Reuters: Top News

Israel fires back at Syria after gunshots at its troops

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:35:27 GMT

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli troops shot at a target across the Syrian frontier on Tuesday in response to gunfire that struck its forces in the Golan Heights, the Israeli military said.

EU mission seeks to rebuild Mali army after U.S. faltered

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:31:23 GMT

KOULIKORO, Mali (Reuters) - Under a blazing sun and the critical gaze of British and Irish instructors, a line of 11 Malian soldiers lie prone in the dust firing AK-47 rounds at targets, one-by-one.

Frenetic search for survivors as 91 feared dead in tornado-hit Oklahoma

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:25:03 GMT

MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Pre-dawn emergency workers searched feverishly for survivors in the rubble of homes, primary schools and an hospital in an Oklahoma City suburb ravaged by a massive Monday afternoon tornado feared to have killed up to 91 people and injured well over 200 residents.

Russia says two rebels killed in North Caucasus

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:09:22 GMT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian security forces killed two suspected militants in the North Caucasus during a night-time sweep in the region plagued by an Islamist insurgency, investigators said on Tuesday.

Analysis: Some Republicans see new scandal in Sebelius fundraising

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:06:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With the White House already reeling from three major controversies, some Republican lawmakers are zeroing in on what they perceive is another possible scandal tied to President Barack Obama's landmark health reform law just as it nears implementation.

Yahoo buying Tumblr for $1.1 billion, vows not to screw it up

Tue, 21 May 2013 05:41:58 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc will buy blogging service Tumblr for $1.1 billion cash, giving the Internet pioneer a much-needed social media platform to reach a younger generation of users and breathe new life into its ailing brand.

IRS officials back on Capitol Hill hot seat over targeting

Tue, 21 May 2013 05:03:29 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate panel will try on Tuesday to pry more details out of current and former officials of the Internal Revenue Service about the agency's targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they sought tax-exempt status.

JPMorgan investors on edge over vote on Dimon; what if they win?

Tue, 21 May 2013 04:14:33 GMT

TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - As final ballots come in on a proposal to strip JPMorgan Chase & Co Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon of his chairman title, some worry about what will happen if shareholders win what will likely be a close vote.

Japan April exports seen up but trade deficit to persist

Tue, 21 May 2013 02:48:14 GMT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's exports are expected to have risen in April from a year earlier for a second straight month led by U.S.-bound shipments of cars and Asian demand for electronics parts in a sign a weak yen and global recovery are helping the export-reliant economy.

Pentagon to take over some CIA drone operations : sources

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:35:38 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration has decided to give the Pentagon control of some drone operations against terrorism suspects overseas that are currently run by the CIA, several U.S. government sources said on Monday.

Brazil probes rumor that set off panic run on state bank

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:29:02 GMT

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said on Monday she ordered the Federal Police to investigate the source of a rumor that sent thousands of poor Brazilians running to state bank branches seeking payment of a monthly family stipend.

Court orders prison to hand over files in Boston bomb case

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:28:29 GMT

BOSTON (Reuters) - A federal judge approved a request by accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers that his jailers hand over their files on him, including suicide watch logs and psychological data, according to court documents released on Monday.

Court orders prison to hand over files in Boston bomb case

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:59:33 GMT

Yahoo buying Tumblr for $1.1 billion, vows not to screw it up

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:55:00 GMT

Monster tornado flattens suburb of Oklahoma City

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:52:09 GMT

MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - A huge tornado with winds of up to 200 miles per hour devastated the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday, ripping up at least two elementary schools and a hospital and leaving a wake of tangled wreckage.

Gay marriage law strains UK Cameron's leadership, government

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:15:11 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron's flagship gay marriage policy deepened a rift in his own party on Monday after many of his own lawmakers defied him in a sign of growing strains on his leadership and his coalition government.

Hezbollah in big Syria battle, Obama 'concerned'

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:26:36 GMT

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas have fought their biggest battle yet for Syria's beleaguered president, prompting international alarm that the civil war may spread and an urgent call for restraint from the United States.

Chief Palestinian peace negotiator backs Kerry's efforts

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:45:47 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The top Palestinian negotiator with Israel on Monday threw his weight behind U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's bid to revive stalled peace talks, while describing the situation in the West Bank as apartheid worse than that suffered in South Africa.

Tornado on the ground in Oklahoma City area

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:36:31 GMT

(Reuters) - A tornado was on the ground in the Oklahoma City metropolitan are on Monday, live television showed, and the National Weather Service warned of tornadoes in two counties of central Oklahoma.

Powerful tornadoes strike in four central U.S. states

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:16:20 GMT

(Reuters) - A massive storm front swept north through the central United States on Sunday, hammering the region with fist-sized hail, blinding rain and tornadoes, including a half-mile wide twister that struck near Oklahoma City. News reports said at least one person had died.

Dagestan bombs kill four, two dead in shootout near Moscow

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:55:19 GMT

MAKHACHKALA, Russia (Reuters) - Two car bombs killed at least four people and wounded dozens of others on Monday in one of the bloodiest attacks this year in Dagestan, a turbulent province in Russia's North Caucasus region where armed groups are waging an Islamist insurgency.

Brazil probes rumor that set off panic run on state bank

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:50:56 GMT

Bomb attacks kill more than 70 Shi'ites across Iraq

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:15:45 GMT

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than 70 people were killed in a series of car bombings and suicide attacks targeting Shi'ite Muslims across Iraq on Monday, police and medics said, extending the worst sectarian violence since U.S. troops withdrew in December 2011.

Nigeria says has Islamists on defensive

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:51:27 GMT

MAIDUGURI (Reuters) - Nigeria claimed an early success for its military offensive against Islamist insurgents in the northeast on Monday, saying the militants' activities had been stifled by nearly a week of attacks on their bases.

Mexican opposition dispute goes public, threatening reforms

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:09:22 GMT

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Divisions within Mexico's main conservative opposition party have erupted into a bitter public dispute that threatens to undermine the reform agenda of President Enrique Pena Nieto.