Month

July 2015

All posts published in July 2015

269 posts

Vaccine success holds hope for end to deadly scourge of Ebola

LONDON/GENEVA The world is on the verge of being able to protect humans against Ebola, the World Health Organization said on Friday, as a trial in Guinea found a vaccine to have been 100 percent effective.     Initial results from the trial, which tested Merck... More »

Judge weighs lawsuit seeking Kurt Cobain’s death-scene photos

SEATTLE A Washington state judge should dismiss a lawsuit seeking photos from the death scene of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain because public-disclosure laws do not apply and the journalist who wants them violated legal procedures, Seattle’s attorney will argue... More »

Facebook CEO Zuckerberg and wife expecting a baby girl

SAN FRANCISCO Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are expecting a baby girl, he said on his Facebook page on Friday. The couple, who married in 2012, have been trying to have a child and had three miscarriages, he wrote. ... More »

One Direction releases surprise first single as a foursome

LONDON Best-selling boy band One Direction released a surprise first single as a foursome on Friday, two days after former member Zayn Malik announced a new record deal as solo artist. “Drag Me Down” follows November’s “Night Changes” and is the first single t... More »

Comcast’s NBC blocks Sling TV ads, Dish says

NEW YORK Dish Network Corp said on Friday that Comcast Corp’s broadcast television network NBC is not airing ads promoting its Sling TV video streaming service in some markets. While NBC, part of Comcast’s NBCUniversal film and TV unit, has banned Sling TV ads... More »

NBCUniversal close to investing in BuzzFeed: source

LOS ANGELES Comcast Corp’s (CMCSA.O) NBCUniversal film and television unit is close to making an investment in online publisher BuzzFeed and is in talks to raise its stake in Vox Media, a person with knowledge of both sets of discussions said on Thursday. The ... More »

Philae lander shows there’s more to comets than soft dust

BERLIN/FRANKFURT The comet lander Philae may be uncommunicative at the moment, but the pictures and measurements it took after it touched down on a comet in November have shown scientists that the comet is covered with coarse material, rather than dust, and is... More »

Drama helps Lebanese to bridge their city’s divides

BEIRUT Young people from two warring districts in the Lebanese city of Tripoli are taking to the stage in a comedy inspired by their own lives, trying to turn their backs on old rivalries inflamed by Syria’s civil war. “Love and War on the Rooftops” played to ... More »

Dr. Seuss back in stores with newly discovered children’s book

NEW YORK A new book by much-loved children’s author Dr. Seuss hit stores on Tuesday, 24 years after his death. “What Pet Should I Get?” was discovered in November 2013 while the author’s widow, Audrey Geisel, was going through boxes of old material in their Ca... More »

Sky beats year forecasts with broad demand across Europe

LONDON European pay-TV group Sky said on Wednesday it expects to perform strongly in its new financial year after better-than-expected 2014/15 profits prompted investors to rethink their growth forecasts for the newly-enlarged group. Sky, formed from the combi... More »

Merkel’s Bavarian ally says Grexit would cause ‘utter chaos’

BERLIN A Greek exit from the euro zone would cause “utter chaos” but would have to be accepted if Athens was not willing to implement reforms, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Bavarian ally Horst Seehofer told German newspaper Die Welt on Wednesday. “No one can pred... More »

EU’s Moscovici optimistic on third Greek bailout talks

PARIS European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said on Wednesday that talks on a third bailout plan for Greece were taking place in “good conditions” and that the risk of an exit of Greece from the euro zone was gone. “Grexit is beh... More »

German advisers say euro zone exit should not be taboo

BERLIN The German government’s panel of independent economic advisers favors creating an insolvency mechanism for euro zone states and says countries should be able to leave the single currency as a last resort. The Greek crisis has called into question the fu... More »

Stocks, copper fall on China, Europe growth concerns

NEW YORK Global equity markets dropped on Friday and copper fell to a six-year low as weaker-than-expected data from China and the euro zone exacerbated concerns over global economic growth. Brent and U.S. crude oil futures settled at their lowest since March ... More »

New Bayreuth Wagner museum confronts family Nazi ties head on

BAYREUTH, Germany A renovated Richard Wagner Museum opening in Bayreuth this weekend to coincide with the Bavarian city’s annual Wagner opera festival puts the composer’s anti-Semitism and his family’s later ties to Adolf Hitler center stage for the first time... More »

Second half of 2015 begins on shaky note

LONDON/NEW YORK The global economy started the second half of the year on shaky ground with China’s factory sector activity contracting in July at the fastest pace in 15 months and euro zone manufacturing weaker than expected, although U.S. activity picked up.... More »

ECB’s Noyer says Grexit risk has subsided

PARIS The prospect of Greece being forced to leave the euro zone has lifted, ECB governing council member Christian Noyer said in an interview with Le Monde newspaper published on Friday. Noyer, who is also governor of the Bank of France, said that Greece repr... More »

Two killed as blasts, gunfire rock Burundi presidential vote

BUJUMBURA A policeman and an opposition official died in violence marring the start of Burundi’s presidential election, already hit by opposition boycotts and protests over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term. Blasts and gunfire echo... More »

Cheating website relieved it is not being judged after hack

TORONTO Cheating spouses website AshleyMadison.com, facing hackers’ threats to leak clients’ nude photos and sexual fantasies, said it is heartened by some initial public response that sees the site as a victim. The website’s Canadian parent, Avid Life Media, ... More »

European shares fall, pulled down by drugmakers

LONDON European shares retreated on Tuesday from their six-week high in the previous session, with the healthcare leading the market lower after Novartis (NOVN.VX) reported quarterly incomes below analysts’ expectations. The STOXX Europe 600 Healthcare Index .... More »

Toshiba CEO quits over accounting scandal

TOKYO Toshiba Corp’s (6502.T) chief executive Hisao Tanaka and a string of other senior officials resigned on Tuesday for their roles in the country’s biggest accounting scandal in years. Tanaka will be temporarily replaced by Chairman Masashi Muromachi after ... More »

Saudi-backed fighters battle to extend gains in Yemen’s Aden

ADEN, Yemen Yemeni fighters backed by Saudi-led air strikes battled to take back northern suburbs of Aden from Houthi opponents on Tuesday, residents said, a day after completing their capture of the center of the strategic port city. The country’s dominant Ho... More »

Greece submits bill needed to start rescue talks

ATHENS The Greek government submitted legislation to parliament on Tuesday required by its international lenders to start talks on a multi-billion euro rescue package. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has until Wednesday night to get those measures adopted in the... More »

Lloyds to set out dividend plan ahead of retail sale

LONDON Lloyds (LLOY.L) is due to set out its dividend plans next week, including how and when it might return surplus capital to shareholders, making the stock more attractive ahead of a planned sale of some of the government’s shares to retail investors, indu... More »

UK government targets spending cuts of up to 40 percent by 2020

LONDON Britain’s government is asking some departments to prepare to cut day-to-day spending by as much as 40 percent by the 2019/20 tax year, in a major spending review launched by Conservative finance minister George Osborne on Tuesday. The finance ministry ... More »

New Open champion Johnson motivated to win more majors

ST ANDREWS, Scotland No one should be surprised if Zach Johnson goes on to win several more majors because, even though he is approaching 40, the new British Open champion is working harder than ever and is performing at his peak. The American waited a long ti... More »

Zach attack earns Johnson victory at British Open

ST ANDREWS, Scotland American Zach Johnson claimed the second major triumph of his career after winning a four-hole playoff at the end of a captivating, cliffhanger of a final round in the British Open on Monday. In an Open that never seemed to want to end, th... More »

South Africa’s Tutu discharged from hospital after treatment

CAPE TOWN Veteran South African anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu was discharged from hospital on Tuesday after a week fighting a persistent infection that is not related to his prostate cancer, his daughter said. Tutu, 83, who has been living with prosta... More »

Slovak PM Fico: we will ask for Greek exit if conditions not met

BRATISLAVA Slovakia will be among the first to ask Greece to leave the euro zone if it fails to adhere to agreed conditions of further, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Tuesday. Fico told reporters that Slovakia was fundamentally against allowing any ... More »

‘BRICS’ bank launches in Shanghai, to work with AIIB

SHANGHAI Officials from the world’s largest emerging nations launched the New Development Bank (NDB) on Tuesday, the second of two new policy banks heavily backed by Beijing that are being pitched as alternatives to existing institutions such as the World Bank... More »

SAP CFO says pipeline looks very healthy

FRANKFURT/STUTTGART SAP’s order pipeline for the second half of the year is “very healthy” and will offset a decline in sales from its packaged software products, which will pose no threat to the company’s full-year operating profit target, its finance chief s... More »

SAP’s packaged software suffers amid switch to cloud

FRANKFURT German business software maker SAP posted quarterly profit at the low end of forecasts, hit by weak sales of its traditional packaged software and a rapid shift by customers to lower-margin cloud software delivered via the Internet. Like established ... More »

Mexico coach Herrera slams Gold Cup travel conditions

MEXICO CITY Coach Miguel Herrera claims Mexico are the biggest draw at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States but have not been given the treatment he feels they deserve at the tournament. Herrera criticized the conditions under which his team were forced ... More »

Shaken Fanning not giving up on surfing despite shark attack

SYDNEY A visibly shaken Mick Fanning arrived home in Australia on Tuesday saying he would not turn his back on surfing despite needing a “miracle” to survive a shark attack off the coast of South Africa at the weekend. The three-times world champion was paddli... More »

Australia offer Davis Cup olive branch to Tomic

MELBOURNE Australian tennis officials want to clear the air with Bernard Tomic and reinstate the country’s estranged number one into the Davis Cup team for the semi-final against Britain. The controversial world number 29 was booted off the team before the qua... More »

World Santa Congress brings July Christmas cheer to Copenhagen

COPENHAGEN Chuckling “Ho ho ho” and waving to the public, dozens of Santas brought some Christmas cheer to the Copenhagen summer on Monday as they began their annual World Santa Claus Congress. Drawing Santas from around the world, the three-day event in the D... More »

Comic Carol Burnett to receive lifetime award from fellow actors

LOS ANGELES Actor and comedian Carol Burnett will receive the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award at a ceremony in January, SAG announced Monday.  Burnett, 82, is best known for her hit sketch comedy program “The Carol Burnett Show,” which ran from 1967... More »

Zeng thrives at Pan Ams as women’s baseball debuts

TORONTO U.S. rhythmic gymnast Laura Zeng increased her gold medal haul to five, women’s baseball made a landmark debut and hosts Canada had their least productive day at the Pan American Games on Monday. The 15-year-old Zeng, her focus fixed firmly on the 2016... More »

FIFA hasn’t come to its senses, says South Korea’s Chung

SEOUL South Korean tycoon Chung Mong-joon, one of the most influential figures in Asian soccer, said on Tuesday that leaving Sepp Blatter at the helm of FIFA until a new president is elected shows those in power at the scandal-hit governing body “have yet to c... More »

Faulty metal brace likely doomed SpaceX Falcon rocket, Musk says

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla A faulty metal brace in an unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket likely triggered the explosion that destroyed the booster minutes after liftoff from Florida last month, company chief Elon Musk said on Monday. The June 28 accident, which destroye... More »

Spieth to defend Australian Open title

SYDNEY Masters and U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth will return to Sydney in late November to defend his Australian Open title, organizers said on Tuesday. The 21-year-old American won the Stonehaven Cup by six shots last year and with his recent run of form i... More »

McCain urges Trump to apologize to U.S. military families

WASHINGTON Senator John McCain urged Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday to apologize to U.S. military families for saying prisoners of war are not heroes, in his first direct response to Trump’s remarks. Trump drew a barrage of criticism ... More »

Clinton’s capital gains tax plan aims at long-term investment

NEW YORK U.S. presidential contender Hillary Clinton’s proposed plan to overhaul capital gains taxes aims to foster long-term growth by taxing some short-term investments at higher rates, an aide for her campaign said on Monday. Although details of the plan ha... More »

U.S. fund industry weighs proposed Clinton tax increase

NEW YORK Fund companies and brokerage firms should be able to weather a proposal by Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton that would increase capital gains taxes for some investors, but some fund holders could see higher costs, managers and an... More »

House Democratic leader presses for Iran deal support

WASHINGTON Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, wrote to colleagues on Monday backing the nuclear agreement with Iran, as congressional Republicans railed against a U.N. vote on the deal. “As you may be aware, I believe tha... More »

From Israel perch, U.S. vows to help counter Iran proxy threat

HUSSEIN LOOKOUT, Israel As U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter walked along an Israeli lookout near the border with Lebanon, Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon turned to him and said: “Probably Hezbollah is watching us.” Israel warned during Carter’s visit o... More »

Kerry welcomes new U.S.-Cuba ties but says some hurdles remain

WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday welcomed the “new beginning” of ties between the United States and Cuba but said many differences remained between the two nations and that full normalization will be a long and complex process. Kerry, in... More »

Republican candidate Bush vows Washington culture shake-up

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush vowed on Monday to cut government spending and more tightly limit lawmakers’ connections with lobbyists if he reaches the White House, part of an attempt to separate himself from a large pack of R... More »

Special Report: The man who cost Greece billions

ATHENS Once again Alexis Tsipras was struggling to make a decision. For hours on July 13, the Greek prime minister and Europe’s leaders had been trying to thrash out a new deal to bail out bankrupt Greece and keep the country in the euro zone. Now a clean copy... More »

Pearson exploring sale of Financial Times: Bloomberg

LONDON British publisher Pearson (PSON.L) is exploring the sale of its Financial Times newspaper after receiving interest from potential buyers, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Pearson was sounding out possible bidders for... More »

The $100 million question: are we alone in the cosmos?

SAN FRANCISCO/LONDON Scientists are about to embark on the biggest search yet for alien life, sweeping the skies for signals of civilizations beyond our solar system with $100 million from a Russian billionaire and the backing of physicist Stephen Hawking. Whe... More »

Five retirement savings tips for Millennials

NEW YORK A couple of years ago, Emilie Hunt had to go to the emergency room with a stomach virus. The bill took a huge chunk of money out of her savings, more than $800, and kept her from saving for a couple of months. “I’m really bad at planning for unexpecte... More »

U.S. parents spend more, worry less about college

LOS ANGELES A new study by student lender Sallie Mae found the average amount spent on college education in the United States jumped for the first time in five years, thanks to greater outlays from high-income families and parental readiness to spend more. Fam... More »

Up, up, and away: NZ drone makers target Hollywood

RAGLAN, New Zealand Deep in New Zealand’s dairying heartland, drone maker Aeronavics tests aircraft designed to corner the fast-growing emerging market for unmanned aerial vehicles in the film and television business. The developer of drones used in the produc... More »

Hollande calls for the creation of a euro zone government

PARIS French President Francois Hollande called on Sunday for the creation of a euro zone government and for citizens to renew their faith in the European project, which has been weakened by the Greek crisis. Reviving an idea originally put forward by former E... More »

In Greek crisis, one big unhappy EU family

BRUSSELS The latest paroxysm of Greece’s debt crisis has exposed growing rifts in the euro zone which, unless addressed soon, could lead to the break-up of European monetary union, the EU’s most ambitious project. The most worrying sign for European leaders is... More »

More than half of Germans think planned Greek deal is bad: poll

BERLIN More than half of Germans think the planned deal with Greece is bad and many would have preferred that the crisis-stricken country left the euro zone rather than getting the chance for further aid, according to an opinion poll. Lawmakers in Germany, the... More »

Morningstar affirms Gundlach’s DoubleLine fund ‘not ratable’

NEW YORK Morningstar Inc said DoubleLine Capital’s flagship Total Return Bond Fund is “not ratable” for a second straight year, citing a lack of information about the firm’s investment process, succession planning and risk controls. The Chicago-based investmen... More »

Scientists puzzle over Pluto’s polygons

NEW YORK New pictures relayed by the first spacecraft to visit distant Pluto show odd polygon-shaped features and smooth hills in an crater-free plain, indications that the icy world is geologically active, New Horizons scientists said on Friday. “We had no id... More »

German lawmakers back Greek bailout talks despite rebellion

BERLIN German lawmakers gave their go ahead on Friday for the euro zone to negotiate a third bailout for Greece, heeding a warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel that the alternative to a deal with Athens was chaos. The Bundestag lower house of parliament, whos... More »