In unusual snub, Obama to avoid meeting Netanyahu

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• In unusual snub, Obama to avoid meeting Netanyahu
• U.S. Cairo, Libya missions attacked, U.S. official reported dead
• Assad's forces shell Damascus rebel stronghold, 4 killed
• Pakistan factory fires kill 125 workers
• China maintains silence on Xi, rumor mill in overdrive
• Yemen's president replaces security chiefs after Sanaa attack
• Four injured in Dutch power plant explosion
• Japan aims for zero nuclear power in 2030s: media
• Dutch voters seen shunning euro radicals in election
• South Africa miners blockade Amplats shafts: police
• American killed in Libya protest over film
• Storm moves out to sea after slamming Newfoundland
• Deaths in factory fires in Pakistan up to 128
• Libya: 1 American dead, 1 wounded at mission
• Suspected al-Qaida bombing misses Yemen minister
• Dutch vote could affect how EU tackles debt crisis
• A look at the key leaders in Dutch election
• US-Israel divisions over Iran boil over
• Wounded flood hospitals in Syria's largest city
• Egypt trying to persuade Iran to drop Assad

In unusual snub, Obama to avoid meeting Netanyahu Posted: 11 Sep 2012 10:56 PM PDT WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - In a highly unusual rebuff to a close ally as tensions escalated over how to deal with Iran's nuclear program, the White House said on Tuesday President Barack Obama would not meet Benjamin Netanyahu during the Israeli prime minister's U.S. visit later this month. The apparent snub, coupled with Netanyahu's sharpened demands for a tougher U.S. line against Iran, threatened to plunge U.S.-Israeli relations into crisis and add pressure on Obama in the final stretch of a tight presidential election campaign. ...

U.S. Cairo, Libya missions attacked, U.S. official reported dead Posted: 11 Sep 2012 08:25 PM PDT CAIRO/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Protesters in Egypt and Libya attacked U.S. diplomatic missions on Tuesday in a spasm of violence that led to the death of a State Department officer at the consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi after fierce clashes at the compound. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a statement late on Tuesday, confirmed the death of the U.S. diplomat, who was not identified, and condemned the attack on the Benghazi consulate, after a day of mayhem in two countries that raised fresh questions about Washington's relations with the Arab world. ...

Assad's forces shell Damascus rebel stronghold, 4 killed Posted: 11 Sep 2012 09:34 PM PDT AMMAN (Reuters) - At least four people were killed and dozens wounded on Tuesday in ground and aerial bombardments of one of the last rebel strongholds in the Syrian capital Damascus, opposition activists said. Numerous buildings were hit by artillery and helicopter gunfire in Hajar al-Aswad neighborhood, they said. Footage posted on the Internet by activists showed holes in buildings and rubble strewn in alleyways. ...

Pakistan factory fires kill 125 workers Posted: 11 Sep 2012 11:34 PM PDT KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Fires swept through two factories in Pakistan, one in the city of Karachi and the other in Lahore, killing at least 125 people, police and government officials said on Wednesday. The death toll from the late Tuesday fires is likely to raise fresh questions about industrial safety in the nuclear-armed South Asian nation and draw more criticism of the deeply unpopular government. In the deadliest incident, flames raced through a garment factory in the teeming commercial capital of Karachi, killing at least 100 people. ...

China maintains silence on Xi, rumor mill in overdrive Posted: 11 Sep 2012 11:49 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities and media remained silent on the whereabouts of Vice President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, with rumors and speculation spreading over why Beijing was not more forthcoming on the health of its president-in-waiting. Xi has skipped meetings with a number of visiting leaders and senior officials over the past week, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, because of what sources told Reuters was a possible injury to his back suffered while swimming. ...

Yemen's president replaces security chiefs after Sanaa attack Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:52 AM PDT SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen's president replaced security officials and some ministers late on Tuesday, state media reported, in an apparent move to reduce the influence of former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh following an attempt on the defense minister's life. A car bomb targeting the motorcade of Defense Minister Major General Muhammad Nasir Ahmad in Sanaa on Tuesday killed 12 people and wounded dozens but left him largely unscathed. ...

Four injured in Dutch power plant explosion Posted: 12 Sep 2012 01:09 AM PDT AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Four people were injured, one seriously, in an explosion at a gas-fired Nuon power plant in the Netherlands, a company spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman for Nuon, which is owned by Sweden's Vattenfall, said the explosion happened while employees were working on the plant's high voltage grid. The plant was not operating at the time, she said. It was unclear whether the explosion, at the plant in the town of Velsen Noord, 30 kilometers west of Amsterdam, had caused any damage to production. (Reporting by Ivana Sekularac; writing by Thomas Escritt; editing by James Jukwey)

Japan aims for zero nuclear power in 2030s: media Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:31 AM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan aims to quit nuclear power in the 2030s in a new energy strategy to be unveiled soon, media said on Wednesday, a major shift from a pre-Fukushima disaster goal of boosting atomic energy to produce more than half the country's electricity. The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami triggered three meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi plant, spewing radiation and forcing about 160,000 people to flee their homes. It also prompted the government to scrap a 2010 plan to boost nuclear power's share of electricity to more than 50 percent by 2030. ...

Dutch voters seen shunning euro radicals in election Posted: 11 Sep 2012 11:28 PM PDT AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Mainstream pro-European parties look set to dominate the Dutch parliamentary election on Wednesday, dispelling concerns that radical eurosceptics might gain sway in a core euro zone country and push to quit the European Union or flout its budget rules. But the Netherlands is likely to remain an awkward, tough-talking member of the single currency area, strongly resisting transfers to euro zone debtors, regardless of whether caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte's Liberals or the centre-left Labour Party of Diederik Samsom win the most seats. ...

South Africa miners blockade Amplats shafts: police Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:50 AM PDT JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Labor unrest sweeping across South Africa's platinum sector hit Anglo American Platinum on Wednesday, with striking miners blockading roads leading to shafts belonging to the world number one producer, police said. "Around 1,000 mineworkers had a confrontation with mine security last night at the Siphumelele shaft and the situation has spread to other mine shafts this morning," regional police spokesman Thulani Ngubane said. ...

American killed in Libya protest over film Posted: 12 Sep 2012 01:15 AM PDT Protesters angered over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad fired gunshots and burned down the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, killing one American, witnesses and the State Department said. In Egypt, protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and tore and replaced the American flag with an Islamic banner.

Storm moves out to sea after slamming Newfoundland Posted: 11 Sep 2012 08:56 PM PDT Post-tropical storm Leslie moved out to sea Tuesday afternoon, hours after its stiff winds and heavy rains pummeled Newfoundland, knocking out power to thousands and forcing the cancellation of all flights at the island's main airport.

Deaths in factory fires in Pakistan up to 128 Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:32 AM PDT The death toll from a pair of devastating factory fires that broke out in Pakistan's two biggest cities rose to 128 people on Wednesday, many of whom perished because they were unable to escape buildings that lacked emergency exits and basic safety equipment such as alarms and sprinklers.

Libya: 1 American dead, 1 wounded at mission Posted: 11 Sep 2012 06:52 PM PDT A Libyan security official says one American consulate employee has been shot dead and another wounded in the hand during an attack at the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Suspected al-Qaida bombing misses Yemen minister Posted: 11 Sep 2012 03:55 PM PDT Yemen's defense minister narrowly escaped assassination Tuesday when a powerful car bomb ripped through his motorcade as it traveled in the nation's capital, killing at least 13 people in an attack that bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida.

Dutch vote could affect how EU tackles debt crisis Posted: 12 Sep 2012 01:09 AM PDT Dutch voters could change their country's course in tackling the debt crisis when they elect a new parliament Wednesday in a test of whether European voters have the stomach to continue with stringent austerity measures.

A look at the key leaders in Dutch election Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:28 AM PDT A glance at the leaders of the main parties taking part in Wednesday's Dutch elections.

US-Israel divisions over Iran boil over Posted: 11 Sep 2012 07:03 PM PDT Israel is sounding increasingly agitated over what it views as American dithering with economic sanctions too weak to force Iran to end its suspected drive toward nuclear weapons.

Wounded flood hospitals in Syria's largest city Posted: 11 Sep 2012 12:39 PM PDT It had been a calm day in Aleppo's Shifa Hospital, said Dr. Osman al-Haj Osman, his face etched with exhaustion from just three hours of sleep. Then, a man burst in bearing the shrieking bundle of a 6-year-old girl who'd had a machine-gun bullet rip through both her knees.

Egypt trying to persuade Iran to drop Assad Posted: 11 Sep 2012 02:59 PM PDT Newly activist Egypt is trying to convince Iran to drop its unquestioned support of Syria's embattled President Bashar Assad in order to end that country's bloody civil war in exchange for help in easing Tehran's regional isolation at a time of mounting pressure on it over its disputed nuclear program.

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