With the oil market showing signs of losing faith in a price rebound, Opec is now asking itself: what more can it do? Production cuts agreed late last year between some of the world’s biggest producers inside and outside the cartel, are losing their sway given the near 10 per cent drop in the Brent benchmark over the past week. Brimming global storage tanks and a resurgent […]
By Andrea Shalal | BERLIN BERLIN The German government is reserving the right to ban Turkish politicians from campaigning in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff said in an interview published on Wednesday, adding it would be a last resort. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s drive for support among Turks living abroad for the April 16 referendum to expand his powers has caused deep strains between Ankara […]
Most of the South African taxpayers cited in the Panama Papers and identified as risky by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) had used a very similar offshore structure, which was facilitated by a single domestic intermediary, SARS disclosed on Wednesday. The information emerged during an engagement by three parliamentary committees with a range of government departments and agencies involved in the fight against illicit financial flows, […]
It is fitting that just a few hours until the Fed’s second rate hike in two quarters, and one day after Goldman downgraded global stocks to Neutral for the next 3 months, not to mention with the results of the anticipated Dutch election due shortly, that global stocks as well as S&P futures are higher, while crude oil has finally managed to stage a rebound as the […]
By Philip Blenkinsop | AMSTERDAM AMSTERDAM The Dutch began voting on Wednesday in an election seen as a test of anti-immigrant and nationalist feeling, magnified in the last few days by a spat with Turkey, and as one of three polls this year that will gauge the strength of the ties that bind the European Union together. The centre-right VVD party of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, 50, […]
By Kevin Yao and Ryan Woo | BEIJING BEIJING China’s Premier Li Keqiang reassured investors on Wednesday that the world’s second-largest economy is strong and not at risk of a hard landing, while stressing Beijing’s support for globalization and free trade at a time of rising protectionism. Li also reiterated that China does not want a trade war with the United States, and urged talks with Washington […]
By Andrew Osborn | MOSCOW MOSCOW First, armed police seized some of its books. Next, its director was put on trial accused of stirring up ethnic hatred. And now, quietly, its shelves have been emptied and its volumes packed up, ready to be merged into another library’s collection. A year and a half after Russia’s only state-run Ukrainian language library, Moscow’s Library of Ukrainian Literature, was dragged […]
China plans to introduce a bond trading link between Hong Kong and the mainland by year-end, according to premier Li Keqiang. Dubbed “Bond Connect”, the programme would operate alongside the existing Stock Connect system that allows international and mainland investors their only direct access to each others’ markets. On Wednesday, the Chinese premier said: “We are preparing to implement for the first time this year a bond […]
Machine learning is one of the biggest buzzwords in cybersecurity in 2017. But a sufficiently smart adversary can exploit what the machine learning algorithm does, and reduce the quality of decision-making. special feature Cyberwar and the Future of Cybersecurity Today’s security threats have expanded in scope and seriousness. There can now be millions — or even billions — of dollars at risk when information security isn’t handled […]
TOKYO Shares in Toshiba Corp tumbled on Wednesday after it said it would consider a sale of Westinghouse but did not offer any clarity on whether it would proceed with a Chapter 11 filing for the U.S. nuclear unit – a move that could stem losses. Toshiba’s failure to submit audited third-quarter earnings on Tuesday and its announcement of an expanded probe into Westinghouse also contributed to […]
WASHINGTON The U.S. and South Korean military chiefs warned on Tuesday that North Korea could “conduct provocative actions” in response to large-scale joint drills between the two countries, as China’s premier also said tensions could lead to conflict. “The chairmen recognized the possibility that North Korea could conduct provocative actions during the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercise, or in connection with North Korean major political events in April,” […]
ABU DHABI // Farmers and members of the Federal National Council called for more measures to protect local food prices from competition with cheap imports. Experts, however, said that such restrictions, proposed at the FNC meeting on Tuesday, could drastically raise food prices and would not solve the problem of water scarcity. FNC members had raised complaints from local farmers, who say their products are getting drowned […]
NEW YORK — Millions of records from a commercial corporate database have been leaked. The database, about 52 gigabytes in size, contains just under 33.7 million unique email addresses and other contact information from employees of thousands of companies, representing a large portion of the US corporate population. Dun & Bradstreet, a business services giant, confirmed that it owns the database, which it acquired as part of […]
A researcher has used mathematical modeling to demonstrate that negative peer pressures can spread in a high-risk setting, influencing students’ decisions to drop out of school. (via WSJ)
Singapore needs to keep a close watch on teachings or statements that are exclusivist and divisive, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said yesterday. These have had repercussions in other countries, he noted at a gathering of Islamic religious teachers. “Attacks claimed to be in the name of Islam have led to a rise in Islamophobia, with anti-immigration rhetoric and negative reactions among other communities,” he said. […]
By Simon Carraud and Brian Love | PARIS PARIS Francois Fillon’s troubled election campaign suffered yet another blow on Tuesday when magistrates put him under formal investigation on suspicion of embezzling state funds, a first for a presidential candidate in France. Election graphic – here With less than six weeks to go until the first round of voting, Fillon has been unable to draw a line under […]
(Image: file photo) Patch Tuesday is back — albeit after an inadvertent and undisclosed glitch led to a month-long delay in releasing security patches. Microsoft said Tuesday that it patched dozens of vulnerabilities across 18 bulletins. read this Why software updates have to get better All too often, security patches are breaking the devices they set out to protect, and trust in the software companies to protect […]
COPENHAGEN, March 14 Danish banks should significantly increase their focus on complying with rules to avoid money laundering and tax evasion, the Danish Financial Services Authority (FSA) said on Tuesday in a report in the wake of the so-called the Panama Papers. This was backed by the country’s business minister. “It’s unsatisfactory that a range of banks in clear violation of the law apparently have risked participating […]
14 March, 2017 The Ministry of Finance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has recently launched a series of Value Added Tax (VAT) and excise awareness sessions to present to advisors and businesses on the progress of VAT and excise implementation. The first such session is aimed at the advisory community, followed by later sessions aimed at the general business community. Full details of the sessions can be […]
Turkey’s president escalated his diplomatic row with the Netherlands on Tuesday, claiming the country had a “rotten character” and blamed Dutch troops for the worst massacre in Europe since the second world war. The remarks by Recep Tayyip Erdogan come less than 24 hours before Dutch voters go to the polls in a national election that has been coloured by a heated debate about the role of […]
The Bank of England’s new deputy governor, Charlotte Hogg, has resigned after MPs said her professional competence “falls short of the very high standards required”. Ms Hogg has been under pressure since admitting that she had failed for nearly four years to inform the bank that her brother was a senior executive at Barclays, even though she was partly responsible for drawing up the bank’s code of […]
14 March 2017 Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 14, 2017-(ME NewsWire)- Inaugurating its office in Dubai, Seoli Innovations revealed its smart glass products catering to developers, home owners, hospitals and industry professionals, allowing them to adopt energy and cost efficient solutions that transform their spaces into flexible and smart living or work experiences. Manufactured according to the highest international standards and adapting to today’s rising design challenges, […]
The pound took a tumble on Tuesday after politicians paved the way for Article 50 to be triggered this month, leading analysts to warn that Brexit was still not priced in to the value of the UK currency. Sterling fell as much as 0.9 per cent in Tuesday morning trading to just above $1.21, its weakest level since Theresa May, prime minister, promised a parliamentary vote on […]
The Gulf’s healthcare industry is expected to receive the highest volume of investments in 2017 among non-oil sectors as GCC countries seek to further diversify their economies, according to a new survey. CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, said its annual Middle East Societies Market Sentiment survey also forecse an increase in hospitality and tourism investment. It said in a statement that in Saudi Arabia, […]
