</head> <body> Riot police quell protests ahead of Erdogan rally ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Riot police used teargas in Istanbul and Ankara on Sunday to try to prevent anti-government demonstrators from regrouping ahead of a rally by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party. Bulldozers removed barricades and municipal workers swept the streets around Istanbul's Taksim Square, sealed off by police after thousands took to the streets overnight following a raid by riot police firing teargas and water cannon to evict demonstrators from the adjoining Gezi Park. Iranians count on president-elect Rohani to bring change DUBAI (Reuters) - Thousands of Iranians celebrated on the streets into Sunday's early hours, counting on moderate president-elect Hassan Rohani to follow through on promises of better relations abroad and more freedom at home after routing hardliners at the polls. A mid-ranking Shi'ite cleric, Rohani is an Islamic Republic insider who has held senior political and military posts since the 1979 revolution and maintained a good rapport throughout with theocratic Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's most powerful man who has the last word on all the big issues. Car bombs, shootings kill 30 across Iraq BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Attacks across Iraq targeting mainly Shi'ite Muslims killed at least 30 people on Sunday, police and medics said, intensifying fears of a descent into all-out sectarian war. Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Sunni leader Saddam Hussein, a stable power-sharing compromise between Iraq's Sunni, Shi'ite and ethnic Kurdish factions is still elusive and violence is on the rise. Putin arrives late for Syria talks with Cameron ahead of G8 LONDON (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived an hour late for talks on Syria with Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday before a G8 summit which is expected to be dominated by discussions about how to end the Syrian conflict. The talks follow a decision by President Barack Obama's administration to arm rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad after it said it had obtained proof that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons. Jordan's army ready for any threat from Syria - king AMMAN (Reuters) - King Abdullah said on Sunday Jordan's armed forces were ready to protect the country against any threat from the escalating civil war in neighbouring Syria. He was speaking as Jordanian and U.S. forces conducted military exercises less than 75 miles (120 km) from the Syrian border, with the participation of 17 other countries. Gunmen kill four Shi'ite Lebanese in Bekaa Valley BEIRUT (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead four Shi'ite Muslim men in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley in an ambush on Sunday, security sources said, in the latest sectarian violence close to the border with Syria. The civil war just a few miles across the border in Syria has inflamed tensions in the Bekaa Valley, where Sunni Muslims who support the uprising against Bashar al-Assad live close to Shi'ites who back the Syrian president. North Korea wants to hold high-level talks with U.S SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea on Sunday offered high-level talks with the United States to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula, but the White House said that any talks must involve Pyongyang taking action to show it is moving toward scrapping its nuclear weapons. The offer came only days after North Korea abruptly cancelled planned official talks with South Korea, the first planned talks in more two years. The North blamed the South for scuttling discussions that sought to mend estranged ties between the rival Koreas. Swiss president would back criminal probe against NSA leaker GENEVA (Reuters) - Swiss President Ueli Maurer said on Sunday he doubted Edward Snowden's claims about his activities as a CIA man in Geneva and would back a criminal investigation into the secrets leaker if Swiss prosecutors called for one. Ex-CIA operative Snowden broke cover in spectacular fashion earlier this month, unmasking himself as the source of leaks about U.S. government surveillance programmes. Mandela getting better but remains 'serious' JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela continues to recover in hospital from a lung infection but remains in a serious condition, South African President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday. Mandela has been in a Pretoria hospital for a week, the fourth time the 94-year-old former president and anti-Apartheid leader has been admitted to hospital since December. Greek PM dismisses talk of early election ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Sunday dismissed talk of an early election over the abrupt closure of the state broadcaster, which brought protests from viewers, workers, the opposition and his coalition partners. Samaras defended his decision to close ERT and relaunch what he said would be a smaller, more efficient version as a way for Greece to show it was serious about implementing reforms and saving money under the terms of its international bailout. </body> </html> </DataContent> </ContentItem> </NewsComponent> </NewsComponent> </NewsItem> </NewsML>

%xhtml; ]> 20130616T151710+0000 reuters.com 20130616 RTROPT_2013-06-16_15-17-10_TRE7AA35C 1 urn:newsml:reuters.com:20130616:RTROPT_2013-06-16_15-17-10_TRE7AA35C:1 2013-06-16 15:17:10 GMT+00:00 20111111T133141+0000 20130616T151710+0000 OLRSUM Online Report summary SUMM Summary TRE7AA35C Bangalore IN India 2013-06-16T151710Z_49893_TRE7AA35C_RTROPTT_0_OUKWD-SUMMARY.XML UK-World Summary Bangalore India16 June 2013 REUTERS (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp OUKWD-SUMMARY OUKWD-SUMMARY:UK-World Summary </head> <body> Riot police quell protests ahead of Erdogan rally ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Riot police used teargas in Istanbul and Ankara on Sunday to try to prevent anti-government demonstrators from regrouping ahead of a rally by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party. Bulldozers removed barricades and municipal workers swept the streets around Istanbul's Taksim Square, sealed off by police after thousands took to the streets overnight following a raid by riot police firing teargas and water cannon to evict demonstrators from the adjoining Gezi Park. Iranians count on president-elect Rohani to bring change DUBAI (Reuters) - Thousands of Iranians celebrated on the streets into Sunday's early hours, counting on moderate president-elect Hassan Rohani to follow through on promises of better relations abroad and more freedom at home after routing hardliners at the polls. A mid-ranking Shi'ite cleric, Rohani is an Islamic Republic insider who has held senior political and military posts since the 1979 revolution and maintained a good rapport throughout with theocratic Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's most powerful man who has the last word on all the big issues. Car bombs, shootings kill 30 across Iraq BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Attacks across Iraq targeting mainly Shi'ite Muslims killed at least 30 people on Sunday, police and medics said, intensifying fears of a descent into all-out sectarian war. Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Sunni leader Saddam Hussein, a stable power-sharing compromise between Iraq's Sunni, Shi'ite and ethnic Kurdish factions is still elusive and violence is on the rise. Putin arrives late for Syria talks with Cameron ahead of G8 LONDON (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived an hour late for talks on Syria with Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday before a G8 summit which is expected to be dominated by discussions about how to end the Syrian conflict. The talks follow a decision by President Barack Obama's administration to arm rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad after it said it had obtained proof that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons. Jordan's army ready for any threat from Syria - king AMMAN (Reuters) - King Abdullah said on Sunday Jordan's armed forces were ready to protect the country against any threat from the escalating civil war in neighbouring Syria. He was speaking as Jordanian and U.S. forces conducted military exercises less than 75 miles (120 km) from the Syrian border, with the participation of 17 other countries. Gunmen kill four Shi'ite Lebanese in Bekaa Valley BEIRUT (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead four Shi'ite Muslim men in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley in an ambush on Sunday, security sources said, in the latest sectarian violence close to the border with Syria. The civil war just a few miles across the border in Syria has inflamed tensions in the Bekaa Valley, where Sunni Muslims who support the uprising against Bashar al-Assad live close to Shi'ites who back the Syrian president. North Korea wants to hold high-level talks with U.S SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea on Sunday offered high-level talks with the United States to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula, but the White House said that any talks must involve Pyongyang taking action to show it is moving toward scrapping its nuclear weapons. The offer came only days after North Korea abruptly cancelled planned official talks with South Korea, the first planned talks in more two years. The North blamed the South for scuttling discussions that sought to mend estranged ties between the rival Koreas. Swiss president would back criminal probe against NSA leaker GENEVA (Reuters) - Swiss President Ueli Maurer said on Sunday he doubted Edward Snowden's claims about his activities as a CIA man in Geneva and would back a criminal investigation into the secrets leaker if Swiss prosecutors called for one. Ex-CIA operative Snowden broke cover in spectacular fashion earlier this month, unmasking himself as the source of leaks about U.S. government surveillance programmes. Mandela getting better but remains 'serious' JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela continues to recover in hospital from a lung infection but remains in a serious condition, South African President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday. Mandela has been in a Pretoria hospital for a week, the fourth time the 94-year-old former president and anti-Apartheid leader has been admitted to hospital since December. Greek PM dismisses talk of early election ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Sunday dismissed talk of an early election over the abrupt closure of the state broadcaster, which brought protests from viewers, workers, the opposition and his coalition partners. Samaras defended his decision to close ERT and relaunch what he said would be a smaller, more efficient version as a way for Greece to show it was serious about implementing reforms and saving money under the terms of its international bailout. </body> </html> </DataContent> </ContentItem> </NewsComponent> </NewsComponent> </NewsItem> </NewsML>