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| EU must get credit flowing in struggling economies: EU's Rehn Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 12:26 AM PDT  MADRID (Reuters) - The European Union must do more to get credit flowing in Spain and other southern member states, EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said in an interview published on Wednesday. Spain's economic prospects are improving "modestly", Rehn told Spanish newspaper Expansion, and that should lead to a gradual recuperation in credit, but this must be supported by policies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dying 'Angola Three' inmate freed after 41 years in solitary confinement Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 12:46 AM PDT By Chris Francescani NEW YORK (Reuters) - A dying member of Louisiana's "Angola Three" inmates, who spent 41 years in solitary confinement for a killing he says he didn't commit, was freed on Tuesday after a federal judge ruled that he did not get a fair trial in 1974. Herman Wallace, 71, returned by ambulance Tuesday to a hospice in his native New Orleans - about a month after prison medical treatments to stem his advancing liver cancer were stopped, said Wallace's attorney, George H. Kendall. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea, U.S. sign new pact to deter North Korea nuclear threat Wednesday, Oct 02, 2013 12:11 AM PDT  By David Alexander and Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States and South Korea signed a new pact to deter North Korea's potential use of nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction amid growing threats from Pyongyang, their defense chiefs said on Wednesday. The defense ministers also agreed to review the timing of the transfer of war-time command control of their combined forces on the Korean peninsula from the U.S. military to South Korea, a joint statement issued after their meeting said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran parliament endorses President Rouhani's diplomatic outreach Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 11:51 PM PDT  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's parliament, dominated by conservatives, strongly endorsed President Hassan Rouhani's diplomatic bid to break down mistrust at the United Nations in New York last week, which ended with an historic phone call with President Barack Obama, Iranian media said. The backing from the assembly, controlled by political factions deeply loyal to Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a further sign that Rouhani has the backing of the Iranian establishment. Khamenei, the most powerful figure in Iran, has yet to publicly comment on Rouhani's trip. ... Full Story | Top |
| Poland determined to get compensation for Dreamliner glitches Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 11:47 PM PDT  WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland is determined to get compensation from Boeing for the glitches haunting its 787 Dreamliner jets which are used by the country's state-controlled carrier LOT , its treasury minister said on Wednesday. "When it comes to Dreamliners I would say it's a rather nervous dream," Wlodzimierz Karpinski told Polish public radio in an interview. "I'm angry. There are problems not only for the Polish airlines. I want to ensure that we will seek compensation from the producer with full determination. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senator: Pakistan central bank head says $25m cash smuggled out daily Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 11:44 PM PDT By Katharine Houreld ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The head of Pakistan's central bank has told legislators he believes $25 million in cash is being smuggled out through the country's airports every day, a senator said on Wednesday. Senator Nasreen Jalil told Reuters that the central bank governor singled out smuggling as one reason the Pakistani rupee had been falling in foreign exchange trading. Jalil said governor Yassen Anwar told a committee of parliament's upper house that he intended to try to stop the smuggling of large sums but that controls were weak. ... Full Story | Top |
| ECB's Constancio says Europe's banks better than perceptions: FT Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 11:40 PM PDT  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Banks in Europe are not in as bad shape as markets commonly judge them to be, European Central Bank Vice-President Vitor Constancio was quoted as saying on Wednesday. The ECB is scheduled to take over supervision of the region's banks in about a year's time, and a bank resolution mechanism should follow in 2015. Before that, the central bank of the 17-member euro zone is due to conduct an asset-quality review, followed by stress tests, to ensure that banks enter common supervision in good health. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. court lifts block on competitor to AstraZeneca's Nexium Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 11:30 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - A U.S. court has lifted a temporary block stopping South Korea's Hanmi Pharmaceutical from launching a close relative of AstraZeneca's Nexium stomach-acid drug in the United States. AstraZeneca said on Wednesday that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had removed the temporary injunction on Hanmi's esomeprazole strontium product that had been imposed last month while a legal dispute continues. ... Full Story | Top |
| No Australian Open ticket for banned John Tomic Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 11:22 PM PDT MELBOURNE (Reuters) - John Tomic, father and coach of Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic, will be barred from the Australian Open as he continues his suspension from the ATP tour for assaulting his son's former training partner. The Bosnia-born former taxi driver was sentenced to eight months in prison by a Spanish court last month for head-butting Frenchman Thomas Drouet in the face and breaking his nose. Tomic was not required to serve jail time because his sentence was under two years in length. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tennis-No Australian Open ticket for banned John Tomic Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 11:14 PM PDT MELBOURNE, Oct 2 (Reuters) - John Tomic, father and coach of Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic, will be barred from the Australian Open as he continues his suspension from the ATP tour for assaulting his son's former training partner. The Bosnia-born former taxi driver was sentenced to eight months in prison by a Spanish court last month for head-butting Frenchman Thomas Drouet in the face and breaking his nose. [ID: nL4N0H22G2] Tomic was not required to serve jail time because his sentence was under two years in length. ... Full Story | Top |
| President Obama cancels official visit to Malaysia after U.S. government shutdown: media Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 11:01 PM PDT  KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has canceled an official trip to Malaysia next week after the U.S. government went into a shutdown, Malaysian media quoted Prime Minister Najib Razak as saying on Wednesday. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will represent Obama in Malaysia for the visit instead, government-linked newspapers in Malaysia said. The Malaysian Prime Minister's office did not respond to repeated calls seeking confirmation. Wrangling in the United States between Obama and congressional Republicans has forced the first government shutdown in 17 years. ... Full Story | Top |
| CORRECTED-Myanmar to get more profit from controversial Chinese-backed mine Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 09:20 PM PDT  YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar has signed a revised contract that increases its share of the profits from a controversial Chinese-backed copper mine, the country's largest, officials said. The revision is seen as an attempt by the government to appease public anger over the project by giving the country a bigger share of the profits, after protests last year that triggered a violent police crackdown. The new terms give the government 51 percent of the profits from the Letpadaung copper mine in Monywa, 760 km (472 miles) north of Yangon, far more than its original 4 percent share. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. consumer watchdog says 2009 law reduced credit card fees Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 09:07 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The total cost of credit card fees and interest payments to U.S. consumers fell and charges for going over allowable credit limits effectively disappeared after a 2009 law cracked down on the market, according to a report released on Wednesday. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's first report on the so-called CARD Act said costs are easier to understand and consumers are better protected from credit cards they cannot afford than they were before Congress passed the law. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jacksonville airport reopens after suspicious 'device' removed Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 08:48 PM PDT (Reuters) - Jacksonville International Airport reopened on Tuesday night after a bomb squad removed a "device" in one of two suspicious packages that had prompted an evacuation of the Florida airport several hours earlier, police said. Jacksonville police had blocked off the entrance to the airport about 6 p.m. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Officials called in a bomb squad to analyze the packages, said Michael Stewart, an airport spokesman. One of the packages was found in a terminal and a second in a parking garage, Stewart said. ... Full Story | Top |
| America's Cup 'vultures' already circling Team NZ: Dalton Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 07:25 PM PDT WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Team New Zealand's design and sailing team are under siege from rival challengers keen to snap up their expertise before the next America's Cup, syndicate head Grant Dalton has said. Team New Zealand (TNZ) were beaten by defenders Oracle Team USA, backed by software billionaire Larry Ellison, in a winner-takes-all final race on San Francisco Bay last week and the future of the syndicate has come under scrutiny. TNZ's campaign, put in excess of NZ$120 million ($99. ... Full Story | Top |
| BP tells court it did not dither in response to U.S. Gulf spill Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 07:17 PM PDT  By Kathy Finn NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - BP Plc unnecessarily delayed the capping of its Macondo well and worsened the extent of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill through dithering and indecision, according to allegations by plaintiffs' lawyers on Tuesday that the British company denied. In the second phase of a trial in New Orleans over billions of dollars in potential fines, lawyers for the plaintiffs - the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sailing-America's Cup 'vultures' already circling Team NZ - Dalton Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 07:17 PM PDT WELLINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Team New Zealand's design and sailing team are under siege from rival challengers keen to snap up their expertise before the next America's Cup, syndicate head Grant Dalton has said. Team New Zealand (TNZ) were beaten by defenders Oracle Team USA, backed by software billionaire Larry Ellison, in a winner-takes-all final race on San Francisco Bay last week and the future of the syndicate has come under scrutiny. TNZ's campaign, put in excess of NZ$120 million ($99. ... Full Story | Top |
| NY to sue Wells Fargo, strike deal with Bank of America over mortgages: sources Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:58 PM PDT  By Karen Freifeld WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The New York Attorney General plans to sue Wells Fargo & Co on Wednesday over failures to comply with the terms of the $26 billion national mortgage settlement, according to a person familiar with matter. At the same time, Bank of America Corp confirmed it had separately struck an agreement with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman over similar types of alleged compliance problems. ... Full Story | Top |
| Netanyahu at U.N.: Don't trust Rouhani, Iran's overtures a ruse Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:56 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau and Dan Williams UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed a charm offensive by Iran's new president as a ruse concocted by a "wolf in sheep's clothing," and declared that Israel was ready to stand alone to deny Tehran an atomic weapon. In a combative address to the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu assailed the trustworthiness of Hassan Rouhani, Iran's centrist president who has made diplomatic overtures to the United States and spoke by telephone last week with President Barack Obama. ... Full Story | Top |
| Developing Asia can weather Fed's tapering, says ADB Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:34 PM PDT  By Rosemarie Francisco MANILA (Reuters) - Asian economies can ride out the storm when the Federal Reserve finally begins ending years of easy money, with even those most at risk, India and Indonesia, holding enough currency reserves for rough times ahead, according to the Asian Development Bank. Updating forecasts for 2013 and 2014, the Manila-based lender said on Wednesday that growth in developing Asia is likely to be slower than it thought three months ago, when it last revised forecasts to an annual outlook released in April. ... Full Story | Top |
| Celebrities tell followers to #GetCovered with Obamacare Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:30 PM PDT  By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) - While technical problems slowed the launch of new "Obamacare" websites to sell health insurance on Tuesday, the law's supporters on Twitter had an easier time welcoming the "Affordable Care Cat." Celebrities and community groups took to social media to promote President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law popularly known as Obamacare, that aims to provide health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans beginning next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cameron casts election as battle over free markets Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:28 PM PDT  By Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday will cast a national election in 2015 as a choice between his "pro-business" ruling Conservative party and what he calls its anti-business socialist rivals. In a speech to his party's annual conference in the northern English city of Manchester, Cameron will place Britain's economic recovery at the heart of his bid for re-election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's Cameron casts election as battle over free markets Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:06 PM PDT  By Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday will cast a national election in 2015 as a choice between his "pro-business" ruling Conservative party and what he calls its anti-business socialist rivals. In a speech to his party's annual conference in the northern English city of Manchester, Cameron will place Britain's economic recovery at the heart of his bid for re-election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yellowstone visitors, turned away, get taste of U.S. government shutdown Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:53 PM PDT  By Ruffin Prevost CODY, Wyoming (Reuters) - Bartender Evelyn Burgess drove all the way from Seattle hoping to see wolves and bears in their natural habitat in Yellowstone National Park, but instead headed home on Tuesday after the first U.S. government shutdown in 17 years closed the park. The only close look Burgess got of the predators she sought was through fences at a private wildlife refuge on Monday before rangers on Tuesday turned her away at the entrance to Yellowstone, famed for its wildlife and gushing geysers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jacksonville airport evacuated after suspicious packages found Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:40 PM PDT (Reuters) - Jacksonville International Airport was evacuated on Tuesday as authorities investigated two suspicious packages, an airport official said. Jacksonville police blocked off the entrance to the airport about 6 p.m. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Officials called in a bomb squad to analyze the packages, said Michael Stewart, an airport spokesman. One of the packages was found in a terminal and a second in a parking garage, Stewart said. The Florida Times-Union reported that the incident began when authorities confronted a man who said he had a bomb. ... Full Story | Top |
| In first day of U.S. shutdown, no sign how it will end Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:38 PM PDT  By Andy Sullivan and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans came no closer to ending a standoff on Tuesday that has forced the first government shutdown in 17 years and thrown hundreds of thousands of federal employees out of work. As police cordoned off landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial and government agencies stopped cancer treatments and trade negotiations, Republicans in the House of Representatives moved to restore funding to national parks, veterans care and the District of Columbia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ecuador arrests retired officers for suspected crimes against humanity Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:34 PM PDT By Alexandra Valencia QUITO (Reuters) - A judge in Ecuador ordered the arrest of three retired senior military officers on Tuesday and the house arrest of seven more on charges of committing crimes against humanity almost 30 years ago. The retired officers, who are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, are accused in connection with crimes including torture, kidnappings and sexual violence that were allegedly committed in 1985 against three members of an armed leftist revolutionary group. ... Full Story | Top |
| Billionaire rocketeers duke it out for shuttle launch pad Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:29 PM PDT  By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Four decades ago, NASA's Launch Complex 39A was at the center of the Cold War race to the moon. Now the mothballed launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which dispatched Neil Armstrong and his crew on their historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969, is the focus of a battle of another sort, between two billionaire techies seeking to dominate a new era of private space flight. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. House Democrats reject Republican bid to keep national parks open Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:24 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican measure to keep national parks open during the U.S. government shutdown was rejected on Tuesday by Democrats in the House of Representatives. The measure received a majority of the vote, 252-176. But it was placed on a legislative fast track that needed a two-thirds majority to pass. The White House said earlier that President Barack Obama would veto any "piecemeal" legislation that would restore funding only to certain parts of the government like national parks, veterans programs and the District of Columbia, rather than a broad federal spending bill. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. House Democrats defeat Republican measure to fund the District of Columbia Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:18 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the House of Representatives defeated a Republican measure on Tuesday to provide federal funds to keep the city of Washington, D.C. running, during shutdown of the U.S. government. The measure received a majority of the vote, 265-163, but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for the bill to pass on a legislative fast-track. (Reporting By Thomas Ferraro) Full Story | Top |
| Shutdown sets off scramble to delay U.S. court deadlines Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:09 PM PDT By David Ingram and Nate Raymond WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Faced with an indefinite government shutdown, U.S. government lawyers sought delays on Tuesday in court cases across the country on subjects ranging from competition among Idaho hospitals to drone strikes abroad. The requests to postpone trials and deadlines for written briefs had been expected after the Justice Department cautioned on Monday that non-critical civil matters would fall victim to a lack of money. Only U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Measuring the impacts of the U.S. government shutdown Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:09 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Large sections of the U.S. government closed down on Tuesday after Congress was unable to reach an agreement on funding for the new fiscal year because of a standoff over healthcare reforms. Federal workers and government functions have been divided between essential and non-essential services, and the effects will be felt in various ways - some acute, others barely noticeable. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese dissident Chen to join conservative U.S. think tank Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:01 PM PDT  By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chen Guangcheng, the Chinese dissident and legal rights activist who accused New York University of forcing him to leave this summer because of alleged pressure from the Chinese government, will be joining The Witherspoon Institute, a conservative think tank. Chen will become a distinguished fellow in human rights at Witherspoon, which is based in Princeton, New Jersey, for the next three years. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Treasury starts last measures to preserve borrowing authority Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:59 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday started using its last tools for pushing back the date when the government will run out of legal borrowing authority, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said. In a letter to lawmakers, Lew said the Treasury Department was suspending some reinvestments of a government currency exchange fund and would also enter into a debt swap with the Federal Financing Bank and the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. He repeated past statements that these measures would allow it to continue below its $16. ... Full Story | Top |
| USOC backs gay rights but won't lead charge for change Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:58 PM PDT  By Steve Keating PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) - U.S. Olympic officials said on Tuesday they support amending the Olympic Charter to boost support for gay athletes but cautioned that its main role is as a sports body and not a human rights organization. A Russian law that forbids the dissemination of information on homosexuality to minors has been the hot topic at this week's United States Olympic Committee media summit with nearly all the 113 athletes in attendance asked for their thoughts. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Democrats defeat Republican measure to fund veterans Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:57 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a Republican measure on Tuesday to fund the Veterans Administration while much of the rest of the government remains closed. A majority of the House voted for the legislation, 264-164. But since the measure was placed on a legislative fast-track, it needed two-thirds to pass, and thus failed. Democrats argued that Republicans should instead approve a bill passed by the Senate to fund the Veterans Administration and other federal agencies through November 15. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bankrupt California city wants deal with bond insurer by Thursday Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:52 PM PDT STOCKTON, California (Reuters) - Stockton, California, hopes to have a deal with bond insurer Assured Guaranty by Thursday, but if needed the city could impose a settlement to help it exit bankruptcy, its city manager said. "We want consent," Stockton Manager Bob Deis said during a press briefing on Tuesday. "But it's not necessary." Stockton released on Friday a draft plan for adjusting its debt to exit from municipal bankruptcy that maintains pension obligations to city employees while paying some creditors less than they are owed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Olympics-USOC backs gay rights but won't lead charge for change Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:50 PM PDT By Steve Keating PARK CITY, Utah Oct 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Olympic officials said on Tuesday they support amending the Olympic Charter to boost support for gay athletes but cautioned that its main role is as a sports body and not a human rights organization. A Russian law that forbids the dissemination of information on homosexuality to minors has been the hot topic at this week's United States Olympic Committee media summit with nearly all the 113 athletes in attendance asked for their thoughts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fonterra, Danone in talks to resolve dairy recall dispute Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:48 PM PDT  WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's Fonterra , the world's biggest dairy exporter, said it is in talks to resolve a dispute with Danone over a contamination scare involving a Fonterra ingredient used by the French food manufacturer. The discussions follow a food safety scare in August, when Fonterra said it found a potentially fatal bacteria in one of its products, triggering recalls of infant milk formula and sports drinks in nine countries including China. ... Full Story | Top |
| Computer problems won't halt September 11 hearings at Guantanamo, judge rules Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:45 PM PDT By Jane Sutton MIAMI (Reuters) - Pretrial hearings in the September 11 conspiracy case will go forward at the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal while computer network problems are addressed, a U.S. military judge ruled on Tuesday. Defense lawyers had asked the judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, to suspend the hearings until the glitches were repaired, which was expected to take until early next year. They argued in a September hearing that the system made files vanish and allowed outsiders to access case documents that the lawyers are ethically bound to keep confidential. ... Full Story | Top |
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