By Phil Stewart and Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon put Russia at the top of a list of threats to U.S. interests on Thursday and told Congress that America must be ready to confront Moscow where necessary, even as he backed Trump’s bid for better relations. The remarks by retired Marine General James Mattis were the latest by one of […]
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani leaves Trump Tower in November. (Image: CBSNews.com) Rudy Giuliani has been tapped to “lend expertise” and to advise the Trump administration on cybersecurity. The former New York mayor “will be sharing his expertise and insight as a trusted friend concerning private sector cybersecurity problems and emerging solutions developing in the private sector,” said a brief statement from the incoming Trump administration. […]
By David Shepardson and Bernie Woodall | NEW YORK/DETROIT NEW YORK/DETROIT The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday accused Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV of illegally using hidden software that allowed significant excess diesel emissions, the result of a probe that stemmed from regulators’ investigation of rival Volkswagen AG. The EPA action affects 104,000 U.S. trucks and SUVs sold since 2014, about one-sixth the number of vehicles than […]
While most major car makers are rushing headlong into the driverless cars era, one Japanese motor manufacturer is eschewing that bandwagon to concentrate on automated help rather than outright replcement. Inifiniti, the luxury arm of Nissan, has previewed ProPilot, an evolving suite of autonomous drive support technologies, at the 2017 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. Central to the strategy for the development of all […]
Vladimir Putin is trying to break the north Atlantic alliance and his policies represent one of the key threats to the global order that has prevailed since the second world war, James Mattis, the retired general nominated to be secretary of defence, has told a Senate committee. In testimony that struck a notably harder line on Russia than that of Donald Trump, Mr Mattis said the US […]
WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, said on Thursday that he had a “very, very high degree of confidence” in U.S. intelligence agencies. Mattis, speaking at his Senate confirmation hearing, said he expects Trump to be open to his view on intelligence matters, and that the world order was under its biggest attack since World War Two. (Reporting by Idrees Ali […]
BEIJING A factory in eastern China is racing to keep up with demand for its new clutch – giant inflatable rooster balloons that bear what some say is an uncanny resemblance to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. The Zhejiang-based factory has already produced 30 of the inflatables, some of which are up to 20 meters (65.6 feet) in height, and all sporting puffed-up combs of gold. Li Haiyan, […]
Wikimedia Commons IBM has announced a new partnership with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a study designed to determine whether blockchain technology can be used to keep medical data transfers safe from theft or exploit. The tech giant announced the collaboration between IBM Watson Health and the FDA on January 11. The research initiative is a two-year agreement between the FDA and IBM which […]
Twitter will be streaming Donald Trump’s inauguration for the top political job in the U.S. starting at 11 AM ET on Friday, January 20 in partnership with PBS NewsHour. The feed will be available on Twitter apps, and at inauguration.twitter.com. Trump’s official office-taking event has been the subject of a lot of attention in the lead-up to the day, since the Trump administration has been scrambling to […]
Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. Donald Trump is nothing if not transparent, especially when it comes to views of the press and outright evasions about his business holdings. That was self-evident at his Wednesday spectacle (labeled “press conference”) in which he bashed media and also […]
The new Online Application Platform sees that the visa is processes within 3 Business Days 12 January 2017 Brits, Indians, citizens and expatriates of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and 81 other nationalities will now be able to apply for Azerbaijan visa online in a safe and stress-free and way following the introduction of a hustle free online visa application technology by the Ministry of Culture and […]
Global investors sold the dollar and sought government bonds and gold on Thursday in the wake of Donald Trump’s pre-inauguration press conference, revealing the first sign of buyers remorse for a reflation rally that has dominated global markets since early November. Mr Trump’s press conference, his first as president-elect, was held in New York’s Trump Tower on Wednesday and was dominated by his ties to Russia, his […]
By Manuel Mogato | MANILA MANILA The Philippines is deferring plans to repair and upgrade features it occupies in the disputed South China Sea, the country’s military chiefs said on Thursday, to avoid provoking China while the two traditional foes seek to bury the hatchet. The Philippines would continue to observe a moratorium on construction in the Spratly islands that it adopted while an international tribunal handled […]
While we learned earlier that John McCain was responsible for handing over the 35-page “dossier” of compromising, if arguably fake, revelations about Trump’s connections to Russia over to the FBI, the identity of the actual creator, who was said to be an ex-British intelligence service, remained a mystery. No longer. Courtesy of the WSJ, we now know his name: the former MI-6 officer, now working for a […]
SEOUL Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said upon returning to his native South Korea on Thursday that he would make a “selfless decision” soon with regard to his political career. Ban is expected to run for president but has yet to declare his candidacy. Ban told reporters and well-wishes at Incheon airport near Seoul that he would use his experience at the United Nations to solidify South […]
Having publicly trashed the US economy’s performance during the presidential campaign, Donald Trump has become its most prominent cheerleader. The president-elect has in recent weeks claimed credit for surging consumer confidence, stellar equity prices and stronger end-of-year household spending, arguing there was “no hope” before he arrived on the scene. To Barack Obama’s supporters, claims from Mr Trump that the US was cloaked in economic gloom before […]
Thursday 08:40 GMT Overview The dollar, Treasury yields and equities are lower — with pharmaceutical groups in the firing line — as traders question the “Trumpflation trade” following the US president-elect’s fractious press conference on Wednesday. The yen is stronger, signalling waning risk appetite among traders, while gold is back above $1,200, a seven-week high. Hot topic Investors are reassessing the implications of a Trump presidency. Markets […]
By Susan Cornwell | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate on Thursday took a first concrete step toward dismantling Obamacare, voting to instruct key committees to draft legislation repealing President Barack Obama’s signature health insurance program. The vote was 51-48. The resolution now goes to the House of Representatives, which is expected to vote on it this week. Scrapping Obamacare is a top priority for the Republican majorities […]
CNN sought to distance its reporting on President-elect Donald Trump from an article published by BuzzFeed shortly after he blasted both news organizations during his first press conference since the election. Both BuzzFeed and CNN went public with reports on Tuesday that a British intelligence official had compiled memos indicating that Russian officials might have compromising information about Trump. But while CNN merely said President Obama and […]
TAIPEI Taiwan objected on Thursday to a Nigerian request to the island to relocate its representative office in the African country, a request Taiwan sees as more pressure by China to isolate it. Beijing regards Taiwan as a renegade province, ineligible for state-to-state relations, and to be taken back by force if necessary, especially if it makes moves toward independence. Taiwan has no diplomatic ties with Nigeria, […]
By Andrea Hopkins | OTTAWA OTTAWA Canada’s appointment of an outspoken Russia critic currently under sanctions from Moscow is a bold move by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he seeks to improve strained relations between the two countries. Chrystia Freeland, who is of Ukrainian descent and fluent in Russian, was made Canada’s top diplomat on Tuesday as part of the first major cabinet shuffle of Trudeau’s 14-month-old […]
Rex Tillerson has set the stage for a major diplomatic clash between Washington and Beijing after the nominee for US secretary of state said China should not be allowed to access islands it has built in the South China Sea. At his confirmation hearing before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, Mr Tillerson said China’s construction of artificial islands in the contested sea was “akin […]
In Wisconsin, Green Bay officials say the Clinton campaign has yet to pay off bills from events in March, September and November totaling nearly $12,800. Eau Claire, Wisconsin, says Clinton won’t pay a $6,812 from a visit in April. Spokane wants $2,793. Clinton’s campaign committee has enough money to pay its bills, having last month reported carrying a more than $838,000 surplus on its books. It did […]
JEDDAH/KANDAHAR: The killing of five diplomats from the UAE in a bombing in southern Afghanistan marks the deadliest attack ever for the young nation’s diplomatic corps, though it’s too soon to tell who was behind it or if the Gulf envoys were even the targets.The UAE said it would fly the nation’s flag at half-staff for three days in honor of the dead from the attack Tuesday […]
