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| U.S. preterm births fall to 15-year low, still worst in developed world Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 09:10 PM PDT By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - The rate of preterm births in the United States dropped to a 15-year low of 11.5 percent in 2012, according to a report released on Friday, but the country still came in dead last among industrialized nations on this measure of infant health. The rate reflects six straight years of declines, possibly due to factors such as a drop in smoking among women of childbearing age, said the March of Dimes, the nonprofit group that produced the report. The improvement comes during an acrimonious, partisan debate in Congress about health insurance centered on President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law. The Affordable Care Act requires all insurance plans to cover maternity care, spreading the cost of healthy pregnancies across society. Full Story | Top |
| China security chief blames separatists for Tiananmen attack Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 09:02 PM PDT  By Megha Rajagopalan BEIJING (Reuters) - China's domestic security chief believes a fatal vehicle crash in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in which five died was planned by a Uighur separatist group, designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and United Nations. An SUV ploughed through bystanders in the capital's iconic Tiananmen Square on Monday and burst into flames, killing the three people in the car and two bystanders, in what the government called a terrorist attack. Beijing police have arrested five people it says were radical Islamists who were planning a holy war. Security has been strengthened in both Beijing and in Xinjiang, the restive far western region the Muslim Uighurs call home. Full Story | Top |
| Zelaya's wife to seek IMF deal if elected in Honduras: running mate Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 08:44 PM PDT  By Gustavo Palencia TEGUCICALPA (Reuters) - The wife of ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya will seek a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to resolve a mounting debt crisis if she wins next month's presidential election, her running mate said on Thursday. Juliette Handal, the vice-presidential candidate of Zelaya's wife Xiomara Castro, said their leftist Liberty and Refoundation Party (LIBRE) would seek assistance from the IMF to help tackle the country's bloated budget deficit. "We're going to seek an accord with the International Monetary Fund based on reality; Honduras, the biggest exporter of coffee in Central America, is on track to post a budget deficit of at least six percent of gross domestic product for the second year running. Full Story | Top |
| Indonesia summons Australian ambassador over U.S.-led spying claims Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 08:37 PM PDT  JAKARTA/PERTH (Reuters) - Indonesia summonsed Australia's ambassador on Friday to explain media reports his embassy in Jakarta was used to spy on Southeast Asia's biggest country as part of a U.S.-led global spying network. Indonesia this week called in the chief U.S. diplomat in Jakarta over similar allegations, while China on Thursday demanded an explanation from the United States after the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported Australian embassies across Asia were part of the U.S. spying operation. News of Australia's role in a U.S.-led surveillance network could damage relations with Indonesia, Australia's nearest Asian neighbor and a key strategic ally. "Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has demanded an explanation from the Australian ambassador in Jakarta about the existence and use of surveillance facilities in the Australian embassy here," Indonesia's foreign ministry said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Japan lawmaker breaks taboo with nuclear fears letter for emperor Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 08:25 PM PDT  A Japanese lawmaker handed Emperor Akihito a letter on Thursday expressing fear about the health impact of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, breaking a taboo by trying to involve the emperor in politics. Taro Yamamoto, who is also an anti-nuclear activist, gave Akihito the letter during a garden party, setting off a storm of protest on the Internet from critics shocked at his action. "I wanted to directly tell the emperor of the current situation," Yamamoto told reporters, referring to the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant north of Tokyo, which has been leaking radioactivity since it was battered by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. Full Story | Top |
| Asia factory sector upbeat, led by China Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 08:22 PM PDT  Asian manufacturing activity picked up in October led by China, where factory sector growth hit its fastest pace in 18 months off the back of new orders, purchasing managers' reports showed on Friday. The surveys provide a more upbeat view of world demand following a month in which a political standoff in Washington over the U.S. debt ceiling and the sixth straight cut in IMF global economic forecasts had raised fresh concerns about the health of the global economy. China's official purchasing managers index (PMI) rose to 51.4 in October, up from 51.1 in September and above expectations for a reading of 51.2. "With global demand momentum likely to pick up gradually and domestic demand growth remaining solid, we expect GDP growth to comfortably exceed the government's bottom line in the coming quarters," Louis Kuijs, an economist at RBS, said of the China PMI in a client note. Full Story | Top |
| Japan rejects Chinese protests over sea drills, denies interference Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 08:19 PM PDT By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan on Friday denied interfering with Chinese military exercises in the western Pacific after Beijing lodged a formal diplomatic protest, saying China's objections were unacceptable and it had acted in line with international law. Ties between the Asian neighbors have been strained for months by a long and bitter dispute over islands in the East China Sea believed to be surrounded by energy-rich waters, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said his nation is ready to be more assertive towards China. China's defense ministry on Thursday slammed Japan's "dangerous provocation" in shadowing the drills, without clearly stating the location. It also said Japan had disrupted the live fire exercises. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuelan leader says construction workers see Chavez apparition Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 08:13 PM PDT  By Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said an image of his political idol and predecessor, the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, had appeared miraculously in the wall of an underground construction site. In the latest of a series of accusations since taking office in April, Maduro also accused U.S.-based social network Twitter of colluding with his foes in a "massive attack" on his and other prominent government members' accounts. Full Story | Top |
| Syria meets deadline to destroy chemical production facilities Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 07:42 PM PDT  By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria has destroyed or rendered inoperable all of its declared chemical weapons production and mixing facilities, meeting a major deadline in an ambitious disarmament program, the international chemical weapons watchdog said Thursday. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which won the Nobel Peace prize this month, said its teams had inspected 21 out of 23 chemical weapons sites across the country. Syria "has completed the functional destruction of critical equipment for all of its declared chemical weapons production facilities and mixing/filling plants, rendering them inoperable," it said, meeting a November 1 deadline for the work. The next target date is November 15, by when the OPCW and Syria must agree to a detailed plan of destruction, including how and where to destroy more than 1,000 metric tonnes of toxic agents and munitions. Full Story | Top |
| Colombian president's ratings inch higher as unrest cools Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 07:36 PM PDT  Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos' popularity rebounded slightly from a record low for his administration as people felt more upbeat about the economy after a violent farm protest in August hurt his approval ratings, a leading pollster said on Thursday. "He has got over the farm protest in late August and the country has returned to the path it was on prior to that," Gallup Colombia chief Jorge Londono told Reuters. The Gallup poll - carried out between October 18 and 27 - showed 63 percent of those surveyed had a negative image of Santos, down from 72 percent in September. Santos took office in 2010 with an approval rating of 74 percent and maintained decent ratings through the beginning of peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, rebels. Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon chief criticizes states over ID cards for same-sex couples Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 07:20 PM PDT  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel criticized nine U.S. states on Thursday for refusing to issue identity cards to same-sex spouses and said he expected the adjutants general for the state militias to comply with lawful directions and Pentagon policy. Hagel, in remarks prepared for delivery to a Jewish rights group in New York, also announced the United States has agreed to sell Israel six vertical liftoff V-22 Osprey aircraft - the first U.S. ally to receive the plane. Hagel said the Defense Department moved to begin issuing identity cards to the spouses in same-sex couples following a Supreme Court ruling this year that cleared the way for them to receive the same work-related benefits given to heterosexual couples. "Several states are refusing to issue these IDs to same-sex spouses at National Guard facilities," Hagel told the Anti-Defamation League. Full Story | Top |
| China final HSBC PMI rises to 50.9 in October Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 07:06 PM PDT  China's giant manufacturing sector grew at its fastest rate in seven months in October, buoyed by new export orders, a private survey showed on Friday, adding to signs that the economy is stabilizing in the run up to a key government meeting on economic reform. China's official PMI released earlier in the day put manufacturing growth at 51.4, the highest in 18 months. The official PMI is weighted more towards bigger and state owned enterprises and tends to produce more favorable results than the private survey, which focuses more on smaller and private sector firms The HSBC survey showed a surprise jump in new export orders to 51.3, up from the initial reading of 50.8. Full Story | Top |
| Santa Monica sues for control over historic California airport Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 07:05 PM PDT By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The city of Santa Monica filed a lawsuit on Thursday to wrest control of its municipal airport from the federal government, marking the latest chapter in a decades-long dispute over the future of the historic general aviation hub. Filed against the Federal Aviation Administration in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the suit comes weeks after the fiery crash-landing of a small business jet killed four people and reignited a debate over safety at the 86-year-old facility. Critics of the airport, where various Hollywood celebrities and show business executives keep their private planes, seized on the September 29 wreck as a wake-up call to hazards they say the facility poses to densely populated surrounding communities. The crash occurred about 150 feet from homes nearest the airport in the seaside town west of Los Angeles. Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: In removing stop-and-frisk judge, U.S. court enters rare territory Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 06:47 PM PDT By Joseph Ax and Julia Edwards NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a series of interviews in May, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said federal judges are too cautious in exercising their creativity and independence. On Thursday, her own efforts to avoid that pitfall landed her in trouble with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which removed her from a high-profile case involving the New York City Police Department's controversial stop-and-frisk program. Such a move is rarely seen from a federal appeals court and signaled that the three judges who wrote the decision were deeply troubled by her actions. Full Story | Top |
| Court halts NYC stop-and-frisk ruling, removes judge Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 06:29 PM PDT  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court froze court-ordered reforms to the New York City Police Department's stop-and-frisk program and removed the judge who found the police tactic unconstitutional, saying she "ran afoul" of the judicial code of conduct. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling was at least a temporary victory for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the NYPD, who have argued that stopping, questioning and frisking suspicious people has led to a steep decline in crime rates. The three-judge panel's ruling had no implications for the merits of the case and instead was a rebuke of U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin. The judges faulted Scheindlin for failing to appear impartial in public statements and media interviews in which she answered critics of her ruling. Full Story | Top |
| Senate panel passes plan to restrict but keep mass surveillance Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 06:28 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle and Joseph Menn WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Intelligence Committee approved legislation on Thursday that would tighten controls on the government's sweeping electronic eavesdropping programs but allow them to continue. In a classified hearing, the panel voted 11-4 for a measure that puts new limits on what intelligence agencies can do with bulk communications records and imposes a five-year limit on how long they can be retained. Despite growing national concern about surveillance, the "FISA Improvements Act" would not eliminate programs that became public this year after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents describing how the government collects far more internet and telephone data than previously known. "The NSA call-records program is legal and subject to extensive congressional and judicial oversight, and I believe it contributes to our national security. Full Story | Top |
| Enrollment in Obamacare very small in first days: documents Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 06:16 PM PDT  By Susan Cornwell and David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Enrollment in health insurance plans on the troubled Obamacare website was very small in the first couple of days of operation, with just 248 Americans signing up, according to documents released on Thursday by a U.S. House of Representatives committee. The Obama administration has said it cannot provide enrollment figures from HealthCare.gov because it doesn't have the numbers. The federal website, where residents of 36 states can buy new healthcare plans under President Barack Obama's law, was launched on October 1. "We do not have any reliable data around enrollment, which is why we haven't given it to date," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told lawmakers on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Fannie Mae sues nine banks for rigging Libor Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 06:14 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fannie Mae sued nine of the world's largest banks on Thursday, accusing them of colluding to manipulate interest rates and seeking more than $800 million of damages. In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the government-controlled mortgage company accused the banks of conspiring for many years to suppress Libor, or the London Interbank Offered Rate, including during the 2008 financial crisis. Libor underpins hundreds of trillions of dollars of transactions, and is used to set interest rates on such things as credit cards, student loans and mortgages. But according to Thursday's 71-page lawsuit, "defendants' promises and representations regarding the legitimacy of Libor were false," causing Fannie Mae to lose money on swaps, mortgages, mortgage securities and other transactions. Full Story | Top |
| Federal appeals court reinstates abortion restrictions in Texas Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 06:13 PM PDT  (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Thursday reinstated restrictions on abortion providers in Texas, siding with Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott who had asked for an emergency ruling while a lower court ruling was being appealed. The decision means that during the appeal doctors who perform abortions in Texas will have to get agreements with local hospitals to admit patients under a sweeping new anti-abortion law, according to court documents. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Navy cancels notice on possible F/A-18 fighter jet order Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 06:06 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy on Thursday canceled a notice about a possible order of up to 36 more Boeing Co F/A-18 fighter jets or EA-18G electronic warfare planes after the posting on a federal procurement website sparked confusion this week. Boeing has sought for years to sell the Navy more of its F/A-18E/F Super Hornets for use on aircraft carriers, as a hedge in case the more capable carrier variant of the F-35 fighter jet runs into further delays or technical challenges. Navy officials this week said they had no plans to buy more Super Hornets or EA-18G Growlers in fiscal 2015 despite the notice on a federal procurement website. Full Story | Top |
| Mayor in Hawaii vetoes measure curbing pesticides, GMO crops Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 06:00 PM PDT By Christopher D'Angelo LIHUE, Hawaii (Reuters) - The mayor of the tropical island of Kauai, Hawaii, vetoed a measure on Thursday that reins in pesticide use by agricultural companies and limits where they can plant genetically modified crops, saying the bill was "legally flawed." The Kauai County Council voted 6-1 on October 16 in favor of the bill that would require buffer zones around schools, hospitals and homes where no crops can be grown and limits pesticide use. Kauai County Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. said in a statement that while he agrees with the intent of the bill, he is not going to allow it to go into effect. This latest twist comes after months of protests by islanders and mainland U.S. groups who want to see a range of broad controls on the global agrichemical companies that have found Kauai's tropical climate ideal for year-round testing of new biotech crops. Among those testing biotech crops on Hawaii's "Garden Isle," as Kauai is known, are DuPont, Syngenta AG, BASF, and Dow AgroSciences, a division of Dow Chemical Co. Kauai Coffee, the largest coffee grower in Hawaii, also opposed the measure. Full Story | Top |
| Peru's Humala swears in fourth prime minister, retains finance minister Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 05:59 PM PDT  Peru's President Ollanta Humala swore in a widely praised regional politician as his fourth prime minister in a Cabinet reshuffle on Thursday, but retained his finance minister despite rumors he might quit. The new prime minister, Cesar Villanueva, has twice been elected president of the northern Amazonian region of San Martin and is affiliated with center-left parties. In his first interview after being sworn in, Villanueva said he supports the free-market economic policies that have been in place for years in Peru. "The major lines have been drawn," Villanueva, 67, said on the state television channel. Full Story | Top |
| Congo rebels retreat, but unclear if rebellion near end: U.S. envoy Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 05:46 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Recent military advances by U.N.-backed Congolese troops in crushing a 20-month rebellion in the east are a major step, but it is too soon to say if the M23 rebels are on the brink of defeat, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday. In an interview with Reuters, Russ Feingold, U.S. special envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa, said a peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and rebels from the M23 group may be reached as soon as this weekend. "It may have happened even without this fighting because we have made a lot of progress, but clearly the M23 is in a tougher position at this point," he said, adding, "It may well be that this weekend at least an initial signing and initialing will occur and perhaps disbanding of the M23 is imminent." Millions of people have died from violence, disease and hunger since the 1990s as foreign-backed ethnic rebel groups have fought for control of eastern Congo's rich deposits of gold, diamonds and tin. Full Story | Top |
| Northop's new Fire Scout unmanned helicopter takes flight Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 05:41 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A larger and more powerful version of Northrop Grumman Corp's Fire Scout unmanned helicopter made its first two flights on Thursday, the U.S. Navy said as it plans to start using the new aircraft next year. The MQ-8C Fire Scout took off and flew for 7 minutes in its first flight at Naval Base Ventura County in Point Mugu, California, the Navy and Northrop said in news releases. Northrop said it had developed the new Fire Scout in just one year, much faster than normally seen in U.S. weapons programs. "It is a big accomplishment for the integrated government and industry team to fly this air vehicle for the first time," Captain Patrick Smith, the Navy's Fire Scout program manager, said in a release issued by the Navy. Full Story | Top |
| NY's Barclays Center box holders claim shabby treatment due to race Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 05:15 PM PDT By Ellen Wulfhorst NEW YORK (Reuters) - A group of Barclays Center luxury box holders sued the giant events center in Brooklyn on Thursday, claiming they have been treated badly because they are black. The federal lawsuit filed by Ludwig's Drug Store, which seeks $4 million in damages, claims its manager and two other staffers who bought into the box have been "harassed, followed and questioned." The three men say they are the only black box holders at Barclays, which opened in September 2012 and can hold as many as 19,000 people. The Brooklyn-based drug store signed a three-year lease for nearly $1 million for a luxury box three weeks ago, according to the lawsuit. Their luxury box is rarely cleaned, they say. Full Story | Top |
| California man agrees to plead guilty to extortion of Miss Teen USA Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 04:55 PM PDT By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A 19-year-old California man has agreed to plead guilty to charges he hacked into the webcams of Miss Teen USA and other young women to take nude pictures in an extortion scheme, court papers revealed on Thursday. Jared Abrahams agreed to plead guilty to charges of unauthorized access of protected computers and extortion linked to the case, the documents said. Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf, also 19, came forward to media organizations in September identifying herself as one of the targets of the hacking, which ensnared at least 12 young women between 2012 and June 2013. Wolf told NBC's "Today" program she had gone to high school with Abrahams in the Southern California city of Temecula. Full Story | Top |
| Bikini-clad baristas arrested for serving more than coffee Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 04:51 PM PDT By Jonathan Kaminsky OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - Two female workers at a bikini-themed coffee stand near Seattle have been charged with providing customers nude, striptease-style dances in full view of passersby, authorities said on Thursday. The women, aged 20 and 21, both employees at the Hillbilly Hotties coffee stand in Everett, were arrested on Wednesday and charged with violating the city's adult entertainment laws, said Everett police spokesman officer Aaron Snell. A third woman worker at the stand, age 33, was arrested and charged with lewd conduct in connection with a case from June at a separate nearby coffee stand in which police said workers were alleged to have performed sex acts on customers. Police began investigating the coffee stand after receiving complaints that the women working there were exposing themselves for customers as they sat in their cars, Snell said. Full Story | Top |
| Storms spook some U.S. cities into postponing Halloween fun Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 04:49 PM PDT By Timothy Ghianni NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Forecasts for heavy rain and strong winds spooked dozens of U.S. cities and towns into postponing Halloween trick-or-treating on Thursday as a storm system that flooded parts of Texas, killing at least one person, churned north toward the Great Lakes. Officials in parts of at least four states in the path of the storm - Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee - said they decided to put off the customary practice of children in costumes going from house to house collecting candy. "I think it's a good idea," said Tara Dudzik, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Indianapolis. Full Story | Top |
| Coke Femsa shares fall as Mexico passes food, drink taxes Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 04:30 PM PDT By Elinor Comlay MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Shares of Mexico's biggest bottling company fell on Thursday as Congress approved a 1 peso-per-liter tax on sugary drinks and an 8 percent tax on junk food as part of a wider tax overhaul. The plan, which was passed by lawmakers after markets closed, aims to curb rising obesity levels as well as lift Mexico's poor tax take. Shares of Mexico-based Coca-Cola Femsa, Coke's largest bottler in Latin America, closed down 1.28 percent at 159.02 pesos. Mexico, where obesity rates are now higher than in the United States, will be the first major soda market to tax high-calorie sodas, following a handful of other Latin American and European countries. Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Madoff trader implicates other workers in decades-long fraud Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 04:30 PM PDT By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former trader at Bernard Madoff's investment firm described on Thursday how he helped create false trades with two other former employees to prop up Madoff's $17 billion Ponzi scheme. David Kugel, who joined the firm in 1970 and worked there for nearly four decades, said he provided historical data on stock prices to Annette Bongiorno and Joann Crupi, who then fabricated trades in client accounts. Bongiorno and Crupi are among five former Madoff employees charged with aiding Madoff in a scheme that cost investors an estimated $17 billion. The other defendants are Daniel Bonventre, the firm's director of operations, and two computer programmers, Jerome O'Hara and George Perez. Full Story | Top |
| Book says Obama aides considered replacing Biden with Clinton: NYT Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 04:22 PM PDT  President Barack Obama's top aides considered replacing Vice President Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton for Obama's 2012 re-election campaign but decided it would not significantly help, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing a new book about the campaign. It was often rumored but always denied by officials that the Obama team was thinking of replacing Biden with then-Secretary of State Clinton. According to the Times account of the book "Double Down" by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, Obama's top aides secretly had extensive focus-group sessions and polling conducted to consider such a move. They ultimately decided that adding Clinton would not materially improve Obama's odds, according to the account. Full Story | Top |
| Asian shares slip after upbeat U.S. data Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 04:21 PM PDT  By Lisa Twaronite TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares edged down and the dollar inched higher in early trade on Friday after upbeat U.S. economic data prompted some investors to price in a less dovish policy outlook for the U.S. Federal Reserve. The euro steadied after plunging in the previous session as euro-zone inflation dropped to its lowest rate in nearly four years, heightening expectations that the European Central Bank will further ease its monetary policy. Full Story | Top |
| Obamacare controversy hits close to home for Capitol Hill staff Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 04:19 PM PDT  By Caren Bohan and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers opposed to Obamacare have been grappling with a predicament of their own making as they decide whether to move their staff into the new insurance marketplaces tied to President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul. More than three years ago, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa proposed an amendment to the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, requiring U.S. lawmakers and their aides to purchase insurance coverage on the new online marketplaces, known as exchanges. Obama's Democratic Party, which in 2009 controlled both chambers of Congress, saw it largely as a political stunt by Republicans who view the law as government overreach and have campaigned to scrap it. House lawmakers faced a deadline of 5 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Thursday to decide whether to fully follow the requirement, or exploit a loophole that allows them to keep certain staff on their existing health insurance plans. Full Story | Top |
| Activists say Syrian authorities break Damascus evacuation deal Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 04:15 PM PDT Syrian intelligence agents have arrested at least 230 men out of a group of civilians who were evacuated this week from a Damascus suburb besieged by President Bashar al-Assad's forces under a rare deal with rebels, activists said on Thursday. The deal had enabled 1,800 civilians to flee the Sunni Muslim town of Mouadamiya on Tuesday [nL5N0IJ34O], but most males aged between 14 and 45 among them were arrested and taken to an Airforce Intelligence compound and a school turned into a makeshift detention center, they said. They separated the males when they arrived at the entrance of the town and arrested them," said Ahmad al-Mouadamani, an activist in Mouadamiya who uses an alias. The report could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities. Full Story | Top |
| Mexican Congress passes diluted government tax reform Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 04:13 PM PDT  By Miguel Gutierrez, Michael O'Boyle and Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Congress on Thursday approved a government-backed bill to increase weak tax revenues but watered down the measure that is expected to have only a moderate effect on the tax take. The ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) pushed the bill through with leftist lawmakers, making final tweaks to slightly weaken a proposal to increase income tax rates. Conservatives said the bill was a menace to the stumbling economy and walked out of the Senate in protest when their attempts to change the plan were ignored by the PRI. Lawmakers in the lower house of Congress gave final approval to the tax bill, and President Enrique Pena Nieto is expected to sign the measures into law. Full Story | Top |
| Biden urges U.S. lawmakers to hold off on any new Iran sanctions Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 04:08 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden led a high-powered delegation to Capitol Hill on Thursday to try to persuade U.S. lawmakers to hold off on any more sanctions against Iran and let delicate diplomatic talks over Tehran's nuclear program unfold. President Barack Obama is convinced that there is the potential for an international deal to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon but worries that congressional pressure for additional sanctions could complicate negotiations. Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew held a closed-door session with Senate Democratic leaders and Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Banking Committee to update them on major power talks with Iran. An official in Biden's office said the administration's message was that there may come a point when more sanctions are needed, but now may not be the best time for Congress to act. Full Story | Top |
| Senate panel passes plan to restrict, not end, surveillance Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 03:59 PM PDT By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Intelligence Committee approved legislation on Thursday to tighten controls on the government's sweeping electronic eavesdropping programs, but allows them to continue. In a classified hearing, the panel voted 11-4 for a measure that puts new limits on what intelligence agencies can do with bulk communications records and imposes a five-year limit on how long they can be retained. Despite growing national concern about surveillance, the "FISA Improvements Act" would not eliminate the program, which became public earlier this year when former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked information that the government collects far more internet and telephone data than previously known. "The NSA call-records program is legal and subject to extensive congressional and judicial oversight, and I believe it contributes to our national security. Full Story | Top |
| Google, Samsung, Huawei sued over Nortel patents Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 03:57 PM PDT  By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The group that owns thousands of former Nortel patents filed a barrage of patent lawsuits on Thursday against cell phone manufacturers including Google, the company it outbid in the Nortel bankruptcy auction. Rockstar, the consortium that bought the Nortel patents for $4.5 billion, sued Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, HTC Corp, Huawei and four other companies for patent infringement in U.S. District Court in Texas. Full Story | Top |
| Israeli tank fire kills Gaza militant in clashes: Gaza sources Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 03:55 PM PDT  A Hamas militant was killed and another critically wounded by Israeli tank fire in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, medical sources said. Clashes broke out in the area after a number of Israeli tanks crossed the border fence into the Gaza Strip in an area close to where Israel earlier in October uncovered a tunnel that militants had dug under the border, a Hamas source said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said forces were carrying out "a pinpoint action" in the area of the tunnel in the Gaza Strip but did not have further details. Hamas said the Israeli tanks had entered the Gaza side of the border and had remained there for several hours and clashes erupted as militants fired mortar shells at the tanks. Full Story | Top |
| Colombia defense minister says troop cuts after peace 'big mistake' Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 03:54 PM PDT  By Helen Murphy and Luis Jaime Acosta BOGOTA (Reuters) - It would be a "big mistake" for Colombia to reduce troop numbers or cut its security budget if a peace agreement is signed with Marxist FARC rebels to end a half century of war, the defense minister said on Thursday. Colombia has struggled through a year of slow-paced talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in an effort to end a conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people since it began in 1964. Meanwhile the FARC has stepped up combat pressure. "It would be a big mistake, because even if the terrorist organization disappears, it doesn't mean many of its crimes disappear," Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon told Reuters in his Bogota office, ruling out any changes to the armed forces. Full Story | Top |
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