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| Another body found in U.S. mudslide as fears grow for missing Friday, Mar 28, 2014 08:34 PM PDT  By Eric M. Johnson ARLINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - Authorities combing a massive mud pile left by a Washington state landslide that buried dozens of homes said on Friday they were bracing for the worst for 90 people still listed as missing, in one of the strongest official acknowledgments that many of those lives may be lost. Officials said one more body had been found in a field of debris left behind when a rain-soaked hillside collapsed without warning last Saturday, unleashing a towering wall of mud onto the outskirts of rural Oso, about 55 miles northeast of Seattle. Full Story | Top |
| BlackBerry wins court order against TV host Ryan Seacrest's Typo Friday, Mar 28, 2014 08:13 PM PDT  (Reuters) - BlackBerry Ltd won a preliminary injunction on Friday to ban Ryan Seacrest's Typo Products LLC from selling a $99 iPhone case after a judge agreed that television host's company had likely infringed on BlackBerry's patents. U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco said that the Canadian mobile phone maker had established a "likelihood" of proving that Typo infringed its patents, while mentioning that Typo had not sufficiently challenged the patents in question. The preliminary injunction prohibits Typo from the sale of its keyboard, which is a part of the relief sought by Blackberry. "BlackBerry is pleased that its motion for a preliminary injunction against Typo Products LLC was granted. Full Story | Top |
| Fresh objects seen in new Malaysia jet search area Friday, Mar 28, 2014 06:54 PM PDT  Australian authorities coordinating the operation moved the air and sea search 1,100 km (685 miles) north on Friday after new analysis of radar and satellite data concluded Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 travelled faster and for a shorter distance after vanishing from civilian radar screens on March 8. Five international aircraft spotted "multiple objects of various colors" in the new search area some 1,850 km (1,150 miles) west of Perth, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said on Saturday. Malaysia says the Boeing 777, which vanished less than an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was likely diverted deliberately but investigators have turned up no apparent motive or other red flags among the 227 passengers or the 12 crew. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge OKs class action in e-book suit against Apple Friday, Mar 28, 2014 06:27 PM PDT  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge in New York granted class certification on Friday to a group of consumers who sued Apple Inc for conspiring with five major publishers to fix e-book prices in violation of antitrust law. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said the plaintiffs had "more than met their burden" to allow them to sue as a group. She rejected Apple's contentions that the claims were too different from each other, or that some plaintiffs were not harmed because some e-book prices fell. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment. Full Story | Top |
| One more victim found in Washington state mudslide debris field Friday, Mar 28, 2014 06:23 PM PDT (Reuters) - The body of one more person killed in a Washington state mudslide was found on Friday in the debris field where searchers are scouring the muck for about 90 people missing nearly a week after the disaster, a county official said. Snohomish County Executive Director Gary Haakenson said that person was not included in the official death toll of 17, which remained steady. The new remains appeared to bring to 10 the number of victims that authorities have said have been found but not yet identified or added to the official death toll. Full Story | Top |
| Obama seeks to reassure Saudi Arabia over Iran, Syria Friday, Mar 28, 2014 06:09 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland RIYADH (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought to reassure Saudi King Abdullah on Friday that he would support moderate Syrian rebels and reject a bad nuclear deal with Iran, during a visit designed to allay the kingdom's concerns that its decades-old U.S. alliance had frayed. Flying by helicopter to the king's desert camp, Obama underscored the importance of Washington's relationship with the world's largest oil exporter in a two-hour meeting that focused on the Middle East but did not touch on energy or human rights. Last year senior Saudi officials warned of a "major shift" away from the United States after bitter disagreements over its response to the "Arab spring" uprisings, efforts to negotiate with Iran, and Washington's decision not to intervene militarily in Syria, where Riyadh wants more American support for rebels. Full Story | Top |
