This was originally published in our weekly newsletter, Local Edition, which is a product of the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative. Subscribe here. Have you ever had a party and looked around the room at some point and thought, Wow, there are a lot of cool people here? Well, that’s how my inbox felt this week. Thanks to everyone who contributed last week by answering our first question in […]
Wednesday 09:30 GMT Overview The dollar and government bond yields are jumping, and gold is falling, as hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials cause traders to drastically shorten the odds of an increase in US interest rates this month. Meanwhile, US equity index futures point to another record on Wall Street, tracking gains in Europe and Asia, after Donald Trump addressed Congress for the first time, with […]
TALLIN German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters in Estonia on Wednesday that NATO had not agreed on every nation in the alliance having to meet a rigid target of spending 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defence. “I have a concern that politicians make public promises that they can’t fulfil later on,” Gabriel said. He said that NATO had merely agreed that member nations […]
A display of smartphones at last year’s Mobile World Congress. Lightening-fast 5G mobile internet is due to be up and running by 2020 Chinese telecoms giant ZTE unveiled Sunday what it said is the world’s first smartphone compatible with the lightening-fast 5G mobile internet service that networks expect to have up and running by 2020. The company said the Gigabit Phone is the first smartphone capable of […]
Schon Properties transferred 2.33 million square feet of development at Dubai Lagoon to Xanadu Real Estate Development LLC, it was announced today. The move is part of the overall development of the Dh7 billion master-planned mixed-use project. The agreement involves the development of three phases of Dubai Lagoon, including Rowan, Lilly and, Winterberry developments. Dubai Lagoon will now be developed by Xanadu Real Estate Development, a Dubai-based […]
· The 50 million man-hours spans three years, during which McDermott has installed over 80,000 tonnes of steel and laid over 200 km of pipeline 01 March 2017 Dubai – Leading EPCI contractor McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE:MDR), today announced it reached 50 million man-hours without a lost time incident in its Middle East Area. “Everyone at McDermott had a part to play in reaching the 50 million man-hour […]
Snap Inc, owner of popular messaging app Snapchat, will price its initial public offering after the U.S. stock market closes on Wednesday in the most eagerly awaited technology IPO since Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba went public in 2014. The pricing will be the first test of investor appetite for a social-media app beloved by teenagers and 20-somethings but which has yet to turn a profit. The company’s […]
By David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON German automakers dominated Consumer Reports’ annual ranking of automotive brands released on Tuesday, with Volkswagen AG’s (VOWG_p.DE) Audi (NSUG.DE) leading the pack, while U.S. brands continued to lag despite gains for many. Jake Fisher, director of auto testing at the magazine, said German automakers rose largely due to improvements in reliability. “Building one or two great vehicles is achievable, but making […]
People started a staggering 84 percent of all wildfires in the United States, a new study reveals. In the comprehensive, first-of-its-kind analysis of wildfire data over a 20-year period, the remaining 16 percent of fires started naturally or via lightning. Human-Ignited Fires In Focus University of Massachusetts professor Bethany Bradley and her coauthors probed 1.5 million wildfires occurring from 1992 to 2012, findings that human-induced fire season […]
ABU DHABI // Schools for children with learning difficulties are not fit for purpose as they do not have the expertise or resources required, a specialist teacher has said. Abu Dhabi Education Council schools have introduced resource centres for children with difficulties, but parents have complained that they “lump together” special needs pupils with those with learning difficulties. “This is a global misconception that children with learning […]
A critic once described Yasmina Khadra as “a writer who can understand man wherever he is.” This came after it had become public knowledge, in 2011, that Yasmina Khadra is actually the pen name of Algerian author Mohammed Moulessehoul. Speaking to The National from his home in France, Moulessehoul said the revelation about his true identity – a former career military man and counterterrorism officer in the […]
March 1, 2017 by: Nicole Bullock in New York and Hannah Kuchler in San Francisco Investor interest in shares in the owner of the Snapchat messaging app is likely to ensure enough demand to price its initial public offering above the range set by the company, according to people with knowledge of the deal. The shares could price at $17-$18 a piece compared with the range set […]
In recent years the idea that no person or fund can consistently outperform the wider stock market by skill alone has been fashionable. Emboldened by traditional investment houses haemorrhaging market share to automated passive funds, the once-maligned advocates of the efficient market hypothesis have revised their mantra: you can’t beat the market, so buy an exchange traded fund instead. Outsiders listening in to this debate may conclude […]
By Stephen Kalin | SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq A few hundred men who had scurried across front lines in a refugee exodus from Mosul sat on the ground in neat rows before an Iraqi intelligence officer who scanned the crowd for hidden militants. The officer pulled a teenager onto a raised platform and asked the group if he belonged to Islamic State (IS). […]
Image by Arafat Uddin (Creative Commons) The financial services industry is undergoing digital disruption and change. Insurance, as part of that industry, also faces new opportunities and challenges. To explore these issues, I spoke with the CIO for Information at Swiss reinsurance giant, Swiss Re. Rainer Baumann handles the data and tools that experts inside the company use to understand and evaluate a broad range of insurance […]
By Steve Holland | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON After a turbulent start to his presidency, Donald Trump goes before the U.S. Congress on Tuesday night to give a speech that will be closely watched for details of his plans for the economy and whether he can strike a more conciliatory tone. World financial markets will be scrutinizing the 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday) address in the House of Representatives […]
By Christine Murray | MEXICO CITY MEXICO CITY Mexico’s telecoms regulator has discussed forcing billionaire Carlos Slim to legally separate his fixed-line company Telmex from his wireless business, three people familiar with the matter said. On Monday evening, the regulator’s seven-person board voted on whether to toughen, maintain or loosen rules against America Movil (AMXL.MX) and broadcaster Grupo Televisa (TLVACPO.MX), according to the three people, who declined […]
How do molecules rotate in a solvent? Answering this question is a complicated task since the rotation is perturbed by a large number of surrounding atoms, requiring large-scale computer simulations which are sometimes infeasible. Now, scientists have proven that angulons — quasiparticles he proposed two years ago — do in fact form when a molecule is immersed in superfluid helium. This offers a quick and simple description […]
By Andrea Shalal and Ece Toksabay | BERLIN/ANKARA BERLIN/ANKARA Berlin summoned Ankara’s ambassador on Tuesday to protest the arrest in Turkey of a correspondent for a German newspaper, further fuelling tensions between the two NATO allies as demonstrations took place across German-speaking Europe. Deniz Yucel, a German-Turkish dual national with Die Welt, faces up to 10-1/2 years in prison after being arrested on charges of propaganda in […]
By Kylie MacLellan | LONDON LONDON The U.S.-led coalition effort against Islamic State is killing the group’s fighters more quickly than it can replace them, a senior British general said on Tuesday, with more than 45,000 killed by coalition air strikes up to August last year. On Tuesday, U.S.-backed Iraqi forces continued their offensive in Mosul, where several thousand Islamic State (IS) militants, including many who travelled […]
By Richa Naidu and Nandita Bose Target Corp (TGT.N) shares plunged on Tuesday after executives issued a full-year profit forecast that fell well below analyst estimates and said the retailer would lower prices to compete with deep-discounting rivals. Target at its investor day conference vowed aggressive promotions and said new brands and investments in technology and small stores will allow it to eventually win back market share. […]
ABU DHABI // The number of Emiratis working in the private sector will need to increase tenfold over the next 5 years, members of the Federal National Council say. Naama Al Sharhan said private sector firms – in particular those that are foreign-owned – need to be encouraged to hire more UAE nationals. The FNC debate came after recruiters were deployed in every emirate to find jobs […]
Barely a year ago, Vale, the Brazilian mining company, was reeling. Prices of iron ore, its principal export, were at an all-time low, investors were ditching its shares and China — the market on which it most depends — looked as if it was heading for a rapid and uncontrolled slowdown. Fast forward 13 months and iron ore is back in fashion. Vale is producing record amounts […]
With US stock markets hitting record highs last week, the question has to be asked. Has the Trump reflation trade — long in equities, short in bonds — run its course? In the equity market it has been a crowded trade for quite some time. On the bond side, futures market data are telling us that there are exceptionally large speculative bear positions in the market. This […]
