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| Asian shares ride U.S. optimism but EM concerns remain Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 07:58 PM PST  By Hideyuki Sano TOKYO (Reuters) - A brisk U.S. manufacturing survey gave Asian stocks markets a lift on Friday and bolstered the dollar, though underlying concerns about China's economic growth kept investors from rushing to buy some emerging market shares. Further tension in emerging economies could direct investors' attention to the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Sydney this weekend. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. leads pushback against emerging market angst at G20 Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 07:49 PM PST  As finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 developed and emerging gather ahead of a weekend meeting in Sydney, many are already talking at cross purposes. Emerging nations want the U.S. Federal Reserve to calibrate its winding down of stimulus so as to mitigate the impact on their economies. "Emerging markets need to take steps of their own to get their fiscal house in order and put structural reforms in place," U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said at a financial conference in Sydney ahead of the ministerial meetings. That was a sentiment very much echoed by the finance ministers of Japan and Britain. Full Story | Top |
| Illinois leads multistate probe of Sallie Mae's student loan practices Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 07:42 PM PST By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - SLM Corp, better known as Sallie Mae, faces a multistate probe led by Illinois into its student loan practices, a spokeswoman for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said on Thursday. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, Sallie Mae said it was facing "significant year-over-year increases" in the number of investigative demands and in the breadth of information being sought. The rise in requests has been largely driven by state attorneys general and by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the company said. Madigan's spokeswoman, Natalie Bauer, said Illinois and other states have opened an "active investigation" into Sallie Mae's loan servicing and debt collection practices, among other issues. Full Story | Top |
| Obama to meet Dalai Lama on Friday as U.S. urges talks with China Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 07:41 PM PST  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will meet exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the White House on Friday in a show of concern about China's human rights practices. Obama's midmorning session with the Dalai Lama may well draw a reprimand from China, which views him as a violent separatist because he seeks more autonomy for Tibet. In what appeared to be a small concession to the Chinese, Obama will see the Dalai Lama in the White House Map Room, a historically important room but of less significance than the Oval Office, the president's inner sanctum. Full Story | Top |
| China urges Obama to cancel meeting with Dalai Lama Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 07:39 PM PST  China urged the United States on Friday to scrap plans for U.S. President Barack Obama to meet exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama later in the day, warning that the planned meeting would "seriously damage" ties between the countries. The White House National Security Council said Obama would meet the Dalai Lama at the White House on Friday in a show of concern about China's human rights practices. Obama's planned meeting with the Dalai Lama is a "gross interference" in China's internal affairs, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement on the ministry's website. Full Story | Top |
| Arizona lawmakers pass bill to allow faith-based refusal of services Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 07:38 PM PST By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona lawmakers gave final approval on Thursday to a bill that would allow businesses to refuse service to customers when such work would violate their religious beliefs, in a move critics describe as a license to discriminate against gays and others. Under the bill, a business owner would have a defense against a discrimination lawsuit, provided a decision to deny service was motivated by a "sincerely held" religious belief and that giving such service would have substantially burdened the exercise of their religious beliefs. "The Arizona legislature sent a clear message today: In our state everyone is free to live and work according to their faith," said Cathi Herrod, president of the conservative Center for Arizona Policy, which helped write the bill. The bill passed the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives 33-27 on Thursday, a day after it won similar approval in the state Senate. Full Story | Top |
| Four dead in attack at Native American tribal office in California: CNN Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 07:37 PM PST (Reuters) - Four people were killed and two wounded on Thursday when a woman opened fire at a Native American tribal office in Northern California, CNN reported, citing the county sheriff. The suspect, who was not immediately identified, also used a knife during the attack, CNN said, citing Modoc County Sheriff Mike Poindexter. She was taken into custody following the incident at an eviction hearing at a building owned by a Native American tribe in Modoc County, near the Oregon border, the network reported. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Paul Tait) Full Story | Top |
| Ex-NFL star Darren Sharper pleads not guilty to rape Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 07:01 PM PST  By Dana Feldman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former football star Darren Sharper pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges that he drugged and raped two women in a Los Angeles hotel as investigations continue into similar sex crimes in four other U.S. states, according to police and court documents. The hearing occurred on the same day police in his home of Miami Beach, Florida, released details on one of the probes against him. Sharper, who played 14 years in the National Football League and won a Super Bowl title in 2010 with the New Orleans Saints, is accused by prosecutors of giving the prescription sleep medication zolpidem to the women in Los Angeles, causing them to pass out. In October, he met two women at a West Hollywood night club and brought them back to a Los Angeles hotel room, where he gave a drug-spiked drink to both of them and raped one, prosecutors said in court papers. Full Story | Top |
| California senate leader: Carbon tax would return revenue to poor, transit Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 06:54 PM PST By Rory Carroll SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A carbon tax proposal outlined on Thursday by California Senate leader Darrell Steinberg would raise an estimated $3.6 billion in its first year, revenue he said would go into the pocketbooks of the state's poorest residents as well as public transportation. The tax, which would apply to fuels like gasoline, would start at 15 cents a gallon in 2015 and rise to 24 cents a gallon in 2020, Steinberg said in a speech at the Sacramento Press Club. Poverty in the state is growing and money raised by the tax would be returned to low- and moderate-income working people via a federal tax credit, Steinberg said. The tax would halt plans to bring fuels under the state's cap and trade program next year, a policy that since the beginning of 2013 has regulated the emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases from large stationary sources, such as power plants and cement factories. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela protesters, troops clash, death toll at six Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 06:52 PM PST  By Andrew Cawthorne and Daniel Wallis CARACAS (Reuters) - Security forces and protesters fought around Venezuela on Thursday in streets blocked by burning barricades and a supporter of socialist President Nicolas Maduro was shot dead, the sixth fatality from more than a week of violence. Maduro said a "fascist bullet" killed Alexis Martinez, a brother of a ruling Socialist Party legislator, in the central city of Barquisimeto. The protesters, mostly students, want Maduro to resign, and blame his government for violent crime, high inflation, shortages of goods and alleged repression of opponents. The most sustained clashes on Thursday were in the western Andean states of Tachira and Merida, which have been especially volatile since hardline opposition leaders called supporters onto the streets in early February. Full Story | Top |
| Citi CEO Corbat gets $14.1 million in 2013 Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 06:45 PM PST  (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Michael Corbat received a 23 percent pay rise in 2013, his first full year after replacing Vikram Pandit at the helm, a regulatory filing on Thursday showed. Corbat earned an estimated $14.1 million in 2013 under Citi's executive pay structure, which the company overhauled last year amidst shareholder pressure. He had received a salary of $11.5 million in 2012. According to the regulatory filing, Corbat received deferred stock worth about $3.78 million based on the stock's Thursday close. (http://r.reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Consortium resumes work on Panama Canal expansion Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 06:39 PM PST  By Lomi Kriel and Sonya Dowsett PANAMA CITY/MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish-led consortium resumed expansion work on the Panama Canal on Thursday, raising hopes the two sides will finally draw a line under an acrimonious stand-off over massive cost overruns. As workers returned to the construction site after a stoppage lasting more than two weeks, a source close to the consortium led by Spanish builder Sacyr and Italy's Salini Impregilo said it had resolved internal disagreements over the key issue of financing. "The restarting of the works is being done in a way that will enable it to reach full pace in the shortest time possible," the consortium said in a statement. A source close to negotiations between the consortium and the Panama Canal Authority confirmed that work had resumed. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico criticizes fatal San Diego border shooting Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 06:28 PM PST By Marty Graham SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Mexican government officials criticized the U.S. Border Patrol on Thursday for the fatal shooting of one of its citizens in a confrontation in Southern California this week, saying it opposed the use of lethal force in border control operations. A U.S. border agent shot and killed a Mexican man on Tuesday while on patrol near San Diego, after being pelted with rocks while trying to apprehend a group of suspected illegal border crossers. "We firmly reiterate that the use of lethal force in border control operations is unacceptable," Mexico's foreign ministry said in a statement released by the Mexican consulate in San Diego. The statement cited 21 deaths of Mexican nationals as a result of encounters with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents along the U.S.-Mexico border since 2010. Full Story | Top |
| No media access to images of semi-clad Bieber - for now: judge Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 06:27 PM PST  By David Adams MIAMI (Reuters) - A Miami judge on Thursday temporarily blocked media access to any more video images of a semi-clad Justin Bieber filmed while the teenage pop singer was in police custody last month after his arrest for driving under the influence. The police station footage included clips of Bieber giving a urine sample behind a low wall. Miami-Dade County Judge William Altfield ordered that about 10 hours of police surveillance video not be released until he has been able to review them in his chambers. "Do you believe that the public has the right to ... see Justin Bieber urinating?" the judge asked attorneys representing several large media companies seeking access to the video under Florida's broad public records law. Full Story | Top |
| Angry and unpaid, Thai farmers poised for airport protest Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 06:25 PM PST  By Pairat Temphairojana BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thousands of Thai farmers threatened to head for Bangkok's main airport in their tractors on Friday in protest against non-payment in a controversial rice subsidy scheme, heaping pressure on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down. The rice program was among the populist policies pioneered by Yingluck's billionaire brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister central to a conflict that has divided Thais for years and triggered protests, violent at times, that have paralyzed parts of the capital for weeks. It was not immediately clear what the farmers planned to do at the airport or how long they would stay, but the convoy evoked memories of 2008 when anti-Thaksin protesters blockaded Bangkok's airports and held crippling rallies against two Thaksin-backed governments. "We are not sure where we will set up camp, but we will not leave the capital until we are paid for every grain of rice sold," former member of parliament Chada Thaiseth said on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. proposes new safety rules for farm pesticide use Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 05:55 PM PST Farm workers, children and other people working or living near farm fields would have more protection from hazardous pesticides under changes proposed on Thursday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Today marks an important milestone for the farm workers who plant, tend, and harvest the food that we put on our tables each day," Gina McCarthy, EPA administrator, said in a statement. EPA is proposing revisions to the agency's 22-year-old "Worker Protection Standard" that EPA officials say will help protect approximately 2 million U.S. farm workers and their families from exposure to pesticides used to protect crops from weeds, insects, and disease. The EPA said pesticides are beneficial tools in agriculture when used in proper concentrations and with proper protections. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. calls on China, Japan and Europe to boost domestic demand Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 05:54 PM PST  SYDNEY (Reuters) - China, Japan and Europe need to concentrate on boosting domestic demand to help rebalance the world economy, the head of the U.S. Treasury said on Friday. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told a finance conference ahead of this weekend's G20 meeting that Japan's economic reforms, known as Abenomics after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, had made progress, although more still needed to be done. Asked about the risks from China's shadow banking sector, Lew said the sheer size of the Chinese economy meant Beijing had the scope to deal with any dangers. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU seeks peace as Ukraine death toll hits 75 Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 05:54 PM PST  By Richard Balmforth and Alessandra Prentice KIEV (Reuters) - European Union ministers sought to broker a political settlement in Ukraine after gun battles between police and anti-government protesters brought the death toll to 75 in two days of the worst violence in the country since Soviet times. Three hours of fierce fighting in Kiev's Independence Square, which was recaptured by the protesters, left the bodies of over 20 civilians strewn on the ground, a short distance from where President Viktor Yanukovich was meeting the EU delegation. The ministers, from Germany, France and Poland, embarked on "a night of difficult negotiations" with Yanukovich and the opposition, said EU officials, who hoped a plan for an interim government and early elections could bring peace. "Talks of Polish, German, French foreign ministers at Yanukovich's office still going on. Full Story | Top |
| Japan, U.S. remain far apart on TPP trade talks: Amari Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 05:50 PM PST Japan and the United States remain far apart on bilateral trade talks that are key to a Pacific-wide trade deal, Japanese economy minister Akira Amari said on Friday. The two biggest economies in the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks are seeking agreement on their key bilateral issues - cars for the United States and farm products such as rice for Japan - to facilitate a deal among the 12 Pacific Rim nations in the talks. Amari told a regular news conference that "considerable gaps remain" between Tokyo and Washington. "Prime Minister (Shinzo Abe) instructed me to make my utmost efforts in the negotiations," Amari said. Full Story | Top |
| Japan's Aso urges U.S. to communicate with markets on tapering Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 05:50 PM PST  By Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso on Friday urged the United States to keep explaining to financial markets how it plans to wind back its massive monetary stimulus, noting the tapering is a good thing as it reflects an improving economy. Ahead of his departure for the Group of 20 finance ministers' meeting in Sydney this weekend, Aso called on emerging market economies to implement necessary reforms to guard against any spillover from the U.S. tapering. Global economic growth and ructions in emerging markets are set to take centre stage at the G20 meeting, following turmoil in emerging markets after the U.S. taper raised concerns of sharp capital outflows and weaker growth. "It is a good thing that the United States is starting to reduce its quantitative easing as it reflects improvement in the U.S. economy," Aso told reporters after a cabinet meeting. Full Story | Top |
| Three inmates injured in Arizona prison melee Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 05:40 PM PST Three inmates were injured on Thursday in a large fight involving dozens of inmates inside a medium-security unit at an Arizona prison before the melee was ultimately quelled, authorities said. Bill Lamoreaux, a spokesman for the state's Department of Corrections, said the fight broke out at about 4:15 p.m. local time and involved fewer than 100 inmates. No prison guards were injured during the incident, which was "quelled a short time later by staff members," Lamoreaux said. Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon plays down intelligence officer's provocative China assessment Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 05:39 PM PST By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Thursday played down remarks by a senior Navy intelligence officer who told a public forum that he believed China was training its forces to be capable of carrying out a "short, sharp" war with Japan in the East China Sea. The comments by Captain James Fanell, director of intelligence and information operations at the U.S. Pacific Fleet, were little noticed when he made them last week at a conference on maritime strategy called "West 2014" in San Diego. They can be seen here: http://link.reuters.com/qyq96v Fanell also predicted China, which declared an air defense zone last year in the East China Sea where it is locked in a territorial dispute with Japan over a string of small islands, would declare another air defense zone by the end of 2015, this time in the South China Sea. The Pentagon's top spokesman, Rear Admiral John Kirby, declined to comment on whether it was appropriate for Fanell to publicly offer such a blunt assessment, but said the Pentagon wanted closer ties with China's military. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council to vote on Syria aid resolution Saturday Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 05:24 PM PST  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council will vote on Saturday on a resolution to boost humanitarian aid access in Syria, where the United Nations says 9.3 million people need help, although it is unclear if Russia and China will support or veto the draft. Australian U.N. Ambassador Gary Quinlan, who co-authored the text with envoys from Jordan and Luxembourg, told reporters the vote would be held at 11 a.m. (1600 GMT) on Saturday. Russia, supported by China, has shielded its ally Syria on the U.N. Security Council during the three-year-long civil war. Full Story | Top |
| Have a cigar: Cuba and Europe to write a business plan Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:58 PM PST  By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Eleven months before Barack Obama's historic handshake with Raul Castro, Europe staged its own show of friendliness with Cuba. It all happened one hot January day last year at an EU-Latin America summit in Chile. Castro cheerily waved alongside European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso for the official group picture and then, as the photo gathering broke up, German Chancellor Angela Merkel shook his hand. But all this warmth at Nelson Mandela's memorial service in South Africa has brought no radical change and the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, imposed in 1962, remains. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Vice President Biden phones Polish PM to discuss Ukraine -White House Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:54 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Thursday to discuss violent protests in Ukraine that have killed 75 people, the White House said. "They discussed steps the United States, Poland, and the European Union are taking to support an end to the violence and a political solution that is in the best interests of the Ukrainian people," the White House said in a statement. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Peter Cooney) Full Story | Top |
| Oregon says will not defend state ban on gay marriage Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:52 PM PST Oregon will not defend a ban on gay marriage in the state, which was sued by four same-sex couples who argue the prohibition violates equality guarantees enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, the state's top law enforcement official said on Thursday. The decision by Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum makes Oregon the third state in the past month to cease defense in federal court of gay marriage bans, after Nevada and Virginia, as activists fight for legalization across the United States. "The law in this area is developing, and it is now clear that there is no rational basis for Oregon to refuse to honor the commitments made by same-sex couples in the same way it honors the commitments of opposite-sex couples," Rosenblum, a Democrat, said in announcing the decision. But the move will not result in immediate legalization of gay marriage in the Democratic-dominated state, where a 2004 voter-approved amendment to the state constitution banned same-sex nuptials. Full Story | Top |
| DirecTV CEO urges U.S. scrutiny of Comcast-TWC broadband reach Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:49 PM PST  DirecTV Chief Executive Officer Mike White on Thursday called for U.S. regulatory scrutiny of Comcast Corp's proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable Inc and the "effective broadband monopoly" he said it might create in as much as two-thirds of the United States. The deal will be reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission and either the U.S. Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission, the two agencies that share antitrust oversight in the United States. "If the deal is approved as proposed, it clearly represents an unprecedented media concentration in one company," White told analysts on a conference call after DirecTV reported quarterly results. Comcast, when it announced the deal on February 13, said it would not reduce competition because the two cable providers do not compete in any markets. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. report says planned cuts to Afghan forces threaten stability Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:47 PM PST  Taliban insurgents will increasingly threaten Afghan stability after international forces withdraw in December, and Kabul will need more troops than currently envisioned to provide basic security, according to a new independent strategy review. The assessment, conducted by the Center for Naval Analyses and obtained by Reuters on Thursday, warned that plans to shrink the size of the Afghan National Security Force to 228,500 from the current 382,000 would put the U.S. policy of preventing the country from becoming a safe haven for extremists "at risk." "We recommend that the international community establish a new plan to fund and sustain the ANSF at an end strength of about 373,400, with a proportionally sized assistance mission (including advisers), through at least 2018," said the report by the center, part of a nonprofit research and analysis group. The 378-page CNA report, requested in a law passed by Congress, will pressure the legislature to consider additional support for Afghan forces for several more years, even as the Pentagon is facing huge cuts to its own budget. Full Story | Top |
| Japan firms resist government pressure to lift base wages: Reuters survey Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:44 PM PST  By James Topham TOKYO (Reuters) - Fewer than one in five Japanese companies plan to raise base wages in the coming business year, a Reuters survey shows, a stark sign that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's stimulus policies are still struggling to gain traction. Some big names, like Toyota Motor Corp , are expected to raise base pay, but the bulk of companies in the Reuters Corporate Survey say they will at most raise bonuses, which can easily be reversed if the economic recovery lapses. Only 11 percent of firms said they plan to lift overall remuneration - bonuses plus any rise in base pay - by enough to cover a 3 percentage point rise in the national sales tax that takes effect April 1. Abenomics has spurred economic growth and sharp climbs in corporate profits with bold monetary easing and government spending, but economists argue that base pay hikes, along with more capital spending, are key to transitioning to a self-sustaining recovery. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. chief wants 3,000 more troops for Central African Republic Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:30 PM PST  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday appealed to the international community to send an additional 3,000 troops and police to Central African Republic to combat worsening sectarian violence until a likely U.N. peacekeeping force is established. He told the U.N. Security Council he would shortly report to the 15-member body with a recommendation for a U.N. peacekeeping force with a robust mandate to protect civilians and promote stability in the landlocked former French colony. The people of the Central African Republic do not have months to wait," he said. "The international community must act decisively now." Ban proposed that an international force of African, French and European troops be increased by a third within weeks to 12,000 soldiers and police. Full Story | Top |
| New York police surveillance of Muslims constitutional: judge Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:29 PM PST By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City's secret police surveillance of mosques, Muslim businesses and a Muslim student group in New Jersey did not violate the U.S. Constitution, a federal judge ruled on Thursday. U.S. District Judge William Martini in Newark, New Jersey, threw out a lawsuit brought by several New Jersey Muslims who claimed the New York Police Department illegally targeted them for undercover monitoring solely because of their religion. The plaintiffs in the case, led by Syed Farhaj Hassan, a U.S. Army reservist, claimed the program impaired their freedom of expression, caused them to stop attending religious services and threatened their careers. In a 10-page ruling, Martini said the city had persuasively argued that its surveillance was intended as an anti-terrorism, not an anti-Muslim, measure. Full Story | Top |
| Biden tells Yanukovich that U.S. prepared to sanction officials over violence Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:25 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich in a phone call on Thursday that the United States is prepared to sanction officials responsible for violence against civilian protesters in Kiev, the White House said. "He called upon President Yanukovich to immediately pull back all security forces - police, snipers, military and paramilitary units, and irregular forces," the White House said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Quebec heading for provincial election, separatists lead Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:24 PM PST  By Randall Palmer OTTAWA (Reuters) - Quebec's two main opposition parties said on Thursday they would oppose the separatist Parti Quebecois government's budget, assuring a spring election, and raising the possibility of an eventual third referendum on independence from Canada. The Parti Quebecois currently heads a minority government, and has a comfortable lead in the polls. If Premier Pauline Marois decided not to call an election on her own, her Parti Quebecois would need the support of either the Quebec Liberals or the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), but both have said they oppose the budget. "It will be impossible for us to support the budget," Quebec media quoted Liberal leader Philippe Couillard as saying. Full Story | Top |
| Obama to seek tighter tax rules for corporate offshore profits -official Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:12 PM PST  By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Thursday it will seek new limits on overseas tax avoidance by corporations in its forthcoming budget proposal, reprising an approach it has made before to try to raise government revenue via a tighter corporate tax code. With the U.S. Congress gridlocked over fiscal policy, past efforts by Democratic President Barack Obama to crack down on what he sees as offshore corporate tax loopholes have largely failed. In its fiscal year 2015 budget, the administration will move to keep corporations from cutting their bills by playing one country's tax rules for hybrid securities off against another's, an administration official said on Thursday. Some U.S. businesses move profits into low-tax jurisdictions for reasons that have no economic benefit other than to avoid taxes, said Jason Furman, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, at a conference on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| Anti-Putin protesters face verdict after 'show trial' in Russia Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:05 PM PST  By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court is expected to jail eight anti-Kremlin protesters on Friday, sending a message that President Vladimir Putin will brook no challenge to his rule as Ukraine burns and casting a shadow over the final days of the Sochi Olympics. The mother of one of the defendants said the violence in Kiev, where an estimated 67 people have been killed in clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters since Tuesday, increased the chance of a harsh verdict in the trial. The eight defendants are charged with assaulting police during clashes at an anti-Putin rally on May 6, 2012, the day before he was sworn in for a third Kremlin term after weathering the biggest opposition unrest of his rule. Putin tacked back before the Olympics, a major prestige project, engineering the release of two women from Pussy Riot and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was widely seen as a political prisoner after more than 10 years in jail. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Argentina, Repsol to sign $5 billion YPF deal - source Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:03 PM PST  Argentina and Repsol SA will sign a definitive $5 billion settlement over the seizure of YPF SA within days, a source involved in the talks said on Thursday, ending a bitter two-year bilateral dispute. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez nationalized Repsol's majority stake in the country's largest energy company in 2012, sparking a row with Spain, tension within Repsol's boardroom and a freeze on international investment in the Vaca Muerta shale field. After 18 months of conflict, the two parties struck a preliminary compensation deal last November, but spent the past six weeks ironing out the details of a settlement that is half the $10.5 billion Repsol was seeking in international courts. A deal, to be paid in U.S. dollar denominated bonds, had been complicated by Repsol's demands for guarantees on the paper, a challenge for a country that has been shut out of international debt markets since a sovereign default in 2002. Full Story | Top |
| Oklahoma University, Frenchwoman in tug-of-art stolen by Nazis Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 04:01 PM PST By Heide Brandes OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - A 128-year-old French impressionist painting plundered by the Nazis during World War Two has become a political football in Oklahoma, with lawmakers calling for its immediate return and the state's pre-eminent university looking to keep the work. A Frenchwoman who says the art was stolen from her family has filed a lawsuit against the University of Oklahoma (OU), where its art museum now possesses the painting, "Shepherdess Bringing in Sheep" by Camille Pissarro. Paul Wesselhoft, a Republican representative for Oklahoma City, is sponsoring a resolution he hopes to steer through the House next week calling for the painting to be returned. "It is the right and moral thing to do for OU to return this painting to the Jewish family from which the Nazis plundered it," Wesselhoft said on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| Cuban windsurfer missing after attempting to cross Florida Straits Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 03:58 PM PST By Michael Haskins KEY WEST, Florida (Reuters) - Three Cuban migrants attempted to windsurf across the Florida Straits to reach the United States on Tuesday, but only one is known to have reached dry land. The U.S. Coast Guard continued late Thursday to search for the third migrant. Henry Vergara Negrin, 24, said he left Jibacoa, Cuba, near Havana at 9 a.m. Tuesday with two companions on separate boards, according to a report by the Key West, Florida, police. Full Story | Top |
| Comcast filings with regulators expected at end of March Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 03:41 PM PST  By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Comcast Corp said on Thursday it plans to submit documents on its proposed $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable Inc to U.S. regulators by the end of March, when antitrust and public interest reviews will be launched. The proposed merger between the two biggest U.S. cable service providers is expected to draw intense scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission, which reviews whether deals are in the public interest, and either the Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission, which share antitrust oversight. Comcast is targeting the end of March to submit its application to the FCC, spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said. Around the same time, Comcast will also submit documents asking antitrust regulators for approval, she said. Full Story | Top |
| Venture capitalist in bid to split California into six states Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 03:40 PM PST  By Dan Whitcomb and Laila Kearney LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A venture capitalist seeking to break California into six new states has won approval to begin collecting signatures needed to get his plan on the ballot in November, but experts said such a measure likely stands little chance of success. The proposal, which would also require approval by the Congress, would split California into six new states called Jefferson, North California, Silicon Valley, Central California, West California and South California. Under the plan, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara would be part of "West California," while San Francisco and San Jose would be in "Silicon Valley." "California, as it is, is ungovernable," proponent Tim Draper, founder of the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, said in a statement released by his office on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
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