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  ■ Aaron Rodgers can freeze time. The Packers trailed the Cowboys by 3 points , were on their own 25-yard line, and had just 1 minute 13 seconds left in the game. Most teams would be ecstatic to come away with a field goal, but Green Bay was not playing for a tie. Rodgers, as he has so many times in recent seasons, aggressively moved the team down the field, needing just 62 of the 73

Four Louisiana State Police troopers were demoted or disciplined following an investigation into a lavish "side trip" the men took to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon in 2016 while on their way to a conference in San Diego. The travel scandal cost longtime State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson his job. He retired after

Two soldiers were killed and six others hurt in an accident Friday at the Fort Jackson Army base outside Columbia, S.C., the base confirmed via Twitter. Two of the injured are in critical condition, the base said in the statement. "A tragic accident involving a military vehicle and a troop formation . . . resulted in the deaths of two

This week's Saturday Night Live may not have featured Alec Baldwin's Donald Trump, but they still dove in to tough political topics. In light of last Sunday's tragic Las Vegas massacre that killed 58 and injured over 500 more, Weekend

LONDON, Oct 3  - U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s attempt to save the coal and nuclear industries by proposing a new grid resiliency rule is making for some odd bedfellows across the energy sector. The proposed grid resiliency rule threatens to turn two of the Trump administration’s most loyal groups of supporters against one another, as the gas and coal industries square off for a fight over market share. The disagreement over grid resiliency highlights some of the central tensions within the Trump administration’s energy policy: * The White House has celebrated the growth in domestic gas production and associated reduction in greenhouse emissions but also wants to rescue coal and nuclear producers. * The White House wants cheap electricity for households and manufacturing companies but needs higher prices in the power market to support coal-fired and nuclear power plants. * The White House draws support from pro-business groups that support a free-market app

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley ratcheted up the rhetoric against North Korea on Sunday [Stephanie Keith/Reuters] The US ambassador to the UN warned North Korea would be destroyed if it continues its "reckless behaviour" and forces the United States and its allies to defend themselves against any attack. Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN , said on Sunday the UN Security Council has run out of

CHINA's foreign minister has reiterated calls for South Korea to remove the anti-missile system the US has deployed in the country. Wang Yi made the comments during a meeting with Kang Kyung-wha on the sidelines of a United Nations gathering in New York on Wednesday, according to state news agency Xinhua. South Korea and the US say the high-tech missile-defence system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) is needed to defend against the threat of North Korea. But China claims it will do nothing to reduce tension and its powerful radar system threatens the country's security. China's call for the removal of the system comes after South Korea pressed the US for additional deployment of four THAAD launching pads.

USA Quality Factor Ishares ETF (QUAL) shares are on close watch heading into the week as the price has moved above the Balance Step indicator, revealing a potential near-term bullish uptrend.  The Balance Step formula is based on near-term moving averages to predict which direction a trend is heading. When it comes to equity investing, being too confident may be just as detrimental as not being confident enough. Many investors may think they are making all the right moves when the markets are riding high. This may be the case, but sometimes it might be good fortune. Finding confidence to make trades in down market environments may make the difference between a good portfolio and a great portfolio. It can also be quite easy to confuse skill with a long-term bull market. Many bad decisions may still get rewarded when the market keeps heading higher. On the other end of the spectrum, having too much self-doubt may leave an investor with way too many what ifs. Managing confi

USA Real Estate Hldg (USTC) shares are on close watch heading into the week as the price has moved above the Balance Step indicator, revealing a potential near-term bullish uptrend.  The Balance Step formula is based on near-term moving averages to predict which direction a trend is heading. When it comes to equity investing, being too confident may be just as detrimental as not being confident enough. Many investors may think they are making all the right moves when the markets are riding high. This may be the case, but sometimes it might be good fortune. Finding confidence to make trades in down market environments may make the difference between a good portfolio and a great portfolio. It can also be quite easy to confuse skill with a long-term bull market. Many bad decisions may still get rewarded when the market keeps heading higher. On the other end of the spectrum, having too much self-doubt may leave an investor with way too many what ifs. Managing

(Reuters) - Honeywell International Inc ( HON.N ) plans to spin off non-core assets and create at least two new publicly listed companies, as the U.S. industrial conglomerate seeks to streamline its business, according to people familiar with the matter. The move would represent the first major shakeup at the Morris Plains, New Jersey-based company since Darius Adamczyk succeeded David Cote as chief executive in April. It comes after Honeywell said in September it would raise its annual dividend by 12 percent. The sources said on Sunday that while Honeywell would defy calls by one of its shareholders, activist hedge fund Third Point LLC, to spin off its aerospace division, it would still seek to carve out assets worth several billions of dollars. Honeywell is considering placing its turbochargers business, which produces components that

NEW YORK, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The Trump administration’s plan to cut corporate taxes may add more fuel to the already hot rally in the shares of automation companies. Fund managers from Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Hodges Capital and Hood Capital say that they expect that companies will use part of their tax savings to invest in high-cost machines that will allow them to reduce labor costs over time. That would be a boon for companies such as Cognex Corp , which makes so-called machine vision systems that are used to quickly sort and fill orders in e-commerce warehouses, and Faro Technologies Inc, which makes three-dimensional measuring tools that can help lower labor costs on aerospace assembly lines. Cognex shares touched a 52-week high on Friday, while Faro shares at $38.20 were closing in on their year-high of $40.60 reached in August. “Scarcity of capital is the thing that keeps companies from spending money when it makes sense to do so. Investing in automa

What started as a Twitter fight ended with one of the highest ranking Republicans in the U.S. Senate warning President Donald Trump may be on a course to incite a worldwide war. Trump used his Sunday morning to blast U.S. Sen. Bob Corker on Twitter, lashing out at the

What to do on Columbus Day? America will celebrate Columbus Day on Monday. But in recent years, Columbus Day, which became a national holiday in 1937, has been riddled with controversy, with this year bringing new fervor. Columbus statues from New York to California have faced vandalism or removal amid newly heightened debate on Confederate monuments. While historians caution against lumping in Christopher Columbus with Confederates, the question remains: What should we do with Columbus Day and the statues? While that debate will continue to rage on, for some people, Columbus Day is a

NORTH Korea has ramped up its nuclear weapons development program in recent weeks - but the hermit kingdom isn’t the only country to possess a lethal arsenal of nukes. Express.co.uk explains which countries have nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons MAPS: North Korea, USA and Russia all have nukes More than two dozen nations have nuclear power but there are nine accepted nuclear-capable states in

HURRICANE Nate slammed into the US Gulf Coast as a category 1 hurricane yesterday. Here are live updates on Nate’s track and the latest NOAA weather maps. Nate has been downgraded to a tropical depression after making landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River as a category 1 hurricane last night. Bringing you the latest Hurricane Nate path updates, storm track, weather models, the latest forecasts, tracking maps and videos as the storm moves over the USA. At least 25 people have died after the storm hit Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica earlier this week, with many more missing and thousands forced to evacuate. Storm surge and tropical storm warnings have been discontinued across US, with Nate forecast to continue weakening through Monday. We will have the very latest Hurricane Nate news in one place, updated throughout the day and night until the storm has passed. Here are live updates from the the NOAA, National Hurricane Center (NHC) and the National Weathe

This photo from 1977 shows the hijacked Lufthansa jetliner Landshut, a Boing 737, at an airfield in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. BERLIN (AP) — A Lufthansa Boeing 737 hijacked to Somalia 40 years ago at the height of the leftist Red

Last month, KrebsOnSecurity identified U.K. citizen Daniel Kaye as the likely real-life identity behind a hacker responsible for clumsily wielding a powerful botnet built on Mirai , a malware strain that enslaves poorly secured Internet of Things (IoT) devices for use in large-scale online attacks. Today, a German court issued a suspended sentence for Kaye, who now faces cybercrime charges in the United Kingdom. In February 2017, authorities in the United Kingdom arrested a 29-year-old U.K. man on suspicion of knocking more than 900,000 Germans offline in a Mirai attack in November 2016. Shortly after that 2016 attack, a hacker using the nickname “Bestbuy” told reporters he was responsible for the outage, apologizing for the incident. Prosecutors in Europe had withheld Kaye’s name from the media throughout the trial. But a court in

A man armed with a kitchen knife fatally stabbed one person at a supermarket Friday in the northern German city of Hamburg and six others were wounded as he fled, police said. He was overpowered and arrested Police officers in Germany

BERLIN — The Latest on the attack at a supermarket in Hamburg (all times local): 9:45 p.m. German authorities say the suspect in a Hamburg supermarket stabbing that left one person dead is a 26-year-old who was born in the United Arab Emirates. A statement Friday does not identify the man further and says police are still working to establish what nationality he has. Police say the man who was killed is believed to be a 50-year-old German and five other people also sustained stab wounds. Some are seriously hurt.  

A man shouting "Allahu Akbar" stabbed to death one person and wounded six others in a supermarket in the German city of Hamburg on Friday. The attacker, who was born in the United Arab Emirates, was overpowered by passers-by and arrested. Olaf Scholz, the mayor of Hamburg, said the attack had been motivated by "hate" and added that the suspected attacker was a failed asylum seeker whose deportation had been blocked because he lacked identity papers. "I am outraged by the vicious attack that killed at least one Hamburger today," he said. "It makes me especially angry that the perpetrator appears to be a person who claimed protection in Germany and then turned his hate against us." C iting security sources, Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel reported that the 26-year-old perpetrator was

George Clooney is not mincing words about his frustration with photos of his infant twins published by a French gossip magazine. In a statement to USA TODAY Friday, Clooney says the images, published on the cover of the French-language  Voici magazine and making the rounds online, were taken "illegally." “Over the last week photographers from Voici magazine scaled our fence, climbed our tree and illegally took

A senior U.S. military official said Thursday that he would launch a nuclear strike against China next week if President Trump ordered it. “The answer would be: yes,” said Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, in response to

The Bible claimed that the ancient Canaanites were wiped out according to God's orders, but a new genetic research study reveals a different story.  As it turns out, the Canaanites survived God's order, and their DNA lives on in Lebanon, where over 90% of

Venezuelan vote could spell tighter government grip The Venezuelan vote Sunday could mark a historic turning point for the South American country. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called for a public vote on assembling National Constituent Assembly to rewrite the country’s 1999 constitution, a move that would likely tighten government control. Experts say changes in the constitution would likely change the political climate of the country to reflect that of Cuba, a communist country long suffering from a dictatorial regime and few personal rights. Summer nor'easter expected to wallop Northeast  A rare, autumn-like storm will deliver drenching rain, floods and overall miserable conditions Saturday to

NEW YORK — The national civil rights and advocacy community came down hard on President Trump for comments he made Friday on Long Island that seemed to encourage violence on the part of the police. Organizations from the Southern Poverty Law Center to the YWCA, and from Amnesty International to the

For the second time this month, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile Friday, sending the projectile 600 miles into the Sea of Japan. The Pentagon said in a statement that the missile, which was determined to be an ICBM, was launched from

BRICK, N.J. — The son and daughter-in-law of former Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli committed suicide early Friday morning by jumping from a Manhattan office building, according to the New York Post and Brick

President Trump once ordered former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to exterminate a fly during a White House meeting, according to a report Friday. Citing a source familiar with the incident, The Washington Post reported that the commander in chief became distracted by a "buzzing" fly during an Oval Office meeting and summoned Priebus to kill the pesky insect. The relationship between Priebus and Trump has had its ups and downs. Back in 2016, Priebus suggested

FREMONT, Calif. — The new Tesla Model 3 sedan has impressive older siblings, the Model S and X which can run upwards of $100,000. But after a short drive in this spartan yet spritely vehicle on roads surrounding the company's massive factory

After his party's stinging defeat over health care legislation, President Trump tweeted Saturday that the Republicans in the Senate "look like fools" and should do away with the filibuster, even though scrapping a 60-vote requirement would still not have saved the doomed bill. The president's morning tweetstorm comes barely a day and a half after Republicans in the Senate failed to

CARACAS (Reuters) - State workers in Venezuela are receiving frequent phone calls, pressure from bosses and threats of dismissal to ensure they vote in favor of President Nicolas Maduro's controversial new congress on Sunday. The unpopular leftist Maduro is pushing ahead with the election to create a powerful new legislature despite four months of deadly anti-government protests in the oil-rich South American nation, which is reeling from

WASHINGTON, July 28 - North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that flew for about 1,000 km (620 miles) and landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, the Pentagon said on Friday. Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said the missile was launched from Mupyong-ni, an arms plant in northern North Korea, and landed about 90 nautical miles (167 km) from Japan's island of Hokkaido. "We assess that this was an ICBM; this is a launch that had been expected," Davis said. Davis said the launch did not pose a threat to North America and further analysis was underway. "Our commitment to the defense of our allies, including the Republic of Korea and Japan, in the face of these

The Windows 10 "Start" menu.  (Photo: Microsoft) Good news for MS Paint fans: Microsoft says the popular computer graphics software app will live on in its Windows Store. In a statement published late Monday, Microsoft confirmed it will continue to offer MS Paint for free through its App Store, after a support page revealed the software would be "deprecated" for Windows 10. According to a support page detailing the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, MS Paint was listed as "deprecated," which means the software would no longer be updated and might be removed in a future update. After news spread about the potential end to MS Paint, Microsoft released a statement saying it will live on in the Windows Store. "In the future, we will offer MS Paint in the Windows Store also for free and continue to provide new updates and experiences to Paint 3D so people have the best creative tools all in one place, said Microsoft in a statement. Mic

NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) - With Republican efforts to dismantle Obamacare in disarray, hundreds of U.S. counties are at risk of losing access to private health coverage in 2018 as insurers consider pulling out of those markets in the coming months. Republican senators failed this week to repeal and replace Obamacare, former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform law, creating new uncertainty over how the program providing health benefits to 20 million Americans will be funded and managed in 2018. In response, Republican President Donald Trump

Witchy and New Age aesthetics have reached a critical mass.  (Photo: AP/Getty) Somewhere in between Lana Del Rey casting hexes on President Trump and Khloe Kardashian hawking zodiac sweatshirts on Instagram, pop culture reached peak witch. In anticipation of 2017, multipletrend forecasting firms predicted that mystical trends -- those tapping into fantasy, witchcraft and New Age spirituality -- would define the year in fashion. That's certainly been true on

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans narrowly agreed on Tuesday to open debate on a bill to end Obamacare, but the party's seven-year effort to roll back Democratic President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law still faces significant hurdles. The Senate deadlocked 50-50 on moving forward with the healthcare debate, forcing Vice President Mike Pence to cast the tie-breaking vote. Senator John McCain, who was diagnosed this month with brain cancer and has been recovering from surgery at home in Arizona, made a dramatic return to the U.S. Capitol to cast a crucial vote in favor of proceeding. The outcome was a huge relief for President Donald Trump, who had pushed his fellow Republicans hard in

John Carroll’s (Bel Air, Md.) Immanuel Quickley is the No. 2 point guard in the ESPN 100 and No. 14 overall recruit. Quickley averaged 17.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game last season and drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to help the Patriots win the Baltimore Catholic League championship. Quickley also helped USA’s U17 team win gold in Spain this past summer. That kind of clout has Quickley’s top four at: Maryland, Kentucky, Kansas, and Miami. Now Quickley has agreed to give USA TODAY HSS exclusive access into his world by chronicling everything from intimate details about his recruitment to his everyday life in a blog. What’s up basketball world, it’s Immanuel and I’m just coming off a couple big tournaments in Egypt and

UPDATE (10:15 AM Wednesday) — News 5 has received several photos of the two-month-old that’s been hospitalized after the fire in Wilmer. We’re told Tucker, pictured here, is suffering from two blisters on the back of his head at USA Women’s and Children’s Hospital. He is also being monitored for smoke inhalation.

AUSTIN — Welcome to the USA TODAY Network's political newsletter for the special session at the

Jimmy Kimmel's son Billy is "doing great," the late night host said Friday.  Kimmel shared a smiling photo of his three-month-old son on Twitter, along with an encouraging update.  "Billy is 3 months old and doing great. Thx for the love & support. Please remind your Congresspeople that

NEW YORK — Subway wants to freshen up the look of its stores as it tries to stem a sales decline. The sandwich chain says the redesign — which includes a brighter atmosphere, displays of vegetables behind the counter and ordering tablets — is the first major revamp since the early 2000s. The changes will take

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union warned on Wednesday that it was ready to act within days to counter proposed new U.S. sanctions on Russia, saying they would harm the bloc's energy security. Sanctions legislation overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday has angered EU officials: they see it as breaking transatlantic unity in the West's response to Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. Brussels also fears the new sanctions will harm European firms with connections to Russia, and oil and gas projects on which the EU is dependent. "The U.S. bill could have unintended unilateral effects that impact the EU's energy security interests," EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement issued after a meeting at which European commissioners were united in their views, according to a senior EU official. "If our concerns are not ta

NEW YORK, July 26 (Reuters) - U.S. applications for mortgages to buy a home fell to their lowest level in nearly two months last week even as 30-year borrowing costs slipped, Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday. The Washington-based group's seasonally adjusted barometer on purchase mortgage activity, a proxy for future home sales, fell 2.2 percent to 240.1 in the week ended July 21. That was the weakest reading since 238.1 in the May 26 week. Housing demand has remained sturdy despite a rise in mortgage rates this year. Home sales have been hampered by low inventories across the country. Interest rates on conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.17 percent from 4.22 percent the prior

Software maker Adobe says it will stop distributing and updating its Flash Player in three years, ending the era of the popular plugin used regularly to play videos or other content in web browsers. Adobe cites maturing open standards including HTML5, WebGL and WebAssembly capable of performing the job of plugins as a reason for charting Flash's end. Adobe is encouraging content creators to migrate anything running Flash to one of these open standards. "Over time, we’ve seen helper apps evolve to become plugins, and more recently, have seen many of these

WONDER WOMAN: 4 STARS At this point in history the superhero “origin story” is about as welcome as head lice or burning your tongue on hot coffee. From the turgid “Suicide Squad” to “Green Lantern’s” uninspired story and the below average “The Fantastic Four,” just to name a few, comic book movies have offered up enough colourful folklore to make Greek mythology seem positively uneventful by comparison. Trouble is, they are often bogged down by their own mythology, crushed under the weight of dead parents, mysterious cosmic rays, fateful choices and magical benefactors. The odd one gets it right. “Batman Begins,” “Deadpool,” “Iron Man” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” all kicked off their franchises with style and I’m happy to add “Wonder Woman” to that short list.   The story of Diana, the Amazonian princess who becomes Wonder Woman, actually began at the end of

Ryan Reynolds is shown as the Marvel Comics character Deadpool in this image posted on Twitter March 27, 2015. (Ryan Reynolds / Twitter) NEW YORK -- Days before the opening of the Will Ferrell-Amy Poehler comedy "The House," producer

'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley look at the film's pivotal moment: "It's fun to hear that audible reaction from the audience." [Warning: This story contains spoilers for Sony/Marvel's Spider-Man: Homecoming. ] A hero is only as good as his villain, and Spider-Man: Homecoming is the rare movie to really deliver on that. Screenwriters Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley contributed to a number of inventive decisions for

From left, director Christopher Nolan with Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard and Fionn Whitehead during the filming of the Warner Bros. action thriller "Dunkirk." (Melinda Sue Gordon) The explosion was not quite shocking enough yet — at least not to Christopher Nolan’s ears. On an early spring afternoon, the director — whose films, including the “Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception” and “Interstellar,” have collectively grossed well over $4 billion worldwide — sat in a darkened dubbing

Mad Max: Fury Road - Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron  We've all been there. It's a Friday night and once again you're scrolling through Netflix or the television guide trying to find a good movie. That's where movie fans come in to help. A while back, Reddit user VarrickCarter23 asked the /r/movies subreddit what films they would consider a perfect 10/10 and they received an enormous response. While some of the films may not shock you — Toy Story ,  There Will Be Blood  — others include great

FINANCIAL MARKETS Asian shares advance, tracking rally on Wall Street TOKYO (AP) — Shares were mostly higher in Asia today following a broad rally on Wall Street that nudged the Dow Jones industrial average to a new high. The rally came after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told Congress the central bank may slow the pace of its interest rate increases if inflation remains below its target level. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index was flat and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 1.2 percent. YELLEN-CONGRESS Yellen tells Congress to expect more rate hikes WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has told Congress that the central bank expects to keep raising a key interest rate at a gradual pace and also plans to start trimming its massive bond holdings this year. In her semiannual testimony on the economy, Yellen on Wednesday took note of a number of encouraging

Children’s clothing retailer Gymboree plans to close 350 stores as it restructures in bankruptcy, the company said Tuesday. Gymboree, which is based in San Francisco, saidclosing sales are scheduled to begin Tuesday. Gymboree also operates Crazy 8 stores and Janie and Jack stores. The company will have more than 900

Top mapmakers are busily updating their charts after a massive iceberg sheared off Antarctica, fundamentally

Introduction For nearly 15 years Austria and Germany have shared a single electricity market, under which traded power market flows and cross-border capacity are not formally matched, and thus there is no congestion management on the Austrian-German interconnector. The German and Austrian electricity wholesale markets have since constituted a single bidding zone for electricity; thus, the same wholesale electricity price applies in both countries. On September 23 2015, following a request from the Polish National Regulatory Authority, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) issued an opinion stating that the Austrian-German interconnector must be considered "usually and structurally" congested pursuant to the Electricity Regulation.(1) The opinion further included a request to introduce a coordinated capacity allocation procedure at the Austrian-German border. The implementation of such request would mean splitting the

LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) - Euro zone bond yields resumed their rise on Tuesday as focus shifted to the pace of monetary tightening in the United States and when the Federal Reserve might start unwinding its massive balance sheet. Yields across the bloc fell on Monday, retracing some of the sharp rise seen over the last two weeks in which the benchmark German 10-year yield has more than doubled on the growing view that the European Central Bank will begin reining in its ultra-loose policy sooner rather than later. They remained under upward pressure after ECB director Benoit Coeure said on Tuesday that a weaker euro is neither a means nor a goal of the central bank's massive bond purchases. Analysts said they were also looking ahead to a speech by Fed Governor Lael Brainard on the topic of

BERLIN, July 12 (Reuters) - Germany has approved rules to make it easier to block the sale of strategically important companies to investors from outside the European Union, prompted by concerns about China acquiring German expertise by that route. The new regulations, which come amid fears of rising protectionism hurting world trade, allow the government to block takeovers if there is a risk of important know-how being lost abroad. The rules do not need parliamentary approval. "We remain one of the most open economies in the world, but we also need to take fair competitive conditions into consideration," Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said in a statement on Wednesday. "We owe that to our companies. They often compete with countries whose economies are not as open as ours," she added. The purchase of German robotics maker Kuka by Chinese company Midea last year fuelled concerns that

LONDON (Reuters) - Qatar's tensions with its neighbors are making world markets edgy about any hint of financial instability among the Gulf economies, whose vast store of petrodollar savings permeate global investments. The diplomatic spat -- in which a number of Gulf states cut links with Qatar over alleged support for terrorism, which Doha denies -- comes as U.S. and European central banks are already fuelling a rise in global borrowing costs by preparing to unwind years of super-easy credit. Any petrodollar repatriation by Gulf states in a deeper crisis could exacerbate financial strains. The concern stems from long-standing Gulf currency pegs. Qatar has already battled to steady the riyal's fixed exchange rate to the dollar; investors now fear a prolonged crisis could spread to pegs in Saudi Arabia,

SINGAPORE/SEOUL (Reuters) - Asia's oil refiners are adjusting their shipping arrangements for loading Qatari crude to side-step the diplomatic spat between Doha and other Middle East nations, including top Gulf oil producers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Buyers are chartering extra ships, loading oil from Saudi Arabia and the UAE before Qatar, or lifting a combination of Qatari and Iranian cargoes so they adhere to port and cargo restrictions enacted by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, according to industry sources and shipping data on Thomson Reuters Eikon. The measures illustrate the steps that Asian refiners and traders are taking to avoid upsetting both sides of the dispute and keep oil flowing. However, the manoeuvres are adding time and costs to their trades. "Shipping costs have increased because vessels can't stop at Saudi ports after lifting Qatari crude and I believe many other Northeast Asian buyers are worried about high logistics costs

FRANKFURT, July 12 (Reuters) - German state-backed lender NordLB is preparing a sale of its property lender Deutsche Hypothekenbank as it seeks to repair its balance sheet following heavy writedowns related to its exposure to bad shipping loans, people close to the matter said. The bank has tasked Rothschild with advising it on options for its restructuring, which could include the sale of Deutsche Hypo as early as later this year, the people said, adding that no decisions have been taken so far. NordLB will only sell profitable Deutsche Hypo if the effect on the bank's capitalisation is large enough, they added. "All of the bank's units have been put under scrutiny," a NordLB spokesman said, declining to elaborate further. Rothschild declined to comment. Property lenders such as Aareal and Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (PBB) are seen as potential bidders for

Emergency personnel continued the grim task Tuesday of removing bodies from the smoldering wreckage of a KC-130T Marine tanker that exploded in a Mississippi Delta soybean field the day before, killing all 16 aboard — 15 Marines and one Navy corpsman. Amid rising temperatures, Leflore County Coroner Debra Sanders rode a dune buggy down a dirt road, taking more body bags to the scene. The cause of the crash, the deadliest Marine plane crash since 2005, still isn’t known. The FBI is assisting

Wondering where your favorite former Razorbacks are and what they’re doing in the pros? No worries, we’re here to help find all the important info from #ProHogs across the globe here. Starting with Dallas Keuchel , who has had a fantastic year for the Houston Astros. He hasn’t pitched since June and recently had a successful bullpen session. His 9-0 record in just 11 starts was enough to have him

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A free-speech group on Tuesday sued U.S. President Donald Trump for blocking Twitter users from his @realDonaldTrump account, arguing the practice violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit, brought by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University in New York and joined by seven individual Twitter users, claims Trump blocked a number of accounts whose owners replied to his tweets with comments that criticized, mocked or disagreed with the president. Trump's blocking of the accounts amounted to an unconstitutional effort to suppress dissent, according to the

July 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday projected coal will briefly retake its crown from natural gas as the primary fuel for power generators in 2017 due to an increase in gas prices. Coal, however, is expected to lose that title again in 2018 as producers boost gas output and utilities to retire more coal plants for environmental and economic reasons, EIA said in its July Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Coal lost its title to gas for the first time ever in 2016 when gas prices dropped to their lowest since 1999. Coal had been the primary fuel for U.S. power plants for the last century. The EIA forecast gas prices would rise to $3.10 per million British thermal units in 2017 and $3.40 in 2018 from a 17-year low of $2.51 in 2016. It projected coal's share of generation would rise to 31.3 percent in 2017 before sliding to 31.2 percent in

Larry Nassar listens to testimony during a preliminary hearing, in Lansing, Mich., in February. (Robert Killips /Lansing State Journal via AP, File) Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team physician accused by more than 100 women of sexual assault, has agreed to a plea deal that could mean he won’t ever face criminal charges stemming from allegations he assaulted Team USA gymnasts overseas at the Olympics and other international events. Under the agreement, Nassar has agreed to plead guilty to three federal charges related to possession of

  WIMBLEDON, England — Novak Djokovic is never one to hide his feelings or to take the so-called politically correct opinion if it goes against what he believes. Such was the case Tuesday at Wimbledon after the second seed finally moved into the men’s quarterfinals with a 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over Adrian Mannarino of France. Their fourth-round match was postponed from Monday as it was meant to follow the epic five-set marathon won by Gilles Muller over Rafael Nadal that went to near darkness on Court 1. Djokovic took exception to the All England Club’s decision to discount a viable option on Monday — moving the match to Centre Court, which was free from before 7 p.m. local time onwards. There was still plenty of light left, and Centre Court comes complete with roof and lights. “I obviously was not happy not to play last night,” Djokovic said. “I wanted to play. I thought we could have played. They said, ‘No, it’s going to take too long to get the crowd in (Centre Co

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Richmond International Raceway is now Richmond Raceway and is due for $30 million in fan-centric redevelopment over the next 15 months. Track President Dennis Bickmeier and International Speedway Corp. CEO Lesa France Kennedy made the announcements Tuesday. ​ISC already has made major changes at its flagship, Daytona International Speedway, and has a project at Phoenix International Raceway that should be completed by 2018, Kennedy said. She said ISC decided to

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans said Tuesday they will seek to bring their healthcare overhaul to the Senate floor next week after a lengthy intraparty struggle, but it remained unclear whether they had the votes to pass the measure or even what form it would finally take. With his reputation as a master strategist on the line, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell laid out a timetable for Senate consideration of legislation to fulfill President Donald Trump's campaign promise to dismantle the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. In a departure from Republican orthodoxy on tax-cutting, the legislation likely will retain some of the taxes that were imposed on the wealthy under Obamacare, Senate sources said. But it was unknown whether a revised version of the bill to be announced on Thursday morning can satisfy both moderates and hard-line conservatives in the Republican majority who voiced opposition to a draft unveiled last mont

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched from the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska during Flight Test THAAD (FTT)-18 in Kodiak, Alaska, U.S., July 11, 2017. During the test, the THAAD weapon system successfully intercepted an air-launched intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) target. Leah Garton/Missile Defense Agency/Handout via WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it shot down a simulated, incoming intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) similar to the ones being developed by countries like North Korea, in a new test of the nation's THAAD missile defenses. Planned months ago, the U.S. missile defense test over the Pacific Ocean has gained significance after North Korea's July 4 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) heightened concerns about the threat from Pyongyang. The test was the first-ever of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system against an incoming

German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed fellow Group of 20 leaders to compromise at the start of talks on climate and trade that have pitted U.S. President Donald Trump against virtually every other country in the club of leading economies. The host of the G20 summit addressed her counterparts on Friday in a hall at the Hamburg convention centre, after video footage showed Trump shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the first face-to-face encounter between the two men. Merkel was shown talking casually with Putin as the leaders entered the hall, then joining French President Emmanuel Macron in a three-way discussion with Trump, who was seated between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Britain's Theresa May. "We all know the big global challenges and we know that time is pressing," Merkel told the group. "And so solutions can only be found if we are ready for compromise and move towards each other, but

HAMBURG, July 7 (Reuters) - Protesters injured 160 police officers in clashes and torched cars, barricades and rubbish bins on Friday as leaders from the world's top economies gathered for a summit in Hamburg. Police forces around Germany dispatched reinforcements to help 15,000 police already deployed to the northern port city for the G20 summit as the violence escalated. At least 15 people were arrested and dozens more held for questioning. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble cancelled an appearance in downtown Hamburg on Friday morning due to security concerns, and police declined to clear U.S. First Lady Melania Trump's motorcade

Introduction For nearly 15 years Austria and Germany have shared a single electricity market, under which traded power market flows and cross-border capacity are not formally matched, and thus there is no congestion management on the Austrian-German interconnector. The German and Austrian electricity wholesale markets have since constituted a single bidding zone for electricity; thus, the same wholesale electricity price applies in both countries. On September 23 2015, following a request from the Polish National Regulatory Authority, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) issued an opinion stating that the Austrian-German interconnector must be considered "usually and structurally" congested pursuant to the Electricity Regulation. (1) The opinion further included a request to introduce a coordinated capacity allocation procedure at the Austrian-German border. The implementation of such request would mean splitting the

A small nuclear bomb set off by a terrorist is one of 15 disaster scenarios the US government plans for. Radioactive fallout is the biggest danger for those who survive the initial blast. Sheltering indoors is important to lower radiation exposure, but you'll want a few items to help you make it through the first 24-48 hours. You should have a radio, water, essential medications, and food handy. FEMA has more-complete supply lists for emergency-preparedness kits, which it recommends every American family assemble. North Korea on Tuesday reportedly launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile — a rocket capable of

BUECKEBURG, Germany, July 6 (Reuters) - The German defence ministry on Thursday said there would be no "free passes" for any bidders in a nearly 4-billion-euro helicopter deal, a day after Europe's Airbus urged the government to ensure German firms got a big share of the pie. German defence officials have said they want a low-risk heavy-lift helicopter that already exists, which means the likely supplier will be one of two U.S. firms - Lockheed Martin Corp with its CH-53K, or Boeing Co with its CH-47 Chinook. Airbus on Wednesday said choosing German firms to manage and service the new helicopters would secure

The braking control system may not function properly in certain driving conditions, such as when the driver over-steers, under-steers or slams on the brakes. BERLIN: Volkswagen is recalling 766,000 vehicles of its core passenger car brand worldwide for a software update to their braking control systems, a spokesman said. The braking control system may not function properly in certain driving conditions, such as when the driver

Head of the Bavarian State Chancellery Honors Entrepreneurial Achievements PLANEGG, MUNICH, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2017 / MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX; OTC PINK: MPSYY, XETRA: MOR), one of the premier biotechnology companies in Germany, is celebrating its 25 th company anniversary today. At a ceremony with approximately 500 guests from business and politics, as well as employees of the Munich/Germany-based antibody-based drug developer, Dr. Marcel Huber, Head of the State Chancellery of the Government of the Federal State of Bavaria, honored the successful development of the company. He stated, "MorphoSys was one of the first companies located in Planegg-Martinsried, which has established leading-edge research for

Royal Air Maroc expects the U.S. ban on laptops and other large electronic devices in aircraft cabins on direct flights to the United States to be lifted by July 19, a senior official from the state-owned airline said on Thursday. The U.S. banned laptops in cabins on flights originating at 10 airports in eight countries - Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey - in March to address fears that bombs could be concealed in them. "Negotiations with the U.S. authorities are underway and we expect the ban to end by July 19 at the latest," the official, who declined to be named, said. U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokesman Mike England said in an email that it was too

Poland expects to sign a long-term deal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from the U.S. to reduce its reliance on Russian gas, the country's President Andrzej Duda said after meeting U.S. president Donald Trump. Poland imports most of the 16 billion cubic metres of gas it consumes a year from Russia, on the basis of a long-term deal with Gazprom which expires in 2022. Warsaw plans to replace the Russian gas after then with supplies from Norway via a planned pipeline as well as with more LNG from the U.S. coming to its terminal at the Baltic Sea. Duda spoke to Trump, who is visiting Warsaw, about Poland's security and gas supplies. "Let's hope for more supplies and further diversification of supplies of this commodity to Poland," Duda said

DONALD Trump has warned of a "severe" punishment for Kim Jong-un following North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile test. Here is the latest news and live updates on North Korea. North Korea successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching Alaska. The US and South Korea staged a joint military exercise, firing missiles at the North. Kim Jong-un called the launch “a gift for the American b******s” and has vowed to “frequently send gift packages” to the US. Donald Trump has said that the US is considering some "pretty severe things" in response.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says North Korea's latest missile test was with an intercontinental ballistic missile, a new escalation of the threat posed to the United States and the world by North Korea. Tillerson says the U.S. will bring North Korea's action before the United Nations Security Council. His statement provided the first confirmation of the U.S. conclusion that the missile was an ICBM. The U.S. military's initial assessment was that North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile. The test launch would be a potential game-changing development in what may be the world's most dangerous nuclear standoff and a direct rebuke to U.S. President Donald Trump's earlier declaration that such a test "won't happen!" The launch appeared to be North Korea's most successful missile test yet. A U.S. scientist examining the height and distance said the missile could potentially be powerful enough to