BRASILIA Prosecutors investigating Brazil’s biggest-ever graft scandal threatened to resign en masse on Wednesday if a move to gut an anti-corruption bill won approval from legislators as the nation mourns an air disaster. The lower chamber of Congress passed the bill in the early hours of Wednesday morning by 450 votes to 1, with changes that would help shield lawmakers from prosecution and weaken the authority of […]
Photo Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, center, was greeted by fellow Fatah members on the second day of the Fatah party conference, in Ramallah, the West Bank, on Wednesday. Credit Majdi Mohammed/Associated Press RAMALLAH, West Bank — Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority that operates in the West Bank, proposed on Wednesday the creation of a temporary unity government along with Hamas, […]
By Matthew Mpoke Bigg | ACCRA ACCRA Ghana’s main opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo skipped the country’s only presidential debate on Wednesday, leaving the stage to President John Mahama and four other opponents a week before the election. Aides to the leader of the New Patriotic Party said he decided to stick to his prior campaign commitments, even though it meant missing the chance to present his message […]
To our complete shock, the Government Accountability Office has released a report blasting the Education Department’s understanding of basic mathematics and accounting concepts after finding the department drastically underestimated the costs of Obama’s student loan forgiveness programs. The 100-page report entitled “Federal Student Loans: Education Needs to Improve Its Income Driven Repayment Plan Budget Estimates” found that taxpayers could be on the hook for $137BN of student […]
WASHINGTON Two senior U.S. senators said on Wednesday they want to amend a law allowing lawsuits against Saudi Arabia over the Sept. 11 attacks to narrow the scope of possible lawsuits. Lindsey Graham and John McCain, two of the Republican party’s congressional foreign policy leaders, said they would introduce an amendment to the law so that a government could be sued only if it “knowingly” engages with […]
The shares of large US energy groups shot up to their highest levels since last July on Wednesday after Opec agreed to the first production cut since the 2008 financial crisis. The S&P 500 energy sector rallied 4.8 per cent in its biggest gain in 15 months. The rise came after the cartel struck a long-awaited pact aimed at reducing the glut of supply on global markets […]
By Alessandra Prentice | KIEV KIEV Ukraine was due to start two days of missile tests on Thursday – a move that has angered Russia, prompting it to put its air defence forces on high alert on the annexed Crimea peninsula. The disagreement marks a fresh escalation in tensions between the one-time allies, whose relations collapsed in 2014 after Russia seized Crimea and backed pro-Russian separatists fighting […]
BAKU Azerbaijan’s parliament on Wednesday made online defamation of the president a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment. With almost all traditional media strictly controlled by the government, social media networks have become outlets for people to voice criticism in a country where the economy has suffered from the global slump in oil prices and a depreciating currency. Azerbaijan criminalised defamation over the internet three years ago, meaning […]
By Angus McDowall and Tom Perry | BEIRUT BEIRUT Syrian rebels on Wednesday vowed to fight on in east Aleppo in the face of sudden government advances that have cut the area held by the opposition by a third in recent days and brought insurgents in the city to the brink of a catastrophic defeat. Gains by the Syrian army and its allies since last week have […]
While this should come as a shock to precisely no one other than some disaffected Hillary supporters who were hoping for a miracle, Jill Stein’s request for a full “hand recount” in the state of Wisconsin has officially been denied by Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn. According to the StarTribune, the request was denied after the judge found that Stein failed to show any mistakes or […]
Just as horror movies can spook fright nerds more than they expect, so political risk is sparking heightened levels of anxiety among seasoned investors. Investors caught out by Brexit and Donald Trump are making better preparations for political risk in Europe, plotting a route to the exit door if the unfolding story of French, German and Dutch elections poses a serious test for markets. One key measure […]
By Sarah Marsh and Diego Oré | HAVANA HAVANA Draped in the red, white and blue national flag, Fidel Castro’s ashes began a marathon procession across Cuba on Wednesday to his final resting place in the east of the island, where the first shots in the Cuban Revolution were fired. Castro, who ruled Cuba for half a century until 2008 and built a Communist state on the […]
By Steve Holland | NEW YORK NEW YORK Under pressure to avoid any conflict of interest, President-elect Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will be leaving his far-flung business “in total” to focus on running the country and scheduled a Dec. 15 news conference to lay out his plan. Trump announced his plans in a series of tweets but did not explain exactly what he would be […]
Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) on Wednesday climbed to their highest levels since the financial crisis, as the bank benefited from a post U.S. presidential election rally. The stock reached $220.77 in late morning trading, returning to a point not seen since December 2007. Goldman was the biggest driver for the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI adding 56.2 points out of a net gain of […]
ABU DHABI // Heads of state and representatives from more than 40 countries will attend a conference in Abu Dhabi this weekend to ratify a global declaration on protecting endangered cultural heritage. The two-day conference, hosted by the UAE and France, will involve global cooperation for supporting a Unesco mandate to protect cultural heritage during armed conflicts. Participants will aim to safeguard historical sites and monuments that […]
Law Blog rounds up the morning’s legal news: Wisconsin recount: A Wisconsin judge refused to order local election workers to conduct the state’s upcoming presidential recount completely by hand. [AP, Reuters] Market-manipulation trial: A rare market-manipulation trial begins in a Manhattan federal court, as one of the biggest U.S. futures traders enters a risky showdown […] (via WSJ)
By Adama Diarra | SIKASSO, Mali SIKASSO, Mali A Malian court began a trial of former coup leader General Amadou Sanogo on Wednesday on charges of “complicity in kidnapping and assassination,” three and a half years after his junta was accused of killing 21 soldiers. Sanogo led a coup in March 2012 that deposed former President Amadou Toumani Toure and plunged Mali into chaos, enabling Tuareg rebels […]
Oil prices soared 8 per cent to $50 a barrel on Wednesday as Opec agreed to its first supply cut since prices started to plummet two years ago. The meeting is continuing as individual country allocations are hammered out, but sources said the main obstacles to the deal had been overcome. It will see the 13-member group reduce output by about 4.5 per cent, or 1.2m a […]
30 November 2016 Dubai: Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region, was named ‘Banking and Finance Company of the Year’ at the prestigious Arabian Business Achievement Awards held yesterday (Monday, November 28, 2016). The bank was recognised for its pioneering efforts toward the digitisation of banking as well as its resilient performance in the past year. The Arabian Business Achievement Awards are adjudicated by an independent judging […]
Oil prices soared 8.6 per cent to above $50 a barrel on Wednesday after two of Opec’s most powerful members said they were hopeful of reaching the first deal to cut supplies since prices started to plummet two years ago. Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, said the cartel, which controls about a third of the world’s oil production, was moving “close” to a deal, as he […]
Javier Duarte, governor of the state of Veracruz, attends a news conference in Xalapa, Mexico, August 10, 2015 (Reuters/Stringer). Last June, Mexico elected new governors in twelve of its thirty-one states. As millions of voters went to the urns, corruption was a top concern (along with insecurity). Eight states saw the incumbent party kicked out; in four—Veracruz, Quintana Roo, Chihuahua, and Durango—the PRI lost for the first […]
Photo Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2015. In a four-page letter posted on his personal website, the prince argued that “it is high time that Saudi women started driving their cars.” Credit Fayez Nureldine/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images A prominent Saudi prince and business magnate has added his voice to the debate over women’s rights in his country, urging it to abandon its […]
Ulster Bank Parent RBS Fails Bank of England Stress Test “Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)(RBS.L) will cut costs and sell assets to boost capital levels, it said on Wednesday after failing this year’s Bank of England stress test, which warned of a “challenging” outlook for Britain’s financial system. The state-backed lender rushed out a statement following the announcement to say it would take a range of actions, including […]
WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said on Wednesday the administration would target tax reform and trade pact overhauls as top priorities as they seek to achieve 3 percent to 4 percent economic growth. Mnuchin and Wilbur Ross, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, outlined their agenda, including what Mnuchin called the largest tax overhaul since the Ronald Reagan administration, in an interview […]
