October, 2016

• 19 October

  Ukraine rebels bid farewell to notorious commander

    Donetsk / AFP Thousands of pro-Russian rebels and supporters in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday turned out to bid farewell to notorious rebel commander Arseny Pavlov, who was killed in a weekend bombing. Some 5,000 people queued outside Donetsk’s opera theatre to pay last respects to the 33-year-old Russian, known as “Motorola”, who died Sunday when a homemade device exploded ...

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• 19 October

  Gunman kills 2 Americans near Kabul NATO base

  

    Kabul / AFP Two Americans including a civilian were killed on Wednesday when a gunman opened fire near a NATO base in Kabul on Wednesday, the military coalition said, with Afghan officials calling it an “insider attack”. No insurgent group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which highlights growing insecurity in Afghanistan as the Taliban step up their ...

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• 19 October

  Iran rejects US demand for dual nationals’ release

    Tehran / AFP Iran said on Wednesday it would accept no US “interference” after Washington demanded the release of a dual national and his 80-year-old father given 10 year sentences for espionage. The State Department demanded the immediate release of Siamak and Baqher Namazi, both Iranian-American dual nationals, after their sentences were announced on Tuesday. But foreign ministry spokesman ...

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• 19 October

  ‘Many nations willing to join OPEC output cuts’

  

    Bloomberg Many nations are willing to join OPEC in cutting production to secure a continued improvement in oil prices, said Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy and Industry Khalid Al-Falih. The minister didn’t name any countries in his speech at the Oil & Money conference in London Wednesday, saying only that negotiations will continue until the scheduled Nov. 30 meeting ...

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• 19 October

  OPEC optimistic to reach oil output deal in Nov

    LONDON / Reuters OPEC should be able to reach a deal next month to limit oil production without too much disagreement about individual countries’ output levels, the producer group’s secretary-general said on Tuesday. Mohammed Barkindo also told journalists on the sidelines of the Oil & Money conference that Russia, which is not in OPEC, was not backtracking on its ...

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• 19 October

  Saudi’s SABIC to merge, spin off units

  

    RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) has combined its chemicals and polymers businesses and will spin off its steel unit as part of its restructuring efforts to counter the depressed oil market and weak product prices. Chief Executive Yousef Abdullah al-Benyan was speaking after the firm, one of the world’s largest petrochemicals groups, on Wednesday reported a ...

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• 19 October

  BeIN Media Group, Warner Bros ink content deal

    Bloomberg Middle Eastern TV giant BeIN Media Group, owned by Al Jazeera, has signed a multi-year deal with Warner Bros. International Television Distribution securing content from the Hollywood major. Starting this year, under the deal, BeIN will have access to such hit series as Arrow, Gotham and Originals and will also get the exclusive second pay window rights to ...

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• 19 October

  Egypt to send new investment law to cabinet next month

    CAIRO / Reuters A draft of a new investment law will be sent to the Egyptian cabinet next month, Investment Minister Dalia Khorshid said in a talk show on the local television channel CBC late on Tuesday. The new law will focus on the diversification of incentives and guarantees for investors, Khorshid said. It has been in the works ...

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• 19 October

  IMF downplays inflationary risk as Egypt seeks to finalize loan

    Reuters Egypt is unlikely to see a jump in inflation from measures to ease a foreign-exchange shortage because import prices already reflect the black market rate, a senior International Monetary Fund official said. Egyptian officials are widely expected to devalue the pound and cut energy subsidies to secure a $12 billion IMF loan, needed to fund an economic overhaul ...

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• 19 October

  China growth steady on property, credit

  

    AFP Chinese growth stabilised in the third quarter, data showed on Wednesday, as ample credit and hot property markets propped up the world’s second-largest economy. But while the forecast-beating reading was in line with state targets, it came as experts warned that authorities have relied too much on easy credit, which has in turn increased financial risks. The economy ...

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