Here are the big questions for investors and markets this week. Will investors like what they hear from President Trump? Mr Trump will address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday (it’s not officially a State of the Union) and with US equities in record territory, investors are very much focused on tax reform and other fiscal measures. Here’s where the Trump trade — based on the […]
By Trevor Hunnicutt and Jonathan Stempel | NEW YORK NEW YORK Billionaire Warren Buffett, whose stock picks over several decades have enriched generations of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) shareholders, delivered a black eye to the investment industry on Saturday, urging ordinary investors to buy plain-vanilla index funds. “When trillions of dollars are managed by Wall Streeters charging high fees, it will usually be the managers who reap […]
Barcelona is home to Mobile World Congress. TomasSereda, Getty Images/iStockphoto Mobile World Congress will see a slew of smartphone launches, but beyond the shiny new devices, the next technology battlefields are slowly coming into focus. Among the likely hardware highlights at next week’s mobile technology event in Barcelona are LG showing off its new LG G6 smartphone, while Huawei is expected to unveil the follow-up to its […]
BISHKEK Kyrgyzstan’s state security service said it detained opposition politician Omurbek Tekebayev on Sunday on charges of corruption and fraud, a move that may eliminate him as a contender for presidency in the upcoming election. Tekebayev, 58, leads the Ata Meken (Fatherland) party’s parliamentary faction and is one of the most outspoken critics of President Almazbek Atambayev, whose term ends this year. The ex-Soviet Central Asian nation […]
In a small office on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, the same Paris street as the Élysée Palace, the secretive “ideas and images” online unit of France’s far-right National Front was planning its next attack. As the battle for the presidency hotted up, signs that Emmanuel Macron, the centrist presidential contender, was polling strongly raised the possibility that he would make the second round vote to face FN […]
GENEVA A United Nations peace envoy said a militant attack in Syria on Saturday was a deliberate attempt to wreck peace talks in Geneva, while the warring sides traded blame and appeared no closer to actual negotiations. Suicide bombers stormed two Syrian security offices in Homs, killing dozens with gunfire and explosions including the head of military security, prompting airstrikes against the last rebel-held enclave in the […]
An efficient hydrogen storage system has been developed that could be a boon for hydrogen powered vehicles. (via WSJ)
Origami-inspired materials use folds in materials to embed powerful functionality. However, all that folding can be pretty labor intensive. Now, researchers are drawing material inspiration from another ancient Japanese paper craft — kirigami. (via WSJ)
A couple of days ago, the New York Times wrote a story that aims to explain why Snap founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy have retained such a hold on voting power in the company — power that its shareholders will not enjoy. It’s a great account and wonderfully written by a reporter I respect greatly. But I don’t quite buy it. According to four sources who spoke to the Times, […]
Corporate speeches usually avoid talk of a “difficult and dark” past. But this month Mark Cutifani, head of Anglo American, defended the South African mining industry’s record on opening up ownership to the country’s black majority. With the government planning to shore up black participation in mining, the next few months are the most critical in the sector’s 150-year history, Mr Cutifani said. Many “still don’t understand” […]
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told Iraqi officials in Baghdad on Saturday that the kingdom plans to appoint a new ambassador, an Iraqi foreign ministry official said. Iraq last year asked Saudi Arabia to replace its ambassador, Thamer al-Sabhan, after his comments about Iranian involvement in Iraqi affairs and alleged persecution of Sunni Muslims angered local Shi’ite Muslim politicians and militia leaders. Jubeir’s visit to Baghdad […]
In the first tangible step toward delivering on Trump’s campaign promise to halt unauthorized immigration from Mexico, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Friday released plans for picking vendors for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall, issuing a preliminary request for proposals saying it plans to release a formal solicitation around March 6 “for the design and build of several prototype wall structures in the vicinity […]
By Tom Miles and Yara Abi Nader | GENEVA GENEVA Syria’s opposition is impatient for face-to-face peace talks in Geneva, but things could fall apart if Russia does not pressure President Bashar al-Assad on holding talks and push it to abide by a ceasefire, an opposition member said on Saturday. The United Nations opened the peace talks with a symbolic ceremony on Thursday, attended by representatives of […]
Akamai has published its Q4 2016 State of the Internet/Security report As always, an interesting read and an opportunity to look at trends in attacks. Not all trends are up and to the right. As the report states, Q4 2016 was “the third consecutive quarter where we noticed a decrease in the number of attack triggers”. Still, “the overall 2016 attack count was up 4% as compared […]
Journalism has changed a lot since the Center for Public Integrity first opened its doors in 1989, but our mission has not: We aim to preserve democracy by revealing abuses of power, corruption and betrayal of the public trust. We are one of the nation’s oldest nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative journalism organizations, but we can’t be everywhere. We need concerned citizens to lead us to stories of waste, […]
TEHRAN: Iran’s nuclear chief said Saturday that the country had requested to buy 950 tons of uranium concentrate from Kazakhstan over the next three years to help develop its civil reactor program.The request has been made to the body that oversees the nuclear deal signed between Iran and world powers in 2015.Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, told the ISNA news agency that the […]
newslide Beyonce pulls out of Coachella music festival Pregnant singer Beyonce pulled out of performing at California’s Coachella music festival in April, citing doctor’s orders. The Formation singer, 35, who is expecting twins, will however headline the event in 2018, organisers said in a statement. “Following the advice of her doctors to keep a less rigorous schedule in the coming months, Beyonce has made the decision to […]
Political opponents of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday turned a traditional celebration of a “People Power” uprising against dictatorship three decades ago into a protest march condemning his war on drugs. The small political opposition and left-wing activists held separate commemorative events at the historic highway where more than a million Filipinos gathered in 1986, forcing Ferdinand Marcos and his family to flee to Hawaii after […]
Suppliers to Tesla and other electric carmakers are scrambling to secure shipments of the key battery material cobalt after a group of hedge funds amassed a large stockpile of the scarce metal. In a bold wager on higher prices, half a dozen funds, including Swiss-based Pala Investments and China’s Shanghai Chaos, have purchased and stored an estimated 6,000 tonnes of cobalt, worth as much as $280m, according […]
By Venus Wu and Greg Torode | HONG KONG HONG KONG Developments in Hong Kong have affected confidence in a system of government intended to ensure the Chinese-ruled city’s autonomy, though its rule of law remained robust “despite challenges”, former colonial power Britain said on Friday. Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 with guarantees it would retain extensive autonomy, an independent legal system and […]
The latest update for Final Fantasy XV, Patch 1.05, introduced several additions such as the Booster Pack and DLC for Season Pass holders, which includes the single-handed sword Ragnarok for more powerful Warp Strikes by Noctis, and compatibility for the PlayStation 4 Pro. It has been previously revealed that there are many more things coming for the latest installment in the long-running RPG franchise, and recent reports have […]
SoFi, the biggest and the brashest of a new breed of online lenders in the US, has sealed a $500m funding round, giving it firepower to push into new products and markets including Canada and Australia. The private San Francisco-based company last received a big shot of funds — its fifth — in September 2015, when SoftBank of Japan led a $1bn round, the biggest in the […]
In a war in which the United States has sought to minimize its own military footprint, this militia has become the American military’s ally of choice in northern Syria and its best hope of taking Raqqa in the coming months. Continue reading the main story But the budding alliance has drawn the United States deeper into the complex politics of northern Syria and prompted furious objections from […]
Sign up to receive Authers’ Note daily by email here Despite appearances to the contrary, the Trump trade may be moving into reverse as the president’s maiden State of the Union address approaches. The overall level of the stock market is, of course, at fresh records. But the pattern within it is shifting again. The end of the week saw sharp falls for almost all equity markets […]
