| At least 51 killed in Egypt as Islamists urge defiance Posted: 08 Jul 2013 11:53 AM PDT  By Alexander Dziadosz and Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 51 people were killed on Monday when the Egyptian army opened fire on supporters of ousted president Mohamed Mursi, in the deadliest incident since the elected Islamist leader was toppled by the military five days ago. Protesters said shooting started as they performed morning prayers outside the Cairo barracks where Mursi is believed to be held. But military spokesman Ahmed Ali said that at 4 a.m. (0200 GMT) armed men attacked troops in the area around the Republican Guard compound in the northeast of the city. ...
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| Former Egyptian finance minister favorite for interim PM post Posted: 08 Jul 2013 01:34 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Former finance minister Samir Radwan has emerged as the favorite to become Egypt's interim prime minister, senior political sources said on Monday, as the military-backed transitional administration seeks a way out of political deadlock. Radwan said he had not yet been approached. Interim head of state Adli Mansour has been trying since last week to form a temporary government that can guide the country towards fresh elections at a time of growing unrest, triggered by the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi five days ago. ...
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| Exclusive: Congress delaying U.S. aid to Syrian rebels - sources Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:55 PM PDT  By Mark Hosenball and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional committees are holding up a plan to send U.S. weapons to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because of fears that such deliveries will not be decisive and the arms might end up in the hands of Islamist militants, five U.S. national security sources said. Both the Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees have expressed reservations behind closed doors at the effort by President Barack Obama's administration to support the insurgents by sending them military hardware. ...
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| Germany defends 'strictly legal' cooperation with NSA Posted: 08 Jul 2013 08:26 AM PDT  By Stephen Brown BERLIN (Reuters) - Angela Merkel's government said on Monday that its cooperation with American intelligence was fully regulated by strict legal guidelines after a magazine reported that the U.S. National Security Agency was in close cahoots with German spies. Germany's opposition, with an eye on September's election, when the chancellor will seek a third term, demanded that her government explain how much it knew about U.S. surveillance tactics ahead of talks with Washington about the NSA. ...
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| Snowden affair clouds U.S. attempts to press China to curb cyber theft Posted: 08 Jul 2013 02:33 PM PDT By Paul Eckert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Revelations by former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden will make it harder for the United States to confront China at talks this week over the alleged cyber theft of trade secrets worth hundreds of billions of dollars each year. Snowden's disclosures of American electronic surveillance around the world give China an argument to counter U.S. complaints that it steals private intellectual property (IP) from U.S. companies and research centers. ... |
| Bin Laden's life on the run revealed by Pakistani inquiry Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:02 PM PDT  By Maria Golovnina ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden lived in plain sight for almost a decade and was once even pulled over for speeding but not apprehended, thanks to the incompetence of Pakistan's intelligence and security services, an official report into his killing said on Monday. The report, leaked to Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera which circulated it late on Monday, offers fascinating details about life on the run for the world's most wanted man, who, it says, wore a cowboy hat to avoid being spotted from above. ...
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| Crash investigators turn to cockpit decisions Posted: 08 Jul 2013 04:56 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Investigators trying to understand why Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crash-landed focused Monday on the actions of an experienced pilot learning his way around a new aircraft, fellow pilots who were supposed to be monitoring him and why no one noticed that the plane was coming in too slow.
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| Egypt Islamist party in bind after killings Posted: 08 Jul 2013 04:34 PM PDT  CAIRO (AP) — An Islamist party that is a key member of the factions that backed the military's ouster of President Mohammed Morsi threatened to break with the country's new military-backed leadership after the killing of more than 50 Islamist protesters Sunday, trying to salvage its position in the face of criticism it had turned against its own movement.
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| Canada train derailment death toll rises to 13 Posted: 08 Jul 2013 04:23 PM PDT  LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (AP) — Traumatized survivors of an oil train derailment that wiped out the heart of a small town braced for more bad news as inspectors were finally cleared to enter the charred site and look for remains late Monday, more than two days after the disaster that killed at least 13 people. A total of 50 were missing and the death toll was sure to rise.
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| Brazil opens investigation into US spying Posted: 08 Jul 2013 04:20 PM PDT  SAO PAULO (AP) — The Brazilian government began an investigation Monday into whether telecommunications firms operating in the country cooperated with the U.S. as part of a spying program that has collected data on billions of telephone and email conversations.
