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| Israel says bombed Lebanon in retaliation for rocket attack Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 08:01 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's air force bombed a militant target in Lebanon on Friday in retaliation for a cross-border rocket salvo on Thursday, a spokesman said. An Israeli military source said the "terror site" bombed was near Na'ameh, between Beirut and Sidon, but did not immediately provide further details. Four rockets fired on Thursday caused damage but no casualties in northern Israel. They were claimed by an al Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim group rather than Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite militia that holds sway in south Lebanon. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N.'s Ban pushes Syria to allow for chemical attack probe Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 09:09 PM PDT  By Erika Solomon and Jack Kim BEIRUT/SEOUL (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday renewed his push for Syria to allow U.N. inspectors immediate access to investigate allegations that the government carried out a deadly chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus. "I can think of no good reason why any party, either government or opposition forces - would decline this opportunity to get to the truth of the matter," the U.N. chief told a diplomatic forum in Seoul. Syria's government has offered no public response to U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Paralyzed Nasdaq opted for caution over speed in restoring trade Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 09:02 PM PDT  By Jed Horowitz, Lauren Tara LaCapra and Herbert Lash NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thirty minutes into the crippling outage that hobbled the Nasdaq stock market on Thursday afternoon, stopping all trading in $5.9 trillion worth of U.S. equities, exchange officials had the problem fixed. It was another two-and-a-half hours, however, before they were ready to flip the switch and turn the all-electronic market back on. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. peacekeepers in Congo ordered to protect civilians after city shelled Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 07:01 PM PDT  By Kenny Katombe GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. mission in Congo on Thursday ordered peacekeeping troops to act to protect civilians after shelling hit the city of Goma in renewed fighting between the army and M23 rebels. The fighting close to Goma, a city of a million people on the Rwandan border, comes after a relative lull in the 18-month rebellion. Late last month, the United Nations pledged to keep the M23 rebels out of range of the town, which they briefly seized last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fonterra suspends Sri Lankan operations Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 08:18 PM PDT  WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra Co-operative said on Friday it had suspended operations in Sri Lanka because of an unstable situation in the country. Earlier this week Fonterra was banned by a Sri Lankan court from selling products, and it is in a dispute with the country's food safety authorities about the presence of a toxic agricultural chemical in some products. "The temporary suspension is the right thing to do. It is a precautionary measure to ensure our 755 people working there are safe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Zombie borrowers haunt China's shadow banks Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 07:09 PM PDT  By Gabriel Wildau SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Call it the new China Syndrome: Although Asia's biggest economy is slowing down markedly, credit continues to surge. Dead-end projects and dying industries are sucking up an ever-larger portion of new credit, while more productive borrowers are starved for funds. Nowhere is this more evident than in China's shadow banking sector, the non-bank financiers that have pumped credit into the economy at a spectacular rate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boehner seeks to calm Republican clamor over how to stop 'Obamacare' Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 08:07 PM PDT  By Caren Bohan and Rachelle Younglai WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, struggling to ease Republican divisions over how to fight "Obamacare," vowed on Thursday to try to erode the healthcare law, but stopped short of weighing in on a push to deny it funding. Boehner and other Republicans agree on their distaste for President Barack Obama's signature healthcare overhaul, but the party has been roiled by a debate over whether to threaten a shutdown of the government to try to gut the measure. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: In small American town, a window into Egyptian general's past Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 06:21 PM PDT  By Phil Stewart CARLISLE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Unlike today's ubiquitous images of General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in crisp uniform decorated with medals, the U.S. Army War College yearbook shows the officer who would one day seize power in Egypt smiling at a party in a small Pennsylvania town, looking relaxed in a yellow polo shirt. There is a picture of Sisi visiting a U.S. Civil War battleground and another of his family taken at a Halloween party they attended, with his wife and daughter grinning next to a woman dressed like the Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra. ... Full Story | Top |
| 50 years after, Martin Luther King's 'Dream' still not realized in U.S.: poll Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 04:36 PM PDT  By Chris Francescani NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fifty years after Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech, nearly half of those who responded to a new poll said a lot more needs to be done before people in the United States would "be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." The Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C., found that 49 percent of those polled think "a lot more" needs to be done to achieve the color-blind society King envisioned in his 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech. ... Full Story | Top |
| American Airlines, US Airways seek November 12 trial date for merger lawsuit Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 04:19 PM PDT  (Reuters) - American Airlines and US Airways are seeking a 10-day trial that would begin November 12 in U.S. federal court to fight the challenge by the U.S. Justice Department to their proposed merger, which would form the world's biggest carrier. In a court filing on Thursday, the carriers said the proposed date would give the Justice Department 90 days of trial preparation. By contrast, the 180 days requested by the government would be "far longer than any of its other merger trials in the century," the filing added. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nasdaq market paralyzed by three hour shutdown Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 04:50 PM PDT  By Chuck Mikolajczak and Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - Trading in thousands of U.S. stocks ground to a halt for much of Thursday after an unexplained technological problem shut down trading in Nasdaq securities, the latest prominent disruption to the operations of U.S. markets. Nasdaq resumed trading at around 3:25 p.m. EDT (1925 GMT), after a 3-hour, 11-minute shutdown of trading in such familiar names as Apple Inc, Facebook Inc, Google Inc, Microsoft Corp and about 3,200 other companies. The shutdown was the longest in recent memory, and prompted U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fear of new showdown on Egypt streets in 'Friday of martyrs' Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 02:35 PM PDT By Lin Noueihed and Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Supporters of Egypt's deposed president will stage a "Friday of martyrs" of mass protests, risking more potential bloodshed to show they can still claim the streets after a week in which hundreds were gunned down and their leaders jailed. Egyptians are enduring the bloodiest civil unrest of their modern history after the military overthrew Mohamed Mursi on July 3 following demonstrations against his rule. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. soldier behind Afghan massacre apologizes for 'act of cowardice' Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 05:44 PM PDT  By Jonathan Kaminsky TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - A decorated U.S. soldier who gunned down 16 unarmed Afghan civilians in a nighttime rampage last year apologized on Thursday at a sentencing hearing to determine his fate, calling the killings "an act of cowardice." Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, a veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, has admitted to shooting the villagers, mostly women and children, in attacks on their family compounds in Kandahar province in March 2012. "I am truly, truly sorry to all the people whose family members I have taken away. ... Full Story | Top |
| WikiLeaker Manning wants to live as 'Chelsea' Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 01:44 PM PDT  By Susan Heavey and Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier sentenced to 35 years in military prison for the biggest breach of classified documents in the nation's history, said on Thursday he is female and wants to live as a woman named Chelsea. Manning, 25, launched an unprecedented bid to get female hormone treatment in a military prison a day after he was sentenced for leaking documents to the WikiLeaks website. "As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fort Hood shooter selected 'personal kill zone:' prosecutor Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 04:52 PM PDT  By Karen Brooks and Jana J. Pruet FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - The U.S. Army psychiatrist who has admitted shooting dead 13 people in 2009 chose one station at a Fort Hood medical facility as his "personal kill zone" because he knew it would be packed with soldiers, a prosecutor said on Thursday in closing arguments of a court-martial. Major Nidal Hasan, acting as his own defense lawyer, declined to make a closing argument after prosecutors finished making theirs, putting the case in the hands of the jury. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rockets from Lebanon fired at northern Israel; no casualties Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 01:50 PM PDT By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A rare rocket barrage from Lebanon on Thursday deepened Israeli concern that al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants are opening a new front for confrontation with Israel. The Israeli military said four rockets were fired from southern Lebanon. Two struck Israeli communities without causing casualties, a third was intercepted by the "Iron Dome" missile shield and the fourth fell outside Israeli territory, it said. A U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Clock ticks while experts kept away from Syria gassing site Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 12:05 PM PDT  By Anthony Deutsch and Peter Apps AMSTERDAM/LONDON (Reuters) - The longer chemical weapons inspectors wait in a Damascus luxury hotel for permission to drive up the road to the site of what appears to be the worst poison gas attack in a quarter century, the less likely they will be able to get to the bottom of it. The poisoning deaths of many hundreds of people took place only three days after a team of U.N. chemical weapons experts arrived in Syria. But their limited mandate means the inspectors have so far been powerless to go to the scene, a short drive from where they are staying. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. soldier behind Afghan massacre apologizes for 'act of cowardice' Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 01:59 PM PDT By Jonathan Kaminsky TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - A decorated U.S. soldier who gunned down 16 unarmed Afghan civilians in a nighttime rampage last year apologized on Thursday at a sentencing hearing to determine his fate, calling the killings "an act of cowardice." Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, a veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, has admitted to shooting the villagers, mostly women and children, in attacks on their family compounds in Kandahar province in March 2012. "I am truly, truly sorry to all the people whose family members I have taken away. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. presses Syria to allow gas attack inspection Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 03:53 PM PDT  By Erika Solomon and John Irish BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) - The United Nations demanded Syria give its chemical weapons experts immediate access on Thursday to rebel-held Damascus suburbs where poison gas appears to have killed hundreds just a few miles from the U.N. team's hotel. There was no sign, however, that scientists would soon be taking samples at the scene of horrors that have drawn comparison with the gassing of thousands of Iraqi Kurds at Halabja in 1988. The administration of President Barack Obama said it was "appalled" by the death reports. A U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| British police say seized Snowden-linked data could put lives at risk Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 11:11 AM PDT  By Costas Pitas LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Thursday that documents seized from the partner of a journalist, who has led coverage of Edward Snowden's leaks about U.S. and British electronic spying, were "highly sensitive" and, if disclosed, could put lives at risk. Counter-terrorism detectives said they had begun a criminal investigation following a preliminary examination of the material taken from David Miranda, partner of American journalist Glenn Greenwald, after he was held for nine hours at London's Heathrow Airport on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Zimbabwe's Mugabe, 89, is sworn in and attacks 'vile' West Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 10:56 AM PDT  By Cris Chinaka and MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader at 89, began a new five-year term on Thursday by calling the West "vile" for questioning his re-election and vowing to press ahead with nationalist economic policies. After taking the oath of office before bewigged Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku at a sun-drenched soccer stadium in Harare, Mugabe praised African countries that endorsed the July 31 vote and told his critics to "go hang". ... Full Story | Top |
| Atlanta area shooting revives issue of gun access and mental health Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 02:36 PM PDT  By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) - A 20-year-old man who fired an AK-47 in a suburban Atlanta elementary school has a history of mental illness and once threatened in a Facebook message to kill his brother, according to the suspect's lawyer and family. A school clerk convinced Michael Brandon Hill to lay down his gun and turn himself in after he walked into the school carrying 500 rounds of ammunition and briefly exchanged gunfire with police. No students were injured in the incident. Claudia Saari, a public defender, described Hill as having a "long" history of mental health issues. "Mr. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sues Texas over voter ID law Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 04:37 PM PDT  By David Ingram WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government sued on Thursday to keep Texas from carrying out a voter identification requirement enacted in 2011, setting up a new battle between the Obama administration and a state that is a conservative stronghold. The Justice Department said in a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Corpus Christi that Texas state lawmakers passed the requirement to deny racial minorities the right to vote and, unlike other states with similar laws, failed to take steps to prevent the law from being discriminatory. ... Full Story | Top |
| London police say disclosure of Snowden-linked data could risk lives Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 09:51 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - London Police said on Thursday material seized from the partner of a journalist who has led coverage of Edward Snowden's leaks was "highly-sensitive" and, if disclosed, could put lives at risk. David Miranda was detained for nine hours at London's Heathrow airport on Sunday when the material was taken from him and police said an initial examination of the information had prompted a criminal investigation by counter-terrorism officers. (Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Costas Pitas) Full Story | Top |
| MPs find German security shamefully negligent on neo-Nazi cell Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 09:04 AM PDT  By Alexandra Hudson BERLIN (Reuters) - German security forces shamefully neglected the threat of the far right and their bungled investigations and prejudice enabled a neo-Nazi cell blamed for nine racist murders to go undetected for more than a decade, a parliamentary committee has concluded. The stinging report came after a 19-month inquiry into the National Socialist Underground (NSU), whose chance discovery in late 2011 scandalized Germany and forced authorities to recognize the far-right fringe was more brutal and organized than previously thought. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. labor market, factory data show economy firming Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 07:55 AM PDT  By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits last week held near a six-year low and U.S. manufacturing activity rose this month, suggesting the economy is starting to find firmer footing. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits climbed 13,000 to 336,000, just above the level expected by economists in a Reuters poll, Labor Department data showed on Thursday. Despite the increase, the four-week moving average for claims, which smooths out weekly volatility, fell to its lowest level since November 2007. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemen asks U.S. for drones to fight al Qaeda Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 07:37 AM PDT  By Mohammed Ghobari SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen has asked the United States to supply it with drones, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said on Thursday, to help it fight an al Qaeda threat that recently forced Western countries to temporarily close diplomatic missions in Sanaa. State news agency Saba also quoted Hadi as telling police cadets that 40 suspected al Qaeda militants had been killed in recent counter-terrorism operations and vowed to keep fighting the Islamists until they laid down their weapons. ... Full Story | Top |
| I was framed, says China's Bo as he mounts feisty defense Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 06:00 AM PDT  By John Ruwitch JINAN, China (Reuters) - Fallen politician Bo Xilai put up a feisty defense on Thursday as he faced China's most political trial in decades, saying he was framed in bribery charges against him and had admitted to them under psychological pressure during interrogation. The 64-year-old former Communist Party chief of the southwestern city of Chongqing has been charged with illegally taking almost 27 million yuan ($4.41 million), corruption and abuse of power and will almost certainly be found guilty. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama unveils plan that aims to make college more affordable Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 11:05 AM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Elvina Nawaguna WASHINGTON (Reuters) - BUFFALO, N.Y./WASHINGTON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday proposed a plan to tackle soaring U.S. education costs with a new system that judges colleges and universities on their financial value and ties those ratings to disbursement of federal aid. The president, who has spent much of the summer promoting new ideas to rev up the economy, unveiled his proposals at the start of a campaign-like bus tour through New York and Pennsylvania. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomber hits Iraq military headquarters, killing 14 Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 09:44 AM PDT RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives to a military headquarters in western Iraq and blew himself up outside it on Thursday, killing at least 14 people, police said. The attack, which appeared to be the latest incident in a wave of violence by Sunni insurgents against the Shi'ite-led government, took place near the city of Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad. Most of the victims were soldiers. ... Full Story | Top |
| In U.S., China, Europe, data points to global rebound Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 08:13 AM PDT  By Steven C. Johnson and Jonathan Cable NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Business surveys on Thursday suggested the world economy was on the mend, with U.S. and Chinese manufacturing activity at multi-month highs and better-than-expected growth in the euro zone. The data should bolster the case for the Federal Reserve to start withdrawing support for the U.S. economy this year - possibly as soon as next month - and enhance the appeal for investors of developed economies in North America and Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Election ads put Merkel in focus while rivals hide their man Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 06:41 AM PDT  By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's conservative Christian Democrats will focus their TV advertising campaign on Chancellor Angela Merkel while the opposition Social Democrats put ordinary people in their ads and all but ignore their struggling candidate, Peer Steinbrueck. The rival parties kicked off the final month of campaigning for the September 22 election by presenting strikingly different TV strategies on Thursday. Merkel's conservatives hold a 16-point lead over the SPD in opinion polls but her center-right coalition may fall short of a majority. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hezbollah supporter among three killed in north Lebanon: sources Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 05:51 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Gunmen in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli killed at least three people when they opened fire on a supporter of the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah outside his house in the early hours of Thursday, security sources said. They said two men on a motorbike shot dead Hossam al-Mouri in the Zahrieh neighborhood in the largely Sunni city. A member of the security forces and another man at the scene were also killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan army says soldier killed by Indian fire in disputed Kashmir Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 05:00 AM PDT  By Katharine Houreld ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Pakistani army said one of its soldiers was killed on Thursday in "unprovoked" Indian fire along the border dividing the disputed territory of Kashmir, in the second such incident within two days. A series of clashes that began this month has undermined a push by Pakistan's new civilian government to improve ties with old rival India, although Pakistani officials say they are still hoping to hold talks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain can look at data from Snowden reporter's partner, court says Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 05:50 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - The British authorities can sift through documents seized from the partner of a reporter who wrote about the leaks by Edward Snowden to protect national security and investigate any possible links to terrorism, a court ruled on Thursday. David Miranda, partner of U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald, was questioned for nine hours on Sunday at London's Heathrow Airport before being released without charge, prompting calls for an explanation of why anti-terrorism powers were used to detain the Brazilian citizen. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. factory activity increases in August: Markit Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 06:08 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing activity hit a five-month high in August as hiring picked up and new orders increased at their fastest pace since January, an industry report showed on Thursday. Financial data firm Markit said its "flash," or preliminary, U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose to 53.9, its best showing since March, and just below economists' forecast of 54.0. The index stood at 53.7 in July. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. Overall output, however, declined to 53.4 from 54.8, its slowest rate of growth in three months, suggesting the pace of overall U. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Rising returns give U.S. public pension funds chance to reform Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 05:05 AM PDT  By Tim Reid (Reuters) - Many U.S. public pension funds are benefiting from double-digit annual returns in fiscal 2013 that are giving them breathing space to try to implement reforms and fix gaping deficits. A raft of pension reforms since the financial crisis by many U.S. state and local governments have not repaired their pension debt, a factor in the bankruptcies of Detroit, Michigan, and the California cities of Stockton and San Bernardino. A 20 percent gain on the U.S. stock market in the twelve months to June is, however, alleviating acute funding gaps in many areas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain is a more modest military power, new defense chief says Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 04:47 AM PDT  By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should have lower expectations of its military power because government spending cuts mean it will not be able to fight every potential war it faces, the new head of its armed forces said. The European Union's biggest military spender is grappling with cuts which some of its top brass, as well as allies such as the United States, fear will make it difficult for it to fight another war on the scale of those in Afghanistan or Iraq. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: China's banks to take next step in rate reform push - sources Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 03:40 AM PDT  By Shengnan Zhang and Hongmei Zhao BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's top banks are expected to win approval for the issuance of tens of billions of yuan in negotiable certificates of deposit (NCD) as early as next month, in another step towards developing market-determined interest rates. NCDs would enable banks to access large amounts of funds at relatively stable costs, providing some alternative to borrowing from the inter-bank market, where the cost of funds can be volatile, as seen in June when a liquidity squeeze briefly sent short-term money market rates to nearly 30 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian court rejects opposition leader's bid to oust election rival Thursday, Aug 22, 2013 03:46 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court rejected an attempt by opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Thursday to have his main pro-Kremlin rival thrown out of Moscow's mayoral election race. Navalny is running for mayor to try to show that President Vladimir Putin's opponents have popular support, even though he will be sent to prison if an appeal against his five-year sentence last month on theft charges fails. Navalny's lawyers said Sergei Sobyanin, the acting Moscow mayor and a Kremlin ally, had violated election rules by failing to receive Putin's formal consent to run in the September 8 poll. ... Full Story | Top |
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