Leaked photo shows US-Egyptian citizen on hunger strike bleeding as his health deteriorates

Soltan's family say his condition is 'dire'

Shocking images have been released purporting to show a hunger-striking US-Egyptian citizen being detained in Egypt bleeding from his mouth, as his family intensified calls to the US government to secure his release.

Mohamed Soltan has been on hunger strike in an Egyptian prison for over a year now and his family say his condition is rapidly deteriorating.
The photo, which was posted on social media last week, appears to show Mr Soltan bleeding from his mouth, pale and unconscious. It is not known who took the image or how it was leaked.
His family are pleading with him to end his hunger strike, describing his condition as “dire”. They say he recently agreed to begin taking in a “sufficient amount of

Politics, mobile overshadow Alibaba's fairy-tale run

By Edwin Chan

SAN FRANCISCO

The logo of the Alibaba Group is seen inside the company's headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province November 11, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Aly Song

(Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's underwhelming holiday quarter performance and an escalating war of words with a powerful Chinese industry regulator highlight two major risks to its seemingly fairy-tale ascent: politics and the shift to mobile commerce.
The Chinese e-commerce giant has acquired a rosy aura since its record-breaking IPO last spring, revealing growth rates and volumes that dwarfed industry stalwarts Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc.
Now, Wall Street is cutting back on expectations in part because of fears that Chinese regulators are sharpening their scrutiny of counterfeit products on e-commerce sites, an endemic problem that Alibaba and others have fought for years.
"As the China-factor gets tempered, then excitement (around Alibaba) is going to get tempered as well," Cantor Fitzgerald's Youssef Squali said, after cutting estimates for 2015 revenue and earnings. "At some point, you're not going to dominate the market and you're

Tencent inks exclusive online partnership for NBA games in China

By Gerry Shih

(Reuters) - The National Basketball Association and Tencent Holdings Ltd said Friday the Shenzhen-based Internet giant will be the only company in China to stream the league's online content.
The exclusive, five-year deal will allow Tencent to offer for the first time in China the NBA's League Pass package, which allows subscribers to watch a full season's worth of games live and on-demand.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
NBA live games and content will be available to stream through Tencent websites and apps including QQ.com, Tencent's News app and Weixin, the popular messaging app also known as WeChat.
China has been one of the NBA's most successful overseas markets since the league entered the basketball-crazed nation in 1987. The deal is expected to give Tencent a unique offering at a time when China's major Internet companies are vying intensely for media content deals.
Tencent rivals such as Alibaba, Xiaomi and Baidu have all invested heavily in producing television content as young Chinese spend increasing time consuming online media.
The deal will conversely expand the NBA's reach via one of China's leading Internet brands.
"This groundbreaking partnership will reach hundreds of millions of daily users across Tencent," NBA China CEO David Shoemaker said in a statement.
(Reporting by Gerry Shih; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Lower gas prices seen fueling U.S. consumer spending in fourth quarter

Mobius Motors Seeks Investors As It Plans Mass Production For Q2 2015 January 30, 2015 Niyi Aderibigbe General Mobius Share via email inShare Share VENTURES AFRICA – The presence and aid of new investors will see that Kenya’s Mobius Motors begins mass production of its cars in April. Mobius production has been based on pre-orders and by December 2014, delivery of 50 pre-ordered vehicles was set to begin. The vehicle owners had made an initial deposit of Sh50, 000 for a car priced at Sh950, 000. Equity stakes would be sold to both local and international investors and the cash would be used for increased production of Mobius cars. “A number of international investors are expected to sign up. We expect to unveil them in Q1 2015,” says Mobius stakeholder, Darshan Chandaria, director of Chandaria Industries to Business Daily. According to him, a team of local shareholders will also be joining the startup firm, thereby adding to the Mobius capacity to mass produce Mobius has attracted the attention of several investors, including US billionaire Ronald Lauder, who invested an undisclosed sum in the company to aid production of the first 50 units of Mobius cars. Mobius Motors is headed by British social-entrepreneur, Joel Jackson, who gave up a lucrative career in management consultancy to start Mobius. The company’s target market is entrepreneurs operating in remote rural areas and in need of a car that defies bad roads leading to these remote areas. “Mobius aims to empower transport entrepreneurs across Africa not just with more appropriate vehicles, but with the financing and business advice needed to operate a sustainable transport centric business. As well as leveraging the existing privatised public transport model (already proven by auto rickshaws and minivans), entrepreneurial buyers can also use their modular Mobius cars to operate a range of other services such as local school buses, mail delivery or mobile medical care,” reads the company’s statement. The lucrative tourism safari market is also part of the company’s target market.

Read more at: http://www.ventures-africa.com/2015/01/mobius-motors-seeks-investors-as-it-plans-mass-production-for-q2-2015/

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTONt

A man gets gasoline at a BP station in St. Louis, Missouri January 14, 2015.

Credit: Reuters/Kate Munsch

(Reuters) - The U.S. economy likely grew at a brisk clip in the fourth quarter as lower gasoline prices buoyed consumer spending, in a show of resilience despite a darkening global outlook.
Gross domestic product probably expanded at a 3 percent annual pace, according to a Reuters survey of economists. While that would be a step down from the third quarter's breakneck 5 percent rate, it would be the fifth quarter out of the last six that the economy has grown at or above a 3 percent pace.
"The consumer did the heavy lifting and I don't think

Slowing Japan Inflation Keeps BOJ Under Pressure But Output Rebounds

By  Reuters on January 30 2015 12:33 AM

Employees work at a factory inside the Japan Automotive Parts Industrial Center (JAPIC), in Danyang, Jiangsu province on July 8, 2014. Reuters/Aly Song

(Reuters) - Japan's core consumer inflation slowed for a fifth straight month in December hit by collapsing oil prices, keeping the central bank under pressure to meet its ambitious 2 percent inflation target.
But factory output rose 1.0 percent in December helped by a much-awaited rebound in exports and manufacturers expect to increase production in January, boding well for an economy emerging from recession.
The pick-up in output backs up the Bank of Japan's argument that a solid economic recovery will help accelerate inflation toward its target early

By  Jessica Menton @JessicaMenton j.menton@ibtimes.com 

Amazon.com Inc. shares skyrocketed more than 13 percent Thursday after the e-commerce giant posted fourth-quarter earnings of 45 cents a share, topping expectations of 18 cents. Reuters/Rick Wilking

Shares of Amazon.com Inc. skyrocketed more than 13 percent Thursday in extended-hours trading after the e-commerce company posted earnings that smashed Wall Street's expectations. Meanwhile, shares of tech giant Google Inc. rose more than 1 percent, despite missing revenue forecasts due to currency headwinds.
U.S. stocks rallied Thursday, with the blue-chip Dow soaring more than 200 points, after oil prices rebounded. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which measures the share prices of 30 large industrial companies, jumped 225.48 points, or 1.31 percent, to

Russian Next-Gen 100-Ton Nuclear Missile Could Be Test-Fired By 2017, Says Russian News Wire

By  Dennis Lynch @neato_itsdennis

Russia's Sarmat ICBM would replace the SS-18 SATAN intercontinental ballistic missile seen here near Pervomaysk, Ukraine. Reuters/Gleb Garanich

Russia’s Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile is set for a drop test this year and a test launch within a year and a half of the drop test, Russian defense sources told ITAR-TASS on Thursday. The new missile is set to replace the Cold-War era R-36 missile, nicknamed “SS-18 Satan” by NATO, which is still the world’s largest intercontinental ballistic missile ever made.
Russian technicians will conduct a “drop test” at some point this year to measure the missile’s lift and proper evolution through its launch stages before they conduct a

Suge Knight Homicide Case: Record Producer Involved In Fatal Hit-And-Run Allegedly Triggered By Scuffle

By  Suman Varandani @suman09 s.varandani@ibtimes.com on January 30 2015 1:00 AM

• 
  

Suge Knight, a controversial figure in the world of music is shown at his desk Aug. 8, 2001 in Los Angeles at Death Row Records, a label he founded. Reuters

Record producer Marion "Suge" Knight was involved in a hit-and-run collision, which killed one person and injured another in Compton, California, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday, citing law enforcement officials. An attorney for the 49-year-old reportedly said that Knight is expected to surrender in connection with the accident.
The incident took place Thursday after Knight was trying to escape from two crew members who attacked him on the set of "Straight Outta Compton," the debut album by hip hop group N.W.A, after an argument ensued, Lt. John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's detective unit, reportedly said. Corina added that Knight had run over the two men with his truck. Police is reportedly investigating the case as a homicide in which a 55-year-old man died. There have

Honda Cuts Profit Target As Takata Air Bag Recalls Bite

By  Reuters on January 30 2015 4:01 A

A Honda dealership sign is shown at a car lot in Carlsbad, California on Nov. 5, 2014. Reuters/Mike Blake

(Reuters) - Japan's Honda Motor Co sliced 6.5 percent off its core annual profit forecast as it set aside hundreds of millions of dollars in extra cash to cover an extended car recall to replace potentially faulty air bags made by Takata Corp.
Reporting its third-quarter earnings fell by nearly a quarter as it soaked up recall costs, Japan's third-largest automaker said it now expects an operating profit of 720 billion yen ($6.1 billion) for the year to March 31.
It previously forecast 770 billion yen, but has set aside an extra 50 billion yen to cover what it said were quality-related costs including the Takata air bag recalls. Still, Honda's Executive Vice President Tetsuo Iwamura said, "We are not seeing a big impact on sales in

Yahoo investors got their wish, and aren’t happy

John Jannarone | @jannarone

Yahoo rose on Alibaba back: Shareholder;Eric Jackson, Ironfire Capital, says Yahoo's CEO needs to do more to boost the stock, but she did the right thing by spinning off its stake in Alibaba.</p>

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer gave shareholders what they wanted, but they didn't stay happy for long.
Shares of the embattled Internet company jumped by as much as 8 percent in after-hours trade Tuesday after it announced it would spin off its entire stake in China's Alibaba Group to shareholders. The move was applauded because it will save well over $10 billion in taxes that the company would have incurred through a traditional sale of the stake.
But in the last couple of days, the stock has given all of the gains back—and much more. In midday trading Thursday, the stock traded at $43, down about

Fast food vs better burger: Inside the burger wars

Katie Little | @KatieLittle

MCD CEO switch not surprising: ShareholderDiscussing McDonalds decision to replace CEO Don Thompson, with Jordan Posner, Matrix Asset Adviors, and Scott Rothbort, LakeView Asset Management. </p>

Troubles at McDonald's do not mean restaurants are singing the burger blues. In fact, it's been a "banner year" for the American staple despite challenges in the broader fast-food industry.
Americans ordered 9 billion burgers last year, up 3 percent from the prior year, according to market research firm The NPD Group. This increase is especially high at so-called better burger or fast-casual restaurants that are known for serving up premium ingredients at quick speeds. Fast-casual burger servings rose 9 percent due in large part to an increase in locations from several chains, including Shake Shack, The Habit Burger Grill and Smashburger.
Fast-food burger joints servings rose 3 percent even as visits to these restaurants dropped 3 percent. Helping to prop up that number has been the

Judge to approve Atlantic City tax deal with Revel Casino

Getty Images

Moving trucks line up outside the Revel Casino on September 3, 2014 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

A New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge on Thursday said she will approve a deal that allows bankrupt Revel Casino Hotel to pay far less in property taxes to Atlantic City this year.
The cash-strapped city agreed to lower its 2015 valuation of Revel, the city's newest casino property. Revel opened in 2012 to much fanfare but has never turned a profit, went bankrupt twice and closed last year.
Under the agreement, Revel's 2015 tax assessment is just $225 million, less than a tenth of the $2.4 billion it cost to build. Over the course of negotiations in b

Next for oil: Mergers, layoffs and 'death spirals'

Tom DiChristopher

<p>Energy companies not panicking ... yet</p> <p>Chris Faulkner, President & CEO, Breitling Energy discusses the price of oil and where it needs to be long-term for companies to make money.</p>

The oil industry may be getting pinched by falling prices, but the next year could be a busy and lucrative time for private equity firms and restructuring specialists working in energy.
With crude prices nearly 60 percent off their highs, experts foresee a wave of corporate restructuring and acquisitions playing out over the next 12 to 18 months. Oilfield services companies are set to absorb smaller firms, while exploration and production companies could face a "death spiral" as their access to debt dwindles.

In December, Deutsche Bank analysts projected that U.S. shale producers "could be entering a zone of deep distress" once oil dipped below the $60 to $55 range.
Read MoreGoldman Sachs cuts outlook for whole commodity sector
"If prices were to stay sustainably below these levels for a few months/quarters, chances of a broad sector restructuring increase materially," they wrote.
U.S. crude first settled below $60 on Dec. 11 and fell below $55 the following week. U.S.-traded West Texas Intermediate was near $44 on

Starbucks increases neighborhood, home values

Rebecca Ungarino

Kevin Winter | Getty Images

A woman walks past a Starbucks cafe in New York, Sept. 18, 2013.

Home values rise when a Starbucks location hits the neighborhood, according to Quartz.

The coffee giant sends the value of nearby homes soaring, reported the news site, according to data provided by Zillow. The online real estate database compared home values before and after a Starbucks was built in a neighborhood.
Read MoreStarbucks will continue its fast growth in 2015: Schultz

Data from Zillow show American homes located near an outlet of the coffee chain, on average, have appreciated 96 percent between 1997 and 2014, from an average $137,000 to $269,000. Homes in neighborhoods without a Starbucks have appreciated

Anita Balakrishnan

Source: Pizzeria Locale | Facebook

Pizzeria Locale in Boulder, Colo.

Chipotle Mexican Grill plans to expand its fast-casual pizza chain, Pizzeria Locale, to Kansas City, marking the first outside of Colorado, it confirmed Thursday.
"We just signed a deal for the first Pizzeria Locale in Kansas City, which will be the third overall and the first outside of Denver," Chris Arnold, communications director of Chipotle, said. "We haven't addressed expansion plans for Pizzeria Locale beyond that."
Bringing the fast-casual model to more customers will continue to be the company's "primary focus," said Chipotle President and Co-CEO Montgomery Moran in

Shake Shack prices IPO at $21 a share

Sarah Whitten | @sarahwhit10

Shake Shack prices IPO at $21:Shake Shack has priced its IPO above range at $21 per share, reports CNBC's Dominic Chu. </p>

Hamburger joint Shake Shack priced its U.S. initial public offering at $21 a share on Thursday.

The company will offer 5 million shares on on Friday, and another 750,000 Class A shares could be made available at the underwriters' discretion. Selling 5 million shares would raise $105 million and value the company at more than $700 million.

The price was originally expected to come in between $14 and $16 a share, but that was raised to a range of $17 to $19 this week.
Shake Shack applied to have its common stock listed as "SHAK" on the New York Stock Exchange.

Read More Shake Shack raises IPO terms to 5.75M shares

The chain operates 63 stores domestically and internationally. Shake Shake's total revenue in 2013 topped $82 million, up from $19.5 million in 2012, according to a SEC filing.
Danny Meyer, founder of the Union Square Hospitality Group and Shake Shack, could net $140 million from the burger joint going public. Meyer owns 21 percent of the company, which equates to 7.4 million shares of Class B stock, according to regulatory filings.
JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are among the lead underwriters for the IPO.

Sarah Whitten

Honda cuts profit target as Takata air bag recalls bite

Japan's Honda Motor Co sliced 6.5 percent off its core annual profit forecast as it set aside hundreds of millions of dollars in extra cash to cover an extended car recall to replace potentially faulty air bags made by Takata Corp.

Reporting its third-quarter earnings fell by nearly a quarter as it soaked up recall costs, Japan's third-largest automaker said it now expects an operating profit of 720 billion yen ($6.1 billion) for the year to March 31.
It previously forecast 770 billion yen, but has set aside an extra 50 billion yen to cover what it said were quality-related costs including the Takata air bag recalls. Still, Honda's Executive Vice President Tetsuo Iwamura said, "We are not seeing a big impact on sales in North America from the air bag issue."
Read MoreHonda recalls to squeeze profit, cloud guidance as cheap fuel poses new threat

In the three months ended December, Honda said operating profit skidded 22.5 percent to 177.2 billion yen from 228.57 billion yen in the same period a year earlier. That was below the 189.11 billion yen forecast by Thomson Reuters SmartEstimate from a poll of 10 analysts.

Getty Images

A sign is shown over the O'Hare Honda car dealership in Des Plaines, Ill.

Honda also said

Google misses on earnings, blames strong dollar

Everett Rosenfeld | @Ev_Rosenfeld

  care why Google missed, they missed:;Dissecting Google  quarterly earnings miss, with the Fast Money traders and Aaron Kessler, Raymond James. Steve Grasso says longer-term your investment in Google will be solid.</p>

Google reported quarterly earnings and revenue that missed analysts' expectations, as foreign exchange and falling ad prices weighed on the company.
Reporting Thursday after the bell, the technology giant posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $6.88 per share, up from $6.00 a share in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $18.1 billion from $16.86 billion a year ago.
Wall Street had expected Google to report earnings of $7.11 per share on revenue of $18.46 billion, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

Read MoreWhy Google was hit with downgrades
The company's stock initially fell more than 3.5 percent in after-hours trading, but moved to a more than 1 percent gain as the earnings call progressed.
Google CFO Patrick Pichette said on the earnings call that revenue was hurt by a combination of a strong U.S. dollar and Nexus 6 inventory problems that meant the

Amazon earnings: 45 cents a share, vs. expected EPS of 17 cents

Karma Allen | @iam_karma

Amazon beats on EPS, misses on revenue Amazon is reporting EPS beat of $0.45 on revenue miss of $29.33 billion, with CNBC's Julia Boorstin and David Garrity, GVA Research. </p>

Amazon.com blew past Wall Street's earnings expectations on Thursday as holiday sales climbed some 15 percent, sending the company's shares rallying 14 percent in after-hours trading.
Amazon issued fourth-quarter earnings of 45 cents a share, down from 51 cents per share a year ago, but soaring past expectations of 17 cents.
Revenue rose 15 percent year-over-year, to $29.33 billion, but that trailed analysts' estimates of $29.67 billion. Excluding currency headwinds, the company said revenue increased 18 percent.
Amazon Prime, its annual membership program that costs

Russia extends olive branch to Greeks

Geoff Cutmore | Jenny Cosgrave

consider giving money to Greece: Russia Fin Min</p> <p>Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov says he would "consider" giving financial support to Greece if it asked.</p>

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told CNBC that Russia would consider giving financial help to debt-ridden Greece—just days after the new Greek government questioned further European Union sanctions against Russia.
Siluanov said Greece had not yet requested Russia for assistance, but he did not rule out an agreement between the two countries if Greece came asking.
Read MoreIs Greece about to cosy up to Russia?

