10 things you need to know today: July 2, 2012
Mexico's old guard returns to power, the deadly U.S. heat drags on, and more in our roundup of the stories that are making news and driving opinion
1. PENA NIETO CLAIMS WIN IN MEXICO'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
According to the official preliminary vote count, Enrique Peña Nieto is the winner of Mexico's presidential election. His party is the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), an old guard that's been out of power for a dozen years and whose time in office was marred by charges of corruption and patronage. Pena Nieto pledged that he would lead his party into a new era, saying "There is no return to the past... You have given our party a second chance and we will deliver results." The second place candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a leftist, has yet to concede and says he will wait for a full vote count. [Associated Press]
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2. EXTREME HEAT CONTINUES IN U.S.
At least 16 states are under heat advisories Monday, as the the eastern and central U.S. continue to suffer intense, early-summer heat. Weekend storms have left hundreds of thousands of people from Maryland to Indiana without power. At least 16 people were killed in the storms. "Hot and hotter will continue to be the story from the Plains to the Atlantic Coast the next few days," the National Weather Service reported Monday. [CNN]
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3. JUDGE BLOCKS CLOSING OF MISS. ABORTION CLINIC
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on Sunday that will block the enforcement of a Mississippi law that could close the state's only abortion clinic. Under the law, an abortion provider must not only be an OB-GYN but also have privileges, which can be difficult to obtain, to admit patients to a local hospital. The state's only abortion clinic, which often relies on doctors who travel in from other states, contends the law is designed to close it down. The judge has set a date for a hearing on July 11 to determine if the block should be more long term. [Associated Press]
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4. APPLE SETTLES CHINA IPAD DISPUTE FOR $60 MILLION
Apple has agreed to pay $60 million to settle a two-year legal scuffle with China's Proview Technology over the iPad trademark. In 2009, Apple paid Proview's Taiwan unit $54,800 for the right to use the iPad name in several countries, including mainland China. When the iPad debuted and quickly succeeded, Proview said the deal had not included China and filed a trademark infringement case against Apple. [New York Times, Bloomberg]
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5. COLORADO: WALDO CANYON FIRE PARTLY CONTAINED
After what a city official calls a "great day" on Sunday, the Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs, Colo., was reportedly 55 percent contained by Sunday evening. Thousands of evacuated residents were allowed to return to their homes to survey the damage. [CNN]
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6. CLINTON: "NO GUARANTEE" OF SUCCESS IN SYRIA
"There is no guarantee that we are going to be successful," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said amid reports from opposition activists that the death toll in Syria had risen sharply in recent months. Still, Clinton was optimistic that a new international agreement, reached Saturday, has the potential to ease President Bashar al-Assad out of power. It calls for a transitional government to help bring the 16-month conflict to an end, and is the first plan that Russia and China have supported. Opposition activists, however, have been critical of the plan, saying it could allow al-Assad to remain in power. [CNN]
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7. TIGER WOODS WINS AT&T NATIONAL
Tiger Woods continued his possible comeback tour Sunday with a victory at the AT&T National at the Congressional Country Club. It's Woods' third win of 2012, but commentators say his comeback won't be "official" until he wins a major. [Yahoo! Sports]
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8. BARCLAYS CHAIR RESIGNS AMID SCANDAL
Barclays chairman Marcus Agius stepped down Monday over an interest-rate fixing scandal that has dealt what he called a "devastating blow" to the reputation of Britain's third biggest bank. "The buck stops with me," Agius said, but some lawmakers are also calling for the bank's chief executive, Bob Diamond, to resign. [Reuters]
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9. SPAIN WINS EURO 2012 SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
Spain trounced Italy on Sunday with a 4-0 victory in the finals of the Euro 2012 soccer championship. It's the biggest victory margin for a final game in the Euro or World Cup. [Reuters]
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10. SPRINTER REPORTEDLY RECONSIDERING TIE RUN-OFF
After an unprecedented, photo-finish tie for third place in the 100-meter race at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh had agreed to participate in a run-off race on Monday. The winner would get the final Olympics spot in the event. Now, Tarmoh, who was initially declared the winner, is said to be reconsidering her decision to participate in the run-off race. On Sunday she said, "In my heart of hearts, I just feel like I earned the third spot... I almost feel like I was kind of robbed." [Associated Press]
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