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| U.S. says world cannot let Assad get away with chemical attack Friday, Aug 30, 2013 08:39 PM PDT  By Steve Holland and Catherine Bremer WASHINGTON/PARIS (Reuters) - The United States made clear on Friday that it would punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the "brutal and flagrant" chemical weapons attack that it says killed more than 1,400 people in Damascus last week. "We cannot accept a world where women and children and innocent civilians are gassed on a terrible scale," President Barack Obama told reporters at the White House. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. chemical weapons inspectors leaving Damascus - witness Friday, Aug 30, 2013 08:17 PM PDT DAMASCUS (Reuters) - The team of U.N. chemical weapons inspectors left their Damascus hotel early on Saturday, a Reuters witness said, and appeared to be leaving the country. The witness saw the team's convoy of vehicles head onto a highway that leads to neighboring Lebanon. (Reporting by Marwan Makdesi; Editing by Peter Cooney) Full Story | Top |
| Sixth U.S. ship now in eastern Mediterranean 'as precaution' Friday, Aug 30, 2013 07:57 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A sixth U.S. warship is now operating in the eastern Mediterranean, near five U.S. destroyers armed with cruise missiles that could soon be directed against Syria as part of a "limited, precise" strike, defense officials said late on Friday. They stressed that the USS San Antonio, an amphibious ship with several hundred U.S. Marines on board, was in the region for a different reason and there were no plans to put Marines on the ground as part of any military action against Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| In shadow of Iraq, U.S. has 'high confidence' Syria carried out chemical attack Friday, Aug 30, 2013 04:08 PM PDT  By Tabassum Zakaria and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence agencies publicly disclosed on Friday some of the information that led to a "high-confidence" assessment that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad carried out a chemical weapons attack on neighborhoods outside Damascus. But the declassified intelligence report also showed what the U.S. government does not have: clear evidence that Assad personally ordered the attack, and physiological evidence confirming what caused the deaths of an estimated 1,429 Syrians on August 21. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. investigators to exit Syria, chemical probe may take weeks Friday, Aug 30, 2013 03:31 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A team of U.N. experts finished gathering evidence of a suspected chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of people in suburbs near Damascus last week, the United Nations announced on Friday, though envoys said analyzing the samples may take weeks. The announcement the U.N. inspectors will not be releasing their findings immediately came as Washington suggested the U.N. investigation would have no bearing on its decision about whether to attack Syria in retaliation for the alleged poison gas attack on civilians. ... Full Story | Top |
| Large earthquake hits remote Alaska waters, no tsunami seen Friday, Aug 30, 2013 02:58 PM PDT By Yereth Rosen ANCHORAGE (Reuters) - A large 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck early on Friday in waters 57 miles off the remote Alaska island of Adak, a former U.S. Navy station that is now a commercial fishing and maritime-service center, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no initial reports of damage, and the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami watch, warning or advisory in effect. "At this point, we've seen no ocean-surface disturbance," said Bill Knight, a scientist at the tsunami warning center in Palmer, Alaska. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suriname president's son arrested on U.S. drug smuggling charges Friday, Aug 30, 2013 02:57 PM PDT By Lomi Kriel PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - A son of Suriname's president has been arrested in Panama and sent to New York to face charges of smuggling cocaine into the United States, U.S. authorities said on Friday. An indictment against Dino Bouterse filed in a federal court in the Southern District of New York, alleges the 40-year-old imported more than five kilograms of cocaine into the United States between December 2011 and August 2013. Bouterse was arrested at Panama's Tocumen International Airport on Thursday, authorities said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. analysis of Syria samples could take up to two weeks: envoy Friday, Aug 30, 2013 02:54 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the five permanent Security Council members that it may be two weeks before for final results are ready of an analysis of samples experts collected at the site of a chemical weapons attack last week in Syria are ready, diplomats said on Friday. Ban said this to delegates from Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States during a meeting in New York, the diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; editing by Christopher Wilson) Full Story | Top |
| Mexico leftist vows to block reforms, warns oil firms Friday, Aug 30, 2013 02:44 PM PDT  By Simon Gardner CATEMACO, Mexico (Reuters) - Fiery Mexican leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has vowed to stop the government's energy and tax reforms and hopes to lead even bigger protests than when he brought central Mexico City to a standstill after narrowly losing the 2006 presidential election. A colorful renegade and a former Mexico City mayor, Lopez Obrador accuses President Enrique Pena Nieto of trying to sell off Mexico's assets by seeking to lure foreign capital into the state-controlled energy sector. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela sentences man who shot U.S. attaches at strip club Friday, Aug 30, 2013 02:26 PM PDT By Daniel Wallis CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuelan man has been sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for shooting and wounding two U.S. military attaches at a strip club in the capital, the attorney general's office said on Friday. Carlos Mejias, 32, admitted he shot the U.S. Embassy employees in the early hours of May 28, the office said. It said Mejias got into an argument with them at the Antonella 2012 club, better known as "Angelus," in the city's upscale Chacao district. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria says U.S. accusations were 'lies and baseless' Friday, Aug 30, 2013 02:14 PM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria said on Friday that accusations by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that it has used chemical weapons were "lies and baseless." The Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement that Kerry's charges were a "desperate attempt" to justify a military strike against Syria. (Reporting by Mariam Karouny; editing by Christopher Wilson) Full Story | Top |
| Iraqi militia vowes to attack U.S. interests if Syria hit Friday, Aug 30, 2013 01:53 PM PDT  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi Shi'ite militia group said on Friday it would attack U.S. interests in Iraq and the region if Washington carries out a military strike on Syria. President Barack Obama said on Friday the United States was still in the planning process for a response to the chemical weapons use in Syria. "All their interests and facilities in Iraq and the region will be targeted by our militants if the United States insists on attacking Syria," a spokesman for the Iraqi militia group al-Nujaba'a told Reuters by telephone, without giving details. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. experts prepare to leave Syria, chemical probe needs time Friday, Aug 30, 2013 01:49 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A team of U.N. investigators has finished gathering evidence related to a suspected chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of people in suburbs near Damascus last week, but will need time to complete its analysis, the world body said on Friday. The announcement the U.N. inspectors will not be releasing their findings immediately came as Washington suggested the U.N. investigation would have no bearing on its decision about whether to attack Syria in retaliation for the alleged poison gas attack on civilians. ... Full Story | Top |
| Assad's forces try to capture gassed Damascus suburb: activists Friday, Aug 30, 2013 01:48 PM PDT  AMMAN (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad's forces fired rocket barrages on Friday at a Damascus suburb hit by nerve gas last week, in another attempt to capture the strategic town ahead of a possible U.S. strike, opposition activists said. Elite guard units backed by tanks advanced from two directions on the suburb of Mouadamiya, 8 km (5 miles) west of Damascus along the road to the nearby Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, but were met with heavy resistance from two rebel brigades dug in the town, they said. Four rebel fighters were killed, the opposition sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive - Syria army defectors say U.S. strikes could kill Assad opponents Friday, Aug 30, 2013 01:33 PM PDT  By Oliver Holmes and Khaled Yacoub Oweis BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Military sites in Syria are packed with soldiers who have been effectively imprisoned by their superiors due to doubts about their loyalty, ex-soldiers say, making them possible casualties in any U.S.-led air strikes. Thousands of loyal security forces and militia, meanwhile, have moved into schools and residential buildings in Damascus, mixing with the civilian population in the hope of escaping a Western strike, according to residents and opposition activists. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama says Syria chemical weapons attack threatens Israel, Jordan Friday, Aug 30, 2013 01:25 PM PDT  By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday the chemical weapons attack in Syria threatened U.S. allies Israel, Turkey and Jordan and that while "nobody ends up being more war weary than me" he is considering a narrow, limited U.S. response. Obama, speaking to reporters at a meeting he held with Baltic leaders, said the United States must be prepared to act unilaterally if necessary to uphold what he called an international norm against the use of chemical weapons as part of U.S. obligations as a world leader. As he spoke, the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Most in U.S. still oppose Syria strike as Obama seeks action Friday, Aug 30, 2013 01:10 PM PDT  By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans still do not want to intervene in Syria's civil war, although support for such action has increased since the suspected chemical gas attack near Damascus last week, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. The poll made clear how much work President Barack Obama has to do to win support for military action from a war-weary public as he makes the case that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be held responsible for the attack that the United States says killed more than 1,400 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says North Korea calls off trip aimed at securing American's release Friday, Aug 30, 2013 01:08 PM PDT  By Paul Eckert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea withdrew its invitation to a U.S. envoy who was headed to Pyongyang to request the release of imprisoned, ailing American missionary Kenneth Bae, the U.S. State Department said on Friday. North Korea canceled talks with Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, who was expected to visit Pyongyang on Friday and Saturday. "We are surprised and disappointed by North Korea's decision," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said. "We remain gravely concerned about Mr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish PM says Syria intervention should aim to end Assad rule Friday, Aug 30, 2013 01:07 PM PDT  By Gulsen Solaker and Nick Tattersall ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that any international military intervention against Syria should be aimed at bringing an end to the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The comments from Erdogan, long one of Assad's fiercest critics, came as U.S. President Barack Obama said he was considering a narrow, limited U.S. response to last week's chemical weapons attack in Syria. "It can't be a 24 hours hit-and-run," Erdogan told reporters at a reception in the presidential palace in the capital Ankara. ... Full Story | Top |
| Six dead as thousands of Mursi supporters march in Egypt Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:58 PM PDT  By Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi marched through Cairo and cities across Egypt on Friday to demand his reinstatement, in the movement's biggest show of defiance since hundreds of protesters were killed two weeks ago. Although most marches passed without major incident, a security source said there had been at least six deaths, and police fired teargas at protesters in Cairo's Mohandiseen district. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congo's army occupies rebel positions in breakthrough Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:49 PM PDT  By Pete Jones KIBATI, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - In their biggest success in a year, government troops in Congo occupied strategic hills overlooking the eastern town of Goma on Friday after rebel fighters withdrew. The M23 rebels, who have fought an 18-month uprising in the eastern borderlands of the Democratic Republic of Congo, said they quit the Kibati hills to allow an independent investigation into shelling that has killed civilians in Goma and the lakeside town of Gisenyi in neighboring Rwanda. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain and U.S. to continue cooperating: PM Cameron Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:44 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron said he had spoken to President Barack Obama and the two men had agreed British-U.S. cooperation would continue, after Britain's decision not to support military action in Syria. Cameron said Obama stressed his appreciation of the strong friendship between the two leaders and the "strength, durability and depth of the special relationship between our two countries". ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuelan man who shot U.S. attaches sentenced to prison Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:40 PM PDT By Daniel Wallis CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuelan man has been sentenced to 5-1/2 years in prison for shooting and wounding two U.S. military attaches at a strip club in the capital, the attorney general's office said on Friday. Carlos Mejias, 32, admitted he shot the U.S. Embassy employees in the early hours of May 28. The office said Mejias got into an argument with them at the Antonella 2012 club, better known as "Angelus," in the city's upscale Chacao district. "Later he pulled out a gun and repeatedly fired at the Americans, leaving them wounded at the location," it said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Half of Mexicans say drug violence worse under Pena Nieto: poll Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:28 PM PDT  By Gabriel Stargardter MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Nearly half of Mexicans feel drug-related violence has increased since President Enrique Pena Nieto took office in December, according to a newspaper poll released on Friday, heaping pressure on the president who vowed to tame the gangs and restore order. The El Universal/Buendia & Laredo poll found that 49 percent of the 1,000 people questioned thought drug violence had worsened since December, up 9 points since February. A quarter of respondents felt security had improved while another 25 percent thought it had remained steady. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former rebels sow terror in Central Africa Republic: residents Friday, Aug 30, 2013 12:22 PM PDT  By Paul-Marin Ngoupana BANGUI (Reuters) - Former rebels who seized power in Central Africa Republic are looting and killing indiscriminately in the country's remote northwest, residents said on Friday, amid mounting pressure for a firm international response to the crisis. The mineral-rich but poor nation has descended into chaos since the Seleka rebels captured the capital Bangui in March, toppling President Francois Bozize and unleashing a wave of violence that new leader Michel Djotodia has failed to control. French President Francoise Hollande called this week for urgent U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada convinced Assad government behind chemical attack Friday, Aug 30, 2013 11:53 AM PDT  OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is convinced that President Bashar al-Assad was behind the August 21 chemical weapons attack in Syria, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief spokesman said on Friday, reiterating that Canada has no plans for military action against Syria. "The public record is clear and all I can tell you is that based on what we've been shown, we're of the opinion that the Assad regime is behind the attack," Andrew MacDougall, director of communications for the prime minister, told reporters. MacDougall said there were no plans to recall Parliament for a debate on the Syria issue. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. intelligence report on chemical weapons use in Syria Friday, Aug 30, 2013 11:36 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An unclassified U.S. intelligence report released on Friday by the White House concluded there was "high confidence" that Syrian forces had used chemical weapons multiple times in the last year, including the August 21 attack in the suburbs of Damascus. The intelligence gathered for the U.S. report included an intercepted communication involving a senior official intimately familiar with the attack as well as other human, signals and satellite intelligence, the four-page report said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran's oil revenues drop 58 percent since 2011 as sanctions bite: U.S. Friday, Aug 30, 2013 11:14 AM PDT By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran's monthly revenues from oil sales have dropped 58 percent since just before the United States imposed harsher sanctions on the country in 2011 because of Tehran's disputed nuclear program, a senior U.S. official said. The OPEC member's monthly crude oil revenues averaged an estimated $3.4 billion in the first half of this year, down from $6.3 billion in the year ago period, and $8 billion from the first half of 2011, said the source, who did not want to be named due to the sensitive nature of policy on sanctions. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Secretary of State Kerry makes statement on Syria Friday, Aug 30, 2013 11:03 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry delivered remarks on Friday on Syria amid U.S. intelligence findings that a Syrian chemical weapons attack killed 1,429 Syrian civilians, including 426 children. Below is a transcript of Kerry's statement, as transmitted by Roll Call, Inc: "President Obama has spent many days now consulting with Congress and talking with leaders around the world about the situation in Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK asked N.Y. Times to destroy Snowden material Friday, Aug 30, 2013 10:54 AM PDT  By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The British government has asked the New York Times to destroy copies of documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden related to the operations of the U.S. spy agency and its British partner, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), people familiar with the matter said. The British request, made to Times executive editor Jill Abramson by a senior official at the British Embassy in Washington D.C., was greeted by Abramson with silence, according to the sources. ... Full Story | Top |
| France's Hollande optimistic over 2014 growth Friday, Aug 30, 2013 10:31 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande indicated he was more optimistic over France's economic outlook next year, though he stopped short of committing his government to a new target. Hollande told the daily Le Monde that a series of reforms conducted since he took office 15 months ago were producing positive effects on the economy and would keep building momentum. The government's 2014 growth forecast is currently 1.2 percent, but Les Echos newspaper has reported that it has been working with an unpublished estimate around 0.8 percent as it drafts its budget for next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says 1,429 Syrian citizens killed in August 21 chemical weapons attack Friday, Aug 30, 2013 10:16 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Syrian chemical weapons attack on August 21 killed 1,429 Syrian civilians, including 426 children, an unclassified U.S. intelligence report concluded on Friday. President Barack Obama is using the report to make the case for retaliation against the Syrian government. The intelligence gathered for the U.S. report included an intercepted communication by a senior official intimately familiar with the attack as well as other human, signals and satellite intelligence, the four-page report said. (Reporting By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton) Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi left off list awarded Italian life senator honor Friday, Aug 30, 2013 10:11 AM PDT  By Steve Scherer ROME (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi's allies reacted angrily on Friday after Italian President Giorgio Napolitano left the center-right leader, who risks being ejected from parliament after a tax fraud conviction, off a list of new lifetime senators. Napolitano had been pressed by members of Berlusconi's People of Liberty party (PDL) to grant their leader the honor bestowed on former heads of state and distinguished personalities in the arts and sciences. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombian president orders military patrols in Bogota Friday, Aug 30, 2013 10:03 AM PDT  By Helen Murphy BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos sent troops to patrol the streets of Bogota on Friday after violent protests caused havoc across the capital, killing two people and leaving parts of the city in shambles. Santos took the measure after almost two weeks of roadblocks, protests and clashes with police that spread from the countryside to cities, including Bogota, Medellin and Cali. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's waning gold industry braces for more strikes Friday, Aug 30, 2013 09:51 AM PDT  By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African gold miners plan to strike for higher pay from Tuesday, inflicting more damage on an industry that has produced a third of the bullion ever pulled from the earth but is now in rapid decline. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which represents almost two thirds of the country's 120,000 goldmine workers, served the mining firms notice of the strike starting from Tuesday's night shift, the companies said. Negotiations broke down last week, with the unions and companies still poles apart over pay. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sri Lankans think U.N. is biased, president tells rights chief Friday, Aug 30, 2013 09:45 AM PDT  By Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa told the United Nations human rights chief on Friday that his people believe the U.N. is a biased organization, and a report she is due to release next month has already prejudged the country. Rajapaksa met U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay near the end of her week-long visit to Sri Lanka, where the government fought separatist Tamil guerrillas in a 26-year civil war before finally defeating them in 2009. A U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Car bombs kill 11 in northern Iraq Friday, Aug 30, 2013 09:43 AM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two car bombs killed 12 people and injured 10 in the northern Iraqi town of Tuz Khurmato on Friday, police and medical sources said. The attack took place 170 km (100 miles) north of the capital Baghdad in a region which both the central government and autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region claim as theirs. The second bomb went off as people were trying to help casualties of the first explosion, witnesses said. The district was busy because there was a mourning ceremony for someone who had died, said Mohammed Jawdat, one of the wounded. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greece civil servants call strike for September 18, 19 Friday, Aug 30, 2013 09:03 AM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's umbrella trade union for the public sector called on Friday a 48-hour strike for the middle of next month to protest planned civil sector firings and transfers that form part of the country's international bailout. The walkout will take place on September 18 and 19, the ADEDY trade union said in a statement. "We decided to step up the struggle," it said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia escalates dispute with Belarus after CEO's arrest Friday, Aug 30, 2013 08:35 AM PDT  By Timothy Heritage MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia banned pork imports from Belarus on Friday, stepping up a diplomatic and trade war over the arrest of a Russian businessman and threatening to deepen the isolation of its former Soviet ally. Russia is one of Belarus' few diplomatic backers after 19 years of authoritarian rule by President Alexander Lukashenko but has responded furiously to the arrest this week of Vladislav Baumgertner, head of Russian potash company Uralkali. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ghana court rejects request to extradite Ivorian fugitive Friday, Aug 30, 2013 08:35 AM PDT ACCRA (Reuters) - A court in Ghana on Friday rejected a request to extradite a senior ally of former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, saying the warrant issued by Ivorian authorities was politically motivated. Justin Kone Katinan, Gbagbo's former budget minister, was arrested in August last year in Accra on an international warrant accusing him of masterminding the looting of banks in the Ivorian capital. ... Full Story | Top |
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