News Archive - 17 August 2016

Members of Iran’s Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog, are giving unanimous opinions about the possibility of vote buying in the country’s elections. So far, two of its top members have confirmed reports of what has been a political taboo for so many years.   Reform-oriented politicians including mastermind Saeed...

> State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Russia's continued use of the Iranian base to strike Syrian targets "doesn't help" to reach a cessation of hostilities in the country's civil war between government forces and militants. (Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Eric Walsh)...

>SINGAPORE Oil prices dipped in early trading on Thursday as the prospect of record Saudi output weighed on markets and as traders cashed in on profits following an almost uninterrupted price rally this month of nearly 20 percent.International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $49.67 per barrel...

>Russia's Defence Ministry said that SU-34 fighter bombers flying from Iran's Hamadan air base had struck Islamic State targets in Syria's Deir al-Zor province, destroying two command posts and killing more than 150 militants.Moscow first used Iran as a base from which to launch air strikes in Syria on...

>Samsung, the world's No. 1 smartphone and memory chip maker, in late July reported its best quarterly profit in more than two years as its flagship Galaxy S7 smartphones propelled mobile earnings. The median price target price from a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S survey of 43 analysts for Samsung Electronics shares...

>A robust recovery in home prices and sales gave a stronger-than-expected boost to the world's second-largest economy in the first half of the year, helping to offset stubbornly weak exports.However, some analysts say slowing price growth and weakening property investment suggest the rebound may have peaked, as more local...

>American Apparel LLC, the U.S. teen clothing retailer known for its sexually suggestive advertising, has hired investment bank Houlihan Lokey Inc to explore a sale, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.The sale process comes just six months after American Apparel emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, following...

>HONG KONG When ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing agreed to buy Uber Technologies Inc's China unit this month, creating a $35 billion business, both firms used in-house advisory teams, meaning the investment banks that normally advise on these deals missed out on an estimated $60 million in fees.China's cashed-up and...

>There, in large binders labeled "secret," lawmakers and select staff from some congressional committees could page through the material, parts of which are redacted, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation turned over to Congress on Tuesday.Republican lawmakers had requested the information last month after the FBI recommended no criminal...

>WASHINGTON Bill and Hillary Clinton's charitable foundation hired the security firm FireEye to examine its data systems after seeing indications they might have been hacked, according to two sources familiar with the matter.So far, no message or document hacked from the New York-based Clinton Foundation has surfaced in public,...

>NEW YORK Cisco Systems Inc's announcement on Wednesday that it plans to lay off 5,500 employees is unlikely to be the last round of Silicon Valley pink slips as hardware companies struggle to keep up with rapid technology shifts, analysts and recruiters said.Companies that traditionally have made most of...

>Beijing-based Lenovo said in a filing that net profit grew to $173 million for the quarter ended June from $105 million in the same period a year earlier. That was more than the $130.1 million average of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters SmartEstimates. First-quarter revenue dropped 6 percent to...

>"The United States created the School of the Americas to indoctrinate the armed forces on pro-imperialism," said Morales, a reference to the Cold War-era U.S. academy that trained Latin American dictators and their military in counter-insurgency and torture techniques."If the empire teaches domination of the world from its...

>TOKYO The dollar sagged on Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting showed more policy members opposed a near-term rate hike than supported it.The minutes showed "several" policymakers said a slowdown in the future pace of hiring would argue against a near-term hikeeven as members of the...

> "Keep giving these policy speeches, because I tell you ... there's absolutely zero evidence that the voters want this election to be about this content-free cacophony with no substance and no issues," Kellyanne Conway said in an interview with Fox News. Conway was named to the position on Wednesday by...

>Bullard said on Wednesday he did not put much weight on whether the central bank acts in September or even at all this year, given that he now thinks a single hike is all that is needed to maintain unemployment and inflation rates near the Fed's target levels."It does...

>However, the company's net profit rose to $2.81 billion, or 56 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended July 30, from $2.32 billion, or 45 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell to $12.64 billion from $12.84 billion. Technology news site CRN, citing sources...

>WASHINGTON Federal Reserve policymakers agree that more economic data is needed before raising interest rates, although some see a need to tighten policy soon, according to the minutes from the U.S. central bank's July 26-27 policy meeting.The minutes, which were released on Wednesday, showed that members of the...

>The parties have not yet signed a non-disclosure agreement, which would allow Bayer to conduct due diligence, but Monsanto is giving the company a limited drip of information, the sources said.They said Bayer had no appetite to put a deal at risk by going hostile, although talks were "difficult.

