| Exclusive: Civil war costs Yemen $14 billion in damage and economic losses - report Posted: 16 Aug 2016 01:46 PM PDT  By Yara Bayoumy WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The cost from damage to infrastructure and economic losses in Yemen's civil war is more than $14 billion so far, according to a confidential report seen by Reuters that highlights the effort needed to rebuild the country, where more than half the population is suffering from malnutrition. "The conflict has so far resulted in damage costs (still partial and incomplete) of almost $7 billion and economic losses (in nominal terms) of over $7.3 billion in relation to production and service delivery," said the May 6 joint report by the World Bank, United Nations, Islamic Development Bank and European Union. The internationally recognized Yemeni government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi is battling the Iran-allied Houthis in a bitter civil conflict, and is also facing the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militant group.
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| Son of Mexican drug boss 'Chapo' among group abducted at resort Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:31 PM PDT  One of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman's sons was among a group of people abducted from a restaurant in the Mexican tourist resort of Puerto Vallarta, the state attorney general said on Tuesday. Jalisco Attorney General Eduardo Almaguer told a news conference that one of Guzman's sons, Alfredo, 29, was among six people abducted by armed men from an upscale eatery in the heart of the Pacific resort town early on Monday. "The person ... is the son of Joaquin Guzman Loera, and has been identified through [inspections of] vehicles and by security agencies, as well as through expert opinions," Almaguer said.
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| Brazil justice opens probe against Rousseff, Lula, TV says Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:04 PM PDT  SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A Brazilian Federal Supreme Court justice authorized the opening of an investigation into President Dilma Rousseff and former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for allegedly obstructing the course of a sweeping corruption probe, GloboNews news channel said on Tuesday. According to GloboNews, without saying how it obtained the information, Prosecutor-general Rodrigo Janot has requested the country's top court, known as STF, permission to open an investigation on Rousseff and Lula. Rousseff will stand impeachment trial on the Senate on Aug. ...
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| U.N. chief warns of unprecedented 'catastrophe' in Syria's Aleppo Posted: 16 Aug 2016 03:19 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Tuesday of an unprecedented "humanitarian catastrophe" in Syria's Aleppo and urged Russia and the United States to quickly reach a deal on a ceasefire in the city and elsewhere in the country. Fighting for control of Aleppo, split between its government-held west and rebel-held eastern neighborhoods, has intensified in recent weeks causing hundreds of deaths and depriving many civilians of power, water and vital supplies. "In Aleppo we risk seeing a humanitarian catastrophe unprecedented in the over five years of bloodshed and suffering in the Syrian conflict," Ban told the U.N. Security Council in his latest monthly report on aid access, seen by Reuters.
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| UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it received 15 Guantanamo inmates Posted: 16 Aug 2016 02:11 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday it has received 15 detainees from Guantanamo Bay for humanitarian reasons. U.S. officials said on Monday that 12 Yemeni and three Afghan inmates from the Guantanamo prison were transferred to the United Arab Emirates, the single largest transfer of Guantanamo detainees during President Barack Obama's administration. The UAE ministry said in a statement published on the state news agency website that, following negotiations between its officials and U.S. officials over recent months, the Gulf state had agreed to receive the detainees for "humanitarian reasons." "The UAE hopes that this step, with its humanitarian appeal, would help these individuals and their families through the rehabilitation program launched in November 2015." The UAE has accepted released prisoners twice before — one UAE citizen repatriated in 2008 and five Yemenis resettled last year.
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| Russia uses Iran as base to bomb Syrian militants for first time Posted: 16 Aug 2016 03:25 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia used Iran on Tuesday for the first time as a base from which to launch air strikes against Syrian militants, widening its air campaign in Syria and deepening its involvement in the Middle East. In a move underscoring Moscow's increasingly close ties with Tehran, long-range Russian Tupolev-22M3 bombers and Sukhoi-34 fighter bombers used Iran's Hamadan air base to strike a range of targets in Syria. It was the first time Russia has used the territory of another nation, apart from Syria itself, to launch such strikes since the Kremlin launched a bombing campaign to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in September last year.
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| Astros minor leaguer placed on leave after assault arrest Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:48 PM PDT HOUSTON (AP) — The Astros say minor league outfielder Danry Vasquez has been placed on administrative leave following his arrest on suspicion of assault family violence. |
| The Latest: Russian Klishina begins long jump competition Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:41 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Latest on the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (all times local):
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| Georgia grab lifting gold as Iran fume Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:39 PM PDT  Georgia's Lasha Talakhadze grabbed Olympic gold in the men's +105kg weightlifting competition with a world record at Rio after Iranian favourite Behdad Salimikordasiabi sensationally crashed out without registering a total. Talakhadze lifted a combined total of 473kg -- a world record -- to beat silver medallist Gor Minasyan of Armenia by a massive 22kg. Georgia also took bronze through Irakli Turmanidze.
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| Oklahoma man jailed in killing accused of anti-Muslim rants Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:38 PM PDT TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma man suspected of fatally shooting a male neighbor was accused of harassing and shouting anti-Muslim slurs at the man's family, who are actually Christians from Lebanon, and of trying to run over the man's mother with his vehicle. |
| Top Asian News 12:37 a.m. GMT Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:37 PM PDT BEIJING (AP) — China's launch of the first quantum satellite Tuesday will push forward efforts to develop the ability to send communications that can't be penetrated by hackers, experts said. The satellite launched into space from the Jiuquan launch base in northwestern China's Gobi desert will allow Chinese researchers to transmit test messages between Beijing and northwestern China as well as other locations around the world. If the tests are successful, China will take a major step toward building a worldwide network that can send messages that can't be wiretapped or cracked through conventional methods. "It moves the challenge for an eavesdropper to a different domain," said Alexander Ling, principal investigator at the Centre for Quantum Technologies in Singapore. |
| Australia returns 6 rejected asylum seekers to Sri Lanka Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:36 PM PDT CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An official says six asylum seekers who attempted to reach Australia by boat have been sent home to Sri Lanka in a demonstration that tough border enforcement measures have not softened since recent Australian elections. |
| Argentine cancer survivor wins Olympic sailing gold at 54 Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:35 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Santiago Lange lost count of how many times he broke down during the celebration on the shore of Guanabara Bay, where one of the more remarkable stories of the Olympics played out.
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| China win women's team table tennis gold Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:34 PM PDT  Li Xiaoxia, Liu Shiwen and Ding Ning combined to win the women's team table tennis gold to keep China on target for their third consecutive Games cleansweep of titles. The Chinese women swept aside Germany's Han Ying, Shan Xiaona, and Petrisse Solja 3-0 to add another gold to the table tennis superpower's wins last week in the men's and women's singles.
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| US routs Japan 110-64, advances to women's basketball semis Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:34 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The U.S. women's basketball team showed off its speed, size and depth in a 110-64 victory over Japan and advanced to the semifinals with another convincing win.
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| Correction: Obit-Hanif Mohammad story Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:33 PM PDT  ISLAMABAD (AP) — In an Aug. 11 story about the death of Pakistan cricketer Hanif Mohammad, The Associated Press reported erroneously that his innings of 337 in 1958 was the highest individual test score at the time. A corrected version of the story is below:
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| A look at the talented Brazil team trying to win soccer gold Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:31 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil is contending for an Olympic gold medal in men's soccer thanks to Neymar and a group of talented youngsters who soon could be starring in top European clubs.
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| Eleven dead, thousands of homes ravaged in Louisiana floods Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:31 PM PDT  By Sam Karlin BATON ROUGE, La. (Reuters) - Search-and-rescue operations were still underway on Tuesday in Louisiana, where at least 11 people have died in severe floods that damaged about 40,000 homes, state officials said. Emergency crews had already plucked more than 20,000 people and 1,000 pets from flooded areas after a storm that broke records for 24-hour rainfall in multiple locations, Governor John Bel Edwards told reporters. Rain-swollen rivers are receding in much of the state, but state officials warned of remaining dangers.
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| US women's hoops stars rip Japan but Aussies ousted Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:27 PM PDT  Five-time defending champion United States reached the Rio Olympic women's basketball semi-finals with a 47th consecutive Games victory Tuesday while Australia's run of five consecutive Olympic medals ended in tears. Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore each scored 19 points as the Americans routed Japan 110-64, advancing to a Thursday matchup against the later Canada-France winner in quest of an expected sixth gold in a row. "It means everything that the country expects that," US center Brittney Griner said.
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| China's Olympic dominance in badminton will end in Rio Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:20 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — China's Olympic dominance in badminton will end in Rio de Janeiro.
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| Fast-moving Southern California wildfire forces evacuations Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:15 PM PDT  By Dan Whitcomb and Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A wildfire broke out on Tuesday in a Southern California mountain pass and quickly grew to 6,500 acres (2,630 hectares), prompting the closure of part of the main freeway between the Los Angeles area and Las Vegas, officials said. The so-called Bluecut Fire erupted in heavy brush just west of Interstate 15 between the towns of Crestline and Hesperia, about 100 miles (160 km) east of Los Angeles, closing a section of that freeway and forcing a number of local residents to evacuate, according to fire tracking website InciWeb.gov. The blaze, whose cause is under investigation, was the latest in a series of wildfires that have blackened nearly 300,000 acres (121,400 hectares) of the drought-parched U.S. West.
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| Guatemala's Santiaguito volcano spouts ash plume Posted: 16 Aug 2016 05:09 PM PDT  GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The Santiaguito volcano spouted a plume of ash Tuesday that rose 16,400 feet (5,000 meters) above sea level and scattered ash into neighboring Mexico.
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| Young man killed as 500,000 protest Guinea government Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:57 PM PDT  A young man was shot dead by police on Tuesday during a demonstration in Guinea that saw at least half a million people protest against alleged government corruption, sources said. Several others were injured in the Conakry rally to denounce what they said was economic mismanagement by the government of President Alpha Conde, according to the same sources. Opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo said 700,000 people had joined a 15-kilometre (nine-mile) procession from the suburbs to the 28 Septembre stadium in the west African nation's capital.
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| Mexico: Drug lord's son among those abducted at resort Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:56 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — One of the sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is among the half-dozen men abducted by gunmen at a restaurant in the Mexican beach resort of Puerto Vallarta, authorities said Tuesday.
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| Kenny, Trott cap track program with 2 more golds for Britain Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:54 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Jason Kenny celebrated his third gold medal of the Rio Olympics with a kiss from his fiancee. Or maybe Laura Trott was simply celebrating her second.
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| China is golden again, wins 5th diving gold of Rio Olympics Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:49 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — China is golden again, winning its fifth diving title of the Rio Olympics.
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| Rio police: Scant evidence so far in Lochte robbery probe Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:46 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Police investigating reports that American swimmer Ryan Lochte and three of his teammates were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi so far have found little evidence supporting the account, and say the swimmers were unable to provide key details in police interviews.
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| Argentina & Belgium reach first men's field hockey final Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:45 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Argentina and Belgium gatecrashed the Olympic field hockey festival and reached their first men's final together on Tuesday.
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| Russian loses women's relay gold from '08 in doping case Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:41 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Russia was stripped of a relay gold medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Tuesday after one of its female runners tested positive for steroids in a reanalysis of her doping samples.
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| Americans rolling in medal-count standings at Rio Olympics Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:39 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The medal race at the Rio Olympics will likely remain close going into the final weekend.
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| 'El Chapo' son among Mexico kidnap victims: prosecutor Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:28 PM PDT  A son of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was among a group kidnapped from a bar in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta, authorities confirmed Tuesday. Investigators said it was likely part of a settling of scores between rival drug cartels. "Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, 29, is the son of Joaquin (Guzman) Loera, this has been confirmed," and he is among those being held, regional public prosecutor Eduardo Almaguer told a news conference.
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| Iranian lifter snatches new world record Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:23 PM PDT  Iranian weightlifter Behdad Salimikordasiabi set a new world record of 216kg in the snatch in the men's superheavyweight +105kg competition at the Rio Olympics on Tuesday. Salimikordasiabi, often called 'Salimi', had owned the record of 214kg going into the event only for Georgia's Lasha Talakhadze to lift 215 with his third attempt.
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| Brazil's Robson Conceicao wins historic boxing gold at home Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:18 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Lightweight Robson Conceicao won Brazil's first Olympic boxing gold medal Tuesday night, delighting a frenzied home crowd with a clear unanimous decision over France's Sofiane Oumiha.
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| Uber in legal bid to block new London taxi rules Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:14 PM PDT  Uber has launched a legal challenge against new rules in London which could require thousands of its drivers to take an English-language test, the company said on Tuesday. The move comes ahead of measures to be introduced on October 1 by the regional transport authority, Transport for London (TfL), that will tighten regulation of the private hire industry in the British capital. Uber originally backed the changes but said its opposition arose after more details of the regulations emerged.
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| Canadian police call for access to internet passwords Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:12 PM PDT  Canadian police chiefs on Tuesday called for the government to adopt a law that could force a person to reveal an online encryption key or password in the interests of public safety. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police adopted the resolution at an annual meeting in Ottawa, citing the technological and legal challenges of obtaining digital evidence while protecting individual liberty. The Canadian supreme court in June 2014 ruled that anonymity on the internet is a right and that police must have a legal order to demand that internet service providers release information on certain customers.
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| Kenyan sprinter in 12-hour race to make race in Rio Posted: 16 Aug 2016 04:01 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Kenyan sprinter Carvin Nkanata's biggest race this week was the 12-hour dash from Florida to the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro to make the starting blocks for the 200-meter heats.
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| Eight dead, 40,000 homes flooded in Louisiana Posted: 16 Aug 2016 03:56 PM PDT  The death toll from historic flooding in Louisiana climbed to eight on Tuesday, as the expanding flood zone prompted authorities to declare disasters in 20 parishes of the southeastern US state. While flooding receded in parts of southern Louisiana, other areas saw rising waters. The National Weather Service issued renewed flood warnings.
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