News Archive - 16 March 2015

>SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude rose above $54 a barrel on Tuesday, recovering some of the previous session's losses when it dropped to a six-week low, although concerns over a worsening global supply glut kept a lid on gains. U.S. crude, or West Texas Intermediate (WTI), stretched its drop...

>FDI into China grew at its strongest pace in nearly four years in January, surging 29.4 percent from a year earlier to $13.9 billion as investors largely shunned the manufacturing sector and focused on the more resilient services industry. For January and February combined, inbound FDI rose 17.

>JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's march towards becoming the longest-serving leader of Israel could be halted on Tuesday in an election that has exposed public fatigue with his stress on national security rather than socio-economic problems. Surging rhetoric against Iran and the Palestinians has apparently done little to...

Iran's human rights situation is worsening, a UN expert said Monday, pointing to a surge in executions and raising concerns that major negotiations on Tehran's nuclear programme could distract international attention from the abuses.

>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Brent oil fell about 3 percent on Monday and U.S. crude hit six-year lows on signs of higher output in the United States and Libya and a possible nuclear deal that could end sanctions for Iran, allowing more of its oil into the market. A...

Not only are members of Congress permitted to engage foreign entities as much as they please, but they’re absolutely entitled to 'undermine' foreign policy strategies with which they disagree.

We can add senators to bread, toilet paper and milk on the list of panic items when the snow flies. Fortunately, the snow won't fly again in Washington until next year if we're lucky, but the senators are still here. Everyone is familiar with the panic in the nation's capital ...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Wall Street trade group released a new study on Monday that takes aim at the economic analysis the White House is using to justify new rules designed to curb conflicts of interest and "hidden fees" that brokers charge customers for retirement investment advice. The report, commissioned...

>Requests for account data increased to 35,051 in the second half of 2014 from 34,946 in the first half, with requests from countries such as India rising and those from others including United States and Germany falling, the report by the world's largest Internet social network showed.Facebook said it...

>* The benchmark S&P 500 has fallen 2.7 percent in the last three weeks including a 0.9 percent drop last week. The Dow lost 0.6 percent last week while the Nasdaq declined 1.1 percent for the week. * Investors were cautious ahead of a U.S.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said Monday that only Syrians can decide his future — a statement that appeared to dismiss U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's remark that the U.S. would be willing to talk with Assad to help broker a political resolution to...

>The meeting included U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi, who also met on Sunday to negotiate technical details on how to curb Iran's nuclear program. Kerry has urged Iran to make concessions that would allow six world powers to reach a political...

The U.S. has omitted Iran and Hezbollah from its list of terror threats, according to an annual security assessment published by the Times of Israel Monday.

Following is a list of the leading candidates in Israel's March 17 parliamentary election, their main policies and where they stand on participation in a governing coalition. Currently, polls show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and the centre-left Zionist Union opposition running neck-and-neck, with each predicted to win around...

Israelis were voting in parliament elections Tuesday, after a heated campaign focused on economic issues such as the high cost of living rather than fears of a nuclear Iran or… Click to Continue »

As world powers edge toward a possible nuclear deal with Iran, the debate has been dominated by the question of whether it leaves an opening for Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.

By DAN PERRY and ADAM SCHRECK Associated Press As world powers edge toward a possible nuclear deal with Iran, the debate has been dominated by the question of whether it leaves an opening for Iran to...

Polls have opened in Israel's election as Benjamin Netanyahu fights to remain the country's prime minister. Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union has been polling slightly ahead of Mr Netanyahu's Likud party, but neither political camp has a clear majority. Much will depend on which candidate the smaller, centrist parties choose to back, and...

>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Going, going, gone! Sold to the highest bidder at the auction, on the phone or on a new eBay platform that will stream Sotheby's New York auctions live beginning next month. The new live auctions platform - ebay.com/sothebys - that launches on Tuesday pairs Sotheby's...

>"The malicious codes used for the nuclear operator hacking were the same in composition and working methods as the so-called 'kimsuky' that North Korean hackers use," a statement from Seoul central prosecutors' office said.South Korea had previously said it suspected the possible involvement of North Korea in the hacking,...

>Total negative currency impact rose more than four-fold in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter, and was the biggest since the height of the euro crisis, according to the report.FiREapps analyzes currency effects on quarterly earnings of 846 North American companies, a subset of the Fortune 2000 companies...

>France, Germany and Italy have agreed to follow Britain's lead and join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Financial Times reported, quoting European officials.The newspaper said the decision by the four countries to become members of the AIIB was a major diplomatic setback for Washington, which has questioned...

Israelis head to the polls Tuesday in a vote seen as a referendum on embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who ruled out a Palestinian state as part of a last-ditch appeal to right-wing voters. Around six million Israelis are eligible to take part in the vote to elect 120 deputies...

DUBAI: Gulf stock markets, including the previously resilient Saudi Arabia, extended losses alongside oil on Monday, while Egypt dropped on profit-taking after a strong run and ahead of a fresh public offer of shares.

LONDON: Brent crude oil fell to around $53 a barrel on Monday, its lowest for more than a month, on rising global inventories and signs of a possible nuclear deal with Tehran that could allow more Iranian oil exports.

Hanover (Germany) (AFP) - Somewhere on Earth a computer hacker types a malicious command and hits enter. Half a world away, an urban commuter train speeds out of control, derails and crashes into a building.

At a Senate Foreign Relations hearing on Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry gave his opinion of the letter spearheaded by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., that members of Congress have written to Iran about that country’s nuclear program.

He said when he spoke out against mandates in 2006, he was speaking only about state-level standards.

>The announcement, made in the presence of Prime Minister Najib Razak at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) exhibition, included an option to buy 20 more aircraft, taking the deal value up to $2.94 billion.The new airline will be based out of Johor Bahru, Johor and Kota...

Talks aimed at narrowing gaps in positions between Iran and West yield no breakthrough, sources tell Al Jazeera.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. (AFP)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Monday called for a major increase in military spending to counter recent declines that he says have gravely weakened the nation’s military and emboldened despots and terrorists around the globe.

US and the Gulf When we read the recent statements of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and his US counterpart Secretary of State John Kerry on Iran, we can understand that there is a huge gulf between the stances of Gulf countries and the US vis-à-vis Iran’s nuclear program.

Could Israeli PM Netanyahu lose re-election? 01:57 In the campaign's waning hours, an embattled Netanyahu tried to make the case that he deserved a third term in office because he best can handle threats to Israel and that a Palestinian state won't be formed because of the danger it would...

>Republican Representative Trey Gowdy, head of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, said on March 4 that Clinton had until March 13 to comply with a subpoena to provide the committee with relevant emails. The deadline has been extended to March 27, the spokesman confirmed.‎"Chairman ‎Gowdy granted a reasonable...

>The service would have about 25 channels, anchored by broadcasters such as ABC, CBS and Fox, and be available across all devices powered by Apple's iOS operating system, including iPhones, iPads and Apple TV set-top boxes, the newspaper said.Apple has been talking to Walt Disney Co, CBS Corp, and...

>NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal jury in Texas on Monday said Apple Inc did not infringe five wireless technology patents owned by Canadian patent licensing firm Conversant Intellectual Property Management Inc [GEGGIM.UL] . Core Wireless Licensing Sarl, a subsidiary of Ottawa-based Conversant, sued Apple in 2012 in a federal...

>PORT VILA (Reuters) - International aid agencies are preparing to begin emergency helicopter flights on Tuesday to the remote outer islands of Vanuatu, which they fear have been devastated by a monster cyclone that tore through the South Pacific island country. Disaster management officials and relief workers are still struggling...

>TOKYO (Reuters) - The euro stood firm on Tuesday after soft U.S. data and edginess ahead of this week's Federal Reserve policy meeting dented the dollar's rally and helped the common currency pull out from 12-year lows. The euro was steady at $1.0570 EUR=, having rebounded overnight from...

Is there hope for Greece, Europe’s worst economic sinkhole? No. Regardless of how many new bailouts or austerity renegotiations they get, the country is such a mess that optimism is fruitless. Back in its day, Greece ruled the world – albeit, a much smaller world. But that was a long,...

DUBAI: Torn between a north controlled by Shia rebels and a south dominated by the embattled president’s allies, Yemen is mired in a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, analysts say.

Iran's negotiators demand that the United States position be "defined" on a potential nuclear deal

CARLISLE — U.S. Senate candidate Joe Sestak’s speech at Dickinson College on Monday morning was scheduled to be about education. While he did spend much of his 45-minute talk on that topic, th…

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Los Angeles prosecutors have filed a murder charge against real estate heir Robert Durst that could carry the death penalty. Prosecutors said Durst was charged Monday with first-degree murder in the killing of his friend, Susan Berman.

>Jeju Air is preparing a fourth-quarter IPO, aiming to be the first listed Korean low-cost carrier. Its market capitalization is currently around 700 billion won ($619.30 million) on the over-the-counter market, with shares trading around 10,000 won per share in late August to 31,000 won per share on Tuesday.

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Republicans will unveil budget proposals on Tuesday that seek to eliminate deficits and nominally stick to spending caps while boosting defense spending by tens of billions of dollars to meet demands within the party. The spending struggle will unfold for months, culminating in government funding bills...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators are asking Defense Secretary Ash Carter to jumpstart a Pentagon initiative to develop a new U.S. rocket engine that could replace the Russian-built RD-180 motor, which powers a key rocket used to lift satellites into space. Senators James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican,...

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) on Monday said it could clinch a deal this year to build a high-throughput communications satellite for top technology companies such as Google Inc (GOOGL.O), Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Facebook Inc (FB.O) or Apple Inc (AAPL.O). Jim Simpson, vice...

>In minutes of the March 3 meeting, when the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) surprised some by not delivering a back-to-back easing, the central bank said members saw benefit in allowing some time for the structure of rates and the economy to adjust to the earlier change.“They also saw...

>TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares got a boost on Tuesday from Wall Street's rise, as investors positioned for the possibility that weaker-than-expected U.S. data will prompt the Federal Reserve to adopt a cautious stance this week. Crude oil remained under pressure from a global supply glut, after U.S.

Updated at 9:45 a.m. EDT (1345 UTC).

The grandson of Ireland’s chief rabbi may well be elected prime minister of Israel on St. Patrick’s Day, but no pot of gold awaits President Obama at the end of...

+ ALL TIMES ARE PROVISIONAL AND IN LOCAL TIME FOLLOWED BY GMT IN BRACKETS TUESDAY, MARCH 17 KUALA LUMPUR - Prasarana Group holds media briefing and site visit to the BRT-Sunway line project, at Sunway ...

The Obama administration is trying to win a historic nuclear deal with Iran.

The following factors are likely to influence Malaysian palm oil futures and other vegetable oil markets. FUNDAMENTALS * Malaysian palm oil futures slid to their lowest in nearly six weeks on Monday, after ...

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama poked fun at himself and a few of his adversaries Saturday, making comedic references to his age as the clock ticks down on his final term in office.

TIKRIT: Iraqi commanders were plotting a strategy for flushing out the few remaining Islamic State group militants from central Tikrit, a city one commander said Saturday would be liberated within three days.

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee could vote as soon as next week on a bill requiring President Barack Obama to submit any nuclear agreement with Iran for Congress' approval, the panel's chairman, Republican Senator Bob Corker, said on Monday. Obama has threatened to veto the...

>CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's government has told the country's food industry that it is limiting dollar disbursements for food imports so that it can pay down foreign debt amid low oil prices, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. The government of socialist President Nicolas Maduro administers...

The US threatens to "walk away" from talks with Iran, after the latest round of negotiations on limiting Iran's nuclear programme fails to reach an agreement.

Iran will not surrender to the pressures and excessive demands of the West on its nuclear issue in the ongoing nuclear talks, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif said on Tuesday.

The major averages moved back over their 50-day moving averages on Monday — ignoring fresh lows in crude oil — on another batch of poor U.S. economic data. Moreover, as crude oil fell to fresh lows not seen since early 2009, energy stocks posted strong gains.

Iran nuclear talks hung in the balance Monday with a senior US official saying it remained unclear whether the outlines of a deal could be agreed by a March 31 deadline. After a five-hour meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, the official said Iran...

European powers and Iran made little progress late Monday toward reaching an agreement to end the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program as an end-of-March deadline closes in.

>(Reuters) - Buyout firm Apollo Global Management LLC is in advanced talks to acquire most of the assets of Digital First Media, publisher of the Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News, for around $400 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The potential deal illustrates private equity's interest...

>The world's biggest miner released documents on Tuesday detailing the performance of South32's aluminum, manganese, nickel, silver and coal assets, long overshadowed by BHP's major iron ore, petroleum, copper and metallurgical coal businesses."The demerger will simplify BHP Billiton and has the potential to unlock shareholder value, while creating a...

>Vista has hired Citigroup Inc to sell Austin-based Websense for more than $1 billion, according to the report. The company bought Websense for about $900 million in 2013. Websense makes software that protects companies and their networks from cybercrime, malware and data theft.Raytheon also bought privately held Blackbird Technologies,...

>NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. federal agency that oversees political spending has deadlocked on a motion to open a limited investigation into whether a pro-Hillary Clinton PAC violated campaign finance disclosure rules. The Federal Election Commission's split decision, revealed in documents made public on Friday, defied conventional partisan...

>Obama, who has been open about smoking pot in high school, chided an interviewer from Vice News who suggested that young people would view legalizing marijuana as a top item when considering the president's legacy."First of all, it shouldn't be young people's biggest priority," Obama said in the interview,...

>Clinton, who has not announced her candidacy for president in 2016 but is nonetheless seen as the Democratic front-runner, has made it clear that if she does run, women's issues will be a central part of her campaign message.She has highlighted the fact that women frequently get paid less...

>ARBIL/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq paused its Tikrit offensive on Monday and officials called for more air strikes against Islamic State militants, while an officer said Kurdish forces sustained two more chlorine gas attacks by insurgents. General Aziz Waisi told journalists the insurgents used chlorine twice during a January offensive west...

>The amount raised values the company at $11 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported.The current round of funding is expected to close in a few weeks, the paper said, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. (Reporting by Ann Saphir) FILED UNDER: Tech Deals Tweet this Link this...

>Callinicos, a former Google Inc executive, will be an advisor to Uber. No replacement has been named yet, Chief Executive Travis Kalanick told investors in the email, the Journal said."Brent has done a wonderful job here at Uber but has decided that it is time for his next journey,...

>TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan maintained its massive stimulus program on Tuesday and signaled its conviction that a steady economic recovery will help achieve its ambitious price target without immediate, additional monetary easing. The central bank, however, offered a slightly more downbeat view on the price outlook, though...

Venezuela, Argentina and Iran were once locked in an alliance meant to provide Iran with nuclear intelligence and immunity, Argentina with cash, and Venezuela with the satisfaction of thwarting the West, according to a bombshell report by Brazilian magazine Veja. Three former Venezuelan government officials who defected from Chavez's regime...

Taking up his post as Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksa declared after meeting chief Buddhist prelates of the Asgiriya and Malwatte chapters, that he will waste no time in reintroducing the death penalty to eradicate or fight crime in the country, if necessary.

Qassem Suleimani is less camera-shy than just...

This Tuesday (March 17th), Israelis are threatening to vote Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government out of office. Centre-left Zionist Union…

Israel goes to the polls on Tuesday, and the signs are that the ruling Likud party, under Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, could be headed for defeat.

An independent investigation commissioned by the former wife of Albero Nisman concluded he "was a victim of homicide, without any doubt," Sandra Arroyo Salgado said Thursday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out the creation of a Palestinian state Monday, setting off another potential showdown with the Obama administration should the Israeli leader prevail at the ballot box the following day.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Iranian diplomats twice confronted their American counterparts about an open letter from Republican senators who warned that any nuclear deal could expire the day President Barack Obama leaves office, a senior U.S. official said Monday. The official, noting the administration's warnings when the letter first...

>The companies said "that after a thorough review of options" that it had decided to terminate the deal, which had been reached on May 5, 2014.The Justice Department filed a lawsuit to stop it in November on antitrust grounds.The case is U.S. v. National CineMedia Inc, U.

>PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Sweeping first-in-the nation legislation making voter registration automatic in Oregon was signed into law on Monday by Governor Kate Brown, potentially adding 300,000 new voters to state rolls. The so-called Motor Voter legislation will use state Department of Motor Vehicles data to automatically register eligible voters...

For the past two weeks, 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and police officers, and several paramilitary popular mobilization units have been advancing on the city of Tikrit and the surrounding ISIS-held territory north of Baghdad.

The Colorado Family Planning Initiative provides long acting and reversible contraception at low or no cost to low-income Coloradans. Affordable access to family planning is incredibly important to women of color who already face significant disparities in obtaining health care.

(AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed). Yazan al-Jabouri, center, a member of one of Iraq’s most prominent tribes, walks with his colleagues at the front line during a battle against Islamic State militants in Tikrit, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad, Ir...

Editorial Page Editor Paul Gigot on how President Obama is looking to bypass Congress and get U.N. Security Council approval for his nuclear deal with Iran. Photo credit: Getty Images.

When President Obama trots out his comedy chops, Republicans find no quarter -- and neither do Democrats. Speaking at the Gridiron Club's annual dinner, Obama let loose.

VIENNA, March 16 (UPI) -- As nuclear negotiations enter the home stretch, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Iran's oil production is close to a historic high.

>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives is moving toward a vote in mid-May on the annual half-billion-dollar defense policy bill, U.S. Representative Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said on Monday. Thornberry also said he plans to introduce next week legislation to reform...

>SPARTAK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Heavy machinegun and light artillery fire pounded a district of Donetsk, the biggest city of eastern Ukraine, on Monday and pro-Russian rebels said there had been no lull in the fighting since a February ceasefire. The Spartak district, adjacent to the city's now-flattened airport, is one...