All posts published in November 2015
The Baltimore Ravens lost quarterback Joe Flacco for the rest of the season with knee ligament damage on Sunday as they notched a costly win over St Louis Rams with a last-second field goal. Flacco went down with a torn ACL, and possibly a torn MCL, Baltimore ... More »
(The Sports Xchange) – Even though Oklahoma City have a team full of veteran and experienced players, this season they have had problems closing out games. While playing without forward Kevin Durant is a factor, it is only one reason for fourth-quarter meltdow... More »
CLINTON, Iowa U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday proposed a tax credit offsetting up to $6,000 in costs associated with caring for elderly and disabled family members, and allowing caregivers to accrue Social Security retirement b... More »
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” dominated the weekend box office. The final film in the science-fiction franchise debuted to $101 million, but even that massive figure wasn’t as big a sendoff for Katniss Everdeen and her fel... More »
DUBAI An Iranian court has sentenced Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian to a prison term, the state news agency said on Sunday quoting a judiciary spokesman, a case that is a sensitive issue in contentious U.S.-Iranian relations. The length of the prison t... More »
(The Sports Xchange) – Bullies of the NFC North in recent seasons, the Green Bay Packers rode into Minnesota with a three-game losing streak and an edge of desperation on Sunday and got a dominating 30-13 win over the Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. The win saw G... More »
SINGAPORE The euro languished near a seven-month low against the dollar on Monday, weighed down by expectations that the European Central Bank will ramp up its monetary stimulus next month. Most major banks have stuck firmly to the view that the euro will fall... More »
LONDON Britain’s “woefully inadequate” anti-money laundering system has left the country wide open to corrupt money and terrorism funds and needs radical overhaul, a leading anti-corruption group said on Monday. Each year billions of pounds of dirty money flow... More »
LONDON, The World Health Organization’s failure to sound the alarm until months into West Africa’s Ebola outbreak was an “egregious failure” which added to the enormous suffering and death toll, global health experts said on Monday. A specialist panel convened... More »
LONDON Nicole Kidman won the best actress award for her performance as a DNA researcher in the play “Photograph 51” at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards on Sunday. James McAvoy won best actor for a revival of “The Ruling Class” while Imelda Staunton t... More »
TAIPEI A Taiwan NGO that promotes engagement with China has called off its push for a referendum on whether to set up a free trade zone allowing unfettered Chinese investment, its founder said, amid growing anti-China sentiment on an island Beijing considers i... More »
NEW YORK Nearly a dozen big Republican donors backing different presidential candidates are coming together to help fund an advertising campaign attacking front-runner Donald Trump, who faced sharp criticism from rivals this week for his inflammatory comments ... More »
WASHINGTON Leading Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said on Sunday the United States is not doing enough to fight Islamic State, and the group is gaining strength outside Iraq and Syria. Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, ... More »
NEW YORK The average price of gasoline in the United States resumed its slide over the past two weeks, dropping 11 cents to $2.14 a gallon, the lowest since late January, according to a Lundberg survey released on Sunday. The 5 percent decline in gasoline pric... More »
NEW YORK Executives of consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N), the maker of Tide detergent and other household goods, should consider breaking up the company to improve its beleaguered performance, Barron’s financial newspaper said. The “radical ac... More »
WASHINGTON Several Republican presidential candidates insisted Syrian refugees pose a potential danger to America and should not be allowed into the country, despite growing criticism within and outside their party of some of their statements. Debate over the ... More »
ROME Italy will use a new system set up by its central bank to save four small savings banks from failure before stricter rules for winding down lenders come in next year, banking sources told Reuters. The rescue will be conducted by the Bank of Italy at a cos... More »
ZURICH The Swiss National Bank should make more efforts to protect Switzerland’s economy from the impact of an overvalued franc, economists told several Swiss newspapers. The SNB abandoned its cap on the franc in January and is instead using negative interest ... More »
MONROVIA Liberia has placed 153 people under surveillance as it seeks to control a new Ebola outbreak in the capital more than two months after the country was declared free of the virus, health officials said. Three Ebola cases emerged in Liberia on Friday. T... More »
LONDON “Hang loose! Hang loose!”, exhorts Brittany Howard as she warms up a tense crowd at Alabama Shakes’ sold-out two-night set at London’s Brixton Academy on Thursday, where extra security staff were on hand following terrorist attacks in Paris. Lead singer... More »
COGNAC, France France’s centuries-old cognac houses are raising their bets on the U.S. market with new products and campaigns to broaden the drink’s appeal beyond its African American stronghold. The big four producers — LVMH Moet Hennessy (LVMH.PA), Remy Coin... More »
The California rock band that was playing in Paris on the night of the Nov. 13 attacks survived the massacre at their concert, but others died seeking shelter in a dressing room, the group’s lead singer said in an interview with international news channel Vice... More »
NEW ORLEANS Democrat John Bel Edwards won election on Saturday as the next governor of Louisiana, staking a rare victory for his party in the conservative U.S. South, daily newspaper The Advocate and WWL-TV projected. Edwards, a 49-year-old state legislator, d... More »
KUALA LUMPUR From Turkey to the Philippines to Malaysia, it’s been an overseas trip for U.S. President Barack Obama that often veered off-script. By now, Obama was supposed to have showcased the long-promised benefits of his strategic shift toward Asia as he n... More »
BERKELEY, Calif. U.S. central bankers not only regularly leak secret information about monetary policy, but the leaks are so predictably timed that a savvy investor without access to the leaked information could make money just by buying stocks in certain week... More »
LONDON British pianist-songwriter Benjamin Clementine was named the overall winner on Friday of Britain’s Mercury Prize for popular music for his debut album “At Least for Now”. Clementine, who was raised in London but lives in Paris, collected a trophy and a ... More »
BERLIN Germany withdrew its contender for next year’s Eurovision song contest on Saturday following a backlash from critics who accuse the R&B artist of using anti-Semitic and homophobic slurs in his songs. Xavier Naidoo, a singer of Indian and African heritag... More »
WASHINGTON The White House deployed Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday to explain to fearful Americans the administration’s policy on Syrian refugees in the weekly address to the nation. Refugees have become a top political concern after Islamic State milita... More »
WASHINGTON The U.S. Navy will likely carry out another patrol within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands in the South China Sea before the end of the year, a U.S. Navy official said on Friday. The USS Lassen, a guided missile destroyer, last month sailed c... More »
LOS ANGELES More than 40 people have fallen ill with E. coli food poisoning after eating at Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.N) restaurants in six different states, federal health officials said on Friday, sending shares of the burrito chain to an 18-month low. The... More »
SAN FRANCISCO Facebook Inc (FB.O) Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said on Friday he will take two months of paternity leave after his daughter’s birth, a strong statement from one of the busiest and most powerful U.S. executives on the importance of fa... More »
Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple Inc (AAPL.O) co-founder Steve Jobs, is the lead investor who funded the buyout of News Corp’s (NWSA.O) money losing digital education business Amplify earlier this year. A representative for Powell Jobs’ organization, the Em... More »
WASHINGTON South America’s vast Amazon region harbors one of the world’s most diverse collection of tree species, but more than half may be at risk for extinction due to ongoing deforestation to clear land for farming, ranching and other purposes, scientists s... More »
Novartis AG said on Friday it received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regular approval for a drug combination to treat an aggressive form of skin cancer. The FDA approved Tafinlar and Mekinist for treatment of metastatic melanoma based on two years ov... More »
NEW YORK Fidelity Investments is building an automated portfolio-management service for individual investors, joining a growing group of money and brokers that have bought or designed such “robo-advisers,” a spokesman for the firm said Friday. The platform, ca... More »
BEIJING/HONG KONG Google, part of Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), aims to launch the China version of its Google Play smartphone app store next year, according to people familiar with the matter, its first major foray in the market since ending localized product suppo... More »
MARSHALL, Texas A U.S. jury on Friday found Apple Inc (AAPL.O) did not infringe five antipiracy patents owned by a Pendrell Corp (PCO.O) subsidiary at trial in a Texas federal court. The jury also found that Apple did not prove that the patents were invalid. N... More »
(Corrects headline and first paragraph. Study said the law may lead more women to self-induce abortion, not that this has already occurred. Corrects fourth paragraph to drop erroneous time frame) By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas A Texas law aimed at restricting... More »
HOUSTON Houston-area police have arrested a man dubbed the “Cookie Monster” robber who is suspected in holdups at more than 30 fast-food restaurants, often demanding that a cookie be handed over along with the cash, authorities said on Friday. Eugene Bradshaw,... More »
FRANKFURT The European Central Bank is ready to act quickly to boost anemic inflation in the euro zone, its president said on Friday, offering the strongest hint yet that the bank will unveil fresh stimulus measures at its Dec. 3 meeting. Mario Draghi highligh... More »
SAN FRANCISCO Snapchat, maker of a free mobile app that lets users send videos and messages that disappear in seconds, is struggling to gain traction with advertisers, fuelling investor concern that its $16 billion valuation isn’t justified by a business that ... More »
NEW YORK It is not just millennials looking to cut the cable television cord: famed 73-year old billionaire value investor Mario Gabelli is planning to make a similar move. “I just got my bill for cable and it was outrageous,” Gabelli said at the Reuters Globa... More »
LONDON A bumper North American railroad bid and three other big tie-ups announced this week have taken the number of takeover deals worth $5 billion or more to a record 128 this year, according to Thomson Reuters data. Pacific Railway’s bid for rival Norfolk S... More »
SINGAPORE The co-founder of a Singapore church and five other leaders were sentenced to jail terms of up to eight years on Friday, for fraudulently diverting millions of dollars to support his wife’s pop singing career. The mix of faith and fraud has fascinate... More »
CHICAGO U.S. health regulators on Thursday cleared the way for a type of genetically engineered Atlantic salmon to be farmed for human consumption – the first such approval for an animal whose DNA has been scientifically modified. Five years ago, the U.S. Food... More »
BOSTON The last two of six N.C. Wyeth paintings stolen from a Maine collector in 2013 have been recovered by agents from the FBI, closing the book on what officials say was the most significant art theft in that state’s history. The paintings were recovered by... More »
LONDON U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs tipped a higher dollar as its top trade for 2016 on Thursday, heading a list that also bet on rising U.S. inflation and long-dated Italian bonds outperforming German bonds. Goldman said big U.S. banks will outperform t... More »
GAZA Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed an agreement to allow a long-awaited third-generation (3G) mobile network in Gaza and the West Bank, they said on Thursday. Israel said the decision was made after it concluded a security examination as well as ... More »
NEW YORK A volunteer firefighter from Mississippi whose face was burned off during a home fire rescue received the world’s most extensive face transplant, New York University Langone Medical Center said on Monday. After a 26-hour surgery performed at the New Y... More »
WASHINGTON DNA extracted from a skull and a molar tooth of ancient human remains discovered in the southern Caucasus region of Georgia is helping sort out the multifaceted ancestry of modern Europeans. Scientists said on Monday they sequenced the genomes of tw... More »
WASHINGTON It is an aerial maneuver far beyond the capabilities of even the most sophisticated modern aircraft: landing upside down on a ceiling. But it is routine business for bats, and now scientists have learned precisely how they do it. Researchers using h... More »
BALTIMORE Baltimore’s police response to rioting in April showed major shortcomings, including a lack of planning, murky orders and flimsy protective gear, according to an independent review released on Monday. The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) think ... More »
LONDON What do John Lennon, Margaret Thatcher, Henry VIII and West Indian immigrants in 1956 London have in common? They are all, according to British historian Simon Schama, part of “The Face of Britain”. Schama – known to worldwide audiences for his 15-part ... More »
BEIRUT Heavy air strikes believed to have been carried out by French jets hit two Islamic State training camps and a suspected arms depot in and around the jihadist-held city of Raqqa in Syria overnight, a group monitoring the war said on Monday. There were mo... More »
PARIS/BRUSSELS French warplanes pounded Islamic State positions in Syria on Sunday as police in Europe widened their investigations into coordinated attacks in Paris that killed more than 130 people. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Friday’s suicid... More »
BEIJING China has appealed for international help in the battle it says it is waging against Islamist militants in its far western region of Xinjiang, as Beijing seeks Western support for its own “war on terror” in the wake of the Paris attacks. Hundreds of pe... More »
LONDON The euro hit its weakest in more than six months against the yen on Monday as investors sought safety in gold and low-risk government debt after Friday’s attacks in Paris. Oil prices edged up after France launched large-scale air strikes against Islamic... More »
TOKYO As Japan struggles to get its Olympics plans on track, the construction start of its new national stadium has been further delayed to early 2017, officials said on Monday. The delay to build the centerpiece of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games comes at a time ... More »
TOKYO Japan slipped into its fourth technical recession in five years between July and September – spotlighting how the government’s “Abenomics” policies have struggled to drag the economy out of chronic stagnation. Official data on Monday showed the world’s t... More »
BELEK, Turkey U.S. President Barack Obama vowed on Sunday to step up efforts to eliminate Islamic State and prevent more attacks like those in Paris, while urging Russia’s Vladimir Putin to focus on combating the jihadist group in Syria. A White House official... More »
LONDON The euro hit a 6 1/2-month low against the yen and was pinned down near 7-month troughs against the dollar on Monday after the deadly attacks in Paris led to a bout of global risk aversion and kept investors cautious on the common currency. The Swiss fr... More »
PARIS French police raided homes of suspected Islamist militants across the country overnight in the aftermath of the Paris shootings, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Monday as he warned of potential further attacks. Valls said that since this summe... More »
BEIJING/HONG KONG China’s Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd plans to invest 300 billion yuan ($47 billion) over the next five years in a bid to become the world’s third-biggest chipmaker, the chairman of the state-backed technology conglomerate said on Monday. Chairman Zh... More »
SINGAPORE Oil prices edged up on Monday as France launched large-scale air strikes against Islamic State in Syria, but analysts said commodities were expected to remain under pressure as oversupply weighs on prices. Crude benchmarks, which lost 8 percent last ... More »
BELEK, Turkey Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday he wanted Britain to carry out air strikes against Islamic State militants (ISIL) in Syria but still needed to convince more lawmakers to back such action. “I have always said I think that it is sensibl... More »
TOKYO Japanese Economics Minister Akira Amari said on Monday that the economy was in a moderate recovery trend albeit some weakness and that it would continue to improve gradually even though overseas economies posed downside risks. Amari made the remarks afte... More »
NEW YORK For most of its 100-year history, when Boeing turned out more planes, employment soared and the Seattle-area economy prospered. When the rate of production fell, layoffs followed and the local economy crashed. The cycle was so predictable that Boeing ... More »
BRUSSELS “A breeding ground for violence” the mayor of Molenbeek called her borough on Sunday, speaking of unemployment and overcrowding among Arab immigrant families, of youthful despair finding refuge in radical Islam. But as the Brussels district on the wro... More »
KABUL Last year, Hamid Rostami, a 28-year-old from Wardak in western Afghanistan, was expelled from Denmark after years trying to stay in Europe. Jobless and cut off from his family, he now sits in wintry Kabul wondering how to go back. Jobless and unwilling t... More »
(The Sports Xchange) – Marcus Smart scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a 100-85 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on Sunday. Taking on the challenge of going toe-to-toe with Russell Westbrook, Smart... More »
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has urged Japan to offer fiscal support to its economy to ensure it returns to growth driven by domestic demand. Lew made the remark in a bilateral meeting with Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso on the sidelines of a Group of ... More »
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey There is something about the Patriots that brings out the best in the New York Giants, but on Sunday that was not enough as New England eked out a thrilling 27-26 victory on a last second, game-winning, 54-yard field goal. It did no... More »
(The Sports Xchange) – Stephen Gostkowski made a 54-yard field goal with one second left to lift the New England Patriots to a 27-26 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday at MetLife Stadium that kept them undefeated. On the final drive, New England quarte... More »
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning’s record-breaking day ended in ignominy on Sunday watching from the sidelines as his side were beaten 29-13 by the Kansas City Chiefs. Manning had become the National Football League’s all-time passing yards leader ear... More »
TOKYO Japan has expressed concern to China about the pace of capital outflows from the country and has suggested Beijing moves very slowly in reforming its currency system to avoid repeating Japan’s past mistakes. After a summer of market turmoil, China now ap... More »
SYDNEY/TOKYO/PARIS/NEW YORK Stocks in major markets are set for a short-term sell-off on Monday after suspected Islamist militants launched coordinated attacks across Paris that killed more than 130 people, but few strategists expect a prolonged economic impac... More »
BEIJING China’s President Xi Jinping said the country is able to maintain a medium to high economic growth rate and expects China’s economy to grow at around 7 pct this year. Xi’s remarks at the G20 Summit in Turkey on Sunday were published on the foreign mini... More »
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. From Seattle to New York, the National Football League stepped up security inside and outside of stadiums on Sunday as America’s most popular sports league responded to a series of coordinated attacks across Paris that left at least 129 d... More »
SYDNEY The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) could face recommendations that include suspension from the Olympics when the second part of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) report is released, according to one of the doping body’s in... More »
NEW YORK U.S. equity futures opened lower on Sunday, following coordinated attacks in Paris on Friday that killed more than 130 people. The attacks unfolded after markets closed in the United States, but equity futures added to losses in light volume in after-... More »
LONDON Swiss maestro Roger Federer will have an early chance to disprove the notion that Novak Djokovic is untouchable when they meet in their second round-robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals on Tuesday. Federer outclassed Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-2 to kicksta... More »
AMES, Iowa A top aide to U.S. Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton said on Sunday that criticism of her remarks in Saturday’s debate regarding 9/11 and Wall Street campaign contributions would not resonate with average voters. “They were attacking... More »
BRUSSELS Greece and its euro zone creditors have reached a deal on many, but not all, issues in the program that Athens is implementing in return for loans, the head of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Sunday. Greece needs the euro zone ... More »
NEW YORK DoubleLine Capital co-founder Jeffrey Gundlach said on Sunday that the Federal Reserve may hesitate to raise rates given rocky economic and financial conditions, though the Paris attacks alone are unlikely to play a factor in next month’s decision. Th... More »
WASHINGTON The deadly attacks in Paris pushed terrorism and the Syrian refugee crisis to the center of the U.S presidential campaign on Sunday, as Republicans hammered Obama administration plans to take in more refugees as well as Democratic front-runner Hilla... More »
TOKYO/FRANKFURT At the recent Frankfurt Auto Show, Ford Motor Co unveiled a new feature that lets drivers pre-set their car to go at or just above the speed limit. In-car cameras and software read and react to road signs, speeding the car up or slowing it down... More »
DES MOINES, Iowa U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton played defense over her 2003 vote backing the U.S. invasion of Iraq and inched away from President Barack Obama on Syria and the rise of Islamic State militants during a contentious deb... More »
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES In recent days, the largest U.S. managers of private prescription drug benefits have cut off at least eight pharmacies that work closely with drugmakers, intensifying scrutiny of a system that helps inflate drug prices, officials at the be... More »
Donald Trump has dramatically escalated his attacks on his nearest rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Ben Carson. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll may explain why: the billionaire real estate magnate is bleeding support among avid church-goers and women... More »
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – James Bond is back on top, after “Spectre” led the U.S. box office for the second weekend in a row. Of course, the dashing super spy wasn’t exactly facing off against Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Its main competition was the second weekend... More »
LOS ANGELES While heroine Katniss Everdeen leads a rebellion in the final “Hunger Games” movie, the actress who brought the character to life, Jennifer Lawrence, is coming into her own in a business dominated by men. With an Oscar and a number of hit films to ... More »
LOS ANGELES Oscar voters on Saturday gave honorary awards to three movie veterans, including director Spike Lee, at a gala event that shone a spotlight on Hollywood’s drive for diversity amid its glitzy awards season. Along with Lee, whose films include “Malco... More »
All the musicians performing with the California-based rock band Eagles of Death Metal emerged unharmed from the lethal terror attack inside a Paris concert hall, but a member of their entourage was killed in the violence, relatives said on Saturday. The band’... More »
SHANGHAI Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, enjoys strong support in the United States, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi told Chinese officials during a visit this week to the Himalayan region, while expressing concern about human rights there. Pel... More »
WASHINGTON/DES MOINES, Iowa The lethal attacks in Paris have the potential to reshape the U.S. presidential race, placing a new emphasis on issues of national security, border control, and counterterrorism, while perhaps bolstering candidates who talk toughest... More »
WASHINGTON The United States needs to increase its efforts in Syria and Iraq “directly” and expand its support to other nations where Islamic State militants operate, U.S. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said in a statement on Saturday responding to the Pa... More »
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama still plans to attend a global climate summit in Paris at the end of November despite the attacks claimed by Islamic State, a senior U.S. administration official said on Saturday. The Paris summit is focused on curbing climate... More »
LONDON King of rock and roll Elvis Presley topped the British album charts for a second week on Friday with his 12th UK Number 1. Nearly 40 years after his death, Elvis became the male solo artist with the most UK Number 1 albums last week with “If I Can Dream... More »
WASHINGTON The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to hear a challenge to tough abortion restrictions in Texas raises questions about the legal fate of similar laws in more than a dozen other states. The court’s ruling, due by June, could spell out the ext... More »
MEXICO CITY Carlos Slim’s brother interrogated leftist rebels for Mexico’s intelligence agency while his eldest son often hands out a biographical novel about Leon Trotsky as a gift, according to a new book on the tycoon who was long the world’s richest man. T... More »
