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| Indian PM Singh to visit White House in late September Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 09:06 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is due to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on September 27, the White House said on Tuesday. Singh has come under fire in India for quietly trying to restart peace talks with arch-rival Pakistan. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called for better relations with India after weeks of mounting tensions along the border the two countries share in mountainous Kashmir. ... Full Story | Top |
| JPMorgan close to picking two new directors: source Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 09:04 PM PDT  By David Henry and Nadia Damouni NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co is close to naming two new directors with finance and risk management expertise to its board, a source close to the matter said, as the largest U.S. bank faces a new wave of regulatory scrutiny. The bank has identified the candidates but the board has not yet voted on them, the source said on Tuesday, adding that a decision is likely to come in September. ... Full Story | Top |
| Low prices seen luring young adults to Obamacare: study Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 09:03 PM PDT  By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - If uninsured young Americans shun the new health plans offered under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, it will be because the insurance costs too much and not because they don't expect to need much medical care, according to a study released on Wednesday. What uninsured young adults do when state exchanges created under "Obamacare" open on October 1 will be one of the most important factors in determining the success of the president's signature domestic policy achievement. ... Full Story | Top |
| NSA surveillance covers 75 percent of U.S. Internet traffic: WSJ Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 08:49 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The National Security Agency's surveillance network has the capacity to reach around 75 percent of all U.S. Internet communications in the hunt for foreign intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Citing current and former NSA officials, the newspaper said the 75 percent coverage is more of Americans' Internet communications than officials have publicly disclosed. The Journal said the agency keeps the content of some emails sent between U.S. citizens and also filters domestic phone calls made over the Internet. ... Full Story | Top |
| China to give reporters live TV coverage of Bo trial: media Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 08:38 PM PDT  By John Ruwitch JINAN, China (Reuters) - The trial of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai will be televised live to reporters in eastern China, a Hong Kong-based broadcaster said, a landmark move by authorities to appear transparent as they put a lid on the country's biggest political scandal in decades. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan to issue gravest Fukushima nuclear warning in two years: agency Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 08:29 PM PDT  By Kentaro Hamada and James Topham TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will dramatically raise its warning about the severity of a toxic water leak at the Fukushima nuclear plant, its nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday, its most serious action since the plant was destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The deepening crisis at the Fukushima plant will be upgraded from a level 1 "anomaly" to a level three "serious incident" on an international scale for radiological releases, a spokesman for Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wong Kar Wai's 'The Grandmaster': an exile story told through Kung Fu Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 08:03 PM PDT  By Eric Kelsey BEVERLY HILLS, Calif (Reuters) - It was a black-and-white home movie of an old man, diminutive and cancer-stricken, performing Chinese martial arts techniques in a Hong Kong apartment that spurred director Wong Kar Wai to make his latest film, the Kung Fu epic "The Grandmaster." Wong, best known as an auteur of pensive and brooding urban dramas "Chungking Express" and "In the Mood for Love," said he was deeply puzzled by the intentions behind the homemade film of Kung Fu master Ip Man, made days before his death in 1972. ... Full Story | Top |
| Al Jazeera America launches, but AT&T won't carry network Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 07:28 PM PDT  By Liana B. Baker and Lisa Richwine (Reuters) - New cable network Al Jazeera America introduced itself to viewers on Tuesday with reports on political strife in Egypt and the impact of climate change on U.S. cities, shortly after a major pay TV distributor declined to carry the channel. The decision by AT&T's U-verse pay-TV service stemmed from a contract dispute over terms to carry the new network, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said. Al Jazeera responded by suing AT&T for breach of contract in Delaware Chancery Court. Globally, Al Jazeera is seen in more than 260 million homes in 130 countries. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain defends detention of journalist's partner Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 07:05 PM PDT  By Estelle Shirbon and Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - The British government, accused of abusing media freedom, said on Tuesday police were right to detain a journalist's partner if they thought lives might be at risk from data he was carrying from fugitive U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bankruptcy court approves Patriot Coal labor deal Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 06:50 PM PDT By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. court approved a labor deal between bankrupt Patriot Coal Corp and its miners' union on Tuesday, putting the company on track to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of the year. A deal this month for new collective bargaining agreements and retiree healthcare benefits with the United Mine Workers of America helped avoid more drastic cutbacks Patriot was authorized to impose earlier this year. Bankruptcy Judge Kathy Surratt-States, who is overseeing the company's restructuring in St. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghans at court-martial describe pain from massacre by U.S. soldier Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 06:47 PM PDT  By Jonathan Kaminsky TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - An Afghan teenager who survived a rampage by a U.S. soldier who killed 16 unarmed civilians last year testified on Tuesday about the pain of losing his grandmother, at the start of a sentencing trial for the man behind the carnage. The teenager, who was shot in the legs and whose sister was also seriously wounded and now suffers nightmares, was among a group of Afghan victims of the violence flown to the United States to testify on the impact of the killings. ... Full Story | Top |
| Guantanamo defense lawyers ask to restrict CIA's use of information in 9/11 case Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 05:44 PM PDT  By Jane Sutton GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Attorneys defending a Guantanamo prisoner charged in the 9/11 plot turned the tables on Tuesday and asked for restrictions on the way the CIA can use private information that defense lawyers generate. Previous discussions of classified information in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal have focused on defense lawyers' responsibility to safeguard information collected by the government. But the pretrial hearing at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base on Tuesday revealed concerns about information flowing in the opposite direction. ... Full Story | Top |
| Photographer found guilty of four California serial murders Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 05:43 PM PDT  By Ronnie Cohen SAN RAFAEL, California (Reuters) - An elderly former photographer acting as his own attorney was found guilty on Tuesday of first-degree murder in the serial slayings of four northern California prostitutes dating to the 1970s. Joseph Naso, 79, now faces the possibility of the death penalty for the "Alphabet murders," so called because of the matching letters of the first and last names of each of his victims. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspect arrested after shooting at Atlanta-area school; no injuries Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 05:28 PM PDT  By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) - Police arrested a 20-year-old man on Tuesday for opening fire with an AK-47 inside an elementary school in the Atlanta suburbs, forcing the evacuation of 800 students who were all reunited with their parents without injury, officials said. Authorities believe the shooter gained access to the school in Decatur, Georgia, by slipping in behind someone who had access to the building's locked doors, said DeKalb County Police Department spokeswoman Mekka Parish. ... Full Story | Top |
| NYSE picks JPMorgan, SocGen for Euronext IPO: report Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 05:25 PM PDT  (Reuters) - NYSE Euronext has tapped JPMorgan Chase & Co and Societe Generale to help arrange a potential $1 billion IPO for its European equity operations, Bloomberg news agency reported. A stake in the Euronext unit, which controls markets in Paris, Lisbon, Brussels and Amsterdam, may be sold next year, Bloomberg said citing sources. (http://link.reuters.com/qym52v) The sale could raise about 750 million euros ($1 billion)though the final size of the deal hasn't been determined yet, two sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU foreign ministers weigh Egypt aid, policy at emergency talks Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 05:02 PM PDT  By Justyna Pawlak BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union governments will debate on Wednesday how to use their economic muscle to force Egypt's army-backed rulers to end a crackdown on deposed President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood. There may be little they can do to inflict hardship on Cairo by cutting back on aid, because much of their cash goes to civil society groups, not the government, and Saudi Arabia has pledged to plug any shortfall if support is stopped. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. takes tougher line with Egypt but denies aid cut Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:54 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday adopted a harder line toward Egypt's military-backed government, stressing that its bloody crackdown on protesters could influence U.S. aid to Cairo but denying reports that it has suspended the assistance. The army's clampdown on supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi over the past week, the "suspicious deaths" of 37 prisoners in custody and the detention of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie on Tuesday have worsened relations between Washington and Egypt's new rulers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Al Jazeera America launches, AT&T won't carry network Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:52 PM PDT By Liana B. Baker and Lisa Richwine (Reuters) - New cable network Al Jazeera America introduced itself to U.S. viewers on Tuesday with reports on political strife in Egypt and a shooting at a Georgia elementary school, making its bid to win audiences shortly after a major pay TV distributor declined to carry the network. The decision by AT&T's U-verse pay-TV service stemmed from a contract dispute over terms to carry the new channel, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said. Globally, Al Jazeera is seen in more than 260 million homes in 130 countries. But the new U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three Oklahoma boys charged in killing of Australian student Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:50 PM PDT  By Heide Brandes OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Three teenage boys were charged on Tuesday in the killing of an Australian university student in Oklahoma, in what police said might have been a thrill killing. Christopher Lane, 23, of Melbourne, was found dead of a gunshot wound on Friday, according to police in Duncan, Oklahoma, about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City. Charged with first-degree murder are Chancey Allen Luna, 16, and James Francis Edwards Jr., 15, according to the Stephens County District Attorney's office. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada fines LATAM Airlines for cargo price-fixing Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:44 PM PDT OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Canadian court fined LATAM Airlines Group SA C$975,000 ($938,000) after the carrier admitted taking part in an air cargo price-fixing cartel, Canada's Competition Bureau said on Tuesday. The Chile-based airline's guilty plea related to fuel surcharges it imposed on international air cargo shipments from Canada to South America and elsewhere between March 2003 and February 2006, the bureau said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Autopsy finds drugs in journalist who died in Los Angeles crash Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:43 PM PDT By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A prominent U.S. journalist whose reporting led to the ouster of the senior U.S. military commander in Afghanistan had traces of methamphetamine in his blood when he was killed in June in a fiery Los Angeles car crash, autopsy findings showed on Tuesday. The drugs in Michael Hastings' system were of an amount unlikely to have contributed to the crash in which the Mercedes-Benz he was driving struck a tree and burst into flames, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office report. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. embassy in Sanaa, Yemen reopens after security threats Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:30 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, reopened on Sunday after closing earlier this month due to concerns over potential terrorism attacks, the U.S. State Department said. The Yemen embassy was one of about 20 U.S. embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa that were closed in early August when the United States said it had picked up information about unspecified terrorism threats. The reopened embassy in Yemen will "provide limited public services," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel, Palestinians hold third round of peace talks Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:26 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israelis and Palestinians held a third round of negotiations on Tuesday, and Israel's chief representative at the talks predicted the U.S.-brokered peace process would lead to dramatic Israeli decisions. Tzipi Livni coupled her forecast with acknowledgement that at least one partner in Israel's right-wing coalition opposed the goal set by Washington to create a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. Livni, speaking on Israel Radio before talks convened in Jerusalem, said "there will be dramatic decisions" by Israel at the end of the negotiating process. ... Full Story | Top |
| Michael Jackson estate fights U.S. IRS in Tax Court Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:25 PM PDT By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The estate of pop music legend Michael Jackson is fighting the Internal Revenue Service over taxes and penalties levied on a wide range of the star's assets, including the Neverland Ranch, his "image and likeness" and some recording properties, according to court documents. The estate's challenge, filed in U.S. Tax Court, does not disclose any dollar amounts, suggesting the differences in estate taxes paid and allegedly owed could be significant, said tax lawyers who reviewed the court filings on Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Argentine diplomat calls Cameron 'dumb' over Falklands flap Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:23 PM PDT BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's ambassador to Britain described Prime Minister David Cameron as "dumb" in his handling of the dispute over the Falkland Islands, the latest verbal salvo in the long feud between the two nations that went to war over the South Atlantic archipelago. Ambassador Alicia Castro told lawmakers that Cameron unwisely publicized comments by former Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, before he was named pope this year, in which Bergoglio said the islands belonged to Argentina. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida voices privacy concerns over Obamacare 'navigators' Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:17 PM PDT  By Zachary Fagenson and Bill Cotterell MIAMI/TALLAHASSEE (Reuters) - Florida Governor Rick Scott voiced serious concerns Tuesday over what the federal government will do with personal and financial data collected by "navigators" who help people find insurance coverage under the new national health-care exchange system. "Privacy has been a big issue for me," Scott told a meeting of the Florida Cabinet held in downtown Miami. "We don't know how this information is going to be used. ... Full Story | Top |
| British tuberculosis rates among highest in Western Europe Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:09 PM PDT By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Rates of tuberculosis (TB) in Britain are among the highest in western Europe and London is struggling to shed its status as the "TB capital" of the region, according to data released on Wednesday. If trends of infection continue, within two years Britain is likely to have more new cases of TB each year than the United States, according a report from the government's health agency, Public Health England (PHE). ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian court could free Mubarak as crisis deepens Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:08 PM PDT  By Lin Noueihed and Alistair Lyon CAIRO (Reuters) - Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak could be freed from jail after a court reviews his case on Wednesday, potentially stirring more unrest in a country where army-backed authorities are hunting down his Muslim Brotherhood foes. The court will convene at the Cairo prison where Mubarak is being held, judicial sources said, and review a petition from his lawyer demanding the leader overthrown in a 2011 revolt be freed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dolphins football legends reap White House praise 40 years late Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 04:06 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - They clambered gingerly up the riser behind President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House, white-haired, bespectacled, their coach in a motorized chair, former athletes there to receive an accolade 40 years late. Members of the Miami Dolphins, whose undefeated 1972 season culminated in a Super Bowl victory in January, 1973, stood smiling behind the president on Tuesday, blinking in the TV lights and basking in the applause of the crowd and the praise of the First Sports Fan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's ElBaradei to face court for 'betrayal of trust' Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 03:56 PM PDT  By Lin Noueihed CAIRO (Reuters) - Mohamed ElBaradei, Egypt's former interim vice president, is being sued for a "betrayal of trust" over his decision to quit the army-backed government in protest at its bloody crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. The case points to the prospect of a new wave of politically driven lawsuits being brought to court following the downfall of President Mohamed Mursi, whose supporters brought a raft of cases against opposition figures during his year in power. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama lauds Mali election, U.S. reviewing aid Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 03:45 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday congratulated Mali on holding a "peaceful, inclusive and credible" election this month, a step toward resuming U.S. aid to the West African nation. The United States suspended aid to Mali in April last year, after a coup prompted by an uprising by Islamists and Tuareg separatists. Mali's constitutional court confirmed Ibrahim Boubacar Keita had won Mali's presidential election runoff on August 11 with 78 percent of the vote and he is expected to be sworn in by Mali's supreme court on September 4. ... Full Story | Top |
| Detroit schools stung with sky-high interest rates Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 03:44 PM PDT  By Michael Connor (Reuters) - Detroit's school system got a tough lesson from America's $3.7 trillion municipal bond market when investors demanded and obtained sky-high interest rates on debt issued just a month after the city filed the nation's biggest-ever municipal bankruptcy case. The $92 million of one-year state aid revenue notes sold through the Michigan Finance Authority came with a whopping 4.375 percent coupon and priced at par, according to a pricing sheet from lead manager JP Morgan Securities. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. deports drug cartel 'queen' to Mexico Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 03:15 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday deported a Mexican drug smuggler, known as the "Queen of the Pacific", after she served out a jail term, handing her over to authorities in Mexico to face separate money laundering charges. Sandra Avila Beltran, 52, was originally arrested in Mexico in 2007 and allegedly helped build the Sinaloa cartel in the 1990s with Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman - Mexico's most-wanted drug boss. She was extradited to the United States in August 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
| Retired photographer found guilty of four California murders Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 03:09 PM PDT SAN RAFAEL, California (Reuters) - A retired photographer was found guilty on Tuesday of first-degree murder in the serial slayings of four northern California prostitutes dating back to the 1970s, capping a two-month trial in which he acted as his own attorney. Joseph Naso, 79, now faces the possibility of the death penalty for the "alphabet murders," so called because of the matching letters of the first and last names of each of his victims. ... Full Story | Top |
| SEC charges ex-Oppenheimer fund manager with misleading investors Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 03:06 PM PDT By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. securities regulators charged a former private equity fund manager at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc's Oppenheimer & Co on Tuesday with misleading investors about the valuation and performance of some funds. The Securities and Exchange Commission claimed that Brian Williamson, 42, disseminated quarterly reports and marketing materials that essentially overstated the value of Oppenheimer's fund holdings and performance figures. The company earlier this year agreed to settle related charges with the SEC and pay $2.8 million. ... Full Story | Top |
| Accused chemist in Massachusetts handled over 40,000 drug cases: investigator Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 03:04 PM PDT By Daniel Lovering BOSTON (Reuters) - A chemist accused of falsifying drug tests in a Massachusetts state crime lab may have influenced the outcome of drug cases involving more than 40,000 people, a former prosecutor tapped by Governor Deval Patrick to investigate the case said on Tuesday. That finding could set the stage for a fresh round of court hearings on whether convictions linked to the chemist, Annie Dookhan, were valid. Dookhan, 35, was arrested in September and charged with lying about the integrity of drug evidence that she analyzed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senator Alexander is latest Republican to face primary challenge Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 03:04 PM PDT  By Tim Ghianni NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee will be challenged by conservative state representative Joe Carr in the Republican primary next year, becoming the fourth incumbent Republican U.S. senator to face a primary challenge from the political right. "Tennesseans are hungry for strong, principled, conservative leadership, so I am answering the call," Carr said in a statement on Tuesday after making the announcement on a Nashville radio station. Carr said Alexander, 73, had failed to advance the conservative cause or change politics in Washington. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge approves Kodak plan to exit bankruptcy Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 02:56 PM PDT  By Nick Brown NEW YORK (Reuters) - Eastman Kodak Co, once a mighty photography pioneer, earned court approval on Tuesday for a plan to emerge from bankruptcy as a much smaller digital-imaging company. The green light from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper in New York puts Kodak on track to exit bankruptcy in about two weeks. "It will be enormously valuable for the company to get out of Chapter 11 and hopefully begin to regain its position in the pantheon of American business," Gropper said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senator Cruz may have to wait eight months to stop being Canadian Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 02:55 PM PDT  By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, who says he recently discovered he is likely a Canadian, must win security clearance from Canada's spy agency, fill out a four-page form and then wait up to eight months to sever his ties to America's northern neighbor. Cruz, a Texas Republican who has fueled speculation that he may run for president in 2016, was born in Canada, which automatically makes him a citizen. On Monday he offered to renounce that citizenship. "Nothing against Canada, but I'm an American by birth and as a U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| California: No imminent need to force-feed inmates on hunger strike Tuesday, Aug 20, 2013 02:54 PM PDT  By Laila Kearney SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The California prison system had no imminent need to force-feed hunger-striking inmates on Tuesday, a day after it won federal court permission to do so because of concerns that prison gangs may have coerced prisoners into refusing food, a prison health spokeswoman said. U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson, responding to a request by state authorities, ruled on Monday that prison doctors may force-feed some gravely ill inmates, even if they had signed orders asking not to be resuscitated. ... Full Story | Top |
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