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| Obama asks Congress to approve military strike against Syria Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 05:10 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama stepped back from the brink on Saturday and delayed an imminent military strike against Syria to seek approval from the U.S. Congress in a gamble that will test his ability to project American strength abroad and deploy his own power at home. Before Obama put on the brakes, the path had been cleared for a U.S. assault. Navy ships were in place and awaiting orders to launch missiles, and U.N. inspectors had left Syria after gathering evidence of a chemical weapons attack that U.S. officials say killed 1,429 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Verizon, Vodafone boards set to vote on $130 billion wireless deal Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 07:17 PM PDT  By Soyoung Kim and Michelle Sierra NEW YORK (Reuters) - The boards of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc are expected to vote this weekend on a $130 billion deal, funded by about $65 billion of debt, to give the U.S. telecom giant complete ownership of Verizon Wireless, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday. A deal, which the sources said could be announced as soon as Monday, would cap Verizon's decade-long effort to win full control of the No. 1 U.S. wireless provider. ... Full Story | Top |
| China official PMI hits 16-month high in August Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 08:11 PM PDT  By Aileen Wang and Jonathan Standing BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than a year in August with a jump in new orders, official data showed on Sunday, raising hopes that a rapid economic slowdown in the world's second-largest economy may have been arrested. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) figure, published by the National Bureau of Statistics, rose to 51.0 in August from 50.3 in July, the highest level since last April and ahead of market expectations of 50.6 in a Reuters poll. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea says called off envoy visit because of U.S. military drills Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 04:17 PM PDT  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said late on Saturday it withdrew an invitation for a U.S. envoy to visit the country to discuss the fate of a jailed American citizen because U.S. military drills on the peninsula made humanitarian dialogue impossible. Robert King, special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, was scheduled to go to Pyongyang last Friday on what the U.S. State Department called a "humanitarian mission" to secure the release of Kenneth Bae. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bones unearthed in search at former Florida reform school Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 06:01 PM PDT  By Bill Cotterell MARIANNA, Florida (Reuters) - Teams of searchers recovered human bones from the sands of Florida Panhandle woodlands on Saturday in a "boot hill" graveyard where juveniles who disappeared from a notorious Old South reform school more than a half-century ago are believed to have been secretly buried. "We have found evidence of burial hardware - hinges on coffins," said Dr. Christian Wells, an anthropologist from the University of South Florida, in a briefing about a mile from the closed excavation site near the former Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Military action in Syria faces uncertain fate in Congress Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 06:52 PM PDT  By Tabassum Zakaria and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Congress has resolved almost nothing of consequence since 2010, failing to complete what were once basic responsibilities for roads, schools, farms and the U.S. mail. Asking the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and the Democratic-led Senate to agree on military action - already a controversial issue both within and between the parties - injects a new dose of uncertainty into Washington's reaction to the Syria crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemen PM escapes unhurt after gunmen shoot at motorcade: aide Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 03:04 PM PDT  By Mohammed Ghobari SANAA (Reuters) - Unidentified assailants opened fire on the motorcade of Yemen's prime minister on Saturday, an aide said, in an apparent assassination attempt that underscored the volatility of the U.S.-allied Arab country. Ali al-Sarari, an adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa, said no one was hurt in the attack which happened in the evening in Sanaa while the premier was returning home from his office. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas Senator Cruz tells Republicans: No surrender on Obamacare Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 07:36 PM PDT  By Caren Bohan ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who is leading a conservative push to eliminate funding for President Barack Obama's new healthcare law, took his fight on Saturday to a forum of Republican activists where he challenged lawmakers in his party not to "surrender" on Obamacare. Cruz, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, used a speech to an Americans for Prosperity conference in Orlando, Florida, to take to task those in his party who are wary of risking a possible government shutdown in an effort to fight Obama's signature healthcare law. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria Islamists kill 24 vigilantes in ambush Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 02:27 PM PDT MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Twenty-four vigilantes in northeast Nigeria were killed in an ambush during a botched attempt to arrest members of Islamist sect Boko Haram, one a member of their group and a security source said on Saturday. "They were ambushed even before they got to the Boko Haram camps," one of the youth vigilantes Masta Moh'd, who was not present during the attack on Friday in the town of Monguno, but had heard from several of the survivors, told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Leader of Egypt's Brotherhood in good health in jail: ministry Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 12:41 PM PDT  By Asma Alsharif CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Interior Ministry said on Saturday the top leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, was in good health and denied reports that he had died from a heart attack in prison. Any severe deterioration in Badie's health in prison would certainly deepen hostilities between the organization and the army-backed government that deposed the Brotherhood-backed president, Mohamed Mursi, in July. ... Full Story | Top |
| California wildfire threatening Yosemite is now size of Dallas Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 12:10 PM PDT  By Jonathan Allen (Reuters) - A massive wildfire that has charred the northwestern edge of California's Yosemite National Park is heading towards two groves of the park's famed sequoia trees, National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said as firefighters battled the blaze on Saturday. The so-called Rim Fire, which now has an overall footprint that exceeds the area of Dallas, has burned about six percent of Yosemite's wilder backcountry but the vast majority of the park was still unaffected, Jarvis said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas Senator Cruz tells Republicans: No surrender on Obamacare Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 04:35 PM PDT By Caren Bohan ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who is leading a conservative push to eliminate funding for President Barack Obama's new healthcare law, took his fight on Saturday to a forum of Republican activists where he challenged lawmakers in his party not to "surrender" on Obamacare. Cruz, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, used a speech to an Americans for Prosperity conference in Orlando, Florida, to take to task those in his party who are wary of risking a possible government shutdown in an effort to fight Obama's signature healthcare law. ... Full Story | Top |
| Car bomb in Iraqi city of Ramadi kills 12 Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 10:27 AM PDT RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - A car bomb killed 12 people and wounded at least 20 other in the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Saturday, police and medical sources said. The attack took place near a checkpoint on a busy street in the center of Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad. Police were among the killed. "The explosion was so huge. I saw pieces of cars and bodies," witness Qasim Mohammed said. He said been working in his photography shop when the attack took place. "A tyre hit my shop. Some women were among those killed," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bones unearthed in search at former Florida reform school Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 02:01 PM PDT  By Bill Cotterell MARIANNA, Florida (Reuters) - Teams of searchers recovered human bones from the sands of Florida Panhandle woodlands on Saturday in a "boot hill" graveyard where juveniles who disappeared from a notorious Old South reform school more than a half-century ago are believed to have been secretly buried. "We have found evidence of burial hardware - hinges on coffins," said Dr. Christian Wells, an anthropologist from the University of South Florida, in a briefing about a mile from the closed excavation site near the former Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. ... Full Story | Top |
| Verizon nears $130 billion wireless deal, to finance about $65 billion: sources Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 04:38 PM PDT By Soyoung Kim and Michelle Sierra (Reuters) - Verizon Communications is near a $130 billion deal to buy out the 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless it does not already own from Vodafone Group Plc and plans to raise about $65 billion to fund the purchase, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday. Boards of Verizon and Vodafone are each expected to meet this weekend to approve the proposed transaction, which could be announced on Monday, the people said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama delays strike against Syria to seek Congress approval Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 04:19 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama stepped back from the brink on Saturday and delayed an imminent military strike against Syria to seek approval from the U.S. Congress in a gamble that will test his ability to project American strength abroad and deploy his own power at home. Before Obama put on the brakes, the path had been cleared for a U.S. assault. Navy ships were in place and awaiting orders to launch missiles, and U.N. inspectors had left Syria after gathering evidence of a chemical weapons attack that U.S. officials say killed 1,429 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Indian teen sentenced to three years in Delhi gang rape case Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 12:49 PM PDT  By Annie Banerji and Suchitra Mohanty NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Indian teenager was sentenced to three years in juvenile detention on Saturday for the December gang rape of a trainee physiotherapist, the first verdict in a case that sparked debate over whether India is too soft on young offenders. Police say the 18-year-old and five adult men lured the 23-year-old woman and her male friend onto a New Delhi bus where they repeatedly raped her and beat them both with a metal bar before dumping them on to a road. The woman died in a Singapore hospital two weeks after the December 16 attack. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hundreds of Iraqis protest against lawmaker privileges Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 12:48 PM PDT  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Baghdad and central and southern Iraq on Saturday against generous pension payments to lawmakers in a county where many are still struggling to get jobs and basic services. Police surrounded the rare demonstration in the capital and security forces armed with batons, teargas and water canon broke up one gathering in the southern city of Nassiriya, witnesses and security forces said. The protests marked widespread anger at the monthly payments of thousands of dollars and other benefits to government and parliamentary officials. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Obama and Syria: The education of a reluctant war president Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 01:30 PM PDT  By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - He was the peace candidate who became a war president, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has regularly ordered executions by drone. Just three months ago, President Barack Obama called for an end to America's "perpetual war-time footing." On Saturday, he said he had decided to take military action against Syria for its apparent chemical weapons use, but would seek authorization from - and to share responsibility with - the U.S. Congress. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama will hold off on Syria strike until Congress has its say Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 12:46 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday backed away from an imminent military strike against Syria to seek the approval of the U.S. Congress, in a decision that likely delays U.S. action for at least 10 days. Obama, in a stern statement from the White House Rose Garden, said he had authorized the use of military force to punish Syria for a chemical weapons attack August 21 that U.S. officials say killed 1,429 people. Military assets to carry out a strike are in place and ready to move on his order, he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Slow pace of justice wears down Occupy Wall Street defendants Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 08:27 AM PDT  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - Occupy Wall Street protesters who once vowed to "occupy" the courts by challenging their arrests on minor violations have since been defeated by the slow pace of justice, with many forgoing trial. As Occupy's two-year anniversary approaches on September 17, the movement that once captivated national attention has largely faded. Hundreds of protesters campaigning against economic inequality set up a makeshift encampment in a downtown Manhattan park, inspiring dozens of similar sites across the country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry, Hagel to call Democratic, Republican senators about Syria Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 06:38 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and other senior U.S. national security officials will hold conference calls about Syria on Saturday afternoon with the Senate Democratic Caucus as well as the Senate Republican Conference, a White House official said. The calls, which will be unclassified, are part of "the Administration's consultations regarding the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons in Syria on August 21," the official said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mandela still in hospital, not discharged: South Africa government Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 12:35 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela, who has been receiving medical treatment for three months for a lung ailment, is still in hospital in Pretoria in a critical but stable condition, the government said on Saturday. The presidency said reports by some international media that the revered anti-apartheid leader, who is 95, had been discharged and returned to his home were "incorrect". ... Full Story | Top |
| Al Qaeda affiliate urges attacks on Egyptian army Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 02:34 AM PDT  DUBAI (Reuters) - One of al Qaeda's most militant affiliates has called on Egyptians to take up arms against their army, saying a bloody crackdown on Islamist protesters showed peaceful methods were futile, according to an Internet statement posted on Saturday. Scores of Egyptian security forces have been killed in a series of attacks by suspected Islamist militants - mostly in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula - since Islamist President Mohamed Mursi was deposed last month. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ammonia leak at Shanghai refrigeration plant kills 15, injures 26 Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 12:23 AM PDT  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A liquid ammonia leak from a refrigeration unit at a cold storage facility in Shanghai on Saturday has killed 15 people and injured 26 others, local authorities said. The leak occurred at 10:50 am local time (0250 GMT / 10:50 p.m. EDT) at Shanghai Weng's Cold Storage Industrial Co. Ltd., located in the Baoshan district of eastern Shanghai, the Shanghai municipal government said on its official Sina Weibo account. Six of those injured were in a critical condition, the government said. China, the world's second-largest economy, has a poor record on workplace safety. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. rights chief says Sri Lanka heading in 'authoritarian direction' Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 01:06 AM PDT  By Shihar Aneez COLOMBO (Reuters) - U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay hit out against the Sri Lanka government on Saturday, saying that four years after the end of civil war people were still suffering amid signs the country was headed in an authoritarian direction. "It is important everyone realize that although the fighting is over, the suffering is not," Pillay told a news conference at the end of a controversial fact-finding mission to assess Sri Lanka's progress after the 26-year war between the government and separatist Tamils. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope names diplomat as chief aide, changing tone at Vatican Saturday, Aug 31, 2013 04:55 AM PDT  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis attempted to set a new tone for a Vatican beset by scandals on Saturday by naming a veteran diplomat as secretary of state, a role often called the "deputy pope". Archbishop Pietro Parolin's appointment ends the era of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who was widely blamed for failing to prevent ethical and financial scandals that marked the eight-year reign of former Pope Benedict, who resigned in February. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon insists it is open to foreign investment in the U.S. Friday, Aug 30, 2013 10:20 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is taking a harder look at proposed foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies given the increasing financial complexity of such deals, but continues to encourage foreign investment, a top U.S. defense official said this week. "If you have a deal that is in the interest of the U.S. economy and does not impinge on national security, we will approve it," said Brett Lambert, the Pentagon's representative on an interagency committee that reviews foreign takeovers. ... Full Story | Top |
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