News Archive - 9 February 2016

>Falling electricity demand due to increased energy efficiency has spurred a spate of mergers in the United States, with utilities looking to cut their exposure to volatile power prices in unregulated markets.ITC shareholders will get $45 per share – $22.57 in cash and 0.7520 Fortis shares for...

>"I think Angela Merkel made a tragic mistake with the migrants," Trump told French conservative weekly Valeurs Actuelles, which said it was the billionaire's first in-depth campaign interview with European media."If you don't treat the situation competently and firmly, yes, it's the end of Europe. You could face real...

>SINGAPORE Crude oil prices pushed higher on Wednesday after Iran said it was open to cooperation with Saudi Arabia, partly recovering from an 8 percent fall in the previous session led by concerns over demand and weak equities.Prices were supported by comments from Iran's oil minister that Tehran is...

>WASHINGTON Attacks by "homegrown" Islamist extremists are among the most imminent security threats facing the United States in 2016, along with dangers posed overseas by Islamic State and cyber security concerns, the top U.S. intelligence official said on Tuesday.In his annual assessment of threats to the United States,...

>The closed-door consultations are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. ET (1630 GMT) on Wednesday and were jointly requested by New Zealand and Spain, backed by other Western powers."There are reports of at least 30,000 people displaced from Aleppo and it's the middle of winter," New Zealand Ambassador Gerard van...

>TOKYO The dollar nursed losses around 3-1/2-month lows on Wednesday, pressured by the specter of a global economic slowdown as European banks struggled to fend off growing doubts over their health and as oil prices slipped back.Many traders suspect those troubles will prevent the Federal Reserve from raising interest...

>WASHINGTON The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a major blow to President Barack Obama by putting on hold federal regulations to curb carbon dioxide emissions mainly from coal-fired power plants, the centerpiece of his administration's strategy to combat climate change.The court voted 5-4 along ideological lines to...

>WASHINGTON/DETROIT U.S. vehicle safety regulators have said the artificial intelligence system piloting a self-driving Google car could be considered the driver under federal law, a major step toward ultimately winning approval for autonomous vehicles on the roads.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told Google, a unit of Alphabet...

>NEW YORK While Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is the one tasked with delivering a message over the next two days when she speaks to Congress, financial markets are keen to know if she has absorbed their message to her: stifle your rate hike plans.In the 52 days since...

>TOKYO Asian stocks dipped early on Wednesday amid smouldering banking sector concerns, particularly banks in Europe, while the safe-haven yen stood atop large gains made overnight.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down 0.2 percent. The decline was limited after Wall Street shares cut most of...

>WASHINGTON The Obama administration has no immediate need for funding to combat the Zika virus because money remains unspent from fighting the two-year-long Ebola outbreak, a member of the Republican Senate leadership said on Tuesday.Lawmakers are debating what resources are needed as Zika spreads in South and Central America...

>James Clapper said that in 2013, following its third nuclear test, North Korea announced its intention to “refurbish and restart” facilities at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, to include the uranium enrichment facility and its graphite-moderated plutonium production reactor shut down in 2007."We assess that North Korea has followed through...

>TOKYO Japanese retail traders have turned bullish on the yen for the first time in 2-1/2 years, a telling sign they are losing confidence over government efforts to cheapen the currency.The change in sentiment comes as more investors globally question whether Japan's efforts to reflate the economy - known...

>NEW YORK Shareholders of the former GFI Group Inc may pursue a lawsuit accusing two top executives of fraudulently causing them to sell their stock prematurely as part of a plan to take the firm's main brokerage unit private, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.U.S. District Judge William...

>The Senate voted 90-0 to confirm career diplomat Scot Marciel to the post in Myanmar, also known as Burma.Currently the principal deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Marciel has also been ambassador to Indonesia and served in Vietnam, the Philippines, Brazil...

>SAN FRANCISCO Global economic uncertainty and worries about weak spending on information technology are forcing investors in cloud computing stocks and related enterprise companies to take a reality check.The deep selloff, sparked last week after business analytics company Tableau Software Inc (DATA.N) gave a dismal sales outlook, has...

>A drop in profit at Walt Disney Co's cable networks unnerved investors despite jumps in overall quarterly income and revenue, driven by the blockbuster release of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens".Disney shares fell 2.7 percent to $89.75 in after-hours trading. They fell 9.5 percent in the...

>BRUSSELS European finance ministers will call on the Group of 20 biggest world economies at the end of February to boost global economic growth at a time when an slowdown in China is sending shivers through financial markets.G20 finance ministers will meet at the end of February in Shanghai...

>As interest rates turn negative around the world and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen prepares to testify before Congress on Wednesday, investors are wondering how the Fed will respond and how far it could go.Fears of a global and U.S. economic slowdown, along with oil's precipitous slide, have...

>WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will defend the U.S. central bank's first rate hike in a decade and likely insist that further rises this year remain on track, albeit at a slower pace, when she addresses Congress on Wednesday.Yellen, who is certain to be grilled by...

>NEW YORK The crash in LinkedIn Corp's shares last week has many traders in the options market braced for an unusually violent reaction from Twitter Inc and Pandora Media Inc's shares after the companies report results this week.LinkedIn shares dropped 44 percent on Friday, wiping out nearly $11 billion...

>DAMASCUS Damascus aims to secure Syria's border with Turkey and recapture the city of Aleppo with its latest military offensive, a top adviser to President Bashar al-Assad said on Tuesday.In an interview in her Damascus office, Bouthaina Shaaban held out little hope for diplomatic efforts to end the five-year...

>FRANKFURT Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) has received expressions of interest for a unit making engines used in ships or small power stations, as rivals sense an opportunity to get their hands on the asset as a result of the car maker's emissions scandal, several sources familiar with the matter said. Peers...

>The Commerce Department said on Tuesday wholesale inventories dipped 0.1 percent. November inventories were revised down to show a 0.4 percent drop instead of the previously reported 0.3 percent decline.Economists had forecast inventories falling 0.2 percent in December. Inventories are a key component of gross...

>Warren, which on Tuesday also cut its 2016 revenue and production forecasts, had deferred a $7.5 million semi-annual interest payment that was due on Feb. 1 to reach a deal with its creditors.The company has a 30-day grace period for negotiations with noteholders, since deferring interest payment on...

>SINGAPORE/MUMBAI India's decision to effectively ban Facebook's pared-back free Internet service is a major blow to the social network's plans, and may prompt other regulators to demand equal online access for their users.Facebook will have to reconsider its approach in the light of India's new rules preventing Internet service...

>The National Federation of Independent Business said on Tuesday its Small Business Optimism Index fell 1.3 points to 93.9 last month, the weakest reading since February 2014. Still, small businesses remained fairly upbeat about the labor market.The NFIB said there was little sign that a stock market...

>GENEVA/AMMAN Hundreds of thousands of civilians could be cut off from food if Syrian government forces encircle rebel-held parts of Aleppo, the United Nations said on Tuesday, warning of a massive new flight of refugees from a Russian-backed assault.Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian and...

>Wall Street eked out small gains in early trading on Tuesday, easing off a lower opening, as a drop in energy and financial stocks was offset by a rebound in the technology sector.Six of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, led by a 0.9 percent rise in...

>Viacom Inc (VIAB.O), the owner of MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and movie studio Paramount, reported a steeper-than-expected drop in quarterly revenue, hurt by lower advertising sales in the United States and few hit movie releases in the period, sending its shares down 11.3 percent.Chief Executive Philippe Dauman,...

>Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by aggressive cost-cutting and lower commodity costs.The soda maker, which is targeting $3 billion in annual cost savings by 2019, has been cutting costs through job reductions and selling some of its bottling operations and factories.Coca-Cola said on...

>MANCHESTER, N.H. A week ago, it looked like the stars were aligning for Marco Rubio. Now, as New Hampshire holds its pivotal primary on Tuesday, the Republican presidential contender has to hope the sky does not come crashing down on him.After a surprisingly strong third-place showing in last...

>WASHINGTON President Barack Obama's budget proposal for the 2017 fiscal year seeks $19 billion for cyber security across the U.S. government, a surge of $5 billion over this year, according to senior administration officials. The request comes as the Obama administration has struggled to address the growing risk posed...

>A statement broadcast on state television said the army, police and counter-terrorism forces had retaken several areas including the town of Husaiba al-Sharqiya, about 10 km (6 miles) east of Ramadi."(Our forces) also managed to open the road from Ramadi to Baghdad which passes through al-Khaldiya," the statement added,...

>SEOUL/WASHINGTON North Korea's weekend rocket launch repeated earlier success rather than breaking new ground, using a nearly identical design from a 2012 launch, experts said, adding the reclusive country probably remained years from building a long-range nuclear missile.The rocket was based on engines taken from its massive stockpile of...

>BAD AIBLING, Germany Eight people were killed when two trains collided head-on in southeast Germany on Tuesday, police said, adding about 150 people were injured, including 50 seriously.The collision took place on a single track and one train was derailed, said a police spokesman.The cause was unclear and...

>LONDON The world will store unwanted oil for most of 2016 as declines in U.S. output take time and OPEC is unlikely to cut a deal with other producers to reduce ballooning output, the International Energy Agency said.The agency, which coordinates energy policies of industrialised countries, said that...

>Pichai, who took over in August, received a grant for 273,328 Class C Google stock units on Feb. 3. The valuation is based on the stock's closing price on that date. On the same day, Pichai sold 375 Class A common shares at a price of $786.28 each, and...

>WASHINGTON U.S. President Barack Obama unveils his final White House budget on Tuesday with a blueprint for fiscal year 2017 that will lay out his spending proposals for priorities from fighting Islamic State to providing for the poor.The budget for the fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1 is...

>KABUL Hundreds more U.S. troops are headed for Afghanistan’s strife-torn Helmand province to shore up security forces who have struggled in the face of sustained Taliban attacks, officials said.The core of the new force will provide more security and act as advisers to the Afghan army's 215th Corps,...

>The quake struck at about 4 a.m. on Saturday (3.00 p.m. ET on Friday) at the beginning of the Lunar New Year holiday, with almost all the dead found in Tainan's toppled Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building. Two people died elsewhere in the city.Rescue work has focused...

>HONG KONG Hong Kong riot police fired warning shots on Tuesday during clashes that erupted in the Chinese-ruled city when authorities tried to remove illegal street stalls set up for Lunar New Year celebrations, the worst violence since pro-democracy protests in 2014.Demonstrators prised bricks from the sidewalk to hurl...