| | |
| Suicide bomber kills 8, wounds 100 in Nigerian church Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 12:11 PM PDT  KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) - A suicide bomber drove a jeep full of explosives into a Catholic church during morning mass in northern Nigeria on Sunday, killing at least eight people, wounding more than 100 and triggering reprisal attacks that killed at least two more. There was no claim of responsibility but Islamist sect Boko Haram has bombed several churches in the past in its fight to create an Islamic state in Nigeria where the 160 million population is evenly split between Christians and Muslims. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria airforce bombs cities, truce "practically over" Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 08:02 AM PDT  AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian jets bombarded Sunni Muslim regions in Damascus and across the country on Sunday, activists said, as President Bashar al-Assad kept up air strikes against rebels despite a U.N.-brokered truce that now appears to be in tatters. "The ceasefire is practically over. Damascus has been under brutal air raids since day one and hundreds of people have been arrested," said veteran opposition campaigner Fawaz Tello. "Assad has been trying to use the truce to seize back control of areas of Damascus," said Tello, who is well connected with rebels. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gigantic Hurricane Sandy bears down East Coast Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 11:37 AM PDT  NEW YORK CITY (Reuters) - Tens of millions of people along the U.S. East Coast girded themselves on Sunday for Hurricane Sandy, a gigantic storm forecast to assault the densely populated region with battering winds, dangerous flooding and even heavy snowfall. Sandy, expected to come ashore late on Monday, could deliver a harsh blow to major cities in its target zone including New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore and Boston. Its center was forecast to strike New York-New Jersey area and then move inland toward Philadelphia and the rest of Pennsylvania. ... Full Story | Top |
| Seekers for top U.S. job await payroll fallout Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 12:26 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - The last employment report before the U.S. presidential election is likely to have something for everyone - for those bullish and bearish on the economy and for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Non-farm payrolls in October are forecast to have risen 124,000, barely more than September's 114,000 gain, according to 78 economists polled by Reuters. The unemployment rate probably edged back up to 7.9 percent after falling to 7.8 percent from 8.1 percent last month. The figures are due on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Congress may face another debt-limit showdown in 2013 Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 11:39 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. debt-ceiling increase could be headed for a Wall Street-rattling showdown in 2013 if Congress, as expected, shuns a quick and easy fix at the end of this year in favor of another round of last-minute brinkmanship. Regardless of who wins the November 6 elections, many congressional aides and Capitol Hill observers are predicting that lawmakers will go right up to the deadline - probably around mid-February or early March - before increasing the $16.4 trillion limit on borrowing that is nearly exhausted. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Fiscal cliff could hit economy harder than many expect Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 10:50 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States runs the risk of a recession far deeper than many investors and policymakers may think if lawmakers fail to avert looming tax hikes and cuts to public spending. Absent action by Congress, the country will face the so-called fiscal cliff at the start of next year, a combination of lower spending and higher taxes that is expected to extract about $600 billion from the economy. Many economists think every dollar of deficit reduction will subtract nearly the same amount from economic growth. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: What's eating Australia? Foreign buyers at the farm gate Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 12:04 PM PDT SYDNEY/CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia risks losing an opportunity to become a farmyard for Asia, as growing unease over foreigners buying rural land threatens to provoke protectionist policies that may deter much needed investment in agriculture. With its vast landmass, abundant natural resources and stable government, Australia has relied on foreign farm investments for more than 100 years, with interest set to grow as the world looks to dramatically boost food production to feed Asia's booming middle class over the next 40 years. "I think we are going to see a continued interest. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wall Street makes plans to open Monday even as Sandy bears down Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 10:55 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock exchanges and Wall Street banks are sending employees into Manhattan on Sunday to stay in hotels and coworkers' homes, as markets prepare to open for business on Monday even as Hurricane Sandy brings public transportation to a halt. Hurricane Sandy is expected to slam into the East Coast on Monday night, bringing torrential rains, high winds, severe flooding and power outages, forecasters said. The rare "super storm," created by an Arctic jetstream wrapping itself around a tropical storm, could be the biggest to hit the U.S. mainland. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Employees to face healthcare sticker shock Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 10:46 AM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Visit to New York City orthopedist: $223. One X-ray: $50. One follow-up magnetic resonance imaging test: $766. Total bill for checking out that aching shoulder: $1,039 - all to be paid by the patient, rather than the insurer. Healthcare has gone retail. Over the next 18 months, between one quarter and one half of Americans who get insurance coverage through their employers will pay more of their doctor bills themselves as companies roll out healthcare plans with higher deductibles, benefits consultants say. The result: sticker shock. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hurricane Sandy blows election off course Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 10:22 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy blew the presidential race off course on Sunday even before it came ashore, forcing Republican Mitt Romney to shift his campaign inland and fueling fears that the massive storm bearing down on the East Coast could disrupt early voting. As much of the heavily populated region braced for what could be the largest storm to ever hit the U.S. mainland, Romney re-routed his campaigning from Virginia to Ohio, another of the handful of battleground states that will decide the outcome of the November 6 election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama at 49 percent, Romney 46 percent nine days before election: Reuters/Ipsos poll Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 09:56 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has extended his narrow lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney among likely voters in a race that remains statistically tied nine days before the election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll released on Sunday. Obama has a 49 percent to 46 percent edge over Romney, marking a 1 point increase from Saturday but still within the daily online survey's 4 percentage-point credibility interval for likely voters. Swings could be possible in the remaining days of the campaign, however. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hawaii tsunami warning lifted after 100,000 flee to higher ground Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 08:25 AM PDT  HONOLULU (Reuters) - A tsunami warning prompted by a powerful earthquake off the Canadian coast sent at least 100,000 people fleeing from shore to higher ground in Hawaii late on Saturday, but an evacuation order was canceled after a series of weaker-than-expected waves rolled through the islands. The warning was downgraded to an advisory - a lower-level alert - shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday, though state civil defense authorities said beaches and harbors would remain closed for the time being, and residents were urged to stay away from the water. ... Full Story | Top |
| 7.7 magnitude quake hits Canada's British Columbia Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 12:20 PM PDT (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 hit Canada's Pacific coastal province of British Columbia late Saturday, setting off a small tsunami, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, officials said. The U.S. Geological Survey said an earthquake with a 7.7 magnitude had hit the province, centered 123 miles south-southwest of Prince Rupert at a depth of 6.2 miles. Earthquakes Canada said the quake in the Haida Gwaii region has been followed by numerous aftershocks as large as 4.6 and said a small tsunami has been recorded by a deep ocean pressure sensor. ... Full Story | Top |
| Will Supreme Court turn up its nose at drug-sniffing dogs? Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 10:34 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Two dogs, a chocolate Labrador retriever named Franky and a German shepherd named Aldo, should have their day at the U.S. Supreme Court. The court is scheduled on Wednesday to hear Florida's appeal of two decisions by that state's highest court that found the detection of drugs by trained police dogs had violated the constitutional ban on unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. ... Full Story | Top |
| Indonesia militant arrests show shift to violence Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 01:05 AM PDT  JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's arrest of 11 suspected Islamic militants it said planned to attack the U.S. embassy and a plaza near Australia's embassy is evidence that legal extremist groups are turning to violence, analysts said on Sunday. The arrests could also step up pressure on the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, criticized for doing too little to curb religious intolerance in the country which has the world's largest Muslim population. ... Full Story | Top |
| Saudi authorities disperse anti-Assad protest in Mecca Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 06:08 PM PDT  MECCA (Reuters) - Saudi authorities quickly dispersed a protest by hundreds of Syrian pilgrims calling for the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and denouncing what they said was international failure to stop bloodshed in Syria, a Reuters witness said. Protesters held up rebel flags and marched toward the Jamarat Bridge in Mina, east of the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, where more than 3 million Muslim pilgrims congregated for the annual haj. ... Full Story | Top |
| NYSE still planning Monday morning open Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 08:20 AM PDT  (Reuters) - The New York Stock Exchange will open on Monday morning as usual, a spokesman for the stock exchange said after officials announced plans to close all area public transportation at 7 p.m. EDT to prepare for Hurricane Sandy. "We continue to monitor the situation and to communicate with government officials, regulators, and markets participants," NYSE spokesman Rich Adamonis said. (Reporting By John McCrank; Editing by Maureen Bavdek) Full Story | Top |
| Israel kills Hamas gunman, Gaza salvo hits Israeli city Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 08:57 AM PDT GAZA (Reuters) - Israel killed a Hamas gunman it accused of preparing to fire a rocket from the Gaza Strip on Sunday and a separate Palestinian salvo struck a southern Israeli city, causing no damage. The incidents followed a three-day lull since an upsurge in violence last week in which Israel killed at least four Gaza militants as dozens of rockets were fired at Israeli towns, damaging some homes and wounding several agricultural workers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi threatens to bring down Monti government Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 01:54 PM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday his centre-right bloc may withdraw its support from the government of Mario Monti, a move that could throw Italy into political chaos ahead of next April's national elections. "We have to recognize the fact that the initiative of this government is a continuation of a spiral of recession for our economy," Berlusconi told a news conference in northern Italy a day after he was convicted and sentenced to four years for tax fraud related to his Mediaset media empire. ... Full Story | Top |
| Satellite images suggest Sudan arms factory was bombed: group Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 04:59 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Analysis of satellite imagery of a Sudanese munitions factory that Khartoum accused Israel of bombing earlier this week suggests the site may have been hit with aerial bombardment as Sudan claims, a monitoring group said on Saturday. The Satellite Sentinel Project, whose founders include Hollywood actor George Clooney and the Enough Project, said it conducted a comparative analysis of DigitalGlobe imagery of the arms factory in Khartoum, where a huge explosion on Tuesday killed two people and caused a large fire. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guinea Bissau arrests suspected counter-coup bid leader Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 04:27 PM PDT BISSAU (Reuters) - The suspected leader of a failed October 21 counter-coup attempt in Guinea-Bissau was arrested on Saturday, witnesses and a security official said. Captain Pansao Ntchama, a bodyguard to the then head of the army under ousted Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, and four other suspects were detained at a farm on an island near the West African country's capital Bissau. "Ntchama and his men have been incarcerated in a cell at the headquarters of the armed forces," an army officer told Reuters, requesting not to be named. ... Full Story | Top |
| Indonesia arrests 11 suspected militants over U.S. embassy plot Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 01:31 PM PDT  JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's anti-terrorist squad arrested 11 suspected Islamic militants it said planned to attack the U.S. embassy, a plaza near Australia's embassy and the offices of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, a police spokesman said on Saturday. The Detachment 88 squad seized bomb-making equipment and one bomb ready to be used by a new militant group called Harakah Sunni for the Indonesian Society (HASMI), said National Police spokesman Suhardi Alius in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama cancels stops in Virginia, Colorado because of storm Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 08:05 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is canceling campaign stops in Virginia and Colorado early next week because of the impending landfall of Hurricane Sandy and will instead monitor the storm from the White House, his spokesman said on Saturday. Obama was to have campaigned with former President Bill Clinton in Virginia on Monday as part of a three-state swing through political battlegrounds including Ohio and Florida. The Virginia stop has been canceled along with a trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Tuesday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two dead as police clash with protesters in Peru's capital Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 01:39 PM PDT  LIMA (Reuters) - Two people died and 21 others were injured in Peru's capital on Saturday as protesters clashed with police trying to shut down a sprawling wholesale market, raising the death toll to four since street battles erupted at the site on Thursday. The unrest in Lima's downtown has stunned residents and could hurt Mayor Susana Villaran's chances of winning a recall election in the chaotic city of 8 million. The date of the vote has not been set, but must occur within 40 days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukrainian President Yanukovich's party set to win poll Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 03:14 PM PDT  KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich's pro-business ruling party seems likely to win parliamentary elections on Sunday, but will face a re-energized opposition which has vowed to fight growing authoritarianism and corruption. The former Soviet republic of 46 million is more isolated internationally than it has been for years. The imprisonment of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Yanukovich's main rival, has put it at odds with the United States and European Union, while Russia turns a deaf ear to Kiev's calls for cheaper gas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Massive Hurricane Sandy takes aim at East Coast Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 02:29 PM PDT  HATTERAS ISLAND, North Carolina (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy closed in on the United States on Saturday as it threatened to smack the eastern third of the country with torrential rains, high winds, major flooding and power outages a week before the U.S. presidential election. On its current projected track, Sandy could make U.S. landfall on Monday night or Tuesday anywhere between Maryland and southern New England, forecasters said. Rain accumulations of up to 12 inches and heavy snowfall inland are considered likely in some areas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Presidential race still virtually even: Reuters/Ipsos poll Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 03:39 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama holds a narrow lead of 2 percentage points over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in Reuters/Ipsos poll results released on Saturday, leaving the race effectively tied as fewer voters say they are likely to change their minds. Obama led Romney by 47 percent to 45 percent among likely voters, a slim margin within the daily national online tracking survey's credibility interval. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment