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| Obama seeks second-term jolt with economic speech Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:05 AM PDT  By Roberta Rampton GALESBURG, Illinois (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama sought to inject momentum into his economic and domestic policy agenda on Wednesday with a speech designed to clarify his vision for his second term and hammer Republicans in the House of Representatives for getting in his way. Obama defended his government's record managing the economy through the recession in his first term and said new spending on infrastructure and education were needed now to grow the middle class, which he argued would boost the nation's economy. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| Fugitive Snowden's hopes of leaving Moscow airport dashed Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 12:07 PM PDT  By Lidia Kelly MOSCOW (Reuters) - Fugitive U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden's hopes of leaving Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport for the first time in a month on Wednesday were dashed when he failed to secure permission from Russia to leave. An airport source said Snowden, who is wanted by the United States on espionage charges for revealing details of government intelligence programs, was handed documents by his lawyer that were expected to include a pass to leave the transit area. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama halts delivery of F-16s to Egypt amid unrest Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 10:20 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has decided to halt the planned delivery of four F-16 fighter jets to Egypt, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, amid the unrest that erupted after the military ousted Egypt's first democratically elected president. The move came two weeks after Reuters reported U.S. plans to go ahead with the delivery of the F-16s, and shows how the United States is struggling to respond to the removal of President Mohamed Mursi and an ensuing surge in violence. ... Full Story | Top |
| William and Kate name Britain's new royal heir George Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 12:26 PM PDT  By Costas Pitas LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate have chosen three traditional royal names by calling their new-born baby boy George Alexander Louis, William's office said on Wednesday. The baby, born on Monday to global media frenzy and third in line to the British throne, will be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge, Kensington Palace said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Diplomats test waters on U.N. Syrian aid resolution Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:38 AM PDT  By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - Diplomats have started exploring whether they could get enough votes to pass a U.N. Security EXCouncil resolution to help aid groups get into Syria as the death count mounts, a French diplomatic source said on Wednesday. Syria's civil war has killed more than 100,000 people and left millions homeless. France's foreign minister said on Monday the Security Council, which has been deadlocked over how to respond to the war, needed to tackle the humanitarian crisis. ... 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 |
| Glaxo warns China corruption scandal will hit business Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 08:45 AM PDT  By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - A "shameful" corruption scandal in China will inevitably impact GlaxoSmithKline's business, the British drugmaker's chief executive said on Wednesday, adding he was ready to go to Beijing "at the right moment." In his first public comments since the crisis broke a fortnight ago, Andrew Witty said GSK would set up an independent review to investigate the "deeply disappointing" allegations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Home sales hit five-year high, factories regain footing Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 09:49 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New U.S. home sales vaulted to a five-year high in June, while other data on Wednesday showed an acceleration in factory activity in July, boosting hopes of a third-quarter pick-up in economic growth. Showing no signs yet of slowing in the face of higher mortgage rates, single-family home sales increased 8.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 497,000 units, the highest level since May 2008, the Commerce Department said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gulf rig partially collapses in fire off Louisiana: U.S. government Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 10:03 AM PDT  By Kristen Hays HOUSTON (Reuters) - A shallow-water Gulf of Mexico drilling rig has partially collapsed off the coast of Louisiana after catching fire because of a ruptured natural gas well, U.S. regulators said on Wednesday. The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said beams supporting the derrick and rig floor on the Hercules Offshore jackup rig had crumpled over the rig structure. A third firefighting vessel was en route to the scene, though no sheen was seen on the water's surface during overflights conducted on Wednesday morning, the regulator said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen attack Pakistan intelligence agency compound Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 09:40 AM PDT By Asim Tanveer MULTAN (Reuters) - A bomb and gun attack on the offices of the Pakistani intelligence agency in the southern town of Sukkur on Wednesday killed four people and wounded at least 40, police officials said, in a brazen challenge to the country's powerful military. More than an hour after the initial explosions, the gun battle was still raging as security services hunted up to 10 militants who detonated four bombs in the heavily guarded compound, Masood Bangash, the deputy superintendent of police in Sukkur, said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Detroit bankruptcy case judge proposes mediator for toughest disputes Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 09:52 AM PDT  (Reuters) - The bankruptcy judge overseeing Detroit's historic bankruptcy filing has proposed appointing a federal judge as mediator to hash out the most difficult disputes as the city struggles to resolve more than $18 billion in bond and pension obligations. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes has proposed appointing federal judge Gerald Rosen to oversee confidential mediation, if it is needed. The proposal was filed Tuesday afternoon, included in a list of issues to be heard on August 2. The city filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Silver Lake would not back Dell offer at $14 per share: source Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 09:06 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private equity firm Silver Lake, which is backing Michael's Dell's sweetened $24.6 billion bid for Dell Inc, does not support an increase of the buyout consortium's offer to $14 per share, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Dell's special board committee is seeking at least $14 per share from the buyout group in order to consider a potential change in the shareholder voting terms which Michael Dell and Silver Lake have asked for, another person familiar with the matter said earlier. ... Full Story | Top |
| Plea deal still possible in Ariel Castro case of kidnapped women: lawyers Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 09:27 AM PDT  By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - An agreement is still possible for former Cleveland school bus driver Ariel Castro to plead guilty to some charges such as kidnapping and rape of three women to avoid a public trial scheduled to start on August 5, lawyers for both sides said on Wednesday. Castro, 53, is accused of imprisoning and brutalizing the three women in his home for about a decade. He has pleaded not guilty to 977 charges including 512 counts of kidnapping and 446 counts of rape. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan scrambles jets after China plane flies by southern islands Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 06:10 AM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan scrambled fighter jets on Wednesday after a Chinese military aircraft flew for the first time through international airspace near its southern islands out over the Pacific, in a move seen by Japan as underlining China's maritime expansion. Ties between China and Japan have been strained by a territorial dispute over uninhabited East China Sea islets and hawkish Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a decisive victory in upper house elections on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Most passengers rescued after asylum seekers boat sinks off Indonesia Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 09:01 AM PDT  JAKARTA (Reuters) - Three people died but another 157 suspected asylum seekers were rescued after their boat sank off the southern coast of Indonesia, officials said on Wednesday after earlier reports that as many as 60 may have perished. The latest case of a boat sinking while attempting the perilous journey came five days after Australia slammed the door on would-be refugees with a deal to send all boat arrivals to Papua New Guinea for assessment and eventual settlement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-NFL star Hernandez due in court on murder charge Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 07:47 AM PDT  By Richard Valdmanis ATTLEBORO, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Former New England Patriots football star Aaron Hernandez was due in court on Wednesday afternoon for a preliminary hearing on murder charges that could reveal new details in the latest National Football League scandal. Hernandez was arrested on June 26, nine days after police found the bullet-riddled corpse of a friend, Odin Lloyd, in an industrial park near Hernandez's house in North Attleborough, Massachusetts. He was cut from the Patriots on the same day as his arrest. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian authorities blocking access to needy in Homs: Red Cross Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 06:54 AM PDT  GENEVA (Reuters) - Syrian authorities are blocking access to the old city of Homs, where trapped civilians are in dire need of food and medical supplies, the Red Cross said on Wednesday, warning of possible "tragic" consequences. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) revealed last Friday that it was negotiating a humanitarian pause to be able to enter Homs, where President Bashar al-Assad's forces have been conducting a heavy offensive against rebels, with air and artillery strikes. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Qatar ruler will keep backing Syria opposition: rebel envoy Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 06:43 AM PDT  DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar's new emir will keep helping Syrian rebels until President Bashar al-Assad's rule ends, Syria's opposition envoy to Doha said on Wednesday, seeking to dampen speculation the rich Gulf state had scaled back its role in supporting the revolt. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has not made a detailed statement of foreign policy priorities following his accession last month, and some analysts have speculated the country is rethinking its backing for Arab Spring rebellions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt army raises pressure on Islamists with call for rallies Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 05:02 AM PDT  By Asma Alsharif and Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's military chief called for mass rallies on Friday to give him a mandate to confront violence following the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, appearing to raise the pressure on the Muslim Brotherhood. General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who deposed Mursi on July 3 and replaced his government with an interim administration, also promised on Wednesday that there would be no retreat from the army-backed roadmap that envisions parliamentary elections in about six months. "I request that all Egyptians next Friday ... ... Full Story | Top |
| More foreign pharmaceutical firms could be probed in China: Xinhua Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 05:42 AM PDT  By Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) - China's official news agency hinted that more foreign pharmaceutical firms could soon be implicated in a corruption scandal sweeping the industry, in the wake of bribery accusations against British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline. "It will not be surprising if more pharmaceutical companies and hospitals, domestic or international, are to be involved in probes in the days to come," the Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday in an English-language commentary. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former China politician Bo's trial could start this week: source Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 04:48 AM PDT  By Ben Blanchard and Benjamin Kang Lim BEIJING (Reuters) - The trial of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai could begin this week, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday, marking the beginning of the end of China's most sensational scandal in decades. The trial is most likely to take place in the eastern city of Jinan, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid repercussions for talking to a foreign reporter about elite politics. Bo has been charged with accepting bribes, corruption and abuse of power, the source said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Indian police arrest school principal in food poisoning case Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 07:55 AM PDT  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian police on Wednesday arrested the headmistress of a school where 23 children died after eating a meal laced with pesticide in one of India's deadliest food poisoning outbreaks in years. The woman, who had been missing for more than a week, was detained while on her way to court to surrender, said Sujit Kumar, superintendent of police in Saran district in the eastern state of Bihar. The children fell ill within minutes of eating a meal of rice and soybean-potato curry in their one-room school on July 16, vomiting and convulsing with stomach cramps. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia says U.S. drive to arm Syria rebels hurts chances for peace Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 06:39 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia accused the United States on Wednesday of stalling chances for peace in Syria by pressing ahead with plans to arm rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad. Russia is at loggerheads over the conflict with its U.N. Security Council partner, the United States, where President Barack Obama can now move forward with arming rebels after easing some congressional concerns. ... Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen shoot dead nine policemen in northern Iraq Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 03:23 AM PDT MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Militants riding on pick-up trucks opened fire on a checkpoint in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing nine policemen, police said. The attack took place in Shura, 50 km (35 miles) south of Mosul, Iraq's third largest city and capital of the Sunni-dominated Nineveh province, where al Qaeda has been regrouping. The gunmen showered the checkpoint with a hail of bullets from several directions. An ambulance that rushed to the scene was hit by a bomb that had been planted on the road beforehand, wounding the driver and a nurse, police said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bulgaria parliament siege escalates political crisis Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 03:54 AM PDT  By Tsvetelia Tsolova and Angel Krasimirov SOFIA (Reuters) - More than 100 Bulgarian lawmakers, ministers and journalists spent the night besieged inside parliament by anti-corruption protesters before police evacuated them early on Wednesday in the latest instability in the southeast European state. A political crisis that began over utility price rises and spread to accusations that private interests control state institutions has caused months of protests in the ex-communist state, which joined the European Union in 2007 but has struggled to live up to its governance standards. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU seeks to make Europe's defense industry more competitive Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 03:51 AM PDT  By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission proposed on Wednesday to help Europe's defense industry cope with pressure from falling military budgets by funding research and helping to develop new military technologies. The European Union's executive body, which has traditionally left defense responsibilities to its 28 member states, also raised the possibility that the EU itself could buy and operate some equipment needed for military missions. Europe's defense industry had sales of 96 billion euros ($126.9 billion) in 2012 and employed about 400,000 people. ... Full Story | Top |
| From copper to cameras; feeling the heat from China slowdown Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 02:20 AM PDT  By Langi Chiang and Jonathan Standing BEIJING (Reuters) - China's manufacturing engine lost further momentum in July and the job market weakened, a survey showed on Wednesday, complicating a transition to consumer-driven growth and boding ill for so many leveraged to the world's second-largest economy. The knock-on effects are already being felt farther afield - from a slowdown in Japanese export growth despite a weaker yen to Apple Inc lamenting a rare drop in Chinese demand for its premium brand of gadgets. ... Full Story | Top |
| Strong iPhone sales buoy Apple's third quarter, shares climb Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 12:44 AM PDT  By Poornima Gupta SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Sales of Apple Inc's iPhone trumped Wall Street estimates after U.S. shipments soared 51 percent in the third quarter, lifting its stock 5 percent even as profit fell. The world's largest technology company said Tuesday that profit fell 22 percent as gross margins slid below 37 percent from more than 42 percent in the year-ago quarter. The iPhone's solid showing eased concerns that growing competition is hurting demand for Apple's top-selling product as the global smartphone market matures. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain's William and Kate keep world waiting for baby's name Tuesday, Jul 23, 2013 04:04 PM PDT  By Peter Griffiths LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate kept the world guessing about the name of their first child as they left hospital to start family life with the future king. "We are still working on a name, so we will have that as soon as we can," William told reporters outside St Mary's Hospital in London on Tuesday. "It is the first time we have seen him really, so we are having a proper chance to catch up. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Jeans and shoes show criminal underbelly of China-EU trade Tuesday, Jul 23, 2013 10:10 PM PDT  By Steve Scherer ROME (Reuters) - The importer, a front man for the Calabrian mafia, tells the Chinese seller, who speaks fluent Italian and lives in Rome, that he wants to fix a lower price on the next shipment. Their business is not drugs or weapons, but Chinese T-shirts, jeans and shoes. The buyer for the mob in Italy's impoverished south wants to declare a falsely low price to reduce the customs duties he must pay because, as he says in a wiretap, "it goes to the state". ... Full Story | Top |
| Clashes on Syria, spying mark debate on U.S. defense funding bill Tuesday, Jul 23, 2013 07:43 PM PDT  By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers clashed over Syria, Afghanistan and government spying on Tuesday as the House of Representatives began debating a $598 billion defense spending bill for 2014, including a Pentagon base budget of $512 billion and $86 billion for the Afghan war. The confrontations began even before the measure made it to the floor of the House after Republican leaders moved to restrict the number of permitted amendments to 100, with no more than 20 minutes of debate on divisive issues like Syria policy and spying by the National Security Agency. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brotherhood: Egypt army chief Sisi's 'threat' won't stop rallies Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 03:41 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - A call by Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for mass protests on Friday against "violence and terrorism" amounts to a threat against the Muslim Brotherhood, a senior member of the group said. "Your threat will not stop the millions from continuing to gather," Essam El-Erian wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday, calling Sisi "a coup leader who kills women, children and those at prayer. ... Full Story | Top |
| IMF backs off plan to file with top U.S. court in Argentina case Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 03:31 AM PDT  By Anna Yukhananov WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund no longer plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review Argentina's case in its decade-old legal battle with holdout creditors due to a lack of support from the U.S. government, the IMF said on Tuesday. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde had planned to recommend that the IMF's board approve a friend-of-court brief in support of the case by the end of this week, but decided not to. The brief would have been the first the IMF filed with the highest court in the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Ford to build current and new F-150 pickups at same time Tuesday, Jul 23, 2013 05:57 PM PDT  By Deepa Seetharaman DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co will produce both its current F-150 pickup and a new model for about six months to avoid disrupting sales of the top-selling U.S. vehicle and safeguard against potential kinks tied to the truck's extensive overhaul, people familiar with the plans said. The second-largest U.S. automaker aims to start production of the new truck around July 2014, sources said. Ford will continue to build the older model for the first six months of the new F-150's launch. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. citizen detained as China pharma probe spreads Tuesday, Jul 23, 2013 03:42 PM PDT  By Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) - A U.S. citizen has been detained in China in connection with probes sparked by an unfolding corruption scandal in the drugs industry, as China widens the range of international firms and staff under the spotlight. Police have also questioned two more Chinese employees from British drugmaker AstraZeneca in Shanghai, after a local sales representative was taken away for questioning earlier. And China's Health Ministry said 39 hospital staff would be punished for taking bribes from two drug companies. The firms involved were not identified. ... Full Story | Top |
| Strong iPhone sales buoy Apple's third quarter, shares climb Tuesday, Jul 23, 2013 04:19 PM PDT  By Poornima Gupta SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Sales of Apple Inc's iPhone trumped Wall Street estimates after U.S. shipments soared 51 percent in the third quarter, lifting its stock 5 percent even as profit fell. The world's largest technology company said Tuesday that profit fell 22 percent as gross margins slid below 37 percent from more than 42 percent in the year-ago quarter. The iPhone's solid showing eased concerns that growing competition is hurting demand for Apple's top-selling product as the global smartphone market matures. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bulgarian protesters block parliament, scuffle with police Tuesday, Jul 23, 2013 03:59 PM PDT  By Tsvetelia Tsolova SOFIA (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters built barricades around Bulgaria's parliament, effectively trapping over 100 lawmakers, ministers, and journalists in the building for more than seven hours on Tuesday following a brief scuffle with police. Protesters pulled out sidewalk tiles and piled garbage bins to cut off roads to Bulgaria's parliament, shouting "Mafia!" and "Resign!" and "Red Garbage!", to keep the deputies under blockade until the Socialist-led government steps down. ... Full Story | Top |
| Al Qaeda says it freed 500 inmates in Iraq jail-break Tuesday, Jul 23, 2013 02:15 PM PDT  By Suadad al-Salhy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Al Qaeda claimed responsibility on Tuesday for simultaneous raids on two Iraqi prisons and said more than 500 inmates had been set free in the operation, one of its most brazen in Iraq. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, formed earlier this year through a merger of al Qaeda's affiliates in Syria and Iraq, said it had stormed Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail and another, some 20 km (12 miles) north of capital, after months of preparation. ... Full Story | Top |
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