The US economy and fiscal policy face an uncertain path under the administration of Donald Trump, Janet Yellen warned on Tuesday as she declared “monetary policy is not on a preset course” but said it would be “unwise” to raise rates too slowly. Testifying before Congress on Tuesday, the Federal Reserve chair painted a picture of an economy with accelerating growth, higher inflation and a robust labour […]
When Israel declared independence in 1948, Jordan, along with five other Arab states, attacked Israel, occupied Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, and drove out Jewish residents. Again, in 1967, Jordan attempted to wipe out the Jewish State, but this time, Israel forced the Jordanian army back across the Jordan River. While the government of Israel was ambivalent about whether to retain the newly emancipated areas, the settler […]
Fed Chair Yellen will be appearing before Congress deliver her semi-annual monetary policy testimony (sometimes called the “Humphrey-Hawkins” testimony) today. Her prepared remarks are expected to sound similar to her most recent speech, noting that the labor market has tightened and wage pressures are increasing modestly. As BofA details, she will likely note that the Fed is making progress toward its mandate of full employment and price […]
ABU DHABI // The UAE’s ambassador to the United Nations is the second woman to be elected President of the UN Women Executive Board for 2017. Lana Nusseibeh, who will be representing the Asia-Pacific Group at the UN in New York, said UN Women played a critical role within the UN and around the world as a dynamic and strong champion for women and girls. “In the […]
A few days before the retreat, I met up with the man who, perhaps more than any other figure in the conservative movement, had maneuvered the party toward complete and unbending opposition to Obamacare: Michael Needham of the Heritage Foundation. Needham, 35, is the chief executive of Heritage Action for America, a feral cur of a lobbying organization established by the venerable conservative think tank in 2010 […]
SYDNEY Asian shares inched to 19-month highs on Tuesday as the potential for economic stimulus in the United States underpinned the dollar, bond yields and Wall Street stocks. Yet caution bled into markets ahead of testimony by the head of the Federal Reserve, which could highlight the likelihood of two or more U.S. interest rate hikes this year. Japanese shares also ran into trouble after Toshiba Corp […]
Tuesday 04:40 GMT. Overview Equities in Asia were struggling ahead of comments by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and as oil prices climbed back from a drop spurred by a report indicating output from the US was set to pick up. Hot topic Stock markets in the region deteriorated in afternoon trading, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 flat after giving up an early gain of 0.4 per cent, […]
By Nate Raymond | NEW YORK NEW YORK The trial of two men was delayed on Monday in a case stemming from a probe into a bitcoin exchange and a data breach at JPMorgan Chase & Co after prosecutors revealed a new witness. Jury selection was set to begin in Manhattan federal court in the case of Yuri Lebedev, whom authorities call the architect of bitcoin exchange […]
The value of stocks listed on the S&P 500 eclipsed $20tn on Monday for the first time, as investor optimism over faster US economic growth and stronger corporate profits propelled the Wall Street equity gauge deeper into record territory. The index, which tracks the largest American companies, has rallied by close to 25 per cent over the past year, pushing its market value $3.6tn higher, according to […]
By Andrew Chung and Mica Rosenberg | NEW YORK NEW YORK Washington state’s attorney general has promised to uncover “what truly motivated” President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, an approach that could prompt a rare public examination of how a U.S. president makes national security decisions. The presidential order imposed a temporary ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries, but a federal judge has barred […]
IBM CEO Ginni Rometty recently sent an email to her employees detailing her involvement with, and counseling of, the Trump administration. In it, Rometty claimed that her meetings with the Trump administration as part of the president’s business advisory are purely an opportunity to promote IBM’s values and technological expertise. “IBM does not espouse a partisan or political point of view,” the letter states. “Alone […]
President Donald Trump’s criticism of courts that ruled against his administration recently has generated conflicting views among the nation’s federal judges. Appointed for life, federal judges are typically loath to criticize a sitting president, whose representatives frequently appear before them in court. Four judges agreed to comment on Mr. Trump’s treatment of the courts with […] (via WSJ)
By Timothy Gardner | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON A U.S. federal judge denied a request by Native American tribes seeking a halt to construction of the final link in the Dakota Access Pipeline on Monday, the controversial project that has sparked months of protests from tribal activists seeking to halt the 1,170-mile line. Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., at a hearing, rejected the […]
DuPont and Chemours Co have agreed to pay $671 million in cash to settle thousands of lawsuits involving a leak of a toxic chemical used to make Teflon, the companies said on Monday. Shares of Chemours jumped 13 percent. The company said it would pay half of the settlement, although liability for litigation connected with the chemical was passed onto it when DuPont spun it off in […]
|By Matein Khalid| The US Dollar Index has now fallen 3.5% since it peaked on January 3. Donald Trump and his White House aides broke the 20 year taboo against speaking out against the “strong dollar” policy platitudes. The Federal Reserve did not raise interest rates and signaled no rate hike is imminent at the March FOMC. It is significant that the US dollar has fallen against […]
Almost 20 US banks have been specifically targeted by Lazarus hackers. Image: iStock An aggressive campaign of malware attacks against dozens of banks across the globe has been linked to the notorious cybercriminal group known as Lazarus. The hacking gang, active since 2009, has been involved in a number of aggressive cyberattacks against financial institutions, including the theft of $81m from the Bangladesh Bank’s US Federal Reserve. […]
Jeb Hensarling did not hold back last week, when asked on CNBC about the flaws of Dodd-Frank. “It clogs the arteries of capitalism in our system. It hurts working people. It hurts consumers. It needs to go,” said the chair of the House Financial Services Committee, about the signature piece of financial regulation of the Obama era. “You can’t get a healthy economy as long as you […]
By Sharon Bernstein | OROVILLE, Calif. OROVILLE, Calif. Nearly 200,000 people living below the tallest dam in the United States, near Oroville in Northern California, were urgently ordered to flee their homes on Sunday after a spillway appeared for a time to be in danger of imminent collapse. Authorities issued the abrupt evacuation orders in the mid-afternoon, saying that a crumbling emergency spillway on the Lake Oroville […]
Telstra Health has another win under its belt after being selected by non-profit private healthcare provider Epworth HealthCare to provide its Patient Flow Manager system for Epworth Richmond Hospital in Melbourne. Telstra’s system provides near real-time information on bed occupancy and patient movement throughout the hospital, enabling more efficient planning than via the manual, paper-based system that is still being used. “The current process for managing bed […]
The New South Wales Telco Authority has announced signing NEC Australia to provide network management systems and wireless backhaul technology for state emergency services and other public safety agencies as part of the government’s Critical Communications Enhancement Program (CCEP). Under the three-year deal, NEC will also provide professional services and 24/7 support via its existing technical service centres. NEC will take part in the CCEP’s pilot program […]
When investors last month thumbed through the voluminous marketing materials from Blue Nile, the US online jeweller being taken private by Bain Capital, a few numbers — and footnotes — stood out. Blue Nile was seeking to raise $180m of debt to fund the $500m private equity takeover. By one measure, Blue Nile’s debtrepresented roughly four times its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of […]
A period of consumer spending, retail sales and housing weakness may be imminent, after federal tax refunds tumbled by 78% in the early part of February compared to 2016, the result of a new law which requires the IRS to delay the printing of checks to households claiming specific tax credits. The reason for the slowdown is that in late 2015 Congress passed a law forcing the […]
Wikimedia Commons The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been called a “toothless dragon” in the past when it comes to medical device security, but one security expert believes the FDA is only one of many impotent agencies that need to get their act together. The security of our medical devices, including pacemakers, embedded cardiac devices, and insulin pumps have come under scrutiny as of late. […]
By Andreas Rinke | BERLIN BERLIN Former foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was elected Germany’s president on Sunday, the 12th person to hold the largely ceremonial post in the post-war era. Steinmeier, a Social Democrat who had served as foreign minister until last month, won 931 of the 1,239 valid votes by lawmakers and representatives of Germany’s 16 federal states. There 103 abstentions and 14 votes were invalid. […]
