Photo Petra Kvitova, shown serving in the 2016 French Open, is a two-time Wimbledon champion. Credit Michel Euler/Associated Press Petra Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledon tennis champion, was attacked by a man with a knife on Tuesday morning in her apartment in Prostejov, Czech Republic. “In my attempt to defend myself, I was badly injured on my left hand,” Kvitova wrote in a statement posted to her Facebook […]
Turkey’s lira, the second-worst performing currency of 2016, reverted to type with a bout of volatile trading after the country’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged. After strengthening by nearly 1 per cent ahead of the meeting, the lira came back under pressure and was trading at around TL3.54 to the dollar, although another bout of volatility subsequently pushed it higher in late London trading. Concerned about […]
Law Blog rounds up the morning’s legal news: Authorities allege $1 billion fraud at Platinum Partners: Top executives at the hedge-fund firm, including founder Mark Nordlicht, were arrested and charged with defrauding investors in one of the biggest such cases since Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. [WSJ, Bloomberg] Judge Persky cleared: A California judicial disciplinary panel found no grounds to sanction Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky over the six-month sentence […]
By Maria Tsvetkova and Peter Hobson | MOSCOW MOSCOW Russia, Iran and Turkey said they were ready to help broker a Syrian peace deal after the three countries held talks in Moscow on Tuesday and adopted a declaration which set out the principles any agreement should adhere to. The countries made the announcement after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hosted talks with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts […]
Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. It could be called the “NBC Very, Very Late Nightly News With Brian Williams.” Instead, it’s “The 11th Hour With Brian Williams” on MSNBC — a new show starring an old face who’s honorably doing what he does well in […]
By Nidal al-Mughrabi | GAZA GAZA Gaza’s population will more than double in about 30 years, signalling even more serious economic problems ahead for Palestinians in the small enclave if the conflict with Israel is not resolved, a U.N. official said on Tuesday. Andres Thomsen, of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), told Reuters “it will be very hard to imagine that you can create the right […]
A unit of UAE-based KEF Holdings has launched a $100 million manufacturing park, spanning one million sq ft, to cater to the infrastructure needs in India and GCC markets. With 10 manufacturing lines featuring the latest technology, KEF Infra One in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu in India, promises significant cost and time savings in building hospitals, homes, schools, hotels and specialised infrastructure. Faizal E Kottikollon, founder and chairman, […]
By Steve Scherer | ROME ROME Three days after resigning as Italian prime minister and before his successor took office, Matteo Renzi typed a late-night Facebook post from his family home near Florence that seemed to cast doubt on his future. “I have no seat in parliament, no salary, no pension… I’m starting over,” he wrote. Since stepping down on Dec. 7 after a crushing referendum defeat […]
By Alastair Sharp and Allison Martell | TORONTO TORONTO BlackBerry Ltd (BB.TO)(BBRY.O) on Tuesday posted an adjusted profit that beat expectations even as revenue dropped sharply, as the software growth it is relying on failed to fully make up for its retreat from handsets and lost service fees. The Canadian smartphone pioneer has gone through a wrenching transition in recent years featuring huge writedowns and job cuts […]
Microsoft is bringing a couple more free games for Xbox Live Gold members as part of Games With Gold, fulfilling its promise of a total of four free titles for the month of December. Burnout Paradise and Outlast join Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition as part of Microsoft’s Games With Gold lineup for December, taking over the place of Outland and Murdered: Soul Suspect, which have reached their expiration date. Games With […]
BERLIN The Berlin police chief said on Tuesday it was not clear if the Pakistani man arrested after a deadly trunk rampage at a Christmas market was the driver of the vehicle. “As far as I know it is in fact uncertain whether that really was the driver,” said Berlin Police President Klaus Kandt. Berlin police said on Twitter that they were being vigilant as the suspect […]
ABU DHABI // Motorists will pay more for their car insurance from January 1 when new tariff rates are introduced and companies pass on the cost of ambulance services and courtesy cars to customers. New maximum and minimum premiums will be set for third-party and comprehensive policies, depending on vehicle type. The UAE Insurance Authority has issued a new vehicle insurance tariff system, on which premiums are […]
Facebook faces a potential fine after the European Commission accused the social network of being misleading during the approval process of its $19bn takeover of WhatsApp. In a “statement of objections” on Tuesday, the European Commission charged the Silicon Valley giant with inaccurately claiming during the 2014 takeover that it was technically impossible to combine automatically user information from Facebook and WhatsApp. Facebook surprised its users this […]
Photo Andrey G. Karlov, left, with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at Ataturk airport in Turkey in October. Credit Osman Orsal/Reuters Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrey G. Karlov, was killed by a gunman on Monday in Ankara, the capital. Turkish officials said the killer had been a police officer who, after shooting, shouted: “Don’t forget Aleppo! Don’t forget Syria!” Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the assassination a […]
The Turkish lira is climbing off its weekly lows this morning in the wake of the assassination of the Russian ambassador in Ankara on Monday and ahead of another key interest rate decision later today. At publication time, the lira has gained 0.35 per cent against the dollar to TRY3.5180 per dollar, having slumped to as low as TRY3.5340 in the aftermath of the shooting of Andrei […]
EDINBURGH Scotland wants to stay in the European Union’s single market after the United Kingdom leaves the bloc and will push for more powers to protect its interests, the head of its pro-independence government said on Tuesday. “We are determined to maintain Scotland’s current position in the European single market,” First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said in a paper setting out Scotland’s views about Brexit. Sturgeon said the […]
DHAKA Bangladesh security forces on Tuesday arrested two members of an Islamist militant group blamed for a deadly attack on a cafe in Dhaka in July in which 22 people were killed, most of them foreigners. The July 1 attack in Dhaka’s diplomatic quarter was claimed by the Islamic State and was the worst militant attack in Bangladesh, which has been hit by a spate of killings […]
BEIJING China said it will not change its position on opposing the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to people it considers criminals, even though Beijing and Norway had now normalised ties frozen since 2010 when a prominent Chinese dissident won. Liu Xiaobo, 59, was jailed by a Chinese court for 11 years in 2009 on subversion charges for organising a petition urging an end to one-party […]
MUMBAI Apple Inc is in talks with India’s government to explore making products locally, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, as the U.S. firm aims to make deeper inroads in the world’s second-largest mobile phone market by users. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to boost technology manufacturing in the country through his ‘Make in India’ initiative. His government in June exempted foreign retailers for three […]
ZURICH A man who shot three people at a Zurich mosque on Monday is dead, police said on Tuesday, confirming that a body found near the scene was that of the assailant. Zurich cantonal police said authorities had identified the suspect, but gave no details. A news conference was scheduled for 1300 GMT. The gunman had stormed into the Islamic centre and opened fire on worshippers. “The […]
ABU DHABI // Iran’s nuclear deal and the republic’s support for militias across the region are some of the major threats GCC countries face, the head of an Abu Dhabi think-tank told the British Parliament. Dr Ahmed Al Hamli told the International Relations Committee this threat had led to a regional shift of power from legitimate states to illegitimate terrorist groups, weakening the region for the Islamic […]
It’s a hot July day in Bethlehem, and white-robed pilgrims from Nigeria stand in the courtyard entrance to the ancient church, singing and beating drums. They’ve travelled more than 3,500 kilometres to enter the church’s low wooden door, pass through a nave under restoration and down one of the staircases in the sprawling church, to the grotto. There, they will kneel in prayer and devotion at the […]
First preliminary investigation into the killing of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa and fellow inmate Raul Yap filed by the National Bureau of Investigation. TETCH TORRES-TUPAS Two of the police officers accused in the death of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa and fellow inmate Raul Yap were at a loss as to why they were included as respondents while another police officer was already AWOL prior to the […]
In a year replete with extraordinary political upheaval and the wrenching loss of artistic icons, the markets have played their part in contributing to the angst. Here is a look at some of 2016’s most notable one-day wobbles. China cracks It started badly. In China, the mainland’s benchmark, the Shanghai Composite index, had closed 2015 near a four-month high after bouncing nearly 21 per cent from its […]
