| U.S. urges Russia to halt Syria sieges; Russia slams aid politicization Posted: 08 Aug 2016 12:02 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council must not allow civilians on both sides of the Syrian city of Aleppo to be cut off from humanitarian aid, the United States said on Monday as Russia accused Washington of politicizing a humanitarian issue. Insurgents effectively broke a month-long government siege of eastern, opposition-held Aleppo on Saturday, severing the primary government supply corridor and raising the prospect that government-held western Aleppo might become besieged. The United States, Britain, France, New Zealand and Ukraine organized an informal Security Council meeting on Aleppo on Monday with briefings by a "White Helmet" rescue worker and two U.S.-based doctors from the Syrian American Medical Society who recently returned from Aleppo.
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| Suicide bomber kills at least 70 at Pakistan hospital, IS claim responsibility Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:20 PM PDT  By Gul Yousafzai QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed at least 70 people and wounded more than 100 on Monday in an attack on mourners gathered at a hospital in the southwestern city of Quetta, and Islamic State claimed responsibility. Abdul Rehman Miankhel, a senior official at the government-run Civil Hospital, where the explosion occurred, told reporters that at least 70 people had been killed, with more than 112 wounded. "There are many wounded, so the death toll could rise," said Rehmat Saleh Baloch, the provincial health minister.
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| American, Australian kidnapped in Afghan capital: officials Posted: 08 Aug 2016 01:17 AM PDT  By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan authorities are searching for an Australian and an American who were kidnapped by gunmen in the capital, Kabul, officials said on Monday. The pair, believed to be affiliated with a Kabul university, was taken by four or five gunmen from a nearby road late on Sunday, said an official with the Ministry of Interior who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Australian Embassy in Kabul confirmed one of its citizens had apparently been abducted but said it would not comment further due to privacy and safety considerations.
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| U.S. calls for release of four Chinese human rights activists Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:56 PM PDT The United States called on China on Monday to release four human rights lawyers and activists who were convicted of subversion last week. Attorneys Zhou Shifeng and Gou Hongguo and activists Hu Shigen and Zhai Yanmin were given sentences ranging from three to 7-1/2 years in prison by a court in China's northeastern city of Tianjin. "We urge Chinese authorities to release the lawyers and rights defenders who are imprisoned or in detention, including those already sentenced," State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said in a statement. |
| Holy cows and Hindu crusaders cloud Modi's Indian reform drive Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:02 PM PDT  By Rupam Jain and Tom Lasseter AGRA, India (Reuters) - Two miles down the road from the white marble walls of the fabled Taj Mahal, a heavyset man crouches in the dirt of a cow shed and explains how the future of India belongs to him. Digvijay Nath Tiwari is commander of a vigilante group that claims 5,000 members in the northern city of Agra, and which cultivates informants, swarms shop owners, ambushes trucks at night and metes out extra-judicial violence, all for one cause: protecting the holy cow, an animal held sacred by Hindu beliefs. Across the country, hardline Hindu groups have made headlines after being captured on video insulting and beating men they accuse of involvement in cow slaughter.
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| World record holder Chen withdraws from weightlifting Posted: 08 Aug 2016 05:17 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — World record holder Chen Lijun pulled out of the men's weightlifting 62-kilogram class because of leg cramps, which opened the class for Oscar Albeiro Figueroa Mosquera of Colombia to win gold at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
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| US boxer Nico Hernandez scores big upset of Russian star Posted: 08 Aug 2016 05:16 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Nico Hernandez realized the enormous odds he faced when he stepped in the ring with Russia's Vasilii Egorov, the second-seeded light flyweight in the Olympic boxing tournament.
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| Those are the breaks: Serena Williams destroys racket in win Posted: 08 Aug 2016 05:16 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — One destroyed racket — and one poor set — later, Serena Williams made it safely into the third round of the Rio Olympics as she bids for a second consecutive singles gold medal.
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| Crash of Australia pursuit team sends rider to hospital Posted: 08 Aug 2016 05:14 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Australian rider Melissa Hoskins was taken from the Rio Olympics velodrome on a stretcher Monday after her pursuit team crashed hard while training, though it appeared everyone on the squad escaped serious injury.
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| US shakes off sluggish start, blasts Venezuela 113-69 Posted: 08 Aug 2016 05:11 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Red, white and blase for one quarter, the U.S. Olympic team woke up and won with ease.
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| Man-up situations critical in Olympic water polo Posted: 08 Aug 2016 05:11 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Matteo Aicardi is tough to guard in normal situations in water polo. When Italy plays with the man advantage, he becomes even more dangerous.
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| What to watch at the Rio Games on Tuesday Posted: 08 Aug 2016 05:05 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Day 4 of the Rio Games features medal action in gymnastics, swimming, fencing, judo and more. Here are some things to watch (all times local):
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| Electric car maker misses debt payment to Mississippi Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:59 PM PDT  JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Electric car maker GreenTech Automotive, which once planned to build 250,000 cars a year and invest $2 billion in an impoverished corner of Mississippi's Delta region, has missed a debt payment to the state of Mississippi.
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| Elated Aussies take first ever Olympic sevens title Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:58 PM PDT  Australia were crowned the first ever Olympic rugby sevens champions after beating New Zealand 24-17 in the final of the women's tournament in Rio on Monday. The favourites outscored the Kiwis by four tries to three, two of them crucially coming either side of half-time when star New Zealand winger Portia Woodman was in the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on. "We've had some huge battles with New Zealand over the past few years.
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| Volleyball replay challenge system at Olympics for 1st time Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:54 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — It's match point at the Copacabana beach volleyball venue, and a spike catches the line for the winning point.
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| Rafaela Silva wins Brazil's 1st gold of Rio Olympics in judo Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:47 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — From the favela to the top of the podium, Rafaela Silva earned Brazil's first gold medal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
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| Cayman Islands reports 1st case of locally transmitted Zika Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:43 PM PDT GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — The Cayman Islands is reporting its first local transmission of the mosquito-borne Zika virus that has been spreading across the Americas since last year. |
| Fast feet: Bolt says sub-19 seconds in 200 still a goal Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:33 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The "Usain Bolt Variety Hour" hit Brazil, big time, on Monday.
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| Australian women win 1st gold medal for Olympic rugby sevens Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:22 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Australia absorbed the expected early battering from New Zealand before winning the first Olympic gold medal in rugby sevens with a 24-17 victory in the women's final on Monday night.
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| Muhammad first US athlete to wear hijab at an Olympics Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:22 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The third day of Olympic competition featured a couple of notable firsts: Rafaela Silva captured host Brazil's initial gold medal of the Rio Games and fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad became the only American ever to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab.
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| Tunisia local polls will not be held on time: commission Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:18 PM PDT  Tunisia will not be able to hold local elections in March 2017, electoral commission chief Chafik Sarsar said late Monday. "Let's forget (that date), we aren't talking about it any more," Sarsar told private radio station Express FM. Sarsar explained that in order for a new date to be agreed, a new electoral law must be passed.
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| Uchimura completes medal haul with Japan triumph Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:13 PM PDT  Kohei Uchimura completed his collection of gymnastics titles on Monday by leading Japan to men's Olympics team gold with Russia returning to the podium for the first time since 2000 to take silver. Two-time champions China were restricted to bronze in a thrilling final. A devastated Chinese team held their heads in their hands in the Rio Olympic Arena.
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| Indian cold pills pour over remote border to fuel Myanmar narcotics boom Posted: 08 Aug 2016 04:07 PM PDT  By Andrew R.C. Marshall TAMU, Myanmar (Reuters) - Five years ago, when cold pills first trickled across Myanmar's untamed border with India, many local officials were baffled. Today, the cross-border trickle has become a torrent and everyone knows why the Indian-made pills are so valuable: they are bound for secret laboratories in lawless eastern Myanmar that churn out most of mainland Southeast Asia's methamphetamine, or "meth". Cold pills contain pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient of meth, a highly addictive drug whose ever-soaring popularity is rattling governments across Asia.
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| US women hold off scrappy Netherlands team in 5 sets Posted: 08 Aug 2016 03:58 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — This past year in Istanbul, U.S. assistant coach Jamie Morrison worked right alongside a man he considers among the best volleyball minds in the business.
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| California wildfire forces closure of scenic Highway 1 Posted: 08 Aug 2016 03:49 PM PDT  By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An epic wildfire that has killed one person and blackened about 60,000 acres along the California coast, forced authorities on Monday to shut down a portion of scenic Highway 1 near Carmel-by-the-Sea. The closure of the highway, which runs along much of the Pacific coastline and is famed for its dramatic ocean views, was prompted by an increase in fire and wind activity in the Big Sur area, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. A bulldozer operator died on July 26 when his tractor rolled over as he helped property owners battle the blaze, becoming the sixth wildfire fatality in California this year.
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| Irish executive nabbed for scalping Olympic tickets Posted: 08 Aug 2016 03:45 PM PDT RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Olympic Council of Ireland is investigating why tickets allocated to the organization were found in the possession of two men arrested by Rio de Janeiro police investigating the illegal sales of Olympic tickets. |
| Colorado anti-fracking initiatives hit signature target Posted: 08 Aug 2016 03:37 PM PDT Environmental groups in Colorado on Monday said they collected enough signatures to add proposed anti-fracking initiatives to a state ballot in November, as long as their petitions make it through a validation review by the Secretary of State's office. One of the initiatives would strengthen the state's "setback" rules, requiring new oil and gas development facilities to be located at least 2,500 feet from occupied structures and areas of interest, such as parks. The second would transfer regulatory control of new oil and gas development to local governments. |
| Men's rugby ready for Rio after 92-year Olympic absence Posted: 08 Aug 2016 03:18 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Ben Ryan took his gold-medal favorite Fiji men's squad along to watch the women's rugby sevens quarterfinals, hoping their presence would inspire another Fijian team to win a race for the Pacific island nation's first Olympic medal.
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| Authorities detain 20 Venezuelans, 1 Colombian off Curacao Posted: 08 Aug 2016 03:17 PM PDT  WILLEMSTAD, Curacao (AP) — A group of migrants from Venezuela has been detained off the coast of the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao, authorities say.
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| Thai drugs cheat grabs weightlifting gold Posted: 08 Aug 2016 03:12 PM PDT  Sukanya Srisurat said her Olympic gold Monday was redemption for serving a two-year-ban for doping offences as Thailand finished one-two in the women's 58kg to lead the weightlifting medals table. The 21-year-old lifted an Olympic record 110kg in the snatch and 130kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 240kg, comfortably beating compatriot Pimsiri Sirikaew to first place. The International Weightlifting Federation banned Sukanya from the sport from May 2011 to May 2013 after she tested positive as a 16-year-old for the prohibited substance methandienone, an anabolic steroid.
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| It's gold again in diving for China at Rio Olympics Posted: 08 Aug 2016 03:10 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — China easily won its second gold medal in diving at the Rio Olympics, dominating the men's 10-meter synchronized event while showing the rest of the world how to barely make a splash.
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| Mexico hunts for missing after landslides kill 45 Posted: 08 Aug 2016 03:09 PM PDT  Hundreds of soldiers and rescue workers searched for the missing Monday after the remnants of Tropical Storm Earl triggered landslides in central Mexico that killed at least 45 people. Trudging through mud that was sometimes up to their knees, emergency teams used sniffer dogs to find more bodies in the rubble and worked to dig damaged homes out of the muck. Among the bodies they uncovered were those of Antonia Orozco and her month-old baby, whom she died clutching in her arms as a river of mud washed over their house in the central village of Xaltepec.
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| Brazil busts Irish Olympic ticket fraudster Posted: 08 Aug 2016 03:04 PM PDT  Brazilian police said Monday they arrested an Irishman for scalping Olympics tickets at exorbitant prices, as well as 10 Brazilians who were reselling tickets purchased through credit card fraud. Irish national Kevin James Mallon was described as a director at British firm THG, which already faced similar accusations during the 2014 World Cup. THG was offering tickets for the opening ceremony for $8,000, for example, when the highest official ticket price was $1,300, inspector Ricardo Barbosa told a press conference.
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| Ruenroeng's fight from prison to Olympics and back again Posted: 08 Aug 2016 02:57 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Amnat Ruenroeng speaks openly, even eagerly, about his years in a Thai prison.
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| China warns UK over 18 billion pounds nuclear power deal: FT Posted: 08 Aug 2016 02:47 PM PDT (Reuters) - China has warned Britain that bilateral ties stand at a "crucial historical juncture" over London's deferral of an 18 billion pound ($23.47 billion) nuclear power project, the Financial Times reported on Monday. China's Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming wrote in the FT that he hoped London would keep its door open to China and that the British government would continue to support the nuclear project and come to a decision as soon as possible. |
| Ichiro Suzuki donates 3,000-hit souvenirs to Hall of Fame Posted: 08 Aug 2016 02:47 PM PDT  MIAMI (AP) — The president of the Baseball Hall of Fame was the grateful recipient Monday as Ichiro Suzuki handed over his gear — a jersey, a pair of cleats, his arm guard and batting gloves, all items he wore while becoming the 30th player to reach 3,000 hits.
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| World Social Forum summit calls for global cooperation Posted: 08 Aug 2016 02:43 PM PDT  Organizers of the World Social Forum are hoping to bridge what they described Monday as a north-south divide in tending to the world's social ills. Regardless of whether countries are in the wealthier northern hemisphere or the poorer southern hemisphere, all face similar social problems, he said. Some are global in scale, such as tax cheating and environmental degradation.
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