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| Japan likely to increase defense spending due to isles row: media Friday, Jan 04, 2013 08:51 PM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government is likely to increase defense spending for the first time in 11 years, Japanese media reported on Saturday, as newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledges a sterner response to a territorial dispute with China. The government is considering increasing defense spending by around 2 percent to more than 4.7 trillion yen ($53.4 billion) in the fiscal year starting in April, the Mainichi newspaper reported. It gave no source for its information. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chavez swearing-in can be delayed: Venezuelan VP Friday, Jan 04, 2013 06:40 PM PST  CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez's formal swearing-in for a new six-year term scheduled for January 10 can be postponed if he is unable to attend due to his battle to recover from cancer surgery, Venezuela's vice president said on Friday. Nicolas Maduro's comments were the clearest indication yet that the Venezuelan government is preparing to delay the swearing-in while avoiding naming a replacement for Chavez or calling a new election in the South American OPEC nation. In power since 1999, the 58-year-old socialist leader has not been seen in public for more than three weeks. ... Full Story | Top |
| California official urges law to stop rape by impersonators Friday, Jan 04, 2013 06:40 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's attorney general on Friday called on lawmakers to update the state's definition of sexual assault after appellate judges overturned a rape conviction on grounds that an obscure, 19th-century law fails to protect unmarried women when a rapist impersonates a lover. The 1872 statute makes it a crime for a man to have sex with a woman while posing as her husband. But it does not address the case of an impostor who poses as a woman's boyfriend, which was key to the overturned conviction because the woman in that case was unmarried. ... Full Story | Top |
| AT&T, Microsoft among donors to Obama's second inauguration Friday, Jan 04, 2013 06:36 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 400 donors, including AT&T Inc and Microsoft, have contributed money to help pay for the festivities to mark President Barack Obama's inauguration to a second term, organizers said on Friday. The committee of Obama supporters organizing the parade and other gala events did not say how much money has been raised so far, disclosing only the list of "benefactors," most of whom are individuals. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed's Bullard: Central banks have let independence slip Friday, Jan 04, 2013 05:47 PM PST SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - The world's top central banks have sacrificed some of their cherished independence as a result of fiscal-like policies undertaken to repair the damage of the global financial crisis, a senior Federal Reserve official said on Friday, calling the ECB one of the worst offenders. James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, described the European Central Bank's bond-buying program as a "fiscalization" of monetary policy, and said it had weakened the ECB's response to the European recession. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed's Plosser sees lasting blow to potential growth rate Friday, Jan 04, 2013 05:47 PM PST SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - The United States economy likely suffered a lasting decline in its trend potential growth rate as a result of the severe 2007-2009 U.S. recession, a top official of the Federal Reserve said on Friday. "Any of you who have looked at the data of the most recent ... recession, it certainly looks like we've had a permanent shock," Charles Plosser, president of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, told a panel at the annual meeting of the American Economic Association. "The problem is we won't know the answer to that for many years to come. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wall Street economists see Fed's Treasury buying ending in 2013: Reuters poll Friday, Jan 04, 2013 05:47 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most economists at Wall Street's top financial institutions expect the Federal Reserve in 2013 to end the program with which it bought Treasury debt in an effort to stimulate the economy, according to a Reuters poll on Friday. Economists at nine of 16 primary dealers -- the large financial institutions that do business directly with the Fed -- said they expect the current Fed program of buying $45 billion per month of Treasuries to end in 2013. Of the nine, eight said the central bank would quit the program in the fourth quarter or the end of the year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed officials suggest possible end to asset purchases in 2013 Friday, Jan 04, 2013 05:47 PM PST  SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve could halt its asset purchases this year, two top Fed officials suggested on Friday, a view also gaining traction among economists at Wall Street's top financial institutions. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, a voting member of the Fed's monetary policy panel in 2013, said a drop in the unemployment rate to 7.1 percent would probably constitute the "substantial improvement" in the labor market that the central bank seeks. That's the bar for the Fed's policy-setting committee to halt the current round of asset purchases that it began in September. ... Full Story | Top |
| Air Force recruiter charged with rape as sex scandal expands Friday, Jan 04, 2013 05:12 PM PST SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A male Air Force recruiting sergeant in the Houston area was charged on Friday with rape and other sexual misconduct with female applicants and a female recruiter, said officials with the Air Force, which is already dealing with a widespread sex-with-recruits scandal. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council voices worry about Central African Republic rebels Friday, Jan 04, 2013 04:59 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council voiced alarm on Friday at an advance by rebels in Central African Republic that has brought them within striking distance of the mineral-rich nation's capital, and renewed its call for a negotiated solution to the crisis. Central African Republic President Francois Bozize will refuse to leave power during talks with the Seleka rebel alliance, his spokesman said on Thursday, rejecting the insurgents' main demand and raising the prospect of a return to fighting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Northern Irish fighting rages on as rioters branded "a disgrace" Friday, Jan 04, 2013 04:55 PM PST  BELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Irish police came under attack by pro-British loyalists on Friday as the province's first minister branded rioters "a disgrace" and said they were playing into the hands of rival militant nationalists. Rioting began a month ago after a vote by mostly nationalist pro-Irish councillors to end the century-old tradition of flying the British flag from Belfast City Hall every day unleashed the most sustained period of violence in the city for years. ... Full Story | Top |
| California official urges new law to stop rape by impersonators Friday, Jan 04, 2013 04:52 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's attorney general on Friday called on lawmakers to update the state's definition of sexual assault after appellate judges overturned a rape conviction on grounds that an obscure, 19th-century law fails to protect unmarried women when a rapist impersonates a lover. The 1872 statute makes it a crime for a man to have sex with a woman while posing as her husband. But it does not address the case of an impostor who poses as a woman's boyfriend, which was key to the overturned conviction because the woman in that case was unmarried. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tough U.S. crackdown on tax evaders forces Swiss bank to shut down Friday, Jan 04, 2013 04:48 PM PST (Reuters) - The U.S. government has raised the stakes in its crackdown on Swiss banks through a hard-charging prosecution that has forced the closing of a 272-year-old Swiss firm for offering tax-evasion services to wealthy Americans. Tax lawyers and former prosecutors said on Friday the closing of Wegelin & Co, Switzerland's oldest private bank, served as a stark warning for some Swiss banks under investigation, especially smaller firms such as Wegelin. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. regulator sues JPMorgan over WaMu mortgage securities Friday, Jan 04, 2013 04:34 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. credit union regulator sued JPMorgan and Washington Mutual late Friday over $2.2 billion in mortgage securities sold to credit unions that collapsed because of losses from the securities. The suit is the third the regulator, the National Credit Union Administration, has filed against JPMorgan involving mortgage losses, and the second in the past month. In December, it sued the bank over $3.6 billion in securities sold by Bear Stearns, which JPMorgan acquired during the financial crisis. In June 2011, the NCUA sued over some $1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nancy Pelosi gets gig on ''30 Rock'' TV finale Friday, Jan 04, 2013 04:34 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nancy Pelosi will play some comedic hardball with Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey in the series finale of TV comedy "30 Rock," the Democratic leader in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Friday. The Emmy-winning show created by comedienne Fey about the day-to-day life of fictional sketch comedy show will air its final episode on January 31 after seven seasons. "I would do almost anything Tina Fey asks me to do," Pelosi said in a statement. "I'm flattered that they asked me to make a cameo in the series finale. I had a lot of fun. ... Full Story | Top |
| Weeks after Newtown massacre, nearby Stamford hosts gun show Friday, Jan 04, 2013 04:08 PM PST STAMFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - A gun show is being held this weekend in Stamford, Connecticut, despite the mayor's plea that the event not be held so soon after last month's massacre at an elementary school in nearby Newtown. The gun show is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at the city's Crowne Plaza Hotel, less than 50 miles from the shooting that brought renewed calls for gun control from across the country. The show's promoter is Westchester Collectors Inc., of Mahopac Falls, New York. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. senators seek probe into royalties on coal exports Friday, Jan 04, 2013 04:05 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two influential U.S. senators have asked the Interior Department to examine whether coal companies are dodging hundreds of millions of dollars in royalty payments on lucrative sales to Asia, citing a Reuters investigation into the matter. The lawmakers who lead the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee want officials to find out whether miners are short-changing taxpayers when they tap the coal-rich Powder River Basin in eastern Montana and Wyoming. The basin is mainly federal land and so taxpayers are due a share of those sales. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Fiscal cliff" deal a budget help or hindrance? Yes, says CBO Friday, Jan 04, 2013 04:05 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - So does Congress' landmark deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" by canceling tax hikes on most Americans increase or decrease long-term U.S. budget deficits? The answer is a definitive "yes," the Congressional Budget Office said on Friday. It all depends on the comparison. And by the way, it also helps - and hurts - the economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two New Jersey school districts install armed police guards Friday, Jan 04, 2013 04:00 PM PST (Reuters) - At least two New Jersey school districts this week put armed police guards at the entrance to public schools in the wake of the Connecticut elementary school massacre. In Marlboro Township in central New Jersey's Monmouth County armed guards were on duty on Wednesday to check every child, teacher and visitor as they arrived and left any of the district's eight schools, which serve children in pre-Kindergarten through eighth grade. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to continue helicopter purchase with only 1 bidder Friday, Jan 04, 2013 03:51 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force on Friday declined to confirm that it had received only one bid for a $6.8 billion helicopter competition, but said it had procedures in place that would allow the acquisition to continue regardless of the number of bidders. All but one of the contractors expected to bid to build a new combat search and rescue helicopter for the Air Force announced last month that they would not compete, raising the prospect that the Air Force would have to adopt a different approach to the acquisition program. ... Full Story | Top |
| Politicians condemn New York newspaper that published gun owner map Friday, Jan 04, 2013 03:49 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York-area politicians denounced on Friday a local newspaper that has revealed the names and addresses of thousands of holders of gun permits, and they asked state legislators to make such information confidential. The decision by the Journal News, which serves the suburbs just north of New York City in Westchester and Rockland counties, to publish the identities was "deplorable" and "reckless," Rockland County legislator Frank Sparaco told a news conference, adding that it "has posed a serious threat to the residents of Rockland. ... Full Story | Top |
| All signs point to Hagel as pick for defense secretary Friday, Jan 04, 2013 03:48 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama appeared poised on Friday to pick former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as the next defense secretary and the announcement may come early next week. Sources on Capitol Hill and in the national security community said all signs were pointing to Hagel as Obama's choice to replace current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. The choice would likely set up a confirmation battle in the Senate over whether Hagel strongly supports key U.S. ally Israel. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central banks still hold all the cards Friday, Jan 04, 2013 03:46 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - If the opening salvos of 2013 tell investors anything, it's to keep their eyes fixed on the world's central banks rather than its more volatile politicians or even spluttering economies. Given the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest musings on Thursday about how long it can safely sustain its current super-easy monetary policy, that's not as unambiguously positive as it proved over the past 18 months. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria blames "terrorists" for deadly petrol station blast Friday, Jan 04, 2013 03:26 PM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria said on Friday a car bomb at a crowded petrol station in Damascus was set off by "terrorists", a term it uses for rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad. The blast on Thursday night killed 11 people and wounded 40 at a station packed with Syrians queuing for fuel, which has become scarce in the 21-month insurgency against Assad, in the second petrol station attack in the capital this week, opposition activists said. "Terrorists ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Former Representative Giffords visits town of school shooting Friday, Jan 04, 2013 03:01 PM PST  NEWTOWN, Connecticut (Reuters) - Former Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who survived a mass shooting in her Arizona district two years ago, visited Newtown, Connecticut, on Friday to meet with families of the victims of last month's Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. Giffords arrived at Newtown's town hall and met with First Selectman Pat Llodra, the town's top elected official, and School Superintendent Janet Robinson, who hugged her. "How horrible," Giffords said as she embraced the superintendent, according to the Danbury News-Times. Then Giffords and a small entourage, including ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. missile teams in Turkey, missiles come later Friday, Jan 04, 2013 02:51 PM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. soldiers who will man Patriot anti-missile batteries to protect Turkey from the spillover of Syria's civil war began arriving in the country on Friday, the U.S. military said, but the missiles themselves are due later. Turkey formally asked NATO for the missiles in November to bolster security along its 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria, which has been torn by a 21-month insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Monti unveils alliance, rules out minister role Friday, Jan 04, 2013 02:41 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Friday unveiled the alliance he will lead into February's parliamentary election and said he was unlikely to agree to serve as a minister in another premier's cabinet after the vote. The 69-year-old former European commissioner, who replaced Silvio Berlusconi as prime minister in November 2011 when Italy was scrambling to avert a financial crisis, announced last week that he would run for a second term. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed officials eye timeline for ending asset purchases Friday, Jan 04, 2013 02:37 PM PST  SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve could halt its asset purchases this year if the economy improves and unemployment drops, two top Fed officials said on Friday, a view seconded by most economists at Wall Street's top financial institutions. Meanwhile, another top Fed official warned the U.S. central bank's aggressive easing plan threatens the Fed's credibility. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, a voting member of the Fed's monetary policy panel this year, said a drop in the unemployment rate to 7. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK police charge Nepali colonel accused of torture Friday, Jan 04, 2013 02:28 PM PST LONDON/KATHMANDU (Reuters) - British police charged a Nepali army colonel on Friday with two counts of torture during the Himalayan nation's decade-long civil war, despite the Nepali government's demanding his immediate release. Nepal summoned the British ambassador earlier on Friday to express its "strong objection" to Kumar Lama's detention. Rights groups accuse both the security forces and former Maoist rebels of committing abuses including torture during the conflict that killed more than 16,000 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Leaders of Sudan, South Sudan start talks to defuse tension Friday, Jan 04, 2013 01:54 PM PST  ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan met late on Friday to try to defuse hostility that has simmered since the south broke away in 2011 and restart cross-border oil flows to rescue their crumbling economies. No details emerged as Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir and South Sudan's Salva Kiir met in the presence of Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn who is trying to mediate between the neighbors who came close to war in April. Both leaders will meet alone for the first time at a summit on Saturday, Sudan's state news agency SUNA said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clearwire investor seeks to block sale to Sprint Friday, Jan 04, 2013 01:48 PM PST  (Reuters) - A large Clearwire Corp shareholder on Friday stepped up its campaign against the planned sale of the wireless service provider to its majority owner, Sprint Nextel Corp, saying it plans to ask the U.S. telecoms regulator to block the deal. Crest Financial's general counsel also said on a call with reporters that it will ask the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to block Sprint's plan to sell 70 percent of itself to Softbank Corp of Japan for $20 billion. ... Full Story | Top |
| S&P 500 finishes at 5-year high on economic data Friday, Jan 04, 2013 01:48 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index ended at a five-year high on Friday, lifted by reports showing employers kept up a steady pace of hiring workers and the vast services sector expanded at a brisk rate. The gains on the S&P 500 pushed the index to its highest close since December 2007 and its biggest weekly gain since December 2011. Most of the gains came early in the holiday-shortened week, including the largest one-day rise for the index in more than a year on Wednesday after politicians struck a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. public schools cut 11,000 jobs in December Friday, Jan 04, 2013 01:44 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Local U.S. governments cut jobs for the fourth straight month in December, including 11,000 in public schools, dragging down the nation's fragile economic recovery, jobs data showed on Friday. Local government jobs are now at their lowest level since October 2005, with the bulk of the decline coming from layoffs of teachers and other school employees, according to the Labor Department. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: U.S. House panel probes SEC spending on consultants Friday, Jan 04, 2013 01:41 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House Oversight Committee is probing the Securities and Exchange Commission's spending on outside consultants from Booz Allen Hamilton, saying it is concerned about possible waste. In a January 3 letter to SEC Chairman Elisse Walter, shown to Reuters, House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa gave the agency until January 17 to turn over a lengthy set of documents laying out payments made to Booz Allen and details on how the SEC chose to hire the consulting firm, among other matters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada meets key aboriginal demand amid blockades Friday, Jan 04, 2013 01:38 PM PST  OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's prime minister will meet with native leaders next week to discuss social and economic issues, an olive branch to an angry aboriginal movement that has blockaded rail lines and threatened to close Canada's borders with the United States. Stephen Harper made no mention of the aboriginal protests in a statement on Friday announcing the January 11 meeting. But the meeting is a key demand from native Chief Theresa Spence, who has been on a hunger strike for 25 days on an island within sight of the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa. ... Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Court to hear American Indian adoption case Friday, Jan 04, 2013 01:26 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Taking up a case described as a "human tragedy," the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an appeal by a couple who were ordered to turn over a 27-month-old girl they had raised since birth to her biological father simply because he was an American Indian. In a brief order, the court accepted the appeal of Matt and Melanie Capobianco, who had been caring for the girl until a family court ordered them to turn her over to her biological father, Dusten Brown, a member of the Cherokee Nation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Idaho Senator Mike Crapo admits to drunken driving Friday, Jan 04, 2013 01:26 PM PST  (Reuters) - Republican Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho pleaded guilty on Friday to a charge of drunken driving, apologized for breaking his Mormon faith's prohibition against alcohol and asked for public forgiveness. Crapo, who previously had said he doesn't drink, was pulled over on December 23 for running a red traffic signal in Alexandria, Virginia, a Washington suburb. Police arrested the three-term senator after he failed field sobriety tests. ... Full Story | Top |
| New rule could turn U.S. hedge funds into informers Friday, Jan 04, 2013 01:18 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. financial regulators are pushing to turn hedge funds into informers on the white collar crime beat. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is working on a rule that would require U.S. hedge funds to file formal reports notifying U.S. authorities of any suspicious trading by employees or outside parties, the regulatory agency said. ... Full Story | Top |
| New food safety rules aim for more accountability Friday, Jan 04, 2013 01:18 PM PST  (Reuters) - U.S. regulators proposed new food safety rules on Friday that aim to make food processors and farms more accountable for reducing foodborne illnesses that kill or sicken thousands of Americans annually. The new rules, required by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that was signed into law two years ago, were announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday. "These proposed regulations are a sign of progress," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who has been a critic of the FDA. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congress approves some Sandy storm relief amid anger over delay Friday, Jan 04, 2013 01:14 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Congress on Friday approved $9.7 billion in initial relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy, but New York and New Jersey lawmakers seethed over delays in passing the rest of a $60.4 billion federal aid package. The House of Representatives voted 354-67 to keep the National Flood Insurance Program solvent and able to pay claims of thousands of homeowners who suffered flood damage in coastal New York, New Jersey and Connecticut from the October storm. ... Full Story | Top |
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