| Syria's Assad praises troops, keeps out of public eye Posted: 01 Aug 2012 01:09 PM PDT  ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad told his troops on Wednesday that their battle against rebels would decide Syria's fate, but his written message gave no clues to his whereabouts two weeks after a bomb attack on his inner circle. In Aleppo, rebel fighters seized three police stations while fighting the army for control of a strategically important district. Explosions could be heard and helicopter gunships cruised the skies as troops tried to push the rebels out of the northern city and preserve one of Assad's main centers of power. ...
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| Venezuela's opposition wants to scrap preferential oil deals Posted: 01 Aug 2012 04:29 PM PDT  PUERTO LA CRUZ, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles said on Wednesday he would scrap preferential oil deals with foreign allies if he defeats socialist President Hugo Chavez in an October election to lead the South American OPEC member. Chavez has sought to boost his influence abroad by offering crude deals to nations in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean -- Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA was not paid directly for almost half the crude it pumped last year. ...
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| Exclusive: Obama authorizes secret U.S. support for Syrian rebels Posted: 01 Aug 2012 02:58 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing U.S. support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, U.S. sources familiar with the matter said. Obama's order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence "finding," broadly permits the CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust Assad. This and other developments signal a shift toward growing, albeit still circumscribed, support for Assad's armed opponents - a shift that intensified following last month's failure of the ...
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| Ecuador wants to avoid Assange's extradition to Sweden Posted: 01 Aug 2012 04:05 PM PDT  QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador wants to prevent Julian Assange's extradition to Sweden because it is disappointed that the Scandinavian country has turned down an offer to question the WikiLeaks founder in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, a minister said on Wednesday. Assange has been holed up in Ecuador's Embassy in London for six weeks as he awaits a decision on his asylum request by the leftist government of Rafael Correa. The Australian anti-secrecy campaigner, who angered Washington in 2010 when his WikiLeaks website published secret U.S. ...
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| Analysis: China unveils oil offensive in South China Sea squabble Posted: 01 Aug 2012 02:03 PM PDT  SINGAPORE/BEIJING (Reuters) - First came the diplomatic offensive, then the flexing of military muscle. Now, China is opening a third front to assert its claims in the South China Sea - moving ahead with its first major tender of oil and gas blocks in disputed parts of its waters. China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), a state oil giant, invited foreign firms in late June to bid on oil blocks that overlap territory being explored by Vietnam, putting the 160,000 sq km of water on offer at the forefront of Asia's biggest potential military flashpoint. ...
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| House approves new Iran sanctions on oil, shipping sectors Posted: 01 Aug 2012 03:40 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives passed a new package of sanctions against Iran on Wednesday that aim to punish banks, insurance companies and shippers that help Tehran sell its oil. The legislation, agreed to by senior lawmakers of both parties in Congress, "seeks to tighten the chokehold on the regime beyond anything that has been done before," said Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. ...
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| Analysis: As rich world falters, buoyant SE Asia discovers credit Posted: 01 Aug 2012 02:27 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Every weekday brings another lucky winner of the "Credit Card Clean" game on Thailand's Get Radio station. Last Thursday it was Chotika Kosaisaevee, nicknamed "Pear", a 23-year-old student who admitted she had got carried away by acquiring three credit cards and racking up debt of about $530. "I've been careless and there's always temptation in the first year (of college) when you feel a lot of pressure to wear nice clothes and keep up with your friends," she said after winning the prize - the full pay-off of her card debt. ... |
| NATO should finish job in Afghanistan, Putin says Posted: 01 Aug 2012 12:16 PM PDT  ULYANOVSK, Russia (Reuters) - NATO forces should stay in Afghanistan until they have finished their job to ensure stability, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, criticizing the planned withdrawal of most combat troops by 2014. Putin reiterated Kremlin concerns that the pull-out of the U.S.-led alliance, due to start next year, will leave the Central Asian region south of Russia vulnerable to militant violence and drug trafficking. "It is regrettable that many participants in this operation are thinking about how to pull out of there. ...
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| Russian lawyers say women's punk band members mistreated Posted: 01 Aug 2012 09:50 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Defense lawyers accused Russian authorities on Wednesday of depriving three members of a women's punk band of sleep and food during a trial that critics say is part of a campaign to discredit President Vladimir Putin's opponents. One of the women needed medical attention in court on the third day of a trial over the "punk prayer" the Pussy Riot band performed against Putin on the altar of Moscow's main cathedral in February. ...
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| U.S. concerned over Iraqi threats to force Iran dissidents from camp Posted: 01 Aug 2012 03:28 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States expressed concern on Wednesday over Iraqi threats to force an Iranian dissident group out of a camp in Iraq, but it also urged members of the group to relocate voluntarily to a large former U.S. military base in Baghdad. The United Nations also voiced concerns and urged both the Iraqi government and the Iranian dissidents to avoid violence. Iraqi authorities have been locked in a protracted dispute with the Mujahadin-e Khalq (MEK) over plans to move 3,000 MEK members from Camp Ashraf, where they have lived for years, to a former U.S. ...
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| EYES ON LONDON: Boris dangles, a badminton scandal Posted: 01 Aug 2012 07:04 AM 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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| Syria's Assad urges his army to step up fight Posted: 01 Aug 2012 05:45 AM PDT  Syrian President Bashar Assad urged his armed forces Wednesday to step up the fight against rebels as the U.N. reported a significant escalation in the civil war with the military using warplanes to fire on opposition fighters in the battle for Aleppo.
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| 8 badminton players tossed from Olympic doubles Posted: 01 Aug 2012 05:58 AM PDT  Eight female badminton doubles players were disqualified Wednesday from the London Olympics after trying to lose matches to receive a more favorable place in the tournament.
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| Hans K. Rausing gets 10-months suspended sentence Posted: 01 Aug 2012 06:52 AM PDT  A judge has given Hans Kristian Rausing a 10-month suspended sentence for preventing the proper burial of his wife Eva.
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| Class of 2012: Europe's young pursue dreams abroad Posted: 01 Aug 2012 08:37 AM PDT  Santiago Oviedo, a lanky 24-year-old from Madrid, is on track to get his master's in physics in October — a crucial milestone in his dream of becoming a researcher probing the origins of the universe.
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| Teddy bears drop in, bring down 2 Belarus generals Posted: 01 Aug 2012 09:52 AM PDT  It's probably the first time in history that teddy bears have defeated generals.
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| Panetta asks Israel for patience on Iran Posted: 01 Aug 2012 05:42 AM PDT  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that U.S. statements of solidarity with Israel and its assurances that military strikes are still an option aren't working to convince Iran that the West is "serious about stopping" the Islamic republic from developing nuclear weapons.
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| Power restored in India, but outage cause unclear Posted: 01 Aug 2012 04:49 AM PDT  Factories and workshops across India were up and running Wednesday after major electrical grid collapses caused the world's two worst power blackouts.
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| Palestinian police under scrutiny after slaying Posted: 01 Aug 2012 07:12 AM PDT  Dozens of Palestinian women have staged a memorial for a mother of three whose estranged husband is accused of slashing her throat in a busy West Bank market after she sought a divorce.
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| Somali leaders pass constitution as bombers attack Posted: 01 Aug 2012 06:38 AM PDT  Somali leaders voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to adopt a new constitution that contains new individual rights and sets the country on a course for a more powerful and representative government. The vote came after two thunderous blasts at the gates of the meeting site from a failed suicide attack.
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