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| 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 |
| Exclusive: Microsoft investors push for chairman Gates to step down Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:11 PM PDT By Nadia Damouni and Bill Rigby NEW YORK/SEATTLE (Reuters) - Three of the top 20 investors in Microsoft Corp are lobbying the board to press for Bill Gates to step down as chairman of the software company he co-founded 38 years ago, according to people familiar with matter. While Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer has been under pressure for years to improve the company's performance and share price, this appears to be the first time that major shareholders are taking aim at Gates, who remains one of the most respected and influential figures in technology. ... 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 |
| Sharper display Apple iPad Mini faces delay: sources Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 10:56 PM PDT  By Clare Jim and Reiji Murai TAIPEI/TOKYO (Reuters) - Apple Inc will be unable to widely roll out a new version of the iPad Mini with a high-resolution "retina" display this month, people who work in the company's supply chain said, leaving the gadget without the sharper screen found on rival tablets from Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| Web traffic, glitches slow Obamacare exchanges launch Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:18 PM PDT  By David Morgan and Caroline Humer (Reuters) - Technical glitches and heavy internet traffic slowed Tuesday's launch of new online insurance exchanges at the heart of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform, showcasing the challenge of covering millions of uninsured Americans. The opening itself represented a victory for Obama's signature domestic policy achievement after years of attack from Republican foes and delays in building the technology infrastructure to support sites in 50 U.S. states. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran sanctions in U.S. Senate delayed before Geneva talks Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 03:42 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle and Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under pressure not to squeeze Iran too hard, the U.S. Senate is unlikely to impose a fresh round of sanctions on the Islamic Republic until after Tehran holds nuclear talks with world powers later this month, lawmakers and congressional aides said. The Senate Banking Committee had been due in September to look at a new package of sanctions passed in July by the House of Representatives, but now it will not do so for at least a few more weeks, an aide said. ... Full Story | Top |
| For Obama, it's the 'Republican shutdown' Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:24 PM PDT  By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For President Barack Obama, the U.S. government shutdown that rippled across the country on Tuesday is the "Republican shutdown" and he is working hard to see that the name sticks to his political opponents. "We may not know the full impact of this Republican shutdown for some time," he said in the White House Rose Garden, with 12 Americans gathered behind him brought in to illustrate the benefits of his signature healthcare law, popularly known as "Obamacare." Also unknown: The full impact of the shutdown on Obama himself. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Mexico's Pemex says 6 injured at Miguel Hidalgo refinery, ops normal Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 02:54 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico state oil monopoly Pemex said on Tuesday six workers were injured in an accident at its second-biggest refinery, Miguel Hidalgo, but added output was not affected. The refinery, located in the central state of Hidalgo, has a capacity of 325,000 barrels per day. Pemex gave no details on the accident, but a spokesman stressed there was no fire. (Reporting by David Alire Garcia and Ana Isabel Martinez; Editing by Simon Gardner) Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi faces revolt over Italy confidence vote Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 02:14 PM PDT  By Giselda Vagnoni ROME (Reuters) - Senior party figures in Silvio Berlusconi's fractious center-right movement urged Italian lawmakers on Tuesday to defy the billionaire media tycoon and back Prime Minister Enrico Letta in a confidence motion expected on Wednesday. Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party has come close to breaking apart after he pulled his ministers out of the ruling coalition at the weekend and called for new elections following growing tension over his conviction for tax fraud. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazil judge dismisses case against Chevron, Transocean Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 02:36 PM PDT  By Jeb Blount RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A Brazilian federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit against No. 2 U.S. oil company Chevron Corp after approving a negotiated settlement, a decision that closes a nearly two-year legal battle over an oil spill in November 2011. Brazilian prosecutors sought 40 billion reais ($18 billion) in damages from Chevron and offshore drilling contractor Transocean Ltd for a 3,600-barrel leak in the Frade offshore oil field Chevron operates northeast of Rio de Janeiro. Prosecutors also filed criminal charges against the companies and 17 of their employees. ... Full Story | Top |
| Netanyahu at U.N.: Don't trust Rouhani, Iran's overtures a ruse Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 01:18 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 |
| White House rejects latest Republican offer to end shutdown Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 03:53 PM PDT By Richard Cowan and Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House rejected a Republican plan to reopen portions of the U.S. government on Tuesday as the first shutdown in 17 years closed landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and threw hundreds of thousands of federal employees out of work. The back and forth offered no sign that President Barack Obama and Republicans can soon end a standoff over health care that has sidelined everything from trade negotiations to medical research and raised new concerns about Congress's ability to perform its most basic duties. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Goldman VP Tourre seeks to toss fraud verdict in SEC case Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 01:27 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc vice president who was found liable for securities fraud over a failed mortgage transaction asked a federal judge to dismiss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission case against him or set a new trial. Fabrice Tourre said his jury erred in finding him liable on six of the seven civil charges he faced over the transaction, which the SEC said caused $1 billion of investor losses, because the evidence was inadequate or was never presented in court. Letting the verdict stand "would work a manifest injustice to Mr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merck to slash annual costs by $2.5 billion, cut 8,500 jobs Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 11:08 AM PDT  By Ransdell Pierson (Reuters) - Merck & Co, taking a cue from rival drugmakers that have slashed research spending to bolster earnings, said it will cut annual operating costs by $2.5 billion and eliminate 8,500 jobs, or more than 10 percent of its global workforce. Merck, whose shares rose 2.3 percent, said it aims to narrow its focus to products with the best chance of winning regulatory approval and achieving substantial sales. It will jettison research products with less likelihood of success. ... Full Story | Top |
| Apple shares jump on Icahn dinner with CEO Cook Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 10:09 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of Apple Inc. rose about 2.5 percent on Tuesday on news that billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn had dinner with Apple chief executive Tim Cook on Monday and "pushed hard" for a share buyback. "Had a cordial dinner with Tim last night. We pushed hard for a 150 billion buyback. We decided to continue dialogue in about three weeks," Icahn tweeted on Tuesday. In August, Icahn told Reuters that "Apple has the ability to do a $150 billion buyback now by borrowing funds at 3 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia doubts mid-November date for Syria peace talks Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:56 AM PDT  By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia expressed doubt on Tuesday that Western nations can persuade Syrian opposition representatives to take part in an international peace conference in time for it to take place in mid-November. The doubts of Damascus's most important ally followed remarks in which the international envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said the target date of mid-November was "not 100 percent certain" and cited disunity among rebel forces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three German miners killed in K+S potash blast Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 12:50 PM PDT UNTERBREIZBACH, Germany (Reuters) - Three miners were killed on Tuesday after breathing leaked carbon dioxide following a controlled explosion at a potash mine operated by K+S in the German state of Thueringia, the company said. The accident happened in a 700-metre deep shaft near the town of Unterbreizbach. Four other miners were rescued. "A carbon dioxide leak occurred to an extent we did not expect after an explosion, and this led to the people dying," Rainer Gerling, manager of the mine, told a news conference. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Saudi Arabia boosts Salafist rivals to al Qaeda in Syria Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 07:50 AM PDT By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - Alarmed by the rise of al Qaeda in Syria, Saudi Arabia is trying to strengthen rival Islamists with ties to Riyadh and this week helped engineer a consolidation of rebel groups around Damascus under a Saudi-backed leader. That might bolster the opposition militarily as President Bashar al-Assad's forces have been pushing back, but it also underlines al Qaeda's expansion in Syria - and the proliferation of splits among Assad's enemies, just as world powers are trying to corral them into talks with his government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Countdown to global trade deadline marked by dire warnings Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 06:47 AM PDT  By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Trade Organization has about 20 working days left to stitch together the first global trade deal in two decades, but even the faster tempo of talks under new chief Roberto Azevedo may be too little, too late. The proposed deal is far less ambitious than the Doha talks that the WTO pursued in vain for 12 years; but it would still add hundreds of billions of dollars to the world economy by some estimates and would open the way to much wider trade reforms, enabling the WTO to re-write its rules for the internet era. ... Full Story | Top |
| Qatar Holding buys NYSE Euronext out of Qatar Exchange Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 05:58 AM PDT  DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar Holding, the investment arm of the country's sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has bought NYSE Euronext's 12 percent stake in the Qatar Exchange, the Doha-based bourse said in a statement on Tuesday. The deal, for which a price was not revealed, makes Qatar Holding the sole owner of Qatar Exchange, which operates the country's securities market. ... Full Story | Top |
| For House Republicans, confrontation is safer than compromise Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 04:21 AM PDT  By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For most Republicans in the House of Representatives, the only greater peril than shutting down the federal government would have been fighting to keep it open. While a shutdown could hurt the Republican Party's ability to win the Senate next year or take the White House in 2016, that's not the concern of party members in the House, who led the push to pair continued government funding with measures that would delay President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law. ... Full Story | Top |
| Billionaire Mark Cuban 'cheated' with insider trading: SEC lawyer Tuesday, Oct 01, 2013 12:01 PM PDT  By Jana J. Pruet DALLAS (Reuters) - Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, "cheated" by selling his stake in a small Internet search company upon learning that holding on might cost him money, a government lawyer told jurors at the start of the billionaire's insider trading trial. Cuban has maintained he did nothing wrong more than nine years ago when he sold his 6.3 percent stake in Mamma.com Inc. But a lawyer for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the 55-year-old knew what he was doing in unloading his stake, and avoiding a $750,000 loss. ... Full Story | Top |
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