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| Sharp swings to first quarterly profit in two years, helped by weak yen Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:33 AM PDT  Japan's Sharp Corp reported its first quarterly net profit in two years, beating estimates, as the weaker yen and revived demand for solar cells and display panels boosted the consumer electronics maker's turnaround drive. Sharp, a supplier of panels for Apple Inc's iPhone, said on Thursday it made a net profit of 13.6 billion yen ($139 million) in its fiscal second quarter, its first since the three months ended September 2011. That easily beat an expected net loss of 9 billion yen, according to Thomson Reuters' Starmine SmartEstimate, the average of the most accurate analysts' estimates. A year earlier, in the trough of a depression brought on by strong competition from foreign rivals and pressure on its overseas revenues from a strong yen, Sharp made a net loss of 249.2 billion yen. Full Story | Top |
| EU hopeful Serbia builds unexpected alliance with Emirates Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:29 AM PDT  By Aleksandar Vasovic and Regan Doherty BELGRADE/ABU DHABI (Reuters) - From animal feed to missiles and loans, Serbia is banking on an unlikely alliance with the United Arab Emirates to upgrade its vital farming industry, revive military production and get badly needed cheaper finance. For the UAE, the new relationship offers an early back door route into the European Union, which Belgrade wants to join, and access to the former Yugoslavia's once mighty arms industry while much of the Middle East is consumed by unrest or war. Almost two decades after communist Yugoslavia's violent breakup, Serbia is struggling with high public debt and unemployment while its manufacturing industry and living standards lag way behind the EU's. Serbia has succeeded in drawing some investment from more obvious sources such as the EU, its traditional Slavic ally Russia and China, which much of the world is courting. Until last year, Belgrade had only token relations with the UAE and bilateral trade totaled a mere 20 million euros ($28 million) in 2012. Full Story | Top |
| Total profit falls as European refining hurts Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:25 AM PDT  reported a 19 percent drop in third-quarter adjusted net profits to 2.7 billion euros ($3.72 billion) on Thursday, hit by low refining margins in Europe and higher exploration costs. "Refining margins are extremely weak, we still have this endemic problem," Chief Financial Officer Patrick de La Chevardiere told reporters on a conference call. Full Story | Top |
| Iraqi tribes say Lukoil project must fuel better life Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 10:56 PM PDT  By Peg Mackey and Aref Mohammed Al-Toraba, BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Sheikh Mansour Hamid al-Imara clutches his prayer beads and watches a huge new oil facility nearing completion across the road from his village, hoping that Russian operator Lukoil will offer his poor tribesmen a better way of life. "When the lights are on at the Lukoil plant, it's a victory for us," he said, sipping tea with tribal elders in their reed meeting house, 65 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of the southern oil hub of Basra. Their sheer number leaves Lukoil with a far tougher challenge than rival firms operating the huge but sparsely populated fields nearby. It has been an uneasy co-existence since Lukoil's arrival here two years ago sparked tribal disputes that set back the start of the $30 billion project - crucial to Iraq's oil expansion - by more than a year to early 2014. Full Story | Top |
| Suncor to go ahead with Fort Hills oil sand project, profit up Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 09:05 PM PDT , Canada's largest oil and gas company, said on Wednesday it was moving ahead with its Fort Hills oil sands project in Northern Alberta, with first production expected as soon as the fourth quarter of 2017. The C$13.5 billion ($12.9 billion) project, located some 500 km (310 miles) north of Edmonton, Alberta, is a joint venture with France's Total SA Suncor separately said its third-quarter profit rose 10 percent, boosted by record production from its Oil Sands segment and favorable pricing for western Canadian crude oil. That beat the average analyst estimate of 87 Canadian cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Suncor's cash flow, a glimpse of its ability to pay for new projects like Fort Hills, fell 7 percent to C$2.5 billion, or C$1.69 per share, from C$2.7 billion, or C$1.79. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico plan to beef up tax revenues nears final Senate approval Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 08:49 PM PDT By Michael O'Boyle, Miguel Gutierrez and Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Senate on Wednesday was close to passing a package of measures to bolster the country's weak tax revenues, including higher taxes for the rich, levies on sugary drinks and junk food, as well as a charge on stock market gains. After giving general approval to the fiscal bill late on Tuesday, the Senate must still vote on divisive sections that lawmakers want to repeal or amend, a process which has been held up by opposition from conservatives. The fiscal reform is one the main planks of President Enrique Pena Nieto's economic agenda, and although it will not raise as much new revenue as had originally been hoped, it has prompted vigorous attacks from opponents and lobbyists. Disputes over the bill, which aims to introduce a new top income tax rate of 35 percent, risk complicating negotiations over other reforms sought by the Revolutionary Institutional Party, which lacks a majority in Congress. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. food group faces legal trouble in fight over GMO labeling Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 07:44 PM PDT A lobbying group for major U.S. food manufacturers continues to run afoul of campaign finance laws in the way that it has contributed funds to block a measure that would require labeling of genetically modified foods in Washington state, according to a statement issued Wednesday by the state's attorney general. State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said he will amend a lawsuit filed October 16 to raise the total amount he alleges the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) illegally concealed to $11 million, from the $7.2 million in the original complaint. GMA represents some of the world's largest food and beverage companies and is lobbying heavily against the measure known as I-522 that is set for a public vote in Washington state on November 5. GMA is the largest contributor to the "No on 522" campaign. Full Story | Top |
| Canada gives ConocoPhillips okay for exploratory drilling in Far North Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 06:04 PM PDT  Canada's National Energy Board on Wednesday approved ConocoPhillips's application to start exploratory drilling in the Northwest Territories, the first time the federal regulator has granted authorization for horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in Canada's Far North. The independent NEB, whose responsibilities include safety, protection of the environment and conservation of resources, gave ConocoPhillips permission to drill two wells near Norman Wells, 728 miles from Yellowknife, the territorial capital, and 100 miles south of the Arctic Circle. ConocoPhillips won a land use permit and water license from the local authorities in June, the NEB said in a press release. Full Story | Top |
| Obama blames 'bad apple' insurers for canceled coverage Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 05:31 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton and David Morgan BOSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that "bad apple" insurance companies, not his signature healthcare law, are to blame for hundreds of thousands of people losing their coverage in the past few weeks. As administration officials scrambled to fix technical problems on an online insurance marketplace that is central to the success of the Affordable Care Act, Obama blamed private insurers for a separate problem that has critics questioning his honesty. The president has repeatedly promised that people who are happy with their health plans would not have to change coverage because of the law, known as Obamacare. But the termination of individual policies has given his Republican opponents additional ammunition to criticize the program they have tried to stop since its inception in Obama's first term. Full Story | Top |
| Batista's OGX files for bankruptcy protection in Brazil Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 04:21 PM PDT  By Sabrina Lorenzi and Jeb Blount RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - OGX Petróleo e Gas Participações SA, the Brazilian oil company controlled by former billionaire Eike Batista, sought court protection from creditors on Wednesday in Latin America's largest-ever corporate bankruptcy filing. The bankruptcy protection request, filed in a Rio de Janeiro court, came after OGX failed to reach an agreement with creditors to renegotiate part of its $5.1 billion debt load. The request marks another chapter in the unraveling of Batista's once high-flying industrial empire, which he has been dismantling in recent months after disappointing output from offshore OGX wells set off a crisis of investor confidence. If the court approves the request, OGX will have 60 days to come up with a restructuring plan. Full Story | Top |
| White House faces tough sell in Congress on delay of Iran sanctions Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 04:10 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Obama administration officials have been pushing U.S. lawmakers hard to hold off on new sanctions over Iran's nuclear program, but some key lawmakers said on Wednesday they had not yet been convinced to support a delay. Senator Bob Corker, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a member of the Senate Banking Committee, which is considering the sanctions package, said lawmakers were skeptical because they felt they had to push the White House to back strict sanctions on Tehran. "I think ... because Congress had to push the administration into the sanctions regime in the first place, there is a degree of skepticism. Corker had a breakfast meeting on Wednesday with Secretary of State John Kerry. Full Story | Top |
| Mosquitoes known to carry dengue, yellow fever seen in California Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 04:02 PM PDT By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A tropical mosquito known to carry potentially fatal diseases such as dengue and yellow fever has been detected in California, raising concerns among public health officials and prompting intense efforts to eradicate the insect. No illnesses associated with the mosquito, known by the scientific name Aedes aegypti, have been reported since it first appeared in California's Central Valley in June, and none of the specimens trapped and tested has been found to be infected. "If it gets established, it's going to change the way we live in California," Tim Phillips, manager of the Fresno Mosquito and Vector Control District, which identified some of the first small invaders, said on Wednesday. How Aedes aegypti was introduced to the California remains a mystery. Full Story | Top |
| New dolphin species spotted swimming off Australian coast Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 03:35 PM PDT A newly discovered species of humpback dolphin has been seen swimming off the northern Australia coast, an international team of scientists reported this week. All humpback dolphins have a characteristic hump just below the dorsal fin, but there are several distinct species in this family of marine mammals, the scientists found. While the Atlantic humpback dolphin has been recognized as a species, the latest research offers the best evidence yet that the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin should be split into three species, including one that is new to science. Researchers examined the humpback dolphin family's evolutionary history using both physical features and genetic data, the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a statement about the discovery. Full Story | Top |
| Planet hunters find Earth-like twin beyond the solar system Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 03:33 PM PDT By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - For the first time, scientists have found a planet beyond the solar system that not only is the same size as Earth, but has the same proportions of iron and rock, a key step in an ongoing quest to find potentially habitable sister worlds. Kepler-78b was discovered last year with NASA's now-idled Kepler space telescope, which detected potential planets as they circled in front of their parent stars, blocking a bit of light. That measurement not only revealed that Kepler-78b was relatively small, with a diameter just 20 percent larger than Earth's, but that it was practically orbiting on the surface of its host star. In two papers in this week's journal Nature, the teams report that not only were they successful, but that they came to the same conclusion: Kepler-78b has roughly the same density as Earth, suggesting that it also is made primarily of rock and iron. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. appeals court revives patent fight over AstraZeneca drug Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 03:27 PM PDT A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday reinstated part of a legal fight by AstraZeneca over a patent protecting its Pulmicort Respules asthma drug, months after the court temporarily halted competitors from distributing generic versions. The ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reverses an earlier decision that generic drugmakers -including Apotex Inc, Sandoz Inc and Watson Laboratories Inc -had not infringed an AstraZeneca patent relating to the drug. Full Story | Top |
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