22 December 2016 MARC has affirmed South Korea’s foreign currency sovereign rating of AAA with a stable outlook based on its national rating scale. The rating reflects MARC’s opinion of the sovereign’s ability to meet its foreign currency obligations in full and on time. The government of South Korea (GoK) has no debt rated by MARC. The rating also serves as a country ceiling for ringgit-denominated debt […]
It is strange to think that the original plan for La La Land involved Miles Teller and Emma Watson in the lead roles, because this love letter to Hollywood and the golden age of the musical seems tailor-made for Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, its eventual stars. She is fresh off Broadway hit Cabaret, while he spent his early years singing and songwriting. This is their third […]
A group of lawyers has filed a lawsuit against the Chinese government for failing to prevent the severe smog that has covered the north over the past week, underlining the discontent voiced by tens of millions of citizens online. Beijing and many other cities in north China are entering their sixth day running of pollution “red alerts”, which have closed down schools, roads and factories. More than 350 […]
Submitted by a Zero Hedge reader who wishes to remain anonymous: OPEN LETTER TO MINISTER-PRESIDENT SEEHOFER(Sent before the carnage in Berlin’s Christmas market) Dear Minister-President Seehofer, I would like to commend you on your opposition to mass uncontrolled immigration into Europe. One would think that it would be trivial to praise politicians – who are elected to uphold law and order, meaning our culture and values – […]
By Thanarith Satrusayang | BANGKOK BANGKOK Thailand and China are in talks about building military production facilities in Thailand, a Thai defense ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, the latest sign of warming relations between China and America’s oldest ally in Asia. Relations between Thailand and the United States cooled following a May 2014 military coup that the Thai military said was necessary to end months of unrest, […]
SYDNEY The U.S. dollar held near 14-year peaks on Wednesday as global yield spreads moved inexorably in its favor, while a falling yen lifted Japanese shares to a one-year top. The Nikkei .N225 added 0.3 percent in thin trade, while Australia’s main index climbed 0.6 percent to its highest in 17 months after Wall Street racked up more records. Japan’s government upgraded its overall assessment of the […]
Indonesian anti-terrorism police have shot and killed three suspects after a gun battle at a house near the capital Jakarta where a bomb was reportedly found, police said. National police spokesman Rikwanto told MetroTV on Wednesday that the residential neighborhood had been evacuated, Associated Press said. One person was arrested in the raid. “During the raid, we tried to be careful but they threw something from inside […]
But by the time Mr. Trump is sworn in next month, such safe zones may be irrelevant, if the evacuation of Aleppo and political negotiations proceed. Continue reading the main story More than a year after launching the air campaign that remade the battlefield in Mr. Assad’s favor, Russia appears to be looking for a way out of the war. Analysts say that Moscow sees in the […]
Wednesday 02:10 GMT Overview Stocks across Asia were on the rise, with sentiment buoyed by continued gains for Wall Street as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes in on 20,000 points for the first time. Hot topic The Dow Jones rose 0.5 per cent overnight in New York to close a mere 25.4 points shy of the 20,000-point milestone, while the S&P 500 added 0.4 per cent […]
By Sue-Lin Wong | YANJI, China YANJI, China The brightly coloured packages advertising “Walleye Pollock” at the West Market in Yanji, a Chinese city near the border with North Korea, say the fish came from China. But 15 vendors interviewed at the market say the fish came in from North Korea to be processed, packaged and mostly sold in China. They say they buy the […]
At least 26 people were killed and some 70 injured in a huge explosion at an open-air fireworks market in Mexico as shoppers stocked up on bangers and rockets for the holidays. The blasts ripped through the San Pablito fireworks market in the manner of a chain reaction on Tuesday afternoon. With about 300 stalls, the fireworks market, in the town of Tultepec in the central State […]
Italian bank shares are on track for their best month in more than seven years as signs the government may intervene to support its financial sector gave fresh momentum to a rally. The FTSE Italia All-Share banks climbed 2.3 per cent in afternoon trading, leaving it up more than 22 per cent so far in December. The index is now on course for its best monthly showing […]
