News Archive - 1 February 2017

On Monday, January 30, 2017, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht-Ravanchi sat in an interview with Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), to discuss the latest developments in the country’s policy toward the West.   Referring to a recent visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc...

>DUBAI Iran's defense minister said on Wednesday it had tested a new missile but this did not breach the Islamic Republic's nuclear accord with world powers or a U.N. Security Council resolution endorsing the pact.Iran has test-fired several ballistic missiles since the nuclear deal in 2015, but the...

>AMONA, West Bank Rightist protesters scuffled with Israeli police carrying out a court order to evict settlers from an illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, hours after the government announced more construction in larger settlements.Around 330 Israeli settlers live in Amona, the largest of scores of...

>"We raised our asset base by 36 billion (in 2016). This is a good number to keep in mind. I think anything above 20, 25 billion does something that would still move the needle," Collardi said in an interview following the Swiss private bank's full-year results. "For the sizes that...

>The boycott in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee delayed the transition to a new administrator for the agency. Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat, said he could not support Pruitt, a Republican and the attorney general of Oklahoma, for a public health position because he "denies the sum of...

>Privately owned MSC, the world's no.2 global shipping line, said in a statement its subsidiary Terminal Investment Ltd. (TiL) had completed the acquisition in conjunction with South Korea's Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), which would see TiL assuming an 80 percent stake and HMM having the remaining 20 percent in...

>WASHINGTON The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers on Wednesday said it had taken initial steps to review requests to approve the final permit to finish the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, which has been the focus of protests for months. The move does not mean easement to the tunnel under...

>WASHINGTON Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee suspended committee rules and confirmed U.S. Representative Tom Price to head the Department of Health and Human Services and banker Steven Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary Wednesday on a straight party line vote, sending the nominations to the Senate floor.Under pressure...

>"Things don't have to change the world to be important," Apple Inc (AAPL.O) co-founder Steve Jobs said in an interview in 1996.His words rang true, two decades later, as sales of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus - similar in design to their predecessor - surpassed expectations to...

>In October, Musk unveiled solar-powered roof tiles that eliminate the need for traditional panels and a longer-lasting home battery illustrating the benefits of combining his electric car and battery maker with solar installer SolarCity Corp.Tesla won approval in November from its shareholders to acquire SolarCity, for a stock swap...

>Ukraine said on Wednesday the pane had been shot at with a firearm from a Russian-controlled offshore gas rig. (writing by Denis Pinchuk, editing by Christian Lowe)...

>WASHINGTON U.S. factory activity accelerated to more than a two-year high in January amid sustained gains in new orders and raw material costs, pointing to a recovery in manufacturing as domestic demand strengthens and the drag from low oil prices ebbs.Other data on Wednesday showed private employers boosted...

>In addition to the proposed 2017 fiscal year budget amendment request, Mattis also asked for a broader budget and strategy review looking ahead to future years but did not offer estimates in his guidance to the Department of Defense, the Pentagon memo said. (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Eric...

>MLPs do not pay corporate taxes and must pay out most of their profits to investors in dividend-style distributions that attract yield-seeking investors. But these shareholders tend to flee if a company is considering cutting or suspending dividends as was the case when the oil rout began in mid-2014, causing...

>The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, accuses Spectrum of systematically defrauding and misleading internet service subscribers by promising service it knew it could not deliver.Online content that Spectrum could not deliver to customers included Netflix, Facebook and gaming platforms, according to the lawsuit. Schneiderman launched a...

>Tim Kilpin, a former top executive at Mattel Inc and Walt Disney Co, will head the new consumer unit as chief executive and president, the company said.Activision has been looking for new revenue streams, including setting up a film studio and an e-sports division.The company said Kilpin would...

>WASHINGTON At the U.S. State Department, the dissent began building soon after President Donald Trump signed an executive order late on Friday to limit immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.Opposition mounted through the weekend as a draft memo criticizing Trump's policy was written up in Washington and circulated by...

>MOSCOW In his book, 'Art of the Deal,' Donald Trump said the best deals were ones where both sides got something they wanted. His credo, applied to a potential U.S.-Russia deal, flags an awkward truth for Vladimir Putin: He wants more from Trump than vice versa.As aides...

>LONDON A law allowing Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger Britain's exit from the European Union is expected to clear its first legislative hurdle on Wednesday, paving the way for the government to launch divorce talks by the end of March.May's government is seeking approval for a new law...

>Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 165,000 jobs, with estimates ranging from 140,000 to 200,000.Private payroll gains in the month earlier were revised down to 151,000 from an originally reported 153,000 increase.The report is jointly developed with Moody's...

>DETROIT Automakers reported mixed U.S. auto sales for January, with General Motors Co (GM.N) posting a 3.8 percent decline while crosstown rival Ford Motor Co (F.N) topped analysts forecasts on strong truck sales.Ford's F-Series pickup truck sales rose 12.5 percent, while passenger cars dropped...

>Wall Street opened higher on Wednesday as Apple fueled a rally in technology stocks, while investors awaited the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates. Apple's (AAPL.O) shares were up 5.1 percent at $127.40 after the company's earnings and iPhone sales blew past expectations in the latest quarter.

>Hyundai Commercial Inc, Affinity Equity Partners, GIC and AlpInvest signed a deal to buy the stake, GE said in a statement, without disclosing the deal value.GE, which is exiting its investment after 12 years, had 69 million shares in Hyundai Card. In a regulatory filing, Hyundai Commercial, an auto-financing...

>YOKOHAMA, Japan Nissan Motor Co has taken a step back into gasoline hybrids with its Note e-Power model, which the Japanese automaker hopes will act as a gateway for drivers who will later shift to all-electric cars.The move will also trim Nissan's costs.Nissan's battery-electric Leaf, the industry's first...

>Speaking at a news conference in Abu Dhabi with United Arab Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Lavrov said he hoped Russia could discuss the issue with the U.S. State Department once it had drawn up more detailed plans for the safe zones. Lavrov...

>Small U.S. firms borrowed slightly more in December than in the prior month, data released on Wednesday showed, but more were repaying existing loans late, suggesting that default rates may rise this year. The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index rose to 129.7 in December from a downwardly...

>"President Trump has policies which are good for the oil industry and I think we have to acknowledge it," Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid al-Falih told the BBC.Asked whether there is a worry about Trump's promise to pursue energy independence, Falih said: "We have no problem...

>TOKYO The Bank of Japan should expand monetary stimulus if necessary and should not consider U.S. President Donald Trump's accusation of currency manipulation as an obstacle to doing so, a former International Monetary Fund executive said.The central bank may not have much ammunition left to fight any abrupt...

>WASHINGTON Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) has agreed to pay at least $1.22 billion to fix or buy back nearly 80,000 polluting U.S. 3.0 liter diesel-engine vehicles to settle claims it fitted illegal emissions-cheating software to the cars, court documents showed.German auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH [ROBG.

>WASHINGTON/TOKYO President Donald Trump's defense secretary is expected to underscore U.S. security commitments to key allies South Korea and Japan on his debut trip to Asia this week as concerns mount over North Korea's missile program and tensions with China.The trip is the first for retired Marine General...

>SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK Federal Reserve policymakers are putting markets on notice that the central bank's $4.5 trillion balance sheet is back on the agenda in an apparent effort to give investors time to prepare for changes rather than to signal any action is imminent.Policymakers want to minimize any...

>The failure of Warren Buffett's favored candidate to capture the White House has not dimmed the billionaire's appetite for stocks.Buffett revealed that he has bought $12 billion of stock for his company Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) since the Republican Donald Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov.