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United States to meet Taliban to seek Afghan peace

By Mark Felsenthal, Hamid Shalizi and Dylan Welch WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - The United States will meet the Taliban this week for talks aimed at achieving peace in Afghanistan, where U.S.-led forces and the insurgents have fought a bloody and costly war for the past 12 years, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The Taliban opened an office in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Tuesday to help restart talks and said it wanted a political solution that would bring about a just government and end foreign occupation of Afghanistan.

50,000 Protest in Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo, Jun 18 (EFE).- Fifty thousand people took to the streets of Sao Paulo and in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday to protest the recent hike in bus fares, criticize corruption and demand improvements in public services. A small group of demonstrators attacked the Sao Paulo City Hall and forced the municipal guard to take refuge inside the building. Later the crowd threw fence barriers and other objects at the windows, breaking a number of them, and wrote graffiti on the outer walls.

G-8 leaders condemn any use of chemical weapons in Syria

Leaders of the Group of Eight nations on Tuesday condemned "in the strongest terms" any use of chemical weapons in Syria and called on all sides to allow U.N. investigators to look into their alleged use, as they wrapped up their two-day summit in Northern Ireland. In a communique released after the summit, the leaders also vowed to cooperate in reducing terrorism risks, while calling on North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs, which Pyongyang has pursued despite international sanctions against it.

Fiji offers more than 500 troops to Golan force

Fiji has offered more than 500 troops to the UN Golan Heights peacekeeping force after several countries withdrew because of the spillover from the Syria conflict, diplomats said Tuesday. Fiji will supply 170 troops this month to replace Japanese and Croatian soldiers who have left in previous weeks. Diplomats said it has also offered to replace the 370 troops that Austria is withdrawing.

Mali government, Tuaregs sign ceasefire accord

The Mali government and Tuareg rebels signed a ceasefire accord Tuesday paving the way for presidential elections in the troubled west African state next month. The agreement, reached after 10 days of tense negotiations, will enable Malian troops to enter the Tuareg-held city of Kidal to secure the polls scheduled to take place on July 28. The two sides agreed to halt hostilities and for Tuareg rebels, who took part in an uprising last year that brought the country to its knees, to be restricted to set areas. Long-term peace talks will start after the election.

Courageous Campbell represents heart of Boston's Stanley Cup bid

By Steve Keating BOSTON (Reuters) - Gregory Campbell will never be the face of the Boston Bruins but he does represent the heart and soul of a team that prides itself on a blue collar work ethic and all-for-one philosophy. Campbell will not play a single minute against the Chicago Blackhawks in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup final but the fourth-liner's contributions cannot be overlooked.

Four from U.S. forces killed in attack in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four from U.S. forces were killed in an attack on Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity, just as the United States prepares for talks this week with the Taliban. The official said insurgents attacked the base with some kind of indirect fire, leaving open the possibility it was hit by rockets or mortar rounds. No further details were immediately available. (Reporting by David Alexander, writing by Phil Stewart)

Trial of accused Fort Hood gunman moved to at least August

By Don Bolding FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - The trial of a U.S. Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009 will be delayed by at least a month and start in early August, a military judge ruled on Tuesday. Major Nidal Hasan, 42, who could face the death penalty for the shooting at the Army post, has been allowed to represent himself at the trial, which will open no earlier than August 6, the judge, Colonel Tara Osborn, ruled.

Peter MacKay in U.S. capital meeting with Chuck Hagel, John McCain

WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain urged the world on Tuesday to learn from the mistakes of history as it stands by and watches Syria's bloody civil war while Canada's defence minister, Peter MacKay, reiterated the Canadian government's decision not to arm the Syrian rebels. "There's an old line about those who refuse to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them," McCain told reporters at the Canadian embassy.

NSA head, lawmakers defend surveillance programs

By Tabassum Zakaria and John Whitesides WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the National Security Agency said U.S. surveillance programs had helped disrupt more than 50 possible attacks since September 11, 2001, as sympathetic members of Congress also defended the use of the top-secret spying operations.
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