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| Germany's Ifo says economy to grow 0.6 percent in 2013 Wednesday, Jun 26, 2013 12:39 AM PDT By Michelle Martin BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Ifo institute has trimmed its forecast for economic growth this year to 0.6 percent because Europe's largest economy had a subdued first quarter and only narrowly avoided a recession, it said on Wednesday. Ifo, which in December had forecast growth of 0.7 percent for 2013, remains more optimistic than the government and the Bundesbank, which expect growth of 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent respectively. The German economy eked out 0.1 percent growth in the first quarter on the back of private consumption after contracting in late 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
| Republicans disrupt Texas state Democrat's filibuster over abortion bill Wednesday, Jun 26, 2013 12:37 AM PDT (Reuters) - A Texas state Democrat who spoke for several hours on Tuesday in a bid to block a Republican drive for sweeping new abortion restrictions may be thwarted by Republicans who said she violated rules governing the stalling tactic. Texas State Senator Wendy Davis sought to derail a proposal that included a ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy by speaking until midnight (1 a.m. EDT), when a 30-day special session expires. Davis, who began her verbal diatribe at roughly 11:15 a.m. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australia's former PM Rudd to challenge Gillard Wednesday, Jun 26, 2013 12:23 AM PDT CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's former prime minister Kevin Rudd confirmed on Wednesday he would challenge Prime Minister Julia Gillard for the leadership of the ruling Labor Party, in a move that could see him lead the party to elections due within three months. Rudd led the Labor Party to victory in late 2007, but was dumped by his party in favor of Gillard in June 2010. Gillard called for a party ballot on Wednesday after weeks of destabilizing leadership talk and falling support for her minority government in opinion polls. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australian PM Gillard calls party vote on her leadership Wednesday, Jun 26, 2013 12:23 AM PDT  By James Grubel CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has called a snap party vote on her leadership for later on Wednesday, in a bid to squash a campaign to replace her with former leader Kevin Rudd less than three months before national elections. Polls show Rudd is more popular with voters and could help Labor hold on to more seats at the election. Gillard now rules with a one-seat parliamentary majority, with support from the Greens and key independents. ... Full Story | Top |
| World Bank to help developing nations cope with rising rates: Kim Wednesday, Jun 26, 2013 12:17 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the World Bank said on Tuesday that the global lender stands ready to help developing countries cope with a rise in interest rates as a result of the U.S. Federal Reserve's plan to scale back its stimulus program. "There's a tremendous amount of concern about what could happen," World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told reporters after a talk on the bank's goal of reducing extreme poverty to 3 percent by 2030. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mauritius trims 2013 GDP forecast to 3.3 pct: statistics office Wednesday, Jun 26, 2013 12:04 AM PDT  PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius revised its 2013 economic growth forecast down to 3.3 percent from 3.5 percent, official data showed on Wednesday, due to an anticipated contraction in the construction sector and slower growth in financial services and ICT. "On the basis of information gathered on key sectors of the economy and performance of the first quarter, GDP is forecasted to grow by 3.3 percent, lower than the 3.5 percent forecasted in March 2013," Statistics Mauritius said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Vulnerable South Africa's rand rebounds on corporate demand Wednesday, Jun 26, 2013 12:03 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand bounced back in early trade on Wednesday as flows of offshore corporate earnings ahead of the end of the financial quarter offset strong demand for the dollar. The rand was at 10.0551 against the dollar at 0651 GMT, 0.4 percent stronger than its New York close of 10.0975 overnight. The local unit, which is slightly stronger so far this month, has been resilient in the past few days after slumping to a four-year low in early June but traders have said the recovery lacked solid fundamentals. ... Full Story | Top |
| New Zealand wants law to widen surveillance of citizens Wednesday, Jun 26, 2013 12:00 AM PDT By Gyles Beckford WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand is pushing to change its laws to widen surveillance of citizens by one of its spy agencies, despite growing global concern over the scope and security of such activities following damning revelations of monitoring by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). New Zealand's minority centre-right National Party government wants to legalize the involvement of its foreign intelligence department, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), in the work of domestic agencies, such as the Security Intelligence Service and the police. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rio suspends Mozambique coal exports due to security fears Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 11:55 PM PDT  MAPUTO (Reuters) - Rio Tinto has suspended coal exports from Mozambique's northwest Tete province due to security concerns after threats by the opposition Renamo party to disrupt the Sena railway line, a provincial official said on Wednesday. "As for Rio Tinto's goods trains, the company decided to suspend them," Tete provincial governor Rachid Gogo told Radio Mozambique. A Rio spokesman in Johannesburg was not immediately available for comment. Officials at Brazilian mining giant Vale, the other commercial user of the Sena line, were also unavailable. ... Full Story | Top |
| China's ICBC says happy to help, hopes for clearer policy signals Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 11:42 PM PDT  By Jason Subler and Xiaowen Bi BEIJING (Reuters) - China's biggest bank was uncertain of how to respond to turmoil in money markets last week because there was no clear direction from policymakers on what they wanted to achieve, according to its top executive. Jiang Jianqing, Chairman of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) , stopped short of directly criticizing regulators for their handling of the stand-off over money market liquidity, which saw overnight borrowing rates soar and caused panic at some smaller banks. ... Full Story | Top |
| UN to make sure Chad has no child soldiers in Mali Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 11:35 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations will screen all Chadian troops offered for the world body's peacekeeping force in Mali to make sure there are no child soldiers in their ranks, the head of U.N. peacekeeping said on Tuesday. Chad was included in a U.N. list of countries published last week where children are recruited, killed, maimed or raped by government forces and armed groups. Others on the list include Afghanistan, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, and Mali. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico aims to bring shadow economy into the light Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 11:32 PM PDT By Krista Hughes MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Seeking to dismantle a black economy dragging on economic growth, Mexico wants to lure informal workers into the social security net - and the reach of the tax man. Six in 10 Mexican workers, or 30 million people, live in the informal economy, eroding Mexico's already-low tax base and hindering plans to set up a universal social security system. ... Full Story | Top |
| UN peacekeeping operations in Mali to begin on July 1 Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 11:32 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. peacekeepers will start operations in Mali on July 1 after the U.N. Security Council gave the green light on Tuesday for the mission, which will be the world body's third largest when fully deployed by the end of this year, envoys and officials said. The 15-member Security Council unanimously approved in April a mandate for the 12,600-member force, to be known as MINUSMA, but its deployment had been subject to a council review on Tuesday of Mali's security situation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mugabe heads to Singapore for health check before vote Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 11:31 PM PDT  By Cris Chinaka (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe left for a medical check-up in Singapore on Tuesday, his spokesman said, a month before an election in which the 89-year-old is looking to extend his 33 years in power. Africa's oldest leader - who denies reports he has received treatment for prostate cancer - will return at the weekend after a routine visit to an eye specialist, his spokesman George Charamba said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| Qatar to change PM under new emir: Jazeera Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 11:15 PM PDT DOHA (Reuters) - Al Jazeera television said on Wednesday that Qatar's prime minister, a driving force behind the country's rise to global prominence, would be replaced in a cabinet reshuffle following the accession of a new emir in the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state. The Qatar-based satellite channel said current minister of state for interior affairs, Sheikh Abdullah bin Naser al-Thani, had been chosen to be the next prime minister, succeeding the powerful Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, who is also the foreign minister. ... Full Story | Top |
| As floodwaters rose, Calgary mayor made his mark Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 11:14 PM PDT  By Nia Williams and Scott Haggett CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - By last Friday morning in Canada's oil capital, the scope of the disaster facing Calgary was becoming clear, and the reputation of the city's first-term mayor was rising along with the floodwaters. As the two rivers in the city of 1.1 million reached new heights in the worst flooding the province of Alberta has ever seen, a growing list of neighborhoods were evacuated and the downtown home to Canada's largest oil companies was shut down as electrical substations failed. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. troops' details leaked in cyber attacks aimed at South Korea: reports Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 11:10 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - Hackers say they have leaked personal details of tens of thousands of U.S. troops to websites, South Korean news reports and online security officials said on Wednesday, a day after cyber attacks disabled access to government and news sites. The hacking attacks on Tuesday, the anniversary of the start of the Korean War in 1950, brought down the main websites of South Korea's presidential office and some local newspapers, prompting cyber security officials to raise the alert. ... Full Story | Top |
| Unrest leaves 27 dead in China's troubled Xinjiang: Xinhua Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 10:59 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - Gangs armed with knives attacked a police station and a local government building on Wednesday in China's restive far western Xinjiang region, leaving 27 dead in clashes with police, the government news agency Xinhua said. The unrest in the region, home to a large Muslim Uighur minority, was the deadliest since July 2009, when nearly 200 people were killed in riots pitting Uighurs against ethnic Chinese in the region's capital Urumqi. Xinhua said Wednesday's unrest erupted at about 6 a.m. in the remote township of Lukqun, about 200 km (120 miles) southeast of Urumqi. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Pension funds may see the silver lining on the interest rate cloud Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 10:55 PM PDT  By Mike Dolan LONDON (Reuters) - June's global markets quake suggests little positive in a rising interest rate environment but the flip side is significant relief for pension funds that may itself may provide a stabilizing mechanism into the bargain. Bonds, equities and emerging markets have all lunged violently since the U.S. Federal Reserve last month started signaling a timeline for a reduction in its latest bond-buying program, in what some see as the beginning of the end of its four-year-old policy of quantitative easing. Hyper-sensitive to a big turning point in the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ex-congressman Weiner takes lead in NYC mayoral race: poll Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 10:54 PM PDT  By Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Congressman Anthony Weiner, attempting a political comeback two years after resigning in disgrace from the legislature, has taken the lead over his Democratic rivals in the race for New York City mayor, a poll showed. Weiner has the backing of 25 percent of registered Democrats, while City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the early front-runner and a close ally of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, trails with 20 percent, according to Tuesday's Wall Street Journal-NBC New York-Marist poll. ... Full Story | Top |
| Scalpel in hand, Chinese Premier Li stirs reform hopes Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 10:34 PM PDT  By Koh Gui Qing BEIJING (Reuters) - Investors getting stung by China's worst financial market rout in years should find solace in the fact that the government, in particular Premier Li Keqiang, is willing to play hardball to force through much-needed policy change. The central bank's refusal to intervene last week to ease an unprecedented cash crunch, where interest rates in the interbank market shot as high as 30 percent, was the clearest sign yet that China's new leaders are willing to stomach economic pain for the long-term good. ... Full Story | Top |
| Flaws found in security checks by U.S. contractors four years ago Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 10:14 PM PDT  By Diane Bartz and Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Government auditors discovered four years ago that a select group of private contractors conducting background checks for high-security jobs were not doing enough to ensure the quality of their investigations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Republican battles over Medicaid turn to God and morality Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 10:12 PM PDT  By David Morgan (Reuters) - Ohio's Republican governor, John Kasich, is no fan of President Barack Obama's health reform law. But he has become an unlikely proponent of one element of Obamacare - expansion of Medicaid healthcare coverage for the poor - and he has a warning for his fellow party members about the moral consequences of blocking it. "When you die and get to the meeting with St. Peter, he's probably not going to ask you much about what you did about keeping government small, but he's going to ask you what you did for the poor. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Major Supreme Court decisions on gay rights Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 10:07 PM PDT (Reuters) - The Supreme Court was expected to issue rulings on Wednesday in two high-profile gay marriage cases in its latest review of discrimination based on sexual orientation. It has been a decade since the court last took up a gay-rights dispute. That 2003 case from Texas and the court's two earlier gay-rights decisions were closely fought and produced strong dissenting opinions. In a lesser known case, the 1972 Baker v. Nelson, the court summarily dismissed an appeal against a Minnesota Supreme Court decision upholding a law that restricted marriage to opposite-sex couples. The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: List of states that legalized gay marriage Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 10:07 PM PDT (Reuters) - Twelve of the 50 U.S. states plus Washington, D.C., have legalized gay marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court was expected on Wednesday to issue rulings in two major cases relating to gay marriage. The first three states to allow gay marriage did so because of court rulings permitting it, rather than through legislative action or putting the issue to voters to decide. Since mid-2009, six states have approved gay marriage laws by passing laws in state legislatures and three states by ballot initiatives. ... Full Story | Top |
| Timeline: Timeline of gay marriage in the United States Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 10:05 PM PDT (Reuters) - The Supreme Court was expected to rule on Wednesday on two high-profile gay marriage cases: one on a marriage ban in California and another on a federal law that restricts the definition of marriage to a man and a woman. The justices heard arguments in the cases in March. Following is a timeline of important events in the history of gay marriage in the United States. 1969 - The modern gay liberation movement unofficially kicks off with the Stonewall Riots, demonstrations by gays in response to a police raid in New York City. 1972 - The U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Court due to set legal course on gay marriage Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 10:04 PM PDT  By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - America's top court was expected to deliver rulings on Wednesday in two high-profile cases with national implications on gay marriage, an issue that stirs cultural, religious and political passions in the United States as elsewhere. At 10 a.m. EDT, the nine justices of the Supreme Court were due to convene in Washington to issue rulings in the last three cases of its current session, two of them on same-sex marriage. ... Full Story | Top |
| State regulators warn virtual currency exchanges: WSJ Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 09:20 PM PDT  (Reuters) - State regulators are warning virtual currency exchanges and other companies that deal with Bitcoin that they could be shut down if their activities run counter to money transmission laws, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Banking regulators in California, New York and Virginia in recent weeks have issued letters saying the companies need to follow the state rules or prove that the rules do not apply to them, the Journal said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. energy companies seen at risk from cyber attacks: CFR report Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 09:10 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. oil and natural gas operations are increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks that can harm the competitiveness of energy companies or lead to costly outages at pipelines, refineries or drilling platforms, a report said on Wednesday. The energy business, including oil and gas producers, was hit by more targeted malware attacks from April to September last year than any other industry, said the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) report, citing data from a Houston-based security company, Alert Logic. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australia opposition says top priority to dump mine, carbon taxes Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 08:43 PM PDT By Rob Taylor CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's conservative opposition said its top priority if it wins elections in September will be to repeal taxes on mining profits and carbon, blaming both policies for stopping fresh investment in the vital resources sector. Prime Minister Julia Gillard's Labor government introduced a fixed carbon price about a year ago in a country with one of the world's highest per capita levels of carbon emissions, with plans to transition to emissions trading from 2015. ... Full Story | Top |
| Democratic Rep. Markey tops Republican in Massachusetts Senate race Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 08:09 PM PDT  By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - Veteran Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts on Tuesday won the U.S. Senate seat vacated by John Kerry and helped Democrats maintain their majority in the chamber. Markey, 66, claimed victory in a post on his official campaign Twitter page, saying: "Thank you Massachusetts! I am deeply honored for the opportunity to serve you in the United States Senate." Local cable news station NECN said Markey secured 55 percent of the vote with 99 percent of districts reporting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexico arrests ex-governor accused of embezzlement Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 07:01 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico on Tuesday arrested former state governor Andres Granier, who has been accused of embezzling millions of pesos of public money in a scandal that will test the new president's promise to crack down on corruption. Granier, who was governor of Mexico's southern Tabasco state until his term ended in December and is a member of President Enrique Pena Nieto's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), was released from a Mexico City hospital into the custody of state prosecutors, said a legal source with knowledge of the situation. ... Full Story | Top |
| Schwab wins $2.75 million arbitration award from jailed former adviser Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 07:00 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former financial planner, who is serving an eight-year prison sentence for stealing from clients, has been ordered to pay Charles Schwab Corp $2.75 million by an arbitration panel. The case began with a claim against Schwab brought by the father-in-law of Matthew Weitzman, the imprisoned adviser who was a former principal at AFW Asset Management in the New York City suburb of Purchase, NY. Burton Langer, the father-in-law, accused Schwab of unauthorized transfers of securities, and requested damages of $8. ... Full Story | Top |
| Oklahoma executes man for killing girlfriend's mother Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 06:56 PM PDT By Heide Brandes OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Oklahoma executed a man on Tuesday convicted of raping and stabbing his girlfriend's mother to death during a late night fight in 2001, a state corrections department spokesman said. Brian Darrell Davis, 38, was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m. CDT (7.25 p.m. EDT) after a lethal injection at a state prison in McAlester, said Jerry Massie, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. He was the second Oklahoma inmate executed in two weeks and the third in 2013. ... Full Story | Top |
| UC Regents, San Diego governments launch LIBOR lawsuit Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 06:51 PM PDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Regents of the University of California and the San Diego Association of Governments filed lawsuits in federal courts on Tuesday against more than 20 current and former financial institutions, alleging that they manipulated the London Interbank Offered Rate. The suits allege financial damages linked to deception regarding the benchmark LIBOR interest rate, said Nanci Nishimura, a partner at the law firm Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy working both lawsuits. ... Full Story | Top |
| Putin rules out handing Snowden over to United States Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 06:30 PM PDT  By Alexei Anishchuk and Thomas Grove MOSCOW/NAANTALI, Finland (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed on Tuesday a former U.S. spy agency contractor sought by the United States was in the transit area of a Moscow airport but ruled out handing him to Washington, dismissing U.S. criticisms as "ravings and rubbish". In his first public comments since Edward Snowden flew in on Sunday, Putin appeared to make light of the diplomatic uproar over the fugitive, whose flight from U.S. authorities is becoming a growing embarrassment for President Barack Obama. ... Full Story | Top |
| Michael Jackson's son to testify in singer's wrongful death trial Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 06:30 PM PDT  By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Prince Jackson, the eldest son of late pop star Michael Jackson, is expected to testify on Wednesday in the wrongful death suit filed by his family against concert promoter AEG Live, a Jackson family attorney said. Lawyers for the Jackson family will call Prince Jackson, 16, to the stand four years and one day after the King of Pop died from a drug overdose, attorney Perry Sanders said on Tuesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| In the South, civil rights groups dismayed by Supreme Court ruling on voter rights Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 06:14 PM PDT By Verna Gates BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Civil rights groups across the South expressed bitter disappointment on Tuesday over a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a key part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and urged Congress to pass a new law to prevent possible voter discrimination. "The Supreme Court has given license and permission to go full speed ahead in the prevention of voter registration of African-Americans and Latinos," said Scott Douglas, executive director of Greater Birmingham Ministries in Alabama. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rousseff's referendum plan for Brazil runs into trouble Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 05:44 PM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's bid to defuse a sudden outburst of national discontent by proposing a referendum on political reforms ran into stiff opposition on Tuesday from politicians and lawyers who questioned its legality. Tens of thousands of Brazilians have taken to the streets this month in the biggest protests in 20 years, fueled by an array of grievances ranging from poor public services to the high cost of World Cup soccer stadiums and corruption. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rivals read what they want in Obama Keystone remarks Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013 05:35 PM PDT By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When President Barack Obama weighed in on the Keystone XL pipeline controversy on Tuesday, his comments became a kind of Rorschach inkblot test for rival lobbies, reflecting their wishes for the fate of the long-delayed project. The pipeline, designed to carry 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day from the Canadian oil sands and the Bakken shale in North Dakota and Montana south to Texas refineries, was first proposed in 2008, but approval has been delayed several times due to a groundswell of criticism. ... Full Story | Top |
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