New York and London are locked in a frantic race to be the main international listing venue for Saudi Arabia’s initial public offering of its state oil company, emerging as clear frontrunners in what is set to be the world’s biggest ever flotation. Executives from the New York Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange have held talks with Saudi Aramco, the state group valued at as much […]
Viva Republica CEO SG Lee Image: Viva Republica Viva Republica, maker of peer-to-peer money transfer app Toss, announced that it has raised $48 million in a Series C round led by San Mateo-based VC firm Goodwater Capital, with PayPal, Bessemer Venture Partners, Altos Ventures, and Partech Ventures also contributing to the round. The latest funding round brings the total amount raised by the Seoul-based company to 87.5 […]
Qatar Airways will not take delivery of any Airbus A320neo aircraft this year as it looks to change its order to larger A321neos, Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said. The Gulf carrier has refused to take delivery of Airbus A320neos since December 2015, initially after performance issues with the aircraft’s new engines. “I have to scream at Airbus to get my planes faster. I am nearly eight […]
China’s Uber rival Didi Chuxing announced that it has officially opened its first US-based research and development lab in Mountain View, California this week. Didi Labs will seek out engineering talent and focus on artificial intelligence (AI)-based security and intelligent driving technologies, according to a statement made by the company. Founder, chairman, and CEO of Didi Chuxing, Cheng Wei said the company’s vision is to build an […]
By Alexandra Ulmer | CARACAS CARACAS A World Bank tribunal order for Venezuela to pay $1.4 billion in damages to Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) over nationalizations has been annulled, a lawyer for the government said on Thursday. “We were confident all along that our position was correct and are very pleased that the annulment committee agreed,” Venezuela’s lawyer George Kahale told Reuters by email. There was no […]
Photo Palestinians waiting for travel permits to cross into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing this week. In an effort to improve relations with the Egyptian government a new Hamas document would declare that the group is not a part of the Muslim Brotherhood. Credit Said Khatib/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images CAIRO — Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that has governed the Gaza Strip for a decade, […]
The cost of shorting shares of Snap has fallen sharply as bets against the owner of the messaging app slowed and the share price rallied. Snap’s stock has rebounded in recent sessions after selling off earlier in the week as several analysts’ reports expressed scepticism about the group’s valuation, which had surged above $30bn in the initial euphoria following its high-profile listing last week. At midday in […]
Google Cloud Platform may not be the only cloud provider in an enterprise, but it’s willing to offer discounts to make sure it gets its share. (Image: Google Cloud/YouTube) Google Cloud Platform rolled out Committed Use Discounts, which are designed to pass along savings to enterprises for a one- or three-year purchase commitment to Google Compute Engine. Special Feature Cloud Computing: Moving to IaaS Infrastructure as a […]
By Ben Hirschler | LONDON LONDON Scientists have taken a big step toward designing complex forms of life from scratch by constructing five new artificial chromosomes of baker’s yeast, representing a third of the micro-organism’s genome, or genetic blueprint. The international team used computers to create laboratory-made versions of the threadlike structures that carry genetic code inside cells. Synthesizing genomes may alarm some who see biotechnologists “playing […]
Another day, another Snapchat Stories copycat arriving on another messaging app. Facebook launched a new feature for its stand alone messaging app on Thursday called Messenger Day, which allows users to capture photos and videos, add stickers and effects, and share their “day” with their friends. Those who are fans of Snapchat or Instagram Stories will feel right at home with Messenger Day. The feature is also […]
By Andrei Khalip | LISBON LISBON A former U.S. spy, newly pardoned by Italy in connection with the CIA kidnap of a terrorism suspect in Milan, has credited President Donald Trump’s administration with saving her from an Italian jail. Sabrina de Sousa was transferred between Portuguese prisons and had Italian police flying in to extradite her before being granted an 11th hour reprieve last week, with a […]
Hafsa Lodi For many who suffer from less-than-perfect vision, eyeglasses are seen as an irritating impediment. You don’t put much thought into what frames you choose, because you don’t plan on showing them to the world at all – you have succumbed to wearing daily contact lenses, and save your glasses for mornings and evenings. Many friends and colleagues may not even be aware of your eyesight […]
Dutch paints and coatings maker Akzo Nobel has rejected an unsolicited €20.9bn takeover bid by US industrial chemicals rival PPG Industries and said it is instead looking at spinning off its specialty chemicals business. Akzo Nobel said on Thursday that the PPG bid substantially undervalued its prospects and it made a broader appeal to its stakeholders by saying the takeover was not in the interests of customers […]
Photo A convoy of American armored vehicles in Manbij, northern Syria, on Sunday. The formal troop cap for Syria is 503, but commanders have the authority to temporarily exceed that limit to meet military requirements. Credit Delil Souleiman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images WASHINGTON — The United States is sending an additional 400 troops to Syria to help prepare for the looming fight for Raqqa, the capital of […]
Oil prices were under intensifying pressure on Thursday, with the US West Texas Intermediate benchmark dipping below $49 a barrel for the first time since late November. The falls came after oil prices fell the most in more than a year over the previous session when US crude inventories climbed for a ninth straight week to a record high. Renewed concerns about a supply glut sent ripples […]
BAGHDAD — Suicide bombers struck a village north of Baghdad as a wedding party gathered in the evening, killing at least 26 people and wounding scores, a government spokesman said on Thursday. The assault began late Wednesday when an assailant wearing an explosives-laden belt walked into the wedding party at an open area in Hajaj, near the city of Tikrit, about 120 miles north of Baghdad. After […]
Thursday 14:30 GMT Overview The euro is firmer and Bund yields are trundling higher with Treasuries after the European Central Bank stood pat on interest rates and indicated it was not looking to ease policy further. Oil prices tried to rally but have resumed their sell-off, putting energy stocks under pressure and weighing on equity benchmarks. Hot topic (1) After a period when politicians seemed to rule […]
HTC announced the U Ultra in early January and as it starts to ship to early pre-order customers the press is getting a chance to spend some time with the device. An evaluation device arrived yesterday for a couple of weeks of testing. After one day, it’s clear the HTC U Ultra is better than I anticipated and brings the best of HTC into one single, and […]
By Jessica DiNapoli and Makiko Yamazaki | NEW YORK/TOKYO NEW YORK/TOKYO U.S. nuclear firm Westinghouse Electric Co LLC has hired bankruptcy attorneys, in a sign that owner Toshiba Corp (6502.T) is more seriously weighing a Chapter 11 filing as an option to help it rein in a multibillion dollar financial maelstrom. People familiar with the matter said the nuclear engineering company had brought in law firm Weil […]
On Tuesday Republicans initialized the first step in rolling back the Federal Communications Commission’s internet privacy rules, with 25 U.S. senators introducing a new resolution that would cause their reversal, and even forbid the commission from passing anything similar in the future. Introduced last year, the privacy rules were an addendum to the net neutrality order, which required the FCC to handle enforcement of privacy protection form […]
Why West Berlin? After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city’s eastern side, formerly occupied by the communist German Democratic Republic, was ripe for renovation. The space created by the removal of the wall, and the old buildings overdue for renewal, meant everything edgy and inventive went east. The formerly cool West Berlin districts fell into something of a funk as the gaze shifted elsewhere. But […]
Former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has wished his successor President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo success in his administration amid challenges faced by the President in running the country. “I told him that his Cabinet is only part of it. My hope is [his administration] is more successful in the future,” he said with a smile with Jokowi sitting next to him. In their first official meeting, Yudhoyono said he and […]
Mercy Corps, a leading American charity that uses Turkey as a base to aid hundreds of thousands of civilians upended by the war in neighboring Syria, was forced to curtail its work on Wednesday after the Turkish government abruptly revoked its registration to operate. “Our hearts are broken by this turn of events, which comes after five years of cooperation with the government of Turkey and other […]
A new urgency is gripping financial markets. Talk of a Federal Reserve rate increase next week is no longer the main conversation, with interest rate futures now pricing it as a near certainty. How quickly the Fed moves after March is now the hot topic. US jobs growth has been the catalyst. A survey by ADP revealed on Wednesday that 298,000 private sector jobs were created in […]
