Cairo, July 27
Egyptian security forces shot dead scores of supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on Saturday, witnesses said, days after the army chief called for a popular mandate to wipe out "violence and terrorism".

Men in helmets and black police fatigues fired on crowds gathered before dawn on the fringes of a round-the-clock sit-in near a mosque in northeast Cairo, Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood said.

"They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill," said Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad. "The bullet wounds are in the head and chest."

A Muslim Brotherhood website said 120 people had been killed and some 4,500 injured. A Reuters reporter counted 36 bodies at one morgue, while health officials said there were a further 21 corspes in two nearby hospitals.

Activists rushed blood-spattered casualties into a makeshift hospital, some were carried in on planks or blankets.

One ashen teenager was laid out on the floor, a bullet hole in his head. Egypt's Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim told reporters only 21 had died and denied police had opened fire, accusing the Brotherhood of exaggerating for political ends.

Ibrahim said local residents living close to the Rabaa al-Adawia mosque vigil had clashed with protesters in the early hours after they had blocked off a major road bridge. He said that police had used teargas to try to break up the fighting.

Well over 200 people have been killed in violence since the army toppled Mursi on July 3, following huge protests against his year in power. The army denies accusations it staged a coup, saying it intervened to prevent national chaos.

The Arab world's most populous state is battling economic woes and struggling with the transition to democracy two years after Hosni Mubarak was swept from power in the Arab Spring. — Reuters

New York, July 27
Seven Indian-Americans are among eight individuals charged here with paying over USD 2.3 million in bribes and kickback to executives of a medical cost management company to secure business from it.

Those who were charged with paying the bribes are Sarvesh Dharayan, Sanjay Gupta, Venkata Atluri, Rangarajan Kumar, Vadan Kumar Kopalle and Dareen Siriani. The defendants charged with receiving the bribes and kickbacks are Anil Singh and Keith Bush.

If convicted, the accused may face a jail term up to 20 years. "Today's actions underscore our commitment to work with our law enforcement partners to bring to justice individuals who break the law out of greed," Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York said after filing the charges. Singh was the Senior Vice President and the Chief Information Officer at the New York Company, which provided nation-wide medical cost management solutions, including medical reimbursement services and Bush was employed as the company's Director of Database Administration. Singh and Bush had considerable influence over the selection of vendors, specifically vendors of database administrators hired by the New York Company.

It has been alleged that from 2008 to September 2012, various individuals collectively paid over USD 2.3 million in money and other benefits to Singh and Bush to steer millions of dollars of the New York Company's DBA business to them.

According to the complaint, Dharayan, Gupta, Atluri, Kumar and Kopalle paid the kickbacks and bribes through conduit companies established by Bush and Singh for the very purpose of disguising true nature and origin of the illegal payments. Dharayan, Gupta, Koppalle and Siriani were arrested at their homes in New Jersey and were presented in Manhattan federal court yesterday before US Magistrate Judge James L Cott. — PTI

Manila, July 27
Six people were killed and more than 40 wounded in the Philippines when a bomb struck a restaurant filled with doctors after a national convention, police said today.

Police said the improvised explosive device went off around midnight yesterday at a popular restaurant in the southern port city of Cagayan de Oro.

Most of the victims were doctors and pharmaceutical salesmen who had just attended a national convention of lung-disease specialists at a nearby hotel, said the city police chief, Senior Superintendent Graciano Mijares. "This is one of the busiest areas of Cagayan de Oro.... somebody left a bomb on a chair at the bistro," he told reporters. — AFP

Pyongyang, July 27
North Korea celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Korean War truce on Saturday with a massive military parade trumpeting the revolutionary genius of three generations of leaders that gave it "Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War". Leader Kim Jong-un was joined by Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao on the podium overlooking Pyongyang's main Kim Il Sung square to inspect a massive throng of soldiers in goosestep and a display of weapons including its mid-range missiles.

Kim exchanged words with Li through an interpreter but did not make public remarks at the parade, which appeared to be one of the largest ever put on by North. Choe Ryong-hae, Kim's main military aide and chief political operative of the North's 1.2-million-strong army, said the reclusive state sees peace as a top national priority and its military was aimed at safeguarding North Korea from invasion. — Reuters