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| 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 |
| 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 |
| Microsoft profit dips ahead of Office revamp Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 04:12 PM PST  SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's quarterly profit edged lower as Office software sales slowed ahead of a new launch, offsetting a solid but unspectacular start for its Windows 8 operating system and sending the company's shares down 1.4 percent. The results mark a stark change from the 1990s, when Microsoft was the unchallenged king of computing and the release of a new Windows operating system would supercharge sales, generate excitement and generally boost its stock. ... Full Story | Top |
| Samsung puts lid on capex for first time since financial crisis Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 07:19 PM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co turned cautious on spending for the first time since the global financial crisis, keeping its annual investment plan unchanged at 2012 levels, as demand for computer chips wanes and the smartphone market slows. Samsung, one of the industry's most aggressive spenders, has ramped up capital expenditure every year since 2004 except 2009 to meet soaring demand for its array of consumer electronics and mobile devices. It sold a record 700,000 smartphones a day in the last quarter. ... 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 |
| North Korea to target U.S. with nuclear, rocket tests Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 05:35 AM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its "sworn enemy". The announcement by the country's top military body came a day after the U.N. Security Council agreed to a U.S.-backed resolution to censure and sanction North Korea for a rocket launch in December that breached U.N. rules. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| 787 probe far from complete, regulator "very concerned" Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 04:52 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. safety regulators are nowhere near finishing an investigation into a battery fire on the Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner, a top official said on Thursday, raising the prospect of a prolonged grounding for the aircraft. Deborah Hersman, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, made clear that investigators have found a series of "symptoms" in the battery damaged in a January 7 fire in Boston, but not the underlying cause of the problem. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali Islamists suffer split as Africans prepare assault Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 10:51 AM PST  MARKALA, Mali/DAKAR (Reuters) - A split emerged on Thursday in the alliance of Islamist militant groups occupying northern Mali, as French and African troops prepared an offensive aimed at driving them from their safe haven in the Sahara. A senior negotiator from the Ansar Dine rebels who helped seize the north from Mali's government last year said he was now part of a faction that wanted talks and rejected the group's alliance with al Qaeda's North African franchise AQIM. It was unclear how many fighters had joined the new Islamic Movement of Azawad (MIA) faction. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Monti steps into Monte Paschi scandal Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:14 PM PST  MILAN (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti weighed in on the scandal surrounding Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena on Thursday, rejecting suggestions that the authorities had failed to spot large trading losses threatening the bank. Already in need of a 3.9 billion euro bailout, Monte dei Paschi this week revealed loss-making derivatives trades that could cost it as much as 720 million euros (US$956 million), lurching center stage in a crucial general election campaign. ... Full Story | Top |
| State Department pick Kerry draws praise, outlines policy at hearing Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 02:40 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Kerry urged Congress to fix the U.S. economy to ensure the country'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 said the "first priority" in protecting his credibility as a diplomat was the country's ability to get its fiscal house in order. "Foreign policy is economic policy," Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which he has chaired for the last four years. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. man who aided Mumbai plotters sentenced to 35 years in prison Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 11:16 AM 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 |
| U.S. regulators: Boeing 787 probe far from complete Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 03:15 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. safety regulators are nowhere near finishing an investigation into a battery fire on the Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner, a top official said on Thursday, raising the prospect of a prolonged grounding for the plane. Airlines have canceled hundreds of flights in the eight days since the plane was grounded, and Boeing has stopped deliveries of newly built jets. The full financial impact on the planemaker is still not clear. Still, Boeing shares are actually up 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. to consider validity of China's claim over disputed islands Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 12:58 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 |
| Microsoft profit dips ahead of Office revamp Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 01:42 PM PST SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said its quarterly profit fell as Office software sales slowed ahead of a new launch, offseting a solid start for its new Windows 8 operating system. Profit at the world's largest software company slid to $6.4 billion, or 76 cents per share, in the fiscal second quarter, from $6.6 billion, or 78 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Wall Street had expected 75 cents per share, on average, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Overall sales rose 3 percent to $21.5 billion, Microsoft said on Thursday, in line with analysts' estimates. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factory activity gains speed, jobless claims drop Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 10:55 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Factory activity grew the most in nearly two years in January and the number of new claims for jobless benefits dropped to a five-year low last week, giving surprisingly strong signals on the economy's pulse. Financial information firm Markit on Thursday said its preliminary Purchasing Managers Index for manufacturing rose to 56.1 this month, its best showing since March 2011. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. ... 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 |
| Russia's Putin says regional revolts led to Algeria hostage Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 06:09 AM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that revolts in Syria and Libya had unleashed instability in the Middle East and Africa that had exacted a "tragic toll" in last week's militant attack on a gas plant in Algeria. Putin and other Russian officials have said the United States and its NATO allies have sacrificed stability to their political ambitions in the Middle East and North Africa, often playing into the hands of radical Islamists. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two years since uprising, Egypt braces for more protests Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 07:26 AM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt marks the second anniversary of the uprising that swept Hosni Mubarak from power with little to celebrate. Deeply divided and facing an economic crisis, the nation is bracing for more protests, but this time against a freely elected leader. President Mohamed Mursi's opponents plan to march to Tahrir Square on Friday to vent anger at the new Islamist leader and his Muslim Brotherhood backers, whom they accuse of betraying the goals of the January 25 revolution that galvanized Egyptians in a display of national unity that has not been seen since. ... Full Story | Top |
| Red flags revealed in filings of firm linked to Caterpillar fraud Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 03:14 AM PST  HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Chinese mining equipment company at the centre of an alleged accounting fraud was also involved in a web of insider loans and asset transfers prior to its purchase by Caterpillar Inc., public filings show. The transactions, while not illegal, should have sounded warnings about the company's finances when the U.S. firm came calling last year, corporate governance experts said. ... Full Story | Top |
| S&P rises for seventh day but 1,500 too steep a climb Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 01:45 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The smallest of gains gave the Standard & Poor's 500 its seventh straight winning day on Thursday, but the index failed to hold above the 1,500 line, restrained by Apple's worst day in more than four years. Apple Inc slid 12.4 percent to $450.50 a day after it posted revenue that missed Wall Street's forecast as iPhone sales were poorer than expected. The sharp drop wiped out nearly $60 billion in Apple's market capitalization to less than $423 billion, leaving the company vulnerable to losing its status as the most valuable U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mitsubishi recalls 14,700 electric cars globally over brakes Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 01:20 AM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Motors Corp said it would recall about 14,700 electric vehicles (EV) globally due to a brake problem unique to the electric-motor powered cars in one of the biggest callbacks involving the new generation of eco-friendly cars. Mitsubishi Motors said that in Japan it would recall nearly 3,400 i-MiEV electric vehicles, as well as more than 2,400 MINICAB-MiEV vehicles. Overseas, mostly in Europe, it said it was recalling about 8,900 i-MiEV vehicles. Some of those are sold as PSA Peugeot Citroen's iOn and C-Zero, though Mitsubishi declined to say how many. ... Full Story | Top |
| Apple shares slide by most in over four years on disappointing iPhone sales Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 08:29 AM PST  (Reuters) - Apple Inc's shares fell by as much as 12 percent on Thursday, staging their biggest percentage drop in over four years and slicing more than $50 billion from the company's market value, as disappointing holiday-period iPhone sales reinforced fears it is losing its dominance in smartphones. Eighteen brokerages, including Barclays Capital, Mizuho Securities USA, Credit Suisse, and Raymond James cut their price targets on the stock of the world's biggest publicly traded company by an average $132 to $612. Apple's shares slid to $450. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spanish joblessness climbs again, no relief in sight Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 12:40 AM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's unemployment rate soared to its highest level since measurements began in the 1970s as a prolonged recession and deep spending cuts left almost 6 million people out of work at the end of last year. Spain's unemployment rate rose to 26 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, or 5.97 million people, the National Statistics Institute said on Thursday, up from 25 percent in the previous quarter and more than double the European Union average. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: In Amenas attack brings global jihad home to Algeria Wednesday, Jan 23, 2013 11:06 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - A photo circulating on jihadi online forums says it all: a plane flying into the Eiffel Tower with September 11 written in Arabic in red letters alongside. The French military intervention in Mali and an Islamist militant attack on the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria in which at least 38 workers died have re-energized international jihad. These events also closed a loop which many thought had frayed over recent years linking North African insurgents with al Qaeda's central leadership and ideology. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian lower house backs bill to allow Putin to pick candidates to lead regions Wednesday, Jan 23, 2013 10:56 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's parliament has given preliminary backing to a bill that would enable the country's 83 regions to scrap popular elections of their leaders in favor of a system that would let President Vladimir Putin choose candidates instead. Opponents said the bill, approved in a 403-10 vote late on Wednesday after the first of three readings in the lower house would be a step backwards for democracy in Putin's new term. The lower house is dominated by Putin's United Russia party. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to lift ban on women in front-line combat jobs Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 04:41 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military will formally end its ban on women serving in front-line combat roles, officials said on Wednesday, in a move that could open thousands of fighting jobs to female service members for the first time. The move knocks down another societal barrier in the U.S. armed forces, after the Pentagon in 2011 scrapped its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. U.S. defense officials said the decision to end the ban had been taken by outgoing U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Apple's iPhone disappointment fans doubt on growth Wednesday, Jan 23, 2013 11:26 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc missed Wall Street's revenue forecast for the third straight quarter after iPhone sales came in below expectations, fanning fears that its dominance of consumer electronics is slipping. Shares of the world's largest tech company fell 10 percent to $463 in after-hours trade, wiping out some $50 billion of its market value - nearly equivalent to that of Hewlett-Packard and Dell combined. On Wednesday, Apple said it shipped a record 47.8 million iPhones in the December quarter, up 29 percent from a year earlier. ... Full Story | Top |
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