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| Egypt army plans for after Mursi as clock ticks Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:57 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh and Asma Alsharif CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army has plans to push Mohamed Mursi aside and suspend the constitution after an all but impossible ultimatum it has given the Islamist president expires in less than 24 hours, military sources told Reuters on Tuesday. Condemning a coup against their first freely elected leader, tens of thousands of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters took to the streets, clashing with opponents in several towns. But they appeared to be dwarfed by anti-government protesters who turned out in their hundreds of thousands across the nation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Greece has three days to deliver or face consequences - EU officials Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:52 PM PDT  BRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece has three days to reassure Europe and the IMF that it can deliver on conditions attached to its bailout in order to receive its next tranche of aid, four euro zone officials said on Tuesday. The lenders are unhappy with progress Greece has made towards reforming its public sector, a senior euro zone official involved in the negotiations said, while another said they might suspend an inspection visit they resumed on Monday. Athens, which has about 2.2 billion euros of bonds to redeem in August, needs the talks to conclude successfully. ... Full Story | Top |
| Trayvon Martin trial told Zimmerman injuries 'insignificant' Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:51 PM PDT  By Barbara Liston SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - Volunteer watchman George Zimmerman suffered "insignificant" injuries from the fight in which he said he shot and killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin out of fear for his life, a Florida medical examiner testified at his murder trial on Tuesday. Medical Examiner Valerie Rao said she reviewed Zimmerman's medical records and the pictures of his injuries taken at the police station after the fight on February 26, 2012 shooting in a gated community in Sanford, Florida. "They were not life-threatening. ... Full Story | Top |
| Countries' reactions to Snowden's asylum applications Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:46 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, wanted by Washington on espionage charges for revealing the secret U.S. electronic surveillance program Prism, has applied for political asylum in more than a dozen countries. The 30-year-old American remains in legal limbo in the transit area at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. He has no legal travel documents and has made his asylum applications through a legal representative. Here is a list of the countries which Snowden has asked for asylum, as published by WikiLeaks, and their reactions so far. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed pledges to get tough on Wall Street as adopts Basel rules Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:41 PM PDT  By Douwe Miedema WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve pledged to draft more tough rules for Wall Street, while shielding smaller banks from some of the harshest impact of the global Basel III capital rules it adopted on Tuesday. The central bank voted in favor of the long-awaited U.S. version of the global rules that require banks to use more equity capital to fund their business, to make them more robust after the 2007-09 credit meltdown. ... Full Story | Top |
| Portugal PM to carry on, seek solution to political instability Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:38 PM PDT LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho will stay at the helm of the government and work to overcome a political crisis after his foreign minister and head of a coalition party tendered his resignation, which the premier refused to accept. "I have not asked the president to remove the foreign minister," Passos Coelho told the nation on Tuesday in a televised address, adding that he will seek "conditions to assure stability" jointly with the coalition partner CDS-PP in coming hours. Passos Coelho said he would travel to Berlin on Wednesday as prime minister. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nearly 50 killed in Iraq bombings Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:36 PM PDT  By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 45 people were killed in bomb attacks across Iraq on Tuesday, most of them in busy markets and commercial areas of the capital Baghdad, police and medics said. The deadliest assault took place in the predominantly Shi'ite Shaab neighborhood of northern Baghdad, where two car bombs killed eight people. There were also explosions in the mainly Shi'ite districts of Abu Dsheer, Kamaliya, Tobchi and Shula. "A blast hit near a crowded market full of people shopping," said Ali Sadoun, a policeman whose patrol was stationed in Shula. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. urges Mursi to listen to Egyptian people Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:35 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - The United States put pressure on embattled Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on Tuesday to listen to concerns of huge anti-government protests, as Egypt's army planned to push the Islamist leader aside if he fails to strike a power-sharing deal with his opponents within 24 hours. In a phone call at the end of an African tour, President Barack Obama told Mursi that the political crisis can only be resolved by talks with his opponents. ... Full Story | Top |
| Illinois Governor vetoes parts of concealed carry gun bill Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:30 PM PDT  By Greg McCune CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois Governor Pat Quinn on Tuesday vetoed parts of a concealed-carry gun bill that would have allowed the carrying of more than one gun, carrying guns into some places that serve alcohol, and the carrying of a partly exposed gun. If the state legislature votes to accept the changes proposed by Quinn, the revised measure would become law. But several lawmakers said they would try to override Quinn's veto, which would allow the original version to become law. Illinois is the only state in the country to ban residents from carrying a concealed gun in public. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama seeks to build Africa business ties on Tanzania stop Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:23 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal and Jeff Mason DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama sought to advance a new U.S. economic partnership with Africa during a stop in Tanzania on Monday at the end of a tour of the fast-growing continent where Washington faces competition from China. Obama's trip to Dar es Salaam came three months after a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who visited shortly after taking office. Many Africans see the U.S. leader's three-nation tour of Africa as an attempt to play catch-up. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada charges two in al Qaeda-inspired plot to bomb Canada Day event Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:21 PM PDT  By Andy Clark SURREY, British Columbia (Reuters) - Canadian police said on Tuesday they foiled an al Qaeda-inspired plot to detonate three pressure-cooker bombs during Monday's Canada Day holiday outside the parliament building in the Pacific coast city of Victoria, arresting a Canadian man and woman and seizing their home-made explosive devices. Police said there was no evidence to suggest a foreign link to the planned attack, which targeted public celebrations outside the parliament building in Victoria, capital of the province of British Columbia. ... Full Story | Top |
| GE Capital will not appeal risk panel's proposed systemic tag Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:18 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - GE Capital, the financial services arm of General Electric , said on Tuesday it will not appeal a proposal by the new U.S. risk council to designate the firm as systemically important, a tag that will subject the company to tougher regulations. The comment from Russell Wilkerson, a spokesman for GE Capital, came a day before the end of a 30-day window for the company to notify regulators on the Financial Stability Oversight Council whether it intended to legally challenge the designation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Prosecutors consider trial for ex-Vatican bank managers: sources Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:16 PM PDT By Paolo Biondi ROME (Reuters) - Rome prosecutors are considering requesting that two directors of the Vatican bank who resigned on Monday be sent to trial on suspicion of authorizing illegal financial transactions, judicial sources said on Tuesday. The Vatican bank's director general, Paolo Cipriani, and its deputy director, Massimo Tulli, left after the arrest of a senior cleric who is accused of plotting to smuggle 20 million euros ($26 million) into Italy from Switzerland. A spokesman from the Vatican bank, known formally as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), declined to comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Auto, factory data hint at some momentum in economy Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:15 PM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. new motor vehicle sales in June were poised to record their strongest month in more than 5-1/2 years and factories posted a second straight month of gains in new orders in May, indicating some pick-up in economic activity. Adding to the improving economic picture, home prices posted their biggest annual increase in more than seven years in May, other data showed on Tuesday. The economy appears to be finding some momentum after slowing early in the second quarter as the effects of cooling global demand and tighter fiscal policy took hold. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama brings out the African in the American Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:05 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Midway through a three-country trip to Africa and shortly after an emotional tour of his hero Nelson Mandela's Robben Island prison cell, Barack Obama was greeted by another revered African leader, Desmond Tutu, with the words: "Welcome home." America's first black president - 'the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas', as Obama describes himself - had returned to Africa for his first extended trip as the world's most powerful leader. ... Full Story | Top |
| Textbook publisher Cengage files bankruptcy to cut debt Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:02 PM PDT By Nick Brown NEW YORK (Reuters) - Textbook publisher Cengage Learning Inc on Tuesday filed for bankruptcy protection as part of a prearranged restructuring it said would help it eliminate more than $4 billion of debt. The company, which was acquired in a 2007 leveraged buyout by private equity firm Apax Partners and Omers Capital Partners, sought Chapter 11 protection from creditors with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Brooklyn, New York. Cengage said it had already received support for its plan from an informal group of creditors holding about $2 billion in secured debt. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boston victim claim in name of long-dead aunt thwarted -prosecutor Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:01 PM PDT BOSTON (Reuters) - Police arrested a man on Tuesday over allegations he used the name of an aunt who had been dead for more than a decade to try and claim about $2.2 million from the Boston Marathon bomb victims fund, prosecutors said. The Massachusetts Attorney General's office said Boston man Branden Mattier, 22, told the fund's administrators that his aunt lost both of her legs in the attack on April 15 when two improvised pressure cooker bombs exploded at the finish line, killing three people and injuring 264 others. ... Full Story | Top |
| John Paul II on brink of sainthood after miracle approved: report Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:45 AM PDT  VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The late Pope John Paul II moved closer to sainthood on Tuesday after a commission of cardinals and bishops credited him with a second miracle since his death, Italian media reported. A canonization ceremony for the Polish-born pontiff, who died in April 2005, could come as soon as December, news agency ANSA said. That would be the fastest progression to sainthood in modern times. The remaining stage in the ancient procedure is a signature from the current pope, Francis, confirming the decision. Vatican officials declined to comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Prosecution calls last witness in U.S. WikiLeaks court-martial Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:40 AM PDT  By Ian Simpson FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - Court-martial prosecutors called their last witness on Tuesday against the soldier charged with providing a trove of secret material to WikiLeaks in the biggest leak of classified files in U.S. history. Private First Class Bradley Manning, 25, faces 21 charges, including espionage, computer fraud and, most seriously, aiding the enemy. Manning could face life in prison without parole if convicted. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama's Power Africa backer calls weak competition an investment incentive Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:38 AM PDT  By Drazen Jorgic DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu, who backed President Barack Obama's Africa Power initiative with a $2.5 billion investment pledge, said on Tuesday the lack of competition in the continent's nascent power sector makes it an investment gem. Obama's $7 billion plan to shine "light where currently there's darkness" in Africa by doubling access to power on the world's poorest continent, will be backed by another $9 billion in private sector money. ... Full Story | Top |
| Princess Fawzia, Shah's first wife, dies in Egypt Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:33 AM PDT By Abdelrahman Youssef ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Princess Fawzia Fuad, a daughter and sister of Egyptian kings and the first wife of the last Shah of Iran, died on Tuesday in Alexandria, a member of the former royal family and a senior local police officer said. Her death at the age of 91 was also reported on a Facebook page associated with her nephew, King Fuad II, Egypt's deposed and exiled last monarch. Fawzia, the glamorous sister of Fuad's father King Farouk, married Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1939, before he acceded the throne in Tehran. They divorced nine years later. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-Chelsea aim to turn to academy rather than spending spree Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:32 AM PDT LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) - Chelsea's place among the world's elite clubs must rely more on producing players from their academy than big-money signings to comply with UEFA's financial fair play rules, club chief executive Ron Gourlay said on Tuesday. In an interview to mark Chelsea's 10 years of ownership under big-spending Roman Abramovich, Gourlay told the club website (www.chelseafc.com): "Mr Abramovich's early investment in playing staff paid dividends in creating a team admired around the world. ... Full Story | Top |
| Associates of accused mobster Bulger relive old times in court Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:32 AM PDT  By Stephanie Simon BOSTON (Reuters) - Reputed mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger appeared to be enjoying his federal trial on Tuesday, chuckling genially as a former cocaine dealer who worked for him in the 1980s suggested Bulger might not have gotten his fair share of the profits. William Shea, who ran a major marijuana and cocaine ring in South Boston, testified that at his height he was clearing at least $100,000 a week and paying Bulger $10,000. "I'm thinking that Jim's looking at me and saying, 'You son of a bitch, you made that kind of money and I got that end?'" Shea said with a grin. ... Full Story | Top |
| IRS claim against Tyco may force former units to contribute to tax bill Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:31 AM PDT (Reuters) - Security services provider ADT Corp said it may have to contribute to a tax bill faced by former parent Tyco International Ltd if the total amount assessed by the IRS exceeded $1.85 billion. Tyco said on Monday it had received a notice from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service stating that several of the company's former units, including ADT, owed taxes of $883.3 million and penalties of $154.0 million for tax years from 1997 to 2000. (http://r.reuters.com/nyr39t) Tyco said four former subsidiaries would contribute to paying the liabilities under tax-sharing agreements. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK union to take postal privatisation protest to London banks Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:29 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Trade unions opposing the privatisation of the British postal service will hold a protest next week at the London offices of the banks advising the government on the float. Goldman Sachs and UBS, located in London's financial district, will be the focus of the protest, which forms the centrepiece of a week of activity planned by union branches across the country. The government, which hopes to launch the stock market flotation of the country's 497 year-old postal service later this year, says the Royal Mail needs to access private capital and modernise. ... Full Story | Top |
