Monday, August 27, 2012

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Monday, August 27, 2012 8:30 PM PDT
Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
Haitian migrants to be repatriated from Bahamas, 16 missing
Mon,27 Aug 2012 06:24 PM PDT
Reuters - NASSAU (Reuters) - Up to 16 illegal Haitian migrants aboard a boat carrying more than 200 passengers that ran aground at the height of Tropical Storm Isaac are missing and may have died, the Bahamian government said on Monday. Fred Mitchell, the Bahamas' foreign minister, said that no bodies had been recovered, but a man identifying himself as the sail boat's captain had said four Haitians jumped overboard during the voyage and another 12 had drowned. The captain told Bahamian officials that the boat, which ran aground off Mangrove Cay on the island of Andros, left Cap Haitien a week ago. ... Full Story
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Romney's storm-delayed convention limps into motion
Mon,27 Aug 2012 06:09 PM PDT
Reuters -

Officials on stage look up at the ceiling of the Republican National Convention in TampaTAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Forget the loud music, cheering crowds and funny hats. Instead of opening with a bang as originally planned, Mitt Romney's Republican convention started with a whimper on Monday as party leaders staged a low-key session while Tropical Storm Isaac churned through the Gulf of Mexico. ...


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Almost half of voters want Osborne out: poll
Mon,27 Aug 2012 05:57 PM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Nearly half of British voters believe George Osborne should be removed from his post of finance minister in the forthcoming cabinet reshuffle, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday. Osborne is under pressure to ditch his hard line austerity program in favor of growth measures to keep Britain's economy from sinking deeper into a double-dip recession. Speculation that Osborne may be replaced by foreign minister William Hague was supported by an ICM poll for the left-leaning Guardian newspaper, which found that 48 percent of voters think he should lose his job in the reshuffle. ... Full Story
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Colombia's Santos says holding talks with FARC rebels
Mon,27 Aug 2012 05:40 PM PDT
Reuters - BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government is seeking peace with the country's biggest guerrilla group, the FARC, and could consider also holding talks with a second rebel movement, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Monday. A Colombian intelligence source had earlier told Reuters the government would soon start talks that could lead to formal negotiations with the FARC. Success would secure Santos a place in history when so many previous presidents have failed. ... Full Story
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U.N. seeks details on employees sentenced in Myanmar
Mon,27 Aug 2012 05:29 PM PDT
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations is seeking information on three people working for the world body who were sentenced by a Myanmar court in connection with sectarian violence there earlier this year, a U.N. spokesman said on Monday. "The country team in Yangon has received information that a court in Maungdaw has sentenced three people - one from the U.N. refugee agency, one from the World Food Program and a third person who works for a partner organization of the refugee agency," spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters. ... Full Story
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China investigates Japan flag-snatching report: Xinhua
Mon,27 Aug 2012 05:27 PM PDT
Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities are "seriously" investigating reports that a national flag on the Japanese ambassador's car was ripped off in Beijing on Monday, the official Xinhua news agency said, amid a territorial row over disputed islands. "The Chinese government always conscientiously fulfills the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to protect the safety of foreign embassies and personnel," Xinhua, citing the Foreign Ministry, said in an overnight report. ... Full Story
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Exclusive: New Egypt leader steps out on world stage seeking "balance"
Mon,27 Aug 2012 04:21 PM PDT
Reuters -

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi talks during an interview with Reuters at the Presidential palace in CairoCAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's new Islamist president said on Monday he would pursue a "balanced" foreign policy, reassuring Israel its peace treaty was safe, hinting at a new approach to Iran and calling on Bashar al-Assad's allies to help lever the Syrian leader out. Mohamed Mursi, who was elected in June and consolidated his power this month by dismissing top military leaders, is seeking to introduce himself to a wider world ahead of a trip to Iran - the first by an Egyptian leader in three decades - and China. "Egypt is now a civilian state ... ...


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U.S. troops punished over Koran burning, urination video
Mon,27 Aug 2012 04:05 PM PDT
Reuters -

File photo of Afghan protesters burning a U.S. flag during a protest in Jalalabad provinceWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Monday it was disciplining U.S. troops over two incidents that provoked outrage in Afghanistan early this year, one involving a video depicting Marines urinating on corpses and another over burned copies of the Koran. The administrative punishments -- which could include things like reduce rank or forfeiture of pay -- fell short of criminal prosecution, and it was unclear whether they would satisfy Afghan demands for justice. ...


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Gambia executes nine prisoners by firing squad: government
Mon,27 Aug 2012 03:54 PM PDT
Reuters - BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambia said on Monday it had executed nine prisoners, prompting critics to call for sanctions on the president whose plans to clear the country's death row by mid-September had already drawn a flurry of international condemnation. Six civilians and three members of the military were executed by firing squad on Sunday after their appeal processes had been exhausted, the interior ministry said in a statement. It named the prisoners and said they had been found guilty of a variety of crimes, all involving murder. ... Full Story
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Exclusive: Venezuela refinery could restart Friday
Mon,27 Aug 2012 03:53 PM PDT
Reuters -

A column of smoke rises as fuel storage tanks are seen on fire at Amuay oil refinery in Punto Fijo in the Peninsula of ParaguanaPARAGUANA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's biggest refinery could restart operations on Friday and fires still burning in three storage tanks will be extinguished within two days, the country's energy minister told Reuters, following the country's worst oil industry accident. An explosion on Saturday at the Amuay refinery killed 48 people and pushed up U.S. fuel prices in markets that were already bullish because of a threat that Tropical Storm Isaac could disrupt refinery operations on the U.S. Gulf Coast. ...


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Warplane attacks on Damascus suburbs kill 60: activists
Mon,27 Aug 2012 03:52 PM PDT
Reuters -

A burning helicopter emits smoke as it falls in this still image taken from amateur videoAMMAN/ALEPPO (Reuters) - Syrian fighter planes made rare sorties on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, killing at least 60 people in its eastern suburbs, the same day a Syrian military helicopter crashed while under rebel fire, activists said. They said aerial attacks by at least two fighter planes late on Monday had targeted the neighborhood of Zemalka and the more easterly suburb of Saqba where Free Syrian Army fighters had attacked and overrun several army roadblocks earlier in the day. ...


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Israeli court to rule on U.S. activist Corrie death
Mon,27 Aug 2012 03:36 PM PDT
Reuters - HAIFA, Israel (Reuters) - The family of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old pro-Palestinian activist whose killing by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza in 2003 drew international attention, will hear a court rule on Tuesday on their long-running civil lawsuit against Israel. Corrie's family filed the lawsuit in the northern Israeli city of Haifa in 2005, accusing Israel of intentionally and unlawfully killing their daughter and failing to conduct a full and credible investigation. ... Full Story
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Rich-poor divide scars Angola as it heads for polls
Mon,27 Aug 2012 03:35 PM PDT
Reuters -

A woman walks past the head office of Angolan state oil company Sonangol in the capital LuandaHUAMBO, Angola (Reuters) - A four-lane avenue separates the shelled ruins of the art deco Ruacana Cinema from Huambo's shiny new Chinese-built railway station, a symbol of the leaps Angola has made to recover from a devastating 27-year civil war that ended a decade ago. As Angolans prepare to go to the polls on Friday for only the second time since the end of the war, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos's ruling MPLA party reminds them daily of the rewards of peace and boasts of its reconstruction achievements. ...


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Israel shells Gaza compounds after rocket attacks
Mon,27 Aug 2012 03:31 PM PDT
Reuters - GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli forces shelled two compounds run by the Hamas government's security services in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, wounding two Palestinians, Hamas said. Israel described the targets as weapons manufacturing and storage sites and said they were hit in retaliation for recent short-range rocket salvoes launches from the coastal enclave into the Jewish state. Two such salvoes, on Sunday and Monday, caused no casualties and were claimed by ultra-conservative Salafi Islamists who have a presence in Gaza and the neighboring Egyptian Sinai. ... Full Story
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Exclusive: Colombia's ELN rebels offer peace talks, refuse ceasefire first
Mon,27 Aug 2012 03:28 PM PDT
Reuters -

Still image shows Colombian guerrilla group ELN commander Gabino speaking in response to questions from Reuters at a hidden jungle campBOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's second-biggest guerrilla group says it is willing to hold unconditional peace talks to end five decades of war, but refuses to end its kidnapping, bomb attacks and extortion of foreign oil and mining companies before negotiations start. Nicolas Rodriguez, leader of the National Liberation Army, known as the ELN, told Reuters in a rare interview that he is open to negotiate an end to the bloodshed with President Juan Manuel Santos' conservative government. ...


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Colombia and rebels to begin peace talks soon: source
Mon,27 Aug 2012 03:28 PM PDT
Reuters - BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government will soon begin talks that could lead to formal negotiations for peace with the country's biggest guerrilla group, known as the FARC, a Colombian intelligence source said on Monday. As part of the deal to hold negotiations, President Juan Manuel Santos agreed that leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia would not be extradited to another country to stand trial, said the source who declined to be identified. ... Full Story
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Yemen presidential advisor says survives attack
Mon,27 Aug 2012 02:20 PM PDT
Reuters - DUBAI (Reuters) - An advisor to Yemen's president said he survived an apparent assassination attempt on Monday when armed men opened fire on a car carrying him in Sanaa. The impoverished Arabian Peninsula state has been in turmoil since an uprising last year which eventually forced veteran ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down in February. "The car stopped at a road block thinking it was a checkpoint, but then armed man tried to storm the car. When the driver sped off they opened fire," Yassin Said Noman told Reuters. ... Full Story
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Analysis: Balancing act for India in overhaul of archaic land law
Mon,27 Aug 2012 02:01 PM PDT
Reuters - MUMBAI (Reuters) - More than a century after it was drawn up by British colonial rulers, India's land acquisition law is finally set for a revamp that promises to breathe life into scores of frozen industrial and infrastructure projects and help lift the sagging economy. That's the optimistic scenario. The reality is that the new law will make the cost of land much higher for businesses and is unlikely to put a stop to protests by millions of people determined to defend their livelihoods or get fair compensation for losing their land. ... Full Story
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Egypt's president says time up for Syria's Assad
Mon,27 Aug 2012 01:58 PM PDT
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's new Islamist president, preparing to make his debut on the stage of world diplomacy with an initiative over the Syrian crisis, called on Monday for President Bashar al-Assad's allies to help lever the Syrian leader out of power. "Now is the time to stop this bloodshed and for the Syrian people to regain their full rights and for this regime that kills its people to disappear from the scene," Mohamed Mursi said in his first interview with an international news organization. ... Full Story
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Captors free Kuwaiti hostage in Lebanon: KUNA
Mon,27 Aug 2012 01:45 PM PDT
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Kuwaiti national was freed by his kidnappers in Lebanon on Monday, state-run news agency KUNA said, and the man said he had been accused by his captors of funding the Syrian uprising. Issam al-Houti was abducted in Lebanon's Bekaa region on Saturday. KUNA had originally reported that his wife was also kidnapped but Lebanon said only Houti had been seized. The kidnapping took place days after more than 20 Syrians and Turks were seized by a separate Lebanese group which is trying to negotiate the release of a relative inside Syria. ... Full Story
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Thousands of Kuwaitis protest electoral law move
Mon,27 Aug 2012 01:42 PM PDT
Reuters - KUWAIT (Reuters) - Thousands of Kuwaitis took part in a rally late on Monday to protest any changes to the electoral law which they said could harm the prospects of opposition lawmakers in upcoming elections. While the major oil exporter has not experienced the kind of mass popular uprisings that have swept the Arab region since last year, tensions have grown between the cabinet, opposition lawmakers and youth activists. ... Full Story
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Exclusive: Egypt's president rules out currency devaluation
Mon,27 Aug 2012 01:36 PM PDT
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's new president said on Monday he would not impose new taxes or devalue the country's currency and that his government would rely instead on investment, tourism and exports to fix an economy ravaged by a year and a half of political turmoil. Mohamed Mursi, 61, has a window of opportunity to push through economic change while he still commands political goodwill 50 days into his tenure as Egypt's first freely elected president, economists say. ... Full Story
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Up to 100 Korans burned in Afghanistan: U.S. military investigation
Mon,27 Aug 2012 01:34 PM PDT
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. military investigation released on Monday determined that American troops burned up to 100 Korans and other religious materials in Afghanistan during a February incident that led to deadly riots and strained relations between the two countries. Six soldiers received administrative punishments over the incident, which the investigation concluded was due to factors that included a lack of trust between Americans and Afghans. Still, the investigation found no malicious intent to disrespect Islam by those involved. (Reporting by Phil Stewart and David Alexander) Full Story
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Syrian jet attacks on Damascus suburbs kill at least 60: activists
Mon,27 Aug 2012 01:28 PM PDT
Reuters - AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian fighter plane attacks on eastern suburbs of Damascus killed at least 60 people on Monday, opposition activists said. They said the aerial attacks targeted the neighborhood of Zemalka and the more easterly suburb of Saqba where Free Syrian Army fighters had attacked and overrun several army roadblocks earlier in the day. Both suburbs are poor and predominantly Sunni Muslim. Sunnis have been at the forefront of 17 months of fighting against President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story
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Venezuela refinery fire to be partly put out by Tuesday: minister
Mon,27 Aug 2012 01:24 PM PDT
Reuters - CARACAS (Reuters) - A fire raging in two storage tanks at Venezuela's largest refinery will be put out by Tuesday, Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Monday, but added he did not know when a fire at a third storage tank would be extinguished. (Reporting by Caracas newsroom) Full Story
