Today's Reuters News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Wildfires worsen in Colorado, 32,000 flee homes
Tue,26 Jun 2012 10:52 PM PDT
Reuters -  COLORADO SPRINGS (Reuters) - A wildfire raging near some of Colorado's most popular tourist sites grew suddenly more ferocious on Tuesday, forcing 32,000 people from their homes, prompting evacuations from the U.S. Air Force Academy and swallowing numerous houses at the edge of Colorado Springs. From the vantage point of a command post about 10 miles from the path of advancing flames, the entire community of Mountain Shadows, a northwest subdivision, appeared to be enveloped in an orange glow after dark. ...
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Gunmen storm pro-government Syrian TV channel
Tue,26 Jun 2012 11:14 PM PDT
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Gunmen stormed the headquarters of a pro-government Syrian TV news channel on Wednesday morning, planted explosives and killed three employees, state media said. "The terrorists planted explosive devices in the headquarters of al-Ikhbariya following their ransacking of the satellite channel studios, including the newsroom which was entirely destroyed," the state media said. "Three colleagues were killed as a result of the brutal terrorist attack," it added, without giving details. The Syrian press is tightly regulated by the Ministry of Information. ... Full Story | Top |
Insight: As Congress looks away, U.S. tiptoes toward exporting a gas bounty
Tue,26 Jun 2012 09:06 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a bitterly divided U.S. political environment, there's at least one thing Republicans and Democrats can agree on: Avoid a public showdown on natural gas exports, arguably the most important energy policy decision in recent memory. While fluctuating gasoline prices, the Keystone pipeline and the fight over fracking steal headlines, the question of how much of the newfound U.S. shale gas bounty should be shared with the rest of the world goes largely without comment or coverage -- despite holding far wider and longer-lasting consequences. ...
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Acclaimed screenwriter Nora Ephron dead at 71
Tue,26 Jun 2012 09:01 PM PDT
Reuters -  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nora Ephron, known for romantic comedies "When Harry Met Sally" and "Sleepless in Seattle," as well as books and essays, has died in New York after battling leukemia. She was 71. Ephron, who had suffered from acute myeloid leukemia, died on Tuesday evening at New York's Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center surrounded by her family, they said in a statement. ...
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California's Stockton to file for bankruptcy
Tue,26 Jun 2012 10:49 PM PDT
Reuters - STOCKTON, California (Reuters) - Stockton in northern California will become the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy after its city council on Tuesday approved a budget based on the assumption that the municipality will seek protection from its creditors. The Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing for the city of nearly 300,000 in California's Central Valley could come as early as Wednesday. The council, which voted 6-1 in favor of the 2012-13 budget, had previously authorized Stockton's city manager to file the bankruptcy. ... Full Story | Top |
Refugee boat sinks; Australian PM aims to revive Malaysia plan
Tue,26 Jun 2012 11:13 PM PDT
Reuters -  CANBERRA (Reuters) - The sinking of a second refugee boat between Indonesia and Australia's Christmas Island in less than a week prompted on Wednesday Australia's prime minister to try to revive a people-swap deal with Malaysia and end an impasse on asylum seekers. More than 120 people were rescued and up to 10 were missing after a crowded boat sank on Wednesday in the Indian Ocean on its way to Australia, less than a week after about 90 asylum seekers died when their boat sank in the same area. ...
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Gunmen set fire to Microsoft's Greek headquarters
Tue,26 Jun 2012 11:26 PM PDT
Reuters - ATHENS (Reuters) - Gunmen set fire to Microsoft's Greek headquarters in Athens overnight, police said on Wednesday, damaging the front of the building and forcing the U.S. software firm to suspend its operations in the city. "The van contained three inflammable gas canisters and five cans of gasoline," a police source said. The ground floor of the building suffered damage and the van was completely destroyed in the attack, which was carried out by at least two people and took place at about 0145 GMT. "There was extensive damage on the ground floor. ... Full Story | Top |
Insight: Evidence suggests anti-foreclosure laws may backfire
Tue,26 Jun 2012 09:06 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - State and federal laws enacted to protect homeowners from eviction in the wake of the 2008 housing crash may be extending the slump, according to a growing number of economists and industry experts. Foreclosures have all but ground to a halt in Nevada, which passed one of the stiffest borrower-protection laws in the country last year. Yet the housing market is further than ever from recovery, local real estate agents say, with a lack of inventory feeding a "mini-bubble" in prices that few believe is sustainable. A recent U.S. ...
