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| U.S. teen accused in slaying of World War Two veteran says it was drug deal gone bad Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 08:49 PM PDT By Keith Coffman (Reuters) - One of the two Washington state teenagers accused of murdering a World War Two veteran said he beat up the survivor of the Battle of Okinawa after the 88-year-old man tried "ripping him off" in a drug deal, court documents in the case said. Kenan Adams-Kinard, 16, made the statement to friends as he was being sought in the beating death of Delbert "Shorty" Belton, according to an affidavit filed by a Spokane police detective in support of a criminal complaint against the suspect. ... Full Story | Top |
| California prison crowding plan neglects rehabilitation: lawmaker Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 08:34 PM PDT By Sharon Bernstein LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A plan by California Governor Jerry Brown to ease prison crowding by leasing space in county jails and private lockups came under fire Wednesday from lawmakers who advocate spending more for rehabilitation and mental health services. Fellow Democrats in the state Senate, led by Darrell Steinberg, condemned Brown's $315 million proposal as a short-term fix. "Temporarily expanding California's prison capacity is neither sustainable nor fiscally responsible," Senate leader Steinberg wrote in a letter to Brown. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. probe into JPMorgan hiring practices widens: Bloomberg Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 08:02 PM PDT  HONG KONG (Reuters) - U.S. government investigations into the hiring practices of JPMorgan in China have uncovered evidence including a spreadsheet that links hires to specific deals, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The Justice Department has joined the Securities and Exchange Commission in looking into whether JPMorgan hired people in China because their family members would in turn offer business to the bank, the report said, citing one of the people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia president says government ready for peace talks with ELN rebels Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 07:58 PM PDT  BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government is ready to start peace talks with the smaller of the country's two guerrilla groups, the National Liberation Army, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Wednesday. Santos had insisted the government would not engage in talks with the rebel group, known as the ELN, until it released a Canadian geologist it kidnapped in January. The ELN handed the hostage over to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday. The ELN, which has an estimated 3,000 fighters, has been fighting the government in nearly five decades of bloody conflict. ... Full Story | Top |
| After 24 years, San Francisco Bay area prepares for new bridge Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 07:54 PM PDT  By Ronnie Cohen SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The eastern span of a Depression-era bridge connecting San Francisco to Oakland was retired on Wednesday night, 24 years after it partially collapsed during a major earthquake. But the big party once planned for next Tuesday, when a majestic $6 billion replacement bridge is scheduled to open, has been canceled - fitting for a project that was six years late, cost five times initial estimates and suffers from broken seismic safety bolts that some critics say render it unsafe. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge tosses BlackRock iShares compensation case Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 07:45 PM PDT By Nate Raymond (Reuters) - BlackRock Inc has won the dismissal of a lawsuit claiming it looted securities-lending revenues from iShares exchange-traded funds investors, with a U.S. judge ruling the plaintiffs did not have a right to bring the case against the money manager. The lawsuit, filed in January, claimed that the iShares exchange-traded funds provided "grossly excessive compensation" to BlackRock, which was hired to advise and manage the funds. ... Full Story | Top |
| BOJ's Morimoto: fund outflows from emerging nations may continue Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 07:37 PM PDT MORIOKA, Japan (Reuters) - Bank of Japan board member Yoshihisa Morimoto on Thursday warned of looming uncertainties over the global economy including an outflow of funds from emerging nations, driven by expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon taper its bond-buying program. Morimoto also called on the government to keep up efforts to fix Japan's worsening finances, saying that Japan must maintain market trust in its finances in order for the BOJ's monetary easing to be fully effective. ... Full Story | Top |
| Female midshipman testifies in U.S. Naval Academy rape case Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 06:53 PM PDT By Lacey Johnson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A female midshipman testified on Wednesday she woke up disheveled, in pain and with a clouded recollection of the party in which three former U.S. Naval Academy football players are accused of raping her. Three midshipmen - Tra'ves Bush, Eric Graham and Joshua Tate - are charged with sexually assaulting the woman in April 2012 after she blacked out from drinking too much at an off-campus party. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama makes case for punishing Syria, but possible delays loom Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 06:38 PM PDT  By Matt Spetalnick and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made the case on Wednesday for a limited military strike against Syria in response to last week's chemical weapons attack even as he faced new obstacles with British allies and U.S. lawmakers that could delay any imminent action. Casting the need for intervention in Syria's civil war on the basis of U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| China urges restraint over Syria tensions, calls for calm Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 06:26 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's foreign minister urged restraint on Thursday in the growing tensions over Syria, saying any military intervention in the crisis would only worsen turmoil in the Middle East. President Barack Obama vowed on Wednesday that the Syrian government would face "international consequences" for last week's deadly chemical attack, but made clear any military response would be limited to avoid dragging the United States into another war in the Middle East. ... Full Story | Top |
| King's relatives involved in bus accident after 'I Have a Dream' rally Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 06:12 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A tour bus carrying relatives of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. collided with a minivan after leaving a ceremony in the U.S. capital marking the 50th anniversary of his "I Have a Dream" speech, but no one was seriously hurt, police said. The accident near the base of the Washington Monument occurred shortly before 6 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT), U.S. Park Police Sergeant J. Innis said. The minivan ran through a red light, forcing the driver of the tour bus to slam on the brakes in a failed effort to avoid a collision, police said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Biggest U.S. rocket blasts off with spy satellite Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 06:09 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An unmanned Delta 4-Heavy rocket, the largest in the U.S. fleet, blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Wednesday to put a classified spy satellite into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office, officials said Wednesday. The 23-story-tall rocket lifted off at 11:03 a.m. local time/1803 GMT from a launch pad originally built for, but never used by, NASA's now-retired space shuttles. No details about the rocket's spy-satellite payload were released. ... Full Story | Top |
| San Bernardino, California, gets bankruptcy protection Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 05:50 PM PDT  By Tim Reid RIVERSIDE, California (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Wednesday granted bankruptcy protection to the California city of San Bernardino, paving the way for a precedent-setting battle between bondholders and California's giant public pension system. The case is being closely watched by other U.S. cities, including Detroit, which declared the biggest U.S. municipal bankruptcy last month, where budgets are burdened by soaring pension costs. Judge Meredith Jury of the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. congressional leaders to receive Syria briefing on Thursday Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 05:50 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior Obama administration officials will brief congressional leaders on Thursday on the situation in Syria, congressional aides said, amid complaints by lawmakers they have not been properly consulted as the president deliberates about possible military action. The briefing by senior White House and national security officials will be with leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the chairmen and ranking members of national security committees, Democratic and Republican congressional aides said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fort Hood shooter's death sentence heads for appeal with or without him Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 05:49 PM PDT  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - Major Nidal Hasan may wish to die a martyr, as he told mental health evaluators before his trial in the shooting deaths of 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, but his execution is likely years away. The case against Hasan, who was convicted of the 2009 murders of 13 people at the Army base and sentenced to death on Wednesday by a military jury, will now move to a lengthy appeals process that includes several stages of review. ... Full Story | Top |
| Blackstone to pay $85 million to settle lawsuit over IPO Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 05:48 PM PDT By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blackstone Group LP has agreed to pay $85 million to settle an investor class action lawsuit accusing the private equity giant of not disclosing bad investments before its $4.7 billion initial public offering in 2007. The proposed deal follows more than five years of litigation between investors and Blackstone and helps the world's largest private equity firm avert a rare securities class action trial that was due to begin September 16. The settlement, disclosed in court papers filed Wednesday in U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Flash floods kill 24 in Mali's capital Bamako, minister says Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 05:19 PM PDT BAMAKO (Reuters) - Twenty-four people were killed in Mali's riverside capital Bamako on Wednesday when torrential rains provoked flash floods that washed away homes in several neighborhoods, a government minister said. "The heavy rains led to flooding ... These floods caused 24 deaths," Tiefing Konate, the country's minister of internal security and civilian protection, said in a statement distributed to local media. Bankoni, Taliko, Lafiabougou, Djicoroni Woyowayanko, Lafiabougou Bougouba and Bougoudani neighborhoods were all hit by floods during rain storms that lasted most of the day. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rwanda blocks proposed U.N. sanctions for two Congo rebels Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 05:04 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Rwanda blocked a joint U.S.-French proposal to impose U.N. sanctions on two senior commanders in the M23 rebel group in eastern Congo, arguing that the evidence against the men was weak, Rwandan and other U.N. envoys said on Wednesday. The latest diplomatic wrangling in New York came as U.N. helicopters and artillery attacked M23 rebel positions near the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday in support of an offensive by the Congolese armed forces. One U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Danone-owned milk formula maker considers legal action vs. Fonterra Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 05:03 PM PDT  WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A Danone SA unit said on Thursday it was considering legal action against New Zealand's Fonterra after the maker of Karicare milk formula had to recall products due to incorrect tests that led to global food safety scare. Initial tests prompted Fonterra to warn early this month that whey protein used in the products contained a bacteria which may cause botulism. Subsequent testing by New Zealand's Ministry of Primary Industries showed a different strain of the bacteria which posed no safety threat. ... Full Story | Top |
| Montana judge criticized for 31-day sentence for ex-teacher who raped teen Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 05:01 PM PDT By Laura Zuckerman (Reuters) - A prominent women's rights group criticized a Montana judge on Wednesday for handing down only a one-month sentence for a former teacher convicted of raping a 14-year-old student, whom the judge said seemed older than her age. State District Judge G. Todd Baugh sentenced the teacher to 15 years in jail on Monday, then suspended all but 31 days of that term for the 2007 rape of Cherice Moralez, who killed herself in 2010, legal documents show. He also received credit for one day served. ... Full Story | Top |
| Heir to fortune hidden in Switzerland pleads guilty to U.S. tax fraud Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:50 PM PDT By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An heir to a wealthy New York investment manager's fortune has pleaded guilty to conspiring with family members to hide more than $12 million from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in Swiss bank accounts, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. Henry Seggerman, 60, and his five siblings inherited about $24 million from their father, Harry Seggerman, who died in May 2001, according to court documents released by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria evacuates most army buildings in Damascus: residents Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:47 PM PDT  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad's forces appear to have evacuated most personnel from army and security command headquarters in central Damascus in preparation for a Western military strike, residents and opposition sources said on Wednesday. U.S.-led air or missile strikes on Syria look all but certain after the United States and European and Middle Eastern allies blamed a suspected poison gas attack that killed hundreds in the city on Aug 21 on President Bashar al-Assad's forces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama makes case for punishing Syria over gas attack Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:38 PM PDT  By Matt Spetalnick and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed on Wednesday that the Syrian government would face "international consequences" for last week's deadly chemical attack, but made clear any military response would be limited to avoid dragging the United States into another war in the Middle East. Casting the need for action based on U.S. national security interests instead of humanitarian grounds, Obama made his case to a war-weary American public for what is looking like an all-but-certain use of force in Syria, where he has long been reluctant to intervene. ... Full Story | Top |
| Panama says Cuban weapons shipment 'without doubt' violated U.N. sanctions Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:23 PM PDT By Lomi Kriel PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Cuban weapons seized aboard a North Korean ship in Panamanian waters last month are "without doubt" a violation of United Nations sanctions against arms transfers to Pyongyang, Panama said Wednesday, citing a U.N. report. Panamanian authorities say they were given a preliminary report, presented by a panel of experts to the Sanctions Committee at the U.N. Security Council, according to a statement by Panama's Ministry of Security. "According to the first report presented by the panel of experts from the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama lays out case for 'tailored' strike against Syria: PBS Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:10 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made the case on Wednesday for a limited military strike against Syria to deter the future use of chemical weapons, but added he had not made a decision yet on whether to take action. Obama's administration has spent the past week discussing how to respond to an attack in the suburbs of Damascus that killed hundreds of people, an attack that the president said could only have been made by the Syrian government. A senior U.S. official has said strikes could last several days and would involve other country's armed forces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fort Hood shooter sentenced to death for 2009 killings Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:06 PM PDT  By Ellen Wulfhorst and Jana J. Pruet FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - A military jury on Wednesday sentenced a U.S. Army psychiatrist to death for murdering 13 people in 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas, where he gunned down unarmed soldiers in what he later called retaliation for U.S. wars in the Muslim world. Major Nidal Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest" in Arabic) during the attack and later said he wanted to be a martyr. Now he faces death by lethal injection, pending an automatic appeal, for the rampage that also wounded 31 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Growth optimism spreads to over half of small firms - survey Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:04 PM PDT  By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - More than half of Britain's smaller companies expect to grow in the coming year, a survey published on Thursday found, showing optimism on the recovery spreading throughout the economy. Fifty-one percent of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) expect to grow over the next 12 months, up from 48 percent in the previous quarter, the SME Finance Monitor said, the highest proportion since the survey began in 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Swedish boarding school shut after boys burned with irons Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 04:04 PM PDT STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's school inspectorate ordered the temporary closure of a prestigious boarding school on Wednesday after two new boys were burned with electric irons in the latest bullying scandal at the elite establishment. The move came after several students of the Lundsberg school in central Sweden, whose alumni include Prince Carl Philip, the youngest child of Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, were reported to the police for the hazing ritual over the weekend. The school inspectorate said the school would be closed from Thursday for up to six months. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. government, two airlines say open to settling merger fight Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:53 PM PDT  By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American Airlines , US Airways and the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday they were open to settling a court fight over whether the two companies should be allowed to merge, but there was no sign of an imminent agreement. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in mid-August, asking a federal court to block the deal, which would form the world's biggest air carrier. The government said the merger would lead to higher prices for customers, while the companies said it would make them more competitive and strengthen the market. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama says more work needed to achieve ideals from King's 'Dream' speech Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:52 PM PDT  By Ian Simpson and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is struggling to realize the vision that civil rights leader Martin Luther King described in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech 50 years ago, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday, citing economic security as a still elusive goal. Obama, the first black U.S. president, spoke to thousands of marchers on Washington's National Mall to commemorate King's landmark address, which came to symbolize the struggle for equality among blacks and whites in America. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK's Cameron forced to delay strike against Syria Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:49 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron was forced on Wednesday to push back his plans for an imminent military strike against Syria in a humiliating climb-down for Britain's leader after coming under fierce domestic and international pressure. Just a day after recalling Britain's parliament to vote on how to respond to Syria's suspected use of chemical weapons, Cameron was ambushed when the opposition Labour party said it wanted greater parliamentary scrutiny and rebel lawmakers in his own ruling Conservative party said they would oppose him. Earlier on Wednesday, ... Full Story | Top |
| BRICS agree capital structure for development bank: WSJ Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:43 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The BRICS bloc of large emerging economies have agreed on the capital structure for a proposed development bank that aims to reduce their reliance on Western financial institutions, the Wall Street Journal reported. Officials from Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa agreed to set up the bank with a total capital of $50 billion, shared equally among them, it quoted an unnamed senior Indian government official as saying. The decision was made at a meeting in New Delhi in the first week of August, the newspaper said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-HealthSouth CEO Scrushy loses bid to end SEC ban Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:31 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - A federal judge rejected former HealthSouth Corp Chief Executive Richard Scrushy's bid to lift a ban on his serving as an officer or director of a public company, which was part of his settlement of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges that he masterminded a $2.6 billion accounting fraud. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama administration officials set briefing for Congress Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:20 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior Obama administration officials will brief U.S. congressional leaders on the situation in Syria on Thursday, a congressional aide said on Wednesday. The briefing by senior White House and national security officials will be with leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives as well as with the chairmen and ranking members of national security committees. The aide could not provide details on the substance of the briefing. ... Full Story | Top |
| San Bernardino, California, eligible for bankruptcy: judge Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:19 PM PDT By Tim Reid RIVERSIDE, California (Reuters) - San Bernardino, California, is eligible for bankruptcy protection, a federal judge said on Wednesday, in a "tentative ruling" ahead of full court arguments later in the day. Judge Meredith Jury of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, said the city of 210,000, located 60 miles east of Los Angeles, was eligible for bankruptcy protection "as a matter of law based on incontrovertible facts." The tentative ruling came despite objections by the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or Calpers. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York Times, Twitter hacked by Syrian group Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:19 PM PDT  By Gerry Shih and Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Media companies, including the New York Times, Twitter and the Huffington Post, lost control of some of their websites Tuesday after hackers supporting the Syrian government breached the Australian Internet company that manages many major site addresses. The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), a hacker group that has attacked media organizations it considers hostile to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, claimed credit for the Twitter and Huffington Post hacks in a series of Twitter messages. ... Full Story | Top |
| House speaker asks Obama to make case clearly for Syria action Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:19 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner urged President Barack Obama on Wednesday to make the case personally to Congress and the American people for potential military action in Syria. In a letter to Obama that was released to the media, Boehner said Obama must explain the legal basis for any use of force in Syria and the "intended effect of the potential military strikes." A growing number of U.S. lawmakers - including many from Boehner's Republican Party - have been complaining they have not been properly consulted on the situation in Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands flee to Central African Republic airport to escape ex-rebels Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:17 PM PDT By Paul-Marin Ngoupana BANGUI (Reuters) - Thousands of civilians fled to the Central African Republic's main international airport to escape marauding former rebel fighters and occupied the tarmac for around 18 hours, blocking some flights from landing, witnesses and officials said. The Central African Republic has descended into chaos since the Seleka rebels swept into Bangui in March, toppling President Francois Bozize and unleashing a wave of violence that new leader Michel Djotodia has failed to control. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida mayor arrested for failing to disclose consulting job Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:16 PM PDT MIAMI (Reuters) - A Florida mayor was arrested on corruption charges on Wednesday for allegedly failing to disclose that he worked as a paid consultant for a health clinic company looking to expand in his city. Homestead Mayor Steven Bateman is the third mayor in the Miami area to be arrested on graft or ethics charges in recent weeks. Mayoral races are officially nonpartisan and candidates are not required to list their party affiliation, but according to voter registration records Bateman is a Democrat. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: If U.S. strikes Syria, destroyers likely to deliver the blow Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013 03:16 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If U.S. President Barack Obama decides to take military action against Syria for using chemical weapons in its two-year-old civil war, the initial blows likely would be delivered by four U.S. guided missile destroyers currently in the Mediterranean. Beyond that, the president has a number of other ships and aircraft, both in the region and elsewhere, that he could use to carry out limited strikes to send a message aimed at deterring further chemical weapons use. ... Full Story | Top |
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