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| Trayvon Martin's death unnecessary: Holder Monday, Jul 15, 2013 10:54 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin was tragic and unnecessary, and it ought to spark public debate about how to prevent similar incidents, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Monday. In his first comments since a state jury acquitted George Zimmerman on Saturday in the February 2012 shooting case, Holder said federal prosecutors were continuing to investigate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chill Cairo welcome for U.S. envoy as Mursi supporters gather Monday, Jul 15, 2013 12:16 PM PDT  By Maggie Fick and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - The first senior U.S. official to visit Egypt since the army toppled its elected president was snubbed by both Islamists and their opponents on Monday, while huge crowds of supporters of the ousted leader demonstrated in the streets. After meeting the interim head of state and the prime minister, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns insisted he was not in town "to lecture anyone". But many on either side of Egypt's divide suspect Washington of plotting against them. ... Full Story | Top |
| Reid warns of using Senate 'nuclear option' on filibusters Monday, Jul 15, 2013 12:37 PM PDT  By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid warned Republicans on Monday that if they do not permit seven of President Barack Obama's executive-branch nominees to be confirmed, he would move to strip the Republicans of their power to stop such nominations using the procedural hurdle called a filibuster. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry to visit Jordan, Israel-Palestinian peace on agenda Monday, Jul 15, 2013 11:29 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will brief Arab officials in Jordan on Wednesday about his push to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the State Department said but declined comment on whether a resumption may be at hand. Kerry will leave Washington on Monday night to fly to Amman to see officials from Jordan as well as from the Arab League, which in 2002 put forward a peace proposal that offered full Arab recognition of Israel if it gave up land seized in a 1967 war and accepted a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. can avoid cutting aid to Egypt in several ways Monday, Jul 15, 2013 11:53 AM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House has made clear it is in no hurry to cut off U.S. aid to Egypt now, or perhaps at all, despite the military's role in toppling Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, and it has several options to avoid doing so. These range from putting off a decision on whether Mursi's ouster constituted a military coup, which would trigger a cut-off under U.S. law, to finding that a military coup took place but winning authority from Congress to keep the money flowing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia's Putin wants Snowden to go, but asylum not ruled out Monday, Jul 15, 2013 12:46 PM PDT  By Alexei Anishchuk GOGLAND ISLAND, Russia (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he wanted Edward Snowden to leave after three weeks holed up at a Moscow airport, but also signaled that the former U.S. spy agency contractor was moving towards meeting Russia's asylum conditions. Snowden flew to Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport from Hong Kong on June 23 in the hope of travelling on to a country that would offer him protection from the United States after he divulged details of U.S. government intelligence programs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spanish prime minister rejects calls to step down over scandal Monday, Jul 15, 2013 12:23 PM PDT  By Emma Pinedo and Andrés González MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Monday rejected calls to resign over a ruling party financing scandal and said he would not allow the matter to hold back his reform plans. The political pressure mounted on Rajoy as the former treasurer of his center-right People's Party gave new testimony before a judge looking into the affair, saying he had made 90,000 euros in cash payments to Rajoy and party secretary-general Maria Dolores Cospedal in 2009 and 2010. ... Full Story | Top |
| Citigroup profit jumps 42 percent on stronger markets Monday, Jul 15, 2013 11:34 AM PDT  By David Henry (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc posted a 42 percent jump in quarterly profit as bond trading revenue gained and stronger home prices helped the bad mortgages on its books, underscoring the bank's recovery since the financial crisis. The third-largest U.S. bank is getting its house in order after years of management problems forced it to seek three U.S. bailouts in 2008 and 2009. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Well-known hazards seen as likely factors in Asiana crash Monday, Jul 15, 2013 11:31 AM PDT  By Gerry Shih and Alwyn Scott SAN FRANCISCO/ SEATTLE (Reuters) - In the seconds before Asiana Airlines Flight 214 slammed into a seawall at San Francisco airport on July 6, pilots realized the plane was flying too low and much too slowly - even though, they told investigators, they had set a control system called an auto-throttle to keep the Boeing 777 at a constant speed. The pilots belatedly tried to abort the landing, but it was too late. Three Chinese students died in the crash, and at least 14 people remain in hospitals with severe injuries. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Modest rise in retail sales offers cautionary economic note Monday, Jul 15, 2013 10:30 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Retail sales rose less than expected in June, the latest sign of a slowdown in economic growth that offers a cautionary note to the Federal Reserve as it mulls scaling back its monetary stimulus. A separate report on Monday, however, showed factory activity in New York state accelerating in July, bolstering the view of economists that growth was likely to pick up soon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Watchdog finds SEC did not properly vet contractors Monday, Jul 15, 2013 12:13 PM PDT  By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not properly vet as many as 70 contractors with possible criminal records, including one man who later assaulted his girlfriend in a lobby at SEC headquarters, the agency's internal watchdog has found. A summary of the inspector general's findings was publicly released last fall in a semiannual 2012 report to Congress. A full redacted copy of the investigative report was obtained by Reuters last week through a Freedom of Information Act request. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bankrupt Alabama county picks Citigroup to run $1.9 billion bond deal Monday, Jul 15, 2013 11:49 AM PDT By Melinda Dickinson BIRMINGHAM (Reuters) - Lawmakers in Alabama's bankrupt Jefferson County on Monday chose Citigroup Global Markets as senior underwriter for a planned $1.9 billion bond refinancing in late 2013 that is central to ending America's biggest municipal bankruptcy case. The county, which last month filed a negotiated plan of adjustment with a U.S. bankruptcy court, also selected Public Resources Advisory Group to act as financial adviser for the sewer warrants deal, according to a resolution passed by county commissioners. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jurors picked in SEC fraud case against Goldman's Fabrice Tourre Monday, Jul 15, 2013 11:19 AM PDT  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - The trial of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc bond trader Fabrice Tourre began with the selection of five women and four men as jurors on Monday, in a case centering on alleged Wall Street wrongdoing during the financial crisis. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accuses Tourre, 34, of civil fraud, saying he misled investors in a mortgage investment called Abacus 2007-AC1. The case is the highest-profile to date stemming from the SEC's probe into the causes of the 2008 financial crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says 255 suspects caught in nine-nation child sexual predator sweep Monday, Jul 15, 2013 10:50 AM PDT By Deborah Charles WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Authorities have arrested 255 alleged child predators in the United States and eight other countries in an operation led by a U.S. agency that illustrated a growing trend called "sextortion" in which children are blackmailed into providing pornographic images of themselves, officials said on Monday. The month-long Operation iGuardian in June, led by the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congo army, M23 rebels clash for a second day near Goma Monday, Jul 15, 2013 09:22 AM PDT  By Kenny Katombe MUJA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Fierce fighting raged for a second day on Monday between Democratic Republic of Congo's army and M23 rebels near the eastern city of Goma, underlining the challenge facing a U.N. Intervention Brigade tasked with bringing peace. At Muja, a village some 11 km (7 miles) from Goma, government forces used heavy weapons to try to drive back M23 fighters after clashes erupted on Sunday afternoon, ending several weeks of relative calm. ... Full Story | Top |
| Snowden affair is chance for truce in cyber war: U.N. Monday, Jul 15, 2013 09:16 AM PDT  By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - Edward Snowden's revelations about U.S. Internet surveillance have created a chance for countries to call a halt to a cyber war, a senior U.N. official said on Monday. "It gives us an opportunity, and I keep saying let's build bridges," said Hamadoun Touré, head of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which is working with Interpol and the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime to work out how to police cyberspace. The accusations by Snowden, a former U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| George Zimmerman trial juror hopes to write a book, agent says Monday, Jul 15, 2013 10:35 AM PDT  MIAMI (Reuters) - One of the six jurors in the George Zimmerman trial hopes to write a book explaining why the all-women panel had "no option" but to find Zimmerman not guilty of murder in the shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, the literary agent hired by the juror said on Monday. Unidentified juror B37 signed with Martin Literary Management, an agency based in Mercer Island, Washington, the firm's president, Sharlene Martin, said in a statement on Monday. The juror wants to write the book with her husband, who is an attorney, Martin said. ... Full Story | Top |
| GSK used travel agencies for China bribes: police Monday, Jul 15, 2013 07:29 AM PDT  By Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police on Monday accused British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline of channeling bribes to Chinese officials and doctors through travel agencies to boost sales illegally and raise the price of its medicines in the country. The charges make the GSK case the highest profile corporate investigation in China since four executives from mining giant Rio Tinto were jailed in March 2010 for taking bribes and stealing commercial secrets. ... Full Story | Top |
| Loblaw to buy Shoppers in $11.9 billion bid to defend Canadian turf Monday, Jul 15, 2013 08:55 AM PDT  By Solarina Ho and Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay (Reuters) - Loblaw Cos Ltd, Canada's largest food retailer, will buy Shoppers Drug Mart Corp, the country's biggest pharmacy chain, for C$12.4 billion ($11.9 billion) to bulk up against intensifying competition from U.S. retail giants as well as from consolidating local rivals. News of the tie-up, Canada's biggest merger and acquisition deal so far this year, sent Shoppers shares soaring 26 percent and Loblaw shares up 8 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boeing forced to play waiting game in Dreamliner fire probe Monday, Jul 15, 2013 07:52 AM PDT  By Rhys Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Planemaker Boeing, desperate to reassure customers that its flagship Dreamliner plane is safe, may have to wait several days for the first signs of what caused a fire at London's Heathrow airport on Friday. Britain's Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) is leading the probe into the blaze on the Ethiopian Airlines jet and has already allayed fears about a return of problems with overheating batteries that grounded the Dreamliner for months earlier this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| ICC rejects request to hold trial of Kenya's Ruto in Africa Monday, Jul 15, 2013 08:03 AM PDT  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court in The Hague on Monday turned down Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto's request that his trial for crimes against humanity be held in Africa. Ruto is accused along with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta of helping to orchestrate post-election violence five years ago in which 1,200 people died. He had asked for the trial to be held in Kenya or neighboring Tanzania, where there is already a U.N. court. ... Full Story | Top |
| Researchers hack Verizon device, turn it into mobile spy station Monday, Jul 15, 2013 04:57 AM PDT  By Jim Finkle NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two security experts said they have figured out how to spy on Verizon Wireless mobile phone customers by hacking into devices the U.S. carrier sells to boost wireless signals indoors. The finding, which the experts demonstrated to Reuters and will further detail at two hacking conferences this summer, comes at a time of intense global debate about electronic privacy, after top-secret U.S. surveillance programs were leaked by a former National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden, last month. "This is not about how the NSA would attack ordinary people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama calls for calm after Zimmerman acquittal; protests held Monday, Jul 15, 2013 09:15 AM PDT  By Ellen Wulfhorst and Barbara Liston SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called for calm on Sunday after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, as thousands of civil rights demonstrators turned out at rallies to condemn racial profiling. Zimmerman, cleared late on Saturday by a Florida jury of six women, still faces public outrage, a possible civil suit and demands for a federal investigation. With civil rights activists clamoring for federal civil rights charges, the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Man arrested after photographing John Kerry's house Monday, Jul 15, 2013 05:51 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Police have arrested a man after he was seen taking a photograph of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's home in Boston. Authorities found a pellet gun in the man's car parked near the house and arrested the man on Sunday for having an open container of alcohol, Kerry spokesman Glen Johnson said in a statement. Kerry was not at home at the time. State Department security officers called police after the man was spotted taking a picture of a window in Kerry's house, Johnson said. ... Full Story | Top |
| German spies made use of U.S. surveillance data: paper Monday, Jul 15, 2013 03:09 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's foreign intelligence agency (BND) has known about U.S. surveillance and storage of German data for years and used it in cases of Germans kidnapped abroad, the mass-circulation daily Bild reported on Monday. Questions over how much the German government and its own security agencies knew about U.S. surveillance have touched a raw nerve in Germany, given historical memories of spying on citizens by former communist East Germany and the Nazi regime. ... Full Story | Top |
| Greenpeace activists break into French nuclear plant Monday, Jul 15, 2013 03:34 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - Around 30 Greenpeace activists climbed fences to break into an EDF nuclear power plant in southern France at dawn on Monday, saying they wanted to expose security flaws and demand its closure. The activists, dressed in red, said they reached the walls of two reactors at the Tricastin plant, one of France's oldest. EDF denied they had got into any "sensitive areas" and said production was not affected. Interior Minister Manuel Valls called for an investigation into the intrusion which raised questions about the security of France's 19 nuclear plants and 58 reactors. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's GDP growth slows to 7.5 percent, tests reform push Monday, Jul 15, 2013 04:04 AM PDT  By Langi Chiang and Jonathan Standing BEIJING (Reuters) - China's GDP growth slowed in the second quarter to 7.5 percent year-on-year as weak overseas demand weighed on output and investment, lining up a test of Beijing's resolve to revamp the world's second-biggest economy in the face of deteriorating data. Other figures showed industrial output in June rising slightly less than forecast compared with a year earlier, but retail sales increasing more than had been expected. The latest year-on-year economic growth reading compared with the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 7. ... Full Story | Top |
| Stronger labor law in Bangladesh after garment factory collapse Monday, Jul 15, 2013 02:13 AM PDT  By Nandita Bose DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh approved on Monday a labor law to boost worker rights, including the freedom to form trade unions, after a factory building collapse in April killed 1,132 garment workers and sparked debate over labor safety and rights. The legislation puts in place provisions including a central fund to improve living standards of workers, a requirement for 5 percent of annual profits to be deposited in employee welfare funds and an assurance that union members will not be transferred to another factory of the same owner after labour unrest. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: France looks for a mellower Merkel post-election Monday, Jul 15, 2013 03:40 AM PDT  By Mark John PARIS (Reuters) - With quiet satisfaction, France's Socialist government has watched Angela Merkel strike an ever softer stance on Europe in recent months as she prepares for Germany's election. What's more, Paris believes the poll might just nudge the conservative chancellor yet further from the hardline fiscal austerity policies she has embodied for much of the euro zone's debt crisis. With two months to go before the September 22 election, Francois Hollande's government rates Merkel's chances of securing a third term at "85, even 90 percent", a senior aide told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Stampede in Indonesia after boxing match kills 17 Sunday, Jul 14, 2013 10:13 PM PDT JAKARTA (Reuters) - At least 17 people were killed and 39 injured in a stampede triggered by fighting among fans after a boxing match on Sunday in the remote Indonesian province of Papua. The fighting was sparked by a dispute over scoring for the match, prompting some 1,500 spectators to try to flee the stadium in Nabire city in the country's resource-rich, eastern-most province, said deputy national police spokesman Agus Rianto. Media reports said the stadium had only two working exits. "There were military and police personnel present in the stadium, but with so many people panicking ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Gay delivers further body blow to troubled sport Sunday, Jul 14, 2013 10:08 PM PDT  By John Mehaffey LONDON (Reuters) - Former double world sprint champion Tyson Gay delivered a further body blow to his troubled sport on Sunday when he pulled out of next month's Moscow world championships after failing an out-of-competition dope test. Tyson has run the fastest three 100 meters of the year and his clash with Jamaica's Olympic 100 and 200 champion Usain Bolt would have been the highlight of the championships. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thousands protest Zimmerman verdict across U.S Monday, Jul 15, 2013 05:29 AM PDT  By Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators demanding "Justice for Trayvon" marched in major cities across the United States on Sunday to protest the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. While a jury of six women absolved Zimmerman of any crime with their not-guilty verdict, civil rights leaders decried the decision, and demonstrators took to the streets in New York, Boston, San Francisco and other cities. U.S. President Barack Obama called for a peaceful response to the case that has polarized the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| "Glee" star Cory Monteith dead in Vancouver hotel room at 31 Sunday, Jul 14, 2013 05:16 PM PDT  By Alex Dobuzinskis (Reuters) - Canadian actor Cory Monteith, 31-year-old heartthrob of Fox's musical comedy television series "Glee", was found dead on Saturday in his Vancouver hotel room, police said. Police and paramedics found no signs of foul play and the cause of death was not clear, British Columbia Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe said at a news conference. Monteith's representatives issued a statement, saying, "We are in shock and mourning this tragic loss" but offering no details on the possible cause of death. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: As China's economic pain increases, so does reform effort Sunday, Jul 14, 2013 02:21 PM PDT  By Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - China's reform-minded leaders are more willing than ever to raise the pain threshold for the economy to push through long-term reforms, despite a protracted slowdown that has sparked calls for looser monetary policy. Grim trade data for June last week fanned market talk of fresh steps to support an economy heading for its weakest growth this year in more than two decades. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congo army clashes with M23 rebels close to eastern city of Goma Sunday, Jul 14, 2013 01:12 PM PDT  KINSHASA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo's army clashed with fighters from the M23 rebel group close to the eastern city of Goma on Sunday, in what appeared to be the most serious combat for several weeks. In a statement, M23 said the fighting started at 2 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) when the army attacked its positions in the town of Mutaho, some 7 km (4 miles) from Goma, a city of a million inhabitants. The rebel group, which sparked international outcry when it seized Goma in November, said its troops were responding firmly. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sprinters Tyson Gay, Asafa Powell fail tests as doping scandal hits athletics Sunday, Jul 14, 2013 04:54 PM PDT By John Mehaffey LONDON (Reuters) - Former double world sprint champion Tyson Gay delivered a further body blow to his troubled sport on Sunday when he pulled out of next month's Moscow world championships after failing an out-of-competition dope test. Tyson has run the fastest three 100 meters of the year and his clash with Jamaica's Olympic 100 and 200 champion Usain Bolt would have been the highlight of the championships. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Smuggling rice to Thailand - like coals to Newcastle Sunday, Jul 14, 2013 02:25 PM PDT  By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat and Naveen Thukral SA KAEO, Thailand/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Hidden in 18-wheeler trucks, carts and pick-up vans, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rice are being smuggled from Cambodia and Myanmar into Thailand, although the country holds enough stocks to meet half the world's annual trade in the commodity. A populist program to support prices has led to the Thai government paying its farmers almost double prevailing prices in Cambodia and Myanmar. ... Full Story | Top |
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