| New earthquake rocks Italy, buildings collapse but no deaths reported Posted: 30 Oct 2016 09:32 AM PDT  By Isla Binnie NORCIA, Italy (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake struck Italy on Sunday in the same central regions that have been rocked by repeated tremors over the past two months, with more homes and churches brought down but no deaths reported. The quake, which measured 6.6 according to the U.S. Geological Survey, was bigger than one on Aug. 24 that killed almost 300 people. The latest quake was felt across much of Italy, striking at 7.40 a.m. (0640 GMT), its epicenter close to the historic Umbrian walled town of Norcia, some 100 km (60 miles) from the university city of Perugia.
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| Iraqi Shi'ite commander says Mosul battle 'no picnic' as troops advance Posted: 30 Oct 2016 08:23 AM PDT  By Stephen Kalin and Michael Georgy SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi troops and security forces edged closer to Mosul on two southern fronts on Sunday but a leader of the Shi'ite militias newly participating in the offensive warned that the battle for Islamic State's Iraq stronghold would be long and grueling. A military statement said the army's Ninth Armoured Division raised the Iraqi flag in the village of Ali Rash, about 7 km (4 miles) southeast of Mosul, after recapturing it from the ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim militants. Further south, an Interior Ministry officer said security forces were advancing from the town of al-Shura, recaptured from Islamic State (IS) on Saturday, along the Tigris river valley towards Mosul 30 km (20 miles) to the north.
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| Turkey sacks 10,000 more civil servants, shuts media in latest crackdown Posted: 30 Oct 2016 02:34 PM PDT  By Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey said it had dismissed a further 10,000 civil servants and closed 15 more media outlets over suspected links with terrorist organizations and U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed coup in July. More than 100,000 people had already been sacked or suspended and 37,000 arrested since the abortive putsch in an unprecedented crackdown President Tayyip Erdogan says is crucial for wiping out the network of Gulen from the state apparatus. The continued crackdown has also raised concerns over the functioning of the state.
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| Aleppo fighting spreads amid accusations of gas attack Posted: 30 Oct 2016 02:50 PM PDT  By Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Tom Perry AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels opened a new front in Aleppo as fighting spread on the third day of a major insurgent counter-attack to break the government's siege of the opposition-held part of the city, and each side accused the other of using poison gas. The rebels, including both Free Syrian Army factions and jihadists, are seeking to end the siege by seizing government-held areas of Aleppo, in an effort to link the city's rebel-held east with rebel-held rural areas to the west of the city. Syrian state media said militants had fired shells containing chlorine gas at a residential area of the government-held western part of the city, al-Hamdaniya.
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| Iraqi police battle suicide bombers, get glimpse of life under IS Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:49 PM PDT  Nearby policemen fired AK-47 assault rifles in the air to mark their victory in Shura, one of dozens of villages captured as Iraqi forces press on with an offensive toward the nearby city of Mosul, the militants' main stronghold in the country. "I shot two of the suicide bombers," said Ali Hashim.
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| Young Calais migrants pray in 'Jungle' church before demolition Posted: 30 Oct 2016 01:33 PM PDT  Dozens of young Ethiopian and Eritrean migrants gathered on Sunday at a makeshift Orthodox church in the Calais "Jungle" camp, one of the only places still standing in the area, to attend a last service before the demolition is completed. Bulldozers are flattening the sprawl of ramshackle huts and tents in northern France which had been home to 6,000 refugees and migrants from Asia, the Middle East and Africa hoping to cross the English Channel and start new lives in Britain. Calais resident Pascal Froehly, who works for Caritas France charity, said he would like to see the church survive the "Jungle" demolition.
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| Moldova presidential election to go to second round on Nov. 13 Posted: 30 Oct 2016 05:40 PM PDT  CHISINAU (Reuters) - A presidential election in Moldova will to go to a second round, preliminary results showed early on Monday, after a pro-Russian socialist candidate fell short of winning sufficient support to achieve all-out victory. With 99.5 percent of votes counted, preliminary results showed candidate Igor Dodon, who wants to reverse Moldova's course towards European integration, had won 48.5 percent, and his main pro-European challenger, Maia Sandu, had 38.2 percent. Dodon needed to win 51 percent of the votes to avoid a run-off on Nov. 13. ...
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| Ricciardo 3rd in Mexico after Vettel assessed late penalty Posted: 30 Oct 2016 05:31 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo has been awarded third place at the Mexican Grand Prix after race officials penalized Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel for a potentially dangerous move that allowed him to keep position.
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| Restaurateur, ex-commando, paparazzo charged in Nice kidnap plot Posted: 30 Oct 2016 05:28 PM PDT  France on Sunday charged an Italian restaurateur, a homeless former British special forces soldier and a one-time paparazzi photographer over the kidnapping of a French hotel magnate, a prosecutor said. Jacqueline Veyrac, 76, the millionaire owner of the Michelin-starred La Reserve restaurant in the French Riviera city of Nice was snatched last Monday as she was getting into her SUV and bundled into a waiting van. Veyrac, who also owns the five-star Grand Hotel in nearby Cannes, was released two days later after being spotted by a passerby bound and gagged and lashed to the van's floor.
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| Maduro kicks off Vatican-led talks with Venezuela opposition Posted: 30 Oct 2016 05:28 PM PDT CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Some members of Venezuela's opposition have begun meeting with the government in a Vatican-led attempt to defuse the country's political crisis. |
| Tom Pernice Jr. wins PGA Tour Champion playoff opener Posted: 30 Oct 2016 05:23 PM PDT THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Tom Pernice Jr. won the first playoff event in PGA Tour Champions history, beating Colin Montgomerie by a stroke Sunday at Sherwood in the PowerShares QQQ Championship . |
| Hamilton wins Mexican Grand Prix in chase to catch Rosberg Posted: 30 Oct 2016 05:18 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Lewis Hamilton is in top form and winning races again. His problem is that he's running out of time to win another Formula One championship.
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| 300 million children breathe heavily toxic air: UNICEF Posted: 30 Oct 2016 05:18 PM PDT  Some 300 million children live with outdoor air so polluted it can cause serious physical damage, including harming their developing brains, the United Nations said in a study released on Monday. Nearly one child in seven around the globe breathes outdoor air that is at least six times dirtier than international guidelines, according to the study by the UN Children's Fund, which called air pollution a leading factor in child mortality. UNICEF published the study a week before the annual UN climate-change talks, with the upcoming round to be hosted by Morocco on November 7-18.
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| Zimbabwe's evicted elderly white farmers pin last hope on compensation Posted: 30 Oct 2016 05:12 PM PDT By Andrew Mambondiyani MUTARE, Zimbabwe (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Brian van Buuren, a white former farmer in Burma Valley, eastern Zimbabwe, couldn't hide his anger as he recalled how he lost almost everything during the country's controversial land reforms. After investing most of his money in his tobacco farm, van Buuren was left almost destitute when his land was seized by the government in 2010. "I lost virtually everything," van Buuren, 80, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. |
| Aguero's return: Man City star back for Barcelona rematch Posted: 30 Oct 2016 05:09 PM PDT  MANCHESTER, England (AP) — There's no way Pep Guardiola will be leaving out Sergio Aguero this time.
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| One in seven children suffer high air pollution: UNICEF Posted: 30 Oct 2016 05:07 PM PDT  Almost one in seven children worldwide live in areas with high levels of outdoor air pollution, mostly in South Asia, and their growing bodies are most vulnerable to damage, the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said on Monday. UNICEF called on almost 200 governments, which will meet in Morocco from Nov. 7-18 for talks on global warming, to restrict use of fossil fuels to give twin benefits of improved health and slower climate change. About 300 million children, or almost one in seven worldwide, lived in areas where outdoor pollution was highest, defined by UNICEF as at least six times international guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO), it said.
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| Pope heads to Sweden to commemorate Martin Luther Posted: 30 Oct 2016 05:02 PM PDT  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis goes to Sweden on Monday to help start commemorations of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's Reformation, a trip that has won him praise from Lutherans but criticism from Catholic conservatives. Martin Luther, a German, started the Reformation in 1517 when he wrote 95 theses criticizing the Catholic Church for corruption in Rome, including the buying of ecclesiastical privileges, nepotism, usury and the selling of indulgences. Francis is traveling to the southern Swedish city of Lund, where the Lutheran World Federation was founded in 1947, for a joint service with Lutherans to launch Reformation commemorations that will continue throughout the world next year.
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| Nearly 8,000 quake victims being helped by state agency Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:43 PM PDT  ROME (AP) — The Latest on the powerful earthquake that has rocked already stricken central and southern Italy (all times local):
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| Powerful quake spares lives, but strikes at Italy's identity Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:36 PM PDT NORCIA, Italy (AP) — The third powerful earthquake to hit Italy in two months spared human life Sunday but struck at the nation's identity, destroying a Benedictine cathedral, a medieval tower and other beloved landmarks that had survived the earlier jolts across a mountainous region of small historic towns. |
| Dutch far-right leader Wilders on trial for inciting hatred Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:33 PM PDT  By Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch anti-Islam opposition leader Geert Wilders goes on trial on Monday for inciting hatred and discrimination, 18 months after he led a chant for fewer Moroccans in the country and called them scum during campaigning for local elections. A verdict is due in December, just months before a March 15 parliamentary election in which Wilders' Freedom Party is vying for first place with Prime Minister Mark Rutte's conservative VVD, which rules in a fragile coalition with Labour. Wilders, who said on Friday he would not attend the hearings but just be represented by his lawyer, faces a fine of up to 7,400 euros ($8,100) and a year in jail for the remarks in early 2014.
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| FBI obtains warrant to examine Clinton emails: U.S. media Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:29 PM PDT  By Mark Hosenball and John Whitesides WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal investigators have secured a warrant to examine newly discovered emails related to Hillary Clinton's private server, U.S. media reported on Sunday, as a prominent Democrat accused FBI Director James Comey of breaking the law by trying to influence the election. The warrant will allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation to examine the emails to see if they are relevant to its probe of the private email server used for government work by Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. FBI officials were unavailable for comment on the status of their investigation.
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| As Brazil veers right, evangelical bishop elected Rio mayor Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:27 PM PDT  By Paulo Prada RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - An evangelical bishop was elected mayor of Rio de Janeiro on Sunday in a second round of municipal voting that cemented a rout of the leftist party and allies who dominated Brazil's presidency and major cities for over a decade. Marcelo Crivella, a controversial conservative who is a senator, bishop and nephew of the founder of an evangelical megachurch, defeated a progressive former schoolteacher to run Brazil's second biggest city by a margin of nearly 20 percentage points. The 59-year-old pastor weathered an uproar over past criticism of homosexuality and Catholicism, the dominant religion in Latin America's largest country, by distancing himself from those comments and vowing to govern for Rio's residents, not the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, the influential congregation from which he hails.
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| Evangelical bishop wins runoff election for Rio mayor Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:19 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Known to the world for its skin-baring beach culture and exuberant Carnival parades, Rio de Janeiro overwhelmingly chose an evangelical bishop as a mayor Sunday, signaling a resurgence of conservatism in Latin America's largest nation.
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| Warming to lithium-ion, Toyota charges up its battery options Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:15 PM PDT  By Naomi Tajitsu and Norihiko Shirouzu TOYOTA CITY, Japan (Reuters) - Engineers at Toyota Motor Corp say they have tamed volatile lithium-ion battery technology, and can now safely pack more power at no significant extra cost, giving the Japanese automaker the option to enter the growing all-electric car market. While rivals including Tesla Motors and Nissan Motor Co began adopting lithium-ion battery technology nearly a decade ago, Toyota has largely held back due to concerns over cost, size and safety. Lithium-ion batteries can be unstable and have been blamed for incendiary Samsung smartphones and smoking Dreamliner airplanes.
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| Thousands mourn Morocco fishmonger crushed in rubbish truck Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:13 PM PDT  Thousands of Moroccans on Sunday attended the funeral of a fishmonger whose gruesome death in a rubbish truck crusher has caused outrage across the North African country, sources said. Mouhcine Fikri, 31, was crushed to death on Friday in the truck in the northern city of Al-Hoceima as he reportedly tried to protest against a municipal worker seizing and destroying his wares. Footage online showed thousands of people following the yellow ambulance that carried Fikri's body through Al-Hoceima in the ethnically Berber Rif region on Sunday.
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| Cody Gribble wins Sanderson Farms for 1st PGA Tour title Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:09 PM PDT  JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Cody Gribble and his caddie talked a ton during the final nine holes of his impressive run to a Sanderson Farms Championship victory. Very little was about golf.
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| Pro-Russia candidate ahead in Moldova election Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:08 PM PDT  A pro-Russia candidate came out top in Moldova's presidential election, according to incomplete results issued early Monday which left it unclear whether he could beat his pro-EU rival in the first round. Ex-Soviet Moldova went to the polls Sunday in its first popular presidential election since the 1990s, seen as a tug-of-war between supporters of closer relations with Russia and those seeking EU integration. With over 90 percent of the ballots counted, pro-Moscow candidate Igor Dodon was well ahead, on 49.79 percent, teetering on the brink of an outright win which would avoid the need for a run-off second round vote.
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| Moldova presidential election likely to head to second round Posted: 30 Oct 2016 04:01 PM PDT By Alexander Tanas CHISINAU (Reuters) - A presidential election in Moldova is likely to go to a second round, after voting on Sunday appeared to give a pro-Russian socialist candidate just short of sufficient support to achieve all-out victory. After counting 95 percent of votes, the central election commission said candidate Igor Dodon, who wants to reverse Moldova's course towards European integration, had won 49.4 percent of the votes. Dodon needs 51 percent to avoid a run-off and commentators said he would likely face a second round of voting on Nov. 13 against pro-European candidate Maia Sandu, who is his closest challenger with 37.4 percent. |
| Moldova presidential election appears headed to runoff Posted: 30 Oct 2016 03:58 PM PDT  CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldova's presidential election appeared to be headed toward a runoff after a pro-Russia candidate's lead slipped to just under a majority Sunday, according to near-complete results.
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| Marega scores hat trick for Guimaraes in Portuguese league Posted: 30 Oct 2016 03:57 PM PDT LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Moussa Marega's hat trick gave Guimaraes a 3-0 win at Rio Ave in the Portuguese league on Sunday. |
| New Italy quake sows terror, flattens historic church Posted: 30 Oct 2016 03:52 PM PDT  Italy's most powerful earthquake in 36 years struck the country's mountainous centre Sunday, panicking shell-shocked residents for the third time in two months and flattening a world famous 600-year-old basilica. Remarkably, there were no reports of anyone dying as a result of the 6.6-magnitude quake but more than 3,000 people were left temporarily homeless, the national civil protection agency said. "We can confirm that we have no information on victims," said agency head Fabrizio Curcio, adding that 20 people had been injured, relatively lightly.
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| Nigerian communities threaten to block crude pipeline due to oil spill Posted: 30 Oct 2016 03:51 PM PDT By Anamesere Igboeroteonwu ONITSHA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian communities affected by an oil spill in the Niger Delta hub have threatened to block access to a pipeline unless state oil producer NNPC provides a cleanup and compensation within one week, a statement said. Spills from blown-up or faulty pipelines have triggered an insurgency in the Delta, where militants fight for a greater share of oil revenues and a cleaner environment. A pipeline operated by NNPC that runs from Escravos to the Warri refinery has been leaking crude since it broke on Aug. 17 in Delta state, a group of communities said in a statement received on Sunday. |
| M'Poku gets his 1st goal for Panathinaikos in win vs Iraklis Posted: 30 Oct 2016 03:36 PM PDT ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Panathinaikos kept the pressure on rival Olympiakos after grabbing two second-half goals in a five-minute span to beat last-placed Iraklis 2-0 in the Greek league on Sunday. |
| The Latest: Falcons tight end Tamme out with shoulder injury Posted: 30 Oct 2016 03:32 PM PDT  The Latest on Sunday's NFL action (all times Eastern):
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| Skorupski heroics as parent club Roma loses ground on Juve Posted: 30 Oct 2016 03:17 PM PDT  MILAN (AP) — Roma was thwarted time and time again by Empoli goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski, who is on loan from the capital club, as it was held 0-0 on Sunday and failed to keep pace with Serie A leader Juventus.
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| McIlroy pulls out of Turkish Airlines Open Posted: 30 Oct 2016 03:11 PM PDT  SHANGHAI (AP) — Rory McIlroy pulled out of the Turkish Airlines Open next week, leaving him a long shot to capture the Race to Dubai on the European Tour.
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| Balotelli proves value once more as Nice beats Nantes 4-1 Posted: 30 Oct 2016 03:10 PM PDT  PARIS (AP) — Mario Balotelli further underlined his real value since joining Nice on a free transfer, scoring his sixth goal in five league games as the French leader thrashed Nantes 4-1 on Sunday.
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| Villarreal's unbeaten record in Spanish league ends at Eibar Posted: 30 Oct 2016 03:04 PM PDT BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Complacency cost Villarreal its unbeaten record in the Spanish league on Sunday after it conceded two late goals to lose 2-1 at Eibar. |
| Tied Bengals, Redskins both leave London feeling like losers Posted: 30 Oct 2016 02:58 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — The Bengals and Redskins both leave London feeling like losers after a strange shootout of a tie that satisfies nobody.
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