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Egypt president hires women, Christians as aides in nod to diversity
Mon,27 Aug 2012 12:59 PM PDT
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi appointed three women and two Christians to his team of 21 aides, spokesman Yasser Ali said on Monday, a nod to diversity from a man who chose as many male non-Christians for cabinet as ousted predecessor Hosni Mubarak. Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected president, promised at the time of his election in June that women and Christians would have a place in his presidential team. ... Full Story
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Gambia says nine prisoners executed by firing squad
Mon,27 Aug 2012 12:58 PM PDT
Reuters - BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambia's government confirmed on Monday that it had executed nine prisoners being held on death row despite international calls criticising the president's plans to carry out all death penalties by mid-September. An Interior Ministry statement said that the nine prisoners had been executed by firing squad on Sunday after their appeals' processes had been exhausted. (Reporting by Pap Saine; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Michael Roddy) Full Story
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Riots hit Kenya after Muslim cleric shot dead
Mon,27 Aug 2012 12:28 PM PDT
Reuters - MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters smashed cars and torched churches in the Kenyan city of Mombasa on Monday after unknown gunmen shot dead a Muslim cleric accused by the United States of helping Islamist militants in Somalia. One protester was killed in the riots which erupted after Aboud Rogo Mohammed was shot on Monday, as youths from the port city's large Muslim population took to the streets saying he had been deliberately targeted by police. "It's an attack on Muslims, and we will not take it lightly," said Suleiman Atham, one of the protesters. ... Full Story
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Mexican police detained over U.S. Embassy staff shooting
Mon,27 Aug 2012 12:22 PM PDT
Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Twelve Mexican federal police have been detained in an investigation of how two U.S. Embassy employees were wounded after being caught up in a police chase on the outskirts of the capital, authorities said on Monday. Attorney General Marisela Morales said a judge had ordered the officers remain in custody for 40 days. They have not been charged with any offense in Friday's incident but she said prosecutors were looking into possible abuse of authority. "We are not ruling out any kind of wrongdoing or any line of investigation," Morales told reporters. ... Full Story
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Christian archbishop flees Syria: report
Mon,27 Aug 2012 12:19 PM PDT
Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - A Christian archbishop fled Syria after his offices were ransacked last week amid fighting between rebels and government forces in the country's biggest city Aleppo, Catholic news agency Fides said on Monday. The Melchite Greek Catholic archbishop of Aleppo, Jean-Clement Jeanbart, and a number of priests fled to Lebanon after the attack on Thursday, Fides said. The Melchite Greek Catholic Church is a community of Middle Eastern Christians who are in full communion with Rome. ... Full Story
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Uganda president promotes son, succession plan suspected
Mon,27 Aug 2012 11:20 AM PDT
Reuters - KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda's long-serving President Yoweri Museveni promoted his son to the rank of brigadier general on Monday, fanning speculation he was grooming Muhoozi Kainerugaba for succession. Critics say Kainerugaba, already in charge of the army's powerful elite unit, has rushed through the ranks since he joined the military in 1998. In 2001, he jumped two positions from 2nd Lieutenant to Major. "The President and Commander in Chief has ... ... Full Story
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Syrian warplane fires on eastern edge of Damascus
Mon,27 Aug 2012 11:10 AM PDT
Reuters - AMMAN (Reuters) - A Syrian fighter plane fired two rockets on Monday at targets on the eastern edge of Damascus, opposition activists said, the same day a military helicopter crashed in the capital in flames. It was the first time a warplane has struck areas close to the capital, an activist source said. "This is the first time a warplane strikes the edges of Damascus, this plane was swooping over the area all afternoon," the Damascus-based activist told Reuters by Skype. Army helicopters earlier had fired rockets and machineguns at neighborhoods in Damascus and its outskirts, residents said. ... Full Story
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Galicia to hold early vote, in test for Spain austerity drive
Mon,27 Aug 2012 11:00 AM PDT
Reuters - MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's northwestern region of Galicia said on Monday it would move up local elections to October 21, in what is seen as a mini-referendum on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's deep spending cuts to stave off the euro zone debt crisis. Both Galicia, a longtime stronghold for Rajoy's conservative People's Party, and the Basque Country will have early elections on the same day, as leaders in both regions seek consensus for tough cost cuts in 2013 budgets. ... Full Story
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Global small arms trade doubles in six years-survey
Mon,27 Aug 2012 10:59 AM PDT
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The annual authorized trade in small arms has more than doubled in the past six years to $8.5 billion, driven by Americans buying more guns and ammunition and big military purchases for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a survey found on Monday. The Small Arms Survey 2012, an independent research project, found the top exporters with trade of at least $100 million were the United States, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Austria, Japan, Switzerland, Russia, France, South Korea, Belgium and Spain. ... Full Story
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Female Punk rock band appeals conviction, Russian church critical
Mon,27 Aug 2012 10:49 AM PDT
Reuters -

Members of the female punk band "Pussy Riot" sit in a glass-walled cage after a court hearing in MoscowMOSCOW (Reuters) - A lawyer for the jailed members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot on Monday appealed against the three women's conviction for a protest against President Vladimir Putin at a church altar, but said he had little hope the verdict would be overturned. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after their February protest in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral. ...


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France warns Syria over chemical weapons use
Mon,27 Aug 2012 10:45 AM PDT
Reuters - PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday that any use of the country's chemical weapons would be a legitimate justification for military intervention. "With our partners we remain very vigilant regarding preventing the use of chemical weapons, which for the international community would be a legitimate reason for direct intervention," Hollande said during an annual foreign policy speech to French ambassadors. The comments followed U.S. ... Full Story
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Captured Turkish journalist appears on Syrian TV
Mon,27 Aug 2012 10:33 AM PDT
Reuters - ANKARA (Reuters) - A Turkish cameraman who went missing while reporting from Syria appeared on Monday in an interview with a pro-government Syrian television channel and said he had been seized by Syrian soldiers in the northern city of Aleppo. In the video from al-Ikhbariya news channel, which was broadcast by Turkish media on Monday, Cuneyt Unal seems to be in good health although he looks exhausted and nervous, with dark marks under both eyes, apparently bruising. Unal, a journalist of 17 years who currently works for the U.S. ... Full Story
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Kenyan cleric shot dead, sparks riots in Mombasa
Mon,27 Aug 2012 10:29 AM PDT
Reuters -

Civilians carry the body of Aboud Rogo Mohammed along the Mombasa-Malindi highway in Kenya's coastal city of MombasaMOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters smashed cars and torched churches in the Kenyan city of Mombasa on Monday after unknown gunmen shot dead a Muslim cleric accused by the United States of helping Islamist militants in Somalia. One protester was killed in the riots which erupted after Aboud Rogo Mohammed was shot on Monday, as youths from the port city's large Muslim population took to the streets complaining he had been deliberately targeted by police. "It's an attack on Muslims, and we will not take it lightly," said Suleiman Atham, one of the protesters. ...


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Iran might let diplomats visit suspected nuclear site
Mon,27 Aug 2012 10:10 AM PDT
Reuters -

A section of the Parchin military facility in Iran is pictured in this DigitalGlobe handout satellite imageDUBAI/VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran indicated on Monday it might allow diplomats visiting Tehran for this week's Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit to go to the Parchin military base, which U.N. nuclear experts say may have been used for nuclear-related explosives tests. When asked about the possibility, Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh said: "Such a visit is not customary in such meetings...However at the discretion of authorities, Iran would be ready for such a visit," the Iranian government-linked news agency Young Journalists Club reported. ...


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Seventeen villagers beheaded in southern Afghanistan
Mon,27 Aug 2012 10:09 AM PDT
Reuters - KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai accused the Taliban on Monday of beheading 17 villagers, including two women, in volatile Helmand province, in a gruesome attack recalling the dark days of the hardline group's rule before their 2001 ouster. He ordered a full investigation into the "mass killing", which a local official said was punishment to revelers attending a party with music and mixed-sex dancing. "This attack shows that there are irresponsible members among the Taliban," Karzai said in a statement. ... Full Story
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