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| Pfizer engages AstraZeneca with raised $106 billion offer Friday, May 02, 2014 12:32 AM PDT  By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc has raised its offer for AstraZeneca Plc to 63 billion pounds ($106 billion), it said on Friday, adding that the British drugmaker was reviewing the proposal. Pfizer's pursuit of AstraZeneca to create the world's biggest pharmaceuticals company - and cut its tax bill - comes amid a wave of deal-making in the healthcare sector. The 50 pounds ($84.47) a share indicative offer follows AstraZeneca's decision to rebuff an earlier proposal valuing it at 58.8 billion pounds, or 46.61 pounds per share. "Given where the shares have come from, this doesn't look unreasonable," said one fund manager whose institution is among the top 10 investors in AstraZeneca. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine attacks rebel city, helicopter shot down Friday, May 02, 2014 12:47 AM PDT  By Maria Tsvetkova SLAVIANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces attacked the rebel-held city of Slaviansk before dawn on Friday and pro-Russia separatists shot down at least one attack helicopter, killing a pilot, in a sharp escalation of the conflict. Describing the use of anti-aircraft missiles as proof of the presence of Russian special forces in the town that has become the military stronghold of the pro-Moscow movement, Ukrainian officials said Slaviansk was "tightly surrounded" and called on separatist leaders to release hostages and surrender. Reuters journalists in the city of 130,000 heard shooting from shortly after 4 a.m. (9 p.m. EDT Thursday) and saw a military helicopter open fire. The SBU security service said one military Mi-24 helicopter gunship had been shot down, killing one airman while a second had been taken prisoner by the rebels. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says Obamacare enrollment points to stable costs Thursday, May 01, 2014 01:48 PM PDT  By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Thursday predicted stable health insurance costs for consumers who have purchased Obamacare plans, defying critics who warn that President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare law will lead to skyrocketing premiums. Just over 8 million Americans signed up for private coverage in state and federal insurance marketplaces during the law's first enrollment period through April 19, according to a new administration report released on Thursday. Outside the marketplaces, the report said, an additional 5 million people bought plans that comply with Obamacare's consumer protection and benefit standards. Full Story | Top |
| NBA panel agrees to act swiftly on bid to oust Clippers owner Thursday, May 01, 2014 05:35 PM PDT  By Larry Fine NEW YORK (Reuters) - The National Basketball Association on Thursday launched its bid to oust Donald Sterling as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers for racist comments as a panel of 10 fellow team owners or their proxies unanimously agreed to proceed "as expeditiously as possible," the NBA said. The decision, reached during a telephone conference call of the NBA Board of Governors' advisory-finance committee, seemed to indicate a strong base of support among Sterling's fellow owners for his removal, as urged by league Commissioner Adam Silver. Silver on Tuesday declared Sterling banned from the NBA for life, fined him $2.5 million - the league maximum - and called on the 29 other club owners who make up the governing board to exercise their authority to force Sterling to sell the Clippers. Full Story | Top |
| Red herring in hunt for MH370 highlights air traffic flaws Thursday, May 01, 2014 10:21 PM PDT  By Tim Hepher PARIS (Reuters) - Fresh questions have been raised over air traffic co-ordination after a preliminary report on the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared almost two months ago revealed 90 minutes of wasted effort while controllers looked in the wrong country. While Flight MH370's disappearance has led to calls for real-time tracking, it has also re-focused attention on the gap between what controllers sometimes think and see, which complicated early efforts to find Air France 447 in 2009. Some 25 minutes after the Malaysian jet was first reported missing over the Gulf of Thailand on March 8, the airline told controllers that it had flown onto Cambodian airspace. In fact, by then it had flown back west across Malaysia and was already on a new southerly course thought to have taken it across the tip of Indonesia and towards the Indian Ocean, where investigators believe it crashed with 239 people on board. Full Story | Top |
| SEC probing hedge funds' bets on Herbalife Thursday, May 01, 2014 09:01 PM PDT  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is probing whether a number of hedge funds many have acted improperly when they made bets on nutrition and weight loss company Herbalife Ltd last year, a source said. The regulator is reviewing whether investors may have engaged in market manipulation or failed to properly disclose that they were working as a group when they lined up against billionaire investor William Ackman's short bet against the company, said the person, who is familiar with the investigation put not permitted to discuss it publicly. A spokesman for the SEC was not immediately available to comment. An official at Herbalife also declined to comment. Full Story | Top |
| BP cleaning up oil spill on Alaska's North Slope Thursday, May 01, 2014 03:49 PM PDT Work crews for BP Plc were clearing contaminated snow on Thursday on Alaska's North Slope after a Prudhoe Bay well line ruptured, spraying a 34-acre area with crude oil and natural gas. Just how much liquid escaped from the line remains under investigation by BP and Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation. It remains unclear whether the leak, detected earlier this week, is connected to a decline in North Slope oil production. Since the spill occurred, daily North Slope production has dropped about 10,000 barrels per day, from 533,000 to 521,000, according to state tracking data. Full Story | Top |
| Mulally to hand over Ford CEO job earlier than expected Thursday, May 01, 2014 11:14 AM PDT  By Ben Klayman DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co on Thursday made official what investors and analysts had been waiting for - Chief Executive Alan Mulally this summer will pass the baton of leadership to Chief Operating Officer Mark Fields, six months earlier than expected. The 68-year-old Mulally is credited with transforming the No. 2 U.S. automaker from a money-loser to a company that expects to realize a pretax profit of up to $8 billion this year after joining in 2006 from Boeing Co. Mulally, who was in the running for the top job at Microsoft Corp late last year, did not say what was next for him. Ford's CEO change takes effect on July 1. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. military sexual assault reports jumped 50 percent last year Thursday, May 01, 2014 01:39 PM PDT  By David Alexander and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Reported sexual assaults in the U.S. military jumped 50 percent last year, the Pentagon said on Thursday, and officials welcomed the spike as a sign that a high-level crackdown has made victims more confident their attackers will be prosecuted. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the jump in reported sexual assaults to 5,061 in the 2013 fiscal year from 3,374 the previous year, was "unprecedented." He announced six new directives to expand the fight, including an alcohol policy review and an effort to encourage reporting by male victims. Men are thought to represent about half of the victims of military sexual assault but made up only 14 percent of the reports that were investigated. "Because these crimes are underreported, we took steps to increase reporting and that's what we're seeing." Despite increased focus on the issue over the past year, the military has continued to face embarrassing incidents in which officers have been accused of tolerating sexual misconduct and even encouraging it, rather than fighting the problem. Full Story | Top |
| Dozens of U.S. colleges under investigation for sexual violence cases Thursday, May 01, 2014 01:20 PM PDT By Elvina Nawaguna WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dozens of U.S. colleges and universities are under investigation for possible violations of federal law in the handling of sexual assault and harassment complaints on their campuses, the Obama administration said on Thursday. The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights released a list of 55 colleges being investigated, a move that the agency expects will encourage dialogue and coax schools to toughen up on how they deal with sexual violence. Among the schools on the list are: Michigan State University, Arizona State University, Princeton University, Catholic University of America, Florida State University and Swarthmore College. Full Story | Top |
| Segregation in Central African Republic shows world's failure: U.N. official Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:59 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Segregating Muslims in Central African Republic to protect them from Christian militia shows the world's failure to tackle a deepening sectarian crisis, a U.N. official said on Thursday as the United Nations scrambles to find thousands of peacekeepers. "It is a collective failure of the international community that we were not able to provide the security for people in their homes," said John Ging, director of operations for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "The separation and segregation of communities in this country is not a solution for this country going forward." The United Nations has warned the crisis could spiral into a genocide in the resource-rich former French colony of 4.6 million people. Human rights officials say parts of the country have seen "religious cleansing." The violence has continued despite the presence of 2,000 French troops and some 5,600 African Union forces. Full Story | Top |
| Moscow May Day parade lauds Putin as rebels seize more Ukraine buildings Thursday, May 01, 2014 01:10 PM PDT  By Nigel Stephenson and Thomas Grove MOSCOW/DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Russia staged a huge May Day parade on Moscow's Red Square for the first time since the Soviet era on Thursday, with workers holding banners proclaiming support for President Vladimir Putin after the seizure of territory from neighboring Ukraine. Thousands of trade unionists marched with Russian flags and those of Putin's ruling United Russia party onto the giant square beneath the Kremlin walls, past the red granite mausoleum of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin. But others were more directly political, alluding to the crisis in Ukraine where Russia's annexation of Crimea in March precipitated the biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War. Full Story | Top |
| Malaysia releases missing plane report, reveals confusion Thursday, May 01, 2014 02:14 PM PDT  By Siva Govindasamy and Tim Hepher KUALA LUMPUR/PARIS (Reuters) - Malaysia on Thursday released its most comprehensive account yet of what happened to missing Flight MH370, in a preliminary report that detailed the route the plane probably took as it veered off course and revealed the confusion that followed. It showed four hours elapsed between the first sign that the Malaysia Airlines jet had failed to report in when expected to and the decision to mount a search operation - and that time included lapses of communication and a false lead from the airline itself. The document, dated April 9, also contributed to a growing safety debate by urging the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the U.N. body that oversees aviation, to consider introducing a system for tracking commercial jets. The Malaysian government and military have come under intense criticism for their handling of events on and after March 8, when the Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared with 239 passengers and crew on board. Full Story | Top |
| Air strike kills 33 in Syria's Aleppo: monitoring group Thursday, May 01, 2014 10:31 AM PDT  At least 33 people were killed when Syrian government warplanes attacked a busy market in a rebel-controlled district of Aleppo on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The attack came a day after an air strike on a school in Aleppo killed at least 18 people, mainly children. Despite the continuing civil war, Syrian authorities are preparing for a June presidential election in which President Bashar al-Assad is expected to extend his grip on power. Aleppo is divided between Assad's forces and rebels aiming to topple him. Full Story | Top |
| NBA panel agrees to act swiftly on attempted ouster of Clippers owner Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:11 PM PDT A National Basketball Association Board of Governors panel of 10 team owners or their proxies unanimously agreed on Thursday to proceed "as expeditiously as possible" with the league's attempt to oust Donald Sterling as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, the NBA said. The decision, reached during a conference call of the board's advisory finance committee, came two days after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling from pro basketball for racist comments and called on Sterling's 29 fellow team owners to force a sale of the Clippers. Full Story | Top |
| Microsoft rescues XP users with emergency browser fix Thursday, May 01, 2014 10:45 AM PDT  By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) - Microsoft is helping the estimated hundreds of millions of customers still running Windows XP, which it stopped supporting earlier this month, by providing an emergency update to fix a critical bug in its Internet Explorer browser. Microsoft Corp rushed to create the fix after learning of the bug in the operating system over the weekend when cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc warned that a sophisticated group of hackers had exploited the bug to launch attacks in a campaign dubbed "Operation Clandestine Fox. It was the first high-profile threat to emerge after Microsoft stopped providing support to its 13-year-old XP operating software on April 8. Microsoft on Wednesday initially said it would not provide the remedy to Windows XP users because it had stopped supporting the product. Full Story | Top |
| Strong consumer spending, factory data buoy U.S. growth outlook Thursday, May 01, 2014 09:57 AM PDT  By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending recorded its largest gain in more than 4-1/2 years in March and factory activity accelerated last month, reinforcing views the economy was regaining steam. Economic growth stalled in the first quarter after a very cold and disruptive winter, but the data so far point to a strong second-quarter rebound. Consumer spending increased 0.9 percent in March after rising by 0.5 percent in February, the Commerce Department said. That was also the largest gain since August 2009 and put consumer spending on a strong upward trajectory heading into the second quarter. Full Story | Top |
| Exxon, Conoco see a quarterly payoff from natural gas Thursday, May 01, 2014 11:34 AM PDT  By Anna Driver and Ernest Scheyder HOUSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. oil companies Exxon Mobil Corp and ConocoPhillips both reported first-quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations on Thursday, helped partly by higher natural gas prices. A brutal winter in North American sapped supplies of natural gas and boosted prices at key delivery point Henry Hub by more than 50 percent in the quarter, propping up profit at both companies, analysts said. Both Conoco and Exxon have increased investment in North American shale fields that produce crude oil and natural gas liquids. Jeff Sheets, chief financial officer of Conoco, said the company was unlikely to see a similar benefit from natural gas prices in the current quarter because markets had returned to a more normal state. Full Story | Top |
| Assad set to extend his power amid Syrian war and theatre Thursday, May 01, 2014 12:06 PM PDT  By Dominic Evans and Mariam Karouny BEIRUT (Reuters) - In the ornate, wood-paneled theatre that is Syria's parliament, an unusual ritual has played out this week. It is part of an electoral process designed to portray all the drama of a presidential race, while ensuring nobody seriously challenges the one name on the ballot paper that counts: Candidate Assad. Every day at around noon, sheaves of documents in super-sized envelopes have been delivered to Speaker Mohammad al-Lahham, who has solemnly unsealed them and read out the names of nominees for Syria's presidential election next month. The name in the 24th envelope was "Dr Bashar Hafez al-Assad", the man who inherited power from his father 14 years ago. Full Story | Top |
| Northern Ireland rocked by Gerry Adams arrest over 1972 killing Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:40 PM PDT  By Padraic Halpin and Neil Maidment ANTRIM, Northern Ireland/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Northern Irish police questioned Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams on Thursday after arresting him under an investigation into one of the province's most notorious murders, a move that stirred fierce political reaction in Britain and Ireland. Reviled by many as the spokesman for the Irish Republican Army in the 1980s during its campaign against British rule, Adams reinvented himself as a Northern Ireland peacemaker and then as a populist opposition parliamentarian in the Irish Republic. His Sinn Fein party, which shares power in the Northern Ireland government, said he was arrested in the town of Antrim on Wednesday evening by police investigating the 1972 abduction and murder of Jean McConville, a widowed mother of 10 children. Adams, 65, who has always denied membership of the IRA, said he was "innocent of any part" in the killing, which he said was "wrong and a grievous injustice to her and her family". Full Story | Top |
| Kerry says he'll pause, reassess after Israeli-Palestinian peace bid Thursday, May 01, 2014 09:51 AM PDT  By Phil Stewart ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday he would pause and reassess what might be possible after failing to meet his April 29 goal for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, saying both sides still wanted to try to negotiate. "So we believe the best thing to do right now is pause, take a hard look at these things and find out what is possible and what is not possible in the days ahead." The failure to reach a deal has given more ammunition to critics of President Barack Obama's foreign policy, who also accuse him of not reacting forcefully enough to Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. But Kerry, who has invested much of his own time and clout in the Israeli-Palestinian peace effort, strongly suggested he was not about to walk away. Israel suspended the talks a week ago, even before the deadline passed, in response to a reconciliation pact between Fatah, the Palestinian faction that leads the West Bank, and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and which the United States and Israel regard as a terrorist group. Full Story | Top |
| Two inmates dead in suspected gas explosion at Florida jail Thursday, May 01, 2014 11:35 AM PDT  An apparent gas explosion demolished a part of a jail in northwest Florida, killing two inmates and injuring some 150 people, officials said on Thursday. The blast late on Wednesday partially leveled the four-story Escambia County Jail's central booking facility in Pensacola, which held roughly 600 inmates, county spokeswoman Kathleen Castro said. "The building is still standing, it's just unstable and partially collapsed," Castro said, describing the incident as an "apparent gas explosion." "We have reports people heard an explosion and smelled gas. Flooding, she said, "would seem to be a causal relationship, but we can't be sure." Three inmates remained unaccounted for but officials believed they were receiving treatment at one of the area hospitals, said Sarah Rachfal, a country spokesperson. Full Story | Top |
| Flood warnings in place after record rains soak eastern U.S. Thursday, May 01, 2014 10:50 AM PDT  By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Flood warnings were posted across the eastern United States on Thursday after a powerful storm system unleashed record amounts of rain from New England to Florida. The remnants of the storm that dumped up to 11 inches of rain in the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday had moved into the Atlantic Ocean by early Thursday, said Dan Petersen, a National Weather Service meteorologist. "It's winding down pretty quickly," he said, but added that northern Florida and Georgia could another 2 inches of rain before the system moved on. Florida rescue teams took to boats to pull stranded residents from the fast-moving floodwaters after 11 inches of rain pounded Pensacola and nearby Mobile, Alabama, on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Sprint moves ahead with T-Mobile bid plan: sources Thursday, May 01, 2014 03:44 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Sprint Corp is meeting with banks to work out funding for its bid for smaller rival T-Mobile US Inc, a source familiar with the situation said, as the mobile carrier works to ease regulatory concerns that the deal would hurt competition. The source said that Sprint, which is owned by Japan's SoftBank Corp, is hoping to fund the bulk of T-Mobile's estimated $50 billion price tag with corporate bonds and cover the rest with syndicated loans and convertible bonds. Sprint is currently talking to at least five banks, the source told Reuters, including JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. Bloomberg, which first reported that Sprint was in talks with banks on Thursday morning in Asia, said the carrier was also talking to Mizuho Financial Group Ltd and Citibank. Full Story | Top |
| China blames religious extremists for station bombing Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:39 AM PDT  By Michael Martina URUMQI, China (Reuters) - An attack at a train station in China's western city of Urumqi was carried out by two religious extremists, who both died in the blast, the government said on Thursday. Three people were killed, including the assailants, and 79 wounded in a bomb and knife attack at the station on Wednesday, according to the government and state media, as President Xi Jinping was wrapping up a visit to the area. The Xinjiang regional government said on its official news website (www.ts.cn) that the two attackers who were killed had "long been influenced by extremist religious thought and participated in extremist religious activities". It identified one of them as Sedierding Shawuti, a 39-year-old man from Xayar county in Xinjiang's Aksu region. Full Story | Top |
| Sony slashes profit forecast again, raising pressure on CEO Thursday, May 01, 2014 08:58 AM PDT  By Sophie Knight TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp slashed its earnings guidance for the third time in a year on Thursday to barely 10 percent of its initial outlook as further losses from its PC exit cast a pall over its struggling electronics division. The steep cut marks the failure of chief executive Kazuo Hirai to fulfill promises he made upon taking the helm of the electronics giant two years ago to push electronics into the black and casts further doubt over his financial management after five cuts to earnings guidance during his term. The repeated misses - the latest just two weeks before Sony announces full-year results - are fuelling anger among investors even as Hirai rebuffs billionaire hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb's proposal to spin off Sony's profitable entertainment business. "To be honest, I really wonder if he's got a grip on what's going on with all his businesses," said Yasuo Sakuma, a portfolio manager at Bayview Asset Management in Tokyo, who does not own Sony shares. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine detains Russian military attaché for spying Thursday, May 01, 2014 06:06 AM PDT  By Natalia Zinets and Matt Robinson KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine ordered the expulsion of Russia's military attaché, saying it had caught him "red-handed" receiving classified information on the country's cooperation with NATO during an armed uprising Kiev says is directed from Moscow. Ukraine's security service said he was a Russian intelligence officer who had been collecting intelligence on "Ukrainian-NATO military and political cooperation". "On April 30, he was caught red-handed receiving classified material from his source," said Maryna Ostapenko, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's security service, the SBU. She described the source as a colonel in the Ukrainian armed forces. Full Story | Top |
| ExxonMobil profits pumped higher on natural gas price boost Thursday, May 01, 2014 06:31 AM PDT  Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, posted a quarterly profit on Thursday that hands down beat Wall Street's expectations as a bitterly cold winter throughout much of the United States boosted natural gas prices. The past winter, which affected much of the U.S. in January and February, pushed Exxon Mobil's average U.S. natural gas sale price up 49 percent, helping offset a dip in global production. Prices for natural gas rose globally as well, even as the price the company receives for its crude oil slipped both in the U.S. and internationally. Exxon Mobil reported first-quarter net income of $9.10 billion, or $2.10 per share, compared with $9.50 billion, or $2.12 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Full Story | Top |
| Blasts in train at India's Chennai kill passenger, alert issued Thursday, May 01, 2014 02:23 AM PDT  Two bombs went off on a train in the southern Indian city of Chennai on Thursday, killing a woman and wounding nine people, officials said, prompting a security alert in the middle of a mammoth election. No group has claimed responsibility for the rare attack in the city and police officials said they had no suspects for the moment. Security is already tight in India as it nears the finish line of the world's biggest election that began early last month and is due to end later in May. Tens of thousands of police have been deployed for the vote. Explosive devices concealed under seats went off in two coaches shortly after the train stopped at Chennai's central station at about 7 a.m. Two of the nine injured were seriously hurt. Full Story | Top |
| Consumer spending surges in March, boosts growth outlook Thursday, May 01, 2014 05:45 AM PDT  U.S. consumer spending recorded its largest increase in more than four and a half years in March, cementing views the economy ended a dismal first-quarter on solid footing. The Commerce Department said on Thursday that consumer spending increased 0.9 percent after rising by a revised 0.5 percent in February. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, rising 0.6 percent in March. In March, consumer spending was buoyed by a 1.4 percent surge in goods purchases. Full Story | Top |
| Toronto Mayor Ford takes leave to deal with alcohol problem Thursday, May 01, 2014 03:08 PM PDT  By Allison Martell and Cameron French TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford flew to the United States in a private plane on Thursday, a TV network said, a day after he said he would take a leave of absence from his job and his re-election campaign to seek treatment for an alcohol problem. Global News reported that it had confirmed Chicago as Ford's destination but did not cite any sources. Ford's decision to take a leave of absence followed months of denials that he has a substance abuse problem and nearly a year after media reports surfaced that he appeared in a video smoking crack cocaine. His departure followed a Globe and Mail report on Wednesday that it had seen a video shot last week that showed Ford using what appeared to be drugs. Full Story | Top |
| Republicans to push anti-Obamacare message in Senate hearings Thursday, May 01, 2014 01:26 AM PDT  By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans are relishing the chance to use confirmation hearings for Sylvia Mathews Burwell, President Barack Obama's nominee as U.S. health secretary, to re-energize their election-year attacks on his signature healthcare initiative. Republicans, who are seeking to take control of the Senate in the November 4 congressional elections, view a pair of Senate hearings for Burwell as their best chance to put a spotlight on Obamacare since the program's botched rollout in October. Burwell's first hearing is scheduled for May 8 before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Full Story | Top |
| Rivals poach Publicis, Omnicom clients, staff as merger faces snags Thursday, May 01, 2014 04:05 AM PDT  By Kate Holton, Jennifer Saba and Leila Abboud LONDON/NEW YORK/PARIS (Reuters) - Publicis and Omnicom have lost more than $1.5 billion of client work in recent weeks and face a fight to retain billions more, including a huge Samsung contract, just as the two advertising firms struggle to keep their merger on track. When the world's second and third-largest ad groups announced a merger last July, it sparked talk from rivals, led by Martin Sorrell, the boss of current leader London-based WPP, that the U.S. and French firms could lose clients and talented staff as a result. Several large contracts, including Vodafone's $1 billion global media and buying account, moved hands from Omnicom to WPP in April. On Wednesday, Microsoft announced it was moving its multibillion-dollar ad and media business from Publicis and WPP to Japan's Dentsu Aegis and U.S. Interpublic. Full Story | Top |
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