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| Buffett maps out hopes for Berkshire without him Saturday, May 04, 2013 02:17 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel and Jennifer Ablan OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) - Warren Buffett on Saturday gave the most extensive comments to date about the future of Berkshire Hathaway Inc after he is gone, saying he still expects the conglomerate to be a partner of choice for distressed companies. Buffett, 82, also defended his plan to install his son, Howard, who has little investing experience, as nonexecutive chairman, saying the younger man's role would be to ensure that Berkshire had the right CEO in place. ... Full Story | Top |
| Explosions shake Damascus, Syria blames Israel Saturday, May 04, 2013 07:05 PM PDT By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Powerful explosions struck the outskirts of Damascus early on Sunday, sending columns of fire into the night sky, and Syrian state television said Israeli rockets had struck a military facility just north of the capital. Israel declined to comment on the attack, but the blasts occurred a day after an Israeli official said his country had carried out an air strike targeting a consignment of missiles in Syria intended for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. ... Full Story | Top |
| NRA chief: Boston-area residents were vulnerable without guns Saturday, May 04, 2013 04:37 PM PDT  By Andrea Lorenz HOUSTON (Reuters) - Heavy-handed gun laws and a culture disapproving of gun ownership put citizens in a vulnerable position during the door-to-door search for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev last month, NRA Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre said on Saturday. "How many Bostonians wished they had a gun two weeks ago?" LaPierre asked in a speech at the National Rifle Association's annual convention in Houston. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malaysians vote to decide fate of world's longest-ruling coalition Saturday, May 04, 2013 07:48 PM PDT  By Anuradha Raghu and Niluksi Koswanage JOHOR BARU, Malaysia (Reuters) - Malaysians began voting on Sunday in an election that could weaken or even end the rule of one of the world's longest-lived coalitions, which faces a stiff challenge from an opposition pledging to clean up politics and end race-based policies. Led by former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition is aiming to build on startling electoral gains in 2008, when the Barisan Nasional, or National Front, ruling coalition lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority. ... Full Story | Top |
| Southern California wildfire nearly 60-percent contained Saturday, May 04, 2013 08:12 PM PDT  (Reuters) - A fierce wildfire that had threatened 4,000 homes northwest of Los Angeles was nearly 60-percent contained on Saturday as favorable weather conditions helped beat it back, officials said. "We actually have a pretty good marine layer, which is like thick fog on the coast moving inland, cooler temperatures and higher humidity," Captain Dan Horgon of the Ventura County Fire Department told Reuters. "That coupled with our efforts out there with our firefighters have made the situation quite a bit better," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb kills five U.S. soldiers in Afghan south Saturday, May 04, 2013 12:45 PM PDT KABUL (Reuters) - Five U.S. soldiers were killed by a bomb in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar on Saturday, a U.S. authorities said, capping off one of the bloodiest weeks for international forces this year. The attack underscored the dangers faced by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), even as they hand over much of the fighting to the Afghans before a planned departure next year. Nineteen U.S. personnel have been killed in the last week in three air crashes and Saturday's bombing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: "Speed money" puts the brakes on India's retail growth Saturday, May 04, 2013 09:15 PM PDT  By Nandita Bose MUMBAI (Reuters) - Hong-Kong entrepreneur Ramesh Tainwala spent 18 months operating branded clothing retail stores in India before deciding it was impossible to succeed without paying bribes. Tainwala, a 55-year-old expatriate Indian, owns Planet Retail, which held the India franchise rights for U.S. fashion labels Guess and Nautica as well as UK retailers Next and Debenhams. He sold the brands last September to various Indian businesses. ... Full Story | Top |
| Communal clashes in Nigeria kill at least 39: police Saturday, May 04, 2013 02:36 PM PDT ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Clashes between rival ethnic groups have killed at least 39 people in eastern Nigeria's Taraba state since they erupted on Friday, police said. Members of the Jukun were marching through the small commercial town of Wukari to a funeral when an argument broke out with local Hausa and Fulani youths, which quickly degenerated into pitched battles with guns and machetes. Attackers set fire to around 40 houses, police said. "At the end of the clash, 39 people were counted killed," said the police spokesman for Taraba state, Joseph Kwaji. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bangladesh urges no harsh EU measures over factory deaths Saturday, May 04, 2013 06:03 AM PDT  By Ruma Paul and Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh urged the European Union on Saturday not to take tough measures against its economically crucial textile industry in response to the collapse of a garment factory that killed 550 people. Bodies were still being pulled from the ruins on Saturday as tearful families stood by waiting for news of victims of the country's worst ever industrial accident. ... Full Story | Top |
| NRA's next president to lead its court fights against gun control Saturday, May 04, 2013 03:49 PM PDT  By Andrea Lorenz HOUSTON (Reuters) - Alabama lawyer Jim Porter, in line to become the next president of the National Rifle Association, is expected to spearhead the group's court challenges of gun-control laws enacted in several states since the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting massacre. Porter, 64, the son of another Alabama lawyer who served as NRA president from 1959 to 1961, is likely to succeed David Keene on Monday in the two-year post at the nation's leading gun-rights organization. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel bombs Hezbollah-bound missiles in Syria: official Saturday, May 04, 2013 02:45 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Israel has carried out an air strike targeting a consignment of missiles in Syria bound for Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon, an Israeli official said on Saturday. The Jewish state had long made clear it is prepared to use force to prevent advanced weapons reaching Lebanon's powerful Shi'ite Muslim guerrillas from Syria. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah are allied to Iran, Israel's arch-enemy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Southern California wildfire 30 percent contained, weather helps Saturday, May 04, 2013 12:19 PM PDT  By Ian Simpson (Reuters) - A fierce wildfire threatening 4,000 homes northwest of Los Angeles was about 30 percent contained on Saturday as higher humidity and cooler temperatures helped firefighters, fire department spokesmen said. The fire in coastal Ventura County has blackened about 28,000 acres of rugged brush land since it started on Thursday. It was not expected to be under control until May 13, Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Tom Kruschke said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ruling coalition faces fight of its life in Malaysian vote Saturday, May 04, 2013 02:34 PM PDT  By Stuart Grudgings KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysians vote on Sunday in an election that could weaken or even end the rule of one of the world's longest-lived coalitions, which faces a stiff challenge from an opposition pledging to clean up politics and end race-based policies. Led by former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition is aiming to build on startling electoral gains in 2008, when the Barisan Nasional (BN), or National Front, ruling coalition lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudanese police detain newspaper editor without charge Saturday, May 04, 2013 10:15 AM PDT By Hereward Holland JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's police have detained a newspaper editor without charge and refused him access to a lawyer for three days, he told a Reuters reporter who visited him in a crowded police cell on Saturday. Rights groups frequently accuse security forces of harassing and illegally detaining journalists in South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan almost two years ago after more than two decades of civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dubai aims to triple tourism income by 2020 Saturday, May 04, 2013 08:34 AM PDT  By Matt Smith DUBAI (Reuters) - Dubai aims to triple its annual income from tourism to 300 billion dirhams ($82 billion) by 2020, which would involve doubling the number of its hotel rooms, a senior official said. Tourism is crucial to Dubai's economy, which had a gross domestic product of around $90 billion last year; it supports the emirate's large retail industry as well as its hospitality sector. Occupancy at Dubai's 599 hotels, which have 80,500 rooms combined, was 78 percent in 2012 as the number of visitors rose 9.3 percent from a year ago to 10. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada's Magna to cut jobs in Europe, U.S.: report Saturday, May 04, 2013 06:59 AM PDT  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Canadian auto parts maker Magna International plans to cut jobs in Europe and the United States as it seeks to reduce costs and offset weak demand in Europe, Chief Executive Donald Walker told German magazine WirtschaftsWoche. Magna, which also manufactures complete vehicles on a contract basis, has been pushing to turn around inefficient operations in Europe, where sales rose 2 percent in 2012, compared with a 10 percent increase in North America. ... Full Story | Top |
| Shed the elitist image, Britain's Cameron is warned Saturday, May 04, 2013 04:52 AM PDT  By Stephen Addison LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron must shed his elitist image and connect with ordinary voters, a senior party member said on Saturday, after the anti-EU UK Independence Party scored major gains in local polls at the expense of the ruling Conservatives. Discontent with immigration levels was a key factor behind UKIP's dramatic victory in Thursday's local council elections, in which it won over 25 percent of votes and recorded the best result for a party outside the big three since World War Two. ... Full Story | Top |
| Support for Najib falls ahead of election: poll Saturday, May 04, 2013 12:42 AM PDT  KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Support for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak fell among all the country's main racial groups in an opinion poll, signaling the tough fight he faces in an election in the Southeast Asian country on Sunday. The survey, conducted between April 28 and May 2 among 1,600 voters, showed 42 percent of respondents believed the opposition Peoples' Pact of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim should be given a chance to govern. ... Full Story | Top |
| Karzai urges Taliban to fight Afghan enemies after Pakistan clash Saturday, May 04, 2013 04:20 AM PDT  KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the Taliban on Saturday to fight Afghanistan's enemies in what was widely seen as a swipe against Pakistan days after the neighbors' security forces clashed on their border. Karzai's remarks are likely to unsettle already shaky ties with Pakistan and come as the United States wants Pakistan to help Afghanistan persuade the Taliban to engage in peace talks ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Protests in Chinese city over planned chemical plant Saturday, May 04, 2013 04:16 AM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - Hundreds of people took to the streets of the Chinese city of Kunming on Saturday to protest against the planned production of a chemical at a refinery, in the latest show of concern over the effects of rapid growth on the environment. China's increasingly affluent urban population has begun to object to the model of growth at all costs that has fuelled the economy for three decades, with the environment emerging as a focus of protests. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU's Barnier calls on France to pursue economic reforms Saturday, May 04, 2013 08:03 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - European Union Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier, the EU's top financial regulator, called on the French government to pursue its planned reforms despite the Commission allowing two more years to meet its budget deficit target. Olli Rehn, the European monetary affairs commissioner, said on Friday France badly needed to unlock its growth potential and create jobs, adding Spain, Italy and the Netherlands as well as France - four of the euro zone's five largest economies - would remain in recession this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Job market resilience eases growth concerns Saturday, May 04, 2013 12:39 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Employment rose at a faster pace than expected in April and hiring was much stronger than previously thought in the prior two months, a sign of resilience that should help the economy absorb the blow from belt-tightening in Washington. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent, the lowest level since December 2008, the Labor Department said on Friday. The job counts for February and March were revised up by a net 114,000. "This bolsters the case that the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berkshire profit rises 51 percent, shares at record high Saturday, May 04, 2013 12:39 AM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel and Jennifer Ablan OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Friday said quarterly profit rose nearly 51 percent on a solid performance in insurance and by many of its other businesses, as well as gains from investments and derivatives. The results topped expectations and were released after Berkshire shares closed at a record high. ... Full Story | Top |
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