| | |
| Supreme Court denies convicted Missouri killer's appeals Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 08:06 PM PST  The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted a temporary stay of execution for a Missouri man convicted of killing a jewelry store owner during a 1991 robbery, denying last-minute appeals that in part challenged the drug to be used. The Supreme Court late Wednesday also vacated a stay from the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of appeals that had prevented the execution of Herbert Smulls, 56. Lawyers for Smulls filed another request with the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay late on Wednesday, and it was not immediately clear whether Missouri would be allowed to carry out his execution before the state's death warrant expires at midnight. Smulls was convicted of shooting jewelry-store owner Stephen Honickman to death while robbing his store in July 1991. Full Story | Top |
| Panama's first lady tapped as vice presidential candidate Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 08:01 PM PST Panama's ruling party nominated Marta Linares, the wife of President Ricardo Martinelli, as its vice presidential candidate for the May election, the party's presidential candidate announced on his Twitter page on Wednesday. "Marta will be our vice president," said Jose Domingo Arias, the standard-bearer for the Democratic Change party, in a post on the social media website following Linares' formal approval by party members. Full Story | Top |
| Canadian police charge Justin Bieber with assaulting limo driver Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 07:59 PM PST  By Allison Martell and Jeffrey Hodgson TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian police charged Justin Bieber on Wednesday with assaulting a limousine driver in Toronto in December, the latest in a string of legal troubles for the young pop star. The incident happened in the early hours of December 30, when the limousine picked up six people including Bieber, 19, outside a Toronto nightclub, police said in a statement. Bieber struck the limousine driver on the back of the head several times during an altercation on the way to a hotel, police said. The driver got out and called police, but Bieber left before they arrived, according to the statement. Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon, GSA map out acquisition cybersecurity; tester finds issues remain Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 07:31 PM PST By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department and General Services Administration on Wednesday mapped out six broad reforms to improve the cybersecurity of more than $500 billion in goods and services acquired by the U.S. federal government each year. The guidelines come as the Pentagon's chief weapons tester warned that military missions remained at "moderate to high risk" since local network operators were not always able to defend networks against determined cyberattacks. A report released by the tester on Wednesday said scans of the networks used by weapons still showed missing software "patches" and vulnerabilities that allowed teams of government "hackers" to penetrate and exploit networks. In their guidelines, the Pentagon and GSA underscored the importance of beefing up cybersecurity and cited escalating cyber threats from U.S. adversaries, hackers and criminals, as well as unintentional vulnerabilities and counterfeit parts. Full Story | Top |
| Arizona couple living near polygamous sect sues for discrimination Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 07:13 PM PST By Jennifer Dobner SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - An Arizona jury heard opening arguments on Wednesday that a married couple was denied municipal water services because they were not members of a polygamous church that dominates their community on the Utah-Arizona border. Ron and Jinjer Cooke filed a federal lawsuit against the twin towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, in 2010, claiming a violation of their civil rights in a lawsuit that also named the local water district and power company. Attorneys for the couple contend in court papers that the jailed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints controls the adjoining towns and has ordered city leaders and departments to discriminate against outsiders. A 2012 federal lawsuit made similar allegations. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Air Force, Boeing confident tanker program still on schedule Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 06:45 PM PST By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Air Force and Boeing Co officials on Wednesday expressed confidence that a $52 billion air refueling program would deliver its first 18 planes by August 2017 as scheduled, despite a Pentagon report warning that testing of the new aircraft could be delayed by at least six to 12 months. The tanker project known as KC-46, one of the Pentagon's biggest arms programs, calls for Boeing to build 179 new planes for the Air Force to replace the current fleet of 50-year-old KC-135 tankers. Air Force and Boeing officials have said the program is making good progress, with the last of four test planes to be completed this year. But a report released Wednesday by the Pentagon's chief weapons tester, Michael Gilmore, said Boeing and the Air Force needed more time to complete developmental testing and initial training before operational testing. Full Story | Top |
| Oracle's Ellison plays down threat of NSA database snooping Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 06:40 PM PST  By Noel Randewich SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Oracle CEO Larry Ellison played down concerns on Wednesday about possible government snooping in his business customers' private data. At an industry conference in San Francisco, an audience member asked the Oracle cofounder what to tell potential Oracle cloud-computing clients who worry that the National Security Agency could access their information. "To the best of our knowledge, an Oracle database hasn't been broken into for a couple of decades by anybody," Ellison replied. Oracle, Salesforce.com and other major Silicon Valley companies are increasingly offering Internet-based business services, like human resources, accounting and sales management, in a trend known as cloud computing. Full Story | Top |
| Idaho calls off hired hunter to kill wolves in wilderness Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 06:34 PM PST By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Idaho has called off a professional hunter hired to kill wolves in a federally protected wilderness area because he had succeeded in reducing the population enough to protect the elk prized by hunters. The push by state wildlife managers to kill wolves in the wilderness renewed a battle over an animal that was nearly extinct in the continental United States when it was declared an endangered species in 1974. As the population rebounded, wolves in the Northern Rockies, including Idaho, lost federal protection and can now be hunted and trapped. The wolves killed were part of two packs in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in the mountains of central Idaho, where wolves were imported from Canada in the mid-1990s to re-establish the species in the Northern Rockies. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Syria has shipped out less than 5 percent of chemical weapons Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 06:25 PM PST  By Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Syria has given up less than 5 percent of its chemical weapons arsenal and will miss next week's deadline to send all toxic agents abroad for destruction, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The deliveries, in two shipments this month to the northern Syrian port of Latakia, totalled 4.1 percent of the roughly 1,300 tonnes of toxic agents reported by Damascus to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Damascus needs to show it is still serious about relinquishing its chemical weapons, the sources told Reuters. The issue is to be discussed at a meeting of the OPCW's executive council on Thursday in The Hague, a senior U.S. State Department official told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Asia shares in retreat, China data darkens mood Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 06:22 PM PST  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares took a spill on Thursday as strains in emerging markets returned with a vengeance and the Federal Reserve further scaled back its stimulus - sending investors scurrying to safety in bonds and yen. Japan's Nikkei was already down 3.1 percent at its lowest since mid-November. Markets have now shed all the gains made on Wednesday when the region had hoped that aggressive rate hikes by Turkey would shore up its currency and ease the risk of capital flight. Indeed, when South Africa's central bank surprised by lifting its rates half a percentage point investors reacted by dumping the rand. Full Story | Top |
| Russia to await new Ukraine government before fully implementing rescue: Putin Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 06:10 PM PST  By Steve Gutterman and Richard Balmforth MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin raised the pressure on Ukraine on Wednesday, saying Russia would wait until it forms a new government before fully implementing a $15 billion bailout deal that Kiev urgently needs. Putin repeated a promise to honor the lifeline agreement with Ukraine in full, but left open the timing of the next aid installment as Kiev struggles to calm more than two months of turmoil since President Victor Yanukovich walked away from a treaty with the European Union. A day after Prime Minister Myeloma Azarov resigned on Tuesday, hoping to appease the opposition and street protesters, Russia tightened border checks on imports from Ukraine in what looked like a reminder to Yanukovich not to install a government that tilts policy back towards the West. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: U.S. readies financial sanctions against Ukraine: congressional aides Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 05:46 PM PST  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is preparing financial sanctions that could be imposed on Ukrainian officials and protest leaders if violence escalates in the political crisis gripping Ukraine, congressional aides said on Wednesday. Congressional aides, who asked not to be identified by name because of the sensitive subject, said they had discussed the sanction preparations with administration officials. They said final details of the package have not been worked out, but it could be put in place quickly against government officials - or leaders of the protest movement - in case of widespread violence. Six people have been killed in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities in protests that erupted more than two months ago after President Viktor Yanukovich walked away from a treaty with the European Union under pressure from Russia. Full Story | Top |
| California weighs outlawing warrantless drone surveillance Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 05:34 PM PST  By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - Using drones to spy on Californians without a warrant could soon be outlawed under a bill making its way through the state legislature, tapping into public concern about unwarranted government intrusion into private lives. The measure comes even as California tries to entice companies to make and develop unmanned aircraft in the most populous U.S. state, where unemployment still lags the rest of the nation. "While we as a legislature and as a state try to attract the jobs in aviation, we also have to balance the growing concern about unmanned vehicles," the bill's sponsor, Republican Jeff Gorell, told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Oscars organizers revoke 'Alone Yet Not Alone' song nomination Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 05:20 PM PST  The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences has revoked a nomination in the best original song category for "Alone Yet Not Alone," after the songwriter violated Oscar rules and emailed voters about submitting the song for consideration. Musician Bruce Broughton, a former Academy governor and executive committee member in its music branch, composed the title song from the independent Christian faith movie "Alone Yet Not Alone." The Academy said on Wednesday that Broughton had used his position within the organization to contact voters about his own submission of the song, which was "inconsistent" with the Academy's rules on Oscar nominations campaigning. "No matter how well-intentioned the communication, using one's position as a former governor and current executive committee member to personally promote one's own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage," Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy president, said in a statement. Broughton said in a statement he was "devastated" at the Academy's decision. Full Story | Top |
| Target says criminals attacked with stolen vendor credentials Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 04:58 PM PST  By Jim Finkle and Mark Hosenball BOSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Target Corp said on Wednesday that the theft of a vendor's credentials helped cyber criminals pull off a massive theft of customer data during the holiday shopping season in late 2013. "The ongoing forensic investigation has indicated that the intruder stole a vendor's credentials, which were used to access our system," Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in a statement. She declined to elaborate on what type of credentials were taken, who the vendor was, or to provide other details. The company's shares have been hurt since the data breach was announced on December 19, and the incident has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers as well as federal law enforcement and consumer protection agencies. Full Story | Top |
| Cuban agent due for U.S. release to be deported, lawyer says Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 04:36 PM PST By Zachary Fagenson and David Adams MIAMI (Reuters) - A Cuban intelligence agent, jailed for 15 years for spying on Cuban-American exiles in Miami, is due to be freed next month and will be deported to the Caribbean island country, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Fernando Gonzalez, 50, was arrested by the FBI in 1998 along with four other Cuban agents who were convicted in 2001 of 26 counts of spying on behalf of Fidel Castro's government. The case of the "Cuban Five" is widely considered an impediment to improving the hostile relations between the United States and Cuba, separated by only 90 miles of sea. A U.S. immigration official confirmed that late on Wednesday, saying "as soon as Gonzalez has finished his criminal incarceration he will be removed from the country." Another agent, Rene Gonzalez, was released in 2011 after serving more than 13 years and now lives in Cuba. Full Story | Top |
| California weighs giving tax break to space exploration firms Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 04:25 PM PST  By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - For-profit space explorers who make California their headquarters would not have to pay property taxes on their rockets and space stations under a bill that advanced in the state legislature on Wednesday. The move is aimed at stopping an effort by Los Angeles County to collect levies on equipment owned by the privately held SpaceX in Hawthorne, California. It is part of a broader effort by lawmakers to revitalize California's flagging aerospace sector, once among the nation's largest and key to the state's economy. "This bill will create thousands of new, high-paying jobs right here in California," said state Democratic Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, the bill's author. Full Story | Top |
| Attack on mass transit seen as top Super Bowl security risk Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 04:24 PM PST  By Scott Malone NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bomb attacks of the kind that tore through mass transit sites in Russia ahead of the upcoming Sochi Olympics are a top concern of security officials preparing for Sunday's Super Bowl, the head of the New Jersey State Police said on Wednesday. While law enforcement officials said they were not aware of any specific threats targeting the February 2 National Football League championship in East Rutherford, New Jersey, attacks like those that killed 34 people in two days in Russia late last year are their biggest worry. As you know both of those bombings were targeting mass transit," Rick Fuentes, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, told reporters. Full Story | Top |
| Cheaper Super Bowl tickets lure locals to N.J. stadium Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 04:09 PM PST  By Marina Lopes NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ticket prices for upper-level seats at the Super Bowl plummeted 38 percent since the conference championship games, the largest drop for the week in six years, as frigid temperatures discouraged football fans from braving the elements to sit in the stands at New Jersey's MetLife stadium. Lows of 22 Fahrenheit (minus 5 Celsius) forecast for Sunday's game, the first Super Bowl played outdoors in a cold-weather city, drove ticket prices as low as $1,309, said Meredith Owen, TicketCity.com Communication Director, but they have risen since then to an average of $1,609. Lower ticket prices drew renewed interest from residents of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, who led visits to TiqIQ.com, a site that resells tickets to the public. Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Thailand braces for violence as PM Yingluck's charm runs out Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 04:08 PM PST  By Andrew R.C. Marshall BANGKOK (Reuters) - Six unmarked vehicles with pitch-black windows threaded quietly through Bangkok's northern suburbs on a recent Thursday afternoon. Inside one sat the curiously unruffled figure at the heart of Thailand's latest political maelstrom: caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. That Yingluck's convoy is now so keen to avoid attention - it even stopped at some red lights - is a small victory for the thousands of protesters who first poured onto Bangkok's streets three months ago to try to topple her government. For them, Yingluck, 46, is the hated puppet of her billionaire elder brother Thaksin, who was ousted as prime minister in a 2006 military coup and now lives abroad to avoid a two-year jail sentence for corruption. Full Story | Top |
| H&M says fashion can be cheap and ethical Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 04:06 PM PST  By Emma Thomasson STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Hennes & Mauritz, the world's second-biggest fashion retailer, believes there is no conflict between its mission to sell more budget clothes and a drive to improve the environment and working conditions at its suppliers. "We want to make sustainable fashion more democratic," Helena Helmersson, H&M's head of sustainability, told Reuters. "We don't aim for sustainability to be a luxury thing." The Swedish company is one of the biggest buyers of garments from Bangladesh, where the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory last April killed more than 1,100 people, drawing global attention to the poor conditions in which many in Asia work. H&M customers, many of them idealistic youngsters, are becoming more critical of the use of cheap labor, with the company sinking last year to second-to-last place in a perceived sustainability ranking in its biggest market Germany. Full Story | Top |
| In Bernanke's final act, Fed cuts stimulus despite market turmoil Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 04:00 PM PST  By Jonathan Spicer and Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday decided to trim its bond purchases by another $10 billion as it stuck to a plan to wind down its extraordinary economic stimulus despite recent turmoil in emerging markets. The action was widely expected, although some investors had speculated that the U.S. central bank might put its plans on hold given the jitters overseas. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who hands the Fed's reins to Vice Chair Janet Yellen on Friday, managed to adjourn his last policy-setting meeting without any dissents from his colleagues. In addition to proceeding with plans to scale back its bond buying, the Fed made no changes to its other main policy plank: its pledge to keep interest rates low for some time to come. Full Story | Top |
| Justin Bieber to be charged with assault in Toronto: CBC Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 04:00 PM PST  By Allison Martell TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian pop star Justin Bieber will be charged with assault in Toronto over an incident in December involving a limousine driver, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said on Wednesday, citing unidentified police sources. The broadcaster said Bieber was expected to arrive in Toronto on Wednesday and be formally charged. Bieber's representatives declined to comment on the report. Toronto police said on their Twitter feed that they cannot confirm information in the media about Bieber, but journalists were gathered outside Toronto's 52 division police station, where the report said he was expected to turn himself in. Full Story | Top |
| University of Missouri president wants probe of rape claim response Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 04:00 PM PST By Kevin Murphy KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - The University of Missouri's president called on Wednesday for an independent counsel to investigate how school officials responded to the alleged 2010 rape of a student on the female swim team who later committed suicide. The Missouri case comes in the wake of growing concern about sexual assaults in schools and in the military. Last week, President Barack Obama announced the creation of a White House task force to look into the problem of sexual assaults on campus. University president Tim Wolfe said at a news conference that he wants to determine if the university acted properly in matters related to Sasha Menu Courey. Full Story | Top |
| Wisconsin man sentenced for starving, imprisoning daughter Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 03:56 PM PST By Brendan O'Brien MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - A Wisconsin man was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison for imprisoning his teenage daughter in a basement for six years and forcing her to eat her own excrement, a local prosecutor said. Chad Chritton, 42, was also sentenced in Dane County Circuit Court to an additional five years of extended supervision after a jury found him guilty in November of four felonies, including child abuse and neglecting a child, according to district attorney Ismael Ozanne. His wife Melinda Drabek-Chritton, 44, was sentenced to five years in prison in July on similar charges. Prosecutors had accused the Madison couple of holding the girl in the basement of their home for about six years. Full Story | Top |
| Amanda Knox faces verdict in Italy in retrial on Kercher murder Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 03:28 PM PST  By Naomi O'Leary FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Amanda Knox, the American student who became tabloid fodder, will not be in court on Thursday to hear Italian judges give their verdict in her retrial for the murder of Briton Meredith Kercher when the two were roommates studying abroad in 2007. Knox, who is living in Seattle, is standing trial alongside her Italian former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito. Six years of trials and investigations have so far failed to clear up mysteries surrounding the murder of Kercher, 21, who was found stabbed to death in her bedroom in the picturesque town of Perugia, where she shared a student flat with Knox. Knox, 26, and Sollecito, 29, were convicted of the murder in 2009 and spent almost four years in jail, but the verdicts were overturned on appeal and Knox immediately returned home to the United States upon her release in 2011, where she has remained. Full Story | Top |
| Man convicted on terror charges for 2012 Michigan shooting spree Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 03:23 PM PST A Michigan man was convicted on Wednesday of terrorism charges for a three-day October 2012 shooting spree on a busy interstate highway that injured one person and earned him the nickname "I-96 shooter," prosecutors said. A Livingston County jury found Raulie Casteel, 44, guilty of Michigan terrorism charges based on 23 attacks, as well as assault with a dangerous weapon, firing a weapon from a vehicle and other felony weapons charges. A resident of Wixom, Michigan, some 30 miles northwest of Detroit, Casteel was convicted of shooting at other vehicles in a four-county area in southeastern Michigan, mostly on or near Interstate 96. "Raulie Casteel committed acts of violence that terrorized our state in unimaginable ways, and today the victims of his shooting spree received justice," said Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. Full Story | Top |
| European bat population bounces back from the brink: study Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 03:01 PM PST Europe's bat population is vulnerable, but conservation policies have boosted it by more than 40 percent after years of decline, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said on Thursday. European bat populations shrank, particularly during the second half of the 20th century, because of intensive agriculture, disappearing habitats and toxic chemicals used in treating roof timbers where they roost. The new report found conservation policies had helped to reverse the decline, but concluded bats should "still be considered vulnerable". They are also extremely sensitive to environmental change, which means they serve as an early indicator of climate change. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. spy chiefs call for action on data breach disclosure Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:59 PM PST By Lawrence Hurley and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. spy agency chiefs on Wednesday called on Congress to draft stricter requirements for how retailers and other private businesses should inform government agencies and customers about big breaches of personal and financial data. The intervention by intelligence chiefs came as Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that the Justice Department was investigating the massive hacking of consumer data from No. 3 U.S. retailer Target Corp during the holiday shopping season late last year. Also on Wednesday, several congressional committees signaled growing interest in recent data breaches, with the powerful House Oversight Committee scheduling a telephone briefing on Thursday with Target representatives. Separately, at Wednesday's threat hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, where the National Security Agency is headquartered, asked intelligence chiefs if media leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden had affected U.S. cybersecurity efforts. Full Story | Top |
| Obama seeks to lift U.S. women's pay further out of 'Mad Men' era Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:54 PM PST  By Elvina Nawaguna WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. women's paychecks will not catch up to men's for another 40 years at the current rate of improvement, experts say, a situation U.S. president Barack Obama highlighted in his State of the Union address, calling for policy changes he hopes will close the gap sooner. "A woman deserves equal pay for equal work," Obama said in his address on Tuesday. "It's time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a 'Mad Men' episode." Women who work full time make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. That disparity has pushed more women into poverty despite higher educational levels, according to labor experts and women's rights advocates. Full Story | Top |
| Maryland mall shooter assembled shotgun in skate shop: police Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:44 PM PST  (Reuters) - A 19-year-old Maryland mall gunman assembled a shotgun in a skateboard shop dressing room before killing two employees and then turning the weapon on himself, police said on Wednesday. The shooter, Darion Marcus Aguilar, turned the bustling mall in Columbia, Maryland, into a scene of terror on Saturday. Aguilar carried the disassembled 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun into the mall in a backpack, the Howard County Police Department said on its Twitter feed. Aguilar, who lived in College Park, Maryland, put the shotgun together in a dressing room at the mall's Zumiez skateboard store. Full Story | Top |
| Wall Street sells off after Fed sticks with stimulus cuts Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:43 PM PST  By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks dropped more than 1 percent on Wednesday, hitting session lows after the Federal Reserve stuck with its plan to scale back stimulus even in the midst of emerging market turmoil. With the day's decline, the S&P 500 is down 4 percent for the month - its worst monthly loss since May 2012. Some investors have been bracing for a correction, given the S&P 500's gain of 30 percent last year. Trading was volatile after the Fed's move, which further reduces its monthly bond purchases by $10 billion a month. Full Story | Top |
| WR Grace's bankruptcy exit financing deal gets court approval Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:40 PM PST  (Reuters) - Chemical maker W.R. Grace & Co received approval to line up about $1.55 billion in bankruptcy exit financing, a court filing showed on Tuesday. Grace will use the money to pay all outstanding claims, including $1.1 billion to its lenders, removing the last obstacle to its emergence out of bankruptcy protection. The remaining amount will go towards funding trusts that will be created to pay asbestos-related injury claims, an earlier court filing showed. Full Story | Top |
| Wyoming among states eyeing laws to ban Google Glass while driving Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:39 PM PST  Sparsely populated Wyoming, whose natural beauty draws tourists from around the globe, is among a small number of U.S. states eyeing a ban on the use of wearable computers while driving, a move that appears to target Google Glass. Wyoming state Senator Floyd Esquibel, a Democrat who crafted the bill to ban such devices behind the wheel, said he wanted to ensure safeguards are in place before the technology premiered by Google - a tiny computer mounted to an eyeglass frame - is widely available. Wyoming is among at least seven U.S. states eyeing restrictions on the technology over concerns that drivers wearing Google Glass may pay more attention to their email or other online endeavors than the road. Other states considering measures that would ban use of wearable computers while driving are Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Jordan's King Abdullah to meet February 14 in California Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:38 PM PST U.S. President Barack Obama and Jordan's King Abdullah will discuss Syria and the Middle East at a February 14 summit to be held at a California retreat, the White House said on Wednesday. Obama met China's President Xi Jinping at the same location last June, the Sunnylands retreat in Rancho Mirage, California. Full Story | Top |
| Brahimi says no substantive progress on Syria but hopeful Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:36 PM PST  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Mariam Karouny GENEVA (Reuters) - International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Wednesday that he does not expect to achieve anything substantive in the first round of Syria talks ending on Friday, but hoped for a more productive second round starting about a week later. "We talked about the TGB (Transitional Governing Body), but of course it is a very, very preliminary discussion and more generally of what each side expects," Brahimi told reporters. Opposition and government sides said they agreed to use the "Geneva communiqué", a document endorsed by world powers at a conference in June 2012, and which sets out the stages needed to end the fighting and agree on a political transition. "We have agreed that Geneva 1 is the basis of the talks," opposition spokesman Louay al-Safi told reporters. Full Story | Top |
| Detroit presents debt adjustment plan to creditors Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:33 PM PST  (Reuters) - Detroit's creditors got their first look Wednesday at the city's proposed plan to adjust its debt and emerge from bankruptcy, though no details were immediately available. The city's Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr presented a proposed debt adjustment plan to creditors participating in court-ordered mediation. The plan, which the city said reflects discussions held to date with creditors, was distributed to creditors on a confidential basis. The city said changes could still be made before the plan is scheduled to be unveiled in court no later than March 1, an occasion that will mark a major milestone in Detroit's bankruptcy case. Full Story | Top |
| Amid test scandal, U.S. Air Force sees 'systemic problem' in ranks Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:20 PM PST By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force is likely suffering from a "systemic problem" among the officers who oversee America's nuclear missile launch systems, the new head of the military branch said on Wednesday as an exam-cheating scandal widened. "The need for perfection has created way too much stress and way too much fear about the future," Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told an Air Force Association forum near the Pentagon. The scandal over a monthly proficiency exam was the largest single case of cheating in recent memory in America's nuclear missile forces, which already face growing questions over discipline and morale in the post-Cold War era. An initial investigation implicated 34 officers, but a U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday that the number has roughly doubled. Full Story | Top |
| Detroit museum pledges to raise $100 million for art, city pensions Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:20 PM PST  The Detroit Institute of Art (DIA) said on Wednesday its board of directors approved a commitment to raise $100 million to help protect its art collection and city retirees in Detroit's bankruptcy. Added to the total already pledged by U.S. philanthropic foundations and by Michigan's Republican Governor Rick Snyder, some $820 million has now been committed to city pensioners and the museum. "We are hopeful this agreement will allow Detroit's bankruptcy to move forward smoothly as we all work toward a brighter and better future for Detroit," DIA board chairman Eugene A. Gargaro said in a statement. The museum statement added that as part of a deal to raise $100 million from corporate and individual donors, the city of Detroit would transfer "free and clear legal title to the museum building, the art collection and all related assets." The DIA would continue operate with donor funds and taxes raised from Detroit's suburbs. Full Story | Top |
| Death penalty decision looms for Boston bomb suspect Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:15 PM PST  By Richard Valdmanis BOSTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department will decide this week whether to seek the death penalty for suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, accused of setting off two pressure-cooker bombs at the finish line of the world-renowned race. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that he would announce his decision before a Friday deadline set by a U.S. District Court Judge in Boston. The case has been seen as an important test for the Justice Department, which has vowed to prosecute acts of terrorism to the fullest extent of the law, but would be doing so in a state that has abolished the death penalty. "I would say it is a complicated decision," said Austin Sarat, Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College in Massachusetts. Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment