News

Aleppo / AFP A landmark ceasefire has lifted the burden of daily rocket attacks and bomb blasts in Syria’s second city Aleppo—but not its residents’ profound thirst. Citizens on both sides of the fault line dividing Aleppo between regime and rebel forces are suffering from their longest water shortage yet in the nearly five-year war. “The general situation in the ...

Baghdad / AP Backed by paramilitary forces and aerial support, Iraqi troops on Tuesday launched a new push to retake a key area north of the capital, Baghdad, and dislodge IS militants from there, officials said. According to a statement by the Joint Operations Command, the “new offensive” began at dawn in a swath agricultural area northeast of the city ...

Narobi / AFP Vietnam is suffering its worst drought in nearly a century with salinisation hitting farmers especially hard in the crucial southern Mekong delta, experts said Monday. “The water level of the Mekong River has gone down to its lowest level since 1926, leading to the worst drought and salinisation there,” Nguyen Van Tinh, deputy head of the hydraulics ...

Calais / AFP French authorities razed parts of the “Jungle” migrant camp for a second day on Tuesday while thousands of refugees were blocked in Greece as Europe strained to contain the flood of desperate people at its borders. Tensions were high in the northern French port city of Calais as workers continued dismantling the southern half of the notorious ...

Cape Town / AFP Beleaguered South African President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday faced a no-confidence vote in parliament for a second time in less than a year and a legal bid to reinstate corruption charges against him. The mounting pressure on the president comes against a background of economic crisis sparked by his firing of two finance ministers within days ...

Doha / Emirates Business There was a lull in the otherwise buoyant real estate market in January as owners held on to their properties due to weak demand and reduced prices, says a real estate market expert. “So potential buyers weren’t willing to offer the old, higher rates, and that was why the value of property deals in January was ...

Doha / Emirates Business Qatar banks’ credit to real estate sector jumped 27.36 percent to QR125bn in 2015, compared to QR95bn reported a year ago. Qatar Central Bank’s (QCB) preliminary estimates for the fourth quarter of 2015 showed the credit distribution to the sector hit at QR114bn during the third quarter of 2015. The banks’ total domestic credit rose to ...

SYDNEY / Bloomberg Sydney dwelling values climbed for the second consecutive month, clawing back some of the losses from the end of 2015, according to CoreLogic Inc. Home values in the nation’s largest city increased 0.5 percent in February, the research firm said in a statement on Tuesday. Notwithstanding the increase, Sydney home values are still down 0.2 percent in ...

NEW YORK / Bloomberg The U.S. is a nation divided — divided between zip codes where economic times are good and zip codes where they really aren’t. This map was compiled by the Economic Innovation Group, a new Washington think tank with Silicon Valley backing. It’s based on a variety of economic indicators, most for the years 2010 to 2014, ...

NEW YORK / Bloomberg If the U.S. enters a recession this year, it may end up a lot like a boring conversation at a cocktail party: painfully long and shallow. The world’s largest economy has a host of strengths, from well-capitalized banks to financially-stable households, which should help limit the depth of a downturn should one happen. Yet with interest ...