Friday, May 31, 2013

Daily News: Reuters News Headlines - Ricin attack puts spotlight on Bloomberg's gun control push

Thursday, May 30, 2013 06:20 PM PDT
Today's Reuters News Headlines - Yahoo! News:

Ricin attack puts spotlight on Bloomberg's gun control push 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 06:20 PM PDT
New York City Mayor Bloomberg exits following speech to Real Estate Board of New York in New YorkBy Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Letters laced with the deadly poison ricin sent to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the lobbying organization Mayors Against Illegal Guns illustrate how the group has emerged as a focal point of anger for opponents of gun control. Three letters containing an "oily substance" that turned out to be ricin were intercepted on their way to Bloomberg's office and the mayors group. A similar envelope was sent to President Barack Obama, the Secret Service confirmed on Thursday. ...
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Embattled IRS staff remain in jobs despite U.S. tax review scandal 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 03:57 PM PDT
A woman walks out of the Internal Revenue Service building in New YorkBy Kim Dixon WASHINGTON (Reuters) - They've been scorned in televised congressional hearings for unfairly abusing tax laws, threatened with questioning in a criminal investigation and accused of using federal jobs to push a political agenda. At this point in the saga surrounding the Internal Revenue Service and its use of "Tea Party" and other search terms to flag conservative groups while reviewing their applications for tax-exempt status, all of the employees caught up in the scandal are still drawing federal paychecks. ...
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Michigan woman dies in Syria fighting for opposition: family 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:05 PM PDT
(Reuters) - A 33-year-old Michigan woman and convert to Islam has been killed in Syria while fighting with opposition forces against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war, her family said on Thursday. The woman's aunt told Reuters that the FBI had informed her on Thursday afternoon of the death of her niece, Nicole Mansfield of Flint, but said she did not have the details of how she died. "I'm just devastated," said the aunt, Monica Mansfield Speelman. "Evidently, she was fighting with opposition forces. ...
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Moscow suggests missiles have yet to reach Assad 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 02:59 PM PDT
Damaged mosque is seen in Qusair village, where forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebel forces have been fightingBy Mariam Karouny and Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday Moscow was still committed to sending him advanced anti-aircraft weapons, although a source close to the Russian defense ministry said the missiles had yet to arrive. The prospect of the missiles arriving is a serious worry for Western and regional countries opposing Assad which have called on Moscow not to send them. ...
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TUI Travel to buy 60 new Boeing aircraft worth $6 billion 
Friday, May 31, 2013 12:08 AM PDT
The Boeing logo is seen at their headquarters in ChicagoLONDON (Reuters) - British travel firm TUI Travel has agreed a deal to buy 60 of Boeing's 737 MAX jets with an option to buy a further 90 more of the fuel-efficient aircraft. TUI Travel, which operates Britain's Thomson Airways, said on Friday the initial deal for 60 planes, powered by CFM International's LEAP-1B engines, had been secured at a "significant discount to the list price" of $6.09 billion. ...
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U.S. Secret Service says threatening letter sent to Obama 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 07:15 PM PDT
U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the rebuilding of the Jersey Shore following Hurricane Sandy, from Asbury Park in New JerseyWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Authorities intercepted a threatening letter addressed to U.S. President Barack Obama that was similar to ones sent to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Secret Service said on Thursday. Letters sent to Bloomberg and his gun control group contained material believed to be the deadly poison ricin and contained a reference to gun control, New York police said on Wednesday. A Secret Service official said the letter sent to the White House was similar but did not elaborate. ...
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After tour abroad, dissident blogger Sanchez returns to Cuba 
Friday, May 31, 2013 12:09 AM PDT
Cuba's best-known dissident, blogger Yoani Sanchez, speaks to reporters outside Havana's Jose Marti International AirportBy Jeff Franks HAVANA (Reuters) - Dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez, wearing a brightly colored dress and a big smile, returned on Thursday to the homeland she both loves and lambastes, after more than three months on a tour through the Americas and Europe. Her family and about a dozen supporters applauded loudly and shouted "welcome home" as she emerged from the customs area at the Havana airport With tears in her eyes, she hugged them all as curious Cubans awaiting other passengers looked on and asked reporters who she was. ...
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Hunters for Amelia Earhart plane wreckage excited by sonar image 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 07:06 PM PDT
The reef at Nikumaroro, Republic of Kiribati is pictured in 1937 handout photographBy Malia Mattoch McManus HONOLULU (Reuters) - A team of researchers seeking to solve the mystery of aviator Amelia Earhart's 1937 disappearance say a sonar image taken from just beyond the shore of a remote Pacific island could be a piece of wreckage from her plane. A forensic imaging specialist for a research team that conducted a $2.2 million expedition to the island of Nikumaroro searching for Earhart's plane last year said the image could represent a wing or part of the fuselage from Earhart's aircraft. ...
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Nigeria arrests Lebanese suspected of Hezbollah ties 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:36 AM PDT
By Chukwuemeka Madu KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian authorities said on Thursday they had arrested three Lebanese in northern Nigeria on suspicion of being members of Hezbollah and that a raid on one of their residences had revealed a stash of heavy weapons. The three suspects were arrested between May 16 and May 28 in the north's biggest city Kano, the city's military spokesman Captain Ikedichi Iweha said in a statement. All had admitted to being members of Hezbollah under questioning. ...
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Boston rockers play fundraiser for bomb victims 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 09:56 PM PDT
Singer Joey McIntyre performs during the Boston Strong benefit concert at the Boston TD Garden in BostonBy Richard Valdmanis BOSTON (Reuters) - A succession of all-star bands from Aerosmith to Jimmy Buffet rocked a packed house at Boston's TD Garden on Thursday night in a mostly raucous fund-raiser for the victims of last month's marathon bombing. Tickets priced between $35 and $285 sold out fast at the 17,500-seat venue, with net proceeds to be donated to The One Fund, a reserve established by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick that has so far received more than $37 million in donations to compensate victims of the April 15 bombing. ...
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U.N. concerned about North Korean defectors in China 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:32 AM PDT
A North Korean flag on a tower flutters in the wind at a North Korean village near the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in this picture taken just south of the border, in PajuGENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations human rights investigator and the U.N. refugee agency voiced concern on Thursday about the fate of nine North Korean defectors, some of them children, who were sent back to China this week from Laos after trying to cross the border. Chinese authorities are obliged under international law not to return them to North Korea, where they could face persecution and possibly death, Marzuki Darusman, U.N. special rapporteur on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said. ...
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War crimes court acquits two ex-Serbian security officials 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 10:14 AM PDT
Former state security chief Jovica Stanisic, left, and former paramilitary leader Franko Simatovic, right, await their judgment at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal (ICTY) in The Hague, Netherlands, Thursday May 30, 2013. The ICTY is set to deliver verdicts in the trial of two senior Serb security officials accused of supporting rebels who murdered Muslims and Croats in Bosnia's 1992-95 war. (AP Photo/Martijn Beekman, Pool)By Thomas Escritt THE HAGUE (Reuters) - International judges on Thursday acquitted two former Serbian secret police officials of involvement in war crimes committed in Bosnia and Croatia, in a ruling welcomed by Serbia but received with disbelief by victims of wartime atrocities. The acquittal means no Belgrade government official has been convicted of crimes committed during the war in Bosnia, which claimed more than 100,000 lives over three years to 1995. ...
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Threatening letter sent to Obama, U.S. Secret Service says 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 01:18 PM PDT
U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the rebuilding of the Jersey Shore following Hurricane Sandy, from Asbury Park in New JerseyWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Authorities intercepted a threatening letter addressed to President Barack Obama that was similar to ones sent to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Secret Service said on Thursday. Letters sent to Bloomberg and his gun control group contained material believed to be the deadly poison ricin and contained a reference to gun control, New York police said on Wednesday. A Secret Service official said the White House letter was similar but did not elaborate. ...
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Germans irked as Hollande says EU cannot dictate French reforms 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:02 AM PDT
France's President Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a joint news conference at the Elysee Palace in ParisBy Mark John and Andreas Rinke PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande pledged on Thursday to carry out long overdue reforms of France's pension system and labor markets but said it was up to Paris, not the European Commission, to determine how they are implemented. At a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Hollande defended his comment that the EU executive cannot "dictate" reforms to member states - a defiant, nationalist tone that angered Germany's ruling conservatives. ...
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Baghdad bombs kill 25 in Sunni-Shi'te bloodletting 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 09:29 AM PDT
Residents gather at the site of a car bomb attack in BaghdadBy Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A series of bombs battered Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim neighborhoods across Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 25 people in the worst wave of sectarian violence since civil war five years ago. The bloodletting reflects increasing conflict between Iraq's majority Shi'ite leadership and the Sunni minority, many of whom feel unfairly marginalized since the 2003 fall of strongman Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. ...
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First quarter GDP revised slightly lower; austerity bites 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 06:14 PM PDT
A man pushes his shopping cart down an aisle at a Home Depot store in New YorkBy Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A drop in government spending dragged more on the U.S. economy than initially thought in the first three months of the year, although consumer spending looked relatively resilient to Washington's austerity drive. Other reports on Thursday showed the number of new jobless claims rose modestly last week while contracts on previously owned homes climbed to a three-year high in April. Together, the reports pointed to an economy that has held up reasonably well despite government constraints, but nevertheless faced headwinds severe enough to dissuade the U.S. ...
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Ricin attack puts spotlight on Bloomberg's gun control push 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 03:39 PM PDT
New York City Mayor Bloomberg exits following speech to Real Estate Board of New York in New YorkBy Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Letters laced with the deadly poison ricin sent to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the lobbying organization Mayors Against Illegal Guns illustrate how the group has emerged as a focal point of anger for opponents of gun control. Three letters containing an "oily substance" that turned out to be ricin were intercepted on their way to Bloomberg's office and the mayors group. A similar envelope was sent to President Barack Obama, the Secret Service confirmed on Thursday. ...
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First quarter GDP revised slightly lower; austerity bites 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 09:03 AM PDT
FILE - In this Aug. 14, 2012, file photo, a customer walks past building products at a Home Depot store in Nashville, Tenn. A boost from the gradually recovering housing market helped Home Depot's net income edge up in its fiscal third quarter_the world's biggest home-improvement retailer said Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012, that its net income rose to $947 million, or 63 cents per share for quarter that ended Oct. 28. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A drop in government spending dragged more on the U.S. economy than initially thought in the first three months of the year, although consumer spending looked relatively resilient to Washington's austerity drive. Other reports on Thursday showed the number of new jobless claims rose modestly last week while contracts on previously owned homes climbed to a three-year high in April. Together, the reports pointed to an economy that has held up reasonably well despite government constraints, but nevertheless faced headwinds severe enough to dissuade the U.S. ...
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Egyptian draft law dashes hopes of free civil society: activists 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 09:16 AM PDT
Handout picture showing Egyptian President Mursi speaking in a conference and exhibition organised by civil society organizations in CairoCAIRO (Reuters) - A law drafted by the Egyptian presidency for regulating non-governmental organizations dashes hopes for a free civil society after the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. President Mohamed Mursi has said the bill submitted to the Muslim Brotherhood-led parliament on Wednesday would liberate a civil society that was stifled by Mubarak, who was toppled by an uprising ignited by democracy activists. Human Rights Watch said the new draft was "hostile to the very notion of independent civil society". ...
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Could youth vote stir up next European elections? 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 07:34 AM PDT
Unemployed youths hold a banner before the start of a protest march in central LondonBy Anders Melin BRUSSELS (Reuters) - For decades, elections to the European Parliament have been dismissed as secondary affairs, with turnout declining at every ballot since direct polling began in 1979. But frustration with how Europe's leaders have handled the economic crisis over the past three years, increased political engagement by young voters and the growing influence of the parliament itself could be about to change that. The next election is still a year away, in May 2014. But already Europe's major political blocs are jockeying for position and staking out issues. ...
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Obama administration extends life of anti-foreclosure program 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 07:30 AM PDT
Overgrown trees and shrubs line the driveway to a foreclosed home in Cape CoralWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Thursday said it was extending the life of its signature foreclosure-prevention program by two years to help more struggling borrowers keep their homes. The Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, was to expire at the end of this year. When it was unveiled in 2009, the administration estimated it would help 3 million to 4 million homeowners avoid foreclosure by reworking loan terms. So far, however, only about 1.1 million homeowners have benefited from a permanent mortgage modification under the program. ...
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Analysis: Hungary hails victory of 'Orbanomics' but there's a cost 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 05:13 AM PDT
Hungarian Prime Minister Orban delivers a speech at a foundation stone laying ceremony for a new division of the Knorr-Bremse factory in KecskemetBy Krisztina Than and Michael Winfrey BUDAPEST/PRAGUE (Reuters) - The leaflets dropping into Hungarians' mailboxes this month told citizens the economy has turned a corner, whatever foreign critics might think. Emblazoned with the red, white and green of the national flag, the government-funded brochure hailed the steps conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban had taken. "Hungary is doing better," it read. ...
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Hollande reform defiance sparks German anger 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 05:07 AM PDT
France's President Hollande waits for a guest at the Elysee Palace in ParisBy Mark John and Andreas Rinke PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande's insistence that the EU executive can't "dictate" reforms to France has outraged Angela Merkel's conservatives, hours before the German leader was due in Paris for talks. Unveiling reform recommendations for the 27-nation European Union on Wednesday, the European Commission urged Hollande to rein in public spending, revamp pensions and cut labor costs in return for a two-year reprieve on budget deficit cuts. ...
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China says it has no need to steal U.S. military secrets 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 04:55 AM PDT
A Chinese People's Liberation Army soldier stands guard in front of 'Unit 61398' in the outskirts of ShanghaiBEIJING (Reuters) - China's Defense Ministry dismissed as ridiculous on Thursday a U.S. report that Chinese hackers have gained access to designs of more than two dozen major U.S. weapons systems, saying the country needed no outside help for its military development. The Washington Post cited a U.S. Defense Science Board report as saying that the compromised U.S. designs included those for combat aircraft and ships, as well as missile defenses vital for Europe, Asia and the Gulf. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng dismissed the report, which the Pentagon and other U.S. ...
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Exclusive: Japan public pension mulls shift after stock rally - sources 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 03:39 AM PDT
A man is reflected in an electronic board outside a brokerage in TokyoBy Chikafumi Hodo TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's public pension fund - a pool of over $1 trillion - is considering a change to its portfolio strategy that could allow its investment in domestic stocks to grow with a rallying market, according to people familiar with the deliberations. The changes, yet to be finalized, would mark the most significant revision in investment strategy for the world's largest pension fund since 2006 and highlight the game-changing economic policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. ...
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Pakistani Taliban pick new number two after drone strike: sources 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 03:17 AM PDT
By Saud Mehsud DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani Taliban militants have chosen a new deputy commander to replace their previous second-in-command who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in the North Waziristan region, sources in the militant group said on Thursday. The previous deputy commander, Wali-ur-Rehman, was killed in an attack by a missile-firing U.S. drone aircraft in the militant stronghold of North Waziristan, on northwest Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, on Wednesday, Pakistani security officials and militants said. ...
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Crisis states lead way as euro zone's economic mood brightens 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 03:46 AM PDT
A women holding an umbrella stands in front of the Austrian central bank in ViennaBy Martin Santa BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Confidence in the euro zone economy grew by more than expected in May, with hope that the worst of the crisis may be over spreading to countries that have been on its frontline. Economic morale in the 17 states that use the euro increased by 0.8 point to 89.4, the European Commission said. Economists polled by Reuters had expected an increase to 89.0. "This is in line with a moderate improvement, but we need to see this sustained," said Francois Cabau, an economist at Barclays Capital. "We also need to see this translate into the real growth. ...
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Troops patrol Myanmar city after violence, Muslims hide 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 02:59 AM PDT
Motorcycles and houses destroyed in a fire after a riot between Muslims and Buddhist are seen in Lashio townshipBy Jared Ferrie LASHIO, Myanmar (Reuters) - Hundreds of Muslim families sheltered in a heavily guarded Buddhist monastery on Thursday after two days of violence in the northern Myanmar city of Lashio left Muslim properties in ruins and raised alarm over a widening religious conflict. About 1,200 Muslims were taken to Mansu Monastery after Buddhist mobs terrorized the city on Wednesday, a move that could signal the resolve of a government criticized for its slow response to previous religious violence. ...
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Assad says Syria received Russian missile shipment: Lebanese media 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 05:40 AM PDT
A Shi'ite anti-government protester holds up a poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a demonstration against Israeli air strikes in Syria, in SanaaBEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria has received the first shipment of a sophisticated air defense system from Russia, President Bashar al-Assad was quoted as saying, sending a signal of military strength days before an EU arms embargo on the country lapses. Russia had promised delivery of the S-300 missile system to the Syrian government despite Western objections, saying the move would help stabilize the regional balance at a time of insurgency in Syria waged by Western-backed rebels. ...
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Chinese media rejects accusation of pressure on EU in solar row 
Thursday, May 30, 2013 03:29 AM PDT
Employees work on a solar panel production line at Suntech Power Holdings headquarters in WuxiBy Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese state media rejected on Thursday European accusations that China was pressuring the European Union to drop plans to impose import duties on Chinese solar panels, adding EU member states had a right to disagree with the tariff. The EU's trade chief, Karel De Gucht, bluntly told China this week it was wasting its time trying to put pressure on him to drop the duties plans. But in a statement carried by the official Xinhua news agency and posted on the Chinese government's main website (www.gov.cn), China's mission to the EU denied it was doing that. ...
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