Everything you need to know about Opec’s output cut agreement September 29, 2016 Markets swung wildly this morning after Opec provisionally agreed to cut oil output for the first time since 2008, as it tries to accelerate the stricken market's recovery. What the agreement entails The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said yesterday that it would cut output to a range of 32.5-33m barrels per day. But how much each country [...]
Christine Lagarde issues hard-hitting defence of global economy September 28, 2016 The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has doubled-down on warnings against reversing the tide of globalisation. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, told a conference in Chicago this afternoon policies that restrict trade between countries and seek to protect economies from foreign competition will hit the world's poorest citizens, branding such ideas [...]
Deutsche Bank: Where did it all go wrong? September 28, 2016 The German government could be considering a bailout for Deutsche Bank as the lender's share price falls to its lowest level since the mid-1980s and speculation over a rights issue or buyout swirl. The latest trigger has been the Department of Justice's claims for a $14bn settlement over Deutsche Bank's role in the underwriting of [...]
Sam Allardyce receives pay-off of at least £1m after agreeing to terminate £6m England manager contract with Football Association September 28, 2016 England manager Sam Allardyce could receive a payoff of at least £1m after the Football Association brought his 67-day tenure to an end. Allardyce and the FA mutually agreed to terminate his £3m a year contract after he was secretly filmed by newspaper reporters discussing how to break rules on the banned practise of third-party ownership of [...]
Oil price sinks after Iran and Saudi Arabia play down prospects of an output freeze September 27, 2016 Oil prices have sunk today as investors scale back their expectations of a deal to curb output between some of the world's biggest suppliers. Rival producers Iran and Saudi Arabia have both poured water on the possibility of a deal being reached to limit oil exports, which have remained at record highs all year. Both [...]
First US shale gas shipment arrives in the UK as fracking debate rages September 27, 2016 The first ever shipment of US fracked gas is set to arrive in Britain this morning amid an increasingly fiery debate about the future of fracking in the UK. Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe's petrochemical company Ineos will take a delivery of a tanker carrying 27,500m3 of ethane at its Grangemouth plant in Scotland. The imported shale gas will replace dwindling supplies [...]
England boss Sam Allardyce faces uncertain future after undercover investigation September 27, 2016 England boss Sam Allardyce’s future looks uncertain after he last night faced a series of embarrassing accusations following an undercover investigation carried out by a national newspaper. Before his first match in charge of the Three Lions, Allardyce was filmed by the Telegraph allegedly advising reporters posing as representatives of a Far East firm on [...]
Harry Kane’s scan results hand Tottenham and Mauricio Pochettino pre-Champions League boost September 26, 2016 Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has been handed a major boost on the eve of his side’s crunch Champions League clash with CSKA Moscow after striker Harry Kane’s ankle injury was declared less serious than first feared. The 23-year-old hitman had been expected to be sidelined for up to eight weeks after suffering grade two ligament [...]
The glorious bus stops of the former USSR, as shot by photographer Peter Ortner September 26, 2016 Even in the often stifling artistic conditions that existed in the outer reaches of the Soviet Union, creativity found a way. While Soviet architects experimented with startling modernist buildings in Mother Russia, the outposts largely had to settle for endlessly repeating brutalist tower-blocks, each one as punishingly grey as the last. Municipal buildings – and [...]
Syria must burn itself out: It is time for the West to do nothing September 26, 2016 (The best policy is) to float lazily downstream, occasionally putting out a diplomatic boathook to avoid collisions. Lord Salisbury, 1877 In one of the least shocking policy outcomes of the year, the US-Russian brokered ceasefire in Syria did not last the week. Speaking as a longstanding sceptic of intervention there, being right analytically gives me [...]