MH17 plane crash: Markets slump as Malaysian Airlines share price falls July 18, 2014 European shares edged lower today, weighed down by geopolitical risks in the aftermath of the MH17 Malaysian Airlines crash over eastern Ukraine and the Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza strip. Investors reacted with caution to the uncertainty over how the downing of the jetliner would impact the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and separatists, as [...]
Malaysian Airlines flight MH17: Ukraine crash reignites crisis July 17, 2014 A passenger jet was shot down over Ukraine near the Russian border yesterday, killing around 300 people and straining the already tense geopolitical situation. Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur lost contact with the ground at around 2:15pm GMT. Six of the passengers killed are believed to have been British, and 80 [...]
New York Report: Global crisis fears rock Dow July 17, 2014 Rising geopolitical risks sparked by a downed Malaysia Airlines jet over Ukraine and an Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza strip yesterday dragged down American markets. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 161.39 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 16,976.81, after closing at a record 17,138.20 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 dropped 23.45, or 1.2 [...]
This Middle East tragedy will become a catastrophe if Obama missteps now July 14, 2014 My wife recently passed along to me an almost unutterably beautiful video from the Royal Shakespeare Company. In it, Camille O’Sullivan performs “Daughter, Dear Daughter” from the Bard’s moving The Rape of Lucrece, giving voice to the universal anguish of a parent burying a child. It ends with the harrowing plea, “Then live, sweet Lucrece, [...]
Hamas agrees ceasefire with Israel over Gaza November 21, 2012 ISRAEL and the Islamist Hamas movement agreed yesterday to a ceasefire to halt an eight-day conflict around the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 140 Palestinians and five Israelis. Announcing the ceasefire in Cairo, Egyptian foreign minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said it would come into force at 9pm (7pm GMT), which would give 1.7m [...]
What the other papers say this morning November 20, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES TNK-BP fails in London civil suit bid TNK-BP, Russia’s third-largest oil producer and the subject of a high-profile sale, has failed in its attempt to sue a former director for civil fraud in English courts. A €39m (£31m) freezing order gained by TNK-BP on its former head of logistics, Igor Lazurenko, his wife, [...]
Investors should expect a perfect storm of global political instability November 19, 2012 VIOLENCE in Israel and Gaza may seem to be a solely political (or geopolitical) issue. But politics has implications for all investments, and particularly sovereign debt. Governments drive policy and policy drives the bond markets. Instability used to be more of an issue for emerging markets. But we are now entering a new age of [...]
As the conflict in Israel and Gaza continues, can the situation be effectively contained? November 19, 2012 YES Adam Hug This crisis can be contained but it will take more than pressuring Hamas to come to ceasefire, or pressing Israel for restraint and an end to its current rules of engagement. The international community must set out a plan to securely relieve the blockade of Gaza, allowing consistent movement across the Rafah [...]
Calls for Gaza ceasefire after deaths mount November 18, 2012 INTERNATIONAL pressure for a ceasefire was mounting yesterday after five days of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. An Israeli missile killed at least 11 Palestinian civilians including four children in Gaza yesterday, medical officials said, after an attack on a top militant that brought a three-storey home [...]
Syria, the Gaza conflict and the rest: Is the Middle East crisis spiralling out of control? November 18, 2012 YES Allan Hogarth The situation in the Middle East is spinning dangerously out of control. The government ought to be playing a key diplomatic role in protecting human rights. We’d like to see them stressing the human cost of further escalation in the Middle East, and warning all combatants in Syria that there will be [...]