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Jackie Evancho, who sang the U.S. national anthem at President Donald Trump’s inauguration last month, has asked him to sit down with her and her transgender sister to learn about the challenges for students struggling with gender identity. Evancho, 16, requested the meeting in a public Twitter message to the president late on Wednesday, minutes after his administration revoked landmark guidance to public schools to let transgender […]

The fundraising gulf over the DGA can be attributed in part to RGA support from a number of high-profile billionaires and millionaires, including hedge fund bosses Paul Singer and Kenneth Griffin, and shipping supply company owner Richard Uihlein. The largest donor to the RGA in 2016, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, donated more than the top six donors to the DGA combined. Many longtime […]

By John Geddie and Elisabeth O’Leary | LONDON/EDINBURGH LONDON/EDINBURGH The Scottish government is increasingly convinced it can win a new independence referendum and is thinking seriously about calling one next year as Britain exits the European Union, sources close to the Scottish government said. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to stay inside the EU in last June’s referendum, but Britain as a whole voted to leave and British Prime […]

By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Thursday as investors digested the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting, which pointed to an interest rate hike “fairly soon”. Still, policymakers did not appear to show a sense of urgency in raising rates as inflation remained below the long-term target of 2 percent, effectively taking a rate hike in March off the table. […]

For the first time in nearly half a century, the prized Apollo 11 command module Columbia will leave the National Air and Space Museum and go on a four-city tour. For the next two years, it will be the star of the exhibition called “Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission.” As the only piece of the spaceship that completed the first mission to bring humankind to the […]

A recent meme under the hashtag #OscarsWeNeed, dubbed “Outstanding Background Extra”, perfectly encapsulates what The National’s Alternative Academy Awards (aka The Other Oscars) is all about. There he was, an extra standing behind Spectre star Daniel Craig, sweeping as if his life depended on it – even as his broom never came close to the ground. As Hollywood prepares to honour the best of American and foreign […]

Frank Sorrentino used to do a lot of mortgages. But since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act seven years ago, he has mostly shied away. Rules have been tightened so far as to make home loans uneconomic, says the chairman and chief executive of ConnectOne, a bank with $3.7bn in assets based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. “Community banks used to be able to cut through the […]

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By Humeyra Pamuk and John Davison | ISTANBUL/BEIRUT ISTANBUL/BEIRUT Turkey-backed rebels have seized the centre of the town of al-Bab from Islamic State, Turkish state media and rebels officials said on Thursday, marking a likely breakthrough in Ankara’s drive to wipe out the militant group in northern Syria. Turkey launched its Syrian operation, dubbed “Operation Euphrates Shield”, in August in an effort to push Islamic State from […]

For footloose international money, the safest place to hide in the European financial system may be two-year German debt. The government of Europe’s largest economy not meeting such obligations in euros is as close to inconceivable as things get. The debt is also easy and cheap to trade, which means it can be a market signal of investor angst. The price of such safety set a record […]

SARAJEVO The Leader of Macedonia’s Social Democrats said he expected a new government to be formed in March, after his party agreed on all key issues with ethnic Albanian parties. “Now we have to agree on distribution of ministries and future government reform platform,” Zoran Zaev told reporters in Sarajevo. Macedonia’s conservative VMRO-DPMNE party won a slight majority in December parliamentary vote but failed to reach agreement […]

By Mehreen Zahra-Malik | LAHORE, Pakistan LAHORE, Pakistan Pakistani real estate giant Rafi Group made a ten-fold profit last year from its sale of hundreds of acres of land in the remote fishing town of Gwadar, acquired soon after the government announced plans for a deep-sea port there. The windfall came after 12 years of waiting patiently for the Gwadar port to emerge as the centrepiece of […]

By Praveen Menon | KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia is considering expelling North Korea’s envoy to the Southeast Asian nation or shutting its embassy in Pyongyang, as tensions escalate over the killing of the estranged half-brother of the North’s leader Kim Jong Un, a senior government official said. Kim Jong Nam, 46, was killed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13 with what police believe was […]

Vodafone Australia has reported a net loss of AU$241.8 million for the first half of FY17 on total revenue of AU$3.35 billion, an 8.4 percent year-on-year decrease. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) were AU$912.2 million, a 12.2 percent increase from the AU$812.8 million reported for the first half of FY16. Net average revenue per user (ARPU) was AU$37.97, a loss of AU$7.71 from last […]

Image: Bednarczyk/Epa/REX/Shutterstock By Sohini Mitter2017-02-23 08:56:35 UTC We told you that Justin Bieber is performing in India for the first time.  Understandably, there’s a lot of excitement, especially in millennials who can’t have enough of the 23-year-old pop sensation.   But now there’s a problem as we discovered once the tickets went on sale. Firstly, there’s a queue. Even if you wait, you are never sure that […]

Emirates is set to launch a series of new cabin products and enhancements in 2017 for both its A380 and Boeing 777 fleet. The multi-million dollar cabin interiors upgrade programme includes an enhanced Onboard Lounge for its flagship Airbus A380 aircraft, the Dubai-based airline said in a statement. It said the A380 Lounge upgrade has been inspired by private yacht cabins, with seating space increased. Sir Tim […]

America’s Midwest farmers can’t seem to catch a break.  First, an epic collapse of grain prices over the last couple of years have threatened to wipe out family farmers (see “Midwest Farm Bubble Continues Collapse As Farm Incomes Expected To Crash In 2017“) and now, thanks to the pending NAFTA showdown threatened by President Trump, Mexico, the single largest importer of U.S.-grown corn, has announced plans to […]

PARIS PSA Group’s (PEUP.PA) proposed acquisition of Opel would swiftly create savings and value from the General Motors (GM.N) European division’s turnaround and complementary brands, the French carmaker’s Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said on Thursday. Adding GM’s German Opel British Vauxhall brand would bring new customers reluctant to buy French cars, Tavares told analysts and reporters, while generating savings from shared technical underpinnings. “There is significant complementarity […]

Astronomers have long been studying black holes lurking at the center of most galaxies. Scientists have also discovered a great deal of information about them, but no actual photograph of a black hole has yet been produced. Capturing Actual Image Of A Black Hole Sophisticated telescopes and instruments have allowed scientists to capture images of the sun, asteroids, and surface of other planets and moons, but all […]

For the Arab world’s largest country, February 11, 2011, was the moment the 21st-century began. Hosni Mubarak, after decades in power, was finally pushed to step down after millions of people took the streets. Many things were born in Tahrir Square that day. Hope for the future. A new politics led by youth. A revolutionary current, as H A Hellyer puts in his new book A Revolution Undone. […]

Axa chief executive Thomas Buberl has distanced himself from a bid for Generali’s German life insurance business. There has been speculation that the French group could play a part in any break-up process that would follow the possible acquisition of Generali by Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo. However, speaking to the Financial Times on Thursday, Mr Buberl said that “buying a traditional life insurance business in Germany would […]

Stainless steel is regaining its shine. After falling victim like many other basic industries to the global commodities downturn, companies that specialise in the rustproof metal are enjoying a change in their fortunes. An upwards spiral in share prices, bigger profits and increased payouts to investors is helping to restore the lustre in this niche of the steel market. “It’s very clear we are now in a […]

BEIJING China’s defence ministry said on Thursday it was aware of the presence of a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group in the South China Sea and China respected freedom of navigation for all countries in the waters there. The U.S. navy said the strike group, including the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson, began “routine operations” in the South China Sea on Saturday amid growing tension […]

Little is known about the heaviest, radioactive elements in Mendeleev’s table. But an extremely sensitive technique involving laser light and gas jets makes it possible for the very first time to gain insight into their atomic and nuclear structure. (via WSJ)

BAGHDAD U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces closing in on the Islamic State-held western half of Mosul stormed the city’s airport and a nearby military base on Thursday, state television said. Counter-terrorism service (CTS) troops and elite interior ministry units known as Rapid Response descended on the airport early on Thursday and the nearby Ghozlani military complex, CTS spokesman Sabah al-Numan told state TV. “Our forces started a major […]

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