Every Wednesday, the Sifter posts top-line summaries to current events around the globe. All news articles are from Reuters, The New York Times and BBC News.


Google tweaks China site in bid to keep license [Reuters]

- Google Inc is tweaking its China website in a last-ditch effort to save its search business in the world’s largest Internet market after butting heads with Beijing over Web censorship. The google.cn search site will stop automatically redirecting users to Google’s uncensored search portal in Hong Kong — instead, visitors will be required to click a link to access the Hong Kong site, Google said on Tuesday
- The move comes ahead of a Wednesday deadline for China to renew Google’s operating license. Google said Beijing had made it clear it was unhappy with the company’s three-month old system of re-routing Chinese Web surfers to google.com.hk. The website tweak is Google’s latest attempt to strike a delicate balance between standing up to China’s policy of Internet censorship while maintaining a presence in a market considered key to its future growth
- Google’s shares have fallen roughly 23% since the company announced its intention in January to stop censoring search results in China. Google, which battles Baidu for China’s 380 million Internet users, said in January it might quit the country over censorship and after it was hit by a hacking attack that it said came from within China

Apple boasts 1.7 million iPhone 4 sales [Reuters]

- Apple Inc had sold 1.7 million units of the iPhone 4 worldwide by Saturday, June 26, its most successful product launch yet, the company said on Monday. Shares of AT&T Inc, the exclusive U.S. provider for the iPhone, rose as much as 1.5% after the news as analysts said it meant more customers than expected committed to use the No. 2 U.S. mobile provider’s service for another two years
- The iPhone has transformed Apple into one of the world’s leading mobile phone companies, boosting its margins in the process. The company has sold more than 50 million iPhones since the device debuted in 2007
- ISuppli on Monday issued its closely watched bill of materials analysis for the new iPhone. The research group estimated that the device’s components cost $187.51. iSuppli’s materials estimate for the previous generation iPhone was $170.80. The most expensive component in the new iPhone is the display at $28.50, according to the analysis. The part is believed to be supplied by LG Display

BP oil spill costs reach $2.65bn [BBC News]

- BP has said the cost of cleaning up the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico has now reached $2.65bn. The oil giant said this included the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to Gulf states and claims paid
- The total has risen to an average of $100 million a day over the past three days – the highest daily average so far. Later, BP said Tropical Storm Alex would delay plans to boost its oil-siphoning capacity until next week. More than 39,000 people are now involved in the response effort, the company said, as oil from the spill washed onto the beaches of Mississippi resort town Biloxi for the first time
- More than 80,000 claims have so far been submitted and the company has made 41,000 payments totalling more than $128m. On Friday they hit a 14-year low amid speculation that the company may have to seek extra funds to pay for its oil spill costs. BP’s share price has more than halved since the oil disaster began in April, wiping about $90bn off the value of the company

Gen Petraeus tells senators Afghan fighting may worsen [BBC News]

- The man chosen to take charge of the US military in Afghanistan, Gen David Petraeus, has warned of an escalation of violence in the coming months. The general said troops were engaged in a contest of wills with the Taliban and promised a more co-ordinated approach. President Obama chose Gen Petraeus after sacking Gen Stanley McChrystal
- The general said he supported the president’s plan to begin withdrawing troops in July 2011, but emphasised that there would be “certain tweaks, refinements, perhaps significant changes” after the White House’s year-end review. The widely-lauded soldier has formidable political and diplomatic skills. He has been credited with having turned around the military situation in Iraq
- Petraeus warned that raising the standards of the Afghan army and police was a “hugely challenging” task, comparing it to “building an advanced aircraft while it is in flight, while it is being designed and while it is being shot at”. He also said he would look very hard at the current rules of engagement for US forces, which were drawn up to reduce civilian deaths but have been criticized for putting units at unnecessary risk

Taiwan and China sign trade pact [Reuters]

- China and Taiwan signed a landmark trade deal on Tuesday that could boost trade already worth $100 billion and ease political ties between the export-reliant island and the world’s third-largest economy. The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which has triggered protests by the opposition in Taiwan fearful of Chinese moves to unify with the self-ruled island, cuts tariffs on 800 products and opens up service industries, giving a major boost to around $100 billion in annual two-way trade
- The biggest deal in 60 years between the political rivals was signed in Chongqing, the capital of China for the Kuomintang (KMT) party, which now rules Taiwan after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s Communists in 1949. Tuesday’s signing stems from 2008 talks launched by Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, reversing 60 years of antagonism. China has considered Taiwan a renegade province since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and insists on unification, by force if necessary
- Bringing the two sides closer together would be a major achievement for Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is due to step down after the Communist Party selects a new top leader in 2012. The pact will cut tariffs to zero within two years on 539 Taiwanese export items, worth $13.84 billion, versus only 267 valued at $2.86 billion headed from China to Taiwan

Mexico drug hitmen kill state governor candidate [Reuters]

- A popular gubernatorial candidate in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas was murdered by suspected drug hitmen on Monday in the worst sign so far of political intimidation by smuggling gangs. Traders sold Mexico’s peso heavily as TV images showed the bodies of Rodolfo Torre, 46, and four aides from the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which holds power in Tamaulipas, lying on a highway. They were ambushed on their way to a campaign event for the July 4 state election
- Torre’s killing is the first big political assassination in Mexico since the 1994 murders of PRI presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio and prominent PRI leader Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu, as the country grappled with its slow transition to democracy after decades of one-party rule. It came after the abduction last month of senior ruling party politician Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, who has yet to be released by his captors, sent shivers through the country
- Torre, who was married with three children, had 67 percent support in Tamaulipas versus 25 percent for his PAN rival. A Tamaulipas government official who declined to be named blamed his killing on the fight for power between the powerful Gulf cartel and its former armed wing, the Zetas, who are warring over lucrative smuggling routes into Texas

After bloodshed, Kyrgyzstan backs new constitution [Reuters]

- Kyrgyzstan’s leader said on Sunday the country had voted to create Central Asia’s first parliamentary democracy, in a landmark referendum only two weeks after an explosion of ethnic bloodshed killed hundreds. Roza Otunbayeva said Kyrgyzstan had embarked on a path to establishing a “true people’s democracy” in contrast to previous presidential systems in the former Soviet republic
- At least 283 people, and possibly hundreds more, died this month in violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic that hosts U.S. and Russian military air bases and shares a border with China. Results from more than half of all polling stations showed 89.7 percent had voted in favor of change
- Under the new charter, Otunbayeva — the first woman to lead a Central Asian state — will be acting president until the end of 2011. Parliamentary elections will be held every five years and the president limited to a single six-year term. The U.S. and Russia say they would support a strong government to prevent the turmoil spreading throughout Central Asia, a region bordering Afghanistan in which all countries have until now been run by authoritarian presidents

Open University claims record iTunes downloads [BBC News]

- The Open University is claiming a world record for the number of iTunes downloads – as the first to reach 20 million. Universities around the world are now distributing material through the iTunes U educational area of the online service
- The global figure for downloads from iTunes U has reached 250 million. These free downloads are a range of items to support courses and deliver learning materials, including video and audio clips and tutorials. They are available to the general public as well as students
- The biggest single hit download from the Open University is Beginner’s French. The university now has 525 courses available on the internet, with 162,000 students for online courses. In any 24-hour period, there will be 45,000 Open University students working online

Guinea holds first democratic poll since independence [BBC News]

- The vote is regarded as the West African country’s first democratic election. The poll follows a pledge by military ruler Sekouba Konate to return the country to civilian rule. He has vowed not to stand or allow any members of his administration to do so
- About 4.2 million Guineans are eligible to vote. Twenty-four candidates are vying for the presidency. Guinea has been ruled by a succession of military and civilian autocrats since independence in 1958. The army seized power in 2008, following the death of strongman Lansana Conte, who had been in power for more than two decades
- The country descended into chaos last September, after troops opened fire on pro-democracy demonstrations in the capital, Conakry, killing more than 150 people

- Larry King to end long-running US TV chat show [BBC News]
- Russian Spying Suspects Seemed Short on Secrets [New York Times]
- Longest-serving US lawmaker Robert Byrd dies, aged 92 [BBC News]
- LHC smashes beam collision record [BBC News]

Photograph by Jemal Countess/Getty Images


The Feminist March files down College St. on June 25, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The march was one of several planned in the city to coincide with the gathering of world leaders for the G20 and G8 summits being held in Toronto and nearby Muskoka June 25-27. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

via The Big Picture: G20 Protests in Toronto

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