Today's Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines:
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Lawmakers in showdown over payroll tax cuts
Tue,13 Dec 2011 05:13 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican and Democratic lawmakers were locked in an end-of-year fight on Tuesday that threatens a government shutdown, an effective tax hike for 160 million Americans and the loss of benefits for millions of unemployed. With just days left to resolve the crisis, both parties accused each other of "playing politics" with Americans' livelihoods even as they tried to gain the upper hand with a complex series of maneuvers on Capitol Hill. ...
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Fed sees risks from Europe, some improvement in U.S.
Tue,13 Dec 2011 06:08 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Tuesday warned that turmoil in Europe presents a big risk to the U.S. economy, leaving the door open to possible further steps to boost growth even though it noted a somewhat stronger labor market. The central bank said the U.S. economy was "expanding moderately" despite an apparent slowing in the world economy. But while there had been "some" improvement in the job market, unemployment remained elevated and housing depressed, it said. ...
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MF's Corzine said to know of customer fund misuse
Tue,13 Dec 2011 06:23 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The regulatory arm of CME Group has turned over interviews to the Justice Department that allege former MF Global chief Jon Corzine knew that the now-bankrupt brokerage firm used customer money to lend to a European affiliate, a CME executive said on Tuesday. The information is fourth-hand but is the strongest statement yet from a regulator that Corzine may have personally known customer funds were diverted for firm use. ...
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Syria death toll hits 5,000 as insurgency spreads
Tue,13 Dec 2011 12:02 PM PST
Reuters -  AMMAN (Reuters) - Security forces shot dead 17 people in Syria on Tuesday and rebels killed seven police in an ambush, activists said, after the U.N. human rights chief put the death toll from nine months of protest against President Bashar al-Assad at 5,000. The bloodshed in the northern province of Idlib, which borders Turkey, highlighted the accelerating violence in Syria where an insurgency has begun to overshadow what started as peaceful street protests against Assad's 11-year rule. ...
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Spending bill in jeopardy as lawmakers bicker
Tue,13 Dec 2011 02:35 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill that would keep the U.S. government operating beyond the weekend appeared in trouble on Tuesday as lawmakers bickered over whether they had resolved policy issues such as abortion funding and travel to Cuba. The bill has been caught up in a year-end fight between Republicans and Democrats over taxes and spending that has left Americans watching a familiar scene unfold - both parties trying to outmaneuver the other to score points ahead of the 2012 elections. ...
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EU, without Britain, moves towards fiscal deal
Tue,13 Dec 2011 02:36 PM PST
Reuters -  STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - Up to 26 European Union countries will finalize a pact to enforce budget discipline more strictly in the euro zone by March, a top official said on Tuesday, as the bloc tries to move quickly to rebuild confidence but without Britain's backing. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy expressed disappointment that Britain had shunned an agreement reached at an EU summit last week to pursue fiscal integration as part of efforts to tackle the debt crisis, but made clear the door would remain open for London. ...
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Gunman turns Belgian Christmas market into bloodbath
Tue,13 Dec 2011 04:24 PM PST
Reuters -  LIEGE, Belgium (Reuters) - A lone gunman brought carnage to the Belgian city of Liege on Tuesday, spraying bullets at Christmas shoppers and hurling a grenade at people waiting for a bus, killing four people including a girl of 17 months before shooting himself dead. The attack, in which another 125 people were wounded, paralyzed the centre of Belgium's fifth city, with workers trapped in offices as police sealed off the area, helicopters circled, and ambulances poured in from as far away as the Netherlands. ...
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Exclusive: Cuba targets military firm in corruption probe
Tue,13 Dec 2011 02:43 PM PST
Reuters -  HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba has detained top executives of the powerful military-run Tecnotex company, broadening a corruption investigation that has already shuttered three foreign firms, foreign business sources told Reuters. Tecnotex is one of the most important trading companies on the Communist-run island, purchasing equipment, technology, construction materials and other goods for a myriad of military-owned firms in the civilian sector of the economy. Tecnotex's director Fernando Noy was among those arrested, according to a foreign businessman who deals with the company. ...
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Sandusky case heads to trial after hearing waived
Tue,13 Dec 2011 03:06 PM PST
Reuters -  BELLEFONTE, Pa (Reuters) - Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky on Tuesday abruptly waived his right to a preliminary hearing on child sex abuse charges, meaning his case will go straight to trial. No date has been set for a trial, which could be several months or even over a year away. The move was the latest twist in a case that has shaken the prestigious university in central Pennsylvania, and prompted a string of investigations into how the football culture at Penn State might have contributed to the scandal and its fallout. ...
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Scientists home in on missing link of physics
Tue,13 Dec 2011 02:44 PM PST
Reuters -  GENEVA (Reuters) - International scientists said on Tuesday they had found signs of the Higgs boson, an elementary sub-atomic particle believed to have played a vital role in the creation of the universe after the Big Bang. Peter Higgs, the 82-year-old British theoretical physicist who first proposed the existence of the particle in 1964 as the missing link of a grand theory of matter and energy, was watching the announcement on a webcast with colleagues at Edinburgh University, where he is an emeritus professor. ...
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MF's Corzine said to know of customer-backed loan
Tue,13 Dec 2011 03:10 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An MF Global employee told regulators that former chief Jon Corzine knew that the now-bankrupt brokerage firm used customer money to lend to a European affiliate, a CME Group executive said on Tuesday. CME Executive Chairman Terrence Duffy said his company has provided this information to the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which are investigating the matter. Duffy, testifying to the Senate Agriculture Committee, said a CME auditor participated in a phone call during which an MF Global employee indicated that Corzine knew of the loan. ...
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Fed points to risks from Europe
Tue,13 Dec 2011 02:37 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Tuesday pointed to turmoil in Europe as a big risk to the U.S. economy, leaving the door open to a further easing of monetary policy even as it noted some improvement in the U.S. labor market. The central bank characterized the U.S. economy as expanding moderately despite an apparent slowing in global growth and said that while there had been "some" improvement in the job market, unemployment remained elevated and housing depressed. ...
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Man shoots Belgian shoppers, children, kills three
Tue,13 Dec 2011 02:36 PM PST
Reuters -  LIEGE, Belgium (Reuters) - A man hurled grenades at a bus stop in the Belgian city of Liege and sprayed gunfire at crowds of Christmas shoppers and children on Tuesday, killing three people and wounding 123 before fatally shooting himself in the head. It was not clear what his motive was, but Belgian officials said there was no indication it was an act of terrorism. ...
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Republican-led House defies Obama on payroll tax
Tue,13 Dec 2011 03:55 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led House of Representatives defied a White House veto threat on Tuesday and passed a bill to expedite approval of the Keystone XL Canada-to-Texas pipeline project. The provision was part of a broader bill to extend a payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans. Democrats oppose Republicans' efforts to link the two issues and the measure is expected to die in the Democratic-controlled Senate. (Reporting By Thomas Ferraro)
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FDIC settles with former WaMu execs
Tue,13 Dec 2011 12:11 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Three former executives of Washington Mutual Inc agreed to a $64 million settlement to resolve a government lawsuit over their role in the biggest bank failure in U.S. history. The settlement, announced by Federal Deposit Insurance Corp officials on Tuesday, is part of efforts by the agency to sue former banking executives to recover funds from a rash of bank closures. But the Washington Mutual settlement will largely be paid out of the company's remaining professional liability insurance, not out of the executives' own pockets. ... Full Story | Top |
Republicans muscle tax cut bill through House
Tue,13 Dec 2011 06:40 PM PST
AP -  Defiant Republicans pushed legislation through the House Tuesday night that would keep alive Social Security payroll tax cuts for some 160 million Americans at President Barack Obama's request — but also would require construction of a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline that has sparked a White House veto threat.
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No cellphones, no texting by drivers, US urges
Tue,13 Dec 2011 06:33 PM PST
AP -  Texting, emailing or chatting on a cellphone while driving is simply too dangerous to be allowed, federal safety investigators declared Tuesday, urging all states to impose total bans except for emergencies.
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Attack in Belgian city leaves 5 dead, 122 wounded
Tue,13 Dec 2011 06:29 PM PST
AP -  Summoned for questioning by Belgian police, a man with a history of weapons and drug offenses left home armed with hand grenades, a revolver and an assault rifle. Stopping at a central square filled with holiday shoppers, he lobbed three grenades into the crowd, then opened fire.
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Sandusky lawyer inadvertently touts gay sex line
Tue,13 Dec 2011 07:54 PM PST
AP -  A lawyer for a former Penn State assistant football coach accused of molesting boys said Tuesday he didn't mean to refer to a gay sex phone line when he said anyone who believes university officials thought his client raped a 10-year-old boy and did little about it should call 1-800-REALITY.
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Social issues bubbling up in GOP campaign
Tue,13 Dec 2011 05:02 PM PST
AP -  Mitt Romney is forced to defend his opposition to same-sex marriage. Newt Gingrich endorses a pledge to be faithful to his wife. Rick Perry runs an ad noting he's against gays serving openly in the military, and abortion may take center stage Wednesday.
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Mexico says captured cartel leader had arsenal
Tue,13 Dec 2011 05:42 PM PST
AP -  Mexican authorities said Tuesday that an alleged founder of the Zetas drug cartel had an arsenal of 169 weapons when he was captured Monday, and may have been linked to the abduction of nine Mexican marines.
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Alexander Graham Bell recordings played from 1880s
Tue,13 Dec 2011 06:22 PM PST
AP -  Alexander Graham Bell foresaw many things, including that people could someday talk over a telephone. Yet the inventor certainly never could have anticipated that his audio-recording experiments in a Washington, D.C., lab could be recovered 130 years later and played for a gathering of scientists, curators and journalists.
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Rush for Christmas start leaves NBA in disarray
Tue,13 Dec 2011 02:22 PM PST
AP -  The lockout ended, and the NBA's woes were just beginning. Dwight Howard asked to be traded. Chris Paul was dealt to the Lakers, it seemed, until the league decided he wasn't. So the Lakers made another trade, which Kobe Bryant hated.
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