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| Sandy strengthens as it nears East Coast; Wall Street shut Monday, Oct 29, 2012 10:52 AM PDT  NEW YORK/REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy, one of the biggest storms ever to hit the United States, began battering the densely populated East Coast on Monday, shutting down transportation, forcing evacuations in flood-prone areas and interrupting the presidential campaign. Fierce winds and flooding were expected along hundreds of miles of Atlantic coast and heavy snows were forecast farther inland at higher elevations when the center of the storm moves ashore Monday night near Atlantic City, New Jersey. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama urges resolve, patience in face of hurricane Monday, Oct 29, 2012 11:56 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 |
| Obama, Romney cancel events as Hurricane Sandy looms Monday, Oct 29, 2012 11:02 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama suspended campaign stops and returned to Washington on Monday to deal with the impact of Hurricane Sandy, advising Americans to evacuate if necessary and dismissing concerns about the storm's impact on the November 6 election. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney canceled most of his campaign events to show respect for the hurricane's potential victims. Both men are acting cautiously to avoid coming across as focused on politics while millions of people face the effects of fierce winds and driving rain. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hurricane Sandy to make landfall early Monday evening: NHC Monday, Oct 29, 2012 11:13 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy, located about 110 miles southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and about 175 miles south-southeast of New York City, is expected to make landfall early Monday evening, the National Hurricane Center said in its latest bulletin. "Sandy is now moving toward the northwest near 28 miles per hour (44 km per hour). This general motion is expected to continue through this afternoon and evening until landfall occurs, followed by a turn toward the west-northwest tonight," the agency said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Meningitis outbreak spreads to 19 states with case in Rhode Island Monday, Oct 29, 2012 12:18 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The deadly meningitis outbreak tied to steroid injections from potentially tainted medications spread to a 19th state on Monday with the first case reported in Rhode Island, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Only four of the 23 states that received some of the medication have not reported cases of fungal meningitis, which has killed 25 people nationwide. The four states that have not reported at least one case of meningitis are California, Nevada, West Virginia and Connecticut, the CDC said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Google unveils first 10-inch Nexus tablet Monday, Oct 29, 2012 11:05 AM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc unveiled a larger version of its Nexus-branded tablet computer on Monday, and updated its mobile gadget and online content offerings as competition with Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp heats up ahead of the holiday sales season. The device follows a spate of new product launches by the technology leaders in recent weeks, including Apple's iPad Mini last week and software-maker Microsoft's first-ever home-built tablet, the Surface. Google, the world's No. ... Full Story | Top |
| Consumer spending picks up, but savings a worry Monday, Oct 29, 2012 08:27 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending rose solidly in September, putting the economy on a firmer footing heading into the fourth quarter even though households had to pull back on saving to fund purchases. The Commerce Department said on Monday that consumer spending rose 0.8 percent, the largest increase since February, after an unrevised 0.5 percent gain in August. Spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity and last month's increase offered a strong hand off from the July-September period to the current quarter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Air strikes, car bombs wreck last day of Syria "truce" Monday, Oct 29, 2012 10:50 AM PDT  BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian jets bombed parts of Damascus on Monday in what residents said were the capital's fiercest air raids yet, at the end of what was supposed to be a four-day truce. "More than 100 buildings have been destroyed, some leveled to the ground," said opposition activist Moaz al-Shami. "Whole neighbourhoods are deserted." Each side in the 19-month-old conflict between President Bashar al-Assad and rebels blamed the other for breaking the truce proposed by peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to mark a Muslim holiday. Two car bombs rocked the capital on Monday, state media ... Full Story | Top |
| Barclays Libor case to go to trial Monday, Oct 29, 2012 11:26 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays became the first bank to be ordered to stand trial in a British court over damages stemming from manipulation of the Libor interest rate after a High Court ruling on Monday. Guardian Care Homes, a residential care home operator based in Wolverhampton, is suing Barclays for up to 37 million pounds ($59 million) over the alleged mis-selling of interest rate hedging products known as swaps. ... Full Story | Top |
| Random House and Penguin merge to take on retailers Monday, Oct 29, 2012 11:49 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Pearson and Germany's Bertelsmann are to merge their publishers Penguin and Random House, aiming to gain the upper hand in their relationship with Amazon and Apple, the leaders in the ebook revolution. Education and media publisher Pearson said on Monday the joint venture - which will bring under one roof fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett, "Fifty Shades of Grey" author EL James and 2012 Nobel prize winner Mo Yan - would be named Penguin Random House. ... Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Court accepts PPL appeal in British tax case Monday, Oct 29, 2012 07:04 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to consider whether a U.S. company is entitled to a tax credit when it pays a so-called "windfall tax" imposed by the United Kingdom. At issue is a ruling against the U.S. energy company PPL Corp, which had taken a stake in Britain's South Western Electricity Plc, among the companies included in a UK privatization of 32 companies in the 1980s and 1990s. In reaction to a public backlash that the privatized companies had been sold too cheaply, the British government imposed one-time windfall taxes on those companies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Storm damages crops in Haiti, fueling food price woes Monday, Oct 29, 2012 10:53 AM PDT PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - As Hurricane Sandy barreled toward the U.S. East Coast on Monday, the full extent of the storm's havoc on Haiti was just beginning to emerge. Extensive damage to crops throughout the southern third of the country, as well as the high potential for a spike in cases of cholera and other water-borne diseases, could mean Haiti will see the deadliest effects of Sandy in the coming days and weeks. Haiti reported the highest death toll in the Caribbean, as swollen rivers and landslides claimed at least 52 lives, according to the country's Civil Protection office. ... Full Story | Top |
| Residents blocked from returning to captured Libyan town Monday, Oct 29, 2012 07:02 AM PDT  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Thousands of Libyans who fled fighting in the former Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid will not be allowed to return home for several more days until work was complete to make the town safe and restore services, officials said on Monday. Militias aligned with the defense ministry took control of Bani Walid - one of the last towns to fall to rebels in last year's war - on Wednesday after fighting that has underlined the weakness of central authority a year after dictator Muammar Gaddafi was deposed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexican city battered by drug gangs feels lure of truce Monday, Oct 29, 2012 09:47 AM PDT  TORREON, Mexico (Reuters) - In a five-year struggle with Mexico's most notorious drug cartel, the city of Torreon has suffered a 16-fold increase in murders, fired its police department and lost control of its main prison to the gang. The Zetas cartel arrived in Torreon in mid-2007, and this center of manufacturing, mining and farming once seen as a model for progress has become one of Mexico's most dangerous cities. ... Full Story | Top |
| Petronas, Progress extend closing date on proposed deal Monday, Oct 29, 2012 09:57 AM PDT  KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian state oil company Petronas said on Monday it has extended the closing date on its bid for Canadian gas producer Progress Energy Resources until November 30, as it works to overturn the Canadian government's rejection of the proposed deal. Canada blocked Petronas' C$5.17 billion ($5.18 billion) bid for Progress this month after Industry Minister Christian Paradis said it was unlikely to bring a "net benefit" to the country. The government gave Petronas 30 days to make additional representations to alter the ruling. ... Full Story | Top |
| China snubs SE Asia push for South China Sea deal Monday, Oct 29, 2012 06:09 AM PDT  PATTAYA, Thailand (Reuters) - China is stonewalling attempts to start talks on a multilateral "code of conduct" governing the strategically located South China Sea and an agreement could still be years away, Southeast Asian officials said on Monday. Beijing's assertion of sovereignty over the vast stretch of the water has set it directly against Vietnam and the Philippines, while Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also lay claim to other parts of the region, making it Asia's biggest potential military troublespot. ... Full Story | Top |
| Some states will soon call the roll on school reform Monday, Oct 29, 2012 04:04 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Voters in several states will weigh in next month on some of the most contentious issues in public education, including teacher tenure, charter schools and merit pay for teachers, as a national fight over education reform hits the ballot box. The campaigns have been fierce and often nasty. In one corner: proponents of dramatically overhauling public education, including several of America's wealthiest families, led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Wal-Mart heir Alice Walton. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama cancels Tuesday campaign event to focus on storm Sandy Monday, Oct 29, 2012 07:13 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will not travel to a campaign event scheduled for Tuesday in Wisconsin and will stay in Washington to monitor Hurricane Sandy, the White House said on Monday. The event, just eight days ahead of the November 6 election, was scheduled to take place in the battleground state's Green Bay area. Instead, Obama will "stay in Washington ... on Tuesday and closely monitor the impact of and response to Hurricane Sandy," the White House said in a statement. (Reporting By Susan Heavey; Editing by Mohammad Zargham) Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine president's party set for election win, OSCE unhappy Monday, Oct 29, 2012 06:23 AM PDT  KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich's party was on course on Monday to secure a parliamentary majority but international monitors said flaws in the way the election was conducted meant the country had taken a "step backwards". Exit polls and first results from Sunday's vote showed Yanukovich's Party of the Regions would, with help from long-time allies, win more than half the seats in the 450-member assembly after boosting public sector wages and welfare handouts to win over disillusioned voters in its traditional power bases. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek editor stands trial over Swiss accounts list Monday, Oct 29, 2012 10:21 AM PDT  ATHENS (Reuters) - A prominent Greek journalist who published the names of more than 2,000 wealthy Greeks with Swiss bank accounts appeared in court on Monday to stand trial for violating data privacy laws in a case which aroused international concern. Costas Vaxevanis, editor of the "Hot Doc" weekly magazine, was arrested at the weekend for publishing the "Lagarde List" which French authorities gave to Athens in 2010 so that the account holders could be investigated for possible tax evasion. ... Full Story | Top |
| Stock markets closed as storm hobbles New York Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 10:15 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock and options markets will be closed on Monday, and possibly Tuesday, as regulators, exchanges and brokers worry about the integrity of markets and the safety of employees in the face of Hurricane Sandy. Market participants and regulators decided late on Sunday to shut the market, reversing a plan to keep electronic trading going on Monday. Bond markets will remain open, but will close at noon, a trade group said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan PM signals election can wait, defies opposition Monday, Oct 29, 2012 12:54 AM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda made clear on Monday he was in no rush to go to the polls, speaking of the risk of a "political vacuum" in a speech likely to anger an opposition that has urged him to keep a promise to call an election soon. The ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) swept to power in 2009 and holds a slim majority in the powerful lower house of parliament, but the opposition's domination of the upper house has it allowed it to block crucial budget deficit funding legislation. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N.-Arab League envoy regrets Syria truce not successful Monday, Oct 29, 2012 03:46 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi expressed regret on Monday that a U.N.-brokered truce had not been more successful in Syria but said he would not let this discourage his peace efforts. Brahimi also said after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow that there was no immediate plan to send U.N. peacekeepers to the Middle East country. "I am terribly sorry ... that this appeal (for a truce) has not been heard to the level we hoped it would, but that will not discourage us. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: U.S. presidential race is all about Ohio - or is it? Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 10:20 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With one week left in the tight battle for the White House, it's all about the vital swing state of Ohio. Unless it's about Colorado - or Iowa, or tiny New Hampshire. Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney both have clear paths to the 270 electoral votes needed for victory - and they don't all go through Ohio, the state that both sides have long viewed as key to capturing the White House. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hurricane Sandy blows U.S. election off course Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 07:21 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy blew the U.S. 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 an election that is already under way. As he juggled his governing duties with his re-election effort, President Barack Obama said the heavily populated East Coast could face power failures and other disruptions for several days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: China grassroots democracy challenge awaits new leaders Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 05:59 PM PDT  XIAOSHAN/WUKAN, China (Reuters) - Hua Youjuan is an unlikely Chinese official. Free-spirited but driven, she left her village at age 17, got a degree in marketing, and opened a string of businesses in nearby cities in eastern China before settling in the coastal boomtown of Ningbo, 160 km (100 miles) from home. ... Full Story | Top |
| Crucial pre-election payroll report looks weak Monday, Oct 29, 2012 12:40 AM PDT  (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 |
| Syria air force bombs cities, truce "practically over" Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 02:30 PM PDT  AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian jets bombarded Sunni Muslim regions in Damascus and around 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 Local Coordination Committees activists' organization said air raids killed 14 civilians, including women and children, in the town of Bara in the northern province of Idlib, where fighting has continued between Assad's forces and rebels who have seized large parts of the rugged region. "The ceasefire is practically over. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Oh, what a sinking feeling: Toyota misfires with Chinese buyers Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 02:22 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - The roots of Toyota Motor Corp's China troubles run far deeper than the anti-Japan protests that have swept the country, stretching back to the 2008 launch of the Yaris subcompact -- a spectacular flop with price-conscious Chinese buyers. The car, a success elsewhere, was meant to help build brand loyalty and send Toyota hurtling towards a still-unattained goal of selling one million vehicles annually in the world's largest auto market. However the Yaris missed the mark with China's traditional higher-end customers as well as its new emerging middle class. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greece says EU/IMF lenders refuse to concede on reforms Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 01:44 PM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's foreign lenders have refused to make any further concessions on changes to labour laws contested by a junior coalition partner, the country's finance minister said on Sunday, prolonging an impasse on a crucial austerity package. Athens has been locked in talks with its European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders on the austerity package for months, but a final agreement has been held up by the small Democratic Left party's refusal to back the new wage laws. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: China grassroots democracy challenge awaits new leaders Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 02:01 PM PDT XIANGSHAN/WUKAN, China (Reuters) - Hua Youjuan is an unlikely Chinese official. Free-spirited but driven, she left her village at age 17, got a degree in marketing, and opened a string of businesses in nearby cities in eastern China before settling in the coastal boomtown of Ningbo, 160 km (100 miles) from home. ... Full Story | Top |
| Evacuations, shutdowns on East Coast before storm Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 03:21 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tens of millions of East Coast residents scrambled on Sunday to prepare for Hurricane Sandy, which could make landfall as the largest storm to hit the United States, bringing battering winds, flooding and even heavy snow. The massive storm, which has already killed 66 people in the Caribbean, was headed toward a densely populated region that includes Washington, New York and Boston and its effects could be felt for hundreds of miles, officials warned. It could be the largest storm to hit the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hurricane Sandy blows election off course Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 03:18 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy blew the U.S. 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 an election that is already under way. As he juggled his governing duties with his re-election effort, President Barack Obama said the heavily populated East Coast could face power failures and other disruptions for several days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Presidential contenders await payroll fallout Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 04:22 PM PDT (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 |
| Wall Street to open Monday as storm hobbles New York Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 04:40 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street firms prepared to open for business on Monday at least with skeletal staff, booking hotel rooms for key employees and leaning on offices in other cities as Hurricane Sandy forced the New York mass transit system to shut down, leaving tens of thousands of employees stuck at home. ... Full Story | Top |
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