By Brenda Goh | DANDONG, China DANDONG, China As Beijing tightens its grip on trade with North Korea, the economies of Chinese towns along the 1,400-km border the two countries share are floundering. On Saturday, China said it would ban all coal imports from North Korea, the latest move to enforce United Nations sanctions aimed at depriving Pyongyang of hard currency for its nuclear weapons and ballistic […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian stocks pulled back from a 19-month high on Thursday, while the dollar tried to steady from losses suffered in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve minutes indicating a cautious approach to more interest rate increases. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was fractionally lower. Japan’s Nikkei slid 0.1 percent, while Australian shares retreated 0.3 percent. Overnight on […]
The smart home is gaining ground, but it’s still a muddle of confusing standards, competing platforms, and gadgets that don’t do what you might expect. But the promise of products that can make your life a little easier is hard to resist, so I’m here to answer the inevitable questions that arise. Whether it’s figuring out the best connected door lock to assembling the right […]
We live in a society where it seems like the only way to meet someone new to start a serious relationship with is through dating apps. But using these platforms leave users at risk of finding out the one they have been talking to was too good to be true after finally meeting in person. Not to mention there is always the worst case scenario: getting catfished. […]
By Emmanuel Jarry and Gérard Bon | PARIS PARIS Francois Bayrou, a centrist candidate in three past French presidential elections, was set to announce on Wednesday if he will run in this year’s race for the Elysee, a move that could erode support for independent Emmanuel Macron. Opinion pollsters give Bayrou single figure percentages in the April 23 first round of voting, and therefore only a tiny […]
By Shinichi Saoshiro | TOKYO TOKYO Asian stocks edged up on Wednesday, joining a record-setting night for world markets as investors cheered upbeat factory activity in Europe and solid earnings on Wall Street. The dollar was steady after hawkish comments from top Federal Reserve officials bolstered expectations the world’s no. 1 economy was strong enough to keep policymakers on course to further raise rates this year. MSCI’s […]
Having come under pressure to address an uptick in incidents targeting Jewish institutions across the US, President Trump denounced anti-Semitism Tuesday when during a tour of the National Museum of African-American History and Culture he said that “Anti-Semitism is horrible and it’s going to stop and it has to stop.”. Trump: Anti-Semitic incidents are “horrible and painful” https://t.co/QmRTDXgq5E — Daniella Diaz (@DaniellaMicaela) February 21, 2017 Further, the […]
Tuesday 08:45 GMT Overview European stocks are easing back after a mixed Asia session as Wall Street looks to re-enter the fray at record levels. The dollar is stronger and Treasury yields are moving up as expectations build of tighter US monetary policy, a scenario that is hurting gold. Hot topic European government bond markets remain a focal point for investors after an opinion poll showed Marine […]
PARIS French socialist presidential candidate Benoit Hamon said on Tuesday he was confident about reaching an agreement with green party candidate Yannick Jadot by the end of this week. The two have been discussing a possible alliance under which Jadot would withdraw his candidacy and join forces with Hamon in the April-May election. “I am confident and optimistic that we can reach an agreement by the end […]
The bad old days of golf courses being perceived as water-guzzling eyesores are being transformed as more and more clubs adopt sustainable practices that enhance biodiversity while conserving water to create a fairer way to play. Matthew Perry has no trowel in his hands as he tends to the turf at Dubai Creek golf course. There is no wheelbarrow or shovel – just an electronic device plunged […]
Travis Kalanick has it all worked out. Just ask him. He sees the future, and what it looks like is pretty different from what most people experience every day. Not surprisingly, it all starts with Uber. With a ride-sharing system, says the 40-year-old bachelor and CEO of the transportation company that has gained global notoriety, one car can be shared by 30 people. “The cost of that […]
ABU DHABI // Abu Dhabi will increase protected habitats by thousands of square kilometres and rehabilitate dozens of endangered species in a plan to tackle the most pressing environmental issues. By 2020, more than 15 per cent of the emirate’s land and 13 per cent of its water will be legally protected natural reserves. The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, or Ead, plans to triple rehabilitation and breeding […]
Dubai Restaurant Week offers foodies a chance to dine in 15 of the emirate’s most notable restaurants for just Dh199 a person, a considerable saving on the usual prices. It runs from Thursday until March 4, and there are two sittings a night: 7.30pm and 9.30pm. We sampled the menus for the best dishes. newslide Fagotelli carbonara at Social by Heinz Beck, Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah Heinz […]
The European Parliament’s Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion, known as PANA, is holding a string of meetings in Malta today to interview, among others, No Portfolio Minister Konrad Mizzi following revelations that he had secretly opened a company in Panama. Dr Mizzi was the only serving minister in the European Union to be named in the Panama Papers, 11.5 million documents […]
Newly appointed New South Wales Minister for Finance, Services and Property Victor Dominello has said he plans to bring his data-driven expertise to his new portfolio, rewarding government agencies with an “innovation bonus” if they move away from a silo-ridden approach to IT and service delivery. Speaking at the Gartner 2017 APAC Data & Analytics Summit in Sydney on Monday, Dominello said he had his eye on […]
Monday 04:30 GMT Overview Stock markets across Asia were mostly higher though currencies struggled to make much headway in a subdued session. Hot topic The US market is closed on Monday for the President’s Day public holiday. On Friday the S&P 500 climbed 0.2 per cent to a record high, capping a week in which the FTSE All World index topped its previous record peak from May […]
In a country where the use of magic is a crime punishable by beheading, it’s not every day that young Saudis wander down the street dressed as the Hulk or Doctor Doom. But for three days over the weekend, some 20,000 Saudis decked out in costumes and face paint queued to get into Saudi Arabia’s first-ever Comic Con, where robots, video games and giant anime figures filled […]
The EU’s Brexit negotiators expect to spend until Christmas solely discussing Britain’s divorce from the bloc, denying London any trade talks until progress is made on a €60bn exit bill and the rights of expatriate citizens. A narrow divorce-first approach favoured by Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, would represent a big setback for Britain’s aim for a fast-track EU trade deal, completed by the end of […]
By Erik Kirschbaum | BERLIN BERLIN Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) have moved ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) in an opinion poll by the Emnid institute for the first time since 2006, Bild am Sonntag newspaper said. The SPD’s unexpected surge of some 12 points in the last month has caught Merkel and her conservatives off guard, analysts said, just seven months before […]
Pakistan stocks exchange (PSX) remained under pressure during the week ended February 17, 2017 as worsening security situation and political uncertainty kept the participants on the sidelines, dealers said. An analyst at Arif Habib Limited (AHL) said mixed trend was witnessed at the local bourse with levels above the psychological 50K mark seemingly untenable. “Resistance became the underlying theme of the market given reservations over the ongoing […]
MUNICH A new version of a Trump administration travel ban will not stop green card residency holders or travellers already on planes from entering the United States, U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security John Kelly said on Saturday. U.S. President Donald Trump’s initial attempt to clamp down for security reasons on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries and on refugees snarled to a halt amid a judicial backlash and […]
ABU DHABI // Parents have a responsibility to educate their children about separating recyclable material, says Abu Dhabi’s centre for waste management. Tadweer has provided more than 200,000 black and green bins across the emirate to make separation easy and feasible for everyone. Mohammed Sadique, an Indian resident of Al Zahiya, is one father who has taken up the challenge. “I have two children, aged 7 and […]
Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. So what if Donald Trump strong-armed media advertisers in the same way he’s trying to get companies to keep jobs in the United States? The subject was broached by a faraway observer after Trump’s angry and rambling anti-press rhetorical screed […]
In an isolated area of Ecuador’s Amazon, the face of Lenín Moreno, the anointed successor of fiery leftist President Rafael Correa in Sunday’s presidential election, is plastered on billboards proclaiming “the future is unstoppable”. That future worries Mercedes Cabrera, a peasant leader in the village of Santiago de Panantza. She says she was snatched from her bed by state security forces and branded a terrorist after a policeman […]
