Oman’s government has given itself breathing space from the pressure of financing a large budget deficit by selling $5 billion of international bonds, almost completing its entire foreign borrowing plan for 2017 in a single issue. Wednesday’s bond sale, in tranches of five, 10 and 30 years, was about double the size that most investors had expected and a huge amount for a country which returned to […]
Via Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog, This is precisely what you’d expect of a self-serving elite that was desperate to cloak the unhappy reality that the relative few are benefiting immensely at the expense of the many. The core narrative of politics everywhere is progress, i.e. “moving forward.” If progress isn’t being made, politicos and the system are failing. In the past, “progressive” movements sought to advance […]
Fact-finding mission or junket? Some lawmakers are bewildered that the groups that paid for their trips are now swept up in Turkey’s current political turmoil. “I can’t imagine what they would have wanted out of the North Dakota state Legislature,” said former North Dakota state Rep. Ben Hanson, a Democrat who went on a trip sponsored by a Gulen group in 2013 with six other lawmakers from […]
Beginning today, rank-and-file journalists at NPR are responsible for making sure appropriate financial disclosures are made in their stories — and they have the information to make that happen. Until now, the responsibility to disclose who funds NPR’s journalism was left to senior supervising producers. But in response to conflict-of-interest questions raised by NPR’s coverage of the Iran deal (a review found no journalistic impropriety), the public radio […]
Jeff Sessions, the US attorney-general, failed to disclose during his confirmation hearings that he twice met the Russian ambassador while acting as a close adviser to Donald Trump during last year’s presidential campaign. Mr Sessions met Sergey Kislyak on September 8 in the then senator’s private office in the US Capitol building, after having spoken with him briefly two months earlier at an event sponsored by the […]
Image: Nv/EPA/REX/Shutterstock By Manish Singh2017-03-02 07:24:14 -0500 India’s major IT firms have long required their employees to give a three-month, “non-negotiable” notice before leaving the company, but they could be soon forced to change that. Fed-up IT professionals from across India have reached out to the government, complaining that it is “unrealistic” for anyone to plan that far ahead. Over 28,000 professionals have signed a petition, […]
Snap Inc, the parent company of photo-sharing app Snapchat, announced on Wednesday evening that 200 million shares would be sold for $17 a piece when it starts trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Thursday under the ticker symbol SNAP. The social media giant will sell 145 million of those shares — allowing it to raise more than $2.4 billion — while executives and early […]
Former senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada’s deputy chief of staff who is at large for plunder over the pork barrel scam was dismissed and perpetually barred from public office by the Ombudsman. In a statement on Thursday, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said she has ordered the dismissal from service of Pauline Labayen and 13 others who were found guilty of grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of […]
Bin Shafar: “Empower’s annual agenda has many initiatives that target the whole society” Dubai, UAE, 2 March 2017: Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), the world’s largest district cooling services provider, has been awarded the Dubai Chamber CSR Label for the third consecutive year, in recognition of the company’s social initiatives which seek to raise social and environmental awareness among its employees, clients and the whole society. […]
Education, rather than exposure to immigrants, is emerging as the clearest nationwide indicator of the likelihood of Dutch voters supporting Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration Party for Freedom, according to an extensive Financial Times survey of demographic and voting data from the most recent general election. Mr Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) looks on course to win the most seats in the upcoming election on March 15, but is […]
/By Arabian Post Staff/ The success of DIFC and DMCC has inspired a US-based group to recreate the model in the western hemisphere. The C-MCC Development Group LLC, a US-based development group, announced that it will establish the C-MCC Worldwide Free Trade Zone on Curacao island, patterned after the successful Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) located in the United Arab […]
TOKYO Asian shares rose on Thursday as investors were encouraged by President Donald Trump’s measured tone in his first speech to Congress, which sent Wall Street stocks sharply higher, while growing bets on a U.S. rate hike this month buoyed the dollar. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.2 percent, led by rebound in Australian shares . Japan’s Nikkei .N225 rose 1.3 percent […]
