Posts by Amelia Frost
Germany’s Commerzbank To Cut Jobs To Fight Off UniCredit
German lender Commerzbank said Thursday it plans to cut about 3,900 jobs, around 10 percent of its workforce, seeking to fight off pressure for a tie-up from Italian bank UniCredit. The bank also hiked its financial targets, as executives aim to boost its attractiveness for shareholders and bolster defences against its Italian suitor amid speculation…
Read MoreBritain’s Economy Squeezes Out 0.1% Growth
The British economy eked out growth at the end of last year, data published on Thursday showed, slightly easing the pressure on the government as it tries to quicken the pace of economic growth. Gross domestic product increased 0.1 percent in the last three months of 2024, following zero growth in the previous quarter. Most…
Read More‘Backstabber’ Mitch McConnell Under Fire: Lone GOP Senator Votes Against Trump DNI Pick Tulsi Gabbard
KEY POINTS McConnell said after the vote that Gabbard as a ‘history of alarming lapses in judgment’ Gabbard refused to call Edward Snowden a traitor during her Senate confirmation hearing X users are calling on McConnell to retire, and some compared him to ex-president Biden in his last few months in office Sen. Mitch McConnell,…
Read MoreHonda and Nissan Scrap $50 Billion Merger Plan
A $50 billion merger between Honda Motor and Nissan Motor, which would have established one of the world’s largest auto groups, has been called off. In December, Japan’s second- and third-largest automakers said they were exploring plans to combine their operations with the goal of sharing costs and jointly developing next-generation vehicles. Both companies said…
Read MoreNorth Korea Destroys Family Reunion Centre In ‘Inhumane Act’, Seoul Says
North Korea is demolishing a venue that for decades hosted tearful reunions of families separated by the Korean War and the division of the country, Seoul said Thursday, decrying the “inhumane” move. Millions of people were swept apart by the 1950-53 Korean War, which split the peninsula and separated brothers and sisters, parents and children…
Read MoreSaudi Art Biennale Seeks To Modernise Islamic Tradition
Under a vast canopy of tents in the Saudi city of Jeddah, religious artefacts are on display alongside contemporary art pieces, part of the kingdom’s bid to transform its ultraconservative image. The second edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale, titled “And All That Is In Between”, features as its centrepiece segments of the “kiswa”, the…
Read MoreTrump Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum May Raise U.S. Manufacturing Costs
America has seen this movie before: President Trump, who imposed stiff tariffs on Monday on imported steel and aluminum, did so once before, in 2018. So domestic industries have a pretty good idea of how the story ends. Manufacturers of trucks, appliances and construction equipment scramble to find U.S. sources of metal inputs, keeping steel…
Read MoreMusk’s DOGE Team Raises Major Cyber Security Concerns
Young engineers deployed across the US government as part of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have triggered alarm throughout Washington’s security establishment. Never before has a group of unvetted and inexperienced outsiders gained such access to the nerve center of the US government, according to security experts. The campaign, led by Musk’s DOGE team,…
Read MoreMusk Reportedly Set to Land $400 Million State Department Contract for ‘Armored Teslas’ as DOGE Continues ‘War on Waste’
Elon Musk’s Tesla is set to secure a $400 million federal contract for armored vehicles as his role in the Trump administration raises conflict-of-interest concerns. AFP/Getty Images Elon Musk’s Tesla is poised to secure a massive $400 million contract from the U.S. State Department for armored vehicles, according to federal procurement documents. The deal, which…
Read MoreAP Reporter Again Barred From Oval Office Over ‘Gulf Of America’
An AP reporter Wednesday was barred from attending White House events for the second straight day, as Donald Trump’s administration sought to justify its actions against media that refuse to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.” A day earlier the Associated Press said its reporter was blocked from covering an Oval Office…
Read MoreElon Musk and the Right Are Recasting Reporting as ‘Doxxing’
For years, journalists have written about the social media posts of government employees to help reveal the positions, motivations and actions of public officials. But when a journalist recently trained that same lens on Elon Musk’s new government efficiency program, the billionaire suggested that the reporting might be illegal, joining other powerful figures connected to…
Read MoreAP Accuses White House of Violating First Amendment
The Associated Press on Wednesday accused the White House of violating the First Amendment and called on the Trump administration to stop blocking its reporters from press events. Julie Pace, the executive editor of The A.P., said in a letter addressed to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, that the White House had…
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