Secret US surveillance of phone and internet records has thwarted dozens of potential terror attacks, the head of the National Security Agency (NSA) has said. More »NSA Spying Data 'Thwarted Dozens Of Attacks'
Nearly 2,000 flights have been cancelled across Europe due to an ongoing strike by French air traffic controllers. More »French Air Strike Halts 1,800 Flights
The Lebanese army has warned it will immediately respond to any future cross-border attacks by Syrian government forces after an attack on a border town in northern Lebanon. More »Lebanon Army Warns Syria After Missile Attack
By Alastair Macdonald and Tarek Amara CAIRO/ TUNIS (Reuters) - Two years ago, Tayyip Erdogan was mobbed by adoring crowds in Arab capitals and Turkey seemed set to expand its trade and influence across the region on the back of his support for the upstart democrats of the Arab Spring. Today, his crackdown on protests at home has sickened some of those who hailed an unlikely liberator from the land of their former Ottoman overlords; they now scorn the prime minister as little better than the dictators they ousted. ... More »Erdogan: from 'rock star' to mixed reviews from Arabs
BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian helicopter opened fire on a Lebanese border town in the eastern Bekaa Valley on Wednesday, wounding two people, security sources said. The incident took place in the mainly Sunni Muslim town of Arsal, whose residents strongly support the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad in neighbouring Syria. Syrian state news agency SANA said the helicopter was chasing "terrorist groups" who were trying to escape to Lebanon. "It targeted them and some were hit, others escaped to Arsal so they were (also) chased," the agency reported. ... More »Syrian helicopter fires on Lebanese town, two wounded
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi denied stunning allegations Wednesday that he and his father engaged in tax fraud worth more than four million euros ($5 million). More »Messi, father deny tax crime allegation
By Kristina Cooke and John Shiffman SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Long before he became known worldwide as the NSA contractor who exposed top-secret U.S. government surveillance programs, Edward Snowden worked for a Japanese anime company run by friends and went by the nicknames "The True HOOHA" and "Phish." In 2002, he was 18 years old, a high-school dropout and his parents had just divorced. On the tiny anime company's website, he wrote of his skills with video games and popularity with women. As an adult, the former CIA employee has not left much of a digital trail on the Internet. ... More »Exclusive: Snowden as a teen online: anime and cheeky humor
By Jonathon Burch and Ayla Jean Yackley ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party ordered protesters out of an Istanbul park on Wednesday, while making a limited concession in the form of an offer to hold a referendum on redevelopment plans that caused nearly two weeks of riots. Huseyin Celik, deputy chairman of the Justice and Development (AK) Party, said hundreds of demonstrators still camped in Gezi Park, which adjoins Taksim Square in the heart of Istanbul, must leave immediately. ... More »Turkish ruling party orders protesters from Istanbul park
By Zahra Hosseinian (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Ministry has denied a Reuters report that Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader several months ago calling for wide-ranging talks with Washington, the ISNA student news agency reported on Wednesday. "Our country's Foreign Ministry spokesman denied Reuters' report about the foreign minister's letter to the supreme leader about negotiations with America," ISNA reported. ... More »Iran denies foreign minister called for talks with U.S.
Social networking site Facebook is to follow Twitter's lead and roll out hashtags for its users. More »Facebook Introduces Twitter-Like Hashtags
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is debating what more it might do to help the Syrian opposition in its civil war against the government, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday without giving any details. "We are determined to do everything that we can in order to help the opposition to be able ... to save Syria," Kerry told reporters at a news conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague. "People are talking about what further options might be exercised here ... but we don't have anything to announce at this moment. ... More »U.S. considers options to help Syrian opposition - Kerry
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is debating what more it might do to help the Syrian opposition in its civil war against the government, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday without giving any details. "We are determined to do everything that we can in order to help the opposition to be able ... to save Syria," Kerry told reporters at a news conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague. "People are talking about what further options might be exercised here ... but we don't have anything to announce at this moment. ... More »Government considers options to help Syrian opposition, Kerry says
Stephane Richard, the head of telecoms company Orange and a former aide to IMF chief Christine Lagarde, was charged Wednesday in a corruption probe related to Lagarde's time as France's finance minister. More »Corruption probe moves closer to IMF chief as aide charged
An Australian athlete has set off on a risky record bid - with hopes of becoming the first person ever to swim from Cuba to the US without a shark cage. More »Swimmer Braves Sharks As Record Bid Begins
By Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras faced down a political revolt on Wednesday from partners in his ruling coalition after his government abruptly switched the state broadcaster off the air in the middle of the night. Screens went black on state broadcaster ERT, cutting newscasters off mid-sentence only hours after the decision was announced, in what the government said was a temporary measure to staunch a waste of taxpayers' money. ... More »Greek PM faces coalition revolt over state TV shutdown
By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - Sunni Muslim insurgents have killed about 60 Shi'ite Muslims in a rebel-held eastern Syrian town where President Bashar al-Assad's agents had been trying to recruit and arm fighters for his cause, according to opposition sources on Wednesday. The attack was another sign of how a revolt that began more than two years ago with peaceful protests against four decades of Assad family rule is descending into sectarian bloodshed. ... More »Syrian rebels kill 60 Shi'ites in eastern town - activists
By Kristina Cooke and John Shiffman SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Long before he became known worldwide as the NSA contractor who exposed top-secret U.S. government surveillance programs, Edward Snowden worked for a Japanese anime company run by friends and went by the nicknames "The True HOOHA" and "Phish." In 2002, he was 18 years old, a high-school dropout and his parents had just divorced. On the tiny anime company's website, he wrote of his skills with video games and popularity with women. As an adult, the former CIA employee has not left much of a digital trail on the Internet. ... More »Exclusive - Snowden as a teen online: anime and cheeky humour
By Tom Ramstack FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - A video of an Apache gunship attack allegedly provided by a U.S. soldier to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks could help enemy fighters in attacking American forces, a battle strategist testified at the soldier's court-martial on Wednesday. The gunsight video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad is among more than 700,000 classified files Private First Class Bradley Manning is accused of providing to WikiLeaks. At least 12 people were killed in the attack, including two Reuters staffers. ... More »Air attack video given to WikiLeaks could help enemy - witness
The ex-CIA employee who leaked top-secret information about US government surveillance says he is not trying to hide from justice in Hong Kong, where he fled to last month. More »Edward Snowden: NSA Whistleblower 'Not Hiding'
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Wednesday said he would press ahead with plans to reform state broadcaster ERT and launched a blistering attack against those opposing its closure. In remarks at an awards ceremony, he made no reference to a demand by his junior coalition partners to hold a meeting to resolve the issue and reopen the state broadcaster immediately. "When thousands of business close and hundreds were losing their jobs there was no such reaction," he said. ... More »Greek PM refuses to back down on state TV closure
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras agreed to a demand by his junior coalition partners to meet them in the coming days to discuss the sudden closure of state broadcaster ERT, a government source said on Wednesday. The concession appeared to defuse some of the tension that had risen after Samaras and his coalition partners openly clashed over ERT's shutdown, reigniting fears about political instability in Greece. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou) More »Greek PM to meet coalition partners over ERT closure
ATHENS (Reuters) - The junior partners in Greece's ruling coalition demanded the reopening of shuttered state broadcaster ERT on Wednesday and called for a meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to resolve the issue. "ERT undoubtedly must be reformed and restructured, it must be upgraded but it is essential that this happens while ERT is open," said Fotis Kouvelis, leader of the small Democratic Left party in the coalition. "It is unacceptable that ERT is shut while there are still outstanding issues. ... More »Greek junior coalition partners demand reopening of state TV
NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger's security forces repelled an overnight assault by gunmen on a military police academy in the capital Niamey, the defence minister said on Wednesday, an attack likely to heighten concerns over the Islamist threat in the West African nation. The attack on the academy in Niamey's northern Koirategui suburb followed a June 1 assault on a prison in the capital, during which more than 20 Islamist prisoners escaped. In late May, there were twin suicide bombings at a French-run uranium mine and military barracks in Niger's desert north. ... More »Niger security forces repel attack on police - defence minister
By Gabriela Baczynska and Alexei Anishchuk MOSCOW (Reuters) - Thousands of Russians marched through Moscow demanding Vladimir Putin resign on Wednesday, as the president took the helm of a loyalist movement designed to broaden his power base. With helmeted riot police looking on, some 10,000 protesters chanted "Russia without Putin!" and called for the release of activists who face long jail terms over violence at a protest against his inauguration to a third presidential term last year. ... More »Russian protesters march as Putin seeks firmer political footing
By Jane Sutton GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - A prisoner accused of directing the deadly bombing of a U.S. warship should be allowed to hear pre-trial discussions of secret evidence in the death penalty case against him, defence lawyers in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal argued on Wednesday. Trial rules ensure that Saudi defendant Abd al Rahim al Nashiri can be in the courtroom during all of the actual trial and hear all the evidence put before the jury of U.S. military officers who will eventually decide his guilt or innocence. ... More »Guantanamo prisoner seeks to attend pre-trial talks on secret evidence