| | |
| Egypt welcomes U.S. remarks on Mursi; food stocks dwindle Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 09:07 AM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh and Sarah McFarlane CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's interim rulers welcomed on Thursday remarks from the U.S. State Department describing the rule of toppled leader Mohamed Mursi as undemocratic, read in Cairo as a signal that Washington will not cut off its $1.5 billion in annual aid. In a stark illustration of the desperate state of Egypt's economy, a former minister from Mursi's ousted government said Egypt has less than two months' supply left of imported wheat, revealing a far worse shortage than previously disclosed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Quebec town grapples with loss in train wreck aftermath Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 10:14 PM PDT  By Julie Gordon LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (Reuters) - Residents of the town of Lac-Megantic in Quebec were coming to grips on Thursday with the reality that 50 of their own were most likely dead in the aftermath of the worst railway disaster in North American in more than two decades. Five days after a train hauling 72 cylinders of crude oil jumped the track and exploded into a wall of fire, provincial police said they had recovered 20 bodies, with another 30 people still missing and presumed dead, confirming the worst fears of a community that had all but given up hope. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia convicts lawyer Magnitsky in posthumous trial Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 12:37 PM PDT  By Maria Tsvetkova and Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in prison in suspicious circumstances, was found guilty of tax evasion on Thursday in a posthumous trial that has further damaged President Vladimir Putin's reputation in the West. The Moscow court also convicted Magnitsky's former client William Browder, a British investment fund boss who has led an international campaign to expose corruption and punish Russian officials he blames for Magnitsky's death in 2009. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb, gun attacks across Iraq kill at least 32 Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 12:29 PM PDT  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 32 people were killed in bomb and gun attacks across Iraq on Thursday, police and medics said. In the town of Muqdadiya, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of the capital, 11 people were killed when a car bomb exploded at a wake. As survivors gathered to evacuate the wounded, a suicide bomber blew himself up, police said. Gunmen opened fire on two checkpoints guarding oil installations on the road between Baiji, 180 km north of the capital, and Haditha, killing a further 11, police said. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK parliament wins veto over any decision to arm Syrian rebels Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 11:54 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's parliament backed a motion on Thursday requiring Prime Minister David Cameron to give it a veto over any future move to arm Syrian rebels, in a symbolic vote the government said it would heed. Britain says it has not yet taken any decision to arm rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad, but its role in helping to lift a European Union arms embargo on Syria in May fuelled speculation it was planning to do just that. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate heads toward showdown on Obama nominees Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 12:17 PM PDT  By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday said he will hold votes next week on a number of President Barack Obama's embattled executive-branch nominees, setting up a showdown with Republicans over rules used to block confirmations. Unless Republicans allow them all to be confirmed, Reid, a Nevada Democrat, may move to strip Republicans of their ability to block nominees with procedural hurdles known as filibusters, Democratic aides said. The Senate requires 67 votes to change its rules, including those regarding filibusters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela says Snowden has still not formally responded to asylum offer Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 11:00 AM PDT  MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) - Venezuela has still not received a formal response to its offer of asylum to former U.S. spy contractor Edward Snowden, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua told Reuters on Thursday. "We communicated last week, we made an offer and so far we haven't received a reply," Jaua said on the sidelines of a regional foreign ministers' meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay. Venezuela along with leftist allies Bolivia and Nicaragua have offered asylum to Snowden, who is wanted by Washington on espionage charges for divulging details of extensive, secret U.S. surveillance programs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Emergency calls reveal chaos, long waits in aftermath of Asiana crash Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 12:09 PM PDT  By Kristina Cooke and Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Tapes of 911 emergency calls made moments after the Asiana plane crash at San Francisco airport last Saturday reveal panic and confusion, with passengers describing severe injuries and long waits for help. The California Highway Patrol released 11 minutes of call audio tapes late on Wednesday. The crash of the Boeing 777 killed two and injured more than 180. A man called to say, "Our airplane just crashed upon landing." The dispatcher asked which runway he was on. "I don't know the runway, we literally just ran out of the airplane. ... Full Story | Top |
| Trayvon Martin killed because of bad assumptions: prosecutor Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 12:04 PM PDT  By Barbara Liston SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - Trayvon Martin died because George Zimmerman wrongly assumed he was a criminal, prosecutors on Thursday told a Florida jury in closing arguments in the neighborhood watch volunteer's second-degree murder trial. After prosecutors finish, defense lawyers are due on Friday to make their closing statements in the case, which has captivated and polarized much of the U.S. public. The jury is expected to start deliberations on Friday. "A teenager is dead," Florida state prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda told the jury. "He is dead through no fault of his ... Full Story | Top |
| House Republicans eye winding down Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 08:30 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday unveiled draft legislation that would wind down mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, strip the mortgage securitization process from government control and revamp the Federal Housing Administration. The sweeping proposal aims to establish a new framework for the U.S. housing finance system and reduce the government's role in the market as much as possible, Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee told reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bomb kills two near mosque in Pakistan as attacks spread Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 07:21 AM PDT  PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A motorcycle packed with explosives blew up outside a mosque frequented by both Sunni and Shi'ite worshippers in Pakistan's volatile northwest on Thursday, as the month-old government struggled to curb a rising tide of attacks. Just hours later, another explosion ripped through a major border crossing lying on a NATO supply route between Pakistan and Afghanistan, killing two people, a security official said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Column: Edward Snowden and the disaster of privatization Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 10:50 AM PDT  (Donald Cohen is a Reuters columnist but his opinions are his own.) By Donald Cohen (Reuters) - In May, computer analyst Edward Snowden flew to China, handed over volumes of National Security Agency surveillance data to a reporter, and launched a heated national conversation about our nation's surveillance state. Underscoring that conversation was the fact that Snowden was a private contractor, given access to a vast store of information despite having virtually no track record with the NSA or the private firm with which he was employed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exiled dissidents claim Iran building new nuclear site Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 07:18 AM PDT By Nicholas Vinocur and Fredrik Dahl PARIS/VIENNA (Reuters) - An exiled opposition group said on Thursday it had obtained information about a secret underground nuclear site under construction in Iran, without specifying what kind of atomic activity it believed would be carried out there. The dissident National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) exposed Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and a heavy water facility at Arak in 2002. But analysts say it has a chequered track record and a clear political agenda. Its new allegation drew a cautious international response: the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
| Portugal president throws politics into disarray Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 06:48 AM PDT  By Axel Bugge LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's president threw the bailed-out euro zone country into disarray on Thursday after rejecting a plan to heal a government rift, igniting what critics called a "time bomb" by calling for early elections next year. President Anibal Cavaco Silva proposed a cross-party agreement between the ruling coalition and opposition Socialists to guarantee wide support for austerity measures needed for Portugal to exit its bailout next year, followed by elections. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judges reinstate second genocide charge for Karadzic Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 07:17 AM PDT  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic must stand trial on two counts of genocide, appeals judges at a war crimes court in The Hague said on Thursday, reinstating one count that had been struck down. The ruling means Karadzic must now face charges of masterminding the genocide of Bosnian Croats and Muslims across the territory of multi-ethnic Bosnia during a 1992-1995 war that cost 100,000 lives, in addition to a charge related to the Srebrenica massacre. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says believes it will strike deal with Afghans on troops Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 07:37 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States believes it will strike a deal with Afghanistan that will allow some American troops to stay in the country beyond 2014, when the NATO combat mission ends, the top U.S. diplomat on Afghanistan told Congress on Thursday. "Without an agreement on our presence in Afghanistan, we would not remain. But we do not believe that that's the likely outcome of these negotiations," James Dobbins, the State Department's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, told a Senate hearing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Zimmerman trial jurors to be instructed on lesser charge: judge Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 07:31 AM PDT  SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - Jurors in the George Zimmerman murder trial will be told they can potentially convict him for the lesser charge of manslaughter for the killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, a Florida judge said on Thursday. "The court will give the instruction on manslaughter as a Category One," Seminole County Court Judge Debra Nelson said. ... Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's Mandela remains critical, responds to treatment Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 11:20 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African president Nelson Mandela remained in a critical but stable condition and was responding to treatment, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday after visiting the anti-apartheid hero in a Pretoria hospital. Mandela, whose 95th birthday is on July 18, has been receiving treatment for a recurring lung infection that has led to four hospital stays in the past six months. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bosnia reburies Srebrenica dead 18 years after massacre Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 07:44 AM PDT  By Maja Zuvela POTOCARI, Bosnia (Reuters) - Bosnia reburied another 409 victims of the Srebrenica massacre on Thursday but, 18 years after Europe's worst atrocity since the Holocaust, the country remains mired in ethnic disputes long after other parties to the conflict have moved on. Watched by thousands of mourners, coffins draped in green cloth were passed from hand to hand down lines of Bosnian Muslim men to be interred at the Potocari memorial center, a forest of white marble and wooden gravestones that now number 6,066. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Forward guidance more than passing fashion for central banks Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 07:16 AM PDT  By Sakari Suoninen FRANKFURT (Reuters) - "Watch what we do, not what we say," was the central bank mantra for generations. But no more. In the space of a few hours last week, the European Central Bank and Bank of England embarked on a momentous change, moving to provide an interest rate outlook as the Federal Reserve already does, a crisis response that could become a permanent feature. Market turbulence after the Fed floated an exit plan from its money creation program forced them to give "forward guidance" on rates for the first time to try and temper rising bond borrowing costs. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House threatens veto of farm bill that drops food stamps Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 08:00 AM PDT  By Charles Abbott WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House has threatened to veto a Republican-drafted farm bill, scheduled for a vote in the House on Thursday, that expands the taxpayer-subsidized crop insurance program but omits food stamps for the poor. The farm subsidy bill was unveiled late Wednesday by House Republican leaders, who were embarrassed by the defeat last month of a $500 billion, five-year farm bill that included the largest cuts in food stamps in a generation. Fiscally conservative Republicans wanted more cuts in farm program and food stamp spending. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greeks protest job cuts, unemployment hits new high Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 07:15 AM PDT  By Karolina Tagaris ATHENS (Reuters) - From police to garbage collectors, Greek municipal workers took to the streets of Athens for a fourth day running on Thursday to protest against government plans to slash public sector jobs, while unemployment figures hit a new high. Fuelled by three years of austerity Athens has imposed in return for bailout funds from its foreign lenders, unemployment inched up to 26.9 percent in April, the statistics service ELSTAT said - the highest since it began publishing jobless data in 2006. ... Full Story | Top |
| One injured in toxic gas leak at Total refinery in France Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 03:41 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - A leak of toxic gas from a Total oil refinery in northwestern France in the early hours of Thursday caused the plant to be briefly evacuated, disrupted local train services and injured one worker, Total said. The company said a leak in the alkylation unit, which produces high-octane gasoline ingredients, had been repaired and the refinery, in the town of Donges, was operating normally again a few hours after the incident. "There is no risk for the local population or environment," Total said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| New aid gives Greece summer respite before showdown Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 10:40 PM PDT  By Deepa Babington ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece has scraped through its biggest political and financial challenge this year by securing a tranche of aid from international lenders but the reprieve may only be temporary. Crunch time for Athens will come at the end of September when EU and IMF inspectors are expected to return to discuss how to plug a budget gap for 2015 and 2016, raising the specter of more austerity cuts that may spark a new political crisis. Even if it survives that, Greece will still need more debt relief from the euro zone before it can get back on its feet. ... Full Story | Top |
| Deadly Quebec train crash to be fertile ground for lawsuits Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 07:46 PM PDT  By Randall Palmer and Casey Sullivan OTTAWA/NEW YORK (Reuters) - As investigators try to piece together how a parked oil freight train broke free and demolished the heart of a small Quebec town last weekend, a barrage of litigation could soon be hitting everyone from the U.S. rail company to the Canadian government. The key questions that will have to be answered in the coming weeks and months include whether any cases filed will be heard in Canada or the United States, which parties were most negligent and how liability for the crash is spread among them. ... Full Story | Top |
| House Republicans divided on immigration reform Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 05:35 PM PDT  By Thomas Ferraro and Rachelle Younglai WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives emerged from an immigration meeting on Wednesday divided over whether to help the 11 million undocumented people living in the United States, but eager to bolster border security. Several lawmakers said there appeared to be no consensus over calls for granting legal status to the 11 million, many of whom have lived in the United States for years, after a 2 1/2-hour closed-door session. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: U.S. swap regulator close to deal on cross-border rules - source Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 08:31 PM PDT  By Douwe Miedema WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. derivatives regulator is within reach of a compromise over how its rules apply to foreign companies dealing with U.S. banks, a source close to the negotiations told Reuters. Friday is the last day the Commodity Trading Futures Commission (CFTC) can decide on the issue, as a broad temporary relief for foreign companies expires. Having no rule in place would cause regulatory chaos and invoke the wrath of already critical politicians. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: U.S. still plans to send F-16s to Egypt in coming weeks Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 06:24 PM PDT  By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States still plans to go through with the delivery of four F-16 fighter jets to Egypt in the coming weeks, U.S. defense officials told Reuters on Wednesday, even after the Egyptian military's ouster of President Mohamed Mursi. The disclosure came as Washington treads a careful line, neither welcoming Mursi's removal nor denouncing it as a "coup," saying it needs time to weigh the situation. A U.S. decision to brand his overthrow a coup would, by U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: U.S. Air Force sees no wrongdoing by Booz Allen in Snowden matter Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 06:57 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force said it sees no evidence that a defense contractor that employed Edward Snowden is responsible for his disclosure of classified U.S. information, a finding that allows the company to continue doing business with the Pentagon. Snowden, who is wanted in the United States on espionage charges, revealed details of secret government surveillance programs. He is believed to be holed up in the transit area at a Moscow airport, where he arrived on June 23 from Hong Kong. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida police chief ready for Zimmerman verdict Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 04:15 PM PDT  By Daniel Trotta SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - In a once-segregated Southern town where a shooting death last year ignited a dispute that polarized America, the new police chief has embraced a simple tactic. He calls it the "walk and talk." Unprecedented in Sanford, where George Zimmerman is on trial for killing teenager Trayvon Martin, the campaign has led Cecil Smith out of the police station and into a historic black neighborhood nearby. There, the Northerner from a Chicago suburb has knocked on doors and talked with people about their concerns. ... Full Story | Top |
| Accused Boston Marathon bomber pleads 'not guilty' to attack Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 02:55 PM PDT  By Scott Malone and Daniel Lovering BOSTON (Reuters) - Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, with his arm in a cast, accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded "not guilty" to committing the worst mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, a crime that could bring him the death penalty. Appearing in court for the first time, the 19-year-old ethnic Chechen - a naturalized U.S. citizen - spoke clearly, answering seven times that he was "not guilty" and occasionally glancing back at the gallery, where survivors and victims' relatives were watching. ... Full Story | Top |
| Asiana passengers initially told not to evacuate after crash Thursday, Jul 11, 2013 01:45 AM PDT  By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Passengers aboard the Asiana Airlines plane that crashed in San Francisco were initially told not to evacuate the aircraft after it skidded to a halt on the runway, a federal safety official said on Wednesday. But a flight attendant saw fire outside the plane, and the call to exit was made, 90 seconds after the crash, said National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Deborah Hersman at a San Francisco press conference. The first emergency response vehicles arrived 30 seconds later. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S.-China talks cover cyber issues, currency, Chinese reform Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 05:42 PM PDT  By Paul Eckert and Anna Yukhananov WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials appealed to China's self-interest on Wednesday with calls for deeper economic reforms including changes to the exchange rate policy and a halt to cyber theft of trade secrets - actions they said would benefit both nations. Vice President Joe Biden launched the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue by stressing the shared stakes and responsibility to support the global economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Defense rests in court-martial of soldier accused of WikiLeaks disclosures Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 03:23 PM PDT  By Ian Simpson FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The soldier accused of the biggest leak of classified material in U.S. history chose not to testify at his court-martial on Wednesday, when the defense rested its case. U.S. Army Private First Class Bradley Manning, 25, is charged with disclosing more than 700,000 classified files, combat videos and State Department cables to the pro-transparency website WikiLeaks. Manning, who served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2009 and 2010, could face life in prison without parole if convicted of the most serious of 21 charges, aiding the enemy. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. official: delivery of F-16s to Egypt still 'scheduled as planned' Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 05:33 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The slated U.S. delivery of four F-16 fighter jets to Egypt in the coming weeks was still "scheduled as planned," a senior U.S. official told Reuters on Wednesday, after the Pentagon said President Barack Obama ordered a review of U.S. aid to Egypt. The U.S. official spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Eric Beech) Full Story | Top |
| U.S.-China talks cover cyber issues, currency, Chinese reform Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 04:01 PM PDT  By Paul Eckert and Anna Yukhananov WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials appealed to China's self-interest on Wednesday with calls for deeper economic reforms including changes to the exchange rate policy and a halt to cyber theft of trade secrets - actions they said would benefit both nations. Vice President Joe Biden launched the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue by stressing the shared stakes and responsibility to support the global economy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Asiana passengers initially told not to evacuate after crash Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 03:27 PM PDT  (Reuters) - An Asiana pilot initially told flight attendants not to evacuate a Boeing 777 that had crashed onto a San Francisco airport runway, National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Deborah Hersman said Wednesday. Passengers were told to stay in their seats, Hersman said. The evacuation began 90 seconds after the plane came to a halt, when a flight attendant saw fire outside the window. The first emergency crews arrived 30 seconds later. (Reporting By Jonathan Weber) Full Story | Top |
| No consensus at House Republican meeting on path to citizenship Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 02:43 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - No consensus was reached on a possible pathway to U.S. citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants at a meeting on Wednesday of Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives, lawmakers said. "We have a disagreement inside here," said Republican Representative Steve King, estimating that members were split "50-50" on any legalization for the undocumented immigrants, a key issue in any comprehensive immigration reform. (Reporting by Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro; Editing by David Brunnstrom) Full Story | Top |
| Smithfield CEO feels Senate heat over sale to China Wednesday, Jul 10, 2013 05:13 PM PDT  By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. senators sought answers from the head of Smithfield Foods on Wednesday about whether the proposed sale of the Virginia ham maker to China's largest pork producer could hurt U.S. food safety and raise prices for American consumers. Although there was no indication Congress would intervene to block the deal, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow said she was worried that it would undermine the long-term competitiveness of the U.S. pork industry by exporting valuable production techniques to China. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment