| | |
| Remember bogus U.S. excuses for Iraq war before attacking Syria: China's Xinhua Tuesday, Aug 27, 2013 12:56 AM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - An attack on Syria would be dangerous and irresponsible, and the world should remember the Iraq war was started by U.S. allegations of weapons of mass destruction which turned out to be false, China's official Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday. The United States has served Syrian President Bashar al-Assad notice that it believes he was responsible for chemical weapons being used against civilians last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraqi Kurdistan rules out intervening over Syrian border Tuesday, Aug 27, 2013 12:50 AM PDT  By Sylvia Westall ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's northern Kurdistan region has no plans to send troops into Syria to defend fellow Kurds, a senior Iraqi Kurdish official said, despite safety concerns which have driven thousands to cross the border. Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said earlier this month his well-armed region was ready to defend Kurds living in northeastern Syria if they were being threatened by rebel militants who have captured swathes of land in the north. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghan Taliban execute six in stable Herat Tuesday, Aug 27, 2013 12:46 AM PDT By Sharaf Stanekzai HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The Afghan Taliban executed six men who worked for a government program in western Herat, one of the war-ravaged country's most stable provinces whose small but promising private sector is driving the national economy, the governor said on Tuesday. The men were shot in the head late on Monday, despite efforts by governor Fazlullah Wahidi to convince the Taliban the men did not work for him. "We had gathered some elders to meet the Taliban to tell them that they ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran warns against strike on Syria after gas attack Tuesday, Aug 27, 2013 12:23 AM PDT  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran warned on Tuesday against foreign military intervention in Syria, saying the resulting conflict would engulf the region. The United States said on Monday it believed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for a chemical weapons attack against civilians last week, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said President Barack Obama was consulting with allies before deciding how to respond. U.S. warships armed with cruise missiles are already positioned in the Mediterranean. ... Full Story | Top |
| China August official PMI seen hitting three-month high Monday, Aug 26, 2013 11:55 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity in August may have expanded at the fastest pace in three months, a Reuters poll showed, adding to evidence that the world's second-largest economy may be stabilizing after slowing for more than two years. The median forecast of 12 economists polled by Reuters showed China's official manufacturing managers' index (PMI) in August may have risen to 50.6 from July's 50.3. A reading above 50 indicates expanding activity while one below it points to a contraction. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa mines less violent as AMCU union plays by rules Monday, Aug 26, 2013 11:53 PM PDT  By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A year ago, militant South African miners affiliated to upstart union AMCU were marching with spears, clubs and knives in often violent wildcat strikes and protests against management bosses. But in recent months leaders of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, an emerging force on the labour stage of Africa's biggest economy, have been sitting down to tough but peaceful wage talks with mining executives. Strikes still look certain in the struggling mining sector as soaring union wage demands collide head on with depressed metals prices. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's debt-funding costs to hit $257 billion next year: document Monday, Aug 26, 2013 11:48 PM PDT  By Takaya Yamaguchi TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan expects to spend a record $257 billion to service its debt during the next fiscal year, a document obtained by Reuters showed, underscoring the huge burden created by the government's borrowings. The amount to be allocated for debt-servicing for the year that will begin on April 1 is nearly as large as the gross domestic product of Singapore, which the World Bank put at $275 billion at the end of 2012. Japan's Ministry of Finance (MOF), charged with drafting the state budget and issuing government bonds, will request 25. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus does not expect UK base to play a major role in Syria action Monday, Aug 26, 2013 11:38 PM PDT NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus' foreign minister said on Tuesday he did not expect a British airbase on the Mediterranean island to play a major role in any military strike against Syria. British newspapers have speculated that RAF Akrotiri, which lies on the southern tip of Cyprus, could be used. A spokesman for Britain's bases in Cyprus said there had been no upsurge in flight activity at the facility. ... Full Story | Top |
| High speed rail plan 'not worth the money' - business group Monday, Aug 26, 2013 11:24 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should abandon plans for a multi-billion-pound high speed rail link between London and central and northern England because it will not offer value for money, an influential business group said on Tuesday. The government has said the project will generate thousands of jobs and boost business by slashing travel times from regional cities to the economic powerhouse in the capital. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia regrets U.S. postponement of Hague meeting on Syria Monday, Aug 26, 2013 11:10 PM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday it regretted a decision by Washington to postpone talks on an international peace conference for Syria, underlining growing diplomatic tensions over the civil war. The U.S. State Department said on Monday it had postponed the meeting between senior diplomats, scheduled for Wednesday in The Hague, because of "ongoing consultations" over an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria. "It is regrettable that our partners decided to postpone the Russia-U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Arkansas lawsuits test fracking wastewater link to quakes Monday, Aug 26, 2013 10:41 PM PDT  By Mica Rosenberg GREENBRIER, Arkansas (Reuters) - Tony Davis, a 54-year-old construction worker in central Arkansas, said he welcomed the boom in natural gas drilling that brought jobs and new businesses to his hometown starting about a decade ago. But that was before the earth shook. In 2010 and 2011, the quiet farming town of Greenbrier, Arkansas, was rattled by a swarm of more than 1,000 minor earthquakes. The biggest, with a magnitude of 4.7, had its epicenter less than 1,500 feet from Davis's front porch. "This should not be happening in Greenbrier," Davis recalls thinking. ... Full Story | Top |
| India's ruling party president Sonia Gandhi returns from hospital Monday, Aug 26, 2013 10:24 PM PDT  By Nigam Prusty and Sanjeev Miglani NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Sonia Gandhi, the president of India's ruling Congress party who is widely seen as the country's most powerful politician, was back home from hospital on Tuesday after she took ill during a marathon parliament debate, officials said. Gandhi, 66, was led limping out of the lower house on Monday evening by her son and colleagues, and then taken by car to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences hospital in New Delhi. A Congress party official said Gandhi had a touch of viral fever and was fine now. "Madam Gandhi is home now. ... Full Story | Top |
| China sees no basis for talks with Japan over islands dispute Monday, Aug 26, 2013 09:53 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China sees no reason to hold talks with Japan over their dispute about ownership of a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, Chinese deputy foreign minister Li Baodong said on Tuesday. Relations between the world's second- and third-largest economies have been strained for months, largely because of the spat over the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australia's Rudd revives plan to move the navy north Monday, Aug 26, 2013 09:52 PM PDT  By James Grubel CANBERRA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd revived a plan to move Australia's navy north and out of its eastern base in Sydney Harbour on Tuesday, just three months after a major review of defense strategy ruled out the shift. Rudd, who is campaigning for re-election on September 7, said he wanted to resurrect the plan to base new missile destroyers and amphibious assault carriers in the northern city of Brisbane. That would allow faster deployment to potential hotspots or humanitarian disasters in the South Pacific. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ahead of G20, China urges caution in Fed policy tapering Monday, Aug 26, 2013 09:49 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve must consider when and how fast it unwinds its economic stimulus to avoid harming emerging market economies, senior Chinese officials said on Tuesday. The warning by China's Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao and central bank Vice Governor Yi Gang came as economies from Brazil to Indonesia struggle to cope with capital flight as U.S. interest rates rise ahead of an expected tapering off in the Federal Reserve's bond buying program that unleashed liquidity across the world. "The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Zimmerman lawyer to ask Florida to pay up to $300,000 in legal costs: report Monday, Aug 26, 2013 09:26 PM PDT  (Reuters) - George Zimmerman, whose acquittal in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin sparked protests across the United States, will ask Florida to pay up to $300,000 of his legal expenses, his attorney told the Orlando Sentinel on Monday. Zimmerman will rely on state law that allows a defendant who has been found not guilty to be reimbursed for costs associated with a case, the paper reported. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sentencing looms for convicted Fort Hood gunman Monday, Aug 26, 2013 09:11 PM PDT  By Ellen Wulfhorst FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - Tuesday could be the last chance for convicted gunman Major Nidal Hasan to tell a jury his version of the November 2009 shooting rampage that killed 13 people and wounded 31 others, many of them unarmed soldiers, at Fort Hood, Texas. Once family members of the victims finish testifying in the sentencing phase of the court-martial for Hasan, convicted of 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder, he will have an opportunity to address the jury deciding his fate. Hasan could face execution. ... Full Story | Top |
| Daimler's Mercedes-Benz outlines strategic plan for China growth Monday, Aug 26, 2013 08:51 PM PDT  By Norihiko Shirouzu BEIJING (Reuters) - Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz will launch around 20 new or upgraded car models in China over the next two years, part of a broader turnaround effort aimed at reversing the brand's recent struggles in the world's biggest auto market. Unveiling details of the strategy in Beijing on Tuesday, Daimler's new China chief, Hubertus Troska, said the company would spend 2 billion euros ($2.67 billion) over the next two years as it seeks to boost sales of Mercedes-Benz cars in China by a third to more than 300,000 cars a year by 2015. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. postpones August 28 meeting with Russia over Syria gas attack Monday, Aug 26, 2013 08:49 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The State Department on Monday postponed a meeting scheduled for Wednesday in The Hague between senior diplomats from the United States and Russia due to "ongoing consultations" over the chemical weapons attack in Syria. The meeting was to have discussed plans for an international peace conference to end the civil war in Syria. But a senior State Department official said in a statement the meeting was called off "given our ongoing consultations about the appropriate response to the chemical weapons attack in Syria on August 21. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Mexico's largest county to allow gay marriage after court ruling Monday, Aug 26, 2013 08:42 PM PDT By Zelie Pollon SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - Same-sex marriages are now legal in New Mexico's most populous county and the city of Albuquerque, a court ruled on Monday, adding to recent victories for gays and lesbians seeking the right to wed statewide. Last week, a judge in Santa Fe County ordered the county clerk there to issue same-sex marriage licenses and a clerk in the southern part of the state decided to hand out such licenses independently of any court ruling. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: U.S. could look beyond U.N. Security Council in any Syria strike Monday, Aug 26, 2013 08:21 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - In the face of a U.N. Security Council deadlocked on Syria, the United States and its allies could seek other means of legitimizing any retaliatory strike they launch against Syria's government for last week's alleged gas attack on civilians. The 15-nation council has been split on Syria since 2011. Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's ally, and China have vetoed three resolutions condemning Assad and calling for punitive steps against his government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Washington warns Assad over 'undeniable' chemical weapons attack Monday, Aug 26, 2013 07:41 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton and Erika Solomon WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The United States put Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on notice on Monday that it believes he was responsible for using chemical weapons against civilians last week in what Secretary of State John Kerry called a "moral obscenity." "President (Barack) Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world's most heinous weapons against the world's most vulnerable people," Kerry said in the most forceful U.S. reaction yet to the August 21 attack. Speaking after U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sirius XM sued for digital royalty underpayment Monday, Aug 26, 2013 07:36 PM PDT By Nate Raymond (Reuters) - A U.S. nonprofit charged with collecting digital royalties for music artists sued satellite radio service provider Sirius XM Radio Inc for at least $50 million on Monday for underpaying on recordings, including ones from before 1972. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by SoundExchange Inc, an entity appointed by the Copyright Royalty Board to collect and distribute performance royalties established under federal law. ... Full Story | Top |
| Argentina offers bond swap to skirt U.S. court rulings Monday, Aug 26, 2013 07:27 PM PDT By Alejandro Lifschitz and Brad Haynes BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's government is proposing a voluntary bond swap on its foreign debt, shifting payments to Buenos Aires, if it cannot overturn U.S. court rulings that threaten to trigger its second debt crisis in just over a decade. The bond swap would allow Argentina to keep paying the creditors who agreed to restructure the country's sovereign debt after a record $100 billion default in 2002, President Cristina Fernandez said in a televised address on Monday night. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan Economics Minister: No instructions from PM Abe to mull corporate tax cut Monday, Aug 26, 2013 07:00 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Economics Minister Akira Amari said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has given no instructions to mull a cut in the country's corporate tax. Amari made the remark at a news conference after a regular cabinet meeting. Government officials have said cutting Japan's corporate tax may be among options Abe's administration may consider to ease the pain from an expected hike in the sales tax starting next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four-way Latin America bloc strikes deal to remove all trade tariffs Monday, Aug 26, 2013 06:50 PM PDT PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile said on Monday they had wrapped up negotiations to remove all trade tariffs between them, cementing a bloc that the four hope will encourage free trade between Latin America and the rest of the world. Ministers from the four member states of the Pacific Alliance group announced the agreement, which is due to be ratified later this year, at a joint news conference in Playa del Carmen, a beach resort on Mexico's Caribbean coast. "You're looking at a deal ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazilian foreign minister resigns, heads to U.N. Monday, Aug 26, 2013 06:26 PM PDT  BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota resigned on Monday after one of his diplomats acknowledged that he had helped a Bolivian senator, who had been accused of corruption, cross the border into Brazil. President Dilma Rousseff accepted Patriota's resignation but appointed him as Brazil's envoy to the United Nations, her office said in a statement. The current Brazilian U.N. ambassador, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, will become foreign minister. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama talks Syria with Australia's Rudd; Rice meets Israelis Monday, Aug 26, 2013 06:23 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama spoke with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Monday about possible international responses to the Syrian crisis while his national security adviser discussed Syria and security with Israeli officials, the White House said. In a call with Rudd, "the two leaders expressed their grave concern about the reported use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime against civilians near Damascus on Wednesday," the White House said in a statement. They "discussed possible responses by the international community," it said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Madoff trustee reaches $98 million settlement with Maxam fund Monday, Aug 26, 2013 05:58 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - The trustee seeking money for victims of Bernard Madoff has reached a $98 million settlement with Maxam Absolute Return Fund, which fed cash into the imprisoned swindler's Ponzi scheme. The accord, disclosed in court papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan on Monday, followed a series of other settlements with so-called feeder funds reached by the trustee, Irving Picard. The settlement with Maxam returns $97.8 million that the fund had withdrawn from Madoff's firm, according to court papers. Maxam in exchange will now have an allowed claim of nearly $276. ... Full Story | Top |
| Holder pressed on U.S. drug agency use of hidden data evidence Monday, Aug 26, 2013 05:55 PM PDT  By John Shiffman WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eight Democratic senators and congressmen have asked Attorney General Eric Holder to answer questions about a Reuters report that the National Security Agency supplies the Drug Enforcement Administration with intelligence information used to make non-terrorism cases against American citizens. The August report revealed that a secretive DEA unit passes the NSA information to agents in the field, including those from the Internal Revenue Service, the FBI and Homeland Security, with instructions to never disclose the original source, even in court. ... Full Story | Top |
