REUTERS AMERICA NEWS PLAN FOR WEDNESDAY AUGUST 17
REUTERS AMERICA AFTERNOON NEWS PLAN FOR WEDNESDAY AUGUST 17
LATEST AND PLANNED U.S. NEWS COVERAGE (ALL TIMES ET)
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OLYMPICS
Europe's top Olympic official arrested in ticketing probe at Rio Games
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian police arrested Europe's top Olympic official in an early morning raid of his beachfront hotel in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, in connection with an investigation into ticket touting at the Olympics. (OLYMPICS-RIO/ARREST (UPDATE 4), moved, by Rodrigo Viga and Karolos Grohmann, 542 words).
Judge orders U.S. swimmer Lochte, teammate not to leave Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO - A Brazilian judge has ordered U.S. swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigen not to leave the country, saying they gave conflicting accounts of how they were robbed at gunpoint outside the Rio Games at the weekend. (OLYMPICS-RIO/LOCHTE-ORDER (UPDATE 2), moved at 11:51 a.m., by Tatiana Ramil and Daniel Flynn, 414 words)
AIBA drops some boxing referees, judges after scoring controversy
RIO DE JANEIRO - Olympic boxing's governing body removes some judges and referees from Rio Games after controversy over fight decisions and new professional-style scoring system. (OLYMPICS-RIO-BOXING/JUDGES (UPDATE 2), moved, by Alan Baldwin, 481 words)
American Eaton and Canada's Warner in decathlon battle
RIO DE JANEIRO - American defending champion Ashton Eaton and Canadian world record holder Damian Warner kicked off the battle for decathlon gold on Wednesday, with Eaton making up for a second place 100 meters finish with a strong long jump and shot put. (OLYMPICS-RIO-ATHLETICS-M-DECATHLON/ (PIX), moved at 12:40 p.m., by Scott Malone, 208 words) See also: OLYMPICS-RIO-ATHLETICS-M-5000M/ (PIX), moved at 10:28 a.m., by Mitch Phillips, 315 words and OLYMPICS-RIO-ATHLETICS-W-800M/ (PIX), moved at noon, by Mitch Phillips, 469 words)
Miller laughs off social media furore over 'that dive'
RIO DE JANEIRO - Shaunae Miller can afford to see the funny side of the storm that erupted on social media after she threw herself over the line to beat American Allyson Felix in the Olympic 400 meters final on Monday. (OLYMPICS-RIO/ATHLETICS-MILLER (PICTURE, TV), moved at 12:49 p.m., by Mark Trevelyan, 317 words). See also: OLYMPICS-RIO/HIGHLIGHTS (HIGHLIGHTS, PIX), moved, 851 words
Rio's homeless forced from Copacabana beach due to Olympics - campaign group
BRASILIA - Rio de Janeiro's homeless are being forced out of tourist areas in the middle of the night as the city hosts the Olympic Games, according to a Brazilian campaign group, but authorities said the homeless were being accommodated in shelters on a voluntary basis. (OLYMPICS-RIO/LANDRIGHTS, moved at 12:28 p.m., by Chris Arsenault, 397 words)
TOP STORIES
Trump shakes up White House campaign team with pugnacious new hire
Republican Donald Trump shook up his struggling presidential campaign on Wednesday with moves to reinforce his insurgent, anti-Washington image but quickly encountered doubts on whether he is taking the right steps to boost slipping poll numbers. (USA-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 6, PIX, GRAPHIC), moving shortly, by Steve Holland and Caren Bohan, 974 words) See also: (USA-ELECTION/TRUMP-MANAFORT (UPDATE 1, PIX), moved at 1:11 p.m., 557 words)
Russia, spurning U.S. censure, launches second day of Syria strikes from Iran
MOSCOW - Russia launched a second day of air strikes against Syrian militants from an Iranian air base, rejecting U.S. suggestions its co-operation with Tehran might violate a U.N. resolution as illogical and factually incorrect. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/RUSSIA-IRAN (UPDATE 2, TV, PIX, GRAPHIC), moved at 12:50 p.m., by Alexander Winning and Andrew Osborn, 396 words)
Southern California wildfire rages unchecked after evacuations
Hundreds of firefighters were battling a wildfire raging out of control in drought-stricken Southern California on Wednesday after flames forced more than 80,000 residents to flee and charred more than 30,000 acres (12,140 hectares) of heavy brush, officials said. (CALIFORNIA-FIRE/ (UPDATE 1, PIX, TV), moved at 11:14 a.m., 332 words)
North Korea's deputy ambassador in Britain defects to South
SEOUL - North Korea's deputy ambassador in London has defected with his family to South Korea, making him the highest-ranking Pyongyang diplomat ever to flee the isolated regime for the democratic South, South Korea says. (NORTHKOREA-DEFECTOR/ (UPDATE 2, TV, GRAPHIC), moved, by James Pearson and Ju-min Park, 880 words)
Making space for coup purge, Turkey starts to release 38,000 prisoners
ISTANBUL - Turkey begins releasing 38,000 prisoners under a penal reform to make space in overstretched jails after the arrests of tens of thousands of suspects in last month's attempted coup. (TURKEY-SECURITY/ (UPDATE 4, PICTURE, TV), moving shortly, by Daren Butler, 850 words). See also: TURKEY-SECURITY/NEWSPAPER, moved, by Ayla Jean Yackley, 495 words
WASHINGTON
Some voting Fed members see rate hike needed soon -minutes
WASHINGTON - Some voting Federal Reserve policymakers expect that a U.S. interest rate increase will be needed soon, although there is general agreement that more data is needed before such a move, according to the minutes from the Fed's July policy meeting. (USA-FED/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 159 words)
OTHER U.S. NEWS
Hundreds rescued from ferry fire near San Juan, Puerto Rico
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued hundreds of people aboard a passenger ferry that caught fire off Puerto Rico on Wednesday, officials said. (PUERTORICO-RESCUE/ (UPDATE 2, PIX, TV), moved at 10:59 a.m., by Laila Kearney, 196 words)
Ex-Wall Street banker convicted for giving father insider tips
NEW YORK - An ex-Wall Street investment banker was convicted on Wednesday of engaging in insider trading by tipping his father off to unannounced healthcare mergers, a victory for prosecutors after an appellate ruling made it harder to pursue such cases harder. (USA-INSIDERTRADING/ (UPDATE 2), moved at 12:10 p.m., 420 words)
Corrupt lawmakers' pensions fair game for prosecutors -U.S. court
NEW YORK - Convicted lawmakers can be forced to turn over their state pensions to the federal government to satisfy monetary penalties, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday. (NEW YORK-CORRUPTION/ (PIX), moved at 1:21 p.m., by Joseph Ax, 370 words)
Muslim family sues NY school, alleging forced 'terrorist' confession
NEW YORK - A 12-year-old Muslim student with learning disabilities was forced by New York school officials to sign a false confession stating he was a "terrorist," his family claimed in a $50 million federal lawsuit. (NEW YORK-EDUCATION/, moved at 1:19 p.m., by Joseph Ax, 175 words)
Appeals court ruling keeps straight-party vote in Michigan
A court rejected on Wednesday an appeal by Michigan state officials asking to reinstate a ban on straight-party voting, a ruling that means the state's voters in November will be able to use one mark to vote for all candidates from one party as they have done for decades (MICHIGAN-ELECTION/, moved, 300 words).
