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| Chavez's breathing problems worsen, has severe new infection Monday, Mar 04, 2013 08:04 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's breathing problems have worsened and he is suffering from a "severe" new respiratory infection as he struggles to recover from cancer surgery, the government said in a somber update on Monday. The 58-year-old socialist leader has not been seen in public nor heard from in almost three months since undergoing surgery in Cuba. It was his fourth operation since the disease was detected in mid-2011. "Today there is a worsening of his respiratory function. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., China reach tentative deal on North Korea sanctions Monday, Mar 04, 2013 08:02 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and China have struck a tentative deal on a draft U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution that would punish North Korea for its third nuclear test last month, U.N. diplomats said on Monday. Separately, the U.N. press office announced that Russia, which holds the presidency of the 15-nation Security Council this month, will convene closed-door consultations on North Korea at 11:00 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) in New York on Tuesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| China boosts defense budget by 10.7 percent for 2013 Monday, Mar 04, 2013 07:48 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - China will raise military spending by 10.7 percent this year to 740.6 billion yuan ($119 billion), the government announced on Tuesday, adding to a nearly unbroken series of double-digit increases in the defense budget over two decades. The government also announced that the domestic security budget would rise 8.7 percent to 769.1 billion yuan, the third year in a row it will outstrip defense spending. ... Full Story | Top |
| Highlights: China lays out economic blueprint for 2013 Monday, Mar 04, 2013 07:48 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - China published its economic blueprint for the year on Tuesday, targeting 7.5 percent growth in its gross domestic product that would keep the world's second-largest economy on an even keel. The plan was presented to the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, by outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday before he hands over to his successor Li Keqiang. Below are highlights from the report. ON ECONOMIC GROWTH, INFLATION: "This year's economic growth target of around 7.5 percent is necessary and appropriate, and we need to work hard to achieve it. ... Full Story | Top |
| China eyes 2013 economic growth of 7.5 percent: Premier Wen Monday, Mar 04, 2013 07:48 PM PST  BEIJING (Reuters) - China said it would boost fiscal spending in 2013 in a bid to deliver economic growth of 7.5 percent for the year, outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday in remarks prepared for the opening of the country's annual parliament meetings. Wen said China targeted a 2013 fiscal deficit of 1.2 trillion yuan ($192.8 billion), or around 2.0 percent of gross domestic product, up from the 850 billion yuan deficit chalked up in 2012 that was worth 1.6 percent of GDP. ... Full Story | Top |
| Washington state lawmaker backpedals after saying cyclists pollute by breathing Monday, Mar 04, 2013 07:40 PM PST SEATTLE (Reuters) - A Washington state lawmaker has apologized for telling a bike store owner, in a spat over a proposed bike fee, that bicyclists can cause pollution - just by breathing out carbon dioxide. Ed Orcutt, a ranking Republican member of the state House of Representatives Transportation committee, said in an email exchange with a bike shop owner that drivers and bicyclists should both share the burden of preserving the roads they use. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada's Ouellet suggests others may be better for pope Monday, Mar 04, 2013 07:06 PM PST  OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, one of the leading candidates to succeed Pope Benedict, suggested in an interview broadcast on Monday that other candidates for pope might do a better job. He also said it would not be surprising for the pope to come from outside Europe after that continent's long dominance of the papacy. "There was a focus on Europe obviously for centuries, and centuries, and ... someday it is to be expected that a pope would come from Asia, would come from Africa, would come from America," he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. ... Full Story | Top |
