| Aleppo fighting rages as U.S., Russia try to revive Syria truce Posted: 09 May 2016 02:48 PM PDT  By John Davison and David Brunnstrom BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) - Syrian government forces and their allies fought insurgents near Aleppo on Monday and jets conducted raids around a nearby town seized by Islamist rebels, a monitoring group said, as Syria's military said a ceasefire in Aleppo would be extended by 48 hours starting on Tuesday. A recent surge in bloodshed in Aleppo, Syria's largest city before the war, wrecked the 10-week-old, partial truce sponsored by Washington and Moscow that had allowed U.N.-brokered peace talks to convene in Geneva. The United States and Russia, which support rival sides in the civil war, said they would work to revive the February "cessation of hostilities" agreement that reduced fighting in parts of the country for several weeks.
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| Senior Islamic State official in Iraq killed in air strike: Pentagon Posted: 09 May 2016 12:23 PM PDT  An air strike by a U.S.-led coalition killed a senior Islamic State official in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said on Monday. The strike on May 6 killed Abu Wahib, Islamic State's chief military official in Anbar province, said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook. The strike was on a vehicle carrying Abu Wahib, also known as Shakir Wahib, and three other Islamic State members near the town of Rutba, Cook said.
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| Officials encouraged by how much of Canada city spared by wildfire Posted: 09 May 2016 04:14 PM PDT  By Rod Nickel FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canadian officials who got their first glimpse on Monday of the oil sands boomtown of Fort McMurray since a wildfire erupted said they were encouraged by how much of it escaped destruction, estimating almost 90 percent of its buildings were saved. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said 2,400 structures had burned within the city while almost 25,000 were saved.
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| Pentagon report reveals confusion among U.S. troops over Afghan mission Posted: 08 May 2016 11:11 PM PDT  By Josh Smith KABUL (Reuters) - Amid fierce fighting after the Taliban captured the northern Afghan city of Kunduz last year, U.S. special forces advisers repeatedly asked their commanders how far they were allowed to go to help local troops retake the city. As the Taliban insurgency gathers strength, avoiding enemy fire has become increasingly difficult for advisers, who have been acting as consultants rather than combatants since NATO forces formally ceased fighting at the end of 2014. In the heat of the battle, lines can be blurred, and the problem is not exclusive to Afghanistan: questions have arisen over the role of U.S. troops in Iraq after a U.S. Navy SEAL was killed by Islamic State this month.
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| Taiwan enters South China Sea legal fray, as group seeks to sway international court Posted: 09 May 2016 04:15 PM PDT  By Greg Torode and J.R. Wu HONG KONG/TAIPEI (Reuters) - A Taiwanese group has intervened in the Philippines' international court case against China's claims in the South China Sea, pressing Taipei's position that Taiwan is entitled to a swathe of the disputed waterway as an economic zone. The unusual submission has emerged just as judges at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague are poised to rule on the Philippines' landmark case, brought under the United Nations' Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Last month, the judges allowed written evidence from the government-linked Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law, even though Taiwan is neither a member of the United Nations, nor a signatory to UNCLOS, legal and diplomatic sources told Reuters.
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| Brazil Senate presses on with impeachment, defying house speaker Posted: 09 May 2016 04:28 PM PDT  By Anthony Boadle and Silvio Cascione BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Senate forged ahead with impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff on Monday, rejecting a surprise decision by the acting speaker of the lower house, who tried to annul a key vote just days before the president could be suspended from office. The clash between Brazil's two most senior lawmakers threw markets into disarray and threatened to drag out a painful political crisis with a constitutional standoff that could end up at the Supreme Court. Waldir Maranhao, a little known figure in Brazilian politics before taking over as house speaker only last week, argued that procedural flaws invalidated a lower house vote on April 17 approving the impeachment charges and the chamber would need to vote again.
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| Chapo extradition expected by year's end: US official Posted: 09 May 2016 04:52 PM PDT  Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is expected to be extradited to the United States by the end of the year, a US official said Monday after a court approved the move. A Mexico City judge ruled Friday that the extradition could go ahead based on cocaine trafficking charges lodged in a California federal court, judicial officials said. An extradition within the same year of Guzman's arrest would be relatively quick for Mexico's judicial system, the official said.
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| Judge OKs U.S. extradition of Mexican drug boss 'El Chapo' Guzman Posted: 09 May 2016 04:36 PM PDT  A Mexican judge has ruled that drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman can be extradited to face charges in the United States, the country's federal court authority said on Monday, days after he was moved to a prison near the U.S. border. On Saturday, Guzman was transferred to a prison in Ciudad Juarez on Mexico's northern border and a senior Mexican security official said the kingpin's extradition was in motion and would happen by mid-year. Guzman, boss of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, was for years the world's most wanted drug trafficker until his capture by Mexican Marines in February 2014.
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| Wildfire spared 90 percent of Fort McMurray: Alberta premier Posted: 09 May 2016 04:33 PM PDT  Fort McMurray is still 90 percent intact despite a week of damage from the wildfires devastating Canada's oil sands region, Alberta's premier said after touring the ghost town on Monday. "It was a miracle we got the entire population out safely," Alberta Premier Rachel Notley told reporters.
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| Royal Botanical Gardens: Mixed report on the world's plants Posted: 09 May 2016 04:32 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — A report billed as the first comprehensive look at world's plants finds a planet slowly being ravaged by changing land use, mostly conversion of forests to agriculture to feed a growing population, and climate change.
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| 'Captain America' bests 'The Jungle Book' to grab US box-office lead Posted: 09 May 2016 04:11 PM PDT  Los Angeles (AFP) - The latest rock-'em-sock-'em "Captain America" film has vaulted past Disney's "The Jungle Book" at the North American box office with a strong debut weekend take of $179.1 million, industry data showed Monday.
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| 'Three killed' as gunmen attack new Darfur camp Posted: 09 May 2016 04:09 PM PDT  Three people were killed and several injured Monday when gunmen travelling by camel and pick-up truck attacked a new camp in Sudan's Darfur for people displaced by the latest escalation in the region's war, sources said. The assailants used rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns in the attack on the camp in the North Darfur town of Sortoni, where thousands of people had taken refuge from fresh fighting between government troops and the rebel Sudan Liberation Army led by Abdulwahid Nur. Residents of the camp said the gunmen launched two attacks -- one in the afternoon, followed by a bigger assault in the evening.
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| Fifth of plant types at risk as farms, logging expand Posted: 09 May 2016 04:06 PM PDT In total, 391,000 types of plants are known to science, from tiny orchids to giant sequoia trees, according to the "State of the World's Plants" written by 80 experts led by the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG) at Kew, in London. "There's a huge change going on, mainly agricultural change and land for urbanization," said Kathy Willis, RBG Kew's director of science. Willis said a rising world population of more than 7 billion people needed food and places to live and that scientists should be pragmatic and help identify areas most in need of conservation. |
| Russia, US in fresh push on Syria resolution as Aleppo truce extended Posted: 09 May 2016 04:05 PM PDT  Government forces and rebels in the Syrian battleground city of Aleppo agreed Monday to extend their truce for a second time, the army said, as the United States and Russia vowed to "redouble" efforts to end the five-year conflict. The rebels had yet to confirm the extension of the truce, which was decided after nearly 300 people were killed in an uptick in fighting in Syria's largest city since late April. The announcement came as Russia and the United States agreed to boost efforts to find a political solution to the five-year war which has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.
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| Large tornado hits south of Oklahoma City, one death Posted: 09 May 2016 03:58 PM PDT A large and violent tornado hit an area south of Oklahoma City on Monday, causing at least one death and reducing at least three homes to splinters. The hardest-hit areas were about 70 to 80 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, where a tornado reported to be more than a mile wide ripped through the area. One person was killed in Garvin County, about 60 miles south of Oklahoma City, when a home was destroyed by a twister, an emergency official said. |
| Canadian oil town offers tale of two cities after wildfire sweeps through Posted: 09 May 2016 03:53 PM PDT By Rod Nickel FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta (Reuters) - The wildfire that swept through the Canadian city of Fort McMurray blazed a capricious trail. In Beacon Hill, one of the worst-hit neighborhoods of a city that booms and busts with the price of oil, houses on street after street were reduced to nothing more than blackened foundations and front steps. It was a fire like I've never seen in my life," Fort McMurray Fire Chief Darby Allen told reporters, who were allowed to tour the oilsands city by bus on Monday afternoon. |
| Treasury Secretary hopes to jump-start help for Puerto Rico Posted: 09 May 2016 03:52 PM PDT  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew got a first-hand look at the humanitarian impact of Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt crisis Monday, touring an elementary school struggling with limited electricity and a hospital unable to provide some basic services to infants.
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| Brazil Senate insists Rousseff impeachment vote to go ahead Posted: 09 May 2016 03:48 PM PDT  Brasília (AFP) - The impeachment process against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff got back on track Monday after descending into confusion with leaders of the Senate and lower house of Congress arguing over whether it should continue. Rousseff faces being suspended from office if the Senate votes -- as now appears likely -- to open an impeachment trial at a session starting Wednesday. Maranhao said the original vote by lower house deputies sending Rousseff to face the Senate had "prejudged" the president and denied her "the right to a full defense." He called for the Senate to halt proceedings and for the lower house to hold a new vote.
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| Anxiety over Trump cuts into House Republicans' support Posted: 09 May 2016 03:44 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Anxiety over Donald Trump spread among congressional Republicans Monday, pushing several to follow House Speaker Paul Ryan's lead and withhold their support from the divisive billionaire. Ryan himself declared there's no point in trying to "fake" party unity.
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| Effort to impeach Brazil's president thrown into chaos Posted: 09 May 2016 03:32 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The impeachment process against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was thrown into chaos Monday as the acting speaker of the lower Chamber of Deputies annulled a majority vote by his own colleagues that favored ousting the embattled leader.
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| Argentina's Macri strikes deal to suspend layoffs Posted: 09 May 2016 03:29 PM PDT BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentine President Mauricio Macri has struck a deal with local businessmen to suspend layoffs for 90 days. |
| Maverick mayor Duterte set to clinch Philippines presidency Posted: 09 May 2016 03:25 PM PDT  By Karen Lema and Martin Petty MANILA (Reuters) - Firebrand mayor Rodrigo Duterte was set to become the Philippines' next president as results from Monday's election poured in and a rival conceded defeat, confirmation the outsider's vow to crush crime had resonated with voters. Early on Tuesday morning, a rolling ballot count by an election commission-accredited watchdog showed Duterte had almost 39 percent of votes cast. Grace Poe, a popular senator, won more than a fifth of the votes counted but conceded defeat to Duterte and said his lead reflected the will of the people.
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| AIDS-fighting fund to gather in Montreal in September Posted: 09 May 2016 03:21 PM PDT  Donor countries of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria will meet in Montreal in September to try to raise $13 billion to finance their work, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday. Canada will put forward Can$785 million (US$605.6 million) of the 2017-2019 budget at the September 16 gathering, Trudeau announced. The Fund is scrambling to try to end the world's AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria epidemics by 2030.
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| Panama Papers database on shell companies goes online Posted: 09 May 2016 03:20 PM PDT  The public gained its first access to the Panama Papers records of over 200,000 secret offshore companies Monday when the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists put a searchable database up online. The database, built on just a portion of the 11.5 million documents leaked from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, reveals more than 360,000 names of individuals and companies behind the anonymous shell firms, the ICIJ said. Reports already published in April based on the explosive dossier linked some of the world's most powerful leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister David Cameron and others to unreported offshore companies.
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| Vardy vows to stay with champs Leicester Posted: 09 May 2016 03:11 PM PDT  Jamie Vardy has given Leicester a huge boost by insisting he will stay with the Premier League champions next season. Vardy fired Leicester's miraculous charge to the title with 24 goals and the England striker's blistering form prompted speculation he could be lured away from the King Power Stadium by one of the league's superpowers. "We've just won the league and will be playing in the Champions League next year.
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| Chile fishing crisis traps tourists, empties markets Posted: 09 May 2016 03:06 PM PDT  A fishing ban sparked by mass deaths of sea creatures in Chile has left tourists stranded and markets empty on an island cut off by protest blockades. It says sales of fish and seafood from the region have dropped 90 percent and 10,000 employees in the salmon industry are out of work.
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| Mexico judge says 'El Chapo' extradition may proceed Posted: 09 May 2016 03:05 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that the extradition of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the U.S. can move ahead, Mexico's Judicial Council said Monday, but the Foreign Relations Department must still approve it and the defense can appeal.
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| Argentina zoo worried about decaying health of polar bear Posted: 09 May 2016 02:50 PM PDT  BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The director of the Mendoza zoo in western Argentina says she has concerns about the health of the country's last captive polar bear.
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| John Young, founder of baseball's RBI program, dies at 67 Posted: 09 May 2016 02:41 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — John Young, the founder of a baseball youth program that has served thousands across North America and the Caribbean, has died. He 67. |
| Lawyer: Turkish president seeks to gag German media boss Posted: 09 May 2016 02:40 PM PDT  BERLIN (AP) — A lawyer for Turkey's president said Monday that he is seeking a court injunction against the head of one of Germany's biggest publishing houses in an escalating row over a satirical poem.
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| Husband calls on Iran to release detained British-Iranian aid worker Posted: 09 May 2016 02:35 PM PDT (Reuters) - The husband of a British-Iranian aid worker who has been jailed in Iran for the past five weeks called on Iranian officials to free his wife on Monday. Richard Ratcliffe also said that Iranian officials have confiscated the passport of the couple's 22-month-old daughter, barring the infant from leaving Iran as well. "The cruelty of the situation seems both outrageous and arbitrary," Ratcliffe said in a statement on Monday. |
| Spanish reporter freed from Syria feels like 'walking on air' Posted: 09 May 2016 02:32 PM PDT  One of three Spanish journalists released after nearly a year held hostage in Syria by an Al Qaeda-linked group said Monday he feels like he is "walking on air", after being reunited with his family. Angel Sastre added he was grateful to the Madrid government, a day after flying home with fellow freelance reporters Jose Manuel Lopez and Antonio Pampliega on a Spanish defence ministry jet sent to Turkey to bring them back. "I am very happy, enjoying myself, walking on air," Sastre told radio Onda Cero.
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| Bank of Canada to discuss wildfire impact on May 25; says too soon now Posted: 09 May 2016 02:32 PM PDT  By Leah Schnurr and Fergal Smith OTTAWA/TORONTO (Reuters) - It is too early to assess precisely the economic impact of the Alberta wildfire, the Bank of Canada said on Monday, adding that it will have more to say in its interest rate decision later this month. "Bank of Canada staff are closely analyzing these still-unfolding events, and we will have more to say on 25 May, and subsequently in the July MPR (Monetary Policy Report)," said spokeswoman Rebecca Ryall. The quarterly MPR provides the central bank's economic forecasts.
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| Merkel to attend controversial UN aid summit Posted: 09 May 2016 02:17 PM PDT  German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be among some 50 leaders attending the first-ever world humanitarian summit in Istanbul to rethink the global aid strategy, UN diplomats said Monday. Merkel, who has been at the center of Europe's refugee crisis, confirmed her attendance, as did Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose country holds the six-month presidency of the European Union. The United States is expected to send the head of the US Agency for International Development.
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| Barton suffers medal snub as Burnley celebrate promotion Posted: 09 May 2016 02:11 PM PDT  Joey Barton suffered an embarrassing snub during Burnley's Championship title celebrations on Monday as the midfielder missed out on a medal. Barton had been instrumental in Burnley's promotion to the Premier League and was voted the club's player of the year. The Clarets had been forced to wait to get their hands on the silverware after winning the second tier at Charlton on Saturday following the Football League's decision not to allow teams to lift the trophy at opposition grounds on the last day of the season.
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| Aleppo ceasefire extended by 48 hours beginning early Tuesday: Syrian military Posted: 09 May 2016 02:10 PM PDT A ceasefire in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo will be extended by 48 hours beginning at 1 a.m. on Tuesday (6 p.m. ET Monday), state news agency SANA said on Monday, quoting the Syrian military high command. Aleppo, Syria's largest pre-war city, has witnessed a vicious flare-up in fighting in recent weeks, shattering a nationwide cessation of hostilities agreement and causing peace talks to collapse. The cessation of hostilities and such local truces do not include Islamic State or al Qaeda's Syrian branch, the Nusra Front. |
| Pregnant Connecticut teen shocked to learn she has Zika Posted: 09 May 2016 02:06 PM PDT  HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut teenager says she was shocked she tested positive for the Zika virus after learning she was pregnant.
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