Month

June 2014

All posts published in June 2014

650 posts

ECB to wait for June measures to bite as inflation stays low

BRUSSELS/ FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Euro zone inflation remained stuck at levels last seen during the 2009 recession and lending to companies and households contracted again, data showed on Monday, further highlighting the bloc’s feeble economic state. The reports... More »

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Modi pitches India’s frugal space prowess at rocket launch

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a pitch for India to be the world’s low-cost space technology supplier after witnessing the launch of a rocket carrying five satellites from France, Singapore, Germany and Canada on Monday. ... More »

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Euro zone loans slump, ECB waits for new measures to kick in

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Lending to households and firms in the euro zone contracted more sharply in May than a month earlier, highlighting the economic weakness in the bloc that the ECB sought to address with a bundle of measures earlier this month. Over time, t... More »

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Bum parachute mars NASA ‘saucer’ test flight

CAPE CANAVERAL Fla. (Reuters) – A helium balloon carrying an experimental saucer-shaped NASA spacecraft floated off a launch tower at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, on Saturday to test landing systems for future missions to Ma... More »

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Iraqi parties pursue talks that could oust Maliki over insurgency

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi party leaders planned delicate talks that could end Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s divisive rule after a top Shi’ite cleric called for a new premier to be chosen without delay to tackle Islamist rebels threatening to tear apart the ... More »

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CEO Bonnafe tells employees BNP to be heavily sanctioned by U.S.

PARIS (Reuters) – Jean-Laurent Bonnafe, Chief Executive Officer at BNP Paribas, said in a message to employees that the French bank will be heavily penalised by a U.S. probe into sanctions busting which should end “very soon”, a French TV channel reported on S... More »

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Thai Airways names new acting president

BANGKOK (Reuters) – The board of Thai Airways International Pcl has appointed Air Chief Marshal Siwakiat Jayema as acting president from July 1 as the country’s military rulers reshuffle and restructure the loss-making carrier hit by months of political unrest... More »

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Hardee has year’s best decathlon as winds slow sprints

(Reuters) – Olympic silver medallist Trey Hardee scored a runaway victory in the decathlon but headwinds slowed times for 100 meters winners Mike Rodgers and Tianna Bartoletta at the U.S. championships on Friday. Hardee piled up 8,599 points, the year’s best s... More »

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Argentine vice president charged with conflict of interest

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s Vice President Amado Boudou was charged on Friday with corruption in his dealings with a company that printed the country’s currency while he was economy minister in 2010. The vice president will remain free while awaiting ... More »

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Germany’s Draisaitl makes history in NHL draft

(Reuters) – Center Leon Draisaitl became the highest German player chosen in the National Hockey League draft when he was selected at number three by the Edmonton Oilers on Friday. Canadian Aaron Ekblad, of the Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), ... More »

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Nadal eyes easier passage to Wimbledon fourth round

LONDON (Reuters) – World number one Rafael Nadal, into the third round for the first time since 2011, will be hoping for an easier ride on the Wimbledon grass after two tough rounds when he meets Mikhail Kukushkin on Saturday. He joins three other former Wimbl... More »

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Mexico arrests vigilante leader in state torn by violence

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican authorities detained one of the most well-known leaders of vigilante groups that have been battling drug gangs in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, a federal official said on Friday. Jose Mireles, a medical doctor who beca... More »

TV executive Garth Ancier countersues sex abuse accuser

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hollywood television executive Garth Ancier filed a malicious-prosecution lawsuit on Friday against a former teenage actor who just two days earlier had dropped a lawsuit accusing him of sexual abuse in the late 1990s. Ancier, who has w... More »

U.S. soul singer Bobby Womack dies at age 70: publicist

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. soul singer and songwriter Bobby Womack has died, his publicist said on Friday. He was 70. The cause of his death was not yet known, according to his publicist, Sonya Kolowrat at XL Recordings. Womack, who was inducted into the Roc... More »

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EU signs trade pact with Ukraine, ceasefire extended by 72 hours

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union signed an historic free-trade pact with Ukraine on Friday and warned it could impose more sanctions on Moscow unless pro-Russian rebels act to wind down the crisis in the east of the country by Monday. Shortly after retu... More »

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Venezuela blackout leaves commuters scrambling, silences president

CARACAS (Reuters) – A blackout cut power to much of Venezuela on Friday afternoon, snarling traffic in the capital Caracas and other major cities and interrupting a televised speech by the president in the country’s second nationwide electricity outage in a ye... More »

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Kerry, Saudi King discuss oil supply, U.S. official says

SHANNON Ireland (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Saudi King Abdullah briefly discussed global oil supplies during a meeting on the crisis in Iraq on Friday, a senior State Department official said. During the talks, Kerry referred to recent c... More »

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Murray strolls into last 16

LONDON (Reuters) – Champion Andy Murray declared he was fighting fit after steaming into the last 16 of Wimbledon with another show of force on Friday, outclassing Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2 6-3 6-2. The home favourite, attempting to defend the title h... More »

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GM recalls thousands of new pickups, SUVs, in U.S. and Canada

(Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N ) announced on Friday that it would recall 428,211 more vehicles in the United States, including new four-wheel drive pickups and SUVs with a software problem that could cause the vehicles to automatically switch to neutral ... More »

U.S. auctions some 30,000 bitcoins from Silk Road raid

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Marshals Service on Friday auctioned off about 30,000 bitcoins seized during a raid on Silk Road, an Internet black-market bazaar where authorities say illegal drugs and other goods could be bought. An online auction took place ov... More »

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Disgraced Suarez goes home, Brazil feel pressure

BRASILIA (Reuters) – The furor over Luis Suarez’s heavy ban for biting filled the void of the first game-free day at the World Cup in Brazil on Friday, with his Italian victim Giorgio Chiellini leading the criticism of the Uruguayan’s record punishment. The It... More »

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Li toppled and Djokovic tumbles on Wimbledon’s grass

LONDON (Reuters) – Wimbledon’s grass claimed its most notable victim so far when the women’s world number two Li Na exited the tournament on Friday and the lush lawns almost did for top men’s seed Novak Djokovic, who took an agonizing tumble. Two former champi... More »

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Berdych falls in late-night thriller

LONDON (Reuters) – It was so late and so dark at Wimbledon that even Hawkeye went to sleep. It was just too bad a grumpy Tomas Berdych could not find a way to escape the nightmare scenario as he slumped to a 7-6(5) 6-4 7-6(6) third round defeat by Marin Cilic ... More »

Wall Street closes up but ends week lower, Europe stocks down

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks erased early losses to close up on Friday but still finished the week lower on mixed economic data, while European equities had their first weekly drop since April on worries over Iraq and Ukraine. U.S. Treasuries yields eased ... More »

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Australia’s Goss shares four-way lead at Congressional

(Reuters) – Australian Oliver Goss surged into a four-way tie for the lead as Tiger Woods missed the cut after the second round of the Quicken Loans National in Maryland on Friday. Competing in only his second PGA Tour event as a professional, the 20-year-old ... More »

Wall Street rises with tech shares- DuPont drags

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks ended modestly higher on Friday, led by technology shares, though downbeat second-quarter and full-year forecasts from DuPont Co (DD.N ) kept a lid on gains. The S&P 500 technology index .SPLRCT rose 0.6 percent, bolstered by A... More »

Slim’s real estate arm to buy AT&T’s America Movil stake

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Carlos Slim’s real estate firm, Inmobiliaria Carso, will buy AT&T Inc’s equity stake in America Movil, tightening the Mexican tycoon’s control of his flagship telecommunications firm, according to a filing with Mexico’s stock exchange o... More »

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Nose woes: air pollutants thwart flower-seeking bugs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – You think your nose likes flowers? Well, certainly not as much as the tobacco hornworn moth. In fact, its life depends on it. These moths, whose olfactory abilities are as good as a bloodhound’s and vastly better than a human’s, can fly ... More »

Intel’s sales chief to step down, advise on corporate strategy

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Intel Corp’s global sales and marketing chief, Thomas Kilroy, will cede his position upon his return from extended medical leave on July 17, taking on an advisory role instead. The world’s largest chipmaker said on Friday that Greg Pe... More »

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Obama blasts House Republicans over lawsuit threat

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday blasted House Republicans who have threatened to sue him for issuing executive orders to implement policies that would have a hard time passing in the Republican-controlled chamber of Congress. “The... More »

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Defeated Republican challenges Mississippi Senate primary votes

(Reuters) – The Tea Party-backed candidate who has refused to concede defeat to Republican U.S. Senator Thad Cochran in Mississippi’s primary runoff said his campaign has found more than 1,000 instances of ballots cast by people who were ineligible to vote. Ch... More »

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New Jersey may be first state to ban smoking on beaches, in parks

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New Jersey could become the first state in the nation to ban cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products in all public parks and beaches if Governor Chris Christie signs into law a sweeping anti-smoking bill approved by lawmakers. The bi... More »

Retirement and same-sex couples, a year after DOMA ruling

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Something big happened in the world of retirement benefits a year ago today: The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. The court’s recognition of marriage equality has transformed life for many same-sex couples. In the... More »

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EU leaders signal shift from austerity of euro crisis

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – In the latest shift away from the austerity of the euro zone crisis, European Union leaders signalled at a summit that they were ready to give member states extra time to consolidate their budgets as long as they pressed ahead with economi... More »

Actor Shia LaBeouf charged with disorderly conduct, harassment

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Actor Shia LaBeouf, who starred in the “Transformer” movies and with Harrison Ford in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” was arraigned on Friday on charges of disorderly conduct and harassment at a Broadway theater. LaBeo... More »

Tencent to buy 20 pct in 58.com for $736 mln

(Reuters) – Tencent Holdings Ltd, China’s biggest listed tech firm, will buy a 20 percent stake in online classifieds company 58.com Inc for $736 million as the company looks to boost its presence in the e-commerce business. Tencent, known for its mobile messa... More »

Dollar weak after U.S. data fails to boost rate outlook

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar edged lower on Friday against a basket of major currencies and looked set for a second week of losses after positive data on consumer sentiment failed to boost expectations for a rise in interest rates any time soon. The Th... More »

Kaiser Chiefs gets the music going at Glastonbury Festival

PILTON England (Reuters) – Kaiser Chiefs kicked off three days of music at the Glastonbury Festival on Friday, with lead singer Ricky Wilson singing “I predict a riot” to a good natured crowd made even more amenable by a halt in the rain. The British band were... More »

German parliament cuts ties with Verizon in wake of spying row

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s lower house of parliament has joined the government in cutting ties with U.S. telecoms firm Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N ), in reaction to a scandal last year over U.S. government spying and allegations firms were handing over ... More »

BlackRock awarded second license for access to China markets

LONDON (Reuters) – BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, said its UK arm had been awarded a license to invest directly in China’s mainland capital markets, giving investors access to its stock and bond markets. In a statement on Friday, the company sai... More »

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Asian shares slip, global bond yields down on growth concerns

TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian shares were mostly in the red on Friday, weighed down by a weak performance on Wall Street and doubts about the strength of the U.S. economy, which pushed bonds higher. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei fell 1.5 percent and regional markets, wit... More »

Departures mean facelift for ABC’s ‘View’ next season

(Reuters) – The ABC’s long-running morning talk show “The View” will undergo a facelift when it returns next season after comedian Sherri Shepherd said she was leaving the program and Jenny McCarthy tweeted she may also depart. The departures come a month afte... More »

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Reef madness: scientists find oldest animal-built marine structure

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A sea creature that looked like a stack of tiny ice cream cones is providing quite a treat for scientists studying the dawn of animal life on Earth. Researchers said on Thursday they found fossils of the oldest-known animal-made reef in ... More »

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Warning, high voltage: scientists solve mysteries of electric fish

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Here is some truly shocking news: Scientists have discovered the secrets behind electric fish, using genetic studies that revealed how these exotic creatures developed an organ that can unleash a wicked jolt. Researchers on Thursday unve... More »

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Russia to debut first new space rocket design since Soviet era

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will debut its first new design of space rocket since the Soviet era on Friday in a launch from its own territory, aiming to break a reliance on the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and foreign suppliers. More than two decades in the... More »

U.S. personal finance advisor group bans commissions for members

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)on Thursday barred its members from owning stakes in financial services firms that receive transaction-based compensation, as part of its push to promote fee-only investment ad... More »

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Ex-Murdoch CEO Brooks says vindicated by not guilty verdicts

LONDON (Reuters) – Rebekah Brooks, the former boss of Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper arm, said on Thursday she felt vindicated after being found not guilty this week of committing crimes while editing the media mogul’s British tabloids. “I am innocent of t... More »

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GM prepares to recall some Cruze sedans with Takata air bags

DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Co is preparing to recall about 33,000 Chevrolet Cruze sedans with potentially defective air bags made by troubled Japanese supplier Takata Corp, the automaker said late Wednesday. In a crash, the driver-side air bag on the 2... More »

It’s Asian bonds, not equities, that are too rich

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – An unusual parallel rally in Asian bonds and equities, powered for the last five years by cheap global funds, could give out soon with debt becoming a casualty of the increasing confidence in the outlook for global growth. Bonds are now p... More »

Jordanian court acquits radical cleric Abu Qatada of conspiracy

AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordan’s state security court on Thursday acquitted radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada, who was extradited from Britain last year, of charges of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism. But the cleric will continue to be held because of separate... More »

Stocks put aside U.S. growth setback

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Stock markets in Europe and Asia looked past gains by Iraqi militants and poor first-quarter growth in the United States on Thursday, with some investors raising their forecasts for a U.S. economic bounce in coming months. A Sunni insurgency... More »

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Russia must urge Ukraine separatists to disarm ‘in hours’: Kerry

PARIS (Reuters) – US Secretary of State John Kerry, after meeting with France’s foreign minister, said on Thursday Russia should call on separatists in Ukraine to disarm within “the next hours”. “We are in full agreement that it is critical for Russia to show ... More »

China finds $15 billion of loans tied to falsified gold deals

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese gold processing firms have since 2012 used falsified gold transactions to borrow 94.4 billion yuan ($15.2 billion) from banks, the country’s chief auditor said. Commodities such as copper, rubber, soybeans and bullion have commonly... More »

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West renews Russia sanctions threat as Ukraine ceasefire crumbles

BRUSSELS/SLAVIANSK Ukraine (Reuters) – Western powers warned Russia on Wednesday that they could impose new sanctions if Moscow did not do more to defuse the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where a ceasefire between Russian-speaking rebels and government forces a... More »

Dollar still hurt by U.S. GDP revision

LONDON (Reuters) – The dollar index languished near one-month lows on Thursday, still held back by surprisingly weak U.S. first-quarter GDP data, which has bolstered expectations that monetary policy will remain loose. In the European session, the focus will b... More »

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More Americans use cannabis, seeking treatment: U.N. report

VIENNA (Reuters) – More Americans are consuming marijuana as their perception of the health risks declines but more are seeking help for problems related to the drug, a U.N. report said on Thursday. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said it was still ... More »

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Daimler and Nissan approve joint Mexico production: sources

PARIS/STUTTGART (Reuters) – Daimler (DAIGn.DE ) and Nissan (7201.T ) have finalized a joint venture deal to build future Mercedes and Infiniti compact cars in Mexico, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday as the automakers called a news confere... More »

Barclays shares fall after New York lawsuit

LONDON (Reuters) – Barclays’ shares fell on Thursday, making the stock the worst-performer in percentage terms on the UK’s main equity index, after the New York Attorney General filed a securities fraud lawsuit against the bank. Barclays shares were down by 3.... More »

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Portugal hopes hanging by a thread before Ghana clash

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Portugal must win big against Ghana in their final World Cup Group G match in Brasilia on Thursday and hope Germany and the United States do not draw in Recife to have any hope of progressing to the last 16. Portugal captain and World Play... More »

Testing U.S. crude oil export ban with swaps no simple matter

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Oil producers considering swapping U.S. light crude abroad for the heavier imported oil needed by refiners to work around a decades-old ban on exporting domestic crude may find the strategy harder to execute than it looks on paper. As U.... More »

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Obama aims for ‘day in the life’ of Minneapolis woman

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama heads to Minneapolis on Thursday, the first stop in series of summer road trips where he will aim to spend a “day in the life” of an ordinary American and convince voters that the White House understands their chal... More »

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U.S. healthcare profit outlook brightens on Obamacare, drug prices

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. healthcare companies are winning higher profit forecasts, bucking a wider trend on Wall Street, as pricey new biotech drugs hit the market and insurance enrollment rises under the Affordable Care Act. Analysts’ profit expectations for... More »

Dollar wilts in wake of downbeat U.S. GDP revision

TOKYO/SYDNEY (Reuters) – The dollar languished near one-month lows against a basket of major currencies on Thursday, following a surprise downward revision to U.S. first quarter economic growth. The dollar index fell as far as 80.091 on Wednesday, a low not se... More »

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Knicks send Chandler to Dallas in six-player trade

(Reuters – The Dallas Mavericks have acquired center Tyson Chandler in a six-player trade with the New York Knicks, the teams said on Wednesday. Dallas have sent starting point guard Jose Calderon, center Samuel Dalembert, reserves Shane Larkin and Wayne Ellin... More »

YouTube’s music stars to air on Sirius XM radio show

(Reuters) – YouTube is venturing onto radio with a weekly show on satellite radio service Sirius XM that will feature the online video website’s most popular and emerging artists, the companies said on Thursday. The show called The YouTube 15 will be hosted by... More »

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Suarez and Uruguay sweat ahead of FIFA ruling on bite

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Soccer’s governing body FIFA has not yet decided whether to expel Uruguay striker Luis Suarez from the World Cup for biting an opponent with deliberations set to continue on Thursday. Uruguay FA president Wilmar Valdez told reporters... More »

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Nadal meets Rosol in revenge match

LONDON (Reuters) – French Open champion Rafael Nadal will face his 2012 Wimbledon nemesis, Lukas Rosol, on Thursday, knowing he will have to up his game to avoid another second-round exit at the hands of the Czech world number 52. After a first-round defeat at... More »

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Congress the butt of Obama’s climate science jokes

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama lampooned congressional skepticism over climate change on Wednesday, saying that lawmakers who balk at tackling air pollution are either blind to science or cowed by extremists. In a speech to the League of Conserv... More »

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Change in Miss. voting rules seen unlikely despite Tea Party anger

HATTIESBURG Miss. (Reuters) – Tea Party Republicans in Mississippi on Wednesday railed against an election rule that allowed Democrats, many of them black, to tilt a bitterly fought Republican U.S. Senate primary runoff to incumbent Thad Cochran. But officials... More »

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Take the day off, Klinsmann urges U.S. fans

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – United States head coach Juergen Klinsmann has produced a cheeky hand-written letter for American fans who want to skip work on Thursday in order to watch his team’s World Cup game against Germany. The United States will qualify for ... More »

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Messi shines again and Shaqiri joins the fun

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Argentina’s Lionel Messi continued his World Cup dual with Neymar by scoring twice in a 3-2 win over Nigeria while Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri got in on the act with a magnificent hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Honduras on Wednesday. Nigeri... More »

Vodafone to win EU approval for $9.8 billion Ono deal: sources

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – Vodafone is set to gain unconditional EU approval for its 7.2-billion-euro ($9.79 billion) bid for Spain’s largest cable operator Ono as regulators do not have competition concerns, three people familiar with the matter said on Wedn... More »

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Leave Suarez alone, Uruguay president urges

MONTEVIDEO Uruguay (Reuters) – Uruguay’s President Jose Mujica weighed into the global controversy over footballer Luis Suarez on Wednesday, saying it was unfair to judge him retrospectively for biting an Italian player when other incidents went unreviewed. “W... More »

Wall St. gains after Supreme Court ruling on broadcasters

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, led by drugmakers, while a Supreme Court ruling lifted the shares of major broadcasters. Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N ) shot up 3 percent to $49.73. The rally came a day after the drugmaker said a... More »

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Scatological science: oldest human poop fossils no laughing matter

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Don’t laugh, but the discovery of the oldest known human poop is offering valuable scientific insight into the life of Neanderthals who lived in Spain some 50,000 years ago. Scientists said on Wednesday they found five samples of human f... More »