DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Managers for U.S. pop singer Anastacia say she has cancelled a planned performance in Dubai and an upcoming European tour after being diagnosed with breast cancer a decade after her first battle with the disease.
Molycorp warns of impairment charge, delays results
TORONTO (Reuters) – Molycorp Inc is delaying its quarterly results and its annual report as it has yet to determine the size of a goodwill impairment charge that it will have to book in the fourth quarter, the rare earth producer said on Thursday. The company, whose shares fell 8.5 percent in premarket trading, was expected to report financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31 later on Thursday. …
US: $60 million in new aid to Syria opposition
ROME (AP) -- The Obama administration said Thursday that it will provide the Syrian opposition with an additional $60 million in assistance and -- in a significant policy shift -- will for the first time provide nonlethal aid like food and medical supplies to rebels battling to oust President Bashar Assad. Benedict promises obedience to successor
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI promised his "unconditional reverence and obedience" to his successor in his final words to cardinals Thursday, a poignant and powerful farewell delivered hours before he becomes the first pope in 600 years to resign. Gilts eye BoE, tread water before GDP data
LONDON (Reuters) – British government bonds held broadly steady on Thursday, with markets unwilling to re-test Wednesday’s eight-week highs ahead of U.S. gross domestic product figures and German inflation data due later in the session. An inconclusive Italian election, which threatens to derail austerity measures needed to ensure market confidence in the country’s debt, pushed 10-year gilt yields to an eight-week low on Wednesday, just days after Britain lost its triple-A credit rating with agency Moody’s. …
Britain's Old Lady shows appetite for new thinking
LONDON (Reuters) – There has been a sudden flowering of new ideas at the Bank of England over the past few days, with everything from negative interest rates to a long-term commitment to bond-buying said to be up for discussion. Could it be that a new boss is coming? Or simply that things in Britain's economy are getting decidedly worse? Just a couple of weeks ago, most economists did not expect policy at the bank, nicknamed the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, to change this year – or at least not before Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney arrives in July to take over. … Worried jobseekers crimp recruiter Hays' fees
LONDON (Reuters) – British recruitment firm Hays saw a 10 percent drop in fees from permanent job placements in the second half of last year, as jobseekers worried by the fragile economy deci ded to play safe and stay in their current jobs. Speaking after the company reported an overall 4 percent dip in fees for the six months to December 31, finance director Paul Venables said conditions in the UK and Ireland, which account for almost a third of total net fees, are likely to remain weak. "The permanent market continues to be tough and fragile," Venables told Reuters. … Irish retail sales fall 1.2 percent in January
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Irish retail sales volumes fell 1.2 percent in January, their sharpest annualised fall in six months, dragged down by weak car sales, provisional data showed on Thursday. Retail sales volumes were 1.7 percent lower in January than in December, the statistics office said. Retail volumes fell 0.2 percent month-on-month in December compared to a provisional reading of a 1.2 percent fall. They fell 1.1 percent on an annualised basis in December, compared to a provisional estimate of a 0.2 percent fall. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Irish house prices fall for second successive month
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Irish house prices fell for the second successive month in January, dropping 0.6 percent month-on-month, tempering hopes of a rebound after 50 percent peak-to-trough falls. Average residential property prices rose four times in the second half of last year, narrowing the annual rate of decline to 3.3 percent in January from 17.4 percent a year earlier, data from the central statistics office showed. …
Small builders help Howden Joinery defy downturn
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s army of small builders is helping kitchens supplier Howden Joinery buck the economic downturn and increase profits, the surviving remnant of the MFI furniture empire said on Thursday. Reporting better than expected profits and a big dividend hike, Howden said it has fared well despite a subdued housing market by selling its kitchens from 529 depots to trade buyers, rather than directly to home owners. “We have got 270,000 small builder account customers. The truth is if they do not sell they do not eat,” Chief Executive Matthew Ingle said. …
Irish household loans fall in January, deposits rise
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Loans to Irish households continued to fall in January as deposits rose on a year-on-year basis for the sixth month in a row, cent ral bank figures showed on Thursday. Loans to households fell 816 million euros in January compared with a decline of 372 million euros a month earlier, but the rate of annual decline increased to 4 percent from 3.9 percent in December. Private sector deposits increased 3.7 percent year-on-year, up from a 2.5 percent rise in December. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Alison Williams) Bulgaria to hold early elections on May 12
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) -- Bulgaria will hold early parliamentary elections on May 12, following weeks of massive social protests that forced the government to resign triggering a political crisis in the poorest EU member country.
Benedict greets cardinals on final day as pope
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI has greeted his cardinals for the last time as pontiff, beginning a quiet final day as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics before flying off into retirement. Derwent to build new London block with no pre-lets
LONDON (Reuters) – British landlord Derwent London is to start work on a new office site close to London’s so-called ‘Silicon Roundabout’ tech hub, encouraged by appetite for space from expanding technology firms. The 17-storey, 289,000 square feet complex will house 2,500 workers and be worth 200 million pounds ($303 million) when completed in 2016, said John Burns, chief executive of Derwent whose tenants include Expedia and Publicis. …
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