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| Colombia court backs Santos in sea boundary dispute with Nicaragua Friday, May 02, 2014 07:53 PM PDT Colombia's constitutional court ruled on Friday that applying a decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that granted Nicaragua a disputed area of Caribbean waters could not take effect without a treaty between the countries. The court's verdict upholds the position taken by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who said the Hague-based ICJ's decision was not applicable according to Colombia's constitution without such a treaty, ratified by the Andean nation's congress. The ICJ in November 2012 reduced the area of ocean that belonged to Colombia around its cluster of Caribbean islands, determining that a section of their maritime shelf belonged to Nicaragua. Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Merkel still struggle over spying but agree on trade Friday, May 02, 2014 05:52 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel could not hide differences on Friday over U.S. surveillance practices despite Obama's offer of "cyber dialogue" with Berlin and a pledge to bridge gaps that have tarnished their relationship. The two leaders have been at odds over the U.S. National Security Agency's spying habits since revelations from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden last year showed the United States had listened in on many of its allies, including Merkel. Obama has since banned the practice of eavesdropping on allied political leaders, but the measure has not placated Germany. "We have a few difficulties yet to overcome," Merkel said in a joint news conference with Obama at the White House, referring to the conflict and pointedly declining to say, when asked, that trust between the two nations had been restored. Full Story | Top |
| First U.S. case of deadly MERS virus confirmed: CDC Friday, May 02, 2014 04:53 PM PDT  A healthcare worker who had traveled to Saudi Arabia was confirmed as the first U.S. case of Middle East Respiratory Virus (MERS), an often fatal illness, raising new concerns about the rapid spread of such diseases, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. The male patient traveled via a British Airways flight on April 24 from Riyadh to London, where he changed flights at Heathrow airport to fly to the United States. He landed in Chicago and took a bus to an undisclosed city in Indiana. According to the Indiana State Department of Health, the man visited the emergency department at Community Hospital in Munster, Indiana, on April 28 and was admitted that same day. Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan leader ready for talks but rival doesn't commit Friday, May 02, 2014 03:06 PM PDT  By Phil Stewart JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's President Salva Kiir said on Friday he was ready for face-to-face talks with rebel leader Riek Machar to try and end months of fighting in the world's newest nation, but his rival held off from promising to take part. Kiir spoke hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met him in South Sudan's capital Juba to urge him to help end the conflict - part of a diplomatic push by Western and African powers who fear it could tip into full-blown ethnic slaughter and destabilize an already fragile region. "In the interest of peace in our country, I am willing and ready for face-to-face talks with Machar," Kiir was quoted as saying in a statement released by the government of Kenya, where he flew to brief his regional counterparts after meeting Kerry. Full Story | Top |
| Senate Democrats press for speedier LNG export permits Friday, May 02, 2014 02:39 PM PDT By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration must speed up approvals of liquefied natural gas exports to help boost global supplies and help U.S. allies, five Senate Democrats said on Friday. The lawmakers, all from natural gas-producing states, urged the Energy Department to place additional weight on national security matters in its review of LNG export applications. The Democrats said they wanted to show the White House that there is significant Democratic support for speeding up gas exports, even though Republicans typically lead the chorus. "Our allies have emphasized that a strong market signal from the United States that it is a willing future supplier of LNG, even if those supplies are not immediately available, would have profound, positive and immediate strategic implications," the lawmakers said in the a letter to President Barack Obama. Full Story | Top |
| Severe winter boosts TransCanada profit as KXL delay drags on Friday, May 02, 2014 02:23 PM PDT  (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp , Canada's No.2 pipeline company and the backer of the Keystone XL pipeline, reported a 14 percent rise in adjusted quarterly profit as an unusually harsh winter in North America boosted demand for its pipelines. Delivery volumes rose 24 percent in the company's Canadian Mainline gas pipeline system and 14 percent in the NGTL system in Western Canada in the first three months of the year. "An unseasonably cold winter resulted in strong demand for our critical pipeline and power infrastructure assets," Chief Executive Officer Russ Girling said in a statement. Girling said the recently completed Keystone Gulf Coast crude pipeline between Cushing, Oklahoma, and the U.S. Gulf Coast, expected to carry on average 520,000 barrels per day in 2014, had also helped TransCanada increase earnings. Full Story | Top |
| Jupiter's moon Ganymede may have 'club sandwich' layers of ocean Friday, May 02, 2014 02:05 PM PDT  By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As club sandwiches go, this undoubtedly is the biggest one in the solar system. Scientists said on Friday that Jupiter's moon Ganymede may possess ice and liquid oceans stacked up in several layers much like the popular multilayered sandwich. NASA's Galileo spacecraft flew by Ganymede in the 1990s and confirmed the presence of an interior ocean, also finding evidence for salty water perhaps from the salt known as magnesium sulfate. Ganymede, which with its diameter of about 3,300 miles (5,300 km), is the largest moon in the solar system and is bigger than the planet Mercury. Full Story | Top |
| SNC-Lavalin CEO optimistic on acquisitions after AltaLink sale Friday, May 02, 2014 01:48 PM PDT  By Solarina Ho TORONTO (Reuters) - SNC-Lavalin Group Inc is optimistic about making new construction and engineering acquisitions after selling its AltaLink asset to Berkshire Hathaway Inc for C$3.2 billion ($2.92 billion), SNC's chief executive said on Friday. The deal, announced late on Thursday, sent SNC shares up nearly 10 percent at one point, and speculation has turned toward what the firm may do with the cash. Montreal-based SNC is Canada's largest construction and engineering firm. Company officials had previously said 2014 would be a year of rebuilding and consolidation, and that acquisitions are a part of its growth strategy, but have yet to announce what the company will do with the money. Full Story | Top |
| Florida lawmakers approve medical marijuana bill Friday, May 02, 2014 01:42 PM PDT  By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida legislators voted on Friday to allow doctors to prescribe a special strain of "non-euphoric" marijuana for treatment of chronic epileptic seizures and some other severe illnesses. Governor Rick Scott said he will sign the bill into law when it reaches his desk. It was historic," said Ron Watson, a lobbyist whose 8-year-old son, Dylan, died of leukemia. Watson and several other parents, many wheeling their stricken children into the Capitol, testified at committee hearings and contacted House and Senate members throughout this year's 60-day session of the Florida Legislature. Full Story | Top |
| Resources lift TSX to near six-year high Friday, May 02, 2014 01:42 PM PDT  By John Tilak TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index climbed to its highest in almost six years on Friday after higher commodity prices drove strong advances in natural resource shares, offsetting mixed U.S. jobs data. A flurry of acquisition deals and earnings reports also provided support. Shares of engineering and construction company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc jumped 5.1 percent to C$52.14 after SNC said it will sell its AltaLink transmission system to Berkshire Hathaway Inc's energy unit for about $2.9 billion. While figures on Friday showed U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to create gasoline reserve in Northeast after Sandy shortages Friday, May 02, 2014 01:37 PM PDT  By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government will create a million-barrel gasoline reserve in the Northeast, a reaction to the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in 2012 when motorists were left without fuel, exposing vulnerabilities in the fuel distribution network. The Energy Department said on Friday that two sites will each store 500,000 barrels of gasoline by late summer, one near New York Harbor and one in the New England region. It said the $200 million emergency reserve would complement an existing heating oil stockpile, which holds a million barrels of diesel fuel. The department will lease space from commercial storage companies for the emergency stockpile, but it will have to buy the gasoline because it does not currently have reserves of the fuel. Full Story | Top |
| Merkel: Give Iran talks a chance, but ready to act if needed Friday, May 02, 2014 01:13 PM PDT  German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have to be given a chance, but sanctions could still be reinstated if needed. Merkel said Iran had to comply with an agreement under which Tehran agreed to limit parts of its nuclear work in return for the easing of some sanctions. "If Iran does not meet its obligations, or does not meet them adequately, we remain ready to take back the current limited suspension of sanctions," she said at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event. Full Story | Top |
| Risk of genocide seen in South Sudan conflict: U.N. official Friday, May 02, 2014 12:42 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The conflict in South Sudan has quickly degenerated into ethnic violence and there is a risk the fighting could spiral into genocide, Adama Dieng, the United Nations' special adviser on prevention of genocide, said on Friday. "In the current situation, we see elements that we could categorize as risk factors of genocide and other atrocity crimes," Dieng told the U.N. Security Council. ... Full Story | Top |
| West struggles for winning formula on Russian sanctions Friday, May 02, 2014 11:35 AM PDT By Peter Apps, Warren Strobel and Luke Baker LONDON/WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Western states used targeted sanctions to isolate Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and push Iran into nuclear negotiations. Using similar tactics against President Vladimir Putin's Russia is a challenge on an entirely different scale. Not only is the volume of Russian money in the international system much greater than anything tied to Gaddafi or Tehran but the sophistication with which it is moved, held and sometimes hidden is also much greater. There is also a question about political will in the European Union, which relies on Russia for a third of its energy needs, to go further. Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan's Kiir says ready to meet rebel leader for peace talks Friday, May 02, 2014 11:23 AM PDT  South Sudan's president Salva Kiir said on Friday he was ready to hold face-to-face talks with rebel leader Riek Machar to try to end more than four months of violence, in a statement released by the Kenyan presidency. Kiir traveled to Kenya to brief regional leaders shortly after meeting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in the South Sudanese capital Juba. "In the interest of peace in our country, I am willing and ready for face-to-face talks with Machar," Kiir was quoted as saying. The rebel leader did not make any commitments to go, but also did not rule it out, the official added. Full Story | Top |
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