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| U.S. jobs report to signal stronger economic growth momentum Thursday, May 01, 2014 09:03 PM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. hiring likely increased at its quickest pace in five months in April, which would bolster hopes of a strong rebound in economic activity in the second quarter. Employers probably added 210,000 jobs last month after increasing headcount by 192,000 in March, according to a Reuters poll. That would also top the pace of payrolls gains in the first quarter of 177,667 jobs per month. The unemployment rate is forecast falling one-tenth of a percentage point to 6.6 percent in April, matching a five-year low previously touched in January. Full Story | Top |
| Heavy fighting, explosions in Libya's Benghazi city Thursday, May 01, 2014 09:00 PM PDT Heavy fighting broke out between Libya's army and a militia in the port city of Benghazi in the country's volatile east on Friday, residents said. The army's special forces moved vehicles to the scene of fighting near the city's security headquarters, residents said. The identity of the enemy was not immediately clear, residents said, though there have been frequent clashes in the city between security forces and Islamists militants. Full Story | Top |
| North Korea seen testing engine for intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday, May 01, 2014 08:59 PM PDT By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has recently conducted engine tests for an intercontinental ballistic missile that could potentially deliver a nuclear warhead to the United States, a U.S. think tank said on Friday. North Korea conducted at least one engine test for the KN-08 missile in late March or early April, the think tank 38 North said, marking the latest in a series of tests for a missile believed to have a range of more than 10,000 km (6,000 miles). Following the engine tests, the next stage for North Korea would be a test launch of the missile, according to 38 North, which is affiliated with Johns Hopkins University's U.S.-Korea Institute. Commercial satellite imagery indicates movement and removal of missile stages and fuel tanks as well as changes in the flame trench that point to North Korea having conducted one or more tests in the two-week period from March 22, the report said. Full Story | Top |
| Pro-Russian rebels in Slaviansk say Ukraine tries to retake town Thursday, May 01, 2014 08:58 PM PDT Pro-Russian separatists in Slaviansk in eastern Ukraine said on Friday Ukrainian forces had launched a "large-scale operation" to retake the town and one military helicopter had been shot down. A Reuters photographer said he saw a military helicopter open fire on the outskirts of the town and a reporter heard gunfire. In Kiev, an aide to Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said he could not comment. Armed groups seeking union with Russia have seized a number of government buildings in towns in eastern Ukraine. Full Story | Top |
| Google faces antitrust lawsuit on U.S. mobile internet search Thursday, May 01, 2014 08:57 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Consumer rights law firm Hagens Berman said it filed a nationwide antitrust class-action lawsuit against Google Inc alleging the company "illegally monopolized" the Internet and mobile search market in the United States. The lawsuit alleges that Google has expanded its monopoly of the internet search market by pre-loading its applications onto Android mobile devices through its Mobile Application Distribution Agreements. According to the lawsuit, Google's role in placing this suite of apps, including Google Play and YouTube, has hampered the market and kept the price of devices made by competing manufactures like Samsung Electronics and HTC Corp artificially high. "It's clear that Google has not achieved this monopoly through offering a better search engine, but through its strategic, anti-competitive placement, and it doesn't take a forensic economist to see that this is evidence of market manipulation," said Steve Berman, the attorney representing consumers. Full Story | Top |
| After bombing in west, China angered by U.S. criticism in terror report Thursday, May 01, 2014 08:19 PM PDT  By Michael Martina URUMQI, China (Reuters) - China's foreign ministry has reacted angrily to U.S. criticism of the level of cooperation from Beijing on fighting terrorism, after an apparent suicide bombing in the country's far west pointed to a possible escalation of unrest there. The Chinese government has blamed religious extremists for carrying out a bomb and knife attack at a train station in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang, on Wednesday evening that killed one bystander and wounded 79. Security was heavy on Friday in Urumqi, scene of deadly riots five years ago between Muslim Uighurs and ethnic Han Chinese in which almost 200 were killed. Full Story | Top |
| Racist remarks by Clippers owner recorded with his consent: lawyer Thursday, May 01, 2014 08:16 PM PDT By Steve Gorman and Dana Feldman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The audio recording of racist comments that got Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling banned from the NBA was made with his consent by the woman he criticizes on the tape for "associating with black people," her lawyer said on Thursday. Los Angeles-based attorney Mac Nehoray also insisted that his client, who goes by the name of V. Stiviano, did not wish Sterling any ill will and had nothing to do with furnishing the recording to websites that released the audio over the weekend, igniting the racially charged scandal. Full Story | Top |
| Phoenix veterans hospital chief put on leave, care delay probed Thursday, May 01, 2014 07:54 PM PDT By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - The top official at a Phoenix veterans hospital was placed on indefinite leave on Thursday while regulators probe whistleblowers' claims that delayed care may have led to the deaths of as many as 40 veterans, the head of U.S. veterans affairs said. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki said in a statement that Director Sharon Helman was put on administrative leave "until further notice" pending a "thorough" review by the agency's inspector general's office. Also put on leave were associate director Lance Robinson and a third individual whose name and position were not disclosed, the Department of Veterans Affairs said. "These allegations, if true, are absolutely unacceptable and if the inspector general's investigation substantiates these claims, swift and appropriate action will be taken." Helman and Robinson could not be reached for comment. Full Story | Top |
| Asian shares edge up amid expectations for upbeat U.S. jobs report Thursday, May 01, 2014 07:53 PM PDT  By Shinichi Saoshiro TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares edged up and the dollar held slim gains amid expectations for an upbeat U.S. payrolls report later in the session, which could show the economy shaking off a severe winter. The Asian markets drew scant impetus from Wall Street, which closed little changed ahead of the jobs report. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Commerce Department study finds no evidence 2012 jobs data faked Thursday, May 01, 2014 07:18 PM PDT  The U.S. Commerce Department found no evidence to support allegations that the monthly unemployment rate was manipulated before the 2012 presidential election, according to a report issued by the agency's office of inspector general on Thursday. The department launched the probe last November after the New York Post reported that data used in the closely watched survey was faked in the final stretch of President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, when the monthly unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent from 8.1 percent. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives called the allegations "shocking" and sought documents and communications related to the collection of data for the Current Population Survey, which is used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to calculate the unemployment rate. The Census Bureau rejected the allegations at the time and said it reported the claims to the Office of the Inspector General as soon as it learned of them. Full Story | Top |
| Indonesia's Jokowi pledges to eliminate fuel subsidies slowly: media Thursday, May 01, 2014 07:06 PM PDT  Indonesian presidential frontrunner Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said he would gradually eliminate costly fuel subsidies over a four year period if he wins a July election, The Jakarta Post newspaper quoted him as saying on Friday. Fuel subsidies, which the government argues largely benefit the rich, cost the government around $20 billion a year and put pressure on the current account deficit. "In four years, the fuel subsidy should be eliminated gradually, step by step, until it's gone," Jokowi said on the sidelines of a national development planning conference on Wednesday, according to The Jakarta Post. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono raised fuel prices last year, but the issue is politically sensitive and attempts to go too quickly have been met with strong resistance and demonstrations. Full Story | Top |
| Trial to begin Friday in murder of missing Virginia girl Thursday, May 01, 2014 06:57 PM PDT  By Gary Robertson LOVINGSTON, Virginia (Reuters) - Opening arguments are set to begin Friday in the murder trial of a 48-year-old handyman accused of abducting and killing a Virginia girl whose body has never been found. Randy Taylor has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and kidnapping in the case, which has riveted this rural area of western Virginia since the girl disappeared last summer. The body of Alexis Murphy, 17, has never been found despite widespread searches by law enforcement agencies, community volunteers and her classmates, at Nelson County High School, where she was a star volleyball player and a popular senior. Authorities say he was one of the last people to see Alexis Murphy alive. Full Story | Top |
| Montana lawmaker vows to repeal self-defense law after German teen's death Thursday, May 01, 2014 06:23 PM PDT A Montana legislator said on Thursday she would seek to repeal the state's so-called "castle doctrine" after attorneys for a man accused of killing an unarmed German teenager said they would use the stand-your-ground style law in his defense. The father of the slain exchange student suggested in an interview with a German news agency that the gun culture of the United States was at least partly to blame for his son's death. Markus Kaarma opened fire with a shotgun into his darkened garage in Missoula, Montana, early on Sunday, killing 17-year-old Diren Dede of Hamburg, Germany, police said. Defense lawyers say they will invoke the state's castle doctrine, which allows use of force to defend against unlawful entry of a home provided the person reasonably believes it necessary to stop an assault or prevent a forcible felony. Full Story | Top |
