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Monday, June 17, 2013

Snowden hits back against critics of NSA leaks

Snowden hits back against critics of NSA leaks

Snowden hits back against critics of NSA leaks

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:55 PM PDT

A bus passes by a poster of Edward Snowden, a former contractor at the NSA displayed by his supporters at Hong Kong's financial Central districtDeborah Charles and Laura MacInnis WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former National Security Agency contractor who revealed the U.S. government's top-secret monitoring of Americans' phone and Internet data fought back against his critics on Monday, saying the government's "litany of lies" about the programs compelled him to act. Edward Snowden told an online forum run by Britain's Guardian newspaper that he considered it an honor to be called a traitor by people like former Vice President Dick Cheney, and he urged President Barack Obama to "return to sanity" and roll back the surveillance effort. ...

Putin: US-Russia positions on Syria don't coincide

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:53 PM PDT

From right, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, US President Barack Obama and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy attend a media conference regarding EU-US trade at the G-8 summit in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland on Monday, June 17, 2013. British Prime Minister Cameron said he expects formal agreement to launch negotiations on a European-American free trade agreement. He also said a pact to slash tariffs on exports would boost employment and growth on both sides of the Atlantic. (AP Photo/Andrew Winning, Pool)ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin (POO'-tihn) has told President Barack Obama that their positions on Syria do not coincide but both leaders agree on the need to push for negotiations in Syria's two-year-old civil war.

Guardian: Snowden won't return voluntarily to US

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:52 PM PDT

FILE - This June 9, 2013 photo provided by The Guardian newspaper in London shows Edward Snowden, who worked as a contract employee at the U.S. National Security Agency, in Hong Kong. The Guardian newspaper says that the British eavesdropping agency GCHQ repeatedly hacked into foreign diplomats' phones and emails when the U.K. hosted international conferences, even going so far as to set up a bugged Internet café in an effort to get an edge in high-stakes negotiations. The Guardian cites more than half a dozen internal government documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden as the basis for its reporting on GCHQ's intelligence operations. (AP Photo/The Guardian, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — NSA leaker Edward Snowden defended his disclosure of top-secret U.S. spying programs in an online chat Monday with The Guardian and attacked U.S. officials for calling him a traitor.

EU, US agree to start free trade talks at G-8

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:50 PM PDT

President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron help students paint a mural during a visit to the Enniskillen Integrated Primary School in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, Monday, June 17, 2013. The visit takes place before leaders from the G-8 nations are to gather to discuss the ongoing conflict in Syria, and free-trade issues. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (AP) — The European Union and the United States will open negotiations next month on a long-sought deal to create free trade between the world's two mightiest economic regions — an effort that could create millions of jobs but that could also take years to transform from dream to reality.

Tony Awards spur box offices on Broadway

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:47 PM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — There were smiles at many Broadway box offices last week as a big financial bounce followed the Tony Awards, with the biggest winners being "Pippin," ''Matilda the Musical" and "Motown the Musical."

McCain presses Obama on secret emails

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:42 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. John McCain on Monday questioned President Barack Obama about his political appointees' use of secret government email accounts at work, saying that Congress cannot tell the American people what its government is doing if it creates a "secret alternate communications network."

Bill Clinton: Israel must make peace to survive

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:42 PM PDT

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2013 file photo, Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home party, touches the stones of the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalem's Old City. The idea of Palestinians establishing a state in the territory they seek has "reached a dead end," Naftali Bennett, economics minister, said Monday, June 17, 2013, in the latest remarks by hard-liners that appear to contradict the country's official support for a "two-state solution" to its conflict with the Palestinians. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)JERUSALEM (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton is urging Israel to make peace with the Palestinians in order to survive as a Jewish and democratic state.

