Saturday, June 30, 2012

As Syria writhes, divided powers meet in Geneva

As Syria writhes, divided powers meet in Geneva

As Syria writhes, divided powers meet in Geneva

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:48 PM PDT

A security person inspects a wrecked car at the site of an explosion outside Syria's highest court in central DamascusGENEVA (Reuters) - Foreign ministers of world powers gather in Geneva on Saturday to try and forge a common strategy to end the bloodshed in Syria, but differences between Russia and the West may thwart them. Kofi Annan, the former U.N. chief who is special international envoy on Syria, has been hoping for consensus on a plan for a unity government that, by excluding from the leadership figures deemed too divisive, would effectively mean President Bashar al-Assad stepping down. ...

Egypt's first Islamist president to be sworn in

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 12:41 AM PDT

A boy stands near t-shirts with images of elected president Mursi during a sit-in in CairoCAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's President-elect Mohamed Mursi takes his oath on Saturday, a day after the Islamist leader pre-empted the formal ceremony by swearing himself in before ecstatic crowds in Tahrir Square and warning off generals trying to curb his powers. They have already clipped the prerogatives of the bearded leader now in the palace once occupied by Hosni Mubarak, who is serving a life sentence 16 months after Egyptians toppled him. ...

Greek militant group claims Microsoft attack

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 01:01 PM PDT

A security guard stands near a damaged van outside the burnt entrance of Microsoft's Greek headquarters at Marousi suburb, north of AthensATHENS (Reuters) - A little-known leftist militant group claimed responsibility on Friday for an attack on Microsoft's Greek headquarters earlier this week. Hooded attackers rammed a van packed with gas canisters into the Microsoft building in Athens on Wednesday and then set the vehicle on fire, causing damage but no injuries. At least two people wielding pistols and a machinegun kept security guards away as they carried out the attack, police said. In a statement published on the Internet, the International Revolutionary Front said it singled out Microsoft to strike a blow at capitalism. ...

Strong quake hits remote western China: USGS

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 06:34 PM PDT

A graphic locates the site of an earthquake in western ChinaBEIJING (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.3 quake struck a remote region of western China, close to the Kazakhstan border early on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, injuring around 10 people. The quake, initially reported as a magnitude 6.5, struck at 5:07 a.m. local time on Saturday (2107 GMT on Friday), and was centered 87 miles southwest of the town of Shihezi in Xinjiang, home to the mainly Muslim Uighur people. ...

U.N. publishes report on North Korea sanctions violations

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 08:06 PM PDT

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - After more than a month's delay due to Chinese objections, the United Nations on Friday published a report on North Korea that says a panel of independent experts is investigating reports of possible North Korean arms deals with Syria and Myanmar. The 74-page report, which was seen by Reuters last month, says North Korea "continues actively to defy the measures in the (U.N. sanctions) resolutions." The so-called Panel of Experts submitted the report to the U.N. Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee last month. U.N. ...

Iran's U.N. envoy criticizes U.S., EU over nuclear talks

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 03:54 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Western powers negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program have not been "serious enough" in their attempts to resolve an escalating stand-off with the Islamic Republic, Tehran's U.N. envoy said on Friday. Iran held what officials said were intense talks in Moscow earlier this month with the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany - the so-called P5+1 - about its nuclear program, but a breakthrough once again failed to materialize. "It is clear for us that some members of the P5+1 for whatever reasons ... ...

U.S. drops charges against Kuwaiti held at Guantanamo

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 06:31 PM PDT

MIAMI (Reuters) - The Pentagon dropped war crimes charges against a Kuwaiti prisoner at Guantanamo on Friday and a U.S. official said the United States and Kuwait were in talks about the possibility of repatriating the last two Kuwaitis held there. Kuwait is a U.S. ally and the Gulf state's parliament has condemned the continued detention of its citizens, Faiz al Kandari and Fawazi al Odah, at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. military base in Cuba, where both have been held for more than a decade. Kuwait's state news agency KUNA reported on Friday that a Kuwaiti delegation had held talks with U.S. ...

China to lead talks on nuclear definitions

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 06:31 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China will lead talks among the five original nuclear-armed states to define arms control terms, the group said on Friday, a first for Beijing and a step that might ultimately bring greater clarity about its nuclear arsenal and strategy. A working group of the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China is expected to launch talks this summer on a glossary of nuclear terms, an arcane but necessary step for wider talks on disarmament. ...

Mercosur welcomes Venezuela, suspends Paraguay

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 06:00 PM PDT

MENDOZA, Argentina (Reuters) - The Mercosur trade bloc - which includes regional heavyweights Brazil and Argentina - will make Venezuela a full member next month, uniting South America's biggest grains and energy exporters. At a presidential summit on Friday, Mercosur's leftist leaders also decided to extend Paraguay's suspension over the ouster of President Fernando Lugo until democracy is restored via new elections, scheduled for April 2013. No economic sanctions were adopted against Paraguay but its officials will be banned from participating in Mercosur meetings. ...

Mexican election watchdog under pressure in Sunday's vote

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 04:40 PM PDT

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico, a country long synonymous with vote-rigging, is better equipped than ever to prevent fraud in Sunday's national elections, according to experts, but voters still have grave doubts. The Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) will oversee the presidential vote that polls suggest will be won by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), whose frequently tainted elections helped it maintain power from 1929 to 2000. ...

