Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Top al Qaeda strategist killed in Pakistan

Top al Qaeda strategist killed in Pakistan

Top al Qaeda strategist killed in Pakistan

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 05:42 PM PDT

PAKISTAN-LIBI/ TWASHINGTON/PESHAWAR (Reuters) - A U.S. drone strike in Pakistan killed one of al Qaeda's most powerful figures, the U.S. government said on Tuesday, dealing the biggest in a series of blows to the militant group since the raid that killed founder Osama bin Laden last year. Abu Yahya al-Libi, a veteran militant said to have been a leader of the group's operations, and who survived previous U.S. attacks, was killed in the drone strike early Monday morning on a hideout in North Waziristan in Pakistan's tribal areas, officials said. ...

Syria bars diplomats, gunships in action

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 08:16 AM PDT

Demonstrators protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Binsh near IdlibBEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's government banned 17 Western diplomats and its helicopter gunships pounded rebels in a coastal province on Tuesday as President Bashar al-Assad defied international pressure to halt his campaign to crush the uprising against his rule. The declaration that ambassadors from the United States, Canada, Turkey and several European countries were unwelcome was retaliation for the expulsion of Syrian envoys from their capitals last week, following the massacre of more than 100 civilians by suspected Assad loyalists. ...

China's Hu sees role for regional bloc in Afghanistan

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 10:20 PM PDT

China's President Hu looks on during a signing ceremony with Russian President Putin in BeijingBEIJING (Reuters) - A bloc bringing together China, Russia and central Asian states wants to play a bigger role in troubled Afghanistan, Chinese President Hu Jintao said in an interview published on Wednesday, as regional leaders gathered for their annual summit. The future of neighbor Afghanistan, facing the withdrawal of most foreign combat forces by the end of 2014, is likely to be discussed at the two-day meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), whose member states fear growing instability spilling across the central Asian region as the pullout goes on. ...

More body parts found in Canada as suspect faces German court

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 06:09 PM PDT

Image of Luka Rocco Magnotta appearing on the Interpol.int websiteVANCOUVER/BERLIN (Reuters) - Packages containing a human hand and foot were delivered to schools in western Canada on Tuesday as the suspect in a cannibalistic murder and dismemberment told German police he would not fight a Canadian extradition request. There was no immediate evidence to link the two parcels sent to the Pacific port city of Vancouver to Luka Rocco Magnotta, who is wanted in Canada on charges of killing and dismembering a Chinese student, then posting a video of the crime online. ...

Suicide bomber kills 20 Afghan civilians near NATO base

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 12:31 AM PDT

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber on a motorbike struck on Wednesday outside the airport in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar killing 20 Afghan civilians, officials said, in one of the most serious attacks in terms of civilian casualties in recent weeks. Four provincial governors from the south were at a meeting at the sprawling NATO base at the airport when the attack took place, General Abdul Hameed, Afghan army commander for the southern region, told Reuters. ...

Netanyahu faces settlement showdown in parliament

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 12:29 AM PDT

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got legal approval on Wednesday for his plan to remove five settler buildings erected on private Palestinian land and was expected to win a showdown in parliament over the issue later in the day. The right-wing leader made the proposal after being thrust into a political minefield by a Supreme Court ruling that determined the apartment houses in Beit El settlement in the occupied West Bank were built illegally and must be demolished by July 1. ...

Euro zone crisis tests Hollande's credentials

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 12:24 AM PDT

French President Hollande waves at Parti de Gauche party leader Melenchon at the Elysee Palace in ParisPARIS (Reuters) - When Francois Hollande waded into the euro zone debt crisis after taking office as French president, his push for a new focus on growth over austerity was widely welcomed, except perhaps in Berlin. Two weeks later, ballooning bank woes in Spain and political turmoil in Greece have taken the debate to a new level that has left Hollande in deeper water than he imagined and will test his political and diplomatic skills to the full. ...

Parade and palace wave finale for UK Queen's jubilee

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 02:58 AM PDT

Police form a line as crowds watch Queen Elizabeth and the Royal family from the Mall during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in LondonLONDON (Reuters) - Four days of celebrations in which millions have turned out to mark Queen Elizabeth's 60 years on the throne reach a finale on Tuesday with a service at St. Paul's Cathedral, a procession through London and a wave from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. For once, the 86-year-old British monarch will not be accompanied to a grand state occasion by her husband of 64 years, Prince Philip, who was taken to hospital on Monday with a bladder infection as her Diamond Jubilee drew to a close. ...

Mexico's Pena Nieto stops slide in support: poll

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 03:15 PM PDT

Nieto arrives to attend "10 questions on education", as part of a civic meeting with the presidential candidates in Mexico CityMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's presidential front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto has stopped a recent slide in support, though his leftist rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is still gaining on him, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday. The latest voter survey for the July 1 election by Consulta Mitofsky showed support for Pena Nieto, of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), at 35.8 percent, up 0.2 points from a poll published by the firm a week earlier. ...

Thorny human rights reform put off at OAS meeting

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 09:15 PM PDT

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia (Reuters) - The Organization of American States (OAS) delayed on Tuesday the controversial reform of its human rights panel, which a growing number of Latin American nations have criticized. The leftist leaders of Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela argued for changes to be made to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights during a meeting of OAS members in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba this week. ...

Afghan official: Blast kills 20 civilians

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 12:06 AM PDT

An Afghan official says an explosion has killed 20 civilians in Kandahar, the largest city in the country's south.

Syria crisis causes spike in draft-dodging

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 12:20 AM PDT

In this Tuesday, May 22, 2012 photo, Syrians Abdel-Rahman Qassem, left, and his friend Maher pose for a photo on a street in Tripoli, Lebanon. The two men are among a growing group of young Syrians who have avoided the country's mandatory military service, fearing they'll be forced to kill other Syrians in the country's ongoing uprising. (AP Photo/Ben Hubbard)Approaching his 18th birthday, Hamza, a merchant sailor from Syria, resigned himself to the fate awaiting him when he reached adulthood: A year and a half of mandatory military service.

New NKorean leader stages massive children's rally

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 10:25 PM PDT

Kim Jong Un has made only his second public speech, addressing a massive children's rally that's aimed at winning a new generation's support for the young leader's reign.

Hope, worry from Myanmar state press over leaders

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 08:05 PM PDT

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi sits in a car after arriving at Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, June 3 2012 after returning from Thailand. Suu Kyi completed her first trip out of Myanmar in 24 years on Sunday, a tour that highlighted her new freedom to explore the world - and to return home. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)A state-run newspaper called Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein "the hope of Myanmar" — rare praise for the opposition leader that was tempered with worry that possible tensions between the two reform-minded politicians could derail changes in the long-oppressed country.

Al-Qaida No. 2 dies in US drone strike in Pakistan

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 10:36 PM PDT

FILE - This March 25, 2007, file image, made from video posted on a website frequented by Islamist militants and provided via the IntelCenter, shows al-Qaida militant Abu Yahia al-Libi. A CIA drone strike Monday, June 4, 2012, targeted al-Qaida's second in command, Abu Yahia al-Libi, in Pakistan, but it was unclear whether he was among those hit, U.S. officials said. U.S. officials say fewer than five people were hit, although Pakistani officials say more than a dozen people were killed in two days of strikes in Pakistan. (AP Photo/IntelCenter, File) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HAS NO WAY OF INDEPENDENTLY VERIFYING THE CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS VIDEOA U.S. drone strike in northwest Pakistan has killed al-Qaida's second-in-command, officials from both countries have confirmed, the most significant victory so far in the controversial bombing campaign and the biggest setback to the terror network since the death of Osama bin Laden.

After jubilee success, monarchy faces the future

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 12:11 PM PDT

From left Britain's Prince Charles Queen Elizabeth Prince William, and his wife Kate Duchess of Cambridge, stand on the balcony at Buckingham Palace during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in central London Tuesday June 5, 2012. Four days of nationwide celebrations during which millions of people have turned out to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee conclude on Tuesday with a church service and carriage procession through central London. (AP Photo/Stefan Wermuth, Pool)There were six figures on the balcony, three generations of royalty — and one large absence.

Human remains delivered to 2 Canada schools

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 10:13 PM PDT

The photograph of Luka Rocco Magnotta,is shown during a news conference in Montreal, Tuesday, June 5, 2012. Magnotta told a judge Tuesday he will not fight his extradition from Germany to Canada, Berlin police say. Magnotta is wanted in Canada on several charges, including first-degree murder, in connection with the killing and dismemberment of Chinese national Jun Lin. (AP Photo/Montreal Police Service via The Canadian Press)Packages containing a human foot and hand were discovered at two schools in Vancouver on Tuesday, in what could be the latest gruesome twist in the case of a Canadian porn actor suspected of dismembering and eating his former lover.

UN: Syria permits aid workers to enter 4 provinces

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 12:51 PM PDT

This citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network ENN, purports to show Syrian rebels gathered on their vehicle in the northern town of Kfar Nebel, in Idlib province, Syria, Tuesday, June 5, 2012. Rebel forces killed scores of Syrian soldiers in the past few days and activists claimed Tuesday the toll was more than 100 in what appeared to be some of the heaviest losses for government troops since the uprising began 15 months ago. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTOSyria's government has agreed to a written deal with the United Nations and other international organizations that would allow aid workers and supplies to enter four hard-hit provinces, U.N. officials announced Tuesday.

Egypt rulers demand constitution panel in 48 hours

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 11:03 PM PDT

An Egyptian protester carries symbolic heads depicting ousted President Hosni Mubarak, center, and from left, his son Alaa, his interior minister Habib al-Adly, wife Suzanne and son Gamal during a rally protesting the outcome of the Mubarak trial at Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, June 5, 2012. Egyptian lawmakers say the ruling military council has given them 48 hours to finalize the formation of a 100-member panel tasked to write the country's new constitution, or it will come up with its own blueprint for the body. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)Egypt's ruling military council has set a 48-hour deadline for political parties to finalize the formation of a 100-member panel to write a new constitution, or it will draw up its own blueprint.

Russian parliament approves harsh bill on protests

Posted: 05 Jun 2012 01:51 PM PDT

Russian police detain protesters outside the parliament building in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, June 5, 2012. At least two dozen people have been detained outside Russian Parliament in Moscow as they were protesting against a bill on public rallies. The Kremlin-controlled Russian parliament is expected to pass a legislation on Tuesday that would raise fines 200-fold for taking part in unsanctioned rallies. Opposition leaders say that the law would also exacerbate tensions in the Russian society and leave the public with no free leeway of expressing their discontent. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)The Kremlin-controlled Russian parliament on Tuesday rammed through a harsh bill that raises fines 150-fold for people taking part in unsanctioned rallies, a move aimed at discouraging the opposition from challenging President Vladimir Putin.
Posted by Harshad at 1:15 AM

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