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| Philippine ship dodges China blockade to reach South China Sea outpost Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:04 PM PDT  By Erik de Castro and Roli Ng SECOND THOMAS SHOAL, South China Sea (Reuters) - The Philippine government vessel made a dash for shallow waters around the disputed reef in the South China Sea, evading two Chinese coastguard ships trying to block its path to deliver food, water and fresh troops to a military outpost on the shoal. It's also a reminder of how assertive China has become in pressing its claims to disputed territory far from its mainland. "If we didn't change direction, if we didn't change course, then we would have collided with them," Ferdinand Gato, captain of the Philippine vessel, a civilian craft, told Reuters after his boat had anchored on the Second Thomas Shoal under a hot sun. China, which claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, says the shoal is part of its territory. Full Story | Top |
| Australia taps former defence chief to coordinate MH370 search support Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 07:54 PM PDT Australia has appointed a former chief of its defense forces to coordinate the country's support for the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Sunday. Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston will lead a new Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) based in Perth, from where the search for the missing plane was being carried out in the Indian Ocean. The new JACC, headed by Houston, will aim to maintain clear lines of communication between all international partners as well as with the families of passengers, many of whom are expected to travel to Perth. Malaysia holds overall responsibility for the search for MH370, which vanished from civilian radar screens on March 8, less than one hour into its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Full Story | Top |
| One Direction, Ariana Grande win at Kids' Choice Awards Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 07:24 PM PDT  By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The green slime flowed freely at the Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday, where boy band One Direction and actress-singer Ariana Grande took home orange blimps handed out by youth cable channel Nickelodeon. Shot from canons, bursting forth from geysers and babbling in a river across the stage, everything and everyone, even "un-slimable" host Mark Wahlberg, were soaked by the green stuff. The British-Irish vocal group, who won favorite music group and favorite song for "Story of My Life," avoided the slime, accepting the awards from London where they are preparing for an upcoming tour. Grande, a 20-year-old pop singer and star of Nickelodeon series "Sam & Cat" won for favorite TV actress and "Sam & Cat" was voted favorite TV show. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Mt. Gox faced questions on handling client cash long before crisis Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 07:07 PM PDT  By Sophie Knight and Nathan Layne TOKYO (Reuters) - Two years before Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy, a half dozen employees at the Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange challenged CEO Mark Karpeles over whether client money was being used to cover costs, according to three people who participated in the discussion. The question of how Mt. Gox handled other people's money - the issue raised by staff in the showdown with Karpeles in early 2012 - remains crucial to unraveling a multi-million dollar mystery under examination by authorities in Japan. The still-unresolved issue has thrown a spotlight on how Mt. Gox functioned as a hybrid between an online brokerage and an exchange. Essentially, the more than 1 million traders who used Mt. Gox at its peak had entrusted a 3-year-old firm to hold their money safely until they decided to cash out. Full Story | Top |
| Security firm Trustwave says Target data breach claims baseless Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 06:18 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Trustwave Holdings Inc, a credit-card security firm that has been sued along with Target Corp over a sweeping data breach, said on Saturday it did not process cardholder data for the retailer or handle Target's data security as a lawsuit alleges. In a letter to customers and business partners, Trustwave Chief Executive Robert McCullen said the company's connection to Target was not what had been portrayed in a suit filed last Monday by two banks seeking at least $5 million in damages. "Contrary to the misstated allegations in the plaintiffs' complaints, Target did not outsource its data security or IT obligations to Trustwave. Full Story | Top |
| Worker dies in Sao Paulo World Cup stadium accident Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 05:53 PM PDT  By Andrew Downie SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Another man has died while helping to build the Sao Paulo stadium that will host the opening match at this year's World Cup in Brazil, a hospital spokesperson said on Saturday. He is the third construction worker to perish while working on the Arena Corinthians on the outskirts of Sao Paulo and the seventh to die in building Brazil's World Cup arenas. Fabio Hamilton da Cruz fell about 25 feet to his death on Saturday morning, said a spokesperson for the Santa Marcelina hospital where he was taken. Full Story | Top |
| Search for Malaysian jet grows, but poor weather again forecast Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 05:38 PM PDT  By Michael Martina and Niluksi Koswanage PERTH/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Ten ships and as many aircraft will search a swathe of the Indian Ocean west of Perth on Sunday, trying again to find some trace of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 after more than three weeks of fruitless and frustrating hunting. An Australian navy ship fitted with a sophisticated U.S. black box locater and an unmanned underwater drone is due to leave later on Sunday. Malaysia says the plane, which disappeared less than an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was likely diverted deliberately. WEATHER THREATENS EXPANDED SEARCH The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said aircraft from China, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the United States would be searching on Sunday. Full Story | Top |
| China's Xi turns to panda diplomacy to seek EU trade deal Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 05:26 PM PDT  By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping will use two pandas to break the ice and soften European opposition to a free-trade deal with China during a visit to Belgium which starts on Sunday. As the first Chinese leader to visit the European Union's headquarters since Brussels established ties with Beijing four decades ago, Xi will also seek to send a message that China is a less confrontational partner, ready to resolve trade disputes. "Our common interests far outweigh our differences," said China's ambassador to the EU, Yang Yanyi. "We need to explore ways to deepen our partnership." Xi will say hello to China's two ursine envoys Xing Hui and Hao Hao, loaned to Belgium last month, at a wildlife park near Brussels - part of a Chinese tradition of using pandas to foster better relations around the world. Full Story | Top |
| Erdogan seeks Turkish voters' support in fierce power struggle Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 05:01 PM PDT  By Ralph Boulton and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL/ANKARA, March 30 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan turns to the ballot box that has favoured him over a decade on Sunday in his battle to ward off graft allegations and stem a stream of damaging security leaks he blames on "traitors" embedded in the Turkish state. The municipal elections have become a crisis referendum on the rule of Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party and he has been crisscrossing the nation of 77 million during weeks of hectic campaigning to rally his conservative core voters. "They are all traitors," Erdogan said of his opponents at a rally in Istanbul, Turkey's commercial capital, on Saturday. Full Story | Top |
| Another earthquake rattles southern California following 5.1 quake Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 03:46 PM PDT Residents of southern California were rattled by a 4.1 magnitude earthquake Saturday afternoon, the largest of more than 100 aftershocks following Friday's 5.1 rumbler that caused light scattered damage around the Los Angeles area. Saturday's quake rippled through an area near Rowland Heights, California, about 2:32 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor was considered relatively shallow with a depth of 5.6 miles, the USGS said. Aftershocks are expected following earthquakes, according to the USGS. Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Worker dies in Sao Paulo World Cup stadium accident Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 03:11 PM PDT (Adds details, official reaction, background on Curitiba stadium) * Third worker dies helping to build Arena Corinthians * Man fell installing temporary stands for the finals * Brings fatalities to seven across Brazil's World Cup arenas * FIFA official says "very saddened by the tragic death" By Andrew Downie SAO PAULO, March 29 (Reuters) - Another man has died while helping to build the Sao Paulo stadium that will host the opening match at this year's World Cup in Brazil, a hospital spokesperson said on Saturday. He is the third construction worker to perish while working on the Arena Corinthians on the outskirts of Sao Paulo and the seventh to die in building Brazil's World Cup arenas. Full Story | Top |
| GM recall process will be under congressional microscope Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 02:58 PM PDT  By Ben Klayman and Richard Cowan DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When General Motors Co Chief Executive Mary Barra faces Congress next week she will have to explain how the top brass at the biggest U.S. automaker can say they knew nothing for more than a decade about a faulty ignition switch linked to crashes and at least 12 deaths. For lawmakers trying to find who to blame for the lack of responsiveness by GM and its regulator to the tragedies, and in particular the multi-year delay in recalling potentially dangerous vehicles off the roads, it may turn out to be a frustrating couple of days. GM built a system to deliberately keep senior executives out of the recall process. Instead, two small groups of employees in the vast GM bureaucracy were tasked with making recall decisions, a system GM says was meant to bring objective decisions. Full Story | Top |
| Greek conservatives retake lead before key vote, poll shows Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 02:49 PM PDT  By Angeliki Koutantou and Harry Papachristou ATHENS (Reuters) - The main party in Greece's ruling coalition, conservative New Democracy, has nudged ahead of the leftist opposition for the first time in six months, an opinion poll showed on Saturday, ahead of a key parliamentary vote on more tough reforms. The poll will be welcome news for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' fragile government, whose cohesion has been tested by the controversial reforms demanded by international lenders as a condition to keep debt-laden Greece afloat. The poll, conducted on March 24-27 by Alco for weekly newspaper Proto Thema, showed Samaras' New Democracy winning 21.7 percent of the vote if elections were held today, against 21.2 percent for the main opposition, anti-bailout Syriza party. In Alco's previous poll on March 11-13, Syriza led New Democracy by 21.2 to 20 percent, a lead similar to that in all other polls tracked by Reuters in recent months. Full Story | Top |
| Germany, China say renminbi hub in Frankfurt will boost trade Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 02:45 PM PDT  By Matthias Inverardi DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - A decision by Germany and China to make Frankfurt a European hub for financial transactions in the Chinese currency will give new momentum to trade between the two economic powers, Chinese President Xi Jinping and a German minister said on Saturday. In a speech to politicians and business leaders in the city of Duesseldorf, Xi said setting up the hub for the renminbi in Germany "represents an important step on the road of the internationalisation of our currency," according to a translation. Full Story | Top |
| N.Y. lawmakers, Governor Cuomo, strike budget deal before Monday vote Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 02:43 PM PDT  (Reuters) - New York state legislators and Governor Andrew Cuomo reached a deal on the state's 2014-15 fiscal year budget after several weeks of negotiating behind closed doors, according to state officials on Saturday. The $137.9 billion budget keeps growth in all spending levels below 2 percent and provides funding for statewide pre-kindergarten programs. It also cuts business taxes and introduces property tax relief for homeowners, Cuomo said on Saturday. The agreement came after budget bills were printed late on Friday, allowing state lawmakers to vote on the plan on Monday, the last day of the state's financial year. Full Story | Top |
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