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| NSA chief defends surveillance programs at hacking conference Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 02:21 PM PDT  By Joseph Menn LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander jousted with a few hecklers as he defended the U.S. spy agency's surveillance programs at the Black Hat security conference on Wednesday, but largely kept the crowd of cybersecurity experts and hackers on his side. "Read the Constitution!" one heckler shouted at the 61-year-old four-star general as he responded to polite but tough questions selected in advance by conference organizers. "I have. So should you," Alexander shot back, triggering sustained applause. ... Full Story | Top |
| Congress finally votes to cut student loan interest rates Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 04:27 PM PDT  By Elvina Nawaguna WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. college students will likely pay a reduced interest rate of 3.86 percent on their student loans for the new school year, after lawmakers on Wednesday finally passed a compromise bill that would reverse a recent rate hike. The House of Representatives voted 392-31 in support of a bipartisan deal to lower interest rates on millions of new federal student loans. The Senate passed the bill on July 24 and President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon warns of tough trade-offs in face of looming cuts Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 05:47 PM PDT  By David Alexander and Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday pledged $40 billion in new Pentagon spending reductions over the next decade, but warned that additional cuts required by law posed stark choices that could bend or break the president's defense strategy. Hagel, unveiling his four-month Strategic Choices and Management Review, said the Pentagon would cut $40 billion in overhead from its agencies and headquarters units over the next decade. ... Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's rulers want to break up Brotherhood vigils Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 04:12 PM PDT By Asma Alsharif and Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt faced the prospect of fresh bloodshed on Thursday after the country's army-backed rulers signaled they would move soon to disperse thousands of supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. With no sign of a negotiated end to weeks of violent confrontation, Egypt's interim government said two Cairo vigils by Mursi supporters posed a threat to national security, citing "terrorism" and traffic disruption. It ordered the Interior Ministry to take steps to "address these dangers and put an end to them," but gave no time frame. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Snowden leak upstages U.S. move to declassify documents Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 04:10 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle and Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New revelations from former security contractor Edward Snowden that U.S. intelligence agencies have access to a vast online tracking tool came to light on Wednesday, as lawmakers put the secret surveillance programs under greater scrutiny. The Guardian, citing documents from Snowden, published National Security Agency training materials for the XKeyscore program, which the British newspaper described as the NSA's widest-reaching system that covers "nearly everything a typical user does on the Internet. ... Full Story | Top |
| As Zimbabwe counts ballots, police warn against leaked election results Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 04:09 PM PDT  By Stella Mapenzauswa HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe police vowed to crack down on any attempts to leak early results from Tuesday's vote, complicating plans by some civic groups to pre-empt official announcements by the country's election commission. The move means it could be hours before the first officially collated results trickle in from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, although political parties will have immediate access to individual results posted at polling stations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dying out? China's young shun family firms Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 05:37 PM PDT  By Lavinia Mo HONG KONG (Reuters) - Dai Yintao, 21, is the only son of the millionaire owner of Chinese real estate, pharmaceutical and mining companies. He has no interest in taking over his father's business, opting instead to work on a building site in Guiyang in Guizhou province, arriving each day in a Porsche. "I work here because I don't want to take money from my father," Dai says. "Freedom means everything. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iraq war logs in Manning case 'hit us in the face': U.S. officer Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 02:45 PM PDT  By Tom Ramstack FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The U.S. Army was overwhelmed when WikiLeaks published more than 700,000 secret diplomatic and war documents handed over by soldier Bradley Manning, a retired officer testified in the sentencing phase of the convicted private's court-martial. "The ones that hit us in the face were the Iraq logs," retired Brigadier General Robert Carr said in a Fort Meade, Maryland court on Wednesday, a day after a military judge found Manning guilty of 19 charges over the leaks in 2010, the biggest breach of classified data in U.S. history. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fed stays on track with bond buying, for now Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 01:50 PM PDT  By Pedro da Costa and Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said the economy continues to recover but is still in need of support, offering no indication that it is planning to reduce its bond-buying stimulus at its next meeting in September. Wrapping up a two-day gathering, the central bank said it would keep buying $85 billion in mortgage and Treasury securities per month in an effort to strengthen an economy that it said was still challenged by federal budget-tightening. ... Full Story | Top |
| Apple CEO met China Mobile head, discussed cooperation Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 04:30 PM PDT  By Paul Carsten and Lee Chyen Yee BEIJING/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday met with the head of China Mobile Ltd, the world's largest mobile carrier by subscribers and the only Chinese carrier that doesn't offer iPhones and iPads. The meeting with China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua in Beijing was to discuss matters of cooperation, the Chinese firm told Reuters in an emailed statement. It gave no further details. The talks could pave the way for a long-awaited deal for China Mobile to distribute Apple products on its vast network, benefiting both companies. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon warns of tough trade-offs in face of looming cuts Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 03:43 PM PDT By David Alexander and Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday pledged $40 billion in new Pentagon spending reductions over the next decade, but warned that additional cuts required by law posed stark choices that could bend or break the president's defense strategy. Hagel, unveiling the results of his four-month Strategic Choices and Management Review, said the Pentagon would cut $40 billion in overhead from its agencies and headquarters units over the next decade. He also said it would propose compensation reforms to try to save about $50 billion. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dying out? China's young shun family firms Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 04:29 PM PDT  By Lavinia Mo HONG KONG (Reuters) - Dai Yintao, 21, is the only son of the millionaire owner of Chinese real estate, pharmaceutical and mining companies. He has no interest in taking over his father's business, opting instead to work on a building site in Guiyang in Guizhou province, arriving each day in a Porsche. "I work here because I don't want to take money from my father," Dai says. "Freedom means everything. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boeing wins $2 billion deal for 13 more P-8 surveillance planes: Pentagon Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 02:59 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co won a contract valued at $2.04 billion to build 13 more P-8A multi-mission maritime surveillance planes for the U.S. Navy, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday. The contract, which runs through April 2016, includes work on the 13 aircraft and 13 mission equipment sets, the Defense Department said in its daily digest of major weapons contracts. It also includes long-long funding to get work started on 16 additional planes that will be funded in coming years. ... Full Story | Top |
| Billionaire investor Soros takes long position in Herbalife Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 12:47 PM PDT  By Sam Forgione and Katya Wachtel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor George Soros has taken a large long position in the stock of nutritional supplement company Herbalife Ltd, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The stock of Herbalife rose as high as $66.25 - its highest price since May 2012 - after CNBC first reported the stake shortly after 11 a.m. CNBC also reported that Soros' long position in Herbalife counts as one of his top three holdings. Shares of Herbalife have risen over 8 percent following the first report of Soros' stake. ... Full Story | Top |
| Secretary of State Kerry in Pakistan on unannounced visit Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 11:31 AM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Pakistan late on Wednesday for a day of talks aimed at easing tensions over U.S. drone strikes while putting pressure on the nuclear armed nation to do more to eliminate militant havens on its territory. In Pakistan on an unannounced visit, Kerry is also likely to discuss ways to revive deadlocked talks with the Taliban and broader efforts to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan as U.S.-led forces prepare to pull out most combat troops by late 2014. ... Full Story | Top |
| Dell's buyout teeters as it rejects voting change Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 01:28 PM PDT  By Greg Roumeliotis NEW YORK (Reuters) - Michael Dell's and Silver Lake's $24.4 billion bid to take Dell Inc private suffered a blow on Wednesday after the company's special committee rejected their request to change the voting rules in exchange for them offering $150 million more. Dell shares fell more than 4 percent to as low as $12.28, their lowest level since news of the takeover broke on January 14, highlighting uncertainty among shareholders about the deal's prospects. They closed down $1.6 percent at $12.66. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. economy finds momentum in second quarter, eyes further gains Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 09:36 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. economic growth unexpectedly accelerated in the second quarter, laying a firmer foundation for the rest of the year that could bring the Federal Reserve a step closer to cutting back its monetary stimulus. Gross domestic product grew at a 1.7 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday, stepping up from the first quarter's downwardly revised 1.1 percent expansion pace. ... Full Story | Top |
| In raging Middle East, Israel wins time with Palestinian peace talks Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 12:03 PM PDT  By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Pressured by Washington, worried about its international standing and perturbed by Middle East turmoil, Israel had many reasons to return to peace talks with the Palestinians this week after a three year hiatus. On the surface, Israelis saw little reason to jump back into negotiations. The status quo in the occupied Palestinian territories was holding and the question of the so-called peace process had largely fallen off the domestic political agenda. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have realized he could not take the rap for cold shouldering U. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. auto sales set to maintain hot pace in July Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 12:02 PM PDT  By Ben Klayman DETROIT (Reuters) - Long Island car dealer Gary Brown is enjoying the summer heat brought on by consumers' increasing demand for new cars and trucks, and like the rest of the industry, expects sales in July will continue the trend. "We're still on fire," the owner of Brown's Jeep Chrysler in Patchogue, New York, said. "We're going to be up over June and we're going to beat last year by 10, 12 percent or so. There's a lot of demand in the market place." Partly driven by an improving housing market that has boosted demand for full-size pickup trucks, U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama defends Summers on 2009 economic stimulus Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 09:45 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama pushed back on Wednesday against critics who complain that his former top economic adviser, Lawrence Summers, was not aggressive enough in seeking more economic stimulus funds than Congress ultimately approved in 2009. House of Representatives Democrats left a closed-door meeting with Obama saying the president defended the size of his administration's nearly $800 billion stimulus law and said it was all he could get from Congress at the time. ... Full Story | Top |
| Senators question U.S. energy market settlement with JPMorgan Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 10:44 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Democratic Senators on Wednesday asked U.S. energy regulators for more details on how terms of a settlement were reached on alleged power market manipulation in California and the Midwest by a unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co. In a letter to Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, both of Massachusetts, questioned whether the settlement announced on Tuesday included "adequate refunds to defrauded ratepayers. ... Full Story | Top |
| SEC investigating IBM over cloud revenue Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 09:07 AM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. regulators are investigating how International Business Machines Corp reports revenue from its cloud computing business, the company said on Wednesday. IBM said it learned of the investigation, being conducted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in May. The company made the disclosure in its quarterly report filed with the SEC. It gave no details on the probe. IBM, which does not break out its cloud computing revenue separately, has said it aims to generate $7 billion annually in revenue from cloud services by the end of 2015. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-NCAA athletes score court victory over EA video games Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 12:32 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - A divided U.S. federal appeals court rejected Electronic Arts Inc's effort to throw out a lawsuit by former collegiate athletes who accused the company of using their images in video games without permission. By a 2-1 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said EA's use of the athletes' likenesses in its NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball games did not deserve protection as free expression under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. ... Full Story | Top |
| No one fired at NSA over Snowden Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 07:03 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The deputy director of the U.S. National Security Agency said on Wednesday that no one had been fired and no one had offered to resign over former security contractor Edward Snowden's ability to take large amounts of classified data from agency computers. John Inglis said, "No," when asked at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing if anyone had been fired over the sweeping NSA surveillance programs exposed by Snowden. "No one has offered to resign. Everyone is working hard to understand what happened," Inglis said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel, Palestinians deeply divided despite renewed peace talks Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 10:42 AM PDT  By Allyn Fisher-Ilan and Ali Sawafta JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH (Reuters) - Israel and the Palestinians remain far apart over terms of any peace deal, officials from both sides made clear on Wednesday, a day after talks resumed in Washington for the first time in nearly three years. Israel's lead negotiator, Tzipi Livni, said the parties "need to build confidence" after what she called an encouraging start in Washington, and disputed a Palestinian demand to focus first on agreeing the frontiers of an independent state. "The goal is to end the conflict," Livni said on Israel Radio. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jury in Tourre trial to resume deliberations Thursday Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 03:30 PM PDT  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jurors will deliberate for a second day on Thursday over whether to hold former Goldman Sachs Group Inc trader Fabrice Tourre liable for defrauding investors in a complex deal tied to subprime mortgages. U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest sent the jurors, five women and four men, home for the night after they met for six hours on Wednesday without reaching a verdict in the case, a civil action brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama says several candidates for Fed chair: Rep. Israel Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 09:26 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday told U.S. House of Representatives Democrats that there were many candidates besides Lawrence Summers as his potential nominee for Federal Reserve Board chairman, Representative Steve Israel said. Speaking to reporters following a closed-door meeting of House Democrats and Obama, Israel said Obama was "quite clear" that no decision had been made on a nominee to replace Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke next year. "He did talk about Larry Summers' qualities, but he also said there were many other candidates with their own qualities. ... Full Story | Top |
| JP Morgan under investigation in Monte Paschi probe: document Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 07:07 AM PDT  By Silvia Ognibene and Silvia Aloisi SIENA/MILAN (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors probing Monte dei Paschi's 2007 acquisition of a smaller rival are investigating U.S. investment bank JP Morgan over an alleged crime committed by one of its employees, according to a prosecutors' document. The document, seen by Reuters, said the alleged crime was the obstruction of Italian regulators by an unknown JP Morgan employee relating to a 1 billion euro ($1.3 billion) hybrid financial instrument used to partly fund Monte dei Paschi's purchase of Antonveneta. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's Bo to plead guilty, but maybe not to all charges: sources Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 05:14 AM PDT  By Benjamin Kang Lim and Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - Disgraced Chinese leader Bo Xilai has agreed to plead guilty at a trial likely to be held within weeks, three sources said, in an apparent bid to earn a more lenient sentence and allow authorities to close the door on the country's biggest political scandal in decades. But it was not clear if he would plead guilty to all or only some of the charges of accepting bribes, corruption and abuse of power. ... Full Story | Top |
| Beijing offers growth assurance in its economic balancing act Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 05:56 AM PDT  By Kevin Yao and Aileen Wang BEIJING (Reuters) - China's authorities, mindful of the risk of a sharp economic slowdown that could derail their reform efforts, sent their clearest signal yet that they will safeguard growth and tweak policy when necessary. The message from a meeting of China's top decision-making body, the Politburo, sought on Tuesday to dispel market concerns about China's near-term economic outlook by stressing stability of growth. ... Full Story | Top |
| Changing Florida's Stand Your Ground law a tough hill to climb Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 05:06 AM PDT  By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Every night for the last three weeks about 50 young protesters have slept on the stone floor of Florida's state Capitol building in a bid to change the state's Stand Your Ground self-defense law. Calling themselves "Dream Defenders", and inspired by the 1960s African-American civil rights movement, the protesters want to change a law they blame for the acquittal this month of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Pentagon's chief weapons buyer builds Japan ties as it eyes arms exports Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 03:24 AM PDT  By Tim Kelly TOKYO (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department's chief weapons buyer, Frank Kendall, will on Thursday meet officials in Tokyo overseeing Japan's defense contractors, his first visit with industry regulators reviewing the pacifist nation's decades-old ban on overseas arms sales. The under secretary of defense for acquisitions, technology and logistics will meet officials at the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry, a spokesman for the U.S. military said. He will also visit the foreign affairs and defense ministries. ... Full Story | Top |
| Cambodian PM says ready to talk to opposition after disputed polls Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 03:46 AM PDT  By Prak Chan Thul PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia's long-serving leader, Hun Sen, said on Wednesday his party was ready to talk to the opposition after both sides claimed victory in Sunday's general election, talking of the need for compromise but calling himself "prime minister elect". "We open our heart to compromise in order to create a parliamentary leadership," Hun Sen said while on an inspection of a bridge construction site, his first public appearance since the election and his first comments on the deadlock. ... Full Story | Top |
| First fall in euro zone unemployment points to muted recovery Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 05:48 AM PDT  By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The number of people out of a job in the euro zone has fallen for the first time in more than two years, the latest sign the bloc may make a muted recovery from recession later this year. Falling spending in June by shoppers in Germany, France and Spain, however, will dampen any early celebrations, but low annual inflation - stable at 1.6 percent in July - means the European Central Bank is able to act if the recovery falters. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. military judge to hear arguments in Manning sentencing Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 02:03 AM PDT  FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The trial of Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier found guilty on 19 counts of handing over classified data to WikiLeaks, is scheduled to move into the sentencing phase on Wednesday. Manning, 25, escaped a life sentence with no parole when Colonel Denise Lind acquitted him of aiding the enemy, the most serious of 21 criminal counts brought against him in the court-martial. He still faces the possibility of 136 years in prison on the other counts. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Corporate sleuths on edge after China detains foreign consultants Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 03:13 AM PDT  By Alexandra Harney SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The detention by Chinese authorities of a British corporate investigator and his American wife in the wake of a corruption probe into pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has had a chilling effect on other risk consultants working in China. It's unclear why Peter Humphrey and Yu Yingzeng, whose firm ChinaWhys has done work for GSK and other drug makers, were detained. But corporate investigators said they were concerned about the repercussions for the industry. ... Full Story | Top |
| Zawahri vows al Qaeda to free Guantanamo inmates Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 12:01 AM PDT  DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri slammed U.S. treatment of hunger striking inmates at Guantanamo Bay and said the group would spare no effort to free them, according to an audio recording posted on the Internet on Wednesday. Zawahri also said Shi'ite Hezbollah's intervention in the conflict in Syria was an attempt to promote Iranian hegemony over the country. ... Full Story | Top |
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