ABU DHABI // The UAE and Brazil signed three accords during Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed’s state visit to South American country on Thursday. Two agreements – one on air transport service and another on visa wavers for holders of ordinary passports – as well as one on reciprocal visa exemption for holders of diplomatic, special, official and service passports were signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs […]
ROME Italy will host a meeting between European and North African countries next week in a bid to strengthen support for an agreement it struck with Libya to fight people smuggling as migrant arrivals surge. The prime minister of the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, Fayez al-Seraj, will meet with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and interior ministers from eight European countries including Germany and France on Monday. […]
Saudi Arabia’s push to boost political and trade ties with the Maldives faces growing resistance as activists in the archipelago oppose plans for an ambitious development project funded by the kingdom. King Salman bin Abdulaziz, who is on a month-long tour of Asia as Saudi Arabia seeks to deepen alliances with predominantly Muslim states in the region, is due to visit the Indian Ocean nation at the […]
JEDDAH: A new report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) sets two landmark precedents on the question of Palestine, a Palestinian rights activist told Arab News.The report, entitled “Israeli Practices Toward the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid,” has drawn swift criticism from the UN and Israeli officials.“It’s the first time any UN agency has proven beyond doubt that Israel is […]
With the oil market showing signs of losing faith in a price rebound, Opec is now asking itself: what more can it do? Production cuts agreed late last year between some of the world’s biggest producers inside and outside the cartel, are losing their sway given the near 10 per cent drop in the Brent benchmark over the past week. Brimming global storage tanks and a resurgent […]
Agricultural traders and investors are watching the debut of a new derivative product that will allow them to bet on the benchmark price of Black Sea wheat. Wheat is the largest traded grain on the international markets and Russia became the leading exporter last year. Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine — collectively known as the Black Sea region among grain traders — accounted for just under a third […]
It is fitting that just a few hours until the Fed’s second rate hike in two quarters, and one day after Goldman downgraded global stocks to Neutral for the next 3 months, not to mention with the results of the anticipated Dutch election due shortly, that global stocks as well as S&P futures are higher, while crude oil has finally managed to stage a rebound as the […]
ABU DHABI // Farmers and members of the Federal National Council called for more measures to protect local food prices from competition with cheap imports. Experts, however, said that such restrictions, proposed at the FNC meeting on Tuesday, could drastically raise food prices and would not solve the problem of water scarcity. FNC members had raised complaints from local farmers, who say their products are getting drowned […]
Dutch voters head to the polls on Wednesday after Mark Rutte, prime minister, and rivals clashed over refugees, immigration and the economy in the last televised debate following an extraordinarily tight race. After a campaign that was interrupted by a diplomatic spat with Turkey, by fears of foreign interference and by a row over the security of populist Geert Wilders, the vote is set to be extremely […]
The Gulf’s healthcare industry is expected to receive the highest volume of investments in 2017 among non-oil sectors as GCC countries seek to further diversify their economies, according to a new survey. CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, said its annual Middle East Societies Market Sentiment survey also forecse an increase in hospitality and tourism investment. It said in a statement that in Saudi Arabia, […]
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has loomed over European politics for more than a decade, entangled in the awkward embrace of reluctant allies. This weekend he burst into the middle of a fraught electoral season. The Dutch were behaving like Nazis, the Germans too, he said, by banning his foreign minister from speaking at rallies in their countries and setting police dogs on Turks who protested the […]
In a photo op at the start of their meeting, Mr. Netanyahu greeted Mr. Greenblatt warmly, addressing him as Jason, and said, “I hope we can do some good things together.” Mr. Greenblatt replied, “I think we are going to do great things together.” Once seated, he thanked Mr. Netanyahu for reorganizing his schedule, throwing in a “todah,” Hebrew for thank you. Continue reading the main story […]
Leonardo Maugeri of Harvard University, who in 2012 predicted a glut in oil supplies and a steep fall in prices, has warned that there is again a prospect that the market is heading for “a substantial fall”. Strong growth in global supply, he argues in a new paper, is outpacing the increase in demand, in spite of the production cuts agreed by Opec and 11 non-Opec countries […]
EDINBURGH Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has demanded a new independence referendum be held in late 2018 or early 2019, once the terms of Britain’s exit from the European Union have become clearer. To do so, she needs authorisation from Britain’s parliament, which is sovereign. The Brexit referendum last June called the future of the United Kingdom into question because majorities in England and Wales voted to […]
Nicola Sturgeon has called for a second Scottish independence referendum to be held by spring 2019, throwing the constitutional future of the UK into question just as it begins the process of leaving the EU. In a speech at her official residence in Edinburgh, the first minister accused Theresa May of having “not moved an inch” in response to calls for a special deal on Brexit for […]
Volkswagen Volkswagen has already taken a battering to its reputation due to the emissions scandal and is now tarnished further as the automaker has pleaded guilty to criminal charges as part of a settlement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ). On Friday, the automaker pleaded guilty in a Detroit federal court to felonies in connection with the 2015 emissions scandal. For years, the company sold a’clean […]
By James Pomfret | NANSAN, China NANSAN, China Within earshot of mortar fire echoing from beyond a ring of hills, a sprawling relief camp in Southwestern China is swelling steadily after fighting erupted last week between a rebel ethnic army in Myanmar and government troops just across the border. In a recent Reuters visit to the rugged area in southwestern Yunnan province, aid workers and those displaced […]
Stuart Gulliver has told the HSBC board he will quit as chief executive next year, making the search for his successor a priority for Mark Tucker, who has decided to leave Asian insurer AIA to become the bank’s chairman. The appointment of Mr Tucker was announced before the Hong Kong market opened on Monday by AIA and HSBC, which first approached the insurer’s president and chief executive last […]
Stock photo The price of Bitcoin plummeted after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) denied a request to bring Bitcoin to the financial market, highlighting how the value of the virtual currency can change within minutes. In February, the virtual currency’s value reached an all-time high of over $1,300 with investors taking a punt on rumors SEC would allow the first Bitcoin ETF. An exchange-traded fund […]
SEOUL Oil prices dropped to their lowest in three months on Monday despite OPEC efforts to curb crude output, dragged down as U.S. drillers kept adding rigs. Brent crude LCOc1 had fallen 35 cents, or 0.68 percent, to its lowest since Nov. 30 at $51.02 per barrel by 0231 GMT. It closed the previous session down 1.6 percent at $51.37. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) CLc1 […]
HPE and SUSE, a top Linux distributor, have a complex relationship. First, HPE spun and merged its non-core software assets with Micro Focus. Micro Focus owns SUSE, a major Linux provider. Now, SUSE has finished acquiring cloud assets of HPE’s OpenStack Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Cloud Foundry Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Stackato, HPE’s Cloud Foundry implementation. SUSE will develop clouds while HPE will sell, support, and maintain them in their […]
DAVAO CITY , Philippines – The government and communist rebels have agreed to resume peace talks and restore the truce following an escalation of deadly clashes. Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza yesterday said the government and rebel negotiators would resume talks early next month and discuss the terms of a broader ceasefire. Dureza said the decision to resume the peace talks came after backchannel […]
When it comes to renewable energy in Saudi Arabia, there still remains more than a hint of scepticism. Multi-billion dollar plans have come and gone and the kingdom has made little progress developing renewable energy capabilities to harness its advantageous climatic conditions. In 2010, the King Abdullah Centre for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-Care) was established to develop the country’s renewable and nuclear capabilities, as the country […]
THE stalled peace negotiations between the National Democratic Front and the government will resume in April, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus G. Dureza announced last Sunday. “I am pleased to announce that the peace negotiations between the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front [CPP-NPA- NDF], which broke down weeks ago, are now back on track.” Dureza said. The talks […]
