| | |
| NJ governor Christie says Port chair resigns, day after 'Bridgegate' report Friday, Mar 28, 2014 12:41 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 embroiling the potential 2016 Republican presidential contender. David Samson, 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. ... Full Story | Top |
| Planes spot objects after search for lost Malaysian jet shifts north Friday, Mar 28, 2014 06:00 AM PDT  By Jane Wardell and Rujun Shen SYDNEY/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - An air and sea search for a missing Malaysian passenger jet moved 1,100 km (685 miles) north on Friday, after Australian authorities coordinating the operation in the remote Indian Ocean received new information from Malaysia that suggested the plane ran out of fuel earlier than thought. The dramatic shift in the search area, moving it further than the distance between London and Berlin, followed analysis of radar and satellite data that showed the missing plane had traveled faster than had been previously calculated, and so would have burned through its fuel load quicker. Australia said late on Friday that five aircraft had spotted "multiple objects of various colors" in the new search area. "Photographic imagery of the objects was captured and will be assessed overnight," the Australian Maritime and Safety Authority (AMSA) said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. consumers lift spending, but sentiment slips Friday, Mar 28, 2014 09:26 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumers stepped up spending a bit in February as incomes increased for a second straight month, offering hope the economy was regaining its footing after being slammed by an unusually cold winter. "So the winter may have slowed things temporarily, but with consumers still spending and incomes rising, we should see solid growth in the months ahead," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania. Consumer spending rose 0.3 percent last month after a downwardly revised gain of 0.2 percent in January. Separately, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index dipped to 80.0 in March from 81.6 in February. Full Story | Top |
| China takes no sides on Ukraine crisis, Xi tells Europe Friday, Mar 28, 2014 10:56 AM PDT  By Stephen Brown and Annika Breidthardt BERLIN (Reuters) - President Xi Jinping said on Friday China would not take sides with the West or Russia over Ukraine, disappointing any hopes Beijing might add its weight to international pressure on Moscow for annexing Crimea. "China does not have any private interests in the Ukraine question," Xi told a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "All parties involved should work for a political and diplomatic solution to the conflict." China has adopted a cautious response to the Ukraine crisis, not wanting to alienate its ally Russia or make comment directly on a referendum in which Crimea voted to join Russia, lest it set a precedent for restive regions of its own such as Tibet. Full Story | Top |
| Former Vatican bank head's lawyers threaten to sue to clear name Friday, Mar 28, 2014 11:18 AM PDT  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - In a new blow for the troubled Vatican bank, lawyers for its former head who was abruptly fired in 2012 threatened legal action on Friday to clear his name and show that he was unfairly dismissed. The surprise move by lawyers for Ettore Gotti Tedeschi came after months of relative calm for the Vatican bank under its new president, German Ernst Von Freyberg. Gotti Tedeschi was ousted after a no confidence vote by its lay board on May 24 at the height of the "Vatileaks" scandal, in which former Pope Benedict's butler leaked the pontiff's personal papers to the media. The board said Gotti Tedeschi was fired because he was an ineffective and divisive manager. Full Story | Top |
| Obama underlines 'strong' Saudi ties in talks with king: US Friday, Mar 28, 2014 12:16 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama underlined Washington's "strong" relationship with Saudi Arabia in talks with King Abdullah on Friday, the White House said, on a visit intended to allay the kingdom's concerns that the decades-old alliance is weakening. The elderly king, accompanied by a number of senior princes, had what appeared to be an oxygen tube connected to his nose at the start of the two-hour meeting at his desert farm at Rawdat Khuraim northeast of the capital Riyadh, witnesses said. Saudi state television showed Obama, accompanied by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice, listening attentively while King Abdullah spoke, gesticulating with both hands as he made a point. Full Story | Top |
| At least three killed in Cairo clashes Friday, Mar 28, 2014 12:32 PM PDT At least three people were killed in clashes in Cairo on Friday amid protests by the Muslim Brotherhood, days after hundreds of its Islamist supporters were sentenced to death, official sources said. Newspaper Al Dustour said on its website Mayada Ashraf, one of its journalists, had died covering fighting which security sources said had involved Brotherhood supporters, security forces and residents. Security sources said birdshot had been fired during the clashes. State-run news agency MENA quoted an unnamed interior ministry official as saying four citizens were killed in the clashes, blaming Brotherhood supporters for the deaths. Full Story | Top |
