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| Gunman opens fire at Los Angeles airport, killing security agent Friday, Nov 01, 2013 09:04 PM PDT  By Dan Whitcomb and Dana Feldman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A lone gunman stormed into a packed terminal at the Los Angeles International Airport and opened fire with an assault weapon on Friday, killing an unarmed federal security agent before he was shot and captured, authorities said. The gunfire in Terminal 3 touched off panic and chaos at one of the world's busiest airports as hundreds of travelers ran frantically for safety or dove for cover behind racks of luggage and loud alarms blared. In addition to the Transportation Security Administration agent who was slain, at least one other was shot and wounded and a number of other people were hurt in the pandemonium. Streets around the airport were blocked off for hours, snarling traffic for miles. Full Story | Top |
| Some U.S. states, Pentagon clash over ID cards for same-sex spouses Friday, Nov 01, 2013 08:13 PM PDT By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several Republican-led U.S. states on Friday rejected Pentagon demands that their state militias issue identity cards to same-sex spouses and accused the Obama administration of using the military as a pawn in its bid to force social change. The resistance put the Pentagon on a collision course with states that have rejected a Defense Department request, first issued in September, for identity cards to be issued to same-sex spouses so they can begin receiving benefits due to married couples. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, the Republican head of the National Governors Association, called on President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to "stop using the National Guard as a pawn in a larger social agenda," her spokesman, Alex Weintz, said in a statement on Friday. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Navy says notice of possible F/A-18 orders posted in error Friday, Nov 01, 2013 07:43 PM PDT F/A-18 fighter jets or EA-18G electronic attack planes due to "pre-decisional and internal budget discussions," a top Navy admiral said Friday. Vice Admiral David Dunaway, commander of Naval Air Systems Command, issued a statement after the Navy canceled the notice. It had sparked confusion since the Navy's current plans call for it to switch to the radar-evading F-35 built by Lockheed Martin Corp "The posting was the result of pre-decisional and internal budget discussions and was posted erroneously," Dunaway said of the incident, which triggered fresh questions about the Navy's tepid commitment to the $392 billion program - the Pentagon's largest weapons program.. "We took immediate actions and retracted the solicitation," said the admiral, who oversees the Navy's aviation programs. Full Story | Top |
| California coaches, teacher suspended for donning blackface at costume party Friday, Nov 01, 2013 07:10 PM PDT Two California high school football coaches and a teacher were suspended this week for wearing Halloween costumes that featured blackface, prompting criticism from parents and a leading civil rights organization after pictures of the event were posted on Facebook. The three San Diego educators, all white, wore dark-face makeup and stretch jumpsuits to portray Jamaican bobsledders at a weekend costume party at the home of one of the men. "African-Americans are very offended by blackface, and we found nothing funny when we saw that picture was posted," said Lei-Chala Wilson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's San Diego branch. In February, New York state Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind wore blackface makeup and donned an Afro-style wig at a party celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim, a costume that was criticized by fellow lawmakers and the Anti-Defamation League bias monitoring group. Full Story | Top |
| Embraer faces bribery inquiries from U.S. regulators Friday, Nov 01, 2013 06:49 PM PDT (Reuters) - U.S. and Brazilian authorities are investigating whether Embraer SA bribed Dominican Republic officials in exchange for a $90 million contract to provide the country's armed forces with attack planes, the Wall Street Journal said, citing law enforcement documents and people familiar with the case. The world's third-largest commercial plane maker has been under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission since 2010. According to documents reviewed by the Journal, the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Plunging eel stocks spell hard times for a global delicacy Friday, Nov 01, 2013 06:32 PM PDT By Sam Cage CRUMLIN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - From the food stalls and pie shops of Dickensian London to haute cuisine restaurants in Tokyo, the eel has a long and rich culinary history that transcends classes and national borders. But it is becoming an increasingly rare delicacy as stocks plummet and Europe's fishing industry shrinks to make itself sustainable. With an annual catch of about 600 metric tons (661.387 tons), Europe's largest commercial eel fishery - and the United Kingdom's largest lake - is Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland. Whenever I finish that will be the end," said Shane O'Neill, a sprightly 70 year old from the nearby town of Crumlin who has worked the lake since 1960. Full Story | Top |
| Northrop sees strong foreign interest in unmanned helicopter Friday, Nov 01, 2013 05:42 PM PDT on Friday said it saw strong foreign interest in its Fire Scout unmanned helicopter, but faced challenges in translating that demand into actual sales. George Vardoulakis, Northrop Grumman's vice president for medium-range tactical systems, told reporters the unmanned helicopter was also subject to tough missile control rules that made any foreign sales subject to extra scrutiny. "We certainly hope over time we can turn that interest into some real acquisition cases." Foreign sales would also help lower the cost of the Navy's purchases of the helicopter, he added. A larger and more powerful version of the Fire Scout made its first two flights on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| University of Connecticut is sued over handling of sexual assaults Friday, Nov 01, 2013 05:33 PM PDT By Curtis Skinner NEW YORK (Reuters) - Four female students filed a lawsuit against the University of Connecticut on Friday over the school's handling of sexual assault complaints, a week after filing a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education. The school in Storrs, Connecticut, was "deliberately indifferent to a number of reports of rape and sexual assault," said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut by four current or past students. Full Story | Top |
| Four extra sites opened to search for U.S. troops missing in Vietnam Friday, Nov 01, 2013 05:26 PM PDT By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vietnam advised the United States at the start of high-level talks this week it would open four additional sites to investigators seeking the remains of American military personnel missing since the Vietnam War, a senior U.S. defense official said. Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Vikram Singh, who oversees U.S. military ties with South and Southeast Asia, said an eight-member delegation led by Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh told U.S. defense officials about the decision at the outset of talks at the Pentagon this week. A U.S. official said on Friday the sites were in the southern part of Vietnam and were small areas where specific incidents are believed to have taken place. The Defense Department's POW/Missing Personnel Office says 1,275 Americans are still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. wants 'inclusive' Iraq: Obama Friday, Nov 01, 2013 05:12 PM PDT  By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama pressed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday to build a more inclusive democracy in his country and said the United States would cooperate with Iraq as it tries to push back a resurgent al Qaeda. As Iraq experiences a rising spiral of sectarian violence two years after U.S. troops departed following eight years of war, Maliki came to Washington seeking U.S. help to counter a Sunni insurgency revived in part by Syria's civil war next door. Obama, in White House Oval Office remarks with Maliki at his side, made no mention of supplying the U.S.-made Apache helicopters the Iraqis are seeking from the United States. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani Taliban chief killed in drone strike Friday, Nov 01, 2013 04:55 PM PDT  By Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Jibran Ahmed ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - The head of the Pakistani Taliban was killed by a U.S. drone strike on Friday, security and Taliban sources said, in a blow to the fragmented movement fighting against the nuclear-armed South Asian nation. Hakimullah Mehsud was one of the most wanted and feared men in Pakistan with a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, leading an insurgency from a mountain hideout in North Waziristan, the Taliban's stronghold on the Afghan frontier. "We confirm with great sorrow that our esteemed leader was martyred in a drone attack," a senior Taliban commander said. In Washington, two U.S. officials confirmed Mehsud's death in a CIA drone strike. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge tosses lawsuit seeking to block horse slaughter Friday, Nov 01, 2013 04:53 PM PDT A U.S. federal judge on Friday tossed out a lawsuit seeking to block inspections of horses destined for slaughter, potentially clearing the way for the resumption of equine killing for human consumption. A U.S. District Judge in New Mexico threw out a lawsuit by the Humane Society of the United States and other animal protection groups lodged in July that sought to permanently halt the slaughter of horses. The suit alleged that the Department of Agriculture failed to carry out environmental reviews before it gave approval to Roswell, New Mexico-based Valley Meat Co., Responsible Transportation, in Iowa, and Rains Natural Meats, in Missouri, to slaughter horses for human consumption. In a 33-page ruling, Chief United States District Judge Christina Armijo concluded "that the grants of inspection were properly issued." She dismissed the lawsuit, and denied a request for permanent injunction sought by the plaintiffs. Full Story | Top |
| BBC DJ arrested in sex abuse inquiry - BBC Friday, Nov 01, 2013 04:48 PM PDT Radio presenter Paul Gambaccini was arrested on Tuesday as part of a wider inquiry into alleged child sexual exploitation, his spokesman told the British Broadcasing Corporation (BBC) on Friday. U.S.-born Gambaccini, 64, who presents music radio shows for the state-funded BBC, denied the allegations. Gambaccini is the 15th person arrested as part of an investigation prompted by revelations the late BBC TV host Jimmy Savile was a prolific child sex abuser. "Mr Gambaccini was interviewed by Operation Yewtree officers about historic allegations. Full Story | Top |
| Caterpillar unit is subject of U.S. criminal probe: filing Friday, Nov 01, 2013 04:42 PM PDT  Federal prosecutors in California are investigating a unit of Caterpillar Inc Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar said in the filing that its Progress Rail Services Corp subsidiary received a grand jury subpoena on October 24 from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The U.S. attorney's office in that district told Progress Rail it is a target of a criminal investigation related to the subpoena, the filing said. The subpoena requested documents and other information from Progress Rail, Caterpillar and Progress Rail subsidiary United Industries Corp in connection with allegations that Progress Rail conducted unnecessary or improper rail car inspections and that it failed to properly dispose of equipment, parts, tools and other items, the filing said. Full Story | Top |
| Republican-turned-Democrat Crist files to run for Florida governor Friday, Nov 01, 2013 04:42 PM PDT  Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist, a Republican-turned Democrat, filed paperwork on Friday to run next year for his old job, according to the state's Division of Elections website. Crist, who served as Florida's governor from 2007 to 2011, has scheduled an event on Monday to announce his plans. "I wanted to make sure we had all the paperwork in order to have a nice event," Crist told Reuters. Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott will seek reelection in 2014 in what is expected to be one of the most expensive governor's races in the country. Full Story | Top |
| Africans push deferral of Kenya trials with U.N. draft resolution Friday, Nov 01, 2013 04:39 PM PDT  Rwanda, Togo and Morocco circulated among U.N. Security Council members on Friday a draft resolution to defer the International Criminal Court trials of Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto for one year. The African Union asked the Security Council last week to postpone the trials of Kenyatta and Ruto so they can deal with the aftermath of the Nairobi mall attack by al Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab, in which at least 67 people were killed in September. Kenyatta and Ruto face charges related to the violence after Kenya's 2007 elections, in which 1,200 people died. The Security Council can defer International Criminal Court proceedings for one year under Article 16 of the Rome Statute that established The Hague-based court a decade ago. Full Story | Top |
| UK: Snowden reporter's partner involved in 'espionage' and 'terrorism' Friday, Nov 01, 2013 04:22 PM PDT By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - British authorities claimed the domestic partner of reporter Glenn Greenwald was involved in "terrorism" when he tried to carry documents from former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden through a London airport in August, according to police and intelligence documents. Greenwald's partner, David Miranda, was detained and questioned for nine hours by British authorities at Heathrow on August 18, when he landed there from Berlin to change planes for a flight to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. After his release and return to Rio, Miranda filed a legal action against the British government, seeking the return of materials seized from him by British authorities and a judicial review of the legality of his detention. Full Story | Top |
| Illinois EPA asks for court-ordered probe of Citgo refinery fire Friday, Nov 01, 2013 04:09 PM PDT The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency asked that state's Attorney General to seek a court order compelling Citgo Petroleum Corp to investigate an October 23 fire at the company's refinery at Lemont, Illinois, the agency said in a statement on Friday. Citgo responded in a statement later on Friday that it looks forward to working the state agency as it repairs and restarts the unit most heavily damaged in the fire. "Citgo has worked closely with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) and all other state and federal agencies since the incident and has voluntarily provided all information that IEPA has requested." IEPA said it wants Citgo to perform a root-cause analysis of the fire and submit that analysis for review by the state. IEPA spokesman Andrew Mason declined to say if Citgo would be able to restart the 174,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery's crude distillation unit, which does the initial refining of oil coming into the plant and provides feedstock liquids to all other units. Full Story | Top |
| TSA agent killed, six wounded in Los Angeles airport shooting Friday, Nov 01, 2013 04:07 PM PDT By Dan Whitcomb and Dana Feldman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A lone gunman stormed into a crowded terminal at the Los Angeles International Airport and opened fire with an assault weapon on Friday, killing a security agent and wounding six other people before he was shot and captured, authorities said. The gunfire in Terminal 3 touched off panic and chaos at one of the world's busiest airports as passengers fled or dove for cover behind racks of luggage as police shouted warnings to travelers and quickly evacuated the terminal. Departing flights were halted and arriving planes were diverted to other airports, as streets surrounding the airport were shut down, snarling traffic for miles around. "An individual came into Terminal 3 of this airport, pulled an assault rifle out of a bag and began to open fire in the terminal," Patrick Gannon, chief of the Los Angeles Airport Police, told a news conference. Full Story | Top |
| Texas women turned away at abortion clinics after court ruling Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:58 PM PDT  By Karen Brooks and Lisa Maria Garza AUSTIN/DALLAS, Texas (Reuters) - Women seeking to terminate their pregnancies were turned away at clinics across Texas on Friday, providers said, after strict new regulations for physicians who perform abortions prompted a dozen facilities to stop offering them. "They're calling from all over - Fort Worth, West Texas, all over Dallas, Oklahoma, everywhere," said Betty Pettigrew, director at Routh Street Women's Clinic in downtown Dallas, which has offered abortion services since 1978. Offices were inundated with calls after a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that a provision of a new Texas law that requires all doctors performing abortions to have an agreement with a local hospital to admit patients could go into immediate effect. The provision was part of a sweeping anti-abortion law, passed in July by the Republican-led Texas Legislature, that also requires abortion clinics to meet heightened building standards, bans abortion after 20 weeks and requires strict adherence to federal guidelines in prescribing the so-called abortion pill. Full Story | Top |
| German, Brazilian U.N. draft urges halt to excessive spying Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:55 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Germany and Brazil circulated a draft resolution to a U.N. General Assembly committee on Friday that calls for an end to excessive electronic surveillance, data collection and other gross invasions of privacy. The draft resolution, which both Germany and Brazil made public, does not name any specific countries, although U.N. diplomats said it was clearly aimed at the United States, which has been embarrassed by revelations of a massive international surveillance program from a former U.S. contractor. The German-Brazilian draft would have the 193-nation assembly declare that it is "deeply concerned at human rights violations and abuses that may result from the conduct of any surveillance of communications, including extraterritorial surveillance of communications." It would also call on U.N. member states "to take measures to put an end to violations of these rights and to create the conditions to prevent such violations, including by ensuring that relevant national legislation complies with their obligations under international human rights law." The resolution will likely undergo changes as it is debated in the General Assembly's Third Committee, which focuses on human rights. Full Story | Top |
| Bankrupt LightSquared sues Deere & Co, GPS industry titans Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:52 PM PDT By Nick Brown NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bankrupt LightSquared on Friday sued leaders in the GPS industry, including Deere & Co and Garmin International Inc, saying they kept mum about interference concerns stemming from LightSquared's wireless network until the company had already pumped $4 billion into building it. In a 65-page lawsuit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, where LightSquared is fighting to keep control of its spectrum, the company alleged that farm equipment maker Deere, and GPS companies Garmin and Trimble Navigation Ltd led it to believe its network would not interfere with global positioning system devices. The complaint comes on the heels of a similar lawsuit against the GPS industry by Phil Falcone's Harbinger Capital, LightSquared's controlling shareholder. Last month, LightSquared received permission from the bankruptcy judge overseeing its Chapter 11 case to pause the Harbinger lawsuit so that LightSquared could decide whether it wanted to join the suit or bring claims of its own. Full Story | Top |
| Pirate money promotes global criminal activity: report Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:49 PM PDT WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Pirates hijacking ships off the Horn of Africa and Somalia from 2005 to 2012 garnered well over a quarter of a billion U.S. dollars in ransom and used the money for criminal activities worldwide, according to a report released on Friday. The study reveals the pirates engaged in human trafficking arms trafficking, funding militias and money laundering through trade in the stimulant known as khat, particularly in Kenya, as well as other illegal activities that divert money from the legal economy that would otherwise promote economic development. "Unchallenged piracy is not only a menace to stability and security, but it also has the power to corrupt the regional and international economy," said Stuart Yikona, a financial sector specialist at the World Bank and co-author of the report "Pirate Trails." It recommends a range of measures to combat the problem, including steps to deal with illegal cross-border cash smuggling, anti-money laundering measures and mechanisms to monitor financial flows through the khat trade. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: U.S. officials mired in controversy over Obamacare rollout Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:47 PM PDT  The troubled start of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law known as Obamacare has administration officials scrambling to address a host of problems, from the unreliability of the website HealthCare.gov to questions about who is responsible for hundreds of thousands of Americans losing their current coverage. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA Obama has been on the defensive about his healthcare policy since October 1, when HealthCare.gov was switched on and crashed the same night, preventing people from going online to create accounts and enroll in health insurance. Obama said on October 30 that "bad apple" insurance companies, not his healthcare law, are to blame for hundreds of thousands of people losing their coverage in the past few weeks. Obama has stood firm against Republican attempts to defund or delay the healthcare law - efforts that led to a 16-day government shutdown in early October. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. regulator considers end to sports broadcast blackout rule Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:46 PM PDT  By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission is considering whether to eliminate a decades-old rule that prohibited broadcasting of some professional sporting events, often NFL football games, in their home markets. The FCC said on Friday its members are reviewing a proposal to eliminate the nearly 40-year-old rule that was originally meant to ensure broadcasts of sports games did not hurt local ticket sales. "Changes in the marketplace have raised questions about whether these rules are still in the public interest, particularly at a time when high ticket prices and the economy make it difficult for many sports fans to attend games," FCC acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn said in a statement. The FCC will study whether the rules "remain justified" and could eventually take them off the books. Full Story | Top |
| Obama tells Iraqi leader that U.S. wants 'inclusive' Iraq Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:40 PM PDT By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama pressed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday to build a more inclusive democracy in his country and said the United States would cooperate with Iraq as it tries to push back a resurgent al Qaeda. As Iraq experiences a rising spiral of sectarian violence two years after U.S. troops departed following eight years of war, Maliki came to Washington seeking U.S. help to counter a Sunni insurgency revived in part by Syria's civil war next door. Obama, in White House Oval Office remarks with Maliki at his side, made no mention of supplying the U.S.-made Apache helicopters the Iraqis are seeking from the United States. Full Story | Top |
| White House says Obama did not consider dropping Biden from 2012 ticket Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:28 PM PDT  By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama never considered the idea of dropping Vice President Joe Biden from his 2012 re-election team and replacing him with Hillary Clinton, the White House said on Friday. "Double Down," a new book on the 2012 campaign, says Obama's top aides considered the notion but decided not to pursue it because it did not materially improve Obama's odds. White House spokesman Jay Carney, pressed on the issue at his daily news briefing, did not deny that such an idea was floated within Obama's re-election campaign. "What I can tell you without a doubt is that the president never considered that, and had anyone brought that idea to him, he would have laughed it out of the room." Obama feels Biden has been an enormous asset through two presidential campaigns and at the White House, said Carney. Full Story | Top |
| Canada auto sales jump in October, annual sales record in sight Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:24 PM PDT Automakers reported a 7.4 percent sales gain in Canada last month, selling the most vehicles ever for the month of October and putting the sector on track to break Canada's annual auto sales record set more than a decade ago. Canadian auto sales climbed to 145,460 in October, while sales during the first 10 months of 2013 rose 3.8 percent to 1,496,216, according to industry data released on Friday. both gained ground in Canada, where their sales jumped 10 percent. GM also outsold Chrysler Full Story | Top |
| Africans set to push deferral of Kenya trials in U.N. draft resolution Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:22 PM PDT Rwanda, Togo and Morocco are set to circulate to U.N. Security Council members on Friday a draft resolution to defer the International Criminal Court trials of Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto for one year. The African Union asked the Security Council last week to postpone the trials of Kenyatta and Ruto so they can deal with the aftermath of the Nairobi mall attack by al Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab, in which at least 67 people were killed in September. Kenyatta and Ruto face charges related to the violence after Kenya's 2007 elections, in which 1,200 people died. The Security Council can defer International Criminal Court proceedings for one year under Article 16 of the Rome Statute that established The Hague-based court a decade ago. Full Story | Top |
| Stormy Halloween in central U.S. leaves four people dead Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:10 PM PDT  By Kevin Murphy Kansas City, Missouri (Reuters) - A violent Halloween storm swept from the U.S. Gulf Coast up to the eastern Great Lakes killing at least four people, three in Texas and one in Tennessee, and contributed to the overturning of a school bus in a rain-swollen creek in Kansas. Strong winds and heavy rain lashed the region, and wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour were still being forecast for Friday afternoon in some regions. The National Weather Service said it received 230 reports of high winds across 12 states from Louisiana to Pennsylvania, and reports of tornadoes in Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky and Illinois, although none did major damage. Full Story | Top |
| Two Golden Dawn supporters shot dead in Greece Friday, Nov 01, 2013 03:02 PM PDT By Karolina Tagaris ATHENS (Reuters) - Two members of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party were killed in a drive-by shooting outside the movement's offices in Athens on Friday, raising fears of an escalation of political violence in the crisis-wracked country. The men, both in their 20s, were gunned down at a time of growing public anger against Golden Dawn and a government crackdown on the party after the killing of a rapper in September blamed on a sympathizer of the group. Politicians who have in the past queued up to pour scorn on Golden Dawn - still Greece's third most popular political force - united in condemning the shooting. Let everyone know this," the government's spokesman Simos Kedikoglou told reporters outside the prime minister's mansion. Full Story | Top |
| CME Group chief testifies in long-awaited grain settlement trial Friday, Nov 01, 2013 02:43 PM PDT  By Tom Polansek CHICAGO (Reuters) - CME Group Inc Chief Executive Phupinder Gill on Friday denied that the exchange-operator changed its settlement rules to give electronic grain traders an advantage over veterans of the Chicago trading floor, who have sued the company, saying its new rules are killing their business. Gill testified as the trial opened in a lawsuit filed by traders who work in the open-outcry pits on the Chicago Board of Trade's 140-year-old agricultural trading floor. They sued CME in June 2012 to halt new end-of-day settlement rules that factored in transactions executed electronically, where most of the volume takes place. CME, the largest U.S. futures market operator, owns the CBOT. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt pulls satirist who poked fun at army chief off airwaves Friday, Nov 01, 2013 02:27 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's top TV satirist was pulled off the air on Friday, a week after he poked fun at the army chief who ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July. The move is likely to raise further questions about authorities' commitment to freedom in a country stumbling in its political transition since autocrat Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011. Just before satirist Bassem Youssef's show The Program was due to start, an anchor from the CBC channel said the last episode had caused discontent on the street and violated editorial policy. Full Story | Top |
| China to end use of prisoners' organs for transplants in mid-2014 Friday, Nov 01, 2013 02:18 PM PDT  China plans to end its controversial practice of using the organs of executed prisoners for transplants by around the middle of next year, a senior official told Reuters on Saturday. China is the only country that still systematically takes organs from executed prisoners for use in transplant operations, a decades-long practice that has drawn widespread international criticism. Beijing said in August it would begin to phase out the practice this month, and health officials have previously said China must stop using dead inmates' organs to "build a positive image that benefits the country." By mid-2014, all hospitals licensed for organ transplants will be required to stop using organs from executed prisoners and only use those voluntarily donated and allocated through a fledging national system, said Huang Jiefu, former deputy health minister who heads the organ transplant reform. Full Story | Top |
| Lockheed shows plans for hypersonic spy plane; focus on low cost Friday, Nov 01, 2013 02:16 PM PDT  unveiled plans on Friday for a hypersonic spy plane that could fly at Mach 6, twice as fast as its famed SR-71 Blackbird, and said a missile demonstrating the new technology could fly as early as 2018. Brad Leland, the Lockheed engineer who has headed the seven-year research effort, said the new aircraft, dubbed the SR-72, was designed using off-the-shelf materials to keep it affordable in the current tough budget environment. Aviation Week first reported Lockheed's work on the project earlier on Friday in a cover article entitled "Son of Blackbird." Lockheed developed the supersonic SR-71 Blackbird, a long-range manned spy plane, 50 years ago. Details of the new hypersonic spy plane project emerged days after Lockheed, the Pentagon's biggest supplier, teamed up with No. 2 supplier Boeing Co Full Story | Top |
| Iraqi forces need more equipment to fight al Qaeda in Iraq: statement Friday, Nov 01, 2013 02:13 PM PDT The United States and Iraq agreed on Friday on the urgent need for more equipment for Iraqi forces to fight al Qaeda groups in remote parts of Iraq, the two countries said in a joint statement after a meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. "The Iraqi delegation stressed its desire to purchase U.S. equipment as a means of strengthening long-term institutional ties with the United States, and confirmed its commitment to ensure strict compliance with U.S. laws and regulations on the use of such equipment," the statement said. Full Story | Top |
| New York's de Blasio would drop stop-and-frisk appeal: source Friday, Nov 01, 2013 02:11 PM PDT  By Edith Honan and Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - Leading New York City mayoral contender Bill de Blasio, a longtime critic of the police stop-and-frisk tactic would drop the city's legal challenge of court-ordered reforms to the program if elected, a person close to the campaign said on Friday. That would make Thursday's move by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to freeze court-ordered reforms to the controversial program a fleeting victory for outgoing New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has defended the practice, saying that it has led to a steep decline in crime. A federal court judge two months ago ruled that the program amounted to "indirect racial profiling" that resulted in the disproportionate and discriminatory stopping of blacks and Hispanics. New York City appealed that decision, leading to Thursday's appeals court ruling that the judge who found the police tactic unconstitutional, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin, had "ran afoul" of the judicial code of conduct and froze her ruling from taking effect. Full Story | Top |
| Florida attorney may be disbarred due to foreclosure "tsunami" Friday, Nov 01, 2013 02:06 PM PDT By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A Florida lawyer known as the "foreclosure king" who allegedly left a string of fraudulent legal documents and more than 100,000 abandoned court cases in his wake is facing disbarment as a result of a court ruling this week. A referee for the Florida Supreme Court issued a recommendation this week that David J. Stern of Plantation in south Florida be stripped of his license to practice law. The Supreme Court typically follows its referees' recommendations, a Florida Bar spokeswoman told Reuters. The firm raked in millions of dollars in fees but his tactics caused "massive and irreconcilable damage to the entire court system," according to a complaint filed in April by the Florida Bar. Full Story | Top |
| Arizona sheriff to fight ruling appointing race-profiling monitor Friday, Nov 01, 2013 02:05 PM PDT  Attorneys for hard-line Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio will appeal a judge's ruling ordering the appointment of a monitor to ensure that his officers no longer use racial profiling, especially of Latinos, in their efforts to crack down on undocumented immigrants. A federal judge in May ordered the Maricopa County sheriff to stop using race when making law enforcement decisions, in response to a lawsuit that tested whether police could target unauthorized immigrants without profiling U.S. citizens and legally resident Hispanics. Full Story | Top |
| Congresswoman identifies suspected L.A. airport gunman Friday, Nov 01, 2013 01:58 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The man suspected of opening fire at the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, killing a security agent and wounding several others, has been identified as 23-year-old Paul Ciancia, a U.S. Congresswoman told CNN. "He is an L.A. area resident," Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez told CNN. Sanchez, a Democrat, is a U.S. Representative from California who is also a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security. (Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Scott Malone) Full Story | Top |
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