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| Seven hurt as New Jersey commuter ferry hits pier Friday, Nov 29, 2013 08:11 PM PST A commuter ferry crossing the Hudson River from Manhattan with two dozen passengers aboard crashed into a pier in New Jersey, on Friday, injuring seven people aboard, four of whom were taken to a hospital, but none was badly hurt, officials said. The cause of the late-afternoon mishap at the ferry landing along the Jersey City waterfront was under investigation, a New York Police Department spokesman said. The New York Waterway ferry was arriving in Jersey City after crossing the river from lower Manhattan, near the World Financial Center, when the vessel made a "hard landing" at J. Owen Grundy Park Pier, waterway spokesman Pat Smith said. Full Story | Top |
| Police helicopter crashes into busy Scottish pub, trapping revelers Friday, Nov 29, 2013 07:47 PM PST  By Russell Cheyne GLASGOW (Reuters) - A police helicopter crashed into the roof of a packed pub in Glasgow on Friday night, trapping revelers in choking dust and debris as they scrambled to flee a concert at the busy drinking hole. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said people should prepare for the likelihood of fatalities while emergency workers labored to free people trapped under rubble in the shadow of the mangled helicopter, which was embedded in the pub's roof. Visibly shaken eye witnesses described scenes of horror as the 12-metre (40 ft) helicopter with two police officers and a civilian pilot on board spiraled into the Clutha pub in a busy area of Scotland's biggest city, collapsing part of the roof. "It was fairly busy, we were all having a nice time and then there was like a whoosh noise," Grace MacLean, who was in the pub at the time of impact, told the BBC. Full Story | Top |
| China scrambles jets to new defense zone, eyes U.S., Japan flights Friday, Nov 29, 2013 06:50 PM PST  By Ben Blanchard and Roberta Rampton BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China scrambled jets on Friday in response to two U.S. spy planes and 10 Japanese aircraft, including F-15 fighters, entering its new air defense zone over the East China Sea, state news agency Xinhua said, raising the stakes in a standoff with the United States, Japan and South Korea. The jets were scrambled for effective monitoring, Xinhua cited air force spokesman Shen Jinke as saying. Japan and South Korea flew military aircraft through the zone, which includes the skies over islands at the heart of a territorial dispute between Japan and China, the two countries said on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. healthcare website down overnight for extended upgrade Friday, Nov 29, 2013 04:52 PM PST  By Roberta Rampton and Sharon Begley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government said it would take down the website at the center of President Barack Obama's healthcare reforms for an extended 11-hour period overnight on Friday as technology experts push to complete upgrades by a November 30 deadline. The website, HealthCare.gov, was supposed to make it easy to shop for health insurance required by the Obamacare law when it launched on October 1, but quickly turned into a political disaster after errors and timelags prevented most people who visited the site from signing up. They had worked on software and hardware upgrades through the U.S. Thanksgiving week to double its capacity so as many as 50,000 people could shop at the same time on the site. Just ahead of that self-imposed Saturday deadline, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said the website would be down for an unusually long period, from 9 p.m. EST on Friday until 8 a.m. EST on Saturday. Full Story | Top |
| Thyssen announces capital increase as U.S. deal sealed Friday, Nov 29, 2013 04:51 PM PST  announced plans to for a much-needed capital increase after striking a deal to sell its U.S. steel plant to ArcelorMittal ThyssenKrupp has been trying for more than a year and a half to find a buyer for its Steel Americas unit - comprised of the U.S. steel finishing plant and steel slab mill CSA in Brazil - which has drained billions from the company for the past few years and been an obstacle to raising fresh funds. While the deal to sell the U.S. plant in Calvert, Alabama leaves ThyssenKrupp with its 73 percent stake in Brazil's CSA, it removes at least one millstone from the company's neck. ArcelorMittal said it would source the remaining slab for the Calvert plant from its own facilities in the United States, Brazil and Mexico. Full Story | Top |
| Scotland says could be fatalities in helicopter pub crash Friday, Nov 29, 2013 04:37 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond said on Friday that people should prepare for the likelihood of fatalities after a police helicopter crashed into a busy pub in Glasgow. "Given an incident of this scale we must all prepare ourselves for the likelihood of fatalities," Salmond said, adding that a full rescue operation was under way. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Bill Trott) Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Thanksgiving shopping binge brings Black Friday hangover Friday, Nov 29, 2013 03:57 PM PST  By Suzanne Barlyn, Phil Wahba, Marina Lopes and Dhanya Skariachan NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. retailers' controversial choice to kick off the U.S. holiday shopping season early, on Thanksgiving, may not pay off as much as they had hoped. Eager to entice cautious consumers, especially with six fewer shopping days this year than in 2012, many retailers launched sales on Thursday's U.S. holiday, traditionally a day for family, friends and football games. Even Macy's Inc's flagship store in New York City opened then for the first time in its 155-year history, at 8 p.m. Some U.S. shoppers played along, hitting the Internet and stores on Thanksgiving. "It's a lot less than I thought," said Alison Goodwin, from Horsham, Pennsylvania, who ventured to an area mall on Friday seeking gifts and maybe something for herself. Full Story | Top |
| Moody's raises Greek rating to 'Caa3' Friday, Nov 29, 2013 03:54 PM PST Moody's is the third and last major agency to raise Greece's rating over the past 12 months, after the election victory of a government backing the country's EU/IMF bailout, which rescued Athens from default and averted its possible exit from the euro. But Moody's said late on Friday it believed Athens would meet its 2014 budget surplus target, which would make it eligible for debt relief from its international lenders. "Moody's believes that the government remains committed to achieving a primary surplus of close to 1.5 percent of GDP in 2014, especially as this will be required to qualify for continuing debt reduction from official creditors," it said in a statement. Achieving a primary surplus, before interest payments, is a condition that Athens must fulfill to obtain debt relief promised to it by its lenders under the terms of a November 2012 deal. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Details emerge on Illinois pension reform deal Friday, Nov 29, 2013 03:53 PM PST Illinois legislative leaders on Friday revealed more specifics on the deal they reached on Wednesday to overhaul the state's under-funded public pension system. Illinois has the worst-funded public employee pension system among the 50 states. Here are details on the deal, according to an overview released by the Illinois House speaker's office: * The retirement age for public workers who are currently aged 45 and under would gradually increase. Full Story | Top |
| Illinois union leaders bash pension plan as details emerge Friday, Nov 29, 2013 03:52 PM PST  By Tom Polansek CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois union leaders on Friday criticized the details of a controversial deal to reform the state's woefully under-funded public pensions, as legislative leaders revealed more specifics of the deal they reached on Wednesday. The agreement contains proposals to raise the retirement age and reduce automatic increases in pension payments, according to an overview of the bill released by the office of powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Union opponents of the plan say it is little changed from a Madigan-backed proposal that was overwhelmingly defeated by the Illinois Senate earlier this year. "It's a bad rerun of a movie that we saw months ago and for public servants and retirees, it's a horror film," said Anders Lindall, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Full Story | Top |
| U.S. healthcare website down for overnight maintenance Friday, Nov 29, 2013 03:45 PM PST By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The website at the center of President Barack Obama's healthcare reforms will be down for an extended period overnight on Friday as the government pushes to complete upgrades by a November 30 deadline, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said. The website, HealthCare.gov, will be down from 9 p.m. EST on Friday until 8 a.m. EST on Saturday, CMS said. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Sandra Maler) Full Story | Top |
| ThyssenKrupp announces capital increase after U.S. deal Friday, Nov 29, 2013 03:14 PM PST FRANKFURT (Reuters) - ThyssenKrupp announced plans to increase its capital by as much as 10 percent after striking a deal to sell its U.S. steel plant to ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal for $1.55 billion. It also announced late on Friday plans to take back steel plant Terni and the VDM high-performance alloy unit from Outokumpu and sell its 29.9 percent stake in the Finnish company. ThyssenKrupp also said it saw its adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) jumping to about 1 billion euros ($1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Firm says U.S. Navy suspension related to old billing dispute Friday, Nov 29, 2013 03:10 PM PST By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A maritime services company that had millions of dollars in contracts suspended by the U.S. Navy this week says the action stemmed from a billing dispute probed by the Justice Department several years ago, and it hopes to resolve the issue quickly. The Navy said on Wednesday it had suspended all contracts with British-based Inchcape Shipping Services Holding Ltd, a unit of Dubai World, because of questionable conduct. The suspension of Inchcape Shipping's contracts came as the Navy is dealing with a widening corruption scandal involving a separate maritime services firm, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, that has resulted in the suspension of its contracts as well as charges against two Navy officers and a Navy investigator. The Navy has taken action against four other officers linked to the probe, including two senior intelligence officials who were put on temporary leave and had their access to classified data suspended due to allegations of "inappropriate conduct." A U.S. Navy official said on Friday the action against Inchcape Shipping was unrelated with Glenn Defense Marine Asia. Full Story | Top |
| Bank of England's Carney warns house-buyers on rates: newspaper Friday, Nov 29, 2013 02:24 PM PST  Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has warned would-be British homeowners to consider the risks of higher interest rates, amid concerns that rising house prices could create a property market bubble, a newspaper reported on Friday. "Think about the mortgage you are taking on, the debts you are taking on," Carney was quoted as telling The Guardian. "Are you going to be able to service that mortgage five years from now, 10 years from now, if interest rates are higher?" On Thursday, the BoE unexpectedly said it would put the brakes on a scheme launched last year to help boost mortgage lending and would refocus it instead squarely on lending to businesses. Earlier on Friday, data showed British house prices in November rose at their fastest pace in three years and mortgage approvals hit a nearly six-year high last month. Full Story | Top |
| ArcelorMittal, Nippon Steel to buy Thyssen U.S. plant for $1.55 billion Friday, Nov 29, 2013 02:19 PM PST  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Arcelormittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp agreed to buy ThyssenKrupp's steel plant in the United States for $1.55 billion, ArcelorMittal said late on Friday. The transaction will be financed through a combination of equity and debt at the joint venture level and will yield $60 million of annual savings, it said. The deal includes a six-year agreement to purchase 2 million tons of steel slab per year from ThyssenKrupp's CSA steel mill in Brazil. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Jonathan Gould) Full Story | Top |
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