Authored by Patrick Buchanan via Buchanan.org, Not long ago, a democratizing Turkey, with the second-largest army in NATO, appeared on track to join the European Union. That’s not likely now, or perhaps ever. Last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan compared Angela Merkel’s Germany to Hitler’s, said the Netherlands was full of “Nazi remnants” and “fascists,” and suggested the Dutch ambassador go home. What precipitated Erdogan’s outbursts? City […]
By Makiko Yamazaki and Taiga Uranaka | TOKYO TOKYO Japan’s Toshiba Corp failed to submit audited third-quarter earnings for a second time on Tuesday, gaining a one month extension as its expands a probe into problems at its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse. With its financial woes only deepening, Toshiba said it would speed up looking at whether to sell a majority of Westinghouse even as it sought […]
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi | AMMAN AMMAN A prominent Iraqi Sunni politician on Monday warned Washington the acceleration in a military campaign in western Mosul to drive out Islamic State jihadists was causing a sudden surge in civilian casualties that threatened to undermine the effort to crush the militants. Khamis Khanjar, who has used his leverage to lobby the U.S. administration and the Iraqi authorities to ensure the […]
Shares in Toshiba fell more than 8 per cent as the troubled Japanese conglomerate missed its earnings deadline once again. The company on Tuesday confirmed that it has sought another extension to the deadline by which it must submit audited third-quarter earnings, amid uncertainty about the true extent of crisis at its US nuclear unit Westinghouse. The stock was down 8.1 per cent at ¥197.5 near midday […]
To investors still betting — either by choice or technical necessity — that Toshiba can pull off a miracle escape act, Monday night produced yet another dispiriting blow. With just hours left before the troubled Japanese conglomerate was due to submit its audited third-quarter earnings — an already overdue document critical to its continued status as a listed entity — sources close to the company confirmed that […]
Nervousness in the US stock market has climbed to the highest level since the aftermath of the presidential election, even as equities have charted a mostly smooth path to further all-time highs in recent weeks. Credit Suisse’s fear barometer rose at the end of last week to 35.6, an increase of almost 10 points from the previous week and the highest reading since November 9, the day […]
EDINBURGH Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has demanded a new independence referendum be held in late 2018 or early 2019, once the terms of Britain’s exit from the European Union have become clearer. To do so, she needs authorisation from Britain’s parliament, which is sovereign. The Brexit referendum last June called the future of the United Kingdom into question because majorities in England and Wales voted to […]
Volkswagen Volkswagen has already taken a battering to its reputation due to the emissions scandal and is now tarnished further as the automaker has pleaded guilty to criminal charges as part of a settlement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ). On Friday, the automaker pleaded guilty in a Detroit federal court to felonies in connection with the 2015 emissions scandal. For years, the company sold a’clean […]
ASTANA Russia, Turkey and Iran are pressing ahead with a fresh round of Syria talks in Kazakhstan, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said on Monday, despite a request from the Syrian rebels to delay the meeting. “We are awaiting confirmations from the other parties to the meeting,” Abdrakhmanov told parliament, adding that delegations had already started arriving in the Kazakh capital, Astana. (Reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva; Writing […]
Stuart Gulliver has told the HSBC board he will quit as chief executive next year, making the search for his successor a priority for Mark Tucker, who has decided to leave Asian insurer AIA to become the bank’s chairman. The appointment of Mr Tucker was announced before the Hong Kong market opened on Monday by AIA and HSBC, which first approached the insurer’s president and chief executive last […]
SEOUL Ousted South Korean leader Park Geun-hye faced criticism on Monday over a defiant vow that the truth of her impeachment would be revealed, with the main opposition party urging prosecutors to investigate her quickly. The Constitutional Court dismissed Park from office on Friday when it upheld a parliamentary impeachment vote over an influence-peddling scandal that has shaken the political and business elite. Park has denied any […]
PARIS The French foreign ministry condemned a deadly bombing in Damascus and called on truce guarantors, especially Russia and Iran, to ensure a ceasefire in Syria is fully respected. The death toll from a double bomb attack on Saturday targeting Shi’ites visiting a pilgrimage site in Damascus has climbed to 74, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Sunday. “There is more than ever urgency to […]
