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| Analysis: Total CEO safe as investors prioritize profits over Iran bribery case Thursday, May 30, 2013 12:32 PM PDT  By Michel Rose and Muriel Boselli PARIS (Reuters) - The colorful boss of Total is unlikely to be felled by demands he stand trial over alleged bribes to Iran as Christophe de Margerie enters a crucial phase of his high-stakes turnaround plan for the oil firm, with no clear successors. De Margerie, nicknamed "Big Moustache" inside the company which appointed him chief executive six years ago, is deep into an exploration plan to drill more wells in difficult-to-reach African and North Sea frontiers in order that Total meet future output goals - and investors want him to stay and make it work. ... Full Story | Top |
| Maryland boy suspended for gun-shaped pastry is now lifetime NRA member Thursday, May 30, 2013 12:26 PM PDT By James Lunt (Reuters) - An 8-year-old Maryland boy who was suspended from school for nibbling a pastry snack into the shape of a gun has been given a junior membership in the National Rifle Association. After hearing about Josh Welch's suspension from Park Elementary School in Anne Arundel County, a state legislator paid $550 to buy him a Junior Life Membership in the NRA, Welch's lawyer said on Thursday. "I was embarrassed that my county would do that to him," said Nicholaus Kipke, leader of the Republican minority in the lower house of the Maryland legislature. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tribes clash over Darfur gum arabic land, 64 killed Thursday, May 30, 2013 12:22 PM PDT By Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Clashes between tribes in Sudan's Darfur region over land producing the gum arabic stabilizer used in soft drinks have killed more than 60 people and displaced 6,500 other, police and the United Nations said. The fluid gum cut from the acacia trees that have grown on the land for years is one of Sudan's most important agricultural export products but part of the output is being smuggled over the border into Chad, where it is sold for hard currency. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Microsoft manager plans to create first U.S. marijuana brand Thursday, May 30, 2013 12:19 PM PDT  By Jonathan Kaminsky OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - A former Microsoft executive plans to create the first U.S. national marijuana brand, and said he is kicking off his Seattle-based business by acquiring medical cannabis dispensaries in three U.S. states. Jamen Shively, a former Microsoft corporate strategy manager, said he envisions his enterprise becoming the leader in both recreational and medical cannabis - much like Starbucks is the dominant name in coffee, he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rwandans held in Britain on genocide extradition request Thursday, May 30, 2013 12:14 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Five Rwandans accused of involvement in the genocide that killed 800,000 people in just 100 days were arrested in Britain on Thursday after an extradition request from Rwanda, London police said. Emmanuel Nteziryayo, Charles Munyaneza, Celestin Ugirashebuja, Vincent Bajinya and Celestin Mutabaruka appeared at a London court under extradition warrants alleging genocide and murder, a police spokesman said. Four of the five were freed by the High Court in 2009, overturning a ministerial extradition order because of fears they would not get a fair trial in Rwanda. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rogers, Videotron extend reach with network-sharing deal Thursday, May 30, 2013 12:12 PM PDT  By Euan Rocha and Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Rogers Communications Inc and Quebecor Inc's Videotron wireless arm plan to build and operate a shared high-speed wireless network in and around Québec, a cost-saving arrangement that is expected to stoke competition in the French-speaking Canadian province. Rogers, the nation's largest wireless provider, now spends far more on its network than its main rivals, Telus Corp and BCE Inc's Bell unit, do on their shared network. The pairing with Videotron, announced late on Wednesday, means Rogers will narrow that gap. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ministers to meet to review NATO's cyber defenses Thursday, May 30, 2013 12:08 PM PDT  By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO defense ministers hold their first review of cyber defense next week in a sign the issue is making its way to the top of the alliance's agenda as fears grow that Western infrastructure and military secrets are vulnerable to hackers. Daily reports about government and private firms' computer systems coming under attack have highlighted the importance of defending NATO computer networks, particularly systems which are used to coordinate military actions among the 28 allies. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. minority media not affected by cross-ownership : study Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:59 AM PDT By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Female and minority broadcasters do not appear concerned about one owner controlling newspapers, radio and TV stations in the same market, according to a study released Thursday as federal regulators review such media cross-ownership rules. The study, funded by the non-profit Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, was based on responses from 14 broadcasters and immediately criticized by public interest groups as not rigorous enough. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey arrests Syrian Nusra Front militants : media Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:57 AM PDT ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish authorities have arrested a group of Syria's al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front militants who allegedly had been planning an attack inside Turkey and were in possession of the nerve agent sarin, local media reported on Thursday. While they could not be immediately confirmed, the reports highlight the growing concerns that Syria's civil war is dragging in neighboring states. In the worst example of the spillover into Turkey, 52 people were killed when twin car bombs ripped through the border town of Reyhanli on May 11. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian, US, UN officials to meet on Syria on June 5 Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:54 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian, U.S. and U.N. officials will meet next week to discuss ways to bring the warring sides in Syria together for a peace conference proposed by Washington and Moscow, officials said on Thursday. "On June 5 in Geneva, U.S., Russian and U.N. officials will hold a three-way meeting to further the preparations for the international conference on Syria," a spokesman for U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said. He said Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.-Arab League envoy seeking to foster peace in Syria, and U.N. Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman would take part. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition admits liberals to anti-Assad coalition Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:53 AM PDT By Khaled Yacoub Oweis ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Syria's opposition, under pressure to broaden its Islamist-dominated leadership, struggled to overcome deep rifts on Thursday and form a united front for a proposed international conference to try to end the Syrian war. Delegates at talks in Istanbul agreed to add 14 members of a liberal bloc led by veteran figure Michel Kilo to the 60-member assembly of the Syrian National Coalition, the closest body that Assad's foes have to an overall civilian leadership in the two-year-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria's Assad says Russia will deliver on arms deals Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:51 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview broadcast on Thursday that Russia remained committed to military deals signed with Damascus before the outbreak of conflict in the country. Asked by Lebanon's Al-Manar television about delivery of Russian S-300 air defense missiles, Assad said: "The contracts with Russia are not linked to the crisis and Russia is committed to implementing these contracts." "Everything we have agreed on with Russia will take place, and part of it has already taken place," he said. (Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Michael Roddy) Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers press Obama to include currency in Pacific trade deal Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:49 AM PDT  By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 200 U.S. lawmakers have signed a letter urging President Barack Obama to insist on new rules against currency manipulation in a proposed trade agreement with Japan and 10 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. "As the United States continues to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership, it is imperative that the agreement address currency manipulation," the letter said, according to a copy obtained by Reuters on Thursday. The effort is being led by a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Assad says any Syrian peace accord needs referendum Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:45 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad said Syria would attend peace talks with the opposition in principle but any deal that was struck would have to be approved by referendum. Asked whether Syria had any preconditions for attendance at the talks, Assad told Lebanon's al-Manar television: "The only condition is that anything to be implemented will be submitted to Syrian public opinion and a Syrian referendum." (Editing by Michael Roddy) Full Story | Top |
| Disneyland employee charged with having destructive device Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:36 AM PDT By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Disneyland employee was charged on Thursday with possessing a destructive device, two days after a small explosion prompted evacuation of the Mickey's Toontown section of the California theme park, prosecutors said. Disneyland vendor Christian Barnes is accused of being in possession of two water bottles filled with dry ice, which both exploded in the park on Tuesday, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria arrests Lebanese suspected of Hezbollah ties Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:36 AM PDT By Chukwuemeka Madu KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian authorities said on Thursday they had arrested three Lebanese in northern Nigeria on suspicion of being members of Hezbollah and that a raid on one of their residences had revealed a stash of heavy weapons. The three suspects were arrested between May 16 and May 28 in the north's biggest city Kano, the city's military spokesman Captain Ikedichi Iweha said in a statement. All had admitted to being members of Hezbollah under questioning. ... Full Story | Top |
| Connecticut to allow illegal immigrants to get driving license Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:35 AM PDT By Richard Weizel MILFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - Connecticut joined other U.S. states that allow illegal immigrants to get a driver's license, with the state Senate narrowly approving the measure on Thursday without a single Republican vote. Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy said he would sign the bill, which passed the Senate by a 19-16 vote, after a highly divisive debate that lasted overnight. "This bill is first and foremost about public safety. ... Full Story | Top |
| China to study possibility of joining U.S.-led trade talks Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:33 AM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - China will study the possibility of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks, the Commerce Ministry said on Thursday, signaling its openness to the U.S.-led trade pact. "We will analyze the pros and cons as well as the possibility of joining the TPP, based on careful research and according to principles of equality and mutual benefit," Shen Danyang, a Commerce Ministry spokesman, said in a comments published on the ministry's website. "And we also hope to exchange information and materials with TPP members on the negotiations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iranian-born man gets 25 years for Saudi envoy murder plot Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:09 AM PDT  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Iranian-born used car salesman from Texas was sentenced to 25 years in a U.S. prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to participating in a plot with an Iranian military unit to murder the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States. Manssor Arbabsiar, 58, received the sentence at a hearing before U.S. District Judge John Keenan in Manhattan. He had pleaded guilty in October last year to charges related to his seeking to hire Mexican drug traffickers to kill the ambassador. The plot was vehemently denied by Tehran. ... Full Story | Top |
| Billions stolen in Sochi Olympics preparations: Russian opposition Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:07 AM PDT  By Alissa de Carbonnel MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian businessmen and officials close to President Vladimir Putin have stolen up to $30 billion from funds intended for preparations for next year's Sochi Winter Olympics, according to a report released on Thursday by opposition leaders. Putin, who has staked his reputation on a successful Games, faces criticism over allegations of corruption and costs overruns that have pushed up the price tag for the event to $50 billion - more than quadruple initial estimates, making them the most costly Olympics ever. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to loosen sanctions on Iran for mobile phones, gadgets Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:03 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States was set to relax sanctions on Iran on Thursday to allow American companies to sell mobile phones, software and other technology used for personal communications to Iranians, two U.S. officials said. The move, expected later on Thursday, will allow Iranians to get access to the latest Apple phones and newest software that have only been available on Tehran's black market since sanctions were first imposed in 1992. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germans irked as Hollande says EU cannot dictate French reforms Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:02 AM PDT  By Mark John and Andreas Rinke PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande pledged on Thursday to carry out long overdue reforms of France's pension system and labor markets but said it was up to Paris, not the European Commission, to determine how they are implemented. At a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Hollande defended his comment that the EU executive cannot "dictate" reforms to member states - a defiant, nationalist tone that angered Germany's ruling conservatives. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Europe plans major scaling back of financial trading tax Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:53 AM PDT By John O'Donnell and Ilona Wissenbach BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European countries planning a tax on financial transactions are set to drastically scale back the levy, cutting the charge by as much as 90 percent and delaying its full roll-out for years, in what would be a major victory for banks. Such sweeping changes would blunt the impact of the tax, pushed for by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and popular with voters who blame bankers for the financial crisis. The revisions have yet to be formally proposed but were revealed to Reuters by officials working on the project. ... Full Story | Top |
