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| Insight: Krawcheck, possible SEC head, raises Washington image Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 08:02 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sallie Krawcheck has been quietly raising her profile in Washington. For six months the former executive at Bank of America and Citigroup has been meeting with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, offering her insights on a variety of issues including "too big to fail banks" and money market fund reform. Krawcheck, 48, who was ousted from senior jobs by both banks in recent years, had already sought to distance herself from Wall Street "fat cats" through op-eds, social media posts and TV appearances that have positioned her as an investor advocate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Forces pound Damascus suburbs, flights to resume Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 07:41 PM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces pounded rebel-held suburbs around Damascus with fighter jets and rockets on Sunday, opposition activists said, killing and wounding dozens in an offensive to push rebels away from the airport and stop them closing in on the capital. The army struck hard after a week of rebel advances, including the capture of two military bases near the capital. Rebels had been planning to push into central Damascus from their strongholds on the outskirts and fighting in the past week has been fierce. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soldier in WikiLeaks case seemed suicidal at times: sergeants Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 07:21 PM PST  FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The U.S. Army private charged with leaking classified U.S. war documents was held in extreme confinement for nine months at a Marine Corps detention center because of a pattern of behavior suggesting suicidal thoughts, military officials testified Sunday at a pretrial hearing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama salutes entertainers taking a Washington bow Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 06:27 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Music legend Led Zeppelin was recognized on Sunday alongside entertainers from stage and screen for their contributions to the arts and American culture at the Kennedy Center Honors, lifetime achievement awards for performing artists. The eclectic tribute in Washington, alternated between solemn veneration and lighthearted roasting of honorees Academy Award-winning actor Dustin Hoffman, wisecracking late-night talk show host David Letterman, blues guitar icon Buddy Guy, ballerina Natalia Makarova and Led Zeppelin. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan opposition LDP's lead narrows before December 16 vote: polls Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 06:03 PM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's opposition Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) lead over the ruling Democrats and a new group led by a nationalist former governor of Tokyo narrowed with two weeks left to a December 16 lower house election, newspaper surveys showed on Monday. A poll by the Asahi Shimbun daily showed 20 percent of voters would cast their ballots for the LDP, led by conservative former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, down 3 points from a November 26 survey. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clinton in Prague to lobby for Westinghouse nuclear bid Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 05:46 PM PST  PRAGUE (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will seek to convince Czech leaders of the advantages of picking U.S. firm Westinghouse over a Russian rival as the contractor for a $10 billion nuclear reactor project in meetings in Prague on Monday. U.S. officials traveling with Clinton to Prague said the Temelin nuclear power project could bring as many as 9,000 jobs to the United States and would help diversify the Czech Republic's energy supply away from Russia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico's new president, opposition agree to push reforms Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 04:48 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Sunday signed a pact with the country's leading political parties to increase competition in the telecommunications sector and overhaul the education system. The agreement was an effort to break through years of political gridlock in Congress on Pena Nieto's second day in office. Pena Nieto, 46, took office on Saturday, returning to power his centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, after 12 years in the opposition. No party holds an outright majority in Congress. "We have to negotiate to build consensus. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greece set to unveil terms of crucial bond buy-back Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 04:02 PM PST ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece will unveil details of a bond buy-back crucial to efforts by foreign lenders to trim the country's ballooning debt, hoping the terms will draw enough investors and unblock vital aid. Since plans for the buy-back were announced on Tuesday, questions have swirled about whether it will tempt enough bondholders to cut Greek debt by a net 20 billion euros. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian forces pound Damascus suburbs, flights to resume Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 03:57 PM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces pounded rebel-held suburbs around Damascus with fighter jets and rockets on Sunday, opposition activists said, killing and wounding dozens in an offensive to push rebels away from the airport and stop them closing in on the capital. The army struck hard after a week of rebel advances, including the capture of two military bases near the capital. Rebels had been planning to push into central Damascus from their strongholds on the outskirts and fighting in the past week has been fierce. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bersani, anti-glamour candidate of Italy's center-left Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 03:27 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Pier Luigi Bersani, the determinedly prosaic leader of Italy's Democratic Party, promised supporters he would not tell them "fairy tales", after his overwhelming victory at a primary to pick the center-left candidate in next year's election. The 61-year-old former communist and practicing Catholic crushed Matteo Renzi, the 37-year-old mayor of Florence who campaigned on a platform of party renewal and generational change. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's top court shuts down, blames Islamist protesters Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 03:25 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Protests by Islamists allied to President Mohamed Mursi forced Egypt's highest court to adjourn its work indefinitely on Sunday, intensifying a conflict between some of the country's top judges and the head of state. The Supreme Constitutional Court said it would not convene until its judges could operate without "psychological and material pressure", saying protesters had stopped the judges from reaching the building. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bersani wins big in Italian center-left primary Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 02:25 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Pier Luigi Bersani won a run-off primary election by a huge margin on Sunday to become the Italian center-left candidate for prime minister in national elections early next year. In his victory speech, Bersani promised to tackle Italy's economic crisis and high unemployment if elected and said his Democratic Party would have to win by telling Italians "the truth, not fairy tales" about the grave situation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Netanyahu brushes off world condemnation of settlement plans Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 01:38 PM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday brushed off world condemnation of Israel's plans to expand Jewish settlements after the Palestinians won de facto U.N. recognition of statehood. "We will carry on building in Jerusalem and in all the places that are on the map of Israel's strategic interests," a defiant Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting. In another blow to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, Israel announced it was withholding Palestinian tax revenues this month worth about $100 million. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's opposition alliance calls for protests Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 01:26 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - An alliance of Egyptian opposition groups called for protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday to protest against President Mohamed Mursi's decision to call a December 15 referendum on what it called an illegitimate draft constitution. In a statement issued after a meeting on Sunday, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, the alliance of liberal, leftist and socialist parties accused Mursi of putting the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood - the group that propelled him to power in a June election - ahead of the interests of the nation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wall Street finds a foreign detour around U.S. derivatives rules Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 01:11 PM PST SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Wall Street banks are looking to help offshore clients sidestep new U.S. rules designed to safeguard the world's $640 trillion over-the-counter derivatives market, taking advantage of an exemption that risks undermining U.S. regulators' efforts. U.S. banks such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have been explaining to their foreign customers that they can for now avoid the new rules, due to take effect next month, by routing trades via the banks' overseas units, according to industry sources and presentation materials obtained by Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Nationalist strains echo on Japan campaign trail Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 01:08 PM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Be careful what you wish for. U.S. officials have long urged Japan to loosen limits on its military, bear more of the burden of its own defense and play a more prominent global role. Now, Japanese politicians gearing up for a December 16 parliamentary election are promising to do just that - but with a strain of strident nationalism that could give not only Asian neighbors but also Washington cause for concern. ... Full Story | Top |
| Indian reforms face test with parliament vote Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 01:01 PM PST  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's stuttering economic reform program faces a key parliamentary test this week on whether to let foreign supermarket chains such as Wal-Mart Stores set up shop, in a vote that could pave the way for further measures to revive the economy. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's minority government bowed to opposition pressure last week in agreeing to a vote, ending days of deadlock in parliament and cheering investors who saw it as a sign of a renewed policy momentum to come. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspected Islamists kill 10 Christians in Nigeria Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 12:36 PM PST MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist fighters went on the rampage in northeast Nigeria overnight, killing 10 Christians with guns and machetes and burning down their houses, witnesses said on Sunday. The attack happened in a village called Chibok, in a remote part of northeastern Borno state, at the heart of an insurgency led by Islamist sect Boko Haram. "Suspected Boko Haram came at night and set people's houses on fire before killing their victims," said Nuhu Clark, a former councilor of the village who escaped the attack. He said he counted 10 bodies afterwards. ... Full Story | Top |
| Geithner predicts Republicans will yield on taxes Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 12:25 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pushed Republicans on Sunday to offer specific ideas to cut the deficit, and predicted that they would agree to raise tax rates on the rich to obtain a year-end deal and avoid possible economic doom. But the top U.S. Republican, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner, stood firm and renewed his stand against increased tax rates, leaving talks at a stalemate. "Here's the problem," Boehner told "Fox News Sunday" as both sides took their battle to TV talks shows. ... Full Story | Top |
| Opposition candidate wins Slovenian presidential election Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 12:24 PM PST  LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Former center-left prime minister Borut Pahor was elected to the largely ceremonial post of Slovenian president on Sunday to a backdrop of rising unrest in the recession-hit euro zone state. Pahor is a member of the opposition Social Democrats, and has called for cooperation between the government and opposition to tackle the economic crisis and prevent Slovenia becoming the latest member of the 17-member currency union to seek a bailout. In a run-off vote, Pahor won 67.4 percent, ahead of incumbent Danilo Turk on 32.6 percent with 99. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kosovo demands investigation into ex-U.N. prosecutor del Ponte Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 12:09 PM PST  PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo called on Sunday for an investigation into the work of former United Nations chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte after the country's former prime minister was acquitted for a second time on war crimes charges brought by the Swiss lawyer. Ramush Haradinaj, a Kosovo Albanian former guerilla commander who served briefly as prime minister, was cleared last week of crimes against humanity in a retrial at the U.N. tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia may soften religion law over Putin concerns Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 12:03 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian lawmakers are reworking a draft law introducing prison terms for religious offences after signs that Vladimir Putin is concerned it could undermine the delicate balance between the country's many religions. The president's party proposed the law after two members of the Pussy Riot punk band were jailed for two years over a protest in a cathedral against Putin's increasingly close ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. ... Full Story | Top |
| French rightist's ally calls for new leadership vote Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 11:19 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - France's main conservative party edged closer to resolving a crisis on Sunday as an ally of one of the two men disputing its leadership called for a new vote to pick a leader. A two-week-old row over who won a November 18 vote for the UMP's presidency has plunged the opposition party into disarray and self-absorption, leaving Socialist President Francois Hollande unchallenged to advance left-wing policies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands rally against far right in Hungary Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 11:17 AM PST  BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Around 10,000 Hungarians protested on Sunday against the far-right opposition Jobbik party, after one of its lawmakers triggered outrage and memories of Nazism by calling for lists of Jews to be drawn up. The rally outside Budapest's parliament brought together leaders from governing and opposition parties in an unprecedented show of unity in the country's deeply divided political scene. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: EADS revamp brings government out of industry's shadow Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 11:12 AM PST  PARIS (Reuters) - An imminent shake-up of EADS is expected to lead to a rise in state shareholdings in Europe's largest aerospace group, but in reality merely changes the rules for what is already a wary co-habitation. Officials were putting finishing touches on Sunday to a deal to bring Germany on board with 12 percent of the maker of Airbus jets and Ariane rockets, at parity with France. The move paves the way for an exit by founder companies Daimler , the German carmaker, and French media firm Lagardere , increasingly viewed as state proxies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian judges' body urges members to boycott referendum Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 11:09 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - An influential body representing Egyptian judges has decided not to oversee a December 15 referendum on a draft constitution, the state news agency reported, in a blow to President Mohamed Mursi. The decision was made at a Judges' Club board meeting in Cairo on Sunday. Club decisions are not binding on its members. The Club had voiced strong condemnation of a November 22 decree issued by Mursi that expanded the president's powers and shielded them from judicial review. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malaysia PM uses Romney defeat to warn divided party Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 11:08 AM PST  KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - When Malaysia's ruling party gathered for a tub-thumping pre-election rally last week, Prime Minister Najib Razak delivered a stern behind-the-scenes warning: don't repeat the mistake of Mitt Romney. Just as the U.S. Republican presidential candidate's over-reliance on older, white voters lost him last month's election, so could the dependence of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) on rural, ethnic Malay voters, Najib told delegates at the assembly, according to a senior party insider. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Steel reprieve comes at price for France's Hollande Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 11:03 AM PST  PARIS (Reuters) - Francois Hollande's bid to rescue steel furnaces in France's historic industrial heartland was to be the mark of a president on the side of the workers and a state with the courage to bring a multinational to heel. But the two-month stand-off over steel giant ArcelorMittal's Florange plant in Lorraine has unnerved investors in the euro zone's second largest economy, confused France's unions and exposed his six-month-old government to international ridicule. ... Full Story | Top |
| Flag-waving Palestinians cheer Abbas for U.N. recognition win Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 10:48 AM PST RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Crowds welcomed President Mahmoud Abbas back to the West Bank on Sunday and celebrated the United Nations General Assembly's de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood. "Abbas, onwards, we are with you until liberation," flag-waving Palestinian well-wishers chanted at their president, returning from the assembly which voted 138 to nine with 41 absentions on Thursday to implicitly recognize Palestine. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lebanese army clashes with Syrian rebels on border Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 10:32 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese troops fought with Syrian rebels on the border between the two countries on Sunday, in what a security source said was the first such clash between Lebanon's army and the rebels. The clash occurred when a Lebanese border patrol spotted the rebel fighters along the border and the rebels opened fire to prevent the patrol from approaching, a Lebanese military source said. He said there were no casualties. (Reporting by Erika Solomon; Editing by Ralph Gowling) Full Story | Top |