| Second ministerial resignation plunges Portugal into crisis Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:22 AM PDT  By Axel Bugge and Andrei Khalip LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's Foreign Minister Paulo Portas resigned on Tuesday, plunging the country into a political crisis that could upset its smooth exit from an international bailout. Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar, the architect of spending cuts and tax hikes imposed by foreign lenders, resigned a day earlier but Portas' departure is even more serious as it threatens the coalition government's stability. Portas heads the rightist CDS-PP party and, without its support, the centre-right government would lose its majority in parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| Telefonica in fiber optic deal with Vodafone, Orange in Spain Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:19 AM PDT  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's biggest telecoms company Telefonica signed an agreement with rivals Vodafone and Orange on Tuesday, granting them access to its fiber optic network to roll out faster broadband for customers. Vodafone and Orange will make a one-off payments on individual installations to share them for no less than 20 years and Spain's telecoms regulator CMT will set prices, the three companies said in a statement. They gave no further details of the payments. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK union to take postal privatization protest to London banks Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:17 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Trade unions opposing the privatization of the British postal service will hold a protest next week at the London offices of the banks advising the government on the float. Goldman Sachs and UBS , located in London's financial district, will be the focus of the protest, which forms the centerpiece of a week of activity planned by union branches across the country. The government, which hopes to launch the stock market flotation of the country's 497 year-old postal service later this year, says the Royal Mail needs to access private capital and modernize. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kenya parliament to debate new tax, opposition grows Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:57 AM PDT  By James Macharia NAIROBI (Reuters) - A proposed tax that would raise the price of food and other basic items was presented to Kenya's parliament on Tuesday, even as civil servants demanded higher pay to cope with rising living costs. The unpopular measure is a tough sell for President Uhuru Kenyatta, who came to office in April saying he would rein in the budget deficit and appealing for wage restraint. Finance Minister Henry Rotich said in his budget speech last month that he would re-introduce value-added tax on goods including medicines and the staples rice, milk, bread and wheat. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two Canadians face terrorism charges over package in British Columbia: paper Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:56 AM PDT (Reuters) - Two people have been charged with terrorism-related offenses after a suspicious package was left at the local parliament in Canada's Pacific province of British Columbia, a local newspaper said on Tuesday. The Times-Colonist, which is based in the British Columbia capital Victoria, said the package had been dropped off on Monday when the parliament was closed for a national holiday. The paper said thousands of people had attended concerts on the building's front lawn on Monday. British Columbia police were due to make an announcement at 2 p.m. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi role at Syria rally seen as tipping point for Egypt army Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:55 AM PDT By Yasmine Saleh and Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - Army concern about the way President Mohamed Mursi was governing Egypt reached tipping point when the head of state attended a rally packed with hardline fellow Islamists calling for holy war in Syria, military sources said. At the June 15 rally, Sunni Muslim clerics used the word "infidels" to denounce both the Shi'ites fighting to protect Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the non-Islamists that oppose Mursi at home. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senegal charges ex-Chad leader with crimes against humanity Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:49 AM PDT  By Diadie Ba DAKAR (Reuters) - A judge in Senegal formally charged Chad's former president Hissene Habre with crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture on Tuesday and remanded him in custody pending trial, his lawyer said. Habre, 71, was arrested on Sunday in the Senegalese capital Dakar, where he has been living in exile for 22 years since he was overthrown in a 1990 coup in Chad. Human rights groups hold Habre responsible for the torture or killing up to 40,000 people during his 1982-1990 presidency of the poor, oil-rich central African state. ... Full Story | Top |
| French energy minister sacked after budget row Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:42 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - France's energy and environment minister Delphine Batho was dismissed on Tuesday, the president's office said, after she publicly criticized cuts to her ministry's budget for 2014. Socialist Party lawmaker Philippe Martin was named as her successor, a switch unlikely to have a significant impact on strategic energy policy as this has long been the preserve of the president. Batho was summoned to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault's office hours after she told RTL radio that she disagreed with a plan to cut the environment ministry's budget by 7 percent next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Some lawmakers balk at limited abortion legislation in Ireland Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:34 AM PDT By Padraic Halpin DUBLIN (Reuters) - Four lawmakers from Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny's party came out on Tuesday against a move to legalize abortion under certain conditions but are unlikely to be able to scuttle the measure or threaten his comfortable majority. Kenny's government is proposing access to abortion when a woman's life is in danger and both sides of the debate have staged protests on an issue that has long polarized the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombia's FARC rebels call on government to bring ELN into talks Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:33 AM PDT By Nelson Acosta HAVANA (Reuters) - Colombia's FARC rebels, the country's biggest insurgent group, called on Tuesday for the government to broaden peace talks to include its smaller counterpart known as the ELN, a day after the two groups announced they would work more closely together. Colombia's government has been in peace negotiations in Cuba with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, since November in the hope of ending five decades of war. The government has said it was willing to talk with the ELN, or National Liberation Army, but separately from the FARC. ... Full Story | Top |
| Market heats up for jerseys of ex-NFL star Hernandez Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:29 AM PDT  BOSTON (Reuters) - The market for Aaron Hernandez football jerseys has surged since the former New England Patriot tight end was arrested last week on charges he gunned down his friend execution-style in an industrial park near his house. A pre-owned 'On Field' NFL jersey bearing Hernandez's old number 81 was on offer on Tuesday for $2,000 on eBay, while an autographed Hernandez number 81 jersey sold for $1,525 earlier this week, according to eBay's auction history. A similar autographed shirt went for $159 in April. ... Full Story | Top |
| June jobs report likely to keep Fed tapering on track Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:24 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Employers likely kept up a steady pace of hiring in June and the jobless rate probably dipped, which could keep the Federal Reserve on track to start curtailing its monetary stimulus later this year. Nonfarm payrolls are expected to have increased by 165,000 last month, according to a Reuters survey of economists. While the anticipated rise would be a bit below May's tally of 175,000 jobs, it would be higher than the monthly average of 155,800 over the past three months. The unemployment rate is expected to fall a tenth of a percentage point to 7. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mistrial declared in U.S. case against London fund manager Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:22 AM PDT By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. jury failed to reach a verdict on whether a London-based portfolio manager was criminally responsible for participating in an alleged scheme to overvalue his hedge fund's assets by $80 million, resulting in a mistrial. U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty in Manhattan sent jurors home on Tuesday after they were unable to reach agreement on charges against Michael Balboa, a former portfolio manager at Millennium Global Investments Ltd. Deliberations had begun on Thursday, after a trial that began about three weeks ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Providence's Altegrity looks to sell $1 billion unit - sources Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:21 AM PDT By Soyoung Kim NEW YORK (Reuters) - Altegrity Inc, owned by private equity firm Providence Equity Partners, is looking to sell a division that provides background checks for private-sector employers and could fetch up to $1 billion, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. A potential sale of the HireRight division comes at a tough time for Altegrity, as another of the latter's units, USIS, faces a U.S. government investigation over its 2011 background check into Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency leaker. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hague court to release ex-Bosnian Serb parliament chief early Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:17 AM PDT AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The war crimes tribunal for ex-Yugoslavia has granted early release to the former head of the Bosnian Serb parliament who was convicted of forcing thousands of Muslims and Croats from their homes during Bosnia's 1992-95 war. The International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said Momcilo Krajisnik, 68, would be freed on September 1 after serving two-thirds of his prison term on a conviction for persecution, deportation and forcible transfer of civilians. ... Full Story | Top |
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