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| U.N. to consider validity of China's claim over disputed islands Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 08:04 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations is planning to consider later this year the scientific validity of a claim by China that a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea are part of its territory, although Japan says the world body should not be involved. Tensions over the uninhabited islands - located near rich fishing grounds and potentially huge oil and gas reserves - flared after Japan's government purchased them from a private Japanese owner in September, sparking violent anti-Japanese protests across China and a military standoff. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan envoy says territory dispute with China can be resolved Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 07:51 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - A Japanese envoy to Beijing said on Friday that he believed tensions with China over a group of uninhabited islands could be resolved, after meeting China's president-in-waiting Xi Jinping. Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of New Komeito, the junior partner in Japan's ruling coalition, said Japan will look at the "big picture" in dialogue to resolve territorial disputes with China. He said he did not directly discuss the islands issue with Xi. He also said he delivered a letter to Xi from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Connecticut panel meets on school safety after Newtown Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 07:39 PM PST HARTFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - A Connecticut public safety commission formed shortly after the Newtown massacre said on Thursday it would issue initial recommendations by March, in time to have a say in the current legislative session. The advisory panel will take on issues such as school safety, mental health care and gun control, Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson, its head, said at the board's first meeting. A gunman killed 20 first-graders and six educators last month at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, shocking the nation and stoking the debate over gun control. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spanish newspaper sorry for "false photo" of Venezuela's Chavez Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 07:34 PM PST  MADRID/CARACAS (Reuters) - Spain's influential El Pais newspaper apologized on Thursday for splashing a "false photo" of Venezuela's cancer-stricken leader Hugo Chavez on its front page, prompting a furious response from the government in Caracas, which vowed to take legal action. Within minutes of posting the image online as a global exclusive, El Pais said it had discovered from social media that the photo was not of Chavez. It removed it from its website and withdrew its print edition. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alberta premier warns of $6 billion shortfall in oil revenue Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 06:50 PM PST  CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Alberta's premier warned on Thursday that the Western Canadian province faced a C$6 billion ($6 billion) shortfall in revenue due to deeply discounted prices for its crude oil but offered no specifics on how to prevent falling deeper into the red. Alberta's financial forecasts have been thrown into disarray by fast-growing output from its vast oil sands and limited pipeline capacity to move it to markets in the United States and elsewhere. That has pulled the price of a barrel down to less than half that of international benchmark Brent oil. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate changes its rules to ease gridlock Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 06:32 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic-led U.S. Senate changed its rules on Thursday in a bid to ease partisan gridlock blamed for turning the chamber into a legislative graveyard. Senators approved the changes on bipartisan votes of 78-16 and 86-9. The changes fell far short, however, of what many Democratic reformers wanted. They preserved the right of minority Republicans to block votes on legislation with procedural roadblocks known as filibusters. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's Lenovo sees RIM as M&A option, CFO says Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 06:12 PM PST  TORONTO (Reuters) - A senior Lenovo executive said on Thursday that the Chinese computer maker may consider Research in Motion as a takeover target, sending the Blackberry maker's shares up 2 percent just a week before it launches a make-or-break line of redesigned smartphones. But Lenovo, which vaulted into the personal computer market with its 2005 purchase of IBM's PC division, would face formidable hurdles if it tried to buy a company that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper once described as a national "crown jewel. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jindal raps fellow Republicans for narrow focus Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 06:10 PM PST  CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal sharply criticized his own party on Thursday for its narrow focus on Washington-based budget battles and said Republicans need to revamp their message if they hope to recover from November's painful election losses. In a blunt speech certain to bolster speculation about his 2016 presidential ambitions, Jindal told Republican leaders they must "stop being the stupid party" and broaden their effort to appeal to every American voter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chicago municipal pension fund to divest gun maker holdings Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 06:07 PM PST CHICAGO (Reuters) - A pension fund for Chicago public employees has voted to divest its holdings in three companies that manufacture assault weapons, an official with the fund confirmed on Thursday. The Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund (MEABF) voted on Wednesday to sell off just over $1 million in investments in Freedom Group Inc, Sturm Ruger and Co Inc and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp, MEABF Executive Director Jim Mohler told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| State Department pick Kerry draws praise, outlines policy at hearing Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 06:05 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Kerry urged Congress to fix the U.S. economy to ensure America's role as a world leader and pledged to keep pressure on Iran at a Senate hearing on Thursday that left little doubt he will win easy confirmation as secretary of state. The five-term U.S. senator and Vietnam War veteran, who was the Democrats' 2004 presidential nominee, said the "first priority" in protecting his credibility as a diplomat was the country's ability to get its fiscal house in order. ... Full Story | Top |
