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Best-selling author James Patterson has reached a deal to turn his young adult book franchise "Maximum Ride" into an Internet video series that will be released on YouTube. _0"> Patterson sold exclusive online rights for "Maximum Ride" to Collective Digital Studio (CDS), a production company and operator of YouTube channels, according to a statement released on Wednesday. The eight "Maximum Ride" books, which have sold more than 30 million copies, tell the story of children who are genetically modified with bird DNA and can fly. The franchise already has a following on YouTube, where fans have posted videos of themselves acting out scenes from the books. CDS plans to start its online series with six to 10 episodes that are each about 10 minutes long, said Gary Binkow, partner and chief content officer for CDS. It hopes to release them next year, he said. Patterson, whose adult thrillers include the Alex Cross series, will serve as an executiv

An outdoor museum in the English county of Yorkshire that features works by Chinese dissident artist Ai Wei Wei, Henry Moore and other noted sculptors won a 100,000-pound ($170,200) prize on Wednesday as The Art Fund's Museum of the Year. _0"> The Yorkshire Sculpture Park was deemed by the prize judges at the British arts charity to be "a truly outstanding museum with a bold artistic vision". The award was presented by the British film director Sam Mendes. “A perfect fusion of art and landscape, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park has gone from modest beginning to one of the finest outdoor museums one might ever imagine," said Stephen Deuchar, The Art Fund's director and a former director of London's Tate Britain gallery. One of the stand out exhibitions at the park is a timeline by Ai Wei Wei that marks important dates in Chinese history, such as the millions of famine deaths in the 20th century and troops opening fire on demonstrators at Tiananmen Squ

R&B singer Trey Songz on Wednesday scored his second No. 1 album on the weekly U.S. Billboard 200 chart, with "Trigga" selling 105,000 copies in its debut week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. _0"> British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran's "x" dropped to second place after he secured his first No. 1 album last week, with sales falling to 53,000 copies from 210,000 in its debut week. Another British singer-songwriter, Sam Smith, dropped one spot to No. 3, with "In the Lonely Hour" selling 45,000 copies. Rounding out the top five were South African metal band Seether debuting "Isolate & Medicate" in the No. 4 position, and animated Disney film "Frozen," which held firm at No. 5 for its 29th consecutive week in the top five. Sam Smith's song "Stay with Me" topped the digital songs chart with 185,000 downloads, narrowly beating out for the second straight week "Rude" from Canadian

Actor George Clooney criticized Britain's Daily Mail on Wednesday for publishing what he called a "completely fabricated" story that said his future mother-in-law opposes his upcoming marriage to human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin. _0"> The Mail Online story posted on Monday said Alamuddin's mother was telling family in Beirut that she is not happy about the wedding for religious reasons and that her daughter could do better by marrying within the family's Druze religion. "First of all, none of the story is factually true," Clooney, 53, wrote in the newspaper USA Today. "Amal's mother is not Druze. She has not been to Beirut since Amal and I have been dating and she is in no way against the marriage - but none of that is the issue," he added. The issue, he said, is that the story said that because the Clooney nuptials will not be a Druze wedding, Alamuddin could be cast out of the community. Women have been murdered for not ab

Pop star Justin Bieber pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vandalism on Wednesday for pelting a neighbor's home with eggs and was sentenced to two years probation, the Los Angeles County District Attorney said. _0"> The 20-year-old Bieber, who was not present in Los Angeles Superior Court for his arraignment, was also ordered to pay $80,900 in restitution, serve five days community service and complete an anger management program in what the district attorney called a negotiated settlement. "Justin is glad to get this matter resolved and behind him," Bieber's representatives said in a statement. "He will continue to move forward focusing on his career and his music." The singer, whose hit songs include "Boyfriend," was accused of throwing eggs at a neighbor's home in an upscale Calabasas, California, neighborhood during a dispute in January. Investigators searched Bieber's home following the incident and arrested a friend, aspir

