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| First glimpse at Canada disaster site shows scale of devastation Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:39 PM PDT  By Phil Wahba LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (Reuters) - Street lights melted and heavy rail lines buckled into a 5-foot arch after the explosion of a runaway train in the little Quebec town of Lac-Megantic, where police on Tuesday gave outsiders a first, closely monitored look at the edges of the devastation. "Go in, listen, be silent and understand, and explain to the world what happened here," Quebec police Lieutenant Michel Brunet told a small group of journalists who have been reporting on the disaster, which killed 50 people and destroyed the center of this lakeside town near the Maine border. ... Full Story | Top |
| In setback for broadcasters, U.S. court won't rehear Aereo appeal Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:34 PM PDT By Erin Geiger Smith NEW YORK (Reuters) - In another win for Barry Diller's IAC-backed Aereo Inc, a U.S. appeals court declined on Tuesday to rehear an appeal by the major broadcasters seeking to temporarily shut down the online television start-up. The broadcasters, including Walt Disney Co's ABC and Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal, contend Aereo infringes their copyrights. In April, a panel of the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals refused to close down Aereo while a lawsuit over the service continued in Manhattan federal court. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cconsumer agency chief Cordray heads toward confirmation Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:32 PM PDT  By Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Tuesday moved toward confirming a director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, ending a two-year standoff in Congress and putting the new agency on sounder legal footing. Democrats overcame long-held Republican objections to end debate over Richard Cordray's nomination to head the bureau, which was created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law. ... Full Story | Top |
| Global shares, dollar fall day before Bernanke testimony Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:30 PM PDT  By Herbert Lash NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar eased and U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, snapping an eight-day advance by the benchmark S&P 500 index, as investors took a cautious stance ahead of the Federal Reserve chief's testimony to a U.S. congressional panel on Wednesday. Analysts expect Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to reiterate previous remarks that U.S. monetary policy will remain accommodative. But investors will look for clues as to when the U.S. central bank might start reducing its bond-buying program. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jury chosen in murder trial for Texas military base massacre Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:28 PM PDT  By Don Bolding FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - Jury selection was completed on Tuesday for the military murder trial of an Army Major accused of killing 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas in 2009, the biggest non-combat massacre on a U.S. base. Military judge Colonel Tara Osborn said on Tuesday that three more members of the jury had been confirmed after 10 U.S. Army officers were chosen last week for the court martial of Major Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist. Opening statements are scheduled to begin no earlier than August 6. ... Full Story | Top |
| Microsoft asks U.S. government for freedom to disclose security requests Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:25 PM PDT  SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it has written to the U.S. Attorney General to ask for more freedom to disclose how it handles requests from national security organizations for customer data. The appeal comes a week after the Guardian newspaper reported that Microsoft allowed U.S. security agencies to circumvent encryption of Outlook emails and capture Skype online chats, citing leaked documents provided by Edward Snowden. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. worried by lack of transparency in lead-up to Zimbabwe poll Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:24 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it was "deeply concerned" by lack of transparency in preparations for Zimbabwe's July 31 general election and called on the government to ensure the vote was peaceful, fair and credible. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said elections that were not seen as credible would have implications for U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe, suggesting Washington could maintain or increase its sanctions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian PM warns of 'huge risk' that Britain leaves EU Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:20 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Italy's prime minister said on Tuesday that there was a "huge risk" that Britain would leave the European Union in the next few years and he urged other countries to work to reduce the prospect of an exit. "We are convinced that in the European Union countries, we are (underestimating) the risk of having the UK out of Europe. In my view, it's a huge risk," Enrico Letta told an audience in London after making a speech. "We have to be very cautious ... and we have to prepare a discussion on trying to prevent this risk," he said in response to a question. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate push on U.S. military sexual assault rules gains support Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:16 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Senate Republicans on Tuesday backed a sweeping change to how the military handles cases of sexual assault, boosting a plan that faces strong opposition at the Pentagon and in Congress. Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul said they supported Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand's proposal to take the decision about whether to pursue sexual assault cases away from a victim's commander and place it with independent military prosecutors. ... Full Story | Top |
| Colombian, Venezuelan leaders to hold first meeting since spat Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:13 PM PDT  BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, plan to meet next week in their first encounter since a diplomatic spat in May triggered by Santos' meeting with Venezuela's main opposition leader. Maduro was infuriated by what he called Santos' "betrayal" for meeting Henrique Capriles, who narrowly lost Venezuela's presidential election in April, and accused Santos of being part of a plot to overthrow him. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gaddafi's old Tripoli fortress to be turned into park Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:04 PM PDT  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's Tripoli compound, the city within a city from which he orchestrated eccentric defiance of Western powers and disdain for his own people for four decades, is to be turned into a public park, Tourism Minister Ikram Abdusalam Bash Imam said on Tuesday. The sprawling 6 sq km (2.5 sq mile) Bab al-Aziziya complex once housed a swimming pool, sports pitches, senior officials' villas and gardens as well as an underground bunker, government offices and buildings belonging to the feared and pervasive security apparatus. ... Full Story | Top |
| 'Too many bodies,' extortion victim of mob boss Bulger testifies Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:01 PM PDT  By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - When James "Whitey" Bulger sat down with Boston businessman Michael Solimando in 1982 to demand $400,000 in extortion money, he pointed a gun at Solimando's head and gave him one piece of advice: Don't go to the cops. "We're going to know the minute you open your mouth," the crime boss said in a meeting held above the Triple O's bar in South Boston, Solimando recalled from the witness stand on Tuesday. It was the sixth week of Bulger's racketeering and murder trial, which has riveted Boston. ... Full Story | Top |
| Stranded fugitive Snowden seeks temporary asylum in Russia Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 12:00 PM PDT  By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden applied for temporary asylum in Russia on Tuesday after three weeks holed up at a Moscow airport trying to avoid prosecution in the United States on espionage charges. The White House said Snowden is "not a dissident" and should be expelled and returned to the United States to face trial. Snowden is seeking refuge in Latin America after leaking details of U.S. government surveillance programs, but has not risked taking any flight that might be intercepted by the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mali's main parties say will accept election result Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:55 AM PDT  By Tiemoko Diallo DAKAR (Reuters) - Mali's two main political parties pledged on Tuesday to accept the results of this month's presidential election even though it was likely to be marred by technical problems as the West African country struggles to emerge from conflict. Both local politicians and international advocacy groups have voiced concern that voting materials will not be properly distributed in time for the July 28 election, which is meant to turn the page on a military coup in March 2012 and the subsequent Islamist seizure of northern Mali last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Czech cabinet raises minimum wage as one of first steps: agency Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:47 AM PDT  PRAGUE (Reuters) - The new Czech cabinet of leftist Prime Minister Jiri Rusnok raised the minimum wage on Tuesday as one of its first decisions since being appointed last week, news agency CTK said. The previous center-right cabinet resisted trade unions' calls for such a step for years. The government voted to raise the minimum gross monthly wage by 500 crowns to 8,500, the first rise since 2007, the agency said. The minimum wage applies to about 120,000 people in the country of 10.5 million, it said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rousseff's popularity sinks after Brazil's protests Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:39 AM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff's approval rating plummeted and her re-election chances have dimmed in the month since massive protests of poor public services, corruption and other complaints shook Brazil, a new poll published on Tuesday showed. The number of Brazilians who approve of her government's performance fell to 31.3 percent in July from 54.2 percent in June. The number of those who think it has done a bad job soared to 29.5 percent from 9 percent, the survey by polling firm MDA Pesquisa said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hagel says more budget cuts will force Pentagon layoffs Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:37 AM PDT  By David Alexander JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Tuesday that a new round of automatic spending cuts next year would force the department to cut personnel and that he already has decided to reduce jobs in the offices of the Pentagon's top leadership by 20 percent. Hagel, speaking to aircraft maintenance workers at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, defended his decision to put civilian workers on unpaid leave for 11 days through the end of the fiscal year on September 30, saying further cuts in other areas could have jeopardized military readiness. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate nears deal on Obama nominees, filibusters Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:34 AM PDT  By Thomas Ferraro and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the Senate backed away Tuesday from a potentially historic crackdown on filibusters in exchange for a Republican agreement to stop using them to block some long-stalled nominations made by President Barack Obama. While the deal was not final Tuesday afternoon, both sides were optimistic they would reach an agreement to avert a bitter showdown over the procedural tactic used for years by minority parties to block decisions by the party in control of the Senate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Czech court deals blow to prosecutors in graft scandal Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:32 AM PDT By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - A Czech court struck down on Tuesday the main part of charges against two former deputies involved in a bribery scandal that toppled the Czech government last month, weakening the prosecution case. The Supreme Court ruled that the former deputies, in custody pending investigation of accepting posts at state companies in return for dropping a rebellion against Prime Minister Petr Necas last year, were covered by parliamentary immunity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed's George calls for end to bond-buying in first-half 2014 Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:31 AM PDT By Alister Bull KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve should begin to reduce its massive bond-buying program and bring it to a close "sometime in the first half of next year," a top Fed official said on Tuesday. Should the U.S. economy grow faster than currently expected, Kansas City Fed President Esther George told an agricultural conference, it may be "appropriate" to reduce the bond-buying program at a faster pace. The Fed is buying $85 billion in Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities every month to push down long-term borrowing costs and boost investment and hiring. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merck says FDA needs more time for post-surgery drug review Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:31 AM PDT By Toni Clarke WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc said on Tuesday that U.S. health regulators need more time to review its application to sell sugammadex, an injection designed to reverse the effects of muscle relaxants used during surgery. The announcement came after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration canceled a meeting of outside advisers that had been set for Thursday. Merck said the FDA said it needed additional time to assess the results of its recently completed inspection of one of the company's clinical trial sites. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. worried by lack of transparency in lead-up to Zimbabwe vote Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:28 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it was "deeply concerned" by the lack of transparency in election preparations in Zimbabwe and warned that a July 31 vote that is not peaceful, fair and credible risked undermining political and economic progress made since the 2008 formation of a unity government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Panama detains North Korean-flagged ship carrying suspected weapons Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:21 AM PDT  By Lomi Kriel PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama detained a North Korean-flagged ship headed to the Panama Canal from Cuba and said Tuesday it was carrying suspected missile equipment hidden under tons of brown sugar, after a standoff in which the ship's captain tried to commit suicide. President Ricardo Martinelli said the undeclared weapons were detected when Panamanian authorities stopped the ship, suspecting it was carrying drugs. "We found containers which presumably contain sophisticated missile equipment. That is not allowed. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Egypt cabinet sworn in without a single Islamist Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:15 AM PDT By Maggie Fick and Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army-backed leaders swore in a new interim cabinet on Tuesday after a night of street violence, with not a single minister representing either of the main Islamist groups that have won five straight elections since 2011. Seven people were killed overnight and more than 260 wounded in running battles between supporters of toppled president Mohamed Mursi and the security forces. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrians fleeing war at rate not seen since Rwandan genocide: U.N. Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:13 AM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The number of people fleeing the conflict in Syria has escalated to an average of 6,000 a day during 2013 - a rate not seen since the genocide in Rwanda nearly two decades ago, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday. Guterres said two-thirds of the nearly 1.8 million refugees registered with the United Nations in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and elsewhere had left Syria since the beginning of the year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Inflation shows signs of stability after downward drift Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:09 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer prices picked up in June and underlying inflation pressures showed signs of stabilizing, keeping on course expectations the Federal Reserve will start reducing its bond purchases later this year. While inflation remains benign, the increase last month should help ease worries among some Fed officials that price pressures in the economy were too low. "Inflation is carving out a bottom. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libya moves a step closer to new post-Gaddafi constitution Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 11:09 AM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's national assembly passed a law on Tuesday providing for the election of a committee to draft a new constitution following the overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The 60 members of the constitutional committee will be elected by popular vote, and will have 120 days to draft the charter, lawmakers said. They will be divided equally between Libya's three regions: Tripolitania in the west, Cyrenaica in the east and Fezzan in the south. ... Full Story | Top |
| Convicted killer Jodi Arias due in Arizona court for hearing on sentencing Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:48 AM PDT  By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - Convicted murderer Jodi Arias may get final word on Tuesday on when she will face a new jury in Arizona to decide if she should be executed for killing her ex-boyfriend after jurors deadlocked on her fate in May. Arias, a former waitress from California, was found guilty of murdering Travis Alexander, whose body was found 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 |
| Italy minister defends handling of Kazakh deportation case Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:44 AM PDT  By Steve Scherer ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano fought growing calls on Tuesday for his resignation over the deportation of the wife of a dissident Kazakh oligarch, saying he had not been told of the police operation in which she was seized and expelled. Speaking hours after the head of his private office resigned over the affair, Alfano, a key member of Prime Minister Enrico Letta's fragile coalition government, read a detailed statement in the Senate on the incident. ... Full Story | Top |
| European center-right concerned by Czech government formation Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:40 AM PDT  PRAGUE (Reuters) - A group of European center-right parties criticized Czech President Milos Zeman on Tuesday for forming a government against the will of the political parties and called on the European Commission to examine if he breached European values. Zeman appointed a cabinet led by his adviser Jiri Rusnok last week, following the resignation of center-right Prime Minister Petr Necas over a bribery and illegal surveillance scandal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Eclectic group sues U.S. government over phone data surveillance Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:37 AM PDT  By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A diverse collection of groups, including a gun manufacturer and marijuana legalization advocates, sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, alleging that the National Security Agency conducts unlawful dragnet surveillance of telephone calls. The lawsuit, filed in a Northern California federal court, follows disclosures about NSA surveillance programs by fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. ... Full Story | Top |
| Black preachers calling for wide protests to press for Zimmerman charges Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:30 AM PDT  By David Ingram WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Black preachers said on Tuesday they were planning peaceful protests in 100 cities across the United States this weekend to press for federal charges in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Standing outside the U.S. Justice Department building in Washington, the preachers pledged to hold the protests near federal buildings and said action was justified because of what they see as the civil rights questions surrounding the death. A Florida jury on Saturday found George Zimmerman, 29, not guilty of second-degree murder in the 2012 shooting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Egypt's 'road not taken' could have saved Mursi Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:27 AM PDT  By Paul Taylor CAIRO/PARIS (Reuters) - Mohamed Mursi might still be president of Egypt today if he had grasped a political deal brokered by the European Union with opposition parties in April, Egyptian politicians and Western diplomats say. Convinced that election victories gave them a sufficient basis to rule, Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood spurned the offer to bridge the most populous Arab nation's deep political divide. Less than three months later, the army overthrew him after mass anti-government protests. ... Full Story | Top |
| German rapper causes storm with provocative lyrics Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:25 AM PDT BERLIN (Reuters) - Berlin's mayor has filed a legal complaint against German rapper Bushido who released a provocative video containing anti-gay lyrics and which critics say contains fantasies about murder and incites violence. Bushido, 34, is no stranger to controversy but his latest tirade targets individual politicians and the video shows images of what appears to be a man igniting a car with a body stuffed in the boot. A spokesman for openly gay Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit said the Social Democrat (SPD) had lodged a legal complaint against the rapper for abusive comments among other ... Full Story | Top |
| White House says Snowden should return to U.S. for trial Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:22 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday that former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, who applied for temporary asylum in Russia on Tuesday, should be expelled and returned to the United States to face trial on espionage charges. "He is not a human rights activist, he is not a dissident. He is accused of leaking classified information," White House spokesman Jay Carney said of Snowden. ... Full Story | Top |
| In Tea Party probe, IRS interviews show no political bias: Democrat Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:22 AM PDT  By Kim Dixon WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Democrat investigating U.S. Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of conservative groups on Tuesday said interviews with 15 agency employees had found no hint of White House involvement, challenging Republicans on a lingering controversy. Moving to reframe an affair that first rocked the tax-collecting agency in May, the top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee issued a 36-page memo that quoted IRS officials interviewed by panel investigators and internal IRS documents. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry to meet Abbas, may visit camp for Syrian refugees Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:20 AM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed AMMAN (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry began a round of discussions in Jordan on Tuesday in his push to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and address the crisis in Syria. Meeting Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Kerry raised the possibility of visiting a refugee camp housing some of the 400,000 refugees who have fled to Jordan to escape Syria's civil war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Soccer-FIFA holds "fruitful talks" with the Council of Europe Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:11 AM PDT ZURICH, July 16 (Reuters) - FIFA said it held "fruitful" talks with the Council of Europe on Tuesday, the two sides having clashed last year over the affairs of soccer's governing body. "It's been quite a historical moment to welcome a high-ranking delegation from such a respected institution like the Council of Europe," FIFA president Sepp Blatter said in a statement. "I appreciated very much the spirit of dialogue which prevailed during our meeting. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House hopes for Senate deal on nominees Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:11 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House has not been involved in negotiating between senators in a fight in the Senate over executive-branch nominations but hopes lawmakers will reach an agreement that will allow the confirmation of President Barack Obama's nominees, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Tuesday. Carney said he would not comment on reports that senators were nearing a deal to avert a shutdown over threats by Democrats to strip Republicans of their power to block presidential nominees with procedural roadblocks known as filibusters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pressure grows on Merkel to take U.S. to task over spying Tuesday, Jul 16, 2013 10:08 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced pressure on Tuesday to toughen her stance against the United States over its spy program, after her interior minister failed to convince lawmakers he had received answers during a trip to Washington. Hans-Peter Friedrich briefed a confidential parliamentary committee in charge of intelligence issues about his talks in the United States last week, saying these were just the start of a long process of discussion and investigation. ... Full Story | Top |
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