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The world’s most prosperous countries
By: Joe Myers World Economic Forum The Legatum Institute has released its new Prosperity Index, which assesses how prosperous an economy is based on more than just macroeconomic factors – it also takes into account wellbeing. The ranking has named
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Big companies donate millions to help refugees in Europe
World’s biggest corporations are reaching out to assist Europe in coping with the large number of asylum seekers from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Google, Goldman Sachs and Volkswagen’s Audi subsidiary have all announced to hand over millions of dollars to
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Iran sees its first sanctions removal since the nuclear agreement
The European Union has lifted sanctions on two Iran oil companies which are part of a group involved in extracting natural gas from Iran’s South Pars field. This is the first such action since Iran reached a nuclear agreement with
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WTO approves Kazakhstan’s membership after 19-year negotiations
Kazakhstan is set to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) after a 19-year accession process. WTO members formally adopted Kazakhstan’s WTO terms of entry at the General Council meeting on 27 July 2015, in the presence of
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Greece rejects bailout offer
Greece voters overwhelmingly rejected demands by international creditors for more austerity measures in exchange for a bailout of its bankrupt economy. This referendum, which is the first in more than four decades, adds to the uncertainty about Greece’s future in
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India pushing for trade deals with Eurasia Economic Union
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on an eight-day tour to Russia and five Central Asian nations where he is expected to push for a free trade agreement between India and the Eurasia Economic Union (EEU). The EEU was formed
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Apple changes its payment policy after Taylor Swift speaks out
Apple Music has changed its payment policy, a day after Taylor Swift withheld her album 1989 from streaming for a three-month free trial to subscribers. In an open letter to Apple, Swift called it unfair to provide music to Apple
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Vatican Bank’s earnings soar by 20-fold
A privately held institute situated exclusively on the sovereign territory of the Vatican City, the Vatican Bank witnessed a 20-fold increase in its earnings for 2014. Recording a figure of 69.3mn Euros for the year 2014, the Bank had only
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A senior official reveals Bank of England’s EU exit project in an email
A senior official of the Bank of England inadvertently sent details of a confidential project on the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union (EU) in an email to the Guardian. The email says a group of senior officials are
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EU to impose anti-dumping duties on China, Taiwan steel this month
The European Union (EU) will impose anti-dumping duties on imports of stainless steel cold-rolled sheet from China and Taiwan. The decision followed after a complaint lodged by the European steel producers association, Eurofer in May 2014. According to Eurofer, China
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Bill Gates is the richest person on the planet, for the 16th time
According to the annual list published by Forbes magazine, Bill Gates whose estimated net worth stands at 79.2 billion dollars, is once again the richest person in the world. He has held this title 16 times in the last 21
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Samsung S6 with curved screen unveiled
Samsung releases the next version of its Galaxy model with regular Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. Both have pretty much the same specifications, but Galaxy S6 is sold at a little higher price. It has become the spotlight
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Germany backs Greece’s bailout extension
A deal was struck on February 20th of this year to give the Greek government four more months to avoid bankruptcy while it tries to come up with a long-term recovery plan. However, in order to receive the €270 billion Greece needs
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Germany’s business morale stays high despite geopolitical uncertainty
According to a survey by the Ifo institute, business confidence in Germany has jumped to 106.8 points in February from 106.7 points last month. While the figure is below analysts’ expectations of 107.7, it does suggest that Germany’s business confidence
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The Eurozone helps Greece avoid bankruptcy— for now
A deal was struck on Friday in Brussels that would give the Greek government four more months to avoid bankruptcy while it tries to come up with a long-term recovery plan. However, at this point, that seems easier said than done.
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Narendra Modi’s suit sold for over USD 690,000
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s suit was sold for Rs 4.31 crore (USD 693,234) at an auction to Surat diamond baron and private airline owner Laljibhai Patel. A higher bid of Rs. 5 crore by another diamond baron, Mukesh Patel,
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IMF close to agree on USD 17.5bn economic reform program for Ukraine
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, announced Monday that the IMF has reached a staff-level agreement with the Ukrainian government on a new economic reform program that would be supported by an Extended Fund Facility of
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Apple amasses a record pile of cash worth USD 178bn
Apple has pocketed a mind-boggling of USD 178bnn in cash for selling high-priced phones. According to Howard Silverblatt of S&P Dow Jones Indices, Apple has enough money to give every American USD 556. In fact, Apple can afford to buy
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Euro at its lowest against US dollar in 11 years
The Euro has hit its fresh 11-year low against the US dollar, standing at USD 1.156. This comes as the Swiss National Bank (SNB) scrapped its three-year-old pledge to limit the value of the franc to 1.20 per euro, which
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Global economy sputter, US powers ahead
2014 was a rather lucky for the US economy. While the world’s economy slowed down, the US grew. The US economy gained back its strength in 2014 after five years of recession. Nearly 3 million jobs were created, the most
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Russia’s roubel hits its lowest in 16 years
The Russian roubel has lost more than half of its value against the dollar this year, with hitting its lowest in 16 years this week. Despite the rise in interest rates from 10.5% to 17% by the central bank, the
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US congress unviels USD 1.1tn spending bill
US congress negotiators have agreed on a USD 1.1tn spending bill ahead of a looming Thursday evening deadline. The decision was aimed to avoid a government shutdown at midnight on Thursday and fund the federal government until September 2015. “This
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China spends billions of dollars annually on pets
Having one of the world’s lowest birth rates, China is witnessing a growing number of pet lovers among its middle class. About 7% of households in China now have a dog, and 2% have a cat. China spends USD 1.5bn
Read MoreChina fines British pharmaceutical firm for bribery
China has fined the giant pharmaceutical firm of the UK, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), USD 490mn for bribing doctors and hospitals in order to have their products promoted. The court gave its sentence after a one-day trial at a court in Changsha,
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Standard Chartered to pay penalty for failing to improve money laundering controls
The British Bank Standard Chartered has to pay a fresh penalty of USD 300mn to New York’s banking regulator for failing to improve its money laundering controls. The bank has also been banned from accepting new dollar clearing accounts without
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