Deloitte gets one-year New York ban
Deloitte has agreed to a one-year suspension from doing consulting work for financial firms in the state of New York, after regulators criticised its work at Standard Chartered bank on anti-money laundering issues.
New York's financial regulator cited the company's "misconduct, violations of law, and lack of autonomy".
Deloitte will also pay the state of New York $10m (£6.4m) under the agreement.
Deloitte could not immediately be reached for comment.
Last year, UK-based Standard Chartered agreed to pay $340m to the Department of Financial Services (DFS), as well as $227m to the Department of Treasury and a fine of $100m imposed by the Federal Reserve, to settle charges it violated US sanctions on Iran, Burma, Libya and Sudan.
After investigating Deloitte's work at Standard Chartered, New York's DFS found that the firm did not demonstrate the necessary autonomy required of consultants performing regulatory work.
It also said that Deloitte had violated New York banking law by disclosing confidential information of other clients to Standard Chartered.
In addition to the voluntary suspension and agreeing to pay the $10m fine, Deloitte will implement a set of reforms designed to help address conflicts of interest in the consulting industry, the DFS said.
"The State's agreement with Deloitte will serve as a new model for reforming the financial services consulting industry in New York as well as across the country," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.
"When tasked by government agencies to undertake regulatory work at financial institutions, it is critical for these consultants to remain autonomous and avoid conflicts of interest. Our homeowners, investors and economy are protected when independent consultants are truly 'independent'."
Japan exports rise by most since 2010
Japanese exports rose in May by the most since 2010 as the yen weakened, providing a boost to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to revive the economy.
Shipments shot up 10.1% from the previous year, data showed, rising for a third straight month.
The yen has weakened significantly since last year, despite recent gains, helping exporters.
A strong yen makes their goods expensive overseas and cuts profits.
"We can certainly say that exports are headed in the right direction," said Shuji Tonouchi from Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. "The breakdown shows that export volumes are still a little weak. Demand from the United States is doing well."
Shipments picked up in key markets with exports to the US rising 16.3% from a year earlier. Shipments to China increased 8.3%.
However, imports kept pace rising by 10% in May from a year ago, data showed. Therefore the trade balance came to a deficit of 993.9bn yen ($10.4bn; £6.7bn).
It marks the 11th straight month that Japan has posted a deficit as energy import costs continue to be high after nuclear plants were shut down.
Stocks closes High on Wall Street
Stocks on Wall Street closed higher on Tuesday, as investors pinned their hopes on the US Federal Reserve sticking to its current bond-buying stimulus programme.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 138.38 points, or 0.91% to finish at 15318.23.
Elsewhere, the Standard and Poor's 500 rose 12 points, or 0.8%, to 1,651.
Traders are now waiting for the conclusion of the latest Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday.
Investors appear confident that the Fed will not opt to wind down its economic stimulus programme just yet, despite the recent improvements in the US economy.
"The game is different from what it used to be,'' said Mark Spellman, portfolio manager for Value Line Funds in New York.
"It's not just, 'Is the Fed going to raise (its benchmark interest rate) up or down?' It's 'Is the Fed going to keep buying $85bn worth of bonds each month?'" he added.
Official figures on Tuesday suggested a pick-up in new homes building and inflation that is rising at a manageable rate.
Shares in Dell rose 0.5% after the billionaire investor Carl Icahn called on the computer maker to purchase a majority of its outstanding shares for $14 per share in his latest effort to block founder Michael Dell's plan to take the company private. Dell has offered $13.65 per share.
UnitedHealth rose 2% after Deutsche Bank raised the price target on the shares to $63 from $60.
Hormel Foods, the maker of Skippy peanut butter and Spam, slipped 3.6% after the company said it expects lower profits for the year.
Source-BBC
US House Republicans pass abortion-limits bill
The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives has passed a bill that would introduce strict abortion limits.
The plan to restrict terminations to the first 20 weeks after conception was approved by 228 votes to 196, largely along party lines.
But it has no chance of becoming law as Democrats control the Senate and the White House has threatened a veto.
Most US states allow abortions to when a foetus becomes viable outside the womb, considered to be some 24 weeks.
The Republican leadership pressed ahead with the abortion bill after the case of Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia abortion doctor who was recently sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of killing three babies delivered alive.
The legislation passed on Tuesday makes exceptions for victims of rape and incest, as long as they first report the crime to authorities.
Republican congressman Trent Franks, the bill's sponsor, provoked outrage last week when he said in a committee hearing that the "incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy [is] very low".
BBC Washington correspondent Jane Little says that while the bill has delighted the Republicans' core social-conservative supporters, it may alienate the female, young, and independent voters that party bosses hope to win over.
Controversial remarks about abortion by Republicans provoked a backlash during the November 2012 elections.
One candidate said women's bodies could prevent pregnancy in cases of "legitimate rape"; another said pregnancy resulting from rape was "something God intended to happen".
Ten US states have passed laws similar to the House bill, although several are facing legal challenges.
Brazil clashes after President Rousseff praises protests
Riot police and protesters clashed in fresh protests on Tuesday in Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo.
Shops and banks were vandalised by groups of masked activists, who fought other demonstrators trying to stop the violence.
The protests began earlier this month, with demonstrators calling for a 10% hike in bus fares to be revoked.
But they have since grown into a nationwide movement calling for better education, schools and transport.
Looting
More than 50,000 people gathered in front of the Sao Paulo Cathedral on Tuesday for a march through the city centre.
Scuffles broke out with police outside the office of Mayor Fernando Haddad.
Police officers sought refuge inside the building. Stones were thrown, windows broken, and students tried to break down the door.
Journalists were attacked and a car set alight, while protesters set fire to a police station in another part of the city, says the BBC's Luis Kawaguti.
Brazilian TV showed images of a small group of people involved in looting at nearby offices and shops.
Demonstrations were also taking place in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. As the protests continue, Brazil is hosting the Confederations Cup, a curtain-raiser event for next year's football World Cup.
Many of the demonstrators have complained of the huge sums spent on construction for the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, which will be hosted by Rio de Janeiro.
Brazilian footballer Hulk said on Tuesday that watching the protests made him feel like taking part. At least two other players have sent messages of support on social media.
The demonstrations are Brazil's largest since 1992, when people took to the streets to demand the impeachment of President Fernando Collor de Mello.
US Military to Put Women in Key Combat Roles
The U.S. military says that within three years, it will put women in key combat positions from which they once were excluded.
Officials from all four branches of the U.S. military gathered at the Pentagon Tuesday to announce a timeline for changes to regulations banning women from more than 200,000 positions.
A senior Pentagon official at the gathering, Juliet Beyler, called the announcement a milestone. She said the Pentagon's goal is to ensure the U.S. military mission is met with the most capable people, regardless of gender.
A top U.S. general, Bennet Sacolick, said cultural, social and behavioral concerns may be bigger hurdles than physical fitness requirements for women seeking to move into special operations units. He said the key characteristic of today's special operations people is "intellect."
The general said the days of "Rambo" are over, a reference to the movie series depicting a U.S. war hero who relies much on brute strength.
The U.S. Marines already maintain new gender-neutral physical tests, and the Army will have new standards by 2015 that will allow women to be part of its elite Ranger regiment.
American women have served in combat roles for years, and hundreds have been killed on the front lines. But women have been excluded from key positions in areas including special operations and infantry.
Mali Gov't, Tuareg Rebels Sign Accord
Mali's government has signed a deal with Tuareg rebels that will allow the army to return to a key rebel-held city ahead of next month's elections.
The deal was signed Tuesday in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, in the presence of Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore, who served as mediator.
Tuareg group MNLA currently occupies the city of Kidal, the only major population center in northern Mali under rebel control.
According to media reports Tuesday, the new accord says Malian security forces and civilian officials can return to Kidal before the July 28 presidential election. It also calls for the rebels to be disarmed.
The MNLA is fighting for an independent Tuareg state in northern Mali. The group seized control of Kidal after French and African forces drove Islamist militants out of the region's cities earlier this year.
The July 28 election is meant to restore democracy in Mali.
Soldiers toppled the the president in March 2012, allowing the MNLA and the militants to take control of the north. The Islamist groups pushed aside the MNLA a few months later.
NSA Chief: Surveillance Programs Prevented 50+ Attacks
U.S. National Security Agency Director General Keith Alexander says NSA surveillance programs have helped prevent more than 50 terrorist attacks since 9/11.
He said two recently disclosed surveillance programs that gather U.S. phone records and track the use of U.S.-based Internet servers by foreigners with possible links to terrorism "are critical to protecting our country."
General Alexander gave a congressional committee some information on two cases he said the programs thwarted. One a plot from Yemen to bomb the New York Stock Exchange and another that involved providing funding for a Somalia-based terrorist group.
He said he would give the committee documents about the rest of the cases Wednesday in a classified setting.
Deputy Attorney General James Cole also testified that there are several checks for abuse in the surveillance programs and they have oversight by all three branches of government.
The committee chairman, Republican Mike Rogers, and top Democratic member C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger agreed the programs are legal as well as critical. They criticized the recent leaks about the programs, with Rogers calling it "criminal behavior".
On Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama repeated earlier assertions the NSA programs were a legitimate counterterror tool and completely noninvasive to people with no terror ties.
In a PBS television interview, he insisted the NSA phone and Internet monitoring efforts operate within the law.
National intelligence legal chief Robert S. Litt said under the programs any information collected on a conversation because of an error must be purged from the system.
Chad Arrests Leader of Elephant Poaching Gang
Authorities in Chad have arrested the suspected leader of a poaching gang that is accused of slaughtering nearly 200 elephants.
Idriss Hassan was arrested last week while transporting 124 elephant tusks.
Environment Minister Mahamat Halikimi says Hassan has been operating since 2011 in a region near the borders of Chad, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic.
Officials accuse Hassan and his gang of poaching at least 189 elephants since August. The group is also accused of killing five park rangers in Cameroon.
Wildlife groups have warned that increased poaching, fueled by demand for ivory in Asia, puts African elephants at risk of extinction.
Many African governments take measures to stop the poachers but often face well-armed gangs that in some cases, have links with corrupt government officials.
Swiss Balk at Bank Disclosures to US Authorities
Swiss lawmakers are balking at ending the country's long-time bank secrecy tradition so the financial institutions can tell U.S. authorities about suspected American tax evaders.
The lower house of the Swiss parliament voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to not discuss a government proposal that would have given the Alpine country's 300 banks the right to talk to American investigators about the secret accounts of wealthy investors.
The rejection sent the measure back to parliament's upper house for more discussion. The upper house approved the plan last week, but critics have called the end to strict bank secrecy a violation of Swiss sovereignty.
Swiss banks are believed to hold vast sums of money in accounts owned by Americans who have not disclosed their holdings to U.S. tax authorities. U.S. investigators have demanded that a Swiss disclosure plan be in place by July 1.
Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf warned lawmakers that if the country's secrecy laws are not relaxed to allow the banks to pass on the information, U.S. authorities are planning to bring criminal charges against them.