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| Suspect charged in hospital with Boston Marathon bombing Monday, Apr 22, 2013 08:49 PM PDT  By Scott Malone and Aaron Pressman BOSTON (Reuters) - Prosecutors formally charged Dzhokhar Tsarnaev with the bombings at the Boston Marathon in a hearing held on Monday in his hospital room, accusing him of crimes that carry the possibility of the death penalty. The 19-year-old ethnic Chechen can be seen in video taken by security cameras placing a backpack near the finish line of the world-renowned race last Monday, the criminal complaint said, alleging he acted in concert with his older brother, who was killed during a shootout with police early Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada thwarts "al Qaeda-supported" passenger train plot Monday, Apr 22, 2013 08:10 PM PDT  By Euan Rocha and Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian police said on Monday they had arrested and charged two men with plotting to derail a Toronto-area passenger train in an operation they say was backed by al Qaeda elements in Iran. "Had this plot been carried out, it would have resulted in innocent people being killed or seriously injured," Royal Canadian Mounted Police official James Malizia told reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Irate Italian president to begin talks on new coalition Monday, Apr 22, 2013 07:59 PM PDT  By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) - Italy's president launches urgent talks on Tuesday that could see a prime minister designated after two months of post-electoral stalemate that has weighed on a stagnant economy and alarmed Rome's partners in the euro. After directing an emotional blast of impatience on Monday at the very parliament which handed him an unprecedented - and heartily unwanted - second term as head of state at the weekend, 87-year-old Giorgio Napolitano has announced a "rapid round of consultations" with political leaders, starting early Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Singer Lauryn Hill gets reprieve on tax evasion sentencing Monday, Apr 22, 2013 07:48 PM PDT  By David Jones NEWARK (Reuters) - Grammy Award-winning singer Lauryn Hill was given a two-week reprieve on her sentencing for federal tax evasion on Monday as a federal judge admonished her defense counsel for failing to come up with most of the tax money promised prior to her scheduled hearing. Hill, a solo artist and a member of the Fugees rap trio, pleaded guilty in June 2012 to failure to file federal tax returns from 2005-2007, when she earned $1.8 million. She faces up to a year in prison for each charge. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. environment regulator slams Keystone pipeline review Monday, Apr 22, 2013 07:37 PM PDT  By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. environment regulator on Monday said the State Department must take a harder look at climate and other impacts of the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil sands pipeline before the Obama administration issues a final decision on the project. The Environmental Protection Agency rated the State Department's 2,000-page March 1 draft review of the TransCanada Corp pipeline project as "insufficient," in a letter to department officials as a public comment period ended on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan nationalists near disputed isles, MPs visit shrine Monday, Apr 22, 2013 07:28 PM PDT  By Ruairidh Villar EAST CHINA SEA (Reuters) - Japanese nationalists sailed a flotilla of boats on Tuesday in waters near islands at the centre of a row between China and Japan, putting further strain on Tokyo's tense ties with Beijing as a group of more than 160 Japanese lawmakers visited a shrine seen by critics a symbol of Japan's past militarism. Last year members of the same right-wing group landed on one of the disputed islets and triggered anti-Japanese protests in China, where lingering bitterness over Japan's wartime aggression has been rekindled in recent days. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boston Islamic Society confirms outbursts by bombing suspect Monday, Apr 22, 2013 07:18 PM PDT BOSTON (Reuters) - One of the men suspected in the Boston Marathon bombing twice disrupted sermons to challenge views expressed by preachers leading services at a local mosque, the Islamic Society of Boston said on Monday. But the suspect, named by the FBI as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, "never expressed any hint of violent sentiments or behavior," the group said in a statement. "If they had, the FBI would have immediately been called. ... Full Story | Top |
| Funerals begin for victims of Boston marathon bombing Monday, Apr 22, 2013 07:18 PM PDT By Ross Kerber and Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - A day of remembrance in Massachusetts reached around the world. Hundreds of mourners crowded outside a suburban Boston church on Monday for the first of a series of funerals for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. It was followed by an evening university service for another young life cut short, this time a student from China. The morning funeral was for Krystle Campbell, 29, a restaurant manager, and the evening's for graduate student Lingzi Lu, whose death resonated in China. ... Full Story | Top |
| Defense delayed in Philadelphia abortion doctor trial Monday, Apr 22, 2013 06:51 PM PDT PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The opening of the defense case in the high-profile murder trial of a Philadelphia abortion doctor was delayed on Monday after his attorney suffered an illness, a court official said. Dr. Kermit Gosnell's attorney, Jack McMahon, was sidelined with a chest ailment on Monday but was expected to begin calling witnesses on Tuesday as he mounts his defense, a court clerk said. Prosecutors rested their case on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. security agency delays plan to allow small knives on planes Monday, Apr 22, 2013 06:28 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Transportation Security Administration on Monday delayed a controversial policy change that would have allowed small knives to be carried onto airplanes for the first time since September 11, 2001. The decision, announced in a letter to TSA employees after a week of heightened security tensions following the Boston Marathon bombings, was greeted with cautious relief by flight attendant unions, which have been waging a high-profile campaign to overturn the plan. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Penmanship" is now 'handwriting' as Washington state removes gender bias in statutes Monday, Apr 22, 2013 06:19 PM PDT By Laura L. Myers SEATTLE (Reuters) - Washington state's governor signed into law on Monday the final piece of a six-year effort to rewrite state laws using gender-neutral vocabulary, replacing terms such as "fisherman" and "freshman" with "fisher" and "first-year student." Lawmakers have passed a series of bills since 2007 to root out gender bias from Washington statutes, though a 1983 state mandate required that all laws be written in gender-neutral terms unless a specification of gender was intended. "This was a much larger effort than I had envisioned. ... Full Story | Top |
| Philadelphia considering 2024 Olympics bid, mayor says Monday, Apr 22, 2013 05:34 PM PDT By Jonathan Allen (Reuters) - Philadelphia is exploring a bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games, Mayor Michael Nutter said on Monday. Nutter was responding to a letter from the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) sent to 35 cities across the country seeking potential host cities for the international sporting event. "The Philadelphia region has enthusiastically embraced the prospect of bidding on and hosting a future Olympic Games, and we look forward with great anticipation to the opportunity to work with the USOC on this project," Nutter said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: China consolidates sea claims as Asian diplomacy struggles Monday, Apr 22, 2013 05:30 PM PDT  By Manuel Mogato MASINLOC, Philippines (Reuters) - For decades, fishermen along the northwestern Philippine coast treated the teeming fishing grounds of the Scarborough Shoal as their backyard, less than a day's boat ride away. Now, they see it as a foreign country. "I lost my livelihood when we lost the Scarborough Shoal to the Chinese," said Mario Forones, a 53-year-old who owns three fishing boats that worked the reef for about a dozen years before armed Chinese vessels arrived in force last April. ... Full Story | Top |
| San Francisco probes report Nevada dumped psychiatric patients Monday, Apr 22, 2013 05:20 PM PDT By Ronnie Cohen SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco's city attorney said on Monday he has opened an investigation into recent newspaper reports that a Nevada mental hospital was illegally busing hundreds of newly discharged psychiatric patients to California and other states. In a letter to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, City Attorney Dennis Herrera cited a Sacramento Bee investigative series documenting what it described as rampant "patient dumping" by the Rawson Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas. ... Full Story | Top |
| House Republican blocks consumer watchdog from testifying Monday, Apr 22, 2013 04:59 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican lawmaker escalated a partisan fight over the new consumer protection watchdog on Monday, saying the bureau's leader was not welcome to appear before a congressional panel that oversees financial regulators. Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas, a Republican who leads the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, said Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray could not appear before the panel because he has not been confirmed to his position by the U.S. Senate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Luxury carmakers chase India's young, female and frugal Monday, Apr 22, 2013 04:55 PM PDT  By Henry Foy MUMBAI (Reuters) - Luxury carmakers in India are moving downmarket and shifting production of smaller and cheaper cars to local plants to cut costs, broadening their target market to include India's young, female and middle-class drivers to boost lackluster performance. In an effort to raise stuttering sales that far lag emerging Asian rival China, the German big three of Mercedes-Benz, Audi AG and BMW AG want to win buyers outside the ultra-rich with locally-made hatchbacks and smaller cars. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida approves online-only public university education Monday, Apr 22, 2013 04:19 PM PDT By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE (Reuters) - Public university students in Florida next year will be able to start working toward college degrees without actually going to college, under a law Governor Rick Scott signed on Monday in front of educators and business lobbyists. The state-run University of Florida plans to start a series of online bachelor's degree programs next year, with $15 million start-up funds for 2014. Until now full-time online education has just been available to elementary and high schools in the state. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama to host women of the Senate for dinner on Tuesday Monday, Apr 22, 2013 04:10 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has invited the 20 women elected to the U.S. Senate for dinner at the White House on Tuesday, another chapter in his effort to develop closer ties with Congress. Since March, Obama has taken pains to reach out to lawmakers, trying to find common ground to end a two-year fight over federal deficits, and moving forward on top legislative priorities such as immigration reform. Obama has held two dinners with small groups of Republican senators and one with Democratic senators. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama celebrates young inventors at White House science fair Monday, Apr 22, 2013 04:10 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama hopped on a mountain bike that was mounted on blocks and pedaled away, taking part in a science experiment on how to filter unsafe drinking water during an emergency. The invention was the brainchild of Kiona Elliott, 18, and Payton Kaar, 16, two participants in the White House Science Fair, which Obama considers one of his favorite events of the year. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK says "no clear reason" to let independent Scotland use sterling Monday, Apr 22, 2013 04:05 PM PDT  By David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) - The euro zone's experience of countries sharing a currency but not a government shows there is no clear case for an independent Scotland to use sterling, Britain's finance ministry said on Tuesday. The nation of 5 million will hold a referendum on September 18 next year to decide whether to split from the United Kingdom, at the instigation of the Scottish National Party that runs the country's devolved government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawmakers to probe FBI handling of Boston suspect Monday, Apr 22, 2013 03:58 PM PDT By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers will question senior security officials this week about whether the FBI mishandled information on one of the Boston bombing suspects who was flagged by Russia two years ago as a possible Islamist radical. Top investigators will brief the full House of Representatives on Tuesday about the failure to spot the danger from Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of two ethnic Chechen brothers suspected of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings, which killed three people and injured more than 200. ... Full Story | Top |
| Immigration bill debate sidetracked following Boston bombings Monday, Apr 22, 2013 03:55 PM PDT  By Richard Cowan and Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional advocates of comprehensive U.S. immigration legislation were diverted into a sometimes testy debate on Monday over whether the measure should be delayed because of questions arising from the Boston Marathon bombing allegedly carried out by two immigrant brothers. The idea of holding up the legislation gained some ground with the support of U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a prominent Republican who in the past supported immigration reform. However, the highest-ranking Republican in Washington, U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| In Paraguay, a rich conservative must tackle poverty Monday, Apr 22, 2013 03:55 PM PDT  By Daniela Desantis and Hilary Burke ASUNCION (Reuters) - For Horacio Cartes, a millionaire cigarette and soft drink magnate who will be Paraguay's next president, the challenge now is to run a country where most people can only dream of having a sliver of the wealth he does. The 56-year-old, who won election on Sunday with 46 percent of the vote and will take office in August, campaigned as a center-right conservative at a time when most of Latin America is run by leftists. ... Full Story | Top |
| Timeline: Lives of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 2006-2013 Monday, Apr 22, 2013 03:51 PM PDT By Peter Rudegeair (Reuters) - Fall 2006 Tamerlan Tsarnaev enrolled as a part-time accounting student at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston. He took classes for only three semesters - fall 2006, spring 2007 and fall 2008. "He wasn't even close" to getting a degree, said Patricia Brady, a spokeswoman for the college. Around 2007 Dzhokhar Tsarnaev enrolled in Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, a public school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that counts actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, poet e.e. cummings and basketball star Patrick Ewing among its alumni. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate votes to move forward on bill taxing Internet sales Monday, Apr 22, 2013 03:48 PM PDT  By Kim Dixon and Nanette Byrnes WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A measure to empower U.S. states to require out-of-state retailers to collect online sales tax cleared a legislative hurdle in the Senate on Monday, after earlier winning official backing from President Barack Obama. Seventy-four senators voted to limit debate and move forward with a final vote on the proposed legislation in the Democratic-controlled Senate, likely on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colbert Busch leads Sanford in South Carolina congressional race: poll Monday, Apr 22, 2013 03:48 PM PDT  By Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch has a nine-point lead over former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, her Republican opponent in the race for the state's open congressional seat, according to a poll released on Monday. In the first independent poll taken since the primary election, Colbert Busch was favored by likely voters 50 percent to Sanford's 41 percent, Public Policy Polling said. Colbert Busch, a businesswoman making her first run for public office, is the sister of television comedian and political satirist Stephen Colbert. ... Full Story | Top |
| US trade panel says Apple did not violate Google patent Monday, Apr 22, 2013 03:28 PM PDT  By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Apple Inc scored a win on Monday when the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that it did not violate a Google patent to make the popular iPhones. Apple had initially been accused of infringing on six patents for iPhone-related technology covering everything from reducing signal noise to programming the device's touch screen so a user's head does not accidentally activate it while talking on the phone. If Apple had been found guilty of violating the patent, its devices could have been banned from being imported into the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate votes to move forward on Internet sales tax bill Monday, Apr 22, 2013 03:21 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill giving U.S. states the authority to require out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax for online purchases cleared a procedural hurdle in the Senate on Monday, paving the way for a final vote later in the week. Senators voted to end debate on the bipartisan bill, which is opposed by many online retailers. A bigger obstacle to the effort is in the U.S. House of Representatives, where many Republicans see it as a new tax. (Reporting By Kim Dixon; editing by Christopher Wilson) Full Story | Top |
| As George W. Bush library opens, a rare meeting of presidents and rivals Monday, Apr 22, 2013 03:16 PM PDT By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Their rivalries have helped to define American politics for more than a quarter-century. And sometimes the complex relationships among the only five people alive who know what it's like to be president of the United States have seemed to be straight out of a soap opera. They have called each other names and blamed one another for the nation's problems. But when they have a rare meeting in Dallas on Thursday for the opening of former president George W. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinian prisoner in deal with Israel to end fast Monday, Apr 22, 2013 02:56 PM PDT  RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - A Palestinian prisoner held by Israel has agreed to end an on-off hunger strike on Monday which lasted for more than eight months in exchange for an early release, Palestinian officials told Reuters. The fast by Samer al-Issawi, 32, from a suburb of Jerusalem, had stoked weeks of street protests and concerns by Israel that his death might lead to mass unrest. ... Full Story | Top |
| Police kill gunman suspected of slaying four at Seattle-area apartments Monday, Apr 22, 2013 02:53 PM PDT By Elaine Porterfield and Eric M. Johnson SEATTLE (Reuters) - A gunman suspected of slaying his girlfriend in a Seattle-area apartment they shared before killing a neighbor and two other men was himself shot to death by police officers called to the scene, authorities said on Monday. The deadly burst of gun violence unfolded Sunday night at the Pinewood Village Apartments in the small Puget Sound city of Federal Way, about 20 miles south of Seattle, but investigators have yet to determine what sparked the slayings, Police Chief Brian Wilson said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Congressman Weiner, a Twitter casualty, unveils new account Monday, Apr 22, 2013 02:44 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Congressman Anthony Weiner is back on Twitter with a new account as he eyes a political comeback and bid for New York City mayor 2 years after he resigned in disgrace for posting a sexually suggestive image of himself on the social website. The account, @AnthonyWeiner, gives Weiner a new slate on which to promote his public policy ideas as he publicly weighs entering the mayor's race less than five months ahead of the city's Democratic primary. Once seen as a rising star among Democrats, Weiner, 48, established himself as a leading liberal voice in the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan nationalists close to islands disputed by China Monday, Apr 22, 2013 02:36 PM PDT  By Ruairidh Villar EAST CHINA SEA (Reuters) - A flotilla of boats carrying more than 80 Japanese nationalists arrived on Tuesday in waters near disputed islands at the centre of tensions between China and Japan, risking further straining Tokyo's fraught relations with its Asian neighbors. The boats were shadowed by at least 10 Japanese Coast Guard vessels, while three Chinese government surveillance ships moved near the islands, according to the JCG. ... Full Story | Top |
| US court sets schedule for FAA furlough case; denied emergency stay Monday, Apr 22, 2013 02:29 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. court charged with deciding whether to order the Federal Aviation Administration to abandon its plan to furlough air traffic controllers set out a preliminary schedule for the case on Monday, after denying an request for an emergency stay. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit set a May 22 deadline for the two sides to file documents in the case, which pits the Airlines for America (A4A), the main U.S. airline industry group, against the FAA. ... Full Story | Top |
| Palestinian prisoner gains deal from Israel to end eight-month fast Monday, Apr 22, 2013 02:18 PM PDT RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - A Palestinian prisoner held by Israel has agreed to end an on-off hunger strike on Monday which has lasted for over eight months in exchange for an early release, Palestinian officials told Reuters. The fast by Samer al-Issawi, a 32-year-old from a suburb of Jerusalem, had stoked weeks of street protests and concerns by Israel that his death might lead to mass unrest. ... Full Story | Top |
| Archbishop of Canterbury, on bank reform panel, calls for a bank breakup Monday, Apr 22, 2013 02:17 PM PDT  By William James LONDON (Reuters) - At least one of Britain's major banks should be broken up into smaller regional lenders, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who sits on an influential banking reform committee, said on Monday. Justin Welby, spiritual head of the Anglican Church, spoke in a personal capacity, but his comments offer insight into the thinking of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards which has the role of cleaning up Britain's banking culture. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canadian police confirm arrests in plot to attack train Monday, Apr 22, 2013 02:14 PM PDT TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian police have charged two residents with an al Qaeda-linked plot to "carry out a terrorist attack" against a passenger train. The Royal Canadian Mountain Police on Monday named the two accused as Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, from the Montreal and Toronto areas respectively "While the RCMP believed that these individuals had the capacity and intent to carry out these criminal acts, there was no imminent threat to the general public, rail employees, train passengers or infrastructure," the police said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Heavy fighting in northeast Nigeria, death toll unclear Monday, Apr 22, 2013 02:12 PM PDT  By Tim Cocks and Isaac Abrak ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian authorities said on Monday there had been heavy fighting between security forces and Islamist militants in a remote part of the northeast, but there was no confirmation of reports from a local official that 185 people had been killed. Fighting erupted on Thursday in Baga, a fishing town in Borno state on the shores of Lake Chad, by the Chadian border -- an area officials say is a stronghold for Islamist fighters and a smuggling point for weapons from across the Sahara. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria says two bishops kidnapped by rebels Monday, Apr 22, 2013 02:11 PM PDT By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Two prominent Syrian bishops, who had warned of the threat to religious tolerance and diversity from the two-year conflict in their country, were kidnapped on Monday by armed rebels in the northern province of Aleppo, state media said. SANA news agency said the Syriac Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Archbishops of Aleppo, Yohanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi, were seized by "a terrorist group" in the village of Kfar Dael as they were "carrying out humanitarian work". ... Full Story | Top |
| Japanese nationalists approach disputed islands as tensions rise Monday, Apr 22, 2013 02:02 PM PDT By Ruairidh Villar EAST CHINA SEA (Reuters) - A flotilla of boats carrying more than 80 Japanese nationalists arrived on Tuesday in waters near disputed islands at the centre of tensions between China and Japan, risking further straining Tokyo's already tense relations with its Asian neighbors. The boats were shadowed by at least 10 Japanese Coast Guard vessels, the organizers said, while three Chinese government surveillance ships moved near the islands, according to the JCG. ... Full Story | Top |
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