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| Bernanke says Fed stimulus benefits clear, budget cuts a risk Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:17 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke strongly defended the U.S. central bank's bond-buying stimulus before Congress on Tuesday, easing worries monetary policymakers might be getting cold feet. The Fed chairman also urged lawmakers to avoid sharp spending cuts set to go into effect on Friday, which he warned could combine with earlier tax increases to create a "significant headwind" for the economic recovery. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama highlights the defense hit in budget cuts battle Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 11:39 AM PST  NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama took his case for softening the effect of deep budget cuts to a shipyard town dependent on defense contracting on Tuesday, but there was little sign he will be able to halt automatic cuts from starting this week. "These cuts are wrong. They are not smart, they're not fair. They are a self-inflicted wound that doesn't have to happen," he told workers in Newport News, Virginia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy parties seek way out of election stalemate Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 08:40 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italy's stunned political parties looked for a way forward on Tuesday after an election that gave none of them a parliamentary majority, posing the threat of prolonged instability and European financial crisis. The results, notably by the dramatic surge of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo, left the center-left bloc with a majority in the lower house but without the numbers to control the powerful upper chamber, the Senate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate clears way for likely approval of Pentagon nominee Hagel Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 11:16 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate voted on Tuesday to end a delay in the nomination of Chuck Hagel as President Barack Obama's new secretary of defense, clearing the way for his expected approval as civilian leader at the Pentagon within hours. The Senate voted 71-27 to end debate and move forward, almost two weeks after Republicans launched a filibuster to block Hagel's nomination. It was the first time such a procedural tactic had been used to delay consideration of a nominee for secretary of defense. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Juniper mulls next move after asset sale talks falter - sources Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 11:23 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Juniper Networks Inc is reviewing its enterprise-focused networking business after talks fell through late last year to sell assets, including security unit NetScreen Technologies, several sources close to the matter told Reuters. The world's No. 2 networking gear maker is mulling options that could include acquisitions to bolster the security and enterprise business, with a longer-term view of a sale or spin-off, two of the sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Home prices cap year with biggest rise since 2006 Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 11:21 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home prices closed out 2012 with the biggest annual gain in more than six years while sales of new homes spiked in January, the latest sign that the long-suffering housing market was on the mend, data showed on Tuesday. American consumers, meanwhile, grew more optimistic in February even as payroll taxes rose and about $85 billion worth of government spending cuts were due to take effect on March 1. "The numbers are all pretty strong. ... Full Story | Top |
| Big powers offer Iran some sanctions relief, await reply Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 10:55 AM PST  ALMATY (Reuters) - Major powers offered Iran limited sanctions relief in return for a halt to the most controversial part of its atomic work during the first day of nuclear talks on Tuesday, and Iran promised to respond with a proposal on the same scale. The talks in Kazakhstan were the first in eight months between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany - the "P5+1" - on a decade-old dispute that threatens to trigger another war in the Middle East. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghans hold anti-U.S. rally following abuse claims Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 10:11 AM PST  Maiden Shar, AFGHANISTAN (Reuters) - More than five hundred men marched through the capital of Afghanistan's restive Wardak province on Tuesday in an outburst of anger against U.S. special forces accused of overseeing torture and killings in the area. Shouting "Death to America", "Death to Obama" and "Death to special forces", the protesters called for the immediate withdrawal of the American soldiers and threatened to join the Taliban if their demand was not met. A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced on Sunday that all U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Syria rebels bolstered by new arms but divisions remain Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 11:25 AM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels have received advanced weapons aimed at narrowing the arms gap with President Bashar al-Assad's forces and reinforcing a new rebel military command which Western countries hope can dilute the strength of Islamist fighters. Several rebel commanders and fighters told Reuters that a shipment which reached Syria via Turkey last month comprised shoulder-held and other mobile equipment including anti-aircraft and armor-piercing weapons, mortars and rocket launchers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope praying, packing ahead of move out of Vatican Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:49 AM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict was praying and packing on Tuesday two days before his move out of the Vatican and into retirement where he will assume the title of "pope emeritus" and still be referred to as "your holiness". The Vatican said Benedict was spending a quiet Tuesday in the apostolic palace with no audiences. "Today is a day dedicated to prayer and preparation for the events of the next two days," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said at a daily news briefing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi's opponents say will boycott Egypt elections Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 11:07 AM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - An alliance of Egyptian opposition parties decided on Tuesday to boycott parliamentary elections in protest at an election law they say favors the Muslim Brotherhood, increasing the chance that Islamists will sweep the vote. The boycott by liberal and leftist parties opposed to President Mohamed Mursi aims to undermine the legitimacy of the vote and shows the polarization that has defined Egyptian politics since Hosni Mubarak was toppled two years ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama plans to "listen," not present Mideast peace plan: Kerry Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:06 AM PST  BERLIN (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will not bring a peace plan to Israel and the Palestinian Territories next month, but rather intends to listen, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday. Obama's plan to visit has raised speculation of a new U.S. push to revive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, stalled since 2010 in a dispute over Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. But Kerry, speaking to German students during his first foreign trip as Washington's top diplomat, played down expectations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate panel backs Lew for Treasury secretary Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 08:33 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday backed President Barack Obama's nominee to head the U.S. Treasury, Jack Lew, despite some concerns about his perks from previous employers, clearing the way for a confirmation vote in the full Senate. With the 19-5 vote, about half of the panel's 11 Republicans opposed Lew's nomination, which could be brought to the Senate floor for a final vote as early as Wednesday. Five Republicans on the committee also voted against Timothy Geithner, the previous Treasury secretary, who left last month. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rocket explodes in Israel, first attack from Gaza since November truce Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 05:13 AM PST  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A rocket fired from Gaza exploded in Israel on Tuesday, the first such attack since a November truce, and a militant group said it launched the strike to retaliate for the death of a Palestinian in an Israeli jail. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's West Bank-based Fatah movement, called the rocket a "first response" to inmate Arafat Jaradat's death in disputed circumstances on Saturday. "We must resist our enemy by all available means," the group said in a statement emailed to reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Afghan move against U.S. special forces tied to abuse allegations Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 06:59 AM PST  KABUL (Reuters) - Two days after masked men burst in to Bibi Shereen's house and took her son away, villagers found his corpse - half-eaten by dogs - under a bridge in Afghanistan's volatile Wardak province. "His fingers were cut off, he was badly beaten. His hands were swollen, his throat was slit," she told Reuters in her small mudbrick house. "Why is the government not listening to our voices - why are they not stopping Americans from doing such things." Shereen supplied no proof that Americans or Afghan forces working with them tortured and killed her son. ... Full Story | Top |
| JPMorgan Chase to cut up to 4,000 jobs in 2013 Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 07:46 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co plans to cut 3,000 to 4,000 jobs in its consumer bank in 2013, representing about 1.5 percent of the company's overall workforce, as the bank tries to improve the profitability of its branches. The cuts will come mainly through attrition, spokeswoman Kristin Lemkau said. The bank's branches have 63,500 employees, representing about a quarter of JPMorgan Chase's total employees. JPMorgan is one of the few big U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: EU rebuff won't free Aer Lingus from Ryanair grip Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 07:43 AM PST  DUBLIN (Reuters) - The European Commission looks certain to end Ryanair's seven-year pursuit of Aer Lingus, but Brussels can't stop the low-cost carrier from using its stake to keep its rival in limbo for years. The Commission, which acts as Europe's anti-monopoly watchdog, has told Ryanair it will reject its 694 million euro ($917 million) bid in an announcement expected on Wednesday. A veto, which would be the first time it has twice rejected a proposed takeover, could force Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary to decide whether to finally set its smaller rival free by selling its 30 percent stake. ... Full Story | Top |
| Consumer confidence rebounds in February Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 07:28 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence picked up much more strongly than expected in February as Americans shrugged off earlier worries over fiscal policy and tax increases, a private sector report showed on Tuesday. The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes accelerated to 69.6, from a downwardly revised 58.4 in January, handily topping economists' expectations for 61. It was the highest level since November. January was originally reported as 58.6, the lowest level in more than a year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: In Spain, banks buck calls for mortgage law reform Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 05:20 AM PST  MADRID (Reuters) - For more than a century, Spanish law has determined that if a person borrows money to buy a home, they can only be freed of the debt when it is repaid. Even in death, the debt is not canceled. As the country enters another year of recession, calls are mounting for the system to be relaxed. But the banks worry this would damage their access to funds. Take Francisco Lema, an unemployed 36-year-old builder, who dropped off his 8-year-old daughter at school on February 8 and returned to the family's rented fourth-floor flat in the Andalusian city of Cordoba. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt balloon crash kills 19, mostly foreign tourists Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:30 AM PST  LUXOR, Egypt (Reuters) - At least 19 people, most of them Asian and European tourists, died on Tuesday when a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed near the ancient Egyptian town of Luxor after a mid-air gas explosion, officials said. The balloon came down in farmland a few kilometers (miles) from the Valley of the Kings and pharaonic temples popular with tourists. Rescue workers gathered the dead from the field where the charred remains of the balloon, gas canisters and other pieces of wreckage landed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Home prices climb in December, best yearly gain since 2006 Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 06:30 AM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. home prices picked up in December, closing out 2012 with the biggest yearly gain in more than six years as the housing market got back on its feet, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas rose 0.9 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, topping expectations for a gain of 0.5 percent. Prices in the 20 cities jumped 6.8 percent year-over-year, ahead of expectations for 6.6 percent and the best yearly gain since July 2006. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House steps up campaign to avoid spending cuts Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 09:35 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House escalated a campaign on Monday to convince Americans dire consequences await if government spending cuts go ahead on March 1, warning of a slowdown in global trade, a stalled fight against cancer and Alzheimer's disease and compromised security at U.S. borders. At the same time, prominent Republicans said President Barack Obama was overstating the potential damage of the $85 billion in government-wide cuts to frighten the public. "There is a responsible way to cut less than 3 percent of the federal budget. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sri Lanka security forces rape, torture Tamil detainees: group Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 01:36 AM PST  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's security forces have used rape to torture and extract confessions from suspected Tamil separatists almost four years after the country's civil war ended, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Tuesday. The rights group documented 75 cases of predominately Tamil men and women who said they were held in Sri Lankan detention centres and repeatedly raped and sexually abused by the military, police and intelligence officials. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop dies at 96 Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:45 PM PST  (Reuters) - Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, whose anti-smoking campaign and outspoken, controversial positions on abortion, AIDS and drugs, elevated the obscure post to one of national influence, died at his home in Hanover, New Hampshire, on Monday. He was 96 years old. Koop, a pediatric surgeon, served as the leading U.S. spokesman on public health matters and adviser to President Ronald Reagan from November 1981 until October 1989. His death was announced by Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, where he founded the C. Everett Koop Institute. "Dr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Goldman to begin fresh round of job cuts Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:01 PM PST  (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc will begin its annual job cutting process as early as this week, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday, with its equities-trading business bracing for bigger cuts than fixed-income trading. The bank usually culls out the weakest 5 percent of its employees around now. But the cuts will likely be deeper in some businesses, particularly equities trading, where volumes and earnings are weak. The number of shares traded on major U.S. exchanges so far this year is down 7.2 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chesapeake, Encana sued in civil antitrust action Monday, Feb 25, 2013 12:59 PM PST  (Reuters) - A major Michigan landowner is suing Chesapeake Energy Corp and Encana Corp, alleging that the two energy giants colluded to rig bids for oil and gas rights in 2010. Northstar Energy, which owns nearly 10,000 acres in Michigan's Utica-Collingwood oil and gas shale formation, filed the lawsuit against Chesapeake and Canadian firm Encana in Michigan federal court Friday. The suit follows a series of Reuters investigations last year which triggered civil and criminal probes of Chesapeake, the second-largest U.S. producer of natural gas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria says ready to talk with armed opposition Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:25 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria is ready for talks with its armed opponents, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Monday, in the clearest offer yet to negotiate with rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad. But Moualem said at the same time Syria would pursue its fight "against terrorism," alluding to the conflict in which the United Nations says 70,000 people have been killed. His offer of talks drew a dismissive response from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was starting a nine-nation tour of European and Arab capitals in London. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Castro successor lacks charisma but is experienced manager Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:37 PM PST  HAVANA (Reuters) - When Cuban President Raul Castro named former engineering professor and long-time Communist Party insider Miguel Diaz-Canel as his first vice president and potential successor on Sunday, he chose managerial skills over flair. Diaz-Canel, 52, is the youngest non-military man to come so close to the pinnacle of power in Cuba since the Castro brothers took power in 1959. He was appointed first vice president on Sunday at a meeting of the National Assembly where Castro also announced he would step down in 2018 at the end of his second five-year term as president. ... Full Story | Top |
| Powers to offer Iran sanctions relief at nuclear talks Monday, Feb 25, 2013 12:31 PM PST  ALMATY (Reuters) - Major powers will offer Iran some sanctions relief during talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan, this week if Tehran agrees to curb its nuclear program, a U.S. official said on Monday. But the Islamic Republic could face more economic pain if it fails to address international concerns about its atomic activities, the official said ahead of the February 26-27 meeting in the central Asian state, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There will be continued sanctions enforcement ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia arrests suspect in killing that sparked unrest Monday, Feb 25, 2013 02:31 PM PST  TUNIS (Reuters) - A hardline Islamist has been arrested in connection with the killing of a Tunisian opposition politician whose death earlier this month touched off protests across the country, a security source said on Monday. Tunisia was plunged into political crisis when the secular opposition politician Chokri Belaid was gunned down outside his house on February 6, igniting the biggest street protests since the overthrow of strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali two years ago. "The police arrested a Salafist suspected of killing Belaid," the source told Reuters without giving more details. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop dies at 96 Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:36 PM PST (Reuters) - Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, a pediatric surgeon known for his anti-smoking campaigns and efforts to improve diet and nutrition, died at his home in Hanover, New Hampshire, on Monday. He was 96 years old. Koop served as Surgeon General from November 1981 until October 1989, taking stern and sometimes controversial stands on abortion, AIDS, fatty foods, drugs and cigarettes. In the process, he became one of the most recognizable figures in the Reagan administration, elevating a formerly obscure government position. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria says ready to talk with armed opposition Monday, Feb 25, 2013 12:21 PM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria is ready for talks with its armed opponents, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Monday, in the clearest offer yet to negotiate with rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad. But Moualem said at the same time Syria would pursue its fight "against terrorism", alluding to the conflict in which the United Nations says 70,000 people have been killed. His offer of talks drew a dismissive response from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was starting a nine-nation tour of European and Arab capitals in London. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House steps up campaign to avoid spending cuts Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:24 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House escalated a campaign on Monday to convince Americans dire consequences await if government spending cuts go ahead on March 1, warning of a slow down in global trade, a stalled fight against cancer and Alzheimer's disease and compromised security at U.S. borders. At the same time, prominent Republicans said President Barack Obama was overstating the potential damage of the $85 billion in government-wide cuts to frighten the public. "There is a responsible way to cut less than 3 percent of the federal budget. ... Full Story | Top |
| Huge protest vote pushes Italy towards deadlock Monday, Feb 25, 2013 12:54 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - A huge protest vote by Italians enraged by economic hardship and political corruption pushed the country towards deadlock after an election on Monday, with voting projections showing no coalition strong enough to form a government. With more than two thirds of the vote counted, the projections suggested the center left could have a slim lead in the race for the lower house of parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Morning in America? U.S. economy poised to accelerate Monday, Feb 25, 2013 12:25 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Famed U.S. economist Milton Friedman once observed that a recovery from recession is like plucking a guitar string: The harder the economy is pushed down, the faster it snaps back. That didn't happen when America began to exit a deep downturn in 2009. Now, though, after years of paltry growth and despite a government austerity drive that could batter the economy for months, signs are emerging that a more robust recovery is around the bend. The main reason is an improvement in household finances, which by some measures are looking more solid than they have in decades. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Goldman to begin fresh round of job cuts Monday, Feb 25, 2013 12:56 PM PST  (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc will begin a fresh round of job cuts as early as this week, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday, with its equities-trading business bracing for bigger cuts than fixed-income trading. The bank usually culls out the weakest 5 percent of its employees around now. But the cuts will likely be deeper in some businesses, particularly equities trading, where volumes and earnings are weak. The number of shares traded on major U.S. exchanges so far this year is down 7.2 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
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