Germany’s KfW to agree on €1.2bn Iran rail loan

  Bloomberg Germany agreed to provide Iran with a 1.2 billion euro ($1.27 billion) credit line to help finance a rail project , according to an official at the Central Bank of Iran. The facility — through state-run lender KfW IPEX — will help fund the development of the Tehran to Mashhad railway, the official said, asking not to be ...

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Swiss reject plan to speed up exit from N-energy

  BERLIN / AP Swiss voters rejected a plan to force their government to accelerate the country’s exit from nuclear energy in a referendum Sunday, turning down an initiative that would have seen the last plant shut in 2029. A majority of cantons (states) voted against the plan. Under Switzerland’s direct democracy system, proposals need a majority of both cantons ...

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Dialing up deals: Black Friday online sales hit new high

  AP Holiday shoppers eager to snag big discounts turned to the internet in record fashion this week, one tracking company said, driving online sales on Black Friday to a new high. Consumers spent $3.34 billion shopping online on Friday, a 21.6 percent increase from the same day last year, according to Adobe, which tracks online retail transactions. More than ...

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Pipeline protesters vow to stay on federal land

  LONDON / AP Dakota Access oil pipeline protesters will not follow a government directive to leave the federal land where hundreds have camped for months, organizers said Saturday, despite state officials encouraging them to do so. Standing Rock Sioux tribal leader Dave Archambault and other protest organizers confidently explained that they’ll stay at Oceti Sakowin camp and continue with ...

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Gulf stocks rise as investors await OPEC meet outcome

  Bloomberg Most Gulf stocks rose as investors weighed the prospect of a deal between oil producers to cut supply, potentially shoring up prices of the region’s biggest export. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index was among the biggest gainers, climbing a fourth day. Dubai’s DFM General Index, Kuwait’s SE Price Index and Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index also advanced. ...

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World’s biggest pension fund finds best friend in Trump

  Bloomberg One of the world’s most conservative investors has found an unlikely new ally in one of its most flamboyant politicians: Donald Trump. The unconventional president-elect’s victory is helping Japan’s giant pension fund in two important ways. First, it’s sending stock markets surging, both at home and overseas, which is good news for the largely passive equity investor. Second, ...

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Now, catch burglars the tech way

  Bloomberg It’s burglar catnip: a large, unoccupied home late at night, with iPads and laptops strewn temptingly around. Sure enough, one man did break in—exactly as the police had planned. Arrested, he protested his innocence, at least until law enforcement shined a black light in his direction and he glowed like a neon-yellow beacon. The bait he’d lifted was ...

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Spiderbots to build a city on the moon

  Peter Jeffrey / Bloomberg Who wants to work in 250-degree heat or scuttle into the center of a nuclear disaster to measure radiation levels? These fools do! They are robots from Siemens built like spiders, with a hive mind and 3D printers, so when they land on the moon they can, you know, build a city there, splitting up ...

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2016: The year that carmakers moved into mobility

  Relaxnews From Ford and GM to BMW and VW, 2016 has been as much about trying to solve consumers’ mobility issues as it has been about trying to sell people new cars. And as technological innovations continue to come thick and fast and urban areas become even more crowded, this could well prove to be the shape of automotive ...

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Citrix aims to boost the digital office push

  Emirates Business Citrix has announced new capabilities in ShareFile, its enterprise file sync and share offering, which enables customers to manage document workflows, increase productivity, and more collaboration across teams and customers. The benefits of becoming a digital office are well-documented, and businesses have much to gain from adopting technology that streamlines employees’ workflows and routine processes, while maintaining ...

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