WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States reversed policy on Wednesday and said it would back launching talks on a treaty to regulate arms sales as long as the talks operated by consensus, a stance critics said gave every nation a veto.
The decision, announced in a statement released by the U.S. State Department, overturns the position of former President George W. Bush’s administration, which had opposed such a treaty on the grounds that national controls were better.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States would support the talks as …

Banks continued to tighten lending standards for businesses and consumers over the past three months, the Federal Reserve’s latest survey of loan officers showed. But a smaller fraction of banks were making it harder to get loans, an encouraging sign the grip of the credit crunch may soon be easing.
About 15% of banks, on net, said they imposed stricter standards on business loans to firms of all sizes, a smaller fraction than those who said the same in July. They cited a reduced tolerance for risk, an uncertain or unfavorable …

WASHINGTON — As health care legislation moves toward a crucial airing in the Senate, the White House is facing a growing revolt from some Democrats and analysts who say the bills Congress is considering do not fulfill President Obama’s promise to slow the runaway rise in health care spending.
Mr. Obama has made cost containment a centerpiece of his health reform agenda, and in May he stood up at the White House with industry groups who pledged voluntary efforts to trim the growth of health care spending by 1.5 percent, or …

WASHINGTON — Top executives at Blackwater Worldwide authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support after a September 2007 episode in which Blackwater security guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, according to former company officials.
Blackwater approved the cash payments in December 2007, the officials said, as protests over the deadly shootings in Nisour Square stoked long-simmering anger inside Iraq about reckless practices by the security company’s employees. American and Iraqi investigators had already concluded that …

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were found not guilty of fraud, a decision that could make government prosecutors less likely to bring criminal charges against Wall Street executives for their role in the financial crisis.
The case — the first major prosecution arising from the meltdown of major U.S. financial institutions — was seen as a litmus test of whether a jury, presented with evidence from emails between money managers and conference calls with investors, would convict individuals for corporate collapses.
Ralph Cioffi, 53, and Matthew …