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| Obama accuses Republican rival of suffering "Romnesia" Friday, Oct 19, 2012 07:13 PM PDT  FAIRFAX, Va./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama turned his rival's name into an ailment on Friday, accusing Mitt Romney of suffering from "Romnesia" for emphasizing moderate positions rather than the conservative ones he put forward in the Republican primary race. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has closed a gap in opinion polls with the Democratic incumbent after giving a strong performance in the first presidential debate on October 3, when he sounded a moderate note on healthcare reform and the need for government regulation - highlights of Obama's platform. ... Full Story | Top |
| As other polls show tight race, Gallup stands apart Friday, Oct 19, 2012 07:08 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The election between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney looks like it will be a knuckle-biter - unless you go by one of the United States' most respected public-opinion polls. As most surveys show Obama and Romney locked in a virtual dead heat, Gallup finds that the Republican would win by a comfortable six percentage points if the election were held today. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boy dies in violent protests over new Panama land law Friday, Oct 19, 2012 07:00 PM PDT  PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - At least one person, a 9-year-old boy, died on Friday in violent protests over a new law allowing the sale of state-owned land in a dilapidated port city within the duty-free zone next to the Panama Canal. Several residents and police were also injured in Colon, Panama's second-largest city, in a third day of protests against the plan, which the National Assembly approved early on Friday and President Ricardo Martinelli signed into law hours later. Hundreds of people burned tires and threw objects and shot at police, who fired back and used teargas to disperse the ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge blocks Arizona law that bars funding to Planned Parenthood Friday, Oct 19, 2012 06:41 PM PDT PHOENIX (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday blocked Arizona from applying a new law that bars Planned Parenthood's health clinics from receiving money through the state because the organization also performs abortions. U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake granted the temporary injunction to Planned Parenthood, which had sued Arizona to block the law, which was signed by Republican Governor Jan Brewer in May but whose implementation has been on hold. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan's vice president dismisses talk of military coup Friday, Oct 19, 2012 06:36 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - South Sudan's vice president, Riek Machar, dismissed on Friday rumors of a planned military coup, saying it would be "unwise" for army officers to attempt a takeover of the year-old state. The speculation was serious enough to prompt South Sudan's President Salva Kiir to visit the headquarters of Sudan's army (SPLA) this week to warn that any successful coup leaders would be isolated internationally, according to the Sudan Tribune. ... Full Story | Top |
| Protests, gunfire in Lebanon after Beirut killing Friday, Oct 19, 2012 06:08 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Sunni Muslims took to the streets and burned tires across Lebanon in protest against the killing of senior intelligence official Wissam al-Hassan in a car bomb on Friday, witnesses said. Protesters, infuriated by the death of the prominent Sunni, blocked roads in the eastern Bekaa valley region, the northern area of Akkar, neighborhoods of the capital Beirut and in the southern city of Sidon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lebanon must stay united after blast: France Friday, Oct 19, 2012 06:08 PM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - Lebanon's politicians must stay united and guard against attempts to destabilize the country, French President Francois Hollande said after a car bomb killed a senior intelligence officer in Beirut on Friday. He did not spell out who might be trying to undermine the country through the attack. But France, the former colonial power in Lebanon, has repeatedly warned of the risk of the conflict in neighboring Syria spilling over the border. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lebanese opposition bloc calls for PM to quit after bombing Friday, Oct 19, 2012 06:08 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's opposition March 14 bloc said it held Prime Minister Najib Mikati responsible for the death of a senior intelligence official in a car bombing on Friday and called on his government to resign. Mikati was responsible "for the blood of Wissam al-Hassan and the blood of the innocents who died" in the bombing, the group said in a statement. "This government must go, and the prime minister is asked to present his resignation." (Editing by Ralph Gowling) Full Story | Top |
| Lebanon's former PM Hariri blames Assad for Beirut bomb Friday, Oct 19, 2012 06:08 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday of being behind the huge car bomb which killed a senior Lebanese intelligence official in central Beirut. Asked by Lebanon's Future Television who was responsible for the killing, Hariri replied: "Bashar Hafez al-Assad," giving the full name of the Syrian president. "Who killed Wissam al-Hassan is as clear as day. Certainly the Lebanese people will not be silent over this heinous crime and I, Saad Hariri, promise that I will not be silent," he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. condemns "terrorist" killing of Lebanese security official Friday, Oct 19, 2012 06:08 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council condemned a bomb attack on Friday that killed senior Lebanese intelligence official Wissam al-Hassan, widely seen as a foe of Syria, and demanded an end to attempts to destabilize Lebanon through political assassinations. "The members of the Security Council strongly condemned the terrorist attack on 19 October 2012 in Beirut, which killed Brigadier General Wissam al-Hassan," the 15-nation council said in a unanimously agreed-upon statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Beirut bomb kills anti-Syrian intelligence official Friday, Oct 19, 2012 06:08 PM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - A prominent Lebanese intelligence official opposed to President Bashar al-Assad was killed in a huge car bomb in Beirut in another sign that