Obama friendly but firm with China heir apparent
15 Feb 2012 1:34am GMT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama told Chinese leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Beijing must play by the same trade rules as other major world powers and vowed to keep pressing China to clean up its human rights record.
Buffett builds media portfolio in fourth quarter
15 Feb 2012 1:32am GMT BOSTON (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway increased its exposure to media companies significantly in the fourth quarter, adding a new position in Liberty Media and substantially raising its stake in DirecTV, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.
Syrian forces attack Hama, ignore international pressure
15 Feb 2012 1:29am GMT AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian government forces launched an offensive on the city of Hama early on Wednesday, firing on residential neighbourhoods from armored vehicles and mobile anti-aircraft guns, opposition activists said.
Yahoo-Alibaba talks at an impasse: sources
15 Feb 2012 1:15am GMT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Talks between Yahoo Inc and China's Alibaba over the U.S. Internet giant's Asian assets have hit an impasse, throwing their plans for a $17 billion tax-free asset swap into question, according to sources briefed on the situation.
Lawmakers near payroll tax cut, jobless benefits deal
15 Feb 2012 12:06am GMT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers were close to a deal on Tuesday on legislation aimed at boosting the economy in the short term by extending a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers through this year and continuing long-term jobless benefits, congressional aides said.