Oil made the biggest annual gain since 2009 as OPEC and other producing nations plan to start supply cuts next month to reduce swelling global inventories. Futures rose 52 percent in London this year after closing little changed on Friday.
Category: World News
Hedge Funds Bet Oil Rally to Extend Into 2017 as Output Cuts Hit
Money managers’ wagers on rising West Texas Intermediate crude prices are triple what they were at the end of 2015, and are the highest since the start of the crude market crash 2 1/2 years ago. Crude futures settled at the highest in almost 18 months on Dec. 28, with investors now eyeing the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers to see who complies with agreed output cuts.
How Keating won unlosable election
IT WAS regarded as the unlosable election – for the coalition that is – and perhaps no-one was more surprised than Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating as polling night unfolded. Far from losing, there was a 5.5 per cent swing to Labor which increased its majority by two to 13 seats in parliament’s lower house.
Creator of Kinder Surprise dies
WILLIAM Salice, who helped create the hugely popular Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs for children, has died in Italy aged 83, his foundation said. Salice had been undergoing treatment for a stroke in a hospital in the northern Italian town of Pavia, his Colour Your Life foundation and Italian media reports said.
IS claims Baghdad suicide bombings that killed 28
A pair of suicide bombings minutes apart hit a central Baghdad market on Saturday, killing 28 people and wounding at least 54, prompting security forces to ban traffic from key streets at the center of the Iraqi capital, police and hospital officials said. The twin attacks hit al-Sinak, a busy market selling car accessories, food and clothes as well as agricultural seeds and machinery.
MEEK: Appliances gone wild and the shape of the year to come
A visitor tries out a Samsung Electronics Galaxy S7 Edge smartphone at its shop in Seoul, South Korea. Samsung Electronics predicts the discontinuation of the Galaxy Note 7 will cost about $3 billion.
NI’s year in pictures – October to December 2016
October: Loyalists dismantle their protest camp at Twaddell Avenue after the three Ligoniel Orange Order lodges marched past the Ardoyne shops. It was set up in July 2013 after the Parades Commission ruled that Orangemen could not walk along the route.
Please join me to nominate UPDF’s Brig Peter Elwelu ‘man of the year’
Although I found it more of a work on military scholarship, the book is basically about the operational conduct of the NRA, the ‘ancestor’ force to the UPDF And here is another: by Monday December 31, 2018 , Brig Elwelu will have been transferred from his position as commander of Second Division of the UPDF. My guess is that he may even be sent for a course or transferred to another UPDF theatre of operation earlier than December 2018.
Brazilian police: Greek ambassador killed by wife’s lover
Authorities beli… . Francoise Amiridis, the wife of Greece’s Ambassador to Brazil Kyriakos Amiridis, arrives at a police station to be interrogated in connection with her husband’s disappearance in Belford Roxo, Brazil, Friday, Dec… .
NASA photograph
This artist’s concept of NASA’s X-57 Maxwell aircraft shows the plane’s specially designed wing and 14 electric motors. NASA Aeronautics researchers will use the X-57 to demonstrate that electric propulsion can make planes quieter, more efficient and more environmentally friendly.
The Wheel: Inventions and Reinventions – Book Review
Anyone who enjoys reading about history should appreciate this book, “The Wheel: Inventions and Reinventions.” Myself, I like going back to the origins of things.
More than 20,000 dead fish mysteriously washed up in Nova Scotia
Tens of thousands of fish, starfish, scallops, crabs, lobsters, and other ocean life washed up dead this week at Savory Park on the western coast of Nova Scotia. The cause of the massive fish death is not yet known.
Israel’s Netanyahu denies ‘baseless’ reports of new scandal
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, Israel’s Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, left, and Israel’s air force commander Maj.General Amir Eshel attend a graduation ceremony for new pilots in the Hatzerim air force base near the city of Beersheba, Israel, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016.
Govt mulls ‘cashless’ ride for commuters on Mumbai-Nagpur expressway
The proposed 710-km Mumbai-Nagpur Super Expressway will be going cashless with the Maharashtra government planning to use modern technology for toll levy as part of its efforts to boost digital payments. “Instead of toll nakas, there will be RFID censors to enable commuters to pay toll,” PWD Principal Secretary Ashish Kumar Singh said.
Southeast Asia’s Best Stock Seen Extending Rally on Cost Cut
PT Adaro Energy, Southeast Asia’s best-performing stock this year, is expected by analysts to extend gains in 2017 as it benefits from rising coal prices and cost-cutting initiatives. The coal miner’s measures to reduce expenses resulted in an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margin of 36.2 percent in the third quarter, the largest among Indonesia’s five biggest listed coal miners, and the highest quarterly reading in three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Smart Fitness Apps Will Transform How You Work Out in 2017
We’ve been going to gyms for a very long time to get fit, slim, and trim. But in the short time that smartphones have been around, people have started embracing fitness apps to take their well-being into their own hands.
Who was Charles Macintosh and did he really invent the raincoat?
The scientist is well known for patenting a fabric that was waterproof, due to having a section of liquid rubber in between two cloth layers. After experimenting with various chemicals, Macintosh discovered that naptha, a by-product of tar, could dissolve India rubber, a substance found in trees.
Exclusive – Bangladesh police detail suspicions of inside help in central bank heist
A top investigator into the electronic theft of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank is turning his attention to some IT technicians from the bank whom he suspects hooked up its transactions system to the public Internet, giving hackers access. In a series of interviews this month, Mohammad Shah Alam, a Bangladesh police deputy inspector general who is heading investigations in Dhaka, went into some detail about how insiders at Bangladesh Bank may have helped in the execution of one of the world’s biggest cyber-heists last February.
Relations between Obama, Netanyahu camps hit rock bottom
Secretary of State John Kerry speaks about Israeli-Palestinian policy, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016, at the State Department in Washington. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks about Israeli-Palestinian policy, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016, at the State Department in Washington.
Scotland’s papers: Jobs lost to robots and religion in classrooms
A report warns a robot revolution will place millions of British jobs under threat from automation, according to the Herald and the Scotsman which both lead on the story. The Times claims a poll for their paper shows majority of Scots believe that rules should be changed to ensure that children are not made to take part in religious observance at school.
Carrie Fisher’s Ex Husband Paul Simon Responds to Her Passing; She’ll Appear in “Family Guy”
Dylann Roof, the 22-year-old convicted of killing nine black parishioners at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, told a judge Wednesday he has “no pl… — German authorities have detained a 40-year-old Tunisian man who “could have been involved in the attack” on a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany’s federal prosecu… Wheat buyers, millers and processors in South Asia have a better understanding of the quality of this year’s hard red winter wheat crop, thanks to U.S. Wheat Associates’ … UNDATED _ The Minnesota Golden Gophers have capped a tumultuous football season with a very satisfying victory.
UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Dec 28
Dec 28 Britain’s FTSE 100 index is seen opening 0.07 percent higher on Wednesday after a four-day Christmas break, according to financial bookmakers, with futures up 0.1 percent ahead of the cash market open. * BOVIS HOMES: Bovis Homes said it would not deliver the number of houses it originally expected in 2016, after about 180 sales failed to complete before the end of the year, resulting in a likely miss against market profit forecasts.
Global Stocks Advance While Crude Extends Rally: Markets Wrap
Global equities climbed in thin trading, while oil headed for the longest winning streak in almost seven years. The yen weakened for a second day.
Avatar-Style Manned Robot Takes First Steps In South Korea
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ValueWalk: A robot designed by a veteran of science fiction blockbusters which bear a striking resemblance to the military robots seen in the movie Avatar has taken its first baby steps . The robot standing in a room on the outskirts of Seoul, South Korea stands four meters tall and weighs 1.5 tons.
NASA telescopes find clues for how giant black holes formed so quickly
Using data from NASA’s Great Observatories, astronomers have found the best evidence yet for cosmic seeds in the early universe that should grow into supermassive black holes. Researchers combined data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope to identify these possible black hole seeds.
U.S. accuses Chinese citizens of hacking law firms, insider trading
Three Chinese citizens have been criminally charged in the United States with trading on confidential corporate information obtained by hacking into networks and servers of law firms working on mergers, U.S. prosecutors said on Tuesday. Iat Hong of Macau, Bo Zheng of Changsha, China, and Chin Hung of Macau were charged in an indictment filed in Manhattan federal court with conspiracy, insider trading, wire fraud and computer intrusion.
Europe’s Newly Launched Satellite Navigation System Is Precise Down to a Few Centimeters
We tend to use “GPS” the way we use “Kleenex” or “Band-Aid” – as a brand name substitute for the generic “satellite navigation system.” But the Global Positioning System is actually quite specific: It’s a constellation of 27 satellites and a global network of control facilities on the ground developed and operated by the Defense Department.
2016: Top 26 photos that went viral on the Internet
The year 2016 has indeed proved to be a year in which what happened on social media dominated discussions in the public arena and vice-versa. It also emerged as the year when social media activism reached its highest point so far with innocent animals being rescued because of the good Samaritans present in the web space.
IPrice gains $4m in Series A funding
IPrice Group, a Kuala Lumpur-based price comparison website, has received US$4 million in a Series A round of funding from a group of venture capitalists. The group was led by Asia Venture Group and includes Gobi Partners, DMP, Econa, Starstrike and a few individual investors.
China says space programme must help protect national security
China’s space programme must help protect the country’s national security, but China is dedicated to the peaceful use of space and opposes a space arms race, the government said in a policy paper issued on Tuesday. Tiangong-2, China’s second space laboratory lifts off from the launch pad in Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, September 15, 2016.
China says space program must help protect national security
China’s President Xi Jinping looks on before meeting with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at the Great Halll of the People in Beijing, China December 2, 2016. China’s space program must help protect the country’s national security, but China is dedicated to the peaceful use of space and opposes a space arms race, the government said in a policy paper issued on Tuesday.
China says space program must help protect national security
China’s President Xi Jinping looks on before meeting with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at the Great Halll of the People in Beijing, China December 2, 2016. China’s space program must help protect the country’s national security, but China is dedicated to the peaceful use of space and opposes a space arms race, the government said in a policy paper issued on Tuesday.
NPP China Branch (Youth) Appeal To Akufo-Addo
NPP China Branch Appeal To Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo TO CONSIDER PROF.LAWRENCE GYANSAH… AS GHANA AMBASSADOR TO CHINA. Throughout our stay in various universities in China, the Ghanaian and Chinese professors actually cannot understand why Ghana is still struggling to move from poverty, with all her strong relationship with the People’s Republic of China.
Snow in the Sahara Desert
Snow in a place where summertime temperatures are high – though wintertime temps can drop to freezing – and where precipitation from the skies is rare. The Landsat 7 satellite acquired this image of snow in North Africa on December 19, 2016.
China bank calls documents ‘fake’ after bond default on Alibaba-linked platform
BEIJING: The fate of a defaulted US$45 million Chinese corporate bond sold through an Alibaba-backed online wealth management platform was thrown into doubt on Monday, after a bank said letters of guarantee for the bonds were counterfeit. China Guangfa Bank Co Ltd said guarantee documents, official seals and personal seals presented by the insurer of the bonds “are all fake” and that it has reported the matter to the police.
Gateway plan approved
Executives at the riverside CAT Tower of state-owned CAT Telecom have approved a plan to consolidate all internet gateways under a National Gateway Data Centre. The board of CAT Telecom has finally approved the consolidation of its internet data centre and submarine cable network businesses after nearly six months of uncertainty.
Gateway plan approved
Executives at the riverside CAT Tower of state-owned CAT Telecom have approved a plan to consolidate all internet gateways under a National Gateway Data Centre. The board of CAT Telecom has finally approved the consolidation of its internet data centre and submarine cable network businesses after nearly six months of uncertainty.
Battleground Singapore
Singapore is about to become a regional battleground between the world’s two largest e-commerce giants. From the US, we have Amazon.com.
Battleground Singapore
Singapore is about to become a regional battleground between the world’s two largest e-commerce giants. From the US, we have Amazon.com.
Advancells wins award for excellence in regenerative medicine at Corporate LiveWire Awards
New Delhi [India], Dec. 24 : Further fostering its leadership stance in modern medicine, Noida-based stem cells therapy solution provider, Advancells, won recognition at the recently concluded Corporate LiveWire Healthcare and Life Sciences Awards 2016. [NK Health] The pioneer stem cell company was felicitated for its superior performance in regenerative medicine and for its consistent excellence in medical research.