Israel’s ambassador to the UK has apologised after a senior member of his embassy staff was recorded saying he wanted to “take down” the Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan. Shai Masot, the Israeli embassy’s senior political officer, said he was disappointed that Sir Alan, an outspoken critic of settlement building in the occupied West Bank, had not been “neutralised”. The official claimed, according to a recording […]
How’s your weekend going? Redditor, Law School Graduate, and nimble navigator William Craddick (/u/PleadingtheYiff / brand new Twitter handle @williamcraddick) has made quite the name for himself on Reddit’s “The_Donald” forum. In just three short months, Craddick has managed to rack up over 153,000 “post karma” and 48k “comment karma,” which (if you’re not familiar) is impressive. The guy is an incredibly effective dot-connector, perhaps owing it to his legal training – often posting lengthy reads that […]
The reputation of the main hospital in Iten was so bad that the only people who went there were those who wanted to “die quickly”, says Alex Tolgos, the county governor. But four years since Kenya started what the World Bank calls “one of the most rapid and ambitious devolution processes” on the planet, the hospital in the western Kenyan town has been transformed. More than half the […]
The UK’s Brexit vote shook the cocoa futures market in 2016, pushing the commodity that is priced in sterling to levels not seen in decades. Six months on, traders are feeling a new aftershock from the UK referendum following a filing for bankruptcy protection at the end of December by the US subsidiary of a top 10 cocoa processor Transmar Group. Transmar Commodity Group filed for Chapter […]
We are already witnessing the emergence of a digital divide: by 2020, every business will be either a digital predator or digital prey, according to Forrester Research. Digital disruptors are driving change everywhere, including in the Middle East, with people watching entertainment on Netflix, booking rides through Careem, and finding places to stay via Airbnb. However, according to a recent Forbes article, as many as 84 percent […]
05 January 2017 UNB CEO, Mr. Mohammad Nasr Abdeen won the prestigious International Socrates Award in the Finance & Banking category from the Europe Business Assembly in the United Kingdom. The International Socrates Award consisting of a trophy, certificate and a medallion, was presented by the Europe Business Assembly at the Awards ceremony, which felicitated the best companies and personalities for their outstanding achievements in international relations, […]
The amount of money making bets that US Treasuries will fall in value climbed to a new record high over the last week in a wager that faster US economic growth and higher inflation will weigh further on government bond prices. So-called “non-commercial” speculative positions selling the 10-year Treasury futures contract have been rising since the US presidential election and hit 816,156 contracts in the week to […]
Submitted by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.com, Yes, the narrative of the “new normal” has been around for so long now that many people have simply grown used to it. The assumption is that the fiscal “new normal” has become the fiscal “normal,” and though the fundamentals continue to strain under the weight of poor global demand and historic debt levitated by extraneous fiat stimulus, the masses feel […]
KINI ROUNDUP Here are the key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief. Auditor Parker Randall in spotlight Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua claimed 1MDB failed to disclose that it is local firm Afrizan Tarmili Khairul Azhar (Aftaas) that would be auditing 1MDB when it announced Parker Randall as its new auditor. “Aftaas is a member of Parker Randall International, an international association of audit […]
By Ann Saphir and Jason Lange | CHICAGO CHICAGO Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said on Friday the central bank could raise interest rates three times this year, faster than he had expected just a few months ago and in line with the majority of his colleagues. The comments from Evans, a voting member of the Fed’s policy committee this year, reinforced the view that the […]
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: 5 January 2017 Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of news and information for professional markets and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), will co-host the 11th MENA Regulatory Summit on February 5th & 6th in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Held under the patronage of the UAE Minister of Economy, H.E Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, the summit will debate key challenges that […]
Nobody likes to admit going along with the consensus. It sounds better to be contrarian, and in markets there is far more money to be made when you latch on to an unpopular notion that turns out to be correct. That is how you get to buy things cheap. But sometimes the herd gets it right, even if it gets overexcited and “overshoots” its target. On balance, […]
Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Co is reportedly mulling plans to commit up to $15 billion to partner with a new fund to invest in global technology. Bloomberg reported that Mubadala is looking to partner with SoftBank Group Corp and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in the SoftBank Vision Fund which is set to close in January and will be capped at $100 billion, citing people familiar with […]
January 6, 2017 by: Adam Samson in New York US wage growth accelerated to the quickest pace since 2009 last month, underscoring rising inflationary pressure as President Barack Obama prepares to pass the torch to Donald Trump. Average hourly earnings climbed 0.4 per cent in December from the previous month, beating expectations for a 0.3 per cent pick-up, the Labor Department said in the final employment report […]
Oman’s sovereign net foreign assets are forecast to fall to 28 percent of GDP by 2018 from 48.5 percent at the end of 2016 due to external debt issuance and draw-downs from wealth funds to finance budget deficits, according to Fitch Ratings. The ratings agency, which also said in a statement that the earlier sharp fall in oil and gas prices had hit Oman hard, published Oman’s […]
By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stocks edged lower on Friday after data showed employment in December rose less than expected but a rebound in wages suggested sustained growth in the labor market. The public and private sectors together added 156,000 jobs last month, a U.S. Labor Department report showed, compared with 204,000 jobs added in November. Average hourly earnings increased 10 cents, or 0.4 percent, after slipping 0.1 […]
By Richard Balmforth | PARIS PARIS France’s far-right leader fired broadsides at the European Union and the euro currency on Friday, marking out Europe as a major plank in her programme as the battle lines took shape in the campaign for the presidential election in spring. Marine Le Pen, head of the anti-EU, anti-immigrant National Front (FN) and seen by pollsters as highly likely to make a […]
Photo Maqluba, a Middle Eastern dish, is an aromatic glory that requires a certain manual dexterity for its presentation. Credit Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Amy Wilson. “Why did you take your shoes off?” Maha Sarsour demanded as she emerged from her kitchen to greet me. I debated whether it would be better or worse to say that […]
Argentina is looking to sell up to $10bn of debt, taking advantage of calmer conditions across bond markets and a pullback in the US dollar. The year-old government of Mauricio Macri is just one of a host of other emerging markets, including Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, all racing to raise finance soon to mitigate risks stemming from the uncertainty over the direction of US policy, with […]
Dubai Financial Market (DFM) saw its capitalisation rise by more than 12 percent during 2016 to AED337.6 billion ($91.9 billion), it has been announced. DFM’s General Index increased 12.1 percent to 3,531 points at the end of 2016 compared to 3,151 points at the end of 2015. Indices of eight out of the nine sectors featured on the DFM ended the year in the green, with the […]
Xiaomi’s division in India claims to have topped $1 billion (roughly 6,800 crore rupees) in revenue in 2016, following an announcement in October that it sold more than 1 million smartphones in India in 18 days. In a Facebook post celebrating the revenue milestone, head of Xiaomi India Manu Kumar Jain wrote that the company thinks it’s the first to cross the $1 billion revenue mark in […]
China strengthened the renminbi’s trading range on Friday by the most since it depegged it in 2005, as investors awaited data expected to show Beijing is continuing to burn through its reserves to support the currency. The renminbi’s sudden strength has caught global markets off-guard and wrongfooted investors betting the Chinese currency would start the year by continuing its gradual slide as outflow pressures persisted in spite […]
06 January 2017 MARC has affirmed its AAA(fg) rating on KMCOB Capital Berhad’s (KMCOB) guaranteed serial bonds of up to RM320.0 million with a stable outlook. The rating and outlook reflect the unconditional and irrevocable financial guarantee provided by Danajamin Nasional Berhad (Danajamin), which carries MARC’s insurer financial strength rating of AAA and counterparty credit ratings of AAA/MARC-1. As at end-December 2016, KMCOB has an outstanding amount […]
Friday 02:30 GMT Overview Asia’s markets were bracing for key US jobs data on Friday, leaving stock indices flat and most currencies higher against a wobbling dollar. Within the region, attention was on the Chinese renminbi, which paused for breath after enjoying its biggest two-day rally against the dollar since the offshore market was created in 2010. Hot topic While currency markets are looking at the renminbi, […]