| France auctions Elysee Palace wine to restock more modest cellar Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:53 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - An auction of 1,200 bottles from the wine cellar of France's Elysee presidential palace began on Thursday with most of the proceeds to be invested in younger, more modest wines. The two-day sale at the Drouot auction house is expected to fetch at least 250,000 euros ($324,200), and palace aides say any cash raised above that level would go into state coffers. France is struggling to lower its soaring deficit and find 60 billion euros in public savings over five years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Threatening letter sent to Obama, U.S. Secret Service says Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:49 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Authorities intercepted a threatening letter addressed to President Barack Obama that was similar to ones sent to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Secret Service said on Thursday. Letters sent to Bloomberg and his gun control group contained material believed to be the deadly poison ricin and contained a reference to gun control, New York police said on Wednesday. A Secret Service official said the White House letter was similar but did not elaborate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rockers gather for Boston bomb victim fund-raising concert Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:37 AM PDT  BOSTON (Reuters) - Rock band Aerosmith took a detour around the world from Singapore to "warm the cockles of peoples' hearts" in Boston as one of more than a dozen acts gathering on Thursday night to raise money for victims of last month's marathon bombing. Aerosmith, which started in Boston in 1970 and has maintained strong ties to the city, will be joined at TD Garden by James Taylor, the New Kids on the Block and the Dropkick Murphys in what is expected to be a raucous yet emotional tribute to the city. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. concerned about North Korean defectors in China Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:32 AM PDT  GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations human rights investigator and the U.N. refugee agency voiced concern on Thursday about the fate of nine North Korean defectors, some of them children, who were sent back to China this week from Laos after trying to cross the border. Chinese authorities are obliged under international law not to return them to North Korea, where they could face persecution and possibly death, Marzuki Darusman, U.N. special rapporteur on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. senator McCain pictured with Syrian rebel kidnapper: paper Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:21 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John McCain was photographed during a trip to Syria with a man implicated in the kidnapping by Syrian rebels of 11 Lebanese Shi'ite pilgrims a year ago, a Lebanese newspaper said on Thursday. McCain, a Republican, has been an outspoken advocate for U.S. military aid to the rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad and made a short, highly publicised trip to meet rebel commanders in Syria three days ago. He has insisted that the United States could locate the "right people" to help among rebel ranks infiltrated with radicalised Islamists. ... Full Story | Top |
| Journalists split over meeting with U.S. attorney general Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:16 AM PDT By Susan Heavey and David Ingram WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several U.S. news organizations spurned an offer by Attorney General Eric Holder to meet and discuss how the Justice Department handles investigations that involve reporters, saying it would be inappropriate to talk in secret. A number of other media organizations said they would attend a series of meetings starting Thursday that Holder scheduled following disclosures that his prosecutors seized journalist records without warning. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guinea government launches campaign for disputed June vote Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:15 AM PDT CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's government on Thursday officially declared open campaigning for a disputed June 30 legislative election despite an unyielding stance by opposition parties that have demanded the date of the vote be annulled. The government's decision to go ahead with the election is likely to set it on a collision course with the opposition and escalate violent protests that have rocked the world's top bauxite producing nation since March. ... Full Story | Top |
| War crimes court acquits two ex-Serbian security officials Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:14 AM PDT  By Thomas Escritt THE HAGUE (Reuters) - International judges on Thursday acquitted two former Serbian secret police officials of involvement in war crimes committed in Bosnia and Croatia, in a ruling welcomed by Serbia but received with disbelief by victims of wartime atrocities. The acquittal means no Belgrade government official has been convicted of crimes committed during the war in Bosnia, which claimed more than 100,000 lives over three years to 1995. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hollande sticks to target to cut down unemployment Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:08 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday he was sticking to a target of reversing a growing unemployment trend by year-end, on the day when data showed that the number of jobless hit a fresh all-time high in April. Speaking at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Hollande said: "Despite this data, despite what it means for many French people individually or for their family, I maintain the goal of reversing the unemployment trend by year-end." (Reporting by Mark John; Writing by Ingrid Melander) Full Story | Top |
| Merkel tells Hollande: France must implement reforms Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:06 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - France has an obligation to press ahead with structural reforms now that the European Commission has granted it two extra years to reduce its budget deficit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday. Speaking at a joint news conference with French President Francois Hollande after talks on reforming Europe, Merkel listed countries, including Spain and Greece, that have enacted tough structural reforms while slashing their budget deficits but did not include France. "We agreed to give France two more years to cut its deficit to 3.0 percent (of gross domestic ... Full Story | Top |
| Column: What's behind the spooked stock market? - Kaletsky Thursday, May 30, 2013 09:55 AM PDT  (Anatole Kaletsky is a Reuters columnist but his opinions are his own.) By Anatole Kaletsky (Reuters) - Strange things have been happening in the world economy and financial markets this week. While that sentence could be written almost any time in the past five years, since the outbreak of the global financial crisis, the strangeness this week has taken a particular form that reveals more than it confuses. Almost all the economic news recently has been favorable, or at least better than expected. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rhode Island's Chafee says Obama inspired party switch Thursday, May 30, 2013 09:48 AM PDT  By Aaron Pressman WARWICK, Rhode Island (Reuters) - Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee credited U.S. President Barack Obama with inspiring him to join the Democratic Party, a stance that his peers said put the son of former governor more in line with voters in the state. Chafee, who a decade ago served in the U.S. Senate as a Republican and later changed his affiliation to independent when he ran for governor, appeared at city hall in Warwick, where he lives, to fill out the one-page form to change his affiliation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Police seek gunman in Zurich after two injured Thursday, May 30, 2013 09:46 AM PDT ZURICH (Reuters) - Police were seeking an unidentified gunman who shot and injured two men in Zurich on Thursday, the city's police said. The motive for the shooting remained unclear, but a police spokesman said there was no indication of a link to militant groups. Two Turkish nationals, aged 33 and 41, were in non-critical condition in hospital following the shooting, police said. Some streets in Switzerland's normally calm financial capital were blocked off for nearly three hours as police searched for the gunman. (Reporting By Katharina Bart; Editing by Michael Roddy) Full Story | Top |
| Outside Hungary's borders, a growing power base for PM Orban Thursday, May 30, 2013 09:45 AM PDT  By Gergely Szakacs MIERCUREA-CIUC, Romania (Reuters) - A Hungarian government programme to grant ethnic Hungarians abroad the right to vote has handed Prime Minister Viktor Orban an advantage that could, in a close election, keep him in power. Several million ethnic Hungarians live in neighbouring Romania, Serbia and Ukraine and elsewhere, descendants of Hungarians who found themselves outside their homeland when the country's borders were redrawn at the end of World War One. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia criticises U.S. refusal to rule out Syria no-fly zone Thursday, May 30, 2013 09:42 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Washington's statement that no-fly zones in Syria remained an option was among decisions that "create an unfavourable atmosphere" for peace talks proposed by the United States and Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The ministry also criticized opposition calls for President Bashar al-Assad's exit from power, the European Union's decision to let an arms embargo lapse, and a U.N. Human Rights Council declaration it said put too much blame on Syria's government. "The combination of these decisions ... ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. groups expect WTO technology trade deal by July Thursday, May 30, 2013 09:33 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A deal among the United States, China, the European Union and nearly two dozen other countries to eliminate duties on billions of dollars of technology products could be reached in the next two months, U.S. technology groups said on Thursday. "We're quite optimistic we're going to get this across the finish line by the end of July," John Neuffer, a senior vice president at the Information Technology Industry Council, told reporters in a phone call from Geneva, where some members of the World Trade Organization met this week for talks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Baghdad bombs kill 25 in Sunni-Shi'te bloodletting Thursday, May 30, 2013 09:29 AM PDT  By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A series of bombs battered Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim neighborhoods across Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 25 people in the worst wave of sectarian violence since civil war five years ago. The bloodletting reflects increasing conflict between Iraq's majority Shi'ite leadership and the Sunni minority, many of whom feel unfairly marginalized since the 2003 fall of strongman Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. ... Full Story | Top |
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