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| Obama considers Syria moves, Assad turns guns on north Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 12:22 PM PDT  By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is deciding whether to take new action to help Syria's rebels, the White House said on Thursday, while President Bashar al-Assad's surging forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies turned their guns on the north. Assad's forces fought near the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday and bombarded the central city of Homs, having seized the initiative by winning the open backing of Hezbollah last month and capturing the strategic town of Qusair last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Explosion at Louisiana chemical plant kills 1, injures 73 Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 12:51 PM PDT  By Jonathan Bachman GEISMAR, Louisiana (Reuters) - An explosion and fire killed at least one person and injured 73 at the Williams Olefins chemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana, on Thursday, leading authorities to order people within two miles to remain indoors. The blast at 8:37 a.m. (0937 ET) sent a huge fireball and column of smoke into the air at the plant along the Mississippi River just south of Baton Rouge and about 60 miles up river from New Orleans. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. top court bars patents on human genes unless synthetic Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 12:40 PM PDT  By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday prohibited patents on naturally occurring human genes but allowed legal protections on synthetically produced genetic material in a compromise ruling hailed as a partial victory for patients and the biotechnology industry. The ruling by the nine justices, the first of its kind for the top U.S. court, buttressed important patent protections relied upon by biotechnology companies while making it clear that genes extracted from the human body cannot be patented. ... Full Story | Top |
| News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch files for divorce from wife Wendi Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 10:54 AM PDT  By Liana B. Baker (Reuters) - News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch has filed for divorce from his wife Wendi, the company confirmed on Thursday, just days before News Corp. itself splits into two. The reasons for the filing were not immediately clear, though a spokesman for Murdoch said the marriage had been irretrievably broken for more than six months. Murdoch, 82, married the former Wendi Deng, 44, in 1999. The filing comes just days before the split of News Corp. into two companies, one for its entertainment assets and the other for its publishing business. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sales, jobs data show underlying economic strength Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 10:31 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Retail sales rose more than expected in May and first-time applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, signs of economic resilience in the face of belt-tightening in Washington. The data on Thursday suggested rising home prices and steady job gains, which hoisted consumer confidence to multi-year highs in May, was starting to create a virtuous cycle in which gains in spending were forcing employers to keep hiring. ... Full Story | Top |
| Austrian central banker charged in bribe case Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 09:21 AM PDT  VIENNA (Reuters) - Vienna prosecutors charged nine people on Thursday, including the deputy governor of the Austrian National Bank, over suspected bribes in banknote contracts with Azerbaijan and Syria. Wolfgang Duchatczek, 63, and the other suspects face charges of abetting breach of trust, bribery, money laundering and other crimes, prosecutors said in a statement. The central bank had no comment on the move other than to say its supervisory board would meet on Tuesday to discuss it. ... Full Story | Top |
| In first response to Snowden, China skirts direct comment Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 03:50 AM PDT  By Ben Blanchard and Benjamin Kang Lim BEIJING (Reuters) - China refused to be drawn on Thursday on revelations of U.S. electronic surveillance and on the American in Hong Kong who leaked the information, and a senior source said Beijing does not want to jeopardize recently improved ties with Washington. China has been on a long holiday since National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden told Britain's Guardian newspaper and the Washington Post last week of the agency's programs to monitor data at big companies such as Google Inc and Facebook Inc. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greeks strike over state TV closure, PM offers talks Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 12:49 PM PDT  By Lefteris Papadimas and Harry Papachristou ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras moved to defuse a political crisis over the government's abrupt closure of state broadcaster ERT that prompted a nationwide strike on Thursday and brought thousands into the streets in protest. Samaras, who has branded defenders of ERT hypocrites, invited two left-wing junior coalition parties opposed to the shutdown to talks next Monday, his office said, seeking to avert political instability in the bailed-out euro zone country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey's Erdogan to meet protesters' representatives to defuse row Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 11:00 AM PDT  By Nick Tattersall and Jonathon Burch ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan will meet on Thursday with members of a group opposed to the redevelopment of an Istanbul park in a bid to end two weeks of anti-government protests, just hours after Erdogan said his patience had run out. Earlier in the day, Erdogan gave a final warning for those occupying the central Istanbul Gezi Park to leave and struck back at criticism from the European Parliament over the ferocity of a police crackdown on the protesters. "Our patience is at an end. ... Full Story | Top |
| Czech cabinet in crisis after police sweep government offices Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 11:45 AM PDT  By Jan Lopatka and Robert Muller PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech Republic's main opposition party demanded on Thursday that Prime Minister Petr Necas step down after police raided government offices, seized documents and detained a woman who for years has been one of his closest aides. Necas said he would not consider resigning after the raids, but the investigation is a severe blow to his government, which does not have a stable majority in parliament and has already come close to collapsing several times. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hardliners still split as Iran election campaign ends Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 08:01 AM PDT  By Jon Hemming DUBAI (Reuters) - Campaigning in Iran's presidential election ended on Thursday, a day before the vote in which the sole moderate candidate has an outside chance of stealing victory from his hardline rivals. Hardliners have failed to agree on a unity candidate, potentially splitting their vote and improving the chances of moderate cleric Hassan Rohani to progress to a run-off poll. ... Full Story | Top |
| One dead, over 30 injured in Louisiana chemical blast: police Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 11:12 AM PDT  (Reuters) - At least one person died and more than 30 were injured on Thursday in an explosion and fire at the Williams Olefins chemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana, state police said. A body was recovered at the explosion scene and a search continued for more possible victims, Louisiana State Police Captain Doug Cain said. (Reporting by Karen Brooks; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Sandra Maler) Full Story | Top |
| Senate rejects Republican effort to gut immigration bill Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 12:32 PM PDT  By Thomas Ferraro and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A landmark immigration bill survived a major challenge in the Senate on Thursday when its bipartisan "Gang of Eight" sponsors beat back an amendment that would have delayed a pathway to citizenship for 11 million illegal residents. The proposal by Iowa Republican Charles Grassley would have prohibited a first step toward granting them legal status until the U.S. Department of Homeland Security "has maintained effective control" of the entire U.S.-Mexico border - 1,969 miles - for a period of six months. ... Full Story | Top |
| FBI director says U.S. will hold Snowden responsible on NSA leak Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 08:45 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Thursday that the U.S. government is doing everything it can to hold confessed leaker Edward Snowden accountable for splashing surveillance secrets across the pages of newspapers worldwide. Mueller said at a U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing that Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, harmed national security when he divulged the secrets. "As to the individual who has admitted making these disclosures, he is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation," Mueller said without naming Snowden. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: The big money bails on Argentina - again Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 07:22 AM PDT  By Brian Winter BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - More than a decade after Argentina's epic financial collapse of 2001-02, many investors are rushing for the door once again. From big Chinese and Brazilian companies like miner Vale SA, to small-business owners and savers, the fear of a new crisis has led to canceled investments and suitcases of cash leaving the country. The mass exodus, which has been limited only by leftist President Cristina Fernandez's capital controls, is threatening to undermine Latin America's No. 3 economy even further by leaving it short of hard currency and new jobs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Apple looking at bigger iPhone screens, multiple colors - sources Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 12:06 PM PDT  By Clare Jim, Reiji Murai and Poornima Gupta (Reuters) - Apple Inc is exploring launching iPhones with bigger screens, as well as cheaper models in a range of colors, over the next year, said four people with knowledge of the matter, as it takes a cue from rival Samsung Electronics. The moves, which are still under discussion, underscore how the California-based firm that once ruled the smartphone market is increasingly under threat from its aggressive South Korean competitor. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cuban-American Democrat is Rubio counterweight on immigration Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 03:22 AM PDT  By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the Senate debates the most far reaching immigration bill in a generation, all eyes are on Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio, wondering if he might walk away from it. There are concerns that the rising political star from Florida, crucial to attracting Republican support for the legislation, may decide it doesn't do enough to bolster security on the U.S.-Mexico border - a priority for conservatives. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Top court's gay marriage ruling won't be last word Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 10:14 PM PDT  By Joan Biskupic WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Whatever the U.S. Supreme Court decides this month, gay marriage appears destined to face several more years of legal debate and at least one more round of argument at the high court. That's because a majority of the court's nine justices, based on their record and comments during March's oral arguments, are unlikely to proclaim a national right to same-sex marriage in the pending cases, and momentum for it in the states may soon slow as the battleground moves beyond the Northeast. ... Full Story | Top |
| Lawmakers tire of playing '20 questions' in surveillance briefings Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 10:14 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some members of the Congress say that getting straight answers from intelligence agencies about top-secret surveillance is like playing the game "20 Questions," where answers come only if a questioner knows exactly what to ask. They say quality of closed briefings depends largely on who conducts the sessions and whether members go in with a working knowledge of programs and pointed questions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Retail sales beat expectations as automobiles surge Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 05:34 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Retail sales rose more than expected in May as households stepped up purchases of automobiles and bought other goods, suggesting the economy was squeezing out of a recent soft patch. The Commerce Department said on Thursday retail sales increased 0.6 percent after edging up 0.1 percent in April. Economists polled by Reuters had expected retail sales, which account for about 30 percent of consumer spending, to rise 0.4 percent last month. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jobless claims fall; labor market healing ongoing Thursday, Jun 13, 2013 05:36 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week, nearing its lowest level in five years in a sign of resilience for the U.S. labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 334,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That was the smallest number of first-time applications since early May and near levels last seen the early days of the 2007-09 recession. Many economists believe growing confidence in America's economic recovery has led U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive - Wal-Mart's everyday hiring strategy: Add more temps Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 10:16 PM PDT  By Dhanya Skariachan and Jessica Wohl (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc has in recent months been only hiring temporary workers at many of its U.S. stores, the first time the world's largest retailer has done so outside of the holiday shopping season. A Reuters survey of 52 stores run by the largest U.S. private employer in the past month, including one in every U.S. state, showed that 27 were hiring only temps, 20 were hiring a combination of regular full, part-time and temp jobs, and five were not hiring at all. ... Full Story | Top |
| Snowden as a teen online: anime and cheeky humor Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 08:10 PM PDT  By Kristina Cooke and John Shiffman SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Long before he became known worldwide as the National Security Agency contractor who exposed top-secret U.S. government surveillance programs, Edward Snowden worked for a Japanese anime company run by friends and went by the nicknames "The True HOOHA" and "Phish." In 2002, he was 18 years old, a high school dropout and his parents had just divorced. On the tiny anime company's website, he wrote of his skills with video games and popularity with women. ... Full Story | Top |
| West to discuss aid with Syria rebel leader; insurgents kill Shi'ites Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 05:32 PM PDT  By Erika Solomon and John Irish BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) - Western officials will meet the commander of the main force fighting President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday to discuss new aid, diplomats said, signaling a new bid to help mainstream rebels and counter the strength of sectarian militias. Underscoring the West's fears of an uncontrolled sectarian bloodbath, activists said Sunni insurgent militiamen had killed some 60 Shi'ites in a town in the east of Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama urges Massachusetts, Florida voters to back Democrats Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 06:18 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal MIAMI BEACH, Florida (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, fighting to protect his party's margin of control in the U.S. Senate and hoping for gains in the House of Representatives, urged Massachusetts voters and well-heeled Floridians to back Democrats. In Florida, Obama spoke at two fundraising events for the Democratic National Committee, where donors paid between $1,000 and the maximum of $32,4000 a seat. "Tell you what, it'd be a lot easier if I had a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate," Obama told supporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish protesters party in square despite ruling party call Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 04:17 PM PDT  By Nick Tattersall and Jonathon Burch ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Hundreds of anti-government demonstrators chanted and sang in Istanbul's Taksim Square early on Thursday, defying an order to end almost two weeks of protests against Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. The deputy chairman of Erdogan's ruling AK Party, Huseyin Celik, said late on Wednesday that the protesters should withdraw from Gezi Park, a leafy corner of the square where they have set up a ramshackle settlement of tents. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge approves FDA plan to drop limits on morning after pill Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 06:45 PM PDT  By Karen Freifeld and Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. district court judge on Wednesday approved a U.S. Food and Drug Administration plan to allow unrestricted sales of Plan B One-Step, a one-pill version of the emergency contraception drug. Judge Edward Korman of the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, said the FDA proposal was "sufficient" to comply with his order to make emergency contraception widely available. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jodi Arias prosecutors still plan to pursue death penalty Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 07:05 PM PDT  By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - A top Arizona prosecutor said on Wednesday that the state still plans to seek the death penalty for convicted murderer Jodi Arias for killing her ex-boyfriend, after a jury deadlocked last month on whether she should be executed. Arias, a former waitress from California, was found guilty last month of killing Travis Alexander, whose body was found slumped in the shower of his Phoenix-area home in June 2008. He had been stabbed 27 times, had his throat slashed and was shot in the face. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. says Syrian government and rebels recruit children to fight Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 03:27 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syrian troops and rebels are recruiting children to fight in the country's civil war and some have been tortured by government forces for having links to the opposition, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said in a report on Wednesday. The report issued after Ban's special envoy for children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui, visited Syria in December said thousands of children have been killed in the violence, "while thousands more have seen family members killed or injured. ... Full Story | Top |
| Feds hunted for Snowden in days before NSA programs went public Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 03:45 PM PDT  By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. government investigators began an urgent search for Edward Snowden several days before the first media reports were published on the government's secret surveillance programs, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Snowden, who has admitted to providing details of the top-secret programs, had worked on assignment at a Hawaii facility run by the National Security Agency for about four weeks before he said he was ill and requested leave without pay, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU justice chief seeks answers on U.S. data spying Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 03:40 PM PDT  By Claire Davenport BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's chief justice official has written to the U.S. attorney general demanding an explanation for the collection of foreign nationals' data through its Prism spy program. In a letter seen by Reuters, the European commissioner for justice and fundamental rights, Viviane Reding, said she had serious concerns about the possibility that U.S. authorities had accessed European citizens' data on a vast scale. Reding has pushed hard for stronger privacy rules in Europe throughout her mandate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian helicopter fires on Lebanese town, two wounded Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 02:26 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian helicopter opened fire on a Lebanese border town in the eastern Bekaa Valley on Wednesday, wounding two people, security sources said. The incident took place in the mainly Sunni Muslim town of Arsal, whose residents strongly support the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria. Syrian state news agency SANA said the helicopter was chasing "terrorist groups" who were trying to escape to Lebanon. "It targeted them and some were hit, others escaped to Arsal so they were (also) chased," the agency reported. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Snowden as a teen online: anime and cheeky humor Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 01:54 PM PDT  By Kristina Cooke and John Shiffman SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Long before he became known worldwide as the NSA contractor who exposed top-secret U.S. government surveillance programs, Edward Snowden worked for a Japanese anime company run by friends and went by the nicknames "The True HOOHA" and "Phish." In 2002, he was 18 years old, a high-school dropout and his parents had just divorced. On the tiny anime company's website, he wrote of his skills with video games and popularity with women. As an adult, the former CIA employee has not left much of a digital trail on the Internet. ... Full Story | Top |
| More Americans see man who leaked NSA secrets as 'patriot' than traitor: Poll Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 04:10 PM PDT  By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Roughly one in three Americans say the former security contractor who leaked details of top-secret U.S. surveillance activity is a patriot and should not be prosecuted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday. Some 23 percent of those surveyed said former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden is a traitor while 31 percent said he is a patriot. Another 46 percent said they did not know. ... Full Story | Top |
| NSA director says surveillance helped stop 'dozens' of attacks Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013 04:36 PM PDT  By John Whitesides and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the National Security Agency said on Wednesday that extensive U.S. surveillance efforts had helped stop "dozens" of possible attacks, and warned that making details of the top-secret programs public had compromised national security. In his first appearance before Congress since an NSA contractor lifted the veil on the agency's broad monitoring of phone and internet data, General Keith Alexander defended the program as an essential tool in the fight against terrorism. ... Full Story | Top |
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