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| Obamacare enrollment tops six million as deadline looms: White House Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:33 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 6 million people have now signed up for private insurance plans under President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law known as Obamacare, reflecting a surge in enrollments days before the March 31 deadline, the White House said on Thursday. The milestone gives the White House some ammunition to counter Republican critics, who have described the program as an expensive flop in the build-up to midterm congressional campaigns in November, when Democratic control of the U.S. Senate is at stake. Only 10 days ago, the administration had pegged enrollment at more than 5 million people, and enlisted celebrities and top government officials to try to persuade more uninsured people, particularly the young and healthy, to sign up. The last-minute boost has exceeded the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's estimate that 6 million people would sign up in the program's first year, down from earlier expectations of 7 million enrollees because of problems with websites used for shopping for insurance. Full Story | Top |
| Latinos remain wary of Obamacare as deadline looms Friday, Mar 28, 2014 04:07 AM PDT LOS ANGELES, Calif — Ruben Acosta, a 53-year-old security guard and legal immigrant from Mexico, shoved his fears aside and made a visit to a school administration buildinging Compton on a Wednesday last week because he wanted health insurance. Full Story | Top |
| Obama urges Russia to pull back troops from Ukraine border: CBS Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:00 AM PDT President Barack Obama on Friday said Russia's troop buildup on the Ukraine border was out of the ordinary and called on Moscow to pull its military back and begin talks to defuse tensions. "But these are not what Russia would normally be doing." Obama said the moves might be no more than an effort to intimidate Ukraine, but could be a precursor to other actions. Obama made his comments at the end of a visit to Europe, where the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, and Canada warned Russia it faced additional damaging sanctions if it takes further action to destabilize Ukraine. Governments in Washington and Europe are in discussions about possible measures against Russia's energy sector but have signaled they would hold off on more sanctions unless Moscow goes beyond the seizure of Crimea. Full Story | Top |
| Alleged victim targets accused pedophile priest 30 years later Friday, Mar 28, 2014 04:00 AM PDT For years he masked the pain with drugs. Then came the countless hours of therapy. But now John Delaney says he's finally strong enough to deliver a message to the Catholic priest he says raped him as a young boy: "You tell him John Delaney's coming for him," he said in a thick Philly accent. "I'm not a little kid anymore. You can't do this to me. I'm going to fight back now." Full Story | Top |
| Road rage incident caught on video goes viral Friday, Mar 28, 2014 08:19 AM PDT Next time you sense a case of road rage coming on, remember this video: You do not want to end up like the driver of the black pickup. Full Story | Top |
| Poll: Obama health law fails to gain support Friday, Mar 28, 2014 12:07 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite a late surge in sign-ups, support for President Barack Obama's health care law is languishing at its lowest level since passage of the landmark legislation four years ago, according to a new poll. Full Story | Top |
| Connecticut becomes first state to pass $10.10 minimum wage Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 06:20 PM PDT By Richard Weizel MILFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy on Thursday signed into law a measure that will phase in the highest minimum wage of any U.S. state, in line with a push by Democrats nationwide to raise the entry-level wage. The bill, which was approved by state legislators a day earlier, will raise the state's minimum hourly rate to $10.10, a figure that matches what U.S. President Barack Obama has asked Congress to consider imposing nationally. Malloy signed the legislation on Thursday evening in the same New Britain diner where he appeared earlier this month with Obama and three other New England governors: Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Peter Shumlin of Vermont and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island. All are Democrats who have pushed to raise the minimum wage in their states. Full Story | Top |
| MH370 search pivots north on new plane data Friday, Mar 28, 2014 12:49 PM PDT Perth (Australia) (AFP) - A multinational fleet of planes and ships raced Friday to a fresh search zone after a "credible new lead" that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was flying faster than first thought before it plunged into the remote Indian Ocean. Ten aircraft from six countries -- Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States -- diverted to an area 1,100 kilometres (685 miles) northeast of where they have been looking for a week, far off western Australia. Late Friday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said five aircraft had spotted "multiple objects" in the new search area but they were not expected to be reached by ship for confirmation until Saturday. Chinese patrol ship Haixun 01 reached the search area late Friday but with poor visibility it reported no major sightings immediately except for "a few light-coloured, palm-size floating objects", Xinhua news agency said. Full Story | Top |
