BRASILIA Brazil’s top labour prosecutor said President Michel Temer’s proposals to modernize the country’s labour laws were illegal in a report published on Tuesday that provided ammunition to workers’ unions fighting the reforms. Updating outdated labour laws to allow outsourcing and more flexibility in contracts and work hours is part of Temer’s plan to reduce business costs and pull Brazil from its worst recession on record. But […]
A family of malware uploaded to at least 10 million Android devices last year has reared its ugly head again by hiding inside Google Play apps. Dubbed as the HummingWhale, the malware is believed to be related to HummingBad, which is another family of malware that invaded non-Google apps in July 2016. During HummingBad’s time, there were 50,000 fraudulent apps installed, 20 million malicious advertisements displayed, and […]
President Donald Trump has quickly moved to reverse another of Barack Obama’s signature policies, backing two multibillion-dollar oil pipeline projects that became test cases for Washington’s commitment to addressing climate change. Mr Trump said the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines would help to meet his campaign promise of producing new blue-collar jobs at home, insisting that any portions built in the US would have to use […]
Despite the supposed cease-fire agreement, new clashes were reported in Wadi Barada, a besieged rebel-held area and source for most of the drinking water for Damascus, the Syrian capital. Water supplies have been cut off for weeks, and the government and rebel sides have blamed each other. Continue reading the main story The agreement among Iran, Russia and Turkey was announced a day after the Syrian factions […]
By Pedro Fonseca | RIO DE JANEIRO RIO DE JANEIRO A small plane carrying a Brazilian Supreme Court justice overseeing a political bribery investigation did not suffer any obvious mechanical failure when it crashed into a bay amid heavy rain and killed all five on board, investigators said on Tuesday. That preliminary analysis came from what investigators heard on the final 30 minutes of audio captured by […]
Sonos Play 5 Hardware is a tough game. On one hand, device makers have access to far more infrastructure than they did decades ago. This has led to the explosion of companies that have been able to finance — and often deliver — products via crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter. On the other hand, the stakes have also been raised in terms of interface experience. And while […]
By John Irish and Andrew Osborn | ASTANA/MOSCOW ASTANA/MOSCOW Peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition in Kazakhstan were a coup for their international sponsors, but exposed the limits of what Russia, Turkey and Iran can achieve in their efforts to resolve the six-year-old war. It was the first time in nine months the two sides had come together, albeit briefly and unhappily, and the first […]
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. A fashionista friend in the White House press corps answered this lingering question after Sean Spicer’s much-anticipated first briefing: What exactly was the glaring color of that jacket worn by Kellyanne Conway? “Tomato?” she guessed. Well, it was especially vivid […]
Photo Construction in the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim on Sunday. The Israeli government is showing signs that it is increasingly willing to disregard international condemnation of its settlements. Credit Mahmoud Illean/Associated Press JERUSALEM — Israel on Tuesday approved the construction of 2,500 housing units for Jews in West Bank settlements, throwing off diplomatic restraint just a few days into the beginning of the Trump administration. […]
24 January 2017 Nigeria’s leading transport and logistics experts will gather for the historic maiden edition of Multimodal West Africa 2017 (MMWA) from Tuesday, 14th to Thursday, 16th March 2017 at the Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. Most of the industry stakeholders are excited about the Exhibition as they believe it will adequately reposition the Transportation and Logistics sector, which used to be noted for its […]
A wave of about 25 African, European and South American countries is set to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank this year, reinforcing Beijing’s determination to push a global agenda even as US President Donald Trump rails against the ills of economic globalisation. Jin Liqun, president of the AIIB, said on Monday that an expanded membership would help boost lending by the $100bn multilateral organisation, which […]
By Denis Dyomkin and John Irish | ASTANA ASTANA Syria’s warring sides met for their first talks in nine months on Monday, with their Russian and Turkish backers pushing to cement a ceasefire that could pave the way for political talks. The meeting in the Kazakh capital comes at a time when Turkey, which backs the rebels, and Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, each want […]
ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN: Syrian opposition vowed Monday to keep fighting if the peace talks fail with the war-torn country’s government in Kazakhstan, as the two sides opened indirect negotiations.The talks had been billed as the first time armed opposition groups would negotiate directly with President Bashar Assad’s regime since the conflict erupted in 2011.“If the negotiations succeed, then we are with the negotiations,” opposition spokesman Osama Abu Zeid […]
By Luke Baker and Matt Spetalnick | JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump’s team spoke often about moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. But since taking office, the contentious issue has become more nuanced and may already be moving to the backburner. In a statement issued before a first post-inauguration phone call between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu […]
SYDNEY The dollar was under pressure in Asia on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump’s focus on trade protectionism fueled suspicions his administration might seek a competitive advantage through a weaker currency. The talk of trade wars favored safe-haven Treasuries and the Japanese yen while leaving equities mixed. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1 percent but Tokyo’s Nikkei slipped 0.3 percent. Sentiment […]
Generali, Italy’s largest insurer, has bought voting rights amounting to 3.01 per cent in Intesa Sanpaolo in a defensive move designed to block a mooted takeover bid by the country’s largest bank. The move came after shares in the insurer rose nearly 4 per cent on Monday following a report in Turin-based newspaper La Stampa suggesting Intesa was considering a takeover bid in tandem with Germany’s Allianz. […]
The lead government negotiator, Bashar al-Jaafari, speaking to reporters after the opening session, responded by calling the opposition delegation “armed terrorist groups,” and accused them of “impertinent” and “provocative” behavior. Continue reading the main story The tension demonstrated the challenges that remain for Russia, the Syrian government’s most powerful backer, as the Russian government tries to show its approach can accomplish more than the largely fruitless efforts […]
By Svetlana Reiter and Christian Lowe | MOSCOW MOSCOW President Vladimir Putin’s allies have passed a preliminary draft bill in Russia’s parliament that would ease some penalties for domestic violence, which supporters say would keep the state from meddling in the home but critics say would encourage abuse. Asked about the domestic violence law at a news conference last month, Putin said that while he was not […]
By Amanda Ferguson | BELFAST BELFAST Sinn Fein named Michelle O’Neill to succeed Martin McGuinness and lead the Irish nationalist party into Northern Irish elections in March, marking a shift towards a generation not directly involved in decades of conflict. McGuinness, a former Irish Republican Army (IRA) commander turned peacemaker, bowed out of frontline politics last week, saying illness and Northern Ireland’s current political crisis had led […]
The Syrian government and rebels opened talks in Kazakhstan on Monday as part of a Turkish and Russian-backed effort to end the Arab state’s near six-year civil war. It is the first time the warring parties have held negotiations in a year, and if successful could mark a turning point in a conflict that has killed an estimated 400,000 people, while also underlining the increasing roles of […]
By Jean Paul Arouff | PORT LOUIS PORT LOUIS The son of the outgoing Mauritius prime minister was appointed as the new premier on Monday, prompting accusations of nepotism and calls for a referendum from opponents. Anerood Jugnauth, 86, who has been in his post since 2014, the latest of several terms at the helm, announced on Saturday he would step down in favour of his son […]
You may be familiar about subscription boxes that send you clothing and all sorts of loots per month. Amazon seems to be diving into this business with the introduction of a new physical dash button that will order you a boxful of sweets when pressed. How Does It Work? The new service is being called Prime Surprise Sweets and will require you to purchase the Dash Button, […]
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ASTANA ASTANA A Syrian opposition delegation to peace talks set to open in the Kazakh capital on Monday said it would only discuss ways to salvage a fragile Russian-Turkish ceasefire it sees as having been violated chiefly by Iranian-backed militias in Syria. The Syrian government considers most of the rebel groups attending the conference to be foreign-backed “terrorists”, but says it is ready […]
As deaths from powerful painkillers continue to rise, Canada is pursuing unprecedented measures to curb their use, including requiring cigarette-style warning stickers on every prescription, Health Minister Jane Philpott told Reuters. Next month Health Canada plans to publish a detailed proposal for the stickers, which Philpott said would warn that opioid painkillers can cause addiction and overdose. In March, an advisory panel is set to consider a […]
