| Syrian aircraft strike Aleppo, rebels claim successes Posted: 31 Jul 2012 03:12 PM PDT  ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - Syrian combat aircraft and artillery pounded Aleppo late into the night as the army battled for control of the country's biggest city, where rebel fighters said troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad had been forced to retreat. During the day on Tuesday large clouds of black smoke rose into the sky after attack helicopters turned their machineguns on eastern districts for the first time in the latest fighting and a MiG warplane later strafed the same area. After nightfall, Reuters journalists in Aleppo heard loud explosions somewhere near the city. ...
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| Security in focus as Clinton begins Africa trip Posted: 31 Jul 2012 04:04 PM PDT  DAKAR (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Senegal on Tuesday, beginning a trip that will take her both to Africa's newest nation South Sudan and on a private visit to the continent's elder statesman, 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela. While Clinton's public focus will be on Africa's democratic achievements and economic potential, the trip also underscores U.S. security ties in the face of growing threats - from Islamist militants to narcotics cartels. ...
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| Baghdad bombs kill 19, police battle suicide attackers Posted: 31 Jul 2012 03:04 PM PDT  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Twin car bombs hit central Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 19 people, and security forces fought off a separate attack inside a police station by two suicide bombers trying to free al Qaeda prisoners. The major assault underscored the seriousness of Iraq's struggle with insurgents more than seven months after the last U.S. troops left behind a country still grappling with political instability and sectarian tensions. ...
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| Gaddafi son cannot get fair trial in Libya: lawyers Posted: 31 Jul 2012 12:35 PM PDT  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Slain Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam cannot get a fair trial in Libya and he claims if he is executed it would be tantamount to murder, his defense lawyers said on Tuesday in a filing to the International Criminal Court (ICC). "I am not afraid to die but if you execute me after such a trial you should just call it murder and be done with it," Saif al-Islam said, according to his lawyers, referring to a possible trial in Libya, where he is being detained by tribesmen. ...
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| Al Qaeda decline hard to reverse after Bin Laden killing: U.S. Posted: 31 Jul 2012 02:48 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden's death sent al Qaeda into a decline that will be hard to reverse, the United States said on Tuesday in a report that found terrorist attacks last year fell to their lowest level since 2005. Describing 2011 as a "landmark year," the United States said other top al Qaeda members killed last year included Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, reportedly the militant organization's No. 2 figure after bin Laden's death, and Anwar al-Awlaki, who led its lethal affiliate in Yemen. ...
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| Eight killed during price protests in Sudan's Darfur Posted: 31 Jul 2012 03:41 PM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Eight people were killed during a protest against rising prices in Sudan's western Darfur region on Tuesday, the worst violence since tough austerity measures were imposed last month, police said. Activists accused the police of using live ammunition to control the biggest anti-government protest since President Omar Hassan al-Bashir announced a cut in fuel subsidies and other austerity measures. ... |
| India power cut hits millions, among world's worst outages Posted: 31 Jul 2012 01:13 PM PDT  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Hundreds of millions of people across India were left without power on Tuesday in one of the world's worst blackouts, trapping miners, stranding train travelers and plunging hospitals into darkness when grids collapsed for the second time in two days. Stretching from Assam, near China, to the Himalayas and the northwestern deserts of Rajasthan, the outage covered states where half of India's 1.2 billion people live and embarrassed the government, which has failed to build up enough power capacity to meet soaring demand. ...
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| Obama tightens sanctions on banks helping Iran sell oil Posted: 31 Jul 2012 03:03 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama announced new U.S. sanctions on Tuesday against foreign banks that help Iran sell its oil and said the measure would increase pressure on Tehran for failing to meet its international nuclear obligations. Obama's decision, in an executive order, came ahead of congressional votes on new sanctions intended to further strip Iran of its oil-related revenues. It also followed criticism from Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney that the White House is failing to act strongly enough to stop Iran's suspected pursuit of a nuclear weapon. ...
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| Mercosur embraces Chavez despite protests from business Posted: 31 Jul 2012 03:00 PM PDT  BRASILIA (Reuters) - On his first foreign trip since undergoing cancer treatment in Cuba earlier this year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hailed his country's welcome by fellow South American leaders into a troubled regional trade bloc on Tuesday. Ignoring criticism that Venezuela's entry could eventually cause greater dysfunction among the Mercosur trade bloc's members, Chavez cast the event as a continuation of his self-styled revolution and a sign of greater ascendance for South America as a whole. ...
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| Egypt's Mursi frees Islamists jailed by Mubarak Posted: 31 Jul 2012 11:23 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi has freed a group of Islamists jailed for militancy during Hosni Mubarak's era a step seen as a gesture to hardliners who supported his presidential bid. A lawyer for 17 Islamists, many of them held since the 1990s, say they owe their release to a pardon issued by Mursi. At least three of the released Islamists had been condemned to death, said the lawyer Ibrahim Ali. ...
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| Deutsche Bank to cut 1,900 jobs as profits drop Posted: 31 Jul 2012 08:05 AM PDT  Deutsche Bank said Tuesday it plans to cut about 1,900 jobs, most of them outside Germany, as Europe's debt crisis hurt profits at its investment banking business.
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| Electricity grids fail across half of India Posted: 31 Jul 2012 03:03 PM PDT  Electric crematoria were snuffed out with bodies inside, New Delhi's Metro shut down and hundreds of coal miners were trapped underground after three Indian electric grids collapsed in a cascade Tuesday, cutting power to 620 million people in the world's biggest blackout.
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| Humanitarian problems grow in besieged Aleppo Posted: 31 Jul 2012 06:11 AM PDT  Humanitarian conditions have grown even more dire in the besieged Syria city of Aleppo with activists reporting on Tuesday dwindling stocks of food and cooking gas and only intermittent electricity supplies as droves of residents flee 11 days of intense clashes between rebels and regime forces.
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| Popular Irish author Maeve Binchy dies at 72 Posted: 31 Jul 2012 10:48 AM PDT  Bestselling Irish author Maeve Binchy, one of Ireland's most popular writers who sold more than 40 million books worldwide, died in Dublin after a brief illness, Irish media and national leaders said. She was 72 years old.
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| Forget the flame: Boris is on fire during Games Posted: 31 Jul 2012 08:08 AM PDT It's hard to miss Boris Johnson at the Summer Olympics. |
| Cuba charges Spaniard in dissident Paya's death Posted: 31 Jul 2012 06:26 AM PDT Cuba has charged a Spanish citizen in a car crash that killed prominent dissident Oswaldo Paya. |
| Italy, France affirm euro support amid crisis Posted: 31 Jul 2012 06:47 AM PDT  The Italian and French leaders are affirming their support for strengthening the eurozone, after a lunch meeting in Paris to discuss the continent's economic crisis.
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| TURNSTILE CHECK Posted: 31 Jul 2012 06:04 AM PDT London Olympic organizers have released attendance figures for the first three days of the games: |
| Court releases wife of notorious Belgian pedophile Posted: 31 Jul 2012 08:02 AM PDT The ex-wife of a notorious pedophile who aided her husband's horrific abuse and killing of young girls — and who let two of the children starve to death — won early release from prison on Tuesday, infuriating the victims' parents and reopening a dark page in Belgian history. |
| UK police arrest teen over Olympic tweets Posted: 31 Jul 2012 07:41 AM PDT A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of posting malicious Twitter messages directed at British Olympic diver Tom Daley, U.K. police said Tuesday. |
