Every time you watch TV, listen to radio, open a web site or read a newspaper, magazine or book, someone is trying to tell — or sell — you something. The best way to achieve media literacy is to evaluate all the messages that bombard you. Ask these questions to understand the message: Who created, or paid for, the message? The company, group or institution that creates […]
Greek ministers and the country’s bailout monitors were on Tuesday trying to strike a deal on the pension and labour market reforms needed to unlock further financial aid. With the clock ticking down to more than €6bn in debt repayments that Athens must make in July, negotiators say an accord on the main elements of the policy package must be reached soon to stave off the risk […]
South Africa’s rand tumbled in late trading on Monday after a rating agency cut the country’s coveted investment grade status, leaving President Jacob Zuma’s decision to fire his finance minister responsible for wiping out almost all the currency’s gains for the year. The rand slid to R13.7 against the dollar, taking its drop in the past five days to almost 9 per cent. Having recorded a gain […]
While Republican lawmakers in Congress gear up for a drive to cut regulation on the financial sector, bankers and lobbyists have their eyes on another institution in the US capital — the Federal Reserve. On Wednesday Daniel Tarullo, the Fed governor who has been supervising US banks, leaves the institution after eight years during which he assumed a hardline reputation overseeing the rebuilding of US finance from the […]
Here is a selection of five charts that FT Markets believes are important signals for investors as the second quarter begins. 1. US equities How expensive does the US equity market look? This is perhaps the biggest question facing money managers. The answer is “very”, based on the S&P 500’s 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio, divided by the current low level of Vix, or implied volatility, as the […]
JOHANNESBURG President Jacob Zuma said South Africa’s fiscal policies will not change and that people should remain calm after its credit rating was cut to junk following a political reshuffle that he defended as bringing new blood into the cabinet. But moments later, the ANC-allied Cosatu, South Africa’s largest trade union, said Zuma must step down after his change of finance ministers triggered the credit rating downgrade. […]
A day after an explosion ripped through St Petersburg’s metro system killing at least 14 people, authorities in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan identified a suspect in the attack as a Kyrgyz-born Russian citizen. There were conflicting reports as to whether the suspect was a suicide bomber or whether he had fled the scene. Citing an unnamed official at Kyrgyzstan’s national security committee, the Russian news […]
For traders trying to decipher if Opec’s output cuts are finally tightening the oil market, the evidence may lie out at sea. Data provided to the Financial Times show that crude oil being shipped over the oceans or stored on supertankers has dropped by as much as 16 per cent since the beginning of the year, in a signal that supplies could be dropping faster than many […]
KINSHASA, Congo — On Oct. 4, 2016, Etienne Tshisekedi made his final address to a crowd gathered in the courtyard of his party’s headquarters. The longtime leader of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s opposition was visibly frail, and the speech, slow and hesitant, lasted only three minutes. But the old man still managed to rev up his followers, many of whom strained to hear from the […]
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico A Mexican newspaper in the border city of Ciudad Juarez is shutting down due to the risk of violence after a string of killings of reporters around the country, the paper’s owner said on Monday. “Norte” ran a headline that said “Adios” on the front page of its Sunday edition and its owner, Oscar Cantu, explained in a letter he was shutting the newspaper […]
April 4, 2017 by: Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong Tuesday 06.00 BST Overview Asian bonds rallied on Tuesday and yield on US Treasuries dipped to a five-week low ahead of key US events later in the week, while sentiment on South Africa’s rand soured further after S&P downgraded the country’s credit rating. Hot topic The yield, which moves inversely to price, on 10-year US Treasuries rose 1 […]
UAE-based Rotana has signed an agreement with RSG International for a new five star hotel and serviced apartment project in Dubai. Named Sabah Rotana, the 54-storey, 534-room property located in Sufouh Gardens on Sheikh Zayed Road will be managed by Rotana on behalf of RSG International and is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2020. The agreement was signed by Raj Sahni (Abu Sabah), owner […]
Brand New Day The Mavericks (Mono Mundo Recordings) Four stars The Mavericks’ Brand New Day is skilfully paced for the dance floor, straddling southern American borders and shores with a spinning wheel of styles and rhythms. Led by rhapsodic vocalist Raul Malo, they display their usual high standards on tunes brimming with Tex-Mex accordions, Cuban rhythms, sophisticated 1960s pop, sensitive ballads and swirling bossa nova. Opener Rolling […]
The Uber executive accused of stealing trade secrets from his former employer, Alphabet, was allegedly involved in a competing start-up while he employed there, a company that eventually became part of Uber. The revelation is the latest in a high-stakes legal battle between Alphabet and Uber, which are both competing to master self-driving car technology so that they offer driverless transportation fleets. The lawsuit brought by Alphabet’s […]
By Robin Emmott and Gabriela Baczynska | BRUSSELS BRUSSELS International donors are set to pledge billions more dollars for Syrian refugees at a two-day conference from Tuesday that the European Union says must also help prepare for an eventual end to more than six years of war in Syria. With millions displaced within Syria and in neighbouring countries, the United Nations has appealed for $8 billion this […]
Tesla, the upstart electric carmaker, surpassed US motor pioneer Ford in market value on Monday, as investors look to a future beyond the internal combustion engine. Shares of Tesla, founded in 2003, rose 7.3 per cent to a market capitalisation of $48.7bn, gliding past the 100-year-old Ford, whose shares fell 1.7 per cent after disappointing March sales results to a market value of $45.3bn. While it is symbolic for […]
The annual Cesco Week gathering for the global copper industry starts Monday in Santiago. For the first time in five years, attendees arriving in the Chilean capital can reflect on a copper price that is higher than at the previous year’s event. However, optimism that 2017 represents a turning point in the market should be tempered by the realisation that any sustained recovery in the copper price […]
Journalism has a trust problem. In the run-up to the 2016 election, a Gallup poll revealed Americans’ trust in the press had sunk to an all-time low, with just 32 percent surveyed they felt “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust in the mainstream media. Whether it’s criticism from the Trump administration, the failure of the media to correctly forecast the outcome of the 2016 […]
AJMAN // Omani students are still enrolling in Ajman University (AU) two years after Oman removed it from its list of approved tertiary institutions. In March 2015, Oman’s ministry of higher education decided to remove AU from the list after a study reported its graduates’ low employment rate. At the time, 749 Omanis were studying at AU, and more than 10,000 Omanis have graduated from the university […]
A new sexual harassment lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News Channel has increased the pressure on the cable network with allegations that Bill Shine, its co-president, failed to protect a female contributor from retaliation by Roger Ailes after she spurned his unwanted advances. Julie Roginsky, a Fox News contributor and political consultant, alleged in a complaint filed in New York State supreme court that she was denied […]
Investors face a test of nerve as the second quarter beckons. The rally in US stocks and the dollar sparked by the election of Donald Trump is looking stretched, amid doubts about the president’s ability to deliver fiscal stimulus for the economy that can justify lofty equity valuations. The shifting mood has spurred money into emerging markets and European stocks, with EM currencies enjoying a stellar March […]
“I’m sorry viewer, the TV show you’re searching for cannot be streamed in your reality. Please stand by for reconnection.” Those are the opening lines of Hulu’s new show Dimension 404, a show that explores “the wonders and horrors of our digital age” in six one-hour episodes. If that makes you think of Black Mirror, you’re not alone. But Dimension 404, which debuts on April 4, is […]
By Guy Faulconbridge | LONDON LONDON Just days after Prime Minister Theresa May formally served the European Union with divorce papers, a powerful affliction appeared to strike some in Britain: Brexit fever. Amid a row with Spain and the EU over the status of Gibraltar, a former leader of May’s Conservative party, Michael Howard, even said she would be prepared to go to war to defend the […]
Mental Illness Aimee Mann (Superego Records) Four stars It is hardly the most inviting of album titles, but Mental Illness, Aimee Mann’s ninth solo album and first in five years, is decidedly easy on the ear. Its calming, almost-sedative mood is established from the moment the soft chink of sleigh bells ushers in the opening track, Goose Snow Cone. Several of the songs here are meditative-sounding waltzes, […]
