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| North Korea leader's wife reported back in public after long silence Monday, Oct 29, 2012 08:27 PM PDT  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean state media reported public appearances by the wife of leader Kim Jong-un for the first time in two months on Tuesday amid mounting speculation that she had been chastised for inappropriate conduct or that she may be pregnant. Ri Sol-ju's once frequent appearances with her husband in public reported in state media had marked the starkest break by the North's leadership from the dour image of Kim's father, Kim Jong-il, who was rarely seen in public with any of his wives. Ri attended football match and a musical concert with Kim Jong-un on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Floods across New York as Sandy slams into eastern U.S Monday, Oct 29, 2012 07:59 PM PDT  NEW YORK/REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware (Reuters) - Sandy, one of the biggest storms ever to hit the United States, roared ashore with fierce winds and heavy rain on Monday near the gambling resort of Atlantic City, forcing evacuations, shutting down transportation and interrupting the presidential campaign. Early reports said there was widespread flooding through New York City, in some cases well inland. Police confirmed at least two people were killed by the storm in the city, and deaths were reported as far away as Toronto as well. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan seeks exemption on U.S. sanctions on Iran: Nikkei Monday, Oct 29, 2012 07:47 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is seeking an exemption from proposed new U.S. sanctions against Iran that could effectively freeze Tehran's use of payments for oil, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday, citing sources. Japanese Finance Minister Koriki Jojima asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at an October 11 meeting in Tokyo for Washington to exempt Japanese banks, the report said, citing unidentified sources familiar with the matter. Geithner said the matter was being considered, the report said. Japanese government officials were not immediately available for comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Economy may skirt direct hit from Hurricane Sandy Monday, Oct 29, 2012 06:24 PM PDT  WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy is shaping up to be one of the biggest storms ever to hit the United States but even with the severe damage that is expected, the blow to the economy is seen as short-term. Economists say some of the impact caused by businesses closing will be offset by reconstruction efforts, and point to catastrophic storms like Katrina, which devastated New Orleans but did not deal lasting damage to the national economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Biden, Clinton pick up campaign mantle for storm-hit Obama Monday, Oct 29, 2012 06:01 PM PDT  COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Pulled back to Washington to address the storm pounding the East Coast just days before the presidential election, President Barack Obama passed his campaign banner on Monday to Vice President Joe Biden and the man he has anointed his "Secretary of Explaining Stuff," former President Bill Clinton. Biden and Clinton joined forces at a rally in the key battleground state of Ohio, where they sought to keep alive the Obama campaign strategy of combining rallies and other personal contact with a push for early voting by Democrats ahead of the November 6 election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Romney takes "feel-your-pain" tone as Sandy slams East Coast Monday, Oct 29, 2012 05:16 PM PDT  DAVENPORT, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was about to go on stage in Ohio on Monday when he decided to abruptly shift the tone of his campaign given the potentially lethal impact of Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast. With the storm bearing down, Romney canceled campaign events scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in Wisconsin, Iowa and Florida. Running mate Paul Ryan and Romney's wife, Ann, also stepped back from campaigning. Romney instead adopted a feel-your-pain stance, taking time to talk up Americans' hardy can-do spirit in the face of uncertain odds. ... Full Story | Top |
| Storm Sandy makes landfall on New Jersey coast: U.S. National Hurricane Center Monday, Oct 29, 2012 05:13 PM PDT (Reuters) - Massive storm Sandy made landfall on Monday along the coast of southern New Jersey, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Sandy was located about 5 miles southwest of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. (Reporting by Kevin Gray) Full Story | Top |
| Crew rescued from HMS Bounty as hurricane rages; captain missing Monday, Oct 29, 2012 05:11 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 14 of the 16 crew members who abandoned the replica tall ship HMS Bounty off North Carolina in rough seas caused by Hurricane Sandy, using helicopters on Monday to pluck them from life rafts. A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter later recovered crew member Claudene Christian, 42, who was described as unresponsive, while continuing to search for the 63-year-old captain of the ship, which sank in 18-foot seas. Christian taken to Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where a hospital spokesman said she was in "critical condition. ... Full Story | Top |
| Storm Sandy about to make landfall on New Jersey coast: U.S. National Hurricane Center Monday, Oct 29, 2012 04:43 PM PDT (Reuters) - Massive storm Sandy is on the verge of making landfall along the south New Jersey coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Monday. Sandy, a huge storm system, is now considered a "post-tropical cyclone," meaning it still has hurricane-force winds but lost the characteristics of a tropical storm. (Reporting by Kevin Gray; editing Christopher Wilson) Full Story | Top |
| Senegal's Sall replaces interior, foreign ministers in reshuffle Monday, Oct 29, 2012 04:27 PM PDT DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegalese President Macky Sall has fired his interior and foreign ministers in his first cabinet reshuffle since taking office six months ago, the government announced on state television late on Monday. Interior Minister Mbaye Ndiaye had come under heavy criticism for his handling of a riot by supporters of a jailed religious leader who smashed car windows, set fire to buses, and ransacked shops in the capital Dakar last week. He was replaced by retired general Pathe Seck. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Yorkers initially calm in face of Sandy, then worries set in Monday, Oct 29, 2012 04:24 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - As Hurricane Sandy aimed straight for them, promising to hammer the place they live with lashing winds and extensive flooding, New Yorkers seemed to be all about nonchalance on Monday morning - an attitude that didn't last into the afternoon. Throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, few store owners had even bothered to board up their buildings. There was little taping of windows or buying of sump pumps. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Romney curtail campaign events in face of hurricane Monday, Oct 29, 2012 04:09 PM PDT  WASHINGTON/DAVENPORT, Iowa (Reuters) - President Barack Obama suspended campaigning and returned to Washington on Monday to oversee the response to Hurricane Sandy, while his Republican rival Mitt Romney curtailed political events to show respect for the storm's potential victims. As the storm cuts into the final week of campaigning in an especially close race for the White House, both men are trying to avoid coming across as overtly political while millions of people are imperiled by Sandy's fierce winds and driving rain. ... Full Story | Top |
| Crew rescued from HMS Bounty in path of hurricane; captain missing Monday, Oct 29, 2012 04:07 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 14 of the 16 crew members who abandoned the replica tall ship HMS Bounty off North Carolina in rough seas caused by Hurricane Sandy, using helicopters on Monday to pluck them from life rafts, the Coast Guard said. The crew of a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter later recovered the body of an "unresponsive" woman, identified as Claudene Christian, 42, while continuing to search for the 63-year-old captain of the ship, which sank in 18-foot seas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Markets shut on Tuesday, focus shifts to Wednesday Monday, Oct 29, 2012 03:52 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy will close stock markets for a second day on Tuesday, as Wall Street turned its attention to whether markets would be able to resume functioning on the month's final trading day on Wednesday. Stock markets closed on Monday due to weather for the first time in 27 years. Bond markets closed early, at noon, as winds and waves from Hurricane Sandy lashed the Eastern seaboard. NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX Group , the largest two U.S. exchange operators, said they intend to reopen Wednesday, conditions permitting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clinton presses Algeria on Mali intervention plan Monday, Oct 29, 2012 03:40 PM PDT  ALGIERS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed regional power Algeria on Monday to support an Africa-led military intervention in northern Mali, a senior U.S. official said. Clinton's one-day visit comes amid mounting international pressure on Algeria over the crisis in Mali, where a March military coup was followed by a revolt that has seen Tuareg rebels and Islamist militants, some linked to al Qaeda, seize control of the northern two-thirds of the country. The senior U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| California ballot measures draw free-spending billionaires Monday, Oct 29, 2012 03:37 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A handful of individual super-donors, business groups and unions have poured more than $350 million into California ballot initiatives ahead of the November 6 election, underscoring the extent to which the state's system of "direct democracy" has morphed into a big-money battleground. Some of the spending is directly tied to the financial interests of the donors. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lithuania heads for political deadlock after election Monday, Oct 29, 2012 03:30 PM PDT  VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lithuania headed for political deadlock after the coalition winners of a weekend election said they would push ahead with talks to form a government despite a presidential veto of one of their parties over allegations of voter fraud. The Social Democratic party, which with its allies snatched victory on Sunday in a vote against years of austerity, rejected any change in the make-up of the coalition despite President Dalia Grybauskaite saying one of the three parties was unfit to govern because of the fraud allegations. "We have not changed our opinion. ... Full Story | Top |
| Massachusetts Senate debate canceled due to Hurricane Sandy Monday, Oct 29, 2012 03:25 PM PDT BOSTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy prompted Republican Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren to scrap plans for their fourth and final debate scheduled for Tuesday night. Their campaigns cited concerns about the damage to Massachusetts from the hurricane, which brought heavy rains and driving winds to the state on Monday and was expected to make landfall over southern New Jersey on Monday evening. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida judge rejects gag motion in Trayvon Martin shooting case Monday, Oct 29, 2012 03:24 PM PDT  ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A Florida judge on Monday rejected an attempt by prosecutors to silence lawyers for George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain charged with murdering unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin. Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda had requested a gag order contending that the lawyers' press conferences and Internet posts would taint the potential jury pool. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy heads toward Cape May, New Jersey: National Hurricane Center Monday, Oct 29, 2012 03:03 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy is moving toward Cape May, New Jersey, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Monday. The center of the storm was 55 miles east-southeast of Cape May, New Jersey, and its center was expected to reach the coast of southern New Jersey within the next three to five hours, the center said in an advisory at 4 P.M. EDT (200 GMT) (Reporting by Kevin Gray) Full Story | Top |
| Sicilian vote, Berlusconi threat add to Italy uncertainty Monday, Oct 29, 2012 03:01 PM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's struggling party suffered a heavy defeat on Monday as voters turned against the center-right in its former stronghold of Sicily, five months before national parliamentary elections. The center-left candidate Renato Crocetta, an openly gay anti-mafia campaigner, was set to be the next regional governor while there were strong gains for the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy's winds topple top of construction crane in New York Monday, Oct 29, 2012 02:59 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City evacuated neighbors of a partially built, 90-story apartment building after the top of a construction crane collapsed in high winds, prompting fears the entire rig could crash to the ground. With the city bracing for Hurricane Sandy, due to make landfall in southern New Jersey later on Monday, the upper arm of the crane dangled over the street near Central Park from what should eventually become the city's tallest residential building. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada says tougher rules not yet felt fully in housing market Monday, Oct 29, 2012 02:44 PM PDT OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Monday that it is too early to assess the impact on the heated housing market or tighter mortgage rules introduced earlier this year, even though there have been some signs of cooling. "The full impact has not been felt yet," Flaherty told CTV Television in an interview. He said there were several factors affecting the property market, including Canadian consumers heeding the repeated warnings by policy makers not to take on too much debt. ... Full Story | Top |
| Court rules against Polish rocker who tore up Bible Monday, Oct 29, 2012 02:41 PM PDT  WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's Supreme Court opened the way on Monday for a blasphemy verdict against a rock musician who tore up a Bible on stage, a case that has pitted deep Catholic traditions against a new desire for free expression. Adam Darski, front man with a heavy metal group named Behemoth, ripped up a copy of the Christian holy book during a concert in 2007, called it deceitful and described the Roman Catholic church as "a criminal sect". ... Full Story | Top |
| Anti-corruption crusader rattles India's political class Monday, Oct 29, 2012 02:39 PM PDT  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - From a shabby house in one of New Delhi's grimmest suburbs, a mild-mannered former tax official has launched a salvo of accusations of corruption involving some of India's most powerful people, rocking the political establishment. In quick succession, Arvind Kejriwal has publicly leveled charges of shady dealings against the son-in-law of ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, the outgoing law minister and the leader of the main opposition party. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hurricane Sandy on verge of New Jersey landfall Monday, Oct 29, 2012 02:36 PM PDT NEW YORK/REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy, one of the biggest storms ever to hit the United States, lashed the densely populated East Coast on Monday, shutting down transportation, forcing evacuations in flood-prone areas and interrupting the presidential campaign. Fierce winds and flooding racked hundreds of miles of Atlantic coastline and heavy snows were forecast farther inland at higher elevations as the center of the storm moves ashore along the coast of southern New Jersey or Delaware on Monday evening. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada, Japan to start trade talks next month Monday, Oct 29, 2012 02:32 PM PDT OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada and Japan will launch their first full round of bilateral trade negotiations next month, Trade Minister Ed Fast said on Monday, the latest in a series of bilateral talks Canada has begun with trade partners with multilateral efforts stalled. "Both sides are committed to concluding a comprehensive agreement that will unlock the full potential of our relationship and benefit workers and businesses in both countries," Fast said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy "moving quickly" toward New Jersey, Delaware: Hurricane Center Monday, Oct 29, 2012 02:24 PM PDT (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy is "moving quickly" toward New Jersey and Delaware is expected to make landfall along or just south of the southern New Jersey coast within the next few hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Monday. The huge cyclone was 30 miles east-southeast of Cape May, New Jersey, and about 40 miles south of Atlantic City, New Jersey, the center said in an advisory at 5 P.M. EDT (2100 GMT). (Reporting by Kevin Gray' editing by Christopher Wilson) Full Story | Top |
| Washington Metro to remain closed on Tuesday morning Monday, Oct 29, 2012 02:24 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Major public transportation in Washington, halted because of Hurricane Sandy, will not resume on Tuesday morning, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said. Metrorail and Metrobus service will remain suspended due to the hurricane, which is expected to cause widespread havoc in the capital on Monday evening and early on Tuesday morning. WMATA said it will make an announcement on the timing of restored service after it is able to assess damage and weather conditions on Tuesday morning. (Reporting By Karey Wutkowski; Editing by Sandra Maler) Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine ruling party ahead in vote monitors call flawed Monday, Oct 29, 2012 02:21 PM PDT  KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich's party was on course on Monday to secure a new parliamentary majority, but international monitors condemned the election as flawed and said the country had taken a step back under his leadership. Exit polls and partial results from Sunday's vote showed Yanukovich's Party of the Regions would, with help from long-time allies, win more than half the seats in the 450-member assembly after boosting public sector wages and welfare handouts to win over disillusioned voters in its traditional power bases. ... Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Court weighs protection against gray market imports Monday, Oct 29, 2012 02:04 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several justices on the U.S. Supreme Court voiced concern on Monday about letting U.S. copyright holders block the resale inside the country of products they make elsewhere, in one of the court's biggest copyright cases in years. The case, likely to result in a close decision, could profoundly affect the roughly $63 billion gray market, in which third parties import brand-name goods protected by trademark or copyright into the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Unable to copy it, China tries building own jet engine Monday, Oct 29, 2012 02:04 PM PDT HONG KONG (Reuters) - China has designed nuclear missiles and blasted astronauts into space, but one vital technology remains out of reach. Despite decades of research and development, China has so far failed to build a reliable, high performance jet engine. This may be about to change. China's aviation sector is striving for a breakthrough that would end its dependence on Russian and Western power plants for military and commercial aircraft. ... Full Story | Top |
| As election, Sandy draw near, pressure mounts on disaster chief Monday, Oct 29, 2012 02:01 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Hurricane Sandy bears down on the U.S. East Coast little more than a week before the presidential election, President Barack Obama's fortunes may in part depend on how well a former volunteer firefighter from Florida does his job. Craig Fugate, a former paramedic and firefighter who rose to become Florida's top emergency management official, heads the Federal Emergency Management Agency and is the man Obama is counting on to bring relief quickly to millions of people expected to be hit by monster storm Sandy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germany's Schaeuble tells skeptical UK "EU needs you" Monday, Oct 29, 2012 01:36 PM PDT  OXFORD (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble urged Britain on Monday to remain strongly engaged in the European Union, responding to a tide of Euroskepticism that Berlin fears could sweep London towards the exit. Schaeuble's plea, delivered during a visit to Oxford University, came days after British Foreign Secretary William Hague mapped out a very different vision of a much looser EU in which Britain would opt out of many policies. Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would visit Britain, an "important partner", for talks with Prime Minister David Cameron next week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Stock futures end short session lower; market closed Tuesday Monday, Oct 29, 2012 01:13 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures fell in a shortened session on Monday and cash equity trading was canceled as powerful Hurricane Sandy bore down on the U.S. East Coast, closing equity trading for Tuesday. Monday's shutdown was the stock market's first weather-related closure in 27 years. U.S. stock markets will remain closed on Tuesday, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange said, depending on the damage from the huge and dangerous storm on financial center New York City overnight and on Tuesday. Index futures stopped trading electronically at 9:15 a.m. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Carolina governor seeks to calm taxpayers after security breach Monday, Oct 29, 2012 12:59 PM PDT  CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley sought on Monday to temper the anger and frustration of state taxpayers left wondering if their personal information was compromised by recent cyber attacks on computers belonging to the Department of Revenue. Some residents also questioned whether state officials took too long to disclose that as many as 3.6 million Social Security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers may have been exposed to a foreign hacker in the security breach. ... Full Story | Top |
| Federal government offices in Washington closed on Tuesday Monday, Oct 29, 2012 12:56 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal government offices in Washington, D.C., will be closed to the public on Tuesday, as Hurricane Sandy threatens to cause extensive damage to the area. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced that non-emergency employees will be granted administrative leave on Tuesday, and emergency employees are generally expected to report to their work sites. (Reporting By Karey Wutkowski; Editing by Mohammad Zargham) Full Story | Top |
| Egypt church moves closer to picking new pope Monday, Oct 29, 2012 12:53 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church moved a step closer to picking a new pope on Monday when the shortlist was whittled down to three in a process the Christian minority hopes will deliver a leader to guide them safely through the upheaval of the Arab Spring. The previous incumbent, Pope Shenouda III, led the church for four decades until his death in March at the age of 88. His successor will assume the post in a fast-changing Egypt where long oppressed Islamists are now in power - a major shift that is a source of alarm for the minority Christian community. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama's allure fades among venture capitalists Monday, Oct 29, 2012 12:48 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Venture capitalists are proving a less reliable source of cash for President Barack Obama during this election, according to fundraising data, even though he has raised a record amount of cash overall. Through September 30, Obama collected $552,758 from these deep-pocketed investors who provide startup money to firms, less than half his total through that time in 2008. Romney has raised $860,827 from venture capitalists, an indication of his support amongst the investment community in the neck-and-neck race, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish police fire tear gas at banned secularist march Monday, Oct 29, 2012 12:22 PM PDT  ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse thousands of secularists protesting at a banned rally in the capital on Monday against what they see as an increasingly authoritarian and Islamist government. The scenes of chanting men and women draped in Turkish flags and carrying banners portraying the country's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk highlight a longstanding division in Turkish society between staunch secularists on the one hand and more conservative religious Turks on the other. ... Full Story | Top |
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