The Trump administration’s sweeping dismissal of dozens of US attorneys held over from the Obama administration leaves the president with sudden gaps in top law enforcement positions across the country. The swift dismissals which began with Friday phone calls from Dana Boente, the acting deputy attorney-general, to 46 US attorneys, now puts pressure on the Trump administration to select candidates who will pass congressional scrutiny to fill […]
LONDON HSBC Holdings Plc is lining up Mark Tucker, currently chief executive of insurer AIA Group Ltd, to be the next chairman of Europe’s biggest bank, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Sunday. Regulators in Hong Kong and London have signaled they will approve the appointment, one of the sources said, paving the way for Tucker to take up the role in the autumn. […]
AMMAN A Syrian alliance of jihadist groups known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham said on Sunday it was responsible for a double suicide bomb attack in the capital Damascus that killed dozens of people. The group said the attack on Saturday targeted Iranian-backed militias in revenge for what it said was their role in supporting President Bashar al Assad’s “tyrannical rule”, holding them responsible for “killing and displacing” […]
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, on Sunday accused the Dutch government of behaving like Nazis, capping a weekend of high drama that began when the Netherlands refused to let his foreign minister’s plane land for a rally in the Turkish referendum campaign. The dispute between the two Nato members reverberated across Europe after Denmark waded into the debate by cancelling a meeting between Lars Lokke Rasmussen, its […]
Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk has been transitioning his company into the clean energy business and its name change in February only serves to highlight that idea. In fact, Musk is very keen on promoting solar energy as the best source of renewable energy and his enthusiasm and confidence seems to rub off on his colleagues. Lyndon Rive, vice president of energy products at Tesla, said in a […]
Chinese leasing companies have taken ownership of hundreds of vessels in deals worth tens of billions of dollars in the latest sign of the industry’s rapid transformation amid a long-running financial crisis. The deals made by Chinese companies, including the leasing businesses of ICBC, China Minsheng Bank and Bank of Communications, have provided badly-needed financing for shipowners as miserable trading conditions dominate most shipping sectors. Although there […]
Authored by Federico Pieraccini via The Strategic Culture Foundation, While the world continues to decipher, or digest, the new Trump presidency, important changes are afoot within the grand strategic triangle that lies between Russia, Iran and China Away from the current chaos in the United States, major developments are progressing, with Iran, Russia and China coordinating on a series of significant moves crucial for the future of […]
By Kawa Omar | MOSUL, Iraq MOSUL, Iraq After two and a half years under Islamic State control, all that is left in Mosul’s museum are the traces of looting and destruction. Inside the rubble-strewn building, where militants filmed themselves destroying ancient artifacts, the large stone wing of a statue of lamassu — an Assyrian winged bull deity — lies on the dusty floor among other broken […]
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. British reporter Iona Craig went to the al Ghayil, the Yemeni town stormed by Navy SEALs in the raid that President Trump says was a great success even as it claimed the life of the operator whose widow was honored […]
SANA, Yemen — An airstrike by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia on an open market in western Yemen killed at least 16 people, United Nations and local officials said Saturday. The attack late Friday hit a market selling khat, a mild stimulant common in Yemen, setting off a fire and leaving the dead and wounded scattered in the wreckage. هذة المجزرة ارتكبها اليوم #ال_سعود في […]
BEIRUT Syrian rebel groups called for the postponement of Russian-backed peace talks in Kazakhstan this month and said further meetings would depend on whether the government and its allies adhered to a newly declared March 7-20 ceasefire. The third round of talks is due to take place in Astana on March 14-15. The previous meetings aimed to shore up a widely violated ceasefire between the sides that […]
It frightens the opposition as it will give an advantage to Prime Minister Najib Razak, says Umno information chief Annuar Musa. JERLUN: The ability of the government to resolve Malaysia’s diplomatic crisis with North Korea frightens the opposition as it will give an advantage to Prime Minister Najib Razak. In saying this, Umno information chief Annuar Musa added: “What is positive for the government is bad news […]
