March, 2016

• 26 March

  Scientists keep complicated life simple

  Astronomer Fred Hoyle famously quipped in 1982 that the odds of a simple living thing assembling itself from inanimate chemicals were as slim as the chance that a tornado passing through a junkyard would leave in its wake a Boeing 747. The statement reflects the 20th-century understanding that even pond scum was composed of cells of mind-boggling complexity. Today biologists ...

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• 26 March

  US faces a security assistance dilemma in Central Asia

  

  Technically speaking, the U.S. State Department is the foreign policy arm of the United States. But increasingly, the U.S. Defense Department has taken a leading role in conducting foreign policy on its own: primarily through providing security assistance to countries around the world, sometimes contrary to State’s recommendations. This will come as no surprise to Central Asia watchers, who have ...

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• 26 March

  China’s global food quest

  

  After spending hundreds of billions of dollars over the past two decades acquiring oil, natural gas, coal and other mineral resources around the global, food-related sectors are becoming the new favorite of China’s overseas investment. It is estimated that over the past five years, China’s overseas food-related M&A topped $20 billion. This includes Shuanghui International’s $4.7 billion takeover of American ...

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• 26 March

  Shanghai tightens non-local homebuyer rules as prices surge

  

  Bloomberg Shanghai unveiled a package of measures designed to stem a surge in property prices in the metropolis, underscoring how regulators in top-tier cities are shifting gears in an economy where housing has been a brake on growth in recent years. The local government will tighten approval criteria for non-resident homebuyers, raise down-payment requirements for some second homes and ban ...

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• 26 March

  David Beckham buys land for stadium

  

  MIAMI/AFP Former England football great David Beckham has taken a key step towards his goal of launching a Major League Soccer franchise by buying land for a stadium in Miami, one of his partners said. Beckham’s group of investors acquired land in the Overtown neighborhood northwest of downtown in the Florida city. “Big News: We’ve closed on our #Miami stadium ...

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• 26 March

  Why Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch still isn’t bagging any bidders

  

  Bloomberg Almost a year ago, in May 2015, Michael Jackson’s former Neverland Ranch hit the market. The 12,598-square-foot French Normandy-style home sits on 2,698 acres in the Santa Ynez Valley, northeast of Los Angeles. It has six-bedrooms, a four-acre lake with waterfall, an outdoor barbecue, a pool house, three guest houses, a tennis court, and a 5,500-square-foot movie theater and ...

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• 26 March

  NorthStar Realty Europe readies $1 bn assets sale

  

  Bloomberg NorthStar Realty Europe Corp. has hired advisers to offer about $1 billion of properties for sale as the New York-based company focuses on fewer countries, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The real estate investment trust, managed by an affiliate of NorthStar Asset Management Group Inc., will sell all of its assets outside the U.K., France ...

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• 26 March

  Will China be able to quench Mekong’s thirst?

  

  Margaret Zhou / The Diplomat The Mekong Delta is facing its worst drought in recent history, causing food and water shortages for over half a million people. The Chinese government has made headlines amidst the disaster for its decision to release water from upstream dams within China’s borders. Chinese ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a news briefing that China ...

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• 26 March

  Iceman may ‘talk’ the Stone Age again!

  

  DPA The last few minutes of Oetzi’s life were brutal: he was hit in the back with an arrow, he fell bleeding, and also suffered a head injury. As the Iceman lay dying, it’s possible he gave a final cry of pain. But despite being one of the most thoroughly examined murder victims in the world, no one knows how ...

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• 26 March

  Mr. Porter turns five

  

  EMIRATES BUSINESS MR. PORTER.COM, the award-winning online global destination for men’s style, recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. The online company marked the occasion in a variety of ways across all content and commerce channels including – dedicated fifth anniversary issues of The Journal and The MR PORTER Post, a 20-piece capsule collection of exclusive essentials and a special social competition ...

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