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 […]
BEIJING China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it welcomed an announcement from the small west African country of Sao Tome to end diplomatic relations with self-ruled Taiwan. “We have noted the statement from the government of Sao Tome and Principe on the 20th to break so-called ‘diplomat’ ties with Taiwan. China expresses appreciation of this, and welcomes Sao Tome back onto the correct path of the ‘one […]
A lawsuit has been filed against Google by one of its employees, alleging the company’s policies improperly muzzle workers. The suit, posted on the website of the plaintiff’s lawyer, challenges the legality of Google’s policies and seeks damages for 12 alleged violations of California labor code under the state’s Private Attorneys General Act. The case was filed by Google product manager identified only as “John Doe,” who […]
A merger of German container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) is likely to take months to complete, partly due to financing issues blamed on a deep industry downturn, sources familiar with the deal say. Hapag-Lloyd signed a binding agreement with UASC in July to form the world’s fifth-largest line, valued at about 7 to 8 billion euros ($7.2-$8.3 billion), by the end of […]
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 […]
By Melissa Fares and David Lawder | WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump plans to put his pick for Commerce Secretary, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, in charge of his get-tough trade policy, a transition team spokesman said on Tuesday. It is a signal of how Trump, who is also interviewing candidates to be the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), plans to elevate […]
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 […]
By Maria Tsvetkova and Peter Hobson | MOSCOW MOSCOW Russia, Iran and Turkey said they were ready to help broker a Syrian peace deal after the three countries held talks in Moscow on Tuesday and adopted a declaration which set out the principles any agreement should adhere to. The countries made the announcement after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hosted talks with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts […]
By Nidal al-Mughrabi | GAZA GAZA Gaza’s population will more than double in about 30 years, signalling even more serious economic problems ahead for Palestinians in the small enclave if the conflict with Israel is not resolved, a U.N. official said on Tuesday. Andres Thomsen, of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), told Reuters “it will be very hard to imagine that you can create the right […]
By Steve Scherer | ROME ROME Three days after resigning as Italian prime minister and before his successor took office, Matteo Renzi typed a late-night Facebook post from his family home near Florence that seemed to cast doubt on his future. “I have no seat in parliament, no salary, no pension… I’m starting over,” he wrote. Since stepping down on Dec. 7 after a crushing referendum defeat […]
It’s a hot July day in Bethlehem, and white-robed pilgrims from Nigeria stand in the courtyard entrance to the ancient church, singing and beating drums. They’ve travelled more than 3,500 kilometres to enter the church’s low wooden door, pass through a nave under restoration and down one of the staircases in the sprawling church, to the grotto. There, they will kneel in prayer and devotion at the […]
Majid Al Futtaim has announced that it has secured an exclusive retail agreement with American Girl, a division of Mattel, and a premium brand for dolls. The deal also encompasses Majid Al Futtaim being awarded exclusive distribution rights in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, spanning bricks and mortar retail, airport-based retail and e-commerce. The first American Girl store in the UAE is slated […]
Six U.S. retailers will no longer require hourly employees to check whether they are still needed for work and risk having their scheduled shifts canceled with little notice, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will announce on Tuesday. Schneiderman and his counterparts in seven states, including California and Illinois, have sent letters to a number of companies in the last year requesting information about their scheduling practices. […]
By Michelle Nichols | UNITED NATIONS UNITED NATIONS African states narrowly failed on Monday for a second time to halt the work of the first U.N. independent investigator appointed to help protect gay and transgender people worldwide from violence and discrimination. The attempt was voted down in the U.N. General Assembly 84 to 77 with 16 abstentions, a month after African states made a similar unsuccessful move […]
Fitch Ratings-Dubai/London-19 December 2016 The ability of the UAE courts to interpret the federation’s new bankruptcy law and handle bankruptcy proceedings will be key to its effective implementation, Fitch Ratings says. The law is due to come into effect at the end of this month. It aims to create a clear and predictable framework for court-based bankruptcy proceedings as an alternative to liquidation. We think the new […]
A last-ditch attempt by Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the struggling Italian bank, to raise up to €5bn in capital was thrown into doubt after the country’s private bank rescue fund expressed “strong reservations” over the terms of a bridge loan that is key to the deal. On Monday, MPS said in a statement that it was “in contact” with Quaestio Capital Management — which manages the […]
Most players will tell you that the back-to-backs add up to more fatigue and more risk for injury. They have also become a marketing problem for the league, because coaches sometimes bench their stars for one of the games. Continue reading the main story Just last week the Cleveland Cavaliers left LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love at home when the team visited the Memphis Grizzlies […]
VIENNA Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPO) offered on Monday to act as a go-between for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin after signing a cooperation agreement with Putin’s party. Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache and the FPO’s recently defeated presidential candidate Norbert Hofer attended the signing ceremony in Moscow, as did officials of Putin’s United Russia party including Pyotr Tolstoy, a deputy chairman of the […]
By Letitia Stein | ATLANTA ATLANTA Inside a sunny classroom at a church decorated with rainbow flags, two transgender teenagers exploded into giggles during a dance break from math at Pride School Atlanta. They are among a handful of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) youth who have found a haven at the school, which opened this fall at a time when the number of discrimination complaints […]
Photo Buses evacuated residents from Fua and Kfarya, Shiite villages near the Syrian city of Aleppo, on Monday. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images BEIRUT, Lebanon — After days of delays and sporadic violence, the evacuation of civilians and fighters from besieged communities in Syria has resumed, with convoys taking people out of Aleppo and two nearby Shiite villages, Syrian state television and opposition conflict monitors reported […]
The deal would send United Nations monitors to observe the evacuation process after consultations with “interested parties,” which means that observers could in theory be turned down by soldiers and militias on the ground. Senior United Nations officials have repeatedly said that they have sought Syrian government permission to be present during the evacuation process, and that they have not received it. Continue reading the main story […]
By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices rose on Monday in anticipation of tighter crude supply going into 2017 following the decision by OPEC and other producers to cut output to prop up prices. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $55.57 per barrel at 0401 GMT, up 36 cents, or 0.7 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate […]
Monday 02:20 GMT Overview Stocks across Asia were weaker, retreating in line with Wall Street’s slight pullback on Friday from last week’s record highs, and as the US dollar softened. What to watch Investors are turning their attention to the Bank of Japan’s policy decision on Tuesday, in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate rise last week. While the dollar’s strength over recent weeks seems […]
