With Donald Trump’s inauguration just a day away, “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd is preparing to cover a president who occasionally treats journalists like political punching bags. “I think he sees the media as an incredible political tool for him,” Todd told Poynter. “I don’t like being a political prop. And I think we have been set up as a political prop in some ways.” Todd, […]
A bestselling 13th-century cookbook; stories by popular Al Bernameg TV host Bassem Youssef; a controversial book about Saudi women and award-winning Iraqi novels are among the noteworthy English works coming from Arab authors this spring. The new year promises several strong reads from and about Syria. This month, Haus Publishing kicks off their Modern Arabic Classics series with Ascension to Death by celebrated Syrian author Mamdouh Azzam. […]
The Panama Papers committee of the European Parliament wants to speak to Nationalist MPs Tonio Fenech and Beppe Fenech Adami, the Times of Malta has learnt. Although widely known as the Panama Papers committee, it has a wider remit, which includes investigating alleged breaches of money- laundering, tax-avoidance and tax-evasion rules across the EU. The committee will pay a fact-finding visit to Malta next month. Last year, […]
By Lisa Barrington | BEIRUT BEIRUT After years of political deadlock, Lebanon finally has a new government. Now it needs a new economy. Battered by war in neighbouring Syria, neglected by wrangling politicians and caught in rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the pillars of the economy – remittances from overseas workers, tourism and real estate – are not what they were. Long-term, Lebanon is searching for […]
While ECB President Mario Draghi may sound slightly hawkish at tomorrow’s press conference after an unexpectedly strong acceleration in CPI in December and European economic growth modestly picking up, the ECB is set to argue on Thursday that its extra-easy policy stance is still needed to keep the recovery on course. As a result, it is all but certain to leave current monetary policy in place and […]
China cut its holdings of US Treasuries by $66bn in November, reducing its position in the safe-haven debt to the lowest level since 2010 as the country battles to stabilise its currency. The acceleration in sales — the largest monthly decline since December 2011 — threatens a rise in US interest rates if it continues and follows an unwinding in October that saw China cede its position […]
Last December, a Microsoft executive apologized for the aggressive and sometimes questionable tactics the company employed to get users to upgrade from previous operating systems to Windows 10. Now the company gives its Windows 10 initiative another push by claiming that Windows 7 is already a relic and is therefore unsafe to use. Windows 7 Countdown The latest salvo was fired from Microsoft’s German subsidiary, which released a statement […]
The sole Republican commissioner at the main US derivatives regulator has thrown his hat in the ring to be appointed the next chairman, even as he embraced aspects of financial reforms that Donald Trump’s team wants dismantled. Christopher Giancarlo, of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is set to assume the job of acting chairman after Mr Trump’s presidential inauguration on Friday, replacing Tim Massad, the sitting Democratic […]
You, the long-suffering Knicks fan, applauded the team’s acquisition of Carmelo Anthony in 2011. You rejoiced over the reset Dolan orchestrated three years later when he landed 11 Rings Jackson to clean up the mess, to change the culture. Continue reading the main story Now you have pretty much had it with Melo the Martyr and Invisi-Phil. You would probably vote to move on from both, but […]
WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump scrapped a proposal to move news briefings out of the White House, but said he wants his team to choose who gets into the press room. Trump, who will be sworn in on Friday as the 45th U.S. president, has had a contentious relationship with some prominent U.S. news organizations he refers to derisively as the “mainstream media.” The Republican businessman banned […]
There has been a lot of discussion about Twitter lately, most of it negative—it can’t make money on advertising, growth is down, and online bullies remain a problem. Meanwhile, Donald Trump tweets daily; more every day since the election. This alone, you’d think, would draw more attention to Twitter and make it more popular. Twitter actually does over $2.5 billion in revenue, but tech companies […]
Senior British ministers struck a combative note on Brexit negotiations a day after Theresa May’s speech on the UK’s objectives, with Boris Johnson likening François Hollande to a world war two prison guard. The foreign secretary was responding to comments by an adviser to the French president that Britain could not have a better deal outside the EU than it currently enjoys. “If Mr Hollande wants to […]
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has declared that Flash is no longer a priority, as the foundation will instead emphasise the need for a free mobile operating system, cloud replacement, Siri-like personal assistant, and Skype replacement. In its updated High Priority Free Software Projects list, the FSF said users need a free software intelligent assistant replacement to maintain control of their data. “Apple’s Siri, Google Now, Cortana, […]
Qualcomm, the world’s leading mobile chipmaker, has now been dragged to court by U.S. antitrust officials for alleged anti-competitive practices. Particularly, the Federal Trade Commission accused it of violating the FTC Act in the manner it licenses its technology to crush rivals, stifling innovation in the process. In the complaint filed before a federal district court, FTC stated that Qualcomm is using its stable of patented technology […]
The cruise map is ever expanding and 2017 will see new ports of call make their mark. We look at some of the most unusual and alluring of them. newslide Doha and the UAE The Arabian Gulf cruising market is still relatively young compared to most established destinations such as the Caribbean and Mediterranean, but it’s quite clear that Qatar wants a piece of the action. Doha […]
As we observed in yesterday morning’s market wrap, while US market were taking the day off for the MLK holiday, China was busy defending an accelerating selloff across its stock markets. During Monday trading, having traded quietly lower for the past few days, Chinese stocks tumbled in early trading on the mainland and in Hong Kong’s offshore market amid weakness in Asian equities. The Shanghai Composite Index […]
Donald Trump has threatened to overturn two decades of US economic policy by questioning the strong value of the dollar, raising fears that his presidency could set off a new round of currency wars between the world’s major economies. On Monday the president-elect appeared to break from the longstanding “strong dollar” policy of successive administrations, declaring that the currency was too high and that this was preventing […]
Saudi Arabia will launch in coming weeks a renewable energy programme that is expected to involve investment of between $30 billion and $50 billion by 2023, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday. Falih, speaking at an energy industry event in Abu Dhabi, said Riyadh would in the next few weeks start the first round of bidding for projects under the programme, which would produce 10 […]
Oracle CEO Mark Hurd said the movement to cloud computing is driven by business realities as much — if not more — than technology. Speaking at his keynote at Oracle CloudWorld in New York, a regional tour designed to land cloud customers, Hurd said the global gross domestic product is growing at about a 2 percent clip. Half of the growth in the world is coming from […]
Three years ago, The New York Times published its innovation report, an unsparing assessment of the newsroom’s many weaknesses. Nearly 100 pages long and full of words like “worrying,” “shrinking” and “upheaval,” the report described a New York Times that was in a digital standstill while competitors like BuzzFeed, Vox Media and The Washington Post were racing ahead. Today, The New York Times released the results of […]
PARIS In May last year, then French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron sat down with Socialist lawmaker Christophe Sirugue in the steel town of Le Creusot and asked him to join his new political movement. He said No. Eight months on, others are saying Yes. A political outsider who has never run for office and hopes to transcend the classic Left-Right divide, Macron suddenly seems to have a […]
By Kylie MacLellan and William James | LONDON LONDON Britain will not seek a Brexit deal that leaves it “half in, half out” of the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May will say on Tuesday in a speech setting out her priorities for divorce talks which indicates she is prepared to leave the single market. Sterling, which has traded at the lowest levels against the U.S. dollar for […]
Vietnam veteran and former “Berkeley Black Panther” liberal turned conservative author, Mason Weaver, appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight with some harsh words for Civil Rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga), who recently referred to President-elect Trump as illegitimate. Weaver considers Lewis a turncoat who has been “collaborating with the Democrat party to oppress black America.” Weaver begins with a short history lesson [links added for context]: “In the early 70’s and late 60’s, we were demonstrating […]
ABU DHABI // The UAE is positioning itself as a “centre of gravity” for energy, officials said at the opening of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week on Monday. Tens of thousands of people from more than 170 countries were welcomed at the event, which is the first major international gathering in 2017 aimed at mitigating climate change. Issues such as growing energy and water needs, challenges of urbanisation […]
