Drones, Guantanamo central in crucial Obama speech

President Barack Obama is set to discuss the U.S.'s controversial drone aircraft and lay out a framework for closing Guantanamo Bay prison in a major speech as his administration grapples with several domestic scandals.  Live Coverage | Full Article 

Insight: In attacker's argot, Londoners shocked to hear one of their own 1:26pm EDT

LONDON - In the lurid scene of the red-handed knifeman describing his motives for hacking to death a British soldier in broad daylight, perhaps the most chilling aspect for Londoners was the man's unmistakably familiar accent.

People view flowers left outside an army barracks near the scene of a killing in Woolwich, southeast London May 23, 2013. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

London attackers known to security services

LONDON - Two British men of Nigerian descent accused of hacking a soldier to death on a London street in revenge for wars in Muslim countries were known to security services.  Full Article 

Apple CEO Tim Cook (C), CFO Peter Oppenheimer (L) and Apple Head of tax operations Philip Bullock appear before a Senate homeland security and governmental affairs investigations subcommittee hearing on offshore profit shifting and the U.S. tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 21, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed

Apple enjoyed Irish tax holiday from the start

SAN FRANCISCO/DUBLIN - Apple has operated almost tax-free in Ireland since 1980, welcomed by a government keen to bring jobs to what was then one of Europe's poorest countries, former company executives and Irish officials have said.  Full Article 

MasterCard and VISA credit cards are seen in this illustrative photograph taken in Hong Kong, December 8, 2010. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

Large retailers sue Visa, MasterCard over fees

A group of U.S. retailers including Macy's and Target sued Visa and MasterCard, breaking off from a proposed $7.2 billion settlement reached last year over fees to process credit card transactions.  Full Article 

The site of the fire and explosion of April 17, 2013 is pictured in West, Texas on  April 24 2013.   REUTERS/Tom Reel/Pool

Poor planning left Texas firefighters unprepared

WEST, Texas - The fertilizer-plant explosion that killed 14 and injured about 200 others in Texas last month highlights the failings of a U.S. federal law intended to save lives during chemical accidents, a Reuters investigation has found.  Full Article | Related Story 

A general view of newly built houses at Dadun village of Lingshui ethnic Li Autonomous County, Hainan province, January 18, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer

China urbanization plan hits spending roadblock

BEIJING - China's plan to spend $6.5 trillion on urbanization to bolster the economy is running into snags, sources close to the government said, as top leaders fear another spending binge could push up local debt levels and inflate a property bubble.  Full Article 

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani attends Iran's Assembly of Experts' biannual meeting in Tehran March 8, 2011. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi

Barred candidate calls Iranian leaders ignorant

DUBAI - Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani accused Iran's leadership of incompetence and ignorance just days after he was barred from standing in an election next month.  Full Article 

Anatole Kaletsky

The many interpretations of Ben Bernanke

The reaction to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's tediously familiar statement, and release of the equally repetitive minutes of the last Fed meeting, was some of the wildest gyrations seen in the world’s financial markets for months.  Commentary 

Michael O'Hanlon and Sean Zeigler

Civil wars and Syria: lessons from history

Removing Assad would no more end the Syrian conflict than overthrowing Saddam Hussein in 2003 brought stability to Iraq. The U.S. must create a more integrated overall strategy, argue Michael O'Hanlon and Sean Zeigler.  Commentary 

David Rohde

Prosperity without power

Across the BRIC nations, frustrated members of the middle class are demanding change, but traditional power holders from Russia’s Vladimir Putin to India’s large political parties remain entrenched.  Commentary 

Edward Hadas

Apple, hypocrisy and stakeholder tax

Politicians are hypocrites when they complain about the cross-border tax strategies of Apple and other multinationals. But "hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue." It’s high time that companies admit taxes on profit are fair payments for the help that governments give them.  Commentary 

Bethany McLean

How much does Jamie Dimon matter?

To his supporters, he’s the personification of everything that’s best about the financial system. But to detractors, he’s the personification of all that’s wrong with modern banking — the arrogance, the resistance to new regulation, the astronomical pay in the face of obvious mistakes.  Commentary 

Gary Regenstreif

What Hollande can learn from Queen of Hearts

So far there has been little to show for his economic policies. Some actions have backfired and others have not gone far enough.  Commentary