>Merck & Co Inc is one of at least five pharmaceutical companies that submitted indications of interest in buying U.S. cancer drug company Medivation Inc earlier this month, according to people familiar with the matter.The strong interest in Medivation illustrates how demand for new cancer treatments, which can...

>NEW YORK AT&T Inc, the No. 2 U.S wireless provider, said on Wednesday that it would roll out a new data plan that does away with overage fees and reduces data speeds for wireless customers who surpass their data allowance.Beginning Sunday, customers can choose the new Mobile Share...

>NEW YORK An ex-Wall Street investment banker was convicted on Wednesday of engaging in insider trading by tipping his father off to unannounced healthcare mergers, a victory for prosecutors after an appellate ruling made it harder to pursue such cases harder.Sean Stewart, who previously worked at Perella Weinberg Partners...

>The deal is within days of being announced, the person said.The companies were not immediately available for comment. Cardinal Financial, which has total assets worth $4.2 billion, had a market value of about $837 million as of Tuesday's close. Its offices are in Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.

>NEW YORK Aetna Inc's (AET.N) top executive said in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice during the review of its deal to buy rival Humana Inc (HUM.N) that the insurer would exit much of the individual Obamacare insurance market if the agency challenged the merger.

>The AP, citing sources with direct knowledge of the effort, said the transfers were set up in ways to obscure the Ukrainian party's attempts to sway U.S. policies, using a non-profit organization to distance funds from Ukrainian politicians.U.S. law requires American lobbyists to register and report in...

>ISTANBUL Turkey began freeing 38,000 prisoners on Wednesday, after announcing a penal reform that will make space for tens of thousands of suspects rounded up over last month's attempted coup.The reform was one of a series of measures outlined on Wednesday in two decrees under a state of emergency...

>Retail chain Target Corp (TGT.N) cut its fiscal-year profit outlook on Wednesday after quarterly sales fell more than expected due to lower demand for electronics and disappointing results in its grocery business.Shares of the sixth-largest U.S. retailer dropped 7 percent to $70.15, erasing their nearly 4...

>The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage activity for home purchases, a leading indicator of housing sales, fell 4 percent in the week ended Aug. 12. It remained 10 percent higher than the comparable week a year earlier.The average rate on "conforming" 30-year home mortgages,...

>Wall Street was lower on Wednesday as investors awaited the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting.The Fed left interest rates unchanged at its meeting last month but said near-term risks to the economy had diminished, leaving the door open for a possible rate hike...

>WASHINGTON U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump moved to overhaul his troubled campaign on Thursday, hiring the head of conservative website Breitbart News as chief executive officer and promoting a seasoned political operative to a senior role.Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen Bannon has become CEO, the Trump campaign...

> Earlier Russia's anti-monopoly watchdog FAS imposed a 438 million ruble ($6.83 million) fine on Google after ruling that the firm had violated Russian anti-monopoly rules. (Reporting by Alexander Winning, writing by Denis Pinchuk)...

>LONDON Uber [UBER.UL] has launched legal action against new rules in London such as written English tests for its drivers, in the latest battle between regulators and the car ride app which has faced bans and protests worldwide.Following months of demonstrations from drivers of the capital's famous black...

>North Korea's Atomic Energy Institute, which has jurisdiction over its main Yongbyon nuclear facilities, also told Kyodo it had been producing highly enriched uranium necessary for nuclear arms and power "as scheduled"."We have reprocessed spent nuclear fuel rods removed from a graphite-moderated reactor," the institute told Kyodo in a...

>TOKYO While previous bouts of strength in the yen have pushed Japanese manufacturers to shift production overseas, exporters are coping with the recent currency stresses by penny-pinching - turning off lights and cramming elevators in the hope that nothing more drastic will be needed before the tide turns.The yen,...

>LONDON The number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Britain unexpectedly fell in July despite the shock decision by voters to leave the European Union, suggesting little immediate impact from Brexit on the labor market.Benefit claimants fell by 8,600 in the month, compared with an increase of 900 in...

>LA HULPE, Belgium More than a dozen current and former board directors and senior managers of SWIFT, the bank messaging system that helps transmit billions of dollars around the world every day, have told Reuters the organization for years suspected there were weaknesses in the way smaller banks used its...

>Since 2010, China and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have been discussing a set of rules aimed at avoiding conflict among rival claimants in the busy waterway.Last month, an arbitration court in the Hague ruled that China had no historic title over the...