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| TransCanada confident Energy East line will proceed Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:38 PM PDT CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp , which earlier reported a 34 percent jump in second-quarter profit on Friday, said it expects its proposed Energy East pipeline will receive sufficient support from potential shippers to allow construction to proceed. The company, which is also backing the controversial Keystone XL project, said the planned 700,000-barrel-per-day project, even as it awaits results from a open season process, where shippers sign long-term contracts for space on the line. Those results are expected within two weeks. ... Full Story | Top |
| San Diego mayor to enter therapy rather than resign over sex scandal Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:38 PM PDT  SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Embattled San Diego Mayor Bob Filner apologized on Friday for his conduct towards women and what he called his "failure to respect" them, and said he would take a two-week leave for therapy rather than resign. The 70-year-old Democrat and former congressman said he would enter a counseling clinic on August 5 to undergo "intensive therapy" following public allegations during the past week by seven women who have accused him of sexual harassment. (Reporting by Marty Graham; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Dina Kyriakidou) Full Story | Top |
| SAC Capital pleads not guilty, but remains silent to investors Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:37 PM PDT  By Bernard Vaughan and Emily Flitter NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Steven A. Cohen's hedge fund pleaded not guilty on Friday to insider trading charges in federal court, as investors in the roughly $15 billion fund awaited word on plans for the fund's future. Several SAC Capital Advisors LLP clients said they had yet to be contacted officially by the firm in an investor-wide call or note. Investors have until August 16 to decide if they will submit a redemption request to the fund. At least one client called, but could get no information. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says it intends to send two Guantanamo detainees to Algeria Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:32 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States intends to repatriate two detainees held at its controversial prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Algeria, the White House said on Friday, marking the first such transfer to another country in nearly a year. The step is the latest by President Barack Obama's administration meant to show his commitment to closing the prison. Obama promised as a presidential candidate in 2008 to do away with the facility but has been unable to do so. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. court rejects firm's challenge to Obamacare contraception mandate Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:30 PM PDT By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court on Friday rejected a Pennsylvania cabinet maker's religion-based challenge to the 2010 healthcare law's requirement that larger companies provide workers with health insurance covering birth control. The decision created a split among federal appeals courts, boosting the chance that the U.S. Supreme Court may step in to resolve the dispute over challenges to the provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. By a 2-1 vote, a panel of the 3rd U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel blocks EU projects in West Bank Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:26 PM PDT  By Allyn Fisher-Ilan JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has blocked the European Union from aiding tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank, in retaliation for an EU ban on financial assistance to Israeli organizations in the occupied territories. The EU imposed its restrictions last week, citing its frustration over the continued expansion of Jewish settlements in territory captured by Israeli forces in the 1967 Middle East War. The new guidelines render Israeli entities operating there ineligible for EU grants, prizes or loans, beginning next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. appeals court upholds $105 million Exxon payout in NYC case Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:25 PM PDT By Mica Rosenberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld a ruling against Exxon Mobil Corp ordering the company to pay $105 million in damages for polluting New York City's groundwater with a toxic gasoline additive. The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a 2009 jury verdict that found Exxon contaminated water supply wells when methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) leaked from its underground storage tanks in the borough of Queens. The appeals court rejected Exxon's arguments that it was required to use the additive under the federal Clean Air Act. ... Full Story | Top |
| Interpol snubs Moscow again in chase of fund manager Browder Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:23 PM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - Interpol on Friday rejected a second request from Moscow to put British investment fund head William Browder on its search list, dealing a fresh blow to Russia's drive to jail the man behind a campaign to expose corruption and rights violations. The decision is the latest twist in a long-running battle between the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Browder, whose investment company Hermitage Capital was once the largest investor in Russia's equity market. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cuba's Raul Castro promises succession has started Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:23 PM PDT  By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro assured his people on Friday that a transfer of power to younger generations had begun, in a televised address marking the 60th anniversary of the start of the Cuban revolution. Castro spoke in the city of Santiago in eastern Cuba, where on July 26, 1953, the young Castro and a group of rebels, led by his brother Fidel, attacked the Moncada military barracks in a failed assault that sparked the movement that eventually toppled the U.S.-backed government of dictator Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama likely won't announce Fed chair pick until fall: official Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:19 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House moved on Friday to damp down speculation about President Barack Obama's choice to lead the Federal Reserve when Ben Bernanke's term expires, saying no decision has been made and no announcement is likely until the fall. Bernanke's second four-year term as chairman at the U.S. central bank ends January 31, and Obama has signaled that the former Princeton professor is likely to step down. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hostility radiates as two Egypts take to the streets Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:18 PM PDT  By Noah Browning and Asma Alsharif CAIRO (Reuters) - Rival camps struggling for Egypt's future radiated mistrust and hostility from competing mass protests in Cairo on Friday, with Islamists proclaiming justice as their only weapon and their opponents demanding the army fight terrorism. Supporters and opponents of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi evoked a battle of good against evil, exchanging vitriolic accusations of treachery in language suggesting the Arab world's biggest nation faces a long period of conflict. "They call us terrorists, but justice is on our side. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptians stage rival rallies as Mursi charges fuel tension Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:14 PM PDT By Noah Browning and Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets in rival mass rallies on Friday, hours after the state news agency said ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi was being investigated for charges including murder. In Cairo, huge crowds heeded a call by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to give him a popular mandate to confront violence unleashed by his July 3 overthrow of Mursi, many of them clutching pictures of the general in full ceremonial uniform. ... Full Story | Top |
| Can retooling education rescue the middle class?: Chrystia Freeland Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:11 PM PDT By Chrystia Freeland NEW YORK (Reuters) - In New York, this summer has lived up to its reputation as the silly season with a pageant of political theater comic enough to entertain even the most jaded tabloid sensibility. That made President Barack Obama's wonkish speech this week about how to strengthen the middle class particularly welcome. Obama addressed a familiar problem. Indeed, his comments were an intentional echo of a commencement address he delivered at the same place, Knox College, in Galesburg, Illinois, eight years earlier. What was important was not, therefore, their novelty. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan's Machar sets sights on presidency, challenges Kiir Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:11 PM PDT  By Andrew Green JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's former Vice President Riek Machar said on Friday he planned to become the frontrunner for the ruling SPLM party in elections in 2015, throwing down the gauntlet to President Salva Kiir who dismissed him three days ago. Kiir touched off a power struggle in the African oil-producing country by firing Machar and his cabinet and placing under investigation his top Sudan negotiator, Pagan Amum, in the biggest shakeup since the South gained independence in 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey warns Syrian Kurds against 'dangerous' moves Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:07 PM PDT  By Humeyra Pamuk and Gulsen Solaker ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey urged Syrian Kurds on Friday not to establish a break-away entity in northern Syria by force, with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warning against any "wrong and dangerous" moves that could hurt Turkish security. The warning was issued at a meeting in Istanbul between Turkish intelligence officials and Saleh Muslim, head of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), whose militias have been fighting for greater autonomy for Kurdish parts of northern Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Why China pays too much for medicines Friday, Jul 26, 2013 11:37 AM PDT  By Ben Hirschler, Ransdell Pierson and Kazunori Takada (Reuters) - China has a drug problem. While most Western countries spend 10-12 percent of their healthcare budget on medicines, in China it is well over 40 percent, a disparity that goes to the heart of Beijing's crackdown on the industry. A promise this week by GlaxoSmithKline to make its drugs more affordable in China in the wake of a bribery scandal is an important lever Chinese authorities may now use to start redressing the balance. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. WikiLeaks soldier is whistleblower, not traitor -defense Friday, Jul 26, 2013 11:36 AM PDT  By Medina Roshan FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The U.S. soldier accused of the biggest leak of classified information in the nation's history is a whistleblower, and not a traitor as the government claims, Bradley Manning's defense lawyer said at his court-martial on Friday. Army Private First Class Manning spilled secrets to the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website because he wanted to provoke a broader debate on U.S. military and diplomatic policy out of concern for fellow Americans, the defense argued. "That is a whistleblower, period. ... Full Story | Top |
| FAA proposes $2.75 million fine on Boeing for tardy fastener fix Friday, Jul 26, 2013 11:34 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday said it was proposing to fine Boeing's commercial airplane division $2.75 million for failing to take prompt action to fix a problem with fasteners discovered in 2008 on its model 777 airlines. "Safety is our top priority and a robust quality control system is a vital part of maintaining the world's safest air transportation system," U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement announcing the action. ... Full Story | Top |
| Life in prison for man who held Cleveland women for years Friday, Jul 26, 2013 11:27 AM PDT  By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A former Cleveland school bus driver who held captive three women for years pleaded guilty on Friday to hundreds of charges of kidnapping and rape to avoid the death penalty, and will serve life in prison. At a court hearing, Ohio prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty against Ariel Castro. Under the agreement, he will not stand trial, sparing the women the trauma of testifying about their abuse by Castro over about a decade. ... Full Story | Top |
| Snowden's father criticizes Congress, Obama over spy programs Friday, Jul 26, 2013 11:24 AM PDT  By Susan Heavey and Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The father of fugitive U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden on Friday criticized Congress for failing to rein in a sweeping surveillance program made public by his son and accused the Obama administration of pursuing him with a "zeal to punish." Lonnie Snowden has not had direct communication with his son since he fled to Hong Kong and then Russia, but sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Friday defending his son's actions as similar to acts of civil disobedience. "We thus find your administration's zeal to punish Mr. ... Full Story | Top |
| FDA proposes food companies verify safety of imports Friday, Jul 26, 2013 11:22 AM PDT  By Carey Gillam (Reuters) - The Food and Drug Administration proposed a new rule on Friday that would require food companies to verify that products they import meet certain safety standards. The rule is one of a series proposed under the Food Safety Modernization Act, which was signed in 2011. It represents the most sweeping reform of food safety in more than 70 years. More than 3,000 people in the United States die each year from food-borne illnesses, according to federal data. One in six are sickened and 100,000 hospitalized from illness tied to pathogens such as salmonella, E. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. court permits generic version of Teva MS drug a year sooner Friday, Jul 26, 2013 11:20 AM PDT By Diane Bartz and Ransdell Pierson WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries' $4 billion-a-year multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone will lose its patent protection in 2014 rather than 2015 because of a ruling from a U.S. appeals court on Friday, making it potentially prey to cheaper generics next May. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its decision in a patent fight that pits Teva against two teams developing cheaper generic forms of Copaxone: one with Novartis AG and Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc and another between Mylan Inc and Natco Pharma Ltd. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. appeals court rejects states' challenge over climate rules Friday, Jul 26, 2013 11:18 AM PDT By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a legal challenge by Texas and Wyoming to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in a 2-1 vote, said the states and various industry groups did not have standing to sue because they could not show that they had suffered an injury or that a ruling throwing out the EPA plan would benefit them. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greek shipowner jailed pending money laundering trial Friday, Jul 26, 2013 11:05 AM PDT  By Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek shipowner Victor Restis has been imprisoned pending trial on money laundering and embezzlement charges, court officials said on Friday, making him one of only a few prominent businessmen to be jailed amid public anger over corruption. Restis, who owns a shipping fleet and has a stake in Greece's top-selling newspaper, is being investigated over bad loans of up to 500 million euros from First Business Bank (FBBank), in which his family owned a majority stake until it was wound down this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| US rests case after painting Boston mobster as cold-blooded killer Friday, Jul 26, 2013 11:03 AM PDT  By Daniel Lovering BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors paraded hit men, drug dealers, bookies, and cops from a bygone era before a jury, painting ex-mobster James 'Whitey' Bulger as a cold-hearted killer and a government snitch before wrapping up more than six weeks of testimony on Friday. Once the most feared criminal in Boston's underworld, Bulger, 83, faces life in prison if convicted on charges related to 19 murders he is accused of committing or ordering as boss of the Winter Hill Gang in the 1970s and 80s. Prosecutors put some of Bulger's closest partners in crime on the stand. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. assures Russia Snowden won't be executed or tortured Friday, Jul 26, 2013 10:59 AM PDT  By Darya Korsunskaya and David Ingram MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has made a formal promise to Russia not to execute or torture Edward Snowden if he is sent home to face charges of illegally disclosing government secrets, and the Kremlin said Russian and U.S. security agencies are in talks over his fate. The 30-year-old former U.S. spy agency contractor has been stuck in the transit area of a Moscow airport for more than a month despite Washington's calls to hand him over. Russia has refused to extradite Snowden, who leaked details of a secret U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Victims of Cleveland kidnapper say 'satisfied' he gets life in prison Friday, Jul 26, 2013 10:54 AM PDT  CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Three Cleveland women kidnapped and raped by former school bus driver Ariel Castro said on Friday they are relieved and satisfied that he will spend the rest of his life in prison under a plea agreement with prosecutors. Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, were abducted by Castro and held captive for as long as 11 years in his house, where he repeatedly raped them. They were rescued on May 6, along with Berry's 6-year-old daughter fathered by Castro in captivity. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU wants to strengthen its fledgling diplomatic service Friday, Jul 26, 2013 10:50 AM PDT  By Adrian Croft and Justyna Pawlak BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's fledgling diplomatic service, which has faced criticism over its leadership and focus, should take a stronger role in drawing up sanctions and look at making its overseas posts more like embassies, an EU report said on Friday. The European External Action Service was launched in 2011 under reforms intended to simplify EU decision-making and give the bloc, which now has 28 members, more clout in world affairs. ... Full Story | Top |
| German president says whistleblowers like Snowden merit respect Friday, Jul 26, 2013 10:37 AM PDT  By Madeline Chambers BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's president, who helped expose the workings of East Germany's dreaded Stasi secret police, said whistleblowers like U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden deserved respect for defending freedom. Weighing in on a debate that could influence September's federal election, President Joachim Gauck struck a very different tone from that of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has assured Washington that Berlin would not shelter Snowden. ... Full Story | Top |
| Life in prison plea deal for man who held Cleveland women for years Friday, Jul 26, 2013 10:33 AM PDT  By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A former Cleveland school bus driver, Ariel Castro, on Friday pleaded guilty to hundreds of charges of kidnapping and raping three women he held captive and will serve life in prison, the culmination of one of the most sensational criminal cases in the United States in recent years. At a court hearing, Ohio prosecutors in turn agreed that Castro would not be eligible for the death penalty. The agreement means Castro will not stand trial, sparing the women the trauma of testifying about their abuse by Castro over about a decade. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's EU ambassador is surprise pick for Bank of England role Friday, Jul 26, 2013 10:06 AM PDT  By David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) - Britain unexpectedly named its ambassador to the EU as the Bank of England's next deputy governor for financial stability on Friday, moving to protect its financial sector on the international stage. Jon Cunliffe, 60, is a career civil servant who led British negotiators at G8 and G20 meetings during the financial crisis, and since January 2012 he has been Britain's top representative in Brussels. He will start at the BoE on November 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Islamists rally to defend Tunisian government after assassination Friday, Jul 26, 2013 10:04 AM PDT  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Several thousand Islamists took to the streets of Tunis on Friday to defend the Islamist-led government from popular demands for it to resign over the assassination of a secular opposition politician. As Islamists and secular opponents staged rival protests over the future of Tunisia's Ennahda government, the interior minister pointed the finger of suspicion at a hardline Islamist, saying the same gun had been used in Thursday's killing as in an assassination earlier this year that provoked violent protests. ... Full Story | Top |
| Top Russian opposition leader appeals conviction ahead of Moscow vote Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:50 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's most prominent opposition leader and anti-graft blogger, Alexei Navalny, on Friday filed an appeal against his conviction and sentencing to five years in prison for embezzling funds from a state timber company. Navalny, a stringent critic of President Vladimir Putin, denies any wrongdoing and says his conviction in the remote Russian city of Kirov is a Kremlin-driven attempt to stop his opposition activism and part of a wider crackdown on dissent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two killed in clashes during rival rallies in Egypt - agency Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:50 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Two Egyptians were killed in clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted President Mohamed Mursi in Egypt's second biggest city of Alexandria on Friday, Egypt's MENA news agency reported. It said 19 others were injured in clashes that erupted after thousands took to the streets in response to a call by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for a popular mandate to tackle violence unleashed since the ouster of Mursi on July 3. That triggered calls for pro-Mursi rallies. (Reporting by Omar Fahmy; writing by Yasmine Saleh; editing by Edmund Blair) Full Story | Top |
| SAC Capital pleads not guilty to insider-trading charges Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:41 AM PDT  By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Steven Cohen's hedge fund, SAC Capital Advisors LLP, pleaded not guilty in federal court on Friday, one day after it was indicted on insider-trading charges. The firm's general counsel, Peter Nussbaum, flanked by five defense lawyers, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in New York. U.S. prosecutors on Thursday charged the $14 billion hedge fund with presiding over a culture where employees flouted the law and were encouraged to tap their personal networks for inside information about publicly traded companies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gangs have won parts of troubled Mexican region: president Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:33 AM PDT  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has said that organized crime has gained the upper hand in a violent part of the country, in unusually frank comments about the difficulties his government is facing to subdue powerful drug cartels. Speaking to Mexican media on board his plane late on Thursday after a trip to the Gulf port of Veracruz, Pena Nieto said he was determined to restore order to the western state of Michoacan, where 22 people were killed in clashes on Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Anglican leader admits gaffe on 'payday' lenders, renews attack Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:30 AM PDT  By Adam Jourdan LONDON (Reuters) - The head of the Church of England said on Friday he was embarrassed to find out that his organisation had invested indirectly in a short-term loan company which he had vowed only days earlier to drive out of business. The discovery of the relatively small investment was a major setback for Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, after he launched a scathing attack on "payday" lenders who charge high interest rates on short-term loans that are typically repaid when borrowers receive their wages. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cat-and-mouse in Zimbabwe's election cyber war Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:26 AM PDT  By Cris Chinaka HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's government has blocked mass SMS bursts ahead of next week's election, hobbling a powerful source of non-official information in the tightly controlled southern African state, activists and a phone company source said on Friday. With the clock ticking to the July 31 poll in which President Robert Mugabe is looking to add to his 33 years in power, web portal Kubatana.net said it had noticed this week that its mass text messages were mysteriously getting lost. ... Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bombs kill 39 near Shi'ite mosques in Pakistan Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:18 AM PDT  By Javed Hussain and Jibran Ahmad PARACHINAR/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Suicide bombers on motorcycles blew themselves up within a minute of each other outside Shi'ite mosques in a volatile Pakistani town near the Afghan border on Friday, killing at least 39 people, officials said. Sectarian violence has been on the rise in nuclear-armed Pakistan, where hardline Sunni militant groups have been relentlessly attacking Shi'ites whom they see as heretics. The first explosion took place meters away from a Shi'ite mosque near a busy market in Parachinar, capital of the tribal Kurram area. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada's budget gap increases in April-May Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:18 AM PDT OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's federal budget deficit widened in the April-May period to C$2.71 billion ($2.63 billion) from C$1.82 billion a year earlier, predominantly because of higher transfers to seniors and to the provinces, the Department of Finance said on Friday. Conservative Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has made eliminating the deficit a priority. His budget in March forecast that the gap for fiscal year 2013-14, which began in April, would shrink to C$18.7 billion from C$25.9 billion the year before. He has promised to balance the budget by the October 2015 federal election. ... Full Story | Top |
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