MIDDLE EAST
Germany tries to appease Turkey angered by Islamist "hub" allegations
BERLIN/ANKARA - Germany on Wednesday tried to row back from its latest spat with Turkey, its crucial partner in efforts to stem mass migration, after Ankara lashed out over a leaked government report alleging Turkey was a hub for Islamist groups. (TURKEY-SECURITY/GERMANY (UPDATE 2), moved at 10:07 a.m., 452 words)
WORLD
Police in Cannes stop Muslim women wearing banned burkinis
PARIS - Ten Muslim women wearing burkinis to the beach have been apprehended by police in the southern French city of Cannes in the three weeks since it imposed a temporary ban on the full body swimsuit, a local official said. (EUROPE-BURKINI/ (UPDATE 1, PIX), moved, 550 words)
Who is an extremist? UK faces legal challenge over strategy to stop radicals
LONDON - To his detractors, including the British government, Salman Butt is an extremist whose views on Islam fly in the face of Britain's values and help foster an atmosphere where young Muslims can be radicalized by militants. (BRITAIN-SECURITY/EXTREMISM (PICTURE), moved, by Michael Holden, 1,225 words)
India ready for Pakistan talks; U.N. alarmed by Kashmir violence
SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI - India is ready to send its top diplomat to Pakistan for talks focused on fighting cross-border terrorism, sources at India's foreign ministry said on Wednesday, after a spike in tension in the disputed northernmost region of Kashmir. (INDIA-PAKISTAN/ (UPDATE 3, PIX), moved at 12:19 p.m., by Fayaz Bukhari and Douglas Busvine, 528 words)
Naming the nameless: experts struggle to identify drowned migrants
ROME/ATHENS - Mose tapped the screen of his mobile phone to zoom in on a photograph of his wife, Yordanos, pointing to a mole under her eyebrow. Helping people like Mose find loved ones is becoming ever more pressing as Europe's migrant crisis drags on into its third year. (EUROPE-MIGRANTS/IDENTIFICATION (PICTURE, TV, GRAPHIC), moved, by Isla Binnie and Michele Kambas, 1,035 words). See also: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/SPAIN (PICTURE, TV), moved, 150 words
South African economic hubs set for opposition rule
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's two main opposition parties have put aside huge ideological differences to unseat the ruling ANC in major cities it has controlled for 22 years, they said on Wednesday. (SAFRICA-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 4, PIX, TV), moved at 12:48 p.m., by Joe Brock and Zimasa Mpemnyama, 595 words)
FEATURES
Indigenous Australians fight nuclear dump plan on "sacred land"
HAWKER - Enice Marsh remembers the black clouds of "poison stuff" that billowed from the northwest after British atomic bomb tests in the 1950s spread fallout across swathes of South Australia. (AUSTRALIA-LANDRIGHTS/INDIGENOUS (FEATURE, PIX, VIDEO), moved at noon, by Timothy Large, 1348 words)
HEALTH AND SCIENCE
Heat-related illness most common in early preseason of college football
Heat stroke and heat exhaustion most often affect college football players during the first two weeks of preseason practice and the risk goes up with higher temperatures, according to a new U.S. study. (HEALTH-SPORTS/TEMPERATURE, moved at 1:06 p.m., by Kathryn Doyle, 662 words)
A morphine alternative with less overdose risk?
Scientists are testing an experimental medicine that's designed to have the painkilling power of morphine without some of the dangerous side effects that can lead to overdose deaths. (HEALTH-PAIN/DRUG-DISCOVERY, moved at 1 p.m., by Lisa Rapaport, 585 words)
Germany expands a center for space junk to deal with new threats
UEDEM - Outer space is getting more and more crowded. Thousands of satellites, parts of satellites and random pieces of space junk are hurtling around the earth, and that may include rogue satellites that could be used to damage other spacecraft. (GERMANY-SPACE/ (INTERVIEW, PIX, TV), moved at noon, by Andrea Shalal, 488 words)
After scorching heat, Earth may get a respite in 2017
OSLO - The Earth is likely to get relief in 2017 from record scorching temperatures that bolstered governments' resolve last year in reaching a deal to combat climate change, scientists said on Wednesday. (CLIMATECHANGE-TEMPERATURES/, moved at 9:27 a.m., 411 words)
ENTERTAINMENT AND LIFESTYLE
Rowling returns to Harry Potter's world with new ebooks
British author J.K. Rowling is delving back into the world of "Harry Potter" for a series of short ebooks with new stories about some of her characters from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (BOOKS-HARRYPOTTER/ (PIX), moved at 10:36 a.m., 234 words)
'War Dogs' finds drama, humor in Afghan arms deal
NEW YORK - A true story centered on the business of war gets a humorous twist in the movie "War Dogs," in which Jonah Hill and Miles Teller play a hapless pair of Americans who land a $300 million deal to supply the Afghan military with arms. (FILM-WARDOGS/JUNKET (TV, PIX), moved at 12 p.m., 247 words)
Austria charges U.S. rapper Freddie Gibbs with sexual assault
VIENNA - U.S. rapper Freddie Gibbs has been charged in Austria with sexually assaulting a woman while on tour last year in Vienna, a court spokesman said on Wednesday. (AUSTRIA-CRIME/GIBBS, moved at 11:53 a.m., 256 words)
SPECIAL REPORT
Not so SWIFT: Bank messaging system slow to address weak points
LA HULPE, Belgium - More than a dozen current and former board directors and senior managers of SWIFT, the bank messaging system that helps transmit billions of dollars around the world every day, have told Reuters the organization for years suspected there were weaknesses in the way smaller banks used its messaging terminals - but did not address such vulnerabilities. (CYBER-HEIST/WARNINGS (SPECIAL REPORT, PIX), moved, by Tom Bergin, 1,800 words)
BUSINESS AND MARKETS
Wall St near even in volatile trade after Fed minutes
U.S. stocks were near flat in volatile trade Wednesday following minutes from the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting that showed some voting members expect an interest rate hike will be needed soon but also a general agreement that more data is needed before such a move. (USA-STOCKS/ (UPDATE 5), moving shorly, 221 words) See also: GLOBAL-MARKETS/ (WRAPUP 6), updating throughout the day, 547 words
Oil rally under pressure; record Saudi output offsets U.S. drawdown
NEW YORK - Oil's near week-long rally was under pressure on Wednesday after an unexpected drawdown in U.S. crude and gasoline stocks was offset by worries that Saudi Arabia was cranking output to record highs even as OPEC talked of ways to ease a global glut. (GLOBAL-OIL/ (UPDATE 8), updating throughout the day, 457 words)
Cisco to lay off about 14,000 employees - tech news site CRN
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. (CISCO SYSTEMS-LAYOFFS/ (UPDATE 5), moved at 1:12 p.m., 307 words)
Aetna warned it would cut Obamacare if Humana deal was blocked
NEW YORK - Aetna Inc warned in July that it would exit much of the individual Obamacare health insurance market if the government challenged its deal to buy rival Humana Inc, according to a letter it sent to the U.S. Department of Justice. (HUMANA-AETNA/OBAMACARE (UPDATE 2), moved at 12:57 p.m., by Caroline Humer, 531 words)
AT&T revamps cellular data plans, eliminates overage fees
NEW YORK - AT&T Inc, the No. 2 U.S wireless provider, said on Wednesday that it would roll out a new data plan that does away with overage fees and reduces data speeds for wireless customers who surpass their data allowance. (AT&T-WIRELESS/, moved at 1 p.m., by Malathi Nayak, 325 words)
Target cuts full-year profit forecast, shares drop
Retail chain Target cut its fiscal-year profit outlook on Wednesday after quarterly sales fell more than expected, due to a continued drop in demand for electronic items and a disappointing turnaround in its grocery business. (TARGET-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 4, PIX), moved at 11:35 a.m., 421 words)
Lowe's sales miss estimates as short spring hurts
Home improvement chain Lowe's Cos Inc reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and cut its full-year earnings forecast, hurt by a shorter spring in the northern United States and fewer big-ticket purchases at its stores. (LOWES-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved at 11:38 a.m., by Sruthi Ramakrishnan, 322 words)
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