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Thursday, July 20, 2017

NEWS

OPINION

FEATURES

Frustrated Annan Quits as Syria Peace Envoy

by Hadeel Al Shalchi

ALEPPO, Syria - Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is quitting as international peace envoy for Syria in the face of an armed rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad whose violence shows no sign of abating after 17 months of strife.

"Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in one of his trips to Syria."

BUSINESS

Rising home prices show traction in housing recovery

by Leah Schnurr and Jason Lange

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON - U.S. home prices rose for the fourth month in a row in May, suggesting the recovery in the housing market continued to gain traction, even as the broader economy wobbles.

Apple: Samsung deliberately chose to copy iPhone

by Dan Levine and Poornima Gupta

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Apple Inc told jurors on Tuesday that Samsung's internal documents show it made a decision to copy the iPhone because the South Korean company could not compete in the smartphone market on its own.

METRO

Judge disallows hit man testimony at Peterson trial

by Joseph Hosey

JOLIET, Ill. - A judge on Tuesday would not allow testimony to be used from a man who said that former Chicago area policeman Drew Peterson offered him $25,000 to find a hit man to kill Peterson's third wife, dealing a blow to prosecutors on the first day of the murder trial.

Gov. Quinn call special session on pension reform

CHICAGO - Illinois Governor Pat Quinn said on Monday he is calling a special legislative session in August for lawmakers to deal with "comprehensive" reforms to ease the state's huge unfunded pension liability.

WORLD

Obama tightens sanctions on banks helping Iran sell oil

by Laura MacInnis and Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama announced new U.S. sanctions on Tuesday against foreign banks that help Iran sell its oil, efforts that he said would increase pressure on Tehran for failing to meet its international nuclear obligations.

Ahmadinejad: Iran should focus on oil products, not crude

by Yeganeh Torbati

DUBAI - Iran should stop exporting crude oil and instead try to sell refined oil products, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying on Tuesday, a day after the United States moved to tighten sanctions on its energy sector.

AFRICA

President Mursi frees Islamists jailed by Mubarak

by Tom Perry

CAIRO - Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi has freed a group of Islamists jailed for militancy during Hosni Mubarak's era a step seen as a gesture to hardliners who supported his presidential bid.

East Africa forests shrink, especially near Parks

by Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle

OSLO - Forests in East Africa have shrunk over the past years, especially around the fringes of parks, complicating efforts to protect wildlife and fight climate change, a study showed on Monday.

SPORTS

Phelps makes history with record 19th medal

LONDON - Michael Phelps won the right to call himself the greatest Olympian of all time when the U.S. team destroyed the field in the 4x200 metres freestyle relay on Tuesday to hand him his 19th medal.

POLITICS

Tea Party's Cruz scores stunning win in Texas Senate primary

AUSTIN, Texas - Tea Party favorite Ted Cruz scored a stunning upset over a longtime Texas state officeholder in a Republican U.S. Senate primary runoff on Tuesday, transforming Cruz into a national conservative star and marking a resurgence of the movement to shrink the size of U.S. government.

EDUCATION

Iconoclastic American author Gore Vidal dead at 86

LOS ANGELES - Writer Gore Vidal, who filled his novels and essays with acerbic observations on politics, sex and American culture while carrying on feuds with big-name literary rivals, died on Tuesday at home in Los Angeles of complications from pneumonia, age 86.

EDITORIAL

Far from Silicon Valley, tech industry finds an Oracle

RALEIGH, N.C. - Anand Shimpi is one of the most influential tech industry figures you've never heard of.