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| Obamacare computers not yet equipped to fix errors: report Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 07:51 PM PST  The HealthCare.gov website is not yet equipped to handle appeals by thousands of people seeking to correct errors the system made when they were signing up for the new federal healthcare law, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. The newspaper, citing sources familiar with the situation, said appeals by about 22,000 people were sitting untouched in a government computer. "And an unknown number of consumers who are trying to get help through less formal means — by calling the health-care marketplace directly — are told that HealthCare.gov's computer system is not yet allowing federal workers to go into enrollment records and change them," according to the Post. It added that the Obama administration had not made public the problem with the appeals system. Full Story | Top |
| Costa Rica ruling party leads presidential election but run-off looms Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 07:46 PM PST  By Alexandra Alper and Zach Dyer SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Costa Rica's centrist ruling party candidate Johnny Araya took an early lead in Sunday's presidential election but looked on course to face a run-off after a late surge from a left-leaning rival, partial results showed. Araya, a former mayor of the capital San Jose, had around 31.2 percent support with votes in from around 41 percent of polling booths, while leftist newcomer Luis Guillermo Solis was in second place with around 28.4 percent. Left-wing lawmaker Jose Maria Villalta was third with 17.4 percent. Araya, 56, of the National Liberation Party, has promised to reduce poverty and has sought to distance himself from President Laura Chinchilla's scandal-plagued government while painting rivals as radicals. Full Story | Top |
| Abuse allegations against Woody Allen prompt new legal questions Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 07:40 PM PST  By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Woody Allen contends that renewed accusations by the filmmaker's adopted daughter that he sexually abused her at age 7 are "untrue and disgraceful," a spokeswoman for the director said on Sunday, a day after her letter detailing the allegations shook up Hollywood. Dylan Farrow, 28, the daughter of Allen's former girlfriend, actress Mia Farrow, challenged the acclaim the 78-year-old Oscar-winner has received in recent years, as she told her side of the decades-old case in an open letter published by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, a friend of the Farrows. The allegation that Woody Allen abused Dylan Farrow first surfaced around the time of his 1992 split with Mia Farrow. Legal experts said that if prosecutors felt there was enough evidence from Dylan Farrow, it may still be too late under U.S. law to bring a case against Allen in Connecticut, where the incident is alleged to have occurred at the Farrow home. Full Story | Top |
| Without Keystone, oil trains may cause six deaths per year: U.S. State Department report Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 06:49 PM PST (Reuters) - Replacing the Keystone XL pipeline with oil-laden freight trains from Canada may result in an average of six additional rail-related deaths per year, according to a U.S. State Department report that is adding to pressure for President Barack Obama to approve the line. The long-awaited study, released on Friday, focused on the environmental impact of TransCanada's $5.4 billion pipeline, but also spent several pages analyzing the potential human impact of various ways to transport oil, using historical injury and fatality statistics for railways and oil pipelines. Shipping another 830,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude "would result in an estimated 49 additional injuries and six additional fatalities for the No Action rail scenarios compared to one additional injury and no fatalities" per year if Keystone XL is built, according to the report. Keystone XL would carry 830,000 bpd from Alberta's oil sands U.S. refiners, but has been awaiting a presidential permit for more than five years. Full Story | Top |
| Defiant protesters disregard Thai poll, still want PM out Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 06:16 PM PST  By Martin Petty and Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Anti-government protesters planned to forge ahead on Monday with efforts to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a day after a disrupted election that is unlikely to settle Thailand's long-running political conflict. The demonstrators blocked balloting in a fifth of the country's constituencies and say Yingluck must resign and make way for an appointed "people's council" to overhaul a political system they say has been taken hostage by her billionaire brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra. Sunday's election, which the main opposition party boycotted, is almost certain to return Yingluck to power and, with voting passing off peacefully across the north and northeast, Yingluck's supporters will no doubt claim a legitimate mandate. But the vote is unlikely to change the dysfunctional status quo in a country popular with tourists and investors yet blighted by eight years of polarization and turmoil, pitting the Bangkok-based middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poor, rural supporters of the Shinawatras. Full Story | Top |
| Cuban boat people land in Cayman, headed for Honduras Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 06:12 PM PST By Peter Polack GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (Reuters) - A 30-foot (9 meter) sailboat with about 30 Cuban refugees aboard docked in the Cayman Islands on Sunday and passengers said they were hoping to reach Honduras. Ranging in age from teenagers to retirees, said they decided to leave the island because of economic conditions in Cuba, and complained that recent private sector reforms had not been as broadly implemented in the eastern end of the island, far from the capital, Havana. They were provided with supplies after landing in East End, on the island of Grand Cayman, and continued on their journey. Under an agreement between Cuba and the Cayman Islands signed more than a decade ago, Cuban migrant boats are allowed to pass through Cayman waters as long as they do not seek any assistance. Full Story | Top |
| El Salvador ex-rebel has early vote lead, run-off possible Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 06:11 PM PST  By Nelson Renteria and Anahi Rama SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - A former left-wing guerrilla leader took a strong early lead in El Salvador's presidential election on Sunday, early results showed, but he could still face a run-off against a conservative rival who wants to deploy the army to fight powerful street gangs. Salvador Sanchez Ceren, a rebel commander who became a top leader of the now-ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) during El Salvador's civil war, had 49.2 percent support with votes in from about 45.4 percent of polling booths. His right-wing opponent, former San Salvador Mayor Norman Quijano, had 38.9 percent. Two foreign election officials said they expected the vote to go to a run-off given a closer race in El Salvador's two most populated districts. Full Story | Top |
| Asia stocks slip, euro stuck near 10-week lows Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 05:07 PM PST  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares were slowly giving ground on Monday as strains in emerging markets show little sign of abating, while growing pressure for another policy easing in Europe shoved the euro to 10-week lows. Japan's Nikkei again led the way with a loss of 1.2 percent, hurt in part by a firm yen. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.2 percent, while Seoul's KOSPI lost 0.6 percent . The week ahead has plenty of event risk with a raft of global business surveys and jobs data from the United States to offer a clearer view on how well the global economy is faring, while the European Central Bank (ECB) might well ease at its meeting on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| No evidence seen that Christie knew of traffic scheme: N.J. Democrat Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 05:07 PM PST  By Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New Jersey Democrat leading a probe of the bridge traffic scandal that has engulfed Governor Chris Christie said on Sunday he has seen no evidence to support claims that the governor had been aware of the apparently politically motivated traffic jams as they happened. The remarks by Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who co-leads the probe, came two days after a former Christie appointee at the agency overseeing the bridge who personally oversaw the lane closures said "evidence exists" that Christie had knowledge of the blockage when it happened. If such evidence does exist, a state panel investigating the closures has not yet seen it, Wisniewski said. Separately on Sunday, Christie's director of intergovernmental affairs, Christina Renna, resigned. Full Story | Top |
| London housing market shows new bubble signs - report Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 04:12 PM PST  London's housing market looks like it is going into bubble territory as property prices soar compared with earnings, according to a report released on Monday. Houses in the British capital cost an average of 11 times individual Londoners' income, a level last seen before the financial crisis, according to a report by forecasting group ITEM Club, which is sponsored by Ernst & Young. "House prices across most of the country remain well below their pre-crisis peaks and there seems little danger of a bubble developing," Andrew Goodwin, senior economic advisor to the ITEM Club said. "But London, which is suffering from a combination of strong demand and a lack of supply, is increasingly giving us cause for concern." The capital has repeatedly stood out in surveys showing the strength of Britain's housing market, partly due to interest from foreign investors. Full Story | Top |
| UK lawmaker calls for limits on retail banking incentives Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 04:12 PM PST  Britain's banking regulator should be given new powers to limit the use and scale of the kind of sales-based incentive schemes that led to Lloyds being fined record sums for mis-selling products, an influential lawmaker has said. Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the parliamentary committee that scrutinises the country's finance ministry, said on Monday he had written to the regulator to urge changes to the way retail banking staff were remunerated. The focus has mostly fallen on senior executives or traders, but Tyrie said such scrutiny needed to extend to retail banking staff because they too could bring increased risk to the system. Lloyds Banking Group, which is trying to burnish its image and bolster capital levels before the sale of the government's remaining 33 percent stake in the lender, was fined 28 million pounds in December for the way it encouraged staff to sell products to customers who did not need them. Full Story | Top |
| ECB set to reveal further detail of bank health checks Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 04:07 PM PST  By Eva Taylor FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank will reveal more detail on Monday on how it plans to go about checking that top euro zone banks have the risks on their balance sheets under control. The ECB's asset quality review, or AQR, is part of a broader examination that also includes a stress test to see how banks hold up under shock scenarios, to avoid nasty surprises once the ECB takes up responsibility for supervising them from November. "The devil will be in the detail and the risks of lowest common denominator and compromise in such a multilateral process are legion," said Morgan Stanley's Huw van Steenis. "This is why the market still has many doubts on how cathartic a process the AQR and stress tests will be." The ECB will address at least some of such doubts on Monday by laying out, for example, how it will define when a loan has turned bad and what the next steps will be. Full Story | Top |
| Obama spars with Fox News host in testy pre-Super Bowl interview Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 03:59 PM PST  President Barack Obama accused Fox News on Sunday of keeping alive controversies the White House believes have been settled in a testy interview that aired before the NFL's Super Bowl, the most-viewed sports event in the United States. Host Bill O'Reilly asked Obama why he did not fire his health and human services chief over the botched rollout of the healthcare law last year, whether there was "widespread corruption" at the Internal Revenue Service, and whether the White House had tried to play down the significance of a 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Obama said "some boneheaded decisions" were to blame for extra scrutiny the IRS had given to conservative Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status, and that the issue had been cleared up during "multiple hearings" in Congress. Full Story | Top |
| El Salvador ex-rebel faces gang-fighting conservative in vote Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 03:34 PM PST  By Nelson Renteria and Anahi Rama SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - A former left-wing guerrilla commander faced-off against a conservative rival who wants to send the army in to fight powerful street gangs in El Salvador's presidential election on Sunday. Salvador Sanchez Ceren, a rebel commander who became a top leader of the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) during El Salvador's civil war, went into the election with a solid lead over Norman Quijano, who stepped down as the mayor of San Salvador, the capital, to run, polls showed. But with three main candidates competing, Sanchez Ceren was widely expected to fall short of the more than 50 percent support needed to win outright. Full Story | Top |
| Asia stocks give ground, euro pinned at 10-week lows Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 03:26 PM PST By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares look set for another trying week as strains in emerging markets show little sign of abating, while growing pressure for another policy easing in Europe shoved the euro to 10-week lows. Early Monday, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2 percent with the Australian bourse off 0.5 percent . The week ahead has plenty of event risk with a raft of global business surveys and jobs data from the United States to offer a clearer view on how well the global economy is faring, while the European Central Bank (ECB) might well ease at its meeting on Thursday. Europe and the United States release their versions of the PMI later Monday and expectations are they will show continued growth, which could help reassure skittish investors. Full Story | Top |
| Study finds deregulation fuelling obesity epidemic Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 03:23 PM PST Governments could slow or even reverse the growing obesity epidemic if they introduced more regulation into the global market for fast foods such as burgers, chips and fizzy drinks, researchers said on Monday. A study published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggested that if governments took firmer action, they could start to prevent people becoming overweight and obese - conditions with serious long-term consequences such as diabetes, heart diseases and cancer. "Unless governments take steps to regulate their economies, the invisible hand of the market will continue to promote obesity worldwide with disastrous consequences for future public health and economic productivity," said Roberto De Vogli of the University of California, Davis, in the United States, who led the study. The WHO is urging governments to do more to try to prevent obesity happening in the first place, rather than risking the high human and economic costs when it does. Full Story | Top |
| Iran says nuclear talks failure would be 'disaster' Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 03:22 PM PST  By Adrian Croft and Alexandra Hudson MUNICH (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister held rare private talks with his U.S. counterpart on Sunday and said it would be a "disaster" if Tehran did not turn a provisional agreement to defuse a decade-old dispute over its nuclear program into a permanent deal. In a sign of the thawing climate between the Islamic Republic and the West, Iran's Mohammad Javad Zarif said he had held bilateral talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, as well as with other ministers from the six powers negotiating with Tehran, during a three-day security conference in Munich. His talks looked forward to negotiations starting in Vienna on February 18 when Iran and the six powers will attempt over a period of six months to build on an interim agreement on Tehran's nuclear activities to reach a definitive deal. Full Story | Top |
| Hillary Clinton argues against additional sanctions on Iran Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 03:22 PM PST  Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is urging Congress to resist imposing new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, saying that "this is the time" to give diplomacy a chance to work. Clinton, who leads the pack among potential Democratic presidential contenders for 2016, according to Reuters polling, said in a January 26 letter to Democratic Senator Carl Levin, "Now that serious negotiations are finally under way, we should do everything we can to test whether they can advance a permanent solution." Her comments came after Levin wrote to her about the sanctions issue. Fifty-nine of the 100 U.S. senators, including 16 of President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats, co-sponsored a bill that would impose new restrictions on Iran if talks on a permanent deal falter. Iran, which insists its atomic ambitions are limited to peaceful purposes, has warned it will walk away from negotiations on its nuclear program if the bill becomes law. Full Story | Top |
| Three explosions rock Yemeni capital Sanaa Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 02:28 PM PST  Three large explosions were heard in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Sunday, close to the defense ministry, the central bank and the former president's home, locals told Reuters. Residents added that the third explosion occurred near former President Ali Abdullah Saleh's house which is also within close proximity to the French embassy. In December last year, a suicide bomb and gun attack near the defense ministry killed 52 people. Full Story | Top |
| N.J. Democrat says has seen no evidence Christie knew of traffic scheme Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 02:26 PM PST  By Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New Jersey Democrat leading a probe of a bridge traffic scandal that has engulfed Governor Chris Christie said on Sunday he had seen no evidence to support claims that the governor had been aware of the politically motivated traffic jams as they happened. If such evidence does exist, a state panel investigating the closures has not yet seen it, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who co-leads the probe, said on Sunday. Christie, a leading Republican candidate for the White House in 2016, has repeatedly denied any knowledge of a plan to snarl traffic last September near the busy George Washington Bridge and severed ties with several top aides over their role in the incident. Christie has been dogged by scandal for nearly a month after it emerged that several of his top aides and appointees called for lane closures leading to the busiest bridge in the United States, apparently as retribution against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, who did not endorse the governor's re-election campaign. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine frees tortured activist as president returns to work Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 02:07 PM PST  By Alastair Macdonald and Jack Stubbs KIEV (Reuters) - The Ukrainian government bowed to intense Western pressure on Sunday to let an opposition activist fly abroad for treatment after his abduction, torture and then attempted arrest by police outraged critics of President Viktor Yanukovich. The embattled head of state, caught in a tug of war between Russia and the West and facing mass protests that have prompted fears of civil war, announced he would return from four days of sick leave on Monday. Either way, he is under scrutiny from the European Union and United States, who want him to compromise, and from Moscow, which is holding back much needed financing until he names a new government following last week's departure of his prime minister in a concession that failed to appease the protesters. Dmytro Bulatov, 35, whose bloodied face and account of being "crucified" during a week in the hands of mysterious kidnappers has dominated opposition media since Friday, flew to EU state Lithuania. Full Story | Top |
| Demonstrators disregard Thai poll, vow march to oust PM Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 01:37 PM PST By Martin Petty and Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai anti-government protesters planned to forge ahead on Monday with efforts to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a day after a disrupted election that is unlikely to settle the country's long-running political conflict. The demonstrators blocked balloting in a fifth of the country's constituencies and say Yingluck must resign and make way for an appointed "people's council" to overhaul a political system they say has been taken hostage by her billionaire brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra. Sunday's election, which the main opposition party boycotted, is almost certain to return Yingluck to power and with voting passing off peacefully across the north and northeast, Yingluck's supporters will no doubt claim a legitimate mandate. But the vote is unlikely to change the dysfunctional status quo in a country popular among tourists and investors yet blighted by eight years of polarization and turmoil, pitting the Bangkok-based middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poor, rural supporters of the Shinawatras. Full Story | Top |
| EU, U.S. working on Ukraine aid plan: Ashton Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 01:14 PM PST The European Union and the United States are working on a plan for significant short-term financial assistance for Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was quoted on Sunday as saying. Ashton said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the package would be aimed at helping Ukraine get through a transition period during which a broad-based interim government could approve political and economic reforms and prepare for presidential elections, currently due next year. The EU and the United States are "developing a plan - a Ukrainian Plan, I have suggested they call it - that looks at what do we need to do in different parts of the economy right now to make things better," the paper quoted Ashton as saying on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan's privatization tsar embarks on quest to revive economy Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 01:09 PM PST  By Mehreen Zahra-Malik ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Mohammad Zubair was on a cruise dinner with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Thailand when he was offered the hardest job of his life: privatizing a huge chunk of the economy while fighting resistance from the opposition and trade unions. Three privatization ministers have gone to jail and most have corruption cases hanging over their heads," he said. "Don't take this job." But Pakistan's new privatization tsar is determined to find buyers for 68 public companies, most of them loss-making, including two gas companies, an oil company, about 10 banks, the national airline and power distribution companies - all within the next two years. The government sees the sell-offs as a life saver for Pakistan's $225 billion economy crippled by power shortages, corruption and militant violence. Full Story | Top |
| China's unwanted babies once mostly girls, now mostly sick, disabled Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 01:03 PM PST  By Li Hui and Ben Blanchard TIANJIN, China (Reuters) - Fangfang was just a few days old when she was abandoned on a near freezing New Year's Day in north China. "They will only provide more accurate numbers." Welfare experts and officials note that China has various charity funds and government health insurance schemes to help the sick and disabled. Full Story | Top |
| Injured activist leaves Kiev for treatment in Lithuania Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 12:41 PM PST By Jack Stubbs KIEV (Reuters) - Dmytro Bulatov, a Ukrainian activist whose torture at the hands of kidnappers outraged anti-government protesters, flew out for treatment in Lithuania on Sunday after officials in Kiev dropped charges against him, allies and diplomats said. Opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko told Reuters at the Kiev clinic where Bulatov had been since Thursday that the activist was flying to Vilnius via the Latvian capital Riga. Arriving in an ambulance convoy accompanied by his wife, Bulatov was met at Kiev's Boryspil airport by Klitschko and another senior opposition figure, Petro Poroshenko. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. immigration bill 'in doubt' this year, Republican Ryan says Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 12:33 PM PST  By Margaret Chadbourn WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans will be unlikely to compromise on immigration reform unless U.S. borders are first secured, and the possibility of a broad immigration bill reaching President Barack Obama's desk this year is "clearly in doubt," Representative Paul Ryan said on Sunday. "Security first, no amnesty, then we might be able to get somewhere," Ryan said on ABC's "This Week." Immigration reform legislation, which the Senate has already passed, has stalled in the Republican-controlled House. Ryan's comments follow a House document released last week that presents a path toward legal status for 11 million undocumented workers now in the United States. The plan, rolled out by House Republican leaders, outlines "principles" for immigration reform and embraces an agenda that gives their candidates a campaign message that goes beyond political attacks on Obama. Full Story | Top |
| Sri Lanka rejects 'reckless' U.S. criticism of its rights record Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 12:27 PM PST  By Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka rejected U.S. criticism of its human rights record as "grossly disproportionate" on Sunday, a day after a senior U.S. official said Washington would table a U.N. resolution against Colombo. Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal expressed frustration on Saturday over Sri Lanka's failure to punish military personnel responsible for atrocities in a civil war that the government won in 2009 against separatist Tamil rebels. Biswal, speaking in Colombo after a two-day visit, said the United States would table a third U.N. human rights resolution against Sri Lanka in March to address the war crimes allegations as its human rights climate has been worsening. Full Story | Top |
| Keystone report raises pressure on Obama to approve pipeline Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 12:23 PM PST  By Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pressure for President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline increased after a State Department report played down the impact it would have on climate change, irking environmentalists and delighting the project's proponents. But the White House signaled late on Friday that a decision on an application by TransCanada Corp to build the $5.4 billion project would be made "only after careful consideration" of the report, along with comments from the public and other government agencies. "The Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement includes a range of estimates of the project's climate impacts, and that information will now need to be closely evaluated by Secretary (of State John) Kerry and other relevant agency heads in the weeks ahead," White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said. Full Story | Top |
| France sees Iran opportunity if sanctions are lifted: Moscovici Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 11:44 AM PST  France will have "significant commercial opportunities" in Iran if sanctions are lifted, but Tehran first has to prove its good faith in abiding by nuclear undertakings, Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said on Sunday. Moscovici was speaking on LCI television as a French business delegation travelled to the Iranian capital for meetings with officials and business leaders. The three-day visit is intended to "convey the message that, if the situation improves, there will be significant commercial opportunities for France in Iran", Moscovici said. Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Australia's home-brewed inflation a hangover for central bank Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 11:34 AM PST  The stubbornness of domestic inflation is proving most unwelcome to policymakers who want to keep interest rates at rock bottom levels as Australia struggles through the autumn of a historic mining boom. It means that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) could be forced to close the door on further rate cuts when it holds its first policy meeting of the year on Tuesday. The central bank might also have to ratchet back the rhetorical campaign for a weaker local currency given the risk higher prices for imported goods could further fuel inflation. "Higher near-term inflation and risks from the exchange rate make it hard for the Reserve Bank to keep a weak easing bias and it will likely shift to neutral," said Kieran Davies, an economist at Barclays in Sydney. Full Story | Top |
| Iraqi army bombards Falluja in preparation for ground assault Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 11:24 AM PST  By Suadad al-Salhy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Iraqi army intensified its shelling of Falluja on Sunday in preparation for a ground assault to regain control of the city, which has been under the control of militants for a month. Sunni Muslim anti-government fighters, among them insurgents linked to al Qaeda, overran Falluja in the western province of Anbar on January 1, against a backdrop of deteriorating security across Iraq. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose Shi'ite-led government many in the Sunni minority accuse of discrimination, had held off an all-out offensive to give local tribesmen a chance to expel the militants themselves. But security officials told Reuters on Saturday that a decision had been made to enter Falluja on Sunday. Full Story | Top |
| After rocky January, markets eye data and central banks Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 11:07 AM PST  A raft of global business surveys, jobs data from the United States and central bank meetings in Europe should offer a clearer view on how well the global economy is faring at the start of 2014. Euro zone inflation fell to 0.7 percent in January, putting the ECB under further pressure to meet its target of keeping inflation below but close to 2 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Scandals, inequality loom large as Costa Rica votes for new leader Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 10:47 AM PST  By Alexandra Alper and Zach Dyer SAN JOSE (Reuters) - As voters streamed to the polls on Sunday, Costa Rica's centrist ruling party front-runner hoped to fend off a leftist surge fueled by resentment over corruption scandals and rising inequality. Centrist former San Jose Mayor Johnny Araya led polls on promises to reduce poverty, while distancing himself from President Laura Chinchilla's scandal-plagued government and painting rivals as radicals. But voter anger over government corruption has buoyed a challenge from leftist lawmaker Jose Maria Villalta, who also promised to tackle inequality in the coffee-producing nation. "I see Araya as more of the same, a misfortune for this country after all the corruption of the past," said Maria Ines Martinez, 57, a businesswoman, lining up outside a high school to vote as polling stations opened on Sunday. Full Story | Top |
| Syrian forces kill 83 in barrel bomb attacks in Aleppo: activists Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 10:34 AM PST  By Stephen Kalin BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian military helicopters dropped more improvised "barrel bombs" on the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday, a monitoring group said, bringing the death toll to at least 83 people in the latest episode of a campaign that many consider a war crime. Most of the victims killed since Friday have been civilians from the city's eastern districts, including women and children, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a broad network of sources across Syria. The use of barrel bombs - oil drums or cylinders packed with explosives and shrapnel - has drawn international condemnation, not least from Western powers at last week's peace talks in Switzerland. The first round of negotiations wound up on Friday without progress towards ending Syria's three-year civil war or reducing the violence, which regularly kills more than 100 people a day. Full Story | Top |
| French conservatives march against government 'family-phobia' Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 10:29 AM PST  By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor PARIS (Reuters) - Over 100,000 conservative French marched through Paris and Lyon on Sunday accusing the government of "family-phobia" for legalizing gay marriage and other planned policies they say will harm traditional families. The marchers, expressing growing frustration with the unpopular left-wing government, denounced new sex equality lessons in schools and urged the government not to legalize medical procedures to help same-sex couples have children. Most demonstrators were middle-class families, some pushing little children in prams, posing no apparent risk of violent confrontation with the police that Interior Minister Manuel Valls had said would be dealt with severely. The government of President Francois Hollande, suffering poll ratings near record lows, has delayed further social reforms until after next month's municipal elections following massive protests against legalizing same-sex marriage last year. Full Story | Top |
| White House: Obama awaits more Keystone reviews; timing unclear Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 10:18 AM PST  U.S. President Barack Obama still wants to hear from other federal agencies before deciding whether to accept the State Department's finding that the Keystone XL pipeline would have no major impact on climate change, his top aide said on Sunday. White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said Obama would decide once the Environmental Protection Agency, Energy Department and other federal experts offer their assessments of the State Department review, as well as their own analysis. But McDonough offered no word how soon Obama may rule. Full Story | Top |
| Etihad and Alitalia tie-up deal enters home straight Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 10:13 AM PST  By Stanley Carvalho ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Etihad Airways and Alitalia are in the final phase of due diligence for a possible investment by the Abu Dhabi carrier in the troubled Italian airline, the companies said on Sunday. Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, in Abu Dhabi on a visit to encourage investment in Italy, said he had high hopes for a deal and is "flexible" over the possibility of a change in Alitalia's management. Alitalia and Etihad have been in talks for weeks on a possible investment by the Gulf carrier, which sources close to the matter say could involve Etihad buying a 40 percent stake for as much as 300 million euros ($404.6 million). The two companies and their advisers will determine a common strategy that meets the objectives of both parties in the next 30 days as they seek to move Alitalia to sustained profitability, the joint Alitalia and Etihad statement said. Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan rebels say army razed town, using foreign fighters Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 09:40 AM PST  By Andrew Green JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudanese rebels accused government forces on Sunday of razing the hometown of their leader Riek Machar, violating a ceasefire, and said the army was drawing support from foreign fighters now in the country. Rebel spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said government SPLA forces and fighters from the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement - a rebel group from north of the border - had destroyed the northern town of Leer on Saturday, massacring women and children as they fled. An army spokesman said he had not received any reports of fighting in Leer, where the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said last week more than 200 of its staff had been forced to flee because of growing insecurity. The claims and counter-claims came as east African ceasefire monitors began to arrive in South Sudan, seven weeks after violence erupted in the capital, Juba, before spreading across the world's newest state. Full Story | Top |
| Germany promises more engagement: but not on the battlefield Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 08:23 AM PST  By Stephen Brown MUNICH (Reuters) - Germany's U.S. and European allies welcome Berlin's promise of a more robust foreign and security policy, but with no appetite at home for troops to fight, it may mean little more than extra logistical help and tougher rhetoric. At this year's security conference in Munich, where 11 years ago pacifist-turned-foreign minister Joschka Fischer told U.S. defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld "excuse me, I am not convinced" about the war in Iraq, Germany promised its knee-jerk reaction would no longer be a 'no' to overseas missions. "In my view, to be a good partner Germany should get involved more quickly, more decisively and more substantially," said head of state President Joachim Gauck, in a message that was reinforced by the German foreign and defense ministers. "Germany is too big to only comment on world politics from the sidelines," said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Full Story | Top |
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