La Villette, a corrugated iron convention hall on the northern rim of Paris, was meant to be François Fillon’s launch pad towards the French presidency after winning the centre-right nomination in a landslide. But on Sunday he stood in the packed venue, days after claims emerged that the Republican candidate had allegedly employed his wife in a fake parliamentary job for years and, suddenly, victory seemed to […]
Currency traders are in a bind. Has the dollar rally run out of steam and is it ripe for a big sell-off, or has bullish momentum paused ahead of another leg higher? Here are the pros and cons for the currency as we approach several key events in February. What’s bugging the dollar? Investors’ second thoughts. Dollar trading in recent months can be split into three phases. […]
KINSHASA The death on Wednesday of Congo’s opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi leaves opponents of President Joseph Kabila seriously weakened in their bid to force Kabila to quit power after he defied constitutional term limits to stay on last year. Democratic Republic of Congo has never experienced a peaceful transition of power and Kabila’s refusal to stand down when his final term expired in December has raised fears […]
PARIS French investigators have widened a probe into allegations that presidential candidate Francois Fillon paid large sums of money to members of his family for work they may not have done, to include two of his children, sources said on Thursday. The sources, who are close to the inquiry, said the investigation was being extended to look at work carried out by Marie and Charles Fillon for […]
PARIS Pressure on French presidential candidate Francois Fillon to pull out of the election race grew on Thursday as some lawmakers in his own camp urged him to abandon his bid in the face of a fake work scandal to save the conservatives from defeat. The scandal, which surfaced a week ago when a newspaper said the wife of the 62-year-old ex-prime minister, Penelope, had been paid […]
This worldview borrows from the “clash of civilizations” thesis of the political scientist Samuel P. Huntington, and combines straightforward warnings about extremist violence with broad-brush critiques of Islam. It sometimes conflates terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State with largely nonviolent groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots and, at times, with the 1.7 billion Muslims around the world. In its more extreme […]
The banking caucus Economic stability and improved bank safety haven’t stopped supporters of the Choice Act from moving forward with tearing down Dodd-Frank. The bill was introduced in September by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican who is a deregulation crusader and friend of Vice President Mike Pence; Pence represented Indiana in the House from 2001 to 2013 and was a critic of Dodd-Frank when the law […]
SYDNEY U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will review a “dumb deal” to take hundreds of Australian asylum seekers after the Washington Post reported he had angrily berated Australia’s prime minister and abruptly ended a tense telephone call. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters the call on Saturday had been frank and candid but refused to provide further details on a “private” conversation that […]
WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO The Trump administration wants to revamp and rename a U.S. government program designed to counter all violent ideologies so that it focuses solely on Islamist extremism, five people briefed on the matter told Reuters. The program, “Countering Violent Extremism,” or CVE, would be changed to “Countering Islamic Extremism” or “Countering Radical Islamic Extremism,” the sources said, and would no longer target groups such as white […]
By Radu-Sorin Marinas and Luiza Ilie | BUCHAREST BUCHAREST More than 250,000 Romanians demonstrated on Wednesday against a government decree decriminalising some graft offences, seen as the biggest retreat on reforms since the country joined the European Union in 2007. Romania’s top judicial watchdog, the Superior Magistrates’ Council (CSM), earlier in the day filed a constitutional court challenge to the decree unveiled by the new Social Democrat […]
Blackstone-backed Invitation Homes began trading on Wednesday above its $20 a share initial public offering, as investors latched on to positive signals in the property rental market. The Dallas-based real estate investment trust, which allows investors to buy and sell shares in a company that owns single-family rental properties, raised $1.54bn from its IPO on Tuesday, the largest public offering since mid-2015, according to Bloomberg data. However, […]
The Federal Reserve signalled it remains on course for further increases in short-term interest rates this year as inflation heads back towards target, even as it avoided giving strong indications on the timing of the next move. The US central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee left the federal funds target range at 0.5 per cent to 0.75 per cent in a unanimous decision, following a quarter-point increase […]
Investors demanded a higher premium to hold France’s debt instead of Germany on Wednesday, reflecting a combination of political uncertainty and concerns over the outlook for inflation and central bank debt purchases. A series of upcoming elections in Europe, combined with worries that inflation pressures are picking up, have pushed down eurozone bond prices since the start of the year, with France becoming a notable laggard. The […]
American football fans can watch Super Bowl 51 live in a handful of pubs and restaurants across the UAE that will open in the early morning hours to show American football’s biggest event. On Monday, the New England Patriots will take on the Atlanta Falcons in Houston, Texas — which is 10 hours behind the UAE. Set your alarm — kickoff time is 3.30am — and go […]
Soon after two top Russian cyber crime officers vanished late last year, the rumours began to spread. One newspaper reported that Sergei Mikhailov, head of cyber security at the FSB, the KGB’s successor agency, was abruptly escorted from a meeting with a dark bag over his head. A far-right website suggested that Mr Mikhailov had been plotting to overthrow Russian president Vladimir Putin. In the past few […]
After yesterday US officials reported that Iran conducted a nuclear ballistic missile test on Sunday, which some claimed would be another violation of the UN resolution and Obama’s nuclear deal, on Wednesday Iran’s defense minister admitted that the Islamic Republic had indeed tested a new missile, but added the test did not breach Tehran’s nuclear accord with world powers or a U.N. Security Council resolution endorsing the […]
Millions of Indians are preparing to vote in the biggest test of public opinion since prime minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of 500 and 1,000-rupee notes three months ago – a move which has plunged the country into an unprecedented cash crisis and sent the economy into a tailspin. Over the next four weeks, starting today, a series of regional elections will be held across India […]
Israel has approved the construction of 3,000 more settlement homes in one of the government’s biggest announcements on its building programme in recent years. The statement on Tuesday evening is a further sign that the rightwing government feels it has a free hand to build housing for Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories following the election of US President Donald Trump. It came as Israel began […]
The Federal Reserve is likely to hold rates unchanged on Wednesday but keep the markets primed for further monetary tightening as it surveys steady growth and a tightening labour market. Recent statements from Fed chair Janet Yellen have suggested that she does not want to rush into a third rate increase, but that she also has no intention of letting the US economy overheat. This points to a […]
Wednesday 06:00 GMT Overview Stock markets across Asia were mixed after disappointing earnings and weak US data pushed Wall Street lower overnight. European bourses are expected to open higher, with spreadbetters predicting the UK’s FTSE 100 will add 34 points to 7,133 and Germany’s Dax to gain 70 points to 11,605. The rebound comes after Wall Street climbed sharply off its session lows on Tuesday, and index […]
President Donald Trump named his pick for the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday night, tapping Judge Neil M. Gorsuch of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Gorsuch would fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Like Trump, he’s an Ivy Leaguer: He attended Columbia University, Harvard Law School — and also the University of […]
On Saturday, as ripples of President Trump’s refugee ban began making news, Los Angeles Times Business Editor Kimi Yoshino suggested a different way to cover the story. Yoshino, who is married to an Iraqi refugee and whose family was detained at internment camps in World War II, saw people sharing their own stories on social media. Her idea: Let’s do something that captures that emotion. On Saturday, […]
By Lawrence Hurley and Steve Holland | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated Neil Gorsuch for a lifetime job on the U.S. Supreme Court, picking the 49-year-old federal appeals court judge to restore the court’s conservative majority and help shape rulings on divisive issues such as abortion, gun control, the death penalty and religious rights. The Colorado native faces a potentially contentious confirmation battle in […]
For the London Metal Exchange, the traditional winter holiday lull in activity which affects most other financial markets comes almost a month later. Traders say that the influence of China in copper, aluminium and nickel markets, means their operations almost grind to a halt during the Chinese new year. The slowdown was clearly visible on Monday, with turnover in benchmark three-month copper futures falling to less than […]
