News Archive - 1 February 2016

>NEW YORK It may be too close to call between Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in the Iowa caucuses on Monday, but the senator from Vermont was the clear winner on social media. Sanders maintained his strong social media presence during the caucuses, commanding the majority of...

>SANTIAGO Turkey aims to boost trade with Latin America more than two-fold by 2023, in a bid to diversify away from its traditional export markets in the troubled economies of Europe and the Middle East, Economy Minister Mustafa Elitas said on Monday.The minister spoke to Reuters in the Chilean...

>SEOUL The South Korean government will unveil stimulus measures on Wednesday as a collapse in exports and cooling inflation threaten a fragile economic recovery. As a slowdown in China weighs on global growth, knocking export-reliant economies from Brazil and Europe to Japan and Indonesia, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said Seoul...

>SYDNEY The yen remained in the doldrums on Tuesday after a restless session overnight, while the Australian dollar held firm as investors bet the Reserve Bank of Australia will resist the recent trend for surprise policy easings. The dollar bought 120.85 yen JPY=, staying near a peak of 121.

>SINGAPORE U.S. crude fell for a second session in early Asian trade on Tuesday as worries about the economic health of top energy consumer China and rising oil supply weighed on markets.The front month contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 was down 28 cents at $31.34...

>TOKYO Asian shares wobbled on Tuesday as crude oil prices slid on rekindled oversupply fears and after downbeat manufacturing data raised concerns about global momentum.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.2 percent, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 slipped 0.7 percent.U.S. crude...

>ZAATARI, Jordan Russian President Vladimir Putin is undermining international efforts to end the Syrian civil war by bombing opponents of Islamic State in an attempt to bolster Bashar al-Assad, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Monday.In a clear sign of frustration with the Kremlin, Hammond scolded Putin for...

>ROME Nearly two dozen nations gather on Tuesday to plot their fight against the Islamic State militant group in Syria and Iraq and how to choke off its rise in Libya.The meeting takes place as talks have begun in Geneva to try to end the five-year Syrian civil war,...

>CHICAGO Democrats from Pennsylvania's congressional delegation sent a letter to a federal rail regulator on Monday raising concerns over the possible negative impacts of a merger between Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern Corp.The letter sent to the Surface Transportation Board raised concerns over the impact it could have on...

>No buyers have emerged till now and a deal may not happen at all, Bloomberg cautioned. Barracuda could not be immediately reached for comment. The company had a market capitalization of $622.4 million as of Monday's close of $11.72. The stock has fallen nearly 70 percent in the...

>The Treasury said in a statement it expects to issue $250 billion through credit markets during the period, up from an initial estimate of $165 billion. The department said it expects to pay down $112 billion in net marketable debt during the second quarter of 2016. (Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir;...

>SINGAPORE/HONG KONG Beyond China few may have heard of OPPO or Vivo, but these local handset vendors are rising up the rankings in the world's largest smartphone market, using local marketing savvy and strong retail networks in lower-tier cities.Industry experts say these cities - there are more than 600...

>Alphabet, announcing its first results under a new reporting structure aimed at improving transparency, said consolidated revenue jumped 17.8 percent to $21.33 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $18.10 billion a year earlier.Total operating losses on "Other Bets" – which includes "moonshots" such...

>RIYADH Mortars and rockets fired at Saudi Arabian towns and villages have killed 375 civilians, including 63 children, since the start of the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen in late March, Riyadh said on Monday. Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, told Reuters that the...

> (Reporting by John O'Donnell; Editing by Mark Heinrich)...

>The U.S. central bank said banks moderately eased standards for mortgages and auto loans while leaving them unchanged for credit cards. Some banks noted that the tightening of standards for commercial and industrial lending owed to concerns over the oil and gas industries, the Fed said. Banks also tightened...

>"Obviously, we welcome steps from private entities like Facebook," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at a press briefing, following Facebook's announcement on Friday. Earnest would not comment on whether anyone in the administration had sought such a decision by Facebook, but he said some companies are interested in...

>The plans are expected to be announced after Yahoo's fourth-quarter results, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Yahoo had about 11,000 employees as of June 30, according to its website. The company, which is scheduled to report on Tuesday, could not be immediately reached for comment. Activist...

>Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, however, warned about jumping to conclusions given that some past bouts of financial market turbulence have not harmed the world's largest economy."At this point, it is difficult to judge the likely implications of this volatility," Fischer said in a speech less than a week...

>BERLIN Moscow's intervention in an alleged rape case involving a German-Russian girl has heightened suspicions in Berlin that it is trying to stir up trouble, with a view to weakening Chancellor Angela Merkel.The case of the 13-year-old, named only as Lisa F., became the focus of political intrigue...

>While talks are continuing and a deal could be clinched in coming days, national data protection regulators from across Europe are poised to begin meetings on Tuesday to start restricting trans-Atlantic flows of personal data. "There have been constructive but difficult talks over the weekend," said a spokesman for the...

>OSLO Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, peace negotiators in Colombia or Greek islanders helping Syrian refugees were among tips for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize at the deadline for nominations on Monday.Nobel watchers also speculated that negotiators of an accord over Iran's nuclear program could be...

>BEIRUT/ROME A senior U.S. official visited northern Syria at the weekend to assess progress in the fight against Islamic State, in what appeared to be the first declared visit to Syrian territory for several years by an official from U.S. President Barack Obama's administration.The Syrian Kurds have...

>Speaking to reporters at a press briefing on Monday, Earnest said the leaders will probably discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership, earned income tax credit, and heroin addiction problem. He added that Obama and Ryan will meet privately for lunch at the White House following the meeting. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Doina...

>Abbott will pay $56 per share in cash, a premium of about 51 percent to Alere's Friday closing of $37.20. Alere shares were trading at $54.65 before the opening bell on Monday.Alere's diagnostic tests are used in doctors' offices, clinics and at home.Abbott, which had total...

>Sage makes disposable medical products used in pre-operative care to help control the spread of hospital-acquired infections.The company also makes solutions for oral care, skin preparation and protection and patient cleaning and hygiene.Stryker said the deal was likely to add to its 2016 adjusted net earnings excluding acquisition-related...

>China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of world trade is shipped every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.The guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur passed near Triton Island in the Paracel Islands, in what the Pentagon said...

>The Defense Ministry also delivered more than 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the besieged Syrian town of Deir al-Zor in January, agencies quoted it as saying.Russia is strengthening all types of reconnaissance in the Middle East to better locate terrorist targets and hit them faster, Defense Ministry spokesman...

>GENEVA/BEIRUT Syrian rebels fought back against an offensive by government forces near a supply route into the city of Aleppo on Monday and said there had been no letup in Russian air strikes, despite a promise of goodwill moves by Damascus to spur peace talks.U.N. envoy Staffan de...

>WASHINGTONU.S. consumers are cautious about spending their windfall from cheap gasoline and are saving more, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll and official data, suggesting low oil prices are less of a boon for the U.S. economy than in the past.Commerce Department data shows that the crude's 70...

>WASHINGTON U.S. consumer spending was unchanged in December, but a jump in savings to a three-year high suggested consumption could rebound in the months ahead.The Commerce Department said on Monday the unchanged reading in consumer spending followed an upwardly revised 0.5 percent increase in November. Spending on...

>Dominion's $25-per-share offer represents a near 23 percent premium to Questar's Friday close. (Reporting by Swetha Gopinath in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)...

>Genica Research Corporation, headquartered in California, specializes in research, breeding, production and distribution by delegation of hybrid vegetable seeds, mainly sweet and hot peppers, cucumber, summer squash and tomato.Genica had sales of more than $25 million in 2015 and 50 employees. Vilmorin did not disclose the value of the...

>NEW YORK Donald Trump likes to boast to his supporters that he's so rich he doesn't need outside money to pay for his presidential campaign. His fans seem happy to oblige him, according to financial disclosures released on Sunday.The New York businessman's quest to become the Republican party's presidential...

>DES MOINES, Iowa Republican front-runner Donald Trump puts his precedent-shattering campaign to the test on Monday when Iowa voters begin the nationwide process of choosing a new U.S. president, as polls show a tight battle with Ted Cruz that could hinge on turnout and a large bloc of undecided...

>How much is Google-parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) spending on "moonshots" – self-driving cars, glucose-monitoring contact lenses, Internet balloons and other ambitious projects?Investors will get their long-awaited answer when Alphabet reports fourth-quarter results after markets close on Monday.The report will be the first time Alphabet will break out...

>"We have come to Geneva to seek relief for our people by insisting U.N. Security Council resolution 2254 is implemented, which means humanitarian relief, the lifting of sieges, and the end of attacks on civilians," said Spokesman Salim al-Muslat."We are intensifying our efforts to ensure that action is...

>NAYPYITAW Hundreds of lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy were sworn into Myanmar's parliament on Monday, with enough seats to choose the country's first democratically elected government since the military took power in 1962.The NLD won some 80 percent of elected seats in November's historic...

>A car bomb and two suicide bombers attacked the Sayeda Zeinab district, home to Syria's holiest Shi'ite shrine, as representatives of Syria's government and its divided opposition began convening in Geneva in an attempt to start the first peace talks in two years.The Syrian state news agency SANA has...

>U.S. stock index futures were lower on Monday, starting February on a dour note after the worst January for the S&P 500 since 2009.* Weak economic data from China, which showed that the world's second-largest economy's manufacturing sector contracted in January at the fastest pace since 2012, will...

>WASHINGTON Anyone seeking a table at Carmine's Italian restaurant near Capitol Hill on a Tuesday or Wednesday needs to battle a mid-week crush of Congress members and their staff.But Mondays are far quieter -- just like the floor of Congress. There are usually around nine events on a Monday,...

>Nokia said the settlement would lift sales at its patent unit Nokia Technologies to around 1.02 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in 2015, include catch-up revenue from the past two years, from 578 million euros in 2014.The annualized net sales run-rate for the patent unit is now about...

>The Palestinian had infiltrated a security fence near the Israeli settlement Salit, the military said. When soldiers responded at the scene, he drew a knife and tried to stab them, it said. No Israelis were injured.A campaign of stabbings, shootings and car-rammings by Palestinians has killed 26 Israelis and...