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| U.S. database for tracking Medicaid frauds falls short, auditor says Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 09:03 PM PDT A federal data-sharing system meant to prevent healthcare providers banned from one state's Medicaid program from billing another state's program isn't working as intended, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General. Two years after its creation, the data-sharing system contained no records from 17 states or the District of Columbia of doctors, nurses or other healthcare providers who had been "terminated," or banned from billing Medicaid, for fraud or other offenses, the independent auditor said in a report to be released Thursday. The report also said that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that maintains the data-sharing system, made no effort to require states to report banned providers, though it is legally empowered to do so, and that when states did report them, the data was often unreliable or incomplete. CMS started operating the Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program State Information Sharing System in 2011, as required by the Affordable Care Act. Full Story | Top |
| Rescuer reunited with woman he saved from U.S. mudslide with her painting Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 09:02 PM PDT By Bryan Cohen ARLINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - In the terrifying moments after she somehow emerged alive from the wall of mud and debris that swallowed her house, the only possession that Robin Youngblood managed to salvage was a painted portrait that once hung in her now-flattened home. She and crew chief Randy Fay of the Snohomish County helicopter rescue team embraced in a tearful reunion during an afternoon news conference in the town of Arlington, site of a command post for search teams looking for scores more people still missing in the slide that engulfed dozens of homes near the river valley hamlet of Oso. Full Story | Top |
| Ninety people still missing after Washington state mudslide Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:51 PM PDT  By Bryan Cohen ARLINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - The number of people missing after a landslide sent a wall of mud crashing into dozens of rural Washington state homes dropped to 90 on Wednesday, as officials reported finding more bodies but acknowledged some victims' remains may never be recovered. Officials had earlier said additional remains had been found in the devastation zone about 55 miles northeast of Seattle on Wednesday, but declined to say how many until they had been removed and sent to a medical examiner's office. "My son's best friend is out there, missing," said John Pugh, 47, a National Guardsman who lives in the neighboring village of Darrington. And it will be for a long time." Asked whether he expected the death toll to rise significantly, Governor Jay Inslee told CNN: "Yes, I don't think anyone can reach any other conclusion." "It's been very sad that we have not been able to find anyone living now for probably 36 or 48 hours," he said. Full Story | Top |
| Boston Marathon report details 'missed opportunities' among law enforcement Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:38 PM PDT  By Peter Cooney WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressional report issued on Wednesday on the Boston Marathon bombings urges more cooperation among law enforcement agencies, saying a "greater sharing of information might have altered the course of events." The report by the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee outlined what it called "missed opportunities" that potentially could have prevented the attack that killed three people and wounded more than 260. Two Chechen brothers who lived in the Boston area, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, are suspected of carrying out the bombings last April 15 at the Boston Marathon. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 23, died after a gunfight with police while he and his brother were trying to flee Boston several days after the attack. The report investigated the U.S. probe of Tamerlan Tsarnaev following a warning to the FBI by Russian authorities in 2011 that he had become radicalized and might return to Russia to join extremist groups there. Full Story | Top |
| Chinese police detain suspect after rumor sparks rural bank run Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:37 PM PDT  By Adam Jourdan SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Police in the rural Chinese city of Yancheng have detained a person suspected of spreading rumors that sparked a three-day bank run, security officials said on the city police force's official microblog on Thursday. Government, bank officials and residents all referred to a rumor that a local bank branch had turned down a client's request to withdraw 200,000 yuan ($32,200), which sparked the speculation the bank was insolvent. "After a police investigation, a person surnamed Cai who spread the rumors has been tracked down, and during the night on March 26 was detained by authorities. The police are now investigating the matter further," Yancheng police said in a statement posted on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. Full Story | Top |
