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| States' tax revenue likely grew at beginning of year: report Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 09:03 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. states' tax revenue likely continued growing in the second quarter of 2013, according to preliminary estimates for January and February that were released on Wednesday. The Rockefeller Institute of Government, an independent research group in Albany, New York, said revenue in 45 states grew 12.9 percent in January and February compared with the first two months of 2012. Personal income tax collections likely were up 23.6 percent and sales tax collections up 8.3 percent, according to the preliminary data. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australian police arrest senior member of LulzSec hacking group Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 08:22 PM PDT By Jane Wardell SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Federal Police have arrested the self-proclaimed leader of the international hacking group LulzSec, the collective that claimed responsibility for infiltrating and shutting down the CIA website. Police said the 24-year-old IT worker, who held a position of trust at an international company, was arrested in Sydney on Tuesday evening and charged with hacking offences that carry a maximum penalty of 10 years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyber vulnerabilities found in Navy's newest warship: official Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 08:10 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The computer network on the U.S. Navy's newest class of coastal warships showed vulnerabilities in Navy cybersecurity tests, but the issues were not severe enough to prevent an eight-month deployment to Singapore, a Navy official said on Tuesday. A Navy team of computer hacking experts found some deficiencies when assigned to try to penetrate the network of the USS Freedom, the lead vessel in the $37 billion Littoral Combat Ship program, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspect's widow drawn into Boston bomb investigation Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 08:08 PM PDT  By Svea Herbst-Bayliss PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (Reuters) - Katherine Russell has tried to stay out of sight in the five days since her husband, one of the suspects in the deadly Boston Marathon bombing, was killed in a shootout with police. Russell, who wears the traditional Muslim hijab headdress, has made no public comment on what she may have seen or heard in the months before the April 15 bombing that killed three and wounded 264, in which her husband, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and his brother are the only known suspects. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. drops charges against Mississippi man in ricin letters case Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 07:33 PM PDT  By Robbie Ward TUPELO, Mississippi (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors dropped charges on Tuesday against a Mississippi man accused of sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a state judge, according to court documents. The surprise decision came hours after Paul Kevin Curtis was released from a Mississippi jail on bond. Prosecutors said the "ongoing investigation has revealed new information," but provided no additional details, according to the court order dismissing the charges. Curtis told reporters he respected Obama. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Jersey parents demand girls' right to bare arm - in strapless dresses Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 07:22 PM PDT  By Victoria Cavaliere (Reuters) - A New Jersey principal's ban on strapless dresses at a junior high school dance because they would be "distracting" to boys has enraged parents, who called on Tuesday for its reversal on the grounds it violates their daughters' constitutional rights. The dress code shreds the 14th Amendment right to equal protection since girls for the past six years have been wearing sleeveless fashions to the dance at Readington Middle School in Readington Township, New Jersey, said parent Charlotte Nijenhuis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawmakers grill FBI on Boston bombing investigation Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 07:06 PM PDT  By Susan Cornwell and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers grilled top security officials on Tuesday about the handling of the Boston Marathon bombing investigation and why one of the suspects flagged as a possible Islamist radical was not tracked more closely. FBI officials briefed members of Congress behind closed doors in Washington about the investigation into the April 15 blasts that killed three people and injured 264 others. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arkansas governor signs private insurance option into law Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 06:49 PM PDT  By Suzi Parker LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - Arkansas's Democratic governor signed into law on Tuesday a plan to extend health insurance to more of the state's low-income residents in a move that could offer a model for other states wrestling with opposition to the federal government's Medicaid expansion plan. The Arkansas law uses federal Medicaid funds to buy private insurance for about 250,000 state residents who earn up to 133 percent of the poverty line, or $15,415 per year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico political dispute hits banking plan, raises doubt on reforms Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 06:39 PM PDT  By David Alire Garcia and Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has suspended plans to present a new banking sector reform due to a dispute between Mexico's main political parties, raising doubts about a wider reform agenda that investors are watching closely. The dispute is one of the first major challenges to face Pena Nieto, who had drawn up the overhaul which aims to boost lending under a so-called Pact for Mexico he forged with leaders of the opposition to work jointly on reforms. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alleged Canada plot turns focus to rail transport's vulnerability Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 06:03 PM PDT  By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An alleged al Qaeda-backed plot to derail a U.S. passenger train in Canada sought to exploit the vulnerabilities of railroads that have not gotten much attention from the American public. While the United States has sharply tightened security around airlines since the September 11, 2001, attacks, trains are far harder to police, with masses of passengers getting on and off and stops at many stations on a single line. Thousands of miles (km) of track, bridges and tunnels present a major challenge to monitor. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Crossing Obama's "red line" on Syria will require concrete proof Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 06:00 PM PDT  By Matt Spetalnick and David Alexander WASHINGTON/RIYADH (Reuters) - While President Barack Obama has declared a "red line" over Syrian use of chemical weapons, U.S. officials suggested on Tuesday that Washington was unlikely to respond without clear-cut evidence of such use - evidence that may be very hard to come by. Israel's top military intelligence analyst said in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that Syrian government forces had used chemical weapons - probably the nerve gas sarin - in their fight against rebels trying to force out President Bashar al-Assad. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chechen relative of Boston suspects alleges Russian plot Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 05:46 PM PDT By Maria Golovnina GROZNY, Russia (Reuters) - A member of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers' extended family said they were victims of a Russian plot to portray them as Chechen terrorists operating on U.S. soil. Said Tsarnaev, who lives in Grozny, the capital of Russia's volatile Chechnya region, on Tuesday accused Moscow of sending false information to the United States to frame the suspects, ethnic Chechen brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. ... Full Story | Top |
| As flight delays increase, so does the finger-pointing in Washington Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 05:23 PM PDT  By John Whitesides WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal officials reported flight delays at U.S. airports for a third consecutive day on Tuesday, fueling a political blame game as Republicans and Democrats accused each other of causing the furloughs of thousands of air-traffic controllers. On Capitol Hill and at the White House, the rhetoric over across-the-board federal budget cuts known as "sequestration" became increasingly biting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Column: Carbon market is a political scapegoat - Wynn Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 05:20 PM PDT By Gerard Wynn LONDON (Reuters) - European lawmakers have made emissions trading a scapegoat as they grapple to compete with far cheaper U.S. energy prices, yet taxes and other charges dwarf the impact a boost in carbon prices would have had. A proposed reform knocked down last week was meant to raise record low carbon prices by temporarily withdrawing surplus emissions permits, a move which also would have hiked wholesale power prices by as much as 10 percent. Certainly, the political backdrop to the European Parliament vote and comments in its aftermath was about its impact on power prices. ... Full Story | Top |
| China to build second, larger carrier: report Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 05:18 PM PDT SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will build a second, larger aircraft carrier capable of carrying more fighter jets, the official Xinhua news service reported late Tuesday, quoting a senior officer with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy. The report comes after Chinese officials denied foreign media reports in September 2012 that China was building a second carrier in Shanghai. "China will have more than one aircraft carrier ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-bin Laden secretary gets life for 1998 embassy bombings role Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 05:14 PM PDT By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday, for the second time, for participating in a conspiracy to kill Americans that included the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Wadih El-Hage, a Lebanese-born U.S. citizen and former al Qaeda member, was one of four people convicted in 2001 for their roles in bombings of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people and injured thousands. El-Hage, 52, was convicted in 2001 on charges including conspiring to kill U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemeni at U.S. hearing describes drone strike on his village Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 05:04 PM PDT By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Yemeni man told a Senate hearing on Tuesday about a U.S. drone strike on his village last week that he said turned residents against America. In an emotion-filled voice, Farea Al-Muslimi, a writer, described his shock at the drone attack and the blowback in public opinion from residents against the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela's Maduro sends conciliatory message to U.S. Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 04:59 PM PDT  By Pablo Garibian CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro named a new acting head of its U.S. diplomatic mission in Washington on Tuesday and sent an offer of dialogue after attacking the United States for "interference" in a row over his election. Disputes between Venezuela and the United States were common during Hugo Chavez's 14-year socialist rule of Venezuela, leaving both nations without ambassadors in each other's capitals. Maduro, who won an election this month to replace Chavez after his death from cancer, has wavered between reaching out to the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| UKIP claims Thatcher mantle, has vote hope Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 04:37 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - The leader of Britain's anti-European Union UK Independence Party said on Tuesday his movement was carrying the torch for the late Margaret Thatcher's views on Europe, saying he planned to cause a "political earthquake". In his most detailed comments to date on his party's electoral strategy, UKIP leader Nigel Farage said he hoped to build on surging poll ratings to make big gains in local elections on May 2, win European Parliament elections next year, and secure a "substantial number" of parliamentary seats in Britain in 2015. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada train plot suspects in court; to fight charges Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 04:15 PM PDT  By Allison Martell and Randall Palmer TORONTO/MONTREAL (Reuters) - Two men charged with an alleged al Qaeda-backed plot to derail a Canadian passenger train made their first court appearances on Tuesday, and the lawyer for one said his client would fight the charges vigorously. Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto and Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal face charges that include conspiring with each other "to murder unknown persons ... for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli spy says Syria used chemical arms, U.S. unconvinced Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 04:12 PM PDT By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Syrian government forces have used chemical weapons - probably nerve gas - in their fight against rebels trying to force out President Bashar al-Assad, the Israeli military's top intelligence analyst said on Tuesday. The assessment met with skepticism from the United States, which has declared any use of chemical weapons in Syria's two-year-old civil war a "red line" that could trigger intervention. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspect on FBI's 10 Most Wanted list ordered detained Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 04:06 PM PDT  By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former Washington schoolteacher on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for child pornography was ordered detained after an initial appearance in a U.S. court on Tuesday following extradition from Nicaragua, officials said. The man, Eric Justin Toth, 31, was arrested on Saturday in Esteli, a city some 90 miles north of Managua, after almost five years on the run. Toth made an initial appearance in U.S. district court in Washington on charges of production and possession of child pornography. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. soldier accused of Afghan killings faces deadline for mental defense Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 04:04 PM PDT  By Eric M. Johnson TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - Attorneys for a U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in two rampages from his Army post last year must advise military prosecutors next month if they plan to pursue a mental health defense, a judge ruled on Tuesday. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Robert Bales, a decorated veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan accused of gunning down villagers, mostly women and children, in attacks on their family compounds in Kandahar province in March 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hackers send fake market-moving AP tweet on White House explosions Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 04:01 PM PDT  By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hackers took control of the Associated Press Twitter account on Tuesday and sent a false tweet about explosions in the White House that briefly sent U.S. financial markets reeling. In the latest high-profile hacking incident involving social media service Twitter, an official @AP account reported that two explosions at the White House injured President Barack Obama. AP spokesman Paul Colford quickly confirmed the tweet was "bogus," and White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that Obama was fine, just minutes after the tweet hit a little after 1 ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Mint suspends some gold coin sales after demand surge Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 03:47 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Mint said it has suspended sales of its one-tenth ounce American Eagle gold bullion coins as surging demand after bullion's plunge to two-year lows depleted the government's inventory. This marks the first time it has stopped selling gold product since November 2009, dealers said. A spokesman for the Mint did not return calls seeking confirmation of that milestone. The U.S. Mint, one of the world's leading gold and silver coin producers, halts coin sales from time to time as it runs out of coin blanks to meet increases in demand. So far in April, the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomber's widow drawn into Boston bomb investigation Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 03:46 PM PDT By Svea Herbst-Bayliss PROVIDENCE (Reuters) - Katherine Russell has tried to stay out of sight in the five days since her husband, one of the suspects in the deadly Boston Marathon bombing, was killed in a shootout with police. Russell, who wears the traditional Muslim hijab headdress, has made no public comment on what she may have seen or heard in the months before the April 15 bombing that killed three and wounded 264, in which her husband, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and his brother are the only known suspects. ... Full Story | Top |
| Report urges Haiti to protect quake victims from forced evictions Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 03:42 PM PDT  By Susana Ferreira PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - The human rights group Amnesty International accused the Haitian government on Tuesday of failing to stop the forcible eviction of thousands of displaced people living in tent camps set up after the huge earthquake that rocked the capital in 2010. Some 65,000 people were forcibly evicted from 175 camps between July 2010 and the end of March 2013, Amnesty said in a report, warning that more than a quarter of the 320,000 people still living in camps face possible eviction. "This is a story of ongoing human rights violations creating deep suffering. ... Full Story | Top |
| Public defender takes on big task in Boston bombing case Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 03:34 PM PDT By Ross Kerber and Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - As Massachusetts' top public defender, Miriam Conrad has represented people charged with everything from drug violations to plotting to fly a remote-controlled plane full of explosives into the Pentagon. Now she takes the highest-profile assignment in her 21 years as a public defender: representing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, accused of using a weapon of mass destruction in last week's Boston Marathon bombing that resulted in three deaths and 264 injuries. He could face the death penalty. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three murder charges dismissed against Pa. abortion doctor Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 03:31 PM PDT By Dave Warner PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania judge dismissed three murder charges on Tuesday against a Philadelphia abortion doctor accused in a high-profile case of killing babies in what was described as a squalid clinic serving low-income women. Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, still faces charges of killing four infants and a woman who underwent an abortion and died at a nearby hospital after the procedure at his Women's Medical Society clinic in urban West Philadelphia. He could face the death penalty if convicted. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate Democrat Baucus to retire, may boost tax revamp Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 03:25 PM PDT  By Kim Dixon and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Max Baucus, the Democratic chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, said on Tuesday he will not seek re-election next year, improving Republican chances of capturing his seat and giving him a freer hand in his bid to revamp the tax code. First elected to the Senate in 1978, Baucus, 71, will become the eighth senator - six Democrats and two Republicans - to announce plans to retire at the end of next year. Baucus pledged to serve out his term and focus on fixing the tax code and other economic challenges. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House says open to legislation to halt FAA furloughs Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 03:12 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday it would be open to legislation to put air traffic controllers back to work full-time as key U.S. senators demanded more information about the impact of furloughs on safety and air operations. The Federal Aviation Administration will furlough 47,000 employees for up to 11 days through the end of the fiscal year in September as part of its plan to meet $637 million in required spending cuts. Nearly 13,000 of those are air traffic controllers. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. could waive duties on imports from Myanmar Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 03:11 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is reviewing trade relations with Myanmar in a move that could end import duties on thousands of goods from the Southeast Asian country, which Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis is due to visit on Wednesday. Shortly before Marantis' departure for Asia last week, the U.S. Trade Representative's office initiated the review, which could add both Myanmar and Laos to the Generalized System of Preferences program, which provides duty-free treatment for up to 5,000 goods from 128 countries and territories. ... Full Story | Top |
| Authorities probe U.S. travels, contacts of Canada suspect Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 03:10 PM PDT By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. investigators are trying to trace the contacts and movements in the United States of Chiheb Esseghaier, a Tunisian doctoral student in Canada who is one of two suspects arrested by Canadian authorities for allegedly plotting to derail a passenger train. Sources close to the investigation said on Tuesday that Esseghaier, a Montreal resident, had made several trips to the United States. U.S. investigators are now trying to locate and check out people he might have met, the sources said. One U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy president set to announce choice for prime minister Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 03:08 PM PDT  By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) - Italy's president Giorgio Napolitano is set to announce on Wednesday his choice of prime minister to form a new government and pull the euro zone's third largest economy out of a two-month political rut. The new coalition government, which could take office in a matter of days, would be backed primarily by the rivals on the center-left and center-right, the same parties that had refused to cut a deal since national elections in late February. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boston's Boylston Street, site of bombings, sees residents return Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 03:06 PM PDT By Samuel P. Jacobs BOSTON (Reuters) - Workers and residents returned Tuesday to Boston's Boylston Street for the first time since twin bombings struck the downtown artery at the Boston Marathon finish line last week. Mayor Tom Menino allowed those who live and work on Boylston Street in the city's Back Bay neighborhood to return with escorts. But the area remained closed to the public after the April 15 bombings that killed three people and wounded 264. Some $20 million has been raised in the past week to aid bombing victims and their families, officials said. ... Full Story | Top |
| No suspicious letters found at U.S. military base after ricin alert Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 03:01 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Pentagon spy agency said tests found no suspicious letters after an alert during a screening of incoming mail at a military base in Washington on Tuesday led a prominent senator to declare that the deadly poison ricin had been detected. Still, the Defense Intelligence Agency said the FBI took samples and would conduct further tests. It described the investigation as "ongoing." The United States is on edge following the Boston bombings last week and the discovery of letters laced with ricin addressed to President Barack Obama and Republican U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| FBI investigating hacked AP tweet of White House explosions Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 03:00 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI is investigating how hackers were able to send out a bogus tweet on the Associated Press's Twitter feed that said President Barack Obama was injured in two explosions at the White House. FBI spokeswoman Jenny Shearer confirmed an investigation, but she did not provide further details. The fake tweet temporarily sent markets reeling. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is also looking into the matter. (Reporting by Deborah Charles and Alina Selyukh; Editing by Eric Beech) Full Story | Top |
| Avenue Capital's Lasry will not be envoy to France: source Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 02:57 PM PDT  By Katya Wachtel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire trader Marc Lasry told investors in his $12 billion Avenue Capital that he will remain at the hedge fund and not become the next U.S. ambassador to France, according to a person familiar with the situation. Lasry, who had been expected to get the nomination, told clients in a note on Tuesday he would remain at the New York-based firm, according to the source, who did not want to be identified. Lasry, who would have been the first hedge fund manager tapped to be a U.S. ambassador, declined to comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: False White House tweet exposes instant trading dangers Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 02:56 PM PDT  By Steven C. Johnson NEW YORK (Reuters) - The upheaval in financial markets caused by a false report of explosions at the White House was brief, but its effect on traders who have come to rely on Twitter may last quite a bit longer. Volatile price moves ricocheted through markets for stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities around 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday after a tweet purporting to be from the Associated Press said there had been two explosions at the White House and that President Barack Obama had been injured. ... Full Story | Top |
| George W. Bush to dedicate his presidential library Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 02:43 PM PDT By Marice Richter DALLAS (Reuters) - Former President George W. Bush will step back into the spotlight on Thursday to dedicate his presidential library, along with President Barack Obama and former U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush. The dedication will be the first meeting of the five living presidents since January 2009. First Lady Michelle Obama, former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former First Lady Barbara Bush, wife of George H.W. Bush and mother of George W. Bush, are expected to attend. ... Full Story | Top |
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