| | |
| Former governor to face comedian's sister in South Carolina election Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 08:55 PM PDT By Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, seeking political redemption after a sex scandal, won a runoff on Tuesday to become the Republican nominee for an open seat in the House of Representatives, setting up a May showdown against the sister of prominent political satirist Stephen Colbert. Sanford beat his Republican opponent, Charleston attorney and former Marine Curtis Bostic, 57 percent to 43 percent, official results showed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malaysia's Najib says dissolves parliament ahead of election Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 08:45 PM PDT  KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said he will dissolve parliament on Wednesday, paving the way for a long-anticipated general election within weeks that could be the closest his ruling coalition has faced in its 56-year rule. "The king has accepted my request to dissolve parliament effective April 3," Najib said in a live television address from the administrative capital Putrajaya. ... Full Story | Top |
| Malaysia's Najib to make TV address, expected to call election Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 08:25 PM PDT  KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is expected to dissolve parliament and call a long-anticipated general election in a televised announcement on Wednesday morning, government officials said. Najib, whose ruling coalition faces a resurgent opposition challenging its 56-year rule, will make the national address at 11.30 a.m (11:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday), an official in his department said. He is expected to use the TV address to announce the election, two government sources told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed hawk Lacker and dove Evans face off over inflation Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 08:02 PM PDT  By Alister Bull RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) - One of the Federal Reserve's most hawkish officials confronted one of the institution's most dovish policymakers on Tuesday in a rare joint public debate over the risks posed to inflation by the U.S. central bank's bold steps to spur growth. Policy dove Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and anti-inflation hawk Jeffrey Lacker, chief of the Richmond Fed, sparred pointedly and respectfully disagreed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arizona "pregnant man" to appeal ruling rejecting divorce Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 07:46 PM PDT By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - A transgender man who made worldwide headlines after he married and gave birth to three children will appeal an Arizona judge's ruling denying him a divorce from his wife of 10 years, his attorneys said on Tuesday. Thomas Beatie, 39, was born a woman but began living as a man in his 20s, initiating hormone treatments, undergoing breast-removal surgery and legally changing his name, though he kept his female reproductive organs. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea suspends entry to Kaesong industrial zone Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 07:33 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean authorities were not allowing any South Korean workers into a joint industrial park on Wednesday, South Korea's Unification Ministry and a Reuters witness said, adding to tensions between the two countries. A South Korean official said hundreds of South Koreans currently in the Kaesong Industrial zone would be allowed to leave. North Korea had earlier delayed access to the park. The zone generates $2 billion a year in trade for the impoverished North. (Writing by Dean Yates) Full Story | Top |
| North Korea delays access to Kaesong industrial zone Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 07:33 PM PDT  By Christine Kim and Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea stepped up pressure on Seoul by delaying access to a joint industrial park in a move that could trap hundreds of South Korean workers on the northern side of the world's most militarized border. It was not immediately clear if the move was aimed at closing the Kaesong Industrial zone, which generates $2 billion a year in trade for the impoverished North and $80 million in cash wages that go straight to its government. North Korean delays to accessing the zone are very rare. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: In Malaysia's election, a focus on rainforest graft Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 07:22 PM PDT  By Niluksi Koswanage KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia (Reuters) - The island of Borneo may be all that stands between Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and an unprecedented election defeat within weeks for his ruling coalition. Borneo's two Malaysian states -- Sabah and Sarawak -- have been a bastion of votes for the National Front coalition headed by Najib's party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). ... Full Story | Top |
| Alabama Senate passes bill tightening rules for abortion clinics Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 07:19 PM PDT  By Verna Gates BIRMINGHAM, Ala (Reuters) - The Alabama Senate passed an abortion bill on Tuesday critics say would limit access to the procedure with stricter requirements for clinics that provide it. The Senate passed the bill on a vote of 22-10, after the House passed a similar bill in February. A committee will reconcile the two bills before the proposed legislation goes to the Alabama Governor, Dr. Robert Bentley, who is expected to sign it into law. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. overwhelmingly approves global arms trade treaty Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 07:03 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the first treaty on the global arms trade, which seeks to regulate the $70 billion business in conventional arms and keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers. The National Rifle Association (NRA), a powerful U.S. pro-gun lobbying group that has opposed the treaty from the start, said it was a sad day for the United States, which joined the vast majority of U.N. member states by voting for the pact. ... Full Story | Top |
| RPT-UPDATE 1-ESPN video shows Rutgers coach berating, hitting players Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 06:48 PM PDT By David Jones NEWARK, N.J., April 2 (Reuters) - The ESPN sports network released video on Tuesday showing a Rutgers University men's basketball head coach, briefly suspended for his behavior last year, shoving players, hurling balls at their heads and berating them with homophobic slurs and profanity during practices. The video of Coach Mike Rice prompted the office of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to release a statement condemning the coach's behavior. Rutgers, home to about 58,000 students, is a public university based in New Brunswick, New Jersey. ... Full Story | Top |
| ESPN video shows Rutgers coach berating, hitting players Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 06:36 PM PDT  By David Jones NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - The ESPN sports network released video on Tuesday showing a Rutgers University men's basketball head coach, briefly suspended for his behavior last year, shoving players, hurling balls at their heads and berating them with homophobic slurs and profanity during practices. The video of Coach Mike Rice prompted the office of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to release a statement condemning the coach's behavior. Rutgers, home to about 58,000 students, is a public university based in New Brunswick, New Jersey. ... Full Story | Top |
| New strain of bird flu infects four others in China -Xinhua Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 06:26 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - China reported four new cases on Tuesday of a strain of bird flu that was previously unknown in humans but has already killed two people, raising the total of known cases to seven. The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday there was no evidence that the H7N9 strain could be transmitted between people, but that it was investigating the outbreak. The four new patients in China's eastern Jiangsu province were all in critical condition and receiving emergency treatment, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing the Jiangsu provincial health bureau. ... Full Story | Top |
| NRA-funded panel urges training armed guards at schools Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 06:23 PM PDT  By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A task force funded by the National Rifle Association, the top U.S. gun rights group, unveiled a plan on Tuesday to train armed security personnel in every school in response to the December school massacre in Connecticut - a proposal swiftly condemned by gun control advocates. ... Full Story | Top |
| Blow to Serbia's EU bid as Kosovo talks end without result Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 05:32 PM PDT  By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Crunch talks aimed at ending the ethnic partition of Serbia's former Kosovo province broke up without result on Wednesday, in a major setback for Serbia's hopes of starting European Union membership negotiations this year. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has been mediating months of talks between Serbia and Kosovo, said the gap between the two sides was "very narrow, but deep" after a marathon 12-hour session. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four face manslaughter charges for Brazil nightclub fire Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 05:17 PM PDT  SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Prosecutors charged four people with manslaughter on Tuesday for their roles in the January 27 nightclub fire that killed 241 people in southern Brazil, saying they overlooked grave safety irregularities. The Kiss club's two owners, as well as two members of a band who lit a flare that ignited a soundproofing ceiling foam, will stand trial for manslaughter while four others face lesser charges, including for false testimony. "They ignored what could have happened to these people for financial reasons," prosecutor Joel Dutra said of the accused. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran's nuclear program entails huge costs, few benefits: report Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 05:11 PM PDT  By Yeganeh Torbati DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will pursue its nuclear quest although it has reaped few gains from a totem of national pride that has cost it well over $100 billion in lost oil revenue and foreign investment alone, two think-tanks said on Wednesday. A report by the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Federation of American Scientists said Iran's atomic work could not simply be ended or "bombed away" and that diplomacy was the only way to keep it peaceful. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas prosecutor steps into job after predecessor gunned down Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 05:06 PM PDT  By Chris Francescani KAUFMAN, Texas (Reuters) - Brandi Fernandez slipped into the Kaufman County Courthouse in her first full day as interim district attorney on Tuesday, taking over a job that authorities believe got her predecessor and one of her colleagues killed. Praised as a smart, tough litigator and a fierce advocate for child victims of crime, Fernandez declined to address reporters and remained under close protection inside the courthouse throughout the day. A police cruiser was parked outside her single-family home surrounded by trees on Monday and Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Indiana House passes bill aimed at limiting use of abortion pill Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 05:05 PM PDT By Susan Guyett INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - The Indiana House on Tuesday approved a bill requiring clinics that administer the so-called abortion pill to also have full surgical facilities, a move that would force Planned Parenthood to halt all abortion services at a central Indiana clinic. Supporters say the bill protects women's health, but the president of Planned Parenthood of Indiana called the facility mandates for early-term abortions "regulation without reason. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. government issues corrective order for Exxon spill Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:59 PM PDT  By Suzi Parker and Kristen Hays LITTLE ROCK/HOUSTON (Reuters) - U.S. pipeline regulators on Tuesday ordered Exxon Mobil Corp to take necessary corrective action for its ruptured pipeline that spilled thousands of barrels of crude oil into a small Arkansas housing development last week. The U.S. Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Administration's corrective order said Exxon estimated that 3,500 to 5,000 barrels of crude spewed from the breach. Exxon had so far only said publicly that it had recovered 12,000 barrels of oil and water. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel launches air strikes on Gaza; first since truce Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:59 PM PDT By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the first such attacks since an eight-day war in November, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that controls the territory, and Israel's military said. "Occupation planes bombarded an open area in northern Gaza, there were no wounded," a statement from the Hamas Interior Ministry said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt threatens to cancel license of TV station hosting satirist Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:44 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - The Egyptian government has threatened to cancel the license of an independent TV channel for hosting a popular satirist who was questioned by prosecutors over accusations that he insulted President Mohamed Mursi, state media said on Tuesday. Bassem Youssef, who rose to fame with a satirical online show after the uprising that swept the previous president, Hosni Mubarak, from power in 2011, turned himself in on Sunday after the prosecutor-general issued a warrant for his arrest. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamists accuse U.S. of interference in Egyptian affairs Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:44 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - President Mohamed Mursi's Islamist allies accused the United States on Tuesday of blatant interference in Egypt's affairs after Washington said Cairo was muzzling freedom of speech. On Monday, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland criticized the questioning of the most popular Egyptian television satirist over allegations that he insulted Mursi and Islam. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. pipeline agency issues corrective action order to Exxon Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:43 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Transportation's pipeline authority said on Tuesday it had issued a corrective-action order to Exxon Mobil Corp following a leak of Canadian oil in Mayflower, Arkansas. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said Exxon must test the Pegasus pipeline and submit a remedial work plan before it can resume operations. The pipeline leak, which occurred on Friday, has reignited the debate over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would link Canada's oil sands region to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Spills flame Canadian oil debate, but won't curb flows to U.S Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:43 PM PDT  By Jeffrey Jones CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Two high-profile oil spills won't stem the now-record flow of Canadian oil into the United States, despite the frenzy that the spills triggered among friends and foes of the Keystone XL pipeline to the main U.S. refineries. The fate of Keystone remains undecided, yet Canadian crude will become an increasing part of the U.S. energy mix, despite growing competition from new U.S. production. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| N.Y. politicians arrested in alleged mayoral race bribe scheme Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:25 PM PDT By Edith Honan and Atossa Araxia Abrahamian NEW YORK (Reuters) - A high-ranking Democratic New York State senator was arrested on Tuesday and charged with trying to buy a place on the Republican ticket in the city's mayoral race, in what prosecutors said was part of a bribery scandal that reflected pervasive corruption in New York politics. Five other politicians, three Republicans and two Democrats, were also arrested and charged with collectively accepting more than $100,000 in bribes in meetings that often took place in parked cars, hotel rooms and state offices, according to court papers. ... Full Story | Top |
| At Chavez's birthplace, Maduro vows to win Venezuela vote Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:18 PM PDT  By Brian Ellsworth and Mario Naranjo SABANETA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan acting President Nicolas Maduro made a pilgrimage to late socialist leader Hugo Chavez's birthplace on Tuesday and pledged to win the April 14 election in his honor. "We regard Chavez as our father. He marked our life, that's why we came here to make an oath in the land of his birth that we will never let him down," Maduro, 50, said in the village of Sabaneta where his former boss was born. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbia, Kosovo fail to reach deal to improve ties Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:11 PM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Serbia and Kosovo failed to reach a deal on improving ties that is seen as crucial to Serbia's hopes of joining the European Union, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Wednesday. Ashton, who has been mediating in the talks, said in a statement that the gap between the two sides was "very narrow, but deep." She said the 12-hour negotiating session in Brussels was the last time all sides would meet formally for the EU-brokered talks. ... Full Story | Top |
| City of London study says EU transaction tax costly for UK Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 04:04 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - A planned EU tax on transactions would raise the cost of issuing UK debt by nearly four billion pounds if it were in force this year even though Britain will not impose the levy, a study said on Wednesday. Eleven euro zone countries intend to introduce the tax on stock, bond and derivatives transactions next January to help to make banks pay for aid they received in the financial crisis. There are provisions to ensure the levy is applied no matter where in the world securities from the 11 states are traded. ... Full Story | Top |
| Defense Secretary Hagel to take voluntary sequester pay cut Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 03:50 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will take a voluntary pay cut as a show of solidarity with Pentagon employees who will have to take unpaid time off over the coming months, a Defense Department spokesman said on Tuesday. Hagel will give back the equivalent of 14 days' pay to the government, Pentagon spokesman George Little said. That would come to about $10,750, based on Hagel's salary of $199,700. "My understanding is that there is a legal way to actually write a check, if you will, back to the U.S. Treasury," Little told reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| SEC says companies may announce key data on social media Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 03:36 PM PDT  By Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Regulators said on Tuesday that companies can use Twitter, Facebook and other social media to make key announcements as long as they tell investors which sites they will use, an effort to help companies navigate the new media age. The guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission seeks to clarify disclosure rules after the agency opened an inquiry into a post made last July on the personal Facebook page of Netflix's chief executive, Reed Hastings. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea to restart nuclear reactor in weapons bid Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 03:22 PM PDT By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Tuesday it would revive a mothballed nuclear reactor able to produce bomb-grade plutonium but stressed it was seeking a deterrent capacity and did not repeat recent threats to attack South Korea and the United States. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the crisis over North Korea had gone too far and he appealed for dialogue and negotiation to resolve the situation. "Nuclear threats are not a game. ... Full Story | Top |
| IRS weighs changes to Obama healthcare investment tax rules Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 03:11 PM PDT  By Kim Dixon WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Businesses and wealthy owners of estates and trusts asked the IRS on Tuesday for changes to a part of President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare law that has received comparatively little attention: a 3.8 percent tax on investment income intended to provide the bulk of the law's funding. The tax kicks in this year, with U.S. taxpayers accounting for it for the first time in their tax returns for 2013. It is projected to raise more than $100 billion over a decade to help pay for health insurance for millions of Americans who lack it. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Ronaldinho, Pato recalled to experimental Brazil squad Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 03:04 PM PDT SAO PAULO, April 2 (Reuters) - Ronaldinho and Pato have been recalled to Brazil's squad for Saturday's friendly away to Bolivia in aid of the family of a young fan killed by a flare at a Libertadores Cup match last month. Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari on Tuesday also included Santos ace Neymar and several untested youngsters in an experimental 18-man list, picked only from the domestic league, for the match in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia's tropical lowlands. ... Full Story | Top |
| Angelina Jolie to sell jewelry line to fund overseas schools Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 02:54 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Angelina Jolie has opened another girls school in Afghanistan and plans to fund more from the proceeds of a jewelry line going on sale this week that she helped to design, celebrity website E! News reported on Monday. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, funded the girls-only primary school in an area outside Kabul that has a high refugee population, E! News said in an exclusive report. The school educates 200-300 girls, E! said. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Carolina voters to pick Republican nominee for Congress Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 02:46 PM PDT By Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Voters in South Carolina's coastal first congressional district went to the polls on Tuesday to choose between former Governor Mark Sanford and a former member of the Charleston County Council, Curtis Bostic, as the Republican nominee for the open seat. Sanford gained national notoriety as the state's governor in 2009 when he left South Carolina for six days, telling aides he was hiking the Appalachian Trail when he was in fact visiting his mistress in Argentina. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel launches air strike on Gaza; first since truce Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 02:30 PM PDT GAZA (Reuters) - Israel launched an air strike on the Palestinian Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the first such attack since an eight-day war in November, Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls the territory, and Israel's military said. "Occupation planes bombarded an open area in northern Gaza, there were no wounded," a statement from the Hamas Interior Ministry said. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed there had been a strike in Gaza, but gave no further details. ... Full Story | Top |
| NRA-funded proposal seeks armed personnel in schools Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 02:27 PM PDT  By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A study funded by the National Rifle Association released on Tuesday proposed that armed personnel be stationed in every school in response to December's school massacre in Connecticut. The proposal by the National School Shield Task Force also includes security accords between schools and law enforcement, an online safety assessment tool for schools, state safety standards and improved federal coordination for school safety. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hiring in March could point to firming economy Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 02:24 PM PDT  By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American employers likely hired at a moderate pace in March, suggesting the economy is gathering momentum despite the onset of the across-the-board federal spending cuts. Companies and governments probably added a net 200,000 workers to their payrolls last month, according to a Reuters survey of economists. That would be below the 236,000 jobs created in February but well above what has passed for normal in recent years. Since the country emerged from a deep recession and payrolls began growing again in 2010, hiring has averaged just 159,000 per month. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's top liquor makers brace for slowdown as anti-luxury drive bites Tuesday, Apr 02, 2013 02:09 PM PDT  By Adam Jourdan SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's largest makers of popular, fiery "baijiu" liquor are bracing for a slowdown this year after nearly a decade of heady growth as a crackdown on lavish official spending starts to hit home. Analysts say the clampdown will force baijiu producers to offer cheaper brands and buy up less-glitzy local players to get around the government ban. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment