| Syria premier defects to opposition Posted: 06 Aug 2012 03:12 PM PDT  AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian forces pressed on with their offensive against rebels in the largest city Aleppo after the prime minister fled the country, denouncing the "terrorist regime" of Bashar al-Assad. The defection of Riyad Hijab - who like most of the opposition hails from the Sunni Muslim majority - was a further sign of the isolation of Assad's government around an inner core of powerful members of his minority Alawite sect. ...
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| Villain or scapegoat? Gu Kailai faces trial in China Posted: 06 Aug 2012 02:10 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - Cold-blooded killer or scapegoat, China's Lady MacBeth or over-protective mother -- Gu Kailai remains an enigma as she is tried for murder in a case that has shaken the ruling Communist Party and placed its secretive world of political privilege under intense scrutiny. The wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai will be tried this week in the central city of Hefei. There's little doubt a pliant court will find her guilty of murdering Neil Heywood, the British businessman who helped get her son into Harrow, the exclusive boarding school, and then into Oxford University. ...
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| Blast kills four in Russia's volatile Chechnya Posted: 06 Aug 2012 01:32 PM PDT  GROZNY, Russia (Reuters) - A suicide bomb blast that killed at least four soldiers and injured three other people in the capital of Russia's volatile Chechnya region on Monday may have been organized by an Islamist militant group headed by two brothers, a regional official said. The explosion, which Interfax news agency said happened as the soldiers left an armored vehicle near their garrison quarters, shattered the fragile peace of the broader North Caucasus region, where militants trying to create an Islamist state still use violence daily. ...
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| Egypt vows crackdown on "infidels" after border massacre Posted: 06 Aug 2012 03:31 PM PDT  RAFAH, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt branded Islamist gunmen who killed 16 police near the Israeli border as "infidels" and promised on Monday to launch a crackdown following the massacre that has strained Cairo's ties with both Israel and Palestinians. An Egyptian official said insurgents crossed into Egypt from the Gaza Strip before attacking the border station on Sunday. They then stole two vehicles and headed to nearby Israel, where they were eventually killed by Israeli fire. ...
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| UK coalition in crisis over parliamentary reform Posted: 06 Aug 2012 11:56 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's coalition government suffered its worst crisis to date on Monday when the junior partner in the two-party administration rebelled after its ally in power, the Conservatives, killed its plans to reform the House of Lords. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said the coalition formed in 2010 had now entered new territory, though he said he would not bring down the government by withdrawing his party's overall support. ...
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| Flash, boom, New Zealand volcano roars to life Posted: 06 Aug 2012 03:47 PM PDT  WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A New Zealand volcano dormant for more than a century has spewed boulders and spread an ash cloud over the center of the country, disrupting air traffic but causing no other damage or injuries. Mount Tongariro, one of three volcanic peaks in the central North Island, roared into life late on Monday night, as craters on the mountain located in a national park near popular hot springs, exploded with bright flashes and thunderous booms. ...
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| Six dead in pre-dawn raid on Ivory Coast military camp Posted: 06 Aug 2012 02:03 PM PDT  ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Gunmen killed five soldiers and seized weapons in a pre-dawn raid on an army camp in Ivory Coast's commercial capital Abidjan on Monday, military officials said, heightening fears of renewed instability in the world's top cocoa-growing country. The West African state, where five soldiers were killed in a similar attack on a police station and army roadblock in another part of Abidjan only the day before, is emerging from years of political turmoil but remains awash with illegal weapons. ...
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| Yemen seizes six militants in suicide bomb town Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:00 AM PDT  DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemeni security forces seized six suspected Islamist militants on Monday in a flashpoint town where a suicide bomber killed 45 people last week, a security source said. The suspected members of the Ansar al-Sharia group, were taken from a building in the southern town of Jaar in possession of explosives and other equipment used for suicide bombs, the source said. ...
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| Jailed Russian tycoon says punk rock band trial "medieval" Posted: 06 Aug 2012 06:10 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's most famous prisoner said on Monday that three women from the Pussy Riot band may have gone too far by protesting on a cathedral altar, but likened their trial to a medieval inquisition and said their prison regime may amount to torture. Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was tried in the same Moscow courtroom as the young women, called for leniency because of their age and said the way in which they were being treated brought shame on Russia. ...
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| Jamaica celebrates 50th anniversary to mixed reviews Posted: 06 Aug 2012 02:21 PM PDT  KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - The timing could hardly have been better, with Jamaicans celebrating the 50th anniversary of their independence from Britain on Monday on the heels of a stunning display of the Caribbean island's athletic prowess at the London Olympics. Monday was a national holiday in Jamaica to mark the anniversary, and it was just as well since many celebrated late into the night after the country's sprinters captured four out of the six medals in the men's and women's 100 meters finals, winning gold in both races as well as a silver and a bronze. ...
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| Aide: Syrian PM's break months in planning Posted: 06 Aug 2012 01:00 PM PDT  Syria's prime minister began planning his break from the regime two months ago when Bashar Assad offered him the post and an ultimatum: Take the job or die.
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| Egypt military vows to hunt down Sinai attackers Posted: 06 Aug 2012 07:47 AM PDT  Egypt's military vowed on Monday to hunt down those behind the killing of its 16 soldiers at a checkpoint along the Sinai border with Israel. It called the attackers "enemies of the nation" and suggested they were Egyptian Sinai-based militants who received Palestinian support from the Gaza Strip.
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| Nuke plant chief after tsunami: 'This is serious' Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:40 AM PDT  The emergency command center at Japan's stricken nuclear plant shook violently when hydrogen exploded at one reactor and the plant chief reacted by shouting, "This is serious, this is serious," reveal videos taken as the crisis happened last year.
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| Eastern European wives of Syrians fleeing war Posted: 06 Aug 2012 08:58 AM PDT  It was a life from a fairy tale that turned into hell.
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| Wear it proud: The flag as a fashion statement Posted: 06 Aug 2012 07:41 AM PDT  There was no mystery as to which team Varun Pemmaraju was supporting: His American flag was tied around his neck, the Stars and Stripes floating like a cape behind him.
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| Police begin clearing Occupy Frankfurt camp Posted: 06 Aug 2012 11:24 AM PDT German police on Monday carried out a court order to remove anti-capitalist protesters from an Occupy Frankfurt camp set up almost ten months ago next to the European Central Bank headquarters. |
| Hiroshima marks 67th anniversary of A-bomb attack Posted: 05 Aug 2012 10:10 PM PDT  Japan marked the 67th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack with a ceremony Monday that was attended by a grandson of Harry Truman, the U.S. president who ordered the bomb dropped on the city of Hiroshima.
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| Feminist anti-Putin rockers say judge biased Posted: 06 Aug 2012 11:32 AM PDT  Members of a feminist Russian punk band on trial for performing a stunt against Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main cathedral sought to dismiss their judge on Monday, accusing her of being politically biased and ignoring their side of the story.
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| Recent militant attacks in Egypt's Sinai, Israel Posted: 06 Aug 2012 01:10 PM PDT  Even before Sunday's deadly assault on Egyptian soldiers, there have been repeated attacks by militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in the 18 months since the ouster of longtime President Hosni Mubarak. Some, involving Palestinians, were directed against Israel, and others targeted Egyptian forces in Sinai.
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| Venezuelan charged in diplomat's killing in Kenya Posted: 06 Aug 2012 02:16 PM PDT Kenyan authorities on Monday charged the first secretary of Venezuela's embassy with the murder of that country's acting ambassador to Kenya in what police believe was a killing motivated by a battle over embassy leadership. |
| Chile marks second anniversary of mine collapse Posted: 06 Aug 2012 05:44 AM PDT  A cross in the middle of the world's driest desert now marks the spot where a mine collapse trapped 33 men a half-mile under the earth for 69 days.
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