Putin calls for better relations with US

Putin calls for better relations with US in congratulatory message to Obama

President Vladimir Putin called for better relations between Russia and the US on Friday in a goodwill message to President Barack Obama on US Independence Day, Reuters said. Putin highlighted that the two states carry exceptional responsibility for safeguarding international stability and security, and should cooperate “in the interests of the whole world,” the Kremlin said.

USS Oscar Austin calls at Lithuanian port

USS Oscar Austin has reportedly called at the port of the Lithuanian city of Klaipeda. The destroyer is making a friendly visit to Klaipeda Seaport, Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defense said. On July 4, President Dalia Grybauskaite, Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas, US Ambassador in Lithuania Deborah McCarthy are expected to visit the vessel, the Baltic Course reported.

Hungary monitors 5 people for suspected anthrax infection

An infection of the deadly anthrax disease has been identified in beef in eastern Hungary, the health authority ANTSZ said on Friday. Five people are being monitored in hospital for suspected infection from the disease, Reuters reported. The disease was identified in frozen beef after two cattle were illegally slaughtered in a farm in the town of Tiszafured, 160km east of Budapest.

Police detain organizers of huge rally in Hong Kong

Police on Friday arrested the organizers of Hong Kong's biggest pro-democracy rally since the city was handed back to China, AFP said. Five members of the Civil Human Rights Front, including its convener, were arrested three days after the march, with campaigners denouncing the detention as the “political suppression.” The group said it had mobilized half a million people to voice anger at Beijing's ever-tightening grip on Hong Kong.

70,000 ask Google to delete personal links

More than 70,000 people have asked Google to delete links about them under Europe’s "right to be forgotten" ruling. Google had received 70,000 requests since it put a form online on May 30 as a result of the ruling by the European Court of Justice, AFP said. The search engine has restricted access to a BBC blog posting and several British newspaper stories under a legal ruling granting people a right to be "forgotten" in search engines. In particular, the BBC’s 2007 posting about former Merrill Lynch chairman Stan O'Neal was removed from certain searches in Europe. The Guardian newspaper had been notified that six links to its stories had been removed from search results.

Bolivia MPs vote for child labor from age 10

Bolivian Congress has approved child workers as young as 10 years old, AFP said. Congress passed a new law that lays out specific conditions for employing children by consensus on Wednesday. Employers will have to follow certain criteria to ensure the physical and mental health of employed children, and to prevent child exploitation. “The age limit, as defined formally by the Code for Children and Adolescents, is 14 years old,”Senator Adolfo Mendoza said. However, the new code allows exceptions, when specific legal criteria have been met.

Hurricane Arthur reaches Category 2, makes landfall on North Carolina coast

Hurricane Arthur was upgraded to a Category 2 storm Thursday afternoon, with maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour. By late Thursday night it had made landfall between Cape Lookout and Beaufort, North Carolina. "The hurricane's strongest winds are now more likely to be experienced along the Outer Banks, rather than remain offshore," the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its latest advisory. The storm surge is forecasted to be 3 to 5 feet in the Outer Banks and other parts of eastern North Carolina. A tropical storm warning is now in effect for Nantucket and parts of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, while a hurricane warning extends from North Carolina to the border with Virginia.