Kurds fight for place in Syrian civil war

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:41 PM PDT

FILE - In this Sunday, March 3, 2013 file photo, A Kurdish female member of the Popular Protection Units stands guard at a check point near the northeastern city of Qamishli, Syria. Taking advantage of the chaos of the civil war, Syria's Kurdish minority has carved out a once unthinkable independence in their areas, creating their own police forces, even their own license plates, and exuberantly going public with their language and culture. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo, File)BEIRUT (AP) — Taking advantage of the chaos of the civil war, Syria's Kurdish minority has carved out a once unthinkable degree of independence in their areas, creating their own police forces, even their own license plates, and exuberantly going public with their language and culture.

Greek coalition in last-ditch bid to keep alive

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:40 PM PDT

Greece's Left-wing opposition leader Alexis Tsipras addresses his party's supporters during a rally outside Parliament demanding elections, in Athens on Monday June 17, 2013. Exactly one year ago, Greece's conservative prime minister won the mandate to form a coalition government with a daunting brief: Restart punishing reforms, keep the debt-stifled country in the eurozone and end months of political chaos. The latter has proved harder, and Antonis Samaras is now making a last-ditch bid to quell a revolt by key allies over his decision to close the country's state TV and radio broadcaster, axing nearly 2,700 jobs to meet austerity targets. (AP Photo/Dimitri Messinis)ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Exactly one year ago, Greece's conservative prime minister won the mandate to form a coalition government with a daunting brief: Restart punishing economic reforms, keep the debt-stifled country in the eurozone and end months of political chaos.

For young immigrants, a delayed coming of age

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:40 PM PDT

In this Wednesday, June 12, 2013 photo, brothers Jorge Tume, left, and Francis Tume are shown in Miami. Tume's parents brought them to the U.S. from Peru on tourist visas when they were young and decided to stay, becoming unauthorized immigrants with no legal status. Now, one year after President Barack Obama announced an executive order allowing young people living in the U.S. illegally to stay and work, nearly 300,000 young adults previously living illegally in the United States have been granted permission to stay and work through the program, the most significant shift in immigration policy in recent decades. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)MIAMI (AP) — As a child, Jorge Tume used to sit and do homework as his parents cleaned the desks and floors of a concrete company in Miami. When he was done, he'd take out the trash and help finish cleaning.

Syria's Assad: EU will pay price for arming rebels

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:37 PM PDT

In this Friday, June 14, 2013 citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, Syrian rebels stand on top of a tank they took after storming the Iskan military base in Idlib province, northern Syria. After weeks of fighting the rebels captured tanks as well as other vehicles and artillery in the area. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTOBEIRUT (AP) — Syria's president warned that Europe "will pay a price" if it delivers weapons to rebels fighting to topple him, saying in an interview published Monday that arming them would backfire as the "terrorists" return to their countries with extremist ideologies.

Greek court orders state TV reopened, PM offers compromise

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:37 PM PDT

Protesters cast their shadows on a state broadcaster ERT van outside its headquarters in AthensBy Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) - A Greek court ruled that shuttered state broadcaster ERT must reopen immediately, a court official said on Monday, offering the squabbling ruling coalition a way out of a political crisis over the station's abrupt closure. The ruling - which ordered ERT switched back on until a restructured public broadcaster is launched - came six day after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras took it off air in the name of austerity and public sector layoffs to please foreign lenders. ...

Google settles suit, clears way for stock split

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:35 PM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google has resolved a shareholder lawsuit blocking a long-delayed stock split, clearing the way for the Internet search leader to issue a new class of non-voting shares later this year.

G8 urges Europe to move on bank reform, Japan to fix budget

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:34 PM PDT

By Andrew Osborn and William Schomberg ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - The euro zone came under pressure from other rich economies on Monday to press on with a banking union and Japan was urged to follow up on massive central bank stimulus with structural reforms and measures to tackle its budget deficit. Leaders of the Group of Eight rich nations, which include Germany, France and Italy, said a further strengthening of the rules underpinning the euro zone, including moves toward a banking union, was "strongly needed. ...

Businessman tries his luck at building pot brand

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:33 PM PDT

Thomas Jun, a part-owner of Northwest Patient Resource Center, a medical marijuana dispensary, poses for a photo Sunday, June 9, 2013, in Seattle. Jun says he is walking away from the company he helped found because he fears its agreement with Diego Pellicer, a company seeking to create the first national commercial brand of marijuana, places those involved at risk of federal prosecution. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)SEATTLE (AP) — For the activists who led the effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Washington state last fall, Jamen Shively was one of their biggest fears: an aspiring pot profiteer whose unabashed dreams of building a cannabis empire might attract unwanted attention from the federal government or a backlash that could slow the marijuana reform movement across the country.

Oil posts small loss after hitting high for year

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:31 PM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil fell slightly after it climbed to a high for the year Monday, as the market waits to see the results of this week's Federal Reserve policy meeting.

Official: Solar plane to help energy use on ground

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:29 PM PDT

Andre Borschberg, one of two pilots of the Solar Impulse plane is interviewed by a reporter on a ladder as he sits inside the cockpit of the solar powered plane during a media availability at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Va., Monday, June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)CHANTILLY, Va. (AP) — The nation's energy secretary says a solar-powered plane that landed outside Washington early Sunday will one day offer a payoff for people on the ground.

US won't sweeten nuke offer for Iran's next leader

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:29 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration won't welcome the election of a relative moderate as Iran's next president with any new nuclear offer. A State Department spokeswoman says it's up to Tehran to compromise.

Food companies work to make it look natural

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:27 PM PDT

In this undated photo provided by Kraft Foods Inc., a package of Oscar Mayer Carving Board Turkey Breast is shown. More companies are now trying to make processed foods appear more homespun. (AP Photo/Kraft Foods Inc.)NEW YORK (AP) — Here's the latest goal for food makers: Perfect the art of imperfection.

Rowhani's 'path of moderation' also shows limits

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:26 PM PDT

Iranian newly elected President Hasan Rowhani, listens during a press conference, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 17, 2013. Rowhani showcases his reformist image by promising a "path of moderation," the easing of nuclear tensions and steps to narrow the huge divide with the United States. He also make clear where he won't go, saying he opposes any halt to uranium enrichment, at the heart of the nuclear standoff. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's newly elected president showcased his reform-leaning image Monday by promising a "path of moderation" that includes greater openness on Tehran's nuclear program and overtures to Washington. He also made clear where he draws the line: No halt to uranium enrichment and no direct U.S. dialogue without a pledge to stay out of Iranian affairs.

Neil Patrick Harris to return to Broadway _ to act

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:20 PM PDT

FILE - In this Sunday, June 9, 2013 file photo, actor Neil Patrick Harris performs on stage at the 67th Annual Tony Awards, in New York. Harris is returning to the stage _ and not to hand out awards. The four-time Tony Award host and former "Doogie Howser, M.D." will star on Broadway in the spring as the gender-bent rock chanteuse at the center of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," the cult musical that was made into a cult movie. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK (AP) — Neil Patrick Harris is returning to the stage — and not to hand out awards.

9/11 accused in Guantanamo court but trial distant

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:18 PM PDT

In this pool photo of a sketch by courtroom artist Janet Hamlin and reviewed by the U.S. Department of Defense, the self-proclaimed terrorist mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, wearing a camouflage jacket and white turban, is seen during a break in the pretrial hearings at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba, Monday, June 17, 2013. Five Guantanamo Bay prisoners accused of helping orchestrate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks returned to court Monday as arguments resumed over the preparations for a trial that remains distant. (AP Photo/Janet Hamlin, Pool)GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — Five Guantanamo Bay prisoners accused of helping orchestrate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks returned to court Monday as arguments resumed over the preparations for a trial that remains distant.

