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| Russian helicopter crash kills at least 19 Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:58 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - A helicopter packed with passengers crashed in Siberia on Tuesday, killing at least 19 of the 28 people aboard, Russia's civil aviation commission said. The Mi-8 aircraft operated by Polar Airlines caught fire after crashing in the Sakha region with 25 passengers and three crew on board, the Interstate Aviation Committee said. Citing a surviving crew member, the committee said on its website that 19 people were killed. State-run Itar-Tass later cited a regional government official as saying 23 people were killed and five survived, including a child. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Greece has 3 days to deliver or face consequences - EU officials Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:54 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Greece has three days to reassure its lenders it can deliver on conditions attached to its international bailout in order to receive the next tranche of aid, four euro zone officials said on Tuesday. Athens and its creditors unlocking 8.1 billion euros ($10.6 billion) of rescue loans resumed talks on Monday on after a two-week break during which the government almost collapsed over redundancies at state broadcaster ERT. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuelan president says Snowden "deserves world's protection" Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:36 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday Caracas had not yet received a request for political asylum from former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden and would decide on it only when it did. "He deserves the world's protection. He has not asked us for it yet. When he does we will give our answer," Maduro told Reuters during a visit to Moscow. (Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel, Editing by Timothy Heritage) Full Story | Top |
| Poland says won't grant asylum to Snowden Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:31 AM PDT WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland has received a document seeking asylum from U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden but its foreign minister said on Tuesday he would not recommend granting the request. "We received a document that does not meet the requirements for a formal application for asylum," Radoslaw Sikorski wrote on his Twitter account. "Even if it did, I will not give a positive recommendation." Wikileaks said on its website that Snowden's legal representative applied for asylum in a number of countries, including Russia, China and France. ... Full Story | Top |
| UAE court jails scores of Emiratis in coup plot trial: TV Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:17 AM PDT  By Yara Bayoumy ABU DHABI (Reuters) - A United Arab Emirates court on Tuesday convicted and jailed most of 94 Emiratis accused of plotting a coup, Abu Dhabi television said, at the end of trial analysts said reflected official mistrust of Islamist groups following the Arab Spring. The television said that the Federal Supreme Court sentenced 56 suspects to prison sentences ranging between three and 10 years. Eight suspects were sentenced in absentia to 15 years in jail and another 26 were acquitted. The television did not elaborate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sports-Korea and Iran seek to bury hatchet with exchange deal Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:10 AM PDT July 2 (Reuters) - South Korea and Iran will sign a sports exchange agreement on Wednesday, barely two weeks after talks of "blood" and "revenge" soured relations between their respective soccer teams ahead of a crucial 2014 World Cup qualifier. Both nations advanced to next year's finals in Brazil after Iran beat the hosts 1-0 in Ulsan last month in a highly charged encounter stoked by mud-slinging between Iran coach Carlos Queiroz and his South Korean counterpart Choi Kang-hee. ... Full Story | Top |
| Special Report: Return to Baghdad, epicenter of Islam's growing divide Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:04 AM PDT  By Samia Nakhoul BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The last time I left Baghdad I was on a stretcher. It was April 11, 2003, four days after U.S. troops pushed into the Iraqi capital at the end of a lightning campaign to overthrow Saddam Hussein. American forces had pounded Baghdad for weeks and as U.S. tanks raced into the city, I became a casualty alongside scores of Iraqis. On the day Baghdad fell, I was waiting for an Iraqi surgeon to operate on me to remove shrapnel and bone fragments from my brain. He saved my life. Soon after, as I was airlifted by U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama urges Egypt's Mursi to respond to demonstrators Monday, Jul 01, 2013 11:54 PM PDT DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama called embattled Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi to urge him to respond to mass opposition demonstrations and said the political crisis could only be resolved by talks, the White House said on Tuesday. Obama also called on both sides to ensure rallies stayed peaceful, after the death toll in clashes between rival protesters since Sunday reached at least 16 people. Egypt's armed forces on Monday handed the president a virtual ultimatum to share power, giving feuding politicians 48 hours to compromise or have the army impose its own road ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's De Klerk in hospital for heart procedure Monday, Jul 01, 2013 11:45 PM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's last white president, FW de Klerk, will undergo a procedure on Tuesday to install a pacemaker, his assistant said. De Klerk, 77, received the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with his successor, Nelson Mandela, in 1993 for overseeing South Africa's transition from white-minority apartheid rule. "He expects to be discharged from hospital within 24 hours. He's going to get a pacemaker and then coming out," de Klerk's personal assistant, Brenda Steyn, told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria gov't watchdog says has credible reports of army abuses Monday, Jul 01, 2013 11:40 PM PDT ABUJA (Reuters) - A Nigerian government rights watchdog said it had credible reports the country's own forces carried out extra-judicial killings, torture, rape and arbitrary detention in efforts to quell an Islamist insurgency in the northeast. In an interim study compiled over June and seen by Reuters on Monday, Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission also said the violence had forced thousands of farmers to flee their land and warned the exodus could trigger a food crisis. Nigeria's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Chad leader Habre faces war crimes charges: prosecutor Monday, Jul 01, 2013 11:39 PM PDT DAKAR (Reuters) - Chad's former president Hissene Habre will be charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture at a special court in Senegal, a legal official said on Monday, a day after the ex-leader's arrest. Habre, 71, was detained in Senegal where he has been living in exile for 22 years since he was overthrown in a coup. Human rights groups hold him responsible for the torture or killing up to 40,000 people during the eight years he led Chad, a poor, oil-rich central African state. ... Full Story | Top |
| UN takes over Mali peacekeeping mission, doubts over vote Monday, Jul 01, 2013 11:39 PM PDT  By Adama Diarra BAMAKO (Reuters) - The United Nations took over command of an African peacekeeping force in Mali on Monday, bolstering the mission in a country still threatened by militants and weeks away from what analysts warn could be chaotic elections. The transfer of command will bring in soldiers from beyond Africa and eventually see the operation more than double in size. Western and regional powers want to keep order in the West African country after a tumultuous 18 months when soldiers toppled the president and al Qaeda-linked rebels seized the desert north. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obamacare 1.0: States brace for Web barrage when reform goes live Monday, Jul 01, 2013 11:27 PM PDT  By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - About 550,000 people in Oregon do not have health insurance, and Aaron Karjala is confident the state's new online insurance exchange will be able to accommodate them when enrollment under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform begins on October 1. What Karjala, the chief information officer at "Cover Oregon," does worry about, however, is what will happen if the entire population of Oregon - 3.9 million - logs on that day "just to check it out," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's Xinjiang offers rewards after deadliest unrest in four years Monday, Jul 01, 2013 11:21 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China announced rewards of up to 100,000 yuan ($16,000) on Tuesday for information leading the arrest of those responsible for the deadliest violence in four years in the vast far-western region of Xinjiang, dominated by Muslim Uighurs. The announcement by authorities in Xinjiang came less than a week after a marauding gang staged a series of attacks in a Xinjiang township that killed 35 people. China says that the attacks were carried out by a gang engaged in "religious extremist activities". ... Full Story | Top |
| Snowden has applied for political asylum in Norway -foreign ministry Monday, Jul 01, 2013 10:41 PM PDT OSLO (Reuters) - Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden has applied for political asylum in Norway, the Norwegian foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Asked whether Snowden had applied for asylum to the Nordic country, foreign ministry spokesman Frode Andersen said: "I can confirm that. We have received an asylum application by fax to our embassy in Moscow late yesterday afternoon." "It is probably from him and it is allegedly signed by him, but we have no way of checking that," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cricket-Ahmed set for Ashes call after becoming Australian Monday, Jul 01, 2013 10:37 PM PDT MELBOURNE, July 2 (Reuters) - Pakistan-born leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed was named an Australian citizen on Tuesday, clearing the final procedural hurdle for his selection for the Ashes series against England starting on July 10. Former Federal Minister for Immigration Brendan O'Connor made the announcement within a fortnight of the Australian Senate passing legislation to fast-track citizenship in special cases. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's Mandela still 'critical but stable' Monday, Jul 01, 2013 10:32 PM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Ailing anti-apartheid leader and former South African President Nelson Mandela remained in hospital on Monday in a "critical but stable" condition, the government said. Mandela has been in a Pretoria hospital for more than three weeks receiving treatment for a recurring lung infection, his fourth hospitalization in six months. The faltering health of the 94-year-old, a figure admired globally as a symbol of struggle against injustice and racism, has reinforced a realization that the father of the post-apartheid South Africa will not be around forever. ... Full Story | Top |
| Taliban attack on supply base in Afghan capital kills six Monday, Jul 01, 2013 10:20 PM PDT  By Mirwais Harooni KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents including a suicide bomber in a truck killed six people in an attack on a foreign logistics and supply company in Kabul on Tuesday, police said, the latest in a string of daring assaults in the Afghan capital. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the early morning attack in an area in the north of Kabul used by a number of foreign companies supplying NATO forces in Afghanistan. Violence is escalating across Afghanistan as NATO-led combat troops prepare to leave by the end of 2014. ... Full Story | Top |
| Documents show Milwaukee archdiocese shielded pedophile priests Monday, Jul 01, 2013 08:27 PM PDT  By Brendan O'Brien and Geoffrey Davidian MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Roman Catholic Church officials in Milwaukee vigorously shielded pedophile priests and protected church funds from lawsuits during a decades-long sex abuse scandal, according to hundreds of documents released on Monday. The documents include letters and deposition testimony from Cardinal and Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan who, during his time as archbishop of Milwaukee from 2002 to 2009, appealed to Vatican on numerous occasions to help address the ongoing fallout from the scandal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Snowden threatens new U.S. leaks, asks numerous countries for asylum Monday, Jul 01, 2013 08:22 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn and Alexei Anishchuk LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden broke his silence on Monday for the first time since fleeing to Moscow over a week ago, blasting the Obama administration and saying he remained free to make new disclosures about U.S. spying activity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Arms ship seized by Yemen may have been Somalia-bound: U.N. Monday, Jul 01, 2013 07:58 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - An Iranian ship laden with arms seized by Yemeni authorities in January may also have been bound for Somalia, according to a confidential U.N. report seen by Reuters on Monday. Yemeni forces intercepted the ship, the Jihan 1, off Yemen's coast on January 23. U.S. and Yemeni officials said it was carrying a large cache of weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, being smuggled from Iran to insurgents in Yemen. The confidential U.N. report, by the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia's Islamist PM says Egypt scenario unlikely to happen there Monday, Jul 01, 2013 07:20 PM PDT By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - A situation like the one unfolding in Egypt is unlikely to happen in Tunisia - the cradle of the Arab Spring - Prime Minister Ali Larayedh of the Islamist led-government in Tunis, said late on Monday. "Our approach is characterized by consensus and partnership," said Larayedh, who is also a senior leader of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Mursi rebuffs army ultimatum, sets own course Monday, Jul 01, 2013 07:14 PM PDT  By Alastair Macdonald and Alexander Dziadosz CAIRO (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi rebuffed an army ultimatum to force a resolution to Egypt's political crisis, saying on Tuesday that he had not been consulted and would pursue his own plans for national reconciliation. The Islamist leader described as potentially confusing Monday's 48-hour deadline set by the head of the armed forces for him to agree on a common platform with liberal rivals who have drawn millions into the streets demanding Mursi's resignation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sprint Nextel must face NY suit over tax fraud - judge Monday, Jul 01, 2013 07:01 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp must face a lawsuit brought by New York state accusing the company of deliberately not collecting or paying millions of dollars of taxes for its cell phone service, a judge has ruled. In a decision made public on Monday, New York Supreme Court Justice O. Peter Sherwood denied a motion by Sprint to dismiss the lawsuit. Sherwood, however, dismissed a conspiracy claim against Sprint and ruled that certain claims applying to periods before March 31, 2008 are barred by a three-year statute of limitations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Dow officer charged in insider trading case Monday, Jul 01, 2013 06:29 PM PDT (Reuters) - A former officer of Dow Chemical Co has been charged by securities regulators in connection to an insider trading scheme based on Dow's 2008 acquisition of Rohm & Haas Co. Mack Murrell, formerly the Vice President of Information Systems at Dow, was among three charged with insider trading in a civil complaint filed on Monday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC alleged that Murrell, his long-time friend and a broker participated in a scheme that generated more than $1 million in illicit profits based on confidential information relating to the acquisition of ... Full Story | Top |
| Yoga in school not same as teaching religion, California judge rules Monday, Jul 01, 2013 06:16 PM PDT By Marty Graham SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A California judge refused on Monday to block the teaching of yoga as part of a public school's physical fitness program, rejecting parents' claims that the classes were an unconstitutional promotion of Eastern religions. Judge John Meyer acknowledged that yoga "at its roots is religious" but added that the modern practice of yoga, despite its origins in Hindu philosophy, is deeply engrained in secular U.S. society and "is a distinctly American cultural phenomenon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brother of Senator Mark Udall missing in Wyoming Monday, Jul 01, 2013 05:56 PM PDT DENVER (Reuters) - Aerial and ground crews searched the rugged mountains of western Wyoming for the younger brother of U.S. Senator Mark Udall who was overdue from a week-long back-country hike, authorities said on Monday. James "Randy" Udall, 61, was on a solo hike in the Wind River Range mountains in late June but failed to return, according to the Sublette County Sheriff's Office. "Mr. Udall was reported overdue on Friday, June 28, two days after his planned exit from the back country," the sheriff's office said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's foreign minister tenders resignation: state news agency Monday, Jul 01, 2013 05:23 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr has tendered his resignation, the state news agency MENA reported early on Tuesday, after millions of Egyptians rallied against President Mohamed Mursi. The report did not elaborate or say where it got the information. At least five other ministers have resigned since Sunday's mass protests. (Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; editing by Christopher Wilson) Full Story | Top |
| Mursi not consulted by army, says plans own path Monday, Jul 01, 2013 05:15 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi believes a statement by the head of the armed forces setting a deadline for politicians to forge a consensus risks causing confusion and will stick to his own plan for national reconciliation, his office said in a statement on Tuesday. Noting that Mursi was not consulted in advance by the general who made the announcement, the presidency said it "sees that some of the statements in it carry meanings that could cause confusion in the complex national environment". ... Full Story | Top |
| Jurors hear Zimmerman's account of killing Trayvon Martin Monday, Jul 01, 2013 04:53 PM PDT By Barbara Liston SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - Jurors on Monday heard George Zimmerman say he never tried to identify himself as a neighborhood watch volunteer to Trayvon Martin before fatally shooting the unarmed black teenager. "I was scared," Zimmerman said in a taped police interrogation three days after the killing in this central Florida town, which was replayed at his murder trial. ... Full Story | Top |
| Top Senate Republican McConnell gets election opponent Monday, Jul 01, 2013 04:52 PM PDT By Tim Ghianni (Reuters) - Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, will face a 2014 election challenge from popular Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. At a press conference on Monday in Frankfort, the state capital, Grimes said McConnell is vulnerable to defeat. "Kentucky is tired of 28 years of obstruction ... tired of a senior senator that has lost touch with Kentucky issues, voters and their values," said Grimes. A poll in late May by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling found McConnell and Grimes tied at 45 percent each. ... Full Story | Top |
| Opponents of Texas abortion restrictions rally at Capitol Monday, Jul 01, 2013 04:46 PM PDT  By Corrie MacLaggan AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Thousands of opponents of a Texas proposal to tighten abortion restrictions rallied outside the statehouse on Monday, giving a hero's welcome to Democratic state Senator Wendy Davis, whose 11-hour speech stalled the measure last week. As the Republican-dominated state legislature convened for a second special session on Monday, supporters said they expected the bill would pass this time. With few exceptions, it would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan's commercial hub faces growing extortion menace Monday, Jul 01, 2013 04:44 PM PDT  By Syed Raza Hassan KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - One afternoon a stranger called at Muhammad Faizanullah's stationery shop in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital, and wordlessly handed the man behind the counter two items: a piece of paper with a phone number scrawled on it, and a bullet. "The letter contained a demand for 200,000 Pakistani rupees ($2,000)," Faizanullah, 20, said. "The man said 'Just call this number and pay the amount, otherwise the bullet is meant for you. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Nour Party fears army return to politics Monday, Jul 01, 2013 04:38 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's second-largest Islamist party said on Monday it feared the army's return to public life "in a big way" after the military gave politicians 48 hours to resolve the country's political crisis. The Nour Party believed Egypt's national security was threatened by the division between the ruling Islamists and their opponents, Khaled Alam Eddin told the website of the Al-Ahram newspaper. "But we have fears about a return of the army once again in the picture in a big way," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Army reprises hero role in new Egyptian drama Monday, Jul 01, 2013 04:30 PM PDT By Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army reprised its role as hero in a new act of the country's political drama on Monday with a move celebrated by protesters as a decisive blow against unpopular president just two and half years after the military unseated his predecessor. Cairo's Tahrir Square erupted in party scenes reminiscent of the night Hosni Mubarak was forced from office in 2011, as hundreds of thousands of people rejoiced at an army move they believed heralded the end of President Mohamed Mursi's rule. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jennifer Lopez unaware of rights issues before Turkmenistan visit -publicist Monday, Jul 01, 2013 04:26 PM PDT  By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jennifer Lopez would not have performed a private concert in Turkmenistan at the weekend had she known about charges of human rights violations in the Central Asian nation, her publicist said on Monday. Human rights campaigners, who accuse Turkmenistan's government of restricting free speech and jailing political opponents, criticized Lopez for performing at the concert attended by Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Top Vatican bank managers resign after Monsignor's arrest Monday, Jul 01, 2013 04:18 PM PDT  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Two top managers of the scandal-plagued Vatican bank resigned on Monday following the arrest of a high-ranking cleric with close ties to the financial institution, in the latest of a string of embarrassments for the Holy See. Director Paolo Cipriani and deputy-director Massimo Tulli stepped down three days after the Vatican was rocked by the arrest of Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, who is accused of plotting with two other people to smuggle 20 million euros into Italy from Switzerland. ... Full Story | Top |
| Snowden blames Obama for trying to block his efforts to find asylum Monday, Jul 01, 2013 04:17 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, charged with leaking secret U.S. surveillance information, said the Obama administration was denying him his right to seek asylum, according to a statement released by the WikiLeaks organization on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt Islamists reject use of army to "assault legitimacy" Monday, Jul 01, 2013 04:16 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian Islamist alliance including the Muslim Brotherhood said late on Monday it rejected attempts to use the army to "assault legitimacy" and called for demonstrations to support the president. Egypt's military gave deadlocked politicians 48 hours to resolve the country's crisis after millions of people protested on Sunday against President Mohamed Mursi. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Somalia Central Bank a 'slush fund' for private payments - U.N. Monday, Jul 01, 2013 04:15 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Money at the Central Bank of Somalia is not used to run government institutions in the war-torn Horn of Africa country, with an average 80 percent of withdrawals made for private purposes, according to a U.N. report seen by Reuters on Monday. The confidential report by the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
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