International News
Panama calls in U.N. to inspect North Korean arms ship
By Lomi Kriel
PANAMA CITY | Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:35pm EDT
(Reuters) - Panama said on Wednesday it had called in the United Nations Security Council to investigate a North Korean ship caught smuggling arms from Cuba, piling more pressure on Pyongyang over a possible breach of U.N. sanctions.
Panama stopped the ship last week and seized the cargo after a stand-off with the North Korean crew in which the captain tried to slit his own throat. Authorities discovered missile equipment, MiG fighter jets and other arms aboard that Cuba said were "obsolete" Soviet-era weapons being sent to North Korea for repair.
"It's going to be transferred to the U.N. Security Council, they will decide what to do," Panamanian Security Minister Jose Raul Mulino said in Panama City.
U.S. blames China for breakdown of trade talks
By Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON | Wed Jul 17, 2013 6:24pm EDT
(Reuters) - The United States blamed China on Wednesday for a breakdown in trade talks aimed at eliminating tariffs on a new generation of technology products and everyday consumer electronics like speakers and flat-panel displays.
"The United States is extremely disappointed that it became necessary today to suspend negotiations to expand the Information Technology Agreement (ITA)," U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, a diverse group of members participating in the negotiations determined that China's current position makes progress impossible at this stage," Froman said.
Greece approves scheme to fire thousands of public workers
By Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos
ATHENS | Wed Jul 17, 2013 6:57pm EDT
(Reuters) - Greece's shaky coalition government scraped through a vote on Wednesday on a bill to sack public sector workers as thousands chanting anti-austerity slogans protested outside parliament.
The vote was the first major test for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's two-party coalition since losing an ally over the abrupt shutdown of the state broadcaster last month, which left it with a scant five-seat majority in the 300-seat parliament.
After midnight on Wednesday, 153 lawmakers out of the 293 present voted in favor of the bill, whose passage was required to unlock nearly 7 billion euros ($9.2 billion) in aid from European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders.
Contaminated school meal kills 25 Indian children
by Annie Banerji, Mayank Bhardwaj and Anurag Kotoky
PATNA, India | Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:04pm EDT
(Reuters) - At least 25 Indian children died and dozens needed hospital treatment after apparently being poisoned by a school meal, sparking violent protests and angry allegations of blame.
The children aged four to 12 fell ill on Tuesday after consuming a lunch of rice, soybean and lentils in the impoverished eastern state of Bihar.
The school, at Mashrakh village in the district of Chapra, provided free meals under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the world's largest school feeding program involving 120 million children.
U.S. News
Senate clears way for Perez confirmation as labor chief
by Rachelle Younglai
WASHINGTON | Wed Jul 17, 2013 5:50pm EDT
(Reuters) - The Senate moved on Wednesday toward approving Thomas Perez to serve as the Obama administration's new labor secretary, overcoming accusations from some Republicans that he is a crusading ideologue.
Six Republicans joined Democrats in a vote to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to limit debate on Perez. The chamber is expected to vote on his confirmation as early as Thursday.
The 51-year old Perez now heads the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Republicans have criticized his record on voting rights and immigration and have accused him of bending the laws to advance his liberal agenda.
House Republicans vote to delay Obamacare mandates
By David Lawder
WASHINGTON | Wed Jul 17, 2013 8:20pm EDT
(Reuters) - Staging a fresh assault on President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform law, the Republican-led House of Representatives on Wednesday approved largely symbolic legislation to delay key coverage requirements.
The measures, the 38th and 39th House bills to take aim at the 2010 reforms known as Obamacare, would delay for a year the requirement that Americans obtain health insurance and would codify the Obama administration's recent decision to delay the mandate for larger employers to offer health coverage.
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The House voted 264-161 for the individual delay, and 251-174 in favor of the employer delay, with some Democrats joining the Republican effort.
Bernanke hearing turns into eulogy over his tenure at Fed
By Alister Bull
WASHINGTON | Wed Jul 17, 2013 4:34pm EDT
(Reuters) - With a smile periodically playing across his face, Ben Bernanke almost looked pleased to face questions from members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, but that might be because he knows that it was for the last time.
During a hearing described several times as more like a eulogy than testimony on monetary policy, the Federal Reserve chief received bi-partisan thanks for his service as successive members said they had heard he may not be in the job next year.
Bernanke has kept silent about his future plans, but he is widely expected to depart when his current term as Fed chairman expires on January 31. Nor has he pushed back against perceptions that he is ready to return to private life.
