October, 2016

• 22 October

  MP wants Israel rights group head stripped of citizenship

    Jerusalem / AFP The parliamentary chairman of Israel’s ruling coalition has called for a rights group chief who condemned Israeli settlement construction at the United Nations to be stripped of his citizenship. David Bitan, a leading member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, told Israel’s Channel 2 TV late Friday that he was “examining the legal possibility” …

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• 22 October

  Russia’s rising output forecasts give leverage in OPEC talks

  

    Bloomberg As Russia gets ready for talks on cooperation with OPEC on Monday, it’s using the playbooks of Iran, Iraq and Venezuela to gain leverage. Just days before Energy Minister Alexander Novak heads to Vienna for discussions that could include output curbs, Russian officials emphasized the nation’s ability to keep increasing record output to even loftier heights. They were …

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• 22 October

  Egypt shelves go bare as sugar prices catch govt off guard

  

    Reuters Borrowing a cup of sugar from your neighbour has rarely been so contentious in Egypt. At supermarkets across the country sugar has all but vanished, prompting media talk of a crisis and pushing the state to rapidly increase imports despite an acute dollar shortage and soaring global prices of the sweetener. Egypt consumes around 3 million tonnes of …

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• 22 October

  Oil above $50 as market waits for output deal

    Bloomberg Crude settled above $50 a barrel as investors assessed the likelihood of a deal to reduce supply after Russia’s energy minister said the country’s oil output may rise to a record next year. December futures rose 0.4 percent in New York after swinging between gains and losses during intraday trading. Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said production could …

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• 22 October

  Wary Western insurers rebuild business ties with Iran

  

    Reuters Western insurers are slowly reaching deals with Iran as they seek to re-enter a multi-billion dollar market although the pace of business is hampered by banking restrictions ten months on from the lifting of international sanctions. Shut out of international financial markets for years, Iran is still trying to reap the benefits of last year’s nuclear deal with …

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• 22 October

  Australia pays price of blocking foreign money in Ausgrid stake

  

    Bloomberg Australia just found out the price of blocking foreign investment. The New South Wales state government announced it had sold a 50.4 percent stake in power network Ausgrid to two local funds in a deal valuing the entire company, including debt, at about A$20.8 billion ($16 billion). Two months earlier, the federal government barred New South Wales from …

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• 22 October

  Electric stoves, heaters key for Japan’s N-utility

  

    Bloomberg The first Japanese utility to restart a nuclear reactor under post-Fukushima rules has restarted a campaign urging users to increase power consumption discontinued after the unprecedented triple meltdown in March 2011. Kyushu Electric Power Co., which expects at least two nuclear reactors to be online next year, aims to start a television advertising campaign to promote the adoption …

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• 22 October

  IMF warns of slow growth in Central Asia, Caucasus

    AP The International Monetary Fund has warned of weak growth prospects in Central Asia and the Caucasus and called for active reforms to energize the post-Soviet economies. In a report, the 189-nation IMF forecast economic growth in the region in 2016 at just 1.3 percent, the lowest estimate since 1998. The slowdown is mostly due to low commodity prices …

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• 22 October

  Data breach may hinder India’s quest to go cashless

  

    Bloomberg India’s quest to become a cashless economy has been dealt a blow by a data breach that compromised as many as 3.2 million debit cards. Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indians in a radio address in May to use cashless payments to discourage corruption and keep track of money. Convincing them may get harder after India’s national card …

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• 22 October

  Aussie pipeline king gets plaints over monopoly prices

  

    Bloomberg  After a decade of unrivaled expansion, Australia’s largest gas-pipeline owner is facing growing pains. Complaints from industrial gas users, frustrated by supply shortages and hefty price spikes following the start of Queensland’s liquefied natural gas export plants, sparked a regulatory review last year aimed at boosting competition in the eastern seaboard market. APA Group Ltd. is now looming …

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