For months we’ve been warning that real estate markets in NYC and San Francisco, among others, are getting ready to rollover as the market is about to be flooded with new supply of luxury apartments (see here and here). Real estate in both markets are just starting to show signs of cracking as the apartments sales cycle is getting stretched out and pricing growth has stalled. Now, […]
By Sinead Carew and Chuck Mikolajczak | NEW YORK NEW YORK The rally in regional U.S. bank stocks that followed last month’s election of Donald Trump may not be over, but investors may have to wait for policy to take shape for the massive move to extend further. The S&P 600 index of small-cap banks has surged more than 20 percent since Trump’s surprise Nov. 8 victory, […]
ANKARA The Turkish military killed 20 fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) after they tried to attack army bases in the southeastern Hakkari province, the military said on Saturday. The fighters crossed into Turkey from northern Iraq and attempted to launch attacks on military bases in the mountainous border region, the military said, without giving further details. Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast has been rocked by […]
Opec’s production cut this week to bolster oil prices may strike many as a throwback to an earlier era, but it hinged on a very modern method of communication: a messaging group between the smartphones of Saudi Arabia’s delegation in Vienna and Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud. For a royal priding himself on being a tech savvy moderniser in the kingdom, the use of a popular encrypted messaging service may […]
Virginia-based Kryptowire said that it had discovered the problem in a number of Android-based phones using firmware from the Chinese company Shanghai ADUPS Technology A US security company says a Chinese-made smartphone popular in the United States forwarded detailed user data and user texts back to a Chinese server without the phone owner’s knowledge. Virginia-based Kryptowire, which provides mobile security services to government agencies and private businesses, […]
AJMAN// A time capsule that sums up the UAE’s history with videos, pictures and writings, was the highlight of Ajman’s celebrations for 45th National Day. The capsule, an initiative from the Ajman Tourism Department, was launched on November 25 and will be on display until December 3 before being placed underground for a period of five years. People from across the country were invited to participate with […]
Successful SMEs set to become part of the supply chain for Qatar Shell and Pearl GTL 03 December 2016 Doha: As part of a nationwide strategy to support Qatari small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and Qatar Shell will award contracts for five business opportunities; four will be awarded at a special ceremony on 5th December, and a fifth contract will be signed and announced […]
BANGKOK Thai police arrested an anti-junta activist on Saturday for defaming the monarchy in what rights groups said was the first case of lese-majeste brought under Thailand’s new king. King Maha Vajiralongkorn formally ascended the throne on Thursday following the death of his father, revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died aged of 88 in October. Police Colonel Jaturon Trakulpan, a superintendent in northeastern Chaiyaphum province, said Jatupat […]
Businesses operating in GCC countries should brace themselves for further government action to raise non-oil revenues, according to a new ICAEW report. The accountancy and finance body said that given the weak outlook for oil prices, imposing tax measures, along with subsidy reforms, spending cuts, and a freeze on public sector recruitment and pay, will help to close the fiscal gap. Its Economic Insight: Middle East Q4 […]
Frequent tornadoes and thunderstorms that kill people and destroy property have become a matter of grave concern. In the United States alone, the insured losses caused by severe thunderstorms have been put at $8.5 billion from the period between January to June 2016. A new study has tried a linkage between climate change and the increasing incidents of tornadoes. Calling for a deeper study on some meteorological factors, […]
Photo Residents whose home was destroyed by a fire in the Jewish settlement of Halamish in the West Bank. Credit Menahem Kahana/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images NATAF, Israel — When Rama’s Kitchen, an earthy and much-loved restaurant in the small Israeli village of Nataf, was burned last week by one of the wildfires that raged in the area, the last civilians who stayed to fight the blaze […]
BEIJING U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen was a “petty action” by Taiwan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday, Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television reported. The conversation was the first such contact with Taiwan by a U.S. president-elect or president since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of “one China”. “This is […]
US President Barack Obama has blocked a Chinese company’s purchase of German chip equipment manufacturer Aixtron on national security grounds in a move that highlights the growing hostility towards Chinese cross-border investment in western countries. In a presidential order issued on Friday, Mr Obama said “there is credible evidence” that Chinese investors Fujian Grand Chip “might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the […]
Asks Imran to stop vilifying others LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Hamza Shahbaz Friday said air is leaking out the balloon of Panama Papers issue and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan should stop vilifying others. Talking to media, Hamza said the PTI has nothing to say except for allegations, adding that one should not compromise on ethics in politics. Hamza urged that ethical […]
Europe’s financial markets are bracing for Italy to reject the government’s constitutional reforms in Sunday’s referendum, with investors warning that an emphatic No vote risks a sharp sell-off in Italian assets. Although there has not been panic ahead of the vote, there are signs of some nerves among money managers and traders whose attention in recent weeks has been dominated by the reflation trade unleashed by Donald […]
By David Brunnstrom and Emily Stephenson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke by phone on Friday with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, a transition team spokeswoman said, in a move likely to infuriate China and expected to complicate relations. The call, confirmed by Trump transition spokeswoman Hope Hicks, was the first such contact with Taiwan by a president-elect or president since President Jimmy Carter adopted a […]
SANA, Yemen — The Houthi movement and its allies formed a new government in Yemen on Monday, a surprise that angered their Saudi-backed rivals and complicated United Nations efforts to end a conflict that has ravaged the Arab world’s poorest country for much of the past two years. The announcement of the new government, reported by the Houthi-run state television and Saba news agency, said it was […]
Private equity firm Gulf Capital plans to sell some of its investments towards the end of 2017 and early 2018 as market sentiment and the regional economy improve, its chief executive told Reuters. Karim El Solh declined to say which stakes the Abu Dhabi-based company, one of the biggest private equity firms in the region, was considering offloading but said that they would be appealing to global […]
Disaffected Hillary snowflakes at colleges and universities all around the country, many of whom surely cried themselves to sleep last night, woke up this morning to some of the best news they’ve received in weeks. According to a new study by the University of New Hampshire Carsey School of Public Policy, white people are dying off faster than ever in the U.S. Moreover, the biggest declines are […]
Donald Trump risks opening up a major diplomatic dispute with China before he has even been inaugurated after speaking on the telephone on Friday with Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan. The call, confirmed by four people, is believed to be the first between a US president or president-elect and a leader of Taiwan since diplomatic relations between the two were cut in 1979. Although it is […]
BUENOS AIRES The Inter-American Commision on Human Rights on Friday called on Argentina to release social activist Milagro Sala, who has been jailed since the beginning of the year in the northwestern province of Jujuy. The commission, part of the Organization of American States (OAS), said Argentina should “give prompt attention” to recommendations from a U.N. body in October that called Sala’s pre-trial detention “unwarranted and arbitrary.” […]
This week was full of Big Data news, including new releases, a brand new product, a new acquisition and an update to one of the major Hadoop distros. Let’s get a survey of what was announced and then see if we can’t draw a conclusion or two. A big driver for much of the news was this week’s Amazon Web Services re:Invent conference, providing an opportunity for […]
Apple has started to reduce its orders for the iPhone 7 amid declining demand for the smartphone, according to a report by DigiTimes. The publication’s sources, which come from the supply chain in Taiwan, said that demand for the iPhone 7 in China and other markets has decreased significantly since the smartphone was launched in September. Massive Demand For iPhone 7 At Launch Now Fading According to […]
By Chiekh Sadibou Mane and Thierry Gouegnon | BANJUL BANJUL Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, who once vowed to rule the tiny West African nation for “a billion years”, said he had accepted his shock election defeat on Friday, 22 years after seizing power in a coup. Voting on Thursday against Jammeh was a rare show of defiance against a leader who has ruled by decree and who […]
