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| Obama makes case for punishing Syria, but possible delays loom Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 06:38 PM PDT  By Matt Spetalnick and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made the case on Wednesday for a limited military strike against Syria in response to last week's chemical weapons attack even as he faced new obstacles with British allies and U.S. lawmakers that could delay any imminent action. Casting the need for intervention in Syria's civil war on the basis of U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama says more work needed to achieve ideals from King's 'Dream' speech Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:52 PM PDT  By Ian Simpson and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is struggling to realize the vision that civil rights leader Martin Luther King described in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech 50 years ago, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday, citing economic security as a still elusive goal. Obama, the first black U.S. president, spoke to thousands of marchers on Washington's National Mall to commemorate King's landmark address, which came to symbolize the struggle for equality among blacks and whites in America. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama lays out case for 'tailored' strike against Syria: PBS Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:10 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made the case on Wednesday for a limited military strike against Syria to deter the future use of chemical weapons, but added he had not made a decision yet on whether to take action. Obama's administration has spent the past week discussing how to respond to an attack in the suburbs of Damascus that killed hundreds of people, an attack that the president said could only have been made by the Syrian government. A senior U.S. official has said strikes could last several days and would involve other country's armed forces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fort Hood shooter sentenced to death for 2009 killings Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:06 PM PDT  By Ellen Wulfhorst and Jana J. Pruet FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - A military jury on Wednesday sentenced a U.S. Army psychiatrist to death for murdering 13 people in 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas, where he gunned down unarmed soldiers in what he later called retaliation for U.S. wars in the Muslim world. Major Nidal Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest" in Arabic) during the attack and later said he wanted to be a martyr. Now he faces death by lethal injection, pending an automatic appeal, for the rampage that also wounded 31 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bombs kill 86 in Baghdad as sectarian violence spreads Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 12:44 PM PDT By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A series of car bombings and other attacks across Baghdad on Wednesday killed 86 people and wounded 263, police and medical sources said, extending the worst wave of sectarian bloodshed in Iraq for at least five years. It was not immediately clear who carried out the attacks, which appeared coordinated, but Sunni Muslim insurgents including the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq have significantly stepped up bombings this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran expands nuclear capacity, delays sensitive reactor: IAEA Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 11:06 AM PDT  By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran plans to test about 1,000 advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges it has completed installing, a U.N. nuclear report showed, a move likely to worry Western capitals hoping for a change of course under the country's new president. The U.N. atomic agency's quarterly report - the first since relative moderate Hassan Rouhani won Iran's June presidential election - also revealed developments that could help buy time for diplomacy between Tehran and major powers, however. ... Full Story | Top |
| French prosecutor investigates U.S. Prism spying scheme Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 02:20 PM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - The Paris prosecutor's office said on Wednesday it had launched a preliminary investigation into the U.S. National Security Agency's Prism surveillance program after French rights groups complained it was snooping on citizens' emails and phone calls. The probe, which was opened in mid-July, followed a legal complaint earlier that month by two human rights groups denouncing U.S. spying methods revealed by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK's Cameron forced to delay strike against Syria Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:49 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron was forced on Wednesday to push back his plans for an imminent military strike against Syria in a humiliating climb-down for Britain's leader after coming under fierce domestic and international pressure. Just a day after recalling Britain's parliament to vote on how to respond to Syria's suspected use of chemical weapons, Cameron was ambushed when the opposition Labour party said it wanted greater parliamentary scrutiny and rebel lawmakers in his own ruling Conservative party said they would oppose him. Earlier on Wednesday, ... Full Story | Top |
| Taliban attack Polish base in Afghanistan, seven killed Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 01:13 PM PDT  By Mustafa Andalib GHAZNI, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Seven people were killed in an attack claimed by the Taliban on a base operated by Polish and Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials and a Reuters witness said. Ghanzi province's deputy governor said the attackers detonated an explosive-laden truck at the rear of the base and a car bomb at the main gate, before a six hour gunbattle inside involving up to 10 of the 15 assailants. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombian peace talks recess with scant progress, election looms Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 02:00 PM PDT  By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) - The Colombian government and leftist FARC rebels wound up a 13th round of peace negotiations on Wednesday, bickering over how to end the conflict and making little visible progress over key issues despite nine months of talks. While the discussion was supposed to focus on the political participation of Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), it was overshadowed by a proposed referendum on any deal that was submitted by President Juan Manuel Santos to congress last week and scheduled to occur during national elections next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama makes case for punishing Syria over gas attack Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:38 PM PDT  By Matt Spetalnick and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed on Wednesday that the Syrian government would face "international consequences" for last week's deadly chemical attack, but made clear any military response would be limited to avoid dragging the United States into another war in the Middle East. Casting the need for action based on U.S. national security interests instead of humanitarian grounds, Obama made his case to a war-weary American public for what is looking like an all-but-certain use of force in Syria, where he has long been reluctant to intervene. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. intelligence committees say they're not properly consulted on Syria Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 02:33 PM PDT  By Mark Hosenball and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. congressional intelligence committee leaders believe the Obama administration has not properly consulted them as the president engages in final deliberations for possible military action in Syria, according to congressional officials. One of the officials said the administration's discussions with critical lawmakers, including Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein and her House counterpart, Mike Rogers, had been limited to "very brief status updates. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian envoy alleges rebel gas attack, demands U.N. investigate Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 02:19 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria asked the United Nations on Wednesday to order chemical experts in Damascus to investigate three rebel attacks in which he said Syrian troops "inhaled poisonous gas," while Britain pushed for the Security Council to act on the crisis. The United States dismissed the appeal by Syria's U.N. envoy, saying it had refused chemical experts access to Syria to investigate allegations poisonous gas had been used repeatedly in the country's 2-1/2-year-old civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bring on euro debate, Merkel aide tells rivals before TV duel Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 09:13 AM PDT  By Stephen Brown and Andreas Rinke BERLIN (Reuters) - Angela Merkel is relishing the chance to debate the euro zone crisis with challenger Peer Steinbrueck in their only TV duel of the election campaign, despite a row over Greek aid that has put her government on the defensive, her campaign chief said. Just over three weeks before the election, Steinbrueck's Social Democrats (SPD) have accused Merkel of hiding the true cost of the euro crisis from German voters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt backs away from plan to dissolve Muslim Brotherhood Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 08:33 AM PDT  By Lin Noueihed CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt should not ban the Muslim Brotherhood or exclude it from politics after the army's overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, the interim prime minister said, reversing his previous stated view. The apparent about-turn fuelled speculation that the military-installed government may now seek a political settlement to the crisis, but also coincided with a new call for protests by Mursi's supporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel calls up reservists, deploys missile defenses against Syria Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 10:25 AM PDT  By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel ordered a small-scale mobilization of reservists on Wednesday and strengthened its missile defenses as precautions against possible Syrian attack should Western powers carry out threatened strikes on Syria. But an Israeli official briefed on a meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet said the Jewish state believed the probability of it be targeted by Syria, its northern neighbor and long-time foe, was low. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrians in capital hoard food, seek shelter as strike looms Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 08:32 AM PDT  (The reporter's name has been withheld for security reasons) DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrians in the capital Damascus are racing against time to prepare for a foreign strike, with many hoarding supplies and others scrambling to find accommodation further away from potential military targets. In a city where dozens of military sites are mixed in among the civilian population, many worry Damascus could become an especially dangerous place should a Western-led strike come in response to the apparent use of chemical weapons last week that killed hundreds in the suburbs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria evacuates most army buildings in Damascus: residents Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 07:31 AM PDT  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad's forces appear to have evacuated most personnel from army and security command headquarters in central Damascus in preparation for a Western military strike, residents and opposition sources said on Wednesday. U.S.-led air or missile strikes on Syria look all but certain after the United States and European and Middle Eastern allies blamed a suspected poison gas attack that killed hundreds in the city on Aug 21 on President Bashar al-Assad's forces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lira, rupee at forefront as Syria tension pounds emerging assets Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 10:20 AM PDT  By Sujata Rao LONDON (Reuters) - Emerging stocks, bonds and currencies took another hammering on Wednesday as mounting expectations of Western action against Syria pushed up oil prices and drove investors to seek shelter in dollar assets. The United States and its allies appeared to be gearing up for a military strike against Syria, perhaps within days, as punishment for last week's chemical weapons attacks which they have blamed on President Bashar al-Assad's government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy reaches deal on housing tax, easing pressure on Letta Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 12:25 PM PDT  By Giuseppe Fonte ROME (Reuters) - Italy's government reached a deal on Wednesday to reform an unpopular property tax, easing a source of persistent tension which had threatened to split the fragile coalition of traditional rivals from the left and right. The cabinet agreed to abolish the housing tax IMU from the start of 2014, Prime Minister Enrico Letta told reporters, replacing it with a new levy known as the "Service Tax". The two installments of IMU on principal residences which were due in September and December 2013 will be scrapped, Letta said after the cabinet meeting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria's chemical weapons program was built to counter Israel Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:56 AM PDT  By Anthony Deutsch and Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMSTERDAM/AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria, defeated by Israel in three wars and afraid its arch enemy had gained a nuclear arsenal, began in earnest to build a covert chemical weapons program three decades ago, aided by its neighbors, allies and European chemical wholesalers. Damascus lacked the technology and scientific capacity to set up a program on its own, but with backing from foreign allies it amassed what is believed to be one of the deadliest stockpiles of nerve agent in the world, Western military experts said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Military intervention in Syria would need U.N. approval: Brahimi Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:52 AM PDT  GENEVA (Reuters) - Any U.S. military action taken in response to apparent chemical weapons attacks in Syria would need to be approved by the United Nations Security Council, international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said on Wednesday. "I think international law is clear on this. International law says that military action must be taken after a decision by the Security Council. That is what international law says," he told a news conference in Geneva. "I must say that I do know that President Obama and the American administration are not known to be trigger-happy. What they will decide I don't know. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. envoy to visit North Korea over jailed American Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 02:42 AM PDT  By Paul Eckert and Eric M. Johnson WASHINGTON/SEATTLE (Reuters) - The United States will send its North Korean human rights envoy to Pyongyang this week to seek the release of an imprisoned and ailing U.S. Christian missionary, the State Department said on Tuesday. Robert King, special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, will travel to Pyongyang on Friday at the invitation of the government on a "humanitarian mission focused on securing the release of U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae," the department said in a statement. King will ask North Korea to "pardon Mr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: China has much at risk but no reach in Middle East Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 02:22 AM PDT  By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - The worsening Syria conflict has exposed an uncomfortable truth behind China's cherished policy of non-interference: Beijing cannot do much to influence events even if it wanted to. With weak and untested military forces unable to project power in the Middle East, China can only play a low-key role in a region that is crucial for its energy security. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York Times, Twitter hacked by Syrian group Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:19 PM PDT  By Gerry Shih and Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Media companies, including the New York Times, Twitter and the Huffington Post, lost control of some of their websites Tuesday after hackers supporting the Syrian government breached the Australian Internet company that manages many major site addresses. The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), a hacker group that has attacked media organizations it considers hostile to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, claimed credit for the Twitter and Huffington Post hacks in a series of Twitter messages. ... Full Story | Top |
| India rupee closes in on 69 per dollar in biggest day fall for 18 years Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 05:37 AM PDT  By Swati Bhat and Himank Sharma MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Indian rupee slumped to a record low near 69 to the dollar on Wednesday on growing worries that foreign investors will continue to sell out of a country facing stiff economic challenges and volatile global markets. The pummeling in markets sent the rupee reeling 3.7 percent to an all-time low of 68.85 with the unit closing just a touch off that, at 68.80/81 per dollar, its biggest single-day fall since October 1995. It closed on Tuesday at 66.24/25. In absolute terms too, the 256-basis-point fall in the rupee was the biggest ever. ... Full Story | Top |
| Attack under way on Polish military base in east Afghanistan Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 05:23 AM PDT KABUL (Reuters) - An explosion rocked a base shared by Polish and Afghan forces in a restive eastern Afghan province on Wednesday and a gun battle was under way, a Reuters witness said. Thick black smoke was rising from the base in the provincial capital of Ghazni in the attack soon after 4 p.m. (1130 GMT) and NATO helicopters were hovering above, the witness said. (Reporting by Mustapha Andalib; Writing by Dylan Welch; Editing by Nick Macfie) Full Story | Top |
| Australian opposition outlines budget savings; PM predicts comeback Tuesday, Aug 27, 2013 11:12 PM PDT  By Rob Taylor CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's conservative opposition, heavily favored in next month's election, outlined A$31 billion ($27.8 billion) in savings on Wednesday and promised to breathe new life into the economy by abolishing environment taxes polarizing voters. But Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the opposition planned big cuts to key services and predicted voters would return to his Labor Party in the final week of campaigning. Most polls give the opposition under Tony Abbott a 53 to 47 percent lead, enough to give them a sizeable majority in parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran's Khamenei says U.S. intervention in Syria would be disaster Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 02:11 AM PDT  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday U.S. intervention in Syria would be "a disaster for the region", the ISNA state news agency reported, as Western powers made plans to hit Damascus over a chemical weapons attack. After supporting Arab uprisings across the Middle East and north Africa in 2011 as examples of what Khamenei called an Islamic awakening, Tehran has steadfastly supported the secular President Bashar al-Assad, its main strategic ally in the Middle East, against a two-and-a-half-year-long rebellion. ... Full Story | Top |
| Detente on Korean peninsula as Pyongyang seeks to lift isolation Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 12:40 AM PDT  By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is reaching out to Seoul and Washington after months of threats to try to mend his country's broken economy in a move that appears to have vindicated, for now, the policies of his South Korean counterpart. Kim, the third of his line to rule North Korea, may release jailed U.S. missionary Kenneth Bae in the coming days after agreeing to reopen a joint industrial zone with South Korea and to hold reunions between families that were torn apart by the 1950-53 Korean War. ... Full Story | Top |
| Corporate breaks at risk in U.S. plans to cut tax rates Tuesday, Aug 27, 2013 10:04 PM PDT  By Kim Dixon WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Billions of dollars in U.S. tax breaks prized by manufacturers, energy companies and other industries could be targeted for elimination when two powerful lawmakers are expected to introduce proposals to overhaul the United States' tax system. The plans could be introduced as early as September and face tough odds in a Congress where disputes over nearly every tax and spending issue threaten a crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. seeking $6 billion from JPMorgan to settle mortgage claims: source Tuesday, Aug 27, 2013 11:04 PM PDT  (Reuters) - U.S. government housing finance authorities are pressing JPMorgan Chase & Co for at least $6 billion to settle lawsuits over bonds backed by subprime mortgages, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company is arguing that it should pay less to settle the claims by the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, according to the source, who was not authorized to speak for attribution. The FHFA litigation is among a raft of legal issues JPMorgan is trying to work through in addition to investigations over its $6.2 billion "London Whale" derivatives loss of last year. ... Full Story | Top |
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