| | |
| Suspected L.A. airport gunman planned 'suicide' mission: congressman Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 07:47 PM PST  The suspect in a deadly shooting at Los Angeles International Airport wrote that he intended to die after killing at least one security officer, the head of a key congressional security committee said on Sunday, as authorities stepped up patrols at the airport and considered changes to aviation security rules. Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, also discussed weaknesses in airport security in the "suicide" note before Friday's attack, Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, told CNN. "The other thing he wanted to talk about was how easy it is to bring a gun into an airport and do something just like he did," McCaul said of the note. An officer with the Transportation Security Administration died in the shooting, the first employee from the agency killed in the line of duty since it was created after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Full Story | Top |
| China sends graft busters to more provinces, government departments Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 07:07 PM PST China has sent anti-corruption investigators to six more provinces and four government departments, the Chinese Communist Party's corruption watchdog said on Monday, in the government's latest move to tackle graft. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has dispatched inspectors to government departments that include official news agency Xinhua and the Commerce Ministry, the watchdog said in a statement on its website. Since taking office in March, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called corruption a threat to the ruling Communist Party's survival and vowed to go after powerful "tigers" as well as lowly "flies". These investigations are unrelated to this new round of probes, or the previous one, which began in May. The May probes, which lasted through the summer and reported back in September, targeted five regions and five departments, including the poor southern province of Guizhou, the southeastern province of Jiangxi and coal-rich Inner Mongolia, as well as the state-owned China Grain Reserves Corporation and the China Publishing Group Corp. The party has so far given few details of the outcome of the first round of investigations, in line with its secretive nature, though the anti-corruption watchdog publishes website reports of a steady stream of minor officials being probed. Full Story | Top |
| Fed's Fisher says stimulus tapering will be data dependent Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 06:38 PM PST SYDNEY (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher on Monday said any tapering in the U.S. central bank's bond-buying stimulus program will depend on the strength of economic data. Speaking at a conference of business economists in Sydney, Fisher also said U.S. corporate balance sheets are stronger than ever. Fisher has long been concerned by the Fed's "hyper-accommodative" monetary policy, in part due to the danger of market disruptions when it comes time to slim down its massive balance sheet. Fisher is not a voting member this year, but will be in 2014. ... Full Story | Top |
| Asian shares eke out slim gains, dollar holds firm Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 06:14 PM PST  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian stocks drifted higher on Monday in sluggish trade as investors chose discretion over valour ahead of central bank meetings in Europe and the always-critical U.S. payrolls report. "We are bullish going into next year, but it wouldn't surprise to see some sort of breather ... We think any pullback is going to be very shallow," said Martin Lakos, division director at Macquarie Bank, of the Australian market. There are no less than four Fed officials speaking on Monday, starting with Fed Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher in Sydney. Fed Governor Jerome Powell and the heads of the St. Louis and Boston Feds all appear later in the day. Full Story | Top |
| Fed's Fisher says U.S. government bears blame for slow recovery Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 06:04 PM PST  (Reuters) - An ineffective, fractious and fiscally irresponsible government has slowed the U.S. recovery and counteracted the stimulative effects of Federal Reserve's super-accommodative monetary policy, a top Fed official said on Monday. "While the Fed has been moving at the speed of a boomer in full run, the federal government of the United States has at best exhibited the adaptive alacrity of a koala (without being anywhere near as cute)," Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Australian Business Economists. "Unlike in most recoveries, government has played a countercyclical, suppressive role," Fisher said in Sydney. "The inability of our government to get its act together has countered the pro-cyclical policy of the Federal Reserve." The Fed is buying $85 billion in assets each month to spur growth and hiring by pushing down long-term borrowing costs. Full Story | Top |
| Britain must stay in EU but reforms needed, business leaders say Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 05:51 PM PST  By William James and Shadi Bushra LONDON (Reuters) - Britain must remain part of the European Union, British business leaders said on Monday, but they called on Prime Minister David Cameron to oppose the "creeping extension of EU authority". The comments from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) appear to endorse Cameron's position. The prime minister says he wants to stay in the bloc but has pledged to renegotiate Britain's EU membership terms and put the changes to voters in an "in or out" referendum in 2017, if he is re-elected. Divided public opinion over Europe poses one of the biggest obstacles to Cameron winning a second term in 2015. Full Story | Top |
| Birmingham, Alabama, airport reopens after threat proves false Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 04:45 PM PST (Reuters) - The Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Alabama was evacuated for over two hours on Sunday while police investigated a bomb threat that turned out to be a false alarm, police said. "It ended up being nothing," said Birmingham Police Sergeant Johnny Williams. Full Story | Top |
| South Korea plans to buy four Global Hawk aircraft from 2017 Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 04:27 PM PST South Korea intends to buy four Global Hawk unmanned aircraft, made by Northrop Grumman Corp, for about 900 billion won ($848 million), an official at the country's defense acquisition agency confirmed on Monday. Lee Young-geol, the administrator of South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said in a parliamentary audit late on Friday that South Korea "has plans to sign a contract next year to adopt Global Hawks in 2017". The purchase would be conducted through the U.S. Foreign Military Sale (FMS) program, and was likely to be signed in the first half of 2014, said the official who was not authorized to speak about the deal before its terms were fixed. Full Story | Top |
| Britons turn to junk food after financial crisis - study Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 04:13 PM PST  Britons hurt by lower incomes and rising food prices after the financial crisis have cut back on fruit and vegetables and turned instead to fatty, sugary, processed food, an academic study showed on Monday. The net effect has been that Britons are spending 8.5 percent less in real terms on food purchased at home than before the recession - with the trend even greater for pensioners and families with young children. The research is likely to be politically sensitive at a time when Britain's Conservative-led government is under pressure from the Labour Party, over declining standards of living and sharply rising demand at food banks which hand out free food to the poorest Britons. People have economised by buying less food, measured in number of calories, but also on its quality, picking products that are less nutritious and higher in saturated fat and sugar. Full Story | Top |
| In political messaging wars, White House deploys a Twitter army Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 03:41 PM PST  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Besieged by unflattering stories about the launch of President Barack Obama's healthcare program, the White House saw a news report that it wanted to swiftly knock down. It was from NBC, which said that Obama had overpromised when he said Americans who liked their insurance could keep it, and that the president knew that many people would see their coverage change. White House officials quickly began firing off a barrage of tweets on Twitter, which has become one of the administration's most potent and relied-upon weapons in trying to shape public opinion and media reports. "NBC 'scoop' cites normal turnover in the indiv insurance market," Earnest tweeted to his 9,500 followers on Twitter. Full Story | Top |
| Asian shares eke out gains, dollar holds firm Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 03:29 PM PST  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian markets started the week on a sluggish note on Monday as investors chose discretion over valor ahead of central bank meetings in Europe and the always-critical U.S. payrolls report. Trading was thinned by holidays in both Japan and Singapore which kept MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan just a fraction firmer at 480.04. Fed Governor Jerome Powell and the heads of the St. Louis and Boston Feds all appear later in the day. The dollar fared best against the euro which was undermined by speculation the European Central Bank (ECB) would have to ease again given disappointing news on unemployment and a startlingly low reading of inflation. Full Story | Top |
| Toronto mayor urges police to release video, apologizes for 'mistakes' Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 03:18 PM PST  By Jeffrey Hodgson TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford on Sunday urged his police chief to release a video that media reports say show him smoking what appears to be crack cocaine and issued a broad apology for mistakes in his past, including public drunkenness. But Ford, who previously said he does not use crack, said he could not discuss the content of the video until he had seen it. "Whatever this video shows ... Toronto residents deserve to see it, and people need to judge for themselves what they see on this video," Ford said on his weekly radio show. Full Story | Top |
