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Sunday, September 2, 2012 12:01 AM PDT

Today's Reuters News Headlines - Yahoo! News: Romney's bounce from convention looks short-lived: Reuters/Ipsos poll Bernanke says Fed ready to act but short on specifics Isaac's remnants bring rain to drought-hit Midwest New York probes private equity tax strategy: source Syrian rebels hit back at Assad's air power Iran to hold major air defense drill: commander DOJ targets banks, others in new money laundering offensive Apple targets more Samsung products in patent suit Exclusive: Walmart tests iPhone app checkout feature Three dead in shooting at New Jersey grocery store Exclusive: Morgan Stanley Smith Barney rainmakers consider exit Romney appeals to voters disillusioned with Obama Thousands return home after Philippines quake, tsunami warning lifted Egypt says Syria's "oppressive regime" must go Major quake off Philippines causes panic but minor damage Consumer confidence rises but outlook still grim As Isaac fades, sparring over disaster funding Bernanke says Fed ready to act but short on specifics Two Afghan children beheaded in separate incidents North Korea makes "significant" nuclear reactor progress: IAEA Exclusive: China's Hu seeks clean power handover with ally's promotion - sources Insight: Brutality, anger fuel jihad in Russia's Caucasus Analysis: JPMorgan faces sea of trouble resolving "Whale" probe Insight: Does China's next leader have a soft spot for Tibet? WikiLeaks' Assange sees up to a year in Ecuador embassy Barclays picks retail banker to replace Diamond Egypt says Syria's "oppressive regime" must go Federal court blocks Texas voter ID law Exclusive: Google, Apple CEOs in secret patent talks Insight: Does China's next leader have a soft spot for Tibet? Iran doubles underground nuclear capacity: U.N. agency Romney takes lead over Obama with convention "bounce": Reuters/Ipsos poll Consumer spending posts biggest rise in five months Romney tells voters to move on from Obama disappointment Flooding from Isaac forces evacuation of 60,000 World food prices jumped 10 percent in July: World Bank Exclusive: U.N. patents body roiled by misconduct feud Former Murdoch executive held in UK hacking inquiry Iran's policies attacked by U.N. head, Egyptian leader Five Australian soldiers killed in Afghan incidents Romney's bounce from convention looks short-lived: Reuters/Ipsos poll Sat,1 Sep 2012 01:48 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A modest bump in popularity for U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney from this week's Republican Party convention looks to be short-lived, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Democratic President Barack Obama regained a narrow lead on Saturday by 44 percent to 43 percent over his Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Governor Romney, in the latest daily installment of the four-day rolling poll. ... Full Story Top Bernanke says Fed ready to act but short on specifics Sat,1 Sep 2012 10:44 AM PDT Reuters - JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday left the door wide open to a further easing of monetary policy, saying the stagnation in the U.S. labor market was a "grave concern," but he stopped short of providing a clear signal of imminent action. His stark language gave a temporary lift to U.S. stocks, but economists walked away from the Fed chairman's remarks still divided over whether the central bank would launch a fresh round of bond purchases at its upcoming meeting in September. ... Full Story Top Isaac's remnants bring rain to drought-hit Midwest Sat,1 Sep 2012 01:47 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - The remnants of Hurricane Isaac brought rain to drought-stricken parts of the lower U.S. Midwest on Saturday after the storm killed at least 30 people on its trek across the Caribbean and Louisiana and Mississippi, authorities said. Rainfall totals of no more than 3 inches were expected through the lower Ohio River Valley by Saturday night after Isaac lost much of its punch while passing over Missouri. Top sustained winds had dropped to 20 miles per hour and flash flood threats were diminishing, the National Weather Service said. ... Full Story Top New York probes private equity tax strategy: source Sat,1 Sep 2012 07:31 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - At least a dozen U.S. private equity firms have been subpoenaed by the New York state attorney general as part of a probe into whether a widely used tax strategy that saved these firms hundreds of millions of dollars is proper, a source familiar with the situation said on Saturday. Among the firms that were subpoenaed are Bain Capital LLC, KKR & Co LP, TPG Capital LP, Apollo Global Management LLC and Silver Lake Partners LP, the source said. Bain was once headed by Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate who hopes to unseat President Barack Obama in the November 6 election. ... Full Story Top Syrian rebels hit back at Assad's air power Sat,1 Sep 2012 01:03 PM PDT Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebels seized an air defense facility and attacked a military airport in eastern Syria on Saturday, a monitoring group said, hitting back at an air force which President Bashar al-Assad is increasingly relying on to crush his opponents. The attacks in eastern oil-producing Deir al-Zor province follow rebel strikes against military airports in the Aleppo and Idlib areas, close to the border with Turkey. ... Full Story Top Iran to hold major air defense drill: commander Sat,1 Sep 2012 08:05 AM PDT Reuters - DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will hold a large-scale military drill involving all its air defense systems next month, an Iranian commander was quoted as saying on Saturday, one of a number of military simulations it has carried out this year. The air defense drill will include fighter jets and simulate emergency situations, said Farzad Esmaili, commander of the Iranian army's air defense force, according to Iran's English-language Press TV. ... Full Story Top DOJ targets banks, others in new money laundering offensive Fri,31 Aug 2012 05:47 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - The Department of Justice is shifting its sights to a new offensive in combating money laundering: bringing criminal charges against banks and other financial institutions for weak compliance systems that fail to catch illicit money flows. Even while the department's money-laundering unit is wrapping up a series of blockbuster cases involving sanctions-busting transactions routed through some of Europe's biggest banks, it has set its sights on the next front. ... Full Story Top Apple targets more Samsung products in patent suit Fri,31 Aug 2012 06:03 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Seeking to capitalize on a major legal victory over its rival Samsung Electronics Ltd, Apple Inc has asked a federal court in a separate case to find that four additional Samsung products, including the Galaxy S III, infringe Apple's patents. In February, Apple alleged that at least 17 Samsung products infringe its patents. In a court filing made in San Jose federal court on Friday, Apple added four more products to the list of allegedly infringing products that have been released beginning in August 2011 and continuing through this month. ... Full Story Top Exclusive: Walmart tests iPhone app checkout feature Fri,31 Aug 2012 02:01 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc is testing a system that would allow shoppers to scan items using their iPhones and then pay at a self-checkout counter, a move that could trim checkout times and slash costs for retailers. If the "Scan & Go" test by the world's largest retailer is successful, it has the potential to change the way people shop and pay, making the process more personal and potentially faster. ... Full Story Top Three dead in shooting at New Jersey grocery store Fri,31 Aug 2012 01:33 PM PDT Reuters - OLD BRIDGE, New Jersey (Reuters) - An employee at a suburban New Jersey supermarket opened fire in the store in the pre-dawn hours on Friday, killing two co-workers and then taking his own life, a prosecutor said. The 23-year-old shooter, identified as Terence S. Tyler by a police source, was on a night shift at the Pathmark grocery when he left the store about 3:30 a.m. EDT. He returned shortly after with an AK-47 automatic rifle and a handgun, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan told a news conference. ... Full Story Top Exclusive: Morgan Stanley Smith Barney rainmakers consider exit Fri,31 Aug 2012 11:53 AM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Several dozen Morgan Stanley Smith Barney advisers who manage tens of billions of dollars of client money are considering leaving the firm, saying that widespread technology problems have made it very difficult for them to do their jobs, according to people familiar with the matter. The group has hired a lawyer to argue that they should be able to keep lucrative retention payments even if they quit, and they have also drafted a letter to Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman outlining their concerns, though the letter has not yet been sent, the sources said. ... Full Story Top Romney appeals to voters disillusioned with Obama Fri,31 Aug 2012 02:46 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney urged voters on Thursday to help him rebuild the U.S. economy and create millions of new jobs, asking them to overcome their disappointment in President Barack Obama and join him in restoring the promise of America. In a high-stakes speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination, Romney said he would work to unify a divided country that believed Obama's lofty campaign promises but had lost hope they would be fulfilled. "What is needed in our country today is not complicated or profound. ... Full Story Top Thousands return home after Philippines quake, tsunami warning lifted Fri,31 Aug 2012 08:19 PM PDT Reuters - GUIUAN, Philippines (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people on a central Philippine island returned home on Saturday after a tsunami alert was lifted following a 7.6 magnitude undersea quake, as local authorities began work to repair damages to public infrastructure. The earthquake 91 miles off the town of Guiuan on Samar island on Friday killed one person and caused only minor damage, but prompted the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to issued a tsunami warning. ... Full Story Top Egypt says Syria's "oppressive regime" must go Fri,31 Aug 2012 02:13 PM PDT Reuters - DUBAI/AMMAN (Reuters) - Egypt called on Thursday for intervention to halt bloodshed in Syria, telling a meeting of 120 nations it was their duty to stand against the "oppressive regime" of Bashar al-Assad, prompting a Syrian walkout. President Mohamed Mursi, elected two months ago after a popular uprising toppled Egypt's long-standing leader Hosni Mubarak, said Assad had lost legitimacy in his fight to crush a 17-month-old revolt in which 20,000 people have been killed. ... Full Story Top Major quake off Philippines causes panic but minor damage Fri,31 Aug 2012 09:55 AM PDT Reuters - MANILA (Reuters) - An earthquake of 7.6 magnitude struck off the Philippines on Friday killing one person, damaging roads and bridges and sending people fleeing to higher ground in fear of a tsunami, a politician and authorities said. The quake was centered off the east coast, 91 miles off the town of Guiuan in Samar province at a depth of about 20 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for much of the region, but cancelled it about two hours later. ... Full Story Top Consumer confidence rises but outlook still grim Fri,31 Aug 2012 08:16 AM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer sentiment hit a three-month high in August as households chipped away at outstanding debt, though Americans were pessimistic about the future, a survey showed on Friday. Separate reports on the manufacturing sector painted a mixed picture, with factory orders rising by more than expected in July but Midwest business activity slipping in August. Manufacturing had been at the vanguard of the country's recovery from the 2007-2009 recession but has lost momentum in recent months as economic difficulty in Europe and beyond has sapped overseas demand for U.S. products. ... Full Story Top As Isaac fades, sparring over disaster funding Fri,31 Aug 2012 02:51 PM PDT Reuters - NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The remnants of Hurricane Isaac brought heavy rainfall and the threat of flash flooding to the Mississippi Valley on Friday as Gulf Coast residents cleaned up and energy facilities prepared to grind back into operation. Major offshore oil drillers returned staff to their platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, although operations were expected to take several days to ramp up. One Louisiana refinery tapped into the U.S. government's emergency crude oil stockpile to speed up its output. ... Full Story Top Bernanke says Fed ready to act but short on specifics Fri,31 Aug 2012 01:27 PM PDT Reuters - JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday left the door wide open to a further easing of monetary policy, saying the stagnation in the U.S. labor market was a "grave concern," but he stopped short of providing a clear signal of imminent action. His stark language gave a temporary lift to U.S. stocks, but economists walked away from the Fed chairman's remarks still divided over whether the central bank would launch a fresh round of bond purchases at its upcoming meeting in September. ... Full Story Top Two Afghan children beheaded in separate incidents Fri,31 Aug 2012 11:23 AM PDT Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - An adolescent boy and a young girl have been beheaded in two separate incidents in Afghanistan, local officials and police said on Friday, in the latest brazen attacks that have raised fresh questions about a splintering Taliban. A 12-year-old boy was kidnapped and killed in southern Kandahar province on Wednesday, his severed head placed near his body to send a warning to police, said provincial governor spokesman Jawid Faisal. The brother of the boy, neither of whom were named by officials, was a member of the Afghan Local Police (ALP), a U.S. ... Full Story Top North Korea makes "significant" nuclear reactor progress: IAEA Fri,31 Aug 2012 06:21 AM PDT Reuters - VIENNA (Reuters) - North Korea has made significant progress in the construction of a light water atomic reactor over the past year, a U.N. watchdog report said, a facility that may extend Pyongyang's capacity to produce material for nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), citing satellite images, also said "certain activities" had been observed at locations where the reclusive Asian state "reportedly" conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. ... Full Story Top Exclusive: China's Hu seeks clean power handover with ally's promotion - sources Fri,31 Aug 2012 01:19 AM PDT Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - China's outgoing President Hu Jintao is angling to promote one of his closest allies to the military's decision-making body, sources said, in a move that would allow him to maintain an influence over Beijing's most potent instrument of power. Three sources with ties to the top leadership said Hu hopes to cut all of his direct links to the top echelons of power by early 2013, on the understanding that his protégé, Vice Premier Li Keqiang, is made a vice chairman of the military commission at the party's five-yearly congress later this year. ... Full Story Top Insight: Brutality, anger fuel jihad in Russia's Caucasus Fri,31 Aug 2012 01:14 AM PDT Reuters - GIMRY, Russia (Reuters) - Little girls in hijabs peek out of tin-roof houses and boys play at "cops and insurgents" in the narrow dirt streets. At one end of the village of Gimry men are building a new, red-brick madrassa, one of many religious schools springing up across Dagestan, a region in the high Caucasus mountains on Russia's southern fringe, in the throes of an Islamic revival. More than a dozen young men from the village have "gone to the forest" - the local euphemism for joining insurgents in their hideouts, says village administrator Aliaskhab Magomedov. ... Full Story Top Analysis: JPMorgan faces sea of trouble resolving "Whale" probe Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:02 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - The fallout from a nearly $6 billion trading loss at JPMorgan Chase & Co looks like it will haunt the big U.S. bank and its high-profile chief executive, Jamie Dimon, for months to come. U.S. authorities are interviewing witnesses in both the United States and Europe to determine if three former London-based traders and others who worked with them at JPMorgan tried to hide some of the mounting losses during the first quarter of this year, said people familiar with the situation. The situation presents several challenges to U.S. ... Full Story Top Insight: Does China's next leader have a soft spot for Tibet? Fri,31 Aug 2012 01:06 AM PDT Reuters - BEIJING/DHARAMSALA (Reuters) - For decades, Beijing has maintained that the Dalai Lama is a separatist, but Tibet's exiled spiritual leader once had a special relationship with the father of Xi Jinping, the man in line to become China's next president. Few people know what Xi, whose ascent to the leadership is likely to be approved at a Communist Party congress later this year, thinks of Tibet or the Dalai Lama. ... Full Story Top WikiLeaks' Assange sees up to a year in Ecuador embassy Thu,30 Aug 2012 09:10 PM PDT Reuters - QUITO (Reuters) - Julian Assange expects to wait six months to a year for a deal to free him from Ecuador's embassy in London, and hopes Sweden will drop its case against him, the WikiLeaks' founder said in an interview broadcast on Thursday. The former computer hacker has been holed up at the embassy for more than two months, seeking to avoid being sent to Sweden for questioning over rape and sexual assault allegations - and triggering a diplomatic spat with Britain. ... Full Story Top Barclays picks retail banker to replace Diamond Thu,30 Aug 2012 11:00 AM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays named retail banker Antony Jenkins as chief executive on Thursday, signaling a shift from riskier investment banking as it tries to recover from the interest rate-rigging scandal that brought down his predecessor. Criticised by regulators for an aggressive culture under limelight-loving American Bob Diamond, Barclays must now decide how far to curb the investment bank he built and which generates most of the British bank's profits. ... Full Story Top Egypt says Syria's "oppressive regime" must go Thu,30 Aug 2012 11:22 AM PDT Reuters - DUBAI/AMMAN (Reuters) - Egypt called on Thursday for intervention to halt bloodshed in Syria, telling a meeting of 120 nations it was their duty to stand against the "oppressive regime" of Bashar al-Assad, prompting a Syrian walkout. President Mohamed Mursi, elected two months ago after a popular uprising toppled Egypt's long-standing leader Hosni Mubarak, said Assad had lost legitimacy in his fight to crush a 17-month-old revolt in which 20,000 people have been killed. ... Full Story Top Federal court blocks Texas voter ID law Thu,30 Aug 2012 04:59 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal court on Thursday blocked a Texas law that would require voters to show photo identification before casting ballots, saying the measure would likely curtail the ability of minorities to vote in the November 6 presidential election. Evidence showed the law did the most harm to African Americans and Hispanics, who are more likely to live in poverty, Circuit Judge David Tatel wrote for a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in Washington. Those without the underlying documents to obtain ID would have to purchase them, discouraging poor voters, he wrote. ... Full Story Top Exclusive: Google, Apple CEOs in secret patent talks Thu,30 Aug 2012 01:50 PM PDT Reuters - SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc Chief Executive Larry Page and Apple CEO Tim Cook have been conducting behind-the-scenes talks about a range of intellectual property matters, including the mobile patent disputes between the companies, people familiar with the matter said. The two executives had a phone conversation last week, the sources said. Discussions involving lower-level officials of the two companies are also ongoing. Page and Cook are expected to talk again in the coming weeks, though no firm date has been set, the sources said on Thursday. ... Full Story Top Insight: Does China's next leader have a soft spot for Tibet? Thu,30 Aug 2012 02:10 PM PDT Reuters - BEIJING/DHARAMSALA (Reuters) - For decades, Beijing has maintained that the Dalai Lama is a separatist, but Tibet's exiled spiritual leader once had a special relationship with the father of Xi Jinping, the man in line to become China's next president. Few people know what Xi, whose ascent to the leadership is likely to be approved at a Communist Party congress later this year, thinks of Tibet or the Dalai Lama. ... Full Story Top Iran doubles underground nuclear capacity: U.N. agency Thu,30 Aug 2012 01:41 PM PDT Reuters - VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has doubled the number of uranium enrichment centrifuges it has in an underground bunker, a U.N. report said on Thursday, showing Tehran has continued to expand its nuclear program despite Western pressure and the threat of an Israeli attack. As Israeli politicians increased their talk of air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites in recent months, the Islamic Republic was rapidly increasing the enrichment capacity of its Fordow site, buried deep underground to withstand any such hit. The U.N. ... Full Story Top Romney takes lead over Obama with convention "bounce": Reuters/Ipsos poll Thu,30 Aug 2012 01:37 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Mitt Romney has moved into a narrow lead over U.S. President Barack Obama in a small bounce for him from the Republican National Convention, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found on Thursday. Romney entered the week four points behind Obama in the first installment of a Reuters/Ipsos rolling poll, with Obama leading 46 percent to 42 percent. But the most recent daily rolling poll gave Romney a two-point lead of 44 percent to 42 percent among likely voters. ... Full Story Top Consumer spending posts biggest rise in five months Thu,30 Aug 2012 12:13 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending got off to a fairly firm start in the third quarter, rising by the most in five months and offering hope economic growth would pick up this quarter. Other data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits held steady last week. The reports were consistent with only moderate economic and job growth, and they kept alive the prospect of additional monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve. ... Full Story Top Romney tells voters to move on from Obama disappointment Thu,30 Aug 2012 04:19 PM PDT Reuters - TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney will urge Americans in a major speech on Thursday to leave behind their disappointment in President Barack Obama and join him to rebuild the U.S. economy and generate millions of jobs. Taking center stage with an address to the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida, Romney will vow to be a champion for small business and to restore a sense of innovation in America. "What is needed in our country today is not complicated or profound. It doesn't take a special government commission to tell us what America needs. What America needs is jobs. ... Full Story Top Flooding from Isaac forces evacuation of 60,000 Thu,30 Aug 2012 02:13 PM PDT Reuters - NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Torrential rain dropped by Hurricane Isaac threatened to burst a dam on Thursday, forcing evacuation of up to 60,000 people in Louisiana and Mississippi and leaving large areas of the region flooded and without power. Isaac, which was downgraded to a tropical depression on Thursday after moving in from the Gulf on Tuesday, left little damage in New Orleans, where stronger barriers were installed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Only one fatality linked to the storm has been confirmed so far. But it left a soggy mess across widespread areas of the U.S. ... Full Story Top World food prices jumped 10 percent in July: World Bank Thu,30 Aug 2012 11:42 AM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World food prices jumped 10 percent in July as drought parched crop lands in the United States and Eastern Europe, the World Bank said in a statement urging governments to shore up programs that protect their most vulnerable populations. From June to July, corn and wheat prices rose by 25 percent each, soybean prices by 17 percent, and only rice prices went down, by 4 percent, the World Bank said on Thursday. ... Full Story Top Exclusive: U.N. patents body roiled by misconduct feud Thu,30 Aug 2012 07:50 AM PDT Reuters - GENEVA (Reuters) - Four months after a U.N. agency's decision to send computer equipment to Iran and North Korea first stirred controversy, a feud has erupted between the body's director general and a suspended senior manager over misconduct allegations. In a suit filed with a U.N. tribunal, the manager accuses Francis Gurry, the Australian head of the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization, of pledging the equipment to the two sanctioned countries in exchange for their votes. ... Full Story Top Former Murdoch executive held in UK hacking inquiry Thu,30 Aug 2012 06:16 AM PDT Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Tom Crone, a former senior legal executive at Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper business, has been arrested by police investigating allegations of phone-hacking by journalists, media reported on Thursday. London police confirmed they had arrested a 60-year-old man at his home in southwest London on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, but declined to name him. ... Full Story Top Iran's policies attacked by U.N. head, Egyptian leader Thu,30 Aug 2012 10:48 AM PDT Reuters - DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.N. chief and Egypt's president delivered stinging speeches at a summit of developing nations in Iran on Thursday, damaging the host country's quest for global prestige and support for its nuclear program and its policy on Syria. The Iranians had to listen while Ban Ki-moon denounced them for calling for Israel's destruction and denying the Holocaust. ... Full Story Top Five Australian soldiers killed in Afghan incidents Wed,29 Aug 2012 11:38 PM PDT Reuters - KABUL/CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia suffered its worst combat losses since the Vietnam War when five troops were killed in Afghanistan, officials said on Thursday, prompting Prime Minister Julia Gillard to return home early from a regional Pacific leaders' conference. Officials from the Australian Defence Force and the NATO-led coalition said three Australians had been killed in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday by an Afghan wearing a soldier's uniform, bringing to 45 the number of NATO-led coalition troops killed in rogue shootings this year. ... Full Story Top

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