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| Investor Khosla: '60 Minutes' cleantech segment full of errors Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 07:19 PM PST  Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla on Tuesday issued a harsh rebuke to "60 Minutes" a week after the news magazine TV show broadcast a report saying that Silicon Valley and Washington have little to show for their investments in clean technology. In an open letter to both "60 Minutes" and its network, CBS, Khosla said a January 5 segment for which he was interviewed "grossly misrepresented the state of the sustainable energy industry." The letter, which was posted on the website of Khosla's Menlo Park, California firm, Khosla Ventures, went on to list what he called "numerous" reporting errors in "60 Minutes." A spokesman for "60 Minutes" responded saying, "While we respect Mr Khosla's views, we are not in agreement with the points he makes about our story." "We began and ended the piece with him, and devoted time to his ideas and to one of the companies he backs." The news magazine's segment on investments in advanced energy, sometimes known as cleantech, characterized Khosla-funded biofuels maker Kior Inc as "riddled with delays." It quoted a biofuels specialist, Robert Rapier, as saying Khosla "overpromised and under-delivered" on his investments. Full Story | Top |
| U.S., India meet to get ties back on track after dispute Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 06:40 PM PST  By David Brunnstrom and Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. diplomat met India's ambassador to the United States on Tuesday with the aim of getting bilateral ties back on track after the arrest and strip search of a female Indian diplomat and tit-for-tat expulsions. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns hosted a "productive" lunch meeting with Indian Ambassador S. Jaishankar and both sides affirmed the importance of the U.S.-India strategic partnership and "discussed initial preparations for a range of upcoming bilateral meetings and exchanges," a statement from the U.S. State Department said. The two officials also discussed matters raised by India's Foreign Ministry during the dispute, including alleged issues with the American Embassy School, the statement said. Burns said Washington took the concerns "very seriously and will continue to address them via appropriate diplomatic channels." The statement said both Burns and Jaishankar "affirmed our shared commitment to continue joint U.S.-India work on issues such as clean energy and climate change, defense, economic and trade engagement, counterterrorism, and civil nuclear development." On Saturday, India blamed the United States for what it called a "mini crisis" over the arrest and strip search of its deputy consul general in New York last month and said more work was needed to repair ties. Full Story | Top |
| FBI to revisit fatal beating of California transient after police cleared Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 03:34 PM PST  By Dan Whitcomb and Dana Feldman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The FBI plans to re-examine the fatal beating of a mentally ill California transient after a jury acquitted two ex-policemen of all charges in connection with his 2011 death, which touched off protests and political upheaval in the city of Fullerton. An Orange County Superior Court jury in Santa Ana found former Fullerton police officers Manuel Ramos and Jay Cicinelli not guilty on Monday of charges stemming from the death of 37-year-old Kelly Thomas, capping a sensational monthlong trial. Prosecutors had accused Ramos and Cicinelli, who approached Thomas near a bus depot to question him about reports of vandalized cars, of turning a routine law enforcement encounter into an unnecessary and savage bludgeoning that cost the unarmed homeless man his life. Ramos, 39, was charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Full Story | Top |
| Worried Fed seeks to curb Wall Street banks commodity trade Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 03:27 PM PST  By Anna Louie Sussman and Emily Stephenson NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday took a first formal step toward restricting the role of Wall Street banks in trading physical commodities, citing fears that a multibillion-dollar disaster could bring down a bank and imperil the stability of the financial system. The Fed board voted to publish its concerns and potential remedies following months of growing public and political pressure to check banks' decade-long expansion into the commodities supply chain. The Fed also questioned the initial rationale for allowing them to trade and invest in risky raw materials and lease oil tanks or own power plants. The Fed "expect(s) to engage in additional rulemaking in this area," according to prepared remarks of Michael Gibson, the Fed's director of bank supervision and regulation, to a U.S. Senate banking committee hearing on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| FDA advisory panel backs Chelsea Therapeutics drug Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 03:26 PM PST  By Toni Clarke WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A drug to treat a rare form of low blood pressure made by Chelsea Therapeutics International Ltd is effective enough to warrant regulatory approval, an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded on Tuesday. The panel voted 16 to 1 in favor of the drug, Northera, for patients with neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (NOH), a rare, chronic type of low blood pressure that occurs on standing and is associated with certain neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Chelsea shares more than doubled in after-hours trading. The FDA is not bound to follow the advice of its panels but typically does so. Full Story | Top |
| West African lion threatened with extinction: study Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 02:15 PM PST  By Emma Farge DAKAR (Reuters) - West Africa's lions, which once prowled across the region in their tens of thousands, are close to extinction as farmland eats up their ancient habitats and human hunters kill the animals they feed on, a study has shown. "These lions are standing on a cliff looking at the chasm of extinction," Luke Hunter, one of the paper's authors and president of wild cat conservation group Panthera, told Reuters on Tuesday. Full Story | Top |
| TSX advances as Valeant, telecoms show strength Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 02:05 PM PST  By John Tilak TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index edged higher on Tuesday as Valeant Pharmaceuticals gained after a report indicated its interest in a unit of Pfizer Inc and telecoms shares rose after Globalive pulled out of a wireless auction. Valeant shares climbed after Reuters reported that the drugmaker had expressed interest in buying Pfizer's branded generics business. However, a decline in shares of Shaw Communications Inc , following the cable company's quarterly report, capped the gains. "One of the game changers in 2014 could be macro risks fading and a global synchronized recovery emerging," said Paul Taylor, chief investment officer at BMO Asset Management, who sees the Toronto market benefiting from those trends. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. official says new rules likely for banks in physical commodities Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 02:02 PM PST A U.S. Federal Reserve official will tell lawmakers on Wednesday that regulators expect to write new rules for banks' physical commodities activities, according to prepared remarks obtained by Reuters. The rules could include higher capital requirements for banks engaged in those markets or prohibitions on specific risky holdings, Michael Gibson, the Fed's director of bank supervision and regulation, plans to tell a congressional panel. Lawmakers and regulators have increasingly scrutinized Wall Street's practices in physical commodities markets in recent months. Full Story | Top |
| Almost 40,000 cleared to start using water in West Virginia Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 01:49 PM PST West Virginia officials on Tuesday lifted more of a ban on drinking tap water for customers who had been affected by a chemical spill that left the state's water supply nearly unusable for hundreds of thousands since last week. A total of about 38,000 customers can now use tap water, with residents of the Southside, Southridge and George Washington areas near state capital Charleston cleared to drink or wash with their tap water, West Virginia American Water said in statements. Downtown Charleston and nearby Kanawha City were given the go-ahead on Monday. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. top court curbs human rights claims in Daimler ruling Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 01:16 PM PST  By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that Daimler AG cannot be sued in California over alleged abuses in Argentina, a decision likely to erode further the reputation of the United States as a global venue for human rights claims. The 9-0 decision was the second by the high court in less than a year to make it harder for plaintiffs to sue foreign-based multinational corporations in U.S. courts for alleged human rights violations. The fact that the German-based automaker owns a U.S.-based subsidiary that does business in California was not enough for the lawsuit to proceed, the court said. Daimler faced allegations that a subsidiary violated the human rights of workers at a plant in Argentina in the 1970s. Full Story | Top |
| Franco-German energy firm seen focused on renewables: sources Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 12:20 PM PST A French-German joint initiative in the energy sector announced by President Francois Hollande is likely to focus on renewable energy but is not aimed at forging alliances between major utilities firms, political and industrial sources said. Hollande surprised markets on Tuesday with a reference to the creation of a Franco-German joint venture energy company modeled on European aviation group Airbus, but sources told Reuters that French state-controlled utility EDF and German energy major E.ON had not been consulted about a major cooperation initiative. "The idea is to make a big French-German company for the energy transition." The announcement was one of an avalanche of new-sounding proposals put out by Hollande, determined to seize back the news agenda from allegations that he is having an affair with an actress. A French government source told Reuters that Hollande wants concrete proposals for cooperation in the renewable energy sector at joint French-German cabinet meeting scheduled for a February 19. Full Story | Top |
| Militiamen briefly storm Libyan parliament to demand vote Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 11:55 AM PST  By Ghaith Shennib TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Former Libyan militia fighters stormed parliament on Tuesday and fired in the air to try to force assembly members to take a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Ali Zeidan. The brief incident highlighted Libya's struggle to contain former rebels and militias who often turn to force to make demands on the weak central government two years after they helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in a civil war. About 30 militiamen, most armed with rifles, forced their way into the General National Congress (GNC) parliament compound in Tripoli, opening fire and briefly blocking one entrance before assembly members escaped via another route, witnesses and security sources said. "We were in the middle of discussions, when armed protesters stormed into the GNC demanding that we hold a vote of no confidence," Saad Bin Sharada, a GNC member, told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Hollande stonewalls on private life to make reform pitch Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 11:34 AM PST  By Mark John PARIS (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande brushed away questions about an alleged affair with an actress on Tuesday and unveiled moves to ease company taxes, cut labor charges and trim France's high public spending to revive a stagnant economy. He called for France and Germany to harmonize corporate taxation and create a joint venture to manage the transition to renewable energy, modeled on European plane giant Airbus. With over 500 journalists packed into the Elysee Palace ballroom for a New Year news conference, the Socialist leader, deeply unpopular with voters, made no mention of controversy about his private life in a 30-minute introductory speech and defiantly stonewalled on the subject for the next two hours. His official partner, Valerie Trierweiler, is in hospital recovering from shock after a celebrity magazine published pictures of what it said was Hollande wearing a motorcycle helmet visiting actress Julie Gayet for nocturnal trysts. Full Story | Top |
| Republican senator urges Obama to lift U.S. crude export ban Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 11:22 AM PST  By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Lisa Murkowski on Tuesday urged President Barack Obama to lift a ban on exporting U.S.-produced crude oil, stepping up pressure on the administration to allow producers involved in the domestic energy boom to gain access to global markets. "Lifting the ban will help create jobs, boost the economy and keep our production at record levels," Murkowski, from Alaska and the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a letter to Obama. While U.S. energy companies are allowed to export oil products, including gasoline and jet fuel, a presidential waiver from current laws is required to sell most crude oil abroad. "While I believe you retain the executive authority necessary to lift the ban on crude oil exports, if you need legislative support from the Congress in order to do so, you will always have a willing partner from Alaska," Murkowski said. Full Story | Top |
| Toshiba boosts UK nuclear plans with NuGen deal Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 10:47 AM PST  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Toshiba has agreed to buy 60 percent of the NuGen UK nuclear joint venture between GDF Suez and Spain's Iberdrola for 102 million pounds, boosting Britain's plans to replace its ageing nuclear fleet. Toshiba's Westinghouse unit will provide three of its AP1000 nuclear reactors, with a combined capacity of 3,400 megawatts (MW), for construction on the NuGen Moorside nuclear site in northern England, the companies involved said on Tuesday. Toshiba's involvement marks the entry of the second Japanese engineering heavyweight into Britain's drive to build new nuclear plants after Hitachi bought a nuclear new build project in 2012. Full Story | Top |
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