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| New Jersey Governor Christie nudged by gun rights group in key primary state Friday, Aug 02, 2013 09:12 PM PDT  By David Jones NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - A gun-rights group in the bellwether presidential primary state of New Hampshire has warned New Jersey Governor Chris Christie that signing gun control bills passed by his state's Legislature could have consequences if he runs for president in 2016. The Pro-Gun New Hampshire coalition urged its members this week to call and email Christie to ask him to veto the proposed laws, posing a political dilemma for Christie as he seeks re-election in November in the Democratic-leaning state while also eyeing the national stage. ... Full Story | Top |
| China rights scenario deteriorating, says United States Friday, Aug 02, 2013 08:40 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States got few answers to questions about detained activists during its annual rights dialogue with China, and believes the situation in the country continues to deteriorate, a senior U.S. official said on Friday. Uzra Zeya, Acting Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, said she raised specific cases during the talks, including that of jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, as well as his wife Liu Xia, now under extra-judicial house arrest. ... Full Story | Top |
| Murder charges dropped against Indiana woman who ate poison while pregnant Friday, Aug 02, 2013 08:13 PM PDT By Susan Guyett INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Indiana prosecutors dropped murder and attempted feticide charges on Friday against an Indianapolis woman who tried to commit suicide by eating rat poison near the end of her pregnancy. Bei Bei Shuai, 36, was charged in March 2011 with knowingly killing a viable fetus, prosecutors said. Shuai walked out of Marion County Superior Court in Indianapolis a free woman on Friday after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal recklessness for the death of her daughter, Angel. She had been released from prison on bond in May 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
| Detroit retirees win seat at table in bankruptcy filing Friday, Aug 02, 2013 07:50 PM PDT  By Nick Carey and Joseph Lichterman DETROIT (Reuters) - In a high-stakes hearing on Friday in Detroit's bankruptcy filing, a judge approved a city plan to form a creditors' committee of retired workers, but gave unions and pension funds that opposed the plan a measure of satisfaction by declaring an independent trustee - and not the city - will select committee members. ... Full Story | Top |
| Doctor prescribes healthcare cost savings plans to governors Friday, Aug 02, 2013 07:30 PM PDT By Brendan O'Brien MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Home nursing and social work can significantly drive down healthcare costs caused by overuse of hospitals and nursing homes, a family doctor who practices in one of the poorest U.S. cities told a group of governors on Friday. Jeffrey Brenner, the founder of Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, encouraged governors attending the National Governors Association summer meeting in Milwaukee to work with healthcare providers in their state to consolidate and de-institutionalize their systems. "You regulate these facilities and you regulate the providers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Moroccan police break up protest against royal pardon of Spanish pedophile Friday, Aug 02, 2013 07:25 PM PDT By Aziz El Yaakoubi Rabat (Reuters) - Riot police broke up a protest by hundreds of Moroccan demonstrators late on Friday against a royal pardon for a Spanish pedophile serving a 30-year sentence for raping and filming children as young as 4. In running clashes with the demonstrators, baton-wielding police prevented them from gathering in front of the Moroccan parliament in the centre of the capital Rabat, injuring several people including journalists. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida lawmakers agree to hearings on 'Stand Your Ground' law Friday, Aug 02, 2013 07:20 PM PDT  By Tom Brown MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida lawmakers will hold hearings this fall on the state's "Stand Your Ground" self-defense law, which has become a lightning rod for criticism following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge blocks one restriction on Wisconsin abortion doctors Friday, Aug 02, 2013 07:16 PM PDT (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday blocked a portion of a Wisconsin law that requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital near their practice. U.S. District Judge William Conley last month temporarily stopped the measure, days after Republican Governor Scott Walker signed it into law, and his latest ruling extends that indefinitely while a lawsuit proceeds against the provision. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. soldier convicted of murdering two Afghans is "scapegoat:" lawyer Friday, Aug 02, 2013 06:46 PM PDT By David Adams (Reuters) - An army lieutenant found guilty of murdering two Afghan civilians was being used as a "scapegoat" by the U.S. Army, his lawyer said on Friday, predicting that the officer's conviction and a 20-year sentence would be overturned on appeal. Prosecutors at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, accused 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, 28, of illegally ordering the fatal shootings of two men on motorcycles while on patrol in Afghanistan's Kandahar province in July last year. He was found guilty on Thursday of two counts of murder. Lorance's attorney, Ret. Lt. Col. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sets rules to prevent type of rail crash that hit Quebec town Friday, Aug 02, 2013 06:19 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. rail safety regulator issued rules on Friday meant to prevent the kind of runaway fuel-train accident that devastated a Canadian town last month. Under the rules, rail cars carrying hazardous materials such as combustibles may not be left unattended on main tracks or adjacent tracks unless specifically authorized. Railroads must boost their safety procedures and record-keeping for trains that carry hazardous material and are braked, according to the rules from the Federal Railroad Administration. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge denies class certification sought by women suing Wal-Mart Friday, Aug 02, 2013 06:10 PM PDT By Casey Sullivan and Dan Levine (Reuters) - In another setback for women suing Wal-Mart, a U.S. judge in San Francisco on Friday rejected an attempt to bring reformulated sex discrimination claims against the company as a class action. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer denied a motion for class certification brought by plaintiffs seeking to represent 150,000 women in Wal-Mart's California offices who alleged the world's largest retailer denied them pay raises and promotions because of their gender. The claims were filed as a reformulated lawsuit after the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Scientists to cook world's first in-vitro beef burger Friday, Aug 02, 2013 06:06 PM PDT By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - A corner of west London will see culinary and scientific history made on Monday when scientists cook and serve up the world's first lab-grown beef burger. The in-vitro burger, cultured from cattle stem cells, the first example of what its creator says could provide an answer to global food shortages and help combat climate change, will be fried in a pan and tasted by two volunteers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Conservatives hire Obama campaign chief in election role Friday, Aug 02, 2013 06:02 PM PDT  By Costas Pitas LONDON (Reuters) - The Conservative Party has hired U.S. President Barack Obama's former campaign manager as part of its election team ahead of polls due in less than two years, the party said. Jim Messina, a lifelong Democrat, is the latest appointment by Prime Minister David Cameron in a bid to win the party's first overall majority in over 20 years, against a weak economic backdrop and poor poll ratings. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. seeks tighter control over Apple in e-book case Friday, Aug 02, 2013 05:56 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc is headed for a showdown with the U.S. government and dozens of states, which on Friday urged that tough new restrictions be imposed on the company for illegally conspiring to raise e-book prices. The changes proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice and 33 U.S. states and territories are designed to stop Apple from committing further antitrust violations after U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said on July 10 Apple had a "central role" in a conspiracy with five major publishers to raise e-book prices. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tennessee musician becomes first to paddleboard to U.S. from Cuba Friday, Aug 02, 2013 05:14 PM PDT  By Michael Haskins KEY WEST, Florida (Reuters) - A Tennessee musician on Friday became the first paddleboarder to cross the Florida Straits between Cuba and the United States, making the 110 mile journey in 28 hours as his father watched from a support boat. Ben Friberg, 35, arrived in Key West dehydrated and exhausted but otherwise in good shape. Before leaving Cuba on Thursday, Friberg said he was "doing this to promote peace and understanding between Cuba and the United States and to promote a healthy lifestyle. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. high court backs order on California prison crowding Friday, Aug 02, 2013 04:52 PM PDT  By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Friday to excuse California from a lower-court order demanding that the nation's largest state prison system reduce its inmate population by about 10,000 convicts this year to ease crowding. State prison officials, insisting that further cuts are unnecessary, said they were working to meet the court-ordered prison population target by their December 31 deadline, but warned that doing so would be costly and pose a risk to public safety. ... Full Story | Top |
| San Diego mayor accused of sexual harassment faces recall campaign Friday, Aug 02, 2013 04:42 PM PDT  By Marty Graham SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - San Diego's embattled mayor, facing sexual harassment allegations from a string of women, was dealt a setback on Friday when a liberal Democrat and a Republican businessman joined forces in a campaign to force a recall election. Bob Filner, the 70-year-old Democratic mayor of California's second-largest city, has faced mounting pressure to resign over a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him last month by his former press secretary, who accused him of telling her she would work better without panties. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisian forces dismantle explosive in third bomb scare of day Friday, Aug 02, 2013 04:37 PM PDT  TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian security forces dismantled a bomb found near the home of a military colonel on Friday, witnesses said, the third bomb scare to be reported in the same day. Security forces have declined to officially comment on the incident, but some said privately that Islamist militants appear to be launching an intensified campaign against Tunisian security forces. "I think the terrorists are trying to send a message to the army and security forces," a policeman near the site of the dismantled bomb said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says states' lawsuits vs S&P belong in state courts Friday, Aug 02, 2013 04:33 PM PDT By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - The U.S. government, which is pursuing a $5 billion lawsuit accusing Standard & Poor's of misleading investors by inflating its credit ratings, on Friday asked a federal judge to move similar cases by 15 U.S. states and the District of Columbia back to state courts. In a filing in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where the state lawsuits are now being handled, the U.S. Department of Justice said federal courts do not have jurisdiction because the cases turn on alleged violations of state laws against unfair consumer practices or deceptive business ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawmakers want perjury probe for Corzine Friday, Aug 02, 2013 04:18 PM PDT  By Douwe Miedema WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of Republican lawmakers called on Friday for a criminal investigation of Jon Corzine, the head of failed futures broker MF Global, saying he may have committed perjury when speaking before Congress in 2011. Corzine, a Democrat who previously served as New Jersey's governor and senator, headed MF Global when it collapsed in October 2011 in one of the 10 biggest U.S. bankruptcies. Customers were left reeling when it was discovered that about $1.6 billion was missing from their accounts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge denies class certification motion brought by women suing Wal-Mart Friday, Aug 02, 2013 04:16 PM PDT  By Dan Levine (Reuters) - A judge rejected on Friday an attempt by women suing Wal-Mart to bring a reformulated class action against the company. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco comes after the Supreme Court had previously rejected a larger nationwide class. The women allege the company discriminated against women in pay and promotions in some regions of California. (Reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Gary Hill) Full Story | Top |
| Sixty removed from U.S. military jobs in sexual assault review Friday, Aug 02, 2013 04:08 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sixty people have been removed from jobs as military recruiters, drill instructors and victims counselors as a result of screenings ordered following a jump in the number of sexual assault in the U.S. armed forces, officials said on Friday. The Army said 55 people had been suspended from their positions since screenings ordered by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel began last month. The screenings are continuing, with the service hoping to complete 20,000 by October 1, a spokesman said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. declares new push to defuse Egyptian crisis Friday, Aug 02, 2013 04:04 PM PDT By Tom Perry and Michael Georgy CAIRO (Reuters) - The United States said on Friday it would work with other nations to resolve Egypt's crisis peacefully, injecting new energy into a push to end a bloody standoff since the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. A day after saying the army had restored democracy by removing Mursi, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Egyptian authorities to give demonstrators the space to protest in peace - a warning against dispersing pro-Mursi sit-ins. ... Full Story | Top |
| Apple battling U.S., states over proposed e-book limits Friday, Aug 02, 2013 04:00 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc is headed for a showdown with the U.S. government and dozens of states, which on Friday urged that tough new restrictions be imposed on the company for illegally conspiring to raise e-book prices. The changes proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice and 33 U.S. states and territories are designed to stop Apple from committing further antitrust violations after U.S. District Judge Denise Cote on July 10 said Apple had a "central role" in a conspiracy with five major publishers to raise e-book prices. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Air Force delays rescue helicopter contract award Friday, Aug 02, 2013 03:56 PM PDT By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force has delayed the award of a contract valued at up to $6.8 billion for a new combat search and rescue helicopter program until the first quarter of fiscal year 2014, which begins October 1, spokesman Ed Gulick said. The expected winner is Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp, after all other potential bidders dropped out of the competition last December. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico rules out foul play in Pemex HQ blast, cites gas buildup Friday, Aug 02, 2013 03:21 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A massive explosion that killed nearly 40 people in late January at state oil company Pemex's Mexico City headquarters was caused by a gas buildup, Mexico's attorney general's office said on Friday, ruling out foul play. A six-month investigation confirmed a preliminary conclusion that the January 31 explosion that collapsed several floors of the headquarters' B2 building, which contained archived documents, was caused by faulty building design that provided poor ventilation in the basement area. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hiring slows in July but jobless rate falls to four-year low Friday, Aug 02, 2013 03:19 PM PDT  By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Employers slowed their pace of hiring in July but the jobless rate fell anyway, a pair of mixed signals that could make the Federal Reserve more cautious about drawing down its huge economic stimulus program. The number of jobs outside the farming sector increased by 162,000 last month, the smallest gain in four months and below analysts' expectations, Labor Department data showed on Friday. The lackluster reading reinforced the view that the job market is only inching toward recovery from the 2007-09 recession and weighed on financial markets. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. issues global travel alert, cites al Qaeda threat Friday, Aug 02, 2013 03:18 PM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed and Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States issued a worldwide travel alert on Friday warning Americans that al Qaeda may be planning attacks in August, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa. The State Department travel alert was based on the same intelligence that prompted it to close 21 U.S. embassies and consulates on Sunday, August 4, chiefly those in the Muslim world, a U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "The Department of State alerts U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fired employee sues Florida prosecutor of Trayvon Martin case Friday, Aug 02, 2013 03:16 PM PDT  By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A former employee of Florida State Attorney Angela Corey's office is suing the prosecutor, claiming he was illegally fired after he testified on behalf of George Zimmerman, who was acquitted in the death of black teenager Trayvon Martin. Ben Kruidbos, the former director of information technology for Corey's office, is seeking more than $5 million in damages in the lawsuit filed in Jacksonville, according to a legal documents. ... Full Story | Top |
| After two decades, U.S. Navy near deal to settle 'Flying Dorito' suit Friday, Aug 02, 2013 03:14 PM PDT By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On the list of Pentagon weapons programs gone awry, the Navy's A-12 Avenger attack jet stands out. The radar-evading, carrier-based McDonnell Douglas plane was 18 months behind schedule and about $1.4 billion over cost when then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney canceled the $57 billion program back in 1991. The case over the triangular-shaped A-12 Avenger, which was dubbed the "Flying Dorito," has been in legal limbo ever since, going all the way to the Supreme Court in 2011 before being referred back to a lower court. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's Conservatives hire Obama campaign chief in election role Friday, Aug 02, 2013 03:11 PM PDT  By Costas Pitas LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's governing Conservative Party has hired U.S. President Barack Obama's former campaign manager as part of its election team ahead of polls due in less than two years, the party said. Jim Messina, a lifelong Democrat, is the latest appointment by Prime Minister David Cameron in a bid to win the party's first overall majority in over 20 years, against a weak economic backdrop and poor poll ratings. ... Full Story | Top |
| Manning's leaks endangered informants: trial witness Friday, Aug 02, 2013 03:02 PM PDT  By Tom Hals FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - A State Department official contended in court on Friday that convicted soldier Bradley Manning's leaks of classified diplomatic cables led to foreign informants being moved over fears for their safety. The official, Michael Kozak, was called by U.S. military prosecutors to testify in the sentencing phase of Manning's court-martial over the purported damage done by anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks' publication in 2010 of hundreds of thousands of documents and video it received from the Iraq-based soldier. ... Full Story | Top |
| Postal Service could start shipping alcohol under Senate proposal Friday, Aug 02, 2013 02:50 PM PDT  By Elvina Nawaguna WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The cash-strapped Postal Service could tap a rich new revenue stream if Congress adopts the idea of two senators who want to allow it to ship alcohol, a business reserved for more than a century for its private competitors. The two Republican and Democratic senators late on Thursday introduced legislation to change a 1909 law that prohibits the Postal Service from shipping alcoholic beverages. The ban started a decade before prohibition-era laws made producing, selling and transporting alcohol illegal across the country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tents, garages, shops: Syria refugees hide in Lebanon shadows Friday, Aug 02, 2013 02:40 PM PDT  By Stephen Kalin TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - Atop a mountain lined with olive and cypress trees overlooking the Lebanese city of Tripoli, a disused shopping center houses nearly 1,000 refugees who have fled Syria's civil war. In the space of a few months the once-empty four-storey complex has become one of more than 360 informal settlements of refugees surging into Lebanon, a country overwhelmed by a sudden influx from its larger neighbor's civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: States all over the map on Obamacare prices Friday, Aug 02, 2013 02:39 PM PDT (Reuters) - U.S. states are showing wide variations on the cost of new insurance plans under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform, fueled by the way Obamacare's supporters and detractors describe those prices. Below are details of how different states arrived at their rate statistics for 2014. STATES SUPPORTIVE OF OBAMACARE California: Rates in plans available to individuals will range from 2 percent above to 29 percent below the average 2013 premiums that small employers pay in California's most populated areas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: In Obamacare rate debate, price gets political Friday, Aug 02, 2013 02:39 PM PDT  By Caroline Humer NEW YORK (Reuters) - With the October 1 date for enrollment in the health insurance exchanges being created by Obamacare less than two months away, a war of numbers has been escalating. Health insurance will cost way less. Or it will cost way more. It depends who you ask. Residents of states that have embraced President Barack Obama's healthcare reform, including New York, California and Oregon, will save on health insurance, officials there say. ... Full Story | Top |
| California men accused of running pot farm, keeping girl in box Friday, Aug 02, 2013 02:37 PM PDT By Ronnie Cohen SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Two California men accused of locking a 15-year-old girl in a metal tool box, forcing her to work on a marijuana farm and sexually abusing her pleaded innocent on Friday to a federal indictment as new details emerged in the grim case. During a hearing in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Ryan Balletto, 30, and Patrick Pearmain, 25, entered not guilty pleas to a federal grand jury indictment charging them with conspiracy and drug offenses. Balletto was also charged with possessing firearms in furtherance of narcotics trafficking. ... Full Story | Top |
| States, Texas bank file appeal in Dodd-Frank law challenge Friday, Aug 02, 2013 02:33 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group including a Texas bank and 11 state attorneys general that seeks to overturn parts of the Dodd-Frank financial law announced on Friday that it would appeal a U.S. judge's decision to dismiss the challenge. On Thursday, Judge Ellen Huvelle of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the lawsuit by the State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas, the attorneys general, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the 60 Plus Association. Huvelle said the group could not show that they had suffered injury as a result of the 2010 financial reform law. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain to close embassy in Yemen for two days due to security concerns Friday, Aug 02, 2013 02:02 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday that it will close its embassy in Yemen on August 4 and 5 due to "increased security concerns", after the United States announced a number of its embassies would also shut on Sunday. "We are particularly concerned about the security situation in the final days of Ramadan and into Eid," the Foreign Office said in a statement, referring to the Muslim holy month which ends on Wednesday evening. The Foreign Office did not say there were any specific threats but said that it constantly reviewed the security of staff and its embassies. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| FEMA declares West fertilizer explosion in Texas a major disaster Friday, Aug 02, 2013 02:01 PM PDT  By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The Obama Administration on Friday declared the deadly fertilizer plant explosion in the central Texas community of West in April to be a major disaster, approving the use of wider federal funding to help the town rebuild. The Federal Emergency Management Agency declined to issue a disaster declaration in June on the grounds that state resources were adequate to help the community of 2,800 rebuild. ... Full Story | Top |
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