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| Satellite data shows missing Malaysia plane may have flown thousands of miles: source Friday, Mar 14, 2014 08:32 PM PDT By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Analysis of electronic pulses picked up from a missing Malaysian airliner shows it could have run out of fuel and crashed into the Indian Ocean after it flew hundreds of miles off course, a source familiar with official U.S. assessments said on Friday. The source, who is familiar with data the U.S. government is receiving from the investigation into the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane, said the other, less likely possibility was that it flew on toward India. Two sources familiar with the probe earlier said Malaysian military radar data showed a plane that investigators suspect was Flight MH370 following a commonly used navigational route toward the Middle East and Europe when it was last spotted by radar early on March 8, northwest of Malaysia. The electronic pulses were believed to have been transmitted for several hours after the plane flew out of radar range, said the source familiar with the data. Full Story | Top |
| Fed nominee Fischer: policy decisions are best made early Friday, Mar 14, 2014 08:05 PM PDT  By Ann Saphir PALO ALTO, California (Reuters) - Stanley Fischer, U.S. President Barack Obama's pick for the No. 2 job at the Federal Reserve, said on Friday that decades of crisis-fighting have taught him the importance of making policy decisions quickly, even before all relevant data is in hand. "We tend to underestimate the lags in receiving information and the lags with which policy decisions affect the economy," he said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Stanford Institute on Economic Policy. "Those lags led me to try to make decisions as early as possible, even if that meant that there was more uncertainty about the correctness of the decision than would have been appropriate had the lags been absent." Fischer was in California to receive the institute's $100,000 prize one day after his nomination hearing in Washington, a session that shed little new light on his policy leanings but suggested he is largely supportive of the Fed's current super-easy monetary policy. That could be a critical insight into the thinking of a man likely soon to become the most influential U.S. central banker after Fed Chair Janet Yellen, just as the Fed faces the unprecedented task of unwinding its extraordinary stimulus measures launched in the depths of the last financial crisis. Full Story | Top |
| Lost Malaysian airliner may have run out of fuel over Indian Ocean: source Friday, Mar 14, 2014 07:34 PM PDT  By Niluksi Koswanage and Mark Hosenball KUALA LUMPUR/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Faint electronic signals sent to satellites from a missing Malaysian jetliner show it may have been flown thousands of miles off course before running out of fuel over the Indian Ocean, a source familiar with official U.S. assessments said. Analysis in Malaysia and the United States of military radar tracking and pulses detected by satellites are starting to piece together an extraordinary picture of what may have happened to the plane after it lost contact with civilian air traffic. The fate of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, and the 239 passengers and crew aboard, has been shrouded in mystery since it vanished off Malaysia's east coast less than an hour into a March 8 scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A U.S. source familiar with the investigation said there was also discussion within the U.S. government that the plane's disappearance might have involved an act of piracy. Full Story | Top |
| Two men found guilty in New York kidnap fetish case Friday, Mar 14, 2014 07:27 PM PDT A federal jury in New York found a mechanic and a former librarian guilty on Friday of conspiring to kidnap women in order to satisfy sexual fetishes for rape and murder that they originally nursed online via Internet message boards. Michael Van Hise, 23, and Christopher Asch, 61, were convicted in U.S. District Court in Manhattan of planning to abduct Van Hise's wife, sister-in-law and nieces in a case that hinged on defining the point where violent fantasy can slip into criminal intent. Van Hise fought back tears as he looked toward his trembling grandmother, who raised him from infancy and testified in his defense during the two-week-plus trial. Van Hise, a mechanic from Trenton, New Jersey, and Asch, a onetime high school librarian from Manhattan, each faces a maximum penalty of life in prison when sentenced. Full Story | Top |
| El Salvador election runner-up appeals to top court for recount Friday, Mar 14, 2014 07:26 PM PDT  The runner-up in El Salvador's presidential election said he had requested the Supreme Court on Friday to order a recount of the weekend's tight contest. Norman Quijano, a former mayor of San Salvador and candidate of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena) party, finished fewer than 7,000 votes behind Salvador Sanchez Ceren of the ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front. Quijano, 67, told reporters he filed a request for an injunction with the constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court. The electoral tribunal has said it could take until early next week to work through Quijano's legal challenge to the election and settle any remaining doubts. Full Story | Top |
| Lebanon to allow citizens to resist Israel: policy statement Friday, Mar 14, 2014 07:12 PM PDT  By Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's new government agreed to a compromise policy statement on Friday that fell short of explicitly enshrining the militant group Hezbollah's role in confronting Israel but which would give all citizens the right to resist Israeli occupation or attacks. The agreement on the compromise language came after weeks of dispute brought the government to the verge of collapse, and now paves the way for Prime Minister Tammam Salam to put his government to a vote of confidence. Information Minister Ramzi Jreij told reporters that most ministers had agreed on a compromise statement that declares Lebanese citizens have the right to "resist Israeli occupation" and repel any Israeli attack. The deal was reached a few hours after Israel's army said it fired tank rounds and artillery into southern Lebanon in retaliation for a bomb that targeted its soldiers patrolling the border. Full Story | Top |
| Beer makers drop out of St. Patrick's parades that ban openly gay marchers Friday, Mar 14, 2014 06:48 PM PDT  By Anna Hiatt NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two major beer manufacturers on Friday dropped sponsorship of St. Patrick's Day parades in New York City and Boston to protest bans on gays marching openly. Sam Adams pulled out of Boston's parade, which takes place on Sunday, and Heineken yanked its support of the New York City parade, slated for Monday. Both parades are allowing gay groups to march but are banning signage about sexual orientation. Sam Adams made the announcement after coming under pressure from Club Cafe, a Boston bar patronized by the gay community. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. government aims to shed control of Internet addresses Friday, Mar 14, 2014 06:30 PM PDT The Commerce Department maintains the master database for such top-level domain names as .com and .net, as well as the corresponding numeric addresses, but has contracted out that work to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Lawrence Strickling said he asked ICANN to convene a process for a formal transition, which he said must "support and enhance the multistakeholder model" and "maintain the openness of the Internet." ICANN Chief Executive Fadi Chehadé said the process would be completed before ICANN's management contract with the Commerce Department expires in September 2015. The United States, which gave birth to the Internet, has long said it wants to hand over stewardship and has taken many steps toward that. The push has accelerated following disclosures from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, whose documents showed that U.S. intelligence officials scanned vast amounts of Internet traffic. Full Story | Top |
| Canadian class-action lawsuit filed against Mt. Gox, Mizuho Bank Friday, Mar 14, 2014 06:28 PM PDT  A class-action lawsuit has been filed in Canada against Mt. Gox, the leading bitcoin exchange that lost more than $400 million of customers' digital currency, along with Mizuho Bank Ltd, one of Japan's largest lenders. The lawsuit, filed Friday in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, comes just days after Mt. Gox, based in Tokyo, filed for a U.S. Chapter 15 bankruptcy, which shields the company from lawsuits in U.S. courts. The plaintiffs are Canadian residents who allege they are owed currency and the value of bitcoins by Mt. Gox that they have been unable to withdraw. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of "all persons in Canada who paid a fee to Mt. Gox to buy, sell or otherwise trade bitcoins" and all those who had bitcoins or currently stored with Mt. Gox on February 7. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge will not change Pandora's songwriters licensing rate Friday, Mar 14, 2014 06:25 PM PDT By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge has left stable the rate U.S. Internet radio service Pandora Media Inc must pay songwriters to license their music, a performing rights organization said Friday. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers said the judge following a non-jury trial set Pandora's rate to license songs registered with the association at 1.85 percent for five years through 2015. The rate, set by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan, left the royalty at the current rate paid by Pandora. But the judge also appears to have rejected an escalating rate structure proposed by ASCAP. Full Story | Top |
| Syrian foreign minister recovering from heart surgery in Beirut Friday, Mar 14, 2014 05:55 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem underwent heart surgery on Friday at a hospital in Lebanon, Syrian state media said. SANA news agency said the operation, which it described as a planned procedure, had been a success. Moualem, 73, was admitted to the American University of Beirut Medical Center on Thursday, where coronary tests showed he needed an operation, medical sources had earlier told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawsuit kicks off class action claims against GM Friday, Mar 14, 2014 05:48 PM PDT  By Jessica Dye NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Motors was hit on Friday with what appeared to be the first lawsuit related to the recall of 1.6 million cars, as customers claimed their vehicles lost value because of ignition problems blamed for a series of fatal crashes. The proposed class action, filed in federal court in Texas, said GM knew about the problem since 2004, but failed to fix it, creating "unreasonably dangerous" conditions for drivers of the affected models. "GM's mishandling of the ignition switch defect....has adversely affected the company's reputation as a manufacturer of safe, reliable vehicles with high resale value," the lawsuit said. The recall has led to government criminal and civil investigations, an internal probe by GM, and preparations for hearings by Congress. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. warns American travelers in Russia, and border region Friday, Mar 14, 2014 05:37 PM PDT The U.S. State Department warned American citizens on Friday of possible military clashes along the Russian-Ukrainian border and potential anti-American activities in Russia as Crimea prepares to vote Sunday on whether to join Russia. In a "travel alert," the State Department said it had no information of military conflict inside Russia as a result of regional tensions or of any threat specific to U.S. citizens. "However," it said, "all U.S. citizens located in or considering travel to the border region ... should be aware of the potential for escalation of tensions, military clashes (either accidental or intentional) or other violence." In the worst East-West confrontation since the Cold War, Moscow shipped more troops into Crimea on Friday and repeated its threat to invade other parts of Ukraine in response to violence the night before in Donetsk. EU diplomats will choose from a list of possible Russian targets for sanctions on Sunday, as pro-Moscow authorities who have taken power in Crimea hold a vote on whether to join Russia. Full Story | Top |
| Pinkberry yogurt chain co-founder gets seven years in beating case Friday, Mar 14, 2014 05:34 PM PDT  By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A co-founder of the Pinkberry frozen yogurt chain who was convicted last year of beating a homeless man with a tire iron over a tattoo he considered disrespectful was sentenced on Friday to seven years in prison. Young Lee, a 49-year-old South Korean kick boxer-turned-architect who parted ways with Pinkberry in 2010, was convicted in November of assault with a deadly weapon, along with special allegations that he caused great bodily injuries to his victim. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said Lee was sentenced to the maximum of four years in prison for the assault, with an additional three years for the special allegations. Prosecutors say Donald Bolding was panhandling at a Los Angeles freeway off-ramp when he flashed a sexually explicit tattoo on his belly at Lee, his then-fiancee and another man in the couple's Range Rover. Full Story | Top |
| As hope withers, Palestinian president heads to Washington Friday, Mar 14, 2014 05:31 PM PDT  By Crispian Balmer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - With pessimism growing by the day over the future of Middle East peace talks, U.S. President Barack Obama will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington on Monday to try to break the stalemate. The deadline for the negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, aimed at ending their entrenched conflict, expires next month and Washington is eager to persuade the two sides to prolong their discussions within a new framework. After eight months of initial talks, and at least 10 trips to the region, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sounded unusually gloomy during a Congressional hearing on March 12, indicating that little progress had been made so far. Obama's direct involvement is aimed at providing much needed additional impetus: he saw Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month, and is now meeting Abbas. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Latino groups expect relief on deportations from Obama Friday, Mar 14, 2014 05:30 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Latino groups and immigration advocates said on Friday they expect President Barack Obama to ease back from record deportations of people living illegally in the United States after discussing their concerns with him for almost two hours. Obama announced late on Thursday that he had decided to review deportation practices to seek a more "humane" way to enforce immigration laws. His surprise decision came after months of pressure from Latino groups, who are frustrated with stalled efforts to overhaul immigration laws to provide a path to citizenship for about 11 million people living illegally in the United States. More than a dozen immigration advocates met with Obama, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and other top White House officials. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine accuses Russia of fomenting violence in east Friday, Mar 14, 2014 05:14 PM PDT By Lina Kushch DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - The new governor of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk on Friday said Russians were behind violent clashes between rival demonstrators in which one man was killed, and accused Moscow of distorting the truth in its account of what happened. Russia warned it could move in to protect compatriots - a similar justification as used in last week's military takeover of Crimea. And Ukraine's acting president raised the alarm over a Russian troop build-up on the eastern border that has fuelled fears in Kiev of a broader invasion by its former Soviet ruler. Serhiy Taruta, a steel tycoon and one of several oligarchs appointed to take control of possibly restive, Russian-speaking regions after last month's overthrow of Ukraine's Moscow-backed president, scoffed at the Russian Foreign Ministry's implication that Russians had been victims of Thursday night's violence. Full Story | Top |
| Tennessee must recognize marriages of three same-sex couples: judge Friday, Mar 14, 2014 05:05 PM PDT By Tim Ghianni NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Tennessee must recognize the legal same-sex marriages of three couples who wed in other states, a federal judge in Nashville ruled on Friday in a limited decision that echoed a similar case in neighboring Kentucky. Judge Aleta Trauger granted the couples a preliminary injunction that requires Tennessee to recognize their marriages pending a final decision on the constitutionality of Tennessee's ban on same-sex nuptials. "At this point, all signs indicate that, in the eyes of the United States Constitution, the plaintiffs' marriages will be placed on an equal footing with those of heterosexual couples and that proscriptions against same-sex marriage will soon become a footnote in the annals of American history," Trauger wrote in the decision. The ruling comes as gay rights advocates gain momentum in their fight to legalize same-sex marriage. Full Story | Top |
| Singer Chris Brown arrested in California on probation violation Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:48 PM PDT  By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - R&B singer Chris Brown was arrested on Friday in Malibu, California, on a warrant issued for a probation violation related to his 2009 assault of then-girlfriend Rihanna, the Los Angeles County Sheriff said. Brown, 24, is being held without bail in Los Angeles after being taken into custody in Malibu at 2 p.m. PDT (2100 GMT). The singer was ordered into custody by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Brandlin after the judge was notified that Brown was not following his probation and had been discharged from a Malibu rehabilitation center where he was ordered to stay, a court spokeswoman said. The singer, who also faces a misdemeanor assault case in Washington, D.C., had been in the rehabilitation center for anger management as part of his court-ordered probation. Full Story | Top |
| Investigators focus on foul play behind missing Malaysia plane: sources Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:48 PM PDT By Niluksi Koswanage and Siva Govindasamy KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - An investigation into a missing Malaysian jetliner, now into its second week, is focusing more on the possibility of foul play as evidence suggests it was deliberately flown hundreds of miles off course, sources familiar with the Malaysian probe said. Two sources told Reuters that military radar data showed an unidentified aircraft that investigators suspect was Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 following a commonly used navigational route toward the Middle East and Europe when it was last spotted early on March 8, northwest of Malaysia. That course - headed into the Andaman Sea and towards the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean - could only have been set deliberately, either by flying the Boeing 777-200ER jet manually or by programming the auto-pilot. A third source familiar with the investigation said inquiries were focusing more on the theory that someone with knowledge of navigational waypoints - used by airlines to track established commercial flight paths - had diverted the flight off its scheduled course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Full Story | Top |
| California Republicans tackle image and appeal at state convention Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:44 PM PDT  By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - California Republicans kicked off their annual convention on Friday with an ambitious agenda aimed at remaking the party and a promise to reclaim the once red but now blue state dominated by Democrats. The convention in San Francisco's Burlingame suburb began after months of strategizing and fund-raising led by former Republican state senate leader Jim Brulte. "The party was a million dollars in debt, we had no real decent donor list ... we had closed down our Sacramento office ... and the Burbank office was in disrepair," said spokesman Mark Standriff, a former employee of the state Republican party who was re-hired to help rebuild. "We want to get the party back to what it should have been over the past few years." About 1,000 delegates and guests were expected to attend the weekend convention, where former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and national Republican chairman Reince Priebus will speak. Full Story | Top |
| For-profit colleges call new Obama administration rules unfair Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:38 PM PDT By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For-profit colleges on Friday criticized the Obama administration's proposal to deny federal funding to career-training institutions that students leave with high levels of debt. The Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, which represents more than 1,400 for-profit schools, called the proposed rules discriminatory, saying they would disproportionately affect low-income students. The Department of Education announced the proposed regulations on Friday, saying students should not be buried under mountains of debt by low-performing for-profit career training colleges that fail to prepare them for a well-paying job. "Our students are juggling work, family and school and desperately need focused academic delivery and flexible schedules," Steve Gunderson, president of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, wrote in a letter to the Department of Education. Full Story | Top |
| Syrian presidential election law excludes most opposition leaders Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:19 PM PDT  By Stephen Kalin BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's parliament has set residency rules for presidential candidates, state media said on Friday, a move that would bar many of President Bashar al-Assad's foes who live in exile as the uprising in the major Arab state enters its fourth year. Assad has not yet announced whether he will stand for a third term in defiance of rebels fighting to overthrow him and Western leaders who have demanded he go to help end Syria's civil war and make way for a democratic transition. U.N.-Arab League peace mediator Lakhdar Brahimi warned ON Thursday that the Syrian opposition will probably not be interested in pursuing any peace talks with the government if it goes ahead with an election highly likely to secure a new term for Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for 44 years. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Latino groups expect relief after meeting with 'deporter in chief' Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:18 PM PDT By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Latino groups and immigration advocates said on Friday they expect President Barack Obama to ease back from record deportations of people living illegally in the United States after discussing their concerns with him for almost two hours. Obama announced late on Thursday that he had decided to review deportation practices to seek a more "humane" way to enforce immigration laws. His surprise decision came after months of pressure from Latino groups, who are frustrated with stalled efforts to overhaul immigration laws to provide a path to citizenship for about 11 million people living illegally in the United States. More than a dozen immigration advocates met with Obama, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and other top White House officials. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. rests its case against bin Laden son-in-law Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:15 PM PDT  By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prosecutors in New York on Friday rested their case in the trial of Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden who is accused of conspiring to kill Americans when he acted as a spokesman for al Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Abu Ghaith's lawyers are expected to present their case next week. But they will ask presiding U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan over the weekend for an order permitting them to introduce evidence from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, which would require a slight delay, according to Stanley Cohen, one of the lawyers. The judge previously said he was "deeply skeptical" the lawyers have a right to access Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, who is being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Full Story | Top |
| Suspected Uighurs rescued from Thai trafficking camp Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:13 PM PDT  By Andrew R.C. Marshall HAT YAI, Thailand (Reuters) - Police rescued about 200 people believed to be Muslim Uighurs from a human smuggling camp in southern Thailand, police sources said on Friday, in the latest crackdown on a burgeoning trafficking network in Southeast Asia. The latest trafficking victims, possibly from China's troubled far-western region of Xinjiang, brings the total number of people freed from human traffickers to well over 800 since Reuters exposed the whereabouts of the illegal camps in a December 5 investigation. The raid is further evidence that human smugglers in southern Thailand - already a notorious trafficking hub for Rohingya boat people from Myanmar - are exploiting well-oiled networks to transport other nationalities in large numbers, despite an ongoing crackdown by Thai police. "The human smugglers are expanding their product range," said Police Major General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, who has launched a series of raids on trafficking camps in southern Thailand, including the 200 rescued on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Slovak PM Fico fights political newcomer for presidency Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:10 PM PDT  By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - Slovaks vote on Saturday to pick a new president in an election that will either cement Prime Minister Robert Fico's power in the central European country or usher in an independent. A Fico victory would give his center-left Smer party full control of all the main power centers, even if the Slovak constitution does not grant the president himself a huge political role. Fico, 49, took Slovakia into the euro zone in 2009 and has kept the country of 5.5 million friendly to investors despite levying extra taxes on banks and utilities. This gives a fighting chance to Andrej Kiska, a businessman-turned-philanthropist whose chances to beat Fico have grown in the latest opinion polls. Full Story | Top |
| Colorado theater gunman loses latest round in court Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:56 PM PDT  By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - A Colorado judge overseeing the mass murder case against a gunman charged with killing 12 people in a suburban Denver movie theater has rejected several defense challenges to the state's death penalty laws and abruptly canceled hearings on the issue. The series of written opinions issued on Friday by Arapahoe County District Court Judge Carlos Samour represented a setback and rebuke to efforts by the defense to shield James Holmes from the possibility of execution, if he is convicted. Denying several defense motions seeking to challenge Colorado's capital punishment and sentencing laws, Samour said most of the issues raised by Holmes' lawyer were "frivolous" and had already been litigated and resolved. "To the extent the defendant wishes to change the current state of the law in Colorado, his arguments should be directed to the legislature or the Colorado Supreme Court," Samour wrote. Full Story | Top |
| FBI won't run checks on Washington state pot business hopefuls Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:43 PM PDT By Jonathan Kaminsky OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - The FBI is refusing to run background checks on people who want to get into the marijuana business in Washington state, regulators said on Friday, in a move that could complicate efforts to keep hardened criminals out of the nascent industry. Washington state and Colorado in 2012 became the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, though it remains illegal under federal law. They are among 20 states and the District of Columbia that allow medical marijuana. The FBI, which does run background checks on Colorado's marijuana business applicants, declined to say why it will not do the same for Washington state. Full Story | Top |
| Peru former President Fujimori hospitalized after stroke Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:36 PM PDT Peru's jailed former president, Alberto Fujimori, was hospitalized and in stable condition on Friday after suffering a small stroke, doctors said. Fujimori, 75, was conscious and talking on Friday afternoon following a stroke in his jail cell in the morning, said Dr Juan Barreto, with the Clinica La Luz in Lima. "He is a little bit delicate." Fujimori started to have problems with blood flow to his brain four days ago, and a magnetic resonance imaging scan confirmed he had a stroke on Friday that impaired movement of his left arm, said Jose Luis Ore, the medical director of the clinic. "He won't be released today and probably not tomorrow." Fujimori, who has been imprisoned since 2007 on charges of human rights abuses and corruption committed during his 1990-2000 term, often coordinates with members of his political party from his jail cell and criticizes President Ollanta Humala via Twitter and Facebook. Full Story | Top |
| Crimea vote to keep markets on edge Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:28 PM PDT  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors will start the week early as the Sunday referendum to decide if Crimea becomes part of Russia or remains Ukrainian will likely reverberate in markets worldwide. U.S. stocks closed Friday with their largest weekly drop in the last seven weeks as the strongest confrontation between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War unfolds. Dozens of Russians involved in Moscow's gradual takeover of Crimea face U.S. and EU travel bans and asset freezes on Monday as pro-Moscow authorities who have taken power in Crimea hold a Sunday vote to join Russia. "There's an open question as to who suffers most," said Sam Wardwell, investment strategist at Pioneer Investments in Boston, about the planned economic sanctions. Full Story | Top |
| California pension reform measure abandoned after court ruling Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:26 PM PDT Backers of a ballot measure to cut California's public pensions, which was seen as a model for other states, abandoned their campaign to win voter support on Friday after a court ruling. Chuck Reed, the Democratic mayor of San Jose, said he was ending his campaign to put the statewide measure on the ballot this November, but he did not rule out trying to re-launch his effort for the November 2016 election. Reed's measure aimed to give California mayors the freedom to cut pensions already awarded to public workers, although not to touch benefits already earned. The campaign was abandoned after Sacramento Superior Court Judge Allen Sumner rejected a lawsuit filed by Reed and other measure proponents against Kamala Harris, California's Democratic attorney general, for what they said was biased, union-friendly language for the voter initiative. Full Story | Top |
| Sandwich chain Quiznos files for bankruptcy protection Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:24 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Sandwich chain Quiznos Corp filed for pre-packaged bankruptcy protection on Friday after struggling for years with high debt and rising competition. It listed liabilities of between $500 million and $1 billion in its bankruptcy petition. "Our business plan includes several key elements aimed at supporting our franchisees, including reducing food costs, implementing a franchise owner rebate program," Quiznos Chief Executive Stuart Mathis said. Quiznos has been facing stiff competition from its biggest rival Subway, one of the largest fast-food chain in the world with over 41,000 franchised stores in about 100 countries. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to seek extradition of Ukrainian industrialist Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:24 PM PDT  By David Ingram and Michael Shields WASHINGTON/VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.S. government will ask Austria to extradite Ukrainian industrialist Dmytro Firtash to face charges filed in a Chicago court arising from an investigation into international corruption, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday. One of Ukraine's most influential oligarchs, Firtash, 48, was arrested in Vienna on Wednesday. "Firtash's arrest is not related to recent events in Ukraine," they said in a reference to the political crisis between Ukraine and Russia. Full Story | Top |
| West prepares sanctions as Russia presses on with Crimea takeover Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:17 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn and Lina Kushch SEVASTOPOL/DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Dozens of Russians linked to Russia's gradual takeover of Crimea could face U.S. and EU travel bans and asset freezes on Monday, after six hours of crisis talks between Washington and Moscow ended with both sides still far apart. Moscow shipped more troops and armor into Crimea on Friday and repeated its threat to invade other parts of Ukraine in response to violence in Donetsk on Thursday night despite Western demands to pull back. EU diplomats will choose from a long list of 120-130 possible Russian targets for sanctions on Sunday, as pro-Moscow authorities who have taken power in Crimea hold a vote to join Russia in the worst East-West confrontation since the Cold War. Full Story | Top |
| Insurers must accept funds from U.S. program that helps HIV-AIDs patients Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:15 PM PDT By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - The lead agency for President Barack Obama's healthcare reform announced on Friday that it would require, rather than merely encourage, insurers that sell Obamacare policies to accept funds from a federal program that helps people with HIV-AIDS pay health insurance premiums. Earlier this year, BlueCross BlueShield of Louisiana, the state's largest carrier, said it would begin rejecting checks from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program for Obamacare policies it sells. For decades the Ryan White program had helped low-income people with HIV and AIDS pay for both AIDS drugs and insurance premiums, but Louisiana Blue said such "third party payments" invited fraud. The chief federal agency administering Obamacare, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said on Friday it was requiring insurers to accept the funds, after saying last month that it "encouraged" carriers to accept the Ryan White payments and did not see any potential for fraud. Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Synergy CEO convicted of running check fraud in U.S., Canada Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:12 PM PDT By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former chief executive of bankrupt food company Synergy Brands Inc was convicted Friday on charges of running a check fraud scheme through banks in the United States and Canada that caused one institution to lose $26 million. A federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, found Mair Faibish guilty on all three counts including bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank and securities fraud, federal prosecutors said. Joseph Ryan, a lawyer for Faibish, said he would ask the court to vacate the verdict and pursue an appeal if necessary. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn said Faibish, 54, also caused Synergy to file false statements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about Synergy's financial condition for the second quarter of 2008. Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Senator Brown, defeated in Massachusetts, mulls New Hampshire run Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:06 PM PDT  By Scott Malone NASHUA, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, a moderate Republican who moved to New Hampshire last year, said on Friday he had begun exploring a run for Senate in his new home state that could help his party gain a seat in the chamber now controlled by Democrats. "I have formed an exploratory committee to prepare a campaign for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire," Brown told the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference on Friday afternoon in Nashua, New Hampshire. Full Story | Top |
| French court sentences Rwandan ex-soldier for genocide role Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:05 PM PDT  A Paris court sentenced a former Rwandan soldier to 25 years in jail on Friday for his role in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, in France's first trial to punish those responsible for the three-month wave of violence. The court found Pascal Simbikangwa, 54, described by prosecutors as a former soldier who rose to become the No. 3 in Rwanda's intelligence services, guilty of genocide and complicity in crimes against humanity. Under French law, Rwandans suspected of involvement in the genocide can be tried in a French court. France was long considered a safe haven for those fleeing prosecution for their role in the massacre. Full Story | Top |
| House Obamacare vote sets stage for new campaign attacks Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:04 PM PDT  By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-run U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved a bipartisan deal to spare doctors from a looming Medicare pay cut but included a provision to undermine Obamacare, which critics said was a non-starter in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The vote was 238-181, with most House Democrats refusing to swallow what they called an Obamacare "poison pill," a provision to delay for five years the tax penalty that most Americans must pay under President Barack Obama's healthcare law if they decline to sign up for insurance. Just a dozen Democrats, some of whom face tough re-election races in November, voted with Republicans to pass the bill, which the White House has threatened to veto. Hundreds of thousands of doctors who participate in traditional Medicare face a 24 percent pay cut on April 1, a situation dating to a 1990s initiative to restrain federal spending on the government healthcare program, which today serves nearly 50 million elderly and disabled people. Full Story | Top |
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