News Archive - 21 September 2015

>The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) said in its "blue book" report on China's economy that the country's financial markets still needed time to develop and transform, the Shanghai Securities News reported. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Kazunori Takada)...

>Carson, who is one of the top-polling Republican candidates, told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that he "would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that."Saying he thought a president's faith should be "consistent with the Constitution,"...

>SINGAPORE Crude oil prices fell in early Asian trading as traders took profit following a 4 percent rise in the previous session.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $46.23 per barrel at 0024 GMT (0824 EDT), down 45 cents from their last settlement. Globally...

>SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba Pope Francis prayed for reconciliation among Cubans at home and around the world on Monday on the eve of his landmark trip to the United States, where he is expected to further encourage the historic rapprochement between two former foes.The pope ended his last full...

>Lew's opinion column comes ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington on Friday and amid concerns about how a slowdown in China's economy could spill over to other economies, particularly in emerging countries.Lew said questions remain about the business climate in China because of Beijing's restrictions...

>SINGAPORE Asian shares rose on Tuesday and the dollar held steady as U.S. markets bounced back and the European Central Bank said it was prepared to ease monetary policy further. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS edged up 0.1 percent, with Australia up 1.1...

>BRUSSELS A U.S.-EU commercial data-sharing deal faces a major test on Wednesday when an adviser to the European Union's top court will say whether he believes it is still binding in light of allegations of mass U.S. spying.The case stems from a complaint filed by 27-year-old...

>"This isn't a mild irritation, it's an economic and national security concern to the United States," she said during remarks at George Washington University."It puts enormous strain on our bilateral relationship, and it is a critical factor in determining the future trajectory of U.S.-China ties."President Barack...

>Republican Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin plans to drop out of the 2016 presidential race, a Republican source familiar with the decision said on Monday, in a precipitous collapse from serious contender to poor showings in opinion polls. Walker's campaign announced he would hold a news conference in Madison, the...

>WASHINGTON As a possible U.S. government shutdown loomed, the leader of the House of Representatives' most conservative Republicans vowed on Monday to oppose any stop-gap funding bill that keeps federal money flowing to Planned Parenthood.In a showdown that threatens to jolt financial markets and the economy, Republican leaders...

>HO CHI MINH CITY A young, tech-savvy population short on cars but big on smartphones is driving double-digit growth for ride-hailing apps Uber and GrabTaxi in Vietnam, and inspiring some executives to dream of replacing private car ownership altogether.Uber launched its service in Vietnam three years ago and says...

>NEW YORK A Texas man accused of operating a Ponzi scheme involving bitcoins pleaded guilty on Monday in what prosecutors say was the first U.S. criminal securities fraud case related to the digital currency.Trendon Shavers, who authorities said defrauded investors after raising more than $4.5 million worth...

>NEW YORK A former Morgan Stanley financial adviser who was fired in connection with a major breach of client information pleaded guilty on Monday to taking confidential data for hundreds of thousands of customer accounts from a bank computer without permission.Galen Marsh, who worked in Morgan Stanley's private wealth...

>WASHINGTON A controversy is heating up over the naming of the government's top audit regulatory official, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission considers a replacement for an incumbent who is backed by investor advocates.The choice of a leader for the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board...

>NEW YORK/ATLANTA As the U.S. Federal Reserve's chief communicator, Chair Janet Yellen is under building pressure among her colleagues and global investors to clarify where the world's biggest central bank is heading and how it is making its decisions.The calls have come from both her policy opponents like...

>WASHINGTON Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will unveil a plan this week to cap out-of-pocket costs for specialty drugs, her campaign said on Monday, as a tweet from Clinton accusing companies of "price gouging" sent biotech stocks tumbling.Clinton was expected to allude to her plan in public remarks on...

>Trading of Pandora was halted twice in the morning, and spiked up 14.7 percent to $22.60. In early afternoon, Pandora traded up 5.6 percent at $20.82.A three-judge panel called the Copyright Royalty Board has been working on setting royalties for Internet radio, companies like Pandora...

>The project has been code-named Titan and its leaders have been given permission to triple the 600-person team, the WSJ said, citing people familiar with the matter. (on.wsj.com/1NPb7Xr)For Apple, a “ship date” doesn’t necessarily mean the date that customers receive a new product; it can also mean the...

>Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said last week the drop in market-based inflation expectations over the past month had caught the Fed's attention, and the Fed's statement explaining the central bank's decision to hold rates steady also mentioned the decrease. Worries about low inflation indeed were a main reason policymakers...

>The company is selling 14.3 million common shares in the IPO and expects to raise 324.9 million at the mid-point of the range, according to its regulatory filing. The Nashville, Tennessee-based company, owned by H.I.G Capital LLC, operates 94 ambulatory surgery centers and five hospitals in...

>WASHINGTON Congressional Democrats on Monday called for the chief of the U.S. anti-abortion group responsible for undercover videos slamming Planned Parenthood to testify alongside officials from the women's healthcare organization in a hearing next week.The hearing, set for Sept. 29 in the House of Representatives, is expected to...

>WASHINGTON Plans by President Barack Obama's administration to allow thousands more refugees into the United States faced stiff opposition on Monday in the U.S. Congress, where Republican lawmakers demanded the right to review, and reject, the effort, citing fears of terrorism.Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday announced...

>The platform will cater for travellers in Europe, which includes some of the highest density air-traffic routes in the world, and provide levels of speed and coverage comparable to home broadband services, the companies said at a joint press conference.German airline Lufthansa, which has so far offered wireless internet...

>NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia Israel and Russia agreed on Monday to coordinate military actions over Syria in order to avoid accidentally trading fire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to Moscow.Recent Russian reinforcements for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which regional sources say include warplanes and anti-aircraft systems, worry Israel,...

>BUDAPEST Hungary's parliament authorized the government on Monday to deploy the army to help handle a wave of migrants, granting the military the right to use non-lethal force.It passed a law saying the army could use rubber bullets, pyrotechnical devices, tear gas grenades or net guns, according to the...

>Lockhart said the concern was not about markets per se, but rather the fact that "volatility can be a symptom of more fundamental ills...I thought it prudent to wait to evaluate whether recent developments change the outlook."Lockhart said he still expects the Fed to hike rates later this...

>Charter said in May that it would buy Time Warner Cable in a cash-and-stock deal that would make Charter the No. 2 U.S. Internet and cable company after Comcast Corp. Comcast dropped its $45 billion bid for Time Warner Cable in April, after U.S. regulators raised concerns that...

>Total said it had decided to reduce its exposure to Canadian oil sands projects in the context of lower global oil prices.Suncor president and chief executive officer Steve Williams said the deal provides a new opportunity and that his company could absorb further investments in 2015 for Fort Hills...

>TORONTO Tech giants such as Google Inc (GOOGL.O) and upstarts like Shopify Inc (SH.TO) (SHOP.N) are rapidly expanding their presence in and around BlackBerry's (BB.TO) hometown of Waterloo, Ontario, even as the smartphone maker further pares back some of its teams.Canada's newest tech darling Shopify,...

>Gulf Arab forces and supporters of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, meanwhile, appear to be making scant progress in a ground offensive in the central desert against battle-hardened Houthi forces who control the capital Sanaa some 120 km (75 miles) to the west.The coalition intervened in Yemen in March...

>The National Association of Realtors said on Monday existing home sales dropped 4.8 percent to an annual rate of 5.31 million units. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 5.51 million-unit pace of home sales last month. Sales were up 6.2 percent from a year ago.

>Starwood Waypoint will issue 64.9 million of its shares for all outstanding shares of Colony American. This values Colony American at about $1.48 billion, based on Starwood Waypoint's Friday close of $22.75. The combined company is expected to have an asset value of $7.7 billion, and...

>PARIS French data privacy regulators took a step towards sanctioning Google (GOOGL.O) by rejecting the company's request to drop a case against it for refusing to clean up information from its search engine results. Under Europe's so-called right to be forgotten, individuals can ask search engines such as Google...

>Affected users are unable to change their status, but they can use instant messaging and Skype for Web services, Skype said. "We're working on a fix for this issue and hope to have an update for you soon," Skype said in a blog post. (bit.ly/1WcZivA) (Reporting By Lehar Maan...

>Immelt has been campaigning to revive the U.S. government's export credit agency, EXIM Bank, after its authorization expired at the end of June, blocking the bank from writing new loans and trade guarantees. Separately, Immelt said he was not willing to invest in India's nuclear energy industry unless there...

>U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher on Monday after Wall Street closed lower last week as the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged stoked fears of slowing global economic growth.* Investors will be looking for more clarity on the Fed's decision with a number of...

>The case will decide whether Dotcom, the founder of file-sharing website Megaupload, and three other executives can be extradited to the United States. Other charges include racketeering and money laundering. "This case is not just about me. This case is about how much control we allow US corporations and the...

>BRUSSELS/ LEIPZIG, Germany Bitterly-divided European leaders will seek to find a credible response to the continent's worst migration crisis since World War Two at an emergency summit this week.German chancellor Angela Merkel called on her peers on Sunday to accept joint responsibility."Germany is willing to help. But it...

>Osborne was speaking to reporters during a visit to Beijing. Plans agreed to in 2010 to give emerging markets more voting power and double the Fund's resources have been delayed as the U.S. Congress has not approved the changes. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Writing by Sui-Lee Wee)...

>LONDON The dollar recovered ground against the yen and euro on Monday as investors weighed if major central banks like the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan may ease policy after the Federal Reserve delayed a hike in interest rates.Traders said demand for dollars before the quarter-end...

>United Aircraft and state-controlled Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd [CMAFC.UL] have been considering the joint development of the jet since May 2014. Slyusar said the agreement would initially outline profit sharing and responsibilities, with technical requirements to be decided on by March next year. Officials at Commercial Aircraft...

>BERLIN/WASHINGTON Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) shares plunged by nearly 20 percent on Monday after the German carmaker admitted it had rigged emissions tests of diesel-powered vehicles in the United States, and U.S. authorities said they would widen the probe to other automakers.German officials, alarmed at the potential damage the...