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ARY NEWS

Reuters

  • Oil falls 2 percent as concern over demand bites

    Volatility has picked up this week, as the outlook for crude has been muddied by data pointing to the market possibly having stabilized after losing more than half its value in a year, and the persistence of the highest global surplus in modern times.

    There is evidence that U.S. shale production is starting to feel the pinch of oil prices near six-year lows, which has prompted the International Energy Agency to issue more bullish forecasts for the market balance next year.

    Capital Economics analyst Thomas Pew said there has been a loss of some half a million barrels of oil per day in U.S. production in the last couple of months alone.

    But uncertainty is running high over the outlook for demand in top consumers such as China, as well as the resilience of the U.S. economy following the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting last week. [ID:nL1N11N244]

    “Certainly, nothing is certain. That’s the only certain thing that there is. That being said, it does look like lower prices have finally started to take their toll on U.S. production,” Pew said.

    “All eyes are going to be on whether that continues,” he said, adding that Capital Economics’ forecast was for a gradual rise in oil prices over the coming years.

    November Brent crude futures were down 75 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $48.17 a barrel by 1345 GMT, having hit an intraday low of $47.70.

    On Monday, Brent rose as much as 3 percent.

    U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for November were down $1.11 at $45.85 a barrel, bringing the discount to Brent to around $2.25 a barrel, down from about $2.60 a week ago.

    “Whether the prices will further converge in the near future, or whether WTI will even become more expensive than Brent, will depend to a major extent on the U.S. inventory trends,” Commerzbank analysts said in a report.

    “Even if speculators are focusing on the decrease in U.S. production at present, it is important not to forget that U.S. crude oil stocks are still currently 28 percent … higher than usual.”

    American Petroleum Institute (API) data later on Tuesday is expected to show a weekly drop in U.S. crude inventories.

  • Microsoft begins worldwide release of Office 2016

    Microsoft said Office 2016 brings new versions of desktop apps for Windows including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and Access and allows people to collaborate and work together.

    “These latest innovations take another big step forward in transforming Office from a familiar set of individual productivity apps to a connected set of apps and services designed for modern working, collaboration and teamwork,” Chief Executive Satya Nadella said in a statement.

    Microsoft launched its much-awaited Windows 10 operating system in July, designed to work across laptops, desktop and smartphones, as part of Nadella’s push towards winning back lost ground in the tablets and mobile arena.

    The new Office 2016 apps are available in 40 languages and require Windows 7 or later versions. Starting Tuesday, Office 365 subscribers can choose to download the new Office 2016 apps as part of their subscription, Microsoft said.

  • India turns to Israel for armed drones as Pakistan, China build fleets

    The news comes weeks after long-time rival Pakistan first reported using a home-made drone in combat when it attacked militants on its soil, raising the prospect of a new front in the nuclear-armed neighbours’ standoff over Kashmir that has twice spilled into war.

    The plan to acquire Israeli Herons was first conceived three years ago, but in January the military wrote to the government asking for speedy delivery, the sources said, as Pakistan and China develop their own drone warfare capabilities.

    India

    India has already deployed Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) along the rugged mountains of Kashmir for surveillance, as well as on the disputed border with China where the two armies have faced off against each other.

    In September, the Indian government approved the air force’s request to acquire 10 Heron TP drones from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) that can be fitted with weapons to engage targets on the ground, an air force official with knowledge of the matter said.

    He added that he expected the agreement to be inked soon. The Indian Defence Ministry declined to comment.

    The plan to buy Herons in a deal estimated at $400 million would open the option of covert cross-border strikes.

    Currently the two armies exchange fire across the de facto Kashmir border at times of tension, but do not cross the Line of Control (LoC) by land or air.

    “It’s risky, but armed UAVs can be used for counter insurgency operations internally as well across the borders; sneak attacks on terrorist hideouts in mountainous terrain, perhaps,” said an army officer in the defence planning staff.

    “DEEP-STRIKE CAPABILITY”

    Gurmeet Kanwal, a former head of the government-funded Centre for Land Warfare Studies in New Delhi, said the armed Herons due to enter Indian service by late 2016 will give the air force deep-strike capability.

    The United States has carried out hundreds of drone strikes inside Pakistan, targeting al Qaeda and other militants in its northwest. Pakistan has allowed such targeted killings, even though it complains about them in public.

    Indian drones, in contrast, face being shot down as soon as they show up on Pakistani radars, the army officer and Kanwal said.

    Deniability would be essential in any use of armed drones by India and Pakistan across their bitterly contested border, said Pervez Hoodbhoy, a leading weapons proliferation expert in Pakistan.

    “It is likely that drones would be used in a surreptitious mode close to the LoC, far away from populated areas,” he said.

    In July, the Pakistan army said it had shot down a small Indian spy drone in Kashmir. India did not comment.

    Michael Kugelman, South Asia specialist at the Washington D.C.-based Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, said the arrival of lethal drones in the region could heighten mutual suspicion at a time when ties are strained.

    “Pakistan might worry that India could use an armed drone to attack terrorist safe havens in Pakistan or to target a specific terrorist there.”

    “India might worry that Pakistan will now be tempted to add drones to its repertoire of asymmetric warfare tactics it has used against India.”

    Only the United States, Israel and Britain are known to have used armed drones in combat, although more than 70 countries have UAVs with surveillance capabilities, according to New America, a Washington D.C.-based think-tank.

    China has no public strategy for armed drone development, but it has poured resources into UAVs and has shown them off at exhibitions. Chinese combat drones still lag far behind the Israeli-made ones in terms of capability, military experts say.

    LOCAL MANUFACTURE?

    A delegation from state-owned IAI has been holding talks with the Indian defence ministry to determine the possibility of local manufacture of the Heron TP as part of the “Make-in-India” programme, IHS Jane’s said.

    Israel does not confirm or deny using or producing armed drones. IAI declined comment on the proposed sale of the Herons, as did Israel’s Defence Ministry, which oversees such arms exports.

    IAI is one of several Israeli companies manufacturing drones or related technologies.

    India

    At least one of them has sold armed drones to a foreign country other than India, a person involved in the deal said, without elaborating on the client, model or manufacturer of the aircraft.

    Such deals are handled directly between the governments of Israel and the purchasing country, with mutual secrecy agreements, the person added.

    It is not clear what kind of weapons will be fitted to the Heron TPs that India plans to buy.

    India has been trying to develop its own combat drone, but the defence research organisation has struggled to integrate a missile onto the proposed Rustom series of UAVs.

    David Harari, a retired IAI engineer and Israel Prize winner for his pioneering work in drone development, said India could mount its own weaponry on an Israeli supplied drone, helped by close technological cooperation between the two countries.

  • Drunken man dies in India after road built over him

    Police in the district of Katni in Madhya Pradesh state in central India said the 45-year-old was returning home on Friday evening when he fell into the hole.

    Laborers then filled the hole with molten tar and used a heavy roller to flatten the surface. Locals later spotted the man’s shirt and he was pulled out of the newly laid road dead on Monday, police said.

    “His body has been sent for post mortem and further investigation is in process,” sub-inspector N.P. Chaudhary told Reuters TV.

    The man had gone to a village fair and was heading home after visiting a liquor shop, the Times of India said.A driver and a road worker have been arrested, the newspaper said.

  • Emmy awards show draws record low TV audience

    Preliminary Nielsen ratings data on Monday showed that just 11.9 million Americans watched Sunday’s Emmy Awards telecast which was broadcast live on Fox (FOXA.O) television in competition with NBC’s (CMCSA.O) “Sunday Night Football.”

    The Emmys TV audience was some 4 million fewer than the 2014 event, and the smallest in the award show’s history. The top-rated Emmys in recent years was the 2013 show, where comedies “Modern Family” and drama “Breaking Bad” won the top awards and which drew 17.76 million viewers overall.

    Sunday’s ceremony brought surprise best series wins for both “Game of Thrones” – one of the most popular dramas on U.S. television – and HBO’s satirical White House show “Veep.”

    It also made history when Viola Davis, star of “How To Get Away With Murder,” became the first black woman in the 67-year history of the Emmys to take home the statuette for lead actress in a drama series.

    The National Football League game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks on “Sunday Night Football” drew 23 million viewers.

  • Refugee crisis to test EU at summit of divided leaders

    German chancellor Angela Merkel called on her peers on Sunday to accept joint responsibility.

    “Germany is willing to help. But it is not just a German challenge, but one for all of Europe,” Merkel told a gathering of trade unionists. “Europe must act together and take on responsibility. Germany can’t shoulder this task alone.”

    Striking a more skeptical tone on migration than in previous weeks, Merkel also warned that Germany could not shelter those who were moving for economic reasons rather than to flee war or persecution.

    “We are a big country. We are a strong country. But to make out as if we alone can solve all the social problems of the world would not be realistic,” she told a gathering of the Verdi trade union.

    European Council President Donald Tusk, who chairs European Union summits, said on Twitter on Sunday following a weekend visit to Jordan and Egypt that the EU needed to help Syrian refugees find a better life closer at home.

    That will be one of the topics of discussion for Wednesday’s summit in Brussels as hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants brave the seas and trek across the impoverished Balkan peninsula to reach more affluent countries in northern Europe.

    The 28-member bloc has struggled to find a unified response to the crisis, which has tested many of its newer members in the East that are unaccustomed to large-scale immigration.

    On Sunday Hungary erected a steel gate and fence posts at a border crossing with Croatia, the EU’s newest member state. Overwhelmed by an influx of some 25,000 migrants this week, Croatia has been sending them north by bus and train to Hungary, which has waved them on to Austria.

    Around 10,700 migrants walked into Austria from Hungary on Sunday, some 200 more than on Saturday.

    The influx of migrants, most of them fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, has led to bitter recriminations between European governments while the temporary closure of national borders has undermined one of the most tangible achievements of the Union.

    “If you don’t cope with this crisis, then I think the EU will fall apart,” said a senior EU official.

    The official said European leaders would discuss longer-term strategies for dealing with the crisis, particularly increasing cooperation with Turkey and the countries bordering Syria to keep the millions of refugees at home. Tusk said more aid to the World Food Program and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees would also be on the agenda.

    Beefing up the EU’s asylum agency, Frontex, into a full border and coastguard agency, and working on hotspots and a list of “safe countries” whose citizens would not normally qualify for asylum, would also be up for discussion, the official said.

    CEMENTING PEACE

    On Saturday, German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said the EU needed to provide 1.5 billion euros ($1.70 billion) to the two agencies to address funding shortfalls.

    The EU prides itself on cementing peace among countries that until World War Two fought bloody battles and fostering prosperity by removing internal barriers among its member states through the so-called Schengen agreement.

    But the more than 500,000 people crossing the Mediterranean into Europe this year alone and Hungary’s use of water cannon and razor wire on its border with Serbia have seen the EU’s ambitions to act as one fall short.

    The picture of a dead toddler washed up on a beach in Turkey sent shockwaves around the continent. On Sunday 13 migrants, including six children, were killed as their boat was wrecked in Turkish waters.

    “The (Schengen) agreements are now part of our daily lives and it is unthinkable that the facilities enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of travelers and cross-border workers in Europe are challenged by nationalist and reactionary thoughts and political actions,” said Jean Asselborn, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs for Luxembourg.

    As the holder of the rotating presidency of the EU, Luxembourg is working to broker a compromise that can break the deadlock between member states on sharing the burden of the crisis.

    EU interior ministers, meeting on Tuesday, are expected to agree on a voluntary relocation scheme to redistribute 160,000 refugees from frontline states across the EU, a fraction of the total entering Europe.

    French President Francois Hollande said he wanted the interior ministers to address the most difficult aspects of the migration crisis by Tuesday so that EU leaders could focus exclusively on financing at Wednesday’s summit.

    “I really wish all these issues to be solved by the ministers’ reunion,” Hollande said on Sunday during a state visit to Morocco.

    EU ambassadors met on Sunday to try to hammer out compromises ahead of Tuesday’s meeting but several issues still needed to be solved and work would continue until then, said a spokeswoman for the EU presidency.

    Germany’s Gabriel warned that the country could be overwhelmed by the 800,000 refugees and asylum seekers it expects to receive this year. Most of the migrants hope to reach prosperous Germany or Sweden.

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday the United States would take in 15,000 more refugees from around the world next year, increasing the current level to 85,000, and to 100,000 in 2017.

  • Shares, dollar perk up after global growth concerns

    Asia’s damage amounted to 1.5-2 percent falls in Australia, Korea and Malaysia, but most of Europe’s bourses had managed to shake off a shaky start to the day as the start of U.S. trading approached.

    The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was up just over 1 percent even though Germany’s DAX was stuck in neutral as car giant Volkswagen reversed more than 20 percent after it was found to have cheated U.S. emission tests.

    There was, however, brighter news after an unexpectedly clear election victory for the Syriza party in Greece on Sunday boosted hopes its bailout program would stay on the road. An upgrade for Portugal’s sovereign rating also helped the mood in southern euro zone bond markets.

    Oil and metals markets also rebounded after falls at the end of last week, although emerging market stocks and currencies continued to struggle amid the global growth worries caused by last week’s latest postponement in a long-awaited U.S. rate hike.

    MSCI’s EM benchmark index dropped 1.5 percent while Malaysia’s ringgit hit the skids again after the Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking into money-laundering at troubled Malaysian state fund 1MDB.

    “Generally markets are a bit more positive today although nothing that suggests confidence in the wake of decisions by the Federal Reserve not to hike rates last week,” said Michael Hewson at CMC markets in London.

    “The economic environment has changed since the Fed last hiked rates (in 2006). It is not just the U.S. central bank…, it is wearing the mantle of the global central bank, and markets are struggling with that.”

    DOLLAR HOVERS

    Investors should get a good explanation this week as to exactly why the Fed did not raise rates last week, with its chair Janet Yellen among a host of other officials due to speak.

    There will be closely watched economic data from both China and Europe that should also give a clearer picture as to exactly where the global economy is heading.

    China was the sole Asian market to defy the region’s downtrend on Monday, with the Shanghai Composite index up 1.9 percent and the CSI300 rising 1.75 percent.

    Chinese Vice Finance Minister Shi Yaobin sought to soothe nerves about the recent 40 percent slump in China’s stocks, saying the volatility was a short-term issue and that its economy could maintain a healthy growth going forward.

    A Reuters poll shows economists expect this week’s ‘flash’ September China factory PMI reading to edge up to 47.5 from 47.3 in August. That would keep it near 6/1-2-year lows, however, and mark the seventh straight monthly contraction in activity.

    In the currency market, the U.S. dollar index, which fell after last Thursday’s Fed decision, rose 0.7 percent to 95.517, as it regained traction against both the yen and euro after an early wobble.

    That rise, based on the idea that the Fed will raise U.S. rates at some point, also pushed up U.S. government bond yields after they had also fallen following the Fed meeting.

    In Europe, German Bund and other benchmark yields were dragged up in the U.S. slipstream as France’s rating downgrade by Moody’s on Friday added to the pressure on its bonds.

    In contrast, Portuguese bonds made good ground after Standard & Poor’s lifted its rating, and periphery markets in general got a boost from Syriza’s election win in Greece.

    “We will continue negotiations in the coming period, with the debt issue being the first and most important battle,” a senior Syriza source told Reuters. “We will ask all political forces to support our efforts.”

  • Pakistani researchers invent solar-powered phone network for disaster regions

    Researchers at the Information Technology University (ITU) in Lahore, together with a team from the University of California, have developed a prototype “Rescue Base Station” (RBS) for Pakistan – the country’s first emergency telecoms system that would work on normal cell phones.

    “When the RBS is installed in a disaster-struck area, people automatically start receiving its signals on their mobile phones. They can manually choose it and then call, send messages and even browse (internet) data free of charge,” said Umar Saif, ITU vice chancellor and an adviser to the project.

    The RBS is a lightweight, compact rectangular box fitted with an antenna, a signal amplifier and a battery, which can be carried easily and even dropped by helicopter in hard-to-reach disaster zones. It has a solar panel to charge the battery, to keep it working in places without electric power.

    An alternative communications system like this could help save lives when disasters strike by connecting survivors with rescue workers and government officials.

    The RBS has yet to be deployed on the ground, but the ITU expects it to be used in the next six to eight months in partnership with the National Disaster Management Authority and a local telecoms company.

    Saif said the RBS signal can be received within a 3 km radius, and people in the area can easily register by sending their name, occupation, age and blood group to a special number.

    “This helps generate an automatic database of people in distress, and eventually helps both the rescue and relief teams and the victims,” he said.

    Pakistan has 116 million active cellular subscribers out of a total population of 185 million, according to official data.

    INFORMATION ON DEMAND

    Potential users of the RBS system can get the information they need in just a few seconds by sending a text message to specific numbers appearing on their mobile phone.

    For example, if a person needs to contact a fire brigade, they text the words “occupation: firefighters” to the relevant number. They will then receive names and contact details for local firefighters in just a few seconds and can call for help, Saif said.

    Or if someone needs access to blood supplies, they send a message saying “blood group, B positive”, for instance, and receive contact information for people nearby with that blood group, so they can ask for a donation.

    Saif said RBS teams on the ground plan to collect information about disaster-affected people in a database, and pass this on to rescue teams, doctors and government departments that can provide assistance.

    “(They) can also send weather forecasts and disaster alerts to subscribers, and help them evacuate troubled areas,” said Ibrahim Ghaznavi, an ITU researcher and one of the RBS developers.

    The RBS, which operates using open source software, offers all the features provided by regular cellphone companies, he added.

    Ghaznavi said it costs around $6,000 to develop an RBS, and the Pakistan prototype has been funded by a Google Faculty Research Award.

    TECH INNOVATION

    The RBS team is now working with Endaga, a U.S.-based company that connects rural communities through small-scale independent cellular networks, and a local telecoms firm to commercialise the project, he added.

    The aim of the collaboration is to help phone companies keep their communications systems functioning in a disaster until their regular networks are restored.

    Pakistan is a disaster-prone country, which needs $6 billion to $14 billion to help it adapt to climate change impacts, such as unusually heavy rains, droughts and melting glaciers, through to 2050, according to a 2011 study funded by the U.N. climate secretariat.

    The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies developed a customised communications system called the Trilogy Emergency Response Application (TERA) in Haiti when it was struck by a massive earthquake in 2010.

    But that system could only send text messages to its subscribers on their mobile phones, unlike the RBS which allows users to call, send texts and even browse the web for free.

    Cutting-edge technologies like the RBS could help save more lives by delivering timely advice to disaster-hit people, said Pervaiz Amir, country director for the Pakistan Water Partnership.

    “Local researchers should be encouraged to develop innovative solutions to help people in distress,” he said. But the RBS needs to be tested in the field under different conditions before being deployed on a wider scale in actual disaster zones, he added.

    Amir said the RBS could be useful for rescue and aid activities, especially in remote rural areas of Pakistan where natural disasters regularly disrupt poor communications systems.

  • Game of Thrones and Veep win TV's top Emmy awards

    Jon Hamm finally snared an Emmy for his lead role as Don Draper in AMC’s 1960s advertising drama “Mad Men,” winning a standing ovation from the audience.

    But “Mad Men,” a long-time Emmy favorite, failed to get a farewell hug after closing its final season earlier this year.

    Viola Davis became the first African-American to win a drama lead actress Emmy for her role as a tough criminal defense lawyer in ABC’s “How to Get Away With Murder.”

    “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity,” Davis said. “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.”

    It was the first best drama series Emmy for “Game of Thrones” in its five years on the air. The show also won awards for writing, directing and for supporting actor Peter Dinklage.

    “Thank you HBO for believing in dragons,” co-creator David Benioff said.

    In the first Emmys for Amazon.com’s foray into original content, “Transparent” brought a lead actor Emmy for Jeffrey Tambor. It also won for directing.

    HBO’s “Veep” ended the five-year Emmy reign of ABC’s “Modern Family” as best comedy series.

    Julia Louis-Dreyfus won best comedy actress for the fourth time for playing the egotistical Selina Meyer on “Veep,” while Tony Hale, who plays her bag man, was again named comedy supporting actor. “Veep” also clinched the comedy writing statuette.

  • Burkina Faso coup supporters attack hotel hosting mediation talks

    Some of the protesters carried signs expressing support for a military junta headed by the elite presidential guard, the RSP, which burst into a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, disrupting a transition period due to end with elections on Oct. 11.

    “They invaded the hotel. It was violent,” said a Reuters witness. “They attacked ex-opposition members as they arrived. One had to be saved from the crowd by security forces.”

    Most of the participants in the talks, including foreign ambassadors, had already arrived at the Laico Hotel in the capital Ouagadougou when the incident occurred.

    “I am with my colleagues. We are okay. We have not been taken hostage. We are free,” France’s ambassador to Burkina Faso Gilles Thibault said via his Twitter account.

    The U.S. embassy in Ouagadougou also announced that its ambassador was safe.

    Senegal’s President Macky Sall, the current chairman of West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS who is leading the mediation efforts, later left the hotel.

    It was unclear if the negotiations, which were meant to be attended by, among others, members of the civil society, political parties and the military, would go ahead in spite of the violence.

    Anti-coup demonstrators had been grouping across the street from the hotel on Sunday morning ahead of the meeting when members of the RSP presidential guard arrived and began beating them, another witness said.

    They sought refuge inside the hotel grounds, but more presidential guards, some wearing balaclavas hiding their faces, arrived shortly after and fired shots in the air to disperse them. The soldiers were accompanied by the pro-coup demonstrators who then stormed the lobby of the hotel.

    The witnesses said they recognized several of the pro-coup protesters as militants from the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), the former ruling party under ex-president Blaise Compaore.

    Compaore was ousted last year in a popular uprising by those opposed to his attempts to change the constitution and extend his 27-year rule. The country had since been headed by a transitional government charged with organizing next month’s elections.

    General Gilebert Diendere, Compaore’s former spy chief and right hand man, said he carried out the coup over plans to disband the presidential guard and because several of the former president’s allies were barred from taking part in the polls.

    Benin’s President Thomas Boni Yayi, who has been mediating in the crisis alongside Senegal’s Sall, said on Saturday that the talks were expected to lead to the reinstatement of President Michel Kafando’s interim government on Sunday.