Oil prices soared 8 per cent to $50 a barrel on Wednesday as Opec agreed to its first supply cut since prices started to plummet two years ago. The meeting is continuing as individual country allocations are hammered out, but sources said the main obstacles to the deal had been overcome. It will see the 13-member group reduce output by about 4.5 per cent, or 1.2m a […]
Oil prices soared 8.6 per cent to above $50 a barrel on Wednesday after two of Opec’s most powerful members said they were hopeful of reaching the first deal to cut supplies since prices started to plummet two years ago. Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, said the cartel, which controls about a third of the world’s oil production, was moving “close” to a deal, as he […]
Photo Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2015. In a four-page letter posted on his personal website, the prince argued that “it is high time that Saudi women started driving their cars.” Credit Fayez Nureldine/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images A prominent Saudi prince and business magnate has added his voice to the debate over women’s rights in his country, urging it to abandon its […]
Ulster Bank Parent RBS Fails Bank of England Stress Test “Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)(RBS.L) will cut costs and sell assets to boost capital levels, it said on Wednesday after failing this year’s Bank of England stress test, which warned of a “challenging” outlook for Britain’s financial system. The state-backed lender rushed out a statement following the announcement to say it would take a range of actions, including […]
SHARJAH // Soldiers, students, police and taxi drivers were just some of those calling into the Sharjah Blood Transfusion and Research Centre in the build up to National Day celebrations to give blood to those who need it most. The centre extended its opening hours from 8am to 8pm for the public holiday to encourage more people to visit the clinic and top up the nation’s blood […]
Qatar said it would provide $1.25 billion in aid to shore up Tunisia’s post-revolution economy as regional and Western partners pledged extensive financial backing at an investment conference on Tuesday. The money from Qatar, announced by the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is the biggest single offer of aid to Tunisia since a 2011 uprising ushered in a democratic transition but also years of economic uncertainty […]
By Samihullah Paiwand | GARDEZ, Afghanistan GARDEZ, Afghanistan Afghanistan’s worsening security has forced about 1,000 schools to close this year, more than double last year’s total, adding to problems that children face in getting an education, officials said. Education officials fear next year could be even worse if Taliban insurgents seize more territory. “Our students are the first victims of the war,” said Mujib Mehrdad, education ministry […]
Toyota Motor Corp. engineer Hisao Yamashige speaks to reporters at the Japanese automaker’s Tokyo office Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016. Toyota says it has developed a new way of observing the movements of tiny particles in a battery used to power electric vehicles—an advance it says will help boost their cruise range by 10 percent to 15 percent. Yamashige explained to reporters the complex method for tracking the […]
5774 25 by Shannon K. O’Neil October 14, 2016 Demonstrators chant slogans while flashing the Oromo protest gesture during Irreecha, the thanksgiving festival of the Oromo people, in Bishoftu town, Oromia region, Ethiopia, October 2, 2016 (Reuters/Tiksa Negeri). Fighting the Worst Kleptocracies Worse than kleptocracies are violent kleptocracies, as defined in a new report by advocacy group The Enough Project. In these, leaders run the state as […]
Part of the reason for Donald Trump’s triumph in the US election was that, as he would say, his cyber was the strongest. In the first social media election, Trump rallied a world’s worth of hackers and extreme digital natives to his side. If he can keep that anarchic crowd on board, he’ll not only have the world’s best cybersecurity, he’ll have a cyber army. […]
The first lawsuits by families of victims of last year’s crane crash in Makkah have been filed at a Saudi Arabian court, local media said on Tuesday. Five legal cases have been filed at the Summary Court in Jeddah, according to Saudi Gazette. The cases reportedly claim compensation after 110 people died and more than 200 others were injured when a crane involved in the redevelopment of […]
/By Maxwell Wessel/The term “big data” is ubiquitous. With exabytes of information flowing across broadband pipes, companies compete to claim the biggest, most audacious data sets. And businesses of all varieties — old and new, industrial and digital, big and small — are getting into the game. Masses of social, weather, and government data are being leveraged to predict supply chain outages. Enormous amounts of user data are being […]
Photo Yoenis Cespedes, who helped the Mets reach the wild-card game in 2016, agreed to a four-year, $110 million deal. Credit Al Bello/Getty Images This was the test, the proving ground for the Mets as annual playoff contenders. At some point, they would have to take a risk to keep their new identity. By agreeing to a reported four-year, $110 million contract extension with Yoenis Cespedes on […]
You can jump right into the spirit of National Day almost anywhere in the UAE. Here’s our round up of some of the largest and most eye-catching events happening this weekend, to celebrate the country’s 45th birthday. City Walk Festival Dubai’s first outdoors mall is pulling out all the stops for National Day, hosting 30 international folk bands, as well as traditional fashion shows and art shows. […]
5791 25 by Shannon K. O’Neil October 21, 2016 Brazil’s President Michel Temer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma pose for a group picture during BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit in Benaulim, in the western state of Goa, India, October 16, 2016 (Reuters/Danish Siddiqui). BRICS Fund InfrastructureAs commodity prices have […]
LONDON Outgoing CIA Director John Brennan has said it would be the “height of folly” for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to tear up Washington’s deal with Tehran because it would make it more likely that Iran and others would acquire nuclear weapons. “It could lead to a weapons programme inside of Iran that could lead other states in the region to embark on their own programmes,” Brennan […]
New footage of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be revealed this Thursday night, December 1, at The Game Awards. In a post on Twitter, Nintendo of America announced that “an exclusive look” at the upcoming Nintendo Switch and Wii U title will be shown at the event. In addition, The Game Awards producer Geoff Keighley posted a pair of teaser images on Twitter, […]
Nov 30, 2016 10:58 am IST Electronic-payment company Euronet Worldwide Inc. cut its financial projections for the quarter, citing a cash crunch that is wreaking havoc through India’s economy. Shares, up 3% this year, fell 5.4% to $70.66 in after-hours trading. India, which is replacing its largest-denomination bank notes to fight corruption and counterfeiting, is the fifth-largest market by revenue for the Kansas-based company, accounting for $78.7 […]
The Australian Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) has advised that it expects the lifetime capital costs for telcos to comply with data retention obligations to hit the AU$198.5 million mark by the end of the 2016-17 financial year, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said in its Communications report 2015-16 [PDF] tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. (Image: ACMA) The estimate is based on costs submitted to AGD by […]
By Noah Barkin | BERLIN BERLIN Fear of globalisation is the most important factor in pushing European citizens towards populist right-wing parties and those fears are most acute in Austria and France, a survey by Germany’s Bertelsmann Foundation showed on Wednesday. The study showed that 55 percent of Austrians and 54 percent of French view globalisation as a threat, the only countries surveyed in which a majority […]
A new report sheds some light on Apple’s plans for its iPad lineup in 2017. The company will supposedly introduce a new 10.9-inch iPad Pro that will lose its Home button, sport an almost bezel-free display and maintain the overall size of that of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. It’s never too early to begin speculating on some of the new features Apple has in store for its […]
Wednesday 06:00 GMT Overview Markets across Asia were treading cautiously on Wednesday, following mild overnight gains for Wall Street, a weakening of the US dollar and as investors turned their attention to a meeting between Opec members later today. European bourses are expected to open with only meagre moves, with spreadbetters predicting the UK’s FTSE 100 will slip 10 points to 6,762 and Germany’s Dax to be […]
Photo Mahmoud Abbas, third from right, the Palestinian Authority president, at a Fatah party conference on Tuesday in Ramallah, West Bank. Credit Presidential Office, via Reuters RAMALLAH, West Bank — Under fire at home and abroad, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority moved on Tuesday to solidify his decade-long hold on power with a party conference that had already been purged of most of his opponents. […]
COLOGNE, Germany Ford (F.N) wants to raise profitability in Europe by adding higher-margin versions of the Fiesta subcompact, its best-selling regional model, the carmaker’s top European executive said. High-volume carmakers such as Ford have for several years been squeezed in a downmarket expansion by luxury rivals including Daimler’s (DAIGn.DE) Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) Audi. But Ford, which already targets premium buyers with higher-end versions of some of […]