Suu Kyi returns from triumphant European tour

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 10:16 PM PDT

FILE - In this July 26, 2012 file photo, Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, left, and French President Francois Hollande walk in the Elysee Palace garden in Paris. The Myanmar opposition leader's triumphant two-week tour of Europe, her first return in 24 years, triggered an outpouring of nostalgia that put a softer, more personable face on the woman known for her steely defiance and stoicism. (AP Photo/Bertrand Langlois, Pool, File)Cheering crowds welcomed Aung San Suu Kyi home Saturday from her triumphant tour of Europe, where she won enthusiastic support for her role in Myanmar's democratic transition and was celebrated like a head of state.

Egypt president-elect vows to fight for authority

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 06:06 PM PDT

Egyptian protesters react as they listen to the speech of Egypt's President-elect Mohammed Morsi, in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, June 29, 2012. In front of tens of thousands of cheering supporters, Egypt's first Islamist and civilian president-elect vowed Saturday that nobody can take away his authority and symbolically read an oath of office in Cairo's Tahrir Square on the eve of his official inauguration. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)President-elect Mohammed Morsi roused the masses in Tahrir Square on Friday, vowing to fight on behalf of the people and defying the ruling generals by reading a symbolic oath of office a day early at the site where Egypt's revolution was born.

Chimps attack American at South Africa sanctuary

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 04:44 PM PDT

In this photo taken Feb. 1, 2011, chimpanzees sit in an enclosure at the Chimp Eden rehabilitation center, near Nelspruit, South Africa. A paramedic official says chimpanzees at a sanctuary for the animals in eastern South Africa bit and dragged a man at the reserve, badly injuring him. In a statement, Jeffrey Wicks of the Netcare911 medical emergency services company said the man he described as a ranger was leading a tour group at the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee Eden Thursday June 28, 2012 when two chimpanzees grabbed his feet and pulled him under a fence into their enclosure. The international institute founded by primatologist Jane Goodall opened the sanctuary in 2005. It is a home to chimpanzees rescued from further north in Africa, where they are hunted for their meat of held captive as pets. (AP Photo/Erin Conway-Smith)Chimpanzees at a sanctuary founded by famed primatologist Jane Goodall pulled a Texas graduate student into their fenced-off enclosure, dragging him nearly a half-mile and biting his ear and hands.

Endurance athlete Palfrey tries Cuba-Florida swim

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 12:51 AM PDT

British-Australian swimmer Penny Palfrey begins her bid to complete a record swim from Cuba to Florida, in Havana, Cuba, Friday, June 29, 2012. Palfrey aims to be the first woman to swim the Straits of Florida without the aid of a shark cage. Instead she's relying on equipment that surrounds her with an electrical field to deter the predators. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)Marathon swimmer Penny Palfrey stroked across the Straits of Florida early Saturday as she attempted a record 103-mile (166-kilometer) unassisted swim from Cuba to Florida that tests the limits of human endurance.

Paraguay suspended from Mercosur, no sanctions

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 06:23 PM PDT

Leaders, from left to right in the front row, Bolivia's President Evo Morales, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez, Uruguay's President Jose Mujica, Chile's President Sebastian Pinera, pose for a group photo with, back row left to right, Colombia's Foreign Minister Maria Holguin, Suriname's President Desi Bouterse, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, Peru's President Ollanta Humala, and Venezuela's Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro at a meeting by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in Mendoza, Argentina, Friday, June 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)The Mercosur trade bloc suspended Paraguay's membership on Friday for having impeached and ousted its president but will not slap economic sanctions on the poor, landlocked country.

Syrian troops besiege rebellious suburb

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 10:04 AM PDT

In this Thursday, June 28, 2012 photo, embers of the Free Syrian Army are seen in a neighborhood of Damascus, Syria. Much of the violence that has gripped Syria has been sanctioned by the government to crush dissent. But rebel fighters are launching increasingly deadly attacks on regime targets, and several huge suicide bombings this year suggest al-Qaida or other extremists are joining the battle. A bomb blast rocked central Damascus on Thursday near a busy market and the country's main justice complex, wounding at least three people and sending a cloud of black smoke into the air. (AP Photo)Syrian troops bombarded a rebellious suburb of the nation's capital with tank and artillery shells Friday, killing dozens of people during a particularly bloody few days across the country, activists said.

Europe's bold rescue plan still awaiting details

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 09:12 PM PDT

Europe's leaders surprised skeptics with a bold plan to pump cash into troubled banks, reduce borrowing costs for Italy and Spain and stop forcing austerity on every government that needs aid.

Strong quake jolts western China; at least 17 hurt

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 07:14 PM PDT

A strong earthquake jolted China's far-western frontier early Saturday, shaking buildings and cutting off electricity in the remote mountainous area and injuring at least 17 people.

Venezuelan TV channel pays $2.2 million fine

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 02:01 PM PDT

The Venezuelan television channel Globovision on Friday paid a fine of more than $2 million imposed by regulators, calling it an unfair penalty but saying it had no choice after the Supreme Court ordered an embargo on its assets for nonpayment.

US: Some Taliban at Gitmo could go to Afghanistan

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 01:22 PM PDT

The Obama administration is considering a new gambit to restart peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan that would send several Taliban detainees from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a prison in Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan officials told The Associated Press.
Posted by Harshad at 1:30 AM

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