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| Pentagon buyers authorized to discuss budget cuts with industry Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 08:09 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon's top weapons buyer on Thursday authorized Defense Department purchasers and program managers to begin talking to industry partners about plans for implementing $46 billion in budget cuts on March 1 and what impact it may have on business. The directions from Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, were the first time Pentagon contracting and acquisitions personnel have been authorized to consult with their industry counterparts about the upcoming spending cuts, known as sequestration. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela's Chavez still suffers breathing trouble Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 07:29 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's cancer-stricken president, Hugo Chavez, is still suffering respiratory problems after surgery in Cuba two months ago, the government said on Thursday in a somber first communiqué since his homecoming this week. Struggling to talk and breathing through a tracheal tube, the 58-year-old socialist leader is being treated at a Caracas military hospital after returning unseen before dawn on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia leases planes to Cuba, writes off Soviet debt Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 07:27 PM PST  HAVANA (Reuters) - Russia will lease eight jets worth $650 million to its Cold War- era ally Cuba and will partially write off the country's multi-billion-dollar, Soviet-era debt under agreements signed during Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Havana on Thursday. Moscow will write off part of the $30 billion debt and will offer a 10-year refinancing plan for the remaining amount, according to the preliminary agreement, Russia's industry and trade minister Denis Manturov told reporters on the sidelines of the talks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Reformer's drive to change Indonesia state firms hits roadblocks Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 07:05 PM PST  JAKARTA (Reuters) - On an overcast Saturday in early January, the man in charge of modernizing Indonesia's state companies suddenly lost control of his prototype electric sports car and ploughed into the side of a mountain in East Java. State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan was unhurt, but the $300,000 bright red "Tucuxi", dubbed "Indonesia's Ferrari" by local media, was a write-off. It looks like his chances of pulling off an ambitious reform of the bloated state sector are heading the same way. ... Full Story | Top |
| FEATURE-Soccer-Chinese players chase their dreams to Portugal Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 06:59 PM PST SINTRA, Portugal, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Dreams of emulating Cristiano Ronaldo have prompted nearly 40 Chinese youngsters to leave home and travel halfway round the world to improve their soccer skills in Portugal. The move is already paying off, says Portuguese coach Carlos Gomes who brought the group to Europe last year. "If only you had seen how tactically poor they were when they arrived. It's like night and day. They have improved so much," Gomes told Reuters at a training session in Massama near Sintra. ... Full Story | Top |
| Q&A-Tennis-Federer's heart is in South Africa Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 06:46 PM PST  GOVHU, South Africa (Reuters) - Roger Federer was back in South Africa for the first time in eight years and it was not long before he was surrounded by a swarm of three-year-old toddlers tugging at his shirt and hankering to play a game of tennis. Unlike many of the fans the 17-times grand slam champion usually encounters, these children hold a special place in the Swiss champion's heart as his charitable foundation is helping to educate them. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three die in shooting, fiery crash on Las Vegas Strip Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 06:42 PM PST  LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Three people died in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip early on Thursday when one or more gunmen in a Range Rover sport utility vehicle opened fire on a Maserati, killing the driver and touching off a fiery multi-car crash. The driver of the Maserati died in the pre-dawn shooting, and his car veered out of control and smashed into a taxi carrying two people, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police spokesman Officer Jose Hernandez said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Argentine Senate approves deal with Iran to probe 1994 bombing Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 06:17 PM PST  BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's Senate approved on Thursday an agreement with Iran to set up an international "truth commission" to investigate the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. The two governments reached the agreement last month on how to deal with the attack in which Argentine court authorities have accused Iranian officials, including the defense minister, of involvement. Iran has denied any link to the bombing. ... Full Story | Top |
| INTERVIEW-Q&A-Tennis-Federer's heart is in South Africa Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 05:59 PM PST GOVHU, South Africa, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Roger Federer was back in South Africa for the first time in eight years and it was not long before he was surrounded by a swarm of three-year-old toddlers tugging at his shirt and hankering to play a game of tennis. Unlike many of the fans the 17-times grand slam champion usually encounters, these children hold a special place in the Swiss champion's heart as his charitable foundation is helping to educate them. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran move to speed up nuclear program troubles West Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 05:46 PM PST  VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has begun installing advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment plant, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday, a defiant step that will worry Western powers ahead of a resumption of talks with Tehran next week. In a confidential report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said 180 so-called IR-2m centrifuges and empty centrifuge casings had been put in place at the facility near the town of Natanz in central Iran. They were not yet operating. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. House panel probes IRS contracts with Signet Computers Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 05:36 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican lawmaker who heads an investigatory panel is demanding documents from the U.S. Treasury department in a probe of whether an IRS employee steered contracts worth half a billion dollars to Signet Computers, according to a letter released on Thursday. Representative Darrell Issa, chairman of the oversight and government reform panel in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, sought the documents in a letter to Acting Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin dated Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge stops NY state from cutting $260 million in NYC school funds Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 05:31 PM PST (Reuters) - A judge temporarily blocked New York state from cutting approximately $260 million in New York city school funding on Thursday after education and union officials could not come to an agreement on the use of teacher evaluations. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Manuel Mendez issued a preliminary injunction at the request of a group of parents and students, who earlier this month filed a lawsuit claiming that the funding cuts violate students' constitutional right to meaningful educational opportunities. ... Full Story | Top |
| NY Jets quarterback Tebow cancels controversial church appearance Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 05:10 PM PST  (Reuters) - New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow, a devout Christian, has canceled an appearance at a Dallas mega-church led by a prominent pastor who has sparked controversy over remarks he made from the pulpit about gays and other religions. Tebow, 25, who famously kneels in prayer on the football field in a move that has come to be known as "Tebowing," called off his April 28 appearance in a series of Twitter messages on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition says Assad cannot be part of deal Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 04:53 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - The opposition Syrian National Coalition is willing to negotiate a peace deal to end the country's civil war but President Bashar al-Assad must step down and cannot be a party to any settlement, members agreed after debating a controversial initiative by their president. The meeting of the 70-member Western, Arab and Turkish-backed coalition began on Thursday before Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem is due for talks in Moscow, one of Assad's last foreign allies, and as U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi renews efforts for a deal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Barca want 'peace match' against Israeli-Palestinian team Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 04:13 PM PST JERUSALEM, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Barcelona plan to play a friendly soccer match against a joint Israeli-Palestinian team in Tel Aviv at the end of July in the hope of promoting Middle East peace, the Catalonian club's president said on Thursday. "Barcelona, wishes to... contribute to the effort to strengthen the bridges of peace and dialogue between the Israeli and Palestinian communities. The best way we can do this is with a ball," Sandro Rosell said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Another Republican senator backs Hagel for Pentagon chief Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 04:05 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chuck Hagel's path to confirmation as President Barack Obama's new secretary of defense became more secure on Thursday when Republican Senator Richard Shelby said he would support the nomination. Shelby joined almost every other Republican senator a week ago in delaying a vote on confirming Hagel in order to allow colleagues more time to examine Hagel's record, said spokesman Jonathan Graffeo. He now will vote for a motion to stop debate, ending the delay, and in favor of the nomination, barring any surprises between now and a confirmation vote, Graffeo said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ending long break, White House and Republicans renew budget talks Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 04:04 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After weeks without talks on the U.S. budget crisis, President Barack Obama called Republican leaders on Thursday to discuss the harsh "sequestration" cuts to government spending due to begin in just over a week. In what might be just the start of long negotiations to prevent the $85 billion in cuts, Obama spoke to House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The conversations were "good," White House spokesman Jay Carney said, but he declined to provide details. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Mursi calls elections beginning April 27 Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 03:49 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi on Thursday called parliamentary elections that will begin on April 27 and finish in late June, a four-stage vote that the Islamist leader hopes will conclude Egypt's turbulent transition to democracy. The vote will take place in a country deeply divided between Islamist parties that have come out on top in all elections held since Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011 and more secular-minded opposition parties that have struggled to get organized. ... Full Story | Top |
| Public sentiment has turned in U.S. gun debate: Biden Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 03:28 PM PST  DANBURY, Connecticut (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden, speaking 10 miles from the site of the Connecticut elementary school massacre, argued on Thursday that public opinion had turned against the gun rights lobby. "I say it's unacceptable not to take this on. ... I believe the price to be paid politically is for those who refuse to act," Biden told a conference on gun violence in his first visit to the area since a gunman killed 20 school children and six adults in the nearby town of Newtown on December 14. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Finmeccanica delays results over India probe Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 03:27 PM PST  ROME/MILAN (Reuters) - Italian defense group Finmeccanica has delayed publication of its 2012 results after a bribery probe connected with the sale of 12 helicopters to Indian authorities, it said on Thursday. After a board meeting, Finmeccanica said it had postponed the approval of its full-year accounts from March 12 to a new meeting to be held no later than April 30, to "evaluate the impact of recent economic events on its balance sheet. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York State gets tough on Sandy insurers Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 03:22 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York State has told its financial watchdog to investigate three insurance companies for dragging their heels when it comes to processing claims for damage caused by Superstorm Sandy that slammed the region last October. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement that consumer complaints against Narragansett Bay Insurance Company, Tower Insurance Company and Kingstone Insurance Company received by the state's Department of Financial Services have been "much higher than average. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama expresses doubt about a March 1 deal to head off cuts Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 03:20 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama expressed doubt on Thursday that a deal can be struck with Republican lawmakers by a March 1 deadline to head off the start of $85 billion in spending cuts. His comments, made in an interview with radio talk show host Al Sharpton, suggested the White House was preparing for the possibility the March 1 deadline will pass with no deal. That would set off a chain reaction of automatic spending cuts that if left unchecked over the next few months could lead to thousands of job furloughs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pistorius bail decision expected in South African court Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 03:15 PM PST  PRETORIA (Reuters) - A judge is likely to decide on Friday whether to grant bail to Oscar Pistorius, with prosecutors arguing he is a cold-blooded killer and his own lawyers that he is far too famous to have any chance of fleeing prosecution. The bail hearing, which began last Friday, was set to resume at 0800 GMT. Defense lawyers for Pistorius say the athlete shot dead his girlfriend only by terrible mistake, and deserves bail to prepare for a case that has garnered global attention and has been marred by a bungled police investigation. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. unions, business agree on guidelines for low-skilled visas Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 03:09 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The largest American union and the country's biggest business lobby group said Thursday they agreed on principles for revamping the low-skilled worker visa program, a move hailed as major progress that could hasten immigration reform in Congress. The AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said they agreed on three points that would ensure that American workers get the first opportunity at jobs, create a new guest worker program and establish another bureaucracy to analyze labor trends and advise Congress. But the principles were vague. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former GOP presidential candidate Huntsman backs gay marriage Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 03:06 PM PST  (Reuters) - Former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman voiced support for gay marriage on Thursday, reversing his position and urging the Republican Party to be more supportive of gays and lesbians who want to marry. Huntsman, a former U.S. ambassador to China and governor of Utah widely viewed as a moderate, made the announcement in an op-ed piece published online in The American Conservative magazine. "I've been married for 29 years. My marriage has been the greatest joy of my life," he wrote. ... Full Story | Top |
| Duvalier defies court order to face human rights accusations Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 02:55 PM PST  PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier defied a judge's order to appear in court on Thursday to face charges he was responsible for corruption and serious human rights violations during his 15-year rule. Duvalier had already boycotted two previous court hearings, and Judge Jean-Joseph Lebrun, head of the court of appeals, responded to the latest snub by ordering that Duvalier be escorted to court by law enforcement officials next week. The presence of the 61-year-old former "president for life" was "imperative," Lebrun said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Detroit named most miserable U.S. city in Forbes ranking Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 02:49 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - With its violent crimes, high unemployment, dwindling population and financial crisis, Detroit was named on Thursday as the most miserable city in the United States. It toppled Miami, which held the title last year, and surpassed Flint, Michigan, Rockford and Chicago in Illinois and Modesto, California, which rounded out the five most unhappy urban areas. "Detroit's problems are hardly news. It has been in a four-decade decline paralleling the slide in the U.S. auto industry," according to Forbes.com, which compiles the yearly ranking. ... Full Story | Top |
| French, Malian forces fight Islamist rebels in Gao Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 02:46 PM PST  GAO, Mali (Reuters) - French and Malian troops fought Islamists on the streets of Gao and a car bomb exploded in Kidal on Thursday, as fighting showed little sign of abating weeks before France plans to start withdrawing some forces. Reuters reporters in Gao in the country's desert north said French and Malian forces fired at the mayor's office with heavy machineguns after Islamists were reported to have infiltrated the Niger River town during a night of explosions and gunfire. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congolese teen actress gets U.S. visa to walk Oscar red carpet Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 02:46 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The teenage star of the Oscar-nominated Canadian drama "War Witch" will get to travel from her native Congo to the Academy Awards in Los Angeles after she received a last-minute visa, the film's U.S. distributor said on Thursday. Amateur actress Rachel Mwanza, 16, who grew up an orphan on the streets of capital Kinshasa, received her visa to the United States earlier in the week and will arrive in Los Angeles on Friday, two days ahead of Sunday's Oscar ceremony, a spokeswoman for distributor Tribeca Film said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria peace mediator Brahimi to stay through 2013: U.N. Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 02:22 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N.-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi will continue his bid to broker peace in war-torn Syria until at least the end of the year, the United Nations said on Thursday. The veteran Algerian diplomat took up the role in September when he replaced former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Annan blamed a Security Council impasse for hampering his six-month bid to broker peace and leading to his decision to step down. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's Abe to showcase alliance, get Obama to back Abenomics Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 02:02 PM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be seeking to put a strong U.S.-Japan alliance on full display in the face of potential threats from a nuclear North Korea and an assertive China when he meets U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday. Abe, who has kept his ratings high since taking office in December, also needs Obama's signoff on his economic revival recipe of big spending and hyper-easy monetary policy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Plan ahead for Syria transition, U.S. Senator Rubio says Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 01:59 PM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States must ensure that a new Syrian leadership is well armed and can run the country after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio said on Thursday. The Florida Republican, who is seen as a rising star on the right flank of his party, and who gave the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, spoke about Syria and Iraq during a visit to Israel. "Our hope is to continue to ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Jobs, factory, inflation data favor easy Fed policy Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 01:55 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A raft of U.S. economic data on Thursday from claims for jobless aid to factory activity and consumer prices pointed to a still tepid recovery and supported the argument for the Federal Reserve to maintain its monetary stimulus. The Fed is currently buying $85 billion in bonds per month and has said it would keep up purchases until the labor market outlook improves substantially, although officials are increasingly divided over the wisdom of that course. "The economy is in a holding pattern. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York's Bloomberg faces test in Chicago political gun battle Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 01:38 PM PST  CHICAGO (Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's push for stricter U.S. gun laws in the wake of the Connecticut school massacre faces a stern test next week in a messy Chicago special election where he has piled in with more than $2 million in political ads. The outcome of the race is the first big election test since the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting of whether gun control champions such as Bloomberg and former U.S. congresswoman Gabby Giffords can use money, and the same tough tactics as gun rights lobbyists, to influence voters. Gun control vaulted to the top of the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bank of Canada names insider economist as deputy governor Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 01:18 PM PST  OTTAWA (Reuters) - Larry Schembri, a Bank of Canada economist with international expertise, will become one of the central bank's deputy governors on its rate-setting council starting next week, the bank said on Thursday. Schembri, 55, is an academic who currently coordinates the bank's contributions to the Financial Stability Board of the Group of 20 leading economies. He will replace Jean Boivin, who moved to the finance ministry. Schembri's appointment is effective next Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. indicts peanut processors in 2009 salmonella outbreak Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 01:13 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four years after a salmonella outbreak linked to tainted peanut butter sickened hundreds in the United States and killed nine, authorities have charged the former owner of the company and several employees with fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Federal prosecutors on Thursday alleged the group covered up the presence of salmonella in its peanut products for years, going so far as to create fake certificates showing the products were uncontaminated even when laboratory results showed the reverse. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Japan's mission impossible: to spend $100 billion in 15 months Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 01:05 PM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - What do you buy the nation that already seems to have everything? That is the question facing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he aims to spend more than $100 billion on infrastructure in the next 15 months to help revive his country's economy. But with its gleaming bullet trains, jungles of elevated highways and strings of man-made islands, ultra-modern Japan doesn't appear to want for much. ... Full Story | Top |
| Maduro could run Venezuela if Chavez resigned: Correa Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 01:03 PM PST QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said on Thursday that Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is recovering from cancer surgery, but if he had to step down Vice President Nicolas Maduro would be "extremely capable" of running the OPEC nation. Correa, who won a sweeping re-election victory on Sunday, told Reuters he thinks Maduro is the right person to take over in Venezuela if the socialist leader needs to step down. "Regardless of who may take charge, my main concern is that Chavez recovers ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain publishes names of "tax cheats" for the first time Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 12:58 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - HM Revenue and Customs on Thursday published the names of what it described as "tax cheats" for the first time, part of efforts to address public anger over tax evasion at a time of economic austerity. Tax has become a sensitive issue in Britain as the government cuts spending to tackle a big budget deficit, and as more becomes known about legal loopholes firms such as Starbucks and Amazon use to sharply cut their tax bill. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three die in shootout, fiery crash on Las Vegas strip Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 12:51 PM PST LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Three people died on the Las Vegas strip early on Thursday when gunmen in a Range Rover sport utility vehicle opened fire on a Maserati, killing the driver and touching off a fiery multi-car crash. The driver of the Maserati was slain in the pre-dawn shooting, and his car collided with a taxi carrying two people, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police spokesman Officer Jose Hernandez said. The cab exploded into flames in the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road in front of several casino resorts, killing the driver and a passenger. ... Full Story | Top |
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