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| Trayvon Martin's parents lead protests over Zimmerman verdict Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 11:12 AM PDT  By Edward Upright and Tom Brown NEW YORK/MIAMI (Reuters) - Trayvon Martin's parents joined celebrities and hundreds of protesters on Saturday in rallies across the country to express anger over the acquittal of the man who shot and killed the unarmed black teenager. Singing the civil rights protest song "We Shall Overcome," a crowd gathered around Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, in Miami exactly one week after a Seminole County jury in central Florida acquitted George Zimmerman of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the incident, where the 17-year-old Martin was shot through the heart. ... Full Story | Top |
| Car bombs kill 28 in Shi'ite districts of Baghdad Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 12:37 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 28 people were killed in five car bombings in predominantly Shi'ite districts of the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Saturday, police and medics said. The deadliest explosion took place in the northern neighborhood of Tobchi, where 10 people were killed when a bomb exploded in car parked in a busy commercial street. Another car bomb exploded in a commercial street in the Karrada neighborhood, killing at least four people. ... Full Story | Top |
| Long-time White House reporter Helen Thomas dies Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 11:24 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas, a trailblazing journalist who reported on every U.S. president from John Kennedy to Barack Obama, died on Saturday at the age of 92, The Gridiron Club and Foundation said. Thomas, who worked the White House beat for 49 years for United Press International and Hearst newspapers, died after a long illness, the Washington journalists' organization said in a statement. As the senior news service correspondent at the White House, Thomas ended dozens of presidential news conferences with the familiar phrase "Thank you, Mr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish police fire water cannon at Istanbul protesters Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 11:02 AM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police fired water cannon on Saturday to disperse hundreds of protesters who gathered to march to Gezi Park in central Istanbul, which has been at the heart of fierce demonstrations against Prime Minister Erdogan's rule. Saturday's protests were triggered when police blocked access to the park where a couple, who met during last month's anti-government rallies, were planning to get married and had posted an invitation for guests to attend online. Groups of riot police chased protesters down side streets leading away from Taksim square where Gezi park is located. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel, Palestinians still at odds over borders ahead of talks Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 11:30 AM PDT  By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel will not bow to the Palestinians' demand on the borders of their future state before peace talks begin but will meet their request for the release of some prisoners, Israeli officials said on Saturday. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that Israel and the Palestinians had laid the groundwork to resume talks after an almost three-year stalemate, but that the deal was not final and required more diplomacy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Disgruntled man hurt after detonating explosion in Beijing airport Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 08:02 AM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - A man in a wheelchair detonated a home-made explosive in Beijing airport on Saturday, injuring himself and sending smoke billowing through the exit area of the international arrivals section of Terminal 3. There were no other injuries and operations were normal after the blast, the airport said on its microblog. China's official Xinhua news agency said the man, 34-year-old Ji Zhongxing from the eastern province of Shandong, had detonated the loud device after being prevented from handing out leaflets that drew attention to unspecified complaints. ... Full Story | Top |
| Detroit bonds drop, judge seeks to halt bankruptcy filing Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 04:58 AM PDT  By Nick Carey DETROIT (Reuters) - Investors dumped Detroit's municipal bonds a day after the city's historic bankruptcy filing even as a ruling in state court raised questions about whether the bankruptcy will stand up to court review. Attempts by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Detroit's Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr to put a positive spin on the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history failed to reassure investors. Prices on some Detroit bonds plunged and there were wider declines in the $3.7 trillion U.S. municipal bond market. ... Full Story | Top |
| G20 puts growth before austerity, vows to tread carefully Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 07:23 AM PDT  By Lidia Kelly and Jan Strupczewski MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Group of 20 nations pledged on Saturday to put growth before austerity, seeking to revive a global economy that "remains too weak" and adjusting stimulus policies with care so that recovery is not derailed by volatile financial markets. Finance ministers and central bankers signed off on a communiqué that acknowledged the benefits of expansive policies in the United States and Japan but highlighted the recession in the euro zone and a slowdown in emerging markets. ... Full Story | Top |
| Five people sentenced to jail for Costa Concordia disaster Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 11:41 AM PDT  By Silvia Ognibene and Naomi O'Leary ROME (Reuters) - Four Costa Concordia crew members and a company official were sentenced to jail in Italy on Saturday for their part in the 2012 cruise ship disaster that killed 32 people, leaving only the captain still on trial. The five received sentences of between 18 and 34 months for multiple manslaughter, negligence and shipwreck - relatively short terms for the crimes, in exchange for pleading guilty. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bailed Russian opposition leader vows to become Moscow mayor Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 08:35 AM PDT  By Gabriela Baczynska and Maria Tsvetkova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny told cheering supporters on Saturday he wants to contest and win an election to become Moscow mayor after being freed on bail while he fights a five-year jail sentence. Hundreds of people, some waving white roses, gave one of President Vladimir Putin's biggest critics a hero's welcome when he arrived in Moscow on the overnight train from Kirov, the industrial city where he was convicted of theft on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Portugal ruling party vows to meet bailout goals after pact talks fail Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 11:10 AM PDT  By Andrei Khalip LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's ruling Social Democrats (PSD) said on Saturday their coalition government would press on with meeting the country's economic bailout goals after talks on a broader political deal sought by the president collapsed. Reigniting a three-week-old political crisis, the two centre-right coalition parties and main opposition Socialists broke off talks on Friday on a "national salvation" pact to ensure an EU/IMF bailout stays on track, leaving it to the president to decide how to proceed. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., Japan fiscal plans escape mention in G20 communique Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 05:14 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States and Japan escaped specific mention in a final communique issued on Saturday by the Group of 20 economies that called for credible medium-term fiscal strategies in advanced economies. The statement, issued after a two-day meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers, also tweaked earlier wording to say the G20 was determined to "accelerate", instead of "continue", progress towards rebalancing global demand. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fatal Indian school meal contained pesticide, police confirms Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 09:00 AM PDT  PATNA, India (Reuters) - An initial forensic report has confirmed that the free school lunch that killed 23 children this week in India's eastern state of Bihar was contaminated with a pesticide, a senior police official said on Saturday. The children fell ill within minutes of eating a meal of rice and potato curry in their one-room school on Tuesday, vomiting and convulsing with agonizing stomach cramps. The deaths sparked protests in Bihar. The lunch was part of India's Mid-Day Meal Scheme that covers 120 million children and aims to tackle malnutrition and encourage school attendance. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Detroit filing sends benefits warning to other cities Saturday, Jul 20, 2013 07:03 AM PDT  By Tiziana Barghini NEW YORK (Reuters) - Many U.S. cities have a much better economic outlook than struggling Detroit, but the Motor City's bankruptcy filing on Thursday should still set off alarm bells elsewhere as the cost of paying retirement benefits swells. In recent decades, many municipalities have provided their workers with generous retirement benefits, both pensions and health coverage, often in lieu of pay increases. But this has created an unsustainable future burden for budgets that has only been exacerbated by the loss of real estate and other tax revenue in the financial crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry says Israel, Palestinians lay groundwork for peace talks Friday, Jul 19, 2013 06:31 PM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed AMMAN (Reuters) - Israel and the Palestinians have laid the groundwork for resuming peace talks after an almost three-year stalemate, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday, although he cautioned the deal was not final and required more diplomacy. Kerry, winding up his sixth Middle East brokering mission this year, gave few details. He anticipated Israeli and Palestinian envoys would come to Washington soon for what a U.S. official said would mark the launch of direct negotiations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Taliban-style edict for women spreads alarm in Afghan district Friday, Jul 19, 2013 10:44 PM PDT  By Rob Taylor and Folad Hamdard KABUL/DEH SALAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - One of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's main religious advisers will not overturn a decree issued by clerics in the north reimposing Taliban-style curbs on women, in another sign of returning conservatism as NATO forces leave the country. Just days after the United States launched a $200 million program to boost the role of women in Afghanistan, a senior member of the country's top religious leaders' panel said he would not intervene over a draconian edict issued by clerics in the Deh Salah region of Baghlan province. ... Full Story | Top |
| SEC seeking to ban SAC's Cohen from financial industry Friday, Jul 19, 2013 02:55 PM PDT  By Emily Flitter NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. securities regulators took their boldest step yet in a long-running insider trading probe against Steven A. Cohen, declaring Friday they would try to bar the hedge fund mogul from managing other people's money. Legal experts said the charges represented a strategic calculation by the SEC that some action had to be taken, but that the agency could end up struggling to prove its case. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korean ship was carrying sugar donation, Cuba told Panama Friday, Jul 19, 2013 06:09 PM PDT  By Lomi Kriel and David Adams PANAMA CITY/MIAMI (Reuters) - When a North Korean ship carrying Cuban arms was seized last week in Panama on suspicion of smuggling drugs, Cuba first said it was loaded with sugar for the people of North Korea, according to a Panamanian official familiar with the matter. Cuban officials were quick to request the ship be released, pledging there were no drugs on board, and made no mention of the weapons which two days later were found hidden in the hold under 220,000 sacks of brown sugar, the official told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mursi supporters rally in Egypt, army shows muscle Friday, Jul 19, 2013 05:18 PM PDT  By Ulf Laessing and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Three Egyptians were killed during clashes between supporters and opponents of deposed President Mohamed Mursi late on Friday, after thousands rallied in Egyptian cities demanding the reinstatement of the Islamist leader. Two women and a 13-year-old boy were killed and eight others were injured, including one in critical condition, in the clashes that erupted in the Nile Delta town of Mansoura, Health Ministry official Saed Zaghloul told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Boeing 787 probe looks at condensation, wiring Friday, Jul 19, 2013 07:16 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal-Esa and Alwyn Scott WASHINGTON/SEATTLE (Reuters) - Officials investigating the fire on an Ethiopian Airlines 787 in London last week are focused on how condensation in the plane and a possible pinched wire in an emergency beacon may have sparked the blaze, according to people familiar with the probe. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it will call for inspections of the beacons made by Honeywell on Boeing Co 787 jetliners, but stopped short of requiring airlines to disable or remove the devices, as British authorities investigating the fire had ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama says 'Trayvon Martin could have been me, 35 years ago' Friday, Jul 19, 2013 02:57 PM PDT  By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday jumped into the debate over the acquittal of the man who killed black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, declaring that Martin "could have been me, 35 years ago" and urging Americans to understand the pain blacks felt over the case. Obama abruptly appeared in the White House press briefing room to offer his thoughts on the trial of George Zimmerman, the Sanford, Florida, neighborhood watch volunteer who was found not guilty of murder for shooting Martin, 17, in a struggle in 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
| Microsoft shares hit by biggest sell-off since 2009 Friday, Jul 19, 2013 03:45 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp shares fell more than 11 percent on Friday, their biggest plunge in more than four years, a day after the software company posted dismal quarterly results due to weak demand for its latest Windows system and poor sales of its Surface tablet. The stock's selloff, from five-year highs, is the biggest in percentage terms since January 2009, when the world's largest software company cut 5,000 jobs during the recession. At one point in the day, losses exceeded 12 percent, making it the biggest fall since the Internet stock bubble burst in 2000. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-CIA official detained in Panama returns to U.S. Friday, Jul 19, 2013 04:02 PM PDT By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former CIA Milan station chief Robert Seldon Lady, who was convicted in Italy of kidnapping an Egyptian Muslim cleric and detained in Panama this week, returned to the United States on Friday, a State Department spokeswoman said. The ex-spy was among 23 Americans sentenced in absentia by an Italian judge in 2009 for the abduction of the cleric. It was unclear whether any action would be taken against Lady, who was sentenced by Italy to a nine-year jail term, after his return to the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia opposition leader freed on bail, protests rattle Kremlin Friday, Jul 19, 2013 01:50 PM PDT  By Gabriela Baczynska KIROV, Russia (Reuters) - Russia unexpectedly freed opposition leader Alexei Navalny on bail on Friday, bending to the will of thousands of protesters who denounced his five-year jail sentence as a crude attempt by President Vladimir Putin to silence him. Putin's spokesman called the protesters "mobs" and warned that the rallies were illegal. In a highly unusual ruling that points to Kremlin uncertainty over how to handle Navalny's case, a judge approved the prosecution request to free him pending his appeal so that he can run in a Moscow mayor election on September 8. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Probe of Boeing's 787 focuses on condensation, emergency beacon Friday, Jul 19, 2013 03:37 PM PDT By Andrea Shalal-Esa and Alwyn Scott WASHINGTON/SEATTLE (Reuters) - Officials investigating the fire on a parked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 are focused on how condensation and increased humidity could have sparked the blaze at London's Heathrow Airport last week, three sources familiar with the probe said. British authorities said on Thursday an emergency beacon made by Honeywell International Inc was the likely source of the fire, and called for the device to be turned off. But the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it was still trying to understand what sparked the fire. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry says Israel, Palestinians lay groundwork for peace talks Friday, Jul 19, 2013 04:24 PM PDT By Arshad Mohammed AMMAN (Reuters) - Israel and the Palestinians have laid the groundwork for resuming peace talks after an almost three-year stalemate, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday, although he cautioned the deal was not final and required more diplomacy. Kerry, winding up his sixth Middle East brokering mission this year, gave few details. He anticipated Israeli and Palestinian envoys would come to Washington soon for what a U.S. official said would mark the launch of direct negotiations. ... Full Story | Top |
| North Korean ship was carrying sugar donation, Cuba told Panama Friday, Jul 19, 2013 04:38 PM PDT By Lomi Kriel and David Adams PANAMA CITY/MIAMI (Reuters) - When a North Korean ship carrying Cuban arms was seized last week in Panama on suspicion of smuggling drugs, Cuba first said it was loaded with sugar for the people of North Korea, according to a Panamanian official familiar with the matter. Cuban officials were quick to request the ship be released, pledging there were no drugs on board, and made no mention of the weapons which two days later were found hidden in the hold under 220,000 sacks of brown sugar, the official told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Detroit bonds drop, judge seeks to halt bankruptcy filing Friday, Jul 19, 2013 02:27 PM PDT  By Nick Carey DETROIT (Reuters) - Investors dumped Detroit's municipal bonds a day after the city's historic bankruptcy filing even as a ruling in state court raised questions about whether the bankruptcy will stand up to court review. Attempts by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Detroit's Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr to put a positive spin on the filing failed to reassure investors. Prices on some Detroit bonds plunged and there were wider declines in the $3.7 trillion U.S. municipal bond market. ... Full Story | Top |
| Two killed in clashes between pro- and anti-Mursi protesters Friday, Jul 19, 2013 04:29 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian woman and a 13-year-old boy were killed when supporters and opponents of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi clashed in the Nile Delta town of Mansoura, the website of state-run newspaper Al-Ahram said on Saturday. Thousands of Mursi supporters took to the streets of Egyptian cities on Friday to demand the reinstatement of the Islamist leader who was removed by the army on July 3 after mass protests. (Reporting by Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Yasmine Saleh; Editing by Eric Beech) Full Story | Top |
| Samsung close to mobile-device deal with FBI: sources Friday, Jul 19, 2013 02:57 PM PDT  By Euan Rocha and Sinead Carew (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is close to signing a deal to sell its popular line of Galaxy devices to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday. The deal would be a boost for Samsung, which is increasingly seeking to cater to the needs of government agencies, a niche long dominated by Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd. The FBI, with more than 35,000 employees, at present uses mainly BlackBerry devices. ... Full Story | Top |
| World powers see Iran's Rouhani as chance for nuclear deal Friday, Jul 19, 2013 01:51 PM PDT  By Justyna Pawlak BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Six world powers see a chance that Iran's relatively moderate new president, beset by sanctions and worried about unrest in the region trickling home, may be more amenable to compromise in a long-standing nuclear dispute, a senior Western diplomat said. The powers - Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the United States - are hoping years of economic pressure will finally force Iran to scale back its nuclear work, which they suspect aims at allowing Tehran to make bombs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Microsoft in talks with ValueAct over board seat - sources Friday, Jul 19, 2013 03:56 PM PDT  By Nadia Damouni and Bill Rigby NEW YORK/SEATTLE (Reuters) - Members of Microsoft Corp's board have held talks with ValueAct Capital Management LP in recent days over the activist shareholder's demands to secure a seat on the company's board, two sources close to the matter said on Friday. ValueAct, which wants a say in the way the world's largest software company is adapting to the new world of mobile computing, is seeking to nominate a person from its own organization, the sources said. ... Full Story | Top |
| SEC rejects settlement with fund manager Phil Falcone Friday, Jul 19, 2013 03:21 PM PDT  By Emily Flitter and Sarah N. Lynch (Reuters) - The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to reject a deal its enforcement division had struck with once high-flying hedge fund manager Philip Falcone and his hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, according to a regulatory filing. The SEC has not released any public explanation of the decision, which was disclosed on Friday by Falcone's publicly traded company Harbinger Group Inc. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. court renews surveillance program exposed by Snowden Friday, Jul 19, 2013 02:48 PM PDT  By Deborah Charles WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government said on Friday a secret court that oversees intelligence activities granted its request to continue a telephone surveillance program - one of the two data collection efforts leaked by former security contractor Edward Snowden. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, said its authority to maintain the program expired on Friday and that the government sought and received a renewal from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court. ... Full Story | Top |
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