Business Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

LONDON (AP) , The saga of Edward Snowden and the NSA makes one thing clear: The United States' central role in developing the Internet and hosting its most powerful players has made it the global leader in the surveillance game.

DUBLIN (AP) , Ireland appeared on course to legalize abortion in limited circumstances as lawmakers voted Tuesday to support a bill that would permit a pregnancy to be terminated when deemed necessary to save a woman's life.

SAO PAULO (AP) , Cristiano Gulias took a deep drag from his mini-cigar and did the unthinkable , he started a political discussion in a coffee shop the morning after Brazil's national soccer team won a major championship, rather than a debate on the team's performance.

McLEAN, Va. (AP) , The father of NSA leaker Edward Snowden, frustrated by his inability to reach out directly to his son, has written an open letter to him extolling him for "summoning the American people to confront the growing danger of tyranny." The letter was written jointly Tuesday by Lonnie Snowden and his lawyer, Bruce Fein.

MOSCOW (AP) , NSA leaker Edward Snowden's best chance of finding refuge outside the United States may hinge on the president of Venezuela, who was in Moscow on Tuesday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) , San Francisco Bay area commuters endured another tough morning commute on Tuesday, as a strike by workers for a heavily used train system entered its second day. Hundreds of thousands of commuters who rely on Bay Area Rapid Transit , the nation's fifth-largest rail system , had to find alternate routes to work.

MOSCOW (AP) , A Russian booster rocket carrying three navigation satellites burst into flames and crashed on live TV moments after its launch Tuesday, dealing another painful blow to the nation's space prestige. The failure follows a long string of launch mishaps that could tarnish Russia's reputation and eventually cost it a share in the lucrative satellite launch market.

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) , A woman who could be considered Africa's Oprah Winfrey is launching an entertainment network that will be beamed into nearly every country on the continent with programs showcasing its burgeoning middle class.

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (AP) , North Korea's top diplomat said Tuesday that the U.S. must accept its offer for dialogue without preconditions if it wants to ease tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula.

PARIS (AP) , French competition authorities have confirmed that investigators raided Apple stores across France last week as part of an ongoing probe. Autorite de la Concurrence spokesman Yannick Le Droze confirmed a report in French business daily Les Echos that first disclosed the investigation, but declined to answer questions about the reasons behind the probe.

PIFO, Ecuador (AP) , Gino Descalzi used to fret about things like aphids, mildew and the high cost of shipping millions of roses a year from Ecuador to florists in the United States. These days he's worried about a 30-year-old former spy stuck in the transit area of the Moscow airport, and he can't believe it.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) , A chief negotiator said Saturday that two of San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit's largest unions will "likely" go on strike. Josie Mooney, a negotiator for the Service...

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) , As re-enacted war raged several miles away, tourists strolled a commercial strip of Gettysburg to survey T-shirts, hats and other trinkets to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's pivotal battle.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) , Less than 24 hours after California started issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples, lawyers for the sponsors of the state's gay marriage ban filed an emergency motion Saturday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the weddings being performed in San Francisco.

SAO PAULO (AP) , Public approval of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's government has suffered a steep drop in the weeks since massive protests broke out across this country, according to Brazil's first nationwide poll released since the unrest began. For the first time, polling shows she would be forced into a second-round runoff vote in next year's presidential election.