| After huge Venezuela protest march, government says foils coup Posted: 02 Sep 2016 11:23 AM PDT  By Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's socialist government said on Friday it thwarted a coup plot this week as opponents planned to build on their biggest protest in more than a decade with further street action demanding a referendum to remove the president. Buoyed by rallies in Caracas on Thursday that drew hundreds of thousands, the opposition coalition is planning more marches on Sept. 7 to demand a plebiscite against President Nicolas Maduro this year. As the Democratic Unity coalition detailed its timetable for future actions, the government convened foreign diplomats on Friday to show how the arrest of several activists and capture of weapons evidenced plans to topple Maduro by force.
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| U.S., Russia said nearing deal on Aleppo truce, aid access Posted: 02 Sep 2016 02:18 PM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Russia are nearing a deal that would set a 48-hour ceasefire in Aleppo, allow U.N. humanitarian access and limit Syrian government aircraft flights, diplomatic sources said on Friday. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the deal is not set in stone, key elements are still being discussed and critical stakeholders, including U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Syrian opposition groups, are likely to have doubts. If a deal were reached, it could lead to U.S. intelligence sharing with Russia that would allow Russian forces to target fighters of the group formerly known as Nusra Front, which the United States views as a terrorist group linked to al Qaeda.
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| Exclusive: Ahead of Suu Kyi visit, Obama weighs Myanmar sanctions relief - sources Posted: 02 Sep 2016 03:34 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle, Matt Spetalnick, David Brunnstrom and Antoni Slodkowski WASHINGTON/YANGON (Reuters) - The United States is considering further easing or lifting sanctions against Myanmar around the time of a White House visit this month by the country's new leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, U.S. officials told Reuters. President Barack Obama is expected to decide on the extent of the sanctions relief after consultations between Suu Kyi and his administration to gauge how far she wants Washington to go in loosening the screws on Myanmar's still-powerful military. Obama will attend a Group of 20 leaders' summit this weekend in China followed by an East Asia summit in Laos, where Suu Kyi may also be present.
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| Blast kills 12 as Philippine president visits hometown Posted: 02 Sep 2016 11:13 AM PDT  By Manolo Serapio Jr and Manuel Mogato MANILA (Reuters) - An explosion at a packed night market in the home city of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte killed at least 12 people on Friday and wounded dozens more, officials said, but the cause of the blast was not immediately clear. The blast tore through a street market outside the high-end Marco Polo hotel, a frequent haunt of Duterte, who was in the southern city of Davao at the time but was not hurt. The first thing we thought was 'it's a bomb'," said John Rhyl Sialmo III, 20, a student at the nearby Ateneo de Davao University.
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| Turkey pushes west in offensive against Islamic State in Syria Posted: 02 Sep 2016 02:52 PM PDT  By Ece Toksabay ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey renewed air strikes on Islamic State sites in Syria on Friday, extending operations along a 90-km (56-mile) corridor near the Turkish border which Ankara says it is clearing of jihadists and protecting from Kurdish militia expansion. Turkey's 10-day-old offensive, its first major incursion into Syria since the war started five years ago, has alarmed the West. The United States has voiced concerns about Turkish strikes on Kurdish-aligned groups that Washington has backed in its battle against Islamic State.
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| Obituary: Veteran Uzbek leader Karimov battled Islamists, suppressed dissent Posted: 02 Sep 2016 09:36 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who the government said on Friday had died aged 78 after suffering a stroke, saw himself as the protector of his Central Asian nation against the threat of militant Islam. Karimov, who steered his former Soviet republic to independence from Moscow in 1991, tellingly chose Tamerlane, the 14th century Central Asian ruler and conqueror with a penchant for mass murder, as Uzbekistan's national hero. Karimov brooked no dissent during his 27 years at the helm, stubbornly resisted pressure to reform the moribund Uzbek economy and jealously guarded his country's independence against Russia and the West.
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| Obama's Asian pivot leaves closer ties, new challenges Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:48 PM PDT  As Barack Obama embarks on what is likely to be his final trip to Asia as president, attention is returning to what is known as the U.S. "pivot" to the continent launched during his first term. ...
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| NASA unveils photos of Jupiter's poles Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:46 PM PDT  NASA published the first-ever images of Jupiter's north pole and its southern aurora, taken during the Juno spacecraft's first orbital flyby of the gaseous giant. Juno came within 2,500 miles (4,200 kilometers) of Jupiter on August 27 during a six-hour transit from the north pole to the south. "It looks like nothing we have seen or imagined before," Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, said on Friday.
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| French minister vows 'rapid' closure of Jungle migrant camp Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:36 PM PDT  France will dismantle the sprawling "Jungle" migrant camp in the northern port of Calais "as rapidly as possible", the interior minister said after visiting the site. Authorities must work "methodically and with perseverance... to definitively close the camp", Bernard Cazeneuve told security forces in the city. Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart had earlier said that Cazeneuve assured her that the complex would be dismantled in a single operation, adding later that he had said it would happen before the end of the year.
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| Top Asian News 12:25 a.m. GMT Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:25 PM PDT HONOLULU (AP) — Opening his final trip to Asia, President Barack Obama is expected to join Chinese leader Xi Jinping in announcing their countries are formally taking part in a historic global climate deal. Yet thornier issues like maritime disputes and cybersecurity shadow Obama's visit. The president departed Friday for Hangzhou, China, where he will meet on Saturday with Xi ahead of a summit of the Group of 20, a collection of industrial and emerging-market nations. Environmental groups and experts tracking global climate policy said they expected the two leaders would jointly enter the sweeping emissions-cutting deal reached last year in Paris. |
| US, China expected to join climate deal during Obama visit Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:25 PM PDT  HONOLULU (AP) — Opening his final trip to Asia, President Barack Obama is expected to join Chinese leader Xi Jinping in announcing their countries are formally taking part in a historic global climate deal. Yet thornier issues like maritime disputes and cybersecurity shadow Obama's visit.
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| Philippine blast kills 12, hurts 24 in president's hometown Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:24 PM PDT  DAVAO, Philippines (AP) — An explosion killed at least 12 people and wounded at least 24 at a night market in President Rodrigo Duterte's hometown in the southern Philippines, a region under a heightened security alert because of a military offensive against Abu Sayyaf militants, officials said.
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| France says working with partners to resolve Gabon crisis Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:13 PM PDT France said on Friday it was working with all sides in Gabon to find a quick solution to the crisis and urged the Gabonese authorities to release opposition members to help ease the situation. "The French authorities are in contact with all parties, including our African and international partners, to find a quick solution to this crisis," Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement. |
| England open Allardyce era with Slovakia reunion Posted: 02 Sep 2016 04:50 PM PDT  Sam Allardyce's tenure as England manager begins on Sunday when his side launch their bid to reach the 2018 World Cup against former Euro 2016 foes Slovakia in Trnava. Allardyce, 61, was handed the role he had long coveted after Roy Hodgson stepped down in the immediate aftermath of England's humiliating Euro 2016 elimination by Iceland.
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| Column: Hoping Kaepernick gets another chance to take a knee Posted: 02 Sep 2016 04:49 PM PDT  No matter what happens when the final cuts are made, Colin Kaepernick already had the best preseason of anyone in the NFL.
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| Samsung recalls Galaxy Note 7 phones after battery fires Posted: 02 Sep 2016 04:33 PM PDT  Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has recalled all Galaxy Note 7 smartphones equipped with batteries it has found to be fire-prone and halted their sales in 10 markets, denting a revival of the firm's mobile business. Koh Dong-jin, head of the South Korean company's smartphone business, declined to comment on how many phones needed to be replaced, but said Samsung had sold 2.5 million of the premium devices so far. Models in China feature a different battery and are not being recalled by Samsung, the world's biggest smartphone vendor.
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| Record yellow fever vaccination campaign in DR Congo: WHO Posted: 02 Sep 2016 04:30 PM PDT  Almost eight million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo capital Kinshasa have been vaccinated against yellow fever in under two weeks, the World Health Organisation announced Friday. "WHO commends the Government of the DRC for this significant achievement to roll out such a complex campaign in such a short period of time," said Dr Yokouide Allarangar, the world health body's representative in the country. There is no specific treatment for yellow fever, a viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted in urban settings mainly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads Zika, dengue and chikungunya.
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| Uzbek strongman leader Islam Karimov dies Posted: 02 Sep 2016 04:22 PM PDT  Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov died Friday, the government announced, ending over a quarter of a century of his iron-fisted rule in the Central Asian nation, with no clear successor in place. Authorities said Karimov, 78, was pronounced dead at 8:55 pm local time (1555 GMT) after he suffered a stroke over the weekend and fell into a coma, following days of speculation that authorities were delaying the announcement of his death. US President Barack Obama issued a statement affirming his support for the people of Uzbekistan.
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| Argentines protest president's job cuts, subsidy reductions Posted: 02 Sep 2016 04:20 PM PDT  BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina's unions brought tens of thousands of people into the capital's streets Friday to protest government job cuts, the elimination of subsidies and other policies of President Mauricio Macri.
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| Spanish missionary who devoted life to poor killed in Haiti Posted: 02 Sep 2016 04:17 PM PDT  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A missionary from Spain who devoted her life to helping the poor in Haiti was fatally shot at a crowded intersection in the Caribbean country's capital Friday.
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| Pakistan helicopter search planned for 2 missing US climbers Posted: 02 Sep 2016 04:15 PM PDT  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Pakistan military plans to search with helicopters Saturday morning for a pair of well-known Utah climbers missing on an icy mountain peak that has been encased by thick clouds and snowfall for days.
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| Brazil's sacked leader Rousseff to head home, fight on Posted: 02 Sep 2016 04:15 PM PDT  Brasília (AFP) - Brazil's sacked ex-president Dilma Rousseff said Friday she will abandon the presidential residence next week and continue the fight against her successor Michel Temer from her adopted hometown, Porto Alegre. The 68-year-old leftist leader must leave the Alvorada official residence in Brasilia within a month after senators voted Wednesday to fire her over charges she illegally manipulated the national budget. In her first media briefing since then, she repeated her claim that Brazil's new president Temer had led a "coup" in having her impeached.
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| Colombia peace deal to be signed this month in Cartagena Posted: 02 Sep 2016 04:14 PM PDT  BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — President Juan Manuel Santos announced on Friday that he will sign a peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia later this month in Cartagena.
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| Djokovic gets a 2nd free pass at US Open when Youzhny quits Posted: 02 Sep 2016 04:06 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Thanks to injuries to two opponents, Novak Djokovic did not exactly need to put in much work to reach the U.S. Open's fourth round for the 10th consecutive year.
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| Colombia's FARC reschedules conference to ratify peace deal Posted: 02 Sep 2016 04:04 PM PDT  Colombia's Marxist FARC rebel group said on Friday it had rescheduled its conference to ratify a peace agreement with the government to Sept. 17-23. The FARC's so-called Tenth Conference, its final as an armed group, was rescheduled for Sept. 17-23 after it postponed the meeting originally set for Sept. 13-19. The rebel leadership will explain the contents of the accords to hundreds of rebel commanders at the conference.
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| US Open Glance Posted: 02 Sep 2016 04:03 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — A look at Friday's play in the $46.3 million U.S. Open tennis championships: |
| Hermine pounds Florida, raising new Zika fears, then heads north Posted: 02 Sep 2016 03:54 PM PDT  By Letitia Stein TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - Hurricane Hermine wreaked havoc across Florida on Friday, knocking out power to nearly 300,000 homes and businesses, flooding low-lying areas and raising concerns about the spread of the Zika virus from pools of standing water left behind. The first hurricane to make landfall in Florida in 11 years, Hermine came ashore early on Friday near the Gulf shore town of St. Marks, 20 miles (30 km) south of the capital of Tallahassee, packing winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and churning up a devastating storm surge in coastal areas. ...
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| Florida coastal town battered, bruised but not beaten by Hermine Posted: 02 Sep 2016 03:50 PM PDT  By Zachary Fagenson CEDAR KEY, Fla. (Reuters) - Florida residents found power lines down and water rushing into their homes after Hurricane Hermine cut across the state on Friday, with many feeling they had dodged what could have been a much worse blow from a tempest predicted to be life-threatening. Just a few days before Hermine hit the state, Terry Williams, 60, and his partner Martin Kemp opened a coffee shop called 1842 Daily Grind on Cedar Key, a coastal town of about 700 people about 90 miles north of Tampa. Almost as soon as the store opened for business, sea surges generated by Hermine led to more flood water flowing in than coffee moving out.
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| Colombia peace deal to be signed September 26 Posted: 02 Sep 2016 03:49 PM PDT  Colombia's peace deal with FARC rebels will be formally signed on September 26, in a new milestone towards ending the half-century conflict, President Juan Manuel Santos said Friday. Once the deal is formally signed, the FARC will have 180 days to demobilize, disarm and relaunch itself as a political party. The government and FARC began a landmark ceasefire Monday, the first time both sides have put down their weapons since the Marxist guerrilla group was launched in 1964.
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| Barack Obama to meet with Theresa May at G20 in China Posted: 02 Sep 2016 03:42 PM PDT  US President Barack Obama will meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China, a White House official said Friday. It will be the first official meeting between the two leaders since May took office in July after David Cameron quit following the British vote to leave the European Union.
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| The Latest: US Open session attendance tops 40,000 Posted: 02 Sep 2016 03:39 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. Open (all times local):
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| Researchers: Latin American women got women into UN Charter Posted: 02 Sep 2016 03:35 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Eleanor Roosevelt gets the credit for championing women's rights at the United Nations but two researchers have found the real heroines responsible for getting women into the U.N. Charter are from Latin America, led by a little-known Brazilian. |
| Gabon in turmoil after disputed election Posted: 02 Sep 2016 03:27 PM PDT  Gabon opposition leader Jean Ping on Friday declared himself the rightful president and called for a vote recount, days after incumbent Ali Bongo was declared the winner of a weekend election which has sparked deadly violence. "I am the president," Ping told a press conference at his home in Libreville late Friday, calling for a recount from every polling station. Bongo's government launched a fierce crackdown, with security forces arresting around a thousand people.
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| Colombia's government, leftist rebels to sign peace accord Sept. 26 in Cartagena Posted: 02 Sep 2016 03:26 PM PDT BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia's government, leftist rebels to sign peace accord Sept. 26 in Cartagena. |
| Brazil's ousted president blasts process, talks about future Posted: 02 Sep 2016 03:21 PM PDT  BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Former President Dilma Rousseff on Friday slammed the process that led to her ouster this week, promising to provide a strong opposition voice to the new government.
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| Hermine fells trees, blows out power, leaves one dead in US Posted: 02 Sep 2016 03:00 PM PDT  Hermine uprooted trees, flooded streets and blew out power Friday as the hurricane swept across Florida's Gulf coast, grinding down to a tropical storm as it moved north. A homeless man was killed by a falling tree, Florida Governor Rick Scott said. There were no other reports of injuries but emergency crews worked "non-stop" overnight, rescuing 18 people from rising flood waters in Florida's Pascoe country, and several families in Hernando County, Scott said.
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| Majority of Colombians back peace deal with FARC: poll Posted: 02 Sep 2016 02:59 PM PDT  A majority of Colombians look set to back the government's peace deal with the FARC rebels in a referendum next month, a key step in ending the 52-year conflict, a poll showed Friday. The August 24 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) will only be ratified if the "yes" camp passes the threshold of 4.4 million votes -- 13 percent of the electorate. It is not yet know when the peace deal will be formally signed.
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| Obama to meet Britain's May during G20 in China: official Posted: 02 Sep 2016 02:56 PM PDT  HONOLULU (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will hold a formal meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May during the G20 summit in China on Sunday, a White House official said. The meeting is their first since May took office in July. "The president and the prime minister will discuss a range of bilateral and global issues, and, as close friends and steadfast allies, the United States and United Kingdom continue to enjoy an enduring special relationship," the official said. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, writing by Jeff Mason; Editing by Chris Reese)
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| Italy's Vinci, Denmark's Wozniacki feel at home at US Open Posted: 02 Sep 2016 02:53 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Her lead slipping away, her Achilles tendon hurting, Roberta Vinci reminded herself of all the times she celebrated victories at the U.S. Open.
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