News related to John Lee

U.S. State Department rethinks plan not to take media on Asia trip

WASHINGTON The U.S. State Department held out the possibility on Thursday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson might take reporters with him to Asia after it initially broke with decades of tradition by telling the media he would not."We are still working out the logistics for this trip, so (we) cannot yet speak definitively as to whether we'll be able to accommodate any press on the Secretary's [...]

March 10

U.S. Is Sending 400 More Troops to Syria

Photo A convoy of American armored vehicles in Manbij, northern Syria, on Sunday. The formal troop cap for Syria is 503, but commanders have the authority to temporarily exceed that limit to meet military requirements. Credit Delil Souleiman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images WASHINGTON — The United States is sending an additional 400 troops to Syria to help prepare for the looming fight for Raqqa, the capital of [...]

Among Questions for Trump on Iran: What About American Prisoners?

“Every day that goes by, my concern for my father and Siamak increases,” Mr. Namazi said this week in a telephone interview from Dubai, where he lives. He expressed particular anxiety about his father, who has a heart ailment, saying that an Iranian prison cell was “no place for an aging old man.” Continue reading the main story Last month, on the anniversary of the elder Mr. [...]

Arts & Culture

Film review: King Kong is back larger than life to battle humans

Kong: Skull IslandDirector: Jordan Vogt-RobertsStarring: Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, John Goodman, John C ReillyThree starsOne of cinema’s most iconic monsters, King Kong has been regularly reprised by filmmakers, most recently by Peter Jackson in his 2005 film. This latest incarnation pushes the action forward a few decades, to the early 1970s and the end of the Vietnam War. Satellite mapping is still in its [...]

Will Snap make it into the S&P 500 index?

Snap, the first big tech listing since Alibaba in 2014, has already experienced the highs and lows of the stock market in the week since its NYSE listing. Shares on Wednesday closed at $22.81, down from a high of $29.44 last week, but still above the $17 IPO price.That performance, along with doubts over corporate governance, has raised questions over if, rather than when, Snap will join [...]

Osborne earns £650,000 at BlackRock for four days a month

George Osborne will earn £650,000 a year for working four days a month at BlackRock, more than ten times what he is paid as an MP once expected share awards from the world’s largest fund manager are included. The detail of Mr Osborne’s pay at BlackRock, which he agreed to join as an adviser earlier this year, was disclosed in the register of members’ financial interests at […]

March 08

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India Takes

As Rex Tillerson considers ditching reporters, bureau chiefs hash out the details

As CEO of ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson was accustomed to going where he wanted, when he wanted, with whomever he wanted. It comes with being the CEO of one of the most valuable companies in the world. He doesn't seem compelled to act much differently as Secretary of State — at least in the early going. It's why news bureau chiefs will hold a conference call this morning to [...]

March 08

Iraqi forces retake Mosul museum, close in on IS-controlled old town

By Isabel Coles and John Davison | MOSUL, Iraq MOSUL, Iraq Iraqi forces on Tuesday recaptured the main government building in Mosul, the central bank branch and the museum where three years ago the militants filmed themselves destroying priceless statues.A Rapid Response team stormed the Nineveh governorate complex in an overnight raid that lasted more than an hour, killing dozens of Islamic State fighters, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel [...]

Trapped by war and a Turkish wall, Syrians dig in for long exile

BEIRUT Fawaz Atmeh and Mohammed Musa's families were among the first to flee Russia's intervention in the Syrian conflict, sheltering in tents on boggy ground near the Turkish border as jets bombed their villages further east.As Syria's battle lines have shifted in nearly 18 months since, the two young men have watched their camp swell with families and fighters escaping government territorial gains, insurgent infighting and Islamic [...]

Mental health crisis among Syria's children a living nightmare – Save the Children

BEIRUT Six years of violence and bloodshed have spawned a mental health crisis among Syria's children whose impact will be felt for decades, international charity Save the Children said on Tuesday.In a report it called the largest mental health survey inside Syria during the war, the group found children increasingly crippled by fear or anger. Most of the children - two-thirds of whom had lost a loved [...]

What's On

Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep to lead Steven Spielberg's Pentagon Papers drama

Superstar director Steven Spielberg is assembling a superstar cast for his next movie. Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep have just been set to lead The Post, Mashable has confirmed. The fact-based drama revolves around the Pentagon Papers, a classified Department of Defense study which detailed the true scope of the U.S. government's dealings in the Vietnam War. Leaked by military analyst Daniel Ellsberg in 1971, the documents [...]

Companies

Etihad Airways continues sustainability drive across its global airline fleet

06 March 2017Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has continued to make improvements in the fuel efficiency of its fleet, resulting in substantial reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and reinforcing the sustainability credentials of the airline.The airline’s dedicated fuel efficiency team drove numerous initiatives across all operational functions of the business, saving over 60,000 tonnes of fuel. This 2.5% improvement during 2016 amounts [...]

March 06

Deutsche Bank to raise €8bn and overhaul businesses

Deutsche Bank on Sunday unveiled an €8bn capital increase and its latest sweeping strategic overhaul, as chief executive John Cryan seeks to put Germany’s biggest bank “back on the front foot” after a year of turmoil.The moves, some of which reverse changes to the structure of businesses announced only 18 months ago, come after a year when Deutsche was caught up in two brutal market sell-offs. Investors [...]

March 06

Cuomo, Citing ‘Wave of Anti-Semitism,’ Pays Impromptu Visit to Israel

In Jerusalem — where the governor will spend most if not all of his time outside the airport — he will meet with the mayor, Nir Barkat, and a group of business leaders. Continue reading the main story The impromptu nature of Mr. Cuomo’s trip is not accidental. With a rash of anti-Semitic threats and racist vandalism occurring in New York and nationwide, the governor said he [...]

March 04

Snapchat owner opens up 41% for $27.8bn valuation

The US broke its long drought of hot technology initial public offerings on Thursday as shares in Snap soared more than 40 per cent in their market debut despite questions about corporate governance and profitability at the owner of vanishing messaging service Snapchat.A pack of traders huddled around the desk of Snap’s designated market maker for more than an hour after the opening bell at the New [...]

Under Xi, wealth of China's uber-rich lawmakers grew faster than economy

By John Ruwitch | SHANGHAI SHANGHAI The fortunes of the richest 100 members of China's parliament and its advisory body - all dollar billionaires - grew about 64 percent in the four years since Xi Jinping rose to power, according to data from an organisation tracking wealth in China.Xi has overseen a crackdown on corruption and decadence, and made the fight against poverty a top priority after [...]

Dutch poll: Education indicator to Wilders support

Education, rather than exposure to immigrants, is emerging as the clearest nationwide indicator of the likelihood of Dutch voters supporting Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration Party for Freedom, according to an extensive Financial Times survey of demographic and voting data from the most recent general election. Mr Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) looks on course to win the most seats in the upcoming election on March 15, but is [...]

Devices Seized in Yemen Raid Offer Some Clues to Qaeda Tactics

The raid is a delicate issue in the Trump administration because the president authorized it five days into office, over dinner at the White House with Mr. Mattis and several other senior officials. But in an interview with “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday, Mr. Trump seemed to distance himself from the operation, saying that responsibility for the decision to go forward rested with his generals. “This was [...]

Australia chiefs’ pay packets hit after office flings

Australia’s corporate world has been warned that executives must disclose workplace romances or risk censure and financial penalties, following a decision by QBE Insurance to slash the pay of its chief executive over an affair. This week the insurer’s board cut A$550,000 (US$420,000) from the short-term bonus awarded to John Neal because he failed to notify them in a timely manner of a relationship he was having with [...]

March 01

Trump supporters stand by their man despite rocky start

By Letitia Stein | CLEARWATER, Fla. CLEARWATER, Fla. While U.S. President Donald Trump tried to win over skeptics in Congress on Tuesday, he never had to worry about losing the faithful at the Quaker Steak and Lube.About two dozen fans of the 45th president gathered at the bar and restaurant in Clearwater, Florida, still committed to Trump despite the tumult of his first 40 days in office.They [...]

March 01

Iraqi officers find Islamic State members hidden among refugees fleeing Mosul

By Stephen Kalin | SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq A few hundred men who had scurried across front lines in a refugee exodus from Mosul sat on the ground in neat rows before an Iraqi intelligence officer who scanned the crowd for hidden militants.The officer pulled a teenager onto a raised platform and asked the group if he belonged to Islamic State (IS). Muffled [...]

March 01

TAP Research

Foliage-penetrating ladar technology may improve border surveillance

This example of a 3-D ladar point cloud shows a fully foliated field site. Color indicates elevation above the ground, with red tones indicating a higher elevation value (for example, tree tops and vegetation) and blue tones indicating lower elevation value (ground-level vegetation and the ground itself). Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology The United States shares 5,525 miles of land border with Canada and 1,989 miles with [...]

February 28