General news

• Obama takes aim at brokers' fees on U.S. retirement accounts

  23-02-2015 23:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jeff Mason and Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. brokers and financial advisers would face new constraints under a plan President Barack Obama put forward on Monday to reduce conflicts of interest and "hidden fees" that cost Americans billions of dollars in retirement savings every year. In proposing the rules, Obama said he sought to protect Americans from being steered into costly retirement investments that produced high commissions for brokers but low returns for invest
  
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• Japan Post privatisation moves closer

  23-02-2015 23:59
  
  Parts of much-loved postal business are be taken public this year, with proceeds going toward rebuilding areas devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunamiIt is 140 years old, one of the world’s largest financial bodies and a much-loved Japanese national institution. And soon, investors will have the opportunity to claim a stake of their own.Plans to float part of Japan Post’s business, which were announced in December, represent the culmination of a lengthy process with much at stake polit
  
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• Canada: Oil train accident shows new safety rules inadequate

  23-02-2015 23:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  TORONTO (AP) — A fiery oil train derailment in Ontario this month suggests new safety requirements for tank cars carrying flammable liquids are inadequate, Canada's transport safety board announced Monday.
  
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• Ferguson lawyer to represent slain Mexican man's family

  23-02-2015 23:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  PASCO, Wash. (AP) — The high-profile attorney for the family of a black teenager killed by an officer in Ferguson, Missouri, says he's representing the parents of an unarmed Mexican man who was shot to death by police this month in Washington state.
  
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• Oscars TV ratings slump

  23-02-2015 23:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  TV ratings for the Oscars' US telecast fell 16 percent from last year, according to figures published Monday, amid lukewarm reviews for the show and its first-time host. Sunday night's show averaged 36.6 million viewers, down from 43.7 million in 2014, according to Nielsen ratings cited by industry journal Variety, which noted that the total viewer count was the lowest in six years. Also, granted, Neil Patrick Harris had a tough act to follow: last year's host Ellen DeGeneres powe
  
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• California congressman wants hearing on superbug outbreak

  23-02-2015 23:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California congressman wants an investigation into what the Food and Drug Administration is doing to prevent additional superbug infections after a deadly outbreak at a Los Angeles hospital linked to contaminated medical scopes.
  
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• Burberry hosts starry show at London Fashion Week

  23-02-2015 23:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LONDON (AP) — London Fashion Week rolled out the big guns Monday, with British design powerhouse Burberry hosting the glitziest catwalk show of the season. Hunter, the maker of the classic Wellington boots, evoked wild Scottish countryside with indoor waterfalls, while Christopher Kane seduced with clothes featuring nude life drawings.
  
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• NASCAR got the drama-free Daytona 500 it needed

  23-02-2015 23:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — It was a bumpy buildup to the Daytona 500, which for days was overshadowed by disputes, drama, an injury to Kyle Busch and the suspension of his older brother, Kurt.
  
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• Ice storm hits parts of Texas, canceling flights, crippling traffic

  23-02-2015 23:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Lisa Maria Garza DALLAS (Reuters) - An ice storm battered parts of Texas on Monday, knocking out power to thousands of homes, causing hundreds of traffic accidents and prompting more than 1,500 flight cancellations. A large section of the U.S. South from Arkansas to North Carolina was expected to experience freezing temperatures and winter storms on Monday, the National Weather Service said. Snow and freezing rain fell in parts of New Mexico, and Colorado, Utah and northern Arizona were also
  
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• Report: Netanyahu, Mossad at odds over nuclear Iran

  23-02-2015 23:39 via edition.cnn.com
  
  Publicly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the case in 2012 that Iran was drawing dangerously close to building a nuclear weapon.
  
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• Trial nears in high-profile Silicon Valley sex bias case

  23-02-2015 23:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Lawyers began picking a jury Monday to determine whether a venerable Silicon Valley venture capital firm is liable in a sexual harassment and gender discrimination lawsuit or is the victim of a former employee forced out because of poor performance.
  
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• Maldives' former president Mohamed Nasheed dragged into court by police - video

  23-02-2015 23:26
  
  Police forcibly drag the Maldives' former president and opposition leader, Mohamed Nasheed, into court in the capital Malé on Monday, after he was arrested on terrorism charges. The court has refused Nasheed bail and denied access to his lawyers, his party says. Nasheed told the court that his arm hurt after police pushed him violently to the ground. But the bench of three judges brushed aside his complaints Continue reading...
  
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• Judge tells Chris Christie: Put more money in pension funds

  23-02-2015 23:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Republican Gov. Chris Christie and the state's Democrat-controlled Legislature must find $1.57 billion to put into pension funds for retired public workers, a judge ruled Monday in a decision that comes as a major blow to the governor as he prepares to run for president.
  
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• French president pledges to protect Jewish community

  23-02-2015 23:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  PARIS (AP) — French President Francois Hollande said his country must offers protection and affection to the Jewish community as anti-Semitism is on the rise in France.
  
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• Mining giant BHP Billiton H1 net profit almost halves

  23-02-2015 23:23 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Global mining giant BHP Billiton said Tuesday its first-half net profit almost halved to US$4.26 billion on the back of collapsing commodity prices, with cost-cutting helping to stem further losses. The world's biggest miner has been hard hit by falling prices for its two main commodities, iron ore and oil, with a 23 percent reduction in capital and exploration expenditure helping offset some of the damage.
  
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• 'Road-Rage'?: Suspect in Las Vegas Mom Slay Appears in Court

  23-02-2015 23:20 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  The young man accused of killing a Las Vegas mother appeared in court for the first time Monday, with the victim's husband watching.
  
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• Mining giant BHP Billiton H1 net profit slumps 47.4%

  23-02-2015 23:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Sydney (AFP) - Global mining giant BHP Billiton said Tuesday its first-half net profit slumped 47.4 percent to US$4.26 billion on the back of volatile commodity prices, with cost-cutting helping to stem further losses.
  
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• Maya Angelou Honored With Forever Stamp

  23-02-2015 23:09 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Famed poet, author and social activist Maya Angelou will be immortalized with a US Postal Service Forever Stamp.
  
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• Obama pressures Congress on US security, immigration

  23-02-2015 23:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  US President Barack Obama fought back Monday against Republican efforts to block his immigration plan, urging a federal court to allow the shielding of deportations and demanding Congress fund homeland security. The Justice Department filed a motion Monday to a federal court in Texas calling for it to stay its injunction issued last week against the immigration plan -- a blow to Obama's efforts to reform a system most lawmakers agree is broken. In a bid to directly block the unilateral acti
  
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• State executing 1st woman in 70 yrs

  23-02-2015 23:04 via edition.cnn.com
  
  Not since Lena Baker, an African-American convicted of murder in Randolph County, has Georgia executed a woman. The state is scheduled to snap that 70-year streak on Wednesday.
  
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• NSA: Snowden leaks hurt us

  23-02-2015 23:02 via edition.cnn.com
  
  The head of the National Security Agency expressed deep concerns about terrorists' ability to avoid NSA surveillance, explaining that Edward Snowden's revelations of surveillance techniques and capabilities have had a "material impact" on NSA ability to prevent and detect terror plots.
  
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• Lawmaker with lavish decor billed private planes, concerts

  23-02-2015 23:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock, a rising Republican star already facing an ethics inquiry, has spent taxpayer and campaign funds on flights aboard private planes owned by some of his key donors, The Associated Press has found. There also have been other expensive travel and entertainment charges, including for a massage company and music concerts.
  
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• Convict in murder plot that inspired 'Blind Faith' book dies

  23-02-2015 23:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey insurance salesman convicted of plotting to kill his wife in a crime that inspired the bestselling book "Blind Faith" and a TV movie has died.
  
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• Confident 'A-Rod' reports early to Yankees

  23-02-2015 22:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Disgraced dope-cheat Alex Rodriguez, who missed the entire 2014 Major League Baseball season serving a record ban for performance-enhancing drugs, reported to the New York Yankees training camp Monday. Rodriguez took his physical and worked out at the Yankees' pre-season training complex in Florida two days before the full squad was scheduled to report and three days ahead of the first scheduled team workout, facing a flurry of media questions before the arrival of his teammates.
  
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• 'Sniper' trial motive a mystery

  23-02-2015 22:57 via edition.cnn.com
  
  After eight days of testimony, the trial of the "American Sniper's" alleged killer has not answered the one question that still haunts the families of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield.
  
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• UConn cornerback Byron Jones makes great leap at NFL combine

  23-02-2015 22:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Byron Jones might have made one giant leap up the NFL draft boards Monday. Actually, make it two big leaps.
  
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• Woman recruiting for ISIS

  23-02-2015 22:53 via edition.cnn.com
  
  Aqsa Mahmood, who left to join ISIS in Syria more than a year ago, may have been involved in the recruiting of the 3 missing UK girls. Atika Shubert reports.
  
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• Web war against jihad recruits

  23-02-2015 22:52 via edition.cnn.com
  
  At first it seems like one of the many ISIS recruitment videos flooding the Internet. But the tone quickly shifts to images of children crying and dead bodies lying on the floor.
  
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• 'Way Overboard': Molly Cases a Wake-Up Call at Wesleyan

  23-02-2015 22:50 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  At least two students remained in critical condition on Monday.
  
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• Standing leap by NFL hopeful beats long jump mark

  23-02-2015 22:46 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Byron Jones, a collegiate American football star hoping for an NFL career, leaped what could be a historic mark in the standing long jump Monday at the NFL Scouting Combine. Jones, a defensive back from the University of Connecticut, made a standing jump of 3.73 metres (12 feet 3 inches) during a testing session in the discipline at the combine, which allows NFL clubs to test prospects speed, strength and fitness in various ways. Jones, still recovering from a torn labrum, is thought to have set
  
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• What to know about new research on babies, peanut allergies

  23-02-2015 22:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Children at high risk of developing peanut allergies are far less likely to do so if they are given peanut-containing foods before they turn 1, finds a major study that is expected to quickly change dietary advice to many parents.
  
