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| Radioactive waste leaking from six tanks at Washington state nuclear site Friday, Feb 22, 2013 07:49 PM PST SEATTLE (Reuters) - Six underground storage tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation along the Columbia River in Washington state were recently found to be leaking radioactive waste, but there is no immediate risk to human health, state and federal officials said on Friday. The seeping waste adds to decades of soil contamination caused by leaking storage tanks at Hanford in the past and threatens to further taint groundwater below the site but poses no near-term danger of polluting the Columbia River, officials said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Divided Egypt opposition attacks Mursi on election call Friday, Feb 22, 2013 07:45 PM PST  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's opposition attacked President Mohammed Mursi on Friday for calling elections during a national crisis, but face a test of unity in challenging Islamists who have won every poll since the 2011 revolution. No sooner had Mursi called the parliamentary polls on Thursday than liberals and leftists accused him of deepening divisions between Islamists and their opponents. Some threatened to boycott voting which starts on April 27th and finishes in late June. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge clears legal hurdle to Seattle basketball stadium Friday, Feb 22, 2013 07:37 PM PST SEATTLE (Reuters) - A Seattle judge dismissed a lawsuit on Friday that sought to block plans to build a $490 million stadium south of downtown, clearing a major hurdle for an investor group aiming to bring back the city's sorely missed basketball franchise. The proposed stadium is key to a plan by a prominent Seattle investor to buy the Sacramento Kings and move them to Seattle renamed the SuperSonics to replace a team of that name which the city lost to Oklahoma in 2008. ... Full Story | Top |
| Abe vows to revive Japanese economy, sees no escalation with China Friday, Feb 22, 2013 07:11 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Americans on Friday "I am back and so is Japan" and vowed to get the world's third biggest economy growing again and to do more to bolster security and the rule of law in an Asia roiled by territorial disputes. Abe had firm words for China in a policy speech to a top Washington think-tank, but also tempered his remarks by saying he had no desire to escalate a row over islets in the East China Sea that Tokyo controls and Beijing claims. "No nation should make any miscalculation about firmness of our resolve. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arkansas makes gun-permit records private under new law Friday, Feb 22, 2013 05:54 PM PST LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - Arkansas on Friday became the latest state to exempt from public disclosure the names and zip codes of gun owners, those with permits to carry concealed weapons and applicants for gun permits. The measure, signed into law by the state's lieutenant governor, came in response to a New York newspaper's decision late last year to publish the names and addresses of thousands of gun permit holders on its website after 26 people were killed in a shooting rampage at an elementary school in Connecticut. ... Full Story | Top |
| Moody's strips Britain of triple-A rating in major blow to Osborne Friday, Feb 22, 2013 05:32 PM PST  LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Britain suffered its first ever sovereign ratings downgrade from a major agency on Friday when Moody's stripped the country of its coveted top-notch triple-A rating, dealing a major blow to Chancellor George Osborne. Moody's said weak prospects for British economic growth, which have thrown the government's deficit reduction strategy off course, lay behind its decision to cut the rating by one notch to Aa1 from Aaa. ... Full Story | Top |
| California Democrats lose supermajority in state Senate Friday, Feb 22, 2013 05:03 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Democrats who control California's legislature lost their supermajority in the state Senate on Friday when a business-friendly moderate from the state's Central Valley abruptly resigned. Senator Michael Rubio, elected in 2010, said he was stepping down to take a job with Chevron Corp, which will leave fellow Democrats with 26 seats in the Senate. Two other Democratic-leaning seats in the 40-member Senate are vacant. Rubio had been expected to spearhead the effort to overhaul environmental laws in a more business-friendly fashion. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sexting and bugging revealed at the FBI: CNN Friday, Feb 22, 2013 05:00 PM PST (Reuters) - One FBI employee was fired for sleeping with a drug dealer and lying about it under oath, while another got the boot for bugging the boss's office. The FBI suspended for 10 days still another employee for emailing a nude photograph of herself to her ex-boyfriend's wife - the bureau showed compassion for the woman after she sought help for depression. Those cases over the past year were among 29 revealed by CNN on Friday after the cable news network obtained an October 2012 quarterly report the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| ADB'S Kuroda leading candidate to be next BOJ governor: Asahi Friday, Feb 22, 2013 04:58 PM PST  TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda is the leading candidate to be the government's nominee for the Bank of Japan governorship, the Asahi newspaper reported, which would signal a shift toward more aggressive monetary easing. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make a final decision soon, in consultation with Finance Minister Taro Aso, and submit the government's nominee for parliamentary approval next week, the paper said on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thirteen Chadian soldiers, 65 rebels killed in Mali Friday, Feb 22, 2013 04:38 PM PST N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Thirteen Chadian soldiers were killed in fighting in northern Mali on Friday, the heaviest casualties sustained by French and African troops since the launch of a military campaign against Islamist rebels there six weeks ago, Chad's army said. Chadian troops killed 65 al Qaeda-linked fighters in the clashes that began before midday in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains near Mali's northern border with Algeria. "The provisional toll is ... on the enemy's side, five vehicles destroyed and 65 terrorists killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. court dismisses Chinese firm's claims against Obama over wind farm Friday, Feb 22, 2013 04:19 PM PST  (Reuters) - A federal judge in Washington on Friday dismissed most of the claims brought by a small Chinese firm against President Barack Obama for squashing its bid to build wind farms close to a naval training site. Experts had predicted the lawsuit had little chance to succeed because of the president's broad powers to protect national security. Ralls Corp, a company owned by two Chinese nationals, was installing wind turbines close to the training site in Oregon, which, according to the facility's web site, is used to test unmanned drones - a highly sensitive and prized U.S. technology. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yellowstone in compromise plan over park snowmobile traffic Friday, Feb 22, 2013 04:11 PM PST  CODY, Wyoming (Reuters) - Yellowstone National Park plans to allow more snowmobiles to traverse its neat, snowy roads on peak winter travel days while cutting noise and air pollution under a compromise proposal to balance environmental concerns with recreation. This could end years of squabbling over snow traffic limits in the park and ultimately allow up to 480 snowmobiles on the busiest days, such as national holidays. This would be balanced by much lower traffic over the rest of the winter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan PM to work on BOJ head nomination next week Friday, Feb 22, 2013 04:06 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday he plans next week to seek the backing of a junior coalition partner, the New Komeito party, and opposition parties over the nomination of a new Bank of Japan governor. "I'll be back in Japan on Sunday. From around Monday, I want to make headway on new governor and deputy governors," Abe told a news conference in Washington. "Next week, I would like to ask for help from opposition parties, notify candidates ... and work to win endorsement from New Komeito," he said. Abe did not say who he had in mind for the nomination. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., Japan agree on approach to Trans-Pacific Partnership talks Friday, Feb 22, 2013 03:59 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Japan on Friday agreed on language aimed at giving Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe political cover to bring the world's third-largest economy into negotiations on a U.S.-led free trade agreement in the Asia Pacific region. In a carefully worded statement following Abe's meeting with President Barack Obama, the two countries reaffirmed that "all goods would subject to negotiation" if Japan joins the talks with the United States and 10 other countries. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria opposition spurns U.S., Russia invites in protest Friday, Feb 22, 2013 03:48 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - The main Syrian opposition grouping has said it turned down invitations to visit Washington and Moscow to protest what it described as international silence over destruction of the ancient city of Aleppo by Syrian missile strikes. A statement late on Friday by the Syrian National Coalition, an umbrella group of opposition political forces, said it also had suspended participation in a Friends of Syria conference of international powers due in Rome next month to protest the attacks it said have caused many civilian casualties. ... Full Story | Top |
| Moody's strips UK of coveted triple-A debt rating Friday, Feb 22, 2013 03:45 PM PST NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Britain suffered its first ever sovereign ratings downgrade from a major agency on Friday, after Moody's stripped the country of its coveted top-notch triple-A rating, dealing a major blow to finance minister George Osborne. Moody's cut Britain's rating by one notch to Aa1 from Aaa, with a stable outlook, blaming weak prospects for Britain's economy over the coming years which have thrown the government's deficit reduction strategy off course. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK's Osborne says AAA downgrade is reminder of debt problems Friday, Feb 22, 2013 03:44 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister George Osborne vowed to press on with the government's economic plans on Friday after Moody's Investors Service cut Britain's credit rating to AA1 from AAA. "Tonight we have a stark reminder of the debt problems facing our country - and the clearest possible warning to anyone who thinks we can run away from dealing with those problems," Osborne said in a statement. "Far from weakening our resolve to deliver our economic recovery plan, this decision redoubles it." (Reporting by Michael Holden) Full Story | Top |
| White House brings out Republican Cabinet member to warn on cuts Friday, Feb 22, 2013 03:36 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Struggling to get Americans to take notice of looming spending cuts, the White House brought out the only Republican member of the Cabinet on Friday to argue its case that Congress needs to act soon to avoid a major disruption of air travel across the country. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. military personnel arrive in Niger: Obama in letter to Congress Friday, Feb 22, 2013 03:31 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon has deployed about 100 troops to the West African nation of Niger to conduct unmanned reconnaissance flights over Mali and share intelligence with French forces fighting al Qaeda-affiliated militants, President Barack Obama told Congress on Friday. Obama, in a letter to congressional leaders, said the last 40 of the approximately 100 military personnel had arrived in Niger on Wednesday and were "deployed with weapons for the purpose of providing their own force protection and security. ... Full Story | Top |
| Six Washington state nuclear tanks leaking: governor's office Friday, Feb 22, 2013 03:20 PM PST SEATTLE (Reuters) - Six tanks at Washington state's Hanford Nuclear Reservation are leaking radioactive waste, but the leak has not posed an immediate public health risk, Governor Jay Inslee's office said on Friday. Inslee spokeswoman Lisa Harper said that outgoing U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu had informed the governor on Friday that the leak involved six tanks. She said the leak had not been stopped. (Reporting By Eric Johnson; Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Paul Thomasch) Full Story | Top |
| Court says Illinois must rewrite curbs on carrying concealed guns Friday, Feb 22, 2013 03:19 PM PST  CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois lawmakers will have to rewrite the nation's toughest restrictions on carrying a concealed weapon in public by mid-June after a court on Friday ruled that the controls cannot remain in place. Illinois was the only one of the 50 states to ban most residents from carrying concealed weapons until a U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago in December ruled the law violated the Second Amendment to the constitution protecting the right to bear arms. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan PM to seek opposition cooperation on new central bank governor Friday, Feb 22, 2013 03:09 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday he plans next week to seek the backing of a junior coalition partner, the New Komeito party, and opposition parties over the nomination of a new Bank of Japan governor. "I'll be back in Japan on Sunday. From around Monday, I want to make headway on new governor and deputy governors," Abe told a news conference in Washington. "Next week, I would like to ask for help from opposition parties, notify candidates ... and work to win endorsement from New Komeito," he said. Abe did not say who he had in mind for the nomination. ... Full Story | Top |
| Outcome of Italy election deeply uncertain Friday, Feb 22, 2013 02:40 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italy's election campaign drew to a close on Friday with the weak performance of outgoing premier Mario Monti key to a deeply uncertain and potentially unstable result. Political leaders were holding their final rallies before a campaigning ban ahead of two days of voting on Sunday and Monday, and analysts said the result was too close to call. ... Full Story | Top |
| Manhunt underway for suspects in fatal Las Vegas strip shooting Friday, Feb 22, 2013 02:23 PM PST  (Reuters) - A multi-state manhunt was under way on Friday for the men who shot dead an aspiring rapper as he drove on the Las Vegas Strip in a Maserati, touching off a fiery crash that killed a cab driver and his passenger. Las Vegas police have not named any suspects in the dramatic pre-dawn shooting in the heart of the desert resort city on Thursday, but said they were still hunting for a black Range Rover used in the incident. One or more gunmen in the apparently brand-new luxury sport utility vehicle opened fire on a silver Maserati being driven by 27-year-old Kenneth Wayne Cherry Jr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brennan backers to push for vote next week on CIA nominee Friday, Feb 22, 2013 02:18 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic leaders are hoping for a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee vote next week on the confirmation of John Brennan to become Central Intelligence Agency director, although the White House and committee are still feuding over the disclosure of politically sensitive documents. Under pressure from Senate Republicans, the White House in recent days has reluctantly agreed to allow Congress access to documents and emails related to the attacks by militants last September 11 on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, congressional officials said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Osborne says AAA downgrade is reminder of debt problems Friday, Feb 22, 2013 02:17 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor George Osborne vowed to press on with the government's economic plans on Friday after Moody's Investors Service cut Britain's credit rating to AA1 from AAA. "Tonight we have a stark reminder of the debt problems facing our country - and the clearest possible warning to anyone who thinks we can run away from dealing with those problems," Osborne said in a statement. "Far from weakening our resolve to deliver our economic recovery plan, this decision redoubles it." (Reporting by Michael Holden) Full Story | Top |
| Huge Grillo rally rounds off Italy election campaign Friday, Feb 22, 2013 02:15 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Comic Beppe Grillo rounded off the Italian election campaign with a fiery rally in central Rome that drew hundreds of thousands of supporters and underlined the capacity of his 5-Star Movement to create an upset when voting opens on Sunday. Arriving in his distinctive campaign bus, Grillo launched into his now familiar tirade against corrupt politicians and bankers, taking aim against targets ranging from Silvio Berlusconi and Mario Monti to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sticks to limits on health insurance charges for older people Friday, Feb 22, 2013 02:14 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Friday finalized new consumer safeguards for health insurance that impose tighter restrictions on what insurers can charge older customers, despite industry warnings that the young may be forced to pay more as a result. The Department of Health and Human Services rejected an industry request to phase in a reform prohibiting insurers from charging older beneficiaries premiums more than three times higher than those available to younger adults. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rockets hit Aleppo, killing at least 29: monitor Friday, Feb 22, 2013 02:11 PM PST  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rockets struck eastern districts of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city, on Friday, killing at least 29 people and trapping a family of 10 in the ruins of their home, activists in the city said. "There are families buried under the rubble," said an activist called Baraa al-Youssef, speaking by Skype after visiting the scene in his Ard al-Hamra neighborhood. "Nothing can describe it, it's a horrible sight." Video footage posted by several activists showed a burning building and people carrying the wounded to cars to be ferried to hospital. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bank of NY Mellon to pay $114 million in Medical Capital accord Friday, Feb 22, 2013 02:09 PM PST  (Reuters) - Bank of New York Mellon Co has agreed to pay $114 million to settle claims over its role as trustee for debt issued by Medical Capital Holdings Inc, a medical receivables financing company that collapsed in 2009 amid fraud allegations. Investors accused Bank of New York Mellon, the world's largest custodial bank, of failing to properly review Medical Capital's dealings before letting the company use investors' money, breaching its fiduciary and contractual obligations to those investors. Medical Capital and two top executives had been sued by the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| UPDATE 4-U.S. sues disgraced cyclist Armstrong for sponsor money Friday, Feb 22, 2013 02:08 PM PST * Postal Service sponsorship valued at more than $30 million * "Years of broken promises" U.S. Attorney says * Postal Service benefited from sponsorship, defense says (Adds other cases, expert comment) WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The United States accused cyclist Lance Armstrong on Friday of defrauding the U.S. Postal Service by taking its sponsorship money at the same time he was doping and using performance-enhancing drugs in violation of cycling rules. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria opposition to choose provisional PM on March 2 Friday, Feb 22, 2013 02:01 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Syrian opposition leaders will meet in Istanbul on March 2 to choose a prime minister to head a provisional government that would operate in rebel-controlled areas of Syria, coalition officials said on Friday. The move was aimed at halting a slide into chaos in regions captured by insurgent brigades and estimated to comprise over half of the country, although exiled coalition leaders exert little control or influence over rebels in Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida task force recommends preserving Stand Your Ground law Friday, Feb 22, 2013 01:51 PM PST  TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - A blue-ribbon task force on Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law formally recommended against repealing the statute, which is at the core of the legal defense in the fatal shooting last year of teenager Trayvon Martin. Florida Governor Rick Scott appointed the task force to help allay a national furor over guns and race following the February 26, 2012, shooting of the 17-year-old black youth in Sanford, Florida. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia accuses U.S. of double standards over Syria Friday, Feb 22, 2013 01:40 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the United States on Friday of having double standards on Syria, saying it had blocked a U.N. Security Council statement condemning a car bomb attack in Damascus. Washington denied it had blocked the statement and said it had only asked for balance. The disagreement was likely to sour the atmosphere before Lavrov meets newly appointed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry next week in Berlin. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed officials point to fiscal benefits of bond buying Friday, Feb 22, 2013 01:27 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two top Federal Reserve officials offered a fresh defense of the U.S. central bank's asset-buying program on Friday, arguing that it helps the nation's fiscal health by boosting the economy. The comments from Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren and Fed Governor Jerome Powell amounted to an effort to inoculate the central bank against political pressures that might mount if it faces losses on its massive bond portfolio when interest rates finally rise. ... Full Story | Top |
| FDA approves Roche drug for late-stage breast cancer Friday, Feb 22, 2013 01:18 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators approved a new drug made by Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG for some patients with late-stage metastatic breast cancer who fail to respond to other therapies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it had approved Kadcyla, also known as ado-trastuzumab emtansine, for patients whose cancer cells contain increased amounts of a protein known as HER2. The drug's label will carry a boxed warning, the most serious possible, of the Kadcyla's potential to cause liver and heart damage or even death. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada has acted on climate as Keystone waits: envoy Friday, Feb 22, 2013 01:15 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canada has taken action to protect the climate during the more than four years it has waited for U.S. approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, and there's little more it can do in the short term, the country's ambassador to the United States said. As the U.S. State Department delays approval of TransCanada Corp's Keystone pipeline, which would link Alberta's oil sands to refineries and ports in Texas, speculation has emerged that Canada could take further action on the climate to help make it easier for the United States to approve the project. ... Full Story | Top |
| Los Angeles health officials concerned about TB outbreak on skid row Friday, Feb 22, 2013 01:11 PM PST (Reuters) - Los Angeles County health officials have asked for federal assistance to analyze and contain an outbreak of tuberculosis within the city's homeless population, a spokeswoman for the county agency said on Friday. Los Angeles County Health Department spokeswoman Mabel Aragon said the agency is still in the process of confirming the number and type of TB cases in the county. "The CDC is helping us with surveillance and statistic gathering," she said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cuba's Raul Castro jokingly hints at possible retirement Friday, Feb 22, 2013 12:34 PM PST  HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro, who is expected to begin a second five-year term on Sunday, jokingly told reporters on Friday that he was planning his retirement but left open just when he would step down. "I'm going to retire," said a grinning Castro in the company of visiting Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Castro urged reporters to pay close attention to the National Assembly meeting this weekend, when a Council of State and president will be elected. "I'm going to turn 82, I have a right to retire already," Castro said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge extends freeze on account linked to Heinz trades Friday, Feb 22, 2013 12:31 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has extended a freeze on a Swiss account linked to possible insider trading in H.J. Heinz Co call options just before the ketchup maker agreed to be bought by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc and Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had last Friday won a temporary freeze of the account at Goldman Sachs & Co, one day after Berkshire and 3G announced a $23 billion takeover of Heinz. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
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