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| U.S. intelligence officials warn Congress not to curb data collection Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 12:28 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. spy chiefs joined ranks on Wednesday against efforts in Congress to sharply curtail the National Security Agency's vast data collection program, warning that would endanger an essential intelligence tool. In an unusually public discourse on a secret spying program, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, joined the White House and senior Republican lawmakers who oversee the intelligence agencies in cautioning against cutting funding for NSA's data collection. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmaker worried NSA snooping will hurt digital trade Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 12:24 PM PDT By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. lawmaker said on Wednesday he was worried revelations about U.S. surveillance activity on the Internet could encourage governments to erect new barriers to digital trade just as United States is pushing to tear existing ones down. "That should be part of the equation when we're think how we should balance security and privacy. We should think about (how such surveillance activities affect) public perception in allied countries and ... how public perception impacts trade," said Representative Jared Polis, a Democrat. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fox loses appeal over Dish's 'Hopper' ad-skipper Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 12:10 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected Twenty-First Century Fox Inc's effort to stop Dish Network Corp from selling devices that let viewers skip over commercials on primetime broadcast shows. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court judge's refusal to temporarily halt sales of Dish's Hopper, which contains the ad-skipping feature known as AutoHop, and a related "marsupial-inspired" product called the Joey. ... Full Story | Top |
| NY press urges Weiner to quit mayoral bid, mocks new lewd chats Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 12:03 PM PDT  By Jonathan Allen and Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City newspapers called for mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner to bow out of the race on Wednesday after fresh revelations that he had continued sexually charged online chats for more than a year after his resignation from Congress. Weiner, among the front-runners in the race for New York mayor, admitted on Tuesday he had continued sending lewd images of himself to women online - the very behavior that forced him out of office in 2011 - until at least last summer. "The serially evasive Mr. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge halts challenges to Detroit's bankruptcy bid Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:59 AM PDT By Bernie Woodall and Joseph Lichterman DETROIT (Reuters) - A U.S. bankruptcy court judge on Wednesday suspended lawsuits challenging Detroit's historic bankruptcy filing while he reviews the city's petition for protection from creditors. Following the first hearing in the case earlier on Wednesday, Judge Steven Rhodes issued a stay on all litigation related to the bankruptcy. Rhodes also extended that stay to lawsuits filed against Michigan's governor, state treasurer and Kevyn Orr, Detroit's state-appointed emergency manager who filed the biggest Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy petition in U. ... Full Story | Top |
| Google gets deeper into hardware with new tablet, TV gadget Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:54 AM PDT  By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc on Wednesday showcased a new-generation, slimmer Nexus 7 tablet that the Internet search company hopes will expand its presence in consumer hardware, and ensure that its online services remain front-and-center on mobile devices. The latest Nexus 7, featuring a Qualcomm Inc Snapdragon processor and a higher display resolution, on July 30 will be priced at $229 for a basic version with 16 gigabytes of storage. The original year-old tablet started at $199 for an 8 gigabyte version. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dell founder ups takeover bid based on voting rule change Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:48 AM PDT  By Poornima Gupta, Soyoung Kim and Greg Roumeliotis (Reuters) - Dell Inc founder Michael Dell raised his $24.4 billion bid by $150 million on Wednesday on condition that shareholder voting rules are changed so that it will be easier for him to take the No.3 personal computer maker private. The sweetened offer, which Michael Dell and his private equity backer Silver Lake publicly called their best and final proposal, is the latest twist in a seven-month long saga over the fate of Dell, whose profits are under pressure from the rise of smart phones and tablet computers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Polish journalist kidnapped in Syria: activists Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:44 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Polish journalist was taken hostage by Islamist militants in northwest Syria on Wednesday, opposition activists said. Marcin Suder was abducted from an opposition media office in the rebel-held town of Saraqeb in Idlib province, activists from the area told Reuters. The Polish Foreign Ministry said it had set up a team of specialists based in Warsaw and its embassies in the Middle East to deal with what it described as his "likely" kidnapping, but declined to comment on whether it would send anyone into Syria. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wall St. backs off record highs, Apple jumps Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:41 AM PDT  By Alison Griswold NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks pulled back from record highs Wednesday afternoon, as losses in utility and commodity stocks more than offset significant gains in the tech sector on Apple's stronger-than-expected earnings. The declines were broad, with nine of the 10 S&P 500 sectors moving lower. The utilities index was the worst performer, shedding 1.7 percent, while the materials and energy indexes fell more than 1 percent apiece. Even the tech-driven Nasdaq briefly entered negative territory in afternoon trading, despite a gain of nearly 6 percent in shares of Apple . ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says allowing Snowden to leave airport would be 'disappointing' Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:40 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States would be deeply disappointed if Russia were to allow fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden to leave Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, the State Department said on Wednesday. "Any move that would allow Mr. Snowden to depart the airport would be deeply disappointing," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. She said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had telephoned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the situation. Snowden, who is wanted by the United States for revealing details of U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former UBS banker gets 18 months, $1 million fine, for muni bid-rigging scheme Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:33 AM PDT  By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former UBS AG banker Peter Ghavami was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Wednesday for his role in deceiving U.S. municipalities by rigging bids to invest municipal bond proceeds, a much shorter sentence than prosecutors had sought. U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood also ordered Ghavami, a Belgian national and the former global head of commodities at UBS, to pay a $1 million fine. Ghavami, 45, was the first of three former members of UBS' municipal securities desk to be sentenced in federal court in New York on Wednesday for their role in the scheme. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insurer WellPoint sees $20 billion Obamacare opportunity Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:25 AM PDT By Caroline Humer (Reuters) - WellPoint Inc , the nation's second largest health insurer, sees President Barack Obama's healthcare reform giving a $20 billion boost to its revenue by 2016, led by an expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor and the introduction of subsidized coverage for the uninsured. WellPoint will be one of the largest players on health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act that will allow consumers to choose subsidized health plans beginning on October 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bombardier delays first flight of CSeries for third time Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:20 AM PDT  By Solarina Ho TORONTO (Reuters) - Bombardier Inc delayed the maiden flight of its CSeries jetliner for a third time on Wednesday, promising the flight "in the coming weeks" instead of July, a move likely to rattle airlines that have stepped up to buy the all-new plane. "This might make people a bit jittery... This is a new market for them. A lot depends upon the confidence of customers," said aviation industry expert Richard Aboulafia, a vice-president at consulting firm Teal Group Corp. The delay casts new doubt on Bombardier's ambitious mid-2014 entry-into-service target for the CSeries. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Zulily hires banks for possible IPO - sources Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:13 AM PDT By Alistair Barr SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Zulily hired investment banks in recent weeks to advise the fast-growing e-commerce company on a possible initial public offering, according to two people familiar with the situation. Zulily, a "flash sales" company founded by former Blue Nile executives Mark Vadon and Darrell Cavens, tapped Goldman Sachs, Citigroup's investment bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, for the IPO push, according to one of the people. Zulily is one of the first of a new crop of e-commerce companies to try to go public. ... Full Story | Top |
| Natalie Portman to debut as director with film of Amos Oz memoir Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:09 AM PDT  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman will direct her first feature film based on "A Tale of Love and Darkness," a memoir by Israeli novelist Amos Oz, the author said on Wednesday. The Israeli-American actress, who won a best actress Oscar in 2011 for her role in ballet drama "Black Swan," will also play Oz's mother, who committed suicide when he was 12. "She (Portman) read 'A Tale of Love and Darkness' and asked me for the rights to make a film adaptation around five or six years ago," Oz told Reuters by telephone. "I agreed because of my high esteem for her work. ... Full Story | Top |
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