By Mehreen Zahra-Malik | LAHORE, Pakistan LAHORE, Pakistan Pakistani real estate giant Rafi Group made a ten-fold profit last year from its sale of hundreds of acres of land in the remote fishing town of Gwadar, acquired soon after the government announced plans for a deep-sea port there. The windfall came after 12 years of waiting patiently for the Gwadar port to emerge as the centrepiece of […]
BEIJING China’s defence ministry said on Thursday it was aware of the presence of a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group in the South China Sea and China respected freedom of navigation for all countries in the waters there. The U.S. navy said the strike group, including the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson, began “routine operations” in the South China Sea on Saturday amid growing tension […]
By Brenda Goh | DANDONG, China DANDONG, China As Beijing tightens its grip on trade with North Korea, the economies of Chinese towns along the 1,400-km border the two countries share are floundering. On Saturday, China said it would ban all coal imports from North Korea, the latest move to enforce United Nations sanctions aimed at depriving Pyongyang of hard currency for its nuclear weapons and ballistic […]
New ways to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into methane gas for energy use are a step closer after scientists discovered how bacteria make a component that facilitates the process. Recycling CO2 into energy has immense potential for making these emissions useful rather than a major factor in global warming. However, because the bacteria that can convert CO2 into methane, methanogens, are notoriously difficult to grow, their use […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian stocks pulled back from a 19-month high on Thursday, while the dollar tried to steady from losses suffered in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve minutes indicating a cautious approach to more interest rate increases. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was fractionally lower. Japan’s Nikkei slid 0.1 percent, while Australian shares retreated 0.3 percent. Overnight on […]
Analysts and traders alike were looking forward to today’s “black box” earnings from Tesla as it would be the first consolidated report that combined Tesla Motors operations with those from cash-bleeding monstrocity SolarCity following the pair’s merger, to wit: “with the acquisition of SolarCity, we have created the world’s only integrated sustainable energy company, from generation to storage to transportation.“ And, as usual, Elon Musk managed to […]
The smart home is gaining ground, but it’s still a muddle of confusing standards, competing platforms, and gadgets that don’t do what you might expect. But the promise of products that can make your life a little easier is hard to resist, so I’m here to answer the inevitable questions that arise. Whether it’s figuring out the best connected door lock to assembling the right […]
By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil traders from around the world, including the United States, Britain and Brazil, have tripled their sales to Asia as they take advantage of an emerging supply gap following OPEC-led production cuts announced late last year. Around 30 supertankers have this month made long-haul trips to ship crude oil from the Americas, the North Sea and the Mediterranean to refineries across […]
Vocus Communications has announced its financial results for the first half of FY17, revealing a net profit of AU$47.2 million, up from AU$24.2 million a year previous due to its acquisitions of M2 and Nextgen. Statutory earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) were AU$168.3 million, up from AU$60.7 million a year previous, while underlying EBITDA — excluding acquisition, integration, and other costs — was AU$187.2 […]
Oil company Saudi Aramco [IPO-ARMO.SE] has selected JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley, and HSBC Holdings Plc as lead underwriters for its planned initial public share offering, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The listing of Aramco is expected to be the world’s biggest initial public offering and could raise up to $100 billion. The IPO is the centerpiece of […]
The Isomax cell configuration. Credit: UCSB Engineering In 2015 UC Santa Barbara mechanical engineer and materials scientist Jonathan Berger developed an idea that could change the way people think about high-performance structural materials. Two years later, his concept is paying research dividends. In a letter published in the journal Nature, Berger, with UCSB materials and mechanical engineering professor Robert McMeeking and materials scientist Haydn N. G. Wadley from […]
Saudi Arabia has invited investors to submit requests to qualify for the first round of its $30-$50 billion National Renewable Energy Programme by March 20, it said on Monday. Saudi Arabia is targetting 9.5 GW of renewable energy by 2023 in line with Vision 2030, an economic reform plan launched last year to diversify the economy beyond oil. The renewable programme involves investment of between $30 billion […]
My taxi driver in San Diego had a plan. He was moving to Laredo to get back into long-distance trucking. He’d work hard for 10 years, save a couple of hundred grand, and retire to Mexico. I did the math: that put him around 2028. He might just make it before all the trucking jobs go away. At Qualcomm last week, Cristiano Amon, president of […]
By Fergus Jensen | JAKARTA JAKARTA Saudi Arabia’s King Salman will visit Jakarta and Bali on the Indonesian leg of his Asian tour next month, bringing 1,500 people in his entourage including 10 ministers, Indonesian officials said. “This is a very historic visit for us,” Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung told reporters on Tuesday, adding that the king would be in Indonesia from March 1 to 9. He […]
Whatever route the government chooses for Brexit it will need to cooperate with other countries, especially our EU neighbours, to combat tax avoidance, tax evasion and money laundering. Yet the signs are not very good as the government seems to have chosen non-cooperation. It has snubbed the EU inquiry into the Panama Papers. Last year, a leak of 11.5m documents and 2.6 terabytes of information from the […]
Qualcomm is stepping up its Internet of things game with support for Android Things OS, integration with Amazon Web Services and two systems-on-chips that aggregate a bevy of standards. special feature Louisville and the Future of the Smart City Louisville, Kentucky is building a unique bridge between the smart city and the smart home. Here’s what communities and citizens can learn about the benefits of the onrushing […]
Texas Monthly Editor-in-Chief Tim Taliaferro on Tuesday backed away from comments made during an interview with Columbia Journalism Review that indicated the magazine was retreating from political and longform journalism. In a note published on Texas Monthly, Taliaferro said that he “unfortunately gave the CJR the wrong impression” when he told the journalism review that “Texans don’t care about politics.” “Let me first say that I know […]
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said India has ‘entrepreneurial energy,’ and that he hopes his company can harness India’s move to make its vast biometric database available to app developers. In Bangalore Monday, Mr. Nadella said he wanted Indians to be able to access Microsoft products using their Aadhar ID cards, and that his company was teaming up with Flipkart, India’s rival to Amazon. Here are five […]
DUBAI// Enoc will open 10 new petrol stations this year and will add 54 stations by 2020. The expansion began with the opening of the Warsan station on the Dubai-Hatta Road in the eastern region of the emirate. The new stations will be located in Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Barsha South, Hessa Street, Sheikh Rashid Road, Bab Al Shams, Hatta, Jumeirah Village, Al Lehbab Road, and Academic […]
Tuesday 08:45 GMT Overview European stocks are easing back after a mixed Asia session as Wall Street looks to re-enter the fray at record levels. The dollar is stronger and Treasury yields are moving up as expectations build of tighter US monetary policy, a scenario that is hurting gold. Hot topic European government bond markets remain a focal point for investors after an opinion poll showed Marine […]
PARIS French socialist presidential candidate Benoit Hamon said on Tuesday he was confident about reaching an agreement with green party candidate Yannick Jadot by the end of this week. The two have been discussing a possible alliance under which Jadot would withdraw his candidacy and join forces with Hamon in the April-May election. “I am confident and optimistic that we can reach an agreement by the end […]
Researchers were intrigued that living organisms emit small amounts of light resulting during oxidative metabolism, when oxygen is used to create energy by breaking down carbohydrates. The researchers began to think about how detecting this light could have potential for biomedical diagnostics. (via WSJ)
As the world’s oil traders descend on London this week, the hot subject will be how to keep North Sea Brent, the benchmark for the global oil price, fit for purpose. S&P Global Platts , the oil pricing agency, is trying to execute the biggest overhaul of North Sea oil trading in a decade, with plans to rejig how prices in the region are set ahead of […]
So what can schools near roads do about their air quality? Closing a school’s doors and windows won’t keep traffic pollutants out (though that helps). Heavy-duty air filters — higher quality than the typical filters in schools — can substantially reduce what gets into the air the kids and teachers are breathing inside. Filters rated MERV 16, characterized as surgery-grade, have been installed in dozens of Southern […]
