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| Tidal surge on river floods three New Jersey towns Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:18 PM PDT  TETERBORO, New Jersey (Reuters) - A wall of water, at times greater than 5 feet high, swept through three towns in northern New Jersey early Tuesday, a parting shot from Hurricane Sandy that prompted the evacuation of a few thousand people from their homes. The tidal surge up the swollen Hackensack River started just after midnight, and there was little time for the unprepared towns of Little Ferry, Moonachie and Carlstadt to rouse their roughly 19,000 residents and urge them to seek higher ground. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistan says protects rights, West disagrees Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:12 PM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - Pakistan, plagued by Islamists militancy, sectarian violence and frequent disasters that push its people deeper into poverty, told the United Nations on Tuesday it is a democratic and progressive state working to protect human rights. But Western countries and the normally anti-Western Belarus countered that in Pakistan religious minorities were persecuted, that dissent was often brutally suppressed by the army, and that little was done to tackle human trafficking. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama to travel to New Jersey Wednesday to view storm damage Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:10 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will travel to New Jersey on Wednesday to view damage caused by massive storm Sandy, the White House said in a statement. "Tomorrow afternoon, the president will travel to New Jersey where he will join Governor (Chris) Christie in viewing the storm damage, talking with citizens who are recovering from the storm and thanking first responders who put their lives at risk to protect their communities," the statement said. Obama canceled campaign appearances planned for Ohio on Wednesday because of the storm. ... Full Story | Top |
| Protesters storm Libya congress after prime minister presents government Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:04 PM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Protesters stormed Libya's national assembly on Tuesday, forcing the cancellation of a vote on a proposed coalition government named by the country's new prime minister just hours earlier. Fewer than 100 people, made up of civilians and former rebel fighters, charged into the meeting hall of the General National Congress as it voted on Prime Minister Ali Zeidan's cabinet line-up, which was drawn from liberal and Islamist parties. In chaotic televised scenes, congress members negotiated with the protesters, unhappy with some of the nominations, to leave. ... Full Story | Top |
| Euro zone ministers to discuss Greece, no decisions seen Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:03 PM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers will hold a conference call on Wednesday to discuss progress in negotiations of the revised Greek bailout but are not expected to make any decisions yet, two euro zone officials said on Tuesday. Representatives of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund are in talks with the Greek government on reforms that Athens, cut off from market borrowing in 2010, has to implement to get emergency credit from the euro zone and IMF flowing again. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. and EU push for progress in troubled Balkans Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:01 PM PDT  SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Europe and the United States teamed up on Tuesday to press Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo to overcome the legacy of Yugoslavia's bloody collapse as a condition of closer integration with the West. "If you do not make progress you will be left behind," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned at the start of a trip to the region with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. NATO member Croatia will follow Slovenia in joining the 27-nation EU next year, but accession is a very distant prospect for the other five countries carved from federal Yugoslavia in the 1990s. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek coalition allies snub PM's appeal on austerity Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:01 PM PDT  ATHENS (Reuters) - The Greek prime minister's appeal for a united front to push through more austerity fell on deaf ears on Tuesday, with one ally promising to vote against reforms and another scolding him for prematurely saying talks had ended. A flurry of contradictory statements from the three parties in Greece's ruling coalition highlighted the chaos ahead of a crucial vote on austerity measures, which is turning into the government's biggest test since taking power in June. Near-bankrupt Greece needs to push through spending cuts and tax measures worth 13. ... Full Story | Top |
| UBS to cut 10,000 jobs in fixed income retreat Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:58 AM PDT  ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS unveiled plans on Tuesday to fire 10,000 staff and wind down its fixed income business, returning to its private banking roots as it adapts to tough capital rules that make it harder to turn a profit from trading. Zurich-based UBS will focus on wealth management and a smaller investment bank, ditching much of the trading business that ran up $50 billion in losses in the financial crisis and is embroiled in a global LIBOR rate-fixing investigation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian air force on offensive after failed truce Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:51 AM PDT  AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian warplanes bombed rebel targets with renewed intensity on Tuesday after the end of a widely ignored four-day truce between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and insurgents. State television said "terrorists" had assassinated an air force general, Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khalidi, in a Damascus suburb, the latest of several rebel attacks on senior officials. In July, a bomb killed four of Assad's aides, including his brother-in-law Assef Shawkat and the defense minister. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama says storm not yet over, government to aid local authorities Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:48 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the federal government would do all it could to help local authorities cope with damage caused by the massive storm Sandy. The president, speaking at the national headquarters of the American Red Cross, said the storm, which slammed into some of the most densely populated areas of the eastern United States on Monday, was "not yet over" and that there were still risks. "It is still moving north," he said. "There are still communities that could be affected. ... Full Story | Top |
| Romney sticks to storm relief script at Ohio event Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:48 AM PDT  KETTERING, Ohio (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, blown off the campaign trail by Hurricane Sandy, drew a fine line between politicking and storm relief on Tuesday as the weather cast an unpredictable pall over the race with just a week to go until Election Day. With President Barack Obama holed up in Washington monitoring relief efforts, Romney faced the challenge of trying to demonstrate his presidential credentials without appearing insensitive to the millions of Americans affected by the storm. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Jersey Governor Christie praises Obama's storm response Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:47 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a fierce critic of Barack Obama, praised the president and the federal government's response to the massive storm Sandy, which caused widespread damage and power outages along the East Coast. Christie has attacked Obama repeatedly on the campaign trail and said the Democrat does not deserve a second term in the White House, instead backing Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the November 6 election. But just hours after the worst of the storm knocked out power for 2. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran pulls back from nuclear bomb goal: Israeli defense minister Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:42 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Iran has drawn back from its ambitions to build a nuclear weapon, Israel's defense minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday, while warning that his country may still have to decide next year whether to launch a military strike against it. Tehran denies its nuclear work has any military dimensions but governments in Europe and the United States are increasingly concerned over its intentions. Diplomacy and successive rounds of economic sanctions have so far failed to end the decade-old row, raising fears of Israeli military action against its arch-enemy. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK police may sell New Scotland Yard headquarters Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:39 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - London's cash-strapped police force may sell its New Scotland Yard headquarters as part of plans to save 500 million pounds. The 1960s-era complex in the Victoria district could fetch between 150-200 million pounds, property agents said. The Metropolitan Police bought the block from Land Securities in 2008 for 122 million pounds. The possible sale is part of a wider cost-cutting drive to shrink the force's 900,000 square metres estate by one third by 2016, the Met said in an e-mailed statement. "We won't keep older buildings any longer than we need to... ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek Socialist deputies to back austerity, reforms: sources Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:37 AM PDT  ATHENS (Reuters) - The overwhelming majority of lawmakers from Greece's Socialist PASOK party, the second-biggest partner in the country's ruling coalition, will support a raft of austerity and reform measures in a parliamentary vote, two lawmakers told Reuters on Tuesday. "We took a majority decision to back the measures," one Socialist deputy told Reuters after the end of a party meeting to decide its stance. All but about four of the party's 33 deputies backed the decision, one of the lawmakers said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guinea opposition cries foul over new electoral body Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:21 AM PDT CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea's opposition on Tuesday accused the government of tampering with its list of nominees to a newly formed electoral commission, casting doubt on the country's latest efforts to jumpstart election preparations. A political stalemate in the world's top bauxite supplier, nestled in the midst of Africa's fragile 'coup belt', has stalled legislative polls needed to restart foreign aid and complete a shift to civilian rule after a 2008 coup. ... Full Story | Top |
| IMF chief urges major economies to push on with consolidation Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:18 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said on Tuesday advanced economies must continue fiscal consolidation to reduce debt long-term while emerging economies should loosen up fiscal and monetary policy to salvage their slowing growth. The governments of leading economies "need to continue fiscal consolidation at a sensible pace to address debt long term," Lagarde said in Berlin after meeting Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of world economic agencies such as the World Trade Organisation and the World Bank. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korean bootmakers want to score with Messi Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:12 AM PDT  DANDONG, China (Reuters) - Top soccer-boot maker Adidas probably shouldn't be worrying just yet but a rare venture that marries South Korean money with North Korean labour in the Chinese city of Dandong aims to make its mark on the world soccer scene. At a temporary factory in a village on the edge of a bustling city that serves as a bridge between China and impoverished, isolated North Korea, 20 North Koreans hand sew soccer boots and dream of taking on the world. ... Full Story | Top |
| TransCanada mulls new oil line, no damage from Sandy Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:11 AM PDT CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp said on Tuesday it will decide early next year on whether to go ahead with a pipeline carrying up to one million barrels of crude oil from Alberta's oil sands to refineries in Eastern Canada and the U.S. Eastern Seaboard. The company, which earlier reported a 4 percent drop in quarterly profit, also said that its power plants in the U.S. Northeast, including the 2,480 megawatt Ravenswood plant in the New York borough of Queens, were undamaged by Hurricane Sandy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Monster storm leaves U.S. East Coast crippled; 30 dead Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 11:05 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Millions of people were left reeling in the aftermath of monster storm Sandy on Tuesday as New York City and a wide swathe of the eastern United States struggled with epic flooding and massive power outages. The death toll climbed to at least 30. Sandy, which crashed ashore with hurricane-force winds in New Jersey overnight as the biggest storm to hit the country in generations, swamped parts of New York's subway system and Manhattan's Wall Street district, closing financial markets for a second day. ... Full Story | Top |
| California's longest-serving death row inmate spared execution Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:58 AM PDT SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - A federal appeals court has overturned the death sentence of California's longest serving death row inmate, a 54-year-old Mono Indian man convicted in 1978 for killing a woman during a drug- and alcohol-fueled carjacking. Douglas Stankewitz, who has spent 34 years awaiting execution, will be re-sentenced to life without the possibility of parole unless prosecutors decide within 90 days to retry the penalty phase of his trial, which would consider punishment only, not guilt or innocence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Race is tied, but most think Obama will win: Reuters/Ipsos poll Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:51 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. presidential race remains a dead heat one week before Election Day but most Americans think President Barack Obama will defeat Republican Mitt Romney, according to a Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll released on Tuesday. Obama leads Romney among likely voters by 47 percent to 46 percent, a statistically insignificant margin, the online survey found. Neither candidate has held a clear lead since early October. But 53 percent of all registered voters predicted Obama would win the November 6 election, while only 29 percent said Romney would be the victor. ... Full Story | Top |
| Burundi gets $2 billion aid pledge, U.N. says Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:46 AM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - Donors have pledged more than $2 billion for Burundi's 2012-2015 development strategy to help the central African nation rebuild after civil war, the United Nations said on Tuesday. "We ended up with more than $2 billion registered commitments at the conference," Pamphile Muderega of the National Aid Coordination Committee said in a statement. "This represents a doubling of our already optimistic expectations," he said. The statement was issued by the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chrysler repeats not moving Jeep work to China from U.S. Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:41 AM PDT  DETROIT (Reuters) - Chrysler Group LLC Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne reaffirmed on Tuesday that the company is not moving Jeep vehicle production out of the United States to China after it became an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign. Chrysler in an October 25 blog post had already rejected a statement made that day to a crowd in Ohio by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, that Chrysler was thinking of moving all Jeep production from Ohio to China. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU considers sending 200 troops to train Mali army Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:40 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is considering sending about 200 troops to train Mali's army to retake the Islamist-held north, but is not willing to deploy them in battle, EU officials said on Tuesday. Fears are growing in Europe that the African country could turn into a platform for terrorist attacks, after Islamist fighters seized two-thirds of its territory earlier this year. "There is a willingness among member states to put boots on the ground - but only on the parade ground," one of the EU officials said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. capital escapes brunt of storm Sandy Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:29 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The nation's capital appeared to have escaped the worst of monster storm Sandy on Tuesday, although concerns remained about the potential for severe flooding along the Potomac River. Washington suffered high winds and rains that brought down trees on some homes and flooded a few roads. But the area got off relatively lightly compared to New Jersey, where Sandy came ashore on Monday night, and battered New York City. As of 2 a.m. ... Full Story | Top |
| Intelligence spending fell in 2012 for second year in a row Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:27 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government's total spending on intelligence activities fell in 2012, the second year in a row of declines after years of soaring security spending since the September 11 attacks in 2001. The Office of Director of National Intelligence, the top U.S. intelligence authority, announced on Tuesday that total funding appropriated for the National Intelligence Program, covering activities of the CIA and high-tech spy agencies such as the National Reconnaissance Office, was $53.9 billion in Fiscal Year 2012, which ended on September 30. That was down from the $54. ... Full Story | Top |
| Czech tax vote delayed as PM tries to stave off revolt Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:25 AM PDT  PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech Republic's ruling coalition postponed on Tuesday a vote on a law to raise taxes that will double as a vote of confidence in the government, hoping extra time will allow them to prevent a lawmakers' rebellion. Prime Minister Petr Necas' cabinet will resign if the 22 billion crowns ($1.14 billion) mainly in additional value-added and income tax is rejected. ... Full Story | Top |
| Putin foe Navalny fined over weekend protest Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:19 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's most prominent opposition activist, Alexei Navalny, was fined $1,000 by a Moscow court on Tuesday for his role in a weekend protest under a new law that President Vladimir Putin's opponents say is aimed at smothering dissent. The anti-graft blogger was among three of Putin's foes briefly detained at a protest in central Moscow on Saturday following the first meeting a new opposition body to which Navalny was elected head in an online vote. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama urges resolve, patience in face of hurricane Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:09 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday urged East Coast residents in the path of Hurricane Sandy to heed evacuation orders and assured them the government was ready to respond swiftly, but he warned them it would take a long time to clean up in the storm's aftermath. Scrapping campaign plans to return to Washington, Obama sought to show voters just eight days before the November 6 election that he was giving top priority to his presidential duties in a looming national crisis, rather than his bid for re-election in a tight race. ... Full Story | Top |
| Support for Hungary's ruling party, opposition, up in October Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:08 AM PDT  BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Public support for Hungary's ruling Fidesz party and its main opposition rivals, the Socialists, increased in October, a survey by pollster Tarki showed on Tuesday. Backing for Prime Minister Viktor Orban's governing party rose three points month-on-month to 18 percent, while at 15 percent support for the Socialists was four points higher, the survey published on the pollster's website said. Meanwhile, the proportion of undecided voters dropped to half the electorate, down from 56 percent in September, the survey said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Europe rights court condemns Poland in abortion rape case Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:06 AM PDT STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday condemned Poland for the inhumane and degrading treatment of a 14-year-old rape victim whom the authorities tried to stop having an abortion. The girl's right to a private and family life had been flouted in 2008, the court ruled, saying she had been arbitrarily detained after being briefly placed in a home to separate her from her mother, who favored an abortion. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy leaves unprecedented challenges for New York City subways Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:55 AM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - The giant storm Sandy wreaked havoc on the New York City subway system, flooding tunnels, garages and rail yards and threatening to paralyze the nation's largest mass-transit system for days. "The New York City subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night," Joseph Lhota, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, said in a statement early on Tuesday. He later said that water was "literally up to the ceiling" at one downtown station. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's Yanukovich shrugs off criticism of election Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:50 AM PDT  KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich shrugged off international criticism on Tuesday of an election which showed his party on a winning course, while opposition nationalists alleged vote-rigging and threatened possible street protests. With the count from Sunday's vote nearing its end, Yanukovich's Party of the Regions and its communist allies were set to retain a comfortable majority in the 450-seat parliament to cement his grip before he seeks a second term in 2015. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan dismisses Israeli concerns on arms supplies Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:47 AM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan dismissed as "misleading" Israeli allegations it supplies arms to foes of the Jewish state and said there was no foreign involvement in a munitions factory Khartoum says was bombed by Israel. The poor Muslim East African country has long been seen by Israel as a conduit for weapons smuggled to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, via the Egyptian Sinai desert. Four people were killed after fire broke out a week ago at the Yarmouk arms factory in the south of Khartoum, and the following day Sudan said an Israeli air strike was responsible. Israel has not commented on the fire. ... Full Story | Top |
| Netanyahu says strike on Iran would be good for Arabs Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:45 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought on Tuesday to convince Arab states that an Israeli military strike on Iran would benefit them, removing a potential threat and easing tensions across the Middle East. Netanyahu has made a number of veiled threats to attack Iran's nuclear program and has appealed to the United States and the United Nations to set a limit for Tehran on its further development. In an interview published on Tuesday with French magazine Paris Match, Netanyahu said such a strike would not worsen regional tensions, as many critics have warned. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK police might sell New Scotland Yard headquarters Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:44 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - London's cash-strapped police force may sell its New Scotland Yard headquarters as part of plans to save 500 million pounds ($800 million). The 1960s-era complex in the Victoria district could fetch between 150-200 million pounds, property agents said. The Metropolitan Police bought the block from Land Securities in 2008 for 122 million pounds. The possible sale is part of a wider cost-cutting drive to shrink the force's 900,000 square meters estate by one third by 2016, the Met said in an e-mailed statement. "We won't keep older buildings any longer than we need to... ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy curtails nuclear plants, oldest under alert Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:43 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy slowed or shut a half-dozen U.S. nuclear power plants, while the nation's oldest facility declared a rare "alert" after the record storm surge pushed flood waters high enough to endanger a key cooling system. Exelon Corp's 43-year-old Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey remains on "alert" status, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said early Tuesday. It is only the third time this year that the second-lowest of four emergency action levels was triggered. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama cancels third campaigning day to oversee storm response Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:40 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will stay in Washington on Wednesday to oversee the response to Hurricane Sandy, canceling another day of campaigning roughly a week before Election Day, the White House said on Tuesday. Obama will be in Washington to "monitor the response to Hurricane Sandy and ensure that all available federal resources continue to be provided to support ongoing state and local recovery efforts," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. "As a result, the president will not participate in the campaign events that had been scheduled in Ohio tomorrow. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kurdish leaders eat kebab while followers hunger strike: Erdogan Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:39 AM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused Kurdish leaders of hypocrisy by ordering jailed militants to go on hunger strike while they feasted on kebabs. Some 900 people, most of them imprisoned in more than 50 jails, have refused food for 49 days now against a backdrop of increased violence between Turkish troops and the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which the United States and European Union list as a terrorist organization. ... Full Story | Top |
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