WASHINGTON U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders apologized to front-runner Hillary Clinton at a debate on Saturday for a breach of Clinton voter files by a Sanders staffer that intensified tensions between the two camps. The Sanders campaign a... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders regained access to crucial voter files on Friday after taking the Democratic National Committee to court and accusing party leaders of trying to undermine his White House bid and help rival Hilla... More »
SAN FRANCISCO/BENGALURU Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook dismissed as “total political crap” the notion that the tech giant was avoiding taxes. Cook’s remarks, made on CBS’ 60 Minutes show, come amid a debate in the United States over corporations avoiding t... More »
ZURICH The Swiss Justice Ministry said it had frozen millions of Swiss francs related to world soccer body FIFA, a spokesman said on Thursday, confirming a media report. “U.S. authorities asked for documents related to 50 accounts at different banks, through w... More »
Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP [CBS.UL] is close to an agreement to buy Avon Products Inc’s (AVP.N) North American business for $170 million, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. New York-based Cerberus will also invest $435 millio... More »
HAVANA U.S. President Barack Obama is welcome to visit Cuba but not to meddle in its internal affairs, a senior foreign ministry official said on Wednesday on the eve of the first anniversary of the two countries’ historic rapprochement. “The day that the pres... More »
U.S. and Cuban officials said on Wednesday they had made important headway in a months-long effort to restore scheduled flight service between the countries after half a century of confrontation. An agreement would pave the way for U.S. airlines to schedule fl... More »
Business software maker Oracle Corp on Wednesday delivered a third-quarter profit forecast that did not quite meet analysts’ expectations, and the company’s shares fell about 1 percent in extended trading. Oracle forecast third-quarter profit of about 63-66 ce... More »
SAN SALVADOR El Salvador’s former soccer federation president, Reynaldo Vasquez, who is wanted in the United States in connection with a probe targeting alleged corruption in the sport, has been detained, police said on Wednesday. Earlier this month El Salvado... More »
PARIS/LONDON Donning Stormtrooper and Darth Vader masks, dressed in capes and holding lightsabers, fans young and old turned out for the first screenings in France, Germany, Australia and Britain of “The Force Awakens,” some lining up for hours to watch the fi... More »
Google plans to make its self-driving cars unit, which will offer rides for hire, a stand-alone business under its parent company Alphabet Inc next year, Bloomberg reported. The service could be launched in San Francisco and Austin, Texas locations, where it h... More »
Facebook Inc said on Wednesday it launched its instant articles service for Android users which allows media firms to publish articles directly to the social network’s news feeds. The service involves more than 350 publications worldwide including the New York... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on Wednesday that his department has been consulting social media in reviews of immigration applications since early this year, hitting back at criticism that U.S. authorities are not doing enough to... More »
CARACAS Venezuela’s opposition trounced the ruling Socialists on Sunday to win the legislature for the first time in 16 years and gain a long-sought platform to challenge President Nicolas Maduro’s rule of the OPEC nation. The opposition Democratic Unity coali... More »
SINGAPORE Crude oil prices dipped further on Monday after OPEC failed to agree on output targets to reduce a bulging glut that has cut prices by more than 60 percent since June 2014. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries failed to agree on an o... More »
MOSCOW Russia will consider Afghanistan’s request for arms supply in a careful manner, but that task belongs first of all to the United States, RIA news agency cited Kremlin’s special envoy to Afghanistan as saying on Monday. Zamir Kabulov told the agency that... More »
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama on Sunday laid out the most sweeping defense yet of his strategy to defeat Islamic State, but he offered no U.S. policy shift to confront what he called a “new phase” in the terrorist threat after a mass shooting in California... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidates roundly criticized President Barack Obama’s Sunday night address to the nation about the U.S. response to the threat of terror, arguing that he lacked a vision and was not aggressive enough. Republicans have become... More »
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama has asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the State Department to review the K-1 fiance visa program that was used by a couple responsible for a mass shooting in California, a White House official said on Sunday. ... More »
WASHINGTON The White House is urging Silicon Valley to help address the threat posed by militant groups by restricting the use of social media for planning and promoting violence, a senior administration official said on Sunday. Last week’s mass shooting in Ca... More »
BOSTON/SINGAPORE Parents who gave their child a Kidizoom smartwatch or a VTech InnoTab tablet may have exposed them to identity theft after Hong Kong-based VTech said hackers stole the personal information of more than 6 million children. The breach underscore... More »
Univision has asked a U.S. federal court to throw out a $500 million lawsuit filed by presidential candidate Donald Trump for the Spanish-language television network’s decision to end its contract to broadcast the Miss USA beauty pageant, which is owned in par... More »
BERLIN A Vega rocket bearing a European prototype satellite blasted into space early on Thursday on a mission to search for ripples in space and across time, a phenomenon predicted but never proven by physicist Albert Einstein 100 years ago. The launch lit up ... More »
HONG KONG The theft of toy maker VTech Holdings Ltd’s database highlights a growing problem with basic cyber security measures at small, non-financial companies that handle electronic customer data, industry watchers said on Monday. The hacked data at VTech in... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said on Sunday that he found facilities at a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan to be “really quite nice” and that people there would rather stay or return home to Syria than come to the United States. But Car... More »
SAN FRANCISCO The holiday shopping rush that kicked off on Friday is unlikely to bring much cheer to investors looking for a revival in retail stocks. After months of uninspiring sales growth and recent disappointments from Macy’s and Nordstrom, shareholders o... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson, who last week compared Syrian refugees to “rabid dogs,” met with refugees in Jordan on Saturday and urged the U.S. government to do more to help but did not endorse bringing them to the United States. Ca... More »
SAO PAULO The reliance of Brazil’s Grupo BTG Pactual SA on market funding may pose an immediate challenge for new boss Persio Arida, who sought to calm clients on Friday after its shares fell for a third straight day. The São Paulo-based investment bank tapped... More »
SAO PAULO Clients stepped up withdrawals from Grupo BTG Pactual SA’s money management unit on Thursday, according to a source with knowledge of the bank’s strategy, as Latin America’s largest independent investment bank tries to contain fallout from the arrest... More »
BRASILIA A Brazilian judge on Thursday denied a request for the release of Grupo BTG Pactual SA (BBTG11.SA) top executive, Andre Esteves, who was arrested a day earlier for allegedly obstructing a massive corruption probe at state-run oil company Petrobras. Su... More »
YANGON Hopes faded on Monday that any of 100 people still missing would be found alive two days after a landslide near a jade mine in northern Myanmar smashed into a makeshift settlement, burying mine workers as they slept. Rescue workers had recovered 104 bod... More »
BUENOS AIRES Conservative challenger Mauricio Macri turned Argentine politics on its head on Sunday, kicking the ruling Peronist movement out of power with a promise to liberalize the ailing economy and end a culture of divisive politics. Macri, the son of an ... More »
BUENOS AIRES By the end of President-elect Mauricio Macri’s first four-year term, Argentina will have doubled wheat shipments and surpassed Russia and Brazil as a corn exporter, by some estimates, as the abandonment of years-long trade restraints unleashes the... 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 »
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 »
BOGOTA Colombia said on Friday it plans to legalize medical marijuana in a further shift in drug policy after suspending aerial fumigation of illicit crops. The government is preparing a decree which would approve the therapeutic use of marijuana, the presiden... More »
LOS ANGELES El Nino’s warm currents have brought fish in an unexpected spectrum of shapes and colors from Mexican waters to the ocean off California’s coast, thrilling scientists with the sight of bright tropical species and giving anglers the chance of a once... More »
MOSCOW Russia’s biggest search site Yandex said on Friday it had asked the European Commission to investigate Google’s practices in relation to its Android mobile operating system in the European Union. The new complaint could strengthen the case against Googl... More »
Hulu is looking to sell a stake to Time Warner Inc (TWX.N) in talks that would value the video-streaming service provider at above $5 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. The talks include cash investment and content licensing, the Journal reported, citi... More »
CERRO LAS CAMPANAS, Chile Chilean President Michelle Bachelet put hammer to stone on an Andean mountaintop on Wednesday evening to mark the start of construction for one of the world’s most advanced telescopes, an instrument that may help shed light on the pos... More »
WASHINGTON Murals from ancient Egypt’s vibrant New Kingdom era depicting bees and honey amid scenes of everyday life some 4,400 years ago provide early evidence of people using of beehive products. But humans have been using the stuff far longer than that. Sci... More »
FAJARDO, Puerto RicoRepublican presidential candidate Ben Carson endorsed U.S. statehood for Puerto Rico on Sunday, citing its “very strategic” location for military defense. Speaking at a convention for Puerto Rican gubernatorial candidate Ricardo Rossello, a... More »
NEW YORKDonald Trump’s appearance as guest host of “Saturday Night Live” helped the TV comedy sketch show earn its highest viewership ratings since 2012, the NBC television network said on Sunday. The show, which came under fire from Latino groups for inviting... More »
NEW YORKCandidate Donald Trump on Saturday satirized his imaginary presidency with a Washington Monument covered in gold mirrors and policy agenda made of magic in his turn as host of comedy show “Saturday Night Live.” The Republican front runner steered clear... More »
WASHINGTONHillary Clinton on Saturday called for looser federal regulations governing marijuana, to boost scientific research on a drug that many tout for relieving pain, among other medical benefits, according to media reports. Speaking at a campaign event in... More »
CHICAGO/MEXICO CITYMonsanto Co on Friday denied that plantings of its genetically modified soybeans have impacted bees, led to deforestation or caused damage to the honey production industry in two Mexican states. Mexico’s Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked a ... More »
(The Sports Xchange) – Forward Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for the eighth consecutive time, rolling to a 103-93 victory Sunday night at Staples Center. Center Zaza Pachulia ... More »
WASHINGTON Battered by weeks of negative headlines, Republican Jeb Bush launches a campaign reboot on Monday with a “Jeb Can Fix It” tour and release of an e-book that reveals a more personal side to a 2016 candidate who has struggled on the public stage. Bush... More »
(The Sports Xchange) – Hassan Whiteside scored 25 points to lead the Miami Heat to a 109-89 comeback victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday. Guard Dwyane Wade finished with 20 points for the Heat, who trailed by as many as 21 points early in the third peri... More »
WASHINGTON House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan on Sunday ruled out working with President Barack Obama on overhauling U.S. immigration policy, saying it would be “a ridiculous notion” to pursue legislation because Obama cannot be trusted on the issue. R... More »
NEW YORK The former leaders of New York’s two legislative chambers face simultaneous public corruption trials this month in a Manhattan federal courthouse, shining a spotlight on the sordid side of state politics. Former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said he is conflicted about the death penalty and wants to see reforms in how it is implemented. Bush, in an interview taped for broadcast on Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said executions can provide cl... More »
LONDON Three of Europe’s top drugmakers – GlaxoSmithKline, Roche and Sanofi – face health checks this week at high-profile presentations designed to show they can overcome looming market threats. The unusual confluence of investor days comes at a testing time ... More »
KRAKOW, Poland Oscar-winning film-maker Roman Polanski said on Friday he was grateful and relieved after a Polish court rejected a U.S. request for his extradition over a 1977 child sex conviction. The case of the Polish-born Polanski, now 82, remains an inter... More »
New York Times Co (NYT.N) reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, and said it expected digital revenue from its international business to account for a significant portion of its revenue in five years. The newspaper publisher said earlier this month ... More »
LONDON, Anyone who goes down with flu in Europe this winter could be asked to enroll in a randomized clinical trial in which they will either be given a drug, which may or may not work, or standard advice to take bed rest and paracetamol. Those who agree could... More »
GUATEMALA CITY Jimmy Morales, a former TV comedian who has never held office, swept to power in Guatemala’s presidential election on Sunday after milking public anger over a corruption scandal that deepened distrust of the country’s political establishment. Th... More »
DETROIT Negotiators for the United Auto Workers and General Motors Co reached a tentative agreement on undisclosed terms for a new four-year labor contract, averting a threatened strike, the union said late on Sunday night. The proposed deal will now go to a c... More »
(The Sports Xchange) – Fullback Mike Tolbert scored two touchdowns, and the Carolina Panthers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 27-16 Sunday night to get off to the best start in franchise history. The Panthers, who played their first home game in nearly a mont... More »
AUSTIN, Texas A downcast Nico Rosberg said he was at a loss to explain the error that gifted Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton both victory and a third Formula One world championship in a rollercoaster U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday. The German was leading when he ... More »
U.S. regulators are expanding their probe into Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE)(DB.N) as a money laundering investigation of a Moscow unit has widened into possible sanctions violations, the Financial Times reported, citing sources. The U.S. Justice Department and ... More »
AUSTIN, Texas An ‘overwhelmed’ Lewis Hamilton hoped to inspire others with his achievements, just as Ayrton Senna has fired his imagination as a boy, after celebrating the greatest day of his career with a third Formula One world title on Sunday. “I’m just ove... More »
BOSTON/NEW YORK A panel of medical experts said on Friday the prices of prescription medicines in the United States need to be brought in line with the value they bring to patients instead of continuing to let drugmakers set any price they choose. “Americans a... More »
WASHINGTON The howler monkeys whose guttural calls reverberate through Central and South American rainforests possess a secret that the males of the species may prefer to be left unrevealed. Howler monkeys make among the loudest, deepest sounds of any land ani... More »
AT&T Inc (T.N), the No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier and the world’s largest pay-TV operator, raised its 2015 earnings forecast as quarterly earnings beat expectations on cost cuts and gains in wireless and DirecTV subscribers. AT&T shares rose 1.7 percent in after... More »
HAVANA Cuba on Wednesday launched an initiative to protect sharks in some of the most pristine habitat for the predators whose populations have been in steep decline. The action plan, reached through two years of collaborative research with the New York-based ... More »
A federal probe into allegations of corruption at Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s (WMT.N) operations in Mexico have found very little, and is likely to result in a much smaller case than investors expected, The Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with th... More »
Investors questioned Netflix Inc’s premium valuation after the video-streaming service reported U.S. subscriber additions below its own expectations, a sign that competition from the likes of Hulu is intensifying. Netflix shares fell more than 9 percent to $10... More »
BRUSSELS Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (ABI.BR) CEO says a study of SABMiller’s (SAB.L) African beer markets and talks with top shareholders led to an “alignment of stars” that drew it to its nearest rival. But observers say the real catalysts for the $100 billion ta... More »
MOSCOW Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet the United Nations’ special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, on Tuesday, RIA news agency quoted the ministry’s press department as saying. RIA said the information came in response to a question on wh... More »
NEW YORK The financial sector, recently a weak performer in the stock market, will garner the majority of investor attention this week as a number of big banks post their quarterly results. Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo & Co, Citig... More »
MEXICO CITY Mexican telecoms regulator IFT said on Sunday that it will force Telmex to offer competitors better terms as it seeks to open up its local network, part of an effort to increase competition in a sector dominated by billionaire Carlos Slim. The move... More »
The U.S. administration hopes to release the full text of a Pacific trade deal within the next 30 days, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in an interview with CNN. The United States sealed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with 11 trading partner... More »
DoubleLine Capital, the investment firm with $80 billion in assets overseen by widely followed co-founder Jeffrey Gundlach, is planning two new exchange-traded funds (ETF), following the fast growth of its first such product. State Street Global Advisors, Doub... More »
(The Sports Exchange) – According to local lore, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome is built over an old voodoo pit, and for the first 60 minutes against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, it looked as though the New Orleans Saints were sticking pins all over their ... More »
The Seattle Sounders pulled out a final-minute 1-1 tie with the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday as they kept pace in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference playoff race. Chad Barrett scored in the third minute of stoppage time to snatch away a win from the Gala... More »
The task of a kicker in the National Football League (NFL) has become considerably more challenging this season, and the floundering early results have affected game outcomes and job security. When the NFL implemented a rule change in advance of this season th... More »
ATLANTA A dozen Pacific nations closed in on a sweeping free-trade pact on Sunday in Atlanta but failed to finalize terms on the fifth day of round-the-clock talks, dashing hopes raised by an earlier breakthrough on protections for new biotech drugs. U.S. offi... More »
RIO DE JANEIRO Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa said on Friday it had suspended the production, sale and use of products made by Brazilian breast-implant maker Silimed after an inspection found the company failed production standards. Anvisa acted a week after... More »
Dish Network Corp’s affiliates on Thursday surrendered 197 spectrum licenses to the U.S. government after they were held ineligible for $3.3 billion in small-business discounts earlier this year, according to a senior U.S Federal Communications Commission offi... More »
MILWAUKEE Wisconsin wildlife officials have taken to social media to refute a hoax letter that suggested they had mistakenly added deer lawn ornaments to the last two annual statewide deer tallies. The state’s Department of Natural Resources said on Facebook t... More »
HAVANA Amnesty International on Tuesday declared a Cuban graffiti artist as the country’s only prisoner of conscience, demanding the release of a man held for “disrespect of the leaders of the revolution” over a satire of Fidel and Raul Castro. Danilo Maldonad... More »
SINGAPORE Oil prices dropped on Monday despite a fall in U.S. drilling activity for the fourth straight week, with analysts pointing to a poor economic growth outlook as the main reason for low crude prices. China’s August industrial profits dropped 8.8 percen... More »
WASHINGTON Former U.S. President Bill Clinton likened the controversy over his wife Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email account while secretary of state to the same Republican and media tactics to stir controversy during his presidency, according to an i... More »
UNITED NATIONS (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and a host of celebrities kicked off a campaign on Saturday to make Internet access universal, saying this was critical to fulfilling the United Nations’ newly adopted agenda to com... More »
SINGAPORE Oil prices rose by around one percent on Monday as U.S. drilling slowed and analysts estimated that $1.5 trillion worth of planned American production investment was uneconomical at prices of $50 per barrel or lower. Crude prices have plunged over 50... More »
HAVANA Pope Francis met Cuba’s revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Sunday, hours after warning Cubans to beware the dangers of ideology and the lure of selfishness as their country enters a new era of closer ties with the United States. Latin America’s first ... More »
Cable network operator AMC Networks Inc was in preliminary talks to buy billionaire John Malone’s premium TV cable network Starz, Bloomberg reported. Starz’s shares rose 8 percent to $41.89 in extended trading. The company had a market value of about $4 billio... More »
SINGAPORE Oil prices dipped on Monday in Asia as weakening demand weighed on markets, although U.S. futures received some support from reduced American drilling. Front-month Brent crude futures were down 29 cents at $47.85 per barrel at 0649 GMT, although U.S.... More »
Google Inc said it named auto industry veteran John Krafcik as chief executive of its self-driving car project from late September. With the hiring of Krafcik, currently the president of automotive pricing terminal Truecar Inc and a former CEO of Hyundai Motor... More »
WASHINGTON Days before a Republican presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Library, an immigration advocacy group invoked the former president to attack the tough immigration rhetoric of certain candidates, including front-runner Donald Trump. A television a... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. Republican party presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said on Sunday high salaries paid to chief executives were a “joke” and a “disgrace” and said these were often approved by company boards stacked with the CEO’s friends. Trump, a real estat... More »
VENICE Films from Latin America won two of the top prizes at the 72nd Venice Film Festival on Saturday, with Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas getting the Golden Lion best film award for “Desde Alla” (From Afar). Vigas, who won for his first feature film, abou... More »
HAVANA Cuba and the United States on Friday set an agenda for improving relations, putting a priority on more easily attainable agreements while leaving aside difficult issues such as the U.S. trade embargo and naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba said. Official... More »
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said on Friday he had bought NBC’s share of the Miss Universe Organization and that all lawsuits against the media company had been settled. “Just purchased NBC’s half of the Miss Universe Organization and settl... More »
LONDON Investors pulled another $19 billion from equity funds over the past week as they sought safety in government bond funds, which have enjoyed the longest run of inflows in four years, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch said on Friday. The exodus from emerging... More »
A Manhattan prosecutor on Thursday urged a jury to convict three former executives of Dewey & LeBoeuf for allegedly cooking their law firm’s books to defraud lenders and investors, arguing they ordered the fraud even if they did not personally carry it out. “T... More »
LONDON The combined assets of the world’s largest 300 pension funds grew more than 3 percent in 2014 to a new high of more than $15 trillion, driven by retirement saving in North America and Europe, a study showed on Monday. Ageing populations in the developed... More »
GUATEMALA CITY Guatemala looked bound for a presidential election run-off as results showed the three leading candidates splitting the vote on Sunday, prolonging political uncertainty just days after a graft scandal toppled the president. Otto Perez resigned a... More »
NEW YORK The Williams Family show took center stage at the U.S. Open with Serena and Venus both cruising to straight set wins on Sunday to set up a monster quarter-final between the tennis siblings. Whenever the Williams sisters clash on court it is a major te... More »
