News Archive - 11 March 2016

Wesley PrudenHard times for the Nixon of the Democrats

>Private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC (APO.N) is nearing a deal to acquire Fresh Market Inc (TFM.O), a U.S. specialty grocery retailer, for more than $1.3 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.The deal would underscore Apollo's confidence that it can turn...

>CHICAGO U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump canceled a rally scheduled for Friday night in Chicago after the event turned into a chaotic scene with thousands of attendees split into opposing camps of supporters of the Republican front-runner and protesters inflamed by his candidacy.A Trump campaign staffer took the...

>GENEVA/WASHINGTON South Korea won a partial victory against the United States in a World Trade Organization ruling on Friday that found fault with the method used to calculate U.S. duties imposed on Korean-made washing machines that are deemed to be subsidized and unfairly priced.The ruling will not immediately...

>NEW YORK Investors who have pushed the U.S. stock market higher over the past month will be taking their cues about the pace of future interest-rate hikes next week from the Federal Reserve.Recent economic data has relieved concerns that the United States might be heading for a recession...

>The company, backed by PayPal Holdings Inc (PYPL.O) co-founder Peter Thiel, is working with investment bank Morgan Stanley on the sale process, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Stemcentrx is also exploring an initial public offering and partnership deals, the Journal cited some of the people...

>Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE.N), the U.S. pipeline company that agreed to acquire Williams Companies Inc (WMB.N), has held talks to sell gas station and convenience store operator Sunoco LP (SUN.N), according to three people familiar with the matter.While these discussions were preliminary, they underscore...

>NEW YORK A U.S. appeals court on Friday put on hold a judge's ruling lifting injunctions that have restricted Argentina from paying off some debts in light of the country's $6.5 billion offer to settle litigation over bonds in default since 2002.The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court...

>WASHINGTON The U.S. Commerce Department said on Friday it would begin deploying digital trade experts in overseas markets as part of a pilot program intended to help U.S. businesses navigate foreign Internet regulations when selling digital products or transferring data abroad.The digital attachés will rely on "on-the-ground...

HRC to Hillary Clinton: Nancy Reagan Was 'No Hero' on AIDS...

>The companies need permission to merge from the various public service commissions where they operate, and have been unsuccessful in winning over Washington despite offering a $78 million payment to the U.S. capital.In the most recent development in what has become an extended back and forth between the...

>Srinivasan and Garland are considered the leading contenders, said the source and two other sources close to the process. President Barack Obama is seeking a nominee to replace long-serving conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Feb. 13. Senate Republicans have vowed not to hold confirmation hearings or an up-or-down...

>The Justice Department has attempted to frame the Apple case as one that is not about undermining encryption and that a U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation court order issued to Apple targets a non-encryption barrier on one iPhone. The FBI says Farook and his wife were inspired by Islamist...

>UNITED NATIONS The United States will raise during U.N. Security Council consultations next week the issue of Iran's recent ballistic missile launches and is urging countries to cooperate on undermining Tehran's missile program, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations said on Friday."We will raise these dangerous...

>The White House hopes Obama's historic March 20-22 trip to the communist-ruled island, the first by a U.S. president in more than 80 years, will help advance Washington's diplomatic opening with the former Cold War foe after decades of hostility. U.S. officials had no immediate comment on the...

>The world's biggest chipmaker was working with UBS Group AG to look for potential buyers, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The portfolio comprises companies across the globe and is part of the company's corporate venture unit, Intel Capital, according to the report. Intel declined to...

>WASHINGTON A group that wanted to draft House Speaker Paul Ryan as a Republican presidential candidate is shutting down, a day after Ryan's political operation sent the organization a cease-and-desist letter demanding it halt its campaign.In a statement on Friday the Committee to Draft Speaker Ryan said it had...

>NEW YORK Many bond investors who benefited from the recent rally in battered energy debt prices are maintaining or seeking to add to their holdings, viewing the rally as the start of a longer-lasting uptrend rather than a blip. Fund managers including MacKay Shields, Thornburg Investment Management and BlueBay Asset...

>NEW YORK New York's top Democratic legislator drove home his budget priorities on Friday, touching on the minimum wage, paid family leave and education ahead of the release of the state Assembly's spending plan scheduled for later that day.Assembly speaker Carl Heastie highlighted the proposals that have become a...

>The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is working on new guidance to states, policymakers and companies on self-driving vehicles that it hopes to release in July.NHTSA spokesman Gordon Trowbridge said a report being released Friday shows there are relatively few legal hurdles to the deployment of self-driving cars...

>OKLAHOMA CITY The night before Aubrey McClendon died, the oil-and-gas pioneer was expected at a private dinner here with potential business partners. Among them: Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico. Around sunset, the group gathered in a wood-paneled dining room at the exclusive Beacon Club. A waiter brought plates...

>WASHINGTON The AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. federation of labor unions, will launch digital attack ads targeting Republican front-runner Donald Trump next week as part of a multi-pronged effort to derail the New York billionaire’s bid for the White House and dampen union workers' enthusiasm for him. Officials at the...

>Liam Lotter, 18, told South Africa's East Coast radio he found the piece of debris on a beach in Mozambique while on holiday in December and his family took it back to their home in South Africa. He said that after a suspected part of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was...

>BERLIN A fragmented hotel industry is set for more consolidation this year by owners seeking scale to better resist shocks to the economy and to improve their bargaining position with online travel agents. The hotel industry saw a series of deals last year, with Marriott (MAR.O) announcing plans to...

>General Motors Co (GM.N) is buying Cruise Automation, a San Francisco self-driving vehicle startup, the latest move by the auto giant in its effort to outflank Silicon Valley in the race to develop shareable, autonomous vehicles.Cruise, with 40 people, was launched in 2013 and had raised $20 million...

>PALM BEACH, Fla. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump won another high-profile endorsement on Friday when retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson became the second former Republican candidate to back him in the race for the White House."We buried the hatchet. That was political stuff," Carson said during a joint appearance with...

>Autodesk Inc said on Friday it had reached a settlement with two activist investors, appointing three directors to its board and avoiding a proxy fight ahead of its annual meeting.Autodesk's settlement with activists Eminence Capital LP and Sachem Head Capital includes a so-called "standstill" agreement, which generally means the...

>WASHINGTON The U.S. Transportation Department and NXP Semiconductors NV are joining forces in a pilot project to use communication technology to reduce congestion and speed traffic, they said on Friday.The department said in December that it would award up to $40 million to a mid-size U.S. city...

>The flights will be to Sansha city, on Woody Island in the Paracel archipelago, China's administrative base for islands and reefs it controls in the South China Sea.China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the...

>BEIRUT The Syrian army backed by Russian air strikes is aiming to capture the historic city of Palmyra from Islamic State to open a road to the eastern province of Deir al-Zor in an offensive that got under way this week, a source close to the Syrian government said.The...

>WASHINGTON U.S. import prices fell in February for an eighth straight month, weighed down by declining costs for petroleum and a range of other goods, but the pace of decline is slowing as the dollar's rally fades and oil prices stabilize.The Labor Department said on Friday import prices...

>FRANKFURT The European Central Bank embarked on a rearguard action to win over skeptical investors on Friday, a day after chief Mario Draghi unveiled a new stimulus package but blunted its impact by suggesting the ECB would not cut interest rates again.A number of top ECB officials, both publicly...

>DHAKA Investigators suspect unknown hackers managed to install malware in the Bangladesh central bank's computer systems and watched, probably for weeks, how to go about withdrawing money from its U.S. account, two bank officials briefed on the matter said on Friday.More than a month after hackers breached Bangladesh...

>Wall Street rose on Friday, propelled by energy stocks as oil held on to gains.Crude prices rose more than 2 percent, after the International Energy Agency said oil prices might have bottomed as output in the United States and other non-OPEC countries was beginning to fall quickly. [O/R]All 10...

>LONDON Royal Dutch Shell has appointed investment bank Lazard to advise it on a $30 billion asset sale program following its acquisition of BG Group last month, several banking and industry sources said on Friday. The Anglo-Dutch company has also picked Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley to...

>LOS ANGELES Close relatives from 10 White House families - from Caroline Kennedy to first lady Michelle Obama - were expected to attend funeral services on Friday for Nancy Reagan at her late husband's presidential library in Southern California.The memorial service for the former Hollywood actress and first lady...

>HIALEAH, Florida Conservative Hispanic activists fear a win by Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in Florida's presidential nominating contest next week will deal a major setback to efforts to widen the party's appeal beyond white voters, potentially dooming hopes of retaking the White House from Democrats in 2016.Some of the...

>NEW YORK U.S. companies hit hard by a 37 percent devaluation in the Argentine peso are nonetheless gearing up to do more business there, betting short-term pain as the South American country liberalizes its economy will lead to long term gains.The rekindled relationship between the United States and...

>OSLO The ethics watchdog for Norway's $830-billion wealth fund will focus this year on identifying corruption in telecoms, arms and energy companies and expects to recommend that an increasing number of firms across all sectors be barred from investment.By the end of this year, the fund which invests income...

>Vivendi previously had 23.8 percent of the Italian phone group, and has now more than tripled its holding in less than a year as it stamps its authority on the company. Sources say it is not expected to buy more, at least in the short term, because owning 24.

>If the digital economy was fully captured in economic statistics it could add between one third and two thirds of a percent to the growth rate of the British economy, a report drawn up by Bean and published on Friday said.Bean was asked by Chancellor George Osborne last year...

>BEIJING/WASHINGTON China expressed anger on Friday after the U.S. State Department said it had authorized the sale of two surplus U.S. Navy frigates to Taiwan for $190 million, subject to congressional approval, amid rising tension in the South China Sea.China considers self-ruled Taiwan a wayward province, to...

>Damascus has yet to publicly confirm it will be taking part in the talks.Asked whether Russia, a close ally of Assad, was encouraging Damascus to attend, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: "They're not refusing." "They said straight away that they are taking part, they're ready, they...

>BEIJING A Chinese private refiner that agreed to buy a stake in Royal Dutch Shell's (RDSa.L) Malaysia oil refinery will focus on expanding overseas while limiting domestic investment, the company's chairman told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. Shandong Hengyuan Petrochemical Co last month agreed to buy a 51...

>HONG KONG Investors poured a record $4.5 billion into financial start-ups in Asia last year, four times as much as the previous year, data shows, putting the region at the center of the global tech revolution poised to shake up the financial services industry. Total investments into peer-to-peer lenders,...