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| U.S. Navy testing more sophisticated pilotless helicopters Friday, Apr 04, 2014 09:05 PM PDT The helicopter, filmed during testing by the Naval Research Laboratory, was piloted by a 100-pound (45-kg) sensor and software package that officials said can turn any rotary-winged aircraft into a virtually autonomous drone able to fly with minimal input from the Marine Corps troops it was designed to serve. Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder, chief of Naval Research, said the sensor and software pack is "truly leap-ahead technology" that will let a Marine with no flight experience issue landing instructions to a cargo helicopter via tablet computer after just a few minutes of training. Klunder, who will preview the technology for industry and military leaders at a conference in Washington on Tuesday, said the aim of the project was to give troops a simple tool for battlefield resupply, reducing the casualties inherent in using ground convoys to deliver food, water and weapons. An Army study of data from 2003 to 2007 showed that one person was killed or wounded for every 24 fuel resupply convoys in Afghanistan and one was killed or wounded for every 29 water resupply convoys. Full Story | Top |
| Japan orders military to strike any new North Korea missile launches Friday, Apr 04, 2014 08:54 PM PDT  Japan has ordered a destroyer in the Sea of Japan to strike any ballistic missiles that may be launched by North Korea in the coming weeks after Pyongyang fired a Rodong medium-range missile over the sea, a government source said on Saturday. Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera issued the order on Thursday, but did not make it public in order to avoid putting a chill on renewed talks between Tokyo and Pyongyang, the first in more than a year, local media reported earlier. Onodera, the source said, did not deploy Patriot missile batteries that would be the last line of defense against incoming warheads. The firing of the Rodong coincided with a meeting in The Hague between U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of South Korea and Japan and followed a series of short-range rocket launches. Full Story | Top |
| Biggest search yet for Malaysian missing jet Friday, Apr 04, 2014 08:40 PM PDT  By Swati Pandey PERTH (Reuters) - Four weeks after the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner, searchers on Saturday launched the most intensive hunt yet in the southern Indian Ocean, trying to find the plane's black box recorders before their batteries run out. Up to 10 military planes, three civilian jets and 11 ships will scour a 217,000-sq-km (88,000-sq-mile) patch of desolate ocean some 1,700 km (1,060 miles) northwest of Perth near where investigators believe the plane went down on March 8 with the loss of all 239 people on board. "If we haven't found anything in six weeks we will continue because there are a lot of things in the aircraft that will float," Retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, the head of the Australian agency coordinating the operation, told reporters. "Eventually I think something will be found that will help us narrow the search area." Authorities have not ruled out mechanical problems as a cause but say the evidence, including the loss of communications, suggests Flight MH370 was deliberately diverted thousands of kilometers from its scheduled route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Full Story | Top |
| Amazon launches Amazon Dash for delivery of groceries, household items Friday, Apr 04, 2014 07:16 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc launched a new product named Amazon Dash on Friday that allows the user to add groceries and household goods to their shopping lists using the company's AmazonFresh service. A black-and-white hand-held wand-shaped remote-control features a microphone, speaker as well as a bar-code reader and links directly to the user's AmazonFresh account. However, the device is available only for users of the AmazonFresh which currently operates exclusively in Southern California, San Francisco and Seattle. However, signing up for Amazon Dash is by invitation only while the AmazonFresh service is currently available only Southern California, San Francisco and Seattle. Full Story | Top |
| HP executives held in Pakistan tax probe: WSJ Friday, Apr 04, 2014 06:55 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Two executives of the Pakistani arm of computer giant Hewlett-Packard Co were arrested by local officials in Karachi on Friday on suspicion of corporate tax evasion, the Wall Street Journal reported. The arrested executives were identified as Shahid Ali Khan, HP Pakistan's country general manager for printing and personal systems and country controller, Salim Rawjani. Hewlett-Packard had no comment when contacted about the Journal report. The arrests followed a raid at a large Pakistani computer seller's offices in Karachi that revealed records allegedly showing equipment as not being properly taxed, the Journal reported. Full Story | Top |
| Mozilla CEO's exit tests Silicon Valley's tolerance Friday, Apr 04, 2014 06:25 PM PDT  By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Tech workers in Silicon Valley debated on Friday whether Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich got the comeuppance he deserved or was himself a victim of intolerance when he resigned under pressure this week amid outrage over his opposition to same-sex marriage. Some, especially a dating website that had urged its users to boycott Mozilla's popular Firefox web browser, cheered Eich's resignation after less than two weeks as CEO of the nonprofit software company. Mozilla co-founder Eich, who invented the programming language Javascript, donated $1,000 in 2008 to support Proposition 8, which sought to ban same-sex marriage in California. His views about gay marriage had been known within Mozilla for nearly two years, but controversy erupted after he was appointed CEO in late March. Full Story | Top |
| Momentum names may see more pain Friday, Apr 04, 2014 06:08 PM PDT  Familiar names such as Netflix, Facebook and Tesla Motors, along with a number of biotechnology and cloud-computing stocks, have been pummeled in the last month. Some stocks are down more than 20 percent over that period, falling into their own bear market, and yet their valuations still far exceed those of the broader U.S. stock indexes. Wall Street defines a bear market as a drop of 20 percent or more from a recent peak. Facebook Inc , for example, has fallen nearly 22 percent from an intraday record reached less than a month ago. Full Story | Top |
| Kerry warns U.S. is evaluating role in Middle East peace talks Friday, Apr 04, 2014 05:38 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton RABAT (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that Washington was evaluating whether it was worth continuing its role in Middle East peace talks, signaling his patience with the Israelis and Palestinians was running out. There was a limit to U.S. efforts if the parties themselves were unwilling to move forward, Kerry said during a visit to Morocco after a week of setbacks. It is reality check time, and we intend to evaluate precisely what the next steps will be," Kerry said, adding he would return to Washington on Friday to consult with the Obama administration. White House spokesman Josh Earnest acknowledged that President Barack Obama shared Kerry's frustration over "unhelpful" actions by both sides and the two men would discuss the path forward in the eight-month-old talks after the secretary of state's return to Washington. Full Story | Top |
| Ergen seeks permission to sue Falcon in LightSquared case Friday, Apr 04, 2014 05:24 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Dish Network Corp Chairman Charles Ergen, the largest creditor of bankrupt wireless company LightSquared, is seeking permission to sue Phil Falcone, the investor whose Harbinger Capital fund controls LightSquared. In a court filing on Friday, Ergen asked the judge overseeing LightSquared's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case for permission to bring a lawsuit alleging Falcone mismanaged the company, focusing on preserving his own investment at the expense of other stakeholders. LightSquared, majority-owned by Harbinger, went bankrupt in 2012, when the Federal Communications Commission revoked its license to operate spectrum out of concern it could interfere with GPS systems. Ergen then acquired about $1 billion of the company's senior loan debt, giving him a controlling stake in LightSquared's capital structure. Full Story | Top |
| Idaho school system removes book from curriculum after parental outrage Friday, Apr 04, 2014 05:15 PM PDT By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - The largest school district in Idaho has banned from its curriculum an award-winning book about the struggles of a Native American teenager after complaints by parents that the novel was rife with profanity, racial epithets and anti-Christian rhetoric. The school board in Meridian, Idaho, voted 2-1 this week to keep the book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," off a supplemental reading list for 10th graders, meaning it will not be part of the curriculum at the high school, said school board clerk Trish Duncan. The 2007 Sherman Alexie novel, which won the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, is still available in the school's library, she said. Full Story | Top |
| General Dynamics says U.S. Army denied armored vehicle protest Friday, Apr 04, 2014 05:13 PM PDT By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Dynamics Corp said on Friday that the U.S. Army denied its protest about the terms of multibillion-dollar competition for a new armored vehicle, which General Dynamics said were skewed to favor its rival, BAE Systems Plc. General Dynamics spokesman Pete Keating said the company would study the Army's ruling and decide on the next steps to take. The company has 10 days to file a protest with the Government Accountability Office, an arm of Congress that rules on federal contract disputes. The Army's competition for a new Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) to replace nearly 2,900 Vietnam-era M113 infantry carriers is one of few new weapons development programs available for U.S. ground vehicle makers. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: IEX eyes stock exchange status as firms come knocking Friday, Apr 04, 2014 05:12 PM PDT  By John McCrank NEW YORK (Reuters) - The upstart stock trading venue featured in Michael Lewis' book "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt," may apply to become a fully registered stock exchange sooner than planned, IEX Group Inc's chief executive said on Friday. "Flash Boys" hit the stands on Monday and unleashed a fierce debate over the fairness of the U.S. stock market, which the book characterized as rigged in favor of high-speed traders who use their advantages to bilk the system for billions. The book also thrust IEX, and its CEO, Brad Katsuyama, former head of electronic trading at a unit of Royal Bank of Canada, in New York, into the spotlight. "We've been getting interest from corporate clients about listings and I think that definitely increases our interest in looking at becoming an exchange earlier than thought," Katsuyama said in an interview. Full Story | Top |
| Boeing, GE say get U.S. license to sell spare parts to Iran Friday, Apr 04, 2014 04:26 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal and Tim Hepher WASHINGTON/PARIS (Reuters) - Boeing Co , the world's biggest airplane maker, and engine maker General Electric Co said on Friday they had received licenses from the U.S. Treasury Department to export certain spare parts for commercial aircraft to Iran under a temporary sanctions relief deal that began in January. GE spokesman Rick Kennedy said the Treasury had approved the company's application to service 18 engines sold to Iran in the late 1970s. He said GE officials would meet with officials from Iran flag carrier Iranair and MTU in Istanbul next week to discuss Iran's needs. A Boeing spokesman said his company received the license this week and would now contact officials in Iran to determine which parts were needed. Full Story | Top |
| F1 must accent positives of new era, says Symonds Friday, Apr 04, 2014 04:24 PM PDT By Alan Baldwin MANAMA (Reuters) - Formula One needs to focus on the positives of its new turbo era rather than talking itself down, Williams technical head Pat Symonds said on Friday. Speaking ahead of Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, Symonds warned that criticism of the rule changes from within the sport risked a backlash similar to that faced by British jeweler Gerald Ratner in 1991. Symonds said Formula One should not follow that path. We've done something good and we should tell the world about it." Formula One ditched the old 2.4 liter V8 engines at the end of last season and replaced them with a new 1.6 liter V6 turbo power unit with systems harnessing exhaust gases and kinetic energy from the brakes. Full Story | Top |
| North Korea tells world 'wait and see' on new nuclear test Friday, Apr 04, 2014 04:22 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea said on Friday that the world would have to "wait and see" when asked for details of "a new form" of nuclear test it threatened to carry out after the United Nations Security Council condemned Pyongyang's recent ballistic missile launch. North Korea fired two medium-range Rodong ballistic missiles into the sea on March 26. Its first firing in four years of mid-range missiles that can hit Japan followed a series of short-range rocket launches over the past two months. North Korea (DPRK) reacted on Sunday with a threat to conduct what it called "a new form of nuclear test. Full Story | Top |
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