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| Lebanon to allow citizens to resist Israel: policy statement Friday, Mar 14, 2014 07:12 PM PDT  By Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's new government agreed to a compromise policy statement on Friday that fell short of explicitly enshrining the militant group Hezbollah's role in confronting Israel but which would give all citizens the right to resist Israeli occupation or attacks. The agreement on the compromise language came after weeks of dispute brought the government to the verge of collapse, and now paves the way for Prime Minister Tammam Salam to put his government to a vote of confidence. Information Minister Ramzi Jreij told reporters that most ministers had agreed on a compromise statement that declares Lebanese citizens have the right to "resist Israeli occupation" and repel any Israeli attack. The deal was reached a few hours after Israel's army said it fired tank rounds and artillery into southern Lebanon in retaliation for a bomb that targeted its soldiers patrolling the border. Full Story | Top |
| West prepares sanctions as Russia presses on with Crimea takeover Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:17 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn and Lina Kushch SEVASTOPOL/DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Dozens of Russians linked to Russia's gradual takeover of Crimea could face U.S. and EU travel bans and asset freezes on Monday, after six hours of crisis talks between Washington and Moscow ended with both sides still far apart. Moscow shipped more troops and armor into Crimea on Friday and repeated its threat to invade other parts of Ukraine in response to violence in Donetsk on Thursday night despite Western demands to pull back. EU diplomats will choose from a long list of 120-130 possible Russian targets for sanctions on Sunday, as pro-Moscow authorities who have taken power in Crimea hold a vote to join Russia in the worst East-West confrontation since the Cold War. Full Story | Top |
| Searchers sift rubble in aftermath of NY building collapse Friday, Mar 14, 2014 02:44 PM PDT  By Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Search and rescue workers on Friday combed the still-smoldering rubble for victims of a gas explosion that caused two New York City apartment buildings to collapse this week, killing eight people and injuring dozens. The blast shook the East Harlem neighborhood on Wednesday morning, shortly after a resident complained to the Con Edison utility about a gas odor. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which reviews natural gas-related accidents, said in an afternoon news conference that it would be overseeing pressure tests and interviewing people involved in the response through the weekend and into next week. Full Story | Top |
| Amgen vaccine triggers immune response in advanced melanoma -study Friday, Mar 14, 2014 02:23 PM PDT An experimental Amgen Inc cancer vaccine used to treat advanced melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, proved effective in a late-stage study in shrinking tumors in a way that suggests the drug triggered the intended systemic immune response, according to data presented on Friday. The vaccine shrank tumors that were directly injected with the drug and tumors around the body that were not injected, according to the data. The drug, talimogene laherparepvec, also known as T-vec, is an engineered virus designed to replicate inside the injected tumor, killing cancer cells there, as well as prime the immune system to attack other cancer cells around body. Full Story | Top |
| TSX slips as Ukraine fears escalate, ends week lower Friday, Mar 14, 2014 02:05 PM PDT  By John Tilak TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index edged lower on Friday as worries about the crisis in Ukraine and fears of a slowdown in economic growth in China weighed on investor sentiment. Moscow sent more troops into Crimea on Friday and repeated its threat to invade other parts of Ukraine, ignoring efforts by the West to prevent the holding of a referendum in Crimea on Sunday on separating from Ukraine and joining Russia. Jitters about the volatile situation in Ukraine and fears of a slowdown in the Chinese economy have gripped investors in recent days, with the index dropping more than 70 points on Thursday. Sooner or later we'll get an idea," said Fred Ketchen, director of equity trading at ScotiaMcLeod. Full Story | Top |
| Beyond the hype, Keystone would yield few permanent jobs Friday, Mar 14, 2014 11:53 AM PDT  By Alistair Bell STEELE CITY, Nebraska (Reuters) - In the heated debate over whether to build the Keystone XL pipeline, the energy industry and lawmakers have predicted that the project could unleash an economic bonanza in the Midwest, and provide jobs for up to a half-million people. Kansas pipeline worker Jeremy Rippe knows better. Rippe saw TransCanada Corp - the company that hopes to build the 1,200-mile (1,900-km) Keystone XL segment as part of a network of pipelines that move oil from Canada to refineries on Texas's Gulf Coast - lay another section of the Keystone line nearby four years ago. Rippe's experience reflects what many labor analysts are saying as President Barack Obama's administration weighs whether to approve the Keystone project: that despite predictions by TransCanada, politicians and business groups of a Keystone-inspired boom, the pipeline would result in few permanent jobs in the United States. Full Story | Top |
| Visa ban on Russian energy CEOs could backfire Friday, Mar 14, 2014 11:11 AM PDT By Vladimir Soldatkin and Olesya Astakhova MOSCOW (Reuters) - A possible ban on visas for the heads of Russia's two biggest energy firms, Rosneft and Gazprom, may hamper their international partnerships but also harm their Western partners and push the two towards the East. Rosneft, the world's largest listed oil company by production and reserves, and Gazprom, the top natural gas producer, rely heavily on overseas markets for their sales. Germany's Bild newspaper reported on Friday that visa bans threatened by the European Union and the United States in retaliation for Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region would include Gazprom head Alexei Miller and Rosneft head Igor Sechin. Full Story | Top |
| Cameron urges Scots to heed business warnings on independence Friday, Mar 14, 2014 10:55 AM PDT  By Belinda Goldsmith and William James LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron urged Scots on Friday to heed warnings from the head of the Bank of England and business leaders about the uncertain consequences of voting for independence in a referendum in six months' time. Cameron told the Scottish Conservative Party conference in Edinburgh that the government faced a "monumental battle" to keep Scotland as part of Britain at the September 18 referendum. Dismissing accusations from Scottish nationalists of trying to bully Scots into voting against independence, he said the vote was a major life choice, and no decision should be taken without full awareness of the consequences. Full Story | Top |
| After North Carolina spill, coal ash ponds face extinction Friday, Mar 14, 2014 10:36 AM PDT  By Elizabeth Dilts NEW YORK (Reuters) - Power producers' coal ash disposal ponds like the one that leaked toxic sludge into a North Carolina river in February may soon become a thing of the past. After six years of deliberation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in May will decide on changes to the Clean Water Act that would direct power companies to remove dangerous impurities, including carcinogens, from coal ash wastewater before releasing it into rivers that supply drinking water. While the new regulations will not prohibit riverside coal ash disposal sites, the increased cost of wastewater treatment - up to $1 billion for the industry each year - could persuade power producers to move such sites inland, experts and industry groups said. At least 30,000 tons of arsenic-laced coal ash were released into North Carolina's Dan River in early February when a pipe broke under Duke Energy Corp's 27-acre (11-hectare) ash pond. Full Story | Top |
| Putin tells U.N. chief that Crimean vote entirely legal Friday, Mar 14, 2014 10:13 AM PDT President Vladimir Putin on Friday rejected Western accusations that a referendum on whether Ukraine's Crimea region should join Russia would be illegal, making clear the vote would go ahead as planned on Sunday. In a telephone conversation with U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon, Putin "underscored that the decision to conduct (the referendum) fully corresponds to the norms of international law and the U.N. Charter", the Kremlin said. The pro-Russian politicians who took control of Crimea after the ouster of Ukraine's president late last month have expressed confidence that a large majority of people in the region would vote to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. Ban told reporters at the United Nations that he and Putin had "discussed the need to work towards a durable and fair political solution" in Ukraine, and that they had agreed to stay in touch. Full Story | Top |
| EU working from list of 120-130 names for Russia sanctions Friday, Mar 14, 2014 09:32 AM PDT By Jan Strupczewski and Alexandra Hudson BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union has drawn up a list of 120-130 Russians who could be hit with travel bans and asset freezes for their actions over Crimea, European diplomats said on Friday, but the final register of names will only be decided on Sunday. The five-page list, including senior figures in Russia's military and political establishment, was drawn up with the assistance of EU diplomats with experience in Moscow, officials told Reuters. A formal decision to impose sanctions on Russia over in Crimea will be taken on Monday unless Moscow rapidly changes course. Full Story | Top |
| Crimea means more to Russia than Falklands do to Britain: Lavrov Friday, Mar 14, 2014 09:05 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Crimea means more to Russia than the Falklands mean to Britain, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday after holding last-ditch talks on the region with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry. The two men were meeting in London ahead of a referendum in Crimea to decide whether the Ukrainian region will become part of Russia, a vote that has sparked tension between Moscow and the West. Argentine forces invaded the Falklands in 1982, prompting Margaret Thatcher, then British prime minister, to dispatch a naval task force which retook them in a short but bloody war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia says U.N. draft to reject Crimea referendum unacceptable Friday, Mar 14, 2014 08:44 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - A U.S.-backed draft U.N. resolution that would declare Sunday's referendum on whether Ukraine's Crimea region should join Russia is "unacceptable", Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov was quoted as saying on Friday. "The main thing is that this draft resolution contains a call to reject the results of the referendum in Crimea. For this reason, naturally, such a resolution is unacceptable for us," Interfax quoted Gatilov as saying. (Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Alison Williams) Full Story | Top |
| Nobel laureate calls handing of stem cell research data 'sloppy' Friday, Mar 14, 2014 08:40 AM PDT By Kiyoshi Takenaka TOKYO (Reuters) - The Nobel Prize-winning head of a Japanese institute whose scientists' work on stem cells was hailed as a game-changer in the field of medical biology called the lead researcher's handling of the data "extremely sloppy" and "irresponsible". Two papers published in the journal Nature in January detailed a simple way to reprogram mature animal cells back into an embryonic-like state that allows them to generate many types of tissue, offering hope for a simpler way to replace damaged cells or grow new organs in humans. "The problem here is one immature researcher collected a huge amount of research data, and her handling of data was extremely sloppy and irresponsible," president of Japanese research institute RIKEN Ryoji Noyori told a news conference. Noyori, who won a Nobel prize for chemistry in 2001, was referring to Haruko Obokata, 30, a lead author of the papers who became an instant celebrity in Japan after they were published. Full Story | Top |
| China's central bank halts Tencent, Alibaba mobile payment process Friday, Mar 14, 2014 08:15 AM PDT  By Hongmei Zhao and Heng Xie HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank demanded on Friday that payments made by scanning a bar code with mobile devices be halted, hitting the payment arms of Internet companies Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) made its decision amid concerns about the security of verification procedures and asked both companies to provide detailed reports about their products. The suspension affects the rollout of new virtual credit cards by Tencent and Alibaba as competition intensifies in China's e-commerce market. Full Story | Top |
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