Tax compliance gets easier for companies, but new data highlights post-filing challenges across the world JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, December 1, 2016/ Economies around the world continue to make progress in simplifying and reducing the burden of tax compliance on business, according to the latest edition of Paying Taxes 2017, a report by the World Bank Group and PwC (www.PWC.com ). Released today, the report finds that the Total […]
Photo Tiger Woods watched his tee shot on the third hole on Thursday at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. Credit Lynne Sladky/Associated Press NASSAU, the Bahamas — As he made his way to the first tee for his first competitive shot in 466 days, Tiger Woods breezed right by the Golf Channel reporter Notah Begay, his former Stanford teammate and good friend. His focus before […]
NEW YORK A sharp decline in technology stocks pulled both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 indexes into the red on Thursday, while gains in bank and energy shares helped push the Dow to a record high close. Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 68.49 points, or 0.36 percent, to 19,192.07, the S&P 500 .SPX had lost 7.72 points, […]
December 1, 2016 by: Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Paris François Hollande announced on Thursday night that he would not run for a second term in next year’s French presidential elections. The unprecedented decision was driven by his historically low popularity ratings, which left him little chance of success against centre-right candidate François Fillon and far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen. He would also first have had to […]
Apple’s new MacBook Pro lineup adds something unique: a Touch Bar atop the keyboard that I believe is an important evolution of the laptop user experience. The first time I saw and played with the Touch Bar, the macros of yore popped into my mind. MacBook power users all know the value of creating macros to speed up a particular business process we may use […]
By Ingrid Melander | PARIS PARIS French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday he would not seek a second term in office in the presidential election in 2017, an unprecedented move that leaves the way open for other left-wing candidates. It is the first time in decades that an incumbent French president has not sought re-election. Hollande is the most unpopular president on record. “I am aware […]
Egypt’s largest listed lender CIB sold a near-72 percent stake in its investment banking arm CI Capital to Egyptian and Gulf investors on Thursday, as part of a move to shed subsidiaries and focus on core actives. Commercial International Bank’s announcement of the deal came a day after it confirmed it was in talks to sell a majority stake in CI Capital, which banking sources say is […]
When it comes to very large numbers, it can be hard to get the right perspective. If you had to count it, a €40bn pile of cash would be somewhat daunting. Place it next to to the Italian national debt, however, and the pile becomes a pimple. The number matters because it was the amount the government proposed using to assist troubled financial institutions earlier this year. […]
By James Pearson | SEOUL SEOUL Impoverished North Korea is not known for a bustling manufacturing industry but has earned a reputation in some African states for a highly visible export – its huge socialist-style statues. On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council imposed new sanctions aimed at cutting North Korea’s annual export revenue by a quarter in response to its fifth and largest nuclear test in September. […]
Saudi Arabia’s aviation agency was attacked last month by an aggressive computer virus intended to disrupt high-profile government targets, officials and experts said on Thursday. The attack, which experts say emanated from outside the country, used a version of Shamoon, malware used to target the Saudi energy sector four years ago. Similar kinds of data-clearing software were used in 2014 against the Las Vegas Sands and Sony. […]
Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto Neural networks, machine-learning systems, predictive analytics, speech recognition, natural-language understanding and other components of what’s broadly defined as ‘artificial intelligence’ (AI) are currently undergoing a boom: research is progressing apace, media attention is at an all-time high, and organisations are increasingly implementing AI solutions in pursuit of automation-driven efficiencies. The first thing to establish is what we’re not talking about, which is human-level AI […]
By Kristina Cooke | MENLO PARK, Calif. MENLO PARK, Calif. Facebook Inc (FB.O) is working on automatically flagging offensive material in live video streams, building on a growing effort to use artificial intelligence to monitor content, said Joaquin Candela, the company’s director of applied machine learning. The social media company has been embroiled in a number of content moderation controversies this year, from facing international outcry after […]
By Cheikh Sadibou Mane | BANJUL BANJUL Gambians voted on Thursday in the first serious electoral challenge to President Yahya Jammeh, who has said only Allah can remove him from office and once claimed he would rule the tiny riverside West African nation for “a billion years”. Jammeh, who seized power in a 1994 coup, has made headlines by claiming to have a herbal cure for AIDS […]
Kuwait’s Emir reappointed Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah on Wednesday, state news agency KUNA said, days after a parliamentary election seen as a rejection of austerity measures brought on by low oil prices. Opposition candidates are estimated to have won around 20 seats out of 50 in the Kuwaiti elections on Saturday that saw most parliament members replaced. The results of Saturday’s vote are likely to […]
In a wide-ranging interview, Steve Ballmer this week was asked to explain what went wrong with Microsoft’s smartphone business. He pointed to skepticism over iPhone carrier subsidies, but I have another idea. As someone who was burned by the iPhone, I know why Microsoft screwed up. Since I was unable to secure any hands-on time with the iPhone prior to its release, I based the […]
Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Wednesday ordered the construction of a memorial in Dubai in memory of the UAE’s fallen soldiers. The memorial, which is set to open for Commemoration Day on November 30 next year, follows the opening of a similar tribute in Abu Dhabi, he said in a tweet. “Commemorating Emirati martyrs depicts perpetuation of the strength and sacrifices of the people […]
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen | COPENHAGEN COPENHAGEN Maersk Line, the world’s biggest shipping company, is to buy smaller rival Hamburg Süd, joining a wave of M&A in the industry just over two months after the Danish company revealed plans to bolster its transport operations. The deal, announced by parent A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) on Thursday, is the group’s first full takeover in more than a decade and highlights a […]
The Indian Parliament’s canteen–where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was photographed digging into a vegetarian lunch last year–now boasts a card machine to help lawmakers pay for their meals in the midst of a cash crunch. The move comes after parliamentarians said they faced problems settling their bills in the canteen following the government’s action last month to replace large currency bills to curb corruption. The canteen serves […]
Link to Fitch Ratings’ Report: 2017 Outlook: Middle East and North Africa Sovereigns 01 December 2016 Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong-30 November 2016: Persistent low oil prices will maintain economic pressure on the oil exporters of MENA, which together with limited fiscal reform and political risk, lead to a Negative Outlook for the region in 2017, Fitch Ratings says in a new report. With three of the 12 MENA […]
Australia would have a far healthier parliament if there were more engineers in it, NSW Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Victor Dominello MP said on Thursday. Speaking at the Reimagination Thought Leaders Summit 2016, Dominello pointed out that the government is predominantly comprised of lawyers, who are trained to think a certain way. That particular thought process is slowing down progress, he said. “Lawyers don’t think […]
For a celebrity chef, sticking your name on the side of a restaurant in a city outside your hometown can be fraught with danger. How can you really ensure that the staff left behind can do your reputation justice? What will customers think when they enter a said chef’s restaurant to find him not in the kitchen? And how often must you return to keep up appearances? […]
Pursglove would soon learn, however, that navigating this offshore archipelago is not easy. In any given year, trillions of dollars sit safely in the offshore financial world, effectively stateless, protected by legions of well-compensated defenders and a tangle of laws deliberately designed to impede creditors and tax collectors. Even the United States government finds it challenging: A special Internal Revenue Service division known as the “wealth squad,” […]
By Saikat Chatterjee | HONG KONG HONG KONG China’s factories notched their strongest growth in activity in two years and Japanese firms’ order books rose in November, masking concern about the protectionist leanings of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and an OPEC-induced oil price rally. Factory surveys produced stronger purchasing manager index (PMI) numbers in China, Taiwan and Vietnam, and while activity in Japan’s factories was still growing […]
Saudi Arabia is boosting the firepower of its sovereign wealth fund to accelerate deal-making and lessen the country’s dependence on oil. The Public Investment Fund is receiving a 100 billion-riyal ($27 billion) transfer from official reserves, according to a statement Wednesday on the SPA official news agency, increasing its existing assets by about 17 percent. The injection will help the fund diversify investments and revenues, it said. The […]
