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| U.S. consumer agency to supervise debt collectors Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 09:04 PM PDT (Reuters) - The U.S. consumer agency will begin closely supervising about 175 debt collectors for the first time starting in January, widening the new watchdog's oversight of consumer lending. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said on Wednesday it had finalized plans to oversee larger firms in the industry to make sure debt collectors treat Americans fairly. The agency said it will determine whether debt collectors properly disclose the amount owed, maintain accurate data about consumer debt, and address consumer complaints quickly. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Canada's tough stance on foreign buyers won't cut oil growth Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 09:03 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - In other energy-rich countries, a decision to knock back a major foreign investment would likely provoke cries of resource nationalism and raise questions about prospects for oil and gas production growth. Canada's surprise move last week to block Malaysian state-run oil firm Petronas' $5.2 billion bid for Calgary-based Progress Energy has spooked some investors, and raised concerns that Chinese state firm CNOOC's $15.2 billion bid for Calgary-based Nexen may also be rejected. ... Full Story | Top |
| Barnes & Noble reports breach of U.S. customer credit card data Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 08:25 PM PDT  (Reuters) - U.S. retail firm Barnes & Noble said customers who have shopped as recently as last month at any of its 63 stores in the country may have their credit card information stolen, and has informed federal law enforcement authorities about the breach. The company said in a statement it has disconnected all PIN pads from its stores nationwide by close of business Sept 14. upon detecting tampering of those devices. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dow cutting jobs, closing plants as growth slows Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 08:17 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dow Chemical Co, the largest chemical maker in the United States, said on Tuesday it plans to cut 5 percent of its workforce and shutter 20 plants as part of a restructuring program aimed at countering a slowing global economy. Dow and other chemical companies face slipping demand for products around the world. Rival DuPont slashed its earnings forecast and announced 1,500 job cuts. "The reality is we are operating in a slow-growth environment in the near-term and, while these actions are difficult, they demonstrate our resolve to tightly manage operations... ... Full Story | Top |
| China's Huawei says will increase transparency Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 07:45 PM PDT  CANBERRA (Reuters) - Chinese telecoms equipment firm Huawei Technologies Co Ltd pledged on Wednesday to increase its transparency to counter security concerns, proposing to set up a cyber security evaluation center in Australia. Huawei, which was barred from participating in Australia's $38 billion high-speed broadband network and was the subject of a U.S. Congress committee recommendation that firms stop doing business with it, said the proposed center would give complete access to its software source code and equipment. ... Full Story | Top |
| China reshuffles top military ranks ahead of leadership change Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 07:43 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - China reshuffled its top military ranks on Tuesday, weeks before a once-in-a-decade generational leadership change which sources said would see the outgoing air force commander promoted to vice-chairman of the military's top decision-making body. General Ma Xiaotian, 63, was named air force commander, replacing General Xu Qiliang, 62, state broadcaster CCTV said. Ma has been one of the secretive military's most visible faces, speaking at forums overseas and leading talks with U.S. defence officials aimed at building trust between the world's two largest economies. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York court finds pole dancing revenue can be taxed Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 07:41 PM PDT  ALBANY, New York (Reuters) - Pole dancers might be athletic and artistic but their performances don't qualify for tax-exempt status under New York law, a state court ruled on Tuesday. The owners of Nite Moves, an exotic dance club near Albany, New York, had sought to have pole dancing and private lap dances qualified as tax exempt since revenue collected from "dramatic or musical arts performances" is not taxable under state law. But the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, decided against the club in a 4-3 ruling handed down on Tuesday. "Surely it was not irrational ... ... Full Story | Top |
