Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (Reuters) — Sierra Leone rejected a bid of over $7.8 million for one of the world’s largest diamonds at an auction on Thursday (May 11). The 706-carat gem is the second-largest ever discovered in the West African country and was unearthed in March in the eastern Kono region by a Christian pastor who gave it to the government to handle the sale. Five bids were handed to auctioneers in a sealed brown […]
by Glenn Chapman Agence France Presse SEATTLE, United States (AFP) — Microsoft on Thursday unveiled a forthcoming Windows update aimed at keeping its desktop and laptop computers at the heart of lifestyles increasing reliant on smartphones. Enhancements to the widely used operating system to roll out later this year are designed to make applications built on Microsoft technology work more harmoniously across an array of internet-linked devices, according to demonstrations given at the company’s Build developers […]
by Rob Lever Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Snapchat’s ambition to become the next big social media platform hit a brutal reality check with the first earnings report from parent company Snap Inc. The $2.2 billion loss reported Wednesday for the first quarter along with weaker-than-expected revenue and sluggish user growth prompted a wave of selling and harsh comments from analysts about the firm known for its disappearing messages. Snap shares plunged […]
,by Bryan McManus Agence France-Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium – Ride-hailing app Uber may be a pioneer in its field but at heart it is just an ordinary taxi company and should be regulated as such, a top EU lawyer said Thursday. Uber claims it is a service provider, connecting riders with freelance drivers directly and much more cheaply than traditional cab companies. It has run into huge opposition from critics and competitors who say this allows […]
(Eagle News) — The government has lost an estimated P145 billion annually in foregone revenues because of the non-adjustment of fuel excise taxes for the past two decades, the Department of Finance revealed during a public hearing at the House Committee on appropriations. The DOF said that this loss was equivalent to about 1 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “The non-adjustment of fuel excise taxes for the past two decades has […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) – China’s Silk Road summit on Sunday will highlight the country’s plans to revive ancient trade routes from Asia to Europe and Africa with a massive network of rail and maritime links. The One Belt, One Road Initiative was unveiled by President Xi Jinping in 2013. Xi will host top officials from 28 nations for the two-day conference on the outskirts of Beijing, though few Western leaders will attend the meeting. Beijing’s […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Toyota rebounded Thursday as investors weighed upbeat news of a share buyback and warnings that the auto giant is on track for a second straight year of profit decline, while Tokyo’s benchmark index ended the day higher. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.31 percent, or 61.46 points, to 19,961.55, closing again within spitting distance of the key 20,000 level which it last crossed in late 2015. The broader Topix index of all […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (Reuters) — For the world’s super-rich, the investment of choice is increasingly a very rare naturally pink diamond, an asset class that this year has set records at auction. Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds, which has a shop in London’s Mayfair district and sells online, says the trend for colored stones has gathered strength as the world emerged from financial crisis. He says that even though red and orange stones […]
LONDON, United Kingdom – World stock markets and the dollar wobbled on Wednesday, shaken by overnight news that United States President Donald Trump has fired Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey. In late morning European equity trade, Paris dipped 0.1 percent in value and Frankfurt flatlined, while London clawed its way 0.2 percent higher. The US dollar remained under pressure, having tumbled to a six-month euro low after Trump ousted Comey late on Tuesday. Asian […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Toyota on Wednesday reported its first drop in annual net profit for five years, while the Japanese car giant unexpectedly warned that the cost of customer incentives and a further pickup in the yen threatened to dig further into its bottom line. The downbeat forecast underscores how Japan’s automakers, including rivals Nissan and Honda, have benefited heavily from a slump in the currency in recent years. But sharp yen gains […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Prices for goods at the factory gate in China rose at a slower pace than expected in April, the government said Wednesday, as commodity prices have fallen. The producer price index (PPI) rose 6.4 percent year-on-year in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), slightly lower than economists’ expectations of a 6.7 percent increase in a Bloomberg News survey. It slumped following a 7.6 percent gain in March — the […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The Paris stock market rebounded at the start of trading on Tuesday after sliding the previous session in the wake of Emmanuel Macron’s French presidential victory. The Paris CAC 40 index gained around 0.4 percent to 5,404.14 points at the open compared with Monday’s close. The French index had slid almost one percent by the close on Monday as investors quickly looked beyond Macron’s victory to bet on whether the pro-EU […]
