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  Chengalpattu / AFP A small scythe, a crowbar and a bundle of canvas bags are all that Kali and Vedan carry when they venture into the fields of southern India to catch some of the world’s deadliest snakes. Their skills, passed from generation to generation of the Irula tribe they belong to, are crucial for the production of anti-venom ...

  Laval / AFP Welcomed with open arms — some even received coats from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself — the Syrian refugees who arrived in Canada a year ago are now facing their share of difficulties. Among them, 50-year-old Fahed Fattouh came with his wife and their two children after they fled the war-battered city of Aleppo via Beirut ...

Tehran / AFP Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani presented his budget on Sunday, with OPEC’s decision to cut production helping to boost its expected oil revenues. Rouhani’s 2017-2018 budget is based on oil prices of $50 per barrel, up from $40 last year, with a focus on unemployment, water resources, railways and the environment. The sums look realistic after last week’s ...

  Reuters Kuwait Energy plans to close by the end of this year a reserve-based lending (RBL) loan facility of up to $100 million, sources familiar with the situation said. The Kuwaiti oil and gas exploration and production company, with assets in Egypt, Iraq, Oman and Yemen, is likely to obtain the financing on a bilateral basis from the European ...

  Cairo / AFP Egypt is raising tariffs on some imported goods to up to 60 percent following a decree by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the finance ministry said. The ministry said the measure was introduced to “reduce imports”, which have seen Egypt’s trade deficit soar to more than $49 billion (46 billion euros). Sisi’s list of hundreds of imported ...

  Bloomberg Pemex’s chance to enter the modern oil era hangs in the balance of the country’s Dec. 5 auction. Mexico will hold its first-ever deep-water auction on Monday — part of an effort to attract investment from international oil giants such as Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and BP Plc to help develop the country’s offshore oil properties. The ...

  Bloomberg India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to move all government purchases, from paper clips to power plant turbines, to an Amazon-like online marketplace that could eventually be worth a fifth of the country’s $2 trillion economy. Modi’s government, which on Nov. 8 announced a sudden decision to replace 86 percent of India’s cash in a bid to cut ...

  Bloomberg China’s National Silicon Industry Group, a state-backed semiconductor investment fund, is interested in acquiring a majority stake in German silicon-wafer maker Siltronic AG, the latest potential Chinese takeover that could face political opposition, according to people familiar with the matter. The group, known as NSIG, has contacted Wacker Chemie AG about potentially acquiring the Munich-based chemical maker’s 58 ...

  Manila / AFP The Philippines has asked Bangladesh to share details of its investigation into an $81 million cyber-heist from the Bangladesh central bank after the proceeds ended up in Manila, the finance department said. The money was shifted electronically from the Bangladesh central bank’s account with the US Federal Reserve to a Manila branch of the Rizal Commercial ...

  Bloomberg It’s only a matter of time before Australia loses its AAA credit rating as the nation’s budget falls further into deficit, according to John Hewson, a former Liberal Party leader and central bank economist. “The fact that we are going to lose the triple-A credit rating is a foregone conclusion, it’s just a question of timing,” Hewson, who ...