Current News Today
Insight: EU foreign policy chief Ashton stays out of the spotlight
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - For an insight into the world of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, consider the tale of a humble asterisk. In late February, EU chief negotiator Robert Cooper was nearing a compromise that would bring Serbia and breakaway province Kosovo closer to EU membership and get around their disputes over Kosovo's right to exist. The scheme would allow Kosovo to sign regional agreements, but only with an asterisk next to its name to indicate its lack of U.N. recognition. ...
2012-05-22T09:50:11Z
| Afghans back Chicago deal, warn West to keep promises
KABUL (Reuters) - People in Afghanistan were surprisingly optimistic on Tuesday about NATO's plan to pull combat troops out of their war-ravaged nation by the end of 2014, but warned Western leaders to stick to aid and security promises. A Chicago summit meeting of the 28-member bloc, attended also by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other world leaders, endorsed an exit strategy on Monday that calls for handing control of Afghanistan to its own security forces by the middle of next year. ...
2012-05-22T13:07:23Z
| Insight: Jerusalem expansion reaches point of no return
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Named for the crash site of an airforce plane shot down during the Six Day War in 1967, Givat HaMatos may yet prove the place where Palestinian hopes of a creating a capital in Jerusalem also plunge to earth. 'Airplane Hill' lies on the southern fringes of Jerusalem's city limits - rock-strewn land dotted with shabby, prefabricated bungalows and the occasional pine tree. Once a tranquil backwater, the area has become the focus of hectic activity in the last six months, with Israeli authorities releasing plans for 2,610 housing units and 1,110 hotel rooms. ...
2012-05-22T08:29:48Z
| Putin shifts former ministers to Kremlin
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin named several trusted former cabinet ministers to Kremlin posts on Tuesday, asserting his authority in a move likely to weaken Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's new government and undermine its mandate for change. Bluntly showing who is in charge, Putin issued a decree bringing prominent allies into his administration less than 24 hours after announcing their replacements in a new cabinet that Medvedev has championed as an overhauled engine for reform. ...
2012-05-22T14:15:12Z
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Current News Today
Wall Street climbs after housing data
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Tuesday, driven by financial and housing shares, after home resales rose in April to their highest annual rate in nearly two years in another sign that the housing market may be on the road to recovery. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 45.18 points, or 0.36 percent, to 12,549.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 9.43 points, or 0.72 percent, to 1,325.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 16.84 points, or 0.59 percent, to 2,864.05. (Reporting By Edward Krudy, editing by Dave Zimmerman)
2012-05-22T14:29:11Z
| Home resales rise, boding well for economy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Home resales rose in April to their highest annual rate in nearly two years and a falloff in foreclosures pushed prices higher, hopeful signs for the country's economic recovery. The National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday that existing home sales increased 3.4 percent to an annual rate of 4.62 million units last month, the highest since May 2010. "The housing market is showing some signs of life," said Gary Thayer, a macro strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors in St. Louis. Nationwide, the median price for a home resale jumped to $177,400 in April, up 10. ...
2012-05-22T14:37:23Z
| Facebook shares hit again as valuation doubts rise
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The selloff in Facebook's shares deepened on Tuesday, as investors continued to question the stock's valuation after Reuters reported that underwriters cut their revenue forecasts for the company before the IPO. [ID:nL4E8GM35V] Facebook's shares hit a low of $30.98 on Tuesday, 8.9 percent below Monday's close, a loss of 18 percent from their $38 IPO price. At the low, the stock had lost 30 percent from an intraday high of $45 hit shortly after trading started on Friday. ...
2012-05-22T14:38:54Z
| Germany, France draw battle lines over eurozone bonds
BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) - Germany dismissed a French-led call for euro zone nations to issue common bonds, a day before a European Union leaders' summit which investors are looking to for new measures to counter the bloc's debt crisis. After a torrid week, stock markets rallied on optimism that the Wednesday summit would produce measures to foster growth and ward off the threat of contagion should Greece exit the euro. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 1. ...
2012-05-22T13:17:43Z
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Current News Today
Utah race debuts a new kind of Republican
Republicans have deemed Mia Love's race one of the top ten most important races in the country.
2012-05-22T10:17:08Z
| Cory Booker: 'I'm being used by the GOP'
"Here they are plucking sound bites out of [the 'Meet The Press'] interview to manipulate them in a cynical manner," Booker said.
2012-05-22T10:34:28Z
| Photos: Joplin's devasting tornado one year later
Peggy Gettler (2nd R), who lost her daughter nearly a year ago to a deadly tornado, hugs a volunteer in Joplin, Missouri May 17, 2012. May 22 marks the one year anniversary of a deadly EF-5 tornado that ripped through the town, killing 161 people. The tornado damaged or destroyed about 7,500 homes and 500 other buildings, but the city is now well into a recovery mode that has spurred some segments of the local economy. REUTERS/Eric Thayer (UNITED STATES - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT)
2012-05-18T07:37:25Z
| Small plane crashes in front of home in LA suburb
A pilot was released early Tuesday from a hospital after suffering minor injuries when his single-engine plane crashed into a neighborhood, downing power lines but avoiding homes, authorities said. No one on the ground was hurt.
2012-05-22T14:39:36Z
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