The prospect of a more aggressive Federal Reserve and a surge in the oil price hit global bonds on Monday, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note above 2.5 per cent for the first time since 2014. Treasuries have led a sharp sell-off in sovereign bonds since Donald Trump’s victory in last month’s US election, raising the prospect that Fed officials will have to raise […]
ALEPPO, Syria The Syrian military operation to recapture rebel-held east Aleppo is in its final stages after the army took Sheikh Saeed and other districts, Lieutenant General Zaid al-Saleh, head of the Aleppo security committee, said on Monday. “The battle in east Aleppo should end quickly. They (rebels) don’t have much time. They either have to surrender or die,” he told a group of reporters in the […]
Photo Credit Angie Wang More than 25 years ago, at the height of the effort to pass hate speech codes on college campuses, I wrote a monograph about how to do it without censorship. It began with a quotation from a student who had been bullied because he was Asian-American: “I wish they had hit me.” If he had been beaten, he said, the damage would have […]
Goldman Sachs said the formal agreement by non-OPEC oil producers this weekend in Vienna to help curb output was reached with a goal of “normalization” of inventories and not necessarily just at raising oil prices. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had previously agreed to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd), and on Saturday, 11 non-OPEC producers agreed to join the effort […]
ISTANBUL The death toll from Saturday night’s twin bombings in Istanbul has risen to 44, of whom 36 were police officers, Health Minister Recep Akdag was cited as saying by state-run Anadolu agency and other media on Monday. An offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group claimed responsibility for the bombings outside an Istanbul soccer stadium, which also wounded around 150 people. The death toll […]
Gabriel Yared begins every day the same way. He gets up, and reaches for a Bach score, burying his head in the baroque master’s music. “Why do I do this? I put a ceiling of perfection and beauty over my day, and every day is the same to me – trying to reach beauty,” says the celebrated French-Lebanese film composer, who was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement […]
BEIJING China said on Monday that it was extremely concerned about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s comments that the United States did not necessarily have to stick to its long-standing position that Taiwan is part of “one China”. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular news briefing that the “one China” policy is the basis for China-U.S. relations and urged the incoming U.S. administration to understand the […]
Britain’s exit from the European Union will mean it can forge free trade deals with Gulf Arab allies, foreign minister Boris Johnson said on Friday in a speech also heralding closer defence ties to the conservative monarchies. Johnson was speaking at a conference in Bahrain a day after footage was published of him accusing Saudi Arabia, an important ally for Britain, and Iran of stoking proxy wars […]
By Laila Bassam and Lisa Barrington | ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT The Syrian army and its allies captured Sheikh Saeed district in Aleppo in overnight fighting, a war monitor and a Syrian official said early on Monday, amid the most intense bombardment in days, leaving insurgents in only a tiny pocket of the city. Sheikh Saeed lies in the south of the rebels’ east Aleppo enclave, which […]
This is part of a series on the global rise of exchange traded funds Each day, the investing public hears news of the latest developments in exchange traded index funds (ETFs). But rare is the mention of traditional index funds, which I call Tifs, although the acronym has yet to gain acceptance. In 1976, I created the first Tif. It was named First Index Investment Trust (now […]
By Joyce Lee | SEOUL SEOUL South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn will begin getting official briefings from aides of President Park Geun-hye on Monday, having assumed presidential authority in a caretaker role following her impeachment by parliament last week. Hwang has sought to calm anxiety over national security and to reassure financial markets while Park’s presidency is held in limbo pending the outcome of a Constitutional […]
The NSW Department of Industry’s Division of Resources and Energy (DRE) has tasked Singapore-based data startup Latize with helping it transform mining safety and incident analysis processes using data intelligence. While the value of the contract has not been disclosed, Latize said DRE is the first local government client it has acquired since opening up an office in Sydney in June. The deal comes at a time […]
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Giants fans began booing early in the third quarter of their team’s game with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. It was an impressive show of restraint. Booing in the first quarter would have been understandable. The Giants’ offense certainly deserved it. Odell Beckham Jr., who had dropped two crucial passes, knew that. “I walked onto the field and told myself, ‘You need […]
More and more airlines across the world are providing in-flight internet connectivity, allowing passengers to catch up on work email or surf the web from 30,000 feet. But this Wall Street Journal article explains how one country with a rapidly expanding aviation market is holding out, prohibiting Wi-Fi on board due to security concerns: India. Here’s why airlines are so eager to be the first to offer […]
By Howard Schneider | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Federal Reserve inaugurates the Trump era this week with a near-certain interest rate increase and new economic forecasts providing a first glimpse into whether the U.S. election has reshaped the central bank’s growth and inflation outlook. Fed fund futures show a 97 percent probability that the Fed will lift rates by a quarter of a percentage point at the end […]
BEIRUT The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday government forces had seized the eastern Aleppo neighbourhood of Sheikh Saeed from rebel fighters in overnight fighting, meaning the opposition has now lost 90 percent of the area they once held in the city. It said government warplanes had been mounting heavy air strikes overnight on remaining rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing […]
The Islamic Development Bank has listed a $1.25 billion sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai, the region’s international financial exchange. It is the seventh sukuk listing on the exchange by the IDB, making it the largest sukuk issuer on Nasdaq Dubai at $8.55 billion. Altogether, Nasdaq Dubai has 56 sukuk listings totalling $43.96 billion, making it the largest exchange in the world for Sukuk by value. Based in Saudi […]
HONG KONG, December 12 Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary John Tsang has resigned his post pending an announcement he will run for the city’s top job next March, Cable TV news reported on Monday. The resignation ends months of speculation on whether 65-year-old Tsang, currently topping popularity polls, wanted to run for Chief Executive of Hong Kong. It comes after unpopular incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced last […]
By Laila Bassam and Tom Perry | ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT Syrian rebels have received a U.S.-backed proposal to leave Aleppo along with civilians under safe passage guaranteed by Russia, rebel officials said as government forces closed in on Sunday, but Moscow denied a deal had been reached. If the proposal were to be taken up by all sides, it would end four years of fighting in […]
Nvidia, a company known for its graphics cards and processors, has taken another step into the self-driving car industry. The company has received approval from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to test its self-driving technology in public roads, and it seems that Nvidia did not waste any time after being granted permission. Nvidia Receives California DMV Permit For Self-Driving Car Testing On the Testing of Autonomous Vehicles […]
Monday 02.15 GMT Overview Markets around Asia were mostly higher, buoyed by a surge in oil prices and following on from another set of records for Wall Street on Friday. Hot topic Ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Wednesday, government bond yields are hovering at their highest levels in months. Of note, the yield (which moves inversely to price) on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury […]
Photo: Bullit Marquez, AP FILE – In this Dec. 2, 2016, file photo, protesters burn a mock American flag during a protest against the planned joint US-Philippines military exercise in central Philippines in front of the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. The Philippines has again thumbed its nose at the U.S., its longtime defense ally, saying it won’t be used as a springboard for U.S. ships and […]
By Engen Tham and Adam Jourdan | SHANGHAI SHANGHAI Ma Yiqing, 24, is typical of China’s younger generation – he uses his credit card frequently and borrows from online platforms to fund his shopping habits. In a pinch, he is happy to fall back on a lender closer to home – his mum and dad. Interviews with Ma, a single-child, his mother and grandmother, show how rapidly […]
11 December 2016 Dubai-UAE – National Bonds Corporation (National Bonds), the leading sharia-compliant savings and investments company in the UAE, has launched its Prestige wealth management program for the benefit of high net-worth customers that total more than 11,000 of the company’s 817,000 client base. National Bonds announced the program at a special gala dinner at the Ritz Carlton in Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC). Attended by guest […]
