Today's Reuters News Headlines - Yahoo! News: | | Secret Service says three employees to leave over Colombia scandal Wed,18 Apr 2012 05:10 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three U.S. Secret Service employees under investigation for alleged misconduct with prostitutes in Colombia before a trip by President Barack Obama are leaving their jobs, the agency said on Wednesday. They were among 11 Secret Service agents and 10 U.S. military personnel who allegedly took as many as 21 women back to their hotel virtually on the eve of Obama's weekend trip to Cartagena for the Summit of the Americas. ... Full Story | Top | Syria yet to send "clear signal" on peace: U.N. chief Wed,18 Apr 2012 10:47 PM PDT Reuters - UNITED NATIONS/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria has not fully withdrawn troops and heavy weapons from towns, so far failing to send a "clear signal" about its commitment to peace, the U.N. chief said, underlining Western fears over the prospects for a week-old truce. In the first progress report since the Security Council passed a resolution on Saturday authorizing the deployment of observers, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proposed an expanded mission of 300 personnel to monitor a shaky ceasefire between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and opposition fighters. ... Full Story | Top | India tests long-range missile; capable of reaching China Wed,18 Apr 2012 08:32 PM PDT Reuters - BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - India test-fired a long range missile capable of reaching deep into China and Europe on Thursday, thrusting the emerging Asian power into an elite club of nations with intercontinental nuclear weapons capabilities. A scientist at the launch site said the launch was successful, minutes after television images showed the rocket with a range of more than 5,000 km (3,100 miles) blasting through clouds from an island off India's east coast. "It has met all the mission objectives," S.P.Dash, director of the test range, told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top | Series of blasts hit Iraq's capital: police sources Wed,18 Apr 2012 11:16 PM PDT Reuters - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed when five explosions rocked mainly Shi'ite Muslim areas in an apparent coordinated attack on Iraq's capital on Thursday, police and hospital sources said. Although overall violence has declined from the height of sectarian conflict in 2006-07, bombings and killings still occur on a daily basis and a crisis amongst Iraq's fragile coalition government of Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds has raised tensions. Roadside bombs targeting laborers and security forces killed seven people and wounded 20 others, the sources said. ... Full Story | Top | Troops pose with maimed Afghan insurgent bodies Wed,18 Apr 2012 04:02 PM PDT Reuters - BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. troops are seen posing with the maimed bodies of suspected Afghan insurgents in photos published on Wednesday, an incident that threatened to further fray U.S.-Afghan ties and prompted yet another apology from Washington for soldiers' misbehavior. In one of the pictures, a U.S. paratrooper posed next to an unofficial patch placed beside a body that read "Zombie Hunter," while in another photo soldiers posed with Afghan police holding the severed legs of an insurgent bomber. ... Full Story | Top | IMF says secures $320 billion in drive for new funds Wed,18 Apr 2012 08:03 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday it had raised $320 billion so far in a bid to boost its firepower to deal with the euro zone debt crisis, with Poland and Switzerland joining the effort. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she had received commitments of $34 billion on Wednesday, including $8 billion from Poland and "a substantial amount" from Switzerland. "Ensuring that the Fund has sufficient resources to tackle crises and to promote global economic stability is in the interests of all our members," she said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top | House votes again to approve Keystone XL pipeline Wed,18 Apr 2012 03:19 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday in favor of speeding up the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada for the fourth time in two years, but the Nebraska Republican who has championed the project knows the vote may not be the last. The pipeline, put on hold by President Barack Obama earlier this year, has become an outsized political symbol heading into the November elections as Republicans use it to attack Obama's economic and energy policies. ... Full Story | Top | BP proposes Gulf spill accord terms, trial delay Wed,18 Apr 2012 01:16 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - BP Plc reached settlements to resolve billions of dollars of claims from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and asked a U.S. judge for a long delay in any trial over remaining disputes stemming from the disaster. The London-based oil company expects under Wednesday's agreements to pay $7.8 billion to resolve economic, property and medical claims by more than 100,000 individuals and businesses. That payout would make the accord one of the largest class-action settlements in U.S. history. There is no cap, and the ultimate payout may be higher or lower than BP projects. ... Full Story | Top | Apple wants trial on e-book price-fixing: lawyer Wed,18 Apr 2012 01:52 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc wants to go to trial to defend itself against U.S. government allegations that it conspired with publishers to raise prices of electronic books, a lawyer for the Silicon Valley giant said in court on Wednesday. Two publishers took a similar stance in the first hearing in Manhattan federal court since the anti-trust division of the Department of Justice last week accused Apple and five publishers of colluding to break up Amazon.com's low-cost dominance of the digital book market. ... Full Story | Top | Spain has few ways to pressure Argentina over YPF Wed,18 Apr 2012 12:16 PM PDT Reuters - MADRID (Reuters) - Spain has threatened to retaliate against Argentina for nationalizing a Spanish energy firm, but Madrid will find it hard to put real pressure on a maverick nation that has been shut out of world debt markets and has ignored international fines in previous disputes. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said this week she would fulfill a life-long dream and solve her country's energy shortage by seizing control of its biggest oil company, YPF, a subsidiary of Spain's Repsol. Madrid immediately threatened economic and diplomatic "consequences". ... Full Story | Top | Obama calls Buffett to wish him well after cancer news Wed,18 Apr 2012 10:25 AM PDT Reuters - ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called Warren Buffett on Wednesday, the White House said, following the billionaire investor's disclosure that he had been diagnosed with stage one prostate cancer. "They spoke briefly, he (Obama) wished him well," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters traveling with Obama to an event in Ohio. (Reporting By Laura MacInnis; Editing by Sandra Maler) Full Story | Top | Gunfire and wrangling cloud U.N. Syria mission Wed,18 Apr 2012 03:41 PM PDT Reuters - BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) - Gunfire and protests near a team of U.N. observers in Syria and diplomatic wrangling over the scope of their mission underlined the precarious prospects for a week-old truce which has so far failed to halt a year of bloodshed. Shooting erupted on Wednesday close to an advance party of military personnel from the United Nations who had been swarmed by protesters denouncing President Bashar al-Assad in the town of Erbin, on the northeastern outskirts of the capital Damascus. There were no reports of casualties. ... Full Story | Top | Secret Service probing possible past misconduct: Senator Wed,18 Apr 2012 01:09 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Secret Service is "scrubbing" its files for past incidents involving agents like last week's alleged misconduct with prostitutes at a Colombia hotel, a Republican senator said on Wednesday. U.S. Senator Susan Collins said she told Secret Service director Mark Sullivan she found it hard to believe the episode was the only one of its kind, because "there were too many people involved." "He said they were scrubbing the files and looking at whether there were any hints that there had been previous incidents," Collins told reporters outside the Senate. ... Full Story | Top | U.S. signals comfort with IMF bid for more funds Wed,18 Apr 2012 02:12 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday threw its support behind a bid to boost the International Monetary Fund's financial resources, signaling greater satisfaction among Group of 20 nations with Europe's efforts to resolve its debt crisis. The U.S. government will not chip in more money of its own, but warm words from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for commitments by others may clear a path for G20 nations meeting this week in Washington to agree on a way to bolster the IMF's war chest. ... Full Story | Top | Secret Service says three employees to leave over Colombia scandal Wed,18 Apr 2012 04:56 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three U.S. Secret Service employees under investigation for alleged misconduct with prostitutes in Colombia before a trip by President Barack Obama are leaving their jobs, the agency said on Wednesday. They were among 11 Secret Service agents and 10 U.S. military personnel who allegedly took as many as 21 women back to their hotel virtually on the eve of Obama's weekend trip to Cartagena for the Summit of the Americas. ... Full Story | Top | U.S. warns of Boko Haram attacks on Nigeria capital Wed,18 Apr 2012 01:10 PM PDT Reuters - ABUJA (Reuters) - The United States warned its citizens in Nigeria on Wednesday that Islamist militant group Boko Haram might be planning attacks on the capital Abuja - but the Nigerian government dismissed the alert saying it would create "undue panic." Boko Haram, which wants sharia (Islamic law) more widely applied across Africa's most populous nation, has killed hundreds in gun and bomb attacks this year. "The U.S. ... Full Story | Top | Pentagon seeks to loosen some export restrictions Wed,18 Apr 2012 12:02 PM PDT Reuters - COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (Reuters) - A new Pentagon report on Wednesday recommended loosening U.S. export controls on "hundreds of thousands" of items on communications satellites and remote sensing equipment, while maintaining or tightening controls on exports to China, Iran and other countries. Greg Schulte, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said the report also recommended returning the authority to determine export controls to the president, a move that would require new legislation. Schulte told reporters that the changes, if approved by Congress, would help make ... Full Story | Top | Supreme Court: torture law applies only to people Wed,18 Apr 2012 08:26 AM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority and PLO cannot be sued under a 1991 U.S. victim protection law over the alleged torture of an American in a West Bank prison, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, holding that the law only applies to individuals. The justices unanimously agreed with the Obama administration that the Torture Victim Protection Act allowed civil lawsuits in U.S. courts only against a person who had engaged in torture or killing, not against groups. ... Full Story | Top | News Corp suspends voting rights for some non-U.S. shareholders Wed,18 Apr 2012 06:37 AM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - News Corp suspended half the voting rights of its non-American shareholders to comply with a U.S. law that limits foreign ownership, after the media company found it had breached the rule. During a company review, News Corp found voting stock held by foreign investors had risen to 36 percent of its Class B common stock, above the 25 percent limit set by the Communications Act of 1934. To deal with the breach, the company said the suspension of voting rights will remain in place for as long as the company deems it necessary to maintain compliance with U.S. law. ... Full Story | Top | Panetta apologizes for photos of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan Wed,18 Apr 2012 10:21 AM PDT Reuters - BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta apologized on Wednesday for photographs that appeared in an American newspaper of U.S. soldiers posing with the maimed bodies of dead Afghan insurgents. "This is war, and I know war is ugly, and is violent. And I know young people sometimes caught up in the moment make some very foolish decisions," Panetta told a news conference during a meeting of NATO allies in Brussels. "I am not excusing that." He added: "My apology is on behalf of the Department of Defense and the U.S. government ... Again, that behavior is unacceptable. ... Full Story | Top | Angry North Korea threatens retaliation, nuclear test expected Wed,18 Apr 2012 07:40 AM PDT Reuters - SEOUL (Reuters) - A bristling North Korea said on Wednesday it was ready to retaliate in the face of international condemnation over its failed rocket launch, increasing the likelihood the hermit state will push ahead with a third nuclear test. The North also ditched an agreement to allow back inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency. That followed a U.S. decision, in response to a rocket launch the United States says was a disguised long-range missile test, to break off a deal earlier this year to provide the impoverished state with food aid. Pyongyang called the U.S. ... Full Story | Top | Media heavyweight investor Crawford to retire: source Wed,18 Apr 2012 01:16 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - One of the media industry's most influential investors, Gordon Crawford, intends to retire by the end of 2012 after more than four decades in the business, according to a person familiar with his decision. Investors often look to the low-key but hard-hitting senior vice-president of Capital Research and Management Co in Los Angeles, which as of its latest filing owned $12.3 billion of media stock, as a financial bellwether. Capital Research is the manager of the American Funds family of mutual funds. ... Full Story | Top | Stocks down, safe-havens in play as Europe fears return Wed,18 Apr 2012 07:07 AM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell at Wednesday's open, retreating from their biggest rally in a month in the previous session, while yields on Treasuries held steady as fears of a resurgence in the euro zone debt crisis boosted demand for safe-havens. Oil prices fell, with London's benchmark Brent crude falling nearly 1 percent to trade below $118 a barrel on concerns that uncertainties in the global economic recovery would weigh on demand for energy. ... Full Story | Top | Bosnia government adopts budget to open IMF door Wed,18 Apr 2012 09:07 AM PDT Reuters - SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Bosnia's central government adopted a much-delayed budget for 2012 on Wednesday, setting out wage and spending cuts as the Balkan country seeks talks next month with the International Monetary Fund on a new loan deal. Political bickering between rival Serb, Croat and Muslim leaders had delayed adoption of the budget and cost the country a B2 to B3 downgrade this month from Moody's ratings agency, in junk territory. Prime Minister Vjekoslav Bevanda told reporters that his cabinet had adopted a budget of 950 million Bosnian marka ($638 million) for state institutions. ... Full Story | Top | Lingering customers just one hurdle for Starbucks China growth Wed,18 Apr 2012 05:48 AM PDT Reuters - LOS ANGELES/BEIJING (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp has ambitious expansion plans in China, but like any big new emerging market there are teething problems, not least of which is that customers love it so much they stay for hours and hours and sometimes don't even buy a drink. Chief executive Howard Schultz expects mainland China to overtake Canada as Starbucks' second-largest market by 2014 and some analysts believe it could one day rival the United States as the company's biggest market. "The No. ... Full Story | Top | Italy shifts priority from austerity to growth Wed,18 Apr 2012 07:48 AM PDT Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti declared on Wednesday that reviving economic growth now had to take priority over belt tightening that could plunge the country deeper into recession. Monti delayed by a year his technocrat government's goal of balancing the budget in 2013 but market reaction was muted, in contrast to fellow euro zone struggler Spain which has sent its borrowing costs soaring by relaxing its deficit targets. "Everything, everything, everything that we are doing now is aimed towards helping growth," Monti told a news conference after a cabinet meeting. ... Full Story | Top | Norway's mass killer demands acquittal or death Wed,18 Apr 2012 12:27 PM PDT Reuters - OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian anti-Islamic fanatic Anders Behring Breivik said on Wednesday he should be executed or acquitted after killing 77 people last summer in what he said was a battle to defend Europe against mass immigration. "There are only two just outcomes to this case -- acquittal or the death penalty," the 33-year-old said, calling the prospect of a prison sentence "pathetic". Norway has no death penalty and formal sentencing cannot exceed 21 years, though Breivik could be held the rest of his life if he is judged to pose a continuing danger. ... Full Story | Top | Mr and Mrs Assad fight to salvage image Wed,18 Apr 2012 07:05 AM PDT Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma were shown on Syrian state TV packing food aid, an apparent effort to burnish the image of a first couple derided for ordering luxury goods on the Internet while their country burns. State television broadcast pictures on Wednesday of the Assads receiving a rapturous welcome at al-Fahya stadium in Damascus. They joined hundreds of volunteers boxing cartons full of flour, sugar, cooking oil and pasta for victims of fighting in Homs, where the president's forces are crushing an uprising. ... Full Story | Top | U.S. says Boko Haram plans attacks on Nigerian capital Wed,18 Apr 2012 05:42 AM PDT Reuters - ABUJA (Reuters) - The United States has warned its citizens living in Nigeria that Islamist sect Boko Haram is planning attacks on the capital Abuja, including major hotels there. Boko Haram, which wants sharia, Islamic law, more widely applied across Africa's most populous nation, has killed hundreds in gun and bomb attacks this year. "The U.S. Embassy has received information that Boko Haram may be planning attacks in Abuja, Nigeria, including against hotels frequently visited by Westerners," an emergency message on its website said on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top | Exclusive: Suu Kyi to visit Norway, Britain after 24 yrs in Myanmar: party Wed,18 Apr 2012 04:31 AM PDT Reuters - YANGON (Reuters) - Nobel Peace Prize laureate and newly elected lawmaker Aung San Suu Kyi will travel outside Myanmar for the first time in 24 years after accepting invitations to visit Norway and Britain in June, her party said on Wednesday. Her travel caps months of dramatic change in Myanmar, including a historic by-election on April 1 that won her a seat in a year-old parliament that replaced nearly five decades of oppressive military rule. ... Full Story | Top | Saudi might soon set minimum marriage age: paper Wed,18 Apr 2012 04:52 AM PDT Reuters - JEDDAH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is edging closer to setting a minimum age for marriage, a Justice Ministry official was quoted as saying on Wednesday, following international criticism of cases of child brides. "The ministry has adopted a clear stance on under-age marriages and the issue was raised to the regulators," Mohammed al-Babetein, head of the Justice Ministry's marriages department, was quoted as saying in the daily al-Madina newspaper. "It supports setting unified regulations to deal with such practices, which will ensure the safety of young girls," he said. ... Full Story | Top | Incensed Spain threatens Argentina after YPF seizure Tue,17 Apr 2012 11:24 PM PDT Reuters - MADRID (Reuters) - An incensed Spain threatened swift economic retaliation against Argentina on Tuesday after it unveiled plans to seize YPF, the South American nation's biggest oil company which is controlled by Spanish energy group Repsol. Madrid called in Argentina's ambassador over the nationalization order on Monday by Argentina's combative president, Cristina Fernandez, a move that sent Repsol shares tumbling but delighted many ordinary Argentines. "I must express my profound unease. It's a negative decision for everyone," Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said. ... Full Story | Top | Warren Buffett has prostate cancer, sees no danger Tue,17 Apr 2012 04:33 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc Chief Executive Warren Buffett said he has stage 1 prostate cancer but his condition "is not remotely life-threatening or even debilitating in any meaningful way." Buffett, the world's third-richest man, will begin a two-month treatment consisting of daily radiation treatments starting in mid-July, he said in a statement on Tuesday. This will limit his ability to travel during that time, Buffett added. ... Full Story | Top | Apple investors brace for more turbulence Wed,18 Apr 2012 10:35 AM PDT Reuters - SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc's results will be dissected more closely than ever next week, after a share swoon raised concerns on Wall Street that the stock's gravity-defying rally may be losing steam. Five straight days of stock losses for the world's most valuable company sparked fears it had ventured into dreaded bubble territory and was overdue for a strong pullback. Shares reversed course on Tuesday, gaining 5 percent. ... Full Story | Top | U.S.: Boko Haram plans attacks on Nigerian capital Wed,18 Apr 2012 03:37 AM PDT Reuters - ABUJA (Reuters) - The United States has warned its citizens living in Nigeria that Islamist sect Boko Haram is planning attacks on the capital Abuja, including major hotels there. "The U.S. Embassy has received information that Boko Haram may be planning attacks in Abuja, Nigeria, including against hotels frequently visited by Westerners," an emergency message on its website said. Boko Haram has killed hundreds in gun and bomb attacks this year. ... Full Story | Top | Exclusive: Chesapeake CEO took out $1.1 billion in unreported loans Wed,18 Apr 2012 04:43 AM PDT Reuters - HOUSTON (Reuters) - Aubrey McClendon, the CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corp, has borrowed as much as $1.1 billion over the last three years against his stake in thousands of company wells - a move that analysts, academics and attorneys who reviewed loan documents say raises the potential for conflicts of interest. The loans, which haven't been previously detailed to shareholders, are used to fund McClendon's operating costs for an unusual corporate perk that offers him a chance to invest in a 2.5 percent interest in every well the company drills. McClendon in turn is using the 2. ... Full Story | Top | U.N. sees need for more Syria observers, aircraft Tue,17 Apr 2012 02:14 PM PDT Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - A United Nations mission to oversee an end to violence in Syria may need to bring in its own aircraft and deploy more troops to ensure that a firm ceasefire takes hold throughout the country, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday. A six-day-old truce has held in some parts of Syria since President Bashar al-Assad pledged to enforce it last week. But in strong opposition areas such as Homs, Hama, Idlib and Deraa the army continues to attack and battle rebels, using heavy weapons in violation of the pledge by Damascus to pull back. ... Full Story | Top | Stung by gas prices, Obama seeks new oil market crackdown Tue,17 Apr 2012 12:51 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama, whose political fortunes are threatened by rising gasoline prices, proposed new measures on Tuesday to reduce oil market manipulation that are unlikely to get support from a divided Congress. Obama called on lawmakers to raise civil and criminal penalties on individuals and companies involved in manipulative practices. He also pressed for more money to fund the agency charged with policing the markets to hire "more cops" for oversight and upgrade old technology. ... Full Story | Top | Analysis: Spluttering economies to curtail earnings horizon Tue,17 Apr 2012 10:36 PM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Exuberant global markets have taken a reality check this month on chronic U.S., Chinese and European growth concerns, and investors should hold companies' relatively rosy profit outlooks up for scrutiny too. "Cheap" valuations based on historical price/earnings ratios have kept many investors bullish on world equities over the past three years despite what now appears to be routine economic disappointment and seemingly shorter business and profit cycles. ... Full Story | Top | Norway killer on trial: "I would have done it again" Tue,17 Apr 2012 09:19 AM PDT Reuters - OSLO (Reuters) - The Norwegian anti-Islamic gunman who massacred 77 people said in court on Tuesday his shooting spree and bomb attack were "sophisticated and spectacular" and that he would do the same thing again. Anders Behring Breivik, 33, has pleaded not guilty and said he was defending his country by setting off a car bomb that killed eight people at government headquarters in Oslo last July, then shooting another 69 people at a youth summer camp organized by the ruling Labour Party. ... Full Story | Top |
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