(Reuters) After tough week, White House buys time for Obamacare website fix

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama promised on Saturday that his troubled healthcare website was just weeks away from a cure as he struggled to convince Americans he is on top of what has become a self-inflicted wound to his signature first-term achievement.
His administration unveiled a plan on Friday to make Obamacare insurance marketplaces on healthcare.gov - a website riddled with error messages, long delays and bugs - work better by the end of November.
It was the end to an embarrassing week where Obama discovered he had overshot on an Oct 1. promise of a website that would make shopping for health insurance as easy as buying "a plane ticket on Kayak or a TV on Amazon."

A woman drives a car in Saudi Arabia October 22, 2013. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser

Saudi women defy warnings, break driving ban

RIYADH - A few women filmed themselves driving in Saudi cities on Saturday, defying government warnings of prosecution to take part in a campaign against men-only road rules, activists said.

Syrian refugee children attend class at a school for refugee children in Istanbul October 21, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Artists mobilize to benefit Syria's child refugees

By Oliver Holmes

BEIRUT - An estimated $1.3 million worth of art from more than 130 artists, mostly from Syria and Lebanon, is being auctioned at below-gallery prices in Beirut to raise money for Syrian refugee children. Full Article

People walk by a Barneys New York retail store in New York October 24, 2013. REUTERS/Eric Thayer

Barneys New York faces discrimination claims

By Barbara Goldberg

NEW YORK - Luxury department story Barneys New York is facing discrimination claims, after two black customers said they were stopped by police after making expensive purchases. Full Article

Technology

Investor apprehension over Twitter IPO

By Lauren Young

NEW YORK - Despite Twitter Inc's relatively modest price range for its IPO, some financial advisers say their clients are not clamoring to invest in the social media phenomenon. Full Article

A worker screened for radiation as he enters the emergency operation center at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)'s tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture February 20, 2012. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Special Reports

Fukushima: Low pay, high risks and gangsters

By Antoni Slodkowski and Mari Saito

IWAKI, Japan - Subcontractors who supply manpower to shut down the crippled Fukushima nuclear power reactor are skimming wages, tolerating appalling working conditions and ignoring safety regulations. Full Article | Fukushima workers speak out

Greenpeace activist dangles from Eiffel Tower in Russia protest

PARIS - A Greenpeace activist suspended himself from the Eiffel Tower on Saturday to call for the release of 30 people who have spent more than a month in a Russian jail over a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic

Soviets conducted nuclear blasts at oilfield to be tapped with China

MOSCOW - A Siberian oilfield that Russia and China plan to develop together was the site of Soviet nuclear blasts in the 1970s and 1980s, Russian officials said on Friday.

World, China, 25 Oct 2013

Russia denies head of U.S. exchange program recruiting spies

MOSCOW - Russia angrily denied U.S. media reports that the Russian director of a cultural exchange program may be recruiting Americans as spies, saying such allegations risked damaging ties between the two countries.

Analysis: Black Sea gas bonanza remains elusive

PRAGUE/LONDON - Southeast Europe is hoping increased natural gas exploration in the Black Sea will help cut its dependency on Russian supplies, but a gas bonanza remains elusive and Moscow is taking steps to defend its dominant position in the region.

24 Oct 2013