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• Israel rejects ceasefire plan, source says, as death toll nears 850
• EU edges to economic sanctions on Russia but narrows scope
• Bad weather seen as probable cause of Air Algerie crash
• China probes more than 25,000 people for graft in first half of year
• Ukraine faces bitter election in midst of conflict with Russia
• U.S. tells Pakistan: Do not let Haqqani fighters resettle
• Israel confirms 12-hour Gaza ceasefire from 0500 GMT: army
• Israeli military says a 12-hour humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza will start Saturday morning
• Aruba to hold Venezuela official seeks immunity
• Obama urges Latin leaders, Republicans to help
• Priest in Guam removed over California allegations
• Migrants: Obama urges Latin leaders, GOP to help
• White House: Putin, Russia are "culpable" in Ukraine plane crash
• British envoy: Gaza humanitarian pause possible
• Setback in US-led Gaza truce efforts
• Redemption for Scot swimmer after Florida arrest
• War crimes commission takes aim at Islamic State
• US: Russia is firing across border into Ukraine
• Ebola outbreak spreads to 4th West African country
• U.S. envoy to U.N. aviation body hopeful on airline climate plan
• Argentina debt talks deadlocked as default looms
• South Sudan food crisis worst in the world: UN
• Veteran Catalan leader reveals family kept money abroad
• Libya seeks ceasefire as south Tripoli a militia 'war zone'
• Israeli troops kill Palestinian teens in W.Bank protests
• Obama, Central American leaders meet on child migrants
• U.N. rights inquiry says more Syrians joining Islamic State
• Aussies dominate pool, Wales suffer doping shock
• Kerry says still disagreements on terminology for Gaza truce
• Venezuela official seeks immunity in Aruba ruling
• Hamas agrees to 12-hour pause in Gaza fighting: spokesman
• Four more swim golds for Australia, double joy for England
• Top Asian News at 10:00 p.m. GMT
• Fognini, qualifier Cuevas in Croatia Open last 4
• Oil rises just above $102 a barrel
• New charge in San Francisco Chinatown case

Israel rejects ceasefire plan, source says, as death toll nears 850 Posted: 25 Jul 2014 02:02 PM PDT By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Crispian Balmer GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has rejected international proposals for a ceasefire in its fight against Islamist militants in Gaza, a government source said on Friday, but U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said no formal proposals had yet been put forward. Mediators hope that a truce could come into force ahead of a Muslim festival that starts early next week, but they have struggled to resolve seemingly irreconcilable demands from Israel and Hamas-led fighters, locked in conflict since July 8. Gaza officials said Israeli strikes killed 55 people on Friday, including the head of media operations for Hamas ally Islamic Jihad and his son. Militants fired a barrage of rockets out of Gaza, triggering sirens across much of southern and central Israel, including at the country's main airport.

EU edges to economic sanctions on Russia but narrows scope Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:25 PM PDT By Adrian Croft and Barbara Lewis BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union reached outline agreement on Friday to impose the first economic sanctions on Russia over its behaviour in Ukraine but scaled back their scope to exclude technology for the crucial gas sector. The sanctions on access to capital markets, arms and hi-tech goods are also likely to apply only to future contracts, leaving France free to go ahead with the controversial delivery of Mistral helicopter carriers being built for Russia. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy wrote to EU leaders asking them to authorise their ambassadors to complete an agreement by Tuesday. Van Rompuy said the proposed sanctions package "strikes the right balance" in terms of costs and benefits to the EU and in its flexibility to ramp up sanctions or reverse them over time.

Bad weather seen as probable cause of Air Algerie crash Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:59 PM PDT By Chine Labbé and Tiemoko Diallo PARIS/BAMAKO (Reuters) - Poor weather was the most likely cause of the crash of an Air Algerie flight in the West African country of Mali that killed all 118 people on board, French officials said on Friday. "French soldiers who are on the ground have started the first investigations," French President Francois Hollande told reporters. An earlier count of 51 French nationals among the dead was also raised to 54 by the French Foreign Ministry to include those with dual nationality. French, Malian and Dutch soldiers from a U.N. peacekeeping force (MINUSMA) secured the crash site, which lies about 80 km (50 miles) south of the northern Malian town of Gossi, near the Burkina Faso border.

China probes more than 25,000 people for graft in first half of year Posted: 25 Jul 2014 01:22 AM PDT China investigated more than 25,000 people for corruption in the first six months of 2014, state media said on Friday, amid a nationwide crackdown on graft. Nearly 85 percent of the cases investigators pursued involved bribes of more than 50,000 yuan ($8,000) or embezzlement of 100,000 yuan, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing the country's top prosecutor, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP). China's leadership under President Xi Jinping has presided over an anti-graft campaign to shore up a ruling mandate shaken by suspicion that officials waste taxpayer money or use their positions for personal advantage. Xi has said graft threatens the survival of the ruling Communist Party.

Ukraine faces bitter election in midst of conflict with Russia Posted: 25 Jul 2014 01:15 PM PDT By Natalia Zinets KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's prime minister has launched what promises to be a bitter election campaign that could divide pro-Western parties and complicate their efforts to fight pro-Russian rebels in the country's east. Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, a key interlocutor of the West during months of turmoil, announced on Thursday he would quit, saying parliament was betraying Ukraine's army and people by blocking reforms supported by Western backers. His move, following the exit of two parties from the ruling coalition, amounted to the start of a campaign for seats in a legislature still packed with former allies of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich, ousted by protests in February. "History will not forgive us," Yatseniuk told parliament on Thursday, in what analysts said was the first campaign speech for the party led by Yulia Tymoshenko, a rival of President Petro Poroshenko, who was elected to replace Yanukovich in May. Pro-Western political forces in Ukraine have been bitterly divided almost continuously since the country won independence with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

U.S. tells Pakistan: Do not let Haqqani fighters resettle Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:05 PM PDT By Phil Stewart ASPEN Colorado (Reuters) - The U.S. government urged Pakistan on Friday to prevent displaced Haqqani militants from returning to their traditional sanctuary after a Pakistani military offensive near the Afghanistan border. The Haqqani network, which mainly operates out of Pakistan's border areas, has been blamed for some of the deadliest and most sophisticated attacks on NATO and Afghan troops in Afghanistan. "What we've asked for is that the Haqqanis, yes they've been displaced, yes they've been disrupted, but that they not be allowed to regroup and resettle back into those historical areas," said Jeffrey Eggers from the White House's National Security Council, speaking at a security forum in Colorado. No one from the Haqqani network has been reported killed, however, since the offensive began in June in the remote region of North Waziristan.

Israel confirms 12-hour Gaza ceasefire from 0500 GMT: army Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:52 PM PDT The Israeli military said on Saturday that it would observe what it called "a humanitarian window in the Gaza Strip" for 12 hours from 8:00 am (0500 GMT). An army statement said that Gazans who had previously been warned by the military to vacate their homes due to planned attacks should "refrain from returning" and said forces would retaliate if attacked or if militants were to fire rockets into Israel. It added that under the agreement the army would continue to destroy militants' tunnels in areas of the Gaza Strip under its control. Hamas said earlier that it and other militant groups in Gaza had reached "national consensus on a humanitarian truce".

Israeli military says a 12-hour humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza will start Saturday morning Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:45 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli military says a 12-hour humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza will start Saturday morning.

Aruba to hold Venezuela official seeks immunity Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:42 PM PDT ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) — A judge in Aruba ruled Friday that the highest-ranking Venezuelan official ever arrested on a U.S. warrant will remain behind bars pending an extradition request on drug charges.

Obama urges Latin leaders, Republicans to help Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:37 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Friday urged Central American presidents and congressional Republicans to help ease the influx of minors and migrant families crossing the southwest border of the U.S.

Priest in Guam removed over California allegations Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:34 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest has been removed from his post in Guam over allegations that he molested two boys four decades ago while serving in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Migrants: Obama urges Latin leaders, GOP to help Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:26 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Pressing for swift action, President Barack Obama on Friday urged Central American presidents and congressional Republicans to help ease the influx of minors and migrant families crossing the southwest border of the U.S.

White House: Putin, Russia are "culpable" in Ukraine plane crash Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:24 PM PDT The White House said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "culpable" in the downing of a Malaysian plane over a the war zone in Ukraine and reiterated it was working with the European Union and G7 to impose further sanctions on Moscow. White House spokesman Josh Earnest made some of his strongest comments since the plane was shot down, tying the incident to Russia, which the United States has criticized for providing arms to Ukrainian separatists. "What we also know is that the Malaysia Airlines jet was brought down by a missile that was fired from the ground. It was fired from the ground in an area that was controlled by separatists, and in an area where the Ukrainians themselves were not actually operating anti-aircraft weapons at that time," Earnest told reporters at the White House.

British envoy: Gaza humanitarian pause possible Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:21 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Britain's U.N. ambassador says there may be "an extremely short" humanitarian pause in the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas on Saturday lasting several hours.

Setback in US-led Gaza truce efforts Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:21 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel-Hamas fighting looked headed for escalation after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry failed Friday to broker a weeklong truce as first step toward a broader deal and Israel's defense minister warned Israel might soon expand its Gaza ground operation "significantly."

Redemption for Scot swimmer after Florida arrest Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:15 PM PDT GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Dragged to the ground after trying to evade arrest on a street in Florida, swimmer Dan Wallace was in handcuffs and fearing his dream of reaching the pinnacle of his sport had just ended.

War crimes commission takes aim at Islamic State Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:08 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The head of an independent commission on Syrian war crimes says commanders of the Islamic State extremist group are "good candidates" to be put on a confidential list of alleged perpetrators who should be brought to justice.

US: Russia is firing across border into Ukraine Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:08 PM PDT KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia is launching artillery attacks from its soil on Ukrainian troops and preparing to move heavier weaponry across the border, the U.S. and Ukraine charged Friday in what appeared to be an ominous escalation of the crisis.

Ebola outbreak spreads to 4th West African country Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:00 PM PDT ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — An Ebola outbreak that has left more than 660 people dead across West Africa has spread to the continent's most populous nation after a Liberian man with a high fever vomited aboard an airplane to Nigeria and then died there, officials said Friday.

U.S. envoy to U.N. aviation body hopeful on airline climate plan Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:00 PM PDT The new U.S. representative to the United Nations body that oversees civil aviation said on Friday he is hopeful the organization's members will be able to agree on a global system to curb carbon emissions from airlines. The question of how to reduce emissions from planes brought the European Union, the United States, China and others to the brink of a trade war last year. I don't think I would have taken this position if I wasn't hopeful of that," said Michael Lawson, the new U.S. ambassador to ICAO, in an interview. Lawson was confirmed by the Senate on Monday and arrived in Montreal, where ICAO is based, on Thursday.

Argentina debt talks deadlocked as default looms Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:58 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Argentina's negotiations with creditors to resolve a dispute over $1.5 billion in unpaid debts remained deadlocked following talks Friday, setting it on a course for a possible catastrophic default next week.

South Sudan food crisis worst in the world: UN Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:52 PM PDT South Sudan's food crisis is now the worst in the world, the UN Security Council said Friday as it called for urgent funding to step up deliveries of desperately-needed aid. Some 3.9 million people -- a staggering one in three people throughout the country -- are going hungry as the fighting in South Sudan continues, according to UN officials. The Security Council described a "catastrophic food insecurity situation in South Sudan that is now the worst in the world" and said the country was on the threshold of a full-blown famine if fighting continues. It called on countries that pledged 618 million dollars in aid for South Sudan at a conference in May to make good on their promises and to increase their commitment.

