| France attack suspect admits killing, police make link to Syria Posted: 28 Jun 2015 12:08 PM PDT  By Gregory Blachier PARIS (Reuters) - The suspected Islamist who attempted to blow up a French chemical plant on Friday has admitted killing his manager beforehand, a source close to the investigation said on Sunday, as police linked the suspect to a militant now in Syria. Yassin Salhi, 35, told detectives he had killed Hervé Cornara in a parking area before arriving at the plant in Saint Quentin-Fallavier, 30 km (20 miles) south of Lyon, where he tried in vain to cause a major explosion. Examination of one of Salhi's mobile phones revealed that he had taken a picture of himself with the severed head before his arrest and sent the image to a Canadian phone number.
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| Western officials suggest Iran tries to wiggle out of nuclear pledges Posted: 28 Jun 2015 10:00 AM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau and Arshad Mohammed VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran is backtracking from an interim nuclear agreement with world powers three months ago, Western officials suggested on Sunday, as U.S. and Iranian officials said talks on a final accord would likely run past a June 30 deadline. Securing an historic agreement would end a more than 12-year nuclear standoff between Iran and the West and open the door to suspending sanctions that have crippled Tehran's economy. It could also help ease the diplomatic isolation for an Iran that has become increasingly assertive across the region.
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| Kuwait says mosque bomber was young Saudi man, detains driver Posted: 28 Jun 2015 12:26 PM PDT  By Ahmed Hagagy KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait on Sunday identified the suicide bomber behind its worst militant attack as a young Saudi Arabian man, and said it had detained the driver of the vehicle that took him to a Shi'ite Muslim mosque where he killed 27 people. The disclosure of the bomber's Saudi nationality is likely to focus the attention of authorities investigating Friday's suicide bombing on ties between Islamists in the small Gulf state and those in its larger, more conservative neighbor. Kuwait's interior ministry named the bomber as Fahd Suliman Abdul-Muhsen al-Qabaa and said he flew into Kuwait's airport at dawn on Friday, only hours before he detonated an explosives-laden vest at Kuwait City's Imam al-Sadeq mosque.
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| Cautious Merkel on verge of biggest risk with 'Grexit' Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:11 PM PDT  By Noah Barkin BERLIN (Reuters) - "If you break it, you own it," former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned President George W. Bush before his invasion of Iraq. Whether it will ever be fair to blame Angela Merkel for "breaking" Greece is debatable. Unlike her finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, who sent abundant signals in recent months that he could accept a euro zone that does not include Greece, Merkel has been determined to avoid such an outcome, according to her closest advisers.
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| Argentina will pursue judge order on Falklands drillers: minister Posted: 28 Jun 2015 12:48 PM PDT Argentina will pursue in Britain and the United States a local judge's order to seize assets of oil drillers operating in the disputed Falklands Islands, the foreign minister said in an interview published in local media on Sunday. On Saturday, a federal judge in Tierra del Fuego ordered the seizure of $156 million in bank accounts, boats and other property of six European and U.S. oil companies operating in the islands. A source with knowledge of the situation said the ruling was meaningless because the companies do not generally hold assets in Argentina or use Argentine waters. |
| Turkish police use water cannon to disperse gay pride parade Posted: 28 Jun 2015 11:15 AM PDT  By Mehmet, Caliskan and Yesmin Dikmen ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police fired water cannon and rubber pellets to disperse a gay pride parade in central Istanbul on Sunday, after organizers said they had been refused permission to march this year because of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Police sprayed jets of water from trucks at crowds of hundreds who had gathered - many in colorful clothing and waving rainbow flags - near the central Taksim Square neighborhood, one of Istanbul's busiest shopping and tourist areas. As the crowds fell back, men who appeared to be plain clothes police officers detained several demonstrators, according to footage from a Reuters cameraman at the scene.
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| Inter-religious march in Rome demands action on climate change Posted: 28 Jun 2015 04:48 PM PDT Several thousand Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and Moslems marched through Rome to the Vatican on Sunday to demand action on climate change and thank Pope Francis for his encyclical on the environment. In the first papal document dedicated to the environment, he called for "decisive action, here and now," to stop environmental degradation and global warming, squarely backing scientists who have said it is mostly man-made. |
| Jeff Maggert wins US Senior Open for 2nd senior major title Posted: 28 Jun 2015 04:34 PM PDT  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Jeff Maggert won the U.S. Senior Open on Sunday for his second major victory on the Champions Tour this year.
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| Top Asian News at 11:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 28 Jun 2015 04:33 PM PDT TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — More than 400 people, many of them seriously burned, remained in hospitals Sunday after a fire spread into a crowd of spectators at a music party at a Taiwan water park, authorities said. The fire late Saturday was sparked by an accidental explosion of a colored theatrical powder thrown from the stage in front of about 1,000 people, the local fire agency and media said. The powder for the one-time event called "Color Play Asia" ignited along the ground, mainly burning people's lower bodies, said Wang Wei-sheng, a liaison with the New Taipei City fire department command center. |
| Watson wins Travelers Championship on 2nd playoff hole Posted: 28 Jun 2015 04:29 PM PDT  CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Bubba Watson made an 8-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole Sunday to outlast Paul Casey and win the Travelers Championship for the second time.
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| The Latest: No bank withdrawal limits on foreign cards Posted: 28 Jun 2015 04:24 PM PDT  ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The latest developments on Greece's bailout negotiations (all times local):
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| Sweden's Dani Holmqvist wins first Symetra Tour title Posted: 28 Jun 2015 04:18 PM PDT HARRIS, Mich. (AP) — Sweden's Dani Holmqvist won the Island Resort Championship on Sunday at Sweetgrass for her first Symetra Tour title. |
| Westbrook, Valiante win at Watkins Glen Posted: 28 Jun 2015 03:56 PM PDT WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) — Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante won the rainy Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen under caution Sunday for their second TUDOR United SportsCar Championship victory of the year. |
| Swelling subsides around England goalie Bardsley's right eye Posted: 28 Jun 2015 03:44 PM PDT  EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — The swelling below English goalkeeper Karen Bardsley's right eye has gone down substantially, leaving coach Mark Sampson confident she will be available to play in the Women's World Cup semifinal against Japan.
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| Kyle Busch grabs 1st win of season as comeback rolls on Posted: 28 Jun 2015 03:36 PM PDT  SONOMA, Calif. (AP) — Kyle Busch's comeback now includes a victory — a mere five races after he returned from serious injuries suffered the season-opening weekend.
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| Tsipras announces capital controls, banks closed after run on ATMs Posted: 28 Jun 2015 03:29 PM PDT  Greek banks will stay shut on Monday and capital controls will be imposed, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced, pleading for calm as anxious citizens emptied cash machines in a dramatic escalation of the country's debt crisis. Speaking on national television on Sunday evening, Tsipras said the Bank of Greece had recommended a "bank holiday and restriction of bank withdrawals" after the European Central Bank said it would not increase its financial support to Greek lenders, despite early signs of a chaotic bank run. The drastic measures announced by Tsipras topped off a weekend of high drama that began with the leftist premier's unexpected call for a July 5 referendum on creditors' latest reform proposals after bailout talks in Brussels collapsed.
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| Michael Sam returns to Alouettes Posted: 28 Jun 2015 03:27 PM PDT  Michael Sam, who abruptly left the club for "personal reasons," has decided to rejoin the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes. The Alouettes, who signed Sam to a two-year deal, suspended him after he left the club, but they welcomed him back on the weekend. Sam is the first openly gay player to be drafted by a National Football League team and then to sign a contract with a CFL team.
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| Brazil's Rousseff on fence-mending US visit Posted: 28 Jun 2015 03:14 PM PDT  Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff met Sunday with investors in New York on the first day of a long-delayed US visit aimed at overcoming strains caused by the NSA spying scandal. Revelations two years ago that the US National Security Agency electronically eavesdropped on Rousseff's email and other communications prompted her to angrily call off an official visit to Washington that had been set for October 2013. The White House has expressed hope that her meeting with President Barack Obama this week will turn the page on an acrimonious chapter in US relations with the South American giant.
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| Gatlin wins 200 with fastest time ever at US championships Posted: 28 Jun 2015 03:01 PM PDT  EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Justin Gatlin breezed to the 200-meter title in the U.S. championship in a meet-record 19.57 seconds Sunday.
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| Pro-European candidate leads in Moldova vote Posted: 28 Jun 2015 02:43 PM PDT  CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Near-final results gave a pro-European Union candidate a comfortable lead in the runoff vote for mayor of Moldova's biggest city Sunday, in an election seen as a test of whether the former Soviet republic moves closer to the EU or to neighboring Russia.
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| Tunisia launches nationwide manhunt for attack accomplices Posted: 28 Jun 2015 02:41 PM PDT  SOUSSE, Tunisia (AP) — The student who massacred holidaymakers on a Tunisian beach and at a swank resort hotel acted alone during the attack but had accomplices who supported him beforehand, an Interior Ministry official said Sunday.
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| Argentina leads final 4 in Copa America semifinals Posted: 28 Jun 2015 02:21 PM PDT  SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — The Copa America semifinals are again missing a local favorite.
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| Chile defender Jara banned for 3 games; out of Copa America Posted: 28 Jun 2015 02:19 PM PDT  SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chilean defender Gonzalo Jara has been banned from the remainder of the Copa America for provoking Uruguay's Edinson Cavani in a quarterfinal match.
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| English women hope World Cup semifinal boosts the home game Posted: 28 Jun 2015 02:01 PM PDT  VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Although they're not yet 30 years old, Jodie Taylor and Steph Houghton have already seen a revolution in English women's soccer during their careers.
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| Turkish police use water cannons to clear gay pride rally Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:54 PM PDT  ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish police used water cannons and tear gas against gay pride marchers trying to rally in Istanbul's central square on Sunday, forcing the thousands of demonstrators to gather several blocks away. Two people were injured, according to the Dogan news agency.
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| African Union says Burundi election not free or fair, speaker flees Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:50 PM PDT  By Clement Manirabarusha BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - The African Union stood down its election observers in Burundi on Sunday, saying Monday's parliamentary election would be neither free nor fair, as the speaker of parliament said he had fled after being threatened and heavy gunfire echoed across the capital. Burundi has been in turmoil since April, when President Pierre Nkurunziza said he would seek a third term, exacerbating months of protests and triggering an abortive military coup last month. Opposition parties are boycotting Monday's vote and the presidential election on July 15 in protest at Nkurunziza's move, which they say is unconstitutional, and at rising political violence.
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| Spanish league appeals FIFA switch of 2022 World Cup dates Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:48 PM PDT LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The Spanish football league is challenging FIFA's to switch the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to November-December. |
| Serbia unveils monument to Gavrilo Princip Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:37 PM PDT BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia has unveiled a monument to Gavrilo Princip, whose assassination of the Austro-Hungarian crown prince in Sarajevo helped ignite World War I and still provokes controversy in the ethnically-divided Balkans. |
| UN envoy urges restraint amid standoff in Colombia Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:28 PM PDT BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A United Nations envoy is urging restraint amid a tense standoff on the front lines of Colombia's conflict between security forces and farmers who expelled police allegedly under pressure from leftist rebels. |
| Nuke talks to miss target; Iran foreign minister heads home Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:26 PM PDT  VIENNA (AP) — A senior U.S. official acknowledged Sunday that Iran nuclear talks will go past their June 30 target date, as Iran's foreign minister prepared to head home for consultations before returning to push for a breakthrough.
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| Assassin who sparked WWI gets statue in Belgrade Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:26 PM PDT  A statue of a Bosnian Serb nationalist whose assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand 101 years ago sparked World War I, and who is seen here as an icon of Serb patriotism, was inaugurated here Sunday. The two-meter (6.6-foot) high bronze statue of Gavrilo Princip was unveiled in a park in downtown Belgrade and the event was attended by several hundred people, according to an AFP photographer. "Princip was a hero, a symbol of ideas of liberty.... Others may think what they want," said Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, who attended the event.
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| Solar Impulse takes off on delayed Pacific flight Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:25 PM PDT  The revolutionary Solar Impulse 2 aircraft took off early Monday for a flight over the Pacific Ocean, a spokeswoman said, the most ambitious leg of its quest to circumnavigate the globe powered only by the sun. Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg, 62, left the ground in the central Japan city of Nagoya around 3:00 am (1800 GMT), five days after weather problems forced the organisers to cancel an earlier attempt to reach Hawaii. "It took off at 3 o'clock and 4 minutes," spokeswoman Elke Neumann said.
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| Second NY prison escapee shot and captured: US media Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:18 PM PDT  New York (AFP) - A convicted murderer who busted out of a maximum-security New York prison three weeks ago has been shot and captured, US media reported Sunday, two days after his fellow escapee was shot dead.
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| Lloyd once nearly quit; the US team is sure glad she didn't Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:14 PM PDT  MONTREAL (AP) — Carli Lloyd's career is defined by big moments.
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| Bell-Drummond ton can't stop Australia Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:13 PM PDT  Daniel Bell-Drummond's sparkling hundred for Kent could not prevent Australia winning the opening match of their Ashes tour by 255 runs at Canterbury on Sunday. Almost 40 years to the day since England great Colin Cowdrey made a match-winning 151 not out for Kent against Australia on the same St Lawrence ground, Bell-Drummond delighted a new generation of fans with an innings of 127. Bell-Drummond, lbw to fast bowler Mitchell Johnson for nought in the first innings was initially just pleased to have avoided a 'pair' (two noughts in the same match).
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| England's Spanish break doesn't bother Lehmann Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:10 PM PDT  Australia coach Darren Lehmann made it clear he could not care less what England get up to during their four-day trip to Spain after his side launched their Ashes tour with a convincing win. Sunday saw Ashes-holders Australia defeat Kent by 255 runs on the final day of four in Canterbury. Australia now have one more four-day game, against Essex in Chelmsford starting on Wednesday, before they begin the defence of the Ashes with the first Test against England in Cardiff from July 8.
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| Family pleads for American's release on margins of Iran talks Posted: 28 Jun 2015 01:02 PM PDT  Sarah Hekmati's young son had it all figured out. At this point the family of Amir Hekmati feels it may need superhuman intervention to free the former US Marine, who has been imprisoned in Iran since 2011. "We've been struggling for four years now, and we're just exhausted," Sarah Hekmati told AFP on Sunday, describing how her brother's incarceration has taken its toll on the family with her father now terminally ill, and her young children unable to grasp why their uncle is being held by Iran.
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| SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket explodes after launch Posted: 28 Jun 2015 12:56 PM PDT  An unmanned SpaceX rocket exploded just minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Sunday, marking a major setback for the fast-charging company headed by Internet tycoon Elon Musk. The accident was the third in less than a year involving US and Russian supply ships bound for the International Space Station, and raised new concerns about the flow of food and gear to the astronauts living in orbit. Skies were sunny and clear for the 10:21 am (1421 GMT) launch of the gleaming white Falcon 9 rocket that was meant to propel the Dragon cargo ship on a routine supply mission, the seventh for SpaceX so far.
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