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| Most workers trapped in Nepal tunnel rescued, three still missing Friday, Apr 25, 2014 08:19 PM PDT Thirteen of the workers including a Chinese national trapped by a landslide inside the tunnel of a hydroelectric power project in Nepal were rescued on Saturday, a project official said. Three other men, who were working at the Upper Madi Hydroelectric Project in Kaski district, 125 km (80 miles) west of Kathmandu, when falling earth and rocks blocked the tunnel entrance, are still out of contact. China is a major donor, business partner and investor in Nepal, a strategically located buffer state between China and India. Many Chinese companies are involved in infrastructure projects that include hydroelectric power. Full Story | Top |
| Senior JPMorgan deal maker Elliott to retire in June Friday, Apr 25, 2014 07:27 PM PDT  (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co's global chairman of investment banking and veteran deal maker James Elliott will retire in June, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. Elliott, who has worked on several prominent deals during his 35-year career, will leave the firm to spend more time on his ranch in Texas, Jeff Urwin, JPMorgan's co-head of global banking wrote in the memo obtained from JPMorgan by Reuters. Elliot joined JPMorgan in 1997 as a senior member of the mergers and acquisitions department. Full Story | Top |
| California governor issues second drought emergency proclamation Friday, Apr 25, 2014 07:03 PM PDT  By Dana Feldman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's drought is so severe that the state will roll back some environmental protections and loosen the rules on transferring water to farmers, Governor Jerry Brown said on Friday. "The dry season is upon us," Brown declared at a meeting on environmental sustainability in Los Angeles. "With this proclamation I'm calling upon all Californians, municipal water agencies, and anyone who uses water to do everything possible to conserve." Brown, who served two terms as governor from 1975 to 1983, during the state's last severe drought, said an executive order issued on Friday would shorten the application process for farmers who need water for their crops, and cut red tape for cities that need to improve or expand their water systems. At the meeting, sponsored by the Los Angeles Business Council and held at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, Brown warned of the impending summer wildfire season, when rain is extremely rare and blazes race through the state's dry, brushy canyons, threatening homes and causing millions of dollars' worth of damage. Full Story | Top |
| Native burial site in California paved over for development Friday, Apr 25, 2014 06:51 PM PDT By Mary Papenfuss SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A significant Native American archeological site in the San Francisco Bay Area has been paved over to make way for a housing complex, roiling the relationship among scientists, developers and Native Americans over disposition of human remains and artifacts. The site contained hundreds of human burials, bear and other animal bones, stone tools, weapons, musical instruments, idols and beads, and a ritual condor. "There are very few sites like this left in the Bay area," said Jelmer Eerkens, a professor at the University of California at Davis who specializes in archeology. Once the artifacts were discovered, developer Larkspur Land 8 Owner LLC was required by the California Environmental Quality Act to call in scientists to study the site under monitoring by Native Americans. Full Story | Top |
| Chevron wins a round in U.S. suit against lawyer in Ecuador case Friday, Apr 25, 2014 05:15 PM PDT  By Mica Rosenberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday rejected a bid by a U.S. lawyer to stall the enforcement of a ruling that found he used fraud to secure a $9.5 billion pollution judgment against Chevron Corp in Ecuador. Lawyer Steven Donziger is appealing a 500-page decision issued by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in March that barred him from collecting on a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron in the United States. Chevron filed a lawsuit against Donziger in New York, claiming he used bribery and fake evidence to win the historic damage award for a group of villagers who claimed the oil giant polluted an area of northeastern Ecuador. Donziger had asked Kaplan to put the decision on hold while a federal appeals court considers the merits of his challenge, a process that will likely take months to resolve. Full Story | Top |
| Wall Street Week Ahead: A burst of energy with Exxon, Chevron on tap Friday, Apr 25, 2014 03:46 PM PDT  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - Since late February, when investors fell out of love with biotechnology and other high-flying stocks, the market's fuel has been oil. Energy names have been the best-performing sector in the S&P 500 since February 25 when the selloff in high-growth stocks began. The sector will look to build on recent gains when bellwethers Exxon Mobil Corp , Chevron Corp and ConocoPhillips report results next week. That could continue: Morgan Stanley said in a recent note that strong rotations to value names are usually followed by longer periods of value leadership. Full Story | Top |
| GE in talks to buy Alstom's power arm: sources Friday, Apr 25, 2014 02:51 PM PDT  By Benjamin Mallet and Matthieu Protard PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. industrial conglomerate General Electric Co is in advanced talks to buy the global power division of struggling French engineering group Alstom SA for about $13 billion, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. Sources said a deal was backed by Alstom's main shareholder, French conglomerate Bouygues with 29 percent, and could be announced in the coming days after an Alstom board meeting on Friday afternoon. "It would be a very big asset sale, enclosing the entire energy business." Alstom Chief Executive Patrick Kron confirmed to union representatives there were talks about an "industrial deal," but did not name GE. Alstom, Bouygues and General Electric declined to comment. Full Story | Top |
| Energy stocks weigh on TSX; oil driller's shares slump Friday, Apr 25, 2014 02:14 PM PDT  By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index slipped on Friday, with energy companies among the leading weights as driller Canadian Oil Sands said unexpected maintenance could hurt its output. The energy sector in Canada has performed well in recent weeks, seemingly boosted by the geopolitical tensions in Ukraine that could limit the availability of Russian commodity exports to Western markets. "The overall scare of the conflict is really weighing on the market," said Marcus Xu, a portfolio manager at MY Capital Management Corp in Vancouver. But the Canadian market seems to be holding up pretty well." The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended the day down 20.68 points, or 0.14 percent, at 14,533.57. Full Story | Top |
| Explosion destroys six businesses in small Washington state town Friday, Apr 25, 2014 01:32 PM PDT (Reuters) - An explosion rocked a small Washington state town on Friday, destroying six businesses in a strip mall and badly damaging an apartment complex across the street but causing no major injuries, authorities said. The pre-dawn blast in North Bend was so strong it blew out windows from an assisted-living home half a block away, and several of the residents suffered minor lacerations, Eastside Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Josie Williams said. The cause of the explosion, which occurred near a barber shop in a downtown strip mall, was still under investigation, she said. Williams said there were no major injuries in the explosion and resulting fire, mainly because the businesses were all closed at that hour. Full Story | Top |
| GE's energy financing profits could double by 2020 Friday, Apr 25, 2014 12:03 PM PDT  By Ernest Scheyder NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Electric Co expects annual profit from energy investments to double to nearly $800 million by 2020, highlighting the conglomerate's desire to remain a financing powerhouse for industry even as it slims its credit card portfolio. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt has made energy sector growth a key part of his plan to return the company to its manufacturing roots, adding oilfield pumps, wind turbines and similar products to the portfolio in recent years. "This is a business that the GE board wants to grow," David Nason, head of the GE Energy Financial Services unit, said in an interview on Thursday. "It's not tied into the overall shrinking story of GE Capital. Full Story | Top |
| French energy minister promises 100,000 green jobs Friday, Apr 25, 2014 11:52 AM PDT  Segolene Royal, appointed French energy and environment minister this month, said on Friday she planned to create 100,000 jobs in the next three years with a drive for green growth. Royal told a news conference she wanted to accelerate investment in renewable energies like wind, solar, biomass and marine energy, as well as in insulation of buildings. In coming days, Royal will make a joint proposal with the housing minister to provide low-income families financing options for insulation, aiming to renovate 500,000 homes by 2017. In his election manifesto, President Francois Hollande had promised to better insulate one million homes per year. Full Story | Top |
| Crimea faces motor fuel shortages as Ukrainian supplies dry up Friday, Apr 25, 2014 10:59 AM PDT By Maxim Nazarov MOSCOW (Reuters) - Crimea could be hit by severe gasoline and diesel shortages within a few weeks after the annexation of the peninsula by Russia cut off the majority of its supplies from Ukraine, senior trade sources in the region said. Fuel station owners in the region - some of whom have already described the supply situation as "critical" - are also contending with price cuts ordered by Moscow to bring them in line with Russian prices. Fuel shortages in the run-up to the peak summer holiday season in Crimea, which is expecting a large influx of Russian tourists, could be embarrassing for Moscow as it moves to cement its control over the peninsula. Full Story | Top |
| Canada still betting the U.S. will approve Keystone XL Friday, Apr 25, 2014 09:52 AM PDT  By Euan Rocha MISSISSAUGA, Ontario (Reuters) - Canada remains confident Washington will ultimately approve the Keystone XL pipeline to the U.S. Gulf Coast, two prominent cabinet ministers said on Friday, adding that the latest U.S. delay is political and not based on environmental concerns. In his first public remarks on the controversial project, the country's new energy minister, Greg Rickford, said he hoped the Obama administration will "depoliticize" its decision on Keystone XL and give it the green light. "On the Keystone, we're still very hopeful ... that this will go ahead sooner rather than later, and it will simply add to the economic benefits of pipeline transmission of energy products," Rickford told reporters after a speech in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga on Friday. "Obviously we hope sooner rather than later that this is depoliticized, if you will, and that the communities along the pipeline, which include Canada and the United States, can reap the tremendous economic benefits of Keystone," he said. Full Story | Top |
| German defense ministry unable to contact observer mission in east Ukraine Friday, Apr 25, 2014 08:08 AM PDT Germany's defense ministry said on Friday it was unable to contact a German-led group of international military observers on a mission in the rebel-held city of Slaviansk in eastern Ukraine. The group, on a mission overseen by the Vienna-based Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), is made up of three German soldiers, a German translator, and military observers from Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden and Denmark, a ministry spokesman said. Full Story | Top |
| Merkel tells Putin Russia has not done enough to ease Ukraine crisis Friday, Apr 25, 2014 08:07 AM PDT By Alexandra Hudson and Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Angela Merkel said on Friday that she had told Russian President Vladimir Putin by telephone that Moscow had not done enough to urge separatists in Ukraine to disarm, and that further sanctions against Russia must be contemplated. The European Union and Group of Seven (G7) nations would consider sanctions "within the framework of the second stage of sanctions" she said at a news conference in Berlin with Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, referring to a three-stage scheme. Stage three, under preparation, would involve trade and economic sanctions against Moscow. U.S. President Barack Obama was due to press European allies on Friday to impose tougher penalties on Moscow. Full Story | Top |
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