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| Afghan president condemns U.S. airstrike that killed a child, two women Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 11:49 AM PST  Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai said U.S. forces had bombed a home in Helmand killing a small child and wounding two women on Thursday and condemned the attack as another sign of disregard for civilian life, his spokesman said. The strike could not have come at a worse time, as Karzai is engaged in a stand-off with the American government over a bilateral security agreement that will help shape the presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014. Full Story | Top |
| China military sends air patrols through new defense zone: Xinhua Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 11:38 AM PST  China's military sent several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft on patrol in disputed air space over the East China Sea on Thursday, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported, quoting a spokesman for the People's Liberation Army Air Force. The aircraft were part of what Xinhua called "normal air patrols" in the new air defense zone Beijing has declared. The move raises the stakes in a standoff with the United States, Japan and South Korea over the zone. Japan and South Korea sent their own military aircraft through the air space on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela central bank denies transactions with Wall Street Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 11:34 AM PST  By Brian Ellsworth CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's central bank president denied on Thursday that the institution is carrying out any transactions with Wall Street banks, a day after a senior government source said it was evaluating a swap agreement involving its gold reserves. Opposition leaders and local media have reported that Venezuela is seeking to boost availability of hard currency through transactions with Goldman Sachs "With respect to the institutions you've mentioned, the central bank ... is not carrying out any operations with these institutions," Central Bank President Eudomar Tovar said at a press conference in response to a question about the reports. Full Story | Top |
| Monte Paschi hopes to return to profit in 2014: CFO Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 11:32 AM PST MILAN (Reuters) - Italian lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena said it hoped to return to profit in 2014 after three consecutive years of losses, Chief Financial Officer Bernardo Mingrone said on Thursday. The Tuscan lender, the world's oldest, booked nearly 8 billion euros ($10.88 billion) of losses over 2011 and 2012 and is on track to also end 2013 in the red. ($1 = 0.7353 euros) (Reporting by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Lisa Jucca) Full Story | Top |
| EXCLUSIVE-Damaged Brazil stadium may be delayed till Feb -source Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 11:20 AM PST (Adds details on probe) By Brian Winter SAO PAULO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A fatal construction accident at Sao Paulo's World Cup stadium may delay its opening until February, but FIFA is not worried about it being ready on time to host the tournament's opening game in June, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Thursday. A preliminary investigation into Wednesday's accident, in which a crane collapsed and killed two workers, indicated that damage was confined to the concourse area and did not affect the stands - which could have taken longer to fix. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iran shakes up foundation controlled by Ayatollah's business empire Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 11:19 AM PST  By Steve Stecklow LONDON (Reuters) - A multi-billion dollar organization controlled by Iran's supreme leader shook up the management of its charity division, appointing as its new chief a man involved in the confiscation of thousands of properties from Iranian citizens. Aref Nozori was named director general of the Barakat Foundation, Iran's state news agency reported on Wednesday. The foundation is a unit of a massive business empire controlled by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that is known as Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam. The report by the Islamic Republic News Agency stated that Setad's president, Mohammad Mokhber, had ordered the appointment of Norozi, who once headed Setad's real-estate division and served on the boards of several Setad-linked companies. Full Story | Top |
| Monte Paschi says cap increase deal with banks expires in January Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 11:17 AM PST  By Silvia Aloisi MILAN (Reuters) - A preliminary commitment by banks to underwrite Monte dei Paschi's 3-billion euro ($4 billion) capital increase expires at the end of January, the Italian bank said in a document showing why it needs to press on with the cash call. If no capital increase is launched by that date, the pre-underwriting agreement with a pool of 10 banks would come to an end and Monte dei Paschi would have to restart negotiations to form a new consortium guaranteeing the rights issue, it said. Monte dei Paschi's board approved the capital increase earlier this week as it seeks to pay back a 4.1 billion euros state bailout and avert nationalization. Full Story | Top |
| Monte Paschi CEO hopes foundation will remain shareholder Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 11:15 AM PST hopes its biggest shareholder, a charitable foundation with strong local ties, will be able to repay its debt and remain a stable investor in Italy's third-largest bank after a 3-billion euro capital increase. "My hope is that the foundation will solve its problems with debt and remain a stable shareholder in the bank alongside the other strategic investors thta will buy into the cash call," Chief Executive Fabrizio Viola told a conference call on Thursday. Monte dei Paschi is due to launch the cash call in January to pay back the bulk of a 4.1-billion euro state bailout. But its bid to tap the market for fresh funds is complicated by the fact that the Monte dei Paschi di Siena foundation, which owns 33.5 percent, is also trying to sell down its stake to pay back 350 million euros of debt. Full Story | Top |
| Speedy Hire uncovers accounting problems, CEO steps down Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 11:09 AM PST said its chief executive was standing down and that the finance director of its international unit had been suspended after it uncovered accounting irregularities. The company said on Thursday that, based on the information it had available, control processes within its international division had been repeatedly and deliberately circumvented. Group Chief Executive Steve Corcoran will step down from the board and leave the company at a date to be finalized, the company said. Speedy Hire said the issues were limited to smaller contracts in its international division, which operates mainly in the Middle East and accounts for 5 percent of group revenue. Full Story | Top |
| Top EU powers retreat further on aviation emission plans Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 11:05 AM PST  By Ben Garside LONDON (Reuters) - Britain, France and Germany want to curtail further a European Union plan to regulate CO2 emissions from flights, setting up a clash with Brussels keen to maintain the bloc's climate policy which has sparked threats of a global trade war. "We currently feel that a scope covering flights within the European Economic Area would be the best way (forward)," a UK government spokesman said, referring only to Britain's position. That represents a climb-down from the EU's unified position in September, when the bloc entered negotiations at the U.N.'s aviation body ICAO aiming to craft a global agreement to curb the fast rising output of heat-trapping gases from aviation. The nearly 190 nations at ICAO agreed to design a global scheme by 2016 that would not take effect until 2020 but rejected letting Europe apply its own plan to foreign carriers in the meantime. Full Story | Top |
| Renault-Nissan to build second engine with AvtoVAZ Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 10:50 AM PST  By Laurence Frost and Gilles Guillaume BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, France (Reuters) - Renault-Nissan will build a second engine with Russian partner AvtoVAZ and aims to overcome a decline in Lada sales in a market set to overtake Germany within two years, Renault's Production of a long-planned 1.6-litre engine begins this week at the AvtoVAZ plant in Togliatti and will soon expand to a second petrol engine, Bruno Ancelin said in an interview at the French carmaker's headquarters outside Paris. Renault and Japanese alliance partner Nissan are increasing local parts sourcing as they prepare to take control of the maker of Lada cars and defend a combined 30 percent market share against an encroaching Hyundai . Full Story | Top |
| Gatehouse Bank, Sigma to build 6,600 UK rental homes Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 10:35 AM PST Shariah-compliant Gatehouse Bank has formed a joint venture with property developer Sigma Capital to build thousands of rental homes in Britain, as it looks to gain from a decline in home ownership. Britain, traditionally seen as nation of homeowners, has seen record numbers of households move into the rental sector in recent years due to a shortage of homes and mortgages. We only see that growing as affordability constraints continue to strengthen," Gatehouse Bank's vice president of real estate, Scott Nichol, told Reuters on Thursday. He said the private rented sector was very fragmented, with many "mom and pop" landlords. Full Story | Top |
| Eni may seek up to $10 billion from Statoil in gas dispute Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 10:24 AM PST  said it may demand as much as $10 billion from Norway's Statoil Eni started arbitration proceedings against Statoil in August. Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni said on Thursday that a recent Norwegian media report that it was demanding $10 billion was "probably true". The dispute stems from a 1997 supply agreement that ties natural gas prices to refined oil products, a common practice in the past that has proven expensive as European spot gas prices have fallen relative to oil prices. Full Story | Top |
| Co-op Bank loses customers after ex-chairman scandal Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 10:17 AM PST  said it has lost current account customers as a result of a scandal involving its former chairman and a scheme that makes it easier for people to switch bank accounts. British police last week arrested the former Co-op Bank chairman Paul Flowers as part of an investigation into the supply of illegal drugs. Finance minister George Osborne has ordered an inquiry into the bank, just as its mutually owned parent attempts to push through a rescue plan that passes control of the lender to a group of hedge funds. Co-op Bank said its recent troubles, competition from other banks and the introduction of seven-day account switching may have contributed "to an increase the bank has seen in the switching out of current accounts." Investigations are likely to mean the bank will incur more costs than expected as it is subjected to more scrutiny from regulators and takes up management time, the bank said. Full Story | Top |
| Four Libyan soldiers killed in new violence in Benghazi Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 10:06 AM PST  By Ayman al-Warfalli BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Four Libyan soldiers were killed when clashes erupted between the army and militant Islamists in the eastern city of Benghazi on Thursday, army and security officials said. Libya's nascent military is struggling to curb Islamist militants and militias who fought in the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi but refuse to disarm and control parts of the OPEC producer. Western powers fear the North African country will slide towards instability and become a safe haven for al Qaeda as much of the country is controlled by militias or heavily-armed tribes. Fighting initially broke out on Monday between army special forces and members of the Ansar Sharia in Libya's second-largest city, killing at least nine people before the Islamists retreated from their main base. Full Story | Top |
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