News Archive - 25 October 2015

>The New York attorney general is probing whether three major Internet providers could be short-changing consumers by charging them for faster broadband speeds and failing to deliver the speeds being advertised, according to documents seen by Reuters.The letters, which were sent on Friday to executives at Verizon Communications Inc,...

>SAN FRANCISCO Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, praised as an adept listener and consensus builder, may need to adopt a stronger tone at this week's policy meeting if she expects to keep a December interest rate rise in play. Yellen's inclusive style has been tested recently by two fellow governors...

>DETROIT Negotiators for the United Auto Workers and General Motors Co reached a tentative agreement on undisclosed terms for a new four-year labor contract, averting a threatened strike, the union said late on Sunday night.The proposed deal will now go to a council of several hundred UAW leaders from...

>The Central Committee, the largest of the party's elite governing bodies with more than 200 full members, is gathering until Thursday to finalize the 13th Five-Year Plan, a blueprint for economic and social development between 2016 and 2020. The meeting takes place amid growing concerns over a slowing Chinese economy.

>"If it comes true, this will be the first time in two decades we will see oil investments declining for two consecutive years and may be an indication for future oil markets," he said at the Singapore International Energy Week.There has already been a more than 20 percent decline...

>LONDON The overall cost of replacing and maintaining Britain's nuclear deterrent will reach 167 billion pounds ($256 billion), much more than expected, according to a lawmaker's and Reuters' calculations based on official figures.The Scottish Nationalist Party, which wants Britain's Scotland-based nuclear-armed Trident submarines scrapped, called the sum "unthinkable and...

>SINGAPORE Crude oil prices edged down in early Asian trading on Monday as a weak demand outlook means oversupply will likely remain in place for months and as speculators cut their bets on rising prices.Front-month U.S. crude futures were trading at $44.58 per barrel at 0035 GMT...

>The move is part of a plan to cut costs and focus on using capital more efficiently, it added in a statement. The wind-down will take place "in a phased manner". Standard Chartered's decision comes several months after the Asia-focused bank unveiled plans to ax thousands of jobs globally as...

>TOKYO Asian stocks on Monday were close to wiping out all their losses since China's shock currency devaluation in August, as global equities rallied after the Chinese central bank cut rates to shore up faltering growth in the world's second-largest economy.Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 1.0 percent to a...

>SAN FRANCISCO Twitter (TWTR.N) Chief Executive Jack Dorsey's novel move to give a third of his company stock to an employee equity pool is a smart gesture to restore confidence in a company that lost its way, according to recruiting and compensation experts.Beyond its generosity, the gift is...

>Among measures agreed at a meeting in Brussels on Sunday evening were that 100,000 places in reception centers should be made available along the route from Greece toward Germany, half of them in Greece and half in countries to the north. The U.N. refugee agency would help establish them.

>The U.S. Justice Department and New York State's Department of Financial Services (DFS) are increasing the scope of their investigation into the bank because a few transactions allegedly involved U.S. dollars and a former banker who is a U.S. citizen, the newspaper reported on Sunday.The regulatory...

>TOKYO Bank of Japan policymakers meet for a crucial rate review on Friday as growing signs of recession and slumping oil prices challenge their scenario that the world's third-largest economy is on track to hit an ambitious 2 percent inflation target.While the central bank is set to cut its...

>SYDNEY The fate of emerging market currencies is looming ever larger in the outlook for interest rates in the advanced world, promising that their central banks will keep policies super loose for some time to come.Ever since China sprang a surprise depreciation of the yuan in August, the resulting...

>Interviewed on "Fox News Sunday," Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, said, "The program that I have outlined using health savings accounts ... largely eliminates the need for people to be dependent on government programs" like Medicare.While he said in a separate interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" that "I'm not talking...

>Christie accidentally took a seat in "Amtrak's notorious quiet car" on Sunday morning, spokeswoman Samantha Smith said."After breaking the cardinal rule of the quiet car, the governor promptly left once he realized the serious nature of his mistake and enjoyed the rest of his time on the train from...

>DETROIT The United Auto Workers union set a Sunday night deadline for General Motors Co (GM.N) to agree to a new four-year contract, setting up a possible strike of GM's U.S. operations.The current contract will expire at 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday (0359 GMT Monday). The...

>LONDON British broadband provider TalkTalk said on Sunday it had hired defense company BAE Systems to investigate a cyber attack that may have led to the theft of personal data from its more than 4 million customers.TalkTalk said on Friday it had received a ransom demand from an unidentified...

>Blair's decision to send troops to back the U.S.-led invasion is still a live political issue in Britain, where a six-year public inquiry into the conflict is yet to publish its findings. [ID:nL5N1113IL]Asked whether the offensive was the principal cause of the rise of Islamic State, which now...

>Sallas said "strong interest" had been shown by international institutional investors to any capital increase. "Based on this interest there is valid optimism that the required participation of the private sector will more than cover any capital needs which manifest on the baseline scenario of the stress test," he was...

>Kerry was in Riyadh for meetings with the Saudi monarch, crown prince, deputy crown prince and foreign minister - the last stop in a trip that also included Vienna, where he met counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Russia."They pledged to continue and intensify support to the moderate Syrian...

>BRUSSELS Europe's chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker will on Sunday meet with leaders from central and eastern Europe to push for a coordinated response to the influx of refugees before winter sets in.The mini-summit, which EU diplomats said was sought by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is the latest in a...

>KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia is hoping new incentives for "ethical" Islamic bonds and home loans will strengthen the country's sharia-compliant investment market and lure more private players to one of the world's largest Islamic financial sectors.The government announced the new incentives in the 2016 budget which was delivered in parliament...

>Volkswagen is battling the biggest business crisis in its 78-year history after admitting last month it installed software in diesel vehicles to deceive U.S. regulators about the true level of their toxic emissions.The group now expects the costs of the scandal, which include a recall of 8.5...

>NEW ORLEANS Louisiana voters on Saturday threw support behind Democrat John Bel Edwards in his bid to succeed Governor Bobby Jindal, but Edwards will have to face off with Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter in a Nov. 21 runoff when no candidate polled more than 50 percent.Edwards, the...

>The oilfields, in Howard and Borden counties, will be bought from Tall City Exploration LLC and Plymouth Petroleum LLC, Xinchao said in the filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.The transaction has already been approved by the U.S. Treasury's Committee on Foreign Investment, it added. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard...

>DES MOINES, Iowa U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders contrasted his record with that of Hillary Clinton on key issues, including his early support for same-sex marriages and consistent opposition to the Iraq war, during a Democratic fundraising dinner in Iowa on Saturday.The annual dinner in the early-voting state...

>GUATEMALA CITY Jimmy Morales, a former TV comedian who has never held office, swept to power in Guatemala's presidential election on Sunday after milking public anger over a corruption scandal that deepened distrust of the country's political establishment.The 46-year-old Morales overwhelmingly beat center-left rival and former first lady Sandra...

>The incident, which took place on Saturday, coincided with the holding reunions of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War under an August accord that ended an earlier standoff and called for better ties.South Korea's navy fired several shots at a North Korean patrol boat that crossed the disputed...

>CHAMELA, Mexico Hurricane Patricia caused less damage than feared on Mexico's Pacific coast on Saturday, but hammered an isolated part of the shoreline dotted with luxury villas and fishing villages, where the storm and its 165 mph (266 kph) winds landed. Thousands of residents and tourists fled the advance of...

>FRANKFURT Frantic deal-making in the German property market has spotlighted the scarcity of housing in the country and thrown into sharp relief the influx of up to one million refugees fleeing war and poverty.Property consolidation reached new heights last week when the country's largest listed residential property owner forced...