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| Jim Carrey fires back at his gun-control critics Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 12:35 PM PDT  By Tim Kenneally LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Jim Carrey, who raised the hackles of the right wing by calling Fox News - or, rather, "Fux News" - a "giant culture fart" and with his criticism of assault rifles, has fired off another round in the debate, calling some of his harsher critics "thugs" and "a minority." He also says that he doesn't want to infringe on anyone's Second Amendment rights. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spanish king's daughter charged in corruption inquiry Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 12:32 PM PDT  By Elisabeth O'Leary and Emma Pinedo MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Princess Cristina, daughter of King Juan Carlos, was charged on Wednesday with being an accomplice in an embezzlement case against her husband, the latest high-level graft investigation to anger Spaniards suffering a severe recession. Examining magistrate Jose Castro ordered the princess, 47, to appear before him on April 27 to answer charges of complicity in a pre-trial investigation that started two years ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| West Virginia sheriff shot dead: report Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 12:26 PM PDT (Reuters) - A West Virginia sheriff was shot and killed as he sat in his car on Wednesday, a newspaper reported. Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum was shot dead in his SUV in central Williamson, in the southwestern part of the state, the Williamson Daily News said. A man drove into a nearby parking lot, got out of his vehicle, walked to Crum's car and "and shot him point blank," the newspaper said, citing unnamed witnesses. A dispatcher for the Williamson Police Department confirmed the shooting but declined to give details. ... Full Story | Top |
| Serbia has days to decide on Kosovo: minister Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 12:24 PM PDT  By Matt Robinson and Aleksandar Vasovic BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia has days to decide whether to accept a "catastrophic" plan to end the ethnic partition of its former Kosovo province or risk losing out on talks on joining the European Union, the country's powerful deputy prime minister said on Wednesday. The warning followed marathon talks between the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo, their eighth encounter in almost as many months as the EU pushes to stabilize relations between the two and set Serbia on the path to membership of the bloc. ... Full Story | Top |
| Capriles mocks "skin-deep" revolutionaries ahead of Venezuela vote Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 12:17 PM PDT  By Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate tore into government leaders on Wednesday as false revolutionaries lining their pockets while professing faith to the late Hugo Chavez's radical socialism. Trailing in opinion polls ahead of the April 14 vote, Henrique Capriles is attacking acting President Nicolas Maduro and other senior officials as a corrupt and incompetent coterie unable to solve Venezuelans' basic problems. "They talk of socialism, but it's on the surface only. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus faces "very unfavorable" outlook in near term: Sarris Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 12:14 PM PDT  By Michele Kambas NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus should brace itself for an extended period of difficulty in the near term after sealing a bailout deal forcing it to forgo much of its banking sector, its former finance minister said. Michael Sarris, who stepped down as finance minister just five weeks into the job on Tuesday, said in an interview that Cyprus had made mistakes, but said lenders and European Union partners had treated Cyprus unfairly. "Clearly... mistakes were made, there was excessive growth in bank credit, in government spending. But I don't think it needed to come to this. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House, reporter Woodward make peace over perceived slights Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 12:10 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Famed Watergate reporter Bob Woodward's well-publicized blow-up with White House economic adviser Gene Sperling had its dividends: A lunch to make peace and a promise that his access to high-level administration figures will not be taken away. White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer revealed on Wednesday that he, Sperling and Jay Carney, President Barack Obama's spokesman, took the veteran Washington Post reporter to lunch in the White House mess to clear the air. "We had a good laugh about this," Pfeiffer said at a Politico Playbook Breakfast event. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon approves sale of Lockheed or Boeing fighters to South Korea Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 12:02 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Defense Department on Wednesday said it has approved the sale of either the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighter or Boeing Co's F-15 Silent Eagle fighter to South Korea, which is expected to announce the winner of a 60-jet competition later this year. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign military sales, notified U.S. lawmakers last Friday about the possible sales to South Korea as tensions continued to mount with North Korea, saying that U.S. warplanes would help Seoul "deter aggression in the region. ... Full Story | Top |
| Portuguese government defeats no confidence motion Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:57 AM PDT  By Andrei Khalip and Daniel Alvarenga LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's government defeated a no confidence motion on Wednesday, yet the move united all the opposition in parliament against austerity policies and rattled the stock market. The vote was largely symbolic as the ruling centre-right coalition holds a comfortable majority, but Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said the motion gave the impression of political instability just when Lisbon needs investor confidence to regain full access to debt markets. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sends missile defenses to Guam over North Korea threat Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:56 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Wednesday it was sending an advanced ballistic missile defense system to Guam in the coming weeks, as U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel cited a "real and clear" danger from North Korea. North Korea has singled out U.S. military bases in Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific, and Hawaii among its potential targets in threats in recent weeks that have put the Korean peninsula on edge and triggered a change in the U.S. defense posture and missile defense planning. ... Full Story | Top |
| States with weakest firearm laws lead in gun deaths: study Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:53 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many states with the weakest firearms laws have the highest rates of gun-related homicides and suicides, according to a study released on Wednesday by a liberal think tank. Alaska had the most gun deaths, with 20.28 deaths per 100,000 people in 2010, twice the national average, the analysis by the Center for American Progress showed. Louisiana and Montana, which followed with 19.06 and 16.58 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively, were among the 10 states with the weakest gun laws, according to the study, the latest to link gun laws to firearm deaths. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombian soccer club free to play in U.S. after cutting drug ties Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:38 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday lifted financial sanctions against the popular Colombian soccer team America de Cali, enabling it to play in the United States and receive U.S. corporate sponsorship. The "Red Devils," as the club is known, became mired in financial trouble after their Cali drug cartel patrons were jailed in 1995, ending a windfall of cocaine-tied wealth that helped it assemble one of South America's priciest line-ups. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rutgers basketball coach fired after abuse video surfaces Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:33 AM PDT  By David Jones NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - Rutgers University fired men's basketball coach Mike Rice on Wednesday, a day after the ESPN sports network broadcast a video showing him shoving players, hurling balls at their heads and berating them with homophobic slurs. The video stirred outrage among college and professional players, fans and government officials, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who called the dismissal "the right and necessary action to take in light of the conduct displayed" at the state's largest public university with 58,000 students. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. offers up to $5 million reward for Uganda warlord Kony, others Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:32 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday offered a reward of up to $5 million each for fugitive Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony and some of his top aides in the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group. Kony, who has been accused of terrorizing northern Uganda for 20 years and was ejected from the country along with his rebel group in 2005, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. The warlord and a few hundred followers are now believed to roam the remote jungle straddling the borders of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic. ... Full Story | Top |
| Uganda suspends hunt for warlord Kony after coup Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:32 AM PDT  By Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda has suspended the hunt for fugitive warlord Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army fighters, blaming hostility towards foreign troops by Central African Republic rebels who seized power last month. About 100 U.S. special forces helping with intelligence and logistical support also called off operations temporarily, a U.S. embassy official said, but it was not immediately clear if troops from other countries in the regional force were also giving up the search. Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghan Taliban kill 44 in suicide attack on courtroom Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 11:11 AM PDT By Sharaf Stanekzai HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Nine Taliban suicide bombers killed themselves and 44 others on Wednesday in an attack on a courtroom in western Afghanistan where 10 of their comrades were on trial, a local official said. Causing the biggest death toll in a single attack since 2011, the militants, strapped with explosives, stormed the governor's compound in the capital of Farah province, bordering Iran, where the trial was taking place. Thirty-four of the dead were civilians, the rest Afghan security forces, the governor's spokesman Abdul Rahman Zhwandai said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sees real danger from North Korea, trying to defuse tensions Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:55 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States sees a "real and clear" danger from North Korea, given its nuclear and missile capabilities and bellicose rhetoric, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday. "We take those threats seriously," Hagel said, addressing an audience at the National Defense University in Washington. "We are doing everything we can, working with the Chinese, others, to defuse that situation on the peninsula." (Reporting by Phil Stewart) Full Story | Top |
| Portugal government defeats no confidence motion, warns of instability Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:51 AM PDT  LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's austerity-minded government defeated on Wednesday a no confidence motion, which nevertheless united all the opposition in parliament, showing growing resistance against further budget tightening under an EU/IMF bailout. The vote was largely symbolic as the ruling centre-right coalition holds a comfortable majority in parliament, yet Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho warned the move created political instability. The main opposition Socialists and the two smaller left-wing parties backed the motion, garnering 97 votes in a 230-seat parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Goldman trader Taylor pleads guilty to wire fraud Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:48 AM PDT  By Lauren Tara LaCapra and Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc trader Matthew M. Taylor pleaded guilty on Wednesday to defrauding the Wall Street bank with an unauthorized $8.3 billion futures trade in 2007, saying he exceeded internal risk limits and lied to supervisors to cover up his activities. Taylor, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in federal court in lower Manhattan on Wednesday morning, after voluntarily turning himself into federal authorities earlier in the day. ... Full Story | Top |
| Retirement rollovers can be misleading, confusing: watchdog Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:41 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Workers encounter confusion and misleading information when they leave their jobs and roll over their retirement money into individual retirement accounts, or IRAs, from company-sponsored 401(k) plans, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office. The government watchdog did not name any of the firms where it found misleading practices. Almost all U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry to visit Jerusalem, Ramallah; not bringing new peace plan Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:35 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Jerusalem and Ramallah next week but does not intend to offer an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, the State Department said on Wednesday. Kerry's visit, his third to Jerusalem in less than a month, should not be regarded as the start of a fresh effort at Middle East "shuttle" diplomacy but rather as a chance to see whether the Israelis and Palestinians are themselves ready for peace talks, said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. ... Full Story | Top |
| Western envoys to attend ICC-indictee Kenyatta's inauguration Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:33 AM PDT  By Edmund Blair NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United States and several other European nations are expecting to send ambassadors to attend the swearing in next week of Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya's president-elect who is indicted for crimes against humanity at The Hague. Western diplomats said this level of attendance was in line with their policy of having only "essential contacts" with indictees of the International Criminal Court. A European Union official also said EU envoys were seeking to meet Kenyatta. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt court bars Gaddafi cousin's extradition to Libya Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:28 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court barred the extradition of a cousin of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to his home country on Wednesday, saying Ahmed Gaddaf Alddam should be tried in Egypt, officials said. Gaddaf Alddam, who is wanted in Libya for alleged counterfeiting, forgery, fraud and money laundering, is under investigation on suspicion of attacking Egyptian police during his arrest last month. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope stresses "fundamental" value of women in Church Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:23 AM PDT  By Naomi O'Leary ROME (Reuters) - Pope Francis stressed the "fundamental" importance of women in the Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, a message hailed as a significant shift from the position of his predecessor Benedict. Supporters of liberal reform of the Church have called on it to give a greater voice to women and recognize their importance to the largest religious denomination in the world, and some groups call for women to be ordained as priests. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Secretary of State Kerry to visit Turkey Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:20 AM PDT  ANKARA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Turkey on Sunday as part of a trip to Europe and Asia to consult allies on issues including Syria's civil war, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Wednesday. Washington regards Turkey, which shares a 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria, as a pivotal player in backing the Syrian opposition and planning for an era after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Royal Bank of Scotland faces $6 billion investor action Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:17 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - A group of shareholders in Royal Bank of Scotland is suing the lender and four former directors for losses they claim they incurred when the bank succumbed to a state bailout in 2008. The RBoS Shareholders Action Group has issued proceedings against RBS, Fred Goodwin, Tom McKillop, Johnny Cameron and Guy Whittaker, in the chancery division of Britain's High Court to recover billions of pounds lost on the value of their shares in the run up to the bank's 45 billion pound taxpayer rescue. The final claim for compensation could be as much as 4 billion pounds ($6. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia's 2012 arms exports up 12 percent despite Libya losses Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:05 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's weapons exports rose 12 percent in 2012 to a record $15.2 billion, President Vladimir Putin said in remarks broadcast on Wednesday, despite losing billions of dollars in deals with Libya after the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Russia, the second biggest arms exporter after the United States, said its largest clients were in Asia. Putin, speaking in televised remarks during a meeting with senior Russian officials, said Russia supplied weapons to 66 countries but gave no breakdown for 2012 exports. ... Full Story | Top |
| IMF will contribute 1 billion euros to Cyprus bailout Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:05 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund will contribute 1 billion euros ($1.29 billion) over three years to the 10 billion euro bailout for Cyprus, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a statement on Wednesday. Lagarde said she expected the IMF board to approve the funds in early May. "A staff team of the International Monetary Fund has reached staff level agreement with the Cypriot authorities on an economic program that will be supported by the IMF jointly with the European Union and the European Central Bank," Lagarde said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek anarchists jailed over bombing campaign Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:02 AM PDT  ATHENS (Reuters) - Three self-proclaimed Greek anarchists were sentenced to jail on Wednesday for involvement in a seven-year campaign of attacks and attempted murders, including a rocket propelled grenade assault on the U.S. embassy in Athens. The three had admitted being members of Revolutionary Struggle - a group which declared war on all forms of government in 2003 and later said it was also protesting against austerity measures brought in to cope with Greece's financial crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese toll from new bird flu rises to 9 cases, 3 dead Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 10:00 AM PDT  By Ben Blanchard and Kate Kelland BEIJING/LONDON (Reuters) - China has found two more cases of a new strain of bird flu and one of the victims has died, state media said on Wednesday, bringing to nine the number of confirmed human infections from the previously unknown flu type. A 38-year-old cook fell ill early last month while working in the province of Jiangsu, where five of the other cases were found. He died in hospital in Hangzhou city on March 27, the Xinhua news agency reported. Samples tested positive on Wednesday for the new bird flu strain, H7N9. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wells Fargo must face lawsuit tied to Medical Capital fraud Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:57 AM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - A federal judge has rejected a bid by Wells Fargo & Co to dismiss a lawsuit by investors who said it failed in its role as trustee for debt issued by a financing company that collapsed in 2009 in an estimated billion-dollar fraud. A 50-page decision by U.S. District Judge David Carter in Santa Ana, California on Tuesday clears the way for a possible trial against the fourth-largest U.S. bank over its dealings with Medical Capital Holdings Inc. ... Full Story | Top |
| Connecticut lawmakers set to vote on tough new gun law Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:54 AM PDT  HARTFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - Connecticut lawmakers were set to vote on Wednesday on some of the toughest gun regulations in the United States in a package agreed to after a December school shooting that left 26 people dead including 20 children. Legislators in the two Democratic-controlled chambers agreed earlier this week to put to a vote the package, which includes a ban on sales of high-capacity ammunition clips, background checks for private gun sales and creates a registry for existing ammunition magazines capable of holding 10 or more bullets. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hagel tells military to brace for further belt-tightening Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:52 AM PDT  By David Alexander and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the U.S. military on Wednesday to brace for a new round of belt-tightening as he carries out a sweeping review that could slash the number of generals, pare back civilian workers and stem spiraling costs of new weapons. But Hagel, in his first major policy speech, also warned that the United States could not allow its current fiscal and budgetary crisis to force it to retreat from its role in the world. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mitsubishi recalls Outlander Sport vehicles for several issues Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:51 AM PDT DETROIT (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Motors Corp is recalling 8,263 Outlander crossover vehicles in the United States and Puerto Rico for three different issues related to brake lights, fuel gauges and shifting the vehicles out of park, federal regulators said on Wednesday. Model year 2013 Outlander Sport vehicles made from June 11 to September 11 last year may have brake lamps that either work intermittently or illuminate continuously without the pressing of the brake pedal, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on its website. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hostilities flare along Israeli-Gaza border Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:50 AM PDT  By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel pressed Hamas on Wednesday to rein in rocket-firing militants in the Gaza Strip after the most serious outbreak of cross-border hostilities since the ceasefire that ended an eight-day war in November. The flare-up, sparked by anger in Gaza over the death from cancer of a Palestinian held by Israel, included Israel's first air strike on the Hamas-run coastal enclave since the truce. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rights groups urge public access to UAE dissidents' trial Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:38 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Human rights groups urged United Arab Emirates authorities on Wednesday to grant full public access to the trial of 94 people accused of plotting to seize power in the Gulf Arab state. But a source close to the UAE government said the trial, which began in Abu Dhabi last month, was taking place in a "very transparent manner". More than 60 people have been detained in a crackdown on Islamists in the past year amid heightened worries among officials about a spillover from unrest in other Arab countries. ... Full Story | Top |
| First charges brought in Savile sex investigation Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:34 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - The first criminal charges have been brought in a wide-ranging British investigation into sex abuse allegations surrounding the late TV presenter Jimmy Savile, a scandal that has ensnared some celebrities and forced the head of the BBC to resign. David Smith, who is in his 60s, will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on May 8 charged with two counts of indecent assault, two of gross indecency, and one of buggery, all in 1984, prosecutors said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Moleskine fails to sparkle on market debut Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:26 AM PDT By Antonella Ciancio MILAN (Reuters) - Shares in upmarket notebook maker Moleskine made a lackluster debut in Milan on Wednesday as growth concerns and broad market weakness weighed on this year's first major stock listing in crisis-hit Italy. The maker of notebooks based on originals used by Ernest Hemingway and Bruce Chatwin is the first company to join the main Milan stock market since the listing of cashmere brand Brunello Cucinelli nearly a year ago. Shares in Moleskine closed 0.9 percent below their issue price at 2.28 euros, though Italy's all-share index fared worse, losing 2.1 ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Di Canio says he does not support 'ideology' of fascism Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:24 AM PDT LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - New Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio distanced himself from "the ideology of fascism" on Wednesday and said he had been deeply hurt by condemnation of the Premier League club for appointing him. The Italian's arrival at the Stadium of Light has been shadowed by his past, with the media focusing on his professed admiration of wartime dictator Benito Mussolini and a 2005 declaration that he was "a fascist, not a racist". In a statement published on the club's website (www.safc. ... Full Story | Top |
| Putin foe Navalny to be put on trial in Russia this month Wednesday, Apr 03, 2013 09:21 AM PDT  By Alissa de Carbonnel MOSCOW (Reuters) - A prominent Russian opposition leader will stand trial for theft this month, a court said on Wednesday, in what appeared to be a tough signal to critics of President Vladimir Putin who hope to revive a street protest movement in May. Alexei Navalny, an anti-graft blogger and leader of protests last year whose case has been compared to the prosecution of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky during Putin's first stint in the presidency in 2000-2008, is to go on trial on April 17. ... Full Story | Top |
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