News Archive - 30 May 2015

>GENEVA U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif for six hours on Saturday trying to overcome obstacles to a final nuclear agreement, a month ahead of a deadline for a deal between Tehran and six world powers.They were the first substantive talks...

>WASHINGTON Former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, son of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, died on Saturday after battling brain cancer, the vice president said. He was 46."The entire Biden family is saddened beyond words," Vice President Biden said in a statement released by the White House."We...

>BERLIN Russia has imposed an entry ban on 89 European politicians and military leaders, according to a list seen by Reuters, a move that has angered Europe and worsened its standoff with the West over Moscow's role in the Ukraine conflict.The list, which the Russian foreign ministry compiled and...

>Opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, arrested for leading the protests, called for the rally in a prison-filmed video in which he also announced a hunger stike and issued a set of demands including the release of other anti-government activists."The regime wants to divide us, I vow unity," said Lilian Tintori,...

>JHARIA, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi is determined to move more than 100,000 people living near coalfields in eastern India to new homes, making it easier to douse underground fires that have burned for a century and mine huge reserves of premium coal.Reviving output from India's nationalized coal sector...

>BALTIMORE, Maryland Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley blasted social injustice and Wall Street excesses as he launched a White House bid on Saturday, casting himself as a younger, more liberal alternative to Democratic Party frontrunner Hillary Clinton."Powerful, wealthy special interests here at home have used our government to create,...

>TOKYO The United States will extend its cyber defense umbrella over Japan, helping its Asian ally cope with the growing threat of online attacks against military bases and infrastructure such as power grids, the two nations said in a joint statement on Saturday. "We note a growing level of sophistication...

>MAIDUGURI, Nigeria A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in Nigeria's Maiduguri city on Saturday afternoon killing at least 18 people, a hospital source said, after a night-time attack by Boko Haram insurgents on the outskirts.The attacks occurred a day after the inauguration of President Muhammadu...

>Interviewed on French TV news channel i-Tele, he also defended the slow-selling A380 superjumbo and said the world's largest airliner would attract more buyers due to the rapid growth expected in air travel, especially in Asia.While the 544-seat airliner's design will evolve in the future, radical changes are "not...

>"We have to persist in our policies as promised, given that these encouraging projections are predicated on the full implementation of our purchase programs until next year," Constancio said at a conference in Sitges, northeastern Spain. He added that policy interventions always carried side-effects but that no "generalized overvaluations" in...

>Greece and its EU/IMF creditors have been locked in talks for months on a cash-for-reforms deal and pressure is growing for a deal, since Athens risks default without aid from a bailout program that expires on June 30. "We believe that we can and we must have a solution and...

>Humana Inc (HUM.N) is considering selling itself after receiving multiple expressions of takeover interest, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday, highlighting the widening consolidation in the U.S. health insurance industry.Humana is working with investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) on the potential...

>Dollar Tree said the stores represent about $45.5 million of operating income for Family Dollar, adding that Sycamore intends to operate the stores under the Dollar Express banner.Dollar Tree said in April it identified about 340 stores for divestiture. The pending acquisition and divestiture remain subject to the...

>Intel Corp (INTC.O) has resumed negotiations to buy smaller chip maker Altera Corp (ALTR.O) and is close to a $16 billion acquisition agreement, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.The price for Altera could be as much as $54 per share, a 15 percent premium over...

>HAVANA/WASHINGTON The United States formally dropped Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism on Friday, an important step toward restoring diplomatic ties but one that will have limited effect on removing U.S. sanctions on the Communist-ruled island.    President Barack Obama had said on April 14 he...

>The Times quoted one official as saying investigators also have spoken with a second person who made similar allegations that corroborated what the first student had said about Hastert, who was indicted on Thursday on federal criminal charges.The second person was not being paid by Hastert, the official said,...

>WASHINGTON U.S. President Barack Obama warned on Friday that surveillance powers used to prevent attacks on Americans could lapse at midnight on Sunday unless "a handful of senators" stop standing in the way of reform legislation.Obama said he had told Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other...

>FRANKFURT Apple Inc (AAPL.O) has acquired Metaio, a German company whose technology melds real-world imagery and computer-generated elements into moving video presentations, according to a corporate filing. The terms were not disclosed. Metaio's previous investors included Westcott LLC, the investment vehicle of entrepreneur Carl Westcott, the founder of floral...

>NEW YORK The accused mastermind behind the Silk Road underground website was sentenced on Friday to life in prison for orchestrating a scheme that enabled more than $200 million of anonymous online drug sales using the digital currency bitcoin.Ross Ulbricht, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Katherine...

>WASHINGTON At 3:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, the National Security Agency and telecommunications companies will begin mothballing a once-secret system that collected Americans' bulk telephone records, shutting down computers and sealing off warehouses of digital data.If the U.S. Congress fails to act, key provisions of the USA...

>MEXICO CITY Mexico's president came under pressure on Friday to fully disclose his financial assets following a Reuters report on Thursday that he had misrepresented the circumstances under which he acquired a property in a lakeside retreat near Mexico City.Opposition lawmakers from left and right called on President Enrique...

>SINGAPORE U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Saturday that China's island-building in the South China Sea was undermining security in the Asia-Pacific, drawing a scathing response from the foreign ministry in Beijing.Carter, speaking to top defense officials from the Asia-Pacific at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore,...

>ZURICH Sepp Blatter was re-elected president of FIFA for a fifth term on Friday after his only challenger conceded defeat in an election overshadowed by allegations of rampant corruption in world soccer.Blatter won despite demands that he quit in the face of a major bribery scandal being investigated by...

>WASHINGTON The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter as it buckled under the weight of unusually heavy snowfalls, a resurgent dollar and disruptions at West Coast ports, but activity already has rebounded modestly.The government on Friday slashed its gross domestic product estimate to show GDP shrinking at...

>NEW YORK Global equity markets and bond yields both fell on Friday, as data showed the U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter and as investors were unnerved by mixed signals from Greece's debt talks.In Europe, shares also fell on data showing that private loan growth in the...

>China's growth trajectory will be "L" shaped, rather than "V" shaped, and it is difficult to predict when the world's second-largest economy will rebound, Fan Jianping, chief economist at the State Information Centre, told the official China Securities Journal.Broad M2 money supply (M2) only rose 10.1 percent by...

>The trucks are 2007 and 2008 model Chevrolet Silverados and GM Sierras.Subaru will expand its recall of 2004 and 2005 model Impreza compact cars with Takata air bags to about 80,000 from 20,000, the unit of Japan-based Fuji Heavy Industries (7270.T) also said on Friday.Both companies said...

>Investment bank Stifel Financial Corp (SF.N) is in advanced negotiations to acquire Barclays Plc's (BARC.L) U.S wealth management unit, according to three people familiar with the situation.Stifel is now negotiating key aspects with Barclays, although a deal is not certain and Barclays could go back to...

>NEW YORK Shares of U.S. automakers may finally be able to accelerate.Investors are closely awaiting next week's May sales data, expected to come in near record levels. Meeting those forecasts could be enough to lift the sector - among the cheapest in the market - putting the sting...