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| Soccer-Sheikh Salman wins FIFA executive committee seat Wednesday, May 01, 2013 08:59 PM PDT (Updates with quotes, details) By Patrick Johnston KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 (Reuters) - The Asian Football Confederation elected Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa on to FIFA's executive committee at Thursday's vote in Malaysia. The Bahraini secured 28 votes of the 46 available, beating Qatari Hassan Al Thawadi (18 votes) to secure a four-year term on the world governing body's powerful decision making table. ... Full Story | Top |
| China factory growth eases, adds to recovery risk Wednesday, May 01, 2013 08:42 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory-sector growth eased in April as new export orders fell for the first time this year, a private survey showed on Thursday, suggesting the euro zone recession and sluggish U.S. demand may be risks to China's economic recovery. The final HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to 50.4 in April from March's 51.6 and was largely in line with a flash reading last week of 50.5. Fifty divides expansion from contraction on a monthly basis. China's official PMI on Wednesday painted a similar picture, falling to 50.6 in April from an 11-month high of 50. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Sheikh Salman wins AFC presidential election Wednesday, May 01, 2013 08:23 PM PDT By Patrick Johnston KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 (Reuters) - Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa will run Asian soccer for the next two years after the Bahraini won a three-way election for the presidency of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Thursday. Sheikh Salman secured 33 votes of the 46 available from the AFC's member associations in Malaysia to beat Yousuf Al Serkal of the United Arab Emirates (six votes) and Thailand's Worawi Makudi (seven votes). ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea sentences American to 15 years hard labor Wednesday, May 01, 2013 08:17 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's Supreme Court sentenced U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae to 15 years hard labor on Thursday for committing crimes against the North, according to state news agency KCNA. The ruling for the unspecified crimes came after two months of tensions between Pyongyang and Washington that saw the isolated and impoverished state threaten nuclear war with the United States and South Korea. KCNA said the trial for a man it named as Pae Jun-ho, a Korean rendering of Bae's name, was held on April 30. ... Full Story | Top |
| UKIP pressures Cameron in local vote Wednesday, May 01, 2013 06:50 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn ASHFORD, England (Reuters) - The Conservatives are set to lose hundreds of seats in local polls on Thursday that will go some way to measuring the threat the surging anti-European Union UK Independence Party (UKIP) poses to their hopes of re-election in 2015. Even in towns like Ashford in southeast England, which has returned a Conservative MP to the national parliament at every election since 1945, surveys suggest UKIP could win up to one fifth of the votes. ... Full Story | Top |
| FDA appeals making 'morning-after' pill available to all ages Wednesday, May 01, 2013 05:57 PM PDT  By Terry Baynes (Reuters) - The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday appealed a court order directing the agency to make "morning-after" emergency contraception pills available without a prescription to all girls of reproductive age. Lawyers with the Justice Department filed the appeal with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, according to court documents. The appeal is the latest foray in the years-long legal battle over the pill known as "Plan B," a drug that has also sparked political and religious clashes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chad government foils coup attempt: minister Wednesday, May 01, 2013 05:52 PM PDT N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Security forces in Chad foiled a coup against the government of President Idriss Deby that had been in preparation for several months, the West African desert nation's communications minister announced late on Wednesday. "Today, May 1, a group of individuals with bad intentions sought to carry out an action to destabilize the institutions of the republic," Hassan Sylla Bakary read in a statement broadcast on state-owned television. "They did not count on the valiant security forces who have tracked them since December 2012 and who, this morning, neutralized them," he ... Full Story | Top |
| Bank of Canada's Carney says growth looking better than expected Wednesday, May 01, 2013 05:42 PM PDT  EDMONTON, Alberta (Reuters) - There appears to be more momentum in the Canadian economy in the first quarter than the central bank had anticipated in its quarterly forecasts last month, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said on Wednesday. "Very short-term performance, yeah, there is on average a bit more momentum," Carney told reporters when asked if he saw growth surpassing the bank's forecast of 1.5 percent annualized growth in the first quarter. The economy grew 0. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan PM's 'stealth' constitution plan raises civil rights fears Wednesday, May 01, 2013 05:42 PM PDT  By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - Shinzo Abe makes no secret of wanting to revise Japan's constitution, which was drafted by the United States after World War Two, to formalize the country's right to have a military - but critics say his plans go deeper and could return Japan to its socially conservative, authoritarian past. Abe, 58, returned to office in December for a second term as prime minister and is enjoying sky-high support on the back of his "Abenomics" recipe for reviving the economy through hyper-easy monetary policy, big spending and structural reform. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazil's Rousseff insists oil royalties should fund education Wednesday, May 01, 2013 05:25 PM PDT  BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said on Wednesday she has sent lawmakers another proposal to earmark all oil royalties collected by the state for public education after Congress shelved an earlier effort. She made the announcement in a televised Labor Day speech in which she said improving education was vital for Brazil's development in a highly competitive world. Rousseff last year proposed earmarking for education all revenue from future oil royalties, which are expected to rise when Brazil taps huge subsalt fields off its Atlantic coast. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands call for immigration reform in Los Angeles May Day march Wednesday, May 01, 2013 05:23 PM PDT  By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Thousands of mostly Latino protesters marched through downtown Los Angeles in a boisterous but peaceful May Day rally on Wednesday urging an overhaul of immigration laws to provide potential citizenship for millions of undocumented residents. The march was believed to be the largest of more than a dozen similar demonstrations planned in cities across California by a coalition of organized labor activists, students, civil rights advocates and members of the clergy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Americans want U.S. to keep out of Syria conflict: poll Wednesday, May 01, 2013 05:19 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans do not want the United States to intervene in Syria's civil war even if the government there uses chemical weapons, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Wednesday, in a clear message to the White House as it considers how to respond to the worsening crisis. Only 10 percent of those surveyed in the online poll said the United States should become involved in the fighting. Sixty-one percent opposed getting involved. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama taps former lobbyist Wheeler as telecoms regulator Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:55 PM PDT  By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tom Wheeler, nominated by President Barack Obama on Wednesday to become the next U.S. communications regulator, is expected to face tough scrutiny from senators over his past close ties to the very industries he would oversee. For the past decade, Wheeler has been a venture capitalist investing in technology firms and a tech adviser for the White House and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). But he is best known in Washington as the chief lobbyist for the cable industry in the 1980s and the wireless industry in the 1990s. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon may soon clear use of Apple, Samsung, BlackBerry devices Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:29 PM PDT  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is expected to clear Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry mobile devices for use on Defense Department networks in the next few weeks, part of an effort to ensure the military has access to the latest communications technology, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The decision will set the stage for an intensified struggle for Pentagon customers among BlackBerry devices, Apple's iPhones or iPads and units using Google's Android platform such as Samsung Electronics' phones. ... Full Story | Top |
| IRS deals employers a setback in healthcare rules: lawyers Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:25 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Employer-sponsored healthcare plans cannot include most "wellness programs" as part of minimum coverage requirements, dealing a setback to many businesses, according to new federal rules for U.S. President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul starting next year. The Internal Revenue Service released on Tuesday proposed rules for Obama's 2010 Affordable Care Act that handed a victory to labor unions and consumer groups, tax lawyers said on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Illinois Senate passes gambling bill with Chicago casino Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:19 PM PDT  By Karen Pierog CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Illinois Senate passed a bill on Wednesday that would bring much-need revenue to the cash-strapped state by expanding gambling and giving Chicago its first casino. The 32-20 vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate sent the measure to the House. The addition of five new casinos and 1,200 slot games at race tracks is expected to generate about $1.2 billion in one-time revenue for the state from initial license and other fees and about $269 million in recurring revenue once the bill is fully implemented, according to a legislative analysis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon prepares to ask Congress for break from 'sequester' Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:14 PM PDT  By David Lawder and David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is preparing to ask Congress soon for more authority to shift funds to cope with automatic spending cuts, confronting lawmakers with another exception to the "sequester" just days after they gave a break to the flying public and the airline industry. The request may be sent to the House of Representatives' Appropriations Committee as early as next week, a House Republican aide said on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| HMRC faces court challenge over Goldman "sweetheart deal" Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:13 PM PDT  By Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) - The HMRC faces a court challenge on Thursday over a deal with Goldman Sachs worth an estimated 10 million pounds to the U.S. bank, a case aimed at pressuring the government into tougher action against corporate tax avoidance. The challenge by activist group UK Uncut Legal Action stems from public anger in Britain about how big and powerful firms succeed in paying less tax than many ordinary people struggling to cope with a stagnating economy and government spending cuts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Six ministers to change in Egypt cabinet reshuffle: state paper Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:11 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - A limited cabinet reshuffle will see six ministers replaced in Egypt, state newspaper al-Ahram said on Thursday, citing government sources. The new ministers, who could swear oath on Tuesday, are expected to be those of justice, legal and prosecution affairs, culture, agriculture, planning and international cooperation, and one of the economic portfolio ministries, al-Ahram said, without naming the candidates. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's job market weaker than official data suggest - study Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:10 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - A sharp rise in the number of people working less than they would like helps explain the apparent resilience of Britain's job market while the economy stagnates, according to a study published on Thursday. British unemployment has risen from 5 percent in 2007 to just under 8 percent, well below the double-digit rates scaled during recession in the 1990s. The study, co-authored by labour market economist and former Bank of England rate-setter David Blanchflower, shows nearly 10 percent of British workers wanted more hours than their employers would provide in 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
| British overseas territories sign deal to curb tax evasion Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:08 PM PDT  By David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) - Tax havens such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands will work more closely with Britain and other European countries to fight tax evasion, British finance minister George Osborne said on Thursday. With governments in most advanced economies short of tax revenue after the financial crisis, pressure has been growing on small territories with big banking sectors to lift bank secrecy and do more to combat tax dodging and money laundering. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK taxman faces court challenge over Goldman "sweetheart deal" Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:06 PM PDT  By Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's tax authority faces a court challenge on Thursday over a deal with Goldman Sachs worth an estimated 10 million pounds ($15.5 million) to the U.S. bank, a case aimed at pressuring the government into tougher action against corporate tax avoidance. The challenge by activist group UK Uncut Legal Action stems from public anger in Britain about how big and powerful firms succeed in paying less tax than many ordinary people struggling to cope with a stagnating economy and government spending cuts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Anti-EU party pressures Britain's PM Cameron in local vote Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:05 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn ASHFORD, England (Reuters) - Britain's ruling Conservatives are set to lose hundreds of seats in local polls on Thursday that will go some way to measuring the threat the surging anti-European Union UK Independence Party (UKIP) poses to their hopes of re-election in 2015. Even in towns like Ashford in southeast England, which has returned a Conservative MP to the national parliament at every election since 1945, surveys suggest UKIP could win up to one fifth of the votes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Starving Virginia settlers turned to cannibalism in 1609: study Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:03 PM PDT  By Deborah Zabarenko WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Settlers at Virginia's Jamestown Colony resorted to cannibalism to survive the harsh winter of 1609, dismembering and consuming a 14-year-old English girl, the U.S. Smithsonian Institution reported on Wednesday. This is the first direct evidence of cannibalism at Jamestown, the oldest permanent English colony in the Americas, according to the Washington-based museum and research complex. ... Full Story | Top |
