News Archive - 14 September 2016

Brigadier General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, senior advisor to the Supreme Leader offers his own take on the geopolitical status of Iran vis-à-vis its neighbors in a speech made during a joint summit between the Institute of Islamic World Future Studies (IIWFS) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Center for International...

(Picture: Baran Kowsari (center) receiving her best female actress award from Roya Nonahali (right) and Massoud Keramati (right). Source: Majid Asgaripour/Mehr)   'Khaneh Cinema', The House of Cinema, Alliance of Iran's Motion Picture Guilds, held its eighteenth annual gala on Monday night in Tehran's National Garden in downtown Tehran. While...

>SAN FRANCISCO Initial quantities of the iPhone 7 Plus have sold out globally as Apple Inc prepares to roll out its new gadget in stores, the company said Wednesday.Supplies of the larger size of Apple's new phone have been exhausted in all shades, and the smaller iPhone 7 has...

>China has expressed anger with North Korea for its largest nuclear test to date last week, but has not said directly whether it will support tougher sanctions.China has said it believes sanctions are not the ultimate answer and called for a return to talks. Wang told Japanese Foreign Minister...

>WASHINGTON Former Secretary of State Colin Powell revealed distaste for both U.S. presidential candidates, but leveled his most pointed criticism at Republican Donald Trump in hacked emails leaked by a group American intelligence officials suspect is linked to Russia.In an email to Reuters on Wednesday, Powell confirmed the...

>WASHINGTON For Pentagon officers who cut their teeth during the Cold War, the prospect of U.S. battlefield cooperation with Russia in Syria is not only uncomfortable. It's also unprecedented.Against that background, the reactions of U.S. military officials range from caution to outright skepticism over a Geneva-based "joint...

>BOSTON Americans blame political gridlock in Washington for the country's declining economic competitiveness and hold both Democrats and Republicans responsible, a Harvard Business School study released on Wednesday found.The study noted that U.S. gross domestic product grew at a rate of about 2 percent since 2000, well below...

>Two major record labels are rolling out a low-priced music streaming service in the United Kingdom, a rare foray by record companies directly into the field and another sign the industry is finally moving toward more flexible pricing.Now That's What I Call Music, a joint venture between Universal Music...

>The yen was off its overnight lows on fading expectations of drastic easing steps from the BOJ. Sources familiar with the BOJ's thinking said the central bank will consider making negative interest rates the focus of its future easing by shifting its prime policy target to interest rates from base...

>LONDON The Bank of England is expected to say on Thursday that it will still probably cut interest rates to a fraction above zero later this year, despite signs it overestimated the initial shock to Britain's economy from June's Brexit vote.The BoE's nine rate-setters probably voted unanimously at their...

>TOKYO Asian stocks wavered on Thursday as investors grappled with the seemingly diminishing ability of major central banks to stimulate growth, while a tumble in crude oil inflamed already heightened risk aversion.Global bond yields have risen in sympathy with depressed sentiment, adding to nervousness over when the Federal Reserve...

>FLINT, Mich. The pastor of a black church in Flint, Michigan, stopped Donald Trump on Wednesday in the midst of his remarks criticizing Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, and said the Republican presidential nominee was not invited to talk about politics.As Trump went after Clinton for her support of global...

>NEW YORK Nearly half of American adults are "very concerned" about two issues that have hounded Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign this year: her use of a private email server to conduct government business and donations to her family's charitable foundation, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday. Both...

>The report looked at how the two U.S. technology giants, as well as others that control platforms through which smartphone applications are sold, use their positions of power to decide what app developers can and cannot do, Nikkei reported. (s.nikkei.com/2cYRX2s) Restricting what payment methods developers can accept...

>"The Russians ... basically have hacked into both parties at the national level. And that gives us all concern about what their motivations are," McCaul told CNN in an interview.The Republican National Committee's communications director, Sean Spicer, quickly pushed back on McCaul's comments, saying on Twitter that "there has been...

>FRANKFURT/TEL AVIV Mobileye (MBLY.N) broke ties with Tesla Motors (TSLA.O) because the Silicon Valley firm was “pushing the envelope in terms of safety” with the design of its Autopilot driver-assistance system, Mobileye’s chairman said on Wednesday."It is not designed to cover all possible crash situations in a...

>The cessation of hostilities, brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday, went into effect on Monday night.State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Kerry and Lavrov had spoken by telephone earlier on Wednesday and agreed it was worth extending the...

> The Washington-based multilateral lender said that executive directors will meet with Kim in accordance with previously announced selection procedures, with the expectation that the process will be completed by the time of the Oct. 3-9 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. (Reporting by David Lawder,...

>NEW YORK The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation would spin off its flagship health project into a "completely independent" charity if Hillary Clinton were to win the U.S. presidency in November, the charity announced on Wednesday.The Clinton Health Access Initiative, which has focused on reducing the cost...

>Applause tests and gets feedback from users about their digital experience for brands such as Amazon, Ralph Lauren, HBO and BMW. The round had participation from all of Applause's previous investors, including Goldman Sachs, QuestMark Partners, Scale Venture Partners, Longworth Venture Partners, Mesco Ltd and MassVentures. Applause, with over 300...

>WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. Hillary Clinton is healthy and fit to serve as president, her doctor said in a letter on the U.S. Democratic candidate's medical condition provided by the campaign on Wednesday.The pneumonia Clinton was diagnosed with on Friday is bacterial and non-contagious, said the letter from...

>WASHINGTON The United States will give Israel $38 billion in military aid over a decade, the largest such aid package in U.S. history, under an agreement disclosed this week and signed on Wednesday.The deal, whose details were reported by Reuters earlier, will allow Israel to upgrade most of...

>SAN FRANCISCO Apple's (AAPL.O) stock hit a 2016 high on Wednesday, with its market value peaking above $600 billion for the first time since April as Wall Street bet the technology company's newest iPhone would help shore up falling sales.Fueled by U.S. wireless carriers' reports of strong...

>"Because of the damage caused by the collision, the car was physically incapable of transmitting log data to our servers," Tesla said. China's CCTV on Wednesday reported 23-year-old Gao Yaning died in January after crashing into the back of a road sweeping vehicle while driving a Tesla car on a...

>Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) ended its bid to take the company public on Wednesday, according to a regulatory filing, capping a string of bad news for the largest refinery on the U.S. East Coast.“Given the market environment, with both very low refining profitability coupled with tight Bakken spreads,...

>"We are so proud, on one hand 'Latino Power Tour,' it's a celebration, but we're also suggesting for Latinos to use their power with their vote. They can change history in this country," said vocalist Fher Olvera.The tour opened in San Diego on Sept. 9 and is scheduled to...

>SAN FRANCISCO Venture capital firm Sapphire Ventures has closed a $1 billion fund to invest in technology startups, becoming the latest investment firm to join a record-breaking clip of venture fundraising.Sapphire Ventures, which in 2011 spun out of technology firm SAP but still relies on that company as its...

>CILVEGOZU, Turkey/BEIRUT Two convoys of aid for the Syrian city of Aleppo were waiting in no-man's land on Wednesday after crossing the Turkish border, held up by security fears and disagreements between combatants on the third day of a ceasefire.The convoys, each of around 20 trucks carrying mostly food...

>Although the Fed has been publishing minutes since 1993, the ECB only started last year, providing a less detailed account of its discussions. The study looked specifically at the Fed. Its author Alexander Jung wrote: "In terms of policy implications, the present analysis is consistent with the view that the...

>COLUMBUS, Ohio Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy has triggered anguished soul searching among many college-educated and affluent Republicans who must decide whether to back him, sit out the election, or do the unthinkable: vote for his opponent, Hillary Clinton.With less than two months to go before the Nov. 8 election,...

> She will also meet with other leaders, the campaign added. (Reporting by Amanda Becker; Editing by Susan Heavey and Chizu Nomiyama)...

>Shares of Twitter were up nearly 3 percent at $18.26 in early trading. The application will also be available for users of these devices without a Twitter account or a pay-TV subscription, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.The application will feature video content from a number...

>ATHENS Greece will tell its creditors it cannot comply with labor reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund as a condition of its support for the country's third bailout, its labor minister told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.The leftist government considers the IMF's demand as a ban on...

>Wall Street rose on Wednesday, supported by gains in technology stocks and in tandem with the recent oscillation as investors fret over interest rates.Apple (AAPL.O) shares were up 3.1 percent, giving the three major indexes their biggest boost and rising for the third day in a row...

> The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, Wells Fargo said. (Reporting by Richa Naidu in Bengaluru)...

>Vitae is also testing a potential treatment for atopic dermatitis. The acquisition would expand the main dermatology business at Allergan, which is best known for its widely used Botox treatment. The company is paying $21 per share in cash for Vitae, whose stock jumped to $20.89 in premarket trading...

>A small number of U.S.-based startups are harvesting data about the hundreds of millions people who illegally stream movies, TV shows and music in a bid to create a new advertising market.Whether major brands are willing to pay for the opportunity to market to consumers who steal...

>WASHINGTON U.S. import prices fell for the first time in six months in August on declining petroleum and food costs, pointing to a tame inflation environment that could encourage the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates steady next week. The Labor Department said on Wednesday import prices decreased 0.

>China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) [CNNCC.UL], as the state-owned firm is officially called, is selling Adama to Hubei Sanonda Co Ltd (000553.SZ) for about 18.6 billion yuan ($2.8 billion), Sanonda said in a securities filing late on Tuesday.Israel's Discount Investment Corp (DISI.TA) agreed to...

>The new company, CyMotive Technologies, will be 40 percent owned by the German automaker and 60 percent by Yuval Diskin and two former colleagues who also had senior posts in the Shin Bet.The statement did not say how much Volkswagen would invest in the venture, which has an office...

>DETROIT Ford Motor Co (F.N) Chief Executive Mark Fields is looking for more deals to advance the automaker's expansion into ride services and autonomous vehicles, but will not rush to match big spending by auto industry rivals, he told Reuters. Investors comparing the size of Ford's investments to what...

>Banks are making contingency plans to move some of their operations to continental Europe if Britain does not negotiate access to the bloc's single market after Brexit."I don't think there has been a fundamental chilling effect," Alex Wilmot-Sitwell, president for Europe at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC.N)...

>WASHINGTON D.C./NEW YORK As the global agricultural sector races to consolidate, Bayer AG's $66 billion all-cash deal to acquire Monsanto Co will test growing political and consumer unease in the United States and abroad over the future of food production.Bayer’s pesticide-focused agricultural business has few overlaps with...

>Samsung first halted sales earlier this month of the Note 7 in 10 markets, including South Korea and the United States, but not in China where it said the model was equipped with batteries from a different supplier. The recalled phones were partly sold in China through an official Samsung...

>Obama on Tuesday strongly criticized Trump for praising Russian President Vladimir Putin and for appearing on a TV channel, RT, funded by the Russian government. "Unfortunately, we see continued displays of often hard-core Russophobia," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on Obama's intervention, told a conference call with reporters. "We can...

>Jean-Claude Juncker told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that the Commission plans to double to 630 billion euros ($707 billion) the capacity of its investment vehicle for Europe, and will launch a new 88 billion euro scheme to help growth in Africa and the Middle East. The idea behind the...

>The deal struck between Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Friday agreed to a seven-day period of reduced violence and increased humanitarian aid deliveries.If the truce holds, U.S. and Russian militaries would begin to coordinate air strikes against Nusra Front and Islamic State militants...

>"This question does not arise at the moment," Wolfgang Reitzle told German business daily Handelsblatt in an interview published on Wednesday, when asked whether there would be a new run at the talks, aimed at creating a $60 billion global industry leader. Linde said on Tuesday its chief executive and...

>WASHINGTON Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi meets with President Barack Obama on Wednesday in her first visit to the United States since her party won a sweeping victory in last year's election, capping a decades-long journey from political prisoner to national leader. With Suu Kyi no longer an opposition figure,...

>TOKYO The Bank of Japan will consider making negative interest rates the centrepiece of future monetary easing by shifting its prime policy target to interest rates from base money at its review next week, sources familiar with its thinking say.The change would underscore growing concerns in the central bank...