| Connecticut legislature approves bill to raise minimum wage Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:32 PM PDT By Richard Weizel MILFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - Connecticut's legislature on Wednesday approved a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, the highest statewide rate in the nation, following a call to action last month by Governor Dannel Malloy. "I am proud that Connecticut is once again a leader on an issue of national importance," Malloy said in a written statement following the bill's legislative approval. On a visit to Connecticut earlier this month, President Barack Obama urged Congress to raise the federal minimum to the same $10.10 level, which has not gotten backing in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives. "I hope Members of Congress, governors, state legislators and business leaders across our country will follow Connecticut's lead to help ensure that no American who works full time has to raise a family in poverty, and that every American who works hard has the chance to get ahead," Obama said. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Navy plans competition for next-generation missile Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:15 PM PDT By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy on Wednesday said it planned to launch an open competition around fiscal 2017 for a next-generation missile, seeking to reassure weapons makers they still have prospects after a separate deal with Lockheed Martin Corp for 90 air-launched missiles sparked a formal protest. Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley told reporters the Lockheed program was limited in scope and the future, bigger missile development program would be open to all potential bidders. That is 100 percent competition," he said after a hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee's seapower and projection forces subcommittee. Stackley defended the Pentagon's decision to order 90 long-range anti-ship missiles from Lockheed that were developed under a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Full Story | Top |
| Fed's Bullard sees potential risk of bubble as easy policy unwound Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:07 PM PDT  By Michael Flaherty and Saikat Chatterjee HONG KONG (Reuters) - A bubble could form in the U.S. economy even as the Federal Reserve unwinds its accommodative policy, a top U.S. central banker said on Thursday, adding policymakers' ability to spot them had improved substantially. James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, also told an investment conference in Hong Kong that while there was a risk of keeping rates too low for too long, he did not think the Fed was doing that. The Fed has held rates near zero since late 2008 to help battle a brutal recession. Full Story | Top |
| China regulators order end to smog insurance sales Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:05 PM PDT  Chinese regulators have told the country's two largest insurers to stop selling coverage against smog, a week after such policies were launched, the China Daily reported on Thursday. The newspaper did not say why the country's insurance watchdog had ordered People's Insurance Company of China (PICC) and Ping An Insurance Group to cease sales of the coverage. The country's worsening air quality is at the top of the list of concerns of China's leaders, anxious to douse potential unrest as a more affluent urban population turns against a growth-at-all-costs economic model. PICC last week offered coverage to Beijing residents against health risks caused by air pollution in the city, promising to pay 1,500 yuan ($240) to policy holders hospitalized by smog. Full Story | Top |
| California state senator arrested in FBI sweep Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 07:55 PM PDT  By Dan Levine and Sharon Bernstein SAN FRANCISCO/SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - A prominent California lawmaker was arrested on Wednesday in an FBI sweep that netted 26 people, a high-profile case that could affect statewide elections and brings to three the number of Democratic state senators who face criminal charges this year. Senator Leland Yee, a former San Francisco supervisor and one-time mayoral candidate, was criminally charged in federal court in San Francisco with two felony counts of conspiring to import and traffic in firearms, and six corruption counts. A criminal complaint posted online by the U.S. Attorney office for the Northern District of California alleges that Yee did favors for an undercover FBI agent in exchange for campaign contributions. The complaint alleges that Yee also offered to facilitate a meeting between the undercover agent and an arms dealer, and discussed the types of weapons that the undercover agent might need. Full Story | Top |
| How rumor sparked panic and three-day bank run in Chinese city Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 07:44 PM PDT  By John Ruwitch YANCHENG, China (Reuters) - The rumor spread quickly. A small rural lender in eastern China had turned down a customer's request to withdraw 200,000 yuan ($32,200). Savers feared the bank in Yancheng, a city in Sheyang county, had run out of money and soon hundreds of customers had rushed to its doors demanding the withdrawal of their money despite assurances from regulators and the central bank that their money was safe. The panic in a corner of the coastal Jiangsu province north of Shanghai, while isolated, struck a raw nerve and won national airplay, possibly reflecting public anxiety over China's financial system after the country's first domestic bond default this month shattered assumptions the government would always step in to prevent institutions from collapsing. Full Story | Top |
| SSE freezes prices as pressure grows on UK utilities Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 07:30 PM PDT  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Power utility SSE said it would freeze prices and separate its wholesale and retail businesses after an outcry over soaring energy bills prompted a review of competition in the sector. Britain's 'Big Six' energy suppliers, which control around 95 percent of the retail market, have come under fire for consistently increasing tariffs and regulators are deciding this week whether to open a full antitrust investigation. The price increases have put SSE, Scottish Power, Centrica, RWE npower, E.ON and EDF Energy at the centre of a political row over the cost of living, nearly one year before a general election. The price freeze forces SSE's rivals to consider similar moves as customers increasingly shop around for the best deals. Full Story | Top |
| Deal reached to end month-long strike at Canada's largest port Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 07:21 PM PDT By Julie Gordon VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Negotiators on Wednesday reached a deal to end the month-long container truck strike that has crippled operations at Canada's largest port and slowed the transport of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of goods. The new deal, brokered by the province, means that the more than 1,000 striking drivers will return to work at Port Metro Vancouver on Thursday morning. "We have been clear from the very beginning that negotiation is the only way to achieve labor peace," said Jerry Dias, national president for Unifor, which represents the union drivers. "This is an agreement that working truckers can be satisfied with," said Paul Johal, president of the Unifor local, in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Fed bars shareholder payouts from Citi, four others Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:55 PM PDT  By Emily Stephenson and David Henry WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday rejected Citigroup Inc's plans to buy back $6.4 billion of shares and boost dividends, saying the bank is not sufficiently prepared to handle a potential financial crisis. The decision marks the second time in three years that Citigroup has failed to win the Fed's approval for its plan to return money to shareholders, known as the "capital plan." Officials at the bank never saw the rejection coming, a source close to the matter said on Wednesday. The rejection underscores that whatever strides Citi's chief executive, Michael Corbat, has made in fixing the bank's difficulties, he still has work to do. Shares of Citigroup, the third-largest U.S. bank, fell 5.4 percent to $47.45 in after-hours trading. Full Story | Top |
| Bank of America to pay $9.3 billion to settle mortgage bond claims Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:47 PM PDT  By Margaret Chadbourn and Aruna Viswanatha WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bank of America agreed to pay $9.3 billion to settle claims that it sold Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac faulty mortgage bonds, helping the bank to end one of the largest legal headaches it still faced from the financial crisis. The settlement, announced on Wednesday, includes $6.3 billion in cash and the rest in securities that Bank of America will purchase from the two housing finance entities. The second-largest U.S. bank by assets said it had now resolved around 88 percent of its total exposure to securities at issue in the mortgage bond litigation it has faced. Bank of America's first-quarter profits could take a substantial hit from the deal. Full Story | Top |
| Tally of people missing from Washington state landslide falls to 90 Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:22 PM PDT Authorities searching for people missing in the deadly Washington state landslide said on Wednesday that at least 90 individuals remained missing four days after the disaster, down from 176 listed as unaccounted for earlier. Snohomish County's emergency management director, John Pennington, told reporters there may be as many as 35 more people whose fate remains uncertain but they are not being officially listed as missing. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council to meet Thursday on North Korea missile launch Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:19 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council will hold closed-door consultations on Thursday to discuss a possible condemnation of North Korea's latest ballistic missile launches, U.N. diplomats said. The request for a special session on North Korea came from the United States, council diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity on Wednesday. The U.N. mission of Luxembourg, which holds the presidency of the Security Council this month, announced on its Twitter feed that U.N. political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman will brief council members on developments on the Korean peninsula during the session. In what appeared to be a show of defiance, North Korea fired two medium-range Rodong ballistic missiles into the sea at 2:35 a.m. Japan and Korea time (1735 GMT Tuesday), both Tokyo and Seoul said. Full Story | Top |
| Fed's Bullard says raising inflation target to 4 percent not a good idea Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:14 PM PDT A senior U.S. Federal Reserve official said in Hong Kong on Thursday that raising the inflation target from 2 percent to 4 percent is not a good idea. James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said the Fed's unconventional monetary policies are effective, even as he nodded to the possibility they may be sub-optimal and therefore contributing to unnecessary global volatility. He also said that, although the output gap is supposed to be closed in 2016 and while inflation is on target, it looks like the funds rate would be below the long-term fund rate. Bullard was speaking on a panel at the annual Credit Suisse investor conference in Hong Kong. Full Story | Top |
| North Carolina mayor resigns; arrested on corruption charges Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:11 PM PDT  By Emily Harris CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - The mayor of North Carolina's largest city resigned Wednesday after prosecutors said he had been arrested on federal public corruption charges that include accepting more than $48,000 in bribes from undercover FBI agents. Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon, 47, said his resignation was effective immediately in a letter he sent to City Manager Ron Carlee and City Attorney Bob Hagemann. Cannon faces charges of theft and bribery, wire fraud and extortion, which could carry up to 50 years in prison, according to the prosecutor's office for the Western District of North Carolina. Full Story | Top |
| Judge tosses lawsuit against Facebook over use of minors' photos Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:02 PM PDT  A California federal judge has dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit against Facebook Inc that had accused the company of misappropriating the names and likenesses of minors who use the social network. At issue was Facebook's use of minors' names and photos in targeted advertising in a case that highlighted privacy concerns. The lawsuit, originally filed in Illinois in 2011, had sought to represent all minors that used Facebook and had their names used in an ad. In a ruling on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg ruled that the minors gave their consent when they signed up for Facebook under a "statement of rights and responsibilities" that governs the site. Full Story | Top |
| Ex-MP3tunes chief hit with estimated $41 million copyright verdict Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:02 PM PDT  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - The former chief executive of defunct online music storage firm MP3tunes was ordered to pay an estimated $41 million on Wednesday after being found liable for infringing copyrights owned by record companies and music publishers once part of EMI Group Ltd. Lawyers for Michael Robertson and the EMI companies are expected to take until next Tuesday to figure out exactly how much money was awarded in the complex, lengthy verdict issued by the federal jury in Manhattan. The verdict came a week after the same jury found Robertson and the bankrupt company liable on various copyright infringement claims. "Sony/ATV Music Publishing commends the jury on their careful consideration of the facts and their decision in the MP3Tunes.com case," Martin Bandier, chairman and chief executive of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, said in a statement. "We will continue to vigorously pursue action against those who have disregarded the copyright laws of the works entrusted in our care." Founded in 2005 initially as a website selling independent musicians' songs, San Diego-based MP3tunes came to be known for its so-called cloud music service that allowed users to store music in online lockers. Full Story | Top |
| Ergen says LightSquared could be worth $8.9 billion Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:00 PM PDT  By Nick Brown and Billy Cheung NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dish Network Corp Chairman Charles Ergen, the largest creditor of bankrupt wireless company LightSquared, said on Wednesday he believed LightSquared could be worth as much as $8.9 billion if it gained regulatory approval of its planned wireless network. Testifying in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, Ergen faced tough questions from LightSquared lenders who believe he had visions of effecting a Dish takeover at a lowball price. Ergen then acquired about $1 billion of the company's senior loan debt, giving him a controlling stake in LightSquared's capital structure. His motivations for amassing the debt are crucial to weeks of court hearings in which LightSquared is seeking court approval of a bankruptcy exit plan that would subordinate Ergen's claims. Full Story | Top |
| Wanted cyber tycoon Kim Dotcom launches party to contest New Zealand poll Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 05:32 PM PDT  Kim Dotcom, accused by Washington of being one of the world's biggest internet pirates, plunged into politics on Thursday with the launch of a party to contest New Zealand's general election in September. The alleged copyright pirate, also known as Kim Schmitz, said the Internet Party's guiding principles included faster, cheaper Internet, the creation of high-tech jobs, and the protection of privacy. "It is a movement for people who haven't voted before, who have been disappointed by voting, or who don't like the political choices on offer," Dotcom said in a statement. "It is a movement for people who care about a digital future, and who want a society that is open, free and fair." The flashy internet mogul is fighting a bid by U.S. authorities to extradite him from his lavish estate in New Zealand to face online piracy charges over the now closed file-sharing site Megaupload. Full Story | Top |
| Planned Parenthood, Arizona in court over abortion drug rules Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 05:26 PM PDT By Paul Ingram TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - Arizona regulations that would limit the use of the most popular abortion-inducing drug risk harming women seeking to end their pregnancies, attorneys for a women's health provider argued in federal court in Tucson on Wednesday. The controversial regulations would require any medicine used to induce an abortion to be administered strictly according to protocols issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and subject to instructions on the label. The FDA in 2000 approved it for use within seven weeks of a pregnancy, but doctors in many parts of the country have begun using a new protocol that simplifies the use of the drug for women. Federal courts have upheld similar laws in Ohio and Texas, but state courts in Oklahoma and North Dakota have rejected such measures, according to Planned Parenthood Arizona. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. extends Obamacare sign-up deadline in case of tech troubles Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 05:22 PM PDT Americans in most states who tried to apply for medical coverage under President Barack Obama's healthcare law by a March 31 deadline but met with technical difficulties will get an automatic extension to enroll, officials said on Wednesday. The new federal guidelines apply to consumers in the 36 states served by the federal health insurance marketplace and its website, HealthCare.gov. Monday is the cut-off date for choosing a health plan in 2014. We won't close the door on those who tried to get covered and were unable to do so through no fault of their own," said Julie Bataille, spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the agency overseeing the healthcare law rollout. Full Story | Top |
| Lawmakers bash Obama administration's 'delusional' Syria policy Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 05:19 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers lashed out at the Obama administration's handling of Syria's civil war on Wednesday, demanding a stronger American response to the conflict and better communication from the White House about its plans. Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressed deep frustration after Anne Patterson, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, declined to answer a question about strategy in a public setting. Heated exchanges during questioning of Patterson and Tom Countryman, another assistant secretary of state, underscored the often deep divide between Congress - both Republicans and President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats - and the administration on foreign policy. Full Story | Top |
| Factories maintain pay rise pace in February - survey Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 05:14 PM PDT  Wage growth is both a key indicator for the Bank of England in deciding when to raise interest rates to control inflation and a major political issue, with the opposition Labour Party saying pay has lagged the true living costs of many people. Thursday's survey from EEF, a leading manufacturing association, showed the average pay settlement in the three months to February was 2.6 percent, matching January's reading which was the highest since July 2012. Full Story | Top |
| NICE to take broader view of drug value Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 05:14 PM PDT By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is to take a broader view of the value offered by new medicines under proposals that may make it more likely that it will say "yes" to novel drugs in future. Chief Executive Andrew Dillon told Reuters that wider uptake would only occur, however, if pharmaceutical manufacturers kept a tight rein on prices. NICE, which determines the use of treatments on the state-run health service, will in future look at the "wider societal impact" of therapies, as well as their cost-effectiveness on more limited clinical grounds. Full Story | Top |
| British cost agency to take broader view of drug value Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 05:03 PM PDT By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - British healthcare cost agency NICE is to take a broader view of the value offered by new medicines under proposals that may make it more likely that it will say "yes" to novel drugs in future. Chief Executive Andrew Dillon told Reuters that wider uptake would only occur, however, if pharmaceutical manufacturers kept a tight rein on prices. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which determines the use of treatments on the state-run health service, will in future look at the "wider societal impact" of therapies, as well as their cost-effectiveness on more limited clinical grounds. Full Story | Top |
| Step aside Saturn: Little asteroid has rings too Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 05:00 PM PDT By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - It is not just Saturn and the giant gas planets of the solar system that bear rings. The asteroid, known as Chariklo, is more than 621 million miles (1 billion km) from Earth, circling the sun in an orbit between Saturn and Uranus. "We weren't looking for a ring and didn't think small bodies like Chariklo had them at all," lead astronomer Felipe Braga-Ribas, with Brazil's National Observatory in Rio de Janeiro, said in a statement. "It's likely that Chariklo has at least one small moon still waiting to be discovered," Braga-Ribas said. Full Story | Top |
| Amazon follows Google in slashing cloud computing prices Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:50 PM PDT  By Deepa Seetharaman SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc will drop prices on most of its cloud computing services starting April 1, the largest U.S. online retailer said on Wednesday, a day after rival Google Inc outlined a major price cut of its own. The price cuts range from 10 percent to 65 percent, Andrew Jassy, senior vice president of Amazon Web Services, told a conference for Amazon web developers in San Francisco. This marks the 42nd price reduction for AWS since its introduction eight years ago. In a separate press release on Wednesday, the company said the U.S. Department of Defense deemed Amazon's cloud computing service secure enough to be used more broadly within the department. Full Story | Top |
| 'Scandal' actor Short charged in felony battery case Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:50 PM PDT  Actor Columbus Short, best known for his role as Harrison Wright on ABC's hit drama series "Scandal," was arrested on Wednesday on a felony battery charge, the Los Angeles County District Attorney said. Short, 31, was involved in a March 15 incident where he was alleged to have punched and knocked out a male guest at a restaurant in West Los Angeles, the District Attorney's office said in a statement. The actor was booked and released from Claremont Police Department in eastern Los Angeles County after posting $50,000 bail. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Sisi to run for president, vows to tackle militancy Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:50 PM PDT  By Tom Perry and Mahmoud Mourad CAIRO (Reuters) - Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who ousted Egypt's first freely elected leader, declared his candidacy on Wednesday for a presidential election he is expected to easily win. Sisi toppled Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood last July after mass protests against his rule and has emerged as the most influential figure in an interim administration that has governed since then. "I am here before you humbly stating my intention to run for the presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt," Sisi said in a televised address to the nation. "Only your support will grant me this great honor." A Sisi presidency would mark a return to the days when Egypt was led by men from the military, a pattern briefly interrupted by Mursi's one year in office after his 2012 victory in Egypt's first democratic presidential election. Full Story | Top |
| Deny Montana bride's bid to rescind guilty plea in murder: prosecutors Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:49 PM PDT  A Montana bride's effort to withdraw her guilty plea to second-degree murder for shoving her husband off a cliff at Glacier National Park lacks merit and should be denied, prosecutors argued in federal court papers submitted on Wednesday. The filing comes a day after attorneys for 22-year-old Jordan Graham asked a federal judge to rescind her guilty plea from December, alleging prosecutors are overreaching by seeking a life sentence and reneging on an agreement that they expected to involve less time in prison. Graham is to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy at a hearing scheduled for Thursday in Missoula, Montana. In exchange for Graham pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the July death of her husband of eight days, Cody Johnson, prosecutors dropped a first-degree murder charge, which alleges premeditation and carries a mandatory life sentence. Full Story | Top |
| Oligarch Berezovsky was 'broken man' after court battle, inquest hears Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:41 PM PDT  By Michael Holden WINDSOR, England (Reuters) - Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky was a "broken man" after losing a multi-billion dollar court case to fellow Russian Roman Abramovich and regularly talked about killing himself in the months before his death, an inquest heard on Wednesday. Berezovsky's bodyguard Avi Navama said his employer had asked him about the best ways to commit suicide and told him he was "the poorest man in the world" after losing a $6 billion (3.6 billion pounds) damages claim to the Chelsea football club owner in 2012. Berezovsky, who became a Moscow powerbroker under the late President Boris Yeltsin only to fall foul of Vladimir Putin, was found dead a year ago in the bathroom of his former wife's home near Windsor, west of London, with a scarf around his neck. Navama said the court case against the tycoon's former partner Abramovich triggered a change in the personality of Berezovsky who suffered from depression for six months before his death at the age of 67. Full Story | Top |
| Washington mudslide yields more bodies, but not all may be found Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:39 PM PDT  By Jonathan Kaminsky DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - Search teams picked through mud-caked debris for a fifth day on Wednesday looking for scores of people still missing in a deadly Washington state landslide, as officials reported finding more bodies while acknowledging that some victims' remains may never be recovered. The latest tally did not include an unspecified number of bodies that state police spokesman Bob Calkins said had been found on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, local emergency management officials sought to fend off criticism of property development that was permitted just across the river from the caved-in slope after previous landslides in the area. "My son's best friend is out there, missing," said John Pugh, 47, a National Guardsman who lives in the neighboring village of Darrington. Full Story | Top |
| White House defends extension of Obamacare deadline Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:35 PM PDT The White House on Wednesday defended extending some enrollments for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act past a March 31 deadline, saying doing so was comparable to allowing voters who are in line when polls close to cast their ballots. The administration late on Tuesday granted an extension until mid-April to people who say they have started to apply for coverage through the HealthCare.gov website but are unable to complete the process before the deadline. "We expect there to be increasing numbers as the deadline approaches," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. The administration expects criticism of the extension "by those who want to deny Americans quality, affordable health insurance, and want to put insurance companies back in control," he told reporters traveling with the president to Europe. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Navy seeks more Boeing 'Growlers' to boost capabilities Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:32 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy would add two Boeing Co EA-18G Growler electronic attack fighters to each five-plane squadron on its aircraft carriers, if Congress will fund its request of $2.1 billion for 22 more of the aircraft. Rear Admiral Michael Manazir, director of the Navy's air warfare division, said on Wednesday the Navy decided to put the additional Growlers on an "unfunded priorities" list requested by Congress after classified studies showed the planes would improve the effectiveness of the overall 44-plane strike group on a carrier. Manazir said the Navy saw this as a good opportunity to increase its capabilities given that Congress had already provided the Navy with $75 million in advanced procurement for 22 planes, on top of the 138 Growlers already delivered or on order. The Navy's campaign planning showed that adding two of the powerful electronic attack planes would reduce the duration of a military mission and bolster the effectiveness of the "fight coming from the carrier," Manazir said. Full Story | Top |
| Planes, ships race to beat bad weather in search for Malaysian jet Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:30 PM PDT  By Jane Wardell and Rujun Shen SYDNEY/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Aircraft and ships scouring the southern Indian Ocean for wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 were racing to beat bad weather on Thursday and reach an area where new satellite images showed what could be a debris field. The international search team has been bolstered to 11 military and civilian aircraft and five ships that will criss-cross the remote search site with weather conditions forecast to deteriorate later in the day. New satellite images have revealed more than 100 objects that could be debris from the Boeing 777, which is thought to have crashed on March 8 with the loss of all 239 people aboard after flying thousands of miles off course. "We have now had four separate satellite leads, from Australia, China and France, showing possible debris," Malaysian Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur late Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Obama to find ally on justice in first meeting with Pope Francis Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:19 PM PDT  By Philip Pullella and Jeff Mason VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Despite differences on moral issues, U.S. President Barack Obama will find in Pope Francis a welcome ally on issues of poverty and social justice when they meet for the first time at the Vatican on Thursday. Obama, a Christian, has kept his religion a mostly private affair, rarely attending church in Washington, D.C., since his election in 2008. Full Story | Top |
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