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| 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 |
| 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 |
| Vivendi overhaul gathers pace with $8.2 billion Activision sale Friday, Jul 26, 2013 11:43 AM PDT  By Christian Plumb and Leila Abboud PARIS (Reuters) - Vivendi agreed to sell most of its stake in Activision Blizzard, the world's largest videogames publisher, for $8.2 billion on Friday, paving the way for a broader split of the French conglomerate's media and telecoms assets. Vivendi has been looking to sell assets since Chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou said 18 months ago there would be no taboos as it tried to make sense of a diverse portfolio built up in a frantic spending spree under a former CEO Jean-Marie Messier in the late 1990s. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| Qatar grounds a 787 as glitches pile up on Boeing jet Friday, Jul 26, 2013 08:49 AM PDT  By Praveen Menon and Siva Govindasamy DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar Airways said on Friday it had taken one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners out of service following what it described as a "minor" technical issue, as pressure mounted on the plane maker over possible new electrical problems with the advanced jet. The airline and Boeing Co declined to give further details but industry sources said they were treating seriously reports that the aircraft had been grounded for days after smoke was seen near an electrical panel. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Detroit case may alter distressed U.S. city behavior: Moody's Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:45 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Detroit's filing for bankruptcy protection is "profoundly meaningful" for the small number of local governments in the United States that are below investment grade, and could change their approach to pensions and other long-term liabilities, Moody's Investors Service said on Friday. Some distressed local governments could even find bankruptcy more appealing if Detroit can use its Chapter 9 case [ID:nL1N0FU01E] to slash pension benefits or general obligation debt, Moody's said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-IMF chief Strauss-Kahn to be tried for pimping Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:02 AM PDT  By Gérard Bon and Alexandria Sage PARIS (Reuters) - Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be tried in France on pimping charges, prosecutors said on Friday, after a long inquiry into sex parties attended by the man whose presidential hopes were dashed by a separate 2011 U.S. sex scandal. Investigating judges in the case determined that Strauss-Kahn, 64, should be judged by a criminal court over allegations he was complicit in a pimping operation involving prostitutes at the Carlton hotel in the northern city of Lille. ... 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 |
| 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 |
| Bulgaria PM refuses to quit, says protests hamper reforms Friday, Jul 26, 2013 08:18 AM PDT  By Gareth Jones and Tsvetelia Tsolova SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's prime minister pledged on Friday to stay in power despite daily street protests demanding his resignation, but said his government's lack of broad public support would delay major reforms that the Balkan nation needs. Thousands of Bulgarians, mostly young and well-educated, have been staging noisy rallies outside the parliament in Sofia for nearly seven weeks against Plamen Oresharski's government, saying it is corrupt and dominated by murky business interests. ... 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 |
| Hacker Barnaby Jack dies in San Francisco Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:26 PM PDT  By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) - Barnaby Jack, a celebrated computer hacker who forced bank ATMs to spit out cash and sparked safety improvements in medical devices, has died in San Francisco. A police spokesman said that he was found dead on Thursday evening by "a loved one" at an apartment on Nob Hill and that foul play had been ruled out. The San Francisco Medical Examiner's Office said it was conducting an autopsy, though it could be a month before the cause of death was determined. His sister Amberleigh Jack, who lives in New Zealand, told Reuters he was 35. ... 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 |
| Consumer sentiment rises to highest level in 6 years in July Friday, Jul 26, 2013 06:59 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer sentiment rose in July to the highest level in six years as Americans felt better about the current economic climate, though they expected to see a slower rate of growth in the year ahead, a survey released on Friday showed. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment climbed to 85.1 from 84.1 in June, topping expectations for 84. It was the highest level since July 2007 and was also an improvement from July's initial reading of 83.9. ... Full Story | Top |
| Banks shiver as UBS swallows $885 million U.S. fine Friday, Jul 26, 2013 06:01 AM PDT  WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - UBS will pay $885 million in a settlement with a U.S. regulator over allegations the Swiss bank misrepresented mortgage-backed bonds during the housing bubble, paving the way for billions more to be paid by other banks. European and U.S. lenders such as Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank have set aside money to cover the cost of any losses arising from the dispute with the Federal Housing Finance Agency but estimates vary widely. ... Full Story | Top |
| Was 'recklessness' to blame for Spanish train crash? Friday, Jul 26, 2013 07:04 AM PDT  By Teresa Medrano and Tracy Rucinski SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA (Reuters) - Spanish police were investigating on Friday if the driver of a train that crashed in Santiago de Compostela killing dozens had been driving at reckless speed when he took a tight curve. Spain's worst train wreck in decades on Wednesday evening killed at least 78, with six bodies still unidentified and 95 people in hospital, immediately raising questions about why an experienced driver was travelling so fast into a sharp bend. ... Full Story | Top |
| France deepens dispute over Mercedes sales ban Friday, Jul 26, 2013 07:31 AM PDT  By Laurence Frost and Christiaan Hetzner PARIS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - France took formal steps on Friday to outlaw sales of several Mercedes models, upping the stakes in a standoff over parent company Daimler's use of a refrigerant banned by the European Union. The government vowed to maintain a sales freeze on the Mercedes A-Class, B-Class and CLA after the German luxury carmaker contested the move in court. Registrations "will remain forbidden in France as long as the company does not to conform to European regulations", the environment ministry said in an emailed statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia's Putin 'determined' Snowden case will not hurt U.S. ties Friday, Jul 26, 2013 05:59 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined not to allow a spat over Edward Snowden to hurt ties with the United States, his spokesman said on Friday. However, the spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Putin was not involved in talks over the fate of the 30-year-old former U.S. spy agency contractor, who is wanted by the United States on espionage charges and has been stuck at a Moscow airport for more than a month. Russia has refused to hand over Snowden, who leaked details of secret U.S. electronic surveillance programs to British and U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syrian rebels kill dozens in offensives in north and south Friday, Jul 26, 2013 05:00 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels say they have overrun army positions in the north and south of the country this week, including an offensive in which a rights monitoring group said 51 soldiers were executed. Insurgents have focused on taking isolated army outposts, mostly in rural areas while forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have made gains in recent months around the capital Damascus and the central city of Homs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russian punk band convict defiant after losing parole battle Friday, Jul 26, 2013 04:56 AM PDT  By Maria Stromova SARANSK, Russia (Reuters) - A jailed member of Russian female punk group Pussy Riot lost a court battle to be released but remained unrepentant over last year's protest against President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova watched from behind the black metal bars of a courtroom cage as a regional court on Friday upheld an earlier decision not to release her after nearly a year in prison so that she could look after her five-year-old daughter. The ruling by the Supreme Court of the Mordovia region was the second blow in three days for Pussy Riot. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's PM calls for high-level talks with China Friday, Jul 26, 2013 04:04 AM PDT  By Masayuki Kitano SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on Friday for a leaders' summit or a foreign ministers' meeting between his country and China as soon as possible, drawing a cool reaction from Beijing which accused Japan of lacking sincerity. Sino-Japanese ties, often fragile, have been seriously strained since September when a territorial row over tiny islands in the East China Sea flared. Concerns that the conservative Japanese leader wants to recast Japan's wartime history with a less apologetic tone have added to the tensions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Police to question driver after Spanish train crash kills 80 Friday, Jul 26, 2013 01:56 AM PDT  By Tracy Rucinski SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (Reuters) - The driver of a Spanish train that derailed, killing at least 80 people, was under police guard in hospital on Friday after the accident, which an official source said was caused by excessive speed. The eight-carriage train came off the tracks, hit a wall and caught fire just outside the pilgrimage destination Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain on Wednesday night. It was one of Europe's worst rail disasters. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. General says al Qaeda just surviving in Afghanistan Friday, Jul 26, 2013 01:21 AM PDT By Rob Taylor KABUL (Reuters) - Pockets of al Qaeda militants will endure in Afghanistan beyond next year's departure of most Western combat forces, but they have lost the ability to mount serious attacks of the kind that triggered the Afghan war, a senior U.S. commander said. Major-General Joseph Osterman, the deputy operations chief of Afghanistan's NATO-led force, said small numbers of al Qaeda fighters remained entrenched in the rugged eastern mountain province of Nuristan, where the forested terrain and plunging valleys provided natural havens. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kremlin says Russian, U.S. security agencies in talks on Snowden Friday, Jul 26, 2013 05:07 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's FSB federal security agency and its U.S. counterpart, the FBI, are in talks over the fate of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, who is stuck at a Moscow airport, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Friday. Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin was not involved in talks over the 30-year-old American, who is wanted by the United States on espionage charges. (Reporting by Daria Korsunskaya, writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Full Story | Top |
| Four more women accuse San Diego mayor of sexual misconduct Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:37 AM PDT  SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Four more women, including a retired U.S. Navy admiral and a college dean, came forward on Thursday to publicly accuse San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of making unwanted sexual advances toward them, as local party leaders called on him to resign. The latest allegations leveled at Filner during a group interview of the four women by public television station KPBS brought to seven the number of women who have come forth since earlier this week to accuse the 70-year-old Democrat and former congressman of sexual harassment. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. indicts hackers in biggest cyber fraud case in history Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 10:33 PM PDT  By David Jones and Jim Finkle NEWARK, N.J./BOSTON (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors said on Thursday they have charged five men responsible for a hacking and credit card fraud spree that cost companies more $300 million and two of the suspects are in custody, in the biggest cyber crime case filed in U.S. history. They also disclosed a new security breach against Nasdaq, though they provided few details about the attack. Other companies targeted by the hackers include a Visa Inc licensee, J.C. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: How Samsung is beating Apple in China Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 10:01 PM PDT  By Melanie Lee and Miyoung Kim GUANGZHOU, China/SEOUL (Reuters) - Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook believes that "over the arc of time" China is a huge opportunity for his pathbreaking company. But time looks to be on the side of rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which has been around far longer and penetrated much deeper into the world's most populous country. Apple Inc this week said its revenue in Greater China, which also includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, slumped 43 percent to $4.65 billion from the previous quarter. That was also 14 percent lower from the year-ago quarter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Asiana crash families hire prominent New York law firm Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 05:16 PM PDT  By Casey Sullivan, Dan Levine and Sarah McBride NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Families of the three passengers who died when an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crashed in San Francisco this month have retained the prominent New York law firm Kreindler & Kreindler to represent them as legal maneuvering over liability and damages heats up. Kreindler & Kreindler, which specializes in aviation law, made a name for itself representing victims in catastrophic air disasters, including the September 11, 2001, attacks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Deposed Egyptian president held in prison break probe Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:54 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities have detained deposed President Mohamed Mursi for 15 days over an array of accusations, including killing soldiers and conspiring with the Palestinian group Hamas, the state news agency said on Friday. The report came just hours before millions of Egyptians were expected to take to the streets in mass rallies for and against Egypt's first freely elected leader, who was ousted by the military on July 3. Friday's step provided legal grounds for the continued detention of Mursi, who has been held by the military since he was ousted. ... Full Story | Top |
| With Pope in town, ribald Rio a land of outdoor confessionals Friday, Jul 26, 2013 12:51 AM PDT  By Paulo Prada RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Ah, Rio. The sun. The sand. The absolution. Often, tourists and travelers leave this hedonist hotspot with a feeling of guilt. This week, however, thousands of young visitors are dropping to their knees and asking for forgiveness. Never mind that they might still fall prey to the temptations of the famous nightclubs, bars and beaches of the coastal metropolis, let alone the allure of the many other young pilgrims gathered here for a week long visit by Pope Francis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Weiner mayoral campaign falters; woman details sex chats Friday, Jul 26, 2013 06:20 AM PDT  By Edith Honan and Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Anthony Weiner's New York mayoral campaign took a beating on Thursday as he lost his lead in a new poll and admitted to sending lewd online messages to up to three women since he resigned from Congress over such behavior two years ago. One of those women came forward on Thursday to say they had frequent sexually charged conversations both online and over the phone last year, although they never met in person. ... Full Story | Top |
| Halliburton pleads guilty to destroying Gulf spill evidence Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 05:23 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel and Braden Reddall (Reuters) - Halliburton Co has agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday. The government said Halliburton's guilty plea is the third by a company over the spill and requires the world's second-largest oilfield services company to pay a maximum $200,000 statutory fine. Halliburton also agreed to three years of probation and to continue cooperating with the criminal probe into the April 20, 2010, explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Detroit set to beat bad-faith charge over bankruptcy Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 09:02 PM PDT  By Tom Hals WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - Meetings without the chance for any back and forth, unreturned phone calls and brusque tactics. To opponents of Detroit's bankruptcy filing, Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has utterly failed to negotiate with them. But retired city workers, who are fighting to stop their pensions from being cut, and hope to stop Detroit's bankruptcy by claiming in court that Orr didn't engage in good-faith negotiations, are likely out of luck. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Obama, Republicans gear up for bruising U.S. budget fight Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 10:04 PM PDT  By David Lawder and Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Another dramatic showdown between Republicans and the White House over federal spending looks inevitable this fall, with scary talk of government shutdowns and default on government debt. While Capitol Hill analysts are not predicting catastrophe, they have several reasons to worry that the conflict just weeks away could be even worse than usual. The timing is particularly bad, they say, because the political climate in Washington is unusually frayed by a host of tangential issues not present in previous battles. ... Full Story | Top |
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