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| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| UBS to cut 10,000 jobs in fixed income retreat Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:30 PM 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 |
| Superstorm Sandy cuts power to 8.1 million homes Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 09:12 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 8.1 million U.S. homes and businesses were without power on Tuesday after Hurricane Sandy tore down power lines, flooded electrical networks and sparked an explosion at a Consolidated Edison substation on Manhattan's East River. About a quarter of New York City's homes and businesses were without power 15 hours after Hurricane Sandy roared ashore accompanied by a nearly 14-foot (4.2-metre) tidal surge that flooded empty subway and highway tunnels. Con Edison warned parts of New York City would be without power for a more than a week. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Home prices climb further in August Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 07:38 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home prices gained further traction in August, the latest sign that the housing market is on the mend, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, in line with economists' forecasts. It was the seventh straight month of increases, extending the longest continuous string of gains since prices were boosted by the homebuyer tax credit in 2009 and 2010. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. companies hustle to re-staff, reopen after Sandy Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:17 PM PDT  NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) - After Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast, companies scrambled on Tuesday to assess the damage and figure out how to staff up as soon as possible. Transportation hubs in New York and Washington were closed due to Sandy, one of the biggest storms to ever hit the country. The storm bashed the coast for hours with high winds and waves that caused widespread flooding, then Sandy dropped just below hurricane status before making landfall on Monday night in New Jersey. ... 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 |
| Hurricane Sandy losses worse than Irene: disaster forecasters Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 06:08 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy appears to have easily caused more losses than last year's Hurricane Irene, but final totals will be hard to come by for some time because of the scale of the disaster, catastrophe forecasting companies said on Tuesday. Sandy left millions without power, caused widespread flooding that may shut New York City's subways for days, and killed potentially dozens of people up and down the U.S. east coast. RMS, one of the three primary firms used by the insurance industry to calculate disaster exposures, indicated that Sandy should outdo the roughly $4. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Jersey PATH train likely out for at least a week: Governor Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 08:01 AM PDT (Reuters) - The New Jersey PATH train service between New York City and New Jersey is likely to be suspended for at least a week to 10 days, the state's governor, Chris Christie, told a news conference on Tuesday. Still, commuters will be able to get to New York, Christie said, since ferry service should be restored before then, and highways will be open. (Reporting by Martinne Geller in New York; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz) Full Story | Top |
| Sandy strikes in Canada too, far from storm's center Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:41 PM PDT  (Reuters) - More than 100,000 Canadians were still without power on Tuesday after the huge storm Sandy toppled trees and power lines in Canada's most populous provinces, killed one person, and halted units at an Ontario refinery. But Canada was far from the center of the storm and the impact was tiny compared to the vast outages and widespread flooding seen in the U.S. East Coast on Monday and Tuesday. The weakened storm is expected bring rain to Eastern Canada and Quebec on Tuesday and into Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek journalists strike over suspension of presenters Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 05:56 AM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek state television journalists accused the government of censorship and began a series of work stoppages on Tuesday after two well-known presenters were suspended for criticizing a government minister. Their removal came on the same day an editor went on trial for printing a list of 2,000 Greeks with Swiss bank accounts, prompting outrage at the swift pursuit of journalists in comparison to the sluggish crackdown on suspected tax evaders. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hurricane Sandy disrupts Northeast U.S. telecom networks Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:23 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Power outages and flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy disrupted telecommunications services in Northeastern states on Tuesday, resulting in spotty coverage for cellphones, television, home telephones and Internet services. While all the region's telecom service providers were having problems, Verizon Communications, which serves many of the states in the hurricane's path, appeared to have suffered some of the worst damage from the storm. ... Full Story | Top |
| Outages, floods hit two New Jersey refineries; others restart Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 10:05 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The second-largest refinery on the East Coast has suffered "some" flooding and a power outage from Hurricane Sandy, while two smaller plants also lost power, as glitches threaten to slow the recovery in fuel supplies. While the region's biggest plant, in Philadelphia, and several others were ramping up operations after escaping damage, other facilities, pipelines and terminals were struggling to restore supplies that had slowed to a trickle. ... Full Story | Top |
| Possible levee break in New Jersey floods three towns Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 06:11 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A possible levee breach in northern New Jersey on Tuesday, flooded three towns with 4 to 5 feet of water in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, prompting the evacuation of hundreds from their homes. The towns of Moonachie, Little Ferry and Carlstadt were underwater after the swollen Hackensack River broke its banks, affecting around 2,000 residents, said Jeanne Baratta, chief of the Bergen County Executive. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: A giant storm and the struggle over closing Wall Street Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:14 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - At 6:30 p.m. on Sunday night, with Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the U.S. East Coast, New York Stock Exchange operator NYSE Euronext had more immediate problems: a revolt from the trading firms that are its lifeblood. NYSE officials, including global head of sales Christine Sandler, told the firms that while the exchange would shut down its physical trading floor it was planning to open for business on Monday as an electronic-only trading venue for the first time. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ford profit beats forecasts on record North America margins Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 06:49 AM PDT  DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co on Tuesday posted a third-quarter profit that trounced Wall Street forecasts due to higher vehicle prices and record-high profit margins of 12 percent in North America. The No. 2 U.S. automaker posted an operating profit of $2.2 billion, or 40 cents per share, beating the average estimate of 30 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Worldwide, Ford earned $800 million more in pricing than it did last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fear, mistrust grip Myanmar's volatile Rakhine region Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 03:50 AM PDT  SITTWE, Myanmar (Reuters) - As security forces police the edgy aftermath of sectarian bloodshed in western Myanmar, fearful Buddhists and Muslims are arming themselves with homemade weapons, testing the government's resolve to prevent a new wave of violence. Despite government claims that peace has been restored, one Buddhist was shot dead and another wounded on Tuesday when security forces opened fire in Kyauknimaw on Ramree Island, according to official sources in the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan seeks exemption on U.S. sanctions on Iran-Nikkei Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 03:15 AM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is seeking an exemption from proposed new U.S. sanctions against Iran that could effectively freeze Tehran's use of payments for oil, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday, citing sources. Japanese Finance Minister Koriki Jojima asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at an October 11 meeting in Tokyo for the United States to exempt Japanese banks, the daily said, citing unidentified sources familiar with the matter. Geithner said the matter was being considered, the Nikkei said. ... 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 |
| NYSE to test new plan; trading floor undamaged by storm Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:11 AM PDT  (Reuters) - NYSE Euronext said it plans to test a new contingency plan to help resume stalled U.S. equity trading, and added that its famed trading floor is not yet damaged by Sandy, one of the biggest storms to hit the United States. U.S. stock markets will be closed for a second day on Tuesday, as Wall Street turns its attention to whether markets would be able to resume functioning on the month's final trading day on Wednesday. Wednesday is a key trading day because it marks the end of the month, when traders price portfolios. ... Full Story | Top |
| ConEd cuts power to part of Lower Manhattan due to Sandy Monday, Oct 29, 2012 07:28 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York power company Consolidated Edison Inc ED.N said on Monday that it had shut off power to part of Lower Manhattan to protect electrical equipment and to allow for quicker restoration after Hurricane Sandy passes. The company said in a release it cut service to two areas. The first is bounded by Frankfort Street to the north; William Street to the west; Wall Street to the south; and the East River. The second area is bounded by Broadway to the west; Wall Street to the north; and the southern tip of Manhattan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy complicates final stretch of tense U.S. presidential race Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 06:52 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A tense and unpredictable race for the White House became even more so on Monday, as mammoth storm Sandy created delicate political challenges for President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney and raised the possibility of a chaotic voting process. As the deadly storm barreled ashore on the paralyzed East Coast, the presidential campaign went into what amounted to a deep freeze just when Obama and Romney had planned to launch their final push for votes in the November 6 election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Economy may skirt direct hit from Hurricane Sandy Monday, Oct 29, 2012 06:24 PM PDT  WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy is shaping up to be one of the biggest storms ever to hit the United States but even with the severe damage that is expected, the blow to the economy is seen as short-term. Economists say some of the impact caused by businesses closing will be offset by reconstruction efforts, and point to catastrophic storms like Katrina, which devastated New Orleans but did not deal lasting damage to the national economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Romney curtail campaign events in face of hurricane Monday, Oct 29, 2012 04:09 PM PDT  WASHINGTON/DAVENPORT, Iowa (Reuters) - President Barack Obama suspended campaigning and returned to Washington on Monday to oversee the response to Hurricane Sandy, while his Republican rival Mitt Romney curtailed political events to show respect for the storm's potential victims. As the storm cuts into the final week of campaigning in an especially close race for the White House, both men are trying to avoid coming across as overtly political while millions of people are imperiled by Sandy's fierce winds and driving rain. ... Full Story | Top |
| China October official PMI set to confirm recovery trend Monday, Oct 29, 2012 08:05 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity likely accelerated in October to its fastest pace in five months, according to a new Reuters poll that reveals a growing certainty of recovery taking hold in the world's second-biggest economy. The poll of 14 economic analysts forecasts that China's official purchasing managers index (PMI) rebounded to 50.3 in October from 49.8 in September, a reading that suggests factory output is accelerating again after two months of slowing growth. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: JDA Software on the block - sources Monday, Oct 29, 2012 07:40 PM PDT (Reuters) - Enterprise technology maker JDA Software Group Inc is exploring a sale and has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co to advise on the process, people familiar with the matter said. The sale process is at an advanced stage. The company has received interest from multiple parties, including private equity firms and strategic buyers, the sources said. JDA Software, which has a market capitalization of $1.5 billion, provides customized software applications to customers ranging from government and aerospace defense contractors to hospitality and media organizations. ... Full Story | Top |
| As election, Sandy draw near, pressure mounts on disaster chief Monday, Oct 29, 2012 02:01 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Hurricane Sandy bears down on the U.S. East Coast little more than a week before the presidential election, President Barack Obama's fortunes may in part depend on how well a former volunteer firefighter from Florida does his job. Craig Fugate, a former paramedic and firefighter who rose to become Florida's top emergency management official, heads the Federal Emergency Management Agency and is the man Obama is counting on to bring relief quickly to millions of people expected to be hit by monster storm Sandy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Apple software, retail chiefs out in overhaul Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 12:26 AM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook on Monday pushed out the powerful head of the company's mobile software products group, sources said, in a major management shake-up that also claimed the recently hired chief of the retail stores division. Scott Forstall, a long-time lieutenant of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, was asked to leave following years of friction with other top executives and his recent refusal to take responsibility for the mishandling of the Apple's much-criticized mapping software, people familiar with the situation said. ... Full Story | Top |
| UBS set to exit fixed income, fire 10,000 bankers Monday, Oct 29, 2012 06:29 PM PDT  ZURICH (Reuters) - UBS is expected to reveal plans on Tuesday to wind down its fixed income business and fire 10,000 bankers, with shareholders cheering one of the biggest bonfires of finance jobs since the implosion of Lehman Brothers in 2008. The move will focus Zurich-based UBS around its private bank and a smaller investment bank, ditching much of the trading business that saw it lose $50 billion in the financial crisis and one rogue trader lose $2.3 billion last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Crew rescued from HMS Bounty as hurricane rages; captain missing Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 04:43 AM PDT  (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 14 of the 16 crew members who abandoned the replica tall ship HMS Bounty off North Carolina in rough seas caused by Hurricane Sandy, using helicopters on Monday to pluck them from life rafts. A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter later recovered crew member Claudene Christian, 42, who was described as unresponsive, while continuing to search for the 63-year-old captain of the ship, which sank in 18-foot seas. Christian taken to Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where a hospital spokesman said she was in "critical condition. ... Full Story | Top |
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