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| United States avoids calamity in "fiscal cliff" drama Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 10:58 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States averted economic calamity on Tuesday when lawmakers approved a deal to prevent huge tax hikes and spending cuts that would have pushed the world's largest economy off a "fiscal cliff" and into recession. The agreement hands a clear victory to President Barack Obama, who won re-election on a promise to address budget woes in part by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. His Republican antagonists were forced to vote against a core tenet of their anti-tax conservative faith. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: In era of gridlock, Congress "created a monster" Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 10:03 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Setting a looming deadline to avert self-created calamity has become a frequent device for the U.S. Congress to get things done in recent years. When all else fails, as it often does, it's supposed to frighten members into action. That was the idea when Congress created the "fiscal cliff" in August, 2011 to resolve a partisan struggle, also with a deadline and also self-created, over raising the federal debt ceiling. ... Full Story | Top |
| After fiscal win, Obama warns Congress on debt fight Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 08:51 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Speaking after winning a "fiscal cliff" victory, President Barack Obama vowed on Tuesday to avoid a repeat of last year's divisive fight with Congress over an extension of the nation's borrowing authority. "While I will negotiate over many things, I will not have another debate with this Congress about whether or not they should pay the bills they have already racked up," Obama said in remarks in the White House. He urged "a little less drama" in coming budget talks about cutting government spending. (Reporting by Alistair Bell; Editing by Eric Beech) Full Story | Top |
| House skips vote on Sandy aid, angering members from storm-hit states Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 09:53 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives adjourned on Tuesday night without acting on a $60.4 billion Superstorm Sandy disaster aid bill, prompting angry denunciations from members from the states hardest hit by the storm. "I have just been informed that we will be having perhaps no further votes in this Congress," said Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland. "I am deeply disappointed at that information. We have millions of our fellow citizens who have been badly damaged by a storm called Sandy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Young, urban Indians find political voice after student's gang rape Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 01:03 PM PST  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - When Preeti Joshi heard of the gang rape of a fellow student, she joined a movement of thousands of outraged young Indians who have taken to the streets of New Delhi almost every day protesting for justice and security for women. Beaten and raped by five men and a teenager on a moving bus in the capital on December 16, the 23-year-old student died from her injuries on Saturday, her plight shaking the conscience of many urban middle class Indians who consider gender rights as important as poverty alleviation. ... Full Story | Top |
| At least 61 crushed to death in Ivory Coast stampede Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 12:38 PM PST  ABIDJAN (Reuters) - At least 61 people were crushed to death in a stampede after a New Year's Eve fireworks display at a stadium in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan early on Tuesday, officials said. Witnesses said police had tried to control crowds around the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium following the celebrations, triggering a panic in which scores were trampled. "The estimate we can give right now is 49 people hospitalized ... and 61 people dead," said the chief of staff of Abidjan's fire department Issa Sacko. ... Full Story | Top |
| Passage of bill to avoid "cliff" should bolster Wall Street Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 09:16 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks are poised for gains to begin the year after the late passage of a bill to avoid harsh tax hikes that would have hit most Americans and crimped economic growth. However, harsh reality awaits any euphoria that comes from avoiding the "fiscal cliff". In two months, battles over further spending cuts and, in particular, the U.S. federal debt limit will come to a head. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen in Pakistan shoot dead seven aid workers near capital Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 07:42 AM PST  PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Gunmen ambushed and shot dead six Pakistani women aid workers and a male doctor on Tuesday, police said, and the charity they worked for said it suspected the attacks were linked to recent murders of polio vaccination workers. Their vehicle was raked with gunfire as they returned home from work at a children's community center run by Pakistani charity Ujala, or Light, said district police officer Abdur Rashid Khan. Their driver was seriously wounded in the attack. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: "Fiscal cliff" deal called a dud on deficit front Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 04:05 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the controversy surrounding the "fiscal cliff" issue, it's easy to forget that the origin of the entire debate was a professed desire to reduce swollen federal deficits. Whether the target was $4 trillion over 10 years, as proposed by the Bowles-Simpson deficit reduction commission, or in the $2 trillion range, as tossed around by House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama, the idea was to rein in total debt that now tops $16 trillion. By those standards, the bill passed by the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: U.S. arms sales to Asia set to boom on Pacific "pivot" Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 07:17 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. sales of warplanes, anti-missile systems and other costly weapons to China's and North Korea's neighbors appear set for significant growth amid regional security jitters. Strengthening treaty allies and other security partners is central to the White House's "pivot" toward a Pacific region jolted by maritime territorial disputes in China's case, and missile and nuclear programs, in North Korea's. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian government forces go on attack on first day of year Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 07:41 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Government war planes bombed opposition-held areas of Syria and President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels fought on the outskirts of the capital Damascus on New Year's Day on Tuesday. A year ago, many diplomats and analysts predicted Assad would leave power in 2012. But despite international pressure and rebel gains, he has proved resilient. His inner circle remains largely intact and retains control of the armed forces, even if it relies on air strikes and artillery power to hold back the rebels fighting to overthrow him. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands march against Hong Kong's leader Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 06:16 AM PST  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Tens of thousands in Hong Kong protested on Tuesday against the city's leader Leung Chun-ying as pressure mounts against the Beijing-backed politician who has been embroiled in an illegal construction scandal since taking office in July. Thronging the streets on New Year's Day, crowds of people, some dressed in black with colorful banners and wearing long-nosed Pinocchio masks, chanted "Leung Chun-ying step down" in a rally that snaked several kilometers towards government headquarters. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korean leader, in rare address, seeks end to confrontation with South Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 12:04 PM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for an end to confrontation between the two Koreas, technically still at war in the absence of a peace treaty to end their 1950-53 conflict, in a surprise New Year's broadcast on state media. The address by Kim, who took power in the reclusive state after his father, Kim Jong-il, died in 2011, appeared to take the place of the policy-setting New Year's editorial published annually in the past in leading state newspapers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Economy would dodge bullet for now under fiscal deal Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 04:26 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A deal worked out by Senate leaders to avoid the "fiscal cliff" was far from any "grand bargain" of deficit reduction measures. But if approved by the House of Representatives, it could help the country steer clear of recession, although enough austerity would remain in place to likely keep the economy growing at a lackluster pace. The Senate approved a last-minute deal early Tuesday morning to scale back $600 billion in scheduled tax hikes and government spending cuts that economists widely agree would tip the economy into recession. ... Full Story | Top |
| House Republicans balk at "fiscal cliff" deal Tuesday, Jan 01, 2013 02:49 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Last-minute efforts to step back from the "fiscal cliff" ran into trouble on Tuesday as Republicans in the House of Representatives balked at a deal that would prevent Washington from pushing the world's biggest economy into a recession. House Republicans complained that a bill passed by the Senate in a late-night show of unity to prevent a budget crisis contained tax hikes for the wealthiest Americans but no spending cuts. Some conservatives sought to change the bill to add cuts. ... Full Story | Top |
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