Pop star Justin Bieber pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vandalism on Wednesday for pelting a neighbor's home with eggs and was sentenced to two years probation, the Los Angeles County District Attorney said. _0"> The 20-year-old Bieber, who was not present in Los Angeles Superior Court for his arraignment, was also ordered to pay $80,900 in restitution, serve five days community service and complete an anger management program in what the district attorney called a negotiated settlement. "Justin is glad to get this matter resolved and behind him," Bieber's representatives said in a statement. "He will continue to move forward focusing on his career and his music." The singer, whose hit songs include "Boyfriend," was accused of throwing eggs at a neighbor's home in an upscale Calabasas, California, neighborhood during a dispute in January. Investigators searched Bieber's home following the incident and arrested a friend, aspir

European shares edged lower on Thursday, led by Nordic shares after disappointing updates by Norwegian bank DNB and Swedish construction firm Skanska. _0"> Norway's largest bank posted lower than expected second-quarter results, partly due to higher loan losses, while Skanska said its Latin American operations showed continued losses. They were among top fallers on the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which was down 0.1 percent at 1,362.27 points at 0715 GMT. (Reporting By Francesco Canepa, editing by Tricia Wright)

Costco Wholesale Corp reported a 6 percent rise in June same-store sales that beat analysts' estimates, helped by higher fuel prices. _0"> Excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates and gasoline prices, same-store sales rose 6 percent for the five-week period ended July 6. Analysts expected same-store sales to rise 5.4 percent for the month of June, according to Thomson Reuters data. Costco, which competes with BJ's Wholesale Club Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc's Sam's Club, offers everyday items such as bananas below supermarket prices, hoping customers will buy other goods as well and usually prices gasoline lower than competing stations. June net sales rose 10 percent to $10.89 billion. (Reporting By Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

India's private carrier IndiGo is in talks with Airbus Group to order 200 additional A320neo jets valued at about $20.6 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the plans. _0"> The deal may be announced as early as next week at the Farnborough International Airshow, Bloomberg reported, adding that while IndiGo has talked with Boeing Co, the airline's preference is to stick with Airbus. ( bloom.bg/1tq7U6Q ) Sakshi Batra, a spokeswoman for IndiGo, declined to comment on the report. Airbus could not be immediately reached for comment. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Airbus is sprinting to line up preliminary orders for a revamped version of its A330 jet and is on stand-by to make an announcement at Farnborough. (Reporting by Supriya Kurane in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

Britain said on Thursday it would rush through emergency legislation to force telecoms companies to retain the data of users for a year, saying the move was vital to protect national security following a decision by Europe's top court. _0"> Communication companies had been required to retain data for 12 months under a 2006 European Union directive which was thrown out by the European Court of Justice in April. The scrapping of the directive could deprive police and intelligence agencies of access to information about who customers contacted by phone, text or email, and where and when, the British government said. British Prime Minister David Cameron said the emergency legislation would restore this capability and enshrine it in law, ensuring investigations would not be hampered and giving protection to the telecom firms from possible legal challenges. However, he stated the measure would not give the authorities any new powers to access Britons' personal data or t

European shares eased on Thursday, led down by Nordic stocks after disappointing updates from Norwegian bank DNB and Swedish construction firm Skanska. Norway's largest bank posted lower-than-expected second-quarter results, partly due to higher loan losses, while Skanska said it would significantly scale down its loss-making Latin American operations after taking a charge in the second quarter. Their shares, each down about 3 percent, were the top fallers on the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which was down 0.1 percent at 1,362.54 points by 0743 GMT. The index, which hit a 6-1/2 year highs last month, was down for the fourth out of the past five sessions as a handful of disappointing earnings updates cast a shadow on the upcoming reporting season and raised questions about a nearly 10-percent rally between mid-March and last week. "We were looking at an overextended market, so a degree of profit taking was inevitable," IG chief market strategist Brenda Kelly s

Silent Circle, a company known for mobile apps designed to thwart government surveillance, is introducing on Thursday a secrecy-cloaking phone service that lets customers make and receive private phone calls for as little as $12.95 a month. _0"> The secure, fixed-rate voice and data calling plan works on Apple iOS and Android smartphones and, eventually, on Windows Mobile systems, the Geneva-based firm said. Callers can reach 79 countries, including China, Russia, most of Europe and the Americas. Large parts of the Middle East and Africa are not covered. The service marks a sophisticated challenge not just to traditional phone carriers -- who still by and large charge steep roaming fees to international travelers when calling from outside their home market -- but also to newer, voice over Internet services that have sprung up over the past decade. For while Silent Circle undercuts major competitors' roaming costs in many countries, the service's basic attraction l

The layout of a shop, such as Apple's flagship stores may be registered as a trade mark under certain conditions, the European Court of Justice said on Thursday. _0"> Apple had sought to extend a trade mark it had registered in the United States to Germany, but this was initially refused. The ECJ, answering a question from the German Federal Patents Court, said that a store layout can be a trade mark if it departs significantly from other stores in the sector. However, the court added that this had to be assessed on a case-by-case basis by the relevant authority. (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek)

U.S. security software maker Symantec Corp said it is holding discussions with authorities in Beijing after a state-controlled Chinese newspaper reported that the Ministry of Public Security had banned the use of one of its products. _0"> The China Daily reported on July 4 that the ministry had issued an order to branches across the nation telling them to uninstall Symantec's data loss prevention, or DLP, products from their systems, saying the software "could pose information risks." The newspaper also said Chinese news site Sohu.com had reported that the public security bureau had banned Symantec's DLP products from future procurement projects. ( bit.ly/1okVF3v ) Symantec spokeswoman Colleen Lacter told Reuters that her company was in discussions with the Chinese government about the matter, though she declined to confirm or deny the newspaper's account of what had happened. "The discussions are ongoing and it's premature to go into detail

European shares were back in negative territory on Thursday, a brief lift from U.S. Federal Reserve meeting minutes proving short-lived as investors worried whether markets could go it alone without the U.S. central bank's emergency support. Faith in a rally in share prices dating back almost three years has more shaky over the past month than for some time, as the Fed nears what looks like a definitive end to its programme of new money-printing. The minutes from the U.S. central bank's last meeting, published after European markets had closed on Wednesday, offered no sign it was any closer to following that with a swift rise in official interest rates to cool the economy. That boosted U.S. and Asian markets overnight. But the dominant concern at the European open was over companies' results and the economy's ability to survive without the new funds which the Fed's bond-buying has forced into the system every month. Norway's largest bank DNB added to an ina

Russian Industry Minister Denis Manturov said on Thursday he supported returning indebted miner Mechel to financial health within the framework of bankruptcy law or by creating a managing company, RIA Novosti news agency reported. _0"> On Wednesday state-owned development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) said it would not take part in a bailout of Mechel, extinguishing hopes for a convertible bond scheme that was seen as its most likely lifeline. (Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Alessandra Prentice)

Growing fines for banks for misconduct is making it harder for regulators to work out how much capital lenders should be holding, Bank of England Deputy Governor Andrew Bailey said on Thursday. _0"> Bailey said regulators such as the BoE have to look at the direction of travel of fines, particularly in the United States, to see what potential fines are in the pipeline. Banks have been fined millions of pounds for rigging the Libor interest rate benchmark and allegations are now emerging that the foreign exchange market has been manipulated as well. "This is a considerable dent in rebuilding bank capital," Bailey told a Bloomberg event. "So far this has not caused a major financial stability issue. These are things on a scale that have to be handled very closely to deal with the issues around them." (Reporting by Huw Jones ; editing by Jason Neely )

Airbus Group NV denied a report on Thursday of an imminent deal to sell 200 aircraft to Indian airline IndiGo. Bloomberg said in a report published on Thursday that IndiGo was in talks with Airbus to order 200 additional A320neo jets valued at about $20.6 billion, citing people familiar with the plans. "Rumours of a deal are unfounded," an Airbus spokesman told Reuters, but added, "We are always in talks with our customers." Bloomberg said the deal could be announced as early as next week at the Farnborough International Airshow, adding that while IndiGo had talked with Boeing Co, the airline's preference was to stick with Airbus. ( bloom.bg/1tq7U6Q ) Sakshi Batra, a spokeswoman for IndiGo, declined to comment on the report. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Airbus is sprinting to line up preliminary orders for a revamped version of its A330 jet and is on stand-by to make an announcement at Farnborough. (Reporting by Supriya Kurane in Bangalore and T

Russian Industry Minister Denis Manturov supports returning indebted miner Mechel to financial health within the framework of bankruptcy law or by creating a managing company, RIA news agency reported on Thursday. State-owned development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) said on Wednesday it would not take part in a bailout of Mechel, extinguishing hopes for a convertible bond scheme that was seen as its most likely lifeline. "We need to talk about financial recovery either via bankruptcy law, or by strengthening a managing company, which should take the risk on itself and the responsibility to take the company out of crisis," Manturov was quoted as saying in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. "But the tasks and the commitments are huge and I cannot say who is willing to take it yet. Therefore, we will continue to work on it," Manturov added. He did not any further details. The loss-making coal to steel group, hit by weak prices for its products, is in critical need of

Boeing Co made its most bullish 20-year forecast for jetliner demand since 2011, saying on Thursday the world will need 36,770 new planes worth $5.2 trillion by 2033. The company's annual projection is up 4.2 percent from its 2013 forecast, and it predicted beating rival Airbus Group NV in the lucrative market for twin-aisle planes as the planes are built and delivered over the next two decades. "If Airbus doesn't do something with their product strategy, they're headed to 30-35 percent market share" in deliveries of next-generation twin-aisle aircraft, Randy Tinseth, Boeing's vice president of marketing, told reporters in a briefing. Boeing's 787 and 777X jets already make up 65 percent of all current orders, with the Airbus A350 accounting for the rest, and that gap will widen unless Airbus develops another jet as a competitor, he said. Planes are delivered years after orders are placed, so the final numbers may change as airlines change their pla

Britain said on Thursday it would rush through emergency legislation to force telecoms companies to retain customers' data for a year, saying the move was vital to protect national security following a decision by Europe's top court. Communication companies had been required to retain data for 12 months under a 2006 European Union directive which was thrown out in April by the European Court of Justice which said it infringed human rights. The scrapping of the directive could deprive police and intelligence agencies of access to information about who customers contacted by phone, text or email, and where and when, the British coalition government said. Such information had been used by the security services in every counter-terrorism investigation in the last decade, and it was vital these powers were not compromised when there was growing concern over Britons travelling to Iraq and Syria to join militant Islamist groups, the government added. Prime Minister David Cameron

Statoil shut its oil platform at the Oseberg East field offshore Norway after a collision with a supply vessel but production was expected to restart later the same day, a spokesman said. The collision took place at 0140 CET (1140 GMT on Wednesday), forcing a shutdown and preparations to evacuate workers. The situation was normalised a few hours later, and the inspection showed small damage on the platform. "The production was stopped, but we are preparing to restart it later today," said Lars Kindingstad, a spokesman for Statoil. During the first four months of the year, Oseberg East produced 961,189 barrels of oil or about 8,000 barrels of oil per day, data from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate showed. Statoil, the operator of the field, has a 49.3 percent stake in the production licence. The other partners are Norway's state-owned Petoro with 33.6 percent, France's Total with 14.7 and U.S. major ConocoPhillips with 2.4 percent. (Reporting by Nerijus Ado

Chinese pork producer WH Group Ltd is seeking to raise up to $3 billion as early as this month in a revived Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) which saw the deal size cut by nearly two-thirds, Thomson Reuters publication IFR reported on Thursday. The offer would be the second attempt this year by the world's biggest pork company to go public, as it seeks funds to repay part of the debt it took to foot last year's $7.1 billion purchase of U.S. pork producer Smithfield International. In April, WH Group pulled an Hong Kong IPO it had hoped would raise up to $5.3 billion after investors baulked at the high valuation. The 29 banks - a record number - hired to manage the offer also sent confusing signals to institutional investors, while the negative publicity surrounding sky-high executive compensation raised corporate governance issues. The new IPO would only comprise primary shares, meaning existing shareholders including CDH Investments, New Horizon, Goldman Sachs and Te

Israel's Iron Dome interceptor has shot down some 90 percent of Palestinian rockets it engaged during this week's surge of Gaza fighting, up from the 85 percent rate in the previous mini-war of 2012, Israeli and U.S. officials said on Thursday. Seven batteries of the system, made by the state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd and partly funded by Washington, have been rotated around Israel to tackle unprecedented long-range salvoes by Hamas guerrillas. Rafael said it had been working on improvements to Iron Dome, which is designed to fire guided missiles at rockets that threaten to hit populated areas while ignoring others. There have been few injuries and no fatalities from rockets that hit towns or cities - results that also reflect Israel's extensive investment in air raid sirens and shelters. "We've been constantly fine-turning the programming of the system, including during the fighting. Our engineers are on the ground, with the military crews, an

India boosted defence spending by 12 percent in 2014-15 over the previous year in a budget presented on Thursday and further opened the domestic weapons industry to foreign investment to help rebuild the military and narrow the gap with China. India has been the world's top arms buyer for the last three years, trying to replace an ageing Soviet-era military with modern weapons as a deterrent to a rising China, with which it fought a war more than half a century ago. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley set the military budget at 2.29 trillion Indian rupees ($38.35 billion) for 2014-15, 50 billion rupees more than what the previous government agreed in an interim budget earlier this year. Defence expenditure for 2013/14 was kept at 2.04 trillion rupees. "Modernisation of the armed forces is critical to enable them to play their role effectively in the defence of India's strategic interests," he said to the thumping of desks in the lower house of parliament, where he pre

European shares extended losses on Thursday, weighed down by heavy falls in southern indexes after weak economic data from Italy and mounting concern about the financial health of Portugal's largest listed bank. Lisbon's PSI Index fell 3 percent by 0910 GMT, lagging all other European benchmarks, after shares and bonds of the chief shareholder in Banco Espirito Santo were suspended over "material difficulties" at its parent company ESI. Italy's FTSE MIB fell 1.7 percent after data showed Italian industrial output posted its steepest monthly decline since November 2012, casting doubts over the country's economic recovery. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was down 0.9 percent at 1,351.67 points, having sharply extended early losses. (Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Lionel Laurent)

China and the United States agreed on Thursday to boost military ties and counter-terrorism cooperation during high-level annual talks in Beijing, but there was little immediate sign of progress on thorny cyber-security or maritime issues. The two-day talks, led by Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew for the United States and Vice Premier Wang Yang and top diplomat Yang Jiechi for China, were never expected to achieve great breakthroughs. The Strategic and Economic Dialogue, now in its fifth year, is more about managing an increasingly complex and at times testy relationship. After discussions on topics ranging from the value of China's currency to North Korea, Yang said the two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism, law enforcement and military-to-military relations. He gave few details. On two of the most sensitive issues - maritime disputes and cyber-spying - Yang largely restated Beijing's position on both. "The Ch

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new government on Thursday unveiled a first budget of structural reforms aimed at reviving growth, winning praise from investors despite a lack of clarity over how he would cap the big fiscal deficit. Expectations had been high that the government would utilise India's strongest election mandate in 30 years to take radical steps comparable to the 1991 market reforms that unleashed an era of high economic growth. But in a bid to halt a two-year spell of weak growth, the government instead announced incremental steps to boost capital spending in Asia's third largest economy and reassure foreign investors that they would get fair treatment. "We shall leave no stone unturned in creating a vibrant and strong India," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told parliament, vowing to raise the pace of economic growth to 7-8 percent in three to four years from less than 5 percent now. Jaitley, 61, told lawmakers he would uphold the fiscal

Tullett Prebon Plc - _0"> * Outcome of FINRA arbitration on claims brought by company's subsidiary companies in united states which were raided by BGC partners inc * Arbitrators have determined bgc and certain of raided brokers should pay $33.3m (19.5m pounds) in compensatory damages to subsidiary companies on account of claims * Determined that subsidiary companies should pay $6.1m (£3.5m) in compensatory damages to a representative of former equity holders of chapdelaine corporate securities & co and $0.2m (0.1m pounds) to one of raided brokers Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

Japanese apparel supplier Fast Retailing Co cut its full-year net profit forecast more than 10 percent to account for losses at a premium denim brand, even as strong sales in its flagship Uniqlo stores helped third-quarter operating profit grow 21 percent, in line with forecasts. Asia's biggest fashion retailer cut its full-year net profit target on Thursday to 78 billion yen ($768 million), down from 88 billion yen, to account for a possible 10 billion yen impairment loss on its J Brand U.S. jeans operation. Fast Retailing paid $290 million to buy an 80 percent stake in J Brand late in 2012, with label managers holding on to the remaining stake. "We weren't effective enough in competing in the increasingly tough premium denim market," Chief Financial Officer Takeshi Okazaki told a news conference in Tokyo. The persistent loss at J Brand highlights the potential risks of scooping up non-homegrown brands for Fast Retailing in its drive for international growth. Amb

Investment management firm Neuberger Berman said it hired Anton Kwang as a senior portfolio manager for the Asia Pacific region as it expands its global real estate securities group. _0"> Kwang, who will be based in Hong Kong, was previously the lead Asia Pacific portfolio manager for Standard Life Investments global real estate funds. Neuberger Berman Global Real Estate Securities Group invests primarily in real estate investment trusts (REITs). The employee-controlled investment firm manages over $2 billion in real estate securities for institutions and individuals worldwide.

Credit Suisse AG has named senior banker Tom Davidson vice chairman of its global healthcare group, according to a memo released to employees on Wednesday. Davidson will focus his efforts on some of the bank's largest pharmaceutical clients globally at a time when healthcare M&A continues to surge. He has worked on recent deals, including advising Merck & Co Inc on its $3.85 billion acquisition of biopharmaceutical company Idenix and advising specialty pharma company Paladin Labs on its sale to Endo Health Solutions for $1.5 billion. Stuart Smith, who served as co-head of the bank's global healthcare group with Davidson, will continue to run the team. Other high profile deals that Credit Suisse's healthcare group was involved in during the last several years include Genzyme's $20 billion sale to Sanofi SA in 2011 and Human Genome Sciences sale to GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd for $3 billion in 2012. A Credit Suisse spokesperson confirmed the contents

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi urged euro zone states to respect their joint fiscal rules and extend their cooperation to economic reforms, telling governments they must "learn to govern together". While reiterating his message that the ECB is ready to use "unconventional instruments" - code for large-scale asset buying - if needed, he devoted most of a speech in London to pressing for closer European integration to deliver growth and jobs. Draghi, who brought the euro zone back from the brink of break-up in 2012 with his pledge to do "whatever it takes" to save the euro, called on countries to respect the EU's Fiscal Compact on reducing public debt. "What is essential now is that these rules are enforced," he said in the text of his speech, a memorial lecture on Wednesday in honour of the late Italian minister and ECB policymaker Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa. "To unwind the consolidation that has been achieved, and in doin

The European Central Bank aims to keep banks on a tight leash in the final phase of a balance sheet health check in October, giving them just 48 hours to review the test results before publishing them, two persons familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. The comprehensive assessment, conducted by the ECB before it starts supervising the euro zone’s top 120 banks from Nov. 4, will examine banks’ balance sheets and weigh up their ability to withstand shock and stress. The assessment includes an asset quality review, or AQR, and a stress test that runs banks' books through tough scenarios to check the robustness of their finances. Banks delivered preliminary results of the stress tests conducted with the London-based European Banking Authority to the ECB around two weeks ago, said one person attending the ECB meeting in Frankfurt. “As a consequence, most banks should know whether they face problems at the stress test or not,” he said. ECB officials proposed revealing

Stocks finished higher on Wednesday, rebounding from a sharp two-day selloff, after minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting showed policymakers have started to detail how the central bank will end its easy monetary policy. The Fed indicated it will end its bond purchases in October and appeared near agreement on a plan to manage interest rates in the future, according to the minutes. "The market, after digesting the Fed minutes, came to the conclusion that the bond-buying program ending in October is a sign of economic strength," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York. "So while it was a bit more hawkish, the conclusion is the economy doesn’t need any more crutches." The major U.S. stock indexes dipped immediately after the release of the minutes but quickly recovered. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 78.99 points or 0.47 percent, to 16,985.61. The S&P 500 gained 9.12 points or 0.46 percent, to 1,97

The Vatican on Wednesday said it would separate its bank's investment business from its Church payments work to try to clean up after years of scandal, and vowed to become a "model of financial transparency". French businessman Jean-Baptiste de Franssu was named as the new head of the bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), succeeding German lawyer Ernst Von Freyberg, who has run the bank since February 2013. Freyberg, who has said he is leaving for personal reasons, has introduced reforms to make the IOR more transparent and compliant with international norms against money laundering, and has closed many suspicious accounts. The Vatican also plans to increase scrutiny on one of the two sections of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, or APSA - also hit by recent scandals - that runs Vatican properties, handles income and spending, prepares budgets and acts as a central accounting department and purchasing office. Austral

State Street Corp has reached $70 million in settlements to end three lawsuits claiming it inflated its share price by overcharging clients on foreign exchange services and falsely representing that its investments in mortgage-backed securities were safe. According to court filings on Tuesday, the Boston-based custodial bank settled shareholder class-action litigation for $60 million, and will pay another $10 million to resolve two lawsuits by employees who owned its stock in their retirement accounts. The shareholder settlement requires approval by U.S. District Judge George O'Toole, and the employee settlements require approval by U.S. District Judge Denise Casper. Both judges work in Boston. "We continue to deny the allegations made in these lawsuits," State Street said in a statement. "We agreed that the cases should be settled to eliminate the uncertainty, distraction, burden and expense of continued litigation." Custodial banks such as State Street,

Attorney General Eric Holder has formally refused to meet with Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Brian Moynihan to hammer out a multibillion-dollar deal, as talks to resolve probes into shoddy mortgage securities sold by the bank and its units remain at a standstill, according to people familiar with the matter. In a letter sent in the second half of June, Holder told Moynihan that the parties remained too far apart for a meeting to be productive, one source said. No negotiations between the second largest U.S. bank and the U.S. Department of Justice have taken place since the second week in June, several people said. The attorney general said in the letter he had been following the talks and continued to get updates but was leaving the negotiations to the Justice Department's No. 3 official, Tony West, the one source said.     Reuters reported last month that Bank of America representatives had sought a meeting between Moynihan and Holder to resolve government investig

Airbus is sprinting to line up preliminary orders for a revamped version of its A330 jet and is on stand-by to make an announcement as early as next week's Farnborough Airshow, but no decision has been taken, people familiar with the matter said. The keenly awaited launch of the so-called A330neo hinges on the response of airlines and lessors being courted just days before the July 14-20 event, but the planemaker appears to be close to winning at least two provisional buyers, they said. Airbus Group's board has not so far given official authorization to start marketing the plane, but is ready to do so depending on the level of commitments. Publicly, Airbus this week played down the prospect of an immediate launch in what was partly seen as an effort to insure itself against perceptions of a flop if no announcement came. Additionally, the project poses complex issues of production and strategy, including a virtually certain decision to halt or slow development of the newe

IBM announced on Wednesday it will invest $3 billion over the next five years in chip research and development in hopes of finding a game-changing breakthrough that can help revive its slumping hardware unit. IBM announced the plan a week before its widely anticipated second quarter earnings. Last quarter, sales in its hardware sector plunged 23 percent from a year earlier and the company posted its lowest quarterly revenue in five years. IBM hopes to find ways to scale and shrink silicon chips to make them more efficient, and research new materials to use in making chips, such as carbon nanotubes, which are more stable than silicon and are also heat resistant and can provide faster connections. "The message to our investors is that we are committed to this space, we believe there is great innovation possible that will be necessary in world of big data analytics, said Tom Rosamilia, senior vice president of IBM's Systems and Technology Group. "These are essential i

Mexican telecoms company America Movil plans to divest assets as quickly as possible to escape tougher regulation, and it hopes to sell to a single buyer, spokesman Arturo Elias said on Wednesday. _0"> The company controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim announced on Tuesday that it was ready to sell assets to cut its market share in Mexican telecoms below 50 percent and avoid regulations that apply only to dominant players. Those new rules are part of a telecommunications sector overhaul approved by Congress in an attempt to curb the power of America Movil and broadcaster Televisa. Shares of America Movil were up 8.69 percent at 14.6 pesos. The company has a market value of well over $70 billion. It has some 70 percent of the mobile market and is the dominant force in fixed line and Internet. America Movil will have to sell 15 percent to 17 percent of its share in telephony to weigh in below the 50 percent threshold and still have margin to grow, and aimed to do so as quick

The Federal Reserve has begun detailing how it plans to ease the U.S. economy out of an era of loose monetary policy, indicating it will end its asset purchases in October and appearing near agreement on a plan to manage interest rates in the future, according to minutes of the last Fed policy meeting. The minutes from the June 17-18 meeting indicate the Fed envisions using overnight repurchase agreements in tandem with the interest it pays banks on excess reserves to set a ceiling and floor for its target interest rate. Though no decisions have been announced, the discussion has become detailed enough for Fed officials to contemplate the proper spread between the two - mentioned in the minutes as 20 basis points. The minutes showed the Fed participants also "generally agreed" that monthly bond purchases would end in October, with a final reduction of $15 billion in monthly purchases of U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities. Fed officials expressed overall c