Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, You need Insiders who are loyal to an Outsider and an Outsider agenda to accomplish any real reforms. Readers ask a reasonable question: if Trump is a political Outsider, then why has he stuffed his staff with Insiders–Goldman Sachs alumni, generals, etc.? The question follows an understandable logic: wouldn’t an Outsider appoint other outsiders? The doubt expressed also follows a […]
After starring in the West End production of Miss Saigon in London, Filipino performers Rachelle Ann Go, Eva Noblezada and Jon Jon Briones moved to New York City this week to begin rehearsals for the Broadway revival of the hit musical, which will return to the stage there on March 1. Noblezada, 20, will reprise the lead role of Kim, while Go will play Gigi Van Tranh. […]
Steven Mnuchin, Donald Trump’s nominee to be Treasury secretary, clashed with Democrats over the business practices of the lender he once chaired, saying he had been wrongly accused of taking advantage of unfortunate borrowers and that he would work “tirelessly” to boost the economy and US hiring. The former banker told the Senate finance committee that he had been maligned and that OneWest, the bank, had extended 100,000 […]
By Isabel Coles | MOSUL, Iraq MOSUL, Iraq Most Islamic State (IS) commanders in Mosul have been killed in battles with Iraqi government forces that raged over the past three months in the eastern side of the city, an Iraqi general said on Thursday. The fight to take the western side of Mosul, which remains under the jihadists’ control, should not be more difficult than the one […]
The Afghan Taliban has sought to reassure the United Arab Emirates that it was not behind an attack in the southern city of Kandahar that killed five UAE diplomats and injured the ambassador, senior Taliban officials said on Thursday. More than a dozen Afghan and foreign officials were killed last week by a bomb hidden under a couch in the Kandahar governor’s residence in an attack Afghan […]
By Anjuli Davies and Andrew MacAskill | LONDON LONDON Global banks have begun signaling how they will put plans into action to cope with a “hard” exit by Britain from the European Union. Until now, banks have considered varying degrees of upheaval to their British-based businesses, depending on whether the outcome of Brexit was “hard” or “soft.” But after Prime Minister Theresa May said that Britain would […]
51 year-old Florida resident, Dominic Puopolo, who was arrested by Miami Beach police Tuesday for allegedly threatening President-elect Donald Trump online is, according to The Daily Mail, is a member of a prominent northeast family close to Bill and Hillary Clinton. Puopolo reportedly admitted to posting a video to Twitter, under his handle @JesusChrist1701, saying: “Yes, I will be at the review stand at the inauguration and […]
Tesla Panasonic hopes to work with Tesla to produce more than just batteries for next generation vehicles as the company continues to move further into the automotive field. As reported by Reuters on Thursday, Panasonic CEO Kazuhiro Tsuga said in an interview that the company is “deeply interested” in Tesla’s self-driving vehicle system and ambitions, and hopes to “expand our collaboration by jointly developing devices for that, […]
If this week’s speech by Theresa May on her Brexit plans was designed to reassure the City of London and stop banks from shifting jobs out of the UK, early indications are that it appears to have failed. The prime minister is scheduled to address business leaders at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos Thursday morning, but in the meantime a flurry of senior financiers popped […]
This love is precisely what is required of an American president in dealings affecting Israel. In such circumstances, and contrary to the adage that applies in most ordinary circumstances of life, that law says that demonstrations of love count for less, paradoxically, than love itself. It says, to be precise, that gestures of friendship, when they do not come from the bottom of the heart and are […]
By Lisa Barrington | BEIRUT BEIRUT After years of political deadlock, Lebanon finally has a new government. Now it needs a new economy. Battered by war in neighbouring Syria, neglected by wrangling politicians and caught in rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the pillars of the economy – remittances from overseas workers, tourism and real estate – are not what they were. Long-term, Lebanon is searching for […]
BEIJING China and the United States can resolve any trade disputes through talks, the government said on Thursday, as a Chinese newspaper warned U.S. business could be targets for retaliation in any trade war ushered in by President-elect Donald Trump. Trump, who is sworn into office on Friday, has criticized China’s trade practices and threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports. Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, Trump’s […]
Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati of the Iraqi Army said on Wednesday that his forces had effectively taken control of the eastern side, declaring that “important lines and important areas are finished.” He spoke at a news conference in Bartella, a town east of Mosul. Continue reading the main story Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq, in a statement posted on his Twitter account, extolled what he described […]
WASHINGTON: In the first visit of its kind since 2012, US Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has traveled to Syria on a trip that has taken her so far to Aleppo and Damascus.The move, according to Syrian-conflict watchers, indicates that President Bashar Assad “is no longer beyond the pale in US politics and policymaking.”Gabbard, who made news in November with her meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, and was […]
Blockchain has moved on from its Bitcoin past and is being touted as an effective and inexpensive way to safeguard data, with one Singapore-based vendor launching its first blockchain-based authentication tool. Because it provides a shared replicated “immutable” ledger, blockchain can facilitate a “single source of truth” and a secure, tamper-proof system of record, according to Alan Lim, Asean practice lead for IBM Blockchain and Bluemix Garage. […]
By Emma Farge and Diadie Ba | DAKAR DAKAR Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz flew to Senegal to meet with President Macky Sall after last-ditch talks in Gambia aimed at resolving a crisis over the transfer of power, a Senegalese presidential source told Reuters on Thursday. Aziz left Gambia shortly before midnight, when Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh’s presidential mandate expired. Senegal, with backing from leaders in […]
By Sofia Menchu | GUATEMALA CITY GUATEMALA CITY Guatemala on Wednesday arrested the brother and a son of the country’s president, who swept to victory with an anti-graft campaign, for their alleged involvement in corruption. Jimmy Morales was elected president in 2015 pledging to clean up Guatemalan politics after riding a wave of public anger over a corruption scandal that led to the arrest and trial of […]
A secret agent with an extreme-sports background, Xander Cage has always been a character close to Vin Diesel’s heart. “I am very much into extreme sports,” says the Fast & Furious star. “I was into them growing up in New York City, and I can’t tell you how many dangerous things I did – until I started to do these action movies.” Realising he might be pushing […]
ABIDJAN Heavy gunfire erupted after dark on Wednesday in Ivory Coast’s second port city, San Pedro, residents said, as two weeks of military uprisings that have tarnished the West African nation’s image as a post-war success story showed no sign of letting up. The shooting came just hours after the other main port in the commercial capital, Abidjan, reopened after paramilitary gendarmes firing in the air temporarily […]
Pres. Obama tells White House press corps: “America needs you. Our democracy needs you.” https://t.co/H9n7JKbYS7 pic.twitter.com/zCQpyfx2Mi — CBS News (@CBSNews) January 18, 2017 President Obama praised the press as central to democracy Wednesday in a final “farewell” that was part ironic homage to the media and part admonition to the incoming Trump administration. Democracy “doesn’t work if we don’t have a well-informed citizenship…America needs you, and democracy […]
A few cities are already building data marketplaces, especially in light of the increasing streams of data from the IoT. Getty Images/iStockphoto If you live in a big city, chances are pretty good that you’ll be sharing a lot more of your personal information with government entities within a few years. special feature Louisville and the Future of the Smart City Louisville, Kentucky is building a unique […]
By Kate Kelland | DAVOS, Switzerland, DAVOS, Switzerland, A global coalition of governments, health specialists and philanthropists will launch a new plan on Thursday to “outsmart” future disease epidemics with a fund to prepare and create new vaccines. Stung by the devastation of West Africa’s 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak, which killed more than 11,300 people before an effective vaccine was developed, the coalition is aiming to ensure such […]
Members of the new Hydrogen Council at the Davos World Economic Forum on January 17, 2017. Major industrial groups have decided to join forces to promote hydrogen as a source of energy, with the focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions Over a dozen leading European and Asian firms have teamed up to promote the use of hydrogen as a clean fuel and cut the production of harmful […]
By Mubasher Bukhari | LAHORE, Pakistan LAHORE, Pakistan Pakistani security forces said on Wednesday they had killed the leader of the banned Sunni Muslim militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) along with three other militants accused of killing hundreds of civilians. The Counter Terrorism Department of the eastern province of Punjab said its forces had killed Asif Chotoo and his comrades during a shootout in the city of Sheikhupura […]
