| Syria rebels quit eastern city; Russia critical Posted:  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebel fighters fled the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor on Tuesday in the face of a fierce army assault, as Russia issued its toughest criticism yet of President Bashar al-Assad's handling of the year-long revolt. The flight from the remote desert city, which lies on the road to Iraq, marked the latest setback for the armed opposition, which also faced accusations of torture and brutality from a leading human rights body. ...
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| U.S. lacks "proof" on Afghan shooting: suspect's lawyer Posted:  LANSING, Kansas (Reuters) - U.S. authorities lack proof of what occurred the night a U.S. soldier is suspected of killing 16 villagers in Afghanistan, the lawyer representing the serviceman said on Tuesday. "I'm very concerned now they don't have much proof of anything," attorney John Henry Browne told Reuters after meeting with U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales on Tuesday for a second day in a military detention center in Kansas. ...
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| Obama to visit DMZ, raise pressure on North Korea Posted:  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, seeking to increase pressure on North Korea to abandon its atomic weapons, will visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on South Korea's tense border on Sunday before a nuclear security summit in Seoul. Obama's visit to the border will be a strong show of support for South Korea, the White House said on Tuesday, sending a message to the North as Washington builds an international effort to get stalled nuclear disarmament talks back on track. ...
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| France fears Jewish school gunman could strike again Posted:  TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) - French police stepped up the search on Tuesday for a gunman who filmed his carnage as he shot dead three children and a rabbi at a Jewish school, fearing the killer could strike again. Officials believe the scooter-riding gunman is a trained marksman with "extremist" views who may also be responsible for last week's shootings of three soldiers of North African origin. France's President Nicolas Sarkozy has said racism appeared to be the motivation for Monday's school attack, which came just five weeks before the first round of the presidential election. ...
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| Big earthquake hits Mexico, no major damage reported Posted:  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A major earthquake struck Mexico on Tuesday, unleashing panic as it damaged hundreds of buildings and caused homes in the capital to bounce like "trampolines". Office workers fled into the street when the 7.4-magnitude quake shook Mexico City for more than a minute. Cell phone lines went down, building were evacuated, traffic snarled and the stock exchange had to suspend trading early. The governor of the southwestern state of Guerrero, Angel Aguirre, said he had received reports of 500 homes damaged, with some of them knocked down, but he gave no more details. ...
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| Exclusive: Of diapers and drugs, Iran's trouble paying bills Posted:  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Like everyone, Iranians need diapers. Fred Harrington has built a business by selling Iran the raw materials to make them. The Redmond, Washington, businessman, who exports to Iran under a humanitarian license from the U.S. Treasury Department, says he is owed close to $3.8 million by Iranian companies who cannot pay him because of the latest U.S. and European Union sanctions. He is not alone. U.S. firms from major drug makers like Merck & Co. to mom-and-pop outfits like Harrington's American Pulp & Paper Corp. ...
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| Italy's Monti says labor reform ready, union vows protests Posted:  ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti set a collision course with the country's biggest trade union after talks on a historic reform to employment protection law failed to produce a deal. The left-wing CGIL union, which has six million members, will meet on Wednesday to decide how to protest against a reform which its leader called an attack on workers and an attempt to solve Italy's labor problems by "easy firing". ...
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| U.S. sets "surprisingly low" China solar panel duties Posted:  WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday dealt a blow to U.S. manufacturers of solar panels and boosted shares in their Chinese rivals when it imposed preliminary punitive duties of less than 5 percent on imports from China. Nonetheless, the action adds to trade tensions between the world's two largest economies and threatens cooperation in the burgeoning clean-energy sector, which both countries say they want to promote. ...
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| Venezuela opposition leader shrugs off assassination talk Posted: CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition leader Henrique Capriles dismissed as irresponsible on Tuesday a government warning of an assassination plot against him that further stirred up an already volatile election campaign. President Hugo Chavez made the surprise announcement on Monday evening, implying that elements within the opposition were behind a plan to kill Capriles, the 39-year-old Miranda state governor who is challenging him in an October 7 election. ... |
| Mauritania agrees to Senussi extradition, Libya says Posted:  NOUAKCHOTT/TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Mauritania has agreed that Muammar Gaddafi's intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, arrested in Nouakchott last week, can be extradited to Libya, Libya's deputy prime minister said on Tuesday. The decision, if implemented, sets Libya on a collision course with France and the Hague-based International Criminal Court, which also want Senussi, Gaddafi's right-hand man before the Libyan dictator's overthrow and death in a revolt last year. ...
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| French hunt school killer, suspect neo-Nazi ties Posted:  Police searched southern France on Tuesday for an expert gunman suspected of fatally shooting seven people in the head at close range in attacks that may have been motivated by neo-Nazi ties or grudges against minorities.
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| 7.4 quake shakes south Mexico, rattles capital Posted:  A strong 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit central and southern Mexico on Tuesday, damaging some 800 homes near the epicenter and swaying tall buildings and spreading fear and panic hundreds of miles away in the capital of Mexico City.
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| Villagers: Afghan slayings were act of retaliation Posted: Residents of an Afghan village near where an American soldier is alleged to have killed 16 civilians are convinced that the slayings were in retaliation for a roadside bomb attack on U.S. forces in the same area a few days earlier. |
| Syrian rebels outgunned, struggling for supplies Posted:  Syrian rebel commander Ahmad Mihbzt and his ragtag fighters grabbed their aging rifles to fight Syrian troops advancing on their village, but soon fled under a rain of exploding artillery shells.
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| Two Marios reshape Italy's image at home, abroad Posted:  Thanks to two Marios, Italy's image as the fun-loving land of the bunga bunga party but unreliable partner in Europe is under reconstruction — sparking cultural shifts at home.
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| Russia offers to back Annan's Syria plan at UN Posted:  Russia said Tuesday it's ready to support a United Nations resolution endorsing Kofi Annan's plan for settling the Syrian crisis, signaling it is prepared to raise the pressure on its old ally.
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| Rescue creditors: Greece may miss debt target Posted:  Greece's international creditors see "significant risks" that the country might fail to bring down its debt burden within targets, meaning it would require more rescue loans.
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| Syrian forces take eastern city from rebels Posted:  Syrian soldiers backed by tanks seized the eastern city of Deir el-Zour from rebels on Tuesday, the latest opposition stronghold to fall to an offensive by the better equipped Syrian military.
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| Lawyer: Cuban agent happy can visit brother Posted: A lawyer for a Cuban agent serving probation after a long jail term in the United States said Tuesday that his client is elated with a Miami judge's decision to let him visit his ailing brother on the island, and says the man will keep his word and return to serve out the remainder of the punishment. |
| Iran leader: Any attacks bring 'same level' reply Posted:  Tehran will retaliate against any attack by Israeli or American forces "on the same level," Iran's top leader said Tuesday in a defiant address just moments after U.S. President Barack Obama appealed directly to the Iranian people with a message of solidarity.
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