Since last week’s US elections, emerging market assets have been spooked by the possibility of higher US interest rates and greater trade protectionism. That this should result in sudden and broad-based losses for holders of all types of EM investments — including equities, local debt, external bonds and currencies — should not come as a great surprise. What is unusual, however, is for such large losses to […]
BAGHDAD/BASHIQA: Iraqi militias said on Wednesday they had driven ISIS terrorists from an air base west of Mosul, a victory which would threaten its supply route from Syria to its last major stronghold in Iraq. “The airport of Tal Afar has been liberated,” Yusif Al-Kallabi, a spokesman for Popular Mobilization, a coalition of mainly Iranian-backed militias, told Iraqi state TV.The capture of the base, if confirmed, could […]
By Masayuki Kitano and Lisa Twaronite | SINGAPORE/TOKYO SINGAPORE/TOKYO The dollar caught its breath on Thursday, after charging to a 13-1/2 year high against a basket of currencies on bets the Trump administration will adopt inflationary policies, while the yen sagged after a Bank of Japan bond-buying operation. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major rival currencies, eased 0.1 percent to 100.32 .DXY, after […]
CAIRO — An Egyptian criminal court sentenced a police officer to life in prison on Wednesday for fatally shooting a man who refused to give him a free cup of tea. It was an unusual move by a court in a country where the police are generally allowed to act with impunity, human rights activists said. The shooting in April, in which the tea vendor was killed […]
Rio Tinto has fired Alan Davies, chief executive of its energy and minerals division, and Debra Valentine, the head of legal affairs, after reviewing a $10.5m payment made for advisory services on a giant iron project in Guinea. Last week, the FTSE 100 mining company suspended Mr Davies and announced the resignation of Ms Valentine after contacting regulators about the payment of $10.5m to François Polge de […]
ABU DHABI // Drug suspect Rolando “Kerwin” Espinosa Jr is expected to be sent back to the Philippines on Friday. A team led by Philippine National Police anti-illegal drugs group head senior superintendent Albert Ferro, arrived in the capital earlier this week to fetch Espinosa, who is being held in Al Wathba jail. Espinosa, one of the first suspected drug lords named by Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte […]
SINGAPORE Crude oil futures dropped on Thursday after official inventory reports indicated a larger-than-expected build in U.S. oil stocks. Crude inventories in the United States rose by 5.3 million barrels in the week to Nov. 11, compared with expectations for an increase of 1.5 million barrels. The climb in inventories was mainly due to higher imports that averaged 910,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to data released […]
Donald Trump has pushed back on claims that infighting is hampering the critical process of putting in place his cabinet and top officials, insisting that his presidential transition is on track despite a series of dismissals and resignations. “It is going so smoothly,” Mr Trump tweeted on Wednesday, saying reports of chaos inside the team now headed by Mike Pence, his vice-president, were “totally wrong”. He also denied the transition […]
Global investor expectations of inflation have surged to their highest level in more than a decade, according to a survey of money managers that underlines how Donald Trump’s election as US president has electrified financial markets. More than 80 per cent of those surveyed this month by Bank of America Merrill Lynch believe that the global level of prices will rise over the next 12 months. Although […]
NEW YORK JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) shares dropped to a session low as volume jumped late in the trading session on Wednesday after Fox Business Network reporter Maria Bartiromo tweeted that the bank’s chief executive Jamie Dimon might get the Treasury Secretary position and a “big meeting” was planned on Thursday. Bartiromo tweeted she was “hearing” Dimon will get the position under President-elect Donald Trump with […]
For four years, officials said, they had patiently requested that Dharam Pal Singh provide reliable evidence to verify his birth date: school records, military records, baptismal records, medical records, school records of his children. “We have absolutely nothing to prove how old he really is,” Pashkin said. “He could be 80; he could be 100. We don’t know.” Through the years, Singh had not been consistent in […]
Abu Dhabi, UAE: November 16, 2016 Following the resounding success of AIDA 2015, the 2nd Abu Dhabi International Conference in Dermatology and Aesthetics is scheduled to be held in conjunction with The International Master Course on Aging Skin (IMCAS), The International Board of Cosmetic Surgery (IBCS), The International Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (IACS), The European Society of laser Dermatology (ESLD), The International Cosmetic Congress (ICC) and the […]
Wednesday 17:00 GMT. US and European stocks were softer as the dollar hit a 13-year high and bond yields eased off multi-month peaks, as investors reined in bets that US president-elect Donald Trump’s pledge of infrastructure spending and tax cuts would accelerate inflation. In Europe, Germany’s Dax fell 0.7 per cent as shares in Bayer fell 4.2 per cent after the drugmaker raised €4bn to pay for […]
A popular measure of the dollar climbed to its highest level in more than 13 years, propelled by the expectation of rising US interest rates, the expectation of significant fiscal stimulus and concerns about the rise of populist forces in Europe. The DXY, an index that measures the dollar against a basket of its main peers and primarily weighted to the euro, gathered pace on Wednesday, rising […]
DUBAI // Indian expatriates appealed to their government for enough time to get home and deposit the now-defunct 500 and 1,000-rupee notes. Last week the government of prime minister Narendra Modi scrapped high-denomination banknotes in an attempt to tackle corruption and tax evasion, setting a December 30 deadline to exchange old bills. India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, said those unable to deposit banknotes in […]
Photo Destroyed buildings in the Syrian village of Kfar Jales, near Idlib, on Wednesday, following air strikes by Syrian and Russian warplanes. Credit Omar Haj Kadour/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images LONDON — President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, in his first remarks since the American election, has called President-elect Donald J. Trump “a natural ally, together with the Russians, Iranians and many other countries” in the struggle against […]
German security officials have warned that Russia may try to interfere in Germany’s parliamentary election next year amid claims that Moscow meddled in this month’s US presidential poll. Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the domestic BfV intelligence agency, expressed concern that the Kremlin was seeking “to influence public opinion and decision-making processes” in Germany. His warning echoes comments by Chancellor Angela Merkel who said last week that there were […]
By Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal | LONDON/DOHA LONDON/DOHA OPEC officials are working to nail down details of their plan to limit oil supply and gaps over some sticking points are narrowing, OPEC sources said, a sign of progress in finalizing the exporter group’s first such deal since 2008. OPEC agreed in Algeria on Sept. 28 to limit supply with special conditions given to Libya, Nigeria […]
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Suez Crisis that shocked the western world with its tangles of politics and nationalism, greed and opportunism, imperial manoeuvring and Cold War brinkmanship. Michael Doran, former White House Middle East adviser and a deputy assistant secretary in the department of defence under President George W Bush, in his new book Ike’s Gamble: America’s Rise to Dominance in the Middle […]
Russia launched its long-awaited offensive across Syria on Tuesday just hours after Vladimir Putin discussed the conflict with Donald Trump amid growing questions about how the incoming American president will deal with his Russian counterpart. Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, said the air strikes were targeting Isis and Syrian jihadis, their ammunition depots and training camps, in the provinces of Idlib and Homs. Opposition activists said the […]
Wednesday 09:20 GMT. European stocks are tracking a mostly positive showing in Asia as Wall Street eyes record highs on hopes the Trump administration’s pledge of infrastructure spending and tax cuts will boost the US economy. The dollar and government bond yields are a touch firmer, keeping gold and industrial commodity prices in check. After the FTSE Asia-Pacific equity index rose 0.6 per cent, the pan-European Stoxx […]
Photo Costa Rica players after a goal on Tuesday night. The Americans, tied for last place in their group, will have to wait four months to play again. Credit Moises Castillo/Associated Press SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — The defense was a shambles. The midfield had little presence. The attack, such as it was, just spun and sputtered. How bad was it? It is difficult to know where […]
Long-simmering tensions between Donald Trump and the Washington foreign policy establishment burst into the open on Tuesday after a respected former congressman quit the transition team and a leading neoconservative publicly warned colleagues not to join the incoming administration. Mike Rogers, former chair of the House intelligence committee who had been one of the senior figures advising the transition on national security, stepped down as head of […]
At the end of last week, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut interest rates. It could yet prove the last central bank to do so in the current cycle. For an inkling of why, look no further than the US government bond market. Treasuries are enduring their worst sell-off since the taper tantrum of 2013, when then Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke first signalled the end […]
