Selasa, 15 Oktober 2013

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NST Online Business Times : latest

Posted: 15 Oct 2013 04:33 PM PDT

NEW YORK CITY: US stock markets closed deep in the red Tuesday as politicians in Washington remained deadlocked over a deal to reopen the government and avoid default on its debts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 133.25 points (0.87 per cent) at 15,168.01. The broader S&P 500 fell 12.08 (0.71 per cent) to 1,698.06, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 21.26 (0.56 per cent) at 3,794.01.

Both the Dow and the S&P 500 broke four-day winning streaks.

Stocks extended their slide in the afternoon after early hopes for a breakthrough in the divided Congress had evaporated.

On the 15th day of a US federal government shutdown, the result of Congress's failure to approve a budget for the 2014 fiscal year that began on October 1, Democrats and Republicans remained at loggerheads over the budget and raising the borrowing limit.

The US Treasury has warned that if Congress fails to lift the US$17.6 trillion debt ceiling by Thursday, it will lose its ability to borrow and could run out of cash to pay all its obligations.

"We're far from a deal at this point," White House spokesman Jay Carney admitted.

Apple shares added 0.5 per cent after it announced it was hiring the chief executive of British fashion house Burberry, Angela Ahrendts, as its new head of retailing.

Citigroup fell 1.5 per cent after missing forecasts for its third-quarter results, blaming in part slower trading gains.

Earnings per share were US$1.00 for the quarter, on revenues that jumped 30 per cent from a year ago, to US$17.9 billion, short of the US$18.7 billion estimates.

Johnson & Johnson edged up 0.1 per cent as it came in with a modest gain on earnings, net profits at US$2.98 billion from US$2.96 billion a year ago, and raised its full-year per-share forecast by four cents to US$5.44-US$5.49.

Coca-Cola fell 0.7 per cent. The soft-drink maker posted third-quarter earnings that beat expectations, but revenues fell 2.5 per cent under pressure from currency exchange rates. -- AFP

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

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Lawmakers: House, Senate working on competing plans - Washington Post

Posted: 15 Oct 2013 09:13 AM PDT

House Republican leaders want to put forward their own plan to reopen the federal government, raise the debt ceiling and amend President Obama's health-care law, lawmakers said Tuesday. But it is not clear whether they can muster enough votes to pass the bill, and Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) was noncommittal when asked by reporters whether the legislation would move forward.

Both the White House and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) quickly attacked the House GOP effort, saying it could sabotage bipartisan negotiations that had been gaining traction in the Senate, and stood no chance being passed there or accepted by President Obama.

"It's nothing more than a blatant attack on bipartisanship," Reid said in a speech on the Senate floor. Democrats, he said, "felt blind sided."

At a late-morning news conference, Boehner — whose previous efforts at compromise have been defeated by his party's right wing — said "there have been no decisions about what exactly we will do."

He said he was talking to lawmakers from both parties to find "a way forward" and was keenly aware that the nation was very close to reaching the limits of its borrowing authority. "I have made clear for months and months that the idea of a default is wrong and we shouldn't get anywhere close to it," Boehner said.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said earlier Tuesday that the bill being formulated by House Republicans was designed to be attractive to Democrats,, because it would follow key timelines that have been established in the Senate negotiations. For example, the bill would fund government agencies until Jan. 15, and raise the debt ceiling until Feb. 7.

But unlike the Senate proposal, the plan would also include significant changes and restrictions on Obama's signature health-care law, other lawmakers said, such as a two-year repeal of the medical device tax and a provision eliminating the employer health-care contribution for members of Congress and White House officials.

Such changes have previously been rejected by Democrats, however, and a White House spokeswoman was quick to express opposition on Tuesday.

"The President has said repeatedly that members of Congress don't get to demand ransom for fulfilling their basic responsibilities to pass a budget and pay the nation's bills," White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the latest proposal from House Republicans does just that, in a partisan attempt to appease a small group of Tea Party Republicans."

The White House said Obama would meet with House Democratic leaders on Tuesday afternoon.

It remains far from clear whether the House will be able to pass the bill it is proposing. If Democratic lawmakers refuse to support it, the bill would need votes from all but 15 of the 232 Republican lawmakers.

Emerging from the meeting Tuesday morning, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) said many members have "sincere, deep concerns" with the plan. He noted that he is willing to reopen the government but has not voted to raise the debt ceiling since 1997, and has vowed never to do so again.

2 arrests made in death of bullied Florida girl - CBS News

Posted: 15 Oct 2013 09:12 AM PDT

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. Two girls have been arrested in the death of a 12-year-old central Florida girl who authorities say committed suicide after being bullied online by several girls for nearly a year, a sheriff said Tuesday.

The girls are 12 and 14, and they have been charged with felony aggravated stalking, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Grady Judd scheduled a news conference Tuesday morning in Winter Haven regarding the arrests.

Authorities have said Rebecca Ann Sedwick was "terrorized" by as many as 15 girls who ganged up on her and picked on her for months through online message boards and texts. Some of the girls' computers and cellphones were seized in the investigation.

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Mother says cyber-bullying drove 12-year-old daughter to commit suicide

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12-year-old commits suicide after months of online torment

Last month, CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reported that the one message that her mother, Tricia Norman, cannot forget urged Rebecca Ann to kill herself.

"'You haven't killed yourself yet,'" Norman recalled the message saying. "'Go jump off of a building.'"

On Sept. 9, authorities say, Rebecca climbed a tower at an abandoned concrete plant and hurled herself to her death.

The bullying began over a "boyfriend issue," and Rebecca had become depressed, Judd has said.

After the suicide, police looked at the girl's computer and found search queries for topics including "what is overweight for a 13-year-old girl," ''how to get blades out of razors" and "how many over-the-counter drugs do you take to die." One of her screensavers also showed Rebecca with her head resting on a railroad track.

Florida has a bullying law named after a teenager who killed himself after being harassed by classmates. Amended July 1 to cover cyberbullying, the law leaves punishment to schools, though law enforcement also can seek more traditional charges.

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Selasa, 15 Oktober 2013