As the world’s oil traders descend on London this week, the hot subject will be how to keep North Sea Brent, the benchmark for the global oil price, fit for purpose. S&P Global Platts , the oil pricing agency, is trying to execute the biggest overhaul of North Sea oil trading in a decade, with plans to rejig how prices in the region are set ahead of […]
By Gopal Sharma | KATHMANDU KATHMANDU Nepal will hold its first local elections in 20 years in May, a minister said on Monday, an important milestone in its long and difficult transition to democracy that the government hopes will culminate in a general election. The Himalayan nation has been unable to complete the journey to a republic because some regional groups rejected a constitution approved by bigger […]
Some of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds are increasingly striking their own private equity deals rather than relying on external fund managers, in a drive to cut costs and gain more control. With some $6.5 trillion in assets, sovereign investors already account for 19 percent of capital committed to private equity, according to data from research firm Preqin. But mega-funds such as the Abu Dhabi Investment […]
By Stephen Kalin and Maher Chmaytelli | SOUTH OF MOSUL/BAGHDAD, Iraq SOUTH OF MOSUL/BAGHDAD, Iraq U.S.-backed Iraqi forces fought Islamic State fighters on Monday to clear the way to Mosul’s airport, on the second day of a ground offensive on the jihadists’ remaining stronghold in the western side of the city. Federal police and elite interior ministry units known as Rapid Response are leading the charge toward […]
So what can schools near roads do about their air quality? Closing a school’s doors and windows won’t keep traffic pollutants out (though that helps). Heavy-duty air filters — higher quality than the typical filters in schools — can substantially reduce what gets into the air the kids and teachers are breathing inside. Filters rated MERV 16, characterized as surgery-grade, have been installed in dozens of Southern […]
BEIRUT: French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has met with the president of Lebanon, saying their two countries should be “pillars” in organizing the fight against Islamic fundamentalism.After the half-hour meeting on Monday with Michel Aoun, Le Pen said she also discussed the costs of housing refugees.Le Pen’s National Front party claims Muslim immigration to France boosts terror risks, costs jobs and drains the nation’s treasury. […]
Salesforce added risk segmenting tools, patient targeting and lead conversion data to its Health Cloud, an effort expand the company’s footprint in an industry that accounts for 17.8 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic product. That statistic, via the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, highlights how Salesforce is going after large verticals. Typically, the company’s offerings have been more horizontal with its Service Cloud, CRM and analytics […]
SHARJAH // A shop has been caught selling pork rind snacks, officials said on social media. Khor Fakkan Municipality investigated after a report came in about the shop, in Sharjah’s eastern region, selling snacks containing pork derivatives. The director of the municipality said on the authority’s Instagram account that the report was received by the public health department. “Inspectors responded to the report and visited the outlet […]
In this Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017 photo, a driverless shuttle bus retraces its tracks while on display at the Riverside EpiCenter in Austell, Ga. Self-driving vehicles could begin tooling down a bustling Atlanta street full of cars, buses, bicyclists and college students, as the city vies with other communities nationwide to test the emerging technology. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Self-driving vehicles could begin tooling down a bustling Atlanta […]
By Ben Blanchard and Philip Wen | BEIJING BEIJING With the suspension of all North Korean coal imports, China has wielded a big stick against its reclusive neighbour, but there is no sign it will cut off all critical links and Beijing is still promoting talks to solve the dispute over Pyongyang’s programme to develop nuclear weapons. China has been getting increasingly fed up with what it […]
Submitted by Don Quijones via WolfStreet.com, Untouchable. Inviolable. Immunity. Impunity. These are the sort of words and expressions that are often associated with senior central bankers, who are, by law, able to operate more or less above the law of the jurisdictions in which they operate. Rarely heard in association with senior central bankers are words or expressions like “accused”, “charged” or “under investigation.” But in Spain this […]
By Rozanna Latiff | KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR Footage from airport cameras purportedly showing the assault on the half-brother of the North Korean leader emerged on Monday as a row between Malaysia and North Korea escalated over the handling of the investigation into the killing of Kim Jong Nam. Malaysia recalled its envoy from Pyongyang and summoned North Korea’s ambassador in Kuala Lumpur, who again cast doubt […]
ITP Media Group is hosting the UAE’s first Influencer Marketing Summit this morning at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Dubai Marina, chaired by the BBC broadcaster Andrew Neil. The event will see high profile social media stars such as Joelle Mardinian giving the first keynote speech, while also examining how influencers and brands can work together, and issues of transparency and legislation. (Refresh the page for updates) […]
SYDNEY Asian share markets were mixed on Monday as political uncertainty globally kept the mood cautious, while the U.S. dollar dithered in a tight range ahead of a busy week for Federal Reserve events. Turnover was light with U.S. markets closed for the Presidents Day holiday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS edged up 0.1 percent and back toward a 19-month peak reached last […]
DUBAI // A Russian model who performed a daredevil photo shoot by precariously hanging from one of the emirate’s most eye-catching skyscrapers has responded to news she is facing a lawsuit from the building’s developer. On Friday the Cayan Group said it would file “immediate legal action” against Viktoria Odintcova and the production team who helped her orchestrate a dangerous stunt from the roof of Cayan Tower, […]
By Feisal Omar | MOGADISHU MOGADISHU A car bomb ripped through a market in Mogadishu on Sunday, killing 39 people and injuring around 50, a local official said, days after Somalia elected a new president. The car was driven by a suicide bomber, said Ahmed Abdulle Afrax, the mayor of Wadajir district where the bombing happened. “We carried 39 dead bodies and there were many others injured,” […]
Like others interviewed, Abu Marwan, citing concerns about safety, agreed to speak on the condition that his full name not be published. He and others are identified by honorifics or nicknames. Residents said anyone caught using a cellphone risked being beaten or killed by militants. Continue reading the main story Abu Salah, who lives in the Bab al-Tob neighborhood in western Mosul, said the Islamic State, also […]
Two months after an unexpected, landslide loss in the December 4 constitutional referendum which cost him his job as Italy’s prime minister, on Sunday Matteo Renzi quit as leader of Italy’s ruling party, in the process triggering a re-election fight against minority dissidents that threatens the stability of the center-left government, Bloomberg reports. Renzi told a national assembly of the ruling PD that he had handed in […]
Here are the questions the FT Markets team will be pondering this week: What do retail flows mean? Money flows are widely watched but, like anything in markets, there is signal and then there is noise. Investors poured money into global stock funds last week, one when US stock markets set fresh records, and US long-only equity funds received the first net inflow of cash ($0.5bn) in […]
By Maher Chmaytelli and Isabel Coles | BAGHDAD/SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq BAGHDAD/SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq U.S.-backed Iraqi forces on Sunday launched a ground offensive to dislodge Islamic State militants from their remaining stronghold in Mosul, in the western part of the city, and put an end to their ambitions for territorial rule in Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the offensive, asking Iraqi […]
In light of the recent flurry of leaks by the so-called “deep state”, which includes such agencies as the NSA and FBI and which last week lead to the resignation of Mike Flynn after a phone recording of his phone conversation with the Russian ambassador was leaked to the WaPo and other anti-Trump publications, an article published on January 12 by the NYT has generated renewed interest. […]
special feature Harnessing IoT in the Enterprise The tech revolution is spreading to every corner of the earth with the Internet of Things, and it’s enabling data analytics and automation in ways never before imagined in business. Depending on whose numbers turn out to be right, there will be somewhere between 20 and 200 billion “things” connected to the internet by 2020. We all know about the […]
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have revealed in a study how the Zika virus is able to alter fetal brain development and cause microcephaly. Published in the journal Stem Cell Reports, the study results may help shed light on how Zika causes birth defects. Zika And Microcephaly At the moment, 70 countries and territories around the world are dealing with active transmissions of the […]
The search for cure of congenital and other serious illnesses may be over with the revolutionary gene-editing tool known as CRISPR. Among its uses is to help scientists understand the genetic origin of an illness, which was not possible in the past. The future, the scientific community trumpeted, has arrived. Ethicists warned, however, of the risks as scientists wield the tool that has the potential not only […]
