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| World powers and Iran begin nuclear talks Monday, Feb 25, 2013 11:41 PM PST  ALMATY (Reuters) - World powers began talks with Iran on its nuclear program in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Tuesday, in a fresh attempt to resolve a decade-old standoff that threatens the Middle East with a new war. The six - United States, Russia, China, Britain, Germany and France - are expected to offer Tehran some sanctions relief if it curbs work which they suspect is intended to produce material for nuclear weapons, although Iran denies this. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rwanda names central banker as new finance minister in reshuffle Monday, Feb 25, 2013 11:07 PM PST KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda named the country's central bank governor Claver Gatete as finance minister in a cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday, a government website said. Gatete replaces John Rwangombwa, who takes over the position of governor at the National Bank of Rwanda in a direct swap. The website gave no reason for the reshuffle. Full Story | Top |
| REFILE-U.S. ex-basketball player Rodman bound for North Korea -AP Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10:49 PM PST SEOUL, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Retired U.S. basketball player Dennis Rodman is to visit North Korea to film a television documentary and will arrive in the capital Pyongyang on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. Rodman, now 51 years old, won five NBA championships in his prime, achieving a mix of fame and notoriety for his on- and off-court antics. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. ex-basketball player Rodman bound for North Korea: AP Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10:44 PM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - Retired U.S. basketball player Dennis Rodman is to visit North Korea to film a television documentary and will arrive in the capital Pyongyang on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. Rodman, now 51 years old, won five NBA championships in his prime, achieving a mix of fame and notoriety for his on- and off-court antics. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York assemblyman apologizes for blackface party costume Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10:28 PM PST (Reuters) - A state assemblyman apologized on Monday for donning blackface and wearing an Afro wig at a party celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim, a costume that drew criticism from fellow lawmakers and the Anti-Defamation League bias monitoring group. Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind of New York City, who had earlier defended the costume on his blog, said he did not mean to offend anyone with the outfit, which also included black sunglasses and an orange jersey. "It was not meant to offend anybody, it was not meant to hurt anybody. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy faces stalemate after election shock Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10:22 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - Italy faced political deadlock on Tuesday after a stunning election that saw the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo become the strongest party in the country but left no group with a clear majority in parliament. "The winner is: Ingovernability," was the headline in the Rome newspaper Il Messaggero, echoing the sentiment of a shock stalemate the country would have to confront in the next few weeks as sworn enemies would be forced to work together to form a government. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Korea firm had U.S. contract while investing in Iran gas: GAO Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10:10 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A South Korean construction company reported to have recently engaged in Iran's energy sector had a contract with the U.S. government even as Tehran came under pressure for its disputed nuclear program, a U.S. government watchdog said on Monday. Daelim Industrial Co had a nearly $1.5 million U.S. government contract to build family housing at a military base in South Korea at some point between mid-2011 and late 2012, the General Accountability Office said in a report on Monday. The GAO is the investigative arm of Congress. Under U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| DNA a civil rights issue in Supreme Court case Monday, Feb 25, 2013 10:07 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a case that spotlights the growing use of genetic data by law enforcement agencies, the Supreme Court will consider on Tuesday when a DNA sample may be taken from a suspect. Police and prosecutors in Maryland suffered a major setback when the state's court of appeals ruled in April 2012 that Alonzo King's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure was violated when he was required to provide his DNA upon being arrested. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rocket explodes in Israel, first attack from Gaza since truce Monday, Feb 25, 2013 09:50 PM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A rocket exploded in southern Israel on Tuesday in the first such attack by militants in the Hamas Islamist ruled Gaza Strip since a truce ended a week of cross-border fighting in November, Israeli police said. The rocket caused some damage to a road near the city of Ashkelon but no injuries, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. "An explosion was heard in the Ashkelon region experts searched areas experts and found one rocket that struck, damaging a road but causing no injuries," Rosenfeld said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic rebels threaten to resume fighting Monday, Feb 25, 2013 09:22 PM PST  BANGUI (Reuters) - Rebels in Central African Republic threatened on Monday to resume fighting, accusing President Francois Bozize of failing to honour a peace deal signed last month. Bozize agreed in mid-January to form a national unity government to end an insurgency which swept to within striking distance of Bangui, the capital of the mineral-rich former French colony. Opposition figures and members of the rebel Seleka coalition did take up key posts in that government in February - but the insurgents said they were still waiting for the president to free prisoners and meet other demands. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamists threaten to kill French kidnapped in Cameroon Monday, Feb 25, 2013 09:21 PM PST DAKAR (Reuters) - Gunmen claiming to be from Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram threatened on Monday to kill a kidnapped French family of seven if authorities in Nigeria and Cameroon do not release Muslim militants held there. French ministers said they believed the three adults and four children seized in Cameroon's far north near the Nigerian border on Tuesday were being held by Boko Haram, which has killed hundreds in an attempt to establish an Islamist state in Nigeria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tribal clashes in Sudan's Darfur kill more than 500: MP Monday, Feb 25, 2013 09:19 PM PST KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Fighting over control of a gold mine in Sudan's Darfur region has killed more than 500 people and destroyed 68 villages since January, a Sudanese lawmaker said on Monday, sharply increasing estimates of the casualties from the violence. Law and order has collapsed across the arid western region since mainly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the Arab-led government in Khartoum in 2003, accusing it of neglecting Darfur. ... Full Story | Top |
| UN chief calls for special force to combat Congo rebels Monday, Feb 25, 2013 09:18 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon will urge the Security Council to approve a force to fight rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a draft report seen on Monday, which also applauded suspension of aid to Rwanda over claims it backs the insurgents. In the draft of a special report to the 15-member council, Ban said a brigade of several thousand soldiers should be created within the existing U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo, known as MONUSCO, and be deployed initially for one year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia arrests suspect in killing that sparked unrest Monday, Feb 25, 2013 09:17 PM PST  TUNIS (Reuters) - A hardline Islamist has been arrested in connection with the killing of a Tunisian opposition politician whose death earlier this month touched off protests across the country, a security source said on Monday. Tunisia was plunged into political crisis when the secular opposition politician Chokri Belaid was gunned down outside his house on February 6, igniting the biggest street protests since the overthrow of strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali two years ago. "The police arrested a Salafist suspected of killing Belaid," the source told Reuters without giving more details. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bernanke to face Fed critics in testimony to Congress Monday, Feb 25, 2013 09:06 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faces the first of two days of congressional testimony that will subject the Fed's controversial bond-buying program to tough scrutiny and gauge his confidence in the resilience of the U.S. economy. Coming just a week after the Fed's meeting minutes sent U.S. stocks reeling by suggesting the central bank could pull back its economic stimulus earlier than had been expected, and a day after another sharp stock market drop, investors are certain to hang on every word. Beginning with the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Idaho braces for battle over legalizing medical marijuana Monday, Feb 25, 2013 08:35 PM PST SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Idaho, a state known more for growing potatoes than marijuana, is bracing for a battle to legalize medical marijuana, as a growing number of U.S. states permit pot for both health and recreational use. The Idaho Senate on Monday made its position clear with a 29-5 vote against allowing marijuana for even medical uses in the conservative state. The resolution, which will now go to the state House of Representatives, is only a political gesture. Marijuana is already illegal under both state and federal law. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House steps up campaign to avoid spending cuts Monday, Feb 25, 2013 08:02 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House escalated a campaign on Monday to convince Americans dire consequences await if government spending cuts go ahead on March 1, warning of a slowdown in global trade, a stalled fight against cancer and Alzheimer's disease and compromised security at U.S. borders. At the same time, prominent Republicans said President Barack Obama was overstating the potential damage of the $85 billion in government-wide cuts to frighten the public. "There is a responsible way to cut less than 3 percent of the federal budget. ... Full Story | Top |
| Powers to offer sanctions relief if Iran curbs nuclear program Monday, Feb 25, 2013 07:46 PM PST ALMATY (Reuters) - Major powers will offer Iran some sanctions relief during talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan, this week if Tehran agrees to curb its nuclear program, a U.S. official said on Monday. But the Islamic Republic could face more economic pain if it fails to address international concerns about its atomic activities, the official said ahead of the February 26-27 meeting in the central Asian state, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There will be continued sanctions enforcement ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida town remembers Trayvon Martin a year after killing Monday, Feb 25, 2013 07:40 PM PST  SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - A year after the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in this central Florida town, there is a small memorial, a new police chief and an effort to improve race relations. Trayvon Martin, 17, was gunned down on February 26, 2012, as he walked to his father's fiancee's home in one of Sanford's gated communities. The man accused of his killing, George Zimmerman, 28, a white Hispanic on neighborhood watch, is set to be tried on June 10. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee drops bin Laden film probe Monday, Feb 25, 2013 07:36 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One day after "Zero Dark Thirty" failed to win major awards at the Oscars, a congressional aide said on Monday the Senate Intelligence Committee has closed its inquiry into the filmmakers' contacts with the Central Intelligence Agency. The intelligence committee gathered more information from the CIA and will not take further action, according to the aide, who requested anonymity. Sony Pictures Entertainment, which distributed the film in the United States, said it was in touch with the filmmakers but had no immediate comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| GM seeks approval to pay CEO $11.1 million: CNBC Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:48 PM PST  (Reuters) - General Motors Co wants to pay its chief executive, Dan Akerson, $11.1 million this year, CNBC reported, citing related documents. If the U.S. government approve the plan, Akerson's annual compensation would increase more than 20 percent compared to last year, the report said. (http://link.reuters.com/meg36t) Compensation of GM executives is governed by a special paymaster from the federal government as part of provisions put in place after GM's U.S.-funded bankruptcy restructuring in 2009. No determinations has yet been made for 2013 compensation, a U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop dies at 96 Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:45 PM PST  (Reuters) - Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, whose anti-smoking campaign and outspoken, controversial positions on abortion, AIDS and drugs, elevated the obscure post to one of national influence, died at his home in Hanover, New Hampshire, on Monday. He was 96 years old. Koop, a pediatric surgeon, served as the leading U.S. spokesman on public health matters and adviser to President Ronald Reagan from November 1981 until October 1989. His death was announced by Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, where he founded the C. Everett Koop Institute. "Dr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria says ready to talk with armed opposition Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:25 PM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria is ready for talks with its armed opponents, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Monday, in the clearest offer yet to negotiate with rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad. But Moualem said at the same time Syria would pursue its fight "against terrorism," alluding to the conflict in which the United Nations says 70,000 people have been killed. His offer of talks drew a dismissive response from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was starting a nine-nation tour of European and Arab capitals in London. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia to send committee for release of German hostages Monday, Feb 25, 2013 06:12 PM PST  BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government on Monday authorized a committee of civilians and Red Cross officials to travel to a jungle zone where it hopes two German hostages will be freed by the nation's second-largest guerrilla group. The National Liberation Army (ELN) said in early February they had captured two German men in Catatumbo, near the border with Venezuela, the second time in a month it seized foreigners. "They sent us a message saying that if we authorized the Red Cross and a committee that already exists to interact with the ELN ... ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. gives banking green light to Myanmar tycoons Monday, Feb 25, 2013 05:53 PM PST  YANGON (Reuters) - Two banks owned by tycoons associated with Myanmar's former military regime will start to do business with U.S. companies and investors in the latest reward for the Southeast Asian country's rapid political transformation. The U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday it would issue a general licence for four of Myanmar's biggest banks -- Myanma Economic Bank, Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank, Asia Green Development Bank and Ayeyarwady Bank -- allowing U.S. companies and citizens to deal with them. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama to meet leading Republicans McCain, Graham on Tuesday Monday, Feb 25, 2013 05:40 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will meet leading Senate Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham on Tuesday to discuss immigration reform efforts and could also delve into across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect on Friday. Obama's meeting with the two U.S. senators, part of a bipartisan "Gang of Eight" working to craft immigration legislation, was described by a White House official on Monday as focused on that issue. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House will soon revive cybersecurity legislation push Monday, Feb 25, 2013 05:10 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A senior adviser to President Barack Obama said the White House will soon renew efforts to push cybersecurity legislation through Congress, though he foresaw an uphill battle given the failure of the last attempt. Daniel said the White House has begun drafting "key legislative principles" for a new bill that it believes can pass both the House and Senate this time. "We very much want a bill," White House cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel told Reuters while in San Francisco to meet industry experts and business leaders at a security conference. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senators urge EU to plug ECB loophole in Iran sanctions Monday, Feb 25, 2013 05:03 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senators on Monday urged European Union leaders to do more to stop the Iranian government from using the European Central Bank, saying the bank's payment system may inadvertently be aiding Tehran in financing its nuclear program. On the eve of talks between Western powers and Iran, lawmakers told the EU's leadership in a letter that Iran may be circumventing American and European sanctions by using the central bank to convert euros into local currency and conduct trade. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's center left to win lower house, Senate deadlocked Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:43 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Italy's center-left coalition will win a majority in the lower house of parliament but the upper house will be deadlocked, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday after almost all votes were counted. After 99.9 percent of the polling booths had been tallied, the center-left led the center-right by about 125,000 votes in the lower house, handing it a sizeable majority thanks to a generous winner's bonus. But the Senate was a different story. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Castro successor lacks charisma but is experienced manager Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:37 PM PST  HAVANA (Reuters) - When Cuban President Raul Castro named former engineering professor and long-time Communist Party insider Miguel Diaz-Canel as his first vice president and potential successor on Sunday, he chose managerial skills over flair. Diaz-Canel, 52, is the youngest non-military man to come so close to the pinnacle of power in Cuba since the Castro brothers took power in 1959. He was appointed first vice president on Sunday at a meeting of the National Assembly where Castro also announced he would step down in 2018 at the end of his second five-year term as president. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suspect in Las Vegas Strip shooting has criminal history Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:19 PM PST  (Reuters) - The prime suspect in the slaying of an aspiring rapper who was shot and killed while driving a Maserati on the Las Vegas Strip has a long criminal history, with prior arrests on charges that include robbery, sexual assault and kidnapping, police said on Monday. Four days after the shooting touched off a fiery pre-dawn crash at the heart of the Las Vegas Strip that also killed a taxi driver and his passenger, police said they were now seeking help from the public in finding 26-year-old Ammar Harris. ... Full Story | Top |
| California couple vanishes during cycling trip in Peru Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:09 PM PST (Reuters) - Authorities in Peru have launched a search for a California couple reported missing while on a cycling trip through the Andean country in an area where U.S. citizens have been warned of kidnapping risks, U.S. Embassy officials in Lima said on Monday. Families of the couple, Garrett Hand and Jamie Neal, said they last heard from the pair on January 25, a day before they were expected to arrive in Lima after a journey of several hundred miles from Cusco, in the country's mountainous interior southeast of the capital, the embassy said in a statement. "Embassy officers are ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Oxfam slates AB Foods on development impact, praises Nestle Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:03 PM PST  ZURICH (Reuters) - Associated British Foods scored lowest among 10 of the top food and beverage companies assessed for their social and environmental impact on poor countries, development group Oxfam said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Nestle and Unilever ranked highest for their policies on seven areas assessed by Oxfam as critical to sustainable agriculture: women, small-scale farmers, farm workers, water, land, climate change and transparency. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama urged to back tough arms trade treaty at U.N. talks Monday, Feb 25, 2013 04:02 PM PST  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Three dozen arms control and human rights groups have written to U.S. President Barack Obama ahead of new arms-trade negotiations at the United Nations next month, urging him to back a tough treaty that would end loopholes in international weapons sales. Arms control campaigners say one person every minute dies worldwide as a result of armed violence and a convention is needed to prevent the unregulated and illicit flow of weapons into conflict zones and fueling wars and atrocities. The U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House mulls new global food aid approach: send cash Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:57 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House may soon propose the biggest change in U.S. food aid since the programs were created during the Cold War - donating cash for hunger relief instead of shipping American-grown food thousands of miles to global trouble spots, say farm groups and charities. Reformers have argued for years that cash donations, the method used by most nations, are more efficient and speedier. But food donation has been the favored U.S. approach since the Food for Peace program was enacted in 1954. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Obama spending cuts strategy focused on waiting game Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:52 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House, while advancing an aggressive public relations campaign to highlight the damaging effects of $85 billion in automatic spending cuts, is largely resigned to the fact that they will go into effect on Friday. With no deal expected in the few days remaining until the cuts kick in, President Barack Obama is pursuing a strategy aimed at generating outrage among Americans that he hopes will force Republicans to come to the negotiating table and agree to his demand for higher taxes after the cuts go into place. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York "Cannibal Cop" trial opens; suspect's dark fantasies cited Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:51 PM PST  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York City police officer accused of plotting to kidnap and cannibalize women had been having dark fantasies since he was a teenager, but had no intention of ever turning those thoughts into reality, his attorney said on Monday at the start of his federal trial. Attorney Julia Gatto also said that Officer Gilberto Valle, who faces 20 years to life in prison if convicted, talked online about torturing his own wife and her female friends and colleagues. ... Full Story | Top |
| After manhunt, L.A. police again have an image problem Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:40 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles' police chief promised an investigation. City residents promised a protest. At a recent town hall meeting, Charlie Beck vowed to uncover the truth behind former officer Christopher Dorner's charges of racism in his Los Angeles Police Department. As Beck spoke, a flier circulated the mostly black audience. It bore Dorner's smiling face, belying the police's image of him as a ruthless killer. ... Full Story | Top |
| Illinois' unpaid bills could soar to $21.7 billion in five years: report Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:35 PM PST CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois' stack of overdue bills could nearly triple to $21.7 billion in five years unless the state takes action to curb its public pension costs, a financial watchdog group said on Monday. "Lawmakers need to adopt a long-term mindset and restructure the unaffordable pension systems that are keeping the state in its fiscal downspin," Lawrence Msall, president of the Chicago-based Civic Federation, said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Goldman ex-director Gupta must repay bank $6.22 million Monday, Feb 25, 2013 03:23 PM PST  (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday ordered former Goldman Sachs Group Inc director Rajat Gupta to reimburse $6.22 million to help the Wall Street bank cover its legal expenses related to his criminal insider trading case. Goldman had sought to recover $6.91 million, and U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said the bank had proved it was entitled to 90 percent of what it requested. ... Full Story | Top |
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