After December’s No vote in the Italian referendum, the rise of Donald Trump and the British vote to leave the EU, it appears that the political landscape of the developed world is being redesigned by the victims of globalisation and technological change. Anger towards political elites is pervasive. Yet a few rage-free zones remain, of which Japan is the most conspicuous. How come this country, whose economy […]
Tucked away in an inconspicuous building in Al Mamzar, some of the UAE’s most acclaimed thespians sit, drinking tea, writing and talking. The building is split in two – one half, the Dubai Folklore Society, composed of traditional dance troupes, and the other, the Dubai Folklore Society Theatre, devoted to Emirati drama. In a large, quiet room adorned with framed photographs and awards, Abdullah Saleh sits on […]
Marine Le Pen will borrow €6m from a company owned by her father to fund her campaign for the French presidency this year, after the leader of the far-right National Front failed to secure financing from traditional banks. Florian Philippot, the deputy head of the party, told Europe 1 radio on Sunday that the money would come from a group called Cotelec, which is owned by Jean-Marie […]
JERUSALEM An Israeli woman was among the dead in an Istanbul nightclub attack that killed at least 39 people, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. She was identified as Leanne Nasser, 19. Israeli media reports said she had been at the club with three friends from her home village of Tira in central Israel, one of whom was wounded in the shooting attack. In a statement […]
China has tightened checks on citizens exchanging foreign currency in anticipation of renewed downward pressure on the renminbi in the new year. Banks have been asked to improve standards for verifying customers’ identities and to report “large or questionable transactions”, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) said in a public statement at the weekend. “There have been leaks in China’s system of personal foreign exchange purchases,” […]
ISTANBUL: Thirty-nine people, including many foreigners, were killed when a gunman reportedly dressed as Santa Claus stormed an Istanbul nightclub as revellers were celebrating the New Year, the latest carnage to rock Turkey after a bloody 2016.The assailant shot dead a policeman and a civilian at the entrance to the Reina club, one of the city’s most exclusive nightspots, and then went on a shooting rampage inside, […]
U.S. fishing and hunting equipment retailer Cabela’s Inc (CAB.N), which is being bought by privately held rival Bass Pro Shops, said the Federal Trade Commission had sought more information from the companies about the deal. Cabela’s shares were down 7.6 percent at $56.98 in premarket trading on Friday. Cabela’s did not provide details about the FTC’s request. As part of the proposed $5.5 billion deal, announced in […]
New penalties for professional advisers who help their clients to evade tax come into force today, as part of a bid by the government to tackle abuses of the excise system. Accountants, bankers, lawyers and other advisers can be fined by up to the value of the tax they helped their client evade, up to a maximum of £3,000. HMRC will also name and shame company involved. […]
The women cowered behind a flimsy bedroom door. One of them dialed 911. Another clutched a stubby kitchen knife. Continue reading the main story Since leaving the corps in 2012, Siatta had been unable to switch off the habits of war. He was hypervigilant and struggled to relax. He watched people, sizing them up and scanning for threats. In the varying situations of everyday life, he constantly […]
At least 35 people were killed and 40 injured after a gunman opened fire inside a nightclub in Istanbul’s posh Ortakoy district, governor Vasip Sahin said. The New Year’s Eve attack at the Reina nightclub started when a gunman shot at police officers near the entrance, then sprayed bullets “indiscriminately”, according to a security official. The shooter acted alone, Mr Sahin said. Two local news channels said […]
Image: Microsoft Many of us want to lose weight, get more exercise, sleep better and so on, but those things are long-term goals with no instant fixes. That’s where a fitness tracker comes in. A wrist band keeps a record so that you can see if you’re improving, and it encourages you to try harder when you’re not. Wear it all the time and it’s a constant […]
Dubai-UAE: 29 December, 2016 As the New Year approaches, it brings with it new expectations, new aspirations and new resolutions. Along with shedding a few kilos, picking up a new skill or travelling to a faraway land, it’s also time to get a handle on your finances. Here are a few questions for your bank as a first step in this direction. Ask all the usual questions, […]
It has been a bad year for numbers. At the start of 2016, Howard Wainer, a much revered Princeton-educated statistician, eulogised that “prediction models combined with exit polls let us go to sleep early with little doubt about election outcomes”. By the end of a year in which data — in the shape of facts, polls and forecasts — struggled to deal with an uncertain world, Mr […]
The traditional paper statement is growing ever longer, complain banks, because they now have to log millions of extra payments from customers tapping their contactless cards. The rapid growth of contactless “tap and pay” and online card transactions means greater volumes of low-value purchases are being recorded line-by-line on bank statements. The average HSBC statement has grown from 2.55 pages to 2.64 pages in the past two […]
When Ghada Kunash discovered the work of artist Majd Kurdieh, it was a “light-bulb moment” for her. She looked at his simplistic, childlike drawings and immediately recognised the depth and poetic stories within. Kurdieh is a Syrian refugee who lives on the edge of a forest in Lebanon. He is in his late 20s and lives alone, with only the characters he creates as company. He makes […]
One contentious subject crops up regularly on Cashmere, the debut album by Swet Shop Boys, a collaboration between rappers Riz Ahmed and Heems: airport aggravation. The opening track is T5, a reference to London Heathrow’s Terminal Five, where the transatlantic duo are often subjected to overzealous security checks. In one memorable Ahmed lyric, a guard apologises for the intrusive search, then asks if he’s “off that film”. […]
China, the world’s largest ivory consumer, will implement a comprehensive ban on the controversial trade by the end of 2017, in a move hailed by conservationists. The announcement by the State Council on Friday night follows through on a commitment made in September 2015 during a meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Barack Obama. The US enacted regulations banning the trade in July. […]
It is not just habit. All of Karanka’s peers in the Premier League go into this much detail, too. Survival in England’s top flight is more than a battle of wits, or even money; it is a war of information. Losing is, often, not simply about playing worse; it is about knowing less. As Karanka sees it, his job is to make sure his players know “at […]
Angela Merkel is to call on Germany to withstand the test of Islamist terrorism by countering the militants’ “hatred” with “humanity” and “unity,” days after the truck attack on a Christmas market. In her New Year’s address, the chancellor will condemn the Berlin attack in which 12 people were killed. It is believed to have been carried out by Anis Amri, a Tunisian who was killed in […]
While you were doing your Christmas shopping, an old-fashioned takeover contest was being fought out in an obscure corner of the stock market. The target was MP Evans Group, one of the very few plantation companies left listed in London. The outcome shows that there are bargains to be found and that some institutional shareholders, at least, will take the long view over the quick buck. Evans […]
Getty Images/iStockphoto With 2016 drawing to a close, here is a look at some of the things — tech, as well as a number of industry metrics — that you should be keeping an eye on over the coming year. CES thoughts Before I begin, I want to mention the first big tech shindig of 2017, which will be CES. I pay very little attention to CES […]
The announcement of new US sanctions against Russia paves the way for a potential showdown between Congress and Donald Trump’s incoming administration over what kind of stance Washington should take against the country in the future. Mr Trump has called for closer ties with Moscow and played down its role in the Ukrainian conflict. But he is likely to face fierce resistance from a bipartisan coalition in […]
Investors’ positions fluctuated wildly this year after unexpected election results in the UK and US upended markets, ultimately propelling a global stock rally and selling of government bonds as portfolio managers readied for the arrival of fiscal stimulus and inflation. A $66bn rotation into US stocks over the past eight weeks reflects expectations for faster global growth and inflation in the wake of Donald Trump’s surprise US […]
Here’s something you don’t hear enough: Journalists, you’re doing a good job. Chances are good that you learned a new skill this year and put it into action. Maybe 2016 was the year you started using Snapchat to tell global stories. Perhaps you figured out how to use GIFs, or augmented your reporting with data. It’s also possible that you unleashed some bots upon the world. In […]
