Donald Trump is pressing ahead with his controversial border security measures in his first week in office, including his plan to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. Mr Trump on Wednesday was expected to follow through on his signature campaign issue by ordering the government to use funds to start building the wall. He told ABC News that construction along the 2,000-mile border would begin “in […]
Dow 20,000 is here at last. No regular reader — or indeed, any sentient and sensible human being — should base any investment decision on the Dow. Its methodological flaws are irremediable. And in any case, round numbers should not matter. One brief illustration of the Dow’s primitive methodology will suffice. Just five of its stocks — Goldman Sachs, IBM, Boeing, UnitedHealth and JPMorgan Chase — account […]
BERLIN Germany, in unusually strong criticism of Israel, said on Wednesday plans to build 2,500 more settlement homes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank put in doubt Israel’s stated commitment to a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Israel announced the plans on Tuesday in the second such declaration since U.S. President Donald Trump took office signalling he could be more accommodating toward such projects than his predecessor Barack […]
By Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would seek an investigation of what he believes was voter fraud in the November election, despite overwhelming consensus among state officials, election experts and politicians that voter fraud is rare in the United States. The new Republican president has bristled at references to losing the popular vote to Democrat Hillary […]
HONG KONG It is a scene unlikely ever to become reality – American president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hugging and leaning in for a kiss on the bustling streets of Hong Kong. The lookalikes of the controversial leaders turned heads and prompted many giggles as they paraded down a busy shopping district to promote a Lunar New Year song on Wednesday. “Die, […]
WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will make his choice to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 2 as he seeks to restore the conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Trump announced the date in Twitter message one day after meeting with key U.S. senators and promising to unveil his nominee to fill the vacancy left by the death of […]
Tribune Media CEO Peter Liguori is leaving Tribune Media after three years leading the TV news and entertainment company. Liguori, who will step down in March, said in a statement his decision to exit the company that needed “a new leader” to navigate the broadcast-centric corporation. Tribune Media — then known as Tribune Company — spun off its newspapers into a separate company, Tribune Publishing, in 2014. Its […]
Wednesday 14:35 GMT Overview Major global stock markets are rallying as the Dow Jones Industrial Average breaches 20,000 amid revived hopes for faster US growth. Benchmark sovereign bonds yields are rising, but oil and gold prices are moving lower despite a weaker dollar. Hot topic The “Trump trade” is back on and it has the Dow through 20,000 for the first time? The average, though a price-weighted […]
All but one of the students were enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA. Created in 2012 by an Obama-administration executive action, DACA allowed teenagers and young adults who came to the United States illegally as children with their parents to register with the government and in turn receive a two-year renewable protection against deportation, along with work permits and Social […]
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday rose above 20,000 points for the first time marking a milestone for Wall Street’s venerable equity barometer as the Trump trade that stalled at the onset of 2017 resumes. The gauge of blue-chip companies climbed 0.5 per cent to 20,014 in opening trading, as US equities extended their record-setting rally that began after the presidential election in November. Investors have […]
After Trump’s executive order to accelerate the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, angry environmental groups reacted quickly by denouncing Trump’s actions, and promising legal action and White House protests. “Donald Trump has been in office for four days, and he’s already proving to be the dangerous threat to our climate we feared he would be,” said Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club. He […]
Jan 25, 2017 10:59 am IST Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted Wednesday that he had a “warm” conversation with America’s new president, Donald Trump, Tuesday while the White House said the U.S. leader told Mr. Modi his country considers India a “true friend.” The pair spoke on the phone Tuesday as Mr. Trump dials around the world in the first days of his new job. He […]
By James Pomfret and Fathin Ungku | HONG KONG/SINGAPORE HONG KONG/SINGAPORE Hong Kong said on Wednesday the Singapore government would not be criminally prosecuted over a licensing breach in the Chinese-ruled city in connection with the seizure of nine armoured vehicles in November. Hong Kong authorities seized the Singapore military’s troops carriers in November, as they were on their way home from military exercises in Taiwan. After […]
No, Mark Zuckerberg is not running for president. This came straight from the horse’s mouth after days of media speculation about the Facebook mogul’s political ambition. In a statement sent to BuzzFeed, Zuckerberg stated that he is focused on building the Facebook community and working on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Note how the word “never” was not mentioned at all, providing him wiggle room in case he […]
French presidential frontrunner François Fillon has come under pressure to justify why he employed his Welsh wife as a parliamentary aide and specify what work she did for him. Mr Fillon, who won the centre-right presidential nomination in November on a vow to restore high moral standards in French politics, is facing claims from a weekly French satirical newspaper that his wife Penelope Fillon earned a total […]
TOKYO/SEOUL Japan on Wednesday lodged a protest with South Korea after a South Korean official visited a group of islets claimed by both countries, putting more strain on ties already damaged by the legacy of Japan’s 1910-1945 rule of Korea. The islands that lie equidistant between the two countries are called Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean. They are controlled by South Korea and also claimed […]
Sean Spicer may need the Army Corps of Engineers to clean up a mini-mess created by his boss. Spicer’s second full-fledged White House briefing was notable both for the identity of the first questioner and, far more, the persistent reality of President Trump’s claim that millions of people voted illegally and robbed him of a popular vote win against Hillary Clinton. Spicer doubled down on the claim. […]
Jan 25, 2017 11:55 am IST India will put its military hardware on display Thursday, as the country celebrates its 68th Republic Day in New Delhi. A parade along the city’s ceremonial boulevard Raj Path, which starts at 9 a.m. India time (10.30 p.m. ET), will showcase Indian culture and the country’s achievements in the fields of science and technology. The celebrations, which mark the day the […]
By Andrea Shalal | BERLIN BERLIN Growing levels of perceived corruption and social inequality provided fertile ground for the rise of populist politicians in 2016, global watchdog Transparency International said on Wednesday. TI said populist leaders like U.S. President Donald Trump and French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen regularly drew links between a “corrupt elite” and the marginalisation of working people. But anti-establishment parties generally failed to […]
Wednesday 05:05 GMT Overview Major stock markets across Asia were mostly positive, buoyed by a record high for the S&P 500 in the US and by stronger prices for base metals supporting materials stocks. Hot topic The Australian dollar was the big loser among Asian currencies, down 0.5 per cent at $0.7541 against its US counterpart after inflation data for the December quarter fell short of economists’ […]
By Tetsushi Kajimoto | TOKYO TOKYO Japan’s exports rose for the first time in 15 months in December on strong sales of electronics and car parts, a positive sign for the export-reliant economy even as U.S. protectionism threatens to hurt trade across the region and dent external demand. Ministry of Finance data showed on Wednesday that exports rose 5.4 percent year-on-year in December, compared with a 1.2 […]
Until recently, oil rich Gulf states could afford to ignore global bond markets. While developed and developing countries issued record sums of debt in the years after the financial crisis, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates used the vast oil wealth to propel themselves to affluence. The states — members of the six-country Gulf co-operation council — built skyscrapers, schools and motorways […]
ASTANA: Russia and regional powers Turkey and Iran backed a shaky truce between Syria’s warring parties on Tuesday and agreed to monitor its compliance, but on the ground fighters faced continued fighting on two fronts which could undermine the deal.After two days of deliberations in Astana, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said the powers had agreed in a final communique to establish a system “to observe and […]
By Julia Edwards Ainsley | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders starting on Wednesday that include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries, according to several congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter. Trump, who tweeted on Tuesday night that a “big day” was […]
