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| Obama says U.S. commitment to defend Philippines "ironclad" Monday, Apr 28, 2014 09:17 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal and Matt Spetalnick MANILA (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday a new military pact between the United States and the Philippines is testimony to America's "ironclad" commitment to defend the southeast Asian nation. The U.S. president's comments came against the backdrop of tensions between the Philippines and an increasingly powerful China over remote uninhabited islands in the South China Sea. "Our commitment to defend the Philippines is ironclad and the United States will keep that commitment because allies never stand alone," Obama said. Full Story | Top |
| Asia shares, major currencies hesitant before key events Monday, Apr 28, 2014 08:54 PM PDT  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian share markets put in an indecisive performance on Tuesday as caution ahead of some major events this week overshadowed a late rally on Wall Street. Major currencies held to tight ranges as Tokyo took a holiday, though the euro hung onto gains on the yen and Australian dollar. The lack of momentum showed in MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan which drifted off by 0.2 percent. Samsung Electronics stock slipped 1.8 percent after reporting its second straight fall in quarterly profit as weakness in flat-screen panels and the maturing high-end smartphone business weighed on earnings. Full Story | Top |
| Nokia names Rajeev Suri as new CEO, gives extra dividend Monday, Apr 28, 2014 08:43 PM PDT By Sakari Suoninen and Jussi Rosendahl HELSINKI (Reuters) - Rajeev Suri will become the new chief executive of Finnish telecommunications gear maker Nokia, the company said on Tuesday, adding that it would return an extra 1 billion euros to shareholders from the sale of its phone unit. Suri, 46, until now led Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN), the smaller network equipment unit of Nokia when the company still made mobile phones. Suri is credited with turning the unit around, and last year it contributed most of the 12.7 billion euro ($17.58 billion)turnover Nokia made from its continuing operations. "Rajeev is the right person to lead the company forward," Nokia Chairman Risto Siilasmaa said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Suncor first-quarter profit rises on oil prices, weak currency Monday, Apr 28, 2014 07:48 PM PDT  Suncor Energy Inc , Canada's largest oil and gas company, said on Monday its first-quarter profit rose 36 percent on strong oil prices and a lower Canadian dollar The company, Canada's dominant oil sands producer, reported net income of C$1.49 billion ($1.35 billion), or C$1.01 per share, up from C$1.09 billion, or 72 Canadian cents, in the first quarter of 2013. Nearly all its output during the quarter was crude oil, compared with 92 percent in the year-prior period, though production lagged as its operations in Libya remained shut in. The company produced 545,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 596,100 boepd. The price of Western Canada Select crude, the Canadian benchmark, averaged $75.55 per barrel in the first quarter, up 21 percent from a year earlier, while the Canadian dollar was worth an average of 91 U.S. cents, compared with 99 U.S. cents in the first quarter of 2013. Full Story | Top |
| From God.com to photography, Korea ferry founder has diverse interests Monday, Apr 28, 2014 07:34 PM PDT  At other times in his chequered past, Yoo Byung-un, in his 70s, has been a bankrupt and an inventor of household and health-related devices. Prosecutors have raided Yoo's house in their investigation into last week's ferry sinking in which hundreds of passengers, mainly school children, were killed or are missing presumed dead. "Yoo and his family will take all legal and social responsibility for this tragic accident if they have to as major stakeholders of the company," Son said. Prosecutors have also raided the shipping company's offices and financial regulators are investigating borrowings of the company and of businesses that are part of a wider holding firm. Full Story | Top |
| Samsung Electronics sells 89 million smartphones in first-quarter, market share falls: research firm Monday, Apr 28, 2014 07:32 PM PDT  SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's smartphone shipments rose 28 percent to 89 million units in the first quarter, but the world's top handset maker lost market share to Chinese and other rivals, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Tuesday. Samsung's smartphone market share fell to 31.2 percent from 32.4 percent a year ago, followed by Apple Inc which dropped to 15.3 percent from 17.5 percent, Strategy Analytics said. China's Huawei Technologies had 4.7 percent market share, unchanged from the previous year, while Lenovo Group Ltd boosted its share to 4.7 percent from 3. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alibaba's founders set up charitable trust seen valued at $3 billion Monday, Apr 28, 2014 07:29 PM PDT  The founders of Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd have set up a charitable trust focusing on the environment and health that could be worth as much as $3 billion, making it one of the biggest in Asia. Jack Ma, Alibaba's founder and executive chair, and Joe Tsai, a co-founder of Alibaba, created the trust that will be funded by share options they own that represent about 2 percent of Alibaba's equity, the company said in a statement on its microblog on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. storms kills 21, tornado roars through Mississippi city Monday, Apr 28, 2014 07:26 PM PDT  By Robbie Ward TUPELO, Mississippi (Reuters) - On a second day of ferocious storms that have claimed at least 21 lives in the southern United States, a tornado tore through the Mississippi town of Tupelo on Monday causing widespread destruction to homes and businesses, according to witnesses and local emergency officials. At least one person was killed in Tupelo, a city of about 35,000 in the northeast of the state and the birthplace of Elvis Presley. Most of the deaths from the severe storm system occurred on Sunday when tornadoes tossed cars like toys in Arkansas and other states. Monday's twister in Tupelo, one of several to tear across Mississippi, damaged hundreds of homes and businesses, downed power lines and tore up trees, the National Weather Service said. Full Story | Top |
| North Korea to conduct firing drills near disputed sea border, says South Korea Monday, Apr 28, 2014 06:56 PM PDT  By James Pearson SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said it will conduct live fire drills on Tuesday in two areas near a disputed sea border with South Korea, the South Korean ministry of defense said on Tuesday. North Korea conducted similar drills in late March when it fired more than 500 artillery rounds near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a disputed maritime border that has been the de facto sea border since the 1950-53 Korean war. More than 100 rounds landed south of the border, prompting South Korea to fire hundreds of rounds back into the North's waters. The Northern Limit Line is an extension of the land border between the two Koreas, stretching into the sea west of the Korean peninsula. Full Story | Top |
| Investors wary as anti-Vietnamese feeling grows in Cambodia Monday, Apr 28, 2014 06:37 PM PDT  By Prak Chan Thul PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - It took just one word to fire up the mob that beat Tran Van Chien to death after a minor road accident in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. The 30-year-old carpenter was standing among onlookers on February 16 when someone shouted "yuon," a term widely seen as derogatory to the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Vietnamese who call Cambodia home. Seconds later, the crowd turned on Tran Van Chien. "There were so many people I couldn't help," recalled his sister, Tran Yaing Chang, shuffling through photos of his funeral. Full Story | Top |
| Samsung Electronics says expects second-quarter handset shipments to be similar to first quarter Monday, Apr 28, 2014 06:32 PM PDT Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Tuesday it expects second-quarter handset shipments to be similar to the January-March period, though smartphones should make up a bigger portion. Robert Yi, Samsung's head of investor relations, said the South Korean firm shipped 113 million handsets in the first quarter with the proportion of smarpthones in the high 70-percent range. The executive said that smartphones should make up around 80 percent of handset shipments in the April-June quarter. Full Story | Top |
| EnergySolutions sues NDA after losing $12 billion deal Monday, Apr 28, 2014 06:03 PM PDT EnergySolutions said it was taking Britain's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to court after losing out on a $12 billion (7.13 billion pounds) contract to decommission the country's oldest nuclear sites. EnergySolutions, the incumbent manager of 10 nuclear sites, told Reuters it had filed the lawsuit in a British High Court. The company had asked the NDA earlier this month to explain why it had awarded Texas-based Fluor and engineering company Babcock preferred bidder status for what is one of Britain's largest-ever government outsourcing contracts. An NDA spokeswoman said the competition process had been carried out in "a robust manner" in compliance with European Union guidelines, adding that the contract was set to deliver savings in excess of 1 billion pounds against EnergySolutions' previous plan. Full Story | Top |
| Yahoo ramps up video effort with new online comedy video series Monday, Apr 28, 2014 05:45 PM PDT  By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc bolstered its line-up of online video programming on Monday with two original comedy series and a new Web channel that will stream live concerts. The two comedy series, which Yahoo will show on its website next year, are the first long-form original comedies in Yahoo's growing selection of online video. Each series will consist of eight 30-minute episodes which Yahoo will post on its website all at once. The new programs underscore the struggling Web portal's efforts to bolster its traffic and its advertising revenue by streaming more video programs on its website. Full Story | Top |
| Samsung Electronics tips pickup as first quarter profit matches guidance Monday, Apr 28, 2014 05:42 PM PDT  Samsung Electronics Co Ltd reported its second straight fall in quarterly profit on Tuesday, as weakness in flat-screen panels and the maturing high-end smartphone business weighed on the South Korean giant's earnings. But the company said the football World Cup in Brazil should help boost sales of screens and smartphones in the current quarter, as fans invest in fancy gadgets to watch the action. The world's biggest smartphone maker is also banking on its flagship Galaxy S5 handset, launched in April, to outsell its predecessor and widen profit margins, a senior executive told Reuters earlier. "Samsung is expected to see profits rally in the second quarter and beyond, on the back of improved sales of display panels and home appliances," Samsung said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Sponsors flee Clippers as league announcement approaches Monday, Apr 28, 2014 05:28 PM PDT  By Mark Lamport-Stokes LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The National Basketball Association faced mounting pressure on Monday to impose a harsh punishment on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for his alleged racist comments as several of the team's sponsors pulled their backing. Sterling is being investigated by the NBA over comments he allegedly made that have since sparked widespread outrage in the United States, and the league will hold a news conference in New York City on Tuesday to discuss developments. The NBA's brief announcement on Monday came shortly after some of the team's sponsors began withdrawing their support of the Clippers while Sterling's own family distanced themselves from him. Auto dealer CarMax, a nine-year sponsor of the Clippers, was first to announce it was ending its association and was followed by Virgin America, State Farm, Kia Motors America, music mogul P. Diddy's water brand, AQUAHydrate, Red Bull and Yokohama Tire. Full Story | Top |
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