Following weeks of tense political scandal, the South Korean National Assembly on Friday voted overwhelmingly by a margin of 234-56 on a motion to impeach President Park Geun-hye.
Four police killed in Cairo blast
CAIRO (Reuters) – Four policemen were killed and two injured on Friday when a bomb placed in a garbage bin exploded at a security checkpoint in Cairo, security sources said.
Russia says over 8,000 have fled rebel-held Aleppo in last 24 hours
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian military said on Friday it had helped more than 8,000 Syrian citizens flee parts of eastern Aleppo still controlled by rebels in the last 24 hours, including almost 3,000 children.
Sumitomo to buy banana company Fyffes
Irish fruit distributor Fyffes says it has agreed to be bought by Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation.
ECB’s Coeure says the central bank is ready do more if necessary – business live
Benoit Coeure, board member at the European Central Bank, says the eurozone economy will still need financial protection to make it through 2017
German exports were weaker than expected in October, rising by 0.5% and not 1% as forecast by economists.
It was better than September, when exports fell 1%, but dampened hopes that trade will significantly boost growth in Europe’s largest economy in the fourth quarter.
The FTSE 100 is slightly higher this morning, up 0.1% or five points at 6,397.
Elsewhere in Europe, markets are mixed:
Benoit Coeure, executive board member at the ECB, has been speaking to French radio this morning.
There are political risks everywhere, inside and outside of the euro zone. It’s not up to the ECB to manage political risks, that’s for the politicians to do.
But it’s up to us to draw the economic consequences and the eurozone will still need financial protection to get through 2017, which will be very risky.
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
Japan’s Nikkei has closed up 1.2% following gains in the US.
Just when you think US stocks may have peaked and can’t move any higher they go and register new all-time highs once again, in what is becoming a fairly regular theme, with the Dow, S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 repeating the trick for the second day in a row.
With European markets also posting new multi-month highs as well it would appear that the season of good cheer has come upon us early in the lead up to Christmas, and next week’s offerings from the US Federal Reserve.
MoveOn.Org On Trump’s Pick Of Andy Puzder For Labor – So Much For Draining The Swamp
That headline illustrates what I think is the largest problem many have at present–and what I think is going to be most refreshing about the next few years.
US Jobless Claims Down Again – Looks Good But We Might Want It To Be Higher In Reality
The weekly US jobless claims numbers are out for this week just gone. They’re down again which is not a bad sign for the US economy. But it’s not as good a sign as some seem to think. It’s possible, in certain circumstances, that we’d really like to see this […]
Direct Action For A Human Right To Migrate
At a recent United Nations-linked conference on civil society, migration and development, a few radical ideas came forward that caused some controversy, even in this generally pro-migration venue. First, the concept of a “human right to migrate” was controversial. Second, the idea of nonviolent direct action in support of illegal […]
Is Bitcoin Better Than Gold?
Bitcoin has been beating gold by a big margin so far this year. The digital currency has more than doubled in value, while the yellow metal has gained 8.73 percent; and both assets outperformed the S&P 500 and the twenty-year US Treasury bonds. Fund YTD Performance SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD) 8.73% Bitcoin Investment Trust Shares […]