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| China paves way to charge ally of former security tsar in graft crackdown Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 08:00 PM PST  A former vice minister of public security and ally of China's retired domestic security chief, Zhou Yongkang, has resigned from his position as a national lawmaker, state media said, possibly opening the way for criminal charges against him. Li Dongsheng was formally sacked this week after being suspended last December for suspected "serious discipline violations", a term normally used to refer to corruption. China's parliament - whose annual session opens in Beijing next week - has accepted Li's resignation as a member of parliament for southwestern Sichuan province, the official Xinhua news agency said late on Thursday. Li joined the Public Security Ministry in 2009, having previously served as a deputy propaganda minister, and helped oversee security for the 2010 Asian Games in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, according to state media. Full Story | Top |
| China's turbulent Xinjiang weighs anti-terror laws for the first time Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 07:49 PM PST  China's restive far western region of Xinjiang is considering drafting anti-terror laws for the first time, following a string of deadly incidents, a state-run newspaper said on Friday. Authorities are keen to clamp down on unrest that has killed more than 100 people during the past year in the resource-rich region, where tensions have long simmered between a large Muslim Uighur minority and growing numbers of ethnic Han Chinese. Work on the anti-terror law is planned to start this year, although finalizing a draft may take several years, legislative official Bo Xiao told the China Daily. China uses its Criminal Law to tackle what it calls terror-related crimes in Xinjiang, but regional officials consider this inadequate for some cases. Full Story | Top |
| New Orleans police issue arrest warrant for Ex-NFL star Darren Sharper Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 07:46 PM PST  By Kathy Finn NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - New Orleans police issued an arrest warrant on Thursday for former football star Darren Sharper, saying he is wanted as a suspect in two rapes, a week after he pleaded not guilty to charges of drugging four other women and raping two of them in Los Angeles. Two women in New Orleans have accused Sharper, 38, and an acquaintance, Erik Nunez, 26, of raping them both at the same location on the night of September 23, 2013, according to a New Orleans Police Department statement. Sharper's attorney, Nandi Campbell, said neither she nor her client had any comment. Sharper, a defensive back who played 14 years in the National Football League and helped the New Orleans Saints to a Super Bowl title in 2010, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and drug charges in Los Angeles on February 20. Full Story | Top |
| Armed standoff in pro-Russian region raises Ukraine tension Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 07:33 PM PST  By Alessandra Prentice and Alissa de Carbonnel SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (Reuters) - The United States told Russia to demonstrate in coming days that it was sincere about its promise not to intervene in Ukraine as armed men stormed the regional parliament and hours later others seized the airport in a mainly ethnic Russian region. Crimea, the only Ukrainian region with an ethnic Russian majority, is the last big bastion of opposition to the new leadership in Kiev since pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich was ousted at the weekend. Full Story | Top |
| Carnival holiday may take heat out of Venezuela crisis Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 07:21 PM PST  By Andrew Cawthorne and Daniel Wallis CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelans began a week-long national holiday on Thursday as some protests still simmered, but President Nicolas Maduro's government was hoping the break would take the heat out of the nation's worst unrest in a decade. The 51-year-old successor to Hugo Chavez brought forward by two days a long national holiday weekend for Carnival when Venezuelans traditionally abandon cities and head for Caribbean coast beaches to unwind and party. In the capital Caracas, which has seen most of the at least 13 fatalities from this month's unrest, opposition supporters gathered in wealthy eastern neighborhoods. In familiar scenes from the last two weeks, when one group of demonstrators tried to block a major six-lane highway that runs nearby, security forces fired teargas to disperse them. Full Story | Top |
| Protests, barricades bring Venezuela's 'Cordial City' to a halt Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 07:21 PM PST By Brian Ellsworth SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (Reuters) - Piles of glass, a trashed refrigerator and the burned remains of a car litter the streets of the Pirineos neighborhood in the Venezuelan city of San Cristobal, giving it the look of a community under siege. In fact, the residents of this middle-class area have created the disorder themselves as part of anti-government protests demanding President Nicolas Maduro resign. The sporadic demonstrations that kicked off two months ago in San Cristobal have turned into a national opposition protest movement and shuttered this city of 250,000 known as the "Cordial City" for its residents' reserved Andean chivalry. Protesters say this western region of Venezuela near the Colombian border, the tail end of the Andes mountains before they drop off toward the Caribbean, suffers some of the worst of the country's rampant crime and most severe product shortages. Full Story | Top |
| Vice President Biden calls Ukraine PM Yatseniuk, pledges U.S. support Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 07:17 PM PST U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday welcomed the formation of a new government in Ukraine in a phone call with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk and pledged U.S. support for reforms, the White House said. "The vice president reassured the prime minister that the United States will offer its full support as Ukraine undertakes the reforms necessary to return to economic health, pursue reconciliation, uphold its international obligations, and seek open and constructive relationships with all its neighbors," the White House said. Full Story | Top |
| California's attorney general takes up court fight over gun laws Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 06:53 PM PST  By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's attorney general on Thursday waded into a court fight over the state's strict gun laws, asking an appeals court to reverse itself and restore the leeway local governments had to decide who can carry a concealed firearm. A three-member panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, acting on a lawsuit by gun owners, earlier this month struck down as unconstitutional a requirement by San Diego County that residents show "good cause" to carry a concealed firearm. In a 2-1 decision, the panel found that San Diego county's rules, coupled with a California state law that largely bans the open carrying of firearms in public, effectively barred residents from carrying a gun altogether, in violation of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Lawyers for both sides agreed that the panel's ruling, if upheld, would force cities and counties across California to issue permits to anyone who sought to carry a concealed weapon for self-defense and met the other requirements under state law. Full Story | Top |
| New Jersey's Christie allies joke about another traffic jam: documents Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 06:46 PM PST  By Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two people at the heart of a traffic scandal dogging New Jersey Governor Chris Christie joked weeks earlier about causing traffic problems in front of the home of a rabbi, documents released on Thursday show. Christie's former deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly and David Wildstein, an ally to the governor at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, lost their jobs over their involvement in the "Bridgegate" scandal last September that is threatening Christie's White House aspirations. Documents released by Wildstein to a state legislative committee probing the incident, in which lanes were shut near the busy George Washington Bridge, causing a huge traffic jam, reveal that on August 19 he and Kelly discussed another traffic scheme. "Flights to Tel Aviv all mysteriously delayed," Wildstein wrote in reply. Full Story | Top |
| Thai anti-govt protesters target PM again despite hint of talks Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 06:40 PM PST  Protesters in Thailand said they will rally at ministries and companies linked to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Friday, keeping up pressure on her to resign despite a vague proposal of talks from their leader. The protesters have blocked big intersections in the capital, Bangkok, since mid-January and forced many ministries to close as part of a four-month campaign to push out Yingluck and eradicate the political influence of her brother, ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, seen as the real power in Thailand. However, in a speech to supporters late on Thursday, Suthep showed his more combative side, directly blaming Yingluck for two attacks on protesters at the weekend in which five people were killed, including four children. Full Story | Top |
| Cuban man accused in Miami gold heist arrested in Belize Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 06:24 PM PST By David Quinones MIAMI (Reuters) - After a 14-month manhunt in four countries, a Cuban man accused of a $2.8 million Miami gold heist is in custody in Belize and could be headed back to the United States to face charges, authorities and a private investigator said on Thursday. Raonel Valdez Valhuerdis was found last week hiding in bushes near the Guatemalan border outside the small Belize town of Benque Viejo, according to David Bolton, a private investigator contracted to find Valdez by the owner of the gold, Bolivian-based export company Quri Wasi. "Immigration (authorities) there apprehended him because of his passport, but he was acting suspicious, so they Googled his name," said Bolton. Upon finding Valdez's wanted poster online, the Belizean authorities contacted Bolton, who put them in touch with the U.S. Marshals Service. Full Story | Top |
| Brazil's top court overturns some convictions in political corruption case Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 06:18 PM PST Brazil's Supreme Court overturned racketeering convictions against former leaders of the ruling Workers Party on Thursday, reducing their prison sentences in the country's biggest political corruption case. The 6-5 ruling does not affect other convictions for corruption and money-laundering in the congressional vote-buying scandal that almost toppled party leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from the presidency in 2005. "This is a sad day for this Supreme Court," said a disheartened Chief Justice Joaquim Barbosa, who became a household name in Brazil for his pursuit of convictions in the so-called mensalao, or big monthly payments, case. Full Story | Top |
| California Governor Jerry Brown will seek re-election Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 05:20 PM PST  By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - Governor Jerry Brown, a popular Democrat who has steered California on a centrist path, said on Thursday he would seek re-election to another term as leader of the most populous U.S. state, in a widely anticipated move. Brown's decision to seek another term comes at a time of nearly unprecedented strength for California Democrats who hold large majorities in the state legislature, although it also coincides with a debilitating drought that has deepened regional divides. He begins his campaign with high approval ratings and respect, if at times grudging, from both Democrats and Republicans for guiding state finances back to solvency after a severe recession. Full Story | Top |
| California Democrats avert move to oust convicted state senator Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 05:04 PM PST By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers in California deflected a Republican resolution on Thursday calling for the expulsion of a state senator who was convicted of eight felonies, a move Republicans say was aimed at preserving Democrats' two-thirds majority. Democratic State Senator Roderick Wright, who represents parts of Los Angeles and the suburb of Inglewood, was convicted last month of voter fraud and perjury after prosecutors said he did not physically live in the district he represented. Earlier this week, Senate leader Darrell Steinberg granted him a paid leave of absence, saying that although a jury had found Wright guilty, the judge had not yet formally endorsed the verdict. After Knight and two other Republicans objected, Steinberg said he would hear their resolution to expel Wright if it came to the senate floor. Full Story | Top |
| Lawsuit against Google over Gmail faces hurdle, U.S. judge says Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 05:03 PM PST  By Dan Levine SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday said some plaintiffs accusing Google of improperly scanning their email faced a significant hurdle in their attempt to move forward with the lawsuit as a class action. Litigation brought by nine plaintiffs, some Gmail users, some not, was consolidated before U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, last year. The plaintiffs maintain Google violated several laws, including federal anti-wiretapping statutes by systematically crossing the "creepy line" to read private email messages in order to profit, according to court documents. Koh must decide whether the lawsuit can proceed as a class action, which would allow the plaintiffs to sue as a group and give them more leverage to extract a larger settlement. Full Story | Top |
| Syria says two attempted attacks on chemical weapons convoys: U.N. Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 04:52 PM PST  By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - There were two attempted attacks on Syrian convoys transporting chemical weapons late last month, Syrian authorities told the international mission overseeing the removal and destruction of its toxic arsenal, according to a U.N. report on Thursday. The monthly report to the U.N. Security Council of the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said the attempted attacks were on January 27. "In addition, Syrian authorities indicated that ongoing military activities rendered two sites inaccessible during most of the reporting period," the five-page report said. This delayed "in-country destruction of the final quantities of isopropanol, preventing some activities to consolidate chemical material into a reduced number of locations, and preventing the physical verification of chemical material prior to movement on 27 January 2014." Isopropanol is one of two key ingredients for sarin. Full Story | Top |
| On anniversary, Tea Party vows to move U.S. Congress to right Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 04:46 PM PST  By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The largest group in the conservative U.S. Tea Party movement celebrated its fifth anniversary on Thursday with a pledge to push Congress further to the right and capture the White House in 2016. At a rally in a hotel ballroom two blocks from the Capitol, lawmakers allied with the Tea Party Patriots said their movement had matured from a raucous protest against the growth of government to one that would engage with the government's machinery to promote a stronger conservative agenda. "It's about winning a civil debate, not a civil war," said Senator Mike Lee, a Tea Party Republican from Utah elected in 2010. "If we grasp onto an agenda, we will catch the Washington, D.C. establishment off-guard." Many of the suggestions thrown out by lawmakers on Thursday revolved around repealing President Barack Obama's health care reform law, balancing the federal budget, rolling back regulation viewed as oppressive and replacing the tax system with a flatter, straightforward levy - goals often voiced by mainstream Republicans. Full Story | Top |
