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Photo Families that fled violence in the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood of Aleppo on Tuesday arriving in the Fardous area, where shooting was also reported. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images GENEVA — Pro-government forces retaking the eastern neighborhoods of the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo killed at least 82 civilians on Monday, the United Nations estimated, in what one official called “a complete meltdown of humanity.” Zeid […]

ANKARA Turkish authorities have detained 568 people over alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group in the last two days, the interior ministry said on Tuesday. The operations, which followed the twin bombing in Istanbul on Saturday that killed 44 people outside a soccer stadium, were launched in 28 provinces across Turkey from the northwest to the southeast, the ministry said in a statement. […]

Wall Street looked set to open higher on Tuesday, as investors keep a close watch of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting where it is widely expected to raise interest rates for the second time since the financial crisis. A hike of 25 basis points in the Fed’s target range of 0.25-0.50 percent is priced in, but investors will be examining the Fed’s statement and economic forecasts for […]

DUBAI Many disasters loom over one of the poorest countries in the Middle East as it suffers through nearly two years of war, among them a colossal pile of waste outside Yemen’s capital leeching toxic waste into its diminishing water supply. Hardly a paragon of waste management before the war, Sanaa was at least able to separate out the most dangerous materials from the 10-million-ton hill thanks […]

An untold number of Syrians trapped in an ever tightening patch of rebel territory in Aleppo are desperately seeking a way to safety as the opposition’s final foothold in a major city looked on the verge of collapse. The International Committee of the Red Cross called for all sides to urgently agree a deal to evacuate people as it warned that time was running out for trapped […]

GENEVA Many unaccompanied children, possibly more than 100, are trapped in a building that is under heavy attack in besieged eastern Aleppo in Syria, the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF said in a statement on Tuesday, citing an unnamed doctor in the city. “According to alarming reports from a doctor in the city, many children, possibly more than 100, unaccompanied or separated from their families, are trapped in […]

Al Faisal Holding, a Qatari conglomerate, is considering alternative debt funding options after the idea of a US dollar sukuk issue received a lukewarm response from the market, sources familiar with the situation said. The conglomerate had approached banks earlier this year to discuss arranging a potential sukuk issue of around $200 million. The issue, which would have been the company’s first international debt raising exercise, may […]

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Demand for oil will outstrip supply in the next six months as long as Opec and countries outside the cartel can implement a deal signed over the weekend to lower output, according to one of the world’s leading energy forecasters. The International Energy Agency said the planned production cuts, which add up to 1.8m barrels a day, could reduce stockpiles by as much as 600,000 b/d over […]

YANGON A newsman reporting on sensitive topics such as illegal logging and crime in Myanmar’s rugged northwest border region was found beaten to death on Tuesday, police said, the fifth killing of a journalist since 1999. A vibrant domestic media has flourished since Myanmar eased media restrictions in 2012 as it began a transition from decades of military rule, but reporters can face intimidation or legal threats […]

Boeing Chinese hackers are targeting aviation systems in the quest for information and intellectual property which will boost the country’s competitiveness, security researchers say. Cyberattacks against the aviation industry are nothing new, but with the inclusion of Internet-capable devices at the basic level of embedded devices to in-flight Wi-Fi and connected aviation systems, there are more avenues than ever that threat actors can exploit. Successful attacks which […]

BUCHAREST Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis called political parties for a first round of consultations on Wednesday on forming a new government following Sunday’s national election. The Social Democrat Party won the ballot with just under 46 percent of votes in both houses of parliament, official results from more than 99 percent of polling stations showed. It is in pole position to form the new government after its […]

By Nigel Stephenson | LONDON LONDON Global shares edged up on Tuesday, helped by gains in banks after Italy’s largest lender unveiled a 13 billion euro share issue, while the dollar held steady before a Federal Reserve meeting expected to deliver higher interest rates. UniCredit launched Italy’s biggest share issue to clean up its balance sheet and boost profitability in the latest move to strengthen the Italian […]

By Laila Bassam | ALEPPO, Syria ALEPPO, Syria The Syrian army and its allies have taken full control over all the Aleppo districts abandoned by rebels during their retreat in the city, a Syrian military source said on Tuesday. Rebel defences collapsed on Monday, leading to a broad army advance across more than half of the remaining insurgent pocket in Aleppo and a retreat of opposition fighters […]

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The minority Christian governor of Indonesia’s capital sobbed in court Tuesday on the first day of his blasphemy trial as he recalled the role of Muslim godparents in his childhood and said he would never intentionally insult Islam. The national upheaval over the governor’s alleged blasphemy has challenged Indonesia’s reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam, shaken the government and exposed religious […]

13 December 2016 UAE, Philippos Petrakakos, CEO of Natura Food Imports, owner of distribution rights of Greek water Hyas in the region declared that the UAE is considered as an important gateway for European brands into the GCC and the Middle East. Petrakakos noted that quality, health standards and trading regulations implemented by UAE authorities on international goods are regarded with the utmost respect by global companies. […]

BEIJING Chinese soldiers laid wreaths on Tuesday at a ceremony to mark the 1937 massacre of civilians in the Chinese city of Nanjing by Japanese troops. The televised event at the Nanjing Massacre memorial recalls an incident in which China says Japanese soldiers killed 300,000 people in the city that was then its capital. A postwar Allied tribunal put the toll at 142,000, but some conservative Japanese […]

Bubbly home prices in London’s most exclusive neighborhoods continue to deflate and have just recorded their largest December decline since the “great recession” in 2010.  According to Bloomberg, asking prices in London dropped 4.3% in December with inner London down 6%.  Meanwhile, the most exclusive neighborhoods, like Kensinton and Chelsea, have recorded even sharper declines at nearly 10% as home buyers have migrated to cheaper areas of […]

It seems that Netflix’s integration into the Google Home platform is proceeding smoothly. A number of users are now confirming that the popular media-streaming service is already popping up on their devices alongside Google’s native Photos service. Netflix, Photos On Google Home The world got a first glimpse of how Netflix will get integrated into Google Home last October during the platform’s demonstration. There was no follow-up […]

Algebris Investments, a London-based asset manager, is seeking to raise €1bn for a second fund aimed at Italy’s non-performing loans as investors’ interest in what’s been the Achilles heel of the country’s banking sector intensifies. The launch by Algebris, which has $6bn in assets under management, comes amid increased focus by foreign investors on the potential of Italy’s pile of €360bn of problem loans, of which €200bn […]

By Emmanuel Jarry and Andrew Callus | PARIS PARIS France’s far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who wants to become president in next spring’s elections, celebrated Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. “Victory for freedom!” she said on her Twitter page in June after Britons voted for Brexit. “We now need to hold the same referendum in France and in (other) EU countries.” But unlike […]

By Steve Holland | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump will announce Exxon-Mobil Corp’s Rex Tillerson as his choice for secretary of state on Tuesday, a senior transition official said, confident that the oil executive can get past questions about his ties to Russia. Trump is to make the announcement on Tuesday morning, going with a business leader whose experience in diplomacy is from making deals with foreign […]

Michael Moritz – chairman of Sequoia Capital and one of the most successful venture capitalists in history – says a simple vision led him to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in on-demand delivery startups. “The movement of goods and services and people, by easier, more convenient means,” he said in an interview. “That’s a huge trend, enabled by smartphones.” Led by Sequoia and another blue-chip Silicon […]

Legendary crooner Tom Jones will headline the opening night of next year’s Dubai Jazz Festival. The announcement comes after the British star was forced to pull out of a planned show at Abu Dhabi’s du Arena in April, following the sudden loss of his wife of 59 years, Melinda Rose Woodward, to cancer. Jones will see in a landmark 15th anniversary of the three-night festival, when he […]

By Kanupriya Kapoor | JAKARTA JAKARTA A tearful governor of Jakarta denied on Tuesday he had intended to insult the Koran at the start of his blasphemy trial in the Indonesian capital, which is seen as a test of religious freedom in the world largest Muslim-majority nation. Around 100 Muslim protesters calling for the jailing of Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian, chanted “God is […]

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