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| JPMorgan hiring in China under U.S. scrutiny: report Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 09:06 PM PDT  (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have opened an investigation into whether JPMorgan Chase & Co hired the children of powerful Chinese officials to help it win business in China, the New York Times said on Saturday. A report posted in the Times' online edition cited a confidential U.S. government document as its source for the story. The Times said the bank hired Tang Xiaoning, the son of Tang Shuangning, a former Chinese banking regulator who is now the chairman of the China Everbright Group, a state-controlled financial conglomerate. ... Full Story | Top |
| China July month-on-month home prices slow for fourth month Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 08:38 PM PDT  By Xiaoyi Shao and Benjamin Kang Lim BEIJING (Reuters) - China's monthly property inflation moderated for a fourth straight month in July, although annual gains were the strongest this year, complicating policymakers' task of trying to cool the sector without stifling growth elsewhere. Real estate, which directly affects about 40 other business sectors in China, is considered to be one of the crucial drivers of activity in the world's second-largest economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain to reopen embassy in Yemen on Sunday Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 06:40 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The British Embassy in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa will reopen on Sunday after being closed for 12 days because of security concerns. "British Embassy #Yemen open as normal from Sunday 18 August. Apologies for the brief hiatus," British Ambassador Jane Marriott tweeted. The Foreign Office said on August 6 it had withdrawn all staff from the embassy due to a high threat of kidnapping. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico captures leader of cocaine-trafficking Gulf Cartel Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 05:17 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican security forces on Saturday caught the leader of the cocaine-trafficking Gulf Cartel, the second major gang boss capture in just over a month as President Enrique Pena Nieto fights cartel violence. Mario Ramirez Trevino, known as X-20 or "The Bald One," was captured in Mexico's northern Tamaulipas state on Saturday morning, according to a government statement. The government said it would give more information about Ramirez' capture at a news conference on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico captures leader of cocaine-trafficking Gulf Cartel-reports Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 04:59 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican security forces on Saturday caught the leader of the cocaine-trafficking Gulf Cartel, local media reported, the second major gang boss capture in just over a month as President Enrique Pena Nieto fights cartel violence. Mario Ramirez Trevino, known as X-20 or "The Bald One," was captured in Mexico's northern Tamaulipas state by the Mexican military, media reported. Ramirez had not long been the leader of the Gulf Cartel, whose former boss Jorge Costilla, alias "El Coss," was caught in September. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japanese nationalists sail close to islands in dispute with China Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 04:10 PM PDT By Ruairidh Villar EAST CHINA SEA (Reuters) - Five boats carrying about 20 members of a Japanese nationalist group arrived on Sunday in waters near tiny islands in the East China Sea at the center of a dispute between Japan and China, a move that risks escalating tensions between the two nations. Members of the Ganbare Nippon ("Stand Firm, Japan") group said they did not plan to land on the uninhabited islands, which are known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, but wanted to send a message to China. ... Full Story | Top |
| Muslim Brotherhood faces ban as Egypt rulers pile on pressure Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 03:59 PM PDT  By Crispian Balmer and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood risks political elimination, with the new army-backed government threatening to ban the Islamist organization after launching a fierce crackdown on its supporters that has killed hundreds. Struggling to stamp its authority on Egypt following the ousting last month of President Mohamed Mursi, the country's new rulers have upped the rhetoric, saying the Arab world's most populous nation is at war with terrorism. More than 700 people have died, most of them backers of Mursi, in four days of violence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran has 18,000 uranium centrifuges, says outgoing nuclear chief Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 02:30 PM PDT  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has installed 18,000 uranium-enrichment centrifuges, the country's outgoing nuclear chief was quoted as saying by Iranian media on Saturday. The U.S. and its Western allies are pressing Iran to curb its uranium enrichment program, which they suspect is aimed at developing a nuclear weapons capability, but Iran refuses and insists its nuclear activity is for purely peaceful purposes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guessing game as Pakistan's powerful army chief prepares to retire Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 02:11 PM PDT  By Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Maria Golovnina ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - In a nation long plagued by military coups, the question of who will replace Pakistan's all-powerful army chief has taken on new urgency this year as the country tries to shake off the legacy of decades of military dictatorship. General Ashfaq Kayani, arguably the most powerful man in the nuclear-armed country, is expected to step down after six years in November - presenting Pakistan's new premier with the toughest of choices yet since coming to power in May. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian youth leader backs army in battle with Brotherhood Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 01:25 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Mahmoud Badr, whose petition campaign helped to bring down Egypt's Islamist president, insists the bloodshed that has followed is a necessary price for saving the nation from the Muslim Brotherhood. And he has a message for U.S. President Barack Obama, who has expressed alarm at the violent crackdown on the Brotherhood that has led to more than 700 deaths: "Don't lecture us on how to deal with the Brotherhood's terrorism." As for aid money, he says, Obama can keep it - and "go to hell". ... Full Story | Top |
| Muslim Brotherhood supporters face murder, terrorism probe: state media Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 01:05 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian prosecutors have placed 250 Muslim Brotherhood supporters under investigation for murder, attempted murder and terrorism, the state MENA news agency said on Saturday. Police arrested more than 1,000 Brotherhood sympathizers in the wake of clashes on Friday that pitted followers of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi against the security forces. More than 170 people died nationwide in the violence that day. (Reporting by Yasmine Saleh, writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Jon Boyle) Full Story | Top |
| Virginia's first lady held stock in company in probes: report Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 12:43 PM PDT By Brendan O'Brien (Reuters) - The first lady of Virginia bought and held Star Scientific stock when she and her husband Governor Robert McDonnell were promoting the nutritional supplements maker, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. The relationship between the McDonnells and Star Scientific has been the subject of criminal investigations after loans and gifts the company's Chief Executive Jonnie Williams gave to the governor were uncovered. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nine men killed in Mexican drug war hotspot Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 11:12 AM PDT MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The bodies of nine men were found on Saturday in one of the most troubled areas of Mexico's western Michoacan state, where the Knights Templar drug cartel is fighting civilian-led vigilante groups, some with ties to other cartels. Michoacan, where former President Felipe Calderon in 2007 launched his army-led campaign against the cartels, has again become a hotspot of drug-related violence. The bodies were found by members of the army in an area close to the border with Jalisco state, a spokesman for Michoacan's attorney general's office said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clashes between Nigerian army and Boko Haram kill 18 Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 10:15 AM PDT MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Clashes between soldiers and members of Islamist sect Boko Haram have killed 18 people in northeast Nigeria, a military source and officials said on Saturday. Boko Haram, which wants to impose Islamic law in Nigeria's north, and other spin-off Islamist groups have become the biggest threat to stability in Africa's top oil exporter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel warns against over-confidence ahead of September election Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 09:36 AM PDT  By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel warned her supporters on Saturday against complacency ahead of the September 22 election, voicing fears that three leftist parties could unexpectedly join forces to oust her center-right coalition after ballots are counted. Even though Merkel's conservatives hold a 16-point lead over the Social Democrats (SPD) in opinion polls, the chancellor told a rally in Cloppenburg the SPD might still break a vow and form a coalition with the ostracized far left "Linke", or Left Party. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sunni leader says Hezbollah leading Lebanon into 'Syrian fire' Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 09:33 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri accused Hezbollah on Saturday of dragging the country deeper into Syria's civil war after the Shi'ite militant group's leader said he was ready to go to Syria himself to fight. Hariri, a former prime minister, was responding to a speech by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah who said that a car bomb in Shi'ite southern Beirut would only redouble the group's military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "(Nasrallah's) speech takes Lebanon into deeper involvement in the Syrian fire," Hariri tweeted. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb injures guard at Egypt's mission in Benghazi, Libya Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 09:07 AM PDT  BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - A bomb blast ripped through the garden wall of the Egyptian consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Saturday, injuring a security guard who needed hospital treatment, witnesses said. They said at least five children were also cut by flying glass from the explosion, which blew out windows and significantly damaged a building opposite the consulate and vehicles. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Witnesses said the bomb had apparently been hidden inside a briefcase. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dutch minister's call for EU migration reform reflects eurosceptic mood Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 09:00 AM PDT By Thomas Escritt AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch deputy premier has called for the European Union to deal with the "negative consequences" of unprecedented levels of labor migration within the bloc, calling for a new common approach to one of the EU's most cherished principles. Lodewijk Asscher, who is also social affairs minister, wrote in De Volkskrant newspaper on Saturday that migration from the poorer, newer entrants to the 28-member European Union was crowding some western Europeans out of the labor market. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mellow mood at first Seattle Hempfest since pot legalization Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 08:10 AM PDT By Jonathan Kaminsky SEATTLE (Reuters) - Pot smoke wafted over thousands of revelers gathered at Seattle's downtown waterfront to kick off the first Hempfest rally since Washington state and Colorado passed initiatives to legalize marijuana for recreational use last November. The mellow mood among the revelers swaying to reggae music on Friday was in stark contrast to the harsh vibe at last year's event, which pitted pot activist against pot activist in a fight over the state ballot measure that some saw as a threat to medical marijuana producers and users. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama, family hit the beach on Martha's Vineyard Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 08:06 AM PDT EDGARTOWN, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Winding down his vacation, President Barack Obama and his family hit the beach on Saturday on the Massachusetts summer resort island of Martha's Vineyard. Obama, wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia spent the sunny morning at Kolberg Beach in Edgartown, a day after watching a spectacular fireworks show in Oak Bluffs and dining with senior adviser Valerie Jarrett. Obama is to return to Washington on Sunday to close out an eight-day vacation on the island. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Eric Walsh) Full Story | Top |
| Though silent, Israel remains worried by Egypt upheaval Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 07:41 AM PDT  By Allyn Fisher-Ilan JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has looked on at upheaval in Egypt largely in silence, keen to avoid disrupting strategic security cooperation with a military it sees as critical to curbing attacks by Islamist militants in neighboring Sinai, officials and analysts said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had aides instruct cabinet ministers to avoid public comment about Egypt, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Green-Tregaro told to change rainbow fingernails Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 07:39 AM PDT  By Justin Palmer MOSCOW (Reuters) - Swedish high jumper Emma Green-Tregaro, who painted her fingernails in the colors of the rainbow flag in support of Russia's gay community, has been told not to repeat the gesture in Saturday's world championship final. "We have been informally approached by the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) saying that this is by definition, a breach of the regulations. We have informed our athletes about this," Anders Albertsson, general secretary of the Swedish athletics federation, told a huddle of reporters outside the Luzhniki stadium. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt is waging "war" against extremism-presidency Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 07:27 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt is facing "war by the forces of extremism" and will confront it with "security measures within the framework of law," Mostafa Hegazy, adviser to Egypt's interim president said. Hundreds of people have been killed in political violence this week in clashes between security forces and the Muslim Brotherhood. (Reporting by Yasmine Saleh) Full Story | Top |
| Athletics-Green-Tregaro told to change rainbow fingernails Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 07:25 AM PDT By Justin Palmer MOSCOW, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Swedish high jumper Emma Green-Tregaro, who painted her fingernails in the colours of the rainbow flag in support of Russia's gay community, has been told not to repeat the gesture in Saturday's world championship final. "We have been informally approached by the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) saying that this is by definition, a breach of the regulations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey's Erdogan says Kurds have not withdrawn as agreed Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 06:26 AM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has said the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has failed to withdraw its fighters from Turkey as agreed, a condition for Kurdish rights to be expanded as part of a peace process. Erdogan did not say what this meant for the process, seen by many as the best chance yet to end a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people, mainly Kurds, since 1984, but indicated that a Kurdish rights package would be unveiled soon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi supporters exchange fire with security forces in mosque Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 06:19 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi exchanged gunfire with security forces inside a Cairo mosque on Saturday, three Reuters witnesses said. The gunmen opened fire on security forces from a second floor window in the Fath mosque, where hundreds of Mursi supporters have been taking refuge since protests turned violent on Friday. Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood has said it is committed to peaceful resistance to the army-backed government which toppled him. ... Full Story | Top |
| Regulator probes Deutsche Bank over money laundering controls: report Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 06:17 AM PDT  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German regulator BaFin is looking into whether Deutsche Bank should improve the controls it has in place against money laundering, a German paper reported. In BaFin's view, Germany's largest bank took too long to report some suspicious transactions to the police, possibly because the bank's internal alarm systems were not set up correctly, Welt am Sonntag reported, without citing its sources. BaFin is now looking at whether the problem is wider, the paper said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Traffic unaffected at Iraq's Umm Qasr port after truck bomb Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 05:39 AM PDT BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Shipping traffic was unaffected by a truck bomb at Iraq's southern Umm Qasr commodities port on Saturday, a maritime transport official said. "Shipping movements and unloading operations at Umm Qasr port were not disrupted by the explosion," Mahdi Askar, an official with the state-run General Company for Maritime Transport told Reuters. Askar and a provincial official said the blast was caused by a truck bomb. Umm Qasr is near the oil-exporting southern city of Basra. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen, police exchange fire outside Cairo mosque Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 05:23 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Gunmen and members of the Egyptian security forces exchanged fire on Saturday in a Cairo square where dozens of supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi were shot dead the day before, Reuters journalists said. Footage broadcast by the privately-owned CBC station appeared to show someone firing from the minaret of the Fath mosque in Ramses Square, where protests against the army-backed government had converged on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian rebels kill 11, mainly Christians, in checkpoint attack Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 05:09 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels killed at least 11 people, including civilians, in an attack on a checkpoint west of the city of Homs on Saturday that official state media described as a massacre. Most of those killed were Christians, activists and residents said. Some were from the National Defense Army, a militia which fights alongside President Bashar al-Assad's soldiers, and others were civilians, they said. "Terrorists today committed a massacre, killing 11 people ... in Homs countryside," the state news agency SANA quoted an official as saying. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian premier proposes dissolution of Muslim Brotherhood Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 04:59 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi has proposed the legal dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood and the government is studying the idea, a government spokesman said. According to the health ministry, 173 people died on Friday in violence that erupted when security forces cracked down on Islamists protesting against the army's removal of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Mursi last month. Beblawi had made the proposal to the minister of social affairs - the ministry responsible for licensing non-governmental organizations, spokesman Sherif Shawky said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Friday violence in Egypt killed 173 people: Health Ministry Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 04:42 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Violent clashes across Egypt on Friday that pitted supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood against security forces killed 173 people, including 95 in central Cairo, the health ministry said on Saturday. The ministry said 1,330 people were wounded nationwide, with 596 hurt in the Cairo clashes. (Reporting by Yasime saleh, Editing by Crispian Balmer) Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's PM proposes dissolution of Muslim Brotherhood Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 04:39 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi has proposed the legal dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood and the idea is being studied by the government, a government spokesman said. Beblawi had made the proposal to the minister of social affairs - the ministry responsible for licensing non-governmental organisations, Sherif Shawky said. "It is being studied currently," he said. Full Story | Top |
| India PM rules out chance of return to 1991 crisis: report Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 04:21 AM PDT  MUMBAI (Reuters) - There is "no question" of India going back to an economic crisis experienced in 1991, as its rupee currency is now linked to the market and foreign exchange reserves are adequate, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday. Asia's third largest economy is growing at its slowest pace in a decade, while the rupee, the region's worst performer this year, is at an all-time low, and the central bank has enough cash to pay for seven months of imports. ... Full Story | Top |
| Son of Brotherhood's leader killed in Egypt violence Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 04:10 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - A son of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie was killed in Cairo during Friday's "Day of Rage" protests against the army-backed Egyptian government, the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party said. Ammar Badie, 38, died of a bullet wound sustained while taking part in protests in Ramses Square, it said on its Facebook page. The whereabouts of Mohamed Badie, who is the Islamist movement's General Guide, are unknown. He has been charged with inciting violence and faces a trial that starts on August 25. ... Full Story | Top |
| Up to 100,000 face evacuation in Russia's flood-hit far east Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 04:06 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - As many as 100,000 people may be evacuated from their homes near Russia's border with China if the region's biggest floods for 120 years get worse, Russian media reported on Saturday. The floods, caused by a month of unusually heavy rain, are not expected to start receding until early September, the head of Russia's hydrometeorology monitoring service told news agency Ria Novosti. ... Full Story | Top |
| With Egypt in chaos, Mubarak misses court session Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 03:04 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - The retrial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on charges of conspiracy to kill protesters convened on Saturday in the absence of the deposed autocrat, who was missing for security reasons after political violence swept the country. Mubarak's two sons, Alaa and Gamal, who are standing trial on corruption charges, were also absent, as was Mubarak's former interior minister, Habib el-Adly. A security official said all were absent for security reasons. It was the first time Mubarak, 85, had missed a session in the retrial, which got underway in May. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemen flood sweeps away wedding party, 27 dead and 41 missing Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 02:32 AM PDT SANAA (Reuters) - At least 27 people died and more than 41 were missing after a wedding party was swept away while driving across a valley flooded by monsoon rains in southern Yemen, local officials said on Saturday. The victims, mostly women and children, were in three vehicles accompanying the bride to her new home across Wadi Nakhla, a valley between Taiz and Ibb provinces, the officials from Shara'ab district said. The bride survived the accident. Rescue teams were searching for those missing, the officials said. State media said that eight people had been rescued. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four Kenyan policemen killed in suspected al Shabaab raid Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 12:35 AM PDT GARISSA, Kenya (Reuters) - Four Kenyan police officers were shot dead in the border county of Garissa when 40 heavily armed men, suspected of belonging to Somali militant group al Shabaab, attacked a police post, a senior regional government official said on Saturday. The east African nation, which sent its troops into Somalia in late 2011 to pursue the al Qaeda-linked militants, has suffered a string of gun and grenade attacks claimed by al Shabaab group as retaliation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt arrests 1,004 at Friday's Muslim Brotherhood protests Saturday, Aug 17, 2013 12:16 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities arrested 1,004 "elements" of the Muslim Brotherhood during nationwide protests on Friday, the interior ministry said on Saturday. An Interior Ministry statement said Brotherhood members had committed acts of terrorism during the demonstrations. (Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Louise Ireland) Full Story | Top |
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