JAKARTA The incumbent governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, was neck and neck with rival Anies Baswedan in the race to lead the Indonesian capital, early counting by private pollsters showed. Former education minister Baswedan had secured 40.54 percent of the votes, just ahead of Purnama in second place with 39.43 percent, based on a quick sample count of around 10 percent of the vote by a […]
By Luke Baker | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Wednesday, their first meeting since the inauguration and one that promises to shape the contours of Middle East policy for the years ahead. On the agenda are some of the region’s most volatile issues: the war in Syria, the Iran nuclear file and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, […]
By Gayatri Suroyo and Fransiska Nangoy | JAKARTA JAKARTA Indonesians cast ballots on Wednesday in a bitterly fought election to govern the capital, Jakarta, that has inflamed religious tensions in the Muslim-majority nation and been tied to power struggles ahead of presidential elections in 2019. The job of governor can be a springboard to the presidency and weeks of campaigning have been overshadowed by mudslinging, political intrigue […]
A couple of years ago, in the midst of its bankruptcy proceedings, we posted a series of stunning pictures illustrating the “Death And Decay Of Detroit.” Once a beacon of America’s manufacturing prowess, a series of time lapsed pictures revealed how, in just a few years following the ‘great recession’ of 2008, the once vibrant metropolis became the poster child for urban decay. Unfortunately, at least according […]
By Colin Packham | SYDNEY SYDNEY Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday that failed asylum seekers held in Australian-run detention centres in the South Pacific will not face prosecution or harm if they return home. Wickremesinghe’s comment comes as Australia increases pressure on failed asylum seekers on Papua New Guinea’s Manus island and the tiny island nation of Nauru to return home voluntarily, including […]
Polls open in heated vote for Indonesian capital’s governor Niniek Karmini and Stephen Wright, Associated Press February 14, 2017 Updated: February 14, 2017 6:26pm Photo: Achmad Ibrahim, AP An Indonesian Muslim woman holds a voting paper at a polling station during an election for Jakarta governor in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. Voting began in the election for governor of the Indonesian capital after a months-long […]
TOKYO Shares in Toshiba Corp (6502.T) tumbled on Wednesday after the conglomerate said it would book a $6.3 billion hit to its U.S. nuclear unit and may sell more of its prized flash-memory chip business than planned to urgently raise funds. Scrambling for capital, Toshiba said it would consider selling most, even all, of its stake in the chips business – a decision that has investors questioning […]
When Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen testifies before a Senate committee on the state of the economy on Tuesday, there will be plenty tuning in who believe the epitaph for the three-decade rally in the bond market has been rightly written. US president Donald Trump’s plan to ramp up government spending and axe corporate taxes threatens to accelerate inflation, push up interest rates and widen the deficit […]
By Rozanna Latiff and Ebrahim Harris | KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR The slight girl in a turquoise headscarf held back tears as she recalled what happened when she fled to Malaysia from Myanmar’s violence-hit Rakhine state. Just 12-years-old at the time, she was forced to wed a man she did not know, and who was more than a decade older than her. The teenager, who is not […]
Goldman Sachs shares shattered a 10-year record to reach a fresh closing high on Tuesday, buoyed by hopes that the Trump administration will bring a profit-boosting mix of higher interest rates, lower taxes and lighter regulation. All banks have rallied hard since November 8, when Mr Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the race to the White House. But only a handful have done as well as Goldman, […]
Like a scene from “The Jetsons,” commuters in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, may soon climb aboard automated flying taxis, soaring over busy streets and past the desert city’s gleaming skyscrapers, all — quite literally — at the push of a button. Passenger drones, capable of carrying a single rider and a small suitcase, will begin buzzing above the emirate as early as July, according to […]
Janet Yellen continues to demonstrate that she is either profoundly ignorant or dishonest. Neither of those are positive qualities for a Fed Chair. Having maintained interest rates at essentially ZERO for seven years during the Obama years, Yellen suddenly believes it would be “unwise” to wait too long to raise rates now. It’s a bizarre claim, particularly when you consider: 1) The US economy is limping along […]
DHAKA Bangladesh police on Tuesday shot dead a suspected militant commander and a close aide of the mastermind of the cafe attack last year that killed 22 people, mostly foreigners, a police official said. Police said Abu Musa, 32, was a close associate of Jahangir Alam, one of the masterminds of the July attack who was arrested last month, and wanted for killings of religious minorities and […]
Fed Chair Yellen will be appearing before Congress deliver her semi-annual monetary policy testimony (sometimes called the “Humphrey-Hawkins” testimony) today. Her prepared remarks are expected to sound similar to her most recent speech, noting that the labor market has tightened and wage pressures are increasing modestly. As BofA details, she will likely note that the Fed is making progress toward its mandate of full employment and price […]
People ride Ofo-bicycles in Shanghai Unlock them with an app, drop them off anywhere, and nip past lanes of stationary car traffic: the humble bicycle is seeing a revival in China as a new generation of start-ups help tackle urban congestion and pollution with fleets of brightly coloured two wheelers. The bike-share concept has attracted huge venture capital as fledgling firms wrestle for market share. Such has […]
US markets regulators have delayed enforcement of new derivatives rules due to come into effect in two weeks’ time because few of the hundreds of pension funds, insurers and asset managers affected would be ready in time. There were fears that the widespread lack of readiness to comply could have caused market disruption if they were enforced as planned on March 1. The rules require some derivatives […]
Submitted by Milton Ezrati via The Strategic Culture Foundation, Just about every adult on earth has seen this show before. Greece faces a debt repayment that it cannot meet: for this performance, €86 billion due in July. It needs fresh bailout funds from the European Union and/or the International Monetary Fund because borrowing directly on global capital markets comes at too high a cost—10 percent to replace […]
By Cindy Silviana and Eveline Danubrata | JAKARTA JAKARTA Supporters of the governor of Indonesia’s capital are hoping their checkered shirts in red, white and blue will help galvanize the vote in a city election on Wednesday and win a second term for their leader. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama is Jakarta’s first ethnic Chinese and Christian governor, and the election in the city of 10 million people has […]
KINSHASA Police in Democratic Republic of Congo launched an assault on the residence of the leader of a separatist religious sect in Kinshasa early on Tuesday and fired live ammunition and tear gas at his supporters, a Reuters witness said. The assault on the home of Ne Muanda Nsemi, a self-proclaimed prophet and leader of the Bundu dia Kongo (BDK) sect, began around 4:30 a.m. local time […]
Shuaa Capital is working on a bolt-on acquisition of a financial services company based in the United Arab Emirates as part of the investment bank’s growth plans, chairman Jassim Alseddiqi told Reuters on Monday. The price for the targeted company, which specialises in capital markets and securities, would be less than 200 million dirhams ($54.46 million), Alseddiqi said. He also said discussions were at an advanced stage […]
SYDNEY Asian shares inched to 19-month highs on Tuesday as the potential for economic stimulus in the United States underpinned the dollar, bond yields and Wall Street stocks. Yet caution bled into markets ahead of testimony by the head of the Federal Reserve, which could highlight the likelihood of two or more U.S. interest rate hikes this year. Japanese shares also ran into trouble after Toshiba Corp […]
ABU DHABI // Residents can expect patches of rain across the country for the next two days. Conditions will be unstable with potential thunder and rain, the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology said. On Tuesday morning, forecasters reported light rain in Umm Al Quwain, Khalifa City in the capital and over airports in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Al Bateen. Tuesday’s weather forecast. Courtesy National Centre […]
Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) said on Monday that it had approved public offerings for two companies on its bourse dedicated to small and medium-sized businesses. Roya Real Estate Investment Company will offer 20 percent of itself in its share sale, equivalent to 8.6 million shares, with Thob Al-Aseel Company offering 20 percent of itself in its share sale, equivalent to 1.0 million shares, the CMA […]
The value of stocks listed on the S&P 500 eclipsed $20tn on Monday for the first time, as investor optimism over faster US economic growth and stronger corporate profits propelled the Wall Street equity gauge deeper into record territory. The index, which tracks the largest American companies, has rallied by close to 25 per cent over the past year, pushing its market value $3.6tn higher, according to […]
