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The city of Detroit hired its fifth police chief in five years as Michigan's largest city grapples with a financial crisis, low officer morale and one of the highest violent crime and homicide rates in the United States. Mayor Dave Bing and Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, who was appointed by the state in March to overhaul the city's debt-riddled finances, announced the appointment of James Craig as Detroit's new police chief on Wednesday. Craig, 56, is moving from being Cincinnati's top cop to accept what he called his "dream job," saying he was excited to return to the city where he began his law enforcement career as a Detroit police officer in 1977.   The timing is critical, said Orr, who expressed an urgency in hiring a permanent police chief in his financial report to the state this week. "Over the last five years, (Detroit) has had five different police chiefs, with varying approaches to rehabilitating the Detroit Police Department's operat

A Texas inmate convicted of killing a Houston police officer is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday evening. _0"> In May 1999, Jeffrey Williams, now 37, was driving a stolen Lexus when policeman Troy Blando stopped him in a motel parking lot and tried to arrest him. Williams shot Blando in the chest and fled, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Blando got back into his car and radioed for help, but he died from the gunshot wound. Williams was arrested near the scene wearing one handcuff, according to an account of the case from the Texas attorney general's office. He told police that he did not know that Blando, who was in plain clothes, was a police officer, and that he thought Blando was trying to rob him, according to the attorney general's account. Williams, who said he has mental disabilities, has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying that he had ineffective trial lawyers. The lethal injection is scheduled

A Philadelphia doctor was sent to prison on Wednesday to serve three life terms without parole for murdering babies during late-term abortions and other crimes at his squalid clinic. In a deal that spared him from the death penalty, Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, faced a judge in a two-day sentencing at Philadelphia Common Pleas Court after waiving his right to appeal his conviction on three counts of first-degree murder.   Graphic trial testimony about Gosnell's actions at the now-shuttered Women's Medical Society Clinic in West Philadelphia, which served a predominantly black and low-income community, cast a spotlight on the controversial practice of late-term abortions. A seven-woman, five-man jury convicted Gosnell on Monday in the case that focused on whether the infants were born alive and then killed. A clinic worker testified during the trial that the doctor had delivered live babies during botched late-term abortions and cut their spinal cords. Gosnell's defense ha

Undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the highest-paid professional athlete in the United States with expected earnings of at least $90 million this year from just two bouts, according to Sports Illustrated magazine. _0"> The 36-year-old welterweight - considered the best defensive boxer of his generation - topped the magazine's Fortunate 50 list, issued on Wednesday. Mayweather also took the top spot last year, earning an estimated $85 million, again from just two fights, the magazine reported.   Miami Heat basketball star LeBron James, 28, a four-time National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player, came in this year in the number two slot, earning a total of $56.5 million. The list is calculated by combining estimated salary, winnings and endorsements. Mayweather's total earnings are even more impressive considering he received no endorsement money either this year or last. James' $56.5 million income combines a $17.5 million salary with an additi

Increasingly tough financial sanctions, an arms embargo and other international restrictions on trade with North Korea have significantly delayed expansion of Pyongyang's illicit nuclear arms program, according to a confidential report by a U.N. panel of experts seen by Reuters on Tuesday. The latest annual report by the U.N. sanctions-monitoring group comes as the United States seeks to persuade China that applying economic and other sanctions against its neighbor is crucial to halting the program. "While the imposition of sanctions has not halted the development of nuclear and ballistic missile programs, it has in all likelihood considerably delayed (North Korea's) timetable and, through the imposition of financial sanctions and the bans on the trade in weapons, has choked off significant funding which would have been channeled into its prohibited activities," the 52-page report said. The document covers the period up through last month, diplomats said, so i

As Amazon.com Inc seeks to transform itself into a leading provider of technology to the world's largest corporations, it's discovering that it needs help. The online retailer, which since 2006 has moved aggressively into the business of renting remote computing, storage and other IT services, is roping in thousands of consulting and technology partners, from Cap Gemini SA to BMC Software Inc, in a major push to woo big-spending corporate customers to its cloud computing division. Amazon Web Services (AWS), as the business is known, has been a hit with startups which need robust and inexpensive Web services that they can purchase as the need arises. But big corporations and government agencies, often referred to as enterprise customers, represent a far larger opportunity: they spend more than $300 billion a year on data centers, Bernstein Research estimates. That market opportunity has helped Amazon's stock price more than triple in the past five years as investors b

He may have been the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago. He may have written a book extolling constitutional values in a democracy. And he may have run for president on a civil liberties banner, pledging to reverse the legacy of George W. Bush. But as U.S. president for the last 4-1/2 years, Barack Obama has faced accusation after accusation of impinging on civil liberties, disappointing his liberal Democratic base and providing fodder for rival Republicans as he deals with the realities of office. News in the past week of the federal seizure of phone records from the Associated Press news agency and the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative Tea Party groups, has intensified criticism already simmering over the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and aerial drone strikes abroad. Asked at a news conference on Tuesday why the administration had not done more for civil liberties, Attorney Ge

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday he had ordered the FBI to open a criminal probe in a growing scandal over the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative political groups for extra tax scrutiny. Holder's announcement came about four hours before an inspector general's report on the IRS portrayed the tax agency as plagued by disarray and "insufficient oversight" during its struggles to review the cases of hundreds of advocacy groups that claimed they should be tax exempt. The audit, which drew some backlash from IRS officials, also underscored what the agency had acknowledged last Friday: that the IRS had used "inappropriate criteria" for evaluating tax-exempt groups, in part by singling out scores of conservative Tea Party and "Patriot" organizations for increased scrutiny. The report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration sharply criticized the way the IRS had screened the conservative groups,

When the Cyprus bank run began earlier this year, Russians set much of the pace. Documents seen by Reuters show that as the Mediterranean island headed towards financial meltdown in March, most notable among companies transferring money from the country's two main banks were Russians and East Europeans. At least 3.6 billion euros ($4.67 billion) was removed in two weeks by big depositors, according to the documents. Though many companies listed initially appear obscure, a Reuters analysis shows a significant proportion are vehicles for foreign investors more at home in Moscow or Kiev than Nicosia. The lists give an insight into the March crisis and how the tax haven, with a population of just 1.1 million, had amassed bank deposits that peaked at 72 billion euros - more than four times the island's GDP. Prepared in April by private sector lenders Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Bank, and passed to lawmakers by the island's central bank, the documents list 5,323 transactions,

Just months after a dazzling political debut, Israel's new finance minister Yair Lapid has come crashing down to earth with a budget that critics say hits the very people he vowed to protect -- the middle classes. The deficit-cutting package was approved by the cabinet early on Tuesday and now passes to parliament, where Lapid faces a buoyant opposition eager to damage the rookie politician whose seemingly impregnable image has suddenly shattered. Propelled by his movie-star good looks, Lapid's Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party came second in January's election, winning over almost every undecided voter in the final days of the campaign to the dismay of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But in barely two weeks, his poll ratings have nosedived, his ever-active Facebook page has become a wall of abuse and his many enemies are already writing his political obituary. "Yair Lapid is finished. Wiped out. Done for," said a column in Israel's center-left Ha

Ethnic minority guerrillas in Myanmar attacked an energy company's compound killing two people and wounding three, media reported on Wednesday, the latest incident threatening to delay the opening of pipelines taking oil and gas to China . The rebels opened fire at a compound of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise in the north of Shan State, near the Chinese border. The New Light of Myanmar newspaper said those involved in the Monday attack were members of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army. Various factions in Shan State, and elsewhere in Myanmar, have battled the government for greater autonomy for decades. Most groups have agreed ceasefires, some struck with a quasi-civilian government that came to power in mid-2011, after nearly 50 years of military rule. The peace pacts have opened up opportunities for infrastructure development and exploitation of resources in areas that were previously too insecure. Among the projects are pipelines capable of supplying 4

The U.N. General Assembly is set to vote on Wednesday on a draft resolution that condemns Syrian authorities and accepts the opposition Syrian National Coalition as party to a potential political transition. Russia , a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is opposed to the resolution, which was drafted by Qatar and other Arab nations and circulated among the 193 U.N. member states. Some Western diplomats said it was unlikely to win as many votes as a resolution that passed last year with 133 in favor. No country has a veto in the General Assembly. "I'm convinced a lot of countries voted for this text because they believed they were voting for the winning side," a senior western U.N. diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in reference to the August, 2012 resolution. "They are not so sure anymore." "Now also you have the Islamist, terrorist factor which is much more conspicuous," he said. The Syrian conflict started more th

Russian state-run media revelled on Wednesday in embarrassing the United States over a botched attempt to recruit one of its intelligence agents but both countries signaled they wanted to prevent the episode harming efforts to improve relations. Moscow expelled a U.S. diplomat on Tuesday, saying he had been caught red-handed with disguises, special equipment and wads of cash as he tried to recruit a Russian agent for the CIA. U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul spent about 30 minutes at the Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday after being summoned to give an explanation, and the Ministry said it had issued a formal protest. Although President Vladimir Putin said nothing about the incident, state news channels repeatedly showed footage of the U.S. diplomat, Ryan Fogle, in an incongruous-looking blond wig being pinned to the ground by a Russian undercover agent in a "sting" operation. The images, highly embarrassing for the United States, appeared part of efforts to boost Pu

