President Financial News

Donald Trump outlined an aggressive plan for opening his second term in an interview that aired Sunday, vowing to move immediately to crack down on immigration and pardon his most violent supporters while threatening to lock up political foes such as Liz Cheney. In his first sit-down broadcast network interview since being reelected, Trump said that on Day 1 of his new administration next month, he would extend clemency to the hundreds of his backers who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and try to bar automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to immigrant parents. Without giving a time frame, Trump also indicated that he would fire FBI Director Christopher Wray, out of personal pique because «he invaded my home» and was insufficiently certain at first whether Trump's wound during an assassination attempt this year was caused by a bullet or shrapnel. And he said that members of Congress who investigated his role in the Jan. 6 attack should be thrown behind bars.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The advent of single-expiry index options last week introduced a fresh layer of volatility to the Nifty, which witnessed dramatic price swings a day ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s bi-annual policy announcement on 6 December.

Oil prices were mixed in early Asia trade on Monday as concerns over weak Chinese demand were offset by rising tensions in the Middle East following the rebel overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Brent crude futures fell by 1 cent to $71.11 per barrel by 1117 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose by 1 cent to $67.21 per barrel.

Assad regime that brutalised, tortured and killed thousands of innocent Syrians over the past half a century is a historic opportunity for the people of the country, outgoing US President Joe Biden said on Sunday. Biden spoke at the White House hours after rebel groups took over the country following more than a dozen years of violent civil war and decades of leadership by Bashar Assad and his family. «After 13 years of civil war in Syria and more than half a century of brutal authoritarian rule by Bashar Assad and his father before him, rebel forces have forced Assad to resign his office and flee the country. We're not sure where he is, but there's word that he's in Moscow. At long last, the Assad regime has fallen,» Biden said. «This regime brutalised, tortured and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians. The fall of the regime is a fundamental act of justice. It's a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their proud country,» he said.

Political tumult in France and South Korea was joined by the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, which complicated an already fraught situation in the Middle East.

TikTok, which was banned in India in 2020, is now a step closer to meeting the same fate in the United States. A US federal court last Friday rejected TikTok’s appeal challenging a law requiring it to divest from its Chinese parent company or shut up shop next month. ET explains the case and what’s in store for the platform. Why does the US government want to ban TikTok?

ET. The executive, who was in India last week, mentioned that Bitget has been actively engaging with regulators over the past few months to obtain the necessary approvals for its local operations. In a conversation with ET’s Vinod Mahanta, Zade discusses Bitget’s plans for India, the impact of the Trump presidency on cryptocurrencies, the ongoing bull run, and the evolving role of crypto in a post-AI world. Edited excerpts: Q) Do you think that crypto has a future in countries like India where regulators are not in favour of digital currencies? As a company, we firmly believe that having regulations is far better than having none at all. Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to engage with some regulators in India, as compliance is a key priority for us. Binance has recently secured registration to operate in India and we are looking forward to getting ours from authorities.

Russia’s foreign ministry confirmed Sunday that Assad resigned from his position and left Syria, instructing the government to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, as mentioned in a report by Forbes. According to Moscow, Assad engaged in discussions with various factions involved in the conflict before making the decision to step down.

Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Sunday he will not try to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell upon taking office in January. «No, I don't think so,» Trump said in an interview on NBC News' «Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.» He told Welker when asked if he would seek to replace Powell, who he has sparred with in the past over interest rate levels, «I think if I told him to, he would. But if I asked him to, he probably wouldn't.»

Assad dynasty was a feared instrument of repression, ruthlessly ruling over the country until Sunday when the government collapsed under a shocking rebel offensive. In 2011, President Bashar al-Assad — who has reportedly fled the country as rebels took Damascus — cracked down on peaceful pro-democracy protesters with bullets when the Arab Spring reached Syria. Like his father Hafez before him, Bashar chose force to fight any opposition for the 24 years that he ruled the country.

immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, shortly after a meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders, claiming Kyiv «would like to make a deal» to end the more than 1,000-day war. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed that Moscow and Kyiv have both lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a war that «should never have started.» «There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed,» he said, as he called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to act to bring the fighting to an end.

The Archbishop of Paris officially reopened Notre Dame Cathedral on Saturday, marking the restoration of the historic 12th-century landmark after the catastrophic fire of 2019. In a symbolic gesture, Laurent Ulrich knocked on the grand doors and stepped into the beautifully restored space. Dressed in newly designed vestments and carrying a staff crafted from a roof beam that survived the blaze, Ulrich led a two-hour ceremony attended by hundreds of VIPs inside the Gothic cathedral. Commanding the doors to “open,” he entered the transformed masterpiece to begin the event.

rebels who led the movement to topple the Assad's rule have said that Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is the leader of the Islamist alliance that spearheaded an offensive and allowed the overthrow to be possible. Jolani heads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in Syria's branch of Al-Qaeda. He is an extremist who adopted a more moderate posture in order to achieve his goals. On Sunday, as the rebels entered Damascus, he ordered all military forces in the capital not to approach public institutions.

China's Ant Group, Cyril Han, will take over from Eric Jing as chief executive from March 1, showed an internal memo seen by Reuters which was confirmed by a spokesperson. Han will continue to report to Jing who will remain as chairman, the memo showed. Han became president in March during the fintech's biggest organisational change since it was fined $984 million in July 2023 for violations in areas such as corporate governance.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday hoped the Jammu and Kashmir government will grant age relaxation to candidates for police sub-inspector posts as recruitment has been delayed since 2019. The former chief minister said age relaxation is a legitimate demand. «Countless JKPSI aspirants stare at a bleak future owing to recruitment delays since 2019 due to corruption & exam cancellations. Age relaxation is a legitimate demand & I hope it's granted immediately,» Mehbooba said in a post on X. She tagged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in her post.

Europe's economy has enough difficulties, from tepid growth to trade tensions with the U.S. Dealing with those woes is only getting harder due to the political chaos in the two biggest European countries, France and Germany

Syria, which lasted for more than half a century, has come to a dramatic end after a decade-long bloody civil war. Rebel forces breached the regime’s seat of power in Damascus, prompting President Bashar al-Assad, an ophthalmologist, to flee. This marks the collapse of the Assad family's long-standing rule over the country.

Bashar Assad attempted to distance themselves after its rapid fall. Syria's al-Watan newspaper, historically pro-government, wrote: «We are facing a new page for Syria. We thank God for not shedding more blood. We believe and trust that Syria will be for all Syrians.» It added that media workers should not be blamed for publishing government statements in the past.

In a reversal, President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country as his forces abandon territory with little resistance, marking a pivotal shift in the 13-year civil war. For the first time since 2018, opposition groups have breached the defenses of Damascus, signaling the growing strength of rebel factions determined to overthrow the Assad regime. The question now looms: Who are these fighters, and what comes next if they succeed in toppling Assad’s government?

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Sunday that Assad may have fled Syria, citing sources that claim he departed via Damascus International Airport after a series of rapid and surprising territorial losses to advancing rebel forces. This information, however, has not been independently verified by international agencies, deepening the mystery surrounding Assad’s current location and the stability of his regime.

Bashar al-Assad oversaw a merciless crackdown on a pro-democracy revolt that morphed into one of the bloodiest wars of the century. On Sunday, as rebels entered the capital, a Syrian war monitor said he had left the country, in what could spell the end not just of his 24-year rule but the downfall of his clan's five-decade reign. After facing down nationwide protests demanding his ouster and an armed rebellion that he all but crushed, Assad had — until a lightning rebel offensive — taken back control of much of Syria in the civil war that began in 2011.