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AMSTERDAM Police acting on a tip-off from the Dutch intelligence agency arrested a 30-year-old “terrorist” suspect and seized an arsenal of weapons in the port city of Rotterdam on Friday afternoon, prosecutors said. Detectives found a Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle, four boxes of illegal highly explosive fireworks, a large depiction of the Islamic State flag, several mobile phones and 1,600 euros in cash when they searched the suspect’s […]

The European Central Bank’s supervisory arm has rejected a request from Rome to delay a private sector-led rescue for Monte dei Paschi di Siena, leaving Italy little option but to inject state funds and impose losses on creditors. MPS asked the ECB for an extra five weeks to pull off a last-ditch €5bn equity injection for the lender, which emerged as the weakest in the European bank […]

By Luiza Ilie | BUCHAREST BUCHAREST When Romania’s leftist government collapsed a year ago amid outrage over a deadly nightclub fire, many people spied an opportunity for sweeping change in a country plagued by corruption and inept public services. But after the upswelling of public anger over the deaths of 64 people in the Club Colectiv, which lacked emergency exits and fire safety permits, the clamour for […]

Microsoft now officially owns LinkedIn, a popular social networking platform geared toward employers and professionals. The multi-billion acquisition first made headlines in June, and the European Commission has given the acquisition a go-ahead earlier this week, joining the approval of other regulators around the globe, including those in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and South Africa. “This deal will allow us to keep growing, investing in and innovating […]

Pearson, Microsoft and Google collaborate on state-of-the-art learning technology. Dubai,UAE, 9 December 2016 Pearson launched its latest augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) educational technology in the Middle East. This includes content for Microsoft HoloLens, the brand new augmented reality viewer, as well as content for VR including interactive 360° courseware. Microsoft’s HoloLens, is the world’s first untethered augmented reality system. HoloLens is a device that […]

December 9, 2016 by: Lauren Fedor and Katie Martin in London Irish fruit distributor Fyffes has agreed to a takeover by a subsidiary of Sumitomo, a deal that will value the London-listed company at €751m and allow the Japanese conglomerate to dramatically expand its European food business. The two companies said on Friday that Swordus Ireland Holding, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo, would acquire the entire share […]

Friday 06:00 GMT Overview Markets across Asia were mostly higher as investors reflected on record highs for Wall Street and the European Central Bank’s decision to tweak its asset purchase programme. European bourses are expected to open little changed, with spreadbetters predicting the UK’s FTSE 100 will be flat at 6,932 and Germany’s Dax to add 7 points to 11,186. US index futures suggest the S&P 500 […]

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By Lisa Twaronite and Wayne Cole | TOKYO/SYDNEY TOKYO/SYDNEY Asian shares edged down on Friday but were on track for weekly gains, while the euro became more settled after the volatility seen in the wake of the European Central Bank’s decision to trim the size of its asset purchase program while also extending it for longer than many analysts had expected. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares […]

Brexit may have come at the most fortunate time for the GCC. As the Gulf seeks greater support to fend off security risks in the region, including Iranian actions, and avenues to shore up bilateral trade in replacement of lost oil revenues, the UK is reaching out to old friends in a bid to strengthen non-mainland European relationships. “We will make it a priority, when the UK […]

By Laila Bassam and John Davison | ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT The Syrian army’s advance in Aleppo slowed on Thursday but a victory was still firmly in sight after President Bashar al-Assad vowed that retaking the city would change the course of the six-year-old war. Russia’s RIA news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying the Syrian army, which has captured territory including Aleppo’s historic […]

Apple has seen a sharp year-over-year increase in the number US government demands for customer data. It’s the company’s first biannual report this year covering how many demands were made from global law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including the US government, for data the company stores. Apple was embroiled in a legal battle with the FBI earlier this year over locked iPhones. Read more. Apple said it […]

Investors bought firmly into the view that a diverging outlook for interest rates is the key driver for the euro in the wake of the European Central Bank’s extension of quantitative easing, leaving the single currency nursing its biggest one-day drop against the dollar since the UK’s vote to leave the EU. After a knee-jerk 1 per cent leap up in the euro as headlines flashed that […]

Major U.S. stock indexes climbed again on Thursday and set fresh record highs as a month-long rally following the presidential election of Donald Trump rolled on. Investors have driven up equities since Trump’s Nov. 8 election over optimism about domestic economic stimulus and reduced corporate taxes and regulations. Supporting the upbeat sentiment on Thursday was a report that showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits […]

Thursday 21:00 GMT Overview The European Central Bank’s latest policy surprise fuelled a volatile session for the euro and government bonds as participants appeared, initially at least, to struggle to assess its implications. But European stocks rose to 11-month highs while Wall Street overcame an early bout of fatigue to set yet more record peaks. Oil prices resumed their upward path, even as a stronger dollar unsettled […]

By Steve Scherer and Francesca Piscioneri | ROME ROME Italy’s president began talks with political leaders on Thursday to seek a way out of the political crisis caused by the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Sergio Mattarella, a 75-year-old former constitutional court judge, must decide if someone can lead Italy to elections scheduled for 2018, or whether an interim government should serve until a snap vote […]

By freelance contributor Ben Bohane in Ly Son Island Posted December 09, 2016 05:35:32 Photo: Ly Son island, looking out towards the Paracels and Spratlys. (ABC News: Ben Bohane ) Related Story: Vietnam moves rocket launchers into disputed South China Sea: report Related Story: Vietnam expanding South China Sea runway: reports Sparkling on the horizon as our boat navigates the swell is one of the world’s most […]

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 […]

By Estelle Shirbon and Michael Holden | LONDON LONDON Britain’s Supreme Court will decide as quickly as possible whether Prime Minister Theresa May can trigger Britain’s exit from the European Union by the end of March without parliament’s assent, its president said on Thursday. Last month, the High Court decided that May could not invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the EU’s exit clause, using executive […]

DUESSELDORF, Germany Germany’s highest court will decide next year on complaints brought by utilities against a tax on nuclear fuel rods, a spokesman said on Thursday, in a further challenge to the government’s energy policy. E.ON, RWE and EnBW have demanded exemption from the tax, introduced in 2011, and are claiming back the roughly 5.8 billion euros ($6.2 billion) they have already paid. The tax requires companies […]

European Parliament president Martin Schulz does not believe the Panama Papers scandal has cast doubt on Malta’s ability to push through the EU anti-money laundering laws. Mr Schulz was fielding questions at a joint conference with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat during his visit to the island before Malta assumes the EU presidency. The EU’s anti-money laundering directive was enacted in June 2015, and with a two-year window […]

The European Central Bank has decided to scale back its landmark quantitive easing programme from €80bn to €60bn a month, in a move that responds to hawks’ concerns about ultra-loose monetary policy but which could unsettle markets. The bank confirmed that it would buy €80bn a month of bonds under the current leg of the programme until March, but added that it would reduce the purchase size […]

This is part of a series on the global rise of exchange traded funds ETFs are a global phenomena, but there are significant differences between the market in Europe and the US. This piece examines the most important. The US is far bigger Demand for exchange traded funds in Europe has never been higher. Assets held in funds and products listed across the region hit a record […]

COPENHAGEN Security forces should shoot at the boats of migrants trying to reach the European Union illegally, a member of parliament for the Danish government’s main political ally, the Danish People’s Party, suggested on national television. “The only efficient way is to turn the boats and say: ‘You cannot sail within this national border and if you do, you will either be shot at or be turned […]

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 […]

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