Category: Middle East
-
IMF chief Christine Lagarde convicted over payout
A French court has found International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde guilty of negligence but did not hand down any punishment. As French finance minister in 2008, she approved an award of €404m ($429m; £340m) to businessman Bernard Tapie for the disputed sale of a firm. Lagarde, who always denied wrongdoing, was not present in…
-
Oil prices rise in anticipation of tighter 2017 market
Oil prices rose on Monday in anticipation of tighter crude supply going into 2017 following the decision by OPEC and other producers to cut output to prop up prices. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $55.41 per barrel at 0756 GMT, up 20 cents from their last close. U.S.…
-
Exclusive: Brazil prosecutor investigates funds’ investment in Trump Hotel Rio
A Brazilian prosecutor has opened a criminal investigation into investments made by two state pension funds in a luxury Rio de Janeiro hotel that is part of the Trump franchise, according to a court filing reviewed by Reuters on Tuesday. The 130 million reais ($40 million) investment by the two small funds in the hotel’s…
-
Oil prices rise from one-month lows after OPEC approves strategy
Oil prices rose from one-month lows in Asian trading on Tuesday after OPEC agreed on a long-term strategy that was seen as an indication the cartel was reaching a consensus on managing production. But further gains are likely to be limited as the market was weighed down by further indications of record output from the…
-
Venezuela’s food prices skyrocket as people go hungry
Earlier this year, Venezuelans suffered through acute food shortages. Now food is starting to reappear on more and more supermarket shelves. But the prices are prohibitive for almost everyone. “The prices are really really high…people are just shocked by the price increases,” says Alejandro, a 24-year old who works at a law firm in Maracaibo,…
-
Samsung ‘blocks’ exploding Note 7 parody videos
Samsung appears to have filed copyright claims against YouTube videos mocking its recalled Galaxy Note 7 handset. Many gamers have showcased a modification to video game Grand Theft Auto V, in which sticky bombs were switched with exploding Samsung phones. But some have reported that their videos have been blocked on YouTube following a copyright…
-
World Bank bemoans growing inequality in sub-Saharan Africa
—
by
A new research released by the World Bank at a forum called “End Poverty” has bemoaned the growing level of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the report, the inequality gap between the poor and the rich has widened due to excess focus on urban development to the neglect of agriculture. Attributing the phenomenon to…
-
Qatar is losing billions on Deutsche Bank
Investors are hurting from Deutsche Bank’s share price collapse, none more so than Qatar. The wealthy Gulf state bought into the struggling German lender back in 2014, when it injected 1.75 billion euros ($2 billion) in return for about 60 million shares. Those shares are now worth just 624 million euros, or about 1.13 billion…
-
Iran Now Has the Edge in the Fight Over Oil Prices With Saudi Arabia
Suddenly the tables have been turned on Saudi Arabia. The biggest oil exporter has swapped its traditional role as price dove with regional foe Iran, for years OPEC price hawk. The government in Riyadh is now offering a deal — including its first output cut in eight years — to boost prices; Tehran is dragging…
-
Middle East:Oil prices fall as Saudi Arabia dampens prospects of output freeze
Oil prices fell on Friday after the Saudi energy minister tempered expectations of strong market intervention by producers during talks next month, and as analysts pointed to an ongoing supply overhang that was weighing on markets. International benchmark Brent crude oil prices LCOc1 were trading at $49.46 per barrel at 0658 GMT, down 21 cents…