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| Naming mediator brings authority to fractious Detroit bankruptcy case Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 09:04 PM PDT  By Nick Brown (Reuters) - Of all the legal maneuvers so far in Detroit's bankruptcy case by unions or the city's emergency manager, the one that may have the most impact was when the judge decided to name a mediator. In a July 23 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Judge Steven Rhodes said he would appoint another federal judge, Gerald Rosen, as a mediator. A mediator would be an authoritative voice for compromise in a contentious, messy case, the biggest-ever municipal bankruptcy filing in U.S. history. ... Full Story | Top |
| Amazon unveils new hiring spree ahead of Obama visit Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 09:03 PM PDT  By Alistair Barr SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc unveiled a new hiring spree on Monday ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama to one of the Internet retailer's giant distribution warehouses this week. Amazon said it is looking to fill more than 5,000 new full-time jobs at 17 of its fulfillment centers across the United States. That's roughly a 25 percent increase in full-time fulfillment center staff, which currently number more than 20,000 in the country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's top diplomat heads for China seeking better ties Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 09:01 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki will visit China on Monday and Tuesday for talks with senior officials, the latest in a series of efforts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to improve relations soured by a bitter territorial row. The hawkish Abe, who cemented his grip on power in an upper house election last week, called on Friday for an unconditional meeting between Japanese and Chinese leaders. ... Full Story | Top |
| President Obama to have lunch with Hillary Clinton at White House Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 08:39 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will have lunch on Monday with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the White House said on Sunday. They will have lunch in the president's private dining room, said the White House. It did not give a reason for the meeting. Their meeting comes as Obama makes a push to resurrect Middle East peace talks and as speculation mounts that Clinton might run for president in 2016. The former first lady also served as a U.S. senator from New York from 2001 to 2009. (Compiled by the Americas Desk; Editing by Philip Barbara) Full Story | Top |
| Northern Ireland struggles to heal deep fracture Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 08:34 PM PDT By Sam Cage BELFAST (Reuters) - When U.S. President Barack Obama visited Northern Ireland before the G8 summit in June, he hailed its extraordinary progress in the 15 years since a peace agreement to end three decades of what locals call "The Troubles". On the other side of Belfast the next day, a petrol bomb thrown over a fence dividing Protestant from Catholic communities exploded next to a four-year-old girl playing in the street - just one example of sporadic violence still haunting the British province. The region of 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cambodian opposition party rejects poll result, wants inquiry Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 08:29 PM PDT  PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia's main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), on Monday rejected results showing the party of long-time Prime Minister Hun Sen had won Sunday's general election and said it wanted an inquiry into irregularities. On Sunday, the government said Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) had won the election, taking 68 seats in the 123-seat parliament to the CNRP's 55. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan says no schedule set for Japan-China summit Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 07:38 PM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Monday that no schedule had been set for a Japan-China leaders' summit, but repeated that bilateral ties were important and Japan's door was open for dialogue. Suga was replying to a question at a regular news conference after an advisor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday that Abe could soon hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Reporting by Linda Sieg and Stanley White; Editing by Shinichi Saoshiro) Full Story | Top |
| Immigration numbers pose political problem for Cameron Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 07:38 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - The success of Prime Minister David Cameron's flagship immigration policy was called into serious question on Sunday, dealing him a potential blow ahead of 2015 elections by playing into the hands of a populist anti-immigration party. A report by MPs from across the political spectrum concluded that Britain's migration statistics were grossly unreliable and "not fit" for purpose, undermining the credibility of Cameron's assertions about the issue. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU's Ashton on mediation mission to Egypt Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 07:12 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh and Matt Robinson CAIRO (Reuters) - The European Union's foreign policy chief was scheduled to hold crisis talks in Cairo on Monday after the weekend killing of at least 72 supporters of Egypt's deposed Islamist president plunged the pivotal Arab country deeper into turmoil. Underscoring the risk of more bloodshed, several thousand supporters of ousted President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood threatened to march on the military's intelligence headquarters in defiance of a warning from the army to stay away. ... Full Story | Top |
| Detroit again leans on Tigers, other teams to lift city's spirits Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 06:15 PM PDT  By Joseph Lichterman DETROIT (Reuters) - For five days in July 1967 riots tore apart Detroit, exacerbating racial tensions, and forcing the National Guard to quell the violence. The Tigers, Detroit's Major League Baseball team, felt immense pressure to win the next season to help bring the city together. "They pretty much understood to a man that if they had a successful season and won the pennant ... it would help hold the city together," said Tim Wendel, author of "Summer of '68: The Season That Changed Baseball, and America, Forever." That October, the Tigers won baseball's World Series. ... Full Story | Top |
| Explosions rock Libya's Benghazi, protesters take to streets Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 06:08 PM PDT  By Feras Bosalum and Ghaith Shennib TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Explosions rocked the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Sunday in what appeared to be attacks on judicial buildings, a security official said, sparking protests a day after more than 1,100 inmates escaped during a prison riot there. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Benghazi's streets denouncing the latest violence, according to residents. Thirteen people were slightly wounded in one of the blasts which targeted a court in the north of the city, said Interior Ministry spokesman Rami Kaal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexican vice admiral ambushed, killed in drug war hot spot Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 06:05 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican vice admiral was killed on Sunday in an ambush on a rural road in the western state of Michoacan, where the president has sent military forces to regain control of areas dominated by waring drug gangs. Assailants armed with high-caliber rifles killed Vice Admiral Carlos Salazar, who commanded the naval base at the Pacific beach resort of Puerto Vallarta, along with another officer, the navy said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to resume after three years Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 05:44 PM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed and Ori Lewis WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel and the Palestinians plan to resume peace negotiations this week for the first time in nearly three years after an intense effort by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to bring them back to the table. The talks are scheduled to resume in Washington on Monday evening and Tuesday and will be conducted by senior aides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the State Department said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Indyk expected to be named new U.S. Middle East envoy Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 04:55 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel who heads foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution think tank, is expected to be named the new U.S. envoy for Middle East peace, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the announcement could come as early as on Monday, when Israeli and Palestinian negotiators plan to resume direct peace talks in Washington for the first time in nearly three years. (Reporting By Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Philip Barbara) Full Story | Top |
| Millions at Brazil Mass hear pope ask youth to change world Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 04:37 PM PDT  By Philip Pullella and Anthony Boadle RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Pope Francis left Brazil on Sunday with Rio still pulsating with excitement after a historic beachfront Mass for more than 3 million people in which he challenged young people to build a new world based on tolerance and love. Rio's famed Copacabana beach, usually the venue for scantily-clad sun-seekers and revelry, became a massive Catholic campground for the closing event of a world youth festival. ... Full Story | Top |
| Party of PM Hun Sen wins Cambodian election, majority slashed Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 04:36 PM PDT  By Prak Chan Thul PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia's ruling party won Sunday's general election but with a much-reduced majority, according to the government, a result that will be seen as a setback for authoritarian leader Hun Sen, one of the world's longest-serving prime ministers. Khieu Kanharith, government spokesman and information minister, said on his Facebook page the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) won 68 seats in parliament to the opposition's 55, adding that was the final count. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed officials to mull much, change little at July meeting Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 04:33 PM PDT  By Ann Saphir (Reuters) - Federal Reserve officials this week are likely to have a lively debate on how best to prepare financial markets for a reduction of their bond-buying program, but appear certain to wait for further economic data before curtailing their stimulus. While the debate will not produce much in the way of policy change, officials may tweak their post-meeting statement to lay the groundwork for paring their $85 billion-a-month bond purchase program as early as September. The Fed releases its post-meeting statement at 2 p.m on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| British banks still credit-shy towards small firms, study finds Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 04:28 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's risk-wary banks are reluctant to lend to small firms or pass on cuts in interest rates, according to government-commissioned research that points to a lack of supply rather than demand as the main brake on transactions. Banks have clashed with policymakers and regulators over the reasons for scant flows of credit to small and medium-sized enterprises, seen as vital to Britain's economic recovery, arguing that firms lack confidence to borrow and invest. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisian opposition may set up rival 'salvation government' Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 04:15 PM PDT By Tarek Amara and Erika Solomon TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's secular opposition said on Sunday it might set up an alternative "salvation government" to challenge the Islamist-led ruling coalition and show its anger at the assassinations of two leftist politicians in six months. Opposition leaders, who have also been emboldened by the Egyptian army's overthrow of an Islamist president this month, said they had no interest in reconciliation with the dominant Islamist Ennahda party. ... Full Story | Top |
| Togo ruling party wins parliamentary majority: election commission Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 03:52 PM PDT LOME (Reuters) - Togo's ruling party has won more than two-thirds of the seats in last week's parliamentary election, according to results announced by the tiny West African nation's elections commission late on Sunday. Opposition parties had hoped to win the parliamentary majority needed to push through reforms to curb the power of one of Africa's oldest political dynasties. President Faure Gnassingbe's family has ruled Togo for nearly five decades. But Gnassingbe's UNIR party won 62 out of 91 seats in the single-chamber body, the commission announced on national television. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Pope's Brazil visit raises red flags for World Cup, Olympics Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 03:46 PM PDT  By Paulo Prada and Anthony Boadle RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A string of organizational flaws during the visit of Pope Francis to Brazil that put him at risk and stranded thousands of visiting faithful has deepened concern about the country's ability to host the upcoming World Cup and Olympic Games. Even Rio de Janeiro's mayor gave himself a failing grade in organizing World Youth Day, a biennial gathering of young Catholics that on Sunday drew some 3 million people to a seaside mass delivered by the pope on Copacabana beach. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malians flock to vote in bid to rebuild broken nation Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 03:33 PM PDT  By David Lewis and Adama Diarra BAMAKO (Reuters) - Ballot counting began in Mali after voters turned out in large numbers on Sunday for a presidential election they hope will provide a fresh start for the West African nation after more than a year of turmoil, war and an army coup. Polling ended at 12.00 p.m. ET and, as night fell, officials started tallying results. Election officials at a school in Bamako used electric lamps to check ballot papers for thumbprints and witnesses sat at wooden students' desks jotting down results using mobile phones for light. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Brotherhood stands ground after killings Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 02:51 PM PDT By Maggie Fick and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters stood their ground near a Cairo mosque on Sunday, a day after at least 72 were shot dead by Egyptian security forces, braced for a move against them by the army chief who ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made his first appearance since Saturday's bloodshed, smiling before television cameras at a graduation ceremony for police recruits in starched white uniforms. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: China leaders play safe on reforms as growth sags Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 02:16 PM PDT  By Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - For all the strong rhetoric, China's latest policy actions suggest a shift in focus on the economy to mix relatively pain-free reforms that burnish Beijing's credentials for change with measures to prop up sagging growth. While Premier Li Keqiang provides a drip-feed of easy reforms, he will avoid more radical moves for fear of tipping the world's second-biggest economy over the edge. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Bangladesh struggles to check garment factories are safe Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 02:09 PM PDT  By Nandita Bose DHAKA (Reuters) - In the weeks since the Rana Plaza collapse killed more than 1,100 workers, at least five different Bangladesh agencies have sent teams to begin inspecting the estimated 5,600 factories that make up the nation's $20 billion garment industry. But there's little coordination between the agencies, and senior government officials are unable to say just how many factories have been checked. Estimates vary from just 60 to 340. While U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish police detain seven protesters in and around Istanbul park Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 02:03 PM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police detained three people on Sunday after a group of protesters tried to hold an Islamic fast-breaking meal in a park in central Istanbul that has been the flashpoint for anti-government demonstrations. At least four more people were detained a few hours later following the iftar, the dinner held each evening during the holy month of Ramadan, which was organized by protesters on a street nearby, witnesses said. They said police backed by armored vehicles approached the crowd in order to disperse it, and people began shouting slogans. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli, Palestinian negotiators expected to resume peace talks: U.S. Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 01:44 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli and Palestinian negotiators plan to resume peace talks in Washington this week after nearly three years, the U.S. State Department said on Sunday. Two officials from each side - Israeli's Tzipi Livni and Yitzhak Molcho and the Palestinians' Saeb Erekat and Mohammed Ishtyeh - are expected to hold initial meetings on Monday evening and on Tuesday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria Islamists kill 20 in attack on northeast: military Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 01:35 PM PDT MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants attacked a fishing settlement in northeast Nigeria over the weekend, killing 20 civilians, the military said on Sunday. The assault targeted Baga, a town on the shores of Lake Chad, until recently a stronghold for Islamist sect Boko Haram. A concerted military crackdown in the northeast since mid-May has weakened the four-year-old insurgency, which is fighting to carve an Islamic state out of religiously-mixed Nigeria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli-Palestinian talks to start on Tuesday: Palestinian official Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 01:05 PM PDT AMMAN, Jordan (Reuters) - Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are set to begin in Washington on Tuesday, a senior Palestinian official told Reuters on Sunday. Nabil Abu Rdaineh, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who was in the Jordanian capital Amman, said Abbas had received an official invitation to come to the talks from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The Palestinian news agency, WAFA, quoted Abu Rdaineh as saying that the first meeting would aim to develop a procedural working plan for both sides to enable them to advance in talks in the coming months. ... Full Story | Top |
| ECB could publish minutes of meetings soon: newspaper Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 12:50 PM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Central Bank (ECB) could soon publish the minutes of its Governing Council meetings, which until now have been kept secret, two of the central bank's executive board members said, according to a German newspaper. ECB President Mario Draghi gives a press conference after decisions on interest rates are made but the euro zone's central bank could soon follow the example of the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England in publishing minutes from the meetings, two ECB policymakers said in an interview with Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt minister wants Brothers in politics, not arms Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 12:16 PM PDT  By Michael Georgy and Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood should be part of Egypt's political future and must stop inciting violence, the country's foreign minister said on Sunday, a day after the group accused security forces of killing 72 of its supporters in the streets. Nabil Fahmy warned that deepening political divisions would lead "ultimately to more tragedies" and accused the Brotherhood of igniting bloodshed that is posing a security threat to Egypt and hindering efforts to revive the fragile economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Little sign of economic stress in North Korea's well-swept capital Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 11:52 AM PDT  By Se Young Lee PYONGYANG (Reuters) - North Korea's economy is believed to be virtually lifeless after decades of mismanagement, isolation and sanctions aimed at foiling its nuclear ambitions but its showcase capital, Pyongyang, shows no hint of calamity. Secretive North Korea allowed in a large group of foreign journalists last week to cover Saturday's lavish celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, which North Korea says it won. No expense seems to have been spared for monuments to the conflict upon which the state was founded. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three loud explosions heard in Libya's Benghazi: witnesses Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 11:49 AM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Three loud explosions rocked the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Sunday, in what appeared to be attacks on judicial institutions there, a resident and a security source said. Resident Hassan Bakoush told Reuters by telephone that he heard an explosion at the court in the north of the city: "It was very loud and I saw the smoke." "Some balconies of nearby buildings are damaged," he added. A security source said there were two more explosions - one in the vicinity of an office of the justice ministry and the other near a court in the south of the city. ... Full Story | Top |
| Reading the runes in Washington and Frankfurt Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 11:08 AM PDT  By Alan Wheatley, Global Economics Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - Three of the world's leading central banks are likely to reaffirm their determination this week to keep a lid on interest rates for a long time to come, despite signs that their economies are slowly on the mend. The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England are all expected to repeat or refine their "forward guidance" that borrowing costs will remain extraordinarily low as long as growth is sub-par and inflation is not a threat. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's news conference after the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope's Brazil visit raises red flags for World Cup, Olympics Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 10:44 AM PDT * Organizational woes plagued otherwise triumphant trip * Security fears, transport delays, a flood-prone pasture By Paulo Prada and Anthony Boadle RIO DE JANEIRO, July 28 (Reuters) - A string of organizational flaws during the visit of Pope Francis to Brazil that put him at risk and stranded thousands of visiting faithful has deepened concern about the country's ability to host the upcoming World Cup and Olympic Games. ... Full Story | Top |
| Newest royal heir stirs Scottish independence debate Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 09:43 AM PDT  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - The birth of Britain's Prince George has reopened a rift among those campaigning for Scotland to vote for independence next year, playing into the hands of those who want it to retain its 306-year union with England. The "Yes Scotland" campaign says it wants to win a referendum on independence in 2014 and for the country to become fully independent by 2016, shaking off centuries of what it regards as oppressive rule from London. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's newest royal heir stirs Scottish independence debate Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 09:39 AM PDT  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - The birth of Britain's Prince George has reopened a rift among those campaigning for Scotland to vote for independence next year, playing into the hands of those who want it to retain its 306-year union with England. The "Yes Scotland" campaign says it wants to win a referendum on independence in 2014 and for the country to become fully independent by 2016, shaking off centuries of what it regards as oppressive rule from London. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia's Putin courts Ukraine ahead of planned EU deals Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 09:30 AM PDT  KIEV (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Ukraine to weigh carefully the benefits of joining Russia's regional trade bloc against its plans for closer ties with the European Union on a visit to Ukraine to attend a religious festival. Putin used references to common history to remind Ukraine of the potential benefits of a closer alliance with Russia, just four months before a summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius where Kiev hopes to sign landmark deals with the European Union. "There is tough competition going on for the global markets. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malians flock to vote in bid to rebuild broke nation Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 09:11 AM PDT  By David Lewis and Adama Diarra BAMAKO (Reuters) - Malians turned out in large numbers to vote on Sunday in a presidential election they hope will provide a fresh start for the West African nation after more than a year of turmoil, war and an army coup. From the lush, bustling riverside capital, Bamako, to the northern desert town of Timbuktu, voters crammed into schools turned into polling stations for the day, protected by Malian, French and United Nations forces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bahrain orders tougher penalties ahead of protests Sunday, Jul 28, 2013 09:09 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain ordered tougher penalties for what it called terrorist acts on Sunday ahead of planned anti-government protests next month. Bahrain's lawmakers agreed at an extraordinary session on Sunday to proposals including stripping those who commit or call for 'terrorism crimes' of their nationality and preventing any protests from taking place in the capital Manama, the state news agency BNA said. King Hamad ordered authorities to put the recommendations into effect as soon as possible "through the available constitutional and legal channels", BNA said. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
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