Seoul / AFP North Korea on Sunday blasted Seoul’s accusation that Pyongyang had launched a series of cyber attacks targeting South Korean government officials, calling the allegation a “bullshit” fabrication. Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) last week accused North Korean agents of hacking into the smartphones of dozens of key South Korean officials, stealing phone numbers and texts. The accusation ...

Seoul / AFP Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party braced for a backlash in key state polls on Sunday over the German leader’s liberal refugee policy, while the right-wing populist AfD prepared to scoop up the protest vote from angry voters. More than 12 million voters headed to the ballot box to elect three new regional parliaments for the southwestern states of ...

Bloomberg President Barack Obama has narrowed to three finalists a list of potential US Supreme Court nominees to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, all of them federal appeals judges, according to a person familiar with the matter. The candidates are Merrick Garland, Sri Srinivasan and Paul Watford, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the details ...

The head of the Syrian opposition said he’s going to Geneva for the next round of U.S.-Russian-sponsored peace talks (being held today), even though the opposition rejects any future role for President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime will be the other party in the talks. The Syria diplomacy might be described as “the art of the impossible,” borrowing the title of ...

The corruption probe that former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is facing, seems more politically-motivated. Though, he has to come clean. He was detained briefly for questioning over a massive embezzlement and bribery conspiracy revolving around state oil giant Petrobras. It is not yet clear whether reports that Lula has hinted the possibility of running for the presidency ...

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, located in the Bay of Bengal, northwest of the pivotal maritime choke point at the Strait of Malacca, are an immensely valuable geopolitical asset for India, particularly as it looks to ‘Act East’ and play an increasingly more visible role in the eastern Indian Ocean and beyond. The islands host an Indian tri-service command, the ...

China has offered to expand its military aid to Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reports, following a visit to the country by a top Chinese general. Outlook Afghanistan put the total value of the proffered military aid at 480 renminibi ($73 million). The offer came during a visit to Afghanistan by General Fang Fenghui, chief of China’s joint staff department, ...

BLOOMBERG Dubai stocks advanced the most among Middle Eastern equities as the European Central Bank’s monetary stimulus boosted demand for emerging-market assets, adding fuel to bullish sentiment in the emirate. The DFM General Index climbed 1.4 percent to 3,401.03, extending four weeks of gains, the longest streak since April. Emirates NBD PJSC, the emirate’s biggest lender, added 4.6 percent to ...

ABU DHABI / EMIRATES BUSINESS The Emirates Securities Market Index has decreased by -0.42% to close at 4491.06 points. Accordingly the Market Capitalization has lost AED 3.04 billion attaining AED 728.51 billion. A total of 0.83 Billion Shares were traded with a total value of AED 1.13 billion during the trading session of 13-03-2016 through 9679 transactions. The number of companies which ...

ALKESH SHARMA / EMIRATES BUSINESS United Arab Emirates (UAE) is globally famous for its unbound luxury and inestimable hunger for excellence. Gauging the immense tourism potential in the Emirates’ market, many overseas companies have set up their base here in a bid to satiate the upscale demands of this region. One such leading name is ‘Magnificent’, a Greece-based ultra-luxury concierge ...