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| Ex-nurse behind U.S. Congress mail threat gets two years in prison Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 08:10 PM PST By Teresa Carson PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - A former nurse from Vancouver, Washington, was sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday for mailing more than 100 threatening letters containing white powder to members of Congress and media organizations in February of 2012. Christopher Carlson, 41, pleaded guilty to a charge of conveying false information and a hoax purporting to expose recipients of the letters to a biological toxin in a mass mailing that set off coast-to-coast anthrax scares. White powder contained in the envelopes, postmarked from Portland, Oregon, was later revealed to consist of celery salt and corn starch, the U.S. attorney for Oregon said in a statement about the sentencing. The letters were sent to congressional offices on Capitol Hill, and their field offices across the country, as well as to various media outlets, including The New York Times, National Public Radio and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." About two dozen of the letters were received and opened by staff members before law enforcement was able to intercept the remainder. Full Story | Top |
| 'Courtsiding' charge brought against Briton dropped Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 07:47 PM PST Australian prosecutors have withdrawn a 'courtsiding' charge brought against a British man at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, local media reported on Thursday. Melbourne police arrested Daniel Thomas Dobson, 22, at the tournament in January and charged him with one count of "engaging in conduct that would corrupt a betting outcome". Dobson, the first person charged under new legislation in Australia's southern state of Victoria, was not at the Melbourne Magistrates court on Thursday, having returned to Britain, the Australian Associated Press said. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. government sues Philadelphia schools over beard policy Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 07:39 PM PST By Dave Warner PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The U.S. government sued Philadelphia's school district for religious discrimination on Wednesday for demanding that a veteran Muslim police officer trim his beard. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court by the Department of Justice, said the nation's eighth-largest school district passed a grooming policy in 2010 that mandated beards on police and security officers be no longer than one-quarter of an inch (6.35 mm). The officer in question, Siddiq Abu-Bakr, keeps an untrimmed beard longer than one-quarter of an inch in adherence to his Islamic faith, the suit said. The Pentagon decided in January to ease rules on beards and turbans in the U.S. Army. Full Story | Top |
| Former Dewey law firm executives to be criminally charged: source Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 07:15 PM PST By Karen Freifeld NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three former top executives from the bankrupt U.S. law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf are expected to be hit with criminal charges on Thursday related to their alleged misleading of lawyers and banks about the firm's financial straits, according to a person familiar with the matter. Indictments are set to be unsealed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan against former Dewey Chairman Steven Davis, former Executive Director Stephen DiCarmine, and former Chief Financial Officer Joel Sanders, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Manhattan District Attorney has been investigating the executives since around April 2012, when a group of Dewey & LeBoeuf partners asked the prosecutor's office to examine "financial irregularities" at the firm. A spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney did not immediately respond to an email for comment. Full Story | Top |
| Ill health effects seen as unlikely for New Mexico workers exposed to radiation Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 07:12 PM PST Workers who initially tested positive for radiation exposure after an accidental release at a nuclear waste site in New Mexico are unlikely to experience any ill health effects, site managers said on Wednesday. Early tests of workers - who were above ground at the facility when unsafe levels of radiation were detected last month in an underground salt formation where nuclear waste is stored - showed 13 had inhaled radioactive elements at low levels, officials at the U.S. Department of Energy facility said. But further testing of the 13 workers have shown no further signs of contamination by radioisotopes such as plutonium, and they are thus unlikely to experience any health effects, managers at the facility said on Wednesday. "Follow-up testing of employees who were exposed to airborne radioactive material during the February 14 radiation release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant shows exposure levels were extremely low and the employees are unlikely to experience any health effects as a result," managers said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| White House national security adviser to visit Israel in May Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 06:53 PM PST  U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice will visit Israel in May as head of a U.S. delegation consulting on a range of issues involving the two countries, the White House said on Wednesday. "Coming out of the very productive consultations between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama during their bilateral meeting this week, President Obama has asked National Security Advisor Susan Rice to travel to Israel in May to lead the U.S. delegation to the U.S.