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| North Korea again blocks access to industry zone, Southerners remain Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:51 PM PDT  By Ju-min Park PAJU, South Korea (Reuters) - North Korea barred entry to a joint industrial complex it shares with the South for a second day on Thursday, Seoul's Unification Ministry said, and demanded extended notice of when hundreds of South Korean workers planned to leave. The state's KCNA news agency again threatened complete closure of the zone, a lucrative money-spinner for impoverished Pyongyang, if South Korea kept up what the agency termed its insults against the North's government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama cutting own pay in solidarity with federal workers Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:34 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plans to give back 5 percent of his pay in a gesture of solidarity with government workers who must take unpaid leave as a result of deep spending cuts that went into effect last month. The president's self-imposed pay cut would be effective from March 1, when the spending cuts began, and would last through the end of December, an administration official said on Wednesday. Obama earns $400,000 a year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kansas abortion clinic reopens four years after doctor's murder Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:33 PM PDT  By Kevin Murphy KANSAS CITY, Kan (Reuters) - A Kansas abortion clinic closed since the 2009 murder of its doctor, one of the few physicians in the country who performed late-term abortions, reopened on Wednesday in Wichita, the owner of the clinic said. The clinic has been closed since Dr. George Tiller was slain in a Wichita church in May 2009. Scott Roeder is serving a life sentence over the slaying after testifying that he killed Tiller, 67, to stop abortions. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea repeats threat to shut down Kaesong Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:30 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea repeated its threat to shut down Kaesong industrial zone, where 123 South Korean firms operate factories, if the South's government continued to insult it and worsen the situation by mentioning a possible military action against it. "The puppet conservative group and its media have refused to drop their confrontational ways and continued to say that we will not dare to do anything about the Kaesong industrial zone ... because it is a 'source of cash'," KCNA quoted the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland as saying. ... Full Story | Top |
| One person killed in shooting at Fort Knox Army post Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:27 PM PDT By Bob Driehaus CINCINNATI (Reuters) - A man who worked as a civilian Army employee was shot to death on Wednesday in a parking lot at the Fort Knox Army base in Kentucky in an incident that prompted a security lockdown there, officials said. Authorities said the shooting was "not a random act" and the shooter remained at large on Wednesday night. The shooting, which came less than two weeks after a U.S. Marine shot dead two colleagues at a Virginia base, occurred on Wednesday afternoon outside the U.S. Army Human Resources Command headquarters, the Army said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two white supremacists sought in probe of Colorado prison chief's slaying Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:24 PM PDT  DENVER (Reuters) - Colorado authorities probing the killing of the state's prisons chief, who was shot at the door of his home last month, are seeking two members of a white supremacist prison gang in connection with the case, the Denver Post reported on Wednesday. The newspaper, citing an official with Colorado's El Paso County Sheriff's Department, said the men being sought were members of the gang known as the 211 Crew and considered armed and dangerous. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea tells South firms in Kaesong to pullout by April 10 Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:21 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has told the association of companies that are operating factories in the Kaesong industrial zone to complete pulling out by April 10, an executive of the association said on Thursday. The association has asked the North to extend the deadline until April 13 but has not received a reply, Ok Sung-suk, vice president of the association, said. (Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by David Chance) Full Story | Top |
| Mitsubishi recalls Outlander Sport vehicles for several issues Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:18 PM PDT DETROIT (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Motors Corp is recalling 6,496 Outlander Sport crossover vehicles in the United States and Puerto Rico for three different issues related to brake lights, fuel gauges and shifting the vehicles out of park, federal regulators said on Wednesday. Model year 2013 Outlander Sport vehicles made from June 11 to September 11 last year may have brake lamps that either work intermittently or illuminate continuously without the pressing of the brake pedal, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on its website. ... Full Story | Top |
| China promises swift reporting on bird flu outbreak Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:16 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China will swiftly communicate to the outside world and its own people details of a new strain of deadly bird flu, the health ministry said, following complaints it had been too slow to report on the outbreak and suspicion of a SARS-like cover-up. A total of nine people in China have been confirmed to have contracted the new bird flu strain, H7N9, all in the east of the country. Three infected people have died. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hagel tells military to brace for further belt-tightening Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 08:02 PM PDT  By David Alexander and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned the military to brace for more belt-tightening on Wednesday as he conducts a review that could cut the number of generals, pare back the civilian workforce and stem the spiraling cost of new weapons. Hagel, in his first major policy speech as Pentagon chief, told students at the National Defense University that the United States could not allow its current budget crisis to force it to retreat from the world. But he underscored the limits of U.S. military power. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea government says report of North ordering Kaesong pullout "distorted" Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 07:53 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said reports that North Korea had ordered companies in the Kaesong joint industrial zone to pull out by April 10 were "distorted" and it had merely requested a list of people who planned to leave by that date. "The North's request to several companies for a schedule of people returning to the South by April 10 has been distorted to say the North had requested a total pullout," the Unification Ministry said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sees Australia decision on F/A-18 jets by summer Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 07:30 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Maryland (Reuters) - Australia is expected to decide on the purchase of up to 24 additional Boeing Co F/A-18 fighter jets by late spring or early summer, according to the U.S. Navy captain who runs the foreign fighter jet sales program on behalf of the Pentagon. A number of buyers in Asia and the Middle East remain interested in the warplane, and the Navy is also staying in "pretty close touch" with Brazil, said Captain Frank Morley, program manager for the F/A-18 Hornet, Super Hornet and Growler electronic attack versions of the plane. ... Full Story | Top |
| Native American tribe seeks to halt Paris artifact auction Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 07:30 PM PDT By Brad Poole TUCSON, Ariz (Reuters) - Plans by a top Paris auction house to sell scores of antique tribal masks revered as sacred ritual artifacts by a traditional Arizona Native American tribe has triggered a furor and calls for their return. The Hopi Tribe, living in a dozen scattered villages in on the Hopi Reservation northeastern Arizona, is calling on auctioneer Neret-Minet Tessier & Sarrou to cancel its sale of 70 objects including the sacred Katsinam masks on April 12. ... Full Story | Top |
| Detroit emergency manager disavows letter on union contracts Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 06:58 PM PDT  By Steve Neavling DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit's new state-appointed emergency manager on Wednesday disavowed letters sent by the mayor's office saying that the city would stop honoring contracts with its police, fire and paramedics' labor unions. The apparent miscommunication between Mayor Dave Bing and Kevyn Orr, the former bankruptcy lawyer brought in to clean up Detroit's finances, highlights the challenges Orr may face as he assumes increasing power in the biggest state takeover of an American city in more than two decades. ... Full Story | Top |
| Washington state to clamp down on marijuana use in bars Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 06:42 PM PDT  By Eric M. Johnson SEATTLE (Reuters) - Washington state will clamp down on bars that have been sidestepping a ban on consuming marijuana in public by converting part of their space into private clubs. The move comes as the state considers ways to regulate marijuana after voters legalized the drug for recreational use last year. In November Washington and Colorado became the first U.S. states to approve marijuana for adult recreational use. The Washington law would ultimately permit cannabis to be sold and taxed at state-licensed stores. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas activists seek pardon for late boxer Jack Johnson Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 06:38 PM PDT By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Civil rights activists in Texas are seeking a pardon from President Barack Obama for the late boxer Jack Johnson, an African-American convicted a century ago for the crime of taking a woman across state lines. "Here in 2013, this man shouldn't still be carrying the stigma of being convicted," said Leon Phillips of the Galveston County Coalition for Justice. Johnson, who died in 1946, was born in Galveston and fought under the nickname The Galveston Giant. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to send missile defenses to Guam over North Korea threat Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 06:15 PM PDT  By Phil Stewart and Jack Kim WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday it would soon send a missile defense system to Guam to defend it from North Korea, as the U.S. military adjusts to what Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has called a "real and clear danger" from Pyongyang. At the same time, North Korea repeated its threat to launch a nuclear attack on the United States. Pyongyang said it had ratified a potential strike because of U.S. military deployments around the Korean peninsula that it claimed were a prelude to a possible nuclear attack on the North. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea seen moving mid-range missile to east coast: reports Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 06:13 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has moved what appears to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said on Thursday, quoting multiple government sources privy to intelligence from U.S. and South Korean authorities. It was not clear if the missile was mounted with a warhead or whether the North was planning to fire it or was just putting it on display as a show of force, one South Korean government source was quoted as saying. "South Korean and U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| West Virginia sheriff shot dead, suspect wounded Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 06:12 PM PDT By Lee Mueller WILLIAMSON, W., Virginia (Reuters) - A drug-fighting West Virginia sheriff was shot to death as he ate lunch in his car on Wednesday and the suspected gunman was wounded and captured after a chase, police said. Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum was at a parking lot in the city of Williamson when a man ran up and shot him, then fled in his own vehicle, Williamson Police Chief Dave Rockel said at a news conference. Authorities identified the suspect as Tennis Melvin Maynard, 37, of Ragland, West Virginia. Maynard fled south on U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea can likely revive reactor in six months, needs years for more bombs Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 05:58 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea can probably restart a mothballed plutonium-producing reactor in six months if it is determined to do so and the site has suffered no major structural damage, but it may take years to produce significant new atom bomb material. Pyongyang announced on Tuesday that it would revive the aged Yongbyon five-megawatt research reactor that yields bomb-grade plutonium, but stressed it was seeking a deterrent capacity. ... Full Story | Top |
| New prosecutors named to Texas Aryan Brotherhood prison gang probe Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 05:43 PM PDT  By Chris Francescani KAUFMAN, Texas (Reuters) - Authorities named a new lead prosecutor on Wednesday in the 2012 indictment of 34 suspected members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang after the previous head of the case abruptly quit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hileman stepped aside on Tuesday in the wake of the second killing of a Texas prosecutor in two months. While investigators have not named a suspect or person of interest in the twin killings, crime experts identified the Aryan Brotherhood as a group that would come under suspicion. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Serial" defector steals trawler, sails back to North Korea Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 05:38 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - A "serial" North Korean defector has given a substantial U.S. and South Korean military presence the slip, stealing a 9-tonne fishing trawler to return to the impoverished North, the Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday. South Korea's Yonhap described the 28-year-old crab fisherman, identified only as Lee, as a "serial" defector who had made what appeared to be his fourth dash to the North. ... Full Story | Top |
| Capriles mocks "skin-deep" socialists before Venezuela vote Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 05:04 PM PDT  By Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate tore into government leaders on Wednesday as false revolutionaries lining their pockets while professing faith to the late Hugo Chavez's radical socialism. Trailing in opinion polls ahead of the April 14 vote, Henrique Capriles is attacking acting President Nicolas Maduro and other senior officials as a corrupt and incompetent coterie unable to solve Venezuelans' basic problems. "They talk of socialism, but it's on the surface only. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge rejects Chevron subpoena of advocacy group in Ecuador case Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 04:57 PM PDT  By Braden Reddall SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has rejected efforts by Chevron Corp to secure documents from a California environmental advocacy group in a fraud case related to a $19 billion award for rainforest pollution in Ecuador. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins on Wednesday quashed Chevron's subpoena for a deposition and documents from Amazon Watch, which the group's own lawyer described as the U.S. oil company's "sharpest critic. ... Full Story | Top |
| Connecticut lawmakers vote for post-Newtown gun law Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 04:55 PM PDT  By Ebong Udoma HARTFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - The Connecticut Senate voted on Wednesday to approve a new gun-control bill that supporters described as one of the toughest in the United States and a response to last December's shooting at a school in Newtown that left 20 children and six adults dead. The House started debating the bill on Wednesday evening, following the 26-10 vote in the Senate. If the House approves the bill, Governor Dannel Malloy, a Democrat who pushed for passage of the law, was expected to sign it on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| In Denver, Obama tries to rally support for gun buyer background checks Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 04:51 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason DENVER (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought to rally public support for proposed background checks for all gun buyers, touting new gun control measures enacted in Colorado - the scene of two of the deadliest gun massacres in American history - as "a model of what's possible." Obama is aiming to revive stalled momentum in Congress for several gun control measures, including universal background checks for gun buyers, that he called for after a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut school in December. The Senate is set to take up gun control next week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Regional leaders refuse to recognize Central African Republic coup leader Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 04:27 PM PDT  By Madjiasra Nako N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - African heads of state on Wednesday refused to recognize rebel leader Michel Djotodia's self-appointment as president of Central African Republic, calling instead for the creation of a new transitional body to guide the country to elections. The decision, taken at a summit of leaders from the central African region, further isolates Djotodia, who led thousands of insurgents into the former French colony's crumbling riverside capital Bangui on March 24, ousting President Francois Bozize. ... Full Story | Top |
| Army post at Fort Knox on lockdown after report of shooting: Fox News Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 04:24 PM PDT (Reuters) - The Army post of Fort Knox in Kentucky was placed on a security lockdown on Wednesday after a report of a shooting near a human resources facility, Fox News reported. The report, citing an unnamed base spokesman, said there was no word on casualties. (Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Steve Gorman) Full Story | Top |
| Bill Clinton to receive advocacy award from gay lobbying group Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 04:17 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton will be honored with an award for his advocacy for gay marriage, gay and lesbian lobbying group GLAAD said on Wednesday. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), which promotes understanding and acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, said Clinton will be recognized for backing gay marriage and for campaigning against laws that ban marriage and civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. Clinton will receive the first Advocate for Change Award at the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on April 20. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rutgers fires basketball coach after abuse video surfaces Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 04:16 PM PDT  By David Jones NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - Rutgers University fired the head of its men's basketball team on Wednesday after the release of video showing him shoving players, hurling balls at their heads and berating them with homophobic slurs. The video, which went viral on the Internet, prompted outrage and calls from players, fans and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for the ousting of the coach, Mike Rice. The governor said the dismissal was "the right and necessary action to take in light of the conduct displayed" at New Jersey's largest public university with 58,000 students. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinian youth shot to death as West Bank seethes Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 04:04 PM PDT  By Ali Sawafta and Allyn Fisher-Ilan RAMALLAH/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian youth in the West Bank, a Palestinian medic said, as confrontations went into a third day after the death of a prisoner held by Israel provoked street clashes and rocket fire. Medical staff said troops brought the body of 17-year-old Amer Nassar from the village of Anabta to a hospital near Tulkarm, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to send missile defenses to Guam over "clear" North Korea danger Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 03:55 PM PDT By Phil Stewart and David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday it will soon send a missile defense system to Guam to defend it from North Korea, as the U.S. military adjusts to what U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel described as a "real and clear danger" from Pyongyang. The announcement came just hours before North Korea's army said it had ratified an attack against the United States, potentially involving a nuclear strike, the latest in a series of provocations testing President Barack Obama's policy of "strategic patience" with Pyongyang. ... Full Story | Top |
| Maryland set to become latest state to enact stiff gun-control measure Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 03:35 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Maryland was set to become the latest U.S. state to enact stiff gun control measures, with the approval on Wednesday by the state's House of Delegates of legislation that includes a ban on dozens of assault weapons and limits on magazine size. The legislation, which had been proposed by Governor Martin O'Malley, was passed by the state Senate last month. Colorado and New York have already passed new laws on gun control, and the Connecticut legislature was set to vote on Wednesday on what supporters describe as one of the toughest gun measures in the country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australia's gun controls a political template for the U.S. Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 03:10 PM PDT  By James Grubel CANBERRA (Reuters) - Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard wore a bullet proof vest under his suit when he addressed an angry crowd of gun owners in 1996, telling them he was going to ban automatic and semi-automatic weapons for the safety of all Australians. At other rallies, effigies of his deputy prime minister Tim Fischer were hanged by opponents of gun control. The battle for gun control in Australia, after the country's worst massacre in which 35 people were shot dead, was risky both personally and politically. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cuba ballet says seven dancers defected in Mexico last month Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 03:02 PM PDT HAVANA (Reuters) - Seven members of the National Ballet of Cuba, one of the communist-led country's proudest and most prestigious institutions, defected last month while the troupe toured Mexico, a spokesman for the ballet said on Wednesday. "Yes, it's true, they stayed in Mexico, the seven, they defected, it's a reality," said the spokesman, who asked not to be identified. According to Miami-based website www.cafefuerte.com, six of the dancers crossed into the United States from Mexico and are now in Miami, center of the U.S. Cuban exile community, while one remained in Mexico. ... Full Story | Top |
| New U.N. arms treaty faces rough road in U.S. Senate Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 02:48 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new global arms trade treaty was overwhelmingly approved by the United Nations, with U.S. backing, but it was clear on Wednesday it faces a tough fight for ratification by U.S. senators who contend it could affect Americans' gun rights. The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly approved the pact by a vote of 154-3 on Tuesday, with 23 abstentions, many by major weapons exporters. Washington was one of the 'yes' votes, but to go into effect for the United States it must win at least 67 votes - a two-thirds majority - in the 100-member Senate. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. official puts onus on Iran in upcoming nuclear talks Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 02:39 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Progress in this week's nuclear talks between Iran and six major powers depends on how Tehran responds to a proposal offered by the six in February, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday. "How far we get ... depends on what the Iranians come back with in terms of a response on the substance to our proposal," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "There has been a very positive line out of Tehran on the talks so far. We hope that that positive talk will now be matched with some concrete responses and actions on the Iranian side," the official added. ... Full Story | Top |
| Albanian PM's coalition ally switches sides ahead of polls Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 02:18 PM PDT  By Benet Koleka TIRANA (Reuters) - The junior partner in Albania's ruling coalition pulled out of government on Wednesday and allied itself with the opposition Socialist Party ahead of parliamentary elections on June 23. Prime Minister Sali Berisha promptly named three ministers to replace those who left his cabinet when their Socialist Integration Movement (SIM) withdrew from government and said he was confident parliament would approve his nominees on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel kills Palestinian teenager in West Bank confrontation: medics Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 02:06 PM PDT RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian youth, aged 17, in a confrontation after darkness fell on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank, where tensions have risen since the death of a Palestinian prisoner this week, a Palestinian medic said. The Israeli military confirmed troops opened fire on several Palestinians who threw fire-bombs at a guard post in the Tulkarm region of the West Bank. A Palestinian medic said troops later delivered the teenager's body to a local hospital. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korean army says it has "ratified" nuclear strike against U.S. Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 01:44 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - North Korea said it had "ratified" a merciless attack against the United States, potentially involving a "diversified nuclear strike". "We formally inform the White House and Pentagon that the ever-escalating U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
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