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| In Western swing, Obama goes on offensive over healthcare law Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 03:14 PM PST  By Jeff Mason GLENDALE, California (Reuters) - Almost two weeks ago, President Barack Obama, looking down, walked into the White House briefing room and apologized for the flawed rollout of his healthcare reform law. During a three-day Western swing through Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, Obama touted the accomplishments of his signature law, popularly known as Obamacare, and promised the glitches were going away. "Yes, we decided to fix a broken healthcare system," Obama told workers at DreamWorks Animation on Tuesday, the final day of his trip. "I was talking to some of the studio execs here and I said, 'You know the rollout of the healthcare marketplace was rough' ... and yet here in California and here across this state, there are thousands of people who are getting healthcare for the first time - for the first time - because of this." The administration has promised the website will be working for the vast majority of Americans by the end of this month, and White House officials continue to express confidence that goal will be achieved. Full Story | Top |
| Defying China, U.S. bombers fly into East China Sea zone Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 06:58 PM PST  By Phil Stewart and Tim Kelly WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) - Two unarmed U.S. B-52 bombers on a training mission flew over disputed islands in the East China Sea without informing Beijing, defying China's declaration of a new airspace defense zone and raising the stakes in a territorial standoff. The flight did not prompt a response from China, the Pentagon said, and the White House urged Beijing to resolve its dispute with Japan over the islands diplomatically, without resorting to "threats or inflammatory language". Also defying Beijing, Japan's two biggest airlines - Japan Airlines and ANA Holdings - said they would stop giving flight plans and other information to Chinese authorities from Wednesday when passing through the zone. Full Story | Top |
| Iraq says no success tracing killers of Iranian dissidents Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 06:11 PM PST By Suadad al-Salhy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is hunting militants, still unidentified, who led a deadly attack on an Iranian dissident camp near Baghdad and dismisses suggestions its own security forces were behind the violence, a senior government official said. More than 50 people were killed at the dissident Mujahadin-e-Khalq (MEK) group's Camp Ashraf in September in an attack the United Nations described as "an atrocious crime" and which drew condemnation from the United States and Britain. MEK, which the U.S. State Department removed from its list of terrorist organizations last year, wants Iran's clerical leaders overthrown and fought on former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's side during the Iran-Iraq war in 1980s. The group, which has accused Iraqi security forces of being behind the attack, is no longer welcome in Iraq under the Shi'ite Muslim-led government that came to power after U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam in 2003. Full Story | Top |
| Americans back Iran deal by 2-to-1 margin: Reuters/Ipsos poll Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 05:49 PM PST  By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans back a newly brokered nuclear deal with Iran by a 2-to-1 margin and are very wary of the United States resorting to military action against Tehran even if the historic diplomatic effort falls through, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday. The findings were rare good news in the polls for President Barack Obama, whose approval ratings have dropped in recent weeks because of the botched rollout of his signature healthcare reform law. According to the Reuters/Ipsos survey, 44 percent of Americans support the interim deal reached between Iran and six world powers in Geneva last weekend, and 22 percent oppose it. Even if the Iran deal fails, 49 percent want the United States to then increase sanctions and 31 percent think it should launch further diplomacy. Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi faces expulsion from parliament over tax fraud sentence Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 05:19 PM PST  By James Mackenzie ROME (Reuters) - Italian center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi faces one of the heaviest blows of his 20-year political career on Wednesday when the Senate votes on stripping him of his seat in parliament over a conviction for tax fraud. The vote will be the culmination of months of political wrangling and is almost certain to lead to Berlusconi's expulsion from the upper house, opening an uncertain new phase for one of Italy's most divisive political figures. The 77-year-old media billionaire, who has dominated politics for two decades, has already pulled his party out of Prime Minister Enrico Letta's ruling coalition after seven months in government, accusing leftwing opponents of mounting a "coup d'etat" to eliminate him. The Senate is due to vote at around 7.00 p.m. (1800 GMT) to declare Berlusconi ineligible for parliament after he was convicted of masterminding a complex system of illegally inflated invoices to cut the tax bill for his Mediaset television empire. Full Story | Top |
| EU demands protection against U.S. data surveillance Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 05:07 PM PST  By John O'Donnell BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission called on Tuesday for new protection for Europeans under United States' law against misuse of personal data, in an attempt to keep in check the U.S. surveillance revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding said she wanted Washington to follow through on its promise to give all EU citizens the right to sue in the United States if their data is misused. "I have ... made clear that Europe expects to see the necessary legislative change in the U.S. sooner rather than later, and in any case before summer 2014," she said. The remarks underline a growing sense of unease in Europe at a delicate moment in transatlantic relations, when the globe's two biggest economies seek a trade pact to deepen ties. Full Story | Top |
| Italy PM Letta wins confidence vote as Berlusconi moves to opposition Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 05:18 PM PST  By Paolo Biondi ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta won a confidence vote on the 2014 budget, reinforcing his coalition government a day before the Senate is expected to ban center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi from parliament over a tax fraud conviction. Berlusconi's Forza Italia party voted against the so-called Stability Law, which it described as "completely mistaken, with neither head nor tail", formalizing its break with Letta after seven months in his left-right coalition. The measure passed in the Senate shortly after midnight with a majority of 171 to 135, helped by the votes of rebel senators who broke away from Berlusconi earlier this month. "From today we are in opposition and the grand coalition is over," said Renato Brunetta, lower house leader of Berlusconi's center-right party, now rebranded as Forza Italia, the name of the movement the billionaire media tycoon used to enter politics 20 years ago. Full Story | Top |
| New clashes between army, Islamists in Libya's Benghazi Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 04:07 PM PST  New clashes between the Libyan army and Islamists erupted in the eastern city of Benghazi early on Wednesday, wounding several people, security sources and residents said. Libya's military is struggling to curb Islamist militants and militias who fought in the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi but refuse to disarm and control parts of the OPEC producer. Fighting broke out on Monday between army special forces and members of the Ansar Sharia in Libya's second-largest city, killing at least nine people before the Islamists retreated from their main base. Full Story | Top |
| Obama administration proposes new limits on tax-exempt political groups Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 02:25 PM PST  By Patrick Temple-West and Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration proposed new rules on Tuesday to rein in tax-exempt groups that have transformed the U.S. political landscape in recent years by harnessing hundreds of millions of dollars in anonymous donations to influence elections. The proposal would alter definitions in the tax code that allow limited campaign and fundraising activities by the tax-exempt groups, some of which have been at the center of allegations that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative Tea Party groups for extra scrutiny. These tax-exempt "social welfare" groups, organized under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, mushroomed after a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that relaxed campaign finance rules. Part of their appeal is that the groups do not have to disclose the identities of their donors as long as they spend less than half their time and money on political activities. Full Story | Top |
| Housing data brightens U.S. economic growth outlook Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 12:55 PM PST  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Permits for future U.S. home construction hit a near 5-1/2 year-high in October and prices for single-family homes notched big gains in September, suggesting a run-up in mortgage interest rates has not derailed the housing recovery. The data releases on Tuesday were the latest signs of strength in the economy, despite headwinds from rising mortgage rates and last month's partial government shutdown. "The reports reinforce the notion that the housing sector is successfully digesting the summer mortgage rate pop," said Mike Englund, chief economist at Action Economics in Boulder, Colorado. Building permits jumped 6.2 percent last month to an annual rate of 1.03 million units, the highest since June 2008, the Commerce Department said. Full Story | Top |
| Defying China, U.S. bombers fly into East China Sea zone Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 03:39 PM PST By Phil Stewart and David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two unarmed U.S. B-52 bombers on a training mission flew over disputed islands in the East China Sea without informing Beijing, defying China's declaration of a new airspace defense zone and raising the stakes in a territorial standoff. The flight did not prompt a response from China, the Pentagon said, and the White House urged Beijing on Tuesday to resolve its dispute with Japan over the islands diplomatically, without resorting to "threats or inflammatory language." China published coordinates for an East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone over the weekend and warned it would take "defensive emergency measures" against aircraft that failed to identify themselves properly in the airspace. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: U.N. says Syria combatants stymie aid effort Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 12:21 PM PST  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations says its aid convoys cannot reach around 250,000 people in areas besieged by Syrian government forces or rebels, despite "growing needs and intensifying conflict". The detailed assessment was included in a confidential paper that Valerie Amos, U.N. emergency relief coordinator, presented to a private, unannounced U.N. meeting in Geneva on Tuesday. "Besieged communities continue to be cut off." International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi announced on Monday that peace talks would be held on January 22, the first direct talks between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and opposition forces seeking to topple him. The U.N. document entitled "Humanitarian Situation and Response in Syria" painted a grim picture, saying there were 900 armed clashes in Syria in October compared with 500 in May. It describes a "dangerous and difficult environment for humanitarian workers" and says 12 U.N. staff and 32 volunteers or staff of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent have been killed since the conflict began in March 2011. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine leader to go to EU summit, but not ready to sign pact Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 12:27 PM PST  By Natalia Zinets and Richard Balmforth KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich said on Tuesday he would attend an EU summit this week, but, criticizing the bloc for a 'humiliating' financial aid offer, declared he would sign a free trade pact only when it suited Ukraine's interests. Shifting Ukraine's economy onto European standards would require not less than $20 billion per year, he said in a television interview. Yanukovich's government announced last week it had shelved plans to sign a landmark pact with the European Union at the summit in Lithuania's capital, stunning EU leaders and igniting pro-Europe rallies in the former Soviet republic. Ukraine's decision to renew instead closer economic cooperation with Moscow revived Western fears of a swing back into Russia's sphere of influence. Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Court to hear Obamacare contraception cases Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 01:02 PM PST  By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to consider religious objections made by corporations to a provision of President Barack Obama's healthcare law that requires employers to provide health insurance that covers birth control. The so-called contraception mandate of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, requires employers to provide health insurance policies involving preventive services for women that include access to contraception and sterilization. The healthcare law has faced political and legal hurdles since Obama, a Democrat, made it a signature policy on taking office in 2009. Full Story | Top |
| Hardliners hold fire on Iran nuclear deal, but for how long? Tuesday, Nov 26, 2013 09:12 AM PST  By Marcus George DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's nuclear negotiators returned home as heroes on Sunday, greeted by jubilant supporters after securing a deal with world powers over the country's disputed atomic program. Two days on, Iran's political realities are sinking in. To ensure the deal stays on track, Iran's new moderate government needs to protect it from virulently anti-Western security hardliners who wield great economic and political power and are close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Those voices are mostly silent as yet, but as the complex accord's costs and benefits are weighed by Iran's factionalized political class, hardliners who call the United States and its allies "world arrogance" will be poised to pounce. Full Story | Top |
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