Stocks indecisive ahead of results
CNN - 1 hour ago
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Techs dipped and the broader market struggled near midday Monday as investors mulled a report showing a jump in Chinese exports, considered a weaker dollar and geared up for the start of the quarterly reporting period. The Dow Jones industrial average () was barely changed nearly 2-1/2 hours into the session.
Stocks zigzag ahead of Alcoa earnings report Chicago Tribune
Citigroup's U.S. consumer bank chief steps down
Reuters - 43 minutes ago
NEW YORK/CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc ( C.N ) said on Monday that Teresa "Terri" Dial was stepping down as head of its North American consumer bank, just months after an outside review reportedly questioned her management skills.
Another Citi shakeup: Terri Dial's out CNN
Blagojevich claims he's 'blacker' than Obama
Chicago Tribune - 12 minutes ago
FILE - In this April 21, 2009, file photo, ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is seen leaving federal court in Chicago. The former Illinois governor told Esquire magazine in its February issue that he's "blacker than Barack Obama" and that he was a real person in a political arena dominated by phonies.
Blagojevich Retreats From Race Remarks About Obama New York Times
White House Considers Bank Fees
Wall Street Journal - 1 hour ago
China: Too big to ignore
CNN - 6 minutes ago
Fighting in Afghanistan leaves 5 U.S. troops dead
Los Angeles Times - 36 minutes ago
Cuomo Demands Bonus Data From 8 Big Banks
New York Times - 24 minutes ago
U.K. LibDems Lay Out Election Plan
Wall Street Journal - 4 hours ago

Japan Said to Distance JAL From Delta and American
New York Times - 6 hours ago
Delta Air Lines and will not be invited to invest in Japan Airlines until after a new management has been put in place, if ever, Reuters reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The government has sounded out Kazuo Inamori, the 77-year-old honorary chairman of electronics components maker , about becoming JAL’s new chief executive officer and overseeing its restructuring, the report added.
Japan fund leaning towards JAL delisting - source Reuters
Commentary: Mollycoddling Over Rusal IPO
Wall Street Journal - 14 hours ago
A share offering under way in Hong Kong might be dubbed the rich man's IPO. UC Rusal, the Russian aluminum producer, plans to raise as much as $2.59 billion by issuing shares in Hong Kong, but none of it will come from local individual investors, securities regulators have ruled.
Craig Stephen's This Week in China: Bubble or not, Hong Kong draws IPOs MarketWatch

Obama: No plan to deploy to Yemen
Los Angeles Times - 9 hours ago
Washington - President Obama says he has no intention of sending American troops to Yemen or Somalia. Obama told People magazine in an interview to be published Friday that he still believes the center of Al Qaeda activity is along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Obama Plays Down Military Role in Yemen New York Times
Iran can be bombed says General Petraeus
UK Telegraph - 20 hours ago
The US military commander for the Middle East and the Gulf region has confirmed that the United States has developed contingency plans to deal with Iran's nuclear facilities. Gen David Petraeus, head of Central Command or Centcom, did not elaborate on the plans, but said the military has considered the impacts of any action taken there.
Petraeus: U.S. has plan to deal with Iran's nuclear program CNN
Al-Qaeda veterans 'are flooding into Yemen'
UK Telegraph - 22 hours ago
Dozens of Saudi and Egyptian veterans of al-Qaeda's operations in Afghanistan have been pouring into Yemen, a senior official has warned. In the gloomiest internal assessment of Yemen's security yet, he said jihadis from across the Arab world are hiding in the lawless hills of Shabwa province where the so-called Christmas Day "underwear bomber" is thought to have been trained, its governor, Ali Hasan al-Ahmadi, said.
Petraeus: U.S. Won't Send Troops to Yemen Wall Street Journal

Chinese financials lead Asia higher
MarketWatch - 7 hours ago
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian stock markets ended mostly higher Monday, with Shanghai equities lifted by brokerages after China's cabinet approved market-reform measures such as the launch of index futures and short-selling. Most other regional markets also gained, with a sharp increase in commodity prices spurring resource stocks.
Australian Gold Stocks Up Wall Street Journal
Vietnam's Qantas/Jetstar probe to last months
Reuters - 13 hours ago
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd ( QAN.AX ) expects an investigation into loss making fuel-hedging in its Vietnamese joint venture airline to run for months after two executives were barred from leaving the country. Jetstar Pacific Chief Operating Officer Daniela Marsilli and Chief Financial Officer Tristan Freeman are unable to leave Vietnam as authorities investigate trades that resulted in a $31 million loss for the airline in 2008-09.
Qantas CEO: Employees Are Innocent Wall Street Journal
Ford looks smart, brings new Focus to Detroit show
Denver Post - 1 day ago
FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2010 file photo, Ford CEO Alan Mulally gives the keynote address at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Under Mullaly, Ford has made a series of smart moves compared with its Detroit rivals.
Technology: On the web while on the road UK Telegraph

MarketWatch First Take: Issa's story on Geithner has holes
MarketWatch - 1 hour ago
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The campaign to get Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in front of a congressional panel to discuss his relationship with American International Group Inc. in 2008 may have an unlikely supporter: Geithner. By the looks of it last week, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) struck what could have been the most damaging blow to the Treasury Secretary's career since he took office last year.
Under Fire Again, Geithner Said to Retain Support New York Times
How would a new health insurance pool work?
Los Angeles Times - 9 hours ago
Reporting from Washington - I hear the healthcare bill will create an immediate insurance pool for people who can't get insurance. Both the House and Senate bills would provide $5 billion to create a temporary insurance pool until an insurance exchange is up and running.
The Health Choices Czar Wall Street Journal
China market reform may end Shanghai-HK price gap
MarketWatch - 11 hours ago
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Beijing's approval of stock-index futures and additional reforms designed bring its markets into line with other major bourses should help shrink the valuation gap that has kept yuan-denominated shares at a premium to similar shares listed in Hong Kong, analysts said. China's State Council approved Friday the launch of stock-index futures and a trial program for short selling and margin trading -- the purchase of stock using brokerage loans.
In Hong Kong, Mollycoddling Over Rusal IPO Wall Street Journal

Race Riots Grip Italian Town, and Mafia Is Suspected
New York Times - 14 hours ago
ROME — More than a thousand African workers were put aboard buses and trains in the southern Italian region of Calabria over the weekend and shipped out to immigrant detention centers, following some of the country’s worst riots in years. Rioting by immigrants, mostly African, in Rosarno on Friday was some of Italy's worst in years.
Pope condemns 'exploitation' of immigrants UK Telegraph
Religious violence in Malaysia escalates as more churches attacked
UK Telegraph - 20 hours ago
Religious violence in Malaysia escalated on Sunday after three more churches were attacked in an unprecedented wave of assaults on Christian houses of worship. No one was hurt in the latest upsurge of violence which saw two churches firebombed and a third dubbed with black paint in a row sparked by a court decision allowing non-Muslims to use the word "Allah" in place of God in their literature and worship.
Malaysia in an Uproar Over Use of the Word ‘Allah’ New York Times

Egypt says Israel's border fence "not our concern"
Reuters - 1 hour ago
Egypt says Israel's border fence "not our concern" CAIRO (Reuters) - Israel's plans to build a security fence along its border with Egypt is of no concern to the Egyptian government as long as it remains on Israeli territory, Egypt's foreign minister said on Monday.
Israel to build security barrier on border with Egypt UK Telegraph
Israel plans barrier along border with Egypt
CNN - 3 hours ago
Israeli soldiers stand at an army checkpoint in the Eilat Mountains in southern Israel near an Egyptian military post in March 2009. Benjamin Netanyahu says "strategic decision" will "ensure the Jewish and democratic character of the state of Israel"
Israel to build barrier along Egypt frontier Reuters
Corrected: Israel urges Hamas to rein in Gaza militant groups
Reuters - 6 hours ago
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak urged the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers Monday to rein in militant groups behind a surge in attacks on Israel, coupling his appeal with a veiled threat of Israeli action. "I think the recent days reflect the inability of Hamas to control the dissident groups, the Popular Committees or Islamic Jihad, who are trying to break the tranquility," Barak told Reuters during the unveiling of an Israeli anti-rocket system due to be deployed outside the Gaza Strip by June.
Israel urges Hamas to rein in Gaza militant groups Reuters

'Balloon Boy' dad goes to jail
CNN - 1 hour ago
Richard Heene and his wife, Mayumi, leave a Fort Collins, Colorado, courtroom after last month's sentencing hearing. (CNN) -- A man who pleaded guilty to perpetrating a hoax by saying his 6-year-old son was drifting over Colorado in a balloon began his jail sentence Monday.
Dad in balloon boy hoax begins jail time Monday Denver Post
Hoeven Plans Bid for N.D. Senate Seat
New York Times - 25 minutes ago
North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, a widely popular Republican, will announce that he is running for Senate on Monday evening, according to a state Republican official, a decision that likely increases the ’s odds of capturing the seat. Mr. Hoeven, the longest serving governor in the country, is set to make his Senate campaign official in Bismarck, North Dakota’s capital.
Gov. Hoeven to announce for Senate Politico
Battle-scarred Tamils emerge as kingmakers
UK Telegraph - 5 hours ago
The Tamil Tigers lost their fight for an independent homeland in May, but observers say that Tamil voters could decide who becomes the next Sri Lankan president. The two main candidates - the incumbent, Mahinda Rajapakse, and a former army chief, Sarath Fonseka - both claim credit for crushing the Tigers and ending the island's bloody ethnic conflict.
Sri Lankan journalist jailed for 20 years after criticizing the govt gets bail pending appeal Chicago Tribune

How one tycoon met his match
CNN - 3 days ago
(Fortune Magazine) -- --Editor's Note: This story contains profanity. Ronald Perelman may not be the most disputatious tycoon on the planet, but he sure spends a lot of time in the courtroom.
How Ronald Perelman met his match CNN

Spain dreams of 'economic government' in Europe
UK Telegraph - 3 days ago
The Spanish government intends to introduce the initiative at an EU summit in Brussels on February 11 which will focus on ways to revive sluggish growth, Prime Minister Jos? Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told reporters on Thursday. In doing so, Madrid is clearly posting its desire to play a leading role in European affairs despite the new leadership dynamic created by the Lisbon reform treaty, under which Belgium's Herman van Rompuy has become the European Union's first permanent president.
New Treaty for E.U., but Same Jostling for Power New York Times
Gas heading north again, with $3 on horizon
Denver Post - 3 days ago
While demand is below levels seen in recent years, the price of gas is following the price of oil upward. WASHINGTON — Just what Americans need as they try to dig out from the Great Recession: Gas prices headed back to $3 per gallon.
Winter weather forecast: higher gas prices, heating oil costs Christian Science Monitor
Canadian Markets: Canada stocks close lower; New Gold surges on deal
MarketWatch - 3 days ago
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Canadian shares fell Thursday as commodity prices declined, weighing on resource stocks, while one gold mining deal sent ripples through the industry. The S&P/TSX /quotes/comstock/11t!isptx ( 11,888 , -57.03 , -0.48% ) composite index fell 57 points, or 0.5%, to 11,888.
UPDATE 2-Goldcorp to buy Xstrata stake in El Morro project Reuters

CIA director defends agency after Afghanistan suicide blast
Christian Science Monitor - 18 hours ago
The director of the Central Intelligence Agency has spoken out to defend the agency against accusations that lax security allowed a Jordanian man to kill seven CIA agents and agency contractors when he blew himself up in Khost Province, Afghanistan on Dec. 30. In an opinion piece published in Sunday's Washington Post, Leon Panetta stridently denied reports that the deaths were made possible by the agency???s ???poor tradecraft.???
Bomber triggers switch before pat-down Denver Post
Petraeus: More security funds heading to Yemen, but not troops
CNN - 1 day ago
Christiane Amanpour's interview with Gen. David Petraeus airs Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on CNN . Tampa, Florida (CNN) -- The U.S. military does not intend to put ground troops in Yemen, a country where al Qaeda operatives have become an increasing threat, Gen. David Petraeus told CNN in an interview to be aired Sunday.
U.S. Has Few Resources to Face Threats in Yemen New York Times
Karzai offers new Cabinet lineup
Los Angeles Times - 2 days ago
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai snubbed two prominent warlord figures in a new Cabinet lineup unveiled today but unexpectedly offered a ministerial spot to the leader of a political party founded by a key Pakistan-based insurgent commander. The list of Cabinet nominees also included three female ministers, including a prominent women's-rights activist chosen as minister of women's affairs.
Rejected cabinet picks omitted from new Karzai list Reuters