Thursday 02.10 GMT Overview Asian equities regained upward momentum after comments from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen gave wings to a broad recovery for the dollar, weakening regional currencies. Hot topic The dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of peers, was up 0.4 per cent after the Fed chair warned that if the US waited too long to continue raising rates, it risked […]
While ECB President Mario Draghi may sound slightly hawkish at tomorrow’s press conference after an unexpectedly strong acceleration in CPI in December and European economic growth modestly picking up, the ECB is set to argue on Thursday that its extra-easy policy stance is still needed to keep the recovery on course. As a result, it is all but certain to leave current monetary policy in place and […]
BEIJING China and the United States can resolve any trade disputes through talks, the government said on Thursday, as a Chinese newspaper warned U.S. business could be targets for retaliation in any trade war ushered in by President-elect Donald Trump. Trump, who is sworn into office on Friday, has criticized China’s trade practices and threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports. Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, Trump’s […]
The Freedom of Information process begins with a letter, right? Why does it become necessary to sue? We bring a lawsuit either when it takes too long for a government agency to respond to our request, or when they do respond but withhold records that we believe should be disclosed. Why has the Center pursued FOIA suits so vigorously? How does the Center differ from other organizations […]
WASHINGTON: In the first visit of its kind since 2012, US Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has traveled to Syria on a trip that has taken her so far to Aleppo and Damascus.The move, according to Syrian-conflict watchers, indicates that President Bashar Assad “is no longer beyond the pale in US politics and policymaking.”Gabbard, who made news in November with her meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, and was […]
Blockchain has moved on from its Bitcoin past and is being touted as an effective and inexpensive way to safeguard data, with one Singapore-based vendor launching its first blockchain-based authentication tool. Because it provides a shared replicated “immutable” ledger, blockchain can facilitate a “single source of truth” and a secure, tamper-proof system of record, according to Alan Lim, Asean practice lead for IBM Blockchain and Bluemix Garage. […]
Support from alumnus creates new opportunities for scholarship and academic exchange CAMBRIDGE, United States of America, January 18, 2017 The Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) (https://CMES.fas.Harvard.edu) at Harvard University today opened its first overseas office, in Tunisia, home to a tradition of learning and research that extends from Antiquity to the present. The office and the year-round programs run from the location are made possible by […]
By Emma Farge and Diadie Ba | DAKAR DAKAR Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz flew to Senegal to meet with President Macky Sall after last-ditch talks in Gambia aimed at resolving a crisis over the transfer of power, a Senegalese presidential source told Reuters on Thursday. Aziz left Gambia shortly before midnight, when Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh’s presidential mandate expired. Senegal, with backing from leaders in […]
By Sofia Menchu | GUATEMALA CITY GUATEMALA CITY Guatemala on Wednesday arrested the brother and a son of the country’s president, who swept to victory with an anti-graft campaign, for their alleged involvement in corruption. Jimmy Morales was elected president in 2015 pledging to clean up Guatemalan politics after riding a wave of public anger over a corruption scandal that led to the arrest and trial of […]
Senegalese troops were massed last night on the Gambian border, preparing for a possible invasion if Yahya Jammeh, Gambia’s president, refused to step down by midnight. Minutes after midnight, the official end of his term in office, there was no word from Mr Jammeh. As the clock ticked down on Mr Jammeh’s term, diplomatic efforts to persuade him to go had continued. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Mauritania’s […]
The artist behind the iconic “Hope” poster of Barack Obama that became synonymous with his successful presidential campaign has released a new set of images, just in time for Trump’s inauguration and the subsequent Women’s March. Artist Shepard Fairey, who created the original in 2008 as well as a less flattering Donald Trump print complete with the caption “Demagogue,” has shifted his focus this time round. Now […]
ABIDJAN Heavy gunfire erupted after dark on Wednesday in Ivory Coast’s second port city, San Pedro, residents said, as two weeks of military uprisings that have tarnished the West African nation’s image as a post-war success story showed no sign of letting up. The shooting came just hours after the other main port in the commercial capital, Abidjan, reopened after paramilitary gendarmes firing in the air temporarily […]
Pres. Obama tells White House press corps: “America needs you. Our democracy needs you.” https://t.co/H9n7JKbYS7 pic.twitter.com/zCQpyfx2Mi — CBS News (@CBSNews) January 18, 2017 President Obama praised the press as central to democracy Wednesday in a final “farewell” that was part ironic homage to the media and part admonition to the incoming Trump administration. Democracy “doesn’t work if we don’t have a well-informed citizenship…America needs you, and democracy […]
New Zealand is pressing to finalise a stalled free trade deal with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that includes two of the Middle East’s largest economies, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Trade Minister Todd McClay visited the UAE and Kuwait this week in an effort to promote the deal with the GCC, his country’s sixth largest trading partner. The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, the […]
WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to recommend President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, retired Marine General James Mattis. The committee voted 26-1 to back Mattis’ nomination when it is received by the full Senate from Trump after he is sworn in as president. As a result, Mattis’ nomination will be sent directly to the Senate for a vote without […]
Via ConvergEx’s Nicholas Colas, Want to know why US stocks feel so fragile? Perhaps we can blame Wall Street analysts. Even after two months of market buzz about lower taxes, infrastructure spending and less regulation juicing investor expectations for better earnings growth, they refuse to bump their revenue or earnings estimates for 2017. Our monthly look at revenue expectations for the companies of the Dow […]
A few cities are already building data marketplaces, especially in light of the increasing streams of data from the IoT. Getty Images/iStockphoto If you live in a big city, chances are pretty good that you’ll be sharing a lot more of your personal information with government entities within a few years. special feature Louisville and the Future of the Smart City Louisville, Kentucky is building a unique […]
The sole Republican commissioner at the main US derivatives regulator has thrown his hat in the ring to be appointed the next chairman, even as he embraced aspects of financial reforms that Donald Trump’s team wants dismantled. Christopher Giancarlo, of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is set to assume the job of acting chairman after Mr Trump’s presidential inauguration on Friday, replacing Tim Massad, the sitting Democratic […]
SEOUL A South Korean court on Thursday dismissed a warrant to arrest the head of the Samsung Group, the country’s largest conglomerate, a court spokesman said, amid a graft scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. The decision by the Seoul Central District Court to allow Jay Y. Lee to go home is likely to come as a major relief to the company and […]
Janet Yellen, the Fed chair, has warned that the US risks a “nasty surprise” if it waits too long to continue raising interest rates, adding that she expects the US central bank to tighten monetary policy a few times a year until 2019. But on the cusp of Donald Trump’s inauguration as an economy-focused president, she also said slow productivity growth meant the US’s “usual” rate of […]
You, the long-suffering Knicks fan, applauded the team’s acquisition of Carmelo Anthony in 2011. You rejoiced over the reset Dolan orchestrated three years later when he landed 11 Rings Jackson to clean up the mess, to change the culture. Continue reading the main story Now you have pretty much had it with Melo the Martyr and Invisi-Phil. You would probably vote to move on from both, but […]
WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump scrapped a proposal to move news briefings out of the White House, but said he wants his team to choose who gets into the press room. Trump, who will be sworn in on Friday as the 45th U.S. president, has had a contentious relationship with some prominent U.S. news organizations he refers to derisively as the “mainstream media.” The Republican businessman banned […]
WASHINGTON It would be better for the United States to carefully review the 2015 Iran nuclear deal rather than unilaterally withdraw from it, Nikki Haley, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to the United Nations, said on Wednesday. “I think what would be more beneficial at this point is that we look at all the details of the Iran deal, we see if they (the Iranians) […]
By Ingrid Melander | PARIS PARIS France’s ruling Socialist Party (PS) will stay in the running for the presidency no matter what despite poor opinion poll ratings, its top official said on Wednesday, while acknowledging a divided Left has little chance of winning. President Francois Hollande’s PS party and its allies are this month choosing their candidate for the presidential election, in primaries which secretary general Jean-Christophe […]
