News Archive - 29 January 2017

(Tehran’s Friday prayers led by Mohammad-Ali Movahhedi Kermani. Source: Alireza Farahani/YJC)   In Friday prayers across Iran, the central theme was the Plasco incident, the massive fire inflicting one of Tehran’s iconic buildings and shopping centers that led to its collapse and led to a high number of casualties,...

As he had promised during his presidential campaign, the US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that restricts entry to the United States for immigrants and refugees.   The order, dubbed ‘extreme vetting’, denies citizens of seven countries, including Iran, entry to the United States for 90 days.

>"President Trump reiterated our ironclad commitment to defend (South Korea), including through the provision of extended deterrence, using the full range of military capabilities," the White House said in a statement.It also said Trump and Hwang discussed the upcoming visit by the new U.S. defense secretary to Japan...

>CH2M made the approach for Atkins at a senior level, although it is unclear how far talks developed, the newspaper reported.Atkins said last year that plans by both the UK government and new U.S. President Donald Trump to increase infrastructure spending would benefit the company in the medium...

>INDIAN WELLS, Calif. Billionaire industrialist Charles Koch is launching a campaign to sink a border tax under consideration by Republican leaders in Congress, a move that could complicate the lawmakers' efforts to find a way to pay for President Donald Trump's proposed wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.

>QUEBEC CITY Five people were killed after gunmen opened fire in a Quebec City mosque during evening prayers, the mosque's president told reporters on Sunday.A witness told Reuters that up to three gunmen fired on about 40 people inside the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre. "Why is this happening...

>TOKYO Japanese trust banks are preparing to sue Toshiba Corp over its 2015 accounting scandal, a fresh headache for the conglomerate as it scrambles to offset a separate imminent multi-billion dollar writedown.The news follows an announcement by the struggling conglomerate on Friday that it will sell a minority stake...

>A senior administration official said the executive orders signed by Trump on Friday, which bars the admission of Syrian refugees and suspends travel to the United States from Syria, Iraq, Iran and four other countries on national security grounds, was being fully enforced by relevant agencies. "Nothing has changed," said...

>SYDNEY/FRANKFURT German insurer Allianz (ALVG.DE) has made an informal approach to Australian peer QBE Insurance (QBE.AX) to canvass its interest in a takeover deal, according to a source familiar with the situation.The source, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, told Reuters no acquisition...

>TOKYO The dollar inched down early on Monday, nudged off a one-week high against a basket of currencies after Treasury yields declined on data showing the world's largest economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace.The U.S. currency was down 0.35 percent at 114.660 yen after rising on...

>SAN FRANCISCO Silicon Valley took the lead over the weekend in corporate resistance to President Donald Trump's clampdown on immigration, financing legal opposition, criticizing the plan, as well as helping employees ensnared by his executive order.In an industry that has long depended on immigrants and celebrated their contributions -...

>London Brent crude for March delivery was down 26 cents at $55.26 a barrel by 0005 GMT after settling down 72 cents on Friday.NYMEX crude for March delivery was down 22 cents at $52.95 a barrel.The U.S. weekly oil and gas rig count from Baker...

>SINGAPORE Asian stock markets and U.S. stock futures retreated on Monday after President Donald Trump introduced immigration curbs that sparked criticism at home and abroad and added to global fears of increasingly unpredictable U.S. policies.Trump on Friday put a 120-day hold on allowing refugees into the country,...

>Under an order he signed on Friday, immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries were barred from entering the United States. The decision has drawn large protests at many U.S. airports, where some travelers from those countries have been stranded."To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the...

>TOKYO The Bank of Japan is set to keep monetary policy steady on Tuesday and seek to allay speculation of an early tapering of its massive stimulus, as recent bond market turbulence puts to the test its revamped policy framework that aims to control the yield curve.Japanese government bond...

>The company also has the lowest price-to-earnings ratio among its peers including UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) and Aetna (AET.N), Barron's said, adding that the stock trades at just 13 times the projected 2017 earnings, a discount to its four big rivals.Last week, a U.S. judge blocked...

>Trump, during his presidential campaign last year, had called for Gulf states to pay for establishing safe zones to protect Syrian refugees.A statement after the phone call said the two leaders agreed on the importance of strengthening joint efforts to fight the spread of Islamic State militants."The president...

>Puerto Rico's governor signed a law on Sunday that allows him to define essential government services and set aside money to pay for them, setting the vision of how to prioritize a mountain of obligations the struggling U.S. territory cannot afford. Governor Ricardo Rossello, sworn in this month, signed...

>"Ultimately, we fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism," they said in a statement, adding that the United States should not stop green card holders "from returning to the country they call home.""This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that...

>Keysight Technologies Inc (KEYS.N), a provider of software and equipment to the electronics industry, is nearing a deal to acquire U.S. data technology company Ixia (XXIA.O) for more than $1.6 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.The deal comes as the increasing volume of...

>WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump fought back on Sunday amid growing international criticism, outrage from civil rights activists and legal challenges over his abrupt order for a halt on arrivals of refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries.He and senior aides sought to defend the policy and play...

>A spokesman for the bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), said the path for Greek public finances agreed between Athens and the euro zone was credible and backed by contingency measures in case of unforeseen events."We believe that Greece's debt burden can be manageable, if the agreed reforms...

>BAGHDAD/MOSUL, Iraq Iraq will lobby against new travel limits to the United States by Iraqis, arguing both countries need to uphold their fight against Islamic State (IS), Iraqi parliamentarians said on Sunday.The Iraqi government has so far declined comment on an executive order signed by new U.S. President...

>Price, a Republican, is an orthopedic surgeon who if confirmed would be given the task of carrying out President Donald Trump's promise to gut former President Obama's Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare. Price's trading in health company stocks while a lawmaker has been questioned by Democrats, but Price says...

>The family of six were denied entry under U.S. President Donald Trump's new ban on nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries, including Syria, and flew back to Lebanon via Doha, the sources said. (Writing by John Davison, editing by Larry King)...

>SANAA/WASHINGTON A U.S. commando died and three others were wounded a deadly dawn raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, which was the first military operation authorized by U.S. President Donald Trump. The U.S. military said 14 militants died in the attack...

>"We all share a desire to protect the American people, but this executive order has been poorly implemented, especially with respect to green card holders," Corker said in a statement. "The administration should immediately make appropriate revisions, and it is my hope that following a thorough review and implementation of...

>JERUSALEM When Benjamin Netanyahu sent a tweet in support of President Donald Trump's plan for a wall along the Mexican border, the Israeli prime minister can barely have expected it would be retweeted 40,000 times and cause a backlash at home and abroad.Already under arguably the greatest pressure he...

>LONDON Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain did not agree with U.S. President Donald Trump's curbs on immigration after coming under criticism from lawmakers in her own party for not condemning his executive order when initially questioned.On a visit to Turkey on Saturday, she was asked three times...