Posted Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:21:20 -0400by WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. foiled a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange because of the sweeping surveillance programs at the heart of a debate over national security and personal privacy, officials said Tuesday at a rare open hearing on intelligence led by lawmakers sympathetic to the spying.
Posted Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:11:58 -0400by NEW YORK (AP) — The mayors of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and 15 other cities are reviving a push against letting food stamps be used to buy soda and other sugary drinks.
Posted Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:17:55 -0400by WASHINGTON (AP) — Worry and speculation have consumed investors since Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke to Congress last month about the Federal Reserve's drive to keep long-term interest rates at record lows.
Posted Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:34:57 -0400by By Mathieu Bonkoungou OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - Mali signed a ceasefire deal with Tuareg separatist rebels on Tuesday, paving the way for government troops to return to the northern, rebel-held town of Kidal before a presidential election next month. At the heart of a region plagued by poverty and Islamic militancy, Mali won a 3.25 billion euros Western aid package last month aimed at shoring up democracy and helping it recover from a coup and an al Qaeda insurgency. ...
Posted Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:31:58 -0400by MAIDUGURI (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants opened fire on a school in Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri on Tuesday, killing nine students, witnesses and a medical worker said, the second deadly attack on schools in three days. Witness Ibrahim Mohammed said he was taking exams in a classroom at Ansarudeen School when gunmen stormed the building, opening fire at random. "I saw five students sitting the exams killed on the spot. Four others were killed as they were entering the school premises," he said by telephone, still shaking with fear. ...
Posted Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:34:37 -0400by MADRID (AP) — The International Monetary Fund says recession-wracked Spain is making progress but is urging policymakers both within the country and in Europe to take "urgent action" to slash the country's crippling 27 percent unemployment rate.
Posted Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:33:34 -0400by By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai distanced himself from U.S. peace talks with Taliban insurgents that are likely to begin on Thursday, and, as a mark of displeasure, said the government was suspending negotiations with Washington over a troop agreement. A senior Afghan official told Reuters on Wednesday that the government was unhappy over the official status being given to the Taliban, who opened an office in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on Tuesday. U.S. ...
Posted Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:32:40 -0400by By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya sought to assuage concerns over a planned review of capital gains tax, saying it was too early to say what asset classes will be targeted in a measure aimed at compelling the rich to fund development. Finance Minister Henry Rotich told lawmakers in his budget speech last week there would be a review of the tax, suspended in the 1980s, to allow the wealthy to make a token contribution to the development of the country. ...
Posted Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:25:41 -0400by MIAMI (AP) — Forecasters say a tropical depression crossing Mexico's Bay of Campeche is expected to become a tropical storm before making landfall in that country's Gulf coast state of Veracruz.
Posted Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:21:48 -0400by WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers have a message for those who want the party to soften its emphasis on social conservatism in hopes of reaching a wider national audience: Not so fast.
Posted Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:20:58 -0400by SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys in the George Zimmerman murder trial are set for the next phase of jury selection.
Posted Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:36:56 -0400by HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Cu Huy Ha Vu's books come with pages torn out by prison guards. Only some of his letters reach home. He is not allowed to access evidence from his trial or to see his wife alone.
Posted Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:36:54 -0400by By Lamine Chikhi ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria is investigating the head of its state power and gas utility, Sonelgaz, over contracts involving U.S. conglomerate General Electric Co and France's Alstom SA, sources told Reuters and Algerian local media reported. "The case is about inflating costs in deals with U.S. firm General Electric and French firm Alstom," one of the sources said. The source gave no further details. There was no evidence that Alstom and GE were under investigation. Alstom and General Electric declined to comment. ...
Posted Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:30:23 -0400by MILAN (AP) — The former head of the Italian aerospace and defense giant Finmeccanica goes on trial in a case involving alleged bribes to win a 560 million euro ($670 million) helicopter contract in India.
