| Syrian armored column closes in on Aleppo Posted: 25 Jul 2012 02:31 PM PDT  AZAZ, Syria (Reuters) - The Syrian army turned its forces on Aleppo on Wednesday, ordering an armored column to advance on the country's second biggest city and pounding rebels there with artillery and attack helicopters, opposition activists said. As hostilities intensified near the Turkish border, Ankara said it was closing its crossing posts, although the United Nations said refugees fleeing Syria would be allowed through. ...
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| Iran accuses Israel of plotting Bulgaria bus attack Posted: 25 Jul 2012 03:24 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran's U.N. envoy accused Israel on Wednesday of plotting and carrying out a suicide bomb attack on a bus in Bulgaria a week ago in which five Israeli tourists were killed. A suicide bomber blew up the bus in a car park at Burgas airport, a popular gateway for tourists visiting Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, killing himself, the Israeli tourists and the Bulgarian bus driver and wounding more than 30 people. Israel has accused Iran and the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah of the bombing. Iran has denied the accusations. ...
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| China's hawks gaining sway in South China sea dispute Posted: 25 Jul 2012 02:06 PM PDT  HONG KONG (Reuters) - China has adopted a more aggressive stance in recent weeks on territorial disputes in the South China Sea as hard-line officials and commentators call on Beijing to take a tougher line with rival claimants. China's supreme policymaking body, the Politburo Standing Committee, is made up entirely of civilians, but outspoken People's Liberation Army (PLA) officers, intelligence advisers and maritime agency chiefs are arguing that Beijing should be more forceful in asserting its sovereignty over the sea and the oil and natural gas believed to lie under the sea-bed. ...
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| As Ghana mourns president, focus turns to election race Posted: 25 Jul 2012 02:48 PM PDT  ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana has seen a smooth transition of power after the sudden death of its president, but as the nation mourns attention is already turning to who will replace him as the ruling party's candidate in a December vote. Vice-President John Dramani Mahama was sworn in hours after the announcement of the death through sudden illness on Tuesday of 68-year-old President John Atta Mills. ...
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| Mexico's new president faces long grind on poverty Posted: 25 Jul 2012 04:24 PM PDT  SAN SIMON ZAHUATLAN, Mexico (Reuters) - Sofia Irene can remember when a Mexican president came to visit her mountaintop village pledging to replace dirt floors with cement, pave roads and broaden electricity coverage. Seven years on, most homes in San Simon Zahuatlan have solid foundations and electric lights and two concrete roads run through the remote settlement in Oaxaca state in southwestern Mexico. But soon after the day President Vicente Fox entered the village with a bustling entourage in 2005, Mexico had its back to the wall again in its long fight against poverty. ...
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| North Korea confirms mystery woman is leader's wife Posted: 25 Jul 2012 01:11 PM PDT  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's new young leader, Kim Jong-un, is married, state media said on Wednesday, putting an end to speculation over the relationship with a woman seen at his side during recent events. The announcement, which fits a trend the Kim has followed to break out of the dour management style of his late father, Kim Jong-il, came just two weeks after he was seen at a gala performance accompanied by the woman, with rumors swirling as to whether she was his wife, lover or sister. ...
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| Colombia's Santos adamant security hasn't deteriorated Posted: 25 Jul 2012 01:55 PM PDT  CARTAGENA, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos rejected accusations that leftist FARC guerrillas are making a comeback, describing recent attacks as a last-gasp effort to grab headlines that did not pose a threat to economic prosperity. In an interview at one of his official residences, in the coastal city of Cartagena, Santos said a surge in violence by the Marxist rebels was an attempt to remain relevant as they faced attacks by government troops that eroded their capacity to fight and demoralized their ranks. ...
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| Turkish forces kill 15 Kurdish rebels in southeast Posted: 25 Jul 2012 12:05 PM PDT  DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkish security forces killed at least 15 Kurdish rebels in a raid near the country's border with Iraq after tracking them with drones and attacking them with helicopters and on the ground, officials said on Wednesday. The drones spotted a group of Kurdish fighters who blocked roads on Monday in Hakkari province, then pinpointed them for an attack when the Kurdish fighters returned to the same area on Tuesday evening, the security officials said. Three Turkish soldiers were injured in clashes that ensued, they said. ...
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| Makeup of new Egyptian government seen complete next week Posted: 25 Jul 2012 09:02 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - The makeup of a new Egyptian government is likely to be decided by the middle of next week, a presidential spokesman said on Wednesday, a day after the new prime minister was named by President Mohamed Mursi. Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Hisham Kandil was designated as premier on Tuesday but some critics questioned whether the little-known technocrat had the political or economic experience for the job. "Negotiations over the formation of the new government will end by the middle of next week," Yasser Ali told reporters. ...
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| Russia's Putin tells flood victims help on the way Posted: 25 Jul 2012 12:23 PM PDT  GELENDZHIK, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin made his third visit in less than a month to an area hit by devastating floods on Wednesday, and promised the government would rebuild homes as the Kremlin sought to minimize the political damage from the disaster. Putin talked to a group of pregnant women from the worst-affected town and again accused local officials of not doing enough to warn people about the rising waters. ...
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| Munich widows call for Olympic ceremony protest Posted: 25 Jul 2012 03:08 PM PDT  The widows of two Israeli Olympians killed by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Munich Olympics are urging spectators to stage a silent protest during Friday's opening ceremony for the London Games.
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| Un becomes 2: North Korea confirms Kim is married Posted: 25 Jul 2012 10:06 AM PDT  North Korea ended weeks of speculation Wednesday by confirming that the mystery woman beside young leader Kim Jong Un at recent public events is indeed his wife, "comrade Ri Sol Ju."
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| Syria rushes reinforcements to its largest city Posted: 25 Jul 2012 11:46 AM PDT  Syrian troops rushed dozens of tanks and reinforcements Wednesday toward Aleppo, the country's strategically vital commercial capital, in a bid to crush a rebel advance that has spread to wide swaths of the sprawling city.
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| Breakaway Alawite state may be Assad's last resort Posted: 25 Jul 2012 01:39 PM PDT  In the recent sectarian violence in Syria, some observers see a grim pattern: Alawite fighters from President Bashar Assad's minority sect, they say, are trying to carve out a breakaway enclave for themselves by driving out local Sunnis, killing entire families and threatening anybody who stays behind.
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| Ghana president's death shakes up December vote Posted: 25 Jul 2012 02:12 PM PDT  Ghana's governing party vowed Wednesday to carry out the "unfinished job" of the country's late president as questions swirled about who would replace him on the ticket for December's election.
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| Mexico fines HSBC $28 million in laundering case Posted: 25 Jul 2012 12:37 PM PDT  Mexican regulators have levied a $28 million fine against the Mexico subsidiary of London-based HSBC bank for failing to prevent money laundering through accounts at the bank.
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| UK scrambles fighter jet after plane loses contact Posted: 25 Jul 2012 02:51 PM PDT Britain's Ministry of Defense scrambled a Typhoon fighter jet Wednesday after an airplane lost contact with air traffic controllers. |
| Fashion show shines spotlight on Ukraine disabled Posted: 25 Jul 2012 03:17 PM PDT  At a glitzy Kiev night club brimming with neon lights and energetic pop music, the models showed off sleek evening gowns and glamorous hats as Ukraine's celebrities cheered on. But this was no ordinary fashion show -- some models rolled on wheelchairs, others were blind.
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| Muhammad Ali gala kicks off Olympic party season Posted: 25 Jul 2012 02:12 PM PDT  Muhammad Ali was the star of a London charity gala Wednesday that set off the Olympic party season - though with a gentle jog rather than an A-list burst out of the blocks.
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| Afghan family works to pay off crushing debt Posted: 25 Jul 2012 01:21 PM PDT  For Razi Khan, a debt of almost $900 has condemned him and his family to years of work in a brick factory in an eastern Afghan city, with little or no hope of ever paying it off.
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