| New Malaysia plane search area turns up objects Friday, Mar 28, 2014 06:52 AM PDT PERTH, Australia (AP) — The search area for the lost Malaysian jetliner moved 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) to the northeast on Friday, as Australian officials said a new analysis of radar data suggests the plane had flown faster and therefore ran out of fuel more quickly than previously estimated. Full Story | Top |
| FBI sting shows San Francisco Chinatown underworld Friday, Mar 28, 2014 12:15 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Beneath the strings of red paper lanterns and narrow alleyways of the nation's oldest Chinatown lies a sinister underworld, according to an FBI criminal complaint that has stunned even those familiar with the neighborhood's history of gambling houses, opium dens and occasional gangland-style murders. Full Story | Top |
| Airline Apologizes for Insulting 'Deaf and Dumb' Note Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 01:40 PM PDT  James Moehle and Angela Huckaby returned to Texas this week from a beautiful Hawaiian vacation, but the trip home was marred slightly by lost luggage but even more so when the luggage turned up with an insulting note attached. "Please text, deaf and dumb," were... Full Story | Top |
| Americans for Prosperity vs. MSNBC: Who 'Schooled' Whom? Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:53 PM PDT  On Wednesday MSNBC host Chris Hayes went all in on Jennifer Stefano of the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity. Hayes started off his show with a four-minute monologue explaining conservative reactions to the enrollment extension, then introduced Stefano as "one of those people who I really think genuinely wakes up every day and thinks about how to destroy Obamacare." It gets increasingly more aggressive from there. Others noted that most of what Stefano said was inaccurate, which it was. Verdict: Stefano was wrong, and didn't school anyone. Full Story | Top |
| Commanders fired in nuke missile cheating scandal Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 05:42 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force took the extraordinary step Thursday of firing nine midlevel nuclear commanders and announcing it will discipline dozens of junior officers at a nuclear missile base, responding firmly to an exam-cheating scandal that spanned a far longer period than originally reported. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine finds new hero in besieged base commander Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 01:08 PM PDT  KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — After Crimeans voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia, a man in a black raincoat turned up at the gate of the Belbek Air Base to demand that Ukrainian forces holed up inside surrender to Russia. Full Story | Top |
| Russia expands sanctions against the West: reports Friday, Mar 28, 2014 09:24 AM PDT Russia has retaliated against expanded sanctions imposed by Western countries over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday without naming any U.S. or European Union officials affected. The United States and the EU have imposed two rounds of visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials, lawmakers and other allies of President Vladimir Putin to punish Moscow for what Western states say is the illegal seizure of Crimea. "Naturally, such actions cannot be left without a reaction," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Bad News Drew Citi CEO to Rush Home Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 05:47 PM PDT  The phone rang when Michael Corbat was half a world away in South Korea. It was about 6 a.m. Wednesday morning in Seoul, and on the line was a Federal Reserve official, charged with delivering news that left the Citigroup Inc. chief executive in shock and would shake the company's stock soon after: The bank had failed the Fed's closely watched "stress test" and would be denied the chance to raise the amount of cash it returns to shareholders for the foreseeable future. In the space of minutes, Mr. Corbat's routine business trip to Asia turned into a mad scramble for the airport and then to New York to address the fallout from yet another setback for Citigroup, according to a person familiar with the situation. Once back in New York, Mr. Corbat arrived at the bank's headquarters to address a hastily called board meeting. Full Story | Top |
| Medical Wake-Up Call Prompts Questions About Life, Marriage Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 10:01 PM PDT DEAR ABBY: I have been married almost four years. Recently I had some medical problems that were my wake-up call. I'm fine now, but I no longer am willing to wait for "someday."I decided to try some new hobbies, one of which is skydiving. I had said for years I'd never do it because I'm afraid of heights. But I have changed my mind, and for me, this is a big deal. When I asked my husband what he thought, his response was, "I'm not spending the day just to see you jump out of an airplane." Talk about disappointing! I have always "gone with the flow" when he has wanted to do something. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gov. Christie Tells Diane Sawyer His Style Didn't 'Inspire' Bridge Scandal Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 03:59 PM PDT  Christie Says 'Inexplicably Stupid' Bridge Closure Wasn't Done for Him Full Story | Top |
| This centenarian’s exercise routine will make you feel like a blob Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 01:26 PM PDT 100-year-old Sarah Stenberg's exercise regimen puts many younger folks' to shame. Full Story | Top |
| PG&E: Federal criminal charges likely in gas blast Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 04:54 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said Thursday the company will likely face federal criminal charges for its role in a fatal gas pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area. Full Story | Top |
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