News Archive - 6 August 2015

>WASHINGTON President Barack Obama defended the U.S.-led international nuclear deal with Iran on Wednesday against a furious lobbying effort by political opponents and Israel and said abandoning the agreement would open up the prospect of war. Invoking the Cold War peacemaking initiatives of former U.S. Presidents John...

>Real estate mogul Donald Trump delivered some of the most talked-about moments during the prime-time Republican presidential debate on Thursday, garnering the most mentions on Twitter, with retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson a distant second.Trump was also the most-discussed candidate on Facebook during the debate, with Carson again behind him,...

>BEIRUT The first visit of a top Syrian official to a Gulf Arab state in more than four years is the strongest sign yet of a new diplomatic push to end the Syrian war, but there are still huge hurdles to face before any peace process can begin.Diplomacy has...

>In its 72-page quarterly report, the Reserve bank of Australia (RBA) said there is a “reasonable chance” for the local dollar to fall further once the Federal Reserve started to tighten monetary policy this year.However, it omitted a previous prediction that a further drop in the currency was both...

>WASHINGTON U.S. President Barack Obama's hopes of preserving the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers were dealt a setback on Thursday when Chuck Schumer, one of the top Democrats in the U.S. Senate, said he would the oppose the agreement.Schumer's opposition, announced in a lengthy statement,...

>TOKYO The Bank of Japan maintained its massive stimulus programme and upbeat economic assessment on Friday, reflecting its conviction that inflation will accelerate toward 2 percent price growth without additional monetary easing. This optimism was despite growing signs the world's third largest economy contracted in the April-June quarter on soft...

>WASHINGTON The number of U.S. jobs probably rose at a healthy pace in July and wages likely rebounded in data due on Friday, providing further signs of an improving economy that could allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in September.A Reuters survey of economists forecast U.

>IBM Corp (IBM.N) said it would buy medical image company Merge Healthcare Inc (MRGE.O) in a $1 billion deal and combine it with its newly formed health analytics unit, which is powered by its famous Watson supercomputer.IBM plans to combine data and images from Merge Healthcare's medical...

>Worldpay's private equity owners, Advent and Bain, are preparing the company for a London stock market listing which is likely to propel the firm into the FTSE 100 .FTSE. Last month, they appointed Barclays' deputy chairman Michael Rake as Worldpay's new chairman, replacing John Allan. The move signaled the buyout...

>Activist investor William Ackman has built a stake worth about $5.5 billion in Mondelez International Inc (MDLZ.O), the maker of Cadbury chocolate and Oreo cookies, in what is seen as an attempt to push the company to boost earnings or sell itself.Mondelez has already taken steps to...

>CLEVELAND U.S. Republican presidential candidates who did not qualify for a prime-time debate wasted no time in criticizing poll leader Donald Trump on Thursday, calling him a flip-flopper on key issues and too close to Democrats Bill and Hillary Clinton.Seven low-polling candidates squared off at Quicken Loans Arena...

>The first of two early Republican presidential candidates' debates had yet to end on Thursday when the U.S. social media world began declaring former business executive Carly Fiorina the winner.During the debate, the name of the former Hewlett-Packard Co chief executive dominated Google searches of the participants in...

>SAN FRANCISCO Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has signed exclusive partnerships with more than 20 apparel brands including Zara and Timberland, the Chinese e-commerce giant said on Thursday, the latest step to woo big international brands as it competes with rivals such as JD.com Inc.Alibaba said its fast-growing online...

>SAN FRANCISCO A lawyer for ride service Uber, which has been sued by drivers who contend they should be considered employees and are seeking class action status, said it would be preferable to have a trial just on the three drivers who filed the complaint in order to avoid setting...

>LAS VEGAS Google Inc and Samsung Electronics Co will release monthly security fixes for Android phones, a growing target for hackers, after the disclosure of a bug designed to attack the world's most popular mobile operating system.The change came after security researcher Joshua Drake unveiled what he called Stagefright,...

>KABUL A truck bomb exploded near an army compound in the center of the Afghan capital on Friday, killing at least eight people and wounding close to 200, police and health ministry officials said.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion, which shook the center of the...

>PALERMO, Sicily Hopes faded of finding more survivors on Thursday from a shipwreck in which 200 migrants are feared drowned, as rescue ships were called to the aid of more migrant boats in the same area of the Mediterranean."We are witnessing a genocide caused by European selfishness," said Palermo...

>KUALA LUMPUR Kuala Lumpur has asked for more help in the search for a Malaysia Airlines plane missing for more than a year, with France to send planes, boats and helicopters to scour the coast of a remote Indian Ocean island where debris washed up.Investigators on the French-governed island...

>As widely expected, the BOJ reiterated its pledge to increase base money, or cash and deposits at the central bank, at an annual pace of 80 trillion yen ($641 billion) through purchases of government bonds and risky assets.The policy board made the decision by an 8-1 vote."Japan's economy...

>ATHENS/ISMAILIA, Egypt A new bailout for Athens should be agreed by late August, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday.Greece is in negotiations with the European Union and International Monetary Fund for as much as 86 billion euros ($94 billion) in fresh loans...

>TOKYO The dollar steadied against the euro and yen on Friday after stepping back ahead of a U.S. non-farm payrolls release that could strengthen the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in September.The euro treaded water at $1.0921 EUR= after edging further away from...

>WASHINGTON The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits rose less than expected last week, suggesting labor market conditions are continuing to tighten.Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 270,000 for the week ended Aug. 1, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

>Wall Street ended sharply lower on Thursday as weak earnings reports from media companies stirred fears that more viewers are ditching cable TV, dragging the sector to its worst two-day loss since the financial crisis.The selloff was compounded by nervousness ahead of key jobs data on Friday that could...

>TOKYO Asian shares got off on the back foot on Friday, on track for a weekly loss, following Wall Street lower as caution reigned ahead of U.S. employment data that may help determine whether the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as early as next month. MSCI's broadest index...

Monica CrowleyBig questions for tonight’s big GOP debate

>Perrigo Co Plc (PRGO.N) on Wednesday made a fresh case for rejecting a $34 billion offer from generic drugmaker Mylan NV (MYL.O) and said Mylan's recent share price plunge reinforces Perrigo's intention to remain independent.Perrigo Chief Executive Joseph Papa, in his first comments on the unsolicited acquisition...

>An announcement could be made as soon as this week, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter. The negotiations could still fall apart or be delayed. The merger could exclude OCI's operations in Egypt and Algeria, Bloomberg cited a person familiar with the matter as saying earlier. The terms...

>LONDON Shire Chief Executive Flemming Ornskov will need to dig deeper in his pocket if he wants to win U.S. biotech company Baxalta.The Danish doctor running the London-listed drugmaker from offices in Massachusetts is not taking the easy option with his $30 billion run at Baxalta.Rather than...

>CLEVELAND Four years ago, only one Republican candidate was consistently hitting the same kind of polling heights among the presidential field that real estate mogul Donald Trump is reaching now. His name was Mitt Romney.The fact that Romney went on to capture his party’s nomination should be, at the...

>WASHINGTON Conservative Republicans in the U.S. Congress want to keep pressing the attack on Planned Parenthood by trying to cut off its federal funds, but Republican leaders are sounding wary with crucial tax and budget issues looming ahead.After three weeks of controversy over the women's healthcare and abortion...

>CLEVELAND Donald Trump was the center of attention at a testy first Republican presidential debate on Thursday, drawing boos from the crowd and a rebuke from a rival when he refused to rule out an independent White House bid and bristled at questions about his attitudes toward women.With 10...

>Netflix Inc is offering up to a year of paid maternity and paternity leave for employees to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, significantly raising the bar for parental benefits in corporate America.In a blog post, the video streaming company, which employs about 2,200 people, said parents...

>Time Warner Inc's shares fell as much as 9 percent after Walt Disney Co alarmed investors with a dour outlook for its cable business, suggesting that more people were switching to video-streaming from paid TV than previously expected.Disney's comments overshadowed Time Warner's strong quarterly results, which were boosted by...

>SAN FRANCISCO Facebook Inc (FB.O) rolled out features Wednesday that enable businesses to privately communicate with customers through messages as part of the social networking company's push to make its Messenger app a stand-alone platform. Businesses can now include a "send message" button in ads that appear in Newsfeed...

>HIROSHIMA, Japan Bells tolled and thousands bowed their heads in prayer in Hiroshima on Thursday at ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing while survivors warned about Japan's moves away from its pacifist constitution.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his government are pushing security bills through...

>KUALA LUMPUR A piece of a wing that washed up on an Indian Ocean island last week was part of the wreckage of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, Malaysia said on Thursday, confirming the discovery of the first trace of the plane since it vanished last year."Today, 515 days since...

>"That is not achievable," the newspaper quoted a government source as saying of the Aug. 20 deadline for agreeing the new bailout.A 3.5-billion-euro ($3.82 billion) debt payment to the European Central Bank falls due on Aug. 20 and without a bailout deal, Athens will need bridge financing.

>The broader market .ATG was up 0.5 percent near the open. The banking sector index .FTATBNK, which has lost around 63 percent over three sessions, was down 4.5 percent. (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)...

>Panic selling in the country's stock markets early in the month also likely chilled consumer and business confidence, though unprecedented government support measures appear to have stemmed the rout for now.A raft of data this weekend and next week is expected to show domestic and export demand remained sluggish,...

>WASHINGTON U.S. private job growth slowed in July, but a surge in services industry activity to a near-decade high suggested solid economic momentum that strengthens the case for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike this year.The firm domestic fundamentals were underscored by another report on Wednesday showing an...

>The bank, which was looking at options to expand its regional technology and operations hub, will get $19 million in subsidies for the move to New Jersey, the report said. The bank has leased part of a building in Jersey City, the report said citing Harrison LeFrak, vice chairman of...

>TOKYO/SINGAPORE Asian shares fell and European markets were set to follow suit on Thursday, while the dollar held firm after strong U.S. data and comments from a Federal Reserve governor fanned expectations of an interest rate hike in September.Dollar-denominated MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS...