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| Obama rethinks Putin summit after Snowden granted asylum Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:57 PM PDT  By Steve Holland and Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is rethinking whether to hold a summit in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin next month after Russia rejected U.S. pleas and gave temporary asylum to former American spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, the White House said on Thursday. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama and U.S. officials are "extremely disappointed" by Russia's decision to give Snowden a one-year asylum in the face of entreaties from American officials to expel Snowden back to the United States to face espionage charges. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insurer QBE sets aside immediate needs payouts for Spain train victims Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:55 PM PDT  MADRID (Reuters) - Australian insurance group QBE said on Thursday it had set aside 2.75 million euros ($3.64 million) for the immediate needs of those affected by last week's train crash in Galicia in northwest Spain, which left 79 people dead. QBE may have to cover much higher costs of injury to third parties and rail infrastructure, but only if its client, state train operator Renfe, is found to bear responsibility for the accident. The company said the payout announced on Thursday did not mean a recognition of responsibility, which will be decided by a legal process. ... Full Story | Top |
| SEC official says 'gratified' by Tourre trial verdict Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:53 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission official said the agency was "gratified" by a jury's finding on Thursday that former Goldman Sachs Inc banker Fabrice Tourre was liable for fraud. "We will continue to vigorously seek to hold accountable, and bring to trial when necessary, those who commit fraud on Wall Street," said Andrew Ceresney, the SEC's co-director of enforcement. Tourre was found liable on six of seven counts by a Manhattan federal jury in a civil case brought by the SEC. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate votes to confirm Samantha Power as new U.N. ambassador Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:53 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate voted to confirm Samantha Power as President Barack Obama's next ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday. As voting continued, more than 70 of the 100 senators had voted in favor of Power, a former White House national security staffer and former journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for her book "A Problem from Hell," a study of U.S. failure to prevent genocide. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi ally says court sentence will not hurt government Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:52 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - A decision by Italy's supreme court to uphold a jail sentence against Silvio Berlusconi for tax fraud will not have repercussions for the government, an ally of the former prime minister said on Thursday. After leaving a meeting of Berlusconi's center-right People of Freedom (PDL) party, Nitto Palma, who served as justice minister during Berlusconi's last government, said there was a lot of bitterness about the verdict. ... Full Story | Top |
| Illinois governor signs law allowing medical marijuana Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:48 PM PDT  By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) - A law allowing marijuana to be used for medical purposes in Illinois was signed on Thursday by Governor Pat Quinn, making it the second most populous state in the country after California to permit medicinal use of the drug. "Over the years, I've been moved by the brave patients and veterans who are fighting terrible illnesses," Quinn said. "They need and deserve pain relief. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cleveland abductor defiant as he is sentenced to life in prison Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:47 PM PDT  By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The Cleveland bus driver who abducted, imprisoned and repeatedly raped three women was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison without parole, after one of his victims confronted him and said he had put her through 11 years of hell. Ariel Castro, 53, apologized to his victims, but was mostly defiant at a court hearing during which he verbally sparred with the judge and blamed his actions on abuse as a child and a sexual obsession. "I am not a monster," he told the court during a rambling statement before sentencing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama holds phone talks with Palestinians' Abbas, Israel's Netanyahu Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:44 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama spoke by phone on Thursday to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a White House official said, as the United States seeks to keep up the momentum toward peace negotiations. Days after Israeli and Palestinian negotiators ended a three-year void and met in Washington with Secretary of State John Kerry, Obama talked to both Abbas and Netanyahu. Details of the discussions were expected later in the day. (Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Doina Chiacu) Full Story | Top |
| Jury rules against ex-Goldman employee Tourre in SEC trial Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:43 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc vice president Fabrice Tourre was found liable for federal securities law violations on Thursday for his role in a complex mortgage deal that cost investors $1 billion when it failed. Tourre was found liable on six of seven counts by a Manhattan federal jury in a civil case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the regulator's highest-profile trial to spill out of its investigations into causes of the 2008 financial crisis. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky) Full Story | Top |
| Obama picks government trouble-shooter Koskinen to lead IRS Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:42 PM PDT  By Kim Dixon and Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated John Koskinen, known as a trouble-shooter of distressed organizations, to lead the Internal Revenue Service amid a controversy over the agency's scrutiny of conservative political groups. If confirmed by the Senate, Koskinen will take over the agency's 90,000 employees responsible for administering the increasingly complex tax code. ... Full Story | Top |
| Activists mobilize for busy August on immigration, Obamacare Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:41 PM PDT  By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - August might not be much of a recess for U.S. lawmakers weary from bruising budget fights and nomination showdowns: the break promises a frenzy of meetings in their home districts with activists trying to pressure them on immigration and health care reform. Progressives, Tea Party conservatives, the business and faith communities and other interests have spent weeks - and in some cases months - planning for the five-week break that begins Friday when lawmakers return to their home districts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Republicans question former CFPB officials' new advisory firm Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:29 PM PDT By Margaret Chadbourn and Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives demanded information on Thursday about several former top staffers who lawmakers believe have turned their inside knowledge of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau into a lucrative business. House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa of California and Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling of Texas sent the bureau a letter accusing former key staffers of profiting from rules they helped write while at the new consumer agency. ... Full Story | Top |
| Same-state U.S. presidential contenders could vex donors Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:25 PM PDT  By Gabriel Debenedetti WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Texas Senator Ted Cruz charmed Republican activists and religious leaders in Iowa last week, he insisted that he was there to promote his party's agenda and not to test conservative voters' enthusiasm for him as a potential candidate for president in 2016. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy's top court upholds Berlusconi prison sentence Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:12 PM PDT  By Roberto Landucci and Barry Moody ROME (Reuters) - Italy's supreme court on Thursday upheld a jail sentence against Silvio Berlusconi for tax fraud in a devastating blow to the former prime minister that could throw the country's fragile coalition government into crisis. The former cruise ship crooner is Italy's most colorful and scandal-prone figure but it was his first definitive conviction in up to 30 court cases on charges ranging from fraud and corruption to having sex with an under aged prostitute. ... Full Story | Top |
| Timeline: Silvio Berlusconi's rocky political path Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 12:11 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Here is a look at some of the high and low points in Italian billionaire and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's life and career. September 1936 - Silvio Berlusconi is born in Milan. 1960's - Berlusconi makes his fortune during a property boom in Milan. 1965 - Berlusconi marries Carla Elvira Dall'Oglio. The couple have two children, but divorce in 1985. 1973 - Sets up cable television company Telemilano, which grows into Italy's biggest media empire, Mediaset. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senate Republicans block $54 billion transport spending bill Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:59 AM PDT  By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the Senate blocked passage of a $54 billion bill to fund transportation and housing projects on Thursday, setting up a major clash over spending levels in September that risks a government shutdown. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 54-43 to end debate on the measure, failing to achieve the 60 votes needed to advance to a simple up-or-down majority vote, as Republicans complained it spent too much. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy president, after Berlusconi ruling, says cohesion crucial Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:52 AM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - Italy's president Giorgio Napolitano, speaking after a Rome court confirmed a prison sentence against former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, urged the country to maintain its calm. "The country needs to rediscover serenity and cohesion on vitally important institutional matters which have for too long seen it divided and unable to enact reforms," he said in a statement. He said there had so far been a more "respectful and calm" climate than there had been in previous trials involving Berlusconi and added: "I think this is positive for everyone. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia says 'gay propaganda' ban stands for Sochi games Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:48 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Foreign competitors and spectators at next year's Sochi Winter Olympics will have to abide by a new Russian law banning "gay propaganda", the host nation's sports minister said on Thursday. Comments by Vitaly Mutko run against earlier talk that the Games could be exempted from the new rule, which provoked heavy criticism from the West and triggered a growing boycott of Russian vodka in the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germany's Kohl sought to repatriate Turks 30 years ago: report Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:47 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl discussed a secret plan with Margaret Thatcher in 1982 to reduce the number of Turks living in West Germany by 50 percent, according to recently released British documents cited by Spiegel Online in Germany. The German news magazine's online edition reported that the newly elected West German chancellor told Prime Minister Thatcher about the proposal at a meeting in Bonn on October 28, 1982, according to a protocol of the meeting notes marked "PREM 19/1036" that Spiegel Online said was kept secret for 30 years. "Chancellor Kohl said... ... Full Story | Top |
| Moroccans to protest royal pardon for Spanish paedophile Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:45 AM PDT By Aziz El Yaakoubi RABAT (Reuters) - Moroccans outraged by a royal pardon for a Spanish pedophile serving a 30-year sentence for raping 11 children in the North African kingdom are planning a protest in Rabat on Friday. The convicted pedophile is among 48 jailed Spaniards who the state news agency MAP said were pardoned by King Mohamed VI on Tuesday at the request of Spain's King Juan Carlos, who visited Morocco last month. Justice Minister Mustapha Ramid confirmed the pedophile is among the prisoners freed by the royal pardon and said he was expelled from Morocco on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Oil explosion in Quebec train crash 'abnormal', investigator says Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:40 AM PDT  By Louise Egan OTTAWA (Reuters) - As investigators seek reasons for the deadly train crash in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, last month and the huge "abnormal" fire it caused, they are focusing on the nature of the fuel cargo as well as the brakes, tanker cars, and locomotive, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) said on Thursday. TSB officials told a news conference that its investigation into the July 6 railway accident, North America's worst in two decades, would last for months and that it was too early to draw conclusions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Courts finally catch up with Berlusconi Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:38 AM PDT  By Barry Moody ROME (Reuters) - For two decades Silvio Berlusconi seemed teflon-coated, untouched by dozens of court cases and scandals, dominating political life and becoming Italy's prime minister four times. But on Thursday, judges finally caught up with the flamboyant 76-year-old when the supreme court rejected his appeal against a four-year jail sentence - commuted to one year under an amnesty. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry says hopes Pakistan drone strikes to end soon Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:34 AM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton and Maria Golovnina ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Pakistanis on Thursday that Washington planned to end drone strikes in their country soon - a message aimed at removing a major source of anti-American resentment in the strategically important country. After meeting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Kerry said they had agreed to re-establish a "full partnership", hoping to end years of acrimony over the drone strikes and other grievances including the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria's Assad anticipates rebel defeat in defiant speech Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:33 AM PDT  By Oliver Holmes BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday he was confident of victory against rebels and made a symbolic visit to a town once overrun by insurgents but now mostly retaken by his army. The visit to the battered town of Daraya, southwest of Damascus, and a defiant speech illustrate the confidence of a president who is taking the upper hand in a conflict two years after many Syrians believed he was about to be toppled. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry says Obama has timeline to end U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:24 AM PDT  ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has a timeline for ending the U.S. program of drone strikes, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday, following talks with the new government of Pakistan. "I think the program will end as we have eliminated most of the threat and continue to eliminate it," Kerry said in an interview with Pakistan Television. "The president has a very real timeline and we hope it's going to be very, very soon," Kerry added, when asked whether the U.S. had a timeline for ending drone strikes. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; editing by Mike Collett-White) Full Story | Top |
| Senator urges Obama to recommend moving G20 summit outside Russia Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:24 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Charles Schumer urged President Barack Obama to retaliate against Moscow for granting asylum to accused national security leaker Edward Snowden by recommending that the upcoming G20 economic summit be moved outside of Russia. "Russia has stabbed us in the back, and each day that Mr. Snowden is allowed to roam free is another twist of the knife," Schumer, the Senate's third-ranking Democrat, said in a statement. "Given Russia's decision today, the president should recommend moving the G20 summit. ... Full Story | Top |
| Snowden gets job offer from Russia's version of Facebook Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:19 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - American fugitive Edward Snowden was offered a job by Russia's top social networking site on Thursday, hours after the former intelligence contractor received a year-long asylum in Russia. "We invite Edward Snowden to Petersburg and will be happy if he decides to join the star team of programmers at VKontakte," Pavel Durov, one of the founders of the St. Petersburg-based VKontakte, Russia's answer to Facebook, said on his profile. ... Full Story | Top |
| House Republicans to push $40 billion cut to food stamp program Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:18 AM PDT  By Charles Abbott WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Republicans plan to propose a $40 billion cut to the nation's food stamp program, the head of the House Agriculture Committee said on Thursday, doubling the number of cuts previously sought by conservatives. Committee Chairman Frank Lucas said legislation on the food assistance program, known as SNAP, would be the second part of any talks on the U.S. farm bill with the Senate. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia grants Snowden a year's asylum, summit in doubt Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:18 AM PDT  By Timothy Heritage and Alissa de Carbonnel MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia granted American fugitive Edward Snowden a year's asylum on Thursday, allowing the former U.S. spy agency contractor to slip quietly out of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport after more than five weeks in limbo but angering the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia's ruling party says won't remove prime minister Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:12 AM PDT  By Tarek Amara and Erika Solomon TUNIS (Reuters) - The head of Tunisia's ruling Islamist party on Thursday refused to remove the prime minister from his post, hardening its stance toward the secular opposition's demand that the government be dissolved. Earlier this week, leaders from the Ennahda party, which is facing mounting pressure even from its coalition partners, said they were willing to consider creating a new unity government to help ease the political crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian firm to provide surveillance drone for U.N. in Congo Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:09 AM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Thursday it has procured an unarmed surveillance drone from Italian defense electronics firm Selex ES, a unit of Finmeccanica, that will be deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the coming weeks. It will be the first time the United Nations has used such equipment and, if the trial use by peacekeepers in eastern Congo is successful, officials and diplomats also hope the drones could be used by missions in Ivory Coast and South Sudan. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge approves Citigroup $590 million settlement Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:08 AM PDT  By Nate Raymond and Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge gave final approval Thursday to a $590 million settlement by Citigroup Inc that resolves a shareholder lawsuit accusing the bank of hiding tens of billions of dollars of toxic mortgage assets. "Although the $590 million recovery is a fraction of the damages that might have been won at trial, it is substantial and reasonable in light of the risks faced if the action proceeded to trial," U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein in Manhattan wrote in a 48-page opinion. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tsvangirai denounces Zimbabwe vote as "huge farce" Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:07 AM PDT  By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai dismissed Zimbabwe's election as a farce on Thursday after his rival President Robert Mugabe's party claimed a landslide victory that would secure another five years in power for Africa's oldest head of state. Speaking at the headquarters of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), a dejected Tsvangirai said Wednesday's vote should be considered invalid because of polling day irregularities and vote-rigging by 89-year-old Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. "This has been a huge farce," he told reporters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factory, jobless data point to firming economy Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 11:06 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Factory activity jumped to a two-year high in July and first-time applications for jobless benefits hit a 5-1/2-year low last week, bolstering views economic growth would accelerate in the second half of the year. The burst of strength in the economy as the third quarter started keeps on track expectations that the Federal Reserve will start reducing its monetary stimulus later this year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Manning leaks caused diplomatic 'horror and disbelief': testimony Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 10:59 AM PDT  By Tom Ramstack FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - U.S. diplomats reacted with "horror and disbelief" when the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks began publishing classified information in 2010, a U.S. State Department official testified on Thursday at the court-martial sentencing hearing for the soldier convicted of the leaks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Vodka boycott in U.S. spreads on concerns over gay rights in Russia Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 10:54 AM PDT  By Jonathan Kaminsky (Reuters) - Gay rights activists in New York City dumped vodka onto the street on Wednesday to protest new laws in Russia targeting homosexuals, as a growing number of gay bar owners across the United States vowed to stop pouring Russian vodka. "Boycotts are set for a reason. We're trying to influence change, and maybe change what's happening in Russia," said Chuck Hyde, general manager of Sidetrack, the largest gay bar in Chicago, which stopped carrying Stolichnaya about a week ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Uruguay president defends 'cutting edge' pot legalization vote Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 10:41 AM PDT  MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) - Uruguay's leftist President Jose Mujica said his country would not become a haven for pot smokers the day after its lower chamber of Congress narrowly voted to legalize the cultivation and sale of marijuana. The bill, which needs to pass the senate to become law, goes beyond the no penalization policy in the Netherlands and creates a government body to regulate legal sales and public smoking clubs and to monitor marijuana consumption for Uruguayans. To avoid making the country a drug tourism destination, only Uruguayans would be allowed to use marijuana. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. rethinking Putin summit after Snowden move Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 10:37 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - High-level talks between Russia and the United States scheduled for next week in Washington are "up in the air" and a September summit also is in doubt after Russia granted asylum to former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, U.S. officials said on Thursday. "We see this as an unfortunate development and we are extremely disappointed by it," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. Snowden, who had been working for the National Security Agency, is wanted in the United States for leaking details of government surveillance programs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Black Italy minister pulls out of debate amid racial insults Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 10:36 AM PDT  By Catherine Hornby ROME (Reuters) - Italy's first black minister has pulled out of a debate with the anti-immigrant Northern League after its leader refused to condemn a barrage of racial insults she has faced from his party's members. Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge, who wants to make it easier for immigrants to gain Italian citizenship, was due to discuss the issue with Veneto Governor Luca Zaia at a Northern League festival near Cervia on the Adriatic Coast on Saturday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Top French court backs stem-cell research Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 10:30 AM PDT  PARIS (Reuters) - France's top court approved a law on Thursday making it easier to conduct research on human embryos and stem cells as long as strict rules are followed to prevent cloning. Predominantly Roman Catholic France has until now had tough curbs on embryonic stem cell research under a 2011 law that only allows it with the explicit approval from the national biomedicine agency. ... Full Story | Top |
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