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| House prices rise 0.6 percent month-on-month in June - Halifax Thursday, Jul 04, 2013 12:18 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - House prices rose 0.6 percent in June from May and posted their sharpest annual increase in nearly three years in the second quarter, mortgage lender Halifax said on Thursday. Prices were 3.7 percent higher in the April-June period than a year ago. Both readings beat analysts' forecasts for a 0.4 percent monthly rise and a 3.6 percent yearly increase. "Improved confidence in both the housing market and the economy, combined with a shortage of properties available for sale, appear to be pushing up house prices," said Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa bonds, rand set for more weakness as risk appetite wanes Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:58 PM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's government bonds retreated further on Thursday while the rand drifted near the previous session's four-day lows against the dollar, with pressure on riskier assets likely to persist ahead of key U.S. jobs data due out on Friday. The yield on the bond due in 2026, the market benchmark, edged up one basis point to 7.955 percent, as did the shorter-dated 2015 paper to 6.135 percent. The rand recovered slightly after falling as much as 1 percent overnight. The local currency traded at 10.06 per dollar by 0628 GMT, up 0.1 percent from Wednesday's close at 10. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Merkel agree to talks on U.S. surveillance program Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:52 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought to allay concerns from German Chancellor Angela Merkel about reported U.S. spying on European allies on Wednesday, and they agreed to hold a high-level meeting on the subject in coming days. The European Union has demanded the United States explain a report in a German magazine that Washington was spying on its European allies, calling such surveillance shocking if true. The reports came to light amid the imbroglio over former U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Nigeria seeks farming revival to break oil curse Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:38 PM PDT  By Joe Brock SAULAWA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Down a winding dirt track in this sleepy village in northern Nigeria lies a corn farm which looks much like the dozens that surround it. The difference is, this one is turning a profit. "I can barely lift my 8-year-old. He's the fattest in the village," said Ibrahim Mustapha, 50, drawing laughter from his fellow farmers as he pretends to lift up his chubby son. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ivory Coast's Ouattara says to seek re-election in 2015 Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:37 PM PDT  ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara said on Wednesday that he would seek re-election for a second term in 2015 in the world's top cocoa grower, the first time he has publicly commented on his leadership plans. Ouattara won a November 2010 election but only took power in April 2011 after winning a brief civil war, thanks to French support, against fighters loyal to former president Laurent Gbagbo. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cameroon says it has 4,000 refugees from Nigeria conflict Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:35 PM PDT YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Cameroon has received 4,000 refugees fleeing a Nigerian military offensive against Islamists in the north, the governor of the affected region said on Wednesday, bringing total refugee numbers from the conflict to at least 10,000. Since mid-May, Nigerian forces have been engaged in a concerted crackdown against the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, bombing their bases, raiding neighbourhoods where they are suspected to be hiding and cutting phone lines. The remote, semi-desert region where the operation is being carried out is sparsely populated. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-No election before reforms agreed, says Worawi Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:30 PM PDT By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK, July 4 (Reuters) - Controversial reforms must be implemented before Thai soccer officials can go to the polls, FIFA executive committee member Worawi Makudi told Reuters, dismissing the demands of the country's top sports adminsitrators to hold the election first. Worawi's term as Thai Football Association (FAT) president ended on June 16 but scheduled elections were postponed after he failed to push through FIFA-backed reforms, which included slashing the number of eligible voters by more than half to 72. ... Full Story | Top |
| When is a coup not a coup? Obama faces tricky call in Egypt Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:24 PM PDT By Patricia Zengerle and Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Egyptian military's overthrow of elected President Mohamed Mursi left President Barack Obama grappling with a difficult question of diplomacy and language in dealing with the Arab world's most populous nation: was it a coup? At stake as Obama and his aides wrestle with that question in the coming days is the $1.5 billion in aid the United States sends to Cairo each year - almost all of it for the military - as well as the president's views on how best to promote Arab democracy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenya offers 15-year Treasury bond for 15 bln shillings in July Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:23 PM PDT NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya will auction a reopened 15-year Treasury bond worth up to 15 billion shillings in July, the Central Bank said on Thursday. The 15-year bond will carry a coupon rate of 11.25 percent and will be auctioned on July 24. The last sale of a 15-year bond in April had a weighted average yield of 13.661 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Worries mount for German 'Mittelstand' as election looms Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:21 PM PDT  By Michelle Martin BERLIN (Reuters) - Christof Rosenberg has been trying for a year to find a skilled toolmaker for the specialist pipe company he runs with his two brothers in western Germany. Two recruits he brought in and trained failed to master the job. Now he's having to delay projects by up to six weeks and that's hurting business at Aquatherm, the 450-strong firm Rosenberg's father set up in his garage four decades ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenya government makes partial U-turn on new tax after protests Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:18 PM PDT By James Macharia NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya has proposed exempting staples maize and bread from taxes under a proposed law that has fanned widespread discontent but consumer groups say the concession is not enough. The law re-introducing a 16 percent value-added tax on most foods has further inflamed discontent at a time when teachers are in their second week of a nationwide strike demanding higher housing, medical and transport allowances, while other civil servants including the police are clamouring for higher pay. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan suspends radio station for criticising government Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:16 PM PDT By Andrew Green JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan suspended a Catholic radio station after it investigated the suspicious death of a prisoner, reporters and human rights activists said on Wednesday, the latest crackdown on media in the young republic. Journalists in South Sudan, which seceded from Sudan in 2011, often complain of harassment and arbitrary detention by the security forces, a loose conglomeration of former militias from decades of civil war with Khartoum. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guinea government, opposition agree to end-September election Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:15 PM PDT  By Saliou Samb CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's government and opposition parties reached a deal on Wednesday to hold long-delayed legislative elections at the end of September to complete the mineral-rich nation's transition to civilian rule. Elections scheduled for June 30 were postponed after a wave of protests, with the opposition accusing President Alpha Conde of planning to rig the poll. Conde won a 2010 election in Guinea's first democratic transition of power, but his victory was contested by the opposition. ... Full Story | Top |
| IMF gives Liberia next aid disbursement, calls for transparency Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:14 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The IMF board on Wednesday approved next aid disbursement for Liberia under a $78.9 million loan program, and called on the West African state to do more to improve its governance and transparency. Liberia has attracted billions of dollars in resource investment since the end of a civil war in 2003, but remains one of the world's least developed countries, with at least 64 percent of the population living in poverty. The International Monetary Fund said Liberia must do more to ensure that strong economic growth, mainly from mining, spills over to the rest of the economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria to sign off on $3 billion in Chinese loans Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:13 PM PDT  By Joe Brock and Felix Onuah ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan will travel to China next week to sign off on $3 billion in Chinese loans to build infrastructure in Africa's most populous country, the finance minister said on Wednesday. The agreed loans will come from the Chinese government and will be based on interest rates of less than 3 percent over a 15-20 year period, Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi held by Egypt army; West has 'coup' dilemma Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 11:09 PM PDT  By Alastair Macdonald and Alexander Dziadosz CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army was holding ousted President Mohamed Mursi at a military facility in Cairo on Thursday and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders were arrested in a crackdown on the movement that won several elections last year. The United Nations, the United States and other world powers did not condemn Mursi's removal as a military coup. To do so might trigger sanctions. Army intervention was backed by millions of Egyptians, including liberal leaders and religious figures who expect new elections under a revised set of rules. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria opposition meets to find leader, show it is ready for arms Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 10:41 PM PDT  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria's fractious opposition coalition meets on Thursday under pressure to name a new leader and prove to its Western and Arab backers it can be trusted with advanced weapons to beat back a concerted offensive by President Bashar al-Assad. The opposition's inability to unite has made Western countries reluctant to send weapons, even as Assad's forces have seized initiative in recent months and Washington and its European allies have vowed to aid his enemies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Morales back in Bolivia after plane drama over Snowden Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 10:16 PM PDT  By Daniel Ramos LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived home to a hero's welcome late on Wednesday, saying some European countries' refusal to let his plane enter their airspace because of suspicion it carried fugitive U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was a provocation aimed at all of South America. Morales was greeted by his Cabinet and cheering, fist-pumping crowds at La Paz's airport after a dramatic journey from Moscow that ignited a diplomatic furore when his plane had to make an unscheduled stop in Vienna on Tuesday evening. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi held by Egypt's army; 'coup' dilemma for the West Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 09:48 PM PDT  By Alastair Macdonald and Alexander Dziadosz CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army was holding ousted President Mohamed Mursi at a military facility in Cairo on Thursday and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders were arrested in a crackdown on the movement that won several elections last year. The United Nations, the United States and other world powers did not condemn Mursi's removal as a military coup. To do so might trigger sanctions. Army intervention was backed by millions of Egyptians, including liberal leaders and religious figures who expect new elections under a revised set of rules. ... Full Story | Top |
| Abe urges voters to help end parliamentary deadlock Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 09:42 PM PDT  By Kiyoshi Takenaka FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, riding high in opinion polls on hopes he can revive a stagnant economy, urged voters on Thursday to back his ruling bloc in this month's upper house election and end a six-year policy deadlock. Abe, back in power after his Liberal Democratic Party's big win in a December election for the powerful lower house, is expected to lead his coalition to a hefty victory in the July 21 poll, resolving a "twisted parliament" where opposition parties control the upper house and are able to block bills. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Main Japan parties ahead of July upper house poll Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 09:41 PM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner appear on track to win a majority in a July 21 election for parliament's upper house, cementing the Japanese leader's grip on power and ending a parliamentary deadlock that has foiled policy implementation since 2007. Abe, 58, returned to office for a rare second term after the LDP won a December election for the more powerful lower house. ... Full Story | Top |
| China to grow 7.6 percent in second half; risks up: paper Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 09:22 PM PDT  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's economy is expected to grow 7.6 percent in the second half of 2013, but risks of bad local government loans, slowing growth of central government revenue, diminished export competitiveness and industrial capacity are growing, the official China Securities Journal reported on Thursday. Economists have been cutting their forecasts for the world's second-largest economy following a string of weak data recently, with some predicting the government will not be able to meet it full-year target of 7.5 percent. China's economy expanded 7. ... Full Story | Top |
| In New York's 'Little Egypt,' Egyptian-Americans cheer Mursi's ouster Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 09:08 PM PDT  By Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) - Members of New York's Egyptian community descended on the coffee shops, delis and Hookah bars of "Little Egypt" on Wednesday to celebrate the overthrowing of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi after one year in office. Some people gathered on the sidewalks of the neighborhood in Astoria, Queens, but most congregated inside the public places and their homes, eyes glued to Arabic-language news programs and TV images of demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square. ... Full Story | Top |
| Scientists create human liver from stem cells Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 08:35 PM PDT By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have for the first time created a functional human liver from stem cells derived from skin and blood and say their success points to a future where much-needed livers and other transplant organs could be made in a laboratory. While it may take another 10 years before lab-grown livers could be used to treat patients, the Japanese scientists say they now have important proof of concept that paves the way for more ambitious organ-growing experiments. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ecuador seeks London's help over embassy bugging Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 08:33 PM PDT  By Alexandra Valencia and Estelle Shirbon QUITO/LONDON (Reuters) - Ecuador said on Wednesday it would seek the help of the British government to determine who put a hidden microphone in the South American nation's London embassy, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is holed up. Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino Patino said a microphone was found inside the office of the ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ana Alban, while he visited the embassy to meet with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on June 16. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea proposes fresh talks with North over shuttered factories Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 07:51 PM PDT  By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea offered to hold talks with North Korea aimed at reopening a jointly run factory park near the armed border between the two countries just three weeks after their last attempt at dialogue faltered amid bickering over protocol. The offer, made on Thursday, was for talks to be held on Saturday at the Panmumjom truce village that straddles the border, the South's Unification Ministry said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hit spy comedy tackles the tragedy of divided Korea Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 07:48 PM PDT By Michelle Kim and Daum Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - A trio of elite, but bumbling, North Korean spies has won the hearts of southern compatriots in a blockbuster South Korean film that views the tragedy of the divided peninsula through the unusual prism of comedy. The record-breaking success of "Secretly Greatly" - which scored a million viewers in just 36 hours after its release early last month, a first for a domestic film, and will debut in the United States this month - testifies to the fascination the North holds even 60 years after the end of the Korean War. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brief shooting at Islamist camp in Cairo Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 07:44 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - There was a brief outbreak of shooting early on Thursday around a gathering near a Cairo mosque of supporters of deposed President Mohamed Mursi, but witnesses said it was not clear that anyone was injured. Two officials of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood said armed men fired on the encampment and one said people were hit. A Reuters correspondent at the scene later spoke to three people who had heard gunfire for a few minutes after 3 a.m. (9 p.m. EDT Wednesday) but saw no casualties. One man living in a nearby building said he believed people had been shooting in the air. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judges stand firm on California prison crowding relief plan Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 06:51 PM PDT  By Sharon Bernstein (Reuters) - A federal court on Wednesday refused to back down from an order requiring California to reduce prison overcrowding by the end of the year, a goal that could force the early release of up to 10,000 inmates. The decision is the latest in a feud between California Governor Jerry Brown and a panel of three judges over how best to relieve crowding and improve medical and mental health treatment in the state's 33 prisons. The judges - Stephen Reinhardt, Lawrence K. Karlton and Thelton E. ... Full Story | Top |
| Missing brother of Senator Mark Udall found dead in Wyoming Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 06:29 PM PDT By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Mark Udall's younger brother, who had been missing for more than a week, was found dead on Wednesday in a Wyoming mountain range, but no foul play was suspected, authorities said. The body of James "Randy" Udall, 61, who had been the subject of a search since failing to return from a week-long back-country hike, was discovered in a remote mountain area, Sublette County Sheriff Dave Lankford said. "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Randy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Latin America fumes over Bolivia incident in Snowden saga Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 06:13 PM PDT  By Louise Egan and Hugh Bronstein BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Latin American leaders slammed European governments on Wednesday for diverting Bolivian President Evo Morales' plane on rumors it was carrying a wanted former U.S. spy agency contractor, and announced an emergency summit in a new diplomatic twist to the Edward Snowden saga. Bolivia said Morales was returning from Moscow on Tuesday when France and Portugal abruptly banned his plane from entering their airspace due to suspicions that Snowden, wanted by Washington for leaking secrets, was onboard. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. concerned about Egypt army interference but doesn't condemn Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 06:09 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed on Wednesday for calm and restraint in Egypt, as well as the preservation of rights such as freedom of expression and assembly, after the country's army overthrew Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. "Many Egyptians in their protests have voiced deep frustrations and legitimate concerns," he said in a statement that did not condemn the Egyptian armed forces' ouster of Mursi. "At the same time, military interference in the affairs of any state is of concern," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Seven severed heads found by highway in central Mexico Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 05:44 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Authorities have found seven severed heads stuffed in plastic bags on the edge of a highway near the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco state prosecutors said on Wednesday. The gruesome discovery about 25 miles from the country's second-biggest city is a reminder of the criminal violence still plaguing Mexico, despite assurances from the government that the murder rate is falling. More than 60,000 people died in violence linked to warring drug cartels during the 2006-2012 presidency of Felipe Calderon. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judges OK JPMorgan $546 million settlement with MF Global trustee, customers Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 05:42 PM PDT  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - Customers of MF Global's failed broker-dealer unit and the trustee overseeing its liquidation won court approval on Wednesday for a $546 million settlement with JPMorgan Chase & Co . The settlement, announced in March, resolved claims levied by James Giddens, the trustee winding down MF's broker-dealer unit MF Global Inc, and by the broker's former customers, who are pursuing a federal class action over MF Global's collapse in 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Police, workers exhume Mandela's children Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 05:25 PM PDT  By Yvonne Bell MVEZO, South Africa (Reuters) - Workers armed with pick-axes and a court order broke into the compound of Nelson Mandela's grandson on Wednesday to exhume the remains of three of the anti-apartheid hero's children, a new twist in a row that has split South Africa's most famous family. Within hours of a ruling against Mandla Mandela by the high court in Mthatha, 700 km (450 miles) south of Johannesburg, police and hearses arrived at Mandla's complex in the nearby village of Mvezo, where the three Mandela offspring are buried. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ethnic Koreans in China swap burdensome North for profitable South Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 05:19 PM PDT  By Ju-min Park BEIJING (Reuters) - When a delegation of North Korean officials visited the head of the Korean business association in China last year asking him to drum up investment in their impoverished country, Jin Rong-guo turned them away. The 200-strong ethnic Korean business group has its eyes on a more inviting prize - South Korea. "North Korea has lost credibility for investment. Korean Chinese businessmen always question if they can recoup their money," said Jin, 51, whose office is in Beijing's Korea Town, where South Korean franchise cafes and restaurants line the streets. ... Full Story | Top |
| FCC approves Sprint-Clearwire-SoftBank deal: sources Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 05:15 PM PDT  By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators on Wednesday collected the final vote to approve the merger of Sprint Nextel Corp and SoftBank Corp , sources familiar with the situation said, clearing the last hurdle in the Japanese company's drawn-out battle to take control of the No. 3 U.S. wireless provider. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU calls for quick return to democracy in Egypt Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 04:59 PM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union called for a rapid return to democracy in Egypt on Thursday after the country's armed forces overthrew President Mohamed Mursi. "I urge all sides to rapidly return to the democratic process, including the holding of free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections and the approval of a constitution, to be done in a fully inclusive manner, so as to permit the country to resume and complete its democratic transition," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Merkel agree to high-level talks on U.S. surveillance program Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 04:56 PM PDT By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought to allay concerns from German Chancellor Angela Merkel about reported U.S. spying on European allies on Wednesday, and they agreed to hold a high-level meeting on the subject in coming days. The European Union has demanded the United States explain a report in a German magazine that Washington was spying on its European allies, calling such surveillance shocking if true. The reports came to light amid an ongoing imbroglio involving former U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Mursi being held by authorities: sources Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 04:45 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's deposed President Mohamed Mursi, toppled by the military on Wednesday, is being held by the authorities, a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman and a security official said on Thursday. Ahmed Aref, the Brotherhood spokesman, said both Mursi and Essam El-Haddad, a senior aide, were being held but he did not know where. A security official said they were being held at a military intelligence facility. (Reporting by Maggie Fick, Yasmine Saleh and Tom Perry; Editing by Philip Barbara) Full Story | Top |
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