| 'Culture of brutality' in Chicago jail charged in lawsuit Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 04:42 PM PST By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) - Prisoners at Chicago's Cook County Jail live in fear due to a "culture of brutality and lawlessness" that subjects them to physical abuse by guards, a civil rights lawsuit filed in federal court in Chicago said on Thursday. Some 62,573 people are detained in the jail each year, most of them awaiting trial, the lawsuit noted, adding that jail inmates represent 1.2 percent of the total population of Cook County. Attorneys with the Roderick MacArthur Justice Center at Northwestern University School of Law filed the lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, asking that the court prevent the county from subjecting prisoners to unlawful practices and policies. Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart, who was named as a defendant along with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, called the lawsuit outrageous and without merit in a news conference on Thursday posted on the Chicago Tribune website. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Democrats launch push to expand voting access Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 04:40 PM PST  With the help of former President Bill Clinton, the Democratic Party launched a national drive on Thursday to expand voting opportunities and fight back against what it calls restrictive voting laws. Voting laws have been the subject of partisan fights since 2011, when a wave of Republican-sponsored state laws began to impose stricter identification requirements on voters or restrict access, including by cutting back on early voting sites and hours. "To form that more perfect union, we have to expand rights, not take them away." Democratic National Committee officials said the program, announced at the start of their winter meeting, would vary by state depending on state laws and the local political climate. President Barack Obama warned of the trend last week, saying Democratic voters did not find midterms "sexy" enough. Full Story | Top |
| Obama launches personal effort to propel black and Latino boys Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 04:35 PM PST  By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday launched a very personal appeal to help improve opportunities for boys from minority groups who, he said, resembled him as a youth and faced statistical challenges that their white peers did not. Noting that he grew up without a father and made poor choices including drug use, Obama said that helping black and Hispanic boys succeed was a moral and an economic imperative for the United States. This is as important as any issue that I work on," Obama said at a White House ceremony with 20 young men "of color" standing on risers behind him. The program, which will involve increasing mentorship opportunities and efforts aimed at reducing violence among minority boys, is an example of an issue that Obama is pushing on his own while conflicts with Congress prevent him from advancing more ambitious legislative priorities. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge orders Kentucky to recognize same-sex marriages Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 04:34 PM PST  A U.S. judge ordered Kentucky on Thursday to recognize the legal same-sex marriages of residents who wed elsewhere, the latest in a string of court victories for gay rights advocates. U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II said the Kentucky laws that deny the marriages of same-sex couples "violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and they are void and unenforceable." The decision makes official a ruling he made on February 12 to strike down the laws. Seventeen U.S. states and the District of Columbia recognize gay marriage, and the trend has gained pace since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that legally married same-sex couples nationwide are eligible for federal benefits. "After many years of representing gay and lesbian clients, it (the ruling) moves Kentucky in the direction of many other states. Full Story | Top |
| Mexican president 'indignant' at U.S. deportations Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 04:34 PM PST  By Julia Symmes Cobb MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said he is "indignant" at the United States' deportation of Mexican migrants and described U.S. lawmakers as demonstrating a "lack of conscience" in failing to pass immigration reform. In a television interview aired late on Wednesday Pena Nieto said he and U.S. President Barack Obama discussed the issue during their meeting at a North American leaders' summit held last week in Mexico. His emboldened comments to U.S. Spanish language channel Univision followed days after his administration announced it had captured Mexico's most wanted man, drug lord Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman. Pena Nieto has said any extradition of Guzman to the United States is likely to take time, underscoring the fact the drug lord still has outstanding time to serve in Mexico after a daring 2001 jail break, reportedly in a laundry cart. Full Story | Top |
| Russian spy ship makes surprise visit to Havana Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 04:17 PM PST By Rosa Tania Valdés HAVANA (Reuters) - A Russian spy ship slipped into Havana Bay for an unannounced visit during a period of turmoil in Ukraine and displays of military strength elsewhere in the world. The Viktor Leonov SSV-175, part of the Vishnya class of intelligence ships, quietly entered Cuban waters earlier this week and was docked at a cruise ship terminal on Thursday, its crew casually taking in the view of the old colonial section of the Cuban capital as passers-by gawked. Russian warships have come and gone in Cuba since the collapse of the Soviet Union, usually with much publicity and the opportunity for Cubans to visit the ship. Russia has been stung by recent unrest in Ukraine, where a pro-Russian government was ousted in favor of one seeking an alliance with the West, and where Russia has a major naval base near Sevastopol on the Black Sea. Full Story | Top |
| Group offers plan to meet new EPA power plant emission rules Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 04:16 PM PST By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Swapping power generated from the dirtiest coal plants with that from under-used natural gas plants would help U.S. states meet new regulations for greenhouse gas emissions, according to a plan released by an environmental group on Thursday. The proposal by the Boston-based Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is the latest to be presented as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prepares new emissions standards for existing power plants, due for release on June 1. President Barack Obama last June directed the EPA to propose the national standards to lower carbon emissions that states could meet through their own tailored plans. Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-European Jewish Congress back FA's banning of Anelka Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 04:16 PM PST By Tom Hayward LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The English FA's decision to ban West Bromwich Albion striker Nicolas Anelka for an offensive gesture has been applauded by the president of the European Jewish Congress, though he believed more needs to be done to combat anti-Semitism. The former France forward was banned on Thursday for five games, fined 80,000 pounds ($133,400)and ordered to attend a compulsory educational programme following the "Quenelle" gesture he made during a match in December. Anelka denied he was racist or anti-Semitic and said he used it as a tribute to his friend, controversial French comedian Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala who invented it. "The suspension sends a clear message that hate is unacceptable," European Jewish Congress head Moshe Kantor said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Dissident warns China sending spies to U.S. in scholarly guise Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 04:09 PM PST By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A prominent Chinese dissident who moved to the United States after being fired by Peking University last year warned on Thursday of the dangers of academic exchanges with China, saying Beijing sent spies as visiting scholars. Xia Yeliang, an economics professor, was expelled from Peking University in October amid a broader crackdown on dissent, having drawn the ire of school officials for blog posts calling for democratic reforms and rule of law in China. At his first public event at the think tank, Xia said that the fact so many high-ranking Chinese officials sent their children to study abroad showed a lack of trust in China's own education system and a desire to "borrow the good fame and name" from prestigious U.S. universities such as Harvard and Stanford. "I just have the warning for all those top universities in the U.S.A.: you think you've got some benefits through cooperation with China, but who will win in the future? Full Story | Top |
| Bill to revamp consumer agency passes U.S. House, unlikely to become law Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 03:51 PM PST By Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday to overhaul the U.S. consumer financial watchdog, although the politically charged legislation stands little chance of becoming law. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law to help protect Americans from financial scams. Republicans say the agency is unaccountable to lawmakers because its funding comes from the U.S. Federal Reserve, not congressional appropriations. "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is not responsive to Congress because it doesn't get its funding from Congress," said Wisconsin Republican Sean Duffy, who sponsored the bill. Full Story | Top |
| World Bank postpones Uganda loan over anti-gay law Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 03:50 PM PST  By Anna Yukhananov WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Bank on Thursday postponed a $90 million loan to Uganda's health system over a law that toughened punishment for gays, an unusual move for an institution that typically avoids wading into politics. "We have postponed the project for further review to ensure that the development objectives would not be adversely affected by the enactment of this new law," World Bank spokesman David Theis said in an email. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed an anti-gay bill earlier this week that strengthens already strict laws against homosexuals by imposing a life sentence for certain violations and making it a crime to not report anyone who breaks the law. The World Bank, a poverty-fighting institution based in Washington, usually refrains from getting involved in countries' internal politics or in issues such as gay rights to avoid antagonizing any of its 188 member countries. Full Story | Top |
| Japan finance minister: Japan has not yet decided its stance on bitcoin Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 03:50 PM PST Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday that Tokyo has not yet determined its stance on the bitcoin virtual currency and that related government agencies will assess the situation. His comments came after Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, once the world's biggest exchange for the bitcoin crypto-currency, went blank on Tuesday after weeks of turmoil. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has sent subpoenas to Mt. Gox, other bitcoin exchanges and businesses that deal in bitcoins to seek information on how they handled recent cyber attacks, a source familiar with the probe said. Full Story | Top |
| Oklahoma House passes new abortion restrictions bill Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 03:49 PM PST By Heide Brandes OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - The Oklahoma House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill on Thursday to apply new restrictions on abortions that lawmakers said are aimed at protecting women's health but opponents say are designed to shut down clinics. The legislation includes a provision similar to one put in place in neighboring Texas that requires physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at an appropriately equipped hospital within 30 miles of their practice. The Republican lawmaker who wrote the legislation, Mike Ritze, a physician, said his goal was to ensure women who experience complications like hemorrhaging, can have access to hospital care immediately. The bill also requires abortion clinics to meet heightened building standards, bans abortion after 20 weeks, and requires strict adherence to guidelines in prescribing abortion pills. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Navy eyes greater presence in Arctic from 2025 Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 03:36 PM PST  We don't think we're going to have to do war-fighting up there, but we have to be ready," said Rear Admiral Jonathan White, the Navy's top oceanographer and navigator, and director of the Navy's climate change task force. The Navy this week released an "aggressive" update to its 2009 Arctic road map after a detailed analysis of data from a variety of sources showed that seasonal ice is disappearing faster than had been expected even three years ago. It also puts a big focus on cooperation with other Arctic nations and with the U.S. Coast Guard, which is grappling with the need to build a new $1 billion ice-breaking ship. The Navy is conducting a submarine exercise in the Arctic next month, and plans to participate in a joint training exercise with the Norwegian and Russian military this summer. Full Story | Top |
| October trial date set for accused Colorado theater gunman Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 03:30 PM PST  By Keith Coffman CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) - A Colorado judge on Thursday set a new trial date in October for James Holmes, the former neuroscience graduate student accused of killing 12 moviegoers in a shooting spree at a suburban Denver cinema in 2012. Arapahoe County District Court Judge Carlos Samour set the October 14 date after a previous February timeframe was vacated because of ongoing legal wrangling over Holmes' sanity and other issues. Holmes, 26, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder stemming from the July 2012 shooting spree that left 12 people dead and 70 others injured. The results have mostly been kept confidential, but prosecutors sought a second evaluation because they said the first had "numerous deficiencies." Last week, the judge ruled that the first examination of Holmes, a one-time University of Colorado doctoral candidate, was "incomplete and inadequate" and ordered a new evaluation. Full Story | Top |
| Senate panel faults new U.S. law to fight offshore tax dodging Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 03:14 PM PST By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate investigators have sharply criticized the implementation of a new Obama administration law meant to fight offshore tax evasion by Americans, saying that "gaping loopholes" in the law could let shell companies skirt it. The report cited concerns about implementation of 2010's Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which was enacted after a scandal involving another Swiss bank, UBS AG, and its role in helping Americans avoid taxes. The subcommittee said FATCA will let foreign financial institutions treat offshore shell entities as exempt from FATCA, even when they are owned and controlled by U.S. taxpayers. Scheduled to take effect on July 1, FATCA will require foreign banks to share information with the Internal Revenue Service about Americans' accounts worth more than $50,000. Full Story | Top |
| Unauthorized video of U.S. Supreme Court protest posted online Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 03:12 PM PST By Lawrence Hurley and Joan Biskupic WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For the first time, video footage of U.S. Supreme Court proceedings has been recorded and posted online. The Supreme Court has always barred any type of cameras, including news media, from recording proceedings. The video shows a protester who disrupted an oral argument on Wednesday. The shaky, low-quality video, just over two minutes long, shows a brief disruption that occurred in the courtroom during an oral argument in a patent case. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico telecom regulator can police dominant firms: draft Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 03:03 PM PST By Simon Gardner and Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico will give its new telecommunications regulator sweeping powers to police dominant telecommunications companies and TV broadcasters, right down to their prices and discounts, a draft bill that fleshes out a landmark reform passed last year shows. The Federal Institute for Telecommunications (IFT) will have far-reaching powers to order companies to sell assets, revoke concessions and share networks and infrastructure. Major market players like billionaire Carlos Slim's phone and Internet company America Movil, his fixed-line operator Telmex and TV broadcaster Televisa are widely expected to be declared dominant by the regulator. Full Story | Top |
| Canada blocks Rogers/Bell JV from grabbing more airwaves Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 02:58 PM PST  By Euan Rocha and Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada blocked a joint venture of two of the country's biggest wireless telephone carriers from acquiring more airwaves on Thursday, sending the latest pointed message that their dominant positions would be challenged in the fight to win over consumers. The government said it had declined a request to transfer 83 wireless spectrum licenses from NextWave to Inukshuk, which is owned by Rogers Communications and BCE Inc's Bell Canada unit. The decision may set an important precedent for a string of other spectrum deals being plotted as telecom companies rush to buy up as many prized airwaves as possible. Canada's Industry Minister James Moore said in a brief statement the sale of the 2.3 GHz airwave licenses would have created unacceptable levels of concentration of spectrum in the hands of incumbent carriers, hurting competition in regions including Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton and many mid-sized cities. Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Madoff aide pleads ignorance, naivete at U.S. fraud trial Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 02:56 PM PST  Those were among the subjects that Annette Bongiorno said on Thursday she did not understand, despite spending more than 40 years as one of the key employees at Bernard Madoff's investment firm. Bongiorno is one of five former Madoff workers on trial in federal court in Manhattan for abetting his fraud, which fell apart in December 2008, costing investors an estimated $17 billion in principal losses. Facing questions from a government prosecutor about her alleged role in concealing Madoff's multibillion-dollar fraud, Bongiorno did not deny that she entered thousands of backdated trades in customers' accounts, sometimes years after they had purportedly occurred. But she said, again and again, that she was simply following Madoff's orders, knew next to nothing about Wall Street and had "no clue" that anything she had done was illegal. Full Story | Top |
| Islamic cleric plans to testify in own defense at New York trial Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 02:55 PM PST  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - Radical Islamist cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri plans to testify in his own defense at his trial on terrorism charges in New York in April, according to a letter to the judge overseeing his case. In a five-page hand-written letter made public on Thursday, al-Masri told U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest he was "surprised" no one had told her of his plans. Full Story | Top |
| S&P 500 ends at record after Yellen's weather talk Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 02:40 PM PST  By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 closed at a record on Thursday and ended in positive territory for the year after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said harsh weather seems to be to behind recent U.S. economic softness. That gave some relief to investors who supported the view that heavy snowstorms and unusually cold weather - and not worsening fundamentals - were to blame for weak U.S. employment, retail sales and other data. The advance lifted the S&P 500 above its 2013 year-end closing level of 1,848.36, which has served as resistance in recent sessions. She could have excluded weather and perhaps talked more about the soft patch," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial, which is based in Newark, New Jersey. Full Story | Top |
| Arizona Democratic Rep. Ed Pastor says he will retire Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 02:38 PM PST By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - U.S. Congressman Ed Pastor, an 11-term Democrat and the first Hispanic from Arizona elected to the U.S. Congress, said on Thursday he will retire at the end of this term from a district that is seen as a safe seat for Democrats. Pastor, 70, whose district includes central Phoenix, is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and is the ranking member of the subcommittee on transportation. "After 23 years in Congress, I feel it's time for me to seek out a new endeavor," Pastor said in a statement. "It's been a great honor, a great experience and a great joy for me to serve in Congress. Full Story | Top |
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