-Israel Consultative Group," National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Fisher warns Fed's bond buying could be distorting U.S. financial markets Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 06:52 PM PST  A U.S. Federal Reserve policymaker who has long criticized its bond-buying stimulus said on Wednesday the program has lasted too long, and there are signs it is now distorting financial markets and encouraging risk-taking. In a speech in Mexico City, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher amplified some lingering concerns that the central bank's policy stimulus is stoking asset-price bubbles that "may result in tears" for investors acting on bad incentives. Fisher, a voter on U.S. monetary policy this year, also praised Mexico's moves to stimulate growth in the wake of the global recession. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Trafficking abuse of Myanmar Rohingya spreads to Malaysia Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 06:31 PM PST  By Stuart Grudgings BUKIT MERTAJAM, Malaysia (Reuters) - Human traffickers have kept hundreds of Rohingya Muslims captive in houses in northern Malaysia, beating them, depriving them of food, and demanding a ransom from their families, according to detailed accounts by the victims. The accounts given to Reuters suggest that trafficking gangs are shifting their operations into Malaysia as Thai authorities crack down on jungle camps near the border that have become a prison for the Muslim asylum seekers fleeing persecution in Myanmar. Police in the northern Malaysian states of Penang and Kedah have conducted several raids on the houses in recent months, including an operation in February that discovered four Rohingya men bound together with metal chains in an apartment. But Reuters' interviews reveal a trafficking network on a far bigger scale than authorities have acknowledged so far, with brokers herding groups of hundreds of Rohingya at night over the border and holding them captive in the Southeast Asian country. Full Story | Top |
| CIA probing allegations it improperly monitored Senate committee: reports Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 06:26 PM PST The CIA has begun a probe of whether members of the agency secretly monitored a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation of Bush-era detention and interrogation policies, according to media reports on Wednesday. The New York Times, quoting officials with knowledge of the investigation, said the CIA's inspector general launched the probe after members of Congress complained that agency officers had improperly accessed the work of Intelligence Committee staffers. According to one official cited by the newspaper, CIA employees went so far as to gain access to computer networks the committee was using in its work for a report on the detention program conducted during President George W. Bush's administration. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said in a statement that "if, as alleged in the media, CIA accessed without permission or authority a computer network dedicated for use by a Senate committee, it would be an extremely serious matter." The Michigan Democrat said such activity, if true, "would impede Congress' ability to carry out its constitutional oversight responsibilities and could violate federal law." CIA Director John Brennan said he was "deeply dismayed that some members of the Senate have decided to make spurious allegations about CIA actions that are wholly unsupported by the facts. Full Story | Top |
| Panama says rejects Venezuelan President Maduro's 'offenses' Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 06:01 PM PST PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - The government of Panama said on Wednesday that it rejected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's "unacceptable offenses" against it after the South American oil giant broke off diplomatic and commercial ties with the Central American nation. Earlier, Maduro had used the anniversary of former President Hugo Chavez's death to sever ties with Panama, whose conservative government he accused of joining the United States in "open conspiracy" against him. (Reporting by Lomi Kriel) Full Story | Top |
| Obama tells Democrats to focus on November midterms, not 2016 Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 06:00 PM PST  By Roberta Rampton BOSTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama gently chided Democratic donors on Wednesday for paying too much attention to the next presidential race in 2016 and not enough attention to the upcoming midterm elections in 2014. Reminding Democrats at a fundraiser in Boston that "we got whalloped" in the 2010 midterms, when Republicans took control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Obama warned that "it could happen again if we don't fight on behalf of the things we care about in this election." "No one could be more invested than me in having a Democrat succeed me," Obama told about 70 supporters at a dinner where tickets cost $5,000 to $20,000. But he stressed to Democrats they need to invest time, money and energy on the November midterms. Too often, when there's not a presidential election, we don't think it's sexy, we don't think it's interesting, people tune out," Obama said. Full Story | Top |
| Canadian police investigating after bitcoin bank Flexcoin folds Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 05:51 PM PST  By Julie Gordon and Leah Schnurr VANCOUVER/TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian police have launched an investigation after online bitcoin bank Flexcoin, which closed its virtual doors this week, said that it had lost about $600,000 worth of the digital currency in a hacker attack. The Edmonton, Alberta-based company reported the theft of 896 bitcoins on its website on Monday and said it "does not have the resources (or) assets ... to come back from this loss." It blamed the attack on hackers who had targeted its online wallet. Bitcoins stored in Flexcoin's cold storage facility, which is basically an offline bank, were not affected by the hack and will be returned to customers, the company said. The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) said on Wednesday they were investigating the issue. Full Story | Top |
| Chesapeake, Encana face criminal antitrust charges in Michigan Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 05:46 PM PST  By Joshua Schneyer, Brian Grow and Anna Driver (Reuters) - Oil and gas giants Chesapeake Energy and Encana Corp were charged on Wednesday with colluding to keep oil and gas lease prices artificially low in Michigan, state Attorney General Bill Schuette said. The criminal charges follow a lengthy investigation by Schuette's office into whether the firms -- the biggest land leasers during a speculative oil and gas leasing boom in Michigan's Collingwood Shale region during 2010 -- colluded to keep prices from rising as they acquired land leases from landowners. Michigan began looking into the companies' activities in 2012 after a Reuters investigation found that executives from the two firms discussed proposals to divide bidding responsibilities in the state for nine private landowners and counties in Michigan. Under Michigan law, an antitrust violation is considered a misdemeanor, which carries penalties that can include fines and prison terms of up to two years for individuals, and up to a $1 million fine for a corporation. Full Story | Top |
| Rise in U.S. auto, home sales show Fed policies are working: Williams Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 05:31 PM PST  Rebounding auto sales and improving home sales and construction are good evidence that the Federal Reserve's super-easy monetary policy is boosting the U.S. economy, a top Fed official told a group of students on Wednesday. "The rebounding sectors are the interest-sensitive ones," San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said in a speech to students at the University of Seattle that otherwise contained little about the outlook for the economy or monetary policy. The fact that auto sales are nearly back to their pre-crisis levels, and housing sales have much improved, are evidence that the Fed's efforts to push down borrowing costs are working, Williams said. The Fed has kept short-term rates near zero for more than five years and bought trillions of dollars of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities to encourage people and businesses to spend and invest. Full Story | Top |
| In Ukraine's Crimea, a tense and surreal standoff Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 05:28 PM PST  By Alissa de Carbonnel KERCH, Ukraine (Reuters) - Holed up on their bases, Ukraine's besieged servicemen and the Russians surrounding them in Crimea are locked in a standoff that at times is tense and at others surreal. Almost a week after Russian forces began their swift and bloodless takeover of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula, there is a standoff as the two sides dig in and play a waiting game. "Where it was possible they made a show of it ... They came and pushed the door in, but you can't come push our door," said Major Alexei Nikiforov, deputy commander of a Ukrainian marine battalion in Kerch, just across a narrow strait from Russia. Russian navy ships have blockaded the Kerch Strait linking the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, Ukrainian officials say, portraying it as part of efforts to seal off the Ukrainian servicemen and force them to surrender or change sides. Full Story | Top |
| U.S.-based TV anchor quits Russian station during newscast Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 05:16 PM PST A Washington-based news anchor for the Russia Today television network quit her job on air on Wednesday, telling viewers she could not be part of a Russian government-funded station "that whitewashes the actions of Putin." Citing on-air comments earlier this week by another U.S.-based Russia Today presenter, Abby Martin, that Russian intervention in Ukraine's Crimea region was "wrong," Liz Wahl told viewers that "as a reporter on this network, I face many ethical and moral challenges." "My grandparents came here as refugees during the Hungarian revolution, ironically to escape the Soviet forces," Wahl said, adding she was "very lucky to have grown up here in the United States." Wahl added she was the daughter of a military veteran and her partner was a doctor at a military base "where he sees everyday the first-hand accounts of the ultimate prices that people pay for this country." "And that is why personally I cannot be part of a network funded by the Russian government that whitewashes the actions of Putin," she said. "I'm proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth and that is why after this newscast, I'm resigning." Russia Today could not be reached for comment. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Army general fighting sex charges will admit to lesser crimes Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 05:01 PM PST  By Kelly Twedell FORT BRAGG, North Carolina (Reuters) - A U.S. Army general facing a rare court-martial of an officer of his high rank will plead guilty on Thursday to charges that he engaged in inappropriate relationships with several junior female soldiers, his defense lawyers said. But Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair maintains he is innocent of the most serious charges against him, that he twice forced oral sex during an adulterous affair he admits to having with a captain assigned to his unit in Afghanistan. Sinclair's attorneys announced his plans late Wednesday to plead guilty to a number of the criminal charges he faces. Opening statements in the trial at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, were due to begin on Thursday morning. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. accuses Syria of stonewalling on chemical arms plants Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 04:38 PM PST  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria is stonewalling members of the global chemical weapons watchdog and refusing to seriously negotiate on the destruction of its facilities used to produce poison gas, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations said on Wednesday. The sharp criticism of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad came after the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague said Syria has shipped about a third of its chemical weapons stockpile, including mustard gas, for destruction abroad. "OPCW trying to reach agreement to destroy CW production facilities—#Syria refusing to seriously negotiate & is (about) to miss another deadline," U.S. Ambassador Samantha Powers said on her Twitter feed. Last year Syria had asked the OPCW for permission to convert for peaceful use some of the facilities declared under its weapons program, but Western diplomats said they were loath to accept such a plan as it could leave Syria with a residual chemical weapons capability. Full Story | Top |
| Big power talks on Ukraine crisis make little progress Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 04:35 PM PST  By John Irish and Timothy Heritage PARIS/KIEV (Reuters) - High-level diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Ukraine made little apparent headway at talks in Paris on Wednesday, with Moscow and Washington at odds and Russia's foreign minister refusing to recognize his Ukrainian counterpart. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said discussions would continue in the coming days in an attempt to stabilize the crisis and he expected to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov again in Rome on Thursday. We have a number of ideas on the table," he said after talks with ministers from Ukraine, Russia, Britain and France. Full Story | Top |
| Murder charge filed in case of missing Tennessee nursing student Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 04:30 PM PST By Tim Ghianni NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - A Tennessee man was charged on Wednesday with murder and aggravated kidnapping in the death of a nursing student who disappeared three years ago from the driveway of her rural home. Zachary Rye Adams, 29, was arrested last week on an unrelated aggravated assault charge and is being held without bond in the Chester County Jail, authorities said at a news conference. Victim Holly Bobo, a cousin of country singer Whitney Duncan, was last seen on April 13, 2011 by her brother. Some spectators at the news conference at the Decatur County courthouse responded with gasps and sobs when Tennessee Bureau of Investigation director Mark Gwyn announced the murder charge. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela's Chavez remembered with pomp and protests Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 04:27 PM PST  By Andrew Cawthorne and Girish Gupta CARACAS (Reuters) - Followers of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez flooded the streets of Venezuela on Wednesday for the anniversary of his death, an emotional but welcome distraction for his successor from violent protests raging for the last month. A year after Chavez succumbed to cancer, his self-proclaimed "son," President Nicolas Maduro, faces the biggest challenge to his rule from an explosion of anti-government demonstrations that have led to 18 deaths since February. A hard core of students are determined to maintain street barricades and militant opposition leaders organize daily rallies around Venezuela. There's not a single day I don't remember Hugo," Chavez's cousin, Guillermo Frias, 60, said from Los Rastrojos village in rural Barinas state, where the pair used to play baseball as kids. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers divided on Russia sanctions, eye vote on Ukraine aid Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 04:27 PM PST  By Patricia Zengerle and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers could vote within days on legislation to aid the government of Ukraine as it seeks to rebuild the country and struggles to halt Russian military incursions, but they are still undecided as to how Washington should best deal with Moscow. Republican leaders in the House of Representatives made a rare show of support for President Barack Obama earlier on Wednesday, saying they would work with the White House to address the crisis in Ukraine. Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the House would soon consider a $1 billion loan guarantee package for Ukraine, which the administration has called for, and look at measures to "put significant pressure on Russia to stop the flagrant aggression to its neighbor." "The world community should stand united against this invasion, America should be leading and we'll vote soon on legislation to aid the Ukrainian people," he told reporters. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. businessman convicted in China economic espionage case Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 04:18 PM PST  By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California businessman was convicted on Wednesday of stealing DuPont trade secrets to help a state-owned Chinese company develop a white pigment used in a wide range of products. In a San Francisco federal court, a jury found Walter Liew guilty on over 20 criminal counts including conspiracy to commit economic espionage and trade secret theft. It also convicted another defendant, former DuPont engineer Robert Maegerle, on multiple counts as well. U.S. prosecutors contended Liew paid former DuPont employees like Maegerle to reveal trade secrets that would help the Chinese company, Pangang Group, develop a white pigment called chloride-route titanium dioxide, also known as TiO2. Full Story | Top |
| UK army cuts may leave army unable to handle threats - MPs Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 04:16 PM PST  By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - Cuts to Britain's army, driven by the need to save money, risk leaving the country unable to respond adequately to future threats, a committee of lawmakers said on Thursday. Last month Britain announced the final part of a plan to help the country tackle its large public debts by shrinking its armed forces by around a sixth. The army will be left with 82,000 soldiers in 2018, down from 102,000 in 2010. The scale of the cuts has fuelled a debate about Britain's diplomatic and military role in the world and its ability to project force globally. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers skeptical of Pentagon's 2015 budget plan, priorities Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 04:11 PM PST  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Skeptical U.S. lawmakers told Pentagon leaders they did not like the department's proposed 2015 defense budget on Wednesday but acknowledged that painful cuts to military personnel and popular weapons systems were due to spending caps approved by Congress. Reacting to the new Pentagon budget unveiled this week, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee expressed concern about plans to slash the size of the Army, curb the growth of military compensation and retire popular weapons systems such as the entire fleet of A-10 "Warthog" tank-killer aircraft. Even the panel's Democratic chairman, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, questioned whether the resources provided to the Defense Department were "adequate to enable our military to meet its national security missions." The Pentagon's 2015 spending plan unveiled on Tuesday begins to look beyond the wars of the past 13 years, calling for a smaller overall military to generate savings that can be used to ensure training and modernization at a time of reduced budgets. Full Story | Top |
| British coalition partners to trade barbs over immigration Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 04:02 PM PST  By William James LONDON (Reuters) - A deep rift in Britain's two-party coalition government will be laid bare on Thursday when ministers from each party set out their opposing views on whether immigration is good or bad for the country. Speaking at separate events on the same day, Conservative immigration minister James Brokenshire will say immigration is damaging Britain and must be reduced, while Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable will declare himself "intensely relaxed" about migrants working and studying in the country. Both parties are using immigration as an issue to distinguish themselves and appeal to their core voters after nearly four years of co-governance. Opinion polls regularly show immigration to be one of voters' top three concerns. Full Story | Top |
| Arizona legislation prompts state senator to reveal he is gay Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 04:02 PM PST By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona state senator revealed that he was gay on Wednesday, saying he felt compelled to make his sexual orientation public because of the recent battle over legislation in the state that would have allowed businesses to refuse sevices to homosexuals. The disclosure by Democratic Minority Whip Steve Gallardo comes as he is vying to replace retiring Representative Ed Pastor. I'm a state senator and it's OK,'" Gallardo said in a phone interview. "I want to tell those people who struggle every day about coming out that it's OK to be who you are." Gallardo, 44, said the "game-changer" in his decision to reveal his sexuality came on February 19 when a measure - vetoed by Republican Governor Jan Brewer last week - went to the floor of the state Senate for debate and drew a public outcry. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. health plans that don't meet Obamacare rules can renew for two more years Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 04:01 PM PST  By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Wednesday said it would allow health insurers to extend plans that fail to comply with its signature health law for an additional two years, a move Republicans quickly condemned as a politically motivated delay. In a release of new guidelines to insurers and employers for 2015, the administration said it would now allow renewal of noncompliant health plans that begin as late as October 1, 2016. Officials said they believe the change would affect 500,000 to 1.5 million people who hold "transitional policies" that lack consumer protections enshrined in the law known as Obamacare. The policy stems from a wave of insurance plan cancellations last year that sparked a public outcry against President Barack Obama and Democrats, forcing the administration to abruptly allow people to renew noncompliant policies in states where regulators allowed the change. Full Story | Top |
| Florida congressman denies shoving his estranged wife Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 04:01 PM PST By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A lawyer for U.S. Representative Alan Grayson denied accusations on Wednesday that the congressman shoved his wife during a weekend domestic dispute and said a video recording of the incident supports his account. The video shows that Grayson's estranged wife, Lolita, was the aggressor and the congressman did not touch her in any way, said attorney Mark Nejame in a press release. Lolita Grayson, who filed for divorce in January, this week won a temporary protective order against her husband, based on her statement of what happened during an argument at the family's home on Saturday. Lolita Grayson claims she responded by pushing her husband in the face and kneeing him in the stomach, the complaint said. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. accuses Russia's Putin of making "false claims" about Ukraine Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 04:00 PM PST By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department dropped its diplomatic niceties on Wednesday and all but accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of lying about events in Ukraine, publishing a list of what it said were 10 of his "false claims." A "fact sheet" released by the State Department's press office said Putin had ignored or distorted the facts in "justifying Russian aggression in the Ukraine." The publication of the document, entitled "President Putin's Fiction: 10 False Claims about Ukraine," is highly unusual for the State Department, which typically does not issue statements in public that a foreign leader is being untruthful. Russia and the West face their most serious confrontation since the end of the Cold War over influence in Ukraine, a major commodities exporter and strategic link between East and West. Full Story | Top |
| Weather restrains U.S. private hiring, services sector growth Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 03:47 PM PST  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. private employers added fewer workers than expected in February and services sector growth hit a four-year low, the latest signs of the economic toll severe weather is taking. They said the economy's fundamentals were still sound, and that a string of mostly weak data would not dissuade the Fed from continuing to dial back its monetary stimulus. Full Story | Top |
| Colorado couple arrested in murder of ski resort socialite Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 03:41 PM PST By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - A former physician and his wife, tenants of an Aspen ski resort socialite found dead in her home, have made their first court appearance after being arrested on suspicion of her murder, authorities said. The body of Nancy Pfister, 57, daughter of the Buttermilk ski area's co-founders, was found a week ago, the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Authorities did not say how Pfister died nor did they disclose a possible motive for the killing, which the sheriff's office said was the first homicide since 2001 in the chic resort town southwest of Denver that serves as a getaway for Hollywood celebrities and other wealthy visitors. The suspects, William Styler, 65, and his wife, Nancy, 62, were arrested on Monday in a motel in the nearby town of Basalt, the sheriff said. Full Story | Top |
| Biden, Holder push to end backlog of unanalyzed rape kits Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 03:41 PM PST  By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder said on Wednesday that they would push the U.S. Congress to fund a budget proposal intended to clear the country's backlog of unanalyzed rape kits. Rape kits holding DNA evidence that could help catch perpetrators are often left on storage shelves in police stations and labs due to funding shortages, Holder told reporters in a conference call. President Barack Obama proposed in his 2015 budget, released on Tuesday, that $35 million in grants be given to communities to address their most critical needs for investigating and prosecuting sexual assault, including the testing of unanalyzed rape kits. A similar grant was previously given to Detroit, Michigan, which reported 10,995 untested kits collected between 1993 and 2006, according to U.S. Department of Justice documents. Full Story | Top |
| ECB set to act against low inflation, hold fire on bolder steps Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 03:37 PM PST  By Leika Kihara FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is expected to hold off on cutting interest rates on Thursday, opting instead to loosen lending conditions to fight off the danger of debilitating low inflation. A slight upward surprise in euro zone inflation in February and initial signs of life in some economies in the region have eased pressure on the ECB to take radical steps. But with inflation running in the ECB's "danger zone" below 1 percent - 0.8 percent at last count - the bank is poised to open some money spigots by ending operations to drain funds from the financial system. The ECB currently "sterilizes" money it puts into the system though bond purchases by withdrawing other money to offset the effect. Full Story | Top |
| Washington state issues first pot-growing license Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 03:32 PM PST By Jonathan Kaminsky OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - Marijuana regulators issued Washington state's first business license for recreational cannabis on Wednesday to a grower who said he expects to have blooming pot plants ready to harvest within eight weeks. Washington state and Colorado residents alike voted to legalize personal possession and consumption of marijuana for adults in 2012, with Colorado getting a jump on opening state-licensed retail stores, which also were permitted to grow their own. Colorado beat Washington to the punch in part because it already had a system in place for licensing medical marijuana suppliers, and they became the first group of outlets allowed to enter the newly created recreational pot market in January. Medical marijuana was already legal in Washington as well, but the state had no formal regulation of its supply and distribution. Full Story | Top |
| Illinois family charged with shoplifting, selling goods online for millions Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 03:25 PM PST (Reuters) - An Illinois couple and their daughter on Wednesday were charged with operating a multimillion-dollar shoplifting ring that involved stealing toys, baby supplies and household items from retail stores and selling them on eBay, prosecutors said. Branko Bogdanov, 58, along with his wife Lela, 52, and daughter Julia, 34, of Northbrook, some 25 miles north of Chicago, were charged in U.S. District Court with interstate transportation of stolen property, the U.S. Attorney's office said in a statement. The trio shoplifted $7.1 million worth of items from stores in several U.S. states including Florida, Maryland, Tennessee and Oklahoma, according to prosecutors. Investigators say Lela Bogdanov allegedly stuffed items up a long black skirt that was outfitted with a lining capable of holding multiple objects. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. House votes to delay Obamacare penalty for non-enrollment Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 03:25 PM PST  By David Morgan and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to delay for one year the tax penalty Americans will pay under President Barack Obama's healthcare law if they decline to enroll in health coverage. The vote, part of a Republican election-year attack strategy against the 2010 healthcare law known as Obamacare, marked the 50th time House Republicans had passed legislation to try to repeal or dismantle it. The measure to delay the tax penalty passed by a vote of 250-160, with 27 Democrats joining with 223 Republicans to back the legislation. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine crisis: CIA, not Pentagon, forecast Russian move - sources Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 03:19 PM PST By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Until recently, collecting intelligence on Ukraine was a low priority for U.S. spy agencies, and as a result their reporting on recent developments was patchy, several current and former U.S. security officials said this week. The Central Intelligence Agency says it was following events closely enough to have outlined scenarios in which upheaval in Ukraine would become so intense that Russia would take military action. Two national security sources said the CIA had specifically warned policymakers, shortly before the Russian military moved into the Crimean peninsula, that such a move could be imminent. The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency, however, predicted such a move was unlikely, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. Full Story | Top |
| SEC orders New York firm to pay record $7.2 million sanction Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 03:16 PM PST  Long Island-based Worldwide Capital Inc and its sole owner, Jeffrey Lynn, are settling the case without admitting or denying the charges, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. According to the SEC order, Lynn and his firm violated Rule 105 of "Regulation M," which prohibits a trader from shorting stock prior to a public offering, and then subsequently buying that same stock through the offering. The SEC has been cracking down on Regulation M violations over the past year. On March 1, SEC examiners also launched a new high-tech data program that will, among other things, help the SEC better detect violations of Regulation M, as well as more serious offenses like insider trading. Full Story | Top |
| Frauds or fibs? Ex-Jefferies trader's fraud case goes to jury Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 03:12 PM PST  By Richard Weizel NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (Reuters) - Prosecutors said greed motivated former Jefferies Group Inc trader Jesse Litvak to defraud the government on mortgage securities, while defense lawyers said their client's "fibs" were perfectly acceptable, during closing arguments at a closely-watched trial on Wednesday. Jurors in the New Haven, Connecticut federal court will on Thursday begin weighing the fate of Litvak, 39, who is accused of cheating major Wall Street firms, pension funds and charities through overcharges out of more than $2 million to boost profit for Jefferies and himself, and offset trading losses elsewhere. Prosecutors said the United States was a victim because some of Litvak's clients, such as the large asset manager AllianceBernstein Holdings LP, participated in TARP's Public Private Investment Program, which was intended to help rebuild a market for troubled mortgage debt. While most litigation linked to the 2008 financial crisis has addressed conduct that predated it, Litvak's case is different because the alleged wrongful conduct began later. Full Story | Top |
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