Paris, France / AFP French lawmakers voted massively on Wednesday to extend a state of emergency as President Francois Hollande said that a call to boost reserve forces had paved the way towards a “National Guard.” The government is scrambling to find new ways to assure a jittery population after its third major attack in 18 months saw a ...
Read More »Nomination battle over, Trump seeks to close ranks
Cleveland / AFP Having prevailed in his remarkable run to the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump turns to his next task of healing crippling party divisions and solidifying support for his White House campaign. Trump wasted little time basking in the glow of Tuesday’s historic achievement, flipping the script once again on the Republican National Convention and telling delegates ...
Read More »Renowned journalist killed in Kiev car bomb
Kiev / AFP A car bomb in central Kiev on Wednesday morning killed well-known pro-Western journalist Pavel Sheremet, with the crisis-hit nation’s president demanding the perpetrators are brought to justice. The 44-year-old, originally from Belarus but a Russian citizen who worked for Ukrainska Pravda, an independent news site, died when an explosion tore through the car he was in. ...
Read More »UN reverts to secrecy for vote on new Secretary-General
United Nations / AFP After months of public campaigning, debates and open hearings, Security Council ambassadors huddle behind closed doors on Thursday to begin secret voting for a new secretary-general to lead the world body. The 15 council members including the powerful permanent five — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — will each rate the 12 ...
Read More »A wall too high for the GOP?
WASHINGTON Political conventions are echo chambers designed to generate feelings of invincibility, sending forth the party faithful with a spring in their steps and hope in their hearts. Who would want to be a wet blanket at such moveable feasts? Steve Munisteri would. Although he calls himself “the eternal optimist,†he respects reality, which nowadays is not conducive to ...
Read More »May’s Berlin meet will clear air on exit process
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s visit to Berlin would largely focus on establishing working relationship with strong woman of Europe, German Chancellor Angel Merkel. This would be necessary when May triggers the Article 50 to kickstart the UK’s exit process from the European Union (EU). Ahead of her meeting with Merkel, she already took the first step towards Brexit ...
Read More »Melania Trump’s plagiarism confirms your fears
Megan McArdle At first after the convention broke for the night on Monday, everyone on the cable news networks agreed that Melania Trump’s speech was good. An hour later everyone was talking about how much her apparent plagiarism from Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech would hurt the Trump campaign. This morning Trump supporters are offering the only defense they can: ...
Read More »Tajikistan: The Eurasian Economic Union’s next member?
Tajikistan appears to be inching toward joining the Eurasian Economic Union. With Dushanbe long suggested to be considering membership, this news ought to be taken with a grain of salt. According to Asia-Plus, the head of the Customs Service, Abdufattoh Ghoib (who had previously headed the anti-corruption service before President Emomali Ramon’s son took it over), told reporters on ...
Read More »Stocks rise amid earnings, dollar advances on economy optimism
Bloomberg Positive earnings set the tone for equity markets while the dollar traded at a seven-week high as speculation grew the U.S. will raise interest rates this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average headed for a ninth straight gain, as Microsoft Corp. jumped after profit topped estimates. Technology companies and carmakers led the Stoxx Europe 600 Index higher as ...
Read More »Russia dominates wheat mkt as soggy fields push out France
Bloomberg In the race to supply wheat to the world’s biggest buyer, Russia is running away with the prize. Russia has supplanted the U.S. as the top exporter of the grain and won the lion’s share of the wheat purchased in the first two tenders this season by Egypt, which buys huge amounts of wheat to provide citizens with ...
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