Former Yankees manager Joe Torre wants focus on child abuse

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A government commission co-led by former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre said on Wednesday that the U.S. federal and local governments are not doing enough to identify and treat child victims of abuse and violence.
At a meeting with representatives from major federal departments, the commission of academics, law enforcement officials and others, issued 56 recommendations to help child victims, including expanded training for social workers.
Torre, whose own childhood with an abusive father led him to start a charitable foundation focusing on the issue of child abuse, said many social workers and law-enforcement officials simply did not know how to spot signs of domestic abuse.
"I don't think society knows how to react, even if they think something's going on," said Torre, who won four World Series championships with the Yankees and is now an executive in Major League Baseball.
The failure of Penn State University to report former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky for child abuse - charges Sandusky was convicted of this year - was one example, Torre said.
The commission, set up by the Justice Department and known as the Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence, has held hearings for the past year. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has made the issue a priority.
Banging his fist on a table for emphasis, Holder told the commission its ideas would not sit on a shelf gathering dust, and that he would push the White House for support.
"The Justice Department is a big organization with a lot of tentacles in a lot of places, and my hope is to use the time I have as attorney general to continue the effort," Holder said at a news conference after the meeting.
President Barack Obama has not said whether he wants Holder to serve into a second term, though Holder is expected to stay on as the chief U.S. law enforcement official at least into early 2013.
Holder said there was a moral imperative for the U.S. government to support child victims - whether they have witnessed violence at home, in gangs or elsewhere - and a financial incentive to do so if those children are kept off a path to crime.

Read More..

Korean closer Lim heading to Chicago Cubs

(Reuters) - South Korean closer Lim Chang-yong is set to sign a deal with Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, though the sidearm pitcher is unlikely to be able to take the mound again until late next season.
The 36-year-old righthander, who had elbow surgery earlier this year, told reporters at Incheon Airport on Thursday he had long dreamed of signing for a major league team.
Lim tallied 296 saves in his 18-year career in Korea and Japan and could wind up pitching against compatriot Choo Shin-soo, who was acquired by the Cubs' NL Central rivals Cincinnati on Tuesday.
"I want to play the kind of baseball that I'm known for, and give the fans enjoyment," said Lim, adding that the deal was worth up to $5 million over two years.
Lim, who spent the last five season in Japan with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows and is known for his scorching fastball, said the Cubs would give him enough time to recover from the surgery before putting him into the bullpen.
"After enough rehab I want to get back on the mound in the middle or towards the end of next season," said Lim, adding that the Cubs were placing more importance on 2014 for the former Japanese baseball All Star.
Lim made his professional debut with South Korea's Haitai Tigers in 1995 and also played with the Samsung Lions in Korea.
He earned a bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics and was part of the South Korean team that finished second at the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
"I'm happy that my dream has finally came true," said Lim.
"I'm not young any more and I wanted to do something that I've never experienced before."

Read More..

Angels land slugger Hamilton in $125 million deal: report

(Reuters) - Free agent slugger Josh Hamilton has agreed to a five-year, $125 million deal to join the Los Angeles Angels, Major League Baseball's (MLB) website reported on Thursday.
The five-time All-Star, who overcame drug and alcohol addictions to become one of MLB's most feared hitters, helped power the Texas Rangers to consecutive World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011.
The 31-year-old hard-hitting outfielder broke into the major leagues in 2007 with the Cincinnati Reds but spent the next five years with the Rangers and took home American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors in 2010.
Hamilton has a career .304 batting average, 553 runs batted in and 161 home runs, including a career-high 43 last season.
He joins an Angels team that already boasts three-time National League MVP Albert Pujols, a 32-year-old slugger who signed with the team last offseason.

Read More..

