World

CAIRO, (Reuters) – The head of the rebel Free Syrian Army attacked yesterday the formation of a new political coalition outside Syria that plans to establish a transitional government, calling its leaders opportunists who seek to divide the opposition and benefit from the rebels’ gains.

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – On his first foreign trip since undergoing cancer treatment in Cuba earlier this year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hailed his country’s welcome by fellow South American leaders into a troubled regional trade bloc yesterday.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Grids supplying electricity to half of India’s 1.2 billion people collapsed yesterday, trapping coal miners, stranding train travellers and plunging hospitals into darkness in the second major blackout in as many days.

MINSK,  (Reuters) – Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko yesterday sacked his air defence chief and the head of the border guards for failing to stop a Swedish plane drop hundreds of teddy bears over the hardline state in a pro-democracy stunt.

SAN JOSE,  (Reuters) – Costa Rica said yesterday it had dismissed a junior-level minister after she appeared in a video posted online wearing only her underwear and delivering flirtatious messages.

NAIROBI, (Reuters) – Venezuela’s top diplomat in Nairobi was killed at her home by three intruders and Kenyan police believe a struggle for power at the embassy was the motive, they said yesterday.

(Trinidad Express) Com-missioner of Police Dwayne Gibbs and Deputy Commissioner of Police Jack Ewatski have tendered their resignations which will take effect on August 7, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced on Monday night.

ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) – The Syrian military has stepped up its campaign to drive rebels out of Aleppo, where fighters said they were holding firm, vowing to turn the country’s largest city into the “grave of the regime”.

CAIRO (Reuters) – The struggle over Egypt’s new constitution was temporarily suspended yesterday when a court deferred until late September the next step in a legal row that had threatened the dissolution of the body writing it.

(Reuters) – A Chicago man pleaded guilty yesterday to planning to join an al Qaeda-linked group in Somalia, the latest US prosecution in a crackdown that has made it harder for Somali-Americans to send money to the war-torn country.

LONDON (Reuters) – Maeve Binchy, one of Ireland’s most beloved writers, has died in Dublin after a short illness at the age of 72, Irish media reported today.   

ALEPPO, Syria,  (Reuters) – Syrian troops said they had recaptured a district of Syria’s largest city Aleppo, after heavy fighting against rebels who remain in control of swathes of the commercial hub despite being pushed out of the capital Damascus.

AURORA, Colo., (Reuters) – Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes was likely facing eviction from the Aurora apartment that authorities say he booby-trapped with explosives last week, neighbours said.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia yesterday renewed his criticism of Chief Justice John Roberts’ reasoning in upholding President Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare law and also said the Constitution undoubtedly permits some gun control.

SINGAPORE, (Reuters) – From giant whirlpools to currents 1,000 km wide, scientists said yesterday they have uncovered how vast amounts of carbon are locked away in the depths of the Southern Ocean, boosting researchers ability to detect the impact of climate change.

(Reuters) – Supplements containing a compound found in curry spice may help prevent diabetes in people at high risk, according to a Thai study.

LONDON (Reuters) – “Strange”, “baffling” and “surreal” was how director Danny Boyle described his Olympic opening ceremony.

TAL RIFAAT, Syria (Reuters) – International mediator Kofi Annan said he feared an “imminent battle” for Syria’s biggest city Aleppo.

AMMAN/BEIRUT,  (Reuters) – President Bashar al-Assad’s artillery continued to pound rebel-held areas in and around Aleppo in preparation for an onslaught on Syria’s biggest city, while neigbouring Turkey called for international steps to deal with the military build-up.

LAS VEGAS, (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. government’s secretive National Security Agency took the unprecedented step yesterday of asking a convention of unruly hackers to join him in an effort to make the Internet more secure.