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| Fonterra CEO: Future of my tenure up to company's board Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 09:27 PM PDT  WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Fonterra Chief Executive Officer Theo Spierings said the future of his tenure at the company following a global food safety scare is up the board of the world's largest dairy exporter. "It's not up to me to answer, that's up to the board," he told a news conference when asked if he would need to resign over the issue. He added that the company remained on track to introduce its own branded infant formula products before the end of the year in China, where formula brands have announced recalls of infant formula containing contaminated whey protein made by the company. ... Full Story | Top |
| China says fined milk powder companies 'disrupted market order' Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 09:26 PM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - Six milk powder companies fined for price fixing in China set restrictions on minimum prices and used a variety of methods to "disrupt market order" and restrict competition, China's top economic planning body said on Wednesday. In a statement, the National Development and Reform Commission said the companies fined had proposed modifying their sales policies and training their staff better. The NDRC handed down a total of $110 million in fines to six companies following an investigation into price fixing and anti-competitive practices by foreign baby formula makers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bombs target Iraqi shoppers, killing more than 50 Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 08:57 PM PDT  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A series of car bombs targeting busy markets and shopping streets in and around Baghdad killed at least 51 people and wounded more than 100 on Tuesday, Iraqi medical and police sources said, part of a surge in violence in recent months. Insurgent attacks have multiplied in Iraq since the start of the year, with more than 1,000 people killed in July, the highest monthly death toll since 2008, according to the United Nations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fonterra CEO: All contaminated dairy stocks contained Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 08:55 PM PDT  WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings said on Wednesday that all stocks of contaminated dairy products made and exported by the company had been taken out of the market, and there was little or no risk to consumers. After visiting China earlier this week, Spierings said the situation there had stabilized. "I said at a press conference in China that I would not leave before the situation was stable from the perspective of markets, consumers, customers and global authorities," he told reporters at the company's headquarters in Auckland. ... Full Story | Top |
| Singapore drops contempt charges against cartoonist in return for apology Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 08:54 PM PDT SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore has dropped charges against a political cartoonist in return for an apology for publishing comic strips deemed to be in contempt of court, an offence that could have landed him in jail. Chew Peng Ee, known to followers of his "Demon-cratic Singapore" site on Facebook as Leslie Chew, had committed contempt "by scandalizing the judiciary of the Republic of Singapore", the Attorney-General's Chambers said last month. ... Full Story | Top |
| SEC not to move against hedge fund Magnetar over mortgages: WSJ Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 08:50 PM PDT (Reuters) - The U.S. securities regulator has decided not to file civil charges against hedge fund firm Magnetar Capital LLC over its role in helping create mortgage securities that lost value during the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported. For more than a year, enforcement officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have been investigating whether Magnetar violated federal law over the selection of assets bundled in a collateralized debt obligation (CDO) called Norma CDO I that was created by Merrill Lynch & Co, now a unit of Bank of America Corp, the paper said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan government joining efforts to contain Fukushima toxic water Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 08:34 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - The Japanese government is joining efforts to contain a buildup of radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, as operator Tokyo Electric Power Co struggles to contain the problem, government officials said on Wednesday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the buildup of radioactive water at the plant was a very serious issue and that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would order the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which regulates Tepco and other power utilities, to significantly step up its role. ... Full Story | Top |
| China fines six companies for price fixing: Xinhua Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 08:15 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - China's economic planner hit six companies with a total of 670 million yuan ($109.5 million) in fines for price fixing, state media said on Wednesday. Biostime, Mead Johnson, Dumex, Abbott, Friesland and Fonterra, were all fined by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the official Xinhua news agency said. It did not say what products the fines covered. Three companies -- Wyeth, Beingmate and Meiji -- were exempted from punishment for cooperating with the investigation, Xinhua said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Seventeen killed in drug gang fight in Honduras: officials Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 08:12 PM PDT TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - At least 17 people died in a battle between drug gangs over a cocaine shipment in the isolated Mosquito Coast of Honduras, government officials said on Tuesday. A Nicaraguan who allegedly led a local drug gang was among the dead, said prosecutor Roberto Ramirez, and some of the other victims may also have been foreigners. The battle took place on Monday in the swampy, rugged coast where traffickers move most of the cocaine that passes through Honduras on its way to Mexico and the United States. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama 'disappointed' with Russia, calls embassy threat significant Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 07:49 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason BURBANK, California (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama confirmed on Tuesday that he would go to Russia this fall for a G20 summit but said he was "disappointed" that Russia granted temporary asylum to former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. Speaking on NBC's "The Tonight Show" with host Jay Leno, Obama said Moscow sometimes slipped into a Cold War mentality, despite being cooperative with the United States on some issues, including counterterrorism efforts in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan must support Tepco in containing Fukushima water problem: Suga Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 07:47 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government must support the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in its efforts to contain buildups and leaks of radioactive water at the facility, the top government spokesman said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will order the government later in the day to strengthen its response on water containment, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, indicating the government will get directly involved in combating the worsening problem. ... Full Story | Top |
