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| CBS win squeezes Time Warner Cable's margins: analysts Monday, Sep 02, 2013 09:11 PM PDT  By Ronald Grover and Liana B. Baker (Reuters) - CBS Corp won large increases in the fees it will receive from Time Warner Cable Inc in its agreement with the cable operator that ended a month-long blackout of CBS, Showtime and other channels in key cities, analysts said. CBS was asking for as much as $2 a month in "retransmission fees" to allow Time Warner to carry the CBS network and other channels for each of its 3.2 million cable subscribers in the affected areas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian refugee numbers swell to 2 million: U.N. Monday, Sep 02, 2013 09:08 PM PDT  GENEVA (Reuters) - More than 2 million refugees have now fled Syria's civil war, piling pressure on neighboring host countries, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The tide of children, women and men crossing borders has risen almost ten-fold over the past 12 months, figures from the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR showed. "Syria has become the great tragedy of this century - a disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history," the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| China services sector grows steadily as government measures kick in Monday, Sep 02, 2013 08:40 PM PDT  By Langi Chiang and Jonathan Standing BEIJING (Reuters) - China's services sector grew steadily in August as domestic demand picked up, official data showed on Tuesday, adding to signs that government measures have started to steer the world's second-largest economy out of its longest slowdown. The non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) dipped slightly to 53.9 last month from July's 54.1 to be at the same level as in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said. A reading above 50 indicates activity in the sector is accelerating, while one below 50 points to a slowdown. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan to tell G20 it will proceed with sales tax hike: finance minister Monday, Sep 02, 2013 08:38 PM PDT  By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will tell G20 nations at a summit this week that it will proceed with a planned two-stage sales tax hike, and consider compiling an extra budget for fiscal spending to ease the pain on the economy, Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Tuesday. Aso, who will accompany Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the Group of 20 summit in Russia, also said Japan is unlikely to face criticism from other countries this time about the yen's weakness that boosts the competitive advantage of its exports. "Japan has launched fiscal and monetary stimulus to pull out of deflation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazil, Mexico ask U.S. to explain if NSA spied on presidents Monday, Sep 02, 2013 07:32 PM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil assailed the United States on Monday after new allegations that Washington spied on President Dilma Rousseff, complaining that its sovereignty may have been violated and suggesting that it could call off Rousseff's planned state visit to the White House next month. A Brazilian news program reported on Sunday that the U.S. National Security Agency spied on emails, phone calls and text messages of Rousseff and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, a disclosure that could strain Washington's relations with Latin America's two biggest nations. ... Full Story | Top |
| China sacks head of state asset regulator: Xinhua Monday, Sep 02, 2013 07:21 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - China has sacked the head of its state assets regulator, former top energy executive Jiang Jiemin, the official Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday, two days after the agency reported Jiang was the subject of a corruption probe. Jiang is "suspected of serious discipline violations", state media said on Sunday, shorthand the government generally uses to describe graft. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Jonathan Standing; Editing by Paul Tait) Full Story | Top |
| American Diana Nyad, 64, sets record with Cuba-to-Florida swim Monday, Sep 02, 2013 06:57 PM PDT  By Michael Haskins KEY WEST, Florida (Reuters) - American 64-year-old long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad became the first person to swim across the Florida Straits from Cuba without a shark cage on Monday, succeeding on her fifth attempt at the feat. Her face sunburned and lips swollen, with barely enough energy to speak, Nyad waded ashore at Key West, Florida, after a 53-hour swim and told onlookers: "We should never, ever give up ... You never are too old to chase your dreams. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. drug agents using vast AT&T database, New York Times says Monday, Sep 02, 2013 06:24 PM PDT  (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement officials investigating drug crimes have had access, using subpoenas, to a large AT&T Inc database that contains the records of phone calls dating back to 1987, according to a New York Times report. The report, published on Sunday, said under the 6-year-old program, the government pays telecommunications giant AT&T to place employees in drug-fighting units around the country. The employees sit with Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local detectives and supply them with the phone data, it said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Naval Academy female cadet in rape case appeared drunk: witnesses Monday, Sep 02, 2013 06:13 PM PDT By Lacey Johnson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Witnesses in a preliminary hearing of three former U.S. Naval Academy football players charged with raping a female midshipman testified on Monday that she appeared drunk the night the alleged assault took place, but differed on how intoxicated she was. The men - Tra'ves Bush, 22; Eric Graham, 21; and Joshua Tate, 21 - are accused of sexually assaulting the woman in April 2012 when she blacked out from binge drinking at an off-campus party in Annapolis, Maryland, the site of the elite academy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rodman returns to Pyongyang but says won't bring back jailed American Monday, Sep 02, 2013 06:08 PM PDT  By James Pearson SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Flamboyant former basketball star Dennis Rodman will arrive in Pyongyang on Tuesday for a five-day visit to North Korea, his second this year, but said he had no plans to negotiate the release of a jailed American missionary. There had been speculation that Rodman, who met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in March, would secure the release of Kenneth Bae who was jailed for 15 years for trying to overthrow the North Korean government. "I'm not going to North Korea to discuss freeing Kenneth Bae," Rodman told Reuters in a telephone interview. ... Full Story | Top |
| Olympics-Istanbul clings to bid hopes as blows rain down Monday, Sep 02, 2013 06:00 PM PDT (repeating story first moved on Aug 31) * Massive infrastructure investment underpins Istanbul's bid * Anti-government protests, doping shake confidence * Middle East turmoil overshadows mood By Daren Butler ISTANBUL, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Along the picturesque Bosphorus Straits dividing Europe and Asia, Istanbul is undergoing a transformation which should fill Turkey with confidence in its bid to become the first Muslim country to stage the Olympics in 2020. ... Full Story | Top |
| Olympics-Spain seeking lift with Madrid's 2020 'austerity bid' Monday, Sep 02, 2013 06:00 PM PDT (repeating story first moved on Aug 31) By Iain Rogers MADRID, Sept 3 (Reuters) - For a sports-obsessed country in the grip of a debilitating recession and stained by allegations of political corruption, winning the right to host the 2020 Olympic Games in Madrid is exactly the tonic Spain needs. At least that is what government and bid officials are arguing as they attempt to convince International Olympic Committee (IOC) members the capital deserves to stage the world's biggest and most expensive sporting event instead of Istanbul or Tokyo. ... Full Story | Top |
| Olympics-2020 Games bidders locked in tight race ahead of vote Monday, Sep 02, 2013 05:59 PM PDT (repeating story first moved on Aug 31) By Karolos Grohmann Sept 3 (Reuters) - The race for three cities hoping to land the 2020 summer Olympics will go down to the wire after two years of campaigning as Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo grapple with their own problems ahead of Saturday's vote. The International Olympic Committee will elect the winning bid at their session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with no clear front runner in the campaign to host the world's biggest and most expensive multi-sport event. ... Full Story | Top |
| As Obama pushes to punish Syria, lawmakers fear deep U.S. involvement Monday, Sep 02, 2013 05:57 PM PDT  By Steve Holland and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's efforts to persuade the U.S. Congress to back his plan to attack Syria were met with skepticism on Monday from lawmakers in his own Democratic Party who expressed concern the United States would be dragged into a new Middle East conflict. "There is a lot of skepticism," said Representative Jim Moran after taking part in a 70-minute phone briefing for Democratic lawmakers by Obama's top national security aides about the response to a chemical weapons attack that U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia's Cabinet resigns to allow Santos to make shuffle Monday, Sep 02, 2013 05:16 PM PDT  BOGOTA (Reuters) - Sixteen members of Colombia's Cabinet presented their resignations to President Juan Manuel Santos on Monday, a decision that paves the way for changes he may want to make after a protest in the farming sector turned violent last week. The Cabinet also offered its full support to Santos, according to a statement read by the president's secretary general, Aurelio Iragorri. Santos has yet to respond to the decision. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Obama lobbies personally for Syria vote Monday, Sep 02, 2013 04:41 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After putting a decision to launch military strikes on Syria into the hands of Congress, President Barack Obama is doing what his critics have long accused him of failing to do: reaching out, personally and aggressively, to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. While top lieutenants including Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry lobby their former congressional colleagues, Obama is making individual calls himself to members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to press his case for action. ... Full Story | Top |
| Potential action against Syria reignites U.S. budget concerns Monday, Sep 02, 2013 04:39 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa and David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military's decision to move an aircraft carrier into the Red Sea to help out with any "contingencies" underscores concerns a strike on Syria could evolve into another costly war as U.S. defense spending faces massive, mandatory cuts. Current and former military officials say the cost of firing cruise missiles at selected targets in Syria would be relatively easily absorbed, and analysts say the effect on U.S. weapons makers would be relatively minimal. But some U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain must renegotiate flawed aircraft carrier deals - panel Monday, Sep 02, 2013 04:26 PM PDT By Peter Griffiths LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should negotiate new contracts for two aircraft carriers and fighter jets to avoid the risk of budgets spiralling further out of control at taxpayers' expense, MPs said on Tuesday. The project for the biggest ships ever built for the Royal Navy has fuelled broader criticism of the defence ministry's handling of expensive weapons programmes at a time of spending cuts across the public sector. The programme has been dogged by rising costs, delays and indecision over the choice of aircraft since it was first announced in 2007. ... Full Story | Top |
| Time Warner, CBS reach deal to end blackout Monday, Sep 02, 2013 03:48 PM PDT  (Reuters) - CBS Corp said it has reached an agreement with Time Warner Cable Inc to end a month-long blackout of its stations in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. The two sides had been at odds since August 2, when talks broke down over CBS's demand that the so-called "retransmission fees" be increased in order for Time Warner to continue carrying its signal. Time Warner wanted to also receive CBS programming for its digital outlets without paying additional costs. Under the agreement, programming on all networks resumed at 6 p.m. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Brotherhood under legal threat as bomb hits central Cairo Monday, Sep 02, 2013 03:25 PM PDT  By Kevin Liffey CAIRO (Reuters) - A judicial panel set up by Egypt's military-backed government supported a legal challenge to the status of the Muslim Brotherhood on Monday, compounding a drive to crush the movement behind the elected president deposed by the army in July. While short of a formal ban on the Brotherhood, which worked underground for decades under Egypt's previous military-backed rulers, the panel's advice to a court to remove its non-governmental organization status threatens the million-member movement's future in politics. ... Full Story | Top |
| America's Diana Nyad, 64, sets record with Cuba-to-Florida swim Monday, Sep 02, 2013 03:14 PM PDT  By Michael Haskins KEY WEST, Florida (Reuters) - American 64-year-old long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad on Monday became the first person to swim across the Florida Straits from Cuba without a shark cage, succeeding on her fifth attempt at the feat. Her face sunburned and lips swollen, with barely enough energy to speak, Nyad waded ashore at Key West after a 53-hour swim and delivered a simple message to onlookers: "We should never, ever give up .... You never are too old to chase your dreams. ... Full Story | Top |
| Beatings, evictions reveal ugly side of China's local debt pile Monday, Sep 02, 2013 02:41 PM PDT  By Koh Gui Qing WUXI, China (Reuters) - When Xu Haifeng's home was razed three years ago, she went to China's capital Beijing to complain about the city and county governments that ordered the demolition. Since then, she says family members have been kidnapped at least 18 times, typically having black bags thrust over their heads before being taken to a hotel-turned-illegal jail in the eastern city of Wuxi and locked for weeks in a tiny, windowless room. Xu's story is shocking even in a country that has become used to tales of arbitrary and sometimes violent land expropriations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan to spend 40 billion yen to treat radioactive water at Fukushima: Nikkei Monday, Sep 02, 2013 02:25 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The Japan government plans to spend at least 40 billion yen ($402.60 million) to contain the leaking of radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the Nikkei newspaper said, citing government sources. The government is expected to announce on Tuesday a package of measures to deal with the crisis at the Tokyo Electric Power Co plant wrecked by an earthquake in 2011. The government intends to cover all the costs for freezing the soil around the reactors to prevent groundwater from mixing with contaminated water inside the reactor, the daily said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Untested Yale man becomes Serbian finance minister, eyes IMF deal Monday, Sep 02, 2013 02:22 PM PDT By Ivana Sekularac BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbian lawmakers endorsed 29-year-old former McKinsey consultant Lazar Krstic as finance minister on Monday, handing him the task of reining in the country's ballooning deficit and public debt. Krstic brings no political pedigree