Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. The Tuesday morning news shows were dominated by word that Michael Flynn is out as national security adviser. “Stunning” was the call by the Trump home team at “Fox & Friends.” It proceeded to quote its usual media pinatas in […]
A few days before the retreat, I met up with the man who, perhaps more than any other figure in the conservative movement, had maneuvered the party toward complete and unbending opposition to Obamacare: Michael Needham of the Heritage Foundation. Needham, 35, is the chief executive of Heritage Action for America, a feral cur of a lobbying organization established by the venerable conservative think tank in 2010 […]
A striking feature of global financial markets since the crises of 2007 and 2008 has been the high propensity of many wealthy private investors to sit out all the turmoil, holding cash in bank accounts rather than in riskier assets. Might that be about to change? The word among bankers in conservative Switzerland — the world’s largest centre for cross-border private wealth management — is that it […]
President Donald Trump has tried to ban people from certain Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. and has begun deportation raids, following through on his campaign promise to creating a more cautious, less open America. Recent migrants to the country are starting to worry how far the measures will go and some Indians are worried that the skilled-worker visas they use to enter the country could become […]
Donald Trump’s embrace of protectionism and opposition to multilateral trade deals has prompted EU leaders to ask how Europe might deepen ties with Asia as a way of bolstering global commerce and safeguarding export markets. Some officials have talked about Europe performing its own trade pivot to Asia as well as other emerging markets. But closer engagement, especially with China, at a time of global economic upheaval […]
By many accounts, Australia has done its best to silence the voices of these migrants and refugees. Housing them on the remote Pacific islands of Manus and Nauru has not only geographically isolated them from the Australian mainland, but also kept them at arm’s length from the country’s journalists and human rights activists. Continue reading the main story I first came across Mr. Boochani’s story on his […]
By Andrew Chung and Mica Rosenberg | NEW YORK NEW YORK Washington state’s attorney general has promised to uncover “what truly motivated” President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, an approach that could prompt a rare public examination of how a U.S. president makes national security decisions. The presidential order imposed a temporary ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries, but a federal judge has barred […]
President Donald Trump’s criticism of courts that ruled against his administration recently has generated conflicting views among the nation’s federal judges. Appointed for life, federal judges are typically loath to criticize a sitting president, whose representatives frequently appear before them in court. Four judges agreed to comment on Mr. Trump’s treatment of the courts with […] (via WSJ)
Optimism that the Trump administration is close to proposing a series of business-friendly tax reforms sent the main barometer for US small-cap stocks to a fresh high on Monday for the first time in more than two months. The Russell 2000 index, which tracks companies with market values of roughly $300m to $2bn, climbed as much as 0.7 per cent on Monday to 1,398.6, knocking out its […]
newslide Members of George Michael’s family say they are “extremely upset” that a recording of the emergency call reporting his death was leaked to the press. Lawyers for the family on Sunday said relatives want an investigation and “will expect the culprit(s) to be dealt with appropriately”. They said family and friends are appalled “that such a personal, painful and clearly confidential recording has been leaked”” On […]
|By Matein Khalid| The US Dollar Index has now fallen 3.5% since it peaked on January 3. Donald Trump and his White House aides broke the 20 year taboo against speaking out against the “strong dollar” policy platitudes. The Federal Reserve did not raise interest rates and signaled no rate hike is imminent at the March FOMC. It is significant that the US dollar has fallen against […]
Photo The Jewish settlement Ma’ale Adumim, in the West Bank. Credit Dan Balilty for The New York Times WASHINGTON — President Trump, who presented himself as a staunch supporter of Israel during last year’s campaign, took a harder line on settlements in an interview published on Friday and indicated that he was rethinking his promise to move the United States Embassy to Jerusalem. Mr. Trump told an […]
Japan’s yen softened further in early Asian trade on Monday after the country reported slower than expected fourth-quarter growth. The yen slipped 0.8 per cent to ¥114 per dollar, its weakest since January 30, following the release of data showing gross domestic product for the three months to December grew 0.2 per cent quarter on quarter, coming in below estimates of 0.3 per cent growth. The currency […]
US President Donald Trump’s two sons Eric and Donald Jr are set to attend the launch of The Trump International Golf Club in Dubai this month as guests of honour, it has emerged. It has yet to be confirmed whether the sons will formally launch the facility, a spokesperson for the club told Arabian Business. However, a spokesperson for Damac Properties, the developer behind the $6 billion […]
Qatar Airways is willing to “open” its financial books for scrutiny, according to CEO Akbar Al Baker, who said President Donald Trump could set up a special committee to examine them. “We are publishing our accounts and we are not running our airlines that we are perceived to run as,” airline CEO Akbar Al Baker told CNNMoney. “We have open book and President Trump is most welcome […]
Top White House aide and policy adviser, Stephen Miller, sidestepped repeated chances during Sunday news shows to publicly defend embattled National Security Adviser Michael Flynn following reports that he engaged in conversations with Russian diplomat(s) about U.S. sanctions before Trump’s inauguration. The uncertainty came as Trump was dealing with North Korea’s apparent first missile launch of the year and his presidency, along with visits this week from […]
It was a weekend that included an intimate golf outing of more than four hours; a lavish Saturday night dinner; and an unexpected joint statement on North Korea’s missile launch. Yet even more notable was what the two-day summit between Donald Trump and Japan’s Shinzo Abe did not include — controversy. Three weeks into his presidency, Mr Trump appears to be adopting a more traditional US foreign […]
Photo Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said on Sunday that he and President Trump “have known each other for years.” Credit Pool photo by Gali Tibbon JERUSALEM — As President Trump appeared to shift closer to the political center on several contentious policies on Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested on Sunday that it was unrealistic to expect their two countries to agree completely on all […]
newslide Richard Gere has used the press conference for the Berlin Film Festival as a platform to speak out against President Donald Trump’s immigration policy and travel ban. Speaking at the conference, just before the world premiere of his new film The Dinner, the actor and activist said that he found it discouraging to see term ‘refugee’ go through such a dispiriting change of meaning in the […]
The latest retailer to join the “anti-Trump resistance“, is also the one which despite being closest to death managed to crush short sellers on Friday after its stock soared on the announcement of yet another hail ymary restructuring: according to Reuters, Sears and Kmart are discontinuing online sales of 31 Trump Home items. An obvious publicity stunt meant to distract the public’s attention from the company’s chronic […]
Photo Residents walked through the destruction in eastern Aleppo last month, after it was brought back under the control of government forces. Credit Hassan Ammar/Associated Press President Bashar al-Assad of Syria suggested in an interview published Friday that he could foresee cooperation with the Trump administration and might even countenance the deployment of American soldiers in the country one day. The remarks by Mr. Assad appeared to […]
Good morning. Critique by “Sid Vicious” not pretty If things had gone differently, Washington would now be gossiping about the role of Sidney Blumenthal within a Clinton White House. A congressional inquisition over his much-publicized emails with then-Secretary of State Clinton, his longtime friend, now seems so distant, doesn’t it? But it’s still fitting the journalist-activist and historian should weigh in on Donald Trump. A cerebral but […]
Mr. Kushner, on something of a crash course in diplomacy, has been speaking with Arab leaders in recent weeks. But he is a mystery to most Middle Eastern officials. He has no experience in government or international affairs. His up-close exposure to the Arab world amounts to little more than trips to a handful of Persian Gulf countries and a star-studded jaunt to Jordan. Continue reading the […]
Investors remained cautious on the so-called Trump trade over the past week, as political wrangling in Washington drove more money into bond funds and bond proxies. Junk bond funds collected $1bn in new money in the week to February 8, while investment grade corporate bond funds gained $2.1bn, the fourth straight week of inflows for highly rated company debt, according to data from EPFR. Utilities-focused equity funds, […]
