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Showing posts from February, 2019

Aaron Ramsey: Arsenal midfielder signs £400k-a-week deal to join Juventus

Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey has signed a pre-contract agreement to join Juventus in the summer in a deal that will earn him over £400,000 a week. The 28-year-old has agreed a four-year contract that will see him join the Italian champions as a free agent, ending his 11-year spell with Arsenal. Ramsey passed a two-part medical in January, having picked Juve following talks with a host of European clubs. He will be the highest-earning British player ever based on basic salary. The Wales international's Arsenal contract expires on 30 June and the Gunners will receive no fee when he leaves. In confirming the deal, Juventus said the club would incur costs of 3.7m euros (£3.2m) but did not specify what the fee was for. Arsenal said Ramsey had made a "fantastic contribution"  during his time at the club and will "have a special place in the hearts and memories" of fans. On his Instagram page,  Ramsey thanked Arsenal's fans and said he ...

Washington braces for Trump to weigh in on shutdown deal

It's not just Mexico that isn't paying for the wall -- Congress isn't either, apparently. But President Donald Trump isn't ready to break it to his supporters just yet. Rather than selling a potential breakthrough, reached on Capitol Hill to stave off a new partial government shutdown, Trump revived the molten rhetoric on immigration that helped make him President at a boisterous campaign rally in El Paso, Texas,  on Monday night. The drama provided an eloquent snapshot of the political forces over immigration tearing at the cohesion of the Republican Party. Down by the border, Trump was in outsized form, firing off his dubious claims on immigration while torching Democrats with fierce new attacks on climate change and abortion. In Washington, under the Capitol dome, Republican lawmakers worked diligently with those same Democrats on the kind of institutional Washington compromise that anchors the conventional politics Trump disdains. It was not clea...

How bad is China's economic slump? It's impossible to tell

Companies and executives around the world are desperately trying to gauge the severity of China's economic slowdown. But getting a clear picture is very difficult. Growth in the world's second-biggest economy cooled last year to  its lowest level  in almost three decades, according to government data. Top global brands including  Apple   ( AAPL )  and  Caterpillar   ( CAT )  have blamed weakness in China for their disappointing earnings. The situation could be   even   bleaker than China's official statistics suggest, according to many analysts. "The Chinese published GDP numbers are absolute garbage," said Leland Miller, CEO of advisory firm China Beige Book. "It's certainly the consensus that these numbers are unreliable." His firm gathers data from thousands of companies across different industries in China to come up with its own picture of what's happening, drawing its name from  the US Federal Reserve'...

The battle is on between Trump and his Democratic foes

A clarifying week in Washington showed how ugly the war of oversight between President Donald Trump and House Democrats will become and dug new battle lines in the most intense exchanges yet of the 2020 campaign. House Democrats swung their investigative machinery into action in the most searching examination of the Trump White House so far, showing that the special counsel's probe is only one of the President's concerns. The administration and its allies made clear they will do everything possible to frustrate Democratic oversight efforts, in a way that will test the constitutional infrastructure designed to hold the executive branch to account. In his State of the Union address, meanwhile, Trump laid out his clearest thematic blueprint yet for his re-election bid. The President proclaimed that an economic "miracle" was underway and mixed scalding rhetoric on immigration with claims that Democrats are marching left toward socialism. And Democ...

Car bomb explodes in Somalia, killing at least 10 people

A car bomb exploded at a crowded shopping mall in Mogadishu, the Somali capital on Monday morning, killing at least ten people and wounding dozens of others, police and witnesses said. Capt Farah Osman, a Somali police officer at the scene, confirmed to CNN that the explosion tore through a Mogadishu mall in the capital's business district, Hamarweyne. The death toll may rise as rescuers search for survivors and some of the wounded are in critical condition, Osman said. Ibrahim Jama, a witness, said explosion rattled windows of several nearby business buildings. Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack. The Al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group was also responsible for three car bombings last November that that killed at least 52 people with about 100 more injured. The bombs were detonated near a hotel popular with visitors to Somalia and international journalists. Since 2006, the group has carried out several attacks in Mogadishu killing internationa...

Barcelona rescue draw against Real Madrid in Copa del Rey first leg

The second leg of Real Madrid and Barcelona's Copa del Rey semifinal remains finely poised after the two sides played out a thrilling draw at the Camp Nou. Real Madrid took an early lead through Lucas Vazquez after just six minutes and should have further extended their lead before half time. But Barcelona grew into the match as the first half wore on, eventually drawing level 10 minutes into the second period thanks to Malcom's brilliant strike. Both teams had clear-cut chances to win the match, but a combination of desperate last-ditch defending and sloppy forward play means the two sides head to the Bernabeu all square. "I think we both enjoyed spells on top," Real's stand-in goalkeeper Keylor Navas said after the match. "We came here wanting to win but after such a tight match 1-1 is a fair result. "We wanted to score ... and hopefully we can make that away goal count when we play at home and reach the final. "It's a...