For some, mild slips of memory may be very early Alzheimer's
By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO | Wed Jul 17, 2013 2:28pm EDT
(Reuters) - For years, doctors have dismissed patients' worries about mild slips of memory as a normal part of aging. Now, as the focus in Alzheimer's research moves toward early diagnosis, researchers are looking for ways to tell whether some of these "senior moments" are an early sign of the disease.
The idea is so new that scientists can't even agree on what to call these memory complaints among people who are still cognitively normal.
But experts gathered at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Boston say evidence is growing that it may be possible to couple certain patterns of memory lapses with genetic markers or changes in the brain and spinal fluid to better predict which individuals are displaying the earliest symptoms of Alzheimer's.
Business and the Economy
Exclusive: U.S. seeks new tactic in financial crisis prosecutions
By Emily Flitter
NEW YORK | Wed Jul 17, 2013 5:00pm EDT
(Reuters) - U.S. federal prosecutors are considering a new strategy for criminally charging Wall Street bankers who packaged and sold bad mortgage loans at the height of the housing bubble, according to a federal official familiar with the investigation.
The official said federal authorities are finding new evidence they say indicates intent to commit fraud over the packaging and sale of mortgage bonds backed by subprime home loans in some of the civil lawsuits plaintiffs' lawyers have filed against large banks.
And they are exploring whether they can build criminal cases against bankers by using a 1984 law intended to punish individuals for scamming commercial banks.
Former Goldman director Gupta fined, banned in SEC case
By Jonathan Stempel
Wed Jul 17, 2013 6:58pm EDT
(Reuters) - Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. director Rajat Gupta was ordered to pay a $13.9 million civil penalty and banned from serving as an officer or director of a public company for having illegally passed corporate secrets to former hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, a top U.S. regulator said on Wednesday.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the order was issued earlier in the day by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan, who also oversaw Gupta's related criminal trial.
Gupta, 64, is appealing his June 2012 conviction and two-year prison term for having fed confidential tips he learned at Goldman board meetings in the second half of 2008 to Rajaratnam, a former billionaire who ran Galleon Group.
Exclusive: GM delays Chevy Cruze debut by a year - sources
By Ben Klayman and Deepa Seetharaman
DETROIT | Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:44pm EDT
(Reuters) - General Motors Co has delayed the launch of the next-generation Chevrolet Cruze by a year due to engineering changes and a desire to squeeze more sales from the small car before it is redesigned, people familiar with the U.S. automaker's plans said.
The next version of the Cruze, which had originally been scheduled to debut in late 2014, will now begin production in December 2015, said the sources, most of whom asked not to be identified in discussing GM's plans.
Canadian Auto Workers union leaders at a supplier plant in Stratford, Ontario, have already announced the delay to members.
Entertainment and Sports
Fox News parts ways with Liz Cheney after Senate run launched
by Cynthia Johnston
Wed Jul 17, 2013 8:55pm EDT
(Reuters) - Fox News has parted ways with Liz Cheney, the eldest daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, after her announcement that she will challenge incumbent U.S. senator and fellow Republican Mike Enzi in Wyoming, a spokeswoman for the network said.
Cheney, 46, launched herself into the race on Tuesday with a nearly six-minute Web video in which she laid out a conservative agenda, saying the federal government was too large and wasted taxpayer dollars, and sharply criticized Democratic President Barack Obama.
Hollywood studios cater to comic convention's savvy fans
By Piya Sinha-Roy
LOS ANGELES | Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:00pm EDT
(Reuters) - Once a hotbed for avid fans of cult comic and fantasy genres, San Diego's Comic-Con has become an important stop for film studios and directors looking to gauge the responses of the convention's savvy audience.
Gareth Edwards, director of Warner Bros.' 2014 film "Godzilla," who made his first trip to Comic-Con last year to discuss possibly rebooting the monster movies, said audience reaction helped get the film approved for production.
"I hadn't really comprehended how significant it was going to be for the film. I thought some people might clap and they'd get on with the next film, and the reaction ... I was so knocked out by it, there was so much love for Godzilla for that room," Edwards said.
U.S. Olympic Committee opposes call for Sochi boycott
by Julian Linden
Wed Jul 17, 2013 6:38pm EDT
(Reuters) - The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has rejected a call to boycott the Sochi Winter Olympics if Russia grants asylum to Edward Snowden, saying it was not in the best interests of the country or the athletes.
USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky released a statement on Wednesday outlining the committee's opposition to any political boycott of the Games.
"If there are any lessons to be learned from the American boycott of 1980, it is that Olympic boycotts do not work," the statement read.
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