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| Two killed in Ecuador pro-government rally: President Correa Monday, Feb 04, 2013 08:00 PM PST QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's President Rafael Correa on Monday evening said two government supporters were killed and several suffered stab wounds during a campaign rally almost two weeks before a presidential election that the leftist leader is expected to win comfortably. "Crazy person stabs seven AP people while they were waiting for the President. Two have been killed," Correa said in his Twitter account, referring to supporters of the ruling Alianza Pais political movement, AP. The incident occurred ahead of a campaign rally in Quininde, a town in the western Esmeraldas province. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alabama hostage standoff ends with child safe, gunman dead Monday, Feb 04, 2013 07:58 PM PST  MIDLAND CITY, Alabama (Reuters) - U.S. authorities stormed an underground bunker in rural Alabama on Monday, rescuing a 5-year-old boy held hostage for nearly a week and leaving his kidnapper dead. After a standoff of more than six days, FBI agents entered the bunker when they feared the child was in "imminent danger" at the hands of his abductor, who had killed a school bus driver, said Steve Richardson, special agent in charge in Mobile, Alabama. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-U.S. Navy SEAL's killing puts focus on war's psychological toll Monday, Feb 04, 2013 07:10 PM PST  (Reuters) - The slayings of former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and another man trying to help a troubled U.S. military veteran, now charged with killing them at a Texas gun range, has renewed focus on the psychological wounds of war. Eddie Lee Routh, 25, of Lancaster, Texas, an active duty Marine from 2006 to 2010 who served in the Iraq war, faces murder charges that could lead to the death penalty in Saturday's shootings at a gun range 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Army to build soldier "resilience" to fight suicides, violence Monday, Feb 04, 2013 07:09 PM PST  TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - The U.S. Army, grappling with a spike in military suicides, plans to take steps to improve soldiers' resilience to mental health problems to combat such deaths as well as depression, substance abuse, and violent behavior, Army Secretary John McHugh said on Monday. McHugh ordered Army officials to lay out detailed plans by February 15 to boost soldiers' "physical, emotional and psychological resilience," but did not reveal program specifics, such as estimated costs or goals. ... Full Story | Top |
| Segregationist U.S. Senator Thurmond's biracial daughter dies Monday, Feb 04, 2013 07:08 PM PST  CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Essie Mae Washington-Williams, who in 2003 revealed she was the biracial daughter of segregationist U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, died on Monday at age 87, her attorney said. Washington-Williams, who had been in declining health in recent years, died of natural causes at a care home in Columbia, South Carolina, said lawyer Frank Wheaton. Washington-Williams was born in 1925 to a black teenage girl who worked as a maid in Thurmond's parents' home when Thurmond was 22. ... Full Story | Top |
| After 500 years, Richard III's bones yield their secret Monday, Feb 04, 2013 06:55 PM PST  LEICESTER, England (Reuters) - A skeleton with a cleaved skull and a curved spine dug up from under a car park is that of Richard III, archaeologists said on Monday, solving a 500-year-old mystery about the final resting place of the last English king to die in battle. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Bureau of Prisons to review solitary confinement Monday, Feb 04, 2013 06:54 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Bureau of Prisons has agreed to a comprehensive review of the use of solitary confinement in its prisons, including the fiscal and public safety consequences of the controversial practice, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin said on Monday. A spokesman from the bureau confirmed that the National Institute of Corrections plans to retain an independent auditor "in the weeks ahead" to examine the use of solitary confinement, which is also known as restrictive housing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arkansas House advances bill banning abortions after 20 weeks Monday, Feb 04, 2013 06:51 PM PST LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled Arkansas state House approved a measure on Monday to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy that makes no exception for rape or incest. Representatives voted 75-20 to approve the measure that would allow abortions when the mother's life is at risk or she faces serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment. The bill will now advance to the state Senate, which has already approved a more restrictive ban. ... Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Court justice denies stay in employment case Monday, Feb 04, 2013 06:37 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Monday denied a nursing home operator's emergency stay application that had cited legal confusion over President Barack Obama's appointments to the National Labor Relations Board. Ginsburg denied the request filed earlier Monday by HealthBridge Management LLC, which had wanted the court to intervene in an employment dispute. The company said that it would ask another Supreme Court justice, Antonin Scalia, to review the petition in light of Ginsburg's decision. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hemispherx says FDA rejects fatigue drug application Monday, Feb 04, 2013 06:25 PM PST (Reuters) - Hemispherx Biopharma Inc said U.S. regulators had declined to approve its new drug application for Ampligen, its experimental drug for treating chronic fatigue syndrome, five years after the company first filed for the drug's approval. Hemispherx, based in Philadelphia, said it plans to request an "end-of-review conference" with the Food and Drug Administration and may submit a formal appeal regarding the regulator's decision. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York State gets further $185.5 million for health exchange Monday, Feb 04, 2013 06:13 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York State will get another $185.5 million in federal grants as it moves toward establishing a health insurance exchange as mandated under President Obama's healthcare reforms, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement on Monday. Cuomo, a Democrat, issued an executive order in April to push through a health insurance exchange after the state's Republican lawmakers refused to back it and before the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the so-called Obama-care program in June. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis - Global business groups oppose UK class-action proposal Monday, Feb 04, 2013 06:06 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A groundbreaking proposal in Britain making it easier to bring antitrust class actions has business groups worldwide fearful that London will become a centre for litigation abuses. Last week, Britain's government proposed a system of "collective actions" that would allow individuals and businesses be part of a class of plaintiffs even if they do not participate in the lawsuit. The proposal, which has yet to be drafted into legislation, would make it easier for individuals and small businesses to recoup damages from price-fixing cases. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK economy faces long grind, no new recession - thinktank Monday, Feb 04, 2013 06:01 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - The British economy is set for slower growth in 2013 and next year than thought only three months ago but it will probably skirt a triple-dip recession, a leading economic think-tank said on Tuesday. The economy will grow by 0.7 percent in 2013 as it grinds through the slowest recovery from recession in the past 100 years, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) estimated in a quarterly report. That was lower than its previous forecast, made in November, for growth of 1.1 percent this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cameron faces gay marriage revolt as plots swirl Monday, Feb 04, 2013 06:00 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to see off a rebellion within his ruling Conservative party on Tuesday over his government's plans to legalise gay marriage, thanks to support from political rivals. But though parliament is likely to vote to give the draft law its initial approval, more than 100 of Cameron's 303 Conservative lawmakers are expected to vote against it on what they say are moral grounds. ... Full Story | Top |
| British watchdog cool on plans to outsource defence procurement Monday, Feb 04, 2013 05:53 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - The British parliament's defence watchdog on Tuesday poured cold water on plans that would allow firms to bid to manage multi-billion dollar government defence equipment contracts. Stung by years of accusations of mismanagement, cost inflation and delays, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is said to be close to outsourcing responsibility for the purchase and maintenance of defence equipment to a private company. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia set to resume imports of Georgian wine and water Monday, Feb 04, 2013 05:38 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Wine and water from Georgia should soon begin flowing back to Russia, after Moscow agreed in principle on Monday to lift an embargo in a step towards rebuilding relations shattered by their August 2008 war. Imports of Georgian mineral water and wine could resume this spring, officials from both countries said, seven years after Russia banned two of its small southern neighbor's prized products as tension mounted before the five-day war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senator McCain opposes blocking tactics on Hagel vote Monday, Feb 04, 2013 05:35 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator John McCain said on Monday he opposes using a procedural hurdle to block a vote on Chuck Hagel's nomination to be defense secretary, a stance likely to boost White House confidence that Hagel will win Senate confirmation. "I do not support a filibuster," the Arizona Republican told reporters at the Capitol. "I don't think it's appropriate and I would oppose such a move." McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, did not say whether he would vote to confirm Hagel. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. proposes scrapping some obsolete Medicare regulations Monday, Feb 04, 2013 05:09 PM PST  (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Monday proposed eliminating certain obsolete Medicare regulations, a move it said would save hospitals and other healthcare providers an estimated $676 million a year, or $3.4 billion over five years. The Department of Health and Human Services described the targeted regulations as unnecessary or excessively burdensome and said their proposed elimination would allow greater efficiency without jeopardizing safety for the Medicare program's elderly and disabled beneficiaries. ... Full Story | Top |
| Horse DNA found in burgers at second major Irish plant Monday, Feb 04, 2013 05:08 PM PST DUBLIN (Reuters) - Burgers containing horse DNA have been discovered at a second major plant in Ireland, the country's agriculture department said on Monday, again pointing the finger at Poland as the country of origin for the raw materials. Food companies such as Tesco and Burger King last month found that beef products supplied by an Irish firm contained horse DNA, a scandal that has hit retailers with a wave of bad publicity and left Ireland's 2 billion euro ($2.7 billion) beef industry reeling. ... Full Story | Top |
| Republican Tagg Romney says won't run for Senate: report Monday, Feb 04, 2013 04:46 PM PST  BOSTON (Reuters) - Tagg Romney, the son of former presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, is the latest Republican to rule out running for an open Senate seat in Massachusetts, the Boston Herald newspaper reported on Monday. While two prominent Democrats have started their campaigns ahead of the June 25 special election to fill the seat, the state's Republican Party has had a harder time finding a major candidate, which could give the party a chance to add to their 45 senators in the 100-seat chamber, where the Democrats hold the majority. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brussels meeting mobilizes support for Mali Monday, Feb 04, 2013 04:40 PM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Governments and international organizations meet on Tuesday to find ways to reinforce military gains against Islamist rebels in northern Mali by supporting democracy, economic development and human rights in one of the world's poorest countries. The rapid progress of French and Malian forces in driving the rebels from Mali's main northern towns has put the diplomatic focus on how to ensure lasting security there and how to tackle poverty and political grievances that contributed to Mali's instability. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali Tuaregs seize two fleeing Islamist leaders Monday, Feb 04, 2013 04:40 PM PST  KIDAL, Mali/PARIS (Reuters) - Tuareg rebels in northern Mali said on Monday they had captured two senior Islamist insurgents fleeing French air strikes toward the Algerian border and France pressed ahead with its bombing campaign against al Qaeda's Saharan desert camps. Pro-autonomy Tuareg MNLA rebels said one of their patrols seized Mohamed Moussa Ag Mohamed, an Islamist leader who imposed harsh sharia (Islamic law) in the desert town of Timbuktu, and Oumeini Ould Baba Akhmed, thought to be responsible for the kidnapping of a French hostage by al Qaeda splinter group MUJWA. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pennsylvania names special prosecutor to review Sandusky scandal Monday, Feb 04, 2013 04:25 PM PST (Reuters) - A former federal prosecutor has been named to lead an investigation of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett's handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. H. Geoffrey Moulton, Jr., who worked in the U.S. Attorney's office in Philadelphia, will lead the long-awaited review of the Penn State abuse case, state attorney general Kathleen Kane said in a news release on Monday. Sandusky, the former football coach convicted of abusing 10 boys from 1994 to 2009, some in the school's showers, is serving 30 to 60 years in prison. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alberta may offer more to smooth way for Keystone: envoy Monday, Feb 04, 2013 04:20 PM PST CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Alberta could offer up new environmental initiatives for oil sands development to show the Obama administration that approving a $5.3 billion pipeline to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries will not increase pollution, the Canadian province's new envoy in Washington said on Monday. Alberta, anxious to tap new markets in the United States for its growing volumes of oil, has already boosted monitoring of the impacts of tar sands projects on northern waterways. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rip out Guantanamo microphones to prevent eavesdropping: judge Monday, Feb 04, 2013 04:18 PM PST GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - A military judge on Monday suggested ripping out the defense table microphones to ease concerns that intelligence agents could be eavesdropping on confidential attorney-client conversations in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal. The judge also ordered that doctors examine Saudi defendant Abd al Rahim al Nashiri to determine whether his treatment in CIA custody had left him mentally competent to stand trial on charges of orchestrating a deadly attack on a U.S. warship. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama to lobby for immigration reform amid citizenship dispute Monday, Feb 04, 2013 04:17 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will seek to build momentum for immigration reform this week ahead of his State of the Union address, which is expected to challenge Republicans to take up an overhaul amid an increasingly contentious debate in Washington. Obama plans to hold a series of White House meetings with corporate chief executives, labor leaders and progressives on Tuesday to lobby for their support, and he has dispatched Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to the Southwest to tout the administration's border security efforts. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., allies ready more anti-mine drills as Iran tensions simmer Monday, Feb 04, 2013 04:13 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military announced on Monday an anti-mine exercise in "the Middle East's international waterways" in May with more than 20 nations participating, the latest show of global will to keep waterways open as tensions with Iran simmer. The drill was characterized as defensive and a follow-up to the IMCMEX 12 exercise held last September, focused on keeping oil shipping lanes open by clearing mines that potentially Iran, or even guerrilla groups, might deploy to disrupt tanker traffic. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boy Scouts of America considers ending ban on gays Monday, Feb 04, 2013 04:10 PM PST  DALLAS (Reuters) - Boy Scouts of America board members opened a three-day meeting on Monday in which they will consider ending a controversial national ban on gay membership, sparking a flurry of lobbying from groups both for and against the change. The national executive board, which lists more than 70 members, is expected to vote on Wednesday on whether to lift the ban they had reaffirmed just last year amid criticism from gay rights groups and gay former Scouts and Scout leaders. The meeting at a hotel near Boy Scouts headquarters in Irving, Texas, is closed to the public. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's PM Cameron faces gay marriage revolt as plots swirl Monday, Feb 04, 2013 04:03 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to see off a rebellion within his ruling Conservative party on Tuesday over his government's plans to legalize gay marriage, thanks to support from political rivals. But though parliament is likely to vote to give the draft law its initial approval, more than 100 of Cameron's 303 Conservative lawmakers are expected to vote against it on what they say are moral grounds. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Foreigners' accounts in U.S. banks eyed in tax crackdown Monday, Feb 04, 2013 03:58 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration may soon ask Congress for the power to require more disclosure by U.S. banks of information about foreign clients' accounts to those clients' home governments, as part of a crackdown on tax evasion, sources said on Monday. In a move facing resistance from some in the U.S. banking industry, two tax industry sources said the administration was considering asking Congress in an upcoming White House budget proposal for the authority to require more disclosure from U.S. banks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arkansas House passes bill to allow guns in churches Monday, Feb 04, 2013 03:50 PM PST LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) - The Arkansas House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday to allow concealed-carry permit holders to take their weapons into churches, and it is expected to be signed into law by the state's governor. The Church Protection Act would allow individual places of worship to decide whether to allow concealed handguns and who could carry them. The Republican-controlled House passed the bill 85-8 with bipartisan support. The measure previously passed the Republican-controlled Senate 28-4. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama to meet with Goldman's Blankfein, other CEOs Tuesday Monday, Feb 04, 2013 03:39 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will meet with chief executives from 12 companies including Goldman Sachs Group Inc's Lloyd Blankfein and Yahoo Inc's Marissa Mayer on Tuesday to discuss immigration and deficit reduction. "The president will continue his engagement with outside leaders on a number of issues - including immigration reform and how it fits into his broader economic agenda, and his efforts to achieve balanced deficit reduction," a White House official told Reuters on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama says assault weapons ban deserves a vote in Congress Monday, Feb 04, 2013 03:37 PM PST  MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama pressed Congress on Monday to at least hold a vote on banning assault weapons, the most contentious part of his plan to curb gun violence in the United States. Obama's comments suggested a realization in the White House that it will be difficult to get such a ban passed by lawmakers, despite consistent public support for the measure. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-US Navy SEAL's killing puts focus on war's psychological toll Monday, Feb 04, 2013 03:31 PM PST  (Reuters) - The slayings of former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and another man trying to help a troubled U.S. military veteran, now charged in their murders, has renewed focus on the psychological wounds of war. Eddie Lee Routh, 25, of Lancaster, Texas, an active duty Marine from 2006 to 2010 who served in the Iraq war, faces murder charges that could lead to the death penalty in the shootings on Saturday at a Texas gun range 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel challenger suggests Greece should be given more time Monday, Feb 04, 2013 03:28 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's main challenger in this year's federal election said on Monday that recession-struck Greece should be given more time to implement its reforms even though this would cost more money. Peer Steinbrueck, a former finance minister, said it was necessary for crisis-stricken states to get their budgets in order and consolidate sovereign debt. But Merkel's center-right government was too focused on consolidation, he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| California court finds for Apple in credit card suit Monday, Feb 04, 2013 03:18 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc and other online retailers did not break California law by requiring consumers to provide their address and phone numbers as a condition of accepting credit card payments, the state's high court ruled on Monday. In a split decision, the California Supreme Court said state privacy protections for credit cards do not apply to online purchases that are downloaded electronically. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ohio Governor Kasich backs Medicaid expansion in proposed budget Monday, Feb 04, 2013 03:11 PM PST  CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Ohio's Republican governor on Monday endorsed the expansion of Medicaid under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, raising expectations that political opposition to the plan may be starting to thaw among GOP leaders in so-called Red states. Gov. John Kasich, the fifth Republican state governor to support the Medicaid expansion, made his announcement as part of a press briefing on his $63.3 billion 2014-15 budget proposal. He emphasized that he is not a supporter of "Obamacare," but believes the Medicaid plan "makes sense for the state of Ohio. ... Full Story | Top |
| S&P expects U.S. lawsuit over pre-crisis credit ratings Monday, Feb 04, 2013 03:09 PM PST  (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's said it expects to be the target of a U.S. Department of Justice civil lawsuit over its mortgage bond ratings, the first federal enforcement action against a credit rating agency over alleged illegal behavior tied to the recent financial crisis. Shares of McGraw-Hill Cos, the parent of S&P, plunged 13.8 percent on Monday after news of the pending lawsuit surfaced, their biggest one-day percentage decline since the 1987 stock market crash, according to Reuters data. An announcement of a lawsuit is expected on Tuesday, a person familiar with the matter said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alabama hostage standoff ended after talks "deteriorated:" FBI Monday, Feb 04, 2013 02:55 PM PST (Reuters) - Authorities moved in to resolve the six day old hostage standoff in Midland, Alabama when they feared the 5-year-old hostage was in "imminent danger," an FBI official said on Monday. "Within the past 24 hours, negotiations deteriorated," and the hostage taker, 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes, "was observed holding a gun," Steve Richardson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's field office in Mobile, Alabama, told reporters. Fearing for the life of the boy, Ethan, authorities entered the bunker where he was being held and rescued him, he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Outgoing EPA chief convinced Obama serious on climate change Monday, Feb 04, 2013 02:54 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The departing chief of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa P. Jackson, says she cringes whenever she is asked if President Barack Obama is truly serious about confronting climate change. Of course he is, she tells them. "I don't think you need clues. The president has been really clear ... I'm not sure how much clearer he could be." And yet even Jackson herself was caught off guard last month, when sitting just steps from Obama during his second-term swearing-in, the president cited the threats posed by climate change so prominently in his inaugural address. ... Full Story | Top |
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