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| Knife-wielding assailants attack people in central China: Xinhua Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 09:09 PM PDT Knife-wielding assailants attacked civilians on a street in the central Chinese city of Changsha on Friday morning, state news agency Xinhua said, citing local authorities. Xinhua said its reporters saw at least one body lying on the ground at the scene. Xinhua did not make clear who was responsible for the attack in the city, capital of Hunan province. Full Story | Top |
| China central bank orders halt to online payments using QR codes Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 08:41 PM PDT  HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank has ordered online payment units of dotcom giants Alibaba and Tencent to stop processing online payments using QR codes, the two companies said on Friday. Alipay is the online payment unit of Alibaba Small and Micro Financial Services Group, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Ltd. The online payment unit of Tencent Holdings Ltd is called Caifutong. Alipay and Caifutong confirmed to Reuters that they had received such notice from the central bank. The central bank did not immediately respond to requests for comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tennessee bill would legalize wishing students 'Merry Christmas' Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 08:35 PM PDT By Tim Ghianni NASHVILLE (Reuters) - Tennessee lawmakers on Thursday passed a measure that allows teachers to wish their students "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Hanukkah" and display scenes and symbols of winter celebrations without fear of legal action. The state Senate, which passed an earlier version of the bill in February, is expected to take the legislation up next week. "I'm a real proponent of freedom of religion, but not a proponent of freedom from religion," said the bill's sponsor state Representative Andy Holt, a Republican from Dresden, who wore a Christmas-themed tie when the bill passed. The bill would seek to provide a legal basis to protect teachers from lawsuits when they wish students "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Hanukkah." Teachers would also be allowed to teach about religious holidays in the classroom under the bill, which supporters say upholds the religious and free speech rights of educators. Full Story | Top |
| Son of former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine commits suicide Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 08:17 PM PDT (Reuters) - Former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine's 31-year-old son, Jeffrey, committed suicide at a Mexico City hotel this week, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Jeffrey Corzine had been living in Malibu, California, and was an aspiring photographer, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity and could not name the hotel. Corzine family spokesman Steven Goldberg confirmed Jeffrey Corzine's death in a written statement. "The sad fact is that Jeffrey Corzine had been suffering from severe depression for several years and recently had been receiving treatment for what is a very painful and debilitating physical and mental ailment," Goldberg said. Full Story | Top |
| South Korea can't join Pacific trade talks until U.S. issues fixed: official Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 08:07 PM PDT  South Korea will not be welcomed into a planned Pacific free-trade pact until all problems are resolved in carrying out an existing trade deal with the United States, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday. Two years after the agreement came into force, the United States was still trying to make sure promises to ease the path for U.S. exports into South Korea were fully met, the official said, pointing to problems with customs regulations and autos. The South Korea-U.S. agreement (KORUS) was at the time the second-largest U.S. trade pact after the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, but now pales beside massive trade deals being negotiated between the United States and Europe and another with 11 Pacific nations, including Japan. South Korea has flagged its interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but the United States will insist on having the bilateral deal working properly first. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. safety watchdog says 303 deaths linked to recalled GM cars Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 08:04 PM PDT  The new report and higher death toll ratchet up the pressure on GM, which has said it has reports of 12 deaths in 34 crashes in the recalled cars. GM did not recall the cars until February, despite learning of problems with the ignition switch in 2001 and issuing related service bulletins to dealers with suggested remedies in 2005. The auto maker is facing increasing pressure to compensate victims and create a $1 billion fund, even if some would-be plaintiffs are barred from suing under the terms of GM's emergence from bankruptcy in 2009. The Center for Auto Safety said it referenced crash and fatality data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Full Story | Top |
| Immigrant protesters cross San Diego border from Mexico, seek asylum Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 07:54 PM PDT By Marty Graham SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Dozens of young, undocumented adults raised in the United States but sent back to Mexico marched over the border on Thursday as part of an ongoing protest of the plight of college-age immigrants in a sometimes violent country where they feel like strangers. Organized by the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, the border crossing is the third in a campaign that began last July and has included journeys into Texas and Arizona. "I want to come home," said Ramon Dorado, who grew up in New Mexico. "I was two weeks from graduating college when I was stopped by the Albuquerque police for a traffic violation and deported because I have no papers." Dorado led a group of about 40 immigrants across the border from Tijuana to the port of entry at San Diego, where they asked U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents for asylum. Full Story | Top |
| Obama vows more humane immigration law enforcement Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 07:44 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has directed his Department of Homeland Security to enforce immigration laws "more humanely," the White House said on Thursday. The president made the pledge at a meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus at the White House. Obama pledged to work with them to pressure congressional Republicans to pass immigration reform, a second-term priority for him that appears stalled. "He has asked Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to do an inventory of the Department's current practices to see how it can conduct enforcement more humanely within the confines of the law," the White House said. Full Story | Top |
| Toshiba, SanDisk sue Hynix over suspected flash memory technology leak Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 07:40 PM PDT  By Chang-Ran Kim and Miyoung Kim TOKYO (Reuters) - Partners Toshiba Corp of Japan and SanDisk Corp of the United States separately filed civil lawsuits against South Korea's SK Hynix Inc, seeking damages over the suspected theft of data related to their flagship flash memory chip technology used in smartphones and tablet computers. SK Hynix said on Friday it had not yet received the litigation and had no comment to make. Hynix competes with both Toshiba and SanDisk, partners in flash memory technology for nearly 15 years, in supplying chips to device makers. The moves follow the arrest by Tokyo police on Thursday of a former SanDisk engineer suspected of improperly providing technical data to Hynix, where he later worked. Full Story | Top |
| Japan's Abe says won't alter 1993 apology on 'comfort women' Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 07:39 PM PDT  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday that his government would not revise a landmark 1993 apology to women, many Korean, forced to serve in wartime military brothels, as Washington presses for better ties between its two Asian allies. Japan's ties with South Korea are frayed by a territorial row and the legacy of its 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean peninsula, including the issue of compensation and an apology to women, known euphemistically in Japan as "comfort women", forced to serve in military brothels before and during World War Two. South Korea and China were outraged by signs that Abe's government might water down the apology, issued by then-chief cabinet secretary Yohei Kono, which recognized the involvement of Japanese authorities in coercing the women to work in the military brothels - a point many conservative Japanese dispute. "With regard to the 'comfort women' issue, I am deeply pained to think of the comfort women who experienced immeasurable pain and suffering, a feeling I share equally with my predecessors," Abe told a parliamentary panel. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. contractor pleads guilty to giving Chinese woman secrets Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 06:52 PM PDT A U.S. defense contractor in Hawaii pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges he passed national defense secrets, including classified information on joint training and planning exercises with South Korea, to a Chinese woman with whom he was romantically involved, prosecutors said. Benjamin Pierce Bishop, 60, a former U.S. Army officer, was working as a civilian employee of a defense contractor at U.S. Pacific Command in Oahu when he was arrested last year and charged with one count of communicating national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it and one count of willfully retaining documents related to national defense. "This case once again demonstrates our commitment and unwavering resolve to pursue and prosecute individuals who violate their security oaths and endanger our national security by unlawfully communicating sensitive and damaging classified national defense information to persons who are not entitled to receive it," Nakakuni said. Full Story | Top |
| GM says report of 303 deaths in recalled cars based on 'raw data' Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 06:50 PM PDT  DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co said a new report of 303 deaths in 1.6 million recalled GM cars is based on "raw data." GM said new research on crash deaths in the Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion by U.S. watchdog group Center for Auto Safety lacks "rigorous analysis." GM said its investigation into the massive ignition switch recall and the impact of the defective switch is "ongoing." (Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Eric Walsh) Full Story | Top |
| One of U.S. Army's '15 Most Wanted' fugitives arrested in Florida Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 06:04 PM PDT One of the U.S. Army's "15 Most Wanted" fugitives was arrested in Florida on Thursday, more than 36 years after the man escaped from a federal prison in Kansas and went on the run. James Robert Jones, a U.S. Army private, was arrested as he showed up for work near Deerfield Beach, Florida, the U.S. Marshall's Service said in a statement. He had been living in Florida under an alias and admitted his real identity shortly after he was arrested. Four years later, Jones obtained a fake Florida driver's license, changed his birthdate but listed his actual address, the Marshals Service said. Full Story | Top |
| Mother sues Missouri shop for selling gun later used in murder Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:42 PM PDT By Kevin Murphy KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - A Missouri gun shop is facing a wrongful death lawsuit after selling a handgun to a woman who is charged with using it to murder her father. The Washington-based Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence brought the suit on behalf of Janet Delana, who said she warned the gun store not to sell any guns to her daughter, Colby Sue Weathers, because of a long history of mental illness. Gunmen in shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and at a movie theater outside of Denver, for example, were described later as having psychological issues. More than a dozen wrongful death lawsuits are pending against gun dealers, some involving sales to customers who were not mentally stable, said Jonathan Lowy, a Brady Center lawyer who helped file the Missouri lawsuit. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. weighs Ukraine requests for military aid, OKs rations: sources Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:42 PM PDT By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is weighing requests for military assistance from Ukraine, including both lethal and non-lethal support, two U.S. officials said on Thursday, as a prominent U.S. senator urged approval of any arms sought by Kiev. The U.S. officials, who asked to speak on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the diplomatic discussions, said the United States had already decided to move ahead with some aid, including military food rations. The U.S. government was still weighing other requests, including for lethal aid, which were made through the U.S. State Department, the officials added, without offering more details. Earlier on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Ukraine's interim government asked for arms, ammunition and intelligence support but the United States had decided against further assistance beyond rations because of concerns about stoking tensions with Russia. Full Story | Top |
| Search for Malaysian plane may extend to Indian Ocean: U.S. Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:39 PM PDT  By Anshuman Daga and Mark Hosenball KUALA LUMPUR/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new search area for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 may be opened in the Indian Ocean, the White House said, significantly broadening the potential location of the plane, which disappeared nearly a week ago with 239 people on board. Expanding the search area to the Indian Ocean would be consistent with the theory that the Boeing 777 may have detoured to the west about an hour after take-off from the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing. "It's my understanding that based on some new information that's not necessarily conclusive - but new information - an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters in Washington. The disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane is one of the most baffling mysteries in the history of modern aviation. Full Story | Top |
| Russia holds war games near Ukraine; Merkel warns of catastrophe Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:38 PM PDT  By Stephen Brown and Timothy Heritage BERLIN/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia launched new military exercises near its border with Ukraine on Thursday, showing no sign of backing down on plans to annex its neighbor's Crimea region despite a stronger than expected drive for sanctions from the EU and United States. In an unusually robust and emotional speech, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of "catastrophe" unless Russia changes course, while a man was killed in Ukraine in fighting between rival protesters in a mainly Russian-speaking city. At the U.N. Security Council, the United States circulated a draft resolution that would declare illegal Sunday's planned referendum on independence for Ukraine's Crimea region. Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Fiesta Bowl chief gets eight months for illegal U.S. campaign donations Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:36 PM PDT By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - The former chief of U.S. college football's Fiesta Bowl was sentenced to eight months in prison on Thursday for leading a scheme to illegally funnel roughly $50,000 from bowl employees to political campaigns. John Junker, 58, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Campbell following a guilty plea two years ago to a felony conspiracy charge stemming from the scheme in which employees contributed to the campaigns and were later reimbursed. Junker was the public face of the bowl game for two decades before being fired three years ago following a scandal that rocked the state and threatened the bowl's place in college football. Junker was ordered to report to federal prison on June 13. Full Story | Top |
| Niece creates 'Mummified in Michigan' Facebook page to commemorate aunt Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:28 PM PDT By Brendan O'Brien (Reuters) - The niece of a Michigan woman whose body is believed to have been found years after she died has created a "Mummified in Michigan" Facebook page to commemorate her as investigators continue to search for clues into her death. Nina Logan, the 19-year-old niece of Pia Farrenkopf, created the page after a mummified body believed to be her aunt was found in the back seat of her car parked in her garage last week in a residential neighborhood of Pontiac, Michigan, a Detroit suburb. Farrenkopf's body was found by someone dispatched to check on the property that fell into foreclosure, police said. Logan said in a post her family lost contact with Farrenkopf due to the amount of traveling she did for work and that she liked her privacy. Full Story | Top |
| Norwegian Air faces last hurdle to new flights: U.S. approval Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:13 PM PDT  By Karen Jacobs ATLANTA (Reuters) - Budget air carrier Norwegian Air hopes to soon get U.S. government approval to operate more lower-cost flights to Europe despite opposition from U.S. and European unions, its chief executive said on Thursday. The carrier is looking to increase flights between the United States and Europe with a new unit based in Ireland. The subsidiary, Norwegian Air International, was certified as an air carrier by the Irish government last month and still requires approval as a foreign air carrier from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Full Story | Top |
| UK to fast-track some drugs under early access scheme Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:04 PM PDT By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is to accelerate access to ground-breaking drugs for serious conditions under a new early-access plan that the government hopes will benefit both patients and pharmaceutical companies. The initiative, which has similarities with a U.S. scheme that has speeded the development of so-called "breakthrough" medicines, follows criticism that Britain's state-run healthcare system is too slow to adopt new medical treatments. Doctors will be able to prescribe promising new drugs as soon as the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency - the country's drugs watchdog - signals that the benefits outweigh the risks, following an initial scientific assessment. The program will be funded by drug companies. Full Story | Top |
| Poll shows limited differences between east, west Ukraine Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 05:03 PM PDT Fewer differences may divide Ukrainians in the Russian-speaking east from compatriots in the west than generally thought, according to an opinion poll issued on Friday showing both regions backing negotiations to resolve differences over Crimea. The survey, conducted by the GfK market research company for the Avaaz international civic network after Russian forces took control of Crimea, also showed a majority in the two areas favoring closer ties with both Russia and the European Union. Ukraine's new authorities, in power since the removal of Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovich last month, say they will pursue plans to clinch an association agreement with the European Union. The opinion survey, involving 2,000 mobile telephone interviews, showed more than 76 percent of respondents in eastern Ukraine saying they "strongly" or "somewhat" favor talks to guarantee minority rights and ensure Russian troops in Crimea return to their bases. Full Story | Top |
| Gaza rockets, Israeli air strikes persist despite truce call Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 04:59 PM PDT  By Dan Williams and Nidal al-Mughrabi JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) - A small armed faction in the Gaza Strip fired rockets at Israel on Thursday, drawing retaliatory air strikes and pushing cross-border violence into a third day despite a truce called by the more powerful Palestinian group Islamic Jihad. The clashes have been the most intense since the Gaza war of November 2012. This time, however, casualties have been scant with winter rains keeping many people indoors, and Israel's Iron Dome interceptor shooting down some of the Palestinian rockets. Hamas, the Islamist movement governing Gaza, has also kept its fighters out of this flare-up so far. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. bill on Ukraine delayed as Congress debates IMF, campaign finance Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 04:57 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate will not vote until later this month at the earliest on a bill providing aid to Ukraine, after the measure got caught up in a partisan battle over International Monetary Fund reforms. The legislation including the IMF reforms, loan guarantees for Ukraine, sanctions against Russians and Ukrainians and economic aid for the new Kiev government was passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. But it failed to advance in the Senate on Thursday, after Republicans objected to the inclusion of the IMF measure. The Senate's failure to consider the bill on Thursday meant it will be up for a vote only after Congress returns on March 24 from a recess that begins on Friday. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. border agent suspected of raping undocumented immigrants found dead Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 04:57 PM PDT By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - A U.S. Border Patrol agent was found dead on Thursday in his Texas home just north of the Mexico border by authorities alerted to allegations he had kidnapped and sexually assaulted three female undocumented immigrants, federal agents said. Two of the female victims escaped on Wednesday night and alerted authorities, who then found the third woman in the Mission, Texas, home of the dead agent, according to FBI Special Agent Michelle Lee in San Antonio and Customs and Border Protection officials. "An injured adult female provided information that she and two other females had been assaulted by a male suspect," a Customs and Border Protection statement said. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela says death toll from protests rises to 28 Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 04:56 PM PDT  By Daniel Wallis CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's state prosecutor said on Thursday the death toll from a month of violent protests had risen to 28, after the nation's top court ordered opposition mayors to dismantle barricades set up by street protesters. State prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz, speaking on the sidelines of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, also said 1,293 detainees had been released and 104 remained in custody accused of serious crimes during the anti-government demonstrations. President Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver elected last year to succeed the late Hugo Chavez, has declared victory over a "coup" attempt and does not look in danger of being toppled. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico's main opposition party quits energy talks amid graft scandal Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 04:51 PM PDT Mexico's opposition conservative party on Thursday walked out of talks over the fine print of a landmark energy bill, accusing the government of using a graft scandal to gets its way, in a move that could delay the rollout of the key legislation. The National Action Party (PAN) lawmakers said they would not return to the negotiating table until their conditions were met, raising the risk that the imminently expected laws will not be approved before the government's end-of-April deadline. Mexico's Congress in December approved a constitutional reform pushed by President Enrique Pena Nieto that ends state oil giant Pemex's 75-year monopoly on crude production and aims to lure private investment into the ailing energy sector. However, the so-called secondary laws of the reform, which include details on implementation and regulation, were still being negotiated in Mexico's upper house until Thursday, when PAN lawmakers abandoned the process. Full Story | Top |
| Gay couples sue Florida to recognize marriages in other states Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 04:25 PM PDT By David Adams MIAMI (Reuters) - Eight Florida gay couples backed by a gay rights group have filed a lawsuit to force the state to recognize same-sex marriages from other states, saying their exclusion violates the right to equal protection under the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit, filed late Wednesday, comes on the heels of another in January filed by six same-sex couples seeking to overturn the state's ban on gay marriage. Florida's refusal to recognize out-of-state marriages unlawfully denies gay couples legal protections available to different-sex couples and discriminates against their children, according to the lawsuit filed in Florida's Northern District. The lawsuit is also being brought by the SAVE Foundation, a gay rights group that does education and grassroots organizing in Florida, on behalf of its members, with the support of the Florida branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Full Story | Top |
| Partisanship engulfs U.S. Congress effort to avoid doctor pay cut Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 04:24 PM PDT  By David Morgan and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan deal in Congress to spare doctors from recurring Medicare pay cuts was in jeopardy on Thursday, as Republicans ignored protests from physicians and moved forward with legislation that would use the so-called "doc fix" to undermine Obamacare. Hundreds of thousands of doctors who participate in traditional Medicare face a 24 percent pay cut on April 1, as part of a 1990s initiative to restrain federal spending on the government healthcare program, which today serves nearly 50 million elderly and disabled people. Doctors thought they would see a permanent fix this year after Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives and Senate agreed on a policy to replace the payment formula, known as the sustainable growth rate or SGR, according to lobbyists, congressional aides and analysts. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. aerospace, aviation industries see threats in aging workforce Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 04:19 PM PDT  By Elvina Nawaguna WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. aerospace and aviation industry leaders warned lawmakers on Thursday that a coming wave of retirements in an aging workforce could hurt both sectors and create safety issues unless the government helps more young people qualify for those jobs. Boeing Co, for instance, expects a large percentage of its U.S. workers to retire in a few years and does not see a ready pool of replacements, said Dennis Muilenburg, president and chief operating officer. "If we look at the demographics of our workforce across Boeing and much of the aerospace industry, about 50 percent of our top engineers and mechanics will be eligible to retire over roughly the next five years," Muilenburg told lawmakers at a U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security. The Federal Aviation Administration, responsible for the safety and regulation of U.S. civil aviation, also faces a staffing crisis, a labor official told lawmakers. Full Story | Top |
| New Mexico nuclear repository mishap leaves Los Alamos waste quandary Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 04:18 PM PDT By Joseph J. Kolb ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (Reuters) - The Los Alamos National Laboratory is evaluating how to meet a June deadline to permanently discard plutonium-tainted junk in light of a prolonged shutdown of a New Mexico nuclear waste dump after an accident there last month, a lab official said. Los Alamos, one of the leading U.S. nuclear weapons labs, has been forced to halt shipments of its radioactive refuse some 300 miles across the state to the nation's only underground nuclear repository, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, near Carlsbad, according to lab spokesman Matt Nerzig. The repository has remained closed while the U.S. Department of Energy investigates the origins of a radiation leak that occurred there on February 14, exposing at least 17 workers at the facility to radioactive contamination. Nerzig said about 1,000 temporary storage drums of the waste remain at the Los Alamos National Laboratory awaiting shipment to the repository near Carlsbad. Full Story | Top |
| Arizona same-sex couples sue state over gay marriage ban Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 04:10 PM PDT  By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - A group of same-sex couples in Arizona filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday to challenge the state's ban on gay marriage, arguing that it violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, court documents showed. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix by seven same-sex couples and two people whose same-sex partners had died. "Every day that same-sex couples in Arizona are denied marriage, the government sends a message that their families are not worthy of equal dignity and respect," Jennifer Pizer, one of the attorneys who filed the legal action, said in a statement. Arizona is among more than 30 states that still ban gay or lesbian couples from marrying. Full Story | Top |
| Deal reached in Senate to renew jobless benefits Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 04:06 PM PDT  By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan deal to renew long-term jobless benefits for more than 2 million Americans was reached on Thursday by a group of 10 U.S. senators, five Democrats and five Republicans. Sponsors of the legislation said they expect to have more than enough votes to pass the measure when the Senate returns from its week-long recess, set to begin on Friday. If and when the Democratic-led Senate passes the bill, it would go to the Republican-led House of Representatives for final approval. He and Republican Senator Dean Heller of Nevada are chief sponsors of the legislation. Full Story | Top |
| Florida Supreme Court voids caps on medical malpractice lawsuits Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:51 PM PDT By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a state law that placed a $1 million limit on the amount of money people can be awarded in wrongful death cases caused by medical malpractice. The 5-2 ruling declared as unconstitutional a key provision of a 2003 malpractice law signed by then-Governor Jeb Bush and enacted by a Republican-controlled state legislature. Supporters of the 2003 law said at the time the limits were needed to keep a lid on insurance rates to prevent doctors from leaving Florida during what they described as a "medical malpractice crisis." In its ruling, the court said the limits violate the right of equal protection under Florida's constitution. Full Story | Top |
| Turkey's Erdogan condemns protesters as deaths fuel tensions Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:49 PM PDT  By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan condemned anti-government protesters on Thursday as "charlatans" bent on sowing chaos in the run-up to local elections after Turkey's worst civil unrest since mass protests last summer. Two people died during protests on Wednesday, including a police officer in eastern Turkey who suffered a heart attack and a 22-year-old man shot in Istanbul in an apparent stand-off with a group of anti-government protesters. Several thousand people gathered for Burakcan Karamanoglu's funeral in Istanbul's conservative Kasimpasa district, where Erdogan grew up and still commands fervent loyalty, his death becoming a rallying point for government supporters. Full Story | Top |
| Leaked documents purport to reveal Turkish graft allegations Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:49 PM PDT By Dasha Afanasieva and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Twitter account behind a string of leaks in a Turkish corruption scandal posted late on Thursday what it presented as police files detailing graft allegations against four former ministers, dealing a further blow to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan weeks before elections. The Twitter account using the pseudonym @HARAMZADELER333 posted links to a 299-page document and a 32-page document presented as police files from an investigation that became public on December 17 with a series of dawn raids. Former interior minister Muammer Guler, former economy minister Zafer Caglayan and former environment minister Erdogan Bayraktar each saw a son detained on December 17 as police went public with their long-running corruption inquiry. Full Story | Top |
| Contractor to plead guilty to giving Chinese woman secrets: U.S. Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:47 PM PDT A U.S. defense contractor in Hawaii was expected to plead guilty on Thursday to charges he passed national defense secrets, including classified information on joint training and planning exercises with South Korea, to a Chinese woman with whom he was romantically involved, prosecutors said. Benjamin Pierce Bishop, 60, a former U.S. Army officer, was working as a civilian employee of a defense contractor at U.S. Pacific Command in Oahu when he was arrested last year and charged with one count of communicating national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it and one count of willfully retaining documents related to national defense. He is expected to plead guilty to those charges in court on Thursday afternoon, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Tong, spokesman for the Honolulu-based U.S. Attorney's Office. Full Story | Top |
| Bin Laden relative admitted al Qaeda link, FBI agent says Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:46 PM PDT  By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Suleiman Abu Ghaith admitted that months before al Qaeda's 2001 hijacked jet attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he promised Osama bin Laden he would be a spokesman for the group, an FBI agent testified on Thursday in a U.S. court. At Abu Ghaith's trial on terrorism charges, agent Michael Butsch said he interviewed the suspect for several hours after his arrest in February, 2013. Butsch said Abu Ghaith told him then that bin Laden invited him in July 2001 to join al Qaeda. Butsch said Abu Ghaith recalled that he told bin Laden he was not a soldier, but a religious "scholar and an orator," and agreed to serve as al Qaeda's spokesman. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico likely to present telecoms reform fine print Friday: lawmaker Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:38 PM PDT  Mexico's government may send to the Senate as soon as Friday so-called secondary laws that lay out the fine print of a reform aimed at boosting competition in the telecommunications sector, a top lawmaker said on Thursday. The secondary laws will flesh out a constitutional overhaul approved last year to open up the country's phone and TV industries, which are dominated by billionaire Carlos Slim's America Movil and the country's No. 1 broadcaster, Televisa. "It's very likely tomorrow the telecommunications secondary laws reach the Senate," Emilio Gamboa, Senate leader for the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party told local radio. Full Story | Top |
| Malaysia jet sent 'pings' after going missing, sources say Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 03:36 PM PDT By Anshuman Daga and Mark Hosenball KUALA LUMPUR/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Satellites picked up faint electronic pulses from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 after it went missing on Saturday, but the signals gave no information about where the stray jet was heading and little else about its fate, two sources close to the investigation said on Thursday. But the "pings" indicated its maintenance troubleshooting systems were switched on and ready to communicate with satellites, showing the aircraft, with 239 people on board, was at least capable of communicating after losing touch with air traffic controllers. An international search for the 777, which left Kuala Lumpur early Saturday bound for Beijing, involves at least a dozen countries. Ships and aircraft are now combing a vast area that has been widened to cover the Gulf of Thailand, the Andaman Sea and on both sides of the Malay Peninsula. Full Story | Top |
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