Oil resumes drop as demand fears overshadow Iran tanker seizure

Beijing (Bloomberg): Oil resumed its decline as a sharp drop in the Chinese yuan compounded fears that a deepening trade war will depress demand, countering concerns crude flows may be disrupted following Iran’s seizure of another ship. Futures lost as much as 1.5 per cent in New York. The yuan weakened beyond 7 a dollar […]

StanChart private equity spinoff plans Middle East investment

Dubai:Affirma Capital, the private equity spinoff of Standard Chartered Plc, plans to complete at least one acquisition in the Middle East and Africa over the next year. The Singapore-based emerging markets group is targeting deals between $25 million (Dh91 million) and $100 million in the region where consumer spending is on the rise, according to […]

Microsoft ‘listens’ to conversations, but only with permission

San Francisco: Microsoft said Wednesday its contractors listen to conversations to hone voice translation features offered by Skype and its digital assistant Cortana, but only when obtaining user permission. The US technology titan defended its voice data handling in response to a report at news website Vice indicating people overheard chats on personal topics such […]

Adnoc acquires 10% stake in VTTI

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) on Wednesday announced a strategic investment in global storage terminal owner and operator VTTI BV (VTTI), which will see Adnoc acquiring a 10 per cent equity stake. VTTI is an independent global owner of 15 hydrocarbon storage terminals across 14 different countries. The VTTI storage network […]