News Archive - 17 February 2016

>ANKARA/DUBAI Iran on Wednesday stopped short of offering to restrain oil output as part of a global pact to freeze production to prop up prices, because it wants to recapture the market share it lost during years of sanctions.Iran's stance will complicate talks on output levels after a surprise...

>TOKYO Asian stocks rose on Thursday and safe-haven government bond prices fell as crude oil prices extended gains on hopes that big producers will cap production, improving investors' appetite for riskier assets.Crude remained the main market driver, with oil prices up as much as 3 percent in early Asian...

>FRANKFURT/SINGAPORE Airbus Group (AIR.PA) has excluded its border security business from the planned sale of its defense electronics unit, whose sale may now go ahead within weeks, defense and space workers at the European company were told on Wednesday.The company had planned to sell defense electronics and border...

>ANKARA/DUBAI Iran signaled on Wednesday it would take a tough line in talks among oil producers on restraining production, saying it would continue increasing its output until it reached levels seen before international sanctions were imposed."Asking Iran to freeze its oil production level is illogical ... when Iran was under...

>Wall Street was higher on Wednesday, on track for a third straight day of gains, led by gains in energy and materials as oil prices held on to their gains.Nine of the 10 major S&P sectors were higher, led by the 1.6 percent rise in the materials sector .

>The investment was made from KKR's Asian Fund II, the company said in a statement that did not disclose the value of the deal. The stake, purchased from a group of investors including Max Group founder Analjit Singh, would be valued at nearly $140 million, given the company's market capitalisation...

>CHARLESTON, S.C. Republican Jeb Bush's presidential campaign has added an Ohio political veteran to his team as a national political adviser.A Bush aide said on Wednesday that Bob Paduchik, who was the Ohio campaign manager for the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns of Jeb's brother George W. Bush,...

>WASHINGTON The Islamic State's English-language reach on Twitter has stalled in recent months amid a stepped-up crackdown against the extremist group's army of digital proselytizers, who have long relied on the site to recruit and radicalize new adherents, according to a study being released on Thursday.Suspensions of English-speaking users...

>NEW YORK Ray Dalio, founder of the world's largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, says the next big monetary and fiscal move should include an airdrop of money from helicopters to stimulate the U.S. economy.He may not be entirely serious about "helicopter money." But in a client note...

>SUMTER, S.C. Donald Trump, who has argued his experience negotiating tough real estate deals makes him best qualified to be U.S. president, said on Wednesday it might be impossible to forge a lasting peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.During a televised town hall session hosted...

> (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Paul Tait)...

>Okapi Partners LLC, a proxy-solicitation adviser typically used by Starboard, has been calling Yahoo shareholders, Bloomberg said. Starboard, which owns about 0.75 percent of Yahoo, has been pushing for changes at the Internet company since 2014, asking it to separate its Asian assets and sell the core business.In...

>Wang Yiming, vice minister of Development Research Centre of the State Council also said the yuan CNY=CFXS may be stable in the medium term if China's economic fundamentals hold steady and may appreciate over time if reforms progress well and market perceptions change.Wang also played down the risk of...

>The layoffs cover 128 employees at Yahoo's headquarters in Sunnyvale, California; 46 employees in San Francisco and 60 in Los Angeles, the newspaper reported citing a company's note to state officials.The company also plans to shut down its Burbank office, affecting 90 employees, according to San Francisco Chronicle.The...

>WASHINGTON U.S. President Barack Obama is preparing to visit Cuba as soon as March, a person briefed on the matter said on Wednesday, a major step in the thaw between former Cold War foes the United States and Communist-run Cuba.Obama said in December that he would consider visiting...

>NEW YORK Donald Trump has taken a more than 20-point lead over U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in the Republican race for the presidential nomination, bolstering his position ahead of the party's primary in South Carolina on Saturday, according to a national Reuters/Ipsos poll.Among Republicans, Trump, a...

>SAN FRANCISCO Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) is quietly inviting drivers for its new "on-demand" delivery service to handle its standard packages, as the online retailer known for low prices and razor-thin profit margins looks to speed up delivery times and tamp down its growing multi-billion dollar logistics bill. The...

>The Syrian government approved access to seven besieged areas after crisis talks in Damascus on Tuesday, a week ahead of a planned resumption of peace negotiations between Syria's warring parties.The U.N. estimates there are 486,700 people in around 15 besieged areas of Syria, and 4.6 million people...

>Bullard for much of last year argued for an earlier rate hike, but said he now feels key assumptions supporting higher rates have been undermined.Inflation expectations have fallen "too far for comfort," making it more probable inflation itself will fall and continue to miss the Fed's 2 percent target,...

>BEIJING China's central bank has come under fire since last year's surprise currency devaluation for not explaining its policies to the markets, but its reticence is less a product of poor PR than its limited powers and a speculative onslaught.Unlike the U.S. Federal Reserve or European Central Bank,...

>The offer of $38.90 per share represents a 31.2 percent premium to Ingram's closing price on Wednesday. (Reporting by Sai Sachin R in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)...

>The company's digital magazines to be discontinued include those that cover food, parenting, health, travel and real estate, it said in a blog post. (goo.gl/sI68O7)Yahoo said it would sharpen its focus on news, sports, finance and lifestyle. The company said earlier this month it would consider "strategic alternatives" for...

>Obama made his comments after meeting in the Oval Office with two advisers who will lead a new commission tasked with making recommendations by the end of the year on a long-term plan for cybersecurity upgrades. Obama did not respond to questions from reporters about a court order demanding that...

>NEW YORK The newest Federal Reserve policymaker dismissed concerns that his call for radical action to rein in "too big to fail" banks was a partisan move, and instead said it highlighted the U.S. central bank's independence from politics.Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, a Republican and former Treasury...

>Haley was scheduled to appear with Rubio on Wednesday night in Chapin, South Carolina, for a town hall gathering, the Post and Courier of Charleston reported. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by David Alexander) SAP is the sponsor of this content. It was independently created by Reuters' editorial staff and...

>The current value of Energy Transfer's bid is about 15 percent higher than Williams' share price as of Tuesday's close. As recently as Friday, the spread was around 23 percent.Williams shares jumped after fourth-quarter filings by investors showed that several hedge funds had jumped into the stock, including Jana...

>In a press briefing with reporters, White House spokesman Josh Earnest gave no indication of when such a measure might come. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe and Susan Heavey; Writing by Megan Cassella)...

>A court order demanding that Apple Inc (AAPL.O) help the U.S. government unlock the encrypted iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters opens a new chapter in the legal, political and technological fight pitting law enforcement against civil liberties advocates and major tech companies.The government argues...

>The United States is trying to cut revenue to Islamic State - believed to be one of the best-funded militant groups in the world - through air strikes targeting its oil production as well as cash storage sites. U.S. officials believe the ultra-hardline Sunni group is more dependent on...

>Kurtulmus, who is also a deputy prime minister, said it was clear the attack was well planned. A car laden with explosives detonated next to military buses near the armed forces' headquarters, parliament and other government buildings. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Melih Aslan; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by...

>WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve policymakers worried last month that tighter global financial conditionscould hit the U.S. economy and considered changing their planned path of interest rate hikes in 2016."If the recent tightening of global financial conditions was sustained, it could be a factor amplifying downside risks" to the...

>ZURICH Activist investor Knight Vinke could be tempted to reinvest in UBS (UBSG.VX), the fund's chief executive told Reuters on Wednesday, only weeks after it sold its stake in Switzerland's biggest bank.Knight Vinke closed out its UBS holdings in December, having long campaigned for further cuts to UBS's...

>President Barack Obama, who announced the establishment of the commission earlier this month, will meet with both Donilon and Palmisano later on Wednesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. (Reporting by Megan Cassella)...

>BAGHDAD Iraq is searching for "highly dangerous" radioactive material stolen last year, according to an environment ministry document and seven security, environmental and provincial officials who fear it could be used as a weapon if acquired by Islamic State.The material, stored in a protective case the size of a...

>"Our experience shows that it is rather difficult to have attractive acquisitions, we are behaving in a conservative manner, but we do not rule out any option if it is justified and attractive," Woszczyk told a news conference. The state-run PGE produces most of its electricity from highly-polluting lignite coal.

>T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS.O) nearly tripled its profit in the fourth quarter as lower- priced plans and free video streaming helped it add more than 2 million subscribers.Net income jumped to $297 million, or 34 cents per share, in the quarter from $101 million, or 12 cents per...

>The meeting with Puerto Rican labor leaders and business executives featured briefings from Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell, according to a White House blog post issued late on Tuesday.Lew told meeting participants that Puerto Rico has already had to take extreme...

>The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York rejected a challenge by an e-books purchaser to the fairness, reasonableness and adequacy of the settlement, which won approval from U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in November 2014.Apple had been accused by 33 state attorneys general and...

>BRUSSELS The United States is pressing NATO to play a bigger role against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, putting Washington at odds with Germany and France which fear the strategy would risk confrontation with the alliance's old Cold War foe Russia.All 28 NATO allies are already part of...

>ISTANBUL The rapid advance of U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, taking advantage of Russian air strikes to seize territory near the Turkish border, has infuriated Ankara and threatened to drive a wedge between NATO allies.Washington has long seen the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and...

>Industrial output increased 0.9 percent after a downwardly revised 0.7 percent decline in December, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. The U.S. central bank had previously reported a 0.4 percent drop for December.Economists polled by Reuters had forecast industrial production rising 0.4 percent last...

>CAMPO GRANDE, Brazil/BENTONVILLE, Arkansas When Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N) first expanded into Brazil's midwestern farm-belt city of Campo Grande seven years ago, the economy was booming and executives were eager to open stores even in sub-prime locations on one-way streets heading out of town. It didn’t last. At the...

>WASHINGTON U.S. housing starts unexpectedly fell in January likely as bad weather disrupted building activity in some parts of the country, in what could be a temporary setback for the housing market recovery.Other data on Wednesday showed producer prices rose last month and there were signs of an...

>SYDNEY Australia's GrainCorp will join a consortium that aims to acquire and list the country's largest wheat exporter, valued at up to $2.1 billion, potentially putting Graincorp in the box seat to take over its west coast rival.The proposal to list Western Australia-based Co-Operative Bulk Handling Ltd (CBH)...

>RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he and leaders of Southeast Asian countries discussed the need to ease tensions in the South China Sea, and agreed that any territorial disputes there should be resolved peacefully and through legal means.But a joint statement agreed on...

>Cook said that the demand threatened the security of Apple's customers and had "implications far beyond the legal case at hand." (apple.co/1Lt7ReW)Judge Sheri Pym of U.S. District Court in Los Angeles said on Tuesday that Apple must provide "reasonable technical assistance" to investigators seeking to unlock data...

>Syrian government forces backed by Russian air strikes have advanced toward the Turkish border in a major offensive in recent weeks. Kurdish militia fighters, regarded by Ankara as hostile insurgents, have taken advantage of the violence to seize territory from Syrian rebels.Turkey has accused the Kurdish militia of pursuing...

>EGGESFORD, England Deborah Hastings will only decide whether Britain should ditch its European Union membership on the eve of a referendum likely in late June. She has one key question for those courting her vote: Will leaving make me and the country richer or poorer?As opinion polls show Britain...

>"What is happening on the Turkish-Syrian border now is absolute lawlessness..." Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman of the Russian foreign ministry, was quoted as saying. "Turkey shells settlements across the border, transfers money, people and supplies there." (Reporting by Ekaterina Golubkova, writing by Maria Tsvetkova, editing by Christian Lowe)...

>FUKUOKA, Japan Bank of Japan board member Koji Ishida on Thursday warned that prolonged global market turbulence could hurt Japan's economy by damaging household and corporate sentiment.But he said sharp declines in energy costs were beneficial for a fuel-importing country like Japan, adding that concerns the current oil rout...

>The string of assurances comes ahead of two high-profile political events for China: a meeting of G20 finance chiefs in Shanghai later this month and next month's annual gathering of China's legislature - where the next five-year economic development plan will be finalised.A rout in Chinese stocks last summer...

>TOKYO Japan's core machinery orders rose at a slower-than-expected pace in December but companies expect orders to accelerate in January-March, an encouraging sign that industry is ready to increase spending.Core orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as a leading indicator of capital spending, rose 4.2 percent in...

>LONDON Financial markets that predicted eight of the last six recessions may be yet be wrong again, but market stress itself is now part of the calculus and leaves the world more open to left-field shocks.Given the violence of this year's slump in equities, where more than $8 trillion...