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| China's antitrust probes not just aimed at foreign firms: official media Monday, Aug 26, 2013 08:44 PM PDT SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A series of antitrust investigations by Chinese regulators are part of efforts to toughen enforcement of a 2008 anti-monopoly law and are not just directed at foreign firms, the official China Daily reported on Tuesday. Some foreign executives in China have said recent high-profile probes into the milk powder and pharmaceutical sectors appeared to show foreign companies were being singled out. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Mexico's largest county to allow gay marriage after court ruling Monday, Aug 26, 2013 08:42 PM PDT By Zelie Pollon SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - Same-sex marriages are now legal in New Mexico's most populous county and the city of Albuquerque, a court ruled on Monday, adding to recent victories for gays and lesbians seeking the right to wed statewide. Last week, a judge in Santa Fe County ordered the county clerk there to issue same-sex marriage licenses and a clerk in the southern part of the state decided to hand out such licenses independently of any court ruling. ... Full Story | Top |
| China sees no basis for talks with Japan over islands dispute Monday, Aug 26, 2013 08:41 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China sees no reason to conduct talks with Japan over their dispute about ownership of a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, Chinese deputy foreign minister Li Baodong said on Tuesday. Li said Japan's call for high-level talks was not genuine, but merely grandstanding. "A meeting between leaders is not simply for the sake of shaking hands and taking pictures, but to resolve problems," said Li, speaking to reporters ahead of President Xi Jinping's attendance at the G20 summit next week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: U.S. could look beyond U.N. Security Council in any Syria strike Monday, Aug 26, 2013 08:21 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - In the face of a U.N. Security Council deadlocked on Syria, the United States and its allies could seek other means of legitimizing any retaliatory strike they launch against Syria's government for last week's alleged gas attack on civilians. The 15-nation council has been split on Syria since 2011. Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's ally, and China have vetoed three resolutions condemning Assad and calling for punitive steps against his government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Washington warns Assad over 'undeniable' chemical weapons attack Monday, Aug 26, 2013 07:41 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton and Erika Solomon WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The United States put Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on notice on Monday that it believes he was responsible for using chemical weapons against civilians last week in what Secretary of State John Kerry called a "moral obscenity." "President (Barack) Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world's most heinous weapons against the world's most vulnerable people," Kerry said in the most forceful U.S. reaction yet to the August 21 attack. Speaking after U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Argentina offers bond swap to skirt U.S. court rulings Monday, Aug 26, 2013 07:27 PM PDT By Alejandro Lifschitz and Brad Haynes BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's government is proposing a voluntary bond swap on its foreign debt, shifting payments to Buenos Aires, if it cannot overturn U.S. court rulings that threaten to trigger its second debt crisis in just over a decade. The bond swap would allow Argentina to keep paying the creditors who agreed to restructure the country's sovereign debt after a record $100 billion default in 2002, President Cristina Fernandez said in a televised address on Monday night. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazilian foreign minister resigns, heads to U.N. Monday, Aug 26, 2013 06:26 PM PDT  BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota resigned on Monday after one of his diplomats acknowledged that he had helped a Bolivian senator, who had been accused of corruption, cross the border into Brazil. President Dilma Rousseff accepted Patriota's resignation but appointed him as Brazil's envoy to the United Nations, her office said in a statement. The current Brazilian U.N. ambassador, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, will become foreign minister. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama talks Syria with Australia's Rudd; Rice meets Israelis Monday, Aug 26, 2013 06:23 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama spoke with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Monday about possible international responses to the Syrian crisis while his national security adviser discussed Syria and security with Israeli officials, the White House said. In a call with Rudd, "the two leaders expressed their grave concern about the reported use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime against civilians near Damascus on Wednesday," the White House said in a statement. They "discussed possible responses by the international community," it said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tropical depression Fernand kills 13 in Mexico, dissipates Monday, Aug 26, 2013 05:26 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Torrential rains triggered by tropical depression Fernand killed 13 people in central Mexico on Monday before it dissipated, though the country's major oil installations were unaffected. Nine people were killed in the town of Yecuatla, three in the city of Tuxpan, and one in the town of Atzalan, all in Mexico's eastern Veracruz state, Governor Javier Duarte said. "All of (the deaths) were caused by landslides in the hills above their homes," Duarte said at a news conference. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazilian Foreign Minister Patriota to step down, move to U.N. Monday, Aug 26, 2013 04:26 PM PDT SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota will leave his post and become Brazil's representative at the United Nations, the president's office said on Monday. Brazil's current representative at the U.N., Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, will take over Patriota's post as the new foreign minister. The switch comes days after a Brazilian diplomat under Patriota helped a Bolivian senator who had been accused of corruption enter Brazil. (Reporting by Reese Ewing and Eduardo Simoes; Editing by Eric Walsh) Full Story | Top |
| U.S. points finger at Assad over Syria gas attack Monday, Aug 26, 2013 03:49 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry laid the groundwork on Monday for possible military action against the Syrian government over a chemical weapons attack, implicating President Bashar al-Assad's forces in a "moral obscenity." In the most forceful U.S. reaction yet to last week's gas attack outside Damascus, Kerry said President Barack Obama "believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world's most heinous weapons against the world's most vulnerable people." Kerry spoke after U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers call on Obama to consult them on Syria Monday, Aug 26, 2013 03:43 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers urged President Barack Obama on Monday to consult them as he decides how to respond to last week's apparent poison gas attack in the Damascus suburbs, with some complaining that they have not been fully informed. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a tough statement on Monday, saying that the suspected chemical weapons attack was a "moral obscenity" and accused Syria's government of covering it up. He added that the Obama administration was consulting with allies and members of Congress and would decide soon how to respond. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libya warns will destroy tankers illegally exporting oil Monday, Aug 26, 2013 02:53 PM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya warned on Monday it will attack and destroy any tanker illegally exporting oil after forces last week fired at a Liberian-flagged tanker close to the country's largest crude oil export terminal. The tanker, which sought to load crude oil that armed protesters blocking the country's main export ports were attempting to sell illegally, managed to flee, Abdul Razak al-Shbahi, the spokesperson for the minister of defense, told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congo army battles M23 rebels near eastern city of Goma Monday, Aug 26, 2013 02:19 PM PDT By Kenny Katombe GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - A U.N. brigade tasked with neutralizing armed groups in Congo has assisted the country's army in clashes with eastern rebels on Monday, ending a brief lull in days of fighting that has killed and wounded dozens. The violence, the most serious in months, is the first major test for the newly deployed U.N. Intervention Brigade which has an unprecedented mandate to launch military operations against M23, one of the rebels at the heart of nearly two decades of conflict. A senior officer with the brigade told Reuters that U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dogged rebels the target of Syria gas attacks: activists Monday, Aug 26, 2013 01:50 PM PDT  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - A diplomat and activists said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had been trying for some time, in vain, to dislodge rebels from the areas not far from central Damascus that were hit by suspected chemical weapons last week. Assad has strongly denied carrying out chemical attacks, telling Russian newspaper Izvestia on Monday that the allegation "insults common sense" and that the rebels were responsible for what could be the world's worst poison gas strike in 25 years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian lawmaker proposes banning gays from donating blood Monday, Aug 26, 2013 01:19 PM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian lawmaker has said parliament should ban blood donations from homosexuals, news agencies reported on Monday, upsetting activists already angry at a nationwide ban on gay 'propaganda'. "We will suggest an amendment to the law on (blood) donations on the order of the Health Ministry that returns homosexuals to the list of contra-indicated donors," Interfax quoted parliamentarian and Moscow mayoral candidate Mikhail Dyegtyaryov as saying. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House says it is undeniable that chemical weapons used in Syria Monday, Aug 26, 2013 12:58 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday that it is undeniable that chemical weapons were used in Syria and that there is little doubt that the Syrian government used them. President Barack Obama, said White House spokesman Jay Carney, is evaluating the appropriate response to the use of chemical weapons but has made no decision on how to respond. Carney had no time frame for when Obama would decide. "There is very little doubt in our mind that the Syrian regime is culpable," said Carney. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tropical depression Fernand kills 13 as it weakens over Mexico Monday, Aug 26, 2013 12:21 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Thirteen people were killed when torrential rains triggered deadly landslides as a weakening tropical depression Fernand moved northwest over central Mexico on Monday and away from the country's major oil installations. Nine people were killed in the town of Yecuatla, three in the city of Tuxpan, and one in the town of Atzalan, all in Mexico's eastern Veracruz state, Governor Javier Duarte said. "All of (the deaths) were caused by landslides in the hills above their homes," Duarte said at a press conference. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy PM forges ahead with cuts even as coalition row rages Monday, Aug 26, 2013 12:20 PM PDT  By Catherine Hornby ROME (Reuters) - Italy's cabinet passed a package of measures to trim public spending on Monday, undeterred by a row with Silvio Berlusconi's center-right party that is threatening to bring down the prime minister's coalition and has rattled markets. The measures included cutting funding for official cars by a fifth, reducing consultancies now valued at 1.2 billion euros per year, and a decree that will gradually convert about 150,000 temporary state administration contracts into permanent ones. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinians killed in Israeli raid, peace talks continue Monday, Aug 26, 2013 12:19 PM PDT  By Ali Sawafta and Noah Browning RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli troops shot dead three Palestinians during an early morning raid in a West Bank refugee camp on Monday, hours before negotiators met for another round of peace talks, Palestinian sources said. Israeli border police said they entered the Qalandiya camp, near Jerusalem, to arrest a man and were confronted by a crowd throwing firebombs and rocks. Witnesses said the Israeli forces opened fire and hospital officials told Reuters three men were killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cuban state begins to move out of the restaurant business Monday, Aug 26, 2013 12:03 PM PDT  By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) - More than 20 state restaurants in Cuba are about to become employee-run cooperatives as Raul Castro's communist government continues its retreat from running just about everything on the Caribbean island. The restaurants will become cooperatives in October, with hundreds more likely to follow if the experiment succeeds. All aspects of the business from buying the food to splitting the profits will be decided by the employees, not from on high in the government. ... Full Story | Top |
| India's Sonia Gandhi falls ill in parliament, hospitalized Monday, Aug 26, 2013 11:36 AM PDT  By Nigam Prusty NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Sonia Gandhi, the president of India's ruling Congress party who is widely seen as the country's most powerful politician, was taken to hospital on Monday after feeling unwell during a marathon parliament debate on a major new food welfare scheme. Gandhi was led limping out of the lower house in the early evening by her son and colleagues, then taken by car to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in New Delhi. "Sonia has been admitted to AIIMS, her condition is stable," party spokesman Bhakta Charan Das told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| United Nations says it will contact United States over spying report Monday, Aug 26, 2013 11:31 AM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Monday it plans to contact the United States over a report that the U.S. National Security Agency bugged its New York headquarters and warned that countries are expected to respect the world body's diplomatic inviolability. Citing secret U.S. documents obtained by fugitive former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, Germany's Der Spiegel reported on Sunday that the United States succeeded in gaining access to the internal U.N. video conferencing system in 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian Kurdish leader says Assad not to blame for attack Monday, Aug 26, 2013 11:10 AM PDT  By Alexandra Hudson BERLIN (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would not be "so stupid" as to use chemical weapons close to Damascus, the leader of the country's largest Kurdish group said. Saleh Muslim, head of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said he doubted the Syrian president would resort to using such weapons when he felt he had the upper hand in the country's civil war. He suggested last Wednesday's attack, which the opposition says was carried out by government forces and killed hundreds of people, was aimed at framing Assad and provoking an international reaction. ... Full Story | Top |
