Oil prices have fallen almost 10 per cent in the past week to their lowest level since Opec agreed to cut output in November. Here are five factors contributing to the renewed bout of selling that could dictate whether Brent crude can hold above $50 a barrel. 1. Shale The US shale industry has come back with a bang, with oil prices back above $50 a barrel. […]
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi | AMMAN AMMAN A prominent Iraqi Sunni politician on Monday warned Washington the acceleration in a military campaign in western Mosul to drive out Islamic State jihadists was causing a sudden surge in civilian casualties that threatened to undermine the effort to crush the militants. Khamis Khanjar, who has used his leverage to lobby the U.S. administration and the Iraqi authorities to ensure the […]
In the tech industry, it’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae. But we should all step back and witness an industry in transition. Here are a few things I believe will shape the next few years. Smartphone Hardware Runs its Course As my colleague Carolina Milanesi recently wrote, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to innovate in the smartphone space. After a decade […]
Venus, known as Earth’s sister planet, is getting more attention for deeper exploration with many short- and medium-term plans on the anvil. Venus is special because it is on the cusp of a habitable zone with an atmosphere. Despite the hotter climate, weird atmospheric pressure, and acid rains, there is an expectation that Venus might be harboring many secrets. Challenges For Exploration Exploration of Venus had been fraught […]
By Ahmed Rasheed and John Davison | SULAIMANIYA/MOSUL SULAIMANIYA/MOSUL Iraqi forces aim to dislodge Islamic State militants from west Mosul within a month, despite gruelling urban combat in densely populated terrain, the head of the elite Counter Terrorism Service told Reuters on Thursday. As Iraqi forces advance deeper into west Mosul, they are facing increasingly stiff resistance from Islamic State militants using suicide car bombs and snipers […]
New York – Pat Beall said she and her colleagues at The Palm Beach Post had been consistently reporting on Palm Beach County’s growing opioid epidemic, highlighting the lives of a few of the victims and the toll their death took on families and the larger community. But it wasn’t enough. Each story would get a little attention, but within a day or two the latest […]
Are you a woman who feels like you are always interrupted by a man? Well, there’s now an app that will prove just how much a user gets “manterrupted.” Inspired by none other than President Donald Trump, Woman Interrupted is the app that lets users know the rates in which men cut off and overpower women while they are speaking. Launched this week in celebration of International […]
One week ago, we pointed out a curious bifurcation: the Fed was telegraphing an imminent rate hike – one which following Yellen’s Friday conference is now virtually assured – even though it appears the FOMC would be hiking in a quarter in which GDP comes in in the mid 1%-range, or lower. The reason: while “soft data” – which is important to animal spirits if not actual […]
US immigration officials have put a severe brake on the processing of H-1B visas over the coming months, potentially sowing confusion for companies that rely on foreign engineers and other experts to fill holes in their employee ranks. Friday’s announcement was billed as an administrative move to reduce a backlog at US Citizenship and Immigration Services. It comes as the Trump administration has been considering deeper changes […]
Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, has been convulsed by civil strife for more than two years. In the west, Houthi rebels ousted the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the United States’ main counterterrorism partner in the country, and have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition of mostly Sunni Arab countries that back Mr. Hadi. Continue reading the main story In the […]
By Isabel Coles and Maher Chmaytelli | MOSUL/BAGHDAD, Iraq MOSUL/BAGHDAD, Iraq U.S.-backed Iraqi forces on Tuesday battled their way to within firing range of Mosul’s main government buildings, a major target in the offensive to dislodge Islamic State militants from their remaining stronghold in the western side of the city. Terrified civilians were fleeing the fighting, some toward government lines, often under militant fire. Others were forced […]
Courts usually do not give verdicts against the family, says PPP chairman KARACHI: The nation is waiting with bated breath for a Supreme Court verdict in the Panamagate case. Imran Khan’s PTI, the main petitioner in the case, has high hopes, but the PPP chairman believes the judgment might not be unsettling for the ruling Sharif family. On Thursday, a five-judge larger bench of the apex court reserved […]
Monday 08:50 GMT Overview European stock markets are making gains, tracking another set of record highs for Wall Street’s main equities gauges. The rally reaches the region even after Asia missed out, with banking and commodity stocks leading a sell-off there. Hot topic US equity futures are pointing to further gains after a late rally on Friday pushed the S&P 500 up 0.2 per cent while the […]
By Stephen Kalin | MOSUL, Iraq MOSUL, Iraq U.S.-backed Iraqi forces pushed deeper into western Mosul on Sunday, aiming to capture a bridge across the Tigris which would link the city’s government-held eastern bank with the ongoing offensive against remaining militants in the west. The bridge is the southernmost of five bridges spanning the Tigris. All were damaged in strikes by the U.S.-led air coalition, and later […]
By Isabel Coles | MOSUL, Iraq MOSUL, Iraq U.S.-backed Iraqi forces pushed deeper into western Mosul on Saturday after retaking the city’s airport from Islamic State and punching into built-up areas of the jihadists’ last major stronghold in the country. Troops advanced in several more populated, built-up southern districts and about 1,000 civilians walked across the frontlines, the largest displacement since fighting began a week ago in […]
In a war in which the United States has sought to minimize its own military footprint, this militia has become the American military’s ally of choice in northern Syria and its best hope of taking Raqqa in the coming months. Continue reading the main story But the budding alliance has drawn the United States deeper into the complex politics of northern Syria and prompted furious objections from […]
Iraqi fighter jets struck Isis positions in neighbouring Syria on Friday, in what officials said was retaliation for a spate of car bomb attacks in the capital Baghdad. The air strikes coincided with Iraq’s ground forces pushing deeper into the western half of Mosul and reaching the first residential districts. Iraq’s second city, a critical Isis stronghold split by the Tigris river, is divided between government forces […]
An online commercial released by Nike this week showing Arab women fencing, boxing and spinning on ice-skates has stirred controversy over its attempt to smash stereotypes about women leading home-bound lives in the conservative region. It begins with a woman nervously peering out of her doorway and adjusting her veil before going for a run in the street, while a female voice narrates in a Saudi dialect: […]
SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq A few hundred civilians have fled their homes in the outskirts of western Mosul, the first reported displacement since a U.S.-backed offensive on the jihadists’ remaining stronghold there began at the weekend. A Reuters correspondent saw about 200 women and children being transported on buses by federal police on Wednesday to the town of Hammam al-Alil, some 20 km (12 miles) south of […]
Paul Polman thought it was just going to be an informal catch-up. But it quickly became clear that Alexandre Behring, chairman of Kraft Heinz, had something very specific on his mind when he visited Unilever’s art deco headquarters in London last month. Had Mr Polman, chief executive of Unilever since 2009, ever considered a collaboration with Kraft Heinz, Mr Behring wanted to know. Mr Polman took this […]
21 February 2017 Dubai – Auerbach Grayson & Company, LLC, a New York-based brokerage firm specializing in global trade execution and exclusive in-depth research on developed, frontier and emerging markets, announced today that it has partnered with Dubai-based Arqaam Capital, the specialist emerging markets investment bank, to provide U.S. investors with greater access to the Middle East and South Africa. Through its exclusive partnership with Arqaam Capital, […]
Some of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds are increasingly striking their own private equity deals rather than relying on external fund managers, in a drive to cut costs and gain more control. With some $6.5 trillion in assets, sovereign investors already account for 19 percent of capital committed to private equity, according to data from research firm Preqin. But mega-funds such as the Abu Dhabi Investment […]
For President Trump, the designation debate is an election promise made good. He has made no bones about taking an approach to the Middle East that is narrowly focused on counterterrorism, and that plays to domestic supporters who view all Islamist movements — or even all Muslims — as potentially hostile. Continue reading the main story In much of the Middle East, though, the rapid pace and […]
BRUSSELS U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told senior European Union officials in Brussels on Monday that the Trump administration was looking at ways to “deepen our relationship” with the EU. President Donald Trump alarmed EU leaders by endorsing Britain’s decision to leave the bloc and by suggesting last month that other states might follow. Pence spent the weekend in Germany seeking to reassure Europeans that Trump was […]
