| Holocaust survivor, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel dies at 87 Posted: 02 Jul 2016 05:19 PM PDT  Activist and writer Elie Wiesel, the World War Two death camp survivor who won a Nobel Peace Prize for becoming the life-long voice of millions of Holocaust victims, died on Saturday. Wiesel was a philosopher, speaker, playwright and professor who also campaigned for the tyrannized and forgotten around the world. The Romanian-born Wiesel lived by the credo expressed in "Night," his landmark story of the Holocaust - "to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time." In awarding the Peace Prize in 1986, the Nobel Committee praised him as a "messenger to mankind" and "one of the most important spiritual leaders and guides in an age when violence, repression and racism continue to characterize the world." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Wiesel as a ray of light, and said his extraordinary personality and unforgettable books demonstrated the triumph of the human spirit over the most unimaginable evil.
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| Islamic State repels U.S.-backed forces in north Syria city: monitor Posted: 02 Jul 2016 03:42 PM PDT  By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Islamic State militants on Saturday pushed back U.S.-backed forces trying to advance into their stronghold of Manbij for the first time since a major offensive to capture the city and cut off the militants' main strategic access route to Turkey, a monitoring group and Kurdish sources said. The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), comprised of Kurdish and Arab fighters and backed by the air power of a U.S.-led coalition to fight Islamic State and aided by U.S. special forces, have been involved in the month-long Manbij operation aimed to seal off their last stretch of Syrian-Turkish frontier. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the militants had evicted SDF troops from a main district south of the city which has been the scene of heavy fighting after suicide bombers blew up an explosive-laden car.
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| PM contender Leadsom says UK could leave EU next year Posted: 02 Jul 2016 03:31 PM PDT  British leadership contender Andrea Leadsom said the UK could pull out of the European Union as early as next year following last week's referendum vote to leave the bloc. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Leadsom said she had a fast-track policy for leaving and that only someone who had herself voted to leave the EU could be trusted to take the country out of Europe. Leadsom, 53, has emerged as the top pro-Brexit contender to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron as leader of the ruling Conservative party, according to bookmakers and newspapers over the weekend.
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| Around 20 Islamic State members in custody over Istanbul airport attack: Erdogan Posted: 02 Jul 2016 09:35 AM PDT  Around 20 Islamic State militants, mainly foreigners, are in custody in connection with an attack last week on Istanbul airport that killed 45 people, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. Two Russian nationals have been identified as suspected Islamic State suicide bombers in the attack that is thought to have been masterminded by a Chechen, Turkish media said on Friday. "The latest findings point to the Daesh (Islamic State) terrorist organisation," Erdogan told Reuters at the Istanbul Ataturk airport, where he visited the attack site.
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| French ex-PM Rocard, pro-EU but an early backer of Brexit, dies Posted: 02 Jul 2016 02:11 PM PDT  By Sybille de La Hamaide and Leigh Thomas PARIS (Reuters) - Former French Socialist Prime Minister Michel Rocard, who two years ago urged Britons to leave the European Union before they destroyed it, died on Saturday at the age of 85, nine days after Britain voted to follow his advice. Rocard, a Socialist who served as prime minister under President Francois Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991, became an ardent European federalist, spending 15 years in the European Parliament until he resigned in 2009. "Get out of Europe before you wreck it," Rocard wrote then in the headline of an opinion piece published by Britain's Guardian newspaper and France's Le Monde.
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| The Latest: Ledecky qualifies in 800-meter freestyle Posted: 02 Jul 2016 05:42 PM PDT  The Latest on the Olympics ahead of the Rio Games (all times local to Rio de Janeiro):
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| Top Asian News 12:36 a.m. GMT Posted: 02 Jul 2016 05:36 PM PDT DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) _ The hostages were given a test: recite verses from the Quran, or be punished, according to a witness. Those who passed were allowed to eat. Those who failed were tortured and slain. The dramatic, 10-hour hostage crisis that gripped Bangladesh's diplomatic zone ended Saturday morning with at least 28 dead, including six of the attackers, as commandos raided the popular restaurant where heavily armed attackers were holding dozens of foreigners and Bangladeshis prisoner while hurling bombs and engaging in a gunbattle with security forces. The victims included 20 hostages, mostly foreigners, and two Bangladeshi police officers. |
| Australian leadership in doubt as election too close to call Posted: 02 Jul 2016 05:36 PM PDT  CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australians awoke Sunday to a government plagued in uncertainty after a stunningly close national election failed to deliver a clear victor, raising the prospect of a hung parliament.
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| Reaction to death of Holocaust survivor, author Elie Wiesel Posted: 02 Jul 2016 05:29 PM PDT  Reaction to the death of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, author of "Night," who died Saturday at the age of 87:
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| The Latest: UN Security Council condemns Dhaka attack Posted: 02 Jul 2016 05:28 PM PDT  DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The Latest on the attack on a restaurant popular with foreigners in a diplomatic zone in the Bangladeshi capital (all times local):
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| Officials: Bombings in Baghdad kill at least 23 Posted: 02 Jul 2016 05:25 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Bombs went off early Sunday in two crowded commercial areas in Baghdad, killing at least 23 people and wounding 61, according to hospital and police officials. |
| Germany beats Italy 6-5 in shootout, into Euro 2016 semis Posted: 02 Jul 2016 04:55 PM PDT  BORDEAUX, France (AP) — Germany ended 54 years of misery against Italy at major tournaments by taking a familiar route to victory: The penalty shootout.
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| Lavrov, Kerry have fresh exchange on ways of ending Syrian conflict Posted: 02 Jul 2016 04:40 PM PDT  By Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Lidia Kelly AMMAN/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and the United States held fresh talks on Saturday on ways of cooperating to end the five-year conflict in Syria as intensive Syrian government air strikes killed at least 40 civilians in a town northeast of Damascus. Moscow and Washington are seeking ways of brokering an end to a conflict that has killed more than 400,000 people, according to the United Nations, and has sent a wave of refugees streaming toward Europe. In the latest diplomatic contact between the two powers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone on Saturday, Russia's foreign ministry said.
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| Day, Piercy tied for lead at Bridgestone Posted: 02 Jul 2016 04:37 PM PDT  AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Jason Day had no indication that Saturday at the Bridgestone Invitational would be such hard work until one swing.
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| Super Rugby surprise: Lions 1st into playoffs Posted: 02 Jul 2016 04:35 PM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The Lions became the first team to qualify for the Super Rugby playoffs and moved top of the overall standings with a 37-10 romp over the Sharks on Saturday.
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| Defending champ Henderson leads LPGA Portland Classic Posted: 02 Jul 2016 04:33 PM PDT  Defending champion Brooke Henderson fired a two-under par 70 Saturday to seize a two-stroke lead after the third round of the LPGA Portland Classic. The 18-year-old Canadian, who is ranked second in the world, stood on 13-under par 203 after 54 holes at 6,476-yard Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland, Oregon. Colombia's Mariajo Uribe was second on 205 after a third-round 71 with Norway's Suzann Pettersen shooting a 74 with six bogeys and four birdies to fall to a share of third with American Austin Ernst on 207.
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| Ken Roczen wins RedBud National for fifth victory of year Posted: 02 Jul 2016 04:29 PM PDT BUCHANAN, Mich. (AP) — Ken Roczen won the RedBud National on Saturday for his fifth victory in the first six Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship events of the season, sweeping the 450 Class motos. |
| Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and author, dead at 87 Posted: 02 Jul 2016 04:20 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, the Romanian-born Holocaust survivor whose classic "Night" became a landmark testament to the Nazis' crimes and launched Wiesel's long career as one of the world's foremost witnesses and humanitarians, has died at age 87.
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| EU states should take more intergovernmental approach: Schaeuble Posted: 02 Jul 2016 04:07 PM PDT German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble urged the 27 member countries of the European Union that will remain after Britain quits to take an "intergovernmental approach" to tackling problems if they see the European Commission not getting involved. Britain voted 52 to 48 percent on June 23 in favor of quitting the European Union - a decision that has rocked global financial markets, thrown British politics into turmoil and raised concerns about the EU's future prospects. Schaeuble told Welt am Sonntag newspaper that now was a time for pragmatism: "If the Commission doesn't get involved, then we should take the matter into our own hands and solve problems between governments," he said. |
| Think fast: US sprinters still expect Bolt at Olympics Posted: 02 Jul 2016 03:58 PM PDT  EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — It's a sport built on speed, and at U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials on Saturday, sprinters wasted no time drawing conclusions about Usain Bolt's summertime itinerary.
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| Baghdad bomb kills at least six: officials Posted: 02 Jul 2016 03:57 PM PDT  A bomb ripped through a busy shopping district in central Baghdad early on Sunday, killing at least six people and setting stores ablaze, officials said. The blast in the Karrada area, where many people go to shop ahead of the holiday marking the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, also wounded at least 20 people, the officials said. Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan said the attack was a car bomb near a restaurant, and that it burned shops in the area.
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| Three U.S. students, one a U.S. citizen, killed in Bangladesh attack Posted: 02 Jul 2016 03:46 PM PDT  By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three students at universities in the United States, including a U.S. citizen and an Indian citizen, were among those killed in a militant attack in Bangladesh, university officials, the Indian government and a source said on Saturday. The State Department confirmed one U.S. citizen was killed, but gave no details. The White House condemned the attack in the country's capital Dhaka, which it said resulted in as many as 20 deaths, including that of the American.
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| Identities, nationalities of dead in Dhaka restaurant attack Posted: 02 Jul 2016 03:36 PM PDT  A partial list of nationalities and identities of those reported slain in the Dhaka restaurant attack, and some details on their lives, as reported by local media.
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| Israel strikes Hamas sites in Gaza after rocket attack Posted: 02 Jul 2016 03:16 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says it struck several militant sites in Gaza early Saturday in response to a Palestinian rocket attack that hit a kindergarten in the Israeli border town of Sderot.
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| The Latest: Germany beats Italy to advance to semifinals Posted: 02 Jul 2016 03:12 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — The Latest from the European Championship (all times local): |
| Holocaust survivor, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel dies at 87 Posted: 02 Jul 2016 03:05 PM PDT Activist and writer Elie Wiesel, the World War Two death camp survivor who won a Nobel Peace Prize for becoming the life-long voice of millions of Holocaust victims, died on Saturday. Wiesel was a philosopher, speaker, playwright and professor who also campaigned for the tyrannized and forgotten around the world. The Romanian-born Wiesel lived by the credo expressed in "Night," his landmark story of the Holocaust - "to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time." In awarding the Peace Prize in 1986, the Nobel Committee praised him as a "messenger to mankind" and "one of the most important spiritual leaders and guides in an age when violence, repression and racism continue to characterize the world." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Wiesel as a ray of light, and said his extraordinary personality and unforgettable books demonstrated the triumph of the human spirit over the most unimaginable evil. |
| Clinton interviewed by FBI over private email use Posted: 02 Jul 2016 03:03 PM PDT  The FBI interviewed Hillary Clinton on Saturday about her use of personal email while serving as secretary of state, an issue that has dogged her campaign to become America's first female president. Questions over Clinton's use of a private account and homebrew server during her time as America's top diplomat have fueled voter concerns that she is not trustworthy. An aide said the interview at FBI headquarters in Washington lasted about 3.5 hours, following previous such interviews with Clinton aides, including close confidante Huma Abedin.
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| Former French PM Michel Rocard dies aged 85 Posted: 02 Jul 2016 02:58 PM PDT  Former French Socialist prime minister Michel Rocard, hailed a "visionary statesman", died Saturday aged 85 his son Francis told AFP. Rocard served as prime minister for three years from mid-1988 under Francois Mitterrand, the two-term Socialist president who led the country from 1981 to 1995. Mitterrand appointed Rocard to succeed future centre right president Jacques Chirac after a period of unprecedented left-right "cohabitation".
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| Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel dies Posted: 02 Jul 2016 05:42 PM PDT  Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor, writer and Nobel peace laureate who worked to keep alive the memory of Jews slaughtered during World War II, has died aged 87, Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust centre said. The man once known as "the world's leading spokesman on the Holocaust" died at his home in Manhattan, the New York Times reported. Wiesel, a Romanian-born US citizen, was perhaps best known for his memoir "Night" detailing his experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
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| Wimbledon at a glance Posted: 02 Jul 2016 02:39 PM PDT A look at Day 6 of Wimbledon on Saturday: |
| Wimbledon to play on middle Sunday for 4th time in history Posted: 02 Jul 2016 02:32 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — There will be 22,000 fans with fast fingers on the grounds at Wimbledon on Sunday.
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| California wildfire prompts new round of evacuations Posted: 02 Jul 2016 02:32 PM PDT  (Reuters) - A new wildfire burning through bone-dry grass, shrub and timber has forced the evacuation of dozens of homes in a mountain community in central California and more houses could be in the inferno's path, fire officials said on Saturday. The so-called Deer fire sparked on Friday afternoon and has grown to char about 1,800 acres of Bear Mountain, Kern County Fire Department spokesman Phil Neufeld said. About 100 houses in Bear Valley Springs are under immediate threat from the flames and had to be evacuated, Neufeld said, and the wildfire is working its way through the difficult and steep terrain in the direction of many more homes.
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| The Latest: Djokovic won't play in Davis Cup quarterfinals Posted: 02 Jul 2016 02:13 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — The Latest from Wimbledon (all times local):
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| Rio mayor criticizes police after high-profile crime Posted: 02 Jul 2016 02:10 PM PDT  Rio's mayor, Eduardo Paes, on Saturday harshly criticized what he called a lack of police leadership in efforts to fight rampant crime a month before the city hosts the Olympic Games. Referring to the hijacking on Friday of a newly arrived shipment of German television equipment to be used at the Olympics, Paes said the police need to work harder. Rio will become the first South American city in history to host the Olympics on August 5.
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| Bangladesh garment industry trembles after Dhaka attack Posted: 02 Jul 2016 02:07 PM PDT By Ruma Paul and Promit Mukherjee DHAKA/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Some leaders of Bangladesh's $26 billion garment industry expect Western fashion retailers to review their ties with the world's second-largest garment exporter after Islamist militants killed at least 17 foreigners in an attack on a Dhaka restaurant. Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries, relies on garments for around 80 percent of its exports and for about 4 million jobs, and ranks behind only China as a supplier of clothes to developed markets like Europe and the United States. Islamist militants killed 20 people, including at least nine Italians, seven Japanese and an American, inside an upmarket restaurant in Bangladesh's capital, before security forces stormed the building and ended a 12-hour standoff on Saturday. |
| Gay Pride march sparks French hard Right row Posted: 02 Jul 2016 01:59 PM PDT  A Gay Pride march in Paris Saturday has caused a row in France's hard Right National Front (FN), with some student supporters backing an event decried by a party vice-chairman. "More than ever necessary after the homophobic attack in Orlando, we wish a good (Gay Pride) to all," tweeted the association of FN students at the Paris Institute of Political Studies. The tweet, just as the march started in the capital, was met with consternation however from other FN supporters -- not least vice-president Louis Aliot, who took to Twitter to give an entirely different line.
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| Saudi-funded mosque opens in Nice after long struggle Posted: 02 Jul 2016 01:58 PM PDT  A Saudi-funded mosque in Nice opened its doors for the first time Saturday, after a 15-year tussle with the local town hall. The Nicois En-nour Institute mosque received authorisation to open early Saturday from the local prefect, substituting for town mayor Philippe Pradal, who recently took over from Christian Estrosi.
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