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| Republicans wary as they weigh immigration reforms Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 08:08 PM PST  By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell CAMBRIDGE, Maryland (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday proposed granting legal status to potentially millions of undocumented residents and citizenship to some children brought into the United States illegally by their parents. The move, after months of preparing rank-and-file lawmakers for a new Republican Party approach toward immigration, was immediately met with opposition from conservatives who dominate the House. The broad principles that were unveiled for debating immigration reform in the Republican-controlled House were aimed at gauging the party's willingness to tackle such a controversial issue during an election year in which all 435 House seats are at stake. Republican leaders offered up the outline during a two-day retreat they were holding with their House members at a resort on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, about 85 miles from Washington, D.C. During a closed-door session, House Speaker John Boehner warned, "These standards are as far as we are willing to go," according to a source in the room. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to release Keystone pipeline review soon: State Department official Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 07:43 PM PST An environmental impact review of the Keystone XL oil pipeline with Canada is close to being completed and will be released soon, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Thursday. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry offered no timetable for the U.S. decision on TransCanada Corp's planned Keystone XL pipeline when he addressed the issue on January 17 during a joint news conference with his Canadian counterpart John Baird. Earlier Baird, Canada's foreign minister, had bluntly told the United States to end the "limbo' on the approval process for the pipeline, conceding that Washington might veto the project. Full Story | Top |
| Knox and Sollecito convicted again of Briton's 2007 murder Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 07:37 PM PST  By Naomi O'Leary FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - American student Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty on Thursday for the second time of the 2007 murder of Briton Meredith Kercher, in a retrial that reversed an earlier appeal judgment. The verdict, after 12 hours of deliberations, confirmed Knox and Sollecito's original 2009 conviction. Knox's sentence was increased to 28 years and six months and Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years. Sollecito's lawyer Giulia Bongiorno confirmed that her client would appeal to Italy's highest court, and Knox's lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova said he was "stunned". Full Story | Top |
| Australian agency allows sand dump near Barrier Reef for coal port Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 07:24 PM PST Australia's Great Barrier Reef watchdog gave the green light on Friday for millions of cubic meters of dredged mud to be dumped near the fragile reef to create the world's biggest coal port and possibly unlock $28 billion in coal projects. The dumping permit approval clears the way for a major expansion of the port of Abbot Point for Indian firms Adani Enterprises and GVK Power and Infrastructure and Australian billionaire miner Gina Rinehart. Together they have $16 billion worth of coal projects in the untapped, inland Galilee Basin. Full Story | Top |
| Judge upholds Connecticut gun control law passed after Newtown shootings Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 06:57 PM PST A federal judge on Thursday upheld Connecticut's tough gun control law that was passed in the wake of the deadly 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The stringent law is constitutional, said the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Alfred Covello, denying a legal challenge by a group of gun owners. The state's gun control measures, among the strictest in the nation, were signed into law four months after a gunman in December 2012 killed 26 children and staff in Newtown, Connecticut. The Newtown shooting revived a national debate on gun control and led to passage of stringent gun-control laws in northeastern states such as Connecticut and New York. Full Story | Top |
| Experts predict Lenovo's U.S. buys will pass regulatory muster Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 06:52 PM PST  By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials are likely to allow China's Lenovo Group to buy IBM's low-end server business and Google Inc's Motorola Mobility handset business if it agrees to concessions aimed at protecting U.S. national security, experts said. Computer maker Lenovo has advantages over other Chinese companies that should help it overcome the mutual suspicion between the United States and China over industrial spying and cybersecurity, such as its track record of successful U.S. acquisitions in the past. Lenovo said on Wednesday it would acquire Motorola Mobility, along with some 2,000 patents, for $2.91 billion. The deals will be reviewed by the inter-agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, to ensure they do not threaten national security. Full Story | Top |
| Syria peace talks take a break as rivals dig in Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 06:41 PM PST  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - A first round of peace talks on Syria wraps up Friday with both sides in entrenched positions and the U.N. mediator expressing frustration that it had not even been possible to get agreement for an aid convoy to enter the besieged city of Homs. After a week of talks at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, the opposing sides in Syria's civil war were still stuck on the question of how to proceed. "I hope that in the next session, when we come back, we will be able to have a more structured discussion," mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said. He was "very, very disappointed" that a U.N. aid convoy was still waiting fruitlessly to enter the rebel-held Old City of Homs, where the United States says civilians are starving. Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: White House hopes for fast-track trade hit political tangle Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 06:29 PM PST  By Krista Hughes and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's push for authority to fast-track trade deals has hit a big setback in the form of opposition from his top fellow Democrat in Congress, but it is far from dead. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's warning to policymakers on Wednesday "just to not push this right now" reflects concern about the domestic political agenda ahead of November's congressional elections, when free trade could be a damaging issue for many Democrats. The White House called Reid's office shortly after his comments to voice displeasure, a top Democratic party aide said. But the aide said the White House did not try to get Reid to shift his position. Full Story | Top |
| Lawsuit alleges Northrop defrauded U.S. over anti-missile contract Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 06:00 PM PST A lawsuit by a former Northrop Grumman employee alleges that the defense contractor defrauded the U.S. government over a contract to provide commercial airliners with a missile defense system. The suit, which was originally filed in 2009 by Leo Danilides, was unsealed in federal district court in Chicago on Thursday. The U.S. Justice Department said in a separate filing it was not joining in the action. Northrop spokesman Randy Belote said the company typically did not comment on litigation matters. Full Story | Top |
| Missouri professor sues Square, claims credit for business concepts Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 05:49 PM PST A professor in St. Louis who says he helped come up with the idea that became payments-company Square has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging fraud and patent infringement and seeking unspecified damages. Robert E. Morley, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, filed suit in federal court in St. Louis on Thursday against Square and its co-founders Jack Dorsey and James McKelvey. "The business now known as Square was not created solely by Jack Dorsey and James McKelvey," said the complaint. "It was Professor Robert Morley - and Dr. Morley alone - who invented the Square card reader, and Dr. Morley co-invented the corresponding magnetic stripe," the complaint continued. Full Story | Top |
| Japan inflation quickens to over five-year high, output gains Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 05:44 PM PST  By Leika Kihara and Stanley White TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's core consumer inflation rose at the fastest pace in more than five years in December and the job market improved, encouraging signs for the Bank of Japan as it seeks to vanquish deflation with aggressive money printing. "The core consumer price index was stronger than expected, and durable goods prices seem to be rebounding. Consumer prices will likely continue its moderate growth," said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities. "I think the BOJ is unlikely to adopt additional easing because there is no reason to justify it given the positive macro-economic environment." Core consumer prices (CPI), which excludes fresh food but include energy costs, rose 1.3 percent in December from a year ago, data showed on Friday, just above a median market forecast for a 1.2 percent gain. Full Story | Top |
| Ability to transport U.S. oil, gas lags booming output: Energy Secretary Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 05:42 PM PST  By Ros Krasny WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The energy boom of the last decade that has boosted oil and gas production in the United States has outpaced the development of critical infrastructure to transport the raw and refined materials, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said on Thursday. Reflecting on a spate of accidents involving freight trains pulling tank cars full of volatile crude oil in Canada and the United States, Moniz said that infrastructure development was key, even beyond a reconsideration of rail regulations now under way by U.S. authorities. "The core approach, really, is that our infrastructure needs to build out," Moniz said in an interview with Reuters Insider. "Here we have a case, especially with the production in North Dakota, where the Bakken shale (output) zoomed from essentially nothing to past 1 million barrels a day," he said. Full Story | Top |
| New Orleans ex-mayor Nagin led culture of corruption: prosecutors Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 05:39 PM PST  By Kathy Finn NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Prosecutors accused former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, who led the city during Hurricane Katrina, of running a graft scheme that netted him cash, vacation trips and granite supplies in exchange for contracts to help rebuild the city after the storm. Nagin, 57, who was swept into office on promises of good government in 2002 and re-elected in 2006, was indicted a year ago by a federal grand jury on 21 counts of corruption, including bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and filing false tax returns. "The evidence presented at this trial will show that Ray Nagin was a corrupt mayor - plain and simple," prosecutor Matthew Coman said in a 45-minute opening statement on Thursday. Nagin's attorney, Robert C. Jenkins, told the jury to expect ample evidence that will counter the prosecution's charges. Full Story | Top |
| New York private equity manager, firm charged with $9 million theft Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 05:38 PM PST  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Thursday it has charged a New York private equity manager and his firm with stealing more than $9 million from fund investors. The government has frozen the assets of Lawrence E. Penn III and his firm, Camelot Acquisitions Secondary Opportunity Management, another individual and three entities that may be related to the theft, according to an SEC release. The SEC alleges that Penn used about $9.3 million from the fund to pay fake fees to Ssecurion, a company controlled by his longtime acquaintance, San Francisco-based Altura S. Ewers, who would then kick the money back to companies and accounts controlled by Penn. Penn used the funds to rent luxury office space and pay commissions to third parties to secure investments from pension funds, according to the release. "Penn held himself out as an ultra-sophisticated and well-connected investor in the private equity world," Andrew M. Calamari, the director of the SEC's New York Regional Office said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| New York City, rights group seal deal to end stop-and-frisk Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 05:19 PM PST  By Marina Lopes and Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City's new mayor on Thursday announced a settlement with a civil liberties group that sued the city over its stop-and-frisk practices, which he fiercely challenged as a candidate, paving the way for court-ordered reforms to take effect. Mayor Bill de Blasio's predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, appealed, arguing that the tactic was a key factor in the biggest U.S. city's historic drop in crime. The agreement will end the lawsuit brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights and will empower a court-appointed monitor to oversee the police department's reform of stop-and-frisk over three years. "For too long, communities of color have felt under siege by the police, and young black and Latino men have disproportionately been the target." In a news conference in Brooklyn's high-crime Brownsville neighborhood - where police stops have been particularly frequent - de Blasio called the settlement a "defining moment in our history." The mayor said the deal would "lay the foundation for not only keeping us the safest big city in America, but making us safer still." The city has asked the federal appeals court that had been considering Bloomberg's challenge to send the case back to a lower court so that the parties could explore a resolution, according to a court filing. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's Yanukovich goes on sick leave in midst of political crisis Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 05:14 PM PST  By Richard Balmforth and Pavel Polityuk KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich went on sick leave on Thursday after a bruising session of parliament, leaving a political vacuum in a country threatened with bankruptcy and destabilized by anti-government protests. The 63-year-old president appears increasingly isolated in a crisis born of a tug-of-war between the West and Ukraine's former Soviet overlord Russia. Shortly after his office announced he had developed a high temperature and acute respiratory ailment, Yanukovich defended his record in handling the crisis and accused the opposition, which is demanding his resignation, of provoking the unrest. Several members of Yanukovich's own party voted against the bill, even after he visited parliament himself to rally support, and some of his powerful industrialist backers are showing signs of impatience with the two-month-old crisis. Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bombers storm Iraq ministry building, 24 killed Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 05:06 PM PST  By Suadad al-Salhy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Six suicide bombers burst into an Iraqi ministry building, took hostages and killed at least 24 people including themselves on Thursday before security forces regained control, security officials said. The brazen attack on the building belonging to the Ministry of Transportation in northeast Baghdad coincided with a month-long standoff between the Iraqi army and anti-government fighters in the western province of Anbar. No group claimed responsibility but suicide bombings in Iraq are the trademark of al-Qaeda linked groups. State buildings are a target for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and its allies that have been regaining momentum in a campaign to destabilize the Shi'ite Muslim-led government. Full Story | Top |
| White House releases plan to make Arctic shipping safer Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 05:06 PM PST By Timothy Gardner and Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Arctic ice melts away, opening the way for greater oil development and mining, the White House outlined a plan on Thursday to promote safety and security in the region by building ports, improving forecasts of sea ice, and developing shipping rules. With warmer temperatures leaving Arctic sea passages open for longer periods of the year, billions of barrels of oil could be tapped beyond what is already being produced in the region. The White House plan was released on the same day that Royal Dutch Shell canceled drilling this year off Alaska, after a series of costly mishaps in the harsh conditions, as part of efforts to cut spending. The U.S. Defense Department will lead an interagency effort to forecast icy conditions by launching a satellite and improving analytic methods to forecast icy conditions. Full Story | Top |
| Toyota tells U.S. agency seat issue could lead to recall Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 05:02 PM PST  By Ben Klayman DETROIT (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp has alerted U.S. safety officials that seat material in several vehicles, including its top-selling Camry sedan, fails to meet fire retardation standards and could result in a recall. Toyota said on Thursday it had stopped selling eight recent-model vehicles equipped with seat heaters in North America following an advisory about fire risk from South Korean safety officials. Toyota said the number of affected vehicles at its U.S. dealers totaled about 36,000, or about 13 percent of dealer inventory, but that does not include vehicles in transit to dealers or those already sold to consumers. In the United States alone, the number of affected vehicles could top 111,000, according to research firm Kelley Blue Book. Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Brazil's laggard stadium risks being benched for World Cup Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 05:00 PM PST By Andrew Downie CURITIBA, Jan 30 - When Brazil chose 12 cities to host the 2014 World Cup, the one stadium everyone thought would be finished on time was the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba. Built in 1999, the arena was the most modern in Brazil. Its owners, the Atletico Paranaense club, were known for their fiscal prudence and good management. The Arena da Baixada is threatened with exclusion from the World Cup and has until Feb. 18 to convince FIFA it will be ready in June and local residents are in a state of shock. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. government names Navy man to head beleaguered NSA Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:55 PM PST  By David Alexander and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama nominated on Thursday the U.S. Navy's top cyber warrior to head the National Security Agency, a move seen as a vote of confidence in a unit that is under fire for spying on Americans and their allies. Navy Vice Admiral Michael Rogers, a cryptologist and head of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command, is not expected to immediately make major changes to the NSA, shaken by revelations by former contractor Edward Snowden. "This is a critical time for the NSA, and Vice Admiral Rogers would bring extraordinary and unique qualifications to this position as the agency continues its vital mission and implements President Obama's reforms," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Senator Udall's son arrested in Colorado on drug charges Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:54 PM PST  The 26-year-old son of U.S. Senator Mark Udall was arrested on suspicion of drug possession and trespassing over accusations he tried to break into cars and admitted he was doing heroin, police in Colorado said on Thursday. Jedediah Lee Fox-Udall was taken into custody on Wednesday after residents in Eldorado Springs, Colorado, just south of Boulder, called police to report that a man was breaking into cars in their neighborhood, said Commander Heidi Prentup of the Boulder County Sheriff's Office. Before deputies arrived, park rangers who were already in the area had detained Fox-Udall, who fit the description of the man breaking into the vehicles, Prentup said. "While searching the suspect, deputies found drug paraphernalia (and) the suspect told deputies he had used heroin 48 hours prior to their contact with him," she said. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Bloomberg tapped to be U.N. cities, climate change envoy - sources Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:42 PM PST  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been tapped to be U.N. special envoy for cities and climate change, sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Barring any last minute changes, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - who is seeking to re-energize the global climate change debate and boost the United Nations' role - could make the announcement as early as Friday, the sources said on the condition of anonymity. Bloomberg, a billionaire philanthropist who left office last month, made combating climate change a key focus during his 12 years leading the United States most populous city. He also advocated for national climate change legislation. Full Story | Top |
| NY City officials bust drug, prostitution ring ahead of Super Bowl Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:16 PM PST  By Chris Francescani NEW YORK (Reuters) - A multimillion-dollar drug and prostitution ring has been busted, New York City law enforcement officials said on Thursday, as they warned Super Bowl fans to steer clear of the city's sex and narcotics underworld. Ring leaders offered high-flyer clients "party packs" of drugs and prostitutes in three separate operations aggressively pushing both sex and cocaine, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman told a news conference. "Once the "john" (customer) was high or impaired on drugs, they would call in other prostitutes and repeatedly charge the john's credit cards, in excess of $10,000, in some cases, for one evening," Schneiderman said. The 11-month probe by Schneiderman's organized crime task force, in coordination with the New York Police Department's vice squad, netted more than $3 million in credit card charges alone over the past year, he said. Full Story | Top |
| Yahoo says detected hacking attempt on email accounts Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:16 PM PST  (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc said it had detected a "coordinated effort" to gain unauthorized access to Yahoo Mail accounts using malicious computer software. "We have no evidence that they were obtained directly from Yahoo's systems," the company said on its blog. A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to say how many accounts had been compromised or provide a detailed description, saying that it was the subject of an investigation by federal law enforcement. Full Story | Top |
| UK home building hits highest since 2007 but still lags demand Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:16 PM PST  By Ana Nicolaci da Costa LONDON (Reuters) - New-home building in Britain last year hit its highest level since the financial crisis but remains far too low to meet a strong recovery in demand, an industry report showed on Friday. New home registrations in the UK increased by 28 percent in 2013 to 133,670, the highest number since 2007, according to data from the National House Building Council. But a mismatch between demand for homes and the number of properties coming on the market has pushed up house valuations and priced some people out of the property market, despite government programs to get them on the housing ladder. "Over the year, we have seen a genuine return of confidence to the industry as builders strive to meet the growing demand for new homes that the United Kingdom clearly needs," NHBC Chief Executive Mike Quinton said. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. delivers food to residents of besieged Damascus suburb Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:14 PM PST A United Nations agency delivered food to a rebel-held Damascus district on Thursday, alleviating the plight of thousands of people trapped for months by a Syrian army siege. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which cares for Palestinian refugees, said it had distributed 1,000 food parcels in Yarmouk camp, its biggest delivery there yet. UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said the aid was the first to reach Yarmouk since January 21 when 138 food parcels were sent in. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. tells Syria to take immediate steps to remove chemical weapons Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:14 PM PST The United States told Syria on Thursday to take immediate actions to comply with a U.N. resolution to remove its chemical weapons materials saying demands by Damascus for additional equipment were "without merit" and delays were adding to costs. A statement by the United States to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the world's chemicals weapons watchdog in The Hague, said just 4 percent of the chemicals declared by Syria had been removed. "Syria has said that its delay in transporting these chemicals has been caused by 'security concerns' and insisted on additional equipment - armored jackets for shipping containers, electronic countermeasures, and detectors for improvised explosive devices," U.S. representative to the OPCW Robert Mikulak said in the statement to the OPCW's executive council. Full Story | Top |
| British consumer morale soars in January to highest since 2007 - GfK Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:13 PM PST  British consumer confidence surged in January to its highest level since 2007 after falling for three months, a survey showed on Friday. GfK's UK Consumer Confidence Index rose in January to -7 from December's -13, its best reading since September 2007, around the start of the financial crisis. GfK said its index has risen by 20 points in the last nine months - only the third time in a 40-year series that there has been such a sharp shift. "All this is good news for the government as the election starts to get within sight," said Nick Moon, managing director of social research at GfK, referring to next year's general election. Full Story | Top |
| Passion for vodka kills Russian men in their thousands Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:11 PM PST  By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - A quarter of all Russian men die before they reach their mid-fifties and their passion for alcohol - particularly vodka - is largely to blame, according to research published on Friday. A study of more than 150,000 people found extraordinarily high premature death rates among male Russians, some of whom reported drinking three or more bottles a week of the potent clear spirit. Perhaps unsurprisingly, deaths among heavy drinkers were mainly due to alcohol poisoning, accidents, violence and suicide, as well as diseases such as throat and liver cancer, tuberculosis, pneumonia, pancreatitis and liver disease. "Russian death rates have fluctuated wildly over the past 30 years as alcohol restrictions and social stability varied under presidents Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin, and the main thing driving these wild fluctuations..was vodka," said Richard Peto of Britain's Oxford University, who worked on the study. Full Story | Top |
| Britain and France set to clash over EU reform at summit Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:08 PM PST  By William James LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron is set to clash with France's President Francois Hollande over how to reform the European Union on Friday, souring an Anglo-French summit aimed at deepening defence and energy cooperation. The first Anglo-French summit since Hollande won power in May 2012 will announce joint investment in the latest phase of a combat drone scheme, cooperation on civil nuclear power research and an agreement on space and satellite technology. Cameron wants to re-open European Union treaties to try to secure sweeping reforms to make the trade bloc more efficient - an agenda he hopes will both persuade euroskeptic voters to back him at a 2015 election and quell dissent within his party. He has promised a referendum on Britain's EU membership by 2017. Full Story | Top |
| On policy tour, Obama pledges to revamp job training Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:05 PM PST  By Jeff Mason WAUKESHA, Wisc. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama promised to overhaul federal jobs training programs on Thursday during the second leg of a tour intended to highlight his proposals to improve the fortunes of low- and middle-income Americans. Obama traveled to Wisconsin to discuss efforts to ensure U.S. training programs match up with demand for jobs. The trip is a follow-up to Obama's State of the Union speech on Tuesday, in which he called for greater economic fairness in a nation that is still recovering from the deep 2007-2009 recession. Focusing on job training spotlights the fact that there are jobs available in the improving economy while demonstrating that the president is at work trying to get more unemployed people into positions that suit them. Full Story | Top |
| Insight: How Thaksin's meddling sparked a new Thai crisis for PM sister Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:03 PM PST  By Andrew R.C. Marshall and Jason Szep BANGKOK (Reuters) - Yingluck Shinawatra's journey from political nobody to prime minister was breathtakingly swift. A political neophyte when she took office in 2011, the 46-year-old former business executive surprised many observers by steadying Thailand after years of often bloody political unrest. Behind Thailand's lurch into its worst crisis in years was a disastrous intervention by Yingluck's billionaire brother Thaksin, who was deposed in a 2006 military coup and now lives abroad to escape a corruption conviction. Thaksin's meddling turned a bill that would have freed ordinary Thais charged with protest-related crimes into a controversial wider amnesty for politicians such as himself, say senior members of Yingluck's ruling Puea Thai Party. Full Story | Top |
| Nephew of Cleveland kidnapper Castro indicted on child porn charges Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 04:00 PM PST By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A grand jury on Thursday indicted the nephew of Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro on multiple felony child pornography charges, prosecutors said. Jeremi Alicea, 26, is charged with 21 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and one count of possessing criminal tools in connection with incidents in September and October 2013, they said. The charges brought by the Cuyahoga County grand jury against Alicea were unrelated to the arrest and conviction of Castro, his uncle, last year, a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office said. In May 2013, three women Castro had held hostage for a decade or more escaped his Cleveland home, along with a girl he had fathered with one of his captives. Full Story | Top |
| Apple, Samsung spar over potential U.S. ban on smartphone sales Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 03:52 PM PST  By Dan Levine SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - Samsung sought to defeat Apple's bid for a permanent sales ban against some Samsung smartphones, arguing in court on Thursday that Apple's request was an attempt to instill fear among telecom carriers and retailers that carry Samsung's products. At a hearing in federal court in San Jose, California, Samsung attorney Kathleen Sullivan told U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh that the injunction would give the iPhone maker an opening to come back to court quickly and argue that newer Samsung products should also be banned. "An injunction would create fear and uncertainty for the carriers and retailers with whom Samsung has very important customer relationships," Sullivan said. Full Story | Top |
| Heroin abuse at 'epidemic' level in South Florida -drug report Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 03:44 PM PST By Zachary Fagenson MIAMI (Reuters) - A high-profile law enforcement crackdown on prescription painkiller abuse in Florida has addicts turning increasingly to heroin, resulting in the highest number of overdose deaths and hospitalizations in recent years, a report on drug abuse said. Deaths from heroin - now more potent and widely available than ever - rose 89 percent statewide from 62 in 2011 to 117 in 2012, with the problem reaching epidemic proportions in South Florida, according to a report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institute of Health. "We're talking here about the mother of addictions," said James N. Hall, an epidemiologist at Nova Southeastern University who authored the report with 20 NIDA researchers nationwide who have met biannually since 1976 to track drug use trends. "The crossover from the prescription products to illicit heroin complicates that and will fuel the continued epidemic," he added. Full Story | Top |
| Japan Dec jobless rate falls to 3.7 percent, lowest since 2007 Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 03:35 PM PST Japan's jobless rate fell to a six-year low in December and the availability of jobs improved to a six-year high, government data showed, suggesting that a tightening labor market could help the Bank of Japan meet its inflation target. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent from November's 4.0 percent, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed on Friday. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. reviewing whether Russian missile tests violate treaty Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 03:33 PM PST  The United States is reviewing whether Russia's testing of a new ground-launched cruise missile violates a key arms control treaty and has informed NATO about its concerns and discussed them with Moscow, U.S. officials said on Thursday. The New York Times reported earlier on Thursday that American officials believe Russia began conducting flight tests of the missile as early as 2008, in what could be a violation of a 1987 treaty banning medium-range missiles. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. government was reviewing whether a violation had occurred, saying the United States took questions about such treaties seriously. "When compliance questions arise we work to resolve them with our treaty partners and will continue to do so." Officials at the Russian embassy in Washington were not immediately available for comment. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: In diplomatic shift, Europe seeks improved ties with Cuba Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 03:29 PM PST  By Robin Emmott and Fiona Ortiz BRUSSELS/MADRID (Reuters) - The European Union will agree next month to deepen relations with Cuba in its most significant overture to the communist nation since diplomatic sanctions were lifted in 2008, people close to the matter told Reuters. Foreign ministers from the EU's 28 countries will give the go-ahead on February 10 to launch talks with Havana on a special cooperation accord to increase trade, investment and dialogue on human rights. "Cuba wants capital, and the European Union wants influence," said one person involved in the talks who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. "This cooperation could serve as a prelude to much more." Two other people with knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters that a consensus had been reached in Brussels to give momentum to the market-oriented reforms introduced under Cuban President Raul Castro and to position European companies for any transition to a more capitalist economy in the longer term. Full Story | Top |
| Japan January manufacturing PMI at 8-year high Thursday, Jan 30, 2014 03:20 PM PST  Japanese manufacturing activity grew in January at the fastest pace in nearly eight years as new orders for goods expanded at a record rate, a sign of robust domestic demand before an increase in the sales tax in April. The Markit/JMMA Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 56.6 in January from 55.2 in December. "Evidence from panelists suggested that the upcoming rise in the sales tax was a key factor driving the recent expansion, as customers order early to avoid the higher tariff," said Claudia Tillbrooke, economist at Markit. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government will raise the 5 percent sales tax to 8 percent in April to pay for rising welfare costs. Full Story | Top |
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