| Syrian forces fight rebels in Damascus, residents flee Posted: 21 Jul 2012 03:53 PM PDT  BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian troops backed by helicopters and tanks have struck back in Damascus against rebel fighters emboldened by a bomb attack against President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle. Assad's forces, who also pushed into a rebel-held district in the northerly commercial hub of Aleppo on Saturday, targeted pockets of lightly armed rebels, who moved about the streets on foot and attacked security installations and roadblocks. ...
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| Egyptians throng former spy chief Suleiman's funeral Posted: 21 Jul 2012 09:21 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Thousands of well-wishers and Egypt's military brass gathered on Saturday for the funeral of the country's former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, a key figure in the fallen Mubarak regime who died this week in hospital in the United States. Supporters of Suleiman chanted "God is great" and "in the name of God," as his casket was hoisted atop a horse-drawn cart after a ceremony at the Al Rashdan Mosque in Cairo's Heliopolis district. ...
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| Spanish protests swell as jobless march on Madrid Posted: 21 Jul 2012 03:02 PM PDT  MADRID (Reuters) - Hundreds of unemployed Spaniards who had walked hundreds of kilometers (miles) to Madrid joined protests on Saturday against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government and its handling of an economic crisis. Demonstrations have swollen across Spain since the center-right government announced 65 billion euros ($79 billion) in new spending cuts two weeks ago to cut its deficit and avert a full-blown bailout, with firefighters and police joining a mass protest on Thursday. ...
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| Militant attacks kill 15 in Pakistan Posted: 21 Jul 2012 02:39 PM PDT  PARACHINAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A bomb exploded at a compound in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing nine people and wounding 20, local government and intelligence officials said. The bombing in the compound, used by a local militia and containing residential units and an office, occurred near the village of Spin Tal in the Orakzai tribal region. The Pakistan military has been conducting operations against militant groups in the area for months. ...
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| Italy shipwreck hearing postponed to October 15 Posted: 21 Jul 2012 06:24 AM PDT  GROSSETO, Italy (Reuters) - Experts investigating the Costa Concordia shipwreck, which killed as many as 32 people, need more time to gather evidence and will present their findings at a pre-trial hearing on October 15, lawyers said on Saturday. The panel of experts investigating the January 13 cruise line disaster off the Italian coast are expected to complete their work by September. Saturday's pre-trial hearing, which considers evidence ahead of a full trial, was postponed after the experts asked for more time to answer some 50 requests from information by the prosecutors, lawyers said. ...
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| Pentagon eyes drones for Kenya to fight militants nearby Posted: 21 Jul 2012 11:55 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is seeking to send hand-launched drones to Kenya as part of a $40 million-plus military aid package designed to help four African countries fight al Qaeda and al Shabaab militants, notably in Somalia, the Wall Street Journal reported. Kenya would get eight "Raven" unmanned aerial systems - an unarmed drone that can be used to identify targets for strikes by ground forces or other aircraft. ... |
| "Vatileaks" butler wanted to help the pope: lawyer Posted: 21 Jul 2012 01:34 PM PDT  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Paolo Gabriele, the papal butler held on suspicion of leaking documents alleging corruption in the Vatican, was driven by a desire to help the pope, his lawyer said on Saturday, adding that his ultimate aim may have been to clean up the Church. The lawyer, Carlo Fusco, told a news conference that Gabriele had acted alone in the so-called "Vatileaks" scandal and was not part of any wider plot, saying he expected a Vatican magistrate to order a trial for him soon. ...
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| Spain's WWF dumps King as patron over African hunting trip Posted: 21 Jul 2012 10:09 AM PDT  MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) voted to remove King Juan Carlos as the organization's honorary patron on Saturday after he went on an elephant-hunting safari in Botswana. Members of the Spanish chapter of the WWF charity voted overwhelmingly to scrap the position of honorary patron, which has been occupied by Juan Carlos since the group was created in Spain in 1968. ...
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| Japan probes under-reporting of Fukushima radiation dosage Posted: 21 Jul 2012 02:16 AM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's health ministry said it would investigate reports that workers at the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant were urged by a subcontractor to place lead around radiation detection devices in order to stay under a safety threshold for exposure. The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported on Saturday that an executive from Build-Up, a subcontractor to plant owner Tokyo Electric Power, told workers to cover the devices called dosimeters when working in high-radiation areas. ...
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| Damascus chaos strikes fear in Assad's Alawite bastion Posted: 21 Jul 2012 02:57 PM PDT  TARTOUS, Syria (Reuters) - Sunbathing and drinking at bars, men and women lived in a bubble on Syria's Mediterranean coast. They refused to believe their country was collapsing into chaos. Until now. A stunning bomb attack in Syria's capital this week that killed four from President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle has shaken the faith of Alawite supporters in his ability to stave off an armed rebellion that has now encroached on Damascus. ...
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| Syria revolt reaches Aleppo; rebels target cities Posted: 21 Jul 2012 04:45 PM PDT  Riding a wave of momentum, Syrian rebels made a run on Aleppo Saturday in some of the fiercest fighting seen in the country's largest city, which has been a key bastion of support for President Bashar Assad over the course of the 17-month-old uprising.
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| Rogge again rules out minute silence for Israelis Posted: 21 Jul 2012 03:12 PM PDT  IOC President Jacques Rogge won't budge: There will be no minute's silence for the Israeli victims of the 1972 Munich massacre at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.
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| Indian upheaval bares Colombia's nagging conflict Posted: 21 Jul 2012 04:18 PM PDT  One of the stiffest blows in years to the prestige of Colombia's military wasn't inflicted by its leftist rebel foes and didn't claim a single soldier's life.
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| Taliban kill 10 in attack on rival in Pakistan Posted: 21 Jul 2012 09:39 AM PDT A Taliban suicide car bomber attacked a rival militant commander's compound in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 10 people, as heavily armed assailants killed eight members of the coast guard in the southwest, officials said. |
| Egypt's ex-spy chief honored in military funeral Posted: 21 Jul 2012 12:02 PM PDT  Egypt's top generals led hundreds of mourners Saturday at a funeral honoring former spy chief Omar Suleiman, who for decades served as a key pillar of ousted President Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian regime.
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| Murdoch resigns from boards of UK newspapers Posted: 21 Jul 2012 04:44 PM PDT  Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has resigned as a director of a number of News Corp. boards overseeing his Britain newspapers, a spokeswoman confirmed Saturday. He also quit from some of the media company's subsidiary boards in the United States.
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| Spain king ousted as WWF branch honorary president Posted: 21 Jul 2012 09:51 AM PDT  The World Wildlife Fund's branch in Spain has ousted King Juan Carlos as its honorary president — a title he'd held since 1968 — after deciding his recent elephant hunting safari was incompatible with its goal of conserving endangered species.
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| Sun comes out as Olympic torch tours London Posted: 21 Jul 2012 10:09 AM PDT  The Olympic torch has begun its tour of London — and to everyone's relief, the weather is cooperating.
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| Celebs descending on London for Olympic bashes Posted: 21 Jul 2012 10:34 AM PDT  The athletes and the Olympic torch have arrived in London — and so has the party.
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