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| Super Bowl coaches bristle at Obama's comments Monday, Jan 28, 2013 07:10 PM PST NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's comments that he would "think long and hard" before letting a son play American football were shrugged off by Super Bowl coaches on Monday but there was some agreement from players that the game needed to evolve. Obama's stance came in an interview with the New Republic, published on Sunday, where he was asked how he squares his love of the game with rising awareness of the impact of repeated head injuries on football players. ... Full Story | Top |
| Employers encouraged by proposal to fix U.S. immigration chaos Monday, Jan 28, 2013 07:09 PM PST LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The first big political push for an overhaul of U.S. immigration laws in more than five years holds out some promise for employers who have long complained that the current system is broken and inhibits hiring. From farmers who cannot find Americans to pick their crops to technology firm who need more engineers from abroad, the bipartisan plan from eight U.S. senators announced on Monday offered solutions like a "workable" program for seasonal farm labor and a commitment to "attracting and keeping the world's best and brightest. ... Full Story | Top |
| NFL-Super Bowl coaches bristle at Obama's comments Monday, Jan 28, 2013 07:03 PM PST NEW ORLEANS, Jan 28 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's comments that he would "think long and hard" before letting a son play American football were shrugged off by Super Bowl coaches on Monday but there was some agreement from players that the game needed to evolve. Obama's stance came in an interview with the New Republic, published on Sunday, where he was asked how he squares his love of the game with rising awareness of the impact of repeated head injuries on football players. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cut losses or face new laws, MPs tell English football clubs Monday, Jan 28, 2013 07:01 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - New laws should be introduced to force English football clubs to clean up their finances unless they adopt European rules to curb spending, a group of British MPs said on Tuesday. The call adds to pressure on the 20-team Premier League to implement Financial Fair Play (FFP) measures which European soccer's governing body UEFA has already introduced for leading teams across the continent. New television contracts are expected to generate more than five billion pounds over the next three years for the Premier League, the world's richest in term of revenue. ... Full Story | Top |
| BoE policymaker doubts value of long-term rate commitment Monday, Jan 28, 2013 06:54 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - A senior Bank of England policymaker raised doubts on Monday about whether the bank would benefit from longer-term policy commitments of the type championed two days ago by its future governor, Mark Carney. The intervention by David Miles, an external member of the bank's Monetary Policy Committee, adds to growing uncertainty about whether Carney's arrival from the Bank of Canada in July will lead to big changes at the British central bank. "I don't think it would be helpful for the MPC to say: 'Here is where policy is going to be for the next several months'. ... Full Story | Top |
| IRS can seek UBS records for taxpayers hiding income at Wegelin Monday, Jan 28, 2013 06:42 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday authorized the Internal Revenue Service to seek records from UBS AG of U.S. taxpayers suspected of hiding their income in accounts with Swiss bank Wegelin. Wegelin, the oldest Swiss private bank, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court on January 3 to charges of helping wealthy Americans evade taxes through secret accounts and then announced it would close down as a result. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazil detains band, club owners after deadly nightclub fire Monday, Jan 28, 2013 06:15 PM PST  SANTA MARIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazilian police investigating a nightclub fire that killed 231 people detained on Monday the owners of the club and two band members whose pyrotechnics show authorities say triggered the blaze. No charges were filed against the four men, but prosecutors said they could be held for up to five days as police press them for clues as to how the fire early Sunday morning could have caused so many deaths. Stunned residents in the southern city of Santa Maria attended a marathon of funerals beginning in the pre-dawn hours. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Nightclub fire exposes faults in Brazil's big ambitions Monday, Jan 28, 2013 06:15 PM PST RIO DE JANEIRO/BRASILIA (Reuters) - A nightclub fire that killed 231 people is prompting Brazilians to worry that a culture of haphazard regulation and lax accountability stand in the way of achieving the country's lofty, first-world ambitions. Brazil, Latin America's biggest country, has been praised by economists and investors over the past decade during a boom that made it one of the world's most promising emerging markets. ... Full Story | Top |
| Governments fall short in fighting defense corruption: survey Monday, Jan 28, 2013 06:04 PM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - More than two-thirds of countries, including many of the world's largest arms traders, have inadequate safeguards to prevent corruption in their defense sectors, a survey by an anti-corruption watchdog said on Tuesday. Germany and Australia are the only countries out of 82 surveyed by Transparency International UK with strong anti-corruption mechanisms, according to what the watchdog says is the first index measuring how governments counter corruption in defense. ... Full Story | Top |
| Activists cautiously welcome immigration reform push Monday, Jan 28, 2013 05:31 PM PST PHOENIX (Reuters) - Proposed changes to immigration law unveiled on Monday could be the answer to the prayers of illegal immigrants like Maria Duran, but she is waiting to see the details. A bipartisan group of Republican and Democrat senators announced "tough but fair" steps that they hoped could be passed by Congress this year to give 11 million illegal immigrants a chance to eventually become American citizens. Activists like Duran, who sat up all night with others at a prayer vigil for immigration reform outside the capitol building in Phoenix, Arizona, were pleased but cautious. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate approves $50.5 billion in long-delayed Superstorm Sandy aid Monday, Jan 28, 2013 05:26 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A long-delayed $50.5 billion aid package for victims of Superstorm Sandy cleared the Senate on Monday, three months after the storm destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in coastal New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The package, approved 62-36 in the Democratic-controlled Senate, now goes to President Barack Obama to be signed into law. Added to flood insurance legislation passed by Congress earlier this month, it brings Sandy aid appropriations to $60.2 billion. All the opposing lawmakers were Republicans. ... Full Story | Top |
| Google pledges fight over government access to users' email Monday, Jan 28, 2013 05:19 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Google will lobby Washington in 2013 to make it harder for law enforcement authorities to gain access to emails and other digital messages. In a blog post on Monday, linked to Data Privacy Day, Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, said the tech giant, in coalition with many other powerful tech companies, will try to convince Congress to update a 1986 privacy protection law. He cited data showing that government requests for Google's user data increased more than 70 percent since 2009. ... Full Story | Top |
| Large arms shipment intercepted off Yemen, Iran eyed as source Monday, Jan 28, 2013 05:14 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Yemeni forces intercepted a ship on January 23 carrying a large cache of weapons - including surface-to-air missiles - that U.S. officials suspect were being smuggled from Iran and destined for Yemeni insurgents, officials said on Monday. Yemen's government said the arms intercepted aboard the ship off the country's coast also included military grade explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and bomb-making equipment, according to a statement by its embassy in Washington. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the operation was coordinated with the U. ... Full Story | Top |
| Background checks for gun purchases up since Newtown massacre: FBI data Monday, Jan 28, 2013 05:11 PM PST  CHICAGO (Reuters) - Background checks for firearms purchases spiked after the December 14 mass shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, new data from the FBI showed on Monday. According to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), nine of the top 10 days for firearms checks from November 30, 1998, to January 27, 2013, including December 14, 2012, occurred since Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School and then shot and killed himself. Lanza also killed his mother before the school massacre. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senators unveil immigration reform as Hispanic influence grows Monday, Jan 28, 2013 05:07 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Reflecting the growing influence of Hispanics in American politics, a group of Republican and Democratic U.S. senators on Monday said they will move quickly with legislation giving 11 million illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens. That new political reality, and a change in public opinion on immigration, makes this effort at comprehensive reform more likely to succeed than those of the past, they said, acknowledging that it still won't be easy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama lawyers to argue recess appointments again in March Monday, Jan 28, 2013 05:03 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While President Barack Obama considers his next move in one high-stakes legal fight to fill vacant jobs, his lawyers expect to go to court at least twice more to argue for his power to appoint when the U.S. Senate is not meeting. Federal appeals courts in both Philadelphia and Richmond, Virginia, are likely to hear the issue of recess appointments in March, possibly during the same week. The hearings will be an opportunity for Obama's lawyers to rebound after a blockbuster ruling on Friday, when a court in Washington, D.C. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Israeli finance chief expects cuts to defense spending Monday, Jan 28, 2013 04:36 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, fresh from a record-setting sale of Israeli bonds to investors in Florida, said on Monday that balancing the government budget will require "moderate but still significant" cuts to the defense sector. In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Steinitz, a leading member of the weakened Likud party of hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also said there are no plans to further raise taxes in order to hit a deficit target of 3 percent of economic output. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran launches monkey into space, showing missile progress Monday, Jan 28, 2013 04:30 PM PST  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday it had launched a live monkey into space, seeking to show off missile systems that have alarmed the West because the technology could potentially be used to deliver a nuclear warhead. The Defense Ministry announced the launch as world powers sought to agree a date and venue with Iran for resuming talks to resolve a standoff with the West over Tehran's contested nuclear program before it degenerates into a new Middle East war. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. F-16 fighter based in Italy may have crashed in Adriatic Monday, Jan 28, 2013 04:16 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - A U.S. F-16 fighter jet was feared to have crashed on Monday during a training exercise over the Adriatic Sea, and the U.S. Air Force said the status of its Italy-based pilot was unknown. Search efforts by the U.S. Air Force and the Italian Coast Guard are under way in poor weather conditions with limited visibility. A fuel slick had been sighted at sea, ANSA news agency reported. The U.S. Air Force said only that it "lost contact" with the F-16 at about 8 p.m. ... Full Story | Top |
| Separate path for farm labor in Senate immigration plan Monday, Jan 28, 2013 04:05 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Agricultural laborers would be on a separate path to U.S. citizenship than other undocumented workers in the immigration reforms proposed by eight senators on Monday that cited the importance of feeding America. Many of the 1.5 million farm workers employed in the United States annually - perhaps 500,000 to 900,000 in all - are believed to be in the country illegally. ... Full Story | Top |
| Faulty manufacturing seen behind F-35B grounding Monday, Jan 28, 2013 04:02 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pentagon and industry officials said on Monday a manufacturing problem was the most likely cause of an engine failure that led to the grounding of all 25 Marine Corps versions of the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jet 10 days ago. The investigation found that a fuel line built by a unit of Parker Hannifin Corp had been improperly crimped, which resulted in it detaching and failing just before a training flight took off at a Florida Air Force base, said Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the Pentagon's F-35 program office. ... Full Story | Top |
| Who's silencing Guantanamo court audio feed, judge asks Monday, Jan 28, 2013 04:02 PM PST  GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - The sound was abruptly cut in the Guantanamo war crimes court on Monday, prompting the angry judge to question whether someone outside the room was censoring pretrial hearings for five men accused of plotting the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001. In all hearings for the alleged al Qaeda operatives who were previously held in secret CIA prisons, a court security officer seated near the judge controls a button that muffles the audio feed to spectators when secret information is disclosed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Cut losses or face new laws, MPs tell English clubs Monday, Jan 28, 2013 04:01 PM PST LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - New laws should be introduced to force English soccer clubs to clean up their finances unless they adopt European rules to curb spending, a group of British politicians said on Tuesday. The call adds to pressure on the 20-team Premier League to implement Financial Fair Play (FFP) measures which European soccer's governing body UEFA has already introduced for leading teams across the continent. New television contracts are expected to generate more than five billion pounds ($7. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canadian opposition introduces bill that makes secession easier Monday, Jan 28, 2013 03:49 PM PST  OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's biggest opposition party introduced a bill on Monday that would make it easier for the French-speaking province of Quebec to secede, although the proposal has no chance of becoming law now. The bill, from the opposition New Democratic Party, would allow Quebec to leave Canada if there were a simple majority vote on a clear question - 50 percent plus one vote, offering clues to NDP policy on the matter if it wins the 2015 election. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boy Scouts of America may end ban on gays Monday, Jan 28, 2013 03:48 PM PST  DALLAS (Reuters) - Boy Scouts of America is considering ending a longstanding national ban on gay youth and adult members and leaving policies on sexual orientation to its local organizations, a spokesman said on Monday. Lifting the ban would mark a dramatic reversal for the 103-year-old organization, which only last summer reaffirmed its policy amid heavy criticism from gay rights groups and some parents of scouts. The organization's national executive board is expected to discuss lifting the ban on gay members at its regularly scheduled board meeting next week in Texas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Man wrongly charged in Texas shooting released from jail Monday, Jan 28, 2013 03:42 PM PST SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - A man who police said was wrongly charged in connection with a shooting at a Texas community college last week, was released from jail on Monday after charges against him were dismissed. Carlton Berry, 22, who was being treated in a jail hospital ward for injuries he received in the shooting, was released from jail on Monday afternoon, said Sara Kinney, a spokeswoman for the Harris County District Attorney's Office. "All the charges against him were dismissed," Kinney said. "He is free to go. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate votes to approve $50.5 billion Sandy aid package Monday, Jan 28, 2013 03:38 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Monday approved a $50.5 billion disaster aid package for victims of Superstorm Sandy, three months after the storm destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in coastal New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The 62-36 vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate sends the appropriation measure to President Barack Obama to be signed into law. It narrowly exceeded a 60-vote threshold needed for passage. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Stuck in reverse, Detroit edges closer to bankruptcy Monday, Jan 28, 2013 03:22 PM PST  DETROIT (Reuters) - At the Detroit Auto Show earlier this month, luxury was in the air. Pricey new Bentleys and Maseratis glittered - including a Maserati 2014 Quattroporte with a $132,000 price tag; U.S. Cabinet Secretaries and dignitaries rubbed shoulders; and many of the well-heeled attendees ponied up for a $300-a-ticket black-tie charity ball. But in a city that is slowly dying, the glitz didn't extend much beyond the Cobo Center exhibition hall. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain offers France more military aid for Mali Monday, Jan 28, 2013 03:19 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is offering France further assistance in its military operations against Islamist rebels in Mali, but will not take a combat role, Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman said on Monday. Cameron spoke to French President Francois Hollande late on Sunday about the conflict in the West African state, where French and Malian government forces are battling Islamist insurgents. Britain has already provided two C-17 military transport aircraft and a Sentinel surveillance plane to the operation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guatemala court orders trial of former dictator, rejects appeals Monday, Jan 28, 2013 03:04 PM PST  GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - A Guatemalan court ordered 86-year-old former dictator Efrain Rios Montt on Monday to face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, throwing out 13 appeals presented by his defense. A judge found sufficient proof linking Rios Montt, who ruled during a particularly bloody period of the country's 36-year civil war, to the killing of more than 1,700 indigenous people in a counterinsurgency operation in 1982 and 1983. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former Colombian guerrillas face hardships re-entering society Monday, Jan 28, 2013 02:58 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - As the decades-long guerrilla war in Colombia winds down, the biggest task facing the government is to reintegrate the fighters to society, Alejandro Eder, director of the Colombian Agency for Reintegration, said on Monday. The main obstacle facing Colombia's former guerrillas and paramilitaries in becoming productive members of civil society is stigmatization by the public and a lack of job opportunities, he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian protesters defy curfew, attack police stations Monday, Jan 28, 2013 02:52 PM PST  CAIRO/ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Egyptian protesters defied a nighttime curfew in restive towns along the Suez Canal, attacking police stations and ignoring emergency rule imposed by Islamist President Mohamed Mursi to end days of clashes that have killed at least 52 people. At least two men died in overnight fighting in the canal city of Port Said in the latest outbreak of violence unleashed last week on the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 revolt that brought down autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Political opponents spurned a call by Mursi for talks on Monday to try to end the violence. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. warns Antigua against "government-authorized piracy" Monday, Jan 28, 2013 02:40 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States warned Antigua and Barbuda on Monday not to retaliate against U.S. restrictions on Internet gambling by suspending American copyrights or patents, a move it said would authorize the "theft" of intellectual property like movies and music. "The United States has urged Antigua to consider solutions that would benefit its broader economy. However, Antigua has repeatedly stymied these negotiations with certain unrealistic demands," said Nkenge Harmon, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. charges ex-Jefferies exec with mortgage debt fraud Monday, Jan 28, 2013 02:22 PM PST (Reuters) - A former Jefferies Group Inc managing director has been charged with defrauding a federal bank bailout program and investors in mortgage securities by falsifying prices and the identities of sellers, in a bid to make more money for his employer, U.S. authorities said on Monday. The criminal case against Jesse Litvak, a former senior trader on Jefferies' trading floor in Stamford, Connecticut, is the first under a 2009 law banning "major fraud" against the United States through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP Special Inspector General Christy Romero said on a conference ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali to receive $18.4 million loan from IMF Monday, Jan 28, 2013 02:03 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mali, the strife-torn West African nation, has been approved to receive an $18.4 million loan from the International Monetary Fund to help stabilize its economy over the next 12 months, the IMF said on Monday. The Fund said approval of the loan, under its Rapid Credit Facility, will not fulfill all the government's needs but should send a signal that Mali's economy is on the right path, prompting other donors to offer financial assistance. The IMF first announced in November that it had agreed on a loan with Mali, subject to board approval. "The disbursement ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Murdoch apologizes for "offensive" Netanyahu cartoon Monday, Jan 28, 2013 02:01 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch apologized on Monday for a "grotesque" cartoon in his London-based Sunday Times newspaper depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu building a bloody wall trapping the bodies of Palestinians, after complaints from Jewish groups. The image, which shows Netanyahu holding a trowel dripping blood, was published on Holocaust Memorial Day and carried the caption "Israeli elections. ... Full Story | Top |
| Inventories, trade seen hobbling fourth-quarter GDP Monday, Jan 28, 2013 01:35 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Less restocking by businesses and weaker global demand likely held back economic growth in the fourth quarter but consumer spending probably picked up to help keep the recovery intact. Gross domestic product probably grew at a 1.1 percent annual rate, a step down from the third quarter's brisk 3.1 percent pace, according to a Reuters poll of economists. That would be the slowest growth rate in nearly two years. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. plays down purchase of Iran oil by company in South Korea Monday, Jan 28, 2013 01:28 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States played down on Monday a company's purchase of Iranian oil in South Korea, saying the American ally shares the objective of keeping pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program through sanctions. Samsung Total Petrochemicals, a joint venture between South Korea's Samsung Group and French energy giant Total, bought Iranian condensate because thin profit margins in plastics production make inexpensive fuel from the Islamic Republic hard to resist, people familiar with the deal said last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate immigration reform backers seek quick action Monday, Jan 28, 2013 01:18 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of senators who have agreed on an immigration reform plan said on Monday they hope to move quickly with legislation giving 11 million illegal immigrants a chance to eventually become American citizens. The four Democrats and four Republicans released the outline of a comprehensive immigration reform effort - one with plenty of details missing - that still must be turned into legislation. ... Full Story | Top |
| French seal off Mali's Timbuktu, rebels torch library Monday, Jan 28, 2013 01:03 PM PST  GAO, Mali (Reuters) - French and Malian troops retook control of Timbuktu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on Monday after Islamist rebel occupiers fled the ancient Sahara trading town and torched several buildings, including a library holding priceless manuscripts. The United States and the European Union are backing a French-led intervention in Mali against al Qaeda-allied militants they fear could use the West African state's desert north as a springboard for international attacks. ... Full Story | Top |
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