Indiana woman condemned for killing at 15 is freed

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:18 PM PDT

In this May 29, 1985, photo provided by the Lake County, Ind., Police Department is Paula Cooper who was sentenced to death when she was 15 after stabbing a 78-year-old Bible school teacher 33 times during a 1985 robbery in Gary, Ind. A Department of Correction spokesman says Cooper, now 43, was released from an Indiana prison Monday, June 17, 2013. A state court overturned her death sentence in 1988. (AP Photo/Lake County Police Depatmrnt via The Indianapolis Star)INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A woman who was sentenced to death at age 16 for taking part in the torture and murder of a 78-year-old bible studies teacher was released from an Indiana prison Monday after growing to middle age behind bars.

In Israel, Streisand criticizes treatment of women

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:15 PM PDT

Entertainment star Barbra Streisand speaks during a ceremony at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem after she received an honorary doctorate in Jerusalem, Monday, June 17, 2013. Streisand waded into one of Israel's touchiest issues Monday on the first major stop of her tour of the country Jewish religious practices that separate men and women. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty)JERUSALEM (AP) — Entertainer Barbra Streisand waded into one of Israel's touchiest issues Monday on the first major stop of her tour of the country — Jewish religious practices that separate men and women.

More anti-government protests occur in Bulgaria

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:13 PM PDT

Protesters shout anti-governmental slogans and carry a poster reading "resignation" during the fourth day of massive protests in Sofia, Bulgaria Monday, June 17, 2013. Thousands took to the streets of the capital, Sofia, and other cities for a fourth day in a row demanding the government resigns over the appointment of Delyan Peevski, a media mogul, as the head of the national security agency. Bulgaria's prime minister said on Monday that last week's appointment of the nation's security chief was a mistake, but that his government will not resign over it. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria's prime minister said Monday that Parliament's appointment of a media mogul as the nation's security chief was a mistake, but that his government will not resign over it.

Feds: NY, Va. 7-Eleven stores exploited immigrants

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:12 PM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Nine owners and managers of 7-Eleven stores across Long Island and in Virginia were charged on Monday in a scheme to exploit immigrants from Pakistan and the Philippines, in part by paying them using the stolen Social Security numbers of a child and three dead people while stealing most of their wages.

Brazil protesters vow to hold big demo

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:11 PM PDT

Policemen stand guard next to protesters placed on the road in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, June 16, 2013. Brazilian police have dispersed a small protest against a public transport fare hike that broke out in front of Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium ahead of the Mexico-Italy soccer match during the Confederations Cup. (AP Photo/Bruno Magalhaes)SAO PAULO (AP) — Protesters promised to hold their biggest demonstrations yet against a hike in public transport fares on Monday, stoking fears of more clashes with police and raising questions about security during big events such as the current Confederations Cup and a papal visit next month.

Iran nuclear program advances despite sanctions: IAEA chief

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:09 PM PDT

IAEA Director General Amano attends a news conference during a board of governors meeting in ViennaBy Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran is making "steady progress" in expanding its nuclear program and international sanctions do not seem to be slowing it down, the U.N. nuclear agency chief told Reuters on Monday. Yukiya Amano's comments underlined the difficult challenges facing world powers in seeking to persuade the Islamic state to scale back nuclear activities they suspect could be used to make atomic bombs, a charge Tehran denies. ...

US-bound Egypt plane diverted after threat

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:09 PM PDT

Passengers leave the Egyptair aircraft at Prestwick Airport, Scotland, after it was diverted while en route from Cairo to New York, Saturday June 15, 2013. It is reported that BBC employee Nada Tafik, who was on board the plane, said she found a note in a toilet apparently threatening to start a fire. The plane was escorted to Prestwick by Typhoon fighters from RAF Leuchars, near St. Andrews on the east coast of Scotland. (AP Photo/ Andrew Milligan /PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUTLONDON (AP) — British fighter aircraft escorted a plane from Cairo bound for New York to an emergency landing in the U.K. after a passenger discovered a letter onboard threatening to blow up the aircraft, officials said Saturday.

Soybeans drop as weather boosts crop prospects

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:09 PM PDT

Soybeans are falling as improving weather across the Midwest boosts the outlook for this year's crop.

