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| Labour's Miliband will vow to protect small firms from energy companies - BBC Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 06:11 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Ed Miliband, the leader of Labour party, will detail plans on Friday for a regulator to protect small businesses from "unacceptable" treatment by energy firms, the BBC reported, without citing sources. Under the plan, the new energy regulator will be able to enforce a ban on suppliers from charging firms more expensive tariffs without their consent, and imposing retrospective back-billing for periods of longer than a year. Miliband will tell the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) that firms should have the same level of protection as consumers, and promise organisations like the FSB legal rights to take cases to court on behalf of their members, the broadcaster said on its website. The Labour party could not be reached for comment outside of regular business hours. Full Story | Top |
| Russian-U.S. crew makes belated arrival at space station Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 05:50 PM PDT  By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A Russian spaceship carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut made a belated arrival at the International Space Station on Thursday, returning the orbital outpost to full staff. Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev and NASA astronaut Steven Swanson blasted off aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket two days ago from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The cause of the skipped rocket firing remains under investigation, said NASA mission commentator Rob Navias. Full Story | Top |
| Miami approves plan to save archeological find on high-rise site Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 05:27 PM PDT  By Zachary Fagenson MIAMI (Reuters) - Miami city commissioners approved a plan on Thursday to preserve the remains of a 2,000-year-old Native American village found on the site of a planned multibillion-dollar high-rise development. After weeks of negotiations, preservationists and the Miami-based MDM Development Group agreed on a plan that would build two-story glass enclosures above and around two of the circles. A third circle will be encased alongside the remains of the foundation of the Royal Palm Hotel, built in 1897 by industrialist Henry Flagler, widely credited with establishing Miami. The plan, however, still garnered criticism from some Miami residents that it did not go far enough to protect the site and its history. Full Story | Top |
| LME faulted for warehouse review, now faces legal bind Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 05:15 PM PDT  By Susan Thomas and Josephine Mason LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A court ruling has faulted the London Metal Exchange for failing to consult users on alternative ways to reduce vexing logjams in its warehousing network, the backbone of the world's biggest market for copper and aluminium. The remedy: Reconsider an option the LME has long believed is illegal. The 22-page decision held several startling revelations about the LME's secretive three-month consultation process, including the fact that a landmark 2011 study into how to resolve the lengthy waiting times that the LME had declined to make public offered five different suggestions. In particular, Justice Stephen Phillips wrote in his ruling that the exchange should have publicly considered a measure the LME and many experts had said repeatedly would be deemed anti-competitive: banning or capping the rent that warehouse operators could charge on any metal that got stuck in the queue. Full Story | Top |
| Brazil's president loses support but on track to win re-election Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 05:02 PM PDT  By Paulo Prada RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Popular support for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has faltered ahead of the October 5 presidential election, a poll showed Thursday, but the leftist leader remains favored to win a second term. Hurt by a sluggish economy, high inflation and a scandal surrounding Brazil's state-run oil company, Rousseff's personal approval rating has dropped to 51 percent from 56 percent in November, the survey by the Ibope polling institute and Brazil's National Industry Confederation showed. "It shows that 2014 is going to be a hard year for the government," said Rafael Cortez, a political analyst with Tendencias, a consultancy in São Paulo. "All these negative issues are hurting her image as a candidate." Although Rousseff and her ruling Workers' Party still enjoy widespread support because of economic gains made during the administration of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, her mentor and predecessor, Rousseff is currently presiding over the fourth year of lackluster growth in Latin America's largest economy. Full Story | Top |
| Smoking bans cut premature births and child asthma attacks Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 05:02 PM PDT By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Banning smoking in public places has helped to cut premature births by 10 percent, according to new research from the United States and Europe. A study in The Lancet medical journal found that while the impact of anti-smoking laws varies between countries, the overall effect on child health around the world is positive. "Our research shows that smoking bans are an effective way to protect the health of our children," said Jasper Been of the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Population Health Sciences, who led the study. Laws banning smoking in public places such as bars, restaurants, offices and other workplaces have already been proven in previous studies to protect adults from the health threats associated with passive smoking. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lists lesser prairie chicken as threatened, energy groups wary Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 03:49 PM PDT By Ros Krasny WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Thursday listed the lesser prairie chicken, a small grassland bird native to parts of the country's oil and gas belt, as "threatened," a move that could draw the ire of some Western lawmakers and energy producers. "The lesser prairie chicken is in dire straits," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director Dan Ashe, citing a "rapid and severe decline" in the species' population. Full Story | Top |
| Cargill energy closures signal focus on competitive markets Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 03:46 PM PDT  By Tom Polansek CHICAGO (Reuters) - Cargill Inc has shifted its focus in the energy sector with its exit from coal and European power and gas markets, confirming a commitment to areas where it can be more competitive. Cargill said all of the closures were unrelated to losses in U.S. energy markets, which one report put at more than $100 million. The closures follow just six months after new chief executive David MacLennan stressed plans to expand Cargill's energy business to include more physical trade. "It is likely that Cargill has made these changes to help optimize the overall profitability of its broad global portfolio of businesses," said Judi Rossetti, a senior director for Fitch Ratings. Full Story | Top |
| As many as one in 68 U.S. kids may have autism: CDC Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 03:42 PM PDT By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - As many as one in 68 U.S. children have autism, a 30 percent increase in just two years, U.S. health officials said on Thursday, but experts think the rise may simply reflect that parents and doctors are getting better at recognizing and diagnosing the disorder. "It's not that surprising because as people get more aware, the prevalence has always increased in a psychiatric disorder," Dr Thomas Frazier, director of Cleveland Clinic Children's Center for Autism, said in a telephone interview. The latest report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which looks at data from 2010, estimates that 14.7 per 1,000 8-year-olds in 11 U.S. communities have autism. That compares with the prior estimate of 1 in 88 children, or 11.3 of 1,000 8-year-olds, in 2008, and 1 in 150 children in 2000. Full Story | Top |
| Facebook to use satellites, drones to spread the Internet Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 03:25 PM PDT  By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is harnessing satellite, drone and other technology as part of an ambitious and costly effort to beam Internet connectivity to people in underdeveloped parts of the world. The world's No. 1 social network said on Thursday it has hired aerospace and communications experts from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and its Ames Research Center for the new "Connectivity Lab" project. "Today, we're sharing some details of the work Facebook's Connectivity Lab is doing to build drones, satellites and lasers to deliver the internet to everyone," Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on Facebook. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Air Force names companies eligible for $5.8 billion IT network orders Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:54 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force on Thursday named 12 companies that are eligible to receive orders under a contract valued at up to $5.8 billion for computer network operations and infrastructure. The companies are Centech Group Inc, Epsilon Systems Solutions Inc, Smartronix Inc, SMS Data Products Group Inc, Indus Corp, Technica Corp, Telos Corp, Sumaria Systems Inc, BTAS Inc, American Systems Corp, STG, Inc, and MicroTechnologies LLC. ... Full Story | Top |
| BP raises Lake Michigan oil spill estimate; Senators request meeting Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:50 PM PDT  More oil than previously thought may have leaked into Lake Michigan this week from BP Plc's Indiana refinery, the company said on Thursday, after two U.S. Senators requested a meeting with the British oil major. The request from Senators Mark Kirk, a Republican and Dick Durbin, a Democrat, both from Illinois, came before BP issued its estimate that between 15 and 39 barrels of oil had spilled - more than an earlier assessment that nine to 18 barrels leaked on Monday. The Senators asked for details on the spill's cause, an analysis of the impact of the 405,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Whiting refinery's production increase, and information on what is being done to prevent future spills. "Given the Whiting refinery's recent expansion of its operations to double the amount of heavy oil sands being processed, this spill raises questions about the long-term safety and reliability of BP's new, expanded production," the senators wrote to John Minge, chief executive officer, BP America Inc. The U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday that between nine and 18 barrels had spilled. Full Story | Top |
| Libyan protesters block oil pipeline to Mellitah port as strikes widen Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:48 PM PDT Libyan protesters have blocked a pipeline carrying oil condensates from the southwestern al-Wafa oilfield to the Mellitah export port, state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Thursday. The action, the latest in a wave of protests paralyzing oilfields and ports across the North African country, knocks out one of the last oil export lines for the cash-strapped government. NOC spokesman Mohammed El Harari said a gas pipeline from the Wafa field, which produces around 30,000 barrels a day of very light oil, to Mellitah was still working. But Libya's al-Aseema television station said the protesters, made up of oil security guards, were also threatening to stop gas exports from the Mellitah complex, operated by NOC and Italy's ENI, to Italy. Full Story | Top |
| Trapped at sea, tanker captain craved salvation from Libya rebels Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:45 PM PDT  By Ulf Laessing TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Pakistani sea captain Mirza Noman Baig knew he was trapped when dozens of fighters armed with rifles boarded his tanker just off a rebel-held port on Libya's coast. A militia from the country's restive east forced his crew to load oil onto Baig's vessel, the Morning Glory, and demanded they escape the navy before the ship was stormed by U.S. special forces on March 16, according to his account of events. Full Story | Top |
| Bamboo-munching giant panda also has a sweet tooth Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:19 PM PDT  By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Giant pandas eat plenty of veggies, but apparently they like dessert, too. Scientists studying the endangered black-and-white bears said on Thursday that while pandas almost exclusively eat bamboo, which contains only tiny amounts of sugars, they showed a strong preference for natural sweeteners in an experiment. Sweeter foods like fruit may have been part of the natural diet of pandas before human activities helped drive the animals into their current mountainous habitat where those foods are scarce, the researchers said. "Giant pandas love sweets," said behavioral geneticist author Danielle Reed of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, who led the study published in the journal PLOS ONE. Full Story | Top |
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