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| Giffords makes emotional plea as US lawmakers confront gun violence Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 10:55 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, grievously wounded in a 2011 mass shooting, made an emotional plea on Wednesday for Congress to take action to curb U.S. gun violence, but a National Rifle Association executive said new gun laws "have failed in the past and they'll fail again." Speaking haltingly, Giffords urged lawmakers to "be courageous" as she opened testimony at the first congressional hearing on gun violence since the December 14 massacre in which a gunman shot dead 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed keeps stimulus in place as economy "paused" Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 11:53 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left in place its monthly $85 billion bond-buying stimulus plan, saying economic growth had stalled but indicating the pullback was likely temporary. Describing the nation's job market as continuing its modest pace of improvement, the Fed repeated a pledge to keep purchasing securities until the outlook for employment "improves substantially." "Growth in economic activity paused in recent months, in large part because of weather-related disruptions and other transitory factors," the central bank said after a two-day meeting. ... Full Story | Top |
| RIM, now known as BlackBerry, launches new BB10 line Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 10:50 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd unveiled the long-delayed line of smartphones it hopes will put it on the comeback trail on Wednesday but it disappointed investors by saying U.S. sales of its all-new BlackBerry 10 will start only in March. Chief Executive Thorsten Heins also announced that RIM was abandoning the name it has used since its inception in 1985 to take the name of its signature product, signaling his hopes for a fresh start for the company that pioneered on-your-hip email. "From this point forward, RIM becomes BlackBerry," Heins said at the New York launch. ... Full Story | Top |
| GDP unexpectedly shrinks, decline seen temporary Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 10:41 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The economy unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter, but analysts said there was no reason for panic given that consumer spending and business investment picked up. Gross domestic product fell at a 0.1 percent annual rate, its weakest performance since it emerged from recession in 2009, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. If it were not for the hit from slower inventory growth and the deepest plunge in defense spending in 40 years, the economy would have grown at a respectable 2.5 percent rate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt curfew scaled back as Mursi seeks end to bloodshed Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 11:16 AM PST  CAIRO/BERLIN (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities scaled back a curfew imposed by President Mohamed Mursi, and the Islamist leader cut short a visit to Europe on Wednesday to deal with the deadliest violence in the seven months since he took power. Two more protesters were shot dead before dawn near Cairo's central Tahrir Square on Wednesday, a day after the army chief warned that the state was on the brink of collapse if Mursi's opponents and supporters did not end street battles. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: The funds that saw Apple's decline coming Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 10:20 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The slump in Apple Inc's share price from its September high has badly dented the returns of hundreds of mutual funds that had maintained outsized holdings of the stock. But some went sour on the iPhone-maker just in time. Of the 321 funds that had more than 5 percent of their assets in Apple shares at the beginning of 2012, 53 of them - or slightly more than 16 percent - significantly cut back their weighting of the company before the plunge gained momentum, according to data from Morningstar. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel hits Syria arms convoy to Lebanon: sources Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 11:13 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israeli jets bombed a convoy on Syria's border with Lebanon on Wednesday, sources told Reuters, apparently targeting weapons destined for Hezbollah in what some called a warning to Damascus not to arm Israel's Lebanese enemy. "The target was a truck loaded with weapons, heading from Syria to Lebanon," said one Western diplomat, adding that the consignment may well have included anti-aircraft missiles. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boeing forecast assumes little impact from 787 problems Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 10:43 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co said on Wednesday it was sticking with the troubled lithium-ion battery technology that this month grounded its high-tech 787 Dreamliner, and that the grounding had no significant financial impact on its 2013 forecast. Boeing said it will speed up production of the new plane as planned, responding to revelations that the battery has had more problems than previously disclosed. ... Full Story | Top |
| French troops deployed in last Mali rebel strongholds Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 11:49 AM PST  DOUENTZA, Mali/PARIS (Reuters) - French troops seized the airport in Mali's northern town of Kidal, the last urban stronghold held by Islamist insurgents, as they moved to wrap up the first phase of a military operation to wrest northern Mali from rebel hands. France has deployed some 4,500 troops in a three-week ground and air offensive to break the Islamist rebels' 10-month grip on major northern towns. The mission is aimed at heading off the risk of Mali being used as a springboard for jihadist attacks in the wider region or Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Donors meet target of $1.5 billion aid for stricken Syrians: U.N. Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 08:35 AM PST  KUWAIT (Reuters) - Donor countries have pledged more than $1.5 billion to aid Syrians stricken by civil war, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday after warning that the conflict had wrought a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. In a pointed message for Syria's leader, Ban told a fund-raising conference that President Bashar al-Assad bore primary responsibility to stop his country's suffering after nearly two years of conflict that have cost an estimated 60,000 lives. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge rejects Sandusky's bid for new sex abuse trial Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 11:23 AM PST  (Reuters) - Former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky lost his bid on Wednesday for a new trial on child sex abuse charges. Judge John Cleland rejected the request in an opinion posted on the Centre County Court's website. Sandusky's attorneys had argued they lacked enough time to prepare for the trial. Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator, was convicted in June on 45 counts of abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dutch court says Shell responsible for Nigeria spills Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 05:06 AM PST  THE HAGUE (Reuters) - A Dutch court ruled on Wednesday that Royal Dutch Shell's Nigerian subsidiary was responsible for a case of oil pollution in the Niger Delta and ordered it to pay damages in a decision that could open the door to further litigation. The district court in The Hague said Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. (SPDC), a wholly-owned subsidiary, must compensate one farmer, but dismissed four other claims filed against the Dutch parent company. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani girl shot by Taliban to have skull reconstructed Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 09:35 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - A Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls' education is to return to a specialist hospital in Britain for surgery to reconstruct her skull. Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was shot in October and brought to Britain for treatment, was discharged from the hospital earlier this month to spend time with her family after her initial treatment phase. ... Full Story | Top |
| Toyota to recall 1 million vehicles for airbag, wiper glitches Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 04:24 AM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp will recall nearly 1.3 million cars globally for two separate defects, including 752,000 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles in the United States to fix airbags that could be deployed inadvertently, the automaker said on Wednesday. It is the third Toyota recall since October to involve more than a million cars, and it comes as the company tries to recover from a damaged reputation following a series of recalls between 2009 and 2011 that were related to unintended acceleration problems. ... Full Story | Top |
| Private sector adds more jobs than expected in January Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 05:54 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private-sector employers added 192,000 jobs in January, more than economists were expecting, in a sign of growth in the labor market, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 165,000 jobs. December's private payrolls were revised down to an increase of 185,000 from the previously reported 215,000. The report is jointly developed with Moody's Analytics. Small businesses with less than 50 employees did the most hiring this month, adding 115,000 jobs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japanese airlines had 787 battery issues before recent incidents Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 07:34 AM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's two biggest airlines replaced lithium-ion batteries on their Boeing Co 787 Dreamliners in the months before separate incidents led to the technologically advanced aircraft being grounded worldwide due to battery problems. Comments from both All Nippon Airways , the new Boeing jetliner's biggest customer to date, and Japan Airlines Co Ltd point to reliability issues with the batteries long before a battery caught fire on a JAL 787 at Boston's airport and a second battery was badly charred and melted on an ANA domestic flight that was forced into an emergency landing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Euro, shares rise ahead of U.S. Fed decision Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 04:46 AM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - The euro hit its highest level in over a year and shares and commodities also rose on Wednesday helped by optimism about the global economy ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy decision. The Fed is expected to maintain asset buying at $85 billion a month when it concludes its meeting later and stick to its commitment to hold interest rates near zero until unemployment falls to at least 6.5 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea launches first civilian rocket amid tensions with North Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 07:26 AM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea launched its first space rocket carrying a science satellite on Wednesday amid heightened regional tensions, caused in part, by North Korea's successful launch of its own rocket last month. It was South Korea's third attempt to launch a civilian rocket to send a satellite in orbit in the past four years and came after two previous launches were aborted at the eleventh hour last year due to technical glitches. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chesapeake CEO McClendon steps down after year of tumult Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 08:21 PM PST  (Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp said on Tuesday that Aubrey McClendon will step down as chief executive after a tumultuous year in which a series of Reuters investigations triggered civil and criminal probes of the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer. News of the executive's plan to depart on April 1 boosted the company's shares by 9 percent. The stock has made a partial recovery since losing almost half its value last spring after a Reuters report opened the company and its co-founder up to intense scrutiny. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia scraps law enforcement deal with Washington Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 11:00 PM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is scrapping its agreement with Washington to cooperate on law enforcement and narcotics control, another sign of deteriorating ties between the Cold War-era foes since Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin last year. The order, signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and posted on the government website on Wednesday, said the agreement, which came into force in 2002, "does not address current realities and has exhausted its potential". Moscow is unhappy with a law passed by the United States last year imposing sanctions on alleged Russian human rights abusers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: CIA nominee had detailed knowledge of "enhanced interrogation techniques" Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 10:13 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Brennan, President Barack Obama's nominee to head the CIA, had detailed, contemporaneous knowledge of the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" on captured terrorism suspects during an earlier stint as a top spy agency official, according to multiple sources familiar with official records. Those records, the sources said, show that Brennan was a regular recipient of CIA message traffic about controversial aspects of the agency's counter-terrorism program after September 2001, including the use of "waterboarding. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House on offensive to get Hagel as defense secretary Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 09:26 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Pentagon, prepared to meet with senior New York Senator Chuck Schumer in mid-January, the White House stepped in and ensured that the get-together would take place quickly - and in the West Wing. Some of the loudest objections to Obama's choice of Hagel for secretary of defense stemmed from lawmakers' concerns about his past comments on Israel and Iran. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australian PM surprises with September election call Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 10:00 PM PST  CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard set national elections for September 14, stunning voters on Wednesday with eight months notice of the vote in a bold move designed to end political uncertainty surrounding her struggling minority government. The election date means Gillard's government will serve a full three-year term, although analysts said the early notice meant she had started an eight-month campaign and lost her ability catch opposition leader Tony Abbott by surprise with a snap early poll. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama pushes Congress on immigration, split emerges Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 08:06 PM PST  LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Just over a week into his second term, President Barack Obama took his fight for immigration reform to the West on Tuesday and pushed Congress to quickly find a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented residents. But as Obama praised a bipartisan immigration plan during a speech in Las Vegas, disagreement emerged between the White House and Republicans that underscored the difficulty of resolving an emotive issue that has long defied a legislative fix. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi due in Germany on visit shortened by Egypt crisis Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 03:18 PM PST  CAIRO/BERLIN (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi is to leave Egypt's political crisis behind on Wednesday with a short trip to Germany to seek urgently needed foreign investment and convince Europe of his democratic credentials. But with the Egyptian army chief warning on Tuesday that the state was on the brink of collapse after days of lethal street violence, Mursi cancelled plans to go on to Paris from Berlin and will instead hurry back to Cairo later in the day. ... Full Story | Top |
| Clinton says she doesn't see "getting back into politics" Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 10:24 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday cast doubt on speculation she might run for the White House in 2016. In an interview taped for National Public Radio, Clinton was asked what questions she needs to answer for herself as she decides whether to run for president. "I'm not even posing those questions. I am really looking forward to stepping off the fast track that I've been on. I've been out of politics as Secretary of State. I don't see myself getting back into politics," she said, according to an excerpt of the interview. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate approves Kerry as secretary of state Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 03:35 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Kerry's nomination as President Barack Obama's new secretary of state sailed through the Senate on Tuesday, as his fellow senators voted overwhelmingly to confirm him to replace Hillary Clinton as the country's top diplomat. The vote was 94-3 in favor. The two senators from Texas, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, all Republicans, were the only no votes. Kerry, the senior Democratic senator from Massachusetts, voted "present." Kerry's confirmation as the first new member of Obama's second-term national security team had been expected. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sixty-five people executed in Syria's Aleppo: activists Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 03:15 PM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 65 people were found shot dead with their hands bound in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday in a "new massacre" in the near two-year revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, activists said. Opposition campaigners blamed the government but it was impossible to confirm who was responsible. Assad's forces and rebels have been battling in Syria's commercial hub since July and both have been accused of carrying out summary executions. U.N.-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi told the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Amazon shares set record after strong quarterly profit Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 04:22 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc shares hit a record on Tuesday after it reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, fueled by the growth of higher-margin businesses during the fiercely competitive holiday quarter. The world's largest Internet retailer said that its cloud computing services, video content sales and its aggressive expansion in e-books helped increase profitability. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge okays BP plea, $4 billion penalty in Gulf oil spill Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 12:57 PM PST  (Reuters) - A U.S. judge accepted an agreement by BP Plc to plead guilty for its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster and pay a record $4 billion in criminal penalties for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The company said it pleaded guilty to 11 felony counts related to workers' deaths, a felony related to obstruction of Congress and two misdemeanors. It faces five years' probation and the imposition of two monitors who will oversee its safety and ethics for the next four years. After the April 2010 explosion on the Transocean rig in the Gulf of Mexico, 4. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama pushes Congress on immigration, split emerges Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 03:46 PM PST LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Just over a week into his second term, President Barack Obama took his fight for immigration reform to the West on Tuesday and pushed Congress to quickly find a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented residents. But as Obama praised a bipartisan immigration plan during a speech in Las Vegas, disagreement emerged between the White House and Republicans that underscored the difficulty of resolving an emotive issue that has long defied a legislative fix. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali secures recaptured towns, donors pledge funds Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 02:29 PM PST  DOUENTZA/GAO, Mali (Reuters) - French-backed Malian troops searched house-to-house in Gao and Timbuktu on Tuesday, uncovering arms and explosives abandoned by Islamist fighters, and France said it aimed to hand over longer-term security operations in Mali to an African force. An 18-day offensive in France's former West African colony has pushed the militants out of major towns and into desert and mountain hideouts to head off the risk of Mali being used as a springboard for jihadist attacks in the wider region or Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| Amazon shares set record after strong quarterly profit Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 02:26 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc shares hit a new record on Tuesday after it reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, fueled by the growth of higher-margin businesses during the fiercely competitive holiday quarter. The world's largest Internet retailer said that its cloud computing services, video content sales and its aggressive expansion in e-books helped increase profitability. ... Full Story | Top |
| Transportation chief LaHood to step down Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013 01:24 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said on Tuesday he planned to resign, marking the latest departure from President Barack Obama's Cabinet as the administration tries to find the root cause of safety problems with Boeing's Dreamliner plane. The Republican and former Illinois congressman brought a bipartisan element to the Democratic president's team, and his legislative skills helped Obama win approval of a new highway funding bill last year that had been stalled due to political bickering. ... Full Story | Top |
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