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| Idaho lawmakers pass bill allowing concealed guns on college campuses Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 07:47 PM PST By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Idaho lawmakers on Thursday approved a measure allowing concealed guns to be carried onto university and college campuses. The legislation, which cleared the state House of Representatives by a 50-19 vote and was overwhelmingly approved by the state Senate last month, now heads to Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter for his signature. If the Republican governor signs the bill into law as expected, Idaho will be the seventh U.S. state that allows guns on college campuses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The passage of the Idaho bill comes amid a tense debate on the extent of gun ownership restrictions in the United States, which has seen a string of recent shootings at schools, movie theaters and other public places. Full Story | Top |
| Senior North Korean official reappears, belies reports of another purge Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 07:36 PM PST  A senior North Korean official, believed to be the No. 2 in the country after leader Kim Jong Un, has reappeared in official television footage, belying reports he had fallen victim to a fresh purge in the isolated nation. Choe Ryong Hae was pictured close to Kim in pictures taken in January and February, smiling but sporting a limp. Choe is the influential head of the political wing of North Korea's military and appears to have risen to become the second most powerful person in the country after the execution of Jang Song Thaek, Kim's uncle, last year. Speculation in recent weeks that Choe had also been purged triggered a wave of speculation that Kim was intent on shaking up North Korea's elite and that competing factions around the 31-year old leader were a destabilizing force in the North. Full Story | Top |
| Asian shares up, mood cautious before U.S. jobs data Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 07:29 PM PST  By Lisa Twaronite and Shinichi Saoshiro TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on Friday, buoyed by Wall Street's gains the previous day, but investors remained cautious ahead of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report later in the session. The euro remained near overnight highs following the European Central Bank's decision not to ease policy, while the safe-haven yen continued to sag after suffering sharp losses as risk appetite returned. U.S. nonfarm payrolls are forecast to have increased by around 149,000 in February, according to a Reuters survey of economists, up from the weather-depressed gains of 113,000 in January and 75,000 in December. Market watchers said expectations may have been lowered by the soft ADP private-sector jobs report and ISM services sector survey released earlier this week. Full Story | Top |
| Detroit reaches $120 million loan deal with Barclays Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 07:25 PM PST  (Reuters) - Detroit said in a court filing on Thursday it had reached an agreement with Barclays PLC for a $120 million loan that would allow it to invest in services and speed its path out of bankruptcy. The deal comes after the judge overseeing Detroit's historic bankruptcy case rejected a $350 million loan that would have raised $230 million for the city to end interest rate swaps. Those swaps were used to hedge interest rate risk on some Detroit pension debt. The city said earlier this week it had reached a new agreement with Merrill Lynch Capital Services and UBS AG to end the swaps for $85 million. Full Story | Top |
| Walt Disney, Shanghai Media Group to develop Disney-branded movies Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 07:09 PM PST  Walt Disney Studios has signed an agreement with Shanghai Media Group Pictures to develop Disney-branded movies, the latest move by a U.S. studio to grow its presence in China's entertainment business. U.S.-based writers will team up with local writers and filmmakers to develop stories and scripts that incorporate Chinese themes in Disney movies, the studio said in a statement. Tony To, the studio's executive vice president of production, will oversee the co-development program, which could allow for easier releases of English-language films in China. Western films in addition must meet the committee's "amendment opinions" to be one of the 34 Hollywood films permitted in China each year. Full Story | Top |
| Container truck drivers reach tentative deal at Vancouver port Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 07:07 PM PST By Julie Gordon VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Container truck drivers at Canada's largest port reached a new deal on Thursday, narrowly avoiding an expanded job action that would have seen some 400 unionized drivers join about 1,200 non-unionized drivers who walked off the job last week. The tentative agreement, which addresses demands made by both unionized and non-unionized drivers at Port Metro Vancouver, came after a morning of intense discussions with a government-appointed mediator and could help get hundreds of millions of dollars worth of products back on the roads. "We have now secured a deal that will hopefully get things back to normal at the port by early next week," said Gavin McGarrigle, British Columbia area director for Unifor, which represents the unionized drivers. Their non-unionized colleagues walked off the job on February 26 in protest over long wait times at Vancouver's port facilities, which they say cut into their profits. Full Story | Top |
| Man called Bitcoin's father denies ties, leads LA car chase Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 07:07 PM PST  By Aron Ranen and Brandon Lowrey TEMPLE CITY, California (Reuters) - A Japanese American man thought to be the reclusive multi-millionaire father of Bitcoin emerged from a modest Southern California home and denied involvement with the digital currency before leading reporters on a freeway car chase to the local headquarters of the Associated Press. Satoshi Nakamoto, a name known to legions of bitcoin traders, practitioners and boosters around the world, appeared to lose his anonymity on Thursday after Newsweek published a story that said he lived in Temple City, California, just east of Los Angeles. Newsweek included a photograph and a described a short interview, in which Nakamoto said he was no longer associated with Bitcoin and that it had been turned over to other people. The magazine concluded that the man was the same Nakamoto who founded Bitcoin. Full Story | Top |
| SEC scores partial win in insider trading case over 2009 Sanofi deal Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 06:46 PM PST Federal securities regulators have won a partial victory against two brothers accused of trading on inside information in 2009 about French pharmaceutical company Sanofi's plan to buy a Tennessee-based company. A jury in the U.S. district court in Cleveland, Ohio, found that Andrew Jacobs and Leslie Jacobs committed insider trading in the context of a tender offer, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced in a statement. At the same time, the jury also found that the brothers were not liable under a broader insider trading statute not specific to tender offers, Ned Searby, a lawyer for Leslie Jacobs, said. The decision is the latest in a string of mixed jury verdicts that highlight how difficult it can be for the SEC to obtain clear-cut victories in complex securities cases. Full Story | Top |
| China says no casinos for resort island Hainan Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 06:42 PM PST China's balmy holiday island of Hainan, long touted as a place where the country could liberalise gambling, will not permit casinos, senior officials announced this week. Luo Baoming, Hainan's Communist Party chief, and Wang Yong, the mayor of resort city Sanya, told a briefing at China's annual parliamentary meeting on Thursday that casinos will never be allowed to operate there. "We cannot at all allow Hainan to operate casinos," Luo said according to the official Xinhua news agency. Casino gambling is illegal in China outside of the former Portuguese colony of Macau, an hour's flight from Hainan by plane. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Justice Department reviews dispute between CIA and Senate panel Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 06:37 PM PST By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Justice Department and FBI are looking into a dispute over Senate investigators' access to what the Central Intelligence Agency regarded as highly privileged and sensitive documents about its use of "enhanced" interrogation techniques, sources familiar with the inquiry said on Thursday. The CIA's inspector general asked the Justice Department to become involved after the agency and members of the Senate Intelligence Committee got into a dispute over whether Senate investigators looked at documents they were not supposed to see, and whether agency operatives inappropriately monitored Senate investigators. The review began after members of Congress complained that CIA officers had improperly accessed the work of intelligence committee staffers. It will also look at allegations Senate investigators inappropriately got access to what the agency considered to be ultra-sensitive, and privileged documents related to the rendition program the CIA used to grab, hold and question militants after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: U.S. Navy aims to put 22 Boeing fighters on 'unfunded' list - sources Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 05:48 PM PST  By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy plans to add 22 Boeing electronic attack jets to a list of "unfunded" priorities requested by Congress, but the document must still be vetted by senior Pentagon officials, who have underscored their commitment to Lockheed Martin Corp's next-generation F-35 fighter jet, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the military services in a memo on Thursday they could respond to the House Armed Services Committee's request, but said the lists should be coordinated with his office and that of General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to a defense official. The defense official and multiple other sources spoke on Wednesday and Thursday on condition of anonymity because the unfunded priorities lists have not yet been formally submitted to Congress. Full Story | Top |
| Japan PM Abe may confer with Obama over Ukraine: Japan government spokesman Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 05:32 PM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may confer with U.S. President Barack Obama over the phone to seek solutions to the Ukrainian crisis, Japan's top government spokesman said on Friday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference that Tokyo will respond to sanction against Russia in close contact with other countries, although he urged all parties to act prudently over the situation. Obama took steps to punish those involved in threatening Ukraine while European Union leaders agreed to suspend visa and investment talks with Russia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan says not fully apprised of bitcoin situation Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 05:24 PM PST  Japan's government said it was not yet fully apprised of the situation around bitcoins, showing it was still struggling to determine its approach to the virtual currency a week after the collapse of Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Friday that the government would act if needed on bitcoin issues. Full Story | Top |
| Fed should be patient, keep trimming U.S. stimulus: Lockhart Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 05:16 PM PST  By Jonathan Spicer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It could be another two months before the U.S. Federal Reserve can determine whether recent weak economic data is truly weather-related or something more permanent, so policymakers should keep trimming their bond-buying stimulus, a top Fed official said on Thursday. In an interview, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said flatly that the central bank should keep reducing its policy accommodation even if the February jobs report on Friday falls short of expectations, making for three straight months of sub-par hiring in the world's largest economy. "In my mind, unless we really fall off track in the economy pretty dramatically, I think the tapering program should proceed," Lockhart told Reuters, adding that he has "modest" expectations for the government's nonfarm payrolls report. Lockhart attributed the weak data to the severe winter weather that has gripped much of the United States and issued a word of caution to anyone expecting the Fed to abruptly back off a plan to wind down its bond purchases by later this year. Full Story | Top |
| Crimea votes to join Russia, Obama orders sanctions Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 05:03 PM PST  By Alissa de Carbonnel and Luke Baker SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Crimea's parliament voted on Thursday to join Russia, and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum in 10 days, in a dramatic escalation of the crisis over the Ukrainian region that drew a sharp riposte from U.S. President Barack Obama. Obama ordered sanctions on those responsible for Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine, including bans on travel to the United States and freezing of their U.S. assets. He echoed European Union leaders and the pro-Western government in Ukraine in declaring that the proposed referendum would violate international law. Obama also held a one-hour call on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, their second phone conversation in the past six days, and urged him to accept the terms of a potential diplomatic solution to the crisis. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico regulator decides on dominant players in telecoms, TV Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 05:00 PM PST  Mexico's telecoms regulator said on Thursday it has decided who is dominant in telecommunications and broadcasting, a key ruling widely expected to impose tougher anti-trust measures on the local mobile and fixed line units of tycoon Carlos Slim's America Movil as well as broadcaster Televisa. The Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) said it had approved the imposition of measures to boost competition that include the unbundling of the local loop for the dominant telecoms player, which it did not identify. The dominance ruling is part of a wider telecommunications and broadcast reform approved by the government. Full Story | Top |
| Senior U.N. official plans to visit Ukraine's Crimea Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 04:57 PM PST By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. assistant secretary-general for human rights, Ivan Simonovic, plans to visit western and eastern Ukraine soon, including the pro-Russian Crimea region, where another U.N. envoy was forced out earlier this week, the United Nations said on Thursday. The announcement comes after U.N. representative Robert Serry had to abandon a mission to Crimea on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Obama urges Putin in phone call to accept terms of diplomatic solution for Ukraine Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 04:51 PM PST President Barack Obama urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday to accept the terms of a potential diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis in a phone call that lasted an hour. In their second phone conversation in the past six days, Obama emphasized to Putin that Russia's incursion into Ukraine was a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the White House said. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sanctions on Russia won't hurt Japan at present scope: Amari Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 04:51 PM PST U.S. sanctions on Russia over its military intervention into Ukraine will not hurt the Japanese economy as they are currently constituted, Economy Minister Akira Amari said on Friday. "At the present scope, there won't be an impact on the Japanese economy," Amari told a regular news conference when asked about U.S. measures against Moscow. President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered U.S. sanctions on people responsible for Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula, including travel bans and freezing of their U.S. assets, and said a referendum by the region to join Russia would violate international law. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's Tymoshenko calls for tough action from west on Crimea Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 04:51 PM PST Leading Ukrainian politician Yulia Tymoshenko on Thursday called for Europe to take strong action over Crimea's attempt to join Russia, warning that otherwise Moscow would move to take over the rest of Ukraine and destabilize the continent. Speaking hours after the parliament of the Ukrainian region of Crimea voted to join Russia, a visibly emotional Tymoshenko warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin would take advantage of any weakness by the West. "If we allow Russia on March 16 to hold a referendum at gunpoint on the annexation of Crimea we will lose Ukraine and stability throughout the whole world," Tymoshenko told a meeting of the European People's Party, the largest bloc in the European parliament. Full Story | Top |
| Netherlands freezes hundreds of millions in Ukrainian assets: report Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 04:51 PM PST AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Netherlands has frozen hundreds of millions of euros (dollars) in Ukrainian assets, Dutch media reported Thursday night, citing the finance minister. Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem told the ANP news agency the assets were suspect. The Dutch media reports did not provide any details. A Finance Ministry official could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting By Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Chris Reese) Full Story | Top |
| Mexico telco regulator has decided on market dominance: industry sources Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 04:16 PM PST  Mexico's telecoms regulator has decided on market dominance, industry sources said on Thursday, a key ruling widely expected to go against the local mobile and fixed line units of tycoon Carlos Slim's America Movil as well as broadcaster Televisa. A regulatory official said separately that the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) held an extraordinary session on Thursday, and decided on the issues on its agenda. Full Story | Top |
| Big budget cuts pose 'tough, tough choices' for Pentagon: Hagel Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 04:09 PM PST  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned on Thursday that "tough, tough choices are coming" if the Pentagon implements deep future spending cuts required by law, including whether to slash the Army to 420,000 soldiers and decommission an aircraft carrier. Hagel told a House of Representatives committee that a return to steep budget cuts in 2016 and beyond would force the Army to cut 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers more than currently planned and the Marine Corps to trim another 7,000 troops. The cuts would "compromise our national security," the Pentagon chief told the House Armed Services Committee. Full Story | Top |
| Abu Ghaith urged Qaeda recruits to 'pledge' to bin Laden: witness Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 04:08 PM PST  By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, Suleiman Abu Ghaith, urged al Qaeda recruits en route to a training camp in Afghanistan to pledge their lives to bin Laden a few months before September 11, 2001, a government witness told jurors on Thursday. Sahim Alwan, 41, of Lackawanna, New York, testified in federal court in New York that Abu Ghaith spoke to the al Qaeda recruits months before hijacked jets attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing 3,000 people. Full Story | Top |
| Fed's Bullard the biggest market-mover in 2013, research shows Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 04:06 PM PST  Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis President James Bullard had the biggest impact on bond markets of all Fed policymakers in 2013, according to a new tally. Research by Macroeconomic Advisers showed Bullard, seen as a policy centrist, beat former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke for the mantle of most market-moving U.S. central banker, although the Fed chief had a bigger impact on a per-speech basis. Bullard, a voter on monetary policy last year, moved the 10-year Treasury yield by a cumulative 29 basis points over the year, which was marked by uncertainty about when the Fed would start to unwind support for the economy. Full Story | Top |
| In U.S. strategy on Ukraine, a whiff of Kennan's 'containment' Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 04:03 PM PST  By Arshad Mohammed and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns on Thursday laid out a strategy of patiently trying to counter Russia, including its intervention in Ukraine, reminiscent of legendary American diplomat George Kennan's concept of "containment." Testifying before Congress, Burns suggested that Russia's seizure of the Ukrainian region of Crimea reflected Moscow's weakness, not its strength, and that a resolution, if one is possible, will take time. As one of the U.S. government's foremost experts on Russia, where he served twice, including as ambassador, Burns appeared to reach for Kennan's language and thinking as he spoke about the Ukraine crisis and a Russian leader with little apparent appetite for cooperation with the West in what he sees as Russia's traditional sphere of influence. Full Story | Top |
| Four indicted in U.S. for fraud in Dewey & LeBoeuf collapse Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 03:54 PM PST  By Karen Freifeld and Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Less than a month after writing that he did not want to "cook the books anymore," but facing a deadline to show lenders that Dewey & LeBoeuf had enough cash, the law firm's top finance executive emailed a colleague that he "came up with a big one," according to investigators. "You always do in the last hours," the law firm's executive director Stephen DiCarmine replied to the December 29, 2008 email from chief financial officer Joel Sanders, according to investigators. "That's why we get the extra 10 or 20% bonus." The communications and other evidence are the basis of criminal and civil charges announced in New York on Thursday in which the law firm's former leaders are accused of accounting gimmicks and fraud to cheat banks and investors in a failed attempt to keep their prestigious law firm alive. Dewey & LeBoeuf once had as many as 1,400 lawyers, before going bankrupt in May 2012. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. freedom of navigation operations in 2013 targeted China, Iran Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 03:45 PM PST By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military carried out freedom of navigation operations challenging the maritime claims of China, Iran and 10 other nations last year, asserting its right to use the seas in defiance of their restrictions, a Pentagon report said Thursday. The Defense Department's annual Freedom of Navigation Report to Congress for the 2013 fiscal year showed the U.S. military targeted not only countries such as Iran, with whom it has no formal relations, but treaty allies like the Philippines, too. The U.S. military conducted multiple operations targeting China over what Washington believes are "excessive" claims about its maritime boundaries and its effort to force foreign warships to obtain permission before peacefully transiting its territorial seas. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Congress steps into action on Ukraine Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 03:20 PM PST  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill backing $1 billion in loan guarantees for Ukraine, the first formal response by U.S. lawmakers to the worst crisis in U.S.-Russia relations since the Cold War. The U.S. Senate is expected to consider a similar bill next week. If passed as expected, it would be sent to the White House for President Barack Obama to sign into law. House and Senate committees held hearings on Thursday at which administration officials testified about the situation in Ukraine following Russia's military incursion into its Crimea region. Full Story | Top |
| Man called Bitcoin's father denies any ties, wrangles free lunch Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 02:59 PM PST  A reclusive Japanese American man thought to be the father of Bitcoin emerged from his Southern California home and denied any involvement with the digital currency, before leading reporters on a car chase leading to the headquarters of the Associated Press. Satoshi Nakamoto, a name known to legions of bitcoin traders, practitioners and boosters around the world, appeared to lose his anonymity on Thursday after Newsweek published a story that said Nakamoto lived in Temple City, California, just east of Los Angeles, and included a photograph. In the afternoon, Nakamoto stepped outside and told reporters he had nothing to do with bitcoin but was looking for someone who understood Japanese, to buy him a free lunch. According to a Los Angeles Times reporter, who followed his car, Nakamoto was driven to the Associated Press offices in downtown Los Angeles, where he again denied any involvement with bitcoin. Full Story | Top |
| Christie calls on conservatives to focus on 'what we're for' Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 02:48 PM PST  By John Whitesides and David Lawder NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie urged conservative activists on Thursday to talk about what they are for, not just what they are against, and said Republicans need to focus on winning elections in addition to promoting their ideology. In his first major appearance before Republicans since he was engulfed in a home-state scandal over political retribution in January, Christie led a parade of potential 2016 presidential contenders who laid out their visions for activists at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He is viewed warily by some of the most conservative members of the Republican Party, in part because he oversees a mostly Democratic state and praised Democratic President Barack Obama's work on disaster relief in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy in 2012. Christie was not invited to the CPAC meeting last year, in a move widely viewed as retribution for his friendly words about Obama just before the 2012 presidential election. Full Story | Top |
| California Democrats, beset by two scandals, propose ethics reforms Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 02:45 PM PST  By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - California Democrats, whose supermajority in the state legislature was effectively lost after two party lawmakers were either indicted or convicted of criminal wrongdoing, proposed a sweeping package of ethics reforms on Thursday. The proposal comes against a backdrop of renewed focus on ethics in the legislature of the most populous U.S. state after California state Senator Ron Calderon was indicted on corruption charges last month, and fellow state Senator Roderick Wright was convicted of voter fraud and perjury. The criminal proceedings add to concerns that surfaced earlier this year when the California Fair Political Practices Commission sent warning letters to elected officials saying fundraising parties thrown for several lawmakers and the governor by a prominent lobbyist were in fact illegal. "The good legislative work that we do is only as good as the public's perception and trust in the legislature," Senate Democratic leader Darrell Steinberg told a news conference, announcing the legislation. Full Story | Top |
| 'Too drunk' gambler sues Las Vegas casino over $500,000 debt Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 02:39 PM PST (Reuters) - A California man who lost $500,000 in 17 hours gambling at a Las Vegas casino was so drunk he could not remember the episode after waking up in his hotel room, said a lawsuit filed on his behalf that seeks to erase the debt. Mark Johnston, 52, arrived drunk at the Downtown Grand casino and was plied with free alcoholic drinks while he gambled, according to the suit filed February 18 in Nevada state court for Clark County. After leaving the gaming tables, Johnston went to his hotel room and woke up the next day with no memory of his time at the tables, stated the lawsuit, depicting his mental state while gambling as a "blackout period." Johnston's attorney, Sean Lyttle, described him as a self-made millionaire who previously owned a number of car dealerships and was involved in real estate development. Starting on the night of January 30 and running into the next afternoon at the casino in downtown Las Vegas, a few miles from The Strip, Johnston played pai gow and blackjack for 17 hours and was served about 20 drinks, according to the lawsuit. Full Story | Top |
| Florida court bars immigrants in U.S. illegally from being lawyers Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 02:38 PM PST By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Immigrants in the U.S. illegally, including those who moved as children, cannot work as lawyers in Florida, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday even as its sole Hispanic member decried the decision as unjust. The unsigned ruling on a question from the Florida Board of Bar Examiners read like a plea for the state legislature to change the law on professional licensing. It stemmed from an application for bar admission by a Tampa-area resident who is a Mexican immigrant and Florida State University law school graduate. Jose Manuel Godinez-Samperio received a waiver exempting him from showing proof of residency or citizenship to take the state bar exam and passed the test in 2011. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. official in charge of Obamacare exchanges resigns Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 02:37 PM PST  A top U.S. healthcare official, accused by Republicans of misleading Congress about the readiness of the Obamacare rollout, will resign from his post at the end of March, officials said on Thursday. The departure of Gary Cohen as director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) was announced within the administration on Wednesday in an email from his boss, Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Cohen, a former California insurance regulator who took up his post in August 2012, has overseen regulatory implementation of the Obamacare health insurance marketplaces, a process that often drew fire from insurers and lawmakers for its slow pace and numerous revisions. Along with Tavenner and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Cohen was among top officials who assured Congress that the October 1 launch of the federal enrollment website HealthCare.gov would be successful. Full Story | Top |
| EPA chief says new U.S. energy rules won't hobble business Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 02:36 PM PST  By Ernest Scheyder HOUSTON (Reuters) - Carbon regulations can be crafted to help offset climate change without "shutting down business in its tracks," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy said at a major energy conference on Thursday. McCarthy's speech in Houston to IHS CERAWeek, the largest meeting of energy executives in the world, was the first by an EPA administrator since the conference began 33 years ago. "We don't have to choose between a healthy environment and a healthy economy," McCarthy, who has run the EPA for nearly a year, said about new rules she said would be proposed by this summer. "We know conventional fuels like coal and natural gas are going to continue to play a critical role in a diverse U.S. energy mix." The Houston visit came about a week after McCarthy toured North Dakota, trying to convince the state's coal, oil and ethanol producers that her agency was not trying to burden their industries with onerous regulations. Full Story | Top |
| Rifle-toting McConnell seeks firepower for re-election campaign Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 02:28 PM PST  By David Lawder NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell tried to bring some firepower to his tough re-election battle on Thursday, brandishing a rifle as he strode onstage at the Conservative Political Action Conference. McConnell hoisted the flint-lock muzzle-loading rifle over his head at the gathering of conservative leaders and Republican Party activists and handed it to Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn, a fellow Republican who has said he will retire when his term ends in January 2015 due to health reasons. "This is for you, for your distinguished service," said McConnell, 72, earning the biggest applause of his brief speech at CPAC. For McConnell, who is the sixth-longest serving current U.S. senator, wielding the rifle amounted to a nod to gun-rights conservatives at a time when he has come under fire on two fronts as he seeks another term in the November 4 elections. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Senators seek recovery of 'unknown' Pearl Harbor victims Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 02:26 PM PST Fifteen U.S. Senators on Thursday called on the military to identify the bodies of 21 "unknown" sailors from the U.S.S. Oklahoma who were killed during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and to return the remains to their families. In a letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, the senators, led by Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Republican Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, noted that in recent years historians have succeeded in identifying the remains of other sailors who died in the battle that drew the United States into World War Two. The remains of the 21 men are contained in five coffins at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, where they were buried after the battleship Oklahoma was salvaged in 1943, the senators wrote. "The brave men who died protecting our great nation at Pearl Harbor deserve a final resting place of their families' choosing," the senators wrote. Full Story | Top |
| Star witness against ex-Madoff aides a liar, lawyers tell jury Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 02:17 PM PST  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - The government's star witness in the criminal trial of five former Bernard Madoff employees is a lifelong liar whose capacity for falsehood rivaled only that of Madoff himself, lawyers for two defendants told a federal jury on Thursday. Making closing arguments in New York federal court after five months of testimony and a six-hour government summation, lawyers for the defendants sought to undermine the testimony of former Madoff lieutenant Frank DiPascali, who spent weeks describing how all five defendants were complicit in a dizzying array of fraudulent activity. Larry Krantz, who represents computer programmer George Perez, called DiPascali a "con man's con man" and said, "Mr. Perez was used, abused and manipulated by two of the greatest criminal masterminds of all time: Bernie Madoff and Frank DiPascali." Eric Breslin, the lawyer for portfolio manager Joann Crupi, referred to DiPascali's "corrupt and rotten essence, which permeated this courtroom for a month." The five defendants are charged with helping perpetrate a massive Ponzi scheme at Madoff's investment firm. Full Story | Top |
| China's 'land kings' under threat as tightening takes a toll Thursday, Mar 06, 2014 02:15 PM PST  By Clare Jim and Yimou Lee HONG KONG (Reuters) - The days of Chinese developers snatching up premium properties with record-breaking offers are coming to an end as cooling measures bite and sale prices are squeezed, ending the reign of a handful of "land kings" in the world's second-largest economy. But while the cost of land in premier markets, or first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, soared 135 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, property sale prices inched up just 15 percent, according to BNP Paribas. The already high costs and the prospect of slowing property sales mean the days of records being set at land auctions are coming to a close, analysts say. Signs of a slowdown, from weaker home price data to developers cutting prices, have already rattled financial markets in recent weeks. Full Story | Top |
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