By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen | COPENHAGEN COPENHAGEN Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Sunday he had agreed to form a new government with the Liberal Alliance and the Conservative Party, reducing the risk of snap elections. The deal, announced on Twitter, allows Rasmussen to cling to power after threats by political allies in recent months to overthrow his minority government due to conflicting demands on tax […]
Our round-up of the week’s best comment and analysis from the Financial Times focuses on how infrastructure and fiscal policy shake-ups will play out for investors in the light of the current “Trumpflation” market rallies. The selection is taken from our Markets Insight and Smart Money columns, written by industry contributors and FT commentators. Infrastructure spending is the new zeitgeist of our age but we should have […]
JOHANNESBURG The new head of South Africa’s anti-graft unit, which this month alleged influence-peddling in President Jacob Zuma’s cabinet, has laid a complaint against her predecessor for leaking a recorded interview with the president, newspaper Sunday Times reported on Sunday. Former watchdog Thuli Madonsela has said she had the right to make public the audio recording after Zuma accused her of not giving him an opportunity to […]
Today we learn of yet another campus full of disaffected Hillary snowflakes who were triggered by a post-it note suggesting that they should stop whining about the election and just “suck it up, pussies.” This latest example comes to us from Edgewood College in the ultra-liberal bastion of Madison, Wisconsin via Campus Reform. Apparently the simple post-it note was determined to be a “hate crime” by the […]
November 27, 2016 by: Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Paris French voters were heading to the polls on Sunday in a primary run-off contest predicted to give François Fillon the centre-right nomination and a good chance of becoming president of France next year. Mr Fillon, the former prime minister who unexpectedly surged to pole position with 44 per cent of the votes in a first round last Sunday, is […]
Here are the big questions we are asking at FT Markets into the week when the calendar flips over into December. Will Opec deliver a meaningful production cut? All eyes are on Vienna and Opec’s annual gathering with a keenly awaited decision on production levels. An Opec deal on Wednesday that delivers a concrete supply reduction of at least 1m barrels a day, with non-members such as […]
By Simon Gardner and Ana Isabel Martinez | HAVANA HAVANA From the Bay of Pigs invasion to a historic visit by President Barack Obama to Havana, Cubans have known for generations that whenever the United States turns its face to Cuba, Fidel Castro would be staring right back. But the death of “El Comandante” has added to worries among Cubans that U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump will slam […]
By Ian Simpson and Roberta Rampton | WASHINGTON/WEST PAlM BEACH, Fla. WASHINGTON/WEST PAlM BEACH, Fla. Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign will take part in a recount of Wisconsin votes in the U.S. presidential race, an effort Republican winner Donald Trump called “ridiculous” on Saturday. Wisconsin’s election board on Friday approved the recount requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein. She has said she wants to guarantee the integrity […]
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday called a request for a recount of votes in Wisconsin a “scam” by the Green Party and said even his Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton had said the election results should be accepted. “This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead […]
Nov 24, 2016 10:02 am IST President-elect Donald Trump has chosen the first women for posts in his administration, picking South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and school-choice advocate Betsy DeVos as his secretary of education, his transition team said Wednesday. Ms. Haley long held reservations about Mr. Trump’s candidacy during the GOP primary, and endorsed both Sens. […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for November 27, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Art exhibition See No White Walls, featuring works created by professional artists in the UAE who have collaborated on an initiative to develop the art scene in Abu Dhabi by staging exhibitions […]
KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Sunday that he will “not necessarily” call a snap election next year, amid talk that he would seek an early vote as splits in the opposition have hobbled efforts to oust him over a long-running financial scandal. The multi-ethnic Southeast Asian country is due to hold an election by August 2018, and a government official has told Reuters […]
Amid the ongoing circus that is this year’s presidential election, it may be easy to forget all the other races on the ballot. Voters will be picking 12 governors, several thousand legislators and scores of other state officeholders on Nov. 8. They will also decide policies on marijuana, minimum wage, gun control, tobacco, drug prices and other key issues in 162 statewide ballot measures. The Center for […]
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwaitis turned out in large numbers Saturday for the first election contested by the opposition in nearly four years amid fresh disputes over cuts in subsidies due to falling oil revenues.Turnout was high with some polling stations reporting that 80 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots by the time polls closed at 8 p.m. (1700 GMT), according to Kuwait Television. Vote counting started […]
The Irish prime minister has said it will be “impossible” to agree Brexit within two years, in the strongest rejection so far of the UK’s negotiating timetable by an EU leader. Enda Kenny, who is seen as one of Britain’s allies in the process, said “there’s a growing feeling in Europe that there should be a transition period, and that the transition period will be longer than […]
KABUL British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson dismissed suggestions on Saturday that Britain’s exit from the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president would lead to Western powers withdrawing from engagement with the rest of the world. Speaking during an overnight visit to Kabul that included meetings with President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, Johnson said Britain remained committed to Afghanistan “for […]
By Marc Frank and Sarah Marsh | HAVANA HAVANA Fidel Castro’s death could give his younger brother, President Raul Castro, more space to pursue economic reforms, but change will also depend on whether U.S. President-elect Donald Trump decides to work with or challenge Cuba’s communist government. Raul Castro has introduced market-oriented reforms in recent years, but the pace of change has been slowed, many Cubans say, by […]
Every presidential election brings with it a renewed debate on taxes: should tax rates be increased or decreased (which in turn forces economists to break out their textbooks to brush up on their Laffer curve definitions)? Traditionally, the question eventually boils down to one thing: what should the tax treatment of the “rich” be: should the wealthy pay more or less in taxes? Why the particular focus […]
Sales and traffic at U.S. brick-and-mortar stores on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday declined from last year, as stores offered discounts well beyond the weekend and more customers shopped online. Internet sales rose in the double digits on both days, surpassing $3 billion for the first time on Black Friday, according to data released on Saturday. Data from analytics firm RetailNext showed net sales at brick-and-mortar stores […]
Kuwaitis voted on Saturday in an election energised by the participation of opposition candidates for the first time since 2012 and focused on recent government austerity measures aimed at tackling the oil-rich nation’s deficit. The parliament of Western-allied Kuwait was due to run until July 2017, but the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, dissolved it in October, saying “security challenges” in the region – an apparent reference […]
By Doina Chiacu and Emily Stephenson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said on Wednesday that women who end pregnancies should face punishment if the United States bans abortion, triggering a torrent of criticism from both sides of the abortion debate, including from his White House rivals. After MSNBC broadcast a clip of an interview with Trump, the billionaire businessman rowed back his remarks, first […]
By Noel Randewich | SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Wall Street expects consumers to open their wallets a little wider this holiday shopping season but bargains among red-hot retail stocks could be hard to find, especially as profit growth proves elusive for many big names. Retailers, including Best Buy, Kohls Corp and Macy’s, that were pummeled in last year’s disappointing holiday quarter have seen their shares surge recently […]
The US is heading towards the potential drama of an election recount in Wisconsin after Hillary Clinton’s campaign on Saturday joined a process initiated by a third-party presidential candidate. Donald Trump won Wisconsin by about 27,000 votes and Mrs Clinton’s campaign lawyer, Mark Elias, said she would join recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania if they were initiated too. But he said he did not expect Mr Trump’s […]
Gold pared a third weekly drop as the dollar halted a rally that sent bullion prices to a nine-month low and pushed silver into a bear market. Bullion’s first gain in four days cut this week’s loss to 2 percent. Prices have tumbled as strong economic data and the prospect of more spending after Donald Trump’s U.S. election win boosted bets for higher interest rates. Investors are […]
