| Syria says could use chemical arms against foreigners Posted: 23 Jul 2012 03:28 PM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Western states expressed alarm after Syria acknowledged for the first time that it has chemical and biological weapons and said it could use them if foreign countries intervene. A week of unprecedented fighting inside the capital Damascus, including a bomb attack that killed four of President Bashar al-Assad's closest advisers, has transformed the 16-month uprising and dramatically escalated international pressure on Assad. ...
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| Spate of attacks kills 107 across Iraq Posted: 23 Jul 2012 01:02 PM PDT  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 107 people were killed in bomb and gun attacks in Iraq on Monday, a day after 20 died in explosions, in a coordinated surge of violence against mostly Shi'ite Muslim targets. The bloodshed, which coincided with an intensifying of the conflict in neighboring Syria, pointed up the deficiencies of the Iraqi security forces, which failed to prevent insurgents from striking in multiple locations across the country. ...
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| Man dives off Tower Bridge in Olympic taxi protest Posted: 23 Jul 2012 03:38 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - A man dived off London's historic Tower Bridge into the River Thames on Monday during a protest by taxi drivers over their exclusion from part of a special Olympic Games road network in the capital. Police pulled the man from the water under the landmark bridge, from which Olympic rings were suspended to celebrate the 2012 London Games, and arrested him on a public order offence. The Port of London Authority said the man, thought to be a taxi driver, was lucky to be alive after diving headfirst from the walkway about 8 meters (25 feet) above the water. ...
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| U.S. drone kills 12 suspected militants in Pakistan Posted: 23 Jul 2012 12:59 PM PDT MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) - U.S. drone aircraft struck a militant hideout in northwest Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan on Monday, killing at least 12 suspected militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The drones fired several missiles at a compound in the Shawal area of the North Waziristan tribal region. Two suspected militants were wounded in the strike, officials added. Shawal is a remote area of forested ridges and valleys that spreads out on both sides of the border and has long been known as a haven for militants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and beyond. ... |
| Analysis: Retirees in South Korea find it's no country for old men Posted: 23 Jul 2012 02:04 PM PDT  SEOUL (Reuters) - In South Korea, where the average retirement age is a relatively young 58, the golden years are often filled with hard work in coffee shops and small stores that barely provide a living. More than half of the country's 7.1 million baby boomers -- born from 1955 through 1963 -- had made no financial preparations for retirement, a survey conducted by the country's welfare ministry found. Many of them try to support themselves by opening small businesses on borrowed money. ...
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| Japan Fukushima probe urges new disaster prevention steps, mindset Posted: 23 Jul 2012 08:21 AM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - A government-appointed inquiry into Japan's Fukushima nuclear crisis raised doubts on Monday about whether other atomic plants were prepared for massive disasters, and delivered a damning assessment of regulators and the station's operator. The report, the second this month about the disaster, could be seized upon by Japan's increasingly vociferous anti-nuclear movement after the restart of two reactors, and as the government readies a new energy policy due out next month. ...
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| Peru's Humala picking human rights lawyer to lead Cabinet Posted: 23 Jul 2012 03:46 PM PDT  LIMA (Reuters) - President Ollanta Humala has picked Justice Minister Juan Jimenez to be his prime minister, two well-placed sources said on Monday, as the Peruvian leader tries to calm a wave of violent anti-mining protests. Jimenez, known in Peru as a human rights lawyer, will replace Oscar Valdes, a former army officer who led a crackdown on protesters opposed to Newmont Mining's $5 billion Conga project in the northern region of Cajamarca that killed five people this month. Valdes, a former army officer, said via Twitter he was stepping down in a widely expected move. ...
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| Thousands flee violence in India's Assam, 19 killed Posted: 23 Jul 2012 07:56 AM PDT  GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - Thousands of people have fled their homes in India's northeastern Assam state after fighting between indigenous tribes and Muslim settlers killed at least 19 people, wounded many more, and left villages in flames, police said on Monday. Police were forced to fire warning shots to disperse armed groups that were moving between jungle hamlets on Monday, setting fire to bamboo houses, police and aid workers in the area told Reuters. Soldiers and federal paramilitary forces were patrolling remote districts. ...
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| Not time yet for new euro crisis measures: Monti Posted: 23 Jul 2012 07:51 AM PDT  SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Monday that it was too early to call an all-European summit on the crisis in the euro zone, and played down the need for an urgent injection of funds by the European Central Bank. Speaking after talks in Sochi with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Monti said "it's not yet time" for another regional crisis summit and said any decision to call one would be the prerogative of EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy. ...
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| Sudan army clashes with Darfur rebels near border Posted: 23 Jul 2012 10:29 AM PDT KHARTOUM/ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Sudan's army clashed with rebels from Darfur near the border with South Sudan on Monday, both sides said, overshadowing talks aimed at allowing aid into rebel-held areas where aid groups have warned of impending famine. Sudan's border regions have been mired in violence since South Sudan seceded a year ago under a 2005 peace agreement that ended decades of civil war. The neighbors came close to a war in April when fighting escalated along the 1,800 kilometer-long (1,100 mile) joint border, much of which hosts oil-producing facilities and is disputed. ... |
| Olympic opener will be spectacular but not secret Posted: 23 Jul 2012 12:35 PM PDT  The London Olympics opening ceremony will be a grand spectacle — but will it be a surprise?
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| Syria could use chemical weapons if attacked Posted: 23 Jul 2012 04:34 PM PDT  Syria threatened Monday to unleash its chemical and biological weapons if the country faces a foreign attack, a desperate warning from a regime that has failed to crush a powerful and strengthening rebellion.
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| Attacks bring Iraq's deadliest day in 2 years Posted: 23 Jul 2012 01:34 PM PDT  A startling spasm of violence shook more than a dozen Iraqi cities Monday, killing over 100 people in coordinated bombings and shootings and wounding twice as many in the country's deadliest day in more than two years.
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| US missiles kill 9 suspected militants in Pakistan Posted: 23 Jul 2012 11:46 AM PDT U.S. drones fired eight missiles at a compound owned by a powerful militant commander in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing nine suspected insurgents, Pakistani intelligence officials said. |
| UK hacking scandal spreads, 100-plus new claims Posted: 23 Jul 2012 12:47 PM PDT  British police are investigating new tabloids in the country's growing phone hacking scandal, including the Trinity Mirror PLC newspaper group as well as the U.K.'s Express Newspapers, a senior Scotland Yard official said Monday.
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| G4S replaced for Newcastle Olympic security Posted: 23 Jul 2012 11:41 AM PDT  The security firm G4S will no longer be providing protection at the Olympic stadium in Newcastle, city officials said Monday, citing concerns over the troubled company's shortfall in recruiting guards.
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| Europe shaken by fear Spain will need full bailout Posted: 23 Jul 2012 11:04 AM PDT  Europe is on the brink again. The region's debt crisis flared on Monday as fears intensified that Spain would be next in line for a government bailout.
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| Bread queues, destruction as war comes to Damascus Posted: 23 Jul 2012 03:00 PM PDT  After a bloody, weeklong siege in the Syrian capital, residents who stayed behind are facing hours-long lines for gasoline and bread, stinking piles of garbage in the streets and scenes of destruction unimaginable in a city that had long been spared the worst ravages of the country's uprising.
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| Witnesses implicate Ivory Coast dozos in attack Posted: 23 Jul 2012 11:45 AM PDT  A group of traditional hunters known for policing western Ivory Coast is now being implicated in a gruesome attack on a camp for displaced people, where at least six residents were killed after an angry mob set tents ablaze.
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| 2 dead in seaside cliff fall fleeing Spain fire Posted: 23 Jul 2012 12:59 PM PDT  As a wildfire closed in on them, five members of a vacationing French family abandoned their car and stumbled through thick smoke down a steep hillside in a desperate bid to reach the waters of the Mediterranean. Instead of a beach, they found themselves at the edge of a cliff with no choice but to jump or try to climb down. Two plummeted to their deaths.
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