Relegated to the backbench of the UK parliament, George Osborne has a great deal more time on his hands after the very public failed Brexit ‘Remain’ campaign. The former British chancellor is using the downtime to investigate why a wave of populist nationalism is currently sweeping across the world – and how it managed to bruise his political career as well as that of former prime minister […]
Shares in casino operators took a tumble on Friday before recovering some poise, following a response from China’s UnionPay to a report that its daily withdrawal limit from ATMs in the gambling haven of Macau was to be halved as part of Beijing’s battle against capital flight from the mainland. China has moved in recent weeks to staunch capital gushing from the mainland, including tightening scrutiny of cross-border […]
The worst may soon be over for corporate borrowers from the battered US energy industry, according to S&P Global, as a flurry of debt sales suggests investors are confident the Opec supply cut will help put a floor under the oil price. While defaults of energy groups will continue into 2017, analysts with the credit rating agency say they are likely to level out next year and […]
Brisbane-based Oventus Medical has opened a new 3D printing facility at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s (CSIRO) Clayton, Victoria campus. The facility builds on an existing partnership between Oventus and CSIRO, and will see the publicly-traded company produce its O2Vent device, a customisable, 3D-printed titanium mouthguard designed ensure optimal airflow and reduce the effects of snoring for sleep apnoea sufferers. Oventus has been developing O2Vent […]
Investors have valued Athene at about $7.4bn in a stock market launch of the US pensions provider, according to people familiar with the matter. Selling shareholders led by private equity house Apollo Global Management are set to raise $1.08bn as bankers handling the float prepare to price shares in the company at $40 apiece, the people said. That is the middle of a range of between $38 […]
08 December 2016 “The power and energy landscape in Africa is undergoing significant change” says Evan Schiff, African Utility Week event director, adding that current trends include “the availability of private investment for power and energy projects, the fast development of energy storage, renewable energy is becoming cheaper, gas that is an increasingly attractive mode of power generation in Africa, and that in the next 10 years, […]
Since announcing the creation of ProPublica Illinois, president Richard Tofel has heard from people in other states hoping the nonprofit investigative organization will set up shop in their cities, too. And it might. But first, they have to figure out the prairie state. ProPublica announced Wednesday the creation of ProPublica Illinois, the search for a Chicago-based editor and seed funding from the Ford Foundation. Two important things […]
For emerging markets, fears over the election of Donald Trump have yet to fully materialise. The prevailing view, says Ousmene Mandeng of EM investment fund New Sparta Asset Management, is that a Trump presidency is “negative for emerging markets”. Investors could foresee some benefit from a supply-side US boom that adds to world aggregate demand — but a less co-operative, protectionist US will have a structural negative […]
The deals, if finalized, would bring much-needed expertise and foreign investment to Iran’s ailing energy sector. Continue reading the main story Just as important, the agreements provide a lifeline to the rest of the world, experts say, critical to keeping dollars flowing and in cementing relations with European and Asian countries. Few Iranian officials like to acknowledge that in public, insisting that the country is immune to […]
He said that he was speaking from a makeshift medical clinic and that doctors were working in secret basement locations after being driven from hospitals. There were dozens of wounded and dead around him, including children, he added. Continue reading the main story “My neighbors have died; they were brought here,” he said. “I couldn’t ask them, ‘Where is my family?’ ” The latest round of fighting […]
National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) secured shareholders’ assent to merge with First Gulf Bank (FGB) at a meeting on Wednesday, a spokesman for NBAD said. First Gulf Bank also secured shareholders’ approval on Wednesday, FGB’s chief executive Andre Sayegh said. The pair announced in July that their boards had approved the tie-up, which will create one of the largest banks in the Middle East and Africa […]
Among the victims of a plane crash that killed 48 people Wednesday night was Junaid Jamshed, a pioneering Pakistani pop star turned religious preacher. Mr. Jamshed’s two careers, and the mourning that followed his death, reflected two conflicting sides of Pakistani society, commentators said. While some of his fans remembered him as a musician others lauded his most recent evangelical persona. The Pakistan International Airlines domestic flight […]
ABU DHABI // The year of reading may be coming to a close, but teachers and students have vowed to keep up their work to instil a passion for the written word in their friends and colleagues. These days, reading competes with a wide range of ‘easier’ pastimes – from video games to mobile phones – but for Sari Al Hemeiri sitting down with a good book, […]
I spot the ship long before the car pulls up to the cruise terminal at Abu Dhabi’s Mina Zayed. Part of the Celebrity Cruises fleet, the stately Celebrity Constellation – dark blue and white, and marked with a distinctive “X” logo at the top – stands 13 decks tall. Orange lifeboats hang high on Deck 5, and the shaded gangplank looks like a tunnel boring into the […]
Can you imagine a bank where artificial intelligence runs checking accounts, debit cards, and wire transfers? Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto The Milan-London startup connection is getting stronger. After MoneyFarm and Soundreef, yet another promising Italian startup, Euklid, is opening up shop in the UK capital, moving its headquarters to be part of the city’s vibrant ecosystem. The team selected London’s Level39 fintech accelerator as its new center of […]
Anwar Ahmad ABU DHABI // Noorullah Khan’s life was changed forever the day he stepped foot in Abu Dhabi. The Afghan arrived in the capital aged 18, penniless and with little more than the clothes on his back. Fast forward three decades and he now runs a successful shop at the Carpet Market at Mina Zayed. Now 51 years old, he has made a life for himself […]
The UK’s National Grid has agreed to sell a 61 per cent stake in its gas distribution network to a consortium of global investors, a deal that will plug the 11m homes the network serves into investors such as China’s sovereign wealth fund and Australian investment bank Macquarie. The terms of the transaction imply an enterprise value for the division of around £13.8bn including debt. The investment […]
Chicago politicians will have one more reason to look over their shoulders in 2017. The city’s history of political corruption and high crime rates have long made it fertile territory for investigative reporting. Next year, investigative nonprofit ProPublica plans to capitalize on that opportunity by colonizing the city with its first regional expansion. ProPublica plans to open the expansion in 2017 and is recruiting an experienced, Chicago-based […]
By Ju-min Park and Jack Kim | SEOUL SEOUL South Korea’s parliament introduced a bill on Thursday to impeach President Park Geun-hye, setting the stage for a historic vote to oust the embattled leader engulfed in an influence-peddling scandal. Parliament is expected to vote on Friday in favour of impeachment, although the Constitutional Court must decide whether to uphold the motion, a process that could take up […]
SYDNEY Asian shares hustled to one-month highs on Thursday after Wall Street strode to another record, while bonds rallied on wagers the European Central Bank would extend its stimulus campaign at a policy meeting later in the session. Risk appetite got an extra boost when China reported upbeat trade figures with exports and imports both beating forecasts. Resource imports were very strong, a major reason prices for […]
By Asad Hashim | ISLAMABAD ISLAMABAD Pakistan on Thursday mourned the 47 victims of its deadliest plane crash in four years, among them a famed-rockstar-turned-Muslim evangelist, two infants and three foreigners, as officials sought to pinpoint the cause of the disaster. Engine trouble was initially believed responsible, but many questions remain, stirring new worries about the safety record of money-losing state carrier Pakistani International Airlines. […]
Oil and gas major Chevron Corp (CVX.N) on Wednesday announced a $19.8 billion capital and exploratory investment program for 2017. The company said the 2017 budget represents a reduction of 42 percent from 2015 outlays and is expected to be at least 15 percent lower than projected 2016 capital investments. Chevron said in March it would slash its capital budget by as much as 36 percent in […]
General assembly meetings of FGB and NBAD held on December 7th Combined bank has total assets of approximately AED655 billion (US$178 billion), representing a 27% market share of UAE banking sector[1] Shareholders approve combined bank’s board of directors from effective merger date Effective date of merger towards the end of Q1 2017 as initially planned. Abu Dhabi, 7 December 2016 Shareholders in First Gulf Bank PJSC (FGB) […]
Softbank president Masayoshi Son walked out of President-Elect Trump’s office with a big grin on his face this yesterday, which can only signify one thing for me: a Sprint/T-Mobile merger is a done deal. Actual news stories don’t want to say this, because Trump and Son didn’t say it explicitly. According to the New York Times, Son “is projected” to spend half of his $100 […]
