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| North Korea pressures South by halting entry to industrial zone Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 01:09 AM PDT  By Ju-min Park PAJU, South Korea (Reuters) - North Korea closed access to a joint factory zone with South Korea on Wednesday, officials said, putting at risk $2 billion a year in trade that is vital for an impoverished state with a huge army, nuclear ambitions and a hungry population. The move marked an escalation in North Korea's months-long standoff with South Korea and its ally Washington. On Tuesday, Pyongyang said it would restart a mothballed nuclear reactor, drawing criticism from the international community, including China, its major benefactor and diplomatic friend. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Goldman trader Taylor pleads guilty to wire fraud Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:48 AM PDT  By Lauren Tara LaCapra and Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc trader Matthew M. Taylor pleaded guilty on Wednesday to defrauding the Wall Street bank with an unauthorized $8.3 billion futures trade in 2007, saying he exceeded internal risk limits and lied to supervisors to cover up his activities. Taylor, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in federal court in lower Manhattan on Wednesday morning, after voluntarily turning himself into federal authorities earlier in the day. ... Full Story | Top |
| SAC's Cohen must face fraud claims by ex-wife Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:49 AM PDT  By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - An appeals court has revived a lawsuit by the former wife of Steven A. Cohen, founder of hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors, who accused the billionaire of hiding $5.5 million from her during proceedings that led to their 1990 divorce. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said a lower court had erred in dismissing fraud-based claims by Patricia Cohen, who had sued her ex-husband in 2009. The appeals court also revived claims of racketeering and breach of fiduciary duty, while upholding the dismissal of an unjust enrichment claim. ... Full Story | Top |
| Uganda suspends hunt for warlord Kony after coup Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:32 AM PDT  By Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda has suspended the hunt for fugitive warlord Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army fighters, blaming hostility towards foreign troops by Central African Republic rebels who seized power last month. About 100 U.S. special forces helping with intelligence and logistical support also called off operations temporarily, a U.S. embassy official said, but it was not immediately clear if troops from other countries in the regional force were also giving up the search. Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sends missile defenses to Guam over North Korea threat Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:56 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Wednesday it was sending an advanced ballistic missile defense system to Guam in the coming weeks, as U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel cited a "real and clear" danger from North Korea. North Korea has singled out U.S. military bases in Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific, and Hawaii among its potential targets in threats in recent weeks that have put the Korean peninsula on edge and triggered a change in the U.S. defense posture and missile defense planning. ... Full Story | Top |
| Companies hire fewer in March, service sector growth slows Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:16 AM PDT  By Leah Schnurr NEW YORK (Reuters) - Companies hired at the weakest pace in five months in March as recent strong demand for construction jobs evaporated, while growth in the vast services sector slowed, signs that the economic recovery could be hitting a soft patch. The ADP National Employment Report said on Wednesday that private employers added 158,000 jobs last month, falling short of economists' expectations for 200,000 new jobs. The hiring was below the lowest estimates in a poll by Reuters and was the smallest gain since October. ... Full Story | Top |
| IMF will contribute 1 billion euros to Cyprus bailout Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:05 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund will contribute 1 billion euros ($1.29 billion) over three years to the 10 billion euro bailout for Cyprus, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a statement on Wednesday. Lagarde said she expected the IMF board to approve the funds in early May. "A staff team of the International Monetary Fund has reached staff level agreement with the Cypriot authorities on an economic program that will be supported by the IMF jointly with the European Union and the European Central Bank," Lagarde said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hostilities flare along Israeli-Gaza border Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:50 AM PDT  By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel pressed Hamas on Wednesday to rein in rocket-firing militants in the Gaza Strip after the most serious outbreak of cross-border hostilities since the ceasefire that ended an eight-day war in November. The flare-up, sparked by anger in Gaza over the death from cancer of a Palestinian held by Israel, included Israel's first air strike on the Hamas-run coastal enclave since the truce. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope stresses "fundamental" value of women in Church Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:23 AM PDT  By Naomi O'Leary ROME (Reuters) - Pope Francis stressed the "fundamental" importance of women in the Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, a message hailed as a significant shift from the position of his predecessor Benedict. Supporters of liberal reform of the Church have called on it to give a greater voice to women and recognize their importance to the largest religious denomination in the world, and some groups call for women to be ordained as priests. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Mali insurgency endangers French pull-out plan Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 05:02 AM PDT  By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - France wants to cut its forces in Mali sharply by the year-end and is urging its ex-colony to hold elections in July, but an Islamist insurgency is threatening that timetable. Many people in northern Mali who lived under the rebels' brutal form of Islamic law last year are apprehensive about French plans to leave just 1,000 of the current 4,000 troops in the country by December, with U.N. peacekeepers filling the gap. "The Islamists are waiting for the French to leave to open the gates to hell. Let's hope the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbia faces tough decisions on Kosovo to save EU bid Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 07:49 AM PDT  By Matt Robinson and Aleksandar Vasovic BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia said on Wednesday it faced tough decisions in the days ahead as the Balkan country weighs how far to give ground on its former Kosovo province in return for coveted talks on membership of the European Union. The warning followed marathon but inconclusive talks in Brussels between the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo, their eighth encounter in almost as many months as the EU pushes to end the ethnic partition of Kosovo and set Serbia on the path to membership of the bloc. ... Full Story | Top |
| China first-quarter GDP likely nudged higher, recovery on track Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 03:33 AM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's annual rate of economic growth likely nudged higher in the first three months of 2013 versus the last quarter of 2012, with fixed asset investment and factory output growth in double digits cementing a mild rebound, according to a Reuters poll. Evidence of a second successive quarter of rising year-on-year growth will further reinforce the view of investors that China's government has successfully engineered a recovery from 2012's 13-year low of 7.8 percent that is gaining traction. Meanwhile with the annual rate of consumer inflation expected to ease to 2. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian jet flies into Lebanon, fires missile Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 06:39 AM PDT ARSAL, Lebanon (Reuters) - A Syrian jet flew 20 km (12 miles) into Lebanon and fired a missile into a field on the outskirts of the border town of Arsal on Wednesday but caused no casualties, witnesses said. Lebanon has maintained a policy of "dissociation" from Syria's two-year-old conflict. But many Lebanese officials feel their country is increasingly at risk of being dragged into the civil war, which the United Nations says has killed 70,000 people. Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have fired mortars into and occasionally entered Lebanese territory in pursuit of rebels. ... Full Story | Top |
| South African doctors say Mandela "much better" Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 05:52 AM PDT  By Tiisetso Motsoeneng SOWETO, South Africa (Reuters) - Former South African president and anti-apartheid titan Nelson Mandela is making "steady improvement" under treatment for pneumonia and is much better now than when he was hospitalized a week ago, the government said on Wednesday. The three-sentence statement from President Jacob Zuma's office was the most upbeat since the 94-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate was admitted to hospital with a recurrence of a lung infection. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama launches fund-raising blitz to help Democrats in Congress Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 04:01 AM PDT  By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will launch a fund-raising drive for the 2014 U.S. mid-term elections on Wednesday with addresses to deep-pocketed donors in California, hoping the Democratic Party can defy the odds and gain congressional seats in the polls. The party in power in the White House usually loses seats in election years in which the presidency is not up for grabs. This means Democrats have their work cut out for them in trying to win a majority in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and add to their majority in the Senate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Young nation Kyrgyzstan fights over gold at top of the world Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 03:57 AM PDT  By Dmitry Solovyov KUMTOR, Kyrgyzstan (Reuters) - In an impoverished young nation with a habit of overthrowing its rulers, the future now balances on a mountain of gold at the top of the world, where the air is so thin collapsing visitors may be rushed to a pressure chamber for oxygen. After two revolutions in eight years, nationalists in Kyrgyzstan are threatening to return to the streets to topple another government unless it expropriates the Kumtor goldmine, a treasure they say was sold off too cheaply to foreigners. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Jobless youths could drag on recovery Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 11:03 PM PDT  By Mike Dolan LONDON (Reuters) - The global economy is recovering - although the younger you are and the longer you've been out of work, the less likely it is that you'll have noticed. A modest upturn in the major developed economies flagged last week by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development should be a considerable relief for Western countries still struggling to run down huge debts. But with persistent recession across Europe and high levels of youth unemployment and long-term joblessness, signs that growth is picking up may offer little cheer. ... Full Story | Top |
| Secretary of State Kerry to visit Turkey: official Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 01:25 AM PDT  ANKARA (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to visit Turkey this week as part of a trip to Western Europe and Asia to consult allies on issues including Syria's civil war, a Turkish official told Reuters on Wednesday. Washington regards Turkey, which shares a 900 km (560-mile) border with Syria, as a pivotal player in backing the Syrian opposition and planning for an era after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "Mr Kerry will visit Turkey. The date is not clear yet but possibly it will take place either on Friday or on Saturday," said the official, who declined to be named. ... Full Story | Top |
| China March services PMIs hit multi-month highs Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 11:36 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - Growth in China's services sectors rose to multi-month highs in March as a construction boom and firmer demand lifted business and confidence, auguring well for a modest recovery in the world's second largest economy. The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the non-manufacturing sector climbed to 55.6 in March from February's 54.5, aided by a buoyant construction sector. A PMI reading above 50 indicates accelerating activity. A separate services PMI published by HSBC showed growth rebounding to a six-month high of 54. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: In Malaysia's election, a focus on rainforest graft Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 10:12 PM PDT  By Niluksi Koswanage KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia (Reuters) - The island of Borneo may be all that stands between Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and an unprecedented election defeat within weeks for his ruling coalition. Borneo's two Malaysian states -- Sabah and Sarawak -- have been a bastion of votes for the National Front coalition headed by Najib's party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. overwhelmingly approves global arms trade treaty Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 07:03 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the first treaty on the global arms trade, which seeks to regulate the $70 billion business in conventional arms and keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers. The National Rifle Association (NRA), a powerful U.S. pro-gun lobbying group that has opposed the treaty from the start, said it was a sad day for the United States, which joined the vast majority of U.N. member states by voting for the pact. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arizona city becomes state's first to allow same-sex civil unions Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 12:29 AM PDT By Tim Gaynor BISBEE, Arizona (Reuters) - A former Arizona copper mining town reborn as an artists' community defied the threat of legal action on Tuesday and became the first city in the conservative southwestern state to allow civil unions between same-sex couples. The city council in Bisbee, a city of 5,600 residents in southeast Arizona, voted five to two to pass a measure allowing any couple to join in a civil ceremony, regardless of their sex or sexual orientation. "We're just acknowledging the people that live here. It's a big step in the right direction (and) for a tiny town ... ... Full Story | Top |
| N.Y. politicians arrested in alleged mayoral race bribe scheme Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:25 PM PDT By Edith Honan and Atossa Araxia Abrahamian NEW YORK (Reuters) - A high-ranking Democratic New York State senator was arrested on Tuesday and charged with trying to buy a place on the Republican ticket in the city's mayoral race, in what prosecutors said was part of a bribery scandal that reflected pervasive corruption in New York politics. Five other politicians, three Republicans and two Democrats, were also arrested and charged with collectively accepting more than $100,000 in bribes in meetings that often took place in parked cars, hotel rooms and state offices, according to court papers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran's nuclear program entails huge costs, few benefits: report Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 05:11 PM PDT  By Yeganeh Torbati DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will pursue its nuclear quest although it has reaped few gains from a totem of national pride that has cost it well over $100 billion in lost oil revenue and foreign investment alone, two think-tanks said on Wednesday. A report by the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Federation of American Scientists said Iran's atomic work could not simply be ended or "bombed away" and that diplomacy was the only way to keep it peaceful. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel launches air strikes on Gaza; first since truce Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:59 PM PDT By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the first such attacks since an eight-day war in November, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that controls the territory, and Israel's military said. "Occupation planes bombarded an open area in northern Gaza, there were no wounded," a statement from the Hamas Interior Ministry said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Spills flame Canadian oil debate, but won't curb flows to U.S Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:43 PM PDT  By Jeffrey Jones CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Two high-profile oil spills won't stem the now-record flow of Canadian oil into the United States, despite the frenzy that the spills triggered among friends and foes of the Keystone XL pipeline to the main U.S. refineries. The fate of Keystone remains undecided, yet Canadian crude will become an increasing part of the U.S. energy mix, despite growing competition from new U.S. production. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Stockton and San Bernardino, a tale of two bankruptcies Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 03:16 PM PDT  By Tim Reid LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Stockton and San Bernardino, the two California cities that have filed for bankruptcy protection, are both considered test cases in the epic battle over whether municipal bondholders or pensioners will absorb most of the pain when a government goes broke. A federal court ruling on Monday that allowed Stockton's bankruptcy case to move forward underscored the huge differences between the two cases and how they are likely to unfold. Stockton, the largest U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| SEC says companies may announce key data on social media Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 03:36 PM PDT  By Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Regulators said on Tuesday that companies can use Twitter, Facebook and other social media to make key announcements as long as they tell investors which sites they will use, an effort to help companies navigate the new media age. The guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission seeks to clarify disclosure rules after the agency opened an inquiry into a post made last July on the personal Facebook page of Netflix's chief executive, Reed Hastings. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea to restart nuclear reactor in weapons bid Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 03:22 PM PDT By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Tuesday it would revive a mothballed nuclear reactor able to produce bomb-grade plutonium but stressed it was seeking a deterrent capacity and did not repeat recent threats to attack South Korea and the United States. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the crisis over North Korea had gone too far and he appealed for dialogue and negotiation to resolve the situation. "Nuclear threats are not a game. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: In Malaysia's election, a focus on rainforest graft Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:05 PM PDT  By Niluksi Koswanage KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia (Reuters) - The island of Borneo may be all that stands between Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and an unprecedented election defeat within weeks for his ruling coalition. Borneo's two Malaysian states -- Sabah and Sarawak -- have been a bastion of votes for the National Front coalition headed by Najib's party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. overwhelmingly approves global arms trade treaty Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:54 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the first treaty on the global arms trade, which seeks to regulate the $70 billion business in conventional arms and keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers. The official U.N. tally showed 154 votes in favor, 3 against and 23 abstentions, though diplomats and U.N. officials said the actual vote was 155-3-22 due to Angola being recorded as having abstained and not voting yes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Nationwide, Reich & Tang to buy HighMark funds -sources Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 02:26 PM PDT By Jessica Toonkel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide Financial and New York-based Reich & Tang are buying UnionBanCal Corp's mutual fund business, three sources told Reuters on Tuesday. San Francisco-based UnionBanCal is expected to announce the sale of its HighMark Funds to the two parties in the next few days, said two of the sources, who wished to remain anonymous because they are not permitted to speak to the media. UnionBanCal is selling 19 of its 24 HighMark Funds to Nationwide Financial, the two sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hiring in March could point to firming economy Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 02:24 PM PDT  By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American employers likely hired at a moderate pace in March, suggesting the economy is gathering momentum despite the onset of the across-the-board federal spending cuts. Companies and governments probably added a net 200,000 workers to their payrolls last month, according to a Reuters survey of economists. That would be below the 236,000 jobs created in February but well above what has passed for normal in recent years. Since the country emerged from a deep recession and payrolls began growing again in 2010, hiring has averaged just 159,000 per month. ... Full Story | Top |
| Credit Suisse says NY mortgage case too little, too late Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 02:13 PM PDT  By Karen Freifeld NEW YORK (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group AG asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that accuses the Swiss bank of deceiving investors in mortgage-backed securities that resulted in $11.2 billion of losses. In a Monday filing in the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Credit Suisse said the attorney general waited too long, was precluded by federal law, and was not specific enough in detailing the alleged wrongdoing to allow the case to go forward. ... Full Story | Top |
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