samedi 31 janvier 2015

Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines

Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines


IS claims it beheaded Japanese hostage Goto

Posted: 31 Jan 2015 12:58 PM PST

In this Jan. 28, 2015 photo, a man walks by a screen showing TV news reports of a YouTube posted by a militant group on Jan. 27, purportedly showing a still photo of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto holding what appears to be a photo of Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, in Tokyo. Images or mentions of knives, ransom or blood - or anything else that can be seen alluding to the hostage crisis involving two Japanese in Syria - have been cut out. Some anime and other entertainment programs are altering, canceling or postponing episodes violating those sensitivities - typical of the kind of self-restraint shown here to avoid controversy. The fates of a Japanese journalist and Jordanian military pilot were still unknown Saturday, Jan. 31 after the latest purported deadline for a possible prisoner swap lapsed with no further messages from the Islamic State group holding them captive. A second Japanese hostage has reportedly been killed. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)The Islamic State group released a video Saturday purportedly showing the beheading of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto. The executioner appears to be the man known as Jihadi John, speaking with a southern English accent and addressing the Japanese government. "You, like your foolish allies in the Satanic coalition, have yet to understand that we, by Allah's grace, are an Islamic Caliphate with authority and power, an entire army thirsty for your blood," he said. He then speaks directly to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.


Winter storm threatens heavy snow, sleet from Midwest to East Coast

Posted: 31 Jan 2015 12:41 PM PST

A winter snowstorm was expected to blanket a wide swath of the U.S. Midwest on Saturday before heading to the East Coast, bringing up to a foot (30 cm) of fresh accumulation to parts of New England, days after a blizzard slammed the region, forecasters said. Six to 12 inches of snow were predicted from Iowa to Massachusetts, with New York and New Jersey expected to bear the brunt of the storm when it blows in to the region on Monday, the National Weather Service said. The winter weather was also threatening a new round of travel delays after thousands of flights were canceled earlier this week when a blizzard pummeled parts of the East Coast but failed to deliver the record-setting wallop predicted in some areas.

Ukraine peace talks end without agreement: Kiev envoy

Posted: 31 Jan 2015 11:27 AM PST

Media wait on January 31, 2015 outside the presidential residence in Minsk during talks aimed at ending the fighting in eastern UkrainePeace talks to thrash out a truce agreement between pro-Russian rebels and Ukraine ended without a deal Saturday, Kiev's representative at the talks in Minsk said. Former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma told Interfax Ukraine news agency the talks had been "thwarted" after top rebel leaders stayed away and their negotiators refused to discuss a plan for an immediate ceasefire. The negotiator for the rebel Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, however, blamed Kiev for causing the collapse of the talks and said insurgent leaders would only sign a deal if Kiev's forces halt fire first, Russian news wires reported.


Whitney Houston's daughter hospitalized after found unresponsive

Posted: 31 Jan 2015 10:40 AM PST

Brown daughter of the late singer Houston poses at premiere of Sparkle in Hollywood(Reuters) - Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of late pop star Whitney Houston and of Bobby Brown, was rushed to hospital after she was found unresponsive in the bathtub of her home in Roswell, Georgia, CNN reported on Saturday, citing police. TMZ entertainment news website reported that Brown was breathing after being revived at the hospital. Police and fire officials did not immediately respond to calls requesting comment. Houston died in February 2012 after drowning in a bathtub in Beverly Hills, California. (Reporting by Fiona Ortiz in Chicago; Editing by Frances Kerry)


Charlie Hebdo delays publication of upcoming issue, citing grief, fatigue

Posted: 31 Jan 2015 10:19 AM PST

People hold a poster reading The cartoonists and writers for Charlie Hebdo need a break to deal with their recent grief and fatigue, according to spokeswomen for the publication.


U.S. regulators recall 2.1 million vehicles in new air bag issue

Posted: 31 Jan 2015 09:33 AM PST

Jeep's Liberty Patriotic Edition is seen in a file photo taken at the North America Auto Show in DetroitToyota Motor Corp , Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Honda Motor Co have issued three earlier recalls to fix problems with a defective chip in the affected airbag systems. The latest air bag recalls were not related to a wider issue involving millions of vehicles recalled over Takata Corp air bags.


Japan says hostage negotiations 'deadlocked'

Posted: 31 Jan 2015 06:34 AM PST

In this Jan. 28, 2015 photo, a man walks by a screen showing TV news reports of a YouTube posted by a militant group on Jan. 27, purportedly showing a still photo of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto holding what appears to be a photo of Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, in Tokyo. Images or mentions of knives, ransom or blood - or anything else that can be seen alluding to the hostage crisis involving two Japanese in Syria - have been cut out. Some anime and other entertainment programs are altering, canceling or postponing episodes violating those sensitivities - typical of the kind of self-restraint shown here to avoid controversy. The fates of a Japanese journalist and Jordanian military pilot were still unknown Saturday, Jan. 31 after the latest purported deadline for a possible prisoner swap lapsed with no further messages from the Islamic State group holding them captive. A second Japanese hostage has reportedly been killed. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)Japan's deputy foreign minister told reporters there had been no progress in trying to secure the release of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and airman Maaz al-Kassasbeh.


Germany's Merkel says she doesn't see another Greek debt cut

Posted: 31 Jan 2015 05:29 AM PST

German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting of her government at the chancellery in Berlin, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has underlined the refusal of Greece's European creditors to consider forgiving part of the debt-ridden country's rescue loans, though she stressed in an interview published Saturday that Berlin's aim is to keep Greece in the eurozone.


Ode to the range: Cowboys take to prose to celebrate U.S. West

Posted: 31 Jan 2015 04:41 AM PST

Doug Groves teaches a rawhide braiding workshop at the 31st National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, NevadaBy Mary Papenfuss ELKO, Nev. (Reuters) - When long-time bronc rider Paul Zarzyski needed to rest his aching bones after an adrenaline-charged stint on torquing horseflesh, he often turned to the last thing most people would associate with cowboy life: writing poetry. The ramshackle town with casinos, the Stampede Motel and coffee shops that play Hank Williams Jr., is sprouting an unusually large number of raw-boned guys in ten-gallon hats who call women "ma'am." Both veteran poets as well as newbie rhymers are welcome at the festival, which features open mike nights, live music, and workshops on Western crafts and skills, including silver-smithing, ranch cooking, and making pulled-wool saddle blankets. Doug Groves, who sports a large handle-bar mustache, is teaching a four-day workshop on rawhide braiding, a beautiful macramé-like treatment of equine rigging introduced to the West by the Spanish. Groves learned his skill from fellow cowboys in bunkhouses while working for area "cow outfits." Student Bobbie Yokum, who is married to a one-time team rodeo roper, has traveled to the workshop from California for the last 12 years.


Serena Williams wins 6th Australian, 19th major title

Posted: 31 Jan 2015 03:38 AM PST

Serena Williams of the U.S. celebrates after defeating Maria Sharapova of Russia in the women's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Serena Williams won her 19th Grand Slam title, continued her unbeaten run in six Australian Open finals and extended her decade-long domination of Maria Sharapova with a commanding 6-3, 7-6 (5) win on Saturday night.


San Francisco police detain two over body parts in suitcase

Posted: 31 Jan 2015 12:24 AM PST

San Francisco police said on Friday night they had detained two people in connection with a case involving a suitcase full of body parts discovered on a downtown street earlier this week. An anonymous tip offered around 7:30 p.m. local time led officers to the Tenderloin neighborhood where they found the individuals, one of whom was identified earlier on Friday as a person of interest in the homicide case, San Francisco Police spokeswoman Grace Gatpandan said. The San Francisco Chronicle said the city medical examiner determined that the remains belonged to a "light-skinned male," but neither an identity nor cause of death could be immediately established.

$50 million lawsuit filed over deadly Washington subway smoke incident

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 11:31 PM PST

(Reuters) - The family of the woman who died in a Washington D.C. subway train after smoke filled a tunnel and two rail cars filed a $50 million lawsuit against the city's subway system on Friday. Marcus and Anthony Glover, sons of late Carol Glover, filed the suit in federal court in the nation's capitol, alleging the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority failed to take proper precautions to prevent the incident or respond quickly enough afterward.

In Los Angeles, Muslim women find empowerment in female-only Friday prayers

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 11:15 PM PST

Muslim women arrive for the prayer service at the Women's Mosque in downtown Los AngelesBy Daina Beth Solomon LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After the traditional call to prayer, Edina Lekovic stood in front of some 150 women seated on the floor at an interfaith center in Los Angeles, and delivered a sermon, a role traditionally reserved for Muslim men. Lekovic, an activist with California's Muslim Public Affairs Council, then joined the women in kneeling in prayer in the direction of Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. Friday's gathering at the interfaith center - a former Jewish synagogue near downtown Los Angeles with Stars of David etched into the stained glass windows - aims to encourage women to participate fully in Muslim prayer and education. Muslim women often meet for casual gatherings and prayer, but rarely do they unite in a formal setting, such as the Friday worship, under the banner of a mosque.


