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| White House confirms suspending trade benefits for Bangladesh Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 12:42 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is suspending long-time trade benefits for Bangladesh until the country makes progress on poor workers' safety conditions that have cost more than 1,200 lives in the garment sector in the past year, the White House said on Thursday. (Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Sandra Maler) Full Story | Top |
| Tanker cars derail on broken bridge in flood-hit Calgary Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 12:36 PM PDT  By Nia Williams and Scott Haggett CALGARY, Alberta, June 27 - Five rail cars carrying hazardous petroleum products derailed on a broken bridge over the swollen Bow River in Calgary, Alberta, on Thursday, perching perilously close to the water as emergency crews rushed to prevent a spill. The cars contain petroleum distillate, a flammable light oil product that is used in paint and polishes or can be mixed with the sludgy crude from the Canadian oil sands so the crude can flow in pipelines. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry resumes tough Israeli-Palestinian peace mission Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 12:34 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton AMMAN (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's drive to revive Middle East peace talks hit familiar warning signals on Thursday as Israel's prime minister stressed security needs and a Palestinian negotiator denounced Israeli settlement building. Kerry, on his fifth visit to the region, met Jordan's King Abdullah for talks focused on both the peace process and the Syrian civil war, which has driven more than 500,000 refugees into Jordan. ... Full Story | Top |
| CFTC charges MF Global, Corzine, O'Brien over brokerage collapse Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 12:21 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Regulators on Thursday settled charges against MF Global over the futures brokerage's collapse, and also charged former Chief Executive Jon Corzine and former Assistant Treasurer Edith O'Brien in connection with the alleged misuse of customer funds. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said MF Global had agreed to settle all charges against it, pay a $100 million penalty, and pay all the funds still owed to commodity customers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt braced for protests as Mursi stands ground Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 12:03 PM PDT  By Asma Alsharif and Alastair Macdonald CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt faces a showdown in the streets after President Mohamed Mursi failed, in an address to the nation, to satisfy the demands of opponents who want to force him from office. Days of brawling between his Islamist supporters and their rivals have already left several dead and scores injured and the camps now plan mass rallies, raising the risk of bigger clashes that the army warns could prompt it to take command again. On Friday, Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood and their allies will gather in Cairo, as will some opposition groups. ... Full Story | Top |
| Portuguese anti-austerity strike hits mostly transport Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 11:47 AM PDT  By Axel Bugge and Daniel Alvarenga LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese unions halted public transport on Thursday in a peaceful one-day strike against austerity measures that have led to the worst economic slump since the 1970s and sent unemployment to record levels. Trains, metro services and many public offices shut down. But restaurants and shops opened as hard-up Portuguese who could not afford to miss a day at work opted to go by car, clogging many entry points to Lisbon with traffic jams. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama jabs Russia, China on failure to extradite Snowden Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 11:46 AM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Mark Felsenthal DAKAR (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday he would not start "wheeling and dealing" with China and Russia over a U.S. request to extradite former American spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. Obama, who appeared concerned that the case would overshadow a three-country tour of Africa that he began in Senegal, also dismissed suggestions that the United States might try to intercept Snowden if he were allowed to depart Moscow by air. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain ruling party ex-treasurer sent to jail in corruption case Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 11:38 AM PDT By Teresa Larraz Mora MADRID (Reuters) - A former treasurer for Spain's ruling People's Party was sent to jail without bail on Thursday as the High Court continues a pre-trial investigation into corruption charges against him. Examining Magistrate Pablo Ruz wrote in his order that Luis Barcenas - who worked for the People's Party for almost three decades, mostly in the accounting department - was a flight risk due to the serious charges he faces and the amount of money he has in offshore accounts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt protests could heap pressure on beleaguered currency Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 11:21 AM PDT By Patrick Werr CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's central bank faces an uphill task keeping the country's currency stable if mass anti-government protests planned over the coming days turn violent or drag on for too long. A round of violent protests in December triggered a run on the Egyptian pound that cost the government over $2 billion to bring under control and caused it to abandon its policy of a freely convertible currency. Opponents of President Mohamed Mursi have called for mass protests on Friday and Sunday to demand he step down after one year in office. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama starts long-awaited Africa tour at slave port Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 11:20 AM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal GOREE ISLAND, Senegal (Reuters) - Almost four centuries after Africans started being shipped to North America as slaves, the first U.S. president of African ancestry on Thursday visited an infamous embarkation point for those destined for lives in chains. In his first - and, many Africans say, long-overdue - extended tour of the continent since entering the White House, President Barack Obama focused on political and economic issues while also recalling a painful chapter in Africa's and America's past. ... Full Story | Top |
| Prosecutor says Berlusconi should pay damages in Mondadori case: sources Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 11:16 AM PDT  MILAN (Reuters) - Prosecutors have recommended Italy's supreme court back a ruling that orders Silvio Berlusconi's Fininvest to pay more than 500 million euros in damages over the acquisition of a publisher twenty years ago, legal sources said on Thursday. The former prime minister, back in vogue after this year's elections, has already paid out 564 million euros ($733 million) to businessman Carlo De Benedetti's CIR holding in the battle, which relates to the 1991 sale of Mondadori. ... Full Story | Top |
| Daughter says Mandela 'still there', raps media 'vultures' Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 10:43 AM PDT  By Siphiwe Sibeko PRETORIA (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela's eldest daughter lambasted foreign media "vultures" for violating her father's privacy as he lay critically ill in hospital, and said the former South African president was still clinging to life on Thursday. Makaziwe Mandela's outburst came as anxiety increased over the faltering health of the 94-year-old anti-apartheid hero, admired across the world as a symbol of resistance against injustice and oppression and then of racial reconciliation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gulf states and BRICS should help Syria: U.S. says Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 10:40 AM PDT By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Gulf Arab states and the fast-emerging BRICS economies should do more to address an expected funding shortfall of billions of dollars for Syrian aid efforts, a senior United States official said on Thursday. Describing Syria as an "overwhelming and fast-moving humanitarian catastrophe", Assistant Secretary of State Anne Richard said the accelerating pace of the crisis presented an almost unprecedented challenge. Around 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sanctions North Korea bank as it targets weapons program Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 10:36 AM PDT By Paige Gance WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Thursday it was sanctioning North Korea's Daedong Credit Bank for its role in supporting Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction program. The U.S. Treasury said Daedong Credit Bank has been providing financial services to the Korea Mining Developing Trading Corp, or KOMID, which it said was Pyongyang's premier arms dealer, and the Tanchon Commercial Bank, or TCB, its main financial arm. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain ruling party ex-treasurer ordered to jail in corruption case Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 10:25 AM PDT  MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish High Court judge on Thursday ordered Luis Barcenas, former treasurer for the ruling People's Party, to jail without bail. The judge wrote in a court order that Barcenas was a flight risk due to the serious charges he faces and the amount of money he has in offshore accounts. Barcenas, who handled PP accounts for close to two decades, is charged with money laundering, bribery, tax fraud and other crimes. The judge's investigation has unearthed up to 47 million euros in numerous Swiss bank accounts linked to Barcenas. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Czech PM starts picking ministers, parties cry foul Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 10:17 AM PDT  By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - The new Czech prime minister picked ministers for his cabinet on Thursday who are certain to widen a rift between parliament and the executive that could cripple policymaking for months. Jiri Rusnok was appointed on Tuesday by the leftist president, Milos Zeman, to form a technocrat cabinet despite protests from both the outgoing center-right coalition and the opposition Social Democrats. Two of his first three cabinet nominations are seen as close to Zeman, playing into the parties' criticism that the newly elected president is making a power grab. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey's Erdogan seeks to further curb army power Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 09:50 AM PDT  By Parisa Hafezi ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government, which faced a wave of street protests and riots this month, moved on Thursday to amend an article of the Armed Forces charter cited by generals in the past to justify coups as defense of public order. Since he was first elected in 2002, Erdogan has radically cut back the power of a military that had toppled four governments in forty years. The last administration felled, in 1997, was led by an Islamist party to which Erdogan belonged. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian media tycoon investigated after criticism from Mursi Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 09:32 AM PDT By Asma Alsharif and Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - The owner of an Egyptian TV channel that satirizes the Islamist president was accused of tax evasion and banned from leaving the country on Thursday, hours after Mohamed Mursi attacked him by name in a keynote speech. "This is dictatorship," a lawyer for business tycoon Mohamed al-Amin told Reuters. Amin's CBC channel has had legal run-ins before over its ridicule of President Mursi on a hit satirical program modeled on American comic Jon Stewart's "Daily Show". ... Full Story | Top |
| Qatar's new PM signals lower key world role Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 09:24 AM PDT By Regan Doherty and Amena Bakr DOHA/DUBAI (Reuters) - A stickler for discipline with a security background, Qatar's new prime minister will have a narrower remit than his influential predecessor, who led the Gulf state's forays into global finance and Arab Spring politics. Known as a man of few words, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser al-Thani will also take on the role of interior minister in the wide reshuffle that has followed the accession of the son of the emir who abdicated this week after 18 years in office. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. council brings Iraq closer to end of 1990s sanctions Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 09:00 AM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council brought Iraq one step closer on Thursday to ending United Nations sanctions imposed on Baghdad more than two decades ago after former President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait In 1990. The 15-member council unanimously agreed that the issue of missing Kuwaiti people, property and archives should be dealt with under Chapter 6 of the U.N. Charter - which urges countries to peacefully resolve any conflicts - instead of Chapter 7. ... Full Story | Top |
| UN Security Council renews Golan peacekeepers amid Syrian war Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:54 AM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council renewed for six months on Thursday a peacekeeping mission in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights monitoring a decades-old truce between Israel and Syria that has been shaken by a spillover of violence from Syria's civil war. The unanimously agreed resolution stresses the need for the peacekeepers, who currently just carry handguns, to boost their protection. Diplomats said troops would likely now get equipment such as flak jackets, armored vehicles and machine guns. ... Full Story | Top |
| China lifts 17-year ban on Dalai Lama photos at Tibet monastery: group Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:47 AM PDT  By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese officials have lifted a ban on Tibetan monks displaying photographs of the Dalai Lama at a prominent monastery, a rights group said on Thursday, an unexpected policy shift which could ease tensions in the restive region. The decision concerning the Gaden monastery in the Tibetan capital Lhasa - one of the most historically important religious establishments in Tibet - reversed a ban introduced in 1996, the Britain-based Free Tibet group told Reuters, citing sources with direct knowledge of the situation. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to suspend trade benefits for Bangladesh: source Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:44 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is expected to announce on Thursday that the United States is suspending U.S. trade benefits for Bangladesh after two tragedies in the past year in the country's garment sector that have cost more than 1,200 lives, a congressional source said. U.S. trade officials have said they expected Obama to announce a decision on the matter by the end of June. The U.S. Trade Representative's office did not have an immediate comment on whether an announcement would come Thursday. Suspending Bangladesh from the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. chemical weapons team in Turkey to investigate Syria claims Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:40 AM PDT  By Anthony Deutsch and Parisa Hafezi AMSTERDAM/ANKARA (Reuters) - U.N.-appointed inspectors, blocked from entering Syria, are in Turkey to gather information about possible use of chemical weapons in the civil war, officials said on Thursday. The Syrian government and rebels fighting it have accused each other of using lethal chemical agents, including sarin gas, in the two-year-old conflict in which the death toll is estimated at more than 100,000. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands of Shi'ites denounce Saudi rulers at funeral: video Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:26 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Thousands of Shi'ite Muslims protested against Saudi Arabia's ruling al-Saud family at the funeral of a wanted man shot dead by police, a killing that ended months of relative calm in the kingdom's Eastern Province. At least 20 people have been shot dead in Eastern Province since early 2011, when Shi'ites there staged protests against the involvement of Saudi forces in ending demonstrations in neighboring Sunni-ruled Bahrain, which has a Shi'ite majority. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tribal clashes kill 50 near gold mine in Sudan's Darfur Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:25 AM PDT By Ulf Laessing KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Fighting between two Arab tribes vying for control of a gold mine has killed around 50 people in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, a tribal leader and a U.N. source said on Thursday. The clashes erupted on Wednesday, pitting the Bani Hussein against the Rizeigat, tribal groups which began fighting in January over the use of the gold mine near El Sireaf in North Darfur, Masar al-Duma Atim, a Bani Hussein leader, told Reuters. "Between 40 and 50 people were killed in El Sireaf on Wednesday," he said. "They attacked us at 9 a.m." A U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Somalia's security improving despite attack on U.N.: premier Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:21 AM PDT  By Drazen Jorgic MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon has said last week's deadly assault on a U.N. compound in Mogadishu should not obscure the fact that many other attacks are now being foiled in a nation slowly recovering from war. The attack by the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab exposed the fragility of the security gains made since the Islamist militants were driven from Mogadishu by African Union and Somali government forces about two years ago. But Shirdon said it was not the whole story. "Our efforts have reduced their attacks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian military says Syria naval facility operating normally Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:19 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian military on Thursday denied media reports that personnel had been withdrawn from its naval maintenance and supply facility in Syria, Russian news agencies reported. The daily Vedomosti on Wednesday cited an unidentified source saying that neither servicemen nor civilian Defence Ministry personnel were currently stationed at the naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartous. But the Defence Ministry press service said the modestly sized and equipped facility had long since been manned by civilians and that they had not been withdrawn. ... Full Story | Top |
| In Africa, Obama lauds democracy but urges progress on gay rights Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:13 AM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Daniel Flynn DAKAR (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, kicking off a long-awaited African tour, lauded a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage as a victory for democracy and urged African nations to end discrimination against homosexuals. In only his second visit to Africa since taking office, Obama hailed the advance of democracy there and said he was looking at ways to extend the AGOA free trade agreement, due to expire in 2015, to create more jobs on the world's poorest continent. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa says Mandela condition improved overnight, still critical Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:01 AM PDT JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African president Nelson Mandela's condition improved overnight and is now "stable" while still critical, the government said on Thursday. The statement followed a visit by President Jacob Zuma - his second in the past 24 hours - to the anti-apartheid hero in a Pretoria hospital, where he is being treated for a lung infection. (Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Pascal Fletcher) Full Story | Top |
| Libya defense minister removed after Tripoli clashes Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 07:49 AM PDT By Ghaith Shennib and Marie-Louise Gumuchian TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's defense minister will be removed from his post following fierce clashes between rival armed militias in the capital Tripoli in which 10 people were killed and more than 100 injured, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on Thursday. Calling the repeated violence plaguing Libya "suicidal scenes", Zeidan said his government and the national assembly had pledged to clean Libya's streets of weapons, a mammoth task in a country where militias often do as they please. ... Full Story | Top |
| Swiss to press U.S. further on Snowden's time in Geneva Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 07:47 AM PDT  GENEVA (Reuters) - Switzerland wants to hold further talks with Washington on fugitive Edward Snowden's activities as a CIA operative in Geneva after receiving only a "diplomatic" reply to its initial questions, the Swiss foreign minister said on Thursday. Snowden, a fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor who infuriated Washington by leaking details of secret U.S. government surveillance programs worldwide, worked in Geneva between 2007 and 2009. ... Full Story | Top |
| Blast kills four in Old City of Damascus Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 07:12 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - An explosion struck the Christian Bab Touma district in the Old City of Damascus on Thursday in what Syrian state television said was a suicide bombing. Opposition sources said it was a mortar attack. It was the first major blast reported inside the walls of the Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage site that is one of the oldest cities in Middle East, dating back some 4,000 years. At least four people were killed and several wounded, Syrian television said. News outlets close to rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad said a mortar bomb had exploded. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ecuador offers U.S. rights aid, waives trade benefits Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 07:06 AM PDT  By Alexandra Valencia and Brian Ellsworth QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's leftist government thumbed its nose at Washington on Thursday by renouncing U.S. trade benefits and offering to pay for human rights training in America in response to pressure over asylum for former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. The angry response threatens a showdown between the two nations over Snowden, and may burnish President Rafael Correa's credentials to be the continent's principal challenger of U.S. power after the death of Venezuelan socialist leader Hugo Chavez. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former Brother says Egypt's Mursi shows group's flaws Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 06:48 AM PDT By Tom Perry and Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh says he left Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood because its leaders did not believe in democracy. A year of President Mohamed Mursi's rule has strengthened his view. Abol Fotouh, a candidate in last year's election, says Mursi is running Egypt the way the Brotherhood runs itself, valuing loyalty over competence, with dire consequences for the country. Like other opponents of the Brotherhood's head of state, he says it is time Egyptians had the chance to choose again. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chile police evict protesters from schools before Sunday vote Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 06:46 AM PDT  SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean police on Thursday evicted student protesters from 21 Santiago schools that will be used as polling stations for weekend primary elections, a day after a massive march for education reform in the capital. The Andean country's powerful student movement has staged massive protests to demand free and improved education in the stratified country, with thousands of students taking over schools and universities intermittently over the past two years. "We've restored order," Interior Minister Andres Chadwick said in a televised speech on Thursday morning. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria war likely to drag on, Red Cross president says Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 06:28 AM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The Red Cross said on Thursday it was planning humanitarian operations for an extended conflict in Syria in the absence of any sign of a political solution and military stalemate between rebels and government troops. Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that the aid agency had urged major powers to try to stop all sides from committing violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes. He saw no reason to expect the 27-month-old conflict to end anytime soon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Protesters fight police as Kosovo approves Serbia deal Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 06:21 AM PDT  By Fatos Bytyci PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo's parliament approved an EU-brokered agreement on creating normal ties with neighboring Serbia on Thursday as protesters opposing the deal clashed with riot police in Pristina. The 120-seat assembly passed the deal, reached under European Union auspices in April, with 84 votes in favor. In unruly scenes outside, police used pepper spray to disperse protesters and pushed them away from the entrance to parliament and other government buildings in the capital. Some demonstrators threw cans of pink paint at the police. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama says shouldn't have to talk to Xi, Putin about Snowden Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 05:50 AM PDT  DAKAR (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he had not yet spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping or Russian President Vladimir Putin about the U.S. request to extradite former American spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. Speaking at a news conference in Senegal at the start of an African tour, Obama said normal legal channels should be sufficient to handle Washington's request that Snowden, who left Hong Kong for Russia, be returned. "I have not called President Xi personally or President Putin personally and the reason is...number one, I shouldn't have to," Obama said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Indonesia says building criminal cases against eight firms over fires Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 05:47 AM PDT  By Aubrey Belford JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian investigators are building criminal cases against eight Southeast Asian companies they suspect of being responsible for raging fires that have blanketed neighboring Singapore and Malaysia with hazardous smog. The Environment Ministry last week named the firms for their alleged role in Southeast Asia's worst air pollution crisis in 16 years, which has raised concerns over public health and hurt business and tourism in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Owners of five of the plantations have denied any wrongdoing. ... Full Story | Top |
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