Military women moving into jobs closer to combat

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:08 PM PDT

1948 — Law passed making women a permanent part of the U.S. military services

Military plans would put women in most combat jobs

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:05 PM PDT

FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2012 file photo, female soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division train on a firing range while testing new body armor in Fort Campbell, Ky., in preparation for their deployment to Afghanistan. Women may be able to begin training as Army Rangers by mid-2015, and as Navy SEALs a year later under broad plans Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is approving that would slowly bring women into thousands of combat jobs, including those in the country's elite special operations forces, according to details of the plans submitted to Hagel that were obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Women may be able to start training as Army Rangers by mid-2015 and as Navy SEALs a year later under plans set to be announced by the Pentagon that would slowly bring women into thousands of combat jobs, including those in elite special operations forces.

Allies of Iran's outgoing president defeated

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:05 PM PDT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Allies of outgoing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have suffered a resounding defeat in local council elections, a clear rejection at the end of his term.

Protesters march on G8 venue in Northern Ireland

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:03 PM PDT

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - Around 1,000 activists marched towards the venue of a Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland on Monday to demand world leaders end global hunger, boost gay rights and ban fracking. Environmentalists, socialists and rights activists gathered in the small market town of Enniskillen before setting off to the golf resort 10 km (7 miles) away that is hosting the leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama. Organizers said they would walk to the 7 km metal fence surrounding the venue before turning back, adding that they were not expecting violence. ...

To ease shortage of organs, grow them in a lab?

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:02 PM PDT

Dr. Anthony Atala holds the "scaffolding" for a human kidney created by a 3-D printer in a laboratory at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Wednesday, May 8, 2013. The university is experimenting with various ways to create replacement organs for human implantation, from altering animal parts to building them from scratch with a patient's own cells. (AP Photo/Allen Breed)NEW YORK (AP) — By the time 10-year-old Sarah Murnaghan finally got a lung transplant last week, she'd been waiting for months, and her parents had sued to give her a better shot at surgery.

Miss Universe contest heads to Moscow

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 12:01 PM PDT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — This year's Miss Universe pageant will be held in Russia's capital Moscow.

Syrian pound tumbles to record low on talk of rebel aid

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 11:52 AM PDT

A Free Syrian Army fighter points his weapon out of the window in AleppoBy Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Washington's decision to arm opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and reports of Gulf military aid to rebels have sent the Syrian currency plunging to a new record low, currency dealers and bankers said on Monday. Traders across Syria reported widely fluctuating rates and two currency dealers in Damascus, where the pound appeared to be hit hardest, said it fell below 200 to the dollar for the first time in what one described as panic buying of the U.S. currency. ...

Investigators 'zeroing in' on Colo. wildfire start

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 11:51 AM PDT

Residents look at a map detailing the progress of the Black Forest wildfire Sunday, June 16, 2013, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Fire crews were putting out hot spots Sunday to prevent flare ups in heavily wooded Black Forest, where hundreds of houses have been destroyed. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Investigators are getting closer to pinpointing where Colorado's most destructive wildfire started and that should help allow residents of the area hit hardest by the blaze to temporarily return home.

Ex-hitman: I was heartbroken Bulger was informant

Posted: 17 Jun 2013 11:45 AM PDT

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2008 file photo, John Martorano is questioned about his plea agreement in exchange for testifying against former FBI agent John Connolly, in the Miami Courthouse. Connolly is accused of helping the Boston mob murder Miami gambling executive John Callahan in 1982, at Miami International Airport. Martorano, who served 12 years in prison after a plea deal, and who has admitted killing 20 people, is expected to testify at the trial of James "Whitey" Bulger, Monday, June 17, 2013 in federal court in Boston. (AP Photo/Marice Cohn Band, Pool, File)BOSTON (AP) — An ex-gangster who admitted killing 20 people was unemotional Monday when describing his line of work at the trial of his former partner, James "Whitey" Bulger, but called himself heartbroken when he learned that Bulger had become an FBI informant.
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