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| U.S. consumer watchdog says 2009 law reduced credit card fees Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 09:07 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The total cost of credit card fees and interest payments to U.S. consumers fell and charges for going over allowable credit limits effectively disappeared after a 2009 law cracked down on the market, according to a report released on Wednesday. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's first report on the so-called CARD Act said costs are easier to understand and consumers are better protected from credit cards they cannot afford than they were before Congress passed the law. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea, U.S. sign new strategy to deter North Korea nuclear threat Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 08:50 PM PDT  SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States and South Korea signed a new strategy to deter North Korea's possible use of nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction to enhance response effectiveness amid growing threats from Pyongyang, their defense chiefs said on Wednesday. The defense ministers also agreed to review the timing of the transfer of war-time command control of their combined forces on the Korean peninsula from the U.S. military to South Korea, a joint statement issued after their meeting said. The transfer is scheduled to take place in December 2015. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jacksonville airport reopens after suspicious 'device' removed Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 08:48 PM PDT (Reuters) - Jacksonville International Airport reopened on Tuesday night after a bomb squad removed a "device" in one of two suspicious packages that had prompted an evacuation of the Florida airport several hours earlier, police said. Jacksonville police had blocked off the entrance to the airport about 6 p.m. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Officials called in a bomb squad to analyze the packages, said Michael Stewart, an airport spokesman. One of the packages was found in a terminal and a second in a parking garage, Stewart said. ... Full Story | Top |
| America's Cup 'vultures' already circling Team NZ: Dalton Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 07:25 PM PDT WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Team New Zealand's design and sailing team are under siege from rival challengers keen to snap up their expertise before the next America's Cup, syndicate head Grant Dalton has said. Team New Zealand (TNZ) were beaten by defenders Oracle Team USA, backed by software billionaire Larry Ellison, in a winner-takes-all final race on San Francisco Bay last week and the future of the syndicate has come under scrutiny. TNZ's campaign, put in excess of NZ$120 million ($99. ... Full Story | Top |
| BP tells court it did not dither in response to U.S. Gulf spill Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 07:17 PM PDT  By Kathy Finn NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - BP Plc unnecessarily delayed the capping of its Macondo well and worsened the extent of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill through dithering and indecision, according to allegations by plaintiffs' lawyers on Tuesday that the British company denied. In the second phase of a trial in New Orleans over billions of dollars in potential fines, lawyers for the plaintiffs - the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sailing-America's Cup 'vultures' already circling Team NZ - Dalton Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 07:17 PM PDT WELLINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Team New Zealand's design and sailing team are under siege from rival challengers keen to snap up their expertise before the next America's Cup, syndicate head Grant Dalton has said. Team New Zealand (TNZ) were beaten by defenders Oracle Team USA, backed by software billionaire Larry Ellison, in a winner-takes-all final race on San Francisco Bay last week and the future of the syndicate has come under scrutiny. TNZ's campaign, put in excess of NZ$120 million ($99. ... Full Story | Top |
| NY to sue Wells Fargo, strike deal with Bank of America over mortgages: sources Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:58 PM PDT  By Karen Freifeld WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The New York Attorney General plans to sue Wells Fargo & Co on Wednesday over failures to comply with the terms of the $26 billion national mortgage settlement, according to a person familiar with matter. At the same time, Bank of America Corp confirmed it had separately struck an agreement with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman over similar types of alleged compliance problems. ... Full Story | Top |
| Netanyahu at U.N.: Don't trust Rouhani, Iran's overtures a ruse Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:56 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau and Dan Williams UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed a charm offensive by Iran's new president as a ruse concocted by a "wolf in sheep's clothing," and declared that Israel was ready to stand alone to deny Tehran an atomic weapon. In a combative address to the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu assailed the trustworthiness of Hassan Rouhani, Iran's centrist president who has made diplomatic overtures to the United States and spoke by telephone last week with President Barack Obama. ... Full Story | Top |
| Developing Asia can weather Fed's tapering, says ADB Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:34 PM PDT  By Rosemarie Francisco MANILA (Reuters) - Asian economies can ride out the storm when the Federal Reserve finally begins ending years of easy money, with even those most at risk, India and Indonesia, holding enough currency reserves for rough times ahead, according to the Asian Development Bank. Updating forecasts for 2013 and 2014, the Manila-based lender said on Wednesday that growth in developing Asia is likely to be slower than it thought three months ago, when it last revised forecasts to an annual outlook released in April. ... Full Story | Top |
