All posts published in October 2013
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama turned to a trusted adviser on Tuesday to lead a “tech surge” aimed at repairing the troubled launch of the government website at the heart of his signature healthcare law. Jeffrey Zients, a former official of the ... More »
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp completed a successful test mission at the International Space Station on Tuesday, clearing the firm to begin regular cargo runs for NASA under a $1.9 billion contract. Using the space st... More »
(Reuters) – Corning Inc said it would buy out Samsung Display’s stake in their LCD glass joint venture in a deal that could see the Samsung Electronics Co Ltd subsidiary take a 7.4 percent share in the Gorilla Glass maker. The deal includes a new 10-year LCD d... More »
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – The world’s top-ranked female amateur golfer Lydia Ko has decided to turn professional, the 16-year-old said via social media on Wednesday. Ko, who was born in South Korea but has lived in New Zealand since she was six, made the announce... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc on Tuesday offered free upgrades for life on its operating system and business software, and unveiled thinner iPads and faster Mac computers ahead of a competitive holiday shopping season. The debut of the one-pound iPad Air... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has cashed in big on Netflix Inc, taking advantage of a 457 percent gain in its shares since he bought more than 9 percent of the streaming video company only 14 months ago. Icahn, whose firm acquired Netfli... More »
(Reuters) – Strong subscriber gains by Netflix Inc prompted analysts to sharply raise price targets on the stock, even as some worried that the shares are getting expensive as the online online video company faces bigger bills for original programs. Netflix sh... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama turned to a trusted adviser on Tuesday to lead a “tech surge” aimed at repairing the troubled launch of the government website at the heart of his signature healthcare law. Jeffrey Zients, a former official of the ... More »
(Reuters) – Rapper Kanye West popped the question to his reality star girlfriend Kim Kardashian at San Francisco’s Major League Baseball stadium he rented for her 33rd birthday. Grammy-winning West, 36, proposed to the star of the TV reality show “Keeping Up w... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Emmy-winning American counterterrorism thriller “Homeland” has been renewed for a fourth, 12-episode season after its audience has grown by more than a quarter in its current third season, U.S. premium television network Showtime said o... More »
(Reuters) – Nick Price said he will consider stepping down as captain of the International Presidents Cup team unless a more competitive format for the biennial team competition is introduced. The International team has managed just one victory in 10 attempts ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – There is little evidence that employers are sacrificing full-time jobs by hiring more part-timers or reducing existing employee hours because of the costs of providing health coverage under Obamacare. Conservative Republicans have pointe... More »
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – Hoping to cash in on a growing appetite for adventure, an Arizona startup has unveiled plans for a balloon ride to the stratosphere, offering passengers about two hours of space-like views from 19 miles above Earth. Privatel... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – World number one Serena Williams showed her determination to defend her WTA Championships title by sweeping to a 6-3 6-1 win over Angelique Kerber at the season-ending event on Tuesday. The 32-year-old American broke early in each set and ... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko denied any guilt as he went on trial on Tuesday over an acid attack that nearly blinded the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet. Dmitrichenko, 29, was led into a Moscow courtroom in handcuffs to face tri... More »
(Reuters) – Major League Baseball is driven by money. Truckloads of it. Attendances, merchandise sales and television ratings are all up and there is plenty of cash to go around. The richest teams are valued at over $1 billion and the best players are paid ten... More »
(Note: foul language, paragraph three) By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) – This year’s World Series has special significance for Boston Red Sox players and baseball fans, coming a little more than six months after the city was rocked by twin bombs that killed t... More »
(Reuters) – The inaugural FedExCup-style ‘Final Series’ that tees off in Shanghai this week will give the European Tour a much-needed shot in the arm after a difficult year, said twice major winner Jose Maria Olazabal. While the rival U.S. PGA Tour goes from s... More »
WOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG’s top labor leader still wants workers at the company’s plant in Tennessee to have German-style representation, an arrangement that would require the involvement of a U.S. trade union such as the United Auto Workers... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Foes of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law lost a bid on Tuesday to put an immediate stop to a key part of the law – the insurance subsidies in the 34 U.S. states that declined to establish their own online marketplaces. At a court ... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s battle against a persistent air pollution crisis, which all but shut down a city of 11 million this week, is being hampered by tough weather conditions, an environmental official said on Tuesday. Air quality in cities is of increasi... More »