| Court reverses ruling on Sentinel loan in blow to BNY Mellon Monday, Aug 26, 2013 05:05 PM PDT  By Tom Polansek CHICAGO (Reuters) - Bank of New York Mellon Corp may have to get in line behind former customers of Sentinel Management Group who are seeking to recoup money lost in the futures broker's 2007 collapse, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago reversed part of a ruling by U.S. District Judge James Zagel and said he must revisit the case. Zagel had previously put the bank ahead of Sentinel's former clients. ... Full Story | Top |
| Following NY lawsuit, online lender to cease funding loans Monday, Aug 26, 2013 04:54 PM PDT By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - An online lender accused by the New York attorney general of "scamming" consumers with high interest rates says it will cease funding loans next week. Western Sky Financial LLC, which says it is owned by a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, posted a notice on its website saying it would cease funding loans on September 3. No reasons were given. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yosemite blaze rages closer to reservoir for San Francisco Monday, Aug 26, 2013 04:28 PM PDT  By Laila Kearney SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - One of the largest California wildfires in decades roared largely unchecked for a 10th day through forests in and around Yosemite National Park on Monday and threatened a reservoir that supplies most of San Francisco's water. As of midday, the eastern flank of the so-called Rim Fire had burned to within a mile of Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy reservoir on the Tuolumne River, raising concerns about the possibility of ash and soot contaminating the sprawling artificial lake. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazilian Foreign Minister Patriota to step down, move to U.N. Monday, Aug 26, 2013 04:26 PM PDT SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota will leave his post and become Brazil's representative at the United Nations, the president's office said on Monday. Brazil's current representative at the U.N., Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, will take over Patriota's post as the new foreign minister. The switch comes days after a Brazilian diplomat under Patriota helped a Bolivian senator who had been accused of corruption enter Brazil. (Reporting by Reese Ewing and Eduardo Simoes; Editing by Eric Walsh) Full Story | Top |
| South Carolina Governor Haley announces re-election bid Monday, Aug 26, 2013 04:18 PM PDT  By Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - South Carolina's Republican Governor Nikki Haley announced her bid for re-election on Monday, railing against President Barack Obama's healthcare reform and touting her support of jobs and businesses. Flanked by three Republican governors and standing before a crowd of about 60 supporters and protesters at a rally in Greenville, Haley pushed her business credentials and said she had brought thousands of jobs to the state. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK high speed rail plan "not worth the money" - business group Monday, Aug 26, 2013 04:08 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should abandon plans for a multi-billion-pound high speed rail link between London and central and northern England because it will not offer value for money, an influential business group said on Tuesday. The government has said the project will generate thousands of jobs and boost business by slashing travel times from regional cities to the economic powerhouse in the capital. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK services firms enjoy best business growth since 2007 - CBI Monday, Aug 26, 2013 04:04 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's services firms have enjoyed the fastest rise in business volumes since the boom days of 2007 in the past three months and expect further growth later this year, a survey showed on Tuesday. The poll by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which also found rising optimism in the key sector of the economy, adds to a string of recent signs that Britain's recovery is gathering pace. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge tosses BofA suit vs FDIC over $1.7 billion investor losses Monday, Aug 26, 2013 03:51 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday threw out Bank of America Corp's lawsuit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp over $1.7 billion of investor losses stemming from the collapses in 2009 of a large regional bank and a large mortgage lender. The lawsuit concerned the FDIC's role as receiver for an banking unit of Alabama's Colonial BancGroup Inc and the implosion of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp, home to what federal prosecutors called a $2.9 billion mortgage fraud. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. points finger at Assad over Syria gas attack Monday, Aug 26, 2013 03:49 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry laid the groundwork on Monday for possible military action against the Syrian government over a chemical weapons attack, implicating President Bashar al-Assad's forces in a "moral obscenity." In the most forceful U.S. reaction yet to last week's gas attack outside Damascus, Kerry said President Barack Obama "believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world's most heinous weapons against the world's most vulnerable people." Kerry spoke after U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers call on Obama to consult them on Syria Monday, Aug 26, 2013 03:43 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers urged President Barack Obama on Monday to consult them as he decides how to respond to last week's apparent poison gas attack in the Damascus suburbs, with some complaining that they have not been fully informed. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a tough statement on Monday, saying that the suspected chemical weapons attack was a "moral obscenity" and accused Syria's government of covering it up. He added that the Obama administration was consulting with allies and members of Congress and would decide soon how to respond. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment