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| Power outage plunges most of Venezuela into darkness Monday, Dec 02, 2013 08:06 PM PST  By Diego Ore and Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's second massive power outage of the year plunged much of the nation into darkness on Monday night, prompting renewed talk of sabotage from President Nicolas Maduro's government and cries of incompetence from its foes. Power went off in Caracas and other cities around the country soon after 8 p.m. local time (0030 GMT), to the intense annoyance of residents and commuters. Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver who narrowly won a presidential election this year after the death of his mentor and former leader Hugo Chavez, accused the opposition then of deliberately sabotaging the power grid to discredit him. His powerful ally and National Assembly president, Diosdado Cabello, repeated the same accusation after Monday's blackout that affected more than half of Venezuela. Full Story | Top |
| Landmark moment in making: judge to rule on Detroit bankruptcy Monday, Dec 02, 2013 07:52 PM PST  By Joseph Lichterman DETROIT (Reuters) - The largest-ever municipal bankruptcy petition in U.S. history faces a watershed moment on Tuesday, as the judge overseeing Detroit's bankruptcy case is scheduled to rule whether the city is eligible for protection from creditors - an event that has citizens, public officials, creditors, retirees and others awaiting the judge's words and preparing responses. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes has scheduled a hearing for 10 a.m. EST on Tuesday to announce his decision, which will be followed by the release of a written opinion. Rhodes' ruling will begin a new chapter in the case that first arrived in federal court with Detroit's July 18 bankruptcy petition. Full Story | Top |
| China's yuan surpasses euro as 2nd most-used currency in trade finance: SWIFT Monday, Dec 02, 2013 07:42 PM PST  China's yuan currency overtook the euro in October, becoming the second-most used currency in trade finance, global transaction services organization SWIFT said on Tuesday. The market share of yuan usage in trade finance, or Letters of Credit and Collection, grew to 8.66 percent in October 2013. The top five countries using the yuan for trade finance in October were China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany and Australia, SWIFT said in a statement. "The RMB is clearly a top currency for trade finance globally and even more so in Asia," Franck de Praetere, SWIFT's Asia Pacific head of payments and trade markets said. Full Story | Top |
| Hong Kong milkshake murderer loses appeal against second conviction Monday, Dec 02, 2013 07:22 PM PST By Grace Li HONG KONG (Reuters) - American expatriate Nancy Kissel, who is serving a life sentence for the "milkshake" murder of her Merrill Lynch banker husband, lost a bid to appeal against her conviction in Hong Kong on Tuesday. The case engrossed Hong Kong with its tales of domestic violence, rough sex and adultery that cast a shadow over the high-flying expatriate lifestyles enjoyed by many financial professionals in the former British colony. Her defense team had argued that the prosecution had made errors in its case, including stating that the murder happened when her husband, Robert Kissel, was on a bed, which they said contradicted testimony from a prosecution expert that the death was more likely to have happened on the floor. Full Story | Top |
| Biden urges Japan, China to lower tensions over air defense zone Monday, Dec 02, 2013 07:02 PM PST  By Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden urged Japan and China to lower tensions that have spiked since Beijing announced an air defense zone over disputed islands in the East China Sea, while repeating that Washington was "deeply concerned" by the move. Biden will meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday before flying to China the next day as part of an Asian trip in which he will seek a delicate balance between calming tensions over the zone while backing key ally Japan. "This latest incident underscores the need for agreement between China and Japan to establish crisis management and confidence building measures to lower tensions." Influential Chinese tabloid the Global Times, published by the Communist Party's official People's Daily, said Biden should not cozy up to Abe or offer effusive support to Japan. Full Story | Top |
| Thai police say won't resist protesters at headquarters Monday, Dec 02, 2013 07:02 PM PST BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai police said on Tuesday they would not stand in the way of protesters battling to seize the city police headquarters, a focal point of demonstrations aiming to topple the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. "Today, we won't use teargas, no confrontation, we will let them in if they want," the chief of Bangkok's metropolitan police, Kamronvit Thoopkrachang, told Reuters. A Reuters witness said police were clearing barbed-wire barricades from outside the headquarters. (Reporting by Kochakorn Boonlai; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Alan Raybould) Full Story | Top |
| U.S. military court hears case on prostitution at Army base Monday, Dec 02, 2013 06:24 PM PST A U.S. military court began hearing arguments on Monday in the case of a soldier accused of being a part of a suspected prostitution ring at Fort Hood, one of the largest Army bases in the United States. The Fort Hood case was part of a spate of embarrassing sex-related incidents in the military earlier this year that prompted Congress to look at ways to make top brass more accountable for the conduct of soldiers. Master Sergeant Brad Grimes, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was charged earlier this year with conspiring to pay a female private for sex. His trial is expected to be one of several involving the suspected prostitution ring at the base in central Texas. Full Story | Top |
| SAC portfolio manager kept Cohen in dark about insider info: witness Monday, Dec 02, 2013 06:15 PM PST  By Nate Raymond and Emily Flitter NEW YORK (Reuters) - SAC Capital Advisors portfolio manager Michael Steinberg deliberately avoided telling his boss Steven A. Cohen that he was trading on Dell Inc with inside information, a former analyst at the hedge fund testified on Monday. Jon Horvath, the U.S. government's star witness against Steinberg in the insider trading case, told a jury in Manhattan federal court that Steinberg had to reassure Cohen in November 2008 about his bets on Dell U.S. prosecutors showed the court a November 17 instant message conversation in which Steinberg told Horvath that Cohen had been "drilling" him for more details about a call he had made on Dell's stock. Horvath said Steinberg, in describing his conversation with Cohen, emphasized to Horvath that he had left out the fact that the information came from a company insider. Full Story | Top |
| Thai protesters aim to step up their assault on police Monday, Dec 02, 2013 06:13 PM PST  Thai anti-government protesters vowed to storm Bangkok's police headquarters on Tuesday in their unrelenting bid to oust the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The protests have brought clouds of teargas, rubber bullets and intermittent gunfire to parts of Bangkok, the latest turmoil in the struggle between the Bangkok-based establishment and forces loyal to Yingluck and her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Yingluck has promised not to use force against the crowds trying to storm her offices and the nearby metropolitan police headquarters which are protected by concrete barriers, razor wire and riot police. Earlier on Tuesday, a helicopter dropped leaflets over the protesters reminding them that their leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, was wanted on a charge of insurrection. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. appeals court affirms contempt judgment for anarchist Monday, Dec 02, 2013 06:07 PM PST By Dena Aubin NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal appeals court has upheld a contempt judgment against a self-described anarchist who refused to testify before a grand jury thought to be investigating a 2008 bomb explosion in New York's Times Square. Gerald Koch, 24, of Brooklyn was sent to jail in May after being found in civil contempt for refusing to testify, citing his rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. He was ordered held in federal custody for no longer than 18 months or the remaining life of the grand jury. Koch's lawyer, Susan Tipograph, could not immediately be reached for comment. Full Story | Top |
| Homeless man held after high-speed ferry commandeered in Seattle Monday, Dec 02, 2013 06:06 PM PST By Bryan Cohen SEATTLE (Reuters) - A homeless man accused of leaping a fence at the Seattle waterfront and briefly commandeering a high-speed ferry used to shuttle passengers between Washington state and Canada was in jail on Monday with bail set at $200,000. U.S. authorities say Samuel Kenneth McDonough was able to set the high-speed catamaran adrift into the region's Elliott Bay shortly before dawn on Sunday, his 33rd birthday, with no one else on board before authorities intervened to stop him and found he had locked himself in the ferry's wheelhouse. "It first appeared the clipper ship was adrift," Seattle police said in a statement. Police had earlier said he wanted to take the boat to West Seattle. Full Story | Top |
| Companies, academics say budget cuts threaten U.S. competitiveness Monday, Dec 02, 2013 06:05 PM PST  By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mandatory U.S. budget cuts known as sequestration are resulting in job losses across the country and threaten to undermine U.S. competitiveness in the global economy, industry executives and academics said on Monday, urging Congress to reverse the cuts. , one of the biggest U.S. weapons makers, said his company had already reduced its workforce by 19 percent in recent years, and more cuts were likely unless U.S. lawmakers ended the across-the-board cuts required under sequestration. Bush, who is also the chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association, said arms makers realized that the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan meant U.S. military spending would decline and that weapons needed to become more affordable. But he said the additional cuts now facing the Pentagon and other government agencies were reducing funding for critical research and development programs, which could hurt the U.S. economy and threaten national security in years to come. Full Story | Top |
| Trial opens for California policemen charged in homeless man's death Monday, Dec 02, 2013 05:40 PM PST  Defense lawyers countered that 37-year-old Kelly Thomas suffered from a weakened heart brought on by drug abuse and died because he became combative with the police officers during the July 5, 2011 incident that lead to his death. Former police officer Manuel Ramos, 39, is charged with second degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in Thomas' death, Jay Cicinelli, a 41-year-old ex-corporal with the Fullerton Police Department, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and use of excessive force. "This was routine and yet within the space of 30 minutes Kelly Thomas would be laying in the street in a pool of his own blood, unconscious and dying," he said. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: United Auto Workers considers first dues hike since 1967 Monday, Dec 02, 2013 05:13 PM PST  By Bernie Woodall DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers union is considering hiking membership dues by 25 percent, the first increase since 1967, as it faces dwindling membership and rising costs, a top UAW official and several union sources said. The UAW, the richest U.S. union with $1 billion in assets, is also one of the most politically influential, contributing to the campaigns of Democratic politicians from the state level to presidential candidates. UAW leaders are considering increasing dues to the equivalent of 2.5 hours per month, up from two hours per month for hourly workers in the automotive industry as well as governmental, nursing, academic and other fields represented by the union, several people familiar with the discussions said. Jimmy Settles, UAW vice president and the top union official for workers at Ford, emphasized that the rise in dues is "only in the discussion phase. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. calls for release of American jailed in Cuba Monday, Dec 02, 2013 05:10 PM PST  (Reuters) - The United States called on Monday for the immediate release of an American contractor jailed for the past four years in Cuba, saying his continued captivity on the communist-ruled island was "gravely disappointing." "Tomorrow, development worker Alan Gross will begin a fifth year of unjustified imprisonment in Cuba," the U.S. State Department said in a statement. "It is gravely disappointing, especially in light of its (Cuba's) professed goal of providing Cubans with Internet access, that the Cuban government has not allowed Mr. Gross to return to his family, where he belongs." Gross was arrested in Havana on December 3, 2009, for his work on a semi-covert U.S. program promoting political change on the island. Cuba has said it considered the work to be subversive. Gross said he was in Cuba to set up communications equipment to give unrestricted Internet access to Jewish groups. Full Story | Top |
| Accused Los Angeles airport shooter to appear in court Monday, Dec 02, 2013 04:57 PM PST  The man charged with killing a U.S. airport security officer in a shooting frenzy at Los Angeles International Airport is set to appear in federal court on Wednesday, a spokesman for U.S. prosecutors said. Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, was charged a day after the November 1 shooting with killing a federal officer and committing an act of violence at an international airport. He is accused of killing one Transportation Security Administration agent and wounding two other TSA officers and an airline passenger with a rifle inside the airport, also known as LAX, before he was seriously wounded in a gunfight with airport police. Ciancia, who last month was transported from a hospital to U.S. custody, will not enter a plea when he appears before U.S. Magistrate Judge David T. Bristow, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. Full Story | Top |
| Washington Mayor Vincent Gray to seek re-election Monday, Dec 02, 2013 04:37 PM PST  (Reuters) - Washington Mayor Vincent Gray, whose first term has been marred by a federal campaign finance probe stemming from the 2010 campaign, said on Monday he will run for re-election, putting an end to months of speculation. Gray, a Democrat who previously served on the City Council, was elected mayor of the semi-autonomous U.S. capital in 2010. Federal prosecutors have been looking into an off-the-books shadow campaign that was organized to assist Gray's bid, but Gray has denied wrongdoing. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. indictment charges Mexican ex-governor with drug smuggling Monday, Dec 02, 2013 04:18 PM PST A federal grand jury in Texas has charged a former governor in Mexico's ruling party with drug smuggling, bank fraud, racketeering, money laundering and working with drug cartels, according to an indictment unsealed on Monday. Tomas Yarrington, ex-governor of Tamaulipas state, on Mexico's northeastern border with Texas, took millions of dollars in bribes from the Gulf Cartel and other traffickers, said the indictment, which was returned by the grand jury in Brownsville, Texas. Full Story | Top |
| Mexican Congress committees give green light to electoral reform Monday, Dec 02, 2013 04:06 PM PST  By Adriana Barrera MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican congressional committees on Monday gave the green light to an electoral reform demanded by the opposition, paving the way for lawmakers to push ahead with the energy sector overhaul at the center of President Enrique Pena Nieto's reform agenda. The reform will allow federal lawmakers to serve consecutive terms, sets out rules for coalition governments and should strengthen Congress at the expense of the president. It is the last major hurdle to approval of the energy reform. The progress on the electoral bill comes after Mexico's main leftist party pulled out of a political pact that Pena Nieto's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) forged a year ago with opposition leaders to push through economic reforms. Full Story | Top |
| Wells Fargo: U.S. targeting executive as defendant may be retaliation Monday, Dec 02, 2013 04:05 PM PST  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co said Monday that a U.S. government request to add one of its executives as a defendant in a fraud case may be in retaliation for the bank's decision to cut off settlement talks. In a motion filed in New York federal court opposing the Justice Department's request to add executive Kurt Lofrano as a defendant, Wells Fargo said it told the government it would no longer engage in settlement negotiations on October 29 after months of discussions. The bank questioned why the Justice Department waited a year before deciding to pursue claims against Lofrano, who has joined a very short list of individual executives to be sued by the government over actions that contributed to the financial crisis. On November 22, the Justice Department asked U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman for permission to add Lofrano, who it said played a "critical role" in the bank's alleged failure to report the loans' flaws to the government. Full Story | Top |
| Four UK mobile operators agree to stop enforcing mid-contract price hikes Monday, Dec 02, 2013 04:03 PM PST  Four of Britain's largest mobile phone operators have agreed to government proposals to stop enforcing mid-contract price hikes and to cap bills from stolen or lost phones, as the cost of living shapes up as the top issue before an election in 2015. EE, the market No. 1 with roughly 27 million subscribers, Vodafone, Three and Virgin Media said they would allow customers to break contracts without penalty if their tariffs were raised mid-contract, a Department of Culture and Media statement said. No. 2 mobile operator O2, with about 23 million subscribers, said it was still in talks with Britain's government about the proposals. O2 said in a statement, "We need clarity on what the guidance means for us and our customers before we can sign up to all the commitments referred to by Government." It was not clear when the proposals on mobile phone charges - among some of the lowest in Europe - would be introduced, but the government said it was aiming for the liability cap to be in place from spring next year. Full Story | Top |
| Health disparities 'could be eliminated in a generation': study Monday, Dec 02, 2013 04:02 PM PST By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Health disparities between rich and poor nations could be banished in a generation by investment in research, vaccines and drugs to combat diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, global health experts said on Tuesday. In a report setting out a plan for a "grand convergence" in health, the experts said world leaders needed to press for a concerted increase in research and development (R&D) investment to develop new medicines, vaccines and health technologies. "For the first time in human history, we are on the verge of being able to achieve a milestone for humanity: eliminating major health inequalities...so that every person on earth has an equal chance at a healthy and productive life," said Larry Summers, a former U.S. Treasury Secretary who co-chaired a commission on global health. The report, called "Global Health 2035: A World Converging within a Generation" was written by 25 leading international health experts and economists, chaired by Summers, of Harvard University, and published in The Lancet health journal. Full Story | Top |
| Shopper sues Macy's, says held in New York store jail cell Monday, Dec 02, 2013 04:02 PM PST A shopper is suing Macy's for $1 million over being handcuffed and thrown into a jail cell at the retail chain's flagship store in Manhattan two days after last year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The plaintiff, Rachid Bakhari, said the incident started when he tried to return an ill-fitting belt he had bought for $27, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Suddenly he was handcuffed by security personnel who tossed him into the store's jail cell, where he was held for three hours, the suit said. Bakhari in his lawsuit noted that "within its Herald Square store, Macy's maintains a jail cell, not well advertised in the promotions for its Thanksgiving Day parade." Macy's did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Full Story | Top |
| Technology, rules keep Amazon drone delivery in hangar, for now Monday, Dec 02, 2013 03:54 PM PST  By Bill Rigby SEATTLE (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos made a splash on Sunday with his radical plan to deliver goods to millions of its customers' doors by using a fleet of unmanned drones, but the bold vision is not likely to become a reality this decade. By Bezos' own admission, the technology that would enable electric-powered 'octocopters' to fly to pre-programmed addresses unaided by humans is still early in development, and the United States is not likely to establish rules for civilian unmanned aircraft systems until 2015 at the earliest. The piece was aired on the eve of "Cyber Monday," one of the busiest online shopping days of the year when it helps Amazon to be on the minds of customers. Dubbed "Prime Air" by Amazon, the vehicles could be used to deliver packages up to 5 lbs (2.3 kg) in less than 30 minutes within a 10-mile (16-km) radius of Amazon's so-called fulfillment centers, said Bezos. Full Story | Top |
| Man removed from flight in Phoenix after TB alert Monday, Dec 02, 2013 03:52 PM PST A man suspected of having tuberculosis was removed from a US Airways Express flight with 70 passengers aboard shortly after it landed in Phoenix over the weekend, authorities said on Monday. The man was removed from a flight from Austin, Texas, on Saturday, one of the busiest U.S. travel days of the year, after an alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Even if TB is confirmed in the traveler, the risk to other passengers and the crew is extremely low ... we are not recommending other precautions," CDC spokesman Benjamin Haynes said. A US Airways spokesman said the Transportation Security Administration had not flagged the passenger prior to the flight, although once in the air the CDC notified the airline that he had "do not board" status. Full Story | Top |
| Retooled Obamacare website traffic surges but problems remain Monday, Dec 02, 2013 03:48 PM PST A surge of visitors clogged the U.S. government's revamped healthcare insurance shopping website on Monday, signaling that President Barack Obama's administration has a way to go in fixing the portal that showcases his signature domestic policy. By 5:30 p.m. EST, the website had logged 750,000 visitors, the White House said, nearly the 800,000 daily users the refurbished site is supposed to be able to handle. That was significant progress for a website that has become the face of one of the biggest crises of Obama's administration, one that has undermined the Democratic president's promotion of an activist government and threatened to become a drag on Democrats in next year's elections, when control of Congress will be at stake. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was passed in 2010. Full Story | Top |
| Obama announces funding for AIDS research, prevention Monday, Dec 02, 2013 03:44 PM PST  President Barack Obama on Monday announced a boost to funding for research into HIV/AIDS prevention and pledged up to $5 billion to support an international effort aimed at combating HIV/AIDS. Speaking at the White House to mark World AIDS Day, the president said the United States would contribute $1 for every $2 pledged by other donors over the next three years to support The Global Fund, an international financing institution that fights AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Obama also said he would redirect $100 million into a National Institutes of Health program to research a cure for HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. "The United States should be at the forefront of new discoveries into how to put HIV into long-term remission without requiring lifelong therapies - or, better yet, eliminate it completely," Obama said at an event attended by Secretary of State John Kerry and software magnate Bill Gates, whose foundation has pledged up to $500 million for The Global Fund. Full Story | Top |
| Biden: U.S. 'deeply concerned' about China air defense zone - media Monday, Dec 02, 2013 03:35 PM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States remains "deeply concerned" about China's establishment of an air defense zone in the East China Sea, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, visiting Japan, was quoted by the Asahi Shimbun daily as saying. In a written interview with the paper, Biden, who will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other officials on Tuesday, also called on both China and Japan to take steps to lower tensions in the region, where they are locked in a territorial dispute over a set of islands. Biden will visit China and South Korea after Japan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed official strongly backs proposed repo tool, cites policy Monday, Dec 02, 2013 03:35 PM PST  By Jonathan Spicer NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's point person in financial markets on Monday gave a strong and detailed endorsement of a proposed tool for smoothing the eventual tightening of U.S. monetary policy. The tool -- known as a fixed-rate full-allotment reverse repo facility -- "offers a promising new technological advance" for conducting policy, Simon Potter, who runs the New York Fed's market operations, said in remarks to bond traders. Potter's full-throated backing of the facility could pave the way for full adoption by the Federal Reserve. The speech comes nearly three months after Fed policymakers decided to start testing it as a way to better control short-term interest rates when the time comes to raise the key federal funds rate. Full Story | Top |
| Fake trades and a fridge used in Madoff fraud: witness Monday, Dec 02, 2013 03:30 PM PST  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bernard Madoff's longtime lieutenant testified on Monday that several former colleagues were deeply enmeshed in Madoff's decades-long Ponzi scheme, using everything from fake trades to a refrigerator to hide the truth about the fraud. Frank DiPascali, Madoff's one-time chief financial officer, told jurors in New York federal court that the scheme stretched back "as far as I can remember," to his earliest days at the firm as a 19-year-old in the mid-1970s. Annette Biongiorno and Joann Crupi, who managed clients' investment accounts for the unit where the fraud took place, and computer programmers Jerome O'Hara and George Perez. PLAYING IT COOL On Monday, DiPascali testified that Biongiorno inserted fake trades into customer statements, including hedges that were never placed, in order to make it seem as though clients had not lost money when the stock market cratered in 1987. Full Story | Top |
| Suspect held for taking high-speed ferry in Seattle Monday, Dec 02, 2013 03:17 PM PST A man accused of leaping a fence at the Seattle waterfront and briefly commandeering a high-speed ferry used to shuttle passengers between Washington state and Canada was in jail on Monday with bail set at $200,000. U.S. authorities say Samuel Kenneth McDonough was able to set the high-speed catamaran adrift into the region's Elliott Bay on Sunday with no one else on board before authorities intervened to stop him and found he had locked himself in the ferry's wheelhouse. "It first appeared the clipper ship was adrift," Seattle police said in a statement. "However, when a tugboat went to retrieve the boat they discovered there was a man on board." McDonough, 33, told police he had been trying to take the ferry to West Seattle, the statement said. Full Story | Top |
| Bob Dylan investigated in France for 'racist' comments Monday, Dec 02, 2013 03:12 PM PST  The American singer Bob Dylan is being investigated in France after a Croatian community organization alleged that comments he made to Rolling Stone magazine last year amounted to incitement to racial hatred, Paris prosecutors said on Monday. Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood." ( http://r.reuters.com/def25v) The formal investigation followed a legal complaint from the organization, CRICCF, which is based in France, alleging that the comments as carried in the French version of the magazine violated French racial hatred laws. In France, racism complaints automatically trigger formal investigations, irrespective of the merits of the case. Dylan was awarded France's prestigious Legion d'Honneur award last month in Paris. Full Story | Top |
| Joyous same-sex couples wed in Hawaii as gay marriage becomes legal Monday, Dec 02, 2013 03:11 PM PST By Malia Mattoch McManus HONOLULU (Reuters) - Dozens of same-sex couples, led by a gay minister and his longtime partner, tied the knot in Hawaii early on Monday as a new law went into effect at midnight, making the Aloha state the 15th to legalize gay marriage. With Democratic Governor Neil Abercrombie in attendance, Jonipher Kwong and Chris Nelson became the first gay couple to marry in Hawaii during a ceremony at the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu, just minutes after same-sex weddings became legal. "I also felt a little sad that some of the people who came before were not able to complete marriage and see it in their lifetime." Hawaii's governor signed legislation last month extending marriage rights to same-sex couples, capping 20 years of legal and political rancor in a state regarded as a pioneer in advancing the cause of gay matrimony. "We're both still riding cloud nine at this point." PATH TO GAY MARRIAGE The path to gay marriage in Hawaii, long a popular wedding and honeymoon destination, was long and bumpy. Full Story | Top |
| Brazil to probe FIFA in racism case ahead of World Cup draw Monday, Dec 02, 2013 03:06 PM PST  By Andrew Downie SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Just four days before the draw for the 2014 World Cup, FIFA faced yet another embarrassment when a Sao Paulo prosecutor opened an investigation into possible racism by soccer's world governing body. A Sao Paulo state prosecutor has asked FIFA and the company it hired to organize Friday's draw to explain why it chose two white-skinned actors to present the televised show instead of two black-skinned actors. Two Afro-Brazilians had been suggested as possible hosts but were overlooked in favor of light-skinned model Fernanda Lima and her white husband Rodrigo Hilbert, a TV presenter, news magazine Veja reported without saying how it obtained the information. "I opened the investigation due to the suspicion of a crime of racism on the part of FIFA, or by the company they selected to organize the show, GEO Eventos," prosecutor Christiano Jorge Santos told Reuters, adding that, if the report is true, he will seek to open criminal proceedings. Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Brazil to probe FIFA in racism case ahead of World Cup draw Monday, Dec 02, 2013 03:01 PM PST By Andrew Downie SAO PAULO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Just four days before the draw for the 2014 World Cup, FIFA faced yet another embarrassment when a Sao Paulo prosecutor opened an investigation into possible racism by soccer's world governing body. A Sao Paulo state prosecutor has asked FIFA and the company it hired to organise Friday's draw to explain why it chose two white-skinned actors to present the televised show instead of two black-skinned actors. Two Afro-Brazilians had been suggested as possible hosts but were overlooked in favour of light-skinned model Fernanda Lima and her white husband Rodrigo Hilbert, a TV presenter, news magazine Veja reported without saying how it obtained the information. "I opened the investigation due to the suspicion of a crime of racism on the part of FIFA, or by the company they selected to organise the show, GEO Eventos," prosecutor Christiano Jorge Santos told Reuters, adding that, if the report is true, he will seek to open criminal proceedings. Full Story | Top |
| Colombian president 'optimistic' about peace, to meet Obama Tuesday Monday, Dec 02, 2013 02:48 PM PST  By David Adams MIAMI (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, bound for Washington on an official visit, said on Monday he remains cautiously optimistic about peace talks with Marxist FARC rebels taking place in Cuba. "I think the conditions are there" for a successful conclusion to the talks, Santos told an audience of academics, students and diplomats at the University of Miami. "Things are moving hopefully in the correct direction." But he quoted a Colombian proverb as a cautionary note, saying, "The bread can very well burn right at the door of the oven." Santos, a Harvard-educated journalist, spoke eloquently in English about his hopes for peace and economic growth in Colombia during a 30-minute speech at the invitation of University of Miami President Donna Shalala, who awarded him the school's President's Medal for service to society. Santos, on his second official visit to the United States since taking office in 2010, hailed both the year-old peace talks as well as economic progress at home. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. hospital worker sentenced to 39 years for spreading hepatitis Monday, Dec 02, 2013 02:48 PM PST  By Daniel Lovering CONCORD, New Hampshire (Reuters) - A former New Hampshire hospital technician who caused dozens of people to become infected with hepatitis C when he injected himself with syringes of pain killers that were then used on patients was sentenced to 39 years in prison on Monday. David Kwiatkowski, 34, admitted in August to stealing the drugs and leaving used syringes for hospital use for years despite knowing he was infected with hepatitis C, a potentially fatal virus that attacks the liver. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante in Concord, New Hampshire, after pleading guilty to obtaining controlled substances by fraud and tampering with a consumer product. The judge said his actions verged on "cruelty." "The whole reason I got into healthcare was to help people, and my addiction took that away," Kwiatkowski said before being sentenced. Full Story | Top |
| Hacker of Koch Industries website sentenced in Kansas Monday, Dec 02, 2013 02:38 PM PST  A Wisconsin man was sentenced on Monday to two years probation after he admitted taking part in a cyber attack sponsored by the hacker group Anonymous against Kansas conglomerate Koch Industries in February 2011, federal prosecutors said. Eric J. Rosol, 38, also was ordered by the U.S. District Court in Wichita, Kansas, to pay $183,000 restitution for waging the attack on Koch Industries's, which is led by billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch who are prominent contributors to conservative political causes. Americans for Prosperity, a group founded by David Koch, launched an advertising campaign to support the proposed curbs. Full Story | Top |
| Outages in Tripoli as minorities block power output: government Monday, Dec 02, 2013 02:30 PM PST Libya's government blamed protests by two minority groups demanding more political rights for outages in the capital, Tripoli, and other parts of the North African country, state media said on Monday. Both groups are demanding that their languages and cultural identities be guaranteed in a new constitution two years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. The strikes come on top of widespread protests at oilfields and ports over higher pay and political rights that halted most exports and dried up state revenues. Full Story | Top |
| Myanmar looks abroad for investment in healthcare Monday, Dec 02, 2013 02:25 PM PST  By Jared Ferrie YANGON (Reuters) - Yangon General Hospital was once the jewel in the crown of one of Southeast Asia's best healthcare systems. It is a scene that Myanmar's reformist government hopes to change as it ratchets up spending on the sector and seeks foreign investment to revive one of Asia's sickest healthcare systems. Several leading regional healthcare companies are already operating in Myanmar and others plan to enter soon, seeing huge potential in the country's underserved population of about 60 million people. Attracting foreign investment is part of an overhaul of the healthcare system by the quasi-civilian government that took over from the army in 2011. Full Story | Top |
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