| Breakthrough hopes dented as Ukraine accuses Russia of new incursion Posted: 27 Aug 2014 01:11 PM PDT  By Richard Balmforth and Anton Zverev KIEV/DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukraine accused Russia of launching a new military incursion across its eastern border on Wednesday, as hopes quickly faded that Tuesday's talks between their two presidents might mark a turning point in a five-month-old crisis. Accusations of direct Russian support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine have prompted Western governments to impose sanctions on Moscow, despite its denials, and fanned tensions with NATO to levels not seen since the Cold War. Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said a group of Russian soldiers had crossed the border in armored infantry carriers and a truck and entered the town of Amvrosiyivka, not far from where Ukraine detained 10 Russian soldiers on Monday. Ukraine's Security Services also said in a statement it had detained another Russian soldier in the east of the country who has confessed his unit provided military support to separatist rebels.
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| Gaza truce holding but Israel's Netanyahu under fire at home Posted: 27 Aug 2014 12:11 PM PDT  By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An open-ended ceasefire in the Gaza war held on Wednesday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced strong criticism in Israel over a costly conflict with Palestinian militants in which no clear victor has emerged. In Israel, sirens warning of incoming rocket fire from the Gaza Strip fell silent. Netanyahu told a news conference Israel had dealt Hamas its toughest blow ever and had rebuffed its demands for a truce.
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| Islamic State commits war crimes, Syrian govt using poison gas: U.N. Posted: 27 Aug 2014 10:14 AM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations accused Islamic State insurgents on Wednesday of committing war crimes including amputations and public executions, sometimes in the presence of children, and said it believed Damascus had used chlorine gas in combating its enemies. The Sunni militants, who are bringing weapons from Iraq, have changed the power balance in Syria, consolidating control over large areas and establishing order by imposing harsh sharia law, the U.N. said in its latest report. "Children have been present at the executions, which take the form of beheading or shooting in the head at close range... Bodies are placed on public display, often on crucifixes, for up to three days, serving as a warning to local residents." The independent investigators voiced deep concern about boys forced to join the ranks of Islamic States who are being trained in camps in Syria that could be targeted by U.S.
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| U.S. moves prisoners from Afghanistan to Pakistan, Yemen Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:18 PM PDT By Missy Ryan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has moved 11 new prisoners out of a military prison near the Afghan capital, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, as the Obama administration seeks to shut down a controversial detainee program in Afghanistan ahead of its troop withdrawal. Nine prisoners were repatriated to Pakistan last week from the Parwan detention center, located on a military base near Kabul, said Lieutenant Colonel Myles Caggins III, a U.S. Another two prisoners were sent to Yemen this week, Caggins added. The Obama administration has been quietly moving prisoners out of the secretive prison as the United States and its NATO allies wind down their long military mission in Afghanistan. |
| Shambolic election campaign leaves Indonesia's president-elect much to prove Posted: 27 Aug 2014 02:03 PM PDT  By Kanupriya Kapoor JAKARTA (Reuters) - When he was nominated in March as a candidate for Indonesia's presidential election, polls showed Joko "Jokowi" Widodo had a 30-point lead over the man who would become his main challenger, former army general Prabowo Subianto. But after three months of shambolic and lacklustre campaigning, the wildly popular governor of Jakarta was staring at defeat. "If you continue like this, it's clear we will lose," prominent businessman Sofjan Wanandi told Widodo and senior members of his Indonesian Democratic-Party of Struggle (PDI-P) at a crisis meeting on June 16. With election day less than three weeks away, Widodo had just been given a poll showing Prabowo trailed by only 1.8 points. We have to start fighting'," Widodo told the stunned gathering at a Jakarta hotel according to Wanandi, a key financier of Widodo's campaign, recalling the drama in a recent interview with Reuters.
