By Shaimaa Fayed CAIRO | Sat Nov 3, 2012 3:39pm EDT CAIRO (Reuters) - About 1,000 activists rallied in Cairo on Saturday demanding an end to brutality in Egyptian prisons and calling for a ban on torture in the new constitution. Islamist president Mohamed Mursi was elected in June following 16 months of rule by the army council that took over aft...

By Patrick Lang BASEL, Switzerland | Sat Nov 3, 2012 3:28pm EDT BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) - American Lindsey Vonn will not be allowed to enter the men's downhill competition at Lake Louise, the International Ski Federation (FIS) said on Saturday. Vonn, the second most successful woman skier in the history of the sport, made headlines before th...

JERUSALEM | Sat Nov 3, 2012 3:26pm EDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli President Shimon Peres hailed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as a courageous partner for peace on Saturday after the Palestinian leader made clear his support for a two-state solution to the decades old conflict with Israel. In an interview with Israeli television broadcast this we...

By Matt Spetalnick MENTOR, Ohio | Sat Nov 3, 2012 3:24pm EDT MENTOR, Ohio (Reuters) - President Barack Obama touted his administration's auto industry bailout in the U.S. industrial heartland on Saturday as he launched a final hectic weekend of campaigning in states critical to winning next week's closely fought election. With just three days lef...

By Yara Bayoumy and Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA/MOGADISHU | Sat Nov 3, 2012 2:40pm EDT KAMPALA/MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's prime minister said on Saturday that it could be a challenge for his country if Uganda followed through on a threat to withdraw troops fighting Islamist rebels in southern Somalia. Uganda's foreign affairs ministry said ear...

BRUSSELS | Sat Nov 3, 2012 1:06pm EDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called on Saturday for an end to sectarian killings in Myanmar, following talks with the president of the nation which is emerging from decades of brutal military rule. In western Myanmar, 89 people have been killed in clashes between Buddhist Rak...

By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE | Sat Nov 3, 2012 12:52pm EDT PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech Republic cruised to a 2-0 lead after the opening singles of the Fed Cup final against Serbia on Saturday, putting them well on course to successfully defend their title. Petra Kvitova shrugged off a cold that forced her to retire from the WTA championships last week,...

By Feisal Omar and Abdi Sheikh MOGADISHU | Sat Nov 3, 2012 11:37am EDT MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers attacked a restaurant in the Somali capital on Saturday, killing a security guard who stopped them entering the building, locals said. It was not clear who was behind the bombings but Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents have conducte...

YENAGOA, Nigeria | Sat Nov 3, 2012 11:26am EDT YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian security forces have killed 13 members of a gang suspected of abducting a Turkish man in a dawn raid on their hideout in oil-producing Rivers state, police said on Saturday. A 20 million naira ($127,600) ransom was paid for the release of Bayram Karakus, who worked for t...

By Sandor Peto BUDAPEST | Sat Nov 3, 2012 10:58am EDT BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The European Union risks undermining the credibility of its drive against national budget overshoots if it strips Hungary of structural funds as punishment for running an excessive deficit, a leader of the ruling Fidesz party said. The EU is due to unveil its assessment of...

LONDON | Sat Nov 3, 2012 10:27am EDT LONDON (Reuters) - Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic will continue their career-long rivalry at the ATP World Tour Finals after being drawn in the same group for the season-ender in London's Docklands next week. Saturday's draw paired Murray in Group A with the man he beat in a Flushing Meadows epic to claim his first gr...

CAIRO | Sat Nov 3, 2012 9:44am EDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Two Egyptian policemen died on Saturday when gunmen fired on their car in the northern Sinai Peninsula city of al-Arish before escaping, security sources said. A police source said the attackers were probably Islamist militants who Egyptian forces have been ...

MOGADISHU | Sat Nov 3, 2012 8:32am EDT MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers killed three people outside a restaurant in the Somali capital on Saturday, residents said, underlining the serious security challenges the Horn of Africa nation faces. A Reuters witness said he saw the bombers' two bodies and that of a guard."Two suicide bombers opened fire...

NICOSIA | Sat Nov 3, 2012 8:24am EDT NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus said on Saturday it had seen no sign in talks with the troika of international lenders that its proposals on an austerity package were "insufficient", as suggested by a document this week. While Cypriot Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly openly admitted on Friday that a number of issues were st...

By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON | Sat Nov 3, 2012 3:27am EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Authorities in Tunisia have agreed to allow FBI investigators access to a detained Islamic militant suspected of playing a role in the September 11 attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, U.S. officials said on Friday. Under an arrangement worked ou...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes ARCADIA, California | Fri Nov 2, 2012 9:12pm EDT ARCADIA, California (Reuters) - Hot favorite Royal Delta lived up to her billing as the top female horse in the United States by retaining her title in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic at Santa Anita Park on Friday...

By Chris Michaud NEW YORK | Fri Nov 2, 2012 9:06pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey natives Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi joined Sting, Christina Aguilera and other music stars on Friday in a televised benefit concert to raise funds for victims of Sandy, the giant storm that killed more th...

By Ben Everill ARCADIA, California | Fri Nov 2, 2012 8:38pm EDT ARCADIA, California (Reuters) - French-bred mare Zagora has stormed home to win the Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Turf in what will likely be the last start of her career at Santa Anita Park on Friday. Due to be sold at auction later this month, Martin Schwartz's five-year-old storme...

By Martha Graybow and Larry Fine NEW YORK | Fri Nov 2, 2012 8:37pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg abruptly reversed course and canceled Sunday's marathon, a beloved annual race that had become a lightning rod for people frustrated by the disastrous aftermath of megastorm Sandy. The decision on Friday came after a g...

By David Alexander and Jennifer Dobner WASHINGTON/SALT LAKE CITY | Fri Nov 2, 2012 8:28pm EDT WASHINGTON/SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - While neither of the candidates in next week's presidential election was in the military, Mitt Romney's age - he was eligible to serve in Vietnam - has raised questions during the campaign about why he didn't serve a...

By Jason Lange WASHINGTON | Fri Nov 2, 2012 8:22pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Employers stepped up hiring in October and a small increase in the jobless rate was due to more workers restarting their job hunts, a hopeful sign for a lackluster economy that has been a drag on President Barack Obama's re-election bid. Employers added 171,000 people t...

By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Nov 2, 2012 7:43pm EDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and two other executives at the social networking company sold millions of dollars worth of stock this week as restrictions on insider trading expired. Sandberg netted about $7.44 million by selling roughly...

Fri Nov 2, 2012 7:42pm EDT (Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) on Friday rescheduled its analyst day for November 13 in New York, after postponing it because of Hurricane Sandy. The meeting, seen as Chief Executive Hubert Joly's opportunity to tell investors how he plans to turn the company around, had originally been scheduled for Thursday, November 1.Last week,...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes ARCADIA, California | Fri Nov 2, 2012 7:30pm EDT ARCADIA, California (Reuters) - Kentucky-bred Beholder led from the front most of the way before holding off slight favorite Executiveprivilege to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita Park on Friday. Ridden by veteran jockey Garrett Gomez, Beholder surged acr...

NEW YORK | Fri Nov 2, 2012 7:28pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade joined the chorus of people criticizing why some sports events were taking place in New York following the devastation caused by superstorm Sandy. Speaking to reporters before Friday night's National Basketball Association clash against the New York Knicks at Madison ...

By Jeff Mason HILLIARD, Ohio | Fri Nov 2, 2012 7:08pm EDT HILLIARD, Ohio (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney made late pitches in the political battlegrounds of the upper Midwest on Friday, a region likely to decide the winner in next week's closely fought election for the White House. In dueling campaign appearances in ...

By Chris Reese NEW YORK | Fri Nov 2, 2012 7:08pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stronger-than-expected hiring by U.S. employers in October and a small increase in the jobless rate will have a neutral or insignificant impact on U.S. presidential elections next week, according to most economists surveyed in a Reuters poll on Friday. Twenty-four economist...

WASHINGTON | Fri Nov 2, 2012 7:03pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) has secured a contract valued at $4 billion to modernize the Royal Saudi Arabian Air Force's fighter jet fleet, the Pentagon said on Friday. The procurement order covers conversion of 68 existing F15S jets to the new F15S-A configuration.The Pentagon said the work, expected t...

Fri Nov 2, 2012 6:47pm EDT (Reuters) - The struggling New Orleans Saints have lost key running back Darren Sproles for an indefinite period after he underwent surgery for a broken hand, the team said on Friday. Sproles, who set a National Football League record with 2,696 all-purpose yards last season, has been a vital cog for the Saints (2-5), catching passes in...

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Fri Nov 2, 2012 6:36pm EDT CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA's last space shuttle rolled out of a hangar in Florida on Friday and traveled down the road to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to begin a new life as a museum piece. Atlantis is the third and final shuttle to be retired and turned...

By Andrea Burzynski NEW YORK | Fri Nov 2, 2012 6:34pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some people liken a bad day at work to being in a war zone but for the photojournalists chronicled in HBO's upcoming documentary series "Witness," that's not an exaggeration. The series, which premieres on November 5 and will air every Monday for the rest of the month,...

Fri Nov 2, 2012 6:25pm EDT (Reuters) - Kraft Foods Group Inc (KRFT.O), which sells Planters peanuts, Oscar Mayer lunch meat and Velveeta cheese, said it approved a $650 million restructuring plan related to its spin-off from Kraft Foods Inc in October. The company said the restructuring cost involves severance related to the spin-off, asset disposals and other on...

By Deborah Zabarenko WASHINGTON | Fri Nov 2, 2012 6:19pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Around the time of the 2008 global financial meltdown, consumer products giant Unilever decided to make a dramatic shift in strategy, away from meeting investors' quarterly expectations to a long-range plan that treads lightly on the environment and supports socia...

By Liana B. Baker and Noel Randewich NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Nov 2, 2012 6:18pm EDT NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc's iPad mini hit stores around the world on Friday, attracting sparser crowds than previous Apple launches, but the kickoff still drew hundreds of New Yorkers only days after one of the biggest storms to hit the Uni...

By Julien Pretot PARIS | Fri Nov 2, 2012 6:17pm EDT PARIS (Reuters) - Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz continued his brilliant run at the Paris Masters on Friday while fourth seed David Ferrer knocked out local favorite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Spaniard Ferrer ruthlessly dismissed 2008 winner Tsonga 6-2 7-5 to set up a semi-final with unseeded Frenchma...

By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Nov 2, 2012 6:15pm EDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter CEO Dick Costolo lobbied against exiling Executive Chairman Jack Dorsey in a 2008 power struggle, according to an early investor who shed new light on the management turmoil that for years roiled one of Silicon Valley's drama-ridden companies. Chris Sacca, ...

By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS | Fri Nov 2, 2012 6:12pm EDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea's U.N. delegation declared on Friday that it was proud of Pyongyang's social system and human rights record and rejected as baseless a U.N. monitor's report that described appalling human rights abuses in the reclusive country. Pyongyang was re...

Fri Nov 2, 2012 6:07pm EDT (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), the conglomerate run by billionaire Warren Buffett, on Friday said its third-quarter profit rose as strength in the railroad and utility businesses, as well as investment gains, offset weaker results in the insurance units. Berkshire earned $3.92 billion, or $2,373 per Class A share, compared...

Fri Nov 2, 2012 6:06pm EDT (Reuters) - MetLife Inc (MET.N), the largest U.S. life insurer, said it will sell MetLife Bank's mortgage servicing portfolio to a unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) for an undisclosed amount, as it looks to exit its bank holding structure. The $70 billion servicing portfolio will increase JPMorganChase Bank's $1.1 trillion servici...

By Dominic Evans BEIRUT | Fri Nov 2, 2012 5:29pm EDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army abandoned its last base near the northern town of Saraqeb after a fierce assault by rebels, further isolating the strategically important second city Aleppo from the capital. But in a political setback to forces battling to topple President Bashar al-Assad, th...