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| North Korea heralds anniversary of war 'victory' with massive parade Friday, Jul 26, 2013 09:09 PM PDT  By Se Young Lee and Maxim Duncan PYONGYANG (Reuters) - North Korea celebrated the 68th anniversary of the Korean War truce on Saturday with a massive military parade trumpeting the revolutionary genius of three generations of leaders that gave it "Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War". Leader Kim Jong-un was joined by Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao on the podium overlooking Pyongyang's main Kim Il Sung square to inspect a massive throng of soldiers in goosestep and a display of weapons including its mid-range missiles. ... Full Story | Top |
| Protests hit Tunisia for second day after assassination Friday, Jul 26, 2013 08:22 PM PDT  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Demonstrations swept Tunisia for a second day on Friday after the assassination of a secular opposition figure, with one protester killed and several injured in the southern city of Gafsa, witnesses said. Late on Friday, 42 opposition members announced their resignation from the 217-seat Constituent Assembly to protest the killing on Thursday of Mohamed Brahmi, a member of the Arab nationalist Popular Front party. ... Full Story | Top |
| Violence deepens Egypt turmoil, deposed leader probed for murder Friday, Jul 26, 2013 08:18 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh and Matt Robinson CAIRO (Reuters) - At least nine people were killed in heavy fighting in Egypt during rival mass rallies for and against the army overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi, who was placed under investigation for murder in an escalating showdown with his Islamist backers. The bloodshed deepened the turmoil convulsing the Arab world's most populous country, and may trigger a decisive move by the military against Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood three weeks after it was shunted from power. ... Full Story | Top |
| China state media says 18 more detained in GSK probe Friday, Jul 26, 2013 07:46 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - At least 18 more people have been detained in China in connection with a corruption scandal involving British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, state media reported, giving more details on a probe which has rocked the company. State radio reported late on Friday on its website that police in the central city of Zhengzhou had "recently held, in accordance with the law, 18 GlaxoSmithKline (China) employees and some medical personnel". It provided no details of the detentions. ... Full Story | Top |
| Under siege, JPMorgan to quit physical commodities Friday, Jul 26, 2013 07:01 PM PDT  By David Sheppard and Jonathan Leff NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co is exiting physical commodities trading, the bank said in a surprise statement on Friday, as Wall Street's role in the trading of raw materials comes under unprecedented political and regulatory pressure. After spending billions of dollars and five years building the banking world's biggest commodity desk, JPMorgan said it would pursue "strategic alternatives" for its trading assets that stretch from Baltimore to Johor, and a global team dealing in everything from African crude oil to Chilean copper. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rapper DMX arrested for drunken driving in South Carolina Friday, Jul 26, 2013 06:09 PM PDT By Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Rapper DMX was arrested on Friday on suspicion of driving under the influence and failing to have a valid driver's license, Greenville County jail officials told Reuters. The rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, paid $1,235 in bail and left Greenville County Detention Center after being booked on the charges, jail officials said. But a representative for the 42-year-old New York-born rapper, who lives in South Carolina, said the DUI charge was never filed officially because Simmons passed a breath test in the jail. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisian dies in violent protests in southern city of Gafsa Friday, Jul 26, 2013 05:55 PM PDT TUNIS (Reuters) - One man was killed on Saturday in violent protests in the southern city of Gafsa, two days after the assassination of a secular opposition figure. It was the first death in protests since demonstrations erupted after the assassination of Mohamed Brahmi on Thursday. There were conflicting eyewitness accounts of how the protester died. Thousands of anti-government protesters also massed in the capital on Friday, while shops and banks closed their doors and all flights in and out of the country were canceled. (Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Eric Beech) Full Story | Top |
| Syria rebels meet U.N. Security Council, urge Russia to end Assad support Friday, Jul 26, 2013 05:54 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syrian rebel leaders met with the U.N. Security Council for the first time on Friday to discuss the country's two-year war and appealed to Russia to stop its powerful political and military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government. The 15-member Security Council has been deadlocked on Syria. Russia, an ally and arms supplier of Assad, and China have three times blocked action against Assad supported by the remaining veto powers - the United States, Britain and France. ... Full Story | Top |
| Breaking taboo, Mexico government aims to tax food, medicine Friday, Jul 26, 2013 05:53 PM PDT  By Dave Graham and Miguel Gutierrez MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico plans to boost its tax coffers by an extra $50 billion a year with an overhaul that aims to extend sales tax coverage, close tax loopholes and could impose charges on capital gains. Saddled with one of the weakest tax takes in Latin America, President Enrique Pena Nieto will present Congress with a plan by September to substantially improve revenues, including divisive measures to apply value added tax (VAT) to some foods and medicines, according to several people familiar with the plans. ... Full Story | Top |
| Summers' work for financial firms could give critics ammunition Friday, Jul 26, 2013 05:39 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, a top contender for the leadership of the Federal Reserve, has been a consultant to large financial institutions, including Citigroup Inc, news that could fuel questions about his suitability to head the central bank. Summers has built a reputation as a brilliant economist and a shrewd policymaker. But his roles with the financial firms could give ammunition to critics who argue he has too cozy a relationship with Wall Street to maintain the Fed's vaunted independence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Manager of defunct hedge fund pleads guilty to fraud Friday, Jul 26, 2013 05:25 PM PDT By Terry Baynes (Reuters) - A former hedge fund manager pleaded guilty on Friday to defrauding investors in a $12.6 million scheme, more than five years after the fund collapsed under the weight of failed real estate loans. Lloyd Barriger, who operated Gaffken & Barriger, a Monticello, New York-based investment fund, pleaded guilty in White Plains federal court to charges of securities fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| San Diego mayor to enter therapy over sex scandal, won't quit Friday, Jul 26, 2013 04:56 PM PDT  By Marty Graham SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Embattled San Diego Mayor Bob Filner on Friday defied calls to resign over a hail of sexual harassment allegations, but apologized to the women he offended and said he would take a two-week leave of absence to undergo intensive therapy. A day after the San Diego County Democratic Central Committee urged him to step down, the 70-year-old Democrat and former congressman said he would enter a counseling clinic on August 5, while keeping an eye on the affairs of California's second largest city. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. intends to send two Guantanamo detainees to Algeria Friday, Jul 26, 2013 04:38 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Friday it plans to repatriate two inmates to Algeria from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, resuming the transfer of detainees from the controversial prison for the first time in nearly a year. The step is the latest by President Barack Obama's administration to show his commitment to closing the prison, which has held dozens of prisoners - most without charge - for more than a decade. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pope, in Brazil, asks young to change unfair, corrupt world Friday, Jul 26, 2013 04:38 PM PDT By Philip Pullella and Anthony Boadle RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Pope Francis urged young people on Friday to change a world where food is discarded while millions go hungry, where racism and violence still affront human dignity and where politics is more associated with corruption than service. Francis, on the fifth day of his first trip abroad since his election in March, went to Rio's Copacabana beach to preside at a "Way of the Cross" service commemorating Jesus' final hours as part of an international jamboree of Catholic youth, known as World Youth Day. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge delays conservatorship ruling for actress Amanda Bynes Friday, Jul 26, 2013 04:13 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A judge in Southern California on Friday has postponed ruling on whether the parents of troubled actress Amanda Bynes should be granted legal control over the former teenage star's affairs. Ventura County Superior Court Judge Glen Reiser pushed back the hearing to August 9 because Bynes, 27, is under court-ordered psychiatric care for the next two weeks, according to a court official. Her parents have asked the court to grant them conservatorship after Bynes allegedly started a small fire in the driveway of a home in the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| FDA warns on vitamin supplement containing steroids, cites risks Friday, Jul 26, 2013 04:06 PM PDT By Toni Clarke (Reuters) - A vitamin B dietary supplement called B-50 contains two anabolic steroids and has been cited as causing unusual hair growth in women and impotence in men, U.S. health regulators said on Friday, warning consumers to avoid the product. The product, sold by Healthy Life Chemistry By Purity First, contains the steroids methasterone and dimethazine, both of which are potentially dangerous. The ingredients are not listed on the label and should not be in a dietary supplement, the Food and Drug Administration said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tired of revolving door parliaments, Kuwaitis vote, again Friday, Jul 26, 2013 04:02 PM PDT  By Sylvia Westall KUWAIT (Reuters) - A boycott by some opposition Islamists may help liberals and independents in Kuwait's election on Saturday, but there are signs that voters are flagging as they go to the polls for the sixth time in seven years. Turnout is expected to be low in sweltering summer temperatures during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and as Kuwaitis become more disillusioned with voting in short-lived parliaments. The oil-producing U.S. ally has the most open political system in the Gulf Arab region. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libyan activist shot dead in Benghazi Friday, Jul 26, 2013 03:57 PM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a lawyer and prominent Libyan political activist as well as two military officials in separate attacks in the eastern city of Benghazi on Friday, security officials said. Lawyer Abdelsalam al-Mosmary was shot after he left a mosque to make his way home. "He was coming out of Friday prayers when he was shot," Benghazi security spokesman Mohammed al-Hijazy said. "It seems it may have been the work of a sniper because he was shot in the heart. ... Full Story | Top |
| SAC Capital pleads not guilty; reinsurance unit eyed Friday, Jul 26, 2013 03:55 PM PDT  By Bernard Vaughan and Svea Herbst-Bayliss (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Steven A. Cohen's hedge fund pleaded not guilty on Friday to insider trading charges in federal court, as questions also surfaced about the future of SAC Capital's Bermuda-based reinsurance unit, SAC Re. Ratings company, A.M. Best Co., and the Bermuda Monetary Authority, which regulates insurers on the island, said they were monitoring developments one day after prosecutors charged the hedge fund and various affiliates with four criminal counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud. A year ago A.M. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pro-Mursi vigils to be brought to an end: Egypt interior minister Friday, Jul 26, 2013 03:51 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Sit-in protests in Cairo by supporters of Egypt's deposed Islamist president will be "brought to an end soon and in a legal manner," interim Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim was quoted as saying by state-run news website al Ahram. Ibrahim said the protests would be cleared in line with complaints filed by residents in the area. Supporters of deposed leader Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood have been manning two main vigils in the capital for a month, demanding Mursi be reinstated after his July 3 overthrow by the army. ... Full Story | Top |
| 'Use my broken heart' to change gun laws: Trayvon Martin's mother Friday, Jul 26, 2013 03:23 PM PDT  By Dave Warner PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The mother of slain teenager Trayvon Martin sharply criticized Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law in a speech on Friday, nearly two weeks after the man who shot her unarmed son was acquitted of murder charges. "Wrap your mind around no prom for Trayvon," Sybrina Fulton said in the 10-minute address to the annual conference of the National Urban League, a civil rights group. ... Full Story | Top |
| FAA seeks $2.75 million quality control penalty for Boeing unit Friday, Jul 26, 2013 03:14 PM PDT By Alwyn Scott and Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday said it proposed penalizing Boeing's commercial airplane unit $2.75 million for taking nearly two years to fix a problem with fasteners on its 777 widebody airplanes. The penalty was unusual in its size and for the fact that it comes nearly three years after Boeing said it addressed the FAA's concerns, which stem from 2008. The FAA regularly imposes smaller penalties for rule violations, but multimillion-dollar amounts are far less frequent. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. bans new home health, ambulance providers in three regions Friday, Jul 26, 2013 03:07 PM PDT (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday said it would temporarily ban new home health providers and ambulance suppliers from enrolling in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program in three areas of the country, citing the risk of fraud. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said the bans will apply to home health agencies in the Miami, Florida and Chicago, Illinois metropolitan areas as well as ambulance suppliers in the Houston, Texas area. ... Full Story | Top |
| JPMorgan to quit physical commodity trade amid scrutiny Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:54 PM PDT By David Sheppard NEW YORK (Reuters) - JP Morgan Chase & Co is exiting physical commodities trading, the bank said in a surprise statement on Friday, as Wall Street's role in the trading of raw materials comes under intense political and regulatory pressure. Wall Street's biggest bank said an "internal review" had concluded it should pursue "strategic alternatives" for its physical commodities operations, which includes assets like its Henry Bath metals warehousing subsidiary and a vast global team trading everything from African crude to Canadian natural gas. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia's Putin gets big fish, quality time with protege PM Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:48 PM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin landed a giant pike and then shared the delicacy with Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev, who many say is battling for survival, as both men were pictured together on relaxed weekend fishing expedition. Footage from a remote Siberian region released on Friday showed the 60-year-old Putin wearing camouflage fatigues and sunglasses. Often resorting to outdoor stunts to prop up his ratings, there were shots of Putin fishing, driving a motorboat and petting reindeers on the trip with his protege Medvedev and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. ... Full Story | Top |
| American held in North Korea tells family his health is failing Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:43 PM PDT By Eric M. Johnson SEATTLE (Reuters) - Letters sent home by Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen imprisoned in North Korea for alleged crimes against the state, show a "new note of desperation," his sister said, as the United States seeks to prevent the Christian missionary from becoming a high-profile diplomatic bargaining chip. Bae was sentenced in early May to 15 years of hard labor after North Korean authorities convicted him of what it said was an attempt at state subversion. Authorities there said the 44-year-old used his tourism business to form groups to overthrow the government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Life in prison for man who held Cleveland women for years Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:41 PM PDT  By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A former Cleveland school bus driver who held three women captive for years pleaded guilty on Friday to hundreds of charges of kidnapping and rape, allowing him to avoid the death penalty and instead serve life in prison without parole. 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 |
| Tennessee victims in U.S. meningitis outbreak win new avenue for lawsuits Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:36 PM PDT By Tim McLaughlin BOSTON (Reuters) - Victims in Tennessee of a deadly U.S. meningitis outbreak won the right to pursue a new avenue of litigation against healthcare facilities and doctors there, after a ruling by a U.S. bankruptcy judge this week. Tennessee was the second hardest-hit state, behind Michigan, in a meningitis outbreak that has injured or killed more than 700 people nationwide. There were about 65 healthcare facilities and doctors in Tennessee on the customer list of New England Compounding Center, which U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Halliburton plea may help BP in spill liability battle Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:34 PM PDT  By Braden Reddall and Mica Rosenberg (Reuters) - BP Plc appeared to gain an edge in the battle over liability for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill on Friday, after Halliburton abandoned one of its arguments that tried to paint the British oil company as unconcerned about well safety. Halliburton, which did the cementing work for BP's well, on Thursday pleaded guilty to destroying evidence of internal tests it conducted showing there was no difference between the effectiveness of putting six or 21 casing centralizers on the well. ... Full Story | Top |
| Despite rapturous reception, pope faces challenges in Latin America Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:34 PM PDT  By Anthony Boadle and Philip Pullella RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilians have given Pope Francis a superstar's welcome on his first return to his home continent but the big question is whether the trip can help stop the hemorrhaging of the Catholic Church in Latin America. The first Latin American pope is clearly relishing the enthusiasm at a time when the Church, which once was an unrivalled religious bastion on the continent, is grappling to hold onto faithful. ... Full Story | Top |
| Column: Well intentioned but flawed, U.S. biofuel policy in need of change Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:29 PM PDT (Jason Bordoff is Director of Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. Robert McNally is founder and president of Rapidan Group, an energy market and policy consulting firm. They served as White House energy advisors for Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, respectively. The views expressed are their own.) NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, July 26 - Gasoline prices have shot up nearly 20 cents since the start of July and are projected to rise higher yet. Gasoline prices are largely driven by global crude oil prices and usually rise during the summer driving season. ... Full Story | Top |
| Texas to seek death penalty in killings of prosecutors Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:23 PM PDT  By Jana J. Pruet KAUFMAN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas will seek the death penalty against a former justice of the peace accused of killing of three people, including two local prosecutors, in shootings that spawned conspiracy theories and terrified a small community near Dallas. Eric Williams and his wife, Kim, are accused in the deaths of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, at their home in March. They are also accused of gunning down Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse near a county courthouse in January. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. WikiLeaks soldier is whistleblower, not traitor: defense Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:20 PM PDT  By Medina Roshan FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The U.S. soldier accused of the biggest leak of classified information in the nation's history is a whistleblower, and not a traitor as the government claims, Bradley Manning's defense lawyer said at his court-martial on Friday. Army Private First Class Manning spilled secrets to the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website because he wanted to provoke a broader debate on U.S. military and diplomatic policy out of concern for fellow Americans, the defense asserted. "That is a whistleblower, period. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. rests case after painting Boston mobster as cold-blooded killer Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:16 PM PDT  By Daniel Lovering BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors paraded hit men, drug dealers, bookies, and cops from a bygone era before a jury, painting ex-mobster James 'Whitey' Bulger as a cold-hearted killer and a government snitch before wrapping up more than six weeks of testimony on Friday. Once the most feared criminal in Boston's underworld, Bulger, 83, faces life in prison if convicted on charges related to 19 murders he is accused of committing or ordering as boss of the Winter Hill Gang in the 1970s and 80s. Prosecutors put some of Bulger's closest partners in crime on the stand. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey's Erdogan threatens to sue Times for publishing critical letter Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:07 PM PDT  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Friday threatened to sue the Times of London for publishing an open letter by a group of celebrities, academics and others criticizing his handling of anti-government protests. Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon and Ben Kingsley were among those who signed the letter that accused Erdogan's government this week of "dictatorial rule" and of causing the deaths of five protesters who died after clashes with police. "The press wants to throw mud to see if it sticks. ... Full Story | Top |
| France to back legal argument in Argentina case against creditors Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:05 PM PDT  PARIS/BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - France will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review Argentina's case in its decade-old legal battle with certain creditors, French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said on Friday, citing the importance of global financial stability. The South American country, which defaulted on about $100 billion in sovereign debt in 2002, is in a legal fight against holders of defaulted bonds who chose not to go along with restructurings in 2005 and 2010. Some 93 percent of holders accepted returns as low as 25 cents on the dollar. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. appeals court rejects states' challenge over climate rules Friday, Jul 26, 2013 02:01 PM PDT By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a legal challenge by Texas and Wyoming to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in a 2-1 vote, said the states and various industry groups did not have standing to sue because they could not show that they had suffered an injury or that a ruling throwing out the EPA plan would benefit them. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. FDA proposes food companies verify safety of imports Friday, Jul 26, 2013 01:42 PM PDT  By Carey Gillam (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed rules on Friday that would require food companies to verify that the products they import meet certain safety standards. The rules are the latest in a series proposed under the Food Safety Modernization Act, which was signed in 2011 and represents the most sweeping food safety reform 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 |
| Grenade blast in Rwanda capital kills two: police Friday, Jul 26, 2013 01:25 PM PDT KIGALI (Reuters) - A grenade blast in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Friday killed two people and wounded 32 others, police said, an attack that resembled one earlier this year and others since 2010. The grenade exploded at around 6:50 p.m. (12:50 p.m. ET) at Ubumwe Village, in the capital's Nyarugenge District, police said. "Two people died on the spot, two others were seriously injured while 30 others sustained minor injuries," the Rwanda Police said in a statement. The statement added that they had arrested one person in connection with the blast. ... Full Story | Top |
| GMAC Mortgage to pay $230 million as part of foreclosure review Friday, Jul 26, 2013 01:21 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve said on Friday that GMAC Mortgage will make $230 million in cash payments to borrowers, in a move that will end an independent, case-by-case review of potentially flawed foreclosures. Under the agreement, more than 232,000 borrowers who were in the foreclosure process between 2009 and 2010 will receive compensation. The agreement is similar to deals that bank regulators struck with other major U.S. lenders and mortgage servicers earlier this year. ... Full Story | Top |
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