January, 2019

• 28 January

  DXB keeps rank as world’s busiest international airport

  

  Dubai / WAM Dubai International (DXB), has retained its position as the world’s busiest airport for international customer numbers for the fifth consecutive year, with annual traffic for 2018 surpassing 89.1 million. Aside from record traffic numbers, DXB enjoyed a banner year for customer service with shorter wait times and new retail and food and beverage offerings. The total number ...

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• 28 January

  Unipec suffers $688mn losses over ‘inappropriate hedging’

  

  Bloomberg China’s oil refining giant said its trading unit lost almost $700 million last year after being wrong-footed by zigzagging markets, revealing one of the biggest losses by a commodity trader in the last decade. Sinopec blamed the losses at its Unipec unit in part on “inappropriate hedging techniques” and said it closed its positions after discovering the problem. Oil ...

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• 28 January

  China’s offshore oil, gas experts dip toes in wind power

  

  Bloomberg China’s offshore oil and gas experts are dipping their toes in wind power, bringing their experience working on the ocean floor and adding a new twist to their portfolios. Cnooc Ltd., the country’s top offshore oil explorer, said it wants to use its expertise in marine geology to replicate its success in the offshore wind sector. The company entered ...

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• 28 January

  US refiners facing gasoline glut take Venezuela hit

  

  Bloomberg America’s gasoline producers can run, but they can’t hide from a plunge in refining profit margins that sanctions against Venezuelan crude would only worsen, analysts said. The biggest US refiners are expected to report strong fourth-quarter earnings thanks to profits from diesel processing in a strong US economy, as well as a drop of about 40 percent in crude ...

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• 28 January

  Heavy canadian oil hits railroad

  Bloomberg Heavy Canadian crude isn’t getting any cheaper — but that hasn’t stopped companies from splurging on costly rail shipments. Rail-car loadings hit a record 356,000 barrels a day in the week ended Jan. 11, up from a daily average of 296,000 barrels in December, according to Genscape Inc., which monitors some of the larger crude-by-rail terminals in Western Canada. ...

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• 28 January

  Trump warns of ‘shutdown’ if deal over wall not reached

  

  Bloomberg The committee of lawmakers crafting a plan for the southern US border is expected to start meeting this week, even as a defiant President Donald Trump made clear he won’t take no for an answer in his effort to construct a border wall. “Does anybody really think I won’t build the WALL?” Trump said in a tweet that ran ...

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• 28 January

  Pentagon is falling behind in cybersecurity

  

  Bloomberg The US military’s cybersecurity capabilities aren’t advancing fast enough to stay ahead of the “onslaught of multipronged” attacks envisioned by adversaries, the Pentagon’s combat testing office is warning. Despite some progress in fending off attacks staged by in-house “Red Teams,” the testing office said “we estimate that the rate of these improvements is not outpacing the growing capabilities of ...

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• 28 January

  Zuma linked to new bribes scandal

  

  Bloomberg Jacob Zuma, who quit as South African president last year after being implicated in a string of scandals, is facing fresh allegations that he took bribes from services company Bosasa to shield it from prosecution and advance its business interests. Angelo Agrizzi, Bosasa’s chief operating officer from 1999 to 2016, told a judicial inquiry that’s probing graft during Zuma’s ...

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• 28 January

  Maduro and Guaido jockey for control of Venezuela’s military

  Bloomberg The prize is Venezuela’s military. And both sides of the deepening crisis are working to win it. Activists backing National Assembly leader Juan Guaido walked the streets of Caracas, passing out copies of a measure that promises amnesty against corruption or abuse allegations to any member who defects. Some in uniform seemed willing to receive the documents; others burned ...

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• 28 January

  Civilians trapped as Cameroon army battles separatists

  

  Bloomberg Cyprain fled his home when separatist fighters in Cameroon’s Northwest region threatened to kill him after he served government soldiers. He’s one of a growing number of civilians trapped between the army and roaming gangs of English-speaking insurgents fighting to break away from the majority-Francophone nation. The conflict has decimated the local economy in the conflict zone, and according ...

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