| Citigroup hurt by negligent auditing on failed stress test: Financial Times Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:59 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Weaknesses in auditing led to Citigroup Inc failing the U.S. Federal Reserve capital assessments, fueling fears that there is negligence in controls at the U.S. bank, the Financial Times reported on Friday citing executives and others sources familiar with the matter. Executives at Citi are promising better auditing and anti-money laundering processes and will try to allay the concerns that led regulators to veto the bank's plan to return more cash to shareholders, the newspaper reported on its website. Citigroup's Chief Executive Officer Mike Corbat had shown himself to be "overconfident" that he had repaired the bank's rickety relationship with regulators and had "mistaken a 'not bad' relationship for a good relationship," the business daily reported citing a senior executive. Citigroup investors will likely have to wait until at least 2015 to receive an increase in dividends or stock buybacks after the Federal Reserve rejected its plan to return more capital to shareholders, the Wall Street Journal reported. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge rules banks must face lawsuit over alleged rate rigging Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:51 PM PDT  By Dena Aubin NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge in Manhattan has ruled that a group of international banks must face complaints that they violated the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act by manipulating yen-denominated interest rate benchmarks between 2006 and 2010. In a ruling on Friday, U.S. District Judge George Daniels also granted the banks' motion to dismiss related claims against them for antitrust violations and unjust enrichment. The banks, which included Mizuho Bank Ltd, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Barclays Bank AG, UBS AG and Citigroup Inc, were sued in 2012 for allegedly manipulating rates that reflect interest on short-term loans denominated in Japanese yen. The interest rate benchmarks, used for pricing a wide array of financial products, are set each day based on rates submitted by banks as the prevailing market rates or the rates at which they could borrow funds. Full Story | Top |
| California senate suspends three lawmakers in criminal probes Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:49 PM PDT  The California state Senate suspended three Democratic lawmakers on Friday charged with federal criminal cases including Leland Yee, who was arrested this week in an FBI sweep on corruption and gun trafficking charges. The Senate voted 28-1 to suspend the three, all of whom have been charged with or convicted of criminal wrongdoing in separate cases, in a move that further erodes what had once been a Democratic two-thirds super-majority in the Senate. "An affirmative suspension puts this house on formal record that we unequivocally distance ourselves and the senate from the unfathomable allegations contained in the Yee indictment as well as the other case," California Senate Democratic leader Darrell Steinberg said during the meeting. California Governor Jerry Brown, meanwhile, called on all three politicians to step down. Full Story | Top |
| Brazilian plane makes emergency landing with no front wheels Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:30 PM PDT An Avianca Airlines passenger jet safely made an emergency landing in Brasilia on Friday after its front landing gear failed to deploy, authorities said. None of the 49 passengers and crew of five on the Fokker 100 jet were injured when the plane landed on its rear wheels before lowering the nose onto the runway, the Brazilian Air Force said. "The plane suffered a hydraulic problem and the front landing gear did not open, so the pilot did a belly landing," an Air Force spokesman said. Full Story | Top |
| Houston-area man arrested in undercover FBI terrorism sting Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:21 PM PDT A Houston-area man suspected of leading an anti-government group appeared in federal court on Friday to face charges of trying to rob an armored car with explosives and plotting to blow up U.S. government buildings. Robert James Talbot Jr., 38, of Katy, Texas, was arrested by U.S. agents Thursday after an eight-month federal probe as he was about to rob an armored car with inert explosives provided to him by informants who had entered his group, according to a criminal complaint filed in a U.S. federal court in Houston. Full Story | Top |
| Louisiana faced with revealing lethal injection details to inmate Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:19 PM PDT The Louisiana Department of Corrections does not plan to appeal a U.S. Court decision this week that compels it to reveal to inmates on death row the content and maker of drugs used in lethal injections, a prisons official said on Friday. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Thursday was one in a series in favor of inmates who have sought delays for their execution while they seek information about the contents of lethal injection cocktails and clarity on who would be supplying the drugs. The decisions are likely to delay executions across the country as lawyers for inmates in other states launch similar efforts on their behalf in states looking to develop new means of lethal injection after supplies of drugs they have once used have run dry. "The state will not appeal the decision," Darryl Campbell, the executive management officer of the Louisiana Department of Corrections, told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Apple, Google lose bid to avoid trial on tech worker lawsuit Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:17 PM PDT  By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday rejected a request from Apple, Google and two other tech companies to avoid a trial in a class action lawsuit alleging a scheme to drive down wages. Trial is scheduled to begin in May. Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe asked for a judgment in their favor without a trial, arguing that any no-hire agreements between the companies were reached independently, and were not part of an overarching conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, Calif., however, rejected that argument. An Intel spokesman said the company is studying the ruling, and representatives for Google and Apple declined to comment. Full Story | Top |
| Healthy job growth could calm stocks' nerves Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:15 PM PDT  By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) - If hiring picked up in March at a healthy pace, that could convince U.S. stock investors next week that the economy's recent setbacks caused by the weather were only temporary. Friday's monthly jobs report, the most widely watched U.S. economic indicator, is expected to show that nonfarm payrolls added 200,000 jobs in March, according to a Reuters poll of economists. Employers added 175,000 jobs to nonfarm payrolls in February after creating 129,000 new positions in January. The Institute for Supply Management will release its national surveys for March on the manufacturing and services sectors, which are expected to show improvement from the previous month as well. Full Story | Top |
| Putin calls Obama to discuss U.S. proposal on Ukraine: White House Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:14 PM PDT  By Steve Holland RIYADH (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin called U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday to discuss a U.S. diplomatic proposal for Ukraine, the White House said, adding that Obama told him that Russia must pull back its troops and not move deeper into Ukraine. The Kremlin also reported on the conversation, saying Putin had suggested "examining possible steps the global community can take to help stabilize the situation," and said the foreign ministers of the two countries would discuss this soon. It was believed to have been the first direct conversation between Obama and Putin since the United States and its European allies began imposing sanctions on Putin's inner circle and threatened to penalize key sectors of Russia's economy. Full Story | Top |
| GM expands ignition switch recall to 2.6 million cars Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:13 PM PDT  By Paul Lienert DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co expanded its global recall of cars with defective ignition switches to 2.6 million on Friday, adding 971,000 later-model vehicles due to concerns over faulty replacement parts. About 95,000 faulty switches were sold to dealers and parts wholesalers, of which about 5,000 remain on shelves. Full Story | Top |
| Wisconsin lawmaker charged with sexual assault Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:09 PM PDT By Brendan O'Brien MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - A state lawmaker in Wisconsin ousted weeks ago as a Republican leader of the Assembly over accusations of sexual harassment was charged Friday with sexually assaulting a female aide to a senator in 2011, according to a criminal complaint. Republican Bill Kramer was accused in the criminal complaint of forcibly kissing the female aide and grabbing her breasts after a political event in suburban Milwaukee in April 2011, the criminal complaint filed in Waukesha County said. Republicans removed Kramer from the Assembly leader post on March 4, a week after he was accused by two women of sexual harassment while he was in Washington D.C. for a fundraiser. Full Story | Top |
| Slovak underdog has chance to beat PM Fico in presidential vote Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:03 PM PDT  By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - Slovakia's political heavyweight Prime Minister Robert Fico faces the threat of his biggest defeat at the ballot box from an underdog philanthropist in presidential election runoff on Saturday. In the second round, bookmakers give an edge to political newcomer Andrej Kiska, a businessman turned philanthropist who is riding on the wave of anti-Fico sentiment among right-wing voters as well as distrust in mainstream political parties suspected of complicity in graft scandals. Full Story | Top |
| Geopolitical games handicap Malaysia jet hunt Friday, Mar 28, 2014 04:43 PM PDT The search for flight MH370, the Malaysian jetliner that vanished over the South China Sea on March 8, has involved more than two dozen countries and 60 aircraft and ships but been bedeviled by regional rivalries. While Malaysia has been accused of a muddled response and poor communications, China has showcased its growing military clout and reach, while some involved in the operation say other countries have dragged their feet on disclosing details that might give away sensitive defense data. That has highlighted growing tensions in a region where the rise of China is fuelling an arms race, and where several countries including China, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are engaged in territorial disputes, with the control of shipping lanes, fishing and potential hydrocarbon reserves at stake. The Malaysian Airline jet, which disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was last officially detected hundreds of miles off course on the wrong side of the Malaysian peninsula. Full Story | Top |
| Interpol rejects suggestion its passport database is slow Friday, Mar 28, 2014 04:43 PM PDT The international police agency Interpol on Friday rejected a Malaysian suggestion that Interpol's database for checking passport were too cumbersome. Interpol said that although several other countries used the database millions of times each year, the Malaysian immigration department had not checked plane passengers' passports against its database at all this year prior to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on March 8. The agency's statement followed comments made by Malaysia's Interior Minister Zahid Hamidi to parliament on Wednesday that the burdensome nature of the Interpol database slowed down immigration checks. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. urges end to Syria's 'convoluted' aid restrictions Friday, Mar 28, 2014 04:23 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos on Friday urged Syria's government to end needless restrictions on access to areas where besieged Syrians are in desperate need of aid after three years of civil war. She also voiced concern about opposition groups, especially those such as al Qaeda-linked extremist al Nusra, which has said it will not allow foreigners to operate in Syria. "The administrative arrangements that have been put in place for clearance for our convoys are quite convoluted," Amos told Reuters in an interview after briefing the U.N. Security Council about how much-needed aid is still not reaching many in Syria. And even when the Syrian government approves deliveries, it can still be difficult to reach besieged areas. Full Story | Top |
| Oil sector withholding info on rail cargoes: U.S. regulator Friday, Mar 28, 2014 04:19 PM PDT By Patrick Rucker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. transport regulators on Friday scolded the oil industry for not sharing important information on the kinds of rail shipments that have been involved in a number of fiery train derailments. The American Petroleum Institute (API), a trade group that represents oil industry companies, disputed the accusations. In letters to regulators and testimony to lawmakers, leaders of trade groups like the API have said since January that they will share results of their tests on fuel from North Dakota's booming Bakken oil patch, where the derailed trains were loaded. But the Department of Transportation said the industry has dragged its feet in cooperating with regulators who are trying to understand why several recent derailments of freight trains carrying crude oil also resulted in explosions. Full Story | Top |
| After days of searching, volunteer pulls sister's body from Washington mudslide Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:59 PM PDT By Jonathan Kaminsky DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - Days after risking his own life and defying arrest by joining the search for Washington state mudslide victims in a vast, mucky debris field near Oso, Dayn Brunner retrieved the body of the No. 1 person he had been looking for - his sister. Brunner, 42, recounted the tragic coincidence in an interview with Reuters on Friday, two days after it unfolded on the enormous mound of mud and rubble left by last Saturday's disaster, which has claimed at least 26 lives and left 90 people still missing. Brunner said he was on the mud pile on Wednesday afternoon when other rescue workers found a blue object and called him over to the spot. It was the same color as the car his sister, Summer Raffo, 36, was known to have been driving through the area when the slide struck. Full Story | Top |
| Texas screens jurors for trial of man charged with killing prosecutors Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:48 PM PDT By Marice Richter DALLAS (Reuters) - A Texas court on Friday began screening thousands of potential jurors to serve in the October trial of a case that dominated headlines last year, when a man was accused of shooting dead three people, including two prosecutors. Nearly 3,000 people have been summoned to come to the Rockwall County court for the jury panel in the trial of Eric Williams, a former Kaufman County justice of the peace and attorney accused of murdering District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife, Cynthia, and Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, according to Rockwall County officials. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Eric Williams, 46. McLelland and Hasse had prosecuted Eric Williams for the theft of office computer monitors, which cost him his job and law license. Full Story | Top |
| Colorado is advised against creating state aerial firefighting fleet Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:45 PM PDT  By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - Colorado needs to strengthen efforts to combat wildfires to prevent future destructive blazes but need not create its own state-run aerial fleet of water-dropping planes, a firefighting agency recommended on Friday. The agency's director, Paul Cooke, said in a statement that firefighting efforts should focus on early detection and suppression before blazes rage out of control. A series of wildfires burned almost 250,000 acres and killed six people in Colorado in 2012, making it the state's worst wildfire season on record. Last year, the state's single most destructive wildfire destroyed nearly 500 homes and killed two people on the outskirts of Colorado Springs. Full Story | Top |
| Obama says U.S. military strikes could not have stopped Syria misery Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:35 PM PDT The United States could not have stopped the humanitarian crisis in Syria with military strikes, President Barack Obama said in a television interview airing on Friday, and said U.S. troops had reached their limits after long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama was asked in an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley whether he regretted not applying U.S. force in Syria, where the three-year civil war has killed more than 140,000 people and displaced millions. "It is, I think, a false notion that somehow we were in a position to, through a few selective strikes, prevent the kind of hardship that we've seen in Syria," Obama said. It's after a decade of war, you know, the United States has limits," he said. Full Story | Top |
| New York judge unseals guilty pleas in Dewey law firm fraud Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:28 PM PDT  By Karen Freifeld NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York judge on Friday unsealed the records of six former Dewey & LeBoeuf employees who pleaded guilty in connection with accounting fraud at the law firm. The records offer a fresh peek into the government's case against top executives at the defunct elite international law firm and how key witnesses might testify against them. The employees, who range from Dewey's controller to its billing director, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors who have targeted the firm's top management. Dewey's former chairman, Steven Davis, 60, Executive Director Stephen DiCarmine, 57, and Chief Financial Officer Joel Sanders, 55, were charged March 6 with taking part in a scheme to cheat banks and investors as they struggled unsuccessfully to keep the law firm alive. Full Story | Top |
| Day after 'Bridgegate' report, Christie says Port chair resigns Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:27 PM PDT  By Daniel Kelley TRENTON, New Jersey (Reuters) - Governor Chris Christie on Friday said the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had resigned, a day after an internal investigation cleared Christie in the "Bridgegate" scandal engulfing the potential 2016 Republican presidential contender. David Samson, 74, a lawyer and ally of the governor at the agency that oversees bridges and tunnels connecting the two states, had been discussing for a year his desire to step down, Christie told a news conference. "David tendered his resignation to me this afternoon, effective immediately," Christie said in his first news conference since a two-hour-long question and answer session on January 9 after a scandal erupted over the purportedly politically motivated closure of traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge between New York City and Fort Lee, New Jersey. Christie defended the report, which blamed former deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly and Port Authority official David Wildstein for closing bridge entrance lanes in an apparent bid to retaliate against the Democratic mayor of the town of Fort Lee who had not endorsed Christie's 2013 re-election campaign. Full Story | Top |
| PwC is sued for $1 billion over MF Global collapse Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:24 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - The administrator of MF Global Holdings Ltd's bankruptcy plan on Friday sued the auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers for at least $1 billion over its advice on a $6.3 billion European sovereign debt investment that helped fuel the brokerage's rapid demise. According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, PwC committed professional malpractice by offering "flatly erroneous" advice concerning, and approval of, the off-balance-sheet accounting treatment for the debt by MF Global and its then-chief executive, Jon Corzine. The complaint said PwC knew that the investment would add significant risk to MF Global's already weak finances. It said MF Global would not have taken on the exposure, which allowed it to book immediate revenue, had it received sound advice. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Russia threatened countries ahead of UN vote on Ukraine - envoys Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:19 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia threatened several Eastern European and Central Asian states with retaliation if they voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution this week declaring invalid Crimea's referendum on seceding from Ukraine, U.N. diplomats said. The disclosures about Russian threats came after Moscow accused Western countries of using "shameless pressure, up to the point of political blackmail and economic threats," in an attempt to coerce the United Nations' 193 member states to join it in supporting the non-binding resolution on the Ukraine crisis. Full Story | Top |
| Jeremiah Denton, Vietnam War POW and U.S. senator, dies Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:08 PM PDT  By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jeremiah Denton, a former U.S. senator who was held as a prisoner of war by North Vietnam for more than seven years and revealed his treatment by blinking the word "torture" in Morse code during a televised interview, died on Friday at age 89. Denton died at a hospice facility in Virginia Beach, Virginia, from a heart ailment, his family said. The retired Navy rear admiral was elected in 1980 as Alabama's first Republican senator in 112 years and earned a reputation as one of the Senate's most conservative members before being defeated in his 1986 re-election bid. President Ronald Reagan lauded him that year as "a national treasure." President Barack Obama said in a statement that Denton "leaves behind a legacy of heroic service to his country." "The valor that he and his fellow POWs displayed was deeply inspiring to our nation at the time, and it continues to inspire our brave men and women who serve today," Obama said. Full Story | Top |
| FBI most wanted fugitive arrested in murder of NY mother, toddler Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:57 PM PDT  An accused gang member put on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list this week was arrested on Friday for his role in the 2010 killing of his girlfriend and her toddler son, federal authorities said. Juan Elias "Cruzito" Garcia, 21, a reputed member of the murderous international gang known as MS-13, was taken into custody when he voluntarily returned to the United States to face criminal prosecution, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a press release. Garcia, who has ties to El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Panama, is accused in the execution-style shooting of the mother and child in Central Islip, New York, authorities said. His surrender on Friday - just two days after being put on the most wanted list - was the result of a coordinated effort between Nicaraguan authorities and U.S. law enforcement, which sent aircraft to bring Garcia to New York, the FBI said. Full Story | Top |
| Hagel, ahead of China trip, urges military restraint in cyberspace Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:51 PM PDT  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, pushing for openness ahead of a trip to China, said on Friday in an unusual live broadcast from a secretive base the Pentagon would exercise restraint in using the military in cyberspace and urged other nations to do so as well. In his first remarks on cyber security since becoming defense secretary last year, Hagel told a retirement ceremony for Cyber Command chief General Keith Alexander that the Pentagon sought to be "open and transparent" about its cyber capabilities and intentions with both allies and competitors. "The United States does not seek to militarize cyberspace," Hagel he told an audience at Fort Meade, Maryland, the home of Cyber Command and the NSA signals spy service. Full Story | Top |
| Chemical spill injures nine at Rolls-Royce plant in Indiana Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:48 PM PDT (Reuters) - Nine employees were injured Friday in a release of nitric acid from a 250 gallon tank at a Rolls-Royce aviation engine plant in Indianapolis, authorities said. Eight of the injured people were taken to hospitals and one person was treated at the scene, the Wayne Township Fire Department said on its twitter feed. A "pressurized release" of nitric acid occurred on the manufacturing floor in one of the Rolls-Royce plants, company spokesman Joel Reuter said. Nitric acid is a toxic liquid that can cause serious burns. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sees tough times for Ukraine economy, expects improvement Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:47 PM PDT By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Ukrainian economy faces several difficult years even if international lenders bail it out and the country's politicians follow through on an ambitious reform agenda, a U.S. Treasury official said on Friday. Ukraine is currently reeling from political unrest, shaky public finances and a confrontation with its powerful Russian neighbor, which annexed Crimea, part of Ukraine, earlier this month. The U.S. official, who asked not to be named, said that while the next two years would be a period of adjustment for Ukraine, aid packages from the International Monetary Fund and developed countries would likely help stabilize Ukraine's financial system and provide a foundation for economic growth. The aid is tied to economic reforms that, when enacted, would also help growth, the official said, adding that Russia's actions appear to have galvanized support in Ukraine for its reform agenda. Full Story | Top |
| Saudi rights abuses did not come up in Obama-Abdullah talks: US Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:45 PM PDT Human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia were not raised in talks between U.S. President Barack Obama and King Abdullah on Friday, a U.S. official said. "Today, given the extent of time they spent on Iran and Syria, they didn't get to a number of issues, and it wasn't just human rights," the official said. The official added that Obama on Saturday would present a State Department Woman of Courage Award to a Saudi woman fighting domestic violence. Full Story | Top |
| Lawyers for accused Boston bomber seek secret data on dead brother Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:36 PM PDT  Lawyers for the accused Boston Marathon bomber on Friday asked a judge to order U.S. prosecutors to hand over more information, including surveillance data, on his late older brother in order to assess the relative blame of each man in the attack. Dzohkhar Tsarnaev, who is charged with killing three people and injuring 264 with homemade bombs at the April 15, 2013, marathon and shooting dead a university police officer a few days later, faces the threat of execution if convicted of the worst mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001. Defense attorneys said any evidence that suggests older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died after a gunfight with police while the pair were preparing to flee Boston a few days after the attack, could boost the 20-year-old surviving Tsarnaev's chances of avoiding the death penalty if convicted. "Any evidence tending to show that Tamerlan supplied the motivation, planning, and ideology behind the Boston Marathon attack, and that his younger brother acted under his domination and control, is 'material,'" defense attorneys said in one of a series of a filings in U.S. District Court in Boston. Full Story | Top |
| Microsoft beefs up customer privacy policy Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:31 PM PDT  Microsoft Corp, under fire for accessing an employee's private Hotmail account to prove he was leaking computer code to a blogger, has said it will now refer all suspicions of illegal activity on its email services to law enforcement. The decision, announced by head lawyer Brad Smith on Friday, reverses Microsoft's initial reaction to complaints last week, when it laid out a plan to refer such cases to an unidentified former federal judge, and proceed to open a suspect email account only if that person saw evidence to justify it. "Effective immediately, if we receive information indicating that someone is using our services to traffic in stolen intellectual or physical property from Microsoft, we will not inspect a customer's private content ourselves," said Smith, in a blog post on the software company's website. "Instead, we will refer the matter to law enforcement if further action is required." Microsoft - which has recently cast itself as a defender of customer privacy - was harshly criticized last week by civil liberties groups after court documents made public in the prosecution of Alex Kibkalo in Seattle federal court for leaking trade secrets showed that Microsoft had accessed the defendant's email account before taking the matter to legal authorities. Full Story | Top |
| Mudslide death toll poised to soar despite dearth of details Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:22 PM PDT By Eric M. Johnson ARLINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - The death toll from a catastrophic mudslide in Washington state appeared poised to climb dramatically as rescue teams drenched by steady rains on Friday clawed through thick muck searching for more victims nearly a week after a disaster that has left 90 people missing. Authorities already have said that some of those killed might never be found, and on Thursday braced the public for news - still yet to come - that the number of dead would "increase substantially" in the next 24 to 28 hours. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine-Russia row over Crimea spreads to U.N. nuclear agency Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:19 PM PDT By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. atomic agency has got caught up in the diplomatic crossfire over Crimea as Russia insists its agreements with the Vienna-based watchdog now also cover the annexed Black Sea peninsula, a confidential exchange showed on Friday. Ukraine, for its part, urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "to avoid any actions" which might be construed as recognition of Russia's annexation of the region. Faced with the worst East-West confrontation since the end of the Cold War, the U.N. agency issued a cautious statement telling Russia it would "continue to implement safeguards in accordance with the IAEA statute and international law". Reuters obtained the notes from Russia and Ukraine to the IAEA, along with its replies, shortly after they were sent to the Vienna-based organization's member states. Full Story | Top |
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