By Paulo Whitaker | VITORIA, Brazil VITORIA, Brazil Police in the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo did not return to work on Saturday, despite the government announcing hours earlier a deal had been struck with officers to end a week-long strike that has led to a sharp increase in murders. Most of the violence has been centered in the poor regions of metropolitan Vitoria, the state capital […]
Qatar Petroleum is the hidden giant of the global energy industry, overshadowed by its neighbor Saudi Aramco. Yet, the country’s colossal natural gas resources allow the state-run company to pump more oil and gas than Rosneft PJSC or Exxon Mobil Corp. After almost two decades of breakneck growth, the company needs to change tack. QP plans to expand abroad as domestic crude output declines and the government […]
February 11, 2017 by: John Reed — Jerusalem The US administration of Donald Trump has blocked the appointment of Salam Fayyad, the former Palestinian prime minister, to a senior United Nations post in a decision Palestinian officials said was based solely on his nationality. Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, announced the decision on Friday, saying that Washington was disappointed by a letter written by […]
The four main US stock barometers all logged record closing highs on Friday, marking the first grand slam in two months as small capitalisation stocks have caught up to their larger brethren. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite were already trading at all-time peaks before Friday, propelled higher by the relatively strong performance of large capitalisation stocks, leaving the Russell 2000 index lagging […]
Trump may be busy hosting Japan PM Shinzo Abe in Mar-A-Lago, as he tweeted moments ago… Melania and I are hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Mrs. Abe at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. They are a wonderful couple! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2017 … but that did not prevent him from taking yet another jab at the US legal system, which he […]
VIENNA Austrian authorities are investigating reports of a man appearing in public in Adolf Hitler’s birthplace as the Nazi dictator’s double, including the distinctive mustache, haircut and clothing. “I have often seen this gentlemen in Braunau and wonder if this means something,” the Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten paper cited a local resident as saying on his Facebook page alongside a picture of the man it said resembled Hitler. Hitler […]
European equity markets are warning of greater volatility in coming months, as the European Central Bank prepares to cut its stimulus programme and anxiety grows ahead of upcoming elections. Futures contracts in the Vstoxx — a measure of implied volatility for the benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 index — reflect expectations of a blip as after the ECB cuts its monthly bond purchases at the end of March […]
Every time I take a spin through my Facebook or Twitter feeds, I’m reminded that there’s only one big story right now: Trump, Trump, Trump. For news organizations that wrestle with what coverage their community is most likely to consume, this is one of those rare moments when the mystery is solved. Give ‘em Trump. Love him or loathe him, they can’t get enough. But if the […]
KABUL The United Nations Security Council on Friday dropped sanctions against Afghan strongman Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, potentially paving the way for the notorious warlord to return openly to Afghanistan. The Afghan government requested the move as part of a peace deal with Hekmatyar and his militant group, Hezb-i-Islami, in September. The deal was criticised by some Afghans and human rights groups for the pardon it granted to Hekmatyar […]
Traffic modeling has been of interest to mathematicians since the 1950s. Research in the area has only grown as road traffic control presents an ever-increasing problem. Generally, models for traffic flow in road networks are time-dependent and continuous, that is, they describe traffic by a continuum rather than as individual drivers or cars. These macroscopic models describe the temporal and spatial evolution of traffic density without predicting […]
Former world number one Tiger Woods has pulled out of the Dubai Desert Classic ahead of his second round because of a back problem, the European Tour said on Friday. The American 14-time major champion, now ranked 666th after his long injury layoff due to back problems, recorded a miserable five-over 77 on the opening day on Thursday. Appearing for the eighth time in Dubai, where he […]
Researchers have investigated what x-rays in matter really do and identified a new mechanism of producing low-energy free electrons. Since the low-energy electrons cause damage to the matter, the identified process might be important in understanding and designing radiation treatment of illnesses. (via WSJ)
By Mike Stone | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) announced on Friday an agreement worth about $8.5 billion for 90 F-35 jets, the lowest price to date for the Pentagon’s most expensive program. The deal for the tenth lot of the stealthy fighter aircraft brings the price per jet to below $95 million for the first time, compared to $102 million […]
Ever since 2014, Google has offered users to install its own Google Now-based launcher on any Android device, but that option may soon revoke. According to reports, Google is planning to remove the Google Now Launcher from the Play Store not later than Q1 2017. It will also stop approving new Android devices that’ll ship with the said launcher beginning March 1. Google Now Launcher To Be Pulled […]
“The danger is that this is the first stage in an escalation that could culminate in a military confrontation between Iran and the United States, or Iran and Israel,” said Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The entire eight years of the Obama administration was an example of unprecedented but largely unreciprocated overtures for cooperation with Iran in the Middle East. The Iranians weren’t […]
A day of market gyrations and pressure for higher interest rates has forced the Bank of Japan to tip its hand by intervening to keep 10-year yields below 0.11 per cent. It is the first time the BoJ has turned last September’s “around zero per cent” cap on the 10-year yield into explicit action, with the central bank offering to buy an unlimited number of government bonds at […]
TOKYO Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said on Saturday she hoped a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to South Korea and Japan this week, his first overseas trip since taking office, would lead to deeper security ties. Inada spoke at the start of talks with Mattis, who on Friday reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to its mutual defence treaty with Japan when he met Prime Minister Shinzo […]
By Alastair Macdonald and Gabriela Baczynska | VALLETTA VALLETTA European Union leaders said they agreed to stick together in dealing with Donald Trump, but at their first summit since he took office they were at odds on how far to confront or engage with the new U.S. president. Trump and his policies, from questioning the value of NATO and free trade to banning Muslim refugees, came up […]
Fewer than 60,000 visas were provisionally revoked to comply with U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority countries, the State Department said on Friday. The immigration executive order signed by Trump a week ago temporarily halted the US refugee program and imposed a 90-day suspension on people traveling from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Trump said the measures would help protect Americans […]
By Chuck Mikolajczak | NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, with the S&P 500 closing just short of a record high, boosted by gains in financial shares as President Donald Trump moved ahead with deregulation action and by a strong payrolls report. The S&P financial sector .SPSY jumped 2 percent to score its best day since mid-November after Trump signed an executive order to […]
Moviegoers no longer have to suffer from FOMO when deciding not to see the latest titles in the theater. That’s because Fandango is bringing new movies to its streaming platform, making titles that are still in theaters like Hacksaw Ridge and Manchester By The Sea available to stream months before it would appear elsewhere. Among the movies to be the most excited about on FandangoNOW include the latest Disney movie, […]
Investors piled into bank shares on Friday following news that Donald Trump will begin the process to undo parts of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The S&P 500 financials sector advanced 2 per cent and propelled it back into positive territory for the year on Friday. Within the broad group, the banks subsector gained 2.6 per cent, giving both their best day since November. Morgan Stanley shares […]
WASHINGTON The deputy director of the U.S. National Security Agency, the intelligence agency in charge of electronic surveillance and code-breaking, is retiring, an NSA spokesman said on Friday. Richard Ledgett, who just turned 59, will retire in the spring, spokesman Michael Halbig said in an emailed statement. “It has been anticipated that he would retire in 2017 and he decided the time is right this spring after […]
A Saudi soldier has died from injuries sustained in a landmine explosion on Thursday while on duty, according to the Saudi Press Agency. Corporal Younes Mohammed Ali Abu Rasain, a border guard operating in the Jazan region on the Saudi-Yemen border, was declared dead on arrival at hospital, said a spokesman at Saudi’s Ministry of Interior. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies have carried out thousands […]
