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| Suspect's photo released in Alabama hostage drama Friday, Feb 01, 2013 07:15 PM PST  MIDLAND CITY, Alabama (Reuters) - Authorities released a photograph on Friday of the man accused of fatally shooting an Alabama school bus driver and then holding a 5-year-old boy hostage in an underground bunker since Tuesday. The man, pictured with a white beard and gray hair in what appeared to be a driver's license photo released by the Dale County sheriff, was identified as Jimmy Lee Dykes, a retired trucker and Vietnam veteran. Heavily armed law enforcement officials have ringed Dykes' property since soon after the hostage drama began. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada push Spain to brink of shock Davis Cup exit Friday, Feb 01, 2013 07:08 PM PST  (Reuters) - Canada raced to a 2-0 lead over Spain in their Davis Cup world group first round tie on Friday, pushing the five-times champions to the brink of defeat and moving to within a doubles victory of a maiden win at this level. With top-ranked Spain missing big guns Rafa Nadal, David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro, the Canadians seized their chance when Milos Raonic and Frank Dancevic dominated the clay-loving Iberians on the lightning fast Vancouver hard courts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tennis-Canada push Spain to brink of shock Davis Cup exit Friday, Feb 01, 2013 07:03 PM PST Feb 1 (Reuters) - Canada raced to a 2-0 lead over Spain in their Davis Cup world group first round tie on Friday, pushing the five-times champions to the brink of defeat and moving to within a doubles victory of a maiden win at this level. With top-ranked Spain missing big guns Rafa Nadal, David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro, the Canadians seized their chance when Milos Raonic and Frank Dancevic dominated the clay-loving Iberians on the lightning fast Vancouver hardcourts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico probes if blast was attack or accident, 33 dead Friday, Feb 01, 2013 06:30 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's government vowed on Friday to find out whether an explosion that killed 33 people at the headquarters of its state-run oil monopoly Pemex was a deliberate attack or yet another stain on the company's poor safety record. Rescue workers continued to pull bodies from the debris on Friday and officials said the search would continue until they account for everyone inside the Mexico City building. Government officials have refused to speculate over what caused the explosion on Thursday but said they had deployed large teams of experts to pore through the wreckage. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran escalating efforts to destabilize region - Panetta Friday, Feb 01, 2013 06:22 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta accused Iran of an intensified campaign to destabilize the Middle East by smuggling anti-aircraft weapons to militant allies, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. "There is no question when you start passing MANPADS around, that becomes a threat, not just to military aircraft but to civilian aircraft," Panetta told the newspaper in an interview. "That is an escalation." MANPADS are shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. rushing treatment for Brazil fire victims Friday, Feb 01, 2013 05:25 PM PST  SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The U.S. government is shipping emergency medical supplies to Brazil to treat survivors of a deadly nightclub fire who are suffering from exposure to cyanide gas released in the blaze, the Brazilian health ministry said on Friday. Officials say 119 people remain hospitalized after Sunday's fire at the Kiss nightclub in southern Brazil that killed 236. Brazilian doctors have said cyanide was among the toxic chemicals produced when fire consumed the soundproofing foam on the club's ceiling, contributing to the high number of fatalities. ... Full Story | Top |
| Many Wall Street economists see government spending cuts in March Friday, Feb 01, 2013 05:20 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Economists at many of Wall Street's top financial institutions do not expect the government to complete a deal to fully avoid automatic cuts in federal spending before a March 1 deadline, according to a Reuters poll conducted on Friday. Economists at 11 of 13 primary dealers - the 21 large financial institutions that do business directly with the Federal Reserve - said they expect spending cuts in some form to launch on March 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wyoming House passes bill meant to invalidate proposed gun laws Friday, Feb 01, 2013 05:11 PM PST Cody, Wyoming (Reuters) - The Wyoming House of Representatives passed two bills on Friday geared toward protecting or expanding gun rights in the state, including one aimed at nullifying some of the new federal gun restrictions proposed by the Obama administration. Both bills, which passed 46-13, head to the Republican-dominated Senate, where their prospects for passage were considered good. Republican Governor Matt Mead has not said whether he would sign either measure into law. ... Full Story | Top |
| Energy Secretary Chu is latest Obama Cabinet departure Friday, Feb 01, 2013 05:09 PM PST  WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, the Nobel Prize winner who shepherded an effort to help spur a clean energy U.S. economy, will step down after a tenure rocked by the failures of some costly government investments. Chu's departure, which was announced Friday and follows similar moves by the Environmental Protection Agency administrator and the interior secretary, will allow President Barack Obama to craft a fresh team to address climate change. ... Full Story | Top |
| Police cite nudists for stripping in San Francisco protest Friday, Feb 01, 2013 04:54 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Four nudists protesting in the buff outside San Francisco's City Hall were handcuffed and hauled off by police on Friday after they ignored instructions to cover up as a public nudity ban took effect in the famously tolerant city. San Francisco city leaders approved a ban on baring it all in streets, public plazas and the transit system in December to curtail public nudity, which some residents and business owners complained had gotten out of control. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. military veteran suicides rise, one dies every 65 minutes Friday, Feb 01, 2013 04:44 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The most extensive study yet by the U.S. government on suicide among military veterans shows more veterans are killing themselves than previously thought, with 22 deaths a day - or one every 65 minutes, on average. The study released on Friday by the Department of Veterans Affairs covered suicides from 1999 to 2010 and compared with a previous, less precise VA estimate that there were roughly 18 veteran deaths a day in the United States. More than 69 percent of veteran suicides were among individuals aged 50 years or older, the VA reported. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bomber kills guard at U.S. embassy in Turkey Friday, Feb 01, 2013 04:39 PM PST  ANKARA (Reuters) - A far-leftist suicide bomber killed a Turkish security guard at the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, officials said, blowing open an entrance and sending debris flying through the air. The attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body after entering an embassy gatehouse. The blast could be heard a mile away. A lower leg and other human remains lay on the street. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the bomber was a member of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), a far-left group which is virulently anti-U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama offers compromise on birth control health coverage Friday, Feb 01, 2013 04:26 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Friday sought to settle a dispute with religious leaders over whether employees at faith-affiliated universities, hospitals and other institutions should have access to health insurance coverage for contraceptives. The new set of proposals would instead guarantee that employees at religious nonprofits would get access to birth control coverage without out-of-pocket costs through separate plans with insurers picking up the tab. ... Full Story | Top |
| Secret Service chief retiring this month: spokesman Friday, Feb 01, 2013 04:21 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, whose agency was embroiled in a scandal involving prostitutes in Colombia, will retire this month, a spokesman said on Friday. Sullivan will step down on February 22 after almost three decades with the agency that protects the president and other officials, Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said. "He's got almost 30 years of service so he's retiring. He's the third-longest-serving director," Leary said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Obama's second-term Cabinet takes shape Friday, Feb 01, 2013 04:07 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has begun to reshape his Cabinet at the start of his second term, elevating several longtime advisers to key positions. More changes are still to come, as officials step down after long tenures through stressful periods at top jobs. Obama has faced criticism for his choices, in part because of past policy decisions and statements some of them have made, but also because he has so far named four white men to a Cabinet once lauded for its diversity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Despite weak Senate performance, Hagel may yet win Pentagon post Friday, Feb 01, 2013 04:07 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chuck Hagel's cautious testimony may not have won converts during his contentious nomination hearing for U.S. defense secretary, but it appeared on Friday not to have cost support he will need to be confirmed as the new Pentagon chief. Republicans hammered Hagel when he appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, with some of the fiercest questioning coming from those who had served alongside him during his two terms as a Republican senator from Nebraska. ... Full Story | Top |
| House Republicans ask FDA for meningitis documents Friday, Feb 01, 2013 04:00 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Republicans on Friday set a deadline for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to produce documents related to the deadly meningitis outbreak that swept across the nation in late 2012. Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee first requested, in October, documents related to FDA's oversight of New England Compounding Center, the now defunct, Boston-area compounding pharmacy that was at the center of the outbreak. ... Full Story | Top |
| Koch film opens on day of former New York City mayor's death Friday, Feb 01, 2013 03:54 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former New York Mayor Ed Koch once joked that days on which his name did not appear in the newspaper were days without news. And so it seemed fitting that Koch's death on Friday at age 88 came on the very day that "Koch," a documentary that traces his three terms as mayor from 1978 to 1989, opened in two Manhattan theaters. Zeitgeist Films, the distributor, said the film got a lot of attention on Friday, and more than a dozen theaters in the New York area have expressed interest in screening it. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida prosecutor opposes delay in Trayvon Martin killer trial Friday, Feb 01, 2013 03:47 PM PST  ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A Florida prosecutor signaled his opposition on Friday to an attempt by George Zimmerman to delay his June trial for the murder of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, whom he shot and killed a year ago this month. A judge is expected to hear a delay motion on Tuesday filed by Zimmerman's lawyer, Mark O'Mara, who says he needs another six months to raise money and prepare for the racially-charged trial. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama tapped Kerry for secretary of state before Rice quit: report Friday, Feb 01, 2013 03:40 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama offered Senator John Kerry the job of secretary of state a week before Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, withdrew her name from contention, the Boston Globe reported on Friday. "He called me, actually a week before Susan got out of the thing," Kerry told the newspaper, offering a timeline earlier than previously reported. "He called me and said, 'You're my choice. I want you to do this.' He asked me to keep it quiet. I did. I sat on it," the newspaper quoted him as saying. Kerry sought to clarify his remarks later on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Envoy makes "last appeal" for Syria as officials meet Friday, Feb 01, 2013 03:31 PM PST  AMMAN/MUNICH (Reuters) - Senior U.S., Russian and U.N. officials, along with the leader of the Syrian opposition, were all expected at a security conference in Munich on Saturday, providing a rare opportunity for talks to revive efforts to end the civil war in Syria. Moscow and the United Nations, however, played down Syrian opposition assertions that its leader would hold a joint meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in Munich. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rules call for swing to healthier snacks in schools Friday, Feb 01, 2013 03:29 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Snacks sold in U.S. schools would need to be lower in fat, salt and sugar and include more nutritious items like fruits, vegetables and whole grains, under standards proposed on Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The proposal, more than a year overdue, also calls for a limit of 200 calories on items sold during the school day at vending machines or other venues outside the school lunch line. The proposed rules are the second step in a larger effort to improve the foods U.S. students have access to during the school day under a 2010 child nutrition law. ... Full Story | Top |
| Blimps to bolster Washington's air shield in test Friday, Feb 01, 2013 03:25 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A pair of big, blimp-like craft, moored to the ground and flying as high as 10,000 feet, are to be added to a high-tech shield designed to protect the Washington D.C. area from air attack, at least for a while. The bulbous, helium-filled "aerostats" - each more than three quarters the length of a football field at 243 feet - are to be stitched into existing defenses as part of an exercise of new technology ordered by the Defense Department. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sudan riot police clash with students at Khartoum university Friday, Feb 01, 2013 03:20 PM PST KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese riot police fired teargas at students on Friday as government supporters stormed the main university in the capital Khartoum, activists and witnesses said, in a second day of unrest on the campus. Sudan has avoided the Arab Spring style uprisings which unseated rulers in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, but spiraling inflation sparked small protests which have broadened into demonstrations of discontent with veteran President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's rule. ... Full Story | Top |
| Audit finds Toronto mayor overspent on campaign Friday, Feb 01, 2013 03:05 PM PST  TORONTO (Reuters) - A week after a court battle that nearly cost Rob Ford his job as mayor of Canada's largest city, an audit found that the combative Toronto politician had exceeded spending limits during the 2010 campaign that launched him into office. A report released by the auditors on Friday said Ford had overstepped spending limits by about C$40,000 ($40,000), or about 3 percent in the election campaign. It also found that he had received some goods and services at favorable terms. ... Full Story | Top |
| Abuse victims say Los Angeles archdiocese still withholding documents Friday, Feb 01, 2013 03:01 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Catholic Church is withholding documents that could shed more light on sexual abuse by priests, a victims' group said on Friday, a day after the Los Angeles archdiocese released 12,000 pages of files on clergy accused of molesting children. Representatives for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, also said they were not content with the punishments of two top clergymen linked to efforts to conceal the abuse from authorities, calling the move "window dressing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Qotebox: New Yorkers react to death of former Mayor Ed Koch Friday, Feb 01, 2013 03:00 PM PST (Reuters) - Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, an iconic and often polarizing figure, died on Friday at the age of 88. The brash, quick-witted Koch, known for his trademark phrase "How'm I Doin?," served three terms as mayor, leaving office in 1989 only to emerge as a columnist, movie reviewer, pitchman and television judge. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazil hotline, soap opera help bust prostitution ring in Spain Friday, Feb 01, 2013 02:53 PM PST BRASILIA (Reuters) - A call home from an anguished daughter in Spain and images from a soap opera about human trafficking for sexual exploitation led a Brazilian mother to realize her daughter was in trouble. So she called a sexual abuse hotline set up by Brazil's Ministry of Women's Affairs, prompting an international police operation that led authorities to break up a prostitution ring in the Spanish university town of Salamanca last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama names Stock as member of Council of Economic Advisers Friday, Feb 01, 2013 02:51 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday named James Stock to the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Stock has been chief economist for the council since 2012. He was previously an economist at Harvard University and a member of the committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research that dates the start and end of recessions. Stock's appointment brings the three-member panel to full strength, joining Chairman Alan Krueger and Katherine Abraham. He does not require Senate confirmation. ... Full Story | Top |
| One dead, dozens hurt as police clash with Egypt protesters Friday, Feb 01, 2013 02:50 PM PST  CAIRO/PORT SAID, Egypt (Reuters) - At least one protester was shot dead and dozens wounded on Friday when riot police clashed with demonstrators demanding the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi. Youths threw petrol bombs and shot fireworks at the outer wall of Mursi's Cairo presidential compound as night fell. Police responded by firing water cannon and teargas leading to skirmishes in the surrounding streets. Two witnesses said they had seen a protester shot dead in Cairo with live ammunition in front of them. "It's verified. I am at the morgue. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. chief suggests review of 21-year-old Somalia arms embargo Friday, Feb 01, 2013 02:44 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Security Council should consider lifting an arms embargo on Somalia to help rebuild the country's security forces and consolidate military gains against al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon suggested in a report Friday. The council imposed the embargo in 1992 to cut the flow of arms to feuding warlords, who a year earlier ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and plunged Somalia into civil war. Council diplomats said the arms embargo was "under discussion" as the delegations have not reached a final agreement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bush family mourns loss of Barney the dog Friday, Feb 01, 2013 02:37 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Harry Truman once said if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. George W. Bush had one, a Scottish terrier named Barney, and Bush announced on Friday that Barney had died. "He never discussed politics and was always a faithful friend," Bush said in a statement issued from his home in Dallas. The dog, more than 12 years old, had been suffering from lymphoma. Barney was a frequent companion of the president and his wife, Laura, going on frequent walks at the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas, and was said to have been a "fierce armadillo hunter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Web startup Path to pay $800,000 to settle privacy charges Friday, Feb 01, 2013 02:33 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Social networking start-up Path will pay $800,000 to settle charges with federal regulators that it improperly collected personal information on children. The company also agreed to submit to 20 years of independent privacy reviews to settle charges that it secretly collected information from its users mobile phone address books. The settlement, announced by the Federal Trade Commission on Friday, is the latest between the agency and Web companies for privacy violations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Stalingrad victory offers Putin patriotic platform Friday, Feb 01, 2013 02:29 PM PST  VOLGOGRAD, Russia (Reuters) - Stalingrad will be back on the map for a few hours on Saturday, and Josef Stalin's face will be splashed on buses, as Russia remembers the epic battle that turned the tide of World War Two. President Vladimir Putin is expected in the city, now known as Volgograd, for a military parade to mark 70 years since the German surrender after the six-month Battle of Stalingrad, which became a symbol for Russians of patriotic sacrifice and unity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Obama leaning toward McCarthy for EPA chief - sources Friday, Feb 01, 2013 02:25 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is leaning toward choosing Gina McCarthy, a top official in charge of air quality at the Environmental Protection Agency, to run the EPA in his second term, according to two sources familiar with the matter. McCarthy, currently the assistant administrator for the EPA Office of Air and Radiation, would take on the top job as the agency leads Obama's push for measures to fight climate change. McCarthy would replace Lisa Jackson, who said in December she planned to step down as EPA chief. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon to keep Africa Command headquarters in Europe Friday, Feb 01, 2013 02:18 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has decided against moving the U.S. military's headquarters overseeing Africa from Germany to the United States, concluding the benefits of staying in Europe - closer to African hot spots - are worth the extra cost, officials say. The Pentagon notified Congress of its decision this week. Some lawmakers had been pushing for Africa Command to move stateside, with South Carolina and Georgia promoted as possible locations. "The decision was based on the operational needs of the commander," a U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge puts IRS tax preparer regulation on hold Friday, Feb 01, 2013 02:16 PM PST (Reuters) - A judge on Friday modified an earlier order and said the Internal Revenue Service does not have to shut down a new program for registering and testing tax preparers, but he also said preparers need not take the tests or pay related fees. In a move to put the IRS program on hold for now, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered that "the IRS is not required to suspend its ... program." Further legal action is expected. ... Full Story | Top |
| Republicans pledge to block Obama consumer finance pick Friday, Feb 01, 2013 02:02 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans on Friday pledged to block President Barack Obama's choice to lead the consumer finance watchdog until Democrats agree to restructure it, ramping up an expected fight this year over the controversial new bureau. The group of 43 Republicans, led by minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Mike Crapo, an Idaho senator who is the top Republican on the banking committee, said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lacks congressional oversight. Last week, Obama re-nominated Richard Cordray to lead the bureau. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alberta picks former oil lobby head as Washington envoy Friday, Feb 01, 2013 01:46 PM PST CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Alberta on Friday appointed energy executive David Manning, a former head of Canada's most powerful oil lobby group, as its envoy to Washington as it looks for a favorable decision from the Obama administration on the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline project. Manning is a senior vice-president and head of the energy practice at Vanasse Hangen Brustline Inc, a Boston engineering firm, and a director at consulting firm M.J. Bradley & Associates. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alabama town prays for release of five-year-old hostage Friday, Feb 01, 2013 01:33 PM PST MIDLAND CITY, Alabama (Reuters) - Residents in a rural Alabama town prayed on Friday and called for the release of a 5-year-old boy being held captive for a fourth day by a man accused of shooting a school bus driver and then taking the child hostage. The suspected gunman has been locked in a standoff with law enforcement officers near the small town of Midland City since Tuesday, when authorities say he grabbed the kindergartner from the bus after killing 66-year-old driver Charles Albert Poland. ... Full Story | Top |
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