KABUL | Fri Nov 23, 2012 7:51am EST KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide truck bomb killed two people and wounded more than 70 in volatile eastern Afghanistan on Friday, officials said, with several foreign troops among those injured. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing in Maidan Shahr, the provincial capital of Wardak province, 35 km (22 miles) so...

By Tom Bergin LONDON | Fri Nov 23, 2012 7:23am EST LONDON (Reuters) - BP is planning to announce a reorganization of its oil and gas production operations, three sources familiar with the matter said, the second significant restructuring of its main cash generator since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The latest changes will undo some of the measur...

By Anjuli Davies LONDON | Fri Nov 23, 2012 7:19am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Mike Lynch, mathematics whiz and former boss of Autonomy, said he can't see how accusations leveled by Hewlett-Packard Co of dodgy accounting add up to a $5 billion writedown on the software business he sold them last year. HP said on Tuesday it would write $8.8 billion off ...

By Chris Francescani NEW YORK | Fri Nov 23, 2012 7:01am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - A devastating storm like Sandy can bring out the crooks - and not just opportunistic looters and burglars. Officials dealing with the destruction in the U.S. Northeast say one of their biggest headaches is debris-removal fraud committed by greedy contractors who infl...

By Charlie Dunmore and Ethan Bilby BRUSSELS | Fri Nov 23, 2012 6:59am EST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain and Germany warned on Friday there will be no summit deal on the European Union's proposed 1 trillion euro long-term budget without deeper spending cuts, after the latest compromise plan ignored their calls for further restraint. British Prime M...

By Jonny Hogg SAKE, Democratic Republic of Congo | Fri Nov 23, 2012 6:49am EST SAKE, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Rebels in eastern Congo pushed south along Lake Kivu on Friday after repelling a counter-attack by government forces near the new rebel stronghold in the city of Goma on the Rwandan border. Others moved north from the stra...

BRUSSELS | Fri Nov 23, 2012 6:48am EST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union and Canada aim to conclude a free trade agreement in the next few weeks after a top-level meeting over a deal that could swell bilateral trade by more than 20 percent. "Both sides will now instruct their negotiators to narrow the gaps on the outstanding issues," the Commission...

HONG KONG | Fri Nov 23, 2012 6:30am EST HONG KONG (Reuters) - China Eastern Airlines (600115.SS) (0670.HK), one of the country's top three carriers, has agreed to buy 60 Airbus (EAD.PA) A320 aircraft for about $5.4 billion, expected to be delivered in stages from 2014 to 2017. This is the first major deal involving Europe's Airbus and a Chinese airliner ...

BEIRUT | Fri Nov 23, 2012 6:20am EST BEIRUT (Reuters) - More than 40,000 people have been killed in 20 months of conflict between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces and those fighting for his overthrow, a violence monitoring group said on Friday. Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said about half the fatalities were...

LONDON | Fri Nov 23, 2012 6:20am EST LONDON (Reuters) - India's Tata Steel (TISC.NS) said on Friday it would cut 900 jobs across Britain as part of a restructuring plan aimed at stemming losses in weak European markets. The group said 580 jobs would go at its Port Talbot plant in south Wales as part of proposals to restructure its management and administ...

By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM | Fri Nov 23, 2012 6:01am EST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Discontent over the ceasefire Benjamin Netanyahu struck with Hamas in Gaza has cost the Israeli prime minister support but he should still win a January 22 election, an opinion poll showed on Friday. Maariv newspaper conducted the survey after an eight-day Israeli offe...

By Michael Martina BEIJING | Fri Nov 23, 2012 6:00am EST BEIJING (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' envoy to China said on Friday that Beijing backs their United Nations membership bid, a day after France indicated it would support a diplomatic upgrade for Palestine. Bassam al-Salhi, in China on a three-day trip to discuss tensions ...

TOKYO | Fri Nov 23, 2012 4:46am EST TOKYO (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp has a better chance than rival Sony Corp of surviving Japan's consumer electronics slump because of its unglamorous but stable appliance business of washing machines and fridges, credit rating agency Fitch said Friday. Fitch cut Panasonic's rating by two notches to BB and Sony three not...

By Julian Linden EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey | Fri Nov 23, 2012 12:50am EST EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Reuters) - The Patriots were in a festive mood following a Thanksgiving Day battering of the New York Jets on Thursday with quarterback Tom Brady devouring a turkey drumstick during an interview after New England's emphatic victory. Brady coul...

MUMBAI | Fri Nov 23, 2012 12:35am EST MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Indian joint venture of Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) has suspended its chief financial officer and other employees as it investigates alleged violations of U.S. anti-bribery laws, a development that could hamper India's efforts to open its domestic supermarket sector to foreign investment. Wal-M...

Thu Nov 22, 2012 11:10pm EST (Reuters) - Robert Griffin III tossed four touchdowns for the second straight game to lead the surging Washington Redskins to a 38-31 road win over the fading Dallas Cowboys on Thursday. Griffin put on a Thanksgiving Day clinic, completing 20-of-28 passes for 311 yards with touchdowns to Aldrick Robinson, Santana Moss, Pierre Garcon a...

Thu Nov 22, 2012 7:24pm EST (Reuters) - Shayne Graham booted a 32-yard field goal in overtime as the Houston Texans tamed the Detroit Lions 34-31 with the help of a bizarre touchdown on Thursday for the Motor City's Thanksgiving Day misery to continue. Playing their second overtime game in five days, the Texans improved to a league best 10-1 when Graham redeemed ...

By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON | Thu Nov 22, 2012 5:22pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New comments from top Republican lawmaker John Boehner slamming health care reforms illustrate how hard it will be for Washington to reach a deficit reduction deal when talks resume next week, analysts said on Thursday. President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress ...

By Ronald Grover LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 22, 2012 4:57pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The teen vampire movie "Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2" continued to lure huge audiences, siphoning off $12.8 million in Wednesday night showings in what could fuel a record box office haul for the five-day Thanksgiving Day holiday. The final film in the "Tw...

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK | Thu Nov 22, 2012 3:44pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - With the help of a checklist, ambulance workers may be able to safely reroute drunk patients to detoxification centers instead of emergency rooms, according to a new study. Researchers in Colorado found no serious medical problems were reported after 138 people...

Thu Nov 22, 2012 3:35pm EST (Reuters) - Ailing two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger had a special reason to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday after his wife Ashley gave birth to their first child the previous evening. Benjamin Jr. weighed 7 lbs. and 1 oz when he was born at 10:06 p.m. local on Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback said on his o...

Thu Nov 22, 2012 3:33pm EST (Reuters) - Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook stepped up in overtime to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 117-111 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. After the Clippers went on a fourth-quarter run to force overtime, Durant and Westbrook combined to score all 15 Thunder points in the extra session to keep last season's W...

By Ben Hirschler LONDON | Thu Nov 22, 2012 2:51pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - Roche has offered an olive branch to scientific critics in a bid to end a bitter fight over blockbuster flu drug Tamiflu that has led to calls for a boycott of the Swiss drugmaker's products. Tamiflu has been approved by regulators worldwide and stockpiled by many government...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico | Thu Nov 22, 2012 2:23pm EST SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Three-time world boxing champion Hector "Macho" Camacho is brain dead following a drive-by shooting in Puerto Rico, a doctor said on Thursday. Camacho, 50, whose speed and flamboyance made him a top attraction in the 1980s and 1990s, is in a coma and unresponsive, said ...

By Stephen Addison and Natalie Huet LONDON | Thu Nov 22, 2012 1:32pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - The BBC on Thursday named a former journalist who runs the Royal Opera House to lead the broadcaster and restore public faith after sex abuse scandals tarnished the reputation of one of Britain's most treasured institutions. Tony Hall, a former director of...

By Euan Rocha TORONTO | Thu Nov 22, 2012 1:29pm EST TORONTO (Reuters) - Shares of Research In Motion Ltd surged more than 15 percent in Toronto on Thursday on rising optimism about its soon-to-be-launched BlackBerry 10 devices, the company's response to Apple's iPhone and to Android-based smartphones. National Bank Financial analyst Kris Thompson...

OTTAWA | Thu Nov 22, 2012 12:47pm EST OTTAWA (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc has cut the Canadian price of its Viagra erectile dysfunction drug after the Supreme Court of Canada opened the door to sales of generic versions of the drug, the company said on Thursday. "We are lowering original Viagra's price to be in line with generic versions because we are committ...

ST.PETERSBURG, Russia | Thu Nov 22, 2012 12:45pm EST ST.PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - A Russian court rejected a $10 million compensation claim against U.S. pop star Madonna on Thursday by a group of anti-gay activists who accused her hurting their feelings by promoting homosexuality at a St.Petersburg concert. Performing in black lingerie with the word...

By Kathleen Raven NEW YORK | Thu Nov 22, 2012 12:11pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Results of a large new U.S. study confirm that sugary drinks are linked to a heightened risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, but shed little light on whether caffeine helps or hinders the process. Among more than 100,000 men and women followed for 22 years, those...

By Mike Collett-White LONDON | Thu Nov 22, 2012 11:09am EST LONDON (Reuters) - The Rolling Stones return to the stage on Sunday for a mini-tour they hope will prove that advancing years and bad blood are no barriers to satisfaction for sellout crowds. In a burst of activity to celebrate 50 years in business, the veteran British rockers with an av...

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK | Thu Nov 22, 2012 9:50am EST NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study ties advertising for breast cancer drugs known as aromatase inhibitors to a slight increase in the total number of prescriptions for those medications. But the extra prescriptions were limited to women with a medical reason for taking those drugs. Th...

NEW DELHI | Thu Nov 22, 2012 9:15am EST NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Indian government approved on Thursday a new drug pricing policy, two ministers told reporters, a move that will regulate the prices of 348 drugs deemed essential. India's domestic drug market, the fourth largest in the world by volume, is valued at nearly $13 billion.(Reporting by Nigam P...

By Jonny Hogg and Richard Lough GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo | Thu Nov 22, 2012 7:15am EST GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Rebels in eastern Congo rejected calls from African leaders to withdraw from the city of Goma and threatened on Thursday to press on with their advance until President Joseph Kabila opens direct peace tal...

ABIDJAN | Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:51am EST ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast announced a new government on Thursday in which newly appointed Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan will also take the finance and economy portfolio. President Alassane Ouattara named Duncan, a member of his allied PDCI party and foreign min...

By Alan Baldwin SAO PAULO | Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:50am EST SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Coca Cola will enter Formula One with its burn energy drink brand after announcing a deal with Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus team on Thursday. Lotus said in a statement that the deal was a multi-year agreement with more details...

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Oliver Holmes AMMAN/BEIRUT | Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:29am EST AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian warplanes bombed a Damascus suburb on Wednesday in a push to dislodge rebels from a stronghold that threatens President Bashar al-Assad's hold on the capital, opposition activists said. Heavy fighting also raged in other outskirts o...

By Nastassia Astrasheuskaya MOSCOW | Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:43am EST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two members of the Russian feminist punk protest band Pussy Riot are sitting in jail for protesting in a church against Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, for $19.95, plus shipping, fans of the U.S. singer Madonna can orde...

By Ulf Laessing and Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM | Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:41am EST KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan arrested its former spy chief and other senior military and security officers on Thursday after foiling what officials said was a plot to incite chaos and target leaders in this oil-producing African state. Witnesses told Reuters they saw army t...

LONDON | Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:34am EST LONDON (Reuters) - The new BBC director-general is to be the current chief executive of the Royal Opera House, Tony Hall, BBC television news said on Thursday. Hall, a former director of BBC news, will replace George Entwistle who resigned earlier this month after just 54 days after failing to get to grips with a chil...

ROME | Thu Nov 22, 2012 8:26am EST ROME (Reuters) - Italy's lower house of parliament on Thursday approved a package of budget measures including a sales tax hike and a cut in some payroll taxes, aimed at helping the government reach its deficit-cutting targets. Approval was expected after Prime Minister Mario Monti's government won three confidence vote...