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| Senate passes sweeping immigration legislation Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:59 PM PDT  By Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate approved a landmark immigration bill on Thursday that would provide millions of undocumented immigrants a chance to become citizens, but the leader of the House of Representatives said the measure was dead on arrival in the House. In a rare show of bipartisanship, the Democratic-controlled Senate passed the bill by a vote of 68-32, with 14 of the Senate's 46 Republicans joining all 52 Democrats and two independents in support of the bill. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama heads to South Africa with Mandela on his mind Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 07:06 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Mark Felsenthal DAKAR (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama heads to South Africa on Friday hoping to see ailing icon Nelson Mandela, after wrapping up a visit to Senegal that focused on improving food security and promoting democratic institutions. Obama is in the middle of a three-country tour of Africa that the White House hopes will compensate for what some view as years of neglect by the administration of America's first black president. ... Full Story | Top |
| Daughter says Mandela 'still there', raps media 'vultures' Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 10:43 AM PDT  By Siphiwe Sibeko PRETORIA (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela's eldest daughter lambasted foreign media "vultures" for violating her father's privacy as he lay critically ill in hospital, and said the former South African president was still clinging to life on Thursday. Makaziwe Mandela's outburst came as anxiety increased over the faltering health of the 94-year-old anti-apartheid hero, admired across the world as a symbol of resistance against injustice and oppression and then of racial reconciliation. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. watchdog raps Pentagon for buying aircraft for Afghan unit Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 09:06 PM PDT By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A government watchdog criticized the Pentagon on Friday for forging ahead with controversial helicopter purchases from a Russian arms dealer despite warnings the Afghan special forces unit due to receive the aircraft could not fly or maintain them. The watchdog - the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction - urged the Pentagon to suspend the $553 million Russian arms deal as well as a $218 million contract for 18 planes from a U.S. firm until plans were in place to fully recruit and train the Afghan special forces unit. ... Full Story | Top |
| One dead as Egypt simmers ahead of rallies Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:50 PM PDT  By Alastair Macdonald and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood said one man was shot dead and four wounded in an attack on a provincial party office, stoking factional rivalries ahead of mass rallies starting on Friday. It blamed activists who are campaigning to force President Mohamed Mursi to resign as he marks his first year in office. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama jabs Russia, China on failure to extradite Snowden Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:33 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Mark Felsenthal DAKAR (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday he would not start "wheeling and dealing" with China and Russia over a U.S. request to extradite former American spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. Obama, who appeared concerned that the case would overshadow his three-country tour of Africa begun in Senegal, also dismissed suggestions that the United States might try to intercept Snowden if he were allowed to leave Moscow by air. ... Full Story | Top |
| Defense challenges testimony of woman on phone with Trayvon Martin Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:32 PM PDT  By Barbara Liston SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - A woman who was on the phone with unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin moments before he was shot by a neighborhood watchman rejected attempts by a lawyer in a Florida court to depict Martin as the aggressor in a struggle that ended in his death. A former resident of the gated community where Martin was killed also testified on Thursday that she saw the watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, on top of Martin during the fatal encounter. ... Full Story | Top |
| What an NSA charm offensive looks like Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:02 PM PDT  By Jack Shafer (Reuters) - Banged and bruised in the press over the NSA secrets liberated by Edward Snowden and serialized in the Guardian and the Washington Post, the national security establishment resorted to a little media offense earlier this week with a series of conversations with major news outlets. As media blitzes go, it was sedate and vague. The "natsec" establishment made its first landing in the Washington Post's June 25 print edition, where two unnamed senior intelligence officials speculated about the damage done to U.S. national security by the leaks ("U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boston bombing suspect accused in four deaths, could face execution Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 02:37 PM PDT By Scott Malone and Stephanie Simon BOSTON (Reuters) - Accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday on charges of killing four people in the largest mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001. The 30-count indictment filed in Boston federal court charges the 19-year-old ethnic Chechen with setting off two homemade pressure-cooker bombs in a crowd of thousands at the race's finish line and with committing a carjacking and engaging in a gunbattle with police before his April 19 arrest. Tsarnaev could be executed if convicted. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Clashing visions weigh on U.S. drive for Taliban talks Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 02:07 PM PDT  By Matthew Green ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - As the United States makes a fresh attempt to start talks with the Taliban, competing visions in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan over what an eventual peace process might look like have emerged as one of the biggest hurdles. Washington's hopes of negotiating with the insurgents to stabilize Afghanistan before most foreign troops leave by the end of 2014 had appeared to achieve a breakthrough last week when the Taliban opened an office in the Qatari capital Doha. ... Full Story | Top |
| Watchdog defends review of IRS conservative scrutiny Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 01:53 PM PDT  By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, facing criticism of his findings that tax authorities targeted Tea Party-linked groups for extra scrutiny, said his office did not find evidence that the term "progressives" was used to target liberal-leaning groups. As the Internal Revenue Service Tea Party controversy turned inward on itself, with investigators themselves under scrutiny, J. Russell George said in a letter to Democrats that his office found the IRS did not scrutinize conservative and progressive groups equally. ... Full Story | Top |
| Closing ranks, Fed officials push back on 'out of sync' markets Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 10:37 AM PDT  By Jonathan Spicer and Alister Bull NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In remarkably similar tones, two influential Federal Reserve policymakers on Thursday sought to dissuade investors that monetary accommodation was fading any time soon, each going so far as to say markets have misinterpreted the U.S. central bank's intentions. The separate speeches from New York Fed President William Dudley and Fed Governor Jerome Powell underscore how uneasily U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Detroit emergency manager steps up pace in city restructuring Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 03:38 PM PDT  By Nick Carey (Reuters) - Detroit's emergency manager issued a flurry of announcements on Thursday addressing union contracts, power distribution and an errant council president as he steps up the pace of efforts to tackle the city's massive $18.5 billion debt problem. Kevyn Orr stripped City Council President Charles Pugh of his authority and pay, terminated two union contracts that were about to expire so as to allow room to renegotiate them and announced an agreement with power company DTE Energy Co. to take over power distribution to local institutions, including the public school system. ... Full Story | Top |
| CFTC charges Corzine in MF Global collapse Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:23 PM PDT  By Douwe Miedema WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. regulator charged former MF Global chief Jon Corzine over the collapse of the futures brokerage, blaming the former Goldman Sachs co-chief executive with being a key actor in one of the country's 10 biggest bankruptcies. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Thursday it will seek in a civil case to ban Corzine and former Assistant Treasurer Edith O'Brien from the industry, and also seek penalties against the two. "Mr. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. chemical weapons team in Turkey to investigate Syria claims Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:40 AM PDT  By Anthony Deutsch and Parisa Hafezi AMSTERDAM/ANKARA (Reuters) - U.N.-appointed inspectors, blocked from entering Syria, are in Turkey to gather information about possible use of chemical weapons in the civil war, officials said on Thursday. The Syrian government and rebels fighting it have accused each other of using lethal chemical agents, including sarin gas, in the two-year-old conflict in which the death toll is estimated at more than 100,000. ... Full Story | Top |
| Consumer spending, jobs data point to lukewarm growth Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 10:09 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending rebounded in May and new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, suggesting the economy remained on a moderate growth path. While other data on Thursday showed contracts to buy previously owned homes approached a 6-1/2 year high in May, the data taken together suggested economic activity would probably remain lukewarm and discourage the Federal Reserve from scaling back its monetary stimulus anytime soon. ... Full Story | Top |
| Some gay couples now due to receive benefits under 'Obamacare' Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 09:26 AM PDT  By Yasmeen Abutaleb WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court's ruling on Wednesday that same-sex couples are eligible for federal benefits will mean more gays and lesbians can reap the benefits of President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul that take effect January 1, advocates say. In a landmark decision, the court effectively legalized same-sex marriage in California and struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which denied same-sex couples federal benefits such as healthcare. ... Full Story | Top |
| Syria war likely to drag on, Red Cross president says Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 06:28 AM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The Red Cross said on Thursday it was planning humanitarian operations for an extended conflict in Syria in the absence of any sign of a political solution and military stalemate between rebels and government troops. Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that the aid agency had urged major powers to try to stop all sides from committing violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes. He saw no reason to expect the 27-month-old conflict to end anytime soon. ... Full Story | Top |
| In Africa, Obama lauds democracy but urges progress on gay rights Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:13 AM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Daniel Flynn DAKAR (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, kicking off a long-awaited African tour, lauded a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage as a victory for democracy and urged African nations to end discrimination against homosexuals. In only his second visit to Africa since taking office, Obama hailed the advance of democracy there and said he was looking at ways to extend the AGOA free trade agreement, due to expire in 2015, to create more jobs on the world's poorest continent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Kerry resumes tough Israeli-Palestinian peace drive Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:07 AM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton AMMAN (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry's drive to revive Middle East peace talks hit familiar warning signals on Thursday as Israel's prime minister stressed security needs and a Palestinian negotiator denounced Israeli settlement building. Kerry, on his fifth visit to the region, will hold separate talks with Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem over the next three days. ... Full Story | Top |
| China, South Korea push for North Korea talks Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:04 AM PDT  By Ju-min Park and Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - China's president welcomed his South Korean counterpart on Thursday as an "old friend of China" and agreed to make a push for new talks with North Korea on Thursday as two of Asia's newest leaders met for the first time. Park Geun-hye, one of Asia's few women leaders, took office in Seoul in February amid war threats by North Korea, while China's Xi Jinping was appointed in November and has sought to rein in the North's nuclear weapons program, backing tougher economic sanctions against Beijing's traditional ally. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ecuador offers U.S. rights aid, waives trade benefits Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 07:06 AM PDT  By Alexandra Valencia and Brian Ellsworth QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's leftist government thumbed its nose at Washington on Thursday by renouncing U.S. trade benefits and offering to pay for human rights training in America in response to pressure over asylum for former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. The angry response threatens a showdown between the two nations over Snowden, and may burnish President Rafael Correa's credentials to be the continent's principal challenger of U.S. power after the death of Venezuelan socialist leader Hugo Chavez. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama starts long awaited Africa tour at slave port Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:28 AM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal DAKAR, Senegal (Reuters) - Almost four centuries after Africans started being shipped to North America as slaves, the first U.S. president of African ancestry will on Thursday visit an infamous embarkation point for those destined for lives in chains. In his first - and, many Africans say, long-overdue - extended tour of the continent, President Barack Obama will focus on political and economic issues, but is also paying homage to a painful chapter in American history. ... Full Story | Top |
| No sign of cyber leaker Snowden on flight to Cuba Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:07 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian passenger plane left Moscow for Havana on Thursday without any sign of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden on board, witnesses said. Cuba is considered a possible destination for Snowden on his way to Ecuador, where he is seeking asylum. The 30-year-old American is wanted in the United States on espionage charges and is thought to have remained in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since flying in from Hong Kong on Sunday. Russia carrier Aeroflot confirmed the plane's departure but declined comment on the passenger list. ... Full Story | Top |
| ANA says Dreamliner jet had problem with AC power supply Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 03:58 AM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - One of All Nippon Airways' 787 Dreamliner jets, made by Boeing Co, had a cockpit message saying that the aircraft might not be able to supply power for its air-conditioning system, the Japanese airline said on Thursday. The issue was not related to the lithium ion battery problems that had grounded the jets for three months from mid-January, Ryosei Nomura, an ANA spokesman, said. All Dreamliner jets are under the microscope after Boeing installed a re-designed battery system and they resumed flying. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rudd sworn in as Australian PM after overthrowing Gillard Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 03:22 AM PDT  By James Grubel CANBERRA (Reuters) - Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Australian prime minister for the second time on Thursday, a day after toppling Julia Gillard and three months ahead of elections in which opinion polls show the ruling Labor Party faces a devastating defeat. Rudd's return as prime minister follows three years of squabbling within the Labor leadership and as the world's 12th largest economy faces challenges stemming from a slowdown in top trade partner China. ... Full Story | Top |
| Consumer spending rebounds, income jumps Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 05:38 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending rebounded and incomes recorded their largest increase in three months in May, adding to data that have suggested the economy has shifted to firmer ground. The Commerce Department said on Thursday consumer spending increased 0.3 percent last month after a revised 0.3 percent drop in April. Consumer spending in April was previously reported to have declined 0.2 percent. Last month's spending increase was in line with economists' expectations. When adjusted for inflation, consumer spending rose 0.2 percent last month after dipping 0.1 percent in April. ... Full Story | Top |
| SapuraKencana, Seadrill win $2.7 billion Petrobras contract Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 09:01 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Brazil's state-run oil firm Petrobas SA has awarded a $2.7 billion offshore support vessel contract to Norway's Seadrill and Malaysia's SapuraKencana , the latter firm said on Thursday. Their joint venture - Sapura Navegacao Maritima - won an 8-year deal to build, charter and operate three pipe-laying vessels, with delivery scheduled for the second quarter of 2016, the company said in a stock exchange filing. Petrobras can extend the contract by further 8 years. A decision to build the ships outside of Brazil comes as Petrobras seeks to cut costs by $15. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.N. chemical weapons team in Turkey to investigate Syria claims Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 02:23 AM PDT  By Anthony Deutsch and Parisa Hafezi AMSTERDAM/ANKARA (Reuters) - U.N.-appointed inspectors, blocked from entering Syria, are in Turkey to gather information about possible use of chemical weapons in the civil war, officials said on Thursday. Members of the team assembled by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had been on standby in Cyprus since April, unable to enter Syria as Western governments accused President Bashar al-Assad's forces of chemical weapons attacks. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ecuador minister says statement on Snowden imminent Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 04:53 AM PDT  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said on Thursday an announcement would be made within half an hour in Ecuador about former CIA contractor Edward Snowden. He was speaking to reporters in Singapore. (Editing by Nick Macfie) Full Story | Top |
| Rosneft offers to buy out small TNK-BP shareholders in cut-price deal Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:45 AM PDT  By Katya Golubkova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian state oil major Rosneft on Thursday offered to buy out small shareholders in TNK-BP Holding but said it would pay less for the stock than the price at the time of the takeover in March. Chief executive Igor Sechin said that Rosneft was not a "charity fund" when it bought TNK-BP and did not intend to buy out minority shareholders, raising complaints from them and questions from international investors about corporate governance in Russia. Following the TNK-BP deal, Rosneft became the world's No. 1 oil producer by output, pumping 4. ... Full Story | Top |
| China lifts 17-year ban on Dalai Lama photos at Tibet monastery: group Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 08:47 AM PDT  By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese officials have lifted a ban on Tibetan monks displaying photographs of the Dalai Lama at a prominent monastery, a rights group said on Thursday, an unexpected policy shift which could ease tensions in the restive region. The decision concerning the Gaden monastery in the Tibetan capital Lhasa - one of the most historically important religious establishments in Tibet - reversed a ban introduced in 1996, the Britain-based Free Tibet group told Reuters, citing sources with direct knowledge of the situation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merkel tells Turkey democratic values 'non-negotiable' for EU Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 01:12 AM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday she welcomed an agreement to reopen talks with Turkey about joining the European Union but warned in the light of the crackdown on Turkish anti-government protests that democratic values were non-negotiable. Merkel told the German parliament that the agreement this week to make progress in Turkey's application for membership conditional on respect for human rights and political reform meant the EU was "not acting as if nothing had happened". ... Full Story | Top |
| Envoy says U.S. loses trust in Hong Kong after Snowden Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 03:40 AM PDT  By Greg Torode HONG KONG (Reuters) - The top U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong warned on Thursday of a "big struggle" ahead to repair Washington's trust in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory after the flight of fugitive spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. Speaking publicly for the first time since Snowden flew from Hong Kong to Moscow on Sunday despite a U.S. request to hold him to face charges of espionage, Consul General Stephen Young told Reuters that Washington's confidence was "shaken". "My point is simple - I've spent three years working for good relationship between Hong Kong and the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Confrontation over the South China Sea 'doomed', China tells claimants Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 02:11 AM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - Countries with territorial claims in the South China Sea that look for help from third parties will find their efforts "futile", China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned on Thursday, adding that the path of confrontation would be "doomed". Beijing's assertion of sovereignty over a vast stretch of the South China Sea has set it directly against Vietnam and the Philippines, while Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also lay claim to other parts of the sea, making it Asia's biggest potential military troublespot. At stake are potentially massive offshore oil reserves. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. cyber leaker Snowden sits tight in Moscow transit Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 01:30 AM PDT  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was believed to still be at a Moscow airport on Thursday and officials said he had not booked a flight out despite pressure from Russian President Vladimir Putin to leave. Snowden fled the United States to Hong Kong this month after leaking details of secret U.S. government surveillance programs, then flew to Moscow on Sunday. He had been expected to fly on to Havana on Monday but did not board the aircraft. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mongolian president wins second term amid focus on mining curbs Thursday, Jun 27, 2013 02:41 AM PDT  ULAN BATOR (Reuters) - Mongolia's incumbent president, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, who wants more controls on foreign mining investments, has emerged as the winner of Wednesday's polls with a narrow majority of votes cast, the country's election commission said on Thursday. Elbegdorj, 50, who has served as president since 2009, was the overwhelming favorite in the contest, played out amid worries about Mongolia's faltering economy as well as the growing role of foreign mining firms. The commission said Elbegdorj got 50. ... Full Story | Top |
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