News Archive - 15 August 2016

While the issue of concerts has turned into a grounds for struggle between the government and the judiciary in Iran, resulting in successive cancellation of concerts by the police, a Spanish group found the chance to entertain Iranians on Saturday and Sunday nights this week. The band, vaguely called...

Sunday, 24th of Mordad – August 14th, 2016 HEADLINES OF IRAN’S MORNING PAPERS   KAYHAN   -Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah: Israel incapable of confronting Resistance In a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the 33-day war, Hezbollah’s Secretary General said that Israel is no longer capable of confronting the Resistance, thus,...

The visit made by Iran’s Foreign Minister to Ankara and negotiations between the officials of the two countries regarding bilateral relations and regional developments was made at a time when Turkey is taking new positions with regard to the developments of the region and its recent measures in changing...

>ValueAct Holdings LP, a fund of ValueAct Capital Management, said it took a stake of 38 million shares in Morgan Stanley. ValueAct Capital Management played a key role in shaking up Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) management in 2013. Morgan Stanley, which has struggled to improve its bond trading business for...

>CHILMARK, Mass. Declaring he was tired of talking about Donald Trump, President Barack Obama urged Democrats on Monday not to grow too confident about their prospects in the 2016 election despite Hillary Clinton's strong position in the race for the White House.Obama, who is on a two-week vacation in...

>In an open letter, the eight former senior officials said that with global strategic competition growing, including from China, it was "absolutely the wrong time to elect an unstable, ill-prepared amateur with no vision or foresight to meet the manifold challenges of the 21st century."They said the Republican nominee...

>BANGKOK Thai elderly care robot Dinsow can not only keep track of your medication and video-phone your relatives, but can also exercise with you and even entertain you with its karaoke skills.Its manufacturer, CT Asia Robotics, is one of many Thai firms investing heavily in healthcare for the aged...

>CARACAS - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's approval rating fell to a nine-month low of 21.2 percent in July amid calls from government critics for a recall referendum next year, according to a local pollster Datanalisis.The poll of 1,000 people, conducted July 13-21, also showed more than three-quarters of...

>TOKYO The dollar treaded water early on Tuesday, caught in a narrow range ahead of a series of U.S. data releases later in the session, while sterling was on the defensive after downbeat U.K. data nudged it toward a 31-year low.The dollar was flat at 101.250...

>SINGAPORE Oil prices edged away from 5-week highs on Tuesday, with traders cashing in on a 16-percent rally since early August that has largely been fueled by talk of producers taking action to prop up the market.International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $48.14 per barrel at...

>TOKYO Asian shares rose to one-year highs, expanding their gains this year to almost 10 percent, supported by a jump in oil prices and investor expectations of an extended phase of easy monetary policy around the globe.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS edged up 0.1...

>Hackers going by the name Shadow Brokers said on Monday they will auction stolen surveillance tools they say were used by a cyber group linked to the U.S. National Security Agency. To arouse interest in the auction, the hackers released samples of programs they said could break into popular...

>WASHINGTON U.S. officials said on Monday 15 inmates from the Guantanamo prison were transferred to the United Arab Emirates, the single largest transfer of Guantanamo detainees during President Barack Obama's administration.The transfer of the 12 Yemeni and three Afghan citizens brings the total number of detainees down to...

>BOSTON For many prominent hedge fund managers who bet Pfizer Inc and Allergan Plc would merge to become the world's biggest pharmaceuticals company, the second quarter started with a thud that sent many in search of new opportunities.John Griffin's Blue Ridge Capital, Andreas Halvorsen's Viking Global Investors each slashed...

>A Reuters witness at the scene of the attack in the Abs district said medics could not immediately evacuate the wounded because war planes continued to fly over the area and first responders feared more bombings.The facility is run by aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres, which confirmed on its...

>Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) on Monday said it has increased its stake in Apple Inc (AAPL.O) by 55 percent, boosting its bet on the iPhone and iPod maker even as prominent investors like George Soros and Carl Icahn shed theirs.Berkshire owned 15.23 million Apple...

> "We will work closely with NATO on this mission," against Islamic State, Trump said in a foreign policy speech in the swing state of Ohio. His remarks about NATO earlier this summer drew heavy criticism from allies. (Editing by Frances Kerry)...

>SOJEVE, Kosovo On a busy road in Kosovo, brand new signs have been put up ahead of a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, showing the 35-km route in the southeast of the small Balkan nation that has been renamed after his late son Beau.Naming streets after...

>NEW YORK A number of big-name hedge fund investors soured on U.S. stocks in the second quarter and moved to gold and other bearish bets, failing to anticipate the stock market rally in the current quarter. George Soros, Jeffrey Gundlach and David Tepper were among the billionaire hedge fund...

>BRUSSELS The European Commission is to propose that telecom spectrum licenses are granted for a minimum of 25 years to increase investment certainty for operators, under a reform of the bloc's telecoms rules, according to an EU document seen by Reuters.The European Union executive will publish its proposal next...

>SAN FRANCISCO German carmaker Audi is rolling out technology that will allow its vehicles in the United States to communicate with traffic signals, allowing for a more stress-free ride in what it says is the car industry's first commercial use of the nascent technology. Audi of America, which is owned...

>BAGHDAD Kurdish Peshmerga forces on Monday said they had secured a river crossing point enabling them to open a new front against Islamic State and further tighten their grip on the militants' capital Mosul.Backed by air strikes from the U.S.-led coalition, Kurdish fighters reached Kanhash, the western...

>Setting higher inflation targets, tying monetary policy directly to economic output, instituting government spending programs that automatically kick in during economic downturns, and boosting investment in education and research are all policies that should be considered, San Francisco Fed President John Williams said. Without such changes, Williams warned, policymakers will...

>LOUISVILLE The head of United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) said on Monday the United States runs the risk of missing out on setting the terms for international trade by not approving the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and said the company is lobbying members of Congress to approve the deal."We...

>The companies could strike a deal as soon as early this week, the Journal reported, although it added that the talks could still fall apart. (on.wsj.com/2aUHyT2) AIG declined to comment, while Arch Capital was not immediately available for comment.AIG said in January it would spin off its...

>JERUSALEM The Israeli branch of the U.S. Republican party began a campaign on Monday to get American voters living in Israel to cast absentee ballots in favor of Donald Trump.According to the Israeli chapter of the Republican party, around 300,000 Americans are eligible to vote in the November...

>"Mr. Trump has alienated his party and he isn't running a competent campaign," the newspaper said in an editorial.The paper's editorial board, which generally favors Republicans, has been critical of Trump but its warning on Monday was its strongest attack yet and echoed growing anxiety among many Republicans over...

>SEONGJU, South Korea About 900 South Koreans shaved their heads on Monday to protest against a government decision to place a missile defense system designed to counter North Korean missile threats, in the southeastern county of Seongju.Tension has run high since North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in...

>Fighting for control of Aleppo has intensified in recent weeks and there have been some gains for rebel groups battling Syrian government forces.Shoigu's statements come as a surprise because Russia and the United States back different sides in the conflict while participating in talks to try to find a...

>TPG will buy the cable companies in two separate transactions from ABRY Partners for $1.6 billion and $650 million, TPG said on Monday. PJT Partners, UBS, Cleary Gottlieb and Deloitte advised TPG on the deal. While, ABRY, Patriot Media, RCN and Grande were advised by Credit Suisse, Kirkland &...

>Nokia, once the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, said in May it had signed an exclusive licensing deal with HMD to bring Nokia-branded devices back to the market. A Nokia veteran, Rantala worked for the company from 1994 to 2011. He joined Rovio as CEO in 2015 but stepped...

>LONDON Food delivery firm Deliveroo said riders could opt out of its new payment system in Britain after becoming the latest high-flying tech start-up to come in for criticism for the employment terms given to its staff. The London-based company, valued at more than $1 billion after a recent funding...

>BRUSSELS The European Union is planning to extend telecom rules covering security and confidentiality of communications to web services such as Microsoft's Skype and Facebook's WhatsApp which could restrict how they use encryption.The rules currently only apply to telecoms providers such as Vodafone and Orange.According to an internal...

> A naval strike group would carry out live-fire exercises according to a scenario that was "as close as possible" to a real attack, the ministry said in a statement on its website. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Andrew Osborn)...

>Ambulances rushed to the scene, Dogan News Agency said. The area where the explosion hit is on a road between Diyarbakir and the district of Bismil, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) east, the security sources said. Footage on Turkey's CNN Turk television showed the blast left the building's concrete frame...

>BERLIN/ISTANBUL Turkey could walk away from its promise to stem the flow of illegal migrants to Europe if the European Union fails to grant Turks visa-free travel to the bloc in October, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a German newspaper.His comments in Bild's Monday edition coincide with rising tension...

>U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Monday, tracking global markets, as oil prices rose and on rising speculation that China may unveil a fresh stimulus program to prop up its economy.Oil prices were up for the third straight day, rising to their highest in nearly a month,...

>HONG KONG Crypto-currency exchange Bitfinex's plan to impose losses on all its trading clients for the theft by hackers of $72 million in Bitcoin rests on two flawed pillars, according to lawyers.The Hong Kong-based exchange said on Aug. 2 that hackers had stolen 119,756 bitcoins from some clients' accounts,...

>SHANGHAI/SAN FRANCISCO Tesla removed the word "autopilot" and a Chinese term for "self-driving" from its China website after a driver in Beijing who crashed in "autopilot" mode complained that the car maker overplayed the function's capability and misled buyers.The Tesla driver crashed earlier this month while on a Beijing...

>Fighting has escalated in Afghanistan as the Taliban insurgency spreads from its traditional strongholds in the south and east of the country to once peaceful regions in the north.Despite air support from U.S. and Afghan warplanes, government troops are struggling against the resilient Taliban, with senior government officials...

>TOKYO The Bank of Japan's policy review could put up for debate its target for expanding base money through massive asset purchases, sources say, but the challenge would be to avoid spooking bond markets used to years of unprecedented buying.The BOJ's announcement last month of a thorough review of...