| Syria sends armored column to Aleppo, strikes from air Posted: 24 Jul 2012 02:52 PM PDT  AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria sent thousands of troops surging towards Aleppo in the early hours of Wednesday, where its forces have been pounding rebel fighters from the air, engulfing the country's largest city in total warfare to put down a revolt. Recent days have seen Syria's 16-month-old uprising transformed from an insurgency in remote provinces into a battle for control of the two main cities, Aleppo and the slightly smaller capital Damascus, where fighting exploded last week. President Bashar al-Assad's forces have launched massive counter assaults in both cities. ...
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| Netanyahu urges better Turkey ties, cites regional turmoil Posted: 24 Jul 2012 02:38 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the Jewish state and its former ally Turkey must repair their relationship because of the instability in their region. Turkey cut its once extensive ties with Israel after Israeli marines killed nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists in May 2010 on a vessel trying to breach Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave run by Hamas Islamists. "Turkey and Israel are two important, strong and stable states in this region ... We must find ways to restore the relations we once had ... ...
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| Ghana President Mills dies, VP takes over Posted: 24 Jul 2012 02:07 PM PDT  ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana's President John Atta Mills, who won international praise for presiding over a stable model democracy in Africa, died suddenly on Tuesday and his vice-president was quickly sworn in to replace him at the helm of the oil, gold and cocoa producer. Mills had celebrated his 68th birthday on Saturday and his unexpected death came months before he was due to stand for re-election in December as head of the world's No. 2 cocoa grower, which is also a major African gold producer. "It is with a heavy heart ... ...
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| Changed standards benefit Afghan force report: watchdog Posted: 24 Jul 2012 04:03 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon's decision to change the standards used to grade the success of Afghan police and soldiers, who are a centerpiece of U.S. strategy for smoothly exiting the war in Afghanistan, helped it present a positive picture of those forces' abilities, a U.S. government watchdog reported on Tuesday. "These changes ... were responsible, in part, for its reported increase in April 2012 of the number of ANSF units rated at the highest level," the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report on Afghan national security forces, known as ANSF. ...
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| Cardinal praises prominent Cuban dissident at funeral Posted: 24 Jul 2012 02:08 PM PDT  HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega paid tribute to the "clear political vocation" and religious faith of leading dissident Oswaldo Paya at his crowded funeral on Tuesday, days after the prominent anti-communist activist died in a car crash. Family members have questioned the circumstances of Sunday's crash on a badly potholed road in eastern Cuba, alleging possible foul play by government agents. But diplomats say they believe it was a genuine accident and it appeared the car was speeding. ...
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| U.S. commander accused of stalling Afghan hospital abuse probe Posted: 24 Jul 2012 01:49 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. general in Afghanistan sought to stall an investigation into waste and abuse at a U.S.-funded hospital in Kabul, possibly for political reasons, current and former U.S. military officials told Congress on Tuesday. Retired Colonel Gerald Carozza, who served as an adviser to the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan, accused Lieutenant General William Caldwell, then head of U.S. ... |
| UK PM's ex-media boss, friend to face charges for hacking Posted: 24 Jul 2012 01:23 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron's former spin doctor and a friend who was a top executive in Rupert Murdoch's media empire face phone hacking charges, prosecutors said on Tuesday, a twist that may expose Cameron to more awkward questions about his judgment. In a decision that opens the door to a politically-charged court case, prosecutors said they had brought charges against Andy Coulson, Cameron's former communications director, and would charge Rebekah Brooks, who oversaw Murdoch's News International and who remains a close friend of the prime minister, at a later date. ...
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| Venezuela's Chavez unveils 3D image of hero Bolivar Posted: 24 Jul 2012 12:55 PM PDT  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's Hugo Chavez unveiled a 3D image of South America's 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar on Tuesday, based on bones the president ordered exhumed two years ago to test his theory that Bolivar was murdered. In a ceremony to mark the 229th anniversary of Bolivar's birth, senior government officials and military commanders clapped as Chavez and a group of school children unveiled the new image, which was based on scans of Bolivar's skull. ...
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| Ethnic riots sweep India's Assam, at least 30 killed Posted: 24 Jul 2012 12:09 PM PDT  GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - Police shot dead four rioters in India's northeastern state of Assam on Tuesday as security forces struggled to contain ethnic fighting that has killed at least 30 people and left riverside hamlets ablaze, forcing tens of thousands from their homes. Rioting between Bodo tribes people and Muslim settlers has raged for days in a region near Bangladesh. Some victims died of machete wounds, said aid workers who has seen the bodies. Police opened fire on rioters burning property in the Bodo-dominated Kokrajhar district, killing the four, police inspector general S.N. ...
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| Draft U.N. arms trade treaty full of holes, activists say Posted: 24 Jul 2012 03:32 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The first draft of a U.N. treaty to regulate the $60 billion global arms trade was slammed on Tuesday by activists as having "more holes than a leaky bucket" as negotiators scramble to reach a consensus by Friday. One person every minute dies from armed violence around the world, and arms control activists say a convention is needed to prevent illicitly traded guns from pouring into conflict zones and fueling wars and atrocities. Conflicts in Syria and elsewhere show a treaty is necessary, they add. ... |
| Russia warns Syria against using chemical weapons Posted: 24 Jul 2012 04:04 PM PDT  Russia chided its longtime ally Syria on Tuesday over its threat to use chemical weapons in case of a foreign attack, but Moscow gave no sign it was abandoning President Bashar Assad's regime, despite growing international condemnation over the violence in the Arab country.
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| Phone hack charges may add to fallout for Brit PM Posted: 24 Jul 2012 11:33 AM PDT  Britain's phone hacking scandal entered a new and expanded criminal phase Tuesday, with charges brought against two former members of Prime Minister David Cameron's inner circle over a campaign of illegal espionage that has rocked the country's establishment.
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| Ghana VP sworn in hours after president's death Posted: 24 Jul 2012 03:23 PM PDT  President John Atta Mills' election victory secured Ghana's reputation as one of the most mature democracies in West Africa, a position further solidified Tuesday when the vice president took over only hours after the 68-year-old president died five months before finishing his first term.
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| China's newest city is on tiny island, has big aim Posted: 24 Jul 2012 01:11 PM PDT  China's newest city is a remote island in the South China Sea barely large enough to host a single airstrip. It has a post office, bank, supermarket and a hospital, but little else. Fresh water comes by freighter on a 13-hour journey from China's southernmost province.
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| EYES ON LONDON: Beckham has opening ceremony role Posted: 24 Jul 2012 03:50 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:
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| Long lines, delays at London's St. Pancras station Posted: 24 Jul 2012 12:36 PM PDT  Long lines formed Tuesday and travelers were delayed at St. Pancras, the central London rail station where reporters, Olympic workers and fans with tickets depart for the Olympic Park in east London.
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| A mausoleum built for Bolivar but worthy of Chavez Posted: 24 Jul 2012 04:10 PM PDT  The towering, white mausoleum in downtown Caracas is for many Venezuelans a lot like Hugo Chavez, only in architectural terms: disproportionately larger-than-life, flamboyant and self-important.
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| Hoots in parliament: France mulls harassment law Posted: 24 Jul 2012 12:14 PM PDT  The hooting and catcalls began as soon as the Cabinet minister stood, wearing a blue and white flowered dress. It did not cease for the entire time she spoke before France's National Assembly. And the heckling came not from an unruly crowd, but from male legislators who later said they were merely showing their appreciation on a warm summer's day.
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| Recovering ex-congresswoman rides Alpine cable car Posted: 24 Jul 2012 02:36 PM PDT  Former U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, recovering from injuries in a mass shooting last year, has ventured into the French Alps.
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| Austria church mounts billboard search for priests Posted: 24 Jul 2012 12:19 PM PDT  European men take note. While unemployment is growing in much of the continent, a powerful international organization is now advertising vacancies in Austria for hundreds of white-collar jobs.
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