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| Key GM crisis questions: Who approved switch revision and why recall took so long Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 12:56 PM PDT  By Marilyn Thompson and Paul Lienert WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) - Among the most critical unanswered questions in General Motors' mounting crisis over a defective ignition switch that led to crashes and at least 13 deaths is who, eight years ago, approved a change in the part for new vehicles and why that didn't lead to a recall of older cars to fix the problem. Among the evidence that investigators inside and outside of the company will need to reconcile is the company's timeline of the switch's engineering, which describes an unnamed GM engineer approving the design change, and the deposition of a senior switch engineer, Ray DeGiorgio, who said he was not aware of it. GM declined to discuss the matter beyond its timeline or to make DeGiorgio available for an interview. DeGiorgio referred Reuters to GM, which has presented no evidence to suggest that he was the executive approving the design change. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. rapper Benzino shot, injured during mother's funeral procession Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 12:47 PM PDT By Elizabeth Barber BOSTON (Reuters) - Reality television star and rapper Benzino was shot and wounded, allegedly by his nephew, during the funeral procession for his mother outside Boston, authorities said on Sunday. Benzino, star of the VH1 show "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta," was driving in the procession on Route 3 on Saturday when he was shot by his nephew, Gai Scott, who had pulled alongside in another vehicle, the Plymouth County, Massachusetts District Attorney said. He was listed in good condition on Sunday at South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth, Massachusetts, a spokeswoman said. There had been "growing family tension" between Scott and Benzino, whose given name is Raymond Scott, the district attorney said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers see no evidence of terrorism in Malaysia jet crash Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 12:26 PM PDT Senior U.S. lawmakers on Sunday said investigators had found no evidence thus far pointing to terrorism in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 three weeks ago, and that it was critical to find the plane to understand what happened on board. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, speaking on Sunday talk shows, said they had seen no evidence of foul play. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. House panel: GM, NHTSA documents related to recalls 'unsettling' Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 12:25 PM PDT  Thousands of documents from General Motors and a federal agency on the automaker's faulty ignition switches provide an "unsettling picture," according to a U.S. congressional committee that received the information. The House Energy and Commerce Committee said GM had submitted more than 200,000 documents on the ignition switches that have led to the recall of 2.6 million autos and are linked to 12 deaths. The panel said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration submitted about 6,000 documents. The documents, said Representative Fred Upton, the panel's chairman, "paint an unsettling picture." On Tuesday, the committee will hold its first public hearing on the recalls. Full Story | Top |
| Philippine ship dodges China blockade to reach South China Sea outpost Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 11:43 AM PDT By Erik de Castro and Roli Ng SECOND THOMAS SHOAL, South China Sea (Reuters) -The Philippine government vessel made a dash for shallow waters around the disputed reef in the South China Sea, evading two Chinese coastguard ships trying to block its path to deliver food, water and fresh troops to a military outpost on the shoal. It's also a reminder of how assertive China has become in pressing its claims to disputed territory far from its mainland. "If we didn't change direction, if we didn't change course, then we would have collided with them," Ferdinand Gato, captain of the Philippine vessel, a civilian craft, told Reuters after his boat had anchored on the Second Thomas Shoal under a hot sun. China, which claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, says the shoal is part of its territory. Full Story | Top |
| Erdogan says Turkish vote will bolster him in power struggle Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 11:34 AM PDT  By Ayla Jean Yackley and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday's bitterly contested local elections would affirm his legitimacy in battling graft allegations and security leaks he blames on "traitors" within the Turkish state. The municipal elections have become a crisis referendum on Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party after weeks of scandal he has cast as a "dirty campaign" of espionage to implicate him in corruption and topple him after more than a decade in power. AKP needs to exceed its 2009 result of 38.8 percent to assert Erdogan's authority for a power struggle certain to continue after the polls. Istanbul and Ankara, the two biggest cities, are expected to be particularly close. Full Story | Top |
| Accused ‘Craigslist killer' says two potential victims escaped death: paper Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 11:15 AM PDT By David DeKok HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - A woman dubbed the so-called Craigslist killer suspect, who is accused of luring a man to his death through the classified ad website, claims two other men responded to her online post but failed to show up to their planned meetings, according to a jailhouse interview published on Sunday. The accused killer, Miranda Barbour, 19, who in an earlier interview said she had killed at least 22 people, named Big Lake, Alaska; "They are looking for full bodies," Barbour told reporter Francis Scarcella in the jailhouse interview. But they will find body parts." Barbour and her husband, 22-year-old Elytte Barbour, have pleaded not guilty to the stabbing and strangling in November of Troy LaFerrara, 42, whose body was found dumped in an alley in Sunbury. Full Story | Top |
| Australia's '5 Seconds of Summer' debuts in top spot in UK music chart Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 11:07 AM PDT Boy band "5 Seconds of Summer" shot to the top of Britain's music charts on Sunday with their debut single "She Looks So Perfect", the first time a group from Australia has been number one here for 14 years, the Official Charts Company said. The group, whose average age is 18, came to global attention after posting two cover versions of other people's tracks on YouTube. The Sydney band's success pushed last week's number one - dance track "I Got U", by Duke Dumont and Jax Jones - into second place. The album has sold nearly 73,000 copies in the last seven days, the Official Charts Company said, making it the fastest-selling album of 2014. Full Story | Top |
| ECB wrestles with 'danger zone' inflation Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 11:05 AM PDT  By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Central Bank's dilemma over barely rising prices seems likely to dominate a week starting with a euro zone inflation estimate and ending with U.S. jobs figures, the monetary policy driver on the other side of the Atlantic. After more than a month of East-West tensions centered on Russia's annexation of Crimea, U.S. President Barack Obama and Russia's Vladimir Putin finally spoke to each other on Friday, suggesting a possible diplomatic path out of crisis. With geopolitical issues calmer, even if not resolved, the financial markets are more likely to be guided more by global economic data and central bank deliberations. The ECB's Governing Council meets on Thursday and, although the vast majority of economists expect it to hold interest rates , it is wrestling with a response to inflation persistently below its target of below but close to 2 percent. Full Story | Top |
| 'Noah' rains down on 'Divergent', 'Muppets' to win U.S. box office Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 10:27 AM PDT  By Ronald Grover and Chris Michaud LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Noah", starring Russell Crowe as the biblical figure who built an ark to save his family and specimens of every animal from the great flood, collected $44 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales to lead the weekend box office. It sailed past last weekend's winner, "Divergent", based on the novel by Veronica Roth about a dystopian world divided into factions. "Muppets Most Wanted", starring Ty Burrell and Tina Fey with Jim Henson's furry puppets, was third with $11.4 million in ticket sales from Friday through Sunday, according to estimates provided by Rentrak. To counter reports in trade newspapers that Christians disapproved of the film, Paramount Pictures, the film's distributor, commissioned a survey by Nielsen that found 83 percent of "very religious" moviegoers were anxious to see the film. Full Story | Top |
| British actress Kate O'Mara, star of U.S. TV soap 'Dynasty', dies Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 10:20 AM PDT British actress Kate O'Mara, best remembered in the United States for her role in long-running 1980s TV soap "Dynasty", died in England on Sunday aged 74, Phil Belfield, her agent, said. O'Mara, who passed away after a short illness at a nursing home in the English county of Sussex, played Cassandra 'Caress' Morrell, the scheming sister of Alexis Colby (Joan Collins) in Dynasty, a soap opera that centered on the life of the wealthy and fictional Carrington family in Denver, Colorado. Full Story | Top |
| Argentina to receive $1 billion loan from Goldman Sachs: newspaper Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 09:26 AM PDT  Argentina is closing in on a deal to receive around $1 billion in loans from investment bank Goldman Sachs and is in talks with other international banks about similar deals, local newspaper Pagina/12 reported on Sunday. The paper, which has close ties with the government of President Cristina Fernandez, said the two-year loan would be announced in the next few days and carry an annual interest rate of 6.5 percent. It would be the first time in more than a decade the country has received a substantial loan from international creditors and comes as the government seeks cash to avoid a further devaluation of the peso. Dollars have been scarce in Argentina due to capital flight, weak exports, and low competitiveness because of high inflation. Full Story | Top |
| Glaxo heart drug that failed trial shows potential benefit Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 08:34 AM PDT  By Bill Berkrot and Ransdell Pierson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new type of heart drug being developed by GlaxoSmithKline, which failed the main goal of a Phase III study of patients with chronic but well-treated heart disease, showed signs of potential benefit, the trial's co-leader said. "I'm convinced there is a signal here of efficacy and the drug is safe," said Dr. Harvey White, co-chair of the large, Glaxo-sponsored international study, who presented the findings. The real test of darapladib is likely to come from a second, late-stage study in far less stable patients who received the medicine within 30 days of a heart attack. Glaxo had previously said darapladib did no better than a placebo in decreasing the risk of a combination of cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke in the trial called Stability. Full Story | Top |
| Long search looms for Malaysia jet, families renew protests Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 08:25 AM PDT  By Matt Siegel and Rujun Shen HMAS STIRLING NAVAL BASE, Australia/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - T he search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 could take years, U.S. Navy officials suggested on Sunday, as search and rescue officials raced to locate the plane's black box recorder days before its batteries are set to die. Ten ships and as many aircraft are searching a massive area in the Indian Ocean west of Perth, trying to find some trace of the aircraft, which went missing more than three weeks ago and is presumed to have crashed. U.S. Navy Captain Mark Matthews, who is in charge of the U.S. Towed Pinger Locator (TPL), told journalists at Stirling Naval Base near Perth that the lack of information about where the plane went down seriously hampers the ability to find it. "Right now the search area is basically the size of the Indian Ocean, which would take an untenable amount of time to search," he said. Full Story | Top |
| Six killed in clashes during municipal elections in Turkey Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 08:20 AM PDT Six people were killed on Sunday in clashes between groups backing rival candidates in Turkey's municipal elections, which turned into a referendum on the rule of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Security officials said four people were killed in a gun fight between two families in the village of Yuvacik in the eastern province of Sanliurfa, which borders Syria. Such clashes have occurred at previous local elections. Tensions rose in Turkey in the build-up to the elections, with Erdogan trying to fight off graft allegations and stem a stream of damaging security leaks. Full Story | Top |
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