Taiwan imposed sanctions against the Philippines on Wednesday, rejecting as unacceptable a Philippine apology for the killing of a fisherman from Taiwan last week. _0"> The row is the latest flare-up in tension in Asian seas where disputes in various places between various countries have raised fears of conflict in the economically vibrant region where competition for resources is intensifying. Earlier on Wednesday, Taiwan recalled its envoy to the Philippines. The sanctions included the freezing of applications for work permits, the cessation of economic exchanges and military exercises in waters between the two sides. A spokesman for Philippine President Benigno Aquino had said a formal apology was being offered to the "appropriate authority" in Taiwan over the "unfortunate loss" of the fisherman. But Taiwan's Premier Jiang Yi-huah said the apology was inadequate because it called the fisherman's death unfortunate and unintentional, accordin

Prime Minister David Cameron faces a humiliating challenge to his authority on Wednesday when scores of rebels in his ruling party will attack him in parliament over his stance on Britain's membership of the European Union. In a further blow to Cameron's leadership, up to 100 Conservative lawmakers will take the highly unusual step of voting to criticize his government's legislative plans, a week after they were first put before parliament. The rebels are angry that the government's policy proposals did not include steps to make Cameron's promise of a referendum on Britain's EU membership legally binding. The party turmoil has fuelled talk of Britain sliding towards the EU exit and has stirred memories of Conservative infighting that contributed to the downfall of former prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major. While the vote is non-binding, a big mutiny would be an embarrassment for Cameron less than two years before the next parliamentary elect

Authorities in Myanmar struggled on Wednesday to evacuate tens of thousands of people, most of them Rohingya Muslims, before a cyclone reaches camps in low-lying regions that have been their home since ethnic and religious unrest last year. Cyclone Mahasen has already killed at least seven people and displaced 3,881 in Sri Lanka, its Disaster Management Center said on Tuesday. The storm is moving north over the Bay of Bengal and is expected to reach land on Thursday, hitting north of Chittagong in Bangladesh. The Myanmar government had planned to move 38,000 internally displaced people, most of them Rohingya Muslims, by Tuesday but many have refused to relocate from camps in Rakhine State in the west of the country, afraid of the authorities' intentions. At least 192 people were killed in June and October last year in violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya, who are denied citizenship by the government in Myanmar and considered by many Buddhists to be immigran

Some 100 legislators are demanding a ban on two top independent candidates including ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from Iran's June presidential election in what may be a further move to thwart any brewing challenge to the clerical supreme leader. The petition by parliamentarians to Iran's Guardian Council emerged three days after the electoral watchdog said outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may face charges for accompanying former aide Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, the other high-profile independent, to register on Saturday for the vote. That warning raised speculation that the council would bar Mashaie. The parliamentarians - conservative hardliners loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - appeared to follow up by urging the watchdog to disqualify both independents. After mass protests that followed the 2009 election, Khamenei may have counted on the June 14 vote to install a loyal conservative as president but the surprise candidacies of Rafsanjani and

The United Nations' nuclear agency failed to persuade Iran on Wednesday to let it resume an investigation into suspected atomic bomb research, leaving the high-stakes diplomacy in deadlock. With Iran focused on a presidential election next month, expectations had been low for the meeting between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has been trying for more than a year to reopen an inquiry into "possible military dimensions" of Tehran's nuclear work. "We had intensive discussions today but did not finalize the structured approach document that has been under negotiation for a year and a half now," IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts said after the eight-hour meeting, referring to a long-sought framework deal for the investigation. "Our commitment to continue dialogue is unwavering. However, we must recognize that our best efforts have not been successful so far. So we will continue to try and complete this proces

Socialist leader Nicolas Maduro and the billionaire boss of Venezuela's biggest private company have buried the hatchet after a war of words over food shortages and other economic problems in the South American nation. Perpetuating the hard-line rhetoric of his predecessor Hugo Chavez, newly-elected Maduro turned on Empresas Polar president Lorenzo Mendoza in recent days, accusing him of hoarding products as part of an "economic war" on the state by private business. Mendoza, whose company is Venezuela's biggest beer- and flour-maker, denied that and pointedly challenged the government to sell production plants nationalized under Chavez back to the private sector to boost efficiency. On Tuesday night, the pair met to discuss their differences in a spat seen by Venezuelans as a bellwether for state-business relations going forward under Maduro's government. Both sides came out of the meeting sounding reconciliatory and pledging to work together to overcome f

Bomb attacks in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad and in northern Iraq killed more than 35 people on Wednesday, following weeks of violence by Sunni Islamist insurgents determined to unleash sectarian confrontation. _0"> Tensions between minority Sunni Muslims and the Shi'ites who now lead Iraq are at their highest since U.S. troops pulled out in 2011, with relations coming under more pressure by the day from the largely sectarian conflict in neighboring Syria .   A string of car bombings hit Shi'ite neighborhoods across the capital Baghdad on Wednesday evening, including one outside a cafe and another at a market, killing at least 22 people and wounding dozens more, police said. "I saw a bright flash followed by a strong explosion that shook the building. Glass was shattered everywhere, people immediately ran to the scene and started evacuating the wounded and the dead," said Jabar al-Rubaie, a policeman at the scene in Sadr City district in Baghdad. One ch