Donald Trump on Monday posted a video describing plans for his first 100 days as US president. “On energy, I will cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy,” he said. The US president-elect plans to open more federal lands and waters to oil and gas leasing, streamline permits for new energy projects and rescind executive actions of President Barack Obama. Deregulation forms the core of his […]
A two-day ceasefire after nearly two years of war in Yemen expired at midday (0900 GMT) on Monday and would not be renewed, a spokesman for a Saudi-led military coalition told al-Arabiya TV, with each side blaming the other for violations. The 48-hour truce, announced unilaterally by the Saudi coalition on Friday, failed to halt fighting across the country between the Iran-aligned Houthis and Saudi-led forces, which […]
Torture and other forms of ill-treatment persist in Bahrain despite reforms introduced by the Gulf Arab kingdom to address alleged human rights abuses after a 2011 uprising, Amnesty International said on Monday. An Amnesty report assessing the work of oversight bodies set up to deal with grievances or guard against further abuses said it had found “serious shortcomings” in the work of two British-supported institutions whose work […]
Photo A cemetery on the outskirts of Gaziantep, Turkey. Grave No. 38487 holds the body of a 4-year-old girl who died of wounds she received when a shell containing sulfur mustard agent hit her home in Marea, Syria. Credit Bryan Denton for The New York Times WASHINGTON — The Islamic State has used chemical weapons, including chlorine and sulfur mustard agents, at least 52 times on the […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for November 22, 2016, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. Abu Dhabi Art exhibition In celebration of Lebanese Independence Day, which is today, La Parole gallery presents 12 Voices, a group exhibition in collaboration with the Lebanese Embassy. The artworks, which vary in size and […]
Photo President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, center, at a welcome ceremony earlier this month in Karaj, just west of Tehran, has said that his country will remain committed to a nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers. Credit Office of the Iranian Presidency, via Associated Press TEHRAN — At first blush, the election of Donald J. Trump would seem to be bad news for […]
By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices rose around 1 percent on Monday as OPEC moved closer to an output cut to rein in oversupply that has pressured prices for over two years. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $47.31 per barrel at 0743 GMT, up 65 cents, or 0.96 percent, from their last settlement. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 was up 0.9 percent, […]
Dr. Omar, the last neurosurgeon in eastern Aleppo, who declined to provide his full name out of fear for his safety, sounded desperate when reached at the height of the bombing on Friday. Continue reading the main story “We no longer have hospitals to operate in,” he said. “You can’t imagine what it’s like living in Aleppo right now. It feels like we are living in hell. […]
TOKYO Asian shares were on the defensive on Monday, undermined by fears that the strength in the U.S. dollar and rising U.S. bond yields since Donald Trump’s election to president could accelerate fund outflows from emerging markets. MSCI’s broadest dollar-based index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS dipped 0.1 percent, staying near four-month lows. In local currency terms, many markets are up slightly. Japan’s Nikkei .N225 rose […]
JEDDAH: Sporadic fighting shook parts of Yemen on Sunday as the Saudi-led Arab coalition battling Iran-backed Houthis warned that a fragile US-brokered cease-fire would not be extended unless violations ended. The 48-hour cease-fire, which began on Saturday, came at President Hadi’s request. An AFP correspondent in Sanaa said there had been no coalition airstrikes in the Houthi-occupied capital since the truce took effect.Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Ahmad […]
In late October, when it was still conventional wisdom that Hillary was “guaranteed” to win the presidency, the WaPo explained that among the neo-con, foreign policy “elites” of the Pentagon, a feeling of calm content had spread: after all, it was just a matter of time before the “pacifist” Obama was out, replaced by the more hawkish Hillary. As the WaPo reported, “there is one corner of […]
Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts and staunch critic of Donald Trump during the recent presidential campaign, left the clubhouse at Mr Trump’s New Jersey golf course with no announcement about whether he will join the new administration. Donald Trump is holding meetings with prospective members of his administration at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey this weekend. Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for president […]
1979: A threatening revolution Saudi Arabia, a young country pieced together only in the 1930s, has built its legitimacy on religion. By promoting its stewardship of the holy sites at Mecca and Medina, it could justify its royal family’s grip on power. Continue reading the main story Iran’s revolution, in 1979, threatened that legitimacy. Iranians toppled their authoritarian government, installing Islamists who claimed to represent “a revolution […]
The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday for legislation to extend American sanctions on Iran for 10 years, a move that proponents called critical economic leverage to ensure Iranian compliance with an international nuclear agreement. The legislation, known as the Iran Sanctions Extension Act, needs Senate approval and President Obama’s signature before the end of the year, when American sanctions are set to expire. Under the […]
For the South Koreans who are binge-viewing all six seasons of Game of Thrones on HBO Asia, the rise, and now anticipated fall, of their 11th president will be familiar territory. There are obvious parallels between South Korea’s fragile co-existence with its unpredictable neighbour and the geopolitics of George RR Martin’s fantasy world, in which the dark forces in the north are held at bay by a […]
Saudi Arabia’s energy minister thinks OPEC will reach a deal to cut oil output and said a production ceiling of 32.5 million barrels a day would speed the balancing of supply and demand. The group is near a consensus on capping production for at least six months, said his Algerian counterpart. “I am still optimistic that the agreement reached in Algiers to put a ceiling to production […]
Donald Trump has begun putting together his transition team and naming the cabinet members who will come to power in Washington after the inauguration on January 20. Follow the FT’s guide to the main players he has already picked — and the positions yet to be filled — here. Trump’s choices: MIKE PENCE Vice-president © AFP Mike Pence, the Indiana governor and former congressman, was picked as Donald […]
HONG KONG Chinese telecoms equipment group ZTE Corp (000063.SZ) (0763.HK) said on Friday it has won a further reprieve to Feb. 27 on export restrictions that were imposed on the company by the U.S. government. In March, the U.S. Commerce Department hit ZTE with some of the toughest-ever U.S. export restrictions for allegedly breaking sanctions against Iran but has since issued temporary reprieves on the curbs. The […]
November 17, 2016 by: Anjli Raval, Oil and Gas Correspondent Worries are growing that a build-up of unsold oil off the coast of the UK will keep prices down as the broader market surplus increases pressure on Opec to cut production. Industry analysts and shipbrokers said an excess of light sweet crudes, has led to a surge in the number of Aframax tankers — which carry around […]
After winning the Best Actress award for lead star Jacyln Jose at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Ma’ Rosa has been chosen as the Philippines’s entry to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 89th Academy Awards, scheduled to be held on February 26, 2017. Can director Brillante Mendoza’s gritty urban drama give the Philippines its first ever Oscar nomination and award? Two industry websites think […]
Rotana to open 16 hotels in 2017 The UAE hotel company Rotana has announced that it will open 16 hotels next year, including five in the UAE and four in Saudi Arabia. There will also be two hotels each for Turkey and Iraq and the company’s first property in Muscat, Oman. The UAE properties are the Capital Centre Rotana in Abu Dhabi, complementing the existing Capital Centre […]
BAGHDAD/BASHIQA: Iraqi militias said on Wednesday they had driven ISIS terrorists from an air base west of Mosul, a victory which would threaten its supply route from Syria to its last major stronghold in Iraq. “The airport of Tal Afar has been liberated,” Yusif Al-Kallabi, a spokesman for Popular Mobilization, a coalition of mainly Iranian-backed militias, told Iraqi state TV.The capture of the base, if confirmed, could […]
Photo Destroyed buildings in the Syrian village of Kfar Jales, near Idlib, on Wednesday, following air strikes by Syrian and Russian warplanes. Credit Omar Haj Kadour/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images LONDON — President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, in his first remarks since the American election, has called President-elect Donald J. Trump “a natural ally, together with the Russians, Iranians and many other countries” in the struggle against […]
By Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal | LONDON/DOHA LONDON/DOHA OPEC officials are working to nail down details of their plan to limit oil supply and gaps over some sticking points are narrowing, OPEC sources said, a sign of progress in finalizing the exporter group’s first such deal since 2008. OPEC agreed in Algeria on Sept. 28 to limit supply with special conditions given to Libya, Nigeria […]
