By Kevin Yao and Elias Glenn | BEIJING BEIJING China’s economy grew a faster-than-expected 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter, boosted by higher government spending and record bank lending, giving it a solid tailwind heading into what is expected to be a turbulent 2017. But Beijing’s decision to raise spending to meet its official growth target could exact a high price, as policymakers grapple with financial risks […]
When it comes to bare-knuckle political lobbying, 12-year-old Claudia Conway is a chip off the old block. Today her mother, Kellyanne Conway, the Republican pollster credited with turning round Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, will be celebrating her 50th birthday at the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States. As his special counsellor, Conway is looking forward to life as the most powerful woman in the […]
19 January 2017 Leading global publisher The Business Year (TBY) recently met with HE Essam Abdul Mohsen Al-Marzouq, the newly appointed Minister of Oil and the Minister of Electricity and Water of Kuwait. The Minister spoke extensively about privatization plans in the electricity sector and elaborated on his intentions to move the Ministry of Electricity and Water away from being a producer in order to become more […]
WASHINGTON Rob Cortis calls it the “Trump Unity Bridge” – a bulky, metal 45-foot structure welded to two wheels and bedecked with red, white and blue signs echoing President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign themes. He has towed it more than 20,000 miles (32,000 km) across the country. But as he arrived in Washington on the eve of Trump’s inauguration on Friday as America’s 45th president, he struggled to […]
Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national carrier, will open a new route to Georgia with direct flights to the capital city of Tbilisi this summer. The new flight will be launched from June, with three weekly services to and from Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport, the airline said in a statement. Gulf Air CEO Maher Salman Al Musallam said: “We are pleased to respond to passenger demand by opening […]
PALO ALTO, Calif. With monetary policy still modestly accommodative, the U.S. central bank should continue to raise interest rates slowly to keep jobs plentiful and inflation low, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Thursday. “I think that allowing the economy to run markedly and persistently “hot” would be risky and unwise,” Yellen said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. […]
Western Union agreed on Thursday to forfeit $586m after admitting that it violated US anti-money laundering laws by ignoring evidence that thousands of its agents were involved in sending illicit cash to criminals, including human traffickers in China and bookies in Costa Rica, the US Department of Justice announced. From 2004 to 2012, Western Union, a global money services business based in Englewood, Colorado, “processed hundreds of […]
By Ian Simpson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Washington turned into a virtual fortress on Thursday ahead of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, with police ready to step in to separate protesters from Trump supporters at any sign of unrest. Some 900,000 people, both Trump backers and opponents, are expected to flood Washington for Friday’s inauguration ceremony, according to organizers’ estimates. Events include the swearing-in ceremony on the steps of […]
By Richard Martin | BARCELONA BARCELONA Spanish third-tier team CD Tudelano have taken the unusual step of appointing Scottish businessman John Clarkson as coach on an 18-month contract without a salary, the club said on Thursday. Clarkson, who owns a care home business in East Anglia, takes over a side who are ninth in Group 1 of the regionalized Second Division B. The 60-year-old has previous experience […]
Dubai Properties (DP) has announced that it handed over more than 3,000 residential units during 2016, the most since 2012. The developer’s projects in Culture Village and Dubailand comprised a majority of handovers including 124 units at Dubai Wharf, three months ahead of schedule, it said in a statement. DP added that it also handed over 2,900 units in Dubailand that included 1,600 units in the built-to-suit […]
19th January 2017 Profile Software, an international financial solutions provider, today announced its sponsorship of the Middle East Wealth Management Forum organized by Hubbis, taking place on the 24th of January at the Ritz Carlton, DIFC in Dubai, UAE. Profile’s executives will demonstrate the client centric and innovative platforms that address the Wealth Management industry’s requirements. Profile supports thought provoking industry leading events for the Wealth Management […]
Lawmakers, government officials, and aid workers are bracing themselves for a broad offensive from President-elect Donald Trump against federal programs that support family planning and gender equality around the world. As one of his first acts in the Oval Office, the Republican president-elect plans to restore the “Mexico City policy” as soon as Sunday, a congressional staffer told Foreign Policy. Also known as the “global gag rule,” […]
SINGAPORE, 20 Jan 2017: Singapore will withdraw its Reciprocal Road Charge if Malaysia subsequently withdraws its Road Charge, or implements it in a non-discriminatory way, says the republic’s Ministry of Transport (MOT). MOT described the ‘non-discriminatory way’ as Malaysia should implement its road charge at all of its land borders, at an equal cost and on all non-Malaysian-registered cars. “We have a long-standing policy of matching any levy, tolls […]
By Ayesha Rascoe and Julia Edwards Ainsley | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Donald Trump is ready to begin taking executive actions on his first day in the White House on Friday to move quickly on his pledge to crack down on immigration, build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border and roll back outgoing President Barack Obama’s policies. Trump, a Republican elected on Nov. 8, arrived in Washington on a […]
American Express Co’s (AXP.N) quarterly profit fell 8.2 percent as the credit card issuer boosted spending on marketing and promotion to fend off rising competition. Net income attributable to common shareholders fell to $825 million, or 88 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $899 million, or 89 cents per share, a year earlier. Total revenue, net of interest expense, fell to $8.02 […]
Donald Trump has chosen Woody Johnson, the billionaire owner of the New York Jets American football team and veteran Republican political donor, as his ambassador to Britain. Speaking to Republicans at a lunch in Washington ahead of his inauguration on Friday, Mr Trump revealed that he had chosen the owner of the sports team as ambassador, as he kept his penchant for announcing appointments of his team […]
Oman Air is more than double its contribution to the country’s gross domestic product this year to OR900 million ($2.3 billion) as it seeks to continue expansion of its fleet and network. The national carrier will tell its staff at its global conference in Muscat on Thursday that it increased its GDP contribution in 2016 by 6 percent to OR415 million. The increase came in the context […]
5936 25 by Shannon K. O’Neil January 18, 2017 A dye factory worker suns fabric after washing them in Narayanganj near Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 25, 2016 (Reuters/Mohammad Ponir Hossain). In late December, tens of thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers went on strike, shutting down over fifty factories making fast-fashion clothes for international brands including Gap, H&M, and Zara. What started as a walkout in support of 121 […]
Microsoft is enabling Windows users who buy Windows subscription plans like Windows 10 Enterprise E3 and E5 through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program to upgrade from Windows 7 and 8.1 for free. Credit: Microsoft “Customers subscribed to Windows 10 Enterprise E3 and E5 as well as Secure Productive Enterprise E3 and E5, can now upgrade their Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 PCs and devices to Windows […]
Government of Dubai Media Office – 19 January 2017 Chairperson of Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCA) HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, today announced the appointment of Dr. Amer Al Zarooni as the Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Healthcare City Medical (DHCM), a new cluster that oversees […]
A bonus of $250,000 is on offer to any runner who can break the world record at Friday’s Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon. The bonus is in addition to the first prize of $200,000 and underlines the status of the popular IAAF Gold Label race as the richest marathon in the world. Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, whose personal best is just six seconds outside the world record of 2h:02m:57s […]
By David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. regulators are expected on Thursday to close a six-month-old investigation into the death of a man whose Tesla collided with a truck while he was using its semi-autonomous driving system and not seek a vehicle recall, according to a source briefed on the matter. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did not find evidence of a defect that would […]
Steven Mnuchin, Donald Trump’s nominee to be Treasury secretary, clashed with Democrats over the business practices of the lender he once chaired, saying he had been wrongly accused of taking advantage of unfortunate borrowers and that he would work “tirelessly” to boost the economy and US hiring. The former banker told the Senate finance committee that he had been maligned and that OneWest, the bank, had extended 100,000 […]
Kraft is still a very hands-on owner, but three of his sons have taken on greater responsibilities with the Patriots and the family’s portfolio of company investments, including a Major League Soccer team, the New England Revolution. More and more, Kraft said, he is focusing on strategizing and bringing people together. Like Arabs and Jews. He has sought to broker Middle East conciliation through sports and investments, […]