Cheung Kong Infrastructure and Fosun International are among several Asian groups that have submitted bids for Q-Park, one of Europe’s largest parking lot operators, in a deal that could fetch more than $2.4bn. China Oceanwide, a Beijing-based conglomerate owned by a billionaire banking magnate, and Shougang Group, a state-owned Chinese steel company, also joined the first round of bidding on the Netherlands-based parking group, two people familiar […]
SEOUL South Korea and the United States agreed on Thursday to strengthen cooperation on financial sanctions against North Korea, the finance ministry in Seoul said, after Pyongyang’s latest ballistic missile test last month. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and South Korea Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho expressed “great concern” over North Korea’s Feb. 12 ballistic missile test and promised to follow through with United Nations sanctions, as well […]
Superloop has expanded its high-speed intercapital colocation network with a new point of presence (PoP) at NextDC’s C1 datacentre in Canberra. The addition of C1 connectivity sees the Asia-Pacific fibre infrastructure company complete its national footprint through NextDC, with connections already at the latter’s datacentres in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. According to Superloop, the nationwide deployment of capital city infrastructure gives the company the ability to […]
BOSTON An investor committee that advises the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will next week review if Snap Inc’s decision to deny shareholders voting rights might also reduce the social media company’s public disclosures on executive pay and other governance matters, the head of that committee told Reuters on Wednesday. Snap, the parent of the popular messaging app Snapchat, priced its eagerly awaited initial public offering at […]
The Trump administration is preparing to ignore any rulings by the World Trade Organisation that it sees as an affront to US sovereignty, according to a leaked report prepared by officials. The move would be a departure from US practice and a blow to the international watchdog’s credibility. The hard-hitting report, which was sent to Congress on Wednesday and obtained by the Financial Times, marks the first time the […]
A storming start for risk assets has defined the first two months of 2017, with heightened optimism on Wall Street pushing the FTSE All-World equity index into record territory. Whether the rally can be sustained in March depends on the outcome of several key events. Here is a rundown of what looms for investors during the month. US jobs data and the Federal Reserve The bullish sentiment […]
Just to clarify – Trump said nothing new at all – and added no detail, another major US retailer blew up, ‘hard data’ disappointed (soft surveys gained), Fed speakers were the most hawkish since Volcker, and The Dow soars 350 points to top 21,100… makes perfect sense… Hawkish FedSpeak sent March rate-hike odds soaring over 80%… But the probability of a rate hike is rising […]
A federal judge in Houston has thrown out a lawsuit accusing UBS Group AG of hiding fraud by its client Enron Corp from retail customers, a decision that may end a 15-year legal battle stemming from the energy company’s December 2001 bankruptcy. In a 228-page decision on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon said UBS PaineWebber brokerage customers failed to show that the Swiss bank intended to […]
Wednesday 16:30 GMT Overview Wall Street surged to another record as comments from Federal Reserve officials caused traders to boost their bets for an increase in US interest rates this month and investors celebrated a more upbeat tone from Donald Trump in his first address to Congress. In keeping with he risk-on mood that washed across financial markets around the globe, the dollar also rose and gold […]
By Ben Stupples The chairman of the EU’s Panama Papers inquiry has slammed the U.K. Treasury’s refusal to meet with investigators, raising concern over Britain’s commitment to the high-level investigation. It was “most disappointing and regrettable that no one at the political level at HM Treasury was able or willing to meet” during the trip to London last week from the European Parliament’s Panama Papers inquiry committee, […]
The high profile event will showcase a wide range of real estate opportunities with Al Bandary Real Estate and Ezdan Real Estate amongst the top local companies exhibiting Doha, Qatar: March 01, 2017 Cityscape Qatar 2017, the largest real estate development and investment exhibition in the State of Qatar, welcomes this year a large number of leading local and international exhibitors to participate in its sixth edition, […]
PARIS President Francois Hollande defended France’s judicial system against allegations of bias made by conservative Francois Fillon whose presidential campaign has been undermined by a deepening investigation into a financial scandal. “As guarantor of the independence of the judicial authorities, I want to speak out against any calling into question of the judges,” Hollande said in a statement. “Being a presidential candidate doesn’t authorise you to cast […]
