• IMF's Lagarde escapes formal investigation in French case

    Reuters - 5 minutes ago

    PARIS (Reuters) - French magistrates decided on Friday not to place IMF chief Christine Lagarde under formal investigation over her role in a 285-million-euros (243 million pounds) arbitration payment made to a supporter of former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Lagarde was instead given the status of a "supervised witness", after she was questioned on her 2008 decision as Sarkozy's finance minister to use arbitration to settle a court battle between the state and businessman Bernard Tapie. ... More »IMF's Lagarde escapes formal investigation in French case

  • Tiger Global invests $50 million in Automattic's WordPress

    Reuters - 38 minutes ago

    By Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Automattic, the company that operates blogging service WordPress, announced a $50 million investment from hedge fund Tiger Global on Friday. The investment comes on the heels of Yahoo's $1.1 billion acquisition of blogging company Tumblr, showing the high prices fast-growing services that targeting Internet users can command. The valuation for WordPress was similar, Fortune reported. A spokeswoman for WordPress declined to comment. WordPress powers the blogs at companies such as CNN.com and Techcrunch, a spokeswoman said. ... More »Tiger Global invests $50 million in Automattic's WordPress

  • Co-op Bank stops lending to new corporate clients

    Reuters - 43 minutes ago

    By Matt Scuffham LONDON (Reuters) - The Co-operative Bank has stopped offering loans to new business customers, part of measures designed to quell growing concerns over its capital position. The bank's parent, the Co-operative Group, said on Friday it was undertaking an extensive review of the bank, examining its capital and lending position and its commercial strategy. Credit ratings agency Moody's downgraded Co-op Bank's debt ratings earlier in May and warned it could need taxpayers' money to plug a capital shortfall which some analysts have said could be as high as 1.8 billion pounds. ... More »Co-op Bank stops lending to new corporate clients

  • Yahoo joins growing list of bidders for Hulu - sources

    Reuters - 58 minutes ago

    By Ronald Grover LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc has submitted a formal proposal to buy Hulu, joining a growing list of bidders for the video service owned by News Corp and Walt Disney Co, two sources with knowledge of the bid told Reuters on Friday. Yahoo just this week announced a $1.1 billion (726.6 million pounds) acquisition of blogging service Tumblr. It now joins rival bidders for Hulu including Time Warner Cable Inc, DirecTV, former News Corp president Peter Chernin and Guggenheim Digital Media, sources have said. Yahoo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. ... More »Yahoo joins growing list of bidders for Hulu - sources

  • Syria opposition seeks to unify as momentum for talks builds

    Reuters - 1 hour 2 minutes ago

    By Khaled Yacoub Oweis ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Syria's fractious opposition scrambled to agree a new leadership on Friday in a bid to present a coherent front at peace talks which the United States and Russia are convening to seek an end to more than two years of civil war. A major assault by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on a rebel held town over the past week is shaping into a pivotal battle. It has drawn in fighters from Assad's Lebanese allies Hezbollah, justifying fears that a war that has killed 80,000 people would cross borders at the heart of the Middle East. ... More »Syria opposition seeks to unify as momentum for talks builds

  • Unhappy with how your fave series is faring? Amazon gives you a say

    Reuters - 1 hour 23 minutes ago

    SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon is once again shaking up traditional publishing models. This time, it's giving fans a chance to add their own personal touches to their favourite fiction - and get paid in the process. This week, Amazon.com Inc announced "Kindle Worlds," which offers aspiring writers an opportunity to pen their own takes on franchises in books, TV, movies, even games and comics. The world's largest Internet retailer plans to license content, then accept submissions online that may then be sold through its Kindle ebook store. ... More »Unhappy with how your fave series is faring? Amazon gives you a say

  • Google eyes Waze as Facebook circles hot Web maps property

    Reuters - 2 hours 1 minute ago

    By Sarah McBride and Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc is in talks to buy Waze, an Israeli mapping start-up that has held discussions with several large technology companies, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday. Google's discussions with Waze, which one of the sources told Reuters remained fluid and could change in tenor at any time, come amid reports Facebook is willing to pay $1 billion for the crowd-sourced service, which relies on information provided by its 47 million members to craft its mobile-oriented maps. ... More »Google eyes Waze as Facebook circles hot Web maps property

  • Leading German politician calls transaction tax plans 'rubbish'

    Reuters - 2 hours 5 minutes ago

    BERLIN (Reuters) - A leading German politician criticised EU draft plans for a financial transaction tax as "rubbish" on Friday, in a sign of growing concern that the tax could do more economic harm than good. German Social Democrat Nils Schmid, finance minister of the wealthy southern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, said the banks might not be able to cope with the additional burdens of the levy should member states approve the European Commission's current draft version. ... More »Leading German politician calls transaction tax plans 'rubbish'

  • Analysis - German economy to pick up but fall short of traditional pace

    Reuters - 2 hours 5 minutes ago

    By Sarah Marsh BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's economy will recover from a bout of winter weakness but fall well short of the dynamic growth rates of previous years as euro zone recession and global slowdown stunt exports and investment. There are homegrown problems too. What hue of government will result from September elections is injecting uncertainty and foreign investors cite worries about over-regulation and Germany's future energy mix after Chancellor Angela Merkel turned her back on nuclear power. ... More »Analysis - German economy to pick up but fall short of traditional pace

  • AU must cut financial dependency to stand politically firm, says minister

    BD Live - 2 hours 11 minutes ago

    SA’s international relations and co-operation minister says organisation needs to reduce donor funding on which it depends More »AU must cut financial dependency to stand politically firm, says minister

  • NUM ‘under siege’, says Shabangu in show of solidarity

    BD Live - 2 hours 27 minutes ago

    Union faces ‘force determined to remove it from the face of the earth’, says Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu More »NUM ‘under siege’, says Shabangu in show of solidarity

  • Russia's leading social network banned by "mistake"

    Reuters - 2 hours 44 minutes ago

    By Douglas Busvine MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's leading online social network was briefly banned on Friday, in a move dismissed as a "mistake" but which follows intensifying official pressure on the company as President Vladimir Putin consolidates his power. VKontakte (www.vk.com), Europe's largest homegrown social network with 210 million registered users, was put overnight on a "black list" of sites barred from distributing content inside Russia. Hours later, the ban was lifted. ... More »Russia's leading social network banned by "mistake"

  • U.S. casts doubt on credibility of Iran election

    Reuters - 2 hours 45 minutes ago

    By Arshad Mohammed TEL AVIV (Reuters) - The United States on Friday called into question the credibility of Iran's presidential election next month, criticising the disqualification of candidates and accusing Tehran of disrupting Internet access. On a visit to Israel, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also warned that time was running out to resolve the deadlock over Iran's contested nuclear programme. ... More »U.S. casts doubt on credibility of Iran election

  • UK treating plane incident as criminal, not terror-related

    Reuters - 3 hours ago

    STANSTED, England (Reuters) - Police said on Friday they are treating an incident involving a plane carrying almost 300 passengers from Pakistan as criminal rather that a terror-related. "It's a criminal investigation under the direction of Essex police," Superintendent Darrin Tomkins told reporters at Stansted airport near London to where the plane was diverted. Asked if it could be terror related, he added: "This incident is being treated as a criminal offence." "The plane will remain at its current location and will subject to forensic examination by specialist officers. ... More »UK treating plane incident as criminal, not terror-related

  • Algerian jihadi mastermind claims Niger suicide attacks

    Reuters - 3 hours ago

    By Abdoulaye Massalatchi NIAMEY (Reuters) - French special forces and Niger troops shot dead on Friday the last two Islamists involved in a twin attack on a military base and a French uranium mine in Niger, which was claimed by the mastermind of January's mass hostage-taking in Algeria. Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed veteran of al Qaeda's north African operations, said in a statement that his Mulathameen brigade organised Thursday's raids with the MUJWA militant group in retaliation for Niger's role in a French-led war on Islamists in Mali. ... More »Algerian jihadi mastermind claims Niger suicide attacks

  • ITV News Twitter account hacked by Syrian Electronic Army

    Reuters - 3 hours ago

    LONDON (Reuters) - Broadcaster ITV on Friday became the latest media outlet to have one of its Twitter feeds hacked by anonymous supporters of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, just days after Twitter beefed up security to prevent such attacks. Twitter Inc said on Wednesday that it had started rolling out an optional two-step authentication regime for its users to thwart hackers. The Associated Press, Britain's Financial Times and Daily Telegraph newspapers have all previously succumbed to attacks from the self-styled Syrian Electronic Army. ... More »ITV News Twitter account hacked by Syrian Electronic Army

  • Adidas and Puma take rivalry to European soccer final

    Reuters - 4 hours ago

    By Victoria Bryan and Keith Weir FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) - German sportswear makers Adidas and Puma renew their own decades-old rivalry when soccer teams Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund meet in Europe's Champions League Final at Wembley on Saturday. Adidas is the long-standing kit supplier to Bayern and owns a stake of around nine percent in the Bavarian club, while Puma became the sportswear partner of Dortmund a year ago. ... More »Adidas and Puma take rivalry to European soccer final

  • UAE's $3 bln aid for Egypt "will take time": UAE finmin

    Reuters - 4 hours ago

    SIR BU NUAYR ISLAND, United Arab Emirates (Reuters) - T he $3 billion in aid that the United Arab Emirates pledged for Egypt in 2011 will "take time" to be transferred, the UAE Finance Minister and Dubai Deputy Ruler said on Friday. "We are going in the right way but it will take time. I cannot tell you exactly when but they (the funds) are on the way," Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al-Maktoum told Reuters. An Egyptian source familiar with the matter told Reuters in February that the money had not been transferred mainly due to the political instability in post-revolution Egypt. More »UAE's $3 bln aid for Egypt "will take time": UAE finmin

  • Copper reserves at China's Sicomines in Congo less than hoped

    Reuters - 4 hours ago

    KINSHASA (Reuters) - Copper reserves at a mine owned by Sicomines, a miner at the centre of a $6 billion resources for infrastructure deal between China and Democratic Republic of Congo, have fallen more than 30 percent short of expectations, a senior Congolese official said. Congo agreed in 2008 to cede mining rights to Sicomines, a joint venture between China's Sinohydro, the China Railway Group Ltd and Congolese miner Gecamines, in exchange for the building of roads, schools, railways, hospitals and dams. ... More »Copper reserves at China's Sicomines in Congo less than hoped

  • Guinea to more than double power output over next two years

    Reuters - 4 hours ago

    YAMOUSSOUKRO (Reuters) - Guinea is on track to more than double its power output over the next two years in an effort to meet growing demand from domestic consumers and the West African nation's expanding mining sector, a senior official from the energy ministry said. Guinea, the world's top producer of the aluminium ore bauxite, also possesses vast reserves of gold, iron ore and diamonds, and has attracted global miners Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Brazil's Vale in recent years. It now has installed capacity of 280 megawatts and blackouts regularly plague the country. ... More »Guinea to more than double power output over next two years

  • Kenyan shilling firms, KenolKobil lifts shares

    Reuters - 4 hours ago

    By Kevin Mwanza NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Kenyan shilling firmed slightly on Friday, lifted by banks cutting dollar positions ahead of the weekend and by waning importer demand for the U.S. currency. The main share index recovered from a previous session dip, led up by fuel distributor KenolKobil. At the 1300 GMT closer, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 84.30/50 per dollar, stronger than Thursday's close of 84.45/55. "Demand for dollars has gone out so people have decided it's a good point to sell," said Ignatius Chicha, head of Markets at Citibank Kenya. ... More »Kenyan shilling firms, KenolKobil lifts shares

  • Iceland's new PM rejects EU, but embraces EU economic goals

    Reuters - 4 hours ago

    By Jon Thor Viglundsson REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland must find stability by aiming for the same economic goals as those set for European Union states, even though it is sceptical about joining the EU and will keep its own currency, the new prime minister said. Iceland is still recovering from the collapse of its top three banks in late 2008 and although growth has returned, many Icelanders are disappointed at what they see as a slow recovery. ... More »Iceland's new PM rejects EU, but embraces EU economic goals

  • Call for 'reflection' on relationship between AU and ICC

    BD Live - 4 hours ago

    African foreign ministers mull resolution requesting the transferral of cases against Kenyan leaders from ICC to Kenya More »Call for 'reflection' on relationship between AU and ICC

  • Stretched by riots, Swedish police call reinforcements

    Reuters - 5 hours ago

    By Ilze Filks and Mia Shanley STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Police in Stockholm called in reinforcements on Friday after youths set cars and a school ablaze in a fifth night of rioting, the worst to hit Sweden for years. Pupils at a primary school in Kista - an IT hub that is home to the likes of telecoms equipment maker Ericsson and the Swedish office of Microsoft - arrived to find the inside of the small red wooden building had been completely burnt out. ... More »Stretched by riots, Swedish police call reinforcements

  • Orascom shareholders tender 10 pct in Altimo offer: source

    Reuters - 5 hours ago

    By Asma Alsharif and Maria Kiselyova CAIRO/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Egypt's Orascom Telecom (OTH) is closer to being delisted, sources said on Friday, after holders of around 10 percent of its stock agreed to be bought out. Russia's Altimo, the biggest owner of OTH's parent Vimpelcom, made a $1.8 billion offer in March to buy out OTH minorities and sources said it wanted to delist OTH from both the Cairo and London stock exchanges. ... More »Orascom shareholders tender 10 pct in Altimo offer: source

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