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| U.S. courts oppose reform proposals for secret surveillance court Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 03:20 PM PST  By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. federal court system objects to key proposals by a presidential review panel to reform the secret court that supervises the classified electronic eavesdropping activities of the U.S. National Security Agency, a former chief judge of that court said on Tuesday. Judge John Bates, the former head of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court, sent the objections in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He said he submitted it on behalf of the federal judicial system as a whole, through an entity called the Judicial Conference of the United States, of which he is secretary. Bates, who is director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. courts, said that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts had asked him to represent the federal judiciary on matters concerning the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, under which the secret court operates. Full Story | Top |
| Target data breach could be costly for payment partners Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 06:33 PM PST  By Ross Kerber BOSTON (Reuters) - Companies that help Target Corp process payments could face millions of dollars in fines and costs resulting from the unprecedented data breach that struck the retailer over the holiday shopping season. Investigators are still sorting through just how thieves compromised about 40 million payment cards and the information of about 70 million Target customers. But people who have reviewed past data breaches believe Target's partners could face consumer lawsuits and fines that payment networks such as Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc often levy after cyber security incidents. Target's partners "have deep pockets and are intimately involved in certain aspects of how Target gets paid," said Jamie Pole, a cyber security consultant in Asheboro, North Carolina, who works for government agencies and the financial industry. Full Story | Top |
| Thai opposition leader's house attacked, politics in deadlock Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 07:17 PM PST  By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat BANGKOK (Reuters) - A loud blast shook the house of a senior Thai opposition leader overnight, police said on Wednesday, as protesters trying to oust the government remained camped in central Bangkok with no end to the political deadlock in sight. Some hardline protesters have threatened to blockade the stock exchange and an air traffic communications facility on Wednesday if Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra does not step down. But there were no early signs of trouble at either the bourse or at the central Bangkok offices of AeroThai, which is in charge of air traffic control for planes that use Thai air space. No one was hurt in the blast at the residence of Democrat Party leader and former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Full Story | Top |
| Fire at Chinese shoe factory kills 16: Xinhua Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 06:15 PM PST  A fire at a shoe factory in eastern China killed 16 people and injured five, state media reported, the latest disaster to highlight China's poor workplace safety record. The fire broke out at the factory in Wenling in the wealthy coastal province of Zhejiang on Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency said. China, the world's second-largest economy, has a bad record on workplace safety. Full Story | Top |
| Israel minister apologizes to Kerry over scorn for peace drive Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 03:26 PM PST By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's hawkish defense minister apologized to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday after a newspaper quoted him scorning the diplomat's quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace as messianic and obsessive. Moshe Yaalon did not deny making the closed-door remarks published on the front page of the best-selling Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, which drew rare condemnation from Washington and added to acrimony over Jewish settlement of occupied West Bank land where the Palestinians seek statehood. Yaalon was initially silent about the report but he moved to calm the furor after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implicitly rebuked him in a speech. He issued a statement of guarded appreciation for the United States and followed it hours later with another explicitly praising Kerry. Full Story | Top |
| N.J.'s Christie uses address to apologize again, look ahead Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 04:19 PM PST  By Edith Honan TRENTON, New Jersey (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie offered a fresh apology and vowed to cooperate with an investigation into a traffic scandal rocking his administration, but mostly touted the state's bipartisan cooperation during a key speech on Tuesday. Christie, a charismatic conservative and an early favorite in the Republican bid for the White House in 2016, used his State of the State address to list his conservative policy prescriptions, trying to leave two scandals behind. "The last week has certainly tested this administration. Mistakes were clearly ... Full Story | Top |
| Worried Fed seeks to curb Wall Street banks commodity trade Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 03:27 PM PST  By Anna Louie Sussman and Emily Stephenson NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday took a first formal step toward restricting the role of Wall Street banks in trading physical commodities, citing fears that a multibillion-dollar disaster could bring down a bank and imperil the stability of the financial system. The Fed board voted to publish its concerns and potential remedies following months of growing public and political pressure to check banks' decade-long expansion into the commodities supply chain. The Fed also questioned the initial rationale for allowing them to trade and invest in risky raw materials and lease oil tanks or own power plants. The Fed "expect(s) to engage in additional rulemaking in this area," according to prepared remarks of Michael Gibson, the Fed's director of bank supervision and regulation, to a U.S. Senate banking committee hearing on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Army chief Sisi in focus as Egyptians vote on constitution Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 11:28 AM PST By Tom Perry and Asma Alsharif CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians voted on Tuesday for the first time since the military deposed president Mohamed Mursi on a draft constitution that may set the stage for a presidential bid by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. At least seven people were killed in confrontations between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and police, official sources said, highlighting the tensions in the country. A small bomb went off in Cairo, injuring no one. The Brotherhood, still backing Mursi who is now in jail, has called for a boycott and protests over the draft, which deletes Islamic language written into the basic law approved a year ago when he was still in office. Full Story | Top |
| Fed hawks, wielding votes, urge faster end to bond buying Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 01:58 PM PST  By Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer DALLAS/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve should bring its bond-buying program to a swift close, according to two of its most hawkish policymakers who take up voting power this year, with Dallas Fed chief Richard Fisher vowing to use his vote to support cuts to the program even if stocks, now near record highs, take a tumble. The comments on Tuesday from Fisher and Charles Plosser, president of the Philadelphia Fed, come roughly two weeks before the U.S. central bank's first policy meeting of the year. They suggest that incoming Chair Janet Yellen will face internal pressure to ramp up withdrawal of the extraordinary stimulus, which policymakers last month decided to trim to $75 billion a month from $85 billion. The Fed's third round of quantitative easing, the purchase of U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities known as QE3, is aimed at pushing down long-term borrowing costs in order to boost hiring and growth. Full Story | Top |
| Retail sales, inventory data suggest strong fourth-quarter growth Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 01:20 PM PST  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales edged up in December with a core spending gauge posting a big jump, a sign the economy gathered steam at the end of last year and was poised for stronger growth in 2014. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that retail sales gained 0.2 percent last month, even as receipts at automobile dealers recorded their biggest drop in more than a year. 2014 is shaping up to be pretty good from where we sit," said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York. Economists had expected retail sales to rise just 0.1 percent last month. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. appeals court strikes down FCC net neutrality rules Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 02:41 PM PST  By Alina Selyukh and David Ingram WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday rejected federal rules that required Internet providers to treat all web traffic equally, a decision that could allow mobile carriers and other broadband providers to charge content providers for faster access to websites and services. The Federal Communications Commission's open Internet rules, also known as net neutrality, required Internet service providers to give consumers equal access to all lawful content without restrictions or tiered charges. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down the rules, which were passed in late 2010 and have been challenged by Verizon Communications Inc. Two judges, with partial support from a third, said the commission has the authority to regulate broadband access but had failed to show that it has a mandate to impose the anti-discrimination rules on broadband providers. The ruling is a victory for Verizon and other broadband providers, who saw the FCC rules as government overreach into how they operate their networks. Full Story | Top |
| JPMorgan profit hit by Madoff, weaker investment banking Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 11:51 AM PST  JPMorgan Chase & Co posted a 7.3 percent decline in quarterly profit on Tuesday, as legal woes and weak demand for investment banking services capped off a tough year for Chief Executive Jamie Dimon. The largest U.S. bank had $1.1 billion of legal expenses in the fourth quarter, about $850 million of which was linked to a recent settlement for failing to report its suspicions of fraud at its client Bernard Madoff's fund. Dimon said some investigations into JPMorgan are just beginning, implying that legal issues are likely to dog the bank for some time, even if on a smaller scale. Shares of JPMorgan were up 0.3 percent at $57.86 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Full Story | Top |
| House Republicans voice support for $1.1 trillion spending bill Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 01:06 PM PST  By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives voiced tentative support on Tuesday for a $1.1 trillion spending bill, signaling likely passage and removing one source of potential drama ahead of the 2014 elections. The House on Tuesday approved by voice vote a stop-gap measure to extend current funding for three days past a midnight Wednesday deadline to allow more time for passage of the "omnibus" spending bill. Enactment will eliminate through September 30 the threat of another government shutdown like the 16-day standoff in October that caused the public's opinion of Congress to plumb new depths in polls. The bill adds funding for some Democratic priorities such as a $1 billion increase in the Head Start pre-school education program for the poor, but Republicans scored a partial victory when negotiators denied a funding increase for implementation of "Obamacare" health insurance reforms. Full Story | Top |
| New Jersey's Christie in address again apologizes, looks ahead Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 03:24 PM PST "Without a doubt, we will cooperate with all appropriate inquiries to ensure that this breach of trust does not happen again." Two sets of emails last week appeared to show that Christie's aides had orchestrated lane closures for several days last September on a stretch of highway leading to the George Washington Bridge, which spans the Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan, and then lied about it. Christie has denied any knowledge of the apparent orchestration to snarl traffic at the bridge as political payback against the Democratic mayor of the nearby city of Fort Lee, New Jersey, for his refusal to endorse Christie's gubernatorial bid. But the governor's speech mostly addressed the "Jersey Comeback," which Christie has long claimed has resulted in private sector jobs and secured public-private investment in the Garden State, and his cooperation with the Democrat-controlled state legislature. "No state in this country has shown more bipartisan cooperation and governance over the last four years than New Jersey and our people are proud of it. Full Story | Top |
| Syrian government forces advance as rebel infighting rages Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 10:31 AM PST  By Oliver Holmes BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian government has retaken territory around the northern city of Aleppo, the military said on Tuesday, after two weeks of rebel infighting that has weakened the insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad. The internecine conflict among various rebel groups will allow Assad to portray himself as the only secular alternative in Syria to a radical Islamist regime when peace talks begin in Switzerland on January 22. His military advances will give the Syrian government delegation greater leverage at the negotiating table. An army statement said government forces had pushed out from their base at Aleppo's international airport, southeast of the city, and were moving towards an industrial complex used as a rebel base and the al-Bab road, needed by insurgents to supply the half of Aleppo under their control. Full Story | Top |
| Obama: Won't wait for legislation to advance 2014 priorities Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 12:38 PM PST  By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he would not wait for Congress to pass legislation to advance his policy priorities this year and said he was "getting close" to finishing a review of U.S. surveillance practices - to be unveiled on Friday. Obama, speaking to reporters during a cabinet meeting at the White House, foreshadowed his upcoming State of the Union address and what appeared to be a new messaging strategy by emphasizing his ability to take executive actions without approval from lawmakers. Obama began last year with high hopes of making progress on gun control, immigration reform, and other issues after giving an inaugural address that rallied his base and set an aggressive tone for his second term. His gun control efforts largely failed and an immigration reform bill passed in the Senate but stalled in the House of Representatives. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Nasdaq pushes to speed up talks over market fixes Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 11:03 AM PST  By John McCrank NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX Group is prepared to walk away from running the data processor that was at the center of a three-hour trading halt in August, in a sign of its frustration with the pace of talks over implementing fixes for the system, according to documents seen by Reuters. One SIP is run by Nasdaq and two by units of IntercontinentalExchange Inc's NYSE Euronext. Each SIP is controlled by a committee that decides on finances and upgrades, and members from all of the other exchanges sit on those committees. The costs of running a SIP come out of the revenues from the sale of its data. Full Story | Top |
| Japan Air grounds Boeing 787 after battery problem Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 11:43 AM PST  By Tim Kelly and Alwyn Scott TOKYO/SEATTLE (Reuters) - Japan Airlines Co Ltd said it temporarily grounded one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners at Tokyo's Narita International Airport on Tuesday after white smoke was spotted outside the plane and a battery cell appeared to be leaking. The incident raised fresh concerns about the 787's safety and reliability almost exactly one year after the global Dreamliner fleet was grounded by regulators following the overheating of two batteries, although Boeing said design changes made as a result had worked as planned. Boeing Co said it was "aware of the 787 issue that occurred Tuesday afternoon at Narita, which appears to have involved the venting of a single battery cell." Venting is the process of fumes and heat being channeled outside the aircraft when the battery overheats. "The issue occurred during scheduled maintenance activities with no passengers on board," said Boeing. Full Story | Top |
| British phone-hacking trial shown footage of alleged Brooks' cover-up Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 10:40 AM PST  By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - The trial of Rebekah Brooks, who ran Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper arm, was shown film footage on Tuesday of what the prosecution alleges was her husband's attempt to hide evidence from police investigating accusations of phone-hacking. The day Brooks was first quizzed by police, and before her home was searched, prosecutors say her husband, racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks, hid a laptop and a bag behind a bin in an underground parking lot of their plush London apartment block where it was picked up by the Brooks's security team. After the police completed a search, the security team returned with a bag and left it in the car park. News International, the British newspaper division of Murdoch's News Corp, became engulfed in the police inquiry in 2011 after it was alleged journalists had hacked the phone of a murdered schoolgirl amongst others. Full Story | Top |
| Algeria's Bouteflika in Paris hospital for planned checks Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 09:59 AM PST  Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who suffered a stroke last year, has been in a Paris hospital since Monday for a long-planned check-up and he is making steady progress, the state news agency APS said on Tuesday. Bouteflika, 76, has yet to announce whether he will run again after more than 10 years at the helm of the major North African oil producer. "To complete his health assessment, started in Algiers, and under a routine medical control ... planned since June 2013, the President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika is staying at Val-de-Grace hospital," it said. A veteran of Algeria's independence war against France, Bouteflika suffered a stroke in early 2013, forcing him to be rushed to hospital in France. Full Story | Top |
| Erdogan says Turkish corruption probe "black stain" on democracy Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 09:27 AM PST  By Orhan Coskun and Humeyra Pamuk ANKARA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday described a corruption investigation shaking his government as a "black stain on Turkey's democratic history" and a worse betrayal than any of the military coups of past decades. Addressing members of his ruling AK Party in parliament, Erdogan said the corruption investigation was being driven by outside forces opposed to Turkey's assertive foreign policy and bent on damaging its economy ahead of elections this year. Erdogan's supporters view the investigation as a plot to undermine him orchestrated by U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally whose network of followers is influential in the police and judiciary. Full Story | Top |
| Suspected Islamists kill 29 in Nigeria bombing: witnesses Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 09:33 AM PST By Lanre Ola and Ibrahim Mshelizza MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - A car bomb killed at least 29 people on Tuesday in Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri, the epicenter of an Islamist revolt, witnesses said. But militant sect Boko Haram, founded in the city, has repeatedly attacked schools, churches and government and military targets in its four-year-old campaign. The attack will be a setback for President Goodluck Jonathan's military crackdown, which had temporarily succeeded in pushing Boko Haram's assaults into rural areas. Boko Haram gunmen stormed the air force base and military barracks around Maiduguri's airport on December 2, ending six months of relative calm in the city. Full Story | Top |
| Thai protesters target ministries, threaten stock exchange Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 04:07 AM PST By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat and Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Protesters trying to topple Thailand's government tightened a blockade around ministries on Tuesday and their leader warned the prime minister that she could be targeted next, as some saw more than two months of turmoil inching towards an endgame. Major intersections in the capital, Bangkok, were blocked for a second day, and a hardline faction of the agitators threatened to storm the stock exchange. Protest leaders say demonstrators will occupy the city's main arteries until an unelected "people's council" replaces Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's administration, which they accuse of corruption and nepotism. The unrest is the latest chapter in an eight-year conflict pitting the Bangkok-based middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former premier ousted by the military in 2006. Full Story | Top |
| Kerry asks Vatican to help win release of American jailed in Cuba Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 09:18 AM PST By Warren Strobel VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday asked the Vatican to help win the release of an American contractor who has been in jail in Cuba since 2009. Kerry, the first Catholic U.S. secretary of state in more than 30 years, stopped at the Vatican on his way to Kuwait to hold talks with Pope Francis' top aide, Secretary of State Archbishop Pietro Parolin. The talks mostly centered on the Middle East and efforts to bring an end to the Syrian civil war ahead of a peace conference in Geneva later this month. Full Story | Top |
| Germany dismisses report "no-spy" talks with US close to collapse Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 08:30 AM PST  By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's government on Tuesday brushed aside a report that talks with Washington to prevent further U.S. spying on German ministers faced collapse, saying it continued to push for a deal on the politically explosive issue. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said talks about reaching a "no-spy" agreement were proceeding. He would not comment directly on a Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper report that they were close to failing due to U.S. intransigence. After reports last year that the National Security Agency (NSA) of one of Germany's closest allies had monitored Merkel's mobile phone, Berlin has sought a sweeping agreement to prevent any repeat of such a humiliation. Full Story | Top |
| As al Qaeda revives, Iraq struggles to secure Syria border Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 07:10 AM PST  By Suadad al-Salhy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is struggling to tighten control of its border with Syria, alarmed by a resurgent al Qaeda force that seeks to build an Islamic state across a frontier drawn in colonial times. The Syrian civil war that has inflamed sectarian tensions across the region, and a desolate geography favoring smugglers and guerrillas are just two of Baghdad's difficulties in getting a firm grip on the 600-km (375-mile) desert boundary. Iraq says Sunni Islamists have gone back and forth from Syria during the conflict. Crucially, political and sectarian animosities felt by the Sunni population of the western province of Anbar towards the Shi'ite-led central government weaken its authority there. Full Story | Top |
| UK to investigate possible SAS role in Indian Golden Temple attack Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 07:12 AM PST  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is to investigate newly released official papers which suggest the government of Margaret Thatcher helped India plan a deadly attack against Sikh separatists in the Golden Temple at Amritsar in 1984. Prime Minister David Cameron ordered the review after an opposition Labour party lawmaker asked the government to disclose whether the papers were genuine and whether Britain had any role in the attack on Sikhism's holiest shrine. Sikh groups said they were shocked and disappointed by the idea that Britain may have been involved in the Golden Temple attack, a bloody episode which angered Sikhs around the world who accused the Indian army of desecration. The raid also remains a blot on the record of India's dynastic ruling Congress party, which faces an uphill struggle to be re-elected in national polls due by May. The party is widely expected to announce Rahul Gandhi, grandson of Indira Gandhi who was prime minister at the time of the attack, as its candidate for the post this week. Full Story | Top |
| IAEA says Iran asked for nuclear talks postponement to February 8 Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 04:50 AM PST  By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday a planned meeting with Iran next week to discuss steps meant to ease concerns over its nuclear program has been pushed back to February 8 at Tehran's request. The International Atomic Energy Agency did not say why Tehran asked for a delay. But the original date, January 21, is just a day after Iran and big powers are to start implementing an interim deal on curbing Iranian nuclear activity, suggesting a busy agenda in coming days may have led to the postponement. The IAEA has been tasked with checking that Iran carries out its end of the six-month preliminary accord, so the U.N. agency is also facing an extra workload. Full Story | Top |
| Suspected Islamists kill 17 in Nigeria bomb attack Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 08:08 AM PST By Lanre Ola and Ibrahim Mshelizza MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - At least 17 people were killed on Tuesday in a car bomb in Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri, the epicenter of an Islamist revolt in Africa's largest oil producer, police and witnesses said. But militant sect Boko Haram, which was founded in the city, has continued to attack schools and government and military targets in the face of army crackdown on its four-year-old revolt. "I saw two boys on the ground and their bodies cut into pieces, two other cars immediately caught fire and I ran away because there was too much blood," city resident Aisha Hassan told Reuters. Soldiers fired shots into the air to disperse crowds before cordoning off the roads around the bomb site, witnesses said. Full Story | Top |
| Greek socialists to form new leftist alliance for EU elections Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 06:41 AM PST  Greece's once-mighty socialist PASOK party will team up with a new center-left group to contest European Parliament elections in May rather than run alone, after its support was decimated by the country's debt crisis. The party, a junior partner in the coalition government led by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, has been fighting to survive as a political force since backing austerity cuts and is hoping the new alliance will help revive its fortunes. Latest polls show Samaras' conservative New Democracy party tied with the leftist, anti-bailout Syriza party, while PASOK's support is down to just 5-6 percent, from 43 percent when it won the national election in 2009. The socialist party will run under a joint ticket in the EU elections with the Progressive Democratic Party, also known as "58 Initiative", a new center-left movement formed by a group of professors, economists, businessmen and artists, PASOK spokesman Odysseas Konstantinopoulos said. Full Story | Top |
| Charter takes rejected Time Warner Cable bid to investors Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 11:02 AM PST  By Liana B. Baker and Nicola Leske NEW YORK (Reuters) - Charter Communications Inc on Monday formally offered to acquire larger rival Time Warner Cable for $37.3 billion, sparking what is likely to be a contentious battle for control of the No. 2 U.S. cable operator. Charter, the No. 4 cable operator, proposed paying $132.50 per share - barely higher than where Time Warner Cable shares closed on Monday - consisting of around $83 per share in cash and its own stock. Malone's Liberty Media Corp owns 27 percent of Charter. Time Warner Cable shareholders would get 45 percent ownership in the combined company. Full Story | Top |
| Amid hype over constitution, Egypt's police brace for the worst Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 05:38 AM PST  By Maggie Fick MANSOURA, Egypt (Reuters) - As Egyptians vote in a constitutional referendum meant to help bring stability, policemen such as Brigadier-General Sayed Emara have good reason to dig in for more bloodshed. He lost colleagues and friends last month, when a suicide bomber in a car ripped open a five-story building where security officials in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura worked. The next day, the government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, encouraging policemen, who are frequently targeted, to harden their positions against the movement which says the army and security forces robbed it of power. While much of the world's attention has focused on a security crackdown on Islamists in the struggle between the Brotherhood and the army-backed government, killing and detaining thousands, Egypt's police have also paid a high price. Full Story | Top |
| India's Rahul Gandhi hints at PM role if party wins election Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 02:07 AM PST  By Sruthi Gottipati NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Rahul Gandhi, the scion of a dynasty that has led India for most of its history, suggested in an interview published on Tuesday he was ready to be prime minister if his party won forthcoming elections, his first indication that he wants the job. Gandhi's Congress party heads the coalition that has governed India for a decade. Buffeted by corruption scandals, low economic growth and high inflation, the party is facing strong opposition challenges in the election due by May. "I am a soldier of Congress. Whatever Congress says, I will follow it," Gandhi, 43, said in a rare interview with the Hindi-language Dainik Bhaskar, which describes itself as India's most widely read daily. Full Story | Top |
| China doctor gets suspended death sentence for trafficking newborn babies Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 02:46 AM PST  A Chinese court on Tuesday handed down a suspended death sentence on a doctor who sold seven newborn babies to human traffickers, a case that sparked widespread anger in a country where child trafficking is rampant. Zhang Shuxia, 55, an obstetrician in northwestern Shaanxi province's Fuping county, was found guilty of selling the babies for as much as 21,600 yuan ($3,600) each between 2011 and 2013, the court in Weinan city said. "Though Zhang Shuxia confessed, her behavior violated both professional and social ethics, had an extremely bad social impact, and the circumstance of the crimes were grave," the court said. Suspended death sentences are typically reduced to life in prison. Full Story | Top |
| Lawmakers unveil $1.1 trillion spending bill Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 02:00 AM PST  By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Negotiators in the U.S. Congress on Monday unveiled a $1.1 trillion spending bill that aims to prevent another government shutdown while boosting funding levels slightly for military and domestic programs - but not for "Obamacare" health reforms. With a deadline looming at midnight Wednesday for new spending authority, lawmakers will still need a three-day stop-gap funding extension to ensure enough time for passage of the spending bill this week. The measure eases across-the-board spending cuts by providing an extra $45 billion for military and domestic discretionary programs for fiscal 2014, to a total of $1.012 trillion. The shutdown was prompted largely by disputes over funding for "Obamacare" health insurance reforms. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: With Muslim Brotherhood crushed, Egypt sets sights on Hamas Monday, Jan 13, 2014 10:51 PM PST  By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - After crushing the Muslim Brotherhood at home, Egypt's military rulers plan to undermine the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which runs the neighboring Gaza Strip, senior Egyptian security officials told Reuters. The aim, which the officials say could take years to pull off, includes working with Hamas's political rivals Fatah and supporting popular anti-Hamas activities in Gaza, four security and diplomatic officials said. Since it seized power in Egypt last summer, Egypt's military has squeezed Gaza's economy by destroying most of the 1,200 tunnels used to smuggle food, cars and weapons to the coastal enclave, which is under an Israeli blockade. Full Story | Top |
| Turkish anti-terrorist police raid aid agency near Syrian border Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 02:38 AM PST Turkish anti-terrorist police raided the offices of an aid agency on the border with Syria on Tuesday, in part of what local media said was an operation in six cities against individuals suspected of links to al Qaeda. The Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) said police had raided its offices in the southern Turkish city of Kilis, which borders Syria, and detained one person. The IHH came to prominence in May 2010 when Israeli marines stormed its Mavi Marmara ship to enforce a naval blockade of the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip and killed nine Turks in clashes with activists. "IHH aid is delivered to Syrian babies, children and those who freeze in the cold ... This is an operation to change perceptions (about IHH) and stop aid from being delivered inside Syria," the group said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Charities pledge $400 million to Syria aid: Kuwait agency Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 01:36 AM PST  Non-governmental organizations have promised to donate a combined $400 million for humanitarian aid for Syria ahead of an international donor conference to be held in Kuwait, the Gulf state's official news agency KUNA said on Tuesday. The donor conference, which opens on Wednesday, aims to help the United Nations raise $6.5 billion for Syria and neighboring countries in 2014, the biggest humanitarian aid appeal in the organization's history. A similar donor conference held in Kuwait last year pledged $1.5 billion, mainly from Gulf Arab governments, to help provide food, drinking water, medicine and shelter for Syrians inside and outside of the country. Syria's civil war has killed more than 100,000 people and forced some 2 million to flee abroad, according to the United Nations. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: FBI suspects front running of Fannie, Freddie in swaps market Monday, Jan 13, 2014 09:35 PM PST  Wall Street traders may be manipulating a key derivatives market and front running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, hurting the US-owned mortgage giants in the process, according to an FBI intelligence bulletin reviewed by Reuters. Using what Federal Bureau of Investigation agents described as "unsophisticated tradecraft," such as hand signals and special telephone ring tones, some traders are conspiring to rig rates on large orders submitted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or front running them in the interest rate swaps market, the document says. The FBI said in the bulletin that the information came from a former high-level employee at a U.S. bank and an employee at a Canadian Bank, plus interviews with other bank workers conducted in 2012 and 2013. The former high-level employee at the U.S. bank estimated the front running had resulted in profits of $50 million to $100 million for the bank, the FBI said. Full Story | Top |
| Google gains entry to home and prized team with $3.2 billion Nest deal Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 02:55 AM PST  By Alexei Oreskovic and Poornima Gupta SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc took its biggest step to go deeper into consumers' homes, announcing a $3.2 billion deal to buy smart thermostat and smoke alarm-maker Nest Labs Inc, scooping up a promising line of products and a prized design team led by the "godfather" of the iPod. Nest will continue to operate as its own distinct brand after the all-cash deal closes, Google said on Monday. The deal is the second largest in Google's history after the $12.5 billion acquisition of mobile phone maker Motorola in 2012. Like the Motorola deal, which marked Google's first major foray into hardware, the Nest acquisition gives Google a stepping stone into an important new market at a time when consumer appliances and Internet services are increasingly merging. Full Story | Top |
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