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican officially declared its intention to defeat the Church of England on Tuesday – not in a theological re-match nearly 500 years after they split, but on the cricket pitch. The challenge was launched at the baptism of the St. ... More »
KIEV (Reuters) – Two European Union ministers urged Ukraine on Tuesday to stop “bluffing” and reach a deal on the release of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. “The time for bluffing is over on both sides now. It’s time for action,” Polish Foreign ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Singer Katy Perry has shed her cotton-candy pop image and reveals a vulnerability and maturity on her new album “Prism,” which she said reflects changes in both her personal life and her music. “Prism,” released on Tuesday, is Perry’s four... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union will launch a new round of accession talks with Turkey next month following a three-year hiatus after Germany dropped opposition prompted by Ankara’s crackdown on street protests. Turkey began negotiations to join the EU... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Carrie White, one of the most complex female villains of the horror film genre, is back in a new movie adaptation of Stephen King’s cautionary tale of teen isolation and revenge, this time with a feistier actress, more blood and a dose ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – By all accounts, JPMorgan Chase is on the verge of a record-setting $13 billion settlement with the Justice Department and other state and federal regulators that will resolve the bank’s civil liability to the government for the sale of mo... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors poured cash back into U.S. money market funds the day after Washington reached an agreement to raise the federal debt ceiling temporarily and avert a default, private data released on Monday showed. Prior to Wednesday’s debt deal... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German business software firm SAP (SAPG.DE ) bucked the trend among rivals by keeping its 2013 profit forecast, buoyed by strong demand for its web-based software, though it warned volatile exchange rates could hit its reported results. S... More »
NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) – Wedding bells rang for the first time for same-sex couples in New Jersey just after midnight on Monday when the state became the 14th in the nation to legalize gay marriage. Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat due to leave offic... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O ) has been charging customers in China higher prices than other markets, helping the company realize thick profit margins, a report by the official China Central Television (CCTV) said. The world’s largest coffee cha... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea is considering reaching additional currency swap agreements with resource-rich countries such as Australia, Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said on Monday, as the country looks to reduce its dependence on the U.S. dollar. “We are co... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – With a few exceptions, Hollywood studios are moving far more slowly than Chinese companies in the world’s second-largest movie market, said U.S. producer Janet Yang, whose works include “The Joy Luck Club” and “Shanghai Calling”. Many stud... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Stars from television and stage honored entertainer Carol Burnett on Sunday with the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize during a night that highlighted her decades-long comedy career while poking fun at politicians in Washington. Broadway... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Media mogul Rupert Murdoch was re-elected chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc despite protests from shareholder groups who sought to separate the chairman and chief executive positions of the family-dominated company. Shareholders ... More »
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Canadian Nobel Prize winning author Alice Munro will be unable to attend the Stockholm awards ceremony in December because of ill health, the head of the Swedish Academy said on Friday. Short story writer Munro, 82, revealed in 2009 that ... More »
BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) – Jackie Chan wasn’t in the mood for proclamations. The Hong Kong martial arts film star, who declared last year at France’s Cannes film festival that he was retiring from action films, now says that after more than a decade... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Paul McCartney’s acclaimed album “New” entered the British music charts at number three in its debut week on Sunday, missing out on the top spot, sales figures showed. The former Beatle’s 16th solo album was outsold by the new number one, “T... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The 3-D outer space thriller, “Gravity,” continued to rocket past its box office competition over the weekend, eclipsing newcomer “Carrie,” to maintain its tight grip on the U.S. and Canadian box offices. “Gravity,” starring Sandra Bull... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Australian shares climbed to a five-year peak on Monday, drawing confidence from another record high on Wall Street as investors bet the Federal Reserve will put off winding back its cheap money policies until next year. Many analysts think t... More »
