| Trial of Muslim Brotherhood leaders political, says lawyer Posted: 25 Aug 2013 04:11 PM PDT  By Lin Noueihed CAIRO (Reuters) - The leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood was beaten by police during his arrest, and his trial is part of an attempt by the military to eliminate its political foes, a defense lawyer said on Sunday. The trial of Mohamed Badie, the Brotherhood's "General Guide", and his two deputies opened on Sunday but was immediately adjourned until October 29 for security reasons. Badie and other leaders of Egypt's oldest Islamist group were arrested after army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi deposed the freely elected President Mohamed Mursi on July 3 after mass ...
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| U.N. experts in Syria to visit site of poison gas attack Posted: 25 Aug 2013 04:52 PM PDT  By William Maclean BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.N. weapons experts are due on Monday to inspect a site where poison gas killed many hundreds of people in Damascus suburbs, amid calls from Western capitals for military action to punish the world's worst apparent chemical weapons attack in 25 years. Syria agreed on Sunday to allow the inspectors to visit the site. The United States and its allies say evidence has been destroyed by government shelling of the area over the past five days, and the Syrian offer to allow inspectors came too late. ...
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| Muslim Brotherhood leaders, Mubarak face trial in Egypt Posted: 25 Aug 2013 04:07 PM PDT  By Alistair Lyon CAIRO (Reuters) - Three leaders of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and the movement's former arch-foe Hosni Mubarak faced separate trials on Sunday on similar charges of involvement in the killing of protesters. With Egypt now under an army-installed government after last month's overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, local media seized on the symbolism of scheduling both sessions on the same day. "Trial of two regimes," headlined al-Shorouk daily. ...
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| Fears of food and water poisoning after Damascus gassings Posted: 25 Aug 2013 12:05 PM PDT  (This story was reported by a journalist whose name has been withheld for security reasons) DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Days after a suspected poison gas attack killed hundreds of people in crop-growing suburbs, residents of the Syrian capital say they are afraid their food and water supplies may be contaminated. Western countries believe President Bashar al-Assad's forces carried out the worst chemical weapons attack since Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein gassed thousands of Kurds in 1988. Syria's government denies any role in the deaths and blames rebels. ...
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| U.S. urges restraint as fighting escalates in eastern Congo Posted: 25 Aug 2013 04:53 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Sunday it was alarmed by an escalation in fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo between M23 rebels and Congolese soldiers, and again called on neighboring Rwanda to stop its support for the rebels. The State Department condemned attacks by the M23 that killed at least three people in Congo's eastern city of Goma on Saturday. It also expressed concern over reports by the United Nations of shelling by the M23 into Rwanda territory. ... |
| Bombs, shootings kill at least 47 across Iraq: police Posted: 25 Aug 2013 12:57 PM PDT  BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) - Car bombs, roadside bombs and shootings killed at least 47 people in Iraq on Sunday, police and medical sources said, as tensions intensify between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims across the Middle East. Sunni Muslim insurgents and the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq have significantly increased their attacks this year. More than 1,000 Iraqis were killed in July, the highest monthly death toll since 2008, according to the United Nations. ...
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| Fresh Goma shelling kills two: witnesses Posted: 25 Aug 2013 04:28 PM PDT  Shelling killed two people Saturday in Goma in the restive east of DR Congo after a newly formed UN brigade took its first military action to back government troops and prevent rebels from entering the mining hub, witnesses said.
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| Kiwi teen Ko wins second straight LPGA Canadian Open Posted: 25 Aug 2013 04:08 PM PDT  New Zealand amateur sensation Lydia Ko won the LPGA Canadian Women's Open for the second straight year Sunday, leaving an elite pro field in her wake.
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| US 'alarmed' by eastern DR Congo violence Posted: 25 Aug 2013 03:53 PM PDT  The United States on Sunday condemned rebel attacks on civilians and UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, hailing the world body's efforts to protect the population.
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| Mexico migrant cargo train 'La Bestia' derails, at least six dead Posted: 25 Aug 2013 03:53 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - At least six people were killed when a cargo train nicknamed "La Bestia," or "The Beast," on which would-be migrants hitch rides toward the U.S. border, derailed in a remote area of southern Mexico on Sunday, state officials said. Ambulances were unable to reach the accident scene in Huimanguillo in the southern state of Tabasco because of the difficult terrain. Images from the scene showed freight cars upturned and wheels separated from their base. Officials said eight of the 12 cars overturned and that a Honduran man was among the dead. ...
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| Mexico migrant train derails; at least 5 dead Posted: 25 Aug 2013 03:38 PM PDT  VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico (AP) — A notorious cargo train known as "the Beast" and carrying at least 250 Central American hitchhiking migrants derailed in a remote region of southern Mexico on Sunday, killing at least five people and injuring 17, authorities said.
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| California fire threatens San Francisco water and power Posted: 25 Aug 2013 03:24 PM PDT  A raging California wildfire burning on the northern tip of the storied Yosemite National Park now threatens San Francisco's water and electricity supply, officials said Sunday.
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| Karzai to visit Pakistan in quest for Taliban peace Posted: 25 Aug 2013 03:09 PM PDT  Afghan President Hamid Karzai is to hold key talks with Pakistan's newly elected government on Monday, searching for direct communication with Taliban insurgents to end 12 years of war.
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| Syria agrees to UN chemical weapons investigation Posted: 25 Aug 2013 03:09 PM PDT  DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria agreed Sunday to a U.N. investigation into last week's alleged chemical weapons attack outside Damascus — a deal a senior White House official dismissed as "too late to be credible," saying the United States has "very little doubt" President Bashar Assad's forces used such weapons.
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| Gay activists in Amsterdam protest Russian policy Posted: 25 Aug 2013 02:19 PM PDT  AMSTERDAM (AP) — More than 2,000 gay rights supporters protested in Amsterdam's largest square Sunday, carrying signs, singing songs and chanting slogans to condemn the Russian government's homosexuality policies.
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| Russian opposition leader Navalny briefly detained Posted: 25 Aug 2013 02:08 PM PDT  MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian opposition leader running for Moscow mayor has been briefly detained by police during a campaign rally.
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| Qaeda head slams Saudi support to Egypt Posted: 25 Aug 2013 02:08 PM PDT  A top Saudi member of Al-Qaeda slammed King Abdullah's support for the Egyptian army's ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, in a video message posted online Sunday.
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| Eyes online, milk powder firms count cost of China probes Posted: 25 Aug 2013 02:06 PM PDT  By Adam Jourdan SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Global milk powder firms are scrutinizing Chinese social media reports up to four times a day to gauge consumer reaction to a high-profile pricing probe and food safety scare that threaten their squeaky-clean image in the $14.5 billion China market. The stepped-up monitoring of microblogging site Weibo and local online forums reflects the outsized role social media plays in China, where access to information is restricted. ...
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| Russia urges US to await Syria inspection findings Posted: 25 Aug 2013 02:05 PM PDT  MOSCOW (AP) — Russia urged the U.S. and its allies Sunday to await the findings of a U.N. inspection team expected to visit the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria and avoid military action.
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| Rebels killed 14 Colombian soldiers Posted: 25 Aug 2013 01:47 PM PDT  An ambush by FARC and ELN rebels killed 14 Colombian soldiers during an army patrol and left two guerrillas dead, officials said in an updated toll Sunday.
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| Oman's Sultan Qaboos in Tehran for energy, economy talks Posted: 25 Aug 2013 01:42 PM PDT  Sultan Qaboos of Oman, the only Gulf leader to maintain good relations with Tehran, arrived in Iran Sunday for a visit focussed on economic and diplomatic issues, Iranian authorities said.
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| Sudan earns $236 mn from South Sudan oil fees Posted: 25 Aug 2013 01:37 PM PDT  Sudan earned more than $230 million in fees for the export of South Sudanese oil this year, official media reported on Sunday, days before a Khartoum deadline to shut the pipelines.
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| Teen survives flight in aircraft wheel in Nigeria Posted: 25 Aug 2013 01:32 PM PDT LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A young teenager dashed across a runway at a Nigerian airport, hid in the wheel well of a jet and survived a 35-minute domestic flight, the airline and aviation authorities said Sunday. |
| Obama discusses Syria with France's Hollande Posted: 25 Aug 2013 01:32 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama discussed a possible coordinated international response to the reported use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria with French President Francois Hollande, the White House said on Sunday. "President Obama and President Hollande discussed possible responses by the international community and agreed to continue to consult closely," the White House said in a statement. ...
