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Thursday, June 28, 2012 4:25 AM PDT

Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News: Palestinian President to meet Israeli vice PM: official Guatemala sends dozens of drug traffickers to prison In divided Egypt, U.S. plays all sides Chinese paper slams U.S. candidates for playing "China card" Rebels storm pro-Assad Syrian TV channel China dairy recalls hundreds of cartons of tainted milk Pena Nieto wraps up campaign with victory near Exclusive: Russia backs Annan idea of Syria unity government: envoys Exclusive: Annan calls for Syria national unity government: envoys Bolivian police end rebellion after pay deal reached Afghanistan wants its cultural heroes back Merkel to face down summit pleas for crisis action Venezuela poll shows tight race for Chavez U.S. to highlight China cooperation at ASEAN forum At least 20 dead as north Mali factions clash Iran says ready to help solve Syria crisis Colorado wildfire expands viciously, Obama plans visit World powers to meet in Geneva on Syria Rescuers find two bodies at collapsed Canada mall U.S. bars business with four in Hezbollah laundering link Mexico would need major reforms for better rating: Fitch Argentina's Moyano ups the ante with truck strike Egypt's Islamist president-elect seeks wide support Rwanda regrets U.N. decision to publish Congo report Obama, UAE prince talk Iran, Syria, oil: White House U.S. zaps target in high-stakes missile shield test Mexican Pena Nieto has big lead for Sunday's election Britain's queen shakes hands with ex-IRA chief Romania court rejects electoral reform White House condemns all violence in Syria Greek president to fly economy class to Brussels Microsoft attack puts spotlight on Greek tensions Afghan envoy urges Pakistan to help revitalize talks Somali president accuses world of balking at aid Canada troops not complicit in Afghan abuse, panel says Egypt's president-elect to sue Iranian news agency Georgia impounds some assets of opposition tycoon U.N. renews Congo peacekeepers amid Rwanda tensions Israel accuses Iran of anti-Semitism after drug speech Calderon passes Mexican drug war chaos to successor Palestinian President to meet Israeli vice PM: official Wed,27 Jun 2012 10:57 PM PDT Reuters - JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with Israeli Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz on Sunday, a Palestinian official said on Thursday, in the highest-level meeting between the sides since peace talks broke down in 2010. "There will be a meeting on Sunday between President Abbas and Mr. Mofaz. This comes after a request for a meeting from Mofaz," Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat told Voice of Palestine Radio. A spokesman for Mofaz would not confirm or deny that a meeting had been arranged. (Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by John Stonestreet) Full Story Top Guatemala sends dozens of drug traffickers to prison Wed,27 Jun 2012 10:29 PM PDT Reuters - GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - A Guatemalan court sentenced 36 alleged members of a powerful Mexican drug cartel to prison on Wednesday for various crimes, including dismembering a state prosecutor who was investigating the gang. Judges determined that the three dozen gang members, including one woman, were responsible for at least three murders in the northern region of Peten last year. The court also handed out prison sentences from two to 158 years for crimes ranging from drug possession, conspiracy, trafficking arms and murder. ... Full Story Top In divided Egypt, U.S. plays all sides Wed,27 Jun 2012 10:16 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The ambiguous outcome of Egypt's revolution leaves Washington no choice but to deal with the country's both major players, the military and the Muslim Brotherhood, despite its disagreements with each. Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement long held at arm's length by the United States, was declared on Sunday to have won Egypt's presidency. He assumes an office whose powers have been whittled away by the military, whose recent actions are seen as anti-democratic but which remains the country's most powerful institution. ... Full Story Top Chinese paper slams U.S. candidates for playing "China card" Wed,27 Jun 2012 09:09 PM PDT Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top newspaper slammed both U.S. presidential candidates on Thursday for playing the "China card" in their election campaigns, saying the real economic problems confronting the United States were being ignored in the process. In a strongly worded commentary, Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily said it was a "tragedy" for U.S. politics that the country's foreign relations were being sucked in to the domestic presidential election. ... Full Story Top Rebels storm pro-Assad Syrian TV channel Wed,27 Jun 2012 08:59 PM PDT Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Gunmen stormed a pro-government Syrian TV channel headquarters on Wednesday, bombing buildings and shooting dead three employees, state media said, in one of the boldest attacks yet on a symbol of the authoritarian state. More than 150 people were killed in fierce fighting across Syria on Wednesday, 86 of them civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Intensified fighting in the country have driven up the death toll averages to around 100 people per day in the past week. President Bashar al-Assad declared late on Tuesday that his country was "at war". U.S. ... Full Story Top China dairy recalls hundreds of cartons of tainted milk Wed,27 Jun 2012 08:56 PM PDT Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese dairy company has recalled hundreds of cartons of milk after a mechanical error tainted the batch with alkaline water, the latest blow to China's scandal-plagued dairy industry. The recall comes just weeks after China's top-selling dairy firm, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co, pulled six months' worth of infant formula from shelves due to mercury contamination. ... Full Story Top Pena Nieto wraps up campaign with victory near Wed,27 Jun 2012 08:01 PM PDT Reuters - MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexico's presidential front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto scented victory as he wrapped up his campaign on Wednesday with polls showing he should easily win Sunday's election and put the country's old rulers back in power. Voters elect a new president on Sunday and many are eager for the next government to end rampant violence by drug gangs and fire up an underperforming economy, sore points that have eroded confidence in the ruling National Action Party, or PAN. ... Full Story Top Exclusive: Russia backs Annan idea of Syria unity government: envoys Wed,27 Jun 2012 06:58 PM PDT Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia and other big powers have told mediator Kofi Annan that they support his idea of a Syrian national unity cabinet that could include government and opposition members but would exclude those whose participation would undermine it, envoys said on Wednesday. ... Full Story Top Exclusive: Annan calls for Syria national unity government: envoys Wed,27 Jun 2012 04:45 PM PDT Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia and other big powers have told Syria mediator Kofi Annan they support his idea of a Syrian national unity cabinet that could include government and opposition members but would exclude those whose participation would undermine it, envoys said on Wednesday. The proposal is one of the main topics that Russia, the other four permanent Security Council members and other key players in the Middle East will discuss at a meeting in Geneva on Saturday about the 16-month conflict in Syria, diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity. ... Full Story Top Bolivian police end rebellion after pay deal reached Wed,27 Jun 2012 04:18 PM PDT Reuters - LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia's police ended a violent mutiny and went back to work on Wednesday after reaching an accord with government ministers and the police leadership on pay and disciplinary rules, satisfying lower-ranking officers who had rejected a previous deal. Dozens of police officers were hurt and several police stations were destroyed in the five-day rebellion in the natural gas-exporting South American country that has a history of coups and violent conflicts. ... Full Story Top Afghanistan wants its cultural heroes back Wed,27 Jun 2012 04:05 PM PDT Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - - Interred a quarter century ago in Pakistan, the remains of Afghan poet Ustad Khalilullah Khalili now lie in a forlorn corner of Kabul University, brought here to be reburied so that no one else can lay claim to the revered poet-philosopher. He has no epitaph; only a few wilted bouquets lie at the grave of Afghanistan's most prominent 20th century poet. Three policemen guard the site. ... Full Story Top Merkel to face down summit pleas for crisis action Wed,27 Jun 2012 03:36 PM PDT Reuters - BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel will pit herself against France and Italy on Thursday at an EU summit that could shape the euro zone's future, insisting they must put the bloc's fundamental problems ahead of pleas for emergency action. European Union leaders go into the two-day meeting in Brussels more openly divided than at any time since the debt crisis erupted in Greece in 2010 and spread over the euro zone. ... Full Story Top Venezuela poll shows tight race for Chavez Wed,27 Jun 2012 03:31 PM PDT Reuters - CARACAS (Reuters) - A new poll shows Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez only slightly ahead of challenger Henrique Capriles in the October 7 presidential election, welcome news for the opposition following numerous surveys showing Chavez with a wide lead. The leftist former soldier is seeking re-election for a third term to extend his self-styled socialist revolution, and he has boosted his public appearances as his health seems to be recovering from a cancer diagnosed last year. ... Full Story Top U.S. to highlight China cooperation at ASEAN forum Wed,27 Jun 2012 03:24 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will stress "engagement and cooperation" with China at security talks next month in Southeast Asia where nations are wary of getting caught in superpower rivalry, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday. Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said the United States and China would unveil new cooperative initiatives at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum in Cambodia. ... Full Story Top At least 20 dead as north Mali factions clash Wed,27 Jun 2012 03:11 PM PDT Reuters - BAMAKO (Reuters) - Al Qaeda-linked Islamists militants seized control of the headquarters of the local separatist rebels in the north Mali town of Gao on Wednesday after a bloody battle that killed at least 20, residents said. The battle follows weeks of tension between the separatist Tuareg-led MNLA and better-armed local Islamists who helped it take control of the northern two-thirds of Mali in April but whose goal is to impose sharia Islamic law across the country. ... Full Story Top Iran says ready to help solve Syria crisis Wed,27 Jun 2012 02:59 PM PDT Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran is ready to help international envoy Kofi Annan's bid to bring peace to Syria, but if some countries do not want Tehran at a meeting of global powers then "that's their problem," Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee said on Wednesday. The meeting, called by Annan, will take place in Geneva on Saturday to work out a way to end the worsening conflict in Syria and bring about a political transition. ... Full Story Top Colorado wildfire expands viciously, Obama plans visit Wed,27 Jun 2012 02:44 PM PDT Reuters - COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - Firefighters struggled on Wednesday to beat back a wildfire raging at the edge of Colorado Springs that doubled in size overnight, forced more than 32,000 people from their homes and was nipping at the edges of the U.S. Air Force Academy. The blaze, fanned by hot winds, has charred a number of homes on the wooded edges of the city and was prompting fresh evacuations on Wednesday. President Barack Obama plans to travel to the area on Friday to view the damage. ... Full Story Top World powers to meet in Geneva on Syria Wed,27 Jun 2012 02:33 PM PDT Reuters - GENEVA (Reuters) - Foreign ministers from the global powers and Middle East countries will meet in Geneva on Saturday to work out a way to end the worsening conflict in Syria and bring about a political transition. International mediator Kofi Annan called the meeting on Wednesday just as the situation in Syria took an even more serious turn, with insurgents attacking a pro-government television station in Damascus and fighting breaking out in the capital's suburbs. Annan, who acts as envoy for the United Nations and Arab League, said he had invited foreign ministers from the five permanent ... Full Story Top Rescuers find two bodies at collapsed Canada mall Wed,27 Jun 2012 02:30 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - Rescue workers removed two bodies from a collapsed shopping mall in the northern Ontario town of Elliot Lake on Wednesday and said they didn't believe there was anyone else in the rubble, all but ending a four-day search for survivors. The head of the rescue effort said he was "99 percent" certain no other victims will be found in the debris that rained down on shoppers when a rooftop parking lot collapsed into the two-story mall on Saturday afternoon. ... Full Story Top U.S. bars business with four in Hezbollah laundering link Wed,27 Jun 2012 02:05 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday banned Americans from doing business with three Lebanese-Venezuelans and a Lebanese man it accused of helping to launder drug money to the benefit of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group. It also designated one Colombian-Lebanese man, Ali Mohamad Saleh, as a global terrorist for his involvement with Hezbollah fund-raising. The action freezes any assets Saleh may have in the United States and also bars Americans from doing business with him. ... Full Story Top Mexico would need major reforms for better rating: Fitch Wed,27 Jun 2012 12:57 PM PDT Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Meaningful reforms to Mexico's energy sector and tax base after Sunday's presidential election could move the country toward a higher credit rating, a top official with ratings agency Fitch said on Wednesday. Any boost to growth from reforms, though, would have to be weighed against a worsening global environment, said Shelly Shetty, who heads sovereign ratings for Fitch in Latin America. Opinion polls give front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto a wide lead ahead of the vote, putting the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, on track to return to power. ... Full Story Top Argentina's Moyano ups the ante with truck strike Wed,27 Jun 2012 12:53 PM PDT Reuters - BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Thousands of striking Argentine truckers rallied outside the presidential palace on Wednesday to demand tax cuts in the biggest protest against President Cristina Fernandez's rule since a 2008 farm revolt. Their one-day strike was led by Hugo Moyano, a gruff truck driver who has gone from being a close ally of Fernandez to become one of her most dangerous rivals in less than 18 months. Moyano is running for re-election as head of the country's CGT labor federation. ... Full Story Top Egypt's Islamist president-elect seeks wide support Wed,27 Jun 2012 12:35 PM PDT Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamist President-elect Mohamed Mursi began talks on Wednesday with groups nervous about where he will take Egypt after the generals who have ruled since Hosni Mubarak's fall make way for the republic's first civilian leader. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Mursi to bring diverse groups into his government, mentioning Egypt's Coptic Christian minority, secular-minded Egyptians and young people. The U.S. ... Full Story Top Rwanda regrets U.N. decision to publish Congo report Wed,27 Jun 2012 12:16 PM PDT Reuters - KINSHASA (Reuters) - Rwanda said on Wednesday that it was 'deeply regrettable' that the UN Security Council has decided to publish a document alleging Rwanda was backing armed groups in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda's Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said in a statement that the government would provide factual evidence to show that the charges of Rwandan involvement are false and that the document was biased. "This is a one-sided preliminary document based on partial findings and is still subject to verification. ... Full Story Top Obama, UAE prince talk Iran, Syria, oil: White House Wed,27 Jun 2012 12:14 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama discussed conditions in Iran and Syria as well as global energy prices with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan on Wednesday, the White House said. They agreed there was an urgent need to stop the bloodshed in Syria and for political transition there, and also said Iran should meet its international obligations related to its nuclear program, according to a statement issued after their meeting. ... Full Story Top U.S. zaps target in high-stakes missile shield test Wed,27 Jun 2012 12:09 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. forces using a new Raytheon Co interceptor missile downed another missile in space in a high-stakes test of a shield built to thwart growing capabilities of countries like North Korea and Iran. The mission off Hawaii late Tuesday was against a medium-range, separating ballistic missile, the Pentagon agency responsible for it said. The mock warhead split from the target's booster section, presenting what is supposed to be a more realistic attack scenario. ... Full Story Top Mexican Pena Nieto has big lead for Sunday's election Wed,27 Jun 2012 12:05 PM PDT Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican presidential front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto goes into Sunday's election with a wide lead over his rivals, opinion polls showed on Wednesday, putting him on track to return to power the party that ruled for much of the last century. The final voter survey of the campaign by newspaper El Universal showed Pena Nieto, of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, rising 4.2 percentage points to 41.2 percent from a poll published on June 18. That gave him a 17.4-point lead over leftist and 2006 runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who rose 0. ... Full Story Top Britain's queen shakes hands with ex-IRA chief Wed,27 Jun 2012 11:50 AM PDT Reuters - BELFAST (Reuters) - Britain's Queen Elizabeth shook the hand of former IRA guerrilla commander Martin McGuinness for the first time on Wednesday, drawing a line under a conflict that cost the lives of thousands of soldiers and civilians, including that of her cousin. The meeting with McGuinness, who is now the deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, comes 14 years after the Irish Republican Army ended its war against British rule in the province, and is one of the last big milestones in a peace process whose success has been studied around the world. ... Full Story Top Romania court rejects electoral reform Wed,27 Jun 2012 11:40 AM PDT Reuters - BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's constitutional court rejected on Wednesday a law to change the electoral system, dealing a further blow to a government that has been rocked by a string of misfortunes in the last week. The governing leftist Social Liberal Union (USL) had passed the change to first-past-the-post voting, which would have been used in a November parliamentary election, replacing the current mixed majority and proportional system. "The Constitutional Court established, with a unanimous vote that...the law...is unconstitutional," it said in a statement. ... Full Story Top White House condemns all violence in Syria Wed,27 Jun 2012 11:15 AM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday condemned all acts of violence in Syria, including attacks by insurgents on supporters of the government of President Bashar al-Assad, such as an assault on a pro-government television station in Damascus. "We condemn all acts of violence, including those targeting pro-regime elements," White House spokesman Jay Carney told a regular daily news briefing. He called on all parties to end hostilities in Syria. ... Full Story Top Greek president to fly economy class to Brussels Wed,27 Jun 2012 11:15 AM PDT Reuters - ATHENS (Reuters) - The president of debt-laden Greece will travel economy class to a European Union summit this week, his office said on Wednesday. Leaders of the 27-nation EU meet in Brussels on Thursday for a two-day summit to be dominated by the euro zone's debt crisis. A source familiar with the travel plans of the Greek delegation, led by 83-year-old President Karolos Papoulias, said they would travel economy on a regular Aegean Airlines flight to Brussels. ... Full Story Top Microsoft attack puts spotlight on Greek tensions Wed,27 Jun 2012 11:15 AM PDT Reuters - ATHENS (Reuters) - Gunmen driving a van packed with gas canisters firebombed the Athens headquarters of Microsoft on Wednesday, underscoring the threat of instability as Greece asks for more time and less hardship in cutting its crippling debt. Fire gutted the ground floor of the blue four-storey HQ of the U.S. software giant, blackening its walls with flames, on the eve of yet another European summit seeking a solution to a regional debt crisis first unleashed by Greece. At least two attackers were involved in the sophisticated assault at 4.45 a.m. ... Full Story Top Afghan envoy urges Pakistan to help revitalize talks Wed,27 Jun 2012 11:11 AM PDT Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's top peace negotiator urged Pakistan on Wednesday to free Taliban prisoners and push militant leaders into peace negotiations, saying Islamabad must do more to help bring an end to the 10-year Afghan war. Salahuddin Rabbani, in his first Western media interview since taking his job in April, said he hoped to revive a process many Afghan and Western officials see as the best chance of restoring calm before a 2014 pullout of foreign combat troops. ... Full Story Top Somali president accuses world of balking at aid Wed,27 Jun 2012 10:57 AM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - Somalia's president on Wednesday accused the international community of refusing to fund the creation of local security forces capable of tackling piracy and al Qaeda-linked militants and urged them to pay up. "The international community spends millions of dollars (because of piracy) and when you ask them to contribute to building forces on the ground they evade our request," Sheikh Sharif Ahmed told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a conference on piracy in Dubai. ... Full Story Top Canada troops not complicit in Afghan abuse, panel says Wed,27 Jun 2012 10:49 AM PDT Reuters - OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Canadian panel on Wednesday cleared eight military police of complicity in the abuse of Afghan prisoners by Afghan authorities, but also blasted Ottawa for trying to impede the investigation. Canada's Conservative government has been dogged for years by allegations that military and political officials ignored evidence that Afghan authorities were torturing detainees transferred by Canadian troops stationed there. ... Full Story Top Egypt's president-elect to sue Iranian news agency Wed,27 Jun 2012 10:48 AM PDT Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - The office of Egyptian president-elect Mohamed Mursi will file a lawsuit against the Iranian news agency Fars for making up an interview with him which said he promised to improve ties between the two countries, Mursi's spokesman said on Wednesday. "President Mursi was never interviewed by Iran's Fars news agency. The interview was fabricated and his presidential office has begun taking legal action against the news agency," Yasser Ali told Reuters. ... Full Story Top Georgia impounds some assets of opposition tycoon Wed,27 Jun 2012 10:38 AM PDT Reuters - TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian authorities on Wednesday impounded some assets of billionaire opposition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili in a move likely to raise tension in the Caucasus state ahead of a parliamentary election this year. The bailiffs from the National Enforcement Bureau said that Ivanishvili's 100 percent share in Cartu Bank, 21.7 percent share in Progress Bank as well as his 100 percent share in JSC Cartu Group had been seized after the tycoon's refusal to pay a multi-million-dollar fine imposed on him earlier this month. ... Full Story Top U.N. renews Congo peacekeepers amid Rwanda tensions Wed,27 Jun 2012 10:32 AM PDT Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council renewed a peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday and demanded an end to "outside support" for a mutiny in the country's east after U.N. experts accused top Rwandan military officials of involvement. The eastern Congo province of North Kivu has been swept by waves of violence since March, after hundreds of former rebels defected from the army in support of a renegade general, Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court. An addendum to a recent report by U.N. ... Full Story Top Israel accuses Iran of anti-Semitism after drug speech Wed,27 Jun 2012 10:20 AM PDT Reuters - JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Iranian allegations that Zionists were inciting drug trafficking and Jewish religious law called for annihilation of gentiles prompted a sharp response from Israel on Wednesday which said Iran was governed by fanatical anti-Semites. The verbal clash highlighted festering tension in an international stand-off over Tehran's nuclear program. A third round of nuclear talks between world powers and Iran 10 days ago failed to resolve the stalemate. ... Full Story Top Calderon passes Mexican drug war chaos to successor Wed,27 Jun 2012 10:02 AM PDT Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Gunmen killed three policemen near a fast-food court at Mexico City's international airport as panicked travelers hit the deck. Hours later the government says the killers are fellow officers on a drug cartel payroll, and that they escaped. Mexican marines announce they have captured a son of the country's most wanted trafficker, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman and the U.S. government applauds the arrest. The next day, the attorney general has to admit they have the wrong man. ... Full Story Top

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