A round-up of major happenings in Pakistan in the last week. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Credit: PTI Panama Papers investigation After weeks of acrimony, the first day in office for new Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar was an unusually harmonious one, with all parties hailing the constitution of a new bench for the Panama Papers hearings that will resume on January 4. Nisar excluded himself from […]
WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump said he had a “constructive” meeting with members of U.S. intelligence agencies on Friday and plans to appoint a team to give him a plan to combat cyber attacks within 90 days of taking office on Jan. 20. “While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations […]
Facebook has appointed former NBC and CNN anchor Campbell Brown to oversee its sometimes-strained relationship with the news industry, as the platform faces criticism for its role in the US presidential election. Campbell Brown, who hosted her own show on CNN until 2010, wrote in a post on Facebook that she will join its news partnerships team this month, charged with helping journalists work more effectively with […]
Nobody likes to admit going along with the consensus. It sounds better to be contrarian, and in markets there is far more money to be made when you latch on to an unpopular notion that turns out to be correct. That is how you get to buy things cheap. But sometimes the herd gets it right, even if it gets overexcited and “overshoots” its target. On balance, […]
January 6, 2017 by: Adam Samson in New York US wage growth accelerated to the quickest pace since 2009 last month, underscoring rising inflationary pressure as President Barack Obama prepares to pass the torch to Donald Trump. Average hourly earnings climbed 0.4 per cent in December from the previous month, beating expectations for a 0.3 per cent pick-up, the Labor Department said in the final employment report […]
By Richard Balmforth | PARIS PARIS France’s far-right leader fired broadsides at the European Union and the euro currency on Friday, marking out Europe as a major plank in her programme as the battle lines took shape in the campaign for the presidential election in spring. Marine Le Pen, head of the anti-EU, anti-immigrant National Front (FN) and seen by pollsters as highly likely to make a […]
Photo Maqluba, a Middle Eastern dish, is an aromatic glory that requires a certain manual dexterity for its presentation. Credit Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Amy Wilson. “Why did you take your shoes off?” Maha Sarsour demanded as she emerged from her kitchen to greet me. I debated whether it would be better or worse to say that […]
Argentina is looking to sell up to $10bn of debt, taking advantage of calmer conditions across bond markets and a pullback in the US dollar. The year-old government of Mauricio Macri is just one of a host of other emerging markets, including Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, all racing to raise finance soon to mitigate risks stemming from the uncertainty over the direction of US policy, with […]
For the tourists visiting Abu Dhabi from around the world, buying dates is a top priority when searching for a taste of the UAE to take back home as gifts for family and friends. ABU DHABI // Date traders are in their element during the winter months at Mina Dates Market because the influx of tourists means they are doing brisk business. It seems the little fruit […]
With all eyes likely on wage growth indications in the subtext of tomorrow’s payrolls report (following The Fed Minutes’ comments on full employment), Goldman Sachs is forecasting a better-than-expected 0.3% rebound in average hourly earnings (helped by more favorable calendar effects) and a better-than-expected 180k payrolls print (albeit with a small rise in the unemployment rate). However, they are careful to note that any downside can be […]
By Mark Hosenball and Steve Holland | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON There is disagreement within President-elect Donald Trump’s camp about the structure of the top U.S. intelligence agency when he takes office and it is unclear whether his national security adviser will prevail in advocating a reorganization, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. At issue is the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which Congress […]
Mexico’s central bank intervened in the foreign exchange markets to halt the peso’s record slide against the dollar but failed to provide anything more than temporary respite for its battered currency. The peso responded to the move, the first of its kind since the election of Donald Trump, with a 1.5 per cent rise against the dollar. Having tumbled to another all-time low of 21.61 pesos on […]
By Steve Holland | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday picked former U.S. Senator Dan Coats as his director of national intelligence, two senior transition officials said, as he puts his own stamp on a U.S. intelligence community that he frequently criticizes. The official announcement was expected this week as Trump makes decisions on some of the remaining major positions he must fill as he prepares […]
Tiny rods found inside the bodies of orange puffball sea sponges have an interesting tapered shape. That shape, new research shows, turns out to be a match for the Clausen profile, a column shape shown to be optimal for resistance to buckling failure. Credit: Michael Monn, Haneesh Kesari / Brown University Judging by their name alone, orange puffball sea sponges might seem unlikely paragons of structural strength. […]
After a near double-digit rally in US stocks since Donald Trump’s election victory, the question for investors is whether the outlook for corporate profits can begin to justify investors’ newfound optimism. Much of the rally has been underpinned by hopes that a Trump administration will boost corporate profits through lower corporate taxes, a more accommodative regulatory regime and a more confident US consumer. Corporate chief executives will […]
By Dustin Volz and Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The top U.S. intelligence official told Congress on Thursday he was “even more resolute” in his belief that Russia staged cyber attacks on Democrats in the 2016 election campaign, rebuking persistent scepticism from Republican President-elect Donald Trump about whether Moscow was involved. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he had a very high level of confidence that […]
ABU DHABI // The first batch of Emiratis have begun a 10-month course as part of a programme offering training in horse racing. The Masar Godolphin scholarship, offered under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, was awarded to eight Emirati men and women ages 23 to 30 who demonstrated an interest in the sport. The course will include academic and […]
January 5, 2017 by: David J Lynch in Washington and Jessica Dye in New York Senator John McCain joined three top US intelligence officials on Thursday in blaming Russia for election-related cyber attacks which the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee called an “unprecedented attack on our democracy”. At an extraordinary Senate hearing called to hear the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in November’s presidential […]
By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stocks were little changed on Thursday as a drop in banks and discretionary stocks were offset by gains in technology names. Investors are also assessing a host of economic data including the ADP payrolls report, which showed that 153,000 jobs were added in the private sector in December compared with economists’ expectation of 170,000. The report sets a precedent to Friday’s nonfarm payrolls […]
India is headed for a long and critical election season that will span five states, just as many weeks and 160 million voters. The polls will be seen as a test of whether the appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi–who won a landslide election in 2014–endures after his move to remove 86% of bank notes from circulation led to a severe cash shortage. The first ballot will […]
None of those accounts are wholly satisfactory, of course; none offer a full picture of Chelsea’s eye-catching reversal. But neither are any of them wrong. Conte has turned around Chelsea not with one grand gesture but with countless small ones. Only Pedro erred slightly: Whatever Conte has done, it most certainly has not been easy. Conte’s work as Chelsea’s manager started long before his first day in […]
January 4, 2017 by: Joe Rennison and Eric Platt in New York Wall Street’s debt engine started in record form at the start of 2017, as companies sought to lock in borrowing costs shortly before the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president raises hopes for faster growth and higher interest rates. Eleven companies and banks sold $19.9bn of debt in the US as global financial markets […]
Submitted by Finian Cunningham via Strategic-Culture.org, The dark, infamous days of American lynch-mob rule and burning witches at stakes are back as never before. But not in backwater enclaves of benighted bigotry. Oh no, the modern lynch mobs are running amok in Washington’s seat of government, across prime TV and on the editorial pages of its supposed finest newspapers. It is the effete, self-regarding ruling US elite […]
BANGKOK Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said on Wednesday a general election will be held this year after doubts were raised by a member of the national legislative assembly. Thailand’s next polls will restore civilian rule following a 2014 coup, and will be the first under a new constitution, approved in a referendum last year, that critics say will ensure military oversight of elected governments. “We […]