| Budget crisis eases as Republicans seek to avoid shutdown Monday, Mar 04, 2013 06:41 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tension over the fiscal crisis eased on Monday as President Barack Obama called more opposition lawmakers to find a way to stop $85 billion in damaging budget cuts and congressional Republicans announced a plan to prevent a government shutdown. Eager to resolve fiscal fights overshadowing his second term, the Democratic president called Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins and Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn after speaking to other Republican senators over the weekend. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malaysian troops attack armed Philippine group in Sabah Monday, Mar 04, 2013 06:16 PM PST  KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian troops backed by fighter jets attacked an armed Filipino group on Tuesday, trying to end a standoff on Borneo island after violence that killed at least 27 people and sparked fears of broader insecurity in the resource-rich area. The operation to seize an area occupied by about 180 Filipinos, dozens of them armed, began at 7 a.m. (2300 GMT Monday), a day after the government sent seven army battalions to Malaysia's eastern Sabah state to reinforce police. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mennonite minister sentenced in international kidnapping case Monday, Mar 04, 2013 06:08 PM PST (Reuters) - A Mennonite minister was sentenced in Vermont on Monday to more than two years in prison for helping a woman flee to Nicaragua with her daughter to evade court orders granting visitation rights to the woman's former lesbian partner. Kenneth Miller, 45, was convicted in August of aiding and abetting international kidnapping. Prosecutors said he helped orchestrate Lisa Miller's flight to Canada and then on to Nicaragua in 2009 with her daughter after she decided to reject her homosexuality and her former partner. Kenneth Miller and Lisa Miller are not related. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico wants U.S. ties to focus on economy, education, not drugs Monday, Mar 04, 2013 06:05 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico must give greater priority to economic cooperation and education in relations with the United States rather than allowing the fight against organized crime to take center stage, a senior Mexican official said on Monday. Mexico has spent the past six years locked in a bloody fight with powerful drug cartels whose killings, kidnappings and extortion have marred the country's image, particularly in the United States, where it ships nearly 80 percent of its exports. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenyatta takes early lead as Kenya counts votes Monday, Mar 04, 2013 05:50 PM PST  NAIROBI (Reuters) - Uhuru Kenyatta opened an early lead as Kenya continued the count on Tuesday in a presidential election that brought out millions of voters despite pockets of violence that killed at least 15 people. Kenyans, who waited patiently in long lines, hope the vote will restore the nation's image as one of Africa's more stable democracies after tribal blood-letting killed more than 1,200 people when the result of the 2007 vote was disputed by rivals. ... Full Story | Top |
| After latest budget battle, Obama calls senators looking for common ground Monday, Mar 04, 2013 04:58 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, unable to persuade Republicans to accept higher taxes, is attempting to cobble together what he calls a "common-sense caucus" among lawmakers to help resolve U.S. budget woes and push his legislative agenda. On Monday and in recent days, Obama has made individual phone calls to a number of senators in a search for common ground on $85 billion in budget cuts that went into effect last week, as well as his top priorities like deficit reduction, gun control and an overhaul of U.S. immigration laws. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama rounds out Cabinet with EPA, Energy nominees Monday, Mar 04, 2013 04:41 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama announced his nominees to lead a new U.S. push to tackle climate change on Monday, choosing an air quality expert to run the Environmental Protection Agency and a nuclear physicist to head the Department of Energy. In a widely expected move, Obama selected agency veteran Gina McCarthy to replace Lisa Jackson as EPA administrator and scientist Ernest Moniz from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to take over from Steven Chu as Energy secretary. ... Full Story | Top |
| Will antitrust cops recoil from king-sized mattress merger? Monday, Mar 04, 2013 04:30 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A planned merger of two large U.S. mattress companies will force antitrust regulators to decide how much concentration they are prepared to allow in this once diffuse market. Tempur-Pedic International Inc, an upstart from Kentucky that rules the market for pricey space-age foam mattresses, has offered to pay $242 million for century-old Sealy Corp, taking on about $750 million in Sealy's debt in the process. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House: unlocking of cellphones should be legal Monday, Mar 04, 2013 04:22 PM PST  (Reuters) - Cellphone users should be allowed to switch their devices to any mobile carrier, the White House said on Monday in response to an online petition against the recent banning of the practice. More than 100,000 people signed the petition protesting the ban on switching imposed by the Library of Congress, which took effect in January. At issue is whether cellphone buyers, who get new devices at a heavily subsidized price in return for committing to long-term contracts, should be able to take their gadgets with them when they change carriers. ... Full Story | Top |
| General Dynamics unit, others issue layoff notices, blame U.S. budget cuts Monday, Mar 04, 2013 04:06 PM PST  (Reuters) - General Dynamics NASSCO, a primary constructor of ships for the U.S. Navy, warned about 1,040 employees on Monday of indefinite layoffs that may come in late April due to uncertainty created by the automatic U.S. budget cuts that took effect last week. The warnings come as military contractors weigh uncertainties over scheduled maintenance and repair work that may be put on hold as the federal government makes $85 billion in spending cuts. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| France says al Qaeda chief Abou Zeid "probably" killed Monday, Mar 04, 2013 03:59 PM PST  PARIS/BAMAKO (Reuters) - France gave the first indication on Monday that it believed reports that Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, one of al Qaeda's most feared commanders in Africa, had been killed in Mali, an event that would deal a serious blow to the militants' leadership. Edouard Guillaud, head of France's joint chiefs of staff, said it was probable Abou Zeid had been killed in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains where French troops are hunting down al Qaeda-linked fighters after a seven-week campaign which has broken Islamist control of northern Mali. ... Full Story | Top |
| Swiss bank Wegelin ordered to pay in U.S. tax evasion case Monday, Mar 04, 2013 03:56 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. court on Monday sentenced Wegelin & Co, the oldest Swiss private bank, to pay $57.85 million after it admitted to helping wealthy Americans evade taxes. The sum ordered by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in New York was on top of $16.3 million in forfeitures already obtained by authorities after the federal government accused Wegelin of conspiring to assist U.S. taxpayers hide $1.2 billion in secret Swiss bank accounts. The judge questioned whether the size of the settlement appropriately reflected the extent of wrongdoing that the government alleged. ... Full Story | Top |
| Republicans move to avoid government shutdown Monday, Mar 04, 2013 03:52 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Republicans announced a plan on Monday to avoid a government shutdown later this month, seeking to calm the waters after months of budget fights that ended in a failure last week to halt damaging spending cuts. Just three days into the $85 billion of automatic "sequester" cuts, Republicans in the House of Representatives turned their attention to the next fiscal deadline: the March 27 expiration of funding for government agencies and programs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ohio's Oberlin College suspends classes over "hate speech" Monday, Mar 04, 2013 03:43 PM PST CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Oberlin College, one of the first schools to integrate black and white students, suspended classes for the day on Monday after a report that a person wearing a hood and robe resembling a Ku Klux Klan costume was seen on campus. The suspension came as Oberlin was to begin a planned Peace Week in response to homophobic, and racially and religiously insensitive vandalism that has plagued the highly ranked Ohio liberal arts college over the past month. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Obama adviser Deese in running for deputy budget chief - sources Monday, Mar 04, 2013 03:37 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House economic adviser Brian Deese is a leading candidate to become deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, according to sources familiar with the matter. Deese, now deputy director of the White House's National Economic Council, would join Sylvia Mathews Burwell, currently president of the Walmart Foundation, whom Obama tapped on Monday to be director of OMB. Deese is a young, popular member of the president's economic team who was closely involved with the administration's bailout of the auto industry. ... Full Story | Top |
| BCE's $2.9 billion Astral purchase clears a hurdle in Canada Monday, Mar 04, 2013 03:11 PM PST  TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's Competition Bureau has approved BCE Inc's plan to acquire Astral Media Inc for C$3 billion ($2.9 billion), but the Bell parent's offer to buy the media company must still pass muster with the telecommunications regulator. The competition watchdog said on Monday its approval carried the condition that BCE, a growing broadcaster, must sell some of Astral's pay and specialty television channels, including several Disney channels. ... Full Story | Top |
| Biden, Netanyahu set tone on Iran for Obama visit to Israel Monday, Mar 04, 2013 03:10 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden insisted on Monday that President Barack Obama was not bluffing about using force to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions if all else fails, even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for a "credible military threat" against Tehran. Seeking to reassure Israel and its U.S. supporters just weeks before Obama visits the Jewish state, Biden cautioned that all options, including sanctions and diplomacy, must be exhausted to ensure that the international community will be supportive if military action is deemed necessary. ... Full Story | Top |
| House Republicans propose extra $2 billion for embassy security Monday, Mar 04, 2013 02:57 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Republican leaders proposed on Monday to spend another $2 billion on U.S. diplomatic security this year, using money unspent in Iraq to provide cash the Obama administration said was necessary to help prevent another Benghazi-style attack. The proposal, an exception amid general budget cutbacks, is part of the House Republican majority's plan for funding the government for the rest of fiscal 2013, which ends on September 30. ... Full Story | Top |
| At least nine die in plane crash in Congolese town of Goma Monday, Mar 04, 2013 02:45 PM PST  GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - At least nine people were killed on Monday when a twin-propeller plane crashed as it tried to land in bad weather in the eastern Congolese town of Goma, the government said. It was not immediately clear how many people were on board the Fokker 50, which was operated by domestic airline CAA. The flight was arriving from the town of Lodja, some 700 km (440 miles) to the west in Kasai-Oriental province, central Congo. A government spokesman said that, as the plane was loaded with cargo, it was not carrying its full capacity of 50 passengers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arkansas governor vetoes bill banning most abortions at 12 weeks Monday, Mar 04, 2013 02:41 PM PST LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - Democratic Governor Mike Beebe on Monday vetoed legislation that would ban most abortions in Arkansas after 12 weeks of pregnancy, a restriction that would be the most severe in the nation. The bill's supporters say they plan to seek a vote on Tuesday to override Beebe's veto, which would require only a simple majority in Arkansas. Beebe said in a veto letter that the bill "blatantly contradicts" the U.S. Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court, and he questioned the potential cost to taxpayers of defending it against legal challenges. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lockheed, Austal each win orders for two coastal warships: Pentagon Monday, Mar 04, 2013 02:40 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp and Australia's Austal have each won orders to build two more Littoral Combat Ships for the U.S. Navy, the Pentagon announced on Monday. Lockheed won an order valued at $697 million to build two more of its steel monohull LCS ships for the Navy using fiscal 2013 funding, the Defense Department said in its daily digest of large weapons contracts. It said work on the two ships would be completed by July 2018. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yankees GM breaks leg in parachute jump for charity Monday, Mar 04, 2013 02:40 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman broke his right fibula and dislocated his ankle upon landing from a parachute jump for charity in Florida, the team said on Monday. Cashman, 45, the main executive who decides which multimillion-dollar contracts to offer on Major League Baseball's highest paid team, was attempting to raise awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project, which aids U.S. military veterans when they return from war. He was injured on the second of two tandem jumps with a parachutist from the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia willing to consider making it easier for Libya to buy arms Monday, Mar 04, 2013 02:39 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia is prepared to consider ways of making it easier for Libya's government to buy arms, but voiced serious concern about lifting an embargo on the North African state already awash with weapons, Russia's U.N. ambassador said on Monday. Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said last week he planned to ask the U.N. Security council to lift the embargo, which was imposed at the start of an uprising in 2011 that culminated in the ouster of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Russia's U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian rebels report capture of provincial capital Monday, Mar 04, 2013 02:25 PM PST AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian opposition fighters captured the northeastern city of Raqqa on Monday and crowds toppled a statue of President Bashar al-Assad's father, opposition sources and residents said. The fall of Raqqa on the Euphrates River would be a significant development in the two-year-old revolt against Assad. The rebels do not claim to hold any other provincial capitals. Rebel fighters said loyalist forces were still dug in at the provincial airport 60 km (40 miles) from Raqqa and they remained a threat. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S.