| | |
| China to open up services, test freer yuan in Shanghai trade zone Friday, Sep 27, 2013 12:35 AM PDT  BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will open up its largely sheltered services sector to foreign competition in a free-trade zone in Shanghai, and test bold financial reforms including a convertible yuan, the government said on Friday. In a long-awaited announcement from its State Council, or cabinet, China said it will ease regulatory curbs for foreign investors to set up operations in the zone and free up controls on cross-border capital flows. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran plays down prospects for quick IAEA nuclear deal Friday, Sep 27, 2013 12:23 AM PDT  VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran's envoy to the U.N. nuclear watchdog played down prospects for a quick breathrough in talks on Friday with the agency on Tehran's disputed atomic program. Reza Najafi, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, was asked by reporters whether he expected an agreement in talks due to start later on Friday with the IAEA. "This is the first meeting so nobody I guess should expect that in just (a) one-day meeting we can solve (our) problems," he said. (Reporting by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Alison Williams) Full Story | Top |
| China's corruption drive extends to provinces Friday, Sep 27, 2013 12:20 AM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's anti-corruption watchdog said it had uncovered abuses at several provincial governments and state-owned enterprises, in the latest sign of an expanding crackdown on graft. Since taking office in March, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called corruption a threat to the ruling Communist Party's survival and vowed to go after powerful "tigers" as well as lowly "flies". Authorities have already announced the investigation or arrest of a handful of senior officials. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. panel blames mankind more clearly for warming Friday, Sep 27, 2013 12:05 AM PDT  STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Top climate scientists blamed mankind more clearly than ever as the main cause of global warming in a report on Friday meant to guide governments in dealing with rising temperatures, delegates said. "It's been accepted," Jonathan Lynn, spokesman for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), told reporters of a final summary for policymakers approved at the end of the week-long meeting in Stockholm. ... Full Story | Top |
| Government kicks off Royal Mail sale with £3.3 billion price tag Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 11:57 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - The government said on Friday it expected the Royal Mail postal service to be valued at as much as 3.3 billion pounds when it makes its London stock market debut next month. Kicking of the sale of the near 500-year-old state-owned company, the government said it would dispose of a majority stake in Royal Mail, offering shares at between 260 pence and 330p each. The offer, which closes on October 8, will see the government selling between 40.1 percent and 52.2 percent of Royal Mail. ... Full Story | Top |
| BOJ's takeaway from Fed bungle: keep the message simple Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 11:54 PM PDT  By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve's surprise decision not to start tapering its massive stimulus convinced the Bank of Japan about one thing - the need to keep market expectations anchored with a simple, clear message. BOJ policymakers have sprung into action since last week's Fed gathering with the most explicit explanations to date of how the central bank will measure the success of its own policy - turning years of deflation into 2 percent inflation. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. scientific panel blames mankind ever more clearly for warming Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 11:47 PM PDT STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Top climate scientists blamed mankind more clearly than ever as the main cause of global warming in a report on Friday meant to guide governments in dealing with rising temperatures, delegates said. "It's been accepted," Jonathan Lynn, spokesman for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told reporters. Delegates said the report raised the probability that most global warming was manmade to 95 percent, from 90 percent in its previous report in 2007. The report also says that a recent slowdown in warming is unlikely to last. ... Full Story | Top |
| BP faces pressure over Algeria gas plant attack Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 11:39 PM PDT By Lin Noueihed LONDON (Reuters) - Some foreign workers at an Algerian desert gas plant feared for their safety well before Islamist militants killed dozens at the site, and relatives and survivors want joint operator BP to investigate its own security record. Forty oil workers, all but one foreign, died at In Amenas in January after the militants took expatriates hostage during a four-day siege that ended when Algerian forces stormed the site. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tokyo Electric: will add $10 billion for Fukushima cleanup to turnaround plan Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 11:29 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, said on Friday it will revise its business turnaround plan to allocate an additional 1 trillion yen ($10.1 billion) for the Fukushima facility's cleanup. Tokyo Electric, also known as Tepco, is working to contain radioactive water at the Fukushima plant, which suffered meltdowns and hydrogen explosions after it was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Europe's plan to address weak banks risks unraveling Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 11:21 PM PDT  By John O'Donnell and Eva Taylor BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank's (ECB) plan to test the health of the euro zone's largest lenders without the means to plug any holes it uncovers risks foiling what some see as the bloc's final chance to put its financial crisis behind it. Unlike in the United States, where rapid infusions of capital put its banks quickly back on track, Europe's financial system remains frozen, with lenders in countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy hurt by weak demand and soured loans. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: The road ahead for Europe's new banking watchdog Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 11:21 PM PDT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank (ECB) is set to become the euro zone's single bank supervisor from November next year. Until then, it wants to complete several checks on the banks it will watch over directly, appoint a supervisory board for the new institution and hire at least 1,000 staff. Here is an overview of what will happen in the next year: END SEPTEMBER 2013 The ECB appointed U.S. consultancy Oliver Wyman to help with the work of the Asset Quality Review (AQR) of at least 130 eurozone banks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Carney says no case for QE in improved economy - paper Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 11:14 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mark Carney sees no need for more bond-buying by the central bank given the signs of recovery in the British economy, a newspaper quoted him as saying. Carney told the Yorkshire Post that the BoE would consider the case for more quantitative easing should the economy falter. "But my personal view is, given the recovery has strengthened and broadened, I don't see a case for quantitative easing and I have not supported it," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australia PM seeks to lower tension over asylum seekers ahead of Indonesia visit Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 11:13 PM PDT  By Rob Taylor CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's new conservative government sought on Friday to ease tension with neighboring Indonesia over a ramping up of border security meant to deter asylum seekers, with Prime Minister Tony Abbott calling concerns about his plan a "passing irritant". Abbott, who arrives in Jakarta on Monday on his first overseas visit since winning the September 7 election, played down comments by Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa that clouded Canberra's portrayal of talks on Australia's tough new policy to turn asylum boats back at sea as "cordial". ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's EU bonus challenge offers scant hope for bankers Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 11:11 PM PDT  By Huw Jones and John O'Donnell LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain's challenge to European Union rules capping bankers' bonuses is likely to get bogged down in court long beyond their implementation, and critics say it is more about pleasing domestic voters unimpressed by the loss of powers to Brussels. The UK, which houses Europe's biggest financial center, was outvoted when the European Union agreed that bonuses must be no more than a banker's fixed pay, or twice that amount with shareholder backing. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK house prices rise in September, London prices at record high - Nationwide Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 11:08 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - British house prices rose strongly for the fifth straight month in September, mortgage lender Nationwide said on Friday, as prices climbed in all regions and London prices hit record highs. House prices jumped 0.9 percent this month compared with August, when they climbed a revised 0.7 percent, Nationwide said. That was well above the consensus 0.5 percent rise forecast by economists polled by Reuters. In the three months to September compared with the three months to the end of June - which many consider a better gauge of the underlying trend - prices rose by 2.1 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain's budget to focus on nascent recovery, reforms Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 11:07 PM PDT  By Julien Toyer MADRID (Reuters) - Spain will boost economic and job forecasts in the 2014 budget to be presented on Friday, moving away from tough spending cuts and relying instead on lower borrowing costs and momentum from previous reforms to achieve fiscal targets. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, almost half-way into his four-year mandate, is hoping that after two years of painful spending cuts the relatively benign budget will persuade disgruntled Spaniards that the worst of the crisis is behind them. ... Full Story | Top |
| Portugal's 'discredited' parties a boon for local independents Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 10:52 PM PDT  By Axel Bugge SINTRA, Portugal (Reuters) - Disillusion with Portugal's main parties, both battered by association with the country's deep economic crisis and international bailout, is translating into a surge in independent candidates for Sunday's local elections. While government austerity measures - a condition of the bailout - have sparked periodic protests and strikes, the protests haven't turned violent, as in Greece, nor have voters turned to extremist political parties to vent their anger. Their outlet, instead, appears to be the unaligned. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan Defence chief: Need to bolster surveillance over Pacific Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 10:42 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said on Friday that Japan needs to expand its surveillance activities to cover the Pacific Ocean, as well as the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, to better protect to its maritime interests. Tokyo is locked in a bitter territorial dispute with Beijing over tiny a group of East China Sea islets, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. "So far, we have been conducting routine surveillance activities in such areas as the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. ... Full Story | Top |
| China September official PMI seen hitting 17-month high Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 10:24 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity is forecast to have expanded at its fastest rate in 17 months in September, a Reuters poll showed, reinforcing signs of a turnaround in the world's second-largest economy as both domestic and external demand improve. The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) is forecast to rise to 51.5 in September from August's 51, according to the median estimate of 14 economists. If realised, it would be the highest reading since April 2012. A reading above 50 indicates expanding activity while one below it points to a contraction. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: U.S. IRS still has long to-do list on Obama health law Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 10:01 PM PDT By Kim Dixon and Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the sweeping new U.S. healthcare law takes hold, the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are working on a long list of jobs to help implement "Obamacare." The IRS is playing a major part in rolling out President Barack Obama's new insurance system, meant to help millions of uninsured Americans obtain adequate healthcare coverage. While congressional Republicans fought to dismantle the law, the Obama administration said on Thursday government insurance exchanges for individuals will open on October 1 as scheduled. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian court order activists held over Arctic oil protest Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 09:46 PM PDT  By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court ordered 20 Greenpeace activists from around the world to be held in custody for two months pending further investigation over a protest against offshore oil drilling in the Arctic, drawing condemnation and a vow to appeal. In proceedings that Greenpeace said evoked Soviet-era scare tactics, activists from a ship used in the protest at an oil rig were led to court in the port of Murmansk in handcuffs and held in cages for a series of hearings that ended early on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House to help bankrupt Detroit demolish buildings, hire firefighters Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 09:44 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House will send a group of top officials to Detroit on Friday to offer millions in assistance for knocking down empty buildings, hiring firefighters and adding buses to the city fleet, as the city struggles after filing for bankruptcy. The federal aid has been tapped from a variety of existing programs and is part of a patchwork of grants complementing investments by the city, state and private foundations. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., Iran voice optimism and caution after rare encounter Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 09:32 PM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed and Matt Spetalnick UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran and the United States held their highest-level substantive talks in a generation on Thursday, saying the tone was positive but sounding cautious about resolving the long-running standoff over Iran's nuclear program. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met after Zarif held wider talks with the United States and other major powers to address Western suspicions that Iran may be trying to develop atomic weapons. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., Russia agree on Syria U.N. chemical arms measure Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 09:04 PM PDT  By John Irish and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Ending weeks of diplomatic deadlock, the United States and Russia agreed on Thursday on a U.N. Security Council draft resolution that would demand Syria give up its chemical arms, but does not threaten military force if it fails to comply. Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said a deal was struck with Russia "legally obligating" Syria to give up its chemical stockpile and the measure went to the full Security Council in a closed-door meeting on Thursday night. U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry's 'Shall we talk?' prompts rare private meeting between Iran and U.S. Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 08:53 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - First there was a handshake, then an invitation to talk and finally a 30-minute tete-a-tete that made for the highest-level official meeting between the United States and Iran in more than three decades. The opportunity for a rare meeting between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, came after talks concluded between Zarif and foreign ministers from the six major powers on resolving Tehran's disputed nuclear program. At the start of the talks, Kerry and Zarif shook hands, a senior U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's 'mini-Hong Kong' eyes Internet access, shrugs off Shanghai threat Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 08:34 PM PDT  By James Pomfret and Yimou Lee SHENZHEN/HONGKONG (Reuters) - A planned economic zone in southern China will allow full internet freedom, similar to what will be allowed in a proposed free trade zone in Shanghai, a senior official behind the project said on Thursday. China tightly controls the internet through a so-called Great Firewall, routinely deleting online postings and blocking access to websites it deems politically sensitive or inappropriate such as Facebook and Twitter. ... Full Story | Top |
| EA settles NCAA student-athlete cases, no game next year Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 07:57 PM PDT  By Malathi Nayak SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Electronic Arts said it had reached a settlement with former college football athletes who have accused the company of using their images without permission and would not be making a new game for the popular "NCAA Football" series in 2014. The athletes sued the video game publisher and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which has strict rules prohibiting them from sharing in the millions of dollars that schools receive from television and licensing deals. The case against the NCAA is still pending. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed needs better way to signal policy, officials say Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 07:50 PM PDT  By Sakari Suoninen, Alistair Scrutton and Ann Saphir FRANKFURT/STOCKHOLM/HOUGHTON, Michigan (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve confused financial markets over scaling back its bond buying, four top officials said on Thursday, with one arguing the central bank should link tapering to drops in the jobless rate and another calling for a broad remake of strategy. Fed Board Governor Jeremy Stein said he would have been comfortable with acting at the September 17-18 meeting, and the decision to keep buying bonds at an $85 billion monthly pace had been, for him, a "close call". ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinian leader urges world powers to rein in Israeli settlements Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 07:43 PM PDT  By Matt Spetalnick UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday that "time is running out" for Middle East peace efforts and urged world powers to rein in Israeli settlement construction that he warned could undermine U.S.-sponsored negotiations. In an address to an annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, Abbas committed to negotiating with Israel in good faith but he also painted what he called a "dispiriting and bleak" picture for peace prospects. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran proposes fully implementing nuclear pact within a year: U.S Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 07:33 PM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran proposed carrying out an agreement to address concerns about its nuclear program within a year at talks with major powers on Thursday, a senior U.S. State Department official said. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with his counterparts from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States at the United Nations to discuss the nuclear issue and then stepped into a side room for one-one-one talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tokyo Electric says 'difficult' to post profit this year Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 07:30 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co , the operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, said on Friday it will be difficult under current conditions to post a profit this fiscal year. Tokyo Electric, also known as Tepco, is struggling to contain radioactive water at the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. President Naomi Hirose said Tepco would not change its full-year target to log a profit. The utility has posted more than $27 billion in net losses since the Fukushima disaster. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed's George: size of initial taper may not matter much Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 07:10 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The scale of the first reduction in asset purchases by the Federal Reserve is not as important as the clarity with which it communicates about where its policies are heading, a top U.S. central banker said on Thursday. "I don't know that the initial amount really matters in the context of its impact," Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George told an audience in Denver after a speech. "What is important, though, is that we will have to be clear, once we start, where we will be going with the end of the program," she said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Michael Jackson verdict could shake up entertainment business model Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 06:43 PM PDT  By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of late pop star Michael Jackson against his concert promoter is now in the hands of a jury, and the verdict could have far-reaching implications for how the entertainment industry does business with its biggest stars. The 21-week trial, which has opened a window into the private life and last days of the King of Pop, has put not only concert promoter AEG Live on trial but also the entertainment industry's live-performance business model, analysts say. ... Full Story | Top |
| Elvis impersonator wrongly arrested for sending ricin to Obama sues accuser Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 06:36 PM PDT  By Emily Le Coz JACKSON, Mississippi (Reuters) - An Elvis impersonator from Mississippi falsely accused of sending ricin-tainted letters to President Barack Obama and other officials filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the man authorities now believe is the real perpetrator. Paul Kevin Curtis, who was arrested and released in April, wants an unspecified amount of money from James Everette Dutschke for defamation of character, emotional distress and financial loss. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed's George: delay in bond tapering could hurt Fed credibility Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 06:33 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The failure of the Federal Reserve to begin scaling back bond buying at its meeting last week surprised financial markets and could undermine the effectiveness of its policies in the future, a top U.S. central banker said on Thursday. Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George, an outspoken policy hawk who was the sole dissenter at the Fed's September 17-18 policy committee meeting, said that she had been disappointed by the majority's decision. ... Full Story | Top |
| Church not helping Peru on pedophilia inquiry into bishop: prosecutor Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 06:19 PM PDT By Mitra Taj LIMA (Reuters) - The Catholic Church has yet to help authorities in Peru who are investigating whether a defrocked bishop sexually abused children before Pope Francis forced him from his post in a poor Andean region, a prosecutor said on Thursday. On September 20, the attorney general's office opened an investigation into Gabino Miranda, until recently the auxiliary bishop of Ayacucho in southern Peru, after a prominent bishop said the Church had kicked Miranda out of the clergy because of suspected pedophilia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Coroner releases body of Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 06:18 PM PDT  By Dan Whitcomb (Reuters) - An autopsy has been completed on the body of Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis and his remains have been released, a spokeswoman for the Chief Medical Examiner's Office of Washington, D.C., said on Thursday. The spokeswoman declined to release the results of the autopsy and would not say who had claimed the body of Alexis, the gunman who went on a shooting spree September at the Navy Yard in Washington and killed 12 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek far-right party threatens to pull lawmakers from parliament Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 05:59 PM PDT  By Harry Papachristou ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's far-right Golden Party has threatened to pull out of parliament, a move that would trigger a wave of by-elections that could destabilize the country, its leader said late on Thursday. The threat came after a self-proclaimed Golden Dawn supporter killed an anti-fascist rapper in Athens last week, prompting a court investigation into whether the country's third most popular party is a criminal organization. The seemingly politically motivated stabbing sparked outrage and violent protests in the crisis-struck country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas man put to death for murder over $100 debt Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 05:57 PM PDT By Brendan O'Brien (Reuters) - A Texas man who stabbed another man to death for failing to pay back a $100 debt to an exotic dancer was executed on Thursday by lethal injection, a state corrections official said. Arturo Diaz was pronounced dead at 6:30 p.m. CT (2330 GMT) in Huntsville, according to Jason Clark, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. It was the 13th execution this year in Texas and the 27th in the United States. "Let's go warden. I'm ready," were his last words, Clark said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Panama Canal Authority fines detained North Korea ship smuggling Cuban arms Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 05:47 PM PDT  PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama's Canal Authority slapped a fine on Thursday of up to $1 million on the owners of a North Korean ship seized in July for smuggling Cuban weapons under 10,000 tons of sugar. The fine was for failing to accurately disclose the cargo and putting the canal and canal workers at risk, said Jorge Quijano, head of the semi-autonomous Panama Canal Authority. The amount is "a proposed sanction of up to $1 million, and I say 'up to' because there is a process in which clarifications can be made and they can defend their point of view," Quijano said. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment