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| Computer cracks CAPTCHAs in step toward artificial intelligence Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 09:01 PM PDT By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - A technology start-up said on Monday that it had come up with software that works like a human brain in one key way: it can crack CAPTCHAs, the strings of tilted, squiggly letters that websites employ to make users "prove you are human," as Yahoo! and others put it. San Francisco-based Vicarious developed the algorithm not for any nefarious purpose and not even to sell, said co-founder D. Scott Phoenix. ... Full Story | Top |
| German paper says Obama aware of spying on Merkel since 2010 Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 08:41 PM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - A German newspaper said on Sunday that U.S. President Barack Obama knew his intelligence service was eavesdropping on Angela Merkel as long ago as 2010, contradicting reports that he had told the German leader he did not know. Germany received information this week that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had bugged Merkel's mobile phone, prompting Berlin to summon the U.S. ambassador, a move unprecedented in post-war relations between the close allies. Reuters was unable to confirm Sunday's news report. ... Full Story | Top |
| Data center glitch is latest problem in 'Obamacare' rollout Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 07:36 PM PDT  By David Morgan and Sharon Begley WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A data center critical for allowing uninsured Americans to buy health coverage under President Barack Obama's healthcare law went down on Sunday, halting online enrollment for all 50 states in the latest problem to hit the program's troubled rollout. The data center operated by Verizon's Terremark experienced a connectivity issue that caused it to shut down, affecting the federal government's already problem-plagued online marketplace Healthcare. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hawaii lawmakers to hold special session to consider gay marriage Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 06:52 PM PDT By Malia Mattoch and Suzanne Roig HONOLULU (Reuters) - Hawaii, which had a pioneering role in the acceptance of same-sex matrimony in the United States two decades ago, could become the 15th state to extend marriage rights to gay couples when state lawmakers meet this week for a special session. Governor Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat, has called the session to start on Monday to debate a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage. "I think Hawaii has always celebrated its sense of Aloha for one another," Abercrombie said in a telephone interview. "This is a question of equity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fernandez's allies thumped in Argentina mid-term vote Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 06:34 PM PDT  By Hugh Bronstein BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez's allies took a beating in mid-term elections on Sunday, shrinking her majority in Congress, ending chances of a constitutional change to allow her a third term and kicking off the contest to succeed her in 2015. Voters chose half of the lower house of Congress and a third of the Senate. With 62 percent of ballot boxes counted, the government said the opposition was ahead throughout the country. Re-elected in 2011 on promises of increasing state control in Latin America's No. ... Full Story | Top |
| Shareholders may sue Treasury Wine over U.S. inventory impairment Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 06:18 PM PDT SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Treasury Wine Estates Ltd is facing a potential class action lawsuit from shareholders over the ditching of aged U.S. inventory after litigation firm IMF Australia Ltd proposed funding the proceedings. The litigation financing firm and Maurice Blackburn, a law firm, said Treasury Wine should have disclosed the impairment much earlier and had misled the market. Treasury Wine, the maker of Penfolds, Beringer and Wolf Blass wines, said in July it would destroy some of its aged U.S. inventory. That resulted in a pre-tax material item charge of $154. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: From Big Foot to Bluto, Gulf of Mexico set for record oil supply surge Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 06:10 PM PDT  By Kristen Hays and Terry Wade CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Reuters) - The Gulf of Mexico, stung by the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history in 2010 and then overshadowed by the onshore fracking boom, is on the verge of its biggest supply surge ever, adding to the American oil renaissance. Over the next three years, the Gulf is poised to deliver a slug of more than 700,000 barrels per day of new crude, reversing a decline in production and potentially rivaling shale hot spots like Texas's Eagle Ford formation in terms of growth. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mother, four children killed with meat cleaver in New York Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 05:46 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York woman and her four young children were hacked to death with a meat cleaver in their Brooklyn home, and the father's cousin was charged with their murders on Sunday, the New York Police Department said. Responding to an emergency call on Saturday night, police found two boys, two girls and their mother with multiple wounds at their home in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood. Ming Dong Chen, the 25-year-old cousin of the children's father, was at the home and was taken into custody. ... Full Story | Top |
| Macquarie eyes a slice of Australian banks' home mortgage pie Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 05:24 PM PDT  By Jackie Range and Cecile Lefort SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's largest investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd is pushing rapidly into home mortgages, threatening to disrupt a highly profitable segment of the banking industry long dominated by the country's top four lenders. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) , Commonwealth Bank of Australia , National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp are on track to report a combined record profit for the fifth consecutive year. Part of the profit stems from their leading positions in the country's $1.25 trillion mortgage market. ... Full Story | Top |
| Argentine opposition leads in midterm vote: partial count Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 05:16 PM PDT BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's opposition won the Buenos Aires province and other key districts in Sunday's midterm congressional election, according to partial results, Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo said on Sunday. (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Sandra Maler) Full Story | Top |
| Congo army says it captured rebel stronghold; peacekeeper killed Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 04:53 PM PDT  By Kenny Katombe and Chrispin Mvano KINSHASA (Reuters) - Government forces said they captured the rebel stronghold of Rutshuru on Sunday in a third day of fierce fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in which one U.N. peacekeeper was killed and another injured. Following two months of relative calm in the region, fighting flared on Friday after peace talks in neighboring Uganda broke down when M23 rebels demanded a full amnesty for their leaders. President Joseph Kabila last week ruled out a blanket pardon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fernandez coalition loses clout but keeps majority in midterm Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 04:26 PM PDT  By Hugh Bronstein BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine leader Cristina Fernandez's allies took a beating in Sunday's midterm election, shrinking her congressional majority, snuffing out chances of a constitutional change to allow her a third term and kicking off the contest to succeed her in 2015. Voters chose half of the lower house of Congress and a third of the Senate in Sunday's midterm. Re-elected in 2011 on promises of increasing state control in Latin America's No. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb kills 18 people on way to wedding in eastern Afghanistan Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 02:58 PM PDT GHAZNI (Reuters) - A roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan killed 18 people, including at least five women, who were travelling to a wedding party by minibus, a local government official said on Sunday. Violence has risen in Afghanistan this year as most foreign combat troops prepare to leave by the end of 2014. "They were going to attend a wedding party when their minibus was hit by a roadside bomb... which killed 18 mostly females, including children," said the governor's spokesman, Shafiq Nang Safai. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York Fed examines mortgage real estate investment trusts: FT Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 02:37 PM PDT (Reuters) - The New York Fed is examining banks' exposure to a type of mortgage-backed security that is vulnerable to a sharp rise in interest rates, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Regulators with the Fed have been probing the proliferation of mortgage real estate investment trusts, or MReits, where long-term mortgages are financed with short-term loans from dealer banks, known as a repo. The concern is that a rise in interest rates could prompt a selloff. ... Full Story | Top |
| Incoming Georgian president is no 'superman' Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 02:31 PM PDT  By Margarita Antidze and Timothy Heritage TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's next president, Georgy Margvelashvili, fits in perfectly with Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili's vision of a nation free of politicians who want to be "superman". Margvelashvili, a little-known confidant of the billionaire premier, won a landslide victory in the former Soviet republic's presidential election on Sunday after only a year in politics. The mild-mannered 44-year-old philosopher will bring to the presidency a different style to his predecessor, the confident, outspoken and exuberant Mikheil Saakashvili. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chile's Bachelet pitches $15 billion plan, vows to back labor unions Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 02:21 PM PDT  SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile's presidential frontrunner Michelle Bachelet said on Sunday that if elected she will fortify labor unions and roll out an ambitious $15 billion spending program - more than half of which would fund education. The center-left candidate, poised to sail to victory in either November's general election or a runoff in December, said she wants to stop companies from "slyly" limiting union power. ... Full Story | Top |
| Argentine opposition leader Massa wins Buenos Aires mid-term Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 02:18 PM PDT  BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Candidates sponsored by Argentine opposition leader Sergio Massa won the House of Deputies' midterm election by a 10-percentage-point margin on Sunday in the key province of Buenos Aires, according to an exit poll announced on television channel TN. Opposition parties ran against President Cristina Fernandez's FPV coalition in the mid-term. About the size of Italy, Buenos Aires province is home to 40 percent of Argentina's population and most of the country's agricultural output. ... Full Story | Top |
| China to hold first trial of anti-graft activists Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 02:15 PM PDT  By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - Three Chinese anti-graft activists who agitated for officials to disclose their assets go on trial on Monday, in the first case of its kind that underscores the limits of the government's tolerance of challenges to its authority. Despite an official drive against corruption, China has detained at least 15 activists in recent months who were involved in a campaign pushing for officials to publicly disclose their wealth. Rights groups describe the detentions as the first major crackdown by the new government on activists. ... Full Story | Top |
| Company hosting Obamacare data has technical glitch: U.S. official Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 02:05 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A data center that hosts the key website for the healthcare exchanges that are at the heart of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform law lost connectivity on Sunday, said a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services. Verizon's Terremark, which operates a data center hosting the Healthcare.gov website and a data system for verifying information, experienced a networking component failure that impacted several government websites. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain braced for hurricane-force 'St. Jude' storm Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 01:33 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Hurricane-force winds are forecast to disrupt road, rail and airport networks on Monday when one of the strongest storms in decades is expected to hit the southern half of Britain during rush-hour, forecasters warned on Sunday. Local media dubbed the storm "St. Jude", after the patron saint of lost causes who is traditionally celebrated on October 28, and made comparisons to 1987 when a storm killed 18 people in Britain and felled some 15 million trees. The storm is expected to bring 80 mph winds and heavy rain to Britain early on Monday morning. ... Full Story | Top |
| Power struggle in Czech election winner hits coalition talks Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 01:06 PM PDT  By Robert Muller PRAGUE (Reuters) - Attempts to form a new Czech government after this weekend's election suffered a setback on Sunday when the winning center-left party tried to oust its leader due to an unexpectedly weak showing at the ballot box. The Social Democrats' leadership body voted by 20 to 13 to call on chairman and candidate for prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka to quit after the party won only 20.5 percent of the vote. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia's FARC frees ex-U.S. marine after four months in jungle Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 12:53 PM PDT BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's FARC guerrillas have freed a former U.S. marine who was kidnapped in June while he trekked through the jungle in a known guerrilla area, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the U.S. government said on Sunday. Kevin Scott Sutay, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, had been backpacking through several Central and South American countries before he was captured by the FARC. He had ignored police warnings against hiking through a "red zone" for rebel activity in the southeastern province of Guaviare. "We are pleased about the liberation today of ... Full Story | Top |
| Billionaire PM cements grip in Georgia, ally elected president Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 12:50 PM PDT  By Margarita Antidze and Timothy Heritage TBILISI (Reuters) - A little-known ally of billionaire Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili won a landslide victory in Georgia's presidential election on Sunday, cementing the ruling coalition's grip on power after Mikheil Saakashvili's 10-year rule. Georgy Margvelashvili's triumph concentrates power and will make policy-making easier in the former Soviet republic because Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition now controls both the presidency and the government for the first time. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former South African politician Sexwale arrested in New York: SABC Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 12:46 PM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Prominent South African businessman and anti-apartheid stalwart Tokyo Sexwale was arrested in New York after his name was on a list of people banned from entering the United States, national broadcaster SABC said on Sunday, citing his lawyer. Sexwale, a rival of President Jacob Zuma who was ousted as housing minister in a cabinet reshuffle in July, was arrested at John F Kennedy International Airport while on a business trip, SABC said, citing Lesley Mkhabela Some anti-apartheid activists were banned from visiting the United States during apartheid, which ended in ... Full Story | Top |
| Kurdish militants tighten grip on Syria's northeast Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 12:43 PM PDT  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Kurdish militants sought to consolidate their control of an oil-producing region in northeastern Syria on Sunday after seizing a border crossing with Iraq from Islamist rebels, activists said. Fighters linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought in neighboring Turkey for decades, were clearing pockets of resistance of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, al-Nusra Front, and Ahrar al-Sham in the border town of Yarubiya, Syrian opposition sources said. "The Kurds are now in control of the Yarubiya border post. ... Full Story | Top |
| Main Syrian rebel groups declare opposition to Geneva peace talks Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 12:43 PM PDT AMMAN (Reuters) - Main Syrian rebel brigades have announced their opposition to an international peace conference on Syria if it does not result in President Bashar al-Assad's removal, piling pressure on the political opposition not to attend. "Any solution will be totally rejected if it does not end Assad's rule with all of its military and security pillars and if it does not hold accountable all those who took part in the state terrorism," said the statement, dated Saturday and signed by some of the most formidable Islamist units fighting Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colorado prosecutor unsure if he would have charged JonBenet parents Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 12:32 PM PDT  By Jonathan Allen (Reuters) - A Colorado prosecutor said his predecessor's decision not to prosecute the parents of slain child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was made because of a lack of evidence to prove the case, but could not say if he would have made the same choice. In his first comment since the unsealing of papers on Friday that showed a grand jury had voted to indict Ramsey's parents in 1999, Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett noted that prosecutors face a higher burden of proof than a grand jury. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran sends out feelers for any return to oil markets Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 12:29 PM PDT By Dmitry Zhdannikov, Peg Mackey and Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - Iran is reaching out to its old oil buyers and is ready to cut prices if Western sanctions against it are eased, promising a battle for market share in a world less hungry for oil than when sanctions were imposed. New Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's "charm offensive" at the United Nations last month, coupled with a historic phone call with U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel to free more Palestinian prisoners for peace talks Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 12:16 PM PDT  By Allyn Fisher-Ilan JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel is to release 26 Palestinian prisoners in a second stage of a deal brokered by the United States in July that brought a resumption of peace talks. Israel said in August it would free 104 inmates in four stages as negotiations resumed after a near three-year hiatus following a dispute over Jewish settlement construction in land Palestinians seek for a state. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kiwi teenager Lorde scores debut number one in British charts Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 12:11 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Sixteen-year-old singer-songwriter Lorde has become the youngest artist to enter Britain's singles charts at number one since 1998, the Official Charts Company said on Sunday. New Zealand-born Lorde's debut single "Royals" beat former TV talent show winner James Arthur to the top of the charts, pushing last week's number one "Counting Stars" by OneRepublic into third place. Only 15-year-old British pop artist Billie has entered the chart top spot at a younger age, when in 1998 she scored a number one with "Because we want to". ... Full Story | Top |
| As Iraq seeks U.S. arms, bombs kill another 55 Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 12:02 PM PDT  By Kareem Raheem and Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A dozen bombings in Iraq killed 55 people on Sunday as the prime minister prepares to travel to Washington to seek President Barack Obama's help in confronting a wave of sectarian violence fuelled by Syria's civil war. Killings, mostly blamed by the Shi'ite-led government on Sunni Islamists from al Qaeda, are running at daily rates not seen in five years and Nuri al-Maliki will ask Obama on Friday to speed up promised deliveries of drones and F-16 jets that he believes can help staunch the long desert border with Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two decades on, Suu Kyi finally collects Rome citizenship Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 11:59 AM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi finally collected her honorary citizenship of Rome on Sunday, 19 years after being offered the honor. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 68, spent most of two decades under house arrest after a military government ignored the results of a 1990 election won by her party. "Nineteen years have passed since the giving of Roman citizenship to Aung San Suu Kyi. Today, finally we award it to a free woman," Mayor Ignazio Marino wrote on Twitter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Washington lobbying law firm in merger talks - sources Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 11:49 AM PDT By Casey Sullivan (Reuters) - Washington law firm Patton Boggs, well known for its lobbying and public policy work, is in talks to merge with a larger U.S. law firm, according to two former partners and a person with inside knowledge of the deal. The news comes on the heels of a report by Reuters on Friday that Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman were in advanced merger discussions to create what would be one of the top 10 largest law firms in the country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt seeks to lure Gulf investors amid turmoil Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 11:47 AM PDT  By Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt is planning a charm offensive to persuade Gulf Arab entrepreneurs to invest in its economy, battered by political upheaval, protests and violence. Investment Minister Osama Saleh told Reuters Cairo would host a conference in early December, and had already contacted thousands of businessmen, to try to sell the region's most populous nation to wealthy Arabs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Somalia radio stations shut down, ordered out of government building Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 11:37 AM PDT  By Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali security agents shut down two radio stations and ordered its reporters to leave a building they were occupying for non-payment of rent, a government official said on Sunday. The official said the Shabelle Media Network's stations had been given a deadline to leave the government-owned building, which they had initially refused. "The issue is nothing to do with media freedom. But they were asked to leave government property that they had been in," the Somali government official told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Czech Social Democrat chief defies party call to resign Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 11:30 AM PDT  PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech Social Democrat leader Bohuslav Sobotka refused to resign as party chairman on Sunday, defying calls from the rest of the party leadership to step down after a winning only a narrow election victory over the weekend. Sobotka told reporters he would continue working for the party but the split complicates the Social Democrats' aim to build a ruling coalition and form a government. (Reporting by Robert Muller; Writing by Jason Hovet; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Chile's Bachelet set to return to power, but obstacles await Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 11:19 AM PDT  By Rosalba O'Brien and Antonio De la Jara RANCAGUA, Chile (Reuters) - Michelle Bachelet is a safe bet to return to power in Chile's presidential election, but she is now promoting a more ambitious program of leftist reforms and will need every ounce of her political skill to push them through. A physician by training and a moderate socialist by conviction, Bachelet has unfinished business from her first term in 2006-2010. She wants to raise corporate taxes to pay for an education overhaul and rip up Chile's dictatorship-era constitution as well as the electoral system. ... Full Story | Top |
| Global Economy: No Halloween horrors in store from the Fed Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 11:06 AM PDT  By Alan Wheatley LONDON (Reuters) - Back in May and June, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke played a trick on markets by sketching out a timetable for reducing the central bank's $85 billion-a-month bond buying. Investors recoiled in horror and bond yields surged. This week, though, they are in for a treat. The Fed's policy-making committee ends a two-day meeting on Wednesday and the chances are vanishingly small that it will start to dial down the monetary stimulus right away. ... Full Story | Top |
| Blasts kill five at rally for Indian opposition candidate Modi Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 10:55 AM PDT  By Rajesh Kumar Singh NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Explosions at an Indian election rally killed five people and wounded 83 in the eastern city of Patna on Sunday, the chief minister of Bihar state said. At least six crude bombs exploded in quick succession near a crowd of tens of thousands of people waiting to hear a speech by opposition candidate Narendra Modi for the election due by May. Earlier, a small device detonated at Patna's train station. "There was a blast right behind me. I heard people saying that one of the tires of a vehicle has burst," one witness told a TV network. ... Full Story | Top |
| In Libya's east, a former rebel commander tests Tripoli Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 10:13 AM PDT By Ulf Laessing and Ghaith Shennib BREGA, Libya (Reuters) - For Libyan militia leader Ibrahim al-Jathran, shutting down half the country's oil production with an armed militia is not a crime, it is the start of a just battle for a fair share of country's petroleum wealth. From his base near the Mediterranean oil terminal of Brega, the 33-year-old war hero from the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi has taken control of the main oil ports to demand more autonomy and oil for his eastern region from faraway Tripoli. ... Full Story | Top |
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