| Hungary shuts EU border, taking migrant crisis into its own hands Posted: 15 Sep 2015 12:22 PM PDT  By Krisztina Than and Ivana Sekularac SERBIAN-HUNGARIAN BORDER (Reuters) - Hungary's right-wing government shut the main land route for migrants into the European Union on Tuesday, taking matters into its own hands to halt Europe's influx of refugees. An emergency effort led by Germany to force EU member states to accept mandatory quotas of refugees collapsed in discord. Chancellor Angela Merkel appealed for European unity after one of her ministers called for financial penalties against countries that refused to accommodate their share of the migrants, provoking anger in central Europe.
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| China appears to be working on third airstrip on disputed South China Sea islets: expert Posted: 14 Sep 2015 08:00 PM PDT  By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China appears to be carrying out preparatory work for a third airstrip in contested territory in the South China Sea, a U.S. expert said on Monday, citing satellite photographs taken last week. The photographs taken for Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank on Sept. 8 show construction on Mischief Reef, one of seven artificial islands China has created in the Spratly archipelago. The images show a retaining wall around an area 3,000 meters (3,280 yards) long, matching similar work by China on two other reefs in the Spratlys, Subi and Fiery Cross, said Greg Poling, director of CSIS's Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI).
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| U.S., Russian top diplomats talk amid Syria buildup Posted: 15 Sep 2015 11:32 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by telephone on Tuesday with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and the conflict in Syria was on Kerry's agenda for the discussions, the U.S. State Department said. State Department spokesman John Kirby did not immediately offer details of the call between Kerry and Lavrov. U.S. officials have indicated that Russia is increasing its military presence in Syria and have expressed concern about whether Moscow is boosting support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. ...
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| Cuba's Castro to travel to New York for U.N. General Assembly Posted: 15 Sep 2015 12:26 PM PDT  Cuban President Raul Castro is set to address the U.N. General Assembly this month, the United Nations announced on Tuesday, the first time the Cuban leader will visit the United States as the island nation's head of state. The latest public schedule for the General Assembly's annual gathering of world leaders - the so-called General Debate - lists Castro as speaking on the afternoon of Sept. 28. U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of Russia and China and Iran's president are also due to speak on the same day.
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| North Korea says main nuclear complex operational; warns U.S. Posted: 15 Sep 2015 11:42 AM PDT By Jack Kim and Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Tuesday its main nuclear complex was operating and it was working to improve the "quality and quantity" of weapons which it could use against the United States at "any time." The comments on North Korea's official news agency came after its space agency said late Monday it was readying a new satellite for launch, indicating it may fire an upgraded long-range ballistic missile timed around the 70th anniversary of its ruling party on Oct. 10. Any such launch would violate international sanctions although the North insists it would be part of a space program for peaceful purposes. The United States, which has 28,000 military personnel in South Korea, called on North Korea to "refrain from irresponsible provocations that aggravate regional tensions." "It should focus instead on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a regular news briefing, referring to past North Korean pledges to denuclearize. |
| As pope visits, Afro-Cuban religion hopes for recognition Posted: 15 Sep 2015 10:38 AM PDT  Niurka Mola 50, stood at the altar in the cramped living room of a downtown Havana walk-up, calling on the spirits of ancestors to give guidance. Mola is a "godmother" in Cuba's Santeria tradition, which has its roots in the Yoruba religion imported to Cuba from West Africa by slaves. Like many Santeria practitioners, she is also a Roman Catholic who goes to church twice a month, and she is delighted that Pope Francis will visit the Caribbean island on Sept. 19-22.
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| Top Asian News at 12:00 a.m. GMT Posted: 15 Sep 2015 05:02 PM PDT PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — With a big anniversary drawing near, North Korea declared Tuesday it has upgraded and restarted all of its atomic fuel plants — meaning it could possibly make more, and more sophisticated, nuclear weapons. The statement, coming just a day after it said it is ready to conduct more rocket launches any time it sees fit, has heightened concerns the North may soon either conduct a launch — which Washington and its allies see as a pretext for testing missile technology — or hold another test of nuclear weapons that it could conceivably place on such a rocket. |
| David Feherty to join NBC golf coverage Posted: 15 Sep 2015 04:58 PM PDT  LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — David Feherty signed a contract with NBC Sports that will put him on the broadcast team with Johnny Miller, allow him to extend his popular "Feherty" series on Golf Channel and possibly lead to new ventures for golf's funnyman.
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| Macedonia picks special prosecutor for wiretap scandal Posted: 15 Sep 2015 04:57 PM PDT SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Macedonia's parliament has named a special prosecutor to investigate claims that the conservative government allegedly ordered a massive wiretapping operation, in a scandal that has plunged the Balkan country into political crisis. |
| Russia opposes sanctions on rival South Sudan generals Posted: 15 Sep 2015 04:53 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia said Tuesday it opposes new sanctions sought by the United States against a South Sudan army chief and a former army general who is now a rebel commander for continuing to fuel conflict in the world's newest nation. |
| Wildfires threaten California's treasured Sequoias Posted: 15 Sep 2015 04:49 PM PDT  Wildfires sweeping across California are threatening the US state's famed Sequoia trees, with firefighters scrambling to protect the national treasures. The so-called Rough Fire, the largest of more than a dozen burning across northern and central California, has edged closer to the giant trees in recent days with firefighters scrambling to protect them. "The fire has moved into a number of Sequoia groves in King's Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Forest and we are taking preventive measures to make sure nothing happens to them," park spokesman Mike Theune told AFP.
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| Israeli PM announces tougher penalties against stone throwers Posted: 15 Sep 2015 04:36 PM PDT  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday announced a toughening of the penalties for stone throwers, following a third day of clashes between Palestinians and security forces in and around Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound. Israel seized east Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.
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| Senate Democrats block vote to disapprove of Iran deal Posted: 15 Sep 2015 04:34 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — For the second time, Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a vote to move forward on a resolution rejecting the Iran nuclear deal, protecting President Barack Obama's key foreign policy initiative.
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| Mexico says 8 citizens died in Egypt desert attack Posted: 15 Sep 2015 04:28 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said Tuesday that embassy personnel in Egypt have identified six more bodies as those of Mexican citizens killed in air attack by Egyptian police and military forces.
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| Puerto Rico to improve sewage system, reduce pollution Posted: 15 Sep 2015 04:13 PM PDT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's water and sewer company has agreed to invest $1.5 billion to upgrade its system as part of a settlement with the U.S. government to help cut down on water pollution, officials said Tuesday. |
| Canada court lets women wear veil for citizenship oath Posted: 15 Sep 2015 04:12 PM PDT  New Canadian citizens can wear face veils at their citizenship ceremonies, a Canadian court ruled Tuesday, overturning a ban the ruling party had trumpeted as a policy accomplishment on the eve of elections. The Federal Court of Appeals also threw out a policy that had required new citizens to have their faces uncovered as they recite the citizenship oath. Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper had called that earlier decision, issued in February in the case of Toronto-area resident Zunera Ishaq, "unacceptable" and had appealed to defend his law.
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| Australian warplanes make first air strike in Syria Posted: 15 Sep 2015 04:08 PM PDT  Australian fighter jets have carried out their first air strike against Islamic State group in Syria, destroying an armoured personnel carrier, Defence Minister Kevin Andrews said Wednesday. "This is part of our logical extension in the fight against Daesh to operate not just over northern Iraq but also to operate over eastern Syria in order to degrade and destroy Daesh Forces," the minister told reporters using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. A Royal Australian Air Force Hornet fighter destroyed an IS armoured personnel carrier with a precision-guided missile two days ago, Andrews said.
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| Ronaldo scores hat trick as Real Madrid beats Shakhtar 4-0 Posted: 15 Sep 2015 04:08 PM PDT  MADRID (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo continued his impressive run by scoring a hat trick in Real Madrid's 4-0 win over 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk in Group A of the Champions League on Tuesday.
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| Homeland secretary blasts San Francisco sanctuary policy Posted: 15 Sep 2015 04:02 PM PDT SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Tuesday criticized San Francisco's policy of not cooperating fully with immigration officials, calling it counterproductive and unacceptable. |
| Fiat Chrysler, UAW reach tentative contract deal Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:58 PM PDT DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union and Fiat Chrysler have reached a tentative deal on a new contract that will set the pattern for pacts with General Motors and Ford. |
| Tsipras confident of Greek election victory Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:58 PM PDT  Alexis Tsipras, the former Greek prime minister and leader of the far-left Syriza party is confident he can regain power at this weekend's parliamentary elections. "Syriza will certainly be the biggest political party in the country and I think the goal of an absolute majority is totally achievable," Tsipras told the Euronews television channel Tuesday. According to the latest opinion polls, Syriza has a wafer-thin lead over its main rivals, the New Democracy conservatives.
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| Mexico leader 'outraged' as eight citizens dead in Egypt Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:53 PM PDT  Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto expressed his nation's "outrage" to his Egyptian counterpart on Tuesday after eight Mexican tourists were confirmed dead following a mistaken Egyptian military strike. Pena Nieto received a phone call from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who expressed his "most sincere condolences" over the "tragic incident," the Mexican leader's office said in a statement. "President Pena Nieto expressed his deep dismay and sadness over the death of our citizens, as well as the pain and outrage that these unprecedented events have caused within Mexican society," the statement said.
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| UN names Argentine to head Syria chemical weapons probe Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:49 PM PDT  Virginia Gamba, who has been the director of the UN disarmament office for the past two years, will work with two deputies during the one-year mission to assign responsibility for the use of the banned deadly agents. The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution in August setting up the joint investigation in a rare display of unity over how to address the four-year war. Gamba has been working on disarmament issues for more than 30 years, including with think tanks and assisting two previous missions on chemical weapons in Syria.
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| Former first lady, comedian compete for Guatemala president Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:47 PM PDT  GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala's electoral tribunal has declared a television comedian and a former first lady the top two finishers in the Sept. 6 presidential vote.
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| Clashes at Jerusalem holy site for third straight day Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:46 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister vowed tougher measures to curb Palestinian violence at an emergency meeting Tuesday night after police clashed with Palestinian protesters in a third straight day of unrest at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site during the Jewish new year holiday of Rosh Hashanah.
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| Anger as Hungary seals borders, Merkel demands refugee summit Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:46 PM PDT  Hundreds of desperate migrants were Tuesday trapped behind a razor-wire fence erected by Hungary, as Germany's Angela Merkel called for an EU summit on the refugee crisis. While European leaders squabbled over how to manage the continent's biggest migrant influx since World War II, the exodus from war-torn Middle Eastern countries claimed more lives. Another shipwreck off Turkey killed 22 refugees -- among them four children and 11 women -- who had tried to reach Europe, where more than half a million people have arrived this year to seek safe haven.
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| Ronaldo stars as Real Madrid beats Shakhtar 4-0; Juve wins Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:45 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — After a quiet start to the season by his standards, Cristiano Ronaldo is back with a very loud bang. |
| Spanish bullfighter seriously hurt by goring in belly Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:45 PM PDT  A Spanish bullfighter was seriously hurt Tuesday when a bull gored him in the belly and tossed him in the air, doctors said. Television pictures showed the huge black bull tossing Miguel Angel Perera over the fence at the edge of the bullring in the central city of Salamanca. Men carried the bullfighter inside with a look of pain on his face.
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| Russia puts Ukrainians on trial for Chechnya killings Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:43 PM PDT  Two Ukrainians went on trial in Russia on Tuesday accused of murdering dozens of Russian soldiers in Chechnya in the 1990s while fighting with separatists in a nationalist hit squad. The powerful Investigative Committee said that the supreme court of Chechnya in Grozny began hearing the case of Stanislav Klykh and Mykola Karpyuk, both of whom are charged with murder and belonging to a militant organisation. The men have been held in pre-trial detention for over a year after being arrested separately when they came to Russia last year.
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| Jason Day finds the missing piece Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:39 PM PDT  LAKE FOREST, Illinois (AP) — Two wins in seven years on the PGA Tour doesn't compute for a player with the talent and work ethic of Jason Day. It was simple enough to attribute his slow start to injuries, and that would be accurate with one stipulation.
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| Brazil's former presidential chief-of-staff to stand trial Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:24 PM PDT SAO PAULO (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday accepted the charges filed against Brazil's former presidential chief of staff for his alleged involvement in a massive corruption scheme at state-owned oil company Petrobras. |
| Libya's recognised government rejects peace deal amendments Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:22 PM PDT  Libya's internationally recognised government said Tuesday it had rejected changes introduced by its rivals to a draft UN peace deal, denting hopes of a breakthrough in the country's political crisis. A statement from the recognised government said it "rejects all amendments and modifications to the text of the deal" to which it had agreed in July, but which the rival administration in Tripoli asked to modify. Libya, torn apart since dictator Moamer Kadhafi's ouster in 2011, has two rival administrations -- the General National Congress (GNC) in Tripoli and the internationally recognised government in the east.
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| United defender Shaw taken off with serious-looking injury Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:22 PM PDT  EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (AP) — Manchester United defender Luke Shaw broke his right leg in two places in a Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday.
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| Bergdahl lawyer wants interrogation made public Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:17 PM PDT HOUSTON (AP) — The lawyer for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was held prisoner for five years by the Taliban, is asking the Army to publicly release a transcript of Bergdahl's interview with military officials following his release in a controversial prisoner swap, saying it could help counteract negative publicity in the case. |
| Griezmann strikes twice as Atletico beats Galatasaray 2-0 Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:15 PM PDT  ISTANBUL (AP) — France international Antoine Griezmann scored twice in the first half to help Atletico Madrid to a 2-0 victory over Galatasaray in their Champions League opener in Group C on Tuesday.
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| Deportation of Haitians must stop: UN official Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:11 PM PDT  Port-au-Prince (AFP) - The Dominican Republic must stop deporting undocumented people of Haitian descent until a bilateral agreement is reached, a UN human rights envoy said Tuesday. "We need a policy to create the necessary conditions for these people's rights to be respected," said Gustavo Gallon, the UN independent expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti. Under international pressure, Santo Domingo established a process by which some 50,000 of the Haitian immigrants would be allowed to stay, but the majority have been unable to finish the process in time due to documents that are slow to arrive from Haiti and Dominican registration offices that are overwhelmed by crowds.
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| Jarryd Hayne calls fumbled punt disappointing in NFL debut Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:09 PM PDT  SANTA CLARA, California (AP) — Jarryd Hayne recalls his forgettable debut in what is often considered the pinnacle of rugby league and a premier sporting event back home in Australia, the State of Origin series.
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| Brighton down Rotherham to pull clear Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:07 PM PDT  Brighton downed struggling Rotherham 2-1 on Tuesday to lift Chris Hughton's side five points clear at the top of the Championship. Tomer Hemed's 27th-minute goal gave the Seagulls the advantage and Dale Stephens added a second before Jonson Clarke-Harris pulled one back for Steve Evans' side. Brighton began the night with a four-point advantage and that was increased to five points, with Middlesbrough and Burnley moving up to second and third.
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| In Egypt, Syria refugees ready to risk all for Europe Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:05 PM PDT  Their arrest by Egypt's coastguard and 12 days in detention under the searing heat have not sapped the determination of young Syrian Suad and her brother: They will get to Europe, whatever the risk. An Egyptian man was wounded," says 18-year-old Suad, who fled the war in Syria with her family for the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria. Suad was arrested with her 17-year-old brother Mohammed and a group of refugees in August on the shores of Rosetta in northern Egypt as they prepared to board a boat to cross the Mediterranean to Italy.
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| Fiji pumps up the volume to be ready for Twickenham noise Posted: 15 Sep 2015 03:02 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — To get ready to face England on Friday in the Rugby World Cup opening match, Fiji turned to England fans.
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