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| Clashes by Egypt army, protesters kill at least 54 Posted: 08 Jul 2013 04:19 PM PDT CAIRO (AP) — Egypt was rocked Monday by the deadliest day since its Islamist president was toppled by the military, with more than 50 of his supporters killed by security forces as the country's top Muslim cleric raised the specter of civil war. |
| Report assails Pakistani officials over bin Laden Posted: 08 Jul 2013 04:06 PM PDT  ISLAMABAD (AP) — Al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden was able to live in Pakistan undetected for nine years because of a breathtaking scale of negligence and incompetence at practically all levels of the Pakistani government, according to an official government report published by a TV channel on Monday.
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| Brazil to probe local telecom operators over alleged U.S. spying Posted: 08 Jul 2013 04:06 PM PDT RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil's telecommunications agency said on Monday it would investigate whether local operators had violated customer privacy rules in alleged surveillance of Brazilian telecommunications data by U.S. spy agencies. The decision came as U.S. officials, including the American ambassador in Brasilia, sought to reassure Brazil following reports in the O Globo newspaper that the American Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency had gathered telephone and email data in Brazil and used Brazil-based equipment to do so. ... |
| Factbox: Key issues in annual U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:57 PM PDT (Reuters) - Top U.S. and Chinese officials will meet in Washington this week for the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, a process launched five years ago to help the world's two largest economies manage an increasingly complex relationship. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will host Chinese co-chairs, State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vice Premier Wang Yang. All four officials are new in their positions and leading their first S&ED talks, which include the heads of 14 U.S. government agencies and 16 Chinese state bodies. ... |
| No cutoff in US aid to Egyptian military _ for now Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:46 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration signaled Monday that U.S. national security interests will trump its promotion of Egypt's budding democracy, stressing the importance of continued aid to the Egyptian military, which overthrew the elected president last week.
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| National Geographic Photos Document Massive Bird Slaughter Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:45 PM PDT  Each year, millions of songbirds are killed for food, for profit or just for the joy of shooting something, as they move from their winter grounds in Africa to their summer breeding territories in Europe.
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| Insight: From power to protest, Egypt's Brotherhood fights for life Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:40 PM PDT  By Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood is facing an old adversary in the fight of its life, but has few means to confront the Egyptian military that has swept it from power. Reduced to camping out on the Cairo streets, all it can do, it seems, is mourn its dead. The deaths of 51 Brotherhood supporters killed when the army opened fire on them on Monday was the latest and bloodiest blow to a group reeling from President Mohamed Mursi's dramatic ouster from office at the hands of the generals. ...
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| U.S. will not cut off aid to Egypt immediately Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:34 PM PDT  By Steve Holland and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House refused to label the military ouster of Egypt's president a coup on Monday and said there would be no immediate cut-off in U.S. aid to Egypt in a move that distances Washington from the country's toppled Muslim Brotherhood leadership. White House spokesman Jay Carney, peppered with questions about Egypt at a daily briefing, struggled to explain how Washington could avoid calling the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi a coup. ...
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| Egypt to hold parliamentary vote in about six months Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:32 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will hold new parliamentary elections once amendments to its suspended constitution are approved in a referendum, the interim head of state decreed on Monday, setting out a timeframe that could see a legislative vote in about six months. A presidential vote would be called once the new legislative chamber convenes, the decree said. It set a four-and-a-half month timeframe for amendments to the state's controversial, Islamist-tinged constitution that was passed in December. ...
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| Analysis: Egyptian military's new look challenged Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:28 PM PDT  CAIRO (AP) — Led by a savvy commander, Egypt's powerful military returned to politics with a new look and a new approach. It built a coalition behind the removal of the president and rode a stunning wave of popular support.
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| Asiana plane was far below target speed before San Francisco crash Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:20 PM PDT  By Sarah McBride and Hyunjoo Jin SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL (Reuters) - The Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 that crashed at San Francisco's international airport was flying 25 percent below its intended air speed before slamming into the ground, U.S. safety officials said on Monday as attention increasingly focused on the actions of the pilots. All four pilots were being interviewed on Monday by investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and other agencies, NTSB chairwoman Deborah Hersman said at a news conference in San Francisco. ...
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| Pakistan’s Bin Laden Report: What You Need to Know Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:17 PM PDT A leaked Pakistani report on the May 1, 2011 U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden's compound provides a first-hand view into the dysfunctions of a Pakistani government that both managed to play host to the world's most wanted man and then failed to react to the U.S. operation which had to breach Pakistani sovereignty in order to kill him. |
| Judge faults Gitmo force-feeding but won't stop it Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:16 PM PDT MIAMI (AP) — A U.S. federal judge ruled Monday that she lacks the authority to halt the force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay, while pointedly noting that the practice appears to violate international law and that President Barack Obama can resolve the issue. |
| Study: Air pollution cut northern China lifespans Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:12 PM PDT  BEIJING (AP) — A new study links heavy air pollution from coal burning to shorter lives in northern China. Researchers estimate that the half-billion people alive there in the 1990s will live an average of 5½ years less than their southern counterparts because they breathed dirtier air.