| Crisis questions linger as Geithner exits public stage Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 05:31 PM PST  (Reuters) - As U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner prepares to step down on Friday, former colleagues are posing awkward questions about an allegation he leaked information on a planned interest rate cut when he led the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Several former officials said the allegation, if true, suggests a likely violation of agency rules since interest rate discussions are confidential, and one said the central bank should have investigated the matter. Whether it did is unclear. "Pending discount rate decisions and discussions were absolutely confidential," said former St. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. man who aided Mumbai plotters sentenced to 35 years in prison Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 05:28 PM PST  CHICAGO (Reuters) - David Headley, an American who admitted scouting targets for the 2008 Islamic militant raid on Mumbai and later agreed to testify against the plotters to avoid the death penalty, was sentenced on Thursday to 35 years in prison. The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber, was the maximum sought by federal prosecutors. The attacks killed more than 160 people, including six Americans. Headley, a 52-year-old U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, admitted videotaping sites that were targeted by the Mumbai attackers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian opposition to mark uprising with new protests Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 05:26 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's opponents head to Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday to mark the anniversary of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak with protests against the new head of state and his Islamist allies. On the second anniversary of the uprising, Mursi's secular-minded rivals aim to revive the demands of a revolution that they say has been betrayed by the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement that propelled him to power in an election last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| NTSB: Boeing 787 fire systems did not work as intended Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 04:52 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The systems designed to prevent a battery fire aboard the Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner passenger jet did not work as intended, the chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday. At a news conference in Washington, Deborah Hersman also said the NTSB hopes to learn soon whether the batteries involved in incidents in Boston and Japan were from the same batch. (Reporting By Jim Wolf and Andrea Shalal-Esa) Full Story | Top |
| Budget officials flee San Bernardino amid bankruptcy chaos Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 04:47 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Top budget officials in crisis-hit San Bernardino, California, are quitting the city at a crucial juncture in its quest to seek bankruptcy protection. A rush to the doors in San Bernardino city hall threatens the city's ability to qualify for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection by robbing it of the people with the experience to answer questions from the court and creditors. If those questions are not answered, the judge could deny bankruptcy protection, experts say. San Bernardino's interim city manager Andrea Travis-Miller has quit and will start a new job on February 19. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cameron takes aim at corporate tax avoiders Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 04:43 PM PST  (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday attacked multinational corporations that avoid paying their fair share of tax, promising action against such aggressive strategies after a public backlash in Britain. The issue of tax avoidance by big business has turned toxic in recent years as millions of Britons struggle with low pay rises and austerity measures introduced to reduce the budget deficit. Firms that are viewed as paying too little tax, such as coffee chain Starbucks, have been targeted by demonstrators and boycotts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon lifts ban on women in combat Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 04:41 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Thursday lifted a longtime ban on women serving in front-line combat positions, taking a historic step toward gender equality in the U.S. military after 11 years of war in which women were increasingly present on the battlefield. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, signed an order at a Pentagon news conference rescinding the rule that prevented women from serving in direct combat jobs. "They serve, they're wounded, and they die right next to each other. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gay marriage bill advances in Rhode Island legislature Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 04:23 PM PST (Reuters) - Rhode Island's House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Thursday in favor of a bill to make same-sex marriage legal, but officials in the strongly Democratic state expect the measure to face an uphill battle in the state Senate. Lawmakers voted 51 to 19 in favor of the bill, which aims to make Rhode Island the 10th state and the last in New England to legalize gay and lesbian weddings. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghan bombing helped shape Panetta's views on women in war Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 04:21 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three years before he lifted the U.S. military's ban on females in front-line combat, Leon Panetta grew acutely aware that women in senior positions were already risking - and losing - their lives when a would-be informant blew himself up at a CIA base in Afghanistan. Panetta was CIA director at the time of the December 2009 attack in Khost, Afghanistan, and two women -- including one who headed the CIA base -- were among the seven Americans killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia peace talks take a break, no major advances reported Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 04:12 PM PST  HAVANA (Reuters) - Marxist rebels and the Colombian government adjourned their latest round of peace talks on Thursday with no major advances toward ending their long conflict and said they had significant differences to overcome despite some areas of agreement. They said they agreed that the lives of the country's rural poor must be improved, which is the key issue in their 50-year-long war, but not on how to go about it. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. senators worried U.S.-EU trade talks may not address agriculture Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 03:38 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four Republican farm state U.S. senators on Thursday expressed concern that possible free trade talks between the United States and European Union may not dismantle longstanding EU barriers to U.S. pork, beef, poultry and other farm products. "Our trade negotiators must demand of EU officials that barriers to U.S. agricultural products be addressed in any potential trade agreement," the senators said in a letter urging Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat, to schedule a hearing with U.S. trade officials. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama climate push to tie environment, jobs: White House adviser Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 03:35 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will renew his push to spur investment in renewable energy projects that create jobs as a key part of his second-term strategy for tackling climate change, a top White House policy adviser said on Thursday. This time around, though, Obama won't have the $90 billion in economic stimulus funds that his administration earlier pumped into clean energy and "green jobs" projects. ... Full Story | Top |
| California governor urges budget restraint despite rebound Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 03:29 PM PST  SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - Governor Jerry Brown, hailing what he described as a hard-fought rebound in California's fortunes, used his annual State of the State address on Thursday to urge fiscal discipline to avoid a return to budget deficits and cycles of "boom and bust." He called on the legislature of the most populous U.S. state to help him keep a promise to voters to "jealously guard" the billions of dollars in additional revenue made available through passage last year of a ballot measure temporarily extending tax increases. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clegg risks coalition rift with attack on cuts Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 03:18 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron risked harming the economic recovery early in his premiership because his flagship austerity policy cut spending too deeply, his deputy said on Thursday, in comments that could deepen rifts in the coalition government. Nick Clegg, leader of the Lib Dems, said it had been a mistake to make such big cuts to capital spending, an area that includes new roads, schools and hospitals. ... Full Story | Top |
| Europe urges citizens to leave Libya's Benghazi Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 03:06 PM PST  TRIPOLI/LONDON (Reuters) - European countries urged their nationals to leave the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Thursday, with Britain citing a "specific and imminent" threat to Westerners days after a deadly attack by Islamist militants in neighboring Algeria. Officials declined to give details, but Britain has warned of a growing militant threat in North Africa, which Prime Minister David Cameron has called a "magnet for jihadists". ... Full Story | Top |
| Canadian natives vow to battle on as chief ends fast Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 03:04 PM PST  OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian native leaders vowed on Thursday to carry on the fight for better living conditions as a chief at the center of a simmering aboriginal protest movement ended her six-week hunger strike. Chief Theresa Spence, from a remote northern Ontario reserve, called off the strike after holding negotiations with other aboriginal leaders and opposition lawmakers in Canadian Parliament. "There was an awakening here," Danny Metatawabin, a spokesman for Spence, told a news conference in Ottawa. "Now we have to move forward." "The fight does not end because the hunger strike ends. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bankruptcy expert sees defense, media as vulnerable in 2013 Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 03:00 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mid-market defense contractors as well as media and coal companies could be at risk of tumbling into bankruptcy in 2013, credit market guru and New York University professor Edward Altman said on Thursday. With the U.S. government mulling significant cuts to the defense budget, smaller companies that contract with the government for defense projects could suffer, Altman told a group of restructuring professionals at his 12th annual Corporate & Sovereign Credit Market Outlook luncheon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Azeri police break up protests after night of rioting Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:56 PM PST BAKU (Reuters) - Azeri police used tear gas and water cannon on Thursday to disperse hundreds of protesters demanding the resignation of a regional leader, the day after cars were torched and a hotel set ablaze in a night of rioting. Nizami Alekperov, Ismailli regional governor, rejected protesters' demands, but complaints about wages, unemployment and oppressive government in the oil-producing country may send a worrying signal to President Ilham Aliyev in an election year. ... Full Story | Top |
| France sees no sign Syria's Assad will be toppled soon Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:55 PM PST  PARIS/BEIRUT (Reuters) - France said on Thursday there were no signs that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is about to be overthrown, something Paris has been saying for months was just over the horizon. The uprising against Assad's rule is now almost two years old. 60,000 Syrians have been killed and another 650,000 are now refugees abroad, according to the United Nations. France, a former colonial ruler of Syria, has been one of the most vocal backers of the rebels trying to topple Assad and was the first to recognize the opposition coalition. "Things are not moving. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama the fly swatter strikes again Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:39 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There was a buzz at the White House on Thursday when President Barack Obama announced the nomination of two top financial regulatory officials. A large fly interrupted the president as he presented his picks to head the Securities and Exchange Commission and a watchdog for financial consumer products. Under bright television lights, the fly darted around the president's head as he spoke in the White House's ornate State Dining Room, alighting briefly on the middle of his forehead. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sees new Benghazi threat as aimed at Europeans, not Americans Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:32 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and European officials are downplaying the risk to Americans posed by the latest threats from Islamic militants who have vowed to target Westerners in Benghazi, Libya. One reason is that the alleged threats are explicitly directed against European nationals, said U.S. and European sources familiar with the warnings issued on Thursday by at least three European governments. Also, few if any U.S. citizens now are believed to be in Benghazi, the eastern Libyan city where U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate leaders reach deal aimed at easing gridlock Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:29 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate leaders reached a deal on Thursday aimed at easing gridlock by modifying rules that have been blamed for making their bitterly partisan chamber a legislative graveyard. But the accord falls far short of what some reformers wanted by preserving the right of a minority of senators to stop legislation with procedural roadblocks known as filibusters. Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, reached the deal after weeks of negotiations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama picks former federal prosecutor as SEC boss Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:16 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday nominated former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, selecting a hard-nosed enforcer who also has experience defending Wall Street figures. A petite 65-year-old with an outsized reputation for prosecuting terrorists and mob bosses as the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, White would become the third consecutive woman to hold the post. President Barack Obama said White is not someone to be messed with. ... Full Story | Top |
| Facebook founder to host fundraiser for New Jersey Governor Christie Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:11 PM PST  (Reuters) - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla, will host a fundraiser for New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie at their California home on February 13, the social networking site said on Thursday. Zuckerberg and Christie, a potential presidential contender in 2016, have teamed up before, when the tech guru donated $100 million to the struggling public schools in Newark, New Jersey, in 2010. "Mark and Priscilla ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Defense cutbacks crimp Lockheed, Raytheon results Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:09 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co warned on Thursday that U.S. defense budget cuts would eat into their sales this year, but they forecast very different effects on their bottom lines. Lockheed, the Pentagon's biggest supplier, said it could cut enough costs that earnings would not only grow but also would exceed expectations. Raytheon, on the other hand, said its profit would shrink as the arms maker gets squeezed by the end of high-margin programs and the start of new, low-margin ones. ... Full Story | Top |
| Public wants deficit reduction but not programs cuts: polling data Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:09 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans want President Barack Obama and Congress to reduce the federal deficit without cutting Medicare, Social Security and education, according to polling data released Thursday. A joint survey by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Harvard School of Public Health and the Kaiser Family Foundation also showed majorities support President Barack Obama's plan to expand Medicaid and provide subsidized private health insurance to working families through new online state exchanges. ... Full Story | Top |
| Second suspect charged, not yet arrested, in Texas campus shooting Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:00 PM PST SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A second man has been charged in a shooting at a community college near Houston that left three people wounded on Tuesday, but he has not yet been arrested, the sheriff's office said. "It's only a matter of getting the cuffs around him," spokeswoman Christina Garza of the Harris County Sheriff's Office said on Thursday. She said officials believe they know his whereabouts. The shooting at Lone Star College, which has some 10,000 students, occurred as the United States weighs stricter gun controls. ... Full Story | Top |
| Push to revive assault weapons ban begins in Congress Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 01:57 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. Democratic lawmaker on Thursday proposed a ban on assault weapons, like those used in a Connecticut school massacre last month, and called on the public to help overcome opposition by the powerful gun lobby. "Getting this bill signed into law is an uphill battle, I recognize that, but it is a battle worth having," Senator Dianne Feinstein - flanked by fellow lawmakers, mayors and law enforcement officers - told a packed news conference. ... Full Story | Top |
| France seeking back tax from big Web firms: minister Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 01:56 PM PST PARIS (Reuters) - France, which is studying ways of curbing legal tax avoidance by big Internet firms, has decided to go after all of them to seek payment of back taxes, Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg said on Thursday. The government had decided, Montebourg said on France 2 television, "to launch tax retrieval procedures covering all of the Internet giants". ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. homeland chief: cyber 9/11 could happen "imminently" Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 01:54 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned on Thursday that a major cyber attack is a looming threat and could have the same sort of impact as last year's Superstorm Sandy, which knocked out electricity in a large swathe of the Northeast. Napolitano said a "cyber 9/11" could happen "imminently" and that critical infrastructure - including water, electricity and gas - was very vulnerable to such a strike. "We shouldn't wait until there is a 9/11 in the cyber world. ... Full Story | Top |
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