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| New Brazil poll shows Silva beating Rousseff in runoff Posted: 27 Aug 2014 02:14 PM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Environmentalist Marina Silva would handily beat President Dilma Rousseff if Brazil's October election goes to a runoff, a poll showed on Wednesday, an outcome that seemed unimaginable just a few weeks ago and one that would put an end to 12 years of Workers' Party rule. Silva would win 43.7 percent of the votes to 37.8 percent for Rousseff in a runoff, said the survey by polling firm MDA. Both polls point to a probable runoff because Rousseff looks unlikely to win more than 50 percent of votes in the Oct. 5 election. Silva has clearly pushed the other main opposition candidate and market favorite, centrist Aecio Neves, into third place and is luring away some of his potential voters, the polls showed.
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| Slain Iraqis 'of no threat' to Blackwater guards Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:59 PM PDT  The 14 Iraqi civilians mowed down by four guards with the Blackwater private security firm were of no threat and "were not legitimate targets," a prosecutor said Wednesday, as their high-profile trial reached its climax. The four, who were guarding a US diplomatic convoy when they opened fire, are accused of shooting dead the unarmed Iraqis, including women and children, who were desperately trying to flee for their lives on September 16, 2007 in Baghdad's Nisour Square. The hail of gunfire, which also wounded 18 people, exacerbated Iraqi resentment toward Americans and was seen by critics as an example of the impunity enjoyed by private security firms on the US payroll in Iraq. At the close of the two-and-a-half-month trial in a federal court in Washington, US Attorney Anthony Asuncion asked simply what had motivated the men, now former Blackwater employees, to fire on the terrified civilians.
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| New police force sent to Mexican town near capital Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:57 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — The first assignment for members of a new police force created to combat crimes affecting industry, farms and businesses is Valle de Bravo, a chic resort town near Mexico City that has seen a recent spate of kidnappings, an official said Tuesday.
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| Mother of US reporter in Syria begs for his life Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:55 PM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — The mother of a hostage American journalist pleaded for his release Wednesday in a video directed at the Islamic State group, while new images emerged of mass killings, including masked militants shooting kneeling men after the capture of a strategic air base in Syria.
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| Chile sailor publicly discloses his homosexuality Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:54 PM PDT  SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A sailor with Chile's navy has announced he is gay, a rare public declaration in the socially conservative South American nation.
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| Bangladesh wins toss, bats 1st vs WIndies in T20 Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:48 PM PDT BASSETERRE, St. Kitts and Nevis (AP) — Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and elected to bat first against the West Indies in the one-off Twenty20 international at Warner Park on Wednesday. |
| New counterterrorism units at Australian airports Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:44 PM PDT CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — New counterterrorism units have been working at Australia's two largest airports since last week and had already prevented two suspected jihadists from leaving the country, officials said. |
| Sharapova rallies to outlast Dulgheru at US Open Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:43 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Maria Sharapova's serve and her groundstrokes were abandoning her. What she had was her conditioning.
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| McCabe confirms he has retired after neck injury Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:41 PM PDT  SYDNEY (AP) — Wallabies utility back Pat McCabe has confirmed he's retiring from rugby after injuring his neck again during last weekend's 52-10 Bledisloe Cup loss to New Zealand.
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| NHC says still 20 percent chance of cyclone over Gulf of Mexico Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:34 PM PDT (Reuters) - A weak low-pressure area located over the northwestern Gulf of Mexico still has a 20 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Wednesday. Some development of this system is possible before it moves inland over southern Texas and northern Mexico on Thursday, the NHC said. (Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in Bangalore; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) |
| Egypt probes Morsi for 'giving security papers to Qatar': MENA Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:32 PM PDT  Egypt has opened an investigation into deposed president Mohamed Morsi for allegedly handing over to Qatar "documents relevant to national security," state news agency MENA reported on Wednesday. Morsi is already facing the death penalty in several trials and his supporters have been the target of a bloody crackdown by the authorities that has left more than 1,400 dead since he was turfed out in July 2013. The former leader is suspected of providing "documents relevant to national security to Qatar via the Qatari Al-Jazeera chain when he was president of the republic (...), damaging the country's national security", said MENA.
