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| New Ukraine ministers proposed, Russian troops on alert Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 02:15 PM PST  By Alessandra Prentice and Richard Balmforth SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine/KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's protest leaders named the ministers they want to form a new government following the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovich, as an angry Russia put 150,000 troops on high alert in a show of strength. President Vladimir Putin's order on Wednesday for soldiers to be ready for war games near Ukraine was the Kremlin's boldest gesture yet after days of sabre rattling since its ally Yanukovich was ousted at the weekend. Moscow denied that the previously unannounced drill in its western military district was linked to events in its neighbor but it came amid a series of increasingly strident statements about the fate of Russian citizens and interests. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Moscow that "any kind of military intervention that would violate the sovereign territorial integrity of Ukraine would be a huge - a grave mistake". Full Story | Top |
| Pope, U.N. urge calm and dialogue amid Venezuela unrest Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 05:55 PM PST  By Daniel Wallis and Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Pope Francis called on Wednesday for an end to violence in Venezuela that has killed at least 13 people and urged politicians to take the lead in calming the nation's worst unrest in a decade. Students and other opponents of President Nicolas Maduro are demanding that he quit over grievances including high inflation, shocking levels of violent crime, shortages of basic food, and what they say is his repression of political rivals. Among the latest world figures to speak out about the unrest, Pope Francis told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square he was "particularly concerned" by recent events. Maduro, a 51-year-old former bus driver and union boss, hosted church and business leaders and some opposition politicians for a "national peace conference" on Wednesday night. Full Story | Top |
| Thai PM faces graft charges as standoff slips out of control Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 06:51 PM PST  By Pairat Temphairojana and Aukkarapon Niyomyat BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's anti-corruption agency is to bring charges of negligence against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday as anti-government protesters demand her ouster in a violence-pocked standoff that is slipping out of control. Guitarist Eric Clapton has pulled out of Bangkok concert on Sunday because of the deteriorating security. About 200 Yingluck supporters, who have become more boisterous in recent days, padlocked the gates of the National Anti-Corruption Commission on Thursday, demanding all members quit and setting the scene for a possible confrontation. The protesters, whose disruption of a general election this month left Thailand in paralysis, want to topple Yingluck and erase the influence of her brother, ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, seen by many as the real power in the country. Full Story | Top |
| Russian military action in Ukraine would be 'grave mistake': U.S. Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 04:13 PM PST  By Arshad Mohammed and Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States warned Russia on Wednesday it would be a "grave mistake" to intervene militarily in Ukraine and said it was considering $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees and additional funding to help Kiev. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued the warning after Russian President Vladimir Putin put 150,000 combat troops on high alert for war games near Ukraine, Moscow's boldest gesture since the ouster of ally Viktor Yanukovich as president in Kiev. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says concerned with Thailand violence, calls for restraint Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 06:39 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday expressed concern with increased violence in Thailand and called for restraint by all sides in a conflict that shows no immediate sign of ending. Thailand has been dogged by nearly four months of around-the-clock violence between supporters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and protesters who want her out. While the crisis is a long way from the running battles of April and May 2010 when more than 90 people were killed, it has stoked uncertainty and spooked investors. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish Prime Minister targeted in second audio tape Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 02:46 PM PST  By Humeyra Pamuk ANKARA (Reuters) - A second audio recording, presented as the voice of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan asking his son not to accept an amount of money on offer in a business deal but to hold out for more, was published on YouTube by an anonymous poster using a pseudonym on Wednesday. An accompanying text within the YouTube clip says the reference is to Sitki Ayan, the chairman of Istanbul-based company Turang Transit Tasimacilik. Full Story | Top |
| Insight: How Obama alums aim to turn Texas toward the Democrats Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 10:07 AM PST  By Andy Sullivan AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - In one of the country's most conservative states, newly hopeful Democrats measure their progress by ringing a bell. For those working to turn Texas from Republican red to Democratic blue, it's the sound of one more volunteer agreeing to join their ranks. In the past year, alumni from Democratic President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign quietly have built a grassroots army in Texas, where gun-rights advocates brandish semi-automatic rifles on city streets and pickup trucks bear "SECEDE" bumper stickers. Battleground Texas, as the group is known, is backing Democratic state Senator Wendy Davis' underdog bid for governor this November against Republican Greg Abbott, the state's attorney general. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine draws Obama into Putin's long game Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 01:12 PM PST  Days after his ally Viktor Yanukovich was ousted as Ukraine's leader, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 150,000 troop Russian military exercise on Ukraine's border. The fall of Yanukovich - and Putin's potential response to it - has reignited a debate in Washington on how to respond to the assertive Russian leader. For Obama administration officials, Vladimir Putin is a concern but not a threat. "This is a world where we need to work with the Russians," a senior State Department official said on Tuesday. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. justices say Allen Stanford victims can sue lawyers, brokers Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 01:09 PM PST  By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that lawyers, insurance brokers and others who worked with convicted swindler Allen Stanford cannot avoid lawsuits by investors seeking to recoup losses incurred in his $7 billion Ponzi scheme. New York-based law firms Chadbourne & Parke and Proskauer Rose and insurance brokerage Willis Group Holdings Plc were all sued by former Stanford investors. Writing for the majority, Justice Stephen Breyer said the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act did not prevent the state lawsuits from proceeding. The law says that state lawsuits are barred when the alleged misrepresentations are "in connection with" the purchase or sale of a covered security. Full Story | Top |
| Credit Suisse CEO fights back on tax evasion claims Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 06:24 AM PST  By Katharina Bart ZURICH (Reuters) - Credit Suisse's chief executive will hit back at allegations the Swiss bank was a willing accomplice in U.S. tax evasion on Wednesday, blaming instead a small group of its private bankers for helping Americans conceal their wealth. Brady Dougan will tell U.S. senators that Credit Suisse only uncovered "scattered evidence" of improper conduct, and its top managers were not aware that a small group of Swiss-based private bankers helped U.S. customers hide income and assets. "We deeply regret that - despite the industry-leading compliance measures we have put in place - before 2009, some Credit Suisse private bankers appear to have violated U.S. law," Dougan said in prepared remarks, released before his appearance later on Wednesday in front of a U.S. Senate subcommittee on offshore tax evasion. "The evidence showed that some Swiss-based private bankers went to great lengths to disguise their bad conduct from Credit Suisse executive management." Credit Suisse has been accused by U.S. senators of helping American customers dodge taxes with a variety of tactics, including creating offshore shell entities, falsifying visa applications and establishing a branch at Zurich airport, where wealthy U.S. clients could fly in, conduct their banking and leave. Full Story | Top |
| Target shares recover after reassurance on data breach impact Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 10:52 AM PST  By Dhanya Skariachan and Jim Finkle NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - Target Corp shares made strong gains after it reassured investors that customers were beginning to return to its U.S. stores, suggesting that the impact of a massive data breach may not be as severe as some had feared. The third-largest U.S. retailer said on Wednesday that customer traffic had started to improve this year after falling significantly at the end of the holidays when news of the cyber attack and theft of payment card data spooked shoppers. Chief Financial Officer John Mulligan said on a conference call he expected first-quarter sales at its established U.S. stores to be flat to down 2 percent and so far in February, they have been running within that range and nearly flat to last year. Target shares, which had fallen 11 percent since news of the breach broke before Wednesday, were up 6.8 percent at $60.37, their highest level for almost six weeks. Full Story | Top |
| New home sales hit five-and-a-half year high in January Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 07:33 AM PST  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of new U.S. single-family homes surged to a 5-1/2-year high in January, possibly easing concerns of a sharp slowdown in the housing market. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday that sales jumped 9.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 468,000 units, the highest level since July 2008. Full Story | Top |
| Pope, U.N. urge calm and dialogue amid Venezuela unrest Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 02:30 PM PST  By Daniel Wallis and Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Pope Francis called on Wednesday for an end to violence in Venezuela that has killed at least 13 people and urged politicians to take the lead in calming the nation's worst unrest in a decade. Both political camps demonstrated in cities round Venezuela. In the capital Caracas, female opposition supporters rallied, while agricultural workers marched to the presidential palace in support of the Socialist government. Students and other opponents of President Nicolas Maduro are demanding that he quit over grievances including high inflation, shocking levels of violent crime, shortages of basic food, and what they say is his repression of political rivals. Full Story | Top |
| Russian military action in Ukraine would be 'grave mistake': U.S Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 03:56 PM PST By Arshad Mohammed and Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States warned Russia on Wednesday it would be a "grave mistake" to intervene militarily in Ukraine and said it was considering $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees and additional funding to help Kiev. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued the warning after Russian President Vladimir Putin put 150,000 combat troops on high alert for war games near Ukraine, Moscow's boldest gesture since the ouster of ally Viktor Yanukovich as president in Kiev. Full Story | Top |
| Lowe's outperforms Home Depot in stormy quarter Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 09:15 AM PST  Lowe's Cos Inc reported strong growth in quarterly sales, showing that the No. 2 U.S. home improvement retailer was narrowing the gap with market leader Home Depot Inc. Lowe's shares rose more than 6 percent in early trading, after the company reported that net sales increased 5.6 percent to $11.66 billion in the fourth quarter ended January 31. Home Depot on Tuesday reported a 3 percent decline in sales in the same period, which was marked by winter storms and record cold in much of North America. "When extreme winter weather arrived late in the quarter, our distribution network responded quickly and efficiently to move product where it was most needed," Lowe's CEO Robert Niblock said in a statement on Wednesday. Home Depot's results had raised concerns that the U.S. housing recovery was losing momentum. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Chesapeake, Encana near settlements on Michigan collusion probe Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 05:56 AM PST  By Joshua Schneyer and Anna Driver NEW YORK/HOUSTON (Reuters) - Encana Corp and Chesapeake Energy Corp are negotiating civil settlements with the state of Michigan to try to end its criminal investigation into whether the energy companies colluded to keep oil and gas lease prices artificially low in the state. Encana is hopeful that a settlement will be finalized within a few weeks, said Gregory Curtner, a lawyer representing Encana in a separate civil antitrust lawsuit, during a February 14 court hearing. "I can fill you in on the status of the Michigan Attorney General investigation because I'm handling that," Curtner told Michigan Western District Magistrate Judge Joseph Scoville. "We are at a stage, as is Chesapeake, of hopefully reaching a civil resolution which will close the criminal investigation," he said, according to a transcript of the hearing. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Sisi to stay on as defense minister: source Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 06:43 AM PST  By Asma Alsharif and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will keep his post as defense minister in the new government, an official source said on Wednesday, quashing speculation he was about to announce a widely expected bid for the presidency. Sisi is tipped to win the upcoming presidential election but has yet to announce his candidacy. He must vacate the post of defense minister in order to run. The draft presidential election law will be handed to interim President Adly Mansour no later than Saturday for approval, the state news agency reported, quoting a judge involved in reviewing it. Full Story | Top |
| Beyond Mt. Gox, bitcoin believers keep the faith, see more robust system Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 03:50 AM PST  By Jeremy Wagstaff SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The apparent collapse of Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox isn't bothering Anthony Hope and others who have ditched steady careers in government and finance to build bitcoin companies - and who stand to lose money they have in Mt. Gox. Hope, a former British Treasury official and now head of compliance at Hong Kong-based MatrixVision, says that while Mt. Gox's fate is unclear, its troubles form part of a wider shift as more professional players move into the bitcoin mainstream. "Over the longer term it will be good for bitcoin because over time the entire ecosystem will be made more robust." Steve Beauregard, CEO and founder of Singapore-based GoCoin, is more blunt about Mt. Gox's woes: "It's important in the sense of sweeping away a lot of the early unsophisticated folk who got into this and made a name for themselves, but didn't have the management horsepower to manage a company." Mt. Gox, at one time the biggest bitcoin exchange, abruptly stopped trading this week amid reports on the internet that more than 744,000 bitcoins - worth around $380 million at prevailing rates - had been stolen. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela government faces brutality accusations over unrest Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 07:41 AM PST  By Girish Gupta VALENCIA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan protester Juan Manuel Carrasco says he was cursing soldiers during an anti-government protest when they grabbed him and two friends. In a case that has become a focus for brutality accusations against Venezuela's security forces, the 21-year-old Carrasco says he later found himself in a National Guard holding area. "They got me on my knees and started hitting me with batons," he told Reuters at his family home in the central city of Valencia where he is under house arrest pending trial for involvement in unrest that has rocked Venezuela in recent weeks. "They shoved a rifle up my bottom." That last accusation has particularly incensed government critics, and is one of the most serious of allegations that human rights groups are leveling at Venezuela's military and police over this month's unrest. Full Story | Top |
| Former editor of Hong Kong newspaper stabbed amid media tensions Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 04:01 AM PST  By James Pomfret and Alice Woodhouse HONG KONG (Reuters) - A former chief editor of a major Hong Kong newspaper known for its critical reporting was stabbed and seriously wounded on Wednesday in an attack that has fuelled concerns about what many see as an erosion of media freedoms. A man in a helmet attacked Kevin Lau, former chief editor of the Ming Pao daily, in broad daylight on a leafy harbourfront street, slashing him in the back several times. The attack took place days after 6,000 journalists marched to Hong Kong's government headquarters to demand the city's leaders uphold press freedom against what they see as intrusions from mainland China in a politically sensitive year. Such an attack, however, aimed at wounding rather than killing, was widely interpreted as a warning to Hong Kong's vibrant media that has remained a bastion of critical reporting on China, a far cry from mainland China, where media are subject to heavy censorship and state control. Full Story | Top |
| Uighur professor could face death sentence in China: lawyer Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 04:14 AM PST  By Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) - A prominent ethnic Uighur economist is unlikely to receive a fair trial and could face the death penalty after being charged with separatism in China's far western Xinjiang region, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Beijing police last month detained Ilham Tohti, a professor who has championed the rights of Xinjiang's large Muslim Uighur minority. Unrest in Xinjiang has killed more than 100 people in the past year, prompting authorities to toughen their stance. Tohti was taken after his detention to Xinjiang's regional capital Urumqi and on Tuesday his wife was notified of the charges. Full Story | Top |
| Ex pope Benedict denies he was forced to resign Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 03:43 AM PST  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Former Pope Benedict, in one of the few times he has broken his silence since stepping down nearly a year ago, has branded as "absurd" fresh media speculation that he was forced to quit. "There is absolutely no doubt regarding the validity of my resignation from the Petrine ministry," Benedict, 86, who now has the title "pope emeritus," said in a letter to the Italian website Vatican Insider published on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Shares sluggish, semblance of calm returns to China markets Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 02:49 AM PST  By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - World shares struggled to stay above water on Wednesday as concerns over opaque policy moves in China kept investors on edge amid a scarcity of major economic data. It was quoted at 6.1283 per dollar, little changed from Tuesday's close. Full Story | Top |
| Putin puts troops in western Russia on alert in drill Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 07:56 AM PST By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin ordered an urgent drill to test the combat readiness of his armed forces across western Russia on Wednesday, flexing Moscow's military muscle amid tension with the West over Ukraine. Russia said the exercises were not linked to events in Ukraine, where the ouster of a president who turned his back on the European Union and sought closer ties with Moscow has raised worries in the West over possibility of military intervention. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. warns banks to watch for ousted Ukraine leader moving looted funds Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 03:35 AM PST  (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury warned banks on Tuesday to be on the look-out for potentially suspicious transfers of financial assets by Ukraine's fugitive President Viktor Yanukovich or members of his inner circle. Yanukovich is on the run after being toppled by bloody street protests in which police snipers killed demonstrators. An advisory from the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said that U.S. financial institutions "should be aware of the possible impact that public reports of high-level corruption by senior members of the Yanukovich administration and other illicit activity by members of the administration may have on patterns of financial activity". Ukraine's parliament voted on Tuesday to send Yanukovich to the International Criminal Court over police violence against protesters which it said had led to the deaths of more than 100 citizens of Ukraine and other states. Full Story | Top |
| Gunfire by night becomes new norm in downtown Bangkok Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 01:22 AM PST  By Pairat Temphairojana and Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Shots fired by unknown gunmen on Wednesday rattled parts of the Thai capital where anti-government protesters have set up camp for weeks, with small but occasionally deadly bombs and gunfire fast becoming the new norm in the city. No one was wounded in the shootings in the central commercial area of Bangkok, although five people were killed in weekend violence in the city and the eastern province of Trat, four of them young children. "Recently we have been seeing more incidents like this happening more frequently ... It is noticeable that there are incidents like this every day." The protesters, whose disruption of a general election this month left polarized Thailand in political paralysis, want to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and erase the influence of her brother, ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, seen by many as the real power in the country. Bluesky TV, the protesters' station, showed demonstrators pushing against the wrought iron gates of the national police headquarters in Bangkok, demanding the proper investigation of more than 20 deaths since the beginning of the protests. Full Story | Top |
| Turkish foreign minister says world has failed Syria Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 12:49 AM PST  By Samia Nakhoul and Nick Tattersall ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's foreign minister said Syria's worsening war now posed a danger to all countries because President Bashar al-Assad's government had been allowed to continue its "crimes" while jihadists from around the world flooded in to fight him. Ahmet Davutoglu told Reuters a robust international strategy including "real intelligence cooperation" and withdrawal of all foreign fighters was needed to end the conflict and help millions of Syrians devastated by violence. Syria has not responded to similar charges made in recent weeks and says it is leading international efforts against terrorism. The government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted Justice and Development (AK) Party is already reeling from graft allegations, civic protest, and a struggle for control of institutions with former Islamist allies that have turned against it. Full Story | Top |
| China blames Philippines for latest South China Sea incident Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 02:36 AM PST  China on Wednesday accused the Philippines of "deliberate provocations" over an incident in disputed waters in the South China Sea that drew a protest from Manila about what it called Chinese ships' use of a water cannon on Filipino fishermen. The Philippines lodged a protest with China on Tuesday over the issue, saying the Chinese were trying to keep the fishermen from fishing in Philippine waters around the Scarborough Shoal. China's foreign ministry, which has already rejected the complaint, said its boats had every right to respond to "provocative" acts in its territory. China suspected the aims and identities of several Philippine fishing boats that recently appeared in the waters around the Scarborough Shoal, as some of them appeared to just "hang around", foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. Full Story | Top |
| Britain's opposition Labour party to pledge EU referendum: report Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 02:48 AM PST  Britain's opposition Labour party is preparing to change its policy on the European Union by pledging to hold a referendum on the country's membership of the bloc at some point if elected in 2015, the Times newspaper reported on Wednesday. Citing an unnamed source close to the Labour party, it said Labour leader Ed Miliband would seek to reform Britain's EU ties and back holding a membership referendum, but not by 2017 as Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged. Labour has yet to publicly state whether it wants an EU referendum, but has been critical of a promise by Cameron's Conservative party to hold an in/out vote on Britain's EU membership by the end of 2017 - if it retains power. Full Story | Top |
| Eyeing Afghan exit, U.S. intensifies campaign against Haqqani militants Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 11:11 PM PST  By Missy Ryan and Phil Stewart KABUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has intensified its drive against the Taliban-linked Haqqani network in an attempt to deal a lasting blow to the militants in Afghanistan before foreign combat forces depart this year, according to multiple U.S. officials. The effort is taking on added urgency as the clock ticks down on a NATO combat mission in Afghanistan set to end in December, and as questions persist about whether Pakistan will take action against a group some U.S. officials believe is quietly supported by Pakistani intelligence. The Obama administration has created a special unit based in Kabul to coordinate efforts against the militant group, according to officials familiar with the matter. The unit, headed by a colonel and known in military parlance as a "fusion cell", brings together special forces, conventional forces, intelligence personnel, and some civilians to improve targeting of Haqqani members and to heighten the focus on the group, the officials said. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. housing recovery uneven across markets, study finds Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 09:01 PM PST  By Margaret Chadbourn WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. housing sector is likely to experience an uneven recovery over the next five years, with some local markets bouncing back faster than others, according to a study released on Wednesday. By 2018, the median price of single-family homes will be close to the peak reached in 2006 before the national market cratered, according to the study from the Demand Institute, a nonprofit think tank operated by The Conference Board and Nielsen. Among the 50 largest metropolitan areas where housing prices are expected to appreciate between 2012 and 2018, the top five will see rises on average of 32 percent, while the bottom five will average gains of only 11 percent. The cities expected to report the largest increase in the median price of a previously owned single-family homes are Memphis, Tampa, Jacksonville, Milwaukee and St. Louis. Full Story | Top |
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