| Sunnis, Kurds shun Iraq parliament Posted: 01 Jul 2014 02:09 PM PDT  By Raheem Salman and Oliver Holmes BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Sunnis and Kurds walked out of the first session of Iraq's new parliament on Tuesday after Shi'ites failed to name a prime minister to replace Nuri al-Maliki, dimming any prospect of an early national unity government to save Iraq from collapse. The United States, United Nations, Iran and Iraq's own Shi'ite clergy have pushed hard for politicians to come up with an inclusive government to hold the fragmenting country together as Sunni insurgents bear down on Baghdad.
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| Ceasefire over, Ukraine forces attack rebel positions Posted: 01 Jul 2014 12:22 PM PDT  By Richard Balmforth and Natalia Zinets KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces struck at pro-Russian separatist bases in eastern regions with air and artillery strikes on Tuesday after President Petro Poroshenko announced he would not renew a ceasefire but go on the offensive to rid Ukraine of "parasites." Within hours of Poroshenko's early morning announcement, the military went into action against rebel bases and checkpoints in the east which has been in separatist ferment since April. Poroshenko, who accuses Russia of fanning the conflict and allowing fighters and equipment to cross the border to support the rebels, turned his back on another renewal of a 10-day unilateral ceasefire after four-way telephone talks involving the German and French leaders and Russia's Vladimir Putin. Showing impatience at what he had heard from Putin, Poroshenko said in his early morning statement that Ukraine had not seen "concrete steps for de-escalating the situation, including strengthening controls on the border." In Moscow, the foreign ministry hinted that the United States stood behind Poroshenko's decision not to extend the ceasefire.
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| Police remove scores of protesters from Hong Kong financial district Posted: 01 Jul 2014 01:40 PM PDT  Hundreds of police started removing protesters from the heart of Hong Kong's business district early on Wednesday as they tried to stage a sit-in after a rally to demand greater democracy. Police surrounded protesters sitting on Chater Road, close to the city's Legislative Council building, warning them their assembly was "unauthorized" and that police would use force to remove them if necessary. "I have the right to protest, we don't need police permission," the crowd chanted as they sat sweltering in Hong Kong's summer heat and humidity. Some elderly residents were among the protesters, who numbered more than a thousand in the early hours of Wednesday.
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| Benghazi attack suspect has been talking to U.S. interrogators: officials Posted: 01 Jul 2014 02:38 PM PDT  By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Libyan militant accused of involvement in the 2012 attacks on U.S. government installations in Benghazi, Libya, has been talking to U.S. interrogators, U.S. officials familiar with the matter said. Ahmed Abu Khatallah, captured in Libya on June 15 by a U.S. military and FBI team, has been interrogated both before and after he was advised of his right under U.S. law to remain silent, they said.
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| Bomb kills 20 in Nigeria market, girls' abduction suspect held Posted: 01 Jul 2014 02:25 PM PDT By Lanre Ola MAIDUGURI Nigeria (Reuters) - A bomb in a van carrying charcoal exploded in a busy market in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people in the latest suspected attack by Islamist militants, witnesses said. The blast from the vehicle bomb wrecked cars and taxis that were unloading passengers and wares on a road adjoining the market in the Borno state capital of Maiduguri. The military said earlier on Tuesday that it had arrested a number of suspected Boko Haram collaborators including a Maiduguri businessman it said was involved in the abduction of the schoolgirls. Boko Haram has also struck at Abuja, the capital of Africa's biggest economy, with three bombings in three months. |
| Israel mourns teenagers, strikes Hamas in Gaza Posted: 01 Jul 2014 11:41 AM PDT  By Ori Lewis MODI'IN Israel (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of mourners joined in an outpouring of national grief on Tuesday at the burial of three Israeli teenagers whose kidnapping and killing Israel blamed on the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. In his eulogy at the cemetery in the center of the country, President Shimon Peres, a usually dovish elder statesman, echoed official vows to punish Hamas. Israel will act with a heavy hand until terror is uprooted," he said at the ceremony in Modi'in, a town between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Israel bombed dozens of sites in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, wounding two Palestinians, as it struck at Hamas a day after finding the bodies of the three youths in the occupied West Bank, not far from where they went missing while hitchhiking on June 12.
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| Messi stays, Howard goes home from World Cup Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:49 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The World Cup still has Lionel Messi. Tim Howard is heading home despite a heroic display of goalkeeping.
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| Boy's death highlights danger of border crossings Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:42 PM PDT  SAN JOSE LAS FLORES, Guatemala (AP) — The parents of a young Guatemalan migrant whose body was found in the Texas desert say he was 15 years old, not 11.
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| US World Cup ends with 2-1 OT loss to Belgium Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:42 PM PDT  SALVADOR, Brazil (AP) — They captured the eyes and hearts of a suddenly awakened soccer nation, who gathered in unprecedented numbers to watch the world's game.
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| Belgium holds on to beat US 2-1 in extra time Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:40 PM PDT  SALVADOR, Brazil (AP) — Kevin De Bruyne turned a heroic night for U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard into defeat on Tuesday with an extra-time goal and an assist that gave Belgium a 2-1 victory and a quarterfinal match against Lionel Messi and Argentina.
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| Monty Python return with silliness and mass sing-a-long Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:38 PM PDT  Monty Python returned to the stage for the first time in over 30 years on Tuesday with a reunion show in London full of silly jokes and smut and ending in a mass sing-a-long by 14,000 fans. John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Terry Jones, now all in their seventies, went through more than a dozen costume changes for a show featuring live comedy, archive footage and big musical numbers. "It was brilliant, better than expected," said David Mallinson, 48, who came to London from Manchester to see the first night with his two sons.
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| Dead parrots and lumberjacks please Python fans Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:38 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Comedy is a bit like history. It repeats itself, and what started out as satire can mellow into farce.
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| ON THIS DAY: Escobar shot dead on return home Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:35 PM PDT  On July 2 in World Cup history: Colombia defender Andres Escobar killed in Medellin, Colombia, after returning home from 1994 World Cup. Luis Suarez's hand ball helps Uruguay beat Ghana in Johannesburg in 2010.
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| Shelling ravages east Ukraine, with or without truce Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:25 PM PDT  Standing on broken glass in her wrecked living room, Valentina Balabai thanked her love of animals for keeping her and her husband alive that morning. Just hours earlier Ukraine's Western-backed President Petro Poroshenko had announced he was relaunching Kiev's military offensive against pro-Russian insurgents after 10 days of a supposed ceasefire had failed to halt daily fighting. Now Ukraine's brutal conflict had torn through the lives of the residents of tree-lined Skadinova street in the rebel-held city of Kramatorsk. Ukrainian politicians have been under increasing pressure from an anxious public in Kiev to renounce the ceasefire and come down hard on the rebels.
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| Long faces, but chins up for USA fans in Brazil Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:24 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — It's all long faces but heads mostly held high for the legions of American fans in Brazil for the World Cup after the U.S. team bowed out against Belgium.
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| Storms leave power outages, flooding, flight delays in central U.S Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:24 PM PDT Hundreds of thousands of people were without power on Tuesday and trying to clean up damaged homes and clear roads after a deadly storm that brought tornadoes, high winds, hail and heavy rain to the central United States. Illinois was hit particularly hard, as flooding, downed trees and fires caused by lightning strikes snarled traffic, cut power and delayed or canceled hundreds of flights in and out of Chicago. Iowa also took a direct hit, with hail measuring 3 to 4 inches (7.6 to 10 cm) in diameter and peak winds of 90 mph (145 kph) recorded, said National Weather Service spokesman Pat Slattery. Authorities in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday afternoon recovered the body of a 17-year-old boy who was swept into a storm drain on Monday night after heavy rains hit the area, said Greg Buelow, the city's public safety spokesman. |
| Bigfoot hair samples mostly from bears, wolves Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:20 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — DNA testing is taking a bite out of the Bigfoot legend. After scientists analyzed more than 30 hair samples reportedly left behind by Bigfoot and similar mythical beasts like the Himalayan Yeti, they found all of them came from more mundane creatures like bears, wolves, cows and raccoons.
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| France's former President Sarkozy detained by police Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:16 PM PDT  By Nicholas Vinocur NANTERRE France (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was held for questioning for 15 hours on Tuesday over suspicions he used his influence to secure leaked details of an inquiry into alleged irregularities in his 2007 election campaign. It was the first time a former French head of state has been held in police custody and is the latest blow to Sarkozy's hopes of a comeback after his 2012 election defeat by Socialist rival Francois Hollande. Sarkozy arrived early on Tuesday to be quizzed by police investigators at their offices in Nanterre, west of Paris. He spent all day and evening in police custody but at about 11:40 p.m. local time (0940 GMT), he was seen by a Reuters journalist arriving at a civil court in Paris, where he was to be presented to judges.
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| Envoy says Iraq can't wait for US military aid Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:12 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Iraq is increasingly turning to other governments like Iran, Russia and Syria to help beat back a rampant insurgency because it cannot wait for additional American military aid, Baghdad's top envoy to the U.S. said Tuesday.
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| US Archbishop investigated for alleged misconduct Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:10 PM PDT MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Archbishop John Nienstedt announced Tuesday that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is investigating him after allegations of inappropriate behavior surfaced several months ago. |
| Britain to consider outlawing 'revenge porn' Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:01 PM PDT  Angry lovers who post naked images of former partners on the Internet without their consent could face prosecution in Britain, the justice secretary said on Tuesday. So-called "revenge porn" is a growing problem in Britain and the government is open to creating a law against it, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said.
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| US high court won't hear Guatemalan adoption case Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:55 PM PDT CARTHAGE, Missouri (AP) — A Guatemalan woman's effort to reverse her child's adoption by a Missouri couple apparently is over. |
| Puerto Rico governor approves balanced budget Posted: 01 Jul 2014 04:49 PM PDT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's governor on Tuesday signed the U.S. territory's first balanced budget in more than a decade amid an economic slump that has concerned U.S. investors. |
| France's former President Sarkozy detained by police in corruption probe Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:52 PM PDT  By Nicholas Vinocur NANTERRE France (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was held for questioning for 15 hours on Tuesday over suspicions he used his influence to secure leaked details of an inquiry into alleged irregularities in his 2007 election campaign. It was the first time a former French head of state has been held in police custody and is the latest blow to Sarkozy's hopes of a comeback after his 2012 election defeat by Socialist rival Francois Hollande. Sarkozy arrived early on Tuesday to be quizzed by police investigators at their offices in Nanterre, west of Paris. He spent all day and evening in police custody but at about 11:40 p.m. local time (1040 BST), he was seen by a Reuters journalist arriving at a civil court in Paris, where he was to be presented to judges.
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| Argentina sticks to script with late winner Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:45 PM PDT  SAO PAULO (AP) — Argentina's theme at this World Cup seems to be scrappy wins with Lionel Messi pulling through at the last minute to save the day.
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| Fears of extremism rise in Muslim nations Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:44 PM PDT  Fears about Islamic extremism are rising in nations with large Muslim populations from the Middle East to South Asia and support for radical groups is on the slide, according to a poll released Tuesday. Concern about extremism has increased in the past 12 months amid the dragging war in Syria and attacks by Nigeria's Boko Haram militants, the Pew Research Center found after interviewing more than 14,200 people in 14 countries. Extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Boko Haram and even Hamas, which won elections to take control of running the Gaza Strip, are also losing support. The review was carried out from April 10 to May 25, before the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant -- now renamed the Islamic State -- took over the northern Iraqi town of Mosul in a lightning offensive which has seen it seize a large swathe of territory.
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| Arizona town: Our London Bridge is not falling Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:43 PM PDT  FLAGSTAFF, Arizona (AP) — The London Bridge is not falling down, despite a British tabloid saying that the western Arizona tourist attraction could be bulldozed to make way for drug tourism.
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| 5 things at Wimbledon: Federer's perfect serving Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:37 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Roger Federer's nearly perfect serving carried him back to the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
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| Canal a priority as Varela takes office in Panama Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:37 PM PDT  Conservative Juan Carlos Varela took office as Panama's president Tuesday pledging to finish a troublesome canal expansion, stamp out corruption and get more people out of poverty. Varela, who was elected to a five-year mandate in May 4 polls, replaced Ricardo Martinelli, a supermarket magnate who leaves office with high popularity despite corruption allegations. Panama's vice-president and a former Martinelli supporter, Varela was the surprise winner in a three-way race. Venezuela broke ties with Panama in March, when President Nicolas Maduro slammed Martinelli as a corrupt US lackey.
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| Di Maria puts himself in World Cup spotlight Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:35 PM PDT  SAO PAULO (AP) — Angel di Maria's first goal of this World Cup couldn't have come at a better time for Argentina, or for himself.
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| Keshi says Nigeria split not yet formal Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:25 PM PDT  Brasília (AFP) - Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi said Tuesday that he was "shocked" by reports that he has resigned after his side's World Cup defeat. Keshi did say that several countries have expressed interest in employing him after Nigeria, including South Africa, which he suggested was positive for Nigerian football and their coaches. Asked about his next job move before Nigeria's closing first round game against Argentina he replied: "I've had a lot of interest from other countries, South Africa is one of them. Keshi, who captained his country at the 1994 World Cup, took charge of Nigeria in 2011.
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| Sarkozy detained in French corruption probe Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:24 PM PDT  PARIS (AP) — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in police custody Tuesday, apparently under questioning in an investigation linked to allegations that he took 50 million euros ($67 million) in illegal campaign funds from Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.
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| Green pulls 1 back for US against Belgium Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:21 PM PDT  SALVADOR, Brazil (AP) — Julian Green pulled one back for the United States on Tuesday, but the Americans still trail Belgium 2-1 in extra time in the second round of the World Cup.
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| California universities to start sustainable agriculture programs Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:20 PM PDT By Jennifer Chaussee BERKELEY Calif. (Reuters) - University of California campuses would buy food from local growers, grant more scholarships to agriculture students and teach farmers in the United States and around the world how to grow food with less water under a new initiative announced Tuesday. The program gives the university a voice in global policy discussions about how to grow food in the face of severe drought and rising temperatures, said Janet Napolitano, the former Homeland Security chief who took over as president of the 10-campus system last year. "Another 1/2 billion - primarily in the industrialized nations of the world - are obese." The food initiative is one of several steps taken by Napolitano to raise the university's profile, modernize its course offerings and shore up its shaky finances since taking the helm last fall. |
| Lukaku gives Belgium 2-0 lead over US Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:16 PM PDT SALVADOR, Brazil (AP) — Romelu Lukaku scored a second goal for Belgium in extra time on Tuesday, giving the team a 2-0 lead over the United States in the second round of the World Cup. |
| Mueller says bizarre free kick was a studied move Posted: 01 Jul 2014 03:14 PM PDT  PORTO SEGURO, Brazil (AP) — A free kick that provided one of the most comical moments of the World Cup when Germany's Thomas Mueller stumbled before stepping over the ball was a rehearsed trick that went wrong.
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