Too soon to dial back Fed stimulus: Dudley

William Dudley speaks during the Asia Society and Economic Club of New York luncheon, in New York(Reuters) – It is too soon to determine whether to dial down the Federal Reserve's massive bond-buying program, and the economic picture may not be clear enough to make that decision for another three or four months, an influential U.S. central bank official said. New York Fed President William Dudley, a close ally of Chairman Ben Bernanke, said on Bloomberg TV that it was possible to taper down the $85 billion in monthly asset purchases by the fall “if the economy does better and if the labor market continues to improve” in the face of tighter fiscal policies. …

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Syria opposition calls for reinforcements in embattled Qusair

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria’s leading opposition group called on Wednesday for rebels across the country to send reinforcements to the strategic border town Qusair, where heavy fighting has drawn in fighters from Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement. Rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad said air strikes and shelling rocked the small town on the Syrian-Lebanese border that has become a fierce battleground that could determine control of critical supply lines. …

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Los Angeles voters OK move to curtail medical marijuana outlets

A man stands in front of a medical marijuana dispensary in Los AngelesBy Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Voters strongly supported a ballot measure to sharply curtail the number of medical marijuana dispensaries permitted to operate in Los Angeles while boosting taxes on the sale of pot for health reasons, election returns early on Wednesday showed. The proposal appeared headed for passage. Returns showed 63 percent of voters supporting it compared with 37 percent opposed, after tabulation of more than 40 percent of ballots cast at polling stations on Tuesday, and all of the mail-in ballots received as of last Friday. …

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Staples quarterly profit misses analysts' estimates

A family leaves the Staples store in Broomfield(Reuters) – Staples Inc reported a slightly lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, hurt by a stronger dollar and weak sales in Europe and Australia. The largest U.S. office supplies retailer said income from continuing operations fell to $170.4 million, or 26 cents a share, in the first quarter ended on May 4 from $192.9 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts on average were looking for a profit of 27 cents a share on that basis, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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