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| UN opens probe after two die in Goma protest Posted: 25 Aug 2013 12:54 PM PDT  The United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo said Sunday it has opened a probe after residents accused UN peacekeepers of killing two people who tried to storm its base in the restive eastern city of Goma.
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| Zimbabwe to head African tourism commission Posted: 25 Aug 2013 12:53 PM PDT  HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The United Nations world tourism body said Sunday it has chosen Zimbabwe to lead its Commission for Africa, the continent-wide group for tourism development for the next two years.
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| Somalia wants UN to lift sanctions on suspected Shebab Posted: 25 Aug 2013 12:52 PM PDT  Somalia's government has demanded UN sanctions be lifted from a businessman accused of being a chief financier for Al-Qaeda inspired insurgents fighting the internationally-backed authorities, the information minister said Sunday.
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| Iraq attacks including Baghdad blasts kill 48 Posted: 25 Aug 2013 12:48 PM PDT  A series of attacks in Baghdad and north Iraq killed 48 people on Sunday amid a surge in violence that authorities have failed to stem despite wide-ranging operations targeting militants.
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| Insurgent attacks in Iraq kill at least 46 Posted: 25 Aug 2013 12:47 PM PDT  BAGHDAD (AP) — Insurgents bent on destabilizing Iraq killed at least 46 people in numerous attacks scattered around the country on Sunday, striking targets as varied as a coffee shop, a wedding party convoy and a carload of off-duty soldiers.
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| 'Very little doubt' chemical weapons used in Syria: US Posted: 25 Aug 2013 12:45 PM PDT  The United States said Sunday there was "very little doubt" Syrian forces had used chemical weapons on civilians and dismissed an offer by Damascus for a UN team to view the attack site.
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| Syria okays UN chemical probe, US eyes military action Posted: 25 Aug 2013 12:39 PM PDT  UN experts are Monday to start investigating a suspected Syrian chemical attack as a sceptical Washington weighing military action and coordinating with allies said Syria's acceptance of the probe came too late.
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| Russian opposition leader briefly held after mayor campaign rally Posted: 25 Aug 2013 12:32 PM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin's biggest critics, was briefly detained by police on Sunday after a big campaign rally in his bid to become Moscow mayor. Navalny, who led protests against Putin last year but is not expected to win the mayoral election on September 8, put up no resistance as he was led to a waiting police van and taken away after addressing several thousand people outside a Moscow park. ...
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| Insurgent attacks in Iraq kill at least 41 Posted: 25 Aug 2013 12:12 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Insurgents bent on destabilizing Iraq killed at least 41 people in numerous attacks scattered around the country on Sunday, striking targets as varied as a coffee shop, a wedding party convoy and a carload of off-duty soldiers. |
| 1,000 gay activists in Amsterdam in Russia protest Posted: 25 Aug 2013 11:57 AM PDT AMSTERDAM (AP) — More than 1,000 gay rights supporters have protested in Amsterdam, waving rainbow flags and chanting slogans criticizing the Russian government's homosexuality policies. |
| Spain rescues more than 100 migrants from sea Posted: 25 Aug 2013 11:44 AM PDT  Spanish rescue services said they had picked up more than 100 African migrants from boats in the Atlantic and Mediterranean sea on Saturday, incidents that have become increasingly rare.
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| Russia praises Syria regarding UN inspectors Posted: 25 Aug 2013 11:43 AM PDT MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has welcomed Syria's decision to allow U.N. inspectors to visit the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack, but said the U.S. should await the findings and realize that a unilateral use of force would be a mistake. |
| Britain says Syria chemical attack evidence may already be destroyed Posted: 25 Aug 2013 11:25 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Sunday that evidence of a chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus could have already been destroyed ahead of a visit to the site by U.N. inspectors. Earlier in the day Syria agreed to let experts from the United Nations on Monday visit the site of the reported poisonous gas attack which killed hundreds of people on Wednesday of last week. "We have to be realistic now about what the U.N. team can achieve," Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters. "The fact is that much of the evidence could have been destroyed by that artillery bombardment. ...
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