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| China HSBC services PMI shows some resilience Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 08:59 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - Activity in China's services sector defied the country's economic cool down to expand modestly in July, a private survey showed on Monday, as new business orders recovered from a multi-year low in a rare sign of resilience. But that was tempered by a fall in prices charged by companies to a nine-month low, suggesting demand was still too weak for them to raise prices, and as business expectations hovered near their lowest since 2005. The HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the services industry stood at 51. ... Full Story | Top |
| Envoys in Egypt visit jailed Brotherhood leader: reports Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 08:50 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Western and Arab envoys visited a high-ranking member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood in jail on Monday, the state news agency reported, to press an international bid to defuse the crisis ignited by President Mohamed Mursi's downfall. The envoys met deputy Brotherhood leader Khairat El-Shater just after midnight, having received permission from the prosecutor general to visit him at Tora prison, south of Cairo, the state news agency MENA reported. ... Full Story | Top |
| San Francisco braces for summer rail strike as deadline looms Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 08:41 PM PDT By Ronnie Cohen SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Federal and state mediators worked with Bay Area Rapid Transit union and management negotiators late into Sunday night to try to reach a deal to avert a looming strike that threatened to cripple Monday's rush-hour commute. San Francisco area residents were bracing for a second possible strike this summer, sleeping at friends' and relatives' homes to be closer to jobs and making alternative travel arrangements just hours before a midnight deadline to reach a agreement on a labor contract. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. ambulance operator Rural/Metro files for bankruptcy Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 08:31 PM PDT (Reuters) - Ambulance operator Rural/Metro Corp, owned by private equity firm Warburg Pincus, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the aim of cutting its debts after it missed an interest payment in July, according to court filings. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based company also intends to renegotiate unprofitable contracts and free up capital for investments through the bankruptcy process, according to the filings. The provider of private ambulance and fire protection services declared liabilities and assets each worth more than $500 million. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former U.S. ambassador to Syria considered for Egypt: sources Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 07:31 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. envoy to Syria Robert Ford is being considered as Washington's next ambassador to Cairo, sources familiar with internal discussions said on Sunday as U.S. and European mediators sought a peaceful resolution to Egypt's crisis. Ford was described as a leading candidate for the post, according to two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. The State Department declined to comment and Ford did not respond to emails. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australia new vehicle sales up 4.1 percent in July: industry Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 07:12 PM PDT  SYDNEY (Reuters) - Sales of new vehicles in Australia were up 4.1 percent in July, compared to the same month last year, though down from a record peak in June when demand is typically boosted by end of financial year discounts. The Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries VFACTS report showed total vehicle sales in July were 90,235, compared to 86,641 last year and 118,758 in June. Sales for the first seven months of 2013 were running 4.6 percent ahead of the same period last year, while annualized sales were up at 1.135 million. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. extends embassy closings, lawmakers say threat serious Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 05:23 PM PDT  By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States extended embassy closures by a week in the Middle East and Africa as a precaution on Sunday after an al Qaeda threat that U.S. lawmakers said was the most serious in years. The State Department said 19 U.S. embassies and consulates would be closed through Saturday "out of an abundance of caution" and that a number of them would have been closed anyway for most of the week due to the Eid celebration at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The United States initially closed 21 U.S. diplomatic posts for the day on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two soldiers, militant killed in Tunisia turmoil Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 05:22 PM PDT  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian police shot dead an Islamist militant in Tunis and two soldiers were killed in a blast near the Algerian border on Sunday, as the government grappled with growing security and political crises. There has been a surge in Islamist militant attacks over the past two weeks in the North African country, and on Friday security forces launched heavy air and artillery strikes on militant hideouts in the Mount Chaambi area near the Algerian border. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bombs damage two shrines in Egypt's Sinai Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 04:39 PM PDT ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Two Islamic shrines were damaged by bomb attacks in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Sunday, the state news agency said, in a region where Islamist militants have stepped up attacks against the state since the army deposed President Mohamed Mursi. One of the shrines targeted was near the North Sinai town of Bir el-Abd, and the other was in the area of el-Maghara farther south. Both were badly damaged. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. extends closure of some embassies through August 10 Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 04:38 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States extended the closures of some embassies and consulates in the Middle East - which had been closed Sunday due to an al Qaeda threat - through August 10 due to caution but not the emergence of any new threat, the State Department said. Other U.S. diplomatic posts, including in Kabul, Baghdad and Algiers, that had been closed on Sunday, will reopen on Monday, the State Department said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thirty killed in heavy fighting in Syrian mountains Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 04:37 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels battled forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the Jabal Akrad mountains overlooking the Mediterranean on Sunday and a monitoring group said at least 30 people were killed. Video footage showed fighters identified as members of an al Qaeda-linked Islamist brigade waving from the roof of an army tower in the village of Barouda, one of several Alawite villages attacked by the rebels on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli president's wayward pass startles Messi Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 04:24 PM PDT  By Ori Lewis TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli President Shimon Peres inadvertently kicked a ball straight into the midriff of startled Barcelona striker Lionel Messi as he launched a soccer event by the Spanish league champions in Tel Aviv on Sunday. The remarkably energetic Peres, 90, dressed in a smart suit, addressed the Catalan team and 15,000 spectators at Tel Aviv's Bloomfield Stadium who came to see Barcelona hold a clinic for young players followed by a training session. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: China turf war over yuan reform rattles foreign firms Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 04:13 PM PDT  By Pete Sweeney SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Multinational companies in China say they are being forced to pick sides in a turf war between two major financial regulators fighting over which agency will drive currency and capital account liberalization. The conflict between the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) risks undermining confidence in the country's commitment to pulling down barriers that will finally open up the economy, analysts say. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lloyds CEO sees dividend payout by 2015: FT Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 04:09 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio told potential investors that he expects to see up to 70 percent of the bank's earnings returned to shareholders by 2015, the Financial Times reported, citing sources. The dividend target was revealed during recent shareholder roadshows aimed at attracting investment before the British government sells its 39 percent stake in Lloyds, the FT said on its website. (http://link.reuters.com/hym22v) The government could sell a tranche of about 5 billion pounds ($7. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt mediation gathers pace but Brotherhood leaders face trial Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 03:43 PM PDT  By Angus MacSwan and Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army-installed government said on Sunday it would give mediation a chance to resolve the crisis brought on by the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, but warned that time was limited. At the same time, a Cairo court announced that the leader of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood and two other top officials will face trial in three weeks' time for crimes including incitement to murder during protests in the days before he was toppled. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Israeli president's wayward pass startles Messi Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 03:37 PM PDT By Ori Lewis TEL AVIV, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Israeli President Shimon Peres inadvertently kicked a ball straight into the midriff of startled Barcelona striker Lionel Messi as he launched a soccer event by the Spanish league champions in Tel Aviv on Sunday. The remarkably energetic Peres, 90, dressed in a smart suit, addressed the Catalan team and 15,000 spectators at Tel Aviv's Bloomfield Stadium who came to see Barcelona hold a clinic for young players followed by a training session. ... Full Story | Top |
| Moroccan king revokes pardon of Spanish pedophile Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 03:09 PM PDT RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco's king on Sunday revoked his pardon of a Spanish pedophile, after hundreds rioted in front of parliament on Friday to protest the decision. The pedophile, identified by the Spanish Foreign Ministry as Daniel Galvan Vina, has been serving a 30-year sentence for raping and filming at least 11 children aged 4 to 15. A statement from the palace carried by the state news agency on Sunday said the king revoked the pardon, taking into consideration the gravity of the crimes committed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish court to announce verdicts in Ergenekon conspiracy case Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 03:07 PM PDT  By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish court will pass judgment on Monday on nearly 300 defendants accused of plotting to topple the government in a battleground case in the decade-long conflict between Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Turkey's secularist establishment. Security forces set up barricades around the courthouse in the Silivri jail complex, west of Istanbul, to tighten security after the defendants' supporters vowed to hold a demonstration against the five-year trial that has exposed deep divisions in Turkish society. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize winner barred from entering Egypt Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 03:01 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities barred Yemeni Nobel Peace laureate Tawakul Karman - a supporter of deposed president Mohamed Mursi - from entering the country on Sunday and put her on a flight back to Dubai, security sources said. State news agency MENA said Karman, who had previously announced her solidarity with supporters of Mursi, overthrown by the army a month ago, was on a list of people who were not allowed to enter Egypt. A spokesman for Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood said Karman had recently joined demonstrations in Cairo demanding the former leader be reinstated. ... Full Story | Top |
| Envoys to meet jailed Islamist Shater: report Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 02:52 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - A group of Western and Arab envoys will visit jailed Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat El-Shater as they seek to mediate an end to Egypt's crisis, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday. The channel gave no further details on the meeting. The envoys from the United States, the European Union, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have been meeting allies of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi and the army-backed administration that replaced him in a bid to defuse the crisis. Shater is deputy leader of the Brotherhood and its main political strategist. ... Full Story | Top |
| Asia's exports stutter, missing out on U.S. revival Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 02:18 PM PDT  By Wayne Arnold and Choonsik Yoo HONG KONG (Reuters) - The U.S. economy may have stopped sneezing, but Asia's exports are still laid up with a nasty cold. Growth in exports from seven of East Asia's biggest exporters - Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore - slowed to a halt in the second quarter, according to national trade data compiled by Reuters, led by a 9 percent drop in exports to the European Union compared to a year earlier. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tycoon's 10-year crusade to get a Big Mac in Vietnam Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 02:15 PM PDT  By Nguyen Phuong Linh and Martin Petty HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) - Tycoon Henry Nguyen mopped floors, flipped burgers and even cleaned toilets over a 10-year campaign to convince McDonald's Corp to let him bring Big Macs and Happy Meals to communist Vietnam. McDonald's is making a late entry into this market, where Yum Brands Inc already has dozens of Pizza Hut and KFC outlets and Burger King Worldwide Inc has 15 restaurants. Even Starbucks Corp debuted in Ho Chi Minh City in February and opened its second branch last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Whistleblowers pay price even as China vows to fight corruption Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 02:12 PM PDT  By Sui-Lee Wee HUIZHOU, China (Reuters) - Chinese bloggers trying to expose corruption say they are coming under increasing physical and verbal attack over their reports, in what anti-graft activists describe as another blow to efforts to make Chinese officials more accountable. At least six self-styled whistleblowers have been assaulted or harassed in recent months, according to media reports, Internet postings and several of the bloggers who spoke to Reuters. Two unidentified men stabbed blogger Li Jianxin in the face and splashed acid on his back on July 8. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain studies measures to pressure Gibraltar Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 02:01 PM PDT  By Dominique Searle MADRID/GIBRALTAR (Reuters) - Spain is studying retaliatory measures against the British territory of Gibraltar in an escalating dispute over fishing grounds, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said in an interview published on Sunday. "The party is over," Garcia-Margallo told ABC newspaper, referring to years of softer policy on Gibraltar under the previous Socialist government. The minister said Spain was mulling a 50-euro border-crossing fee and tax investigations of thousands of Gibraltarians who own property in Spain. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ohio death row inmate found hanged days before execution date Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 01:55 PM PDT By Kim Palmer COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - An Ohio death row inmate was found hanged in his prison cell on Sunday, three days before he was due to be executed for the 1987 murder of a babysitter, a prison spokeswoman said. Billy Slagle, 44, had been due to receive a lethal injection at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, according to JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. She said an investigation into Slagle's death was ongoing. Slagle, who spent 24 years on death row, was convicted in 1988 of the robbery and murder of Mari Anne Pope in Cleveland. ... Full Story | Top |
| From spin doctor to Dr Who: BBC names new Time Lord Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 01:53 PM PDT  By Peter Griffiths LONDON (Reuters) - A British actor best known for playing a foul-mouthed political spin doctor was named on Sunday as the new lead in the BBC's "Doctor Who", the long-running science fiction series that has terrified generations of children. Ending months of speculation, Britain's public broadcaster said Peter Capaldi, 55, will be the 12th Doctor, a time travelling adventurer who first appeared on screens in 1963. Racing through time and space in a blue police telephone box, the Time Lord has battled foes such as the Cybermen, the Weeping Angels and the Daleks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamist militants attack Somali capital, plan more before Ramadan ends Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 01:14 PM PDT By Abdi Sheikh MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Islamist militants set off several explosions in the Somali capital on Sunday, their spokesman said, demonstrating the rebels' ability to attack the heart of government-controlled areas despite security gains. The guerilla-style attacks were typical of al Shabaab rebels who have waged a six-year campaign to impose their strict interpretation of Islamic law on the country. The militants had fired five mortar shells and hurled several grenades, wounding at least two women, senior police officer Abdiqadir Mohamud said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Czech purge provokes cabinet legitimacy row before confidence vote Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 12:55 PM PDT  By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - The new Czech cabinet has embarked on a bureaucratic purge, provoking the kind of conflict over democratic legitimacy that is dividing a number of central and eastern European countries two decades after the fall of communism. Since coming to power, the cabinet led by a close ally of President Milos Zeman has cleared out dozens of officials from government departments and state institutions, drawing accusations that it is exceeding its mandate before a parliamentary vote of confidence this week it may well lose. ... Full Story | Top |
| Government subsidies fire up London property hotspots Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 12:50 PM PDT  By Christina Fincher LONDON (Reuters) - Tony Richmount is thankful he procrastinated. A year ago, the retired engineer from Wimbledon wanted to sell his house and move to a retirement flat but got cold feet. That proved to be a stroke of luck. His three-bedroom house, valued at 600,000 pounds last summer, has just sold for 725,000 pound. Property appreciation of 20 percent in a year is far from unique in parts of London like the leafy south-west neighbourhood known best for its tennis tournament. ... Full Story | Top |
| Legal challenge starts for LME, Goldman on aluminum storage Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 12:49 PM PDT  By Veronica Brown and Josephine Mason LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have been named as co-defendants in a U.S. class-action lawsuit alleging anticompetitive behavior in aluminum warehousing, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) said. Goldman on Wednesday tried to diffuse years of frustration over long waiting times and inflated prices at metals warehouses across the world, by offering immediate access to aluminum for end users holding metal at its Metro warehouses. ... Full Story | Top |
| Security tightens around shuttered Yemen embassies after militant warning Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 12:34 PM PDT  By Mohammed Ghobari SANAA (Reuters) - Soldiers blocked roads outside Western embassies in Sanaa on Sunday, after a U.S. warning of a possible major militant attack in the Middle East prompted the closure of many missions in Yemen and U.S. missions in several other Arab states. Security in Yemen, home to one of the most active wings of al Qaeda, is a global concern as the impoverished Arab Peninsula state shares a long border with Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally and the world's top oil exporter. While Washington has not disclosed the origin of the threat, the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi backs government at rally against tax conviction Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 11:46 AM PDT  By Naomi O'Leary ROME (Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of Silvio Berlusconi protested in Rome on Sunday against a tax fraud conviction that has rocked Italy's fragile coalition, but the center-right leader said the government must continue. Addressing the 2,000-strong crowd, a subdued Berlusconi again bitterly attacked what he calls leftist judges and insisted he was innocent, but said he would continue to support the shaky coalition of his center-right People of Freedom (PDL) party with the center-left Democratic Party (PD) of Prime Minister Enrico Letta. ... Full Story | Top |
| Republican Ryan wary of shutdown strategy on Obamacare Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 11:24 AM PDT  By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Influential Republican congressman Paul Ryan disagreed on Sunday with the idea of using the threat of a government shutdown as a means of trying to get rid of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law known as "Obamacare." Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee and a former vice presidential candidate, said he strongly backs the goal of repealing Obamacare but added there were other, more effective ways of achieving it than by refusing to approve any government funding bill that includes money for the program. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cross currents to slow but not halt Chinese growth Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 11:15 AM PDT  By Alan Wheatley, Global Economics Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - China's monthly data deluge is likely to confirm that the world's second-largest economy is still moving down through the gears but is not about to come to a screeching halt. Beijing is walking a fine line. The leadership has underlined its determination to hit this year's 7.5 percent growth goal by fine-tuning polices to help industries work more efficiently. But it is willing to accept some slowdown to wean the economy off credit-driven investment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sweden's Avicii tops UK singles charts for third week Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 11:14 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Swedish DJ and producer Avicii has spent a third week at the top of the British singles charts with his dance hit "Wake Me Up", sales figures showed on Sunday. The Official Charts Company, which compiles the weekly list, said the 23-year-old held off a challenge from British soul singer John Newman, who climbed two places to number two with "Love Me Again". Avicii, whose real name is Tim Bergling, sold 267,000 copies of the song in its first week of release last month to become the fastest selling track of the year in Britain. The total reached 545,000 copies this week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian Brotherhood leaders to face trial for inciting murder Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 10:04 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - The leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and his deputy will face trial in three weeks' time for crimes including incitement to murder during protests in the days before the overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi, a Cairo court announced on Sunday. The move showed the army-backed interim government was pushing ahead with a crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood, to which Mursi belongs, while international envoys try to help resolve the political crisis brought on by his removal by the army on July 3. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisian soldier killed, seven wounded in landmine by Algeria border Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 09:57 AM PDT TUNIS (Reuters) - One Tunisian soldier was killed and seven others wounded on Sunday by a landmine near the Algerian border, where security forces have been hunting Islamist militants, an army source said. "The landmine was planted by Islamist extremists. It exploded when their tank rolled over it in a security sweep in Mount Chaambi," he said, referring to a remote border area where militants killed eight troops last Monday in one of the deadliest attack against Tunisian security forces in decades. (Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) Full Story | Top |
| Raytheon sees 'never-ending opportunity' in Patriot missile system Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 09:53 AM PDT By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Raytheon Co is poised to book billions of dollars worth of orders for its Patriot air and missile defense system in the coming months, underscoring the resurgence of a weapon first developed to defend Europe against a possible Soviet attack. Three decades later, the system has been upgraded multiple times and more than 200 fire units are in use in a dozen countries, with additional customers in talks to buy into a system that just a few years ago looked ready to wind down. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senior U.S. senator says Putin acting like 'schoolyard bully' Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 09:50 AM PDT  By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Democratic senator said on Sunday that the U.S.-Russia relationship had become "poisonous" and urged President Barack Obama to consider moving next month's Group of 20 summit away from the Russian city of St. Petersburg. Charles Schumer, the U.S. Senate's third ranking Democrat and a close Obama ally, accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to antagonize the United States by granting American fugitive Edward Snowden asylum for one year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Police in California arrest over 200 at Chevron refinery protest Sunday, Aug 04, 2013 09:25 AM PDT  By Ronnie Cohen RICHMOND, California (Reuters) - Police arrested more than 200 demonstrators for trespassing at Chevron Corp in the California city of Richmond on Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary of a massive refinery fire and to protest a proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The arrests came as a throng of sunflower-carrying picketers chanted, "Hey hey, ho ho, fossil fuels have got to go," as people of all ages walked onto Chevron's property to draw attention to a growing movement against fossil fuel. ... Full Story | Top |
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