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

[Reuters]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers crafted another stopgap spending bill in the House of Representatives on Tuesday to keep the government running while the Senate set votes for Wednesday on two longer-term measures that appeared doomed to failure.

Source: Senate sets votes on competing spending bills

[Reuters]

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Idaho state legislature approved a bill on Tuesday to strip public school teachers of many of their collective bargaining rights while protesters in six states rallied against Republican efforts to curb union power.

Source: Idaho passes Republican bill to curb union rights

[Reuters]

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp will rely more on emerging markets for sales and launch about 10 new hybrid models under a long-term strategy aimed at nearly doubling profits before 2015, its president said on Wednesday.

Source: Toyota bets on emerging markets

[Reuters]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of National Public Radio resigned on Wednesday after the organization's chief fund-raiser was secretly videotaped criticizing conservatives and questioning whether NPR needs its government funding.

Source: NPR chief resigns amid controversy

[Reuters]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans' confidence in the way the country is going has slumped to a two-year low in the last month, and one pollster blamed soaring gas prices.

Source: Americans see U.S. on wrong track: Reuters/Ipsos poll

[Reuters]

TAWKE, Iraq (Reuters) - In this part of Iraq, the hillsides sweat oil. Without any coaxing, the sticky black treasure oozes from the layered rock and gathers in pools that bubble as dissolved gases surface. Gradually, as the crude slips down the hillsides, it solidifies into a grey mass that resembles a hardened lava flow.

Source: Special Report: Risk, reward and Kurdistani oil

[Reuters]

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden told Vladimir Putin on Thursday the United States was determined to strengthen economic ties with Russia, but gently rebuffed the prime minister's call for visa-free travel between the nations.

Source: Biden meets Putin, opposition leaders in Moscow

[Reuters]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Household wealth rose by $2.1 trillion in the fourth quarter and their debt contracted at the slowest pace since 2008 as consumers stepped up spending and boosted the fragile economic recovery.

Source: Household wealth jumps $2.1 trillion in last quarter

[Reuters]

MADRID (Reuters) - Moody's downgraded Spain's sovereign debt rating on Thursday as it more than doubled its estimate on the banking sector's funding needs, but the Bank of Spain said the shortfall was much less.

Source: Bank of Spain and Moody's differ on bank funding needs

[Reuters]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the Obama administration wrestles over what to do about Libya, the voices on Capitol Hill offer no consensus on military action.

Source: No consensus seen in Congress for U.S. Libya action