| Syria denies Assad's deputy tried to defect Posted: 18 Aug 2012 03:46 PM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria dismissed reports that President Bashar al-Assad's deputy had defected and its forces pursued an offensive against rebels, bombarding parts of Aleppo in the north and attacking an insurgent-held town in the oil-producing east. Vice-President Farouq al-Shara "never thought for a moment about leaving the country", said a statement from his office broadcast on state television on Saturday in response to reports that the veteran Baath Party loyalist had tried to defect to Jordan. ...
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| Ecuador rallies Latin America in Assange battle with UK Posted: 18 Aug 2012 01:39 PM PDT  QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on Saturday cast the Andean country's tensions with Britain over asylum for WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange as a menace to Latin America, warning the UK that it should think twice before trampling on the region's sovereignty. Incensed by London's threat to break into the Ecuadorean embassy where the former hacker is taking refuge, Correa's government has accused Britain of "colonial" bullying and has formally granted the Australian asylum. ...
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| At least 14 killed in attack on Yemen intelligence HQ Posted: 18 Aug 2012 03:32 PM PDT  ADEN (Reuters) - Suspected al Qaeda-linked militants killed at least 14 Yemeni soldiers and security guards on Saturday in a car bomb and grenade attack on the intelligence service headquarters in the southern port city of Aden. More bodies were believed buried under the rubble of the building, part of which was leveled in the assault, the defense ministry said. At least seven people were wounded. ...
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| Mine violence hits at South Africa's political problem Posted: 18 Aug 2012 02:08 PM PDT  MARIKANA, South Africa (Reuters) - The bloody protest by South African miners that ended in a hail of police gunfire and 34 deaths this week could also wound the ruling ANC and its main labor ally, laying bare workers' anger over enduring inequalities in Africa's biggest economy. Thursday's shooting, bringing back memories of apartheid-era violence, underlined that after 18 years in power the African National Congress and its union partner have not been able to heal the fissures of income disparity, poverty and joblessness scarring the country. ...
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| Budget breather for Greece would spur economic recovery: report Posted: 18 Aug 2012 09:28 AM PDT  ATHENS (Reuters) - Finance ministry officials in Greece have calculated that the debt-stricken country's economy will recover faster and its debt be more sustainable if it is given two more years to reduce its budget deficit, a Greek newspaper reported on Saturday. The estimate chimes with the view of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras who has tried, unsuccessfully, to win such an extension in the past and is expected to refloat the proposal next week with the leaders of France and Germany as well as with Jean-Claude Juncker, the Eurogroup chief. ...
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| Quake strikes Indonesia, child injured, houses damaged Posted: 18 Aug 2012 09:07 AM PDT JAKARTA (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck 35 miles southeast of Palu on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Saturday injuring a child and damaging at least 48 houses just as residents were breaking the Ramadan fast, authorities said. The quake was originally reported by the U.S. Geological Survey said as having a magnitude of 6.5. The depth was reported at 12.5 miles. "The quake was felt strongly for 15 seconds in Palu as people were breaking the fast," said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency. ... |
| India: Text message threats, rumors came from Pakistan Posted: 18 Aug 2012 01:20 PM PDT  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Most of the threatening mobile phone text messages and website images that spread panic among migrants from cities in the south and west of India last week originated in Pakistan, India's interior ministry said on Saturday. Thousands of students and workers from India's northeast fled Mumbai, Bangalore and other cities, fearing retaliation for recent violence against Muslims in Assam, one of the states in their far-flung corner of the country. ...
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| China protests over plans by Japanese group to visit near disputed islands Posted: 18 Aug 2012 05:01 AM PDT  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China lodged a formal protest with Japan on Saturday over plans by a Japanese nationalist group including lawmakers to hold a ceremony commemorating Japanese dead from World War Two near disputed islands in the East China Sea this weekend, state news agency Xinhua said. The group of more than 100 people travelling in a flotilla of boats is expected to arrive near the islands on Sunday morning. Japan's government has denied the group permission to land on the islands. ...
