Daily News Digest: Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Yahoo! Alerts

Yahoo! News | My Alerts | Edit Alert

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 8:30 PM PDT

Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News: China says did not start standoff in South China Sea Mad cow disease found in California; no human threat seen U.N. Council to consider next steps on Sudan, South Sudan Mad cow disease found in California; no human threat seen U.N. chief concerned by Bahrain hunger striker Annan tells U.N. Syria hasn't withdrawn heavy weapons Rupert Murdoch to face inquiry over media influence U.N. chief "deeply troubled" by new West Bank outposts Netanyahu says backs "contiguous" Palestinian state Mexico to maintain U.S. beef trade after mad cow case Exclusive: SEC probes movie studios over dealings in China U.S. urges North Korea not to engage in provocation Factbox: Mad cow cases in U.S. and Canada FBI chief in Yemen as drone kills AQAP leader Exclusive: North Korea's nuclear test ready "soon" WikiLeaks suspect Manning seeks dismissal of charges Instant View: Mad cow disease found in California Exclusive: U.S. eyes options to restart Afghan peace talks Mexico presidential front-runner builds on big lead: poll South Africa's apartheid land fix withers in fields Lagging resource stocks drag TSX into doldrums Syria not made full military withdrawal: peace envoy Analysis: South Africa's Zuma on track for second term Analysis: Egypt's new politics make Israel ties a target Ukraine ex-PM on hunger strike after "beating": lawyer Islamist eyes outright win in Egypt presidency vote Oil workers assess damage after Sudan border fight Venezuela's Chavez sends video postcard from Cuba Egypt parliament snubs economy plan, hampers IMF loan path Mubarak's PM out of Egypt vote as field shrinks South Sudan accuses Khartoum of declaring war Dutch crisis deepens as opposition rejects austerity Canada suspends most sanctions against Myanmar Mali gunmen release kidnapped Swiss woman Berlusconi paid Mafia for protection-top Italy court Putin steps down as United Russia party chief White House condemns Sudan air strikes in South Sudan Pakistan bombing kills at least two in eastern city Lahore Dutch PM says parliament must agree on an election date Low car sales depress Canada February retail trade China says did not start standoff in South China Sea Tue,24 Apr 2012 07:58 PM PDT Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - China did not start the current standoff in the South China Sea, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Wednesday, ahead of high-level talks with the Obama administration as tensions simmer between Beijing and the Philippines over the disputed waters. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai made the comments at a news briefing in Beijing before an annual strategic and economic dialogue with senior U.S. officials next week. Cui said China was committed to dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the sovereignty dispute over the region. ... Full Story Top Mad cow disease found in California; no human threat seen Tue,24 Apr 2012 07:28 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities reported the country's first case of mad cow disease in six years on Tuesday, and swiftly assured consumers and global importers that there was no danger of meat from the California dairy cow entering the food chain. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the finding posed "no risk to the food supply or to human health", and experts said they were relieved by the fact that the case was "atypical" -- meaning it was a rare occurrence in which a cow contracts the disease spontaneously, rather than through the feed supply. ... Full Story Top U.N. Council to consider next steps on Sudan, South Sudan Tue,24 Apr 2012 05:32 PM PDT Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council demanded on Tuesday that Sudan immediately stop airstrikes on South Sudan and will consider in the coming days what further steps to take to stop clashes between the east African neighbors spiraling into war. Senior U.N. officials told the 15-nation body that aerial bombing of South Sudan's Unity State on Monday night had killed 16 civilians, injured several dozen and caused significant damage to infrastructure. The Sudanese army has denied carrying out air strikes. ... Full Story Top Mad cow disease found in California; no human threat seen Tue,24 Apr 2012 04:37 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities reported the first U.S. case of mad cow disease in six years on Tuesday and quickly assured consumers and global importers that meat from the California dairy cow did not enter the food chain. John Clifford, the USDA's chief veterinary officer, said the case was "atypical" and that there was "no cause for alarm" from the animal. Cows can contract the disease spontaneously in rare cases and that it cannot be transmitted unless the brain or spinal tissue is consumed by humans or another animal, according to scientists. ... Full Story Top U.N. chief concerned by Bahrain hunger striker Tue,24 Apr 2012 04:36 PM PDT Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called on Bahrain to respect the human rights of its people and expressed concern about a jailed Shi'ite activist, who led an uprising in the Gulf state last year and has been on a hunger strike for the past 10 weeks. Activists are pressing for democratic reforms in a country dominated by the ruling Al Khalifa family, a Sunni dynasty that rules a majority Shi'ite population. Activists protested during the Formula One Grand Prix last week to try and embarrass the rulers while the global focus was on the kingdom for the race. ... Full Story Top Annan tells U.N. Syria hasn't withdrawn heavy weapons Tue,24 Apr 2012 04:21 PM PDT Reuters - BEIRUT/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria has failed to comply with a pledge to withdraw weapons from population centers, and towns where citizens met with U.N. truce monitors may have been attacked, international mediator Kofi Annan told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday. As violence flared in the Syrian capital of Damascus, Annan told the 15-nation body "we need eyes and ears on the ground, able to move freely and quickly" to watch over the ragged ceasefire. But the head of U.N. peacekeeping said deployment was moving slowly. ... Full Story Top Rupert Murdoch to face inquiry over media influence Tue,24 Apr 2012 03:54 PM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch makes a keenly anticipated appearance before a high-profile media inquiry on Wednesday to confront charges that he used his powerful stable of British newspapers to influence politicians for the benefit of his business interests. The 81-year-old mogul - his media empire already under fire from many sides in Britain - will testify before the Leveson inquiry a day after his son James appeared in a highly charged session that revealed how a government minister had advised Murdoch's News Corp in its bid to buy the successful pay-TV group BSkyB last year. ... Full Story Top U.N. chief "deeply troubled" by new West Bank outposts Tue,24 Apr 2012 03:49 PM PDT Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday that he was "deeply troubled" by Israel's decision to grant legal status to three settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, describing the activity as illegal under international law. The three outposts - Bruchin, Sansana and Rechelim - were built on land Israel declared "state-owned" in the West Bank, an area it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and which Palestinians want as part of a future state. ... Full Story Top Netanyahu says backs "contiguous" Palestinian state Tue,24 Apr 2012 03:49 PM PDT Reuters - JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced support on Tuesday for the first time for Palestinians to establish a contiguous state, saying their future country should not look like "Swiss cheese". But only hours earlier, a ministerial committee in his right-wing government granted Israeli legal status to three previously unauthorized Jewish settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, drawing Palestinian and international criticism. ... Full Story Top Mexico to maintain U.S. beef trade after mad cow case Tue,24 Apr 2012 03:27 PM PDT Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's agriculture ministry said on Tuesday it had no plans to stop beef trade with the United States after U.S. authorities confirmed a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, in California. The ministry said it would maintain the same regimen of inspections for trade across the border and that there had been no imports of beef into Mexico from where the U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) had detected the disease. ... Full Story Top Exclusive: SEC probes movie studios over dealings in China Tue,24 Apr 2012 03:14 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators are investigating major U.S. movie studios' dealings with China as the entertainment companies try to get a greater foothold in one of the fastest-growing movie markets in the world. The Securities and Exchange Commission has sent letters of inquiry to at least five movie studios in the past two months, including News Corp's 20th Century Fox, Disney, and DreamWorks Animation, a person familiar with the matter said. ... Full Story Top U.S. urges North Korea not to engage in provocation Tue,24 Apr 2012 02:54 PM PDT Reuters - BRASILIA (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged North Korea on Tuesday not to engage in any provocation that could increase instability, as speculation mounts about a possible third nuclear test. "I do not have any specific information as to whether or not they will proceed or not with additional provocations at this time," Panetta said on a trip to Brasilia, when asked about the possibility of a nuclear test. ... Full Story Top Factbox: Mad cow cases in U.S. and Canada Tue,24 Apr 2012 02:52 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - The following are key dates in the spread of mad cow disease in Canada and the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed on Tuesday the fourth U.S. case of mad cow, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), in a dairy cow in central California. First discovered in Great Britain in 1986, mad cow disease destroys the brain of cattle and a similar fatal disease can affect people who eat meat from infected cattle, according to scientists. More than 150 people and 184,000 cows, mainly in Britain and Europe, have died from the diseases. ... Full Story Top FBI chief in Yemen as drone kills AQAP leader Tue,24 Apr 2012 02:52 PM PDT Reuters - SANAA (Reuters) - FBI director Robert Mueller visited Yemen on Tuesday, pledging to help quell an Islamist insurgency, as security and government sources said a drone had killed a prominent al Qaeda leader linked to an attack on a French oil tanker. In a meeting with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who took office earlier this year, Mueller promised the United States would support Yemen "with full force" in all respects. "Mueller visits Yemen on an annual basis so this is not a special or secret occasion," said Mohammed Al-Basha, Yemen's embassy spokesman in Washington. ... Full Story Top Exclusive: North Korea's nuclear test ready "soon" Tue,24 Apr 2012 02:51 PM PDT Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test, a senior source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said, an act that would draw further international condemnation following a failed rocket launch. The isolated and impoverished state sacrificed the chance of closer ties with the United States when it launched the long-range rocket on April 13 and was censured by the U.N. Security Council, which includes the North's sole major ally, China. ... Full Story Top WikiLeaks suspect Manning seeks dismissal of charges Tue,24 Apr 2012 02:37 PM PDT Reuters - FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning, charged with leaking thousands of classified U.S. government cables, argued on Tuesday for the dismissal of the charges against him based on what his lawyer called "irreparable prejudice" caused by the government's withholding of evidence. Manning, 24, is accused of the largest leak of classified documents in U.S. history, to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, and faces life in prison if convicted of aiding the enemy, the most serious of 22 charges against him. ... Full Story Top Instant View: Mad cow disease found in California Tue,24 Apr 2012 02:19 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department confirmed on Tuesday that it found a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, the nation's fourth, in a dairy cow in California. The USDA has begun to notify the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as well as its trading partners, but the finding should not affect U.S. beef exports, said John Clifford, the USDA's chief veterinary officer. COMMENTS: US Meat Export Federation spokesman Joe Schuele: Said they were told that U.S. ... Full Story Top Exclusive: U.S. eyes options to restart Afghan peace talks Tue,24 Apr 2012 02:17 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration, seeking to revive stalled Afghan peace talks, may alter plans to transfer Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay prison after its initial proposal fell foul of political opponents at home and the insurgents themselves. As foreign forces prepare to exit Afghanistan, the White House had hoped to lay the groundwork for peace talks by sending five Taliban prisoners, some seen as among the most threatening detainees at Guantanamo, to Qatar to rejoin other Taliban members opening a political office there. ... Full Story Top Mexico presidential front-runner builds on big lead: poll Tue,24 Apr 2012 02:14 PM PDT Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's presidential front-runner, Enrique Pena Nieto of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), widened his lead over the ruling party candidate ahead of the July 1 election, a survey showed on Tuesday. The latest opinion poll by pollster Consulta Mitofsky showed Pena Nieto extending his advantage with 40.1 percent support, down 0.1 percentage points from the Mitofsky survey published on April 17. Though his support slipped slightly, Pena Nieto's lead over Josefina Vazquez Mota from the ruling National Action Party (PAN) widened. Her support of 21. ... Full Story Top South Africa's apartheid land fix withers in fields Tue,24 Apr 2012 02:02 PM PDT Reuters - SENEKAL, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa's plans to undo the wrongs of apartheid by returning land seized from native blacks is embodied in the life of Koos Mthimkhulu. He was born on a white-owned farm in 1955 and attended a school set up by white farmers to give him just enough education for a life as field hand. A short childhood gave way to decades of milking cows, driving tractors and ploughing fields for poverty-level wages. When white-minority rule ended in 1994, the new democratic government made it a priority to return land to those dispossessed. ... Full Story Top Lagging resource stocks drag TSX into doldrums Tue,24 Apr 2012 02:00 PM PDT Reuters - TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index ended slightly lower on Tuesday as pessimism about resource shares offset enthusiasm over solid North American earnings and successful European government debt auctions. Three of the top five laggards were commodity-related shares, including Potash Corp, down 0.9 percent to C$42.03, Enbridge Inc, down 1.1 percent to C$39.07, and Canadian Natural Resources, off 0.6 percent to C$31.30. ... Full Story Top Syria not made full military withdrawal: peace envoy Tue,24 Apr 2012 02:00 PM PDT Reuters - GENEVA (Reuters) - Syria has not made the full military withdrawal it agreed to under a peace plan, mediator Kofi Annan will tell the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, according to his spokesman. Speaking on U.N. Television, spokesman Ahmad Fawzi also cited "credible reports" that people who speak to U.N. truce mediators in the country were afterwards being intimidated, arrested and in some cases may have been killed. ... Full Story Top Analysis: South Africa's Zuma on track for second term Tue,24 Apr 2012 01:45 PM PDT Reuters - JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's President Jacob Zuma is the favorite to win a second term to lead the ruling ANC in a race dominated by factional politics instead of policy reforms for Africa's most powerful economy. More than a dozen insiders in the ruling African National Congress told Reuters that Zuma had the race in hand even though there are strong factions in the party who want him out and could make things difficult. "It's Zuma's race to lose," said one senior ANC member. The winner of December's party vote is almost certain to be its nominee in the 2014 presidential election. ... Full Story Top Analysis: Egypt's new politics make Israel ties a target Tue,24 Apr 2012 12:50 PM PDT Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - To mark the day Egypt regained control of the Sinai peninsula from Israel, a group of protesters pledged they would this week cover a memorial to Israelis killed in the war with an Egyptian flag bearing the words: "Sinai - the invaders' graveyard." The gesture will be one of the most public expressions of anger against Israel since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, marking the emergence of a long-repressed hostility among many ordinary Egyptians. ... Full Story Top Ukraine ex-PM on hunger strike after "beating": lawyer Tue,24 Apr 2012 12:33 PM PDT Reuters - KHARKIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has gone on hunger strike in prison after guards dragged her off her bed and punched her in the stomach, her lawyer said on Tuesday. Prison authorities deny the accusations. Tymoshenko, the main opponent of President Viktor Yanukovich, is in jail convicted of abuse of office. She said the beating took place while she was being moved to a state-run hospital last Friday after complaining of back pain. "They approached my bed, put a sheet over me and started dragging me off the bed, using brute physical force. ... Full Story Top Islamist eyes outright win in Egypt presidency vote Tue,24 Apr 2012 12:31 PM PDT Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - A leading Islamist candidate said on Tuesday he was confident he would win enough votes in Egypt's first real presidential election to seal victory in the first round, and said anybody associated with Hosni Mubarak was unfit to lead. In an interview with Reuters, Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh said he expected to win a majority of votes among members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which he was expelled over his decision to seek the presidency. The group is fielding its own candidate for the historic vote. ... Full Story Top Oil workers assess damage after Sudan border fight Tue,24 Apr 2012 11:59 AM PDT Reuters - HEGLIG, Sudan (Reuters) - Sudanese oil workers took stock of damage to the economically-vital Heglig oilfield on Tuesday after recent fighting with South Sudan left a power station in ruins, a warehouse gutted and a pipeline spilling out acrid crude. Officials are eager to resume output from Heglig, which accounted for about half of Sudan's 115,000 barrels a day of production before South Sudan seized the field earlier this month. The fighting edged the countries close to an all-out war. ... Full Story Top Venezuela's Chavez sends video postcard from Cuba Tue,24 Apr 2012 11:51 AM PDT Reuters - CARACAS (Reuters) - The Venezuelan government on Tuesday broadcast a video of President Hugo Chavez playing the European bowling game of bocce in Cuba in a new effort to quash rumors that he was dying of cancer while out of the country. The video showed a jovial and chirpy Chavez strolling in a garden and playing the bowling game with his brother and two ministers on Monday in Havana where he is having radiation treatment for an undisclosed cancer. "We are continuing the treatment, facing the difficulties, governing and taking political decisions ... ... Full Story Top Egypt parliament snubs economy plan, hampers IMF loan path Tue,24 Apr 2012 11:49 AM PDT Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's parliament overwhelmingly rejected the army-appointed cabinet's plan to cut state spending on Tuesday, complicating the government's efforts to secure IMF help to fight a balance of payments crisis. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants the backing of Egyptian political forces for the government's economic reform plan before it signs off on an emergency loan. Egypt has been hamstrung with economic troubles since a popular uprising in January last year. ... Full Story Top Mubarak's PM out of Egypt vote as field shrinks Tue,24 Apr 2012 11:47 AM PDT Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister was thrown out of Egypt's presidential election on Tuesday because of ties to the former administration, a disqualification that could help former Arab League chief Amr Moussa in a race against his Islamist rivals. Ahmed Shafiq's elimination all but guarantees that Egypt will be led by a president who does not hail from a military background for the first time since army officers overthrew the king in 1952. The ex-air force commander was seen by some as the preferred choice of the ruling army generals when he first decided to run. ... Full Story Top South Sudan accuses Khartoum of declaring war Tue,24 Apr 2012 11:38 AM PDT Reuters - JUBA/BEIJING (Reuters) - South Sudan accused Sudan on Tuesday of mounting bombing raids on the newly independent country's oil-producing border region and President Salva Kiir said the latest hostilities amounted to a declaration of a war by his northern neighbor. Weeks of cross-border fighting between the former civil war foes have threatened to escalate into a full blown conflict in a region that holds one of Africa's most significant oil reserves. ... Full Story Top Dutch crisis deepens as opposition rejects austerity Tue,24 Apr 2012 11:25 AM PDT Reuters - THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The biggest Dutch opposition parties refused on Tuesday to back austerity cuts needed to meet EU budget targets after the government fell, deepening the crisis in a nation probably facing a long period of uncertainty until elections. Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose minority government collapsed on Monday, must now turn to a clutch of tiny parties for help if he is to have any chance of forcing his plan for 14 to 16 billion euros in budget cuts through parliament. ... Full Story Top Canada suspends most sanctions against Myanmar Tue,24 Apr 2012 11:13 AM PDT Reuters - OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will suspend most of its sanctions against Myanmar in recognition of recent democratic reforms in the isolated Southeast Asian nation, Foreign Minister John Baird said on Tuesday. Since 1988 Canada has imposed some of the toughest sanctions against Myanmar. Baird told reporters that most of the measures were being lifted but that Canada would for now maintain a ban on arms deals with Myanmar, which is also known as Burma. ... Full Story Top Mali gunmen release kidnapped Swiss woman Tue,24 Apr 2012 11:12 AM PDT Reuters - TIMBUKTU, Mali (Reuters) - Islamist fighters in rebel-held northern Mali on Tuesday released a Swiss woman abducted this month in the desert town of Timbuktu, witnesses and the Swiss government said. Beatrice Stockly was handed over by heavily-armed members of Islamist group Ansar Dine to Swiss diplomats some 7 km (4 miles) north of Timbuktu, the witnesses said. She had been captured on April 15. Wearing a black veil, the woman appeared to be in good health and did not make any public statement after her release, according to a witness. ... Full Story Top Berlusconi paid Mafia for protection-top Italy court Tue,24 Apr 2012 10:28 AM PDT Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi paid large sums of money to the Sicilian Mafia to protect himself and his family from kidnapping in the mid-1970s, Italy's highest appeals court said on Tuesday. Cosa Nostra's protection "was not free", the court said, adding that the media magnate was a victim of extortion. "Berlusconi handed over conspicuous sums of money to the Mafia," the supreme Court of Cassation said in a 146-page document explaining its decision last month to quash a trial against Marcello Dell'Utri, a Sicilian who worked for Berlusconi in those years. ... Full Story Top Putin steps down as United Russia party chief Tue,24 Apr 2012 09:40 AM PDT Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - President-elect Vladimir Putin tried to distance himself from the fraud-tainted ruling United Russia party on Tuesday, announcing he was stepping down as its chairman and calling on it to be more competitive. Keen to protect his own ratings which are higher than those of a party discredited by accusations of fraud in its parliamentary election victory in December, Putin proposed outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev as its new leader instead. ... Full Story Top White House condemns Sudan air strikes in South Sudan Tue,24 Apr 2012 09:10 AM PDT Reuters - ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - The White House called on Sudan on Tuesday to stop its bombing raids of newly independent South Sudan and said the neighboring countries needed to return to the negotiating table to avoid escalation. "We strongly condemn Sudan's military incursion into South Sudan. Sudan must immediately halt the aerial and artillery bombardment in South Sudan by the Sudan armed forces," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Air Force One. "Both governments must agree to an immediate, unconditional cessation of hostilities and recommit to negotiations," he said. ... Full Story Top Pakistan bombing kills at least two in eastern city Lahore Tue,24 Apr 2012 08:50 AM PDT Reuters - LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - A bomb killed at least two people and injured at least 27 others when it exploded at the main railway station in the eastern city of Lahore in Pakistan's Punjab province on Tuesday, police officials and rescue workers said. "The bomb was planted in a bag which was left near one of the counters at the station. We estimate there were 6-8 kg of explosives in the bag," Aslam Tareen, a senior city police official, said. "We're trying to investigate how the bag managed to get through despite so many scanners," he said. ... Full Story Top Dutch PM says parliament must agree on an election date Tue,24 Apr 2012 08:35 AM PDT Reuters - THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday said parliament must agree on a date for new elections following the budget crisis, and urged it to agree to proposed budget cuts. Rutte said it was unlikely that Brussels would show any leniency on the budget deficit requirements, as suggested by several opposition parties. The Netherlands does not fulfill any of the requirements that would allow Brussels to waive its budget deficit target of 3 percent of GDP, Rutte said. (Reporting by Gilbert Kreijger and Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Sara Webb) Full Story Top Low car sales depress Canada February retail trade Tue,24 Apr 2012 08:29 AM PDT Reuters - OTTAWA (Reuters) - Disappointing car sales led to a surprise 0.2 percent fall in Canada's retail trade in February, the same month that the motor vehicle business had actually boosted wholesale trade, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday. Making for an even less optimistic reading, the volume of sales, used in calculating real gross domestic product (GDP), slumped by 0.6 percent from January, while January's retail sales gain was revised down to 0.2 percent from 0.5 percent. Excluding the auto sector, February sales were up 0.5 percent compared with a 0. ... Full Story Top

You received this email because you subscribed to Yahoo! Alerts. Use this link to unsubscribe from this alert. To change your communications preferences for other Yahoo! business lines, please visit your Marketing Preferences. To learn more about Yahoo!'s use of personal information, including the use of web beacons in HTML-based email, please read our Privacy Policy. Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.