| | |
| Russia gives Snowden asylum, Obama-Putin summit in doubt Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 08:46 PM PDT  By Timothy Heritage and Steve Holland MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia rejected U.S. pleas and granted American fugitive Edward Snowden a year's asylum on Thursday, letting the former spy agency contractor slip out of a Moscow airport after more than five weeks in limbo while angering the United States and putting in doubt a planned summit between the two nations' presidents. The United States wanted Russia to send Snowden home to face criminal charges including espionage for disclosing in June secret American internet and telephone surveillance programs. ... Full Story | Top |
| After Snowden, no business as usual for U.S. and Russia Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 09:04 PM PDT  By Matt Spetalnick and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After causing weeks of embarrassment for the U.S. intelligence community, the Edward Snowden saga has now cast a shadow over international efforts to end the Syrian civil war and deal with Iran, and could also undermine White House hopes for a nuclear arms reduction deal. Russia's decision on Thursday to grant asylum to Snowden threatens to send already-strained relations between the United States and Russia to the lowest point in years and further complicate efforts to work out geopolitical challenges. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama open to making changes to surveillance, lawmakers say Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 06:07 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday told lawmakers he is open to changing controversial surveillance programs in order to restore public confidence and provide assurance the government is not violating citizens' privacy, participants at the meeting said. "We understand the American people really do need to know what's going on now and what's going on in the past and get the right kind of assurances that their privacy has not been breached," said Senator Saxby Chambliss, who attended the meeting. ... Full Story | Top |
| SEC wins as ex-Goldman executive Tourre found liable for fraud Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 04:30 PM PDT  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A jury found former Goldman Sachs Group Inc vice president Fabrice Tourre liable for fraud for his role in a failed mortgage deal that cost investors $1 billion, in a big victory for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Tourre was found liable on six of seven counts by a Manhattan federal jury in the SEC's highest-profile trial to spill out of its investigations into causes of the 2008 financial crisis. "We are gratified by the jury's verdict," said Andrew Ceresney, co-director of the regulator's enforcement division. ... Full Story | Top |
| Berlusconi conviction leaves Italian government hanging Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 04:25 PM PDT  By Roberto Landucci ROME (Reuters) - A ruling by Italy's supreme court upholding a tax fraud conviction against former premier and center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi has left the fate of the country's fragile ruling coalition resting in the balance. Just three months after center-left Prime Minister Enrico Letta took office at the head of an uneasy coalition with Berlusconi's People of Freedom party (PDL), Italy, the euro zone's third largest economy, is again mired in uncertainty. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. shutdown battle begins as Republicans kill spending measure Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 06:10 PM PDT  By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A battle in Congress expected this fall over the budget and a potential government shutdown broke out early on Thursday as Republicans in the Senate effectively killed a $54 billion spending bill for transportation and housing projects. All but one Republican voted against the measure, denying it the 60 votes it needed to advance past a procedural hurdle. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's rulers tell pro-Mursi protesters to quit camps Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 02:56 PM PDT  By Asma Alsharif and Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army-backed government warned supporters of deposed President Mohamed Mursi on Thursday to abandon their Cairo protest camps, promising them a safe exit if they gave up without a fight. The appeal, made by Interior Ministry spokesman Hany Abdel Latif on state television, followed the government's declaration on Wednesday it was ready to take action to end two weeks of sit-in protests by thousands of Mursi supporters at two sites. ... Full Story | Top |
| Icahn sues Dell in latest attempt to foil buyout Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 06:11 PM PDT  By Poornima Gupta (Reuters) - Activist investor Carl Icahn sued Dell Inc and its board on Thursday, his latest attempt to derail a $24.4 billion buyout bid by the computer maker's founder and CEO Michael Dell. Icahn asked a court to block rule changes Michael Dell has proposed ahead of a shareholder vote set for Friday. Icahn and his affiliates also want the court to stop Dell from changing the record date by which shareholders must have purchased their shares in order to vote. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cleveland abductor Castro defiant as he gets life in prison Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 02:12 PM PDT  By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The Cleveland school bus driver who abducted, imprisoned and repeatedly raped three women was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison without parole, plus 1,000 years, 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, verbally sparring with the judge during a court hearing as he sought to blame his actions on a sexual obsession and having been abused as a child. "I am not a monster," he told the court in a rambling statement before sentencing. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama praises Yemeni leader, makes no mention of Guantanamo Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 04:19 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama praised Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi for his work combating terrorism but made no mention of efforts to repatriate detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison in public remarks at the White House on Thursday. Hadi met Obama in the Oval Office a day after he tried to persuade U.S. senators to send home dozens of Yemeni detainees held at the controversial U.S. facility in Cuba. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry hopes Pakistan drone strikes to end 'very soon' Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 02:35 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton and Maria Golovnina ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Pakistanis on Thursday he hoped U.S. drone strikes in their nation would end "very, very soon," a message meant to ease anti-American resentment in the strategic 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 May 2011 U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden. ... Full Story | Top |
| Russia gives Snowden asylum, Obama-Putin summit in doubt Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 03:05 PM PDT By Timothy Heritage and Steve Holland MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia rejected U.S. pleas and granted American fugitive Edward Snowden a year's asylum on Thursday, letting the former spy agency contractor slip out of a Moscow airport after more than five weeks in limbo while angering the United States and putting in doubt a planned summit between the two nations' presidents. The United States wanted Russia to send Snowden home to face criminal charges including espionage for disclosing in June secret American internet and telephone surveillance programs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Buyers snap up vehicles in July, but fleet sales weak Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 04:49 PM PDT  By Ben Klayman and Deepa Seetharaman DETROIT (Reuters) - Auto sales to individual U.S. consumers beat expectations in July and major automakers reported low inventories for many hot-selling models, such as Ford Motor Co's Fusion mid-size sedan, suggesting sales would strengthen further this year. The stronger so-called retail sales boosted the share prices of Ford and General Motors Co on Thursday, but overall sales were weaker than expected. ... Full Story | Top |
| Snowden will 'build a new life in Russia': lawyer Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 02:20 PM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden will publish no more leaks but instead look to build a life in Russia where he has been granted a year-long asylum, his lawyer said on Thursday. Anatoly Kucherena, a Russian lawyer who is assisting Snowden, said the 30-year-old has found shelter in a private home of American expatriates after leaving Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport following more than five weeks in limbo there. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. shutdown battle begins as Republicans kill spending measure Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 04:11 PM PDT  By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A battle in Congress expected this fall over the budget and a potential government shutdown broke out early on Thursday as Republicans in the U.S. Senate effectively killed a $54 billion spending bill for transportation and housing projects. All but one Republican voted against the measure, denying it the 60 votes it needed to advance past a procedural hurdle. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italy supreme court upholds Berlusconi jail sentence Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 02:00 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 four-times 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 underage prostitute. ... Full Story | Top |
| House Republicans to push $40 billion cut to food stamp program Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 03:27 PM PDT  By Charles Abbott WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Republicans plan to seek a $40 billion cut in food stamps for the poor, the head of the House Agriculture Committee said on Thursday, double the amount previously sought by conservatives. The plan was quickly condemned by Democrats. Chairman Frank Lucas said the legislation on food stamps, formally named Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), would be the second part of any talks with the Senate on a new U.S. farm law costing $100 billion a year. Food stamps, the largest U.S. anti-hunger program, are the pivotal issue for the farm bill. ... Full Story | Top |
| Icahn sues Dell in latest attempt to foil buyout Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 04:17 PM PDT  By Poornima Gupta (Reuters) - Activist investor Carl Icahn sued Dell Inc and its board on Thursday, his latest attempt to derail a $24.4 billion buyout bid by the computer maker's founder and CEO Michael Dell. Icahn asked a court to block rule changes Michael Dell has proposed ahead of a shareholder vote set for Friday. Icahn and his affiliates also want the court to stop Dell from changing the record date by which shareholders must have purchased their shares in order to vote. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tsvangirai denounces Zimbabwe vote as 'huge farce' Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 02:47 PM 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 |
| 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 |
| Explosion in Syrian city of Homs kills 40: monitoring group Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 08:14 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Forty people were killed and at least 120 people were wounded in an explosion at a weapons cache in the central Syrian city of Homs on Thursday, a group opposed to President Bashar al-Assad said. The explosion occurred in the south-eastern district of Wadi al-Dhahab, which the army has taken over, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The group has a network of sources in the opposition and state security forces. The Observatory said the casualties were soldiers and civilians and that some of the wounded were in a critical condition. ... 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 |
| Syria's Assad says he certain to defeat rebels Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 01:41 PM 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 and now mostly retaken by his army. But Assad's forces took a blow in the central city of Homs, where at least 40 people were killed in a huge explosion that hit a weapons cache and in mortar attacks on mainly Alawite districts - the same minority sect as Assad - and guarded by pro-Assad militia, opposition activists said. ... Full Story | Top |
| ECB holds rates, confirms no move for 'extended period' Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 07:35 AM PDT  By Eva Taylor and Sakari Suoninen FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank left interest rates at a record low 0.5 percent on Thursday and affirmed that they will remain there for some while to come and could yet fall further. ECB President Mario Draghi hinted that policy would not be tightened until well into next year at the earliest, although the central bank will give no time horizon for when rates might move. "Our monetary policy stance ... provides support to a gradual recovery in economic activity in the remaining part of the year and in 2014," Draghi told a news conference. ... Full Story | Top |
| Spain's Rajoy says he was wrong to trust treasurer in party funding scandal Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 09:13 AM PDT  By Andrés González MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy apologized on Thursday for mishandling a major corruption scandal, but denied he or his center-right People's Party accepted illegal payments and rejected opposition calls to step down. It was the first time Rajoy had admitted any error since it emerged in January that the ruling party's former treasurer Luis Barcenas - in jail pending trial on charges of bribery and tax evasion - hid up to 48 million euros in Swiss bank accounts. "I was wrong. I'm sorry but that is how it was. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S., Pakistan agree to start new chapter in long-strained relations Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 04:18 AM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton and Maria Golovnina ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The United States and Pakistan agreed on Thursday to re-establish a "full partnership", hoping to end years of acrimony over U.S. drone strikes on Pakistani soil, the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and other grievances. "We are here to speak honestly with each other, openly about any gaps that may exist that we want to try to bridge," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said during an unannounced visit to Islamabad. "Our people deserve that we talk directly." Besides the killing of bin Laden in a Pakistani town by U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Drugmakers fear short-term 'turmoil' as China probes widen Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 06:30 AM PDT  By Ben Hirschler and Elena Berton LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - Chinese authorities visited a regional office of French drugmaker Sanofi this week in the latest sign of a widening investigation into Western drugmakers. Eli Lilly said it had also been visited by officials in the same city of Shenyang as part of a "routine" probe which had started earlier this year, while the CEO of AstraZeneca, which has a sales executive in detention in Shanghai, warned of short-term "turmoil" in the sector. ... Full Story | Top |
| Assad says sure he will defeat Syrian rebels Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 06:00 AM PDT  By Oliver Holmes BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday he was confident of victory against rebels in a 28-month-old civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people and sent nearly two million fleeing abroad. Insurgents have seized large swathes of territory, but Assad's forces have staged a counter-offensive in recent weeks, pushing them back from around the capital Damascus and retaking several towns near the border with Lebanon. ... Full Story | Top |
| China condemns U.S. Senate over sea dispute resolution Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 03:36 AM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it had lodged a formal complaint with the United States after the U.S. Senate passed a resolution expressing concern about Chinese actions in the disputed East and South China Seas. The U.S. resolution, passed on Monday, listed several examples of worrying Chinese behavior, including China's issuing of an official map defining the contested South China Sea as within its national border and of Chinese surveillance ships entering waters disputed with Japan in the East China Sea. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. House passes Iran sanctions bill to slash oil exports Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 01:54 AM PDT  By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives easily passed a bill on Wednesday to tighten sanctions on Iran, showing a strong message to Tehran over its disputed nuclear program days before President-elect Hassan Rouhani is sworn in. The vote also highlighted a growing divide between Congress and the Obama administration on Iran policy ahead of international talks on the nuclear program in coming months. Iran insists the nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hopes ride on Iran's Rouhani, but huge task ahead Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 03:30 AM PDT  By Jon Hemming DUBAI (Reuters) - A wave of optimism has swept Iran since Hassan Rouhani was elected president last month, but as he takes office on Sunday the moderate cleric has a monumental task to resolve the nuclear dispute, ease stringent sanctions and revive a failing economy. If that were not enough, he has to do this while trying to satisfy the demands of his reformist allies while outflanking the conservatives he defeated, but who still dominate parliament and are deeply embedded within the state. ... Full Story | Top |
| Assad says sure he will defeat Syrian rebels Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 01:56 AM PDT  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday he was confident of victory against rebels in a devastating 28-month-old civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people and sent nearly two million fleeing abroad. Insurgents have seized large swathes of territory, but Assad's forces have staged a counter-offensive in recent weeks, pushing them back from around the capital Damascus and retaking several towns near the border with Lebanon. ... Full Story | Top |
| As Egypt turns up heat, Brothers struggle for strategy Thursday, Aug 01, 2013 03:14 AM PDT  By Michael Georgy and Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - Behind sandbags at the Muslim Brotherhood's protest camp in Cairo, an activist urges supporters to embrace martyrdom. It is not a call to arms, but a message that they shouldn't fear death as they demonstrate against the military's overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. "Martyrs don't die. Martyrs go to paradise," he said through a megaphone as people held aloft symbolic coffins to commemorate more than 100 Mursi supporters already shot dead in the street. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mugabe beats Tsvangirai in Zimbabwe election: ZANU-PF source Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 11:45 PM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A senior source in Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's party claimed a resounding victory in Wednesday's parliamentary and presidential election against Prime Minster Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). "We've taken this election. We've buried the MDC. We never had any doubt that we were going to win," the source, who could not be named, told Reuters by phone on Thursday. Releasing results early in Zimbabwe is illegal, and police have said they will arrest anybody who makes premature claims about the result. ... Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment