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| Search for Malaysian plane may extend to Indian Ocean: U.S. Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:39 PM PDT  By Anshuman Daga and Mark Hosenball KUALA LUMPUR/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new search area for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 may be opened in the Indian Ocean, the White House said, significantly broadening the potential location of the plane, which disappeared nearly a week ago with 239 people on board. Expanding the search area to the Indian Ocean would be consistent with the theory that the Boeing 777 may have detoured to the west about an hour after take-off from the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing. "It's my understanding that based on some new information that's not necessarily conclusive - but new information - an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters in Washington. The disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane is one of the most baffling mysteries in the history of modern aviation. Full Story | Top |
| Russia holds war games near Ukraine; Merkel warns of catastrophe Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:38 PM PDT  By Stephen Brown and Timothy Heritage BERLIN/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia launched new military exercises near its border with Ukraine on Thursday, showing no sign of backing down on plans to annex its neighbor's Crimea region despite a stronger than expected drive for sanctions from the EU and United States. In an unusually robust and emotional speech, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of "catastrophe" unless Russia changes course, while a man was killed in Ukraine in fighting between rival protesters in a mainly Russian-speaking city. At the U.N. Security Council, the United States circulated a draft resolution that would declare illegal Sunday's planned referendum on independence for Ukraine's Crimea region. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. safety watchdog says 303 deaths linked to recalled GM cars Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 08:04 PM PDT  The new report and higher death toll ratchet up the pressure on GM, which has said it has reports of 12 deaths in 34 crashes in the recalled cars. GM did not recall the cars until February, despite learning of problems with the ignition switch in 2001 and issuing related service bulletins to dealers with suggested remedies in 2005. The auto maker is facing increasing pressure to compensate victims and create a $1 billion fund, even if some would-be plaintiffs are barred from suing under the terms of GM's emergence from bankruptcy in 2009. The Center for Auto Safety said it referenced crash and fatality data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Full Story | Top |
| Target declined to act on early alert of cyber breach Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 02:19 PM PDT  By Jim Finkle and Susan Heavey BOSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Target Corp's security software detected potentially malicious activity during last year's massive data breach but its staff decided not to take immediate action, the No. 3. "With the benefit of hindsight, we are investigating whether if different judgments had been made the outcome may have been different," company spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in a statement. The disclosure came after Bloomberg Businessweek reported on Thursday that Target's security team in Bangalore had received alerts from a FireEye Inc security system on November 30 after the attack was launched and sent them to Target headquarters in Minneapolis. The FireEye reports indicated malicious software had appeared in the system and that attackers were planning to send stolen data to servers outside of Target's network, according to a person whom Bloomberg Businessweek had consulted on Target's investigation but was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Full Story | Top |
| Bank of America back in court over $2.1 billion fraud penalties Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:08 PM PDT  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge wrestled on Thursday with a U.S. Justice Department request that Bank of America Corp pay $2.1 billion in penalties after being found liable for fraud over defective mortgages sold by its Countrywide unit. In a second hearing on the penalties to be imposed on the bank, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in New York said he had not yet decided how to rule in what was one of the few cases to go to trial stemming from the financial crisis. But he tested the government's arguments that it should be awarded penalties based on revenue Countrywide Financial Corp earned selling loans to government-sponsored mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Rakoff even asked why the government had not sought even more in penalties, based on the $4.8 billion paid by Fannie and Freddie, rather than seeking just $2.1 billion based on revenue earned only on the defective portion of the loans sold by Countrywide. Full Story | Top |
| Facebook CEO Zuckerberg phoned Obama to complain about spying Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 02:23 PM PDT  By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg blasted the U.S. government's electronic surveillance practices on Thursday, saying he'd personally called President Barack Obama to voice his displeasure. "When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine we're protecting you against criminals, not our own government," Zuckerberg said in a post on his personal Facebook page. "I've called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future. Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform," the 29-year-old Zuckerberg continued. Full Story | Top |
| Deal reached in Senate to renew jobless benefits Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 04:06 PM PDT  By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan deal to renew long-term jobless benefits for more than 2 million Americans was reached on Thursday by a group of 10 U.S. senators, five Democrats and five Republicans. Sponsors of the legislation said they expect to have more than enough votes to pass the measure when the Senate returns from its week-long recess, set to begin on Friday. If and when the Democratic-led Senate passes the bill, it would go to the Republican-led House of Representatives for final approval. He and Republican Senator Dean Heller of Nevada are chief sponsors of the legislation. Full Story | Top |
| Microsoft poised to fight back as iPad generation shuns Office Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 12:39 PM PDT  By Gerry Shih and Bill Rigby SAN FRANCISCO/SEATTLE (Reuters) - It may be one of Microsoft Corp's biggest squandered opportunities. Take Artivest Holdings Inc, a New York-based financial services startup that sells alternative investment products. "There are no more Microsoft Word documents being circulated. "If I'm walking to and from home, or going to an appointment, I can review or edit on my iPad. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. rights watchdog urges release of Senate report on CIA torture Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 01:49 PM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations human rights watchdog called on the United States on Thursday to release a report on a Bush-era interrogation program at the heart of a dispute between the CIA and a Senate panel. Critics, including experts on the U.N. civil and political rights panel, say the CIA program set up after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States included harsh interrogation methods that constituted torture banned by international law. The U.N. Human Rights Committee began a two-day examination of the U.S. record on Thursday, its first scrutiny since 2006, attended by nearly 80 activist groups. "It would appear that a Senator Dianne Feinstein claims that the computers of the Senate have been hacked into in the context of this investigation," Victor Manuel Rodriguez-Rescia, a committee member from Costa Rica, told the U.S. delegation. Full Story | Top |
| NYC buildings explosion kills 7, others missing Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:18 PM PDT By Chris Francescani and Anna Hiatt NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal safety authorities launched an investigation on Thursday into a gas explosion that caused the collapse a day earlier of two New York City apartment buildings, killing seven people and injuring dozens of others. The still-smoldering rubble prevented investigators from getting close enough to examine the main pipe that supplies natural gas to the Upper East Side neighborhood, said Robert Sumwalt, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, which reviews accidents involving natural gas. "We are operating under the assumption at this point that it is a natural gas leak that led to an explosion," Sumwalt said. The explosion at about 9:30 a.m. (13:30 GMT) on Wednesday shook the East Harlem neighborhood shortly after a resident complained to the Con Edison utility about a gas odor. Full Story | Top |
| Bin Laden relative admitted al Qaeda link, FBI agent says Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:46 PM PDT  By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Suleiman Abu Ghaith admitted that months before al Qaeda's 2001 hijacked jet attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he promised Osama bin Laden he would be a spokesman for the group, an FBI agent testified on Thursday in a U.S. court. At Abu Ghaith's trial on terrorism charges, agent Michael Butsch said he interviewed the suspect for several hours after his arrest in February, 2013. Butsch said Abu Ghaith told him then that bin Laden invited him in July 2001 to join al Qaeda. Butsch said Abu Ghaith recalled that he told bin Laden he was not a soldier, but a religious "scholar and an orator," and agreed to serve as al Qaeda's spokesman. Full Story | Top |
| Russia holds war games near Ukraine; Merkel warns of catastrophe Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 02:30 PM PDT By Stephen Brown and Timothy Heritage BERLIN/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia launched new military exercises near its border with Ukraine on Thursday, showing no sign of backing down on plans to annex its neighbor's Crimea region despite a stronger than expected drive for sanctions from the EU and United States. In an unusually robust and emotional speech, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of "catastrophe" unless Russia changes course, while in Ukraine a man died in fighting between rival protesters in a mainly Russian-speaking city. In Berlin, Merkel removed any suspicion that she might try to avoid a confrontation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, "We would not only see it, also as neighbors of Russia, as a threat. And it would not only change the European Union's relationship with Russia," she told parliament. Full Story | Top |
| Malaysia jet sent 'pings' after going missing, sources say Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:36 PM PDT By Anshuman Daga and Mark Hosenball KUALA LUMPUR/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Satellites picked up faint electronic pulses from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 after it went missing on Saturday, but the signals gave no information about where the stray jet was heading and little else about its fate, two sources close to the investigation said on Thursday. But the "pings" indicated its maintenance troubleshooting systems were switched on and ready to communicate with satellites, showing the aircraft, with 239 people on board, was at least capable of communicating after losing touch with air traffic controllers. An international search for the 777, which left Kuala Lumpur early Saturday bound for Beijing, involves at least a dozen countries. Ships and aircraft are now combing a vast area that has been widened to cover the Gulf of Thailand, the Andaman Sea and on both sides of the Malay Peninsula. Full Story | Top |
| Contractor to plead guilty to giving Chinese woman secrets: U.S. Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:47 PM PDT A U.S. defense contractor in Hawaii was expected to plead guilty on Thursday to charges he passed national defense secrets, including classified information on joint training and planning exercises with South Korea, to a Chinese woman with whom he was romantically involved, prosecutors said. Benjamin Pierce Bishop, 60, a former U.S. Army officer, was working as a civilian employee of a defense contractor at U.S. Pacific Command in Oahu when he was arrested last year and charged with one count of communicating national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it and one count of willfully retaining documents related to national defense. He is expected to plead guilty to those charges in court on Thursday afternoon, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Tong, spokesman for the Honolulu-based U.S. Attorney's Office. Full Story | Top |
| EU, U.S. to commit to remove all duties on transatlantic trade Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 12:22 PM PDT  By Barbara Lewis and Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and European Union leaders will promise to remove all tariffs on bilateral trade at a summit on March 26, an ambitious step towards the world's largest free-trade deal, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters. The joint declaration, if delivered as laid out in the draft, seeks to overcome tensions following Washington's offer to cut its duties by less than the Europeans had hoped for and after Brussels pledged to remove almost all of its own tariffs. "The EU and the United States are firmly committed to concluding a comprehensive and ambitious Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership," the draft statement reads, referring to U.S.-EU free-trade talks by their official name. "Those goals include eliminating all duties on bilateral goods trade," says the statement, which will be delivered at the end of the day-long summit in Brussels. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. transportation chief pledges hard look at GM recall Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 12:39 PM PDT  By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Thursday promised an "aggressive investigation" into whether General Motors was slow to report to the federal government problems with ignition switches in its autos, which have led to 12 deaths. "The questions we are asking are whether there was a timeliness issue with GM's bringing to our attention the issues regarding this ignition switch," Foxx told a Senate panel. GM is recalling 1.6 million of its vehicles following problems with ignition switches that unexpectedly turn off during operation, sometimes at high speeds. Foxx said if there are delays in industry reporting problems to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Transportation Department will respond in a "very, very tough" manner. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. retail sales rebound from winter chill, jobless claims fall Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 10:10 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales rebounded in February and new filings for jobless benefits hit a fresh three-month low last week, suggesting the economy was regaining strength after an abrupt slowdown caused by severe weather. The data on Thursday reinforced expectations of a pick-up in economic activity and should encourage the Federal Reserve to continue scaling back its massive monetary stimulus. "We expect the Fed will stay the course with its exit strategy." Retail sales increased 0.3 percent last month, with receipts rising in most categories, the Commerce Department said. Economists had expected only a 0.2 percent increase in retail sales in February after snow and ice blanketed densely populated regions during the first half of the month. Full Story | Top |
| Motorist slams car into crowd near Texas SXSW festival, 2 killed Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:36 PM PDT  By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A driver evading a police sobriety checkpoint plowed into a crowd at high speed outside a nightclub in Austin on Thursday, killing two people and injuring 23 near the South by Southwest festival, police said. The motorist, identified as Rashad Charjuan Owens, 21, fled from police and was subdued by an officer using a stun gun after the incident near the SXSW festival. The two people killed were a Texas woman who was riding on a moped and a Dutch man who was riding a bicycle, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo told a news conference. Police said separately that Owens was from Killeen, about 70 miles north of Austin. Full Story | Top |
| Turkey's Erdogan condemns protesters as deaths fuel tensions Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:49 PM PDT  By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan condemned anti-government protesters on Thursday as "charlatans" bent on sowing chaos in the run-up to local elections after Turkey's worst civil unrest since mass protests last summer. Two people died during protests on Wednesday, including a police officer in eastern Turkey who suffered a heart attack and a 22-year-old man shot in Istanbul in an apparent stand-off with a group of anti-government protesters. Several thousand people gathered for Burakcan Karamanoglu's funeral in Istanbul's conservative Kasimpasa district, where Erdogan grew up and still commands fervent loyalty, his death becoming a rallying point for government supporters. Full Story | Top |
| GE files to spin off credit card unit Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 10:17 AM PDT  General Electric Co's credit card unit filed for an initial public offering on Thursday, the first step in the conglomerate's long-awaited plan to exit retail finance and reduce its dependence on its financing arm. GE announced plans in November to spin off the North American retail finance business into a publicly traded company, which bankers estimated could be worth roughly $16 billion to $18 billion. GE has been reducing its reliance on GE Capital, its financing arm, which at one point accounted for almost half of the company's profit. With the spinout of the retail lending business, GE hopes to focus on its industrial divisions and better compete with rivals such as Honeywell International Inc and United Technologies Corp, which have smaller financing arms. Full Story | Top |
| Court sees graphic photos of Pistorius' home after shooting Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 08:48 AM PDT  By John Mkhize PRETORIA (Reuters) - A South African court saw graphic images on Thursday of the bloodstained bathroom in which Oscar Pistorius shot his girlfriend, as prosecutors unveiled more details of the scene of the Valentine's Day killing. Colonel Schoombie van Rensburg, the first policeman to arrive at the athlete's home in an upmarket Pretoria estate, described the grisly sight that greeted him in the early hours of February 14 last year. During his testimony, photographs of Steenkamp's face and body were also shown accidentally to the court, upsetting Pistorius, who vomited into a bucket for the second time since the start of the trial, now in its second week. Van Rensburg said that on his arrival at the home, he saw Steenkamp's body lying at the bottom of the staircase covered in towels and black bags. Full Story | Top |
| Indian diplomat in U.S. row wins indictment dismissal Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:34 AM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel and Shyamantha Asokan NEW YORK/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Indian diplomat charged in New York with visa fraud and making false statements about her domestic worker has won a dismissal of her federal indictment, in a move that could help smooth over a dispute that has frayed U.S.-India ties. Devyani Khobragade, who was India's deputy consul-general in New York, had diplomatic immunity when she sought on January 9 to dismiss the indictment, and thus could not be prosecuted, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan ruled on Wednesday. U.S. prosecutors could still seek a fresh indictment, while in India reports emerged that Khobragade's two children held both U.S. and Indian passports, in apparent violation of Indian rules. Full Story | Top |
| China premier warns on economic slowdown as data fans stimulus talk Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:13 AM PDT  By Benjamin Kang Lim and Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang warned on Thursday that the economy faces "severe challenges" in 2014 - comments that came as weak data fanned speculation the central bank would relax monetary policy to support stuttering growth. Li, speaking at a news conference on the final day of China's yearly parliament, hinted Beijing would tolerate slower economic expansion this year while it pushes through reforms aimed at providing longer-term and more sustainable growth. "A storm is coming," said Gao Yuan, an analyst at Haitong Securities in Shanghai, while Hao Zhou, the China economist for ANZ said "policy easing should be imminent." But Sheng Laiyun, a spokesman for the statistical bureau, said China's economic fundamentals remain sound despite experiencing some short-term pains from structural adjustments. At the carefully orchestrated briefing where questions had to be vetted in advance, Li spent most time discussing the economy. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's army blames Muslim Brotherhood for attack on army bus Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 06:57 AM PDT Egypt's army blamed the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood for an attack on an army bus which killed one officer and wounded three others in the capital on Thursday, violence underscoring growing security threats to the military-backed government. The Muslim Brotherhood strongly condemned the attack in an emailed statement, saying the targeting of army soldiers and civilians is a "heinous crime that requires a thorough and transparent investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice." They accused the military-backed government of trying to implicate the Brotherhood in the attack for political reasons. An army spokesman said in a statement posted on Facebook: "Masked armed men belonging to the terrorist Brotherhood targeted a bus of the armed forces ... which led to the martyrdom of the Warrant Officer Yusri Mahmoud Mohamed Hassan." Islamist militants are expanding their insurgency in Egypt where army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who overthrew Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July, is expected to announce he will run for president within days. Full Story | Top |
| Court upholds Delhi rapists' death sentences Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:28 AM PDT  Four men convicted of raping and murdering a woman in New Delhi had their death sentences upheld on Thursday for a crime that caused a huge public backlash against an entrenched culture of violence against women in India. "The day the murderers of my daughter are hanged, we will feel we have got justice," the victim's mother said after the Delhi High Court confirmed the sentence of hanging handed down by a trial judge last September. Indian law bars the press from identifying rape victims. Defense lawyers said they would appeal to the Supreme Court, with one denouncing Thursday's decision as politically motivated. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. jobless claims fall to new three-month low Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:46 AM PDT  The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell and hit a fresh three-month low last week, suggesting a strengthening in labor market conditions. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 315,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. A Labor Department analyst said no states were estimated. Unseasonably cold weather has slowed job growth in recent months, but the labor market is showing signs of shaking off winter's icy grip. Full Story | Top |
| Gaza rockets, Israeli air strikes persist despite truce call Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 04:59 PM PDT  By Dan Williams and Nidal al-Mughrabi JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) - A small armed faction in the Gaza Strip fired rockets at Israel on Thursday, drawing retaliatory air strikes and pushing cross-border violence into a third day despite a truce called by the more powerful Palestinian group Islamic Jihad. The clashes have been the most intense since the Gaza war of November 2012. This time, however, casualties have been scant with winter rains keeping many people indoors, and Israel's Iron Dome interceptor shooting down some of the Palestinian rockets. Hamas, the Islamist movement governing Gaza, has also kept its fighters out of this flare-up so far. Full Story | Top |
| Release of Afghan prisoners exposes root of rift with U.S Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:53 AM PDT  By Sayed Anwar Amani and Mirwais Harooni KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - U.S. military commanders believe Sardar Mohammad is a dangerous Taliban bomb-maker who has attacked foreign and Afghan soldiers. In April last year, U.S. and Afghan forces captured Sardar and placed him in a military prison. The Afghan government ordered Sardar and 64 other men to be released last month. A quiet man who says he is in his late teens, Sardar headed back to his village in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar. Full Story | Top |
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