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| Greek police arrest leader of far-right Golden Dawn party Saturday, Sep 28, 2013 12:33 AM PDT  ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police arrested the leader and the spokesman of the far-right Golden Dawn party on Saturday on charges of founding a criminal organization, and have issued arrest warrants for dozens more party members and lawmakers, police officials said. Police are investigating the party for links with the killing of an anti-fascist rapper by a self-proclaimed Golden Dawn supporter. The stabbing to death of Pavlos Fissas on September 17 sparked violent protests in the capital of Athens. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council demands elimination of Syria chemical arms Friday, Sep 27, 2013 11:56 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution on Friday that demands the eradication of Syria's chemical weapons but does not threaten automatic punitive action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government if it does not comply. The unanimous vote by the 15-member Security Council capped weeks of intense diplomacy between Russia and the United States. It was based on a deal between the two countries reached in Geneva earlier this month following an August 21 sarin nerve gas attack on a Damascus suburb that killed hundreds. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese police rescue 92 children kidnapped for sale: state media Friday, Sep 27, 2013 09:58 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have rescued 92 children and two women kidnapped by a gang for sale and arrested 301 suspects, state media said on Saturday, in one of the biggest busts of its kind in years. Police simultaneously swooped on locations in 11 provinces recently after a six-month investigation, China Central Television and state news agency Xinhua said, quoting the Ministry of Public Security. An exact date of when the children were rescued and the arrests made was not given. State media also did not give a breakdown of how many boys and how many girls were kidnapped. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge allows challenges to Illinois gay marriage ban to proceed Friday, Sep 27, 2013 08:57 PM PDT By Brendan O'Brien (Reuters) - An Illinois judge on Friday allowed two lawsuits challenging the state's ban on gay marriage to proceed, possibly setting the stage for state courts rather than the legislature to decide whether same-sex couples will be allowed to marry in Illinois. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Sophia Hall ruled that lawsuits brought by same-sex couples have a chance of succeeding with the argument that the state's ban on gay marriage discriminates against them. ... Full Story | Top |
| Christie indicates he will appeal gay marriage ruling Friday, Sep 27, 2013 08:56 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A spokesman for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said on Friday the state's Supreme Court should make the "constitutional determination" regarding gay marriage's legality, after a state judge ordered officials to begin allowing same-sex couples to marry starting October 21. The response indicated that the state will appeal the ruling from Judge Mary Jacobson in Mercer County Superior Court in Trenton. Christie, who vetoed a gay marriage bill in 2012, has said the issue should be decided in a popular referendum, a position his spokesman reiterated in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Jersey judge allows same-sex marriage; state plans appeal Friday, Sep 27, 2013 08:56 PM PDT  By Joseph Ax and Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New Jersey judge ordered state officials on Friday to allow same-sex couples to marry starting on October 21, saying the current civil union system unfairly deprived them of federal benefits available to married couples. A spokesman for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie indicated the state would appeal, but did not say whether it would seek a stay to stop the ruling from taking effect. ... Full Story | Top |
| Refugee boat sinks on way to Australia, 21 dead: Indonesian police Friday, Sep 27, 2013 08:37 PM PDT  JAKARTA (Reuters) - A boat carrying migrants to Australia sank off the Indonesian coast on Friday, killing at least 21 people, Indonesian police said, a sign that Australia's tough new immigration rules may not be enough to deter would-be asylum seekers. The latest disaster to strike refugees using Indonesia's southern coast to try to reach Australia will cast a shadow over a visit to Jakarta on Monday by Australia's new conservative prime minister Tony Abbott, whose tough stance on immigration was at the heart of his election campaign. ... Full Story | Top |
| Prosecutors decline to charge man arrested in Dodgers fan stabbing Friday, Sep 27, 2013 08:08 PM PDT  By Laila Kearney SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco prosecutors on Friday declined to file charges against a 21-year-old Northern California man arrested in the stabbing death of a Los Angeles Dodgers fan during a fight after a baseball game, saying he may have acted in self-defense. Michael Montgomery of Lodi, California, was arrested on Thursday along with a second suspect a day after the fatal stabbing of Jonathan Denver, the 24-year-old son of a Dodgers security guard, outside a bar just blocks from the San Francisco Giants stadium, AT&T Park. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. rights groups urge boycott of Barilla pasta after anti-gay remarks Friday, Sep 27, 2013 07:08 PM PDT  By Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. and international gay rights supporters called on Friday for a boycott of Italian pasta maker Barilla, whose chairman said he would never feature a gay family in its advertising. The comments sparked a firestorm of protest on social media and resulted in online petitions in English, German and Italian, including one by Italian playwright and Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo. A MoveOn.org petition started by Beth Allen, a Takoma Park, Maryland, mother of two and a lesbian, garnered 85,000 signatures by Friday evening. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gambling pro Archie Karas charged with defrauding casino Friday, Sep 27, 2013 06:51 PM PDT By Marty Graham SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - World-renowned professional poker player Archie Karas, has been arrested on charges of cheating and defrauding a casino after authorities say he was caught marking cards at a California blackjack table. Karas, 62, best known for reputedly building a beginning stake of $50 into a $40 million fortune during a record three-year winning streak, was taken into custody on Tuesday at his Las Vegas home, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office said on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria U.N. envoy says chemical weapons resolution addresses Syria's concerns Friday, Sep 27, 2013 06:37 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A resolution adopted by the U.N. Security Council to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons covers most of Damascus' concerns, Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said on Friday. Ja'afari, reacting after the Security Council unanimously adopted the resolution, said countries supporting Syria's rebels - Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France and the United States - should also abide by the resolution. He said the Syrian government was "fully committed" to attending a proposed November peace conference in Geneva aimed at ending Syria's civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tennessee moves to single-drug executions despite pentobarbital shortage Friday, Sep 27, 2013 06:09 PM PDT By Tim Ghianni (Reuters) - Tennessee said on Friday that it will begin to use only pentobarbital to execute death row inmates despite a shortage of the drug. The state will use the single-drug lethal injection method instead of the three-drug method it has used in the past, according to Tennessee Department of Correction spokeswoman Dorinda Carter. "The Department of Correction had been unable to obtain the chemicals necessary to carry out an execution since 2011 due to a widespread shortage" of sodium thiopental, a drug used in the three-drug method, Carter said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge denies former New Orleans mayor's bid to delay trial Friday, Sep 27, 2013 06:09 PM PDT By Kathy Finn NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - A judge on Friday denied an effort by former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to postpone his corruption trial, which he said had been compromised by inflammatory comments posted online by prosecutors. Nagin's argument for a delay stemmed from online postings that recently prompted a federal judge to order a new trial in a murder case involving five New Orleans policemen convicted in connection with the shooting deaths of two unarmed people at Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina. ... Full Story | Top |
| Scientists more convinced mankind is main cause of warming Friday, Sep 27, 2013 05:51 PM PDT  By Alister Doyle and Simon Johnson STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Leading climate scientists said on Friday they were more convinced than ever that humans are the main culprits for global warming, and predicted the impact from greenhouse gas emissions could linger for centuries. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in a report that a hiatus in warming this century, when temperatures have risen more slowly despite growing emissions, was a natural variation that would not last. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia says U.N. prepared to punish breaches of Syria resolution Friday, Sep 27, 2013 05:51 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council would be prepared to take punitive steps in the event of confirmed violations of a resolution demanding the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. "The United Nations Security Council ... will stand ready to take action under Chapter 7 of the (U.N.) charter, quite clearly," Lavrov said after the council unanimously approved the resolution. He was referring to the part of the charter covering the council's power to enforce its decisions with sanctions or military force. ... Full Story | Top |
| Samsung addresses EU concerns in antitrust probe Friday, Sep 27, 2013 05:29 PM PDT  By Andrew Longstreth and Karen Freifeld NEW YORK (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co on Friday offered remedies that may settle a European Union probe over whether it breached antitrust rules through its use of patent lawsuits against rival Apple Inc. "Samsung has agreed to propose commitments that will be market tested," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a speech in New York on Friday. "We hope to conclude this case." The details of the offer were not disclosed, and Samsung could not immediately be reached for comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Iran's Rouhani hold historic phone call Friday, Sep 27, 2013 05:05 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Louis Charbonneau WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani spoke by telephone on Friday, the highest-level contact between the two countries in three decades and a sign that they are serious about reaching a pact on Tehran's nuclear program. The call is the culmination of a dramatic shift in tone between Iran and the United States, which cut diplomatic relations with Iran a year after the 1979 revolution that toppled U.S. ally Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and led to the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran. ... Full Story | Top |
| Plane crashes on anti-coca mission in Colombia; U.S. pilot killed Friday, Sep 27, 2013 05:04 PM PDT BOGOTA (Reuters) - An American pilot was killed and a U.S. co-pilot seriously injured on Friday when their plane crashed while on a mission to eradicate coca plants in southern Colombia, police said. Spraying of coca plants to combat the drugs trade has been intensified in Colombia since 2000 with support from the United States, which has provided billions of dollars to help Colombia fight guerrillas who are funded partly by revenue from cocaine. "Preliminary information we have is that it was a mechanical failure. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chemical weapons watchdog to begin Syria inspections next week Friday, Sep 27, 2013 04:47 PM PDT By Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Experts from the world's chemical weapons watchdog will begin inspecting Syria's stockpile of toxic munitions by Tuesday, according to an agreement passed in The Hague on Friday. The agreement enables the U.N. Security Council to vote later on Friday on a draft resolution on eradicating Syria's chemical arsenal. The decision adopted by the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, OPCW, called on members to make cash donations to fund Syria's fast-tracked destruction operation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jesse Jackson arrives in Cuba on mission of reconciliation Friday, Sep 27, 2013 04:20 PM PDT  HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S. civil rights activist Jesse Jackson arrived in Cuba on Friday where he said he hoped to facilitate improved relations with the United States and see imprisoned U.S. contractor Alan Gross. Jackson is on a private visit to the communist-run island being hosted by the Roman Catholic Church. He has visited Cuba a number of times and met with former President Fidel Castro. "The church is concerned about peace ... and Cuba's relations with the United States and the rest of the Caribbean. I hope we can facilitate that," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council set to vote on Syria chemical arms resolution Friday, Sep 27, 2013 04:07 PM PDT  By John Irish and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is set to adopt a resolution on Friday on eradicating Syria's chemical arsenal after Russia and the United States overcame a bitter deadlock to avert U.S. military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government. Amid newfound unity of the veto-wielding council members - Russia, China, France, the United States and Britain - French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he hoped a date would also be agreed on Friday for so-called Geneva 2 peace talks on Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama urges feuding Congress to avoid shutdown Friday, Sep 27, 2013 04:05 PM PDT  By Rachelle Younglai and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sternly warned the Congress on Friday against a government shutdown on October 1 as lawmakers struggled to pass an emergency spending bill that Republicans want to use to defund Obama's healthcare reform law. While there was still a chance of averting a shutdown, time was running out as House of Representatives Republicans fought with each other over the next steps. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran makes payments on old loans to World Bank Friday, Sep 27, 2013 04:03 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran resumed payments on old loans to the World Bank, the bank said on Friday, just as the country held the highest level conversation with the United States in more than three decades. The poverty-fighting World Bank, which did not provide a reason for the resumption of payments, announced in July that Iran had not made any payments for more than half a year, a possible sign of the strain on the sanctions-hit Iranian economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chemical arms watchdog agrees Syria plan, U.N. set to vote Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:58 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Executive Council on Friday adopted a decision on a plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, enabling the U.N. Security Council to vote shortly on a draft resolution. "White smoke in the Hague," British U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant announced on his Twitter feed. "OPCW decision adopted by consensus. UNSC (Security Council) can vote at 2000 (EDT)." The OPCW, the international chemical weapons watchdog based in The Hague, confirmed the decision. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau) Full Story | Top |
| Fed doves make case for patience on tightening policy Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:57 PM PDT  By Ann Saphir, Balazs Koranyi and Jonathan Spicer MINNEAPOLIS/OSLO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve must be patient in deciding when to scale back bond purchases, top officials said on Friday, with one arguing it could wait "years" to lift interest rates and another suggesting it could tolerate inflation rising to 3 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Eight held over Nairobi mall attack, al Shabaab issues new threat Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:55 PM PDT By James Macharia and Matthew Mpoke Bigg NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan authorities are holding eight people in connection with an attack by Islamist militants on a Nairobi shopping mall and have released three others after the assault that killed 67 civilians and soldiers, the interior minister said on Friday. Somali Islamist group al Shabaab said Saturday's attack, which ended after a four-day siege by soldiers and police, was "just the premiere of Act 1" and suggested it would be followed by other actions by its "warriors". ... Full Story | Top |
| In big shift, Exxon to provide same-sex marriage benefits Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:51 PM PDT  By Anna Driver HOUSTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp said on Friday it will extend benefits to spouses of its U.S. workers in same-sex marriages, a sweeping reversal by one of the world's top companies following a landmark Supreme Court ruling in June. Though many U.S. corporations, especially progressive ones like Apple Inc, have long offered domestic partner benefits to gay couples, the step at Exxon - the biggest publicly traded oil company - was heralded as especially significant for a company that has resisted repeated calls for change. ... Full Story | Top |
| eBay must face Justice Department suit over recruiting: ruling Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:46 PM PDT  By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday refused eBay's attempt to dismiss a U.S. Department of Justice civil lawsuit over its alleged agreement with Intuit to refrain from recruiting each other's employees. In a tandem order, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, granted eBay's motion to dismiss a parallel lawsuit brought by the state of California. Representatives for eBay and the California attorney general's office could not immediately be reached for comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama to House Republicans: Don't burn down the house over fiscal fight Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:40 PM PDT  By Steve Holland and Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama warned congressional Republicans on Friday they were on the brink of triggering a government shutdown and a historic debt default and urged them not to "burn down the house" to try to extract budget concessions from him. Obama made an appearance in the White House briefing room to push for Congress to end its infighting as twin deadlines loom: The federal government will run out of cash on Tuesday unless Congress approves a spending bill to keep it open, and will default on its debts if the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Ukraine must play Poland World Cup qualifier without fans Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:39 PM PDT ZURICH, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Ukraine have been ordered to play their next home 2014 World Cup qualifying match against Poland behind closed doors due to the racist behaviour of their fans, FIFA said on Friday. Ukraine's supporters were involved in "several racist and discriminatory incidents" during the 9-0 win over San Marino in a qualifier in Lviv on Sept. 6, added the world governing body. The FARE (Football Against Racism Europe) observer at the match reported that local fans displayed neo-Nazi banners and made "monkey noises and gestures" as well as Nazi salutes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian pasta king puts company in hot water with anti-gay comment Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:38 PM PDT By Steve Scherer ROME (Reuters) - When pasta king Guido Barilla found himself pilloried on social media for saying he would never use a gay family in his advertising, rival pasta maker Buitoni was quick to capitalize. A picture on its Facebook page of an open door looking out onto a courtyard featured the caption: "At Buitoni's house, there's a place for everyone." It was a stark demonstration of the rising power of social media. Barilla's comments to a medium-sized Italian radio station on Wednesday quickly became a global public relations disaster with a likely knock-on effect on sales. ... Full Story | Top |
| Government shutdown would hit Pentagon civilians - again Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:35 PM PDT  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department will put half its 800,000 civilian employees on unpaid leave next week and halt military activity not critical to national security if Congress fails to resolve a looming funding crisis, Pentagon officials said on Friday. The U.S. military's 1.4 million uniformed personnel would continue fighting the Afghanistan war, patrolling the Mediterranean off Syria and conducting other operations considered necessary for security, but they wouldn't get paid until Congress resolves the spending dilemma, officials said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudanese police fire teargas as crowd demands Bashir resign Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:27 PM PDT  By Khalid Abdelaziz and Ulf Laessing KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Police fired teargas on Friday to disperse thousands of Sudanese demanding that President Omar Hassan al-Bashir step down, a day after clashes in which rights groups accused security forces of shooting dead at least 50 people. Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 coup, has not faced the sort of Arab Spring uprising that unseated autocratic rulers from Tunisia to Yemen since 2011, but anger has risen over corruption and rising inflation in the vast African country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian PM to call confidence vote as government nears collapse Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:25 PM PDT  By Francesca Piscioneri and Giuseppe Fonte ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta will call a confidence vote in parliament after a showdown with center-right partners in his fragile coalition scuppered a vital package of budget measures on Friday and took his government to the brink of collapse. Letta flew back from a visit to New York with coalition unity already in tatters after a threat by center-right lawmakers to walk out over former premier Silvio Berlusconi's battle against a conviction for tax fraud. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Jersey judge allows same-sex marriage Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:24 PM PDT  By Joseph Ax and Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New Jersey judge on Friday ordered state officials to allow same-sex couples to marry starting October 21, saying the current civil union system unfairly deprives them of federal benefits available to married couples. Judge Mary Jacobson in Mercer County Superior Court in Trenton issued the order, making New Jersey the first state to lift a ban on gay marriage as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June to strike down the federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama: Government shutdown won't delay healthcare exchange launch Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:20 PM PDT  By Lewis Krauskopf (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday that the new state insurance exchanges created by his healthcare reform law will launch as scheduled on Tuesday even if the federal government shuts down due to Republican efforts to defund Obamacare. The new online health exchanges at the heart of Obama's Affordable Care Act are set to open for enrollment on October 1 after years of political attack, offering subsidized health coverage for millions of uninsured Americans. ... Full Story | Top |
| CEOs take familiar, frustrating path to Washington on budget woes Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:19 PM PDT  By James B. Kelleher and Patricia Kranz (Reuters) - Some of America's leading CEOs are beating a familiar path to Washington to support efforts to avert a government shutdown and raise the U.S. borrowing limit, warning lawmakers that the threat of the first debt default in the country's history is damaging the economy. The business leaders, all members of a group called "Fix the Debt," said they went to Capitol Hill last week with a simple message for Republicans and Democrats, but it is the same as the one they delivered in budget standoffs of 2011 and 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbia bans gay pride march again; EU criticizes decision Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:16 PM PDT  By Aleksandar Vasovic BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's government banned a weekend gay pride march for the third consecutive year on Friday, citing the threat of violence from right-wing hooligans, in a move that sparked protests by gay activists and criticism from the European Union. Denying that the government had given in to right-wing threats, Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said on state television that the ban on Saturday's event was a public safety matter. The last gay pride march in 2010 triggered a day of rioting and arson by nationalists in the capital Belgrade. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. jobs report, other economic data would be delayed by shutdown Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:07 PM PDT  By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will stop publishing much of its economic data next week if the government shuts down, including the closely watched monthly employment report, officials said on Friday. Whole swaths of the U.S. federal government could shut down next week if Congress does not approve extensions to department budgets due to expire on Monday. All non-essential federal employees would stop working, including those at the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which is scheduled to release the monthly nonfarm payrolls report on October 4. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria rebels struggle to rally practical backing on U.N. stage Friday, Sep 27, 2013 03:05 PM PDT  By Asma Alsharif and John Irish UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - International opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reaffirmed support for the country's opposition coalition at the U.N. General Assembly this week, but with rebel forces splitting and delivery of weapons slow, the coalition looks increasingly marginalized. After weeks of frustration as the international community turned its attention to negotiating a deal to rid Assad of his chemical weapons, the Syrian National Coalition, or SNC, had hoped to use the annual meeting to push its cause. "We came to the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
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