All posts published in May 2014
LJUBLJANA/PARIS (Reuters) – Slovenian Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek resigned on Monday after losing the leadership of her party 10 days ago, paving the way for an early election in the tiny euro zone member that narrowly avoided an international bailout last ... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – French broadcaster M6 said its annual operating profit would fall if the advertising market continued to decline in the second half of the year, sending its shares down more than 4 percent on Monday. The country’s second-largest private broad... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The risk of deflation in the euro zone is very low, the European Commission said on Monday, but price growth will pick up more slowly than expected this year and next, partly because of a stronger euro and a weak recovery. Annual consumer ... More »
ODESSA, Ukraine (Reuters) – Pro-Russian militants stormed a Ukrainian police station in Odessa on Sunday and freed nearly 70 fellow activists as the country’s leaders lamented a police force they said was widely undermined by graft or collaboration with separa... More »
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Panama’s vice-president, running as an opposition candidate, won the presidential election on Sunday after a campaign in which he took credit for outgoing leader Ricardo Martinelli’s successful economic policies while promising a cleane... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian share markets took a turn lower on Monday after a survey of Chinese manufacturing disappointed, while the simmering conflict in Ukraine kept gold and sovereign bonds well bid. Early gains evaporated when HSBC’s final reading of its Apr... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Government officials from Australia, China and Malaysia pledged on Monday not to give up searching for a Malaysia Airlines jetliner that disappeared almost two months ago, despite lingering questions about how to proceed and who will pay. No... More »
AAB BAREEK, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Six-year-old Abdul Maqsood stood outside his neighbor’s simple mud-brick home, staring aghast at the damage caused by a landslide which had slammed into his village in remote northeast Afghanistan. Then the rumbling started.... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Novartis said on Monday a final-stage trial of its Signifor LAR therapy allowed for greater disease control in patients with the endocrine disorder acromegaly than existing therapies. Acromegaly is caused by a benign tumor in... More »
KINSHASA (Reuters) – The United States urged Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday to stick to its constitution that sets terms limits for the president, as speculation grows that Joseph Kabila may seek a third term. Highlighting an issue that exists in sever... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Wang Jing, the enigmatic businessman behind Nicaragua’s $50 billion Interoceanic Grand Canal, shrugs off skepticism about how a little-known entrepreneur can be driving a huge transcontinental project, insisting he’s not an agent of the Bei... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. public pension funds returned a median 1.87 percent in the first quarter of 2014, slightly outperforming the 1.66 percent returns for the larger universe of institutional investment plans, according to a report to be released on Monday. The re... More »
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, which makes iPhones for Apple Inc, is in talks to buy 22 percent of compatriot mobile network provider Asia Pacific Telecom Co Ltd, local media reported citing unidentified sources. The deal will be worth T... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Police in China’s restive far western region of Xinjiang are looking for the family members of one of the men who died in an apparent suicide bombing at a train station last week, a state-run newspaper said on Monday. The Chinese government... More »
(Reuters) – The International Olympics Committee (IOC) will have the final say on whether Tyson Gay’s 4×100 meters relay team mates will be stripped of their London Games medals in the wake of the sprinter’s doping ban, the IAAF told Reuters. Gay received a on... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s central bank is almost certain to maintain a neutral policy bias this week with a batch of data likely to point to an economy that is picking up speed, uncomfortable reading for a government preparing voters for a tough federal b... More »
(Reuters) – German business software maker SAP AG said Vishal Sikka, head of products and innovation, has stepped down and that it had named two new members to its executive board. Sikka was leaving SAP for personal reasons with immediate effect, the company s... More »
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Businessman Ahmed Maiteeq was sworn in as Libya’s new prime minister on Sunday after chaotic voting in parliament, but hours later the deputy speaker declared the election invalid as a power struggle erupted in the assembly. The divisions i... More »
CHARLOTTE North Carolina (Reuters) – American J.B. Holmes used a mixture of raw power and a deft short game to win the $6.9 million Wells Fargo Championship by one stroke on Sunday. Nearly three years after undergoing brain surgery, Holmes completed the long j... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama poked fun at himself and what he called a hard year but aimed his most caustic humor at Washington gridlock when political and media luminaries gathered at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association di... More »
BELFAST (Reuters) – Northern Ireland police released Gerry Adams from custody on Sunday and the Sinn Fein leader sought to calm fears that his four-day detention could destabilize the British province by pledging his support to the peace process. Police arrest... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – The dollar got off to a cautious start on Monday having staged a curious reversal late last week that saw it erase all of the gains sparked by a strong payrolls report. Data on Friday showed U.S. employers hired workers at the fastest clip i... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Beijing’s attack on yuan speculators has proven extraordinarily successful, so much so that traders no longer see it as a short-term intervention but a deeper market shift that has now gained a self-reinforcing momentum. That’s bad news fo... More »
(Reuters) – German engineering firm Siemens AG is close to finalizing an agreement to sell its logistics and airports solutions business to a group led by billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, quoting people familiar with the talks. O... More »
(Reuters) – Six months into China’s grand economic makeover, Beijing is playing it safe, choosing gradual progress on many fronts over game-changing, riskier reforms such as removing all controls over bank interest rates. Yet taken together, the incremental st... More »
(Reuters) – Norway picked Citigroup (C.N ) over rival U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co Inc (JPM.N ) as custodian of its sovereign oil wealth fund, the world’s biggest at $865 billion, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. Officials at the banks were not immedia... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s former Olympic cross-country skiing champion Petter Northug has told police he was under the influence of alcohol when he crashed his car in Trondheim in the early hours of Sunday, his manager Are Soerum Langaas said in a statement. “... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. micro-blogging company Twitter Inc still looks overpriced even after a 47 percent drop from its late December high of $74, according to an article in the May 5 edition of Barron’s. Officials at Twitter were not immediately available for commen... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – When the SARS outbreak arrived in Toronto on February 23, 2003, carried by a woman traveling from Hong Kong, the disease quickly spread to hospital workers and patients in area hospitals, ultimately infecting 257 individuals and killing 33 ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Any attempt by Republicans to embarrass the Obama administration over the deadly September 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, could backfire in the mid-term congressional elections, a Republican U.S. senator warned on Sunday. Some Repub... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush showed courage in breaking his “read my lips: no new taxes” campaign pledge to broker a 1990 budget compromise that may have cost him re-election two years later, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation ... More »
(Reuters) – When Noah Minskoff’s mother died of lung cancer in 2007, e-cigarettes were just entering the U.S. market. Minskoff, who had just started medical school in Utah, wondered whether the devices might have saved his mother’s life by helping her quit smo... More »
(Reuters) – Wimbledon champion Andy Murray would consider hiring seven-times grand slam winner John McEnroe as his coach, saying the controversial American would have plenty to offer his game. World number eight Murray, playing this week at the Madrid Masters,... More »
(Reuters) – The connections of Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome have already turned their attention to the Preakness Stakes after their star colt showed no ill effects from his brilliant victory in the opening leg of the Triple Crown. Art Sherman, the h... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Sunday he expects Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling to put up a “long, protracted fight” to retain ownership of the team after being banned for life from the National Basketball Associatio... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Scottish singer and DJ Calvin Harris hit the top of the British music charts on Sunday with his newly released single “Summer”, knocking Dutch artist Mr Probz into second place, the official Charts Company said. Harris outsold Mr Probz’s “Wa... More »
LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) – “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” a sequel about the web-slinging superhero, snared $92 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales over the weekend, taking the top spot on movie box office charts at the start of Hollywood’s lucrative ... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic has not managed to shake off an arm injury and has been forced to pull out of this week’s Madrid Open Masters event, the Serbian world number two said on Sunday. Djokovic, who was hampered by the injury, thought to be his righ... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Fearless counter terrorism agent Jack Bauer returns to TV on Monday after a four-year absence as Fox revives Emmy-winning thriller “24” in a limited-run series, a format the network bets is better tailored for today’s viewing habits. As... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia on Saturday endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, even though the former secretary of state has not announced whether she will seek the White House in 2016. Kaine, who backed Barack Obama when he beat Clin... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pulled out of delivering the commencement speech at Rutgers University in New Jersey on Saturday, following a months-long protest by students and faculty over her role in the Iraq war. Rice w... More »
SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) – A U.S. jury on Friday ordered Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to pay $119.6 million to Apple Inc, far less than Apple had sought and marking a big loss for the iPhone maker in the latest round of their globe-spanning mobile patent l... More »
(Reuters) – A two-month-old bear cub that bit and scratched at least 18 students at a Missouri college poses no rabies threat and won’t be killed, school officials said on Friday. The college earlier said that the cub, named Boo Boo, would have to be euthanize... More »
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) – The Florida state legislature passed a bill on Friday that would allow Major League Baseball teams in the state to seek subsidies for ballpark improvements, but only if MLB changes its hiring rules for Cuban players. A $13 mill... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actor Ben Affleck was banned from playing blackjack at a Las Vegas casino because he was “too good,” a source close to the Oscar-winner said on Friday. Affleck, 41, was stopped earlier this week by security guards at the Hard Rock Casin... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Activists have sued the city and county of San Francisco over a pilot program giving shuttles run by Google and other private companies access to municipal bus stops, claiming it favors higher-paid technology workers over low-income r... More »
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Bill Gates, the former chief executive and chairman of Microsoft Corp, will have no direct ownership in the company he co-founded by mid-2018 if he keeps up his recent share sales. Gates, who started the company that revolutionized personal... More »
(Reuters) – A healthcare worker who had traveled to Saudi Arabia was confirmed as the first U.S. case of Middle East Respiratory Virus (MERS), an often fatal illness, raising new concerns about the rapid spread of such diseases, the U.S. Centers for Disease Co... More »
CARY N.C. (Reuters) – “American Idol” runner-up Clay Aiken readily signs autographs and poses for selfies with voters in his bid for a North Carolina congressional seat, but tries hard to keep his pitch at campaign stops focused on political issues. “I have do... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British state broadcaster, the BBC, has rebuked presenter Jeremy Clarkson over using racist language while filming car show “Top Gear”, one of the most popular and profitable TV programs in the world, but dismissed calls for his resignation.... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As club sandwiches go, this undoubtedly is the biggest one in the solar system. Scientists said on Friday that Jupiter’s moon Ganymede may possess ice and liquid oceans stacked up in several layers much like the popular multilayered sand... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is probing whether a number of hedge funds may have acted improperly when they made bets on nutrition and weight loss company Herbalife Ltd last year, a source said. The regulator is reviewin... More »
TORONTO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – For Harlequin Enterprises Ltd, the romance novel publisher that News Corp agreed to buy for $415 million, the title of one of its latest offerings, “My Fair Billionaire,” could well refer to Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch’s News Corp said... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists are struggling to find the cause of a disease that is killing off numerous species of starfish on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America, dispatching the five-armed creatures in a particularly gruesome way. Rese... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management is already sitting on a $1.2 billion gain above his trading costs on his bet on Botox-maker Allergan Inc, according to a filing made on Friday. Allergan shares are now trading about 34 perc... More »
SHEFFIELD England (Reuters) – Broadway musicals are usually revived when, like “My Fair Lady” or “South Pacific”, they have been big hits. But the British stage, in London and elsewhere, has been giving flops a second chance. This year’s Olivier Award for best... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Pimco posted $5.5 billion in outflows across its U.S. open-end mutual funds in April, extending the company’s record outflow streak to 11 straight months, data from Morningstar showed on Friday. Investors have pulled $82 billion from the N... More »
TORONTO May 2 (Reuters) – News Corp NWSA.O said on Friday it would buy romance novel publisher Harlequin Enterprises Ltd from Canadian newspaper company Torstar Corp TSb.TO for C$455 million ($415 million) in cash in a move to boost its non-English book publis... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Six months after the record was set for the most expensive painting in auction history at the biggest-ever sale of art, eyes are trained on New York’s upcoming auctions for signs of whether the boom will continue or the bubble will burst. ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – For American sports fans, this time of year is something close to Nirvana. The NBA playoffs. The NHL playoffs. The beginning of baseball season. The NFL draft. In short, a perfect storm of professional athletics. Throw in the imminent arri... More »
(Reuters) – Christine Stachurski said yes to the dress – and then the dress turned out to be a fake. “You get this thing in the back of your mind that says it’s probably too good to be true and I should have listened to it,” says Stachurski, 37, of Fontana, Ca... More »
(Reuters) – Bill Moran’s career as a financial adviser with Merrill Lynch blossomed in the 1990s when he came out as a gay man and started focusing on the needs of the gay and lesbian community. He stopped cold calling prospects as he had when he was building ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The recovery in euro zone manufacturing accelerated at the start of the second quarter with solid growth across most of the bloc although French factories struggled to maintain momentum, a business survey showed on Friday. Growth was again l... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The number of people out of work in the euro zone fell slightly in March but remained near a record high, a sign that European households are yet to feel the bloc’s economic recovery and are unlikely help generate growth in the short term.... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey said on Friday that his government would seek to raise the retirement age to 70 by the year 2035 as part of reforms aimed at stemming what they warn is a looming “fiscal crisis.” The announcement came one day ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – After weeks of public outcry, Netflix Inc brought its concerns about Internet neutrality directly to U.S. regulators this week in meetings with Federal Communications Commission staff, according to sources familiar with the matter. The v... More »
(Reuters) – U.S.-based Viacom Inc said on Thursday it would buy British TV broadcaster Channel 5 from media baron Richard Desmond for $760 million (450 million pounds) as a keystone to develop its worldwide presence. Viacom, which owns a stable of cable channe... More »
LONDON/NEW YORK/PARIS (Reuters) – Publicis and Omnicom have lost more than $1.5 billion of client work in recent weeks and face a fight to retain billions more, including a huge Samsung contract, just as the two advertising firms struggle to keep their merger ... More »
(Reuters) – A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge issued an injunction late Wednesday prohibiting a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing from proceeding with plans to buy Russian-made rocket engines used to send U.S. Air Force satellites into s... More »
A Cisco office is pictured in San Diego, California November 12, 2012. REUTERS/Mike Blake Cisco’s corporate venture-capital arm said it would deploy $150 million to start-up companies over the next two to three years, accelerating its investments into areas su... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Cisco’s corporate venture-capital arm said it would deploy $150 million to start-up companies over the next two to three years, accelerating its investments into areas such as Internet-enabled communication between objects. That theme... More »
