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| Egyptian court could free Mubarak as crisis deepens Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:08 PM PDT  By Lin Noueihed and Alistair Lyon CAIRO (Reuters) - Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak could be freed from jail after a court reviews his case on Wednesday, potentially stirring more unrest in a country where army-backed authorities are hunting down his Muslim Brotherhood foes. The court will convene at the Cairo prison where Mubarak is being held, judicial sources said, and review a petition from his lawyer demanding the leader overthrown in a 2011 revolt be freed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan to issue gravest Fukushima nuclear warning in two years: agency Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 08:29 PM PDT  By Kentaro Hamada and James Topham TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will dramatically raise its warning about the severity of a toxic water leak at the Fukushima nuclear plant, its nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday, its most serious action since the plant was destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The deepening crisis at the Fukushima plant will be upgraded from a level 1 "anomaly" to a level three "serious incident" on an international scale for radiological releases, a spokesman for Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said. ... Full Story | Top |
| NSA surveillance covers 75 percent of U.S. Internet traffic: WSJ Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 08:49 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The National Security Agency's surveillance network has the capacity to reach around 75 percent of all U.S. Internet communications in the hunt for foreign intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Citing current and former NSA officials, the newspaper said the 75 percent coverage is more of Americans' Internet communications than officials have publicly disclosed. The Journal said the agency keeps the content of some emails sent between U.S. citizens and also filters domestic phone calls made over the Internet. ... Full Story | Top |
| China to give reporters live TV coverage of Bo trial: media Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 08:38 PM PDT  By John Ruwitch JINAN, China (Reuters) - The trial of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai will be televised live to reporters in eastern China, a Hong Kong-based broadcaster said, a landmark move by authorities to appear transparent as they put a lid on the country's biggest political scandal in decades. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain defends detention of journalist's partner Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 07:01 PM PDT  By Estelle Shirbon and Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - The British government, accused of abusing media freedom, said on Tuesday police were right to detain a journalist's partner if they thought lives might be at risk from data he was carrying from fugitive U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. ... Full Story | Top |
| The art of survival in China: how some of Bo's cronies cling on Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 09:16 PM PDT  By Ben Blanchard and Benjamin Kang Lim BEIJING (Reuters) - Three years ago, the mayor of China's sprawling southwestern city of Chongqing was asked to describe how well he got along with his then boss, the ambitious Communist Party leader Bo Xilai. "Like fish and water," the portly Huang Qifan told reporters on the sidelines of the annual full session of parliament, using a Chinese expression meaning an almost symbiotic relationship. "Everything is great, magnificent. The whole Communist Party secretariat works smoothly together with one mind. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel, Palestinians hold third round of peace talks Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:26 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israelis and Palestinians held a third round of negotiations on Tuesday, and Israel's chief representative at the talks predicted the U.S.-brokered peace process would lead to dramatic Israeli decisions. Tzipi Livni coupled her forecast with acknowledgement that at least one partner in Israel's right-wing coalition opposed the goal set by Washington to create a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. Livni, speaking on Israel Radio before talks convened in Jerusalem, said "there will be dramatic decisions" by Israel at the end of the negotiating process. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. takes tougher line with Egypt but denies aid cut Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:54 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday adopted a harder line toward Egypt's military-backed government, stressing that its bloody crackdown on protesters could influence U.S. aid to Cairo but denying reports that it has suspended the assistance. The army's clampdown on supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi over the past week, the "suspicious deaths" of 37 prisoners in custody and the detention of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie on Tuesday have worsened relations between Washington and Egypt's new rulers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspect arrested after shooting at Atlanta-area school; no injuries Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 05:28 PM PDT  By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) - Police arrested a 20-year-old man on Tuesday for opening fire with an AK-47 inside an elementary school in the Atlanta suburbs, forcing the evacuation of 800 students who were all reunited with their parents without injury, officials said. Authorities believe the shooter gained access to the school in Decatur, Georgia, by slipping in behind someone who had access to the building's locked doors, said DeKalb County Police Department spokeswoman Mekka Parish. ... Full Story | Top |
| Army judge to sentence WikiLeaks' Manning on Wednesday Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 09:53 AM PDT  By Medina Roshan FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - Bradley Manning, the soldier convicted of giving classified U.S. files to WikiLeaks, will be told at 10 a.m. EDT on Wednesday how much of his life will be spent in a military prison, a U.S. Army spokesman said on Tuesday. The judge, Colonel Denise Lind, began deliberating Manning's sentence on Tuesday and later told the court that sentencing would take place at 10 a.m., the spokesman said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dolphins football legends reap White House praise 40 years late Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:06 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - They clambered gingerly up the riser behind President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House, white-haired, bespectacled, their coach in a motorized chair, former athletes there to receive an accolade 40 years late. Members of the Miami Dolphins, whose undefeated 1972 season culminated in a Super Bowl victory in January, 1973, stood smiling behind the president on Tuesday, blinking in the TV lights and basking in the applause of the crowd and the praise of the First Sports Fan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghans at court-martial describe pain from massacre by U.S. soldier Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 06:47 PM PDT  By Jonathan Kaminsky TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - An Afghan teenager who survived a rampage by a U.S. soldier who killed 16 unarmed civilians last year testified on Tuesday about the pain of losing his grandmother, at the start of a sentencing trial for the man behind the carnage. The teenager, who was shot in the legs and whose sister was also seriously wounded and now suffers nightmares, was among a group of Afghan victims of the violence flown to the United States to testify on the impact of the killings. ... Full Story | Top |
| Erdogan angers U.S., Israel, Egypt with Mursi defense Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 02:25 PM PDT  By Ayla Jean Yackley ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan angered Ankara's U.S. ally, as well as regional leaders in Egypt and Israel, by accusing Israel on Tuesday of helping overthrow Cairo's Islamist president. The White House called the remarks "offensive". Erdogan, who has become one of the fiercest critics of the Egyptian army's removal of Mohamed Mursi, told members of his Islamist-rooted AK Party that he had proof that Israel was involved in last month's ouster, which has been followed by a bloody crackdown on the elected president's Muslim Brotherhood. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain defends detention of journalist's partner Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 03:28 PM PDT  By Estelle Shirbon and Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - The British government, accused of abusing media freedom, said on Tuesday police were right to detain a journalist's partner if they thought lives might be at risk from data he was carrying from fugitive U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Peter Chou - Is he HTC’s savior or obstacle to revival? Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 02:09 PM PDT  By Jeremy Wagstaff and Clare Jim SINGAPORE/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Now in his tenth year as CEO of HTC Corp, Peter Chou is lauded as the architect of the Taiwanese firm's award-winning smartphones. But as the company's fortunes have dived, some insiders say he's now an obstacle to any revival. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jury selected for sentencing of U.S. soldier in Afghan massacre Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 12:56 PM PDT  By Jonathan Kaminsky TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - A jury of six military personnel was impaneled on Tuesday for the sentencing of a decorated U.S. soldier who pleaded guilty in June to killing 16 Afghan civilians in two nighttime forays from his Army post last year, an Army spokeswoman said. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, a veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, has admitted to gunning down the villagers, mostly women and children, in attacks on their family compounds in Kandahar province in March 2012. In exchange for his guilty plea, Bales will be spared the death ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspect arrested after shooting at Atlanta-area school; no injuries Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:58 PM PDT By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) - Police arrested a 19-year-old man on Tuesday for opening fire with an AK-47 inside an elementary school in the Atlanta suburbs, forcing the evacuation of 800 students who were all reunited with their parents without injury, officials said. Authorities have not identified the suspect, but believe he gained access to the school in Decatur, Georgia, by slipping in behind someone who had access to the building's locked doors, said DeKalb County Police Department spokeswoman Mekka Parish. ... Full Story | Top |
| Assad's forces counter rebel gains in Syria's Deir al-Zor Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 10:02 AM PDT  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces attacked rebel positions in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Tuesday, days after a rebel advance threatened to bring the whole city under the control of anti-Assad forces, opposition activists said. The provincial capital on the banks of the Euphrates, 430 km (270 miles) northeast of Damascus, anchors a vast, arid oil-producing region bordering Iraq. Half of it fell to rebels a year ago but Assad's forces have held out in several districts in the west of the Sunni Muslim city and in the airport to the east. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senator Cruz may have to wait eight months to stop being Canadian Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 02:55 PM PDT  By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, who says he recently discovered he is likely a Canadian, must win security clearance from Canada's spy agency, fill out a four-page form and then wait up to eight months to sever his ties to America's northern neighbor. Cruz, a Texas Republican who has fueled speculation that he may run for president in 2016, was born in Canada, which automatically makes him a citizen. On Monday he offered to renounce that citizenship. "Nothing against Canada, but I'm an American by birth and as a U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Explosion rocks naval base in New Jersey Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 10:12 AM PDT  By Victoria Cavaliere (Reuters) - Eight people were injured, one of them seriously, after an explosion and fire struck a U.S. Navy ammunitions depot near the New Jersey shore on Tuesday, Navy officials said. Fire trucks, ambulances and a medical emergency helicopter rushed to Naval Weapons Station Earle, located near Colts Neck Township, about 45 miles from Manhattan. The cause of the explosion at a Marine boat repair shop at about 9 a.m. EDT was being investigated. "The damage from the explosion was contained within the boathouse area. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel will make 'dramatic decisions' for peace, negotiator says Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 09:19 AM PDT  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians will result in dramatic Israeli decisions, the chief Israeli negotiator predicted on Tuesday. Tzipi Livni coupled her forecast with acknowledgement that at least one partner in Israel's right-wing coalition opposed the goal set by the United States, which is brokering the talks, to create a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama lauds Mali for 'credible' elections a year after coup Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 09:12 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday congratulated Mali on holding "peaceful, inclusive and credible" elections earlier this month, a key step toward resuming aid to the war-torn West African nation. The United States suspended aid to Mali in April 2012, following a coup that was prompted by an uprising by Islamists and Tuareg separatists. Mali's constitutional Court on Tuesday confirmed Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won Mali's presidential election with 78 percent of the vote. Keita is expected to be sworn in by Mali's supreme court on September 4. ... Full Story | Top |
| Red Cross chief in North Korea to discuss separated families Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 10:19 AM PDT  GENEVA (Reuters) - The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday to discuss the reunification of families on the divided Korean peninsula and other humanitarian issues, the agency said. North Korea said on Sunday it had accepted a South Korean offer to hold talks on resuming reunions of families separated by the Korean War, three days after an overture by South Korean President Park Geun-hye. North Korea and South Korea are technically still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian police kill nine suspected militants in North Caucasus Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 08:27 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police on Tuesday killed nine suspected Islamist militants including the leader of a group behind the killing of a religious leader in the volatile North Caucasus region, Russia's counterterrorism agency said. The Kremlin is fighting to staunch an Islamist insurgency that has spread across the North Caucasus, near where Russia plans to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics in February. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian Kurds' flight drags Iraq deeper into neighbor's war Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 09:51 AM PDT  By Murad Talaat PESHKHABOUR, Iraq (Reuters) - Mahmoud Qarou packed his bags two days ago, joining tens of thousands of Syrian refugees escaping into northern Iraq, convinced that the two-year conflict could only get worse. About 35,000 Syrian refugees have poured into neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan over a new border crossing since Thursday, fleeing a surge in attacks by al Qaeda-linked Sunni Arab rebel group al-Nusra Front on Kurdish villages near the border. "There is no peaceful solution in Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Prosecution rests in Fort Hood shooting rampage court-martial Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 12:44 PM PDT  By Karen Brooks FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - Military prosecutors rested their case on Tuesday in the capital murder court-martial of an Army psychiatrist accused of opening fire on unarmed soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009, killing 13 and wounding more than 30. Major Nidal Hasan, an American-born Muslim, has admitted in court to gunning down soldiers at a medical complex at the sprawling military base in central Texas, saying he switched sides in what he considered a U.S. war against Islam. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraqi Kurdistan sets quota for Syria refugees: aid groups Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 05:57 AM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The government of Iraqi Kurdistan has put in place an entry quota of 3,000 refugees a day to cope with an influx of Kurds fleeing the civil war in Syria, aid agencies said on Tuesday. About 30,000 refugees, believed to be mainly Syrian Kurds, have poured into Iraq since Thursday, and up to 3,000 were lined up to cross on Tuesday, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said. Fleeing bombardments and sectarian tensions in parts of northern Syria including Aleppo and Efrin, they arrive exhausted, with many children dehydrated from walking in the scorching heat. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan's Musharraf charged with murder of Benazir Bhutto Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 02:09 AM PDT  By Syed Raza Hassan RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - A court in Pakistan charged former military dictator Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday with the 2007 murder of Benazir Bhutto in an unprecedented move likely to anger the all-powerful army. The indictment of the army chief who seized power in a 1999 coup - once Pakistan's most powerful man - was almost an unthinkable event in a nuclear-armed country ruled by the military for half of its 66-year history. ... Full Story | Top |
| Czech left says may form next government with Communist support Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 09:09 AM PDT  By Robert Muller PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech Republic's next government could be dependent on the support of the Communist party for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the likely next prime minister said on Tuesday. The central European country has been mired in a political stalemate since its center-right cabinet collapsed in June in a graft scandal. Parliament is to vote on Tuesday on dissolving itself, which would trigger an early election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bangladesh charges U.S.-based rights group with contempt Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:19 AM PDT  DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh prosecutors on Tuesday charged Human Right Watch with contempt of court after the New York-based rights group criticized the conviction of a top Islamist politician on war crimes charges. But it was not immediately clear what the move will mean, as Human Rights Watch does not have a resident representative in Bangladesh to stand accused. Ghulam Azam, 91, the former head of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was jailed for 90 years last month for masterminding crimes against humanity, genocide and other offences during the country's 1971 war of independence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Accused Boston bomber had multiple wounds, fracture: court papers Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:30 AM PDT  By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - Accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was badly injured when taken into custody by federal agents in April, with multiple gunshot wounds, including one that had fractured his skull, according to unsealed court papers. A trauma surgeon detailed the suspect's condition in a hearing the day the Chechen immigrant, who was lying in a Boston hospital bed, was first charged over the bombing attacks that killed three people and wounded about 264. ... Full Story | Top |
| Partner of Snowden reporter Greenwald begins legal action over UK detention Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 07:04 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - David Miranda, the partner of a journalist who has written reports based on leaks by Edward Snowden, has begun legal action to stop the British authorities inspecting data they seized from him, his lawyer said on Tuesday. Miranda's lawyer Gwendolen Morgan said her client was seeking a judicial review of the legal basis for his detention at London's Heathrow airport on Sunday under anti-terrorism laws and wanted assurances from the authorities that property seized from him would not be examined before this. ... Full Story | Top |
| Home Depot reaps benefits from U.S. housing rebound Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 10:39 AM PDT  By Dhanya Skariachan (Reuters) - A recovery in the U.S. housing market helped boost Home Depot Inc's quarterly profit and sales above analysts' estimates, prompting the world's largest home improvement chain to raise its outlook for the fiscal year. The U.S. retailer also reported its first double-digit rise since 1999 in sales at stores open at least a year and had the highest quarterly transaction count in its history, Chief Executive Officer Frank Blake said on Tuesday. Sales were strong across the country, Blake added. The news, which came just days after data showed that U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cornered Hamas looks back at Iran, Hezbollah Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:24 AM PDT  By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Stunned by turmoil in neighboring Egypt and starved of funds, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas is looking to repair damaged ties with its traditional Middle East allies, Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah party. An off-shoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas celebrated when the Sunni movement's Mohamed Mursi was elected president of Egypt in 2012, believing the vote would boost its own international standing and its grip on the isolated Gaza Strip. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain rejects Spanish request for Gibraltar talks Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:08 AM PDT  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Britain rejected a Spanish proposal to hold one-on-one talks over the sovereignty of the contested British overseas territory of Gibraltar on Tuesday after Spain issued an appeal for such negotiations to be held "as soon as possible". Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo made the appeal in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, but a spokeswoman from British Prime Minister David Cameron's office said London would not enter into any talks on the subject. ... Full Story | Top |
| Divisive trial in China may start early, with secret session Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 02:54 AM PDT  By Benjamin Kang Lim and Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - One of the charges against disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai relates to his flouting the authority of central leaders in Beijing, sources said, an allegation so sensitive that his trial could start one day sooner to hear it in secret. The charge is abuse of power, and the accusation is that Bo challenged and ignored the will and rules of the ruling Communist Party, the sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Horror of North Korean prison camps exposed at U.N. panel hearing Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 03:57 AM PDT  By Ju-min Park and Michelle Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - Public executions and torture are daily occurrences in North Korea's prisons, according to dramatic testimony from former inmates at a U.N. Commission of Inquiry that opened in South Korea's capital on Tuesday. This is the first time that the North's human rights record has been examined by an expert panel, although the North, now ruled by a third generation of the founding Kim family, denies that it abuses human rights. It refuses to recognize the commission and has denied access to investigators. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain defends detention of Snowden writer's partner Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:03 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Tuesday defended the detention under anti-terrorism powers of the partner of a journalist who has written about U.S. and British surveillance programs based on leaks by Edward Snowden, saying it had a duty "to protect the public". David Miranda, partner of U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald, was questioned for nine hours on Sunday at London's Heathrow Airport before being released without charge, prompting calls for an explanation of why anti-terrorism powers were used to detain the Brazilian citizen. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraq's Kurdistan region sets quota for Syrian refugees: aid agencies Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 03:33 AM PDT  GENEVA (Reuters) - Syrian refugees continue to stream over the border into northern Iraq, where the Kurdistan regional government has put in place a daily quota of 3,000, aid agencies said on Tuesday. About 30,000 refugees, believed to be mainly Syrian Kurds, have poured into Iraq since Thursday, and up to 3,000 are lined up to cross on Tuesday, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said. "The Kurdistan regional government authorities have put a daily quota for those refugees who will be allowed in. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran's president still undecided on his nuclear negotiator Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 03:19 AM PDT  By Jon Hemming DUBAI (Reuters) - President Hassan Rouhani is still deciding who will lead talks with world powers on Iran's nuclear program, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, more than two months after the moderate cleric was elected. Rouhani has signaled that Iran is willing to be more transparent over the program and take a less confrontational stance in negotiations with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany, the so-called P5+1. ... Full Story | Top |
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