REUTERS AMERICA NEWS PLAN FOR FRIDAY AUGUST 12

08/12/2016 9:31

REUTERS AMERICA MORNING NEWS PLAN FOR FRIDAY AUGUST 12

LATEST AND PLANNED U.S. NEWS COVERAGE (ALL TIMES ET)

OTHER TOP STORIES

Series of blasts hit resort towns in southern Thailand

HUA HIN - A series of blasts hit three of the most popular tourist resorts as well as towns in southern Thailand on Thursday and Friday, killing four people and wounding dozens, days after the country voted to accept a military-backed charter in a referendum. (THAILAND-SECURITY/BLAST (UPDATE 5, PIX, TV GRAPHIC), moved at 6:24 a.m., by Prapan Chankaew, 877 words)

Weak retail sales, inflation cast doubts on Fed rate hike

WASHINGTON - U.S. retail sales were unexpectedly flat in July as Americans cut back on purchases of clothing and other goods, pointing to a moderation in consumer spending that could temper expectations of an acceleration in economic growth in the third quarter. (USA-ECONOMY/ (WRAPUP 1), moved, by Lucia Mutikani, 589 words)

U.S.-backed forces say launch final assault against IS in Syria's Manbij

BEIRUT - U.S.-backed forces battling Islamic State near the Turkish border in northern Syria said on Friday they had launched a final assault to flush the remaining jihadists out of the city of Manbij. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-ISLAMIC STATE (UPDATE 1), moved at 7:49 a.m., 208 words)

Turkey seeks 32 fugitive diplomats in post-coup inquiry

ISTANBUL - Turkey's government is seeking extradition of 32 diplomats who fled to other countries after they were recalled by Ankara as part of investigations into last month's failed coup attempt, the foreign minister said on Friday. (TURKEY-SECURITY/ (UPDATE 2), moved at 7:31 a.m., by Humeyra Pamuk, 680 words) See also: Turkey prosecutors seek 5 years in jail for pro-Kurdish party leader -media (TURKEY-SECURITY/KURDS-INDICTMENT (UPDATE 1), moved at 5:51 a.m., 221 words)

CAMPAIGN

Republican Party, Trump campaign to meet in Florida

ORLANDO - U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's campaign team is to meet officials from the Republican National Committee on Friday in what both groups described as a routine session to discuss joint operations in Florida. (USA-ELECTION/TRUMP (UPDATE 1), moved at 8:12 a.m., by Steve Holland, 334 words)

OTHER U.S. NEWS

JetBlue says 24 injured as flight hits heavy turbulence

JetBlue Airways Corp said 22 passengers and two crew members were injured when its flight from Boston to Sacramento, California ran into heavy turbulence on Thursday. (USA-JETBLUE/TURBULENCE (UPDATE 1), moved at 8:09 a.m., 128 words)

Texas, other states to ask judge to halt Obama transgender policy

FORT WORTH - Texas and a dozen other states plan to ask a U.S. judge in Fort Worth on Friday to halt Obama administration recommendations regarding bathroom access for transgender students, arguing they are unlawful "radical changes" being foisted on the nation. (USA-LGBT/TEXAS, moved at 6 a.m., by Jon Herskovitz, 406 words)

Sandusky to take stand in his bid for new child-sex trial

BELLEFONTE - Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State coach convicted of child sexual abuse in 2012, will take the stand on Friday at a hearing in which he will proclaim his innocence and seek to show that his lawyer at his trial was incompetent. (PENNSYLVANIA-SANDUSKY/ (PIX), by David DeKok, moved at 6 a.m., 400 words)

FEATURE

U.S. aims to restore water, return fish to diverted California river

FRESNO, Calif. - California's San Joaquin River flows out of the mountains above Yosemite, clear and bubbling until it abruptly stops just north of Fresno, its water diverted to irrigate farms. Environmentalists have cheered a plan to reconnect the river this fall. But it is over budget, overdue and vehemently opposed by local farmers and some Republican lawmakers. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a 2016 Republican presidential hopeful, once joked about eating its protected fish with crackers. (CALIFORNIA-RIVER/ (FEATURE, TV, PIX), moved, 729 words)

WORLD

Canada security questioned after FBI tip thwarts attack

OTTAWA - Aaron Driver first came to the attention of Canadian officials in late 2014 after he voiced support for Islamic State on social media. In 2015, the Muslim convert was arrested for communicating with militants involved with attack plots in Texas and Australia. Early this year, he agreed to a court order known as a peace bond that restricted his online and cell phone use. (CANADA-SECURITY/INTELLIGENCE (UPDATE 1, PIX, TV), moved, by Andrea Hopkins, 781 words)

Philippines says taking seriously "IS threat" against Miss Universe show

MANILA - The Philippines military said on Friday it was taking seriously what it believed was a call by Islamic State (IS) militants for an attack on the Miss Universe contest being held in the country next year. (PHILIPPINES-SECURITY/UNIVERSE, moved, 341 words)

Putin gets new right hand man as veteran chief of staff steps down

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday appointed a low-profile former diplomat his new Kremlin chief of staff, one of the most powerful jobs in Russia, saying his long-time ally, Sergei Ivanov, had asked to step down. (RUSSIA-KREMLIN/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 222 words)

Saudi Arabia says stops 3 women, 7 children from joining Syria war

DOHA - Saudi Arabia said on Friday it had prevented three Saudi women and seven children from traveling through Lebanon to join the conflict in neighboring Syria, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported. (SAUDI-SECURITY/SYRIA, moved at 5:04 a.m., 311 words)

London schoolgirl who left to join Islamic State dead -lawyer

One of three schoolgirls who left London in February 2015 to join the Islamic State militant group has died, her family lawyer told Reuters on Thursday. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/BRITAIN (UPDATE 1), moved, 168 words)

Pakistan passes controversial cyber-crime law

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has adopted a much-criticized cyber security law that grants sweeping powers to regulators to block private information they deem illegal. (PAKISTAN-INTERNET/ (PIX), moved at 4:14 a.m., 379 words)

India's Modi consults parties on Kashmir; separatists cold

NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met leaders of national political parties to find a way of ending weeks of unrest in Kashmir, but some separatists said the talks would be futile if they did not include all the parties to the conflict. (INDIA-KASHMIR/ (PIX), moved at 6:40 a.m., by Tommy Wilkes and Fayaz Bukhari, 406 words)

Zambians await presidential election results

LUSAKA - Zambia's electoral commission said it would announce initial results on Friday in a close-fought election contest between President Edgar Lungu and Hakainde Hichilema, who accuses Lungu of mismanaging the economy. (ZAMBIA-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 1, PIX, TV), moved at 7:19 a.m., by Stella Mapenzauswa and Chris Mfula, 466 words)

ENTERTAINMENT AND LIFESTYLE

"Star Wars: Rogue One" trailer teases fans with Darth Vader return

"Star Wars" fans got a fresh teaser of the franchise's upcoming "Rogue One" film with a new trailer showing the return of ultimate villain Darth Vader. (FILM-STARWARS/ (TV), moved at 7:04 a.m., 146 words)

HEALTH AND SCIENCE

As Earth swelters, global warming target in danger of being missed

OSLO - The Earth is so hot this year that a limit for global warming agreed by world leaders at a climate summit in Paris just a few months ago is in danger of being breached. (CLIMATECHANGE-TEMPERATURES/ (PIX, TV, GRAPHIC), moved at 7:19 a.m., by Alister Doyle, 661 words)

BUSINESS AND MARKETS

U.S. retail sales unexpectedly flat in July

Europe's biggest software maker SAP ditches annual reviews

FRANKFURT - Germany's SAP, maker of software used to grade the performance of millions of employees worldwide, is ditching its own annual performance reviews as too expensive, time-consuming and often demotivating. (SAP-APPRAISALS/ (CORRECTED, PIX, TV), moved, 507 words)

More airline outages seen as carriers grapple with aging technology

Airlines will likely suffer more disruptions like the one that grounded about 2,000 Delta flights this week because major carriers have not invested enough to overhaul reservations systems based on technology dating to the 1960s, airline industry and technology experts told Reuters. Airlines have spent heavily to introduce new features such as automated check-in kiosks, real-time luggage tracking and slick mobile apps. But they have avoided the steep cost of rebuilding their reservations systems from the ground up, former airline executives said. (DELTA AIR-OUTAGES/IT (ANALYSIS, PIX), moved, 1,142 words)

Big Dakota pipeline to upend oil delivery in U.S.

NEW YORK/HOUSTON - It may seem odd that the opening of one pipeline crossing through four U.S. Midwest states could upend the movement of oil throughout the country, but the Dakota Access line may do just that. (USA-OIL/PIPELINE (GRAPHIC), moved at 1 a.m., by Catherine Ngai and Liz Hampton, 730 words)

J.C. Penney's quarterly loss halves, set for full-year profit

J.C. Penney Co Inc's quarterly loss more than halved as the company cut costs and benefited from higher sales of home goods and footwear as well as beauty products at Sephora outlets in its stores. (JC PENNEY-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved at 8:46 a.m., by Sruthi Ramakrishnan, 336 words)

Tiny German bank breaks taboo by charging rich clients for deposits

FRANKFURT - A small cooperative bank in the Bavarian Alps is breaking a German taboo by charging wealthy clients to deposit their money following the European CentralBank's shift to negative rates. (GERMANY-BANKS/, moved, 465 words)

SPECIAL REPORT-How British firms built a pyramid scheme in China that lost millions

SHANGHAI, China - As David Byrne ate breakfast at the Tongli Lakeview Hotel outside Shanghai one Sunday in April, an angry customer was waiting for him. Byrne, 52, is a British businessman who sells investment products. The previous day, he had introduced himself to a roomful of potential customers in the hotel as the new London head of a foreign currency trading platform whose website offered very high returns. But Tang Hongde, the man watching as Byrne lingered over his meal, wanted to talk about an earlier venture which the Briton had said he headed. That operation, called EuroFX, had also promised fat returns on foreign exchange. Chinese law enforcement authorities now say it was a pyramid scheme, which used cash from new investors to pay older ones. One Chinese official with direct knowledge of the matter says it could also have been part of a global fraud. (CHINA-INVESTMENT/EUROFX (SPECIAL REPORT, PIX, GRAPHIC), moved, 2,646 words)

Email campaign asks McDonald's to take U.S. antibiotic curbs global

LOS ANGELES - A charity looking to fight the rise of dangerous, drug-resistant bacteria on Thursday asked the public to help convince McDonald's restaurants around the world to stop serving meat and milk from animals raised with routine use of medically important antibiotics. (MCDONALDS-ANTIBIOTICS/, moved, 379 words)

*****************

For story queries, please contact us.general- news@thomsonreuters.com

For photo queries use USCanada-Pictures-Editors@thomsonreuters.com) *****************

08/12/2016 9:31