| Infighting threatens Egypt transition plan, army orders arrests Posted: 10 Jul 2013 05:09 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh and Mike Collett-White CAIRO (Reuters) - Political infighting threatened to stall Egypt's transition plans on Thursday, as the military cracked down on Muslim Brotherhood leaders it blames for inciting a clash in Cairo in which troops shot and killed 53 protesters. Monday's violence between supporters of ousted President Mohamed Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected leader toppled by the army last week, and soldiers at a military compound has opened deep fissures in the Arab world's most populous country. ...
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| Railway head faces devastated Quebec town, points to train brakes Posted: 10 Jul 2013 05:11 PM PDT  By Julie Gordon and Richard Valdmanis LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (Reuters) - The head of the company whose runaway oil-tanker train exploded and devastated a Quebec town faced cries of "murderer" from residents on Wednesday, and he said the train's hand brakes were likely set improperly, causing the calamity. Police say they expect the death toll to rise to 50, confirming the worst fears of residents who had mostly given up hope that the missing would be found alive. Police earlier had said 60 people were dead or missing. ...
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| Portugal president wants 'salvation' deal, including opposition Posted: 10 Jul 2013 04:24 PM PDT  By Shrikesh Laxmidas and Daniel Alvarenga LISBON (Reuters) - President Anibal Cavaco Silva proposed an urgent cross-party agreement between the ruling coalition and opposition Socialists on Wednesday to ensure Portugal can complete adjustments under a bailout by June 2014 before holding early elections. Cavaco Silva said the coalition government remains in office and made no clear statement about a proposed cabinet reshuffle by the ruling Social Democrats and their junior coalition partner, the rightist CDS-PP party, to end an internal rift. ...
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| U.S.-China talks cover cyber issues, currency, Chinese reform Posted: 10 Jul 2013 04:01 PM PDT  By Paul Eckert and Anna Yukhananov WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials appealed to China's self-interest on Wednesday with calls for deeper economic reforms including changes to the exchange rate policy and a halt to cyber theft of trade secrets - actions they said would benefit both nations. Vice President Joe Biden launched the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue by stressing the shared stakes and responsibility to support the global economy. ...
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| North Korea says could resume nuclear talks if U.S. ends hostility Posted: 10 Jul 2013 11:56 AM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - North Korea said on Wednesday that it would not give up its nuclear deterrent until the United States ends its "hostile policy" towards Pyongyang, but that it was ready to revive international talks on its nuclear program frozen since 2008. The United States and its allies believe North Korea violated a 2005 aid-for-denuclearization deal by conducting a nuclear test the following year and pursuing uranium enrichment that would give it a second path to a nuclear weapon in addition to its plutonium-based atomic program. ...
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| Luxembourg spying scandal breaks Juncker government Posted: 10 Jul 2013 12:54 PM PDT  By Michele Sinner BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday bowed to pressure for an early election after his junior coalition partner blamed him for failing to curb abuses of power by the secret service. "I will convene the government tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) and will go to the Palace to suggest snap elections to the Grand duke," Juncker told parliament. ...
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| Biden: China's rise is good, cybertheft must stop Posted: 10 Jul 2013 04:42 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that China's rise is good but its theft of U.S intellectual property must stop as the global powers held annual talks that signaled more cooperation on tackling climate change while underscoring their deep differences on human rights.
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| Police: Quebec train crash death toll now at 20 Posted: 10 Jul 2013 04:41 PM PDT  LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (AP) — Canadian officials told distraught families Wednesday that 30 people still missing after the fiery crash of a runaway oil train are all presumed dead.
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| Colombia priest heeds papal call, sells Mercedes Posted: 10 Jul 2013 04:39 PM PDT  BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — It may be back to a bicycle for a Colombian priest who's heeding Pope Francis' call for austerity.
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| Tropical Storm Chantal weakens to tropical wave Posted: 10 Jul 2013 04:37 PM PDT  KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Tropical Storm Chantal was downgraded Wednesday to a tropical wave as its scattered clouds drifted quickly westward toward Jamaica. But heavy rains from the weakened system continued to drench parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic and force the evacuation of flood-prone areas.
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| Pentagon eyes cuts in danger pay Posted: 10 Jul 2013 04:31 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is eyeing plans to eliminate danger pay for service members in as many as 18 countries and five waterways around the world, saving about $120 million each year while taking a bite out of troops' salaries, The Associated Press has learned.
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| U.S.-China relationship like a (straight) marriage -China's Wang Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:53 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The relationship between the United States and China is like a marriage, with both parties building trust and cooperation, a visiting Chinese official said on Wednesday. However, it is not like a gay marriage, Vice Premier Wang Yang quipped as he sat next to U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. Both officials came to their positions this year and are co-chairing the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, a yearly meeting between the world's two biggest economies. "In China when we say a pair of new people, we mean a newlywed couple," Wang said about himself and Lew. ...
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| Obama pushes House Republicans on immigration Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:53 PM PDT  By Thomas Ferraro and Rachelle Younglai WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama jumped into the immigration debate on Wednesday by releasing a report touting economic benefits from reforms and meeting with Hispanic lawmakers, as Republican lawmakers gathered to try to craft their response. The release of the White House report signaled a new engagement by Obama, who has made immigration a top legislative priority but stayed on the sidelines of the debate that raged in the Senate in May and June. The report said passing reforms would expand the economy 3. ...
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| Egypt escalates a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:49 PM PDT  CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's military-backed government tightened a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday, ordering the arrest of its revered leader in a bid to choke off the group's campaign to reinstate President Mohammed Morsi one week after an army-led coup.
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| Senior lawmakers push Obama over Guantanamo force-feeding Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:49 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two senior Senate Democrats pushed President Barack Obama to cut back on force-feeding of prisoners at the Guantanamo naval base on Wednesday, two days after a judge ruled that only the president had the power to stop the procedure. Senators Richard Durbin, the number two Democrat in the Senate, and Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence committee, also urged Obama to outline a formal process for closing the detention center as quickly as possible. ...
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| Greek labor unions to strike over public-sector job cuts Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:48 PM PDT  By Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek workers will walk off the job in a 24-hour general strike next week, unions said on Wednesday, in the first major protest against the government's latest plan to cut thousands of public-sector jobs to please international lenders. The strike next Tuesday could coincide with a parliamentary vote expected next week on the policies Athens agreed with its European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders as a condition for more aid. ...
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| Honduras: Charred body belongs to journalist Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:41 PM PDT  TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — The charred and mutilated body of a man found on the bank of a lagoon in the northern city of San Pedro Sula is that of a missing journalist, Honduran authorities confirmed Wednesday.
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| After Weiner and Spitzer, Can France’s DSK Also Mount a Comeback? Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:33 PM PDT As many a politician knows, the descent from power can be brutally fast. And yet comebacks might be possible, at least judging by New York City politics, where both Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer are attempting to bury their previous sex scandals and win election this Fall, Weiner as mayor and Spitzer as comptroller. ... |
| Railway head faces devastated Quebec town, points to train brakes Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:28 PM PDT  By Julie Gordon and Richard Valdmanis LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (Reuters) - The head of the company whose oil-tanker train exploded and devastated a small Quebec town faced cries of "murderer" from furious town residents on Wednesday and he said the train's hand brakes were likely not set properly, causing the calamity. ...
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| Accused Boston Marathon bomber pleads 'not guilty' to attack Posted: 10 Jul 2013 02:55 PM PDT  By Scott Malone and Daniel Lovering BOSTON (Reuters) - Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, with his arm in a cast, accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded "not guilty" to committing the worst mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, a crime that could bring him the death penalty. Appearing in court for the first time, the 19-year-old ethnic Chechen - a naturalized U.S. citizen - spoke clearly, answering seven times that he was "not guilty" and occasionally glancing back at the gallery, where survivors and victims' relatives were watching. ...
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| Events leading up to fiery Quebec train derailment Posted: 10 Jul 2013 02:49 PM PDT  LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (AP) — Following is a timeline of events leading up to the fiery weekend explosion of a runaway oil train that smashed into this small lakeside Canadian town, killing at least 15 people, leaving dozens missing and incinerating much of its downtown.
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| South Sudan fails to protect civilians in east, U.S. says Posted: 10 Jul 2013 02:38 PM PDT  JUBA/KHARTOUM (Reuters) - The United States issued a rare criticism of South Sudan on Wednesday, saying the African state was failing to protect civilians in the east where the army is fighting an insurgency. Western powers have long urged Juba to find a peaceful solution to fighting involving the army, a rebel group and rival tribes in the vast Jonglei state but have so far mostly refrained from criticizing the government. A United Nations source said new fighting erupted a week ago between the rival Lou Nuer and Murle tribes in the Pibor area in Jonglei, killing an unknown number of people. ...
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| Railway CEO blames engineer in Quebec train crash Posted: 10 Jul 2013 02:24 PM PDT  LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (AP) — The head of the U.S. railway company whose runaway oil train crashed into a Quebec town blamed the engineer Wednesday for failing to set the brakes properly before the train hurtled down a seven-mile (11-kilometer) incline, derailed and ignited a fire that killed at least 15 people and left dozens missing.
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| Rail chief blames engineer in deadly Quebec crash Posted: 10 Jul 2013 02:10 PM PDT LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (AP) — The head of a U.S. railway company whose oil-laden train crashed into a Quebec town, exploding and killing at least 15 people, blamed the accident on an employee who he said had failed to properly set the brakes. |
| Portugal senior party says government remains in office Posted: 10 Jul 2013 01:58 PM PDT  LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's Social Democrats, senior partner in the ruling coalition, said on Wednesday the government remained in power and the party would consider the president's request to resolve a political crisis through a deal with opposition Socialists. President Anibal Cavaco Silva earlier urged the three largest parties to reach a deal that would include early elections to be arranged after Portugal's planned exit from an international bailout in June 2014. ...
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| Snowden in Moscow: What Russian Authorities Might Be Doing with the NSA Whistleblower Posted: 10 Jul 2013 01:55 PM PDT In the summer of 1985, KGB Colonel Oleg Gordievsky was called back to Moscow from the Soviet embassy in London, where he was serving as a resident spy. As a pretext, his commanders told him that he was coming to receive an award for his service. But in fact the KGB suspected him of being a double agent—which he was—and they were looking to interrogate him. ... |
| Egypt orders arrest of Brotherhood leaders Posted: 10 Jul 2013 01:51 PM PDT By Maggie Fick and Alexander Dziadosz CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's public prosecutor ordered the arrest on Wednesday of the leaders of ousted President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, charging them with inciting violence in a clash that saw troops shoot dozens of his supporters dead. A week after the army toppled Egypt's first democratically elected leader, bloodshed has opened deep fissures in the Arab world's most populous country, with bitterness at levels unseen in its modern history. ... |
| Portugal's president: government to stay in power Posted: 10 Jul 2013 01:38 PM PDT  LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal's president said Wednesday he is keeping faith with the bailed-out country's troubled coalition government and rejecting opposition parties' demands for an early election, though he appealed to all the main parties to put aside their differences and find a broad compromise that will spare the Portuguese from needing a second financial rescue.
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| Rail chief blames employee in Quebec train crash Posted: 10 Jul 2013 01:38 PM PDT  LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (AP) — The head of a railway company whose train crashed into a Quebec town, killing at least 15 people, blamed the accident on an employee who he said had failed to properly set the brakes.
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| First death from Tropical Storm Chantal Posted: 10 Jul 2013 01:33 PM PDT  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Tropical Storm Chantal skirted the southern coasts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Wednesday, losing force but heavy rain still posed a threat to some of the region's most vulnerable people.
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| Syria, Iran to run for U.N. Human Rights Council: envoys Posted: 10 Jul 2013 12:59 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria and Iran are planning to run for a spot on the U.N. Human Rights Council later this year, U.N. diplomats told Reuters on Wednesday, despite criticism from watchdog groups about widespread rights abuses in both countries. The General Assembly's annual elections for the United Nations' 47-nation Geneva-based human rights body will be held later this year in New York. There will be 14 seats available for three-year terms beginning in January 2014. ...
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| Syrians struggle to find festive mood this Ramadan Posted: 10 Jul 2013 12:51 PM PDT  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began Wednesday, many Syrians who observe the daily dawn-to-dusk fast that is broken with lavish family meals are struggling to find the usually festive mood and holiday warmth as the country's bloody conflict rages for a third year.
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| AP PHOTOS: Jewish women worshipping like men Posted: 10 Jul 2013 12:47 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) — Chaya Baker was ordained as a rabbi. Tamar Saar has read from the Torah, the Jewish holy scroll. Anat Hoffman demands that women be allowed to pray as men do at a key Jerusalem holy site.
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| Syrian rebels reject Russian claims on chemicals Posted: 10 Jul 2013 12:46 PM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's main Western-backed opposition group on Wednesday rejected Russian accusations that rebels made sarin nerve gas and used it in a deadly chemical attack outside Aleppo in March.
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| Chantal passes Dominican Republic, skirts Haiti Posted: 10 Jul 2013 12:20 PM PDT PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Tropical Storm Chantal skirted the southern coasts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Wednesday, losing force but still posing a flood threat to some of the region's most vulnerable people. |
| Luxembourg PM says will propose to hold early election Posted: 10 Jul 2013 12:13 PM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday he will propose to hold an early election. The euro zone country hold a snap poll after the junior coalition partner in Juncker's government said he should take political responsibility for failing to curb abuse of power by the secret service Luxembourg's parliament on Wednesday reviewed a report it commissioned on the security agency's illegal bugging of politicians, purchase of cars for private use and allegations it took payments and favours in exchange for access to local officials. ...
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| Egypt's Christians face backlash for Morsi ouster Posted: 10 Jul 2013 12:03 PM PDT  CAIRO (AP) — With a mob of Muslim extremists on their tail, the Christian businessman and his nephew climbed up on the roof and ran for their lives, jumping from building to building in their southern Egyptian village. Finally they ran out of rooftops.
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