To understand the dynamics of Pakistani politics, one needs to watch the popular drama series Game of Thrones. Based on George R R Martin’s series of novels A Song of Ice and Fire this drama serial focuses on the moves and conspiracies to win power games. I am sure if the writer or director sees Pakistan’s version of Game of Thrones they would forget their own drama series. […]
April 30, 2017 by: Roger Blitz and Michael Mackenzie Here are the key questions facing investors as the first week of May begins. How much higher can the euro go?Emmanuel Macron had an uncomfortable encounter with workers in his hometown of Amiens as he tried to shore up his position as frontrunner in the presidential election run-off with the National Front’s Marine Le Pen. However, financial markets […]
LONDON Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has criticised President Hassan Rouhani for saying his detente policy with the West had caused the threat of war to fade as tensions intensify in Tehran before May election. Rouhani, a pragmatist whose election in 2013 led to a diplomatic thaw between Iran and the West, championed in 2015 a landmark deal in which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear […]
30 April 2017 UAE – According to the annual YouGov survey conducted by IP Global, the leading full-service property investment company; North America, UK, Germany and Australia remain the top property investment destination for UAE residents. The survey results show that when it comes to investing in property abroad, North America is the most popular market among UAE citizens. The UK with 13% and Australia with 11%, […]
By Lacey Johnson and Ian Simpson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON A sea of protesters swarmed in front of the White House on Saturday to voice displeasure with President Donald Trump’s stance on the environment and demand that he rethink plans to reverse the climate change policies backed by his predecessor. The Peoples Climate March, the culmination of a string of Earth Week protests that began with last Saturday’s […]
By Lawrence Delevingne | BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. Titans of U.S. industry and Wall Street gather in Beverly Hills this week to discuss how to navigate – and profit from – hot topics such as U.S. tax reform, the upcoming French election and Chinese economic growth. U.S. President Donald Trump’s first 100 days and the next 1,000, as well as the outlook for liberal democracy […]
LONDON Britain’s minister for leaving the European Union said on Saturday the country was gearing up for the most complex negotiations “in our lifetimes” after the European Union outlined its tough approach to Brexit talks. Earlier in the day EU leaders endorsed stiff divorce terms for Britain on Saturday and warned Britons to have “no illusions” about swiftly securing a new relationship to keep their access to […]
U.S. President Donald Trump signed a new executive order on Friday, April 28 extending offshore oil and gas drilling to areas that had been off-limits. The move aims to increase domestic production, but it might not prove to be the best idea considering that industry demand for acreage has been rather low. The new executive order could expand offshore drilling to parts of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans, […]
Marine Le Pen has agreed to team up with an anti-EU candidate who came sixth in the first round of France’s presidential election as she seeks to win votes from the centre-right in the run-off next weekend. On Saturday Ms Le Pen announced that she would name Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, an anti-EU Gaullist and founder of the nationalist party Debout la France (Arise France), as prime minister in […]
PARIS President Francois Hollande urged the French on Saturday to choose centrist Emmanuel Macron over far-right opponent Marine Le Pen in the second round of the presidential election, telling voters it was their duty to Europe as well as France. Hollande had previously said he would vote for his former economy minister but had not given voting instructions. Polls show Macron winning on May 7 with about […]
BRUSSELS European Union leaders promised on Saturday to embrace the British province of Northern Ireland into the EU if a referendum in the future were to unite it with the Republic of Ireland. At a summit on the EU’s plan for negotiating with Britain as it leaves the bloc, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny asked fellow members to acknowledge that Northern Ireland would, like East Germany in […]
Islamabad Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry Tuesday said Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) used Panama Papers as a political ploy after its allegations of electoral rigging were rejected by a judicial commission in 2014.Addressing a press conference along with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Member of National Assembly Daniyal Aziz, he said the name of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was not even […]
By Giselda Vagnoni and Agnieszka Flak | ROME/MILAN ROME/MILAN Italians are watching their flag carrier Alitalia go into yet another financial tailspin, and a growing number of them believe it would be better for the country if it crashed. Outraged at repeated state bailouts that have cost taxpayers more than 7 billion euros ($7.62 billion) over a decade, many Italians are taking to social media to urge […]
European leaders are warning Theresa May over her “completely unreal” expectations of a swift trade deal, as they gathered in Brussels to agree a tough opening stance on Brexit talks. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, briefed an EU summit on Saturday on a recent dinner where the British prime minister said any Brexit exit payment would only pass before 2019 if accompanied by a full trade […]
ROME The Knights of Malta, a Catholic chivalric order and global charity, elected a new, interim leader on Saturday to oversee a period of reform and restore calm to the organisation after its recent row with the Vatican. The previous grand master, Briton Matthew Festing, resigned in January after a month-long, highly public spat with the Vatican over the running of the group, which laid bare tensions […]
By Andrew Osborn and Svetlana Reiter | MOSCOW MOSCOW Several hundred Russians lined up in central Moscow on Saturday under the gaze of riot police to hand over handwritten appeals for President Vladimir Putin to quit, as similar protests took place in other cities. Putin, who has dominated Russian politics for 17 years, has not said whether he will run in presidential elections in March 2018. But […]
It has a granite fountain and a bosque of shade trees. And to some rightwing Americans, the new headquarters of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a monument to all that went wrong under eight years of Barack Obama’s presidency. The budget for the refurbishment of the Washington DC building, at about $363 a square foot, makes it more expensive than the Venetian hotel in Macau or […]
By Matthias Blamont and Simon Carraud | PARIS PARIS French far-right presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen on Saturday chose defeated first-round candidate Nicolas Dupont-Aignan as her prime minister, a bid to attract his voters and help her to victory over centrist favourite Emmanuel Macron. Dupont-Aignan is a nationalist whose protectionist economic policies are close to those of the National Front’s Le Pen and who, like her, wants […]
President Donald Trump’s populist views, reality television stardom, and penchant for Twitter insults all but guaranteed an out-of-the-ordinary first 100 days for the billionaire political neophyte. A look at the data reveals how Mr Trump compares with previous Oval Office occupants. Bills signed into law Enacted legislation for last seven presidents in first 100 days Source: govtrack.us The White House touts that Mr Trump has accomplished more […]
By John Irish | CHATELLERAULT, France CHATELLERAULT, France French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron launched a scathing attack on Friday against politicians who have failed to endorse him against far-right rival Marine Le Pen, saying they were making France “morally weak” and pandering to extremists. Having been caught on the hop by Le Pen since the start of the second round campaign this week, and with just over […]
Satellite communications service provider SpeedCast has said that as military spending increases under governments throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia, it sees an opportunity to grow. While Australia has not been a big area of growth for the company over the past few years, due to the industries of mining, oil, and gas being depressed, growth across the government has been accelerating and […]
By Matt Robinson | BELGRADE BELGRADE Nationalists in Macedonia are “playing with fire” in refusing to relinquish power and the European Union should consider halting its accession process in order to break a dangerous deadlock, said the former envoy who helped avert civil war in the Balkan country. A long-running political crisis in the former Yugoslav republic turned violent on Thursday when supporters of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE […]
Donald Trump plans to end or renegotiate any trade deal that does not increase US economic growth, reduce the US trade deficit or contribute to higher US wages, according to a leaked draft of an executive order obtained by the Financial Times. The draft of the order Mr Trump had been planning to sign on Saturday before his high-profile U-turn this week calls for US officials to […]
At Al Azhar, he embraced the mosque’s Grand Imam, Ahmad al-Tayeb, who urged the West not to hold an entire religion “accountable for the crimes of any small group of followers.” Continue reading the main story Pope Francis then turned to matters of state, seeking to encourage progress on human rights from his host, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Mr. Sisi ousted the Muslim Brotherhood in a military […]
