BANGKOK A top official in Thailand’s palace has been fired for “extremely evil” misconduct and political interests which threatened national security, the government said on Tuesday. Police General Jumpol Manmai, who had served as intelligence chief under ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had until recently been one of the most senior figures in new King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s household. The government said in a statement Jumpol had […]
A voracious thirst for petroleum makes the US one of the largest importers of oil. But for the past two weeks it has also scaled the ranks of exporters. Outbound shipments of crude have surpassed 1.2m barrels a day, more than last month’s daily production of Algeria, Ecuador or Qatar, each a member of Opec. The foreign sales underscore how the US has become more integrated into […]
The Australian government has told the Senate Economics References Committee that the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) will subject its forthcoming policy and procedural changes to an independent Privacy Impact Assessment and “broad consultation” before implementing them in response to the 2016 Census debacle. One such change, however, will not include allowing citizens to omit their names from Census forms, with the government holding firm that it […]
The fact that farm incomes have come under increasing pressure over the past couple of years should come as little surprise to our readers (for those who missed our latest update, see: “Midwest Farm Bubble Continues Collapse As Farm Incomes Expected To Crash In 2017“). Unfortunately, at least according to Bank of America’s Global Ag Chemical team led by Steve Byrne, farmers shouldn’t expect a reprieve any […]
SoftBank is leading efforts to consolidate the space technology sector with talks to merge OneWeb, the US satellite start-up it backs, with Intelsat, one of the world’s largest commercial satellite operators. Bonds sold by Intelsat surged on Monday after it was reported that the deeply indebted satellite operator was nearing a deal with SoftBank to merge with OneWeb, which raised $1.2bn from the Japanese group and other investors in December. […]
Pro-government lawmakers accused Mr. Sadat of leaking drafts of the law to foreign embassies, and of faking the signatures of 16 fellow lawmakers on another proposed law that he had drafted. Mr. Sadat denied the accusations, saying he had circulated his criticism only in a news release via email and his website. Continue reading the main story Mr. Sadat’s expulsion highlighted the lopsided balance of parliamentary power […]
Chinese companies have borrowed more money from the international bond market than from domestic investors so far this year, breaking with tradition as authorities in Beijing focus on curbing capital outflows. Banks and other corporate borrowers have been quietly encouraged to raise money offshore in other currencies, limiting the need for Chinese companies to sell renminbi to finance overseas investments. Borrowing more outside the mainland also allows […]
BEIJING A youth named by China as the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, but reviled as a fake by many Tibetans, has praised the Communist Party’s religious policies in Tibet in a lunar new year message, saying they made him feel “very happy”. Although officially atheist, China selected Gyaltsen Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995 in a drive to win the hearts and minds of […]
Light introduced through an optical fiber can determine whether a patient’s blood is coagulating by measuring the vibration of red blood cells. Credit: Andrii Pshenychnyi A University of Central Florida professor has invented a way to use light to continuously monitor a surgical patient’s blood, for the first time providing a real-time status during life-and-death operations. The technology developed by UCF scientist Aristide Dogariu uses an optical […]
Cairo, Egypt 27 February 2017 An academic study today revealed that Uber provides Egyptians with new economic opportunities against the current and anticipated economic challenges, especially the rising unemployment of the youth and the educated. The study, entitled A Glimpse into the Sharing Economy: An Analysis of Uber Driver-Partners in Egypt, by Dr. Nagla Rizk, professor of economics & founding director of the Access to Knowledge for Development […]
By Krishna N. Das | LEDA, Bangladesh LEDA, Bangladesh Rohingya Muslim refugee Ali Hasan is desperately looking for a bride for his 14-year-old son, jailed last year in Bangladesh for carrying the popular drug ya ba. He hopes the girl’s family would pay the $620 needed for Mohammed Hasan’s bail as dowry. Graphic – Ya ba in Bangladesh: here Graphic – Bangladesh/Rohingya relocation: here Graphic – Ya […]
The National Australia Bank (NAB) has announced the appointment of three executives on Tuesday, which includes former New South Wales Premier Mike Baird. Baird will join the bank in the capacity of chief customer officer, Corporate & Institutional Banking, after announcing his retirement from politics in January. Joining Baird at NAB is Patrick Wright, who leaves his tenure as global chief Operations & Technology at Barclays in […]
Frictions? Between the press corps and the White House?! Monday’s White House press briefing made Sunday night’s languorous (if now comically notorious) Oscars ceremony look like the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus (absent the elephants). It was all tranquil, rife with policy questions and only one passing reference to Friday’s combo tumult: President Trump trashing the press before an annual gathering of conservatives and Press Secretary […]
By Caroline Valetkevitch | NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. stocks ended slightly higher on Monday and the Dow closed at a record high for a 12th straight session, as President Donald Trump said he would make a “big” infrastructure statement on Tuesday. The Dow’s streak of record-high closes matches a 12-day run in 1987, with Boeing (BA.N) and UnitedHealth (UNH.N) among the biggest boosts for the Dow […]
Many movie lovers set the goal to watch every single Oscar nominated film before the big show. Then there are those who only saw a few and now want to see what all the buzz is about the other big winners. Thankfully, many of the popular streaming platforms already have these titles available for audiences’ viewing pleasure. This includes streaming La La Land on Amazon Video, the […]
The near collapse of the €29bn merger between the London Stock Exchange Group and Deutsche Börse was precipitated by the LSE’s decision to aggressively reject concessions demanded by Brussels without warning or consulting its German partner. Both exchanges took turns apportioning blame to EU authorities and obstinate rivals on Monday, making clear the deal once touted as creating a European champion to challenge their larger US rivals […]
Gold’s almost 10 per cent advance this year will be in jeopardy should US president Donald Trump’s key address to Congress on Tuesday reignite the dollar rally and prospect for higher interest rates. The yellow metal has been one of the chief beneficiaries of the cooling this year of the so-called “Trumpflation” trade, which sent the dollar to a 13-year high in early January and helped buoy […]
Roger Federer breezed back into action to reach the second round of the Dubai Open with a straightforward 6-1 6-3 over erratic Frenchman Benoit Paire on Monday. In his first match since memorably claiming his 18th grand slam title by beating Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open a month ago, the 35-year-old was immediately back in the old routine to give Paire the runaround. There was precious […]
The number of mobile phone users globally will top 5 bn by the middle of this year, according to a study The number of mobile phone users globally will surpass five billion by the middle of this year, according to a study released Monday by GSMA, the association of mobile operators. With populations in Asia, and notably India, on the rise, the number, which stood at 4.8 […]
By Yara Abi Nader and John Irish | GENEVA GENEVA The main opposition group at Syrian peace talks in Geneva wants to meet Russian envoys to discuss what it says are Moscow’s broken ceasefire promises, a move diplomats say aims to put pressure on the Russian-backed Syrian government delegation. Russia has sought to revive diplomacy since its air force helped the Syrian army and allied militias defeat […]
When Turkey’s children returned to school in September, there was something new on the curriculum: a week-by-week syllabus, mandated by the minister of education, celebrating what many call Turkey’s “second revolution”. Course materials included two slickly produced patriotic videos laced with references to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s success in putting down the attempted coup on July 15. The first opens with an image of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, […]
By YARA BISHARA | Feb. 27, 2017 | 2:40 The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, says it has rescued tens of thousands of people since the start of the civil war in 2011. A film about the group won an Oscar for best documentary short. NYtimes
French government debt has capped its best run since the aftermath of Britain’s vote for Brexit, underlining the rapid shift in investor sentiment towards the country’s presidential election which now looms over financial markets. The yield on the 10-year French bond dropped to its lowest in a month, as money managers and traders continued to take succour after centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron received the backing of potential […]
In a Facebook post, Barbara Tyler is merciless. “Hey, did anyone think of proofreading your headline today before the paper went to press? I am pretty sure Trump did not replace his vice president. Fake news at its best. Sometimes I wonder why I continue to subscribe to your paper.” Tyler was responding to an extraordinary slip-up by The Bryan College-Station Eagle. The Texas newspaper’s top headline […]
