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| Nikkei nears 5-1/2 year peak as yen sags; rupiah, baht slide Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 07:59 PM PST  By Dominic Lau TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares were in a buoyant mood, with Japanese stocks charging towards a 5-1/2 year peak on Thursday after the yen fell sharply on the back of relatively positive U.S. economic data, while two major regional currencies slumped. U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week and the November Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer confidence improved from a preliminary reading, while the Chicago PMI held up better than expected last month after surging in October. Full Story | Top |
| Japan defense update to stress air, sea safety amid China worries Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 07:55 PM PST By Linda Sieg and Kiyoshi Takenaka TOKYO (Reuters) - An update of Japan's long-term defense policy to be unveiled next month will call for stronger air and maritime surveillance capabilities and the improved ability to defend far-flung isles as concerns rise about China's growing military assertiveness. The policy review, in the works since hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office last December, is being finalised as tensions mount between Japan and China over tiny islands in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. "China is proceeding with wide-ranging and rapid modernization of its military strength and expanding and stepping up activities in the sea and air surrounding Japan," the draft said. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. affirms support for Japan in islands dispute with China Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 07:55 PM PST  By Mark Felsenthal and David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States pledged support for ally Japan on Wednesday in a growing dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea and senior U.S. administration officials accused Beijing of behavior that had unsettled its neighbors. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel assured his Japanese counterpart in a phone call that the two nations' defense pact covered the small islands where China established a new airspace defense zone last week and commended Tokyo "for exercising appropriate restraint," a Pentagon spokesman said. China's declaration raised the stakes in a territorial standoff between Beijing and Tokyo over the area, which includes the tiny uninhabited islands known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Full Story | Top |
| Embattled Thai PM easily survives no-confidence vote Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 07:44 PM PST  By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's embattled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday breezed through a no-confidence vote in parliament where her party holds a commanding majority, but faced mounting pressure from widening anti-government protests. AMNESTY BILL SPARKED PROTESTS The protests are all-too familiar in Thailand, which has seen eight years of on-off turmoil, from crippling street rallies to controversial judicial rulings and army intervention, each time with Thaksin at the centre of the tumult. Full Story | Top |
| Pope slams 'throwaway culture' that discards unemployed youth Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 07:32 PM PST  By Hugh Bronstein BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Pope Francis took on the issue of high youth unemployment in his first interview aired exclusively in his home country of Argentina on Wednesday, warning that today's "throwaway culture" had discarded a generation of young Europeans. A day after issuing an 84-page platform for his eight-month-old papacy that blasted unfettered capitalism as "a new tyranny," the pontiff used the interview aired on the TN TV channel to link high European unemployment to its twin problem of neglecting older people who are past their earning prime. "It's a throwaway culture that discards young people as well as its older people. In some European countries, without mentioning names, there is youth unemployment of 40 percent and higher," he added. Full Story | Top |
| Troubled HealthCare.gov to switch website hosting to HP Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 07:24 PM PST  By Margaret Chadbourn and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The agency in charge of the troubled HealthCare.gov website said on Wednesday is it switching providers of Web hosting services, the latest change for the website at the heart of President Barack Obama's health care reforms. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said it is replacing data center services from Verizon Communications Inc's Terremark subsidiary, with services from Hewlett-Packard Co. Terremark's data center experienced issues in late October that caused outages across the system, prompting embattled Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to phone Verizon's chief executive to discuss the problems. Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Enforcing rules in air zone will stretch China's air force and navy Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 07:14 PM PST  By Greg Torode and Adam Rose HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's military could struggle to cope with the demands for intensified surveillance and interception if it tries to enforce the rules in its new air defense zone over islands at the heart of a territorial dispute with Japan. Regional military analysts and diplomats said China's network of air defense radars, surveillance planes and fighter jets would be stretched by extensive patrols across its Air Defense Identification Zone, roughly two-thirds the size of Britain. But some noted that even limited action could still spark alarm across a nervous region - and serve China's desire to pressure Japan. China published the coordinates of its zone in the East China Sea over the weekend and warned it would take "defensive emergency measures" against aircraft that failed to identify themselves properly in the airspace. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge dismisses Apple consumer lawsuit over data privacy Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 07:07 PM PST  A California federal judge has dismissed a consumer lawsuit over data privacy against Apple Inc, saying the plaintiffs had failed to show they had relied on any alleged company misrepresentations and that they had suffered harm. The four plaintiffs claimed in 2011 that Apple had violated its privacy policy, saying the iPhone maker had designed its iOS environment to easily transmit personal information to third parties that collect and analyze such data without user consent or detection. U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh in San Jose, California dismissed the case. "Plaintiffs must be able to provide some evidence that they saw one or more of Apple's alleged misrepresentations, that they actually relied on those misrepresentations, and that they were harmed thereby," Koh said in the November 25 ruling. Full Story | Top |
| Democratic senator says Obama administration 'fear-mongering' on Iran Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 06:48 PM PST  The Democratic chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee accused the White House on Wednesday of using "over the top" rhetoric and "fear-mongering" tactics to try to halt new sanctions against Iran after the United States brokered an interim deal with Tehran over its nuclear program. Senator Robert Menendez criticized President Barack Obama's administration for agreeing to the deal under which Iran will accept restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for limited relief from economic sanctions that have damaged its economy and cut deeply into its oil exports. Many Republicans already have criticized Obama over the agreement, and some Democrats, who tend to more hawkish on Iran than Obama's administration, have been skeptical about it. A bill to impose further sanctions against Iran has been stalled in the Senate after Obama's administration appealed for a delay to allow time to pursue a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear problem. Full Story | Top |
| Washington Post headquarters building sold for $159 million Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 06:30 PM PST  The headquarters of the Washington Post is being sold to Carr Properties, a real estate investment company, for about $159 million, the newspaper's former owner said on Wednesday. Graham Holdings Co, which sold the Post to Amazon founder Jeffrey Bezos for $250 million in August, said in a statement the sale of the headquarters in downtown Washington was scheduled to be completed in March and included land next to the building. The Post will rent its newsroom from the building's new owner while it looks for a new headquarters. Graham Holdings, owned by Donald Graham and his family, former owners of the paper, operates businesses including Kaplan education services, and online, print and television news. Full Story | Top |
| Japan mulls more than $100 million new spending on Fukushima water-crisis: sources Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 06:03 PM PST  Japan is considering more than $100 million in extra government spending to handle contaminated water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, boosting the budget allocation by at least a fifth, government officials familiar with the matter said. The additional budget allocation of between 10 billion and 15 billion yen ($98 million-$147 million) aims to accelerate work on containing leaks and decontaminating the water, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Dealing with contaminated water at the Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) facility represents only a tiny slice of the response to the Fukushima crisis, triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which caused reactor meltdowns. Of the original allocation for the water crisis, 21 billion yen would come from emergency reserve funds from the budget for the fiscal year to next March. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Navy suspends business with second maritime services firm Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 05:40 PM PST By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Navy said on Wednesday it has suspended a maritime services company from doing business with the U.S. government due to questionable conduct, the second firm barred in a widening corruption probe that has resulted in action against seven Navy officials. The Navy suspended British-based Inchcape Shipping Services Holding Ltd. and its affiliated companies from contracting with the U.S. government on November 26, Rear Admiral John Kirby, a Navy spokesman, said in a statement. The Navy move affects contracts with Inchcape Shipping Services that potentially were worth some $243 million for maritime services, mainly in the Middle East, Italy and Singapore, a Navy official said. Kirby said the Navy suspended Inchcape Shipping Services based on "evidence of conduct indicating questionable business integrity." He did not elaborate on the nature of the questionable conduct and did not indicate whether the firm was under any further investigation. Full Story | Top |
| Vale to pay $9.6 billion Brazil tax bill after big discount Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 05:39 PM PST said on Wednesday that it agreed to pay 22.325 billion reais ($9.61 billion) in taxes on profit from overseas operations, accepting an offer from Brazil's government that cuts a disputed back-tax bill in half. Without the discount, Vale estimated its disputed tax bill at 45 billion reais ($19.4 billion). While Vale agreed to end lawsuits contesting the payments for the 2003-2012 period in exchange for the discount, Chief Executive Officer Murilo Ferreira said the company still considers the Brazilian assessment unfair "double taxation". Brazil, Vale says, is charging tax its subsidiaries already paid to foreign governments. Full Story | Top |
| Panama freeing most of North Korean crew in smuggled arms case Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 05:34 PM PST  By Lomi Kriel PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama is freeing most of the 35 North Korean crew members it detained more than four months ago for smuggling Cuban weapons aboard a ship, a senior government official said on Wednesday. Tomas Cabal, head of the anti-terrorism section of Panama's Foreign Ministry, said 32 of the crew of the Chong Chon Gang would be freed and should leave the country by Thursday. The three most senior members, including the captain, still face charges of threatening Panama's security by seeking to move undeclared weapons through the Panama Canal. However, the state prosecutor for organized crime, Nathaniel Murgas, later told reporters that his office was still analyzing the North Korean authorities' request to release the men. Full Story | Top |
| Mali parliamentary vote inconclusive, heads for second round Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:59 PM PST  BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's three main political parties secured just 16 seats out of 147 available in the first round of a parliamentary election, provisional results showed on Wednesday. The election, which took place on Sunday amid low turnout and some voting abuses, was meant to complete the West African country's transition back to democracy after a coup last year led to an Islamist takeover of the north. Militants were later driven out by a French-led invasion but pockets of resistance have remained. The turnout in the election was 38. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dominican Republic breaks off Haiti talks over immigration ruling Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:58 PM PST  By Manuel Jimenez SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - The Dominican Republic broke off talks with Haiti on Wednesday and recalled its ambassador for consultations over a recent Dominican court ruling that could strip citizenship from more than 200,000 Haitian migrants, many of whom were born on Dominican soil. The two countries, which share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, have been holding talks mediated by the Venezuelan government to resolve their differences over a September 23 ruling by the Dominican Republic's Constitutional Court. The Dominican government has come under intense international pressure over the ruling, with foreign leaders, United Nations agencies and human rights groups questioning its legal basis. Gustavo Montalvo, chief of staff to Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina, said in a statement the government will not participate in a meeting with Haitian officials scheduled to be held in Caracas on Saturday. Full Story | Top |
| Two couples file federal suit to overturn Texas same-sex marriage ban Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:54 PM PST By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Two same-sex couples in Texas filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn that state's eight-year-old constitutional amendment that bars gay marriage, their lawyer said on Wednesday. Arguments could be heard as early as January in a federal court in San Antonio in the case trying to nullify the 2005 amendment that says: "marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." San Antonio attorney Daniel McNeel Lane, the lead counsel for both couples, said current Texas law banning same-sex marriage runs counter to the U.S. Constitution and is a "badge of inferiority." "Just as the judicial branch protected the fundamental right to marry and established that discriminatory laws could not prevent mixed-race couples from exercising that right, the courts again must step in to protect the marriage right," Lane told Reuters. The suit was filed on behalf of Cleopatra De Leon and Nicole Dimetman, two women who live in Austin and were married in Massachusetts, and Victor Holmes and Mark Phariss, two men who were denied a marriage license when they applied last month in San Antonio. Full Story | Top |
| Hot springs are passe - Japan's tourist towns covet casinos Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:53 PM PST  By Nathan Layne and Junko Fujita OTARU/SASEBO, Japan (Reuters) - Ageing and shrinking, Japan's country towns want to gamble away their economic and demographic woes. With lawmakers planning to submit legislation soon to open Japan to casino gambling, likely in time for the 2020 Olympics, several small cities, hot spring towns and tourist destinations are pushing to get one of the coveted licenses. Japan is one of the world's last untapped gaming markets and, with a wealthy population and proximity to China, could generate $15 billion annually from casinos, industry experts say. So far, the cities of Tokyo and Osaka have garnered much of the attention, but even towns like Sasebo, a once-proud shipbuilding center in southern Japan, and the ageing port city of Otaru to the north, are hoping to set up casinos to draw tourists, generate tax revenues and reverse demographic decline. Full Story | Top |
| Details emerge on three girls held captive in Arizona home Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:51 PM PST  By Brad Poole TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - Three sisters who escaped after being held captive in Arizona for up to two years by their mother and stepfather were confined in filthy conditions in a house with elaborate security and crudely sound-proofed rooms, police said. Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor told a news conference on Wednesday that the house in which the malnourished girls were held had been elaborately alarmed and outfitted with round-the-clock video security. Full Story | Top |
| Barclays Capital ordered to pay $2.1 million to NY trader Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:40 PM PST  (Reuters) - Barclays Capital Inc has been ordered to pay $2.1 million to a New York-based trader it fired last year in connection with the alleged rigging of the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, according to arbitration documents. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in the United States ordered Barclays Capital to pay Dong Kun Lee $2.1 million in damages in their award dated Nov 15. According to regulatory filings, on July 30, 2012 Barclays dismissed Dong (Don) Kun Lee, a derivatives trader, for allegedly engaging "in communications involving inappropriate requests relating to Libor". A London-based spokesman for Barclays Plc declined to comment. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. calls for urgent help for Philippine farmers after typhoon Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:40 PM PST  Philippine farmers need urgent assistance to avoid a "double tragedy" befalling rural survivors of the typhoon that hit the country earlier this month, the United Nations' food agency said on Wednesday. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said more than $11 million is needed to help clean and clear agricultural land and de-silt irrigation canals in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, which killed at least 3,900 people when it struck on November 8. That is in addition to the $20 million already requested by FAO to help farmers fertilize, irrigate and maintain their crops to ensure the next harvests in 2014, the Rome-based agency said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| 'Butt-dial' call foils suspected Arkansas murder plot Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:36 PM PST A would-be Arkansas murder plot came undone when one of the suspected co-conspirators sat on his phone and "butt-dialed" the targeted victim, who heard details of the planned hit and alerted police, police said on Wednesday. James Macom, 33, last week overheard his former employer Larry Barnett, 68, telling a suspected hit man to make the killing look like an accident, the Jonesboro Police Department said. Full Story | Top |
| Obama phones Saudi King Abdullah about Iran nuclear deal: White House Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:22 PM PST  President Barack Obama phoned Saudi King Abdullah on Wednesday to discuss the interim deal between Iran and six world powers to curb Tehran's nuclear program, and emphasized that it will be important for Iran to follow through on commitments made in the deal, the White House said. Obama and the king agreed to talk regularly as negotiations continue on a longer-term agreement "that would resolve the international community's concerns regarding Iran's nuclear program," the White House said. Full Story | Top |
| Illinois legislative leaders strike deal on pensions Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:21 PM PST  Illinois legislative leaders on Wednesday reached a long-elusive deal to reform the state's woefully underfunded public pensions, but the plan must still win support of lawmakers and could face legal challenges if approved. Powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan told reporters the plan would save the state more than $160 billion over 30 years. The plan raises the retirement age and reduces automatic increases in pension payments, according to a legislative source with detailed knowledge of the plan. It also gives state employees alternative options for retirement income, while also creating ways to block any future efforts at under-funding pensions by going to court to stop them. Full Story | Top |
| Mali's ex-junta chief Sanogo in custody over kidnapping Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:17 PM PST  By Adama Diarra and Tiemoko Diallo BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's former junta chief, General Amadou Sanogo, has been detained and charged with complicity in kidnapping after being questioned by a judge on Wednesday, the government said on state television. Sanogo was taken into custody by soldiers earlier on Wednesday, the defense ministry said. "(A Bamako court) laid charges against Amadou Haya Sanogo who has been placed in custody," Mahamane Baby, spokesman for the government on state television said late on Wednesday. Mali's newly elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is under pressure to restore the state's authority over the army, which overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure last year, plunging the country into chaos. Full Story | Top |
| Britain set to review cigarette packaging: media Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:12 PM PST  (Reuters) - The UK government is set to announce a review of cigarette packaging in an effort to deter youngsters from smoking, British media reports said on Wednesday citing sources. The David Cameron government in July delayed plans to ban company branding on cigarette packets, a move that was strongly criticized by health campaigners. The Times on Wednesday reported that the British government will announce a review, the findings of which are expected to strongly back the case for plain packaging, and plain cigarette packets are expected to be on shop shelves before the 2015 election. Full Story | Top |
| International court members agree on trial exceptions for top leaders Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:11 PM PST  By Thomas Escritt and Michelle Nichols AMSTERDAM/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court's member states on Wednesday agreed to changes to the court's trial procedures that could help defuse tensions between the court and the African continent regarding the approaching trial of Kenya's president. Kenya and its African Union allies have been lobbying hard for the trial of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to be halted or postponed, saying the case threatens to destabilize the East African region. Kenyatta and his deputy, former political rival William Ruto, face charges of crimes against humanity relating to ethnic clashes after Kenya's 2007 elections, when 1,200 people died. Earlier this month, Kenya and the African Union failed in their bid to have the trials of Kenyatta and Ruto deferred by the U.N. Security Council for one year, leading some African leaders to urge Kenyatta to boycott his trial, which is due to start on February 5. Full Story | Top |
| BoE to focus on housing in Carney's first financial stability report Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:10 PM PST  The Bank of England will give its latest assessment of Britain's housing market and whether it sees any risk of a bubble, in a semi-annual report on financial stability due later on Thursday. Housing will be a key theme when the BoE presents its first Financial Stability Report since Governor Mark Carney joined the bank in July, according to a letter from Carney to a British legislator released overnight. But in a letter to the committee's chairman, Andrew Tyrie, Carney said the BoE's Financial Policy Committee would explore the issue in the coming report and recommend action if needed. "The Report will set out ... risks posed by recent and prospective developments in the housing market, any actions that the FPC intends to take ... as well as the range of tools that would be available," he wrote. Full Story | Top |
| Cutbacks by resource firms to spark disputes with governments: report Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:10 PM PST By Eric Onstad LONDON (Reuters) - Disputes between resource groups and governments are likely to keep increasing as commodity prices fall and companies slash spending on new projects, according to a report by London-based think-tank Chatham House. "In the current climate, companies are focused on cutting expenditures and cutting their investments, especially on big greenfield projects," Jaakko Kooroshy, a research fellow at Chatham House and an author of the report, told Reuters. Over the first decade of this century, international arbitration cases between companies and governments in the oil and gas sector shot up tenfold compared with the previous decade while those in mining increased nearly fourfold, the report said. Disputes ramped up during periods of high prices as many governments felt they were not getting a fair share of profits from their resources, but the current slump in commodity prices has not dampened the tension. Full Story | Top |
| EU leaders set for frosty dinner with Ukraine's Yanukovich Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 04:09 PM PST  By Luke Baker BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European leaders will come face-to-face with Viktor Yanukovich on Thursday for the first time since the Ukrainian president spurned their offer of a free-trade deal and decided to seek closer ties with Russia instead. In a meeting that promises to be one of the frostier moments of political theatre this year, Yanukovich plans to attend a dinner in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius to honor the Eastern Partnership, the EU's four-year-old program of outreach to former Soviet states. Ukraine had been expected to sign a far-reaching free-trade and political association deal with the EU at the Vilnius summit, the result of years of negotiation. But last week, following intense pressure from Moscow and growing concerns about Ukraine's dire economic situation, Yanukovich announced he wasn't ready to sign the EU deal yet and would bolster links with Russia. Full Story | Top |
| Mali's ex-junta chief Sanogo held in custody Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 03:56 PM PST  By Adama Diarra and Tiemoko Diallo BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's former junta chief, General Amadou Sanogo, has been detained after being questioned by a judge on Wednesday over what a senior judicial source said were accusations of post-coup violence by the army and financial crimes. The source said Sanogo had been charged with murder although this could not immediately be confirmed by Defence Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, who told Reuters he had been remanded in custody. Mali's newly elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is under pressure to restore the state's authority over the army, which overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure last year, plunging the West African country into chaos. A spokesman for the group of soldiers involved in last year's coup declined to comment on Sanogo's detention. Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Six held on suspicion of English lower league match-fixing Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 03:56 PM PST Police have arrested six men on suspicion of match-fixing in England, the National Criminal Agency (NCA) said on Wednesday, with the focus of attention on the lower leagues according to media reports. "The NCA is working closely with the Gambling Commission and the Football Association," the NCA said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Actors Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore finalize divorce Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 03:53 PM PST  Actors Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore have finalized their divorce two years after separating, bringing official closure for one of Hollywood's most prominent couples. The end to the eight-year marriage was made final on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, with both actors agreeing not to pay spousal support. In March, Moore, 51, had asked the court to grant her financial support from Kutcher, an unusual move for one of the top-earning women in Hollywood during the 1990s. Kutcher, the star of CBS television comedy "Two and a Half Men," filed for divorce from Moore in December 2012 after more than a year of separation. Full Story | Top |
| Former New York disc jockey held on sex charge Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 03:35 PM PST By David Jones NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - Retired rock radio disc jockey Dave Herman was ordered to remain in federal custody on Wednesday on charges he attempted to transport a 7-year-old girl to the U.S. Virgin Islands from New Jersey to engage in sexual activity. Herman, 77, was arrested at the St. Croix airport on October 24, where prosecutors say he was expecting to meet the girl. Authorities claim that Herman, 77, engaged in a series of online chats, beginning a year ago, with an undercover officer from the Bergen County, New Jersey, prosecutors office whom he thought was a 36-year-old woman with a young daughter. They say he tried to set up sexual encounters in New York and in New Jersey and in September bought airline tickets to St. Croix for the woman and child. Full Story | Top |
| Details emerge on three girls held captive in Arizona home: police Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 03:23 PM PST By Brad Poole TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - Three sisters who escaped after being held captive in Arizona for up to two years by their mother and stepfather were confined in filthy conditions in a house with elaborate security and crudely sound-proofed rooms, police said. Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor said at a news conference on Wednesday that the house in which the malnourished girls were held in filthy conditions had been elaborately alarmed and outfitted with round-the-clock video security. Full Story | Top |
| Opioid over-regulation can leave cancer patients in intolerable pain Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 03:07 PM PST By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - A "pandemic of over-regulation" of opioid-based painkillers such as morphine and fentanyl means billions of cancer patients around the world suffer intolerable pain, researchers said on Thursday. Describing what they said was a "scandal of global proportions", researchers from the Global Opioid Policy Initiative (GOPI) said governments that over-regulate should consider the unintended consequences of restricting access to medicines and change their approach. More than 4 billion people live in countries - many of them in emerging and developing regions - where regulations, often imposed over the risk of addiction to the drugs, leave the patients in excruciating pain, they wrote in a global analysis published in the Annals of Oncology journal. "This is a tragedy born out of good intentions," said Nathan Cherny, from Israel's Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, who led the study. Full Story | Top |
| Citigroup seeks to end financier Hands' U.S. lawsuit over EMI Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 02:57 PM PST  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - British financier Guy Hands is engaging in "legal tourism" by pursuing a U.S. lawsuit accusing Citigroup Inc bankers of defrauding him into overpaying for music company EMI Group Ltd, and his case should be dismissed because it does not belong in the United States, the bank said on Wednesday. Citigroup, the third-largest U.S. bank, sought the dismissal less than six months after the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan voided a November 2010 jury verdict against Hands' private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners over its 4 billion-pound (now US$6.5 billion) purchase of EMI. In a Wednesday court filing, Citigroup accused Hands and Terra Firma of continuing the U.S. case under "false pretenses" after having "surreptitiously" filed three overlapping lawsuits in Manchester, England, in the event the U.S. case fell apart. Full Story | Top |
| Dying Chicago woman weds partner in first Illinois gay marriage Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 02:54 PM PST  By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Chicago woman who is dying of cancer wed her partner on Wednesday in the first legal gay marriage to be celebrated in Illinois, six months before the state's law recognizing gay unions takes effect. The cancer patient, Vernita Gray, 64, and Patricia Ewert, 65, were wed in a private ceremony in their Chicago home two days after they were granted an emergency marriage license in federal court, according to Lambda Legal, a legal group that advocates for gay rights. Illinois' gay marriage law, signed by Gov. Pat Quinn last week, does not take effect until June 1, 2014. Full Story | Top |
| Syrian opposition to attend Geneva peace conference Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 02:52 PM PST  By Michael Georgy CAIRO (Reuters) - The Syrian National Coalition opposition group will attend the long-delayed "Geneva 2" talks in January aimed at ending the country's civil war, the group's president, Ahmad Jarba, said on Wednesday. In an interview with Reuters and the Associated Press, he also said regional power Iran should only be allowed to attend if it stopped taking part in the bloodshed in Syria and withdrew its forces and proxies. It insists that President Bashar al-Assad can play no future role in Syria. "We are now ready to go to Geneva," Jarba said on a visit to Cairo, adding that the opposition viewed the Geneva talks as a step to a leadership transition and a "genuine democratic transformation in Syria". Full Story | Top |
| U.S. nears decision to split leadership of NSA, Cyber Command: sources Wednesday, Nov 27, 2013 02:23 PM PST  By Warren Strobel and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is nearing a decision on splitting up the eavesdropping National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, which conducts cyber warfare, a proposed reform prompted in part by revelations of NSA's widespread snooping, individuals briefed on the matter said on Wednesday. As part of the emerging plan, the NSA likely would get a civilian director for the first time in its 61-year history, the individuals said. Both agencies are now headed by the same person, Army General Keith Alexander, who is retiring in March as NSA's longest-serving director. Cyber Command defends Pentagon and other U.S. computer networks, infiltrates adversary networks and conducts offensive cyberwarfare. Full Story | Top |
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