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The $16tn US retirement savings industry faces renewed uncertainty after the Trump administration said it would review a “fiduciary rule” that forces retail brokers to put their clients’ interests first. The decision prompted dismay from backers of the rule, including Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, who criticised the administration for having Gary Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs president, front the rollout of the new policy. It […]

While the White House said it had not yet taken an official position on settlement activity, its statement hinted at the kind of understandings that Israel had with President George W. Bush. Continue reading the main story In a 2004 letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, Mr. Bush articulated a policy that allowed for continued Israeli building in major settlement blocs that Israel intended to […]

The US on Friday imposed new sanctions on Iran as President Donald Trump followed up on his campaign pledge to take a tougher stance towards the Islamic republic. The Treasury department added 13 individuals and 12 companies — including Chinese, Lebanese and Emirati — to its sanctions list, freezing their assets under US control. Sean Spicer, White House spokesman, said the sanctions were a “very, very strong […]

A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Qassemi, said on Thursday, “It is a shame that the U.S. government, instead of thanking the Iranian nation for their continued fight against terrorism, keeps repeating unfounded claims and adopts unwise policies that are effectively helping terrorist groups.” Continue reading the main story Mr. Flynn also made clear that the challenge to Iran extended beyond the missile test, holding Tehran responsible for […]

Strong winds reaching up to 80km per hour across the UAE forced major sporting events in Dubai to be postponed on Friday. The second round of the Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament was cut short with South African George Coetzee leading by one shot as winds made play impossible. The windy conditions added to a difficult day for tournament organisers following the withdrawal of former world number […]

The White House has said that Israel’s settlement building programme “may not be helpful”, marking the Trump administration’s first public response to a construction spree on Palestinian lands announced by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days. The statement, issued two weeks before Mr Netanyahu is due to visit President Donald Trump in Washington, is a rap on the knuckles for the Israeli prime minister, who […]

Trumps Vision of a Militarized America President Trump wont, of course, be starting from scratch in his urge to further elevate the military in foreign and domestic affairs. Hes building on a process thats already well under way, explains William D. Hartung. Erdogan: A Classic Case Of How Power Corrupts Turkish President uses every lever […]

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Dubai, UAE, 3 February 2017: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) annually celebrates the National Environment Day on 4 February, along with the public and private sectors and civil society organisations, to express their continuous interest and obligation to protect the environment and achieve the sustainable development. This adheres to the UAE Vision 2021, to create a sustainable environment in terms of air quality, conserving water resources, […]

A man who attacked a soldier at the Louvre museum in Paris on Friday cried “Allahu akbar” before he was shot. French police said they believed the man, who was seriously wounded in the incident, intended to carry out a terrorist attack. The man who had two backpacks shouted “God is great” in Arabic and lunged at the soldier at the entrance to the museum shortly after […]

Middle East-based airlines posted the strongest annual traffic growth in the world for the fifth year in a row last year, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). IATA said in a statement that demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), rose by 11.8 percent, consolidating the region’s position as the third-largest market for international passengers. It added that capacity growth (13.7 percent) continued to outstrip […]

There are many email clients for mobile platforms, and one of the most recognized ones, Outlook, is about to gain a major functionality. Microsoft likely knows that email clients can’t always be packed with all the features users look for at any given time, so it’s leaving that up to third-party developers. Microsoft will now allow others to code extensions, or as it likes to call it, […]

Conservative Republicans are girding themselves for a clash with Donald Trump’s administration, warning that lax spending plans could put national debt on a steeper upward trajectory. The president has wrongfooted Republican deficit hawks by proposing to slash tax, protect social security and Medicare, boost defence spending and build a wall along the border with Mexico. Some lawmakers fear even fiscally conservative colleagues will buckle in the face […]

The assault force, which also included elite troops from the United Arab Emirates, quickly found itself under intense fire from all sides — even from female combatants who unexpectedly took up weapons from assigned fighting positions — forcing the Americans to call in strikes from helicopter gunships and attack planes. Photo Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, spoke during the daily news conference at the White […]

WASHINGTONThe White House said on Thursday Israel’s building of new settlements or expansion of existing ones in occupied territories may not be helpful to achieving peace with Palestinians.“While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal,” the White House said […]

Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick has quit President Donald Trump’s business advisory council on the eve of its first meeting, after mounting criticism from passengers and drivers angry over the president’s immigration order. The move will raise the stakes for other executives on the council, including leaders from Blackstone, IBM, GE, GM, Disney, Pepsi and Tesla. Several have already voiced concerns about the travel ban but none […]

A number of agreements were signed as part of the UAE’s innovation and world-class health care agenda UAE, February 2, 2017  The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) has announced that the Ministry’s participation this year has had a strong line up of innovative health services launched globally and regionally during its participation at the Arab Health Exhibition & Congress 2017, which was hailed by participants and […]

Snap is trying to raise $3bn in an initial public offering that could be the largest US tech IPO in years, according to documents that provide the first glimpse inside the owner of the messaging app Snapchat. Evan Spiegel, 26-year-old co-founder and chief executive, will own a stake worth up to $5.5bn, if the company succeeds in its aim of going public with a valuation of up […]

The war of words with Iran came just hours after news had emerged of a combative phone call that took place on Saturday between Mr. Trump and Australia’s prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, when Mr. Turnbull pressed the president to honor an American agreement to accept 1,250 refugees from an Australian detention center. Continue reading the main story On Thursday morning, Mr. Trump told an audience at the […]

By Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said on Thursday that “nothing is off the table” in dealing with Iran following its test launch of a ballistic missile, and his fellow Republicans in Congress said they would back him up with new sanctions. Trump comment was in response to a question about whether he would consider military options to respond to Tehran, a day after […]

The Bank of England upgraded UK growth forecasts significantly for the second time in six months on Thursday in the latest indication the central bank’s once-dire outlook for the economy after June’s Brexit vote has been proven overly pessimistic. The bank said it now predicts gross domestic product will grow 2 per cent this year, the same as last year and up from 1.4 per cent forecast […]

Tehran is moving cautiously, keen to avoid provoking a conflict. But one analyst says, “For this Trump, we need to talk and act tough.” NYtimes

By Isabel Coles | RASHIDIYA, Iraq RASHIDIYA, Iraq His name was Ayman, but the couple who brought the boy home to their Iraqi village after buying him for $500 called him Ahmed. Islamic State militants had killed or enslaved Ayman’s parents in their purge of the Yazidi religious minority to which he belongs, then sold the four-year-old to Umm and Abu Ahmed, who are Muslims. For the […]

La Villette, a corrugated iron convention hall on the northern rim of Paris, was meant to be François Fillon’s launch pad towards the French presidency after winning the centre-right nomination in a landslide. But on Sunday he stood in the packed venue, days after claims emerged that the Republican candidate had allegedly employed his wife in a fake parliamentary job for years and, suddenly, victory seemed to […]

For Syrians, Mr. Trump is merely pushing to extremes a process that has been going on for years. The situation of the refugees, and the underprivileged in general, has been worsening everywhere for a generation. Syria exemplifies a greater global failure. Continue reading the main story The executive order barring Syrians and the citizens of six other countries was among Mr. Trump’s very first actions in the […]

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