By Anthony Deutsch | AMSTERDAM AMSTERDAM Syrian government forces used chemical weapons in opposition-controlled parts of Aleppo during battles to retake the city late last year, Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Monday. The findings add to mounting evidence of the use of banned chemical weapons in the six-year-old Syrian civil war and could strengthen calls by Britain, France and the United States for […]
Netflix has the kind of content deals Facebook needs to truly make its mark in video. I have been watching with amusement Twitter’s push to provide video feeds of things like NFL games and other special events. Personally, I’d never consider watching the game, or any other significant TV event, on a social media app. But this type of TV-social […]
Muscat, February 14, 2017 Bank Sohar, continuing to invest in the capabilities and growth of its Executive Management members, has announced the appointment of Mr. Pieter De Witt, as the Bank’s new Chief Financial Officer and Mr. Khalid Khalfan Rashid Al Subhi, as the new AGM and Head of Compliance. Both; Mr. Pieter De Witt and Mr. Khalid Al Subhi are highly qualified individuals in their respective […]
Markets have started this week feeling much relieved, notes Bloomberg’s Richard Breslow, as the understandable fears that U.S.-Asia strategy might continue their lurch toward direct economic confrontation were given a respite. The phone call with Chinese President Xi went better than feared. And once the picture of the Japanese Prime Minister and American President high-fiving on the golf course was passed around, the sighs of relief were […]
|By Matein Khalid| The US Dollar Index has now fallen 3.5% since it peaked on January 3. Donald Trump and his White House aides broke the 20 year taboo against speaking out against the “strong dollar” policy platitudes. The Federal Reserve did not raise interest rates and signaled no rate hike is imminent at the March FOMC. It is significant that the US dollar has fallen against […]
13 February 2017 Muscat – Bank Nizwa celebrated four years of redefining Islamic finance in the Sultanate by winning the ‘Islamic Bank of the Year’ organized by the leading Corporate Livewire Finance Awards. This latest accolade joins a string of prestigious awards that celebrate the bank’s journey of sustainable growth through the delivery of excellence in product quality and service. For the period ended 31st December 2016, […]
China’s largest property developer Dalian Wanda Group has set its sights on banks in Europe, including Germany’s Postbank, as it diversifies away from its core real estate business. The Beijing-based group led by China’s richest man is actively looking at several European financial institutions, three people familiar with the matter said. Postbank — which has been put up for sale by Deutsche Bank — was among the […]
“Throughout the entire length of the battle for Aleppo, there have been multiple claims of violations of human rights and multiple denials,” said Eliot Higgins, a senior fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council. Continue reading the main story “What we have been able to present now is a wealth of evidence confirming the targeting of civilian structures, namely hospitals, which in certain […]
The New South Wales Telco Authority has announced signing NEC Australia to provide network management systems and wireless backhaul technology for state emergency services and other public safety agencies as part of the government’s Critical Communications Enhancement Program (CCEP). Under the three-year deal, NEC will also provide professional services and 24/7 support via its existing technical service centres. NEC will take part in the CCEP’s pilot program […]
ANZ has announced the appointment Lynwen Connick as its new chief information security officer, who will leave her role as the first assistant secretary information sharing and intelligence at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in March to take up her new position. Connick, who replaces former CISO Steve Glynn, was previously responsible for advising Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on cyber policy, intelligence, and secure […]
UK-based Liberty House Group on Sunday said it will agreement Tata Steel UK’s speciality steels business for $125 million (AED458 million). The deal secures the future of around 1,700 jobs directly, and thousands more in the supply chain and regional economy, a company statement said. In an exclusive interview published in Arabian Business on Sunday, Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman, Liberty House Group said he was “very close” […]
Credit: Salk Institute Although we spend a lot of our time online nowadays—streaming music and video, checking email and social media, or obsessively reading the news—few of us know about the mathematical algorithms that manage how our content is delivered. But deciding how to route information fairly and efficiently through a distributed system with no central authority was a priority for the Internet’s founders. Now, a Salk […]
Here are the big questions facing investors ahead of a new trading week. How long does a reprieve for French bonds last? After a burst of selling early last week, French debt was granted a reprieve with the 10-year benchmark yield easing back below 1.10 per cent. In turn, the divergence over 10-year Bund yields also pulled back from a four-year plus high. Traders remain nervous after […]
Though steep print ad revenue losses persisted in the fourth quarter of 2016, Gannett and McClatchy both reported today slightly improved financial performance heading into the new year. Gannett’s USA Today Network posted a revenue gain compared to the same period in 2015, even though print ads declined at about the same rate as in the third quarter — 15.4 percent. But most of the added revenue […]
ISTANBUL President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday the final goal of a Turkish incursion into Syria was not just to retake the city of al-Bab from Islamic State, but to cleanse a border region including Raqqa of the jihadists. Turkish-backed Syrian rebels are pressing a major offensive on al-Bab, 30 km (20 miles) south of the Turkish border. The advance risks putting them in direct conflict with […]
One day after vowing to pursue a courtroom battle over his controversial travel ban, President Donald Trump on Friday said he may rewrite the executive order that threw the nation’s airports into chaos. The president told reporters travelling with him aboard Air Force One that he was considering a new order to address objections raised in several legal challenges. Mr Trump offered no details of potential changes […]
12 February 2017 Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (NYSE: MMC), a global professional services firm offering clients advice and solutions in risk, strategy and people, is a strategic partner of the newly published 2017 Global Risks Report, an annual publication released by the World Economic Forum at Davos. This year’s 2017 Global Risks Report reveals that economic inequality, societal polarisation and intensifying […]
Mr. Kushner, on something of a crash course in diplomacy, has been speaking with Arab leaders in recent weeks. But he is a mystery to most Middle Eastern officials. He has no experience in government or international affairs. His up-close exposure to the Arab world amounts to little more than trips to a handful of Persian Gulf countries and a star-studded jaunt to Jordan. Continue reading the […]
Qatar Petroleum is the hidden giant of the global energy industry, overshadowed by its neighbor Saudi Aramco. Yet, the country’s colossal natural gas resources allow the state-run company to pump more oil and gas than Rosneft PJSC or Exxon Mobil Corp. After almost two decades of breakneck growth, the company needs to change tack. QP plans to expand abroad as domestic crude output declines and the government […]
Far from the palm-fringed beaches of the usual offshore tax havens, Canada has quietly become a go-to destination for international tax cheats eager to exploit the country’s twin benefits of a sterling reputation and rules that allow private companies to keep their ownership secret. A joint investigation by CBC/Radio-Canada and the Toronto Star has found dozens of cases where tax advisers around the world are touting shell companies […]
“The danger is that this is the first stage in an escalation that could culminate in a military confrontation between Iran and the United States, or Iran and Israel,” said Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The entire eight years of the Obama administration was an example of unprecedented but largely unreciprocated overtures for cooperation with Iran in the Middle East. The Iranians weren’t […]
Researchers reveal an optimal strategy for foragers — animals searching for berries in the woods or prospectors seeking oil in the desert. The statistical model builds on previous foraging theories by accounting for trajectory and resources consumed. The optimal foraging strategy? Search the current foraging ground for a time that equals the time it would take to pull up stakes and move to a new territory. (via WSJ)
03 February 2017 The Roads and Transport Authority – Majdi Abu Zaid: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced that its Call Center has received 2,177,521 calls in 2016, and the response time has covered 86.3% of incoming calls within the targeted time response time of 20 seconds per call. The Centre has also received 53,298 reports about lost items where more than 70% of them were […]
By Lucia Mutikani | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. job growth surged more than expected in January as construction firms and retailers ramped up hiring, but wages barely rose, handing the Trump administration both a head start and a challenge as it seeks to boost the economy. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 227,000 jobs, the largest gain in four months, the Labor Department said on Friday. The unemployment rate, however, […]
