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Saturday, August 4, 2012 8:30 PM PDT

Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News: China calls in U.S. diplomat over South China Sea China to hold Gu Kailai murder trial on Aug 9: sources University brings capitalism to reclusive North Korea Two New Zealand soldiers killed in Afghanistan, six wounded Suicide bomber kills 25 in southern Yemen village Forty-eight Iranians kidnapped in Damascus: IRNA Syrian leader Assad's planes pound vital prize of Aleppo Israeli troops wound man near Syrian Golan fence German politicians concerned about bigger role for ESM Ernesto at sea in Caribbean; new storm forms in Atlantic One rescued in Mexico mine explosion, others still missing Sweden "counter-jihad" rally outnumbered by anti-racists Serb government tightens grip on central bank despite EU, IMF warning Clinton warns Kenya on cost of election unrest Sudan, South Sudan reach oil deal, will hold border talks Pirates attack ship off Nigeria, kidnap four foreigners Egypt invites IMF officials to resume loan talks Egypt's Christian leader slams "unfair" new cabinet U.N. calls for credible probe into Myanmar sectarian unrest U.S. encouraged by Somalia progress: Clinton Rebels fill Aleppo power vacuum, some disapprove Iran tests short-range missile with new guidance system British diplomats to attend Chinese murder trial Palestinians to renew U.N. statehood drive next month Afghan lawmakers vote to dismiss security ministers Sudan confirms oil deal, wants security talks first Turkish army retires generals jailed on coup charges U.N. to send food aid to flood-hit North Korea Saudi Arabia says two killed, including a soldier, in Shi'ite area Car bomb explodes in Tripoli, first since Gaddafi's fall India needs strict controls to avoid blackouts: power firm Syria reaches oil deal with ally Russia Syrian rebels say seize security complex in eastern province Russia condemns "harmful" U.N. assembly resolution on Syria U.N. nations condemn Syria; Russia, China seen isolated Tropical Storm Ernesto races west over Caribbean Six killed in Mexico coal mine explosion Japanese minister tries out Osprey plane at Pentagon Venezuela electoral body probes both sides, baseball cap British coalition faces rift over political reform China calls in U.S. diplomat over South China Sea Sat,4 Aug 2012 06:33 PM PDT Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Foreign Ministry has called in a senior U.S. diplomat to protest remarks by the U.S. State Department raising concerns over tensions in the disputed South China Sea, in the latest political spat between the two countries. In a statement released late on Saturday, China's Foreign Ministry said Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Kunsheng summoned the U.S. Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Wang to make "serious representations" about the issue. ... Full Story Top China to hold Gu Kailai murder trial on Aug 9: sources Sat,4 Aug 2012 06:19 PM PDT Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - China will open the murder trial of Gu Kailai, the wife of ousted Communist Party Politburo member Bo Xilai, on August 9, two sources said on Friday, a case at the center of a scandal that has rocked the government and could bring Gu the death penalty. Both sources requested anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the case, and provided no other details. China only last week formally announced Gu's indictment on charges of murdering a British man in November. ... Full Story Top University brings capitalism to reclusive North Korea Sat,4 Aug 2012 06:17 PM PDT Reuters - SEOUL (Reuters) - Capitalism, in hermit North Korea, is normally associated with moral and economic ruin. The Korea-born American who heads Pyongyang's only private university is trying to change that. He believes he has the support of the man many think is emerging as the real power in the North, whose new leaders are pondering how to save their broken economy from collapse. The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, co-founded by Chan-mo Park, is teaching dozens of North Koreans the skills of a modern market economy, something the impoverished state has managed for decades to avoid. ... Full Story Top Two New Zealand soldiers killed in Afghanistan, six wounded Sat,4 Aug 2012 05:20 PM PDT Reuters - WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Two New Zealand soldiers were killed and six others were injured in Afghanistan's Bamyan province on Saturday when they came under fire assisting local security forces that were fighting suspected insurgents, the New Zealand Defence Force said. "The NZDF was responding to local security forces coming under attack and it developed into a serious incident," Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman said in a statement on Sunday. ... Full Story Top Suicide bomber kills 25 in southern Yemen village Sat,4 Aug 2012 04:48 PM PDT Reuters - ADEN (Reuters) - A suicide bomber struck at a funeral in a village in Yemen's southern province of Abyan overnight, killing at least 25 tribal fighters and wounding dozens more, officials and medics said on Sunday. The bomber targeted tribesmen who fought alongside the Yemeni army during an offensive against al Qaeda-linked militants in Abyan that the government hailed as a major victory in June. "We have many people with critical injuries and we don't have the means to treat them," said a doctor at al-Razi hospital, which was filling up with the wounded. ... Full Story Top Forty-eight Iranians kidnapped in Damascus: IRNA Sat,4 Aug 2012 03:27 PM PDT Reuters - DUBAI (Reuters) - A bus load of Iranians were abducted by gunmen while on a pilgrimage in Syria on Saturday, Iranian media reported, the latest in a string of kidnappings of visitors from the Islamic Republic, a country allied to President Bashar al-Assad. The 48 Iranians, planning to visit a shrine on the outskirts of Damascus of particular significance to Shi-ite Muslims, were kidnapped on the road from the airport, Iran's consul general in Syria was reported as saying by state broadcaster IRIB. ... Full Story Top Syrian leader Assad's planes pound vital prize of Aleppo Sat,4 Aug 2012 03:27 PM PDT Reuters - ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad's forces used artillery, planes and a helicopter gunship to pound rebel positions in Syria's biggest city, witnesses said, in a battle that could determine the outcome of the 17-month uprising. After U.N. Security Council paralysis on Syria forced peace envoy Kofi Annan to resign last week, and with his ceasefire plan a distant memory, rebels were battered on Saturday by the onslaught they had expected in Aleppo and the capital Damascus. ... Full Story Top Israeli troops wound man near Syrian Golan fence Sat,4 Aug 2012 03:27 PM PDT Reuters - JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli troops shot across the ceasefire line with Syria on the occupied Golan Heights to wound a man suspected of planning to tamper with the boundary fence on Saturday, the military said. The Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in a 1967 war and later annexed, has been largely untouched by the 17-month-old uprising rocking Damascus. But Israel has been on guard for hostilities or refugee influxes on the strategic plateau. ... Full Story Top German politicians concerned about bigger role for ESM Sat,4 Aug 2012 03:18 PM PDT Reuters - BERLIN (Reuters) - Politicians in Germany's ruling centre-right coalition have expressed renewed concerns about an increased role for the euro zone's permanent bailout fund, which is at the centre of a court case after the German parliament approved it in basic form. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told Germany's weekly Focus magazine he was opposed both to broadening the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the euro zone's permanent bailout mechanism, and to stepping up purchases of European sovereign bonds. ... Full Story Top Ernesto at sea in Caribbean; new storm forms in Atlantic Sat,4 Aug 2012 12:58 PM PDT Reuters - MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Ernesto kept on a westerly course in the Caribbean Sea on Saturday and will soon bulk up into a hurricane that may soak Jamaica as it passes by the island, U.S. forecasters said. Officials in Jamaica issued a tropical storm warning as Ernesto moved in open waters at 18 miles per hour on a predicted track that should keep it at sea until a forecast landfall in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday. ... Full Story Top One rescued in Mexico mine explosion, others still missing Sat,4 Aug 2012 11:58 AM PDT Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - One miner has been rescued following a coal mine collapse in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila Friday morning, and five more remain trapped, the mine operator said. The explosion was triggered when a large amount of methane gas ignited, causing 100 metric tons (1.1023 tons) of coal to collapse, mine owner Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) said in a statement. Nearly 300 miners evacuated the mine without incident, the company said. Coahuila's public safety secretary, Jorge Luis Moran, told Milenio television that rescue workers were trying to locate the missing miners. ... Full Story Top Sweden "counter-jihad" rally outnumbered by anti-racists Sat,4 Aug 2012 11:13 AM PDT Reuters - STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Stockholm rally by European and U.S. far-right groups seeking to create a global "counter-jihad" movement attracted fewer than 200 people on Saturday who were outnumbered by anti-racist protesters. Police said the rival demonstration was kept apart from the far-right rally and drew a few hundred people, a small number of whom were detained. The far-right rally was organized by groups including the English Defence League (EDL) which has been a driving force behind a handful of similar events, most recently a Danish rally in March. ... Full Story Top Serb government tightens grip on central bank despite EU, IMF warning Sat,4 Aug 2012 10:36 AM PDT Reuters - BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's Socialist-led government stepped up control over the central bank in the struggling ex-Yugoslav republic on Saturday, ignoring IMF criticism and a warning that the move would hurt its bid to join the European Union. Parliament adopted amendments to the law on the National Bank of Serbia, as the government seeks to harness the bank to a promise of more expansive fiscal policies to halt a slide into recession and rein in unemployment of 25 percent. ... Full Story Top Clinton warns Kenya on cost of election unrest Sat,4 Aug 2012 09:47 AM PDT Reuters - NAIROBI (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Kenya on Saturday to hold free and fair elections and be a role model for Africa, underlining the need to avoid the bloodshed and economic loss suffered during the last vote five years ago. The general election next March will be the first since a disputed poll in 2007 that set off a politically based ethnic slaughter in which more than 1,200 people were killed. "We urge that the nation come together and prepare for elections which will be a real model for the entire world," Clinton told reporters in Nairobi. ... Full Story Top Sudan, South Sudan reach oil deal, will hold border talks Sat,4 Aug 2012 09:27 AM PDT Reuters - ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Sudan said on Saturday it had reached a deal with South Sudan on oil transit fees, a first step towards ending a dispute which had brought the hostile neighbors close to war, but also said it wanted a border security agreement before oil flows resumed. The shareout of oil revenues was one of the biggest issues left unresolved when South Sudan became independent in July last year, under a 2005 agreement that ended decades of civil war, and fighting along the ill-defined border pushed them close to war in April. U.S. ... Full Story Top Pirates attack ship off Nigeria, kidnap four foreigners Sat,4 Aug 2012 08:50 AM PDT Reuters - PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) - Pirates attacked a ship being used by an oil servicing company in the waters off southeastern Nigeria on Saturday, killing two Nigerian naval guards and kidnapping four foreigners, the Navy and the boat's shipping firm said. "An oil servicing company was attacked by gunmen. We lost two of our men and four expatriates were abducted, one Malaysian, one Iranian," Navy spokesman Commodore Kabir Aliyu said, adding that a Thai and an Indonesian were also taken. ... Full Story Top Egypt invites IMF officials to resume loan talks Sat,4 Aug 2012 08:46 AM PDT Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt invited officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to visit to resume talks on a $3.2 billion loan, the state's finance minister Mumtaz al-Saeed told reporters on Saturday. An IMF deal would help Egypt stave off a budget and balance of payments crisis and add credibility to economic reforms needed to restore the confidence of investors who fled the country after the state's popular uprising of last year. ... Full Story Top Egypt's Christian leader slams "unfair" new cabinet Sat,4 Aug 2012 08:45 AM PDT Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's new government fails to fairly represent Christians, the acting head of the Coptic church said on Saturday, saying one cabinet seat was not enough to reflect a community that accounts for a tenth of the Muslim country's population. Islamist President Mohamed Mursi appointed his first cabinet on Thursday that drew heavily on career bureaucrats and included three Islamist politicians, one of whom was given the politically sensitive post of education minister. ... Full Story Top U.N. calls for credible probe into Myanmar sectarian unrest Sat,4 Aug 2012 08:27 AM PDT Reuters - YANGON (Reuters) - A top United Nations envoy on Saturday voiced grave concern over alleged abuses by Myanmar security forces after sectarian violence in Rakhine State and urged a full and credible state investigation. Tomas Ojea Quintana, the U.N. special human rights rapporteur, called on the government to find out the truth about violence in June between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and stateless Muslim Rohingyas and address reports of extrajudicial killings and torture by its police and soldiers. "I am concerned ... ... Full Story Top U.S. encouraged by Somalia progress: Clinton Sat,4 Aug 2012 08:22 AM PDT Reuters - NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somalia's political leaders are making encouraging progress toward meeting an August 20 deadline to lay the groundwork for a new constitutional government, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday. Clinton met Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, president of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, and other Somali leaders in Nairobi, during a seven-nation African tour. ... Full Story Top Rebels fill Aleppo power vacuum, some disapprove Sat,4 Aug 2012 07:35 AM PDT Reuters - ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - Blindfolded, shuffling along in his slippers, the skinny young man is dragged across a rebel base in Aleppo by armed fighters who slap his back, head and face. One of a handful of men held captive in the former school by rebels who control much of Syria's biggest city, he disappears down a flight of stairs to the basement, from where sounds of beating and screams emerge. ... Full Story Top Iran tests short-range missile with new guidance system Sat,4 Aug 2012 07:08 AM PDT Reuters - DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has test-fired a new, more accurate short-range missile capable of striking land and sea targets, it said on Saturday, a show of strength that underscored its ability to hit shipping in the Strait of Hormuz if attacked. Israel has said it is considering military strikes on Iran's nuclear sites if the Islamic Republic does not resolve Western fears it is developing atomic weapons technology, something Tehran denies. Iran says it could hit Israel and U.S. bases in the region if it comes under attack. ... Full Story Top British diplomats to attend Chinese murder trial Sat,4 Aug 2012 06:57 AM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - British diplomats will be allowed to attend the trial of the wife of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, the Foreign Office said on Saturday. "I can confirm that we will be attending the trial," a spokesman said. Diplomatic sources said it was unusual for China to allow British diplomats to be present at such a sensitive hearing, particularly when no UK citizen was on trial. Heywood was found dead in a hotel room last November in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing, where Bo was the former Communist Party leader. ... Full Story Top Palestinians to renew U.N. statehood drive next month Sat,4 Aug 2012 06:35 AM PDT Reuters - RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The Palestinians will next month renew a bid to upgrade their status at the United Nations, their foreign minister said on Saturday, a move which could strengthen their statehood claims after talks with Israel stalled. Palestinians are listed as a U.N. observer "entity" with no voting rights. They will ask to be made a non-member observer state at the U.N. General Assembly on September 27, Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. ... Full Story Top Afghan lawmakers vote to dismiss security ministers Sat,4 Aug 2012 06:11 AM PDT Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's parliament voted on Saturday to dismiss the country's two top security ministers for failing to stop cross-border shelling blamed on Pakistan, in what could be a blow to NATO plans to reinforce stability and handover to Afghan forces. The fractious parliament voted to remove Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak and Interior Minister Bismillah Mohammadi over a series of recent insurgent assassinations of top officials, as well as the cross border fire incidents infuriating many ordinary Afghans as well as politicians. ... Full Story Top Sudan confirms oil deal, wants security talks first Sat,4 Aug 2012 04:57 AM PDT Reuters - KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan confirmed it had reached an oil agreement with South Sudan but said it would be implemented only after a new round of talks on security issues, state news agency SUNA said on Saturday. The neighbors had agreed on how much landlocked South Sudan should pay to export its oil through Sudan, African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki said earlier on Saturday. "The agreement does not fulfill the ambitions of both sides," spokesman for the Sudanese delegation Mutrif Siddig told SUNA. "Its implementation will start after understandings on security issues. ... Full Story Top Turkish army retires generals jailed on coup charges Sat,4 Aug 2012 04:20 AM PDT Reuters - ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The Turkish military retired all 40 generals and admirals currently jailed facing charges of conspiring against the government in a further sign of greater civilian control of the once all-powerful army. President Abdullah Gul approved a decision at the end of a four-day meeting of the Supreme Military Council (YAS) to retire 55 generals and admirals, the General Staff said on its website on Saturday. ... Full Story Top U.N. to send food aid to flood-hit North Korea Sat,4 Aug 2012 03:01 AM PDT Reuters - SEOUL (Reuters) - The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) has said it will send a first batch of emergency food aid to impoverished North Korea, where a series of deluges and a typhoon have left hundreds of people dead or missing. The North's state media reported on Saturday that the death toll from flooding between late June and the end of last month had increased to 169. KCNA news agency said the number of missing had risen to some 400, while 212,200 had been left homeless. ... Full Story Top Saudi Arabia says two killed, including a soldier, in Shi'ite area Sat,4 Aug 2012 01:34 AM PDT Reuters - RIYADH (Reuters) - A Saudi soldier was shot dead patrolling an area populated by minority Shi'ite Muslims late on Friday, the Interior Ministry said, and one of the gunmen was killed in the ensuing shoot-out. The deaths bring to 11 the number of people killed in the Qatif area since November in protests by members of Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite minority over what they see as entrenched discrimination. ... Full Story Top Car bomb explodes in Tripoli, first since Gaddafi's fall Fri,3 Aug 2012 10:56 PM PDT Reuters - TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded near the offices of the military police in Tripoli early on Saturday, a senior security source said, the first such attack in the Libyan capital since the start of a revolt that toppled the regime of Muammar Gaddafi last year. The source said the blast slightly wounded a Tunisian national, but it could not say who might have been behind it. A Reuters witness said police had cordoned off the area around the blast's location. Several violent incidents have rocked Libya in recent days but these have been mostly confined to the eastern city of Benghazi. ... Full Story Top India needs strict controls to avoid blackouts: power firm Fri,3 Aug 2012 10:14 PM PDT Reuters - MUMBAI (Reuters) - India needs a more cohesive energy policy and stringent grid management to avoid a recurrence of the power outages that hit hundreds of millions of people this week, the chief executive of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd said in an interview. Reliance Infrastructure, India's largest private electric utility, provides power to 30 million people in financial capital Mumbai and political capital New Delhi. ... Full Story Top Syria reaches oil deal with ally Russia Fri,3 Aug 2012 05:57 PM PDT Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria has reached an agreement with ally Russia to secure much-needed fuel as a delegation of ministers sent by President Bashar al-Assad asked Moscow to help alleviate the effects of sanctions on the war-torn country. The trip was a rare foreign visit made by high-level Syrian officials, whose circles of support are shrinking as violence mounts between rebel fighters and forces loyal to Assad, who the West and Arab countries say must leave power. ... Full Story Top Syrian rebels say seize security complex in eastern province Fri,3 Aug 2012 05:57 PM PDT Reuters - AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels seized a security headquarters in the oil-producing province of Deir al-Zor on Friday, killing 13 security personnel in battles to control a major highway leading to Iraq, a rebel spokesman said. President Bashar al-Assad's forces have lost control over large swathes of Deir al-Zor in the last two months, but troops still surround the provincial capital, pounding the city with artillery and from the air. ... Full Story Top Russia condemns "harmful" U.N. assembly resolution on Syria Fri,3 Aug 2012 05:57 PM PDT Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia condemned a resolution on Syria which the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted on Friday as "harmful," complaining that it was tantamount to a show of support for rebels fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the 193-nation assembly that the Saudi-drafted resolution "hides blatant support to the armed opposition." Russia was among only 12 countries that voted against the non-binding text, which condemns Damascus and calls for a political transition. ... Full Story Top U.N. nations condemn Syria; Russia, China seen isolated Fri,3 Aug 2012 05:57 PM PDT Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. member states on Friday overwhelmingly voted to condemn the Syrian government at a special session of the General Assembly that Western diplomats said highlighted the isolation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's supporters Russia and China. The 193-nation assembly approved the Saudi-drafted resolution, which expressed "grave concern" at the escalation of violence in Syria and condemned the Security Council for its action, with 133 votes in favor, 12 against and 31 abstentions. ... Full Story Top Tropical Storm Ernesto races west over Caribbean Fri,3 Aug 2012 05:05 PM PDT Reuters - MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Ernesto swept over the tiny island of St. Lucia on Friday and could strengthen into a hurricane as it races westward across the Caribbean Sea, forecasters said. All warnings were dropped for the southeastern Caribbean islands by midday. By Friday evening, the storm was over open water about 250 miles west of St. Lucia and was not expected to threaten any other islands for the next few days. Ernesto was forecast to pass south of Jamaica on Sunday and then strengthen into a hurricane before hitting Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, the U.S. ... Full Story Top Six killed in Mexico coal mine explosion Fri,3 Aug 2012 04:57 PM PDT Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Six miners were killed in a coal mine collapse in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila on Friday, an emergency rescue team source on the site told Reuters. One miner was rescued earlier, according to a separate report from the mine operator. The explosion was triggered when a large amount of methane gas ignited, causing the collapse of 100 tonnes of coal, mine owner Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) said in a statement. Nearly 300 miners evacuated the mine without incident, the company said. ... Full Story Top Japanese minister tries out Osprey plane at Pentagon Fri,3 Aug 2012 04:55 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japan's defense minister flew from the Pentagon grounds Friday in a revolutionary hybrid aircraft at the heart of a controversy that threatens to strain strong defense ties between the United States and its Asian ally. The minister, Satoshi Morimoto, donned a white flight helmet and goggles before taking the jump-seat, between the pilots, on the flat-gray Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey troop transport. ... Full Story Top Venezuela electoral body probes both sides, baseball cap Fri,3 Aug 2012 04:08 PM PDT Reuters - CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's election commission is investigating both sides in this year's bitterly contested presidential race over alleged campaign irregularities, a mere two months before voters head to the polls in the South American OPEC nation. President Hugo Chavez is squaring off against youthful opposition candidate Henrique Capriles in an October 7 vote that has become the controversial socialist leader's toughest political battle of his 14 years in power. ... Full Story Top British coalition faces rift over political reform Fri,3 Aug 2012 03:58 PM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - The junior party in Britain's coalition government said on Friday the two-year-old alliance was entering "uncharted territory" after reports that Prime Minister David Cameron planned to drop promised parliamentary reforms. Newspapers said Cameron was set to abandon reforms to parliament's unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords, that have been championed by his Liberal Democrat partners after he failed to overcome opposition within his own Conservatives. Cameron's office said talks on the Lords were still in progress and that an announcement would be made in due course. ... Full Story Top

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