Reuters: Top News

Greek conservative takes bailout pledge to the wire

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:55:28 -0500

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek conservative leader Antonis Samaras will send a letter of commitment to the terms of an EU/IMF bailout deal within the day, a party source said on Wednesday, with the country's bankruptcy rescue hanging in the balance.

Obama to stress "insourcing" as China counterweight

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:19:16 -0500

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama takes his election-year economic message to the Midwestern heartland on Wednesday, touring a Wisconsin padlock factory and stressing the potential of "insourcing" jobs back to the United States from overseas.

Syrian forces raid Damascus, opposition cities despite outcry

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:50:41 -0500

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian government forces attacked the opposition strongholds of Homs and Hama on Wednesday and also raided a district of Damascus in the closest military operation to the capital's centre since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad broke out 11 months ago.

Obama friendly but firm with China heir apparent

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:17:26 -0500

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama told Chinese leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Beijing must play by the same trade rules as other major world powers and vowed to keep pressing China to clean up its human rights record.

Iran to load own nuclear fuel rods in Tehran reactor

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:46:23 -0500

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will load domestically made nuclear fuel rods into its Tehran Research Reactor on Wednesday for the first time to keep it running, a senior official told a national news agency.

Yahoo-Alibaba talks falling apart: sources

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:41:50 -0500

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Talks between Yahoo Inc and China's Alibaba Group over the U.S. Internet giant's Asian assets have hit an impasse, throwing their plans for a $17 billion tax-free asset swap into question, according to sources briefed on the situation.

NATO forces in Afghanistan say killed eight youths in air raid

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:41:32 -0500

KABUL (Reuters) - NATO-led forces in Afghanistan said on Wednesday they killed eight young Afghans in eastern Kapisa province last week in an air strike that enraged the Afghan government, and came soon after a United Nations report showed civilian casualties of the decade-long war rose again in 2011.

California economy to slowly improve in 2012: study

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:20:30 -0500

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's economy, the biggest in the United States and the ninth-largest in the world, will see a slight improvement in 2012 but a recovery in the crucial housing market is at least two years away, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Thais find possible bomb link in Thai, India attacks

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:59:50 -0500

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai investigators believe they have found a link between this week's bomb blasts in Bangkok and New Delhi, a senior security official said on Wednesday, two of three botched attacks Israel has blamed on Iran.

Egypt to hold presidential poll in May: report

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 02:02:35 -0500

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's first presidential election since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown a year ago will be held by late May, Wednesday's state newspaper al-Ahram quoted a government minister as saying.