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| Spain to mourn train crash victims; driver freed pending trial Monday, Jul 29, 2013 12:29 AM PDT  By Tracy Rucinski SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (Reuters) - Spain was to hold a memorial service on Monday for the 79 people who died in the country's worst rail disaster in decades, hours after the driver of the train was freed pending trial on charges of reckless homicide. The ceremony takes place at 1900 (1 p.m.ET) in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, a world-famous pilgrimage city in northwestern Spain where the high-speed train derailed. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, several ministers and the King's children Prince Felipe and Infanta Elena will attend. ... Full Story | Top |
| Myanmar's president wants ex-governor back to head central bank Monday, Jul 29, 2013 12:26 AM PDT  By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - President Thein Sein has proposed that a former head of the central bank of Myanmar be brought back as governor as part of reforms that will make it independent from the Ministry of Finance, a source at the president's office said on Monday. "In his message sent to the Union Parliament, the president last week proposed appointing Kyaw Kyaw Maung, retired central bank governor, as the governor," the senior official said, asking not to be identified. Kyaw Kyaw Maung, a career banker in his early 70s, was governor of the central bank from 1997 to 2007. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's top diplomat heads for China, seeking better ties Monday, Jul 29, 2013 12:00 AM PDT  By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki will visit China on Monday and Tuesday for talks with senior officials, the latest in a series of efforts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to improve relations soured by a bitter territorial row. The hawkish Abe, who cemented his grip on power in an upper house election last week, has since then been signaling a desire for dialogue - even though Japan has raised its assessment of the risk of China's military buildup and maritime assertiveness. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wave of car bombings targets Iraqi Shi'ites, killing 44 Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 11:45 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Twelve car bombs exploded across Iraq early on Monday, killing at least 44 people in predominantly Shi'ite areas, police and medical sources said. At least 10 people were killed when two car bombs blew up near a bus station in the city of Kut, 150 kilometers (95 miles) southeast of the capital, police said. Four more died in a blast in the town of Mahmoudiya, about 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad. The rest of the bombings took place across Baghdad, in Sadr city, Habibiya, Hurriya, Bayaa, Ur, Shurta, Kadhimiya and Risala neighborhoods. ... Full Story | Top |
| Taiwan defense minister to step down as part of reshuffle Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 11:22 PM PDT  TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's government said on Monday the defense minister will step down amid a public outcry over the death of a soldier, in a bid, according to analysts, by President Ma Ying-jeou to boost his increasingly poor popularity ratings. The minister, Kao Hua-chu, who has held the post since 2009, has borne the brunt of criticism over the death this year of the soldier, Hung Chung-chiu, after punishment for minor violations of military conduct. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clashes break out in Libya's Benghazi after blasts, protests Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 10:49 PM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - At least one person was killed in overnight fighting in Benghazi, a security official said, as an upsurge in violence in the eastern Libyan city since last week's killing of a prominent political activist showed no signs of abating. The clashes erupted in the western Gwesha district between an armed group and military special forces, who stood guard hours after explosions rocked the city in attacks on buildings used by the judiciary. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cambodian opposition rejects poll results, demands inquiry Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 09:20 PM PDT  By Prak Chan Thul PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia's main opposition party on Monday rejected election results given by the government, which said long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen's party had won, and called for an inquiry into what it called massive manipulation of electoral rolls. The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), whose campaign was given a boost by the return from exile of leader Sam Rainsy, said it wanted an investigation committee set up with representatives from the political parties, the United Nations, the election authority and non-governmental organizations. "There were 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan says no schedule set for Japan-China summit Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 07:38 PM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Monday that no schedule had been set for a Japan-China leaders' summit, but repeated that bilateral ties were important and Japan's door was open for dialogue. Suga was replying to a question at a regular news conference after an advisor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday that Abe could soon hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Reporting by Linda Sieg and Stanley White; Editing by Shinichi Saoshiro) Full Story | Top |
| EU's Ashton on mediation mission to Egypt Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 07:12 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh and Matt Robinson CAIRO (Reuters) - The European Union's foreign policy chief was scheduled to hold crisis talks in Cairo on Monday after the weekend killing of at least 72 supporters of Egypt's deposed Islamist president plunged the pivotal Arab country deeper into turmoil. Underscoring the risk of more bloodshed, several thousand supporters of ousted President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood threatened to march on the military's intelligence headquarters in defiance of a warning from the army to stay away. ... Full Story | Top |
| Northern Ireland struggles to heal deep fracture Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 06:18 PM PDT By Sam Cage BELFAST (Reuters) - When U.S. President Barack Obama visited Northern Ireland before the G8 summit in June, he hailed its extraordinary progress in the 15 years since a peace agreement to end three decades of what locals call "The Troubles". On the other side of Belfast the next day, a petrol bomb thrown over a fence dividing Protestant from Catholic communities exploded next to a four-year-old girl playing in the street - just one example of sporadic violence still haunting the British province. The region of 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| At least 36 dead after coach plunges off viaduct in Italy Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 06:06 PM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - At least 36 people died after a coach plunged more than 15 meters (49 feet) off a viaduct in southern Italy on Sunday, a spokesman for the fire service said. Eleven people were pulled out alive from the stricken coach and taken to hospital, some with serious injuries, the spokesman said. Rescue operations are ongoing, he said. The coach was carrying about 48 people back to Naples after visiting Telese Terme in the southern region of Campania, Italian daily La Repubblica reported. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexican vice admiral ambushed, killed in drug war hot spot Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 06:05 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican vice admiral was killed on Sunday in an ambush on a rural road in the western state of Michoacan, where the president has sent military forces to regain control of areas dominated by waring drug gangs. Assailants armed with high-caliber rifles killed Vice Admiral Carlos Salazar, who commanded the naval base at the Pacific beach resort of Puerto Vallarta, along with another officer, the navy said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to resume after three years Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 05:44 PM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed and Ori Lewis WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel and the Palestinians plan to resume peace negotiations this week for the first time in nearly three years after an intense effort by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to bring them back to the table. The talks are scheduled to resume in Washington on Monday evening and Tuesday and will be conducted by senior aides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the State Department said. ... Full Story | Top |
| At least 24 dead after coach plunges off viaduct in Italy Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 04:42 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - At least 24 people died on Sunday after a coach plunged more than 15 meters off a viaduct in southern Italy, a spokesman for the fire service said. Eleven people have been pulled out alive from the stricken coach and taken to hospital, some with serious injuries, the spokesman said. The coach was carrying more than 40 people back to Naples following a pilgrimage in the southern region of Campania, Italian daily La Repubblica reported. "The situation is dramatic," said the fire service spokesman, adding that several other vehicles had also been involved in the accident. ... Full Story | Top |
| Millions at Brazil Mass hear pope ask youth to change world Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 04:37 PM PDT  By Philip Pullella and Anthony Boadle RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Pope Francis left Brazil on Sunday with Rio still pulsating with excitement after a historic beachfront Mass for more than 3 million people in which he challenged young people to build a new world based on tolerance and love. Rio's famed Copacabana beach, usually the venue for scantily-clad sun-seekers and revelry, became a massive Catholic campground for the closing event of a world youth festival. ... Full Story | Top |
| Party of PM Hun Sen wins Cambodian election, majority slashed Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 04:36 PM PDT  By Prak Chan Thul PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia's ruling party won Sunday's general election but with a much-reduced majority, according to the government, a result that will be seen as a setback for authoritarian leader Hun Sen, one of the world's longest-serving prime ministers. Khieu Kanharith, government spokesman and information minister, said on his Facebook page the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) won 68 seats in parliament to the opposition's 55, adding that was the final count. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisian opposition may set up rival 'salvation government' Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 04:15 PM PDT By Tarek Amara and Erika Solomon TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's secular opposition said on Sunday it might set up an alternative "salvation government" to challenge the Islamist-led ruling coalition and show its anger at the assassinations of two leftist politicians in six months. Opposition leaders, who have also been emboldened by the Egyptian army's overthrow of an Islamist president this month, said they had no interest in reconciliation with the dominant Islamist Ennahda party. ... Full Story | Top |
| Driver of derailed Spanish train charged with 79 counts of homicide Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 04:01 PM PDT  By Tracy Rucinski SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (Reuters) - The driver of a Spanish high-speed train that derailed and killed 79 people was released pending trial on charges of reckless homicide, a judge ruled on Sunday night. Francisco Garzon, 52, had been under arrest since Thursday. He is suspected of driving the train too fast through a tight curve on the outskirts of the northwestern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela. ... Full Story | Top |
| Togo ruling party wins parliamentary majority: election commission Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 03:52 PM PDT LOME (Reuters) - Togo's ruling party has won more than two-thirds of the seats in last week's parliamentary election, according to results announced by the tiny West African nation's elections commission late on Sunday. Opposition parties had hoped to win the parliamentary majority needed to push through reforms to curb the power of one of Africa's oldest political dynasties. President Faure Gnassingbe's family has ruled Togo for nearly five decades. But Gnassingbe's UNIR party won 62 out of 91 seats in the single-chamber body, the commission announced on national television. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malians flock to vote in bid to rebuild broken nation Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 03:33 PM PDT  By David Lewis and Adama Diarra BAMAKO (Reuters) - Ballot counting began in Mali after voters turned out in large numbers on Sunday for a presidential election they hope will provide a fresh start for the West African nation after more than a year of turmoil, war and an army coup. Polling ended at 12.00 p.m. ET and, as night fell, officials started tallying results. Election officials at a school in Bamako used electric lamps to check ballot papers for thumbprints and witnesses sat at wooden students' desks jotting down results using mobile phones for light. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Brotherhood stands ground after killings Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 02:51 PM PDT By Maggie Fick and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters stood their ground near a Cairo mosque on Sunday, a day after at least 72 were shot dead by Egyptian security forces, braced for a move against them by the army chief who ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made his first appearance since Saturday's bloodshed, smiling before television cameras at a graduation ceremony for police recruits in starched white uniforms. ... Full Story | Top |
| Explosions rock Libya's Benghazi, protesters take to streets Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 02:35 PM PDT  By Feras Bosalum and Ghaith Shennib TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Explosions rocked the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Sunday in what appeared to be attacks on judicial buildings, a security official said, sparking protests a day after more than 1,100 inmates escaped during a prison riot there. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Benghazi's streets denouncing the latest violence, according to residents. Thirteen people were slightly wounded in one of the blasts which targeted a court in the north of the city, said Interior Ministry spokesman Rami Kaal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish police detain seven protesters in and around Istanbul park Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 02:03 PM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police detained three people on Sunday after a group of protesters tried to hold an Islamic fast-breaking meal in a park in central Istanbul that has been the flashpoint for anti-government demonstrations. At least four more people were detained a few hours later following the iftar, the dinner held each evening during the holy month of Ramadan, which was organized by protesters on a street nearby, witnesses said. They said police backed by armored vehicles approached the crowd in order to disperse it, and people began shouting slogans. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria Islamists kill 20 in attack on northeast: military Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 01:35 PM PDT MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants attacked a fishing settlement in northeast Nigeria over the weekend, killing 20 civilians, the military said on Sunday. The assault targeted Baga, a town on the shores of Lake Chad, until recently a stronghold for Islamist sect Boko Haram. A concerted military crackdown in the northeast since mid-May has weakened the four-year-old insurgency, which is fighting to carve an Islamic state out of religiously-mixed Nigeria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli-Palestinian talks to start on Tuesday: Palestinian official Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 01:05 PM PDT AMMAN, Jordan (Reuters) - Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are set to begin in Washington on Tuesday, a senior Palestinian official told Reuters on Sunday. Nabil Abu Rdaineh, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who was in the Jordanian capital Amman, said Abbas had received an official invitation to come to the talks from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The Palestinian news agency, WAFA, quoted Abu Rdaineh as saying that the first meeting would aim to develop a procedural working plan for both sides to enable them to advance in talks in the coming months. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt minister wants Brothers in politics, not arms Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 12:16 PM PDT  By Michael Georgy and Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood should be part of Egypt's political future and must stop inciting violence, the country's foreign minister said on Sunday, a day after the group accused security forces of killing 72 of its supporters in the streets. Nabil Fahmy warned that deepening political divisions would lead "ultimately to more tragedies" and accused the Brotherhood of igniting bloodshed that is posing a security threat to Egypt and hindering efforts to revive the fragile economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Little sign of economic stress in North Korea's well-swept capital Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 11:52 AM PDT  By Se Young Lee PYONGYANG (Reuters) - North Korea's economy is believed to be virtually lifeless after decades of mismanagement, isolation and sanctions aimed at foiling its nuclear ambitions but its showcase capital, Pyongyang, shows no hint of calamity. Secretive North Korea allowed in a large group of foreign journalists last week to cover Saturday's lavish celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, which North Korea says it won. No expense seems to have been spared for monuments to the conflict upon which the state was founded. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three loud explosions heard in Libya's Benghazi: witnesses Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 11:49 AM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Three loud explosions rocked the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Sunday, in what appeared to be attacks on judicial institutions there, a resident and a security source said. Resident Hassan Bakoush told Reuters by telephone that he heard an explosion at the court in the north of the city: "It was very loud and I saw the smoke." "Some balconies of nearby buildings are damaged," he added. A security source said there were two more explosions - one in the vicinity of an office of the justice ministry and the other near a court in the south of the city. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malians flock to vote in bid to rebuild broke nation Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 09:11 AM PDT  By David Lewis and Adama Diarra BAMAKO (Reuters) - Malians turned out in large numbers to vote on Sunday in a presidential election they hope will provide a fresh start for the West African nation after more than a year of turmoil, war and an army coup. From the lush, bustling riverside capital, Bamako, to the northern desert town of Timbuktu, voters crammed into schools turned into polling stations for the day, protected by Malian, French and United Nations forces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bahrain orders tougher penalties ahead of protests Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 09:09 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain ordered tougher penalties for what it called terrorist acts on Sunday ahead of planned anti-government protests next month. Bahrain's lawmakers agreed at an extraordinary session on Sunday to proposals including stripping those who commit or call for 'terrorism crimes' of their nationality and preventing any protests from taking place in the capital Manama, the state news agency BNA said. King Hamad ordered authorities to put the recommendations into effect as soon as possible "through the available constitutional and legal channels", BNA said. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombian peace talks resume in Cuba as conflict rages Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 08:41 AM PDT  By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) - The Colombian government and leftist FARC rebels resumed peace negotiations in Havana on Sunday after a recess of more than two weeks, during which 19 soldiers and a number of rebels were killed and rural protests left four farmers dead and several police injured. More than 200,000 people have died and millions have been displaced in fighting since the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, was founded in 1964 as a communist agrarian reform movement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Zimbabwe's Mugabe warns rival against early poll win claim Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 08:39 AM PDT  By Cris Chinaka HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Sunday warned his main rival Morgan Tsvangirai that he would be arrested if he claimed victory before official results were announced in an election this week. In his final campaign rally ahead of a presidential and parliamentary vote on Wednesday, Mugabe said his ZANU-PF party was confident of victory, which would extend his three decades in power. But he expressed concern that Tsvangirai, who is making a third run at the presidency, had threatened not to wait for official results from the electoral authorities. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbian finance minister cedes economy brief, averts risk of snap poll Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 08:36 AM PDT  BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbian Finance Minister Mladjan Dinkic agreed on Sunday to cede his economy portfolio, averting possible snap elections that could have dented the country's ambitions to join the European Union. Dinkic said he would remain as finance minister, while the economy portfolio would go to the SNS, Serbia's biggest party, paving the way for a fuller cabinet reshuffle. Dinkic had previously resisted splitting up his ministry, but Prime Minister Ivica Dacic warned on Saturday that the coalition would go on without him if he did not. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian ministers publish incomes online in transparency drive Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 08:33 AM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - All the ministers in Enrico Letta's left-right coalition government have published their incomes and assets online, aiming to set an example of transparency as they step up the fight against tax evasion. Italian newspapers on Sunday ran tables and illustrated charts ranking the ministers based on their reported salaries and wealth. Justice Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri topped the tables with a reported income of about 319,000 euros ($423,100) for 2012 and a long list of property, land and other investments. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. House set to vote on tough Iran sanctions bill this week Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 08:16 AM PDT By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are due to vote on a tough Iran sanctions bill this week that seeks to squeeze the Islamic Republic's oil exports to a trickle. The Republican-led House is due to vote on Wednesday on the bill that seeks to cut Iran's oil exports by another 1 million barrels per day within one year, congressional aides said. The bill, expected to pass easily in the House, would not become law immediately as no companion legislation has yet passed in the Senate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel approves prisoner release ahead of Palestinian talks Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 07:08 AM PDT  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel on Sunday approved the release of 104 Arab prisoners in a move intended to facilitate the restart of peace talks with the Palestinians and end nearly three years of diplomatic standstill. Thirteen ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet authorized the release, seven voted against and two abstained, a government official said. (Reporting by Ori Lewis; editing by Mike Collett-White) Full Story | Top |
| Migrants say 31 missing after boat sinks off Libya: ANSA Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 06:56 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - The Italian coastguard has rescued 22 migrants from a boat which sank off the coast of Libya but more than 30 are still missing at sea, ANSA news agency said on Sunday. The coastguard said in total it had rescued more than 500 people trying to reach Europe over the weekend. Most are from sub-Saharan Africa and departed from the Libyan coast, A coastguard spokesman confirmed the rescue of 22 people from the sinking on Friday but could not confirm survivors' accounts, reported by ANSA, that 31 were still missing and feared to have perished. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazil's Rousseff rules out more spending cuts: newspaper Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 06:54 AM PDT  SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff ruled out additional spending cuts or a reduction in the number of government ministries from 39, saying the benefits of such measures to spur economic growth would be minimal, Folha de São Paulo newspaper reported on Sunday. Rousseff said in an interview with Folha that all possible measures to contain budget expenditures have been taken and that trimming the number of ministries might hamper the government's efforts to reduce social and economic inequality. ... Full Story | Top |
| Liberals, smaller tribes win seats in Kuwait vote after boycott Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 06:11 AM PDT  By Sylvia Westall KUWAIT (Reuters) - Liberals and candidates from some of Kuwait's more marginalized tribes have won seats in a parliament which may prove more cooperative with the ruling family after opposition Islamists and populists boycotted the election. Saturday's ballot was the sixth since 2006 in the major oil producer, where political upheaval and bureaucracy have held up the vast majority of projects in a 30-billion-dinar ($105-billion) economic development plan announced in 2010. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain's Socialists all but level with ruling conservatives: poll Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 06:03 AM PDT  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's opposition Socialists have all but drawn level in the polls with the ruling centre-right for the first time since elections in 2011, a survey showed, as a corruption scandal erodes the government's popularity. The People's Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy would win 23 percent of the vote if elections were held now, according to the survey published on Sunday in newspaper El Pais. That is little more than half the 44.6 percent that took the PP to an absolute parliamentary majority in the November 2011 ballot. ... Full Story | Top |
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