Has the US Presidential election cast a shadow on Black Friday 2016?

As US President-elect Donald Trump gears up to take office from the 44th and current President of the United States, pundits are having a field day trying to estimate the impact that will likely have on the US citizens. Among the immediate concerns is the impact the election result will have on the holiday spending, especially Black Friday on November 25, 2016.

While some are ambivalent about it, most media reports have indicated that Black Friday might not see as spectacular spending as expected. According to a news article, this year, Veterans Day - the first peak of several peak spending days during the holiday season – failed to kick off holiday spending. It was reported that the sales were $380 million lower than expected, at $1.16 billion. Quoting Adobe Digital Insights, the report indicated that the sales registered a measly 1% growth over a year earlier, against the predicted growth of 16%.

Another report quoting data from Adobe says that between November 1 and November 14, retailers have lost over $800 million in revenue from online sales. The sharpest drop occurred after the election, with total sales growth slowing to only 1.3%, against Adobe's prediction for growth of 7.8%.

What’s Black Friday?

The day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, Black Friday marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Since 1932, on the fourth Thursday of November, most major retailers in the US open very early – as early as overnight hours - and offer promotional sales.

Touted as the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005, the term Black Friday was coined in 1961. It represented the point in the year when retailers begin to turn a profit, thus going from being "in the red" to being "in the black".

But Black Friday as the kickoff to the holiday spending season has not been a real trend in retail for many years now. Many retailers have now spread out their promotions over full months of November and December, rather than concentrate them on a single shopping day or weekend.

Trumping over Black Friday. Read more.

Want to debate 'very badly' with Hillary Clinton: Donald Trump

Want to debate 'very badly' with Hillary Clinton: Donald Trump

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said he wants to "debate very badly" with his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton but will first see terms and conditions of the three presidential debates scheduled for September and October.

"I will absolutely do three debates. I want to debate very badly. But I have to see the conditions," Trump told TheTime magazine.

Debate is considered the most significant part of the US presidential elections, which very often decides the fate of a candidate.

The three presidential debates scheduled this time are September 26 (Hempstead, New York), October 9 (St Louis) and October 19 in Las Vegas.

The one vice-presidential debate is scheduled for October 4 in Farmville, Virginia.

The non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which conducts the debate, had last September announced the dates, venue and terms and conditions for the debate. The format of each 90-minute debate has already been set.

Trump said that he had haggled with television networks over the terms of debates held during the GOP primary and might do so again.(more)

Donald Trump 'unfit' to serve as US President: Barack Obama

Donald Trump 'unfit' to serve as US President: Barack Obama

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump "unfit" to serve as President and lambasted Republicans for sticking with the businessman-turned-politician.

The strong rebuke came after Trump's criticism of the family of a slain Muslim US soldier, along with comments that displayed apparent confusion related to the Russian incursion into Ukraine, CNN reported.

"The Republican nominee is unfit to serve as President," Obama said at a White House news conference with the Prime Minister of Singapore. "He keeps on proving it."

The Trump campaign responded by going after the Democratic nominee as well as the President.

"Hillary Clinton has proven herself unfit to serve in any government office," a Trump statement said, listing a number of policy concerns. "Obama-Clinton have single-handedly destabilised the Middle East, handed Iraq, Libya and Syria to ISIS, and allowed our personnel to be slaughtered at Benghazi."

Obama on Tuesday described his feelings about Trump as unprecedented, recalling disagreements with previous GOP presidential nominees Senator John McCain and Mitt Romney -- but never an outright sense they were unfit to serve.(more)

Republican leaders denounce Clinton in Cleveland convention

Republican leaders denounce Clinton in Cleveland convention

Top Republican leadership on Wednesday held a mock criminal-style trial before the American public against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, saying she is not fit to be an occupant of the White House and the safety and security of the country cannot be left on her.

Soon after Donald Trump was declared the presidential nominee of the Republican party, speakers after speakers of the Republican party went after Clinton with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie turned the audience into an ad hock jury by asking if the 68-year-old former secretary of State was guilty or not guilty.

After every charge-sheet, the cheering crowd pronounced her "guilty" shouting "lock her up".

"I am proud to say that the voice of the people of our nation is being heard in this hall and those voices want Donald Trump to be the next President of the United States. But this election is not just about Donald Trump. It is also about his Democratic opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton," Christie said.

"We know exactly what four years of Hillary Clinton will bring: all the failures of the Obama years, but with less charm and more lies. It is our obligation to stop Hillary Clinton now and never let her within 10 miles of the White House again," he said.(Read more)

Dhaka attack: IS or JmB? Experts weigh in

Dhaka attack: IS or JmB? Experts weigh in

By the time the dust settled in Dhaka’s diplomatic quarter on Saturday, the Islamic State (IS) had already claimed responsibility for the gruesome attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery — an establishment which was reportedly popular with the city’s expat community.

In the wake of the carnage, the Bangladesh government was quick to deny the IS’ claimed involvement in the attack, which left 20 hostages and six terrorists dead.

Instead, the country’s home minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, categorically denied any presence of the IS or Al-Qaeda on Bangladeshi soil and held “home-grown terrorists” responsible for the attack.

In particular, the minister blamed the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JmB) for the attack.

Bangladesh Prime Minister’s adviser on international affairs Gowher Rizvi also spoke along similar lines, laying the blame squarely at the feet of the JmB.

Despite these statements, chilling photographs of five of the seven attackers emerged, showing the smiling young men holding assault rifles, with the IS flag in the background. Read more.

IS Baghdad bomb blast kills at least 119

IS Baghdad bomb blast kills at least 119

A suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through a busy Baghdadshopping district on Sunday, killing at least 119 people in the deadliest attack this year in Iraq's capital.

The blast hit the Karrada district early in the day as the area was packed with shoppers ahead of this week's holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. It came a week after Iraqi security forces recaptured Fallujah from IS, leaving Mosul as the only Iraqi city under the jihadist group's control.

The bombing also wounded more than 140 people, security officials said. Prime MinisterHaider al-Abadi visited the site of the attack and vowed "punishment" for its perpetrators, his office said. The blast set buildings ablaze, and firemen were still working to extinguish them some 12 hours later.

Men carried the bodies of two victims out of one burned building and a crowd of people looked on from the rubble-filled street as firefighters worked at the site.

Hussein Ali, a 24-year-old former soldier, said six workers at his family's shop were killed in the attack, their bodies burned so badly that they could not be identified.Read more.

China accuses US of ignoring facts over India's NSG bid

China accuses US of ignoring facts over India's NSG bid

China accused the US of ignoring facts over India not getting entry into the NSG and claimed that the plenary meeting of the elite grouping in Seoul did not discuss the accession of any specific country.

China's assertion came in response to the remarks by US Under Secretary for Political AffairsTom Shannon that India failed to get entry into Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) due to China-led opposition.

Shannon had said one country can break consensus in the 48-nation atomic trading bloc and insisted that such member should be held accountable.

"With regard to the US officials comments on the NSG we want to point out that this official shows no regard to facts," Chinese Foreign Ministry official Hong Lei told a media briefing.

"In the plenary meeting in Seoul India' accession was not on the agenda of the meeting. It did not discuss the accession of any specific country into the group," Hong said.

"The news release of the plenary meeting said meeting discussed the technical, legal and political questions concerning the accession of relevant countries," he said.

On Shannon's comment that China's motives in the South China Sea (SCS) was intended towards Indian Ocean, Hong said "we are strongly dissatisfied with that" remark. Read more.