Syria's civil war is dragging its volatile neighbor into the conflict. Wissam al-Hassan, who led an investigation that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, and seven other people were killed when the bomb exploded in central Beirut on Friday afternoon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Defense wants 9/11 trial televised globally from Guantanamo Friday, Oct 19, 2012 06:05 PM PDT  GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - The death penalty trial of five Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States is so important that it should be televised globally, defense lawyers argued on Friday. The issue of televising the proceedings was discussed on the final day of a week-long pretrial hearing for the alleged mastermind of the hijacked plane attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four co-defendants accused of providing money, training and travel assistance to the hijackers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani girl shot by Taliban "doing well" Friday, Oct 19, 2012 05:43 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - A Pakistani girl shot in the head by Taliban gunmen is "not out of the woods" but is doing well and has been able to stand for the first time, doctors at the British hospital treating her said on Friday. Malala Yousufzai, who was shot for vocally opposing the Taliban, was flown from Pakistan to Birmingham to receive treatment after the attack earlier this month, which drew widespread international condemnation. She has become a symbol of resistance to the Islamist group's effort to deny women education and other rights. ... Full Story | Top |
| Defense chief calls cyberspace battlefront of the future Friday, Oct 19, 2012 05:15 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cyberspace is the battlefield of the future, with attackers already going after banks and other financial institutions and developing the ability to strike U.S. power grids and government systems, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Friday. "We confront a whole new threat of warfare in (cyberspace). ... This is an area we've got to pay close attention to. This is the battlefront of the future," he told a business group in Norfolk, Virginia, a city at the center of one of the largest concentrations of military power in the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Newark Airport workers may be fired over improper bag screening Friday, Oct 19, 2012 05:03 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dozens of screening officers and supervisors at Newark Liberty International Airport, one of three main airports serving New York City, face dismissal or suspension for failing to search baggage properly, the Transportation Security Administration said on Friday. The TSA, in the largest personnel action it has taken at an airport, said it planned to fire 25 workers and suspend another 19 for up to two weeks without pay as a result of an investigation into screening practices at Newark. Eight other employees were fired as part of the same investigation in June. ... Full Story | Top |
| Leaders meet on Mali crisis but little progress made Friday, Oct 19, 2012 04:49 PM PDT  BAMAKO/DAKAR (Reuters) - Regional leaders and international organizations met in Mali's capital Bamako on Friday to seek a response to the occupation of the north of the country by al Qaeda-linked Islamists, but failed to resolve differences on how to tackle the growing security threat. Mali remains paralyzed by twin crises, with the leadership in Bamako still divided since a March coup that toppled the president and the rebel takeover of the north of the country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Katatni elected as Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood party chief Friday, Oct 19, 2012 04:36 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood's political party, Egypt's biggest, chose veteran conservative Saad al-Katatni as its new leader on Friday to replace Mohamed Mursi who went on to become his country's first elected president. Katatni, 61, a microbiologist who joined the Islamist movement in 1979, is seen as more conservative than his main challenger for the post, Essam el-Erian, and less ready to compromise with liberals and leftists. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. intended to keep Benghazi mission open through 2012 Friday, Oct 19, 2012 04:33 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newly released government documents show U.S. officials intended to keep open a mission in Benghazi, Libya, for at least the rest of this year in hopes of having a "calming effect" on the region, before the building was overrun and burned by militants last month. Locals in Benghazi wanted the Americans to stay permanently in the eastern Libyan city, the cradle of last year's revolution against Muammar Gaddafi, according to one memo written by the former top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, Jeffrey Feltman. ... Full Story | Top |
| Muslim protesters fight police in Tanzania, popular cleric freed Friday, Oct 19, 2012 04:26 PM PDT  STONE TOWN/DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Muslim protesters clashed with police in Tanzania's commercial capital and on the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar on Friday, raising religious tensions in the east African country. In Dar es Salaam, protests against the arrest of a hardline Muslim cleric turned violent, while in Zanzibar, supporters of an Islamist separatist group have repeatedly fought police over the disappearance of their spiritual leader, who was then released after nearly four days in captivity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Secret Service chief may have misled on scandal: senator Friday, Oct 19, 2012 04:22 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican senator on Friday accused the head of the Secret Service of making potentially misleading statements to Congress about a prostitution scandal involving agency employees before a presidential trip to Colombia in April. Senator Ron Johnson, the senior Republican on the Homeland Security subcommittee on oversight of government management, issued a memo detailing his concerns about Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan's statements to Congress on May 23. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinian push for U.N. upgrade likely to succeed: Jeremic Friday, Oct 19, 2012 04:14 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The push by the Palestinians for upgraded status at the United Nations is likely to succeed, the president of the U.N. General Assembly said on Friday, while warning the United States against cutting U.N. funding over the issue. In his first major interview since winning a divisive campaign for the largely ceremonial U.N. post in June, former Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic also said he was seeking to improve coordination between the world body and the Group of 20 bloc of key developed and developing nations. Having failed last year to secure full U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Los Angeles County sheriff's office sued over immigration holds Friday, Oct 19, 2012 03:57 PM PDT (Reuters) - Rights groups filed a class-action lawsuit on Friday against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, accusing it of unlawfully detaining immigrants at the behest of the federal government for days beyond when they should have been released. The suit highlights the detention of a British filmmaker and legal immigrant, Duncan Roy, who spent 89 days in jail because of an erroneous federal immigration hold that left him unable to post bail, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. ... Full Story | Top |
| Illinois congressman criticized over abortion remark Friday, Oct 19, 2012 03:55 PM PDT CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Republican congressman from Illinois waded into controversy with a suggestion that abortion is never necessary to save the life of a mother, two months after a colleague drew fire for saying women were unlikely to become pregnant from "legitimate rape." Representative Joe Walsh, who opposes abortion, made the remarks to reporters on Thursday after a debate with Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth, his opponent for a House seat representing the Chicago suburbs. "There is no such exception as life of the mother. ... Full Story | Top |
| Calpers threatens San Bernardino over pension debt Friday, Oct 19, 2012 03:51 PM PDT  (Reuters) - In the opening skirmish of a battle over how local governments deal with soaring pension costs, America's largest public employee retirement system made clear on Friday it would not tolerate a city deciding to miss a payment. The California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers) told bankrupt San Bernardino it may take legal action to force the city of 210,000 to resume its pension payments. And the $243 billion Calpers even threatened to sever its ties with the city altogether if it continues to be in arrears. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb threat shuts down Texas A&M University Friday, Oct 19, 2012 03:16 PM PDT (Reuters) - The campus of Texas A&M University, one of the biggest in the United States, was evacuated for several hours on Friday after school officials received a bomb threat, the latest such incident at a U.S. university in recent weeks. The threat came in an anonymous email delivered shortly before noon, Texas A&M spokesman Jason Cook said. All classes were canceled. The sprawling campus reopened five hours later except for buildings that had not yet been searched. High-traffic areas including residence halls, an arena and the football stadium were deemed safe, the university said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Republican Governor's clout needed on federal spending: Virginia Democrats Friday, Oct 19, 2012 03:06 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Virginia Democratic congressmen urged the state's Republican governor on Friday to use his influence in Washington to press for a "balanced" deficit reduction deal, one with more revenue to replace some of the looming spending cuts they said would devastate Virginia's economy. The appeal to Republican Governor Bob McDonnell comes just days after he urged President Barack Obama to push Senate Democrats to pass a Republican plan to halt spending cuts that would hit military and defense contractors in January. ... Full Story | Top |
| Home resales slip, housing recovery still eyed Friday, Oct 19, 2012 03:00 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Home resales retreated in September from a two-year high, a reminder that America's housing sector is a long way from a full recovery despite recent signs of improvement. Existing home sales fell 1.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.75 million units, matching the median forecast in a Reuters poll, data from the National Association of Realtors showed on Friday. Housing has been a relative bright spot in the U.S. economy this year, and Friday's data did not point to a reversal in that trend. ... Full Story | Top |
| Unemployment rates fall in most election swing states Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:59 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The unemployment rate fell last month in most states, including those considered undecided in the presidential election, data from the Labor Department showed on Friday. Stubbornly high unemployment is a key issue in the November 6 election. The contest between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney is heating up in states where polls suggest voters are undecided. Overall, regional and state unemployment rates were generally lower in September. ... Full Story | Top |
| Catholicism and sex shops: the struggle for Poland's soul Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:55 PM PDT  WARSAW (Reuters) - At the sound of a bell from the altar, relayed over loud-speakers, about 50,000 people at an open-air mass last month in the Polish capital dropped down to kneel in the street. It was a powerful symbol of Poland's deeply felt Roman Catholicism, a reminder of the scenes in the 1980s when, inspired by Polish Pope John Paul II, people prayed in the streets and brought down Communist rule. But modernity intruded on this recent moment of spiritual contemplation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada mum on Petronas bid for Progress as deadline approaches Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:54 PM PDT SAINT-HUBERT, Quebec (Reuters) - Canada declined to say on Friday whether it had approved Malaysian state oil company Petronas' C$5.2 billion ($5.3 billion) bid for gas producer Progress Energy Resources Corp , even as a midnight eastern (0400 GMT) deadline approached. Earlier this month, Industry Minister Christian Paradis extended the review period for the bid to Friday. Officials said he would not make an announcement while markets were open. "I won't comment on any specifics. When the decision is ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Petrobras to cut costs by up to $7.5 billion in 2013 Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:54 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil's state-led oil company, Petrobras , said on Friday it plans to cut as much as 15 billion reais ($7.5 billion) from operational costs next year, in a move aimed at reinstilling investor confidence and ending years of missed output targets. The cuts are part of Petrobras' "Procop" cost-optimization program that will start in January. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kuwait ruler orders electoral system changes Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:49 PM PDT  KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait's emir said on Friday he had ordered partial changes to the Gulf Arab state's electoral system to fix deficiencies ahead of expected elections, prompting opposition threats to boycott the vote. Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah dissolved parliament last week to pave the way for new election which many hoped would end a persistent political turmoil that had held up development projects in the major oil producer and U.S. ally. ... Full Story | Top |
| Prosecutors seek gag order in Trayvon Martin murder case Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:45 PM PDT  SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - Prosecutors want a Florida judge to impose a gag order on the Trayvon Martin murder case, saying lawyers for the man charged with murdering the unarmed black teenager threaten to taint the jury pool by trying the case "in the media and not in the courtroom." Judge Debra Nelson scheduled a hearing next week on the motion which was filed by Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda in Seminole County Circuit Court. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. endorses Syria Eid ceasefire call Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:32 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday called for a ceasefire in Syria during the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival next week, throwing its weight behind international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi's efforts to broker a halt to the worsening violence. The State Department said it supports Brahimi's call for a ceasefire "so that the Syrian people may observe the religious holiday in peace and security." "We urge the Syrian government to stop all military operations and call on opposition forces to follow suit," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbian, Kosovo prime ministers have rare talks, to meet again Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:28 PM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo met on Friday for the first time since the breakaway province gained independence, in hopes of thawing relations and opening the way for progress in their respective bids for European Union membership. The EU wants Serbia and Kosovo to cooperate better on issues such as security and trade even though Belgrade refuses to recognize the sovereignty of its former ethnic Albanian majority province, which declared independence in 2008. ... Full Story | Top |
| Native village defends ocean experiment; Canada launches probe Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:23 PM PDT  VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Leaders of a tiny, native village off Canada's remote northwest coast on Friday defended their decision to dump 120 tons of iron dust into the ocean as a legal experiment to revive salmon stocks, but Canada said it was investigating a possible breach of environmental law. The village council conducted its C$2.5 million ($2.52 million) experiment in August in the waters around Haida Gwaii, an archipelago some 130 kilometers (81 miles) off the British Columbian coast. ... Full Story | Top |
| Seven risk imminent execution in Gambia: Amnesty Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:20 PM PDT BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambia's former army chief and six others risk imminent execution after the West African nation's supreme court dismissed their appeal against conviction on treason charges, Amnesty International said on Friday. President Yahya Jammeh provoked an international outcry in August when he ordered the execution by firing squad of nine prisoners. Their deaths marked the first executions in the country in nearly 30 years. Although he later suspended plans to execute the remaining 38 prisoners on death row, the government said the decision was only temporary. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dinesh D'Souza, director of anti-Obama film, resigns college post Friday, Oct 19, 2012 02:17 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prominent conservative Dinesh D'Souza has resigned his post as president of a small Christian college in New York City after admitting he had become engaged to a woman even though he was legally married, though separated from his wife. The college announced the resignation on its website this week, and D'Souza, the director of the conservative film "2016: Obama's America" and an outspoken defender of traditional marriage, confirmed the news on his personal website. "My resignation will enable The King's College to go forward without distraction. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada beef plant samples test negative for E. coli Friday, Oct 19, 2012 01:57 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Test samples from the XL Foods meat plant in Alberta have come back negative for E. coli bacteria, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said on Friday, moving closer to a decision on whether to reopen the plant, which the agency closed because some of the plant's beef products were contaminated. Inspection officials tested meat from 5,000 carcasses that were in the Brooks, Alberta, plant before CFIA shut it down. CFIA plans to finalize its recommendations on the plant's reopening over the weekend after further review of its bacterial controls. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council plans sanctions on Congo rebels, others Friday, Oct 19, 2012 01:50 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council intends to impose sanctions on the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels and others violating an arms embargo on the country, according to a statement the council unanimously adopted on Friday. Rwandan Defense Minister James Kabarebe is commanding the insurgency in eastern Congo that is being armed by Rwanda and Uganda, both of which also sent troops to aid deadly attacks, according to a U.N. experts' confidential report seen by Reuters on Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
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