| U.S. has few good options for response to Philippines' Duterte Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:49 PM PDT  By Yeganeh Torbati and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration has few good options and limited leverage as it struggles to craft a response to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's increasingly hostile rhetoric towards the United States and his warm embrace of China. For months, Washington has played down Duterte's anti-American insults and broadsides. Duterte's latest outburst, less than three weeks before the U.S. presidential election, casts further doubt on the seven-decade U.S.-Philippine alliance and threatens to further undermine President Barack Obama's faltering "pivot" to Asia as a counterbalance to China's growing assertiveness.
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| Mosul offensive going faster than planned, Iraqi PM says Posted: 20 Oct 2016 11:40 AM PDT  By Stephen Kalin and Babak Dehghanpisheh EAST AND NORTH OF MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - The offensive to seize back Mosul from Islamic State is going faster than planned, Iraq's prime minister said on Thursday, as Iraqi and Kurdish forces launched a new military operation to clear villages on the city's outskirts. Howitzer and mortar fire started at dawn, hitting a group of villages held by Islamic State about 10-20 km (6-12 miles) from Mosul, while helicopters flew overhead, according to Reuters reporters at two frontline locations north and east of Mosul. Hours later, the head of Iraq's Special Forces, Lieutenant General Talib Shaghati, told reporters at a command center near the frontline that troops had surrounded Bartella and entered the center of the village.
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| Venezuela electoral body suspends referendum drive, angering opposition Posted: 20 Oct 2016 05:44 PM PDT  By Corina Pons and Alexandra Ulmer CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's electoral council on Thursday night suspended the next phase of a recall referendum against unpopular President Nicolas Maduro, drawing fire from the opposition. "We have a government of thieves using power to maintain itself," opposition lawmaker Jorge Millán said on Twitter. "But in the street the people are demanding a recall, and no one will stop us!" Maduro, who was elected to replace the popular Hugo Chavez in 2013 after his death, has seen his ratings fall by half to just over 20 percent.
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| Yemen missile launch, Saudi-led air strike strain truce Posted: 20 Oct 2016 02:43 PM PDT  SANAA/ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - A 72-hour truce in Yemen came under pressure on Thursday when missiles fired from Yemen killed two civilians in Saudi Arabia, the United States said, while a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes that Iran-allied Houthi fighters said killed three people. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies have been embroiled in a conflict in Yemen since March 2015, fighting on behalf of an exiled Yemeni government against the Houthi group, which controls the capital Sanaa. A U.N.-brokered ceasefire took effect late on Wednesday, raising hopes of an end to a war that has devastated the Arab world's poorest country and left it on the verge of famine.
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| Russia wants to weaken the EU, EU leaders say Posted: 20 Oct 2016 05:23 PM PDT  Russia is trying to weaken the European Union, EU leaders agreed on Thursday, noting they needed to stay the course and remain united in policies towards Moscow. "Leaders emphasized all sorts of Russian hostilities from airspace violations to information campaigns, cyber attacks, interference into the political processes in the EU and beyond," the chairman of the EU summit Donald Tusk told a news conference. "Given these examples, it is clear that Russia's strategy is to weaken the EU," he said.
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| Venezuelan activist moves to US after release from 'dungeon' Posted: 20 Oct 2016 05:41 PM PDT  DEL MAR, Calif. (AP) — Francisco Marquez says he constantly heard screams from prisoners being beaten in neighboring cells. He once saw a dozen inmates handcuffed, forced to run naked for hours under the hot sun as punishment for a failed escape attempt.
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| EU leaders lash Russia over Syria but split on sanctions Posted: 20 Oct 2016 05:36 PM PDT  BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders pledged early Friday to keep all options open to respond to any atrocities committed by President Bashar Assad's regime and his Russian backers in Syria but stopped short of threatening Moscow with sanctions.
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| Hong Kong braces for severe Typhoon Haima Posted: 20 Oct 2016 05:35 PM PDT  Hong Kong was bracing on Friday for Typhoon Haima with destructive 145 kmh (86 mph) winds at its center, forcing authorities to shut all but essential services in the global financial hub. The Hong Kong Observatory raised its typhoon 8 signal, one of its highest warnings which rate typhoons up to 10, as Haima crossed the northern part of the South China Sea after lashing the Philippines. "According to the present forecast track, Haima will be closest to Hong Kong around noon, skirting about 100 km (62 miles) to the east of the territory," said the observatory on its website.
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| Survey companies hit the streets to fill India's data gaps Posted: 20 Oct 2016 05:33 PM PDT  By Rafael Nam MUMBAI (Reuters) - Sachin Bhadrasen Jaiswar goes from door to door in a middle class neighborhood outside Mumbai measuring India's economic pulse, one of hundreds of survey takers working for private firms aiming to fill a gap - the lack of reliable data. There has long been deep scepticism about the accuracy of economic indicators in India, a country of 1.2 billion people of whom 90 percent are estimated to be part of the grey economy. Independent economists question the government's assessment of everything from industrial output to unemployment, but the main data "black hole" is consumer indicators including retail sales, and that is where people like 29-year-old Jaiswar come in.
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| EU leaders predict dire future if EU-Canada trade deal fails Posted: 20 Oct 2016 05:29 PM PDT  BRUSSELS (AP) — Fearing final rejection by a small Belgian region, leaders of the European Union warned early Friday that if a free trade deal with a close partner like Canada fails it could mean the end of such agreements with any other country.
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| South Africa to withdraw from war crimes court: document Posted: 20 Oct 2016 05:27 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - South Africa is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, according to a document seen by Reuters on Thursday, a move which would take effect one year after it is formally received by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. A U.N. spokesman declined to confirm receipt of the document, which is signed by South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and dated Oct. 19. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Bill Rigby) |
| UN experts say Saudi coalition violated law in Yemen attack Posted: 20 Oct 2016 05:24 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. experts investigating the double bombing of a packed funeral hall in the rebel-held Yemeni capital on Oct. 8 are accusing the Saudi-led coalition of violating international humanitarian law by attacking civilians, the wounded, and medical personnel. |
| Venezuela suspends recall campaign against President Maduro Posted: 20 Oct 2016 05:17 PM PDT  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's electoral council said it was suspending a recall campaign against President Nicolas Maduro after courts annulled the signature collecting campaign in four states.
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| Mexican peso dances to rhythm of US election campaign Posted: 20 Oct 2016 04:51 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Election day in the United States cannot come soon enough for the Mexican peso, especially if Hillary Clinton is the winner.
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| Four Venezuela regional courts voids referendum drive: ruling party Posted: 20 Oct 2016 04:50 PM PDT  Venezuelan ruling party officials said on Thursday that regional courts in at least four states had voided the opposition's drive to collect signatures to trigger a recall referendum against President Nicolas Maduro. The opposition slammed the move as an attempt to derail a vote against the unpopular Socialist president, who polls show would lose a plebiscite amid an economic crisis in the OPEC country that has food running short and inflation in triple digits. Venezuela's ruling party has said there will be no referendum this year, accusing the opposition of fraud in the signature drive.
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| Inspired by 007, Mexico to hold Day of Dead parade Posted: 20 Oct 2016 04:43 PM PDT  The opening scene of the movie "Spectre" shows James Bond chasing a bad guy through a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City -- except there has never been such a procession. In the film, the British spy played by Daniel Craig goes after a bad guy through a parade featuring giant skeletons floating among people dancing with their faces painted as skulls.
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| French presidential hopeful calls for end to Calais deal with UK Posted: 20 Oct 2016 04:39 PM PDT  France's former prime minister and presidential hopeful Alain Juppe has called for the UK border to be shifted across the Channel from Calais, in an interview published on Thursday. Juppe, who is campaigning to be the right-wing candidate in the race for the presidency, said a change to the bilateral agreement was necessary after thousands of migrants gathered in Calais. "We can't tolerate what is going on in Calais, the image is disastrous for our country and there are also extremely serious economic and security consequences for the people of Calais," Juppe told journalists from the Guardian and other European newspapers.
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| Mexican judge denies El Chapo's appeals against extradition Posted: 20 Oct 2016 04:38 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — A federal judge rejected five appeals by jailed drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to avoid extradition to the United States, a week after Mexico said it aimed to send him north of the border by early next year.
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| Brazil prosecutors charge 21 with homicide for Samarco dam spill Posted: 20 Oct 2016 04:27 PM PDT  By Marta Nogueira and Jeb Blount RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian prosecutors charged 21 people with qualified homicide on Thursday for their roles in the collapse of a tailings dam at the Samarco Mineração SA iron ore mine last November that killed 19 people. The charges follow what is now considered to be the largest environmental disaster in Brazil's history. Samarco, its co-owners Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd, and Brazilian engineering company VOGBR Recursos Hidricos e Geotecnica Ltd which certified the dam's safety, were charged with environmental crimes.
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| 11 dead after bus plunges down embankment in Costa Rica Posted: 20 Oct 2016 04:21 PM PDT SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — A bus carrying retired university employees on an excursion plunged down an embankment in Costa Rica on Thursday, killing 11 people and leaving 16 in critical condition, the government said. |
| Nations agree on global road map to steer breakneck urbanization Posted: 20 Oct 2016 04:01 PM PDT  By Paola Totaro QUITO, Ecuador (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The United Nations formally adopted a global road map to grapple with rapid urbanization on Thursday, capping nearly two years of behind-the-scenes international negotiations aimed at designing development priorities for cities and towns over the long term. The New Urban Agenda (NUA) sets out a host of general goals such as development of sustainable and compact cities that do not harm the environment and redevelopment of informal settlements with the participation of residents. "Urbanization is happening at an unprecedented pace and scale, and 3.7 billion people now live in cities.
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| Russia pauses Aleppo bombing 11 hours for four days, U.N. wants more Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:57 PM PDT By Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Russia has told the United Nations it will stop bombing eastern Aleppo for 11 hours a day for four days, but that is not enough to trigger a wider ceasefire deal under which militants would leave the Syrian warzone, the U.N. said on Thursday. The Syrian military said a unilateral ceasefire backed by Russia had come into force to allow people to leave eastern Aleppo, a move rejected by rebels who say they are preparing a counter-offensive to break the blockade. "They (the Russians) have said 11 hours per day and four days from today, Thursday," U.N. Syria humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland told reporters. |
| Turkey bombs Syrian Kurdish militia allied to U.S.-backed force Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:54 PM PDT  By Ece Toksabay and Angus McDowall ISTANBUL/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Turkish air strikes pounded a group of Kurdish fighters allied to a U.S.-backed militia in northern Syria overnight, highlighting the conflicting agendas of NATO members Ankara and Washington in an increasingly complex battlefield. The jets targeted positions of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in three villages, northeast of the city of Aleppo, that the SDF had captured from Islamic State, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said late on Wednesday. The Turkish military confirmed its warplanes had carried out 26 strikes on areas recently taken by the Kurdish YPG militia, the strongest force in the SDF, and that it had killed between 160 and 200 combatants.
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| U.N. chief pushes for rare General Assembly session on Syria Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:53 PM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pushed on Thursday for the 193-member General Assembly to hold a rare emergency special session on Syria since a deadlocked Security Council has failed to take action to end the nearly six-year war. Under a 1950 resolution, an emergency special session can be called for the General Assembly to consider a matter "with a view to making appropriate recommendations to members for collective measures" if the Security Council fails to act. "I regret that the Security Council has failed to discharge its responsibilities to uphold peace and security for Syria." Russia, a Syrian ally that has been providing military backing to the Syrian government for the past year, has vetoed five Security Council resolutions on Syria since 2011. |
| Correction: LeEco Makes Its Move story Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:48 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In a story Oct. 19 about LeEco's entrance into the U.S. market, The Associated Press erroneously reported the address of the company's online store. It is LeMall.com, not LeWeb.com
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| 21 Brazilian, foreign mining executives charged in dam burst Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:47 PM PDT RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Prosecutors charged 21 Brazilian and foreign mining executives with manslaughter and various environmental crimes Thursday, nearly a year after a mine dam burst killed 19 people and polluted hundreds of miles of rivers and streams. |
| France's Hollande warns UK's May of 'hard' Brexit talks Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:43 PM PDT  French President Francois Hollande on Thursday warned British Prime Minister Theresa May, during her first European Union summit, that she would face tough negotiations if she insists on a "hard Brexit". May is calling on EU leaders to work together for a "smooth" withdrawal following Britain's shock June vote to leave the bloc, but Hollande said her seeming preference for a decisive break means she will not get an easy ride. "I have said it very clearly: Madame Theresa May wants a hard Brexit?
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| 12 killed in Costa Rica bus plunge Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:43 PM PDT  San José (AFP) - A busplunged off a steep road in a mountainous area north of Costa Rica's capital on Thursday, killing 12 people and injuring another 12, rescue officials said. The 31 passengers on the bus were retired staff members of Costa Rica's National University on their way to an indigenous reserve to carry out social work, the institution's rector said. "It looks like the bus's brakes failed," Esteban Gonzalez, the son of one of the survivors, told a Costa Rican television network.
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| Wal-Mart, JD.com offer more choices ahead of Singles Day Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:43 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart and JD.com are offering more choices for Chinese shoppers ahead of Singles Day, one of the world's biggest online shopping days of the year.
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| Covering Hurricane Matthew in Haiti Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:39 PM PDT  By Carlos Garcia Rawlins JEREMIE, HAITI (Reuters) - The Haitian city of Jeremie was completely destroyed. Hurricane Matthew had hit Haiti hard, and I was there to photograph the storm's aftermath. When I first arrived, I checked into a hotel in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and waited for the hurricane to pass.
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| Libya forces free five foreign captives from Islamic State in Sirte Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:35 PM PDT Libyan pro-government forces have freed five foreign nationals held by Islamic State in Sirte after heavy fighting in their battle to capture the final district of the city, a local official said on Thursday. Islamic State took over Sirte more than a year ago, profiting from chaos caused by infighting among rival brigades of Libyan forces who once battled together to oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, but steadily turned against each other. Two of the freed foreigners were from Turkey, two from India and one from Bangladesh, said Rida Issa, a spokesman for the Bonyan Marsous forces which have been battling for six months against militants in Sirte. |
| Humanitarian truce begins in Aleppo, few leave Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:27 PM PDT  A "humanitarian pause" in the Syrian army's Russian-backed assault on Aleppo took effect Thursday, but despite a drop in violence there was little sign residents were heeding calls to leave. Late in the day Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Syrian rebels of preventing civilians from leaving areas of rebel-held east Aleppo, in violation of the truce. Moscow said the ceasefire would be extended by 24 hours, and the UN said it hoped to carry out the first medical evacuations from Aleppo on Friday, after getting clearance from all warring parties.
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| U.S. officials say 50-year-old woman killed by Takata air bag inflator in California Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:26 PM PDT DETROIT (AP) — U.S. officials say 50-year-old woman killed by Takata air bag inflator in California . |
| Mexican judge backs drug lord Guzman's US extradition Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:26 PM PDT  Mexico's government moved closer on Thursday to its goal of extraditing notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the United States by February, after a judge rejected an appeal. The attorney general's office said in a statement that a tribunal in Mexico City ruled against Guzman. The Foreign Ministry had approved the Sinaloa drug cartel chief's extradition in May, but his lawyers fought the decision in district court.
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| EU pushes for 'leverage' with Africa to curb migrants Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:22 PM PDT  EU leaders called Thursday for greater efforts to apply the "leverage" of trade and development with Africa in order to curb migrant departures to Europe and speed up the return of those who arrive. The European Union has been turning its sights on the central Mediterranean route from Libya to Italy since a March aid-for-cooperation deal with Turkey dramatically slowed the number of migrants landing in Greece, the main entry point for Europe last year. Adopting a statement at their Brussels summit, the leaders urged EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to present a report at the next summit in December on how much progress has been made with five African countries toward reducing migrant arrivals and increasing returns.
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| Minjee Lee leads Blue Bay LPGA, 2 days after Typhoon Sarika Posted: 20 Oct 2016 03:06 PM PDT HAINAN, China (AP) — Minjee Lee birdied the final three holes for a 7-under 65 and a two-stroke lead Thursday in the Blue Bay LPGA , playing in perfect conditions two days after Typhoon Sarika hit the resort. |
| Turkey ramps up fight against Kurdish fighters in Syria Posted: 20 Oct 2016 02:55 PM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — Turkey escalated its offensive Thursday against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, pounding them with airstrikes and artillery, and complicating the battle against the Islamic State group by Ankara and Washington, both NATO allies.
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