There have been doubts about Assad's location since a bomb on Wednesday killed four members of his high command in Damascus. Assad has not spoken in public since and state TV has shown only footage of him swearing in a new defense minister. ... Full Story Top Sudan wants S.Sudan deal but pins impasse on Juba Sun,22 Jul 2012 08:45 AM PDT Reuters - KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan wants to settle all its differences with South Sudan through talks, but sees little hope of a swift resolution while it believes Juba is backing rebels that threaten its territorial integrity, a senior ruling party official said on Sunday. The African neighbours came close to a war when border fighting escalated in April, the worst violence since South Sudan split off and declared its independence a year ago under a 2005 agreement that ended decades of civil war. ... Full Story Top Iran adds batch of fuel to reactor: nuclear chief Sun,22 Jul 2012 08:20 AM PDT Reuters - DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has sent a new batch of enriched uranium to fuel a medical research reactor in its capital, the country's nuclear chief said on Sunday, an indication Tehran is digging in as its standoff with world powers over the enrichment continues. Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, said a fourth batch of 20-percent enriched fuel produced inside Iran has now arrived at the Tehran Medical Research Reactor, according to the Mehr news agency. Iran says the reactor produces medical isotopes used to treat cancer patients. ... Full Story Top Sudan wants South Sudan deal but pins impasse on Juba Sun,22 Jul 2012 08:18 AM PDT Reuters - KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan wants to settle all its differences with South Sudan through talks, but sees little hope of a swift resolution while it believes Juba is backing rebels that threaten its territorial integrity, a senior ruling party official said on Sunday. The African neighbors came close to a war when border fighting escalated in April, the worst violence since South Sudan split off and declared its independence a year ago under a 2005 agreement that ended decades of civil war. ... Full Story Top

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