| PwC is sued for $1 billion over MF Global collapse Friday, Mar 28, 2014 12:33 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The administrator of MF Global Holdings Ltd's bankruptcy plan on Friday sued PricewaterhouseCoopers for at least $1 billion, accusing the auditor of professional malpractice in connection with the brokerage's investment in European sovereign debt. According to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, PwC provided "flatly erroneous accounting advice" to MF Global and its then-chief executive Jon Corrine by recommending the use of off-balance sheet structures for the brokerage's $6.3 billion bet on the debt. Market worries about that exposure was among the factors that led to MF Global's quick collapse and October 31, 2011, bankruptcy. The lawsuit said it is the first case seeking to hold PwC liable for malpractice over its advice concerning, and approval of, the accounting treatment for the debt. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Oil sector withholds information about rail cargoes - U.S. regulator Friday, Mar 28, 2014 12:21 PM PDT By Patrick Rucker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. transport regulators on Friday criticized the oil industry for not sharing important information about the kinds of rail shipments that were involved in a number of recent fiery derailments. In letters with regulators and testimony to lawmakers, leaders of trade groups like the American Petroleum Institute have said since January that they will share results of their tests on fuel from North Dakota's Bakken oil patch, where the derailed trains were loaded. But despite those assurances, the Department of Transportation said, the oil industry has largely declined to cooperate with regulators trying to understand why several recent fuel derailments led to explosions of uncommon force. "The overall and ongoing lack of cooperation is disappointing, slows progress, and certainly raises concerns." An oil industry representative on Friday said that examining North Dakota crude was an ongoing process. Full Story | Top |
| Foreigners escape Taliban siege in Kabul, one Afghan child killed Friday, Mar 28, 2014 09:34 AM 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 denounces 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. There were no casualties among foreigners. Full Story | Top |
| 'Mind your own business', North Korea says of U.N. demand for justice Friday, Mar 28, 2014 08:39 AM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - "Mind your own business," North Korea's ambassador told the U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday, moments before it voted to demand justice for Nazi-style atrocities in his country. U.N. human rights investigators said last month security chiefs and possibly Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un himself should be tried for ordering systematic torture, starvation and killings, saying the crimes were "strikingly similar" to those committed during World War Two. The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted a resolution, brought by Japan and the European Union and backed by the United States and South Korea, calling for the U.N. Security Council to seek accountability for those responsible. North Korea, also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has observer status with no vote. Full Story | Top |
| Fukushima worker killed in accident, cleanup halted Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:16 AM PDT  By Mari Saito TOKYO (Reuters) - A worker at Japan's wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant died on Friday after being buried under gravel while digging a ditch, prompting the operator to suspend cleanup work for safety checks. Tokyo Electric Power Co said it was the first time a laborer had died as a direct result of an accident inside the plant since the nuclear disaster in March 2011, the world's worst since Chernobyl in 1986. "In the three years since the disaster, we had not had any worker deaths caused by work (inside the plant). The fact that such a serious accident has occurred is deeply regrettable," said Tepco spokesman Masayuki Ono. Full Story | Top |
| Rescue of Rio slums shaky on failed promise of basic services Friday, Mar 28, 2014 05:25 AM PDT  By Paulo Prada RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - In the three years since hundreds of police stormed the hills that her family calls home, Caroline Oliveira has been waiting for things to get better. True, the drug gangs that once controlled her Rio de Janeiro neighborhood are less dominant than they once were. As for the promise of nearby schools and health services, she will believe it when she sees it. "Not much has changed," says the 20-year-old mother of two, who has spent recent weeks seeking donations with neighbors to set up a community day-care center in their small corner of the Complexo do Alemão, a vast series of bare-brick shacks, open sewers and garbage heaps just north of central Rio. Full Story | Top |
| Pistorius murder trial adjourned until April 7 Friday, Mar 28, 2014 06:36 AM PDT  The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius was adjourned on Friday until April 7, when the South African Paralympic and Olympic track star is expected to take the stand in his own defense in a high-stakes bid to prove his innocence and avoid life in prison. Judge Thokozile Masipa postponed proceedings for more than a week due to the illness of one of the legal assistants who has been sitting at her side throughout the trial, one of the most high-profile in South African history. Prosecutors took 15 days to lay out their case against the 27-year-old, arguing he deliberately killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day last year by firing four rounds from a 9 mm pistol through a closed toilet door. The trial has gripped South Africa and millions of athletics fans around the world who saw Pistorius as a symbol of triumph over physical adversity. Full Story | Top |
| Russia criticizes U.N. resolution condemning Crimea's secession Friday, Mar 28, 2014 10:58 AM 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 |
| U.S. consumer sentiment falls in March Friday, Mar 28, 2014 06:57 AM PDT  The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final March reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 80.0, up a tick from the preliminary 79.9 March reading but down from an 81.6 the month before. "Current conditions in the overall economy were reported by consumers to have recently weakened, and long term prospects for the economy softened," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement. The survey's barometer of current economic conditions fell to 95.7 from the preliminary 96.1 reading but edged up from the 95.4 reading in the prior month. Expectations called for a 96.3 reading. Full Story | Top |
| South Korea proposes aid for North if it halts nuclear arms program Friday, Mar 28, 2014 03:52 AM PDT  South Korean President Park Geun-hye proposed a broad range of economic aid for impoverished North Korea on Friday if it agrees to give up its nuclear program. It was not immediately clear how the North would respond to the proposal, made in a speech in Dresden, Germany, but it has repeatedly rejected the idea of abandoning its nuclear program, which it says is a necessary deterrent against U.S. hostility. North and South Korea have been technically at war since the end of their 1950-53 civil conflict, as the fighting ended with a mere truce, not a treaty. North Korea threatened nuclear strikes against the South and the United States last year after the United Nations tightened sanctions against it for conducting its third nuclear test. Full Story | Top |
| Journalists, media under attack from hackers: Google researchers Friday, Mar 28, 2014 02:48 AM PDT  By Jeremy Wagstaff SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Twenty-one of the world's top-25 news organizations have been the target of likely state-sponsored hacking attacks, according to research by two Google security engineers. While many internet users face attacks via email designed to steal personal data, journalists were "massively over-represented" among such targets, said Shane Huntley, a security software engineer at Google. The attacks were launched by hackers either working for or in support of a government, and were specifically targeting journalists, Huntley and co-author Morgan Marquis-Boire said in interviews. Their paper was presented at a Black Hat hackers conference in Singapore on Friday. Full Story | Top |
| China's Baidu defeats U.S. lawsuit over censored search results Friday, Mar 28, 2014 01:32 AM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chinese Internet company Baidu Inc on Thursday won the dismissal of a U.S. lawsuit by pro-democracy activists who complained that Baidu illegally suppressed political speech on China's most widely used Internet search engine. Eight New York writers and video producers had accused Baidu of creating search engine algorithms, at the behest of China, to block users in the United States from viewing articles, videos and other information advocating greater democracy in China. The plaintiffs said this kept Baidu users from seeing their work, unlike users of other search engines such as Google and Microsoft's Bing. Full Story | Top |
| Grenade attack on Thai anti-graft office ahead of PM hearing Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 11:53 PM PDT  By Panarat Thepgumpanat BANGKOK (Reuters) - Grenades were thrown at the offices of Thailand's anti-corruption agency, which has summoned the prime minister to answer charges of dereliction of duty next week, as protesters trying to oust her prepared for a big weekend rally. Supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra have been demonstrating at the building this week. The National Anti-Corruption Commission is examining the alleged failure of Yingluck to stop corruption and stem huge losses in a government rice-buying program. It is widely expected to recommend her impeachment by the Senate. Full Story | Top |
| Microsoft CEO signals new course with Office for iPad Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 08:24 PM PDT  By Gerry Shih and Bill Rigby SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's new Chief Executive Officer, Satya Nadella, finally unveiled Office for Apple Inc's iPad in a polished debut that set him apart from his energetic predecessor while signaling his plans to make mobile apps the top priority at the world's largest software company. At a news conference Thursday, executives demonstrated a new "touch-first" version of Office crafted for the iPad, available for download as a free app, though a subscription is needed to let users create or edit documents rather than just read them. Significantly, they did not demonstrate any software on Windows machines, telegraphing a departure from former Chief Executive Steve Ballmer's focus on the personal computer operating software and its own devices. "Their absence speaks volumes," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets. Full Story | Top |
| City on the edge holds key to Ukraine future Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 11:25 PM PDT  By Alastair Macdonald DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Lenin looks out on Donetsk, unmoved, anthracite grey and steely eyed. It is torn between its Soviet past, a corrupt and unhappy present and a future somewhere between Russia and the West. Below his plinth on Lenin Square, protesters bemoan the fall of a local boy made good, president Viktor Yanukovich. Some hope Russia may do for the Donbass coalfield what it did in Crimea - claim Russian-speaking borderlands for Moscow, bringing higher pensions, wages and a return to a Soviet comfort zone. Full Story | Top |
| Washington state death toll expected to soar Friday, Mar 28, 2014 09:06 AM PDT By Eric M. Johnson and Jonathan Kaminsky ARLINGTON, Wash./DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - Rescue officials said the death toll from a catastrophic mudslide in Washington state is soon expected to climb far higher, as some residents voiced anger that they were prevented from helping in the initial disaster response six days ago. At least 26 people were known to have perished when a rain-soaked hillside collapsed without warning on Saturday, unleashing a deluge of mud that flattened dozens of homes in a river valley near the rural town of Oso, in Snohomish County, some 55 miles northeast of Seattle. Although the remains of 26 people killed by the landslide were known to have been found, local authorities for days have been counting only the first 16 victims recovered and examined by coroners for inclusion in the official death toll. Late Thursday night, Snohomish County officials said an infant whose body was recovered earlier in the day had also now been sent to the medical examiner's office. Full Story | Top |
| As U.S. momentum stocks take beating, some sectors benefit Friday, Mar 28, 2014 07:04 AM PDT  By Ryan Vlastelica and David Gaffen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors in some of the past year's hottest U.S. stocks have been given a savage lesson in the risks of so-called "momentum trading". A group of 24 such companies compiled by Credit Suisse has lost $63 billion in market value, or almost 19 percent, so far in March. One of them, streaming video service Netflix, has declined on 15 of the last 17 trading days, while another, online travel service Priceline, is on pace to for its worst month in nearly two years, while Twitter on Wednesday sank below its November first-day closing price for the first time since December, when the company had publicly traded for less than a month. The sell off may well have further to go, investors warn. Full Story | Top |
| Indicted California state senator ends Secretary of State campaign Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 06:09 PM PDT  By Laila Kearney SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A prominent state senator withdrew from a race for California Secretary of State on Thursday, a day after he was arrested by FBI agents and charged with corruption and conspiring to import and traffic firearms, his attorney said. Democratic state Senator Leland Yee said he would end his campaign to become California's chief elections officer in a letter submitted to Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office on Thursday, his attorney Paul DeMeester told reporters. A former San Francisco supervisor and one-time mayoral candidate, Yee had been considered a strong candidate for the seat, but now risks becoming the first California state senator ever suspended. "This was a very personal decision on the part of the senator," DeMeester told a news conference. Full Story | Top |
| A string of mega deals drives global M&A recovery in first quarter Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 05:13 PM PDT  By Sophie Sassard and Anjuli Davies LONDON (Reuters) - A string of large transactions drove the value of global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity up by 54 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, reflecting greater deal-making confidence among chief executives. The value of worldwide announced deals totaled $710 billion in the first three months of the year, according to Thomson Reuters data, which includes competing bids for Time Warner Cable and SFR. I'm hopeful that we'll see more of this in 2014.", said Hernan Cristerna, co-head of global M&A at JP Morgan. "We've seen something of a return of animal spirits." Comcast Corp trumped Charter Communications with a bid valuing Time Warner Cable at $70.6 billion in enterprise value, the largest transaction in the works since January. Full Story | Top |
| Obamacare enrollment tops six million as deadline looms: White House Friday, Mar 28, 2014 04:03 AM 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 |
| Wal-Mart sues Visa for $5 billion over card swipe fees Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 03:40 PM PDT  Wal-Mart Stores Inc this week sued Visa Inc for $5 billion, accusing the credit and debit card network of excessively high card swipe fees, several months after the retailer opted out of a class action settlement between merchants and Visa and MasterCard Inc. Visa declined to comment on the suit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, where Wal-Mart is headquartered. Visa and other card networks charge retailers fees, called swipe fees or interchange fees, each time a shopper uses a debit or credit card to pay. Full Story | Top |
| Nine officers removed, one resigns in Air Force cheating probe Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 03:01 PM PDT  By David Alexander and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the nuclear missile wing at a base in Montana resigned on Thursday and nine officers were removed from their jobs over a test-cheating scandal that involved 91 missile launch officers, the Air Force said. Lieutenant General Stephen Wilson, head of the Air Force's Global Strike Command, said Colonel Robert Stanley, commander of the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, had resigned on Thursday and would retire from the service. Full Story | Top |
| Euro zone not preparing third Greek bailout so far: official Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 03:44 PM PDT  By Jan Strupczewski and Martin Santa BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The euro zone is not making any preparations for a third bailout for Greece and will consider it only if expressly asked by Athens, which has not happened so far, a senior euro zone official said on Thursday. Instead, the euro zone is now focusing on the timing and size of disbursements of badly delayed tranches of loans that have already been promised under the first two rescue packages, the official, directly involved in the Greek bailouts said. Euro zone countries have come up with aid of 240 billion euros for Greece to help it reform and put its public finances back in order after since the country was cut off from markets in 2010 because its public finances have spun out of control. The second euro zone bailout program for Greece expires at the end of this year. Full Story | Top |
| 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 |
| Malaysian jet search resumes, U.S. sends second Poseidon plane Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 04:59 PM PDT  The disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines jet, which vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on a routine flight to Beijing on March 8, has gripped the world and baffled investigators. The search zone centers on the latest sightings of possible wreckage that were captured by Thai and Japanese satellites in roughly the same frigid expanse of sea as earlier images reported by France, Australia and China. Full Story | Top |
| Indicted California state senator ends Secretary of State campaign Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 04:55 PM PDT  By Laila Kearney SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A prominent state senator withdrew from a race for California Secretary of State on Thursday, a day after he was arrested by FBI agents and charged with corruption and conspiring to import and traffic firearms, his attorney said. Democratic state Senator Leland Yee said he would end his campaign to become California's chief elections officer in a letter submitted to Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office on Thursday, his attorney Paul DeMeester told reporters. "This is what he wanted to do in relation to that election for office given the circumstances of the federal case." Prosecutors criminally charged Yee, a child psychologist, in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday with two felony counts of conspiring to import and traffic in firearms and six corruption counts. Yee's arrest deals a blow to California Democrats, whose two-thirds majority in the state Senate was eroded when fellow senators Ron Calderon, indicted on corruption charges, and Rod Wright, found guilty of voter fraud, took paid leaves of absence earlier this year. Full Story | Top |
| Microsoft CEO signals new course with Office for iPad Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 03:42 PM PDT  By Gerry Shih and Bill Rigby SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's new Chief Executive Officer, Satya Nadella, finally unveiled Office for Apple Inc's iPad in a polished debut that set him apart from his energetic predecessor while signaling his plans to make mobile apps the top priority at the world's largest software company. At a news conference Thursday, executives demonstrated a new "touch-first" version of Office crafted for the iPad, available for download as a free app, though a subscription is needed to let users create or edit documents rather than just read them. Significantly, they did not demonstrate any software on Windows machines, telegraphing a departure from former Chief Executive Steve Ballmer's focus on the personal computer operating software and its own devices. "Their absence speaks volumes," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets. Full Story | Top |
| Trapped at sea, tanker captain craved salvation from Libya rebels Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:45 PM PDT  By Ulf Laessing TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Pakistani sea captain Mirza Noman Baig knew he was trapped when dozens of fighters armed with rifles boarded his tanker just off a rebel-held port on Libya's coast. A militia from the country's restive east forced his crew to load oil onto Baig's vessel, the Morning Glory, and demanded they escape the navy before the ship was stormed by U.S. special forces on March 16, according to his account of events. Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment