BEIRUT A bomb blast killed at least four people and wounded many more in a rebel-held town in northern Syria near the Turkish border on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. The explosion hit the town of Azaz, which has long been an important base for rebels, including groups backed by Turkey. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which […]
OPEC and allied oil producers should extend their collective production cuts into the second half of the year when an expected upturn in demand will help to re-balance the crude market, UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said. All countries participating in the cuts must agree to any extension, he said Tuesday in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major […]
BANGKOK Human Rights Watch on Wednesday urged Thailand’s military government to disclose the whereabouts of a prominent rights lawyer who has been missing since his house was raided at the weekend. Prawet Prapanukul, 57, provided legal assistance to members of Thailand’s political opposition group, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, and served as legal counsel in a high profile royal insult case. He has been missing […]
List of top 10 passers of the 2016 Bar exam A graduate of the University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu City topped the 2016 Bar examinations. With a rating of 89.05 percent, Karen Mae Calam clinched the top spot in what has been considered as the toughest licensure examinations in the country. Three other Carolinians landed on the top 10 – Fiona Cristy Lao (3rd), Anne […]
03 May 2017 Reaching a new milestone, Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of hygienic products, recently launched the “New and Improved” Fine Baby® Diaper, which has been enhanced with maximum absorbency and is now offered in an affordable mega size pack. The launch of the new diaper comes shortly after the product received the prestigious endorsement of the Medical Wellness Association, which […]
Elsewhere on Wednesday, – TFW you have become verb used to specify there should be no lying in this particular bond quoting: Shortly after his indictment in 2013, Mr. Peters engaged in a chat session with a potential buyer about the price that would be offered for mortgage securities. The customer wrote, “Ok don’t litvak me! Go ahead with that bid.” – Guardian longread on where oil […]
MEXICO CITY Three successive Mexican presidents have failed to halt a cycle of violence against journalists and impunity for their killers that is stifling freedom of expression, a watchdog group said on Tuesday. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged President Enrique Pena Nieto to prioritize protection for the media in the last year of his government, after at least 21 journalists were slain in the past […]
As the United States adapts to the presidency of Donald Trump and faces rising tensions abroad, Berkshire Hathaway Inc shareholders will descend on Omaha, Nebraska this weekend seeking reassurance, from Warren Buffett. The weekend known as “Woodstock for Capitalists” is unique in corporate America, a celebration of the billionaire’s image and success at a conglomerate whose businesses range from Geico insurance to the BNSF railroad to See’s […]
The OnePlus 5 is among the most hotly anticipated smartphones of this year and the company’s CEO just posted the first teaser, touting a “big surprise.” With the LG G6 and the Samsung Galaxy S8 out of the bag, one of the most rumored smartphones yet to debut is the OnePlus 5, which is expected to hit the scene sometime in the second half of this year. OnePlus […]
Abu Dhabi // The prime minister of Libya’s UN-backed government and the country’s most powerful military commander met in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for direct talks on ending Libya’s conflict. The meeting came after months of international pressure and a failed attempt at negotiations in Cairo in February. The rival figures met face to face “thanks to international and Arab mediation”, according to Libya’s Lana news agency. […]
Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron have each promised to bring renewal to French politics. Still, the two insurgent candidates, who will go head to head in the second round of the presidential election on Sunday, have clashed over how to handle the challenges facing France. Ms Le Pen, of the National Front, is running on a populist, anti-immigration platform but has spurned economic liberalism in favour […]
By Matt Spetalnick | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Donald Trump’s national security adviser described his boss’s foreign policy approach as “disruptive” on the eve of the U.S. president’s first White House meeting with the Palestinian leader, saying his unconventional ways could create an opportunity to ultimately help stabilize the Middle East. Trump faces deep skepticism at home and abroad over his chances for a breakthrough with Palestinian President Mahmoud […]
In 2001, “Frontline” aired a documentary by investigative reporting legend Lowell Bergman. The movie, which chronicled the new cowboys of “Energy Alley,” contained never-before-seen interviews with Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling and other players in the energy scandal. It was compelling footage. After Enron imploded, filmmaker Alex Gibney bought the video from PBS and used some of it in his 2005 documentary about the scandal, “The Smartest Guys […]
TAIPEI Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen called on China to change its thinking and extend goodwill in its relationship with the self-ruled island, according to an interview published on Wednesday by a newspaper considered close to her main opposition. Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own, cut official communication channels with Taipei soon after Tsai took power in May last year to pressure her and her party into […]
Vocus Communications has revised its guidance for the 2017 financial year, with revenue down by AU$100 million, underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) down by between AU$65 million and AU$75 million, and net profit down by AU$45 million to AU$50 million. According to a presentation delivered by Vocus CEO Geoff Horth on Wednesday, underlying EBITDA is now expected to be between AU$365 million and […]
BRASILIA Brazilian authorities on Tuesday lowered the toll of people injured in a recent bloody clash between farmers and an indigenous tribe over land, and said no one had their hands cut off as reported earlier by a rights group. The government of Maranhao state, where the violence occurred on Sunday, said seven people were taken to hospital and only three remain hospitalized, including a man who […]
The New Zealand dollar is the best-performing major currency in Asia today in the wake of strong labour market data. The country’s unemployment rate fell to 4.9 per cent in the three months ended March 31 from 5.2 per cent in the December quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. This was a better result than the 5.1 per cent economists had pencilled in. It was the equal-lowest […]
The Follow up Committee of the Initiatives of the UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has approved a number of projects totalling AED410 million ($111.6 million). The committee, chaired by Ahmed Juma Al Zaabi, Deputy Minister of Presidential Affairs, approved the first phase of a project which will see a road built between Wadi Al-Qor and another linking the Al-Hubab roundabout and Nizwa Road for […]
BEIRUT An aid convoy of food and medical supplies has reached the besieged Syrian town of Douma for the first time since October, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday. Along with the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, the ICRC went into Douma with 51 trucks loaded with aid for 35,000 people, it said on Twitter. A U.N. official in […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian stocks followed global indexes higher on Wednesday, as strong earnings and manufacturing data boosted risk appetite, while expectations that the Federal Reserve will signal a June rate increase later in the session lifted the dollar. Oil prices pulled higher after a sharp fall on Tuesday on technical selling in a market already worried about oversupply and following a rise in […]
If you stand close to one of Marwan Sahmarani’s paintings and examine a small section, you find yourself being pulled into a swirling mass of colour and texture, a seemingly abstract formation of thickly-applied oil paints. It is testament to the Lebanese artist’s mastery of the medium that, as his viewers take in each work as a whole, its stories reveal themselves easily. In his latest show, […]
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed paths towards peace in Syria on Tuesday, in the first sign of practical interaction between the American and Russian presidents since Rex Tillerson, US secretary of state, visited Moscow last month. The call, only the second time the two leaders have spoken since Mr Trump took office in January, was the first sign that Moscow and Washington might be acting on […]
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq was dismissed for 99, a week after he was left stranded on the same score, as his side took an 81-run first innings lead during the second test against West Indies in Barbados on Tuesday. Misbah had the dubious honour of becoming the first player from his country to finish on 99 not out during their first innings of last week’s seven-wicket first test […]
Apple’s plan to push iPhone sales into positive territory for 2017 has stalled, with sales taking a surprise dip. Must read: iPhone 8: Here’s what we think we know about Apple’s 10th-anniversary iPhone iPhone sales of 50.8 million means a 1 percent unit drop year-on-year, and a whopping 35 percent drop compared to the previous quarter. That sounds pretty bad, but as I pointed out earlier this […]
