Violence in Syria rages ahead of Assad speech

Fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces raged across the country hours before President Bashar Assad is expected to address the nation on Sunday in his first public appearance in two months, activists said.The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels fighting to topple the Assad regime have clashed with troops in the southern province of Daraa, the birthplace of the...

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Syrian president says he is fighting jihadists

 Syrian President Bashar Assad says his country is being subjected to an unprecedented attack and says the conflict can only be solved through a popular movement.Assad spoke Sunday in a rare speech addressing the nation, his first since June.As in previous speeches, he said his forces were fighting groups of "murderous criminals" and jihadi elements and denied there was an uprising against his...

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Assad outlines new Syria peace initiative

 Syrian President Bashar Assad has outlined a new peace initiative that includes a national reconciliation conference and a new constitution.Assad, however, says the initiative can only take roots after regional and Western countries stop funding what he called militant extremists fighting to overthrow him.Assad spoke Sunday in a rare speech addressing the nation, his first since June.As in previous...

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Jefferies results beat estimates on higher fixed-income revenue

(Reuters) - Jefferies Group Inc reported a higher-than-expected adjusted quarterly profit as the investment bank benefited from higher earnings from its fixed-income unit, and said its business expansion in Asia has started delivering.The midsized investment bank has been expanding in China and India and recently poached bankers from the Royal Bank of Scotland to expand its business in China.Jefferies...

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Oracle 2Q earnings rise 18 pct as tech spending up

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Oracle says its latest quarterly earnings rose 18 percent as companies splurged on more software and other technology toward the end of the year.The results announced Tuesday are an improvement from Oracle's previous quarter, when the company's revenue dipped slightly from a year earlier.The latest quarter spanned September through November. That makes Oracle the first technology...

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Oracle sees third-quarter profit of 64 to 68 cents per share

BOSTON (Reuters) - Oracle Corp, the world's No. 3 software maker, said it expects to report non-GAAP earnings per share of 64 cents to 68 cents in its fiscal third quarter.Oracle forecast that third-quarter new software sales and cloud subscriptions sales will rise 3 percent to 13 percent from a year earlier.The company said its sees third-quarter hardware products sales flat to down 10 percent from...

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Syrian forces bombard rebel areas near capital

 Syrian government warplanes and artillery pounded restive suburbs of Damascus on Friday and anti-regime activists said a car bomb targeted an intelligence building north of the capital.Fighting in Syria's civil war has flared in areas around Damascus as rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad try to push into the city itself. The rebel advances in the suburbs threaten the government's...

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