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| Colorado prosecutors seek death penalty for accused cinema gunman Monday, Apr 01, 2013 11:16 AM PDT  By Keith Coffman CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) - Prosecutors in Colorado will seek the death penalty for accused movie theater gunman James Holmes in the 2012 slaying of 12 people during a showing of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises," the lead prosecutor said in court on Monday. Holmes, a 25-year-old former graduate student of neuroscience, is accused of opening fire inside a suburban Denver multiplex during a midnight screening of the movie last July in a rampage that ranked as one of the deadliest mass shootings in the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Stockton eligible for bankruptcy protection: judge Monday, Apr 01, 2013 12:48 PM PDT  By Jonathan Weber SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - The city of Stockton, California, is eligible for bankruptcy protection, a federal judge ruled on Monday, turning aside creditors' arguments that the city was not truly insolvent when it sought protection and had improperly failed to seek concessions. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher Klein's ruling permits Stockton to proceed with its Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection filing from last June in a case with precedent-setting potential for other cash-strapped U.S. cities. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cooling factory activity hints at slowing economy Monday, Apr 01, 2013 11:18 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Factory activity grew at the slowest rate in three months in March, suggesting the economy lost some momentum at the end of the first quarter as the effects of tighter fiscal policy started kicking in. Data so far had shown little sign that higher taxes and the $85 billion in across-the-board government spending cuts that took effect March 1, known as the "sequester," had weighed on economic activity. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea vows fast response to North; U.S. deploys stealth jets Monday, Apr 01, 2013 06:02 AM PDT By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea will strike back quickly if the North stages any attack, the new president in Seoul warned on Monday, as tensions ratcheted higher on the Korean peninsula amid shrill rhetoric from Pyongyang and the U.S. deployment of radar-evading fighter planes. North Korea says the region is on the brink of a nuclear war in the wake of United Nations sanctions imposed for its February nuclear test and a series of joint U.S. and South Korean military drills that have included a rare U.S. show of aerial power. ... Full Story | Top |
| Novartis loses landmark India cancer drug patent case Monday, Apr 01, 2013 07:43 AM PDT  By Kaustubh Kulkarni and Suchitra Mohanty MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's top court dismissed Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG's attempt to win patent protection for its cancer drug Glivec, a blow to Western pharmaceutical firms targeting India to drive sales and a victory for local makers of cheap generics. The decision sets a benchmark for intellectual property cases in India, where many patented drugs are unaffordable for most of its 1.2 billion people, and does not bode well for foreign firms engaged in ongoing disputes in India, including Pfizer Inc and Roche Holding AG, analysts said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Obama to nominate economic adviser Deese as deputy budget director Monday, Apr 01, 2013 12:40 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will announce on Monday he has chosen White House economic adviser Brian Deese to be deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Deese, now deputy director of the White House's National Economic Council, would join Sylvia Mathews Burwell, a former Clinton administration official who later became president of the Walmart Foundation, whom Obama tapped to be director of OMB. ... Full Story | Top |
| J.C. Penney's home revamp is make or break for CEO Johnson Monday, Apr 01, 2013 10:40 AM PDT  By Phil Wahba (Reuters) - It's crunch time for J.C. Penney Co Inc Chief Executive Ron Johnson. The struggling department store chain is poised to open the first of its new home goods boutiques on April 5, a launch that Johnson himself has called "pivotal" to his efforts to revive Penney. Once the go-to place for home products like window treatments and bath towels, Penney's customer traffic fell 13 percent in fiscal 2012 while revenues plummeted 25 percent, the first full year with Johnson at the helm. For seven years running, home goods have been Penney's worst performing category. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's Mandela visited by family after weekend improvement Monday, Apr 01, 2013 09:33 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, who is being treated in hospital for pneumonia, was visited by members of his family on Monday after doctors had reported an improvement in his condition over the weekend. A statement from South Africa's presidency said there was "no significant change" in the condition of the 94-year-old former president, who has been in hospital since late Wednesday suffering from a recurrence of a lung infection. "Former President Mandela is still in hospital where he is receiving treatment ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Capitol wins digital records lawsuit vs ReDigi start-up Monday, Apr 01, 2013 12:44 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel and Alistair Barr (Reuters) - In a major lawsuit testing the legitimacy of music downloads, Capitol Records LLC has won a court ruling that the start-up ReDigi Inc has infringed its music copyrights. U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan said ReDigi was not authorized to allow listeners to use its platform to buy and sell "used" digital music tracks originally bought from Apple Inc's iTunes website. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ghost of Chavez dominates Venezuela election campaign Monday, Apr 01, 2013 09:24 AM PDT  By Brian Ellsworth CARACAS (Reuters) - Weeks after his death, Venezuelan socialist leader Hugo Chavez still leads supporters in singing the national anthem. The late president's recorded voice booms over rallies for his protégé, acting President Nicolas Maduro, who stands under billboards of Chavez's face and waves to crowds carrying signs emblazoned with his name. Maduro, who is favored to win a snap election triggered by Chavez's death last month, rarely misses a chance to lionize the man many Venezuelans know as "El Comandante. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese factories rise but U.S. manufacturing slows Monday, Apr 01, 2013 08:52 AM PDT  By Steven C. Johnson and Koh Gui Qing NEW YORK/BEIJING (Reuters) - Strong demand at home boosted activity at Chinese factories last month, but U.S. manufacturing hit an unexpected speed bump after expanding rapidly in February, weakened by a slower pace of new orders. Other surveys released on Monday showed manufacturing sectors in South Korea and Japan growing as exports increased, while Brazil faced sharply slower output and rapidly rising prices, suggesting a manufacturing recovery remained tenuous. Most European markets were closed on Monday for Easter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kosovo and Serbia near accord to end ethnic partition Monday, Apr 01, 2013 05:06 AM PDT  By Matt Robinson and Fatos Bytyci MITROVICA, Kosovo (Reuters) - It's a dangerous job being a municipal clerk in the Kosovan town of Mitrovica, where the Ibar river forms a natural barrier between Serbs and Albanians. Since Adrijana Hodzic began issuing the identification cards of mainly Albanian Kosovo to Serbs on the north side of the river, her deputy has been shot in the leg and hand grenades lobbed at the homes of her staff. "Sometimes I feel like we're fighting against everyone," said mother-of-two Hodzic, a Mitrovica native. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. manufacturing posts best quarter in 2 years: Markit Monday, Apr 01, 2013 06:03 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing growth picked up in March as new orders increased and hiring quickened, closing out the best quarter for the sector in two years, a survey showed on Monday. Financial data firm Markit said its U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose to 54.6 last month from 54.3 in February. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. Output increased, though the rate of growth slipped to 56.6 from 57.3 in February. Overall, however, the index averaged 54.9 between January and March, above the 52. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia won't help out Cyprus depositors, says minister Monday, Apr 01, 2013 05:26 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian government will not aid businesses that have lost money in Cyprus, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said, underscoring Moscow's resolve to clamp down on the flight of capital to offshore financial centers. Major account holders, many of them Russian, will lose up to 60 percent of their deposits over 100,000 euros ($128,400) at Cyprus's largest bank under a European Union bailout to save the Mediterranean island from bankruptcy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Stocks extend losses, Nasdaq falls 1 percent Monday, Apr 01, 2013 12:30 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks extended losses and the Nasdaq fell more than 1 percent on Monday, dragged down by losses in shares of Apple . The Dow Jones industrial average was down 32.53 points, or 0.22 percent, at 14,546.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 9.55 points, or 0.61 percent, at 1,559.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 34.72 points, or 1.06 percent, at 3,232.79. (Reporting By Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Nick Zieminski) Full Story | Top |
| China March PMIs rebound, domestic demand shines Monday, Apr 01, 2013 01:45 AM PDT  By Koh Gui Qing BEIJING (Reuters) - Stronger domestic demand helped China's factory activity to rebound in March, with new orders up sharply in a sign that the underlying economic recovery is strong enough to weather any risks from patchy export performance, surveys showed on Monday. China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) released by the National Bureau of Statistics rose to an 11-month high of 50.9 in March, above the 50-point level that indicates growth on the month, but below a Reuters poll consensus forecast of 52.0. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea names Kim clan associate to premiership Monday, Apr 01, 2013 05:37 AM PDT  By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea named former premier Pak Pong-ju, a key confidant of the leadership dynasty who was sacked in 2007 for failing to implement economic reforms, as its cabinet chief on Monday in a move that would further cement the ruling family's grip on power. Pak, believed to be in his 70s, is a key ally of Jang Song-thaek, the uncle of the isolated state's young ruler Kim Jong-un, and worked for Jang's wife, Kim's aunt Kyong-hui, the last remaining personal link to the state's revolutionary founder, Kim Il-sung, grandfather of the current leader. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate group resolves key issues on immigration reform: lawmakers Sunday, Mar 31, 2013 11:19 PM PDT  By Thomas Ferraro and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With business and labor now in agreement, a bipartisan group of senators has resolved all major issues in a pending deal to overhaul the immigration system and aims to unveil it after Congress reconvenes in the second week of April, key lawmakers said on Sunday. The lawmakers said that while there was no final deal yet, they hope and even expect there to be one soon after the measure is put into legislative language so all eight senators in the group can review it. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bomber in fuel truck kills nine in Iraq's Tikrit Monday, Apr 01, 2013 03:59 AM PDT TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide bomber drove an oil tanker packed with explosives into a local Iraqi government compound on Monday, killing at least nine people, mostly policemen, in the northern city of Tikrit. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Sunni Muslim insurgents tied to al Qaeda have been redoubling their efforts to weaken Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and stoke inter-communal conflict. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas governor warns officials to be safe after two killings Monday, Apr 01, 2013 11:41 AM PDT By Chris Francescani KAUFMAN, Texas (Reuters) - Governor Rick Perry on Monday raised concern about the safety of Texas law enforcement officials as investigators searched for possible links between the killings of two Kaufman County prosecutors just two months apart. Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were discovered with fatal gunshot wounds at their home near Forney, Texas, on Saturday. McLelland had vowed to capture those who killed one of his assistants, Mark Hasse, on January 31. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: China's losing battle against state-backed polluters Sunday, Mar 31, 2013 06:58 PM PDT  By David Stanway SHANGHANG COUNTY, China (Reuters) - When Zijin Mining Group threatened to move its headquarters some 270 kms from its home county of Shanghang to Xiamen on China's southeast coast, a local Communist Party boss rushed to confront the company's chairman Chen Jinghe. "If you want to move, you'll have to move the Zijin Mountain to Xiamen as well," the official told Chen, referring to a vast local mine that has helped transform the firm into China's top gold producer and second-biggest copper miner. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exxon cleans up Arkansas oil spill; Keystone plan assailed Monday, Apr 01, 2013 04:22 AM PDT By Kristen Hays and Matthew Robinson (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil on Sunday continued cleanup of a pipeline spill that spewed thousands of barrels of heavy Canadian crude in Arkansas as opponents of oil sands development latched on to the incident to attack plans to build the Keystone XL line. Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers said on Sunday that crews had yet to excavate the area around the pipeline breach, a needed step before the company can estimate how long repairs will take and when the line might restart. "I can't speculate on when it will happen," Jeffers said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Asian shares ease, Easter slows trade Monday, Apr 01, 2013 03:24 AM PDT  By Chikako Mogi TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares and the euro fell on Monday in choppy trade with exchanges closed in several Asian markets, including Australia and Hong Kong, as well as in Europe for Easter holidays. Investors will look for market direction from Markit's U.S. final manufacturing PMI for March and the Institute for Supply Management's March manufacturing index due later in the session. Analysts have said a growth trend in the U.S. is crucial to maintain global risk-positive sentiment. It is the outperformance in U.S. equities on solid U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran sanctions spur boom for Pakistani diesel smugglers Sunday, Mar 31, 2013 05:38 PM PDT  By Hamdan Albaloshi JOGAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Some of the contraband is spirited across the mountains in Pepsi bottles carried by child smugglers. Yet more is loaded into pick-up trucks or siphoned into barrels and strapped onto mules. So lucrative are the returns that even seasoned opium traffickers are abandoning their traditional cargo to grab a share of Pakistan's closest thing to an oil boom: a roaring trade in illicit Iranian diesel. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fighting erupts after car bombing in Mali Sunday, Mar 31, 2013 01:48 PM PDT By Tiemoko Diallo BAMAKO (Reuters) - Malian soldiers backed by French fighter jets battled Islamist rebels in Timbuktu on Sunday after insurgents used a car bomb as cover to infiltrate the northern desert town, sources said. The French-led offensive in Mali has pushed a mix of Islamists out of their northern strongholds and remote mountain bases but the militants have hit back with several suicide attacks and guerilla-style raids. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria says rebels set fire to three eastern oil wells Sunday, Mar 31, 2013 01:33 PM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels have set three oil wells in the east of the country ablaze, causing a daily loss of nearly 5,000 barrels of oil and 52,000 cubic meters of gas, state media quoted an oil ministry official as saying on Sunday. SANA news agency said the damage to the oil wells in Deir al-Zor province, much of which is in rebel hands, followed disputes among the fighters over "sharing out the stolen oil" from fields in areas they control. It said Syria's Furat Petroleum Corporation was working to extinguish the three fires. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate group resolves key issues on immigration reform: lawmakers Sunday, Mar 31, 2013 03:34 PM PDT  By Thomas Ferraro and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With U.S. business and labor now in agreement, a bipartisan group of senators has resolved all major issues in a pending deal to overhaul the U.S. immigration system and aims to unveil it after Congress reconvenes in the second week of April, key lawmakers said on Sunday. The lawmakers said that while there was no final deal yet, they hope and even expect there to be one soon after the measure is put into legislative language so all eight senators in the group can review it. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the biggest U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. F-22 stealth jets join South Korea drills amid saber-rattling Sunday, Mar 31, 2013 03:01 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to South Korea on Sunday to join military drills aimed at underscoring the U.S. commitment to defend Seoul in the face of an intensifying campaign of threats from North Korea. The advanced, radar-evading F-22 Raptors were deployed to Osan Air Base, the main U.S. Air Force base in South Korea, from Japan to support ongoing bilateral exercises, the U.S. military command in South Korea said in a statement that urged North Korea to restrain itself. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: China's losing battle against state-backed polluters Sunday, Mar 31, 2013 03:17 PM PDT  By David Stanway SHANGHANG COUNTY, China (Reuters) - When Zijin Mining Group threatened to move its headquarters some 270 kms from its home county of Shanghang to Xiamen on China's southeast coast, a local Communist Party boss rushed to confront the company's chairman Chen Jinghe. "If you want to move, you'll have to move the Zijin Mountain to Xiamen as well," the official told Chen, referring to a vast local mine that has helped transform the firm into China's top gold producer and second-biggest copper miner. ... Full Story | Top |
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