Reuters: Top News - Breaking News - World News [March ‘11 Diet]

[Reuters]

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's parliament started a key debate on Wednesday on government austerity measures which opposition parties were expected to reject, setting the stage for the possible collapse of the minority Socialist administration a day before a European summit.

Source: Portugal government may collapse before EU summit

[Reuters]

PARIS (Reuters) - Paris' Eiffel Tower was briefly evacuated on Wednesday after a suspicious package alert at one of the world's most visited tourist sites, the monument's operating company said.

Source: Eiffel Tower briefly evacuated over suspect package

[Reuters]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel will act aggressively and responsibly to preserve quiet and security after violence with Palestinians escalated over the past week.

Source: Israel will act aggressively to preserve security: PM

[Reuters]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The failure of the underwater blowout preventer that led to the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was caused by the inability of attached cutting devices to shear and seal the pipe of the leaking well, the U.S. government said on Wednesday.

Source: U.S. examines blowout preventer in BP oil spill

[Reuters]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc is poised to report its third straight quarter of same-store sales declines on weak demand for televisions and entertainment software in the all-important holiday season.

Source: Weak TV demand seen hurting Best Buy results

[Reuters]

By Paul Carrel, Mark Felsenthal, Pedro da Costa, David Milliken and Alan Wheatley FRANKFURT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On a warm, Lisbon day last May, Jean-Claude Trichet, the ice-cool president of the European Central Bank, was asked whether the bank would consider buying euro zone governments' bonds in the open market.

Source: Special report: The revolution in central banking

[Reuters]

CAIRO (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates assured Egypt's military ruler of sustained American aid Thursday, as Cairo warned that tourism revenue is nosediving in the wake of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

Source: Gates assures Egypt on sustained U.S. aid

[Reuters]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc gave a fiscal-year profit outlook that could miss Wall Street estimates as budget-conscious U.S. shoppers show little interest in buying big-ticket items like televisions, and its shares fell more than 5 percent.

Source: Best Buy shoppers shun pricey TVs; outlook dim

[Reuters]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will break nearly 100 years of tradition at the U.S. central bank next month when he begins talking to the media after policy meetings.

Source: Fed to hold media briefings in historic shift

[Reuters]

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Robert Gates on Friday became the first U.S. Defense Secretary to visit the West Bank, meeting Palestinian leaders keenly aware of every little nod to their hopes of achieving statehood.

Source: Gates first U.S. defense chief to visit Palestinians