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| Qantas posts record annual loss of US$2.65 billion Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:28 PM PDT  Struggling Australian flag carrier Qantas on Thursday posted a huge annual net loss of Aus$2.84 billion (US$2.65 billion), but chief executive Alan Joyce insisted better days lie ahead. Qantas' underlying loss before tax in the 12 months to June 30 -- its preferred measure of financial performance which excludes one-off costs and writedowns -- was Aus$646 million. Qantas in February announced it was axing 5,000 jobs, deferring aircraft deliveries and freezing growth at Asian offshoot Jetstar, and Joyce said the worst was now behind the airline. With our accelerated Qantas Transformation programme we are already emerging as a leaner, more focused and more sustainable Qantas Group.
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| Apple loses bid to block sales of 9 Samsung phones Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:17 PM PDT SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge has rejected Apple's attempt to block the sale of several older Samsung smartphones that copied features in the iPhone. |
| Child abuse victims in British town claim compensation Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:12 PM PDT  A string of child abuse victims in a northern English town have launched claims for compensation, lawyers said Wednesday, as outrage grew in Britain that officials failed to stop 16 years of abuse earlier. Fifteen girls abused by gangs of men in Rotherham -- a declining steel and coal town with higher than average unemployment -- between 1997 and 2013 are reportedly claiming up to £100,000 (125,000 euros, $165,000) each. The South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner Shaun Wright, who was the local council member in charge of children's services during some of the time when the abuse took pace, resigned from the Labour party over the scandal. The head of the local council, Roger Stone, resigned immediately after the publication of the report which detailed "blatant" failures including officials ignoring numerous reports of exploitation or blaming the victims.
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| Ecuadoran police sentenced for attack on president Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:08 PM PDT  QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — An Ecuadoran court has sentenced six police officers to prison for attempting to kill President Rafael Correa during a protest in 2010.
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| Forest Service to allow logging of burned trees near Yosemite National Park Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:04 PM PDT Forest Service said on Wednesday it would sell thousands of trees burned in last year's devastating wildfire around Yosemite National Park to loggers in an effort to reduce fuel for future blazes and stimulate the regional economy. In a draft decision, the agency said it planned to allow logging on about 33,000 acres near the park, less than initially proposed but more than environmentalists wanted. Under the plan, which is expected to be finalized next month, logging companies would remove hazardous trees in danger of falling on roads or people from about 17,000 acres in the Sanislaus National Forest, and other trees salvageable for lumber from about 15,000 acres. |
| Mom: captured son 'honorable' US journalist Posted: 27 Aug 2014 04:01 PM PDT MIAMI (AP) — An American freelance journalist held hostage and threatened with death by Islamic militants wanted to tell the world through his writing about oppressed people in the Middle East, his mother said in a video released Wednesday. |
| Police presence drawing down in Ferguson, Missouri Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:51 PM PDT  By Edward McAllister ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - Authorities on Wednesday disbanded what had been a command center in Ferguson, Missouri, for law enforcement responding to sometimes violent protests over the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer. Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson, who has led the response, told a news conference the Highway Patrol and St. Louis County police officers would continue to patrol, but the force had been substantially reduced. "People are communicating with each other and it is already leading to change, not just in Ferguson but across our whole region," Johnson said. Boarded-up stores were the only sign of the turmoil along West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, which had been the site of clashes between demonstrators and police that led to scores of arrests after the shooting of Michael Brown, 18, on Aug. 9.
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| Blackwater defense: Iraqi police removed evidence Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:50 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — A defense attorney told a federal jury on Wednesday that Iraqi national police removed evidence that would prove Blackwater security guards were being fired on by insurgents, prompting the guards to return fire in shootings that killed or wounded over 30 Iraqi civilians. |
| Uruguayans can now sign up to grow pot at home Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:47 PM PDT MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — People in Uruguay who want to grow their own marijuana at home were able to register to do so Wednesday as the government launched the latest phase in its first-of-its-kind legalization program. |
| Champions League draw wide open Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:44 PM PDT  MONACO (AP) — Real Madrid's Champions League title defense takes shape Thursday at one of the most open draws in years.
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| Bulgarians win CL shootout with defender in goal Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:41 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Bulgarian club Ludogorets reached the Champions League group stage for the first time Wednesday when a defender saved two penalties in a shootout after the team's goalkeeper was sent off late in extra time.
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| Hewitt targets Davis Cup, not retirement Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:31 PM PDT  Lleyton Hewitt's 14th US Open ended in his first straight sets defeat at the tournament for eight years, but the 2001 champion won't talk about retirement, no matter how many times he is asked. The 33-year-old former world number one, who first played in New York in 1999, lost 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 to big-hitting Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych on Wednesday and faced the usual barrage of enquiries as to what his future holds.
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| Girl, 9, accidentally shoots dead US instructor with Uzi Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:31 PM PDT  A nine-year-old girl learning to fire an Uzi submachine gun accidentally killed her instructor at a shooting range in the United States, triggering more debate over gun control in the country. Mike Bazinet of the National Shooting Sports Foundation said: "Youth shooting sports are generally extremely safe activities, enjoyed by millions of Americans.
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| Surfers, spectators crowd Southern California beaches for giant waves Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:27 PM PDT  By Alex Dobuzinskis and Dana Feldman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Waves up to about 20 feet (6 meters) high crashed along the Southern California coast on Wednesday, as heavy and potentially dangerous surf from a Pacific cyclone drew crowds of surfers and spectators to Los Angeles-area beaches, officials said. Large swells generated by Hurricane Marie began hitting the Southern California shore on Tuesday, causing coastal flooding in the Orange County town of Seal Beach after dark that inundated garages of 30 coastal homes. Marie was downgraded on Wednesday to a tropical storm as it moved north some 900 miles off Mexico's Baja Peninsula, veering away from the West Coast but still causing extreme surf, National Weather Service weather specialist Stuart Ceto said. Waves from the storm were the largest seen in Southern California since a pair of hurricanes swept through the Pacific within weeks of each other in 1997, he said.
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| Relatives criticize Mexico's new number on missing Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:22 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) — Relatives of people missing in Mexico blasted authorities Wednesday as seemingly more interested in manipulating the data on the disappeared than on conducting thorough investigations. |
| South Korea's Kia to invest $1 billion in Mexico Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:19 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — South Korea's Kia Motors Corp. said Wednesday it will invest more than $1 billion to build a car factory in northern Mexico that is expected to begin production in 2016.
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| Labor protest disrupts Argentine capital Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:12 PM PDT  BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A labor organization opposed to Argentine President Cristina Fernandez caused traffic jams and disrupted life for many in the capital Wednesday at the start of a 36-hour strike.
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| Q-and-A on Westerners who join the fight in Syria Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:08 PM PDT  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Douglas McAuthur McCain, an American killed in Syria while fighting with the Islamic State group, was part of a growing number of Americans and other foreigners recruited by terror groups to help them wage war in the Mideast.
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| AP NewsAlert Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:04 PM PDT FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — In contested move, Forest Service OKs logging on Sierra Nevada land burned in California fire. |
| Top Asian News at 10:00 p.m. GMT Posted: 27 Aug 2014 03:03 PM PDT BANGKOK (AP) — Century-old shop houses, twisting alleyways and temples scented with incense still pulsate with the pursuit of old trades and time-honored rituals of families who have lived in Bangkok's Chinatown for generations. But probably not for much longer. Jackhammers and cranes are closing in on one of the last historic quarters of Thailand's capital as developers and city authorities pursue plans to build subways and high-rises — with little thought to preserving heritage. |
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