Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Taliban attack presidential palace in Afghanistan

(AP) ? The Taliban say they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosion rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace.

Smoke rose from the eastern gate of the palace early Tuesday after more than a half dozen explosions and at least 45 minutes of on-and-off small arms fire.

The Taliban sent a quick text-message statement saying "we brought death to the enemy."

The palace is in a large fortified area of downtown Kabul that also includes the U.S. Embassy and the headquarters for the NATO-led coalition forces.

Reporters gathering for an event with President Hamid Karzai counted at least seven or eight explosions starting about 6:30 a.m.

Police had no immediate comment.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-24-Afghanistan/id-045c7e318c724f14ba3d567514846c45

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Monday, June 24, 2013

Federer begins quest for 8th Wimbledon title

LONDON (AP) ? As he has six previous times, Roger Federer will open Wimbledon on Monday as the defending champion, stepping onto Centre Court for the first match of what he hopes will be another two-week stay at the All England Club.

It's an honor reserved for the men's titleholder. That scheduling perk is also where any hint of preferential treatment for Federer comes to a halt. Because of the way the draw came out, Federer could have to defeat Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray before even getting to the final.

"I'm ready for the challenge," Federer said. "I like tough draws. I don't shy away from them."

Federer's quest for a record eighth Wimbledon title begins against Victor Hanescu of Romania.

Murray also plays Monday, wrapping up the day's action on Centre Court against Germany's Benjamin Becker. Nadal, who comes in with a stretch of nine straight appearances in tournament finals since returning from his knee injury, faces Belgium's Steve Darcis on Court 1.

Sitting back watching it all will be top-seeded Novak Djokovic, who is on the opposite side of the draw and, on paper, has the easiest path to the final. No. 4 David Ferrer is the biggest roadblock on his side of the bracket.

"I think it's going to be a great Monday for tennis," Djokovic said with a smile.

He's the 11-10 favorite at the London sports books and will open Tuesday barring rain, which is not in the forecast for most of the first week.

Third-seeded Federer's tough draw, to say nothing of his age (31) and his less-than-inspiring 2013 season makes him something of a long shot this time at Wimbledon. He's listed at 9-1 behind fifth-seeded Nadal (9-2), second-seeded Murray (7-2) and Djokovic.

Then again, grass is considered Federer's best surface and the lone tournament he has won this year came this month on grass at Halle, a tuneup in Germany that Federer has won six times.

"The more you play on it, the more you learn about it," Federer said. "Today I know what it takes, which is a good thing. The excitement is the same. Still hungry and wanting to win and wanting to prove how good I can play."

Sounding at times like a fan of Murray's during his 45-minute news conference, conducted in English, French and Swiss-German, Federer conceded that as he entered his final against the Scot last year, he wondered if it was, in fact, Murray's time to finally break through at a major. Federer fought off Murray for a four-set victory to extend his record Grand Slam title haul to 17.

Murray then came back four weeks later at the All England Club and beat Federer in the Olympic gold-medal match. The Scot then beat Djokovic in the final at the U.S. Open to finally win his first Grand Slam trophy.

"I was happy with the way I played, but I was happy with the reaction that Andy showed, as well," Federer said, referring to the aftermath of last year's Wimbledon final. "Because in previous years, the one time I beat him in the Australian Open final, he went on a sort of a bit of a disappointing run after that. That wasn't the case after Wimbledon (last) year. He actually got much stronger. That's why he increased his chances now by winning big tournaments."

Murray might not be favored, but he certainly will be the fan favorite. No British man has won Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.

Murray said the way he lost to Federer at Wimbledon last year ? playing aggressively, not sitting back waiting for things to come to him ? put him in a better frame of mind for the rest of the season and his eventual breakthrough.

"A combination of that final and the way I played in it, and also having the Olympics to look forward to, I think that was the period that changed me ... changed my mindset a bit," he said.

Like Federer, Murray finds himself on the "tough'" side of the draw. Nadal's seven-month absence because of a left knee injury dropped him in the rankings and accounted for his No. 5 seeding, his lowest since he was unseeded for his Wimbledon debut in 2003. Nadal is one spot behind Ferrer, even though he beat his fellow Spaniard in straight sets in the French Open final.

"I am No. 5 in the world today, so the rankings say'" it is no longer a discussion, Nadal said. "It is completely fair that I am No. 5.'"

Nadal, a two-time Wimbledon champion, faces a possible quarterfinal against Federer. The winner of that could play Murray in the semifinals.

"I have no issue with the seeding," Murray said. "I'd rather Rafa and Roger were on the other side of the draw, but they're not. And then, you just deal with that. Hopefully I'll be able to put myself in a position where that becomes relevant because that would mean getting to the semifinals, and I'd love to be there."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/federer-begins-quest-8th-wimbledon-title-170614576.html

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Southwest cancels 57 flights after computer glitch

CHICAGO (AP) ? A system-wide computer failure forced Southwest Airlines to ground its entire fleet of airplanes preparing for departures late Friday, and at least 57 flights had to be canceled even after service was fully restored hours later, a company spokeswoman said.

Michelle Agnew told The Associated Press that 43 of the cancellations were flights scheduled for late Friday night departures in the western half of the country. The other 14 were Saturday morning flights scattered across the U.S. because crews were not able to get to airports in time to make the scheduled takeoffs.

An estimated 250 flights ? most of them on the West Coast ? were grounded at least temporarily Friday night. The glitch impaired the airline's ability to do such things as conduct check-ins, print boarding passes and monitor the weight of each aircraft.

Some flights were on the taxiway and diverted back to the terminal after the problem was detected around 8 p.m. PDT Friday, Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins said. Flights already in the air were unaffected.

Shortly after 11 p.m. PDT, Southwest posted on its Twitter page that "systems are operating and we will begin work to get customers where they need to be. Thanks for your patience tonight."

Agnew said the computer system was "running at full capacity" by early Saturday. Before that, though, officials used a backup system that was much more sluggish.

"Backup systems are in place, not the main system, so it's slower," Hawkins said after service resumed. "But we are able to start launching these flights."

He said cancellations were inevitable because the airline doesn't do redeye flights and by the time the problem was fixed, it was near "the end of our operational day."

The late hour of the disruption meant the computer problem affected far more flights on the West Coast, but Hawkins said at least a few on the East Coast were grounded as well. Southwest, based in Dallas, conducts, on average, 3,400 flights a day.

A spokesman for Los Angeles International Airport said of about 25 inbound and outbound flights remaining Friday, only five departing flights were experiencing delays, of 30 to 80 minutes. At LA/Ontario International Airport (ONT), a total of three flights ? all departures ? were affected.

Four Southwest flights were temporarily held in Seattle, said Christina Faine, a Seattle-Tacoma International Airport spokeswoman.

One flight to Oakland, Calif., had been due to leave at 9:20 p.m. and departed before 11 p.m. Faine said late Friday night that an airport duty manager, Anthony Barnes, told her the others were expected to depart shortly.

Steve Johnson, a spokesman for Portland, Ore., International Airport, said he was not aware of any planes held up there.

___

Associated Press writers Kathy McCarthy in Seattle, Robert Seavey in Phoenix and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/southwest-cancels-57-flights-computer-glitch-104716565.html

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Sunday, June 9, 2013

CA-NEWS Summary

U.N. launches record appeal for victims of Syrian war

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The United Nations warned on Friday half of all Syrians would need humanitarian aid by the end of 2013 and launched what it said was the biggest emergency appeal in history to cope with the civil war crisis. "Syria as a civilization is unraveling," said the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, announcing the call for some $5 billion before the end of the year.

Ohio grand jury indicts man accused of kidnapping Cleveland women

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - An Ohio grand jury on Friday indicted former school bus driver Ariel Castro on 329 counts, including aggravated murder, for the kidnapping, rape and imprisonment of three women in Cleveland. The aggravated murder count accused Castro of impregnating one of the kidnapped women and forcing her to miscarry.

Sudan police use teargas to break up protest

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese police used teargas to break up an anti-government protest in the capital Khartoum on Friday, witnesses said. Some 150 people gathered near a mosque in the Omdurman suburb to protest against high inflation, shouting "the people want to overthrow the regime" and throwing stones at police, several witnesses told Reuters.

First U.S. drone strike under new Pakistan prime minister kills seven

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - A U.S. drone strike killed seven people and wounded three in northwest Pakistan late on Friday, security officials said, in the first such attack since the swearing-in of Nawaz Sharif as prime minister this week. In his inaugural address to parliament, Sharif called for an immediate end to U.S. drone strikes on militants, which many view as a breach of Pakistan's sovereignty.

Gunman shot dead by police after six die in California shooting spree

SANTA MONICA, California (Reuters) - A gunman killed at least six people in Santa Monica, California, on Friday before he was shot dead by police at a library of a community college, Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said. Seabrooks said a second individual she described as a "person of interest" had been taken into custody in connection with the violence, which unfolded a few miles from where President Barack Obama was attending a political fundraiser.

Philadelphia mayor seeks measures to prevent building collapses

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter on Friday recommended random drug inspections for heavy equipment operators and other safeguards as part of a sweeping set of reforms in the wake of a this week's fatal building collapse. Nutter issued the recommendations as local media reported that blood tests on a crane operator at the site where six people died and 14 were injured showed he had been using marijuana and was taking prescription pain killers.

Nigerian Islamists retreat, apparently to fight another day

KIRENOWA, Nigeria (Reuters) - All that remains of the Islamist fighters who once bedded down in this sandy enclave are charred clothes, burned out trucks and surgical equipment left beneath a thorny tree. Hausari Camp - 300 square meters of baking wilderness near Nigeria's border with Chad - was until last month a base for militants from Boko Haram, whose four-year-old insurgency has left thousands dead and destabilized Africa's top oil producer.

Putin orders crackdown on Islamists, police detain 300 people

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police rounded up 300 people at a Muslim prayer room in Moscow on Friday after President Vladimir Putin ordered a crackdown on radical Islamists ahead of next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi. Putin has put security forces on high alert to safeguard the Games in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, which lies near to mainly Muslim southern provinces where Russia is battling an Islamist insurgency that has targeted Moscow.

Presidential hopefuls clash on Iranian nuclear policy

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's hardline nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, a strong contender in next week's presidential election, came under fire from rival candidates in a televised debate on Friday over the lack of progress in intermittent talks with world powers. The June 14 vote will be the Islamic Republic's first since the 2009 re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that led to months of unrest by backers of the losing reformist side who said his victory was rigged. Security forces crushed the protests and two reformist leaders have been under house arrest since 2011.

Thousands of Turks defy Erdogan as protests rumble on

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Thousands of Turks dug in on Saturday for a weekend of anti-government demonstrations despite Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's demand for an immediate end to the worst political unrest of his decade in power. In central Istanbul's Taksim Square, where riot police backed by helicopters and armored vehicles clashed with protesters a week ago, activists spent the night in a makeshift protest camp, sleeping in tents and vandalized buses, or wrapped in blankets under plane trees.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-193647377.html

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