Texas Governor to declare 'Chris Kyle Day' in honor of sniper

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 10:11 PM PST

(Reuters) - Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Friday he would officially declare Feb. 2 "Chris Kyle Day" in the state, in honor of the late Navy Seal sharpshooter portrayed in the film "American Sniper." The movie, starring Bradley Cooper as Kyle who was killed by a disgruntled U.S. veteran on a Texas gun range in 2013, has been a box office hit as well as a flashpoint of debate between liberals and conservatives. Abbott, a Republican, made the announcement during a speech at the Texans Veterans of Foreign Affairs Mid-Winter Convention in Austin, according to a statement from the governor's office. "In honor of a Texas son, a Navy SEAL and an American hero – a man who defended his brothers and sisters in arms on and off the battlefield – I am declaring February 2nd Chris Kyle Day in Texas," Abbott said during the speech, according to the statement.

New York City settles with family of slain black teen for $3.9 million

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 09:39 PM PST

(Reuters) - New York City has settled with the family of an unarmed black teen fatally shot by police in 2012, agreeing to pay $3.9 million, officials said on Friday. Ramarley Graham, 18, was shot dead on Feb. 2, 2012 inside the bathroom of his Bronx apartment after being followed by police officers who said they believed he was carrying a gun. "This was a tragic case," New York City Law Department spokesman Nicholas Paolucci said in an email. The officer, Richard Haste, was indicted for the fatal shooting in June 2012.

IS hostage drama shows change in propaganda technique

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 08:49 PM PST

FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015 file photo, a passerby is silhouetted against a large TV screen broadcasting a news program in Tokyo reporting on a video posted on YouTube by jihadists on Tuesday, Jan. 27, that purports to show a still photo of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto holding what appears to be a photo of Jordanian pilot 1st Lt. Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh. Far from the high-tech, slickly edited videos involving beheaded Western hostages through which the group impressed supporters and terrorized opponents, recent messages purporting to be from Japanese hostage Kenji Goto have been through digitized, audio dispatches featuring either still photos or text. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)BEIRUT (AP) — The latest Islamic State hostage drama involving a veteran Japanese war correspondent and a young Jordanian pilot marks the first time the group has publicly demanded prisoner releases. It also signals a change in the extremist group's propaganda technique.


California truckers win $2 million in wage theft suit

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 08:02 PM PST

By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Seven Los Angeles-area truckers have won a $2 million claim against an international shipping company accused of stealing their wages by improperly classifying them as independent contractors and charging them to lease its trucks to drive. In a decision with implications for hundreds of companies and thousands of truckers in Southern California alone, a San Diego County Superior Court judge held that the seven plaintiffs should have been defined as employees of Pacer Cartage under California's labor law, not as independent owner-operators. Judge Jay Bloom ruled the seven drivers, who were Hispanic and spoke little English, were entitled to reimbursement for the money California-based Pacer deducted from their wages for the truck leases, insurance, vehicle maintenance, fuel and other out-of-pocket expenses.

Hagel: U.S. ground troops could be needed in Iraq

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 07:29 PM PST

U.S. President Barack Obama hugs outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel during a farewell ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia,Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says all options must be considered in Iraq.


Rap mogul Suge Knight arrested in fatal hit-and-run in Los Angeles

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 06:08 PM PST

Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies and investigators stand near the scene where a pedestrian was killed in a hit-and-run crash reportedly involving rap mogul Marion By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was arrested on suspicion of murder on Friday after police said he ran over two people with a pickup truck at a fast food restaurant in the Los Angeles suburb of Compton, killing one and injuring the other before fleeing. Knight, the 49-year-old co-founder of Death Row Records, was booked at about 3 a.m. (1100 GMT) and was being held in lieu of $2 million bail, the department said. The Thursday afternoon incident took place after Knight drove up to a burger shop in Compton, south of downtown Los Angeles, and began arguing with two people outside, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lieutenant John Corina said.


vendredi 30 janvier 2015

Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines

Yahoo! News - Latest News & Headlines


Hezbollah: we don't want war with Israel but do not fear it

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 12:09 PM PST

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses supporters at an Ashoura ceremony in BeirutHezbollah says it has the right to respond to Israeli attacks any time, anywhere.


Obama, Dalai Lama due to attend U.S. prayer event February 5

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 11:20 AM PST

The Dalai Lama speaks to the media after meeting with U.S. President Obama and Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State, outside his hotel in WashingtonU.S. President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama are both scheduled to attend the U.S. National Prayer Breakfast in Washington on Thursday, Feb. 5, a congressional aide said on Friday. The Dalai Lama was invited to attend the annual event, and has confirmed he will be there. Obama is also scheduled to attend. Although China has warned that meeting with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader would damage ties, Obama has met with him at least three times - a year ago and in 2010 and 2011.


Ukraine rebels vow to push offensive if talks fail

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 10:31 AM PST

A pro-Russian separatist stands in front of a tank at a checkpoint in Enakieve, 25 kilometers from the eastern Ukrainian city of Debaltseve, on January 29, 2015Pro-Russian separatists say they will push their latest offensive in eastern Ukraine further.


Mother of NYC boy who vanished in 1979 to testify at murder trial

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 09:11 AM PST

By Natasja Sheriff NEW YORK (Reuters) - The mother of Etan Patz, a boy whose disappearance from a New York City street in 1979 ignited a national movement to find missing children, will tell jurors at his accused killer's trial about the "nightmare that never ended," a prosecutor said on Friday. In opening statements in the kidnapping and murder trial of Pedro Hernandez, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said the former deli worker who confessed to the crime had upended an average American family's life and sent it spiraling into unthinkable tragedy. "You will hear from Julie Patz... about her quite ordinary life, a regular American tale, interrupted by a nightmare that never ended," Illuzzi-Orbon told jurors seated before Judge Maxwell Wiley in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. During jury selection, Illuzzi-Orbon said the case would not feature "high tech forensic evidence," but would take them back 35 years "to a time when the Brady Bunch was still on TV."  Patz' disappearance prompted President Ronald Reagan to sign into law the Missing Children's Assistance Act, and Patz was one of the first missing children whose picture appeared on a milk carton.     In 2012, investigators received a tip from Hernandez's brother-in-law, who told police Hernandez allegedly confessed to the crime to a church prayer group in the 1980s.   Hernandez, in a videotaped confession to police, said he lured Patz to the basement of the deli where he worked near the child's home, strangled him and dumped him in an alley.

U.S. government releases draft plan for electronic health data

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 08:40 AM PST

Obama tours the Vaccine Research Center during a visit to the National Institutes of Health in BethesdaThe Obama administration on Friday proposed a plan to move most doctors, hospitals and their patients to national standards for handling electronic clinical data by the end of 2017. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as part of an effort to propel the $2.9 trillion U.S. healthcare system away from a costly fee-for-service system, released a report draft aimed at establishing an inter operable health information technology system that can be accessed by patients and their healthcare providers. Policy experts say that national health IT standards would lead to transparency in medical data, prices and provider performance, while helping support hospitals and medical practices in pursuing care-delivery models that emphasize care quality and savings over quantity. Earlier this week, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell announced the goal of moving 50 percent of fee-for-service Medicare payments to quality-care focused providers by the end of 2018.


Mitt Romney says he will not make 2016 White House bid

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 08:08 AM PST

In this Jan. 28, 2015 file photo, former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss. Closing in on a decision about whether to again run for president, Mitt Romney is finding that several past major fundraisers and donors in key states have defected to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The donors, in interviews with The Associated Press, said they see in Bush what they liked about Romney in 2012, namely what they believe it takes to serve successfully as president, but also something he could not muster in his two previous campaigns: what it takes, both in personality as a candidate and in a supporting staff, to win the White House for the GOP. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)The 2012 GOP nominee announced he won't make a third bid for the presidency.


Florida prosecutor drops domestic disturbance case against Zimmerman

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 07:52 AM PST

George Zimmerman listens to judge during a first-appearance hearing in Sanford, FloridaORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida prosecutor announced on Friday he will not pursue charges against former neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman stemming from a domestic incident earlier this month after the alleged victim recanted. Zimmerman, who was acquitted in a fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager in 2013, has had several brushes with the law since his trial. His latest arrest on Jan. 9 was in connection with a domestic disturbance in central Florida. (Reporting by Barbara Liston; Editing by David Adams and Sandra Maler)


Secretary of State Kerry fined for not shoveling by Boston home

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 07:04 AM PST

U.S. Secretary of State Kerry speaks during a press conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in LondonU.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was slapped with a $50 fine for failing to have a side street adjoining his Boston home shoveled following the blizzard that dropped more than 2 feet (60 cm) of snow on Massachusetts this week, a spokesman said on Friday. Kerry was in Saudi Arabia with President Barack Obama to attend the funeral of King Abdullah and meet with his successor, King Salman, at the time of the storm.


Is Mitt Romney running for president?

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 06:48 AM PST

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2015 file photo, former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss. Closing in on a decision about whether to again run for president, Mitt Romney is finding that several past major fundraisers and donors in key states have defected to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The donors, in interviews with The Associated Press, said they see in Bush what they liked about Romney in 2012, namely what they believe it takes to serve successfully as president, but also something he could not muster in his two previous campaigns: what it takes, both in personality as a candidate and in a supporting staff, to win the White House for the GOP. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)Romney will update supporters today about his plans for 2016.


U.S. man shot and wounded in eastern Saudi Arabia: state media

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 06:01 AM PST

DUBAI (Reuters) - A U.S. man was shot and wounded in eastern Saudi Arabia on Friday, state news agency SPA reported citing a police statement. A vehicle carrying two people with U.S. citizenship was fired on in the Eastern Province district of al-Ahsa, SPA said. The wounded man was in a stable condition, it added. (Reporting by Rania El Gamal and Omar Fahmy; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

'Suge' Knight arrested for murder

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 05:43 AM PST

'Suge' Knight faces murder charges


U.S. proposes effort to analyze DNA from 1 million people

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 03:31 AM PST

By Toni Clarke and Sharon Begley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has proposed analyzing genetic information from more than 1 million American volunteers as part of a new initiative to understand human disease and develop medicines targeted to an individual's genetic make-up. At the heart of the initiative, to be announced on Friday by President Barack Obama, is the creation of a pool of people - healthy and ill, men and women, old and young - who would be studied to learn how genetic variants affect health and disease. The near-term goal is to create more and better treatments for cancer, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), told reporters on a conference call on Thursday.

Rap mogul Suge Knight suspect in fatal hit-and-run

Posted: 30 Jan 2015 01:19 AM PST

Police booking photo of Hip-Hop mogul KnightRap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was named as a suspect in a hit-and-run that killed one person near Los Angeles on Thursday, officials said. A man fitting Knight's description drove up to a Compton burger shop around 3 p.m. and began arguing with two people outside, said Lieutenant John Corina with Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Corina added that Knight, the 49-year-old co-founder of Death Row Records, was involved in an earlier altercation with the same two people. "We are in the process of talking to those other witnesses, and reviewing video, and trying to track down Suge Knight and get his side of the story," Corina said.


Islamic State group silent as deadline passes with no swap

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 11:37 PM PST

Japanese hostage Kenji Goto holds a photograph allegedly showing Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh, who was captured by Islamic State in Syria, in a video uploaded on YouTube on January 27, 2015Families of a Japanese journalist and Jordanian military pilot remained in limbo.


Rap mogul Suge Knight investigated in fatal hit-and-run

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 11:05 PM PST

FILE - In this Oct. 30, 2014 file photo, rap music mogul Marion Knight was driving a car that struck two people in Compton, Calif., killing one.


Elderly residents die in blizzard-hit Massachusetts; death toll at least four

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 09:44 PM PST

A pedestrian walks in the middle of the street following a winter blizzard in Boston(Reuters) - An elderly man and woman found dead outside their homes in separate coastal Massachusetts communities were likely victims of a massive blizzard that hit New England earlier this week, police said on Thursday. Olive Dupuis, 84, was found dead Thursday morning next to her car, near her home in the coastal city of Salem, north of Boston, police lieutenant Matt Desmond said, adding weather was likely a factor with sub-freezing temperatures and snow. The Massachusetts cases, which are still under investigation, bring the death toll from a wind-whipped blizzard that slammed the northeastern United States earlier this week to at least four. The blizzard disrupted life for millions of residents across Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York, dumping up to 3 feet (90 cm) of snow in places, though it largely bypassed New York City.


Suspected Ebola patient admitted to California hospital

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 06:37 PM PST

By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - A patient suspected of contracting Ebola after traveling in West Africa and exhibiting symptoms of the disease was admitted on Thursday to a special isolation hospital unit in Sacramento and was being tested for infection, officials said. The patient was considered at a relatively low risk of infection. Although recently in an area where Ebola transmission is widespread, the person had no known contact with anyone who has had the disease, said Laura McCasland, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento County Public Health Department. McCasland said she did not know precisely where or when the patient had traveled in West Africa, the epicenter of the worst Ebola epidemic on record, or why the individual was there or for how long.

NYC public defenders in video advocate killing police, city finds

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 06:20 PM PST

By Ellen Wulfhorst NEW YORK (Reuters) - Attorneys at a New York City public defenders' office participated in an online video that advocated the killing of police officers, featuring the lyrics "time to start killing these coppers," a city investigation disclosed on Thursday. The video "Hands Up," which shows singers pointing guns at someone portraying a police officer, was released shortly before the deadly ambush on Dec. 20 of two New York City officers by a gunman angry over police killings of unarmed black men. Two attorneys with the Bronx Defenders, a city-funded legal service organization, appear in the anti-police video, some of which was filmed at the Bronx office, according to the New York City Department of Investigation report. The Bronx Defenders posted a message on its website saying it "abhors the use of violence against the police." "The Bronx Defenders never approved the music video 'Hands Up,' and never saw it before it went online," it said.

Delhi Uber passenger who alleges driver rape sues in U.S

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 05:47 PM PST

Photo illustration of logo of car-sharing service app Uber on a smartphone over a reserved lane for taxis in a street in MadridBy Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A passenger who said she had been raped by an Uber driver in India's capital sued the online car service in U.S. federal court on Thursday, claiming the company failed to maintain basic safety procedures. In the lawsuit, the woman, who resides in Delhi and was not named, called Uber the "modern day equivalent of electronic hitchhiking." "Buyer beware - we all know how those horror movies end," the suit stated. In a statement, Uber did not directly address the lawsuit but said it is cooperating fully with the authorities to ensure the perpetrator is brought to justice. India is Uber's largest market outside the United States by the number of cities covered, and the country's radio taxi market is estimated to be worth $6 billion to $9 billion.


Texas lawmaker under fire for Facebook post on Muslim Capitol Day

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 05:15 PM PST

The Texas and Israeli flags are waved by protesters who gathered to disrupt and heckle a group gathered for a Texas Muslim Capitol Day rally, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015, in Austin, Texas. Hundreds of Muslims gathered for the rally as part of their biennial Texas Capitol lobbying day. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)A newly-elected Texas state lawmaker is under fire for a divisive Facebook post asking Muslim visitors to an event at the state capitol in Austin to pledge allegiance to the United States.


Keystone XL bill passes in Senate, faces Obama veto

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 01:43 PM PST

Senators Schumer and Stabenow respond to Republicans at a Democrat response news conference after vote on amendments on the Keystone XL pipeline bill in WashingtonThe U.S. Senate passed a bill on Thursday to approve the long-pending Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite the White House saying earlier in the day that President Barack Obama would veto the measure. The Republican-led Senate passed the bill that would approve TransCanada Corp's project to carry 800,000 barrels per day of heavy Canadian crude to Nebraska on the way to Gulf Coast refineries and ports. The House has passed its own pipeline bill and will work with the Senate to send the bill to the Obama's desk. After the potential veto, Obama is expected to make his own decision on the pipeline after the State Department finishes a review in coming weeks.


Survivalist pleads not guilty in Pennsylvania trooper murder

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 01:27 PM PST

Eric Matthew Frein exits the Pike County Courthouse with police officers after an arraignment in Milford, PennsylvaniaBy Joe McDonald MILFORD, Pa. (Reuters) - The Pennsylvania survivalist who eluded a 48-day manhunt after a sniper attack that killed one state trooper and wounded another pleaded not guilty on Thursday to murder charges. Eric Frein, 31, appeared at his arraignment through a video conference from Pike County Correctional Facility, where he is being held without bail. He was asked by Judge Greg Chelak in the Pike County Courthouse whether he wanted to plead not guilty to fatally shooting Corporal Bryon Dickson and wounding Trooper Alex Douglass on Sept. 12, 2014 during a late night shift change at the Blooming Grove state police barracks.