| Indian parliament approves $20 billion cheap grain plan for poor Monday, Aug 26, 2013 11:04 AM PDT By Anurag Kotoky and Mayank Bhardwaj NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's lower house of parliament approved a plan worth nearly $20 billion on Monday to provide cheap grain to the poor, a key part of the ruling Congress party's strategy to win re-election. Under the plan, the government will sell subsidized wheat and rice to 67 percent of its population of 1.2 billion. India is home to a quarter of the world's hungry poor, according to United Nations data, despite being one of the biggest food producers and experiencing years of rapid economic growth. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. inspectors reach Syria gas victims despite coming under fire Monday, Aug 26, 2013 11:00 AM PDT By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.N. chemical weapons inspectors in Syria met and took samples from victims of an apparent poison gas attack in a rebel-held suburb of Damascus on Monday after the U.N. team themselves survived a gun attack on their convoy. A Syrian doctor told Reuters from the town of Mouadamiya that investigators from the United Nations had crossed the frontline from the centre of the capital, which remains under the control of President Bashar al-Assad's forces. The U.N. said the shooting crippled one vehicle but mentioned no injuries. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigerian Islamists kill 14 vigilantes in Bama raid Monday, Aug 26, 2013 10:58 AM PDT MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian Islamists killed 14 pro-government youth vigilantes in an attack on the northeastern town of Bama, a local official who attended a mass funeral for the victims said on Monday. Sunday's attack was one of a spate of deadly assaults by the Boko Haram Islamist sect this month that raises doubts about whether a military offensive against it since May can succeed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria rebels seize strategic town, kill dozens of Assad fighters Monday, Aug 26, 2013 10:56 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebel forces took control of a strategic town in northern Syria on Monday, killing more than 50 pro-government fighters and cutting off government forces' only supply route out of the city of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israelis line up for gas masks over Syria war fears Monday, Aug 26, 2013 10:25 AM PDT  By Allyn Fisher-Ilan JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Thousands of Israelis are lining up for gas masks or ordering them by phone, spurred on by fears that any Western military response to last week's alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria could ensnare their own country in war. Western powers are considering military action to punish the Syrian government for the alleged attack that killed hundreds near Damascus last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan passes oil bill, waits president's approval Monday, Aug 26, 2013 10:18 AM PDT  JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's parliament has passed a long-awaited petroleum bill after years of consultation and waits for final approval by President Salva Kiir, a senior lawmaker said on Monday. Officials hope the bill, which regulates for the first time how the government can spend oil revenues, will make the African producer more attractive for foreign investment by improving transparency. South Sudan has struggled to build up state institutions and establish the rule of law since winning independence from Sudan in 2011 after decades of civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Backers of Madagascar's deposed leader to name new candidate Monday, Aug 26, 2013 10:04 AM PDT By Alain Ilioniania ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Backers of the deposed president of Madagascar said on Monday they would name a new candidate to run in a delayed presidential election after his wife was barred from the race. Supporters of former President Marc Ravalomanana earlier this month threatened to take to the streets after Madagascar's Special Electoral Court (CES) blocked his wife, Lalao Ravalomanana, as well as President Andry Rajaoelina, from running. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chemical experts can gather Syria evidence despite time lapse: U.N. Monday, Aug 26, 2013 09:54 AM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Monday it was still possible for a U.N. team of chemical weapons experts to gather evidence necessary to investigate last week's alleged gas attack in suburbs east of Damascus, despite the lapse of time. "Despite the passage of a number of days, the Secretary-General (Ban Ki-moon) is confident that the team will be able to obtain and analyze evidence relevant for its investigation of the 21 August incident," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters. The U.N. team visited the site on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry to make statement on Syria at 2 p.m. Monday, Aug 26, 2013 09:53 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will make a statement on Syria at 2 p.m. EDT, the State Department said on Monday, as the United States weighs options to respond to reports of a chemical weapons attack on civilians near Damascus. Kerry said in a round of phone calls to his foreign counterparts on Sunday that there was "very little doubt" the Syrian government had gassed its own citizens. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Sandra Maler) Full Story | Top |
| India's Sonia Gandhi unwell, taken to hospital: TV Monday, Aug 26, 2013 09:50 AM PDT  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, widely seen as the country's most powerful politician, was led out of parliament on Monday by her son and colleagues after she felt unwell, television channels said. She limped her way to a car, television images showed. She was taken to a New Delhi hospital, channels said. (Reporting by Anurag Kotoky and Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Alison Williams) Full Story | Top |
| French government commissions 10-year action plan for reforms Monday, Aug 26, 2013 09:22 AM PDT By Catherine Bremer PARIS (Reuters) - France's Socialist government has commissioned experts to produce a 10-year gameplan for overhauling areas such as public spending and education in keeping with its strategy of pursuing gentle, incremental reforms. Responding to criticism that he has been slow to embark on structural changes and lacks a big-picture vision, President Francois Hollande wants ideas on his desk by year-end for sprucing up industry and slimming down the welfare state. ... Full Story | Top |
| French government nears deal with unions on pension reform Monday, Aug 26, 2013 09:07 AM PDT  By Julien Ponthus and Nicholas Vinocur PARIS (Reuters) - France's government neared a deal with trade unions on Monday to overhaul the pension system through a slight lengthening of people's working lives that should rein in a spiraling deficit, union chiefs said. Under market pressure to reform its indebted retirement system, the Socialist government has ruled out raising the legal retirement age of 62 and hopes sticking to softer measures will avoid setting off prolonged street protests. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico identifies remains of 10 youths abducted in capital Monday, Aug 26, 2013 09:03 AM PDT MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican authorities have identified the remains of 10 out of 12 youths abducted from a Mexico City club in May and dumped in a mass grave, a government official said on Monday, a crime that stoked fears drug gang violence is creeping into the capital. Thirteen corpses were found in a grave covered in cement just outside Mexico City last week. Nine of the victims had been decapitated. Five of the corpses were identified last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Gulf Islamists irked as monarchs back Egypt's generals Monday, Aug 26, 2013 08:57 AM PDT  By Angus McDowall RIYADH (Reuters) - A scuffle broke the reflective atmosphere of Friday prayers in Riyadh's al-Ferdous mosque after the imam deplored the recent bloody crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood protesters by the military in nearby Egypt. The fight between members of the congregation, recorded on a widely circulated Youtube clip and reported by the daily al-Hayat newspaper, demonstrated how high feelings are running in the devoutly Muslim kingdom. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition says peace talks off the table after Damascus attack Monday, Aug 26, 2013 08:48 AM PDT ISTANBUL (Reuters) - An international peace conference on Syria, planned to be held in Geneva, is off the table for now following an alleged chemical weapons attack in Damascus, a senior member of Syria's opposition coalition said on Monday. Members of the Syrian National Coalition met representatives of the "Friends of Syria", a group of Western and Arab nations opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, in Istanbul on Monday in a meeting originally meant to discuss plans for the conference. "It (the meeting) was for Geneva but we refused to speak about Geneva after what's happened ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Opposition criticizes Indian government over gang rape cases Monday, Aug 26, 2013 08:35 AM PDT  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's opposition criticized the government on Monday for failing to deal swiftly and harshly enough with sex offenders, after a gang rape in Mumbai revived a national debate over women's safety in a society undergoing rapid social change. A 22-year-old photojournalist was raped on Thursday in Mumbai while on an assignment with a male colleague. Her colleague was tied up with a belt and beaten. The crime has parallels with the gang-rape of a trainee-physiotherapist on a moving bus in Delhi in December. ... Full Story | Top |
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