| Ukraine accuses Russia of "undisguised aggression" as rebels advance Posted: 01 Sep 2014 07:19 AM PDT By Pavel Polityuk and Polina Devitt KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Russia on Monday of "direct and undisguised aggression" which he said had radically changed the battlefield balance as Kiev's forces suffered a further reverse in their war with pro-Moscow separatists. In the latest in a string of setbacks in the past week, Ukraine's military said it had pulled back from defending a vital airport in the east of the country, near the city of Luhansk, where troops had been battling a Russian tank battalion. Poroshenko said in a speech there would be high-level personnel changes in the Ukrainian armed forces, whose troops fled a new rebel advance in the south which Kiev and its Western allies say has been backed up by Russian armored columns. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called on Sunday for immediate negotiations on the "statehood" of southern and eastern Ukraine, blamed Kiev's leadership for refusing to enter into direct political talks with the separatists. |
| Iranians play role in breaking IS siege of Iraqi town Posted: 01 Sep 2014 12:18 PM PDT  By Isabel Coles AMERLI Iraq (Reuters) - Kurdish peshmerga fighters and Shi'ite militiamen paraded through Amerli on Monday, a day after breaking the two-month siege of the northern town by Sunni Islamist militants. The scenes in Amerli and the surrounding area of Suleiman Beg offered a window into the teamwork among Kurdish fighters, the Iraqi army and Shi'ite militias and into Iran's role in directly assisting their campaign against Islamic State (IS) forces. The swift end to the Islamic State's encirclement of the Shi'ite Turkmen town of 15,000 came on Sunday amid a push by Kurdish peshmerga, Shi'ite militias and Iraqi troops, after U.S. Militia fighters spoke of a new alliance with the Kurds, who had been shaken by the Islamic State's offensive on Kurdish-controlled territories last month.
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| U.N. to send team to investigate Islamic State crimes in Iraq Posted: 01 Sep 2014 11:29 AM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations agreed on Monday to send investigators to Iraq to examine crimes being committed by Islamic State militants on "an unimaginable scale", with a view to holding perpetrators to account. "We are facing a terrorist monster," Iraq's human rights minister, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani, told the U.N. Human Rights Council which adopted a resolution tabled by Iraq and France at an emergency sitting of the 47-member state forum in Geneva. The Council aims to send 11 investigators, with a total budget of $1.18 million, to report back by March 2015.
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| Iran's Zarif 'quite optimistic' of Iran nuclear agreement Posted: 01 Sep 2014 12:34 PM PDT  By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif voiced optimism after talks with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Monday that a dispute over Tehran's nuclear program can be resolved by a Nov. 24 deadline. "I am quite optimistic after discussions with Lady Ashton that we can in fact resolve this issue in time," Zarif said after what he described as "good" talks with Ashton. "I hope with the readiness and political will that I see in all parties to this discussion to have a resolution within the next three months," he told a news conference following separate talks with Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders. Iran and global powers are working to strike a comprehensive agreement by the Nov. 24 deadline, under which Iran would curb its nuclear activities in exchange for an easing of economic sanctions that have crippled its economy.
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| Brazil's Silva looks presidential, but not a shoo-in Posted: 01 Sep 2014 01:24 PM PDT  By Brian Winter SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Popular environmentalist Marina Silva looks capable of winning Brazil's presidential election in October but a major campaign gaffe and mounting attacks from other candidates and the media suggest the race is still wide open. Polls have shown Silva with a lead of about 10 percentage points over President Dilma Rousseff if the Oct. 5 election goes to a runoff, as seems likely. Silva's meteoric rise has led Brazilian stocks to rally 10 percent in the last three weeks on hopes she would be more business-friendly than Rousseff and help stir a stagnant economy.
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| Guantanamo detainee transfer to Uruguay unlikely before vote: official Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:52 PM PDT President José Mujica earlier this year accepted a request to take half a dozen inmates from the center used to imprison people detained after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, but at least one poll showed the move to be unpopular among Uruguayans. "I don't believe the process will be completed in the next two or three months," Diego Canepa, vice secretary of the presidency, told Reuters. Guantanamo has been criticized by human rights groups, with some of its prisoners held for a decade or longer without being charged or given a trial. President George W. Bush in 2002 to hold terrorism suspects rounded up overseas, Guantanamo became a symbol of the excesses of his "war on terror." U.S. |
| Former Ivorian president's party headquarters 'trashed' Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:56 PM PDT  The headquarters of the party of former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo were ransacked on Monday, leaving three people injured, a spokesman said. Confidential documents, including financial registers, were stolen as a group of around 20 youths "literally trashed" Gbagbo's former offices, Frank Anderson Kouassi, spokesman for the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), told AFP. An AFP photographer at the headquarters said rooms were littered with scattered documents, smashed computers and printers, broken glass and upturned furniture. A party official suggested the perpetrators may have been youth FPI activists.
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| Murray beats Tsonga, faces Djokovic for semi-final spot Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:52 PM PDT  Former champion Andy Murray beat the stifling New York heat and France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Monday to reach the US Open quarter-finals -- where he'll face the even tougher test of Novak Djokovic. Murray, slow out of the blocks this season after back surgery late in 2013, has now reached at least the quarter-finals of every Grand Slam tournament he has played for the past four years.
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| Ailing Bouchard out of US Open Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:50 PM PDT  New York (AFP) - Canadian poster girl Eugenie Bouchard was knocked out of the US Open on Monday, losing 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 to Russia's Ekaterina Makarova.
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| Kirk rallies to win the Deutsche Bank Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:44 PM PDT  NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Chris Kirk made three big putts and captured the biggest win of his career Monday in the Deutsche Bank Championship. Whether that was enough for U.S. captain Tom Watson to add him to the Ryder Cup team was the least of his concerns.
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| Tropical depression forms off Gulf coast of Mexico Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:44 PM PDT MIAMI (AP) — Forecasters say a tropical depression has formed off the Gulf coast of Mexico with tropical storm warnings issued from Tuxpan in the state of Veracruz north to La Pesca. |
| Hernandez joins Madrid, Valencia gets Negredo Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:35 PM PDT  MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid signed Javier Hernandez and Valencia acquired Alvaro Negredo on the final day of the transfer market in Spain, with both strikers arriving on loan deals with purchase options Monday.
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| US attorney joins legal team for slain Jamaican Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:35 PM PDT KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — A U.S. civil rights lawyer said Monday that she is volunteering her time to help represent relatives of a slain Jamaican man whose death in custody has amplified distrust of the Caribbean country's police force among many islanders. |
| United land Blind, chase Falcao as deadline looms Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:34 PM PDT  Manchester United signed Netherlands star Daley Blind from Ajax for £14 million ($23 million, 17 million euros) and moved closer to a loan swoop for Monaco's Colombian striker Radamel Falcao as the transfer deadline loomed closer for England's Premier League clubs on Monday. According to widespread reports in the British media, United have agreed a season-long loan move for 28-year-old Falcao for a fee of around 10 million euros ($13.1 million). Sources at Monaco told AFP that United would then have the option of making the deal permanent for a fee of around 55 million euros ($72 million).
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| Maradona among stars in interreligious peace match Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:34 PM PDT  ROME (AP) — Diego Maradona and Roberto Baggio were among a host of former soccer stars who played in an interreligious charity match backed by Pope Francis on Monday night.
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| Negredo joins Valencia from Man City Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:28 PM PDT VALENCIA, Spain (AP) — Valencia signed striker Alvaro Negredo from English champion Manchester City moments before the close of the transfer market on Monday. |
| New Zealand gunman kills 2; suspect faces charges Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:24 PM PDT  WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A man suspected of killing two unemployment-office workers and seriously wounding a third in a South Island town was charged Tuesday with murder.
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| France and Saudis 'finalising' $3bn Lebanon arms deal: official Posted: 01 Sep 2014 04:15 PM PDT  France and Saudi Arabia are close to signing a $3 billion arms deal for Lebanon, the Elysee Palace said Monday following talks between President Francois Hollande and the Saudi crown prince. The deal is for military equipment and arms to be supplied to Lebanon's army. Hollande told an official dinner at the Elysee presidential palace attended by Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, who is also the Saudi deputy prime minister and defence minister, that Lebanon was a "great but vulnerable country" which "needs security".
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| Peru police display record 7.7-ton cocaine haul Posted: 01 Sep 2014 03:52 PM PDT  LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian police displayed in a Lima airport police hangar on Monday what officials called the largest cocaine haul ever in the Andean nation, 7.7 metric tons (8.5 tons).
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| Doria joins Marseille and N'Gog goes to Reims Posted: 01 Sep 2014 03:36 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — On a quiet day of transfers in the French league, the main news was who left rather than who joined, with Colombia striker Radamel Falcao leaving Monaco after just one season to sign a loan deal with Manchester United. |
| Ivory Coast must host match or face Cup of Nations Posted: 01 Sep 2014 03:31 PM PDT  African football giants Ivory Coast will be expelled from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations if they do not host Ebola-hit Sierra Leone in their qualifier on Saturday, the African Football Confederation (CAF) told AFP on Monday. The Ivory Coast government had said it was refusing to allow the game to be played in Abidjan but the country's federation had not announced a country ready to host it instead. "CAF regulation which applies here states that: "If, for any reason whatsoever, a team withdraws from the competition or does not report for a match, except in cases of force majeure accepted by the Organizing Commission or refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorization of the referee, it shall be considered the loser and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition," CAF's head of media Junior Binyam told AFP by email.
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| Parents of tumour boy held in Spain as sympathy grows Posted: 01 Sep 2014 03:25 PM PDT  Brett and Naghemeh King sparked an international manhunt after removing five-year-old Ashya, who has a brain tumour, from hospital last week over their fears that he was not receiving the right care. The couple were detained on a European arrest warrant near Malaga in southern Spain on Saturday and their son, who only recently underwent surgery and requires special feeding equipment, has been hospitalised in southern Spain. The judge also ordered an urgent medical report into the condition of Ashya, who has a medulloblastoma tumour. The boy is currently being treated at a nearby children's hospital and is said to be in a stable condition.
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| Turks & Caicos police detain 82 Haitian migrants Posted: 01 Sep 2014 03:19 PM PDT PROVIDENCIALES, Turks & Caicos Islands (AP) — Authorities in the Turks & Caicos Islands have intercepted a boat with 82 Haitian migrants as it passed through the British Caribbean chain's waters. |
| Milan signs Van Ginkel but Biabiany move collapses Posted: 01 Sep 2014 03:15 PM PDT  MILAN (AP) — AC Milan had a busy final day of the transfer window as it completed the signings of Marco van Ginkel and Giacomo Bonaventura but saw the deal for Jonathan Biabiany collapse at the last moment.
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| Spain, Greece move to 3-0, Senegal upsets Croatia Posted: 01 Sep 2014 03:10 PM PDT  Spain beat Brazil in a battle of unbeatens to take the lead in Group A, while Greece also improved to 3-0 in a Group B that Senegal shook up with the big upset Monday at the Basketball World Cup.
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| Murray beats Tsonga in 3 long sets at US Open Posted: 01 Sep 2014 03:01 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Andy Murray pulled out the sort of tough win he had been missing this year, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in three long sets in the fourth round of the U.S. Open.
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| Americans detained in North Korea call for US help Posted: 01 Sep 2014 02:55 PM PDT  PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea gave foreign media access on Monday to three detained Americans who said they have been able to contact their families and — watched by officials as they spoke — called for Washington to send a high-ranking representative to negotiate for their freedom.
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| Family worries about detained missionary's health Posted: 01 Sep 2014 02:52 PM PDT  SEATTLE (AP) — The sister of an American missionary held for nearly two years in North Korea said Monday that she is worried about the health and well-being of Kenneth Bae, who's isolated in a labor camp and suffers from severe back pain.
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| Second poll shows jump in support for Scottish independence Posted: 01 Sep 2014 02:51 PM PDT  A second poll showed support for Scottish independence rising less than three weeks from the historic referendum, more than halving the lead of the anti-independence camp on Monday. The YouGov poll found 47 percent of respondents would vote "Yes" to independence, compared to 53 percent who would vote "No", excluding "undecideds". The results were identical to a Friday poll by Survation, which had showed the "Yes" campaign had gained ground after a strong performance from pro-independence leader Alex Salmond in a TV debate. The gap in support between the two camps more than halved to six points from a 14-point "No" camp lead in a YouGov poll in mid-August.
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| Bouchard loses to Makarova in US Open's 4th round Posted: 01 Sep 2014 02:49 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Wilting in high heat and humidity, Eugenie Bouchard became the latest top woman to lose at the U.S. Open, ending her streak of making the semifinals at each Grand Slam tournament this year.
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| Iran aiming for nuclear accord, says foreign minister Posted: 01 Sep 2014 02:47 PM PDT  Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he had "good discussions" Monday with EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and Tehran was committed to an accord over its contested nuclear programme. Iran wants progress on the issue, Zarif was cited as saying by the Belga state news agency after a meeting with Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders. He said he was "fairly optimistic" after talks earlier with Ashton that Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany could reach a deal on Tehran's nuclear programme by a November deadline.
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| Uruguay: Guantanamo prisoner transfer not imminent Posted: 01 Sep 2014 02:40 PM PDT MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — A plan to resettle six men held at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo in Uruguay is still being negotiated and is unlikely to occur before upcoming elections in the South American country, an official said Monday. |
| British activist set for Thai defamation trial Posted: 01 Sep 2014 02:31 PM PDT  A British activist is set to face a defamation charge in a Bangkok court Tuesday stemming from a report he co-authored on alleged labour abuses in Thailand's food industry. Andy Hall, 34, faces civil and criminal lawsuits submitted by Thai fruit processor Natural Fruit, after his report levelled accusations of forced and child labour, unlawfully low wages and long hours at one of its factories. Natural Fruit is a major supplier to the European drink market and leading European food companies have urged the company to drop its legal action. Defamation is a criminal offence in Thailand and Hall, who has had his passport confiscated by Thai authorities pending the trial, could be jailed for up to a year if found guilty.
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