By Parisa Hafezi and Mitra Amiri

TEHRAN |
Sat Feb 11, 2012 10:07am EST

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that the Islamic Republic, targeted by tougher Western sanctions, would soon announce advances in its nuclear program.

He was speaking on the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. Tens of thousands of Iranians joined state-organized rallies to mark the occasion.

“In the coming days the world will witness Iran’s announcement of its very important and very major nuclear achievements,” Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Square in a speech relayed live on state television.

Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” Ismail

Read More from the Article Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~3/vexEFeZRW5w/us-iran-nuclear-ahmadinejad-idUSTRE81A06C20120211

By Parisa Hafezi and Mitra Amiri

TEHRAN |
Sat Feb 11, 2012 10:07am EST

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that the Islamic Republic, targeted by tougher Western sanctions, would soon announce advances in its nuclear program.

He was speaking on the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. Tens of thousands of Iranians joined state-organized rallies to mark the occasion.

“In the coming days the world will witness Iran’s announcement of its very important and very major nuclear achievements,” Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Square in a speech relayed live on state television.

Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” Ismail

Read More from the Article Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~3/vexEFeZRW5w/us-iran-nuclear-ahmadinejad-idUSTRE81A06C20120211

By Parisa Hafezi and Mitra Amiri

TEHRAN |
Sat Feb 11, 2012 10:07am EST

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that the Islamic Republic, targeted by tougher Western sanctions, would soon announce advances in its nuclear program.

He was speaking on the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. Tens of thousands of Iranians joined state-organized rallies to mark the occasion.

“In the coming days the world will witness Iran’s announcement of its very important and very major nuclear achievements,” Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Square in a speech relayed live on state television.

Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” Ismail

Read More from the Article Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~3/vexEFeZRW5w/us-iran-nuclear-ahmadinejad-idUSTRE81A06C20120211

By Alister Bull and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON |
Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:58pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will seek billions of dollars for jobs and infrastructure in his 2013 budget, an appeal to voters that draws election-year battle lines over taxes and spending as Republicans slammed him for “debt, doubt and decline.”

Obama’s budget proposal, which he will submit to Congress on Monday, will project a much smaller deficit in 2013 compared with this year, White House officials said on Friday.

“The budget targets scarce federal resources to the areas critical to growing the economy and restoring middle class security,” the White House said in a statement, echoing Obama’s recent messages on the campaign trial.

The budget gives Obama one

Read More from the Article Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~3/58PLXlQVegk/us-usa-budget-idUSTRE8191MJ20120211

By Alister Bull and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON |
Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:58pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will seek billions of dollars for jobs and infrastructure in his 2013 budget, an appeal to voters that draws election-year battle lines over taxes and spending as Republicans slammed him for “debt, doubt and decline.”

Obama’s budget proposal, which he will submit to Congress on Monday, will project a much smaller deficit in 2013 compared with this year, White House officials said on Friday.

“The budget targets scarce federal resources to the areas critical to growing the economy and restoring middle class security,” the White House said in a statement, echoing Obama’s recent messages on the campaign trial.

The budget gives Obama one

Read More from the Article Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~3/58PLXlQVegk/us-usa-budget-idUSTRE8191MJ20120211

By Harry Papachristou and Matt Robinson

ATHENS |
Sat Feb 11, 2012 7:57pm EST

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has told lawmakers to back a deeply unpopular international financial rescue in a vote Sunday or condemn the country to “uncontrolled economic chaos and social explosion.”

He made the statement in a televised address to the nation ahead of the vote on 3.3 billion euros ($4.35 billion) in wage, pension and job cuts – the price of a 130-billion-euro bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Papademos said parliament had a historic responsibility to back the bill, or face catastrophic consequences if Greece misses a March 20 deadline to service its debt.

“A disorderly default would set the country on a

Read More from the Article Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~3/_MzjLVjsR2Y/us-greece-idUSTRE8120HI20120212

By Ros Krasny

PORTLAND, Maine |
Sat Feb 11, 2012 7:36pm EST

PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) – Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney bounced back from midweek losses in three states to narrowly win Maine’s caucuses on Saturday, hours after winning a straw poll of Republican conservative activists.

Results of Maine’s non-binding straw poll showed the former Massachusetts governor with 39 percent support, or 2,190 votes, ahead of libertarian Texas Congressman Ron Paul with 36 percent or 1,996 votes.

Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, who did not campaign in Maine, won 18 percent and 6 percent of the vote, respectively. Despite signs of higher voter turnout, the votes cast in Maine appeared to be only slightly above 2008 levels.

The outcome capped a good day for

Read More from the Article Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~3/QvngpPaYOh4/us-usa-campaign-idUSTRE80Q2AQ20120212

By Ros Krasny

PORTLAND, Maine |
Sat Feb 11, 2012 7:36pm EST

PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) – Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney bounced back from midweek losses in three states to narrowly win Maine’s caucuses on Saturday, hours after winning a straw poll of Republican conservative activists.

Results of Maine’s non-binding straw poll showed the former Massachusetts governor with 39 percent support, or 2,190 votes, ahead of libertarian Texas Congressman Ron Paul with 36 percent or 1,996 votes.

Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, who did not campaign in Maine, won 18 percent and 6 percent of the vote, respectively. Despite signs of higher voter turnout, the votes cast in Maine appeared to be only slightly above 2008 levels.

The outcome capped a good day for

Read More from the Article Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~3/QvngpPaYOh4/us-usa-campaign-idUSTRE80Q2AQ20120212

Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:27pm EST

(Reuters) – The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an inquiry into how the private equity industry values its investments, how those investments are marketed, and other practices, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

Federal regulators sent letters to numerous private equity firms in December in an “informal inquiry” into the $1.2 trillion industry, which historically has not been a major focus of scrutiny by the SEC, the newspaper said.

It was unclear which firms received the SEC letter which “requested information related to 12 broad areas, including fund raising and fund formation,” it said.

One focus of the SEC inquiry will be how private equity firms value investments and discrepancies in valuations from firm to firm, it said, citing the letter and people familiar with the

Read More from the Article Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/businessNews/~3/W9hQqP96Beg/us-sec-private-equity-idUSTRE81A0JP20120211

By Harry Papachristou and Matt Robinson

ATHENS |
Sat Feb 11, 2012 7:57pm EST

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has told lawmakers to back a deeply unpopular international financial rescue in a vote Sunday or condemn the country to “uncontrolled economic chaos and social explosion.”

He made the statement in a televised address to the nation ahead of the vote on 3.3 billion euros ($4.35 billion) in wage, pension and job cuts – the price of a 130-billion-euro bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Papademos said parliament had a historic responsibility to back the bill, or face catastrophic consequences if Greece misses a March 20 deadline to service its debt.

“A disorderly default would set the country on a

Read More from the Article Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~3/_MzjLVjsR2Y/us-greece-idUSTRE8120HI20120212