BUENOS AIRES Argentina and Britain agreed on a framework to identify the bodies of dozens of unknown Argentine soldiers buried on the disputed Falkland Islands, Argentina’s Foreign Ministry said in on Tuesday. The two countries, which went to war over the islands in 1982 and have had strained relations for decades, also agreed to try to increase the number of flights to the remote islands. Britain has […]
It’s still hard to believe Orlando is home to the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Even six months later, it’s surreal to think 49 people were killed at a club I pass every day on my way to work. The shooting changed Central Florida forever and with it, transformed our newsroom and reporters. The news was unbelievable. It made no sense. Even veteran journalists were in […]
VATICAN CITY The Vatican said on Tuesday it hoped China’s communist government would give Catholics there “positive signs” that would help them have faith in a push by Pope Francis to heal a decades-old rift with Beijing. Chinese Catholics are divided between those who are loyal to the pope and those who are members of a government-controlled official church. The Vatican has been seeking a compromise with […]
ABU DHABI // A Canadian teacher working at a private school in the capital was one of the 34 people injured in Sunday’s attack in the southern Jordanian city of Karak that left 10 people dead. Christopher Vatcher, a teacher at Abu Dhabi Grammar School (Canada), sustained a bullet wound to the shoulder and is expected to make a full recovery, a family friend told CBC News. […]
Tuesday 19:45 GMT Overview A robust session for US equities saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average climb to within a whisker of the 20,000 milestone as participants shrugged off geopolitical concerns and focused on the prospect of stronger growth under the presidency of Donald Trump. The “risk-on” mood in the markets left US Treasury prices and gold lower while the yen — viewed by many as a […]
The “animal spirits” that Donald Trump’s incoming US administration may unleash would have more far-reaching consequences on the economy and financial markets than any specific stimulus package he delivers, according to Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio. Mr Dalio, the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund group, wrote that “if this administration can spark a virtuous cycle in which people can make money, the move out of cash (that […]
Via Dana Lyons’ Tumblr, A popular bond fund is hitting a key price level that may finally produce a long-awaited bounce. We talk often of the inexorable Trump Rally in stocks since the presidential election. That good fortune hasn’t befallen all other asset classes, however. For instance, the post-election reaction in the bond market has been nothing short of a blood-letting. Yields on the 30-year U.S. Treasury Bond […]
Top government leaders of Vietnam and Cambodia have expressed wishes to cement and develop bilateral ties in the spirit of “good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, all-faceted and long-lasting cooperation”. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc During talks with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi on December 20, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen said his visit […]
By Angus McDowall and Maria Tsvetkova | BEIRUT/MOSCOW BEIRUT/MOSCOW As President Bashar al-Assad’s army closed in on the last rebel enclave in Aleppo on Tuesday, Russia, Iran and Turkey said they were ready to help broker a Syrian peace deal. The Syrian army used loudspeakers to broadcast warnings to insurgents that it was poised to enter their rapidly diminishing area during the day and told them to […]
The Dow and the Nasdaq hit record highs on Tuesday, with the blue-chip index just 13 points shy of the 20,000 mark, a level it has never scaled. Goldman Sachs (GS.N), which was up about 1 percent, gave the biggest boost to the Dow. U.S. stocks have been on a tear since the Nov. 8 presidential election, with the Dow up 9 percent and S&P more than […]
Germany was braced for a possible manhunt on Tuesday after doubts emerged as to whether the man arrested after an attack on a Christmas market in Berlin was indeed the perpetrator. Thomas de Maizière, Germany’s interior minister, said he was in “no doubt” that the attack, in which a truck was driven at speed into a crowded market in the heart of the German capital, was an […]
Turkey’s lira, the second-worst performing currency of 2016, reverted to type with a bout of volatile trading after the country’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged. After strengthening by nearly 1 per cent ahead of the meeting, the lira came back under pressure and was trading at around TL3.54 to the dollar, although another bout of volatility subsequently pushed it higher in late London trading. Concerned about […]
