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| Jobless rate seen rising, offering Obama no relief Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 09:04 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. unemployment rate probably rose in October as employers stepped up hiring only slightly, underscoring President Barack Obama's vulnerability in next week's presidential election. Employers likely added 125,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, according to a Reuters survey of economists. That would be up from 114,000 in September, but would fall short of what is needed to quickly cut the jobless rate. Indeed, economists expect the unemployment rate -- a key focus in the neck-and-neck race for the White House -- to tick up by a tenth of a percentage point to 7. ... Full Story | Top |
| Secret Service agent found dead, apparent suicide: source Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 08:47 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Secret Service agent assigned to President Barack Obama's protective detail was found dead on Saturday in an apparent suicide, a law enforcement source said on Thursday. Special agent Rafael Prieto was under investigation for having an unreported romantic relationship with a foreign national, the source said. The agent's death is being investigated by the District of Columbia police, said Max Milien, a spokesman for the Secret Service. ... Full Story | Top |
| Blind Chinese activist's brother says lawsuit rejected Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 08:45 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - The eldest brother of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng said on Friday a Chinese court had rejected his lawsuit filed against local police and officials for unlawfully barging into his house after his brother's escape. The rejection of Chen Guangfu's lawsuit on Thursday was an expected outcome, but it underscores the continued pressure on Chen Guangcheng's family in northeastern Shandong province, about five months after Chen Guangcheng left for the United States to study. ... Full Story | Top |
| Auto supplier collapse threatens GM, Ford production in Australia Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 08:40 PM PDT  CANBERRA (Reuters) - The closure of Australia's Autodom Ltd , a top Australian auto parts supplier, could shut down production at local units of Ford and General Motors by next week and executives are working frantically to save the company. Autodom, a $2.1 million supplier of parts to local units of Ford , Toyota and the General Motors Holden unit of GM , has indefinitely closed its plants in two Australian cities amid a halving of car production in the wake of the global financial slowdown. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fuel scarce, East Coast struggles to recover Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 08:36 PM PDT  NEW YORK/SEASIDE HEIGHTS, New Jersey (Reuters) - Rescuers searched flooded homes for survivors, drivers lined up for hours to get scarce gasoline and millions remained without power on Thursday as New York City and nearby towns struggled to recover from one of the biggest storms to hit the United States. New York subway trains crawled back to limited service after being shut down since Sunday, but the lower half of Manhattan still lacked power and surrounding areas such as Staten Island, the New Jersey shore and the city of Hoboken remained crippled from a record storm surge and flooding. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pigeons set China Congress security plans aflutter Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 08:26 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - Potentially sinister threats to China's ruling Communist Party sit unnoticed in cages perched on a rooftop above a small alleyway in southwestern Beijing. Not dissidents. Pigeons. A week before the party's all-important congress opens, China's stability-obsessed rulers are taking no chances and have combed through a list all possible threats, avian or otherwise. It isn't just the usual suspects like activists who have ruffled the party's feathers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Storm Sandy blamed for at least 98 deaths in U.S., Canada Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 07:49 PM PDT (Reuters) - Deaths in the United States and Canada from Sandy, the massive storm that hit the U.S. East Coast this week, rose to at least 98 on Thursday after more fatalities were reported by officials in New York City, New Jersey and elsewhere. The number of dead in New York City rose to 40, police said. At least 20 of the city's dead were found on Staten Island, whose southeast flank took the full brunt of the storm surge. In New Jersey, authorities said the death toll in the state had reached 13 as search-and-rescue teams gained access to devastated areas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tax agency appeals Solyndra's bankruptcy exit plan Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 07:26 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Thursday appealed a court decision to approve solar panel maker Solyndra's plan to exit bankruptcy protection. Solyndra, which filed for bankruptcy in September last year despite a $528 million federal loan, won court approval on October 22 to repay its creditors after a judge overruled objections by the U.S. government. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath in Delaware had rejected the government argument that the plan was improper because its main purpose was to provide tax breaks. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. shale gas boom requires rethink of natgas export policy: Senator Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 07:03 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States needs to reconsider its rules on exporting natural gas - even to countries with which it has free trade agreements - now that a surge in drilling has made the nation one of the world's fastest-growing producers, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said on Thursday. Advanced drilling techniques have allowed energy companies to tap vast shale gas reserves, opening the door to U.S. exports after years of projections that the United States would have to rely on foreign gas to meet its energy needs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Frazzled New Yorkers fret about long road back to normalcy Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 06:39 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York authorities have made a big push for normalcy after megastorm Sandy, but for many residents dealing with water-logged homes, power outages, gasoline shortages and painfully slow commutes, things are far from that. Officials have moved quickly to try to jump-start business and tourism after the storm. The New York Stock Exchange reopened after a historic two-day closure, with a smiling Mayor Michael Bloomberg ringing the opening bell. The subways began to rumble with limited service on Thursday. Broadway theater is back. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy on track to be second-largest flood loss ever Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 06:20 PM PDT (Reuters) - The superstorm Sandy will likely end up as the second-largest insured flood loss in U.S. history, behind only Hurricane Katrina, a top executive of a leading flood insurance provider said on Thursday. Patty Templeton-Jones, the chief operating officer of Wright Flood, said the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is expecting claims on at least 80,000 flood insurance policies after Sandy. Wright is the largest private provider of policies guaranteed by FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program. (Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Gary Hill) Full Story | Top |
| Cell phone system recovering slowly after Sandy Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 06:20 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cell phone towers knocked off line by superstorm Sandy were being gradually restored to service, but fueling generators for relay sites in areas without electricity is difficult, the Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday. Sandy knocked out about 25 percent of cell sites on the U.S. east coast this week, the FCC said. About 19 percent were still offline as of Thursday morning, the FCC said. Cell sites can be towers or smaller facilities which relay wireless calls. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy caused "major damage" to U.N. headquarters: official Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 06:20 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations headquarters suffered severe damage when Sandy, a massive storm that hit the U.S. East Coast this week, caused heavy flooding at the world body's Manhattan complex along the East River, the U.N. security chief said on Thursday. Sandy made landfall in New York City on Monday evening, flooding many parts of lower Manhattan and leaving nearly 2 million residents of New York state without electricity. The storm surge from the East River also affected the United Nations, which remained shut from Monday to Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| CIA officials in Libya made key decisions during Benghazi attacks Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 06:19 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - CIA officials on the ground in Libya dispatched security forces to the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi within 25 minutes and made other key decisions about how to respond to the waves of attacks on U.S. installations on September 11, a senior American intelligence official said on Thursday. Officials in Washington monitored events through message traffic and a hovering U.S. military drone but did not interfere with or reject requests for help from officials in the line of fire, the official said. ... Full Story | Top |
| California Republican chairman will not run again to head party Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 06:10 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The chairman of the California Republican Party will not seek another term as leader of the organization in the country's most populous state, where rival Democrats increasingly dominate the state Legislature, a spokesman said on Thursday. Tom Del Beccaro, who took over last year as chairman of the state Republican Party, said in a statement this week to supporters and provided to Reuters on Thursday that it was time "to pause from party politics. ... Full Story | Top |
