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| U.S. lawmakers, victims pressure GM on recalled vehicles Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 12:43 PM PDT  By Ben Klayman and Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers, seeking to establish who is to blame for at least 13 auto-related deaths over the past decade, challenged General Motors CEO Mary Barra on Tuesday afternoon over the automaker's slow response to defective ignition switches in its cars. Despite tougher laws enacted in 2000 and 2010 to encourage automakers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to aggressively root out safety concerns, it took GM more than 10 years to publicly acknowledge that it had a potentially fatal problem. Since February, GM has recalled 2.6 million vehicles due to concerns about ignition switches that unexpectedly turn off engines during operation and leave airbags, power steering and power brakes inoperable. But sadly, vehicle safety has fallen short," said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan. Full Story | Top |
| Japanese families torn as return to Fukushima 'hot zone' begins Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 12:15 PM PDT  By Mari Saito TAMURA, Japan (Reuters) - People in Japan on Tuesday began their first homecomings in three years to a small area evacuated after the Fukushima disaster, but families are divided as worries about radiation and poor job prospects have kept many away. The reopening of the Miyakoji area of Tamura, a city 220 km (140 miles) northeast of Tokyo and inland from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear station, marks a tiny step for Japan as it attempts to recover from the 2011 disasters. "Many of our friends and neighbors won't come back," said Kimiko Koyama, 69, speaking on her return to the large farmhouse she had occupied for 50 years, while her husband Toshio, 72, tried to fix a television antenna on the roof. "My daughter won't bring our grandsons here because of the radiation." Miyakoji, set amid rolling hills and rice paddies, has been off-limits to most residents since March 2011, when the government ordered evacuations after a devastating earthquake and tsunami triggered a triple meltdown at the power plant on the Pacific coast about 20 km (12 miles) away. Full Story | Top |
| As hazardous waste swells with energy boom, funds bet on Clean Harbors Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 12:05 PM PDT By David Randall NEW YORK (Reuters) - Even as its share price has slumped 8 percent in the year to date, hazardous waste manager Clean Harbors, Inc. has cleaned up in terms of fund-manager interest as more of them bet on one of the down sides of the energy boom. The refinery businesses along the Gulf Coast, including those of Valero Energy Corp, Marathon Petroleum Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp, have thrived as a result of higher oil output. That's helped to lure a swarm of fund managers to Norwell, Massachusetts-based Clean Harbors, which controls about 70 percent of commercial incineration capacity in North America and about one-fifth of the landfills that can accept hazardous material, according to analyst estimates, putting it ahead of competitors like Veolia Environmental Services SA. Indeed, 43 mutual funds added a position in Clean Harbors over the last quarter, sending its total ownership up 15 percent to 460 funds, according to fund tracker Morningstar. Full Story | Top |
| French Greens will not join newly formed government: sources Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 11:33 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - The French Greens party will not take part in a newly formed government under Prime Minister Manuel Valls, parliamentary sources said on Tuesday, breaking out of a ruling coalition with the Socialist Party. The party's executive committee voted after a day of talks not to join the government, the sources told Reuters. (Reporting By Chine Labbe; Writing by Nicholas Vinocur, editing by Astrid Wendlandt) Full Story | Top |
| NATO suspends cooperation with Russia Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 08:28 AM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO said on Tuesday it will suspend "all practical civilian and military cooperation" with Russia because of Moscow's occupation and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region. The decision was taken by NATO foreign ministers who urged Russia in a statement "to take immediate steps ... to return to compliance with international law." NATO and Ukraine announced in a joint statement after their ministers met in Brussels that they would intensify cooperation and promote defense reforms in Ukraine through training and other programs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Investors look beyond anti-gay law and stick with Uganda Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 08:16 AM PDT By Carolyn Cohn LONDON (Reuters) - Fuzzy guidelines on ethical investing and donors' timid response to Uganda's new anti-gay law have reassured fund managers and private equity firms about continuing to invest in the newly oil-rich country, despite worldwide criticism. Business leader Richard Branson was among those to object when the east African country signed legislation this year which strengthened punishments for anyone caught having gay sex, imposing jail terms of up to life for "aggravated homosexuality" - including sex with a minor or while HIV-positive. ... Full Story | Top |
| TSX advances as Fed hopes drive broad gains Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 08:02 AM PDT  By John Tilak TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday, continuing to get support from Monday's U.S. Federal Reserve assertion of its willingness to keep on buttressing the U.S. economy. Fed Chair Janet Yellen defended the central bank's easy monetary policy on Monday, indicating that stimulative measures to boost the U.S. economy will be necessary for some time to come. Her remarks rallied global markets and helped the Canadian benchmark stock index record a ninth straight monthly gain in the previous session. "We're picking up from where we left off yesterday," said Colin Cieszynski, senior market analyst at CMC Markets Canada. Full Story | Top |
| Canada safety board urges faster phase-out of old rail tankers Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 07:58 AM PDT By Randall Palmer OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Transportation Safety Board of Canada renewed its call on Tuesday for the speedy phase-out of older oil-by-rail cars in light of last summer's inferno that killed 47 people in an oil train explosion in the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic. "A long and gradual phase-out of older-model cars simply isn't good enough," Transportation Safety Board Chair Wendy Tadros told a House of Commons committee examining whether Canada's safety is adequate as much more oil is sent by rail. This echoed remarks she made on January 23 when her agency and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board made initial recommendations stemming from the Lac-Megantic crash and other oil-by-rail accidents. Regulators are focusing on DOT-111 tanker cars which are used to carry oil. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. draft sounds alarm as world looks set to miss emissions target Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 06:36 AM PDT By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent OSLO (Reuters) - The world will need far tougher curbs on greenhouse gases, by both developed nations and emerging economies, to keep global warming from exceeding a promised ceiling, a draft U.N. report shows. Rich nations led by the United States would have to halve their emissions by 2030 from 2010 levels to keep warming below an agreed 2 degree Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) ceiling above pre-industrial times, according to the draft obtained by Reuters. Asia, including China and India, would have to limit emissions to around 2010 levels by 2030 as part of a global shareout, a tough goal for countries that say they need to burn more fossil fuels to help end poverty. "Stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations will require large-scale transformations in human societies," according to chapter 6 of a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) due for release in Berlin in mid-April. Full Story | Top |
| EU's Rehn promises swift Ukraine aid, plays down Russia sanctions Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 06:07 AM PDT The European Union will make a swift payment of financial aid to Ukraine, the European Union's economy chief said on Tuesday, dismissing the possibility of economic sanctions against Russia unless it takes more action. Olli Rehn's comments offered the prospect of quick financial backing from Europe for Ukraine, as Kiev faces a price hike on the gas that it buys from Russia following its attempt to resist interference from Moscow. The European Union has pledged 11 billion euros as part of a package of support with the International Monetary Fund. Full Story | Top |
| Marvell patent verdict grows to $1.54 billion Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 06:01 AM PDT  A federal judge ordered Marvell Technology Group Ltd to pay nearly $1.54 billion for infringing two hard disk drive patents held by Carnegie Mellon University, nearly one-third more than a jury had previously awarded. The award, however, was less than half the maximum $3.75 billion that Carnegie Mellon had sought, though Marvell still plans an appeal. In her decision late Monday, U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer in Pittsburgh, where Carnegie Mellon is based, said "enhanced damages" were justified against Marvell and its Marvell Semiconductor unit because the university showed that they deliberately copied its patents through "known willful infringement." The payout is equal to 1.23 times the sum of the original $1.17 billion jury verdict from December 2012, plus $79.6 million for alleged infringements that the jury did not consider because it had lacked recent financial information at the time. She also denied Carnegie Mellon's request to stop further sales of the chips. Full Story | Top |
| Anger in China at brutality in chemical plant protests Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 05:40 AM PDT  By Megha Rajagopalan and Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - Protests against a proposed chemical plant in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong spread to the provincial capital on Tuesday, even as authorities signalled they may back down on construction plans in attempt to head off more unrest. Public anger has grown since graphic photos surfaced on Chinese social networks early this week, showing demonstrators in the nearby city of Maoming - the location of the proposed plant - lying bloodied on the streets as rows of paramilitary police marched in formation. On Sunday, hundreds of Maoming residents poured into the streets protesting against the plant producing paraxylene, a petrochemical used in making fabric and plastic bottles, and environmental degradation. Protesters in the provincial capital, Guangzhou, on Tuesday renewed calls for an end to the chemical plant project, as well as justice for those who they believe were hurt or killed at the hands of paramilitary police on Sunday. Full Story | Top |
| China's Xi seeks peace in Europe but side-steps Ukraine Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 05:30 AM PDT  By Robin Emmott BRUGES, Belgium (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping told Europe on Tuesday that Beijing opposed intervention in other countries' affairs but he declined to directly criticize Russia for its annexation of Crimea. Xi also assured European leaders that China was a close ally committed to the continent's peace and prosperity. Ending his European tour with a speech in the Belgian city of Bruges, Xi said he considered China's relationship with the European Union as Beijing's priority and praised its commitment to a lasting peace that China would also seek to uphold. He said that while the memory of foreign invasion and bullying had never been erased from the minds of the Chinese people, "I have come to Europe to build a bridge across the Eurasian continent." Xi's speech to dignitaries including the Belgian king and prime minister were his only public remarks during three days in Belgium. Full Story | Top |
| Russia tightens squeeze on Ukraine with gas price rise Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 04:10 AM PDT By Vladimir Soldatkin MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian natural gas producer Gazprom announced a more than 40 percent increase in the price of gas for Ukraine on Tuesday, stepping up economic pressure on Kiev in its crisis in relations with Moscow. Price rows have in the past led to cuts in Russian gas supplies to Ukraine and decreases in onward deliveries to Europe, but this time the financial blow to Kiev is set to be cushioned by a new International Monetary Fund loan package. Ukraine will now have to pay $385.5 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas in the second quarter, an increase from the $268.5 agreed in December and higher than the average price for clients in the European Union but around the level Kiev had expected. The decision, which had been clearly flagged by President Vladimir Putin, ended a discount that the nations agreed on in December, before the crisis over the ouster of Ukraine's Moscow-backed president and Russia's annexation of Crimea. Full Story | Top |
| Total Nigeria 14 pct increase in 2013 full year pre-tax profit Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 04:04 AM PDT  LAGOS (Reuters) - Gasoline marketer Total Nigeria, a unit of France's Total, posted a 14 percent increase in 2013 full year pre-tax profit to 8.12 billion naira ($49.23 million), compared with 7.09 billion naira in the previous year. Total revenue also rose to 238.16 billion naira, from 217.84 billion naira. The fuel marketer proposed a dividend of 9 naira per share to shareholders payable on June 16, in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange. ($1 = 164.93 naira) Full Story | Top |
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