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| BlackRock's quarterly profit climbs as investors pile into funds Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:35 PM PDT  By Ashley Lau NEW YORK (Reuters) - BlackRock Inc, the world's largest money manager, said on Thursday first-quarter profit rose 20 percent, boosted by strong performance fees and strength in its retail business as investors poured money into long-term funds. "Even with all of the turmoil in the markets that we saw a few weeks ago, every day during that turmoil, we had net inflows," Chief Executive Officer Laurence Fink said in an interview on Thursday, referring to the company's retail client base. Fink noted most of that turmoil was due to "fast money" exits, with hedge funds moving out of their positions rather than any broad-based selling among long-term investors. Revenue at BlackRock grew 9 percent to $2.67 billion, with revenue generated by performance fees paid by investors for outsized earnings in some funds surging 46.3 percent to $158 million from a year earlier. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. seeks sanctions waiver to ship arms to Mali via Ivory Coast Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:33 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations is seeking an exemption from a U.N. Security Council arms embargo on Ivory Coast so it can ship weapons and military equipment across the East African nation to its peacekeeping mission in landlocked Mali, a spokesman said on Thursday. The statement came after U.N. sanctions monitors called for the world body to stop allowing arms to be shipped to the U.N. mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, through Ivory Coast after they said a load of military hardware sent by China violated U.N. restrictions. Full Story | Top |
| Tribeca Festival films go behind the scenes in fashion, dance and theater Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:26 PM PDT  By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) - From final fittings at a famous Parisian fashion house to rehearsals for a young choreographer's new work for the New York City Ballet and a global tour of "Richard III," documentaries at the Tribeca Film Festival give viewers the film equivalent of a backstage pass. "Dior and I," which opens on Thursday, follows creative director Raf Simons, 46, as he prepares his first couture collection for Christian Dior, and uncovers similarities between the Belgian designer and the French founder of the famous Parisian fashion house. "There were all these uncanny things," said New York-based, French-born director Frederic Tcheng about the two men, both shy, reserved and inspired by the arts. Using voiceover excerpts from Dior's 1956 memoir "Christian Dior & I," Tcheng introduces viewers to Dior, both the man and the fashion house he created. Full Story | Top |
| Lowe's to pay $500,000 in EPA lead paint settlement Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:17 PM PDT  By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lowe's Home Centers, the No. 2 U.S. home improvement retail chain, has agreed to pay a $500,000 penalty for violating federal rules governing lead paint exposure, U.S. authorities said on Thursday. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice said Lowe's had also agreed to implement a new compliance program at more than 1,700 stores nationwide. Lead exposure can cause a range of health problems, from behavioral disorders and learning disabilities to seizures and death. Lead-based paint was banned in the United States in 1978 but remains in many older homes and apartments. Full Story | Top |
| Iran cuts sensitive nuclear stockpile, key plant delayed: IAEA Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:11 PM PDT  By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has acted to cut its most sensitive nuclear stockpile by nearly 75 percent in implementing a landmark pact with world powers, but a planned facility it will need to fulfill the six-month deal has been delayed, a U.N. report showed on Thursday. The monthly update by the International Atomic Energy Agency , which has a pivotal role in verifying that Iran is living up to its part of the accord, made clear that Iran so far is undertaking the agreed steps to curb its nuclear program. In Washington, the State Department said the United States has taken steps to release a $450 million installment of frozen Iranian funds following the issuance of the report. In addition, Japan has made two more payments totaling $1 billion to Iran for crude imports, two sources with knowledge of the transactions said. Full Story | Top |
| Illinois investigates Herbalife as federal, state probes grow Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:07 PM PDT  By Svea Herbst-Bayliss BOSTON (Reuters) - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office said on Thursday it is investigating Herbalife, joining other state and federal probes of allegations that the weight loss and nutrition company is running a pyramid scheme. Madigan's office was urged to look into the company months ago by civil rights groups, which claimed it was a pyramid scheme targeting minorities. Hedge fund manager William Ackman was the first to call Herbalife a fraud and placed a $1 billion bet against the company in 2012. The company denies the allegations, and high-profile investors such as Carl Icahn, George Soros and Dan Loeb have supported the company in the past by taking stakes. Full Story | Top |
| Hotel magnate pleads guilty to U.S. campaign contribution scheme Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:03 PM PDT By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A prominent hotel executive in New York pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiring to make $188,000 of illegal campaign contributions to three U.S. candidates via straw donors. Sant Singh Chatwal, chairman of Hampshire Hotels Management, pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, to criminal charges of conspiring to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act and witness tampering. A straw donor is someone who illegally uses someone else's money to make campaign contributions in his or her own name. Chatwal entered his plea at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Leo Glasser, saying simply, "I plead guilty, sir." The case was unveiled two weeks after Hampshire named Eric Danizger to replace Chatwal as chief executive. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge declines to order 'park it now' notices for GM cars Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:00 PM PDT  A federal judge on Thursday rejected a bid to compel General Motors Co to tell customers to stop driving millions of cars that have been recalled for defective ignition switches. Attorneys representing Charles and Grace Silvas, the owners of a recalled 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt, had sought an emergency order directing GM to issue "park it now" notices for the 2.6 million vehicles that have been recalled since February over the switches. GM opposed the motion, arguing that the vehicles were safe to drive as long as nothing extra was attached to the key while it was in the ignition. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos in Corpus Christi, Texas, denied the request in a ruling on Thursday, saying that she would defer to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a federal agency that oversees auto safety. Full Story | Top |
| GM to shift global Cadillac chief back to Washington policy job-source Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:59 AM PDT General Motors Co plans to shift its global Cadillac chief back to focus full time on his former lobbying position in Washington as the No. 1 U.S. automaker deals with fallout from defective ignition switches linked to at least 13 deaths, a person familiar with the plans said on Thursday. Robert Ferguson, who was named senior vice president in charge of global Cadillac in October 2012, was sent last month by Chief Executive Mary Barra to Washington to steer the response to the crisis, which resulted in the recall of 2.6 million vehicles and the filing of numerous lawsuits against the company. GM has not said that the job in Washington is permanent or if it removed his responsibility for Cadillac. Full Story | Top |
| Four-way talks call for end to Ukraine violence Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:39 AM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed and Alexei Anishchuk GENEVA/MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States, Russia, Ukraine and European Union together called on Thursday for an immediate halt to violence in Ukraine, where Western powers believe Russia is fomenting a pro-Russian separatist movement. Washington immediately warned Moscow that it would face further sanctions if it did not carry out the agreement, reached in four-party crisis talks in Geneva. Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking in Moscow, accused Ukraine's leaders of committing a "grave crime" by using the army to try to quell unrest in the east of the country, and did not rule out sending in Russian troops. Full Story | Top |
| For Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, boring is beautiful Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:31 AM PDT  Investment banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday, helped by gains in merger advisory and stock underwriting. The results underscored how businesses viewed as stodgy before the financial crisis are becoming critical drivers of earnings for investment banks now. Goldman's investment management, stock underwriting and merger advisory businesses logged big gains. Morgan Stanley did well in those areas, as well as in wealth management and bond underwriting. Full Story | Top |
| UnitedHealth: New hepatitis C drug costs far more than forecast Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:29 AM PDT  UnitedHealth Group Inc, the largest U.S. health insurer, said it spent more than $100 million to cover a pricey new hepatitis C drug from Gilead Sciences Inc in its first three months on the market, an amount that was "multiple" times what it had expected. UnitedHealth is the first insurer to quantify its costs to cover patients using Gilead's new Sovaldi treatment, whose $84,000 price tag has spurred a national outcry over the rising costs of specialty medicines. UnitedHealth shares fell nearly 4 percent on Thursday and shares of rivals WellPoint Inc and Aetna Inc fell 3.8 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, as investors weighed what their potential costs could be as well. Sovaldi has been shown to cure most patients of the liver-wasting virus with few side effects, but health officials, insurers and Medicaid directors are balking at the cost. Full Story | Top |
| Vietnam backs out as host of 2019 Asian Games Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:28 AM PDT Vietnam quit as host of the 2019 Asian Games on Thursday, citing a lack of preparedness and concerns that holding the multi-sport event would not prove financially viable. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Vietnam was suffering from the effects of global recession and the state was unable to foot the bill for facilities and venues that would not be profitable in the years after the Games. It was not immediately clear which country would take over from Hanoi as hosts of the 18th Asian Games. "We've only heard about it and we are waiting for a formal communication from the Vietnam Olympic Committee," Randhir Singh, secretary general of the Kuwait-based Olympic Council of Asia, told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| NATO to send ships to Baltic to bolster defense of eastern European allies Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:23 AM PDT By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO is sending part of its naval rapid reaction force to the Baltic Sea as part of a drive to step up the defense of eastern European allies in response to the crisis in Ukraine, the military alliance said on Thursday. Separately, Canada said it had offered six CF-18 fighter planes as its contribution to NATO efforts to beef up its presence in eastern Europe and reassure nervous allies there that NATO would protect them in the event of any Russian aggression. NATO, the 28-member alliance dominated by the United States, has made clear it does not plan to get involved militarily in Ukraine, which is not a NATO member. Full Story | Top |
| 'X-Men' director Bryan Singer accused of drugging, raping teen Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 11:14 AM PDT  By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A director of the popular "X-Men" films, Bryan Singer, has been accused of drugging and raping a teenage boy in California and Hawaii in the late 1990s, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. court. The lawsuit filed on Wednesday, just weeks before the release of Singer's upcoming "X-Men: Days of Future Past," alleges the 48-year-old used his influence as a Hollywood insider as well as a range of drugs and alcohol to force anal and oral sex on the boy. Michael Egan seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial after wide-ranging abuses at California and Hawaii house parties beginning in the late 1990s, according to the civil action filed in Hawaii federal court. Singer's attorney, Marty Singer, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Full Story | Top |
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