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| Prosecutors consider trial for ex-Vatican bank managers: sources Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:16 PM PDT By Paolo Biondi ROME (Reuters) - Rome prosecutors are considering requesting that two directors of the Vatican bank who resigned on Monday be sent to trial on suspicion of authorizing illegal financial transactions, judicial sources said on Tuesday. The Vatican bank's director general, Paolo Cipriani, and its deputy director, Massimo Tulli, left after the arrest of a senior cleric who is accused of plotting to smuggle 20 million euros ($26 million) into Italy from Switzerland. A spokesman from the Vatican bank, known formally as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), declined to comment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama's Power Africa backer calls weak competition an investment incentive Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:38 AM PDT  By Drazen Jorgic DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu, who backed President Barack Obama's Africa Power initiative with a $2.5 billion investment pledge, said on Tuesday the lack of competition in the continent's nascent power sector makes it an investment gem. Obama's $7 billion plan to shine "light where currently there's darkness" in Africa by doubling access to power on the world's poorest continent, will be backed by another $9 billion in private sector money. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wall Street dips, investors look to Friday payroll data Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 11:29 AM PDT  By Alison Griswold NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks dipped in afternoon trading Tuesday as declines in industrial and technology shares eroded earlier gains. Wall Street had opened higher and continued to rise on strong June car sales data and as concerns receded about the Federal Reserve's plans to pare its massive bond-buying program. But those gains were shed in afternoon trading and the S&P 500 lost steam after bumping against its 50-day moving average. "We are in a really weak market as far as volume (is concerned), so it wouldn't take much to move the market either way. ... Full Story | Top |
| French energy minister sacked after budget row Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:42 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - France's energy and environment minister Delphine Batho was dismissed on Tuesday, the president's office said, after she publicly criticized cuts to her ministry's budget for 2014. Socialist Party lawmaker Philippe Martin was named as her successor, a switch unlikely to have a significant impact on strategic energy policy as this has long been the preserve of the president. Batho was summoned to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault's office hours after she told RTL radio that she disagreed with a plan to cut the environment ministry's budget by 7 percent next year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Oscar-winning filmmaker to challenge Azeri president in vote Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 10:11 AM PDT By Lada Evgrashina BAKU (Reuters) - Azerbaijan's embattled opposition named an Oscar-winning screenwriter on Tuesday as its candidate to challenge President Ilham Aliyev's decade-long rule in an October election. Rustam Ibragimbekov's huge popularity will go some way to open up the election race in the oil and gas-producing former Soviet republic, but analysts said Aliyev was still expected to win. Ibragimbekov co-wrote "Burnt by the Sun", which tells the story of a Soviet army officer and his family during the Stalinist purge and won the best foreign language film Oscar in 1994. ... Full Story | Top |
| French energy minister sacked after row over budget Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 09:21 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - France's energy and environment minister Delphine Batho was dismissed on Tuesday, the president's office said, after she publicly criticized cuts to her ministry's budget for 2014. Socialist Party lawmaker Philippe Martin was named as her successor. Earlier on Tuesday, Batho told RTL radio she disagreed with a plan to cut the environment ministry's budget by 7 percent next year as the government battles to cut public spending by 14 billion euros to avoid its deficit veering off course. (Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Nathalie Huet) Full Story | Top |
| South African coal exports rise to 5.3 mln T in June Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 08:08 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) exported 5.3 million tonnes of coal in June compared with 4.35 million tonnes the previous month, RBCT data showed on Tuesday. South Africa - a major exporter of coal to power stations in Europe and Asia - had 2.85 million tonnes of stock at the terminal at the end of June, RBCT said. Coal producers in South Africa include Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Exxaro, Optimum Coal and Xstrata. Full Story | Top |
| Russia loses $200 million satellites as launch ends in flames Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 08:01 AM PDT  By Dmitry Solovyov ALMATY, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - A Russian rocket carrying three navigation satellites worth around $200 million crashed shortly after lift-off from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan on Tuesday after its engines suddenly switched off. The accident led to a large spill of heptyl, a highly toxic rocket propellant, but there were no reports of casualties or of any immediate threat to nearby settlements. State-run Rossiya-24 television showed footage of the Proton-M booster rocket veering off course seconds after take-off. ... Full Story | Top |
| Top banker takes on City watchdog to clear name of market abuse Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 07:38 AM PDT  By Clara Ferreira-Marques and Clare Hutchison LONDON (Reuters) - One of London's most prominent bankers begins a battle this week to overturn a 2012 fine for market abuse, in a high-profile case likely to test Britain's newly beefed-up regulator. Ian Hannam was famous in financial circles as a so-called rainmaker at JP Morgan - his presence alone enough to bring in clients, money and respect. But the former soldier, known for his bulging contacts book and knack for a new idea, fell foul of the City watchdog last year and was hit by a fine of 450,000 pounds. ... Full Story | Top |
| AFRICA INVESTMENT: Can Obama's Africa Power plan hold a candle to China? Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 05:58 AM PDT By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's $7 billion plan to shine "light where currently there's darkness" in Africa by doubling access to power on the world's poorest continent was billed as a highlight of his African tour. He announced the Power Africa initiative in Cape Town on Sunday in a speech which he also urged the fast-growing but still troubled region to follow the shining example of South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela. But Obama's proposal, which aims to partner U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rosneft buys rest of Itera from founder for $2.9 billion Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 04:40 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Rosneft , Russia's top oil producer, said on Tuesday it had bought the remaining 49 percent of gas company Itera for $2.9 billion from its founder, furthering its aim of becoming Russia's largest independent gas producer. CEO Igor Sechin wants to make Rosneft a global energy player and is aiming for output of 100 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year by 2020 from about 13 bcm last year, versus dominant gas producer Gazprom's 479 bcm. With Russia's No. 2 gas producer Novatek , it is lobbying for access to export liquefied natural gas (LNG), a right held only by Gazprom. ... Full Story | Top |
| Flowers at funerals an ancient tradition, Israeli dig shows Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 03:19 AM PDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The earliest evidence of flowers being used in funerals has been found in ancient graves unearthed in Israel, archaeologists said on Tuesday, releasing results of a research project that began a decade ago. Impressions of stems and flowers, probably from mint and sage plants, were discovered in four graves, between 11,700- and 13,700-years-old, at a burial site unearthed in Raqefet cave in Mount Carmel in excavations led by the University of Haifa. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brent nudges above $103 on Mideast, Africa supply concerns Tuesday, Jul 02, 2013 12:28 AM PDT  By Florence Tan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude rose above $103 a barrel on Tuesday, extending gains to a second day due to concerns about supply disruptions in the Middle East and Africa. Oil output in Libya has fallen by a third after protesters shut several oilfields and anti-government demonstrations in Egypt raised concerns about the stability of the whole region. Brent crude futures for August delivery rose 31 cents to $103.31 a barrel by 0640 GMT after rising 0.82 percent the previous day. U.S. crude futures for August was up 18 cents to $98. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan, Canada investors to buy U.S. power plant for $2 billion: Nikkei Monday, Jul 01, 2013 05:38 PM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - A consortium including Mitsubishi Corp and Japanese and Canadian pension funds will buy a U.S. gas-fired power plant in Michigan this month for nearly 200 billion yen ($2.01 billion), the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday. Mitsubishi, Japan's Pension Fund Association, Mizuho Bank , the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and Canadian pension fund Omers will acquire all shares in the parent firm of the 1.63-gigawatt power plant, the report said, without citing sources. The current owners include a Swedish investment fund, said. ($1 = 99. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jennifer Lopez unaware of rights issues before Turkmenistan visit -publicist Monday, Jul 01, 2013 04:26 PM PDT  By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jennifer Lopez would not have performed a private concert in Turkmenistan at the weekend had she known about charges of human rights violations in the Central Asian nation, her publicist said on Monday. Human rights campaigners, who accuse Turkmenistan's government of restricting free speech and jailing political opponents, criticized Lopez for performing at the concert attended by Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
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