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| Exclusive: GM crash victims' families who settled may revisit deals Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 05:47 AM PDT  By Jessica Dye, Julia Edwards and Paul Lienert (Reuters) - Two families who settled with General Motors Co over fatal crashes linked to faulty ignition switches are considering trying to overturn the agreements, after the company disclosed it had known about the issue for years. A second family also told Reuters it is preparing to try to break the deal and then sue GM. Neither family has yet done so, however, and trying to win such actions will be difficult. To undo a settlement, plaintiffs would have to convince a judge that they were intentionally misled or defrauded by the other party, according to legal experts and plaintiffs' lawyers. Full Story | Top |
| Thai protesters rally against PM ahead of Senate vote Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 02:16 AM PDT  By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Thai anti-government protesters rallied across Bangkok on Saturday in their latest bid to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a day before a crucial vote to elect a new Senate. Waving flags and blowing whistles, protesters marched from Lumpini Park in the business district of Bangkok, where protesters retreated to earlier this month, toward the city's old quarter after a brief hiatus in anti-government rallies. "We expected the crowd to be around 50,000-strong but the number of protesters doesn't look like it will exceed 30,000." A grenade exploded as protesters passed the Foreign Ministry offices, but no one was hurt, police said. Thailand has been in crisis since former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's brother, was ousted in a 2006 coup. Full Story | Top |
| Turkey begins espionage investigation after Syria leak Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 06:22 AM PDT  By Humeyra Pamuk ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey has started an espionage investigation after a discussion between top officials on potential military action in Syria was leaked on YouTube, heralding a possible government crackdown on its political opponents after elections on Sunday. The recording of the meeting between Turkey's intelligence chief, foreign minister and deputy head of the military was by far the most serious breach in weeks of highly sensitive leaks, a scandal which Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has cast as a plot to sabotage the state and topple him. Erdogan and his aides have blamed the Hizmet movement of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally whose followers have influence in the police and judiciary, of running a "dirty campaign" of espionage to implicate him in corruption ahead of crucial nationwide municipal elections on Sunday. "Tomorrow we will teach those liars and slanderers a lesson," Erdogan told a jubilant crowd of supporters in Istanbul's working class Kartal district on Saturday, vowing his ruling AK Party would triumph at the polls. Full Story | Top |
| Chinese ships search new area for Malaysian plane Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 01:28 AM PDT  By Jane Wardell and Matt Siegel SYDNEY/PERTH (Reuters) - Chinese ships trawled a new area in the Indian Ocean for a missing Malaysian passenger jet on Saturday, as the search for Flight MH370 entered its fourth week amid a series of false dawns over sightings of debris. Australian authorities coordinating the operation moved the search 1,100 km (685 miles) north on Friday after new analysis of radar and satellite data concluded the Malaysia Airlines plane travelled faster and for a shorter distance after vanishing from civilian radar screens on March 8. A Chinese military aircraft spotted three suspicious objects on Saturday in the new search area some 1,850 km (1,150 miles) west of Perth, colored white, red and orange respectively, the official Xinhua news agency said. That sighting follows reports of "multiple objects of various colors" by international flight crews on Friday, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). Full Story | Top |
| Cuba approves law aimed at attracting foreign investment Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 11:31 AM PDT  By Daniel Trotta HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's National Assembly passed a new foreign investment law on Saturday that aims to bring badly needed capital to the communist economy by offering steep tax cuts and promising a climate of investment security. Analysts and Cuban-based diplomats have expressed skepticism over the law, uncertain whether the one-party state has undergone a genuine change of heart and truly wants to attract foreign investors on international terms. Areas such as agriculture, infrastructure, sugar, nickel mining, building renovation and real estate development are considered ripe for investment. Cuba needs to attract $2 billion to $2.5 billion in foreign direct investment per year to reach its economic growth target of 7 percent, minister for foreign trade and investment Rodrigo Malmierca said on Cuban state television on Friday night. Full Story | Top |
| Taliban attack election commission HQ in Kabul ahead of vote Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 07:21 AM PDT  By Mirwais Harooni and Jessica Donati KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents attacked the Independent Election Commission headquarters in Kabul on Saturday, staff and police said, in the their third big assault on the capital this week aimed at derailing the April 5 presidential election. Afghan security forces battled the militants for about five hours, while frightened IEC staff and eight international United Nations employees took refuge in safe rooms inside the compound, a security source and staff said. Four suicide bombers were involved in the attack and all were killed in gunbattles, according to an Afghan army general on the scene in the eastern part of the capital. An investigation team is in the area," said commander Qadam Shah Shaheem, adding that three security force members had been injured in the operation. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt court sentences two Mursi supporters to death Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:27 AM PDT An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced two supporters of former President Mohamed Mursi to death for committing murder during violence that broke out in Alexandria last year after the army deposed the Islamist head of state. The two men - Mahmoud Ramadan and Abdullah el-Ahmedi - were standing trial on charges that included throwing youths from the roof of a building in the Mediterranean city. The judge ruled that their files be referred to the mufti, the country's highest religious authority to whom death sentences are always sent for review. In a separate case on Monday, an Egyptian court in the southern province of Minya sentenced 529 supporters of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood to death, drawing strong criticism from Western governments and human rights groups. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's Klitschko pulls out of election, backs 'Chocolate King' Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 06:41 AM PDT  By Alessandra Prentice KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's presidential election effectively became a two-horse race on Saturday after boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko pulled out and threw his weight behind confectionary oligarch Petro Poroshenko. Klitschko's withdrawal sets up a May 25 contest between the man known as the 'Chocolate King' and former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko. Several opinions polls already had him in the lead even before he said he would run to succeed ousted president Viktor Yanukovich. Speaking on Saturday, Poroshenko said the political forces that brought down Yanukovich must stick together to tackle the huge economic and security challenges facing Ukraine. Full Story | Top |
| China unveils anti-graft rules for urbanization drive -state media Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:06 AM PDT  China has unveiled plans to tackle corruption and abuse of power in the real estate sector, state media said, as it tries to smooth the way for the mass migration of millions of Chinese into cities from the countryside. The anti-graft plans are part of an urbanization program designed to underpin a restructuring of China's economy, the world's second largest, away from exports towards one based mainly on domestic consumer demand. Corruption is rife in China, particularly within the state administration where many officials and their dependants have grown rich by abusing their authority, often in the areas of real estate and land ownership. The rules will strengthen penalties for fraud and illegal use of public housing and specify the responsible governments and departments as well as the conditions for abuse of power, neglect of duty, bribery and fraud, Xinhua said. Full Story | Top |
| Aftershocks rattle California following 5.1 earthquake, 50 displaced Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:15 AM PDT More than 100 aftershocks have been reported across Southern California following a 5.1 magnitude earthquake that rattled suburban Los Angeles and at least temporarily displaced about 50 people but caused no serious structural damage, seismologists said on Saturday. No injuries were reported from the Friday quake centered outside La Habra, about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, but the temblor displaced at least 50 people in Fullerton, about 5 miles from the epicenter, because of minor damage, Fullerton Police Lieutenant Mike Chlebowski said. But the Los Angeles Fire Department said it had called off its "earthquake mode." "Fortunately no significant damage occurred in the 470 square mile (756 square km) jurisdiction," the department said. Full Story | Top |
| Loyalty to embattled Erdogan lies deep in Turkey's pious heartlands Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 04:56 AM PDT  By Alexandra Hudson KONYA, Turkey (Reuters) - If Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is fighting the toughest battle of his political career as corruption allegations swirl and elections approach, Turkey's conservative Anatolian heartlands appear to have his back. Here, far from dividing his pious core supporters, the graft scandal and bitter power struggle with a U.S.-based cleric have served only to stir more devotion to a man they see as Turkey's greatest modern leader, delivering hospitals and schools and breaking the grip of secular elites over the past decade. One senior official called the crisis "one of the biggest in Turkish history" and the government has responded by blocking Twitter and YouTube, drawing public anger and international condemnation. But in Konya, a conservative city that gave Erdogan's AK Party 70 percent of the vote in a 2011 general election, many see the scandal as the prime minister does: part of a "dirty plot" to unseat him by ruthless and immoral political enemies. Full Story | Top |
| Taiwan protest over China trade pact won't deter any Ma-Xi meeting Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 04:26 AM PDT  By Michael Gold TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said on Saturday student protests over a controversial trade pact with mainland China will not affect the potential for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Taiwan's parliament building has been occupied by hundreds of protesters for almost two weeks over the government's decision to agree to a deal that would open 80 of China's service sectors to Taiwan, and 64 Taiwanese sectors to China. Taiwan and China have been ruled separately since the Communists defeated the Nationalists and took power on the mainland in 1949, though relations have warmed considerably since the China-friendly Ma won the presidency in 2008 and secured re-election in 2012. Full Story | Top |
| Russia sees no need for Ukraine incursion, Lavrov to meet Kerry Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:42 AM PDT  By Katya Golubkova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Saturday it had "no intention" of invading eastern Ukraine, responding to Western warnings over a military buildup on the border following Moscow's annexation of the Crimean peninsula. The comments by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were followed by news that he would meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris on Sunday, as both sides moved to ease tensions in the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War. Speaking on Russian television, Lavrov reinforced a message from President Vladimir Putin that Russia would settle - at least for now - for control over Crimea despite massing thousands of troops near Ukraine's eastern border. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Russia threatened countries ahead of U.N. vote on Ukraine: envoys Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 03:28 AM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia threatened several Eastern European and Central Asian states with retaliation if they voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution this week declaring invalid Crimea's referendum on seceding from Ukraine, U.N. diplomats said. The disclosures about Russian threats came after Moscow accused Western countries of using "shameless pressure, up to the point of political blackmail and economic threats," in an attempt to coerce the United Nations' 193 member states to join it in supporting the non-binding resolution on the Ukraine crisis. Full Story | Top |
| GM expands ignition switch recall to 2.6 million cars Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:22 AM PDT  By Paul Lienert DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co expanded its global recall of cars with defective ignition switches to 2.6 million on Friday, adding 971,000 later-model vehicles due to concerns over faulty replacement parts. About 95,000 faulty switches were sold to dealers and parts wholesalers, of which about 5,000 remain on shelves. Full Story | Top |
| Day after 'Bridgegate' report, Christie says Port chair resigns Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:27 PM PDT By Daniel Kelley TRENTON, New Jersey (Reuters) - Governor Chris Christie on Friday said the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had resigned, a day after an internal investigation cleared Christie in the "Bridgegate" scandal engulfing the potential 2016 Republican presidential contender. David Samson, 74, a lawyer and ally of the governor at the agency that oversees bridges and tunnels connecting the two states, had been discussing for a year his desire to step down, Christie told a news conference. "David tendered his resignation to me this afternoon, effective immediately," Christie said in his first news conference since a two-hour-long question and answer session on January 9 after a scandal erupted over the purportedly politically motivated closure of traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge between New York City and Fort Lee, New Jersey. Christie defended the report, which blamed former deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly and Port Authority official David Wildstein for closing bridge entrance lanes in an apparent bid to retaliate against the Democratic mayor of the town of Fort Lee who had not endorsed Christie's 2013 re-election campaign. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge OKs class action in e-book suit against Apple Friday, Mar 28, 2014 06:27 PM PDT  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge in New York granted class certification on Friday to a group of consumers who sued Apple Inc for conspiring with five major publishers to fix e-book prices in violation of antitrust law. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said the plaintiffs had "more than met their burden" to allow them to sue as a group. She rejected Apple's contentions that the claims were too different from each other, or that some plaintiffs were not harmed because some e-book prices fell. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's Klitschko pulls out of election, backs 'Chocolate King' Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 04:13 AM PDT  By Alessandra Prentice KIEV (Reuters) - Boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko pulled out of the race for Ukrainian president on Saturday, throwing his weight instead behind billionaire confectionary oligarch Petro Poroshenko. Klitschko's withdrawal sets up a May 25 contest between the man known as the 'Chocolate King' and Ukraine's former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko. Poroshenko, 48, confirmed his candidacy late on Friday. Several opinions polls already had him in the lead even before he said he would run to succeed ousted president Viktor Yanukovich. Full Story | Top |
| FBI most wanted fugitive arrested in murder of NY mother, toddler Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:57 PM PDT  An accused gang member put on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list this week was arrested on Friday for his role in the 2010 killing of his girlfriend and her toddler son, federal authorities said. Juan Elias "Cruzito" Garcia, 21, a reputed member of the murderous international gang known as MS-13, was taken into custody when he voluntarily returned to the United States to face criminal prosecution, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a press release. Garcia, who has ties to El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Panama, is accused in the execution-style shooting of the mother and child in Central Islip, New York, authorities said. His surrender on Friday - just two days after being put on the most wanted list - was the result of a coordinated effort between Nicaraguan authorities and U.S. law enforcement, which sent aircraft to bring Garcia to New York, the FBI said. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Russia threatened countries ahead of UN vote on Ukraine - envoys Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:19 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia threatened several Eastern European and Central Asian states with retaliation if they voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution this week declaring invalid Crimea's referendum on seceding from Ukraine, U.N. diplomats said. The disclosures about Russian threats came after Moscow accused Western countries of using "shameless pressure, up to the point of political blackmail and economic threats," in an attempt to coerce the United Nations' 193 member states to join it in supporting the non-binding resolution on the Ukraine crisis. Full Story | Top |
| PwC is sued for $1 billion over MF Global collapse Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:24 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - The administrator of MF Global Holdings Ltd's bankruptcy plan on Friday sued the auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers for at least $1 billion over its advice on a $6.3 billion European sovereign debt investment that helped fuel the brokerage's rapid demise. According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, PwC committed professional malpractice by offering "flatly erroneous" advice concerning, and approval of, the off-balance-sheet accounting treatment for the debt by MF Global and its then-chief executive, Jon Corzine. The complaint said PwC knew that the investment would add significant risk to MF Global's already weak finances. It said MF Global would not have taken on the exposure, which allowed it to book immediate revenue, had it received sound advice. Full Story | Top |
| Russia's buildup near Ukraine may reach 40,000 troops: U.S. sources Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:19 PM PDT  By Phil Stewart and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia's reinforcement of troops near Ukraine has brought the total forces there to as many as 40,000, U.S. officials estimated on Friday, as the United States voiced anxiety over the buildup and called on Moscow to pull back its military. The U.S. estimates of as many as 35,000 to around 40,000 troops are higher than the more than 30,000 total deployments reported earlier this week by U.S. and European sources familiar with official reporting. Some European sources remain cautious of increasing the estimates beyond 30,000. The military buildup is adding to concerns that Russia may again be readying an incursion into Ukraine following its annexation of Crimea, which has triggered the worst stand-off with the West since the Cold War. Full Story | Top |
| Obama seeks to reassure Saudi Arabia over Iran, Syria Friday, Mar 28, 2014 06:09 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland RIYADH (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought to reassure Saudi King Abdullah on Friday that he would support moderate Syrian rebels and reject a bad nuclear deal with Iran, during a visit designed to allay the kingdom's concerns that its decades-old U.S. alliance had frayed. Flying by helicopter to the king's desert camp, Obama underscored the importance of Washington's relationship with the world's largest oil exporter in a two-hour meeting that focused on the Middle East but did not touch on energy or human rights. Last year senior Saudi officials warned of a "major shift" away from the United States after bitter disagreements over its response to the "Arab spring" uprisings, efforts to negotiate with Iran, and Washington's decision not to intervene militarily in Syria, where Riyadh wants more American support for rebels. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge OKs class action in e-book suit against Apple Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:30 PM PDT  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge in New York granted class certification on Friday to a group of consumers who sued Apple Inc for conspiring with five major publishers to fix e-book prices in violation of antitrust law. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said the plaintiffs had "more than met their burden" to allow them to sue as a group. She rejected Apple's contentions that the claims were too different from each other, or that some plaintiffs were not harmed because some e-book prices fell. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment. Full Story | Top |
| Obama seeks to reassure Saudi Arabia over Iran, Syria Friday, Mar 28, 2014 04:57 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland RIYADH (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought to reassure Saudi King Abdullah on Friday that he would support moderate Syrian rebels and reject a bad nuclear deal with Iran, during a visit designed to allay the kingdom's concerns that its decades-old U.S. alliance had frayed. Flying by helicopter to the king's desert camp, Obama underscored the importance of Washington's relationship with the world's largest oil exporter in a two-hour meeting that focused on the Middle East but did not touch on energy or human rights. Last year senior Saudi officials warned of a "major shift" away from the United States after bitter disagreements over its response to the "Arab spring" uprisings, efforts to negotiate with Iran, and Washington's decision not to intervene militarily in Syria, where Riyadh wants more American support for rebels. Full Story | Top |
| Fresh objects seen in new Malaysia jet search area Friday, Mar 28, 2014 04:43 PM PDT  Australian authorities coordinating the operation dramatically moved the air and sea search 1,100 km (685 miles) north on Friday after new analysis of radar and satellite data concluded Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 travelled faster and for a shorter distance after vanishing from civilian radar screens on March 8. Australia said late on Friday that five international aircraft had spotted "multiple objects of various colors" in the new search area some 1,850 km (1,150 miles) west of Perth. One Chinese navy ship was in the area and would be trying to recover objects on Saturday, while other ships were steaming to the area, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. Malaysia says the Boeing 777, which vanished less than an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was likely diverted deliberately but investigators have turned up no apparent motive or other red flags among the 227 passengers or the 12 crew. Full Story | Top |
| GM expands ignition switch recall to 2.6 million cars Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:24 PM PDT  By Paul Lienert DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co is adding 971,000 cars to its global ignition switch recall, which began in February with 1.6 million vehicles and has been linked to at least a dozen deaths. Even before the expansion, the recall had sparked investigations by Congress, federal regulators, the Department of Justice and GM itself. All are asking why it took GM so long to address an issue first noted by the company in 2001. GM said the newer models made after 2007 were equipped with a redesigned ignition switch, but that some of those cars might have been repaired with older replacement parts that may be faulty. Full Story | Top |
| Foreigners escape Taliban siege in Kabul; Afghan child killed Friday, Mar 28, 2014 01:06 PM PDT  By Mirwais Harooni and Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban gunmen stormed a Kabul guesthouse used by a U.S.-based aid group and held four foreigners hostage for several hours on Friday, just eight days before Afghanistan holds a presidential election which the militant group has vowed to derail. Kabul is already on high alert and people across the country are on edge ahead of an April 5 vote the hardline Islamist movement has denounced as a Western-backed sham. The siege of the walled compound, which is also home to a small church, lasted several hours before Afghan security forces killed the last remaining Taliban gunman holed up inside. A Reuters witness saw about 20 people being evacuated from the guesthouse in an upmarket residential area of Kabul, many looking frightened and shocked. Full Story | Top |
| Turkish security breach exposes Erdogan in power struggle Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:09 PM PDT  By Ralph Boulton and Orhan Coskun ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's spymaster discusses possible military intervention in Syria with army and civilian chiefs, and days later their words are broadcast on the internet for all the world to hear. The breach appeared to highlight a disturbing truth for Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan: that Turkey can no longer keep even top-level security planning secret, despite his purge of thousands of officials to root out a covert network of enemies he accuses of trying to sabotage the state and topple him. "This crisis is one of the biggest in Turkish history," a senior government official, who declined to be named, told Reuters. We do not know who is in possession of them." Erdogan was out of public action on Friday, resting his voice strained by campaigning for local elections this weekend - the first in a string that will decide the future of a man who has reformed Turkey fundamentally but is now accused by critics of authoritarian and divisive tendencies. Full Story | Top |
| Russia criticizes U.N. resolution condemning Crimea's secession Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:15 PM PDT  Russia said on Friday a U.N. resolution declaring invalid Crimea's Moscow-backed referendum on seceding from Ukraine was counterproductive and accused Western states of using blackmail and threats to drum up "yes" votes. The non-binding resolution passed with 100 votes in favor, 11 against and 58 abstentions in the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, in a vote that Western nations said highlighted Russia's isolation. "This counterproductive initiative only complicates efforts to resolve the domestic political crisis in Ukraine," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Several Western diplomats, however, have said Russia's U.N. envoy led an aggressive lobbying campaign against the resolution in what they said showed how seriously Moscow took the U.N. vote condemning a referendum that led to its annexation of Crimea. Full Story | Top |
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