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| U.N. seeks sanctions waiver to ship arms to Mali via Ivory Coast Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:33 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations is seeking an exemption from a U.N. Security Council arms embargo on Ivory Coast so it can ship weapons and military equipment across the East African nation to its peacekeeping mission in landlocked Mali, a spokesman said on Thursday. The statement came after U.N. sanctions monitors called for the world body to stop allowing arms to be shipped to the U.N. mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, through Ivory Coast after they said a load of military hardware sent by China violated U.N. restrictions. Full Story | Top |
| Lowe's to pay $500,000 in EPA lead paint settlement Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:17 PM PDT  By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lowe's Home Centers, the No. 2 U.S. home improvement retail chain, has agreed to pay a $500,000 penalty for violating federal rules governing lead paint exposure, U.S. authorities said on Thursday. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice said Lowe's had also agreed to implement a new compliance program at more than 1,700 stores nationwide. Lead exposure can cause a range of health problems, from behavioral disorders and learning disabilities to seizures and death. Lead-based paint was banned in the United States in 1978 but remains in many older homes and apartments. Full Story | Top |
| Putin says annexation of Crimea partly a response to NATO enlargement Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:12 PM PDT President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said Russia had been forced to respond to NATO enlargement and that its annexation of Crimea, home to its Black Sea Fleet, was partly influenced by the Western military alliance's expansion into eastern Europe. Putin said Moscow will respond if the United States moves ahead with plans to base elements of a missile defense shield in eastern Europe, accusing Washington of fuelling a Cold War-style arms race. Full Story | Top |
| Iran cuts sensitive nuclear stockpile, key plant delayed: IAEA Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:11 PM PDT  By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has acted to cut its most sensitive nuclear stockpile by nearly 75 percent in implementing a landmark pact with world powers, but a planned facility it will need to fulfill the six-month deal has been delayed, a U.N. report showed on Thursday. The monthly update by the International Atomic Energy Agency , which has a pivotal role in verifying that Iran is living up to its part of the accord, made clear that Iran so far is undertaking the agreed steps to curb its nuclear program. In Washington, the State Department said the United States has taken steps to release a $450 million installment of frozen Iranian funds following the issuance of the report. In addition, Japan has made two more payments totaling $1 billion to Iran for crude imports, two sources with knowledge of the transactions said. Full Story | Top |
| Nigerian state says most abducted schoolgirls still missing Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:08 PM PDT By Lanre Ola MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's northeast Borno state said on Thursday only 20 of up to 129 schoolgirls abducted by Islamist rebels were back with their parents, casting doubt on a military claim to have freed most of them. The armed forces said in a statement on Wednesday that most of the schoolgirls abducted by Islamist rebels from the Boko Haram group had been freed in a military rescue operation. Monday's mass abduction of the schoolgirls aged between 15 and 18 shocked Nigeria, a nation growing increasingly inured to tales of horror from its bloody insurgency in the northeast The raid on the Chibok school showed how the five-year-old Boko Haram insurgency has brought lawlessness to swathes of the semi-arid, poor region. The principal of the school has so far received (them)," Borno state Education Commissioner Inuwa Kubo told Reuters by telephone from the school. Full Story | Top |
| Hotel magnate pleads guilty to U.S. campaign contribution scheme Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:03 PM PDT By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A prominent hotel executive in New York pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiring to make $188,000 of illegal campaign contributions to three U.S. candidates via straw donors. Sant Singh Chatwal, chairman of Hampshire Hotels Management, pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, to criminal charges of conspiring to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act and witness tampering. A straw donor is someone who illegally uses someone else's money to make campaign contributions in his or her own name. Chatwal entered his plea at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Leo Glasser, saying simply, "I plead guilty, sir." The case was unveiled two weeks after Hampshire named Eric Danizger to replace Chatwal as chief executive. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge declines to order 'park it now' notices for GM cars Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:00 PM PDT  A federal judge on Thursday rejected a bid to compel General Motors Co to tell customers to stop driving millions of cars that have been recalled for defective ignition switches. Attorneys representing Charles and Grace Silvas, the owners of a recalled 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt, had sought an emergency order directing GM to issue "park it now" notices for the 2.6 million vehicles that have been recalled since February over the switches. GM opposed the motion, arguing that the vehicles were safe to drive as long as nothing extra was attached to the key while it was in the ignition. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos in Corpus Christi, Texas, denied the request in a ruling on Thursday, saying that she would defer to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a federal agency that oversees auto safety. Full Story | Top |
| Islamist militants kill 30 in attacks around Iraq Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:54 AM PDT By Raheem Salman BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Suspected Sunni Muslim militants killed at least 30 people around Iraq on Thursday including 12 soldiers in an assault on a remote army base in the north, deepening insecurity with a national election just two weeks away. Sectarian bloodshed has increased since the Shi'ite Muslim-led Baghdad government began an offensive against insurgents, some of them affiliated with al Qaeda, dug in around Falluja and Ramadi in the western province of Anbar. Early on Thursday morning, gunmen disguised in Iraqi military uniforms drove armored vehicles, including Iraqi army Humvees, up to a small military base outside Mosul and opened fire, killing 12 soldiers and wounding about a dozen, army and police officers said on condition of anonymity. The region around Mosul has been a stronghold of the al Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group. Full Story | Top |
| About 12 million U.S. outpatients misdiagnosed annually : study Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:54 AM PDT  Roughly 12 million adults who visit U.S. doctors' offices and other outpatient settings, or one in 20, are misdiagnosed every year, a new study has found, and half of those errors could lead to serious harm. The study by a team of Texas-based researchers attempted to estimate how often diagnostic errors occur in outpatient settings such as doctors' offices and clinics, as exact figures don't exist. Efforts to improve patient safety have largely focused on inpatient hospital care, including programs introduced by President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, even though most diagnoses are made in outpatient clinics, the study said. "It's important to outline the fact that this is a problem," said Dr. Hardeep Singh, the study's lead author and a patient safety researcher at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, also in Houston. Full Story | Top |
| Armed mob under guise of peaceful protest attacks U.N. in South Sudan Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:50 AM PDT A mob of armed civilians pretending to be peaceful protesters delivering a petition to the United Nations in South Sudan forced their way into a U.N. base sheltering some 5,000 civilians on Thursday and opened fire, the world body said. A U.N. source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least 20 people had been killed and 60 wounded in the attack on the base in Bor in northern Jonglei state, where there are Indian and South Korean U.N. peacekeepers. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said dozens of civilians were wounded, but the exact number of people killed or wounded had not yet been confirmed. "This attack on a location where civilians are being protected by the United Nations is a serious escalation," Dujarric said. Full Story | Top |
| French troops free five aid workers kidnapped in Mali Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:47 AM PDT BAMAKO/PARIS (Reuters) - French troops in Mali on Thursday freed five local aid workers kidnapped in February, the presidents of France and Mali said in a joint statement. Four of the aid workers work for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The statement said the aid workers were freed near the northern town of Timbuktu and were in good health. It was not clear at the time who seized the aid workers and the statement did not give any further details, beyond saying they had been captured by a "terrorist group". Full Story | Top |
| Teen in 'Jihad Jane' case sentenced to five years in prison Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:43 AM PDT The immigrant, Mohammad Hassan Khalid, 20, who has been in custody three years for his role in the "Jihad Jane" conspiracy, will receive credit for that time and serve an additional two years in prison to finish his sentence, said the sentencing judge, Petrese Tucker, of U.S. district court in Philadelphia. "Mom, Dad, you will forgive me 1,000 times even though I don't ask for it," said Khalid, who pleaded guilty to committing related crimes when he was as young as 15 and living in his parents' apartment in suburban Maryland. He was arrested in 2011 on charges he provided material support to terrorists working with a suburban Philadelphia housewife who went by the nickname Jihad Jane. Her real name is Colleen LaRose. Full Story | Top |
| Four-way talks call for end to Ukraine violence Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:39 AM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed and Alexei Anishchuk GENEVA/MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States, Russia, Ukraine and European Union together called on Thursday for an immediate halt to violence in Ukraine, where Western powers believe Russia is fomenting a pro-Russian separatist movement. Washington immediately warned Moscow that it would face further sanctions if it did not carry out the agreement, reached in four-party crisis talks in Geneva. Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking in Moscow, accused Ukraine's leaders of committing a "grave crime" by using the army to try to quell unrest in the east of the country, and did not rule out sending in Russian troops. Full Story | Top |
| Algeria's Bouteflika poised to win re-election Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:30 AM PDT  By Patrick Markey ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algerians voted on Thursday in an election President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is expected to win after 15 years in power, despite speaking only rarely in public since suffering a stroke in 2013. With the dominant National Liberation Front (FLN) party, allied movements and unions behind him, many Algerians believe Bouteflika, 77, is almost assured of victory and another five years governing the North African OPEC state. Appearing in public for one of the few times since his illness, Bouteflika voted sitting in a wheelchair in Algiers' El Biar district. Algeria under Bouteflika has been seen as a partner in Washington's campaign against Islamist militancy in the Maghreb and a stable supplier of around a fifth of Europe's gas imports. Full Story | Top |
| Vietnam backs out as host of 2019 Asian Games Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:28 AM PDT Vietnam quit as host of the 2019 Asian Games on Thursday, citing a lack of preparedness and concerns that holding the multi-sport event would not prove financially viable. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Vietnam was suffering from the effects of global recession and the state was unable to foot the bill for facilities and venues that would not be profitable in the years after the Games. It was not immediately clear which country would take over from Hanoi as hosts of the 18th Asian Games. "We've only heard about it and we are waiting for a formal communication from the Vietnam Olympic Committee," Randhir Singh, secretary general of the Kuwait-based Olympic Council of Asia, told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine says Putin destabilizing country, wants to wreck election Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:21 AM PDT By Natalia Zinets KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's prime minister on Thursday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of building a terrorist network in Ukraine to destabilize it and wreck its presidential election next month. Arseny Yatseniuk launched the broadside after Putin accused the Kiev government in his annual televised phone-in of dragging Ukraine into the "abyss" and said Moscow might not recognize next month's Ukrainian election. Full Story | Top |
| 'X-Men' director Bryan Singer accused of drugging, raping teen Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:14 AM PDT  By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A director of the popular "X-Men" films, Bryan Singer, has been accused of drugging and raping a teenage boy in California and Hawaii in the late 1990s, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. court. The lawsuit filed on Wednesday, just weeks before the release of Singer's upcoming "X-Men: Days of Future Past," alleges the 48-year-old used his influence as a Hollywood insider as well as a range of drugs and alcohol to force anal and oral sex on the boy. Michael Egan seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial after wide-ranging abuses at California and Hawaii house parties beginning in the late 1990s, according to the civil action filed in Hawaii federal court. Singer's attorney, Marty Singer, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Full Story | Top |
| Armed men put Putin on the air in eastern Ukraine Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:08 AM PDT By Thomas Grove ANDRIYIVKA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Armed men took over a television tower in eastern Ukraine on Thursday and switched it to Russian channels playing an almost non-stop stream of sound-bites from a marathon TV phone-in by Russian President Vladimir Putin. TV engineers accompanying the men then took Ukrainian channels off the air and replaced them with five Russian channels. The channels included Russia 1, Russia 24 and ORT - some of the most popular state-controlled channels - which were broadcasting clips of Putin's TV phone-in. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. releases $450 million of frozen Iranian funds after IAEA report Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:03 AM PDT The United States has taken steps to release a $450 million installment of frozen Iranian funds following a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verifying that Iran is living up to its part of a landmark nuclear pact with world powers, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that "all sides have kept the commitments made" under the agreement. She said that "as Iran remains in line with its commitments," the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China, Russia and the European Union "will continue to uphold our commitments as well." The report by the U.N. nuclear agency showed that Iran had - as stipulated under the November 24 agreement - diluted half of its higher-grade enriched uranium reserve to a fissile content less prone to bomb proliferation. Tehran has also continued to convert the other half of its stock of uranium gas refined to a 20 percent fissile purity, the IAEA report said. Full Story | Top |
| Guantanamo hearing halted after defense accusations of FBI spying Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:02 AM PDT  By Lacey Johnson FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - A U.S. military hearing for five men accused of conspiring in the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington concluded early on Thursday after defense attorneys raised concerns they were being spied on by the FBI. Progress on the pretrial hearing at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba ground to a halt this week after lawyers for the five men, described by the U.S. military as "high-value detainees" said they could not go forward because of possible Federal Bureau of Investigation involvement. Jim Harrington, an attorney for Ramzi Bin al Shibh, a Yemeni citizen accused of wiring money to the 9/11 hijackers, on Monday disclosed that two FBI agents had approached a defense officer and asked him "to sign an agreement." The presiding military judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, has begun laying the groundwork for an inquiry into whether the alleged FBI investigation poses a conflict of interest for defense attorneys. Full Story | Top |
| Obama budget would boost U.S. tax revenue, cut deficits: CBO Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:59 AM PDT  By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's fiscal 2015 budget request would boost U.S. tax revenue by nearly $1.4 trillion over 10 years if fully enacted, slashing deficits by $1.05 trillion while funding new spending, the Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday. The likelihood that Congress will advance Obama's plan in its entirety is virtually nil, but the CBO's latest analysis will feed campaign messaging by Democrats and Republicans ahead of congressional elections in November. The analysis by the nonpartisan agency compares Obama's request with a new CBO "baseline" estimate released last week that assumes no changes to current tax and spending laws. But Obama's budget plan is loaded with policy changes, including an assumption that sweeping immigration reforms will be enacted, producing a net 10-year deficit reduction of $158 billion. Full Story | Top |
| Obama, Merkel discuss Ukraine crisis in call Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:58 AM PDT President Barack Obama spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel by phone on Thursday about the situation in Ukraine, the offices of both leaders said. Obama and Merkel agreed during the call that Russia should use its influence on armed groups in eastern Ukraine to calm the situation, a German government spokeswoman said on Thursday. "Both shared their worries given current developments in eastern Ukraine, so they called on Russia to help contribute to a de-escalation," the spokeswoman, Christiane Wirtz, said in an email. "They said Russia in particular should use its influence on armed groups in eastern Ukraine to calm the situation," Wirtz said. Full Story | Top |
| Tennessee bill to bring back electric chair headed to governor Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:56 AM PDT By Tim Ghianni NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Tennessee's electric chair, last used in 2007, would become a state option for executions under a bill approved on Thursday by lawmakers looking for alternatives if drugs for lethal injections become unavailable. Tennessee senators voted on Thursday to give the measure final approval and send it to Republican Governor Bill Haslam, who has endorsed the death penalty in general terms. The bill follows other similar proposals from various U.S. states that are responding to increased difficulty in obtaining drugs for lethal injections because many pharmaceutical firms, mainly in Europe, object to their use in executions. Lethal injection is the primary execution method in all states that have capital punishment, but some states allow inmates the option of electrocution, hanging, firing squad or the gas chamber as alternate methods. Full Story | Top |
| Kosovo PM urges vote on new war crimes court but calls it insult Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:54 AM PDT  By Fatos Bytyci PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo's premier has summoned parliament to vote on creating an EU-backed special court to try ethnic Albanian ex-guerrillas accused of harvesting organs from murdered Serbs during the Balkan state's 1990s war, but criticized the plan as an insult. The move stems from a 2011 report by Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty alleging that Kosovo Albanian guerrillas fighting a war of independence from Serbia had smuggled the bodies of Serbs into Albania and removed their organs for sale. "This issue is completely unfair and an insult for the state of Kosovo," Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, who was the political chief of the old Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), said on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| Regulator reasserts goal to restrict AT&T, Verizon in auction Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:54 AM PDT  By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. telecommunications regulator in a letter to a lawmaker on Thursday reasserted his commitment to help smaller national wireless carriers get access to valuable lower-frequency airwaves in the upcoming spectrum auction. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler reaffirmed his plans to restrict how much spectrum the biggest U.S. carriers, Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc, could buy in the auction scheduled for mid-2015. "The Incentive Auction offers the opportunity, possibly the last for years to come, to make low-band spectrum available to any mobile wireless provider, in any market, that is willing and able to compete at auction," Wheeler wrote to Representative John Barrow in a letter reviewed by Reuters. The FCC in May will vote on Wheeler's proposed auction rules that would reserve part of the spectrum in each market for bidding by wireless carriers that have less than one-third of the low-frequency airwaves, valued for their reach and strength. Full Story | Top |
| Obama says U.S. will provide South Korea any help needed in ferry accident Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:51 AM PDT President Barack Obama on Thursday expressed condolences to the families of the victims of the South Korean ferry sinking and said the U.S. military will provide the country with any help it needs to perform rescue operations. "South Korea is one of our closest allies, and American Navy personnel and U.S. Marines are already on the scene assisting with the search and rescue efforts," Obama said. "As I will underscore on my visit to Seoul next week, America's commitment to our ally South Korea is unwavering - in good times and in bad," he said. Full Story | Top |
| Radical cleric promoted jihad from London mosque, U.S. jury told Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:50 AM PDT  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - From his perch as a prominent imam at a north London mosque, Abu Hamza al-Masri sent devoted followers around the world - from Oregon to Afghanistan - to pursue violent jihad against non-believers, a federal prosecutor told jurors in New York on Thursday. "His goal was clear, it was simple, and it was vicious," Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Kim said in Manhattan federal court at the start of Abu Hamza's trial on terrorism-related charges. "Abu Hamza was not just a preacher of religion, he was a trainer of terrorists." Prosecutors accuse the one-eyed, handless cleric with trying to set up a jihadist training camp in Oregon; But Joshua Dratel, Abu Hamza's attorney, told jurors that while Abu Hamza may have been guilty of using inflammatory rhetoric, he had never participated in criminal activity. Full Story | Top |
| California sees Obamacare surge as open enrollment ends for 2014 Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:48 AM PDT  Thanks to a final April surge, California's Obamacare marketplace enrolled a total of 1.4 million people in private health insurance plans, state officials announced on Thursday, beating a federal forecast by just over 800,000 enrollees. California's Obamacare enrollments are among 7.5 million people nationally who have signed up, according to federal officials. Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California, the state's Obamacare health insurance marketplace, called that "a huge number" and said enrollees "are part of history." The country's first open enrollment period for coverage under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law ended in most states on March 31. California and a handful of others kept their doors open longer, citing technical difficulties that kept some customers from accessing Obamacare websites. Full Story | Top |
| Jobless claims, factory data put some shine on economy Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:38 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New claims for jobless benefits hovered near their pre-recession levels last week and manufacturing in the Mid-Atlantic region accelerated in April, suggesting an upswing in economic activity after a brutally cold winter. Coming on the heels of fairly bullish data on retail sales and industrial production, Thursday's reports also hinted job growth may be picking up slightly. "The data add further evidence to the notion that the economy has exerted positive momentum at the start of the second quarter," said Sam Bullard, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits ticked up 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 304,000 for the week ended April 12, the Labor Department said, but stayed close to a 6-1/2 year low touched the prior week. Full Story | Top |
| Turkish ruling party wants Erdogan presidential bid: officials Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:36 AM PDT  By Orhan Coskun ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's ruling party would overwhelmingly back Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's candidacy in the nation's first direct presidential election, senior officials said on Thursday, a move his opponents fear would feed his autocratic instincts. But Erdogan has said the popular vote will give the post more authority, and he has vowed to exercise its full powers if elected. A majority of the 300 deputies in Erdogan's AK Party voted in a secret ballot on Wednesday in favor of him running in the August presidential election, party officials told Reuters. His party's strong showing in local elections last month, despite a corruption scandal dogging his inner circle, has strengthened expectations he will do so. Full Story | Top |
| Clear Kiev protesters first, says pro-Russian sit-in group Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:28 AM PDT Pro-Russian separatists occupying a local government building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk said on Thursday they would not leave until supporters of Ukraine's new government quit their camp around Kiev's main square, known as the Maidan. Asked how his group would react to an international accord in Geneva under which the Ukrainian and Russian governments agreed that illegal occupations of buildings and squares must end, Alexander Zakharchenko, a protest leader inside the Donetsk regional government building, told Reuters by telephone: "If it means all squares and public buildings then I guess it should start with the Maidan in Kiev. Full Story | Top |
| Canada to evaluate fighter-jet options over next several weeks Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:27 AM PDT  By Randall Palmer OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian government will take several more weeks to evaluate its options for the much-delayed replacement of the country's CF-18 fighter jets, Public Works Minister Diane Finley said on Thursday. The decision boils down to whether to proceed with a single-source contract to Lockheed Martin Corp for 65 F-35 stealth fighters or to go with a tender that opens up the bidding to competitors. Lockheed Martin and three other companies have filled out initial reports, something short of formal bids, to the government on the capabilities and costs of their aircraft: - Boeing Co, which makes the F-18 Super Hornet - Dassault Aviation, which makes the Rafale - The Eurofighter Typhoon consortium, which includes BAE Systems, Airbus Group and Italy's Finmeccanica. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) evaluated the different fighters under the eye of an independent panel of experts, which Finley said ensures that the RCAF's review was "both rigorous and impartial". Full Story | Top |
| U.S., plaintiffs reach settlement on Iran-linked New York skyscraper Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:25 AM PDT  By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government has agreed to distribute proceeds from the sale of a Manhattan skyscraper linked to Iran to families who were affected by attacks aided by the Islamic republic, according to a court document filed Thursday. The settlement between the Department of Justice and the families marks the latest step in a long-running case over ties between the Manhattan building at 650 Fifth Avenue and Iran. The skyscraper was majority owned by the Alavi Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes Islamic culture and the Persian language. In a 2009 lawsuit, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office claimed the Alavi Foundation was controlled by Iran. Full Story | Top |
| Ex-BP employee settles SEC insider-trading oil spill case Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:19 AM PDT  By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former 20-year veteran of BP plc who oversaw the company's cleanup efforts from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will pay more than $224,000 to settle civil charges alleging he used non-public information about the disaster to commit insider-trading, U.S. regulators said on Thursday. The Securities and Exchange Commission said that Keith A. Seilhan, 47, will settle the case without admitting or denying the charges. Mary McNamara, an attorney for Seilhan, said four years had passed since the spill, and her client wanted to "avoid further distraction and protracted litigation" by settling the matter. "Mr. Seilhan is widely respected for his work helping to lead the cleanup and containment efforts in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010," McNamara added. Full Story | Top |
| Beau Biden, son of U.S. VP, to run for governor of Delaware Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:02 AM PDT  At least one member of the Biden family will be seeking higher office in 2016. Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, the son of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, said on Thursday he plans to run for governor of the Mid-Atlantic state. In a message to voters posted on his website, Biden, a Democrat like his father, said he would not be seeking re-election to a third term as Delaware attorney general. Beau Biden was elected attorney general in 2006, and in 2010, he decided not to run for the U.S. Senate seat from Delaware once held by his father. Full Story | Top |
| Burundi orders U.N. security adviser out after violence warning Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:01 AM PDT Burundi ordered a security adviser at the United Nations mission in the country to leave on Thursday, escalating a row that started with a warning by the U.N. last week of a possible outbreak of political violence. Government officials in the tiny central African state reacted angrily to the warning by the U.N. mission on Wednesday, saying it was baseless and had possibly been made to justify an extension of its mandate beyond its December expiry date. The warning was linked to a political crisis over planned changes to the constitution that could allow President Pierre Nkurunziza to run for a third term. "A senior security adviser for the UN mission in Burundi has 48 hours to leave the country," said Willy Nyamitwe, deputy spokesman for Burundi's president. Full Story | Top |
| New Hampshire lawmakers fail to pass death penalty repeal Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 09:58 AM PDT New Hampshire's Senate failed to repeal the death penalty on Thursday, in a vote that capped weeks of emotional debate while focusing attention on the state's lone death row inmate. The Senate deadlocked 12 to 12 on a bill to abolish capital punishment, meaning it did not pass. New Hampshire's House had earlier passed the bill, and first-term Governor Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, had said she would sign it. New Hampshire would have been the 19th state to scrap the death penalty under rising pressure from activists who contend that execution does not reduce crime and that innocent people are sometimes put to death. Full Story | Top |
| Ex-Goldman director Gupta to surrender June 17 in insider case Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 09:50 AM PDT  Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc director Rajat Gupta is expected to begin his two-year prison term on June 17 for insider trading. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan directed Gupta to surrender by 2:00 p.m. EDT on that date to start serving his sentence at an institution chosen by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, according to an order issued on Thursday. Gupta, 65, was convicted in June 2012 on securities fraud and conspiracy charges for having fed tips, from Goldman board meetings in the second half of 2008, to longtime friend Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund firm. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan had no immediate comment. Full Story | Top |
| West African Ebola outbreak caused by new strain of disease: study Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 09:30 AM PDT By Saliou Samb CONAKRY (Reuters) - An Ebola outbreak blamed for 135 deaths in West Africa in the past month was not imported from Central Africa but caused by a new strain of the disease, a study in a U.S. medical journal said, raising the specter of further regional epidemics. The spread of Ebola from a remote corner of Guinea to the capital and into neighboring Liberia, the first deadly outbreak reported in West Africa, has caused panic across a region struggling with weak healthcare systems and porous borders. Ebola is endemic to Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, South Sudan and Gabon, and scientists initially believed that Central Africa's Zaire strain of the virus was responsible for the outbreak. Full Story | Top |
| Putin talks tough on Ukraine but says he hopes for peace Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 09:29 AM PDT By Alissa de Carbonnel and Alexei Anishchuk MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine's leaders on Thursday of committing a "grave crime" by using the army to try to quell unrest in the east of the country, and did not rule out sending in Russian troops. But, addressing Russians in his annual televised phone-in, Putin said he hoped he would not need to take such a step, and that diplomacy could succeed in resolving the standoff, the worst crisis in East-West relations since the Cold War. The former KGB spy's rhetoric on the United States was, as is customary for him, firm and uncompromising, but he also gave clear signals that he did not want to get into a spiraling war of words with Washington. He said Russia has no interest in reviving Cold War-era divisions, even if it felt threatened by NATO's eastward expansion and was angered by U.S. interventions in Iraq, Libya and Syria that had gone ahead over the Kremlin's objections. Full Story | Top |
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