MIAMI | Sun Nov 4, 2012 1:09pm EST MIAMI (Reuters) - Early voting was extended on Sunday at a central Florida polling site that was disrupted a day earlier by a bomb scare, and the Florida Democratic Party filed a lawsuit seeking extended early voting at other areas plagued by long lines. Saturday was the last day for early voting in Florida, where polls...

By Julien Pretot PARIS | Sun Nov 4, 2012 12:46pm EST PARIS (Reuters) - Spain's David Ferrer clinched his maiden Masters title when he ended Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz's brilliant run in Paris with a 6-4 6-3 win on Sunday. Fourth seed Ferrer, the first Spaniard to prevail at Bercy, proved too consistent for world number 69 Janowicz, who had b...

WASHINGTON | Sun Nov 4, 2012 12:19pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The race between U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney remained in a dead heat ahead of Tuesday's election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll released on Sunday. Of 3,805 likely voters polled nationally, 48 percent said they would vote for Democrat ...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico | Sun Nov 4, 2012 11:17am EST SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Puerto Ricans, long divided over the U.S. Caribbean territory's political status, head to the polls on Tuesday in a vote that will help determine whether the island seeks to become the 51st U.S. state. Debate over the island's status has long dominated politics in Puert...

By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE | Sun Nov 4, 2012 10:55am EST PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech Republic reclaimed the Fed Cup after Lucie Safarova thumped Serbia's Jelena Jankovic to give the home team an unbeatable 3-1 lead. Left-hander Safarova, the word number 17, broke Jankovic's opening serve before winning 6-1 6-1 in front of a 14,000 capacity crowd at P...

By Alan Baldwin ABU DHABI | Sun Nov 4, 2012 10:45am EST ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Kimi Raikkonen won an Abu Dhabi Grand Prix thriller for Lotus on Sunday while Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel defended his Formula One championship lead by fighting sensationally through the field from last place to third. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso finished runner-up, just ...

By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON | Sun Nov 4, 2012 10:34am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Normally outspoken Nancy Pelosi is mum about her future. She won't say if she will step aside as Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives if her party fails, as expected, to win back the chamber from Republicans in Tuesday's elections.Pelosi recently f...

By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK | Sun Nov 4, 2012 10:27am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Regardless of the results of Tuesday's U.S. presidential election, the next four years will be a tough act to follow from Wall Street's standpoint. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX.INX has rallied 66 percent since President Barack Obama took office - o...

By Liana B. Baker NEW YORK | Sun Nov 4, 2012 9:49am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hundreds of runners in New York City are refusing to let a canceled marathon spoil their Sunday plans and are channeling months of preparation into informal runs intended to benefit victims of superstorm Sandy. Amid criticism from victims of Monday's storm that the race ...

PRAGUE | Sun Nov 4, 2012 8:11am EST PRAGUE (Reuters) - Ana Ivanovic beat Petra Kvitova 6-3 7-5 on Sunday to keep alive Serbia's hopes of winning their debut Fed Cup title. World number eight Kvitova had been expected to hand defending champions Czech Republic an unbeatable 3-0 lead on Sunday but former French Open winner Ivanovic produced an inspired dis...

DUBAI | Sun Nov 4, 2012 8:07am EST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has built an advanced drone that can take off vertically and without a runway, Iranian media reported. Iran's military regularly announces defense and engineering developments, though some analysts are skeptical of the reliability of such reports.Abbas Jam, researcher on a project for a vertical t...

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY | Sun Nov 4, 2012 7:44am EST VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A Vatican computer expert goes before a court on Monday in a trial that could shed light on whether Pope Benedict's former butler acted alone in leaking sensitive documents or was a pawn in a bigger power struggle. Claudio Sciarpelletti is accused of aiding and ...

By Dan Williams JERUSALEM | Sun Nov 4, 2012 7:39am EST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has stopped the unapproved influx of African migrants across its once porous border with Egypt after months of intensive counter-measures, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. More than 60,000 Africans, most of them men, have walked into the Jewish st...

By Peter Henderson SAN FRANCISCO | Sun Nov 4, 2012 7:11am EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Sloppy signatures on mail-in ballots might prove to be the hanging chads of the 2012 election. As Republicans and Democrats raise alarms about potential voter fraud and voter suppression, mail-in ballots have boomed as an uncontroversial form of convenient, in...

LONDON | Sun Nov 4, 2012 6:58am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Text messages sent by the former head of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers to Prime Minister David Cameron, published on Sunday, have further revealed their close personal relationship. Rebekah Brooks, who is awaiting trial on charges related to a phone-hacking scandal that prompted a public inquir...

Sun Nov 4, 2012 6:42am EST (Reuters) - Guan Tianlang is poised to become the youngest golfer to play at the U.S. Masters after the Chinese 14-year-old won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Thailand on Sunday. Teenage hot-shot Guan earned an invitation to the 2013 Masters at Augusta after firing an even-par 71 to win by one stroke from Taiwan's Pan Chung-Ts...

By Ghaith Shennib TRIPOLI | Sun Nov 4, 2012 6:24am EST TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A gunbattle between two Libyan rival militias raged around a Tripoli security headquarters building on Sunday, highlighting the precariousness of peace in the capital more than a year after a popular armed revolt ousted Muammar Gaddafi. At least five people were wounded in...

By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING | Sun Nov 4, 2012 6:23am EST BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese leaders ended a key closed-door conclave on Sunday with a decision to formally expel disgraced politician Bo Xilai from the Communist Party, in a meeting which also promoted two senior military men and approved the party constitution's amendment. The secretive four-da...

By Yeganeh Torbati DUBAI | Sun Nov 4, 2012 5:41am EST DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's parliament on Sunday told President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad he must appear before the assembly within a month to explain his economic policies at a time of crisis, his second such summons in less than a year. Ahmadinejad's conservative rivals in the 290-seat assembly have ...

Sun Nov 4, 2012 5:27am EST (Reuters) - James Kwambai stormed to victory in the Seoul Marathon for the second year running on Sunday, winning by almost five minutes to lead a Kenyan 1-2-3. The 29-year-old won his fourth marathon in a time of two hours, five minutes and 50 seconds and was wrapped up and getting warm by the time countryman Chebon Chebor crossed the ...

Sun Nov 4, 2012 3:23am EST SHENZHEN, China, Nov 4 - Ian Poulter carded a final round of 65 to seal a two-shot victory in the HSBC-WGC Champions Tournament at Missions Hills on Sunday, becoming the first Englishman to win two World Golf Championships events. Poulter started his final round four shots behind joint leaders Louis Oosthuizen and Lee Westwood, but claw...

By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON | Sun Nov 4, 2012 1:23am EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - This year's presidential election could be among the closest in U.S. history, as President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are locked in a virtual dead heat. For a growing number of voters, however, it will not be much of a contest at all. Roughly 22 percent o...

SHENZHEN, China | Sun Nov 4, 2012 12:35am EDT SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - The HSBC-WGC Champions tournament in China will be elevated to full World Golf Championships status from 2013, the U.S. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has said, while prize money will increase to $8.5 million. The event, held in China since 2005, had been given WGC status in 200...

By Liana B. Baker NEW YORK | Sun Nov 4, 2012 12:05am EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hundreds of runners in New York City are refusing to let a canceled marathon spoil their Sunday plans and are channeling months of preparation into informal runs intended to benefit victims of superstorm Sandy. Amid criticism from victims of Monday's storm that the race...

Sat Nov 3, 2012 11:46pm EDT (Reuters) - The Brooklyn Nets baptized their new Barclays Center home with a 107-100 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday as the first major professional sports team in 55 years to call Brooklyn their home. The Nets led by 13 points in the third quarter, but had to hold off the Raptors, who closed within 97-95 with 75 seconds l...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes ARCADIA, California | Sat Nov 3, 2012 11:33pm EDT ARCADIA, California (Reuters) - Wise Dan cemented his credentials as America's top-ranked race horse while Game On Dude spectacularly failed as the 2012 Breeders' Cup ended in glorious sunshine at Santa Anita Park on Saturday. Game on Dude, the overwhelming favorite for the ...

Sat Nov 3, 2012 8:37pm EDT (Reuters) - Baseball's all-time saves leader Mariano Rivera plans to return next year after missing most of the 2012 season with a knee injury, the New York Yankees said on Saturday. "He called me yesterday and told me that he'd like to play in 2013," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told Major League Baseball's website. "Now (agen...

By Patricia Zengerle and Matt Spetalnick DUBUQUE, Iowa | Sat Nov 3, 2012 7:35pm EDT DUBUQUE, Iowa (Reuters) - The U.S. presidential race, which has hinged for months on a handful of states, converged on one city in Iowa on Saturday as President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney each made a last-minute appeal for support before Tuesday's ele...

Sat Nov 3, 2012 7:11pm EDT (Reuters) - The National Hockey League (NHL) and players' union returned to the bargaining table for the first time in more than two weeks on Saturday in a bid to salvage a portion of the league's regular season. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHL Players' Association special counsel Steve Fehr met in an undisclosed location to s...

By Mary Slosson SACRAMENTO | Sat Nov 3, 2012 5:46pm EDT SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California Democrats are hoping to leverage new state electoral rules to garner a veto-proof supermajority in the state legislature come Election Day, a possibility that their Republican opponents worry could lead to tax abuses. Tuesday's general election will test the...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes ARCADIA, California | Sat Nov 3, 2012 5:45pm EDT ARCADIA, California (Reuters) - Top sprinter Groupie Doll stretched her unbeaten run to five races while heavily fancied Shackleford disappointed after a stumbling start at the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park on Saturday. Odds-on favorite Groupie Doll obliterated the field ...

By Alan Baldwin ABU DHABI | Sat Nov 3, 2012 5:24pm EDT ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Red Bull's championship leader Sebastian Vettel was down but not out after his hopes of winning Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix disappeared as fast as a Formula One car roaring into the distance. The double world champion, 13 points ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with ...

By Mariam Karouny BEIRUT | Sat Nov 3, 2012 5:11pm EDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels attacked a military airport in the country's north on Saturday in a push to cut off Syria's biggest city Aleppo from the capital Damascus, and secure a strategic north-south corridor. President Bashar al-Assad's forces appear over-stretched with fewer fighters ...

KUWAIT | Sat Nov 3, 2012 4:43pm EDT KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait said on Saturday it had not issued a permit to allow a planned protest against new voting rules and the prime minister warned police would use force if the nation was under threat. Kuwait outlawed unauthorized gatherings of more than 20 people last month after an opposition-led demonstration b...

JERUSALEM | Sat Nov 3, 2012 4:40pm EDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Three Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria on Saturday, an Israeli military spokeswoman said. "The Israeli Defense Forces have filed a complaint with the U.N. (peacekeeping) force in the area," the spokeswoman said. She had no further informa...

Sat Nov 3, 2012 4:28pm EDT (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Saturday said he has ordered county clerks to open their offices on Saturday and Sunday to allow early voting for residents affected by superstorm Sandy. The storm devastated the eastern part of the state, leaving at least 22 dead and more than 1 million customers still without power jus...

By Josh Reich Sat Nov 3, 2012 4:19pm EDT (Reuters) - When Andy Murray steps out on court to face Tomas Berdych in his first match at the ATP World Tour Finals on Monday the expectation he usually shoulders will weigh a little less. The season-ending event will be the London-based Scot's first tournament on home soil after he finally made his major breakth...

By Patricia Zengerle and Matt Spetalnick DUBUQUE, Iowa/MENTOR, Ohio | Sat Nov 3, 2012 4:15pm EDT DUBUQUE, Iowa/MENTOR, Ohio (Reuters) - After months spent rallying their most reliable supporters, Republican Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama reached out on Saturday to the small sliver of voters who remain undecided in the final days before Tu...

By Julien Pretot PARIS | Sat Nov 3, 2012 4:08pm EDT PARIS (Reuters) - Jerzy Janowicz continued to be a thorn in the side of higher ranked opponents as he reached the Paris Masters final with a 6-4 7-5 win over local favourite Gilles Simon on Saturday. Polish qualifier Janowicz, who beat U.S. Open champion Andy Murray in the third round, used his ...

By Alan Baldwin ABU DHABI | Sat Nov 3, 2012 4:02pm EDT ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Red Bull's championship leader Sebastian Vettel will start Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand prix from the pit lane as punishment for a fuel irregularity that could blow the Formula One title battle wide open. Stewards stripped the 25-year-old of third place on the grid after pos...