| | |
| Senate approves Hagel as new secretary of defense Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 04:36 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate confirmed Chuck Hagel as President Barack Obama's new secretary of defense on Tuesday, after an unusually acrimonious confirmation fight that threatened to complicate his work as civilian leader at the Pentagon. The Senate voted 58-41 to confirm the former Republican senator, the closest vote ever to approve a defense secretary. ... Full Story | Top |
| Shooting at South Carolina university wounds one: school Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 08:00 PM PST Charleston, South Carolina (Reuters) - At least one person was wounded in a shooting Tuesday at a residence hall of a South Carolina university near the resort area of Myrtle Beach, the university said. Students were urged to remain in their dorm rooms at Coastal Carolina University in Conway but the gunman was believed to have fled, school officials said. The shooting occurred just before 7:30 p.m. at University Place, a residence hall. "The suspect fled in a vehicle. The campus is still on lockdown, although people in classrooms were allowed to go home. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy parties seek way out of election stalemate Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 06:00 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italy's stunned political parties searched for a way forward on Tuesday after an inconclusive election gave none of them a parliamentary majority and threatened prolonged instability and a renewal of the European financial crisis. The results, notably the dramatic surge of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo, left the center-left bloc with a majority in the lower house but without the numbers to control the upper chamber, the Senate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bernanke says Fed stimulus benefits clear, downplays risks Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 12:41 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke strongly defended the U.S. central bank's monetary stimulus before Congress on Tuesday, easing financial market worries over a possible early retreat from bond buys. The Fed chairman also urged lawmakers to avoid sharp spending cuts set to go into effect on Friday, which he warned could combine with earlier tax increases to create a "significant headwind" for the modest economic recovery. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama cites Navy threat, immigrants freed as budget cuts loom Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 07:40 PM PST  NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned of threats to Navy readiness and the government released hundreds of illegal immigrants due to budget pressure as automatic government spending cuts crept closer. In the latest event staged by the White House to warn of the possible damage to public services, Obama spoke at the Newport News Shipbuilding shipyard where scheduled maintenance to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has been delayed by the budget crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| China February official PMI to dip, hurt by weak export demand Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 08:08 PM PST  BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese factory activity probably grew at its slowest pace in four months in February as foreign demand remained sluggish, shoring up expectations that China's economy is set for a only feeble recovery this year. The median forecast from a Reuters poll of 14 economists showed the official purchasing managers' index (PMI) likely edged lower to 50.2 in February after seasonal adjustments, from January's 50.4. That suggests Chinese factories still grew in February on a monthly basis, but only modestly since the 50-point level separates expanding from contracting activity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Powers wait to hear Iran response to nuclear offer Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 03:12 PM PST  ALMATY (Reuters) - World powers hope Iran will respond positively on Wednesday to their new offer to lift some sanctions if Tehran scales back nuclear activity the West fears could be used to build bombs. The United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia presented the offer when their first meeting with Iran in eight months began in Almaty on Tuesday and the Islamic state was considering it, the powers' spokesman said. Western officials described the first day of talks as "useful". ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico arrests head of teacher's union on fraud charges Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 08:11 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico arrested the head of the main teachers' union on fraud and embezzlement charges on Tuesday, striking out at a high-profile opponent of the new government's reform efforts and seeking to assert President Enrique Pena Nieto's authority. Attorney General Jesus Murillo said Elba Esther Gordillo was arrested on suspicion of embezzling millions of dollars of union funds for private use, just a day after Pena Nieto signed a major overhaul of Mexican education into law. ... Full Story | Top |
| In separating gun-control bills, Democrats reveal strategy Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 03:39 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats in the Senate have spread his gun-control proposals across four bills in an effort to get at least some of the less controversial measures - such as expanded background checks for gun buyers - passed into law. The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote as early as Thursday on the bills, which together amount to an acknowledgement by Democrats that a ban on military-style "assault" weapons is unlikely to clear Congress. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghans hold anti-U.S. rally following abuse claims Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 02:22 PM PST  Maiden Shar, AFGHANISTAN (Reuters) - More than five hundred men marched through the capital of Afghanistan's restive Wardak province on Tuesday in an outburst of anger against U.S. special forces accused of overseeing torture and killings in the area. Shouting "Death to America", "Death to Obama" and "Death to special forces", the protesters called for the immediate withdrawal of the American soldiers and threatened to join the Taliban if their demand was not met. A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced on Sunday that all U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Juniper mulls next move after asset sale talks falter - sources Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 01:44 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Juniper Networks Inc is reviewing its enterprise-focused networking business after talks fell through late last year to sell assets, including security unit NetScreen Technologies, several sources close to the matter told Reuters. The world's No. 2 networking gear maker is mulling options that could include acquisitions to bolster the security and enterprise business, with a longer-term view of a sale or spin-off, two of the sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sex, power scandals to loom over Vatican pre-vote talks Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 01:15 PM PST  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The sex and power scandals haunting the Catholic Church look set to play a big role in meetings before next month's papal election after two senior cardinals called on Tuesday for more internal debate about them. A leading support group for victims of clerical sexual abuse also made what it called a "last-ditch plea" to Pope Benedict to use his authority before resigning on Thursday to discipline bishops who have protected predatory priests in their dioceses. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Syria rebels bolstered by new arms but divisions remain Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 12:22 PM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels have received advanced weapons aimed at narrowing the arms gap with President Bashar al-Assad's forces and reinforcing a new rebel military command which Western countries hope can dilute the strength of Islamist fighters. Several rebel commanders and fighters told Reuters that a shipment which reached Syria via Turkey last month comprised shoulder-held and other mobile equipment including anti-aircraft and armor-piercing weapons, mortars and rocket launchers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy parties seek way out of election stalemate Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 01:05 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italy's stunned political parties searched for a way forward on Tuesday after an inconclusive election gave none of them a parliamentary majority and threatened prolonged instability and a renewal of the European financial crisis. The results, notably the dramatic surge of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo, left the center-left bloc with a majority in the lower house but without the numbers to control the upper chamber, the Senate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate approves Hagel as new secretary of defense Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 02:47 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Chuck Hagel as President Barack Obama's new secretary of defense, ending an unusually acrimonious confirmation fight. The Senate voted 58-41 to confirm the former Republican senator as the civilian leader of the Pentagon in a largely party line vote. Just four Republicans joined the Democrats and independents in support of Hagel's nomination. The Senate had voted earlier on Tuesday to end debate and move forward, almost two weeks after Republicans launched a filibuster to block Hagel's nomination. ... Full Story | Top |
| Immigrants freed, Obama cites Navy threat as cuts loom Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 03:51 PM PST NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned of threats to Navy readiness and a storm broke over the government releasing hundreds of illegal immigrants due to budget pressure as "sequestration" spending cuts crept closer. In the latest event staged by the White House to warn of the possible damage to public services, Obama spoke at the Newport News Shipbuilding shipyard where scheduled maintenance to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has been delayed due to the budget crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Home prices cap year with biggest rise since 2006 Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 11:21 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home prices closed out 2012 with the biggest annual gain in more than six years while sales of new homes spiked in January, the latest sign that the long-suffering housing market was on the mend, data showed on Tuesday. American consumers, meanwhile, grew more optimistic in February even as payroll taxes rose and about $85 billion worth of government spending cuts were due to take effect on March 1. "The numbers are all pretty strong. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope praying, packing ahead of move out of Vatican Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:49 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict was praying and packing on Tuesday two days before his move out of the Vatican and into retirement where he will assume the title of "pope emeritus" and still be referred to as "your holiness". The Vatican said Benedict was spending a quiet Tuesday in the apostolic palace with no audiences. "Today is a day dedicated to prayer and preparation for the events of the next two days," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said at a daily news briefing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi's opponents say will boycott Egypt elections Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 12:43 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - An alliance of Egyptian opposition parties decided on Tuesday to boycott parliamentary elections in protest at an election law they say favors the Muslim Brotherhood, increasing the chance that Islamists will sweep the vote. The boycott by liberal and leftist parties opposed to President Mohamed Mursi aims to undermine the legitimacy of the vote and shows the polarization that has defined Egyptian politics since Hosni Mubarak was toppled two years ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama plans to "listen," not present Mideast peace plan: Kerry Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:06 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will not bring a peace plan to Israel and the Palestinian Territories next month, but rather intends to listen, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday. Obama's plan to visit has raised speculation of a new U.S. push to revive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, stalled since 2010 in a dispute over Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. But Kerry, speaking to German students during his first foreign trip as Washington's top diplomat, played down expectations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate panel backs Lew for Treasury secretary Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 08:33 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday backed President Barack Obama's nominee to head the U.S. Treasury, Jack Lew, despite some concerns about his perks from previous employers, clearing the way for a confirmation vote in the full Senate. With the 19-5 vote, about half of the panel's 11 Republicans opposed Lew's nomination, which could be brought to the Senate floor for a final vote as early as Wednesday. Five Republicans on the committee also voted against Timothy Geithner, the previous Treasury secretary, who left last month. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rocket explodes in Israel, first attack from Gaza since November truce Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 05:13 AM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A rocket fired from Gaza exploded in Israel on Tuesday, the first such attack since a November truce, and a militant group said it launched the strike to retaliate for the death of a Palestinian in an Israeli jail. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's West Bank-based Fatah movement, called the rocket a "first response" to inmate Arafat Jaradat's death in disputed circumstances on Saturday. "We must resist our enemy by all available means," the group said in a statement emailed to reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Afghan move against U.S. special forces tied to abuse allegations Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 06:59 AM PST  KABUL (Reuters) - Two days after masked men burst in to Bibi Shereen's house and took her son away, villagers found his corpse - half-eaten by dogs - under a bridge in Afghanistan's volatile Wardak province. "His fingers were cut off, he was badly beaten. His hands were swollen, his throat was slit," she told Reuters in her small mudbrick house. "Why is the government not listening to our voices - why are they not stopping Americans from doing such things." Shereen supplied no proof that Americans or Afghan forces working with them tortured and killed her son. ... Full Story | Top |
| JPMorgan Chase to cut up to 4,000 jobs in 2013 Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 07:46 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co plans to cut 3,000 to 4,000 jobs in its consumer bank in 2013, representing about 1.5 percent of the company's overall workforce, as the bank tries to improve the profitability of its branches. The cuts will come mainly through attrition, spokeswoman Kristin Lemkau said. The bank's branches have 63,500 employees, representing about a quarter of JPMorgan Chase's total employees. JPMorgan is one of the few big U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: EU rebuff won't free Aer Lingus from Ryanair grip Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 07:43 AM PST  DUBLIN (Reuters) - The European Commission looks certain to end Ryanair's seven-year pursuit of Aer Lingus, but Brussels can't stop the low-cost carrier from using its stake to keep its rival in limbo for years. The Commission, which acts as Europe's anti-monopoly watchdog, has told Ryanair it will reject its 694 million euro ($917 million) bid in an announcement expected on Wednesday. A veto, which would be the first time it has twice rejected a proposed takeover, could force Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary to decide whether to finally set its smaller rival free by selling its 30 percent stake. ... Full Story | Top |
| Consumer confidence rebounds in February Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 07:28 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence picked up much more strongly than expected in February as Americans shrugged off earlier worries over fiscal policy and tax increases, a private sector report showed on Tuesday. The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes accelerated to 69.6, from a downwardly revised 58.4 in January, handily topping economists' expectations for 61. It was the highest level since November. January was originally reported as 58.6, the lowest level in more than a year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: In Spain, banks buck calls for mortgage law reform Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 05:20 AM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - For more than a century, Spanish law has determined that if a person borrows money to buy a home, they can only be freed of the debt when it is repaid. Even in death, the debt is not canceled. As the country enters another year of recession, calls are mounting for the system to be relaxed. But the banks worry this would damage their access to funds. Take Francisco Lema, an unemployed 36-year-old builder, who dropped off his 8-year-old daughter at school on February 8 and returned to the family's rented fourth-floor flat in the Andalusian city of Cordoba. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt balloon crash kills 19, mostly foreign tourists Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 12:17 PM PST  LUXOR, Egypt (Reuters) - At least 19 people, most of them Asian and European tourists, died on Tuesday when a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed near the ancient Egyptian town of Luxor after a mid-air gas explosion, officials said. The balloon came down in farmland a few kilometers (miles) from the Valley of the Kings and pharaonic temples popular with tourists. Rescue workers gathered the dead from the field where the charred remains of the balloon, gas canisters and other pieces of wreckage landed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Home prices climb in December, best yearly gain since 2006 Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 06:30 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. home prices picked up in December, closing out 2012 with the biggest yearly gain in more than six years as the housing market got back on its feet, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas rose 0.9 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, topping expectations for a gain of 0.5 percent. Prices in the 20 cities jumped 6.8 percent year-over-year, ahead of expectations for 6.6 percent and the best yearly gain since July 2006. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House steps up campaign to avoid spending cuts Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:35 AM 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 |
| Sri Lanka security forces rape, torture Tamil detainees: group Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 01:36 AM PST  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's security forces have used rape to torture and extract confessions from suspected Tamil separatists almost four years after the country's civil war ended, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Tuesday. The rights group documented 75 cases of predominately Tamil men and women who said they were held in Sri Lankan detention centres and repeatedly raped and sexually abused by the military, police and intelligence officials. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment