News Headlines - 23 July 2013

▽British news site offers ‘Republican’ option for readers sick of royal baby news

Perhaps anticipating some reader fatigue, the Web site of the British newspaper The Guardian introduced a special option on the U.K. edition of its homepage Monday: a small toggle near the top of the page that allows readers to switch between “Royalist” and “Republican” modes, the latter of which removes all reference to English royalty and their familial expansion.

▽Protests Trap Bulgarian Lawmakers Inside Parliament - NYTimes.com

More than 100 legislators, government ministers, journalists and officials were blockaded inside the Bulgarian Parliament building late Tuesday night and into Wednesday, as the 40th day of largely peaceful street protests in Sofia, the capital, turned confrontational.

▽BBC News - Japan exports continue to recover on a weak yen

Japanese exports continue to recover, rising for a fourth month in a row in June, boosted by a weak yen and a revival in demand from Europe. Exports rose 7.4% from a year earlier. Sales to the European Union (EU) rose by 8.6% - the first jump in 21 months.

▽US should support a trade deal with Japan - FT.com

Shinzo Abe’s clear victory in Japan’s upper house election last weekend is a turning point for world trade. The Japanese prime minister has made commitments at home and abroad that, if allowed, his country would enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations and make the structural reforms needed for it to be a fair and full participant.

▽Snow On Mars The Most Likely Reason For Ancient Valley Networks

Valley networks branching across the Martian surface leave little doubt that water once flowed on the Red Planet. But where that ancient water came from — whether it bubbled up from underground or fell as rain or snow — is still debated by scientists. A new study by researchers at Brown University puts a new check mark in the precipitation column.