Other News

Britain to ban smoking in cars carrying children

LONDON Tue Feb 11, 2014 10:59am EST (Reuters) – Smoking will soon be banned in cars carrying children in Britain, the government said on Tuesday, under new laws aimed at reducing the effects of passive smoking on young people. The move comes after lobbying from health campaigners and the opposition Labour party, who cited research showing that smoking in cars exposed children to more concentrated smoke and caused health problems. The government confirmed it would […]

Algerian military plane crashes into mountain, 77 killed

By Lamine Chikhi OULED GACEM, Algeria Tue Feb 11, 2014 4:17pm EST (Reuters) – A military transport plane carrying members of the Algerian armed forces and their relatives crashed into a mountain on Tuesday, killing 77 people, the worst air disaster in the North African country in a decade. State television showed footage of the wreckage of the plane near the village of Ouled Gacem in eastern Algeria, smoke rising from the site and emergency […]

Alibaba to launch U.S. e-commerce website

(Reuters) – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is set to launch a U.S. e-commerce website through its subsidiaries Vendio and Auctiva, which are in turn part of the Alibaba.com business group, the company told Reuters on Tuesday. The 11 Main (11main.com) site is an online shopping businessthat offers “interesting, quality products” from “hand-picked shop owners” such as fashion, tech and jewelry goods. Alibaba has been ramping up its international expansion with various acquisitions, including leading a roughly $200 million investment […]

India returns to the Games as IOC lifts ban

(Reuters) – India has returned to the Olympic fold after the IOC lifted a ban on the country’s Olympic association on Tuesday, and its athletes will now be able to march behind the Indian flag at the closing ceremony of the Sochi Winter Games. The country’s athletes have been competing in Russia under the Olympic flag due to the suspension, imposed after it held a 2012 Indian Olympic Association (IOA) election in which a corruption-tainted […]

Barclays to cut 12,000 jobs, pays bigger bonuses

(Reuters) – Barclays said it would axe up to 12,000 jobs this year even as it raised bonuses for investment bankers, prompting fury among politicians and unions who said it had not learned the lessons of the financial crisis. Britain’s third-biggest bank said up to 9 percent of employees could go, including 7,000 in Britain, as it tries to lower costs. The cuts are not concentrated in any one business area. It said it paid […]

China, Taiwan agree to open offices after historic talks

(Reuters) – China and Taiwan, at odds for more than six decades, agreed at historic talks on Tuesday to set up representative offices as early as possible, though sensitive political issues like a formal peace treaty were not up for discussion. The talks between Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Minister Wang Yu-chi and China’s Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun, who heads the Taiwan Affairs Office, were the first since the 1949 creation of the People’s Republic of […]

Italy, U.S. police crack big mafia drug ring

(Reuters) – Police in Italy and New York broke up a major trans-Atlantic mafia ring on Tuesday, arresting 24 people accused of plotting to move hundreds of millions of dollars in drugs between South America, Italy and the United States. The sting operation involving undercover agents and wire taps offered more evidence the Calabria-based ‘Ndrangheta had overtaken its Sicilian cousin, the Cosa Nostra, and was trying to make inroads in the United States by forging ties with […]

Yellen says Fed on track to keep trimming stimulus

(Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Tuesday the U.S. central bank was on track to keep reducing its policy stimulus, even as she acknowledged the labor market recovery was “far from complete.” In her first public comments as Fed chief, Yellen said the central bank would need to keep its eye on a broad range of labor market indicators, not just the unemployment rate, as it continued to assess the health of […]

Shirley Temple, former Hollywood child star, dies at 85

(Reuters) – Shirley Temple Black, who lifted America’s spirits as a bright-eyed, dimpled child movie star during the Great Depression and later became a U.S. diplomat, died late on Monday evening at the age of 85, her family said in a statement. Temple Black, who lured millions to the movies in the 1930s, “peacefully passed away” at her Woodside, Calif., home from natural causes at 10:57 p.m. local time (0157 ET), surrounded by her family […]

Military plane crashes in eastern Algeria, 103 dead: TV

(Reuters) – A military transport plane carrying relatives of members of the armed forces crashed in eastern Algeria on Tuesday, killing 103 people, the private Ennahar TV station reported, citing “informed sources”. The plane crashed in a mountainous area in the Oum El Bouaghi province, about 500 km (300 miles) from the capital Algiers, the report said. A senior military official told the official APS news agency that 99 passengers and four crew members had […]

DOJ to file cases against lawmaker, 4 others for fake SAROs

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice will file cases of falsification of public documents before the Ombudsman against a lawmaker and four others who faked their Special Allotment Release Orders (SARO). Justice Secretary Leila de Lima identified the lawmaker to be charged as Aklan Rep. Teoderico Haresco Jr.  The four others who will also be charged are Mary Ann Castillo, a consultant of Haresco; Emmanuel Raza, congressional staff of Zamboanga City Rep. Lilia Nuno; Elvie Rafael, […]

Stolen 300-Year-Old Stradivarius Violin Recovered And Played In Wisconsin

(Reuters) — A Stradivarius violin worth millions of dollars, which was stolen from a concert violinist in an armed robbery in January and recovered by the police less than a week ago was back being used during a performance of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra on Monday (February 10). Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Frank Almond played his famous Stradivarius violin at the concert in the Brookfield auditorium where he was received by the public with a standing ovation, NBC News reported. The 300-year-old […]