Today's Reuters News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
|
|
Snow and tears mark funeral for North Korean leader
Tue,27 Dec 2011 10:30 PM PST
Reuters -  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's military staged a huge funeral procession in the snowy streets of the capital, Pyongyang, on Wednesday for its deceased "dear leader," Kim Jong-il, readying a transition to his son, Kim Jong-un. Pictures from state television showed a funeral cortege led by a limousine carrying a huge picture of the 69-year old, who died on December 17, passing serried ranks of olive green-clad soldiers whose bare heads were bowed in homage in the main square of the capital. ...
Full Story | Top |
Obama taps economist, banker as Fed governors
Tue,27 Dec 2011 03:46 PM PST
Reuters -  HONOLULU/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will nominate Harvard economist Jeremy Stein and Jerome Powell, an investment banker and former Treasury official, to the two empty seats on the Federal Reserve's policy-setting board of governors. The White House's pick of candidates, who have Democratic and Republican credentials respectively, may help speed their nomination through Congress amid a sluggish economic recovery that has failed to put a major dent in the unemployment rate, now at 8.6 percent. ...
Full Story | Top |
Analysis: China needs new policy course as capital tide turns
Tue,27 Dec 2011 10:35 PM PST
Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - China's economy has surfed for years on a crest of hefty capital inflows, but the tide that brought gains in money supply is turning as global growth slows. Capital has flowed out the past two months. If that persists, the challenge for the People's Bank of China will be to adjust policies to keep the country's growth rates from falling much. That will be no mean feat for policymakers schooled in absorbing inflows averaging 256 billion yuan ($40.5 billion) a month since July 2005, but short on experience of how to handle outflows. ... Full Story | Top |
More trouble for Gingrich as Iowa campaign quickens
Tue,27 Dec 2011 03:47 PM PST
Reuters -  DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's campaign struggled to fend off more bad news on Tuesday after he was quoted supporting main rival Mitt Romney's healthcare reform in Massachusetts. Gingrich, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, has seen his poll numbers drop in the early-voting state of Iowa under a blitz of negative ads accusing him of being an unreliable Washington insider. He tried to regain some of his lost momentum in a pugnacious interview with CNN in which he used some of his strongest language yet to attack his main opponents. ...
Full Story | Top |
Iran threatens to stop Gulf oil if sanctions widened
Tue,27 Dec 2011 03:47 PM PST
Reuters -  TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran threatened on Tuesday to stop the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz if foreign sanctions were imposed on its crude exports over its nuclear ambitions, a move that could trigger military conflict with economies dependent on Gulf oil. Western tensions with Iran have increased since a November 8 report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog saying Tehran appears to have worked on designing an atomic bomb and may still be pursuing research to that end. Iran strongly denies this and says it is developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. ...
Full Story | Top |
Hackers say to publish emails stolen from Stratfor
Tue,27 Dec 2011 03:02 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Hackers affiliated with the Anonymous group said they are getting ready to publish emails stolen from private intelligence analysis firm Strategic Forecasting Inc, whose clients include the U.S. military, Wall Street banks and other corporations. Strategic Forecasting Inc, which is also known as Stratfor, disclosed over the weekend that its website had been hacked and that some information about its corporate subscribers had been made public. The hacking group known as Antisec has claimed responsibility for the attack and promised to cause "mayhem" by releasing stolen documents. ... Full Story | Top |
Consumer confidence perks up, house prices sag
Tue,27 Dec 2011 03:44 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Improving labor market conditions lifted U.S. consumer confidence to an eight month high in December, but persistently weak house prices remain an obstacle to faster economic growth. The sharp rise in sentiment reported by the Conference Board on Tuesday offered hope for a pick-up in consumer spending after an anemic performance in November. "It suggests there is some real improvement in the economy. Consumer confidence really boils down to how people feel about the labor market," said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North ...
Full Story | Top |
Sears closing up to 120 stores as sales slide
Tue,27 Dec 2011 05:05 PM PST
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Sears Holdings Corp will close as many as 120 of its Kmart and Sears discount and department stores after its holiday sales slumped, sending its shares sliding more than 27 percent to their lowest level in three years. The retailer, which is controlled by its chairman, the hedge fund manager Edward Lampert, has seen sales decline every year since the $11 billion merger of the two chains in 2005, and likely faces further closings to cut expenses, preserve cash and push back against rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Amazon.com Inc, analysts said. ...
Full Story | Top |
Democrat Nelson to retire from Senate
Tue,27 Dec 2011 05:18 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Senator Ben Nelson said on Tuesday that he will retire next year, dealing a significant blow to his party's hopes of keeping control of the Senate after the November 2012 elections. Nelson, a former Nebraska governor, said he felt it was time for him to leave elective office and seek new ways to serve his state and his country. "I'm announcing today that I will not seek re-election. Simply put, it's time to move on," Nelson, 70, said in a video statement. ...
Full Story | Top |
Mass anti-Assad protest in Homs as monitors visit
Tue,27 Dec 2011 04:40 PM PST
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Syrians have taken to the streets in the flashpoint city of Homs to rally against President Bashar al-Assad and plead for newly-arrived Arab peace monitors to bear witness to their plight. About 70,000 protesters marched towards the city centre on Tuesday where security forces fired at them and lobbed teargas, activists said. The military withdrew some tanks, in what the activists called a ploy to persuade the monitors that the city was calm. Footage on the Internet showed monitors confronted by residents as gunfire crackled around them. ...
Full Story | Top |
Putin ejects Kremlin "puppet master" after protests
Tue,27 Dec 2011 03:48 PM PST
Reuters -  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The architect of Vladimir Putin's tightly controlled political system became one of its most senior victims on Tuesday when he was shunted out of the Kremlin in the wake of the biggest opposition protests of Putin's 12-year rule. The sacrifice of Vladislav Surkov, branded the Kremlin's 'puppet master' by enemies and friends alike, is also a rare admission of failure for Russia's 'alpha dog' leader: Surkov's system was Putin's system. ...
Full Story | Top |
Analysis: U.S. rental demand lifts housing sector
Tue,27 Dec 2011 03:48 PM PST
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Brian Keith is busier than ever as the architecture firm he works for rushes to wrap up work on a 300-unit apartment complex in Dallas. The project is one of dozens the firm, JHP Architecture, has on its hands -- a surge of business driven by a rise in demand in the United States for rental properties. The increased demand has forced JHP to expand, and it expects to keep hiring at least through the first quarter. "We're seeing overall work come back and there's a backlog of contracts to go through," said Keith, director of urban design and planning at JHP. ...
Full Story | Top |
Democrat Nelson to retire from Senate
Tue,27 Dec 2011 02:51 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Senator Ben Nelson said on Tuesday he will retire next year, dealing a significant blow to his party's hopes of keeping control of the Senate in the November 2012 election. Nelson's decision not to seek re-election puts his seat in heavily Republican Nebraska up for grabs, boosting Republicans' hopes of wresting control of the chamber from Democrats. Republicans already have a majority in the House of Representatives, where they have heavily resisted many of President Barack Obama's spending plans over concerns about a build-up of U.S. deficits and debt ...
Full Story | Top |
Sears closing more stores as holiday sales slide
Tue,27 Dec 2011 03:45 PM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Sears Holdings Corp will close as many as 120 of its Kmart and Sears discount and department stores after its holiday sales slumped, sending its shares sliding more than 27 percent to their lowest level in three years. The retailer, which is controlled by its chairman, the hedge fund manager Edward Lampert, has seen sales decline every year since the $11 billion merger of the two chains in 2005, and likely faces further closings to cut expenses, preserve cash and push back against rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Amazon.com Inc, analysts said. ...
Full Story | Top |
Mass anti-Assad protest in Homs as monitors visit
Tue,27 Dec 2011 03:52 PM PST
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Syrians in Homs rallied on Tuesday against President Bashar al-Assad, emboldened by Arab peace monitors' first tour of the flashpoint city, after the army withdrew some tanks following days of unrest. Some 70,000 protesters marched towards the city centre where security forces fired at them and lobbed teargas, activists said. ...
Full Story | Top |
Funeral for North Korean leader amid worry about future
Tue,27 Dec 2011 11:07 AM PST
Reuters -  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea will hold a funeral procession on Wednesday for its deceased "dear leader", Kim Jong-il, making way for his son, Kim Jong-un, to become the third member of the family to run the isolated and unpredictable Asian country. The coming year was supposed to mark North Korea's self-proclaimed transformation into a "strong and prosperous" nation, but it faces a dangerous transition to a young, untested leader at a time when dictatorships across the world have tumbled. ...
Full Story | Top |
Insight: FDA warned PIP on breast implant safety in 2000
Tue,27 Dec 2011 10:20 AM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As early as 2000, U.S. health authorities raised concerns about the French breast implant maker at the heart of a scandal affecting hundreds of thousands of women worldwide. That was almost 10 years before the company came under scrutiny from European regulators. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent an investigator to inspect a plant run by the manufacturer, Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), at La Seyne Sur Mer in southeastern France in May 2000. ...
Full Story | Top |
Obama to ask for debt limit hike: Treasury official
Tue,27 Dec 2011 08:33 AM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House plans to ask Congress by the end of the week for an increase in the government's debt ceiling to allow the United States to pay its bills on time, according to a senior Treasury Department official on Tuesday. The approval is expected to go through without a challenge, given that Congress is in recess until later in January and the request is in line with an agreement to keep the U.S. government funded into 2013. ...
Full Story | Top |
6.9 magnitude quake hits southeastern Russia: USGS
Tue,27 Dec 2011 07:41 AM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - An earthquake of 6.9 magnitude hit southeastern Russia near the border with Mongolia on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The epicenter of the quake was 28 miles deep and was about 57 miles northeast of Kyzyl, Russia, USGS said. (Reporting By John O'Callaghan) Full Story | Top |
Northern Nigerian Christians warn of religious war
Tue,27 Dec 2011 03:06 PM PST
Reuters -  ABUJA (Reuters) - Northern Nigerian Christians said on Tuesday they feared that a spate of Christmas Day bombings by Islamist militants that killed over two dozen people could lead to a religious war in Africa's most populous country. The warning was made in a statement by the northern branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), an umbrella organization comprising various denominations including Catholics, Protestant and Pentecostal churches. ...
Full Story | Top |
GSM phones vulnerable to hijack scams -researcher
Tue,27 Dec 2011 12:44 PM PST
Reuters -  BERLIN (Reuters) - Flaws in a widely used wireless technology could allow hackers to gain remote control of phones and instruct them to send text messages or make calls, according to an expert on mobile phone security. They could use the vulnerability in the GSM technology -- which is used by most telecom operators globally and by billions of people -- to make calls or send texts to expensive, premium phone and messaging services in scams, said Karsten Nohl, head of Berlin-based Security Research Labs. ...
Full Story | Top |
Greek conservatives drop February election demand
Tue,27 Dec 2011 06:57 AM PST
Reuters -  ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's conservative New Democracy party dropped its insistence on holding elections as early as February 19 on Tuesday, potentially giving technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos a few more weeks to pass reforms and get a vital debt restructuring deal. New Democracy spokesman Yannis Michelakis said the party could agree to an extension under certain circumstances but said that elections would have to be held at the latest by Greek Orthodox Easter, which falls on April 15. ...
Full Story | Top |
Iraqi al Qaeda group says behind Baghdad bombings
Tue,27 Dec 2011 03:12 AM PST
Reuters -  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq has claimed responsibility for a slew of bombings that killed at least 71 people in Baghdad last week, a group that monitors online communication among insurgents said Tuesday. A suicide car bomber and multiple roadside bombs hit Baghdad's mainly Shi'ite areas on December 22 in the first attacks on the capital since U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq on December 18. ...
Full Story | Top |
E&Y audit panel says no violations in Olympus handover
Tue,27 Dec 2011 03:09 AM PST
Reuters -  TOKYO (Reuters) - A panel reviewing the auditing of Olympus Corp after its $1.7 billion accounting scandal said it had so far not found any problems with the work of Ernst & Young's Japanese arm and questioned the accuracy of a separate investigation critical of auditors. But the panel, set up by Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC earlier this month, acknowledged that its powers of investigation were limited. The hurdles include an inability to question prior auditor, KMPG AZSA LLC, which does not want to participate in the probe. ...
Full Story | Top |
China to start work on world's highest airport
Tue,27 Dec 2011 03:58 AM PST
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - China will start work on the world's highest airport next year, in Tibet's Nagqu county, state media said on Tuesday, which will be about 100 meters (328 ft) higher than the existing record holder in another part of the remote and restive region. Nagqu airport will be at an altitude of 4,436 meters (14,553 ft) above sea level, slightly higher than the airport in Qamdo town at 4,334 meters (14,219 ft), Xinhua news agency reported. The airport will cost 1.8 billion yuan ($280 million) and is expected to open in three years, Xinhua added. ...
Full Story | Top |
Paul builds campaign on doomsday scenarios
Mon,26 Dec 2011 10:42 AM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON, Iowa (Reuters) - The man who might win the Republican Party's first presidential nominating contest fears that the United Nations may take control of the U.S. money supply. Campaigning for the January 3 Iowa caucuses, Ron Paul warns of eroding civil liberties, a Soviet Union-style economic collapse and violence in the streets. The Texas congressman, author of "End the Fed," also wants to eliminate the central banking system that underpins the world's largest economy. ...
Full Story | Top |
U.S. stores hope "Mega Monday" led to brisk sales
Mon,26 Dec 2011 03:53 PM PST
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Shoppers found a mixed bag of bargains and so-so deals on Monday, as a day off for many Americans lured some out for what was likely to be the third-busiest shopping day of the holiday season. Chains were also hoping that shoppers coming in to redeem the millions of gift cards given as presents might be willing to spend a bit more cash of their own. Many retailers were still relying on bargains to entice shoppers on the day after Christmas. ...
Full Story | Top |
Tepco seeks $9 billion more for Fukushima compensation
Mon,26 Dec 2011 07:57 PM PST
Reuters -  TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co asked a government-backed bailout body on Tuesday for an additional 690 billion yen ($8.8 billion) to help compensate victims of the nuclear crisis at its Fukushima Daiichi power plant. To help Japan's biggest utility, known as Tepco, meet costs running into trillions of yen for compensation and cleanup, the government had already agreed in November to provide 890 billion yen through a bailout fund. ...
Full Story | Top |
Sadr bloc calls for early elections in Iraq
Mon,26 Dec 2011 02:44 PM PST
Reuters -  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The head of the political bloc of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on Monday for new elections in Iraq after the biggest crisis in a year saw Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki move against two senior Sunni rivals. Tensions are rising after Maliki, a Shi'ite, sought the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi - accused of running death squads. Maliki also asked parliament to fire Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq. ...
Full Story | Top |
Sony to sell LCD venture stake to Samsung for $940 million
Mon,26 Dec 2011 01:13 AM PST
Reuters -  TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) - Sony Corp has agreed to sell its nearly 50 percent stake in an LCD joint venture with Samsung Electronics to the South Korean company for $940 million, as it struggles to reduce huge losses at its TV business. The seven-year-old venture cut its capital by 15 percent in July and industry sources had said Sony was negotiating an exit, aiming to switch to cheaper outsourcing for flat screens for its TVs while Samsung pushes ahead with next-generation displays. ...
Full Story | Top |
Exclusive: Afghanistan sets ground rules for Taliban
Mon,26 Dec 2011 02:03 PM PST
Reuters -  KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan will accept a Taliban liaison office in Qatar to start peace talks but no foreign power can get involved in the process without its consent, the government's peace council said, as efforts gather pace to find a solution to the decade-long war. Afghanistan's High Peace Council, in a note to foreign missions, has set out ground rules for engaging the Taliban after Kabul grew concerned that the United States and Qatar, helped by Germany, had secretly agreed with the Taliban to open an office in the Qatari capital, Doha. U.S. ...
Full Story | Top |
Gunman in Santa suit killed six, self in Texas: police
Mon,26 Dec 2011 08:53 AM PST
Reuters -  GRAPEVINE, Texas (Reuters) - A gunman who killed six people and himself at a family Christmas celebration was dressed in a Santa Claus suit when opened fire, police said on Monday. Authorities continued their search for clues in Grapevine, a Dallas suburb dubbed the "Christmas Capital of Texas," to explain the Sunday murder-suicide rampage that left the seven shot dead among unwrapped holiday presents. The dead -- four women and three men ages 15 to 59 - were found Sunday morning in an apartment living room by police answering a voiceless 911 emergency call, authorities said. ...
Full Story | Top |
Nigerian leaders rapped after Islamists attack churches
Mon,26 Dec 2011 09:55 AM PST
Reuters -  ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's main opposition leader accused the government of incompetence on Monday after Islamist militants killed more than two dozen people in Christmas Day attacks on churches and other targets. Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner and former military ruler who lost a presidential election in April to incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian southerner, told a Nigerian daily that the government was slow to respond and had shown indifference to the bombings. ...
Full Story | Top |
Arab observers aim to see Syria's deadliest city
Mon,26 Dec 2011 04:59 PM PST
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Newly-arrived Arab League peace monitors will try Tuesday to see for themselves the situation in the Syrians city of Homs, which opponents of President Bashar al-Assad say has been pulverized by government troops and tanks in recent days. At least 31 people were killed in the city Monday as tanks fired into districts where opposition has been strongest to Assad's rule, activists said. ...
Full Story | Top |
PIP implants sold to Dutch firm under new name
Mon,26 Dec 2011 03:46 PM PST
Reuters -  AMSTERDAM/MARSEILLE (Reuters) - Potentially dangerous breast implants made by a now-defunct French company were sold to about 1,000 Dutch women under a different name, a Dutch health official said on Monday, broadening a scandal that could affect some 300,000 women worldwide. Dutch health authority spokeswoman Diane Bouhuijs said a Dutch company had bought implants made by France's Poly Implant Prothese, which went bankrupt in 2010 after French health authorities shut its doors and is now under investigation. The Dutch firm sold them in the Netherlands rebranded as "M-implants". ...
Full Story | Top |
Suicide bomber kills 7 outside Iraq ministry
Mon,26 Dec 2011 02:20 AM PST
Reuters - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed when a suicide car bomber hit Iraq's interior ministry on Monday in the latest attack since a crisis erupted between the Shi'ite-led government and Sunni leaders a week ago. Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sought the arrest of the Sunni vice president last Monday and asked parliament to fire his own Sunni deputy, triggering turmoil that threatens new sectarian strife just after the last U.S. troops withdrew. ... Full Story | Top |
Japan urges China to help keep North Korea in check
Sun,25 Dec 2011 11:12 PM PST
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - Japan urged China on Monday to shoulder a big role in ensuring North Korea avoids volatility after the death of its leader, Kim Jong-il. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda also urged Chinese President Hu Jintao to share information about developments in North Korea, where the succession of Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, has fanned speculation about who will really control the secretive one-party state and its nuclear program. ...
Full Story | Top |
Analysis: Russia's Putin risks losing touch amid protests
Mon,26 Dec 2011 07:50 AM PST
Reuters -  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin is looking increasingly out of touch in Russia after the opposition brought tens of thousands of people out onto the streets of Moscow for the second time in two weeks to demand a parliamentary election be re-run. But the looming New Year holiday in Russia means there is likely to be a pause in the biggest opposition protests since he rose to power 12 years ago and he will hope they will now at least temporarily lose momentum. ...
Full Story | Top |
U.S. mulling Yemen's Saleh travel request: official
Mon,26 Dec 2011 12:32 PM PST
Reuters -  HONOLULU (Reuters) - The U.S. government would only allow Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to travel to the United States for "legitimate" medical treatment, and is now considering the request, a senior Obama administration official said on Monday. The official said Saleh's office recently contacted the U.S. embassy in Sanaa to say the president plans to leave Yemen soon and wants to get specialized care in the United States related to injuries he sustained in a June assassination attempt that forced him into hospital in Saudi Arabia. ...
Full Story | Top |
Former South Korean first lady heads North for condolences
Mon,26 Dec 2011 08:26 AM PST
Reuters -  PAJU, South Korea (Reuters) - The widow of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, the author of a now-jettisoned engagement policy with North Korea, crossed the fortified land border between the two sides on Monday to pay her respects to deceased dictator Kim Jong-il. Ties between the North and South have been frozen since the election of conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in 2008, who cut aid in a bid to force the North to abandon a nuclear programme and bring it to the negotiating table. ...
Full Story | Top |
| |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment