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| Rebels say take army post near Syria's southern border Friday, Apr 05, 2013 12:22 PM PDT By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels said they overran an army garrison that defends the main southern border crossing with Jordan on Friday and vowed to press on to take control of the major transit route. Fighters from the Free Syrian Army said they captured the Um al-Mayathen post on the main Damascus-Jordan highway in heavy fighting overnight that ended a siege that lasted more than a week. Dozens died in the clashes they said. ... Full Story | Top |
| France says Mali elections feasible, urges Tuaregs to disarm Friday, Apr 05, 2013 12:18 PM PDT  By Adama Diarra BAMAKO (Reuters) - Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday France would stick to plans to reduce its military presence in Mali ahead of elections in July and he called on Tuareg rebels to lay down their arms so the vote could go ahead. Visiting the Malian capital Bamako for talks with the interim government, Fabius said France would proceed with plans to cut its military presence from late April despite attacks by Islamist fighters on northern cities. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. budget cuts ripple beyond defense to travel, tech Friday, Apr 05, 2013 12:15 PM PDT  By Karen Jacobs (Reuters) - The rustic, 316-room Cheyenne Mountain Resort hotel in Colorado Springs is usually booked solid this time of year, just days before a major national space conference rolls into town. But business is off by about a third this season as NASA has withdrawn from the conference, one of many government agencies cutting spending to meet $85 billion in budget cuts that must be made by September 30 known as "sequestration." "We're still taking reservations," said the Cheyenne Mountain Resort's general manager, Todd Felsen, who has 100 vacant rooms. ... Full Story | Top |
| FAA says will delay planned closure of air traffic towers Friday, Apr 05, 2013 12:09 PM PDT  By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday that it will delay its planned closure of control towers at 149 smaller airports until June 15 in order to resolve several legal challenges. The closures, which were due to begin as early as Sunday, were one of the most visible signs of the broad "sequester" budget cuts that kicked in on March 1. The FAA, which oversees the U.S. air traffic system, must trim roughly 10 percent of its budget by the end of the September 30 fiscal year. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge strikes age rules for "morning-after" pill Friday, Apr 05, 2013 12:02 PM PDT By Jessica Dye NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday ordered the Food and Drug Administration to make "morning-after" emergency contraception pills available without a prescription to all girls of reproductive age and criticized the Obama administration for interfering with the process for political purposes. The ruling in a Brooklyn court is the latest step in the years-long legal saga over the pill known as "Plan B," a drug that has also sparked political and religious battles. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. senators back Tyson pardon bid for boxing champ Johnson Friday, Apr 05, 2013 12:00 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Two senior U.S. senators welcomed a petition launched by former boxer Mike Tyson to have heavyweight champ Jack Johnson posthumously pardoned by President Barack Obama for race crimes a century ago. Democratic leader Harry Reid and Republican John McCain, longtime Johnson supporters, joined fellow boxing champions Lennox Lewis and Laila Ali, the daughter of retired boxing legend Muhammad Ali, in backing Tyson's petition on grassroots campaign website Change.org. The petition says Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion of the world "is long overdue a pardon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama calls California attorney general to apologize for comment Friday, Apr 05, 2013 11:55 AM PDT  By Gabriel Debenedetti WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called California Attorney General Kamala Harris Thursday night to apologize for calling her "by far the best-looking attorney general in the country" during a fundraising trip, White House spokesman Jay Carney said. "They are old friends, and good friends, and he did not in any way want to diminish the attorney general's accomplishments and capabilities," Carney said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain's royal family agrees to open up to scrutiny Friday, Apr 05, 2013 11:53 AM PDT  By Elisabeth O'Leary MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's embattled royal family has agreed to open its affairs to more public scrutiny under a new transparency law intended to restore confidence in a political establishment sapped by corruption and economic crisis. Two days after King Juan Carlos's daughter was charged in an embezzlement case, a palace source told Reuters on Friday that the royal household had accepted, after weeks of talks with the government, that it should be subject to the new freedom-of-information legislation, along with other organs of the state. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. aims to reshape world trade rules with regional pacts: Biden Friday, Apr 05, 2013 11:44 AM PDT  By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States hopes to use a proposed regional free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific and another with the European Union to reshape global rules for trade, Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday. "Our goal is for high standards for the Trans-Pacific Partnership to enter the bloodstream of the global system and improve the rules and norms," Biden said in a speech at the U.S. Export-Import Bank's annual meeting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Putin critic who faces trial says he wants to be president Friday, Apr 05, 2013 11:40 AM PDT  By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian opposition leader said he wanted to become president and would do everything in his power to put Vladimir Putin in jail, in a defiant message days before he goes on trial on theft charges he says are politically motivated. Alexei Navalny, an anti-corruption blogger who was a leader of the biggest opposition protests of Putin's 13-year rule last year, is to go on trial on April 17. The 36-year-old says the case is part of a Kremlin campaign to silence dissent. ... Full Story | Top |
| China culls birds as flu deaths mount; airline shares fall Friday, Apr 05, 2013 11:34 AM PDT  By Fayen Wong and Clare Baldwin SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese authorities slaughtered over 20,000 birds at a poultry market in Shanghai on Friday as the death toll from a new strain of bird flu mounted to six, spreading concern overseas and sparking a sell-off in airline shares in Europe and Hong Kong. The local government in Shanghai said the Huhuai market for live birds had been shut down and 20,536 birds had been culled after authorities detected the H7N9 virus from samples of pigeons in the market. Other live poultry markets in the city will be closed down from Saturday, it said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. issues advisory to doctors to help identify bird flu Friday, Apr 05, 2013 11:34 AM PDT CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday it has issued an advisory to U.S. doctors that may help them identify any cases of the new bird flu virus known as H7N9, but stressed that no cases have been found in the United States. So far, the new strain of bird flu that has infected 16 people in China and killed six has not been shown to be capable of transmission from person to person, CDC's Dr. Thomas Frieden told reporters on a teleconference. Frieden said the CDC has not issued any formal travel advisories and said there are no steps U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Weak job gains hurt economic outlook Friday, Apr 05, 2013 11:19 AM PDT  By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American employers hired at the weakest pace in nine months in March, a sign that tax hikes that kicked in early this year as part of Washington's austerity drive could be stealing momentum from the economy. The economy added just 88,000 nonfarm jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. That was well below market expectations for a 200,000 increase and lower than even the most pessimistic forecast in a Reuters poll. The jobless rate ticked a tenth of a point lower to 7.6 percent largely due to people dropping out of the work force. "The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran, big powers appear miles apart at nuclear talks Friday, Apr 05, 2013 11:16 AM PDT  By Yeganeh Torbati and Justyna Pawlak ALMATY (Reuters) - Iran appeared to side-step responding to proposals by world powers to defuse tensions over its nuclear program at talks in Kazakhstan on Friday, diplomats said, and instead came up with its own plan - a measure of the gulf between the two sides. The six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - had sought a concrete response from Iran to their February offer of modest sanctions relief if Tehran stops its most contentious nuclear work. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus currency decree eases restrictions on bank transfers Friday, Apr 05, 2013 11:15 AM PDT NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus partially relaxed currency controls imposed to prevent a run on its banks, issuing a decree on Friday permitting companies to make cash transfers between banks. Companies could transfer up to 10,000 euros ($13,000) per month from one bank account to another, and the limit for individuals was 2,000 euros, the finance ministry said in a statement. Other restrictions, including a 300 euro per day cash withdrawal limit from banks, and a vetting process for payments of more than 25,000 euros per day remained in place. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombian FARC leader Catatumbo to join peace talks: source Friday, Apr 05, 2013 11:10 AM PDT BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian FARC leader Pablo Catatumbo will join rebel negotiators already in Havana for peace talks, a security source said, in a bid to rally more support from rank and file guerrillas to end Colombia's five-decade conflict. Catatumbo, who is sought by the United States for drug trafficking, has already left Colombia for Cuba, the source, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boeing has "good" 787 battery plan fix: official Friday, Apr 05, 2013 11:08 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co has a "good plan" to fix the battery problem that has grounded its 787 Dreamliner jets, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said on Friday as the company prepared for a test flight to check the battery system revamp. LaHood said he wants to ensure the Dreamliner is safe before allowing the planes back in the air, and no decision had been made on commercial flights. Airlines that operate the plane expect it could be flying again as early as April or May. "They're doing the tests now, and we've agreed with the tests that they're doing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Boeing's path to placing 787 back in service Friday, Apr 05, 2013 11:08 AM PDT (Reuters) - Boeing Co is conducting ground and flight tests of its 787 Dreamliner with a revamped lithium-ion battery system in an effort to get the jets flying again after all 50 were grounded in mid-January following two separate battery incidents. Japanese airlines All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines are the two biggest Dreamliner customers. ANA, the launch customer, will be the first to have its jets fixed. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. alarmed by North Korea crisis, but aid staff still working Friday, Apr 05, 2013 10:55 AM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is deeply alarmed at the rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, though United Nations humanitarian workers remain active across North Korea for the time being, a spokesman said on Friday. "U.N. staff in the DPRK (North Korea) remain engaged in their humanitarian and developmental work throughout the country," said U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky. "The secretary-general remains deeply concerned about escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula. ... Full Story | Top |
| No surprise if North Korea conducts new missile test: White House Friday, Apr 05, 2013 10:53 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States would not be surprised if North Korea were to conduct a new missile test, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Friday. Asked about indications that North Korea might be preparing to launch a test missile amid rising tensions in the region, Carney said White House officials had seen the reports. "We would not be surprised to see them take such an action," Carney said. "We have seen them launch missiles in the past." (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Steve Holland; Editing by Will Dunham) Full Story | Top |
| Hezbollah bloc, rivals back Salam for Lebanon premier Friday, Apr 05, 2013 10:35 AM PDT  By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, its allies and pro-Western rivals on Friday backed Sunni politician Tammam Salam to be Lebanon's new prime minister, handing him an overwhelming parliamentary endorsement to form a government. Salam was endorsed by more than 80 of 128 members of parliament in the first day of talks held by President Michel Suleiman to nominate a successor to Najib Mikati. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fisker Automotive fires most rank-and-file employees Friday, Apr 05, 2013 10:27 AM PDT  By Deepa Seetharaman DETROIT (Reuters) - Fisker Automotive, the struggling, government-backed hybrid sports car maker, terminated most of its rank-and-file employees on Friday, in a last-ditch effort to conserve cash and stave off a potential bankruptcy filing, sources said. In a statement, Fisker confirmed that it let go about 75 percent of its workforce. The automaker said it was "a necessary strategic step in our efforts to maximize the value of Fisker's core assets." A Fisker representative could not immediately answer questions on the company's financial position. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama tries to woo Republicans with cuts in budget Friday, Apr 05, 2013 10:24 AM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will offer cuts to Social Security and other benefits programs in a budget proposal next week aimed at winning over enough congressional Republicans to pass a broad deal to reduce the deficit. While Obama's previous budgets have largely been ignored in Congress, the White House wants to use this year's proposal, to be released on Wednesday, to move beyond the fiscal fights that have consumed Washington since 2010. ... Full Story | Top |
| Timeline: North Korea's brushes with international community Friday, Apr 05, 2013 10:21 AM PDT (Reuters) - Here is a look at recent incidents involving North Korea and international efforts to stop the communist state's nuclear and missiles programs that have led to rising tensions on the Korean peninsula. April 5, 2009 - North Korea launches missile carrying a satellite over the Sea of Japan. The test fails to make orbit, but prompts unanimous condemnation by the U.N. Security Council as a violation of sanctions barring the use of ballistic missile technology. Nine days later, North Korea condemns the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian laws, arrests worry liberals and the West Friday, Apr 05, 2013 10:16 AM PDT  By Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - The Arab Spring was supposed to bring freedom to Egypt. Instead, concern is growing inside and outside the country that an illiberal wind is blowing the transition from autocracy off course. Arrest warrants issued by the prosecutor general against activists and a comedian accused of insulting President Mohamed Mursi have hardened opposition fears of a crackdown on dissent by the Muslim Brotherhood-led authorities. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. exempts sex assault victims from security clearance query Friday, Apr 05, 2013 10:03 AM PDT By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People in top U.S. national security jobs or seeking them will no longer have to disclose mental health counseling for sexual assault, the government said on Friday. Workers and job applicants are asked on security clearance forms whether they have sought professional counseling in the last several years, and victims of rape or sexual assault can be reluctant to seek help because they fear it will trigger rejection or revoke their clearance. ... Full Story | Top |
| Budget cuts ripple beyond defense to travel, tech sectors Friday, Apr 05, 2013 09:56 AM PDT By Karen Jacobs (Reuters) - The rustic, 316-room Cheyenne Mountain Resort hotel in Colorado Springs is usually booked solid this time of year, just days before a major national space conference rolls into town. But business is off by about a third this season as NASA has withdrawn from the conference, one of many government agencies cutting spending to meet $85 billion in budget cuts that must be made by September 30 known as "sequestration." "We're still taking reservations," said the Cheyenne Mountain Resort's general manager, Todd Felsen, who has 100 vacant rooms. ... Full Story | Top |
| Executive bans urged for "colossal" HBOS failure Friday, Apr 05, 2013 09:49 AM PDT  By Matt Scuffham LONDON (Reuters) - Bailed-out British bank HBOS was so badly run it would have failed even without the 2008 financial crisis and the regulator should consider banning its former bosses from the industry, a parliamentary panel said in a report. The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, tasked with finding ways to reform UK banks, said HBOS was an "accident waiting to happen", with bad lending and losses across the business likely to have led to its insolvency even without the funding and liquidity problems of the financial crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. rights chief calls for closure of Guantanamo prison Friday, Apr 05, 2013 09:44 AM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. human rights chief called on the United States on Friday to close down the Guantanamo prison camp, saying the indefinite imprisonment of many detainees without charge or trial violated international law. Navi Pillay said the hunger strike being staged by some inmates at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in southeastern Cuba was a "desperate act" but "scarcely surprising". ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada's Flaherty: big March job losses just a snapshot in time Friday, Apr 05, 2013 09:42 AM PDT  OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's job losses in March are disappointing, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Friday, but he described the broader performance of employment since the global recession as much more positive. "After strong job growth in February I am disappointed with the job numbers announced by Statistics Canada today," Flaherty said in a statement, referring to the loss of 54,500 positions in the month. "But this is a snapshot in time. ... Full Story | Top |
| One adult dead in Canada daycare shooting, police say Friday, Apr 05, 2013 09:28 AM PDT GATINEAU, Quebec (Reuters) - A shooting at a daycare center near Ottawa on Friday left one adult, presumed to be the gunman, dead, but all 53 children at the center - including five babies - were unharmed. Police spokesman Jean-Paul Lemay said one person died at the scene in Gatineau, Quebec, just across the Ottawa River from the Canadian capital. Lemay would not immediately confirm the identity of the dead person but made it clear that the children were safe. "There is no reason to worry for now," he told reporters. "None of the kids have been injured. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Chechen capital Grozny to host Russian Cup final Friday, Apr 05, 2013 09:27 AM PDT MOSCOW, April 5 (Reuters) - The Russian FA awarded Chechen capital Grozny the right to host this year's Cup final on Friday despite punishing the city's club Terek for failing to provide adequate security during a league game last month. "Grozny has one of the best stadiums in Russia," Russian soccer chief Nikolai Tolstykh told reporters after the FA's board voted to stage the Cup final in Grozny for the first time. "The fact the club (Terek) and their arena had been punished recently following well-known events had no bearing on the executive board's decision. ... Full Story | Top |
| Playing in Korea would be a stupid idea : Quiros Friday, Apr 05, 2013 09:22 AM PDT  By Tony Jimenez (Reuters) - Top Spanish golfer Alvaro Quiros said it would be "a stupid idea" to play at this month's European Tour event in South Korea due to the growing political tension in the region. There has been a military buildup by the United States in South Korea following warnings from North Korea that war was inevitable because of United Nations sanctions imposed for a nuclear test. In a series of statements issued over the past month, the North has threatened to stage a nuclear strike on the U.S. and has declared war on the South. ... Full Story | Top |
| INTERVIEW-Golf-Playing in Korea would be a stupid idea - Quiros Friday, Apr 05, 2013 09:18 AM PDT By Tony Jimenez April 5 (Reuters) - Top Spanish golfer Alvaro Quiros said it would be "a stupid idea" to play at this month's European Tour event in South Korea due to the growing political tension in the region. There has been a military buildup by the United States in South Korea following warnings from North Korea that war was inevitable because of United Nations sanctions imposed for a nuclear test. In a series of statements issued over the past month, the North has threatened to stage a nuclear strike on the U.S. and has declared war on the South. ... Full Story | Top |
| Timeline : Key dates in legal battle over "morning-after" pill Friday, Apr 05, 2013 09:16 AM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday directed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make emergency contraception available over-the-counter to women of all ages. The ruling is the result of a more than decade-long legal fight by reproductive-rights and public-health groups to remove barriers to the drug. Here are some key dates in that fight: 1999: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd receives FDA approval to market Plan B, the first emergency contraceptive drug for prescription-only use in the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to press Europe on rebalancing economic demand: official Friday, Apr 05, 2013 09:14 AM PDT  By Anna Yukhananov WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will discuss ways Europe can rebalance its demand to help grow the economy during a trip to the continent next week, a senior U.S. official said on Friday. "What is very clear is that overall we're seeing very weak demand in Europe and rising levels of unemployment," a senior U.S. Treasury official said on a call briefing reporters about the trip. "There is clearly some capacity for demand rebalancing in the euro area. ... Of course there is greater room for the surplus countries to make a contribution. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea asks embassies to consider moving diplomats out Friday, Apr 05, 2013 09:03 AM PDT By Guy Faulconbridge and Ronald Popeski LONDON/SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has asked embassies to consider moving staff out and warned it cannot guarantee the safety of diplomats after April 10, Britain said, amid high tension and a war of words on the Korean peninsula. The requests come on the heels of declarations by the government of the secretive communist state that real conflict is inevitable, because of what it terms "hostile" U.S. troop exercises with South Korea and U.N. sanctions imposed over North Korea's nuclear weapons testing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fidel Castro advises friend North Korea against war Friday, Apr 05, 2013 09:02 AM PDT  By Jeff Franks HAVANA (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro warned ally North Korea against war on Friday and described the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula as one of the "gravest risks" for nuclear holocaust since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Saying he spoke as a friend, Castro wrote in Cuban state media that North Korea, led by 30-year-old Kim Jong-un, had shown the world its technical prowess and now it was time to remember its duties to others. ... Full Story | Top |
| Appeals court says housing lawsuit against UBS may proceed Friday, Apr 05, 2013 08:53 AM PDT  By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal appeals court in New York said Friday the Federal Housing Finance Agency could proceed with its lawsuit against UBS AG over mortgage losses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac . Rejecting UBS' bid to dismiss the case, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the agency had standing to sue and did not wait too long to bring its case, having sued within three years after it became the conservator for the mortgage financiers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraq PM softens tone on Turkey, says rapprochement welcome Friday, Apr 05, 2013 08:41 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Friday he would welcome rapprochement with Turkey, softening months of hostile rhetoric fuelled by Ankara's engagement with Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region. Resource-hungry Turkey has antagonized Baghdad by courting Iraqi Kurds, who are at loggerheads with the central government over how to exploit the country's oil reserves and share the revenues. Ankara and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have been negotiating an energy deal ranging from exploration to export since last year. ... Full Story | Top |
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