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| Japan PM Abe: Watching market closely, won't comment on moves Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 08:56 PM PDT  YOKOHAMA (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he is closely watching market movements but refrained from commenting on them. Abe, speaking to reporters after the Tokyo International Conference on African Development(TICAD) held in the city of Yokohama, said he expected the financial markets to calm down gradually as the Bank of Japan is communicating with the markets. The benchmark Nikkei share average tumbled to a nearly six-week low on Monday as sharp declines in U.S. stocks dampened already fragile sentiment in Japanese equities that have now fallen 15. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three storm chasers among 13 killed by Oklahoma tornadoes Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 08:52 PM PDT  By Daniel Trotta and Jonathan Allen (Reuters) - Three storm chasers were among 13 people killed by tornadoes that rampaged through central Oklahoma on Friday, underscoring the high risk of tracking tornadoes and forcing the media to rethink how they cover deadly twisters. Tim Samaras, 55, a leading storm chaser and founder of the tornado research company, Twistex, was killed in the Oklahoma City suburb of El Reno along with his son, Paul Samaras, 24, and Carl Young, 45, a Twistex meteorologist, according to a statement from Tim Samaras' brother, Jim Samaras. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawmakers seek better cooperation from Russia after Boston bombs Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 08:11 PM PDT  By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on a mission to Russia said on Sunday they had found no evidence that an American intelligence error enabled the Boston bombings, but that closer cooperation between Washington and Moscow might have helped to thwart the attack. U.S. investigators suspect two brothers who emigrated from Russia, one since shot dead by police, staged the attack at the Boston Marathon on April 15 that killed three people and wounded 264 others. ... Full Story | Top |
| China PMIs highlight economic momentum slowing down Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 07:22 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity shrank for the first time in seven months in May as both domestic and external demand softened, while growth in the services sector cooled, pointing to slowing momentum in the world's second-largest economy. The HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for May fell to 49.2, the lowest level since October 2012 and down from April's final reading of 50.4. The figure was slightly lower than a preliminary reading of 49.6 released on May 23. Fifty divides expansion from contraction compared with the month before. ... Full Story | Top |
| ECB's Draghi says euro zone on track for "very gradual" recovery Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 06:24 PM PDT  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The euro zone economy is on track for a recovery later this year driven by the European Central Bank's loose monetary policy and demand from abroad, the bank's President Mario Draghi said. The ECB cut interest rates to a new record low in May and said it would act again if necessary but its hand may in part be stayed this month and going forward by a rebound in inflation, which rose back to 1.4 percent in May from 1.2 percent in April. That is still way below the bank's roughly 2 percent target and unemployment in the euro zone reached a fresh high in April at 12. ... Full Story | Top |
| Republican lawmaker says IRS targeting likely led by Washington Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 05:26 PM PDT  By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican U.S. congressman investigating the Internal Revenue Service's scrutiny of conservative groups said on Sunday the targeting was likely directed from Washington, a claim quickly rejected by a top Congressional Democrat involved in the probe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: A Singapore wealth manager under fire amid crackdown Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 05:01 PM PDT  By Rachel Armstrong and John O'Callaghan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The email landed at a tough time for David Chong, the colorful founder and chairman of Portcullis TrustNet, one of Asia's biggest wealth advisory companies. By threatening to publish offshore companies and trusts held by his clients, it hit a raw nerve at a company whose customers rely on its discretion. But it also came as the wealth management industry faces a wave of global scrutiny from regulators trying to weed out tax dodgers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands take to streets in Turkey, clash with police Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 04:13 PM PDT  By Jonathon Burch and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Turkey's four biggest cities on Sunday and clashed with riot police firing tear gas on the third day of the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years. The din of car horns and residents banging pots and pans from balconies in support of the protests resonated across neighborhoods in Istanbul and Ankara late into the night, as hundreds of demonstrators skirmished with riot police. ... Full Story | Top |
| British manufacturers urge health budget cuts to fund growth Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 04:09 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - British manufacturers urged the government on Monday to cut the healthcare budget and put money into growth-generating areas such as infrastructure and technology when it unveils its latest spending review next month. The criticism of Prime Minister David Cameron's decision to exempt healthcare from budget cuts highlights growing concerns that efforts to reduce Britain's fiscal deficit could endanger its economic recovery. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libya to appeal ICC ruling to hand over Gaddafi's son Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 03:42 PM PDT  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya will appeal a ruling by the International Criminal Court to hand over Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former ruler Muammar Gaddafi, to the tribunal, the justice minister said on Sunday. "We will give what is needed to convince the ICC that Libya is capable of conducting a fair trial in accordance with international standards," the state LANA news agency quoted Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani as saying. ... Full Story | Top |
| Labour party vows iron discipline on budget, spells out some cuts Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 03:16 PM PDT  By William Schomberg LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour party will seek to convince sceptical voters it is fit to run the economy by promising "iron discipline" on spending and pledging some cuts to welfare benefits if it wins the 2015 election. Would-be chancellor, Ed Balls, will say on Monday that winter fuel subsidies for the richest pensioners will be scrapped if Labour wins power, a small saving but a sign that the party is determined to show it can cut social spending. ... Full Story | Top |
| The economics of austerity Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 03:11 PM PDT By Lawrence H. Summers (Reuters) - Paced by housing and energy, the U.S. economic recovery is likely to accelerate this year and budget deficit projections have declined as well. Unfortunately the European economy remains stagnant, though there is some evidence that stimulative policies are gaining traction in Japan. Around the world the idea of "austerity" is fiercely debated. This all makes a reconsideration of the principles that should guide fiscal policy opportune. This requires recognizing that policies need to be set in light of economic circumstances. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK's Labor vows iron discipline on budget, spells out some cuts Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 03:08 PM PDT  By William Schomberg LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labor party will seek to convince skeptical voters it is fit to run the economy by promising "iron discipline" on spending and pledging some cuts to welfare benefits if it wins the 2015 election. Would-be finance minister, Ed Balls, will say on Monday that winter fuel subsidies for the richest pensioners will be scrapped if Labor wins power, a small saving but a sign that the party is determined to show it can cut social spending. ... Full Story | Top |
| Czech PM declares emergency as floods threaten Prague Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 02:44 PM PDT  By Robert Muller PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas declared a state of emergency for most of the nation on Sunday as swollen rivers caused by days of heavy rain threatened Prague's historic center and forced evacuations from low-lying areas. Prague authorities limited public transport and planned to close underground stations in the center of the city as water from the Vltava River overflowed into picturesque areas popular with tourists. The main train line connecting the capital and the east of the country was also shut. ... Full Story | Top |
| Niger says 22 escape jail after raid on prison Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 02:39 PM PDT NIAMEY (Reuters) - Some 22 prisoners, including Islamist militants, escaped from a prison in Niger's capital after several gunmen attacked the jail and killed two guards, the government said on Sunday. The prison break comes a week after al Qaeda-linked groups raided a uranium mine and an army barracks in Niger, raising fears that the conflict in neighboring Mali could spread to other West African states. ... Full Story | Top |
| Eric Holder's power waltz with the press Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 01:51 PM PDT  By Jack Shafer (Reuters) - The Washington journalism establishment, which allows federal officials to go off the record every minute on the minute, got a little picky this week after Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. invited reporters and editors over for an off-the-record meeting about the Department of Justice's handling of the investigations of national security leaks to Fox News Channel and the Associated Press. New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson sent her pithy regrets: "We will not be attending the session at DOJ. ... Full Story | Top |
| The case for keeping Bernanke Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 01:49 PM PDT  By Nicholas Wapshott (Reuters) - Whisper it abroad: The U.S. economy is on the mend. Most recent indicators suggest that, five years after the start of the Great Recession, the "L-shaped" recovery is finally heading north. The stock market is booming, and home prices are on the upswing. The rising price of houses makes people feel richer, and consumer confidence is on the mend. Private borrowing is up, and consumers are starting to spend again. Growth is not great, at about 2.5 percent to the end of the year, when the postwar average is 3. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel reins in plan to transfer powers to Brussels Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 01:33 PM PDT  By Noah Barkin and Gareth Jones BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has come out against handing the European Commission more powers, in the clearest sign yet that she is reining in her ambitions to create a "fiscal union" in which euro members cede control of their budgets to Brussels. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Simmering anger at Erdogan's authoritarianism boils over in Turkey Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 01:30 PM PDT  By Ayla Jean Yackley ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's most violent riots in decades may have been started by the destruction of a small Istanbul park, but they have exploded in a show of defiance at what many see as the creeping authoritarianism of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. In power for more than a decade, Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party has increased its share of the vote in each of the past three elections, ushered in unprecedented political stability and overseen some of the fastest economic growth in Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinians' Abbas appoints new PM to Hamas outrage Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 01:11 PM PDT  By Ali Sawafta RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named British-educated political independent Rami Hamdallah as new prime minister on Sunday, a move that was immediately condemned by Gaza Strip rulers Hamas. Abbas and the militant Islamist group agreed in principle last month to form a unity government for the divided Palestinian territories, and a Hamas spokesman said Hamdallah's appointment threw that into doubt. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian rebels, Hezbollah in deadly fight in Lebanon Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 01:11 PM PDT  By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah guerrillas fought a deadly battle with Syrian rebels in Lebanon's eastern border region early on Sunday, security sources said, in the latest eruption of Syria's conflict on Lebanese soil. Lebanese security sources said at least 12 rebels were killed in the fighting east of the Bekaa Valley town of Baalbek, but the toll would not be clear until bodies were retrieved from the remote and rugged border area. One Hezbollah fighter also died, they said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers want better Russia cooperation after Boston bombs Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 12:43 PM PDT By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on a mission to Russia said on Sunday they had found no evidence that an American intelligence error enabled the Boston bombings, but that closer cooperation between Washington and Moscow might have helped to thwart the attack. U.S. investigators suspect two brothers who emigrated from Russia, one since shot dead by police, staged the attacks at the Boston Marathon in April when three people died and 264 were injured. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gulf Arab countries to consider action against Hezbollah Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 11:48 AM PDT JEDDAH (Reuters) - Gulf Arab countries will consider taking action against Hezbollah if the Shi'ite Muslim Lebanese movement continues its involvement in Syria's civil war or interferes in Gulf Arab affairs, Bahrain's deputy foreign minister said on Sunday. Ghanem al-Buainain said the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) regarded Hezbollah's involvement in Syria as "sectarian intervention", but had not discussed listing the group as a terrorist organization, a step taken by Bahrain last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bernanke jokes about own future in Princeton commencement speech Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 11:02 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Never believe Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke doesn't have a sense of humor. "I wrote recently to inquire about the status of my leave from the university, and the letter I got back began, 'Regrettably, Princeton receives many more qualified applicants for faculty positions than we can accommodate,'" Bernanke said in remarks prepared for delivery on Sunday to new Princeton University graduates in his commencement speech. "Note to journalists: This is a joke," said a footnote attached to the text provided to reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela's Capriles says Maduro government will fall Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 10:43 AM PDT  By Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Ore SAN FRANCISCO DE YARE, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles says President Nicolas Maduro's government will "cave in" under the pressure of growing economic troubles, in-fighting and a belief by many Venezuelans that it stole the April election. Capriles is still disputing the election, which he lost to Maduro by a narrower-than-expected 1.5 percentage points. But if, as expected, the fraud claims get nowhere in Venezuela's courts, Capriles says other forces may sink the successor to the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama must follow Guantanamo promise with action: Yemen Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 09:59 AM PDT  JEDDAH (Reuters) - Yemen gave a qualified welcome on Sunday to President Barack Obama's promise to lift a ban on repatriating Yemeni prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, saying he now had to back up his words with actions. Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said his government was building a "rehabilitation center" to house Yemenis who have been detained at the U.S. camp in Cuba for more than a decade. Obama promised last month to end the ban on transferring Yemenis back home, one of the main obstacles to clearing out the detention camp, and altered the rules for U.S. drone strikes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawmaker probes Holder testimony 'conflict' in leak case Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 09:24 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee said on Sunday his panel was investigating Attorney General Eric Holder for a conflict in remarks made under oath at a hearing on a government leak investigation. Representative Bob Goodlatte and another Republican lawmaker last week asked Holder to clarify testimony he gave Congress about whether he signed off on any decision to pursue a criminal investigation of Fox News reporter James Rosen. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands march for rights in rare Ethiopia protest Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 09:05 AM PDT By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - About 10,000 Ethiopians staged an anti-government procession on Sunday in the first large-scale protest since a disputed 2005 election ended in street violence that killed 200 people. The demonstrators marched through Addis Ababa's northern Arat Kilo and Piazza districts before gathering at Churchill Avenue in front of a looming obelisk with a giant red star perched on top, a relic of Ethiopia's violent Communist past. Some carried banners reading "Justice! Justice! Justice!" and some bore pictures of imprisoned opposition figures. ... Full Story | Top |
| War-torn Syria says Turkey unsafe for travel Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 09:02 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian authorities, battling a rebel uprising in which 80,000 people have been killed, on Sunday advised citizens against travel to neighboring Turkey on safety grounds. Tens of thousands of Turkish protesters have rallied for three days against Prime Minister Tayyip Ergodan's government, to the barely disguised delight of Syria's government which blames Erdogan for fuelling Syria's civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Regional group declares self-government for east Libya Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 08:50 AM PDT  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The leader of a political group in Libya's oil-rich Cyrenaica province declared it a self-governing region in a speech on Saturday, evidence of growing pressure for a planned new constitution to adopt a federal structure. Ahmed Zubair al-Senussi, head of the Cyrenaica Council and a distant relative of Libya's last king, has no formal authority under current transitional arrangements and it is not clear how he would be able to implement the declaration on the ground. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope leads Catholics in first worldwide 'Holy Hour' Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 08:39 AM PDT  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis led Roman Catholics on Sunday in the first worldwide "Holy Hour," in which participants prayed at the same time around the globe for those suffering from war, slave labor, human trafficking and the economic crisis. The Vatican asked Catholics to join him between 5-6 p.m. Rome time (11.00 a.m.-12.00 p.m. ET) in what is known as a Eucharistic adoration - praying before a consecrated communion host. They were asked to gather in cathedrals, neighborhood parishes and monasteries to pray for two general intentions penned by the pope, who prayed in St. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soldiers foil suicide attack on Yemen gas pumping station Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 07:57 AM PDT ADEN (Reuters) - Yemeni soldiers shot at a suspected al Qaeda suicide bomber on Sunday as he tried to ram an explosives-laden vehicle into a gas pumping station in the south, a local official said. The official said soldiers guarding the facility, part of a $4.5 billion LNG project at the southern port city of Balhaf, fired on the vehicle as it sped towards them, causing it to blow up outside the station's entrance. "The vehicle exploded before it reached the port and without causing any losses to the soldiers," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt parliament ruled illegal, but to stay on Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 07:19 AM PDT  By Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's top court ruled on Sunday that parliament's Muslim Brotherhood-led upper house was illegal but could stay on until elections, dealing the Islamists a moral blow but letting them keep their grip on lawmaking for now. The decision resolves an area of legal uncertainty hanging over a political transition repeatedly upset by the courts. The ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court upheld the upper house's right, as set out in a new constitution, to legislate in the absence of a lower house. ... Full Story | Top |
| 'Cash for access' scandal hits Britain's parliament Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 06:51 AM PDT  By Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) - Three members of Britain's upper house of parliament were suspended from their parties on Sunday after media sting operations caught them apparently offering to use their influence for personal gain. The undercover investigations have thrust the issue of lobbying into the limelight and had already forced a member of the lower house of parliament, Patrick Mercer, to resign from the ruling Conservative Party and seek legal advice. ... Full Story | Top |
| Zimbabwe's Mugabe to hold elections by end-July Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 06:50 AM PDT  HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will hold elections by the end of July in line with a court order, angering rivals who want them delayed to allow for reforms to ensure a fair vote, state media reported on Sunday. The Constitutional Court ruled on Friday that parliamentary and presidential polls must take place before July 31 and that Mugabe must set a date for them before parliament's term ends on June 29, stoking a political row over the timing and funding of the vote in the southern African state. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria to grant Red Cross access to Qusair when fighting over: TV Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 06:18 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria will allow the Red Cross to enter the besieged town of Qusair after military operations are over, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday, state TV said. U.N. humanitarian officials have called for an immediate ceasefire in Qusair, where President Bashar al-Assad's forces and Hezbollah fighters are battling to drive out rebels, saying 1,500 wounded people are in need of emergency medical treatment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Over 7,000 Syrian refugees return from Iraq as security improves Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 06:01 AM PDT By Suadad al-Salhy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than 7,000 Syrian refugees in Iraq have crossed back to the rebel-held Syrian border town of Albu Kamal in recent weeks due to better security there, an Iraqi official said on Sunday. The reverse flow coincides with a lull in battles and air raids by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's military, which has been on the offensive elsewhere in Syria, especially in the western town of Qusair, around Damascus and in the south. The mayor of the Iraqi border town of al-Qaim said 7,000 out of 11,000 Syrian refugees hosted there had returned home. ... Full Story | Top |
| S.Africa investigates Libyan claims on stashed Gaddafi assets Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 05:41 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Treasury is looking into Libyan assertions that slain leader Muammar Gaddafi and his family stashed money and other assets in the country, a spokesman said on Sunday. "There was a group that approached Treasury claiming to represent the Libyan government and we are in the process of verifying their claims about assets that are in South Africa," Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's spokesman Jabulani Sikhakhane said. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa investigates Libyan claims on stashed Gaddafi assets Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 05:39 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Treasury is looking into Libyan assertions that slain leader Muammar Gaddafi and his family stashed money and other assets in the country, a spokesman said on Sunday. "There was a group that approached Treasury claiming to represent the Libyan government and we are in the process of verifying their claims about assets that are in South Africa," Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's spokesman Jabulani Sikhakhane said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malawi protests Tanzania plans to deploy vessels on lake Sunday, Jun 02, 2013 05:37 AM PDT LILONGWE (Reuters) - Malawi has protested against plans by its neighbor Tanzania to deploy two ships on Lake Malawi, which it says threaten mediation efforts to resolve a long-standing border dispute. Malawi's Foreign Affairs Minister Ephraim Chiume said on Saturday that Tanzanian government officials had stated publicly that the East African nation was buying six new passenger ships, two of which were destined for Lake Malawi. ... Full Story | Top |
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