Saturday, August 25, 2012

Fierce fighting in Syria swells refugee exodus

Fierce fighting in Syria swells refugee exodus

Fierce fighting in Syria swells refugee exodus

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 09:33 PM PDT

A Syrian rebel fires towards a pro-government sniper in the Seif El Dawla district in the center of Aleppo cityAMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian troops forced rebels to abandon a battered Damascus suburb on Friday in the latest battle of an intensifying civil war that the U.N. refugee agency said had prompted more than 200,000 people to flee the country. Hundreds of soldiers and dozens of tanks and armored vehicles pushed into the centre of Daraya after a small group of defenders withdrew, opposition activists said. ...

Gas explosion rocks Venezuela's largest refinery

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 01:02 AM PDT

PARAGUANA, Venezuela (Reuters) - - A large gas explosion shook Venezuela's largest refinery, the 645,000-barrels-per-day Amuay facility, in the early hours of Saturday, causing some injuries and infrastructure damage, the oil minister and workers said. Based in the west of the South American OPEC nation, Amuay is part of the Paraguana Refining Center, one of the biggest refinery complexes in the world with an overall capacity of 955,000 bpd. (Reporting by Sailu Urribarri and Deisy Buitrago; Editing by Alison Williams)

Air strike kills Pakistani Taliban commander in Afghanistan

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 01:08 AM PDT

KABUL/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A NATO air strike in eastern Afghanistan has killed a commander of the Pakistani Taliban, both NATO and the Taliban said on Saturday. Both sides identified the dead commander as Mullah Dadullah and said several of his comrades were also killed in the attack on Friday. A NATO statement did not say who carried out the assault but the alliance is alone in having the air power to conduct such an operation. It said Dadullah's deputy, Shakir, was also killed. ...

Scuffles as Egyptians challenge Islamist president

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:39 AM PDT

Supporters of Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi and anti-Mursi protesters throw stones at each other during clashes in Tahrir Square in CairoCAIRO (Reuters) - Opponents of Egypt's president scuffled with his supporters on Friday at a demonstration that was billed as a test of Mohamed Mursi's popularity on the street but which managed to muster only modest numbers against his rule. After months of turmoil, Egypt's streets have become calmer since Mursi's June election that ended 60 years of rule by military men, a relief to Egyptians and the West, wary of instability in a nation that has a peace treaty with Israel. ...

Immigrants march in Greece against racist attacks

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 01:11 PM PDT

Immigrants living in Greece shout slogans during rally against racism attacks in central AthensATHENS (Reuters) - Thousands of immigrants marched in Athens on Friday to protest police sweeps and a rash of racist attacks in Greece as the country struggles to pull itself out of a huge debt crisis. Greece is a major gateway for mostly Asian and African migrants trying to enter the European Union. They face increased hostility as the country struggles through its deepest post- World War Two recession and record unemployment, propelling the ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn party to parliament for the first time since the fall of a military junta in 1974. ...

Nicaragua nabs Mexican cop, others with $7 million posing as reporters

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 03:47 PM PDT

MANAGUA (Reuters) - Nicaraguan police have detained 18 people, including a Mexican policeman, posing as journalists while trying to enter Honduras with millions of dollars in cash, the country's police chief said on Friday. The group was detained on Monday as it tried to cross into Nicaragua with the cash in six vehicles, Nicaragua's national police commissioner Aminta Granera told a news conference. ...

Putin critic Garry Kasparov cleared over Pussy Riot protest

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 02:26 PM PDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former world chess champion turned Kremlin critic Garry Kasparov was cleared on Friday of taking part in an unsanctioned protest over the conviction of punk band Pussy Riot in a rare Moscow court ruling in his favor. Kasparov, an opposition leader, was among dozens of activists picked out of a crowd and detained outside the court where the Pussy Riot trial ended in two-year jail sentences for three female band members on August 17. The 49-year-old was speaking to journalists when police grabbed him and carried him to a waiting van. ...

Mexican police shoot two U.S. Embassy staff in botched chase

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 08:15 PM PDT

A bullet-riddled armoured U.S. embassy SUV is seen on a road near the town of Tres MariasMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Two U.S. Embassy employees were shot at and wounded by Mexican police on Friday after they were caught up in a police chase on the outskirts of the capital, Mexico's Navy said. Police fired on the vehicle in which the embassy employees were traveling, which carried diplomatic plates, after the driver veered out of the way when he saw the officers' weapons. "At that moment those in the ... (police) vehicle opened fire on the diplomatic vehicle," the Navy said in a statement. "Moments later, three other vehicles joined the chase and fired shots at the U.S. Embassy ...

IAEA gets no deal with Iran on bomb research suspicions

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 05:01 PM PDT

International Atomic Energy Agency's chief inspector Herman Nackaerts briefs the media at the Iranian embassy in ViennaVIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog and Iran failed on Friday to strike a deal aimed at allaying concerns about suspected nuclear weapons research by Tehran, a setback in efforts to resolve the stand-off diplomatically before any Israeli or U.S. military action. A flurry of bellicose rhetoric from some Israeli politicians this month has fanned speculation that Israel might hit Iran's nuclear sites before the U.S. presidential election in November. ...

Norway jails "sane" Breivik for maximum 21 years

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 06:24 AM PDT

Norwegian mass killer Breivik gestures as he arrives in the court room at Oslo CourthouseOSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was jailed for a maximum term on Friday when judges declared him sane enough to answer for the murder of 77 people last year, drawing a smirk of triumph from the self-styled warrior against Islam. An unrepentant Breivik, 33, gave the Oslo court a stiff-armed, clench-fisted salute before being handed the steepest possible penalty, 21 years. His release, however, can be put off indefinitely should he still pose a threat to a liberal society left traumatized by his bomb and shooting rampage last July. ...

Isaac nears Haiti with homeless quake population

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 11:05 PM PDT

People run over a bridge covered by debris as waves hit the seawall, caused by Tropical Storm Isaac in Barahona, Dominican Republic, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. Tropical Storm Isaac strengthened slightly as it spun toward the Dominican Republic and vulnerable Haiti on Friday, threatening to bring punishing rains but unlikely to gain enough steam to strike as a hurricane. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)Tropical Storm Isaac bore down on Haiti's southern peninsula early Saturday, threatening a city prone to flooding and dousing other areas of the poor nation still trying to recover from the terrible 2010 earthquake.

Norway gunman declared sane, sent away to prison

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 03:16 PM PDT

Mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, makes a salute after he arrives at the court room in a courthouse in Oslo Friday Aug. 24, 2012 . Breivik has been declared sane and sentenced to prison for bomb and gun attacks that killed 77 people last year. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)It was during breaks between marathon video game sessions in his mother's apartment in Oslo that Anders Behring Breivik drafted his complicated and chilling plan.

Mexico probe why federal cops fired at US gov car

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:39 PM PDT

An armored U.S. Embassy vehicle is checked by military personal after it was attacked by unknown assailants on the highway leading to the city of Cuernavaca, near Tres Marias, Mexico, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. Two U.S. government employees were shot and wounded in an attack on their vehicle south of Mexico City on Friday, a law enforcement official said. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)Mexican authorities are trying to sort out why a U.S. Embassy vehicle was shot up by federal police on a rural back road in mountains south of the capital, leaving two U.S. government workers wounded.

Key Pakistani Taliban figure killed in Afghanistan

Posted: 25 Aug 2012 01:03 AM PDT

A NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan killed a dozen militants including a senior leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, the international military coalition said Saturday, dealing a blow to armed extremists operating on both sides of the countries' porous border.

Mexico scrambles to cope with egg shortage

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 04:51 PM PDT

A city worker sells eggs at government subsidized prices as people line up outside the city truck in Mexico City, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. The Mexican government is battling an egg shortage and hoarding that have caused prices to spike in a country with the highest per-capita egg consumption on earth. About 11 million chickens were slaughtered after a June outbreak of bird flu. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)The Mexican government is battling an egg shortage and hoarding that have caused prices to spike in a country with the highest per-capita egg consumption on Earth.

Caged big cats stuck on Paraguay border 2 months

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 03:00 PM PDT

A tiger sits in a cage Puerto Falcon, Paraguay, on the border with Argentina, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. Nine Bengal tigers and seven African lions from an Argentine circus have been stuck at the border in Paraguay for two months, because Argentine officials refuse to approve their paperwork for re-entry. Paraguay's Wildlife Ministry announced Friday they will move the animals two by two to the Asuncion zoo, Imagine being stuck in a cage for two months while going through customs. That's the border limbo 16 tigers and lions have faced in Paraguay because Argentine officials refuse to approve their paperwork for re-entry.

PR consultant: More Harry material may emerge soon

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 12:51 PM PDT

FILE- Britain's Prince Harry watches track cycling during the 2012 Summer Olympics, in this file photo dated Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, in London. Nude photographs of Prince Harry in a Las Vegas, USA, hotel room are published on the Internet Wednesday Aug. 22, 2012, and now security experts are wondering whether the Scotland Yard officers who are assigned to keep the 27-year-old royal safe from harm, might have done a better job of keeping him out of trouble. The photos available on the Internet and not taken by Photographers' long lenses but are up close and personal. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)Brace yourself, Harry.

Diplomats: Iran shrouds suspected nuclear site

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 02:25 PM PDT

In this satellite image supplied Friday Aug. 24, 2012, by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), showing what they say are buildings, seen here at centre and top, shrouded with a pink tarp to stop the U.N nuclear agency from monitoring Tehran's efforts to sanitize the site which they suspect was used for secret work on atomic weapons, in this photo dated Aug. 15, 2012, of the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran, Iran. Other photos taken at an earlier date, appear to show the same buildings, without a tarp but with what looks like the results of extensive alterations undertaken at the suspected high explosives testing site, including the demolition of two nearby buildings and major earth displacement activities nearby, diplomats told The Associated Press on Friday Aug. 24, 2012. The information on the shrouding of the building came from two diplomats who demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the confidential satellite images. (AP Photo/ISIS)Iran has shrouded a building that the U.N. nuclear agency suspects was used for secret work on atomic weapons, meaning spy satellites can no longer monitor Tehran's alleged efforts to clean up the site, diplomats told The Associated Press on Friday.

Solly the hippo dies in South Africa rescue effort

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 12:49 PM PDT

A hippo is lifted from a swimming pool Friday Aug. 24, 2012, at the Monate Conservation Lodge, near Modimolle, South Africa, after being trapped there for three days. The young hippo had plunged into the deep pool on Tuesday after being chased off from his herd by male members seeking dominance, wandered into the lodge's camp and fell into the pool. The animal died just before the rescue operation got under way. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)What started out as a day of hope for Solly the hippo turned to tragedy when rescuers were unable to save the 3-ton beast from the swimming pool he plunged into after being chased from his herd.

Paralympic cauldron lit in central London

Posted: 24 Aug 2012 02:30 PM PDT

Claire Lomas lights the Paralympic flame cauldron in Trafalgar Square in London, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. Claire had a horse riding accident in 2007 leaving her paralysed from the chest down. The London Paralympics begin on Wednesday Aug. 29. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)Paralyzed marathon participant Claire Lomas lit the Paralympic cauldron in central London on Friday, one of a slew of events meant to mark the coming of the Paralympic Games across the British capital.
Posted by Harshad at 1:41 AM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)