Category: World News

Ecopetrol – A High-Risk Investment

It has been a tough two years for energy companies globally with sharply weaker oil placing considerable pressure on margins and the economic viability of a range of oil assets. One integrated energy company that has been hit particularly hard is Colombian government controlled integrated energy major Ecopetrol .

New York New York

New York City is known for path-blocking, slow-moving tourists and cursing city-dwellers trying to get past. Despite the tightness of the avenues and squares, every year on the city street corners you’ll see guys parked all week long, selling Christmas trees of various shapes and sizes on the footpath.

Baloch cry for Bangla support

Dec 16: Around December 16 festivities to celebrate Bangladesh’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war of independence, two exiled Baloch leaders are participating in seminars in Dhaka and meeting prominent members of the civil society to seek support for their struggle for an independent Balochistan. Mir Suleman Dawood Jan Ahmedzai, the Khan of Kalat, a title meant for former rulers of Kalat which is part of Balochistan, said from Dhaka that he wanted to remind the people that Pakistan’s action in Balochistan was similar to what Bangladesh had to face before its independence.

Turks and Caicos to be led by first female premier after opposition win

The Turks and Caicos Islands will be governed by its first female premier after the main opposition party dealt a major upset to the ruling party in Thursday’s general elections. The People’s Democratic Movement , led by Attorney Sharlene Cartwright Robinson, won 10 seats including four at-large seats, while the ruling Progressive National Party won five, outgoing Premier Rufus Ewing confirmed to the Miami Herald.

Obama says partisanship in U.S. greater threat than Russian hacking

President Obama Friday said he is deeply frustrated by “hyper-partisan” attitudes that have left some Republicans more trusting of Moscow than Washington, calling such attitudes a greater danger to America’s national security than Russian hacking of U.S. elections. Obama reiterated his contention that “the Russians were responsible for hacking” the Democratic National Committee, starting in mid-2015, and that the U.S. will retaliate against Moscow for the meddling.

Salon raided for A 1,500 worth of hair products

Victoria, Alex and Sandra Stevens, owners of Tops Salon, were shocked to discover the shop had been ram raided over the weekend AN EARLY morning ram raid on a hair salon in Melksham was just one of a spate of car crimes at the weekend as west Wiltshire experiences a mini crimewave. Alex Stevens and her family were woken by a phone call from Wiltshire Police in the early hours of Saturday alerting them to a break-in at Tops salon on the High Street.

Trump’s pick for Israel envoy signals break on US policy

Donald Trump’s selection of a hard-line pro-Israel advocate as his U.S. ambassador to the Jewish state could signal the end of decades of American support for the establishment of an independent Palestine. The president-elect’s transition team already has asked the State Department to assess how to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, according to one official, underscoring Trump’s commitment to back Israel in ways no American leader has before.

Clinton mega donor George Soros leads line-up of liberal…

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will spend a private Christmas with the Middleton family rather than joining the Queen at Sandringham Michelle bites back: The First Lady steps up the Obamas’ war with Trump as she tells Oprah Americans have no ‘hope’ now that he’s weeks from the Oval Office and suggests a ‘grown up’ should be in charge Russian-speaking hacker known as Rasputin breached US agency in charge of monitoring voting machines and tried to sell the info to ‘a Middle Eastern government’ Prove it or shut up, Russia tells CIA: Putin’s spokesman accuses US of being ‘extremely scurrilous’ over hacking allegations Trump is urged to enact Muslim surveillance program to prevent Islamic terrorism: ‘We can’t worry about political correctness,’ says GOP congressman Republican elector who plans to vote against Trump is a ‘9/11 faker’ whose claim to be a first responder at the Pentagon is FALSE … (more)

Trump’s pick for Israel envoy signals break on U.S. policy

Donald Trump’s selection of a hard-line pro-Israel advocate as his U.S. ambassador to the Jewish state could signal the end of decades of American support for the establishment of an independent Palestine. The president-elect’s transition team already has asked the State Department to assess how to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, according to one official, underscoring Trump’s commitment to back Israel in ways no American leader has before.

Shipbuilder Ecovix, units file for bankruptcy protection in Brazil

Dec 16 Ecovix Engevix Construcoes Oceanicas SA and five subsidiaries have filed for bankruptcy protection in a federal commercial court, succumbing to a debt burden of 8 billion reais and a plunge in shipbuilding. In a statement on Friday, Ecovix said Banco Brasil Plural SA and law firm Felsberg Advogados will advise it on bankruptcy protection proceedings, which will take place in a court based in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

2016 Re/insurance Industry Disaster Losses Put At $49bn By Swiss Re

Insurance and reinsurance industry losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disaster events during 2016 are expected to come out at around $49 billion by Swiss Re , up by 33% on 2015 but slightly below the 10-year average. The gap between total losses and the amount covered by insurance and reinsurance is again wide, highlighting the much-discussed protection gap, as economic losses from natural catastrophe and man-made disaster events in 2016 hit $158 billion, an increase of 68% on 2015’s figure.

