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| UK sets out new law to break up errant banks Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 06:27 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - British banks that fail to guard their day-to-day banking from risky investment activities will face being dismantled, Chancellor George Osborne is set to say later on Monday. Britain is in the midst of a big shake-up of its system of bank regulation in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, when 65 billion pounds of public money was needed to shore up Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas man arraigned on murder charges in shooting of ex-Navy SEAL Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 06:14 PM PST  (Reuters) - An Iraq war veteran accused of gunning down former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, a prominent military sniper, and another man at a Texas shooting range has been arraigned on three counts of murder, Texas officials said on Sunday. Eddie Ray Routh, 25, is accused of killing Kyle, 38, and 35-year-old Chad Littlefield, Kyle's neighbor, with a semiautomatic pistol on Saturday afternoon at the Rough Creek Lodge, about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. "They were shot at close range," department spokesman Sergeant Lonny Haschel said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fidel Castro votes, chats in Cuban election Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 05:35 PM PST  HAVANA (Reuters) - Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro voted in Cuba's general election on Sunday and chatted with well wishers and Cuban reporters in Havana for more than an hour, in his first extended public appearance since 2010. Castro had voted from his home in three previous elections since taking ill in 2006 and ceding power to his brother Raul two years later. A stooped, snow white bearded Castro, 86, was seen on state-run television as he cast his ballot in the late afternoon, wearing a blue plaid shirt and light blue jacket. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama encourages Boy Scouts of America to end ban on gays Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 05:10 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Sunday encouraged the Boy Scouts of America to end its ban on gay members and leaders, days before the group is expected to vote on the controversial and long-standing rule. In an interview with CBS, anchor Scott Pelley asked the president if he believed scouting should be open to gays. "Yes," Obama said simply. Asked to elaborate, Obama - who last year gave his backing to the right of same sex couples to marry - said gays and lesbians should be able to participate in "every institution" that others can. "My attitude is ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama: more tax revenue needed to address deficit - CBS Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 04:44 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Sunday more tax revenue would be needed to reduce the U.S. deficit and signaled he would push hard to get rid of loopholes such as the "carried interest" tax break enjoyed by private equity and hedge fund managers. Obama, who won re-election in November largely on his promise to raise rates for the wealthiest Americans, pushed through a legislative package at the beginning of the year that raised rates for individuals making more than $400,000 a year and households making more than $450,000 a year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Vaccine group funds cervical cancer immunizations for poor Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 04:02 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - The GAVI global vaccines group is to help protect more than 180,000 girls in eight countries across Africa and Asia from cervical cancer by funding immunization projects with vaccines from Merck and GlaxoSmithKline. The non-profit GAVI Alliance, which funds bulk-buy vaccination programs for poor nations, said on Monday that Ghana, Kenya, Laos, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone and Tanzania would be the first countries to get its support for cervical cancer protection pilot projects. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alabama town gathers to bury bus driver slain in hostage-taking Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 03:30 PM PST  MIDLAND CITY, Alabama (Reuters) - Mourners in the small town of Midland City, Alabama, gathered on Sunday to bury a school bus driver slain during the abduction of a child taken captive and held for a sixth day by a gunman in an underground bunker. Police say Jimmy Lee Dykes fatally shot bus driver Charles Albert Poland Jr. on Tuesday, then abducted the 5-year-old boy from the bus and has been holding him inside his home-made shelter. The FBI and other authorities have been trying to persuade Dykes, 65, a Vietnam War veteran and retired trucker, to surrender. ... Full Story | Top |
| Amid domestic change, Cubans march to the polls Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 02:54 PM PST  HAVANA (Reuters) - Cubans went to the polls on Sunday to elect a Communist Party-selected slate of 612 deputies to the National Assembly at a time of change in how they live and work, but not in how they vote. Veteran leader Fidel Castro, 86, made a rare appearance on Sunday to cast his ballot. He voted from home in local elections last year and in 2008 when the current assembly was elected, according to the National Information Agency. ... Full Story | Top |
| Revenue must be part of any budget deal: Senator Reid Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 02:34 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Senate Democrat said on Sunday tax revenue must be part of any deal to replace looming automatic spending cuts, despite Republican warnings that they will not buckle over this issue after conceding on tax rises for the rich a month ago. In separate remarks, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also took aim at the $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts, known as the sequester, which bite on March 1 unless Congress takes action, and warned they would harm U.S. security. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Secretary of State Kerry speaks to Netanyahu, Abbas about peace Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 02:22 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry stressed his commitment to promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace on Sunday in telephone calls to the leaders of both sides, the State Department said. In separate conversations, Kerry, who took over as the top U.S. diplomat from Hillary Clinton on Friday, spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran hedges on nuclear talks with six powers or U.S. Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 02:02 PM PST  MUNICH (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday it was open to a U.S. offer of direct talks on its nuclear program and that six world powers had suggested a new round of nuclear negotiations this month, but without committing itself to either proposal. Diplomatic efforts to resolve a dispute over Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is peaceful but the West suspects is intended to give Iran the capability to build a nuclear bomb, have been all but deadlocked for years, while Iran has continued to announce advances in the program. ... Full Story | Top |
| Reid predicts Congress will pass immigration legislation Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 01:54 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Senate Democrat on Sunday predicted that Congress will pass and send to President Barack Obama legislation overhauling the U.S. immigration system, saying "things are looking really good." Obama last week expressed hope Congress can get a deal done on immigration, possibly in the first half of the year. The president is proposing to give the roughly 11 million U.S. illegal immigrants - most of whom are Hispanics - a pathway to citizenship, a step that many Republicans have long fought. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: China and Japan seek to dial down tensions, but risks remain Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 01:48 PM PST  TOKYO/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Two Japanese F-15s scramble as a Chinese plane nears the disputed islands: one in the lead, the other providing cover. They issue radio warnings to leave the area, but are ignored. Visual wing-tipping signals go unheeded. The Japanese pilots consider their last option: firing warning shots - a step Beijing could consider an act of war. That's how the risky game being played near a chain of rocky, uninhabited isles at the heart of a row between Beijing and Tokyo could quickly escalate to the danger point, a former Japanese air force pilot said. "China would be ... Full Story | Top |
| Sri Lanka bars human rights panel from visiting country Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 01:07 PM PST COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka said on Sunday it would not allow into the country an international human rights panel due to visit after the government's controversial sacking of the chief justice. A four-member delegation of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute was scheduled to be in Colombo on February 1-10 to assess the country's rule of law after the removal of Shirani Bandaranayake, Sri Lanka's first woman head of the Supreme Court on January 13. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU budget agreement "not there yet:" Hollande Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 12:50 PM PST  PARIS (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande said on Sunday France was keen to agree the European Union's 2014-2020 budget at a summit in Brussels next week, but there was still much work to be done. The 27-nation bloc failed to agree on its 1 trillion euro ($1.37 trillion) budget at a meeting in November. "We will do everything to find an agreement at the next summit, but conditions are not there yet," Hollande told reporters, flanked by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. Hollande said there was still time to reach a deal before the summit starts on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ahmadinejad accuses Iran speaker's family of corruption Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 12:32 PM PST  DUBAI (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the parliament speaker's family of corruption on Sunday, turning a long-standing rivalry between two of Iran's most powerful figures into a face-to-face feud, months before an election. Addressing parliament to defend one of his ministers against impeachment, Ahmadinejad went on the attack, playing astonished lawmakers a recorded conversation with the brother of the speaker that he said implicated the whole family in corruption. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition chief under fire for talks with Assad allies Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 12:26 PM PST  MUNICH (Reuters) - Syria's opposition leader flew back to his Cairo headquarters from Germany on Sunday to explain to skeptical allies his decision to talk with President Bashar al-Assad's main backers Russia and Iran. The Russian and Iranian foreign ministers, and U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, portrayed Syrian National Coalition leader Moaz Alkhatib's new willingness to talk with the Assad regime as a major step towards resolving the two-year-old war. ... Full Story | Top |
| French planes pound Islamist camps in north Mali desert Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 12:11 PM PST  PARIS/BAMAKO (Reuters) - French warplanes pounded Islamist rebel camps in the far north of Mali on Sunday, military sources said, a day after French President Francois Hollande was hailed as a savior during a visit to the West African country. Thierry Burkhard, spokesman for the French army in Paris, said the overnight raids targeted logistics bases and training camps used by the al Qaeda-linked rebels near the town of Tessalit, close to the Algerian border. "These were important air strikes," Burkhard told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas man arraigned on murder charges in shooting of "American Sniper" Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 11:53 AM PST (Reuters) - The man accused of gunning down former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, a prominent military sniper, and a second man at a Texas shooting range has been arraigned on two counts of capital murder, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on Sunday. Eddie Ray Routh, 25, was accused of killing Kyle, 38, and Chad Littlefield, 35, a neighbor of Kyle, on Saturday afternoon at the Rough Creek Lodge, about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth, the department said. "They were shot at close range," said department spokesman Sergeant Lonny Haschel said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Istanbul police say U.S. tourist was murdered: report Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 11:51 AM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - An American tourist whose body was found in the ruins of Istanbul's old city wall was murdered by a blow to the head, the city's police chief was quoted as saying on Sunday. The husband of Sarai Sierra, 33, from New York, identified her body late on Saturday at an Istanbul morgue, state broadcaster TRT reported. She had been travelling alone when she was reported missing on January 21. "It's certain she was killed by a blow to the head," police chief Huseyin Capkin was quoted as saying by CNN Turk television. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dutch want management of rescued bank held accountable Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 11:42 AM PST AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch finance minister said on Sunday he would look at whether those responsible for the mismanagement of SNS Reaal can be held accountable following last week's 10 billion euro rescue of the country's No. 4 bank. The troubled banking and insurance group was nationalized on Friday after it failed to meet a January 31 deadline for securing a capital injection to cover heavy losses in its property finance business. The bulk of the costs will be born by taxpayers, although other banks will have to contribute. ... Full Story | Top |
| Watch what central bankers say, not what they do Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 11:04 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Central banking is in a state of flux as policymakers from Tokyo to Washington ditch prevailing orthodoxies to try to grab a bigger share of a slow-growing global economic pie. That's why the focus this week will be on what European Central Bank (ECB)Governor Mario Draghi has to say about the strength of the euro and what Canadian central bank chief Mark Carney might have in mind when he succeeds Mervyn King at the Bank of England (BOE) in July. Draghi holds a news conference on Thursday after an ECB policy-setting meeting. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. didn't need rough interrogation to get bin Laden: Panetta Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 10:56 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leon Panetta, who as CIA director oversaw the U.S. operation that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, said the job could have been done without resorting to controversial interrogation methods that some have said constitute torture. The outgoing defense secretary, in remarks aired Sunday on the NBC program "Meet the Press," said there had been many pieces to the "puzzle" solved to find bin Laden, who was held responsible for the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Man stripped and beaten blames Egyptian police Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 10:55 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - A man who was beaten and dragged naked across the ground during a demonstration on Friday told the public prosecution that Egyptian riot police were responsible for the incident, reversing an earlier statement in which he blamed demonstrators. A video of Hamada Saber, 48, being beaten with truncheons by helmeted police has infuriated the opposition, which accuses President Mohamed Mursi of ordering a harsh crackdown on protests two years after the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. ... Full Story | Top |
| Biden raises possibility of direct U.S.-Iran talks Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 10:40 AM PST  MUNICH (Reuters) - The United States is ready for direct talks with Iran if it is serious about negotiations, Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday, backing bilateral contact many see as crucial to easing a dispute over Tehran's nuclear program. Speaking at a security conference in Munich, Biden said Iran - which says it is enriching uranium for peaceful energy only - now faced "the most robust sanctions in history" meant to ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi offers big tax cuts in "last great battle" Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 10:23 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi announced his "last great electoral and political battle" on Sunday with a sweeping promise to cut taxes and the cost of government if his center right wins elections this month. In a passionate and much anticipated speech to supporters in Milan, the city where he built his fortune, he said only his center right could lift Italy out of the dark fog of recession and re-establish trust between government and citizens. His political opponents were quick to deride him. ... Full Story | Top |
| Reid, Panetta, Dempsey defend Obama's Pentagon nominee Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 09:54 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the Senate Democratic leader and the top U.S. military officer rallied behind Chuck Hagel on Sunday after President Barack Obama's choice for Pentagon chief endured a rocky confirmation hearing, with Panetta faulting critics for wielding their "political knives." "This was eight hours," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, referring to Thursday's confirmation hearing in which Hagel faced tough questions from Republicans on his past statements on Israel, Iran and U.S. nuclear strategy. "Give the guy a break. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali's soccer victory caps Timbuktu's post-Islamist rebirth Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 09:37 AM PST  TIMBUKTU, Mali (Reuters) - For months, Salaha Najim would discreetly put up a satellite dish banned by the Islamist rebels in dusty Timbuktu, close the shutters of his house and turn on the television to watch soccer with the sound turned down. On Saturday, the windows were open wide again and the volume was unashamedly loud as Mali's national team, the Eagles, beat South Africa in a penalty shootout to reach the semifinals of the African Nations Cup. ... Full Story | Top |
| German politicians voice skepticism on aid for Cyprus Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 09:25 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - A top member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Free Democrat coalition partners and several opposition lawmakers said on Sunday they would only agree aid for Cyprus if it tackled money-laundering and implemented structural reforms. Cyprus has asked the European Union and International Monetary Fund for a bailout but resistance is strong in euro zone paymaster Germany. Cyprus's problems go back to its banks' exposure to crisis-hit Greece and in Germany much has been made of its status as a popular tax haven for wealthy Russians. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian dies of wounds as toll from protests rises to 57 Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 09:16 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian man shot during protests in Cairo died of his wounds on Sunday, medics said, increasing to 57 the death toll in the bloodiest week of President Mohamed Mursi's seven months in power. The man, 26, had been shot on Friday near the presidential palace, where youths and police had clashed during violent protests fuelled by anger at the Mursi administration. Hundreds more people have been wounded in violence that has flared on and off in Egypt since January 24 - the eve of the second anniversary of the uprising that swept Hosni Mubarak from power. ... Full Story | Top |
| Paraguay politician who helped oust dictator dies in crash Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 08:47 AM PST ASUNCION (Reuters) - Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Oviedo, who helped the lead the 1989 coup that overthrew dictator Alfredo Stroessner, died in a helicopter crash over the weekend. A retired general known as a dynamic public speaker, the 69-year-old Oviedo was running in the April presidential election in the landlocked, grains-exporting South American country. Police rescuers found his body on Sunday in the wreckage of a helicopter crash in northern Paraguay where he was traveling for a campaign event. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek seamen, farmers protest against government cuts Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 08:25 AM PST  ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek seamen extended a strike to protest against government austerity for a further 48 hours on Sunday, meaning dozens of islands will have been cut off from the mainland for six days. Farmers also briefly disrupted traffic on major motorways across Greece in the latest wave of protest over budget cuts and labor reform that is needed to satisfy international lenders. Greece's biggest labor union has called a general 24-hour strike for February 20. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan accuses Sudan of bombing; Khartoum denies Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 07:50 AM PST JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan on Sunday accused Sudan of bombing its side of their volatile border, killing one soldier and wounding four others in what it said was the third attack on its northeastern Renk County since November. Sudan's army spokesman al-Sawarmi Khalid denied the accusations, as it has each time South Sudan has alleged an attack. Reuters reporters have witnessed several air strikes against South Sudan since it seceded from Sudan in 2011. The African neighbors have been at loggerheads over oil, territory and other disputes and came close to war in April. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Deadly Pemex blast tests Mexico's new president Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 07:40 AM PST  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A deadly blast at Mexican state oil firm Pemex's headquarters is the first key test of new President Pena Nieto's promise that his party has broken with a past of shady cover-ups, and if handled properly, could help him overhaul the lumbering giant. The disaster on Thursday struck two months into Pena Nieto's presidency, just as Congress was preparing to discuss his plans to open up the state-run energy industry to more private investment. ... Full Story | Top |
| France on track to meet 0.8 percent growth target: minister Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 07:17 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici on Sunday said the government believed it could reach its 2013 economic growth target of 0.8 percent. Moscovici told France 2 television that he is maintaining the target ahead of the publication of the European Commission's euro-zone economy forecasts, expected on February 22. "We will have discussions," Moscovici said. "If we will need to adapt, we will adapt. But I am confident about the French economy." Moscovici also said that although the euro has stabilised, it may have become too strong. ... Full Story | Top |
| Secular party threatens to quit Islamist-led Tunisian government Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 07:14 AM PST TUNIS (Reuters) - The Tunisian president's secular party threatened on Sunday to withdraw from the Islamist-led government unless it drops two Islamist ministers. The moderate Islamist Ennahda party won 42 percent of seats in the country's first post-Arab Spring elections in October 2011 but formed a government in coalition with two secular parties, President Moncef Marzouki's Congress for the Republic and Ettakatol. ... Full Story | Top |
| For U.S. gun clubs, NRA membership has its privileges Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 07:12 AM PST  CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine (Reuters) - Things are looking up at the Spurwink Rod and Gun Club. The junior marksmanship team now has matching jackets and Olympic-style rifles. There's a new video security system. And the shooting range has been rebuilt, with a rubber roof and double-thick plywood walls to dampen the crack of rifle fire - not that that's likely to satisfy the neighbors who keep complaining about the noise. There's another change as well: One year ago, the private club required all 300 of its members to join the National Rifle Association, the nation's largest gun-rights group. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kuwaiti gets five years for insulting ruler Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 06:58 AM PST KUWAIT (Reuters) - A Kuwaiti court sentenced a man to five years in prison on Sunday for insulting the emir on Twitter, a rights lawyer and news websites said, in the latest prosecution for criticism of authorities via social media in the Gulf Arab state. The court gave Kuwaiti Mohammad Eid al-Ajmi the maximum sentence for the comments, news websites al-Rai and alaan.cc reported. In recent months Kuwait has penalized several Twitter users for criticizing the emir, who is described as "immune and inviolable" in the constitution. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran says talks with Syria opposition could help stop bloodshed Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 06:54 AM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Sunday his talks with the Syrian opposition leader in Munich one day earlier could contribute to finding a solution to the war in Syria. Salehi said Syrian National Coalition leader Moaz Alkhatib's comments to him, in their talks late on Saturday, that he would be willing to talk with representatives of the Syrian government if prisoners were released represented "a good step forward". ... Full Story | Top |
| Assad says Syria can confront threats after Israel strike Sunday, Feb 03, 2013 06:54 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad accused Israel on Sunday of trying to destabilize Syria by attacking a military research base outside Damascus last week, and said Syria was able to confront "current threats ...and aggression", state media said. Assad made the remarks in a meeting with Saeed Jalili, Iran's national security council secretary, in the Syrian capital. It was his first reported response to the attack. State news agency SANA quoted Jalili as reaffirming Tehran's "full support for the Syrian people ... ... Full Story | Top |
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