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| Putin says Russia may agree to Syria strike if Assad used chemical arms Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 11:29 PM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia may approve a military operation in Syria if evidence shows that Damascus carried out chemical weapons attacks, but only if the operation is conducted with U.N. approval. In an interview with AP and Russia's First Channel, posted on the Kremlin website on Wednesday, Putin also said the video of an August 21 chemical weapons attack outside of Damascus could have been fabricated by groups "connected with al Qaeda". ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa union eases wage position as gold strike bites Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 11:27 PM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's main mining union said on Wednesday it had offered to lower its wage increase demands to gold companies, raising hopes of a possible compromise that could limit the duration of a strike that has already hit producers. The stoppage over a wage dispute in South Africa's gold industry called by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) began at the evening shift late on Tuesday, with many miners refusing to go underground, producers said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Movie version of Malaysian race riot stirs unease Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 11:12 PM PDT  By Siva Sithraputhran KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - At a crucial point in the film "Tanda Putera", ethnic Chinese youths urinate on a pole flying the flag of a Malaysian state, setting off events that push the country into a deadly race riot that still haunts the national consciousness four decades later. The publicly funded movie, which opened recently in Malaysia after a long delay, is stirring up racial sentiment at a sensitive time over its depiction of the ethnic Chinese minority as the aggressors in the violent events of May 13, 1969. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese police suspect aunt of gouging out boy's eyes Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 11:02 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police suspect a six-year-old boy's aunt of gouging out his eyes, Xinhua state news agency said on Wednesday, the latest twist in the investigation of a crime that shocked the country. DNA tests found the boy's blood on the aunt's clothes, Xinhua reported, citing a statement from police in Linfen in rural Shanxi province. The aunt, Zhang Huiying, killed herself six days after the attack by jumping into a well, the agency said. The boy was lured by a woman with yellow-dyed hair into a field while he was playing outside. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel's fear: pollsters may get it wrong again Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 10:53 PM PDT  By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - Eight years ago Angela Merkel stared gloomily at the election results with disbelief when her party crashed to 35.2 percent of the German vote, seven points below the opinion poll forecast. Her poll lead melted away again on election day four years later, though her conservatives stayed in power despite their worst result since 1949. Indeed her Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), have fallen short of forecasts in the last six elections. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Previous limited U.S. strikes were followed by unforeseen consequences Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 10:02 PM PDT (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's national security team is trying to make the case to skeptical U.S. lawmakers for a limited strike against the Syrian government over its alleged use of chemical weapons on August 21. Following are details of missile strikes and other limited military action taken by the United States over the past 30 years and what transpired afterwards: * Lebanon 1983 - In September 1983, U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama wins backing for Syria strike from key figures in Congress Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 09:49 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Yara Bayoumy WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Barack Obama won the backing of key figures in the U.S. Congress, including Republicans, in his call for limited U.S. strikes on Syria to punish President Bashar al-Assad for his suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians. Leaders of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said they reached an agreement on a draft authorization for the use of military force in Syria, paving the way for a vote by the committee on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Protesting Thai rubber farmers block roads, threaten airport closure Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 09:23 PM PDT By Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat BANGKOK (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Thai rubber farmers protesting against a sharp drop in prices escalated protests across southern Thailand on Wednesday, cutting off access to large swathes of the region by blocking roads leading to tourist and commercial hubs. Around 20,000 protesters are gathered at three main rally sites in the south watched over by a heavy police presence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan PM says he will tell G20 Japan to pursue growth and fiscal discipline Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 07:00 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday he will tell a Group of 20 nations summit this week that Japan is pursuing policies that will ensure economic growth and maintain fiscal discipline. Abe told reporters Japan could not rebuild its public finances without boosting economic growth. Leaders of the G20 developed and emerging economies will meet in St. Petersburg on Thursday and Friday. (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Paul Tait) Full Story | Top |
| Senate panel reaches deal on military authorization for Syria Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 06:34 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said they reached an agreement on Tuesday on a draft authorization for the use of military force in Syria that was much narrower than the request made by President Barack Obama, paving the way for a vote by the committee on Wednesday. Among other provisions, the draft, which was obtained by Reuters, sets a 60-day limit on U.S. military action in Syria, with a possibility of a single 30-day extension subject to conditions. Obama is asking Congress to back his call for limited U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suriname leader says son's arrest timed to shame him Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 06:10 PM PDT  By Ank Kuipers PARAMARIBO (Reuters) - Suriname's president said on Tuesday the arrest of his son in Panama on charges of smuggling cocaine into the United States was timed to embarrass him as he hosted a regional summit. President Desi Bouterse's son Dino, 40, was arraigned on Friday in a New York federal court accused of cocaine trafficking and being armed during a drug-related crime, in this case allegedly with an anti-tank rocket launcher. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry opens door to 'boots on ground' in Syria, then slams it shut Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 06:04 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry briefly opened the door on Tuesday to authorizing U.S. ground troops in Syria, but quickly slammed it shut and told Congress that any resolution approving military force would prohibit "boots on the ground." The exchange during the first public hearing in Congress on possible military action in Syria highlighted the worries of many lawmakers about authorizing U.S. military strikes to punish the Syrian government for using chemical weapons on civilians. ... Full Story | Top |
| Quake jolts southern Japan, felt in Tokyo Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 05:49 PM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 jolted southern Japan on Wednesday, public broadcaster NHK said, with the tremor shaking buildings in the capital, Tokyo. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami warning was issued. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake with a magnitude of 6.5. The quake was measured 400 km (250 miles) below the earth's surface about 580 km (360 miles) south of Tokyo, NHK said. Witnesses said it was felt along much of Japan's east coast. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico tax overhaul to shield poor from food, medicine hikes: lawmakers Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 05:10 PM PDT  By Dave Graham and Michael O'Boyle MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's government is poised to break a taboo and tax some foods and medicine under an tax overhaul proposal but will take measures that shield the country's poorest, ruling party lawmakers said on Tuesday. The bill will also very likely propose raising the top income tax rate for the wealthiest to as much as 40 percent from 30 percent, several officials from President Enrique Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) said on condition of anonymity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pro-Israel groups publicly back U.S. action in Syria Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 04:47 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three influential pro-Israel groups urged U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday to authorize President Barack Obama to launch an attack on Syria, signaling a stepped-up lobbying effort for American military action. The statements by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) represented the groups' most public show of support for U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama launches push for support on Syria, calls for quick action in Congress Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 04:14 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Congress on Tuesday to act quickly on a resolution authorizing use of military force against Syria, as he ramped up a lobbying effort to win support for limited strikes against President Bashar al-Assad's forces. During a meeting with congressional leaders at the White House, Obama said he was confident Congress would vote in favor of military action and said the United States had a broad plan to help the rebels defeat Syrian government forces. "What we are envisioning is something limited. It is something proportional. ... Full Story | Top |
| Romanians continue protest against gold mine Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 02:31 PM PDT  BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Roughly 1,000 people gathered in Romania's capital late on Tuesday for a third day of protests against plans to start an open-cast gold mine in the small Carpathian town of Rosia Montana. The catalyst for the protests, which started on Sunday when thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Romania, was a move by the leftist government last week to approve a draft bill allowing the project to go ahead. ... Full Story | Top |
| Car bombs across Iraqi capital kill nearly 60 people Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 02:27 PM PDT  By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A series of car bombs exploded across the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, killing nearly 60 people in predominantly Shi'ite districts, police and medics said. It was not immediately clear who had carried out the attacks, which appeared coordinated, but Sunni Islamist militants, including an al Qaeda affiliate, have been striking with a ferocity not seen in years. More than two years of civil war in neighboring Syria have aggravated deep-rooted sectarian divisions in Iraq, fraying an uneasy government coalition of Shi'ite, Sunni and ethnic Kurdish factions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands of Islamists take to Egypt's streets Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 02:23 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of overthrown Islamist president Mohamed Mursi took to the streets in towns and cities across Egypt on Tuesday evening to denounce Egypt's new military-backed rulers - their second show of mass support in four days. Marking exactly two months since Egypt's first democratically elected leader was ousted by the army after big protests, marchers turned out in cities in the Nile Delta, in Upper Egypt and on the Suez Canal, as well as the capital, Cairo. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N.'s Ban casts doubt on legality of U.S. plans to punish Syria Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 02:03 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday that the use of force is only legal when it is in self-defense or with Security Council authorization, remarks that appear to question the legality of U.S. plans to strike Syria without U.N. backing. He also suggested that a U.S. attack could lead to further turmoil in conflict-ravaged Syria, where the United Nations says over 100,000 people have been killed in the country's 2-1/2-year civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Magnitude 6.2 quake hits off western Canada: USGS Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 01:34 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.2 quake struck off Canada's Vancouver Island on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It said the quake was very shallow, only 7.5 milesbelow the seabed, and centered 124 miles west of Port Hardy in British Columbia. (Reporting by Sandra Maler; Editing by Jim Loney) Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela hit by blackout, government blames 'sabotage' Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 01:25 PM PDT  CARACAS (Reuters) - A blackout hit much of Venezuela including the capital Caracas on Tuesday, but the oil industry was not affected and the government said it expected power to be restored within hours. The cut struck a dozen of the South American country's 24 states and caused traffic chaos in parts of Caracas and other cities. The OPEC nation's oil refineries, which are powered by separate generator plants, were not affected. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. credibility on Iran at stake in Syria decision: Hagel says Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 12:21 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A failure to take action over Syria's use of chemical weapons would damage the credibility America's pledge to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress on Tuesday. "A refusal to act would undermine the credibility of America's other security commitments - including the president's commitment to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon," Hagel told a Senate hearing, according to prepared remarks. "The word of the United States must mean something." (Reporting by Phil Stewart) Full Story | Top |
| Strike starts in South Africa's gold mines Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 11:31 AM PDT  By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A strike in South Africa's gold mines began on Tuesday with some workers failing to go underground for the evening shift, despite an appeal by President Jacob Zuma for a solution to avert a stoppage that will hurt Africa's largest economy. "It has officially started. There are people who have not gone underground," Charmane Russell, a spokeswoman for gold producers grouped in the Chamber of Mines, told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. caution on Syria raises regional questions Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 11:02 AM PDT  (Reuters) - The United States' caution over launching any strike against the Syrian government over alleged use of chemical weapons has raised questions around the globe about the implications of a less interventionist U.S. foreign policy. President Barack Obama pulled back from ordering a quick strike against President Bashar al-Assad's forces last weekend and decided to take his proposals to a Congressional vote. Analysts differed over precisely what this caution said about U.S. policy or the complex nature of the Syrian civil war. In the Middle East, some saw a broader malaise in U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia's FARC talks at 'critical' stage, government negotiator says Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 10:37 AM PDT  By Helen Murphy BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's peace talks with Marxist FARC rebels have reached a "critical" stage, with discussions over the next couple of months a key gauge of whether an end to five decades of war is likely or not, government negotiator Sergio Jaramillo said on Tuesday. The government has spent almost 10 months working through a difficult peace agenda in Cuba with representatives of the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. While some progress has been made, talks have been painstakingly slow and most now see the hoped-for year-end deadline as unlikely. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia warns Moldova over its pro-Europe push Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 10:34 AM PDT By Alexander Tanas CHISINAU (Reuters) - A Russian envoy has warned Moldova that its pro-Europe drive could cause it to lose for good its control over the breakaway territory of Transdniestria and lead to a more costly energy relationship with Russia, its main supplier of gas. Dmitry Rogozin, a Russian deputy prime minister, stepped up pressure on Moldova, a former Soviet republic and one of Europe's poorest states, as Moscow also continued to bear down on Ukraine over its European integration plans. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian defector has proof of March chemical attack: opposition Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 10:25 AM PDT  By Dasha Afanasieva ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A forensic expert with evidence President Bashar al-Assad's government used chemical weapons near Aleppo in March has defected to Turkey, the Syrian opposition said on Tuesday, but the medic failed to appear at a planned news conference. Washington is considering military action over an alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus last month that killed hundreds. Evidence of their past use by government forces could prove important. ... Full Story | Top |
| Six killed as smuggled ammunition explodes on Turkey-Syria border Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 10:24 AM PDT ANKARA (Reuters) - A consignment of live ammunition exploded as it was being smuggled into Turkey, killing six people on the border with Syria on Tuesday, the provincial governor's office said. The ammunition mixed with scrap metal was being taken into Turkey's Hatay province from Syria, the governor's office said in a statement. Five Syrians died at the scene and one Turk died later of his wounds. ... Full Story | Top |
| Armenia says will join Russia-led customs union Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 09:55 AM PDT NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia (Reuters) - Armenia will join a customs union led by its former Soviet master Russia, President Serzh Sarksyan said on Tuesday after talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Much smaller than its energy-exporting neighbors, Armenia's economy will not hugely increase the union's overall trade figures when it joins Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in a bloc based on ties remaining from the former Soviet Union. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. counts 52 corpses after violence at Iranian dissident camp in Iraq Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 09:45 AM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.N. team said on Tuesday it had counted 52 bodies in a makeshift morgue at an Iranian dissident camp, most with gunshot wounds and some with their hands tied, two days after violence that it decried as an "atrocious crime". The dissident Mujahadin-e-Khalq (MEK) group blamed the Iraqi army for Sunday's bloodshed, but an adviser to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose government is close to Iran, dismissed the accusation as baseless. Following a visit to Camp Ashraf on Monday, the U.N. team said most of the corpses had gunshot wounds to the head and upper body. ... Full Story | Top |
| France will up aid to Syria rebels if U.S. rules out strike Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 09:40 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - France will step up aid to Syria's opposition if the United States Congress votes against a military strike to punish Syria's president for carrying out a reported chemical attack, President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday. Hollande has been one of the main international voices calling for military action against Syria over the chemical attack, which he and Washington say killed thousands of people in Damascus on August 21. But he was left out on a limb after Britain's parliament voted against taking part in any action and U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Erdogan closer to Turkish presidency with allies' public backing Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 09:21 AM PDT  By Jonathon Burch ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, accused of authoritarian rule at demonstrations in June, has taken a step towards what he hopes will be a stronger executive presidency after two senior politicians publicly backed him for the post. With less than a year to the vote, speculation has been mounting over what role Erdogan and Abdullah Gul, who occupies the current largely figurehead presidential post, will play in Turkey's first popular presidential election in 2014. The two were founding members of the ruling AK Party (AKP) in 2001 and longtime allies. ... Full Story | Top |
| G20 foreign minister to attend Russia summit to discuss Syria Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 07:59 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - Foreign ministers from key G20 member states will convene on the sidelines of this week's meeting in St Petersburg to discuss Syria, France said on Tuesday. "(French) Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will travel on September 5 and 6 to meet foreign ministers present at the G20 summit, notably those of the United States, Brazil, China, Russia and Turkey," Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot told reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama invites Russian rights activists to meeting alongside G20 summit Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 07:57 AM PDT  By Gabriela Baczynska MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama invited Russian human rights activists to meet him later this week, their groups said on Tuesday, a few weeks after snubbing Russian President Vladimir Putin amid spiraling disputes over human rights and security. Obama, who will meet the activists in St Petersburg on the fringes of the September 5-6 summit of G20 leaders, last month pulled out of talks with Putin in a sign of the worst tensions between Moscow and Washington since the end of the Cold War. The meeting with activists will underline U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Explosion on Turkey-Syria border kills six: Turkish media Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 07:36 AM PDT ANKARA (Reuters) - An explosion on the border between Turkey's southern province of Hatay and Syria killed six people on Tuesday, Turkish media said, but there were conflicting reports about the cause and exact location of the blast. Some Turkish television reports said the explosion was at an ammunition depot in the Altinozu district of Hatay, while other media reports said the blast happened in a vehicle carrying scrap metal on the Syrian side of the border. (Reporting by Jonathon Burch and Seda Sezer; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Pravin Char) Full Story | Top |
| In Mideast, view of U.S. as hesitant superpower sharpens Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 07:21 AM PDT  By William Maclean BEIRUT (Reuters) - The world's most powerful man decides to threaten Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "We will strike with all our might," says U.S. President Barack Obama, depicted in a cartoon in Saudi newspaper Alsharq. But when? Wearing a dreamy smile, Obama replies: "In a day, a week, a month, a year, 10 years - or however many years you can count. ... Full Story | Top |
| 'Clever' Merkel promises to shield Germany from rivals' taxes Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 07:20 AM PDT  By Stephen Brown BERLIN (Reuters) - Angela Merkel urged Germans on Tuesday to re-elect her "clever" government, saying it would shield their businesses and jobs from tax hikes by the center-left. The chancellor, whose bid for a third term on September 22 is a close contest despite her popularity, said Peer Steinbrueck would ruin her progress on cutting unemployment and cementing economic recovery if his Social Democrats (SPD) came to power. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germany hopes to charge 30 former Auschwitz guards Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 07:15 AM PDT  LUDWIGSBURG, Germany (Reuters) - German justice officials called on Tuesday for 30 former Nazi guards to face prosecution for their role in facilitating mass murder at the Auschwitz death camp during World War Two. The Nazis killed some 1.5 million people, mostly Jews but also Roma, Poles and others, at Auschwitz in occupied Poland between 1940 and 1945. Nearly seven decades on, the hunt is no longer focused on high-level perpetrators of the Holocaust but on bringing to justice thousands of people who helped to manage the Nazis' death machine. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan will continue to allow passage of South Sudan's oil exports Tuesday, Sep 03, 2013 07:04 AM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan will continue to allow South Sudan to export its oil through northern pipelines and Port Sudan port, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Tuesday. "The agreements we signed call for the transport of South Sudan's oil through Sudan's facilities and ports," Bashir said at a meeting with South Sudan's President Salva Kiir. Sudan had threatened to close the two export pipelines with the landlocked South unless Juba gave up support for rebels operating across the shared border. Juba denies the allegation. ... Full Story | Top |
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