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| Breaking a sports barrier, NBA's Jason Collins comes out as gay Monday, Apr 29, 2013 12:54 PM PDT  By Julian Linden NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jason Collins, a veteran center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), announced on Monday that he was gay, breaking one of the final frontiers in U.S. sports and society. Collins became the first active player from any of the four major U.S. men's professional sports leagues to publicly reveal his homosexuality. He did so in a first-person account published in Sports Illustrated, saying he had gradually become frustrated with having to keep silent on gay issues. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian prime minister survives Damascus bombing, six die Monday, Apr 29, 2013 12:27 PM PDT  By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's prime minister survived a bomb attack on his convoy in Damascus on Monday, as rebels struck in the heart of President Bashar al-Assad's capital. Six people were killed in the blast, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Previous rebel attacks on government targets included a December bombing which wounded Assad's interior minister. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawyers, public chant "hang him" as Bangladesh building owner led to court Monday, Apr 29, 2013 12:27 PM PDT  By Ruma Paul and Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladeshi lawyers and protesters chanted "hang him, hang him" on Monday as the owner of a factory building that collapsed last week killing nearly 400 people was led into court dressed in a helmet and bullet-proof jacket, witnesses said. The drama came as rescue officials said they were unlikely to find more survivors in the rubble of the building that collapsed on Wednesday, burying hundreds of garment workers in the country's worst industrial accident. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Italy PM Letta wins lower house confidence vote, as expected Monday, Apr 29, 2013 12:53 PM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - New Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta won his first confidence vote in parliament on Monday after promising to press for a change to the European Union's focus on austerity and pursue economic growth and jobs. The lower house confidence motion in his right-left coalition government passed easily as expected, with 453 votes votes in favor and 153 against. Letta was backed by his own center-left Democratic Party (PD), Silvio Berlusconi's center-right People of Freedom (PDL), as well as the centrist Civic Choice led by former prime minister Mario Monti. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida legislators approve measure to speed up executions Monday, Apr 29, 2013 12:46 PM PDT  By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - The Florida Senate sent Governor Rick Scott a package of capital-punishment reforms on Monday designed to prevent condemned killers from spending decades on Death Row, despite warnings that speeding up the legal appeals process could lead to innocent prisoners being executed. The "Timely Justice Act" sets deadlines for condemned killers to file appeals, and for the state to proceed with issuing warrants after the Florida Supreme Court upholds death sentences. It also sets competency standards for lawyers handling cases. ... Full Story | Top |
| Car bombs, shootings kill 23 across Iraq Monday, Apr 29, 2013 10:35 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 23 people were killed in Iraq on Monday in a series of car bombs in Shi'ite Muslim areas and militant attacks, medics and police sources said, taking the week's death toll to nearly 200 as sectarian violence intensifies. Clashes have increased as the civil war in Syria puts strain on fragile relations between Sunnis and Shi'ites. The tensions are at their highest in Iraq since U.S. troops pulled out more than a year ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan, Russia agree to revive talks on island dispute Monday, Apr 29, 2013 10:37 AM PDT  By Alexei Anishchuk MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and Japan said on Monday they would revive talks on resolving a territorial dispute that has prevented them signing a treaty formally ending their World War Two hostilities, and, wary of China's rising influence, agreed to bolster trade ties. At the two G8 powers' first Moscow summit for 10 years, President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had China's economic and political might in mind as they launched a new effort to warm up their relationship. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wreckage found in Manhattan was from 9/11 plane: Boeing Monday, Apr 29, 2013 11:47 AM PDT  By Chris Francescani NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co. said it was confident that a piece of aircraft, found wedged between two buildings in lower Manhattan recently, came from one of two airplanes that struck the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. Authorities are still trying to determine which of the two planes the piece of wreckage came from. A Boeing Co. ... Full Story | Top |
