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| Obama: Chemical weapons use in Syria would be 'game changer' Friday, Apr 26, 2013 12:38 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama warned President Bashar al-Assad on Friday that any use of chemical weapons in Syria's civil war would be a "game changer" but cautioned that intelligence assessments that such weapons had been deployed were still preliminary. Speaking a day after the White House said for the first time that Assad's government had likely used chemical weapons on a small scale, Obama talked tough while appealing for patience as he sought to fend off pressure at home and abroad for a swift U.S. response. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fraudulent versions of Allergan's Botox found in the U.S. Friday, Apr 26, 2013 12:31 PM PDT (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that fraudulent versions of the wrinkle treatment Botox, which is made by Allergan Inc and also used to treat headaches, underarm sweating and overactive bladder, are being sold in the United States. The FDA said in an alert posted on its Website that the outer carton of the fraudulent Botox is counterfeit, and the vial inside is foreign and not approved for sale in the United States. "FDA cannot confirm that the manufacture, quality, storage, and handling of these products follow U.S. standards," the agency said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey becomes partner of China, Russia-led security bloc Friday, Apr 26, 2013 12:31 PM PDT  By Dmitry Solovyov ALMATY (Reuters) - NATO member Turkey signed up on Friday to became a "dialogue partner" of a security bloc dominated by China and Russia, and declared that its destiny is in Asia. "This is really a historic day for us," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in Kazakhstan's commercial capital Almaty after signing a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Secretary General Dmitry Mezentsev. "Now, with this choice, Turkey is declaring that our destiny is the same as the destiny of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Evidence" of Syrian chemical weapon use not up to U.N. standard Friday, Apr 26, 2013 12:24 PM PDT By Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Assertions of chemical weapon use in Syria by Western and Israeli officials citing photos, sporadic shelling and traces of toxins do not meet the standard of proof needed for a U.N. team of experts waiting to gather their own field evidence. Weapons inspectors will only determine whether banned chemical agents were used in the two-year-old conflict if they are able to access sites and take soil, blood, urine or tissue samples and examine them in certified laboratories. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey says chemical arms use would escalate Syria crisis Friday, Apr 26, 2013 12:24 PM PDT By Jonathon Burch ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey said on Friday that any use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would "take the crisis to another level", but remained cautious about any foreign military intervention in the conflict on its border. The White House said on Thursday Assad's government had probably used chemical arms on a small scale, but that President Barack Obama needed proof before he would act. "We have been hearing allegations of the use of chemical weapons for quite some time now and these new findings take things to another level. ... Full Story | Top |
| France's Hollande to ease entrepreneurs' capital gains tax Friday, Apr 26, 2013 11:57 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande will propose next week easing entrepreneurs' capital gains tax, an official in his office told French media on Friday, as the Socialist leader struggles to win the confidence of business owners. Hollande's government had planned last year to raise capital gains tax on business owners early in its mandate, but backed down after a high-profile revolt and warnings the move would drive start-up companies abroad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamist says Egypt should press on with judge reforms Friday, Apr 26, 2013 11:44 AM PDT  By Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament must move quickly to adopt judicial reforms that have sparked a revolt by judges, the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm argued on Friday. The proposed reforms, which would get rid of more than 3,000 judges by lowering the retirement age, have widened the rift between President Mohamed Mursi's government and a judiciary seen by its critics as a last bastion of the old regime that was toppled in the 2011 revolution. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian court denies punk band convict Tolokonnikova parole Friday, Apr 26, 2013 11:41 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court refused to release from prison one of two jailed members of the Pussy Riot punk band so that she can look after her young daughter. The court on Friday rejected Nadezhda Tolokonnikova's appeal for parole eight months after she was handed a two-year prison sentence for the band's performance of a "punk prayer" in Moscow's main Russian Orthodox cathedral. Tolokonnikova, 23, has been serving her sentence for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" in a prison colony in central Russia, about 550 km (350 miles) southeast of Moscow. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama: Syrian government use of chemical weapons a "game changer" Friday, Apr 26, 2013 11:33 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday that the deployment of chemical weapons by the Syrian government was a "game changer" while noting that intelligence assessments proving that such weapons had been used were still preliminary. "Horrific as it is when mortars are being fired on civilians and people are being indiscriminately killed, to use potential weapons of mass destruction on civilian populations crosses another line with respect to international norms and international law," Obama told reporters at the White House. "That is going to be a game changer. ... Full Story | Top |
| French Socialists call for tougher stance on Merkel Friday, Apr 26, 2013 11:17 AM PDT  By Elizabeth Pineau PARIS (Reuters) - France's ruling Socialist Party is pressing President Francois Hollande to toughen his stance towards a German counterpart it describes as "self-centered", arguing that Chancellor Angela Merkel's pro-austerity policies are hurting Europe. The message - spelled out in a 21-page document to be presented at a party brainstorming conference in June - added to growing criticism of Berlin from across the Rhine after Socialist National Assembly speaker Claude Bartolone this week raised the prospect of a "confrontation" with Merkel. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bosnian regional president arrested in graft probe Friday, Apr 26, 2013 11:15 AM PDT  By Daria Sito-Sucic and Maja Zuvela SARAJEVO (Reuters) - The president of Bosnia's autonomous Muslim-Croat federation and 19 others were arrested on Friday in an anti-corruption probe that also targeted the offices of the regional government, a spokesman for the state prosecutor said. The raid on Zivko Budimir's Sarajevo office and the regional government in the southern town of Mostar is the most high-profile anti-graft operation in Bosnia since independence more than two decades ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bombs kill at least 20 across Iraqi capital Friday, Apr 26, 2013 11:13 AM PDT  By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bomb blasts in Baghdad killed at least 20 more people on Friday at the end of a week of bloodshed that prompted a United Nations envoy to warn Iraq was "at a crossroads". More than 160 people have been killed since Tuesday, when troops stormed a Sunni protest camp near Kirkuk, triggering clashes that quickly spread to other Sunni areas in western and northern provinces. Although well below the heights of 2006-7, this week's violence was the most widespread since U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq in December 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Embraer earnings down on falling regional jet production Friday, Apr 26, 2013 11:11 AM PDT  SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA will likely report slightly weaker earnings on Monday as rising labor costs and slower production of its commercial jets underscored ongoing challenges, despite recent government support. Embraer is expected to post an 11 percent decline in first-quarter earnings from a year ago to $58 million, according to the average estimate of five analysts in a Reuters survey. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands of South Sudanese rebels surrender after thaw with Sudan Friday, Apr 26, 2013 11:10 AM PDT By Hereward Holland JUBA (Reuters) - Several thousand South Sudanese rebels have surrendered to the government and returned home from alleged rear bases in neighboring Sudan, government and rebel officials in the south said on Friday. South Sudan has been struggling to contain insurgencies it claims have been supported by Sudan since it gained independence from its northern neighbor in 2011 under a peace deal that ended one of Africa's longest civil wars. Sudan denies the allegations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Norway extends period for buying F-35 fighter jets Friday, Apr 26, 2013 10:44 AM PDT  By Henrik Stolen and Nerijus Adomaitis GARDERMOEN, Norway (Reuters) - Oil-rich Norway is stretching out its purchase of 52 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from Lockheed Martin, the Defense Ministry said on Friday, a move that will nudge up the total cost but reduce the annual burden on the defense budget. The country is about to place firm orders for six of the fighter planes and will extend the timeframe for the purchase of all 52 from four years to eight years, the ministry said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boston bomb suspect moved to prison from hospital Friday, Apr 26, 2013 10:42 AM PDT  By Scott Malone and Tim McLaughlin BOSTON (Reuters) - Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been moved to a prison medical center from the hospital where he had been held since his arrest a week ago while recovering from gunshot wounds, U.S. officials said on Friday. The 19-year-old ethnic Chechen, wounded in a late-night shootout with police on April 18 hours after authorities released pictures of him and his older brother as suspects, was charged on Monday and could face the death penalty if convicted. His brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died in the shootout. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congress passes plan to ease flight delays Friday, Apr 26, 2013 10:42 AM PDT By Doug Palmer and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved a Senate plan to ease nationwide air-traffic delays caused by automatic federal spending cuts, seeking to calm irritated travelers but sparking a backlash from interest groups not spared from cuts. The Senate had unanimously voted for the plan late Thursday and the House approved it by a 361-41 vote. White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama plans to sign the bill. ... Full Story | Top |