| Celebrities tell followers to #GetCovered with Obamacare Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:30 PM PDT  By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) - While technical problems slowed the launch of new "Obamacare" websites to sell health insurance on Tuesday, the law's supporters on Twitter had an easier time welcoming the "Affordable Care Cat." Celebrities and community groups took to social media to promote President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law popularly known as Obamacare, that aims to provide health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans beginning next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cameron casts election as battle over free markets Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:28 PM PDT  By Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday will cast a national election in 2015 as a choice between his "pro-business" ruling Conservative party and what he calls its anti-business socialist rivals. In a speech to his party's annual conference in the northern English city of Manchester, Cameron will place Britain's economic recovery at the heart of his bid for re-election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's Cameron casts election as battle over free markets Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:06 PM PDT  By Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday will cast a national election in 2015 as a choice between his "pro-business" ruling Conservative party and what he calls its anti-business socialist rivals. In a speech to his party's annual conference in the northern English city of Manchester, Cameron will place Britain's economic recovery at the heart of his bid for re-election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yellowstone visitors, turned away, get taste of U.S. government shutdown Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:53 PM PDT  By Ruffin Prevost CODY, Wyoming (Reuters) - Bartender Evelyn Burgess drove all the way from Seattle hoping to see wolves and bears in their natural habitat in Yellowstone National Park, but instead headed home on Tuesday after the first U.S. government shutdown in 17 years closed the park. The only close look Burgess got of the predators she sought was through fences at a private wildlife refuge on Monday before rangers on Tuesday turned her away at the entrance to Yellowstone, famed for its wildlife and gushing geysers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jacksonville airport evacuated after suspicious packages found Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:40 PM PDT (Reuters) - Jacksonville International Airport was evacuated on Tuesday as authorities investigated two suspicious packages, an airport official said. Jacksonville police blocked off the entrance to the airport about 6 p.m. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Officials called in a bomb squad to analyze the packages, said Michael Stewart, an airport spokesman. One of the packages was found in a terminal and a second in a parking garage, Stewart said. The Florida Times-Union reported that the incident began when authorities confronted a man who said he had a bomb. ... Full Story | Top |
| In first day of U.S. shutdown, no sign how it will end Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:38 PM PDT  By Andy Sullivan and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans came no closer to ending a standoff on Tuesday that has forced the first government shutdown in 17 years and thrown hundreds of thousands of federal employees out of work. As police cordoned off landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial and government agencies stopped cancer treatments and trade negotiations, Republicans in the House of Representatives moved to restore funding to national parks, veterans care and the District of Columbia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ecuador arrests retired officers for suspected crimes against humanity Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:34 PM PDT By Alexandra Valencia QUITO (Reuters) - A judge in Ecuador ordered the arrest of three retired senior military officers on Tuesday and the house arrest of seven more on charges of committing crimes against humanity almost 30 years ago. The retired officers, who are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, are accused in connection with crimes including torture, kidnappings and sexual violence that were allegedly committed in 1985 against three members of an armed leftist revolutionary group. ... Full Story | Top |
| Billionaire rocketeers duke it out for shuttle launch pad Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:29 PM PDT  By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Four decades ago, NASA's Launch Complex 39A was at the center of the Cold War race to the moon. Now the mothballed launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which dispatched Neil Armstrong and his crew on their historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969, is the focus of a battle of another sort, between two billionaire techies seeking to dominate a new era of private space flight. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. House Democrats reject Republican bid to keep national parks open Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:24 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican measure to keep national parks open during the U.S. government shutdown was rejected on Tuesday by Democrats in the House of Representatives. The measure received a majority of the vote, 252-176. But it was placed on a legislative fast track that needed a two-thirds majority to pass. The White House said earlier that President Barack Obama would veto any "piecemeal" legislation that would restore funding only to certain parts of the government like national parks, veterans programs and the District of Columbia, rather than a broad federal spending bill. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. House Democrats defeat Republican measure to fund the District of Columbia Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:18 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the House of Representatives defeated a Republican measure on Tuesday to provide federal funds to keep the city of Washington, D.C. running, during shutdown of the U.S. government. The measure received a majority of the vote, 265-163, but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for the bill to pass on a legislative fast-track. (Reporting By Thomas Ferraro) Full Story | Top |
| Shutdown sets off scramble to delay U.S. court deadlines Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:09 PM PDT By David Ingram and Nate Raymond WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Faced with an indefinite government shutdown, U.S. government lawyers sought delays on Tuesday in court cases across the country on subjects ranging from competition among Idaho hospitals to drone strikes abroad. The requests to postpone trials and deadlines for written briefs had been expected after the Justice Department cautioned on Monday that non-critical civil matters would fall victim to a lack of money. Only U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Measuring the impacts of the U.S. government shutdown Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:09 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Large sections of the U.S. government closed down on Tuesday after Congress was unable to reach an agreement on funding for the new fiscal year because of a standoff over healthcare reforms. Federal workers and government functions have been divided between essential and non-essential services, and the effects will be felt in various ways - some acute, others barely noticeable. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese dissident Chen to join conservative U.S. think tank Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:01 PM PDT  By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chen Guangcheng, the Chinese dissident and legal rights activist who accused New York University of forcing him to leave this summer because of alleged pressure from the Chinese government, will be joining The Witherspoon Institute, a conservative think tank. Chen will become a distinguished fellow in human rights at Witherspoon, which is based in Princeton, New Jersey, for the next three years. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Treasury starts last measures to preserve borrowing authority Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:59 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday started using its last tools for pushing back the date when the government will run out of legal borrowing authority, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said. In a letter to lawmakers, Lew said the Treasury Department was suspending some reinvestments of a government currency exchange fund and would also enter into a debt swap with the Federal Financing Bank and the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. He repeated past statements that these measures would allow it to continue below its $16. ... Full Story | Top |
| USOC backs gay rights but won't lead charge for change Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:58 PM PDT  By Steve Keating PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) - U.S. Olympic officials said on Tuesday they support amending the Olympic Charter to boost support for gay athletes but cautioned that its main role is as a sports body and not a human rights organization. A Russian law that forbids the dissemination of information on homosexuality to minors has been the hot topic at this week's United States Olympic Committee media summit with nearly all the 113 athletes in attendance asked for their thoughts. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Democrats defeat Republican measure to fund veterans Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:57 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a Republican measure on Tuesday to fund the Veterans Administration while much of the rest of the government remains closed. A majority of the House voted for the legislation, 264-164. But since the measure was placed on a legislative fast-track, it needed two-thirds to pass, and thus failed. Democrats argued that Republicans should instead approve a bill passed by the Senate to fund the Veterans Administration and other federal agencies through November 15. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bankrupt California city wants deal with bond insurer by Thursday Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:52 PM PDT STOCKTON, California (Reuters) - Stockton, California, hopes to have a deal with bond insurer Assured Guaranty by Thursday, but if needed the city could impose a settlement to help it exit bankruptcy, its city manager said. "We want consent," Stockton Manager Bob Deis said during a press briefing on Tuesday. "But it's not necessary." Stockton released on Friday a draft plan for adjusting its debt to exit from municipal bankruptcy that maintains pension obligations to city employees while paying some creditors less than they are owed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Olympics-USOC backs gay rights but won't lead charge for change Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:50 PM PDT By Steve Keating PARK CITY, Utah Oct 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Olympic officials said on Tuesday they support amending the Olympic Charter to boost support for gay athletes but cautioned that its main role is as a sports body and not a human rights organization. A Russian law that forbids the dissemination of information on homosexuality to minors has been the hot topic at this week's United States Olympic Committee media summit with nearly all the 113 athletes in attendance asked for their thoughts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fonterra, Danone in talks to resolve dairy recall dispute Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:48 PM PDT  WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's Fonterra , the world's biggest dairy exporter, said it is in talks to resolve a dispute with Danone over a contamination scare involving a Fonterra ingredient used by the French food manufacturer. The discussions follow a food safety scare in August, when Fonterra said it found a potentially fatal bacteria in one of its products, triggering recalls of infant milk formula and sports drinks in nine countries including China. ... Full Story | Top |
| Computer problems won't halt September 11 hearings at Guantanamo, judge rules Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:45 PM PDT By Jane Sutton MIAMI (Reuters) - Pretrial hearings in the September 11 conspiracy case will go forward at the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal while computer network problems are addressed, a U.S. military judge ruled on Tuesday. Defense lawyers had asked the judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, to suspend the hearings until the glitches were repaired, which was expected to take until early next year. They argued in a September hearing that the system made files vanish and allowed outsiders to access case documents that the lawyers are ethically bound to keep confidential. ... Full Story | Top |
| Missouri couple charged with decades-old murders of spouses Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:44 PM PDT By Kevin Murphy (Reuters) - A Missouri couple charged with killing their former spouses and two children in separate incidents more than three decades ago were in jail on Tuesday awaiting transfer back to Wyoming where prosecutors say the crimes were committed. Gerald Uden, 71, was charged in Fremont County, Wyoming, with killing his wife and her two sons from a prior marriage in 1980. Alice Uden, 74, was charged in Laramie County with killing her husband in 1974 or 1975, according to court documents. Wyoming authorities announced their arrests on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| 'The system is down': Obamacare glitches go public, reasons unclear Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:43 PM PDT  By Sharon Begley and Caroline Humer NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blank boxes where security questions are supposed to appear. Pleas to "be patient." Error messages galore. Notices that "the system is busy right now." Web pages timing out before they load. Garbled lines of text riddled with stray question marks. Technology experts and government officials were stumped about the reasons for the computer glitches plaguing the Obama administration's launch of new health insurance exchanges. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt army chief calls for quick transition to election Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:41 PM PDT  By Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army chief called on Tuesday for a quick transition to elections in order to restore stability to the country, while supporters of the Islamist president he ousted, Mohamed Mursi, staged daring protests urging an end to "military government". Egypt has been gripped by turmoil since the army removed Mursi on July 3 following mass protests against his rule. Political tensions and a sharp rise in attacks by Islamist militants have decimated tourism and investment in Egypt, the most populous Arab state, which depends heavily on U.S. aid. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dollar, U.S. stock futures steady; U.S. government shutdown seen short Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:40 PM PDT  By Dominic Lau TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar and U.S. stock futures held steady on Wednesday as investors bet the first partial U.S. government shutdown in 17 years will be short-lived. Sentiment was also supported by robust U.S. manufacturing activity, which expanded at its fastest pace in almost 2-1/2 years. U.S. S&P futures added 0.1 percent after the cash index advanced 0.8 percent on Tuesday as investors viewed a pullback over the past week as a buying opportunity. U.S. Treasury futures slipped 5-1/2 ticks. Australian and Seoul shares were expected to open higher. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jacksonville airport evacuated, police investigate suspicious package Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:38 PM PDT (Reuters) - Jacksonville International Airport was evacuated on Tuesday as police investigated a "reported suspicious package," according to a tweet from the Jacksonville Sheriff's office. Jacksonville police blocked off the entrance to the airport. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The Florida Times-Union reported that the incident began when authorities confronted a man who claimed he had a bomb. A second man was seen running from the area, according to a law enforcement source cited by the Times-Union. ... Full Story | Top |
| For Obama, it's the 'Republican shutdown' Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:24 PM PDT  By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For President Barack Obama, the U.S. government shutdown that rippled across the country on Tuesday is the "Republican shutdown" and he is working hard to see that the name sticks to his political opponents. "We may not know the full impact of this Republican shutdown for some time," he said in the White House Rose Garden, with 12 Americans gathered behind him brought in to illustrate the benefits of his signature healthcare law, popularly known as "Obamacare." Also unknown: The full impact of the shutdown on Obama himself. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wall Street shrugs off government shutdown: for now Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:23 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street took the partial shutdown of the U.S. government in stride on Tuesday, but market analysts expected investor patience to run out if it lasts more than about a week as a more worrisome battle looms in Congress over the federal debt ceiling. After more than a week of declining stock prices over worries that political gridlock would result in a shutdown, investors bid up stock prices on Tuesday at the reality and took in stride closures that threw hundreds of thousands of federal employees out of work. ... Full Story | Top |
| Web traffic, glitches slow Obamacare exchanges launch Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:18 PM PDT  By David Morgan and Caroline Humer (Reuters) - Technical glitches and heavy internet traffic slowed Tuesday's launch of new online insurance exchanges at the heart of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform, showcasing the challenge of covering millions of uninsured Americans. The opening itself represented a victory for Obama's signature domestic policy achievement after years of attack from Republican foes and delays in building the technology infrastructure to support sites in 50 U.S. states. ... Full Story | Top |
| As Obama plans Asia tour, postcard Philippines isle symbolizes U.S. pivot Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:14 PM PDT  By Andrew R.C. Marshall and Manuel Mogato OYSTER BAY, Philippines (Reuters) - Its mangrove-fringed coral reefs support an abundant fish population. Its deep, blue waters are unmuddied by the monsoons that batter the western Philippines coastline. But a planned visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to Asia starting this weekend could herald the start of dramatic changes to Oyster Bay, a postcard-perfect cove on Palawan Island that the Philippines expects to transform into a port for its naval frigates and eventually for American warships - all overlooking the disputed South China Sea. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida executes man who killed two women over six weeks in 1988 Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:05 PM PDT By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - A man whose execution was delayed for a political fundraiser was put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday for the murders of two women over a six-week span 25 years ago. Marshall Lee Gore was the third death row inmate executed in Florida since late May. His execution was rescheduled three times, twice when courts halted the proceeding as his lawyers argued he was mentally incompetent for execution. A third postponement occurred in September when Florida's Attorney General Pam Bondi asked Gov. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. defends diplomats expelled from Venezuela Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:03 PM PDT  By Brian Ellsworth and Deisy Buitrago CARACAS (Reuters) - The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela on Tuesday defended three diplomats expelled by President Nicolas Maduro, rejecting charges they were involved in espionage and accusations Washington is trying to destabilize the OPEC nation. In the latest spat between the ideological foes, Maduro on Monday ordered out three U.S. diplomats including Kelly Keiderling, temporarily in charge of the mission. ... Full Story | Top |
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