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| Exclusive: Asiana crash families hire prominent New York law firm Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 05:16 PM PDT  By Casey Sullivan, Dan Levine and Sarah McBride NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Families of the three passengers who died when an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crashed in San Francisco this month have retained the prominent New York law firm Kreindler & Kreindler to represent them as legal maneuvering over liability and damages heats up. Kreindler & Kreindler, which specializes in aviation law, made a name for itself representing victims in catastrophic air disasters, including the September 11, 2001, attacks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Police to question driver after Spanish train crash kills 80 Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 05:51 PM PDT  By Tracy Rucinski SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (Reuters) - The driver of a Spanish train that derailed, killing at least 80 people, was under police guard in hospital on Friday after the dramatic accident which an official source said was caused by excessive speed. The eight-carriage train came off the tracks, hit a wall and caught fire just outside the pilgrimage destination Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain on Wednesday night. It was one of Europe's worst rail disasters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Halliburton pleads guilty to destroying Gulf spill evidence Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 05:23 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel and Braden Reddall (Reuters) - Halliburton Co has agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday. The government said Halliburton's guilty plea is the third by a company over the spill and requires the world's second-largest oilfield services company to pay a maximum $200,000 statutory fine. Halliburton also agreed to three years of probation and to continue cooperating with the criminal probe into the April 20, 2010, explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt braces for rival rallies, army signals crackdown Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 05:35 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh and Matt Robinson CAIRO (Reuters) - A deeply polarized Egypt braced for bloodshed on Friday in rival mass rallies summoned by the army that ousted the state's first freely elected president and by the Islamists who back him. Both sides warned of a decisive struggle for the future of the Arab world's most populous country, convulsed by political and economic turmoil since the 2011 uprising that ended 30 years of autocratic rule by Hosni Mubarak. ... Full Story | Top |
| Weiner mayoral campaign falters; woman details sex chats Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 05:32 PM PDT  By Edith Honan and Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Anthony Weiner's New York mayoral campaign took a beating on Thursday as he lost his lead in a new poll and admitted to sending lewd online messages to up to three women since he resigned from Congress over such behavior two years ago. One of those women came forward on Thursday to say they had frequent sexually charged conversations both online and over the phone last year, although they never met in person. ... Full Story | Top |
| Four more women accuse San Diego mayor of sexual misconduct Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 07:53 PM PDT  SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Four more women, including a retired U.S. Navy admiral and a college dean, came forward on Thursday to publicly accuse San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of making unwanted sexual advances toward them, as local party leaders called on him to resign. The latest allegations leveled at Filner during a group interview of the four women by public television station KPBS brought to seven the number of women who have come forth since earlier this week to accuse the 70-year-old Democrat and former congressman of sexual harassment. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. charges SAC Capital with insider trading crimes Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 04:49 PM PDT  By Emily Flitter, Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors indicted billionaire Steven A. Cohen's hedge fund for insider trading, a rare move that could end the career of one of Wall Street's most successful investors and trigger a fundamental change in how traders try to gain an edge over rivals. The government accused SAC Capital Advisors LP of presiding over a culture where employees flouted the law and were encouraged to tap their personal networks of contacts for inside information about publicly traded companies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexican President Pena Nieto's thyroid growth benign -official Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 08:32 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A nodule on Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's thyroid gland is benign, an official in the president's office said on Thursday. Pena Nieto is due to undergo surgery to remove the nodule next Wednesday, in a procedure that will last an hour and a half, the president's office said in a statement on Wednesday. The official said the operation was a simple one and that the nodule was being removed because doctors thought that was the best course of action. Pena Nieto will spend four days recovering after the operation. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. indicts hackers in biggest cyber fraud case in history Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 03:02 PM PDT  By David Jones and Jim Finkle NEWARK, N.J./BOSTON (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors said on Thursday they have charged five men responsible for a hacking and credit card fraud spree that cost companies more $300 million and two of the suspects are in custody, in the biggest cyber crime case filed in U.S. history. They also disclosed a new security breach against Nasdaq, though they provided few details about the attack. Other companies targeted by the hackers include a Visa Inc licensee, J.C. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. regulator announces $885 million settlement with UBS Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 04:04 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. regulator on Thursday said it reached an $885 million settlement with UBS over allegations the bank misrepresented mortgage-backed bonds that were sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the housing bubble. Under the terms of the agreement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, UBS must pay about $415 million to Fannie Mae and $470 million to Freddie Mac to resolve claims related to securities sold to the companies between 2004 and 2007. The Swiss banking giant did not admit to any liability or wrongdoing in settling the allegations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Amazon's overseas weakness overshadows strength at home Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 04:54 PM PDT  By Alistair Barr SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc forecast disappointing income and revenue as it grapples with a weaker international market, overshadowing improving profitability and economic conditions in the United States. Amazon and other multinational corporations are being pressured by a declining European economy that is sapping consumer spending across the region. While North American sales jumped 30 percent in the second quarter, its international segment did not earn a profit and revenue rose 13 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turmoil hits Tunisia after secular politician slain Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 03:46 PM PDT By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian opposition politician Mohamed Brahmi was shot dead on Thursday in the second such assassination this year, setting off violent protests against the Islamist-led government in the capital and elsewhere. "This criminal gang has killed the free voice of Brahmi," his widow, Mbarka Brahmi, told Reuters, without specifying who she thought was behind the shooting outside their home in Tunis. Brahmi's sister later accused the main Islamist Ennahda party of being behind the killing. "Ennahda killed my brother," Souhiba Brahmi said. ... Full Story | Top |
| At least 78 killed, 131 injured, in Spain train disaster Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 02:39 PM PDT  By Teresa Medrano and Miguel Vidal SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (Reuters) - A train derailed outside the ancient northwestern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela on Wednesday night, on the eve of a major religious festival, killing at least 78 people and injuring up to 131 in one of Europe's worst rail disasters. In what one local official described as a scene from hell, bodies covered in blankets lay next to the overturned carriages as smoke billowed from the wreckage after the disaster. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama administration declares new voter rights strategy Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 12:23 PM PDT  By David Ingram and Dave Warner WASHINGTON/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The Obama administration embarked on a new strategy on Thursday to challenge voting laws it says discriminate by race, an effort to counter a Supreme Court ruling last month that freed states from the strictest federal oversight. Attorney General Eric Holder vowed to start in Texas, a conservative stronghold where his Justice Department will ask a federal court for renewed power to block new election laws it says illegally discriminate against blacks and other minorities. ... Full Story | Top |
| GSK replaces China chief amid corruption scandal Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 10:57 AM PDT  By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline has appointed one of its top European executives as the new head of operations in China, amid a corruption scandal there that has rocked Britain's biggest drug maker. Herve Gisserot, senior vice president for Europe, will take over as general manager from Mark Reilly, who will remain with the company as a senior member of the management team, a spokesman said on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Businesses set to step up capital goods spending Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 09:17 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A gauge of planned business spending on capital goods rose in June, buoying hopes of an acceleration in economic growth in the second half of 2013. The data on Thursday was the latest to suggest factory activity was regaining some momentum after hitting a soft patch earlier this year and it fit in with views that the drag on the economy from tighter fiscal policy was ebbing. A separate report showed new claims for jobless benefits edged higher last week, but remained within a range that suggests the labor market's recovery is on track. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt braces for rival rallies, army signals crackdown Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 03:14 PM PDT By Yasmine Saleh and Matt Robinson CAIRO (Reuters) - A deeply polarized Egypt braced for bloodshed on Friday in rival mass rallies summoned by the army that ousted the state's first freely elected president and by the Islamists who back him. Both sides warned of a decisive struggle for the future of the Arab world's most populous country, convulsed by political and economic turmoil since the 2011 uprising that ended 30 years of autocratic rule by Hosni Mubarak. ... Full Story | Top |
| Plea deal reportedly near for accused Cleveland abductor Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 03:23 PM PDT  By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The man accused of abducting and raping three women and holding them captive for years is due to appear in a Cleveland court on Friday amid media reports that an agreement is in the works that would allow him to avoid the death penalty. Cleveland television station WKYC reported on Thursday that prosecutors had offered Ariel Castro a deal, and WOIO-TV said an agreement was imminent. But Castro's lawyer Jay Schlachet told Reuters reports that an agreement had been reached "were false". ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmakers want sanctions on any country taking in Snowden Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 12:18 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel voted unanimously on Thursday to seek trade or other sanctions against Russia or any other country that offers asylum to former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, who has been holed up for weeks at a Moscow airport. The 30-member Senate Appropriations Committee adopted by consensus an amendment to a spending bill that would direct Secretary of State John Kerry to meet with congressional committees to come up with sanctions against any country that takes Snowden in. ... Full Story | Top |
| Prosecutors say U.S. WikiLeaks soldier was seeking notoriety Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 11:14 AM PDT  By Medina Roshan FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - Military prosecutors said the U.S. soldier accused of the largest leak of classified information in the nation's history was hoping to make a name for himself by releasing documents on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. As the court-martial of Private First Class Bradley Manning winds down, prosecutors in closing arguments on Thursday said that the 25-year-old intelligence analyst had betrayed the trust his nation put in him. "The only human PFC Manning ever cared about was himself," said Major Ashden Fein, the lead prosecuting attorney. ... Full Story | Top |
| Car bomb in Damascus suburb kills seven: state media Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 11:34 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb killed at least 10 people and wounded around 62 on Thursday when it exploded on the edge of the Syrian capital Damascus, state media said. State news agency SANA said the bomb hit the al-Siyouf Square in Jaramanah. It blamed the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham, an al Qaeda-linked group fighting alongside rebels in the two-year-old civil war against President Bashar al-Assad. Bombs have previously hit Jaramanah, a religiously mixed area that houses supporters and opponents of Assad but which is under army control. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House urges restraint by Egyptian military Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 10:24 AM PDT  ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday urged the Egyptian military to exercise "maximum restraint" and to do its utmost to prevent clashes between rival protesters. White House spokesman Josh Earnest also said Washington was concerned about "any rhetoric that inflames tension" after Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Egyptians to take to the streets to show their support. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York's Weiner chatted with more women since scandal: report Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 10:18 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner may have exchanged sexually-charged messages with as many as three women in the two years since he resigned from Congress amid revelations of similar behavior, press reports said on Thursday. "I don't believe I had any more than three," Weiner told reporters on Thursday, according to the news site Politico Weiner, 48, resigned from the U.S. Congress in June 2011 after admitting he used Twitter and other social media to send lewd pictures of himself to women he met online. ... Full Story | Top |
| Irish watchdog won't probe U.S. firms over Prism Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 07:08 AM PDT  By Georgina Prodhan VIENNA (Reuters) - A watchdog in Ireland, home to the European headquarters of Apple and Facebook, says it will not investigate them for transferring personal data to a U.S. spy agency because they have signed up to EU privacy principles. The Irish Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC), had been challenged by an Austrian student activist group to investigate allegations that the U.S. National Security Agency harvests emails and other private data from the companies in a mass electronic surveillance program known as Prism. ... Full Story | Top |
| FAA to airlines: remove or inspect Boeing 787 beacons Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 07:28 AM PDT  (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday instructed airlines to remove or inspect emergency beacons in Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliners, following a fire earlier this month that was traced to one of the units, made by Honeywell International Inc. The airworthiness directive goes farther than the guidance from the FAA last week, when it said airlines should inspect the units on 787s for pinched wires in the casing and evidence of heat or moisture. ... Full Story | Top |
| American detained in China is wife of British risk consultant: sources Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 06:02 AM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - A U.S. citizen held in China amid an investigation into the country's pharmaceutical industry is the wife and business partner of a detained British national, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. The sources said Yu Yingzeng, general manager at the ChinaWhys business risk advisory firm, and her husband Peter Humphrey, the company's managing director, were detained by Chinese authorities in Shanghai on July 10. ... Full Story | Top |
| China charges Bo Xilai with corruption, paves way for trial Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 04:35 AM PDT  By Megha Rajagopalan JINAN, China (Reuters) - China charged disgraced senior politician Bo Xilai with bribery, abuse of power and corruption on Thursday, paving the way for a potentially divisive trial that President Xi Jinping will want smoothly handled as he pushes major economic reforms. Bo, 64, could appear in a court in the eastern city of Jinan in Shandong province within weeks, capping the country's biggest political scandal since the 1976 downfall of the Gang of Four at the end of the Cultural Revolution. He has not been seen in public for 17 months. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israeli minister sees possible Palestine talks next week Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 06:38 AM PDT  By Hamuda Hassan JERICHO, West Bank (Reuters) - An Israeli cabinet minister said on Thursday that U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations with the Palestinians could begin next week. The assessment was not immediately confirmed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who disagree on the terms for reviving direct diplomacy which stalled almost three years ago. After months of intensive and discreet mediation, U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Port of Tampa reopens after ethanol train derailment: Port Authority Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 06:28 AM PDT (Reuters) - Florida's Port of Tampa has reopened after an ethanol train derailment early Thursday, the Tampa Port Authority said. No injuries were associated with the incident, although delays were expected for traffic in and out of Hookers Point, near where the derailment occurred, the Port Authority said in a note. The derailment occurred around 1:00 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT). Tampa Fire Rescue officials told a local NBC affiliate 15 train cars derailed and three spilled ethanol. That report added that cleanup could take longer than 24 hours. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spanish unemployment drops after two year rise as business looks up Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 04:50 AM PDT  By Paul Day and Sarah White MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's unemployment rate fell for the first time in two years and some of the country's biggest firms said on Thursday business was looking up, boosting the government's claim the economy is climbing out of recession. The dip in the jobless figures - to 26.3 percent in the second quarter from 27.2 percent in the first - nonetheless highlighted how far the country still needs to travel on the road to full recovery. Economy Minister Luis de Guindos called the size of the figures "totally unacceptable". ... Full Story | Top |
| Kuwait's ruling emir puts diplomacy first Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 05:05 AM PDT  By Sylvia Westall KUWAIT (Reuters) - Hours after Qatar's emir abdicated in favor of his son, Kuwait's ruler jumped on a plane to Doha to embrace the new young emir in person rather than sending a congratulatory cable as other Gulf Arab leaders did. The direct diplomatic gesture was a classic move for Kuwait's 84-year-old hereditary emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. Sheikh Sabah has been dubbed the "dean of Arab diplomacy" for his efforts to strengthen Kuwait's relations in the Middle East after Iraq's 1990 invasion of his country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Penguin promises EU regulator to scrap Apple ebook deals Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 02:55 AM PDT  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU regulators accepted on Thursday a pledge by British media group Pearson's Penguin unit to scrap its ebook deals with Apple which set price curbs on Amazon and other retailers, closing an antitrust case against the company. Penguin offered in April to end "most-favored nation" contracts for five years. Such clauses bar rival retailers from selling e-books more cheaply than Apple. It also proposed to let retailers set prices or discounts for a period of two years. The concessions are similar to those offered by four other publishers last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Missing red diary at heart of Italy's dark history Wednesday, Jul 24, 2013 11:00 PM PDT  By Barry Moody PALERMO, Sicily (Reuters) - More than 20 years after anti-mafia hero Paolo Borsellino was killed by a huge bomb, his missing diary is still at the heart of one of Italy's murkiest and most enduring mysteries. Borsellino kept the red police diary always at his side, even in bed, and used it for jotting down evidence after another powerful bomb killed his friend and fellow magistrate Giovanni Falcone in May 1992, 57 days before his own death at age 52. The two men are Italy's biggest modern heroes, a picture of them together often seen on posters on city streets. ... Full Story | Top |
| Weiner defiant amid calls to quit New York mayoral race Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 09:19 AM PDT  By Jonathan Allen and Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Anthony Weiner resisted mounting calls to bow out of the New York City mayoral race on Wednesday, a day after admitting he had continued the sexually charged online chats that led him to resign from Congress in disgrace two years ago. Weiner, who took the lead in several polls soon after announcing his political comeback in May, said in an email to supporters that he should have been clearer about how long the behavior had persisted but that he hoped voters would give him another chance. ... Full Story | Top |
| Facebook shares jump 28 percent, Wall Street sees more ad growth Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 12:03 PM PDT  By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Sruthi Ramakrishnan (Reuters) - Facebook Inc shares opened 28 percent higher on Thursday after the company reported a huge jump in mobile advertising revenue, and analysts pointed to further growth from new advertising on Instagram and 15-second videos. While still short of their IPO price of $38, the shares hit $34 -- a price not seen since their second day of trading in May last year. ... Full Story | Top |
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