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| Rescuer reunited with woman he saved from U.S. mudslide with her painting Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 09:02 PM PDT By Bryan Cohen ARLINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - In the terrifying moments after she somehow emerged alive from the wall of mud and debris that swallowed her house, the only possession that Robin Youngblood managed to salvage was a painted portrait that once hung in her now-flattened home. She and crew chief Randy Fay of the Snohomish County helicopter rescue team embraced in a tearful reunion during an afternoon news conference in the town of Arlington, site of a command post for search teams looking for scores more people still missing in the slide that engulfed dozens of homes near the river valley hamlet of Oso. Full Story | Top |
| Ninety people still missing after Washington state mudslide Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:51 PM PDT  By Bryan Cohen ARLINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - The number of people missing after a landslide sent a wall of mud crashing into dozens of rural Washington state homes dropped to 90 on Wednesday, as officials reported finding more bodies but acknowledged some victims' remains may never be recovered. Officials had earlier said additional remains had been found in the devastation zone about 55 miles northeast of Seattle on Wednesday, but declined to say how many until they had been removed and sent to a medical examiner's office. "My son's best friend is out there, missing," said John Pugh, 47, a National Guardsman who lives in the neighboring village of Darrington. And it will be for a long time." Asked whether he expected the death toll to rise significantly, Governor Jay Inslee told CNN: "Yes, I don't think anyone can reach any other conclusion." "It's been very sad that we have not been able to find anyone living now for probably 36 or 48 hours," he said. Full Story | Top |
| Chinese police detain suspect after rumor sparks rural bank run Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:37 PM PDT  By Adam Jourdan SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Police in the rural Chinese city of Yancheng have detained a person suspected of spreading rumors that sparked a three-day bank run, security officials said on the city police force's official microblog on Thursday. Government, bank officials and residents all referred to a rumor that a local bank branch had turned down a client's request to withdraw 200,000 yuan ($32,200), which sparked the speculation the bank was insolvent. "After a police investigation, a person surnamed Cai who spread the rumors has been tracked down, and during the night on March 26 was detained by authorities. The police are now investigating the matter further," Yancheng police said in a statement posted on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. Full Story | Top |
| Connecticut legislature approves bill to raise minimum wage Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:32 PM PDT By Richard Weizel MILFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - Connecticut's legislature on Wednesday approved a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, the highest statewide rate in the nation, following a call to action last month by Governor Dannel Malloy. "I am proud that Connecticut is once again a leader on an issue of national importance," Malloy said in a written statement following the bill's legislative approval. On a visit to Connecticut earlier this month, President Barack Obama urged Congress to raise the federal minimum to the same $10.10 level, which has not gotten backing in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives. "I hope Members of Congress, governors, state legislators and business leaders across our country will follow Connecticut's lead to help ensure that no American who works full time has to raise a family in poverty, and that every American who works hard has the chance to get ahead," Obama said. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. law firm plans to bring suit against Boeing, Malaysia Airlines Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:30 PM PDT By Dena Aubin and Rujun Shen NEW YORK/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A U.S.-based law firm said it expects to represent families of more than half of the passengers on board the missing Malaysian Airlines flight in a lawsuit against the carriers and Boeing Co, alleging the plane had crashed due to mechanical failure. Chicago-based Ribbeck Law has filed a petition for discovery against Boeing Co, manufacturer of the aircraft, and Malaysian Airlines, operator of the plane in a Cook County, Illinois Circuit Court. The petition is meant to secure evidence of possible design and manufacturing defects that may have contributed to the disaster, the law firm said. Though both Boeing and Malaysian Airlines were named in the filing, the focus of the case will be on Boeing, Ribbeck's lawyers told reporters, as they believe that the incident was caused by mechanical failure. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Navy plans competition for next-generation missile Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:15 PM PDT By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy on Wednesday said it planned to launch an open competition around fiscal 2017 for a next-generation missile, seeking to reassure weapons makers they still have prospects after a separate deal with Lockheed Martin Corp for 90 air-launched missiles sparked a formal protest. Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley told reporters the Lockheed program was limited in scope and the future, bigger missile development program would be open to all potential bidders. That is 100 percent competition," he said after a hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee's seapower and projection forces subcommittee. Stackley defended the Pentagon's decision to order 90 long-range anti-ship missiles from Lockheed that were developed under a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Full Story | Top |
| Fed's Bullard sees potential risk of bubble as easy policy unwound Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:07 PM PDT  By Michael Flaherty and Saikat Chatterjee HONG KONG (Reuters) - A bubble could form in the U.S. economy even as the Federal Reserve unwinds its accommodative policy, a top U.S. central banker said on Thursday, adding policymakers' ability to spot them had improved substantially. James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, also told an investment conference in Hong Kong that while there was a risk of keeping rates too low for too long, he did not think the Fed was doing that. The Fed has held rates near zero since late 2008 to help battle a brutal recession. Full Story | Top |
| China regulators order end to smog insurance sales Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:05 PM PDT  Chinese regulators have told the country's two largest insurers to stop selling coverage against smog, a week after such policies were launched, the China Daily reported on Thursday. The newspaper did not say why the country's insurance watchdog had ordered People's Insurance Company of China (PICC) and Ping An Insurance Group to cease sales of the coverage. The country's worsening air quality is at the top of the list of concerns of China's leaders, anxious to douse potential unrest as a more affluent urban population turns against a growth-at-all-costs economic model. PICC last week offered coverage to Beijing residents against health risks caused by air pollution in the city, promising to pay 1,500 yuan ($240) to policy holders hospitalized by smog. Full Story | Top |
| Pacifica Radio in turmoil as ousted executive stages sit-in Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:00 PM PDT  By Laila Kearney BERKELEY, California (Reuters) - The fired executive director of the Pacifica Radio network says she is not leaving the left-leaning organization's California headquarters, and equipped with an inflatable air mattress at her office, she is settling in for a fight. Summer Reese, 40, was fired by the non-profit foundation's board in an 11-7 vote on March 13 and locked out of the headquarters in Berkeley, California, both sides said. After cutting the padlock to get into the building, Reese has hunkered down for nine days with a team of supporters in the headquarters of Pacifica Foundation Radio, which oversees a five-station radio network serving New York, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Houston and Washington, D.C. At least on a day-to-day level, Reese still claims to be running the network. "I'm being asked to follow the illegal actions of a rogue board." She and her team have equipped themselves for their working sit-in, which Reese said involves around-the-clock shifts, with an inflatable air mattress leaning against a cubical wall and takeout food boxes plopped around the offices. Full Story | Top |
| How rumor sparked panic and three-day bank run in Chinese city Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 07:44 PM PDT  By John Ruwitch YANCHENG, China (Reuters) - The rumor spread quickly. A small rural lender in eastern China had turned down a customer's request to withdraw 200,000 yuan ($32,200). Savers feared the bank in Yancheng, a city in Sheyang county, had run out of money and soon hundreds of customers had rushed to its doors demanding the withdrawal of their money despite assurances from regulators and the central bank that their money was safe. The panic in a corner of the coastal Jiangsu province north of Shanghai, while isolated, struck a raw nerve and won national airplay, possibly reflecting public anxiety over China's financial system after the country's first domestic bond default this month shattered assumptions the government would always step in to prevent institutions from collapsing. Full Story | Top |
| Deal reached to end month-long strike at Canada's largest port Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 07:21 PM PDT By Julie Gordon VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Negotiators on Wednesday reached a deal to end the month-long container truck strike that has crippled operations at Canada's largest port and slowed the transport of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of goods. The new deal, brokered by the province, means that the more than 1,000 striking drivers will return to work at Port Metro Vancouver on Thursday morning. "We have been clear from the very beginning that negotiation is the only way to achieve labor peace," said Jerry Dias, national president for Unifor, which represents the union drivers. "This is an agreement that working truckers can be satisfied with," said Paul Johal, president of the Unifor local, in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Arrest threat gone, locals risk lives to find Washington mud slide survivors Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 07:20 PM PDT By Jonathan Kaminsky DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - Hours after a Washington state mudslide buried a community, Dayn Brunner took his life in his hands and dashed into the expanse of cement-like muck in search of his sister. Brunner was among dozens of people who had defied threats of arrest to search for loved ones on their own after a 1,500-foot long section of rain-soaked hillside tumbled onto a river near the town of Oso on Saturday, smothering a state road and swallowing up dozens of homes. She was driving on the road when the slide came down," Brunner, 42, said in an interview. ... They've got the know-how, they've got the experience," Dan Rankin, mayor of Darrington, said after a town hall meeting late on Tuesday. Full Story | Top |
| Fed bars shareholder payouts from Citi, four others Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:55 PM PDT  By Emily Stephenson and David Henry WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday rejected Citigroup Inc's plans to buy back $6.4 billion of shares and boost dividends, saying the bank is not sufficiently prepared to handle a potential financial crisis. The decision marks the second time in three years that Citigroup has failed to win the Fed's approval for its plan to return money to shareholders, known as the "capital plan." Officials at the bank never saw the rejection coming, a source close to the matter said on Wednesday. The rejection underscores that whatever strides Citi's chief executive, Michael Corbat, has made in fixing the bank's difficulties, he still has work to do. Shares of Citigroup, the third-largest U.S. bank, fell 5.4 percent to $47.45 in after-hours trading. Full Story | Top |
| Bank of America to pay $9.3 billion to settle mortgage bond claims Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:47 PM PDT  By Margaret Chadbourn and Aruna Viswanatha WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bank of America agreed to pay $9.3 billion to settle claims that it sold Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac faulty mortgage bonds, helping the bank to end one of the largest legal headaches it still faced from the financial crisis. The settlement, announced on Wednesday, includes $6.3 billion in cash and the rest in securities that Bank of America will purchase from the two housing finance entities. The second-largest U.S. bank by assets said it had now resolved around 88 percent of its total exposure to securities at issue in the mortgage bond litigation it has faced. Bank of America's first-quarter profits could take a substantial hit from the deal. Full Story | Top |
| Asia shares in fragile mood, Nikkei tests support Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:43 PM PDT  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian markets were in skittish mood on Thursday following a late dip on Wall Street, with Tokyo stocks slipping as investors counted down to a rise in sales tax that is expected to swat consumer spending and test the market's faith in Abenomics. The sales tax rises to 8 percent from 5 percent on April 1, which is also the start of the new financial year in Japan. Some blamed Wall Street's slip on news the United States and the European Union had agreed to work together to prepare possible tougher economic sanctions in response to Russia's behavior in Ukraine. Shares in Citigroup Inc fell after hours when the Federal Reserve rejected its plans to buy back $6.4 billion of stock and boost its dividends, citing deficiencies in the bank's ability to plan for stressful situations. Full Story | Top |
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