| In final stretch, Romney seeks to turn momentum into votes Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 07:31 PM PDT  MORRISON, Colo. (Reuters) - Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney kicked off his sprint to the election finish line on Tuesday, seeking to harness momentum from his three televised debates with President Barack Obama to energize supporters in an extremely tight race. While Obama was judged by polls as the winner of Monday's debate over foreign policy, Romney was reckoned to have performed well enough to pass the "commander-in-chief" test. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. chief meets South Korean pop star, Austrian skydiver Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 06:29 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - It's not all war and peace at the United Nations. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon added pop music and supersonic skydiving to his agenda on Tuesday when he met with "Gangnam Style" South Korean singer Psy and Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner. Psy's song "Gangnam Style," which mocks the consumerism of a rich Seoul suburb, and hit horse-riding-style dance went viral on video-sharing website YouTube. It has been viewed more than 530 million times on YouTube since it was released in mid-July. "I'm a bit jealous," Ban told reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House told of militant claim two hours after Libya attack: emails Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 06:07 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Officials at the White House and State Department were advised two hours after attackers assaulted the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11 that an Islamic militant group had claimed credit for the attack, official emails show. The emails, obtained by Reuters from government sources not connected with U.S. spy agencies or the State Department and who requested anonymity, specifically mention that the Libyan group called Ansar al-Sharia had asserted responsibility for the attacks. The brief emails also show how U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Explosions, fire at arms factory in Sudan's capital Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 05:12 PM PDT  KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A huge fire broke out after several explosions late on Tuesday at an arms factory in Sudan's capital of Khartoum, witnesses said. Soldiers blocked roads to the Yarmouk ammunition factory where more blasts erupted as firefighters tried to contain the blaze, said a Reuters reporter at the scene in southern Khartoum. After two hours the fire had been almost extinguished. The governor of Khartoum state, Abdelrahman al-Khidir, said some people had been taken to hospitals after inhaling smoke but otherwise there were no casualties, according to the state news agency SUNA. ... Full Story | Top |
| Draghi enters lion's den to sell bond-buying plan Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 05:03 PM PDT BERLIN (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi faces a two-hour grilling on Wednesday from German lawmakers who fear his bond-buying plan to ease the region's debt crisis could fuel inflation and undermine the ECB's cherished independence. Unveiled in early September, Draghi's Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) program is designed to prop up wobbling euro states such as Spain by reducing their borrowing costs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Army pushes into Bani Walid as Libya marks anniversary Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 04:52 PM PDT  TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - The Libyan army and allied militias have seized control of strategic buildings in the former Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid, a military spokesman said on Tuesday, as Libya marked the first anniversary of its "liberation" from Muammar Gaddafi. Thousands have fled the violence in the isolated hilltop town, which was one of the last to surrender to rebels last year, and has been at the center of a bloody standoff this month between rival militias whose ferocity has underscored the extent of instability in the North African country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Vonn against men "great for sport" : Alpine Canada Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 04:52 PM PDT  TORONTO (Reuters) - If Lindsey Vonn is cleared to race the men's World Cup downhill at Lake Louise it would give the sport a huge boost, but the American should reconsider loftier plans to tackle Kitzbuehel, the head of Alpine Canada said on Tuesday. A four-time overall World Cup champion, Vonn set the ski racing world abuzz earlier this month when she petitioned the International Ski Federation (FIS) to let her race in the men's season-opening downhill on November 24 in the Canadian Rockies. "It would be great for the sport," Alpine Canada president Max Gartner told Reuters on Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Latino Democrat narrows race for Senate in Arizona Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 04:48 PM PDT GILA RIVER INDIAN COMMUNITY, Arizona (Reuters) - A Latino Democrat who rose from a hardscrabble childhood to become U.S. surgeon general has tightened the race for an open Senate seat in Arizona, a state that hasn't elected a Democratic senator in almost 25 years. With just two weeks before the November 6 election, Democrat Richard Carmona is in a statistical dead heat with six-term Republican congressman Jeff Flake, the early favorite. Carmona has been boosted in part by a drive to register thousands of Hispanics riled by the border state's crackdown on illegal immigration. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fewer Americans view third Obama-Romney TV debate Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 04:41 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The number of American TV viewers who watched the last debate between U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney fell sharply on a night when football and baseball competed with politics for eyeballs. Final Nielsen ratings data on Tuesday showed that 59.2 million Americans watched Monday's third match-up between the two men before the November 6 presidential elections. That figure was 8 million below the 67.2 million who tuned in for their first encounter on October 3. Some 65.6 million viewers watched the second debate last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alpine skiing-Vonn against men 'great for sport'-Alpine Canada Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 04:40 PM PDT TORONTO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - If Lindsey Vonn is cleared to race the men's World Cup downhill at Lake Louise it would give the sport a huge boost, but the American should reconsider loftier plans to tackle Kitzbuehel, the head of Alpine Canada said on Tuesday. A four-time overall World Cup champion, Vonn set the ski racing world abuzz earlier this month when she petitioned the International Ski Federation (FIS) to let her race in the men's season-opening downhill on Nov. 24 in the Canadian Rockies. "It would be great for the sport," Alpine Canada president Max Gartner told Reuters on Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel kills three Hamas militants after Qatari emir leaves Gaza Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 04:27 PM PDT  GAZA (Reuters) - Israel killed three Hamas gunmen in Gaza Strip air strikes on Tuesday which the military said targeted squads preparing to launch rockets into the Jewish state. The air force operations followed other Palestinian attacks, including a bomb blast that wounded an Israeli army officer patrolling the Gaza border, on a day that saw the isolated, Hamas-governed enclave receive its first foreign head of state, the emir of Qatar. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama administration agrees to ease in Medicare benefit rules Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 04:25 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration has agreed to relax Medicare's requirements for skilled nursing and home health care, allowing beneficiaries to qualify for benefits even if their conditions are not expected to improve, according to court documents. A proposed settlement of a national class-action lawsuit, filed October 16 in U.S. District Court in Vermont, says the government will revise its Medicare manual to make benefits available when care would only "maintain the patient's current condition or ... prevent or slow further deterioration". ... Full Story | Top |
| Michigan considers locking clean energy mandate in constitution Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 04:15 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In less than two weeks, Michigan voters will decide on a hotly contested ballot initiative on whether the state should become the first in the country to enshrine a renewable energy mandate in its constitution, a move that backers say could put clean energy in the national spotlight. The measure, known as proposal 3, would require that one-quarter of the electricity produced in the state to come from renewable energy sources by 2025. Michigan, a battle ground state in the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Court won't block Montana campaign law ahead of vote Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 04:01 PM PDT (Reuters) - The Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to block a Montana law limiting campaign contributions to candidates for statewide office, leaving the caps in place at least through the November general election. The high court upheld a ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco earlier this month that temporarily reinstated Montana's right to regulate campaign contributions after a federal judge struck down the restrictions as unconstitutional. ... Full Story | Top |
| Key senator says he thinks U.S. will avoid "fiscal cliff" cuts Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 03:09 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A senator pushing to find a solution to automatic, across-the-board government spending cuts at the beginning of next year said on Tuesday he believes the so-called "sequestration" will ultimately be avoided. "I do believe that we will avoid sequestration," said Mark Warner, a Democratic senator from Virginia. He and Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss are leading the "Gang of Eight" talks aimed at avoiding the spending cuts embedded in the so-called fiscal cliff on January 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House: nothing new in Obama's comment on automatic cuts Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 02:46 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday that there was nothing new in President Barack Obama's unqualified remark that automatic spending cuts looming in January "will not happen." Obama's comment, made during his debate on Monday night with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, has set off speculation that the president is aware of a new development or perhaps planning to take a significant step himself to halt the cuts. ... Full Story | Top |
| After final debate, Obama says election comes down to trust Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 02:46 PM PDT  DAYTON, Ohio (Reuters) - President Barack Obama warned voters on Tuesday that Republican rival Mitt Romney cannot be trusted to deal honestly with the public as the presidential campaign shifted from televised confrontation to a frantic dash for votes. After three televised debates that have boosted Romney's prospects before the November 6 election, Obama delivered what is likely to be his closing argument: that, unlike Romney, he has been honest with voters about his plans to deliver a broadly shared prosperity over the next four years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama debate win unlikely to shift race: Reuters/Ipsos poll Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 02:41 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Voters say President Barack Obama did a better job than Republican challenger Mitt Romney in Monday's debate but their opinions of each candidate did not shift significantly, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday. Some 47 percent of registered voters surveyed in the online poll judged Obama the victor, while 31 percent believed Romney won. But neither candidate's favorability ratings shifted in the wake of Monday's debate, the last of three televised matchups before the November 6 election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Makoto Taki appointed Japan's new justice minister: Nikkei Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 02:12 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Japan Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has decided to appoint lower house lawmaker Makoto Taki as justice minister following the resignation of Keishu Tanaka on Tuesday, the Nikkei reported. Taki served as justice minister until the cabinet reshuffle of October 1, the paper said. Tanaka resigned within a few weeks of taking office because of ill health, after calls for his resignation over past ties to an organized crime syndicate. Noda brought back Taki to minimize the impact of the second resignation by a minister since he took office in September 2011, the business daily said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek coalition allies block austerity plan over labor cuts Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 02:10 PM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - A concession from Greece's lenders on Tuesday failed to win over two junior parties in the ruling coalition who blocked agreement on a vital austerity package because they oppose labor reforms. The Democratic Left and PASOK Socialist parties in Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' conservative-led coalition have long opposed unpopular proposals from European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) lenders to cut wages, reduce severance payments and scrap automatic wage hikes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian activist said was forced to confess: rights workers Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 02:04 PM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian activist was forced to confess to plotting unrest against the rule of President Vladimir Putin under threats made to his life, rights workers said on Tuesday after visiting the man in a prison once run by the feared Soviet-era KGB. Russian investigators said Leonid Razvozzhayev had been charged with preparing mass disorder, a day after they said he had voluntarily signed a confession offering details of how he and other protest leaders planned to carry out the unrest. ... Full Story | Top |
| As China tensions simmer, Japan pulls back from "world's factory" Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 02:04 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Almost a quarter of Japanese manufacturers are rethinking their investment plans in China and some may shift future production elsewhere after the spike in tensions between Asia's two largest economies. The sentiments were expressed in a Reuters Corporate Survey released on Wednesday and in interviews conducted in recent weeks with executives in industries ranging from electronics to apparel manufacturing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Unclear if Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. will return to Congress: friend Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 01:39 PM PDT CHICAGO (Reuters) - It is not clear if Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. will ever return to Congress, a friend and fellow congressman said on Tuesday after meeting Jackson, as the Illinois lawmaker returned to the Mayo Clinic for treatment of bipolar disorder. Illinois congressman Danny Davis said Jackson was frail and emotional during the meeting on Monday at Jackson's Washington, D.C., home that also included Illinois congressman Bobby Rush. ... Full Story | Top |
| Consumers seen lifting GDP, but pace sluggish Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 01:04 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A late spurt in consumer spending probably lifted U.S. economic growth in the third quarter, but the pace of expansion will be too meager to raise hopes stubbornly high unemployment will come down much further anytime soon. U.S. gross domestic product likely grew at a 1.9 percent annual rate in the third quarter, according to a Reuters poll of economists. That would mark a step up from the second quarter's anemic 1.3 percent pace, but still fall well short of the 2. ... Full Story | Top |
| Al Qaeda goes underground in Yemen against U.S.-driven crackdown Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 12:56 PM PDT  ADEN (Reuters) - A U.S.-backed military onslaught may have driven Islamist militants from towns in Yemen they seized last year, but many have regrouped into "sleeper cells" threatening anew the areas they vacated, security officials and analysts say. The resilience of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), despite increased U.S. drone strikes to eliminate militants, is worrying for top oil exporter Saudi Arabia next door and the security of major shipping lanes in the seas off Yemen. ... Full Story | Top |
| Leak will send ex-CIA officer to prison Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 12:52 PM PDT  ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - A former Central Intelligence Agency officer is expected to spend 2 1/2 years in prison for telling a journalist the name of a covert agent, marking the first time in 27 years that someone will go to prison for blowing the cover of a CIA agent. John Kiriakou, 48, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of disclosing the identity of a covert agent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Royal Bank of Canada to buy Ally auto finance unit Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 12:50 PM PDT  TORONTO (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Canada has agreed to buy the Canadian auto finance and deposit arm of Ally Financial Inc in a $4.1 billion deal to expand its auto-lending business at a time when its mortgage-lending business is facing slower loan growth. RBC, Canada's largest bank, said on Tuesday the deal will nearly double its commercial auto lending business, making it a leader in the Canadian segment with about C$24 billion ($24.18 billion) in receivables. ... Full Story | Top |
| Court blocks Indiana law cutting Planned Parenthood funds Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 12:47 PM PDT (Reuters) - A federal appeals court has blocked Indiana from enforcing a law to cut off Medicaid funds for Planned Parenthood, a law that critics said would deprive thousands of low-income people of medical services. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that Indiana had broad authority to exclude unqualified providers from its Medicaid program for the poor, but could not deny funding to a class of providers for an unrelated reason -- in this case, because Planned Parenthood clinics perform abortions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy earthquake verdict will cause "paralysis:" agency Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 12:35 PM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Civil Protection agency said on Tuesday that the manslaughter conviction of seven scientists and officials over a deadly 2009 earthquake in the central city of L'Aquila would create "paralysis" in disaster assessment and prevention. On Monday, a court sentenced the group to six years in prison for failing to warn of the magnitude 6.3 quake which hit L'Aquila in the early hours of April 6, 2009, killing 308 people and devastating the medieval city. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada slow to respond to cyber threats: auditor Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 12:30 PM PDT (Reuters) - Canada's response to cyber threats has been slow and incomplete, the federal Auditor General said in a report on Tuesday that cited bad communication and part-time monitoring as weaknesses in the nation's computer and infrastructure security system. The federal Conservative government has made limited progress in patching cracks in the security of Canada's physical and information technology network since a cyber attack crippled the Finance Department and Treasury Board in 2011, Auditor General Michael Ferguson said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Second Darfur rebel group joins peace talks with Sudan Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 12:23 PM PDT DOHA (Reuters) - A second Sudanese rebel group in the western region of Darfur has agreed to start Qatar-sponsored peace talks with the government in Khartoum, officials said on Tuesday, in the first attempt by mediators to revive a stalled peace process. The move is unlikely to end a recent upsurge in violence in the region where mainly non-Arab tribes have been fighting the government for nearly a decade in a conflict the United Nations estimates has killed around 300,000 people. But diplomats hope it will inject new life into Western and Arab efforts to mediate a peace settlement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Executions increasingly viewed as torture: U.N. investigator Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 12:20 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Countries around the world are increasingly viewing capital punishment as a form of torture because it inflicts severe mental and physical pain on those sentenced to death, a U.N. torture investigator said on Tuesday. Traditionally, countries have considered the legality of capital punishment with respect to the right to life guaranteed under international law, U.N. special rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez told the U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee. ... Full Story | Top |
| Petronas to meet Canadian officials on Progress deal Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 12:15 PM PDT  OTTAWA/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Representatives of Malaysia's Petronas will meet later on Tuesday with Canadian government officials who blocked the state oil company's C$5.17 billion ($5.2 billion) bid for Progress Energy Resources Corp, Canadian Industry Minister Christian Paradis said. "They will do it later today," Paradis told Reuters in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, where the talks will take place. Petronas issued a statement earlier saying it would meet with officials to try to address the government's concerns about the bid. ... Full Story | Top |
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