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Assad says Syria at war as battle reaches capital
Tue,26 Jun 2012 02:19 PM PDT
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared on Tuesday that his country was at war and ordered his new government to spare no effort to achieve victory, as the worst fighting of the 16-month conflict reached the outskirts of the capital. Video published by activists recorded heavy gunfire and explosions in suburbs of Damascus. A trail of fresh blood on a sidewalk in the suburb of Qudsiya led into a building where one casualty was taken. A naked man writhed in pain, his body pierced by shrapnel. ...
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Merkel buries euro bonds as summit tension rises
Tue,26 Jun 2012 10:29 PM PDT
Reuters -  BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to bury once and for all the idea of common euro zone bonds on Tuesday, saying Europe would not share total debt liability "as long as I live", as the bloc's big four finance ministers met to narrow differences on how to solve a worsening debt crisis. Two days before a crucial European Union summit, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy released a seven-page report on closer fiscal and banking union envisaging a euro zone treasury that would issue common debt in the medium term. ...
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Falling oil prices put Iran over U.S. sanctions barrel
Tue,26 Jun 2012 09:20 PM PDT
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For most of this year, the threat of tough U.S. sanctions on Iran, the world's third-largest oil exporter, helped push crude oil prices higher and higher, adding a menacing headwind for struggling global economies. But in the past few weeks, a combination of higher output from Iran's rival Saudi Arabia and economic troubles in China and Europe have pushed oil prices down 25 percent, putting the threat of sanctions back squarely on Iran. As June 28 approaches - the day the law allows U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
Glencore expected to sweeten terms to win Xstrata
Tue,26 Jun 2012 11:32 PM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Commodities trader Glencore , scrambling to save its $30 billion offer for miner Xstrata , is expected to sweeten its bid in order to seal the deal, after key shareholder Qatar said it could oppose the takeover on current terms. Qatar, which remained silent on its intentions for months as it built the second-largest stake in Xstrata, said in a surprise statement on Tuesday that it supported the principle of the deal but demanded an improvement in terms from 2.8 new Glencore shares for every Xstrata share to 3.25. ...
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Merkel buries euro bonds as summit tension rises
Tue,26 Jun 2012 03:38 PM PDT
Reuters -  BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to bury once and for all the idea of common euro zone bonds on Tuesday, saying Europe would not share total debt liability "as long as I live", as the bloc's big four finance ministers met to narrow differences on how to solve a worsening debt crisis. Two days before a crucial European Union summit, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy released a seven-page report on closer fiscal and banking union envisaging a euro zone treasury that would issue common debt in the medium term. ...
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Arizona police see "difficulties" enforcing immigration law
Tue,26 Jun 2012 05:46 PM PDT
Reuters - PHOENIX (Reuters) - For Arizona sheriff Antonio Estrada, enforcing a state law that requires officers to determine the immigration status of people they stop and suspect are in the United States illegally was always going to be difficult. But that is exactly what he will soon be expected to do now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the most controversial aspect of Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants. "They are focusing on one particular group of people, Hispanics, and here along the border ... ... Full Story | Top |
Appeasing investors, Murdoch moves to split empire
Tue,26 Jun 2012 08:50 PM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp took a major step in satisfying shareholders' concerns for a more growth-focused business with a plan to separate its publishing and entertainment assets, but an uncertain management structure for the two proposed companies raises new questions about a succession plan at the family-controlled media empire. Shareholders have been pressing News Corp to get rid of its troubled newspapers business after a phone hacking scandal tainted its British newspapers and forced the company to drop its proposed acquisition of pay-TV group BSkyB. ...
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Trayvon Martin's killer never identified himself: police
Tue,26 Jun 2012 02:24 PM PDT
Reuters - MIAMI (Reuters) - George Zimmerman, the man charged in the killing of Trayvon Martin, failed on at least two opportunities to identify himself as a neighborhood watch volunteer before he shot the unarmed teenager, a police investigator wrote in a report made public on Tuesday. Pages of the report were among a batch of new evidence released in the case by Florida's state attorney's office. The records included video and audio recordings of Zimmerman and written statements by him and police. ... Full Story | Top |
The immigration ruling: a hint on healthcare?
Tue,26 Jun 2012 11:15 AM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court's decision in the Arizona immigration case on Monday showed a conciliatory streak within a divided court that could emerge again when the justices issue their climactic healthcare decision on Thursday. What the Arizona compromise will augur for the most closely watched case of the term is anyone's guess. Yet the justices' evident search for common ground in the immigration ruling and a few other cases this term could portend a healthcare decision that does not predictably cleave along political lines. ...
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Sandusky's adopted son told Pennsylvania police of abuse: report
Tue,26 Jun 2012 04:09 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Note: explicit sexual content) (Reuters) - Jerry Sandusky's adult adopted son told police he had lied to a grand jury when he denied being sexually abused by the former Penn State University assistant football coach and said he was coming forward so his family would know the truth, according to a tape of his police interview aired by NBC on Tuesday. Matt Sandusky, 33, said in the interview with police in Pennsylvania he was molested by Jerry Sandusky, 68, off and on from ages 8 to 15 and tried to cope by escaping from his new family's home and attempting to commit suicide. ...
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Appeasing investors, Murdoch moves to split empire
Tue,26 Jun 2012 02:42 PM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp took a major step in satisfying shareholders' concerns for a more growth-focused business with a plan to separate its publishing and entertainment assets, but an uncertain management structure for the two proposed companies raises new questions about a succession plan at the family-controlled media empire. Shareholders have been pressing News Corp to get rid of its troubled newspapers business after a phone hacking scandal tainted its British newspapers and forced the company to drop its proposed acquisition of pay-TV group BSkyB. ...
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French spirit inspired me, Aung San Suu Kyi says
Tue,26 Jun 2012 12:06 PM PDT
Reuters -  PARIS (Reuters) - France's revolutionary spirit, art, literature and even its onion soup served as an inspiration to Myanmar pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi during years of house arrest, she said on Tuesday. Asked in Paris, as she nears the end of a 17-day European tour, what a visit to France meant to her, Suu Kyi, who studied the French language and culture during 15 years confined to her home, responded: "Everything from Victor Hugo to onion soup. ...
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Arizona police see "difficulties" enforcing immigration law
Tue,26 Jun 2012 03:51 PM PDT
Reuters - PHOENIX (Reuters) - For Arizona sheriff Antonio Estrada, enforcing a state law that requires officers to determine the immigration status of people they stop and suspect are in the United States illegally was always going to be difficult. But that is exactly what he will soon be expected to do now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the most controversial aspect of Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants. "They are focusing on one particular group of people, Hispanics, and here along the border ... ... Full Story | Top |
Egypt court rejects army powers to arrest civilians
Tue,26 Jun 2012 08:56 AM PDT
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court on Tuesday tossed out a government decree allowing the army to arrest civilians, a setback to military rulers preparing for this week's formal handover to Mohamed Mursi, Egypt's first Islamist president. The Muslim Brotherhood and other opponents of military rule were furious when the army-backed interim government empowered soldiers to arrest civilians, effectively reinstating Hosni Mubarak's hated state of emergency, which lapsed on May 31. ...
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"Mr. Euro" named Greek finance minister
Tue,26 Jun 2012 10:43 AM PDT
Reuters -  ATHENS (Reuters) - Yannis Stournaras, a well-respected liberal economist, was appointed Greece's new finance minister on Tuesday after the sudden resignation of the first choice for the job at a crucial moment for the debt-laden country. The new conservative-led government scrambled to make a quick decision on the post after banker Vassilis Rapanos quit on Monday on the advice of doctors after spending four days in hospital with dizziness and abdominal pains. ...
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Court upholds EPA's greenhouse gas rules
Tue,26 Jun 2012 11:19 AM PDT
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld the first-ever U.S. proposed rules governing heat-trapping greenhouse gases, clearing a path for sweeping regulations affecting vehicles, coal-burning power plants and other industrial facilities. Handing a setback to industry and a victory to the Obama administration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia unanimously ruled the Environmental Protection Agency's finding that carbon dioxide is a public danger and the decision to set limits for emissions from cars and light trucks were "neither arbitrary nor ... Full Story | Top |
S&P says U.S. faces 20-percent risk of double dip
Tue,26 Jun 2012 08:31 AM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States faces 20-percent odds of a return to recession, rating agency Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday, although it said a slow recovery remains the company's baseline forecast for the world's biggest economy. "But the risk of another downward leg on the recession remains real," the agency said in a statement. While S&P said it could be underestimating American consumers, years of stagnation, as Japan has seen, could also occur. "There are differences between Japan's situation and the current one in the U.S. ...
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White House says ready for Supreme Court health decision
Tue,26 Jun 2012 01:41 PM PDT
Reuters -  ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday it was ready for a Supreme Court verdict on President Barack Obama's flagship health reform law and remained convinced the legislation would be upheld. "We are, as I have said in the past, confident that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional, in keeping with decades of precedent under the commerce clause," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One. "We continue to implement the law accordingly and we are ready for the Supreme Court's decision, whatever it may be. ...
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War of words heats up over gun walking case
Tue,26 Jun 2012 11:36 AM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A fight between the White House and House Republicans over documents from a botched U.S.-Mexico gun running sting intensified on Tuesday as the lawmaker heading the congressional probe accused the White House of obstructing the investigation. In a heated seven-page letter to President Barack Obama made public on Tuesday, Representative Darrell Issa questioned the White House's motives for claiming executive privilege last week to shield some documents from "Operation Fast and Furious" from congressional investigators. ...
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Bank bailout to spark firesale of corporate Spain
Tue,26 Jun 2012 04:10 AM PDT
Reuters -  MADRID (Reuters) - The European bailout for Spain's banks will push them to sell an empire of stakes in the nation's top companies, ending a cozy culture of corporate-banking links and prompting a wider shake-up in ownership of the company landscape. Spain formally requested euro zone rescue loans to recapitalize debt-laden former savings banks on Monday, but those who receive funds will be subject to European Union state-aid rules that include selling equity assets. ...
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NATO condemns Syria over downed Turkish plane
Tue,26 Jun 2012 06:39 AM PDT
Reuters -  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO allies on Tuesday condemned Syria's shooting down of a Turkish military plane as unacceptable but they stopped short of threatening any military response that might drag them into a conflict with Syria's government. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after an emergency meeting in Brussels of ambassadors from NATO's 28 member states that Turkey had the support of all its partners. "The security of the alliance is indivisible, we stand together with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity," Rasmussen said. ...
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Supreme Court splits its verdict on Arizona immigration law
Tue,26 Jun 2012 04:54 AM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the main provision of Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants but threw out three other parts, handing partial victories to President Barack Obama in his challenge to the law and to the measure's conservative supporters. In an important test of whether federal or state governments have the power to enforce immigration laws, the top U.S. court unanimously upheld the statute's most controversial aspect, a requirement that police officers check the immigration status of people they stop, even for minor offenses such as jay-walking. ...
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Insight: Vodafone in new 1-billion-pound UK tax "scandal"
Tue,26 Jun 2012 04:43 AM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - The world's largest mobile phone company, Vodafone Group, has shaved 1 billion pounds, and possibly more, off the taxes its UK operating unit might have paid in the past decade, thanks to accounting factors not seen at other European units. A Reuters examination of statutory filings made by Vodafone across Europe over the past 16 years shows the UK taxman has often gone empty handed, while tax authorities in Germany, Spain and elsewhere have raked in billions of euros. ...
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Insight: A land owner caught between energy giants
Tue,26 Jun 2012 04:01 AM PDT
Reuters -  GAYLORD, Michigan (Reuters) - A Michigan land owner who alleges he was jilted by two of North America's largest energy companies says emails made public Monday by Reuters prove that the two companies colluded to kill deals that could have earned him more than $54 million. Walter Zaremba, who is locked in litigation with Encana Corp, Canada's largest natural gas producer, said he has long suspected that Encana and Chesapeake Energy Corp had been working together, which would be a possible violation of state and federal antitrust laws. ...
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Greece names Stournaras as new finance minister
Tue,26 Jun 2012 04:32 AM PDT
Reuters -  ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's ruling coalition appointed economist Yannis Stournaras as the country's new finance minister, the prime minister's office said on Tuesday. "Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has decided to name Athens University economics professor and Director of (economic think-tank) IOBE Yannis Stournaras as Finance Minister," Samaras's office said in a statement. (Reporting by Harry Papachristou)
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Egypt's Islamist president takes revolution to palace
Mon,25 Jun 2012 08:04 AM PDT
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - Mohamed Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected president whose powers have already been curbed by the army, began work on a coalition on Monday after touring his new palace, once home of Hosni Mubarak who banned his movement for three decades. Declared winner on Sunday a week after a tumultuous run-off vote that pitted him against a former air force chief, the Islamist faces the challenge of meeting sky-high expectations in a nation tired of turmoil while the economy is on the ropes. ...
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Heavy fighting around Syrian capital
Tue,26 Jun 2012 04:06 AM PDT
Reuters - BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces and rebels were locked in heavy fighting outside Damascus on Tuesday, activists said, in the worst violence in the suburbs of the capital since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began 16 months ago. Video published by activists recorded heavy gunfire and explosions. A thick trail of blood on a sidewalk in the suburb of Qudsiya led into a building where one casualty had been taken. A naked man writhed in agony, his body pierced by shrapnel. ... Full Story | Top |
Turkey warns Syria against military moves
Tue,26 Jun 2012 03:38 AM PDT
Reuters - ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey will treat any Syrian military units which approach its border as a threat and a military target, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday. Erdogan also said Turkey was totally in the right over Syria's shooting down of a Turkish plane and that Ankara's rational response to the incident should not be mistaken for weakness. "Everybody should know that Turkey's wrath is just as strong and devastating," Erdogan said in a speech to his ruling AK Party deputies in parliament. The army's rules of engagement along the two countries' border had now changed, he said. ... Full Story | Top |
Cyprus rescue package may equal half its economy
Tue,26 Jun 2012 01:26 AM PDT
Reuters - NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus, the fifth euro zone country to seek emergency funding from Europe, may need a bailout of up to 10 billion euros, over half the size of its economy, officials said on Tuesday. The Mediterranean island, with a banking sector heavily exposed to debt-crippled Greece, said on Monday it was formally applying for help from the European Union's rescue funds. ... Full Story | Top |
Nomura downgrades top three Greek banks
Tue,26 Jun 2012 12:06 AM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Nomura cut its earnings outlook for Greek banks as financial institutions face sovereign concerns, growth challenges and higher loan-loss charges, and downgraded its rating on the country's three largest lenders. Nomura reduced its rating on National Bank of Greece SA and Eurobank to "reduce" from "neutral," while it cut Alpha Bank SA to "neutral" from "buy." The brokerage expects the banks to face a potential capital shortfall of 22 billion euro to 24 billion euro for this year and the next. ... Full Story | Top |
NATO condemns Syria's shooting down of Turkish jet
Tue,26 Jun 2012 03:06 AM PDT
Reuters - BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO member states condemned Syria on Tuesday for its shooting down of a Turkish military jet, calling it "unacceptable" and demanding that Damascus take steps to prevent further incidents. Ambassadors of NATO's 28 member states met in Brussels on Tuesday to consult with Turkey on the incident. Turkey, a NATO member, had called for the meeting. "NATO allies have expressed strong condemnation of this completely unacceptable act," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after the gathering. ... Full Story | Top |
Microsoft to buy Yammer for $1.2 billion
Mon,25 Jun 2012 06:39 PM PDT
Reuters -  SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp agreed to buy online social network firm Yammer Inc for $1.2 billion in cash, which will allow the software company to offer a service like Facebook Inc's to corporate customers. Talk of a deal had circulated earlier this month, but the two companies only confirmed an agreement on Monday. Four-year-old Yammer, which has 5 million users of its private, in-company social networks, helps companies' internal communications and collaboration by allowing employees to form groups and interact with each other freely. ...
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