It is fitting that just a few hours until the Fed’s second rate hike in two quarters, and one day after Goldman downgraded global stocks to Neutral for the next 3 months, not to mention with the results of the anticipated Dutch election due shortly, that global stocks as well as S&P futures are higher, while crude oil has finally managed to stage a rebound as the […]
Released on March 3, the Nintendo Switch console has now reportedly managed to push 1.5 million units, which is an impressive figure for its first week, especially considering that Nintendo’s overall sales projection for March is just 2 million. The Nintendo Switch seems set to pass that mark altogether, possibly even sooner than expected. Nintendo Switch Sales Breakdown According to reports, 500,000 Switch units were sold in […]
By Andrew Osborn | MOSCOW MOSCOW First, armed police seized some of its books. Next, its director was put on trial accused of stirring up ethnic hatred. And now, quietly, its shelves have been emptied and its volumes packed up, ready to be merged into another library’s collection. A year and a half after Russia’s only state-run Ukrainian language library, Moscow’s Library of Ukrainian Literature, was dragged […]
China plans to introduce a bond trading link between Hong Kong and the mainland by year-end, according to premier Li Keqiang. Dubbed “Bond Connect”, the programme would operate alongside the existing Stock Connect system that allows international and mainland investors their only direct access to each others’ markets. On Wednesday, the Chinese premier said: “We are preparing to implement for the first time this year a bond […]
NBC coined the slogan “Must-See TV” more than two decades ago; tonight, MSNBC invented “hurry-up-and-wait” TV. In an excruciatingly delayed primetime media extravaganza that was reminiscent of Geraldo Rivera’s slow-as-molasses unveiling of Al Capone’s vault in 1986, Rachel Maddow used her show Tuesday night to release a portion of President Trump’s tax returns from 2005. In doing so, the broadcast became a cautionary tale about the dangers […]
Wednesday 02:40 GMT Overview A rally in crude oil prices that erased the losses of the previous session failed to bolster energy stocks in Asia, as bond and currency traders also shunned major moves ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rates decision later in the day. Hot topic Crude was climbing in Asia after a slide on Tuesday. Brent, the international benchmark, was up 1.3 per […]
Dutch voters head to the polls on Wednesday after Mark Rutte, prime minister, and rivals clashed over refugees, immigration and the economy in the last televised debate following an extraordinarily tight race. After a campaign that was interrupted by a diplomatic spat with Turkey, by fears of foreign interference and by a row over the security of populist Geert Wilders, the vote is set to be extremely […]
Photo Mahmoud Abbas, right, the president of the Palestinian Authority, met with Jason Greenblatt, President Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, in the West Bank on Tuesday. Credit Mohamad Torokman/Reuters JERUSALEM — President Trump’s new envoy to the Middle East met on Tuesday with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, striving in the administration’s first diplomatic undertaking here to maintain a public evenhandedness amid the […]
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, moved to allay fears that the kingdom was backing away from its pledge to curb production, underlining its concern about a 10 per cent plunge in the crude price over the past week. The kingdom’s energy ministry rushed out a rare statement on Tuesday asserting its commitment to “stabilising the global oil market”, just as global benchmark Brent crude slipped […]
By Jonathan Allen and Scott Malone | NEW YORK/BOSTON NEW YORK/BOSTON A blizzard swept through the heavily populated northeastern United States on Tuesday, grounding thousands of flights, cancelling classes and pummelling those who ventured out onto snow-bound streets. Some 50 million people from Pennsylvania to Maine faced a “rapidly intensifying nor’easter” over the course of the day that was unusual for striking so late in the winter, […]
French explorer Gauthier Toulemonde has begun his journey through Oman’s deserts starting from Wilayat Adam, Al Dakhiliya governorate, where he will cross The Empty Quarter and Al Sharqiya Sands. Toulemonde said his journey will be covered through his social media accounts while he will also send postcards and letters through the mail to his friends around the world to share his experience in Oman. Having previously trekked […]
Turkey’s president escalated his diplomatic row with the Netherlands on Tuesday, claiming the country had a “rotten character” and blamed Dutch troops for the worst massacre in Europe since the second world war. The remarks by Recep Tayyip Erdogan come less than 24 hours before Dutch voters go to the polls in a national election that has been coloured by a heated debate about the role of […]
Tuesday 15:10 GMT What you need to know ● Pound under pressure amid Brexit and Scottish secession worries● Sterling drops below $1.22 and euro edges up towards 88p● S&P 500 down 0.5 per cent as sliding oil hits energy stocks● Treasury yields little changed ahead of Fed decision——————- Hot topic The UK pound is back under pressure as traders become concerned that Edinburgh’s demand for a another […]
The loss of sea ice in the Arctic is popularly attributed to man-made climate change, but findings of a new study have revealed that natural changes in the environment are still a significant factor that contribute to this phenomenon. Natural Factors Researchers of the new study found that a considerable chunk of summer ice loss in recent decades can be blamed on natural variability in the atmosphere […]
In a photo op at the start of their meeting, Mr. Netanyahu greeted Mr. Greenblatt warmly, addressing him as Jason, and said, “I hope we can do some good things together.” Mr. Greenblatt replied, “I think we are going to do great things together.” Once seated, he thanked Mr. Netanyahu for reorganizing his schedule, throwing in a “todah,” Hebrew for thank you. Continue reading the main story […]
OSLO Natural swings in the Arctic climate have caused up to half the precipitous losses of sea ice around the North Pole in recent decades, with the rest driven by man-made global warming, scientists said on Monday. The study indicates that an ice-free Arctic Ocean, often feared to be just years away, in one of the starkest signs of man-made global warming, could be delayed if nature […]
Running in San Francisco, California, with its operations in 528 cities worldwide, Uber Technologies Incorporation is one of the largest online transportation companies that is favored by many people. However, as the saying goes that a company can only grow if it treats its employees well hardly seems to be followed by this organization. Uber has always acknowledged its drivers as partners rather than employees. The drivers feel it is […]
Nicola Sturgeon has called for a second Scottish independence referendum to be held by spring 2019, throwing the constitutional future of the UK into question just as it begins the process of leaving the EU. In a speech at her official residence in Edinburgh, the first minister accused Theresa May of having “not moved an inch” in response to calls for a special deal on Brexit for […]
Why Tavira? At the eastern end of southern Portugal’s perma-sunny Algarve region, Tavira has none of the brashness and concrete overdose that afflicts many of the resort towns in the centre. With a proud heritage dating back through Islamic Al-Andalus, the Roman era and Phoenician traders, Tavira has an authenticity that lends historical weight to its good looks. And boy does it have good looks. Built on […]
Volkswagen Volkswagen has already taken a battering to its reputation due to the emissions scandal and is now tarnished further as the automaker has pleaded guilty to criminal charges as part of a settlement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ). On Friday, the automaker pleaded guilty in a Detroit federal court to felonies in connection with the 2015 emissions scandal. For years, the company sold a’clean […]
March 13, 2017 by: Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong and Michael Hunter in London Monday 07:15 GMT What you need to know US West Texas Intermediate crude is at $48.33 a barrel, having fallen under $48 for the first time in more than three months. The pound is holding above $1.22 as speculation mounts that the UK government is poised to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon […]
SEOUL Oil prices dropped to their lowest in three months on Monday despite OPEC efforts to curb crude output, dragged down as U.S. drillers kept adding rigs. Brent crude LCOc1 had fallen 35 cents, or 0.68 percent, to its lowest since Nov. 30 at $51.02 per barrel by 0231 GMT. It closed the previous session down 1.6 percent at $51.37. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) CLc1 […]
The Trump administration’s sweeping dismissal of dozens of US attorneys held over from the Obama administration leaves the president with sudden gaps in top law enforcement positions across the country. The swift dismissals which began with Friday phone calls from Dana Boente, the acting deputy attorney-general, to 46 US attorneys, now puts pressure on the Trump administration to select candidates who will pass congressional scrutiny to fill […]
Our round-up of the week’s best comment and analysis from the Financial Times focuses on the European Central Bank strategy, green investment and the future of India’s economy. The selection is taken from our Markets Insight and Smart Money columns, written by industry contributors and FT commentators. Olivier Garnier, a group chief economist at Société Générale, looks at the European Central Bank’s exit strategy from ultra-loose monetary […]