Veteran Catalan leader reveals family kept money abroad Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:50 PM PDT A former premier of Spain's Catalonia region and one of its biggest political powerbrokers said Friday his family kept undeclared money abroad for over 30 years and apologised for the "mistake". In a statement Jordi Pujol, who headed the regional government of Catalonia from 1980 to 2003, said his father left an undisclosed amount of money which he stored outside of Spain to his wife and seven children on his death in September 1980. "In recent days members of my family have regularised this inheritance," he added. Before the last regional elections held in Catalonia in November 2012, centre-right daily newspaper El Mundo published a police report whose origins were unknown that claimed that Pujol and his family had bank accounts in Switzerland.

Libya seeks ceasefire as south Tripoli a militia 'war zone' Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:48 PM PDT By Patrick Markey and Aziz El Yaakoubi TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Black plumes of smoke marked shell blasts and bulldozed earthen barricades mapped out the frontlines around Tripoli's largest airport, now at the heart of a standoff between the country's powerful militias. With barrages of Grad rockets, anti-aircraft guns and artillery fired at their rival enclaves just kilometers apart, brigades of former rebels have turned parts of southern Tripoli in a battleground for nearly a fortnight. The clash over Tripoli International Airport is the latest eruption in a deepening rivalry among bands of ex-fighters who once battled side by side against Muammar Gaddafi, but have since turned against each other in the scramble for control. Since the 2011 fall of Tripoli, fighters from the western town of Zintan and allies have controlled the area including the international airport, while rivals loyal to the port city of Misrata had entrenched themselves in other parts of the capital.

Israeli troops kill Palestinian teens in W.Bank protests Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:46 PM PDT Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinian teenagers Saturday in continuing West Bank protests over Israel's Gaza military campaign, Palestinian security officials told AFP. They said Nasri Mahmud Paqatqa, 16, was killed and five others wounded in a clash at the village of Beit Fajar, south of Bethlehem and 18-year-old Bassem Abu Rub died in a protest at the Jalama military checkpoint in the northern West Bank. On Friday five Palestinians were killed in the West Bank in separate clashes. In the first incident, three Palestinian men were shot dead by troops while protesting against the conflict in Gaza in the village of Beit Ummar near the flashpoint southern city of Hebron, Palestinian security sources said.

Obama, Central American leaders meet on child migrants Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:40 PM PDT President Barack Obama met Friday with three Central American leaders to try to get control of an humanitarian crisis triggered by a tide of child migrants crossing the southern US border. Obama's won pledges of support from the presidents of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador and repeated his appeals to Central American parents not to send their kids north. They also pledged to pursue the smugglers that prey upon migrants desperate to reach the United States and to "counter misinformation about US immigration policy" that encourages the exodus. The US president, in remarks to reporters following the hour-and-a-half long meeting stressed that Americans feel "great compassion" for the child migrants, who have often endured tremendous suffering before and during their journey.

U.N. rights inquiry says more Syrians joining Islamic State Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:31 PM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - More and more Syrian rebels are defecting to join the ultra-hardline Islamic State insurgency, said U.N. human rights investigators on Friday, in what they described as a "Syrian-ization" of the al Qaeda offshoot. Members of the independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria, set up by the U.N. Human Rights Council in September 2011, informally briefed the United Nations Security Council on Friday ahead of submitting their latest report next week. Brazilian chief investigator Paulo Pinheiro said the Islamic State - formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, ISIL or ISIS - was undergoing a "Syrian-ization." "What began with a lot of foreign fighters, now you have authentic Syrian citizens," Pinheiro told reporters. Karen Koning AbuZayd, a member of the commission, said most of the Syrians joining Islamic State were defecting from other armed opposition groups fighting in the country's civil war, now in its fourth year.

Aussies dominate pool, Wales suffer doping shock Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:28 PM PDT Australia continued to dominate the Commonwealth Games swimming competition with four more golds on Friday while Wales were sent reeling by a second doping shock. Australia's men's 4x100m freestyle relay team retained their title ahead of South Africa and England to claim their seventh victory from a possible 14 events. Leiston Pickett became the first swimmer to retain a 50m Commonwealth breaststroke title, while there was an Aussie one-two in the men's 200m freestyle as Thomas Fraser-Holmes edged out Cameron McEvoy with Calum Jarvis claiming Wales' first medal of the meet in third. There was also a world record for Maddison Elliott in the women's para-sport 100m freestyle S8 ahead of England's Stephanie Slater and another Australian Lakeisha Patterson.

Kerry says still disagreements on terminology for Gaza truce Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:24 PM PDT U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that there were still disagreements on the terminology for a Gaza truce and called for a seven-day humanitarian ceasefire for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday next week. Seven days of a humanitarian ceasefire in honor of Eid in order to be able to bring people together to try to work to create a more durable, sustainable ceasefire for the long (term)," Kerry told a news conference in Cairo. Senior Hamas official Ezzat el-Rishiq who is in the group's political wing based in Cairo said on his Twitter account that the seven-day ceasefire was "under study in motion." Another Hamas official Mohamed Nazzal told Aljazeera television that the current "initiative in this form is not acceptable at all." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri, standing with Kerry at the news conference, backed the call for a pause in fighting for Eid. A U.S. official said later that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Kerry that Israel will begin a 12-hour pause in Gaza hostilities starting at 7 a.m. Israeli time (0400 GMT) on Saturday.

Venezuela official seeks immunity in Aruba ruling Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:24 PM PDT ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) — A judge in Aruba was expected to rule Friday on whether the highest-ranking Venezuelan official ever arrested on a U.S. warrant will remain behind bars pending an extradition request on drug charges.

Hamas agrees to 12-hour pause in Gaza fighting: spokesman Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:23 PM PDT Hamas has agreed to a 12-hour humanitarian truce to pause Gaza hostilities starting at 8 am Israeli time (0500 GMT) on Saturday, a spokesman for the Islamist group told Reuters. Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Hamas, together with all militant groups in Gaza, had agreed to the temporary ceasefire he said was mediated by the United Nations. A U.S. official said earlier that Israel had agreed o a 12-hour pause, though that has not been confirmed by Israel.

Four more swim golds for Australia, double joy for England Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:05 PM PDT Australia continued to lead the way in the pool at the Commonwealth Games as they won four more gold medals on Friday, while England claimed their first two swimming golds. There was also more joy for the hosts Scotland as Dan Wallace won the men's 400m individual medley and Canada's Katerine Savard was the other victor of the evening in the women's 100m butterfly. Australia's gold rush continued as the men's 4x100m freestyle relay team retained their title ahead of South Africa and England to claim their seventh victory from a possible 14 events to round off the night. Leiston Pickett became the first swimmer to retain a 50m Commonwealth breaststroke title, while there was an Aussie one-two in the men's 200m freestyle as Thomas Fraser-Holmes edged out Cameron McEvoy with Calum Jarvis claiming Wales' first medal of the meet in third.

Top Asian News at 10:00 p.m. GMT Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:03 PM PDT SNIZHNE, Ukraine (AP) — It was lunchtime when a tracked launcher with four SA-11 surface-to-air missiles rolled into town and parked on Karapetyan Street. Fifteen hundred miles (2,400 kilometers) to the west, passengers were checking in for Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. It had been a noisy day in this eastern Ukrainian town, residents recounted. Plenty of military equipment was moving through. But still it was hard to miss the bulky missile system, also known as a Buk M-1. It left deep tread marks in the asphalt as it rumbled by in a small convoy.

Fognini, qualifier Cuevas in Croatia Open last 4 Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:03 PM PDT UMAG, Croatia (AP) — Top-seeded Fabio Fognini rallied to defeat Borna Coric of Croatia 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Croatia Open on Friday.

Oil rises just above $102 a barrel Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:01 PM PDT The price of oil traded around $102 a barrel on Friday, nearly unchanged, as worries over supplies and geopolitical tensions eased.

New charge in San Francisco Chinatown case Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:00 PM PDT SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California state senator charged in a sweeping organized crime and public corruption case centered in San Francisco's Chinatown faced a new charge Friday of racketeering.

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