News Archive - 21 July 2016

By: Iqbal Dawari   The institutional architecture of the European Union exists to serve the ambitions of peace, collaboration and economic growth. It can be called a triumph to the extent that there has been no third world war, the economies of member states have grown, and many countries...

Monday, 28th of Tir – July 18th, 2016 HEADLINES OF IRAN’S MORNING PAPERS   KAYHAN   -Terrorist operation in Syria fails In a big joint operation, 13 terrorist groups in Syria intended to attack the Syrian army and Resistance forces and occupy certain areas but were heavily defeated.  ...

>CLEVELAND People seeking a deeper understanding of Donald Trump's economic policy came up empty-handed this week at the Republican National Convention.Best known to Americans previously as a reality TV host and having never held public office, the New York businessman on Thursday accepted the party's nomination for the Nov.

>SAN FRANCISCO Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel, the only big-name supporter of Donald Trump from the country's technology hub, spoke on Thursday at the Republican National Convention to urge the country to discard petty cultural battles and turn its attention to solving the United States' economic decline.Thiel offered a...

>The IHS Markit/Nikkei Japan Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) edged up to 49.0 in July on a seasonally adjusted basis versus a final reading of 48.1 in June.The headline index remained below the 50 threshold that separates contraction from expansion for the fifth month.The index...

>Japan, one of the world's biggest gaming markets, joins United States, Canada, Australia and more than 30 countries in Europe to have the "augmented-reality" game, in which players interact with virtual characters in the real world. Pokemon Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting by Lisa Twaronite...

>U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 2 cents at $44.73 a barrel at 0136 GMT. The contract fell 2.2 percent, the previous day.Brent crude was up 5 cents at $46.25 a barrel. The global benchmark closed 97 cents, or 2.1 percent, lower...

>SAN FRANCISCO Facebook Inc (FB.O) said on Thursday it had completed a successful test flight of a solar-powered drone that it hopes will help it extend internet connectivity to every corner of the planet.Aquila, Facebook's lightweight, high-altitude aircraft, flew at a few thousand feet for 96 minutes in...

>TOKYO Asian stocks dipped early on Friday after weak corporate results halted Wall Street's record run overnight, while the yen held to large gains made after the Bank of Japan's governor downplayed the need for "helicopter money" monetary policies.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was down...

>WASHINGTON Members of the Democratic Party's liberal wing on Thursday nervously awaited Hillary Clinton's announcement in coming days of a vice presidential running mate, urging her to choose someone who opposes a massive Pacific free trade deal and backs tough Wall Street reform.Two U.S. senators, Tim Kaine and...

>WASHINGTON Republican foreign policy veterans and outside experts warned that the suggestion by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump that he might abandon NATO's pledge to automatically defend all alliance members could destroy an organization that has helped keep the peace for 66 years and could invite Russian aggression."Statements like...

>WASHINGTON The White House on Thursday said it was expanding a federal loan guarantee program to include companies building electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, part of a broader effort to boost EV sales.The U.S. Energy Department issued a notice clarifying that charging facilities, including hardware and software, are...

>WASHINGTON A U.S. policy institute said it may have located a secret facility used by North Korea in the early stages of building its program to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons, which if confirmed would be critical to the success of any future nuclear deal, according to a report...

>ANKARA Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters on Thursday that there were significant failures in intelligence ahead of last Friday's attempted military coup and that the armed forces would quickly be restructured.In his first interview since declaring a state of emergency following the abortive coup, Erdogan said a new...

>Al Jazeera Media Network is preparing to make its English language international news channel video content digitally available to U.S. viewers again, according to a July 21 email sent to employees obtained by Reuters.The move comes almost three months after it shut down its U.S. cable television...

>PARIS French President Francois Hollande urged Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday to quickly come up with a negotiating stance for Britain's departure from the European Union but agreed she needed time to trigger the formal divorce. A day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel also endorsed May's call for some...

>WASHINGTON U.S. officials on Thursday called on partners in the coalition against Islamic State to increase information sharing to counter the militant group's expanding reach beyond Iraq and Syria, and said a victory in the northern city of Mosul was now in sight.Addressing the opening of a meeting...

>NEW YORK Donald Trump has said a lot of things that, were he a sitting U.S. president instead of a candidate for the job, could be expected to roil financial markets.If investors were taking the Republican presidential nominee at his word, they would be selling shares of Apple...

>Exxon said it would pay InterOil shareholders $45 per share in stock and that it would also make an additional cash payment based on the size of the Elk-Antelope gas field.Exxon said it would pay $7.07 per InterOil share for each trillion cubic feet equivalent (tcfe) of certified...

>White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to directly address Trump's comments to The New York Times but said potential foes should make no mistake or miscalculation about Washington's readiness to defend its NATO treaty allies."The U.S. commitment to that pledge is ironclad," Earnest told a briefing. "The president...

>GM said in May it would recall 1.9 million vehicles for potentially defective Takata air bag inflators. In June it expanded that recall to another 600,000 vehicles after a review of ownership data. GM said Thursday it estimated the costs of repairing the 2.5 million vehicles at up...

>The U.S. Department of Justice has been reviewing the deals for the past year and has been concerned that the combinations would reduce competition. There are currently five national health insurers, and the deals would reduce that number to three.The Justice Department said in a press release that...

>CLEVELAND Kirtland Park, on the shores of Lake Erie near downtown Cleveland, was designated as a place where hundreds of protesters could camp during the Republican National Convention. It is less than a quarter full.One measure of the shortfall: With about 10 transportable toilets on hand Tuesday night and...

>BRASILIA Brazil's federal police on Thursday arrested members of a group that was preparing "acts of terrorism," a justice ministry source told Reuters, just over two weeks before the Olympics start in Rio de Janeiro.News site Globonews reported that the members of the group were linked to Islamic State...

>The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday existing home sales increased 1.1 percent to an annual rate of 5.57 million units last month, the highest level since February 2007. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 5.48 million-unit pace in June. Sales were up 3 percent...

>DETROIT General Motors Co (GM.N) on Thursday raised its forecast for full-year profits after reporting a record second-quarter profit as it continued to capitalize on strong sales of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in the United States.The earnings handily beat Wall Street expectations, sending shares up as...

>U.S. stock were little changed on Thursday, a day after the Dow and the S&P hit fresh record highs and as investors digested a mixed bag of earning reports as well as upbeat economic data.Intel (INTC.O) shares were down 3.6 percent at $34.40 after the...

>Reuters reported on Wednesday that the two companies were in talks for a deal that would will create a U.S. regional lender with a market value of more than $4 billion.Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, F.N.B. has about $20 billion in assets and 300 branches in Pennsylvania,...

>VocaLink operates payments technology platforms on behalf of UK payment schemes.A majority of VocaLinks shareholders will retain a 7.6 percent stake in the firm for at least three years, according to the terms of the deal, MasterCard said. VocaLink's existing shareholders could get an additional $220 million, if...

>LONDON The chairman of SABMiller (SAB.L) said the brewer would consider the attractiveness of a $107 billion offer by Anheuser Busch InBev (ABI.BR) after the merger had undergone the regulatory process.The takeover of the London-listed brewer has come under scrutiny in recent weeks as a drop in...

>Musk sketched out a plan on Wednesday for an integrated carbon-free energy enterprise offering a wider range of vehicles, including a commercial truck and a public bus, as well as products and services beyond electric cars and batteries."The plan is like before – or like much of what Tesla...

>Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced the move after accusations by politicians from the Nice city area that policing arrangements were insufficient for national holiday celebrations during which the attacker drove a large truck into a no-traffic zone, killing 84 as they left a fireworks display.The inquiry by an inspectorate...

>Confidence in prospects for the global economy has been dented following Britain's vote to leave the European Union, with a growing view that monetary policy is a fading force and many governments now need to borrow and spend, Reuters polls showed.Broad worries about political risks are also on the...

>Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 253,000 for the week ended July 16, the lowest reading since April, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims for the prior week were unrevised.Claims are near the 43-year low of 248,000 touched in mid-April. Economists polled...

>The largest U.S. automaker said the front passenger seat frame in the 2009 and 2010 model Impala cars may rub against and damage electrical wires, which could cause the airbag fuse to short. Dealers will add anti-abrasion tape to prevent damage. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)...

>CLEVELAND Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will try to restore order to his convention on Thursday with a prime-time speech after rival Ted Cruz drew boos for refusing to endorse him.Trump's speech will close out a four-day conclave in Cleveland that exposed continuing divisions among Republicans over their nominee...

>A statement from the Manbij Military Council said the Islamic State militants would be allowed to leave the city with light weapons, without a fight.It said their departure must take place within 48 hours and "this initiative is the only and the final one for the besieged Daesh elements...

>MOSCOW President Vladimir Putin risks personal humiliation if all Russian competitors are banned from the Rio Olympics over doping, as now seems possible; yet the man on whose watch this may happen, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, is not being fired.The reason: Mutko has delivered victories on the sports field...

>NEW YORK Roger Ailes, who built Fox News Channel into a money-making ratings powerhouse, has resigned as chairman and chief executive of the popular cable channel following allegations of sexual harassment, the company said on Thursday.Rupert Murdoch, 85, the executive chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, the parent of...

>Galenica (GALN.S) has agreed to buy U.S. biotech firm Relypsa (RLYP.O) for $1.53 billion in cash to strengthen its Vifor Pharma unit ahead of splitting up the Swiss healthcare group.Galenica, which owns Switzerland's largest pharmacy network and the Vifor specialty pharmaceuticals business, said on Thursday...

>The deal was first made public last Tuesday, when Vanke disclosed it was in talks after its second-biggest shareholder, China Resources, criticized the Vanke board's approval of a white knight deal with Shenzhen Metro as being invalid because one Vanke director had abstained from voting.In a filing to the...

>The Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation said on Thursday it was teaming up with Honda Motor Co to look at ways of applying SoftBank's humanoid robotic technology to cars so they can communicate with drivers, perhaps helping them park or offering company on long trips.The announcement comes after SoftBank...

>SAN FRANCISCO Former Yahoo executive Dan Rosensweig has not worked at the pioneering internet company in nearly a decade.But last week, as Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) prepared to sell its core internet business, he was sporting a Yahoo T-shirt and, in an interview, reveled in memories of the company's...

>North Korea's launch of three ballistic missiles on Tuesday was the latest evidence that the anti-missile system is needed, Park said at a National Security Council meeting.This month's announcement by South Korea and the United States to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) unit with the U.

>The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 56 civilians were killed in air strikes north of Manbij on Tuesday, a day after it said 21 civilians were killed in a northern district of the besieged Islamic State-held city.SNC president Anas al-Abdah said the strikes should be...

>TOKYO The yen hovered above six-week lows in early Asian trade on Friday after comments from Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda dented speculation Japan may be preparing a radical "helicopter money" economic stimulus. The yen JPY= bounced back to 105.88 yen per dollar from 107.49, its six-week...