By Phil Stewart | COPENHAGEN COPENHAGEN U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday the United States would closely examine proposed de-escalation zones aimed at easing Syria’s civil war but warned “the devil’s in the details” and that much needed to be worked out. The deal to create “de-escalation” zones in the major areas of conflict in western Syria took effect on Saturday. The initiative was proposed […]
Emmanuel Macron has swept to emphatic victory in France’s presidential election, clinching 66 per cent of the vote to beat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. The National Front candidate’s 34 per cent share fell well short of the most optimistic projections for Ms Le Pen, which had suggested she could win as much as 45 per cent of the vote in the second round. Mr Macron’s victory […]
MANILA Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte kept his “excellent” trust rating for a fourth consecutive quarter in an opinion poll, with four-fifths of Filipino’s giving him the highest score in a survey that focuses on personality rather than policy. Pollster Social Weather Stations has been tracking trust ratings of Duterte since December 2015, when he signed up for a presidential election that he won six months later. Duterte […]
Singapore Other amendments to the rules governing Parliament include procedures on how to override the elected President. Singapore Parliament in session (File photo: TODAY) 08 May 2017 02:30PM(Updated: 08 May 2017 02:40PM) SINGAPORE: Parliamentary Standing Orders – rules governing Parliament’s proceedings and conduct – were amended on Monday (May 8) for the first time since 2010. The changes were suggested last month by a 10-member committee chaired […]
ABU DHABI // Doctors hope that Eman El Aty will be able to sit upright in a chair within two months – the first time she has been able to move out of her bed in 12 years. The Egyptian, who weighed 500 kilograms in February this year, is being treated at VPS Burjeel Hospital after being flown from a hospital in India last week on a […]
Emmanuel Macron’s triumph in the French presidential election nudged the euro to a six-month high against the dollar, with analysts and investors predicting that the result could spur a return of money to the eurozone. The euro inched up 0.1 per cent to $1.1021 in the hours after it became clear the centrist had beaten Marine Le Pen, before dipping 0.1 per cent to $1.0977 as Asian trading started. […]
By Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Two officials in former President Barack Obama’s administration will testify on Monday in a Senate investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and possible collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Moscow. James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence under Obama, and Sally Yates, who was Deputy Attorney General, will testify to the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on […]
By Muyu Xu and Ryan Woo | BEIJING BEIJING The Chinese capital is sanitizing its ancient hutong alleyways, home to millions of migrants workers and thousands of small businesses, bulldozing illegal constructions and forcing shops, bars and tiny courtyard restaurants to relocate or go under. As part of guidelines unveiled in April, authorities have started to brick in doors of properties along the narrow passageways, many of […]
The Australian dollar was on the back foot following data showing the biggest yearly drop in building approvals in six months. Approvals were down 19.9 per cent in the 12 months to the end of March, tumbling from a 4.9 per cent fall in February, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This was well below expectations among economists for a 10 per cent fall, […]
(Image: file photo) A vulnerability in Intel chips that went undiscovered for almost a decade allows hackers to remotely gain full control over affected Windows PCs without needing a password. The “critical”-rated bug, disclosed by Intel last week, lies in a feature of Intel’s Active Management Technology (more commonly known as just AMT), which allows IT administrators to remotely carry out maintenance and other tasks on entire […]
By Felix Onuah and Ahmed Kingimi | ABUJA/MAIDUGURI, Nigeria ABUJA/MAIDUGURI, Nigeria Boko Haram militants have released 82 schoolgirls out of a group of more than 200 whom they kidnapped from the northeastern town of Chibok three years ago in exchange for prisoners, the presidency said on Saturday. Around 270 girls were kidnapped in April 2014 by the Islamist militant group, which has killed 15,000 people and displaced […]
Sign up to receive FirstFT by email here Emmanuel Macron, an independent centrist, won an emphatic victory in France’s presidential run-off against Marine Le Pen, the far-right Front National leader, on Sunday, taking 65.1 per cent of the vote, according to estimates. Mr Macron’s victory is a phenomenal achievement for the 39-year-old former Rothschild banker, who has never before held elected office and whose political movement En Marche! was […]
LONDON The euro topped $1.10 for the first time since the U.S. elections on Sunday and climbed to a one-year high against the safe-haven yen on relief that Emmanuel Macron had beaten the far-right Marine Le Pen to clinch the French presidency. Early projections showed the market-friendly, pro-EU candidate Macron had been voted in with about 65 percent of the vote, comfortably defeating Le Pen, a nationalist […]
Two Emiratis who went to treat the suffering in conflict zones are fine examples of the spirit needed to win the Abu Dhabi Award. ABU DHABI // Dr Ayesha Al Memari and Dr Aysha Al Dhaheri imagined a life walking the wards of a modern hospital when they embarked on their careers. But when the call came, they left their duties to go on missions they now […]
Move faster, migrating reindeer!Image: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images By Maria Gallucci2017-05-07 18:32:09 UTC The producers of Norway’s smash-hit “Slow TV” genre have captivated audiences with videos of a 134-hour-long cruise voyage and 13 hours of people knitting. But sometimes even Slow TV can be too slow. Norway’s public broadcaster NRK recently suspended a show following the progress of migratory reindeer because the animals stopped moving, The Local […]
EGYPT: Security officials say a Christian man has been shot dead by suspected Daesh militants while inside a barber’s shop in Egypt’s turbulent northern Sinai.The late Saturday killing in the coastal city of Al-Arish came one day after the Daesh group’s local affiliate warned it would escalate attacks against Christians.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.Ayoub is at […]
Live Feed from France 24: After an extraordinary election campaign full of twists and turns, Emmanuel Macron won dramatic victory over Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election, taking 65% of the vote, with Le Pen collecting roughly 35%, according to early estimate from four separate French pollsters. Macron, 39, will become the youngest president of France’s Fifth Republic. As BBG notes, the firms sampled real […]
By David Lawder | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Saturday that threats of retaliatory trade actions from Canadian officials “are inappropriate” and will not influence final U.S. import duty determinations on Canadian softwood lumber. “We continue to believe that a negotiated settlement is in the best interests of all parties and we are prepared to work toward that end,” Ross said in a […]
The USDA recalls more than 5,600 lbs of meat produced in Pennsylvania after authorities tested it positive for E.Coli. Affected states include Illinois, New York, North and South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. ( Pixabay ) Another distributor of pre-packaged fresh food item issues a recall due to possible contamination in its products. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a Class I recall — a health hazard that could cause […]
Paraguay President, Horacio Cartes, has announced plans to open the country’s first commercial representative office in the UAE later this year, which will aim to boost trade and investment flows between the two countries. The announcement came during a recent meeting with a Dubai Chamber delegation in Asuncion, where he expressed his intention to build bridges between business communities on both sides. The meeting was held on […]
Roma Trivedi’s earliest memory of giving something back to the community is of when, as a 3-year-old, she accompanied her mother to an old-folks home in the United States, where she would sing and dance for the elderly. Since then, she has associated charity with joy and fun. When she was 8, she set up the Hope programme at her school in Philadelphia, which provided lunch for […]
When you purchase a Samsung smartphone and login to your Samsung account on the device you are sent a 30 percent coupon code to purchase an accessory priced at $59.99 or less. I used mine to buy the Galaxy S8 Plus keyboard cover, priced at $59.99 ($42 with 30 percent coupon). After I purchased my Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, see my full review, I was thinking I […]
An eerie calm in capital markets is fuelling fears on Wall Street that a first-quarter rebound in trading revenues could prove a one-off. Big investment banks reported generally solid profits over the first three months of the year, as investors reset their portfolios to take account of higher base interest rates, and as companies front-loaded efforts to raise money. For all bar four of the top 14 […]
Amid talks of more space travel, California has drafted a plan that would tax the state’s thriving rocket industry. The tax plan is still just a proposal, and the public can still have their say on the matter until June. Taxing By Mileage In an attempt to solidify California’s rocket industry, the state’s Franchise Tax Board has released a draft of their proposed tax plan for private […]
