Friday, November 30, 2012

Daily News – Reuters News Headlines - Little apparent progress in U.S. "fiscal cliff" talks

Friday, Nov 30, 2012 07:08 PM PST
Today's Reuters News Headlines - Yahoo! News:

Little apparent progress in U.S. "fiscal cliff" talks 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 07:08 PM PST
U.S. President Obama speaks at the Rodon Group, a manufacturer of toys in HatfieldHATFIELD, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - With barely a month left before the "fiscal cliff," Republicans and Democrats remained far apart on Friday in talks to avoid the across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts that threaten to throw the country back into recession. While President Barack Obama visited a Pennsylvania toy factory to muster public support for tax hikes on the rich, portraying Republicans as scrooges at Christmas time, his primary adversary in negotiations, Republican House Speaker John Boehner, continued to describe the situation as a stalemate. ...
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Consumer spending, income stall; Sandy a factor 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 01:49 PM PST
Women carry shopping bags through Times Square in New YorkWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending fell in October for the first time in five months and income growth stalled, leading some economists to cut already weak estimates of fourth-quarter economic growth. Superstorm Sandy was partly to blame for the pullback in spending as the quarter started, but economists said the data on Friday also underscored the economy's fundamental weakness, stemming from the uncertainty over the course of fiscal policy. The Commerce Department said consumer spending fell 0.2 percent after a 0.8 percent increase in September. ...
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Missouri couple wins half of $587 million Powerball lottery 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 04:54 PM PST
Hill family talks about winning record lottery ticket in Dearborn, MissouriDEARBORN, Missouri (Reuters) - A Missouri couple who won half of a record $587.5 million Powerball jackpot said on Friday they plan to stay put in their rural community, but know their lives will be changed. "I think we'll have a good Christmas," Cindy Hill said at a news conference where she and her husband, Mark Hill, were presented as winners of the jackpot by the Missouri Lottery. Cindy Hill, 51, is a former office manager who got laid off in 2010. Mark Hill, 52, was a mechanic for Hillshire Brands, a food company, but has now quit his job. ...
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Exclusive: Chevron Brazil ban ended, marks restart step 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 05:38 PM PST
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Chevron Corp received a boost to its efforts to restart oil output in Brazil after a court overturned a ban on its operating in the country and the company agreed on a plan to improve safety procedures after an oil spill last year. Taken together, the moves suggest the case may be coming to a quick, negotiated resolution, said Eduardo Santos de Oliveira, the federal prosecutor from the city of Campos de Goytacazes who had first filed civil and criminal lawsuits in the case. Chevron, the No. 2 U.S. ...
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Falcone, Harbinger seek dismissal of SEC charges 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 07:01 PM PST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager Philip Falcone on Friday asked a federal judge to dismiss U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing him of market manipulation, giving preferential treatment to certain investors and borrowing cash from his own fund to pay his personal taxes. The billionaire, who was sued in U.S. District Court in Manhattan in June, said government regulators had no evidence that he had deceived investors or acted outside of the law. ...
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Exclusive: U.S. Army officials said to back new scout helicopter 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 05:37 PM PST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Army officials this week backed a plan to buy new armed scout helicopters instead of extending the life of the Army's aging fleet of OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters, sources familiar with the Army's plans told Reuters on Friday. Army acquisition chief Heidi Shyu and other officials agreed to start the new acquisition program for the smaller military helicopter at a meeting on Thursday, but senior Army and Pentagon officials must still sign off on the new acquisition program, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly. ...
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China Nov official factory PMI hits seven-month high 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 05:35 PM PST
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to a seven-month high of 50.6 in November from 50.2 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday. The headline figure is in line with an economist poll by Reuters this week, and confirms a trend toward recovering growth in the world's second-largest economy. A PMI reading below 50 suggests growth slowed, while a number above 50 indicates accelerating growth. ...
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New Jersey bridge collapse derails freight train; chemical leaks 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 02:54 PM PST
Derailed freight train cars sit semi-submerged in the waters of Mantua Creek after a train crash in PaulsboroPAULSBORO, New Jersey (Reuters) - A railroad bridge collapsed on Friday over a creek in southern New Jersey, causing a Conrail freight train to derail and spill hazardous chemicals into the air and water, authorities said. Seven of the 82 cars derailed, and a tanker car that fell into Mantua Creek leaked vinyl chloride into the waterway, which feeds into the Delaware River near Philadelphia, said Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board. ...
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Syria jets bombard rebel targets on airport road 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 12:03 PM PST
Residents stand among buildings damaged by missiles in HomsBEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian air force jets bombarded rebel targets on Friday close to the Damascus airport road and a regional airline said foreign carriers had halted flights to the capital. Activists said security forces clashed with rebels trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad around Aqraba and Babilla districts on the southeastern outskirts of Damascus which lead to the international airport. ...
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Palestinians win de facto U.N. recognition of sovereign state 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 02:59 AM PST
Palestinian youth waves a flag in front of Israeli soldiers during a demonstration near BethlehemUNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the world body to issue its long overdue "birth certificate." The U.N. victory for the Palestinians was a diplomatic setback for the United States and Israel, which were joined by only a handful of countries in voting against the move to upgrade the Palestinian Authority's observer status at the United Nations to "non-member state" from "entity," like the Vatican. ...
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Obama cranks up "fiscal cliff" pressure, Boehner says talks stalemated 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 02:52 PM PST
U.S. President Obama speaks at the Rodon Group, a manufacturer of toys in HatfieldHATFIELD, Penn. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama turned up the pressure in "fiscal cliff" talks on Friday, hitting the road to drum up support for his drive to raise taxes on the wealthy and warning Americans that Republicans were offering them "a lump of coal" for Christmas. In a visit to a Pennsylvania toy factory, Obama portrayed congressional Republicans as Scrooges who risked sending the country over the fiscal cliff rather than strike a deal to avert the tax increases and spending cuts that begin in January unless Congress intervenes. ...
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Senate approves new sanctions for Iran energy, shipping 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 01:22 PM PST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate resoundingly approved on Friday expanded sanctions on global trade with Iran's energy and shipping sectors, its latest effort to ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program. The new package, which keeps in place exemptions for countries that have made significant cuts to their purchases of Iranian crude oil, would be the third round of sanctions in a year if passed into law. The existing sanctions have already hurt Iran's economy, but it is uncertain whether the additional measures will stop or slow Iran's nuclear program. ...
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Iran may quit anti-nuclear arms pact if attacked: envoy 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 07:19 AM PST
Iran's International Atomic Energy Agency ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh briefs the media after a meeting at the Iranian embassy in ViennaVIENNA (Reuters) - Any attack on Iran's nuclear facilities may lead to it withdrawing from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a pact aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear arms, a senior Iranian official said on Friday. Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, also suggested Iran in such a case could kick out IAEA inspectors and install its uranium enrichment centrifuges in "more secure" places. ...
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Egyptians protest after draft constitution raced through 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 04:55 PM PST
General view of anti-Mursi protesters gathered in Tahrir Square in CairoCAIRO (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Egyptians protested against President Mohamed Mursi on Friday after an Islamist-led assembly raced through approval of a new constitution in a bid to end a crisis over the Islamist leader's newly expanded powers. "The people want to bring down the regime," they chanted in Tahrir Square, echoing the chants that rang out in the same place less than two years ago and brought down Hosni Mubarak. ...
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High court leaves open if it will take up gay marriage case 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 04:52 PM PST
Everhart and Welker hold each other before exchanging wedding vows at a comic book retail shop in Manhattan, New York(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court's nine justices met in private on Friday to consider whether to enter the legal fray over same-sex marriage but made no announcement about any decision they may have reached. The high court is considering whether to review five separate challenges to a federal law that prevents married same-sex couples from receiving federal marriage benefits such as Social Security survivor payments and tax exemptions. It is also considering whether to review California's ban on same-sex marriage, known as Proposition 8, which voters narrowly approved in 2008. ...
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Euro zone set for recovery in second-half of 2013: Draghi 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 04:59 AM PST
European Central Bank President Draghi waves after a news conference after the Governing Council Meeting of the European Central Bank in BrdoPARIS (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Friday that budgetary consolidation in the euro zone would entail a short-term economic impact but the currency bloc was on track for a recovery in the second half of 2013. "We have not yet emerged from the crisis," Draghi told Europe 1 radio. "The recovery for most of the euro zone will certainly begin in the second half of 2013." "It's true that budgetary consolidation entails a short-term contraction of economic activity, but this budgetary consolidation is inevitable," Draghi said, speaking through a translator. ...
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Leave "fairy world" behind, Draghi tells euro zone 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 05:57 AM PST
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi attends a conference at the Economy ministry in ParisPARIS (Reuters) - The euro zone's crisis is far from over and its members must tighten budgets and forge a banking union to leave behind the "fairy world" that allowed problems to grow, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Friday. Draghi's call for reform was echoed by International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, who said implementing a banking union with powers to supervise all banks in the euro zone should be the currency bloc's top priority. ...
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Egyptians protest after draft constitution raced through 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 11:46 AM PST
General view of anti-Mursi protesters gathered in Tahrir Square in CairoCAIRO (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Egyptians protested against President Mohamed Mursi on Friday after an Islamist-led assembly raced through approval of a new constitution in a bid to end a crisis over the Islamist leader's newly expanded powers. "The people want to bring down the regime," they chanted in Tahrir Square, echoing the chants that rang out in the same place less than two years ago and brought down Hosni Mubarak. ...
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How a desperate HP suspended disbelief for Autonomy deal 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 11:59 AM PST
File photograph of a woman walking past the Hewlett Packard logo at its French headquarters in Issy le MoulineauxSAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - For Leo Apotheker, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, a July 2011 meeting with Autonomy founder Mike Lynch at a chic seaside resort in France was pivotal to his effort to remake a storied technology giant. In the nine months since taking the helm at HP, Apotheker had tried furiously to find a way to move the lumbering company away from its low-margin computer hardware business and into the lucrative corporate software and services arena. ...
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Insight: Lawyers gain from "say-on-pay" suits targeting U.S. firms 
Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 10:10 PM PST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Since the Dodd-Frank law gave shareholders a say in executive pay in 2010, courts have routinely rebuffed efforts by shareholders to force companies to heed their voice. Now, lawyers have found a new way to bring lawsuits over executive pay, resulting in a handful of legal settlements. But the settlements to date have produced no changes in executive compensation and no money for investors. In fact, the main financial beneficiary so far has been a small New York law firm that brought the bulk of the cases. ...
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ASEAN chief voices alarm at China plan to board ships in disputed waters 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 03:44 AM PST
File picture shows fishing boats in the bay of the Ly Son islands of Vietnam's central Quang Ngai provinceJAKARTA (Reuters) - China's plan to board and search ships that illegally enter what it considers its territory in the disputed South China Sea could spark naval clashes and hurt the region's economy, Southeast Asia's top diplomat warned on Friday. Seeking to ease alarm over the issue, China said it attached "great importance" to freedom of navigation in waters that have some of the world's busiest shipping lanes. ...
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After long jail term, gaming gangster faces less violent but still murky Macau 
Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 11:25 PM PST
File picture shows Wan, alias Broken Tooth Koi, in handcuffs after being arrested by Macau's Judicial Police Director Baptista during an anti-crime raid in MacauMACAU (Reuters) - Wan "Broken Tooth" Kuok-koi will emerge from jail this weekend into a very different Macau gambling haven than the one he bullied in the late-1990s. Under new leadership, chosen at a Chinese Communist Party Congress this month where corruption was a dominant theme, Beijing is sending strong signals to Macau authorities to tighten regulation and promote responsible gaming in the world's casino capital. It's a far cry from more than a decade ago when Wan and other triad gangsters ran amok during the final days of Portuguese rule of this southern Chinese outcrop. ...
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Exclusive: Philippines fixer paid $30 million by Okada's Universal - sources 
Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 10:44 PM PST
Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada attends the opening ceremony of his dining complex in Hong KongTOKYO/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada's Universal Entertainment funneled at least $30 million to an ex-consultant for the Philippines gaming authority who is now at the center of a bribery investigation, according to sources and company records. The sum is six times the amount initially confirmed by Reuters and could, if found to be bribery, result in Okada being stripped of his firm's casino license in the Philippines and also jeopardize his gaming license in Las Vegas. ...
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Chinese, U.S. soldiers complete disaster relief drill amid Asia tensions 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 04:56 AM PST
CHENGDU (Reuters) - Chinese and American soldiers finished a week-long disaster rescue exercise on Friday, furthering military ties between the two countries even as military tensions rise between China and U.S. military allies in the Pacific region. The exercise, which included 20 U.S. soldiers visiting facilities in three Chinese cities, are meant to bring the two rivals closer together through non-combat military collaboration, and to allay fears of countries in the region worried over China's rising influence. ...
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Barclays investment bank revamp could mean staff cuts 
Friday, Nov 30, 2012 04:11 AM PST
A lamp featuring a logo of Barclay's bank is seen outside a branch in LondonLONDON (Reuters) - Barclays could ax as many as 3,500 investment bank staff and cut its advisory or equities operations in Asia as part of a broader strategic review aimed at fixing the bank's culture in the wake of the financial crisis. The future shape and size of the investment bank is seen as the most critical part of Chief Executive Antony Jenkins' review, as it contributes more than half of group profits but conducts the "casino" activities politicians and regulators are cracking down on. ...
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Analysis: Democrats' discord undercuts Obama estate tax push 
Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 10:07 PM PST
President Obama talks while on White House complex in WashingtonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Divisions among Democrats are undermining President Barack Obama's push to raise the U.S. estate tax on inherited wealth, just weeks before the arrival of the "fiscal cliff" could drive the present estate tax rate even higher than Obama proposes. Action on the estate tax could be postponed. But in his successful re-election campaign, Obama called for wealthy Americans to pay more in taxes - and it is overwhelmingly the wealthy who pay the estate tax. ...
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Fighting cuts access to Damascus airport, flights suspended 
Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 09:53 PM PST
Men who were injured in the explosions in Jaramana district, near Damascus, walk on a streetBEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels battled forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad just outside Damascus on Thursday, cutting access to its international airport, and Dubai-based Emirates airline and EgyptAir stopped flights to the Syrian capital. The Internet and some telephone lines went down across Syria. Rebels and the government traded blame for the blackout, the worst communications outage in 20 months of conflict. Rebels fighting to topple Assad have been making gains around Syria by overrunning military bases and have been ramping up attacks on Damascus, his seat of power. ...
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