Protests unleashed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital continue in the Palestinian territories and outside U.S. missions elsewhere. Dozens have been wounded in clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian protesters in the West Bank and Gaza. Muslims in other countries took to the streets Thursday in solidarity. The violence…
read moreFord Motor Co will begin testing its latest self-driving vehicle technology next year in at least one city but has not changed its plan to begin commercial production until 2021, the company said. The automaker said on Thursday that it would test self-driving prototypes in various pilot programs with partners such as Lyft, the ride…
read moreAlbania is planning to try to lure five-star hotel brands with tax breaks, including scrapping profit and property taxes, to increase its appeal for the higher-end of the tourist trade. With travel and tourism accounting for 8.4 percent of gross domestic product in 2016, rising demand to visit the country between Montenegro and Greece washed…
read moreThe World Bank is ready to extend up to $200 million for projects that will boost transport and trade links between Western Balkans countries, its chief executive officer Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday. “We are ready to fund a trade and transport project to help the countries of the region remove the obstacles that exist…
read moreCrisis-stricken Venezuela’s inflation rate reached quadruple digits for the first time, according to figures released by the opposition-led Congress, which show consumer prices rising by 1,369 percent between January and November. The legislature, which this year began publishing its own inflation figures after the government stopped releasing them, said prices rose by 56.7 percent in…
read moreThe dramatic U.S. policy shift on contested Jerusalem is seen by the Western-backed Palestinian leadership as a dangerous betrayal and game changer that is bound to propel them into a risky confrontation with the U.S. and Israel on the global stage. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas hasn’t decided yet whether to formally abandon U.S.-led negotiations with…
read moreU.S. President Donald Trump is meeting Thursday with congressional leaders about key spending issues as the government faces a Friday midnight deadline to approve at least short-term funding legislation to prevent a government shutdown. The top Democratic lawmakers, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, boycotted White House spending talks a…
read moreU.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray defended the nation’s top law enforcement agency before lawmakers Thursday, saying agents are “working their tails off” to keep Americans safe from terrorist attacks and other threats. “The FBI that I see is tens of thousands of brave men and women who are working as hard as…
read moreAtlanta voters woke up to deja vu Wednesday in the racially polarized contest to choose the city’s next mayor, with one candidate laying claim to City Hall while the other vowed to seek a recount over a margin of just 759 votes. The Tuesday runoff between Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is black, and Mary Norwood,…
read moreU.S. Senator Al Franken announced he will resign amid a growing firestorm stemming from sexual misconduct allegationsthe second Democratic lawmaker to announce a departure this week under a cloud of moral impropriety. “Today I am announcing that in the coming weeks I will be resigning as a member of the United States Senate,” said Franken,…
read moreA bitcoin mining company in Slovenia has been hacked for the possible theft of tens of millions of dollars, just days before the virtual currency, which hit a record above $15,000 on Thursday, is due to start trading on major U.S. exchanges. NiceHash, a company that mines bitcoins on behalf of customers, said it is…
read moreThe United Arab Emirates says it is “surprised and disappointed” about being blacklisted by the European Union along with 16 other countries the EU deems guilty of unfairly offering tax avoidance schemes. The UAE said in a statement on Thursday that it’s “committed to a reform process which will be finalized by October 2018” and…
read moreAn oil-and-gas lease sale that raised concerns with environmentalists due to the vast amount of acres offered in Arctic Alaska drew few bids on Wednesday, government officials said. Seven bids were received, covering about 80,000 acres – or less than 1 percent of the 10.3 million acres offered in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska…
read moreA federal judge in Michigan has sentenced a former high-level Volkswagen manager to seven years in prison for his part in the scheme to cheat emissions tests and defraud consumers. Oliver Schmidt has also been fined $400,000. He pleaded guilty in August to charges that included defrauding the United States and violating the Clean Air…
read moreChina’s Ofo launched its dockless bicycles in Paris on Wednesday, becoming the fourth bike-sharing plan operator in a city set to banish all combustion-engine cars by 2030. Ofo France general manager Laurent Kennel told Reuters the firm, one of two bike-sharing giants in China, had put just over 100 of its bright yellow bicycles on…
read moreVulnerable communities uprooted by climate change are being left out of a voluntary pact to deal with migration, campaigners said, after the United States pulled out of the global deal. Although people within low-lying states are being forced to relocate because of worsening storms and rising seas, they will not be recognized in U.N. migration…
read moreThe Senate Intelligence Committee has interviewed “well over a hundred” people as part of its investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s U.S. presidential election, with more interviews still to come. Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, praised what he described Wednesday as “unprecedented access to individuals and to intelligence,” but refused to…
read moreSinopec USA, a subsidiary of the Chinese oil and gas conglomerate, has sued Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA in a U.S. court, claiming it never received full payment for an order of steel rebar. The lawsuit asks for $23.7 million for breach of contract and conspiracy to defraud. The legal action signals a split with…
read moreThe U.S. House of Representatives condemned the “ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya” on Wednesday, passing a resolution by a two-thirds voice vote “calling for an end to the attacks” against the Muslim minority in Myanmar, also known as Burma. The resolution is the first step in congressional action that could eventually include a stand-alone sanctions…
read moreDonald Trump was just 11 minutes into his presidency last January when his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, texted a former business associate from the steps of the Capitol that an American plan to build nuclear power plants in the Middle East with Russia was “good to go,” a whistleblower’s account says. Flynn, according to…
read moreIf you buy a “Swiss-made” watch thinking it’s almost entirely produced in Switzerland, you might be mistaken. The manufacture of components including dials, sapphire glass and cases is flourishing in China, Thailand and Mauritius and many of these end up in watches designated as “Swiss-made.” Stricter rules came into force this year for watches bearing…
read moreChinese exports to Cuba have plunged this year in the latest sign of a worsening in the Communist-run island’s financial situation, which began in 2015 with the economic crisis in its top trading partner Venezuela. Chinese exports to Cuba slumped 29.8 percent to $1 billion from January through October compared with the same period last…
read more
