Exclusive: U.S., others agreed 'secret' exemptions for Iran after nuclear deal - report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its negotiating partners agreed "in secret" to allow Iran to evade some restrictions in last year's landmark nuclear agreement in order to meet the deadline for it to start getting relief from economic sanctions, according to a report reviewed by Reuters.

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Lawyers for Texas 'affluenza' teen seek his release from jail

FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - Lawyers for the Texas "affluenza" teenager who killed four people while driving drunk are seeking to have him released from a two-year jail term, arguing the judge who sentenced him had no authority to place him behind bars.

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Brazil's Rousseff ousted in end to impeachment process

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Senate removed President Dilma Rousseff from office on Wednesday for breaking budgetary laws, ending an impeachment process that has polarized the scandal-plagued country and paralyzed its politics for nine months.

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Trump to make sudden trip to Mexico after searing criticism

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump will travel to Mexico on Wednesday and meet President Enrique Pena Nieto in an unexpected trip to a country which the Republican presidential candidate has frequently vilified as the main source of illegal immigration and drug smuggling to the United States.

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U.S. private payrolls rise solidly; pending home sales jump

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. private employers maintained a steady pace of hiring in August and contracts to buy previously owned homes surged in July, suggesting the economy was regaining sufficient momentum for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year.

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U.S. private sector adds 177,000 jobs in August: ADP

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. private employers added 177,000 jobs in August, above economists' expectations, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

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Exclusive: SWIFT discloses more cyber thefts, pressures banks on security

(Reuters) - SWIFT, the global financial messaging system, on Tuesday disclosed new hacking attacks on its member banks as it pressured them to comply with security procedures instituted after February's high-profile $81 million heist at Bangladesh Bank.

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Trump calls Democrats 'party of slavery' in minority outreach effort

EVERETT, Washington (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump on Tuesday night called Democrats the "party of slavery" and praised what he called the millions of African Americans with career success, as he tries to revamp his outreach to minority voters.

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Florida Republicans pick Marco Rubio for Senate race: AP

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Marco Rubio, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race earlier this year, was chosen on Tuesday as the Republican Party nominee for a second U.S. Senate term from Florida, according to the Associated Press.

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Trade critic Trump visits Boeing Co's backyard

EVERETT, Washington/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump, who has made his criticism of a pending Pacific trade agreement central to his campaign, on Tuesday was to visit a Seattle suburb that is home to a large Boeing Co plane manufacturing facility that depends heavily on sales to Asian markets.

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Obama shortens prison sentences of 111 convicts: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama shortened the prison sentences of 111 convicts serving time for drug-related offenses in his second round of clemency grants this month, the White House said on Tuesday.

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U.S. aware of Afghan hostage video, assessing it: State Dept.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday that authorities were assessing the validity of a video released by Afghan militants that depicts U.S. hostage Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, who were seized four years ago.

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Islamic State leader in charge of foreign attacks killed in Syria

BEIRUT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Islamic State group announced on Tuesday that one of its longest-serving and most prominent leaders, responsible for attacks overseas, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, had been killed in Aleppo province in Syria.

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U.S. consumer confidence hits 11-month high; house prices gain

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence rose to an 11-month high in August, with households more upbeat about the labor market, in a further sign that the economy was regaining steam after faltering in the first half of the year.

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Washington warns of strain on EU economic relationship after Apple ruling

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A European Commission order requiring Apple Inc to pay $13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in taxes on Tuesday drew swift and angry rebukes from the Obama administration and lawmakers in Congress, while re-igniting calls for international tax reform.

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Trump hovers over McCain, Rubio U.S. Senate re-election contests

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican voters in Arizona and Florida are expected to pick Senators John McCain and Marco Rubio as their respective U.S. Senate nominees when they go to the polls on Tuesday, but one name not on either ballot, Donald Trump, looms large.

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EU orders Apple to pay up to 13 billion euros tax to Ireland

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators ordered Apple on Tuesday to pay up to 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in taxes to the Irish government after ruling that a special scheme to route profits through Ireland was illegal state aid.

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U.S.-led coalition planes hit Islamic State in north Syria: Turkish military

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition warplanes hit Islamic State targets near the Syrian frontier town of Jarablus overnight, the Turkish military said on Tuesday, as forces backed by Ankara pushed deeper into north Syria.

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FBI detects breaches against two state voter systems

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation has found breaches in Illinois and Arizona's voter registration databases and is urging states to increase computer security ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election, according to a U.S. official familiar with the probe.

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Clinton aide Abedin leaves husband Weiner after sexting report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Huma Abedin, one of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's top aides, said on Monday that she was separating from her husband, Anthony Weiner, after a sex scandal similar to an earlier incident that led him to resign from the U.S. Congress.

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Automobiles boost U.S. consumer spending; inflation still tame

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending increased for a fourth straight month in July amid strong demand for automobiles, pointing to a pickup in economic growth that could pave the way for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year.

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Suicide bomber kills 54 in Yemen attack: health ministry

ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least 54 people when he drove a car bomb into a militia compound in Aden on Monday, the health ministry said, in one of the deadliest attacks claimed by Islamic State in the southern Yemeni port city.

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Trump to give speech on illegal immigration on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday night that he would make a major speech on illegal immigration in Arizona on Wednesday.

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Two Chicago brothers on parole charged in murder of NBA star's cousin

(Reuters) - Chicago police on Sunday said they have arrested two brothers and charged them with the fatal shooting of basketball star Dwyane Wade's cousin as she pushed a baby in a stroller, a murder that has stunned a city plagued by a surge in gang-related violence.

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Anti-burkini law in France would worsen tension: interior minister

PARIS (Reuters) - A law banning the full-body "burkini" swimsuit in France would stoke tensions between communities and would be both unconstitutional and ineffective, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in an interview published on Sunday.

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Iran arrests nuclear negotiator suspected of spying

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has arrested a member of the negotiating team that reached a landmark nuclear deal with world powers on suspicion of spying, a judiciary spokesman said on Sunday.

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Germany's economy minister: U.S.-EU free trade talks have failed

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Sunday that talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a free trade deal being negotiated by the United States and the European Union, had essentially failed.

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Turkish army thrusts deeper into Syria, monitors say 35 villagers killed

KARKAMIS, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey's army and its allies thrust deeper into Syria on Sunday, seizing territory controlled by Kurdish-aligned forces on the fifth day of a cross-border campaign that a monitoring group said had killed at least 35 villagers.

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Trump vows crackdown on immigrants who overstay visas if elected

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump offered fresh details of how he would tackle illegal immigration on Saturday, saying he would crack down on those who overstay their visas as he sought to quiet criticism from conservatives.

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Half of Germans against Merkel serving fourth term: poll

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's domestic popularity has declined, a poll showed on Sunday, with 50 percent of Germans against her serving a fourth term in office after a federal election next year.

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New tans, same old 'polycrisis' as Europe's summer ends

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union grinds back into action this week after its August break, still dazed by Britain's midsummer vote to quit the EU and facing much the same "polycrisis" as a year ago: a mass of refugees, a fragile economy, hostile Russians and, yes, those Brits, now more awkward than ever.

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As Obama heads to Laos, signs of a tilt away from China

VIENTIANE (Reuters) - The secretive communist government of Laos, a country with a population of less than 7 million, rarely causes a ripple on the diplomatic circuit. And yet its sleepy capital will spring to life next week when global leaders arrive for an Asian summit.

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Clinton attacks Trump's outreach to black voters in new ad

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton called on Friday for voters to reject the "bigotry" of Donald Trump's White House campaign, releasing a television ad criticizing his efforts to appeal to black voters and saying she was reaching out to people from all parties who are troubled by his candidacy.

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France's Ayrault urges Russia to back U.N. resolution on Syria

PARIS (Reuters) - A U.N. report on the use of chemical weapons in Syria is a chance to push Russia to accept a resolution condemning the Syrian regime and resume political negotiations, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said.

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Kurdish-aligned group in north Syria says targeted by Turkish warplanes

KARKAMIS, Turkey (Reuters) - A group allied to Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said it was bombarded by Turkish warplanes on Saturday, after Turkey's military launched an incursion this week into northern Syria against both Islamic State and Kurdish forces.

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Clinton leads Trump by 5 points in Reuters/Ipsos poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton leads her Republican rival Donald Trump by 5 percentage points among likely voters, down from a peak this month of 12 points, according to the Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll released on Friday.

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Italy holds state funeral for 35 of earthquake's victims

ASCOLI PICENO, Italy (Reuters) - Italy marked a day of national mourning on Saturday for 290 people killed in a quake that devastated parts of its mountainous heart, holding a state funeral for 35 of the victims.

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Exclusive: FBI raids home of ex-College Board official in probe of SAT leak

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal agents searched the home of a former employee-turned-outspoken critic of the College Board, the standardized testing giant, as part of an investigation into the breach of hundreds of questions from the SAT college entrance exam.

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Tropical Storm Madeline forms east of Hawaiian Islands: NHC

(Reuters) - Tropical storm Madeline has formed in the northern Pacific ocean, well east-southeast of the Hawaiian Islands, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in an advisory on Friday.

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Fed's Yellen says case for interest rate hike has strengthened

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (Reuters) - The case for raising U.S. interest rates has strengthened in recent months because of improvements in the labor market and expectations for moderate economic growth, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Friday.

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Turkey signals no quick end to Syria incursion as truck bomb kills 11

ISTANBUL/KARKAMIS, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkish forces will remain in Syria for as long as it takes to cleanse the border of Islamic State and other militants, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday, after a truck bombing by Kurdish insurgents killed at least 11 police officers.

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Nine dead, dozens wounded in blast at police headquarters in southeast Turkey

ANKARA (Reuters) - A car bomb explosion rocked a police headquarters in the town of Cizre in Turkey on Friday, killing nine people and wounding dozens, sources said, in the latest in a spate of attacks in the country's turbulent south east.

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New Syrian rebel advance against IS may take months, commander says

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels, who this week seized a strategic town from Islamic State, aim to move westward in the next phase of their Turkey-backed operation, an advance that could take weeks or months to complete, a rebel commander said.

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Judge orders search of new Clinton emails for release by September 13

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge ordered the State Department on Thursday to release by Sept. 13 any emails it finds between Hillary Clinton and the White House from the week of the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, among the thousands of additional emails uncovered by federal investigators.

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U.S. ship fires warning shots at Iranian vessel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy ship fired warning shots after an Iranian fast-attack craft approached two U.S. ships in the northern Gulf, a U.S. defense official said on Thursday, in the most serious of a number of incidents in the same area this week.

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Trump, Clinton spar over minority voters

PALO ALTO, Calif./NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump clashed on Thursday over who would make a better president for the country's minorities, with each accusing the other of posing a threat to the interests of blacks and Latinos.

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Mylan cuts EpiPen costs after Clinton criticism

(Reuters) - Mylan NV said on Thursday it would reduce the out-of-pocket cost of its severe allergy treatment EpiPen, a day after Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton joined other lawmakers in criticizing the high price of the drug.

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Exclusive: Companies made deals that could run afoul of U.S. whistleblower rules

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wells Fargo , Advanced Micro Devices and Fifth Third Bank have in recent years agreed to settlement deals that seek to muzzle former employees in ways that some lawyers said could violate U.S. whistleblower protection laws.

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Clinton to accuse Trump of embracing nativist political movement

PALO ALTO, California (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton will accuse Donald Trump of embracing a brand of U.S. political conservatism associated with white nationalism and nativism when she makes a Nevada campaign stop on Thursday.

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More Turkish tanks enter Syria in push against Islamic State, Kurdish militia

KARKAMIS, Turkey (Reuters) - At least nine more Turkish tanks entered northern Syria on Thursday as part of an operation aimed at driving Islamic State out of the area around Jarablus and preventing Kurdish militia fighters from seizing territory, Reuters witnesses said.

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Brexit leader Nigel Farage addresses Trump rally, bashes Clinton

JACKSON, Miss. (Reuters) - Nigel Farage, a key figure in the successful campaign to get Britain out of the European Union, lent his support to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Wednesday, saying Trump represented the same type of anti-establishment movement that he masterminded in his own country.

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Gun, bomb attack on American University in Kabul kills 12: police

KABUL (Reuters) - Twelve people, including seven students, were killed in an attack on the American University in Kabul that sent hundreds of students fleeing in panic, police said early on Thursday, before the assault ended when two gunmen were shot dead.

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Iran vessels make 'high speed intercept' of U.S. ship: U.S. official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessels "harassed" a U.S. warship on Tuesday near the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. defense official said, amid Washington's concerns about Iran's posture in the Gulf and in the Syrian civil war.

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Exclusive: Clinton leads Trump in key swing states, would likely win election - poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) - If the U.S. presidential election were held today, Democrat Hillary Clinton would win the key swing states of Florida, Ohio and Virginia and have a 95 percent chance of beating Republican Donald Trump to become America’s first female president, according to the Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project.

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Gunmen attack American university in Kabul, students trapped

KABUL (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul on Wednesday, with explosions and gunfire reported inside the campus where foreign staff and hundreds of students were trapped, an interior ministry official and a student said.

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Chorus grows for Clintons to shutter charitable foundation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The foundation started by Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton should shut down despite its good work, two major newspapers said in editorials on Wednesday, calling for its closure to avoid perceptions of "pay-for-play" amid the U.S. presidential campaign as critics step up their attacks over the issue.

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Turkish tanks, special forces launch first major push into Syria to battle IS

KARKAMIS, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkish special forces, tanks and jets backed by planes from the U.S.-led coalition launched their first co-ordinated offensive into Syria on Wednesday to try to drive Islamic State from the border and prevent further gains by Kurdish militia fighters.

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Trump suggests potential softening in hardline position on immigration

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump held out the possibility on Tuesday of a softening of his hardline position on illegal immigration, a move that could help move him to the political center but hurt him with his most ardent supporters.

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North Korea fires submarine-launched ballistic missile toward Japan

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired a submarine-launched missile on Wednesday that flew about 500 km (311 miles) toward Japan, a show of improving technological capability for the isolated country that has conducted a series of launches in defiance of UN sanctions.

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Bomb blasts kill one, wound 30 in southern Thailand: police

BANGKOK (Reuters) - One Thai person was killed and 30 wounded when two bombs exploded late on Tuesday near a hotel in the southern Thai coastal town of Pattani, police said, less than two weeks after a series of unexplained blasts hit the south.

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Special Report: Massacre reports show U.S. inability to curb Iraq militias

WASHINGTON(Reuters) - Shi’ite militias in Iraq detained, tortured and abused far more Sunni civilians during the American-backed capture of the town of Falluja in June than U.S. officials have publicly acknowledged, Reuters has found.

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Reporters at New York Times, other U.S. media, hacked: CNN

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI and other U.S. security agencies are investigating cyber breaches targeting reporters at the New York Times and other U.S. news organizations thought to have been carried out by hackers working for Russian intelligence, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

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Trump finds Republican rallying cry in Clinton Foundation attacks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has struggled to drive a consistent message and consolidate the support of his own party, is honing his attack on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and the foundation bearing her last name, making it a rallying cry for fellow Republicans to get behind his campaign.

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As Kerry lands in Nigeria, air force says top Boko Haram fighters killed

SOKOTO, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's air force said it had killed a number of senior Boko Haram fighters and possibly their overall leader, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived for talks on tackling the militants.

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Kurdish group in near full control of Syria's Hasaka city

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Kurdish forces were in near full control of Syria's city of Hasaka on Tuesday after battling pro-government militias, though some government officials remained holed up in buildings in the city center, a Kurdish official and monitoring group said.

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Obama to tour flood-battered areas in Louisiana

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will visit Louisiana on Tuesday to assess flood damage there, days after he was criticized for not cutting short his vacation on Martha's Vineyard to view the devastation in the Gulf Coast state.

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Three shells fired from Syria hit Turkish border town, Turkey retaliates: TV

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Three rocket shells fired from Syria hit the Turkish border town of Kilis on Tuesday and Turkey's military fired back in response, broadcaster NTV cited the Turkish armed forces as saying.

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Ryan Lochte loses all his major sponsors after Rio incident, apology

(Reuters) - U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte lost all four of his major sponsors on Monday, including Speedo USA and Ralph Lauren Corp , following his apology for an "exaggerated" story about being robbed at gunpoint at the Rio Games.

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Turkish military returns fire in Syria after shells hit border town: NTV

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's military returned fire at Islamic State targets in northern Syria on Tuesday, after two mortar shells from Syria hit a Turkish border town, broadcaster NTV said, citing the military.

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Judge orders State Dept. to review 14,900 new Clinton emails

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A judge ordered the State Department on Monday to review and determine the potential release of 14,900 documents, most of which are believed to be emails to or from Hillary Clinton, that turned up in an FBI investigation of her use of a private email server as secretary of state.

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Federal Reserve under growing pressure to reform system, goals

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve has two guiding goals when designing monetary policy: maximum employment and stable inflation.

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U.S. judge blocks Obama transgender school bathroom policy

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A U.S. judge blocked an Obama administration policy that public schools should allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice, granting a nationwide injunction sought by 13 dissenting states just in time for the new school year.

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New York grand jury charges man with murder of Muslim cleric

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York City grand jury on Monday indicted a Brooklyn man who is accused of fatally shooting a Muslim cleric and his assistant this month after they left a mosque in Queens.

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U.S. clearance for ChemChina deal sends Syngenta stock soaring

ZURICH (Reuters) - A U.S. national security panel has cleared ChemChina's $43 billion takeover of Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta , the companies said, boosting chances that the largest foreign acquisition ever by a Chinese company will go through.

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Asian shares slip, dollar stands tall on Fed hike bets

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares slipped on Monday and the dollar pulled away from last week's lows on expectations that a signal might emerge from a Federal Reserve gathering this week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming that the U.S. central bank is gearing up to hike interest rates.

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Pfizer nears $14 billion deal for Medivation

(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc is in advanced talks to acquire U.S. cancer drug company Medivation Inc for close to $14 billion, as it seeks to boost its oncology portfolio, a person familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

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Trump's plans to deport illegal immigrants 'to be determined': aide

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top aide to Donald Trump said on Sunday the Republican presidential nominee’s plans to deport 11 million people who are in the United States illegally were a work in progress and that he was committed to a "fair and humane" approach on immigration.

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Suspect in Alabama quintuple murder kidnapped girlfriend, police say

(Reuters) - A 27-year-old Mississippi man murdered five people, including a pregnant woman, at a home in rural Alabama early on Saturday before kidnapping his estranged girlfriend and a 3-month-old, authorities said on Sunday.

