National Business

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's president sent a bill to parliament Wednesday that would cut four zeroes from the value of the Islamic Republic's sanctions-battered currency, the rial, as tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington.

OTTAWA — Canadian annual inflation hit the Bank of Canada's ideal target for a second straight month, providing a stretch of price stability that's unlikely to weigh heavily on next month's interest-rate decision.

WASHINGTON — U.S. home sales increased 2.5% in July, a sign that lower mortgage rates have produced a spurt of home-buying. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday homes sold last month at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.

BEIJING — China says a staffer at the British consulate in Hong Kong has been given 15 days of administrative detention in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.

NEW YORK — "America's Got Talent" wasn't content with just the top spot in the Nielsen company's rankings of the most popular television programs last week. This time it took the top two.

BISMARCK, N.D.

LOS ANGELES — With great success comes great re-negotiation.

QUEBEC — Unifor says Jerry Dias has been acclaimed as national president of the union for a third and final three-year term.

MONTREAL — SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.'s stock fell again after Standard & Poor's downgraded its credit rating to junk status. Shares in the engineering giant closed down 24 cents or 1.4 per cent to $16.

LOS ANGELES — Keanu Reeves and Lana Wachowski are returning to the world of "The Matrix." Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich says Tuesday that a fourth "Matrix" is in the works.