Thursday, November 28, 2013

Daily News: Reuters News Headlines - Americans mark Thanksgiving Day with travel, parades, shopping

Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 04:00 PM PST
Today's Reuters News Headlines - Yahoo! News:

Americans mark Thanksgiving Day with travel, parades, shopping 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 04:00 PM PST
Clowns talk before the start of the 87th Macy's Thanksgiving day parade in New YorkBy Barbara Goldberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans gathered on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving by stuffing turkeys and braving cold winds along parade routes, while others started the holiday shopping earlier than ever in a trend that some argued went against the spirit of the holiday. With retailers offering "Black Friday" deals before Thanksgiving tables were even set on Thursday, critics circulated online petitions and a handful of franchise owners said they had defied corporate orders by keeping their stores closed for the holiday. "It bothers me that this country is allowing them to dictate time away from our families," Holly Cassiano, who refused to open her Sears franchise in Plymouth, New Hampshire, told CNN. A Pizza Hut restaurant manager in Elkhart, Indiana, who was fired for refusing to keep the restaurant open on Thanksgiving said the worldwide pizza chain had offered to rehire him and he was considering it.
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Canada allowed widespread NSA surveillance at 2010 G20 summit: report 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 09:06 AM PST
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks at his closing news conference at the G20 Summit in TorontoBy David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada allowed the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct widespread surveillance during the 2010 Group of 20 summit in Toronto, according to a media report that cited documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp is the latest potential embarrassment for the NSA as a result of Snowden's leaks, although it remains unclear precisely what information the agency was looking for during the summit. Snowden has already revealed the agency spied on close allies such as Germany and Brazil, prompting heated diplomatic spats with Washington. The CBC report, first aired late on Wednesday, cited briefing notes it said showed the United States turned its Ottawa embassy into a security command post during a six-day spying operation by the top-secret U.S. agency as President Barack Obama and other world leaders met that June.
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Iran shakes up foundation controlled by Ayatollah's business empire 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 01:37 PM PST
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sits next to a portrait of late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in TehranBy Steve Stecklow LONDON (Reuters) - A multi-billion dollar organization controlled by Iran's supreme leader shook up the management of its charity division, appointing as its new chief a man involved in the confiscation of thousands of properties from Iranian citizens. Aref Norozi was named director general of the Barakat Foundation, Iran's state news agency reported on Wednesday. The foundation is a unit of a massive business empire controlled by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that is known as Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam. The report by the Islamic Republic News Agency stated that Setad's president, Mohammad Mokhber, had ordered the appointment of Norozi, who once headed Setad's real-estate division and served on the boards of several Setad-linked companies.
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China military sends air patrols through new defense zone 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 07:34 PM PST
A group of disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China is seen from the city government of Tokyo's survey vessel in the East China SeaBy Ben Blanchard and Roberta Rampton BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China sent several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft into its new air defense zone over the East China Sea on Thursday, state news agency Xinhua said, raising the stakes in a standoff with the United States, Japan and South Korea. Japan and South Korea also flew military aircraft through the zone on Thursday while Washington sent two unarmed B-52 bombers into the airspace earlier this week in a sign of support for its ally Japan. China last week announced that foreign aircraft passing through its new air defense zone - including passenger planes - would have to identify themselves to Chinese authorities. The zone includes the skies over islands at the heart of a territorial dispute between Japan and China.
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Protesters target Thai PM's party, government seeks to avoid violent confrontation 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 06:45 PM PST
Anti-government protesters sit on the road outside the national police headquarters where they protest in BangkokBy Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Anti-government demonstrators plan to march towards the headquarters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's ruling party on Friday, forging ahead with a campaign to overthrow her after rejecting her call for dialogue. Yingluck breezed through a parliamentary no-confidence vote on Thursday but that failed to pacify protesters who accuse her of abusing her party's majority to push through laws that strengthen the behind-the-scenes power of self-exiled brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra. Though the number of protesters appear to be dwindling since the start of the week, a hard-core remain determined to target symbols of the "Thaksin regime" to weaken a leader they call a puppet, and government they say has lost its mandate to rule. The protest leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, a deputy prime minister in the previous government, rejected Yingluck's televised plea for talks.
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Afghan president condemns U.S. airstrike that killed a child 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 12:24 PM PST
Karzai speaks during the last day of the Loya Jirga, in KabulPresident Hamid Karzai said U.S. forces had bombed a home in southern Afghanistan, killing a small child and wounding two women, and condemned the attack as a sign of disregard for civilian lives, his spokesman said on Thursday. The strike could not have come at a worse time, as Karzai is engaged in a stand-off with the U.S. government over a bilateral security agreement that will decide whether U.S. troop stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014. "It shows that U.S. forces have no respect for the decisions of the Loya Jirga and life of civilians in Afghanistan," said Karzai's spokesman, Aimal Faizi. "If such operations continue, there will be no agreement." The United States has threatened to pull its troops out of Afghanistan after 2014 - an outcome known as the "zero option", as it did in Iraq two years ago - unless a deal is clinched by the end of this year, Karzai, however, has so far refused to sign, despite getting approval from the Loya Jirga last week.
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Exclusive: Ex-UBS banker Weil agrees to be extradited to U.S. 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 09:09 AM PST
A Swiss national flag and a flag of the city of Basel fly over the entrance of a branch office of Swiss bank UBS in BaselBy Valentina Accardo BOLOGNA, Italy (Reuters) - Raoul Weil, a former UBS banker charged by U.S. authorities five years ago for allegedly helping rich Americans dodge taxes via secret Swiss bank accounts, has agreed to go to the United States to face trial after being arrested in Italy, Weil's lawyer and judicial sources told Reuters. Italian authorities have not received a formal request for extradition, but have received indications that such a request is on the way, the sources said.
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Ukraine, EU fail to salvage trade pact 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 04:15 PM PST
Protesters chant slogans during a demonstration in support of the EU integration at Independence Square in KievBy Justyna Pawlak and Adrian Croft VILNIUS (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich failed on Thursday to salvage an ambitious free-trade pact with the European Union despite a warning that Ukraine was risking its future by turning its back on the deal. Ukraine and the 28-nation EU had aimed to sign an ambitious trade and cooperation agreement at Thursday's summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, which would have marked a historic westwards shift by the former Soviet republic away from Russia's orbit. But, under intense pressure from Moscow, Yanukovich renounced plans last week to sign the agreement in favour of closer ties with Russia, dealing a blow to the EU's efforts to build closer relations with former Soviet republics. Yanukovich still flew in for the meeting - held to discuss the EU's four-year-old outreach program for Ukraine and five other east European countries.
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Bank of England cuts mortgage support to avoid housing bubble 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 09:54 AM PST
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney speaks during the bank's quarterly inflation report news conference at the Bank of England in LondonBy David Milliken and Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England moved to head off the risk of a housing bubble in Britain on Thursday, making a surprise announcement that it would put the brakes on a scheme launched last year to help boost mortgage lending. Britain's economy and its housing market have staged an unexpectedly strong turnaround since the FLS was launched by the BoE and finance ministry in July 2012 in an effort to spur the long-delayed recovery by unblocking credit markets. It's better to shift into neutral," BoE Governor Mark Carney said. Another - much-criticized - government program to aid the housing market, Help to Buy, remains in place.
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IAEA says may need more money to help implement Iran nuclear deal 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 08:44 AM PST
IAEA Director General Amano waits for start of a board of governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in ViennaBy Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. atomic watchdog will probably need more money to verify the implementation of a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, its chief said on Thursday, and it would take some time to prepare for the task. Yukiya Amano also said Iran has invited the agency to visit the Arak heavy-water production plant on December 8, the first concrete step under a new cooperation pact aimed at clarifying concerns about the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. Both agreements indicate how Iran is acting quickly to address fears about its nuclear program after the election in June of a relative moderate, Hassan Rouhani, as new president on a platform to smooth its troubled relations with the world. The International Atomic Energy Agency can mobilize expertise and staff from within the organization for an increased workload in checking whether Iran is complying with the interim accord with the major powers to curb its nuclear program, IAEA Director General Amano told a news conference.
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China military sends air patrols through new defense zone: Xinhua 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 01:20 PM PST
A group of disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China is seen from the city government of Tokyo's survey vessel in the East China SeaChina's military sent several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft on patrol into disputed air space over the East China Sea on Thursday, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported, quoting a spokesman for the People's Liberation Army Air Force. The move raises the stakes in a standoff with the United States, Japan and South Korea over the zone. Japan and South Korea sent their own military aircraft through the air space on Thursday.
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The 'eye sniper' and the girl protesters: Egypt's tale of two trials 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 10:30 AM PST
Security forces arrest a pro-Mursi female protester during clashes in AlexandriaBy Michael Georgy and Abdel Rahman Youssef CAIRO (Reuters) - Two high-profile Egyptian trials, both arising from years of turbulent protests, have delivered sharply contrasting sentences in the space of just a few months. The verdicts stunned the opposition and rights campaigners, even by the standards of a crackdown in which security forces have killed hundreds of Islamists and arrested thousands since the army overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July. We could not believe that Egypt would lock up its girls with the excuse that they are a threat to security," said Ramadan Abdel Hamid, whose 15-year-old daughter Rawda and wife Salwa were among those sentenced. "Is this what is going to calm Egypt?" As army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi implements a promised roadmap towards elections, the United States is watching closely and has repeatedly urged the interim government to treat its opponents with restraint.
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EU leaders set for tough table-talk with Ukraine's Yanukovich 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 10:34 AM PST
People take part in an anti-Europe rally in KievBy Natalia Zinets and Adrian Croft VILNIUS (Reuters) - The European Union told Ukraine it was risking its economic future by rejecting a free-trade deal in favor of closer ties with Russia, hours before a likely frosty encounter on Thursday evening between EU leaders and President Viktor Yanukovich. Yanukovich flew into the Lithuanian capital Vilnius in time for a dinner in honor of the Eastern Partnership, the EU's four-year-old outreach program for former Soviet republics, including Ukraine. He had been expected to sign a far-reaching free-trade and political association deal with the EU at the Vilnius summit, the result of years of negotiation. But last week, following intense pressure from Moscow and growing concerns about Ukraine's dire economic situation, Yanukovich announced he was not ready to sign the EU deal yet and would instead focus on reviving economic dialogue with Russia.
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Americans mark Thanksgiving Day with travel, parades, shopping 
Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 01:00 PM PST
By Barbara Goldberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans gathered on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving by stuffing turkeys and braving cold winds along parade routes, while others started the holiday shopping earlier than ever in a trend that some argued went against the spirit of the holiday. With "Black Friday" deals being offered before Thanksgiving tables were even set on Thursday, critics circulated online petitions and a handful of franchise owners said they had defied corporate orders by keeping their stores closed for the holiday. "It bothers me that this country is allowing them to dictate time away from our families," Holly Cassiano, who refused to open her Sears franchise in Plymouth, New Hampshire, told CNN. Whole Foods, meanwhile, said its Thanksgiving work shifts were voluntary and it would compensate staff with time-and-a-half pay.
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