| Kerry says United States, Egypt return to "stronger base" in ties Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:40 PM PDT  By David Brunnstrom CAIRO (Reuters) - The United States and Egypt are returning to a "stronger base" in bilateral ties despite tensions and human rights concerns, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday after talks with his Egyptian counterpart. "Egypt remains vital ... to engagement and stability in the region as a whole," said Kerry, who held the first bilateral strategic dialogue since 2009. "There are obviously circumstances where we have found reason to have grave concern and we have expressed it very publicly," he said at a news conference with Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri.
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| Israel approves jailing Jewish militants without trial to resolve lethal arson Posted: 02 Aug 2015 11:17 AM PDT  Friday's torching of a Palestinian home killed a toddler and seriously injured his parents and brother, causing an outcry abroad and vows by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to crack down on what he deemed "terrorism" by "criminals in our nation". Graffiti in Hebrew reading "revenge" daubed at the site was consistent with past vandalism and other hate crimes by bands of young Jewish zealots targeting Arabs, Christians, peace activists or Israeli army property. Such detainees are sometimes held without trial for months, a measure Israel says is required to prevent further violence in the absence of sufficient evidence to prosecute, or where going to court would risk exposing the identity of secret informants.
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| Three Turkish soldiers killed as PKK steps up attacks after air strikes Posted: 02 Aug 2015 09:53 AM PDT  By Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants killed two soldiers and wounded 31 in a suicide attack overnight in eastern Turkey, the army said on Sunday, as violence escalated following Ankara's air bombardment targeting Kurdish militants. PKK militants drove a tractor filled with explosives into a military outpost in the Dogubeyazit district of the eastern Agri province bordering Iran, the army said in a statement. The PKK also attacked a unit on patrol in the southeastern province of Mardin late on Saturday night, killing one soldier and wounding seven, the army said.
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| Yemen Houthi boss tells men to fight on, dismisses loss of Aden Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:56 PM PDT  The leader of Yemen's Houthis urged his militia on Sunday to fight on against Yemen's Gulf Arab-backed government, dismissing its recapture of Aden last month as a 'limited' achievement made possible by Ramadan. In a speech live on television apparently aimed at shoring up the morale of his men, Abdel-Malek al-Houthi accused his foes of resorting to alliances with both the Islamic State militant group and Israel in their assault on the southern port city. Houthi said Aden's fall occurred only because some Houthis and allied fighters had returned home to be with their families at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
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| Italy coast guard rescues 1,800 sea migrants, five found dead Posted: 02 Aug 2015 05:21 AM PDT  Italy's coast guard said about 1,800 migrants were rescued from seven overcrowded vessels on Saturday, while five corpses were found on a large rubber boat carrying 212 others. The dead bodies were found on board at the time of the rescue, a coast guard spokeswoman said on Sunday. The Mediterranean has become the world's most deadly barrier for migrants and refugees, with 3,500 thought to have died at sea last year and almost 2,000 so far this year.
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| Malaysia says Indian Ocean airplane debris is part of a Boeing 777 Posted: 02 Aug 2015 02:45 AM PDT  By Praveen Menon and Marine Pennetier KUALA LUMPUR/PARIS (Reuters) - Malaysia said on Sunday that airplane debris that washed up on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion has been identified as being from a Boeing 777, the same model as a Malaysian Airlines plane which vanished last year. "We know the flaperon has been officially identified as being part of a Boeing 777 aircraft," Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a statement. "This has been verified by French authorities together with aircraft manufacturer Boeing, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Malaysian team." The barnacled plane part was flown to Paris on Saturday and was taken to Toulouse to undergo more detailed analysis.
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| Pharoah Phestival as Triple Crown winner cruises in Haskell Posted: 02 Aug 2015 04:47 PM PDT  OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) — A slight nudge was all it took for American Pharoah to seize control of the Haskell Invitational. And when Victor Espinoza asked, the majestic colt delivered an encore performance in his first race since winning the Triple Crown.
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| Official: Top Burundi general assassinated in the capital Posted: 02 Aug 2015 04:47 PM PDT BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP) — A Burundi general who was a key security ally of President Pierre Nkurunziza was killed Sunday in a drive-by shooting in the capital, Bujumbura, a presidential spokesman said. |
| Photographer among five found bound, killed in Mexico Posted: 02 Aug 2015 04:43 PM PDT  A news photographer was among the five people found tortured and fatally shot in a Mexico City apartment, a journalism advocacy group said Sunday. Ruben Espinosa, 31, a photographer with magazine "Proceso" was among the five victims found with bound hands, bearing apparent signs of torture, according to Articulo 19, a media rights group. As news of the murders spread, spontaneous protests sprung up in localities across Mexico, including a demonstration of about 100 people in the city of Xalapa outside Veracruz, where Espinosa lived and worked until recently.
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| Mourinho seethes as Arsenal land Wembley blow Posted: 02 Aug 2015 04:34 PM PDT  The bad blood between Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho bubbled to the surface after the Frenchman's Arsenal team defeated Chelsea 1-0 in the season-opening Community Shield. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's smart first-half strike settled matters at Wembley Stadium and gave Wenger, embarking on his 20th season at the Arsenal helm, a first win over his Portuguese nemesis at the 14th attempt. The sprightlier of the two teams, Arsenal were good value for their win and would have prevailed more comfortably had Thibaut Courtois not produced late saves to thwart first Santi Cazorla and then Kieran Gibbs.
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| Top Asian News at 11:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 02 Aug 2015 04:33 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian officials said Sunday that they would seek help from territories near the island where a suspected piece of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet was discovered to try to find more plane debris. A new piece of debris, meanwhile, found on Sunday on the French island of Reunion in the western Indian Ocean turned out to be a "domestic ladder," and doesn't belong to a plane, Malaysian Director General of Civil Aviation Azharuddin Abdul Rahman told The Associated Press amid media reports that a new plane part was found. |
| Matt Kenseth stretches his fuel and steals a win at Pocono Posted: 02 Aug 2015 04:09 PM PDT  LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Joey Logano was the first leader to fade, his tank empty with three laps left.
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| Central African Republic: UN peacekeeper killed in capital Posted: 02 Aug 2015 04:06 PM PDT BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — One United Nations peacekeeper was killed and eight were injured Sunday in Central African Republic's capital after they came under attack by armed men bearing machine guns and grenades, a U.N. spokesman said. |
| Boko Haram fighters kill 13 in attack in NE Nigeria: witnesses Posted: 02 Aug 2015 03:25 PM PDT  Boko Haram fighters killed 13 people in an attack on Malari village in northeast Nigeria's restive Borno state early Sunday, witnesses said. Local farmer Moha Saleh said 27 people, including women and children, were also injured in the attack, which began when the Islamist militants stormed the village at around 1:00 am (0000 GMT). Local resident Goni Musa, a vigilante who fights against Boko Haram alongside the Nigerian military, gave the same death toll.
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| John Isner wins Atlanta Open for 3rd straight year Posted: 02 Aug 2015 03:23 PM PDT  ATLANTA (AP) — John Isner won the Atlanta Open for the third straight year, beating Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday at Atlantic Station.
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| In Trinidad, poll gives slight edge to ruling coalition Posted: 02 Aug 2015 03:11 PM PDT PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — A new poll suggests there will be a very tight contest between Trinidad and Tobago's ruling coalition and the main opposition party in next month's general elections. |
| Colombia rebels want meeting with pope during Cuba visit Posted: 02 Aug 2015 02:57 PM PDT  Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels, now negotiating a peace deal in Havana, said Sunday they hope to meet with Pope Francis on his upcoming Cuba visit. Pope Francis will visit Cuba September 19 to 22 as part of a tour that will later take him to the United States. It would be something amazing," the rebels' spokesman Ivan Marquez said ahead of a break in the talks, which resume August 17.
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| Journalist slain in Mexico City had signs of torture Posted: 02 Aug 2015 02:55 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico City officials said Sunday they are pursuing all lines of investigation into the killing of a photojournalist whose body was found in the capital, where he had fled because of harassment in the state he covered.
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| Kerry in Qatar to ease Arab concerns about Iran nuke deal Posted: 02 Aug 2015 02:49 PM PDT DOHA, Qatar (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Qatar talks with Arab officials whose countries are wary of the nuclear deal world powers have struck with Iran. |
| WADA to investigate new doping allegations in athletics Posted: 02 Aug 2015 02:41 PM PDT  PARIS (AP) — Three weeks before the world championships, athletics was thrown into turmoil by new accusations of widespread doping and experts denouncing an anti-doping system compromised by leniency.
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| Greek stock exchange to reopen after five weeks Posted: 02 Aug 2015 02:35 PM PDT  All eyes will be on Greece's embattled banks on Monday when the Athens stock exchange reopens after a five-week shutdown over the country's debt crisis, with traders bracing for a volatile session. Some 40 billion euros ($44 billion) has been withdrawn from Greek banks since December, according to the country's banks association, amid fears over the fate of the Greek economy. The reopening of the stock market comes after senior EU and IMF auditors held their first meetings with Greek ministers to finalise a new three-year bailout for the country which could be worth up to 86 billion euros ($94 billion).
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| Key dates in Harper's nine years in power in Canada Posted: 02 Aug 2015 02:29 PM PDT  Ottawa (AFP) - Canada's Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper will seek a fourth term on October 19, after dissolving parliament Sunday and calling for general elections.
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| IOC to order tests for viruses at Rio's Olympic water venues Posted: 02 Aug 2015 02:20 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The International Olympic Committee said Sunday it will order testing for disease-causing viruses in the sewage-polluted waters where athletes will compete in next year's Rio de Janeiro Games.
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| Mexico City prosecutor confirms slaying of news photographer Posted: 02 Aug 2015 02:20 PM PDT  Ruben Espinosa, who a month ago claimed in interviews that he felt threatened by the governor of eastern Veracruz state, was the lone male among five victims that police discovered bound and shot in the head in the capital's Narvarte neighborhood. Mexico City prosecutor Rodolfo Rios said at a press conference that Espinosa's family members told investigators that the photographer had been residing in the capital for two months and was searching for work following eight years living in Veracruz. "All lines of investigation are open," he said in response to a question about Espinosa's earlier accusations that he felt threatened by Veracruz Governor Javier Duarte, a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of President Enrique Pena Nieto.
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| Wildfires rage across California Posted: 02 Aug 2015 02:12 PM PDT  Thousands of firefighters battled raging wildfires Sunday in drought-parched California, where officials evacuated entire neighborhoods and closed miles of highway in the path of the inferno, which has claimed at least one life. Governor Jerry Brown's office said that some 9,600 people were battling the fires early Sunday. Dry lightning strikes sparked most of the fires, while the causes of others remained unknown.
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| U.S. reports 24 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:56 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies carried out 18 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and six in Syria on Saturday, the U.S. military said on Sunday. Eighteen strikes in Iraq hit militant targets near seven different cities, including four each near Mosul and Ramadi, it said in a statement. Six air raids were conducted in Syria, including four near the town of Kobani on the border with Turkey, the statement added. (Reporting by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Chris Reese) |
| Obama's climate plan seeks to slash emissions from power plants Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:54 PM PDT  The White House said it will launch the first ever rule on Monday to cut carbon emissions from power plants, a plan that opponents in the coal industry and their political allies will fight in the courts. In a fact sheet issued on Sunday, the White House said President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan will cut emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. The plan cuts emissions about 9 percent deeper than a last year's draft, the White House said.
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| Tributes pour in for UK singer, TV star Cilla Black Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:41 PM PDT  The world of showbiz was in mourning Sunday for Cilla Black after the death at 72 of the 1960s pop star, who was championed by The Beatles and later became one of Britain's best-loved television presenters. Warm, kind and full of laughs, the working-class redhead from Liverpool -- known nationwide simply as "Cilla" -- was a fixture on British TV screens for more than 50 years. Born Priscilla White, she started out working in the cloakroom at the Cavern club, where The Beatles were first spotted, before taking to the stage herself.
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| Zimbabwe alleges 2nd American illegally hunted lion Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:40 PM PDT  HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Now there are two: Zimbabwe accused a Pennsylvania doctor on Sunday of illegally killing a lion in April, adding to the outcry over a Minnesota dentist the African government wants to extradite for killing a well-known lion named Cecil in early July.
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| Pittsburgh doctor linked to second Zimbabwe lion hunt probe Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:40 PM PDT Zimbabwe has linked a Pennsylvania doctor to an investigation into illegal lion hunting, naming him on Sunday as a client of a safari operator accused of breaching regulations, a week after an American dentist was accused of illegally killing the country's most famous lion, Cecil. Dr. Jan Seski, who runs a women's health practice in Pittsburgh, was named by Zimbabwe as a client of Nyala Safaris, owned by a landowner who has been arrested on accusations of conducting an illegal hunt. The doctor was in Zimbabwe in April, according to a statement issued by Prince Mupazviriho, permanent secretary in the ministry of environment, water and climate. |
| Rouhani says nuclear deal a 'third way' for Iranian foreign policy Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:37 PM PDT  By Sam Wilkin and Babak Dehghanpisheh DUBAI/BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Hassan Rouhani affirmed his confidence in Iran's nuclear deal with world powers on Sunday, tackling the criticisms of hardliners and highlighting the achievements of his two-year-old presidency. With one eye on a likely run for re-election in 2017, Rouhani used a live interview on state TV to tout the deal as a new "third way" for Iranian foreign policy, dismissing hardliners' criticism that he had capitulated to the West. "We worked with the United Nations without war or pleading or surrender, but with logic, negotiation and diplomacy in a legal path," he said, avoiding any direct mention of the United States or other Western powers.
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| Egypt's Sisi amends electoral law ahead of vote Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:34 PM PDT  Cairo (AFP) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has amended the electoral law, paving the way for preparations to hold a long-delayed parliamentary vote, the official gazette reported on Sunday.
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| Judiciary dismisses appeal against Hooper's suspension Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:26 PM PDT SYDNEY (AP) — Wallabies flanker Michael Hooper will play in Saturday's Rugby Championship decider against the All Blacks after a Sanzar appeals committee dismissed an attempt to stiffen his recent ban for foul play. |
| Saudi king leaves France, Riviera beach to reopen Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:16 PM PDT  King Salman of Saudi Arabia unexpectedly left the French Riviera on Sunday, local officials said, adding that a beach that had been controversially closed for the royal's holiday would now reopen to the public. Eight days after arriving in southern France for what was billed as a three-week luxury vacation, the monarch boarded a flight from Nice airport to the Moroccan city of Tangiers, Alpes-Maritimes region official Philippe Castanet told AFP. According to the local prefecture at least half of the king's 1000-strong delegation was also leaving.
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| Roope Kakko wins Madeira Islands Open by 3 strokes Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:13 PM PDT  SANTO DA SERRA, Madeira Islands (AP) — Roope Kakko earned his first European Tour victory Sunday after shooting a flawless 9-under 63 to win the Madeira Islands Open by three strokes.
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| Monsoon rains kill more than 100 people in India Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:13 PM PDT  NEW DELHI (AP) — Heavy monsoon rains have killed more than 100 people in India in the past week and forced tens of thousands of people to take shelter in state-run relief camps, India's Home Ministry said Sunday.
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| Kiradech wins Paul Lawrie Matchplay on final hole Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:11 PM PDT  Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat won his second European Tour title of the year on Sunday when he defeated Robert Karlsson on the final hole to clinch the Paul Lawrie Matchplay. The 26-year-old Thai, already a two-time tour winner after capturing the 2013 Malaysia Open and this year's Shenzhen International, was three up with four holes to play. Kiradech held his nerve on the 18th where he putted from four feet just after Karlsson had dragged his birdie attempt wide.
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| Gunmen in uniform kill ally of Burundi President Nkurunziza Posted: 02 Aug 2015 01:08 PM PDT  By Drazen Jorgic NAIROBI (Reuters) - Gunmen wearing military uniforms shot dead a former Burundian security chief and close ally of President Pierre Nkurunziza on Sunday, the presidency said, heightening tensions after a disputed presidential poll. Nkurunziza called for calm after the attack, which the United States and European Union condemned. General Adolphe Nshimirimana, who was in charge of the president's personal security at the time of his death, was killed in a car alongside three of his bodyguards in the Kamenge district of the capital Bujumbura, witnesses said.
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