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| Palestinian group says no casualties in Israeli strike: TV Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 09:13 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Palestinian militant group in Lebanon said one of its bases south of Beirut was hit by an Israeli rocket on Friday, but said it caused no injuries or significant damage, Lebanon's Al-Manar Television reported. The station quoted a spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command as saying the group's base in Na'ameh was attacked. The spokesman said the PFLP-GC was surprised it was targeted because the earlier rocket fire was claimed by a separate al Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim group. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N.'s Ban pushes Syria to allow for chemical attack probe Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 09:09 PM PDT  By Erika Solomon and Jack Kim BEIRUT/SEOUL (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday renewed his push for Syria to allow U.N. inspectors immediate access to investigate allegations that the government carried out a deadly chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus. "I can think of no good reason why any party, either government or opposition forces - would decline this opportunity to get to the truth of the matter," the U.N. chief told a diplomatic forum in Seoul. Syria's government has offered no public response to U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Number of children who have fled Syria reaches a million, says U.N. Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 09:01 PM PDT  GENEVA (Reuters) - The number of Syrian children forced to flee their devastated homeland will on Friday reach a million, half of all the refugees driven abroad by the conflict, the United Nations said. Another two million Syrian minors are uprooted within their country and are often attacked or recruited as fighters in violation of humanitarian law, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR and U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) said. "The youth of Syria are losing their homes, their family members and their futures. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel says bombed Lebanon in retaliation for rocket attack Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 08:01 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's air force bombed a militant target in Lebanon on Friday in retaliation for a cross-border rocket salvo on Thursday, a spokesman said. An Israeli military source said the "terror site" bombed was near Na'ameh, between Beirut and Sidon, but did not immediately provide further details. Four rockets fired on Thursday caused damage but no casualties in northern Israel. They were claimed by an al Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim group rather than Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite militia that holds sway in south Lebanon. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. arrests man from Sierra Leone in Iran uranium sting Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 07:04 PM PDT MIAMI (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors charged a man from Sierra Leone with trying to sell undercover agents 1,000 tons of yellowcake uranium he thought would be shipped to Iran, after he was arrested in New York with a sample of the toxic material hidden in his luggage. Patrick Campbell, 33, of Freetown, was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday after he arrived from Sierra Leone with the sample of uranium concealed in the soles of shoes in his luggage, according to a criminal complaint filed in a Florida federal court on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. peacekeepers in Congo ordered to protect civilians after city shelled Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 07:01 PM PDT  By Kenny Katombe GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. mission in Congo on Thursday ordered peacekeeping troops to act to protect civilians after shelling hit the city of Goma in renewed fighting between the army and M23 rebels. The fighting close to Goma, a city of a million people on the Rwandan border, comes after a relative lull in the 18-month rebellion. Late last month, the United Nations pledged to keep the M23 rebels out of range of the town, which they briefly seized last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: In small American town, a window into Egyptian general's past Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 06:21 PM PDT  By Phil Stewart CARLISLE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Unlike today's ubiquitous images of General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in crisp uniform decorated with medals, the U.S. Army War College yearbook shows the officer who would one day seize power in Egypt smiling at a party in a small Pennsylvania town, looking relaxed in a yellow polo shirt. There is a picture of Sisi visiting a U.S. Civil War battleground and another of his family taken at a Halloween party they attended, with his wife and daughter grinning next to a woman dressed like the Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bo's other son thanks China for allowing father to speak freely: report Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 05:29 PM PDT  JINAN, China (Reuters) - The elder son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai has thanked authorities for allowing his father "to speak his true mind" at his trial and said Bo has stood by his ideas despite an investigation that lasted 500 days, the New York Times said. Bo put up a feisty defense on Thursday at the start of China's most political trial in decades, saying he was framed in bribery charges against him and had admitted to them under psychological pressure during interrogation. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., Russian diplomats to meet next Wednesday to discuss Syria Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 04:39 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior U.S. and Russian diplomats will meet in The Hague next Wednesday to discuss ending Syria's two-year civil war, the State Department said on Thursday, in what would be the first such meeting since reports of a deadly chemical attack outside the capital, Damascus. While the meeting was previously announced, a date was never released. The delegations will include State Department Undersecretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, and Russian deputy foreign ministers Gennady Gatilov and Mikhail Bogdanov, the State Department ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia's Santos seeks referendum to pave way for peace deal Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 04:09 PM PDT  BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he will send a bill to Congress seeking to hold a referendum on a hoped-for peace deal with the Marxist FARC group on the same day as national elections, a sign that he sees an agreed end to the conflict within months. The government and the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, have been in peace talks hosted by Cuba since last November aiming to end the conflict which has killed more than 200,000 since it began five decades ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. presses Syria to allow gas attack inspection Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 03:53 PM PDT  By Erika Solomon and John Irish BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) - The United Nations demanded Syria give its chemical weapons experts immediate access on Thursday to rebel-held Damascus suburbs where poison gas appears to have killed hundreds just a few miles from the U.N. team's hotel. There was no sign, however, that scientists would soon be taking samples at the scene of horrors that have drawn comparison with the gassing of thousands of Iraqi Kurds at Halabja in 1988. The administration of President Barack Obama said it was "appalled" by the death reports. A U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia's farm protest has been infiltrated by FARC, government says Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 03:25 PM PDT  By Helen Murphy BOGOTA (Reuters) - A protest by thousands of Colombian farmers and truckers, which has blocked roads nationwide and become increasingly violent, has been infiltrated by Marxist FARC rebels, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said on Thursday. Clashes between police and agricultural workers became violent this week as authorities sought to remove dozens of roadblocks that have snarled travel on Colombia's highways and prevented produce getting to market. ... Full Story | Top |
| Crashing markets spell trouble for India's privatization plans Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 02:49 PM PDT  By Manoj Kumar and Rajesh Kumar Singh NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The collapse of the rupee is derailing India's hopes of raising more than $6 billion from the sale of stakes in state-run firms, jeopardizing a key plank of Finance Minister P.Chidambaram's blueprint to reverse the country's economic malaise. Investor confidence has evaporated amid fears over the rising cost of funding India's gaping current account deficit, prompting New Delhi to delay plans to raise much-needed funds through partial privatizations, finance ministry sources said. Hit by the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fear of new showdown on Egypt streets in 'Friday of martyrs' Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 02:35 PM PDT By Lin Noueihed and Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Supporters of Egypt's deposed president will stage a "Friday of martyrs" of mass protests, risking more potential bloodshed to show they can still claim the streets after a week in which hundreds were gunned down and their leaders jailed. Egyptians are enduring the bloodiest civil unrest of their modern history after the military overthrew Mohamed Mursi on July 3 following demonstrations against his rule. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rockets from Lebanon fired at northern Israel; no casualties Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 01:50 PM PDT By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A rare rocket barrage from Lebanon on Thursday deepened Israeli concern that al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants are opening a new front for confrontation with Israel. The Israeli military said four rockets were fired from southern Lebanon. Two struck Israeli communities without causing casualties, a third was intercepted by the "Iron Dome" missile shield and the fourth fell outside Israeli territory, it said. A U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| WikiLeaker Manning wants to live as 'Chelsea' Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 01:44 PM PDT  By Susan Heavey and Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier sentenced to 35 years in military prison for the biggest breach of classified documents in the nation's history, said on Thursday he is female and wants to live as a woman named Chelsea. Manning, 25, launched an unprecedented bid to get female hormone treatment in a military prison a day after he was sentenced for leaking documents to the WikiLeaks website. "As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says unable to conclusively determine chemical weapons used in Syria Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 12:33 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it was unable to conclusively say that chemical weapons were used in an alleged deadly gas attack near Damascus, and U.S. President Barack Obama has directed U.S. intelligence agencies to urgently help verify allegations. "At this time, right now, we are unable to conclusively determine CW (chemical weapons) use," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. "We are doing everything possible in our power to nail down the facts," she added. She said Obama had instructed the U.S. intelligence community to look into what ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenyan police warn of militant attacks in Mombasa over slain cleric Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 12:21 PM PDT By Joseph Akwiri MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Al Qaeda-linked militants may be planning attacks in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa to mark the anniversary of the assassination of a Muslim cleric, police said on Thursday. Mombasa, which is Kenya's second-largest city and lies on the Indian Ocean coast, is a magnet for tourists and a trade gateway to the east and central African region. ... Full Story | Top |
| France arrests Congolese general for alleged 1999 massacre Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 12:09 PM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - French authorities on Thursday arrested a Congolese general and put him under formal investigation for crimes against humanity over the 1999 disappearance of hundreds of refugees, a judicial source said. General Norbert Dabira was later set free but put under "strict judicial control", the source said. Human rights campaigners say soldiers loyal to President Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo tortured and then killed 350 refugees after they returned home from the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the other bank of the Congo river. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Clock ticks while experts kept away from Syria gassing site Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 12:05 PM PDT  By Anthony Deutsch and Peter Apps AMSTERDAM/LONDON (Reuters) - The longer chemical weapons inspectors wait in a Damascus luxury hotel for permission to drive up the road to the site of what appears to be the worst poison gas attack in a quarter century, the less likely they will be able to get to the bottom of it. The poisoning deaths of many hundreds of people took place only three days after a team of U.N. chemical weapons experts arrived in Syria. But their limited mandate means the inspectors have so far been powerless to go to the scene, a short drive from where they are staying. ... Full Story | Top |
| British police say seized Snowden-linked data could put lives at risk Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 12:03 PM PDT  By Costas Pitas LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Thursday that documents seized from the partner of a journalist, who has led coverage of Edward Snowden's leaks about U.S. and British electronic spying, were "highly sensitive" and, if disclosed, could put lives at risk. Counter-terrorism detectives said they had begun a criminal investigation following a preliminary examination of the material taken from David Miranda, partner of American journalist Glenn Greenwald, after he was held for nine hours at London's Heathrow Airport on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. imposes financial sanctions on four Hezbollah leaders Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 11:28 AM PDT By Anna Yukhananov WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday imposed financial sanctions on four men it said were leaders of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, accusing them of trying to spread terrorism in the Middle East, including Syria, Egypt and Yemen. The United States considers Hezbollah a terrorist group and has sought to convince allies to adopt the same label, in part by highlighting what it says are illegal or destabilizing actions carried out by the group beyond Lebanon's borders. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan army says India kills two soldiers in Kashmir, envoy summoned Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 11:20 AM PDT By Katharine Houreld ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Pakistani army said two of its soldiers were killed on Thursday in "unprovoked" Indian fire along the border dividing the disputed territory of Kashmir, and Islamabad summoned the Indian envoy to protest at the second such incident in two days. A series of clashes that began this month has undermined a push by Pakistan's new civilian government to improve ties with old rival India. Lodging a protest with the Indian envoy appeared to mark a diplomatic escalation, but Pakistani officials say they still hope to hold talks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Honduras to form new police force to battle Mexican drug cartels Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 11:14 AM PDT By Gustavo Palencia TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - The Honduran Congress approved on Thursday the creation of a new military-style police force, which is aimed at countering violence spawned by Mexican drug cartels that use the country to transport cocaine. The new security law approved a force that will comprise 5,000 officers and will also allow judges and prosecutors to process drug-trafficking cases electronically from outside the Central American country for their own safety. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. chief asks Syria to allow speedy chemical attack investigation Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 11:13 AM PDT  By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked the Syrian government on Thursday to allow U.N. inspectors to investigate the latest alleged chemical attack in the country's civil war "without delay" and grant them access to the site near Damascus. Ban has asked the U.N. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Angela Kane, to travel to Damascus to push for access for the U.N. team, which arrived in Syria on Sunday to investigate several previous claims of chemical weapons use. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bahrain opposition says will hold pro-democracy protest Friday Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 11:06 AM PDT MANAMA (Reuters) - Bahrain's main opposition will hold a day of pro-democracy protests on Friday despite a crackdown last week in which police used teargas and birdshot to disperse anti-government demonstrations. A statement issued by Bahrain's largest opposition group, the Islamist al Wefaq Society, said that protests would continue to be held until the Bahraini people's demands were met. "The demonstrations are to insist on a right that is clear and legitimate for the Bahraini people to move towards democratic transformation," the statement said on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Zimbabwe's Mugabe, 89, is sworn in and attacks 'vile' West Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 10:56 AM PDT  By Cris Chinaka and MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader at 89, began a new five-year term on Thursday by calling the West "vile" for questioning his re-election and vowing to press ahead with nationalist economic policies. After taking the oath of office before bewigged Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku at a sun-drenched soccer stadium in Harare, Mugabe praised African countries that endorsed the July 31 vote and told his critics to "go hang". ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada Senate urges minimum insurance levels for railways Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 10:55 AM PDT  By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada should force railways to take out enough insurance to ensure they can cover damage caused by major incidents, the Canadian Senate said on Thursday in a report issued after last month's train disaster in Quebec, which killed 47 people. The recommendation was one of 13 in a report by the Senate's energy, environment and natural resources committee on transporting oil and gas by pipeline, rail and tanker. The Senate is Canada's unelected upper house of Parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| Madagascar pushes back presidential election to October Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 10:50 AM PDT By Alain Ilioniania ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Madagascar pushed back the date of its presidential elections for the third time on Thursday, to October 25, as the Indian Ocean island struggles to end years of political crisis. The former French colony has been in chaos since Andry Rajoelina seized power with military support in 2009, ousting former President Marc Ravalomanana after opposition protests. Its tourism industry has suffered badly from the turmoil, and foreign companies have been wary of committing to investment in its oil, gold, chrome and nickel reserves. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N.'s Pillay wants probe of alleged Syria attack as soon as possible Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 10:35 AM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - Allegations of a chemical weapons attack in Syria are "exceptionally grave" and must be investigated as soon as humanly possible, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said on Thursday. A team of investigators sent by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon must be given access "without any delay or obfuscation," she said in a statement. "The use of chemical weapons is prohibited under customary international law," she said. "This absolute prohibition applies in all circumstances... it is binding on the Government despite it not being party to the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. ... Full Story | Top |
| London police say disclosure of Snowden-linked data could risk lives Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 09:51 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - London Police said on Thursday material seized from the partner of a journalist who has led coverage of Edward Snowden's leaks was "highly-sensitive" and, if disclosed, could put lives at risk. David Miranda was detained for nine hours at London's Heathrow airport on Sunday when the material was taken from him and police said an initial examination of the information had prompted a criminal investigation by counter-terrorism officers. (Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Costas Pitas) Full Story | Top |
| Bomber hits Iraq military headquarters, killing 14 Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 09:44 AM PDT RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives to a military headquarters in western Iraq and blew himself up outside it on Thursday, killing at least 14 people, police said. The attack, which appeared to be the latest incident in a wave of violence by Sunni insurgents against the Shi'ite-led government, took place near the city of Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad. Most of the victims were soldiers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Putin foe fails to oust Moscow mayor from election race Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 09:37 AM PDT By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's troubles mounted on Wednesday when a court rejected his bid to push his main pro-Kremlin rival out of the Moscow mayoral race and an electoral official said Navalny himself might be disqualified. Navalny, who emerged from a wave of anti-government protests that began in 2011 as the most popular opposition figure, was sentenced to five years in prison last month for theft after a trial he has said was President Vladimir Putin's revenge. ... Full Story | Top |
| MPs find German security shamefully negligent on neo-Nazi cell Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 09:04 AM PDT  By Alexandra Hudson BERLIN (Reuters) - German security forces shamefully neglected the threat of the far right and their bungled investigations and prejudice enabled a neo-Nazi cell blamed for nine racist murders to go undetected for more than a decade, a parliamentary committee has concluded. The stinging report came after a 19-month inquiry into the National Socialist Underground (NSU), whose chance discovery in late 2011 scandalized Germany and forced authorities to recognize the far-right fringe was more brutal and organized than previously thought. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senior Sicilian mafia member denied bail in London court Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 08:37 AM PDT By Marie-Louise Gumuchian LONDON (Reuters) - A Sicilian mafioso arrested after living in Britain quietly under an assumed name for 20 years was denied bail for a second time on Thursday by a London court, as Italian authorities seek his extradition to serve a jail term. Domenico Rancadore, known to his neighbors in the London suburb of Uxbridge as Marc Skinner, has been described by the Italian Interior Ministry as a leading member of the Cosa Nostra and accused of mafia association, extortion and other serious crimes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sahara jihadist groups merge, threaten French interests: report Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 08:21 AM PDT  By Kissima Diagana and John Irish NOUAKCHOTT/PARIS (Reuters) - Two Islamist groups that broke away from al Qaeda's North African wing and fought in Mali have merged, pledging to attack French interests, according to a statement published on Thursday. The move unites fighters led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the alleged mastermind of an attack on an Algerian gas plant in January, with MUJWA, an Islamist group that was scattered by a French offensive on al Qaeda-linked rebels in Mali this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia: Syria, U.N. should agree on inquiry into alleged chemical attack Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 08:19 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia urged the Syrian government and the United Nations on Thursday to agree on a visit by chemical weapons experts to the site of an alleged gas attack by troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad that killed hundreds of people. Syria's opposition has demanded that U.N. inspectors, who are already in the country to examine previous claims of chemical weapons use in its civil war, investigate the rebel-held region where the attack was said to have occurred. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Nigeria's poor beat path to nascent mining boom Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 08:18 AM PDT  By Tim Cocks BAGEGA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Like almost everything else in Nigeria's economy, mining of metals and other solid minerals fell by the wayside when the West African nation discovered oil. In the two decades to 1954, foreign companies produced around 360,000 ounces of gold in total, according to government statistics - tiny by today's standards, but not insignificant for a country approaching independence with high hopes. By 1964 - post-independence and less than a decade after oil was found in the creeks of the southern Niger Delta - gold production had largely ground to a halt. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek PM meets billionaire Saudi prince to discuss investments Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 08:16 AM PDT  ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras met Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal on Thursday to discuss investment opportunities, government officials said, as Athens pushes for foreign investment for its depressed economy. "It was a customary visit, there is interest in investing in Greece," said a government official who declined to be named. The prince, ranked 26th on the Forbes global ranking of billionaires, owns large stakes in Citigroup, and Apple Inc. among other companies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Timeline: Chemical weapons attacks Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 08:10 AM PDT (Reuters) - Syria's opposition has demanded U.N. inspectors immediately investigate a besieged rebel-held region hit by an alleged chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of people. Following is a timeline of some of the major chemical attacks over the past century: * WORLD WAR ONE - In April 1915, Germany mounted the first large-scale chemical attack in warfare when it opened canisters of chlorine upwind of French, Canadian and Algerian troops at Ypres in Belgium, allowing prevailing winds to spread the gas. ... Full Story | Top |
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