to the job but was handpicked by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the biggest party in Serbia's ruling coalition. The Yale graduate was endorsed as part of a cabinet reshuffle passed by 134 votes to 65 in the 250-seat parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rattled by investigations, foreign firms in China beef up compliance Monday, Sep 02, 2013 02:11 PM PDT  By Michael Martina and Kazunori Takada BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Foreign companies in China are getting increasingly jumpy about a spate of antitrust and corruption investigations by Chinese authorities and are hiring lawyers to make sure their operations comply with the law. The investigations represent one of the most significant risks to doing business in China in years. Antitrust regulators have looked into sectors such as pharmaceuticals, milk powder and jewelry in recent months and suggested that autos, telecommunications, banks and oil firms could be next. ... Full Story | Top |
| Romanians protest for second day against gold mine Monday, Sep 02, 2013 02:06 PM PDT  BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Protesters gathered in Romania's capital Bucharest late on Monday for a second day of protests against the government's support for a plan to open Europe's biggest open-cast gold mine. The more than 1,000 protesters were surrounded by riot police as they sat down on the street, tapping plastic bottles on the ground, chanting "United we will save Rosia Montana. ... Full Story | Top |
| Firefighters gain an edge on wildfire in Yosemite National Park Monday, Sep 02, 2013 02:01 PM PDT  By Laila Kearney (Reuters) - Firefighters in California gained ground on Monday against a massive wildfire burning part of Yosemite National Park, although complete containment may be weeks away, officials said. Crews working through the night got an edge on the so-called Rim Fire, a 350-square mile (906-square km) blaze that has charred the California park's Northwest, said Andrea Capps, spokeswoman for the Rim Fire command center. They connected containment lines near the fire's northwestern and western borders, where most of the 4,500 homes threatened by the blaze are located, she said. ... Full Story | Top |
| France says pension reform enough for several years Monday, Sep 02, 2013 01:59 PM PDT  By Catherine Bremer and Emmanuel Jarry PARIS (Reuters) - The minister in charge of France's pension reform says her proposals are robust enough to tide the system over for several years at least, even if economic growth falls short of expectations. Health and Social Affairs Minister Marisol Touraine, whose pension law is set to go to parliament in October, told Reuters that while the plan may appear less bold than a 2010 move under conservative Nicolas Sarkozy to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, the Socialist reform would be a lasting one. ... Full Story | Top |
| Assad warns of retaliation as France builds case for Syria attack Monday, Sep 02, 2013 01:43 PM PDT  By John Irish and Catherine Bremer PARIS (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad warned Syria would retaliate if France takes part in foreign strikes on his forces, while Paris said it had intelligence proving Assad had ordered chemical attacks and was determined to punish him. "If the policies of the French state are hostile to the Syrian people, the state will be their enemy," Assad said in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro. "There will be repercussions, negative ones obviously, on French interests. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senegalese human rights campaigner appointed as justice minister Monday, Sep 02, 2013 01:29 PM PDT DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal's new Prime Minister Aminata Toure named a cabinet on Monday, putting a veteran human rights campaigner in the key post of justice minister, suggesting high-profile graft and rights cases were likely to remain a priority. Toure, who was herself justice minister in the previous cabinet, named Sidiki Kaba, the former head of the International Federation of Human Rights, to her old ministerial position. ... Full Story | Top |
| India's parliament passes cheap food law for 800 million people Monday, Sep 02, 2013 01:23 PM PDT  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's upper house of parliament on Monday approved a $20 billion scheme to distribute subsidized wheat and rice to 800 million people, backing an anti-malnutrition drive that investors fear will mean missing the fiscal deficit target. The Food Security Bill is seen as a vote winner by the ruling Congress party as it prepares for elections due by May next year. But investors reacted negatively to the plan when the lower house approved it last week, on worries the government will struggle to contain the cost of subsidies. The scheme has now been passed by both houses. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama authorization for Syria too broad for some lawmakers Monday, Sep 02, 2013 01:13 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers began work on Monday on their version of an authorization of the use of military force in Syria, worrying that President Barack Obama's draft could open the door to possible use of ground troops or eventual attacks on other countries. The White House is prepared to rework language to address concerns from lawmakers, an administration official said on Monday. The official said the administration was open to changes "within the parameters that (the) president has previously explained. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. envoy says military success an opportunity for Congo talks Monday, Sep 02, 2013 01:10 PM PDT  By Pete Jones GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - The U.N. special envoy for Africa's Great Lakes region said on Monday recent military successes by Congo's army against eastern rebels should be used to relaunch peace talks. Democratic Republic of Congo's army drove M23 rebels from positions overlooking the eastern city of Goma on Friday, scoring its biggest victory since the uprising began 18 months ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senator McCain: Congress' rejecting use of force in Syria would be catastrophic Monday, Sep 02, 2013 01:05 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator John McCain said on Monday that a vote by the Congress against President Barack Obama's proposal for using military force in Syria would be catastrophic. "If the Congress were to reject a resolution like this after the president of the United States has already committed to action, the consequences would be catastrophic," McCain told reporters after a meeting with the president at the White House. McCain, a Republican, said he was encouraged by the meeting but that there was "a long way to go" to get the resolution passed. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House open to changes on Syria authorization: official Monday, Sep 02, 2013 12:40 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is prepared to rework language in a draft resolution authorizing military force in Syria to address concerns from lawmakers, an administration official said on Monday. The official said the administration was open to changes "within the parameters that (the) president has previously explained." (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Eric Beech) Full Story | Top |
| Obama should return Guantanamo to Cuba, former U.S. envoy says Monday, Sep 02, 2013 12:39 PM PDT  GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama should return the naval base at Guantanamo Bay to Cuba, and some detainees could stay on at a U.S.-run jail there, a former U.S. envoy to Cuba said. Obama, by negotiating a deal with Cuban leader Raul Castro about the base on the communist island, could build a long-term relationship with its people, said Michael Parmly, head of the U.S. interests section in Havana from 2005-2008. Since 1903, the United States has had treaty rights to Guantanamo Bay, a 45 square-mile territory in southeastern Cuba, originally needed as a fuelling station for U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| USS Nimitz carrier group sails into Red Sea in 'prudent' move Monday, Sep 02, 2013 12:30 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and four other ships in its strike group moved into the Red Sea early on Monday, U.S. defense officials said, describing the move as "prudent planning" in case the ships are needed for military action against Syria. The officials said the Nimitz entered the Red Sea around 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT), but the strike group had not received any orders to move into the Mediterranean, where five U.S. destroyers and an amphibious ship, the USS San Antonio, remain poised for possible cruise missile strikes against Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK's 'reckless' Cameron pays political price for Syria vote loss Monday, Sep 02, 2013 12:28 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron's failure to win parliamentary backing for military action against Syria has hurt him politically, polls showed on Monday, with most Britons thinking him "reckless" and support for his party falling. A Comres/ITV poll showed that 59 percent of those asked thought he had been reckless to organize last Thursday's vote on military action without knowing whether he had lawmakers' backing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghan police deaths double as foreign troops withdraw Monday, Sep 02, 2013 12:06 PM PDT  KABUL (Reuters) - Police deaths in Afghanistan have doubled this year after withdrawing NATO forces handed security of the war-ravaged country to poorly equipped local troops with less frontline experience fighting Taliban insurgents. Almost twelve years after coalition forces invaded Afghanistan, swathes of territory are firmly under Taliban control and Afghan troops are still heavily reliant on foreign air support, particularly in remote areas. Their lighter vehicles make them particularly vulnerable to roadside bombs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Private equity firms in running for Spain's EVO Banco: FT Monday, Sep 02, 2013 12:05 PM PDT MADRID (Reuters) - U.S. private equity group Centerbridge and London-based Anacap are among the bidders in late-stage talks to buy one of Spain's smaller nationalized lenders, the Financial Times reported on Monday. The two firms are in a consortium, and one other U.S. buyout group is also in the running to buy EVO Banco, a subsidiary of state-rescued NCG Banco, the newspaper said on its website, citing people close to the talks. NCG Banco declined to comment on the bidders. ... Full Story | Top |
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