Military aims to stop ISILa s a spillagea outside of Iraq, Syria

Two Canadian military teams are in Lebanon and Jordan as the international community searches for ways to keep the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant from spreading once the city of Mosul falls. Senior military commanders have warned that victory in Iraq’s second-largest city will not mark the end of ISIL as a threat, but that the group will instead go underground and resort to suicide attacks and similar tactics.

UN rights chief urges Gambian leader to respect results of presidential election

“This is deeply worrying, given the record of human rights violations in The Gambia, including excessive use of force against demonstrators, arbitrary detention and deaths in custody, as well as allegations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said . The High Commissioner also urged the Gambian authorities to allow people to exercise their rights to peaceful assembly, association and freedom of expression.

Sundance Screenwriters Lab Unveils 15 Writers It Will Support

Making the cut is Iranian writer-director Massoud Bakhshi true story ‘Yalda,’ which centers on a woman convicted of killing her husband who agrees to appear on a popular TV show to ask her husband’s daughter for forgiveness. The Sundance Institute has selected the 15 emerging screenwriters and their 12 feature film projects that it will support through the 2017 Screenwriters Lab.

Donald Trump picks pro-settlements lawyer as his Israel envoy

US president-elect Donald Trump has picked lawyer David Friedman, a supporter of Israeli settlements and other changes to Washington’s policies in the region, as his ambassador to the Jewish state. Mr Friedman said he looked forward to carrying out his duties from “the US embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem”, even though the embassy is in Tel Aviv.

Donald Trump picks pro-settlements lawyer as his Israel envoy

US president-elect Donald Trump has picked lawyer David Friedman, a supporter of Israeli settlements and other changes to Washington’s policies in the region, as his ambassador to the Jewish state. Mr Friedman said he looked forward to carrying out his duties from “the US embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem”, even though the embassy is in Tel Aviv.

Kiwis’ lives as full-time travellers: How a couple quit their jobs to see the world

Watching the sunset from the crater of a live volcano off the coast of Sicily, swimming in a geothermal waterfall in Tuscany before being offered dinner by Jamie Oliver and swimming with giant Manta Rays in the Maldives are all in an day’s work for Brook Sabin and Radha Engling; a Kiwi couple who have made world travel both a business and a lifestyle. The couple, both originally from Northland, were just a few days away from buying a house when, after a particularly poignant late-night soul-searching session, they did a complete u-turn.

Deutsche Bank chairman rules out pan-European merger -Frankfurter Allgemeine

Germany’s biggest lender last week announced a $7.2 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over its sale and pooling of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. “At the moment the fantasy for a pan-European merger is muted as we have other priorities,” Achleitner told the weekly newspaper in an interview published on Saturday.

US, Russian militaries sharing more information on Syria

Russian talks on their separate fights against the Islamic State group are becoming more productive and more frequent, American officials said, with both sides trading information in real time and even outlining some of their strategic objectives in the months ahead. The progress dispels the notion that ties between the former Cold War foes are “frozen.”

Trudeau says new border preclearance rules will better protect Canadians

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended his government’s proposed legislation to expand border preclearance at Canadian airports and other crossings Wednesday as the opposition New Democrats pushed to stop the bill in its tracks. The NDP argued the bill doesn’t take into account what it called “the climate of uncertainty at the border” created by the Trump administration’s recently adopted immigration policies.

Israel cuts $6 million in U.N. funding over settlements resolution

Israel said on Friday it would cut $6 million in funding to the United Nations in 2017 in protest against a U.N. Security Council resolution that demanded an end to Israeli settlement building on land Palestinians want for an independent state. The United States abstained from the Dec. 23 vote, allowing the 15-member Security Council to adopt the resolution with 14 votes in favor.

NATO says it sees sharp rise in Russian disinformation since Crimea seizure

NATO accused Russia of escalating a disinformation campaign since the Kremlin’s 2014 seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea region, saying Russian websites such as Sputnik and RT had posted false stories, the alliance’s spokeswoman said on Saturday. There is increasing concern among senior NATO and European Union officials over Russia’s ability to use television and the Internet to spread what they say is fake news.

Oil sold out of tanker storage in Asia as market slowly tightens

Traders are selling oil held in tankers anchored off Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia in a sign that the production cut led by OPEC is starting to have the desired effect of drawing down bloated inventories. Yet in the short-term, the crude released from tankers will weigh on markets and possibly undermine OPEC’s goal of achieving a balanced market by mid-2017.

‘Hell on Earth’ heat is coming

This severe weather video update provides information on Thunderstorms across SE Australia and Heatwave in QLD. Video is current at 4pm AEDT 19 Jan, 2017 The heat map shows the extreme inland temperatures that will make their way the coastlines over the next few days.

Anne Levy talks Holocaust survival at East Bank library

As Anne Levy spoke, tears flowed, some audience members were stunned to silence and, at other moments, laughter rippled in the Jefferson Room of the East Bank Regional Library. More than 140 people packed the room to hear Levy, a Holocaust survivor, talk about about her childhood experiences in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.

Caroline Kennedy leaves Japan after 3 years as US ambassador

In this Feb. 12, 2014, file photo, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, left, shakes hands with Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima after she handed a copy of visa application form of her father President John F. Kennedy, which was issued when he visited Japan, at Okinawa Prefectural Government in Naha, Okinawa.