The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the group had not officially made the change public, said that Mr. Sinwar would appear publicly in the next few days to cement his political ascendance. Continue reading the main story Mr. Sinwar’s rise indicates the growing power of Hamas’s hawkish military wing, according to analysts. Mr. Sinwar is slated to replace Ismail Haniya, a leader associated with […]
Optimism that the Trump administration is close to proposing a series of business-friendly tax reforms sent the main barometer for US small-cap stocks to a fresh high on Monday for the first time in more than two months. The Russell 2000 index, which tracks companies with market values of roughly $300m to $2bn, climbed as much as 0.7 per cent on Monday to 1,398.6, knocking out its […]
Excerpted from today’s Blain’s Morning Porridge by Bill Blain of Mint Partners Over weekend drinks, dinners, very good lunches and rugby banter I was repeatedly told by my chums with real jobs in Industry, Services and Government how terrible this Trump fellow is turning out. It’s terribly liberal of us all to be illiberal about him. A couple of times I tried to respond in rational terms […]
GAZA CITY, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES : Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas elected a hard-line member of its armed wing as its new Gaza head Monday, Hamas officials said.“Yahya Sinwar was elected to head the Hamas political office in the Gaza Strip,” succeeding Ismail Haniya, the officials said.The movement, which has controlled the Gaza Strip for a decade, has been conducting internal elections for several months. Source
PARIS Independent Emmanuel Macron will easily beat far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a runoff in the French presidential election, but the outcome of a knockout between her and conservative Francois Fillon would be closer than before, a poll showed on Monday. The Opinionway poll showed Le Pen would get 42 percent of votes compared to 58 percent for Fillon if the scandal-hit Fillon made it through […]
|By Matein Khalid| The US Dollar Index has now fallen 3.5% since it peaked on January 3. Donald Trump and his White House aides broke the 20 year taboo against speaking out against the “strong dollar” policy platitudes. The Federal Reserve did not raise interest rates and signaled no rate hike is imminent at the March FOMC. It is significant that the US dollar has fallen against […]
La La Land was the big winner at the 70th British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) film awards on Sunday night, the last big awards ceremony before the Oscars on February 26. The main Bafta nominations closely followed the Oscars’ list, with La La Land leading the pack with 11 nods (compared with 14 at the Oscars). Arrival had nine nods and Manchester by the […]
By Jamie McGeever | LONDON LONDON World stocks and bond yields rose on Monday, lifted by a re-emergence of so-called “Trump trades” as investors bet that the U.S. president’s tax reform plans will boost economic growth and corporate profits. Following on from Friday’s record high closes on Wall Street, Asian stocks rallied to 1-1/2-year peaks and European stocks rose for the fifth consecutive session on Monday, their […]
By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Stanley White | TOKYO TOKYO Japan’s economy grew for a fourth straight quarter in the final three months of last year as a weaker yen supported exports, but tepid private consumption and the risks of rising U.S. protectionism cast doubts over a sustainable recovery. Data on Monday showed the world’s third-largest economy grew an annualized 1.0 percent in October-December, roughly in line with […]
“Throughout the entire length of the battle for Aleppo, there have been multiple claims of violations of human rights and multiple denials,” said Eliot Higgins, a senior fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council. Continue reading the main story “What we have been able to present now is a wealth of evidence confirming the targeting of civilian structures, namely hospitals, which in certain […]
Top White House aide and policy adviser, Stephen Miller, sidestepped repeated chances during Sunday news shows to publicly defend embattled National Security Adviser Michael Flynn following reports that he engaged in conversations with Russian diplomat(s) about U.S. sanctions before Trump’s inauguration. The uncertainty came as Trump was dealing with North Korea’s apparent first missile launch of the year and his presidency, along with visits this week from […]
Bleak about the future of journalism? Here are some encouraging statistics: In 2015, ProPublica ended the year with $450,000 in small donations (contributions less than $10,000 that weren’t individually solicited). In 2016, that amount was $2.9 million. So far this year, that number is already more than $600,000. ProPublica received $4,500 from monthly recurring donations in the month of October. By January, that number had increased to […]
Japan’s economy grew at an annualised pace of 1 per cent in the final quarter of 2016 as yen weakness spurred a pick-up in exports and business investment. The figure, which was broadly in line with analysts’ expectations for a 1.1 per cent rise, confirms Japan’s economy is back on track after a wobble last summer. Robust growth will reinforce the political popularity of Prime Minister Shinzo […]
It was a weekend that included an intimate golf outing of more than four hours; a lavish Saturday night dinner; and an unexpected joint statement on North Korea’s missile launch. Yet even more notable was what the two-day summit between Donald Trump and Japan’s Shinzo Abe did not include — controversy. Three weeks into his presidency, Mr Trump appears to be adopting a more traditional US foreign […]
BANGUI A top militant and three others were killed in Central African Republic when a U.N. helicopter fired on fighters advancing towards the town of Bambari, a rebel group said on Sunday. The UN’s mission known as MINUSCA shot at fighters from the Popular Front for the Renaissance of Central African Republic (FPRC), on Saturday after they crossed a “red line” it had set north of the […]
By Andreas Rinke | BERLIN BERLIN Former foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was elected Germany’s president on Sunday, the 12th person to hold the largely ceremonial post in the post-war era. Steinmeier, a Social Democrat who had served as foreign minister until last month, won 931 of the 1,239 valid votes by lawmakers and representatives of Germany’s 16 federal states. There 103 abstentions and 14 votes were invalid. […]
Here are the big questions facing investors ahead of a new trading week. How long does a reprieve for French bonds last? After a burst of selling early last week, French debt was granted a reprieve with the 10-year benchmark yield easing back below 1.10 per cent. In turn, the divergence over 10-year Bund yields also pulled back from a four-year plus high. Traders remain nervous after […]
The latest retailer to join the “anti-Trump resistance“, is also the one which despite being closest to death managed to crush short sellers on Friday after its stock soared on the announcement of yet another hail ymary restructuring: according to Reuters, Sears and Kmart are discontinuing online sales of 31 Trump Home items. An obvious publicity stunt meant to distract the public’s attention from the company’s chronic […]
BAGHDAD: Two rockets landed in Baghdad’s highly fortified Green Zone on Saturday night following clashes at anti-government protests that left five dead, according to Iraqi security and hospital officials.The rocket attack left no casualties as the munitions landed on the parade grounds in the center of the highly fortified Baghdad compound that is home to Iraq’s government and most foreign embassies. It was not immediately clear who […]
By Jeffrey Heller | JERUSALEM JERUSALEM Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would present “responsible policies” in talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, signalling to the Israeli far-right to curb its territorial demands in the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu leaves for Washington on Monday and will see Trump at the White House on Wednesday for their first meeting since the Republican’s inauguration last month, with […]
By Huda Majeed and Ahmed Rasheed | BAGHDAD BAGHDAD Tension between Iraq’s Shi’ite leaders mounted on Sunday as the toll from protests in central Baghdad on Saturday increased to six killed, five demonstrators loyal to the fiery cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and one policeman. At least 174 other protesters were injured in clashes that pitted police and Sadr’s followers who had gathered to demand an overhaul of a […]
PARIS France’s financial prosecutor plans to pursue legal proceedings in the coming week in connection with its investigation into fake work allegations involving presidential candidate Francois Fillon and his wife, the weekly Journal de Dimanche newspaper reported. The report cited unidentified sources. Reuters was unable to reach the prosecutor for comment, nor was it able to reach officials representing conservative candidate Fillon. Fillon’s lawyer did not immediately […]
The Louisiana State Police never did tell White what happened to his son. He learned of their account through a news release posted online that evening, March 3, 2014. The police said that Victor White III, while detained in the back seat of a locked police car, his hands shackled behind his back, had committed suicide by shooting himself in the back with a handgun that an […]
The European government bond market had what is known in technical circles as a minor freak-out this week. Yet as yields in eurozone bonds diverged sharply, the markets for stocks, corporate debt and currencies carried on regardless. The Cac 40 index of large French-listed companies was barely changed on the week. The euro weakened per cent against the US dollar, but at the same time the dollar […]
