All posts published in August 2013
HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Peer Steinbrueck, fighting a long-shot battle to oust Chancellor Angela Merkel in September, was determined to get into the cockpit of an empty Lufthansa Boeing 747 so that a pack of photographers could get shots of him at the cont... More »
SINGAPORE/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Alongside the great rotation from bonds to equities and from emerging to developed markets that has been 2013’s overriding investment theme, Asia is seeing its own migration in portfolio flows: from the South to North. Foreign i... More »
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said on Thursday it would bring down the “military coup” but stressed it remained committed to a peaceful struggle, despite the heavy loss of life when government forces broke up its protest camps. The crackdown on ... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Gold extended gains on Thursday to a three-week high on hopes the Federal Reserve may not scale back its commodities-friendly bond buying soon, and as holdings at the world’s top gold-backed exchange traded fund (ETFs) rose for a second t... More »
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called on Thursday for the U.N. Security Council to convene quickly and act after what he described as a massacre in Egypt. “Those who remain silent in the face of this massacre are as guilty as those wh... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates has expressed support for the Egyptian government’s crackdown on supporters of ousted President Mohamed Mursi when authorities forcibly broke up protest camps, killing hundreds of people. Egyptian security forces, wit... More »
MUMBAI/BEIJING (Reuters) – Potash buyers India and China are seeking aggressive price cuts of 25 percent or more as they press their advantage over producers after the collapse of a major cartel. Russia’s Uralkali (URKAq.L ) (URKA.MM ) rocked the global potash... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China summoned Japan’s ambassador on Thursday to lodge a strong complaint after two Japanese cabinet ministers publicly paid their respects at a controversial Tokyo shrine for war dead, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. The ministers’ visi... More »
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said on Thursday it would bring down the “military coup” and remained committed to peaceful activism after around 300 people were killed in violence triggered by the government’s decision to break up Islamist protes... More »
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – The world’s second-biggest apparel retailer Hennes & Mauritz (HMb.ST ) on Thursday unexpectedly posted a small decrease in July like-for-like sales, the first monthly drop since March. Sales in stores open at least a year at the Swedish b... More »
CAIRO (Reuters) – Traffic has started flowing through the area of Cairo where supporters of deposed President Mohamed Mursi set up a protest camp at the heart of a power struggle between Islamists and the army-backed government, said a Reuters witness. Securit... More »
NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) – The New Jersey Devils hockey team was expected to announce on Thursday that Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris has agreed to purchase a controlling interest in the franchise and its arena, pending league approval, media reports... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Nikkei average shed 2.1 percent on Thursday, pulling back from a one-week high reached the previous day, after falls on Wall Street overnight and Japanese ministers’ comments a potential corporate tax-cut soured the mood. The benchmark Ni... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian stocks fell on Thursday and the dollar slipped as uncertainty over when the U.S. Federal Reserve will start to pare back its stimulus offset a brighter economic picture in Europe. Japanese shares led losses, after cabinet ministers shot... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering and cabinet ministers visited a controversial shrine for war dead on Thursday – the anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War Two – prompting China to lodge a strong complaint with To... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Holcim (HOLN.VX ), the world’s largest cement maker, said cost cuts helped boost profitability in Latin America and Europe as it eked out a small increase in operating profit in the second quarter. Faced with a slump in the European construc... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Custom at David Zambra’s upmarket central London shop, once a supplier of stationery to Queen Victoria’s family, has fallen 10 percent each year since 2009. The British economy is weak and internet shopping on the rise but he blames super-ri... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar slipped against the yen on Thursday after Japanese ministers shot down a media report earlier this week that Tokyo is considering cuts in corporate tax, triggering broad weakness in the greenback in thin trading. The dollar was als... More »
CINCINNATI (Reuters) – Having realized a lifelong dream by claiming the Wimbledon title, Marion Bartoli decided she had nothing left to give on Wednesday, shocking the world of tennis by bidding a sudden and poignant farewell to the sport. Just six weeks earli... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The JPMorgan Chase & Co executives who supervised the traders at the center of the “London Whale” scandal are unlikely to face any charges over a trading debacle that cost the largest U.S. bank more than $6.2 billion, people familiar with ... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (0388.HK ), the world’s second-largest exchange by market value, posted a 9.3 percent increase in second-quarter net profit, driven by higher trading volumes and a pick-up in initial public offerings. ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Kurt is a 32-year-old IT systems administrator from Des Moines, Iowa. He has a colleague who had been prescribed “ridiculous amounts” of Vicodin for a chronic back problem. His colleague offered him some of the pills. Soon Kurt was taking ... More »