| GM's fate in hands of bankruptcy judge - again Thursday, May 01, 2014 06:08 PM PDT  By Nick Brown and Jessica Dye NEW YORK (Reuters) - Five years ago, New York bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber oversaw the historic bankruptcy of General Motors, establishing a new company that is shielded from liability for the actions of its precursor. Now, with thousands of drivers suing "New GM" for the alleged loss of value in their cars after an ignition defect sparked a massive recall, the same judge must decide whether to lift the shield he put in place. While evidence has already emerged that at least some GM employees were aware of problems with the switch, GM is asking for a clear-cut ruling declaring that it did not intentionally hide anything from the bankruptcy court. But plaintiffs' lawyers have prepared a multi-pronged attack, raising questions of bankruptcy law and constitutional rights. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive - New York attorney general eyes exchanges in high frequency probe: sources Thursday, May 01, 2014 06:03 PM PDT  By Karen Freifeld and Nadia Damouni NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Attorney General's office is seeking information from exchanges and alternative trading platforms about their relationships with high frequency trading firms, as part of its probe into allegedly unfair trading practices on Wall Street, according to sources familiar with the situation. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office is expected to send subpoenas within days to exchanges, one of the sources said on Thursday. The major U.S. exchange operators include IntercontinentalExchange Group , Nasdaq OMX Group Inc and BATS Global Markets. NYSE, a unit of ICE, has already been cooperating with the attorney general by sharing data, while BATS has also had conversations with the prosecutor, two of the sources said. Full Story | Top |
| Singer Chris Brown in jail for at least another week, judge says Thursday, May 01, 2014 06:02 PM PDT  A Los Angeles judge on Thursday said R&B singer Chris Brown will remain in jail for at least another week as the pop star deals with dual cases on both sides of the country. Brown, who will now spend his 25th birthday on May 5 behind bars, has been held since March 14 after his dismissal from a rehabilitation center violated the terms of his court-ordered treatment related to his 2009 assault of his then-girlfriend, the pop singer Rihanna. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Brandlin said Brown would remain incarcerated unless a resolution on the terms of his probation in the Rihanna case could be agreed to between the prosecutor and Brown's attorney by a scheduled hearing on May 9. Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, said if he cannot resolve the case with prosecutor, Mary Murray, by next week, he will ask the court to release Brown on certain terms and conditions. Full Story | Top |
| At U.S. college, Irish militant archive becomes diplomatic time bomb Thursday, May 01, 2014 05:59 PM PDT By Ross Kerber and David Ingram BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The arrest of Irish politician Gerry Adams may have its roots in a closed archive of taped interviews with former paramilitaries in Northern Ireland that researchers now fear could be used to charge others over sectarian violence from decades ago. U.S. and British authorities last year won a court battle against Boston College in Massachusetts to obtain interviews from the oral history archive. They said the records were needed to investigate the 1972 killing of a widowed mother by the IRA, a notorious incident from the period known as "The Troubles." The legal victory created a diplomatic time bomb. Material previously made public from the archive has linked Adams to the death of the woman, Jean McConville. Full Story | Top |
| NBA panel agrees to act swiftly on bid to oust Clippers owner Thursday, May 01, 2014 05:50 PM PDT  By Larry Fine NEW YORK (Reuters) - The National Basketball Association on Thursday launched its bid to oust Donald Sterling as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers for racist comments as a panel of 10 fellow team owners or their proxies unanimously agreed to proceed "as expeditiously as possible," the NBA said. The decision, reached during a telephone conference call of the NBA Board of Governors' advisory-finance committee, seemed to indicate a strong base of support among Sterling's fellow owners for his removal, as urged by league Commissioner Adam Silver. Silver on Tuesday declared Sterling banned from the NBA for life, fined him $2.5 million - the league maximum - and called on the 29 other club owners who make up the governing board to exercise their authority to force Sterling to sell the Clippers. Full Story | Top |
| California, most populous U.S. state, gains 356,000 residents Thursday, May 01, 2014 05:37 PM PDT By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California gained 356,000 people in 2013, many attracted to the San Francisco Bay area and its prospering technology industry, a state demographer said on Thursday. California, the most populous U.S. state since 1963, ended the year with 38.3 million residents following its largest population increase since 2003. The state's recovering economy has drawn immigrants from abroad and Americans from other states, said Bill Schooling, chief of demographic research for the state Department of Finance. The biggest increases were in large urban centers, led by the San Francisco Bay area, while some rural counties home to older residents saw population decreases. Full Story | Top |
| Minnesota teenager charged with planning school massacre: police Thursday, May 01, 2014 05:29 PM PDT By David Bailey MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - A southern Minnesota teenager who idolized a gunman from a Colorado high school massacre was charged Thursday with planning to kill his parents and sister and then slaughter students and staff at his school, authorities said. John David LaDue, 17, laid out his plans in an extensive journal and amassed bomb-making materials including gun powder and ball bearings as well as firearms and ammunition, Waseca, Minnesota police said. "We believe that LaDue planned to carry out his attack within the next few weeks," Waseca Police Captain Kris Markeson told a news conference. LaDue's journal had references to school shootings such as that at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, where two students killed 13 people and themselves in 1999, a criminal complaint said. Full Story | Top |
| Customs and Border Protection announces a hiring surge of 2,000 Thursday, May 01, 2014 05:17 PM PDT  By Joseph J. Kolb ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (Reuters) - The U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to hire 2,000 new agents over the next two years to step up security at ports of entry and to decrease wait times for travelers at airports and border crossings, the agency said in a statement on Thursday. The new officers will bring the staffing level at the Office of Field Operations to 23,775 officers, an increase of over 9 percent from current levels, according to Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Erlinda Byrd. Brandon Judd, president of the U.S. Border Patrol union, expressed concern how this hiring surge will affect border posts in places considered less desirable for quality of life, such as in Ajo, Arizona. "Over 100 Border Patrol agents from the Ajo station alone, a station that only has about 400 agents, have applied for many of these jobs and my brother is one," Judd said, describing the Ajo station as one of the busiest for illegal entries of both drugs and unauthorized immigrants. Full Story | Top |
| Segregation in Central African Republic shows world's failure: U.N. official Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:59 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Segregating Muslims in Central African Republic to protect them from Christian militia shows the world's failure to tackle a deepening sectarian crisis, a U.N. official said on Thursday as the United Nations scrambles to find thousands of peacekeepers. "It is a collective failure of the international community that we were not able to provide the security for people in their homes," said John Ging, director of operations for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "The separation and segregation of communities in this country is not a solution for this country going forward." The United Nations has warned the crisis could spiral into a genocide in the resource-rich former French colony of 4.6 million people. Human rights officials say parts of the country have seen "religious cleansing." The violence has continued despite the presence of 2,000 French troops and some 5,600 African Union forces. Full Story | Top |
| Netflix brings net neutrality concerns to U.S. regulators Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:57 PM PDT  By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After weeks of public outcry, Netflix Inc brought its concerns about Internet neutrality directly to U.S. regulators this week in meetings with Federal Communications Commission staff, according to sources familiar with the matter. The video streaming company has been outspoken in its push to do away with fees that content companies pay Internet service providers to deliver their video and other data to consumers. Netflix recently agreed to pay such fees to Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications Inc to ensure smooth delivery of its videos, but it argues they weaken the principle of net neutrality, which says all Internet traffic should be treated equally. Netflix's representatives brought that message to the FCC commissioners' offices in meeting with advisers over the course of several days this week, the sources said, as the agency prepares to rewrite so-called Open Internet rules that regulate net neutrality by setting limits to how Internet providers treat web traffic crossing their networks. Full Story | Top |
| Republic of Congo expels 50,000 citizens of neighboring Congo Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:57 PM PDT Republic of Congo has expelled more than 50,000 citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo over the past month, authorities in Kinshasa said on Thursday, a move rare on this scale in the relations between the two neighbors. Officials in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, said the operation is aimed at ending a crime wave linked to foreigners, and that all those living in the country illegally, not just those from the DRC, were being targeted. The Kinshasa government has expressed concern about the way in which the operation was being carried out but said it is seeking to resolve the issue through diplomatic channels. "As of yesterday, we had counted 52,226 people expelled from Brazzaville," Andre Kimbuta Yango, the governor of Kinshasa, told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| California senate advances bill to curb antibiotics in farm animals Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:54 PM PDT By Laila Kearney SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The California State Senate advanced a bill on Thursday to restrict the use of antibiotics in farm animals for growth enhancement by requiring that the drugs be sold by prescription for medical reasons only, officials said. The first-in-the-nation legislation would codify into law voluntary U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines, issued late last year, aimed at stemming a surge in resistance to certain antibiotics in humans, according to state Senator Jerry Hill, the bill's author. "The more antibiotics are used, the more resistance will develop," Hill, a Democrat, said in a statement. "This is an emergent public health issue." Antibiotic resistance, which can cause humans to lose the ability to fight infections, is thought to be caused partly by the prevalence of the drugs in animal products. Full Story | Top |
| Northern Ireland rocked by Gerry Adams arrest over 1972 killing Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:40 PM PDT  By Padraic Halpin and Neil Maidment ANTRIM, Northern Ireland/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Northern Irish police questioned Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams on Thursday after arresting him under an investigation into one of the province's most notorious murders, a move that stirred fierce political reaction in Britain and Ireland. Reviled by many as the spokesman for the Irish Republican Army in the 1980s during its campaign against British rule, Adams reinvented himself as a Northern Ireland peacemaker and then as a populist opposition parliamentarian in the Irish Republic. His Sinn Fein party, which shares power in the Northern Ireland government, said he was arrested in the town of Antrim on Wednesday evening by police investigating the 1972 abduction and murder of Jean McConville, a widowed mother of 10 children. Adams, 65, who has always denied membership of the IRA, said he was "innocent of any part" in the killing, which he said was "wrong and a grievous injustice to her and her family". Full Story | Top |
| Suspected bomb on edge of Nigerian capital kills at least 15 Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:38 PM PDT  By Isaac Abrak and Afolabi Sotunde ABUJA (Reuters) - A suspected car bomb exploded on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital Abuja on Thursday, killing at least 15 people a week before the city was to host a conference of leaders and business executives focused on Africa's growth prospects, witnesses said. The explosion hit the suburb of Nyanya, close to the site of a morning rush hour bomb attack at a bus station last month that killed at least 75 people. The April 14 attack was claimed by the radical Islamist movement Boko Haram which is waging an insurgency against President Goodluck Jonathan's government. "There was a loud blast then a ball of fire," witness Lateef Adebayo told Reuters by telephone from Nyanya. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Jewish coalition rejects lobbying group Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:37 PM PDT An umbrella organization of major U.S. Jewish groups voted this week to reject a membership bid by the liberal group J Street, prompting a frustrated response on Thursday from the lobby that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace. An array of other moderate and liberal Jewish groups spoke out as well in opposition to the decision by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which said it had been reviewing J Street's application for months. Washington-based J Street is more supportive than many other Jewish groups of a "two-state" Middle East agreement that would lead to an independent Palestinian state and a secure Israel. "The present membership of the conference includes organizations which represent and articulate the views of broad segments of the American Jewish community and we are confident that the Conference will continue to present the consensus of the community on important national and international issues as it has for the last fifty years," Chairman Robert Sugarman and Chief Executive Malcolm Hoenlein said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. warns of South Sudan genocide risk, raises hope of new forces Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:36 PM PDT  By Phil Stewart and Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned on Thursday that South Sudan's conflict could descend into genocide, as he renewed threats of sanctions and raised hope that more peacekeeping forces could be deployed swiftly to halt the bloodshed. Kerry, emerging from talks about the increasingly ethnic slaughter in South Sudan with foreign ministers from neighboring Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya, said all sides agreed the "killing must stop." "A legitimate force that has an ability to help make peace needs to get on the ground as rapidly as possible," Kerry said in Addis Ababa at the start of an African trip. Addressing reporters later, Kerry said the goal was "in these next days, literally, we can move more rapidly to put people on the ground who could begin to make a difference." His Ethiopian counterpart, Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom, said all sides stressed the need for deployment of a force "as soon as possible." A spokeswoman said Kerry was referring to regional forces under the authority of the United Nations, which already has a mission in South Sudan. Full Story | Top |
| New York reaches 'landmark' agreement with teachers Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:33 PM PDT  By Edward Krudy NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City struck a tentative $4 billion nine-year agreement with its teachers that could pave the way for settling a years-old dispute with the city's workforce by the end of the fiscal year on June 30. The agreement on Thursday is a major coup for Mayor Bill de Blasio, who took office on January 1. The dispute, which had left all 300,000 city workers without a contract as far back as 2009, was seen as one of his greatest fiscal challenges, with estimates for settling all retroactive demands ranging from $7 billion to $8 billion. A deal with city workers in time for the next fiscal year starting July 1 would remove a major question mark over the mayor's first budget and provide some clarity to investors who hold more than $100 billion in total outstanding city debt. Full Story | Top |
| NBA panel agrees to act swiftly on attempted ouster of Clippers owner Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:14 PM PDT A National Basketball Association Board of Governors panel of 10 team owners or their proxies unanimously agreed on Thursday to proceed "as expeditiously as possible" with the league's attempt to oust Donald Sterling as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, the NBA said. The decision, reached during a conference call of the board's advisory finance committee, came two days after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling from pro basketball for racist comments and called on Sterling's 29 fellow team owners to force a sale of the Clippers. Full Story | Top |
| Trip Tips: Brazil's retro-futuristic capital hits middle age Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:12 PM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brasilia looks like a giant university campus at first sight. The futuristic capital city built from scratch on savannah ranch land in the middle of nowhere was meant to open up the interior of Brazil and symbolize its rise as an economic power. Fifty-five years later, Brasilia's modern buildings designed by famed architect Oscar Niemeyer and laid out by urban planner Lúcio Costa are still imposing, an open-air museum on UNESCO's World Heritage list. Its airport is the country's third-busiest, its income per capita the highest in Brazil, as is its divorce rate. Full Story | Top |
| California prisoner seeks to vacate terrorism conviction Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:12 PM PDT By Mary Papenfuss SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Attorneys for a California man serving time in federal prison on a terrorism charge are seeking to vacate his conviction, saying an al Qaeda training camp he was accused of attending had been dismantled by the time he purportedly arrived. Hamid Hayat, 31, was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2006 for three counts of lying to federal agents and one count of providing material support to terrorists after prosecutors said he attended an al Qaeda camp in Pakistan during a trip there from 2003 to 2004. In a motion filed in federal district court in Sacramento on Wednesday, his lawyers argued that the camp was shut down by the Pakistani government in October 2003, based on witness accounts, before Hayat traveled to the country. "Other than Hayat's own statements, prosecutors had no evidence he attended a training camp." Hayat, a farmworker from the Lodi area south of Sacramento, talked about the camp at the end of what his lawyers described as a high-pressure, marathon interrogation session that left him exhausted, confused and willing to say anything so he could go home, according to the motion. Full Story | Top |
| White House seeks privacy balance in a 'Big Data' world Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:11 PM PDT By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday suggested updates to laws and other measures to enhance privacy and prevent discrimination based on the data trail left by consumers on their phones and computers that companies and researchers collect and analyze. Both privacy advocates and tech groups found something to like within the 90-day "Big Data" review, led by John Podesta, a top advisor to President Barack Obama. The White House threw its support behind a legislative update to a privacy law for email, the Electronic Privacy Communications Act. Full Story | Top |
| In Iraq and Syria, a resurgence of foreign suicide bombers Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:05 PM PDT  By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Shortly before Abdul Waheed Majeed, a 41-year-old British truck driver, blew himself up in an attack on a Syrian prison, he brushed aside a question in Arabic. "My tongue bro'... it's got like a knot in it." That suicide-bomb attack on February 6 by the Pakistani-born Majeed, appeared to be part of a resurgence of such attacks that represented a disturbing shift in tactics among radical jihadists in the sectarian killing grounds of Syria and Iraq. Many of them have been carried out by foreigners drawn to the conflicts from across the region and from Europe, U.S. and European security and intelligence officials say. Will McCants, an expert at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, said given the rapid increase of foreign fighters in Syria "if the war drags on, the number of fighters will far eclipse those we saw in Afghanistan." The security officials estimated that several thousand foreign nationals are active in the two countries. Full Story | Top |
| Surge in tourist spending to boost UK retail, leisure firms Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:04 PM PDT  Spending by foreign tourists in Britain is set to rise 34 percent to over 27 billion pounds a year by 2017, according to research published on Friday, boosting the country's retail and leisure industries. A report commissioned for Barclays said an increase in spending by tourists from emerging economies such as China, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, together with loosening visa restrictions, would support the boost to Britain's economy. According to the report, Britain's biggest spending visitors will continue to come from the United States, France and Germany, but Russia and the UAE will break into the top 10 by 2017, while spending by Chinese tourists will surge 84 percent on 2013 figures to over 1 billion pounds. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. offers to help Nigeria in hunt for abducted girls Thursday, May 01, 2014 03:55 PM PDT  The United States said on Thursday it had offered to help Nigeria in its search for around 200 girls abducted by Islamist militants from a school in the northeast of the West African country. "We have been engaged with the Nigerian government in discussions on what we might do to help support their efforts to find and free these young women," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told a daily briefing. "We will continue to have those discussions and help in any way we can." Gunmen suspected to be from the radical Islamist movement Boko Haram on April 14 stormed an all-girls secondary school in the village of Chibok, in Borno state, packed the teenagers onto trucks and disappeared into a remote area along the border with Cameroon. The kidnapping occurred the same day a bomb blast, also blamed on Boko Haram, killed 75 people on the edge of the capital, Abuja, and it marked the first attack on the capital in two years. Full Story | Top |
| Texas vet suspected of keeping sick dogs alive for blood Thursday, May 01, 2014 03:42 PM PDT A Texas veterinarian has been charged with cruelty to animals after several dogs that had been brought to his clinic to be euthanized were kept alive in squalid conditions for use in blood transfusions, Fort Worth police said on Thursday. Millard Tierce, who operates Camp Bowie Animal Clinic in Fort Worth, turned himself into authorities on Wednesday and was released on a $10,000 bond, the police said. An owner of one of the dogs, Marian Harris, told the Fort Worth Star Telegram she believed her dog Sid had been euthanized last fall after Tierce diagnosed it with a degenerative spinal disease. Full Story | Top |
| NBA panel holds first meeting on bid to oust Clippers owner Thursday, May 01, 2014 03:42 PM PDT By Larry Fine NEW YORK (Reuters) - The NBA on Thursday launched its bid to oust Donald Sterling as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers over racist comments as a committee of 10 fellow team owners or their proxies convened by telephone for a strategy session. The conference call by members of the advisory finance committee of the National Basketball Association's Board of Governors came two days after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver declared Sterling banned for life from pro basketball. Silver on Tuesday also fined Sterling $2.5 million, the league maximum, and called on the 29 other club owners who make up the governing board to exercise their authority to force Sterling to sell the Clippers. If approved, the board could then go further still and vote to seize ownership of the team for the NBA itself to sell, cutting Sterling out of the negotiations. Full Story | Top |
| Senator puts substance over speed on fast-track trade power Thursday, May 01, 2014 03:34 PM PDT  By Krista Hughes WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Democratic senator said on Thursday he would take the time needed to put together a bill granting the White House power to fast-track trade agreements while Republicans called for swift action. Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden, a Democrat, said he was still mulling how best to modernize fast-track rules, which many see as crucial to the United States' ability to wrap up talks on a 12-nation Pacific trade pact. Wyden, who took over in February as chairman of the committee, declined to commit to a timeline for what he has dubbed "smart-track." "We are going to move as quickly as we can to do trade right," he told reporters after a committee hearing on trade, where some Democrats pushed for rules against currency manipulation to be included in trade agreements. Republicans are generally supportive of trade deals, which have been opposed by some Democratic power bases - unions, environmentalists and consumer groups who worry about lost jobs and weaker labor and pollution laws. Full Story | Top |
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