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| Race even, but Obama holds slight edge in key states: Reuters/Ipsos poll Friday, Nov 02, 2012 12:23 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are dead even on a national level but Obama holds a slight edge in three of the most hotly contested states in Tuesday's election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday. Obama leads Romney among likely voters by a margin of 3 percentage points in Virginia and 2 percentage points in Ohio and Florida, the online tracking poll found. ... Full Story | Top |
| More than a million ads later, Obama out-advertised Romney: study Friday, Nov 02, 2012 12:22 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 1.1 million ads have aired in the presidential race, and President Barack Obama's campaign has invested the most money to run the most spots, an academic analysis showed on Friday. The study by the Wesleyan Media Project showed that this year's campaign had seen more political advertising than any previous U.S. election and an increase of nearly 40 percent on 2008. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli official sees "shocking" dictatorship in Egypt Friday, Nov 02, 2012 12:15 PM PDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A senior Israeli official described Egypt's new government on Friday as a "shocking dictatorial force" and predicted there would be no high-level contacts between the two countries, but the Israeli government distanced itself from his comments. The remarks by Amos Gilad, a top aide to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, were some of the harshest yet about the rise to prominence of Egypt's new Islamist president Mohamed Mursi, who was elected in June. ... Full Story | Top |
| Affiliate of U.S. meningitis-linked firm extends shutdown Friday, Nov 02, 2012 12:04 PM PDT (Reuters) - Ameridose LLC, sister company to the pharmacy at the heart of a meningitis outbreak in the United States, has agreed to extend its closure by two weeks while state and federal investigators continue to examine its facilities. The company's accord on Friday with Massachusetts regulators will keep it closed until November 19, according to the agreement, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters. Ameridose has the same owners as the New England Compounding Center (NECC), which distributed a tainted steroid used for back pain that has killed 28 people in the meningitis outbreak. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hyundai, Kia overstated mileage on more than 1 million cars Friday, Nov 02, 2012 11:53 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Co and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp conceded on Friday that they overstated the fuel economy by at least a mile per gallon on more than 1 million recently sold vehicles, and agreed to compensate owners for the additional fuel costs. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found the errors in 13 Kia and Hyundai models from the 2011 to 2013 model years. The findings were a blow to the two carmakers who have centered their marketing campaigns on superior fuel economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Will poll watchers help or hinder voting in the elections? Friday, Nov 02, 2012 11:45 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In some areas, they are becoming as much a part of elections as voters and precinct workers: poll watchers, the sometimes unofficial monitors who go to polling places with the idea of stopping fraudulent voting. Poll watchers come in all political stripes - conservative Republicans, liberal Democrats, anti-fraud groups, labor unions and even international organizations. With the presidential race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney extremely close, some groups are looking to poll monitors to ensure a fair election on Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy to test revamped federal flood insurance program Friday, Nov 02, 2012 11:38 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Superstorm Sandy is threatening to drag the U.S. government's debt-ridden flood insurance program back into the political crosshairs just months after Congress attempted to put the controversial program on a sound financial footing. It is unclear if claims from Sandy, which delivered a wallop to the Northeastern United States earlier this week, will exceed the $3.7 billion the National Flood Insurance Program can spend before Congress needs to authorize more funds. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge says Pennsylvania can publicize halted voter ID law Friday, Nov 02, 2012 11:21 AM PDT PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - An appellate court judge in Pennsylvania has refused to stop the state from advertising its suspended voter identification law, a publicity campaign that critics argued was misleading to voters. Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson said in a ruling on Thursday that the groups that asked for the advertising to be halted "never offered credible proof" that the state's campaign would be likely to cause disenfranchisement. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. waives Jones Act to help get fuel to Northeast Friday, Nov 02, 2012 11:20 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government issued a rare waiver on Friday allowing foreign tankers from the Gulf of Mexico to supply the Northeast with fuel after Hurricane Sandy, but the extent of relief was uncertain since some ports in the region still lack power. The Department of Homeland Security's waiver of the Jones Act allows foreign vessels to begin shipping petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel, from the Gulf of Mexico to Northeastern ports effective immediately and running through November 13. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria army quits base on strategic Aleppo road Friday, Nov 02, 2012 11:13 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army abandoned its last base near the northern town of Saraqeb after a fierce assault by rebels, further isolating the strategically important second city Aleppo from the capital. But in a political setback to forces battling to topple President Bashar al-Assad, the United Nations said the rebels appeared to have committed a war crime after seizing the base. ... Full Story | Top |
| Amsterdam struggles to evade ban on dope-smoking tourists Friday, Nov 02, 2012 11:07 AM PDT AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The mayor of Amsterdam may be unable to deliver on his promise to scrap the ban on tourists visiting the city's marijuana-selling coffee shops, the Dutch justice ministry said on Friday. Dope smokers were relieved this week when mayor Eberhard van der Laan said the coffee shops would remain open to foreigners. The conservative national government that lost power in September had pledged that only locals would be allowed to buy "weed" in coffee shops from the beginning of next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| In Ohio, Obama knocks Romney for misleading autos advertisement Friday, Nov 02, 2012 10:52 AM PDT  HILLIARD, Ohio (Reuters) - President Barack Obama blasted Republican rival Mitt Romney on Friday for running an ad that falsely suggested Jeep was moving production to China, accusing his opponent of stretching the truth to scare voters in the final days of the campaign. Romney told a crowd last week in Defiance, Ohio, that he had read a news article that said Chrysler's Jeep brand was considering moving "all production to China. ... Full Story | Top |
| Czech opposition tells banks to ignore government pension reform Friday, Nov 02, 2012 10:37 AM PDT  PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech's left-wing opposition advised asset managers on Friday to ignore a government pension reform slated to launch in January and wait for the next election after which the changes may be reversed. The reform, as planned by the centre-right administration of Petr Necas, will allow people to divert some of their social insurance payments to private pension funds, lifting part of the burden of caring for an ageing population from the state budget. ... Full Story | Top |
| Acquitted Greek journalist says press muzzled by elite Friday, Nov 02, 2012 10:36 AM PDT  ATHENS (Reuters) - The Greek journalist put on trial for publishing a list of Swiss bank account holders accused Greece's political and business elite on Friday of trying to muzzle the press to cover up chronic corruption. Costas Vaxevanis was acquitted on Thursday of charges of violating personal privacy laws after he published the list of 2,059 names of prominent Greeks including several politicians, shipping magnates, doctors, lawyers, and housewives. "The main problem in Greece is the people who govern it. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rape remark costs Indiana Republican Senate hopeful poll support Friday, Nov 02, 2012 10:32 AM PDT  INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Support for Senate candidate Richard Mourdock has fallen since his recent controversial comments about rape, giving Democrats an unexpected opportunity to pickup a seat on November 6, a poll released on Friday showed. Eighty-seven percent of respondents in an independent Howey-DePauw Indiana Battleground Poll said they were aware of the remark by the Indiana Republican in a campaign debate on October 23 that pregnancy resulting from rape was "something God intended to happen. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jobs growth quickens, giving Obama some relief Friday, Nov 02, 2012 10:28 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Employers stepped up hiring in October and a small increase in the jobless rate was due to more workers restarting their job hunts, a hopeful sign for a lackluster economy that has been a drag on President Barack Obama's re-election bid. Employers added 171,000 people to their payrolls last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. The government also said 84,000 more jobs were created in August and September than previously estimated. The jobless rate edged up a tenth of a point to 7.9 percent, but that was due to workers surging back into the labor force. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigerian army kills 30 in militant bastion: witnesses Friday, Nov 02, 2012 10:25 AM PDT  MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian troops shot dead at least 30 people during raids in the northeast city of Maiduguri, bastion of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram, witnesses and hospital staff said on Friday. Boko Haram says it wants to create an Islamic state in Nigeria and its fighters have killed hundreds in bomb and gun attacks targeting security forces, politicians and civilians since launching an uprising in 2009. The sect has become the top security threat to Africa's biggest energy-producing state. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbian defense minister accuses police of tapping his phone Friday, Nov 02, 2012 10:18 AM PDT  BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's defense minister accused the police on Friday of phone-tapping him and other senior officials, including President Tomislav Nikolic, and said a group within the interior ministry were responsible. The Socialist-nationalist government that came to power in July has pledged to root out high-level corruption, nepotism and organized crime, a precondition for Serbia's entry into the European Union. Defense Minister Aleksandar Vucic said he received information about the surveillance a few days ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Uganda says to pull out troops from Somalia over Congo charges Friday, Nov 02, 2012 10:17 AM PDT KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda will tell the United Nations it is withdrawing its forces from military operations in Somalia and other regional hotspots after the world body accused it of supporting Congolese rebels, the security minister said on Friday. Minister Wilson Mukasa said the decision was irreversible and another cabinet minister was travelling to New York to explain its position to the United Nations. Ugandan troops account for more than a third of the 17,600 U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Inquest must see if UK shares spy-death blame-lawyer Friday, Nov 02, 2012 10:15 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - An inquest into the death of a former Russian agent who died in London after being poisoned with a radioactive isotope could examine whether the British government is culpable in his murder, a lawyer said on Friday. Alexander Litvinenko, a Kremlin critic who had been granted British citizenship, died days after he was poisoned with polonium-210, a highly toxic radioactive isotope, which was slipped to him in a cup of tea at a plush London hotel in 2006. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian activists say have freed 12 human "slaves" from shop Friday, Nov 02, 2012 10:14 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian human rights activists said on Friday they had freed 12 Central Asians held captive as modern-day slaves in the basement of a Moscow food store, some of them for as long as a decade. The allegations - which are being investigated by the authorities - could not immediately be confirmed independently, but activists said they were consistent with reports of hundreds of thousands of such "slaves". "Six years ago, a survey on human trafficking was conducted at the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Peru court plans to clean up billions in land bonds Friday, Nov 02, 2012 10:09 AM PDT LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's constitutional court plans to require the government to finally honor land reform bonds it issued 40 years ago but in most cases never paid, a ruling that could be worth billions of dollars to bondholders in Peru and abroad. The court's president, Ernesto Alvarez, said the ruling will probably come out "in the next three months" and would aim to clear up a bitter chapter in Peruvian history. ... Full Story | Top |
| Post-storm anger grows, especially outside Manhattan Friday, Nov 02, 2012 10:07 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Frustration grew for superstorm Sandy's victims in the U.S. Northeast on Friday, many of whom were left with no power, no gasoline and little information about when their shattered lives might return to normal. While Manhattan prepared to host the annual New York City Marathon on Sunday, acute gasoline shortages in the city's storm-battered outer boroughs and New Jersey led to long lines and short tempers. Tankers finally began entering New York Harbor on Thursday, and a tanker carrying 2 million barrels of gasoline arrived at 2 a.m. ... Full Story | Top |
| Romney asks voters: Want more of same or "real change" Friday, Nov 02, 2012 09:54 AM PDT  MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney offered his closing argument to voters on Friday, asking Americans to decide whether they want more of the same from President Barack Obama or "real change" by electing him on Tuesday. Making a last-minute foray into Wisconsin, a state Obama won in 2008 but that may be in play this year, Romney seized on a small uptick in the U.S. jobless rate, from 7.8 percent in September to 7.9 percent in October, as evidence that the president's policies are not providing a sufficiently speedy recovery. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamists protest in Cairo, call for Islamic law Friday, Nov 02, 2012 09:47 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - More than 1,000 Islamists rallied in Cairo on Friday and called for the implementation of sharia Islamic law, highlighting divisions in society as rival factions jostle to shape the new Egypt. Liberals have locked horns over the role of Islam with Islamists who dominate a 100-strong assembly that is drawing up a new constitution, which must be approved in a referendum before a new parliamentary election can be held. ... Full Story | Top |
| Citing conflicts, Obama renews U.S. sanctions on Sudan Friday, Nov 02, 2012 09:43 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has renewed 15-year-old U.S. sanctions on Sudan, acknowledging that Khartoum has resolved disputes with South Sudan but warning that Darfur and other conflicts remain serious obstacles to normal ties, the State Department said on Friday. "The ongoing conflict in Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Darfur continue to threaten regional stability, and the human rights and humanitarian crises there - including the lack of humanitarian access - are very serious," the department said in a statement. Obama signed the executive order on Thursday night. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arab Spring jitters complicate British-Gulf ties Friday, Nov 02, 2012 09:29 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - With billions of dollars worth of deals and vital geostrategic interests at stake, Britain can ill afford to upset its Gulf allies, yet signs are emerging of growing Arab irritation over the issue of human rights. The Arab Spring has ratcheted up sensitivity in the largely autocratic Gulf region over perceived criticism of how it deals with dissent, making Britain's efforts to balance its push for rights and democracy with other interests increasingly tricky. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jobs report may help Obama in tight election race Friday, Nov 02, 2012 09:26 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An encouraging October jobs report may give President Barack Obama an 11th-hour campaign boost, but perhaps more importantly it denies Republican challenger Mitt Romney an opportunity to put an exclamation point on his argument that Obama has failed to turn around the economy. U.S. employers added 171,000 people to their payrolls last month, significantly higher than the 125,000 figure analysts had expected. The jobless rate edged up a tenth of a point to 7.9 percent, due to workers surging back into the labor force. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Obama, Romney spar on China, other trade issues Friday, Nov 02, 2012 09:26 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The contentious U.S.-China trade relationship has been a major issue in the U.S. race for the White House, with President Barack Obama defending his record and Republican challenger Mitt Romney promising tougher tactics if elected. Here is a comparison of Romney's and Obama's positions on China and other trade issues: U.S.-CHINA The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| French conservatives gear up against gay marriage Friday, Nov 02, 2012 09:24 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - Roman Catholic bishops and conservative politicians are stepping their campaign against French President Francois Hollande's plan to legalize gay marriage days before his government presents its draft law in cabinet. Paris Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois is expected to call for a broad mobilization against the law when Catholic bishops meet in the southwestern pilgrimage town of Lourdes for their annual plenary on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Union at Kenya's port of Mombasa calls off strike Friday, Nov 02, 2012 09:15 AM PDT  MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Workers at Kenya's main port of Mombasa called off a strike on Friday after the management issued letters of employment to casual staff who were demanding permanent jobs. The strike, which was in its second day, had left loading and unloading at a standstill at the main gateway for East Africa's trade, which handles imports such as fuel for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia. Also on Friday, a separate strike by workers demanding better pay halted operations by Kenya Ferry Services. ... Full Story | Top |
| Romney: Jobless rate shows economy at "virtual standstill" Friday, Nov 02, 2012 09:11 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney said on Friday the uptick in the U.S. employment rate to 7.9 percent shows the economy continues to struggle. "Today's increase in the unemployment rate is a sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill," said Romney, who has made his record as a successful businessman the focus of his campaign, arguing that he is better equipped than President Barack Obama to fix the sputtering economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Storm Sandy blamed for at least 102 deaths in US, Canada Friday, Nov 02, 2012 09:01 AM PDT (Reuters) - Deaths in the United States and Canada blamed on Sandy, the mega-storm that tore across the U.S. East Coast this week, rose to at least 102 on Friday. In New York City, 40 people have been found dead, half of them on Staten Island, the borough that lies across New York Harbor from lower Manhattan. In New Jersey, authorities said the death toll there had reached 13 and 14 deaths were reported by emergency management officials in Pennsylvania. The storm also killed at least 69 people in the Caribbean, including at least 54 in Haiti and 11 in Cuba, before hitting the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Uganda says to pull out of Somalia over Congo charges Friday, Nov 02, 2012 08:45 AM PDT KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda plans to tell the United Nations it will withdraw its forces from military operations in regional hotspots including Somalia, a security minister said on Friday, in response to U.N. allegations it is supporting Congolese rebels. Security Minister Wilson Mukasa described the decision as "irreversible" and said another cabinet minister was travelling to New York to explain its position to the world body. In a leaked report, a U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine opposition complains of stolen seats as count nears end Friday, Nov 02, 2012 08:38 AM PDT  KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian opposition parties accused President Viktor Yanukovich's Party of the Regions of "stealing" several parliamentary seats as the vote count from Sunday's election neared completion on Friday. The Party of the Regions is set to retain a majority in the 450-seat parliament with their traditional communist allies and some independents. The opposition voiced suspicions about sudden swings in counting away from opposition candidates and in favor of the Regions in some constituencies. "If manipulations continue ... ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. says Syria video killings appear to be war crime Friday, Nov 02, 2012 08:35 AM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - A video that appears to show Syrian rebels killing soldiers who had surrendered probably constitutes a war crime that should be prosecuted, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday. The disturbing incident looks to be the latest atrocity committed by opposition fighters seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad, Rupert Colville, a U.N. rights spokesman, said. "It will be examined carefully," Colville told a news briefing in Geneva, saying it may be difficult to identify the perpetrators and the location where the footage was recorded. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bank of England gets long to-do list for overhaul Friday, Nov 02, 2012 08:35 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England needs to overhaul its internal structures to address a patchy forecasting record and open up to a broader range of views on the economy, three independent reviews of the central bank's operations recommended on Friday. The Bank Governor Mervyn King and his deputies signalled qualified support for a number of the suggestions and pledged to evaluate the recommendations, and some of his former colleagues agreed there was work to be done. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria army kills 30 in raid on militant bastion: witnesses Friday, Nov 02, 2012 08:23 AM PDT  MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian troops shot dead at least 30 people during raids in the northeast city of Maiduguri, bastion of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram, witnesses and hospital staff said on Friday. Three witnesses told Reuters that soldiers from the Joint Task Force (JTF) raided several neighbourhoods in Maiduguri late on Thursday and arrested or shot dead dozens of young men. "More than 30 bodies were brought in by the JTF yesterday and most of them were young men," a nurse at one Maiduguri hospital Yagana Bukar told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Reversal of fortunes sends Spaniards to Latin America Friday, Nov 02, 2012 08:23 AM PDT  MEXICO CITY/MADRID (Reuters) - After joining the euro in 1999, Spain's economic boom made it the land of opportunity for millions of Latin American migrant workers. But since the decade-long boom turned to bust roughly four years ago, many of those immigrants have returned, joined by a growing number of disillusioned Spaniards who hope that Latin America, with its developing economies and low cost of living, has more to offer. Spaniards are traditionally reluctant to emigrate and they are among the least likely in Europe to go abroad for work. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Close races in the battle for Senate Friday, Nov 02, 2012 08:14 AM PDT (Reuters) - A year ago, Republicans seemed headed toward capturing the U.S. Senate, now held by Democrats, 53-47. But then things went awry, beginning with the surprise decision in February by Republican Senator Olympia Snowe to surrender her relatively safe seat and retire and, most recently, a series of attention-grabbing comments about rape by Republican candidates who could have unseated Democrats. Thirty-three of the Senate's 100 seats are being contested, of which 23 are held by Democrats. ... Full Story | Top |
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