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| Fed still has some balance sheet space left for QE: Bullard Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:44 PM PDT St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard told an audience of financial advisors he was very aware of the risks that the Fed's ultra-easy monetary policy was running. "We have been as aggressive as we can possibly be here. Full Story | Top |
| Fed officials eye inflation, jobs in dueling QE arguments Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:44 PM PDT  By Alister Bull and Jonathan Spicer ST. LOUIS/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Top Federal Reserve officials on Friday gave only modest hints as to when a massive bond-buying program would be drawn down, with one saying they needed to wait for signs of rising inflation and two others reinforcing an argument the Fed has waited too long. Investors are trying to predict when the Fed will decide the U.S. economy and labor market are strong enough to withstand a reduction in the pace of quantitative easing (QE), in which $85 billion in assets are snapped up by the central bank each month to spur growth. The Fed, which has held interest rates near zero since late 2008 and quadrupled the size of its balance sheet to $3.8 trillion, opted this week to extend its policy support after a series of soft readings on the economy. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who backed the decision, said the huge balance sheet has created risks of financial instability and said officials would like to "get out of the uncharted territory if we can." But annual inflation, which was 1.2 percent in August according to the Fed's preferred measure of price pressures, remained too far beneath the central bank's self-imposed 2 percent medium-term goal, he said. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Fed officials' comments on U.S. economy, policy Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:44 PM PDT Nov 1( Reuters) - The Federal Reserve kept its monthly bond purchase program steady at $85 billion a month in October, saying it wanted more evidence of labor market improvement before winding down stimulus. Attention now turns to the next Fed meeting of December 17-18, when policymakers could decide to pare the program. Many analysts say they believe reductions will wait until next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| TSA agent killed, six hurt in Los Angeles airport shooting Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:40 PM PDT By Tim Reid and Dana Feldman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A gunman opened fire with an assault rifle in a terminal of Los Angeles International airport on Friday, killing a Transportation Security Agent and injuring at least six other people before he was shot and captured, authorities said on Friday. The incident prompted scenes of chaos at the airport, which halted departing flights and evacuated the terminal. Streets surrounding the airport were also shut down. "An individual came into Terminal 3 of this airport, pulled an assault rifle out of a bag and began to open fire in the terminal," Patrick Gannon, chief of the Los Angeles Airport Police said at a press conference. Full Story | Top |
| New York's de Blasio would drop stop-and-frisk appeal: source Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:38 PM PDT  Bill de Blasio, the leading candidate to become the next New York City mayor, plans to drop the city's legal challenge to sweeping court-ordered reforms to its police stop-and-frisk program, a person close to the campaign said on Friday. The ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was at least a temporary victory for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the city's police department. The ruling did not address the merits of the case and was instead a rebuke of U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin, who ruled two months ago the tactic amounted to "indirect racial profiling" that resulted in the disproportionate and discriminatory stopping of blacks and Hispanics. "Bill de Blasio has made it abundantly clear that on day one as mayor he will work to end the overuse and misuse of stop and frisk," said Eric Koch, a spokesman for the Democratic candidate, in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. TSA employee killed in L.A. airport shooting: spokesperson Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:28 PM PDT (Reuters) - A U.S. Transportation Security Administration employee was shot and killed and another was injured in a shooting at the Los Angeles International Airport, a TSA spokesperson said on Twitter. "TSA confirms one male employee shot and killed, one injured," the spokesperson said on the social media site, adding that the gunman in the incident was not a TSA employee. Full Story | Top |
| Once an activist, U.S. envoy Power now fights as a diplomat Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:25 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Three months into Samantha Power's tenure as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, human rights activists who favor military intervention have learned to temper their hopes that she would push aggressively for using force to end the humanitarian suffering in Syria. Power, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist who shot to fame for sharply criticizing U.S. failures to halt 20th century genocides, is now a diplomat, fighting most of her battles with words and resolutions. And her boss, President Barack Obama, has made it clear that despite his threats to launch air strikes in September in response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria he is reluctant to intervene there. Those who expected Power to force a sudden U.S. shift on the 2 1/2-year-old Syrian civil war - which has left more than 100,000 dead and created an estimated 2.2 million refugees - have likely been disappointed. Full Story | Top |
| Russia says better to remove most chemical weapons from Syria Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:22 PM PDT By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia believes most of Syria's chemical arsenal should be removed from the country rather than destroyed there, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying on Friday. Ryabkov spoke after meeting Sigrid Kaag, head of the joint United Nations-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) mission to destroy Syria's chemical weapons. "Much speaks in favor of the overwhelming portion of poisonous substances in Syria being removed beyond its borders," state-run news agency RIA quoted Ryabkov as saying. Full Story | Top |
| At least two killed in shooting outside Athens Golden Dawn office Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:19 PM PDT By Karolina Tagaris ATHENS (Reuters) - At least two people were killed in a drive-by shooting outside the offices of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party in Athens on Friday, police said. The attack took place as the government is cracking down on Golden Dawn, Greece's third-most popular political force, after a party sympathizer stabbed an anti-fascism rapper to death in September. The victims were aged 20 and 23 years old, Golden Dawn said on its website, but police had not yet verified their identities and details on the shooting were not immediately available. Let everyone know this," government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou told reporters outside the prime minister's mansion. Full Story | Top |
| Clubs punished for crowd violence in Russian game Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:19 PM PDT Spartak Moscow and Shinnik Yaroslavl have been fined and ordered to play matches behind closed doors following the crowd violence that erupted at their Russian Cup tie on Wednesday. The Russian FA fined visiting Spartak 600,000 roubles ($18,500) and told them to play two home matches behind closed doors for their part in the scenes of disorder. Spartak, who are third in the top flight, will have to play second-placed Lokomotiv Moscow on Sunday and leaders Zenit St Petersburg seven days later in an empty stadium. Spartak director general Roman Askhabadze said his club had already lodged an appeal. Full Story | Top |
| Euro falls on potential ECB rate cut; stocks slip Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:14 PM PDT  By Herbert Lash NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets slipped on Friday despite upbeat factory data worldwide, while the euro fell to a two-week low against the dollar on growing expectations the European Central Bank will ease monetary policy further to encourage growth. Stocks on Wall Street see-sawed after data showing U.S. manufacturing expanded briskly in October raised some worries that the U.S. Federal Reserve may scale back its massive stimulus much sooner than expected. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of U.S. factory activity rose to 56.4 last month - its best showing since April 2011 - from 56.2 in September. The S&P and Dow Jones industrial average have repeatedly hit record highs this year, including earlier in the week, but the strong gains have triggered some concerns about how much further the rally can continue. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani Taliban chief killed in drone strike Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:14 PM PDT  By Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Saud Mehsud ISLAMABAD/DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - The chief of the Pakistani Taliban was killed by a U.S. drone strike on Friday, security sources and a senior Taliban commander said. Hakimullah Mehsud was one of Pakistan's most wanted men with a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head. He led an insurgency from a secret hideout in North Waziristan, the Taliban's mountainous stronghold on the Afghan border. "We confirm with great sorrow that our esteemed leader was martyred in a drone attack," a senior Taliban commander told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. officials see risk of genocide in Central African Republic Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:13 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Central African Republic is at risk of spiraling into genocide as armed groups incite Christians and Muslims against each other in the virtually lawless country, senior U.N. officials told the Security Council on Friday. The landlocked, mineral-rich nation of 4.6 million people has slipped into chaos since northern Seleka rebels seized the capital, Bangui, and ousted President Francois Bozize in March. "More and more you have inter-sectarian violence because the Seleka targeted the churches and the Christians, so now the Christians have created self-defense militias and they are retaliating against the Muslims," said French U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud after a briefing by U.N. rights and aid officials. Adama Dieng, U.N. special adviser on the prevention of genocide, John Ging, director of operations for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Ivan Simonovic, U.N. assistant secretary general for human rights, informally briefed the 15-member Security Council. Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: New borrowing tool could make U.S. debt debates less harrowing Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:12 PM PDT  Next week, the U.S. Treasury will unveil plans for a new borrowing tool that could eventually take some of the edge off future fiscal debates. Most U.S. politicians understand that not raising the debt ceiling can trigger default within days or weeks. What is less appreciated is that if creditors balked at any of the weekly auctions where the Treasury must raise $100 billion to repay short-term debts, the federal government could go broke immediately. "We could unexpectedly dissipate our entire cash balance," Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told lawmakers on October 10. Full Story | Top |
| New Obama order aims to prepare communities for severe weather Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:10 PM PDT  By Environment Correspondent Deborah Zabarenko WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In another move to address the impact of climate change, President Barack Obama ordered a bipartisan task force on Friday to help U.S. communities brace for longer heat waves, heavier downpours, more severe wildfires and worse droughts. Friday's executive order set up a panel of governors, mayors, county officials and tribal leaders to advise the White House on how the federal government can respond to communities hit by the effects of a changing climate. Federal agencies were also directed to modernize their programs in ways that will support investments that will help cities and towns gird against extreme weather. Friday's White House order builds on a Climate Action Plan unveiled in June, the centerpiece of which was new regulations to be applied to power plants, and comes three days after the anniversary of the landfall of Superstorm Sandy, which caused more than $60 billion in damage along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Clubs punished for crowd violence in Russian game Friday, Nov 01, 2013 12:02 PM PDT (Adds Spartak appeal) MOSCOW, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Spartak Moscow and Shinnik Yaroslavl have been fined and ordered to play matches behind closed doors following the crowd violence that erupted at their Russian Cup tie on Wednesday. The Russian FA fined visiting Spartak 600,000 roubles ($18,500) and told them to play two home matches behind closed doors for their part in the scenes of disorder. Spartak, who are third in the top flight, will have to play second-placed Lokomotiv Moscow on Sunday and leaders Zenit St Petersburg seven days later in an empty stadium. Spartak director general Roman Askhabadze said his club had already lodged an appeal. Full Story | Top |
| Ford top Canadian seller, GM beats Chrysler in October Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:54 AM PDT was the top selling automaker in Canada in October and year to date, while General Motors Co' outsold Chrysler in Canada last month, with sales at both Ford and GM jumping 10 percent. Ford sales rose to 22,647 vehicles, up from 20,565 in October 2012, according to company data released on Friday. Full Story | Top |
| Lead character in Syria war film emerged from carnage Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:46 AM PDT By Rania El Gamal ABU DHABI (Reuters) - When Mohammed Soueid started shooting a film about Syria's civil war, he collected footage from three activist cameramen and had no idea who his lead character would be. It was only as he looked over the shots that it became the story of Abu Bakr, a rebel with the Islamist Al Tawheed Brigade fighting in the streets of Aleppo from February until October 2012. "When I reviewed the shots I found that there is one character who is always there and that is Abu Bakr and his story is developing. The Lebanese director spoke to Reuters after a screening of his film "Hanging Dates Under Aleppo's Citadel" at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival this week. Full Story | Top |
| Spirit Aero posts profit, says asset sale progressing Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:45 AM PDT It is also selling assets such as Oklahoma operations that handle wing design for Gulfstream, a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corp Chief Executive Larry Lawson, a former Lockheed Martin executive, said on Friday that Spirit is talking with potential buyers for the Oklahoma operations and added the sales process will likely extend into next year. Those trends bode well for Spirit AeroSystems, which makes fuselages and wing systems. Full Story | Top |
| Israel vows to deny Hezbollah weapons as details of Syria raid emerge Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:30 AM PDT  By Crispian Balmer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said it would not allow advanced weapons to fall into the hands of Hezbollah, after a raid on Syria that opposition sources said had hit an air force garrison believed to be holding Russian-made missiles destined for the militant group. Israel has a clear policy on Syria and will continue to enforce it, officials said on Friday, after U.S. and European sources said Israel had launched a new attack on its warring neighbor. Israel declined to comment on leaks to U.S. media that its planes had hit a Syrian base near the port of Latakia, targeting missiles that it thought were destined for its Lebanese enemy, Hezbollah. "We have said many times that we will not allow the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah," said Home Front Defense Minister Gilad Erdan, a member of the inner security cabinet which met hours before the alleged Israeli attack. Full Story | Top |
| British water suppliers face scrutiny after government promises action on prices Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:19 AM PDT  By William James and Sarah Young LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron will take action to help households struggling to meet rising water bills, his spokesman said on Friday in a signal that Britain's biggest water companies will face greater political scrutiny over pricing. "There'll be some progress next week on water bills," the spokesman told a press briefing. Thames Water, privately-owned by Australia's Macquarie and other investors including China Investment Corporation, and regulator Ofwat declined to comment on the spokesman's comments. Pennon, one of Britain's main water players, also declined to comment. Full Story | Top |
| 'Do his phone,' Murdoch editor told journalist hunting celebrity scoop Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:17 AM PDT  By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - Andy Coulson, an editor of Rupert Murdoch's now defunct News of the World newspaper, instructed a journalist working on a story about a celebrity to "do his phone", a jury trying Coulson and three others for conspiring to hack phones was told on Friday. The trial was also told how a phone call from Queen Elizabeth's grandson Prince Harry was hacked, and fellow ex-editor Rebekah Brooks authorised payments at Murdoch's Sun tabloid to military figures for a picture of Prince William in a bikini and details of soldiers killed on active duty. Coulson and Brooks are the two most high-profile figures among eight defendants on trial on various charges related to phone-hacking, illegal payments to officials for stories, and hindering police investigations. After leaving the News of the World, Coulson went on to be Prime Minister David Cameron's media chief. Full Story | Top |
| Vatican surveys Church on family issues including gay marriage Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:13 AM PDT  By Steve Scherer VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican is asking bishops and parish priests around the world about local views on gay marriage, divorce and birth control ahead of a meeting of bishops next year to discuss Roman Catholic Church teachings related to the family. It also shows Pope Francis is reaching out to local parishes and not relying solely on the Church hierarchy on how to implement Catholic teachings. The questionnaire was sent to bishops on October 18, according to a letter from Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, the general secretary of the synod meeting, to Catholic bishops around the world. The missive and survey questions were posted on the National Catholic Reporter's Web site on Thursday, and confirmed by the Holy See on Friday. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Fed sets tough tests in annual bank health war games Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:11 AM PDT  By Douwe Miedema WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Banks in the United States will have to test whether they can survive a halving of the stock market during a severe U.S. recession, the Federal Reserve said on Friday, as it set the rules for next year's model runs to gauge the health of the financial system. Eight large U.S. banks must also test for the first time whether they can cope with the hypothetical default of their largest trading partner, the Fed said in documents laying out the so-called "stress tests". "The capital planning and stress testing program ... has contributed to a significant increase in capital at the largest banking organizations in the United States," the U.S. central bank said in a press release. The stress tests were mandated by the Dodd-Frank law - aimed at preventing a repeat of the 2007-09 credit crisis - and measure how a bank's loan books and security portfolios hold up under a range of adverse economic scenarios. Full Story | Top |
| Violent protest in Mali's Gao over talks to heal north Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:09 AM PDT Thousands of residents in Mali's northern city of Gao fought street battles with the police on Friday and torched the mayor's house during a protest over talks aimed at healing divisions in the north. Gao was a stronghold of Islamist militants who took over the north of the country in 2012 before France sent troops to Mali in January to drive them out. The violence highlights the challenges newly elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita faces in fixing the broken nation, once considered a model democracy in West Africa. The mayor's house was torched and three cars were burnt in front of his office," Gao resident Boubacar Maiga said. Full Story | Top |
| Suspect in Los Angeles airport shooting in custody: police Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:07 AM PDT A suspect in a multiple-victim shooting incident at Los Angeles International Airport has been taken into custody and is the only suspect in the incident, a Los Angeles police spokeswoman said on Friday. Police spokeswoman Officer Norma Eisenman said that the suspect was taken into custody after being "engaged by airport police," and that a bomb squad was carrying out a sweep of the area. Full Story | Top |
