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| War Through The Net |
 THE decision by the United States
and Israel to develop and then
deploy the Stuxnet computer
worm against an Iranian nuclear
facility late in George W Bush's
presidency marked a significant and
dangerous turning point in the gradual
militarisation of the... |
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| THE GREAT
ABDICATION |
 AMONG economists who
know their history, the
mere mention of certain
years evokes shivers. For
example, three years ago
Christina Romer, then the head of
President Barack Obama's Council
of Economic Advisers, warned
politicians not to ... |
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 | Nokia pins hope
of turnaround
on Windows 8 NOKIA, which was once the world
leader in both feature phones and
smart phones, is pinning its hope of
a turnaround in its fortune on its
forthcoming Windows 8 Phone and
the transition that the company has
made in the last few months, a top
company official has said...
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| | Bahrain
launches $1.5
billion, 10-year
bond issue |  THE kingdom of Bahrain
has launched a $1.5 billion,
10-year bond, after receiving
strong demand, a
banker aware of the transaction
said on Wednesday.
The bond was priced at
437.5 basis points over
midswaps, tighter than the
initial guidance of around
462.5 basis points over
midswaps, the banker,
who declined to be identified,
said.
Citigroup, Gulf
International Bank, JP
Morgan and Standard
Chartered are book runners
for the issue, after the
banks helped arrange
investor meetings for
Bahrain in the US, Europe,
Asia and the Middle East
starting last week.
Bahrain, which is seen to
have strong political and
economic backing from its
oil-rich neighbour Saudi
Arabia, last issued an
Islamic bond, or sukuk, in
November 2011.
Demand... | | | Crude falls on scepticism
over European summit |
 BRENT crude oil fell on
Wednesday on mounting
concerns that European leaders
would fail to solve the
region´s debt crisis at a meeting
this week, offsetting
tighter North Sea oil supply
which saw it bounce the previous
session.
Brent crude had fallen 46
cents to $92.56 per barrel by
1054 GMT. US crude was
down 17 cents at $79.19.
An oil strike in Norway
closed some oil platforms
and pushed up Brent prices
on Tuesday.
Norway does not plan to
intervene to halt the strike
and may change its stance
should it escalate, labour
minister Hanne Bjurstroem
said on Wednesday.
But low expectations for a
bold move from a Thursday
summit of European leaders
to halt contagion from the 30-
month long debt crisis once
again ... | | | Slowing German inflation
raises hopes of ECB rate cut |  INFLATION in Germany,
Europe´s top economy,
slowed to its lowest level for
18 months in June, data
showed on Wednesday,
opening up room for a further
cut in eurozone interest
rates, analysts said.
The annual rate of inflation
in Germany stood at 1.7
percent in June, the lowest
level since December 2010,
from 1.9 percent in May, the
national statistics office
Destatis said in a statement.
On a monthly basis, the
cost of living in Germany
declined by 0.1 percent in
June from May, the statisticians
calculated.
Using the Harmonised
Index of Consumer Prices,
the European Central Bank´s
inflation yardstick, the cost
of living in Germany rose
2.0 percent on a 12-month
basis in June, also slower
than the 2.2 percent ... | |
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