PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - July 2

July 1 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* A rare peek into the actions of China's leaders in a month when a Chinese cash crunch spooked global investors shows a leadership falling short in its struggle to redirect China's economy and also faltering in its efforts to communicate its intentions to markets. ()

* Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor accused of espionage, seeks asylum in Russia, but Russia's president says he must stop disclosing U.S. secrets. ()

* The leaders of Egypt's military warned they would intervene in the country's political crisis if President Mohammed Morsi fails to resolve it within 48 hours, raising the prospect of a military takeover just one day after millions of Egyptians marched to demand the president's resignation. ()

* The U.S. auto industry, in tatters just four years ago, is emerging as an export powerhouse, driven by favorable exchange rates and labor costs in a trend experts say could drive business for many years. ()

* Zynga Inc's founder announced that he was stepping down as the CEO of the troubled game maker and will be replaced by Don Mattrick, the current head of Microsoft Corp's Xbox division. ()

* Biotechnology companies are enjoying their best run with initial public offerings in a decade, amid an upswing in new drug approvals, strong performance by some already public biotech firms and legal changes. ()

* Investor Carl Icahn said he has raised more than $5 billion to finance his plan to recapitalize ailing PC maker Dell Inc, a move he said should end speculation that the funds wouldn't be available. ()

* The financial woes of Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista deepened Monday as his group's flagship oil firm once again said it would fall short of its production goals, putting further pressure on the tycoon to rescue his floundering industrial empire. ()

* France's stock market regulator fined LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton $10.4 million for failing to follow market rules when it accumulated a significant stake in Hermès International. ()

* A lawsuit filed by a group of authors against Google Inc to stop it from scanning millions of books shouldn't have been certified as a class action at this point, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday. ()

* Jennifer Lopez's Turkmenistan concert provides a window into efforts by state-owned China National Petroleum to boost access to gas supplies in Turkmenistan. The Turkmenistan event underscores the lengths to which China's oil-and-gas companies will go to curry favor in resource-rich locales. ()

* Apple Inc has filed a trademark application for "iWatch" in Japan, fueling speculation that the company may be preparing to introduce a new watchlike device. ()

* Businesses suing to overturn a mandate of the Dodd-Frank financial law aimed at drawing attention to and curbing violence in central Africa told a federal judge that it infringes on corporate free-speech rights. ()