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| Congress turns attention to debt limit battle Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 07:43 PM PDT  By Rachelle Younglai and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress, struggling to avert a government shutdown next week, was warned by the Obama administration on Wednesday that the Treasury was quickly running out of funds to pay government bills and could soon face a damaging debt default. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew pleaded with Congress to raise the $16.7 trillion debt limit and said the government would not be able to borrow funds past October 17. ... Full Story | Top |
| Son of Chinese army singers gets 10 years' jail for gang rape Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 12:56 AM PDT  By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese court jailed the teenage son of two celebrity army singers for ten years on Thursday for gang-raping a woman in a case that has fanned resentment against the offspring of the political elite who are widely seen as spoilt and above the law. Li Tianyi, 17, was found guilty of sexually assaulting the woman in a hotel in February. He was one of five accused. The verdict was a strict warning to the sons and daughters of China's top-ranked Communist Party officials, who many Chinese say can dodge punishment because of family influence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Militants kill eight in Indian Kashmir ahead of Sharif-Singh talks Thursday, Sep 26, 2013 12:32 AM PDT  By Mukesh Gupta SAMBA, India (Reuters) - Militants dressed in Indian army uniforms killed eight people in attacks on an Indian police station and army base near the Pakistan border on Thursday, triggering calls to cancel talks between the rival nations' leaders at the weekend. The group of about three militants killed six people in the attack on the police station in the disputed Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, then hijacked a truck and drove to the army camp, where they were hiding in a building, security forces said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Any attempt by Greek far-right to force elections could backfire - deputy PM Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 07:11 PM 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 |
| Iran says it wants to resolve nuclear row within months Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 05:29 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau and Yeganeh Torbati UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran's new government, stepping up a campaign to project a more moderate image abroad, said on Wednesday it wants to jump-start talks with world powers to resolve a decade-long dispute over its nuclear program and hoped for a deal in three to six months. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is set to hold talks on the nuclear issue on Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry as well as diplomats from Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, in a rare encounter between top American and Iranian officials. ... Full Story | Top |
| Western envoys tout deal on core of U.N. Syria draft, Russia denies it Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 05:23 PM PDT  By John Irish and Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Envoys from the United States, Russia, France, China and Britain have come to an agreement on the core of a U.N. Security Council resolution to get rid of Syria's chemical weapons, three Western diplomats said on Wednesday, but Russia denied such an accord had been reached and insisted work was "still going on. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenya launches probe as Shabaab leader confirms mall attack Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 03:33 PM PDT  By Richard Lough and Abdi Sheikh NAIROBI/MOGADISHU (Reuters) - U.S., British and Israeli agencies are helping Kenya investigate an attack claimed by Somali Islamist militants on a Nairobi shopping mall that killed at least 72 people and destroyed part of the complex, officials said on Wednesday. President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Tuesday that troops had defeated the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group after a four-day siege at the shopping center popular with prosperous Kenyans and foreigners. He declared three days of mourning. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry signs U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, says won't harm U.S. rights Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 01:35 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States signed a U.N. Arms Trade Treaty regulating the $70 billion global trade in conventional arms on Wednesday and the Obama administration sought to allay the fears of the powerful U.S. gun lobby which says the pact will violate the constitutional rights of Americans. The treaty, which relates only to cross-border trade and aims to keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers and criminals, still requires ratification by the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to exhaust borrowing capacity by October 17: Treasury Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 03:04 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warned Congress on Wednesday that the United States would exhaust its borrowing capacity no later than October 17, at which point it would have only about $30 billion in cash on hand. The fresh estimate adds another layer of pressure on lawmakers to raise the $16.7 trillion debt limit and comes as Congress struggles to pass a spending bill to keep the government funded beyond October 1, when the new fiscal year starts. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers seek to end bulk NSA telephone records collection Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 05:17 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic and Republican U.S. senators introduced legislation on Wednesday to end the National Security Agency's bulk collection of Americans' communication records and set other new controls on the government's electronic eavesdropping programs. The measure introduced by Democrats Ron Wyden, Mark Udall and Richard Blumenthal, and Republican Rand Paul, is one of several efforts making their way through Congress to rein in sweeping surveillance programs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Penney leaning toward $1 billion equity raise: sources Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 06:09 PM PDT  By Olivia Oran and Phil Wahba (Reuters) - J.C. Penney Company Inc is looking to raise as much $750 million to $1 billion in new equity to build up its cash reserves as the holiday season approaches, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. Penney, whose shares have fallen 49 percent so far this year, has a market value of $2.6 billion. The U.S. department store chain is leaning toward issuing new shares, the sources said, although other methods of raising capital are also on the table. The company declined to comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Not running for president (yet), Hillary Clinton keeps the spotlight Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 05:36 PM PDT  By Gabriel Debenedetti NEW YORK (Reuters) - The question was being asked in hallway whispers and excited chatter in many languages this week at the Clinton Global Initiative conference. It's the question that follows Hillary Clinton everywhere - will she run for U.S. president in 2016? A version of the question came up during a panel discussion on investing in the future of women, and Clinton was deft, saying only that "someday, I hope" to see a woman president. She stopped short of discussing her own plans, even as applause erupted. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Congress turns attention to debt limit battle Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 02:42 PM PDT  By Rachelle Younglai and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress, already struggling to avert a government shutdown next week, turned its attention on Wednesday to the other fiscal bullet it had to dodge: a federal debt default. Republican leaders in the House of Representatives notified members that a vote on raising the debt limit could come as early as Friday. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew pleaded for quick action in the deeply divided Congress on raising the $16. ... Full Story | Top |
| Death toll from earthquake in Pakistan rises to 327 Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 05:20 AM PDT  By Gul Yusufzai QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - The death toll from a powerful earthquake in southwest Pakistan rose to 327 on Wednesday after hundreds of mud houses collapsed on residents throughout the remote and thinly populated area, local officials said. Pakistan's army airlifted hundreds of soldiers to help with the aftermath of the worst earthquake in the South Asian country since 2005, when about 75,000 people were killed in the country's north. Tuesday's earthquake of magnitude 7. ... Full Story | Top |
| Not running for president (yet), Hillary Clinton keeps the spotlight Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 01:05 PM PDT  By Gabriel Debenedetti NEW YORK (Reuters) - The question was being asked in hallway whispers and excited chatter in many languages this week at the Clinton Global Initiative conference. It's the question that follows Hillary Clinton everywhere - will she run for U.S. president in 2016? A version of the question came up during a panel discussion on investing in the future of women and Clinton was deft, saying only that "someday, I hope" to see a woman president. She stopped short of discussing her own plans, even as applause erupted. ... Full Story | Top |
| ICAP fined $87 million over Libor, three former staff charged Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 02:30 PM PDT  By Kirstin Ridley, Clare Hutchison and Aruna Viswanatha LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and British authorities on Wednesday fined ICAP, the world's biggest interdealer broker, $87 million and filed criminal charges against three former employees over the Libor interest rate rigging scandal. The scandal, which has laid bare failings by regulators and bank bosses over several years, has triggered a sprawling global investigation that has already seen three banks fined a total of $2. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obamacare's average monthly cost across U.S.: $328 Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 09:37 AM PDT  By Caroline Humer (Reuters) - Americans will pay an average premium of $328 monthly for a mid-tier health insurance plan when the Obamacare health exchanges open for enrollment next week, and most will qualify for government subsidies to lower that price, the federal government said on Wednesday. The figure, based on data for approved insurance plans in 48 states, is the broadest national estimate for the cost of coverage when President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law takes full effect next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alitalia unlikely to be in for long haul without Air France: KLM Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 01:03 PM PDT  By Agnieszka Flak MILAN (Reuters) - Five years after Alitalia was rescued from bankruptcy, the options for the troubled Italian airline appear to be few: convince top shareholder Air France-KLM to support its new strategy or shut up shop. Since being taken private by a consortium of Italian investors in early 2009, Alitalia has accumulated net losses of more than 840 million euros ($1.1 billion), debt of about 1 billion euros and is fast running out of cash. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers seek to end bulk NSA telephone records collection Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 04:42 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic and Republican U.S. senators introduced legislation on Wednesday to end the National Security Agency's bulk collection of Americans' communication records and set other new controls on the government's electronic eavesdropping programs. The measure introduced by Democrats Ron Wyden, Mark Udall and Richard Blumenthal, and Republican Rand Paul, is one of several efforts making their way through Congress to rein in sweeping surveillance programs. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. durable goods edge higher, fiscal uncertainty weighs Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 08:47 AM PDT  By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods barely grew in August in a possible sign that companies are holding back on investments due to uncertainty over government spending. Other data on Wednesday showed sales of new U.S. homes last month were near their lowest level of the year, a sign that a rise in interest rates was weighing on the economy. Durable goods orders rose 0.1 percent during the month, driven by the strongest rise in vehicle orders since February, Commerce Department data showed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria rebels reject opposition coalition, call for Islamic leadership Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 08:20 AM PDT By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - Thousands of Syrian rebels have broken with the Western-backed coalition and called for a new Islamist front, undermining international efforts to build up a pro-Western military force to replace President Bashar al-Assad. Ever more divided on a battlefield where Assad's better armed troops have been gaining ground, allies of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) were among 13 disparate rebel factions to disown the exile leadership and build an Islamic alliance that includes the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, commanders said on Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Why girls' education can help eradicate poverty Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 01:02 PM PDT By Pauline Rose Educating girls and young women is not only one of the biggest moral challenges of our generation, it is also a necessary investment for a peaceful and poverty-free world. Until we give girls equal access to a good quality education, the world will continue to suffer from child and maternal mortality, disease and other byproducts of poverty. This week, when world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly debate why many of the Millennium Development Goals remain out of reach, they should look no further than education disparities across the developing world. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iranian leader's smooth diplomacy poses new challenge for Israel Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 10:33 AM PDT  By Jeffrey Heller and Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A charm offensive toward the West by Iran's new president and his nuanced approach to his predecessor's Holocaust denial have run into an Israeli wall of suspicion hardened by Tehran's nuclear pursuits. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will not be fooled by Hassan Rouhani's international outreach, and the world must not be either. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Hundreds of U.S. security clearances seen falsified Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 06:22 AM PDT  By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors have documented at least 350 instances of faulty background investigations done by private contractors and special agents for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in recent years, illustrating what some lawmakers call systemic weaknesses in the granting of federal security clearances. Reuters calculated the total by reviewing court documents and press releases from prosecutors for 21 cases resulting in convictions that involved the making of false statements from December 2004 to March 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
| Top banks have $155 billion capital shortfall, most in Europe Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 04:49 AM PDT  By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - The world's biggest banks would need to boost their capital by 115 billion euros ($155 billion) to comply with tougher rules and more than 60 percent of that shortfall is in Europe, where lenders have been slower to strengthen. The capital shortfall fell by 83 billion euros during the second half of last year as banks retained more of their profits and raised capital, although the pace of improvement was not as quick in Europe as elsewhere. ... Full Story | Top |
| India-U.S. ties lose shine over economic differences Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 03:18 AM PDT  By Frank Jack Daniel NEW DELHI (Reuters) - When India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last visited the White House in 2009 he was feted at President Barack Obama's first state dinner, a star-studded affair that reflected the excitement about blooming ties between the two big democracies. Back then, optimists in Washington saw India as a counterbalance to a rising China and a new engine for the U.S. economy. In a dinner toast, Obama talked of his "duty" to bring the two countries closer. That duty has only been partly fulfilled. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sweden sells remaining stake in Nordea for $3.4 billion Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 04:29 AM PDT  By Mia Shanley and Sven Nordenstam STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The Swedish state has sold its remaining 7 percent stake in Nordea, the region's biggest bank, giving the center-right coalition government another 21.6 billion crowns ($3.4 billion) to deploy in the national budget ahead of next year's election. The latest sale was made on the first day the state was allowed to further reduce its stake after selling 260 million Nordea shares for $3 billion in June and takes total proceeds from Nordea sales during the government's years in office to $9.4 billion. ... Full Story | Top |
| Renewed push at U.N. for Syria resolution followed by peace talks Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 05:34 AM PDT  By Steve Holland and Asma Alsharif UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama appealed to the United Nations on Tuesday to back tough consequences for Syria if it refuses to give up chemical weapons and urged Russia and Iran to end their support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia, Assad's main backer, said there was a "common understanding" with the United States on how to move toward agreement for a U.N. resolution that would support the chemical arms deal, but both nations said there was more work to be done. ... Full Story | Top |
| Leaders of India, Pakistan to meet in New York as Kashmir simmers Wednesday, Sep 25, 2013 03:08 AM PDT  By Anurag Kotoky NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif will meet this week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Singh said on Wednesday, amid heightened tension between the neighbors over Kashmir. Analysts expect the meeting will address a series of fatal clashes along the Line of Control dividing the Himalayan region between India and Pakistan, events that followed a pact by the two nations to resume stalled talks to strengthen ties. The clashes have left dead at least 8 soldiers from both countries in less than two months. ... Full Story | Top |
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