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| Fed maintains strong stimulus as U.S. growth stumbles Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 12:00 PM PDT  By Pedro da Costa and Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve extended its support for a slowing U.S. economy on Wednesday, sounding a bit less optimistic about growth and saying it will keep buying $85 billion in bonds per month for the time being. In announcing the widely expected decision, Fed officials nodded to weaker economic prospects due in part to a fiscal fight in Washington that shuttered much of the government for 16 days earlier this month. The central bank noted that the recovery in the housing market had lost some steam and suggested some frustration at how slowly the labor market was healing. "Fiscal policy is restraining economic growth." The Fed's statement differed only slightly from the economic assessment it delivered after it last meeting in September, and the reaction in financial markets was relatively subdued. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Syria peace talks face delay as big powers split Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 10:27 AM PDT  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - International powers are unlikely to meet their goal of convening peace talks on Syria in Geneva next month as differences emerge between Washington and Moscow over opposition representation, Arab and Western officials said. Failure of the main Syrian National Coalition to take a clear stance over the talks, which aim to find a political solution to Syria's 2-1/2 year civil war, are also expected to contribute to a delay of up to one month, the officials told Reuters. "A clearer picture will emerge when the United States and Russia meet next week, but all indications show that the November 23 goal will be difficult to meet," said one of the officials involved in preparing for the talks. U.S., Russian and U.N envoys are due to meet in Geneva next Tuesday as part of the preparation for the long-delayed peace conference, which was first proposed back in May. A main point of contention, the official said, is the role of the Western-backed opposition coalition - an issue which has flared up since a meeting in London last week of Western and Gulf Arab countries opposed to Assad. Full Story | Top |
| Top Obamacare official says website a 'debacle', points to insurers Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 10:57 AM PDT  By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government's top health official on Wednesday called the rollout of the website that is central to President Barack Obama's signature insurance reform a "debacle" but blamed insurers for cancelling the health plans of hundreds of thousands of Americans. The government has scrambled for weeks to fix the troubled insurance exchange website that has frustrated millions of Americans who want to sign up for new health plans under Obama's Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. Obama, who is due to speak about the healthcare reform later on Wednesday, and other administration officials have repeatedly promised that the 85 percent of Americans who already have health insurance would be able to keep their current plans. Speaking on Capitol Hill, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius apologized for the botched rollout of the Healthcare.gov website and vowed to win back the confidence of millions of disappointed Americans. Full Story | Top |
| Trial of Kenyan president likely to be delayed until next year Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:39 AM PDT  The trial of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on charges of crimes against humanity is unlikely to start next month as planned, after prosecutors said on Tuesday they did not object to a delay. Fellow African leaders have urged Kenyatta not to attend the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which they accuse of unfairly targeting Africans and of violating Kenyan sovereignty. His deputy William Ruto, a former political rival, faces similar charges. Full Story | Top |
| China says five detained in connection with Tiananmen attack Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 09:37 AM PDT By Megha Rajagopalan and Michael Martina BEIJING/TURPAN, China (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday it had caught five suspected Islamist militants after a vehicle burst into flames on Beijing's Tiananmen Square in what police called a terrorist attack. Authorities also moved to tighten security in the restive far western, energy-rich region of Xinjiang, where the suspects are from. The Xinjiang-registered SUV involved in Monday's incident in which five people were killed was driven by Usmen Hasan, police said, a man whose name suggested he is an ethnic Uighur, a Muslim people from Xinjiang. "Police have identified Monday's incident at Tiananmen Square as a violent terrorist attack which was carefully planned, organized and premeditated," police said, adding the three people in the vehicle died after they set the gasoline on fire. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. private hiring slows, inflation stays muted Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 09:52 AM PDT  The slowdown in private job growth was the latest signal that the labor market has taken a step back in recent months, and the clearest indication yet that a 16-day government shutdown weighed on economic activity. Employers in the private sector added 130,000 new jobs to their payrolls this month, the ADP National Employment Report showed on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bomber attacks Tunisian resort town Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 09:57 AM PDT  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew himself up in the Tunisian tourist resort of Sousse on Wednesday, the first such assault in more than a decade in a country now battling Islamist militants boosted by chaos in neighboring Libya. Police foiled another attack when they arrested a would-be suicide bomber at former President Habib Bourguiba's tomb in the seaside town of Monastir, and detained five other people in Sousse thought to be plotting assaults, security sources said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Islamist-led government said all the arrested men had admitted to being members of the militant Ansar al-Sharia movement, which it says is linked to al Qaeda's North Africa affiliate. "The two suicide bombers are radical Islamist jihadists. Full Story | Top |
| Murdoch editors must have known of phone hacking, court hears Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:59 AM PDT By Michael Holden and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - Rebekah Brooks, a former top editor, and Andy Coulson, Prime Minister David Cameron's ex-media chief, oversaw a system of phone-hacking and illegal payments when they ran Rupert Murdoch's British tabloids, a London court heard at the start of their trial on Wednesday. Setting out the prosecution case, Andrew Edis said Brooks was linked to both phone-hacking that ruined the tabloid News of the World and the practice of paying public officials for stories at its sister newspaper, the Sun. Brooks, 45, later ran Murdoch's British newspaper division from 2009 to 2011. Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian students protest after Brotherhood leader arrested Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 10:07 AM PDT By Hadeel Al Shalchi CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police fired teargas at protesting students at Cairo's al-Azhar university on Wednesday hours after authorities announced the detention of Muslim Brotherhood leader Essam El-Erian, part of a crackdown against the Islamist movement. Erian, deputy leader of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, was taken into custody from a residence in New Cairo, a suburb on the outskirts of the capital, where he had been in hiding, an interior ministry source told Reuters. Down, down with the lord of the army," one protester scribbled, referring to army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July. If you see anyone just arrest them right away." Over 20 students were arrested, according to two security sources. Full Story | Top |
| France denies paying ransom as Sahel hostages return Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 06:39 AM PDT By Abdoulaye Massalatchi and Nicholas Vinocur NIAMEY/PARIS (Reuters) - Four Frenchmen held hostage in the Sahara desert by al Qaeda-linked gunmen for three years flew home and were reunited with their families on Wednesday, with Paris dismissing media reports it had paid a ransom for their release. The men, kidnapped in 2010 while working for French nuclear group Areva and a subsidiary of construction group Vinci in northern Niger, were freed on Tuesday after secret negotiations conducted by the government of Niger. It was difficult, the ordeal of a lifetime," said Thierry Dol, one of the freed men before leaving. Gaunt and bearded, but said to be in good health, the men embraced their families on the runway of a military airport near Paris where President Francois Hollande was waiting. Full Story | Top |
| Assad tells U.N. envoy peace talks can succeed only if aid to rebels stops Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 05:47 AM PDT  President Bashar al-Assad told U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Wednesday that talks to end Syria's civil war would only succeed if foreign powers ended support for rebels fighting to overthrow him. Brahimi is in Damascus to met Syrian officials in an effort to shore up support for the faltering peace talks. State television quoted Assad as telling Brahimi, "the success of any political solution is tied to stopping support for terrorist groups and pressuring their patron states". Assad's government calls the armed opposition terrorists. Full Story | Top |
| Israel frees Palestinian prisoners, pushes settlement plan Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 05:55 AM PDT By Mohammed Abu Ganeyeh BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) - Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday as part of U.S.-brokered peace efforts, but said it was pressing on with plans to build more homes for Jewish settlers, in an apparent move to appease hardliners. The inmates, who were convicted of killing Israelis, basked in a heroes' welcome from hundreds of relatives and well-wishers in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. "Our heroes are coming home, long live the prisoners," crowds chanted outside the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Issa Abed Rabbo, convicted of murdering two Israeli hikers in 1984, was carried through the alleys of the Biblical town of Bethlehem on the shoulders of cheering Palestinians as fireworks went off and patriotic songs blared. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. consumer prices rise, but underlying inflation benign Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 05:32 AM PDT  U.S. consumer prices rose modestly in September but there was little sign of underlying inflation in the economy, which should give the Federal Reserve scope to maintain its monthly bond purchases. The Labor Department said on Wednesday its Consumer Price Index increased 0.2 percent last month as energy prices rebounded, after edging up 0.1 percent in August. In the 12 months through September, the CPI increased 1.2 percent, the smallest gain since April. Economists polled by Reuters had expected consumer prices to rise 0.2 percent last month and increase 1.2 percent from a year ago. Full Story | Top |
| China to step up own security after new NSA allegations Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 01:47 AM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China will step up its security following allegations that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) collected data on millions of phone calls in Europe and snooped on leaders of major U.S. allies, the government said on Wednesday. "Like many other countries, we have been paying close attention to these reports," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing. "China is concerned about the continued revelations of eavesdropping and surveillance and is paying attention to how the situation develops," she added. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germany's Merkel sends top foreign adviser to press U.S. over spying Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 04:03 AM PDT  Angela Merkel's top foreign affairs and intelligence advisers will quiz officials in Washington on Wednesday over the activities of U.S. spies in Germany, including allegations they tapped the German chancellor's phone. The visit is one of a series of trips by high-ranking German and European Union officials to the United States this week after revelations of the scale of the surveillance triggered outrage and shattered European trust in Washington. Merkel wants the United States to agree a "no spying" deal with Berlin and Paris by the end of the year and to stop alleged espionage against two of Washington's closest EU allies. "I can confirm that the two top aides from the chancellery are in Washington for talks today," said her spokesman Steffen Seibert. Full Story | Top |
| Afghans to visit Pakistan for talks with ex-Taliban chief Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 12:52 AM PDT  KABUL (Reuters) - Senior Afghan officials will travel to Pakistan soon to speak to former Taliban No.2 leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar following a breakthrough in negotiations during a London summit, the Afghan presidential palace said on Wednesday. Baradar is a long-time friend of reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and is seen by some in Afghanistan as the key to restarting peace talks. British Prime Minister David Cameron is hosting Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in London this week for talks on the stalled peace process. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria's Assad says peace talks tied to ending aid to 'terrorists' Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 05:13 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who met with United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Wednesday, said the success of peace talks was tied to "stopping support for terrorist groups." He was quoted on state television as saying "the success of any political solution is tied to stopping support for terrorist groups and pressuring their patron states". It was not clear if he was speaking to Brahimi. (Reporting by Oliver Holmes and Stephen Kalin; editing by Mike Collett-White) Full Story | Top |
| Tepco shouldn't be in charge of Fukushima shutdown: Japan panel Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 01:30 AM PDT  By Takaya Yamaguchi and Kentaro Hamada TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co should be stripped of the responsibility for shutting down its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, according to a draft proposal by a panel of Japan's ruling party. Tokyo Electric, or Tepco, has been widely criticized for repeated missteps, poor planning and a lack of disclosure in its efforts to clear up the site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Yellen feared housing bust but did not raise public alarm Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 10:10 PM PDT  By Marilyn W. Thompson, Ann Saphir and Alister Bull (Reuters) - When Janet Yellen became president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in June 2004, a massive real estate bubble was building in the vast nine-state area that it oversees. Her staff alerted her that banks were overinvesting in speculative commercial real estate at a time when housing prices in the region were ballooning. But as chief regulator in the Federal Reserve's largest district, Yellen conveyed two starkly different messages. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Starvation in Syria: a war tactic Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 01:27 AM PDT  (This story was reported by a visiting journalist whose name has been withheld for security reasons) DAMASCUS (Reuters) - One Syrian security official called it the "Starvation Until Submission Campaign", blocking food and medicine from entering and people from leaving besieged areas of Syria. Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have used partial sieges to root out rebel forces from residential areas during the civil war. But a recent tightening of blockades around areas near the capital is causing starvation and death, residents and medical staff say. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama under fire as Americans lose prior health plans Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:43 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is facing fresh attacks for his pledge that Americans who like their current healthcare plans can keep them under Obamacare after reports that thousands of Americans facing cancellation notices. Accusations that the pledge was misleading are potentially a deeper threat to Obama than the website glitches that have plagued Healthcare.gov since its October 1 launch and allowed only a trickle of people to sign up on new federal insurance exchanges. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: On healthcare, spying, questions on what Obama knew and when Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:48 PM PDT  By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - To his critics, President Barack Obama often has seemed to be conveniently distant when trouble has hit his administration. But on Tuesday, Obama was hit with a public-relations crisis that struck at the core of his domestic and foreign policy - one that raised questions about whether he had misled Americans on his signature healthcare overhaul, and whether he really was unaware of the U.S. government's alleged spying on its allies. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. senators seek to cut Iran's oil sales in half - again Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:09 PM PDT  By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh U.S. sanctions over Iran's disputed nuclear program being debated behind closed doors in the Senate aim to slash the country's oil sales in half within a year of the plan being signed into law, an influential senator said this week. Robert Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in New York on Monday that a package of sanctions ready to move in his chamber has a goal of cutting Iran's current oil exports to no more than 500,000 barrels per day. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Merck works toward bringing Zilmax back to U.S., Canada Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 10:45 AM PDT  By P.J. Huffstutter CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co plans to resume sales of the controversial Zilmax animal feed additive in the United States and Canada after it completes an audit of how the product is used, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Merck halted sales of the muscle-building drug in August after Tyson Foods Inc. said it would stop accepting Zilmax-fed beef given some cattle were observed arriving for slaughter with signs they were having difficulty walking or moving. Merck has said it stands behind the safety of its product, but the pause added to global concerns over its use. On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Merck's Animal Health unit said that while "it is too early to speculate on when we will resume sales for Zilmax in the U.S. and Canada," Merck was pushing forward with its quality control program to ensure the drug was being properly used. Full Story | Top |
| NSA chief defends agency amid U.S. spy rift with Europe Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 03:45 PM PDT  By Tabassum Zakaria and Deborah Charles WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the National Security Agency defended his beleaguered organization on Tuesday, saying it acts within the law to stop militant attacks and calling reports that the NSA collected data on millions of phone calls in Europe false. Army General Keith Alexander, testifying with other U.S. spy chiefs before the House of Representatives Intelligence committee, sought to defuse a growing controversy over reports of NSA snooping on citizens and leaders of major U.S. allies. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. nuclear arms overhaul needed to ensure reliability: officials Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:32 PM PDT  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. nuclear arsenal needs a multi-billion dollar overhaul in the coming decade to ensure the weapons' safety and effectiveness, defense officials said on Tuesday, despite warnings from arms control groups that the effort is unaffordable and unnecessary. Assistant Defense Secretary Madelyn Creedon told a panel in the U.S. House of Representatives that modernization work on the aging weapons was needed to give policymakers the confidence they need to pursue President Barack Obama's goal of deeper cuts to the nuclear stockpile. ... Full Story | Top |
| JPMorgan's $13 billion deal hits stumbling blocks: sources Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 03:31 PM PDT  By Aruna Viswanatha and David Henry (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co and the U.S. Justice Department have hit snags in working out the final details of their $13 billion settlement over the bank's mortgage bonds, two people familiar with the talks said. The bank and the government are arguing over whether JPMorgan should be forced to pay for mistakes made by Washington Mutual, the failed mortgage lender it bought during the financial crisis. JPMorgan is also looking to shut down some criminal inquiries into the bank's mortgage business before the financial crisis, said one of the sources. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's anti-pollution drive risks running out of gas Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 05:39 PM PDT  By Adam Rose and David Stanway BEIJING (Reuters) - A chronic shortage of natural gas is hurting China's plan to move away from burning coal to heat homes and offices, raising the prospect of more choking air pollution this winter and beyond. The problem is worst in northern China, where air pollution mainly caused by decades of reliance on coal has lowered life expectancy by an estimated 5.5 years compared to the south, Chinese and international researchers said in July. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dogged by dissent, Israel frees 26 Palestinian prisoners Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 04:48 PM PDT  By Dedi Hayoun OFER PRISON, West Bank (Reuters) - Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday, the second stage of a limited amnesty designed to help U.S.-sponsored peace talks that have been dogged by divisions on both sides. The inmates, convicted of murder in the killing of Israelis before or just after interim accords were signed two decades ago, were bussed from jail at midnight to welcoming parties in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers call for action to curb Internet child trading Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 02:37 PM PDT  By Megan Twohey CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers called Tuesday for federal action to prevent parents from giving unwanted adopted children to strangers met on the Internet, and the Illinois attorney general urged Facebook and Yahoo to police online groups where children may be advertised. The demands come as nations whose orphans have been adopted by Americans contend that the U.S. government isn't doing enough to stop the practice, known as "private re-homing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Merck works toward bringing Zilmax back to the U.S., Canada market Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 04:01 PM PDT By P.J. Huffstutter CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co told Reuters on Tuesday that it plans to bring its Zilmax animal feed additive back for sale in the United States and Canada, after it completes an audit of how the muscle-building cattle feed product is used in the agriculture sector. A spokeswoman for the company's Merck Animal Health unit said that while "it is too early to speculate on when we will resume sales for Zilmax in the U.S. and Canada," Merck was pushing forward with its quality control program to ensure the weight-adding drug is being properly used. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama under fire as Americans lose prior health plans Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 03:58 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is facing fresh attacks for his pledge that Americans who like their current healthcare plans can keep them under Obamacare, as reports pile up of thousands of Americans facing cancellation notices. Accusations that the pledge was misleading are potentially a deeper threat to Obama than the website glitches that have plagued Healthcare.gov since its October 1 launch and allowed only a trickle of people to sign up on new federal insurance exchanges. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's anti-pollution drive risks running out of gas Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 03:48 PM PDT  By Adam Rose and David Stanway BEIJING (Reuters) - A chronic shortage of natural gas is hurting China's plan to move away from burning coal to heat homes and offices, raising the prospect of more choking air pollution this winter and beyond. The problem is worst in northern China, where air pollution mainly caused by decades of reliance on coal has lowered life expectancy by an estimated 5.5 years compared to the south, Chinese and international researchers said in July. ... Full Story | Top |
| In new U.S. budget talks, Republican proposal has flipped the script Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 02:15 PM PDT  By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the Congress are taking a new tack in the budget wars that have convulsed Washington for the past three years: They want to soak the rich, or at least get them a little damp. As Democrats and Republicans kick off another round of budget talks on Wednesday, a proposal by House of Representatives Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan appears to have flipped the usual script. ... Full Story | Top |
| Slow Obamacare site repairs may limit coverage, savings Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013 01:49 PM PDT  By Lewis Krauskopf and David Morgan (Reuters) - If technical problems with the U.S. government's new healthcare website are not fixed in November, hundreds of thousands of Americans could lose easy access to lower-cost coverage, jeopardizing the Obama administration's goal of making affordable insurance broadly available in 2014. Consumers in 36 states are relying on Healthcare.gov to qualify for tax subsidies that will reduce coverage costs under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which was expected to cover 7 million people next year alone through new private insurance marketplaces. ... Full Story | Top |
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