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| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| No clear path to ending U.S. debt limit, spending impasse Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 05:36 PM PDT  By Thomas Ferraro and Rachelle Younglai WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Republicans on Thursday refused to give in to President Barack Obama's demand for straightforward bills to run the government beyond September 30 and to increase borrowing authority to avoid a historic default. ... Full Story | Top |
| JPMorgan's Dimon meets with U.S. Attorney General Holder Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 04:31 PM PDT  By David Henry and David Ingram (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon met with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday, seeking to make sure a possible $11 billion settlement will end the bank's pain from mortgage-securities probes, a source said. The bank is close to settling many of the probes into how it sold mortgage bonds before the financial crisis, but Dimon fears that as soon as this deal is worked out other investigations will emerge, the person familiar with the matter said. It is unusual for a CEO of a company to meet with the head of the U.S. Justice Department. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenya widens mall attack probe, alert for UK 'White Widow' Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 04:29 PM PDT By James Macharia and Matthew Mpoke Bigg NAIROBI (Reuters) - Interpol issued a wanted persons alert at Kenya's request on Thursday for a British woman who has been cited by British police as a possible suspect in the attack on a Nairobi shopping mall that killed at least 72 people. The alert was issued as Kenyan police broadened the investigation into the weekend raid claimed by the al Qaeda-aligned Somali al Shabaab group, the worst such assault since the U.S. Embassy was bombed in the capital by al Qaeda in 1998. ... Full Story | Top |
| At least 29 killed in central Sudan's worst unrest for years Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 01:00 PM PDT By Khalid Abdelaziz and Ulf Laessing KHARTOUM (Reuters) - At least 29 people have been killed in protests in Khartoum over fuel subsidy cuts, police said on Thursday, and more clashes broke out in Khartoum in the worst unrest seen in Sudan's central regions for years. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who came to power in a 1989 coup, has been spared the sort of Arab Spring uprising that unseated autocratic rulers in states from Tunisia to Yemen since 2011, but anger has risen over rising inflation and corruption. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., China want quick, binding U.N. resolution on Syria, U.S. says Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 01:39 PM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed and John Irish UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and China strongly agree on the need for the U.N. Security Council to quickly adopt a binding resolution on eradicating Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday in remarks that appeared aimed at putting pressure on Russia to accept the measure. Russia appeared unswayed. When asked if diplomats were close to a deal on a Syria resolution, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters at the United Nations, "Russia's very close, the U.S. is not. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia ready to help guard Syria chemical sites, will not import arms Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 11:51 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is ready to help guard Syrian chemical weapons sites and destroy President Bashar al-Assad's stockpiles but will not ship any of the chemical arms to Russia for destruction, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday. Ryabkov was outlining some of the contributions Moscow is willing to make to implement a U.S.-Russian deal that calls for the destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal by the middle of next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed needs better way to signal policy, officials say Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 12:39 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, three 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 |
| Liberia's Charles Taylor loses appeal against war crimes conviction Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 07:49 AM PDT  By Thomas Escritt THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Charles Taylor lost his appeal against a war-crimes conviction on Thursday as judges confirmed a 50-year jail term against the Liberian ex-president for encouraging rebels in Sierra Leone to mutilate, rape and murder victims in its civil war. Presiding Judge George Gelaga King said Taylor had aided and abetted crimes committed by Revolutionary United Front and Armed Forces Revolutionary Council rebels, advising and assisting them while knowing well the kinds of crimes they were committing. "Their primary purpose was to spread terror. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., Russia agree on Syria U.N. chemical arms measure Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 04:46 PM PDT  By John Irish and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Ending weeks of diplomatic deadlock, the United States and Russia reached an agreement on Thursday on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at ridding Syria of its chemical weapons arsenal. 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 would go to the full Security Council on Thursday night. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said an "understanding" had been hammered out. ... Full Story | Top |
| No clear path to ending U.S. debt limit, spending impasse Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 04:22 PM PDT By Thomas Ferraro and Rachelle Younglai WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Republicans on Thursday refused to give in to President Barack Obama's demand for straightforward bills to run the government beyond September 30 and to increase borrowing authority to avoid a historic default. In a direct challenge to Obama, they said they will seek a one-year delay in the full implementation of the national healthcare law known as "Obamacare" in return for raising U.S. borrowing authority by enough to let Treasury borrow through the end of 2014. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., Iran voice optimism, caution after rare encounter at U.N. Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 04:55 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 the Iranian held wider talks with the United States and other major powers to address Western suspicions Iran may be trying to develop atomic weapons. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. data gives conflicting signals on economy's health Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 09:48 AM PDT  By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes fell for the third straight month in August but fewer Americans filed new claims for jobless benefits last week, giving conflicting signals on the health of the economy. Another economic report on Thursday showed a worrisome decline in consumer prices during the second quarter. Together, the data offers a challenge for the Federal Reserve, which wants to see more evidence that the U.S. economy is gaining momentum before it scales back a bond-buying stimulus program. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran hits at 'unfair' U.N. nuclear agency ahead of talks Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 10:23 AM PDT  By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has sharply criticized the U.N. nuclear watchdog over "baseless allegations" about its atomic activity, a document showed before talks between the two sides on Friday to discuss a stalled inquiry into suspected bomb research by Tehran. The uncompromising language in the paper, and the fact that Iran asked the U.N. agency to make it public, may disappoint those hoping for a softening of the Islamic state's nuclear stance under new President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nine auto parts makers to plead guilty to U.S. price fixing Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 12:47 PM PDT By Diane Bartz and David Ingram WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nine companies based in Japan and two executives have agreed to plead guilty and to pay almost $745 million in fines for their roles in long-running conspiracies to fix the prices of auto parts sold to U.S. car manufacturers, the Department of Justice said on Thursday. The settlements are the latest in an ongoing probe into price fixing of a broad range of car parts that has now ensnared 20 companies and 21 executives. The companies have agreed to pay $1.6 billion in fines overall. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy president reprimands Berlusconi party over resignation threat Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 05:39 AM PDT  By Roberto Landucci ROME (Reuters) - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano issued a severe rebuke on Thursday to Silvio Berlusconi and ruled out taking any action to stop his conviction for tax fraud after allies threatened to walk out of parliament over his legal problems. Italy has lurched closer to a crisis since Berlusconi, a partner in Prime Minister Enrico Letta's coalition government, was sentenced last month to four years in prison, commuted to a year under house arrest or in community service, for tax fraud. ... Full Story | Top |
| Militants raid forces in India before India-Pakistan talks, 12 dead Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 05:36 AM PDT  By Mukesh Gupta SAMBA, India (Reuters) - Militants dressed in Indian army uniforms attacked Indian police and soldiers near the border with Pakistan on Thursday, killing nine people and triggering calls for talks between the prime ministers of the rival nations to be called off. Just a day before the twin assault in the disputed Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he would meet his Pakistan counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on the weekend. ... Full Story | Top |
| California man behind anti-Islam film to be freed from federal custody Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 04:04 AM PDT  By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The man behind a film that stoked anti-U.S. protests across the Muslim world was due for release from federal custody in California on Thursday after serving time for probation violations stemming from his role in making the video. The 56-year-old Egyptian-born Coptic Christian, Mark Basseley Youssef, gained public notice for the crudely made 13-minute anti-Islam video he produced in Southern California that portrayed the Prophet Mohammad as a fool and sexual deviant. ... Full Story | Top |
| House Republicans demand Obamacare delay in debt limit hike Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 07:44 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives will demand a one-year delay of full implementation of the 2010 healthcare law known as Obamacare in its opening offer to increase the U.S. debt limit, their leaders announced on Thursday. Following a private strategy meeting, Republican leaders said they would also demand new spending cuts and other initiatives in exchange for an increase in the debt limit, now expected to be reached sometime next month. (Reporting by Richard Cowan and Rachel Younglai; Editing by Xavier Briand) Full Story | Top |
| House Republicans shift Obamacare to U.S. debt limit fight Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 08:02 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday he believes lawmakers will avert a government shutdown, though he said Republicans will demand other concessions before agreeing to keep the government funded. The Democratic-controlled Senate was expected to approve a government spending bill on Saturday, after stripping out a Republican plan to defund the 2010 U.S. healthcare reform law known as "Obamacare. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boehner tries to herd U.S. Republicans to avert shutdown Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 07:56 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Thursday urged his unruly caucus to show flexibility over a measure to keep the government open when funding runs out in less than a week, a fellow Republican said. Republican Representative Mo Brooks, a member of the caucus, said Boehner "told us to be flexible" during a meeting on Thursday morning. Separately, Republican Representative Pete Sessions said there would be no shutdown or government default. ... Full Story | Top |
| Barclays to shut wealth management services in 130 countries Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 03:17 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Barclays Plc will stop offering wealth management services in about 130 countries by 2016 and cut jobs in the unit as part of an effort to rein in costs and boost profit. "This is part of our new strategy, focusing on reducing complexity and competing where we can win," a Barclays spokesman said. Barclays Wealth employs about 8,000 staff, and the spokesman said there is unlikely to be a significant change to that number although some jobs will go as part of new structure and technology. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Greece does not need third bailout, seeks debt 'reprofiling' - deputy PM Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 03:56 AM PDT  By Daniel Bases, Stephen Adler and Dina Kyriakidou NEW YORK (Reuters) - Greece does not require a third bailout and can cover its needs without further burdening its current backers, by improving the terms of its debt and possibly returning to the bond market next year, the country's deputy prime minister said on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb blasts in markets across Baghdad kill 23 people Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 03:10 AM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bombs left inside busy markets in mainly Sunni Muslim districts of Baghdad killed at least 23 people on Thursday, police said. The deadliest attack took place in Saba'a al-Bour on the capital's northern outskirts, where three bombs killed at least 15 people. In the Doura district of southern Baghdad, a bomb exploded in another market, killing at least eight people, police said. Relations between Iraq's communities have come under acute strain from the civil war in neighboring Syria, where mainly Sunni rebels are fighting to overthrow a leader backed by Shi'ite Iran. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Mall raid rallies foreign support for ICC-indictee Kenyatta Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 04:33 AM PDT  By Edmund Blair and Pascal Fletcher NAIROBI (Reuters) - While it hurts Kenya's tourism and investment, the bloody Nairobi mall assault by Islamist militants will help President Uhuru Kenyatta bolster international support as he confronts charges of crimes against humanity at The Hague. Accused by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court of fomenting post-election bloodletting in 2007/2008, Kenyatta leads a nation that is now in the spotlight as a victim of crimes punishable under international law. ... Full Story | Top |
| Poor and desperate, Syrian refugees beg on Yemen's streets Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 03:54 AM PDT  By Yara Bayoumy SANAA/ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - Fleeing the bloodshed and destruction of civil war in Syria, Yosra Mustafa and 15 members of her extended family crossed into Turkey, but found life there too expensive. They tried their luck with Jordan, but were refused entry. Lebanon came to nothing. Never would they have expected to end up in Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries, itself riven by Islamist insurgency, rebellion by a northern Shi'ite group and separatist unrest in the south. "There is nowhere else to go to now. ... Full Story | Top |
| New era as Brussels tightens its grip on budget miscreants Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 02:33 AM PDT  By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Four months ago, President Francois Hollande warned Brussels not to tell France how to run its finances. In a few weeks' time, the European Commission will do exactly that as a new era of rigid fiscal surveillance begins in Europe. In one of the most far-reaching responses to the region's debt crisis, the Commission, the EU's executive, will now run the rule over the budget plans of the 17 euro zone countries before they are fully digested by national parliaments. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two Kenyan police killed in attack in northeast county Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 03:30 AM PDT  NAIROBI (Reuters) - Two Kenyan police officers were killed and another injured on Thursday in an attack on a local administrator's office in a northeast county bordering with Somalia, the interior ministry said. Twelve vehicles were also burned in the raid on an Assistant County Commissioner's office in Mandera East Sub County, which the ministry blamed on "criminals" without elaborating further. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Any attempt by Greek far-right to force elections could backfire - deputy PM Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 01:59 AM PDT  By Dina Kyriakidou and Daniel Bases NEW YORK (Reuters) - Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party would damage itself if it tries to force elections by walking out of parliament in a pique over a government crackdown, the country's deputy prime minister said on Wednesday. Evangelos Venizelos, who is also foreign minister in a coalition government, was responding to Greek media reports that Golden Dawn, which denies a neo-Nazi label, was considering pulling its 18 deputies from the 300-seat parliament, hoping to force political change. ... Full Story | Top |
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