| Greece seeks new EU loan deal in race to avert collapse Posted: 08 Jul 2015 01:33 PM PDT  By Barbara Lewis and Alastair Macdonald STRASBOURG/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A race to save Greece from bankruptcy and keep it in the euro gathered pace on Wednesday when Athens formally applied for a three-year loan and European authorities launched an accelerated review of the request. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called in a speech to the European Parliament for a fair deal, acknowledging Greece's historic responsibility for its plight, after EU leaders gave him five days to come up with convincing reforms. The government submitted a request to the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund to lend an unspecified amount "to meet Greece's debt obligations and to ensure stability of the financial system".
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| U.S. spy agency tapped German chancellery for decades: WikiLeaks Posted: 08 Jul 2015 11:21 AM PDT  The U.S. National Security Agency tapped phone calls involving German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her closest advisers for years and spied on the staff of her predecessors, WikiLeaks said on Wednesday. A report released by the group suggested NSA spying on Merkel and her staff had gone on far longer and more widely than previously realized. WikiLeaks said the NSA targeted for long-term surveillance 125 phone numbers of top German officials.
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| Iran says makes new proposal in nuclear talks, West unimpressed Posted: 08 Jul 2015 06:37 AM PDT  By John Irish and Arshad Mohammed VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has offered "constructive solutions" to resolve disputes in nuclear talks with six major powers, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported on Wednesday, but Western officials suggested they had heard nothing new from Tehran. Iran and the powers are in the last stretch of talks to reach a final agreement to end a more than 12-year standoff over Iran's nuclear program. "Iran has presented constructive solutions to overcome the remaining differences.
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| Pope's 'homecoming' tour moves from Ecuador to Bolivia Posted: 08 Jul 2015 11:23 AM PDT  By Alexandra Valencia and Girish Gupta QUITO (Reuters) - Pope Francis showed his sense of humor during the last few hours of his trip to Ecuador on Wednesday, straying from a prepared speech to joke with people who came to see him at a shrine near the highland capital Quito. "I have a prepared script but I don't want to read it," said the 78-year-old pope to laughs from the crowd, before asking them to pray for him so that he would never forget where he came from. "Do not fall into a spiritual Alzheimer's, do not forget!" Francis added in a totally improvised speech.
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| Over 200 Americans have gone or tried to go to Syria to fight: FBI Posted: 08 Jul 2015 12:07 PM PDT  More than 200 Americans have traveled or attempted to travel to Syria to fight for Islamic militants, Federal Bureau of Investigation chief James Comey said on Wednesday. "We continue to identify individuals who seek to join the ranks of foreign fighters ... and also homegrown violent extremists who may aspire to attack the United States from within," Comey told lawmakers on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The radicalization of Americans by Islamic State is a top concern for the agency, and earlier on Wednesday Comey urged technology companies to allow law enforcement authorities access to encrypted communications to help combat the threat.
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| Yemen government tells U.N. it agrees to conditional truce Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:01 PM PDT  Yemen's government told the United Nations on Wednesday it would agree to a truce to end more than three months of fighting provided key "guarantees" were met, a spokesman said. "The Yemeni authorities have informed the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon of its agreement to implement a truce in the coming days," spokesman Rajeh Badi told Reuters by phone from the government's seat of exile in Saudi Arabia. Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the spokesman said, had "set guarantees for the success of the truce".
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| Anti-fur protest and celebrity concerts cap Paris couture Posted: 08 Jul 2015 04:43 PM PDT  PARIS (AP) — As couture week in Paris entered its final furlong, the French capital was electrified by celebrity concerts and eccentric, creative designs. But Karl Lagerfeld's fur-only couture show for Fendi provoked disruptive animal-rights protests.
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| Big rock fall in Yosemite alters climbing route on Half Dome Posted: 08 Jul 2015 04:36 PM PDT  By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A 2,400-ton chunk of granite broke loose last week from the towering Half Dome formation in Yosemite National Park, altering one of North America's most popular rock-climbing routes, but no one was hurt and casual visitors will probably never notice. The fallen slab, estimated to have measured about 800 cubic meters in volume, is believed to have crumbled from the middle the northwest face of Half Dome some time very late on July 2 or early July 3, park spokeswoman Jodi Bailey said on Wednesday. Word has it a gap from the missing slab was discovered a day or two later by a group of mountaineers making their way up the northwest face of the iconic 4,700-foot-tall (1,432-meter) granite dome.
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| Wayne Rooney and wife Coleen expecting 3rd child in January Posted: 08 Jul 2015 04:35 PM PDT LONDON (AP) — Wayne Rooney and his wife, Coleen, are expecting their third child in January. |
| Pope insists on church role in Bolivia after limits imposed Posted: 08 Jul 2015 04:35 PM PDT LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Pope Francis arrived in Bolivia on Wednesday on the second leg of his South American tour and immediately insisted that the Catholic Church continue to play an important role in society amid efforts by the government of President Evo Morales to curb its influence. |
| Top Asian News at 11:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 08 Jul 2015 04:32 PM PDT YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A general election seen as a crucial next step for Myanmar's transition to democracy has been scheduled for Nov. 8. The military that ruled the Southeast Asian nation since 1964 scheduled Myanmar's last general election in 2010 under rules widely seen as rigging the outcome to favor a military-backed party, which won the lion's share of parliamentary seats. The nominally civilian government in office since 2011 has made lauded reforms though progress has stalled. |
| Feds: 3 indicted in Las Vegas in $1.5B investment fraud case Posted: 08 Jul 2015 04:28 PM PDT LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities in the U.S. are seeking the arrest of the chief executive of a Las Vegas investment company and two of his former Asia-based executives on an indictment alleging they headed a $1.5 billion Ponzi-style fraud scheme, officials announced Wednesday. |
| NYSE shutdown upends an already tough day for markets Posted: 08 Jul 2015 04:18 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — It was already a tough day in the market when the unexpected hit.
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| The Latest: Pope stops to pray for priest slain in 1980 Posted: 08 Jul 2015 04:16 PM PDT  SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (AP) — Here are the latest developments from Pope Francis' trip to South America:
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| World Bank warns of rising maternal deaths post-Ebola Posted: 08 Jul 2015 04:15 PM PDT  The World Bank warned Wednesday that the loss of health care workers amid the Ebola epidemic in western Africa could increase women's deaths from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. An additional 4,022 deaths of women could be seen each year across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the countries hardest hit by the recent Ebola outbreak, the Bank said in a report that looks at the impact beyond the epidemic's direct effects. "The loss of health workers to Ebola could increase maternal deaths up to rates last seen in these countries 15-20 years ago," said Markus Goldstein, lead economist at the World Bank and co-author of the report, in a statement.
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| Jamaica to reduce amount of water lost to leaks, theft Posted: 08 Jul 2015 04:07 PM PDT KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — As a regional drought worsens, Jamaica's water commission on Wednesday signed a $42.5 million contract with an Israeli company aimed at slashing the large amount of drinking water that's wasted each day. |
| POW-turned-Senator McCain hosts Vietnam party chief Posted: 08 Jul 2015 04:01 PM PDT  Half a century after getting shot down over Vietnam, where he would languish as a prisoner of war for more than five years, John McCain shared images of his painful past Wednesday with an unlikely visitor. Vietnam's Communist Party boss Nguyen Phu Trong, the party's first general secretary to visit the United States, was accorded a high-profile Oval Office meeting with President Barack Obama on Tuesday. A day later he made a low-key trip to Capitol Hill to see the lawmaker who perhaps more than any other has guided the rapprochement between Washington and its former foe.
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| Nicaraguan police beat protesters and harass journalists Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:59 PM PDT  MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Police beat and detained government opponents and harassed journalists Wednesday at a protest outside Nicaragua's top electoral council.
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| Mickelson refuses to comment on money-laundering allegations Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:52 PM PDT  GULLANE, Scotland (AP) — Five-time major champion Phil Mickelson refused to comment on allegations linking him to an illegal gambling operation, saying Wednesday he is used to being an "object to be discussed."
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| US-led air strikes kill seven Al-Nusra members in Syria: monitor Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:50 PM PDT  Seven militants from Syria's Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front, including commanders, were killed in US-led air strikes Wednesday in the northwest of the conflict-riven country, a Britain-based monitoring group said. The US-led raids in Syria, which began last September, have mainly focused on the Islamic State group (IS) but its rival Al-Nusra has also been the target of some strikes. "Seven Al-Nusra members, including commanders, were killed in at least five coalition air strikes against the group's bases and a vehicle in Idlib province," the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.
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| Vietnam: Human rights should not obstruct deeper US ties Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:45 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party said Wednesday that differences with the United States on human rights should not be allowed to obstruct the deepening of relations between the former enemies. |
| Guard at Brazilian VP's residence shot dead Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:43 PM PDT  Brasília (AFP) - A guard outside Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer's official residence in the capital of Brasilia was found shot dead Wednesday, the military said. The soldier's body was discovered earlier in the day "near a guard post" where he was stationed at the Jaburu Palace, a statement from the army said. The soldier was part of the presidential guard, which oversees the president's and vice president's residences.
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| Nigeria's president meets campaigners for girls abducted by Boko Haram Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:40 PM PDT  Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday held his first meeting with campaigners calling for the release of more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram militants in the northeastern town of Chibok last year. The militant Islamist group, whose six-year insurgency has seen thousands killed in Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer, caused an international outcry when it took the girls from secondary school dormitories in April 2014. Buhari praised members of the Bring Back Our Girls group for their efforts to prevent the missing children being forgotten.
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| Thousands back Canada official who refused to kill bear cubs Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:36 PM PDT  Thousands of people including British actor-comedian Ricky Gervais demanded the reinstatement Wednesday of a Canadian conservation officer who was suspended for refusing to put down two black bear cubs. The bears were believed to be just two months old and were found in a tree near their mother, who was captured and killed Sunday after she was discovered eating salmon in the freezer of a home in Port Hardy, British Columbia. Rather than putting the pair to death, Bryce Casavant entrusted them to a shelter, the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association, triggering his suspension without pay after he had been told by his superiors to euthanize them.
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| Some progress in quelling wildfires raging in Canada Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:32 PM PDT  LA RONGE, Saskatchewan (AP) — Firefighters made some progress Wednesday in quelling hundreds of wildfires raging across central and western Canada that are threatening thousands of people and triggering air quality warnings across the country and in the U.S. West and Midwest, authorities said.
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| Firefighters gain ground on blaze in Idaho resort area Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:23 PM PDT By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Firefighters in northern Idaho's panhandle gained ground on Wednesday against a timber-fed blaze that has destroyed several homes of a scenic resort area where hundreds of residents remained under evacuation orders. The so-called Cape Horn fire erupted on Sunday in pine and fir forests surrounding the shores of a mountain lake lined with log mansions and luxury condominiums and raged largely unchecked for two days at the peak of the area's tourist season. By Wednesday, however, firefighters had managed to enclose about 35 percent of the blaze's perimeter. Overnight infrared mapping of the fire zone showed that 1,380 acres had burned, far less than the 2,000 acres estimated earlier, U.S. Forest Service fire dispatcher Doug Nace said. |
| Bill Clinton to lead US delegation to Srebrenica anniversary Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:19 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has picked former President Bill Clinton to lead the U.S. delegation to this weekend's commemoration marking the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre. |
| Millions exit poverty, but only just barely: study Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:18 PM PDT  Almost 700 million people rose out of abject poverty over the first decade of the century, but most of them remain locked at very low levels of income, a study released Wednesday showed. The Pew Research Center said that from 2001 to 2011 the world "witnessed an historic reduction in global poverty," with those considered "middle income" nearly doubling. By 2011, only 15 percent of the world's population lived on less than $2 a day -- below the poverty line -- compared to 29 percent as the century began.
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| Yemen truce talks see disagreement over terms, but continue Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:13 PM PDT SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The spokesman for Yemen's exiled government says it has informed the United Nations that a truce to halt more than three months of fighting would hold if guarantees are in place to ensure Shiite rebels withdraw from major cities and release prisoners — demands the rebels have rejected. |
| Russia vetoes UN move to recognize Srebrenica 'genocide' Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:13 PM PDT  Russia vetoed a draft UN resolution Wednesday that would have recognized the Srebrenica massacre as genocide, saying it unfairly singled out Bosnian Serbs for war crimes. Britain had put forward the text to mark the 20th anniversary of the massacre of 8,000 Muslim boys and men by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995, Europe's worst atrocity since World War II.
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| Despite peace talks breakthrough, Afghan leader under pressure at home Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:11 PM PDT  By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - If Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was savoring inaugural peace talks with Taliban insurgents held in Pakistan on Wednesday, celebrations of the milestone he has worked so hard to reach may be short-lived. The lower house of parliament is threatening to impeach Ghani's interior minister over his failure to stem violence by Islamist militants. Last week lawmakers rejected the president's third nominee for defense minister.
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| China markets plunge as government measures fail Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:09 PM PDT  China stocks took another plunge Wednesday, as the securities regulator warned the market was in the grip of "panic" selling after fresh government moves failed to arrest a rout that has now infected regional markets. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks China's second exchange, dropped 2.50 percent, or 48.38 points, to 1,884.45. "There's really panic out there," Tony Chu, a Hong Kong-based money manager at RS Investment Management Co., told Bloomberg News.
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| Egypt signals changes to anti-terror law after media backlash Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:04 PM PDT  Egypt's government Wednesday signalled it could amend a draft controversial anti-terror law that proposes jailing reporters for contradicting official statements, with the justice minister conceding media should have been consulted. The government last week approved the law, which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi must ratify, but the draft has come under attack from the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate and political parties over a controversial article that restricts press freedoms. Article 33 of the draft stipulates a minimum two-year prison sentence for anyone who reports details of militant attacks that contradict official statements.
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| NYC City Council Speaker: Washington must help Puerto Rico Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:03 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who is arguably becoming one of the nation's most influential Puerto Rican politicians, is urging Congress and the Obama administration to step in and help the island commonwealth struggling under the weight of its debt. |
| Hamas armed wing boasts of missiles on Gaza war anniversary Posted: 08 Jul 2015 03:03 PM PDT  Israel and Palestinians marked one year since last summer's war in Gaza on Wednesday, with Hamas's armed wing boasting of new missiles at a late-night rally and tens of thousands of residents still homeless. The ceasefire that ended the 50-day war has largely held, but few of the issues that led to the conflict have been resolved and Israel has faced calls to end its blockade of the besieged strip ruled by Islamist movement Hamas. Several hundred people crowded into a central Gaza City square late Wednesday after the traditional fast-breaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan for a rally by Hamas's armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.
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| World Series of Poker main event attracts 6,420 entries Posted: 08 Jul 2015 02:59 PM PDT  LAS VEGAS (AP) — The $10 million winner of last year's World Series of Poker main event won't get to defend his title this year, but plenty of poker pros and a few celebrities are still chasing a $7.68 million top prize.
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| Thousands march to remember Srebrenica victims Posted: 08 Jul 2015 02:58 PM PDT  Nezuk (Bosnia-Hercegovina) (AFP) - Survivors of the Srebrenica massacre set out with thousands of others Wednesday on a solemn 105-kilometre march ahead of the 20th anniversary of the killing of nearly 8,000 Muslims near the UN-protected enclave. "We were all fighting for our own lives.
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| Republican investigating Benghazi disputes Clinton claim Posted: 08 Jul 2015 02:55 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on congressional committee investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, have released a March subpoena issued to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton over her use of a private email account and server while serving as secretary of state.
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| Britain takes axe to spending in new austerity drive Posted: 08 Jul 2015 02:50 PM PDT  British finance minister George Osborne unveiled fresh austerity measures Wednesday to slash debt, evoking the plight of crisis-hit Greece in the first purely Conservative budget for almost two decades. Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne drastically cut welfare spending to honour campaign promises to forge ahead with austerity, which saw his centre-right Conservative party sweep to an unexpected majority in a May general election and return David Cameron as prime minister. Speaking to lawmakers in his post-election budget statement to parliament, Osborne said welfare spending would be slashed by an accumulated total of £12 billion ($18.4 billion, 16.6 billion euros) by the end of parliament in five years' time.
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