| On Delaware coastal island, gratitude to share after storm Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 05:59 PM PDT  FENWICK ISLAND, Delaware (Reuters) - The usually tranquil beachfront communities along the Delaware shore were prepared for the worst from Hurricane Sandy and as luck would have it, they got something less. The damage from flooding is limited, compared to what might have been. The cleanup is ongoing. And relief, in the form of disaster assistance, is on hand. People here are grateful to Mother Nature, to local authorities-and to Barack Obama. Though he did not set foot here, television made him a presence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senators seek thorough review of Chinese bid for A123 Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 05:52 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Republican senators asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday for a thorough review of a Chinese company's plan to acquire bankrupt battery maker A123, saying military and taxpayer-funded technology must be protected. China's Wanxiang Group Corp is currently locked in a battle with U.S.-based Johnson Controls Inc to buy A123, which makes lithium ion batteries for electric cars. A123 also had two contracts worth a total of more than $4 million to develop batteries for the Air Force, one of which is still ongoing, an Air Force official said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Romney return to attack as campaign hits final stretch Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 05:47 PM PDT  GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney went back on the attack on Thursday, breaking a storm-induced campaign truce to hit the road and pound home their closing messages in the final stretch of a tight battle for the White House. With five days left until Tuesday's election, Obama received an endorsement from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, resurrected his 2008 "change" slogan and said he was the only candidate who had actually fought for it. Romney criticized Obama as a lover of big government who would expand the federal bureaucracy. ... Full Story | Top |
| In Missouri Senate race, new Akin ad features rape survivor Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 05:43 PM PDT  KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Todd Akin, the Republican candidate in the closely watched U.S. Senate race in Missouri, released a new advertisement on Thursday featuring a woman who says she was raped and had an abortion but supports Akin's anti-abortion stand. The TV commercial comes in the closing days of a campaign that has drawn national attention because of Akin's remark in August that women's bodies could ward off pregnancy in cases of "legitimate rape." Akin, a six-term U.S. congressman from the St. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK economy may grow 1.1 percent in 2013 - NIESR Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 05:29 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's economy will return to modest growth in 2013 after flatlining this year, with developments in the euro zone posing the biggest risk, a leading think-tank said on Friday. The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) forecast that GDP would dip this year by 0.1 percent, up from its August forecast of a 0.5 percent contraction, after surprisingly strong expansion in the third quarter. However, NIESR revised down its 2013 growth forecast to 1.1 percent from 1.3 percent, due to a weaker global outlook. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bank of England gets long to-do list from reviews Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 05:29 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England should open up to a broader range of views when producing inflation and growth forecasts and clarify the role of its key policy-setting committees, three independent reviews of the central bank's operations recommended. Just five weeks before the appointment of a new governor, the reviews of the BoE's forecasting capabilities, its liquidity framework and its provision of emergency assistance gave a list of improvements for the institution, which will get far-reaching powers as the country's top financial regulator in 2013. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy forecasts were on target, but message was a bit garbled Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 05:27 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The first predictions of the monster storm that slammed into the East Coast of the United States came nearly a week before Sandy made landfall on Monday, giving state and local officials ample notice to issue warnings and make preparations for the threat. But in the aftermath of the storm that left a swath of destruction across 15 states and cut power to more than 8 million people, some meteorologists question the federal government's decision not to issue hurricane or tropical storm warnings for Sandy north of the Carolinas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge backs Catholic firm over contraception mandate Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 05:16 PM PDT (Reuters) - A Catholic-owned family business in Michigan does not have to comply with the provision of the new U.S. healthcare law that requires private employers to provide employees with health insurance that covers birth control, a federal judge in Detroit has ruled. U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland, in a ruling late Wednesday, temporarily blocked the government from forcing the owner of Weingartz Supply Company, which sells outdoor power equipment, to include contraception in its health coverage of employees. ... Full Story | Top |
| RBS to report profit uplift amid UK share sale hope Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 05:03 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland reports third quarter results on Friday amid heightened speculation that Britain could begin selling shares in the part-nationalized bank before the next election in 2015. But compensation pay-outs for mis-sold loan insurance, plus investigations into interest rate rigging and possible breaches of sanctions on Iran still hang over the bank's recovery. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mauritanian opposition tells army to stay out of politics Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 04:56 PM PDT NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - Opposition leaders in coup-prone Mauritania on Thursday called on the army to stay out of politics and demanded more information on the health of the country's absentee president. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, a key ally of the West in the fight against al Qaeda in Africa, was flown to France on October 14, for treatment of a gunshot wound the government said he received when a military patrol accidentally fired on his convoy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Officials fret about polling sites in storm-ravaged states Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 04:54 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Officials in New York, New Jersey and other states hit hard by the powerful storm Sandy are anxiously waiting to see when power will be restored in darkened areas and whether polling sites may need to be moved for next Tuesday's presidential election. "We're open for business November 6. That will be Election Day," said John Conklin, spokesman for the New York state Board of Elections. "We're doing everything we can to make sure that everyone who goes to the polls will have a poll site to go to. ... Full Story | Top |
| Standard Chartered close to U.S. settlement on Iran transactions Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 04:52 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Standard Chartered is close to wrapping up discussions to resolve U.S. investigations into its Iran-linked transactions and nearing agreement on a fine in the $300-million range, mirroring a much-publicized state settlement over similar allegations, according to four people familiar with the matter. The London-based bank agreed in August to pay New York's banking regulator $340 million after that authority filed a surprise order accusing the bank of hiding some $250 billion worth of transactions with Iran. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fuel scarce, East Coast struggles to recover from storm Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 04:37 PM PDT NEW YORK/SEASIDE HEIGHTS, New Jersey (Reuters) - Rescuers searched flooded homes for survivors, drivers lined up for hours to get scarce gasoline and millions remained without power on Thursday as New York City and nearby towns struggled to recover from one of the biggest storms to hit the United States. New York subway trains crawled back to limited service after being shut down since Sunday, but the lower half of Manhattan still lacked power and surrounding areas such as Staten Island, the New Jersey shore and the city of Hoboken remained crippled from a record storm surge and flooding. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed's Rosengren draws line in the sand on QE3 bond buys Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 04:22 PM PDT  WELLESLEY, Massachusetts (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve should buy bonds at least until the U.S. jobless rate falls below 7.25 percent, a top Fed official said on Thursday, pitching a plan that includes the first specific target for ending the central bank's quantitative easing program. Under the proposal unveiled by Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, who is one of 19 Fed policymakers, the U.S. central bank's large-scale asset purchases would continue as long as inflation expectations remained subdued and they would not necessarily stop once the 7.25-percent jobless threshold was crossed. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. FDA finds bacteria in New England Compounding drugs Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 04:19 PM PDT (Reuters) - U.S. health officials have found bacteria in lots of an injected steroid and a heart drug made by New England Compounding Center, the pharmacy linked to contaminated steroids that have claimed the lives of at least 28 people. The Food and Drug Administration said it identified different types of bacteria in three separate recalled batches of NECC's preservative-free betamethasone and in a single batch of NECC-supplied cardioplegia solution. Betamethasone is an injectable steroid, while cardioplegia is used during heart surgery. ... Full Story | Top |
| FTC staff recommends Google be sued over patents: source Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 04:04 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Federal Trade Commission staff report has recommended that the government sue Google for violating U.S. antitrust law because it asked courts to stop the sale of some products that infringe its essential patents, a source told Reuters Thursday. The five-member commission is inclined to vote in favor of suing Google Inc, the Internet search engine company, according to the source, who declined to be identified to protect business relationships. Bloomberg News was the first to report the staff recommendation on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guinea swears in new electoral commission Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 03:34 PM PDT CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea has sworn in a new electoral commission after an initial boycott by the opposition, which claimed the government had tampered with its list of nominees, state television announced on Thursday. A political stalemate in the world's top bauxite producer has since last year stalled legislative polls needed to complete a shift to civilian rule after a 2008 coup and unblock international aid. President Alpha Conde named a new 25-member electoral body on Monday as part of a compromise after the opposition complained the previous commission was favorable to the ruling party. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio's re-election bid divides county Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 03:33 PM PDT  PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio's hardline stance on illegal immigrants has given him a national profile. But a backlash from angry Latinos is turning his bid for re-election into the toughest of his long career. Republican Arpaio, who turned 80 this year, is seeking a sixth term in the state's most populous county, where a bitter national fight over illegal immigration has helped drive what has become the most costly sheriff's race in U.S. history. ... Full Story | Top |
| On Staten Island, cries for help replaced by a loss for words Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 03:23 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - On Hamden Ave, a storm-wrecked street on New York City's Staten Island, everyone was talking about the surge - a wall of water that came tearing down the street on Monday night. As families picked through mud-caked photo albums and couch cushions, and stared at ruined cars scattered across the neighborhood, they talked on Thursday about how a little bit of rain suddenly turned into pools of water. Then swelled and kept swelling until the water flooded the first floor of homes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Romney go back on attack as campaign hits final stretch Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 03:19 PM PDT GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney went back on the attack on Thursday, breaking a storm-induced campaign truce to hit the road and pound home their closing messages in the final stretch of a tight battle for the White House. With five days left until Tuesday's election, Obama resurrected his 2008 "change" slogan and said he was the only candidate who had actually fought for it. Romney criticized Obama as a lover of big government who would expand the federal bureaucracy. ... Full Story | Top |
| On the Jersey shore, emotion outweighs cost of rebuilding Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 03:18 PM PDT  BAY HEAD, N.J./BOSTON (Reuters) - The people of the Jersey Shore may feel alone in the world right now, their homes destroyed and their beaches ruined by Hurricane Sandy. But they will soon face a decision familiar to others who have survived massive storms - do I rebuild? There is a reason New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called the destruction Sandy wrought on the shoreline "unthinkable." The one-time vacation paradise, familiar to fans of Bruce Springsteen, is now a twisted wreck, with remnants of a roller coaster floating in the ocean, and houses erased like they were temporary markings. ... Full Story | Top |
| On balance, Sandy to have negative economic effect: Fed official Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 03:09 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A top Federal Reserve official on Thursday said, on balance, the massive storm Sandy will have a negative effect on the U.S. economy. Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, cited both the immediate economic harm the storm would cause and the eventual economic boost from the clean-up. But he said the longer-term economic harm would not be "huge." (Reporting by Tim McLaughlin; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Leslie Adler) Full Story | Top |
| Data points to slow healing in labor market Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 02:59 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. companies added jobs in October at the fastest pace in eight months, a sign of modest healing in the labor market just days before a presidential election that could hinge on the economy. Other data on Thursday showed a drop in new claims for jobless benefits, a sharp improvement in consumer confidence, while there were mixed signals regarding the health of U.S. manufacturing. Private employers added 158,000 workers last month, the biggest gain since February, payrolls processor Automatic Data Processing said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Storm Sandy blamed for at least 95 deaths in U.S., Canada Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 02:57 PM PDT (Reuters) - Deaths in the United States and Canada from Sandy, the massive storm that hit the U.S. East Coast this week, rose to at least 95 on Thursday after the number of victims reported by authorities in New York City jumped and deaths in New Jersey and elsewhere also rose. The number of dead in New York City rose to 39, police said. At least 15 of the city's dead were found on Staten Island, whose southeast flank took the full brunt of the storm surge. In New Jersey, authorities said the death toll in the state had reached 13 as search and rescue teams gained access to devastated areas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chrysler executive has rough words for Trump Thursday, Nov 01, 2012 02:54 PM PDT (Advisory: Note expletives in paragraphs 1 and 4) DETROIT (Reuters) - A Chrysler executive told Donald Trump in a Tweet on Thursday that the real estate executive and television personality was "full of shit" for repeating a notion that Chrysler is shipping U.S. Jeep production to China, which the automaker refutes. Ralph Gilles, the head of product design for Chrysler, became the second top Chrysler executive in three days to strongly deny the claim, which was first made by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney last week to a crowd in Ohio. ... Full Story | Top |
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