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| Yemeni secessionist leader released Posted: 18 Aug 2012 02:46 PM PDT ADEN (Reuters) - A Yemeni southern secessionist leader who was arrested on arrival in Aden from Britain on Wednesday said on Saturday he had been released by the security forces. Ahmed Abdullah al-Hassani had been living abroad but Yemeni media reported last week that he was planning to return to meet other leaders of the southern secessionist movement in Aden, the capital of the former state of South Yemen. He was then seized by a group of armed men who boarded the plane to arrest him, other separatist politicians said. ... |
| Madonna adds her voice to critics of Pussy Riot verdict Posted: 18 Aug 2012 12:27 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Madonna, who had already voiced her support for the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, on Saturday joined a chorus of celebrities in slamming a jail sentence handed down in Moscow to three women from the group over a protest against President Vladimir Putin. "I protest the conviction and sentencing of Pussy Riot to a penal colony for two years for a 40-second performance extolling their political opinions," Madonna said in a statement. ...
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| Airstrike kills 8 in Syria town near Turkey border Posted: 18 Aug 2012 02:01 PM PDT  A Syrian warplane on Saturday bombed a small town partially controlled by anti-regime fighters near the Turkish border, killing eight people and wounding at least 20, the latest escalation in the use of air power by President Bashar Assad's government in the Arab nation's civil war.
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| Russian clerics forgive Pussy Riot for Putin rant Posted: 18 Aug 2012 11:53 AM PDT  Russia's top Orthodox clerics on Saturday asked for mercy for the punk band Pussy Riot for its anti-government protest in a Moscow cathedral, but the church's forgiveness is unlikely to change the band's punishment in a case that caused an international furor over political dissent.
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| Syria war tipping Mideast balance toward Sunnis Posted: 18 Aug 2012 12:08 PM PDT  Not long ago, Arabs everywhere listened when the leader of Hezbollah spoke. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah's prominence, bolstered by his Lebanese guerrilla force's battles against Israel, was a sign of the rising regional influence of Shiite Muslims and overwhelmingly Shiite Iran. Now, his speeches don't necessarily make front pages even in Lebanon.
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| US drone kills 5 militants in northern Pakistan Posted: 18 Aug 2012 07:17 AM PDT  A missile launched from a U.S. drone struck a suspected militant hideout in a tribal region in northern Pakistan where allies of a powerful warlord were gathered Saturday, killing five of his supporters, Pakistani officials said.
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| UK, Ecuador seek solution to deadlock over Assange Posted: 18 Aug 2012 11:48 AM PDT  Britain is seeking an amicable solution with Ecuador to their diplomatic standoff over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a U.K. official insisted Saturday, as the secret-spiller prepared to make his first public statement since the Latin American nation confirmed it would offer him asylum.
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| Tropical storm hits Mexico coast, weakens Posted: 18 Aug 2012 09:39 AM PDT  Former Tropical Storm Helene headed inland on Mexico's Gulf Coast early Saturday after making landfall and quickly losing strength, falling to a tropical depression.
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| NATO, Taliban in war of words over Afghan deaths Posted: 18 Aug 2012 09:32 AM PDT  A suicide bombing at a wedding, a deadly airstrike on a village, grenades in a mosque — hundreds of Afghan civilians are dying violently this summer, while the Taliban and the NATO coalition wage verbal warfare.
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| Egypt president to visit Iran, a first in decades Posted: 18 Aug 2012 02:17 PM PDT  Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi will attend a summit in Iran later this month, a presidential official said on Saturday, the first such trip for an Egyptian leader since relations with Tehran deteriorated decades ago.
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| Palestinian government debt hurts private sector Posted: 18 Aug 2012 11:07 AM PDT  Palestinian drug importer Ghassan Mustaklem says he can't afford to work with the West Bank's Palestinian government anymore. He recently halted supplies to his biggest client, which now owes $12 million in unpaid bills, or more than half his annual turnover.
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| Militants attack Yemen intelligence HQ, killing 14 Posted: 18 Aug 2012 05:33 AM PDT Suspected al-Qaida militants attacked a Yemeni intelligence headquarters on Saturday, killing 14 people in a bold attack in the country's main southern city of Aden, officials said. |
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