| Growth falls short of forecasts, weakness ahead Friday, Apr 26, 2013 10:36 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The economy regained speed in the first quarter, but not as much as expected, heightening fears it could struggle to cope with deep government spending cuts and higher taxes. Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.5 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday, after growth nearly stalled in the fourth quarter. Economists had expected a 3.0 percent growth pace. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian Islamist urges fast passage of disputed law on judges Friday, Apr 26, 2013 10:34 AM PDT  By Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament must move quickly to adopt judicial reforms that have sparked a revolt by judges, the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm argued on Friday. The proposed reforms, which would get rid of more than 3,000 judges by lowering the retirement age, have widened the rift between President Mohamed Mursi's government and a judiciary seen by its critics as a last bastion of the old regime that was toppled in the 2011 revolution. ... Full Story | Top |
| IRS may be missing offshore tax evasion: government watchdog Friday, Apr 26, 2013 10:29 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Internal Revenue Service may be missing potential tax dodgers who report their foreign accounts but who avoid paying penalties by not reporting previous years' returns, a government watchdog said in a report released on Friday. To avoid steep penalties for offshore tax evasion, some taxpayers are making "quiet disclosures" to the IRS, reporting for the first time offshore accounts that could appear to the IRS as newly opened accounts, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an investigative arm of Congress. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. appeals court won't rule on energy, mining companies' foreign payments Friday, Apr 26, 2013 10:07 AM PDT By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday declined to rule on a legal challenge filed by business groups against a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that would force energy and mining companies to disclose payments to foreign governments. The unanimous decision by the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit now means a lower court will hear the lawsuit instead. "We dismiss the petition for review for lack of jurisdiction," Judge David Tatel wrote in the opinion for the court. ... Full Story | Top |
| Putin says French same-sex marriage law puts adoptions at risk Friday, Apr 26, 2013 10:01 AM PDT  By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin signaled on Friday that Moscow would seek changes in an agreement regulating adoptions of Russian children by French parents, saying a French law allowing same-sex marriage went against traditional Russian values. Russia has already halted adoptions by Americans in a dispute with Washington over human rights. Any move to scrap the year-old agreement with France, or impose new restrictions, would deepen a divide between Putin and European nations over homosexuality and gay rights. ... Full Story | Top |
| Evidence Syria used chemical arms not "airtight:" White House Friday, Apr 26, 2013 09:55 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday it was continuing to study evidence that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons and would not set a timetable for corroborating reports. "I'm not going to set a timeline, because the facts need to be what drives this investigation, not a deadline," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at a briefing. "We are continuing to work to build on the assessments made by the intelligence community, that the degrees of confidence here are varying, that this is not an airtight case," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenyan deputy president seeks Hague trial delay Friday, Apr 26, 2013 09:54 AM PDT  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Kenyan deputy president William Ruto has asked for the start of his trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to be delayed to allow his legal team more time to prepare, his lawyer said on Friday. Judges have yet to rule on the request, but previously they have granted delays in other trials relating to post-election violence in Kenya just over five years ago. Ruto stands accused of orchestrating the violence, alongside Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. ... Full Story | Top |
| Return to sender? Maybe not as Somalia to restart mail 22 years on Friday, Apr 26, 2013 09:52 AM PDT  GENEVA (Reuters) - Somalis may soon be receiving letters from abroad for the first time in more than 20 years after a deal was struck with the United Nations' postal agency, the latest step towards ending Somalia's isolation following two decades of civil conflict. But the challenges to bringing the Horn of Africa country back into the global postal community are manifold - there are no functioning post offices, only the main roads are named and most houses do not have a number. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigerian Islamists got $3.15 million to free French hostages: document Friday, Apr 26, 2013 09:44 AM PDT By Tim Cocks LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram was paid an equivalent of around $3.15 million by French and Cameroonian negotiators before freeing seven French hostages this month, a confidential Nigerian government report obtained by Reuters said. The memo does not say who paid the ransom for the family of seven, who were all released on April 19, although it says Cameroon freed some Boko Haram detainees as part of the deal. France and Cameroon reiterated denials that any ransom was paid. Nigerian authorities declined to comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama expected to sign bill to end air traffic furloughs: White House Friday, Apr 26, 2013 09:36 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will sign a bill to end air traffic controller furloughs that caused airline flight delays, providing Congress passes it, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Friday. Carney made his remarks as the House of Representatives was voting on the bill, already passed by the Senate. The bill appeared set to pass. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Vicki Allen) Full Story | Top |
| Draft bill gives FDA authority over some pharmacies Friday, Apr 26, 2013 09:32 AM PDT  By Toni Clarke WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Food and Drug Administration would gain greater authority over pharmacies that compound sterile drugs and ship them across state lines under proposed legislation announced on Friday. The proposal from a bipartisan group of U.S. senators comes in the wake of a meningitis outbreak last fall that killed 53 people and sickened more than 700. The outbreak was linked to a tainted steroid distributed by the New England Compounding Center. ... Full Story | Top |
| Militants kill Somali prosecutor, threaten more Friday, Apr 26, 2013 09:28 AM PDT MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Islamist militants killed Somalia's deputy chief prosecutor and will target more judiciary staff while the government tries to reform the courts, a militant spokesman said on Friday. The al Shabaab rebel group, which is linked to al Qaeda, has foguht for six years to impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia, on Somalia. The shooting of Ahmed Sheikh Nur Maalin, Somalia's deputy national prosecutor, on Thursday followed a wave of suicide bombings and shootings earlier this month in which 30 people were killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| TransCanada sees Keystone XL delayed till second-half 2015 Friday, Apr 26, 2013 09:25 AM PDT By Scott Haggett and Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp , Canada's No. 2 pipeline company, said on Friday its long wait for U.S. government approval of its controversial Keystone XL project will further delay completion of the pipeline and push its cost above the company's $5.3 billion estimate. TransCanada, which reported a 27 percent rise in first-quarter profit on Friday, is waiting for the Obama administration to issue a presidential permit for construction of the line, which is designed to carry 830,000 barrels a day of Canadian and U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Don't let referendum hold up Kosovo accord, EU tells Serbia Friday, Apr 26, 2013 09:02 AM PDT  BELGRADE (Reuters) - The European Union cautioned Serbia on Friday not to delay implementing a landmark accord on Kosovo after Belgrade said it might hold a referendum on the deal, which is crucial to its hopes of starting EU membership talks. The EU-brokered agreement between Serbia and its majority-Albanian former province won Belgrade a preliminary green light for accession talks this year, but the bloc wants progress on the ground before taking a final decision in late June. ... Full Story | Top |
| Man convicted of spying for India attacked in Pakistani jail Friday, Apr 26, 2013 08:56 AM PDT  By Mubasher Bukhari LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - A prisoner convicted of spying for India was attacked and seriously injured by fellow inmates in a Pakistani jail on Friday in an incident that could inflame the uneasy relations between the two nations. Sarabjit Singh was hospitalized with a serious head injury, a doctor said, after two fellow prisoners attacked him in Kot Lakhpat Jail in the eastern city of Lahore. "Sarabjit was having tea with fellow prisoners Muhammad Muddasar and Amir, also condemned for death sentence in murder cases. ... Full Story | Top |
| Amnesty for Nepali war crimes could undermine peace, U.N. warns Friday, Apr 26, 2013 08:54 AM PDT  By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal risks more bloodshed in the future if a planned panel set up to investigate crimes committed during a decade-long civil war is given the power to offer amnesty, a senior official from the UN human rights agency said on Friday. The volatile Himalayan nation is still recovering from a brutal civil conflict which ended in 2006 and in which more than 16,000 were killed, hundreds disappeared and thousands injured. Sabina Lauber, in charge of Nepal at the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| British PM says growing evidence Syria used chemical weapons Friday, Apr 26, 2013 08:48 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday there was limited but growing evidence that Syria had committed a war crime by using chemical weapons. In a cautious assessment mirroring that of U.S. President Barack Obama's administration, Cameron said the use of chemical weapons was a red line that should trigger greater pressure on President Bashar al-Assad. "It is limited evidence but there is growing evidence that we have seen too of the use of chemical weapons, probably by the regime," Cameron told the BBC. "It is extremely serious: this is a war crime ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Froman, Pritzker in line for trade and commerce posts: sources Friday, Apr 26, 2013 08:41 AM PDT  By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is close to choosing White House deputy national security adviser Mike Froman to be the next U.S. trade representative, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Friday. After a long vetting process, Chicago businesswoman and Obama fundraiser Penny Pritzker is still in line to be nominated as commerce secretary, the sources said. The White House declined to comment The two trade jobs are among the final positions Obama has to fill in his second-term cabinet. Both require confirmation by the Senate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bethlehem monastery loses court battle on Israeli wall Friday, Apr 26, 2013 08:31 AM PDT By Noah Browning RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - A Catholic monastery and convent in a secluded valley outside Bethlehem lost a seven-year legal battle against the building of Israel's separation wall on its land on Friday, according to its lawyers. The Society of St. Yves, a Catholic human rights group which argued the case on the monastery's behalf, said an Israeli appeals court had endorsed a plan to expand the barrier it had built in the area. The wall would surround the convent on three sides and cut it off from most of its land, St. Yves said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli army breaks up Palestinian march on Jewish settlement Friday, Apr 26, 2013 08:31 AM PDT  By Noah Browning DEIR JAREER, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse about 500 Palestinian villagers marching toward a Jewish settlement outpost in the occupied West Bank on Friday. The procession, the largest of its kind for years, followed charges by Palestinians that the Israeli settlers, whose caravans abut village land, had attacked them twice this week. Around half a million settlers have moved to the West Bank and East Jerusalem since Israel captured the area, along with the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Middle East War. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey warns opposition against sabotaging Kurdish peace moves Friday, Apr 26, 2013 08:28 AM PDT  By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The Turkish government welcomed a planned withdrawal by Kurdish militants as significant progress towards ending three decades of conflict on Friday, and it warned its nationalist opponents not to sabotage the peace process. The main nationalist party, however, was quick to reiterate its opposition to any dealings with the militants. Rebel field commander Murat Karayilan on Thursday ordered his fighters to begin leaving Turkey on May 8 for the mountains of northern Iraq, in a step to halt a war that has killed more than 40,000 and scarred the nation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fire kills dozens in Russian psychiatric hospital Friday, Apr 26, 2013 08:15 AM PDT By Alexei Anishchuk RAMENSKY, Russia (Reuters) - Thirty-eight people were killed, most of them in their beds, in a fire that raged through a psychiatric hospital near Moscow on Friday, raising questions about the care of mentally ill patients in Russia. The fire, which broke out at around 2 a.m. (6 p.m. ET on Thursday), swept through a single-storey building at the hospital, a collection of wood and brick huts with bars on some windows that was home to people sent there on grounds of mental illness by Russian courts. By mid morning, a few blackened walls were left standing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian refugees denied health care due cash crunch: UNHCR Friday, Apr 26, 2013 07:59 AM PDT By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Doctors at Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan are having to decide between treating acute cancer patients and helping deliver babies due to severe shortages of cash, the United Nations said on Friday. More than 1.4 million Syrian refugees have now fled their shattered homeland for neighboring countries whose health care systems are straining to meet the needs of their populations, in some cases suddenly swollen by 20 percent, it said. But an appeal by U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees for $1 billion through mid-year is only 55 percent covered. ... Full Story | Top |
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