By Andreina Aponte and Girish Gupta | CARACAS CARACAS Covering his mouth with a rag, Latin pop star Nacho choked on tear gas at an anti-government protest last month. Mexican actress Salma Hayek praised the protesters’ courage. Venezuelan soccer star Salomon Rondon called them “heroes.” A decade ago, the charismatic Hugo Chavez not only persuaded millions to vote for him in Venezuela, he enticed a who’s who […]
The law justifying Britain’s Brexit bill is hotly contested, the variables in the calculation are legion and the negotiation has yet to start. But there can be no doubt that the EU’s €100bn demand to settle Britain’s exit dues is one of the biggest political dangers in the Brexit process. The Financial Times estimated the bill using the EU’s negotiating guidelines, the more detailed draft mandate for […]
By James Pearson and Alexei Chernyshev | SEOUL/VLADIVOSTOK, Russia SEOUL/VLADIVOSTOK, Russia When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent Lunar New Year greetings this year, the first card went to Russian President Vladimir Putin, ahead of leaders from China and other allies of the isolated country, according to its official news agency. Some academics who study North Korea argue Kim could be looking for Russia to ease […]
When Northwestern University’s men’s basketball team finally made it to the NCAA’s “March Madness” for the first time this year, it was validation of the growth of its basketball program. Now another part of the school is saying it doesn’t need a traditional stamp of approval when it comes to validating success. Call it the Fleetwood Mac, or “Go Your Own Way” notion of academic self-approval. The […]
News from the FT that the UK may face an initial Brexit bill of up to €100bn has dented sterling this morning. The currency fell by 0.2 per cent against the dollar to $1.29, nibbling into some of its eye-catching recent gains before recovering slightly. Against the euro, the pound is also down by 0.14 per cent to €1.1823. Broadly, the path for sterling since the general […]
By Ben Blanchard | BEIJING BEIJING China on Wednesday called on all parties in the Korean standoff to stay calm and “stop irritating each other” a day after North Korea said the United States was pushing the region to the brink of nuclear war. The United States has urged China, reclusive North Korea’s lone major ally, to do more to rein in its neighbour’s nuclear and missile […]
Just a few weeks after flying in to Dubai to announce that Van Cleef & Arpels would be hosting jewellery-making courses through its Paris school, L’Ecole, in the UAE later this year, president and chief executive of the brand, Nicolas Bos, journeyed to Japan, to launch the maison’s next initiative: the Mastery of an Art exhibition. On display now are 260 high-jewellery pieces from Van Cleef & […]
A big part of that is its watering down of the anti-Semitic language of the original Hamas charter in 1988, with its talk of war between Arabs and Jews. “We are making it clear that ours is a liberation project — not about religion or the Jews,” Mr. Meshal said in an interview on Tuesday in Doha, his latest home. Continue reading the main story His offer […]
Elsewhere on Wednesday, – TFW you have become verb used to specify there should be no lying in this particular bond quoting: Shortly after his indictment in 2013, Mr. Peters engaged in a chat session with a potential buyer about the price that would be offered for mortgage securities. The customer wrote, “Ok don’t litvak me! Go ahead with that bid.” – Guardian longread on where oil […]
Following Hillary Clinton’s earlier proclamation that she “was on the way to winning before Jim Comey’s letter and ‘Russian’ Wikileaks… scared off late voters,” it appears President Trump has his own perspective on how he won the greatest upset election in US history… FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad […]
MEXICO CITY Three successive Mexican presidents have failed to halt a cycle of violence against journalists and impunity for their killers that is stifling freedom of expression, a watchdog group said on Tuesday. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged President Enrique Pena Nieto to prioritize protection for the media in the last year of his government, after at least 21 journalists were slain in the past […]
Abu Dhabi // The prime minister of Libya’s UN-backed government and the country’s most powerful military commander met in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for direct talks on ending Libya’s conflict. The meeting came after months of international pressure and a failed attempt at negotiations in Cairo in February. The rival figures met face to face “thanks to international and Arab mediation”, according to Libya’s Lana news agency. […]
Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron have each promised to bring renewal to French politics. Still, the two insurgent candidates, who will go head to head in the second round of the presidential election on Sunday, have clashed over how to handle the challenges facing France. Ms Le Pen, of the National Front, is running on a populist, anti-immigration platform but has spurned economic liberalism in favour […]
Mr. Abbas’s visit to the White House will present Mr. Trump with the Palestinian viewpoint more directly than he has ever heard it as president. But at 82, Mr. Abbas is a weakened political figure facing public discontent and divisions at home. Continue reading the main story His Palestinian Authority operates in the West Bank, while the more militant rival Hamas faction rules in Gaza. Despite an […]
By Matt Spetalnick | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Donald Trump’s national security adviser described his boss’s foreign policy approach as “disruptive” on the eve of the U.S. president’s first White House meeting with the Palestinian leader, saying his unconventional ways could create an opportunity to ultimately help stabilize the Middle East. Trump faces deep skepticism at home and abroad over his chances for a breakthrough with Palestinian President Mahmoud […]
TAIPEI Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen called on China to change its thinking and extend goodwill in its relationship with the self-ruled island, according to an interview published on Wednesday by a newspaper considered close to her main opposition. Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own, cut official communication channels with Taipei soon after Tsai took power in May last year to pressure her and her party into […]
BRASILIA Brazilian authorities on Tuesday lowered the toll of people injured in a recent bloody clash between farmers and an indigenous tribe over land, and said no one had their hands cut off as reported earlier by a rights group. The government of Maranhao state, where the violence occurred on Sunday, said seven people were taken to hospital and only three remain hospitalized, including a man who […]
The Follow up Committee of the Initiatives of the UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has approved a number of projects totalling AED410 million ($111.6 million). The committee, chaired by Ahmed Juma Al Zaabi, Deputy Minister of Presidential Affairs, approved the first phase of a project which will see a road built between Wadi Al-Qor and another linking the Al-Hubab roundabout and Nizwa Road for […]
ABU DHABI // Drones and rockets could be used as part of a much-needed technological overhaul of how countries utilise cloud seeding, experts said on Tuesday. New technology and more effective cloud-seeding materials should be used to tackle water scarcity, said Dr Richard Behnke, a fellow of the American meteorological society and former head of geospace research at the US national science foundation. At present, the sole […]
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin discussed paths towards peace in Syria on Tuesday, in the first sign of practical interaction between the American and Russian presidents since Rex Tillerson, US secretary of state, visited Moscow last month. The call, only the second time the two leaders have spoken since Mr Trump took office in January, was the first sign that Moscow and Washington might be acting on […]
New Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez has big shoes to fill after his two predecessors were forced to resign in disgrace after being exposed for, among other things, intentionally rigging their party’s national primary process and sharing debate questions with chosen candidates days before debates were held. And, at least with his rhetoric, Perez seems up for the task. In speaking with a group of immigrants […]
LAGOS Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s health is not as poor as assumed, his wife said on Tuesday, trying to assuage growing concerns in the oil producer over her husband’s ability to work. Buhari, 74, did not attend a cabinet meeting last Wednesday, choosing to rest and work from home, his second consecutive absence from the weekly meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. “I wish to inform […]
By Susan Heavey | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump came to office promising that he would produce so much winning that Americans would be sick of it. As he struggles to produce wins, some signs of frustration are starting to appear. Democrats’ gleeful declarations that they outsmarted Republicans in a battle over a spending bill that avoided a government shutdown drew the ire of the president. […]
For the first time ever, Red Hat will align its flagship operating system, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), development and release dates with a third-party: Amazon Web Services (AWS). This alliance underlines just how important the cloud is to Red Hat as it moves from being a Linux distributor first to being a cloud services provider first. Red Hat is partnering closely with Amazon to fly Red […]
