News Archive - 28 July 2016

>PHILADELPHIA Chelsea Clinton took the stage of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday to portray her mother Hillary Clinton as a loving, smart and playful woman qualified to be elected president of the United States. In a 12-minute introduction received warmly in a packed Philadelphia arena, Chelsea Clinton countered criticism...

>DHAKA The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has asked the Philippines' central bank to help Bangladesh Bank recover the $81 million that was stolen by hackers in February from its account held at the Fed, boosting Dhaka's efforts to retrieve the money.In a letter sent on June 23,...

>TOKYO The Bank of Japan expanded stimulus on Friday by doubling purchases of exchange-traded funds (ETF), yielding to pressure from the government and financial markets for bolder action, but disappointing investors who had set their hearts on more audacious measures.The central bank, however, said it will conduct a thorough...

>SINGAPORE Oil prices on Friday remained around April lows as slowing economic growth threatened to worsen ongoing oversupply of crude and refined products.International Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were trading at $42.78 at 0127 GMT (09:27 p.m. EDT), up 8 cents from their previous close. U.S.

Roni Size interview a head of Boomtown As a long time master of bass, Roni Size is a perfect fit for this new project. After a huge year of live touring with... Read more...

>PHILADELPHIA There is the Democratic convention unfolding onstage in Philadelphia this week, broadcast to millions on television. Then there is a second convention that exists largely hidden from public view in the smartphones of Bernie Sanders' delegates.Using various messaging apps and secret Facebook groups, many of the delegates pledged...

>The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants conducted air strikes in the Manbij area in the last 24 hours, the statement said. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Eric Walsh)...

>SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON The FBI is investigating a cyber intrusion at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) that may be related to an earlier hack at the Democratic National Committee, said four sources familiar with the matter on Thursday.The previously unreported incident at the DCCC, which raises money for Democrats...

>GENEVA/WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's attempt to elicit Russian military cooperation in the fight against Islamic State in Syria suffered two potentially crippling blows on Thursday.First, the Syrian army said it had cut off all supply routes into the eastern part of the city of Aleppo...

>TOKYO Asian shares held near one-year highs while the yen hit a two-week high on Friday in nervous trade as investors waited to see if the Bank of Japan will come up with stimulus that would meet markets' expectations.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was flat...

>ASPEN, Colo. Turkey's purge of its military after a failed coup attempt is hindering cooperation in the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State, James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said on Thursday.The purge has swept aside many Turkish officers who dealt with the United States...

>The company said in May it would cut 1,850 jobs in its smartphone business, most of them in Finland.Microsoft bought Finland-based handset maker Nokia in 2014 in an ill-fated attempt to take on market leaders Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS). Chief Executive Satya...

>PHILADELPHIA Twelve years ago, Barack Obama’s electrifying speech at the Democratic National Convention brought tears to Andrew Gillum’s eyes.Now mayor of Tallahassee, Florida, and viewed as a rising star in that state, Gillum did not hesitate when asked to name his political role model. “Elizabeth Warren,” he replied, referring...

>The world's biggest online retailer's shares were up 2 percent in after-hours trading on Thursday.Amazon forecast current-quarter net sales of between $31.0 billion and $33.5 billion, factoring in sales from its Prime Day annual shopping festival.The company's net sales in North America, its biggest market, jumped...

>NEW YORK A group of at least six wealthy Republican donors is urging the billionaire Koch brothers to step off the sidelines of the U.S. presidential election to back Donald Trump, arguing they will want influence with the New York businessman they have harshly criticized if he wins the...

>Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), Google's parent, posted a 21.3 percent increase in second-quarter revenue, exceeding analysts' expectations, driven by strong advertising sales on mobile devices and for video content.The strong revenue growth suggests that Google is successfully navigating the transition to mobile, said Colin Gillis, an analyst with...

>BEIRUT Al Qaeda's powerful Syrian branch announced on Thursday it was ending its relationship with the global jihadist network founded by Osama bin Laden and changing its name, to remove what it called a pretext used by world powers to attack Syrians.In the first known video statement ever to...

>TOKYO The Bank of Japan, under pressure from the government, is considering specific steps for expanding monetary stimulus on Friday to address signs of weakness in inflation, people familiar with the central bank's thinking said.By timing its action with the government's big fiscal spending package, the bank would aim...

>NEW YORK Biotech returned to the good graces of investors this month and it may be the beginning of a revival for stocks in the industry.With one full trading day left in the month, the Nasdaq Biotechnology index .NBI has climbed 11 percent in July, on pace for its...

>Stabilizing crude oil prices and optimism that a recovery is within sight has narrowed the bid-ask spread among oil producers, which led to the higher deals being struck, PwC said.While the number of deals in the sector rose to 51 in the second quarter from 39 in the first...

>MOSCOW Russia told the United States on Thursday to get to the bottom of a hacking scandal involving Democratic Party emails itself and rejected what Donald Trump said was a sarcastic suggestion that Moscow should dig up Hillary Clinton's "missing" emails. Trump, the Republican Party's presidential candidate, angered Democratic circles...

>Consumer groups warned car buyers not to rely too heavily on advanced cruise control systems, which use computers and sensors to automatically steer and brake, following a fatal crash by a Tesla (TSLA.O) car operating in "autopilot" mode.The ensuing investigation of the Tesla accident by the U.S.

>"Vivendi reserves the right to sue Mediaset for defamation," a Vivendi spokeswoman told Reuters by phone on Thursday. "Mediaset's statements undermine the reputation of Vivendi. Vivendi will do whatever it takes to restore its reputation."Mediaset has called Vivendi's change of heart abrupt and a surprise. Vivendi maintains that it...

>ANSBACH, Germany Mohammad Daleel made a mess of his escape from Syria to Europe three years ago - he was detained and fingerprinted in Bulgaria before a mysterious benefactor gave him a free plane ticket to help him get to Germany.The 27-year-old also bungled a suicide bomb attack in...

>ISTANBUL A crackdown in Turkey after a failed coup could further weaken its institutions and threaten its investment grade status, investors fear, as dismissals and detentions stretch from the judiciary into the private sector and even the central bank.Turkey has suspended, detained or put under investigation more than 60,000...

>Facebook Inc is growing so fast analysts can't keep up.The social networking giant beat market expectations for profit and revenue yet again in the latest quarter, pushing up its shares to a record high on Thursday and allowing it to overtake Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc as the fifth...

>The deal, which will see IFIS take on Interbanca's debt of around 1.8 billion euros, is part of a broader strategy by General Electric to divest most of GE Capital's business around the world. The maker of power plants, aircraft engines, locomotives and other industrial equipment this year shed...

>WASHINGTON When it comes to trade policy, Hillary Clinton is taking heat from all sides.At the Democratic National Convention this week, where Clinton will formally accept her party’s presidential nomination, opposition to trade deals was plastered on buttons, scrawled on signs and chanted by delegates. Many are worried by...

>Netsuite shares rose 18.6 percent to $108.64 in premarket trading, just shy of the offer price of $109 per share. Like rivals SAP SE and Microsoft Corp, Oracle has focused on moving its business to the cloud-based model, essentially providing services remotely via data centers rather than selling...

>ANKARA/ISTANBUL Turkey's top brass and political leaders were set to launch a sweeping purge of the armed forces on Thursday after a failed military coup that has shaken the nation of nearly 80 million people and alarmed its NATO allies.Hours before the Supreme Military Council began its annual meeting...

>DUBAI Economists have cut growth forecasts for most of the rich oil exporting countries of the Gulf as non-oil business activity slows because of government austerity measures, a quarterly Reuters poll found.Last year, growth in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council began to lose steam as governments reduced spending to...

>FRANKFURT The euro zone economy has remained surprising resilient to the shock of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, fresh data showed on Thursday, a big contrast to the UK where signs of widespread economic pain are already apparent.Euro zone economic sentiment improved this month, defying expectations for...

>DETROIT Ford Motor Co (F.N) reported weaker-than-expected profit in the second quarter, and said its full-year earnings forecast was at risk with U.S. auto sales expected to fall in the second half, sending shares tumbling in premarket trading.Auto sales in the United States and China were lower...

>Wall Street was set to open flat on Thursday after the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates unchanged, but left the door open for a possible increase in the coming months. The Fed said on Wednesday that the U.S. economy had expanded at a moderate rate and the...

>WASHINGTON The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, but the underlying trend continued to point to sustained labor market strength. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 266,000 for the week ended July 23, the Labor Department said...

>Synonymous for many Britons with the heyday of British cinema, Pinewood's first four studios were built in the 1930s at its site west of London and the company has since grown with facilities in the United States, Canada, Malaysia and the Dominican RepublicThe 007 stage at Pinewood, one of the...

>Bozdag told broadcaster Haberturk TV that the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, could flee to Australia, Mexico, Canada, South Africa or Egypt. Turkey says Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States for years, is the mastermind behind the failed July 15-16 putsch that attempted to overthrow the government.

>The announcement comes as Sony banks on growth in its games business with the upcoming launch of its virtual reality headset, while it also plans to re-enter the robotics industry a decade after it last abandoned that business.Sony, in a joint statement, said the agreement involved selling the battery...

>The rules take effect on Nov. 1 and require, among other things, that drivers have a minimum of three years of experience behind the wheel to work with a ride-hailing service. Uber and Didi have invested billions to lure riders with discounts despite previously operating in a legal gray area...

>Moscow has deployed more air defense systems in the southwest and has also deployed a "self-sufficient" contingent of troops in Crimea, Shoigu told a meeting at the Defence Ministry broadcast on state television."Since 2013 ... we have formed four divisions, nine brigades and 22 regiments," he said. "They include two...

>The drills come at a time of heightened tension in the contested waters after an arbitration court in the Hague ruled this month that China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea and criticized its environmental destruction there. China rejected the ruling and refused to participate in...