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• Burberry, Hunter, Kane lead London fashion shows

  23-02-2015 22:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LONDON (AP) — London Fashion Week rolled out the big guns Monday, with British design powerhouse Burberry hosting the glitziest catwalk show of the season. Hunter, the maker of the classic Wellington boots, evoked wild Scottish countryside with indoor waterfalls, while Christopher Kane seduced with clothes featuring nude life drawings.
  
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• Early exposure to peanuts helps prevent allergies in kids

  23-02-2015 22:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  For years, parents of babies who seem likely to develop a peanut allergy have gone to extremes to keep them away from peanut-based foods. Now a major study suggests that is exactly the wrong thing to do.
  
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• Timelapse: Boston Melts But Just For a Day

  23-02-2015 22:35 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Boston warmed up this weekend, but Sunday's weather barely put a dent in the accumulated snow and created more ice when temperatures fell again.
  
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• Egypt coup: Leaked tape proves defence minister tried to conceal Morsi’s true location in military prison, say forensic scientists

  23-02-2015 22:28
  Leaked tapes of Egyptian generals apparently plotting to persuade the world that arrested Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was in a civilian rather than a military prison – and thus not the victim of an army coup – have been sent by British lawyers to the UN, the African Commission on Human Rights and the UK police.
  
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• US existing-home sales slowed in January

  23-02-2015 22:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  US existing-home sales slowed to their lowest pace in nine months in January, despite very low mortgage interest rates, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. "January housing data can be volatile because of seasonal influences," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.
  
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• US stocks pause ahead of Fed testimony

  23-02-2015 22:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  New York (AFP) - US stocks finished little changed Monday following lackluster housing data on the eve of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
  
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• Capitol Hill Buzz: Sen. Hatch prepping health plan

  23-02-2015 22:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch is backing a Supreme Court challenge to one of the keystones of President Barack Obama's health care law. Now, he says he's preparing a plan to help people who might be hurt if his side wins the case.
  
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• Opinion: Arm students to prevent rape

  23-02-2015 22:10 via edition.cnn.com
  
  Arming female students against sexual assault is about women's rights.
  
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• US stocks edge mostly lower, pulling Dow back from a record

  23-02-2015 22:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. stocks are edging mostly lower as the market pulls back from an all-time high reached last week.
  
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• Report: Mossad was less alarmed than Israel premier on Iran

  23-02-2015 22:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  JERUSALEM (AP) — A leaked 2012 cable purportedly sent by Israel's Mossad spy agency appears to take a less alarmist view of Iran's nuclear program than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented at the U.N. weeks earlier.
  
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• Top 7 teams, led by Kentucky, still entrenched in AP Top 25

  23-02-2015 21:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Kentucky is No. 1 in the latest Associated Press Top 25, extending its season-long streak at the top of the rankings.
  
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• Grandmother in Child's Running Death Appears in Court

  23-02-2015 21:57 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  If convicted of capital murder, Garrard could join a handful of women on Alabama's death row.
  
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• Labor chief: Unions to push on wages in 2016 campaign

  23-02-2015 21:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  ATLANTA (AP) — The nation's top labor leader says politicians of all ideologies have failed American workers in an era of rising profits and declining wages, and he's vowing to pressure candidates for president in 2016 to address the issue.
  
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• Nebraska lawmakers begin debate on winner-take-all system

  23-02-2015 21:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have kicked off a debate on whether to reinstate the winner-take-all-system in presidential elections. Such a change would eliminate the current practice that allowed President Barack Obama to win one vote from Omaha in 2008.
  
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• Greece delays sending reforms to euro zone till Tuesday

  23-02-2015 21:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Angeliki Koutantou and Karolina Tagaris ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece will present its economic reform plans to the euro zone on Tuesday, a government official said, missing a Monday deadline for the list which is a condition for extending the country's financial lifeline. The official gave no reason for the delay but said euro zone finance ministers would consider Greece's plans, which include a crackdown on tax evasion and corruption, as scheduled on Tuesday afternoon. In Brussels a e
  
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• Man who inspired true-crime 'Blind Faith' novel, film dies

  23-02-2015 21:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey insurance salesman who was the inspiration for the true-crime novel "Blind Faith" and a TV movie has died.
  
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• Brown Wants Explanation From Bobbi Kristina's Boyfriend

  23-02-2015 21:50 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Bobby Brown wants Nick Gordon to tell him what happened to Bobbi Kristina Brown on the day she was found unresponsive in a bathtub.
  
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• After the Oscars, diversity remains a topic of discussion

  23-02-2015 21:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — What was missing from the Academy Awards turned out to be the issue that could not be ignored on the night trophies were handed out.
  
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• High-profile Silicon Valley sex discrimination trial opens

  23-02-2015 21:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Lawyers have started picking a jury to determine whether a venerable Silicon Valley venture capital firm is guilty of gender discrimination or the victim of a scorned former employee forced out because of poor performance.
  
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