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| Asian shares creep ahead, count on Fed being benign Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 07:54 PM PDT  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian share markets took heart from record highs in U.S. stocks on Wednesday as investors wagered the Federal Reserve would rock no boats at its policy meeting and leave stimulus in place for the next few months at least. Japan's Nikkei led the way with a gain of 1.2 percent, while Australian shares added 0.4 percent and Shanghai 0.5 percent. MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan crept up 0.3 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate confirms new U.S. top telecom regulator Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 07:48 PM PDT  By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved Tom Wheeler to be the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), enabling the agency to start operating under a permanent leader after a holding period of several months. Republican Senator Ted Cruz said earlier on Tuesday he had lifted his block on the nomination after meeting with Wheeler and receiving affirmation that the FCC would not pursue new disclosure rules for sponsors of political ads. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt arrests Muslim Brotherhood leader: ministry source Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 07:43 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities have detained senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Essam El-Erian, the latest arrest in a government crackdown against the Islamist movement, an Interior Ministry source said on Wednesday. Erian, the deputy leader of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, was taken into custody from a residence in New Cairo where he had been in hiding. "Yes, he's been arrested and details will soon be released," the source told Reuters. The state news agency MENA said Erian was arrested in New Cairo but gave no further details. ... Full Story | Top |
| Peruvian Prime Minister Juan Jimenez resigns Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 07:37 PM PDT LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian Prime Minister Juan Jimenez said on Tuesday that he is leaving President Ollanta Humala's government after presiding over a 15-month period of relative calm in the Andean country rife with social conflicts. Jimenez, a former human rights lawyer, also confirmed in a televised interview that his replacement will be Cesar Villanueva, the current regional president of the northern department of San Martin. (Reporting By Marco Aquino and Mitra Taj; Editing by Sandra Maler) Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Obamacare data hub 'experiencing an outage', Connecticut says Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 07:17 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government's Obamacare data hub was "experiencing an outage" on Tuesday evening, the Connecticut state healthcare exchange, "Access Health CT", announced. It was the second such outage in three days. The data hub operator, Verizon, said it was doing maintenance on the system. "Access Health CT was informed by CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) that the Federal Data Services Hub is currently experiencing an outage," a statement from the Connecticut state exchange said. A similar outage on Sunday halted online enrollment on the federal Healthcare. ... Full Story | Top |
| American support for death penalty falls to 60 percent: Gallup Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 07:11 PM PDT By Lisa Maria Garza (Reuters) - Sixty percent of Americans favor capital punishment for convicted murderers, the lowest percentage since 1972, according to a Gallup poll released on Tuesday. At its peak in the mid-1990s, capital punishment support was at 80 percent, the polling group said. "The current era of lower support may be tied to death penalty moratoriums in several states beginning around 2000 after several death-row inmates were later proven innocent of the crimes of which they were convicted," Gallup said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Singer Chris Brown enters rehab after assault charge Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 07:08 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - R&B singer Chris Brown is entering rehab "to gain focus and insight into his past and recent behavior," the singer's representatives said on Tuesday, after Brown was arrested and charged with assault over the weekend. Brown, 24, pleaded not guilty on Monday to misdemeanor assault after police reports said the singer and his bodyguard both punched a man in the face outside a Washington hotel, where Brown had a nightclub appearance. "Chris Brown has elected to enter a rehab facility. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. consumer confidence at six-year high, Europeans also more upbeat - survey Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 07:06 PM PDT  By Susan Fenton LONDON (Reuters) - Consumer confidence in the United States reached a six-year high in the third quarter, as prospects for jobs and personal finances improved, and also rose sharply in Europe, a global survey showed. Americans were among the most bullish consumers in a quarterly survey by global information and insights company Nielsen, reflecting growing confidence that the world's biggest economy is a on a sustainable growth path. U.S. stockmarkets have risen to record highs, creating a wealth effect that has also made consumers more willing to spend. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan ruling-party panel to propose break-of Fukushima operator: media Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 06:51 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese ruling-party panel will recommend the break-up of Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) after shortcomings in the firm's handling of clean-up operations at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, Japanese media said on Wednesday. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) panel is proposing that Tepco's divisions in charge of decommissioning four damaged reactors and treating contaminated water at the plant should be spun off, the Nikkei and Yomiuri newspapers reported. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alabama, rights groups reach settlement on immigration law Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 06:11 PM PDT By Verna Gates BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - The state of Alabama and a coalition of civil rights groups reached a settlement on Tuesday that discarded several important sections of the state's immigration law, widely considered the most stringent in the country. Under the deal to end lawsuits challenging the immigration law, which was outlined in agreements filed in U.S. federal court in Alabama, the state will not enforce several key provisions voided by federal courts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cellphone saves Florida store clerk from robber's bullet Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 06:10 PM PDT ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A convenience store clerk in Florida can thank his cellphone for stopping a bullet fired at his chest during an attempted robbery, police said on Tuesday. "He was very lucky," said Lieutenant Scott Allen of the Winter Garden Police Department. The middle-aged clerk, who police are not identifying for his safety, was shot at by a robber who ordered him and a female clerk to open the safe at a gas station and convenience store near Orlando, Florida, on Monday. "He (the clerk) was not able to open the safe," Allen said. ... Full Story | Top |
| In Boston speech, Obama seeks to reset ideas about his health law Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 06:10 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After four rocky weeks while his landmark health insurance law has been disparaged as poorly managed, expensive and disappointing, President Barack Obama will travel to Boston on Wednesday to try to reset expectations about Obamacare. Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech in 271-year-old Faneuil Hall, where some of the seeds of the American revolution took root - and where on April 12, 2006, the start of another historic shift began. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: On healthcare, spying, questions on what Obama knew and when Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:48 PM PDT  By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - To his critics, President Barack Obama often has seemed to be conveniently distant when trouble has hit his administration. But on Tuesday, Obama was hit with a public-relations crisis that struck at the core of his domestic and foreign policy - one that raised questions about whether he had misled Americans on his signature healthcare overhaul, and whether he really was unaware of the U.S. government's alleged spying on its allies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Once turned away, Jesse Jackson Jr. finally in prison Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:45 PM PDT  By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) - Former U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. began his first day of a 30-month sentence in a North Carolina federal prison on Tuesday, a day after he had attempted to report early and was turned away. The son of civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson pleaded guilty to charges of misusing campaign funds in February and was due to report to prison no earlier than Friday, November 1, according to a judge's order. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama under fire as Americans lose prior health plans Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:43 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is facing fresh attacks for his pledge that Americans who like their current healthcare plans can keep them under Obamacare after reports that thousands of Americans facing cancellation notices. Accusations that the pledge was misleading are potentially a deeper threat to Obama than the website glitches that have plagued Healthcare.gov since its October 1 launch and allowed only a trickle of people to sign up on new federal insurance exchanges. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bankrupt San Bernardino in showdown with California pension fund over arrears Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:40 PM PDT  By Tim Reid RIVERSIDE, California (Reuters) - The bankrupt city of San Bernardino and its largest creditor, the California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers), are set for a showdown over the city's $17 million in pension arrears, a important milestone in a case the bankruptcy judge says could set a national precedent. After a Tuesday hearing in the case, an attorney for the Calpers - America's largest public pension fund with assets of $277 billion - said San Bernardino cannot be allowed to get away with failing to pay the pension fund for an entire year. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's anti-pollution drive risks running out of gas Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:39 PM PDT  By Adam Rose and David Stanway BEIJING (Reuters) - A chronic shortage of natural gas is hurting China's plan to move away from burning coal to heat homes and offices, raising the prospect of more choking air pollution this winter and beyond. The problem is worst in northern China, where air pollution mainly caused by decades of reliance on coal has lowered life expectancy by an estimated 5.5 years compared to the south, Chinese and international researchers said in July. ... Full Story | Top |
| China suspects Tiananmen crash a suicide attack, sources say Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:37 PM PDT  By Benjamin Kang Lim and Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities investigating what could be Beijing's first major suicide attack searched on Tuesday for two men from Muslim-dominated Xinjiang after three people suspected to be from the restive region drove an SUV into a crowd at Tiananmen Square and set it on fire. They killed themselves and two tourists on Monday in the square, the heart of China's power structure and the focal point of the mass 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations brutally crushed the military. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. nuclear arms overhaul needed to ensure reliability: officials Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:32 PM PDT  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. nuclear arsenal needs a multi-billion dollar overhaul in the coming decade to ensure the weapons' safety and effectiveness, defense officials said on Tuesday, despite warnings from arms control groups that the effort is unaffordable and unnecessary. Assistant Defense Secretary Madelyn Creedon told a panel in the U.S. House of Representatives that modernization work on the aging weapons was needed to give policymakers the confidence they need to pursue President Barack Obama's goal of deeper cuts to the nuclear stockpile. ... Full Story | Top |
| Connecticut says Obamacare data hub 'experiencing an outage' Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:28 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Connecticut's healthcare exchange "Access Health CT" said the U.S. government's Obamacare data hub was 'experiencing an outage' on Tuesday evening, the second time in three days. "Access Health CT was informed by CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) that the Federal Data Services Hub is currently experiencing an outage," a statement from the state exchange said. A similar outage on Sunday also halted online enrollment on the federal Healthcare.gov website. (Reporting By Susan Cornwell; Editing by Sandra Maler) Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon sees 'sufficient' progress to boost fiscal year 2015 F-35 output Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:15 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon this week said the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 program had made sufficient improvement to plan for higher production in fiscal year 2015, but contract awards would be tied to progress on the fighter jet's software, reliability and other issues. "Program progress is sufficient for the department to budget for an increase in the production rate in fiscal year 2015," Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, wrote in a memorandum dated October 28 and obtained by Reuters on Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| SEC sues investor over alleged Carter's insider-trading scheme Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:13 PM PDT  By Jessica Dye (Reuters) - The Securities Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint Tuesday against a retired hedge-fund investment consultant and market analyst who allegedly participated in an insider trading scheme involving Atlanta-based clothing marketer Carter's Inc. Dennis Rosenberg, 70, was able to trade in advance of marketing-moving news from Carter's based on tips received from a former executive at the company between 2005 and 2010, according to the complaint in federal court in Georgia. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. senators seek to cut Iran's oil sales in half - again Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:09 PM PDT  By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh U.S. sanctions over Iran's disputed nuclear program being debated behind closed doors in the Senate aim to slash the country's oil sales in half within a year of the plan being signed into law, an influential senator said this week. Robert Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in New York on Monday that a package of sanctions ready to move in his chamber has a goal of cutting Iran's current oil exports to no more than 500,000 barrels per day. ... Full Story | Top |
| Government considers 0.75 percent cap on workplace pension fund charges Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:05 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government said on Wednesday it was considering imposing a 0.75 percent cap on management fees charged by the private pension funds into which millions of workers are being automatically enrolled. Over the next five years, all workers aged between 22 and state retirement age who earn at least 9,440 pounds ($15,200) a year will be enrolled into a private pension scheme selected by their employer, unless they are already in a scheme or opt out. ... Full Story | Top |
| Food giants pour millions into defeating Washington GMO label measure Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 04:52 PM PDT  By Eric M. Johnson and Carey Gillam SEATTLE/KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Major U.S. food and chemical companies are pouring millions of dollars into efforts to block approval of a ballot initiative in Washington state that would make it the first in the United States to require labeling of foods containing genetically modified crops. Despite early strong support for the measure, a recent poll suggests sentiment against the measure, known as I-522, is growing amid an onslaught of corporate-financed advertising ahead of the November 5 referendum. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dogged by dissent, Israel frees 26 Palestinian prisoners Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 04:48 PM PDT  By Dedi Hayoun OFER PRISON, West Bank (Reuters) - Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday, the second stage of a limited amnesty designed to help U.S.-sponsored peace talks that have been dogged by divisions on both sides. The inmates, convicted of murder in the killing of Israelis before or just after interim accords were signed two decades ago, were bussed from jail at midnight to welcoming parties in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bank of Canada chief: policy shift had small C$ impact Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 04:40 PM PDT  By Louise Egan OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar did not weaken significantly after the Bank of Canada abandoned 18 months of warning about higher interest rates last week in response to low inflation and a weak economy, central bank head Stephen Poloz said on Tuesday. Poloz told a parliamentary committee that in setting interest rates last week the bank heightened its focus on the fact that inflation has been persistently below its 2 percent target. "In that context we decided that we should no longer have an explicit bias toward higher interest rates," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cautiously optimistic Fed will spring no surprises Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 04:39 PM PDT  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian share markets should take heart from record highs in U.S. stocks on Wednesday as investors wager the Federal Reserve will rock no boats at its policy meeting and leave stimulus in place for the next few months at least. Australia was the first market to dip its toe in the water, gaining 0.5 percent , while MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was a shade firmer. A mixed bag of U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| San Francisco joins sugary drinks fray with tax proposal Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 04:16 PM PDT By Laila Kearney SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco may become the latest U.S. city to try to curb the consumption of sugary drinks with a proposed ballot measure to impose a tax on beverages seen as a culprit in rising rates of childhood obesity and diabetes. Supervisor Scott Wiener on Tuesday formally proposed asking voters in November 2014 to impose a 2-cents-per-ounce tax on soda and other drinks with added sugar sold in the famously liberal northern California city. No other U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| About 10 migrants die, 50 missing in failed Sahara crossing Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 04:13 PM PDT NIAMEY (Reuters) - Around 10 migrants from Niger have died of thirst and 50 are missing after one of the vehicles they were travelling in broke down in the Sahara, the governor of the Niger's northern region of Agadez said on Tuesday. Although the number of West Africans seeking to reach Europe has dropped in recent years, the route across the Sahara is still used by some migrants from the region and those from farther afield. Hundreds of those who make it to the Mediterranean have drowned trying to cross in recent months. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dish wins dismissal of Harbinger's LightSquared lawsuit Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 04:06 PM PDT  By Tom Hals (Reuters) - Charlie Ergen's Dish Network Corp won dismissal on Tuesday of a lawsuit brought by Phil Falcone's Harbinger Capital Partners in a fight over LightSquared Inc, a wireless communications business that is in bankruptcy. Harbinger had sought $4 billion from Dish in the lawsuit, alleging that Dish had tried to strip Falcone of ownership of LightSquared. The legal team for Ergen had called the lawsuit a transparent bid by Falcone to hold onto LightSquared after driving it into bankruptcy. Judge Shelley Chapman of the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ally settles U.S. regulators' mortgage securities claims Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 04:00 PM PDT  By Nick Brown and Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ally Financial Inc, the former parent of bankrupt Residential Capital LLC, has agreed to settle lawsuits by two U.S. regulators over alleged misstatements about its residential mortgage-backed securities. The automotive lender said on Tuesday it had reached a deal to resolve a lawsuit by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) over $6 billion in mortgage investments as well as separate claims from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Ally said it expects to record a charge of about $170 million. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York retailers, police trade blame on 'shop and frisk' Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 03:59 PM PDT  By Chris Francescani and Curtis Skinner NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York police and retailers Macy's Inc and Barneys New York Inc traded blame on Tuesday over complaints by black customers who were stopped by police after making luxury purchases, in a case that has roiled civil rights leaders. The state's attorney general launched an investigation into security practices at the two department stores after four customers complained they were unfairly targeted in a series of cases the city's feisty tabloids have nicknamed "shop and frisk," a play on a controversial policing tactic. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Steel to partially shut Ontario mill Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 03:58 PM PDT  By Allison Martell TORONTO (Reuters) - United States Steel Corp said on Tuesday it will permanently shut down iron and steelmaking operations at its Hamilton, Ontario, mill at the end of this year. The integrated mill was idled in 2010, but the steelmaker had not ruled out restarting production if the market improved. Coke-making and steel finishing operations in Hamilton are not affected, said U.S. Steel spokeswoman Courtney Boone. The decision is a blow to Hamilton, long the center of Canada's steel industry, which has been hit hard by plant closures over the last decade. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghans tried to court Pakistani militant seized by U.S. Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 03:55 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. apprehension of a Pakistani Taliban commander last month came during a failed attempt by Afghan officials to form an alliance with his militant group, a Western official said on Tuesday, confirming some details in a New York Times report. The United States this month confirmed the arrest of Latif Mehsud, a trusted deputy to Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, during a military operation that heightened tensions with the Western-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. ... Full Story | Top |
| Oklahoma high court says drug-induced abortion law unconstitutional Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 03:49 PM PDT By Heide Brandes OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a state law meant to restrict the use of abortion-inducing drugs instead bans them altogether, rendering the law unconstitutional and paving the way for the measure to reach the U.S. Supreme Court. The state had argued that the 2011 law was written to force abortion providers to use federal guidelines when administering the RU-486 drug, the so-called "abortion pill. ... Full Story | Top |
| NSA chief defends agency amid U.S. spy rift with Europe Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 03:45 PM PDT  By Tabassum Zakaria and Deborah Charles WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the National Security Agency defended his beleaguered organization on Tuesday, saying it acts within the law to stop militant attacks and calling reports that the NSA collected data on millions of phone calls in Europe false. Army General Keith Alexander, testifying with other U.S. spy chiefs before the House of Representatives Intelligence committee, sought to defuse a growing controversy over reports of NSA snooping on citizens and leaders of major U.S. allies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Trayvon Martin's mother asks Senate to curb 'Stand Your Ground' laws Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 03:39 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The mother of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin urged a Senate panel to help rescind "Stand Your Ground" laws that have proliferated in state legislatures, granting gun owners wider latitude to use their weapons in self-defense. Stand Your Ground laws remove requirements to retreat from danger and grant people the right to meet force with force when they reasonably fear bodily harm. "It certainly did not work in my case. The person that shot and killed my son is walking the streets today," Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother, told the Senate Judiciary Committee. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. House passes bill to delay fiduciary rules at SEC, Labor Dept Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 03:33 PM PDT  By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed a controversial bill on Tuesday that would delay two government regulators from adopting rules requiring stock brokers and retirement account financial advisers to put their customers' interests ahead of their own. The bill, which was approved in a 254-166 vote, has virtually no chance of becoming law, after the White House late Monday threatened to veto the measure. ... Full Story | Top |
| Adobe data breach more extensive than previously disclosed Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 03:32 PM PDT  By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) - Adobe Systems Inc said on Tuesday that the scope of a cyber-security breach disclosed nearly a month ago was far bigger than initially reported, with attackers obtaining data on more than 38 million customer accounts. The software maker also said that hackers had stolen part of the source code to Photoshop editing software that is widely used by professional photographers. The company disclosed the breach on October 3, saying attackers took credit card information and other data from nearly 3 million customers' accounts. ... Full Story | Top |
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