| Myanmar constitution likely to dash Suu Kyi's presidential hopes Posted: 19 Jun 2013 04:02 PM PDT  By Jared Ferrie YANGON (Reuters) - Her adoring compatriots believe democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi is destined to become Myanmar's next president. But don't bet on it. A year ago, the Nobel Peace Prize winner was feted at home and abroad and flush from her National League for Democracy (NLD) party's landslide wins in April 2012 by-elections, which swept her into parliament. Even a military-drafted constitution designed to exclude her from the highest office seemed a surmountable hurdle. ...
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| Afghan government to shun U.S. talks with Taliban Posted: 19 Jun 2013 03:33 PM PDT  By Hamid Shalizi and Lesley Wroughton KABUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Revived Afghan peace talks hit their first roadblock on Wednesday, a day after they were announced, as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government would not join U.S. talks with the Taliban and would halt negotiations with Washington on a post-2014 troop pact. The United States and the Taliban had announced on Tuesday that officials from both sides will meet in Doha, the capital of Qatar, in coming days, in a step forward for a stuttering peace process after 12 years of bloody and costly war between U.S. ...
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| Analysis: Brazil's protests: Not quite a 'Tropical Spring' Posted: 19 Jun 2013 02:15 PM PDT  By Brian Winter SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's blossoming protest movement is a coming-of-age for what had been one of Latin America's most politically disengaged youth populations, but does not appear to constitute a major threat to governability or established political parties. The protests, which gathered steam last week and saw some 200,000 Brazilians demonstrate in a dozen cities on Monday, are unlikely to go away anytime soon. ...
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| U.S. cites Russia, China among worst in human trafficking: report Posted: 19 Jun 2013 02:17 PM PDT  By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An annual U.S. State Department report on Wednesday cited Russia and China among the world's worst offenders in fighting forced labor and sex trafficking, which could lead to U.S. sanctions. The U.S. designation drops Russia and China, which already often are at odds with Washington, in the same category as North Korea and Iran. The State Department ranks countries according to the efforts they make to fight human trafficking and Russia, China and Uzbekistan all fell to the lowest level, Tier 3, in the new report. ...
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| Iran says appeals for 'jihad' in Syria fuel radicalism Posted: 19 Jun 2013 03:06 PM PDT  KUWAIT (Reuters) - Calls by Sunni Muslim clerics for a holy war against the Syrian government and its Shi'ite allies are fuelling radicalism in the region, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday. Earlier this month, prominent cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi called for jihad in Syria after fighters from Shi'ite Lebanese group Hezbollah intervened to help President Bashar al-Assad, in a move which stoked sectarian tensions. ...
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| U.S. talks with Taliban likely to take place within 'next few days': U.S. official Posted: 19 Jun 2013 01:57 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. talks with the Taliban are likely to be held within the "next few days" in Qatar, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, after delays caused by tensions over the naming of a new Taliban office in the capital, Doha. A senior U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday the talks would take place on Thursday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday his government would not join the peace talks with the Taliban, angered by a banner on the front of the new offices referring to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the name the Taliban used during their rule. ...
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| Few options for Brazil leader in face of protests Posted: 19 Jun 2013 04:36 PM PDT  SAO PAULO (AP) — With massive protests by middle-class Brazilians demanding wholesale government reforms, people all over this continent-sized country have reached a verdict on the streets and online: "The giant has awakened."
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| Sao Paulo, Rio revoke transport fare hikes as protests continue Posted: 19 Jun 2013 04:17 PM PDT  By Asher Levine and Tatiana Ramil SAO PAULO/FORTALEZA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil's two biggest cities agreed on Wednesday to revoke an increase in public transportation fares that set off demonstrations that have grown into nationwide protests against poor public services, inflation and corruption. The decisions, made separately in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, followed another day of protests across Brazil, which also included a march by demonstrators around a major international soccer game in the northeastern city of Fortaleza. ...
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| The Taliban’s Qatar Office: Are Prospects for Peace Already Doomed? Posted: 19 Jun 2013 04:10 PM PDT As far as diplomatic prospects go, the omens don't augur well. On Tuesday, the Afghan Taliban announced the opening of their first political office in the Qatari capital, Doha. They cut a ribbon, played their anthem, hoisted the Taliban flag and signaled their readiness to meet for talks with foreign delegations, including U.S. officials, whose government is clearly itching for a way out of its twelve-year Afghan imbroglio. Not long thereafter, though, a Taliban attack on Bagram air base left four U.S. soldiers dead. |
| Brazil officials reverse subway, bus fare hike Posted: 19 Jun 2013 03:51 PM PDT  SAO PAULO (AP) — Leaders in Brazil's two biggest cities said Wednesday that they reversed an increase in bus and subway fares that ignited anti-government protests that have spread across the nation in the past week.
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| Mueller: FBI uses drones for surveillance Posted: 19 Jun 2013 03:38 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI uses drones for surveillance of stationary subjects, and the privacy implications of such operations are "worthy of debate," FBI Director Robert Mueller said Wednesday.
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| US and Cuba agree to resume migration talks Posted: 19 Jun 2013 03:28 PM PDT  HAVANA (AP) — The United States and Cuba have agreed to resume bilateral talks on migration issues next month, a State Department official said Wednesday, the latest evidence of a thaw in chilly relations between the Cold War enemies.
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| FBI says it uses surveillance drones on U.S. soil Posted: 19 Jun 2013 03:19 PM PDT  By David Ingram WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States uses drones for surveillance in some limited law enforcement situations, FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Wednesday, sparking additional debate about President Barack Obama's use of domestic surveillance. The acknowledgement came in response to questions from U.S. senators who said they wanted to know more about the federal government's increasing use of unmanned aircraft. "Does the FBI use drones for surveillance on U.S. soil?" Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa asked during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. ...
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| US tries saving Taliban talks after Karzai objects Posted: 19 Jun 2013 03:15 PM PDT  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Hopes dimmed for talks aimed at ending the Afghan war when an angry President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday suspended security negotiations with the U.S. and scuttled a peace delegation to the Taliban, sending American officials scrambling to preserve the possibility of dialogue with the militants.
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| Magnitude 5.7 quake hits central Chile, no damage reported Posted: 19 Jun 2013 03:13 PM PDT SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A magnitude 5.7 earthquake hit the central Chilean region of Valparaiso at 5:30 p.m. (1730 ET) on Wednesday, causing buildings to sway in the nearby capital of Santiago but no reports of damage. The quake struck 68 miles north-northeast of Santiago at a depth of 62 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It hit close to the border with Argentina's Mendoza region. Chile's ONEMI emergency office originally qualified the quake as 'minor,' but said later it was 'moderate.' Most of Chile's huge copper mines are in the north of the country. ... |
| Tropical Storm Barry forms off Mexican coast Posted: 19 Jun 2013 03:11 PM PDT  VERACRUZ, Mexico (AP) — Tropical Storm Barry formed off Mexico's Gulf Coast on Wednesday, prompting Mexican authorities to ready hundreds of shelters.
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| Top UK court overturns sanctions on Iranian bank Posted: 19 Jun 2013 02:32 PM PDT LONDON (AP) — Britain's Supreme Court quashed sanctions against an Iranian bank penalized over its alleged links to Iran's nuclear weapons program, saying Wednesday that Bank Mellat had been arbitrarily singled out. |
| Sao Paulo officials reverse subway, bus fare hike Posted: 19 Jun 2013 02:28 PM PDT SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian leaders in Sao Paulo say they are reversing a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares that has sparked widespread protests across the nation. |
| New MERS virus spreads easily, deadlier than SARS Posted: 19 Jun 2013 02:27 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — A mysterious new respiratory virus that originated in the Middle East spreads easily between people and appears more deadly than SARS, doctors reported Wednesday after investigating the biggest outbreak in Saudi Arabia.
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| Militants storm UN compound in Somalia; 20 killed Posted: 19 Jun 2013 02:24 PM PDT  MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Seven al-Qaida-linked militants on a suicide mission attacked the U.N. compound Wednesday with a truck bomb and then poured inside, killing at least 13 people before dying in the assault.
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| Greek coalition talks drag on to end TV crisis Posted: 19 Jun 2013 02:20 PM PDT  ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's governing coalition failed to end a political crisis triggered by the closure of state broadcaster ERT, but said talks would continue Thursday to try to avoid a snap election that could delay vital economic reforms and disrupt the country's bailout program.
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| Kerry calls Karzai to ease anger on Taliban office Posted: 19 Jun 2013 02:15 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday made his second call to the Afghan president in 24 hours to ease Hamid Karzai's anger over the rollout of the Taliban's new political office in Qatar — a rift that temporarily delayed U.S. talks with the militant group set to begin later this week.
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| Italian icons find no respite from tax man Posted: 19 Jun 2013 02:13 PM PDT  MILAN (AP) — Sophia Loren wore green silk and sunglasses for her date with the taxman, Luciano Pavarotti a suit and sneakers. Diego Maradona gave up his diamond stud earring to pay off a tax debt.
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| AP PHOTOS: 3 little liligers cavort at Russian zoo Posted: 19 Jun 2013 02:04 PM PDT  The zoo in Novosibirsk, Russia's third-largest city, is home to a unique animal — the liliger. That's a big cat breed where the father is a lion and the mother is a lion-tiger hybrid, called a liger.
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| Scattered street protests pop across Brazil Posted: 19 Jun 2013 01:57 PM PDT SAO PAULO (AP) — Scattered street demonstrations popped up around Brazil on Wednesday as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and rising prices. |
| Budget cuts hit security checks for defense contractors Posted: 19 Jun 2013 01:52 PM PDT  By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A budget shortfall has forced a Pentagon security unit to sharply cut back on regular investigations used to update security clearances for defense contractor employees. In a little-noticed announcement posted on its website on June 7, the Defense Security Service said that "due to a funding shortfall," it has been obliged to suspend "most" routine re-investigations of defense contractor employers cleared at the "Top Secret" level, at least through the end of September. ...
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| Syria troops fight rebels near major Shiite shrine Posted: 19 Jun 2013 01:40 PM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah fighters joined Syrian forces in battling rebels in a Damascus suburb that is home to a revered Shiite Muslim shrine, in a push to secure the area around the ornate, golden domed mosque.
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| Greek coalition signals state TV deal near, to meet again Posted: 19 Jun 2013 01:37 PM PDT  By Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's ruling party leaders have signaled they are moving towards a compromise on the restart of state TV broadcasts and pledged to resolve a political standoff by Thursday. A court ruling on Monday ordered the public broadcaster ERT back on air, but its screens were still black or showing color bars after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's surprise decision a week ago to pull the plug at a few hours' notice to save money. ...
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| Georgia arrests torture suspects in new swipe at old government Posted: 19 Jun 2013 01:32 PM PDT  By Margarita Antidze TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian police on Wednesday arrested nine serving and former police and military officers on suspicion of torture that the interior minister said was a "systemic problem" under the previous government of President Mikheil Saakashvili. Dozens of former officials including a former prime minister have been arrested since Bidzina Ivanishvili's government took office, on charges such as abuse of power, corruption, illegal confinement and illegally obtaining personal information. ...
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| UK banking commission urges better standards Posted: 19 Jun 2013 01:25 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — British bankers could soon be facing harsher penalties for behaving badly.
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| Obama urges 'bold' nuclear cuts in Berlin speech Posted: 19 Jun 2013 01:19 PM PDT  BERLIN (AP) — Summoning the harsh history of this once-divided city, President Barack Obama on Wednesday cautioned the U.S. and Europe against "complacency" brought on by peace, pledging to cut America's deployed nuclear weapons by one-third if Cold War foe Russia does the same.
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| Obama defends U.S. intelligence strategy in wary Berlin Posted: 19 Jun 2013 01:14 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Noah Barkin BERLIN (Reuters) - President Barack Obama defended U.S. anti-terrorism tactics on a visit to Berlin on Wednesday, telling wary Germans Washington was not spying on the emails of ordinary citizens and promising to step up efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison. On the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, Obama made his first presidential visit to the German capital, a favored destination of U.S. leaders during the Cold War. ...
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| Brazil inflation erodes Rousseff's popularity: poll Posted: 19 Jun 2013 01:13 PM PDT  BRASILIA (Reuters) - Growing discontent over rising prices in Brazil has dragged down President Dilma Rousseff's approval rating from record highs, pollsters said on Wednesday, adding that her popularity could deteriorate further if inflation is not tamed. The CNI/Ibope opinion poll was taken before the start of a current wave of nationwide protests against inflation and other ills including corruption and poor public services. ...
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| Syrian exiles get taste of home: Beloved ice cream Posted: 19 Jun 2013 01:10 PM PDT  AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — For Syrians, no visit to Damascus' Old City is complete without a stop at a more than century-old ice cream parlor in its main souq where you can watch them make their distinctive desert by pounding it into shape with giant wooden mallets, then enjoy a bowl of it sprinkled with pistachios.
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| Former Hungarian prime minister Gyula Horn dies Posted: 19 Jun 2013 01:09 PM PDT  BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Gyula Horn, a former Hungarian prime minister who played a key role in opening the Iron Curtain, has died at the age of 80.
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