| China reform checklist: How to tell that this time it's for real? Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 03:08 PM PST  By Tomasz Janowski TOKYO (Reuters) - The message from Beijing could not be clearer: China needs to shift to a more balanced economy that is socially and environmentally sustainable. That was the conclusion of a key Communist Party meeting a decade ago, yet what followed was more of the same: rapid investment-led expansion, which turned China into the world's no.2 economy, but left it laden with debt, environmental damage and excess capacity. Fast forward to 2013 and China's new leadership is again promising more harmonious development and the question is how to tell whether, this time, it is for real. One encouraging sign suggesting that President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and their team mean business is their greater tolerance for slower economic growth while they carry out reforms. Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Roux double sends Monaco to first defeat of season Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 02:58 PM PST (Add quotes, details) PARIS, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Lille striker Nolan Roux scored twice to inflict big-spending Monaco's first Ligue 1 defeat of the season with a 2-0 win that lifted the hosts into second place in the standings on Sunday. Roux put Lille ahead after 27 minutes when he tapped the ball in from close range following a Marko Basa header from a corner. The forward made it 2-0 midway through the second half after Salomon Kalou had initiated a quick counter-attack. Lille, who have now recorded 10 clean sheets from 12 games, easily contained a struggling Monaco side. Full Story | Top |
| Kerry sees signs Egypt moving back towards democracy Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 02:14 PM PST  By Lesley Wroughton and Shaimaa Fayed CAIRO (Reuters) - A day before Egypt's deposed Islamist president goes on trial, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday expressed guarded optimism about a return to democracy in the country during a tour partly aimed at easing tensions with major Arab powers. On his first visit to Egypt since the army removed president Mohamed Mursi in July, Kerry called for fair, transparent trials for all citizens. However, he described Cairo as a vital partner to the United States and the region, as he tried to repair relations hurt by a partial freeze in U.S. aid. Kerry said the relationship between the United States and Egypt should not be defined by aid but by a partnership, and promised to launch talks on a U.S.-Egypt strategic dialogue. Full Story | Top |
| Newsmaker: Egypt's Mursi faces trial after short taste of power Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 02:14 PM PST By Michael Georgy CAIRO (Reuters) - When Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Mursi broke out of an Egyptian jail during Hosni Mubarak's final days in office in 2011, he little thought he would end up behind bars again. After decades of repression under Egyptian autocrats, the Muslim Brotherhood won every election since a popular uprising toppled Mubarak in 2011, eventually propelling Mursi to power. Mursi promised a moderate Islamist agenda to steer Egypt into a new democratic era where autocracy would be replaced by transparent government that respected human rights and revived the fortunes of a powerful Arab state long in decline. The stocky, bespectacled Mursi told Egyptians he would deliver an "Egyptian renaissance with an Islamic foundation". Full Story | Top |
| East Libya movement launches government, challenges Tripoli Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 01:59 PM PST By Ayman Warfalli and Ghaith Shennib BENGHAZI/TRIPOLI, Libya (Reuters) - Leaders of an autonomy movement in Libya's oil-rich east unilaterally declared a regional government on Sunday, in a challenge to the weak central government as new violence erupted in the restive region. The announcement is a symbolic blow to efforts by the Tripoli government to reopen eastern oil ports and fields blocked since summer by militias and tribes demanding a greater share of power and oil wealth. Lawlessness has blighted large areas of the OPEC producer since the 2011 war that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. The government has been unable to rein in militia groups, armed tribes and radical Islamists. Full Story | Top |
| In China's Xinjiang, poverty, exclusion are greater threat than Islam Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 01:16 PM PST  By Michael Martina URUMQI, China (Reuters) - In the dirty backstreets of the Uighur old quarter of Xinjiang's capital Urumqi in China's far west, Abuduwahapu frowns when asked what he thinks is the root cause of the region's festering problem with violence and unrest. So they don't really understand each other," he said, referring to the Muslim religion the Turkic-speaking Uighur people follow, in contrast to the official atheism of the ruling Communist Party. But for the teenage bread delivery boy, it's not Islam that's driving people to commit acts of violence, such as last week's deadly car crash in Beijing's Tiananmen Square - blamed by the government on Uighur Islamist extremists who want independence. Mostly, those who support it are unsatisfied because they are poor," said Abuduwahapu, who came to Urumqi two years ago from the heavily Uighur old Silk Road city of Kashgar in Xinjiang's southwest, near the Pakistani and Afghan border. Full Story | Top |
| India throws rings of protection around divisive candidate Modi Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 01:10 PM PST  By Sanjeev Miglani NEW DELHI (Reuters) - - Indian security forces are preparing for one of their most challenging assignments in decades, protecting prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in a country with a grim history of political assassinations. A series of small bombs killed six people at a rally the Hindu nationalist leader held in the city of Patna on October 20. Authorities said the home-grown Indian Mujahideen (IM) group was responsible. While Modi was not in the immediate vicinity of the explosions, the message was clear. Full Story | Top |
| Less sin, more Shrek in Macau as China takes aim in corruption fight Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 01:05 PM PST  Xie Xiaoqing, chairman of Rongzhong Group, was sued in January for failing to repay the money to Sands China Ltd, U.S. billionaire Sheldon Adelson's Macau gambling unit. For many years, politically linked tycoons and government officials were frequently spotted betting millions in the southern Chinese city's lavish VIP rooms. But their numbers have dwindled because of an anti-corruption campaign led by China's new leader Xi Jinping. Just a few years ago, that might have devastated Macau, which typically generated 70 percent of its revenues from high rollers including wealthy government officials. Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Won for the money: North Korea experiments with exchange rates Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 01:02 PM PST  By James Pearson SEOUL (Reuters) - In a dimly-lit Pyongyang toyshop packed with Mickey Mouse picture frames and plastic handguns, a basketball sells for 46,000 Korean People's Won - close to $500 at North Korea's centrally planned exchange rate. Luckily, for young North Koreans looking to shoot hoops with Dennis Rodman, the new friend of leader Kim Jong Un, the Chinese-made ball actually costs a little less than $6 based on black market rates. Once reserved for official exchange only in zones aimed at attracting foreign investment, and in illegal underground market deals elsewhere, black market rates are being used more frequently and openly in North Korean cities. Publicly advertised prices at rates close to the market rate - around 8,000 won to the dollar versus the official rate of 96 - could signal Pyongyang is trying to marketise its centrally planned economy and allow a burgeoning "grey market" to thrive. Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Democrats seek to make Virginia governor's race a Tea Party referendum Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 12:54 PM PST  By Steve Holland ARLINGTON, Virginia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats attempted on Sunday to tap into voter anger about a 16-day U.S. government shutdown and turn Virginia's upcoming governor's election into a referendum on Tea Party conservatives. With Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe leading polls over Republican Ken Cuccinelli before Tuesday's vote, Obama and Democratic speakers at a rally in the Washington suburb of Arlington pressed party activists to focus on turning out the vote. Northern Virginia's Washington suburbs, where many government employees and contractors live, was hit particularly hard by the government shutdown last month that resulted from a stalemate over the U.S. budget and debt ceiling that Americans for the most part blamed on Republicans. Full Story | Top |
| Swiss Finance Minister wants banks to boost leverage ratios: paper Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 12:16 PM PST  Swiss banks should be subject to higher leverage ratio requirements, Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf was quoted as saying on Sunday. Under Basel III, banks will be subject to a leverage ratio requiring them to hold capital equivalent to at least 3 percent of their total non risk-weighted assets. Authorities have been grappling since the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers five years ago with the question of how banks regarded as systemically important, or too-big-to-fail, can be recapitalized without causing panic or needing taxpayer cash. But they must be organized so that the state does not end up being liable." After Switzerland's biggest bank UBS had to be bailed out by the government in 2008, Swiss regulators have implemented tough new capital requirements for banks that go beyond the Basel III rules, which were laid out by a committee of banking supervisors from nearly 30 countries. Full Story | Top |
| Syria opposition lays preconditions for peace talks Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 12:13 PM PST  By Yasmine Saleh and Ayman Samir CAIRO (Reuters) - The Syrian opposition set terms on Sunday for attending peace talks to end the Syrian civil war, in a move that throws the proposed conference into further confusion after the international envoy said there should be no preconditions. The long-delayed talks - known as Geneva 2 - are meant to bring Syria's warring sides to the negotiating table, but have been repeatedly delayed because of disputes between world powers, divisions among the opposition and irreconcilable positions of Assad and the rebels. Syrian National Coalition President Ahmad Jarba said the opposition would not attend unless there was a clear timeframe for President Bashar al-Assad to leave power. He also said they could not accept the presence of Iran. Full Story | Top |
| Republican Ayotte seeks 'time out' on Obamacare as anxieties grow Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 11:56 AM PST  By Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte wants to press "pause" on rolling out the U.S. healthcare reform law as anxiety grows about troubles with the federal website for buying insurance and possibly low numbers of people signing up for coverage. "I'm calling on the president now to say, 'Let's have a time-out on this.' Mr. President, you call a time-out on this," said Ayotte in an appearance on CNN on Sunday. "Convene a group of bipartisan leaders to address healthcare concerns in this country because this is not working." Ayotte said the pause would not be a replay of an October standoff over fiscal issues, when an impasse between Democrats and Republicans resulted in a partial shutdown of the federal government as Republicans sought to defund the healthcare law, known as Obamacare. "The administration, in the way this is being rolled out, is a mess." On Wednesday Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will face angry Republicans such as Ayotte when she testifies before the Senate Finance Committee about the online federal insurance exchange. Full Story | Top |
| UK response to Snowden data 'imperils press freedom': rights groups Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 11:49 AM PST  The British government's response to leaks of intelligence information by former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden has eroded human rights and press freedoms, rights groups said on Sunday. In an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron published in Britain's Guardian newspaper, 70 different press advocacy and rights groups from 40 countries said they were alarmed at the way his government had reacted, saying it had invoked national security legislation to try to suppress information of public interest. "We believe that the United Kingdom government's response ... is eroding fundamental human rights in the country. Full Story | Top |
| South African mob burns, stones five to death in vigilante riot Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 11:26 AM PST Five alleged criminals including a witch doctor were killed by an enraged South African mob in a township on Sunday, police said, the latest act of vigilantism in a country plagued with high rates of violent crime. Another township in the area, Bekkersdal, has been the scene of periodic riots the past few weeks by residents angry at the failure of the local government to provide services such as garbage collection, an ominous sign for the ruling African National Congress ahead of general elections next year. They first attacked a 61-year-old traditional healer or witch doctor, setting his house alight and burning him to death. Two young men who the police said belonged to a criminal grouping known as the "Casanova Gang" were then set upon and also burnt to death. Full Story | Top |
| British minister says Islamic veil should be banned in courts Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 11:08 AM PST  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Muslim women should be banned from wearing a veil when giving evidence in British courts, a cabinet minister in Prime Minister David Cameron's government said on Sunday, arguing it was hard to judge someone's testimony otherwise. In comments likely to stir up an already emotive debate, Ken Clarke, a minister without portfolio who used to work as a criminal barrister, likened traditional female Islamic dress to being "in a kind of bag", and said he found it "a most peculiar costume for people to adopt in the 21st century." "I think we do need a clear rule. I don't think a witness should be allowed to give evidence from behind a veil," Clarke, a former interior minister, told BBC radio. It's almost impossible to have a proper trial if one of the persons is in a kind of bag." A judge's ruling in September that a Muslim woman could not give evidence at her trial wearing a full-face veil sparked debate about whether Britain should follow other European countries and ban veils in schools and public places. Full Story | Top |
| Ken Clarke says Islamic veil should be banned in courts Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 11:07 AM PST  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Muslim women should be banned from wearing a veil when giving evidence in British courts, a cabinet minister in Prime Minister David Cameron's government said on Sunday, arguing it was hard to judge someone's testimony otherwise. In comments likely to stir up an already emotive debate, Ken Clarke, a minister without portfolio who used to work as a criminal barrister, likened traditional female Islamic dress to being "in a kind of bag", and said he found it "a most peculiar costume for people to adopt in the 21st century." "I think we do need a clear rule. I don't think a witness should be allowed to give evidence from behind a veil," Clarke, a former Home Secretary, told BBC radio. It's almost impossible to have a proper trial if one of the persons is in a kind of bag." A judge's ruling in September that a Muslim woman could not give evidence at her trial wearing a full-face veil sparked debate about whether Britain should follow other European countries and ban veils in schools and public places. Full Story | Top |
| France says its journalists "coldly assassinated" in Mali Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 10:21 AM PST  By John Irish and Adama Diarra PARIS/BAMAKO (Reuters) - France said on Sunday two French journalists found dead in the northern Mali region of Kidal had been "coldly assassinated" by militants and vowed to step up security measures in the area. Radio journalists Claude Verlon and Ghislaine Dupont were abducted after interviewing a member of the MNLA Tuareg separatist group in northern Mali. Their bodies were found on Saturday by a French patrol 12 km (8 miles) outside Kidal, the birthplace of a Tuareg uprising last year that plunged Mali into chaos, leading to a coup in the capital Bamako and the occupation of the northern half of the country by militants linked to al Qaeda. Adama Kamissoko, the governor of Kidal region, said French and Malian security officials were jointly investigating the attack, but French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius put the blame firmly on militants operating in the region. Full Story | Top |
| Syria opposition says no to peace talks without clear timeframe for Assad exit Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 10:08 AM PST Syrian National Coalition President Ahmad Jarba said on Sunday the opposition would not attend proposed peace talks in Geneva unless there was a clear timeframe for President Bashar al-Assad to leave power. "We have decided not to enter Geneva talks unless it is with dignity, and unless there is a successful transfer of power with a specific timeframe, and without the occupier Iran at the negotiating table," Jarba told an Arab League emergency meeting in Cairo. Jarba's latest comments throw the proposed talks into further confusion. The United Nations envoy to Syria has said there would be no pre-conditions for the long-delayed peace talks. Full Story | Top |
| ECB may soon join the flight of the doves Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 10:04 AM PST  By Alan Wheatley LONDON (Reuters) - Even as the euro zone economy shows faint signs of stirring, the European Central Bank is likely to send a dovish message this week that more monetary help will be on the way before long. After a plunge in inflation to 0.7 percent in the year to October, well below the ECB's target of just under 2 percent, UBS and RBS are among those who reckon a rate cut could come as soon as Thursday's policy-setting meeting. At the very least economists expect ECB President Mario Draghi to indicate that the balance of risk has tilted toward further easing, partly because the recent strength of the euro will hurt exports with a lag. But many believe it would make more sense for the ECB to hold fire until December, when the bank's staff updates its growth and inflation forecasts. Full Story | Top |
| Berlin prosecutors investigate ex-Merkel ally who joined Daimler Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 09:58 AM PST Berlin prosecutors are investigating ex-German state minister Eckart von Klaeden over a potential conflict of interest after Chancellor Angela Merkel's former ally joined carmaker Daimler as a lobbyist, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors confirmed on Sunday after a media report. Daimler said it had no doubts about Klaeden's integrity. Klaeden, a former treasurer of Merkel's Christian Democrats who spent the last four years in a senior chancellery role, said in May that he would quit the government after Germany's September 22 national elections to take up the position of chief political lobbyist at Daimler. Germany last month blocked an agreement among EU member states to cap car emissions, arguing the plan would cost jobs and hurt its premium carmakers Mercedes of parent Daimler, BMW and Audi. Full Story | Top |
| Kosovo vote, key to Serb integration, marred by violence, boycott Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 09:55 AM PST  By Aleksandar Vasovic MITROVICA, Kosovo (Reuters) - An election in Kosovo designed to help end years of de facto ethnic partition was marred by violence and intimidation by Serb hardliners on Sunday, undermining a fragile EU-brokered pact between the Balkan country and former master Serbia. Two hours before polls closed in the ethnically-divided town of Mitrovica, a volatile Serb pocket of northern Kosovo, masked men burst into three schools housing polling stations on the Serb side, lobbing tear gas and smashing ballot boxes. Participation of the north Kosovo Serbs in the Kosovo-wide council and mayoral elections is central to an agreement reached in April to integrate the 40,000-50,000 Serbs living there with the rest of Kosovo, which is majority Albanian and declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia had called on Serbs in northern Kosovo to take part for the first time, with the EU holding out the prospect of membership talks - slated to begin in January - as a reward for Belgrade's support for the process. Full Story | Top |
| Hillary Clinton flattered by Schumer endorsement, but no decision on 2016 Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 09:28 AM PST  Hillary Clinton was flattered by an early endorsement by New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer but has made no decision about running for president in 2016, her office said on Sunday. Schumer, in a speech to Democratic activists in Iowa on Saturday night, said "2016 is Hillary's time," and urged her to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. Polls show Clinton leading all potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidates. Clinton's office appreciated Schumer's gesture but said Clinton had not made up her mind. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmaker defends drone killing of Pakistani Taliban leader Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 09:27 AM PST  A U.S. lawmaker whose committee oversees the intelligence community on Sunday defended the drone strike that killed a Pakistani Taliban leader and said it would help keep American troops safe. Representative Mike Rogers, who chairs the House of Representatives' permanent intelligence committee, said the slain militant, Hakimullah Mehsud, was a "bad guy" who was connected to attacks against Pakistani soldiers and to the Taliban in Afghanistan, which has forced closures of many schools for girls. "This was a bad guy," Rogers said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "There's some information recently that concerned us about the safety of our troops. Full Story | Top |
| Syrian army and allies push into southern Damascus: activists Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 09:08 AM PST  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian army and Shi'ite Muslim fighters attacked Sunni rebel areas in southern Damascus on Sunday in an offensive aimed at breaking resistance to President Bashar al-Assad around the capital, activists said. Militia from Iran and Iraq and the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah, who overran two southern suburbs last month, are looking to build up their advances by capturing opposition districts closer to the center of Damascus, the sources said. Fighters from the al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State for Iraq and the Levant, which is heavily comprised of foreign jihadists, have joined Islamist rebel brigades and Free Syrian Army units in close quarters fighting around the district of Hajar al-Aswad. It is one of a series of Sunni districts on the edge of Damascus at the forefront of the uprising against Assad, who belongs to the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that has dominated Syria since the 1960s. Full Story | Top |
| Bahrain charges top opposition leader Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 09:05 AM PST  Bahrain's public prosecutor has charged the head of the main Shi'ite opposition group with insulting the interior ministry, state news agency BNA said on Sunday, in a move that could further unsettle the Gulf island state. Sheikh Ali Salman, secretary-general of the al-Wefaq Islamic Association, was the most senior opposition figure charged since majority Shi'ites began protests in 2011 to demand political reform and a greater role in running the country. The U.S. Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain, a key regional ally of the West, which is ruled by the Sunni Muslim Al-Khalifa dynasty. Minister of State for Information Affairs Samira Rajab said the Wefaq leader was suspected of "denigrating and disparaging the interior ministry" by alleging human rights violations by the police against protesters. Full Story | Top |
| Masked men attack Kosovo polling station, throw tear gas Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 08:51 AM PST MITROVICA, Kosovo (Reuters) - Masked men burst into the main polling center in the Kosovo town of Mitrovica on Sunday, throwing tear gas and smashing ballot boxes during an election that the West hopes will help integrate Serbs and Albanians, witnesses said. The Sveti Sava school where the attack took place houses around half the polling stations on the Serb side of the ethnically-divided town. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain scraps immigration bond plan after outcry, coalition split Sunday, Nov 03, 2013 08:50 AM PST  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has scrapped a plan to force people from certain African and Asian countries to pay a cash bond in return for a visitor's visa after it caused an outcry at home and abroad and exposed a rift in the governing coalition. In a move that political rivals said showed Prime Minister David Cameron's flagship immigration policy was in disarray, a government spokesman said a pilot scheme which had been due to start this month had been canceled. Under the plan, visitors from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Ghana seeking a six-month British visa would have been obliged to pay a refundable 3,000-pound ($4,800) cash bond to deter them from overstaying. The government chose those countries because they were "high risk" sources of illegal immigration, it said. Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment