Exactly one month after Trump was humiliated by his own party, when in the last moment the House failed to get the number of votes to pass a Republican healthcare bill due to holdouts from the conservative Freedom Caucus, the president’s second attempt to repeal Obamacare before his first 100 days in office run out, appears on the edge of failure. However, whereas the latest effort succeeded […]
By Phil Stewart and Yara Bayoumy | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON When U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis greeted Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister at the Pentagon last month, the first thing he did was joke about the time “the Iranians tried to murder you.” Mattis’ reference to a foiled 2011 plot, denied by Iran, was a telling sign of how much more aligned President Donald Trump’s administration is with Gulf […]
Egypt is still suffering from coordinated Palm Sunday bombings of two Christian churches that killed more than 40 people, nearly killed the head of the Coptic Church and prompted President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to declare a three-month state of emergency. Continue reading the main story Francis will lend his support to the roughly 250,000 Roman Catholics in Egypt and insist on the protection of minority rights, including […]
Worldwide smartphone shipments grew by 4.3 percent, according to research firm IDC. The figure is a few ticks above above the firm’s previous first-quarter forecast of 3.6-percent growth. Samsung regained the title of “world’s largest smartphone vendor” from Apple during the first quarter thanks to shipments of 79.2 million smartphones, IDC said. Samsung’s position was bolstered by deep discounts on the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, which […]
After a strong 2 Year on Tuesday, poor 5 Year on Wednesday we close the week with the Treasury’s sale of $28 billion in 7 Year paper in what can only be described as a spectacular auction. The high yield priced at 2.084%, stopping 2bps through the 2.104%, the biggest gap between the two going back to January 2016. The Bid to Cover was a whopping 2.733, […]
There’s rich material to be mined from the premise of The Circle, a new thriller set in the offices of a tech giant that’s like Google, Facebook, and Apple all rolled into one. Unfortunately, the film has neither the patience nor the insight to dig very deeply at all. Instead, it blows the whole concept to rubble and pats itself on the back for having the insight […]
Qatar Airways grows route network This week Qatar Airways announced 12 new flight routes for 2018. The Doha-based airline will launch services to San Francisco next year, as well as Cardiff in Wales, Utapao in Thailand, Chittagong in Bangladesh, Mykonos in Greece, Málaga in Spain, Accra in Ghana, Lisbon in Portugal, Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Prague in the Czech Republic, Kiev in Ukraine and Mombasa in Kenya. […]
Investigators discovered that the suspect, using a false identity, registered in December 2015 with German officials in Giessen, about 40 miles north of Frankfurt, as a Syrian refugee. It was not clear what steps officials took to verify his claim, given that he appeared to speak no Arabic, Ms. Niesen said. Continue reading the main story “Why that did not catch their attention, I am not able […]
By Georgina Cooper | CHICHESTER, England CHICHESTER, England British experts will carry out tests to try to determine how a rare copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence found its way to an archive in southern England. The handwritten manuscript, only the second such parchment in existence, had been stored for more than 60 years in a strong-room among miles of documents in the West Sussex Record […]
The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, which created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and later led to the creation of both PBS and NPR, also recognized the importance of archiving public broadcasting material in the United States. It stipulated that CPB should: …Establish and maintain, or contribute to, a library and archives of noncommercial educational and cultural radio and television programs and related materials and develop […]
Since at its core, yesterday’s 1-page “tax plan” was a Goldman creation, who better to explain what Trump offered than Goldman Sachs itself, which it did overnight in a far lengthier note from its chief Washington analyst Alec Phillips. Here is Goldman with an elaboration of the handful of bullet points contained on the much anticipated one page, extended to 6 pages. Q&A on the President’s Tax […]
Integrated lifestyle development establishes a new benchmark for experiential travel in the region Dubai, UAE – 27 April 2017 – Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, together with Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR) today announced plans to launch the region’s first cinema-themed concept at Aloft Dubai City Centre Deira. The concept will feature a unique […]
Betting big on Amazon and selling the shares of traditional retailers has been a blockbuster trade for some time. Now, a small but growing number of hedge funds are wagering that the next leg of the woes afflicting bricks and mortar retailers in the US will unfold dramatically for those shopping mall owners who have largely so far been considered immune. The level of bets against some […]
The Nintendo Switch could one day be capable of playing virtual reality titles. Even Nintendo itself acknowledges the thought, having detailed such functionality inside the Switch’s patents released a while back. Now, a YouTuber has tested that ahead of everyone else, and the results are, well, ample food for thought. Nintendo Switch: Is Virtual Reality On The Cards? First off, virtual reality on the Switch is indeed possible […]
By Joseph Nasr | DORTMUND, Germany DORTMUND, Germany For all its economic success, Germany has a growing problem with inequality and poverty, and yet Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to be deflecting the blame so far as the battlelines are drawn for elections in September. GRAPHIC – German income inequality tmsnrt.rs/2p3AtK4 Renowned for its highly-skilled workforce, Germany has in fact a greater proportion of working poor – people […]
The big announcement of the really, really big Trump Tax Plan with the “biggest tax cuts in history” came out bigly on Wednesday, as Trump promised. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, Trump’s latest tax team, beamed proudly as they presented their baby. The stock market took a deep breath, then looked at their brainchild and completely petered out. First, let me say, I clearly have nothing to recant […]
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2017, was an intergalactic rollercoaster ride from start to finish, featuring a complete range of emotions, laser blasters, all kinds of love, a living planet, and Baby Groot. How such a crazy combination of elements works in a film is beyond comprehension, but the chaos is exactly what makes Guardians of the Galaxy […]
Indian carrier Jet Airways said Wednesday it had suspended a foreign pilot from flying duty over allegations that he assaulted a woman and hurled racist abuse at another passenger on a domestic flight. The Mumbai-based airline, in which Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways holds a 24 percent stake, confirmed the incident took place on April 3 on a Chandigarh-Mumbai flight, adding the pilot in question had been taken […]
Researchers have created a unique video that shows oxygen bubbles inflating and later deflating inside a tiny lithium-air battery. The knowledge gained from the video could help make lithium-air batteries that are more compact, stable and can hold onto a charge longer. (via WSJ)
Breitbart News hit a wall Tuesday in its campaign to storm the ramparts of the media establishment when one of the most influential press associations in Washington, D.C. denied its application for credentials to cover Congress because of concerns over the site’s funding, staffing, workspace and independence. The decision by the Standing Committee of Correspondents of the House and Senate Press Gallery — a body chaired by […]
Qatar said Wednesday that the deal to secure the recent release of a hunting party kidnapped in southern Iraq went ahead with the “full knowledge” of Baghdad. Responding to a complaint by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi that ransom money was brought into Iraq without its approval, the emirate said it had regularly consulted with officials in Baghdad during the tense negotiations. It was the first official statement […]
There was some snickering two days ago when it emerged that as his first paid speech appearance, former president Barack Obama who – at least on paper was a determined crusader against the big banks – will receive $400,000 for roughly an hour of his time from, well, a bank or rather Cantor Fitzgerald. Moments ago, Obama seemingly concerned by the public response the news has generated, […]
By Phil Stewart and David Brunnstrom | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Trump administration said on Wednesday it aimed to push North Korea into dismantling its nuclear and missile programs through tougher international sanctions and diplomatic pressure, and remained open to negotiations to bring this about. The U.S. stance, which appeared to signal a willingness to exhaust non-military options in spite of repeated warnings that “all options are on […]
By Andrew Cawthorne and Eyanir Chinea | CARACAS CARACAS Venezuelan security forces fired scores of tear gas volleys and turned water cannons on rock-throwing protesters on a bridge in Caracas on Wednesday as the death toll from this month’s anti-government unrest hit at least 29. A 20-year-old male demonstrator died in those latest clashes in the capital after being hit by a gas cannister, said officials of […]
