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| White House steps up campaign to avoid spending cuts Monday, Feb 25, 2013 08:02 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House escalated a campaign on Monday to convince Americans dire consequences await if government spending cuts go ahead on March 1, warning of a slowdown in global trade, a stalled fight against cancer and Alzheimer's disease and compromised security at U.S. borders. At the same time, prominent Republicans said President Barack Obama was overstating the potential damage of the $85 billion in government-wide cuts to frighten the public. "There is a responsible way to cut less than 3 percent of the federal budget. ... Full Story | Top |
| Powers to offer sanctions relief if Iran curbs nuclear program Monday, Feb 25, 2013 07:46 PM PST ALMATY (Reuters) - Major powers will offer Iran some sanctions relief during talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan, this week if Tehran agrees to curb its nuclear program, a U.S. official said on Monday. But the Islamic Republic could face more economic pain if it fails to address international concerns about its atomic activities, the official said ahead of the February 26-27 meeting in the central Asian state, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There will be continued sanctions enforcement ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida town remembers Trayvon Martin a year after killing Monday, Feb 25, 2013 07:40 PM PST  SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - A year after the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in this central Florida town, there is a small memorial, a new police chief and an effort to improve race relations. Trayvon Martin, 17, was gunned down on February 26, 2012, as he walked to his father's fiancee's home in one of Sanford's gated communities. The man accused of his killing, George Zimmerman, 28, a white Hispanic on neighborhood watch, is set to be tried on June 10. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee drops bin Laden film probe Monday, Feb 25, 2013 07:36 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One day after "Zero Dark Thirty" failed to win major awards at the Oscars, a congressional aide said on Monday the Senate Intelligence Committee has closed its inquiry into the filmmakers' contacts with the Central Intelligence Agency. The intelligence committee gathered more information from the CIA and will not take further action, according to the aide, who requested anonymity. Sony Pictures Entertainment, which distributed the film in the United States, said it was in touch with the filmmakers but had no immediate comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy faces stalemate after election shock Monday, Feb 25, 2013 07:16 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italy faced political deadlock on Tuesday after a stunning election that saw the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo become the strongest party in the country but left no group with a clear majority in parliament. The center-left coalition led by Pier Luigi Bersani won the lower house by around 125,000 votes and claimed the most seats in the Senate but was short of the majority in the upper house that it would need to govern. Bersani claimed victory but said it was obvious that Italy was in "a very delicate situation". ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea firm had U.S. contract while investing in Iran gas: GAO Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:48 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A South Korean construction company reported to have recently engaged in Iran's energy sector had a contract with the U.S. government even as Tehran came under pressure for its disputed nuclear program, a U.S. government watchdog said on Monday. Daelim Industrial Co had a nearly $1.5 million U.S. government contract to build family housing at a military base in South Korea at some point between mid-2011 and late 2012, the General Accountability Office said in a report on Monday. The GAO is the investigative arm of Congress. Under U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| GM seeks approval to pay CEO $11.1 million: CNBC Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:48 PM PST  (Reuters) - General Motors Co wants to pay its chief executive, Dan Akerson, $11.1 million this year, CNBC reported, citing related documents. If the U.S. government approve the plan, Akerson's annual compensation would increase more than 20 percent compared to last year, the report said. (http://link.reuters.com/meg36t) Compensation of GM executives is governed by a special paymaster from the federal government as part of provisions put in place after GM's U.S.-funded bankruptcy restructuring in 2009. No determinations has yet been made for 2013 compensation, a U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop dies at 96 Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:45 PM PST  (Reuters) - Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, whose anti-smoking campaign and outspoken, controversial positions on abortion, AIDS and drugs, elevated the obscure post to one of national influence, died at his home in Hanover, New Hampshire, on Monday. He was 96 years old. Koop, a pediatric surgeon, served as the leading U.S. spokesman on public health matters and adviser to President Ronald Reagan from November 1981 until October 1989. His death was announced by Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, where he founded the C. Everett Koop Institute. "Dr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria says ready to talk with armed opposition Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:25 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria is ready for talks with its armed opponents, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Monday, in the clearest offer yet to negotiate with rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad. But Moualem said at the same time Syria would pursue its fight "against terrorism," alluding to the conflict in which the United Nations says 70,000 people have been killed. His offer of talks drew a dismissive response from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was starting a nine-nation tour of European and Arab capitals in London. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia to send committee for release of German hostages Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:12 PM PST  BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government on Monday authorized a committee of civilians and Red Cross officials to travel to a jungle zone where it hopes two German hostages will be freed by the nation's second-largest guerrilla group. The National Liberation Army (ELN) said in early February they had captured two German men in Catatumbo, near the border with Venezuela, the second time in a month it seized foreigners. "They sent us a message saying that if we authorized the Red Cross and a committee that already exists to interact with the ELN ... ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. gives banking green light to Myanmar tycoons Monday, Feb 25, 2013 05:53 PM PST  YANGON (Reuters) - Two banks owned by tycoons associated with Myanmar's former military regime will start to do business with U.S. companies and investors in the latest reward for the Southeast Asian country's rapid political transformation. The U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday it would issue a general licence for four of Myanmar's biggest banks -- Myanma Economic Bank, Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank, Asia Green Development Bank and Ayeyarwady Bank -- allowing U.S. companies and citizens to deal with them. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama to meet leading Republicans McCain, Graham on Tuesday Monday, Feb 25, 2013 05:40 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will meet leading Senate Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham on Tuesday to discuss immigration reform efforts and could also delve into across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect on Friday. Obama's meeting with the two U.S. senators, part of a bipartisan "Gang of Eight" working to craft immigration legislation, was described by a White House official on Monday as focused on that issue. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House will soon revive cybersecurity legislation push Monday, Feb 25, 2013 05:10 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A senior adviser to President Barack Obama said the White House will soon renew efforts to push cybersecurity legislation through Congress, though he foresaw an uphill battle given the failure of the last attempt. Daniel said the White House has begun drafting "key legislative principles" for a new bill that it believes can pass both the House and Senate this time. "We very much want a bill," White House cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel told Reuters while in San Francisco to meet industry experts and business leaders at a security conference. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senators urge EU to plug ECB loophole in Iran sanctions Monday, Feb 25, 2013 05:03 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senators on Monday urged European Union leaders to do more to stop the Iranian government from using the European Central Bank, saying the bank's payment system may inadvertently be aiding Tehran in financing its nuclear program. On the eve of talks between Western powers and Iran, lawmakers told the EU's leadership in a letter that Iran may be circumventing American and European sanctions by using the central bank to convert euros into local currency and conduct trade. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's center left to win lower house, Senate deadlocked Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:43 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Italy's center-left coalition will win a majority in the lower house of parliament but the upper house will be deadlocked, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday after almost all votes were counted. After 99.9 percent of the polling booths had been tallied, the center-left led the center-right by about 125,000 votes in the lower house, handing it a sizeable majority thanks to a generous winner's bonus. But the Senate was a different story. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Castro successor lacks charisma but is experienced manager Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:37 PM PST  HAVANA (Reuters) - When Cuban President Raul Castro named former engineering professor and long-time Communist Party insider Miguel Diaz-Canel as his first vice president and potential successor on Sunday, he chose managerial skills over flair. Diaz-Canel, 52, is the youngest non-military man to come so close to the pinnacle of power in Cuba since the Castro brothers took power in 1959. He was appointed first vice president on Sunday at a meeting of the National Assembly where Castro also announced he would step down in 2018 at the end of his second five-year term as president. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspect in Las Vegas Strip shooting has criminal history Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:19 PM PST  (Reuters) - The prime suspect in the slaying of an aspiring rapper who was shot and killed while driving a Maserati on the Las Vegas Strip has a long criminal history, with prior arrests on charges that include robbery, sexual assault and kidnapping, police said on Monday. Four days after the shooting touched off a fiery pre-dawn crash at the heart of the Las Vegas Strip that also killed a taxi driver and his passenger, police said they were now seeking help from the public in finding 26-year-old Ammar Harris. ... Full Story | Top |
| California couple vanishes during cycling trip in Peru Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:09 PM PST (Reuters) - Authorities in Peru have launched a search for a California couple reported missing while on a cycling trip through the Andean country in an area where U.S. citizens have been warned of kidnapping risks, U.S. Embassy officials in Lima said on Monday. Families of the couple, Garrett Hand and Jamie Neal, said they last heard from the pair on January 25, a day before they were expected to arrive in Lima after a journey of several hundred miles from Cusco, in the country's mountainous interior southeast of the capital, the embassy said in a statement. "Embassy officers are ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Oxfam slates AB Foods on development impact, praises Nestle Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:03 PM PST  ZURICH (Reuters) - Associated British Foods scored lowest among 10 of the top food and beverage companies assessed for their social and environmental impact on poor countries, development group Oxfam said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Nestle and Unilever ranked highest for their policies on seven areas assessed by Oxfam as critical to sustainable agriculture: women, small-scale farmers, farm workers, water, land, climate change and transparency. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama urged to back tough arms trade treaty at U.N. talks Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:02 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Three dozen arms control and human rights groups have written to U.S. President Barack Obama ahead of new arms-trade negotiations at the United Nations next month, urging him to back a tough treaty that would end loopholes in international weapons sales. Arms control campaigners say one person every minute dies worldwide as a result of armed violence and a convention is needed to prevent the unregulated and illicit flow of weapons into conflict zones and fueling wars and atrocities. The U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House mulls new global food aid approach: send cash Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:57 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House may soon propose the biggest change in U.S. food aid since the programs were created during the Cold War - donating cash for hunger relief instead of shipping American-grown food thousands of miles to global trouble spots, say farm groups and charities. Reformers have argued for years that cash donations, the method used by most nations, are more efficient and speedier. But food donation has been the favored U.S. approach since the Food for Peace program was enacted in 1954. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Obama spending cuts strategy focused on waiting game Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:52 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House, while advancing an aggressive public relations campaign to highlight the damaging effects of $85 billion in automatic spending cuts, is largely resigned to the fact that they will go into effect on Friday. With no deal expected in the few days remaining until the cuts kick in, President Barack Obama is pursuing a strategy aimed at generating outrage among Americans that he hopes will force Republicans to come to the negotiating table and agree to his demand for higher taxes after the cuts go into place. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York "Cannibal Cop" trial opens; suspect's dark fantasies cited Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:51 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York City police officer accused of plotting to kidnap and cannibalize women had been having dark fantasies since he was a teenager, but had no intention of ever turning those thoughts into reality, his attorney said on Monday at the start of his federal trial. Attorney Julia Gatto also said that Officer Gilberto Valle, who faces 20 years to life in prison if convicted, talked online about torturing his own wife and her female friends and colleagues. ... Full Story | Top |
| After manhunt, L.A. police again have an image problem Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:40 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles' police chief promised an investigation. City residents promised a protest. At a recent town hall meeting, Charlie Beck vowed to uncover the truth behind former officer Christopher Dorner's charges of racism in his Los Angeles Police Department. As Beck spoke, a flier circulated the mostly black audience. It bore Dorner's smiling face, belying the police's image of him as a ruthless killer. ... Full Story | Top |
| Illinois' unpaid bills could soar to $21.7 billion in five years: report Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:35 PM PST CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois' stack of overdue bills could nearly triple to $21.7 billion in five years unless the state takes action to curb its public pension costs, a financial watchdog group said on Monday. "Lawmakers need to adopt a long-term mindset and restructure the unaffordable pension systems that are keeping the state in its fiscal downspin," Lawrence Msall, president of the Chicago-based Civic Federation, said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Goldman ex-director Gupta must repay bank $6.22 million Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:23 PM PST  (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday ordered former Goldman Sachs Group Inc director Rajat Gupta to reimburse $6.22 million to help the Wall Street bank cover its legal expenses related to his criminal insider trading case. Goldman had sought to recover $6.91 million, and U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said the bank had proved it was entitled to 90 percent of what it requested. ... Full Story | Top |
| Center-left leader says Italy's situation "delicate" after vote Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:21 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani said he would act in Italy's best interests as a parliamentary election left the country in a "very delicate situation," according to a Monday statement. Bersani said that the center left won control of the lower house, as projections have indicate, though the final vote is not yet in. No party or coalition appears likely to win a majority in the Senate. In Italy, both houses are needed to pass legislation, and a failure to come up with a majority in both houses could force another vote. (Reporting by Steve Scherer) Full Story | Top |
| Obama to meet Republicans McCain, Graham on immigration reform Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:18 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday will meet Senator John McCain and Senator Lindsey Graham, leading Republicans working on a bipartisan immigration reform plan, to discuss efforts to overhaul the U.S. system, a White House official said on Monday. McCain and Graham are part of a "Gang of Eight" group of Republican and Democratic senators who are trying to craft immigration legislation. Obama has spoken by phone to Republicans involved in the effort but this would be his first face-to-face talks with them on the issue. (Reporting By Matt Spetalnick) Full Story | Top |
| SEC nominee White likely to face confirmation hearing in March: aide Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:18 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel will likely consider the nomination of former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White to head the Securities and Exchange Commission the week of March 11, a Senate aide told Reuters on Monday. The Senate Banking Committee has not yet selected an exact date, the aide said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. White, a petite 65-year-old with an outsized reputation for prosecuting terrorists and mob bosses as the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, is not expected to face major opposition by senators. ... Full Story | Top |
| British police to review sex scandal claims at Lib Dems Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:16 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - British police said they would review accusations of sexual misconduct made against a former official of the coalition's Lib Dems, intensifying a scandal that threatens to overwhelm the party ahead of a by-election. Detectives from London's police force will consider whether "criminal activity" took place relating to the allegations of sexual impropriety made against the party's former chief executive Chris Rennard, the Metropolitan Police Service said. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK police to review sex scandal claims at coalition party Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:13 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - British police said they would review accusations of sexual misconduct made against a former official of the coalition's Liberal Democrats, intensifying a scandal that threatens to overwhelm the party ahead of a by-election. Detectives from London's police force will consider whether "criminal activity" took place relating to the allegations of sexual impropriety made against the party's former chief executive Chris Rennard, the Metropolitan Police Service said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawmakers urge Facebook to remove fraudulent Sandy Hook tributes Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:00 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Three Connecticut lawmakers on Monday urged Facebook Inc to remove fraudulent and abusive tribute pages related to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. In the months since 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed 26 students and teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, the world's No. 1 social network has been host to an outpouring of genuine online tributes - as well as a hotbed of fraud. In December, a New York City woman was arrested for allegedly posing as the relative of a shooting victim on Facebook and swindling donors. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands mourn Palestinian prisoner, revolt fears grow Monday, Feb 25, 2013 02:46 PM PST  SE'EER, West Bank (Reuters) - Masked Palestinian gunmen fired in the air and youths clashed with police on Monday as thousands marched at the West Bank funeral of a prisoner following days of rioting that have stoked Israeli fears of a new uprising. Israeli police shot and wounded five Palestinian youths during confrontations in Bethlehem and outside a West Bank prison, leaving one 15-year-old boy in a critical condition, Israeli and Palestinian medical sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's center left claims win in lower house: statement Monday, Feb 25, 2013 02:45 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Italy's center left said in a statement on Monday it has won the lower house and gathered more votes than its center-right rival in the Senate in parliamentary elections. According to official results on the Interior Ministry's website, the center left is leading by fewer than 200,000 votes with about 2,000 voting stations left to count. Projections by television channels also gave the center-left a very narrow lead. Whoever wins the lower house will automatically be awarded 340 of the 630 seats. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia arrests suspect in killing that sparked unrest Monday, Feb 25, 2013 02:31 PM PST  TUNIS (Reuters) - A hardline Islamist has been arrested in connection with the killing of a Tunisian opposition politician whose death earlier this month touched off protests across the country, a security source said on Monday. Tunisia was plunged into political crisis when the secular opposition politician Chokri Belaid was gunned down outside his house on February 6, igniting the biggest street protests since the overthrow of strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali two years ago. "The police arrested a Salafist suspected of killing Belaid," the source told Reuters without giving more details. ... Full Story | Top |
| Main suspect in Spain graft scandal has passport seized Monday, Feb 25, 2013 02:30 PM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - A former treasurer of Spain's ruling party, at the heart of a corruption scandal that has hurt Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, was ordered to surrender his passport on Monday while judges investigate millions of euros he deposited in Swiss banks. Luis Barcenas is accused of using his position to take bribes, evade taxes by hiding the proceeds in Switzerland and launder money through shell companies, charges that carry prison sentences of up to six years and fines. ... Full Story | Top |
| United Nations removes Osama bin Laden from sanctions list Monday, Feb 25, 2013 02:16 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Almost two years after his death at the hands of U.S. special forces in Pakistan, a U.N. Security Council committee has removed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from its sanctions list, although an order freezing any assets of the Islamist extremist remains in place. Bin Laden had been subjected to a travel ban and asset freeze since he was listed by the Security Council al-Qaeda sanctions committee on January 25, 2001. He was shot and killed on May 2, 2011 by U.S. forces who stormed his compound in Pakistan. The U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Monti says parties must allow government to be formed Monday, Feb 25, 2013 02:04 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Monday that all parties had a responsibility to ensure that a government could be formed after inconclusive elections left no party able to form a majority in the upper house. "A government for the country must be assured," he said but added that it would be premature to discuss possible outcomes. (Reporting By James Mackenzie) Full Story | Top |
| Comic Grillo stuns Italy with astonishing election showing Monday, Feb 25, 2013 01:53 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - The outcome of Italy's national election is still uncertain but what is already clear is that the massive winner is Beppe Grillo, a shaggy haired comedian whose anti-establishment 5-Star movement could well become the country's largest party. It had been clear from weeks that Grillo, with his fiery invective against the traditional parties, was making impressive progress in the polls, but no pundits had imagined he could win around a quarter of the votes cast. ... Full Story | Top |
| Court grills FCC, Tennis Channel in Comcast discrimination suit Monday, Feb 25, 2013 01:52 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Court of Appeals judges on Monday hit hard against the Federal Communications Commission and Tennis Channel in a case alleging Comcast Corp discriminated against the sports network, even raising the possibility of rendering the entire case moot because it might have been filed too late. ... Full Story | Top |
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