| Snow traps drivers for days in giant Russia traffic jam Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 10:16 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Thousands of trucks and cars have been stuck on a major highway, some for more than two days, in a traffic jam dozens of kilometers (miles) long caused by heavy snow northwest of Moscow, Russian media reported on Sunday. Police in the Tver region said field kitchens were operating on the road, but many drivers complained supplies never reached them and they were running out of gasoline to keep their engines running and heating on in subzero temperatures. ... Full Story | Top |
| France, Germany aim to settle EADS shareholder structure Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 10:05 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - France and Germany held talks with representatives of EADS and Daimler in Paris over the weekend with the aim of settling a new shareholder structure for Europe's largest aerospace group, according to a German media report. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said in an advance copy of a report due to appear in its Monday edition that talks focused on capping state shareholdings in EADS at 30 percent, giving France and Germany 12 percent each, Spain 4 percent, and leaving a 2 percent buffer that states could still possibly acquire later. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan: could restart oil by year-end after Sudan talks Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 10:03 AM PST KHARTOUM (Reuters) - South Sudan could resume oil exports through Sudan by the end of the year, the South's chief negotiator Pagan Amum said on Sunday, after meeting with Sudan's defense minister and other officials in Khartoum. "By the end of this year it is possible to load the first ship of oil, especially after the agreement in the meetings today and yesterday," Amum told reporters. "Implementation will begin in the coming days," he added. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Dale Hudson) Full Story | Top |
| Starbucks says may pay more UK tax Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 09:53 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Coffee chain Starbucks said it was considering changes to its UK tax practices, which allowed it to make billions in revenue while paying little in income taxes, following criticism from lawmakers, tax campaigners and the media. A Reuters examination of Starbucks accounts published in October showed the company had reported 13 years of losses at its UK unit, even as it told investors the operation was profitable and among the best performing of its overseas markets. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenyan contenders facing ICC cases to run jointly in vote Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 09:41 AM PST  NAIROBI (Reuters) - Two Kenyan presidential hopefuls indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for allegedly inciting post-election violence said on Sunday they would join forces in next year's vote and run on the same ticket. Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, son of the Kenya's first president after independence from Britain in 1963, will seek the presidency while former cabinet minister William Ruto hopes to be vice president, according the deal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rwanda says FDLR rebels cross from Congo, attack wardens Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 08:51 AM PST KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda said FDLR rebels crossed the border from the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday and attacked a game warden camp, killing one warden in the second attack by the Rwandan Hutu group in six days. Rwanda has in the past cited the presence of the FDLR, or Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, as a reason for sending troops into neighboring Congo. Experts say the rebel group has dwindled in strength. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamist protest shuts down Egypt's top court Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 08:49 AM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Protests by Islamists allied to President Mohamed Mursi forced Egypt's highest court to adjourn its work indefinitely on Sunday, intensifying a conflict between some of the country's top judges and the head of state. The Supreme Constitutional Court said it would not convene until its judges could operate without "psychological and material pressure", saying protesters had stopped the judges from reaching the building. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenyan candidates facing ICC cases to run jointly in vote Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 08:48 AM PST  NAIROBI (Reuters) - Two Kenyan presidential hopefuls indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for allegedly inciting post-election violence said on Sunday they intend to join forces in next year's vote by running on the same ticket. Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former cabinet minister William Ruto announced the deal at a rally hosted by Ruto's United Republican Party and Kenyatta's The National Alliance party in the Rift Valley town of Nakuru, 140 km northwest of the capital Nairobi. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea plans new rocket launch as leader asserts power Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 08:33 AM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said it would carry out its second rocket launch of 2012 as its youthful leader Kim Jong-un flexes his muscles a year after his father's death, in a move that South Korea and the United States swiftly condemned as a provocation. North Korea's state news agency announced the decision to launch another space satellite on Saturday, just a day after Kim met a senior delegation from China's Communist Party in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. ... Full Story | Top |
| EgyptAir to resume flights to Syria Sunday, Dec 02, 2012 08:07 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - EgyptAir will resume flights to Damascus and Aleppo airports on Monday after a three-day halt due to a deterioration in the security situation, the head of EgyptAir said on Sunday. "The decision comes after coordination with the Egyptian embassy in Damascus and the EgyptAir office in Syria and making sure the security conditions are stable at the moment in Syria, especially on the roads leading to Damascus and Aleppo airports," Roshdy Zakaria in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
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