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch healthcare, lighting and consumer appliances group Philips (PHG.AS ) reported a near tripling in its third-quarter net profit on Monday, thanks to improvements across the group after two years of rationalization. Net profit climbed ... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Choking smog all but shut down one of northeastern China’s largest cities on Monday, forcing schools to suspended classes, snarling traffic and closing the airport, in the country’s first major air pollution crisis of the winter. An index m... More »
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A suicide bomber driving a minibus blew himself up outside a cafe in a mainly Shi’ite Muslim district of the Iraqi capital on Sunday, killing at least 38 people, police and medics said. At least 12 people were killed in a spate of suicide b... More »
DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh’s garment factory owners are penciling in a minimum wage increase of about 50 to 80 percent and will ask retailers to pay more to defray the cost, as the government tries to end a wave of strikes that hit nearly a fifth of workshop... More »
TOKYO/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar was mired near an 8-month low against a basket of currencies on Monday on growing expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will have to delay scaling back its stimulus following a 16-day government shutdown. The dollar index... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Internal voting for top posts in Malaysia’s ruling party at the weekend has proved Prime Minister Najib Razak to be a canny survivor – five months after a poor showing at national elections – but at a cost to his reform agenda. In May,... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Highly radioactive water overflowed barriers into Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, its operating utility said on Monday, after it underestimated how much rain would fall at the plant and failed to pump it out quickly enough. The... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China will allow satellite television stations to buy the right to broadcast only one foreign program each year from 2014 as part of new restrictions to push “morality-building” and educational shows, state media reported on Monday. The of... More »
TAIPEI (Reuters) – HTC Corp’s chief executive has handed some duties to the company’s chairwoman as the smartphone maker struggles to claw back market share from Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the Financial Times reported. Chief executive Peter Chou... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former President Bill Clinton will campaign this month for his longtime friend, Terry McAuliffe, who is running for governor of Virginia. McAuliffe’s campaign on Sunday said Clinton will join the Democratic gubernatorial candidate on Oct... More »
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon has pleaded with and complained to the U.S. Justice Department but cannot convince the government to end its criminal probe of his bank because prosecutors are not yet certain of their finding... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s export growth fell well short of expectations in September, data showed on Monday, suggesting the weaker yen resulting from the government’s “Abenomics” stimulus policies has not managed to offset declining demand from emerging econom... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has quietly restarted security assistance to Pakistan, U.S. officials said on Sunday, after freezing much of that aid during a period of strained relations beginning with the 2011 Navy SEAL raid that killed al Qaeda chi... More »
(Reuters) – Former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson hit the jackpot in Las Vegas on Sunday, cruising to his fourth career victory on the PGA Tour by a commanding six shots at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Four ahead of the chasing pack overnight, Si... More »
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico scolded the United States on Sunday over new allegations of spying after a German magazine reported that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had hacked Felipe Calderon’s public email account while he was president. Weekly Der... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Australian shares climbed to a five-year peak on Monday, taking cues from the U.S. S&P 500’s .SPX record high as investors bet the Federal Reserve will extend its cheap money policies into next year. The change in expectations followed a 16-d... More »
(Reuters) – Nick Folk got a second chance and kicked a 42-yard field goal in overtime as the surprising New York Jets ended a six-game losing streak to the New England Patriots with a 30-27 victory on Sunday. The game-winner, with 5:07 left in the extra period... More »
LANDOVER, Maryland (Reuters) – Robert Griffin III was his old dynamic self and Roy Helu Jr. rumbled for three touchdowns as the Washington Redskins rallied for a dramatic 45-41 shootout win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. The 83,147 fans crammed into FedEx F... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will declare the glitches in a new healthcare website “unacceptable” on Monday and outline ways for consumers to sign up for insurance while his team scrambles to fix problems that have tainted the rollout of his s... More »
(Reuters) – Wedding bells will begin to ring for same-sex couples in New Jersey just after midnight on Monday when gay marriage becomes legal in the state, and several mayors plan to officiate at nuptials. Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat who will be leavi... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam’s fledgling airline industry is poised for a boom as local competition heats up with fleet expansions, new routes and planned share offers that are set to make it one of the world’s three fastest growing markets. Even as the local eco... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Law enforcement officials are investigating threats made against U.S. Senator Ted Cruz on Twitter last week, police said on Sunday. U.S. Capitol Hill Police and the FBI are looking into series posts made against the Texas Republican by a... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s antitrust watchdog accused Amazon of undermining competition when dealing with third-party merchants and said it would impose reform unless the Internet retailer changed its rules, a German newspaper reported. “Luckily, we have ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A week after Senate leaders brokered a bipartisan spending deal to reopen the government and stave off a potentially disastrous default on American debt, Reuters will host several key players in the budget dispute as part of its annual W... More »
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Israel on Sunday named Karnit Flug as the first woman to head its central bank and meet the challenge of a rising shekel after a rocky selection process that dragged on for months. Flug, 58, was deputy to previous governor Stanley Fischer ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany is to drop the opposition it raised in June to opening a new chapter of talks with European Union membership candidate Turkey after its crackdown on a wave of anti-government protests earlier this year, a source said. The European Co... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Retired schoolteacher Donald Hovasse signed up for Twitter about a year ago at the urging of his daughter. He lost interest after trying the service a few times and finding lots of celebrities but few of his friends using the online s... More »
(Reuters) – The Detroit Tigers got great starting pitching as expected but a lack of power-hitting and late-inning bullpen failures foiled their bid to beat the Boston Red Sox and claw their way back to the World Series. “They deserve to be the representative,... More »
(Reuters) – Shane Victorino belted a seventh-inning grand slam to put the Boston Red Sox into the World Series with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Detroit Tigers that clinched the American League Championship on Saturday. Victorino’s blast turned a 2-1 defici... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Roughly half a million Americans have applied for health insurance through new federal- and state-run exchanges under President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, an administration official said on Saturday. That figure comes as pr... More »
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Ed Terebus was an 18-year-old high school student when he and his big brother Jim, a laid-off auto worker, decided to build their first haunted house 34 years ago. The Terebus brothers charged visitors $1.50 per head to tour their crea... More »
(Reuters) – Former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson moved closer to a fourth victory on the PGA Tour as he maintained a commanding four-shot lead after Saturday’s third round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas. Though not quite matching th... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A violin that was being played as the Titanic went down was sold for 900,000 pounds ($1.46 million) at auction on Saturday, a record price for memorabilia from the doomed ocean liner. Band leader Wallace Hartley played the instrument, trying... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German business software maker SAP is winding down a web-based software product for small to mid-sized businesses, a German magazine reported. Business weekly Wirtschaftswoche said SAP would stop the development of a software dubbed Busin... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey on Saturday rejected European Union criticism of its handling of anti-government protests earlier this year, but said a report on its progress towards joining the bloc showed it had come closer to European economic and democratic st... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc shares jumped past $1,000 on Friday as investors bet on the Internet company’s continued dominance of the mobile and video advertising businesses despite aggressive competition from Facebook Inc and Yahoo Inc. Shares of the... More »
BRUSSELS/LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – The European Union and Canada agreed a multibillion-dollar trade pact on Friday that will integrate two of the world’s largest economies and pave the way for Europe to clinch an even bigger deal with the United States. The deal ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission vowed to plow ahead with controversial new rules requiring hedge funds to disclose details about private stock deals before advertising them, a move that is likely to irk the indust... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of Britain’s public broadcaster, unveiled a three-pronged plan on Friday to expand globally by boosting spending on TV content, strengthening its online site, and launching three new channel brands. Tim Davi... More »
(Reuters) – A legal fight over AT&T Inc’s refusal to carry the U.S. news channel of Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera can remain under wraps for now, despite a ruling by a Delaware state judge earlier this week lifting the secrecy in the case. Judge Sam Glass... More »
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – European Union governments agreed on Friday to start talks with China to remove restrictions on foreign investment and set clearer rules on doing business after months of trade disputes over Chinese solar panels and EU wine. The decision... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A first-ever walking, talking “bionic man” built entirely out of synthetic body parts made his Washington debut on Thursday. The robot with a human face unveiled at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum was built by London’s Sh... More »
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Barely a year after European leaders set out an ambitious vision for the euro zone’s future, progress has all but stalled and pressure is building for what may amount to a ‘make or break’ moment for the union. The idea of a roadm... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S.-based money market fund assets recorded their largest one-week decline since August 2011 as investors pulled $43 billion out of fear over a possible U.S. government default, data from Thomson Reuters’ Lipper service showed on Thursday... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – It is back to basics on Wall Street after several weeks of market obsession with political maneuvering over a government shutdown and threatened debt default. But some of corporate America’s numbers have been found wanting. The U.S. stock ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A deal between SAC Capital and U.S. prosecutors to resolve a criminal insider trading case against the firm could come in a few days, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Any potential deal between Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capi... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – EBay Inc founder Pierre Omidyar has become the latest self-made tech baron to plunge into the struggling news industry – hot on the heels of Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos, who just paid $250 million for the Washington Post. But un... More »
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis held crisis talks on Thursday on the fate of Germany’s “luxury bishop” who is under intense pressure to resign for spending some 31 million euros ($42 million) on an ultra-luxurious residence. The pope, who has tried to se... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The European Union’s financial services chief warned of tit-for-tat action if the United States pushes ahead with plans to impose extra capital requirements on foreign banks. In December, Federal Reserve Board Governor Daniel Tarullo said fo... More »
SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgaria’s Socialist-led government on Thursday survived its second no-confidence vote this month, as expected, but the motion underscored the political divisions plaguing the European Union’s poorest country. The center-right opposition GERB... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The Frieze Art Fair got smaller in 2013, but industry insiders said that would make it no less important for international players who flock to London every October to see cutting-edge contemporary works. The world’s largest art fair combine... More »
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – In what may be the first use of vuvuzelas in opera, the blaring horns popularized by South African soccer featured in the premiere of Hungarian conductor Ivan Fischer’s “The Red Heifer” about a murder blamed on Jews in northeastern Hungary... More »
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s 2014 budget plays by the European Union rules, but seems designed more to offend nobody than to give the euro zone’s most chronically sluggish economy a decisive boost. Prime Minister Enrico Letta largely avoided unfunded tax cuts in t... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – An injured kangaroo shut down part of Melbourne Airport on Wednesday after it hopped through the busy terminal and into a drug store. Police in the southeastern Australian city secured the store before wildlife workers tranquilized and captu... More »
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – In what may be the first use of vuvuzelas in opera, the blaring horns popularized by South African soccer featured in the premiere of Hungarian conductor Ivan Fischer’s “The Red Heifer” about a murder blamed on Jews in northeastern Hungary... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Glenn Greenwald, who has made headlines around the world with his reporting on U.S. electronic surveillance programs, is leaving the Guardian newspaper to join a new media venture funded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, according to peopl... More »
(Reuters) – A California marine instructor’s leisurely weekend snorkel turned into the discovery of a lifetime when she found the carcass of a massive, eel-like creature of a species thought to have inspired legends of giant sea serpents. Catalina Island Marin... More »
TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian telecom company Telus Corp is suing AMC to stop the maker of hit television shows “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” from withholding its content by the end of the month as it pushes for higher fees, a legal filing showed. In the complai... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A triptych by British post-war painter Francis Bacon and works by pop master Andy Warhol will provide a health test for the global art market when they go on sale in New York next month. Auction house Christie’s suspects Bacon’s “Three Studi... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Slow-moving talks to avoid a debt default in the United States and weak Chinese export data kept a lid on European shares and oil on Monday, while the yen rose as some investors moved into safer assets. Senate negotiations to resolve the U.S... More »
