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| Americans mark Thanksgiving Day with travel, parades, shopping Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 04:00 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 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. Full Story | Top |
| Canada allowed widespread NSA surveillance at 2010 G20 summit: report Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 09:06 AM PST  By 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. Full Story | Top |
| Iran shakes up foundation controlled by Ayatollah's business empire Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 01:37 PM PST  By 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. Full Story | Top |
| China military sends air patrols through new defense zone Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 07:34 PM PST  By 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. Full Story | Top |
| Protesters target Thai PM's party, government seeks to avoid violent confrontation Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 06:45 PM PST  By 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. Full Story | Top |
| Afghan president condemns U.S. airstrike that killed a child Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 12:24 PM PST  President 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. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Ex-UBS banker Weil agrees to be extradited to U.S. Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 09:09 AM PST  By 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. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine, EU fail to salvage trade pact Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 04:15 PM PST  By 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. Full Story | Top |
| Bank of England cuts mortgage support to avoid housing bubble Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 09:54 AM PST  By 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. Full Story | Top |
| IAEA says may need more money to help implement Iran nuclear deal Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 08:44 AM PST  By 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. Full Story | Top |
| China military sends air patrols through new defense zone: Xinhua Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 01:20 PM PST China'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. Full Story | Top |
| The 'eye sniper' and the girl protesters: Egypt's tale of two trials Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 10:30 AM PST  By 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. Full Story | Top |
| EU leaders set for tough table-talk with Ukraine's Yanukovich Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 10:34 AM PST  By 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. Full Story | Top |
| 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. Full Story | Top |
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