By Manish Rai The Taliban now control almost the whole of Afghanistan including the capital city, Kabul, almost two decades since they were driven out by US troops. It was widely expected that after the United States complete withdrawal the Taliban will make significant territorial gains. But no one expected that it will happen at that fast pace and 300,000 plus Afghan forces will melt so quickly in front […]
By James M Dorsey Having taken control, the Taliban want the world to believe that they have become more pragmatic and inclusive in the twenty years since they brutally ruled Afghanistan. Whether true or not, will be determined by the group’s attitudes towards jihadists and other militants, ethnic and religious minorities, women, and governance. To be fair, the Taliban despite controlling all of Afghanistan since Sunday, including […]
By Matein Khalid The horrific fall of Kabul to the Taliban is an indictment of both the systemic corruption that plagued the Ashraf Ghani government and the policy incompetence of the Biden White House in a critical stage of the war. In retrospect, the US had no business negotiating with the primitive savages of the Taliban who have never severed their links with Al Qaeda and ISIS […]
Ransomware showed massive year-to-date spikes in the U.S. (185%), U.K. (144%) Ryuk, Cerber, SamSam top families of the year, making up 64% of all ransomware volume Government, education, healthcare, retail verticals increasingly targeted by ransomware Up 59% year-to-date globally, IoT malware continues growth since 2018 Cryptojacking malware remains a key threat, up 23% year-to-date globally and up 22% in the U.S. SonicWall’s patented RTDMI™ finding more never-before-seen […]
James M Dorsey Taliban advances in Afghanistan shift the Central Asian playing field on which China, India and the United States compete with rival infrastructure-driven approaches. At first glance, a Taliban takeover of Kabul would give China a 2:0 advantage against the US and India, but that could prove to be a shaky head start. The potential fall of the US-backed Afghan government of President Ashraf Ghani […]
James M Dorsey Israel’s first post-Netanyahu government is seeking to rebuild fractured relations with the Jewish Diaspora and rebrand the country as a liberal rather than an illiberal democracy against the backdrop of uncertainty about future US policy towards the Middle East and continued unconditional backing of the Jewish state. Uncertainty about US reliability has been reinforced by the US negotiation with the Taliban and subsequent withdrawal […]
By HassanAI Ali Mansoor AI is already leading transformational developments in the global banking sector. Luckily for the UAE, due to the farsighted vision of its ruler Sheikh Muhammad, the banking sector of the UAE has continued to ride the wave of robust growth and development. What are some of the areas that the banking sector of the UAE can tap for incorporating AI as a way […]
Performance across Saudi Arabia’s various real estate market asset classes remains mixed. However, the residential market continues to outperform, according to the latest quarterly Saudi Arabia Real Estate Market Review by global property consultants, Knight Frank. Knight Frank notes that the number of residential transactions in Riyadh are up 77%, year on year and a similar story is playing out on the Red Sea coastal city of […]
Quick Turnaround Facility Allows the Companies to Seize New and Growing Revenue Opportunities in the Bangladesh Booming Export Market DHAKA, BANGLADESH – Media OutReach – 5 August 2021 – Global invoice financing marketplace, Incomlend, announced a new invoice financing programme for Fashion Tex Asia Ltd, an apparel buying house, and Sadat Apparels Ltd, a garment manufacturer. Both companies are based in Bangladesh with customers in the United […]
James M. Dorsey A recent analysis of Middle Eastern states’ interventionist policies suggests that misguided big power approaches have fueled a vicious cycle of interference and instability over the last decade. Those approaches are abetted, if not encouraged by US and Chinese strategies that are similar, if not essentially the same, just labelled differently. The United States has long opted for regime stability in the Middle East rather than […]
Manish Rai General Ata Mohammad Noor, Leader of Jamiat-e Islami Afghanistan and the Former Governor of Balkh Province have been the most important strongman and commander in North Afghanistan. Currently, General Ata visited Qatari capital Doha to attend peace talks with Taliban but now he is busy in the mobilization of forces to counter the Taliban advance. Gen Ata is confident that national mobilizations of forces will […]
Bringing Direct Resort Investment and Enjoyment Deals to Everyday Investors. HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 26 July 2021 – LABS Group, an end-to-end blockchain property investment platform, has successfully raised $3,650,000 for Kunang Kunang Resort. Kunang Kunang Glamping Resort is the world’s first-ever community-owned project fractionalized into Rewarding Timeshare (RTS) NFTs, transforming the way investors build their diversified portfolio, with access to diverse assets, low transaction costs and […]
James M Dorsey This month’s indictment of a billionaire, one-time advisor and close associate of former US President Donald J. Trump, on charges of operating as an unregistered foreign agent in the United States for the United Arab Emirates highlights the successes and pitfalls of a high-stakes Emirati effort to influence US policy. The indictment of businessman Thomas J. Barrack, who maintained close ties to UAE Crown Prince […]
Airbnb (ABNB) is one of the great investment regrets of my life since I turned down a chance to invest in it a decade ago at a valuation of a mere $1 billion, even though a lady far smarter than me invested $10 million in it and is now a Silicon Valley billionaire from Dubai. ABNB has been a disaster in 2021 since it peaked at 219.94 […]
After an epic fall in 2020-2021 due the coronavirus shock and the subsequent explosion in the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet to its current $8.2 trillion, the US dollar has made a counter cyclical move to 93 on its trade weighted index (DXY). The catalyst for this move are massive Japanese purchase of long duration US Treasury bonds, Chinese central bank intervention to arrest the rise of the […]
The Caribbean boasts 26 beautiful countries, each of which has numerous attractions worth visiting. It is the best destination for anyone who wants to enjoy a holiday that offers plenty of exciting and relaxing activities and everything in between. Its most popular countries preferred by holidaymakers include the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the Bahamas. However, not all Caribbean countries get the credit they deserve. […]
Globally, three out of five consumers encountered a tech support scam in the last 12 months, a five-point drop since 2018 Gen Zers and Millennials most likely to continue interactions when targeted with tech support scams India consumers three times more likely to continue with a scam interaction than the rest of the world; Japan consumers least likely to interact of all countries surveyed; Australia and Singapore […]
I believe Brent’s 6% plunge last night to close below 70 for the first time since May is an ideal opportunity to accumulate high beta shale drillers and oil services shares that were gutted by 20 to 25% in the brutal correction since the past month. The world oil market is tight and has a deficit of 2.4 MBD. So it made perfect political sense for OPEC […]
Time for a futuristic idea – why? In the spirit of Barney The Purple Dinosaur From Our Imagination, I love you, you love me, we are happy family – as long as we keep a safe digital distance from each other. So here goes with an idea du jour. Airbnb (ABNB) has tanked from 156 to 137 in the last two weeks, yikes. Yet the trends since […]
Trend Micro research warns of threat from unpatched legacy vulnerabilities HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 14 July 2021 – Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global cybersecurity leader, released new research urging organizations to focus patching efforts on the vulnerabilities that pose the greatest risk to their organization, even if they are years old. Trend Micro Research found that 22% of exploits for […]
Rystad Energy’s world’s energy landscape review for 2021 deals a major blow for the size of the world’s remaining recoverable oil resources – but it also shows that oil production and consumption can align with climate goals. Rystad Energy now estimates total recoverable oil resources at 1,725 billion barrels, a significant reduction of last year’s estimate of 1,903 billion barrels. Out of this total, which shows our […]
It is ironic that the US Dollar Index (DXY) rose to 92.85 even as the yield on the 10 year US Treasury note tanked from 1.75 in March to as low as 1.26 last Thursday. Economic data, high yield credit spreads and the TIPS inflation breakevens convinced me that the fall in bond yields had less to do with shifts in Federal Reserve monetary policy or inflation/growth […]
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 9 July 2021 – Today, IX Asia Indexes Company Limited announced the 2nd quarter review of the ixCrypto Index (“IXCI”). This is the first crypto benchmark index launched in Hong Kong. There are three constituents’ additions and no deletion. The number of the constituent cryptos will increase from 8 to 11 after the changes. The additions are as follows: Additions: […]
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 8 July 2021 – 7.11 Day, which falls on 11 July every year, is almost here again! To celebrate, 7-Eleven will run a whole host of offers and giveaways throughout July to thank customers for their support, starting with the biggest deal yet: $1.10 off STOREWIDE with minimum $7 spend*, from 10 July (7am onwards) to 12 July! Receive a free treat […]
