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| Trapped ship passengers set to ring in New Year in Antarctic ice Monday, Dec 30, 2013 07:04 PM PST  Fog and heavy snow mean passengers on a Russian ship stranded in Antarctica for over a week are likely to ring in the New Year trapped in the ice, as a rescue helicopter on a nearby Chinese ship waits for the weather to clear. The helicopter on board the Snow Dragon will be used after an Australian icebreaker on Monday failed to reach the trapped Akademik Shokalskiy, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said on Tuesday. The Russian ship left New Zealand on November 28 on a private expedition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of an Antarctic journey led by famed Australian explorer Douglas Mawson. The Akademik Shokalskiy's 74 passengers include scientists and tourists, many of them Australian, and 22 Russian crew. Full Story | Top |
| Berkshire Hathaway to buy Phillips 66 unit for around $1.4 billion Monday, Dec 30, 2013 06:45 PM PST  Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc struck a deal to buy a Phillips 66 business that makes chemicals to improve the flow potential of pipelines for around $1.4 billion of stock. Phillips 66 said on Monday that Berkshire will pay for the unit, Phillips Specialty Products Inc, using about 19 million shares of Phillips 66 stock that it currently owns. "I have long been impressed by the strength of the Phillips 66 business portfolio," Buffett said in a statement. "The flow improver business is a high-quality business with consistently strong financial performance." The exact number of shares Berkshire will pay for the unit will be determined by their price on the closing date, the companies said. Full Story | Top |
| Train collision in North Dakota sets oil rail cars ablaze Monday, Dec 30, 2013 06:10 PM PST  By Alicia Underlee Nelson FARGO, North Dakota (Reuters) - A BNSF train carrying crude oil in North Dakota collided with another train on Monday, setting off a series of explosions that left at least 10 cars ablaze, the latest in a string of incidents that have raised alarms over growing oil-by-rail traffic. Local residents heard five powerful explosions just a mile outside of the small town of Casselton after a westbound train carrying soybeans derailed, and an eastbound 104-car train hauling crude oil ran into it just after 2 p.m. CST, local officials said. Residents within 5 miles to the south and east of Casselton were urged to evacuate to avoid contact with the smoke. Half of the oil cars have been separated from the train, but another 56 cars remain in danger, said Cecily Fong, the public information officer with the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services. Full Story | Top |
| Brain-dead California girl ordered kept on ventilator for week longer Monday, Dec 30, 2013 06:05 PM PST  By Laila Kearney OAKLAND, Calif (Reuters) - The family of a California girl who was declared brain dead after complications from a tonsillectomy won an 11th-hour court order on Monday, requiring doctors to keep her connected to a breathing machine for at least another week. Under the latest court order in the case, doctors at Children's Hospital and Research Center in Oakland are barred from taking 13-year-old Jahi McMath off a ventilator without her family's consent before 5 p.m. local time on January 7, relatives and hospital officials said. "This is a tragedy that has been postponed for another week," hospital spokesman Singer told reporters outside the hospital after family members announced the ruling, though it was not immediately clear which court issued the ruling. Court documents posted electronically show the family filed suit in U.S. District Court in northern California on Monday seeking a temporary restraining order to keep Jahi connected to the machine that has kept her heart and lungs going for more than two weeks. Full Story | Top |
| Three dead in south Yemen blasts Monday, Dec 30, 2013 04:28 PM PST Three people including a suicide bomber were killed in three explosions targeting security offices in Aden, the main city in southern Yemen, al-Arabiya news reported early on Tuesday. Hundreds of security officials have been killed in explosions and shootings over the past two years in southern Yemen, where the government and allied tribal militias are fighting against Islamist militants allied to al Qaeda. Security in Yemen is a priority for the United States and Gulf Arab countries because of its location next to the biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia and big crude shipping routes through the Red Sea. This month al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen's branch of the movement, said it was behind an assault on a Defence Ministry complex in the capital Sanaa in which more than 50 people were killed. Full Story | Top |
| British MPs to quiz power company chiefs on Christmas power outages -Telegraph Monday, Dec 30, 2013 04:08 PM PST  (Reuters) - Members of Britain's parliament are set to summon the chiefs of energy network companies over the slow pace of restoring power services after a Christmas storm, The Daily Telegraph reported, quoting the chairman of the parliamentary energy committee. Floods caused by strong storm winds on Christmas eve had knocked out power services in many parts of Britain, with many customers remaining without electricity for almost five days. The Committee will call them in when the House gets back," chairman of the parliamentary energy committee, Tim Yeoh was quoted by the newspaper as saying. The Chief executive of UK Power Networks, one of Britain's biggest electricity distributors said that its response had been too slow and said it would pay almost triple compensation to households left without power over Christmas. Full Story | Top |
| Some current, former smokers should get annual lung scans: US panel Monday, Dec 30, 2013 03:59 PM PST  Heavy smokers and former heavy smokers should get annual lung cancer screening tests, according to final guidelines issued on Monday by an influential U.S. panel. The final recommendations, issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, apply to people aged 55 to 80 whose smoking has put them at high risk of cancer. That includes former heavy smokers who have quit within the past 15 years. Heavy smokers are considered to be those who smoked a pack a day for 30 years, or two packs a day for 15 years. Full Story | Top |
| Australia cyclone heads inland after battering iron ore ports Monday, Dec 30, 2013 03:26 PM PST  Australia's Pilbara iron ore shipping and mining region, the world's largest, faced cyclonic winds and torrential rains on Tuesday after a cyclone made landfall after intensifying over the last few days in the Indian Ocean. The key shipping ports of Dampier, Cape Lambert and Port Hedland bore the brunt of the storm after clearing dozens of iron ore freighters and evacuating staff over the weekend. Cyclone Christine, the second to batter Western Australia in the November 1-April 30 cyclone season, forced mining companies Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals to suspend loading until emergency authorities sound the all-clear, expected over the next day or two. Full Story | Top |
| California brain-dead girl nears deadline for ventilator Monday, Dec 30, 2013 03:15 PM PST Relatives of a 13-year-old California girl declared brain dead after complications from a tonsillectomy pressed an 11th-hour effort on Monday to get her moved to an extended-care facility as a deadline neared for taking her off a breathing machine. Doctors at Children's Hospital in Oakland have said they intend to disconnect Jahi McMath on Monday evening from a ventilator that has been keeping her heart and lungs going since she lost all brain function more than two weeks ago. An Alameda County Superior Court judge issued a restraining order last week barring the hospital from removing Jahi - without the consent of her family - from the ventilator before 5 p.m. local time on Monday, December 30. The judge then denied a petition from relatives to extend that deadline, after two pediatric neurologists who had examined Jahi affirmed the hospital's medical opinion that the girl was brain dead and beyond recovery. Full Story | Top |
| One-third of Americans reject evolution, poll shows Monday, Dec 30, 2013 02:37 PM PST  By Chris Francescani NEW YORK (Reuters) - One-third of Americans reject the idea of evolution and Republicans have grown more skeptical about it, according to a poll released on Monday. Sixty percent of Americans say that "humans and other living things have evolved over time," the telephone survey by the Pew Research Center's Religion and Public Life Project showed (Click http://www.pewforum.org/2013/12/30/publics-views-on-human-evolution/ for the full survey). But 33 percent reject the idea of evolution, saying that "humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time," Pew said in a statement. "The gap is coming from the Republicans, where fewer are now saying that humans have evolved over time," said Cary Funk, a Pew senior researcher who conducted the analysis. Full Story | Top |
| Wall St. closes mostly flat, but Dow hits record Monday, Dec 30, 2013 02:22 PM PST  By Sam Forgione NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks closed mostly flat on Monday, with the Dow edging up to another record closing high and the S&P 500 index's advance stalling in response to light trading volume and weaker-than-forecast housing data. The Dow has jumped 25.9 percent and the Nasdaq has surged 37.6 percent this year. Full Story | Top |
| Uganda says region ready to take on, defeat South Sudan rebel leader Monday, Dec 30, 2013 02:01 PM PST  By Aaron Maasho and Carl Odera JUBA (Reuters) - Uganda's president said on Monday the nations of East Africa had agreed to move in to defeat South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar if he rejected a ceasefire offer, threatening to turn an outburst of ethnic fighting into a regional conflict. Hours after President Yoweri Museveni's ultimatum, rebels and the feared "White Army" militia clashed against government troops just outside Bor, the capital of Jonglei state, officials said. "We gave Riek Machar four days to respond (to the ceasefire offer) and if he doesn't we shall have to go for him, all of us," Museveni told reporters in South Sudan's capital, Juba, referring to a December 31 deadline. He did not spell out whether South Sudan's neighbors had actually agreed to send troops to join the conflict that erupted in Juba on December 15. Full Story | Top |
| TSX slips as gold miners weigh, banks trade higher Monday, Dec 30, 2013 01:40 PM PST  By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index slipped marginally in light trade on Monday, with major gold miners weighing heavily as bullion headed for its worst annual performance in 32 years, while gains for some financial stocks softened the blow. Two of the world's largest gold producers had the most negative impact on the index, with Goldcorp Inc falling 3.7 percent to C$22.25 and Barrick Gold Corp off 2.6 percent at C$18.20. Investors expressed optimism that 2014 will exceed that roughly 9 percent gain the Toronto index is on track to notch this year. "I think commodities will outperform next year," said Marcus Xu, a portfolio manager at MY Capital Management in Vancouver. Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan says battling 'White Army' near flashpoint town Monday, Dec 30, 2013 12:00 PM PST South Sudanese troops clashed with ethnic Nuer "White Army" militia and other rebel factions loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar late on Monday near the flashpoint town of Bor, government officials said. "Shootings have taken place just outside, to the north of Bor," Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) spokesman Philip Aguer said by phone from Juba, 190 km (120 miles) south of Bor. Earlier Aguer told Reuters there was fighting in the town. Information Minister Michael Makuei also said SPLA troops clashed with rebels on the edge of the Jonglei state capital. Full Story | Top |
| Four killed in Christian-Muslim clashes in Central African Republic's capital Monday, Dec 30, 2013 10:56 AM PST By Paul-Marin Ngoupana BANGUI (Reuters) - Heavy weapons fire rang out in the north of Central African Republic's capital Bangui on Monday during inter-religious clashes and the Red Cross said at least four people were killed. French and African troops have struggled to contain violence between Muslim Seleka rebels and Christian militias that has already killed 1,000 people this month and displaced hundreds of thousands. "There was heavy weapons fire north of Bangui for a few hours and several neighborhoods were affected," Amy Martin, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Bangui told Reuters. Heavy arms fire was reported in Bangui during a two-day surge in violence which began on December 5 but shooting in recent days has been limited to sporadic small arms fire. Full Story | Top |
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