- Gunman kills two, wounds seven in Louisiana theater before killing himself (Reuters [25])
- Health insurer Anthem to buy Cigna in $54.2 billion deal (Reuters [26])
- Murder, Poisoning, Raids: It’s Election Season in Russia (BBG [27])
- Lagarde Push for Greece Debt Relief Challenges Merkel (Bloomberg [28])
- Fund Boss’s Gamble on Health Law Pays Off Big (WSJ [29])
- Wall Street Cranks Up Its Outlook for Amazon After It Delivers Monster Earnings Report (BBG [30])
- China's Richest Man Marks Push Into Hollywood With Jake Gyllenhaal Movie (BBG [31])
- West Africa's alarming growth industry - meth (Reuters [32])
- Turkey Launches Strikes Against Islamic State in Syria (WSJ [33])
- Europe Biotechs Aim to Catch Americans as Investors Embrace IPOs (BBG [34])
- Google Has Way to Unclog Drone-Filled Skies Like It Did the Web (Bloomberg [35])
- Iran says lifting sanctions will help foreigners take part in privatizations (Reuters [36])
- How Citigroup Courts Wealthy Young Heirs: Teach Them to Buy Art (BBG [37])
- Ferrari's Testarossa May Be a Better Investment Than Its IPO (BBG [38])
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* Larry Robbins's Glenview Capital Management has made realized and paper gains of more than $3.2 billion since it started betting on hospitals and insurers in the wake of the health-care overhaul. (http://on.wsj.com/1GIqTdn [29])
* Last year's international inspection effort rid Syria of many chemical weapons, but U.S. intelligence agencies now believe the Assad regime didn't give up everything. (http://on.wsj.com/1Lz8UOH [39])
* A gunman opened fire at a movie theater in Louisiana on Thursday night, killing at least one person and injuring at least six others before shooting himself, officials said. The shooting took place at the Grand Theatre in the city of Lafayette, said Clay Henry, vice president of operations for Acadian Ambulance. (http://on.wsj.com/1g8D4eM [40])
* Turkey agreed to allow the United States to use its soil to launch airstrikes against Islamic State forces in neighboring Syria, in a major shift long sought by Washington. (http://on.wsj.com/1SERYoC [41])
* Millennials are flocking to the Mile High City, but it isn't the nearby ski slopes, microbreweries or urban hiking trails that are attracting them: It's the jobs. A shared office space called Industry, in the popular River North Art District, stands as an example of the entrepreneurial forces that are luring a flood of young professionals here. (http://on.wsj.com/1RWksiJ [42])
* The case of Sandra Bland, the black woman found dead in a Texas cell this month after she was arrested following a traffic stop, has brought renewed attention to the issue of suicides in U.S. jails. Suicides remain the second most common cause of death in jails after illness-ahead of accidents and homicides-although the suicide rate in jails has dropped sharply over the past decade. (http://on.wsj.com/1IpW44E [43])
FT
Japanese media group Nikkei has agreed to buy the Financial Times from Britain's Pearson Plc for 844 million stg ($1.31 billion), putting one of the world's premier business newspapers in the hands of a company influential at home but little known outside Japan.
Italian sportscar maker Ferrari has taken a step closer to a stock market listing in New York, as its parent Fiat Chrysler Automobiles seeks to boost its own coffers to fund an ambitious 48 billion euro ($52.72 billion) investment plan.
The European Commission charged Sky Plc's UK division and six major U.S. film studios, Walt Disney Co , NBCUniversal, Paramount, Sony Corp, Twenty-First Century Fox Inc's Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Brothers, on Thursday with illegally limiting access across the European Union to movies shown on pay-TV channels.
NYT
* Three people were killed and seven more were injured when a man opened fire in a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, on Thursday night, officials said. The gunman was one of the dead. (nyti.ms/1IpOk2w)
* The sale of the FT Group to Japanese media company Nikkei comes after the financial newspaper's British owner, Pearson Plc , decided to focus on its growing education business. The price was an eye-popping $1.3 billion, one of the biggest newspaper deals ever, dwarfing other recent sales. (nyti.ms/1SFp5Jd)
* Turkey plunged into the fight against the Islamic State on Thursday, rushing forces into the first direct combat with its militants on the Syrian border and granting permission for American warplanes to use two Turkish air bases for bombarding the group in Syria. (nyti.ms/1IoQRKf)
* Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said it had filed with regulators to spin off Ferrari, the Italian luxury sports car maker, in an initial public offering in the United States. The automaker said that it would seek to list the shares of the business, to be known as Ferrari N.V., on the New York Stock Exchange. (nyti.ms/1CTtKp0)
* Two inspectors general have asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into whether Hillary Rodham Clinton mishandled sensitive government information on a private email account she used as secretary of state, senior government officials said Thursday. (nyti.ms/1LzFY96)
* Two men in Florida accused in an illegal Bitcoin operation and three in Israel charged in a stock scheme are being investigated in the breach at JPMorgan Chase and Co last summer. (nyti.ms/1SFoOG7)
* McDonald's Corp reported a 13 percent drop in earnings, to $1.2 billion, as customers reacted coolly to its turnaround attempts. (nyti.ms/1GIVqYF)
* The Electronic Sports League said it would start testing players for performance-enhancing drugs, a regulation move that would align it with more traditional sports leagues. (nyti.ms/1HMV0EA)
Hong Kong
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
-- The Hong Kong government wants to attract Berlin-based start-ups interested in venturing into China or Asia by using the city as a launching pad to draw investment and talent, says Chung Wing-hin, InvestHK's head of investment promotion in Berlin. The idea is to use such link-ups to boost the local start-up scene, he adds. (bit.ly/1Knf0i3)
THE STANDARD
-- Hong Kong high-end fashion retailer and distributor Dickson Concepts has little faith in the retail market, with executive chairman Dickson Poon saying the market is unlikely to improve in the second half. (bit.ly/1JBNBpD)
-- Li Ka-shing-controlled Power Assets Holdings said it will "actively seek" shopping opportunities worldwide as underlying profit rose 4.2 percent to HK$3.77 billion ($486.40 million) in the six months to June from a year earlier. (bit.ly/1KngLf0)
HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL
-- Chinese sportswear group Xtep International Holdings Ltd said it has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with express delivery group S.F. Express to launch logistics delivery and warehousing facilities, in a bid to build an online-to-offine sales platform to integrate online and offline sales channels.
Britain
The Times
PEARSON SELLS THE FINANCIAL TIMES TO JAPANESE NEWSPAPER NIKKEI FOR 844 MLN POUNDS
The publishing and education company Pearson confirmed that it is to sell the Financial Times to the Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei for 844 million pounds. (http://thetim.es/1SF1Lex [44])
SUMMER SUN FAILS TO BRING THE SHOPPERS OUT
Retail sales in the UK dipped unexpectedly in June to the lowest annual growth rate in two years in what economists described as a temporary setback that would not derail the recovery. (http://thetim.es/1HMuISL [45])
The Guardian
DRINKS GIANT DIAGEO UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR ARTIFICIALLY BOOSTING SALES FIGURES
Drinks giant Diageo, maker of Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker brands, is reportedly being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations it tried to artificially boost sales figures by shipping excess inventory to distributors. (http://bit.ly/1IhbFwZ [46])
FERRARI KICKSTARTS SPLIT FROM FIAT CHRYSLER BY FILING FOR NYSE SHARE LISTING
Fiat Chrysler's plan to spin off Ferrari as a separate business to fund future investment is on the starting grid after the latter formally filed for an initial public offering on the New York stock exchange. (http://bit.ly/1MqHJps [47])
The Telegraph
BARACK OBAMA SAYS BRITAIN MUST STAY IN EU
President of the United States, Barack Obama, has said that Britain must stay in the European Union to continue to have a strong influence on the world stage. (http://bit.ly/1JhUWyZ [48])
POUND SLIPS AS UK RETAIL SALES DISAPPOINT
An unexpected dip in UK retail sales last month pushed down the pound, as consumers cut back spending on household goods and groceries. (http://bit.ly/1VCm5BF [49])
Sky News
LONMIN TO EXTEND JOB CUTS AMID PLATINUM SLUMP
Lonmin will announce alongside its quarterly production report that it intends to cut more than 5,000 jobs, an increase from the 3,500 signalled in May. (http://bit.ly/1IouHry [50])
HORNBY LANDS JOB AT NEW GIANT LADBROKES CORAL
The former HBOS chief executive Andy Hornby is to land a top management role at the gambling giant that will be formed from the multibillion pound merger of Ladbrokes Plc and Gala Coral. (http://bit.ly/1MKuwEL [51])
The Independent
EUROTUNNEL ASKS FOR EXTRA 10 MLN EUROS TO COPE WITH CALAIS MIGRANT CRISIS
Eurotunnel has asked the French and British governments to pay it almost 10 million euros (7 million pounds) to cover the cost of the extra measures it has been forced to take over the migrant crisis in Calais. (http://ind.pn/1CT3Jq3 [52])