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Fed close to hitting job and inflation targets: Fischer

(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is close to hitting its targets for full employment and 2 percent inflation, the Fed's No. 2 policymaker said on Sunday in comments that did not address when the U.S. central bank should next raise interest rates.

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Syrian rebels prepare attack from Turkey on Islamic State town

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hundreds of Syrian rebels are preparing to launch an operation to capture a town held by Islamic State at the border with Turkey, a senior Syrian rebel said on Sunday, a move that would frustrate Kurdish hopes to expand further in that area.

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Iraq hangs 36 people sentenced to death for 2014 killings

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq said on Sunday it had hanged 36 militants sentenced to death over the mass killing of hundreds of mainly Shi'ite soldiers at a camp north of Baghdad in 2014.

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Eight killed in blast at wedding in southeast Turkey: state media

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Eight people were killed and 60 were wounded on Saturday, security sources said, in what a regional official in southern Turkey called a "terror attack" on a wedding party.

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Ex-U.S. Navy SEAL author agrees to pay $6.8 million to government: NY Times

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former U.S. Navy SEAL who wrote a book about the daring operation on Osama Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan has agreed to forfeit $6.8 million in book royalties and speaking fees, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing federal court documents.

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U.S. to send delegation to Turkey for Gulen probe: official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Justice and State Department officials will fly to Ankara to discuss government accusations against Fethullah Gulen, the exiled cleric Turkey accuses of masterminding a failed military coup, according to a Justice Department official.

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Triathlon: Jorgensen takes gold with perfect race

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Hot favorite Gwen Jorgensen produced the perfect race to win the Olympic women's triathlon gold on Saturday, the American unusually staying with her rivals on the bike before surging clear of defending champion Nicola Spirig-Hug on the run.

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Kurds versus Syrian army battle intensifies, complicating multi-fronted war

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Fighting between the Syrian army and Kurdish forces intensified late on Friday and into Saturday, creating the risk of yet another front opening in the multi-sided civil war.

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Clinton leads Trump by eight points: Reuters/Ipsos poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton leads Republican rival Donald Trump by 8 percentage points among likely voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Friday.

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Russian cruise missiles target Syria

BEIRUT/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired cruise missiles at targets near Aleppo on Friday, a further sign of Moscow's broadening military effort in Syria days after it began to fly bombing missions from an airbase in Iran.

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U.S. Army fudged its accounts by trillions of dollars, auditor finds

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States Army’s finances are so jumbled it had to make trillions of dollars of improper accounting adjustments to create an illusion that its books are balanced.

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Trump says campaign chairman Manafort resigns

(Reuters) - Paul Manafort resigned as chairman of Donald Trump's U.S. presidential campaign on Friday, Trump said, days after the Republican candidate effectively demoted him in a leadership shakeup aimed at boosting his struggling White House bid.

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Two U.S. swimmers land in Miami after Olympic Committee apology

MIAMI/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Two U.S. swimmers accused of fabricating a story about being robbed at gunpoint during the Rio Games landed in Miami from Brazil early on Friday, a Reuters witness said.

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Ukrainian MP offers more details on alleged payments to Trump campaign chief

KIEV (Reuters) - A Ukrainian lawmaker on Friday divulged more details of what he said were payments made to Donald Trump's campaign chief in the U.S. presidential race by the political party of the Kremlin-backed former Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich.

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Trump says he regrets past remarks that 'caused personal pain'

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump apologized on Thursday for past remarks that "may have caused personal pain" as he sought to refocus his message in the face of falling opinion poll numbers in his first speech since shaking up his campaign team this week.

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U.S. says payment to Iran used as leverage for prisoners' release

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it released $400 million in cash to Iran under a tribunal settlement only once it was assured that American prisoners had been freed and had boarded a plane.

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Hackers targeted Trump campaign, Republican Party groups: sources

(Reuters) - Hackers targeted the computer systems of presidential candidate Donald Trump and Republican Party organizations as well as Democratic Party networks, sources familiar with investigations into the attacks said.

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U.S. to phase out federal use of privately-operated prisons

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department plans to phase out its use of privately-operated prisons, which it called less safe and less effective than government-run facilities, according to a memo released publicly by the department on Thursday.

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Ukraine could introduce martial law if eastern fighting worsens: Poroshenko

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday he did not rule out introducing martial law and a new wave of military mobilization if the conflict with pro-Russian separatists worsened.

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Jobless claims fall more than expected as labor market firms

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, reinforcing views of labor market strength that could encourage the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates soon.

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Trump hires 'street fighter' in new shakeup of White House campaign

(Reuters) - U.S. Republican Donald Trump overhauled his presidential campaign team on Wednesday for the second time in less than two months, hiring the head of a conservative news website to bolster his combative image and try to reverse poor opinion poll numbers.

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Car bomb kills three, wounds 170 in eastern Turkey: governor's office

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Three police officers were killed and 170 people wounded by a car bomb at a police station in Turkey's eastern city of Elazig on Thursday, the local governor's office said, hours after a similar attack killed three people elsewhere in the region.

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Brazil police pull U.S. swimmers from flight in robbery probe

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian police stopped three U.S. Olympic swimmers from boarding a flight home on Wednesday to question them about inconsistencies in their accounts of being robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro, police sources said.

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Lawmakers review FBI documents on Clinton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI documents about the agency's investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state were being reviewed on Wednesday in secure rooms of the U.S. Capitol.

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Cisco to cut 5,500 jobs in shift from switches to software

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc said it would cut nearly 7 percent of its workforce, posting charges of up to $400 million in its first quarter, as the world's largest networking gear maker shifts focus from its legacy hardware towards higher-margin software.

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U.S. assessing if Russian use of Iran base violates U.N. resolution

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is looking at whether Russia has violated a U.N. Security Council resolution on military dealings with Tehran by using an Iranian air base to carry out strikes inside Syria, the State Department said on Wednesday.

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Cisco Systems to lay off about 14,000 employees: CRN

(Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc is laying off about 14,000 employees, representing nearly 20 percent of the network equipment maker's global workforce, technology news site CRN reported, citing sources close to the company.

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Russia uses Iran to strike Syria militants again, rejects U.S. censure

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia used an Iranian air base to launch air strikes in Syria for a second day running on Wednesday, rejecting U.S. suggestions its co-operation with Tehran might violate a U.N. resolution.

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North Korea's deputy ambassador defects in London: reports

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's deputy ambassador in London has defected with his family, according to media reports, which if confirmed would make it one of the most high-profile defections in recent years from the increasingly isolated country.

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U.S. Supreme Court stance on North Carolina law to send signal on voting limits

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court's handling of North Carolina's long-shot bid to reinstate its contentious voter identification law will set the tone for the court's treatment of similar cases that could reach the justices before the Nov. 8 elections.

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FBI delivers documents on Clinton email probe to U.S. Congress

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI said on Tuesday it has turned over to the U.S. Congress a number of documents related to its investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.

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Putin hints at war in Ukraine but may be seeking diplomatic edge

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ukraine says it thinks Vladimir Putin is planning a new invasion, and it's not hard to see why: the Russian leader has built up troops on its border and resumed the hostile rhetoric that preceded his annexation of Crimea two years ago.

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Trump visits Milwaukee, to address unrest over police shooting

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, visited Milwaukee on Tuesday, days after the city was hit by unrest over the fatal police shooting of a black man, and said that initial evidence pointed to the shooting being justified.

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Exclusive: U.S. seeks Latin American help amid rise in Asian, African migrants

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington is seeking closer coordination with several Latin American countries to tackle a jump in migrants from Asia, Africa and the Middle East who it believes are trying to reach the United States from the south on an arduous route by plane, boat and through jungle on foot.

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Russia uses Iran as base to bomb Syrian militants for first time

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia used Iran as a base from which to launch air strikes against Syrian militants for the first time on Tuesday, widening its air campaign in Syria and deepening its involvement in the Middle East.

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Trump ignored facts with dig at Merkel's refugee policy: German minister

BERLIN (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump ignored the facts with his assertion that German Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door refugee policy had resulted in a huge increase in crime, a German minister told Reuters on Tuesday.

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U.S. consumer prices unchanged; underlying inflation slowing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer prices were unchanged in July as the cost of gasoline fell for the first time in five months and underlying inflation moderated, which could further diminish the prospect of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase this year.

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World stocks edge away from one-year peak, dollar on defensive

LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks markets edged away from one-year peaks on Tuesday as a stellar rally stalled, while the dollar hit a one-month low against the yen as recent weak U.S. economic data was seen limiting the scope for a near-term rate hike.

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Pentagon announces single largest transfer of Guantanamo inmates

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials said on Monday 15 inmates from the Guantanamo prison were transferred to the United Arab Emirates, the single largest transfer of Guantanamo detainees during President Barack Obama's administration.

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Obama warns Democrats against overconfidence about Clinton victory

CHILMARK, Mass. (Reuters) - Declaring he was tired of talking about Donald Trump, President Barack Obama urged Democrats on Monday not to grow too confident about their prospects in the 2016 election despite Hillary Clinton's strong position in the race for the White House.

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Martin Luther King Jr.'s heirs end Nobel medal dispute

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Martin Luther King Jr.'s heirs have agreed to end their legal fight over who owns the slain civil rights leader's 1964 Nobel Peace Prize medal, according to a court document filed on Monday, but did not disclose if the item will be sold.

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'We owe you so much,' Kosovo to tell Biden as street named after late son

SOJEVE, Kosovo (Reuters) - On a busy road in Kosovo, brand new signs have been put up ahead of a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, showing the 35-km route in the southeast of the small Balkan nation that has been renamed after his late son Beau.

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Russia says close to joint military action with U.S. in Aleppo: agencies

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and the United States are close to starting joint military action against militants in Syria's Aleppo, Russian news agencies on Monday quoted Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying.

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Fix campaign or step aside, Wall Street Journal tells Trump

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump should fix his stumbling White House campaign in the next three weeks or step down, The Wall Street Journal said on Monday in a sharply worded warning from a leading conservative voice.

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In Dallas, police bear the burden of stark inequities

DALLAS, August 15 (Reuters) - Antoinette Brown begged, in her final words, "somebody help me." Then she was mauled to death by a pack of wild dogs.

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Search at New York's JFK airport finds no signs of gunfire

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A preliminary investigation at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport found no evidence of gunfire inside one of its terminals on Sunday despite earlier reports of shots being heard, the airport's operator said.

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Asia shares take breather as Japan's economic growth stalls

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares inched back from one-year peaks on Monday after Japanese data showed the world's third largest economy hit an air pocket last quarter, while oil prices held onto their recent gains as markets globally made a slow start to the week.

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Protests over killing of suspect prompt call for National Guard

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Milwaukee County's sheriff called on Sunday for the National Guard to be deployed in a predominantly black neighborhood where protesters set off a night of fiery rioting in response to the police killing of an armed suspect.

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Kurdish forces in fresh push to capture Mosul from Islamic State

WARDAK, Iraq (Reuters) - Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a fresh attack on Islamic State (IS) forces early on Sunday as part of a campaign to capture Mosul, the militants' de facto capital in Iraq, Kurdish officials said.

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Lochte robbed in taxi hold-up after leaving party, friend says

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - U.S. gold medal swimmer Ryan Lochte was robbed in a taxi hold-up in Rio de Janeiro after leaving a party where he had been celebrating the end of the Olympic swimming program, he told fellow competitor Thiago Pereira.

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Woman and suspect die after Swiss train attack, two girls in serious condition

ZURICH (Reuters) - One woman died and two girls were in serious condition a day after an attack on a Swiss train by a man armed with a knife and flammable fluid which also claimed the suspect's life, local police said on Sunday.

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Muslim cleric and associate shot to death on New York street

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Muslim cleric and an associate were fatally shot by a lone gunman on Saturday while walking together following afternoon prayers at a mosque in the New York City borough of Queens, authorities said.

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Boko Haram video claims to show missing Nigerian school girls

BAUCHI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian militant group Boko Haram has published a video apparently showing recent footage of dozens of school girls kidnapped two years ago, and saying some of them have been killed in air strikes.

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United States wins 1,000th Olympic gold medal

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The United States won its 1,000th Olympic gold medal on Saturday when the American women's 4x100 meter medley relay team clinched victory at the Rio Games.

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Swimming: Phelps wins last relay gold as U.S. dominate

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Michael Phelps captured his 23rd and final Olympic gold medal on Saturday as the United States sealed a week of dominance in the pool by winning the men's and women's medley relays.

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Swimming: Manuel anchors medley team to 1,000th U.S. gold

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Simone Manuel anchored the U.S. women's 4x100 meters medley relay team to the 1,000th gold medal in her country's Olympic history on Saturday, and the second of her career.

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Swimming: U.S. wins men's medley relay, golden send-off for Phelps

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The United States won the men's 4x100 meters medley relay on Saturday after Ryan Murphy had given them a world record start that propelled Michael Phelps to a 23rd gold medal in his final Olympic race.

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'Unprecedented' flooding slams U.S. Gulf Coast; at least two dead

BATON ROUGE, La. (Reuters) - Torrential rainfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast has caused "unprecedented" flooding in parts of Louisiana, Governor John Bel Edwards said on Saturday, while claiming at least two lives across the region.

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Thousands return to Manbij after IS militants flee city

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Thousands of displaced residents streamed back into the northern Syrian town of Manbij on Saturday after U.S.-backed fighters ousted the last Islamic State militants from their former stronghold, residents and U.S. allies said.

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Turkish PM says Ankara sees no compromise with the U.S. over Gulen extradition

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's prime minister said on Saturday that Ankara could not compromise with the United States over its request for the extradition of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen which it blames for orchestrating last month's attempted coup.

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Turkey criticizes U.N. rights boss for comments on failed coup

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey on Saturday criticized a top U.N. human rights official for saying Ankara should stem its "thirst for revenge" after a failed coup attempt and denied people's rights were being violated in a purge of officials and professional ranks.

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Trump backs off ISIS comments; party head appears at rallies in show of unity

ALTOONA, Pa. (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump on Friday backed away from comments calling President Barack Obama and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton the founders of the militant group Islamic State, while the Republican Party sought to project unity behind their candidate.

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Clinton happily yields national spotlight to Trump, avoids its glare

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If you haven't heard a lot about what Hillary Clinton thinks of a string of controversial comments by Donald Trump that have generated round-the-clock coverage on cable news broadcasts, there is a reason – it's by design.

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Texas, other states ask judge to halt Obama transgender policy

FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - Texas and a dozen other states asked a U.S. judge on Friday to block Obama administration guidance to public schools that transgender students must be allowed to use bathrooms of their choice, saying it usurps the authority of school districts nationwide.

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U.S. backed forces say seized full control of Manbij from Islamic State

BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S.-backed forces have seized full control of northern city of Manbij near the Turkish border after the last remaining Islamic State fighters inside the city left, a spokesman for the group said on Friday.

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Weak U.S. retail sales, inflation data dim prospect of Fed rate hike

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales were unexpectedly flat in July as Americans cut back on discretionary spending, pointing to a moderation in consumption that could temper expectations of a sharp pickup in economic growth in the third quarter.

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Phelps writes new page with four wins in same event

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Michael Phelps of the United States won the Olympic 200 meters individual medley on Thursday to capture the 22nd gold medal of his career and become the first swimmer to win the same event at four consecutive Games.

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Series of blasts hit resort towns in southern Thailand

HUA HIN, Thailand (Reuters) - A series of blasts hit three of the most popular tourist resorts in Thailand on Thursday and Friday, killing two people and wounding dozens, just days after the country voted to accept a military-backed constitution in a referendum.

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Exclusive: Congressional leaders were briefed a year ago on hacking of Democrats - sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence officials told top congressional leaders a year ago that Russian hackers were attacking the Democratic Party, three sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday, but the lawmakers were unable to tell the targets about the hacking because the information was so secret.

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Three major indexes end at records for first time since 1999

(Reuters) - All three major U.S. stock indexes closed at record highs on Thursday for the first time since 1999 as surging oil prices and strong earnings from department stores Macy's and Kohl's buoyed investor sentiment.

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Canadian police say man in Ontario raid was in final stages of attack plan

STRATHROY, Ontario (Reuters) - The man killed by Canadian police in a raid at his home in Ontario on Wednesday was a supporter of Islamic State who was in the final stages of attacking a major urban center with a homemade bomb, police said on Thursday.

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U.S. DEA denies petition to reclassify marijuana

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Thursday denied requests to loosen the classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no medical use.

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Trump calls Obama, Clinton 'co-founders' of Islamic State

WASHINGTON/MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump called U.S. President Barack Obama and Democrat Hillary Clinton the "co-founders" of Islamic State, ratcheting up his assertion that they are responsible for the rise of the militant group and sparking renewed criticism of his leadership ability.

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U.S. rejects call to loosen marijuana's dangerous drug designation

SEATTLE (Reuters) - The U.S. government will announce on Thursday that it will allow more research into marijuana but rejected requests to loosen the classification of the substance as a dangerous drug with no medical use, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

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'Grim Sleeper' killer sentenced to death for LA murders

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A former sanitation worker was sentenced to death on Wednesday for murdering nine women and a teenage girl as the "Grim Sleeper," a serial killer who preyed on prostitutes and drug addicts in a Los Angeles crime spree dating back three decades.

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Libyan forces capture Sirte convention center from Islamic State

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan forces battling to oust Islamic State from Sirte on Wednesday captured a large convention hall complex in the city center, seizing a symbolic base where militants once held meetings and flew their black jihadist flag.

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U.S. Secret Service talks to Trump camp about gun rights remark: CNN

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Secret Service has had "more than one" conversation with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's campaign regarding comments the candidate made about gun rights, CNN reported on Wednesday.

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Russia announces daily ceasefires in Syria's Aleppo to let in aid

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday there would be daily three-hour ceasefires in Syria's Aleppo starting Thursday to allow humanitarian convoys to enter the city safely, a proposal which the United Nations said it would consider.

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Pressure mounts to reject Trump amid fallout from gun-rights remark

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pressure from high-profile Republicans and rank-and-file voters mounted on Wednesday to reject Donald Trump’s candidacy as his campaign dealt with fallout from his remark that gun rights activists could stop Hillary Clinton from nominating liberal U.S. Supreme Court justices.

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U.S. appeals court stays ruling striking down part of Wisconsin ID law

(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday issued a stay of a recent ruling that struck down parts of Wisconsin's voter ID law, the Department of Justice said.

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One-in-five U.S. Republicans want Trump to drop out: Reuters/Ipsos poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly one-fifth of registered Republicans want Donald Trump to drop out of the race for the White House, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday, reflecting the turmoil his candidacy has sown within his party.

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Exclusive: ACT shakes up security unit, plans audit after cheating reports

LONDON/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - ACT Inc, maker of America’s most popular university entrance exam, is laying off its head of test security and plans to audit nearly 200 education centers after Reuters detailed widespread cheating in an ACT-owned college-prep program for international students.

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Exclusive: Vietnam moves new rocket launchers into disputed South China Sea - sources

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China's runways and military installations across the vital trade route, according to Western officials.

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Two more golds for Phelps, Hosszu and Ledecky march on

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Michael Phelps won two gold medals on Tuesday, avenging his 200 meters butterfly defeat from the London Olympics and then anchoring the U.S. 4x200 freestyle team to victory on a night of high drama and emotion in the pool.

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Trump ignites firestorm with remarks on gun rights, Clinton

WILMINGTON, N.C. (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that gun rights activists could act to stop his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton from nominating liberal U.S. Supreme Court justices, igniting yet another firestorm of criticism just as he sought to steer clear of controversy.

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Exclusive: Vietnam moves new rocket launchers into disputed South China Sea - sources

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China's runways and military installations across the vital trade route, according to Western officials.

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Clinton extends lead over Trump to 7 points: Reuters/Ipsos

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's lead over Republican rival Donald Trump increased to more than 7 percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday, from less than 3 points on Thursday.

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U.S. recovers data recorder from sunken cargo ship El Faro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The data recorder from the cargo ship El Faro, which sank near the Bahamas during a Caribbean hurricane last October, has been recovered, offering possible answers about why the vessel went down, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday.

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Trump flops with Silicon Valley donors; Clinton falls short, too

(Reuters) - When Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman announced last week that she wouldn't vote for her party's presidential nominee, Donald Trump, she pledged to raise money for the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, and to urge like-minded Republicans to follow suit.

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Japan warns China of deteriorating ties over East China Sea dispute

TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japan warned China on Tuesday that ties were deteriorating over disputed East China Sea islets, and China's envoy in Tokyo reiterated Beijing's stance that the specks of land were its territory and called for talks to resolve the dispute.

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Russia vs. USA - a tense race, a strained aftermath

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The women's 100 meters breaststroke final at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Monday had already crackled with tension in a tight finish but it was nothing compared to what transpired afterwards.

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Lilly King denies Efimova in 100m breaststroke

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Lilly King of the United States won the Olympic gold medal in the women's 100 meters breaststroke on Monday, denying Russia's Yulia Efimova who was greeted with resounding boos from the Rio de Janeiro crowd.

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Republican national security experts: Trump would be 'dangerous' president

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fifty prominent Republican national security officials, including a former CIA director, on Monday called party nominee Donald Trump unqualified to lead the country and said he would be "the most reckless president in American history."

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Michael Phelps' purple blotches spotlight 'cupping' trend

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It wasn't just Michael Phelps' big win on Sunday that had people talking about the U.S. swimming star. It was also the dark purple circles on his shoulders.

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Florida is investigating apparent new case of locally transmitted Zika

(Reuters) - Florida health officials are investigating a new non-travel- related case of Zika virus in Palm Beach County, but it is not yet clear whether the person contracted the virus from local mosquitoes or from a recent trip to Miami.

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U.S. urges Russia to halt Syria sieges; Russia slams aid politicization

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council must not allow civilians on both sides of the Syrian city of Aleppo to be cut off from humanitarian aid, the United States said on Monday as Russia accused Washington of politicizing a humanitarian issue.

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American, Australian kidnapped in Afghan capital: officials

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan authorities are searching for an Australian and an American who were kidnapped by gunmen in the capital, Kabul, officials said on Monday.

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Japan emperor worries about age, remarks seen as suggesting he wants to abdicate

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Emperor Akihito, 82, in a rare video address to the public on Monday, said he worried that age may make it difficult for him to fully carry out his duties, remarks seen as suggesting the elderly monarch wants to abdicate.

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New York Yankees to release Alex Rodriguez, last game on Friday

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Yankees will release Alex Rodriguez, one of the greatest players of his generation and one of baseball's most polarizing figures, with his final game with the club set for Friday.

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Wind, doping and VIP robbery plague Rio Games

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Damaging wind gusts, a fresh doping controversy and the robbery of a visiting government minister presented the Rio Games with a perfect storm of problems on Sunday, forcing organizers to scramble to keep the world's biggest sporting event rolling on.

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Trump backers downplay rough week after poll shows him lagging Clinton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump's top aides and supporters on Sunday downplayed a chaotic week in which the New York businessman was distracted from his core message by personal spats, as a new poll showed him trailing Democrat Hillary Clinton.

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Turkey's Erdogan stages mass rally in show of strength after coup attempt

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - More than a million Turks gathered in Istanbul on Sunday for a rally called by President Tayyip Erdogan to denounce a failed coup - a show of strength staged in the face of Western criticism of widespread purges and detentions.

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Iran executes nuclear scientist for spying for U.S.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has executed an Iranian nuclear scientist detained in 2010 when he returned home from the United States, after a court convicted him of spying for Washington, a spokesman for the judiciary said on Sunday.

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Islamic State militants claim capture of U.S. weapons in Afghanistan

KABUL (Reuters) - Militants linked to Islamic State have released photos that purport to show weapons and equipment that belonged to American soldiers and were captured by the group in eastern Afghanistan.

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Queues, security scares mark shambolic start to Rio Games

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The Rio Olympic Games got off to a shambolic and nervous start on Saturday, with organizers apologizing to angry fans kept waiting for hours at security checkpoints to enter venues while, outside, shootings and bomb scares kept visitors on edge.

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Intense fighting as Syrian rebels try to break Aleppo siege

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebel fighters pressed on with an intense offensive against a major military complex in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Saturday, following gains on Friday, to try to end a siege of opposition-held areas in the city's east.

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Shooting - American Thrasher wins first gold of Games

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - American teenager Virginia Thrasher won the first gold medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Saturday, holding her nerve against two Chinese Olympic champions to clinch the women's 10m air rifle event.

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China conducts 'combat patrols' over contested islands

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's air force sent bombers and fighter jets on "combat patrols" near contested islands in the South China Sea, in a move a senior colonel said was part of an effort to normalize such drills and respond to security threats.

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Islamic State 'almost completely' ousted from Syrian city of Manbij: Observatory

BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S.-backed forces trying to oust Islamic State militants from the Syrian city of Manbij took "almost complete control" of the city on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

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Fire in bar kills 13 in northern French town

PARIS (Reuters) - A fire in a bar in the northern French town of Rouen killed 13 people and injured another six, the interior ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

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Trump endorses Ryan, senators in effort to right campaign ship

GREEN BAY, Wis./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump acted to steer his White House campaign back into favor with his party's establishment on Friday by endorsing U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and two Republican senators seeking re-election, after expressing coolness toward them earlier this week.

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Clinton's lead over Trump narrows to less than three points: Reuters/Ipsos

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's lead over Republican rival Donald Trump narrowed to less than 3 percentage points, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Friday, down from nearly eight points on Monday.

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U.S. closer to using genetically modified mosquitoes that could fight Zika

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The United States has taken another step toward clearing the way for a trial of genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida as a way of reducing populations of mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus.

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Senior ex-CIA official: Putin made Trump 'an unwitting agent' of Russia

(Reuters) - A former top CIA official attacked Donald Trump on Friday as a danger to national security, saying President Vladimir Putin had made the Republican presidential candidate an "unwitting agent" of Russia.

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FIFA president Infantino cleared of wrongdoing in ethics probe

ZURICH (Reuters) - FIFA President Gianni Infantino, elected in February to lead the global soccer body into calmer waters after a series of corruption scandals, was himself cleared of possible ethics violations on Friday.

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Rio's slum 'pacification' effort stalls as killings tick up

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Atop the chipped blue metal table sat two 9 mm pistols and small plastic packets of cocaine and marijuana. Two young men slouched in white plastic chairs, while a third held a rifle in a corner 10 meters away.

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Court denies North Carolina motion to stay decision on voter ID law

(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court issued an order on Thursday denying North Carolina's motion to stay the court's decision last week striking down the state's voter ID law.

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Obama defends Iran payment, says was not 'some nefarious deal'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday strongly pushed back against criticism that the administration's payment of $400 million in cash to Iran amounted to ransom in exchange for the release of American prisoners.

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Obama touts progress against Islamic State

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday touted progress the United States and its allies have made in the military campaign against Islamic State, though he said the militant group still has the ability to direct and inspire attacks.

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U.S. jobless claims rise marginally, factory orders decline

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, while renewed job cuts in the energy sector boosted layoffs announced by U.S.-based employers in July.

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Amid campaign turmoil, Trump allies urge him to get back on message

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Supporters of Republican Donald Trump urged him to get back on message on Thursday after a week of dropping opinion poll numbers and a war of words with ranking Republicans over his U.S. presidential campaign.

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In slap at Trump, some wealthy Republicans campaign for Clinton

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Groups of wealthy Republicans unhappy with Donald Trump have been privately courting prominent peers to join them in backing Democrat Hillary Clinton's U.S. presidential bid, several people involved in the effort told Reuters.

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Supreme Court blocks transgender bathroom choice for now

(Reuters) - A Virginia school board may temporarily block a student who was born a girl from using the boys' bathroom while a legal fight over transgender rights proceeds on appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court said on Wednesday.

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Trump's refusal to back House speaker angers Republican Party chief

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump's White House campaign was in turmoil on Wednesday after he angered senior Republican Party leaders by criticizing a dead soldier's family and refusing to back the re-election campaign of House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan.

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U.S. strikes easing advance against Islamic State in Sirte, says commander

SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - U.S. air strikes are easing the passage of Libyan forces as they seek to clear Islamic State from the militant group's former North African stronghold of Sirte, a senior field commander said on Wednesday.

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Muslim families of fallen U.S. soldiers driven to oppose Trump

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nazar Naqvi has faithfully voted Republican for more than three decades.

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Bitcoin worth $72 million stolen from Bitfinex exchange in Hong Kong

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Nearly 120,000 units of digital currency bitcoin worth about US$72 million was stolen from the exchange platform Bitfinex in Hong Kong, making it the second-biggest security breach ever of such an exchange.

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North Korea fires ballistic missile into sea: South Korea

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Wednesday from its western region into the sea off its east coast, South Korea's military said, the latest in a series of launches in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

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Trump loses bid for pretrial win in Trump University lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday rejected Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's pretrial bid to win a lawsuit brought by students of Trump University who have said they were defrauded by its real-estate seminars.

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Pope orders study of women's role in early Church, cheering equality campaigners

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis has set up a commission to study the role of women deacons in early Christianity, the Vatican said on Tuesday, raising hopes among equality campaigners that women could one day have a far greater say in the Roman Catholic Church.

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Obama to Republican leaders: why are you still endorsing Trump?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama issued a scathing attack of Donald Trump on Tuesday for criticizing a Muslim family whose U.S. Army captain son was killed in Iraq, and he challenged Republican leaders to withdraw support for their "unfit" nominee.

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New York City Police Commissioner Bratton to resign Tuesday: reports

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton on Tuesday will announce his resignation as the head of the largest city police force in the United States, according to several media reports.

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Rescuers say toxic gas dropped on Syrian town where Russian helicopter shot down

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian rescue service operating in rebel-held territory said on Tuesday a helicopter dropped containers of toxic gas overnight on a town close to where a Russian military helicopter was shot down hours earlier.

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Buffett challenges Trump to exchange tax returns, answer questions

OMAHA, Neb. (Reuters) - U.S. investor Warren Buffett, speaking at a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, challenged Republican Donald Trump on Monday to release his tax returns.

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U.S. warplanes launch bombing campaign on Islamic State in Libya

SIRTE, Libya/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. planes bombed Islamic State targets in Libya on Monday, responding to the U.N.-backed government's request to help push the militants from their former stronghold of Sirte in what U.S. officials described as the start of a sustained campaign against the extremist group in the city.

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FBI employee pleads guilty to acting as agent of China

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A FBI electronics technician pleaded guilty on Monday to having illegally acted as an agent of China, admitting that he on several occasions passed sensitive information to a Chinese official.

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Clinton accuses Trump of scapegoating Muslim soldier's parents

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump on Sunday of scapegoating the parents of a Muslim soldier killed in Iraq, after the Republican nominee took issue with remarks the soldier's father made at the Democratic National Convention.

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Wall Street opens lower as energy stocks weigh

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks were slightly lower on Monday as a drop in oil prices weighed on energy stocks.

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