By Ben Blanchard | BEIJING BEIJING When leaders of 28 nations gather in Beijing next week for a summit to map out China’s ambitious new Silk Road project, one question is likely to be on attendees’ minds – what exactly is the Belt and Road Initiative? Proposed in 2013 by President Xi Jinping to promote a vision of expanding links between Asia, Africa and Europe underpinned by […]
By Nandita Bose | WHEATON, Ill. WHEATON, Ill. German grocery chain Aldi Inc is trying to beat the world’s biggest retailer at its own game: low prices. Already with 1,600 U.S. stores, Aldi has set a minimum target of selling groceries at a 21 percent discount to its U.S. rivals, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), Chief Executive Jason Hart told Reuters. His strategy, previously unreported, centers on […]
A consortium led by Macquarie Group is buying a controlling stake in one of Australia’s biggest public energy companies in a deal that will deliver a A$7.6bn windfall to the New South Wales government. The sale of a 50.4 per cent stake in Endeavour Energy to the Advance Energy consortium completes a trio of energy sales in NSW under an “asset recycling” policy, which the US administration […]
A shake-up of the overarching Israel Broadcasting Authority — widely considered an outdated and wasteful enterprise — has been decades in the making. At one point it was said to have had up to 18 unions for about 1,800 employees. Israeli officials and experts across the political spectrum said that reform was essential. Continue reading the main story But the way it is unfolding appears chaotic and […]
YANGON The International Committee of the Red Cross has asked Myanmar to let aid workers get access to people caught up in conflicts that have displaced tens of thousands despite a transition that brought Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to power. Authorities have blocked the ICRC from areas under the control of ethnic minority forces and from visiting some prisoners, the organisation’s president, Peter Maurer, told […]
11 May 2017 The Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group, Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C (ABG) announced that it achieved a total operating income of US$ 249 million during the first quarter of 2017 and the total financing and investments recorded slight increases at the end of March 2017 compared to end of December 2016. Al Baraka Banking Group has continued during the first quarter of 2017, […]
Vice President Leni Robredo’s trust rating remains to be ‘good’ based on SWS’ classification Patty Pasion Published 12:54 PM, May 11, 2017 Updated 1:03 PM, May 11, 2017 DECLINE. Trust ratings for Vice President Leni Robredo slid down by 15 points based on the lates survey by the Social Weather Stations. Photo by Ben Nabong/Rappler MANILA, Philippines – The trust rating for Vice President Leni Robredo remains […]
By Amanda Becker | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump’s dismissal of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey has raised questions about the future of the agency’s probe into Russian attempts to sway the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign. Democrats are worried Comey’s firing on Tuesday could jeopardize the ongoing FBI probe and have renewed calls for an independent investigation. Some Republicans have […]
By Douglas Busvine | DHARAMSALA, India DHARAMSALA, India Top U.S. lawmakers delivered a blunt message to China on Wednesday that they would not relent in their campaign to protect human rights in Tibet, calling for legislative and trade steps to press home their point. Nancy Pelosi, leading a bipartisan Congressional delegation to meet the Dalai Lama, vowed to stand by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader even as […]
By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The anger behind Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday had been building for months, but a turning point came when Comey refused to preview for top Trump aides his planned testimony to a Senate panel, White House officials said. Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had wanted a heads-up […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian stocks rose early on Thursday, getting a lift from a record high close on MSCI’s global stocks benchmark after strong gains in oil prices buoyed energy stocks globally. Oil prices held on to 3 percent-plus overnight gains, their biggest one-day jump since Dec. 1, following a steep drop in U.S. inventories and support from Iraq and Algeria for an extension […]
Abu Dhabi // The president of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa, has been invited by Saudi King Salman to attend talks in Riyadh later this month with the US president. The ruler of Abu Dhabi was invited to both the US-GCC talks as well as the summit expected to be held a day later, on May 21, between Donald Trump and leaders from more than a dozen of […]
An unabashed Donald Trump called for warmer US relations with Russia on Wednesday as his firing of FBI director James Comey sparked pressure from Democrats for an independent probe of his election campaign’s alleged ties to Moscow. Mr Comey’s dismissal shook Washington, igniting the biggest crisis of Mr Trump’s presidency as opponents amplified allegations throughout the day that the president was seeking to frustrate the FBI probe. […]
On Wednesday, Mr. Erdogan’s prime minister added another warning: that arming the Kurds could have “consequences” for the United States and a “negative result.” He did not go into detail, promising only that Mr. Erdogan would elaborate when he meets President Trump at the White House next week. Continue reading the main story Mr. Erdogan also sharply criticized the Trump administration’s decision in remarks quoted by Turkish […]
SHANGHAI China is testing the ability for future astronauts to stay on the moon for extended periods, as Beijing accelerates its space programme and looks to put people on the surface of the moon within the next two decades. The official Xinhua news agency said volunteers would live in a “simulated space cabin” for between 60-200 days over the next year helping scientists understand what will be […]
By Dustin Volz | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON A U.S. far-right online activist credited with initially sharing on Twitter hacked emails from the French presidential campaign of centrist Emmanuel Macron is the latest conservative media figure to receive White House access from the Trump administration. Jack Posobiec, a Washington-based writer at the Rebel Media, a Canadian online political and social news commentary platform, attended the daily press briefing on […]
Sultan bin Sulayem: The vision of Mohammed bin Rashid has turned innovative ideas into distinctive and brilliant achievements Go Global! This year Ideas Arabia gives winners of 2 categories – Executive Leadership & Idea of the Year, a unique opportunity to compete globally in ‘The Global Award’ taking place in 2018. Leaders and experts came together to meet for the two-day conference to support the […]
ISLAMABAD – Former president Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had no moral right to rule after the verdict in Panama Papers case by the Supreme Court. Speaking to Pakistan People’s Party leaders including Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and former interior minister Rehman Malik here in separate meetings, Zardari said that the PM should quit, to allow the Joint Investigation […]
BUENOS AIRES Tens of thousands of Argentines protested on Wednesday against a Supreme Court ruling that could decrease jail time for those convicted of human rights abuses during the country’s 1976 – 1983 military dictatorship that killed as many as 30,000 people. The ruling was widely criticized, including by President Mauricio Macri, and Congress passed a law earlier on Wednesday to block future reductions of sentences for […]
Senators from both sides of the aisle wrote to President Donald Trump on Wednesday urging him to take a tougher line with Beijing in the South China Sea, calling for more U.S. naval patrols to uphold navigation rights in the disputed waterway. The appeal, backed by three Republicans and four Democrats, reflects growing concern in Congress that the Trump administration could be ceding strategic ground to China […]
Health insurer Aetna Inc said on Wednesday it will exit the 2018 Obamacare individual insurance market in Delaware and Nebraska – the two remaining states where it had offered the plans. Aetna had previously announced plans to exit the individual commercial market in Virginia and Iowa. It has now “completely exited the exchanges,” the company said in an emailed statement. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives […]
PARIS Several French news companies, including Le Monde and Le Figaro, said their websites went temporarily offline on Wednesday because a company that helps speed delivery of their content was hit by a cyber attack. The company, Cedexis, said it had come under a “unique and sophisticated” distributed denial of service attack, which is when hijacked and virus-infected computers target networks with data requests until they can […]
Jonathan Hunt, Vox Media’s former vice president of international operations, has left the digital news publisher for a job leading National Geographic’s audience development and digital strategy. Hunt’s hire is part of an expansion of National Geographic’s digital team. Also new at National Geographic will be Marcus East, formerly the digital director at retail company Marks and Spencer, who will be executive vice president of product and […]
10 May 2017 BP today announced that it has started gas production from the first two fields, Taurus and Libra, of the West Nile Delta development in Egypt. The project was delivered eight months ahead of start-up schedule and under budget. First gas was exported to Egypt’s national grid on 24 March 2017 and the commissioning of all nine wells of the development’s first two fields and […]