CINCINNATI (Reuters) – Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli shocked the tennis world on Wednesday by announcing her retirement from the sport at the age of 28. After a second round loss to Romanian Simona Halep at the Western and Southern Open, the Frenchwoman, r... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – China has steamed into the cruise industry with new terminals – along with big plans for more facilities and a luxury ship – to bring more foreign tourists ashore and capitalize on domestic travelers wanting to sail the high seas. But ind... More »
(Reuters) – A U.S. judge has allowed the California attorney general’s office to proceed with a lawsuit accusing Standard & Poor’s of misleading investors by inflating its credit ratings that led to investment losses, rejecting the rating agency’s effort to di... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong businessman Richard Li, the youngest son of Asia’s richest man, will appoint a former top executive at AIA Group Ltd as the CEO of his new insurance company, according to people with direct knowledge of the move. Li will hire Hu... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former Illinois congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., once one of the most promising black politicians in the United States, was sentenced on Wednesday to 2-1/2 years in prison for misuse of campaign funds. Jackson, a former Democratic represen... More »
(Reuters) – Network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc is cutting 4,000 jobs, or 5 percent of its workforce, as it makes a fresh attempt to reduce costs and refocus on growth areas in the face of uncertain demand for its networking equipment. Shares of the worl... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s anti-graft agency on Wednesday arrested the head of the energy regulator to probe allegations he took more than half a million dollars from an oil firm, piling more uncertainty on energy policy in Southeast Asia’s biggest econom... More »
CINCINNATI (Reuters) – The winners of the season’s first three grand slams Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal put on a masterclass at the Western and Southern Open on Wednesday, strolling into the third round with straight sets wins. Center court at th... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Having taken a night off on Wednesday, fortuitously timed for Yelena Isinbayeva’s emotional pole vault victory to soak in, the action comes thick and fast again at the world athletics championships on Thursday with six gold medals up for gra... More »
(Reuters) – Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N ) has decided to put off the acquisition of two small Canadian wireless companies until after a government auction of wireless licenses in January, a Canadian newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter. ... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday there is no truth to a report that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed ministers to consider cutting the country’s corporate tax rate. The issue will be decided after taking int... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire investor George Soros dumped 7.85 million shares of US Airways Group Inc in the second quarter, a regulatory filing on Wednesday showed. It was a timely move by the investor’s Soros Fund Management. On Tuesday, the U.S. Justice... More »
(Reuters) – Shares of Lenovo Group Ltd (0992.HK ), the world’s largest PC maker, rose 2 percent on Thursday after it delivered its second-best quarterly earnings that also beat forecasts thanks to swift expansion in its mobile computing business. Lenovo shares... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Michael Jackson’s doctors competed for his business and over-prescribed medications to help overcome his “incredible” fear of pain, the late pop singer’s ex-wife testified on Wednesday in a wrongful death trial. “His fear of pain was in... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Apple Inc is regaining its popularity among the biggest hedge funds, some of which have said a massive sell-off this year has gone too far. After Apple was dumped left and right starting in late 2012, noted stock picker Leon Cooperman of O... More »
(Reuters) – Details of investments made by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc are expected to be made public on Thursday, following a technical glitch that prevented their disclosure on Wednesday as scheduled. A spokesman for the U.S. Securities and Excha... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The federal judge who ruled that Apple Inc violated antitrust law by conspiring with five major publishers to raise prices of e-books has scheduled a May 2014 trial to determine damages, according to an order made public on Wednesday. Abse... More »
(Reuters) – Lenovo Group Ltd, the world’s largest PC maker, booked a forecast-beating 23 percent jump in April-June net profit to deliver its second-best quarterly earnings, as its push into smartphones and tablets begins to bear fruit. With the traditional PC... More »
HAVANA (Reuters) – One of Cuba’s top baseball players is reported to have abandoned the Communist-run island to become the latest emigre seeking a multi-million-dollar Major League contract in the United States. José Dariel Abreu, 26, an all-star first baseman... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – Billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros likes ailing retailer JC Penney so much that he added another 2 million shares to his already large investment, according to regulatory filings released on Wednesday. Soros, who made news ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire investor George Soros dumped 7.85 million shares of US Airways Group Inc in the second quarter, a regulatory filing on Wednesday showed. It was a timely move by the investor’s Soros Fund Management. On Tuesday, the U.S. Justice... More »
NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) – “Real Housewives of New Jersey” stars Teresa Giudice and her husband Giuseppe “Joe” Giudice entered pleas of not guilty on Wednesday in a federal fraud case that could land them in prison for decades and see him deported to his n... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is considering calling off a major military exercise with the Egypt after Egyptian security forces killed scores of protesters on Wednesday, U.S. officials said. The bloodshed appears to have forced U.S. President Barac... More »
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) – Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin on Wednesday stepped up pressure on the biological father of “Baby Veronica,” a 3-year-old Native American girl caught in a protracted adoption custody battle, warning him to cooperate with the girl’s ado... More »
CINCINNATI (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray set out on another collision course after the world’s top two players strolled into the third round of the Western and Southern Open on Wednesday. Djokovic was all business on an unusually chilly afternoon ... More »
(Reuters) – Network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc is cutting 4,000 jobs, or 5 percent of its workforce, as it makes a fresh attempt to reduce costs and refocus on growth areas as it faces uncertain demand for its networking equipment. “The environment in t... More »
SARAJEVO (Reuters) – Jozy Altidore struck a stunning second-half hat-trick as the United States roared back from a two-goal deficit to beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-3 in a friendly on Wednesday. The victory in Sarajevo extended Juergen Klinsmann’s team’s winning s... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – From sending solar-powered balloons into the stratosphere to offering free Wi-Fi in parks, Google is quietly spending hundreds of millions of dollars on nascent Internet services that may one day challenge the telecom and cable compan... More »
(Reuters) – The MGM movie studio said adjusted profit rose in the second quarter on higher revenue from home entertainment sales of the James Bond movie “Skyfall” and “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” Net income for the quarter that ended in June totaled $3... More »
(Reuters) – The New York Times said it is in the process of fully restoring access to its website, which was down for about two hours on Wednesday. People accessing nytimes.com earlier on Wednesday saw a message that the service was unavailable. New York Times... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton strongly condemned violence in Egypt that claimed scores of lives on Wednesday and urged the interim government to end a state of emergency as soon as possible. “I strongly condemn the v... More »
VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama wants some “space” to make a decision on who to nominate to replace Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve when his term expires in January, a source familiar with the process said.... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich told a meeting of the Republican National Committee that his party needs to move beyond its image of steadfast opposition to President Barack Obama and convince voters its goal is to improve the countr... More »
EDGARTOWN, Massachusetts (Reuters) – The White House condemned a violent crackdown on protesters in Egypt on Wednesday and strongly opposed the declaration of a state of emergency made by Egypt’s military leaders. But White House spokesman Josh Earnest gave no... More »
WARSAW (Reuters) – Veteran director Andrzej Wajda has earned an honorary Oscar for his catalogue of powerful movies, but he felt he had one more mission to complete before his long career ends: to tell his story of Poland’s anti-Communist icon Lech Walesa. Pre... More »
KIEV (Reuters) – German consumer goods company Henkel has pulled a toilet freshener from the eastern European market after Ukrainians complained it looked like the former Soviet republic’s flag. A television advertisement for the Bref Duo Stick freshener run i... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Jack Germond, the gruff and rumpled “fat man” of American political journalism best known for his coverage of presidential campaigns, died on Wednesday at the age of 85. He died “peacefully and quickly” early in the morning at his home i... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The economies of Germany and France grew faster than expected in the second quarter, bettering a widely heralded expansion in the United States and pulling the euro zone out of a 1-1/2 year-long recession. The increased pace was primarily ... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China is intensifying its investigation into rampant bribery in the pharmaceutical and medical services sector with a fresh three-month probe slated to begin on Thursday, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The investigation by the S... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hugh Laurie, best known as the cantankerous doctor Gregory House from Fox TV series “House,” has carved out a new career path that has steered him away from acting and led him to music. The British actor released his second album “Didn’... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hit by years of budget cuts, some U.S. public school boards are looking to avoid providing health benefits to substitute teachers and supporting staff under President Barack Obama’s reform law, education officials say. According to the l... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union said on Wednesday that reports that protesters had been killed in a security force crackdown were “extremely worrying” and called for restraint from Egyptian authorities. Egyptian security forces killed at least 30 peopl... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The latest economic data suggest the euro zone’s recovery from its longest recession in history is within reach, but it would be premature to say the crisis is over, the EU’s top economic official said on Wednesday. The euro zone’s largest... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – The German economy grew by its strongest rate in more than a year in the second quarter, beating forecasts and suggesting that Europe’s largest economy will haul the euro zone out of recession, preliminary data showed on Wednesday. The econo... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – France pulled out of a shallow recession in the second quarter with better-than-expected economic growth of 0.5 percent, preliminary data from the INSEE statistics agency showed on Wednesday. Boosted by consumer spending and industrial output... More »
SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) – Hollywood moms Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner continued their campaign to keep paparazzi away from the children of celebrities on Tuesday, appearing at a legislative hearing in California to urge passage of a bill that would... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – China has agreed to resume payments owed to the U.S. film industry after the two sides resolved a tax dispute, the Motion Picture Association of America, a trade group for Hollywood studios, said on Tuesday. The MPAA said the China Film... More »
(Reuters) – Heidi Fleiss, nicknamed the “Hollywood Madam” in the 1990s after she was accused of running a high-priced Southern California call-girl ring, may face charges after 392 pot plants were found at her Nevada desert home, a county sheriff said on Tuesd... More »
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – Country singer Luke Bryan’s latest album, “Crash My Party,” released on Tuesday and expected to land near the top of U.S. charts, is just his latest step in taking a quintessential American music genre to the rest of the world.... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The euro zone economy may learn later on Wednesday that it has moved out of its longest recession, needing seven quarters to dig up modest growth in the three months to June. Data is expected to show growth in the quarter – but just 0.2 pe... More »
DETROIT (Reuters) – Renting billboards to tout Detroit’s upcoming election was a good idea until the wrong date was put on 14 of them over this past weekend, city officials said. Detroit, which has filed for the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, chooses a ne... More »
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) – A Florida time-share resort where a sinkhole devoured a building Sunday night said that it is open for business and next week’s guests should “come on down.” Paul Caldwell, the general manager of Summer Bay Resorts, which is locate... More »
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romanians on trial accused of stealing paintings worth tens of millions, including works by Picasso and Monet, have denied burning the artworks and are willing to give them back if a deal can be struck, their lawyers said on Tuesday. The ... More »
(Reuters) – New York Times Co Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. has sold some of his shares in the company. Sulzberger sold 50,000 Class A shares on Thursday for $600,000, or $12 each, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday. The s... More »
LOS ANGELES/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The heat seems to be getting to KFC parent Yum Brands Inc (YUM.N ) in China, after the fast-food chain saw China sales slide in July, with some market watchers saying a lack of focus on cooling drinks and ice cream meant diners... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The British government said on Tuesday that 10,000 new homes had been reserved by beneficiaries of its ‘Help to Buy’ stimulus package, designed to boost the property market and encourage developers to build more houses. The data covers the f... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Barclays Plc (BARC.L ) is conducting a strategic review of its retail banking operations in the United Arab Emirates which could lead to a sale of the business, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Barclays, Britain’s third-larg... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel shot down a rocket aimed at its southern resort city of Eilat early on Tuesday, blowing it up in mid air near the border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, a military official said. Islamist militants operating in the lawless desert pen... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish national consumer prices rose 1.8 percent year-on-year in July according to data from the National Statistics Institute on Tuesday, compared to 2.1 percent in June and in line with a Reuters forecast. Annual inflation pressures eased... More »
(Reuters) – Facebook Inc (FB.O ) struck a deal with online restaurant booking service OpenTable Inc (OPEN.O ) that will allow users to reserve tables at restaurants via a Facebook app, as the world’s No. 1 social network continues to expand its mobile services... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Indian rupee slumped to near a record low on Tuesday on doubts about the government’s latest plan to narrow the current account deficit, deepening concerns about the economy and fears of more foreign capital outflows. India’s finance min... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California billionaire Elon Musk took the wraps off his vision of a futuristic “Hyperloop” transport system on Monday, proposing to build a solar-powered network of crash-proof capsules that would whisk people from San Francisco to Lo... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese shares rose sharply and the yen fell after a media report on Tuesday said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering a cut in corporate tax to counter the pain of a planned sales tax increase, while gold eased but held near three-week ... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Government debt in China’s eastern Jiangsu province is under control and at an manageable and “appropriate” level for its economy, a Chinese newspaper on Tuesday quoted a senior local official as saying. The report in the 21st Century Busin... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – A Glencore Xstrata Plc (GLEN.L ) unit will eliminate as many as 920 jobs and cut the budget for its delayed $5.9 billion Tampakan copper-gold mine project in southern Philippines because it could not guarantee the start of production by 2019... More »
RIYADH/DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah’s disdain for Iran leaps from U.S. embassy cables. “May God prevent us from falling victim to their evil,” he told U.S. officials, according to a cable released by WikiLeaks. According to another, he told h... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar retook some lost ground on Tuesday in anticipation of potentially strong retail sales data, while the yen sagged on a media report Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering a corporate tax cut. The dollar rose 0.6 percent t... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia wants a Syria peace conference to be held as soon as possible but it is unlikely to go ahead before October because there is a busy diplomatic schedule before then, a Russian diplomat said on Tuesday. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister G... More »
(Reuters) – Celebrations have not stopped since Ratchanok Intanon became the new world champion but the Thai shuttler has already set herself the twin targets of becoming world number one and winning the 2016 Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro. Since her arrival b... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Xu Jiajie has gone on countless blind dates and to numerous match-making events over the past five years in search of a husband. At 31, the baby-faced office worker from Shanghai is under enormous pressure from family and friends to get ma... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Tencent Holdings Ltd, China’s leading Internet firm by revenue, on Tuesday denied a newspaper report that it plans to list its popular Weixin, or WeChat, mobile messaging app as a spin-off company in Singapore. Citing an unnamed source, th... More »
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand banks will be limited in how much they can lend on low-deposit, high-value mortgages, when new lending rules are imposed, the central bank said on Tuesday. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) said after consultation with t... More »
(Reuters) – Former U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur continued her buildup to the season’s final grand slam with a convincing 6-1 7-5 win over Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova in first round action at the Western and Southern Open on Monday. The Australian 11th s... More »
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – At least 16 people were killed and 41 wounded on Monday in a suicide bomb attack on a crowded cafe in Balad, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, part of the worst wave of violence in Iraq in around five years. Two roadside bombs – one plante... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Alliant Techsystems Inc (ATK.N ) on Tuesday said it had won an order from Orbital Sciences Corp (ORB.N ) to provide solid rocket motors for a new air-launched space transport system that is part of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s lates... More »
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday he will ask for decree powers last used by his predecessor Hugo Chavez to ramp up a fight against corruption that has begun to cost him politically with supporters. Maduro, who served as C... More »
(Reuters) – J.C. Penney Co’s board is preparing to name a new director with retail experience as part of an effort to resolve its dispute with hedge fund Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. A... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan should delay a planned hike in the sales tax in order to ensure that the economy emerges from deflation, said Nobuyuki Nakahara, a former Bank of Japan board member and close confidant of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Nakahara told Reuters... More »
