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| China military sends air patrols through new defense zone Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 07:34 PM PST  By Ben Blanchard and Roberta Rampton BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China sent several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft into its new air defense zone over the East China Sea on Thursday, state news agency Xinhua said, raising the stakes in a standoff with the United States, Japan and South Korea. Japan and South Korea also flew military aircraft through the zone on Thursday while Washington sent two unarmed B-52 bombers into the airspace earlier this week in a sign of support for its ally Japan. China last week announced that foreign aircraft passing through its new air defense zone - including passenger planes - would have to identify themselves to Chinese authorities. The zone includes the skies over islands at the heart of a territorial dispute between Japan and China. Full Story | Top |
| Nikkei pauses on profit-taking, yen hits 5-yr low vs euro Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 07:18 PM PST  Investors also held back from chasing other regional equities higher, with the MSCI Asia-Pacific outside Japan index steadying after reaching its highest close in a week on Thursday. Japan's benchmark Nikkei dipped 0.1 percent, though it is still up 9.7 percent this month as the yen slumped against the euro and dollar. Investors have been using the yen as a funding currency for carry trades with the Bank of Japan committed to keeping ultra-loose monetary policy to shore up growth -- in contrast to the U.S. Federal Reserve which is moving towards unwinding its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying campaign. The Japanese currency hit a five-year low versus the euro at 139.705 yen, and a six-month trough of 102.61 yen to the dollar. Full Story | Top |
| More than 40 killed in depot blast in Libya, more clashes in east Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 04:57 PM PST By Ghaith Shennib and Ayman al-Warfalli TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - More than 40 people were killed on Thursday in an explosion at an army depot in southern Libya after locals tried to steal ammunition, officials said, while four soldiers died in clashes in the restive eastern part of the country. The incidents highlighted the turmoil in Libya where the government is trying to restore order in the oil-producing country, which is awash with weapons after the 2011 ouster of Muammar Gaddafi. Libya's nascent military is struggling to secure army bases and curb Islamist militants, militias and gangs who fought in the uprising against Gaddafi but refuse to disarm and control parts of the country. The four soldiers were killed in Benghazi as clashes erupted between army special forces and militant Islamists of the Ansar al-Sharia group, officials said. Full Story | Top |
| British consumer morale dips for second month in November - GfK Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 04:12 PM PST  Market research company GfK's monthly consumer confidence index fell to -12 from -11 in October, wrong-footing analysts who had expected a small rise. The survey showed Britons were more pessimistic about their own finances and less willing to splash out on big-ticket items despite a brighter economic outlook. Full Story | Top |
| Masked artist makes sticky issue out of radiation in Japan Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 04:10 PM PST  By Sophie Knight TOKYO (Reuters) - With his face hidden behind sunglasses and a white surgical mask, the artist is almost as invisible as the radioactive contamination he is protesting against - yet his stickers are graphic reminders of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Known as 281 Antinuke, Japan's answer to Banksy has covered Tokyo streets in images depicting politicians as vampires and children being shielded from radioactive rain to highlight the consequences of a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant after an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. The disaster and the response by plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) stoked anti-nuclear sentiment and the biggest public protests in Japan since the 1960s, but the movement has since lost momentum. "Perhaps because everyone believes people telling them on television that everything is fine, they don't seem so worried," 281 Antinuke told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Government awards record number of offshore oil and gas licences Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 04:04 PM PST  The government has awarded a record number of offshore oil and gas licences in its latest round of tenders, it said on Friday, as the country scrambles to attract new exploration before existing infrastructure is decommissioned. The energy ministry awarded 52 exploration licences under the second and final tranche of its 27th offshore round. Britain's fossil fuel reserves are declining quickly and the focus has been shifted to linking new oil and gas fields to existing infrastructure rather than building new facilities. The government estimates that around 20 billion barrels of oil and gas can still be retrieved from the British North Sea. Full Story | Top |
| Americans mark Thanksgiving Day with travel, parades, shopping Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 04:00 PM PST  By Barbara Goldberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans gathered on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving by stuffing turkeys and braving cold winds along parade routes, while others started the holiday shopping earlier than ever in a trend that some argued went against the spirit of the holiday. With retailers offering "Black Friday" deals before Thanksgiving tables were even set on Thursday, critics circulated online petitions and a handful of franchise owners said they had defied corporate orders by keeping their stores closed for the holiday. "It bothers me that this country is allowing them to dictate time away from our families," Holly Cassiano, who refused to open her Sears franchise in Plymouth, New Hampshire, told CNN. A Pizza Hut restaurant manager in Elkhart, Indiana, who was fired for refusing to keep the restaurant open on Thanksgiving said the worldwide pizza chain had offered to rehire him and he was considering it. Full Story | Top |
| Asian shares steady, yen pinned at four-year low versus euro Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 03:39 PM PST  By Dominic Lau TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares were steady on Friday, with Japanese stocks poised for another strong session as the yen languished at a four-year trough against the euro and six-month low versus the dollar. Investors have been using the yen as a funding currency for carry trades with the Bank of Japan committed to keeping ultra-loose monetary policy to shore up growth -- a contrast with the U.S. Federal Reserve which is moving towards unwinding its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying campaign. The Japanese currency was quoted at 139.25 to the euro, a fresh four-year low, and stood at 102.33 yen to the dollar, within striking distance from a six-month high of 102.375 hit on Thursday. The yen is down 4.2 percent versus the euro, heading for its worst monthly performance since March, while it is off 4 percent against the greenback, on track for its biggest one-month fall since January. Full Story | Top |
| Pizza Hut offers to rehire manager who refused to open on holiday Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 03:31 PM PST  franchise in Indiana is mulling over a rehire offer from the worldwide pizza chain after he was fired for refusing to open the restaurant on Thanksgiving Day. Tony Rohr, 28, said he was told to write a letter of resignation after deciding to give his employees at the Elkhart, Indiana, store the holiday off. He told South Bend, Indiana, station WSBT-TV that he instead wrote a letter explaining why the store, part of Yum Brands Inc, should be closed, and then he was fired. Pizza Hut's corporate office said in a statement it "strongly recommended that the local franchisee reinstate the store manager, and they have agreed." Although the choice to open on a holiday is made at the local level, most U.S. franchise locations are closed on Thanksgiving, it said. Full Story | Top |
| Australia surprises with rejection of $2.55 billion GrainCorp takeover by ADM Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 02:59 PM PST  By Lincoln Feast and Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia rejected the A$2.8 billion ($2.55 billion) takeover of GrainCorp on Friday, bowing to pressure from grain growers in a rare and surprising decision. The deal had been seen as the first test of the conservative government's vow that Australia was "open for business" after the victory of Tony Abbott's Liberal Party in elections in September. Treasurer Joe Hockey said he was rejecting the proposal on national interest grounds after Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) failed to reach a consensus recommendation. Full Story | Top |
| Journal withdraws controversial French Monsanto GM study Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 02:50 PM PST  By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - The publisher of a controversial and much-criticized study suggesting genetically modified corn caused tumors in rats has withdrawn the paper after a yearlong investigation found it did not meet scientific standards. Reed Elsevier's Food and Chemical Toxicology journal, which published the study by the French researcher Gilles-Eric Seralini in September 2012, said on Thursday the retraction was because the study's small sample size meant no definitive conclusions could be reached. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued a statement in November 2012 saying the study by Seralini, who was based at France's University of Caen, had serious defects in design and methodology and did not meet acceptable scientific standards. In its retraction statement, the Food and Chemical Toxicology journal said that in light of these concerns, it too had requested to view the raw data from the study. Full Story | Top |
| Stores open early on Thanksgiving but shoppers in no rush Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 02:14 PM PST  Some early U.S. shoppers headed to stores on Thanksgiving Day in search of discounted holiday gifts on a day long reserved for American families to bond over turkey and football. Kmart, Old Navy and Lord & Taylor were some of the stores that opened their doors on Thursday morning, as each company did last year. Macy's Inc and a slew of other stores are opening later on Thanksgiving for the first time ever in a bare-knuckle brawl for a bigger slice of holiday sales. With six fewer shopping days this year than in 2012, retailers who reap nearly half of annual profits during the winter holiday season are nibbling away at the Thanksgiving holiday. Full Story | Top |
| Jamie Reid's horse-doping tome wins sports prize Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 01:43 PM PST By Michael Roddy LONDON (Reuters) - A 1960s British horse-doping scandal that reached into the royal stables, drew in the criminal underworld and included a Swiss femme fatale has won a top sports-writing prize and made author Jamie Reid a happy man. Reid's "Doped: The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang" was the winner on Wednesday night of the 25,000-pound ($40,700) William Hlll Sports Book of the Year Award, which the British bookmakers tout as the "richest and most prestigious sports-writing prize in the world". Reid's book tells the tale of crooked bookie Bill Roper ("Roper the Doper"), his glamorous Swiss mistress Micheline Lugeon and their scheme to fix horse races in the early 1960s. Full Story | Top |
| Iran shakes up foundation controlled by Ayatollah's business empire Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 01:37 PM PST  By Steve Stecklow LONDON (Reuters) - A multi-billion dollar organization controlled by Iran's supreme leader shook up the management of its charity division, appointing as its new chief a man involved in the confiscation of thousands of properties from Iranian citizens. Aref Norozi was named director general of the Barakat Foundation, Iran's state news agency reported on Wednesday. The foundation is a unit of a massive business empire controlled by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that is known as Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam. The report by the Islamic Republic News Agency stated that Setad's president, Mohammad Mokhber, had ordered the appointment of Norozi, who once headed Setad's real-estate division and served on the boards of several Setad-linked companies. Full Story | Top |
| No gold bars but higher salaries for London bankers with bonus cap Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 01:21 PM PST  By Steve Slater LONDON (Reuters) - In the 1990s, London-based investment banks rewarded top employees with gold bars, fine wine and oriental carpets to dent the impact of higher payroll taxes. Now, with public anger at banking excess near all time highs, they are looking at less flashy ways to cope with curbs on bonuses, including a new monthly allowance. European rules due to take force in January say bankers' bonuses cannot exceed annual salary, or twice that if shareholders approve, to curb the sort of excessive risk-taking blamed for the 2008-09 financial crisis. At least 10,000 bankers, most of them in London, take home more than half a million euros (415,335 pounds), according to industry sources, more than 10 times the average wage in wealthier European states. Full Story | Top |
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