Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Insight: Syria rebels see future fight with foreign radicals
Tue,7 Aug 2012 06:41 PM PDT
Reuters -  ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - Abu Bakr, a Syrian rebel commander on the outskirts of Aleppo, is a devoted Islamist determined to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. But the radical allies that have joined the rebels in recent months alarm even him. "Let me be clear. I am an Islamist, my fighters are Islamists. But there is more than one type of Islamist," he told Reuters. "These men coming fought in insurgencies like Iraq. They are too extreme, they want to blow up any symbol of the state, even schools. ...
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Exclusive: China's president eyes ally for promotion to top body - sources
Tue,7 Aug 2012 06:30 PM PDT
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao is maneuvering to promote one of his closest allies to the Communist Party's inner sanctum, two independent sources said, in a bid to retain clout and preserve his legacy after retiring as party chief. Hu Chunhua, party boss of the northern region of Inner Mongolia, is a rising political star of the party's next generation of senior leaders. He is seen as a reformer and a close ally of Hu Jintao, although the two are not related. ...
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Monsoon rains swamp Philippine capital
Tue,7 Aug 2012 06:18 PM PDT
Reuters -  MANILA (Reuters) - Deadly torrential rains submerged much of the Philippine capital and surrounding areas on Tuesday, forcing nearly 270,000 people to flee their homes with more flooding expected in the north of the country as a tropical storm passes through the region, officials said. Steady rains for the past 10 days, killing more than 50 people, are set to continue until Wednesday, the Philippines weather bureau said, fuelled by tropical storm "Haikui" in the Philippine Sea northeast of Taiwan. ...
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Egypt moves to seal Gaza tunnels after border attack
Tue,7 Aug 2012 06:09 PM PDT
Reuters -  RAFAH, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt began to seal off smuggling tunnels into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, a security source said, two days after gunmen shot dead 16 Egyptian border guards in an attack blamed partly on Palestinian militants. Crowds of angry mourners wept at the military funeral of the slain guards in Cairo after the deadliest assault along Egypt's tense Sinai Peninsula border with Israel and Gaza in decades. ...
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Protests erupt in Egypt's Al-Arish town: witness
Tue,7 Aug 2012 06:09 PM PDT
Reuters - AL-ARISH, EGYPT (Reuters) - Protests erupted on Wednesday in Egypt's Al-Arish town in the Sinai Peninsula after clashes escalated between armed men and security forces, a few days after 16 border guards were shot dead in an attack blamed partly on Palestinian militants. "God is Great," hundreds of protesters chanted as they gathered in front of a governor's office, a Reuters witness reported. The protesters demanded state protection after a series of attacks on security checkpoints in town. (Reporting by Yusri Mohamed in Al-Arish, writing by Yasmine Saleh in Cairo; Editing by Stacey Joyce) Full Story | Top |
Hurricane Ernesto closes in on Mexican coast
Tue,7 Aug 2012 06:00 PM PDT
Reuters - CHETUMAL, Mexico (Reuters) - Hurricane Ernesto closed in on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula on Tuesday, pouring rain over the city of Chetumal and sending some residents and tourists into shelters. Ernesto had top sustained winds of 85 miles per hour (140 km per hour) and was located 65 miles east of Chetumal, Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its 8:00 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) advisory. Heavy rains showered Chetumal throughout the afternoon, filling much of the downtown with puddles of water up to six inches deep. ... Full Story | Top |
Scandinavian ship sails to challenge Gaza blockade
Tue,7 Aug 2012 05:29 PM PDT
Reuters - OSLO (Reuters) - Scandinavian activist groups are launching an aid ship destined for Gaza on Tuesday, hoping to challenge the Israeli blockade and draw international attention to the conflict in a move reminiscent of the 2010 "Freedom Flotilla", organizers said. "We have the same goal as the previous flotillas, to put an end to the blockade of Gaza by challenging the Israeli navy," said Torstein Dahle, the leader of the Norwegian section of the activist group "Ship to Gaza". ... Full Story | Top |
Iran asks for U.N. help in freeing hostages in Syria, Libya
Tue,7 Aug 2012 05:28 PM PDT
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister on Tuesday asked U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his help in efforts to free dozens of Iranian pilgrims and aid workers captured recently in Syria and Libya. "I would like to seek the cooperation and the good offices of Your Excellency for securing the release of these hostages," Ali Akbar Salehi wrote to Ban in a letter that Iran's U.N. mission provided to Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
Iran's foreign minister in Turkey to seek help in Syria
Tue,7 Aug 2012 05:28 PM PDT
Reuters - ANKARA (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister flew to Turkey on Tuesday seeking to mend a relationship sorely strained by the Syrian uprising and to secure Turkish help for dozens of kidnapped Iranians. "Turkey has its links with the opposition in Syria. So we think Turkey can play a major role in freeing our pilgrims," Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters as he arrived in Ankara. A busload of 48 Iranians was seized in Syria on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
Clinton warns against sectarian turmoil in Syria
Tue,7 Aug 2012 05:28 PM PDT
Reuters - PRETORIA (Reuters) - Syria must not be allowed to descend into a sectarian war, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday, and she warned against "proxies or terrorist fighters" being sent in to join the conflict. "We have to set very clear expectations about avoiding sectarian warfare," Clinton said, answering a question on Syria during a news conference in the South African capital Pretoria, her latest stop in a tour of Africa. ... Full Story | Top |
Standard Chartered questions New York action
Tue,7 Aug 2012 04:50 PM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - A New York bank regulator's broadside against Standard Chartered Plc over transactions tied to Iran left investors and the bank questioning the action, which on Tuesday wiped $17 billion off the bank's value. The White House signaled its strong interest in the case, saying the U.S. government takes alleged violations of economic sanctions "extremely seriously." London-based Standard Chartered said it has been in talks with U.S. authorities over its Iran transactions since early 2010 and said the public accusations by New York came as a shock. ...
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Sikh shooting puts "white power music" under scrutiny
Tue,7 Aug 2012 04:38 PM PDT
Reuters -  OAK CREEK, Wisconsin (Reuters) - The killings of six worshippers at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin has thrust attention on white power music, a thrashing, punk-metal genre that sees the white race under siege. It was a movement fully embraced by shooter Wade Michael Page. With a shaved head and tattoos, Page played guitar and sang for a number of white power bands with names like End Apathy and Definite Hate, espousing views on albums such as "Violent Victory" and encouraging others to act through his Internet postings. ...
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Armed men attack checkpoint in Egypt's Sinai
Tue,7 Aug 2012 04:08 PM PDT
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Armed men opened fire on a security checkpoint on Wednesday in Egypt's Al-Arish city in the Sinai peninsula, state media said, four days after 16 border guards were shot dead in an attack blamed partly on Palestinian militants. Exchanges of gunfire continued late into the night but there were no immediate reports of injuries, Egypt's MENA state news agency said. "Unknown armed men opened fire on a checkpoint on the main road between Al-Arish and Rafah (a city located at the border between Egypt and Israel)," MENA said in a report also carried on Egyptian state television. ... Full Story | Top |
Assad gets Iran backing as forces squeeze Aleppo rebels
Tue,7 Aug 2012 04:07 PM PDT
Reuters -  ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - Iran has offered support to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad as his forces tried to choke off rebels in the northern city of Aleppo. Seeking to restore his authority after suffering the gravest setbacks so far in the 17-month-old uprising, culminating in the defection of his prime minister on Monday, Assad was shown on television on Tuesday meeting a senior official from his key regional ally. ...
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U.S. asks Bangladesh not to shut down humanitarian groups
Tue,7 Aug 2012 04:06 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday called on Bangladesh to allow non-governmental organizations to continue providing aid to members of a minority group who have fled to Bangladesh to get away from violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state. "The United States is deeply concerned by the Government of Bangladesh's stated intent to shut down non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have been providing critical humanitarian aid to Rohingya residing in Bangladesh," U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement. ...
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U.S. rules denting Congo rebels' mineral profits: study
Tue,7 Aug 2012 04:01 PM PDT
Reuters -  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.S. law and an electronics industry code governing the use of conflict minerals have slashed profits among armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo by 65 percent in the past two years, a report by a nonprofit rights group found on Tuesday. But the Enough Project - an arm of the Center for American Progress that combats genocide and crimes against humanity - also warned that months of unrest in Congo's volatile east is hampering progress made in curbing the conflict minerals trade. ...
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Mali mediator tells rebels to cut "terrorist" ties
Tue,7 Aug 2012 03:55 PM PDT
Reuters -  OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - The lead mediator in regional efforts to end unrest in Mali told rebels there that they had to cut ties to "terrorist movements" like al Qaeda before any peace talks could begin, when he traveled to the rebel-held north for the first time on Tuesday. Islamist militant groups control about two-thirds of Mali after hijacking a secular rebellion by Tuareg nationalists earlier this year. They were able to rapidly seize territory in the north in the wake of a March 22 military coup in the southern capital Bamako that toppled President Amadou Toumani Toure. ...
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Ernesto becomes a hurricane before landfall in Mexico
Tue,7 Aug 2012 02:43 PM PDT
Reuters - CANCUN/CHETUMAL, Mexico (Reuters) - Ernesto strengthened into a hurricane on Tuesday just hours before it was predicted to make landfall on the southern part of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, home to popular tourist destinations. Ernesto had top sustained winds of 80 miles per hour and was located 140 miles east of Chetumal, Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its 5:00 p.m. EDT advisory. ... Full Story | Top |
"Shocking" pressure on top Romania court: Council of Europe
Tue,7 Aug 2012 02:16 PM PDT
Reuters -  BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's Constitutional Court is under "shocking" political pressure ahead of its ruling on the validity of a referendum to impeach the president and has appealed to the Council of Europe for protection, a council official said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Victor Ponta's leftist Social Liberal Union (USL) is trying to oust suspended President Traian Basescu. Ponta accuses Basescu of abusing his position to block government legislation, but the European Union regards some of the government's tactics as undermining democracy. ...
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Generators whirring, India's factories shrug off blackouts
Tue,7 Aug 2012 02:07 PM PDT
Reuters -  BHIWADI, India (Reuters) - A siren rang out in the cable factory in northern India when there was a power blackout in half the country last week, but its computer screens didn't even blink as $180,000 worth of batteries seamlessly took over the machines winding the thick coils on the shop floor. A few moments later, in a back room of the cavernous plant in the scruffy Bhiwadi industrial park near New Delhi, mechanic Gaurav Bhatia fired up a shipping container-sized diesel generator that ensured continued electricity. ...
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As China prepares for Gu's trial, rule of law also in the dock
Tue,7 Aug 2012 02:02 PM PDT
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - China holds its most sensational trial this week since convicting the Gang of Four over 30 years ago, putting Gu Kailai, the wife of deposed leader Bo Xilai, in the dock for murder. It took two months for the widow of Chairman Mao Zedong and three other ultra-leftist leaders to be found guilty of excesses in the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution after a show trial. Gu, a career lawyer who has championed China's swift, unblinking justice system, is likely to be dealt with even sooner. ...
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Job openings at 4-year high in June but hiring slows
Tue,7 Aug 2012 12:56 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. job openings rose to a four-year high in June, but a slowdown in hiring underscored recent weakness in the labor market that has been blamed on an uncertain economic outlook. Job openings rose by 105,000 to 3.76 million in June, the highest since July 2008, the Labor Department said on Tuesday in its monthly "Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey" report. But hires fell by 100,000 from May. ...
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Chesapeake swears off big spending; shares jump
Tue,7 Aug 2012 12:10 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp, bowing to investor pressure, said on Tuesday it plans to stop spending heavily on oil and gas properties next year in a strategic shift from land acquisition to resource development. That news, plus assurances that the company will close a big deal for 1.5 million acres in West Texas, helped push the company's shares up 9 percent. ...
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Disinformation flies in Syria's growing cyber war
Tue,7 Aug 2012 11:11 AM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - On Sunday, it was a hijacked Reuters Twitter feed trying to create the impression of a rebel collapse in Aleppo. On Monday, it was another account purporting to be a Russian diplomat announcing the death in Damascus of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. As the situation on the ground becomes ever more bloody, both sides in Syria are also waging what seems to be an intensifying conflict in cyberspace, often attempting to use misinformation and rumor to tilt the war in reality. On Friday, Reuters was forced to temporarily shut down its system for posting blogs on www.Reuters. ...
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Monsoon rains swamp Philippine capital, markets shut
Tue,7 Aug 2012 11:08 AM PDT
Reuters - MANILA (Reuters) - Deadly torrential rains submerged much of the Philippine capital and surrounding areas on Tuesday, forcing nearly 270,000 people to flee their homes with more flooding expected in the north of the country as a tropical storm passes through the region, officials said. Steady rains for the past 10 days, killing more than 50 people, are set to continue until Wednesday, the Philippines weather bureau said, fuelled by tropical storm "Haikui" in the Philippine Sea northeast of Taiwan. ...
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Italy's Monti apologizes to Berlusconi over debt comment
Tue,7 Aug 2012 10:28 AM PDT
Reuters -  ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti apologized on Tuesday for suggesting the risk premium on Italian government debt would be much higher than it is if his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi were still in power. Monti had said the difference between the yield on the country's benchmark bonds and safe-haven German Bunds, measuring the premium investors demand to hold riskier assets, would be "1,200 points" if the media magnate were still in office. ...
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Clinton urges end to Congo crisis as leaders meet
Tue,7 Aug 2012 10:22 AM PDT
Reuters - KAMPALA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Rwanda and Great Lakes neighbors on Tuesday to stop supporting Congolese rebels as regional leaders met in Uganda to discuss ways to end the insurgency in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Clinton's call, made in South Africa during her latest stop on an African tour, maintained international pressure on Rwanda and Uganda to withdraw any backing for the Tutsi-led M23 rebels, whose advances have thrown the volatile, ethnically-mixed east of Congo back into conflict, displacing thousands of civilians. ... Full Story | Top |
South Sudan to restart oil wells in September, full output in a year
Tue,7 Aug 2012 10:09 AM PDT
Reuters - JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan hopes to resume oil production in September after reaching an interim agreement with Sudan on oil export fees, but it may take a year to return to full capacity, its top negotiator said on Tuesday. The two countries agreed on Friday on how much South Sudan should pay to export its oil through northern pipelines, ending a dispute that led to the shutdown in January of South Sudan's output of 350,000 barrels per day. ... Full Story | Top |
Yemen restructures army, cuts powers of ex-leader's son
Tue,7 Aug 2012 10:00 AM PDT
Reuters - SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen's president ordered the restructuring of some military units on Monday, aiming to curb the powers of a son of former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh and stabilize a country where Saleh's legacy still looms large. State-owned news agency Saba said late on Monday that President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi issued decrees transferring the command of some Republican Guards units to a newly formed force called the Presidential Protective Forces under his authority. ... Full Story | Top |
Ex-bin Laden bodyguard on German police watch list
Tue,7 Aug 2012 09:47 AM PDT
Reuters - BERLIN (Reuters) - A suspected ex-bodyguard for Osama bin Laden has been living in Germany for eight years and spreading radical views but attempts to deport him have stumbled on his marriage to a German citizen, German authorities said on Tuesday. They said the man, named only as Sami A., 36, had recruited young Muslims in the city of Bochum for "holy war" after spending time in Afghanistan and Pakistan before the September 11, 2001 attacks. Bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader, was killed in a U.S. commando raid on his Pakistan hideout last year. "We know that Sami A. ... Full Story | Top |
Bosnia Serbs threaten EU block on foreign minister
Tue,7 Aug 2012 09:23 AM PDT
Reuters - BANJA LUKA, Bosnia (Reuters) - Bosnian Serbs threatened on Tuesday to block their country's already slow progress towards European Union membership unless the foreign minister resigns in a dispute over constitutional procedures. The Bosnian Serbs claim that Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija instructed Bosnia's representatives at the United Nations to support a resolution on Syria without first obtaining prior consent of Bosnia's tripartite presidency. ... Full Story | Top |
Russian prosecutor seeks jail terms for female punk rock band
Tue,7 Aug 2012 09:22 AM PDT
Reuters -  MOSCOW (Reuters) - A state prosecutor on Tuesday demanded a three-year jail term for three women from punk band Pussy Riot, saying they had abused God when they burst into a Moscow cathedral and sang a "protest prayer" against the Russian Orthodox Church's close links to Vladimir Putin. The protest performed on the cathedral altar, which led to the three being charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, outraged many Russian Orthodox believers. ...
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Ebbing Pirates Party could be shipwreck for Merkel
Tue,7 Aug 2012 08:57 AM PDT
Reuters - BERLIN (Reuters) - Shrinking support for the Pirates, an upstart German party whose shock success in four state elections thrust it into the national limelight, could hurt Chancellor Angela Merkel's re-election chances next year, recent opinion polls show. Voters initially attracted by the party's anti-establishment aura are being put off by its foggy stance on major issues and are drifting back to left-leaning parties. ... Full Story | Top |
In Aleppo, Syrian rebels show signs of strain
Tue,7 Aug 2012 08:39 AM PDT
Reuters - ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - Syrian rebels trying to fight off an army offensive in Aleppo said on Tuesday they were running low on bullets as President Bashar al-Assad's forces encircled their stronghold at the southern entrance to the country's biggest city. "We don't have enough ammunition to send to the front line," said Abu Jamil, a rebel fighter and part of the opposition force trying to defend positions in a city whose fate could shape the course of the uprising against Assad's rule. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. targets Mexican drug lord's Belize associates
Tue,7 Aug 2012 08:23 AM PDT
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday targeted three Belize-based associates of Mexico's most-wanted man, cocaine king Joaquin Guzman, by freezing their U.S. assets as well as those of five of his companies including a banana farm, grocery store and marina. The U.S. Treasury accused John Zabaneh, his nephew Dion Zabaneh and Daniel Moreno of being key associates of Guzman, who is the head of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel. Americans and U.S. companies are now prohibited from doing business with the three Belize men and the five companies controlled by Zabaneh and Moreno. ... Full Story | Top |
Iran says alliance with Syria will not be broken
Tue,7 Aug 2012 08:06 AM PDT
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iran assured President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday that Syria was a vital partner in its regional anti-Israeli alliance, a bond that would not be broken by a rebellion it said was backed by the two countries' common enemies. "Iran will not allow the axis of resistance, of which it considers Syria to be an essential part, to be broken in any way," Syrian state television quoted Saeed Jalili, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, as telling Assad. Jalili's meeting with Assad, shown on Syrian TV, was the first broadcast footage of the president in two weeks. ...
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Turkey condemns Iranian accusations over Syria
Tue,7 Aug 2012 08:01 AM PDT
Reuters - ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday condemned comments by an Iranian official blaming Ankara for the bloodshed in Syria and warning Turkey it would be next, as unacceptable and inappropriate, and urged Iran to honor its ties as neighbors. "It is unacceptable and irresponsible that Iranian officials in various posts continue to target our country through their statements, although Turkey's principled foreign policy is known to everyone," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
Afghan defense minister quits, hands Karzai a security headache
Tue,7 Aug 2012 07:39 AM PDT
Reuters -  KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak resigned on Tuesday after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament, leaving President Hamid Karzai scrambling to find a replacement for one of his top security tsars as insurgent attacks mount. Wardak, in charge of the army and one of the country's two key security ministers, told reporters he accepted parliament's decision, which has clouded NATO plans to hand security responsibilities to Afghan forces before the end of 2014. ...
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Mars rover landing "miracle of engineering," scientists say
Tue,7 Aug 2012 07:32 AM PDT
Reuters -  PASADENA, California (Reuters) - NASA scientists hailed the Mars rover Curiosity's flawless descent and landing as a "miracle of engineering" on Monday as they scanned early images of an ancient crater that may hold clues about whether life took hold on Earth's planetary cousin. The one-ton, six-wheeled laboratory nailed an intricate and risky touchdown late on Sunday, much to the relief and joy of scientists and engineers eager to conduct NASA's first astrobiology mission since the 1970s Viking probes. ...
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Uganda deploys air force to pursue militants in Somalia
Tue,7 Aug 2012 07:31 AM PDT
Reuters - KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda's military, which forms the backbone of the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, has deployed an air force contingent to reinforce troops who hope to retake a city from al Qaeda-linked militants before the government's mandate expires. A combined force in Somalia is planning an onslaught on Kismayu, Somalia's second biggest city which is a hub for the al Shabaab Islamist militants, before August 20. ... Full Story | Top |
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