| NZ frets about reputation after dairy scare but auction reassuring Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 07:41 PM PDT  By Naomi Tajitsu WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand said on Wednesday its reputation as an exporter of safe dairy food remained at risk after a contamination scare, although an auction of Fonterra dairy products provided reassurance that global customers were continuing to buy its goods. Fonterra has come under fire from the New Zealand government, farmers and financial regulators for dragging its feet in saying it sold whey protein products that contained a bacteria which can cause botulism - a potentially fatal food poisoning. ... Full Story | Top |
| NZ dairy scare impact minimal, needs careful handling: minister Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 07:28 PM PDT  WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's finance minister said on Wednesday the result of dairy giant Fonterra's latest auction suggests it has suffered little impact from a recent scare over contaminated products. Finance Minister Bill English told parliament the issue would need careful handling if the company and the country were to continue to benefit from high commodity prices. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran's leader reaches out to U.S., vows to resolve nuclear row Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 07:09 PM PDT  By Marcus George and Yeganeh Torbati DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's incoming President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday offered an olive branch to the United States in talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear program, raising hopes of progress after years of stalemate. Rouhani, seen in the West as a relatively moderate leader, told his first news conference since taking the oath on Sunday that he was "seriously determined" to resolve the dispute and was ready to enter "serious and substantive" negotiations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tens of thousands rally to oust Tunisian government Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 07:04 PM PDT  By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Tunisians crowded the streets of downtown Tunis on Tuesday to demand the transitional government's ouster, in the largest opposition protest since the country's political crisis began two weeks ago. The secular opposition, angered by two assassinations in its ranks and emboldened by the army-backed toppling of Egypt's Islamist president, is trying to topple Tunisia's government led by the moderate Islamist party Ennahda. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. military judge trims potential sentence in WikiLeaks case Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 06:53 PM PDT  By Tom Ramstack FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The military judge who last week convicted soldier Bradley Manning of committing the biggest breach of classified data in U.S. history through WikiLeaks on Tuesday trimmed the maximum prison sentence the private first class could face. ... Full Story | Top |
| New U.S. spying revelations coming from Snowden leaks: journalist Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 06:43 PM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Glenn Greenwald, the American journalist who published documents leaked by fugitive former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, plans to make new revelations "within the next 10 days or so" on secret U.S. surveillance of the Internet. "The articles we have published so far are a very small part of the revelations that ought to be published," Greenwald on Tuesday told a Brazilian congressional hearing that is investigating the U.S. internet surveillance in Brazil. "There will certainly be many more revelations on spying by the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tribal activists block Idaho highway over tar sands 'megaload' Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 06:31 PM PDT By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Police arrested 19 members of the Nez Perce Tribe on Tuesday on suspicion of disorderly conduct for refusing to break a human chain blocking a highway in Idaho in protest against a 322-ton load of equipment bound for the tar sands of Alberta, Canada. The blockade by more than 250 mostly Native American protesters halted travel of a so-called megaload for two hours on a scenic roadway at the front lines of an ideological struggle over North American oil and gas development and its impact on the environment, local communities and native cultures. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tunisia ruling party official calls parliament freeze a 'coup' Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 06:13 PM PDT TUNIS (Reuters) - The suspension on Tuesday of Tunisia's embattled Constituent Assembly is an "unacceptable coup" by the body's leader, Mustafa Ben Jaafar, said an Assembly member from the country's ruling Islamist party. "What Ben Jaafar did is part of an internal coup. It is an unacceptable coup," Nejib Mrad of the Islamist party Ennahda told local television station Al Mutawassit. Ben Jaafar's Ettakatol party is part of Ennahda's ruling coalition, which the secular opposition wants to oust from power. The opposition also wants to dissolve the Constituent Assembly. ... Full Story | Top |
| Entry of Republican congressman promises hot Senate race in Arkansas Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 05:51 PM PDT  By Suzi Parker LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - Arkansas Representative Tom Cotton, considered a rising star in the Republican Party, announced on Tuesday he will challenge Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Pryor in what could likely be one of the most heated 2014 races. Cotton had been the favored Arkansas candidate among national Republicans hoping to recruit a strong slate and win majority control in the U.S. Senate. Pryor, 50, a two-term moderate, is seen as one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian government to say mediation failed to end crisis Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 05:24 PM PDT  By Maggie Fick and Shaimaa Fayed CAIRO (Reuters) - The chances for a negotiated end to Egypt's political crisis looked to have hit the rocks on Tuesday with the army-installed government reportedly ready to declare that foreign mediation efforts had failed. State-run Al-Ahram newspaper, citing official sources, said the government would make an announcement to that effect soon. It would also declare that Muslim Brotherhood protests against the army's overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi were non-peaceful - a signal that the government intends to end them by force. ... Full Story | Top |
| Haiti to hold parliamentary elections this year: U.S. senator Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 05:23 PM PDT  MIAMI (Reuters) - Haitian President Michel Martelly plans to hold overdue elections before the end of the year, according to U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, who is on a four-day visit to the Caribbean nation. The elections are needed to fill one-third of Haiti's 30-member Senate and dozens of municipal posts. Elections were supposed to be held in late 2011, but disagreements over an elections law halted the process. Nelson, a Florida Democrat, issued a statement on Tuesday saying he was "surprised at the degree of political polarization" between Martelly and Haiti's opposition leaders in parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
| Man charged with murder in car rampage on Venice Beach boardwalk Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 05:22 PM PDT  By Dan Whitcomb and Dana Feldman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A man accused of plowing his car through crowds at the Venice Beach boardwalk in Los Angeles, killing an Italian woman on her honeymoon and injuring 16 other people, was charged on Tuesday with murder and multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Nathan Louis Campbell, who was also charged with 17 counts of felony hit-and-run, pleaded not guilty during a brief arraignment hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court, appearing pale and feeble in blue jail garb and shackles. "He is quite distraught. ... Full Story | Top |
| San Diego mayor accused of inappropriate behavior by 11th woman Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 05:09 PM PDT  By Marty Graham SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - The number of women to publicly accuse San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of inappropriate behavior increased to 11 on Tuesday when a vocational nurse said she had been propositioned by Filner while seeking his help on behalf of a disabled U.S. war veteran. The nurse, Michelle Tyler, told reporters that the mayor began stroking her arm and asking her out on a date while she was alone with him in his City Hall office in June - suggesting that his willingness to assist her depended on it. The 70-year-old Democrat and former U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Case of Boston mob boss 'Whitey' Bulger goes to jury Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 05:01 PM PDT  By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - The jury in the trial of James "Whitey" Bulger concluded its first day of deliberations on Tuesday without a verdict on whether the former Boston mob boss is guilty of murder and racketeering charges that could put him in prison for the rest of his life. The 12 jurors and six alternates were dismissed and were due back in court on Wednesday to continue sifting through testimony from a trial that has lasted almost two months. They heard witnesses testify about the era when Bulger ruled Boston's underworld as head of the Winter Hill gang. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hasan tells Fort Hood murder trial 'I am the shooter' Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 05:00 PM PDT  By Karen Brooks and Lisa Maria Garza FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan admitted carrying out the massacre of 13 soldiers at a Texas base on the first day of his court-martial Tuesday, quietly telling a jury, "I am the shooter." Hasan, who is representing himself in the military trial at the base where he opened fire on November 5, 2009, spent less than two minutes on a statement in which he spoke of his conversion to "jihad," or Muslim holy war, against the United States. "I was on the wrong side but I switched sides," Hasan, in a wheelchair, said without emotion. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. files criminal charges in Benghazi attack: media reports Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 04:53 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has filed sealed criminal charges for the attack in Benghazi, Libya, last year in which the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed, media reports said on Tuesday. The U.S. Justice Department said it had no comment on the reports by CNN and the Wall Street Journal, but that its investigation was ongoing and remained a top priority. It was not clear how many people had been charged and what the charges were. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Senator McCain, in Cairo, says Egypt near 'all-out bloodshed' Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 04:51 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Unrest in Egypt could turn into "all-out bloodshed" in coming days if efforts to find a political solution fail, U.S. Senator John McCain warned on Tuesday during a visit to Cairo. "Oh my God, I didn't know it was this bad. These folks are just days or weeks away from all-out bloodshed," McCain said during an interview in Cairo with "CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley. ... Full Story | Top |
| NYC comptroller candidate arrested for illegal drug sales Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 04:20 PM PDT By Chris Francescani NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Manhattan madam who is running for New York City comptroller was arrested and charged with selling prescription pills for cash, the FBI said on Tuesday. In the latest twist to the city's scandal-hit campaign season, Kristin Davis, 38, allegedly sold prescription pills to a federal informant four times in four months this year, the FBI said. Davis is running for the post of comptroller - in effect the city's chief financial officer - also being sought by former Democratic New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt army chief shows political agility in crisis Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 04:09 PM PDT  By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - For a man who says he doesn't want to be president, Egypt's army chief is proving to be a skillful politician so far. Since he deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on July 3, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has built on a web of contacts he began nurturing after his appointment as army chief last year. He has met everyone from top clerics to writers and youth activists through the crisis unleashed by Mursi's downfall, while juggling sensitive foreign relations with the United States, Europe and Arab allies. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. accuses Bank of America of mortgage-backed securities fraud Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 04:04 PM PDT  By David Ingram and Peter Rudegeair WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Tuesday filed two civil lawsuits against Bank of America that accuse the bank of investor fraud in its sale of $850 million of residential mortgage-backed securities. The lawsuits are the latest legal headache for the second-largest U.S. bank, which has already agreed to pay in excess of $45 billion to settle disputes stemming from the 2008 financial crisis. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australia's opposition promises company tax cut in election race Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 03:56 PM PDT CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's conservative opposition promised on Wednesday to cut the country's 30 percent company tax rate if it wins September elections, saying the move would boost business confidence and help support flagging economic growth. The conservatives, leading in opinion polls in an election race centered on jobs and management of the $1.5 trillion economy, said it would cut 1.5 percentage points off the tax, helping defray the cost of a new paid parental leave scheme for about 3,000 of the country's biggest companies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-NYS Senate leader Bruno loses bid to throw out fraud case Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 03:56 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - An appeal by former New York state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno was rejected by a federal court on Tuesday, upsetting his bid to dismiss a second indictment and clearing the way for a new fraud trial. Lawyers for Bruno, whose 2009 conviction had previously been thrown out, had argued that a second trial over whether the upstate Republican deprived people of his "honest services" violated his constitutional right against being tried twice for the same crime, known as double jeopardy. But a panel of the 2nd U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge says SEC can pursue Bitcoin-related lawsuit Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 03:54 PM PDT  By Sarah N. Lynch (Reuters) - U.S. regulators got the green light from a federal judge to proceed with their lawsuit against a Texas man accused of running a Ponzi scheme using Bitcoin, the virtual online money system. Trendon Shavers of Bitcoin Savings & Trust had challenged the Securities and Exchange Commission's case against him, saying the regulator had no jurisdiction to sue him because the Bitcoin investments he offered are not securities or subject to any U.S. regulation. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Amos L. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico energy reform due this week, debate over contracts Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 03:38 PM PDT  By David Alire Garcia and Adriana Barrera MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Tuesday that his government will present its energy reform proposal this week, an overhaul aimed at luring more private capital to the oil, gas and electricity sectors to boost flagging output. The energy reform will be presented to the Congress and is a key plank of a wider economic overhaul designed to boost growth in Latin America's No. 2 economy to 6 percent a year, create jobs and lower energy costs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan PM to call for stronger response to Fukushima water crisis: Nikkei Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 03:33 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to call on Wednesday for a stronger response to try to stop highly radioactive water leaking into the ocean from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the Nikkei newspaper reported. It also said the government would commit taxpayer money to halt the buildup of radioactive water at the plant. On Monday, an official from Japan's nuclear watchdog told Reuters the leakage had become an "emergency", adding that the operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), was struggling to contain the problem. ... Full Story | Top |
| Signs of new climate 'normal' apparent in hot 2012: report Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 03:32 PM PDT  By Environment Correspondent Deborah Zabarenko WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Last year was one of the 10 hottest on record, with sea levels at record highs, Arctic ice at historic lows and extreme weather in various corners of the globe signaling a "new normal," scientists said Tuesday in the 2012 State of the Climate report. Meant to be a guide for policymakers, the report did not attribute the changes in climate to any one factor, but made note of continued increases in heat-trapping greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Highlights of Obama's plan to boost housing Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 03:32 PM PDT (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday called on Congress to overhaul the nation's decades-old mortgage finance system and wind down government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Since the housing market has started to rebound, with far fewer foreclosures and rising home values, the White House wants to help spur the recovery. Obama unveiled a new strategy that ultimately places the mortgage finance system more in the hands of the private sector than backed by the government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama touts mortgage finance plan, highlights private sector role Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 03:32 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason PHOENIX (Reuters) - President Barack Obama called on Tuesday for broad reform of the mortgage finance system to boost the U.S. housing market, help still-struggling homeowners, and prevent one of the triggers of the 2007-2009 financial crisis from happening again. Obama picked Arizona to make his remarks, choosing a state that came to symbolize the painful bursting of the housing bubble in 2007 and 2008 that led to a wave of foreclosures and wiped out trillions of dollars in household equity. ... Full Story | Top |
| Traffic ticket spurs fight over state services in Hawaiian language Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 03:24 PM PDT By Jonathan Kaminsky (Reuters) - A Hawaiian-language activist unable to renew his driver's license after addressing Honolulu motor-vehicle officials in his traditional tongue is using a traffic court case to push for the hiring of more Hawaiian speakers in government posts. Daniel Anthony, 35, does not contest that he was speeding when he was pulled over on Oahu in January. ... Full Story | Top |
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