| Syrian and Jordanian forces clash in border area Posted: 10 Aug 2012 03:59 PM PDT  ALEPPO, Syria/AMMAN (Reuters) - Fighting broke out between Jordanian and Syrian forces in a border region between the two countries overnight, but a Jordanian source said on Saturday no one on Jordan's side appeared to have been killed. A Syrian opposition activist who witnessed the fighting said armored vehicles were involved in the clash in the Tel Shihab-Turra area, about 80 km (50 miles) north of the Jordanian capital Amman, that occurred after Syrian refugees tried to cross into Jordan. "The Syrian side fired across the border and fighting ensued. ...
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| China's Gu confesses to killing Briton Heywood: Xinhua Posted: 10 Aug 2012 10:17 AM PDT  HEFEI, China/BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese woman accused of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood admitted guilt and blamed a mental breakdown for the events that brought her to trial and toppled her once-powerful politician husband, Bo Xilai, state media said on Friday. The first extended public comments on the case from Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, appeared in a Xinhua news agency account which said she and a household aide, Zhang Xiaojun, had "confessed to intentional homicide" in poisoning Heywood in November. ...
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| Egypt media say six Sinai "terrorists" held after attack Posted: 10 Aug 2012 11:14 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - The Egyptian army has captured six people it regards as "terrorists" in Sinai after an attack on a police station earlier this week that killed 16 border guards near the border with Israel, a military source told state media on Friday. Egypt sent hundreds of troops and armored vehicles into North Sinai on Thursday to tackle militants operating near the border in an offensive commanders said had killed up to 20 people they deemed terrorists. ...
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| Venezuela's Chavez says U.S. detainee was Marine Posted: 10 Aug 2012 04:17 PM PDT  CARACAS (Reuters) - An American arrested in Venezuela while entering illegally from Colombia is a former U.S. Marine and is refusing to explain himself under interrogation, President Hugo Chavez said on Friday. The United States is expressing skepticism over the latest incident between the two ideologically opposed nations, but says its diplomats should be given access to the man if Chavez's statements are true. The socialist Chavez is running for re-election at an October 7 vote and has been frequently invoking the possibility of violent actions by Venezuela's opposition with U.S. blessing. ...
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| Bomb kills Yemeni officer, al Qaeda suspected Posted: 10 Aug 2012 02:37 PM PDT  ADEN (Reuters) - A senior Yemeni military officer was killed when a bomb planted in his car exploded in the southeastern city of Mukalla in an attack blamed on al Qaeda, a security official said on Friday. The bombing was the latest in a series of attacks on senior figures or government institutions in Yemen since a U.S.-backed offensive drove Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda from their strongholds in the southern part of the country in June. ...
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| Spain seizes members of major Mexican drug cartel Posted: 10 Aug 2012 01:02 PM PDT  MADRID (Reuters) - Four members of a major Mexican drug-trafficking cartel have been arrested in Madrid, including a cousin of Mexico's most wanted man. The Sinaloa Cartel, one of the biggest criminal organizations in the world, was trying to set up a European operation based in Spain, Spain's Interior Ministry said in a statement on Friday. "Our country was going to be used as a point of entry for large shipments of narcotics," it said. One of the four Mexican men arrested was named as Jesus Gutierrez Guzman, a cousin of Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, the head of the cartel. ...
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| EU says monitoring France over wave of Roma expulsions Posted: 10 Aug 2012 01:07 PM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - The European Union is closely watching how France expels members of the Roma community to ensure their removal is consistent with the bloc's rules on the free movement of people, a spokeswoman for its executive arm said on Friday. Police have evicted hundreds of Roma from makeshift camps this week and repatriated dozens to Romania as President Francois Hollande follows the previous administration's policy of expelling illegal immigrants in the summer. ...
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| Kenya needs more security to protect voters: poll chief Posted: 10 Aug 2012 12:08 PM PDT  MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenya needs to improve security to ensure that voters are not deterred by recent grenade and gun attacks and threats by a coastal separatist movement to disrupt the election due next March, the head of the electoral commission said on Friday. Kenya has been hit by several explosions since it sent troops into Somalia to crush al Shabaab militants in October. ...
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| Timber trade threatens Russia protest leader Posted: 10 Aug 2012 10:30 AM PDT  MOSCOW/KIROV, Russia (Reuters) - The timber industry in the vast forests of Russia's Kirov region, far from prying eyes in Moscow, has long been easy prey for unscrupulous businessmen. Locals say it is so murky that the country's most charismatic opposition leader Alexei Navalny will have a hard time fending off charges levied last week of stealing wood from a state company while advising the governor there in 2009. ...
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| Suicide bomber hits North Iraq Shi'ite mosque, kills five Posted: 10 Aug 2012 09:32 AM PDT  MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide bomber driving a truck attacked a Shi'ite mosque near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul as Friday prayers ended, killing at least five people and wounding 70, police and health officials said. The mosque where the bomber detonated his explosives belonged to the Shabak minority in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad. "A suicide car bomber targeted a Shabak mosque in Mwafaqiya village," said Hanin Qaddo, a local Shabak leader. "Part of the mosque building collapsed over the heads of the worshippers as they were leaving. ...
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| 3 US troops killed by man in Afghan army uniform Posted: 10 Aug 2012 02:50 AM PDT A man in an Afghan army uniform shot and killed three American service members on Friday morning in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military command said, the third attack on coalition forces by their Afghan counterparts in a week. The Taliban claimed the shooter joined the insurgency after the attack. |
| Ramadan fast-dodgers indulge in secret Posted: 10 Aug 2012 06:56 AM PDT  Alongside hundreds of millions of Muslims observing the sunrise-to-sundown fast of Ramadan, a minority in the community goes underground each year during the holy month, sneaking sandwiches and cigarettes when no one is looking.
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| How long can Spain take the financial heat? Posted: 10 Aug 2012 01:20 AM PDT Imagine the interest rate on your mortgage going up and up until you can barely meet the monthly installments. How long do you hold on, scrimping and saving, before you throw in the towel? |
| Mourners gather for Ghanaian president's funeral Posted: 10 Aug 2012 02:37 AM PDT  World leaders and mourners are gathering for the funeral of Ghana's late president.
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| Kenyan justice slapped down after gun threat Posted: 10 Aug 2012 02:05 AM PDT There are signs that the rule of law is strengthening in Kenya. |
| Mali Islamists cut off suspected thief's hand Posted: 10 Aug 2012 08:10 AM PDT Officials in Mali condemned Islamist militants on Friday for chopping off a man's hand for allegedly stealing sheep, the punishment underscoring hardliners' tightening control over northern Mali. |
| UK offers new funding to Syria's rebels Posted: 10 Aug 2012 02:37 AM PDT  Britain's government offered 5 million pounds (US$7.8 million) to Syria's rebel forces Friday to pay for communications equipment and medical supplies in an effort to bolster ties to the country's opposition.
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| Chavez: American man detained in Venezuela Posted: 10 Aug 2012 09:37 AM PDT President Hugo Chavez said Venezuelan authorities have detained a U.S. citizen and are interrogating him, suspecting he could be a "mercenary" plotting to destabilize the country if the opposition loses the upcoming presidential election. |
| Ernesto weakens over Mexico, still a flood threat Posted: 09 Aug 2012 11:53 PM PDT  Tropical Storm Ernesto lost strength as it moved inland early Friday, though forecasters warned it could still dump dangerous rains in the mountains of Mexico's flood-prone southern Gulf region.
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| Soldiers fighting Congo rebels live in squalor Posted: 10 Aug 2012 03:29 PM PDT The nest of straw, like something an animal sleeps on, was a Congolese army soldier's bed before rebels seized the military camp containing his barracks. Broken windows were stuffed with grass and the only protection from the frigid night air was a handful of charcoal. |