-EU deal must tackle agricultural barriers: Senator Baucus Monday, Mar 04, 2013 01:58 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee on Monday warned he will not support a proposed free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union unless it tears down barriers that have long blocked U.S. farm exports. "As chairman of the committee overseeing U.S. trade, I will support a deal only if it gives America's producers the opportunity to compete in the world's biggest market," Senator Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, wrote in the Financial Times. With the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Volcker urges progress on namesake trading ban Monday, Mar 04, 2013 01:50 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A fragmented regulatory landscape and obstruction by lobbyists are to blame for a lack of progress in banning banks from betting with their own money, Paul Volcker said on Monday. Volcker, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve, defended the rule that is named after him, which became law in 2010 as part of the Dodd-Frank overhaul of Wall Street to protect taxpayers from heavy bank bailouts. But five different U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| McCarthy's Republican history should smooth path to EPA Monday, Mar 04, 2013 01:32 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After a long career in public service including work for two Republican governors, Gina McCarthy is expected to win confirmation as the next head of the Environmental Protection Agency, thanks to her reputation as a practical, fix-it regulator. If confirmed, she will have her work cut out heading an agency that is a magnet for controversy as it seeks to balance the need for economic growth with the impact of development on human health and the environment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel warns it cannot "stand idle" as Syria war spills over border Monday, Mar 04, 2013 01:27 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Israel warned the U.N. Security Council on Monday that it could not be expected to "stand idle" as Syria's civil war spills over its border, while Russia accused armed groups of undermining security between the states by fighting in a demilitarized zone. Israeli U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor wrote to the 15-member council to complain about shells from Syria landing in Israel. "Israel cannot be expected to stand idle as the lives of its citizens are being put at risk by the Syrian government's reckless actions," Proser wrote. "Israel has shown maximum restraint thus far. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bersani ultimatum may bring new Italy election closer Monday, Mar 04, 2013 01:24 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italy could be inching closer towards another election within months after center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani issued an ultimatum to anti-establishment comic Beppe Grillo to support a new government or return to the polls. Last week's election, in which Grillo's 5-Star Movement won a huge protest vote, left no group with a working majority in parliament, making an alliance with a rival the only way out. ... Full Story | Top |
| Court backs block on Arizona law aimed at day laborers Monday, Mar 04, 2013 01:04 PM PST  (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday on the side of day laborers seeking work in Arizona, upholding an injunction that bars the state from enforcing part of its immigration law that prohibits motorists from stopping traffic to pick up workers. In the unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found the state law, by criminalizing certain interactions between drivers and day laborers, went too far in restricting commercial free speech rights. ... Full Story | Top |
| Airlines say demand holding up, shares gain Monday, Mar 04, 2013 01:01 PM PST  (Reuters) - Major airlines on Monday said demand for flights seemed to be holding up despite concerns that automatic U.S. spending cuts and rising taxes would hurt travel. Delta Air Lines told a J.P. Morgan investor conference it hoped to post a profit for the first quarter, which would represent the carrier's first March quarter in the black since 2000. Unit revenue, a key measure that represents passenger revenue per available seat mile, is expected to rise between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent in the first period, Delta added. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. urges ban on drunk diplomats at UN budget debates Monday, Mar 04, 2013 12:55 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States called on Monday for a ban on drunk diplomats at budget debates at the United Nations. "We make the modest proposal that the negotiating rooms should in future be an inebriation-free zone," Joseph Torsella, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform, told the General Assembly's budget committee. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani teen, Colombia president among Nobel prize nominees Monday, Mar 04, 2013 12:47 PM PST  OSLO (Reuters) - A Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls' education is a wild card entry for this year's Nobel Peace prize, with the leaders of Colombia and Myanmar among likely candidates for the award. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was certain to be on the list for his efforts to end half a century of conflict with the FARC guerrillas, alongside Myanmar's Thein Sein, who has led a transition from decades of dictatorship, people familiar with the committee's deliberations said. ... Full Story | Top |
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