The titans of the commodities industry are daring to believe the worst is over but are braced for an increasingly uncertain outlook as “me-first” protectionist policies threaten to destabilise global trade. Those were two of the key themes to emerge from the sixth Financial Times Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne last week. The head of Cargill, the world’s biggest agricultural commodities merchant, called on the commodities industry […]
A U.S. judge on Friday granted final approval of a $25 million settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit that claimed fraud against President Donald Trump and his Trump University real estate seminars. The ruling was from U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel in San Diego, who Trump criticized during the presidential election campaign last year. Trump vowed to continue fighting the fraud claims during the campaign but […]
“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground,” said Teddy Roosevelt. If the Washington Post is to be believed, Rex Tillerson believes you should keep your eyes on the stars. Or the nearest water fountain. Or a family photo on your desk. Maybe just on your iPhone, a passing squad car, anything but him. In a less than solicitous profile, The Washington Post […]
It may be the fastest transition from a “hawkish” to “dovish” stance by a Fed talking head in history, after New York Fed President Bill Dudley went from “it is important not to overreact to every short-term wiggle in financial markets” and predicting “gradual rate hikes for the rest of the year” yesterday after the close, to “the Fed is in no rush to hike” in an […]
ANKARA Turkey will not remain indifferent to security risks in Syria after the completion of its “Euphrates Shield” operation, President Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman said on Friday, days after Ankara said the operation had finished. Turkey launched the incursion into northern Syria more than six months ago to push Islamic State fighters away from its border and stop the advance of Kurdish fighters. At a news conference in […]
Philippine Star JBC submits shortlists for CA, Sandigan postsPhilippine StarThe Judicial and Bar Council, chaired by Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, shown in picture, has submitted to the president the names of the candidates for the vacancies at the Court of Appeals and Sandiganbayan. File Photo. MANILA, Philippines — The …12 names on JBC shortlist for Sandiganbayan, CA postsInquirer.netJBC shortlists Sandigan, CA justice nomineesThe Manila TimesShort list for […]
President Donald Trump said immunity should be offered to former national security adviser Michael Flynn in exchange for his congressional testimony in to Russian interference in the US election, an inquiry both men dismissed as a “witch hunt”. Mr Flynn’s lawyer on Thursday said the former general had offered to testify in the House and Senate intelligence committees’ hearings on Russia, only if he had reasonable assurances […]
They don’t go in for pomp and ceremony at the US Federal Reserve. The retirement of Daniel Tarullo next Wednesday will be marked by coffee and doughnuts, according to a person familiar with the send-off. That’s a pity, in a way, as the departure of the 64-year-old member of the board of governors — and the world’s most fearsome bank regulator — marks a seminal moment on […]
With Adam Rawnsley Looking for a deal. Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, has offered to be interviewed by the FBI and House and Senate investigators examining the Trump campaign’s potential ties to Russia, in exchange for immunity from prosecution, “but has so far found no takers,” according to the Wall Street Journal. In a statement on Thursday evening, Flynn’s lawyer Robert Kelner, […]
HELSINKI Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto said on Friday the nation is unlikely to host an Arctic summit at short notice, quashing the prospect of an imminent meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. “That a summit could be arranged hastily, seems impossible, and I have not proposed that… The G20 meeting in Germany will likely be the first meeting for presidents Trump and […]
President Jacob Zuma has sacked Pravin Gordhan, his finance minister, and eight other cabinet members, threatening turmoil for South Africa’s fragile economy and setting the stage for the biggest crisis yet for the ruling African National Congress under his leadership. Mr Zuma’s decision to fire Mr Gordhan as part of a late-night cabinet reshuffle sent the rand down 2 per cent on Friday, taking the currency’s decline […]
March 31, 2017 by: Nicholas Megaw in London South African president Jacob Zuma’s dismissal of his well-regarded finance minister Pravin Gordhan has left the country’s currency on course for its worst week since 2015 and hit prices in the country’s government bonds and its banking stocks. It has also left analysts expecting imminent downgrades to the country’s credit ratings. The firing of Mr Gordhan — which was […]
MANILA The Philippines on Friday ruled out declaration of a unilateral ceasefire ahead of the resumption of peace talks with communist rebels next week, saying it was more interested in a bilateral truce both sides could stick to. The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) plans to declare a unilateral ceasefire no later than Friday and had expected the government to do the same, in line with […]
President Trump’s Air Force Secretary nominee, Heather Wilson, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 30 that she had consulted honorably for four U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories years ago, even though she never produced a detailed written accounting of how she had spent her time while earning $20,000 a month. Wilson, a former Air Force pilot and House lawmaker who now runs the South Dakota School […]
BEIRUT/ANKARA: More than 5 million Syrians are now refugees, the UN said Thursday, as aid groups urged the international community to end the country’s six-year war and provide more assistance.The new figures mean around a quarter of Syria’s population has fled since the March 2011 start of a conflict that has killed over 320,000 people.The UN refugee agency UNHCR urged more international assistance, with spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly […]
By Ingrid Melander and Johnny Cotton | PARIS/MALESHERBES, France PARIS/MALESHERBES, France A 90-minute train ride from the Gare de Lyon station in Paris traces a political gulf between big-city voters and the rest, a divide that has shaken up Britain and the United States and has an outside chance of doing the same in France’s upcoming vote. The further you go, the greater the support for the […]
ISTANBUL Turkish state-run lender Halkbank’s operations and transactions fully comply with national and international regulations, it said in a statement regarding the arrest of its deputy general manager Mehmet Hakan Atilla in the United States. Atilla was charged on Tuesday with participating in a multi-year scheme to violate sanctions against Iran and conspiring with Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab, who is already on trial in a case […]
By Martin Petty and Neil Jerome Morales | MANILA MANILA Allies of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte have prepared legislation to postpone elections to the over 40,000 village councils in the country and allow him to choose replacements in what they say is part of the war on drugs. If passed by Congress, the move would make Duterte, a former mayor, the most powerful leader in the Philippines […]
Leftist Salvadoran guerrillas, emboldened by the Marxist Sandinistas’ success in neighboring Nicaragua, had been trying to overthrow the country’s ruling junta. But Mr. Hinton was determined. He encapsulated his mission this way: “Save the economy, stop the violence, have the elections and ride into the sunset.” Continue reading the main story But after an election campaign in which fending off far-right candidates was at least as demanding […]
Friday 05.10 BST Overview Asian stocks were mostly positive on Friday as investors prepared to end a solid first quarter of 2017 and Wall Street closed in on record highs. Hot topic 1 South Africa’s rand was 1.2 per cent weaker in Asian trading in the wake of the nation’s finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, being dismissed on Thursday by President Jacob Zuma. The currency has shed a […]
Same.Image: POOL/EPA/REX/Shutterstock By Keith Wagstaff2017-03-31 03:38:55 UTC No Donald. Just, no. The president tweeted out a video Thursday about how “only by enlisting the full potential of women in our society will we truly be able to (you have not heard this expression before) make America great again.” Hmm, I wonder what people on the internet will think of this message. It’s not like Trump was caught […]
By Michelle Nichols | NEW YORK NEW YORK The United States’ diplomatic policy on Syria for now is no longer focussed on making the war-torn country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, leave power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said on Thursday, in a departure from the Obama administration’s initial and public stance on Assad’s fate. The view of the Trump administration is also at odds with European […]
SINGAPORE: Former presidential hopeful Tan Cheng Bock has called on the Government to make the upcoming Presidential Election an open election. Speaking to reporters at a press conference on Friday (Mar 31), he asked if it was correct to make the upcoming election, which must be held by August, a reserved one. He pointed out that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had advised the Prime Minister to count […]
BEIJING China does not have any policy to devalue its currency to promote exports, Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang said on Friday, ahead of President Xi Jinping’s first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump amid lingering tensions over trade. In a briefing, he said China does not seek a trade surplus with the United States. This is Xi’s first meeting with Trump, who assumed office Jan. 20, […]
