GM chief Barra pledges action on dangerous ignitions

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• GM chief Barra pledges action on dangerous ignitions
• 1 of 10 Sumatran rhinos in captivity dies in Ohio
• Auto safety chief says GM didn't share key data
• Reds' Chapman feeling good, still can't work out
• Israeli court convicts ex-PM Olmert of bribery
• Jury picked as Hillsborough inquests start
• AP source: US talks with Israel on Pollard release
• Russia pulls back a battalion from Ukraine border
• Hollande puts Valls in charge after election debacle
• NHTSA to require rearview cameras in new vehicles
• Manuel Valls named as new French prime minister
• Germany returns looted Guardi painting to Poland
• Lawmaker Yee's lawyer questions FBI investigation
• Late Obamacare surge jams website
• Koreas trade fire; island residents in shelters
• US stocks head for a meager first-quarter gain
• BlackBerry wins ruling against iPhone keyboard
• 4 hurt, 200 evacuated after Washington plant fire
• Cal coach Montgomery retires
• Hagel acts to improve POW-MIA accounting effort
• New Mexico governor calls for calm after protest
• France's Hollande names new PM, pledges tax cuts after poll rout
• Prosecutor: Woman stabbed beau 25 times with heel
• AP source: US talking with Israel on spy release
• Doug McDermott leads AP All-America team
• NHTSA chief says agency did not have evidence to warrant GM probe
• Deadline dash: Health care sign-ups amid glitches
• Greece's Lamda to develop former Athens airport
• J&J accepts $4B Carlyle offer for diagnostics unit
• GM engineer OK'd sub-standard ignition switch: documents
• Story of Benedict Arnold's wife may go to film, TV
• Atletico the Robin Hood of Spain, claims Tiago
• MLB uses expanded replay 1st time, call confirmed
• Russian forces 'gradually withdrawing' from Ukraine
• Poland, France, Germany call for Ukraine conference
• England greats turn on team after Dutch debacle
• Charlie Brooks hid his 'smut' to protect wife Rebekah
• Australia says no time limit on Flight 370 search
• Kerry meets with Lavrov on Ukraine, urges troop pullback
• MLB ticket price average $27.94 after 2 pct rise

GM chief Barra pledges action on dangerous ignitions Posted: 31 Mar 2014 01:00 PM PDT GM Chief Executive Mary Barra said Monday she still does not know why its took years for the automaker to recall cars with dangerously faulty ignitions, but pledged to find out. In testimony prepared for a Congressional hearing Tuesday into the ignition problem, tied to 13 deaths, Barra promised to be "fully transparent" over what kept General Motors from addressing the problem for 10 years. She said management would take responsibility for the issue, and that GM "will do the right thing." "More than a decade ago, GM embarked on a small car program.

1 of 10 Sumatran rhinos in captivity dies in Ohio Posted: 31 Mar 2014 01:00 PM PDT CINCINNATI (AP) — The death of the Cincinnati Zoo's lone female Sumatran rhino has dealt a blow to a breeding program aimed at saving one of the world's most critically endangered species.

Auto safety chief says GM didn't share key data Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:59 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal safety regulator says General Motors didn't share key information that might have led to a faster recall of small cars.

Reds' Chapman feeling good, still can't work out Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:53 PM PDT CINCINNATI (AP) — Closer Aroldis Chapman rode in Cincinnati's opening day parade on Monday, the most he was allowed to do as part of the Reds' first-game festivities.

Israeli court convicts ex-PM Olmert of bribery Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:52 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli court on Monday convicted ex-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a high-profile bribery case, crushing his hopes for a political comeback and setting the stage for him to become the first Israeli premier to go to prison.

Jury picked as Hillsborough inquests start Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:50 PM PDT Warrington (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Hundreds of relatives of the 96 Liverpool football supporters who died in the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster filled a courtroom on Monday for the start of fresh inquests into their deaths.

AP source: US talks with Israel on Pollard release Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:50 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States is talking with Israel about the possibility of releasing convicted spy Jonathan Pollard early from his life sentence as an incentive in the troubled Mideast peace negotiations, a person familiar with the situation said Monday. Such an extraordinary step would show the urgency of U.S. efforts to keep negotiations alive.

Russia pulls back a battalion from Ukraine border Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:50 PM PDT SIMFEROPOL, Crimea (AP) — Russia said Monday it was pulling a battalion of several hundred troops away from the Ukrainian border but kept tens of thousands in place, prompting a worried response from the Kiev government about what the U.S. warned was still a "tremendous buildup."

Hollande puts Valls in charge after election debacle Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:44 PM PDT Paris (AFP) - French President Francois Hollande on Monday reacted to a humiliating electoral rout for his Socialist Party by naming popular Interior Minister Manuel Valls as the country's new prime minister.

NHTSA to require rearview cameras in new vehicles Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:41 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Transportation Department issued a rule Monday that will require rearview technology in many new vehicles — an effort to reduce deaths and serious injuries caused by backup accidents.

Manuel Valls named as new French prime minister Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:39 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — President Francois Hollande named former Interior Minister Manuel Valls as France's new prime minister Monday, just 24 hours after his Socialists suffered heavy losses in nationwide municipal elections.

Germany returns looted Guardi painting to Poland Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:38 PM PDT BERLIN (AP) — An 18th-century painting looted by the Nazis for Adolf Hitler's 'Fuehrer Museum' was handed back to Poland on Monday, a move Germany hopes will revive thorny talks over a vast trove of historical documents that Berlin wants to recover from Poland.

Lawmaker Yee's lawyer questions FBI investigation Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:34 PM PDT SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A lawyer for a California state senator charged last week with bribery and gun trafficking on Monday challenged the three-year FBI investigation that led to the arrest.

Late Obamacare surge jams website Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:33 PM PDT Washington (AFP) - A last minute enrollment surge briefly jammed the website for President Barack Obama's health care law Monday as his top domestic legacy achievement hit a first-year deadline.

Koreas trade fire; island residents in shelters Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:33 PM PDT SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North and South Korea fired hundreds of artillery shells into each other's waters Monday in a flare-up of animosity that forced residents of five front-line South Korean islands to evacuate to shelters for several hours, South Korean officials said.

US stocks head for a meager first-quarter gain Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:31 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose broadly in afternoon trading Monday as the market headed for its fifth straight quarterly gain. Microsoft led the technology sector higher.

BlackBerry wins ruling against iPhone keyboard Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:31 PM PDT SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Troubled smartphone maker BlackBerry has won an early round in its legal battle against an iPhone keyboard made by a startup co-founded by "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest.

4 hurt, 200 evacuated after Washington plant fire Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:30 PM PDT PLYMOUTH, Wash. (AP) — A large explosion and fire Monday at natural gas processing plant near the Washington-Oregon border injured four workers and led to the evacuation of about 200 people from nearby homes as flames and a mushroom-shaped cloud of black smoke reached high into the air.

Cal coach Montgomery retires Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:26 PM PDT BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — California coach Mike Montgomery is retiring after six seasons at the school.

Hagel acts to improve POW-MIA accounting effort Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:25 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — In a bid to improve the government's accounting for missing U.S. war dead, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Monday he is establishing a new Pentagon agency with more focused authority and more senior-level oversight.

New Mexico governor calls for calm after protest Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:19 PM PDT ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A day after hundreds of people clashed with Albuquerque riot officers over police shootings, Gov. Susana Martinez said Monday that she understands the public's frustration but called on protesters to remain calm while federal officials investigate.

France's Hollande names new PM, pledges tax cuts after poll rout Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:19 PM PDT By Mark John and Emmanuel Jarry PARIS (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande named centrist Interior Minister Manuel Valls as his new prime minister on Monday, replacing Jean-Marc Ayrault who quit after ruling Socialists were trounced in local French elections. Hollande vowed to pursue cuts in labor charges for business but also promised tax cuts to boost consumer spending, insisting that EU partners take his reform efforts into account in judging whether France had respected commitments to Brussels. ...

Prosecutor: Woman stabbed beau 25 times with heel Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:16 PM PDT HOUSTON (AP) — A woman attacked her boyfriend in a fit of rage, sat on him after knocking him down and then stabbed him to death with the stiletto heel of her shoe, striking him at least 25 times in the face, a prosecutor told jurors Monday.

AP source: US talking with Israel on spy release Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:11 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States is talking with Israel about the possibility of releasing convicted spy Jonathan Pollard from prison early, a person familiar with Mideast peace negotiations said Monday. That would come in exchange for Israeli concessions that would allow faltering peace talks with the Palestinians to continue beyond an end-of-April deadline.

Doug McDermott leads AP All-America team Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:07 PM PDT Doug McDermott spent his senior season passing a lot of big names on the career scoring list. He is now among some very select company.

NHTSA chief says agency did not have evidence to warrant GM probe Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:07 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did not have enough evidence to open a formal investigation into defective ignition switches in General Motors cars, NHTSA acting Administrator David Friedman said in prepared testimony to Congress. Friedman, who will testify on Tuesday before a House of Representatives panel, said GM "had critical information that would have helped identify this defect," which is linked to 13 deaths and has prompted the recall of 2.6 million GM cars. ...

Deadline dash: Health care sign-ups amid glitches Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:05 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — A flood of last-minute applicants rushed to sign up for health insurance on Monday, deadline day for President Barack Obama's health care law, with more than 125,000 people at a time using the fragile system despite a new spate of intermittent ills.

Greece's Lamda to develop former Athens airport Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:03 PM PDT ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's state privatization agency has picked a Greek real estate company to develop a sprawling coastal Olympic complex and former airport, once earmarked as a metropolitan park but largely abandoned for the past decade.

J&J accepts $4B Carlyle offer for diagnostics unit Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:03 PM PDT NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — Johnson & Johnson has accepted an offer of about $4 billion from the private equity firm The Carlyle Group to buy its Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics business.

GM engineer OK'd sub-standard ignition switch: documents Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:01 PM PDT WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) - A General Motors engineer signed off on a design change for troubled ignition switches even though those changes did not meet company standards, according to documents provided to a U.S. House of Representatives panel. The disclosure appeared to conflict with information provided by GM engineer Ray DeGiorgio during 2013 legal proceedings surrounding the company's defective ignition switches that are linked to 13 deaths. ...

Story of Benedict Arnold's wife may go to film, TV Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:01 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — The story of Benedict Arnold's wife as depicted in a best-selling novel by the daughter of former New York Gov. George Pataki may be headed to the big and small screens.

Atletico the Robin Hood of Spain, claims Tiago Posted: 31 Mar 2014 12:00 PM PDT Atletico Madrid midfielder Tiago Mendes has compared his side's ability to compete with the far richer Barcelona and Real Madrid this season to the tale of Robin Hood. Atletico face Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at the Camp Nou on Tuesday and also lead La Liga ahead of the two traditional giants of Spanish football with just seven games remaining. Diego Simeone's men have overcome the odds despite having an annual budget of almost 400 million euros ($550 million) less than Barca and Real and Tiago believes people in crisis-hit Spain can associate with the hard work that has taken Atletico to the top.

MLB uses expanded replay 1st time, call confirmed Posted: 31 Mar 2014 11:53 AM PDT PITTSBURGH (AP) — Major League Baseball has used expanded replay for the first time, and the umpire's call was confirmed in a game between the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Russian forces 'gradually withdrawing' from Ukraine Posted: 31 Mar 2014 11:53 AM PDT Ukraine on Monday reported a partial withdrawal of Russian troops from its border amid growing signs the Kremlin was ready to de-escalate the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War. The announcement came in the wake of a four-hour meeting in Paris between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that ended with an exchange of political proposals and an agreement to talk again soon. And in Berlin German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office said Russian President Vladimir Putin had personally informed her of the troop pullback in a phone call Monday, but provided no other details. Both Western powers and the new pro-European interim leaders in Kiev have been increasingly worried that the Kremlin intends to seize heavily Russified southeastern parts of Ukraine after annexing its Crimea peninsula in response to the fall in February of the Moscow-backed president in Kiev.

Poland, France, Germany call for Ukraine conference Posted: 31 Mar 2014 11:52 AM PDT Germany, France and Poland called on Monday for an international conference to be held on Ukraine and urged Russia to take part. The three countries' foreign ministers suggested it should be held after Ukraine holds presidential elections in May. Moscow and the West are at odds over Russia's annexation of the Crimea region in March, which followed the overthrow of Ukraine's pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovich amid a national dispute over whether the former Soviet republic should align with Europe or Russia.

England greats turn on team after Dutch debacle Posted: 31 Mar 2014 11:49 AM PDT Former England captains Michael Vaughan and Michael Atherton rounded on the current side after they bowed out of the World Twenty20 with a humiliating 45-run loss to the Netherlands in Chittagong on Monday. Bowled out for just 88 with more than two overs to spare in reply to the Netherlands' 133 for five, defeat set the seal on a miserable tour programme for England, already unable to reach the semi-finals of this event, following their 5-0 Ashes series loss in Australia. But it arguably proved worse than even Vaughan forecast, with only three England batsmen making double figures -- Ravi Bopara 'top-scoring' with a meagre 18 -- in an innings featuring just four fours and no sixes. And after England's innings ended in the 18th over with a farcical run-out, Vaughan tweeted: "That sums it up.... #Garbage".

Charlie Brooks hid his 'smut' to protect wife Rebekah Posted: 31 Mar 2014 11:48 AM PDT By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - Charlie Brooks, the husband of Rupert Murdoch's former British newspaper chief, told a London court on Monday he hid his porn collection from police investigating phone-hacking because he feared leaks to the press which would embarrass his wife. Brooks' wife Rebekah is on trial at London's Old Bailey accused of conspiracy to hack phones and authorising illegal payments to public officials. They are both accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice by hindering the police investigation. Rebekah Brooks was arrested in July 2011 at the height of a phone-hacking scandal that rocked Murdoch's News Corp. empire and shook Britain's political establishment.

Australia says no time limit on Flight 370 search Posted: 31 Mar 2014 11:48 AM PDT PERTH, Australia (AP) — Although it has been slow, difficult and frustrating so far, the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet is nowhere near the point of being scaled back, Australia's prime minister pledged Monday.

Kerry meets with Lavrov on Ukraine, urges troop pullback Posted: 31 Mar 2014 11:46 AM PDT By Lesley Wroughton and Alexei Anishchuk PARIS/MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks on Sunday about ways to defuse the crisis over Ukraine, with Kerry telling Moscow that progress depended on a Russian troop pullback from Ukraine's borders. "Both sides made suggestions of ways to de-escalate the security and political situation in and around Ukraine," Kerry told a news conference late on Sunday after meeting with Lavrov for four hours in Paris. "Any real progress in Ukraine must include a pullback of the very large Russian force that is currently massing along Ukraine's borders," Kerry said.

MLB ticket price average $27.94 after 2 pct rise Posted: 31 Mar 2014 11:46 AM PDT CHICAGO (AP) — Major League Baseball's average ticket price rose 2 percent this season to $27.93, the steepest rise since a 5 percent hike in 2009, according to the Team Marketing Report's annual survey.

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