Friday, June 29, 2012

Egypt's new president to take oath before court

Egypt's new president to take oath before court

Egypt's new president to take oath before court

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:39 AM PDT

A shirt with a picture of elected president Mohamed Mursi, with words that read "Congratulations to Egypt", is sold during a sit-in at Tahrir SquareCAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Islamist President-elect Mohamed Mursi will give a speech to crowds in Tahrir Square on Friday but his party appears to have lost in a power struggle with the ruling military council over where he will take his oath of office. Details about the historic swearing-in ceremony were announced in a late statement from the presidency on Thursday which stated that Mursi will take the oath of office in front of the Supreme Constitutional Court on Saturday at 11 a.m. Cairo time (0900 GMT). ...

Insight: Turkish generals look to life beyond prison bars

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:02 AM PDT

File photo of Turkey's PM Erdogan and Chief of Staff General Basbug praying during a funeral in AnkaraISTANBUL (Reuters) - They once bestrode Turkey the masters of all they surveyed. Governments were swept aside, a prime minister dispatched to the gallows. Even in quiet times, from their staff headquarters opposite parliament, they commanded obedience. Now around 20 percent of serving generals are in prison accused of plots against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, imaginatively codenamed Sledgehammer, Ergenekon, Blonde Girl, Moonlight. So sudden has been this reversal the generals appear robbed of their voice. ...

Iraq bomb attacks kill 21, wound scores

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 12:21 PM PDT

Residents inspect the site of a bomb attack in the town of TajiBAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bombings in and around Baghdad killed at least 21 people and wounded over 100 on Thursday, health and security sources said, the latest attacks in a bloody month that have stoked fears Iraq could return to broad sectarian fighting. Tensions have been high in the country since the last U.S. troops left in December, with ongoing political crises between Iraq's main Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions further aggravating concerns. ...

U.S. grants Iran sanctions exceptions to China

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 02:47 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States gave China a six-month reprieve from Iran financial sanctions on Thursday, avoiding a diplomatic spat with a country whose support it needs to try to quell violence in Syria and rein in Tehran's nuclear ambitions. With Thursday's decision to grant exceptions to China, which buys up to a fifth of Iran's oil exports, and Singapore, which buys Iranian fuel oil, the Obama administration has now spared all 20 of Iran's major oil buyers from its unilateral sanctions. ...

Analysis: Sudan rulers dig in as foes look for Arab Spring

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 03:06 PM PDT

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Outside the University of Khartoum, riot police in blue fatigues perch on pickup trucks, keeping watch as young women in bright headscarves and men in button-down shirts walk by carrying textbooks to class in Sudan's intense summer heat. Less than a week earlier, the campus - just a few hundred meters (yards) from the national security headquarters - was a battleground. Police fired teargas and used batons to break up hundreds of protesters, who threw rocks back at them. No one expects the shaky truce to last. ...

France's Strauss-Kahn and wife have separated: source

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 07:10 PM PDT

Former IMF chief Strauss-Kahn and wife Sinclair arrive at Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Roissy near ParisPARIS (Reuters) - Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who is facing a probe into his alleged involvement with a prostitution ring in France, and his wife have separated, a source said. Anne Sinclair, a wealthy heiress who recently relaunched her media career as a news editor at the Huffington Post's French edition, and Strauss-Kahn separated about a month ago and they are living in separate residences in Paris, said the source, who is close to Strauss-Kahn. ...

China hails space mission's success as crew returns to Earth

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:31 PM PDT

Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut, salute in front of the re-entry capsule of China's Shenzhou 9 spacecraft in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous RegionBEIJING (Reuters) - China's Shenzhou 9 spacecraft returned to Earth on Friday, ending a mission that put the country's first woman in space and completed a manned docking test critical to its goal of building a space station by 2020. The spacecraft's gumdrop-shaped return capsule descended to Earth by parachute and touched down shortly after 10 a.m. (0200 GMT) in China's northwestern Inner Mongolia region with its three-member crew, including female astronaut Liu Yang. Beijing has hailed the nearly two-week mission as a technical breakthrough for the country's growing space program. ...

Mexico offers reward for airport killer police

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 05:07 PM PDT

Luis Cardenas, division head of the federal police, addresses the media in a news conference in Mexico CityMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican federal police on Thursday offered a reward of 5 million pesos ($370,000) to help capture two officers accused of drug trafficking and shooting dead three other policemen inside the capital's international airport. The wanted officers had gone into the airport bathroom to receive cocaine from a Colombian traveler before the three policemen tried to arrest them on Monday, said Luis Cardenas, division head of the federal police. The officers opened fire and fled the airport along with another policeman who is also on the run, Cardenas said, calling them "traitors. ...

Mercosur won't slap sanctions on Paraguay, eyes China

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 05:41 PM PDT

MENDOZA, Argentina (Reuters) - The Mercosur trade bloc, which includes regional heavyweights Brazil and Argentina, will not impose economic sanctions on Paraguay despite concerns over the ousting of the country's president, officials said on Thursday. Paraguay's Senate removed Fernando Lugo from office last Friday in an impeachment trial that lasted a matter of hours, prompting criticism in the region and beyond. Mercosur responded by banning Paraguay from attending a summit in Argentina this week. ...

European leaders agree to closer long-term union

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:17 AM PDT

French President Francois Hollande arrives for a press conference at an EU Summit in Brussels, Friday, June 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)After tough all-night bargaining, European leaders appeared to salvage what had seemed to be a summit teetering toward failure by agreeing early Friday to funnel money directly to struggling banks, and in the longer term to form a tighter union.

Illegal West Bank settlement outpost cleared

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:44 AM PDT

Israel has finished evacuating some 30 settler families from an illegal West Bank outpost, encountering little resistance, police and the military said Friday.

Turkey fortifies Syrian border; bomb hits Damascus

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 01:00 PM PDT

In this photo taken Wednesday, June 27, 2012, a Turkish military truck transports a mobile missile launcher to the Syrian border, in Iskenderun, Turkey. Turkey is deploys antiaircraft units along its border with Syria following the downing of one of its warplanes by Syrians.(AP Photo)Turkey deployed anti-aircraft guns, rocket launchers and other weapons along its border with Syria on Thursday, a military buildup that came as world powers showed new urgency to resolve the crisis before it ignites the region.

Spoiler or voice of reason? Russian role In Syria

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:34 AM PDT

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, listens to question during his and Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalam, unseen, news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 28, 2012. Russia is denying comments by a U.S. official that it has endorsed a Syrian transition plan that includes a call for President Bashar Assad to give up power in favor of a national unity government saying that outside forces must concentrate on convincing opposition groups to soften their demands. But, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied that Thursday. "We are not supporting and will not support any external meddling,Russia takes center stage Saturday when the U.S. and other major powers gather in Geneva to try to map out a strategy to end the bloodshed in Syria, where activists say 14,000 people have died since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in March last year.

NKorean claims South agents tricked her to defect

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 10:30 PM PDT

North Korean Pak Jong Suk, center, sings a Korean song titled ìMy Unforgettable Pathî with her son and daughter-in-law while standing under portraits of former North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il after speaking to reporters at the Peopleís Palace of Culture in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Thursday, June 28, 2012. Pak told local and foreign reporters she was tricked into defecting to South Korea by agents who offered to arrange a reunion with her long-lost father, but returned home after being disillusioned with life in the South. Her account could not be verified by South Korean officials. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)In a rare news conference by a repatriated North Korean defector, a woman claimed she was tricked into defecting six years ago by South Korean agents but was welcomed by the North when she returned in May.

British police demand Assange report to station

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 04:55 PM PDT

This two picture combo shows from left; a Feb. 1, 2012 file photo of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as he arrives at the Supreme Court in London, and a June 20, 2012 photo of Ecuador's President Rafael Correa during a meeting at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Correa's objections to what he deems American interventionism in Latin America and his delight in Assange's massive uncorking of U.S. secrets appear to have persuaded the WikiLeaks chief that Ecuador offers his best shot at avoiding extradition to Sweden. But four days after Assange ducked into Ecuador's London embassy seeking political asylum, this South American nation's leader has yet to announce a decision. The choice may not be easy. (left photo - AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File; right photo -AP Photo/Victor Caivano, File)British police served Julian Assange on Thursday with a demand that he report to a police station as the first step in his extradition to Sweden to face sex crime allegations.

Mongolia vote snags as ruling party seeks recount

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 10:40 PM PDT

A nomad voter arrives at a yurt temporarily serving as a polling station in Hovt, western Mongolia, Thursday, June 28, 2012. Mongolians are voting for a new legislature, going to the polls by foot, car and even horse for an election centered on how best to distribute the benefits of Mongolia's mining boom. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCECalls by Mongolia's ruling party for a recount of votes at some polling stations Friday delayed results in sharply contested legislative elections that centered on how to spread the wealth from the poor but fast-growing country's mining boom.

Chinese astronauts parachute land after mission

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:28 AM PDT

In this photo released by China's Xinhua news agency, China's first female astronaut Liu Yang waves as she comes out of the re-entry capsule of Shenzhou-9 spacecraft in Siziwang Banner of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Friday, June 29, 2012. Liu and two other crew members emerged smiling from the capsule that returned safely to earth Friday from a 13-day mission to an orbiting module that is a prototype for a future space station. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Wang Jianmin) NO SALESChina's first female astronaut and two other crew members emerged smiling from a capsule that returned safely to Earth on Friday from a 13-day mission to an orbiting module that is a prototype for a future space station.

National service proposal riles Israeli Arabs

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:47 AM PDT

Israel's plan to overhaul its military draft has veered into turbulent new territory with the government's abrupt proposal to mobilize the country's Arab minority for civilian national service.

Tanker truck crash sparks fire, kills 20 in China

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 10:28 PM PDT

A tanker truck filled with gasoline collided with a truck in southern China on Friday, setting off an explosion and a massive fire that left 20 people dead and 14 others hurt.
Posted by Harshad at 1:14 AM

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