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| Japan stocks spooked to six-month lows by Wall Street retreat Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 09:21 PM PDT  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Japanese shares sank to six-month lows on Friday as an escalating selloff on Wall Street spread to Asia and slugged markets that had been fairly resilient up to now. What was increasingly looking like a major portfolio shift from momentum plays in U.S. technology and biotechnology stocks was having a knock-on effect across all regions and sectors, pressuring even defensive shares. Japan, in particular, was vulnerable both to the dive in tech stocks and to the strength of the yen, which crimps exports and corporate profits. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. may give up demand for zero Japan beef tariffs in trade deal: Nikkei Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 09:20 PM PDT  By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States appears willing to accept a big cut in Japanese tariffs on beef imports rather than insist on scrapping the levy, the Nikkei business daily said on Friday, as the two countries seek a trade deal seen as vital to a broader regional pact. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Japanese Economics Minister Akira Amari wrapped up two days of intense talks on Thursday on the bilateral deal, a cornerstone of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with both saying progress had been made but that big gaps remained. Trade Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters that an April 24 summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would be an important juncture for the trade talks, but repeated Japan's stance that the meeting was not a deadline for a deal, Kyodo news agency reported. Full Story | Top |
| Health secretary resigns after Obamacare launch woes Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 09:19 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is resigning after overseeing the botched rollout of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, a White House official said on Thursday. Her departure removes one lightning rod for critics as Obama and nervous Democrats try to retain control of the U.S. Senate in November midterm elections, but Republicans continue to see problems with the Affordable Care Act as a winning issue. I think it's just going to embolden Republicans," said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University. The October 1 launch of new Obamacare health insurance marketplaces, which was plagued by computer problems that stymied access for millions of people, has been condemned by Republicans as a step toward socialized medicine. Full Story | Top |
| Truck slams into bus carrying California high school students, at least nine killed Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 09:18 PM PDT  At least nine people were killed and 32 injured on Thursday when a tour bus carrying high school students collided with a FedEx truck in Northern California, a California Highway Patrol (CHP) spokeswoman said. The crash occurred after the truck driver lost control of the vehicle, crossed over a divider on Interstate 5 and then slammed into a passenger vehicle and then the tour bus, CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader said. Clader said the bus was carrying high school students and other passengers to Humboldt State University for a tour. Full Story | Top |
| Safety advocates alarmed by fatal accidents in recalled GM cars Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 09:10 PM PDT  By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Safety advocates say two recent fatal accidents involving recalled General Motors Co cars provide evidence that the automaker should advise owners to take vehicles off the road until they are repaired. In both incidents airbags failed to deploy, which is one sign of an accident related to the faulty ignition switch behind GM's 2.6 million vehicle recall. It is not known whether in either accident the key slipped from "run" to "accessory" position, which could indicate a faulty ignition switch. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, which is probing GM's slow response in recalling the vehicles, said it is aware of these accidents but would not say whether it plans to launch a formal investigation into whether they were caused by ignition switch malfunctions. Full Story | Top |
| Australian PM says confident of position of MH370's black box Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 09:05 PM PDT Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Friday that searchers were confident they knew the position of the black box flight recorder from a missing Malaysian airliner, but cautioned this was not the same as recovering wreckage. "Still, confidence in the approximate position of the black box is not the same as recovering wreckage from almost four and a half kilometers beneath the sea or finally determining all that happened on the flight." Malaysia Airlines MASM.KL Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, vanished on March 8 and is believed to have flown thousands of kilometers off its Kuala Lumpur-to-Beijing route and into the Indian Ocean. Full Story | Top |
| Latest 'ping' unlikely to be from missing Malaysia plane: search official Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 09:04 PM PDT The latest acoustic signal detected in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was unlikely to be from the missing plane and there had been no major breakthrough in the more than month-long hunt, Australian officials said on Friday. Analysis of the signal, captured by a listening device buoy and relayed to an Australian ship on Thursday, was unlikely to be related to the aircraft's black boxes, Angus Houston, head of the Australian search, said in a statement. "On the information I have available to me, there has been no major breakthrough in the search for MH370," Houston added, following unconfirmed reports in some media that the black boxes had been located. Malaysia Airlines MASM.KL Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, vanished on March 8 and is believed to have flown thousands of kilometers off its Kuala Lumpur-to-Beijing route and into the Indian Ocean. Full Story | Top |
| Japan minister to head to U.S. for trade talks next week: media Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 08:50 PM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Economics Minister Akira Amari will travel to the United States for trade talks late next week in a bid to reach agreement in a two-way deal that is seen as critical for a broader regional pact, Jiji news agency reported on Friday. Amari will meet U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on April 17, Jiji said, without citing a source. The two top negotiators ended two days of intense talks in Tokyo on Thursday saying progress had been made but big gaps remain ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's state visit to Tokyo later this month. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hackers steal South Korean credit card data to aid forgeries Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 08:49 PM PDT Hackers stole the personal information of about 200,000 South Korean credit card users, using some to make fake cards and rack up fraudulent charges of about 120 million won ($115,400), an official of the country's financial regulator said on Friday. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in a statement several suspects had late last year hacked into a server of a firm managing card payment processing terminals, and extracted data such as numbers, expiry dates and passwords for a point-amassing loyalty card. The suspects exploited the fact that some users had the same pin number or password for both credit cards and the loyalty card to create fake cards and charge items earlier this year, an official with direct knowledge of the investigation said. South Korean police, who are leading the investigation, have so far identified 268 separate cases of wrongful charges, said the official, who declined to be identified as the probe is still underway. Full Story | Top |
| DoJ probes Citigroup unit over suspicious transactions: WSJ Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 08:39 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The Justice Department is investigating whether a Citigroup Inc unit in California failed to alert the government about suspicious banking transactions along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. U.S. prosecutors want to know why Citigroup did not submit so-called suspicious-activity reports flagging the questionable transactions that in some cases involved suspected drug-cartel members, the newspaper said. (http://r.reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Committee to quiz Lazard over Royal Mail sale Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 08:24 PM PDT  By Freya Berry LONDON (Reuters) - A parliamentary committee will question independent financial adviser Lazard this month regarding its role in the sale of Royal Mail, a committee spokeswoman said on Thursday. Lazard, which advised the government on the Royal Mail stock market listing, will be called before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on April 30, the spokeswoman said. This comes a week after a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) criticised the government for its reliance on independent advisers during the 2 billion pound listing of Royal Mail and said it had sold the company too cheaply. Lazard, which has also advised the government on selling part of its holding in Lloyds Banking Group, received 1.5 million pounds for its role in the Royal Mail deal. Full Story | Top |
| Murdoch editor 'a man I would trust', ex-archbishop tells hacking trial Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 08:22 PM PDT  A former Archbishop of Canterbury took to the witness stand in the phone-hacking trial on Thursday to tell a jury the ex-managing editor of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid was "a man I would trust". George Carey, the head of the Anglican church for 11 years until 2002, appeared as a character witness at Old Bailey court and said Stuart Kuttner was a man of integrity. Kuttner, 74, who was managing editor of the downmarket weekly tabloid for 22 years until 2009, is on trial with the paper's former editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson accused of conspiracy to intercept voicemails on mobile phones. Brooks, Coulson and the News of the World's former royal editor Clive Goodman, also face charges over illegal payments to public officials, which they deny. Full Story | Top |
| Prominent Chinese activist defiant as jail term upheld Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 07:48 PM PDT  By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - A prominent Chinese rights activist expressed defiance on Friday after a court upheld his four-year jail sentence, saying the pall of communism and dictatorship would eventually give way to freedom and justice. Although the ruling had been expected, as China's courts are controlled by the Communist Party and almost never rule in favor of dissidents, the decision is likely to renew an outcry by the United States, the European Union and rights groups. Activist Xu Zhiyong's lawyer said an appeal to the Beijing Municipal High People's Court had been rejected. "The appeal verdict was within our expectations," the lawyer, Zhang Qingfang, told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Judge restores $120 million in tobacco settlement to Pennsylvania Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 07:37 PM PDT By Daniel Kelley PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A Philadelphia judge on Thursday set aside most of an arbitration ruling that could have cost the state of Pennsylvania some $180 million from a landmark 1998 settlement with the nation's tobacco companies. The decision restores $120 million of the $180 million in payments from tobacco companies that Pennsylvania was set to lose when a September 2013 arbitration found that it and five other states failed to enforce part of an agreement that was part of the settlement. In a statement hailing the decision by Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas Judge Patricia McInerney, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane said the ruling showed "what can happen when government works together for the people". "While we were not able to win the entire amount," Kane said, "we are excited for this victory and what it means for the future of important smoking cessation, medical research and health programs that depend on this money." A spokesman for the tobacco companies could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday evening. Full Story | Top |
| Malaysia Airlines search zeroing in after latest pings Thursday, Apr 10, 2014 07:35 PM PDT  By Matt Siegel and Swati Pandey SYDNEY/PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - The international effort to find a missing Malaysian jetliner was zeroing on a small patch of the Indian Ocean on Friday that officials now believe offers the best hope of solving the mystery of Flight MH370. The Australian agency overseeing the search said it would use some of the most sophisticated resources at its disposal on the small search area after a new acoustic signal, that could be from the plane's black box recorders, was detected on Thursday. The latest signal, which was captured by a listening device buoy, seems to lend credence to four previous "pings" detected by a U.S. Navy "Towed Pinger Locator" (TPL) towed by Australia's Ocean Shield vessel. "The acoustic data will require further analysis overnight but shows potential of being from a man-made source," Angus Houston, head of the Australian agency co-ordinating the search, said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
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