2016 was chock-full of surprises, both in markets and in politics. As Goldman’s Allison Nathan explains, the year began with a perfect storm of worries that had become all too familiar already in 2015. Oil prices plunged and fears of faltering growth and a sharp depreciation of China’s currency escalated, driving disruptive sell-offs in credit and other risk assets. Confidence in global growth faltered, particularly after an […]
But with few spies in the city, American officials say assessing the enemy is difficult. “We’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand the situation on the ground in Raqqa,” Lt. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, the air war commander, said in an interview from his headquarters in Qatar. “It’s improving. It’s still not at the level we’d like it to be.” Continue reading the main story […]
Jim Gomez, The Associated Press Published Sunday, December 25, 2016 9:12AM EST Last Updated Sunday, December 25, 2016 3:43PM EST MANILA, Philippines — A powerful typhoon slammed into the eastern Philippines on Christmas Day, spoiling the biggest holiday in Asia’s largest Catholic nation, where a governor offered roast pig to entice villagers to abandon family celebrations for emergency shelters. Typhoon Nock-Ten was packing maximum sustained winds of […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 26, 2016, including Christmas attractions, food markets, art exhibitions, fitness events, performances, film screenings and family fun. newslide Abu Dhabi Film screening Catch a screening of The Patience Stone. The film is about a young woman in a country torn apart by war, who watches over her comatose husband and begins to tell him […]
When US authorities started pursuing banks for their role in slicing, dicing and packaging the arcane products that sparked the financial crisis, they initially focused on domestic lenders. Now it is Europe’s banks that are in the crosshairs. Two days before Christmas, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse have agreed to settle with the US Department of Justice over the alleged mis-selling of mortgage-backed securities in the run-up […]
ISTANBUL — When a Turkish police officer assassinated Andrey G. Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, on Monday, it felt for a moment as if the whole world shook. The killing took place at a time of global uncertainty and reminded some observers of the start of World War I. The truth, however, is that despite shaky relations between Russia and Turkey in recent years, the assassination is […]
BAGHDAD Christians in Baghdad celebrated Christmas on Sunday in a heightened state of fear after deadly attacks on Christian-owned shops that sell alcohol. Two shops next door to each other were riddled with bullet holes and spattered with blood after gunmen opened fire late on Friday in Baghdad’s Ghadeer neighbourhood. Police and medical sources said three people were killed and four wounded. Local activists gave a higher […]
A Russian military aircraft crashed into the Black Sea on its way to Syria on Sunday, and none of the 92 people on board were expected to have survived, according to the Russian defence ministry. Among those on board the Tupolev-154 were members of the well-known Alexandrov Choir, who were to perform at Hmeymim air base. From that base, in Latakia province, Russia has flown most of […]
LAGOS Two people were killed when part of a two-storey building in a police training college collapsed in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos on Sunday, the police and the emergency agency said. The collapse happened at about 04:00 a.m. (0300 GMT) in the densely populated Ikeja district of the city, an official from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said. “Two people lost their lives. Nobody is inside […]
The UAE is set to be one of the world’s main centres for New Year’s Eve concerts on Saturday, with a variety of gigs in genres ranging from stadium rock and EDM to Arab pop and hip-hop. The locations are as eclectic as the sounds on offer, with mammoth venues such as Abu Dhabi’s du Arena and Dubai’s Meydan Racecourse hosting events along with resorts, restaurants and […]
She says she hasn’t decided what she’ll do next, but that it likely will involve working for a foundation or, perhaps, in the private sector. She’ll depart the FEC having largely seen her standing goal of revealing sources of secret money in politics stymied. Goodman, in an interview, wouldn’t commit to staying at the FEC through 2017. “I will make a decision early next year about my […]
TEHRAN: Iran’s capital might not seem like the most obvious pitstop for Santa Claus, but Iranians love the chintzy side of Christmas and it is also one of the safest places in the Middle East for Christians.The past month has seen shoppers flocking to the Armenian district of Somayeh — the biggest Christian area in the city — to pick up fake trees, and stock up on […]
In 300 B.C., Carthage was one of the world’s largest cities with up to 700,000 people living within its walls. The Carthaginian republic was a force to be reckoned with, controlling inconceivable amounts of wealth and land all around the Mediterranean. However, just over a century later in 146 B.C., Carthage was burnt to the ground by the Romans. The destruction of Carthage was so thorough that […]
MANILA, Philippines — A powerful typhoon is on its way to slam into the eastern Philippines on Christmas Day as officials struggled to divert people’s attention from family celebrations and travel. A provincial governor offered roasted pigs to entice villagers to move to emergency shelters. Typhoon Nock-Ten packed maximum sustained winds of 114 miles per hour (185 kilometers per hour) and gusts of up to 158 mph […]
By Tracy Rucinski | CHICAGO CHICAGO Caesars Entertainment Corp’s (CZR.O) bankrupt operating unit resolved a dispute with its lenders on Friday, paving the way for a consensual plan to push the casino group out of its $18 billion Chapter 11. In filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago, bank lenders said they had reached an agreement over their recovery terms and were withdrawing a threat to […]
Saudi Arabia’s government plans to provide 200 billion riyals ($53 billion) of incentives to the private sector over the next four years in its drive to diversify the economy beyond oil, according to an official planning document. A reform programme launched this year, after a plunge in oil prices slashed state revenues in the world’s top oil exporting country, envisions the private sector investing tens of billions […]
“The resolution that was passed by the U.N. yesterday is part of the swan song of the old world that is biased against Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu said at a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony honoring wounded soldiers and terrorism victims. “But, my friends, we are entering a new era and, as President-elect Trump said yesterday, that is going to happen a lot faster than people think.” Continue reading the […]
Hotel occupancy in Dubai rose by nearly five percent in November compared to the year-earlier period to be the top performing market in the Middle East and North Africa, according to new figures. EY’s November 2016 GCC Key Performance Highlights report showed that the emirate’s hotels achieved an occupancy rate of 89.5 percent compared to 84.8 percent in November 2015. The data also showed that Dubai hoteliers […]
ABU DHABI // The UAE proclaimed its message of tolerance, hope and peace last night to a world confronting the darkness of militant extremism. In Europe, many Christmas festivities were muted by a climate of fear after terrorist attacks last week in Germany and Switzerland. In Iraq, a once vibrant Christian community of 1.5 million has been shattered by ISIL, many families driven out of their homes […]
The Turkish Army and police won, but victory brought an Aleppo-like landscape. Two dozen acres of the old city have been cleared of the rubble so far, leaving a featureless circular gash on aerial maps. The damage is mostly invisible from street level though, because alleyways leading up to the most devastated areas have been walled up where they intersect with streets that have reopened for business. […]
By David DeKok | HARRISBURG, Pa. HARRISBURG, Pa. A Pennsylvania couple tried to starve their three children to death because the father no longer wanted them, state police said in charges filed this week. Police said officers and Dauphin County social workers rescued the emaciated children, girls aged 4 and 5 and a boy aged 6, from their parents on Dec. 16 and took them to a […]
Real estate markets in the UAE witnessed contrasting trends in November with sales prices and rents up in Dubai but values falling in Abu Dhabi, according to a new report by Bayut.com. Property website Bayut said the real estate market in Dubai was buoyed last month by a spate of project launches, stirring up interest in the market but activity in Abu Dhabi was slow, resulting in […]
It turns out there is a downside to spending 120% of your annual income every year from the time you graduate college until that day you turn 40 and finally realize that you’re getting old and have absolutely no liquid assets and no hopes of ever retiring. While the above strategy seemingly makes sense to our elitist, Ivy League-educated central planners at the Fed who have waged […]
ABU DHABI // A pungent gas odour affecting parts of the capital on Saturday originated from work being carried out by a diesel and gas company, authorities said. Officials with Abu Dhabi Police and Abu Dhabi Civil Defence did not identify the company, the nature or location of the work, but said the matter had been addressed and the odour did not pose a danger to the […]