| UKIP pressures PM Cameron in local vote Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:02 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn ASHFORD, England (Reuters) - Britain's ruling Conservatives are set to lose hundreds of seats in local polls on Thursday that will go some way to measuring the threat the surging anti-European Union UK Independence Party (UKIP) poses to their hopes of re-election in 2015. Even in towns like Ashford in southeast England, which has returned a Conservative MP to the national parliament at every election since 1945, surveys suggest UKIP could win up to one fifth of the votes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama taps Representative Watt as housing regulator Wednesday, May 01, 2013 03:59 PM PDT  By Margaret Chadbourn WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday nominated a veteran Democratic congressman to oversee mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a choice that could set up a contentious political debate over housing policy. Representative Mel Watt, a longtime consumer advocate who serves on the House Financial Services Committee, understands the roots of the housing crisis, Obama said at the White House. "He knows what it's going to take to help responsible homeowners fully recover and he's committed to helping folks ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama quietly signs bill easing air travel delays Wednesday, May 01, 2013 03:55 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Without comment or fanfare, President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed legislation sparing U.S. air travel from the effects of across-the-board spending cuts that had caused delays and stirred public ire. Cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration under the budget-cutting process known as sequestration began holding up air travel across the country last week, infuriating travelers and airline staff. Congress quickly passed legislation allowing the agency to shift money within its budget to halt furloughs of air-traffic controllers that began April 21. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former GM engineer, husband sentenced in trade secret theft case Wednesday, May 01, 2013 03:54 PM PDT By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - A former General Motors Co engineer was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and her husband was sentenced to three years for conspiring to steal trade secrets for use in China, federal prosecutors said. Former engineer Shanshan Du, 54, and her husband Yu Qin, 52, each received sentences well below the roughly eight to 10 years that the government had sought. Both were sentenced on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani in Detroit. Both defendants are U.S. citizens, and their case is part of a crackdown by the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| From Toronto to Dagestan; Canadian jihadi draws parallels with Tsarnaev Wednesday, May 01, 2013 03:27 PM PDT  By Maria Golovnina UTAMYSH, Dagestan, Russia (Reuters) - A mess of rubble, ash and charred vehicles is all that's left at the desolate farmhouse where a Canadian Muslim convert died fighting his last battle alongside Islamist insurgents in the Russian region of Dagestan. At the time, few people beyond local villagers noticed William Plotnikov's death in a region where skirmishes occur daily. But almost a year on, Plotnikov has emerged into the limelight following the Boston Marathon bombings. ... Full Story | Top |
| In Obama's jargon, getting to yes requires a 'permission structure' Wednesday, May 01, 2013 03:25 PM PDT  By Steve Holland and Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It sounds like something teenagers need before borrowing their parents' car, but "permission structure" is actually a phrase being tossed around by President Barack Obama to describe his efforts to make deals with Republicans. At a news conference on Tuesday, Obama expressed frustration with resistance to his ideas among congressional Republicans, saying that he thought "deep down" some of them wanted to "do the right thing" but worry about such consequences as being challenged in primary elections. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria mediator is determined to resign, U.N. diplomats say Wednesday, May 01, 2013 03:20 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - International Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi is determined to resign because he is fed up with the deadlock over how to end the country's two-year civil war and believes his role has been compromised, U.N. diplomats said on Wednesday. Brahimi was persuaded to hang on for a "few more days" at least before quitting his joint U.N. and Arab League role and possibly being reappointed as an adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Syria, a senior U.N. diplomat said. Brahimi, appointed last year after former U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bolivia expels U.S. aid agency after Kerry 'backyard' comment Wednesday, May 01, 2013 03:16 PM PDT  LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivian President Evo Morales expelled a U.S. development agency from his country on Wednesday, marking the latest confrontation between Washington and a bloc of left-wing governments in Latin America. Morales said he was kicking out the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as a "protest" after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently referred to Latin America as Washington's "backyard." The term evokes strong emotions in the region, which experienced several U.S.-backed coups during the Cold War. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU gives support to Italy's Letta, cautions on debt Wednesday, May 01, 2013 03:11 PM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said on Wednesday that the European Union supported efforts by new Italian prime minister Enrico Letta to grow Italy's economy, but public finances must be kept in order. Letta has preached an end to austerity while at the same time pledging to meet European Union debt targets, but his fledgling coalition already is at odds over how to pay for cuts to an unpopular housing tax. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Letta wins French backing for focus on growth Wednesday, May 01, 2013 03:11 PM PDT  By James Mackenzie ROME (Reuters) - Italy's new prime minister Enrico Letta won French backing on Wednesday for calls to spur economic growth alongside budget rigor, but problems lay closer to home with coalition partners demanding tax cuts that would blow a hole in the budget. Letta, who took his message to Berlin on Tuesday, met French President Francois Hollande and said he was "100 percent satisfied" with the meeting and Hollande's response to his calls for Europe to start focusing on growth as well as consolidation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three men charged with undermining Boston bombing probe Wednesday, May 01, 2013 03:03 PM PDT  By Scott Malone, Tim McLaughlin and Ross Kerber BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Wednesday charged three men with interfering with the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing, saying they hid fireworks and a backpack belonging to one of the suspected bombers as a manhunt was under way. The three, two students from Kazakhstan and a U.S. citizen, were described as college friends of surviving bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. They were not charged with direct involvement in the April 15 marathon bombings, which killed three people and injured 264. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York police move suspected Sept 11 plane wreckage to Brooklyn Wednesday, May 01, 2013 02:52 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A dozen New York police officers worked for two hours on Wednesday to hoist a 255-pound piece of wreckage suspected to be from an airplane involved in the September 11, 2001, attacks and move it to Brooklyn from where it was found in Manhattan. The five-foot long metal piece, identified as part of the wing of a Boeing 767 jet, was discovered last week wedged between an apartment complex and a building at 51 Park Place in lower Manhattan, the site of a proposed mosque and Islamic Community Center, three blocks from Ground Zero. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas Fire Marshal hopes to find cause of fertilizer plant blast Wednesday, May 01, 2013 02:42 PM PDT  By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Investigators hope to determine by next week what caused the explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant that killed 14 people and injured about 200, the state Fire Marshal said at a state legislative hearing on Wednesday. Dozens of investigators remain on the ground in West, Texas, a town about 20 miles north of Waco, and more are reviewing records, officials told lawmakers who were holding the first of possibly many hearings into the blast two weeks ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| New bird flu poses "serious threat", scientists say Wednesday, May 01, 2013 02:34 PM PDT  By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - A new strain of bird flu that is causing a deadly outbreak among people in China is a threat to world health and should be taken seriously, scientists said on Wednesday. The H7N9 strain has killed 24 people and infected more than 125, according to the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO), which has described it as "one of the most lethal" flu viruses. ... Full Story | Top |
| Most Americans do not want U.S. involved in Syria: Reuters/Ipsos poll Wednesday, May 01, 2013 02:28 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans do not want to intervene in Syria's civil war, although the percentage in favor more than doubles if President Bashar al-Assad's forces use chemical weapons against their people, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday. Only 10 percent of those surveyed in the online poll said the United States should intervene in the fighting. Sixty-one percent opposed getting involved. But the figure favoring intervention rises to 27 percent if the Damascus government uses chemical weapons, while 44 percent would remain opposed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iowa jury awards $240 million to mentally disabled workers in turkey plant Wednesday, May 01, 2013 02:18 PM PDT (Reuters) - A jury on Wednesday awarded $240 million to 32 mentally disabled workers at an Iowa turkey-processing plant to compensate for what government attorneys described as abuse by the Texas company that employed and housed them. A federal jury in Davenport found that Hill Country Farms, doing business as Henry's Turkey Service, of Goldthwaite, Texas, had created an unlawful hostile environment for the men and discriminated against them on the basis of their disability. Jurors awarded them $7.5 million each, following a week-long trial, according to court documents. ... Full Story | Top |
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