Donald Trump is trying to persuade his preferred candidate to succeed Michael Flynn as national security adviser to change his mind after the retired admiral tapped for the role told the US president that he could not accept the White House position, according to two people familiar with the situation. Mr Trump asked Robert Harward, a retired navy special forces officer, to succeed Mr Flynn, who was […]
The four major US stock benchmarks snapped their longest record setting streak since 1995 on Thursday. The S&P 500 closed 0.1 per cent lower at 2,347.22, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day little changed at 20,620.04. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.1 per cent to 5,814.90, while the Russell 2000, the benchmark index for US small cap stocks, fell 0.5 per cent to 1,397.18. […]
Submitted by Pam Martens and Russ Martens via WallStreetOnParade.com, Less than two weeks after Mary Jo White was nominated to become Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission by President Barack Obama on January 24, 2013, White filed an ethics disclosure letter advising that she would “retire” from her position representing Wall Street banks at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton. White wrote on this subject in […]
By Roberta Rampton | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will seek on Saturday to soothe allies unnerved by his boss’ unorthodox statements on Russia and NATO as he stresses America’s commitment to Europe during the first major foreign address for the Trump administration. Pence will tell the annual Munich Security Conference that Europe is an “indispensable partner” for the United States, a message he will […]
There was predictable consternation in Beijing and among foreign policy experts in Washington. They fretted that Mr. Trump was recklessly undoing the landmark China diplomacy of Richard M. Nixon and Mao Zedong — fears that were misplaced, it turned out. Continue reading the main story Last week, Mr. Trump telephoned President Xi Jinping and promised to abide by “one China,” having discovered that Mr. Xi was not […]
WASHINGTON Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn told FBI agents in an interview last month that he had not discussed sanctions against Russia with Moscow’s U.S. ambassador before President Donald Trump took office, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing current and former U.S. officials. Flynn’s Jan. 24 interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation could expose him to charges, since lying to the agency […]
Image: Relax VR The early promise of virtual reality (VR) was vast: We would be transported to new worlds and live in alternate realities. While scientists and programmers have been investigating the possibilities of VR since the 1960s, it’s only in the last few years that the technology started to gain mainstream traction, with VR applications spanning from education to real estate. Australian startup Relax VR is […]
Shaul Arieli, an Israeli expert on political geography who prepared maps for past negotiations with the Palestinians and is a member of Commanders for Israel’s Security, the group behind the billboard campaign, said “one state is impossible” for Israel. Demographically and economically, absorbing millions of comparatively poor Palestinians would destroy it, he said. Results of a survey of Israelis and Palestinians released on Thursday, put out jointly […]
MUNICH, Germany European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday that Europe must not cave in to U.S demands to raise military spending, arguing that development and humanitarian aid could also count as security. U.S. President Donald Trump has raised questions about his commitment to the NATO defence alliance if European countries do not raise defence spending to 2 percent of economic output. The United States puts […]
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump’s choice for national security adviser, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, has turned down the offer, sources familiar with Harward’s decision said on Thursday. Harward was offered the job after Michael Flynn was fired by Trump on Monday for misleading Vice President Mike Pence over his conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the United States. Two sources familiar with the decision said Harward turned down […]
By Steve Holland | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The first gripe came three minutes into President Donald Trump’s first solo news conference on Thursday, when he accused reporters of ignoring a poll showing him with a 55 percent approval rating – a figure at odds with most other surveys. From there, the president’s criticism of the media went from barbed to personal in a cutting assessment of what he […]
By Patricia Zengerle and Matt Spetalnick | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Wary Democrats on Thursday challenged Republicans who control the U.S. Congress to conduct a credible investigation into contacts between President Donald Trump’s associates and Russia, a process that will likely take months and may never become public. “We will be watching very carefully. If the Intelligence Committee investigation is not proceeding to unearth the entire truth, we will […]
Washington’s top diplomatic and military officials have set out their conditions for co-operation with Russia by calling on Moscow to fully comply with an international peace accord on Ukraine, in a reaffirmation of Obama era priorities. The comments from Rex Tillerson, secretary of state, and James Mattis, defence secretary, came amid accusations that other aides close to Donald Trump had improper communications with Russian officials, a scandal that […]
Video Haley Says U.S. Backs Two-State Solution Nikki R. Haley, United States ambassador to the United Nations, said on Thursday that the administration supports a two-state solution in the Middle East. By UNTV. Photo by Mary Altaffer/Associated Press. Watch in Times Video » UNITED NATIONS — Twenty-four hours after President Trump swatted away at a broad international consensus on how to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians, […]
By Dan Levine | SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO U.S. President Donald Trump will replace his executive order suspending travel from seven Muslim-majority countries “in the near future,” according to a Justice Department court filing on Thursday. Given the upcoming executive order, the Justice Department said a federal appeals court should not reconsider a ruling that suspended Trump’s Jan. 27 order. “In so doing, the President will clear […]
By John Irish | BONN, Germany BONN, Germany France considers the U.S. position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “confused and worrying”, its foreign minister said on Thursday, reacting to U.S. President Trump’s dropping of the America’s commitment to a two-state solution. Jean-Marc Ayrault met Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at a G20 meeting of foreign ministers in Bonn where, he said, he got some reassurance about Washington’s stance […]
By Mike Stone | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The cost of Lockheed Martin Corp’s stealthy F-35 jet could fall 16 percent to around $80 million in future purchases, according to the Department of Defense’s head of the program. In February, the Pentagon agreed to a deal for the tenth batch of the fighter aircraft at below $95 million per jet for the first time, compared with $102 million in […]
Ten years ago Vladimir Putin angrily declared that the post-cold war order was a sham. Standing before the western military and diplomatic establishment at the Munich Security Conference, the Russian president accused the US of plunging the world into chaos by warmongering, meddling in other countries’ affairs and disregarding international law. For many, it marked the moment that Mr Putin became an adversary. Now, as foreign policy […]
The number of American companies tapping Europe’s bond markets has fallen this year with rising relative borrowing costs on the continent weakening the case for cross-border debt. An extended rally in European credit has enticed US companies to borrow over €100bn of so-called “reverse Yankee” bonds over the past two years with corporate bond purchases from the European Central Bank driving down yields. But appetite is fading […]
WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed South Carolina congressman Mick Mulvaney to serve as White House budget director in a 51-49 vote that largely followed party lines. Underscoring the rocky reception that President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees have had on Capitol Hill, the vote came as Republican Senator John McCain opposed Mulvaney along with 46 Democrats and two independents. McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed […]
Judging by his ongoing Tweetstorm this morning, in which he first praised the market’s performance (it remains to be seen what if anything he will say once stocks tumble under his watch), then dedicated the next four tweets to leakers, fabricated sources, “fake news” and Russia, president Trump does not appears to be in a good mood. In his two most recent tweets sent between 9 and […]
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. Imagine the reporters who must cover daily a bombastic New Yorker who has inherited a fortune, exudes a sense of entitlement, disdains much of the press, trafficks in half-truths, has overseen properties in huge disrepair, routinely overrules underlings, disdains public […]
By Phil Stewart and Robin Emmott | BRUSSELS BRUSSELS U.S. President Donald Trump’s defense secretary on Thursday said he did not see the conditions for military collaboration with Russia, in a blow to Moscow’s hopes for repairing ties with the United States following Trump’s election. “We are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level. But our political leaders will engage and try […]
It is not just equities that are rebounding this month. The dollar is up almost 2 per cent against a basket of its peers as it resumes an upward path that most in the foreign exchange market believe is the natural consequence of the economic policies Donald Trump has vowed to deliver. Given the US president has suggested he prefers a weaker dollar, its fresh strength has […]
