News Archive - 17 January 2017

When Seyyed Hossein Mousavian was appointed as Iran’s ambassador to Bonn, then capital of Germany, the European power became the gateway for relations between Iran and the West, minus the United States of course. However, efforts were made through this gateway to find a way for détente with the...

(Picture: Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi with UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet during the 67th UN General Assembly.)   Despite their reputation as conservatives or hardliners, Iranian Principlists, in all their diversity, have shown a knack for breaking long-held taboos of the Islamic Republic. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a pioneering politician...

Monday, 27th of Dey – January 16th, 2017 HEADLINES OF IRAN’S MORNING PAPERS   KAYHAN   -Al-Khalifa regime executes three Bahraini youth In protest to the execution of three Bahraini youth, the angry people of this country poured into the streets promising to take revenge for this action.  ...

>Toshiba said in a statement earlier that it had been considering various options for its memory business, including a spin-off, but that nothing concrete had been decided. California-based data storage company Western Digital operates a NAND flash memory plant in the city of Yokkaichi in Mie prefecture with Toshiba. (Reporting...

>TOKYO The dollar took a breather on Wednesday after falling to a seven-week low against the yen as investors await Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech on monetary policy, while sterling gave back some of the previous session's rally. The greenback added 0.4 percent to 113.05 yen ,...

>WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump quipped on Tuesday that his secretary of state choice, Rex Tillerson, is finding his Senate confirmation tougher than his days as chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corp when he could cut deals with foreign nations.Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence appeared together at a...

>MAIDUGURI, Nigeria Nigeria's air force killed at least 52 people and injured 120 in an air strike on a refugee camp in the country's northeast on Tuesday, a spokesman from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said after the military earlier disclosed the strike was meant to target Boko Haram militants.MSF...

>Meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Xi told Biden that he "positively appraised" his efforts to increase friendship and mutual understanding between the two countries, China's Foreign Ministry said late on Tuesday. "In the 38 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, relations between the...

>The parent of Chuck E. Cheese has begun preparations for an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the U.S. restaurant chain at more than $1 billion, including debt, people familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.The IPO would be a bet that Irving, Texas-based Chuck E. Cheese's...

>The new facility in Sao Paulo may employ up to 7,000 people by the end of the year, providing technical support for around 9 million users in Brazil along with thousands of drivers, the company said in a statement.Uber's latest investment in Brazil comes just weeks after Didi Chuxing,...

>With the unemployment rate at 4.7 percent, the U.S. economy has reached full employment, Williams said, adding that inflation is on track to reach the Fed's 2-percent goal over the next couple of years. "Looking ahead, further gradual increases in the target fed funds rate will likely be...

>WASHINGTON Donald Trump made his name with opulent hotels and a dramatic reality TV show, but his inauguration on Friday as the 45th U.S. president is shaping up as a more understated affair, with big names in entertainment staying away.Like those who came before him, Trump will take...

>McKesson Corp, one of the largest U.S. distributors of pharmaceutical drugs, will pay a record $150 million to resolve a U.S. investigation into whether it failed to report suspicious orders of addictive painkillers.Tuesday's deal with the U.S. Justice Department followed an earlier settlement with the company...

>WASHINGTON Nine Democratic senators asked President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be U.S. attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, on Tuesday to recuse himself from any FBI or Justice Department investigation into Russia's efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.The request was signed by every Democrat on the Senate...

>NEW YORK About a quarter of U.S. Republicans do not want to see Obamacare repealed, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.Trump and his fellow Republicans, who control Congress, have promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, but a majority of Americans,...

>WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm Inc on Tuesday, accusing the company of using "anticompetitive" tactics to maintain its monopoly on a key semiconductor used in mobile phones.The FTC, which works with the Justice Department to enforce antitrust law, said that San Diego-based...

>NEW YORK Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) (DB.N) finalized a $7.2 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over its sale of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, the government agency said on Tuesday.Deutsche's agreement represents the largest resolution for the...

>Boeing Co's chief executive said on Tuesday that he and President-elect Donald Trump "made progress" on lowering the cost of the Air Force One presidential aircraft fleet and on a potential sale of Boeing fighter aircraft, and suggesting a deal could be struck soon.Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg's visit to...

>MOSUL, Iraq/BAGHDAD Iraqi special forces pushed deeper into Islamic State-held districts in eastern Mosul and army units fought the insurgents inside a military base in the city's north, officials said during the day on Tuesday.On Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the military had begun "movement" against Islamic...

>LONDON Prime Minister Theresa May has finally outlined what Brexit really means for her: Britain going it alone, fully disentangled from the European Union while hoping the bloc will agree to a comprehensive trade deal.Britain will exit the EU's vast internal market for goods and services and will instead...

>The statement came after U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's spokesman said Germany's Bayer had pledged to boost its investments in the United States as part of its deal to buy U.S.-based Monsanto, investing $8 billion in R&D.The companies' statement said: "This is an investment in innovation and...

>DALLAS Facebook Inc Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg took the witness stand in Dallas federal court on Tuesday and denied an allegation by a rival company that Facebook's virtual-reality technology of its Oculus unit was stolen.Zuckerberg, wearing a suit and tie rather than his typical T-shirt, was still on...

>The new "digital alliances," as Gorman described them, signal a shift away from the do-it-yourself approach the bank took to technology in the past and its appetite for new ways to interact with technology-savvy clients, such as through apps and text messages.Unlike some of its Wall Street peers who...

>Apps which currently cost British consumers 0.79 pounds ($0.97) will cost 0.99 pounds following the hike, which is set to take place over the next seven days. U.S. consumers pay $0.99 for the same apps. The move follows similar price rises in Apple hardware in...

>Exxon said the acquired companies together hold about 275,000 acres of leasehold, producing more than 18,000 net oil equivalent barrels per day (boepd).Exxon said its output from the basin is currently about 140,000 boepd, net.An uptick in oil prices has been encouraging healthier energy companies to buy up...

>The firm's investment management team, lead by Ray Nolte, will stay intact and the firm's well-known annual hedge fund conference, SALT, will be spun out as a standalone entity, the company said. (Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)...

>WASHINGTON A leading Federal Reserve proponent of low interest rates said on Tuesday the U.S. central bank might hike rates more aggressively if deficit spending under the Trump administration produced a quick economic boost. "If fiscal policy changes lead to a more rapid elimination of slack, policy adjustment would,...

>However it saw uncertainty created by Britain's vote to leave the European Union, and British growth is expected to slump from an estimated 2.0 percent in 2016 to 1.1 percent in 2017 and 1.3 percent in 2018. Tax policies espoused by U.S. president elect Donald Trump...

>Below are the highlights from her speech:UK WILL LEAVE EUROPEAN SINGLE MARKET This agreement should allow for the freest possible trade in goods and services between Britain and the EU's member states. It should give British companies the maximum freedom to trade with and operate within European markets, and let...

>NEW YORK More than 60 percent of Americans would like to see the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's powers preserved or strengthened under incoming President Donald Trump, and the drilling of oil on public lands to hold steady or drop, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday.The...

>WASHINGTON A U.S. Senate committee will grill President-elect Donald Trump's pick to run the Department of the Interior, Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana, during a confirmation hearing on Tuesday that is likely to focus on how he would balance development and conservation on America's vast public lands.The former...

>NEW YORK/LONDON Blockchain technology could help the world’s largest investment banks cut their infrastructure costs by between $8 to $12 billion a year by 2025, according to a report by Accenture.The report, published on Tuesday jointly with benchmarking firm McLagan - part of consultancy Aon Hewitt - is based...

>The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 44.73 points, or 0.22 percent, at 19,841, the S&P 500 .SPX was down 6.71 points, or 0.294992 percent, at 2,267.93 and the Nasdaq composite .IXIC was down 19.65 points, or 0.35 percent, at 5,554.47.

>The number of jobs being created is consistent with previous years, said Lorenzo Lopez, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, the largest U.S. retailer and private employer.Several U.S. companies, particularly automakers, have announced plans to create jobs in the United States since the U.S. election victory of Donald...

>MOSCOW Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow was ready to talk to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's new administration about nuclear weapons and Syria, saying the two countries could together solve many of the world's problems.Lavrov, speaking days before Trump's inauguration, used an annual news...

>NEW YORK Financial technology vendor Misys is launching software to enable banks to provide peer-to-peer lending to their customers as competition from young companies in the sector heats up.The technology would enable retail and corporate banks to connect their customers looking for loans with individual or institutional investors digitally,...

>DAVOS, Switzerland In 2014, Arnold Kamler, CEO of New Jersey-based Kent International, took a big step: he resumed making bicycles in the United States, 23 years after uprooting production to China. This year, he hopes to sell half a million U.S.-made bikes.For business and political leaders gathered...

>DAVOS, Switzerland Chinese President Xi Jinping offered a vigorous defense of globalization and free trade in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, which underscored Beijing's desire to play a greater global role as the United States turns inward.Likening protectionism to "locking oneself in a...

>Terms of the deal, which was first reported by the Financial Times, were not disclosed. Carlyle is set to buy around half of the equity in GCR from its management founders and German development finance business DEG, which will remain invested in the company, Carlyle said.GCR serves 400 customers...

>SEOUL The head of South Korea's giant Samsung Group faces a long day in court on Wednesday as a judge decides whether he should be arrested for bribery in a corruption scandal that has engulfed President Park Geun-hye's administration.Investigators questioned Jay Y. Lee for 22 hours last week as...

>LONDON Britain will not seek a Brexit deal that leaves it "half in, half out" of the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May will say on Tuesday in a speech setting out her priorities for divorce talks which indicates she is prepared to leave the single market. Sterling GBP=D4, which has...

>LONDON British American Tobacco (BATS.L) has agreed a $49.4 billion takeover of U.S. rival Reynolds American Inc (RAI.N), creating the world's biggest listed tobacco company after it increased an earlier offer by more than $2 billion.BAT, which already owned 42 percent of Reynolds, will pay...

>The companies agreed on Monday a 46 billion euro ($49 billion) merger to create a global eyewear powerhouse with annual revenue of more than 15 billion euros. They said the combined business would be listed in Paris."The double listing is an option on the table which we will evaluate...

>WASHINGTON Billionaire Wilbur Ross, chosen by Donald Trump to help implement the president-elect's trade agenda, earned his fortune in part by running businesses that have offshored thousands of U.S. jobs, according to Labor Department data attained by Reuters.As a high-stakes investor a decade ago, Ross specialized in turning...

>WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's transition team defended his nominee for health and human services (HHS) secretary, Tom Price, from charges that he bought shares in a company days before introducing legislation that would have benefited the firm.A Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for Wednesday for Price, a...

>The prosecution expected Park to agree to questioning but had yet to discuss details with her office, Lee Kyu-chul, spokesman for the special prosecutor, told a regular media briefing.As president, Park is immune from prosecution in the case but has said previously she would agree to questioning by the...