Andrey Rudakov I Bloomberg via Getty Images

Anton Siluanov, Russia's finance minister

"Well, we can imagine any situation, so if such [a] petition is submitted to the Russian government, we will definitely consider it, but will take into account all the factors of our bilateral r

Reddit refuses 42% of government data requests

Matt Clinch | @mattclinch81

In its first ever transparency report, the social content aggregator Reddit has revealed that it rejected 42 percent of government and civil requests for user data in 2014.
The website said it received a total of 55 requests for information about its users – which included account registration data, log data, and content uploaded -- according to a report it published late Thursday.
It confirmed that it produced information for 58 percent of government and civil requests and 64 percent of U.S. state and federal government requests.
Some 30 percent of the civil and U.S. federal or state government requests received included a court order prohibiting Reddit from notifying users. The company also said it successfully fought back against two civil subpoenas that sought to unmask more than a dozen anonymous users.
"When we receive a request, we make sure it i

Under a mattress, in the freezer: Why so many are hiding cash Kelli B. Grant | @kelligrant

John Harper | Getty Images

Where to stash your cash? Some Americans are sleeping on it—literally.
While banks are still the go-to solution for most consumers, 29 percent say they're keeping at least some savings in cash bills and coins, according to a new survey of 1,820 adults from American Express. Of those holding cash savings, 53 percent are hiding it in a secret location.
Millennials are even more apt than other generations to go the mattress or freezer route, with 67 percent of those saving cash saying that they hide it outside a bank account.
"We've long asked people about how they've planned to keep their savings, and for the past few years, we've seen an uptick in people saving cash," said Kimberly Litt, public affairs manager at American Express. This is the first year the company has specifically asked Americans about tucking away cash.
The survey also found that about 1 in 4 consumers

Alibaba's magic carpet ride isn't over

Nyshka Chandran | @NyshkaC

For Alibaba, buy on the dip now: Expert</p> <p>Alan Haft, Partner at Kelly-Haft Financial, says the Chinese e-commerce giant remains a "great company for long-term investors."</p>

Alibaba's magic carpet ride came to a standstill on Thursday following an unexpected earnings miss and a clash with China's government, but experts tell CNBC that the world's largest e-commerce firm remains a compelling investment.

Shares plunged 10 percent after Alibaba reported a 40 percent rise in revenue for the last three months of 2014 year-on-year, below expectations for a 60 percent increase, with investors complaining that growth was too dependent on the annual Singles Day event. Thursday marked a rare falling out with the investor community following Alibaba's wide-spread popularity since its market debut last September.
Alan Haft, Partner at Kelly-Haft Financial, called the selloff overblown. "This is like having a Ferrari and being bummed out that instead of doing 220 miles around the bend, it only did 210," he said on Friday.
"Just buy on those dips because this is a great company for the long-term investor," he added, noting that the profit numbers were still solid. Earnings per share (EPS) beat expectations by 6 cents while gross merchandise volume (GMV), i.e. the total of Alibaba's online transactions, rose 49 percent.
Read MoreJack Ma: Alibaba is'still just a baby'

"eBay would love to report those kind of numbers," noted Martin Pyykkonen, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities.
Alibaba's stock price has fallen over 20 percent since its November highs, but most analysts say they remain buyers at the current $89 level.
"Our target price is $118, so that represents a more than 30 percent upside from here," said Cynthia Meng, managing director for China and Hong Kong Telecom, Media and Technology Equity Research at Jefferies.

A volatile stock market waits for earnings clarity

Kate Gibson | @CNBCKateGibson

Ignore the noise and get invested in the market, says Robert Kapito, BlackRock president, while outlining the biggest trends currently occurring. </p>

The U.S. stock market is on track to end the first month of the year with losses as investors reassess what's ahead for public companies impacted by the decline in energy costs, a stronger U.S. dollar and weaker global economy.
"Clearly right now the discussion is all about earnings, especially companies talking about overseas demand, and currency issues facing multinational companies," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery.
With just over 140 S&P 500 companies reporting this week, Wall Street is hearing from a fair amount of companies pinning lowered guidance on the dollar's strength and lackluster demand overseas.

Yet the strong dollar does not hurt everybody, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.
"Please see Boeing for an example, and McDonald's is doing a little bit better today; we're throwing the baby out with the bath water on the strong dollar story," Hogan said.
"We're probably in a muddle-through zone, as visibility improves as more energy and industrial companies report," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist for U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
"We're in a reset mode, so to speak, which involves additional volatility," added Sandven of the market's large swings, which had the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing up or down triple digits the last three sessions.

Kate Gibson

New sanctions on Russia are 'economic war'

Holly Ellyatt | @HollyEllyatt

EU waging economic war' on Russia: Bank boss</p> <p>Andrey Kostin, CEO of VTB, says European Union sanctions on Russia are a sign of ;economic war" and the two sides should talk "like businessmen." </p>

The European Union's (EU) decision to extend sanctions against Russia is akin to "economic war," the head of one of Russia's largest banks has told CNBC.
It comes as EU foreign ministers agreed to extend until September travel bans and asset freezes, imposed last year on Russia for incursions into Ukraine territory, which had been due to expire.
"We have quite a strong opinion on sanctions. Sanctions, in other words, are economic war against Russia," Andrey Kostin, chief executive of VTB Bank, told CNBC in Moscow Thursday.
"Economic war will definitely have negative implications for

Ethiopia Records Reduction in Poverty

According to a report by the World Bank, this has been attributed to agricultural growth in the country.

• Ethiopia:  Poverty Declines in Ethiopia With Little Help From Industry
  Addis Fortune, 26 January 2015
  Acknowledging the improvement of poverty reduction in Ethiopia, the latest report of the World Bank (WB) revealed that the poverty level in Ethiopia had declined from 44pc to 30pc ... read more »
• Ethiopia:  Poverty in Ethiopia Has Dropped By 33 Percent Since 2000
  Government of Ethiopia, 21 January 2015
  The World Bank Group, in its latest Poverty Assessment, says poverty levels in Ethiopia have fallen from 44% in 2000 to 33% in 2011. This is the result of the strides made in the ... read more »

Photo: A. Hoel/World Bank

(file photo)

Zimbabwe Battles Energy Crisis

Twenty percent of urban households are living without access to electricity.

• Zimbabwe:  Zimbabwe Battles With Energy Poverty
  Inter Press Service, 27 January 2015
  Janet Mutoriti (30), a mother of three from St Mary's suburb in Chitungwiza, 25 kilometres outside Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, frequently risks arrest for straying into the nearby ... read more »

Photo: IRIN

Women collect firewood in Harare, Zimbabwe.

• Zimbabwe:  Zim's Daily Power Generation Drops
  The Herald, 26 January 2015
  Zimbabwe's daily power generation has dropped to below 1 200 MW from about 1 400 MW that was being generated in recent months, statistics from the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) ... read more »
• Nigeria:  Power Sector - No Respite Yet for Consumers
  Daily Independent, 27 January 2015
  CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAY EDITION read more »
• Zimbabwe:  Respond Quickly to Faults, ZETDC Told
  The Herald, 21 January 2015
  Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company employees should respond swiftly to electrical faults this rainy season to avoid putting their consumers at risk of being ... read more »

Soludo Nigeria's Worst Central Bank Governor Ever - Okonjo-Iweala

Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said Chukwuma Soludo's comments amount to committing "intellectual hara-kiri".

• Nigeria:  Soludo Worst Central Bank Governor Ever - Okonjo-Iweala
  Premium Times, 28 January 2015
  The Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Wednesday took the former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Chukwuma Soludo, to the cleaners over his criticism of President Goodluck ... read more »
• Nigeria:  Beyond Belief - Soludo's Article On Economic Management Deficit in Facts, Logic and Honour
  Premium Times, 28 January 2015
  For anyone who has not read Professor Charles Soludo's article in the Vanguard (online version) on January 25 2015, I would encourage them to do so. It is littered with abusive and ... read more »

Photo: Fraternité Matin

NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA

Lagos’s Radisson Blu Could Lose Over N12m Daily To Renovation January 28, 2015 Felicia Omari Ochelle Business, Strategies & Solutions radisson blu Share via email inShare Share VENTURES AFRICA- Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, Lagos, closed off operations to carry out thorough renovation of its facility located in Victoria Island. This is in fulfilment of the management’s pledge to sustain the standards of the international hotel chain to meet the demand of customers. Using an average rate of N70, 000 per night, the disruption could see this 170 room hotel losing an estimated N12 million ($63,000) each day, excluding other hotel expenses. This means that if the hotel remains shutdown for up to a month it would amount to a loss of about N360 million ($1.9 million). Anchorage Leisures Limited, owners of the facility, said in a statement that the renovation process will “cover areas such as power generation, cooling system as well as other critical equipment.” The renovation has led to the extrication of staff due to the renovation process. However, the firm stressed that it would keep to all obligatory terms by ensuring full allocation of payment to the affected staff. “The magnitude of the renovation work has however necessitated shutting down of business operations for the duration of the renovation”, the statement further explained. The management assured its many visitors in Nigeria and all over the globe that the hotel will re-open with improved focus on delivery of higher quality service. In November 2014, the international hotel chain announced plans to launch its first Kenyan hotel in Nairobi. It already holds significant presence within Africa, with hotels in top markets including Ethiopia, South Africa, Rwanda, Cote D’ivore and Nigeria. Total Views: 592 ,

Read more at: http://www.ventures-africa.com/2015/01/lagoss-radisson-blu-could-lose-over-n12m-daily-to-renovation/

Stanbic Bank Uganda Gets $85 million Debut Syndicated Loan January 28, 2015 Fumnanya Agbugah Business, Finance/Money SBU Share via email inShare7 Share VENTURES AFRICA – The largest commercial bank by asset in Uganda, Stanbic Bank Uganda (SBU) Ltd, member of the Standard Bank Group Limited, South Africa, Wednesday, signed an $85 million 18-month term loan facility with a group of lenders in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The loan is aimed at funding its general business activities, including trade-related financing. “This is the first syndicated loan from Uganda into the Middle East and we expect many more, because of strong investor interest from the Gulf for African credits,” said Dr Rassem Zok, Chief Executive of Standard Bank of South Africa, MENA according to Reuters. Loan raised unexpected The financing was oversubscribed from the initial launch amount of $ 75 million, with the SBU to be paying an interest rate of 250 basis points over the London interbank offered rate (Libor). Emirates NBD Capital was the sole co-ordinator and bookrunner of the financing, while Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait KSCP, Kuwait and Standard Chartered Bank joined the transaction as mandated lead arrangers alongside Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, while Al Khalij Commercial Bank Q.S.C. and The Commercial Bank of Qatar QSC participated as lead arrangers. Patrick Mweheire, CEO, Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited said “As a debut borrower in the international loan market, I am extremely impressed that such a sizeable amount has been raised for the bank in an 18 month tenor”. Funding confirms increasing investor interest in Africa According to Dr. Rassem Zok, CEO Standard Bank of South Africa, MENA the “very positive” response from investors, for the oversubscribed facility, from the Middle Eastern and international banks confirms increasing interest in Africa. It also speaks volume of the trust endorsed to Standard Bank Group’s strong financial position and highlights the Uganda growth story.

Read more at: http://www.ventures-africa.com/2015/01/stanbic-bank-uganda-gets-85-million-debut-syndicated-loan/

U.S. would welcome Japan air patrols in South China Sea

By Tim Kelly and Nobuhiro Kubo

TOKYO

Related News

• Japan's Abe: Govt making every effort to ensure release of Japanese captives
• Japan's Abe: Japan will not give in to terrorism
• Japan urges Jordan's help in IS hostage crisis after video
• In parting shot, Obama prods India on religious freedom
• Hostage crisis trips up Japan as it seeks global security role

Analysis & Opinion

• U.S. and India: Two democracies should join to balance China’s rise
• China’s “new normal” masks old anxieties

Related Topics

• World »
• China »
• Japan »

(Reuters) - The United States would welcome a move by Japan to extend air patrols into the South China Sea as a counterweight to a growing fleet of Chinese vessels pushing Beijing's territorial claims in the region, a senior U.S. Navy officer told Reuters.
Currently, regular patrols by Japanese aircraft only reach into the East China Sea, where Tokyo is at loggerheads with Beijing over disputed islands. Extending surveillance flights into the South China Sea will almost certainly increase tensions between the world's second- and third-largest economies.
"I think allies, partners and friends in the region will look to

China to widen anti-graft inspections of armed forces

BEIJING 

Related News

• Profits at China's big state-owned industrial firms slide in 2014
• China's anti-graft unit tells sports to play fair, drop gold medal fever

Analysis & Opinion

• U.S. and India: Two democracies should join to balance China’s rise
• China’s “new normal” masks old anxieties

Related Topics

• World »
• China »

(Reuters) - China's powerful Central Military Commission will widen anti-graft inspections of the country's armed forces, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday, as part of Beijing's sweeping campaign to weed out corruption.
Serving and retired military officers have said corruption is endemic in China's armed forces and could even endanger the country's ability to wage war.
Among the latest units to be targeted are the second artillery corps, which controls China's nuclear missiles, the navy, air force and the paramilitary People's Armed Police.
Inspections by the powerful commission, chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping, will target the military branches' Communist Party committees, Yang Yujun, a spokesman for the Defence Ministry, said in a statement.
The inspections will take place from February to April.
The leadership under Xi has presided over an

Cost-cutting VW bets big to revamp loss-making luxury Phaeton

By Andreas Cremer

BERLIN 

Volkswagen Phaeton Exclusive is pictured during a media preview day at the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA) September 10, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Pawel Kopczynski

Related News

• Fiat Chrysler no longer 'bleeding' in Europe, but challenges remain

Analysis & Opinion

• Expect welcome news from the Detroit auto show

(Reuters) - With Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) having embarked on a big cost-cutting drive, industry experts are baffled why the "people's car" maker plans to spend millions of euros upgrading a money-losing luxury sedan.
The 76,000 euro ($86,192) Phaeton, a pet project of Chairman Ferdinand Piech, has never met VW's original sales target of 20,000 cars annually. Analysts say the executive saloon, which cost more than 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion) to develop and came out in 2002, should be axed.
But sources at VW told Reuters that the company is now planning a more advanced version of the Phaeton - described by Bernstein analyst Max Warburton as one of the three "most loss-making European cars of modern times."
The plans appear all the more perplexing to analysts as VW has pledged to make annual cost savings of 5 billion euros ($5.67 billion) at its passenger-car brand by

Super Bill: Weighing the cost of a Super Bowl trip

By Chris Taylor

NEW YORK 

Jan 27, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; General view of University of Phoenix Stadium in advance of Super Bowl XLIX between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Related News

• NFL-Katy Perry lights the way for Super Bowl's girl power moment
• League says Patriots used under-inflated balls
• Security high as Phoenix prepares for Super Bowl
• Patriots' ball scandal could take shine off Super Bowl
• Seattle stunner: Seahawks sink Packers in OT

Analysis & Opinion

• The star-power of the NFL
• When did football get so popular, anyway?

Related Topics

• Money »

(Reuters) - How much is it worth to watch the Super Bowl in person?
That is the question thousands of American football fans have been wrestling with the last few weeks. Do you take a once-in-a-lifetime plunge and spend perhaps tens of thousands of dollars to get yourself to Glendale, Arizona, to watch the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots?
Or do you kibosh such a massive expense, and

Greek PM Tsipras freezes privatisations, markets tumble

By Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou

ATHENS

Related News

• Obama to Greek leader: looks forward to returning Greece to prosperity
• EU's Schulz warns Tsipras against straying from stance against Russia
• Greece seeks to reassure bank investors, meet Eurobank
• France aims to facilitate Greece-euro zone talks: finance minister
• Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

Analysis & Opinion

• Russia invites new sanctions
• New Greek debt deal will mean more brinkmanship

Related Topics

• World »
• Greece »

(Reuters) - Leftist Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras threw down an open challenge to international creditors on Wednesday by halting privatisation plans agreed under the country's bailout deal, prompting a third day of heavy losses on financial markets.
A swift series of announcements signalled the newly installed government would stand by its anti-austerity pledges, setting it on a collision course with European partners, led by Germany, which has said it will not renegotiate the aid package needed to help Greece pay its huge debts.
Tsipras, who was congratulated by U.S. President Barack Obama in a phone call for his decisive election victory on Sunday, told the first meeting of his

IMF Sets June Deadline For Progress On Governance Reforms

By  Reuters on January 29 2015 2:13 AM

A photographer takes pictures through a glass carrying the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo during a news conference in Bucharest, March 25, 2009. Reuters/Bogdan Cristel

(Reuters) - The IMF set a June deadline for making progress on reforms that would give emerging countries more say in how the world lender is run, an attempt to break a standoff created by U.S. failure to ratify the changes.
The governance reforms were adopted by the IMF in 2010, which initially set a 2012 deadline for all member countries to endorse them. The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has so far been unable to persuade Republicans in Congress to act on the measure.
The board of the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday the institution’s 188 member countries should agree on steps that could make “meaningful progress” toward

Purported Message From Japanese Hostage Held By Islamic State Demands Prisoner Release

By  Reuters 

A relative of Islamic State captive Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh up his picture as they shout slogans demanding the Jordanian government negotiate with Islamic State for his release, in front of the Royal Palace in Amman Jan. 28, 2015. Reuters

(Reuters) - An audio message purportedly from Japanese hostage Kenji Goto said a Jordanian air force pilot held by Islamic State militants would be killed unless an Iraqi female prisoner held by the Jordanian authorities was released by sunset on Jan. 29.
The message, which could not be verified by Reuters, was posted on YouTube early on Thursday. The Japanese government is analyzing the purported new voice recording, a spokesman for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office said.
"I am Kenji Goto. This is a voice message I've been told to s