| Adoption group calls for U.S. laws to stop online child trading Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:05 AM PDT  A study by a major U.S. adoption research group calls for "targeted laws, policies and practices" to stop adoptive parents from giving their unwanted children to strangers through the Internet. The report, released by the Donaldson Adoption Institute this week, also says problems exposed by a Reuters investigation in September "should be seen as the tip of an iceberg of unmonitored, unregulated adoption-related activities taking place on the Internet." Reuters found that desperate parents turn to online groups to offer unwanted adopted children to others. The U.S. government is typically unaware of the arrangements or what becomes of those children. Through a survey of 1,500 adoptive parents and adoption professionals in the United States and abroad, researchers from the institute and Tufts University found that international adoption has shifted from mostly infants to a growing number of older children who have disabilities or other kinds of emotional, physical or behavioral problems. Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Clubs punished for crowd violence in Russian Cup tie Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:03 AM PDT Spartak Moscow and Shinnik Yaroslavl have been fined and ordered to play matches behind closed doors following the crowd violence that erupted at their Russian Cup tie on Wednesday. The Russian FA fined visiting Spartak 600,000 roubles ($18,500) and told them to play two home matches behind closed doors for their part in the scenes of disorder. Spartak, who are third in the top flight, will have to play second-placed Lokomotiv Moscow on Sunday and leaders Zenit St Petersburg seven days later in an empty stadium. Full Story | Top |
| White House says Obama briefed on incident at Los Angeles airport Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:58 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama was briefed on a security incident at the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, and White House officials are in touch with law enforcement officials on the ground, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Steve Holland; editing by Jackie Frank) Full Story | Top |
| Guinea-Bissau postpones election until 2014 Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:57 AM PDT Guinea-Bissau will postpone an election planned for November until early next year due to a lack of funds, officials said on Friday. The election is supposed to return the West African country to democracy after a military coup last year and Western and regional powers and the United Nations had all urged it to hold the vote before year end. "There is now sufficient funding to hold general elections," interim President Manuel Sherifo Nhamadjo said. The U.N. special representative to the country, Jose Ramos-Horta, said that $20 million had been raised for the election, adding that he now expected it to happen in February or March. Full Story | Top |
| Toronto mayor's lawyer tells police to release alleged crack video Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:56 AM PDT  By Cameron French TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's lawyer said on Friday his client was not smoking crack cocaine in a video that has been seen only by a few but has dominated Canadian headlines for months, and he urged the city's police to release the video to the public. His comments come a day after Toronto police said they had recovered a copy of a video that is "consistent" with one reportedly seen by journalists at the Toronto Star newspaper and by media blog Gawker earlier this year. Both the Star and Gawker said the video shows the mayor smoking what appears to be crack cocaine. Ford himself has denied the existence of the video and said he does not use crack cocaine. Full Story | Top |
| Shared concern over Syria brings thaw between Turkey and Iran Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:40 AM PDT  By Humeyra Pamuk and Tulay Karadeniz ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey and Iran said on Friday they had common concerns about the increasingly sectarian nature of Syria's civil war, signaling a thaw in a key Middle Eastern relationship strained by stark differences over the conflict. Iran has been a firm ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the start of the 32-month-old uprising against him, while Turkey has been one of his fiercest critics, supporting the opposition and giving refuge to rebel fighters. But the election in June of President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate who says he wants to thaw Iran's ties with the West, and shared concern over the rise of al Qaeda in Syria, have spurred hopes of a rapprochement. "Sitting here together with the Iranian foreign minister you can be sure we will be working together to fight these types of scenarios which aim to see a sectarian conflict," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a conference in Istanbul. Full Story | Top |
| Greenpeace says Russia to move 30 detained activists Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:38 AM PDT  Russia is preparing to move 30 Greenpeace activists who were arrested over a protest against Arctic drilling from the far-north city of Murmansk to St. Petersburg, the environmental group said on Friday. The detainees, including two journalists, have been charged with hooliganism for the September 18 protest in which the activists tried to scale Russia's first offshore Arctic oil rig, the Prirazlomnaya, owned by state energy company Gazprom. Russia's Investigative Committee, which is leading the case, could not be reached for comment and the reasons behind any such move were not immediately clear. Greenpeace International head Kumi Naidoo said it would be easier for relatives and consular officials to reach them in St. Petersburg, about 700 km (440 miles) from Moscow, rather than in remote Murmansk. Full Story | Top |
| Removal of Fukushima's spent fuel on target: U.S. Energy Secretary Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:35 AM PDT  A "significant milestone" is at hand for cleanup of Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, with spent nuclear fuel removal likely to start on schedule, the U.S. Energy Secretary said on Friday after a visit to the site. "It appears that spent nuclear fuel will begin to be removed from Unit 4 as scheduled in mid-November," Ernest Moniz said in a statement. "This will be significant milestone for Tepco and the Japanese government and in the process of decommissioning the site." Moniz, a nuclear physicist, is the highest ranking U.S. official to visit the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station since a nuclear disaster in March 2011 that followed an earthquake and tsunami. The cleanup and decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi, which had been operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co, or Tepco, is expected to take decades. Full Story | Top |
| Los Angeles airport halts outgoing flights after incident: spokeswoman Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:35 AM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Outgoing flights have been halted at the Los Angeles International Airport following a security incident there on Friday, an airport spokeswoman said. "The general public is being held back at law enforcement bock. Other than arriving flights, flight operations have been temporary held," airport spokeswoman Katherine Alvarado said in an emailed statement. (Reporting by Ron Grover and Sharon Bernstein; Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Scott Malone) Full Story | Top |
| Syrian army captures strategic town at approaches to Aleppo Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:32 AM PDT  By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's armed forces said on Friday they had captured a strategic northern town at the eastern gates of Aleppo, the former commercial hub long the scene of fierce fighting between government and rebel fighters. The town of Safira lies on a road the army said would be used to send in medicine and supplies to government-controlled areas of Aleppo, mired in a bloody stalemate for over a year. It is also the site of a chemical weapons installation under government control and cleared of equipment. The capture of Safira is significant in that it marks a rare victory for Assad's forces near the mostly rebel-held north. Full Story | Top |
| Uganda calls for Congo ceasefire as peace talks progress Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:32 AM PDT By Elias Biryabarema and Kenny Katombe KAMPALA/RUMANGABO, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Uganda called on the Congolese army and M23 rebels to cease fire on Friday as peace talks progressed in Kampala to end a 20-month conflict. But, while the rebels said they were ready for a peace deal, government forces vowed to pursue their military advantage and crush the rebellion in Democratic Republic of Congo's mineral-rich east. Peace talks resumed in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Wednesday, 10 days after they collapsed over rebel demands for amnesty, triggering renewed hostilities. A week-long army offensive has driven the rebels back to mountain bases and many have fled to neighboring Uganda or defected. Full Story | Top |
| Iranian Kurd leader says West shouldn't be fooled by Rouhani Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:30 AM PDT By Alexandra Hudson BERLIN (Reuters) - The leader of an armed Iranian Kurdish group says new President Hassan Rouhani is taking advantage of the West's wary optimism towards him to step up pressure on citizens at home, particularly Kurds, and has markedly increased executions. The election in June of Rouhani, a relative moderate and a former chief nuclear negotiator, has created a diplomatic opening between Iran and a group of six world powers which are trying to persuade it to curb its nuclear program. Abdul Rahman Haji-Ahmadi, the Germany-based leader of the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), told Reuters in a written interview that Rouhani "belongs completely to the core system" of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and bringing him to the fore was Tehran's attempt to get out of political deadlock. "Obviously he has played very well so far, managing to escape from some crises as well as deceiving some of the Iranian peoples," Haji-Ahmadi said, but this would end if he fell short of election pledges in a country hungry for change. Full Story | Top |
| Stormy Halloween in central U.S. leaves three people dead Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:22 AM PDT  By Kevin Murphy Kansas City, Missouri (Reuters) - A violent Halloween storm from the U.S. Gulf Coast to the eastern Great Lakes killed at least three people, two in Texas and one in Tennessee, and contributed to the overturning of a school bus in a rain-swollen creek in Kansas. The National Weather Service said it received 230 reports of high winds across 12 states from Louisiana to Pennsylvania, and reports of tornadoes in Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky and Illinois, although none did major damage. In Nashville, a 9-year-old boy was electrocuted by a downed power line, according to Metro Nashville Police. Full Story | Top |
| Fire department describes 'multi-patient incident' at L.A. airport Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:19 AM PDT The Los Angeles Fire Department described the situation unfolding at the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday as a "multi-patient incident," and said it was assisting law enforcement at the scene, according to its website. The airport has said that police were responding to an incident at the airport, and California media reported that a gunman with a high-powered rifle was shot by law enforcement. Full Story | Top |
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