| Obama wins backing for Syria strike from key figures in Congress Posted: 03 Sep 2013 03:36 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Yara Bayoumy WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Barack Obama won the backing of key figures in the U.S. Congress, including Republicans, in his call for limited U.S. strikes on Syria to punish President Bashar al-Assad for his suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians. Speaking after the United Nations said two million Syrians had fled a conflict that posed the greatest threat to world peace since the Vietnam war, Obama said the United States also has a broader plan to help rebels defeat Assad's forces. In remarks that appeared to question the legality of U.S. ...
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| Thousands of Islamists take to Egypt's streets Posted: 03 Sep 2013 02:23 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of overthrown Islamist president Mohamed Mursi took to the streets in towns and cities across Egypt on Tuesday evening to denounce Egypt's new military-backed rulers - their second show of mass support in four days. Marking exactly two months since Egypt's first democratically elected leader was ousted by the army after big protests, marchers turned out in cities in the Nile Delta, in Upper Egypt and on the Suez Canal, as well as the capital, Cairo. ...
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| Kerry opens door to 'boots on ground' in Syria, then slams it shut Posted: 03 Sep 2013 04:10 PM PDT  By Susan Cornwell and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry briefly opened the door on Tuesday to authorizing U.S. ground troops in Syria, but quickly slammed it shut and told Congress that any resolution approving military force would prohibit "boots on the ground." The exchange during the first public hearing in Congress on possible military action in Syria highlighted the worries of many lawmakers about authorizing U.S. military strikes to punish the Syrian government for using chemical weapons on civilians. ...
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| Car bombs across Iraqi capital kill nearly 60 people Posted: 03 Sep 2013 02:27 PM PDT  By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A series of car bombs exploded across the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, killing nearly 60 people in predominantly Shi'ite districts, police and medics said. It was not immediately clear who had carried out the attacks, which appeared coordinated, but Sunni Islamist militants, including an al Qaeda affiliate, have been striking with a ferocity not seen in years. More than two years of civil war in neighboring Syria have aggravated deep-rooted sectarian divisions in Iraq, fraying an uneasy government coalition of Shi'ite, Sunni and ethnic Kurdish factions. ...
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| Strike starts in South Africa's gold mines Posted: 03 Sep 2013 11:31 AM PDT  By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A strike in South Africa's gold mines began on Tuesday with some workers failing to go underground for the evening shift, despite an appeal by President Jacob Zuma for a solution to avert a stoppage that will hurt Africa's largest economy. "It has officially started. There are people who have not gone underground," Charmane Russell, a spokeswoman for gold producers grouped in the Chamber of Mines, told Reuters. ...
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| Romanians continue protest against gold mine Posted: 03 Sep 2013 02:31 PM PDT  BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Roughly 1,000 people gathered in Romania's capital late on Tuesday for a third day of protests against plans to start an open-cast gold mine in the small Carpathian town of Rosia Montana. The catalyst for the protests, which started on Sunday when thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Romania, was a move by the leftist government last week to approve a draft bill allowing the project to go ahead. ...
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| Pro-Israel groups publicly back U.S. action in Syria Posted: 03 Sep 2013 04:47 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three influential pro-Israel groups urged U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday to authorize President Barack Obama to launch an attack on Syria, signaling a stepped-up lobbying effort for American military action. The statements by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) represented the groups' most public show of support for U.S. ...
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| Boehner's aboard: Obama gains Syria-strike support Posted: 03 Sep 2013 04:38 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama gained ground Tuesday in his drive for congressional backing of a military strike against Syria, winning critical support from House Speaker John Boehner while administration officials agreed to explicitly rule out the use of U.S. combat troops in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack.
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| Egypt president: Brotherhood's fate with judiciary Posted: 03 Sep 2013 04:31 PM PDT CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's interim president defended the military's ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, saying the toppled leader failed to deliver on campaign promises and was forced out by the will of people not by a coup. |
| Maduro blames Venezuelan opposition for blackouts Posted: 03 Sep 2013 04:30 PM PDT  President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday blamed Venezuela's right-wing opposition for what he dubbed "sabotage" that prompted blackouts which plunged much of the country into chaos.
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| Obama launches push for support on Syria, calls for quick action in Congress Posted: 03 Sep 2013 04:14 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Congress on Tuesday to act quickly on a resolution authorizing use of military force against Syria, as he ramped up a lobbying effort to win support for limited strikes against President Bashar al-Assad's forces. During a meeting with congressional leaders at the White House, Obama said he was confident Congress would vote in favor of military action and said the United States had a broad plan to help the rebels defeat Syrian government forces. "What we are envisioning is something limited. It is something proportional. ...
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| Mexican police search for 'Diana, bus driver hunter' Posted: 03 Sep 2013 04:13 PM PDT  Authorities are seeking a woman accused of killing two bus drivers in northern Mexico amid claims that the murders were committed by a vigilante avenging rapes, officials said Tuesday.
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| Iron supplements do not boost malaria risk: study Posted: 03 Sep 2013 03:55 PM PDT  Global health experts have warned against giving iron supplements in areas where malaria is rampant, but a study Tuesday found no rise in cases of the mosquito-borne disease among children who took iron.
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| Egypt's Mansour says committed to election timetable Posted: 03 Sep 2013 03:44 PM PDT  Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour on Tuesday vowed his government will stick to a timetable for elections next year and hoped to lift a state of emergency in mid-September.
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| Kerry says world must act as Obama wins Syria support Posted: 03 Sep 2013 03:35 PM PDT  US President Barack Obama's top aides Tuesday urged lawmakers to back military strikes on Syria to shore up America's world standing and send a warning to other nations such as Iran, as key Republican leaders rallied behind the plan.
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| Suriname leader says son's arrest timed to shame him Posted: 03 Sep 2013 03:21 PM PDT  By Ank Kuipers PARAMARIBO (Reuters) - Suriname's president said on Tuesday the arrest of his son in Panama on charges of smuggling cocaine into the United States was timed to embarrass him as he hosted a regional summit. President Desi Bouterse's son Dino, 40, was arraigned on Friday in a New York federal court accused of cocaine trafficking and being armed during a drug-related crime, in this case allegedly with an anti-tank rocket launcher. ...
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| Romanians protest for third day against gold mine Posted: 03 Sep 2013 03:00 PM PDT  Protesters took to the streets for the third straight day in Romania to protest against a plan to open Europe's largest open-cast goldmine in a Transylvanian village.
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| In Nokia acquisition, Microsoft tries to catch up Posted: 03 Sep 2013 02:59 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's troubled smartphone business represents a daring $7.2 billion attempt by the software giant and a once-influential cellphone maker to catch up with the mobile computing revolution that threatens to leave them in the technological dust.
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| Kerry opens door to U.S. ground troops in Syria Posted: 03 Sep 2013 02:48 PM PDT  Then he tries to slam it shut: They wouldn't fight in 'civil war.'
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| APNewsBreak: WWII hero's family seeks Obama's help Posted: 03 Sep 2013 02:44 PM PDT  STOCKHOLM (AP) — The family of World War II hero Raoul Wallenberg will ask President Barack Obama for help in their quest to find out what happened to the Swedish diplomat who vanished after being arrested by Soviet forces in 1945.
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| S.African gold miners go on strike over pay Posted: 03 Sep 2013 02:32 PM PDT  Thousands of South African gold miners went on strike Tuesday after wage talks broke down, threatening to cause millions of dollars in lost output in the troubled sector.
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| Obama gains Boehner's support for Syria strike Posted: 03 Sep 2013 02:17 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama gained ground Tuesday in his drive for congressional backing of a military strike against Syria, winning critical support from House Speaker John Boehner while administration officials agreed to explicitly rule out the use of U.S. combat troops in retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack. |
| Congo police secure rebel territory, 'national dialogue' delayed Posted: 03 Sep 2013 02:05 PM PDT  Police in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo moved in Tuesday to secure territory recently reclaimed from the M23 rebels, as the country postponed a "national dialogue" aimed at ending its political, social and military crises.
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| U.N.'s Ban casts doubt on legality of U.S. plans to punish Syria Posted: 03 Sep 2013 02:03 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday that the use of force is only legal when it is in self-defense or with Security Council authorization, remarks that appear to question the legality of U.S. plans to strike Syria without U.N. backing. He also suggested that a U.S. attack could lead to further turmoil in conflict-ravaged Syria, where the United Nations says over 100,000 people have been killed in the country's 2-1/2-year civil war. ... |
| Gay rights activists protest Russia law Posted: 03 Sep 2013 02:02 PM PDT  About 300 gay rights activists rallied in Madrid on Tuesday as part of an international protest against hotly disputed Russian laws cracking down on homosexuals.
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| Glare from London 'fryscraper' blamed for melting cars Posted: 03 Sep 2013 01:44 PM PDT  A British property developer said Tuesday it was investigating after sun rays reflected from its half-finished London skyscraper melted parts of several cars, including a luxury Jaguar.
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| Magnitude 6.2 quake hits off western Canada: USGS Posted: 03 Sep 2013 01:34 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.2 quake struck off Canada's Vancouver Island on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It said the quake was very shallow, only 7.5 milesbelow the seabed, and centered 124 miles west of Port Hardy in British Columbia. (Reporting by Sandra Maler; Editing by Jim Loney) |
| US inaction would embolden Iran, N.Korea: Kerry Posted: 03 Sep 2013 01:32 PM PDT  Failure to take military action against Syria would send a dangerous signal to Iran, North Korea and other US foes, Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday.
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| Venezuela hit by blackout, government blames 'sabotage' Posted: 03 Sep 2013 01:25 PM PDT  CARACAS (Reuters) - A blackout hit much of Venezuela including the capital Caracas on Tuesday, but the oil industry was not affected and the government said it expected power to be restored within hours. The cut struck a dozen of the South American country's 24 states and caused traffic chaos in parts of Caracas and other cities. The OPEC nation's oil refineries, which are powered by separate generator plants, were not affected. ...
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| Lance Armstrong documentary premieres at Venice Posted: 03 Sep 2013 12:58 PM PDT VENICE, Italy (AP) — Director Alex Gibley started filming Lance Armstrong before the cyclist acknowledged doping, and looking back now at the 2009 footage he realizes "there was a lot of material there where he was just lying to me straight out." |
| Nigeria ruling party tested by dissent, opposition challenge Posted: 03 Sep 2013 12:43 PM PDT  The party that has controlled Nigeria's presidency since a return to civilian rule in 1999 has found itself in unfamiliar territory, rocked by dissent and facing a stronger opposition.
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| U.S. credibility on Iran at stake in Syria decision: Hagel says Posted: 03 Sep 2013 12:21 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A failure to take action over Syria's use of chemical weapons would damage the credibility America's pledge to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress on Tuesday. "A refusal to act would undermine the credibility of America's other security commitments - including the president's commitment to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon," Hagel told a Senate hearing, according to prepared remarks. "The word of the United States must mean something." (Reporting by Phil Stewart)
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| Sudan reverses threat to stop South Sudan oil flow Posted: 03 Sep 2013 12:21 PM PDT  KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — After meeting with his southern counterpart, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said Tuesday South Sudan's oil will continue to flow through his country's pipelines.
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| Sweden's Princess Madeleine is pregnant Posted: 03 Sep 2013 12:20 PM PDT  STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden's Royal Palace says Princess Madeleine and her husband, New York banker Christopher O'Neill, are expecting their first child in March.
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| AP Interview: Mayor says Jerusalem can't be split Posted: 03 Sep 2013 12:18 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) — Jerusalem's mayor presides over perhaps the most complicated city in the world: deeply divided between Arab and Jew, religious and secular, rich and poor, and claimed as a capital by both Israelis and Palestinians.
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| Wave of bombings, attacks in Iraq kill at least 67 Posted: 03 Sep 2013 12:12 PM PDT  BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of coordinated evening blasts in Baghdad and other violence killed at least 67 people in Iraq on Tuesday, officials said, the latest in a months-long surge of bloodshed that Iraqi security forces are struggling to contain.
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