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| Muslims, Sikhs object to headscarf ban at California go-kart parks Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 08:29 PM PDT By Laila Kearney SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Three Muslim families have filed complaints against an amusement park chain in California that they say barred them from riding go-karts wearing headscarves, family advocates said Tuesday. The families claim that Boomers! Parks in two locations in the state violated their civil rights with an unfair safety policy that bans all headgear on the rides, said Sammar Miqbel, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which filed the complaints on behalf of the families. The United Sikh's organisation said it was preparing to file a similar complaint on behalf of a Sikh family. CAIR's Miqbel said the families visiting Boomers' in the San Francisco suburb of Livermore and the Los Angeles suburb of Irvine had been allowed to wait in line for go karts, but were barred when they reached the front of the queque. Full Story | Top |
| Clippers start healing process after Sterling ban Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 08:24 PM PDT By Jahmal Corner LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The NBA's decision to ban Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the game for life marks the start of a "healing process," said coach Doc Rivers, as his players got back to the business of playing basketball on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver handed out a life ban to Sterling and fined him $2.5 million for racist comments that stunned the league and the nation. It was a strong statement warmly applauded by the NBA as a whole, and the Clippers in particular. While questions remain concerning Sterling's future ownership of the team, and the impact of his comments on the players, the NBA's stern decision has unquestionably lightened the Clippers load. Full Story | Top |
| NBA-Clippers start healing process after Sterling ban Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 08:20 PM PDT By Jahmal Corner LOS ANGELES, April 29 (Reuters) - The NBA's decision to ban Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the game for life marks the start of a "healing process," said coach Doc Rivers, as his players got back to the business of playing basketball on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver handed out a life ban to Sterling and fined him $2.5 million for racist comments that stunned the league and the nation. It was a strong statement warmly applauded by the NBA as a whole, and the Clippers in particular. While questions remain concerning Sterling's future ownership of the team, and the impact of his comments on the players, the NBA's stern decision has unquestionably lightened the Clippers load. Full Story | Top |
| SeaWorld says San Diego killer whale is pregnant Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 07:37 PM PDT  By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO Calif. (Reuters) - A killer whale at SeaWorld is pregnant, the San Diego theme park said Tuesday, a development welcomed by the company but decried by animal rights activists trying to outlaw the breeding of captive orcas and "Shamu" shows that feature them doing tricks. The news of the pregnancy comes weeks after California lawmakers effectively killed a closely watched bill that would have banned SeaWorld from continuing its breeding program and from using killer whales to perform tricks at its California park. "The calf's birth is expected in December," said spokesman Dave Koontz. Killer whales have a 17 1/2 month gestation period. Full Story | Top |
| NBA bans Los Angeles Clippers owner for life over racist comments Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 07:14 PM PDT  By Scott Malone and Larry Fine NEW YORK (Reuters) - The NBA banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from professional basketball for life on Tuesday and fined him $2.5 million in an unprecedented rebuke for racist comments that drew outrage from players, fans, commercial sponsors and even President Barack Obama. Sterling, 80, the longest-tenured owner of any of the 30 National Basketball Association teams, will be barred from any role in the operations of his franchise or from serving as one of the league's governors, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told a news conference in New York. Silver also urged the other owners to vote to force Sterling to sell the Clippers, a first-time use of such a sanction that would require approval of three-quarters of the current owners. Asked whether Sterling could end up as essentially an absentee owner if the league fails to force a sale of the team, Silver replied, "I fully expect to get the support I need from the other NBA owners to remove him." The controversy, which quickly grew into a national discussion of race relations transcending basketball, began over the weekend when the celebrity website TMZ.com released an audio recording with a voice said to be Sterling's, criticizing a woman friend for associating with "black people." In it, he asks her not to invite former Los Angeles Lakers star Earvin "Magic" Johnson to Clippers games. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. consumer confidence rebounds to pre-crisis levels in first quarter: Nielsen Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 07:12 PM PDT  By Susan Fenton LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer sentiment rose sharply in the first quarter as optimism about the economic outlook improved, according to a global survey which also showed rising confidence in debt-laden euro zone countries. Globally, consumer confidence returned to pre-financial crisis levels in the first three months of this year, at its highest since the first quarter of 2007, the survey by global information and insights company Nielsen showed on Wednesday. Improving job prospects are bolstering consumer sentiment. Consumer confidence was highest in the Asia Pacific and Indonesia was the most upbeat market globally for a fifth straight quarter, followed by India. Full Story | Top |
| Searchers dismiss possibility wreckage in Bay of Bengal is from MH370 Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 06:59 PM PDT  (Reuters) - A private company said it had found what it believes is wreckage of a plane in the Bay of Bengal that should be investigated as potential debris from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, but the possibility was dismissed by search coordinators. The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) managing the multinational search for the missing plane said it continued to believe that the plane came down in the southern Indian Ocean off Australia. The Bay of Bengal is located between India and Myanmar, thousands of miles from the current search area. The wreckage was reported by Australian geophysical survey company GeoResonance. Full Story | Top |
| Singer Gwen Stefani joins judges panel on NBC's 'The Voice' Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 06:36 PM PDT  Singer Gwen Stefani will be sitting alongside fellow star musicians Pharrell Williams, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton in the forthcoming season of NBC's singing talent competition "The Voice," the Comcast Corp-owned network said on Tuesday. Stefani, 44, who rose to fame as the blonde-haired sultry lead singer of Southern California rock group No Doubt, will join Pharrell in taking over from current judges, Colombian singer Shakira and R&B star Usher. NBC also said that Christina Aguilera, one of the show's original four celebrity coaches, will return for the eighth season next year. Full Story | Top |
| Asian shares rise, euro faces pressure Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 06:32 PM PDT  By Lisa Twaronite TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares firmed on Wednesday after earnings-fuelled gains on Wall Street, while the euro remained under pressure after weaker-than-expected German inflation data raised speculation of more easing in Europe. Investors stayed cautious before central bank decisions from the Bank of Japan and then the Federal Reserve later in the session, as well as key U.S. jobs data on Friday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.1 percent in early trading, while Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.8 percent after Tokyo markets were closed for a holiday on Tuesday. Later on Wednesday, Fed officials are expected to decide unanimously at the conclusion of their two-day meeting to continue tapering the central bank's massive bond-buying stimulus. Full Story | Top |
| Microsoft's Xbox One console to go on sale in China in September Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 05:58 PM PDT  By Malathi Nayak SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp will begin selling its Xbox One video game console in China in September through its partnership with Chinese Internet TV company BesTV New Media Co, the company said on Tuesday. The partners will also kickstart a program to help developers create, publish and sell Xbox One games in China and other markets where the console is sold, Microsoft said in a statement. In September last year, Microsoft and BesTV, a subsidiary of Shanghai Media Group, formed a joint venture and invested $237 million in "family games and related services." Last week, Shanghai's government said console makers such as Microsoft, Sony Corp and Nintendo Co will be able to manufacture and sell consoles in China through "foreign-invested enterprises" in Shanghai's free trade zone. Full Story | Top |
| Barclays to announce 'bad bank' next week - source Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 05:13 PM PDT  (Reuters) - By Steve Slater and Richa Naidu April 29 (Reuters) - Barclays Plc BARC.L will next week announce the creation of a bad bank portfolio of assets it deems non-core that it intends to sell or run down as part of a streamlining of its investment bank, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Last year, Barclays Chief Executive Antony Jenkins announced a portfolio of assets termed Exit Quadrant, that it aimed to get rid of; There are 54 billion pounds of assets in the Exit Quadrant portfolio. The Financial Times, which first reported the plan to set up a so-called bad bank of assets, said it is also likely to house parts of Barclays' macro products unit, which includes the trading of interest rate-linked products, currencies and commodities, and some or all of Barclays' retail banking businesses in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Full Story | Top |
| Switzerland, Norway are world's most expensive economies Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 05:08 PM PDT  Switzerland and Norway are the world's most expensive economies, followed by Bermuda, Australia and Denmark, according to a new ranking by the World Bank. The economies with the lowest prices are Egypt, Pakistan, Myanmar, Ethiopia and Laos, according to a review of economic data which seeks to compensate for exchange rate effects and measure spending power across countries. Eight countries, including Malawi, Mozambique and Liberia, had GDP per capita of less than $1,000. Compared to the last time the exercise was done in 2005, with a slightly different methodology and mix of countries, middle-income countries gained a bigger share of the world economy, at the expense of both high- and low-income peers. Full Story | Top |
| Twitter disappoints again on user growth and views; shares drop Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 05:05 PM PDT  By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter Inc reported lackluster user and usage growth for the second consecutive quarter on Tuesday, deepening investor concerns about its struggle to gain a mass following. Twitter's stock fell more than 10 percent after hours to $38.05, below its post-initial public offering low of $38.80 on November 25. Perhaps most worrying, the San Francisco-based company said its 255 million monthly users, on average, appeared to check the service less frequently than a year ago. The results revealed slowing momentum at a company that exuberant investors just six months ago had argued could one day match Facebook Inc's scale. Full Story | Top |
| Ex-AIG chief Greenberg must face judge he called biased Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 04:54 PM PDT  By Karen Freifeld NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former AIG chief Maurice "Hank" Greenberg will have to defend himself against claims of accounting fraud in a non-jury trial conducted by a judge he tried to remove for alleged bias. Justice Charles Ramos of New York state court on Tuesday ruled against Greenberg's demand for a jury to hear the civil case brought by the New York attorney general. Earlier this month, a New York appeals court rejected Greenberg's attempt to remove Ramos from the long-running case. Greenberg claimed Ramos was biased against him and could not preside over a fair trial. Full Story | Top |
| EBay beefs up U.S. war chest in pursuit of growth Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 04:49 PM PDT  By Deepa Seetharaman SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - EBay Inc is preparing to bring a major portion of its foreign earnings back into the United States, hoping to bankroll acquisitions and drive an expansion into mobile payments and other high-growth areas as its core business matures. Ebay, which on Tuesday forecast lower-than-expected earnings this quarter, also plans to ramp up its marketing spending on PayPal, which is an Internet leader but faces stiff competition in the fledgling smartphone payments market. The move will allow eBay to boost its available U.S. cash by about $6 billion, when needed. "If you look at our last 15 acquisitions, my guess is 10 have been inside the U.S., maybe 11," Chief Executive John Donahoe said in an interview. Full Story | Top |
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