</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. Rebel brigades check loyalist advances in Aleppo - opposition AMMAN (Reuters) - Rebel brigades fought Hezbollah-backed forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in and around Syria's commercial hub of Aleppo on Sunday, trying to claw back territory lost to an assault that threatens the opposition's grip on the city, activists said. Rebel brigades poured into Aleppo last July and have more than half the city under their control. But pro-Assad forces have deployed there in the past three weeks, suggesting a push to retake the city could be under way. Czech PM faces showdown as coalition partners waver PRAGUE (Reuters) - Some members of the Czech Republic's governing coalition are considering ditching Prime Minister Petr Necas after his closest aide was charged with bribery and ordering illegal surveillance, his deputy said on Sunday. Necas faces a showdown with his coalition partners later on Sunday when they meet for talks following the arrest of his long-standing personal assistant Jana Nagyova. 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. Bible-burning Egyptian cleric jailed for 11 years CAIRO (Reuters) - A Cairo court sentenced an Egyptian Muslim preacher to 11 years in jail for blasphemy on Sunday for burning a Bible during a protest last year outside the U.S. embassy. Convictions for insulting Islam are common in Egypt, ruled by Islamists after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, but more rare for cases involving the minority Christian faith. Germany's Left party launches uncompromising election fight DRESDEN (Reuters) - Germany's Left party set an election platform attacking capitalism head on this weekend, avowing old school socialism and making any later coalition pact with the mainstream opposition seem all but impossible. If the Left party and the centre-left opposition Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens joined forces they could match Merkel's centre-right government in strength, possibly even ousting the chancellor after the September 22 vote. 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. </body> </html> </DataContent> </ContentItem> </NewsComponent> </NewsComponent> </NewsItem> </NewsML>

%xhtml; ]> 20130616T165916+0000 reuters.com 20130616 RTROPT_2013-06-16_16-59-16_TRE7AA35C 1 urn:newsml:reuters.com:20130616:RTROPT_2013-06-16_16-59-16_TRE7AA35C:1 2013-06-16 16:59:16 GMT+00:00 20111111T133141+0000 20130616T165916+0000 OLRSUM Online Report summary SUMM Summary TRE7AA35C Bangalore IN India 2013-06-16T165916Z_49900_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. Rebel brigades check loyalist advances in Aleppo - opposition AMMAN (Reuters) - Rebel brigades fought Hezbollah-backed forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in and around Syria's commercial hub of Aleppo on Sunday, trying to claw back territory lost to an assault that threatens the opposition's grip on the city, activists said. Rebel brigades poured into Aleppo last July and have more than half the city under their control. But pro-Assad forces have deployed there in the past three weeks, suggesting a push to retake the city could be under way. Czech PM faces showdown as coalition partners waver PRAGUE (Reuters) - Some members of the Czech Republic's governing coalition are considering ditching Prime Minister Petr Necas after his closest aide was charged with bribery and ordering illegal surveillance, his deputy said on Sunday. Necas faces a showdown with his coalition partners later on Sunday when they meet for talks following the arrest of his long-standing personal assistant Jana Nagyova. 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. Bible-burning Egyptian cleric jailed for 11 years CAIRO (Reuters) - A Cairo court sentenced an Egyptian Muslim preacher to 11 years in jail for blasphemy on Sunday for burning a Bible during a protest last year outside the U.S. embassy. Convictions for insulting Islam are common in Egypt, ruled by Islamists after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, but more rare for cases involving the minority Christian faith. Germany's Left party launches uncompromising election fight DRESDEN (Reuters) - Germany's Left party set an election platform attacking capitalism head on this weekend, avowing old school socialism and making any later coalition pact with the mainstream opposition seem all but impossible. If the Left party and the centre-left opposition Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens joined forces they could match Merkel's centre-right government in strength, possibly even ousting the chancellor after the September 22 vote. 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. </body> </html> </DataContent> </ContentItem> </NewsComponent> </NewsComponent> </NewsItem> </NewsML>