Aleppo rebels say they stand firm in "regime's grave"

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• Aleppo rebels say they stand firm in "regime's grave"
• Japan flags Chinese army's growing role as risk issue
• U.N. team to tour flood-hit North Korea, no word from leader Kim
• Security in focus as Clinton heads to Africa
• Survivors of crash that killed Cuba's Paya say it was an accident
• U.S. drive against al Shabaab pressures Somali-American money transfers
• Australia finds record drug haul among Thai terracotta pots
• Yemen confirms Italian is detained by tribesmen
• Pakistan to push for intelligence sharing at U.S. talks
• Russia to get stronger nuclear navy, Putin says
• Targeted in Syria civil war, Iraqis flee back home
• Taliban happy Pakistan reopened NATO supply line
• Deutsche Bank earns sag on crisis volatility
• Tens of thousands flee Syria's largest city
• Romney angers Palestinians with pro-Israel comment
• America's uneasy Gulf allies adding to arsenals
• Radical cleric to launch new bid for release in UK
• Assange mom says WikiLeaks founder suffering
• EYES ON LONDON: Big night approaches for Phelps
• So far, London Olympics wins gold medal for gaffes

Aleppo rebels say they stand firm in "regime's grave" Posted: 30 Jul 2012 10:36 PM PDT ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - The Syrian military has stepped up its campaign to drive rebels out of Aleppo, where fighters said they were holding firm, vowing to turn the country's largest city into the "regime's grave". Opposition activists denied a government declaration that its forces had recaptured the Salaheddine district, in southwest Aleppo, straddling the most obvious route for Syrian troop reinforcements coming from the south. A Reuters reporter heard helicopters firing heavy machineguns over the eastern part of the city on Tuesday for the first time in several days. ...

Japan flags Chinese army's growing role as risk issue Posted: 31 Jul 2012 12:01 AM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan on Tuesday flagged the Chinese army's growing role in shaping the country's foreign policy as a security risk, saying a sense of caution exists across East Asia about Beijing's apparent military expansion in the region. In its annual defense white paper, Tokyo said some believe that relations between the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Communist Party leadership were "getting complex" and said this was a matter of concern. ...

U.N. team to tour flood-hit North Korea, no word from leader Kim Posted: 30 Jul 2012 09:58 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - A United Nations team will visit North Korea from Tuesday to assess damage from recent floods with a view to developing an aid plan, a U.N. official said, although the North's new leadership is yet to make any detailed response to the disaster. The team will include some U.N. workers already in North Korea, Christopher de Bono, chief of communications for East Asia and the Pacific for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), told Reuters on Monday. The trip follows a meeting between U.N. ...

Security in focus as Clinton heads to Africa Posted: 30 Jul 2012 10:02 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton departs this week on a trip that will take her both to Africa's newest nation, South Sudan, and on a visit to the continent's elder statesman, 94-year-old anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela. While Clinton's public focus will be on Africa's democratic achievements and economic potential, the trip also underscores U.S. security ties in the face of an array of growing threats --from Islamist extremists to narcotics cartels. ...

Survivors of crash that killed Cuba's Paya say it was an accident Posted: 30 Jul 2012 07:44 PM PDT HAVANA (Reuters) - Two European politicians who survived a car crash that killed prominent Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya said on Monday that no other vehicle was involved and denied suggestions they had been deliberately forced off the road. Their versions appeared to support the Cuban government's description of the accident, contradicting suggestions by Paya's family and some fellow dissidents that another vehicle may have hit the car from behind to cause the crash. They have called for an international investigation. ...

U.S. drive against al Shabaab pressures Somali-American money transfers Posted: 30 Jul 2012 07:46 PM PDT (Reuters) - A Chicago man pleaded guilty on Monday to planning to join an al Qaeda-linked group in Somalia, the latest U.S. prosecution in a crackdown that has made it harder for Somali-Americans to send money to the war-torn country. Shaker Masri, 28, was arrested in August 2010 as he prepared to leave the United States and agreed to serve nearly 10 years in prison, the U.S. Justice Department said. The prosecutions of Masri and others since the Sept 11, 2001, attacks are designed to stop support to al Shabaab, a militant group the United States says has ties to al-Qaeda. ...

Australia finds record drug haul among Thai terracotta pots Posted: 30 Jul 2012 09:49 PM PDT SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police on Tuesday seized a record half a tonne of the drug ice and heroin worth up to A$500 million ($525 million) hidden in a shipment of terracotta pots from Thailand. Seven people, including four from Hong Kong, were arrested after a year-long investigation following a tip-off from U.S. authorities, police said. The 306 kg of methamphetamine, also known as ice, was Australia's biggest seizure of the drug, while the 252 kg of heroin was the nation's third largest-haul of heroin. ...

Yemen confirms Italian is detained by tribesmen Posted: 30 Jul 2012 03:14 PM PDT SANAA (Reuters) - An Italian embassy security officer who was kidnapped in Yemen on Sunday was seized by tribesmen and is being detained in the oil-producing province of Maarib, Yemen's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. The abductors are demanding compensation for the arrest of one of their relatives and the return of land they say they own in the capital Sanaa, a tribal source told Reuters. The incident highlights continuing instability in Yemen five months after former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh was formally replaced by his deputy under a plan designed to forestall a slide into lawlessness. ...

Pakistan to push for intelligence sharing at U.S. talks Posted: 30 Jul 2012 03:03 PM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Pakistan's spy chief will call for an end to U.S. military drone strikes in its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and push for a sharing of technology and intelligence during a visit to Washington this week, the country's interior minister said on Monday. But indications are that Islamabad's demands for a halt to drone attacks may receive a less-than-sympathetic hearing from top Obama administration officials. ...

Russia to get stronger nuclear navy, Putin says Posted: 30 Jul 2012 01:57 PM PDT SEVERODVINSK, Russia (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin oversaw the start of construction of one of Russia's newest generation submarines on Monday and vowed to boost nuclear naval forces to safeguard the country's position as a leading sea power. Warning that its navy would protect top energy producer Russia's interests in the oil-rich Arctic, Putin led the ceremony to begin building the submarine Prince Vladimir, named after the ruler who founded a precursor state to modern Russia. ...

Targeted in Syria civil war, Iraqis flee back home Posted: 30 Jul 2012 11:36 PM PDT When he saw the bodies of men and women left rotting in the streets of Damascus, Hassan Hadi knew that the sectarian violence he had fled Iraq to escape years ago had now come to Syria. Despairingly, he left his belongings and fled again, back home.

Taliban happy Pakistan reopened NATO supply line Posted: 30 Jul 2012 11:25 PM PDT As the United States trumpeted its success in persuading Pakistan to end its seven-month blockade of supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan, another group privately cheered its good fortune: the Taliban.

Deutsche Bank earns sag on crisis volatility Posted: 30 Jul 2012 11:49 PM PDT Deutsche Bank said earnings fell 46 percent in the second quarter as the eurozone debt crisis hurt investment banking activity and revenue from trading securities.

Tens of thousands flee Syria's largest city Posted: 30 Jul 2012 01:56 PM PDT Smoking a cigarette outside a Turkish hospital near the Syrian border, a man in a gray gown and flip-flops held his sleeping 2-year-old daughter, Aya. On Aya's right eye was a bandage. In her left hand was a chocolate bar.

Romney angers Palestinians with pro-Israel comment Posted: 30 Jul 2012 01:22 PM PDT Mitt Romney's campaign stop in Israel left behind furious Palestinians charging that the Republican presidential candidate hasn't fully grasped the complexities of one of the world's most intractable conflicts.

America's uneasy Gulf allies adding to arsenals Posted: 30 Jul 2012 11:16 AM PDT While Iran's military loudly trumpets every new project or purported advance in hopes of rattling the U.S. and its Gulf Arab allies, the U.S. is quietly answering with an array of proposed arms sales across the region as part of a wider effort to counter Tehran.

Radical cleric to launch new bid for release in UK Posted: 31 Jul 2012 12:09 AM PDT Radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada is launching a new legal bid at Britain's High Court for release from detention.

Assange mom says WikiLeaks founder suffering Posted: 30 Jul 2012 09:57 AM PDT The mother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says her son's health is suffering after more than a month confined to Ecuador's embassy in London.

EYES ON LONDON: Big night approaches for Phelps Posted: 30 Jul 2012 10:02 PM PDT Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you:

So far, London Olympics wins gold medal for gaffes Posted: 30 Jul 2012 11:06 AM PDT An appearance by the hapless comic character Mr. Bean was one of the highlights of the London Olympics opening ceremony. Yet a series of Keystone Cops moments has games organizers hoping they don't keep up this slapstick routine in real life.

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