The early idealism of the Internet was imagined as some great network that would somehow free the world’s oppressed people and lead to a grand utopian future. All the world’s information would be available at the touch of a button, greater participation in government by the people would be easy, and so on. None of this has happened or will happen. Instead, the American public […]
To our complete shock, the Government Accountability Office has released a report blasting the Education Department’s understanding of basic mathematics and accounting concepts after finding the department drastically underestimated the costs of Obama’s student loan forgiveness programs. The 100-page report entitled “Federal Student Loans: Education Needs to Improve Its Income Driven Repayment Plan Budget Estimates” found that taxpayers could be on the hook for $137BN of student […]
The shares of large US energy groups shot up to their highest levels since last July on Wednesday after Opec agreed to the first production cut since the 2008 financial crisis. The S&P 500 energy sector rallied 4.8 per cent in its biggest gain in 15 months. The rise came after the cartel struck a long-awaited pact aimed at reducing the glut of supply on global markets […]
By Alessandra Prentice | KIEV KIEV Ukraine was due to start two days of missile tests on Thursday – a move that has angered Russia, prompting it to put its air defence forces on high alert on the annexed Crimea peninsula. The disagreement marks a fresh escalation in tensions between the one-time allies, whose relations collapsed in 2014 after Russia seized Crimea and backed pro-Russian separatists fighting […]
By Angus McDowall and Tom Perry | BEIRUT BEIRUT Syrian rebels on Wednesday vowed to fight on in east Aleppo in the face of sudden government advances that have cut the area held by the opposition by a third in recent days and brought insurgents in the city to the brink of a catastrophic defeat. Gains by the Syrian army and its allies since last week have […]
Steven Mnuchin made his fortune by swooping in to buy IndyMac, one of the biggest casualties of the mortgage crisis, then selling it for more than twice what he paid five years later. But to Kevin Stein, deputy director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, a housing advocacy group, it sticks in the craw to see him nominated by Donald Trump to serve as the 77th US Treasury […]
Salvatore Ferragamo is often mistaken for his iconic fashion designer grandfather and founder of the Salvatore Ferragamo fashion brand, who became known after his shoes because a must-have in Hollywood for actresses such as Katherine Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. Eighty-nine years later, Ferragamo’s grandson is nowhere near the fashion house. Instead, he heads the family’s $680m hospitality estate in Tuscany, Il Borro. The 700 hectares historic hillside […]
Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) on Wednesday climbed to their highest levels since the financial crisis, as the bank benefited from a post U.S. presidential election rally. The stock reached $220.77 in late morning trading, returning to a point not seen since December 2007. Goldman was the biggest driver for the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI adding 56.2 points out of a net gain of […]
By Isabel Coles and Saif Hameed | MOSUL/BAGHDAD, Iraq MOSUL/BAGHDAD, Iraq The United Nations issued a fresh warning on Wednesday about the humanitarian situation in eastern Mosul where the U.S.-backed Iraqi army is locked in heavy fighting with Islamic State militants. More than six weeks into the offensive against Islamic State’s last major city stronghold in Iraq, the army is trying to dislodge militants dug in among […]
Oil prices soared 8.6 per cent to above $50 a barrel on Wednesday after two of Opec’s most powerful members said they were hopeful of reaching the first deal to cut supplies since prices started to plummet two years ago. Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, said the cartel, which controls about a third of the world’s oil production, was moving “close” to a deal, as he […]
MOSCOW Russian air defence forces in Crimea have been placed on high alert on the eve of planned Ukrainian missile tests near the Black Sea peninsula, the TASS news agency cited a Crimean military source as saying on Wednesday. Moscow has protested against the plans to carry out the tests near Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine says the tests, slated for Dec. 1 […]
Ulster Bank Parent RBS Fails Bank of England Stress Test “Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)(RBS.L) will cut costs and sell assets to boost capital levels, it said on Wednesday after failing this year’s Bank of England stress test, which warned of a “challenging” outlook for Britain’s financial system. The state-backed lender rushed out a statement following the announcement to say it would take a range of actions, including […]
By Jack Kim and Ju-min Park | SEOUL SEOUL South Korean opposition parties vowed on Wednesday to push ahead to try to impeach President Park Geun-hye amid a growing influence-peddling scandal, rejecting her offer to resign, and called on members of her Saenuri Party to join them. In a dramatic move that shifted the burden of resolving the crisis engulfing her presidency, Park asked parliament on Tuesday […]
LONDON Outgoing CIA Director John Brennan has said it would be the “height of folly” for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to tear up Washington’s deal with Tehran because it would make it more likely that Iran and others would acquire nuclear weapons. “It could lead to a weapons programme inside of Iran that could lead other states in the region to embark on their own programmes,” Brennan […]
November 30, 2016 by: Anjli Raval and David Sheppard — Vienna What is happening?Opec oil ministers from the 14-member producer group start their official meeting around 10am (GMT) on Wednesday in Vienna as they attempt to secure the first supply deal in eight years. Meetings traditionally last for between two and eight hours, but trying to predict the duration of such a gathering is near impossible. Oil […]
Replicas of R$100,00 banknotes are hung on a clothesline during a protest of the national union of prosecutors against money laundering in Brazil, at the Esplanade of Ministries in Brasilia March 18, 2015 (Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino). The Brazilian Federal Revenue Secretariat (SRF) has some good news to cheer: a big haul of fines and taxes from assets held offshore by Brazilians. The deadline for filing under Brazil’s equivalent […]
By Takaya Yamaguchi | TOKYO TOKYO Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 is likely to cost 22.6 trillion yen ($201 billion), slightly more than double a previous estimate, according to a source involved in government discussions on the issue. In 2013, Japan’s industry ministry estimated the disaster would cost about 11 trillion yen ($97.9 billion), including compensation to those forced to flee their homes or who lost […]
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Tuesday blamed “unintentional” human mistakes for the American-led airstrikes in September that killed dozens of Syrian government troops. The attacks were conducted under the “good-faith belief” that the targets were Islamic State militants, according to the official inquiry. The investigation, led by an Air Force general, concluded that the strikes did not violate the law of armed conflict or the rules for […]
UNITED NATIONS The reputation of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in Myanmar is at stake amid international concerns over how it is dealing with violence in the country’s divided northwest, a senior United Nations official warned on Tuesday. The conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine State has sent hundreds of Rohingya Muslims fleeing across the border to Bangladesh amid allegations of abuses by security forces. The crisis poses a […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The ferocious ground assault and aerial bombardment in eastern Aleppo has forced some 16,000 people to flee for their lives in the last few days, according to Stephen O’Brien, the United Nations under secretary general for humanitarian affairs. “The parties to the conflict have shown time and again they are willing to take any action to secure military advantage even if it means killing, […]
In a not entirely shocking statement, it appears ISIS has claimed responsibility for yesterday’s OSU attacks by Abdul Razak Ali Artan…. 1)BREAKING: #ISIS’ ‘Amaq News Agency reports that #OhioState attacker Abdul Razak Artan was an ISIS “soldier” pic.twitter.com/1XQAQJXcSR — Rita Katz (@Rita_Katz) November 29, 2016 Ironically, this tweet arrived minutes after White House press Secretary Josh Earnest explained… OSU attacker “may have been motivated by extremism” & […]
4237 28 by Adam Segal November 29, 2016 New York City skyline is seen at sunrise during a power outage August 15, 2003. (Reuters) The Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program has launched a new Cyber Brief. This one is authored by CFR Senior Fellow and Net Politics contributor Rob Knake. The U.S. federal government has long debated using insurance as a tool to create incentives for better cybersecurity in […]
MINSK France is working with Britain to draft a United Nations resolution on chemical weapons as quickly as possible, the French foreign affairs minister said on Tuesday. “We have taken over the drafting (of the chemical weapons resolution) with Britain. We are not giving up,” Jean-Marc Ayrault told Reuters head of a meeting to discuss the Ukraine crisis in Minsk. He added they hoped to be able […]
By Maher Chmaytelli and Ulf Laessing | BAGHDAD/MOSUL, Iraq BAGHDAD/MOSUL, Iraq A full siege is developing in Mosul as poor families struggle to feed themselves after prices rose sharply following the U.S.-backed offensive on the Islamic State-held city in northern Iraq, humanitarian workers said on Tuesday. Some of the poorest families are finding it hard to feed themselves while others are hoarding and hiding food as they […]
