World
12th December
U.S. panel eyes sanctions against Amit Shah over India’s citizenship curb for Muslims
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A federal panel on religion has urged the United States to weigh sanctions against Home Minister Amit Shah if India adopts legislation to exclude Muslims from a path to citizenship for...
Fires from CP Rail train derailment under control: safety officials
(Reuters) – Fires are still burning at the site where a Canadian Pacific Railway train derailed early Monday while hauling oil, but they are under control, public safety officials said on Tuesday. The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) said in a statement the scene was contained, with about 100 responders focusing on suppressing the remaining...
Hudson’s Bay investor says will vote against take-private deal
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hudson’s Bay Co (HBC.TO) investor Ortelius Advisors LP said it will vote against the Saks Fifth Avenue owner’s C$1.9 billion ($1.4 billion) take-private deal because of what the hedge fund views as lapses in the sales process. Ortelius joins a number of investors who say the sale of the company to...
Meltdowns and touchdowns: How the U.S. scored a Canada-Mexico trade deal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Revising the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement took a year of acrimonious talks among Democrats, the chief U.S. negotiator and a labor union president – and may have set a world record for phones being slammed down in anger, according to one negotiator. On Tuesday top officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States...
South African mines grind to halt as floods worsen power crisis
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Mines across South Africa are shutting down after flash flooding caused the largest power blackouts in more than a decade, threatening a key export sector in a further blow to the country’s already slowing economy. Heavy rains across parts of South Africa have submerged whole neighbourhoods, leading to mass evacuations and aggravating...
Nobel peace laureate Abiy says militants, global powers threaten Horn of Africa
OSLO (Reuters) – Militant groups and global military powers both pose a threat to peace and stability in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Tuesday after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for forging a peace accord with Eritrea. Abiy won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize in October for his peacemaking...
11th December
UK’s Johnson now less certain of election victory: YouGov
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s election race has tightened markedly over the past two weeks and Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now likely to win only a modest majority in Thursday’s vote, according to a closely watched forecast released on Tuesday. The 28-seat Conservative margin of victory predicted by pollsters YouGov, down from 68 two weeks...
HSBC Swiss unit to pay $192 million in latest U.S. tax evasion deal
(Reuters) – The Swiss private banking unit of HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L) will pay $192.4 million to resolve a U.S. probe of its role in helping wealthy Americans evade taxes by using undeclared Swiss bank accounts, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday. The DoJ’s deal with HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA is the...
New Zealand recovery teams hoping to access White Island volcano on Wednesday
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that recovery teams were hoping to access the volcanic island on Wednesday where eight people are missing and feared dead, two days after an eruption killed six people. “That’s everyone’s hope,” Ardern told Reuters about the possibility of accessing White Island, which lies some 50...
Rapinoe adds a goal for 2020: helping Democrats win White House
NEW YORK (Reuters) – From award shows to magazine covers, it can often feel as though Megan Rapinoe is everywhere – and soon, that might include rallies for Democratic presidential candidates. The U.S. women’s national soccer team’s fiery co-captain is not running for office. But after helping the Americans clinch a second consecutive World Cup...
Powell’s ‘half-full’ U.S. glass sturdy but still at risk for spills as Fed meets
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has taken a glass-half-full view of the U.S. economy but the trouble may be that the glass has gotten smaller and has a few cracks. Over the next week it risks losing a few drops as deadlines approach for the United States to impose new tariffs on...
U.S. third-quarter labor cost growth cut; productivity soft
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Growth of U.S. labor costs was not as robust as initially thought in the third quarter, suggesting inflation could remain tame in the near term. The sharp downward revision to labor costs, reported by the Labor Department on Tuesday, also pointed to some easing of the squeeze on profit margins. Corporate profits...
Trump assails FBI Director Wray after report finds no evidence of political bias
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump berated FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday after a U.S. government investigation found no evidence of political bias when the FBI began investigating contacts between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia in 2016. Trump’s allies and his detractors both were encouraged by the Justice Department’s internal watchdog report, which on...
U.S. slaps sanctions on Myanmar military chief over Rohingya atrocities
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four Myanmar military leaders, including the commander-in-chief, in the toughest action taken yet by Washington for alleged human rights abuses against the Rohingya and other minorities. The sanctions targeted military chief Min Aung Hlaing on the same day that Myanmar’s civilian leader, Aung San...
Iran ready for full prisoner swap, ‘ball is in the U.S.’ court’: Zarif
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday the Islamic republic is ready for a full prisoner exchange with the United States, tweeting: “The ball is in the US’ court”. “After getting our hostage back this week, fully ready for comprehensive prisoner exchange,” Zarif said. The United States and Iran on...
U.S. Justice Department to review Google’s deal for Fitbit: source
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department will review plans by Alphabet Inc-owned (GOOGL.O) Google to buy fitness tracker maker Fitbit Inc (FIT.N) for possible antitrust issues, a source told Reuters on Tuesday. The $2.1 billion deal will give search and advertising giant Google the capability to take on Apple and Samsung in the crowded...
Peloton tumbles over 6% after short seller warns of competition
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Shares of Peloton Interactive (PTON.O) tumbled over 6% on Tuesday after noted short seller Andrew Left valued the seller of stationary exercise bicycles at about one seventh of its recent stock price. Left’s Citron Research warned that the Peloton’s bikes, priced at over $2,200, and its streaming exercise video service face...
U.S. Attorney General Barr says FBI may have acted in ‘bad faith’ on Russia probe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Attorney General William Barr said on Tuesday he is still not fully convinced that the FBI acted without bias when it opened its 2016 investigation into possible links between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia. In his first interview since a report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz faulting the...
Father’s energy legacy haunts Canada’s Trudeau as he seeks to heal rift with angry Alberta
(Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has an unusual challenge as he seeks to charm angry westerners who fear he will destroy the region’s oil and gas industry – the legacy of his father, who was reviled in much of the west for his energy policies. Pierre Trudeau, also a Liberal prime minister, pushed...
Trump is fourth U.S. president to face impeachment as Democrats unveil charges
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives announced impeachment charges against President Donald Trump on Tuesday, making him the fourth president in U.S. history to face a formal effort to remove him from office. The Democratic-controlled House is almost certain to vote to impeach the president as soon as next week, setting...
Brexit in January or second referendum: the UK election choice
LONDON (Reuters) – The Dec. 12 election will decide whether the United Kingdom leaves the European Union in January or moves toward another EU referendum. Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to deliver Brexit on Jan. 31. Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has promised a referendum. Results are due in the early hours...
Turkey cannot go back on NATO Poland-Baltics plan: Polish official
WARSAW (Reuters) – A senior Polish official said Monday there could be no backtracking from a NATO decision to pursue a defense plan for Poland and the Baltics after Ankara suggested it might still block it until allies designate a Kurdish militia as terrorists. After a NATO summit in London last week, alliance chief Jens...
Erdogan says Turkey aims to settle 1 million refugees in Syria offensive area
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey aims to settle one million Syrian war refugees in the area of northern Syria where it carried out a military incursion in October, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. He told state broadcaster TRT that Ankara would finance the resettlement on its own if allies did not provide support. Turkey and...
World leaders risk anger, more protests over inequality: U.N. official
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Political leaders around the world could face growing citizen anger if they cannot re-engage with unhappy populations, a United Nations official said on Monday, as heads of state around the world grapple with protests. Demonstrations in Latin America and elsewhere are connected to impatience with leaders who need to address the inequalities...
No let-up in Macron’s duel with unions on fifth day of strikes
PARIS (Reuters) – Trade unions called for more street protests after nationwide strikes aimed at forcing President Emmanuel Macron to abandon his pension reforms caused chaos on France’s transport networks for a fifth day on Monday. The week ahead will test whether Macron can deliver the social and economic change he says is necessary for...
U.N. Security Council to meet over North Korea on Wednesday at U.S. request
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council will meet on Wednesday, at the request of the United States, over missile launches by North Korea and the possibility of an “escalatory” provocation after Pyongyang conducted what it said was a key test at satellite launch site. The move comes amid growing tensions and stalled talks...
Rapinoe wins Sports Illustrated’s top prize to cap stellar year
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Megan Rapinoe collected another accolade in a stellar year by claiming Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year honor on Monday for her performance on the U.S. women’s World Cup-winning soccer team and for her campaigning off the field. Rapinoe rocketed to household fame this year, taking home the Golden Boot and...
10th December
Brazil to send security force to indigenous land after two shot dead
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil will send an emergency security force to the indigenous reserve of Cana Brava in the northeastern state of Maranhao to protect the Guajajara tribe after two members were shot dead over the weekend, a government decree said on Monday. The decree, signed by Justice Minister Sergio Moro, said the National Security...
UK PM Johnson criticized for response to photo of sick child
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under fire on Monday for his response to being shown a photo of a sick child lying on a hospital floor ahead of the Dec. 12 election. Johnson’s Conservatives lead the opposition Labour Party in opinion polls, with Brexit and the future of the country’s public...
Labour’s McDonnell: No run on sterling if we win election
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s opposition Labour Party is not expecting a run on the pound if the party wins Thursday’s election, Labour’s would-be finance minister John McDonnell said on Monday, adding that he thought the currency could rise instead. Asked what his plan to stop a selloff in sterling would be, McDonnell said: “There wouldn’t...
