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| Indian government bows to pressure, agrees to vote on supermarket reform Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 11:20 PM PST  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Indian government bowed to intense opposition pressure and agreed on Thursday to a vote on its decision to let foreign supermarkets set up shop in India, taking a major step towards ending a deadlock that has paralyzed parliament for days. In finally conceding to a symbolic vote on its flagship economic reform, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's fragile coalition appears to have calculated that it has the numbers to overcome opposition demands for the measure to be rolled back. A lot is at stake for Singh's minority government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Geithner set for talks on cliff; senator sees "standoff" Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 10:30 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, President Barack Obama's chief negotiator in talks to avert the "fiscal cliff," will meet with Congressional leaders on Thursday amid signs that the market-rattling uncertainty about the outcome could go down to the wire. "It is not going to happen soon," Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the Senate's fourth-ranking Republican, said in a Fox Business News interview Wednesday evening of an agreement to avoid the tax hikes and spending cuts that will be triggered on January 1 without an act of Congress. ... Full Story | Top |
| Small sachets are big help for clean water in developing world Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 10:25 PM PST SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Greg Allgood tears open a small sachet and dumps the powder into a large plastic container filled with brown, murky water. After about five minutes of stirring, clumps of sludge form and sink to the bottom as the water starts to clear. "You let it settle, pour it through a cotton cloth and then you wait 20 minutes and it's ready to drink," said Allgood, the U.S.-based director of Procter & Gamble Co's not-for-profit programme to provide clean water in developing nations and disaster zones. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bangladesh fire protests rage, supervisors arrested Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 10:24 PM PST  DHAKA/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Three supervisors of a Bangladeshi garment factory were arrested on Wednesday as protests over a suspected arson fire that killed more than 100 people raged on into a third day, with textile workers and police clashing in the streets of a Dhaka suburb. The government has blamed last weekend's disaster, the country's worst-ever industrial blaze, on saboteurs and police said they had arrested two people, who were seen on CCTV footage trying to set fire to stockpiles of material in another factory. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kuwait could ban 100,000 from travel over dues: paper Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 10:21 PM PST KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait could ban nearly 100,000 of its residents from leaving the country for failing to pay dues owed to the state, local newspaper reported, quoting a senior Justice Ministry official. The policy is part of a government plan to collect nearly 12 million Kuwaiti dinars ($42.6 million) in fees for the use of state services, or as fines in felony and misdemeanor cases, Thursday's edition of the Kuwait Times quoted Mohammad al-Duaij as saying. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan doctor in bin Laden case starts hunger strike Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 10:09 PM PST  PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - The Pakistani doctor who helped the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hunt down Osama bin Laden started a hunger strike in his jail cell this week to protest against his living conditions, prison officials said on Thursday. Shakil Afridi was sentenced in May to 33 years in jail for his links to a banned militant group. The decision was widely seen as punishment for helping the CIA find the al Qaeda leader, and has led to strained ties between Washington and Islamabad. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. set for implicit recognition of Palestinian state, despite U.S., Israel threats Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 10:07 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly is set to implicitly recognize a sovereign state of Palestine on Thursday despite threats by the United States and Israel to punish the Palestinian Authority by withholding much-needed funds for the West Bank government. A Palestinian resolution that would change the Palestinian Authority's U.N. observer status from "entity" to "non-member state," like the Vatican, is expected to pass easily in the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly. ... Full Story | Top |
| After election, pressure grows on Obama in Asia-Pacific trade talks Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 10:05 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-led talks on a free-trade pact in the Asia-Pacific region are entering a potential make-or-break stage, putting pressure on President Barack Obama and other leaders to sacrifice sensitive domestic interests for a big deal to boost growth. The 11 countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, talks meet next week in Auckland, New Zealand, for the 15th round since negotiations were launched in March 2010. With Obama now re-elected, U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| S.Africa's Zuma set for ANC re-election, Ramaphosa may come back Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 09:48 PM PST  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma looks set for re-election as head of the ruling ANC in December but the battle for the post of his deputy could thrust millionaire businessman and former unionist Cyril Ramaphosa back into political prominence. Despite sluggish growth in Africa's biggest economy, bloody labour strife that dented South Africa's image this year and a slew of scandals during Zuma's three years in power, five of the country's nine provinces are backing the president to stay on as leader of the African National Congress. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia could seek $2.5 bln IMF credit line for 2014 Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 09:43 PM PST TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia, struggling to return to economic stability after its Arab Spring uprising, could ask the International Monetary Fund for a standby credit line worth $2.5 billion, the investment minister said on Wednesday. "We are considering asking the IMF for a precautionary line of credit to give a guarantee for our financing need ... around $2.5 billion," Riad Bettaieb told Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting with an EU business delegation. He said the credit would be for 2014 and beyond, since public expenditure for 2013 was covered. ... Full Story | Top |
| African Development Bank to lend Tunisia $500 mln for 2013: agency Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 09:42 PM PST  TUNIS (Reuters) - The African Development Bank will loan Tunisia $500 million to help meet its 2013 public expenditures, the state news agency TAP said on Wednesday. Earlier this week the World Bank approved a $500 million loan to help the North African state recover from an Arab Spring uprising last year, and Tunisia had said about another $700 million would come from other lenders. Full Story | Top |
| Protesters threaten operation of Western Libya's main oil refinery Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 09:40 PM PST  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Protests outside western Libya's main oil refinery on Wednesday could shut down operations, causing a shortage of petrol in the country's capital, the deputy oil minister said. Omar Shakmak said that while the Zawiya Oil Refinery Co was still operational, protests by wounded war veterans demanding government compensation could cause a stoppage in fuel distribution. "We have enough fuel stored in Tripoli to last us 25 days but the problem is that protesters are not allowing trucks in or out of the fuel storage areas of the refinery which could cause a shortage," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congo accuses Rwanda of shielding alleged war criminal Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 09:38 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo accused neighboring Rwanda on Wednesday of supporting a rebellion in the country's east to prevent the arrest of former Congolese general Bosco Ntaganda who is wanted by the International Criminal Court. The eight-month-old insurgency in a resource-rich Congolese province by M23 rebels was partly triggered by President Joseph Kabila's plan to arrest Ntaganda on international charges of enlisting child soldiers, murder, ethnic persecution and rape. A group of experts has reported to the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Farm murders highlight apartheid's toxic legacy Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 09:34 PM PST ERMELO, South Africa (Reuters) - In a country cursed by one of the world's highest murder rates, being a white farmer makes a violent death an even higher risk. Whether attacks have been motivated by race or robbery, a rising death rate from rural homicides is drawing attention to the lack of change on South Africa's farms nearly two decades after the end of apartheid - and to the tensions burgeoning over enduring racial inequality. Some of South Africa's predominantly white commercial farmers go as far as to brand the farm killings a genocide. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australia's Gillard survives tough year, but polls defeat looms Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 09:33 PM PST  CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard heads into an election year with her leadership bruised over a union scandal dating back 20 years and with her government struggling to gain voter support after a brutal political year that ended on Thursday. Despite passing major reforms in 2012, Gillard's minority government trails in opinion polls after enduring a series of political scandals, a leadership fight with former prime minister Kevin Rudd, and regular suggestions that Gillard should be replaced. ... Full Story | Top |
| Algeria hopes voter apathy won't spoil local elections Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 09:33 PM PST  ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria is hoping that a fair turnout in municipal elections on Thursday will strengthen the credibility of a political system that has survived the Arab Spring without major protests but failed to meet hopes for reform. The memory of a brutal civil war in the 1990s between Islamists and the state that killed around 200,000 people is a key factor, analysts say, that has held Algerians back from mass protests like those that swept away rulers in neighbouring Tunisia and Libya, as well as Egypt and Yemen. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congo rebels keep hold on towns they pledged to leave Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 09:27 PM PST  GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo kept a firm grip on Wednesday over towns captured from government forces, despite a pledge to respect a deal brokered by Uganda and withdraw. World powers and regional neighbours are scrambling to contain the latest violence in Congo's volatile east, where political and ethnic rifts and competition for vast mineral resources are again threatening to ignite a regional war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Mursi to urge unity in face of political crisis Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 09:25 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi will address the nation on Thursday, calling for unity as he pushes through a new constitution he hopes will defuse a crisis prompted by his decision to grant himself sweeping powers. The assembly tasked with writing the constitution ended its session in the early hours on Thursday, wrapping the final draft it will put to vote later in the day. But as Mursi's opponents pressed on with their week-old protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square, critics said the Islamist-dominated assembly's bid to finish the constitution quickly could make matters worse. ... Full Story | Top |
| UN chief recommends 'offensive military operation' in Mali Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 09:24 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday recommended that the Security Council approve an African Union peace enforcement mission be deployed to combat Islamist extremists in northern Mali, but did not offer financial support from the world body. Diplomats and U.N. officials say that peace enforcement missions allow the use of lethal force in serious combat situations, while peacekeeping operations are intended to support and monitor an already existing ceasefire. The last U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese police plan to board ships in disputed seas Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 08:57 PM PST  BEIJING (Reuters) - Police in the southern Chinese island province of Hainan will board and search ships which enter into what China considers its territorial waters in the disputed South China Sea, state media said on Thursday, a move which could raise tensions further. The South China Sea is Asia's biggest potential military trouble spot with several Asian countries claiming sovereignty. ... Full Story | Top |
| Shifting account of CIA's Libya talking points fuels Rice controversy Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 08:37 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When U.S. intelligence officials testified behind closed doors two weeks ago, they were asked point blank whether they had altered the talking points on which U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice based her comments about the Benghazi attacks that have turned into a political firestorm. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, acting CIA Director Michael Morell and National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen each said no, according to two congressional sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Farm murders highlight apartheid's toxic legacy in South Africa Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 08:17 PM PST  ERMELO, South Africa (Reuters) - In a country cursed by one of the world's highest murder rates, being a white farmer makes a violent death an even higher risk. Whether attacks have been motivated by race or robbery, a rising death rate from rural homicides is drawing attention to the lack of change on South Africa's farms nearly two decades after the end of apartheid - and to the tensions burgeoning over enduring racial inequality. Some of South Africa's predominantly white commercial farmers go as far as to brand the farm killings a genocide. ... Full Story | Top |
| New home sales stagnant, cast shadow on housing Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 07:57 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New U.S. single-family home sales fell slightly in October and sales for the prior month were revised sharply lower, casting a faint shadow over one of the brighter spots in the U.S. economy. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday sales dropped 0.3 percent last month to a 368,000-unit annual rate, while September's sales pace was revised to 369,000 from 389,000. The housing sector has been a point of relative strength this year in an economy beset by flagging business confidence and cooling demand from abroad. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. chief recommends "offensive military operation" in Mali Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 07:55 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday recommended that the Security Council approve an African Union peace enforcement mission be deployed to combat Islamist extremists in northern Mali, but did not offer financial support from the world body. Diplomats and U.N. officials say that peace enforcement missions allow the use of lethal force in serious combat situations, while peacekeeping operations are intended to support and monitor an already existing ceasefire. The last U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Riot police move in to end Myanmar copper mine protest Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 07:47 PM PST YANGON (Reuters) - Riot police fired water cannon and tear gas early on Thursday to break up a three-month protest against a vast copper mining project run by the powerful Myanmar military and its partner, a subsidiary of a Chinese arms manufacturer. After decades of oppression, the Monywa mine has become a test of Myanmar's commitment to reform as protesters probe new-found freedoms, including a relaxation of laws on protests that took effect in July. It also illustrates growing resentment towards Chinese companies that have expanded in recent years across the country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Milwaukee flight delayed after passenger finds shotgun shell Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 07:43 PM PST MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - A Delta flight from Milwaukee to Detroit was delayed on Wednesday after a passenger found a live shotgun shell by his seat and everyone on board had to pass through a security check a second time, a sheriff's official said. The passenger found the shell at 6:47 a.m. local time in the seat-back pocket in front of him, said Fran McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office. The incident occurred at Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport. A sheriff's canine unit swept the plane and found no other shell casings, McLaughlin said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan opposition LDP remains election favorite: poll Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 07:37 PM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) held on to its comfortable lead ahead of the December 16 general election, an opinion poll by the Nikkei daily showed on Thursday, with the hawkish Japan Restoration Party firmly in second place ahead of the ruling Democratic Party. The survey gave 23 percent support in the election for the lower house of parliament to the LDP, which is calling for aggressive monetary steps to end deflation. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. agents arrest ex-soldier wanted for war crimes in Bosnia Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 07:22 PM PST (Reuters) - A former Bosnian platoon commander accused of war crimes has been arrested by federal agents in New York on an extradition request from his home country, authorities said on Wednesday. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, said Sulejman Mujagic was arrested on Wednesday in Utica, New York, by federal agents following an extradition request from the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's new Restoration Party seeks bigger defense spending Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 07:06 PM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - A new Japanese party that hopes to become a force to contend with in a December 16 general election is calling for more defense spending to protect national interests and lower corporate and income taxes to bolster the economy, domestic media said on Thursday. The Japan Restoration Party, which came in second to the main opposition Liberal Democrats in an opinion poll published on Thursday, also wants to shrink the role of the central government while promoting free-market competition and making it easier to revise Japan's pacifist constitution. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chavez's return to Cuba for treatment rattles Venezuela Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 06:51 PM PST  CARACAS/HAVANA (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was back in Cuba on Wednesday for cancer-linked medical treatment that revived questions about the viability of his socialist rule and left Venezuelans again guessing about his exact condition. After weeks of scarce public appearances, Chavez, 58, announced in a letter on Tuesday that he was going to Havana for therapy known as "hyperbaric oxygenation" - a method used to reduce bone decay caused by radiation therapy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon says "lot of money" still to be made in arms business Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 06:45 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Pentagon's chief weapons buyer on Wednesday reassured industry executives and investors that there was still "a lot of money" to be made in the defense business, despite mounting budget pressures that will limit spending on new arms programs. Frank Kendall, defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said the budget outlook had clearly changed after a decade of continuous increases in U.S. military spending. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. scales back planned habitat protection for rare reindeer Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 06:40 PM PST SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - In a far corner of the northern Rockies dwells a dwindling band of reindeer so few in number they could hardly pull a sleigh, and environmentalists say a government plan to safeguard the elusive creatures' habitat offers them little hope. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday unveiled a final version of its habitat-protection rules for the last U.S. woodland caribou, popularly known as wild reindeer, that reduces the amount of land the government plans to set aside for the endangered animal by more than 90 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three accused of plotting to join al Qaeda indicted in California Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 06:13 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Three men accused of plotting to join up with al Qaeda and Taliban militants for training in Afghanistan were indicted on Wednesday in California in a move that could allow prosecutors to move to trial more quickly. But the four-page indictment, returned by a grand jury in Riverside, offered few details beyond those contained in a criminal complaint filed earlier this month against the men, all U.S. citizens or permanent residents. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cracks show in Republican unity on tax rates Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 06:05 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican unity against raising tax rates for the wealthy began to show cracks on Wednesday after a conservative congressman said he would back an agreement with President Barack Obama to raise rates on the rich but extend tax cuts for income below $250,000. With Congress scrambling to avert a series of tax increases and spending cuts due to kick in at the end of the year - known as the "fiscal cliff" - Representative Tom Cole said Republicans should approve a deal ensuring 98 percent of Americans do not suffer a tax increase that endangers the economic recovery. ... Full Story | Top |
| Animal rights group sues California restaurant over foie gras ban Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 05:59 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The animal rights group PETA sued a California restaurant on Wednesday that it says serves outlawed foie gras to patrons, in what appears to be the first lawsuit to enforce a state ban on the delicacy, PETA officials said. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said that Hot's Kitchen claimed to have stopped selling foie gras when a ban on producing or selling it took effect in July, but was offering it as a complimentary side dish to customers who order "THE Burger. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arizona declines to set up state-based health insurance exchange Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 05:34 PM PST PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said on Wednesday she was rejecting a major provision of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law that calls for creating state-based health insurance markets where consumers can purchase private, federally subsidized coverage. Citing lingering questions about the plan and operating costs she said would be passed on to families and small businesses, Brewer, a Republican, said Arizona would join at least 16 other states in opting instead for a federally run health insurance exchange. ... Full Story | Top |
| At White House, CEOs offer support for higher tax rates Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 05:30 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chief executives from corporations such as Goldman Sachs and Deloitte LLP met with President Barack Obama on Wednesday and offered support for resolving U.S. fiscal problems with an approach that included higher tax rates for wealthy Americans. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rice meets with Republicans, fails to win them over Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 05:19 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice failed on Wednesday to win over Republicans opposing her possible candidacy for U.S. secretary of state, and more senators - including a one-time supporter - questioned statements she made after the deadly attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi in September. U.S. Senator Susan Collins met with Rice for over an hour and said afterward she could not back Rice for secretary of state, if she were nominated by President Barack Obama, without more information. ... Full Story | Top |
| Low-profile lawmaker breaks into high-profile fiscal debate Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 05:03 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a U.S. Congress packed with big egos, Tom Cole keeps a low profile but isn't afraid to speak his mind. He did so on Wednesday, breaking ranks with Republicans by suggesting that they agree to President Barack Obama's plans to extend Bush-era tax rates on all but the wealthiest Americans. The comments thrust Cole, 63, into the spotlight, drawing a swift rebuke from House Speaker John Boehner and giving hope to Democrats that Republicans' opposition to any and all tax hikes was starting to crack. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy centre-left rivals face off in TV debate Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 04:51 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Italy's centre-left rivals Pier Luigi Bersani and Matteo Renzi went head-to-head in a final television debate on Wednesday before a runoff vote to choose who will stand in next year's election as candidate to succeed Prime Minister Mario Monti. In a calm discussion with few moments of tension, the candidates reaffirmed plans to continue the budget discipline and economic policy agenda of Monti's government while also ensuring fairness in society and protection for workers. ... Full Story | Top |
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