Core inflation has returned to Japan for the first time since 2015, with consumer prices excluding fresh food rising by 0.1 per cent in January over the same month a year earlier. The return to positive territory was driven by energy — petrol prices jumped 9.2 per cent year-on-year after big drops in 2016 — but the rise will be welcome news for the Bank of Japan. […]
By Matt Spetalnick | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON With his administration on the defensive over investigations into alleged Russian meddling in last year’s election, U.S. President Donald Trump is no longer tweeting praise for his Kremlin counterpart. Less than five weeks after he took office, the chances of a spring thaw in relations between Washington and Moscow – once buoyed by an apparent “bromance” between Trump and President Vladimir […]
There was no mistaking the arrival of King Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia and his entourage in Malaysia on Sunday morning. Traffic stood still for 30 minutes as we waited for the 600-strong royal party to make their way from the airport to the centre of Kuala Lumpur — a near-endless stream of limos, lorries, outliers and ambulances, sirens screaming. This is King Salman’s first trip […]
Doha, Qatar; March 2, 2017 The third edition of Qumra, the industry initiative by the Doha Film Institute that aims to mentor and nurture next generation filmmakers, has received tremendous support from Qatar’s government entities, industry leaders, educational & cultural organisations and a wide spectrum of global film bodies. To be held from March 3 to 8 at Souq Al Waqif and the Museum of Islamic Art, […]
Via Michael Snyder of The End of The American Dream blog, If current trends continue, Islam is on track to become the largest religion in the entire world by the end of this century according a stunning new report that was just released by the Pew Research Center. While it is true that Christianity is still growing on a global basis, it is not growing nearly as […]
Why Georgetown? Georgetown was there long before Washington, DC was, and it still has some pretty stern objections to being regarded as just another district of the American capital. Formerly a port town, it has now become Washington’s most obviously moneyed-up area – where people come to dine and mooch around shops and galleries. Part of the appeal comes from the architecture. Many 18th- and 19th-century buildings […]
Photo Hosni Mubarak, the former president of Egypt, was taken back to a military hospital in Cairo on Thursday after a court session. Credit Mohamed Hossam/European Pressphoto Agency CAIRO — Egypt’s top appeals court cleared former President Hosni Mubarak of any responsibility for the killing of hundreds of people during the 2011 protests that ended his 30-year rule, sweeping away the final legal hurdle to Mr. Mubarak’s […]
By Lauren Hirsch | NEW YORK NEW YORK Snap Inc’s (SNAP.N) shares continued to defy doubts about the company’s early-stage business model and slowing user growth, jumping nearly 50 percent in their first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The owner of the Snapchat messaging app raised $3.4 billion in its initial public offering on Wednesday night, more than the $3 billion Facebook (FB.O) […]
Another singer with a Filipino connection is making waves on a reality talent competition. Anatalia Villaranda, the child of Filipino immigrants, impressed the panel during the premiere episode of the 12th season of The Voice US on Monday. Performing a cover of the hit pop track Runaway Baby by Bruno Mars (who also happens to be Filipino-American), Villaranda turned the chairs of all four judges Alicia Keys, […]
Jeff Sessions, the US attorney-general, failed to disclose during his confirmation hearings that he twice met the Russian ambassador while acting as a close adviser to Donald Trump during last year’s presidential campaign. Mr Sessions met Sergey Kislyak on September 8 in the then senator’s private office in the US Capitol building, after having spoken with him briefly two months earlier at an event sponsored by the […]
By Doina Chiacu | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Top Democrats pressed for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign on Thursday after a newspaper reported he had not disclosed two meetings with the Russian ambassador before President Donald Trump took office. Sessions, a top adviser to Trump during the presidential campaign, received Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak in his office in September, the Washington Post reported. That was at the height […]
BERLIN A Christian cleric on Thursday criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel for kowtowing to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and downplaying human rights concerns as she headed to north Africa to expand trade and investment ties. Joachim Schroedel, a German cleric who has worked in Egypt for more than two decades, expressed anger at Merkel’s assertion that Egyptian Copts were in a “very good situation” and her description […]
BRUSSELS European Union lawmakers lifted the EU parliamentary immunity of French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen on Thursday for tweeting pictures of Islamic State violence. Le Pen, who leads her National Front party in the European legislature, is under investigation in France for posting three graphic images of IS executions on Twitter in December 2015, including the beheading of American journalist James Foley. The vote on Thursday […]
Photo King Salman of Saudi Arabia, center, arriving at the presidential palace in Bogor, Indonesia, on Wednesday. Credit Achmad Ibrahim/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images LONDON — You could call it bling diplomacy. As part of a monthlong tour in Asia to promote economic ties, King Salman of Saudi Arabia arrived in Indonesia on Wednesday to great fanfare, accompanied, the news media said, by a retinue with a […]
By Michel Rose and Emmanuel Jarry | PARIS PARIS Presidential frontrunner Emmanuel Macron said he would root out inequalities in France’s pension system, sell down government stakes in major firms and downsize parliament, as he unveiled a manifesto to set him apart from traditionalists. Standing as an independent centrist, Macron is tipped by opinion polls to defeat far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a run-off vote in […]
By John Ruwitch | SHANGHAI SHANGHAI The fortunes of the richest 100 members of China’s parliament and its advisory body – all dollar billionaires – grew about 64 percent in the four years since Xi Jinping rose to power, according to data from an organisation tracking wealth in China. Xi has overseen a crackdown on corruption and decadence, and made the fight against poverty a top priority […]
TOKYO Already rare among Group of Seven leaders for the stability of his reign, Shinzo Abe will have a shot at becoming Japan’s longest-serving prime minister after his party changes a rule allowing him to serve a third consecutive three-year term. That would give Abe, whose resignation in 2007 after an earlier stint started a spate of revolving-door premiers, a chance to achieve his goal of revising […]
Education, rather than exposure to immigrants, is emerging as the clearest nationwide indicator of the likelihood of Dutch voters supporting Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration Party for Freedom, according to an extensive Financial Times survey of demographic and voting data from the most recent general election. Mr Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) looks on course to win the most seats in the upcoming election on March 15, but is […]
The Bank of Japan published detailed schedules of planned asset purchases for the first time on Tuesday as it seeks to prove its commitment to a zero per cent cap on 10-year government bond yields. Japan’s central bank said it will buy a minimum of ¥1.375tn and a maximum of ¥2.175tn of government bonds during March, giving a series of dates and estimated sizes for its planned […]
Having warned that “everything will grind to a halt on March 5th” due to the under-appreciated debt-ceiling debacle that looms over Washington, and exclaiming that “what is going on today is complete insanity,” former Reagan Budget Director David Stockman is rapidly losing faith that anything can be done… “I’ve thrown in the towel because he’s not paying attention and he’s not learning anything and he’s making ridiculous […]
WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee will investigate allegations of collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia, the top Democrat on the panel said on Wednesday. “We have reached a written agreement, the minority and the majority in the House intelligence committee, that we will investigate allegations of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign,” Democratic Representative Adam Schiff said on MSNBC. U.S. intelligence analysts […]
TOKYO Asian shares rose on Thursday as investors were encouraged by President Donald Trump’s measured tone in his first speech to Congress, which sent Wall Street stocks sharply higher, while growing bets on a U.S. rate hike this month buoyed the dollar. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.2 percent, led by rebound in Australian shares . Japan’s Nikkei .N225 rose 1.3 percent […]
A storming start for risk assets has defined the first two months of 2017, with heightened optimism on Wall Street pushing the FTSE All-World equity index into record territory. Whether the rally can be sustained in March depends on the outcome of several key events. Here is a rundown of what looms for investors during the month. US jobs data and the Federal Reserve The bullish sentiment […]
By Francesco Guarascio and Alastair Macdonald | BRUSSELS BRUSSELS European Union leaders have been told to be ready for a Brexit summit at the end of the first week of April, EU sources said on Wednesday, although the final date will depend on British Prime Minister Theresa May. A summit of the other 27 national leaders to respond to May’s formal notification of Britain’s departure appears in […]