Northern Ireland police injured in sectarian clashes

BELFAST (Reuters) - At least 29 police officers were injured when pro-British and Irish nationalist youths clashed in the Northern Irish capital on Saturday following another protest against the removal of the British flag from Belfast City Hall.
Rioting started as the mainly Protestant protesters passed a Catholic area on their way home from a rally in central Belfast against the flag's removal. Police scrambled to separate crowds of youths who pelted each other with bricks and bottles.
The unrest over the past five weeks has been some of the most sustained in the British-ruled province since a 1998 peace deal ended 30 years of conflict between Catholic Irish nationalists seeking union with Ireland and Protestant loyalists determined to remain part of the United Kingdom.
Exposing a deep vein of discontent with the peace deal, loyalists have held nightly protests since councillors voted last month to end a century-old tradition of flying the British union flag every day over the city hall.
Loyalist politicians have joined their nationalist rivals in condemning the violence, but they have been unable to prevent groups of young men draped in British flags from clashing with police.
The protesters have complained that the removal of the flag was a step too far in the ebbing of loyalist dominance in the province, saying too many concessions had been given to Irish nationalists in a power-sharing government.
"The protests will continue until our concerns are met," said Fergus Ferguson, from south Belfast, who described the decision to take down the flag as "illegal".
At least 1,000 loyalists, some with Union Jack tops, balaclavas and "No Surrender" banners, gathered at City Hall on Saturday.
After police blocked their way towards East Belfast the loyalist protesters took a detour towards the nationalist Short Strand area, a traditional flash point for sectarian violence, where they clashed with local youths.
After the nationalists dispersed, police turned water cannon on loyalist protesters who pushed riot police back with metal fencing and ripped up paving stones to hurl at police lines.
Reinforcements including dozens of jeeps, a helicopter and at least three water cannon trucks were sent in to try to control the crowds. Police said they fired at least six plastic bullet rounds.
Chief Constable Matt Baggott said his officers acted with "exceptional courage" during the disturbances, which led to four officers being treated in hospital. But community leaders criticised the police for failing to stop the protest passing a well-known trouble spot.
"The police have a lot to answer for. We had women and children in this parade. It's a miracle nobody was killed," said Matthew Ferguson, who attended the protest with his 12-year-old son.
Train services in Belfast were disrupted on Saturday when a small explosive device was found near a rail line in the city, a police spokesman said.

Read More..

29 Belfast cops hurt in Catholic-Protestant clash

DUBLIN (AP) — Northern Ireland police fought day-and-night street battles with Protestant militants Saturday as a protest march to Belfast City Hall degenerated into riots when many marchers returned home to the Protestant east side.
The Protestants, who have blocked streets daily since Catholics on the council decided Dec. 3 to curtail the flying of the British flag, have frequently clashed with police in hopes of forcing politicians to overturn the decision. The street confrontations have stirred sectarian passions, particularly in Protestant east Belfast and its lone Catholic enclave, Short Strand, flashpoint for the most protracted rioting over the past six weeks.
Saturday's violence began as police donning helmets, shields and flame-retardent suits tried to shepherd the British flag-bedecked crowd past Short Strand, where masked and hooded Catholic men and youths waited by their doors armed with Gaelic hurling bats, golf clubs and other makeshift weapons. The two sides began throwing bottles, rocks and other missiles at each other and, as police on foot struggled to keep the two sides apart, Protestant anger turned against the police.
Police marched down the street with shields locked, backed by blasts from three massive mobile water cannons. Officers also fired at least a half-dozen baton rounds — blunt-nosed, inch (2.5-centimeter)-thick cylinders colloquially known as plastic bullets — at rioters.
After the initial two-hour clash subsided, police at nighttime confronted a renewed mob of Protestant youths on nearby Castlereagh Street, where a car was stolen and burned as a barricade. A police helicopter overhead shone its spotlight on the crowd, which chanted anti-police and anti-Catholic slogans.
Police commander Mark Baggott said 29 of his officers were injured in the two operations, bringing total police casualties above 100 since the first riots outside city hall on Dec. 3. The clashes have cost Northern Ireland an estimated 25 million pounds ($40 million) in lost trade and tourism and in police overtime bills.
Baggott described Saturday's police deployment as "a difficult operation dealing with a large number of people determined to cause disorder and violence." He credited his officers with "exceptional courage and professionalism."
The Protestant hard-liners, however, have accused police of pursuing heavy-handed tactics that have worsened the riots. Police have provided no casualty figures for civilians, who often avoid hospital treatment so that they are not identified as rioters and arrested. More than 100 rioters have been arrested since Dec. 3. The Associated Press photographer in Belfast, Peter Morrison, suffered serious injuries to his head and hand when clubbed by policemen on Dec. 3 outside city hall.
The Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party said 10 Short Strand homes were damaged during Saturday's clashes. Sinn Fein councilman Niall O Donnghaile, who represents Short Strand, said it was the 15th illegal Protestant march past the Catholic enclave since last month. He said the marchers clearly wanted to attack Short Strand residents.
"People do not come to 'peaceful protests' armed with bricks, bottles, golf balls and fireworks," O Donnghaile said of the Protestant marchers.
Belfast used to have a strong Protestant majority, but the Dec. 3 vote demonstrated that Catholics have gained the democratic upper hand, stoking Protestant anxiety that one day Northern Ireland could be merged with the Republic of Ireland as many Catholics want.
Sinn Fein council members had wanted to remove the British flag completely from city hall, where the Union Jack had flown continuously for more than a century. But they accepted a compromise motion that would allow the UK flag to be raised on 18 official days annually, the same rule already observed on many British government buildings throughout the United Kingdom.

Read More..

Hundreds of French troops drive back Mali rebels

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — The battle to retake Mali's north from the al-Qaida-linked groups controlling it began in earnest Saturday, after hundreds of French forces deployed to the country and began aerial bombardments to drive back the Islamic extremists.
At the same time, nations in West Africa authorized the immediate deployment of troops to Mali, fast-forwarding a military intervention that was not due to start until September.
The decision to begin the military operation was taken after the fighters, who seized the northern half of Mali nine months ago, decided earlier this week to push even further south to the town of Konna, coming within 50 kilometers (30 miles) of Mopti, the first town held by the government and a major base for the Malian military.
Many believe that if Mopti were to fall, the Islamists could potentially seize the rest of the country, dramatically raising the stakes. The potential outcome was "a terrorist state at the doorstep of France and Europe," French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Saturday.
France scrambled Mirage fighter jets from a base in neighboring Chad, as well as combat helicopters beginning the aerial assault on Friday. They have also sent in hundreds of troops to the front line, as well as to secure the capital. In just 24 hours, French forces succeeded in dispersing the Islamists from Konna, the town the fighters had seized in a bold advance earlier in the week, Le Drian said.
Malian military officials said they were now conducting sweeps, looking for snipers.
"A halting blow has been delivered, and heavy losses have been inflicted on our adversaries, but our mission is not complete," French President Francois Hollande said after a three-hour meeting with his defense chiefs in Paris. "I reiterate that it consists of preparing the deployment of an African intervention force to allow Mali to recover its territorial integrity."
However, in a sign of how hard the battle ahead may be, the extremists succeeded in shooting down a French helicopter, the defense minister confirmed. The pilot died of his wounds while he was being evacuated. The Islamists are using arms stolen from ex-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's arsenal, as well as the weapons abandoned by Mali's military when they fled their posts in the face of the rebel advance.
They have outfitted SUVs with high-caliber machine guns, and have released videos displaying their collection of anti-aircraft weapons.
The Islamists have vowed to retaliate against French interests, and they claim to have sleeper cells in all of the capitals of the West African nations who are sending troops. Hollande announced that he had raised France's domestic terror threat level.
Online in jihadist forums, participants called for fighters to attack French interests in retaliation for the air raids. They discussed possible targets, including the French Embassy in neighboring Niger, one of the countries donating troops, according to a transcript provided by Washington-based SITE Intelligence.
The sudden military operation is a reversal of months of debate over whether or not Western powers should get involved in a military bid to oust the militants, who took advantage of a coup in Mali's capital in March to capture the north. As recently as December, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon cautioned against a quick military operation. Diplomats said that September would be the earliest the operation could take place.
All of that went out the window this week when the fighters pushed south from the town of Douentza, which demarcated their line of control, located 900 kilometers (540 miles) from the capital. By Thursday, they had succeeded in advancing another 120 kilometers (72 miles) south, bringing them nearly face-to-face with the ill-equipped and ill-trained Malian military in a showdown that couldn't be ignored by the international community.
In a statement released Saturday, the bloc representing nations in West Africa, ECOWAS, said they had authorized the immediate deployment of troops to Mali. ECOWAS Commission President Kadre Desire Ouedraogo said they made the decision "in light of the urgency of the situation."
In Washington, a U.S. official confirmed that the country has offered to send drones to Mali. He could not be named because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. After a telephone conversation with Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed to send aircrafts to help transport troops, according to a statement.
who offered troop transport aircraft. Neither official could be named because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly
Lt. Col. Diarran Kone, a spokesman for Mali's defense minister, said on Saturday that he was at the Bamako airport to receive a contingent of French special forces from one of their tactical units. Residents in the town of Sevare, near the line of control, said they had seen planes of white people arriving, whom they assume were French soldiers.
Hundreds of French troops were involved in the operation, code-named "Serval" after a sub-Saharan wildcat, officials in Paris said.
"The situation in Mali is serious," Le Drian said in Paris. "It has rapidly worsened in the last few days ... We had to react before it was too late," he added.
French intelligence services had detected preparations for what they described as a "major offensive" organized and coordinated by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. After a large convoy of vehicles were spotted heading toward the strategic town of Mopti on Thursday, France sent in its first unit to the Central Malian town to support the Malian combat forces, Le Drian said.
Then on Friday, Hollande authorized the use of French air power following an appeal from Mali's president. French pilots targeted a column of jihadist fighters travelling in pickup trucks, who were heading down toward Mopti from Konna. He said that the helicopter raid led to the destruction of several units of fighters and stopped their advance toward the city.
Overnight Saturday, air strikes began in the areas where the fighters operate, Le Drian said, led by French forces in Chad, where France has Mirage 2000 and Mirage F1 fighter jets stationed. Residents in the town of Lere, near the Mauritanian border, confirmed that it had been bombed.
Al-Qaida's affiliate in Africa has been a shadowy presence for nearly a decade, operating out of Mali's lawless northern desert. They did not come out into the open until this April, when a coup by disgruntled soldiers in Bamako caused the country to tip into chaos. The extremists took advantage of the power vacuum, pushing into the main towns in the north, and seizing more than half of Mali's territory, an area larger than Afghanistan.
Turbaned fighters now control all the major northern cities, carrying out beatings, floggings and amputations in public squares just as the Taliban did.

Read More..

RPT-Baseball-MLB, players agree to expand drug testing

Jan 10 (Reuters) - Major League Baseball and the players' union have agreed to expand their drug program to include random in-season blood testing for human growth hormone and a new test for testosterone, they said on Thursday.
The testing will start this season.
MLB has been conducting random blood testing for the detection of HGH among minor league players since July 2010.
Starting this season, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited Montreal laboratory will establish a program in which a player's baseline testosterone/epitestosterone (T/E) ratio and other data will be maintained in order to enhance its ability to detect use of testosterone and other prohibited substances.

Read More..

UPDATE 1-Baseball-MLB, players agree to expand drug testing

* HGH and testosterone testing to be used this season
* WADA-accredited lab hails toughness of new MLB testing (Adds details, quotes)
Jan 10 (Reuters) - Major League Baseball and the players' union have agreed to expand their drug program to include random in-season blood testing for human growth hormone and a new test for testosterone, they said on Thursday.
The advanced testing will start this season, in what will be the sternest doping program in major North American professional sports.
"This agreement addresses critical drug issues and symbolizes Major League Baseball's continued vigilance against synthetic human growth hormone, testosterone and other performance-enhancing substances," MLB commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.
The new steps moved baseball well ahead of the National Football League, which does not test for HGH or testosterone.
"Players want a program that is tough, scientifically accurate, backed by the latest proven scientific methods, and fair," said Michael Weiner, MLB Players' Association executive director in a statement.
"I believe these changes firmly support the players' desires while protecting their legal rights."
The announcement came one day after the players' union criticized results of the balloting for the Baseball Hall of Fame, in which no one received enough votes for enshrinement in what appeared to be a referendum on widespread doping during what has become known as the game's 'Steroids Era'.
All-time home run king Barry Bonds and seven-time Cy Young winning pitcher Roger Clemens, have resumes that would have ordinarily made them certain Hall of Famers.
But both players have been linked to performance enhancing drugs and punished by voters, receiving about half the ballots votes required for election.
Major League Baseball, striving to remove the taint of doping, was the first major sport in the United States to test for HGH in an agreement with the union in November 2011.
MLB has been conducting random blood testing for the detection of HGH among minor league players since July 2010 and had previously been testing major leaguers during spring training and off-season.
To detect testosterone use, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited Montreal laboratory will establish a program in which a player's baseline testosterone/epitestosterone (T/E) ratio and other data will be maintained in order to enhance its ability to detect use of the drug and other banned substances.
Christiane Ayotte, the Director of the Montreal Laboratory, praised the steps baseball has taken.
"The addition of random blood testing and a longitudinal profiling program makes baseball's program second to none in detecting and deterring the use of synthetic HGH and testosterone," she said in a statement.
Doping in baseball has not disappeared.
In the last year, Melky Cabrera of the San Francisco Giants, who was leading the league in batting average, and Oakland A's pitcher Bartolo Colon tested positive for testosterone and were suspended.
"I am proud that our system allows us to adapt to the many evolving issues associated with the science and technology of drug testing," Selig said. "We will continue to do everything we can to maintain a leadership stature in anti-doping efforts in the years ahead."

Read More..

MLB to expand blood testing for HGH

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) — Major League Baseball will test for human growth hormone throughout the regular season and increase efforts to detect abnormal levels of testosterone, a decision the NFL used to pressure its players.
Baseball players were subject to blood testing for HGH during spring training last year, and Thursday's agreement between management and the Major League Baseball Players Association expands that throughout the season. Those are in addition to urine tests for other performance-enhancing drugs.
Under the changes to baseball's drug agreement, the World Anti-Doping Agency laboratory in Laval, Quebec, will keep records of each player, including his baseline ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, and will conduct Carbon Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) tests of any urine specimens that "vary materially."
"This is a proud and a great day for baseball," commissioner Bud Selig said following two days of owners' meetings. "We'll continue to be a leader in this field and do what we have to do."
The announcement came one day after steroid-tainted stars Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa failed to gain election to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.
Commenting on the timing, Selig noted the drug program changes had long been in the works "but it wasn't too bad, was it?"
Selig reflected on how far baseball had come on performance enhancing drug issues.
"This is remarkable when you think of where we were 10, 12, 15 years ago and where we are today," he said. "Nobody could have dreamed it."
Baseball began random drug testing in 2003, testing with penalties the following year and suspensions for first offenders in 2005. Initial penalties were lengthened from 10 days to 50 games in 2006, when illegal amphetamines were banned. The number of tests has gradually increased over the past decade.
Selig called the latest change a "yet another indication how far this sport has come."
Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president for economics and league affairs, said each player will be tested at least once.
"Players want a program that is tough, scientifically accurate, backed by the latest proven scientific methods, and fair," union head Michael Weiner said in a statement. "I believe these changes firmly support the players' desires while protecting their legal rights."
Selig praised the cooperation of the players association, once a staunch opponent of drug testing, in agreeing to the expansion.
"Michael Weiner and the union deserve credit," Selig said. "Way back when they were having a lot of problems I didn't give them credit, but they do."
Christiane Ayotte, director of the Canadian laboratory, said that the addition of random blood testing and a "longitudinal profiling program makes baseball's program second to none in detecting and deterring the use of synthetic HGH and testosterone."
She said the program compares favorably with any program conducted by WADA.
HGH testing remains a contentious issue in the National Football League. At a hearing last month, U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, accused the NFL players' union of trying to back out of HGH testing.
"Other professional sports leagues, including the National Football League, must also implement their own robust testing regimes," Cummings and committee chairman Darrel Issa said in a statement Thursday. "Major League Baseball's announcement increases the pressure on the NFL and its players to deliver on pledges to conduct HGH testing made in their collective bargaining agreement that was signed two years ago."
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Thursday "we hope the MLB players' union will inspire the NFLPA to stop its stalling tactics and fulfill its commitment to begin testing for HGH. If the NFLPA stands for player health and safety, it should follow the lead of the MLB players' union and end the delay."
NFLPA spokesman George Atallah says the union is not backing out of anything but was looking to resolve scientific issues surrounding the tests. HGH testing is part of the 10-year labor agreement reached in 2011 but protocols must be agreed to by both sides.
"If the league had held up their commitment to population study, we could have been first," Atallah said.
At the time of last month's congressional hearing, NFL senior vice president Adolpho Birch called the union's insistence on a population study to determine whether current HGH tests are appropriate a delay tactic that threatened that league's leadership in drug testing matters.
"Major League Baseball and the players' union have moved a long way from the inadequate policies that were in place when Congress first addressed ballplayers' use of steroids." said Henry Waxman, ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
NOTES: Owners approved the transfer of control of the Cleveland Indians to Paul Dolan, son of owner Larry Dolan. Paul Dolan is the team's chief executive officer.

Read More..

Amazon and Samsung are running away with the Android tablet market

Following the successful launch of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet, Android vendors saw a beacon of hope in a market that had been dominated by Apple’s (AAPL) iPad since 2010. The Android tablet space has since become flooded with hundreds of products from a wide-range of companies, but there are only two companies that matter.
[More from BGR: ‘Apple is done’ and Surface tablet is cool, according to teens]
According to data from app analytics and ad service Datalytics, Samsung (005930) and Amazon (AMZN) are starting to run away with the Android tablet market, Venture Beat reported.
[More from BGR: Is BlackBerry back? Strong early BlackBerry 10 demand could signal RIM comeback]
Ad impressions on the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD grew 322% from November to the end of December, while impressions on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Tab 7.7 increased a combined total of 150%. Google’s (GOOG) Nexus 7 and Barnes & Noble’s (BKS) Nook Tablet were the next closest with 70% and 62% growth in December, respectively.
The firm’s data also confirms Samsung’s dominant smartphone share, which saw a combined total of 214% growth in the past month.
The data also revealed that the iPhone 4S is still the most popular Apple smartphone with 40% of the market, compared to the iPhone 4′s 36% share and iPhone 5′s 18% share. On the iOS tablet side of things, the iPad mini is apparently selling a little slower than the iPad 4. The fourth-generation tablet had an 8% share of the iPad market, slightly higher than the mini’s 6% share.
Datalytics’ information comes from tens of thousands of apps installed on more than 60 million devices.

Read More..

Academy Launches Oscar App on Android, Amazon

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The Academy launched its official Oscars app on Android and Amazon on Thursday, expanding its initiative to direct fans' attention from the television to the second screen.
The app, already available on the iPad and iPhone, was made available for free on the Google Play store and the Amazon app store, the Academy said. According to iTunes, the iPad app was updated earlier on Wednesday.
Developed by the Academy and Disney/ABC Television Group's digital media arm, the app allows users to see behind-the-scenes videos and stories with host Seth MacFarlane and search information about the nominees. It also features a "My Picks" ballot on which users can organize their dream-team of winners.
On Oscar night on February 24, the app will feature "Backstage Pass," a live telecast from more than a dozen cameras placed on the Red Carpet and throughout the Dolby Theatre - in the press room, the control room, backstage and elsewhere.
And a ticker on the app will notify when a users' favorite actor and actress arrives on stage.
"We're always looking for ways to bring fans closer to the show and this app provides a unique and fun way to do that," Josh Spector, the managing director of digital media and marketing for the Academy, said in a statement. "More fans than ever will be able to enjoy the full Oscar experience now that our app is available to Droid users.

Read More..

Report links drug agents to Secret Service prostitute scandal: NBC

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two drug enforcement agents "facilitated a sexual encounter" between a prostitute and a Secret Service agent before an international summit in Colombia last April, NBC News reported on Thursday, citing a Justice Department investigation.
The two Drug Enforcement Administration agents also admitted paying for the sexual services of a prostitute, and used their government-issued BlackBerry devices to arrange the encounters, NBC reported.
A summary of the Justice Department's findings said the agents tried to destroy incriminating information or initially lied to investigators about the incidents, according to the report.
But the summary concluded that the agents' actions did not warrant criminal prosecution, and said the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to start any legal proceedings, referring the case to the DEA for "action it determines to be appropriate."
The Justice Department's office of the inspector general had no comment on Thursday evening.
It was the latest turn in the Colombia prostitution scandal, in which a dozen Secret Service employees were accused of misconduct for bringing women, some of them prostitutes, to their hotel rooms in Cartagena, Colombia, before President Barack Obama's visit there in April.
The Department of Homeland Security found that their actions did not compromise the president's safety. At least seven of the employees have left the agency since the scandal broke.

Read More..

Canadian dollar overlooks U.S. results in rangebound trade

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's dollar ended slightly lower against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, shrugging off a modest rally in other riskier assets after Alcoa opened the U.S. earnings season with an optimistic outlook.
Global equities staged a modest recovery after two days of losses. Even with the encouraging Alcoa report, investors lacked a clear view of how U.S. corporations fared in the fourth-quarter and the Canadian currency was rangebound.
Adam Cole, global head of FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets in London, expected more reaction to U.S. earnings once they picked up steam.
"If that's where stocks take their direction then it's difficult to get away from that, being a fairly major barometer of pressure on CAD," he said.
There was caution a day ahead of European and British central bank policy meetings, as well as a Spanish auction that will test appetite for peripheral euro zone debt, and Chinese trade data.
On the home front, the next major event of interest is a speech on Thursday by Tiff Macklem, a senior Bank of Canada official widely tipped to replace the departing Governor Mark Carney.
"Investors are looking toward Tiff Macklem's speech to see if there are any hints of his policy takes, if they're any different from Carney's, which is highly unlikely I think," said John Curran, senior vice president at CanadianForex.
"If anything, the Canadian dollar is remaining in positive territory recently speaking due to last week's (jobs) numbers and expectations that frontrunner Macklem is going to be towing the line so to speak with previous BoC sentiment."
The Bank of Canada stands apart from other major central banks in that it avoided large bouts of quantitative easing and now insists the next move in interest rates is likely to be up.
The Canadian dollar ended the North American session at C$0.9877 versus the greenback, or $1.0125, slightly weaker than Tuesday's close at C$0.9867, or $1.0135. It traded in a tight 26-point range between C$0.9855-C$0.9881.
U.S. profits were expected to beat the previous quarter's lackluster results, but analyst estimates were down sharply from October. Quarterly earnings were expected to grow by 2.7 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.
RBC noted near-term U.S. dollar resistance versus the Canadian dollar around C$0.9947 and support near C$0.9826.
Analysts noted that the looming U.S. debt ceiling talks also kept investors on the sidelines.
Still, the Canadian dollar was outperforming some other major currencies such as the yen, as renewed expectations of easier Bank of Japan monetary policy led some investors to sell the Japanese currency.
Canadian bond prices were also little changed across the curve. The two-year bond was off nearly 1 Canadian cent to yield 1.168 percent, while the benchmark 10-year bond was down 2 Canadian cents to yield 1.910 percent.

Read More..

Wall Street rises after Alcoa reports earnings

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Wednesday, rebounding from two days of losses, as investors turned their focus to the first prominent results of the earnings season.
Stocks had retreated at the start of the week from the S&P 500's highest point in five years, hit last Friday, on worries about possible earnings weakness.
Shares of Alcoa Inc were down 0.5 percent to $9.08 after early gains, following the company's earnings release after the bell on Tuesday. The largest U.S. aluminum producer said it expects global demand for aluminum to grow in 2013.
Herbalife Ltd stock rose 4.2 percent to $39.95 in its most active day of trading in the company's history after hedge fund manager Dan Loeb took a large stake in the nutritional supplements seller. Prominent short-seller Bill Ackman had previously accused the company of being a "pyramid scheme," which Herbalife has denied.
Traders have been cautious as the current quarter shaped up like the previous one, with companies recently lowering expectations, said James Dailey, portfolio manager of Team Asset Strategy Fund in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Lower expectations leave room for companies to surprise investors even if their results are not particularly strong.
"The big question and focus is on revenue, and Alcoa had better-than-expected revenue," which calmed the market a little, Dailey said.
Overall, corporate profits were expected to beat the previous quarter's meager 0.1 percent rise. Both earnings and revenues in the fourth quarter are expected to have grown by 1.9 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 61.66 points, or 0.46 percent, to 13,390.51. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 3.87 points, or 0.27 percent, to 1,461.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> gained 14.00 points, or 0.45 percent, to 3,105.81.
Facebook Inc shares rose above $30 for the first time since July 2012, trading up 5.3 percent at $30.59. Facebook, which has been tight-lipped about its plans after its botched IPO in May, invited the media to its headquarters next week.
Clearwire Corp shares jumped 7.2 percent to $3.13 after Dish Network bid $2.28 billion for the company, beating out a previous Sprint offer and setting the stage for a takeover battle for the wireless service provider that owns crucial mobile spectrum.
Apollo Group Inc slid after heavier early losses, a day after it reported lower student sign-ups for the third straight quarter and cut its operating profit outlook for 2013. Apollo's shares were last off 7.8 percent at $19.32.
Volume was below the 2012 average of 6.42 billion shares traded per day, as 6.10 billion were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE MKT and Nasdaq.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,014 to 963, while on the Nasdaq advancers beat decliners 1,603 to 859.

Read More..

Asia stocks rise on positive start to US earnings

BANGKOK (AP) — A positive start to U.S. corporate earnings season helped boost Asian stock markets Thursday.
Major regional benchmarks rose on the heels of a handful of better-than-expected results that also lifted Wall Street.
Consumer products maker Helen of Troy, whose brands include Dr. Scholl's and Vidal Sassoon, reported a 15 percent profit increase. Electronic payments processor Global Payments said its fiscal second-quarter earnings rose nearly 15 percent, beating Wall Street expectations.
After markets closed Tuesday, Alcoa Inc. predicted rising demand for its aluminum this year and topped revenue expectations for the fourth quarter. Earlier in the day, agricultural products giant Monsanto said its profit tripled and raised its guidance for 2013.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.9 percent to 10,677.74. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1 percent to 23,439.46. South Korea's Kospi added 0.7 percent to 2,005.39 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.4 percent to 4,725.80.
The European Central Bank will meet later Thursday to set monetary policy for the 17 countries that use the euro. It is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the record low of 0.75 percent even though the eurozone economy as a whole is back in recession. Investors are also awaiting the release in the U.S. of weekly jobless claims.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.5 percent to close at 13,390.51 on Wednesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.3 percent to 1,461.02. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.5 percent to 3,105.81.
Benchmark crude oil contract for February delivery was up 33 cents to $93.44 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 5 cents to close at $93.10 per barrel on the Nymex on Wednesday.
In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3047 from $1.3053 while the dollar rose to 88.05 yen from 87.75 yen.

Read More..

Golf-Goosen returns after "totally disintegrated" disc

Jan 8 (Reuters) - Twice U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen will play his first tournament for nearly five months at this week's Volvo Golf Champions in South Africa after having surgery on a "totally disintegrated" disc in his back.
The 43-year-old South African, who rated his health as "about five out of 10" at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August in his penultimate event before an extensive break to repair his back, is itching to play tournament golf again.
"I'm very excited about the New Year," said Goosen who is making his comeback about six weeks ahead of schedule. "Obviously the last three years have been pretty bad.
"Last year I tried a bit of everything... injections, loads of physio, anything you could think of but nothing really helped. In the end we had no choice but to have the operation," he told the European Tour website (www.europeantour.com).
"It's been great. It's been almost five months now. I've been off painkillers and that cleans the system out a little bit. I started hitting balls, or half shots, about three weeks ago and I felt pretty good."
Goosen, who has 14 European Tour wins to his name but has not triumphed on the circuit since 2007, said he entered this week's event in Durban just before the deadline.
The 2001 and 2004 U.S. Open winner lost to compatriot Branden Grace in a playoff, which also featured Ernie Els, at the same event last year and said 2013 could be his season such is the unpredictability of golf.

Read More..

Goosen returns after "totally disintegrated" disc

Twice U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen will play his first tournament for nearly five months at this week's Volvo Golf Champions in South Africa after having surgery on a "totally disintegrated" disc in his back.
The 43-year-old South African, who rated his health as "about five out of 10" at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in August in his penultimate event before an extensive break to repair his back, is itching to play tournament golf again.
"I'm very excited about the New Year," said Goosen who is making his comeback about six weeks ahead of schedule. "Obviously the last three years have been pretty bad.
"Last year I tried a bit of everything... injections, loads of physio, anything you could think of but nothing really helped. In the end we had no choice but to have the operation," he told the European Tour website (www.europeantour.com).
"It's been great. It's been almost five months now. I've been off painkillers and that cleans the system out a little bit. I started hitting balls, or half shots, about three weeks ago and I felt pretty good."
Goosen, who has 14 European Tour wins to his name but has not triumphed on the circuit since 2007, said he entered this week's event in Durban just before the deadline.
The 2001 and 2004 U.S. Open winner lost to compatriot Branden Grace in a playoff, which also featured Ernie Els, at the same event last year and said 2013 could be his season such is the unpredictability of golf.
"Hopefully the back will stay as good as it feels now. I just need to really work on my swing a little bit and find a bit of game. I'm not really sitting here expecting to win but you never know in this game.

Read More..

Jets fire offensive coordinator Tony Sparano

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Tony Sparano has been fired as the New York Jets' offensive coordinator after one season in which the offense ranked among the league's worst.
Sparano was hired last March to replace Brian Schottenheimer and take over an offense that struggled mightily. Instead, the former Miami Dolphins head coach wasn't able to jumpstart the running game or figure out a way to use Tim Tebow consistently as the Jets finished 30th in the NFL in total offense.
Sparano was expected to use Tebow as a major part of the Jets' wildcat-style offense, but the popular backup quarterback was mostly a non-factor — failing to get into the end zone during his first and likely only season in New York.
The contract of quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh also was not renewed.

Read More..

Asian shares slip, Basel ruling supports banks

 Asian stocks drifted down on Monday as investors booked profits from a New Year rally that had pushed markets to multi-month highs, although financial stocks gained after global regulators decided to relax draft plans for tough new bank liquidity rules.
Commodity prices mostly held steady, supported by data showing the U.S. economy continuing on a path of slow but steady recovery that propelled Wall Street stocks to a five-year high.
Financial bookmakers called Europe's main share indexes to open flat or slightly lower, while S&P 500 index futures traded in Asia eased 0.2 percent, pointing to a weaker start in New York.
"It just seems like markets are entering a consolidation phase after recent gains and with most markets trading at fresh 12-month highs," said Stan Shamu, market strategist at financial spreadbetting firm IG in Melbourne.
The dollar fell against the yen, coming off a two-and-a-half year peak it had logged against the Japanese currency as investors adjusted to the possibility of more monetary stimulus in 2013 from the Bank of Japan and less from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan, which had reached its highest level since August 2011 on Thursday, eased 0.1 percent, while Tokyo's Nikkei share average retreated after touching a 23-month high in early trade to close down 0.8 percent.
CASH BUFFERS
The MSCI benchmark's financial sector sub-index firmed after the Basel Committee of banking supervisors agreed on Sunday to give banks four more years and greater flexibility to build up cash buffers so they can use some of their reserves to help struggling economies.
HSBC Holdings Hong Kong shares rose 1 percent, while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd gained 0.6 percent.
Shares in Japanese exporters were supported by the trend of a weakening yen, which traded around 87.85 to the dollar, up 0.3 percent on the day, after the U.S. currency rose as far as 88.40 yen, its highest in nearly two-and-a-half years, on Friday.
The dollar posted a gain of around 2.7 percent against the yen last week, its biggest weekly rise in more than a year. Its gains had accelerated after minutes from the Federal Reserve's December meeting showed some policymakers had considered ending the Fed's bond-buying programme as early as this year.
By contrast, many investors are now betting that Japan's new government, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, will push to weaken the yen and drive through aggressive fiscal stimulus, and pressure the Bank of Japan to do the same on the monetary side.
Although the dollar may pull back against the yen given the speed of its rise over the past month, its uptrend seems likely to remain intact, said Hiroshi Maeba, head of FX trading Japan for UBS in Tokyo.
"My sense is that the market could still head much higher," Maeba said. "I think 90 yen might be reached pretty soon."
The dollar firmed against the euro, which traded around $1.3035.
The U.S. stock benchmark S&P 500 index closed at its highest level since December 2007 on Friday after data showed a steady pace of jobs growth and brisk expansion of the services sector in the world's biggest economy.
That offered support to growth-sensitive commodities, with copper little changed just below $8,100 a tonne, while Brent crude oil eased a little to around $111.20.
Spot gold firmed 0.3 percent to around $1,660 an ounce.

Read More..

Burundi coffee earnings fall 63 pct in December

 Burundi's earnings from coffee exports fell 63 percent in December from the previous month due to lower volumes sold, the country's industry regulator said on Monday.
"Low quantities of coffee were exported in December as most buyers in western countries were off for the holidays," said regulator ARFIC in its monthly report.
Earnings dropped to $2.1 million from $5.7 million in November, as the amount of coffee sold tumbled to 896,547 kg from 1,671,638 kg in the previous month.
ARFIC expects the central African nation to earn a total of$61.4 million from coffee exports during the 2012/2013 (April-March) crop year, slightly up from $61.2 million earned in the 2011/2012 season.
Projected high output from the world's top producers like Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia could lower coffee prices in global markets, ARFIC said.
Coffee is the country's top hard currency earner and the sector employs some 800,000 smallholder farmers in a population of eight million.

Read More..