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| Mursi, Egypt army pledge lives in 'final hours' showdown Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 12:41 AM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh and Alastair Macdonald CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army commander and Islamist President Mohamed Mursi each pledged his life to defy the other as a deadline approached on Wednesday that will trigger a military takeover backed by protesters. The military chiefs, wanting to restore order in a country racked by protests over Mursi's Islamist policies, issued a call to battle in a statement headlined "The Final Hours". They said they were willing to shed blood against "terrorists and fools" after Mursi refused to give up his elected office. Mursi said, "The price ... is my life. ... Full Story | Top |
| Al-Ahram: Egypt's Mursi to resign or be sacked on Wednesday Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 12:33 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's flagship state newspaper Al-Ahram said it expected President Mohamed Mursi would either step down or be removed from office on Wednesday when a deadline set by the army for resolving the country's political crisis expires. But a military source denied reports in several local newspapers on details of the road map, describing them as "nothing but predictions". The source expected the next step would be to call political, social and economic figures to talks on the road map. ... Full Story | Top |
| Militant Islamist in Russia urges followers to stop 2014 Olympics Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 12:29 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - The leader of an Islamist insurgency in Russia's North Caucasus urged his followers on Wednesday to use "maximum force" to prevent President Vladimir Putin staging the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. In a video posted on www.kavkazcenter.com, a mouthpiece for militants seeking an Islamist state, insurgent leader Doku Umarov said an order not to attack Russian targets outside the North Caucasus had been canceled. The Games are due to be held in the Black Sea city of Sochi, close to the North Caucasus. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Mursi to resign or be sacked on Wednesday: Al-Ahram Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 12:10 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said it expected President Mohamed Mursi would either step down or be removed from office on Wednesday when a deadline set by the army for resolving the country's political crisis expires. Egypt's flagship state daily said an army road map for the future would set up a three-member presidential council to be chaired by the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court. "Al-Ahram learnt that with the end of the 48-hour period set by the armed forces ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt military source denies report on road map Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:59 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian military source denied local media reports on the details of a political road map to be implemented by the army if political parties fail to resolve the country's political standoff on Wednesday. The source said he expected the next step would be to call political, social and economic figures to talks on the road map. (Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Alison Williams) Full Story | Top |
| Obama's Power Africa backer calls weak competition an investment incentive Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:53 PM PDT  By Drazen Jorgic DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu, who backed President Barack Obama's Africa Power initiative with a $2.5 billion investment pledge, said on Tuesday the lack of competition in the continent's nascent power sector makes it an investment gem. Obama's $7 billion plan to shine "light where currently there's darkness" in Africa by doubling access to power on the world's poorest continent, will be backed by another $9 billion in private sector money. ... Full Story | Top |
| On trip, Obama brings out the African in the American Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:50 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Midway through a three-country trip to Africa and shortly after an emotional tour of his hero Nelson Mandela's Robben Island prison cell, Barack Obama was greeted by another revered African leader, Desmond Tutu, with the words: "Welcome home." America's first black president - 'the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas', as Obama describes himself - had returned to Africa for his first extended trip as the world's most powerful leader. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senegal detains ex-Chad leader pending trial: lawyer Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:46 PM PDT DAKAR (Reuters) - Chad's former president Hissene Habre has been remanded in custody pending trial in Senegal on charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture during his eight years in power, his lawyer said on Tuesday. Habre, 71, was arrested on Sunday in the Senegalese capital Dakar, where he has been living in exile for 22 years since he was overthrown in a 1990 coup in Chad. "He is remanded in custody from today," Habre's lawyer, Francois Serres, told Reuters. "He has been formally charged. ... Full Story | Top |
| Zimbabwe PM's party says Mugabe allies trying to rig vote Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:46 PM PDT  By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - The party of Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said thousands of dead people were still on the electoral roll only four weeks before a presidential election, accusing allies of President Robert Mugabe of trying to rig the outcome. The July 31 contest is Tsvangirai's third attempt to unseat Mugabe, the 89-year-old veteran who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980. The two were forced into a power sharing deal after the last, disputed polls in 2008. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenya parliament to debate new tax, opposition grows Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:44 PM PDT By James Macharia NAIROBI (Reuters) - A proposed tax that would raise the price of food and other basic items was presented to Kenya's parliament on Tuesday, even as civil servants demanded higher pay to cope with rising living costs. The unpopular measure is a tough sell for President Uhuru Kenyatta, who came to office in April saying he would rein in the budget deficit and appealing for wage restraint. Finance Minister Henry Rotich said in his budget speech last month that he would re-introduce value-added tax on goods including medicines and the staples rice, milk, bread and wheat. ... Full Story | Top |
| S.African police investigating Mandela grandson in grave dispute Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:44 PM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African police opened an investigation on Tuesday into Nelson Mandela's grandson on suspicion of illegally exhuming the bodies of three of the ailing anti-apartheid hero's children, a police spokesman said. The investigation is the latest twist in an unedifying family feud that has drawn global attention as the 94-year-old Mandela lies in a Pretoria hospital in a critical condition. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Mursi defies army as it plots future without him Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:41 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh and Asma Alsharif CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi vowed to stay in power and defend constitutional legitimacy with his life on Wednesday as generals worked on plans to push the Islamist aside within the day and suspend the constitution. In a defiant midnight television address responding to military demands that he share power with his opponents or see the army impose its own solution, Mursi warned that any deviation from the democratic order approved in a series of votes last year would lead Egypt down a dangerous path. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas House panel advances proposal to restrict abortion Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:37 PM PDT  By Corrie MacLaggan AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas House committee voted to move forward with a proposal to ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and toughen standards for clinics, after at least 2,000 people sought to testify for and against the measure at an eight-hour hearing. The fiercely contested bill, which was stalled last week by a filibuster of a Democratic lawmaker, now will go to the full House of Representatives for consideration. ... Full Story | Top |
| Austria did not fear Snowden was on Morales plane: minister Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:22 PM PDT VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria allowed Bolivian President Evo Morales' plane to land because it did not share other countries' worries that former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden might be on board, Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said on Wednesday. France and Portugal abruptly canceled air permits for Morales' plane en route from Moscow, forcing the unscheduled stopover in Vienna late on Tuesday. An Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman said rumours that Snowden was on the plane were untrue. ... Full Story | Top |
| Drone attack kills 17 in Pakistan's Waziristan region Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:08 PM PDT By Jibran Ahmad PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A U.S. drone strike killed at least 17 people in Pakistan's restive border region early on Wednesday, Pakistani security officials said, in the biggest such attack this year, and the second since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took office. Most of those killed were fighters for the Haqqani network, according to three Taliban commanders and security officials. Two missiles hit a house near the main market in Miranshah, the provincial capital of the tribal region of North Waziristan. The region is considered a Taliban stronghold. ... Full Story | Top |
| South African police investigating Mandela grandson in grave dispute Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:47 PM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African police opened an investigation on Tuesday into Nelson Mandela's grandson on suspicion of illegally exhuming the bodies of three of the ailing anti-apartheid hero's children, a police spokesman said. The investigation is the latest twist in an unedifying family feud that has drawn global attention as the 94-year-old Mandela lies in a Pretoria hospital in a critical condition. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel's conservatives struggle for modern message in German cities Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:42 PM PDT  By Stephen Brown BERLIN (Reuters) - Tall, blond and smartly dressed, Lars Zimmermann is the kind of young man conservative German mothers would like their daughters to bring home to dinner. Unfortunately, that is not the image he is trying to cultivate as the conservative candidate for parliament in Pankow, a trendy district of north-east Berlin where Angela Merkel's center right party placed a dire fourth in 2009. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rivals play down China's overture in S.China Sea, no breakthrough Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:31 PM PDT  By Manuel Mogato and Stuart Grudgings BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Reuters) - Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario walked into a regional security forum this week to hear his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi reel off a list of complaints against Manila for stirring tensions over the South China Sea. Del Rosario was not scheduled to speak, but after hearing Wang's speech at Sunday's closed-door meeting in the kingdom of Brunei, he raised his hand and proceeded to rebut China's allegations one by one, according to Philippine diplomats. The Singapore foreign minister called it "testy exchanges". ... Full Story | Top |
| Arizona town reeling over loss of firefighters in blaze Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:20 PM PDT  By Tim Gaynor PRESCOTT, Arizona (Reuters) - Outside a fire station in Prescott stand 19 long-handled shovels propped up against a chain-link fence adorned with flowers, flags, ribbons and memorabilia - a makeshift memorial to the 19 fallen firemen who called the Arizona town their home. The fast-growing shrine has become a center for the outpouring of grief over the loss of the young members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite firefighting team, who died battling a wildfire outside the town of Yarnell on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| ECB's Asmussen: Greece has more to do to convince troika Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:12 PM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - European Central Bank Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen told a German newspaper on Wednesday Greece had more to do to ensure a positive outcome to a review by its "troika" of international lenders, but said talk of debt write-downs was unhelpful. "The returning discussions about a debt write-down are not helpful as they distract from the necessary reform efforts," Asmussen said in comments published in Die Welt newspaper on Wednesday. "Despite progress there are still some things to do in order to conclude the review positively," he added. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed's word is its bond, now lost in translation Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 09:34 PM PDT  By Alister Bull and Jonathan Spicer WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - It probably seemed like a good idea to Federal Reserve officials at the time. But their decision to stick Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke out on live television two weeks ago to explain how the Fed aims to scale back and eventually end its massive economic stimulus program, without having the message in a well-parsed policy statement he could hide behind, backfired badly. ... Full Story | Top |
| China June HSBC services PMI expands modestly Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 09:33 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - Activity in China's services sector was lackluster in June as new orders grew at their weakest pace in more than four years, a survey showed, providing further evidence that the world's second-largest economy was losing momentum. The HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the services industry inched up to 51.3 last month from May's 51.2, after growth in new orders hit a 55-month low and business confidence slumped to depths last seen in late 2005 when records began. ... Full Story | Top |
| Firefighters gain ground against deadly Arizona blaze Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 09:18 PM PDT  By Tim Gaynor and Brad Poole PRESCOTT, Arizona (Reuters) - Firefighters gained ground on Tuesday for the first time against the sprawling blaze in central Arizona that killed 19 members of an elite "hotshots" crew over the weekend in the worst loss of life in a U.S. wildfire in 80 years, officials said. While the blaze remained dangerous and unpredictable, it was no longer raging out of control, and firefighters had managed by sundown to achieve the first measure of containment around its perimeter, 8 percent, officials for the firefighting command team said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Snowden affair diverts Bolivian president's plane in Europe Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 08:34 PM PDT  By Alissa de Carbonnel and Daniel Ramos MOSCOW/LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia said President Evo Morales' plane was diverted on a flight from Russia and forced to land in Austria over suspicions that Edward Snowden might be on board, as several countries spurned the former U.S. spy agency contractor's asylum requests. France and Portugal abruptly canceled air permits for Morales' plane, forcing the unscheduled stopover in Vienna. There was no evidence that Snowden, wanted by Washington for espionage after divulging classified details of U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to delay key health-reform provision to 2015 Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 08:16 PM PDT  By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Tuesday it would not require employers to provide health insurance for their workers until 2015, delaying a key provision of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law by a year, to beyond the next election. The move raised questions about the future of other provisions of the law, including the mandate for individuals to obtain health coverage in 2014, and followed widespread complaints from businesses and their lobbyists about reporting requirements for employers with 50 or more full-time workers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hope, excitement and uncertainty in downtown Cairo Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 07:12 PM PDT By Alexander Dziadosz CAIRO (Reuters) - When military helicopters monitoring Egypt's protests whirr over downtown Cairo, storekeepers and shoppers stop talking and crane their heads to catch a glimpse. The talk is largely of the army anyway. In a dramatic re-entry into politics on Monday, the armed forces gave President Mohamed Mursi 48 hours to meet the demands of millions of protesters to yield power or face an imposed solution. Those hours run out later on Wednesday, but neither side shows any sign of flinching. The rhetoric has got hotter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: For Obama, tricky diplomatic geometry in democratic Egypt Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 07:00 PM PDT  By Warren Strobel and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With Egypt and its democratic experiment at a tipping point, U.S. President Barack Obama finds himself trying to nudge the most populous Arab country's bitterly divided antagonists toward compromise but finds his influence limited. ... Full Story | Top |
| Death toll in Cairo University clash rises to 16: TV Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 06:36 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - The death toll in violence involving Islamist supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi near Cairo University rose to 16 on Wednesday and 200 people were wounded, state television quoted a Health Ministry spokesman as saying. Security sources said pro-Mursi demonstrators clashed with security forces. Witnesses said they heard shotgun and rifle fire. (Reporting by Yasmine Saleh; Editing by Alastair Macdonald) Full Story | Top |
| Egypt army says ready to die in "final hours" Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 06:25 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's high command said on Wednesday the army was ready to die to defend Egypt's people against terrorists and fools, in a response to Islamist President Mohamed Mursi that was headlined "The Final Hours". The post on the official Facebook page of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), headed by armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said: "We swear to God that we will sacrifice even our blood for Egypt and its people, to defend them against any terrorist, radical or fool. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bolivia says Morales' plane diverted, apparently over Snowden Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 06:17 PM PDT  By Daniel Ramos LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia said President Evo Morales' plane was forced to land in Austria on Tuesday after France and Portugal refused air permits, apparently because they suspected it was carrying Edward Snowden, the former U.S. spy agency contractor wanted by Washington on espionage charges. Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca furiously accused France and Portugal of putting the leftist Morales' life at risk and insisted that Snowden was not on Morales' plane. ... Full Story | Top |
| California agrees to move inmates at risk of Valley Fever Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 05:50 PM PDT By Laila Kearney (Reuters) - Thousands of California prison inmates at risk of contracting Valley Fever, a sometimes deadly fungal disease, will be transferred out of areas of the state where the spores that cause the illness are prevalent, officials said on Tuesday. The state initially resisted the idea of moving the inmates, saying it would be "hugely disruptive" and interfere with efforts to reduce crowding in California's already over-subscribed correctional facilities. ... Full Story | Top |
| Safety investigators stand by cause of TWA Flight 800 crash Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 05:30 PM PDT  By Susan Cornwell ASHBURN, Virginia (Reuters) - U.S. government safety investigators on Tuesday stood by their report on the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 that said faulty wiring likely caused the plane to explode, ahead of the airing of a documentary that suggests a missile may have brought down the plane. The investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said they had ruled out bombs or missiles during their four-year probe into the crash. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazilian lawmaker withdraws 'gay cure' bill before vote Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 05:28 PM PDT By Lucas Iberico-Lozada SAO PAULO (Reuters) - João Campos, the Brazilian lawmaker who drafted legislation that would allow psychiatrists in Latin America's largest country to treat homosexuality as a disease, asked that the bill be withdrawn on Tuesday, according to a congressional website. Opponents of the legislation, popularly referred to as the "gay cure" bill, moved on Tuesday to bring the matter to a vote before the entire Chamber of Deputies, Brazil's lower house of Congress. Campos' request came as it became clear that the legislation was going to be roundly defeated by the chamber. ... Full Story | Top |
| Protest group urges Guard to arrest Mursi Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 05:24 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Organisers of the protest movement that drew millions of Egyptians on to the streets this week to demand the resignation of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi called on his military guard on Wednesday to arrest him. Dismissing the claims to legitimacy that Mursi made in a televised address, the "Tamarud - Rebel!" movement said in a statement: "The only response to Mursi's speech is to protest on the streets in our millions, starting on Wednesday, so that he and his group hear the voice of the great Egyptian people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three killed, 90 injured in Cairo clash Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 05:07 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Three people were killed and about 90 wounded in clashes near Cairo University between supporters of President Mohamed Mursi and security forces, an aide to Egypt's health minister told Reuters. Witnesses heard shotgun and rifle fire and teargas enveloped the area. Television pictures showed ambulances taking away casualties, small fires burning and hundreds of men, many with the beards typical of Mursi's Islamist supporters, some of them weeping and others chanting slogans. Some held up rifle and shotgun cartridges to the camera. Another man waved his bloodied hand. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi says he is a legitimate president, must continue Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 04:55 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi told Egyptians in a televised address on Tuesday that he would defend the legitimacy of his elected office with his life and urged them to reject challenges to the legal order. In a speech, that was continuing after more than 40 minutes, he conceded his first year in office had been difficult and he faced challenges from corrupt remnants of the old regime. In a response to a military ultimatum to share power with his opponents, he said he had tried such dialogue before and had been unsuccessful. ... Full Story | Top |
| Armed group forces closure of Libyan Interior Ministry Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 04:41 PM PDT  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - An armed group forced the closure of Libya's Interior Ministry on Tuesday, emptying the building of officials before leaving the scene, police said. An Interior Ministry source said the group was demanding the resignation of the minister because of the government's reliance on some militias for security, but this could not immediately be verified. "An unknown group dressed in fatigues arrived and demanded that we close the Interior Ministry," a police officer said. The armed group said it wanted police and army to be in charge of security, he added. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi speech declares 'civil war': opposition Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 04:33 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian opposition spokesman described a speech on Wednesday by President Mohamed Mursi as a declaration of civil war because he ignored opposition demands that him to resign, which have been backed by mass rallies. Dismissing Mursi's repeated offers of dialogue, Khaled Dawoud, the spokesman for the National Salvation Front, said: "This is an open call for civil war ... The president continues to deny the demands of the Egyptian people that he resign." (Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Alastair Macdonald) Full Story | Top |
| Prudential to fight U.S. proposal to label it 'systemic' Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 04:18 PM PDT By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Insurance company Prudential Financial Inc said on Tuesday it will contest a proposal by the new U.S. risk council to designate it as systemically important, a tag that would subject it to stricter oversight by federal banking regulators. In a financial filing on Tuesday, the company declared it would request a closed-door hearing before the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a new body of regulators created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank reform law. ... Full Story | Top |
| HSBC wins OK of record $1.92 billion money-laundering settlement Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 04:15 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - A federal judge has approved HSBC Holdings Plc's record $1.92 billion settlement with federal and state investigators of charges that it flouted rules designed to stop money laundering and thwart transactions with countries under U.S. sanctions. While noting "heavy public criticism" of the settlement, which enabled HSBC to escape criminal prosecution, U.S. District Judge John Gleeson in Brooklyn, New York, called the decision to approve the accord "easy, for it accomplishes a great deal. ... Full Story | Top |
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