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Iran poll shows people want change, says Obama

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:40:07 -0400

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has urged Iran's newly elected president to prove to the world that the Islamic republic was not pursuing a nuclear weapon programme as the White House welcomed election of a moderate leader as a hopeful sign. "I think it says that the Iranian people want to move in a different direction," Obama said of the election results in Iran that saw a surprising ...

President Rousseff says Brazil has woken up after massive protests

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:37:27 -0400

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Anti-graft protests swept Brazil's main cities as some 200,000 demonstrators marched through the streets against alleged mis-governance, forcing President Dilma Rousseff Tuesday to acknowledge the need for better public services and effective administration. The assurance from Rousseff came a day after biggest protests rocked at least ten Brazilian cities, including Sao ...

Talks between UK and Ecuador fail as Assange completes year in embassy

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:37:11 -0400

LONDON - Talks between the United Kingdom and Ecuador have ended without any breakthrough over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's fate with the Andean nation. Ecquador said it was vowing not to succumb to diplomatic pressure and was ready to consider any request from Edward Snowden, another whistleblower, for asylum. As the fugitive anti-secrecy advocate marks one year holed up in the ...

Libya to hold trial of Gaddafi's son in August

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:29:24 -0400

LONDON - Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of deceased Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, will stand trial in August along with Gaddafi's last prime minister and a former intelligence director, the prosecutor's office has announced. The men will be tried for crimes against the Libyan people during the 2011 uprising that toppled the former regime. Notorious former spy chief Abdullah ...

Appeals court directs Ex-Im Bank to explain rationale for loan guarantee to Air India

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:24:35 -0400

WASHINGTON - A U.S. appeals court has upheld a decision by the U.S. Export-Import Bank to finance the sale of 30 Boeing wide-body jets to Indian state-owned carrier Air India in a legal challenge brought by Delta Air Lines to the loan guarantee. The court has however directed the government-run bank to better explain its rationale for providing loan guarantee, which Delta claimed as a victory ...

Google renews efforts wipe out child porn images from internet

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:23:53 -0400

LONDON - Internet giant Google said it is spending $5 million to wipe images of child abuse off the Internet and another $2 million to create tools to find the images and eradicate them. "We're in the business of making information widely available, but there's certain 'information' that should never be created or found," wrote Jacqueline Fuller, director of Google Giving, in a blog post. "We ...

GSK negotiating sale of thrombosis drug and plant to Aspen

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:20:31 -0400

DURBAN / LONDON - South Africa's biggest generic drug maker Aspen Pharmacare and its subsidiary Aspen Global Incorporated have made an offer to acquire thrombosis drugs and their associated manufacturing site at Notre Dame de Bondeville, France, from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). "AGI will acquire from GSK the Arixtra and Fraxiparine/Fraxodi brands and business worldwide, except in China, Pakistan ...

Carbon trading to begin in Shenzhen in bid to cut emission

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:12:35 -0400

BEIJING - China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, is set to launch Tuesday its first carbon trading scheme as a pilot project in the southern city of Shenzhen as part of efforts to cut emissions in its key cities. Carbon emissions trading schemes are meant to encourage companies to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by setting a limit or a cap, on the level of emission that can be ...

Group of Eight leaders stop short of calling for Assad ouster

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:28:36 -0400

ENNISKILLEN - The Group of Eight industrialised nations called for a swift end to the bloody civil war in Syria and urgent peace talks but stopped short of calling for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in its joint statement at the end of talks Tuesday. Despite the lack of consensus among the G8 on the fate of Assad, as well as the use of chemical weapons by his regime, Canadian ...

Rise in transportation costs push up UK inflation to 2.7pc

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:12:21 -0400

LONDON - The consumer price index (CPI) inflation increased to 2.7% in May, up from 2.4% in April, mainly due to higher fuel costs pushing up transportation costs particularly airfares, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Tuesday. The ONS said the rise was due to a record increase in airfares and higher fuel prices. "The inflation rate has returned to the levels seen between ...

Republican-led House passes bill restricting abortion

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:31:39 -0400

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed legislation that would ban late-term abortions, a move that could alienate women from the conservative ...

Innovative Ariz. class turns students dreams into reality

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:29:26 -0400

(CBS News) TUCSON, Ariz. - When the Gridley Middle School in Tuscon, Ariz., added a virtual reality class in the fall, 13-year-old Rashad Stevenson was skeptical. But he was truly surprised at how much he liked ...

Colo. senator who pushed for gun control may lose job

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:29:24 -0400

(CBS News) DENVER -- After the massacre last summer in a Colorado movie theater, the leader of the state Senate pushed through a gun-control bill. Among other things, it outlawed the 100-round ammunition magazines used in the murder of 12 people and the wounding of ...

Brazil leader acknowledges social protests

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:27:53 -0400

Brazil’s president has embraced an outbreak of protests against her government across the country, after the South American country saw some of its biggest ever ...

Feds Captives forced to eat dog food

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:26:43 -0400

>Editor's note: For more information on this story, check out CNN affiliates WKYC, WOIO and WJW.(CNN) -- A mentally disabled woman and her daughter were held in an Ohio apartment crowded with people and animals for more than a year, forced to perform manual labor and threatened with dogs and snakes to keep them compliant, authorities said Tuesday. Federal prosecutors said the people accused of ...

Iran and U.S. New hope on nukes

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:26:04 -0400

>Editor's note: David Rothkopf writes regularly for CNN.com. He is CEO and editor-at-large of the FP Group, publishers of Foreign Policy magazine, and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Follow him on Twitter.(CNN) -- It would be easy to dismiss Friday's election of Hassan Rouhani as president of Iran as little more than a sham -- a rigged election that ...

Turkeys standing man

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:23:47 -0400

>Are you there? Share your story on CNN iReport, but please remember to stay safe. Istanbul (CNN) -- Turkish protesters are giving their government the silent treatment. Hundreds of men and women stood silently Tuesday in Istanbul's Taksim Square emulating the performance artist whose quiet protest Monday night quickly gained him the nickname "Standing Man. "For more than five hours, Erdem ...

The 5 stories you want us to cover

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:19:05 -0400

>Editor's note: John D. Sutter is a columnist for CNN Opinion and head of Change the List. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. E-mail him at ctl@cnn.com.(CNN) -- Remember that scene at the end of that Facebook Movie ("The Social Network") when Mark Zuckerberg's character sits alone at a computer screen hitting the refresh button over and over again -- stuck in a loop of anxiety and ...

Philadelphia-Area Congressman Cant Explain Difference Between Gosnell Slayings and Late-Term Abortions

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:56:23 -0400

Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania was one of only six Republicans in the House of Representatives who voted Tuesday night against a bill restricting post-viability abortions (six Democrats voted for the bill). Dent was also the only Republican to publicly criticize House leadership for bringing the bill to the floor for a vote. "The stupidity is simply staggering," Dent ...

House Passes Bill Restricting Post-Viability Abortions

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:56:23 -0400

The House of Representatives voted 228 to 196 on Tuesday evening to pass a bill that prohibits most abortions later than 22 weeks in pregnancy (20 weeks after conception), the point by ...

Afghan peace talks with Taliban at hand but not without their bumps

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:47:53 -0400

Qatari Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali bin Fahd al-Hajri, right, and Muhammad Naeem a representative of the Taliban attend a press conference at the official opening of the Taliban office in Doha, Qatar | Osama ...

Soldiers’ ombudsman blasts young commanders for verbal violence

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:46:35 -0400

The Defense Ministry's soldiers' ombudsman released his annual report on Tuesday and criticized the conduct of some young commanders.He cited verbal violence and an excessively confrontational approach as problems that require the army's ...

Arens Israel does not need US aid

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:46:35 -0400

The more than $3 billion in annual foreign aid that Israel receives from the United States is not essential for the country's survival, former foreign minister Moshe Arens said on Tuesday at a meeting launching a Knesset caucus on US-Israel relations.Arens and former US ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer spoke at the Knesset Caucus on US-Israel Relations inaugural event. The caucus, ...

On the road to recovering Spain’s Jewish roots

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:46:34 -0400

barrios (neighborhoods), which had all but disappeared and been reduced to redeployed buildings and ancient street signs, have begun to see serious evidence of Jewish presence thanks to a project called the Red de Juderas, or the Network of Spanish Jewish Quarters. Old synagogues are being reclaimed and filled with displays of Jewish artifacts and explanations of Jewish customs, and there ...

‘I would convert and make aliya if it weren’t for the camels’

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:46:33 -0400

Ben-Gurion U center to study conversions "I've always wanted to do Israel," he says, although his wife Michelle "was nervous because she thought she'd be shot or killed by rockets as soon as she got here.""So far no," he notes.Barry, whose widely syndicated Miami Herald column ran from 1983 to 2005, is the author of numerous best-selling humor books ...

Poland unveils statue honouring US Olympic boxing team killed in 1980 plane crash

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:45:53 -0400

Frank Kugler won four Olympics medals in freestyle wrestling, weightlifting and tug of war at St Louis in 1904, making him the only competitor to win a medal in three different sports at the same Games. He claimed a silver medal in the heavyweight category in wrestling, bronze in the two hand lift and all-around dumbbell events in weightlifting and another bronze in the tug of war competition as ...

Defense officials say four US troops killed in Afghanistan

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:45:38 -0400

Officials said Tuesday the four were killed by indirect fire, likely a mortar or rocket, but they had no other details. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide details on the deaths. The attack comes as US and allied forces formally handed over control of the country's security to the Afghan army and police in a ceremony in Kabul. The ...

Fiji offers more than 500 troops to Golan force

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:41:51 -0400

Fiji has offered more than 500 soldiers to the UN Golan Heights peacekeeping force after several countries withdrew because of the spillover from the Syria conflict, diplomats said on ...

Google challenges US surveillance gagging order

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:36:43 -0400

Google has asked the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) court to allow it to publish details of the number of data requests made by a secretive body, invoking the first amendment in a legal challenge that is aimed at easing concern among users following recent revelations regarding the activities of the National Security ...

New York regulators fine Deloitte $10m over StanChart

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:36:42 -0400

Nikhil Kumar is The Independent's New York correspondent. He was formerly assistant editor on the foreign desk and has also done a variety of jobs on the city desk, where he wrote about markets, commodities and other business and economics ...

Arrests made in slavery case

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:31:42 -0400

How to hide your data from the NSA

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:25:37 -0400

>Editor's note: Doug Gross covers consumer technology and the Web for CNN.com. Follow his updates on Twitter or add him to your Circles on Google+.(CNN) -- Let's face it: Most of us don't e-mail, tweet, text or post anything worthy of clandestine scrutiny. But having concerns about NSA cybersnooping doesn't mean we must surrender all privacy -- what's left of it -- in our day-to-day online ...

Immigration reform would cut deficit analysis shows

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:25:01 -0400

Immigration: House, Senate looking for common ground The CBO said deficits would fall by $197 billion across a decade, and by $700 billion in the following 10 years if the bill became law. The assessment came as the pace of activity increased at both ends of the Capitol on an issue that President Barack Obama ...

Brad Pitt talks possible World War Z franchise

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:24:59 -0400

"World War Z" into a multi-film franchise. Pitt hinted that this may not be the last we see of the zombie uprising. "There's so much material in the book. We could only get a fraction of it into the film," Pitt said. "There's a long ways to go if we want to do so. If the people in charge want to do so." Check out the video above to see Pitt at the packed ...

Bulger Trial Admitted killer Martorano calls self nice guy

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:24:59 -0400

CBS News (AP) BOSTON -A former enforcer for James "Whitey" Bulger who admitted killing 20 people insisted Tuesday that he is not a hitman or a serial killer, but instead is a "nice guy" who was only trying to help his family and friends when he shot victims while working with Bulger and his ...

Animal Kingdom Falls Flat at Ascot

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:02:08 -0400

ASCOT, England ...

CNN BuzzFeed 9 beauty queen fails

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:55:11 -0400

>Editor's note: This post was created for your reading pleasure as a collaborative effort between the editorial staffs of BuzzFeed and CNN.(CNN) -- Pageants are nerve-wracking. Participants are judged on every aspect of their looks, personality and ability to discuss anything from affirmative action to peace in the Middle East -- all in front of thousands, sometimes millions of people. As Miss ...

Four U.S. forces killed in attack in Afghanistan

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:51:50 -0400

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four U.S. forces were killed in an attack on Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity, just as the United States prepares for talks this week with the Taliban.The official said insurgents attacked the base with some kind of indirect fire, leaving open the possibility it was hit by rockets or mortar rounds. No ...

Brazil protesters clash with police in Sao Paulo

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:49:05 -0400

Protestors gather in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. Some of the biggest demonstrations since the end of Brazil's 1964-85 dictatorship have broke out across this continent-sized country, uniting multitudes frustrated by poor transportation, health services, education and security despite a heavy tax burden. (AP Photo/Nelson ...

Jerusalem solar-energy firm hopes to build 8.5-MW field in Rwandan youth village

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:43:13 -0400

The developing nation of Rwanda - through the vision of a Jerusalem-based team led by American-Israeli Yosef Abramowitz - may soon become home to an 8.5- megawatt solar oasis capable of providing 8 percent of the country's energy supply.Although Abramowitz's Energiya Global and the Rwandan government are still working on signing a final agreement, the company provided a progress ...

US Senate unfazed on sanctions after Rohani win

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:43:12 -0400

WASHINGTON - US senators are pushing forward with a new sanctions package against Iran despite the victory of moderate Hassan Rohani in last week's election, sources ...

Ben-Dahan If Netanyahu backs Lau for chief rabbi it would violate coalition agreement

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:43:10 -0400

Deputy Religious Services Minister Eli Ben-Dahan (Bayit Yehudi) said on Tuesday that if Likud were to support any candidate for the position of Ashkenazi chief rabbi other than the one recommended by Bayit Yehudi, it would constitute a violation of the coalition agreement between the two parties.Ben-Dahan was reacting to reports in the media that Natan Eshel - a senior advisor to Prime ...

Swiss drive out Knoxs ex-lover Rafaelle Sollecito forced to abandon country after his residence permit is revoked

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:39:29 -0400

Rafaelle Sollecito served four years in prison for the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher, who was found half naked, her throat slit, in the flat she shared with Knox in ...

Queen waves happily at Royal Ascot alongside Duke and Duchess of Cornwall despite Prince Philips absence

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:39:28 -0400

The Queen cut a fashionable figure on day one of Royal Ascot as she appeared in a fondant pink suit - joined by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, ...

Dave Prentis accuses Kate Middleton of being a young woman having babies to get state handouts

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:39:27 -0400

The leader of one of Labour’s biggest union backers sparked fury tonight after likening Kate Middleton to ‘young women having babies to get state ...

Italian Supreme Court rules Meredith Kercher murder was a sex game gone wrong and order Amanda Knox back for trial

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:39:26 -0400

Italy's high court today faulted the acquittal of Amanda Knox by the appeals court for the murder of her roommate, ruling that it WAS a 'sex game gone wrong' and ordered her back for ...

Germans want Brussels to increase the use of their language... putting it on a par with English and French

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:39:24 -0400

Campaign: Angela Merkel's conservatives want the German language used more regularly in European institutions and treated on a par with English and ...

Venus Williams Will Skip Wimbledon

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:29:53 -0400

WIMBLEDON, England ...

The people have spoken

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:18:39 -0400

The people have spoken

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:18:39 -0400

Jan Brewer’s Obamacare Deception

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:48:25 -0400

At least for now (although a statewide referendum may be pending), Arizona governor Jan Brewer, a Republican, has succeeded in her efforts to implement a key part of Obamacare in her state. Brewer has very aggressively -- and entirely voluntarily -- spearheaded the charge to implement Obamacare's massive Medicaid expansion on her watch. She now claims, however, that she's not really ...

Sunni-Shiite violence hits Lebanese city of Sidon

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:40:10 -0400

Gunmen and followers of hardline Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmad al-Assir pass in front of Lebanese army soldiers in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon | Mohammed ...

Preconditions have no basis in law or fact

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:38:45 -0400

The recent statements by Nabil Shaath, senior member of the Palestinian Authority negotiating team, and others, promising a return to negotiations if Israel agrees to Palestinian preconditions and commits to "negotiate on the basis of the 1967 borders," and to freeze settlement-building, constitute a typical example of Palestinian political manipulation, duplicity and sheer ...

Obama and Putin Signal a More Businesslike Path

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:30:44 -0400

MOSCOW ...

No formal investigation into fatal North Battleford plane crash

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:27:01 -0400

RCMP responded June 13, 2013, after a small float plane crashed at Cameron McIntosh Airport in North Battleford. Shane Buchanan, 40, was an experienced float plane pilot and the owner of an outfitting company that specialized in hunting trips to Northern B.C. His 63-year-old father, Chuck Buchanan, was an accomplished artist and founder of the Yukon Museum of Natural History. Both died in the ...

Ohio residents held disabled woman in slavery government charges

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:26:52 -0400

U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach (C) talks at a news conference alongside Stephen Anthony (L) of the FBI and Ashland City Police Lieutenant Joel Icenhour, about the arrest of three individuals accused of human trafficking in Ashland county, at the Justice Center in Cleveland, Ohio June 18, 2013. REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk CLEVELAND - Three Ohio residents are accused of holding a cognitively disabled ...

Millions Of Jeeps Recalled Over Fuel Tank Fears

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:26:10 -0400

Chrysler has avoided a showdown with government safety regulators, agreeing to recall 2.7 million older Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty SUVs that could be at risk of a fuel tank fire. Earlier this month the company defiantly refused the government's request to recall the Jeeps. But Chrysler now says it will go ahead with the recall after getting calls from worried customers. The ...

Moves to limit contractor access to secrets meets resistance

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:17:40 -0400

(Reuters) - Industry executives and some corners of the U.S. intelligence community are pushing back against possible legislative moves to curb contractors' access to classified ...

U.S. says surveillance thwarted NYSE attack Somali funding

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:17:40 -0400

(Reuters) WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence officials on Tuesday identified two of the more than 50 classified cases in which they say National Security Agency eavesdropping helped thwart terrorist plots including a planned attack on the New York Stock ...

Stocks surge on latest hopes for Fed

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:16:04 -0400

NEW YORK It's all about the Fed. Still. U.S. stocks moved higher Tuesday, helped by news of a pickup in home building and low inflation. But the Federal Reserve loomed large, with investors trying to guess what the central bank will say Wednesday about how long it plans to keep stimulus programs in place. For many, Tuesday was just a holding pattern as they waited for Wednesday's ...

Etheridge calls Jolies mastectomy a fearful choice

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:16:02 -0400

Updated: 12:06 p.m. ET Melissa Etheridge said she doesn't agree with Angelina Jolie's choice to have a preventative double mastectomy after learning she had the BRCA gene mutation that could lead to developing breast cancer. In a recent interview with ...

Air pollution exposure while pregnant linked to autism risk

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:16:02 -0400

Exposure to aiir pollution while pregnant may increase a woman's risk that her unborn child eventually develops autism. Researchers looked at more than 116,000 women to determine whether they were exposed to pollution during pregnancy. They found certain chemicals and pollutants were linked to heightened risk for the neurodevelopmental disease that ...

Torrential rains devastate north Indian state

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:14:52 -0400

Rescue efforts are under way after torrential rains and floods washed away buildings and roads, killing at least 64 people in north India, with thousands of pilgrims stranded in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, officials have said.The Indian Air Force scrambled a dozen helicopters to reinforce a military-backed rescue mission in the worst-hit state of Uttarakhand, a spokesman said on Tuesday. ...

Stuntwoman sues News Corp over hacking

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:14:50 -0400

beleaguered media empire News Corp over allegations its British newspapers hacked her phone, the first lawsuit in the US against the company since a hacking scandal broke out two years ago.The lawsuit filed on June 13 by professional stunt double, Eunice Huthart, said reporters from News Corp's ...

UN Rights Chief Commends Serbian Progress Outlines Weaknesses

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:37:11 -0400

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has welcomed Serbia's progress on human rights issues but also outlined areas where more needed to be done. In a statement on June 18 after her first official visit to the country, Pillay said Serbia has adopted "a strong and fundamentally sound body" of laws and standards relating to human rights. She noted that Serbia's ...

Radio Farda Investigative Report Wins Silver In New York

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:37:10 -0400

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty broadcasts in 28 languages. Most of our programs are available on FM and medium-wave frequencies of local radio stations in the countries of our broadcast area. If you are having problems listening to programs on the internet, please read ...

The people have spoken

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:35:28 -0400

Afghan forces take over as peace talks loom doubts remain

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:33:39 -0400

Afghan president Hamid Karzai (right) shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen after a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghan national forces will lead all military operations in the country from June 19, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday. | Ahmad Massoud/Xinhua/Zuma ...

Netanyahu calls for an end to all Iranian enrichment

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:32:23 -0400

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called on Iran Tuesday to stop the enrichment of nuclear materials at all levels, shortly after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Iran has expressed readiness to stop uranium enrichment to 20 percent in exchange for easing international sanctions.Lavrov's comments to the Kuwait News Agency came a day after Iranian President-elect Hassan Rohani said ...

Spain reigns supreme once again with Euro triumph

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:32:22 -0400

Spain's stranglehold over European soccer doesn't look like it will be ending any time soon after the Under-21 national team emulated the senior side by winning a second straight European Championship title on Tuesday night, outclassing Italy 4-2 at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem.The Spaniards entered the tournament in Israel as a firm favorite and lived up to their billing throughout the ...

Ending the Chief Rabbinate electoral machinations

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:32:19 -0400

The sleazy political machinations surrounding the impending elections for the Chief Rabbinate are shameful.There is today a unique opportunity to end the excessive influence exerted over the nation by ultra- Orthodox groups. This extends beyond the emotional issues of haredim serving in the army and becoming gainfully employed rather than subsisting on state welfare. It relates to the ...

In my own write Joking aside

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:32:18 -0400

I can recall two episodes during which I was seized with uncontrollable laughter, oddly both connected with music.The first happened many years ago, when I attended a chamber concert with my father at a private home. It was all pretty informal, but when the music began, people sat down and listened attentively.All went well at first, until a group of four musicians stepped up. Three of them ...

Today’s ‘Altneuland’ Jerusalem’s ‘beauty and wisdom’ season

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:32:18 -0400

It is symposium season in Jerusalem these days - and hero season in Israel. Every June I am overwhelmed by conferences, often balancing two per week, as academics and activists visit Israel before the summer - and summer heat - really begin.As my daily schedule fills up, I enjoy reading about the annual conferring by Israel's universities of honorary doctorates to intellectual and ...

Terra Incongnita Rewarding IDF service is not discrimination

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:32:16 -0400

The only discrimination of a bill allowing for preferential treatment for army, national service results between Jews who don't serve, those who ...

G-8 communique sidesteps Assad’s fate

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:31:34 -0400

G-8 leaders from left, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama during the G-8 summit at the Lough Erne golf resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. (AP Photo/Lefteris ...

G8 calls for urgent Syria peace talks despite Russia split

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:27:32 -0400

G8 leaders on Tuesday called for a peace conference on Syria to be held as soon as possible but deep divisions remained as Russia stood by its embattled Middle East ...

Turkish PM Erdogan claims victory after protest crackdown

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:27:31 -0400

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday claimed victory over anti-government protesters after a heavy crackdown, as police raided homes and arrested dozens of demonstrators in a bid to stamp out nearly three weeks of ...

Syria spillover into Lebanon intensifies with clashes in Sidon

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:22:09 -0400

The southern Lebanese city of Sidon erupted in heavy clashes as followers of a radical Sunni cleric battled gunmen believed to be sympathisers of the Shia-backed Hezbollah, in the latest outbreak of violence between factions supporting opposing sides in the Syrian ...

At last it’s time for America to talk to the men from the Taliban

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:22:05 -0400

No more long dinners in Qatari restaurants, or idle afternoons in the capital's many shopping centres. Since they were first secretly delivered by US plane to Doha in 2010, the senior Taliban emissaries whom Washington hoped would eventually agree a peace deal with Kabul have not been rushed off their feet; efforts to kick-start a formal negotiating process to end the war repeatedly ...

Guantanamos Most Dangerous Revealed

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:20:33 -0400

A list released by the US government has identified several dozen Guantanamo Bay prisoners designated as too dangerous to release but who cannot be prosecuted. Those on the list are prisoners held without charge under the Authorised Use of Military Force act passed by Congress and signed by President George W Bush in 2001, said Pentagon spokesman, Army Lt Col Todd Breasseale. The government ...

Quake shakes Perus capital of Lima

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:11:39 -0400

LIMA (Reuters) - A moderate earthquake shook buildings in Peru's capital on Tuesday but there were no reported injuries or damage, Reuters witnesses and safety officials ...

WikiLeaks trial focuses on whether Tweets meet evidence standards

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:11:39 -0400

FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The court-martial of the U.S. soldier accused of providing reams of classified documents to WikiLeaks in a case illustrating the challenge of keeping secrets in the digital age must decide whether tweets and Web pages can be admitted as ...

Ex-NFL player with ALS responds after radio hosts fired for mocking him

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:10:03 -0400

ATLANTA A day after the cast of an Atlanta sports radio show was fired for mocking Steve Gleason's battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the former Saints player issued a response. Team Gleason, an organization named after the former NFL player, posted a statement on ...

4 accused of holding mother child captive in Ohio

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:10:03 -0400

CBS/AP (CBS) ASHLAND, Ohio - Four people have been arrested and are accused of holding a mother and her child captive for two years in Ashland, Ohio, in what the U.S. ...

Bostons One Fund nears $55M with more than 250 claims

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:10:02 -0400

One Fund Boston administrator Kenneth R. Feinberg leads a town hall meeting held to discuss how victims of the Boston Marathon bombing will be compensated on May 7, 2013, at the Boston Public ...

Floods wallop Northern India

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:10:02 -0400

Indian army personnel rescue stranded people in one of the worst flood-affected regions in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, June 18, 2013. Torrential rain and floods washed away buildings and roads, killing at least 23 people in the northern Indian state, officials said on Monday. Many more people remain ...

Hungary indicts 98-year-old for Nazi war crimes

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:10:02 -0400

Alleged Hungarian war criminal Laszlo Csatary, leaves the Budapest Prosecutor's Office after he was questioned by detectives on charges of war crimes during WWII and prosecutors ordered his house arrest in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, July 18, ...

Rebels in North Mali Sign Peace Deal Allowing In Government Troops

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:07:32 -0400

DAKAR, Senegal ...

The stories you want covered

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:59:58 -0400

WH on American Soldier Kidnapped By Taliban Hes Been Away from Us for Four Years

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:36:03 -0400

conference call with two unnamed senior administration officials to provide background for reporters on today's transition in Afghanistan handing over the lead on security in the country to the Afghan National Security Forces. One reporter inquired about how the recently reported peace talks with the Taliban came about, and what conditions were met or will need to be met in order for those ...

G-8 Disagreement on Syria

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:36:02 -0400

President Obama and other world leaders at the G-8 summit Tuesday agreed in calling for an end to the two-year civil war in Syria, but the U.S. and its allies could not convince Russia to unite behind a call for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. As expected, Russian President Vladimir Putin would not explicitly endorse an agreement to force Assad, his longtime ally, to step down ...

NSA boss details foiled terror plots

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:33:11 -0400

Secret US surveillance has foiled more than 50 terror plots since 2001 including a planned bomb attack on the New York Stock Exchange, a US spy chief said, defending leaked programs. National Security Agency director General Keith Alexander described four thwarted plots, including a plan to bomb the New York subway described as "the first core Al-Qaeda plot since 9/11, directed from ...

Russia Scientists To Clone Stalingrads Oldest Living Survivor

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:30:48 -0400

It survived one of World War II's bloodiest battles, in which some 2 million people are thought to have perished. Although it was often pummeled by machine-gun fire and shrapnel, it stood firm as fierce fighting in Stalingrad raged around it for 200 days. It's little wonder, therefore,that the gnarled,100-year-old poplar, which still stands in Volgograd (as Stalingrad is now ...

IDF general Palestinians quietly aiding US peace drive

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:26:01 -0400

US peacemaking drive by quietly cutting off funds for grassroots campaigners against Israel's occupation of the territory, a senior Israeli general said on Tuesday.The allegation, which the campaigners contested, underscored the sensitivity of the Palestinians' security coordination with Israel at a time of deadlocked diplomacy over their independence drive and censure from rival Hamas ...

Palestinians ‘aiding US peace drive’

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:25:24 -0400

JERUSALEM - The Palestinian administration in the West Bank has tried to help the latest US peacemaking drive by quietly cutting off funds for grassroots campaigners against Israel's occupation of the territory, a senior Israeli general said on ...

Don’t prolong Iran talks Netanyahu

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:25:18 -0400

Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned world powers on Tuesday against holding ';drawn out'; negotiations with Iran on its nuclear programme following the election of a more moderate president in ...

Pope John II on brink of sainthood

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:25:16 -0400

In this picture made available by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis prays in front of the tomb of Pope John Paul II, at the Vatican. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore ...

British military stock left over from Afghan war being moved out

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:24:50 -0400

The details of what has been happening to Britain's military equipment in Afghanistan were given today as the government there assumed responsibility for security across the country and international forces embarked on the final part of their exit strategy from the ...

Man Threw Ex-Wifes Body Off Cruise Ship

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:18:36 -0400

A man has been charged over the cruise ship death of his ex-wife - seven years after her body was found off the Italian coast. Florida resident Lonnie Kocontes, 55, is accused of strangling Micki Kanesaki to death aboard a ship, and then dumping her body overboard in the early hours of May 26, 2006. The Orange County District Attorney's Office says he then reported her missing, before ...

David Cameron prepares for G8 summit with early morning dip... but Vladimir Putin did not join him

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:15:03 -0400

When you are hosting a world leaders' summit surrounded by water, there is only one way to start the day. David Cameron duly took the plunge at 6am today when he went for a swim in Lough Erne in County ...

Brazil kicks off World Cup excess draws hundreds of thousands to street protests

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:14:59 -0400

When the Fifa president Sepp Blatter announced in 2007 that next year's World Cup would be staged in Brazil, he predicted it would have "a big social and cultural impact". It has, but not in the way he expected. Instead of uniting Brazil in celebration, football's biggest prize, which is returning after 54 years to the country that has won it more times than any other, is ...

Syria crisis World leaders appeal to allies of Bashar al-Assad to force the Syrian President to surrender power

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:14:58 -0400

World leaders appealed to allies of Bashar al-Assad to force the Syrian President to surrender power at the close of their two-day summit in Northern ...

Weak G8 agreement on Syria hailed as victory

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:14:10 -0400

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (4th L) arrives for a group photo with (L-R) European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. President Barack Obama, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, France's President Francois Hollande, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Italy's Prime Minister ...

Chrysler Agrees To Recall Jeeps Over Fire Risk

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:10:55 -0400

DETROIT (AP) -- Chrysler says it has resolved its differences with the government and will recall older Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty SUVs that could be at risk of a fuel tank fire. Earlier this month the company refused the government’s request to recall the Jeeps. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration contended that the gas tanks could rupture if hit from the rear, ...

UPDATE 1-NSA head lawmakers jointly defend U.S. surveillance programs

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:05:38 -0400

Tue Jun 18, 2013 3:05pm EDT By Patricia Zengerle and Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - The head of the National Security Agency on Tuesday said U.S. surveillance programs had helped disrupt more than 50 possible attacks since Sept. 11, 2001, as sympathetic members of Congress also defended the use of the top-secret spying operations. In the first hearing dedicated to the ...

Mobster recounts murder for hire in ‘Whitey Bulger trial

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:04:41 -0400

A vehicle with bullet holes and broken glass which was shown to jurors hearing the racketeering and murder trial of accused Boston mob boss James ''Whitey'' Bulger is seen in this undated handout photo provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office June 17, 2013. John Martorano, a former associate of Bulger took the stand in the trial and told jurors about killing rivals in ...

Mali signs deal with Tuareg separatist rebels

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:04:40 -0400

OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - Mali signed a ceasefire deal with Tuareg separatist rebels on Tuesday, paving the way for government troops to return to the northern, rebel-held town of Kidal before a presidential election next ...

A test for throat cancer caused by HPV

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:02:35 -0400

HPV, the most common sexually transmitted disease, can lead to throat cancer. Doctors have been warning about the link for years, and earlier this ...

50th Paris Air Show

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:02:34 -0400

A French Airforce Rafale performs its demonstration flight on the first day of the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, June 17, ...

NSA chief defends US spying programme

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:01:25 -0400

The head of the US National Security Agency has defended government's sweeping electronic surveillance programmes and said it had helped disrupt possible attacks more than 50 times since September 11, 2001.Justifying the spying programmes that were disclosed by contractor Edward Snowden earlier this month, General Keith Alexander said on Tuesday he would give lawmakers classified details of ...

Deadly clashes erupt in south Lebanon

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:01:24 -0400

Two people have reportedly been killed in armed clashes between supporters of a pro-Hezbollah group and followers of a Sunni cleric in south Lebanon, local media has said. The fighting erupted in the Abra neighbourhood of the port city of Sidon on Tuesday, as the army cut off roads leading to Abra in an effort to control the fighting there, state news agency NNA said. It is the latest apparent ...

U.S. Taliban to start talks on ending Afghan war

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:58:42 -0400

After months of delays, the Taliban opened a political office in the Qatari capital of Doha, paving the way for talks to begin. The decision was a reversal of months of failed efforts to start peace talks while Taliban militants intensified a campaign targeting urban centers and government ...

CNN BuzzFeed Pageant cringes

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:50:34 -0400

G-8 Meeting Ends With Cordial Stalemate on Syria

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:46:48 -0400

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland ...

Taliban Step Toward Afghan Peace Talks Is Hailed by U.S.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:38:56 -0400

WASHINGTON ...

Report Ecuador Might Offer Asylum to Edward Snowden

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:28:03 -0400

Xinhua reports that Ecuador might offer asylum to Edward Snowden. "Ecuador would consider granting asylum to whistleblower Edward Snowden, the ex-CIA employee who single- handedly disclosed the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA)'s PRISM mass-surveillance program, a top Ecuadorian official said Monday," the outlet ...

Turkeys standing man