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| Wall Street edges up in wake of Fed; Exxon a boost Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:24 PM PDT  The Dow was up about 3 percent as the month drew to a close, while the S&P 500 was up about 5 percent and the Nasdaq rose 4.5 percent. But it removed a phrase from a previous statement expressing worries about credit conditions after a spike in bond yields, which investors interpreted as a sign the Fed could begin tapering earlier than expected. "The Fed removed that language, and that leaves tapering on the table for December," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading, referring to the Fed's eventual trimming of asset purchases. The Fed's accommodative monetary policy in recent years has contributed to stocks' rally, and investors worry about the timing of a pullback by the Fed. The Dow Jones industrial average inched up 27.50 points, or 0.18 percent, to 15,646.09. Full Story | Top |
| Google, Oracle, Red Hat experts to help fix Obamacare website Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:06 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Experts from top technology and Internet companies including Google Inc, Oracle Corp and Red Hat Inc have joined the Obama administration's effort to fix its troubled HealthCare.gov website, a U.S. official said on Thursday. Individuals from Oracle and Red Hat have expertise in site reliability, stability and scalability, according to a blog post by Julie Bataille, spokeswoman for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which is overseeing the effort. ... Full Story | Top |
| Coke Femsa, Bimbo fall as Mexico poised to pass food, drink taxes Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 11:31 AM PDT By Elinor Comlay MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Shares of Mexico's food and drink companies fell on Thursday as Congress was poised to approve a 1 peso-per-liter tax on sugary drinks and an 8 percent tax on junk food as part of a wider tax overhaul. The Senate approved the plan, which aims to curb rising obesity levels as well as lift the poor tax take in Latin America's No. 2 economy, on Thursday morning, before sending the bill back to the lower house of Congress for final approval, expected later in the day. Shares of Mexico-based Coca-Cola Femsa, Coke's largest bottler in Latin America, were down more than 1 percent, while shares in bread and snacks maker Bimbo fell more than 2 percent in morning trading. Mexico, where obesity rates are now higher than in the United States, will be the first major soda market to tax high-calorie sodas, following a handful of other Latin American and European countries. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani PM says talks with Pakistani Taliban are underway Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 10:52 AM PDT  Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday his country had started talks with the Pakistani Taliban to try to stop what he said was the killing of innocent people and members of the law enforcement agencies. The Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella group of factions operating independently from their Afghan Taliban allies, are fighting to set up an Islamic state in Pakistan. The Pakistani government has been trying to negotiate a peace settlement to end years of fighting, but the al Qaeda-linked group had previously said it was not open to talks. "The Prime Minister informed that the dialogue with the Taliban has started," the High Commission for Pakistan in London said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Syria meets deadline to destroy chemical production facilities Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 10:31 AM PDT  By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria has destroyed or rendered inoperable all of its declared chemical weapons production and mixing facilities, meeting a major deadline in an ambitious disarmament program, the international chemical weapons watchdog said Thursday. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which won the Nobel Peace prize this month, said its teams had inspected 21 out of 23 chemical weapons sites across the country. Syria "has completed the functional destruction of critical equipment for all of its declared chemical weapons production facilities and mixing/filling plants, rendering them inoperable," it said, meeting a November 1 deadline for the work. The next target date is November 15, by when the OPCW and Syria must agree to a detailed plan of destruction, including how and where to destroy more than 1,000 metric tons of toxic agents and munitions. Full Story | Top |
| Mexican tax plan weakened further, nears final approval Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 09:49 AM PDT  By Miguel Gutierrez, Michael O'Boyle and Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Senate on Thursday made new cuts to a tax reform plan that President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed to increase the nation's anemic tax take before sending the bill back to the lower house of Congress for final approval. The bill, which includes higher taxes for the rich as well as levies on junk food and on stock market gains, is a cornerstone of a wider reform agenda that Pena Nieto is pushing to lift lackluster growth in Latin America's No. 2 economy. After conservative opponents walked out of the Senate, refusing to support the legislation, ruling party leaders struck a deal with leftist lawmakers on changes to income tax rates that would lower the bill's projected tax take. It would then fall to Pena Nieto to sign it into law. Full Story | Top |
| Siemens infrastructure unit revamp not a priority: CEO Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 09:42 AM PDT has no plan for now to dismantle its Infrastructure & Cities division, its new chief executive said in a company newsletter, brushing off a recent press report. "I have already made it clear, numerous times, that changing the IC Sector structure is not a priority for me," Joe Kaeser said in a newsletter distributed on Thursday. Germany's Manager Magazin reported earlier this month that Siemens planned to dismantle Infrastructure & Cities and was reviewing other activities. The division was set up by Kaeser's predecessor Peter Loescher in 2011, grouping businesses making products ranging from security systems to high-speed trains and power distribution systems. Full Story | Top |
| Thousands in contested Abyei vote to join South Sudan, risking tensions Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 09:34 AM PDT  By Ilya Gridneff ABYEI (Reuters) - Permanent residents of the disputed Abyei region overwhelmingly voted to join South Sudan on Thursday in a symbolic referendum that could antagonize heavily armed Arab nomads who drive their livestock through the area and claim it for Sudan. Local leaders said they held the poll because they were tired of waiting for a long-promised official plebiscite on the ownership of the remote region on the border of Sudan and South Sudan, which has seen several clashes between their troops. The one-sided vote by the Dinka Ngok people, who occupy most of Abyei's permanent settlements and are loyal to South Sudan, had already been dismissed by both Khartoum and Juba who said it would carry no legal weight. "The Abyei people have been suffering for a long time. Full Story | Top |
| Exxon's output rises but refining weakness hits profit Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 09:31 AM PDT  Exxon and other large oil companies struggling to boost production in recent years have spent heavily on new projects. In the first nine months of this year, Exxon alone spent $33 billion. "This is their first year-over-year (production) increase in more than two years," said Brian Youngberg, an energy company analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis. "It does show that they are hopefully making some progress stemming the decline that they've shown the last couple of years." Exxon last reported a quarterly gain in production in the second quarter of 2011. Full Story | Top |
| Exxon says considering Edmonton rail terminal to move Kearl crude Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 09:31 AM PDT is looking into building a rail terminal in Edmonton, Canada to move crude from its Kearl tar sands field to refineries in the United States, the company said on Thursday. Production from the Kearl field is expected to ramp up to a peak by 2015, when Exxon would hope to move the crude via pipeline, including the proposed, but politically controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Exxon said that out of prudence, it is looking at other logistical options to transport Kearl crude, including construction of a terminal in Edmonton to load the oil on rail cars for shipment to U.S. refineries. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. authorities quiz AstraZeneca over heart drug trial Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 09:26 AM PDT  By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca is being investigated by U.S. authorities over a major clinical trial that was used to win marketing approval for its new heart drug Brilinta, casting fresh doubts over the medicine. Brilinta sales have been a disappointment since its launch two years ago, although AstraZeneca has recently stepped up marketing efforts and hopes that further clinical tests will underscore its value in preventing heart attacks. The British drugmaker said on Thursday it received a civil investigative demand from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) 10 days ago, seeking documents and information regarding the so-called PLATO study. AstraZeneca plans to cooperate with the DOJ and Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said he was "very confident" in the findings of the clinical trial. Full Story | Top |
| Kenya MP accused of inciting protests against oil firm Tullow Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 08:55 AM PDT A member of Kenya's parliament said on Thursday he had been accused of inciting his community for taking part in a protest against Tullow Oil that led to the British firm suspending its operations in northern Kenya. The government has said James Lomenen led a group of about 400 people to Twiga 1 drilling camp in Turkana County who broke down the fence and "engaged in wanton destruction of property and looting" when security officials barred their entry. Lomenen, MP for the Turkana South, told Reuters the demonstrators were peaceful and said he prevented any violence, although he said those involved had been "very furious" at Tullow for not giving them enough jobs or contracts. Tullow's suspension of drilling shows the challenge energy firms face in managing local expectations of swift returns while trying to build an oil and gas industry from scratch in Kenya and east Africa, a hot new region for hydrocarbons. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. FDA outlines plan to combat drug shortages Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 08:48 AM PDT  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a strategic plan for preventing drug shortages on Thursday and proposed a rule to require drug and biotechnology companies to promptly notify the agency of potential disruptions to the supply of medically important drugs. The plan and proposal come in response to a 2011 order from President Barack Obama to solve the problem of drug shortages. The 2012 Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act called for the FDA to improve its response to imminent or existing drug shortages and to address the underlying causes of such shortages. The act also gave the FDA new authority to require drug manufacturers to notify it of potential supply disruptions. Full Story | Top |
| Shale gas fracking a low risk to public health - UK review Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 08:39 AM PDT By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - The risks to public health from emissions caused by fracking for shale oil and gas are low as long as operations are properly run and regulated, the British government's health agency said on Thursday. Public Health England (PHE) said in a review that any health impacts were likely to be minimal from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which involves the pumping of water and chemicals into dense shale formations deep underground. Since there is currently no fracking in Britain, the PHE report examined evidence from countries such as the United States, where it found that any risk to health was typically due to operational failure. Full Story | Top |
| EU prepares new GMO maize cultivation approval: draft Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 08:34 AM PDT  By Charlie Dunmore BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is on course to approve cultivation of a new type of genetically modified maize for the first time in more than a decade, according to a draft proposal from the bloc's executive seen by Reuters. The proposal was drawn up after Europe's second highest court last month blamed the European Commission for lengthy delays in the approval process for the insect-resistant maize, developed jointly by DuPont and Dow Chemical. The Commission is expected to send the proposal to EU ministers next week for approval. Even if governments fail to decide, as is expected, the Commission will have the power to grant approval by the end of the year. Full Story | Top |
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