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| Federal officials end inquiry into Wynn Posted: 08 Jul 2013 02:58 PM PDT  LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal investigators are done looking into a $135 million donation casino giant Wynn Resorts gave to a university in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau.
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| Brazil now looking for Portuguese, Spanish doctors, not Cubans Posted: 08 Jul 2013 02:48 PM PDT  BRASILIA (Reuters) - The Brazilian government, under pressure to improve public health services, has dropped plans to import a contingent of Cuban doctors and is instead looking to hire physicians in Spain and Portugal, the Health Ministry said on Monday. The plan to bring in Cuban doctors created a backlash because of questions about their qualifications. Brazilian medical associations argued that standards at Cuba's medical schools were lower than in Brazil and equivalent in some cases to a nursing education. ...
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| Race tight for governor of key Mexico border state Posted: 08 Jul 2013 02:45 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — President Enrique Pena Nieto sought to calm tensions Monday over the still-undecided election for governor of the key Mexican border state of Baja California after both sides claimed victory and authorities said mistakes were made in preliminary vote counts.
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| Afghanistan arrests former US translator Posted: 08 Jul 2013 02:45 PM PDT  MAIDAN SHAHR, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan intelligence on Monday announced the arrest of an Afghan who translated for the U.S. Special Forces and was linked to the mysterious deaths of at least nine civilians in an affair that has further strained relations between the U.S. and President Hamid Karzai.
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| Egypt interim president sets election timetable Posted: 08 Jul 2013 02:42 PM PDT  CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's interim president has issued a swift timetable for the process of amending the constitution, setting parliamentary and presidential elections for early 2014.
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| NTSB: Plane parts found in San Francisco Bay Posted: 08 Jul 2013 02:30 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Asiana jet that crashed at San Francisco International Airport left lower sections of its tail on a rocky seawall and in the bay, then scattered debris several hundred feet down the runway, the NTSB reported Monday in describing the plane's deadly path.
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| Runaway train devastates small town in Quebec Posted: 08 Jul 2013 02:23 PM PDT  By Richard Valdmanis and Julie Gordon LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (Reuters) - The only warning Lac-Megantic residents had of the coming disaster was the louder-than-usual rumble of a train - a runaway locomotive laden with crude oil that would jump the tracks, explode and burn down the center of town. "I heard a rattle, louder than usual, so I went out on the balcony and I saw the train going at extremely high speed," said Ghislain Bisson, 52, who was watching late-night television as the train approached. "Then, I saw it. It just left the track and headed right for the building. ...
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| Bolivia demands answers from Europe in plane spat over Snowden Posted: 08 Jul 2013 02:23 PM PDT  By Daniel Ramos LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia demanded on Monday that France, Portugal, Spain and Italy reveal who told them that former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was on board President Evo Morales' flight from Moscow last week. Bolivia said it was an act of "state terrorism" by the United States and its European allies that the four countries banned Morales' plane from their airspace on suspicions it was carrying the U.S. fugitive to Bolivia in defiance of Washington. ...
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| Egypt puts travel restrictions on Syrians Posted: 08 Jul 2013 02:20 PM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — Egypt restricted the ability of Syrians to enter the country on Monday, with officials citing reports that a large number of Syrians were backing the Muslim Brotherhood, which is engaged in a bloody standoff over the military's ouster of Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi.
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| US, China discuss cybersecurity Posted: 08 Jul 2013 02:18 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. and Chinese officials began formal discussions on cybersecurity Monday, kicking off four days of talks to build cooperation and broach issues that divide the two world powers. |
| Judge denies bin Laden son-in-law request for restraining order Posted: 08 Jul 2013 02:14 PM PDT  By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday declined to temporarily block U.S. government agencies from conducting special surveillance on lawyers representing Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, which those lawyers view as illegal spying. Even if the agencies monitor the communications of lawyers for Suleiman Abu Ghaith, "there isn't a shred of evidence" that prosecutors are privy to that information and using it to Abu Ghaith's disadvantage, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said at a hearing. ...
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| Cambodian opposition leader vows to end exile Posted: 08 Jul 2013 02:05 PM PDT  PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's charismatic self-exiled opposition leader has vowed to return to Cambodia ahead of this month's general election to help challenge the 28-year rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
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| Ship seized by Somali pirates sinks Posted: 08 Jul 2013 01:36 PM PDT MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A hijacked Malaysian-flagged ship that pirates have held off the coast of Somalia since November 2010 sank in rough seas, the European Union Naval Force said Monday, and a pirate commander said the ship had faced mechanical problems. |