| Apple lays groundwork for first debt sale ever Monday, Apr 29, 2013 09:42 AM PDT  By Josie Cox LONDON, April 29 - Apple took initial steps Monday for what would be its first debt sale ever, as the U.S. computer giant lays the groundwork for what would be one of the most anticipated bond sales of the year. The company was to begin investor calls today led by Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, a source familiar with the situation told IFR, and filed SEC paperwork for a debt offering. ... Full Story | Top |
| Explosion shakes central Prague, as many as 40 injured Monday, Apr 29, 2013 05:39 AM PDT PRAGUE (Reuters) - An explosion in central Prague on Monday, probably caused by gas, injured as many as 40 people, officials said, and neighboring buildings - including the National Theatre - had to be evacuated. The explosion, in a building facing the Vltava river just a few dozen meters (yards) from the 19th-century theatre, was heard as far away as Prague Castle about a mile away. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Italy's politics turned upside down by election aftermath Monday, Apr 29, 2013 08:48 AM PDT  By Barry Moody ROME (Reuters) - Five months ago, Silvio Berlusconi was in steep decline and his party was in shambles. His center-left enemies looked triumphant and sat on a 15-point opinion poll lead. Today that situation has turned 180 degrees. The center-left is devastated by divisions and the 76-year-old media tycoon has an opinion poll lead ranging from five to eight points. ... Full Story | Top |
| One hurt in self-inflicted shooting at Ohio high school Monday, Apr 29, 2013 07:50 AM PDT (Reuters) - One boy was injured in a self-inflicted shooting on Monday in a classroom at a high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has been taken to a local hospital, police said. Green Township Police Chief Bart West said the school was briefly put on lockdown after the student pulled out a gun and shot himself in a classroom early Monday. The lockdown has since been lifted. "All the other students in the building are OK," West said during a televised news conference. He said the student who shot himself was being taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center. ... Full Story | Top |
| Consumer spending rises, driven by utility costs Monday, Apr 29, 2013 10:40 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending unexpectedly rose in March, temporarily boosted by demand for utilities due to colder weather, according to data on Monday that did little to alter a picture of a cooling in the economy. The Commerce Department said consumer spending advanced 0.2 percent last month after a 0.7 percent rise in February. The increase, which beat economists expectations for a flat reading, was driven by higher spending on services as outlays on utilities posted a second straight month of hefty gains. ... Full Story | Top |
| Netanyahu says Iran hasn't crossed nuclear "red line" Monday, Apr 29, 2013 07:29 AM PDT  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday Iran had not crossed the "red line" he set for its nuclear program, despite an assessment to the contrary by a former Israeli intelligence chief. At the United Nations in September, Netanyahu drew a red line across a cartoon bomb to illustrate the point at which he said Iran will have amassed enough uranium at 20 percent fissile purity to fuel one nuclear bomb if enriched further. He said then that Iran could reach that threshold by mid-2013. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korea holds back seven South Koreans at industrial zone Monday, Apr 29, 2013 06:22 AM PDT  By Kim Do-gyun and Lim Sang-gyu PAJU, South Korea (Reuters) - North Korea held back seven of 50 remaining South Koreans at the suspended jointly run factory zone north of the heavily armed border on Monday, citing last-minute checks on taxes and wages. The North withdrew its 53,000 workers from the complex this month amid spiraling tension between the two Koreas. The North had prevented South Korean workers and supplies from getting in to the zone since April 3. ... Full Story | Top |
| Justices refuse Alabama's immigration law appeal Monday, Apr 29, 2013 11:57 AM PDT By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court rebuffed the state of Alabama on Monday by deciding not to intervene in a case where federal judges blocked a state law that criminalizes the harboring of illegal immigrants. By refusing to hear Alabama's appeal of the Obama administration's lower court victories, the justices steered clear of a hot-button debate at a time when Congress is engaged in writing legislation to overhaul immigration laws. ... Full Story | Top |
| Royal hoax caller to testify at inquest into UK nurse's death Monday, Apr 29, 2013 04:25 AM PDT By Shadia Nasralla LONDON (Reuters) - An Australian radio presenter will give evidence at an inquest into the death of a nurse who hanged herself after putting through a hoax call seeking information on Prince William's pregnant wife Kate, the presenter's lawyers said on Monday. Mel Greig asked to appear as an individual at the inquest into Jacintha Saldanha's death, which provoked worldwide anger at the radio DJ's actions. "(Greig) is determined to address any questions surrounding her role in these tragic events as part of the inquest," her lawyers Slater & Gordon said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemenis languish in Guantanamo prison with scant hope of release Monday, Apr 29, 2013 04:17 AM PDT  By Mohammed Ghobari SANAA (Reuters) - Awdah al-Shabati has never seen her father Abdulrahman except via video link with a U.S. military prison thousands of miles away from her native Yemen. He is incarcerated at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. His daughter was born after he was picked up in Pakistan following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Now Abdulrahman is one of more than 90 inmates on hunger strike at the prison. "The last time we spoke to him was eight days ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida teenager's shooter faces deadline in court Monday, Apr 29, 2013 04:05 AM PDT  By Barbara Liston ORLANDO (Reuters) - Prosecutors in Florida want George Zimmerman to state publicly at a court hearing on Tuesday whether he will pursue his immunity defense in the 2012 shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin on the basis of the state's "Stand Your Ground" law, or waive his right to use it. Prosecutors asked Judge Debra Nelson in a motion to remind Zimmerman "that should defendant in fact wish to waive any pre-trial immunity challenge under this statute, he may not attempt to do so later, particularly once trial has commenced. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen surround Libyan foreign ministry Sunday, Apr 28, 2013 07:33 PM PDT  By Ghaith Shennib and Jessica Donati TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Gunmen surrounded Libya's Foreign Ministry on Sunday, calling for a ban on officials who worked for deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi holding senior positions in the new administration. Just days after the French embassy in Tripoli was bombed, the armed protest raised fresh security fears in the capital and the German embassy suspended some of its activities. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: The maze behind EU "treaty change" Sunday, Apr 28, 2013 10:54 PM PDT  By Luke Baker BRUSSELS (Reuters) - If there are two words that tense the jaws of European policymakers and prompt a concerned sucking of teeth, they are treaty change. Like a nervous driver being told mid-route that he needs a different map if he's going to get where he's going, no one is sure whether the outcome will be road rage, a car crash or a smoother, if longer, journey. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. identifies four American victims in Afghan crash Sunday, Apr 28, 2013 04:05 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon identified four U.S. victims in Saturday's crash of a surveillance aircraft in southern Afghanistan and said the incident appeared unrelated to Taliban violence. The police chief in Zabul province, Rogh Lewanai, told Reuters on Saturday that bad weather caused the plane to crash, in the district of Shahjoi. At the time, NATO did not identify the nationality of the victims but said they were part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force. The Pentagon said on Sunday the crash of the MC-12 was under investigation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawmakers press Obama to take action on Syria Sunday, Apr 28, 2013 03:06 PM PDT  By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican senators on Sunday pressed U.S. President Barack Obama to intervene in Syria's civil war, saying America could attack Syrian air bases with missiles but should not send in ground troops. Pressure is mounting on the White House to do more to help Syrian rebels fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which the Obama administration last week said had probably used chemical arms in the conflict. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fire breaks out in Bangladesh building where 377 die Sunday, Apr 28, 2013 03:17 PM PDT  By Ruma Paul and Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - Fire broke out on Sunday in a garment factory that collapsed in the Bangladeshi capital, complicating attempts to find any survivors of a disaster that has killed 377 people. Fire service officials said the blaze had been started by sparks from cutting equipment used by rescuers. Police said the owner of the factory, Mohammed Sohel Rana, was arrested on Sunday trying to flee to India, as hopes of finding more survivors from the country's worst industrial accident began to fade. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen surround Libyan foreign ministry to push demands Sunday, Apr 28, 2013 02:09 PM PDT  By Ghaith Shennib and Jessica Donati TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Gunmen surrounded Libya's Foreign Ministry on Sunday, calling for a ban on officials who worked for deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi holding senior positions in the new administration. Just days after the French embassy in Tripoli was bombed, the armed protest raised fresh security fears in the capital and the German embassy suspended some of its activities. ... Full Story | Top |
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