| Militia says it 'secured' US compound in Libya Posted: 31 Aug 2014 09:40 AM PDT  More than a month after American personnel evacuated from the country over ongoing fighting, an Islamist-allied militia group says it has "secured" a U.S. Embassy compound in Libya's capital.
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| China slams door on full Hong Kong democracy in 2017 vote Posted: 31 Aug 2014 06:39 AM PDT  By Michael Martina and James Pomfret BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Pro-democracy activists vowed on Sunday to bring Hong Kong's financial hub to a standstill after China's parliament rejected their demands for the right to freely choose the former British colony's next leader in 2017. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) endorsed a framework to let only two or three candidates run in the 2017 leadership vote. All candidates must first obtain majority backing from a nominating committee likely to be stacked with Beijing loyalists. The relatively tough decision by the NPC - China's final arbiter on the city's democratic affairs - makes it almost impossible for opposition democrats to get on the ballot.
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| Israel appropriates West Bank land for possible settlement use Posted: 31 Aug 2014 04:20 AM PDT  Israel announced on Sunday a land appropriation in the occupied West Bank that an anti-settlement group termed the biggest in 30 years and a Palestinian official said would cause only more friction after the Gaza war. Israel Radio said the step was taken in response to the kidnapping and killing of three Jewish teens by Hamas militants in the area in June. Peace Now, which opposes Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank - territory Palestinians seek for a state, said the appropriation was meant to turn a site where 10 families now live adjacent to a Jewish seminary into a permanent settlement. Construction of a major settlement at the location, known as "Gevaot", has been mooted by Israel since 2000.
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| Officials: Iraqi forces break jihadist siege of Amerli Posted: 31 Aug 2014 08:22 AM PDT  It is the biggest offensive success for the Iraqi government since militants led by the Sunni Islamic State (IS) jihadist group overran large areas of five provinces in June, sweeping security forces aside. The breakthrough came as America carried out limited strikes in the area, the first time it has expanded its more than three-week air campaign against militants outside of Iraq's north. Aircraft from several countries also dropped humanitarian aid to Amerli. UN Iraq envoy Nickolay Mladenov had warned that they faced a "massacre" by the besieging militants.
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| Car tied to suspected threat against Obama found in Connecticut Posted: 30 Aug 2014 02:21 PM PDT  By Richard Weizel HAMDEN Conn. (Reuters) - A car sought in connection with a suspected threat against President Barack Obama has been located in Connecticut, authorities said on Saturday. Secret Service, which is responsible for presidential security, had asked state police for help in locating the car in connection with a possible threat to the president, State Police Lieutenant J. Paul Vance said. Both the state police and the Secret Service declined to specify the nature of the threat. The Secret Service, in a statement on Saturday, said that it had investigated information about a suspicious person and vehicle and was working to determine its validity.
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| Aftershock hits California's Napa Valley Posted: 31 Aug 2014 08:20 AM PDT (Reuters) - California's Napa Valley, the site of a strong and damaging earthquake a week ago, was shaken by a small aftershock early on Sunday. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake, measuring magnitude 3.2, occurred five miles southwest of Napa. There were no immediate reports of damage. It was one of many aftershocks that have occurred since Aug. 24 when a magnitude 6.0 quake struck, the biggest to hit California's Bay Area in 25 years, injuring more than 200 people and damaging dozens of buildings. ... |
| F-16s dispatched for unresponsive pilot of small plane near D.C. Posted: 30 Aug 2014 04:33 PM PDT (Reuters) - Two F-16 fighter jets were dispatched to check on a small plane that entered restricted airspace around Washington, D.C., on Saturday, and the fighter pilots observed the person at the controls to be unconscious before the plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, officials said. The pilot of the Cirrus SR22 propeller plane took off from Waukesha County Airport in Wisconsin and had been destined for Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. Coast Guard said in a statement. The pilot had stopped responding to radio calls. |
| 3 killed as protesters clash with Pakistan police Posted: 31 Aug 2014 04:35 AM PDT  Demonstrators try to raid the official residence of Pakistan's prime minister.
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| Obama's cool head an asset or liability? Posted: 30 Aug 2014 07:39 PM PDT  The president is not panicking, even though he admits it feels like world is falling apart.
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| U.S. planes strike militants near Iraq's Amreli, airdrop aid Posted: 30 Aug 2014 10:02 PM PDT  By Raheem Salman and Matt Spetalnick BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States carried out air strikes on Saturday against Islamic State fighters near the besieged Shi'ite town of Amerli in northern Iraq and airdropped humanitarian aid to civilians trapped there, the Pentagon said. President Barack Obama authorized the new military action, broadening U.S.
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| Ferguson rally marks 3 weeks since Brown's death Posted: 30 Aug 2014 01:52 PM PDT  FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Hundreds converged on Ferguson on Saturday to march for Michael Brown, the unarmed black 18-year-old who was shot and killed by a white police officer three weeks ago to the day. His death stoked national discourse about police tactics and race, which the rally's organizers pledged to continue.
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| Fresh U.S. airstrikes target Islamic State in Iraq Posted: 30 Aug 2014 02:26 PM PDT  The attacks near Iraq's Mosul Dam significantly damage an ISIL building, Pentagon says.
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| Ebola takes big toll on already poor health care Posted: 30 Aug 2014 09:35 AM PDT  FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — When the dreaded Ebola virus began infecting people in the Sierra Leone town of Kenema, Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan and his team were on the front lines. After stepping out of his protective suit following hours on a sweltering ward, he would jump on the phone to coordinate with the Ministry of Health, to deal with personnel issues and tend to hospital business.
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| Explosion fells building outside Paris, killing at least 2 Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:50 AM PDT  ROSNY-SOUS-BOIS France (Reuters) - A four-story building in a Paris suburb collapsed after an explosion on Sunday morning, killing a child and an elderly woman, and emergency teams were searching the rubble for others still missing. About 150 emergency workers were on hand with sniffer dogs trying to find six people unaccounted for, said the prefect of Saint-Seine-Denis, Philippe Galli. An 8-year-old child died in the building's collapse, and firefighters found an unconscious 80-year-old woman in the debris who died while being taken out, fire department spokesman Gabriel Plus said. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, speaking to reporters at the scene, said the explosion at around 7 a.m. (1 a.m. ET) appeared to have been caused by a gas leak.
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| Old-school Tide shows glimpse of no-huddle offense Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:46 AM PDT  ATLANTA (AP) — Looking for a way to calm a jittery first-time starting quarterback, No. 2 Alabama broke out the no-huddle offense for a while against West Virginia.
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| Joan Rivers still in hospital; stars tweet support Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:45 AM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Joan Rivers remains hospitalized three days after going into cardiac arrest at a doctor's office in New York City.
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| Errani claims first quarter-finals berth at U.S. Open Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:45 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Italian 13th seed Sara Errani became the first player to reach the quarter-finals at the U.S. Open by ending the rejuvenated run of veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia on Sunday. Errani, playing deftly defensive tennis, withstood a brilliant second set from the 32-year-old Croat to register a 6-3 2-6 6-0 victory to launch the Day Seven program on another windy day at Arthur Ashe Stadium. ...
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| Feds want nuclear waste train, but nowhere to go Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:44 AM PDT  ATLANTA (AP) — The U.S. government is looking for trains to haul radioactive waste from nuclear power plants to disposal sites. Too bad those trains have nowhere to go.
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| Arsenal held 1-1 by newcomer Leicester in EPL Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:43 AM PDT  LEICESTER, England (AP) — Arsenal was frustrated by newcomer Leicester on Sunday, dropping points for the second time in three Premier League games in a 1-1 draw.
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| As Islamic State fighters begin to blend in, defeating them no easy matter Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:32 AM PDT  By Isabel Coles and Peter Apps BAQIRTA Iraq/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After their lightning takeover in June, flag-waving Islamic State militants paraded through the captured Iraqi city of Mosul in looted U.S.-built Humvees, armored cars and pickup trucks mounted with heavy machine guns. Today, many have ditched military-type vehicles that could make them easy targets of U.S. It is unclear how the Islamic State's tactics will further change as a result of the reclaiming of the strategic Mosul Dam by Iraqi government and Kurdish forces or Sunday's dramatic retaking of Amerli, where thousands had been cut off from food and water, but clearly battlefield strategies are involving on both sides.
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| Lava eruption prompts Iceland aviation alert Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:30 AM PDT  REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Lava fountains danced along a lengthy volcanic fissure near Iceland's subglacial Bardarbunga volcano Sunday, prompting authorities to raise the aviation warning code to the highest level and close the surrounding airspace.
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| Mainz draws 0-0 with Hannover in Bundesliga Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:30 AM PDT  BERLIN (AP) — Mainz could only draw 0-0 with Hannover as the home side's difficulties continued, while Freiburg and Borussia Moenchengladbach also played out a goalless draw in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
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| Putin calls for talks on east Ukraine 'statehood'; Kremlin denies endorsing independence Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:21 AM PDT  By Katya Golubkova and Aleksandar Vasovic MOSCOW/MARIUPOL Ukraine (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Sunday for immediate talks on "statehood" for southern and eastern Ukraine, although his spokesman said this did not mean Moscow now endorsed rebel calls for independence for territory they have seized. The Kremlin leader's remarks, which follow a public appearance in which he compared the Kiev government with Nazis and warned the West not to "mess with us", came with Europe and the United States preparing new sanctions to halt what they say is direct Russian military involvement in the war in Ukraine.
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| Wlodarczyk sets world record in women's hammer Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:21 AM PDT  BERLIN (AP) — Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland set a world record of 79.58 meters in women's hammer throw at the ISTAF athletics meet on Sunday.
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| WHO: Senegal Ebola case 'a top priority emergency' Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:21 AM PDT  DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The effort to contain Ebola in Senegal is "a top priority emergency," the World Health Organization said Sunday, as the government continued tracing everyone who came in contact with a Guinean student who has tested positive for the deadly disease in the capital, Dakar.
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| Sara Errani advances to US Open quarterfinals Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:21 AM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Sara Errani used consistent shots and a notoriously soft serve to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals, beating 32-year-old qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 Sunday to end the tournament's most unlikely comeback story.
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| Liverpool wins at Spurs; Arsenal held by Leicester Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:20 AM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Liverpool had the look of Premier League title challengers again during an electrifying win at Tottenham on Sunday, while Arsenal's scoring struggles were once more exposed in a draw at Leicester.
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| Grappling with history, EU tests unity, new faces Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:19 AM PDT  By Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders meeting in Brussels this weekend, amid world war anniversaries, did not want for reminders of the continental conflicts that the bloc's founders meant to consign to history. They took another symbolic step away from the Cold War division of Europe, in choosing a Pole from the ex-communist east to run their Council. Meeting in sight of a huge EU banner commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of World War One, and on the eve of the 75th anniversary of Hitler's invasion of Poland, many cited that bloody past to focus minds on halting what Lithuania's president said was already "a state of war" with Russia. "We know from European history the danger of the territorial integrity of a nation state being threatened and undermined in this way and we have to send the clearest possible signal," said British Prime Minister David Cameron of an agreement to review possible new sanctions on Moscow within the next week if President Vladimir Putin does not pull back forces from Ukraine.
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| House, Senate intel chiefs flag Islamic State risk Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:14 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees on Sunday prodded President Barack Obama to take decisive action against what they say are growing threats from Islamic State militants on U.S. soil.
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| US trained Alaskans as secret 'stay-behind agents' Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:05 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Fearing a Russian invasion and occupation of Alaska, the U.S. government in the early Cold War years recruited and trained fishermen, bush pilots, trappers and other private citizens across Alaska for a covert network to feed wartime intelligence to the military, newly declassified Air Force and FBI documents show.
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| Balotelli misfires but Liverpool wins at Spurs Posted: 31 Aug 2014 10:02 AM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Liverpool's speedy attacking unit ensured Mario Balotelli didn't shoulder the goal-scoring burden on his Premier League return, with Raheem Sterling dazzling in a 3-0 victory at Tottenham.
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| German anti-euro party enters 1st state assembly Posted: 31 Aug 2014 09:55 AM PDT  BERLIN (AP) — A party that wants to ditch the euro currency in its current form was elected to one of Germany's state assemblies for the first time Sunday, bolstering its claim to be the main euro-skeptic force in the country.
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