Section: Business Insider (USA)
All the other places Russia would be able to trigger a crisis in
Although the world’s attention is focused on the eastern Ukrainian steppe of the Donbass, where a frail ceasefire seems to have collapsed after Russian separatists took control of the key railway town of Debaltseve, there are many other places where the Russian bear might set its eyes sooner or later. Russian interests abroad tend to fall...
Facebook bought WhatsApp one year ago today. Here are 11 quotes from its billionaire cofounders
Exactly a year ago today WhatsApp cofounders Jan Koum and Brian Acton became filthy rich when they sold the company to Facebook for $19 billion five years after the app’s launch. Koum and Acton met while working as Yahoo engineers. They are both part of the “Facebook reject club.” They hate advertising, and they feel strongly...
At least 90 Ukrainian troops ‘captured’ in Debaltseve
Kiev (AFP) – More than 90 Ukrainian troops were captured and 82 were still missing after pro-Russian rebels seized the key town of Debaltseve, Ukraine’s army said Thursday. The Ukrainian military said that it had mobilised “certain forces” to search for the missing and asked observers from the Organization for Security and...
10 things you need to know before the opening bell (DIA, SPY, SPX, QQQ)
Here’s what you need to know. Greece asked for more time, but Germany said no. Greece requested a 6-month loan extension from the Eurogroup so that it could have more time to secure a longer-term bailout financing deal as the current deal’s February 28 deadline approaches. But according to multiple reports, Germany has refused. And so...
Leaders join in calls for Ukraine truce compliance
Kiev (AFP) – The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France on Thursday jointly urged a tattered truce in east Ukraine be restored and condemned breaches in recent days, according to official accounts of a four-way telephone call.Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko slammed in particular the rebel storming of the key eastern town of...
The 10 most important things in the world right now
Good morning! Here’s what you need to know for Thursday. 1. The European Central Bank is reportedly pushing for Greece to introduce capital controls. 2. Tens of thousands of Argentines marched in protest through the capital of Buenos Aires over the mysterious death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman. 3. More than 90% of Ukrainian forces have been...
10 things you need to know before European markets open
Good morning! Here are the 10 major stories you need to know in markets today. The ECB offered Greek banks more emergency assistance. The European Central Bank has extended its liquidity program for Greek banks by two weeks, according to a Dow Jones report via CNBC. According to CNBC, it is a “a roughly €68 billion ($77.63 billion),...
The US is pretty much the sole reason global defense spending is falling
The world is racked with conflict these days: The war in Syria is in its fourth year; a recent and much-touted ceasefire in Ukraine ended almost as soon as it began. And there are plenty of ambitious emerging countries that are sprinting to raise their military status: China, India, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are in the...
Russia’s Yandex files antitrust complaint against Google
Moscow (AFP) – Russia’s search engine provider Yandex asked local antitrust authorities Wednesday to investigate Google for unfairly keeping its rivals’ services off its mobile devices.The request came with Google making recent inroads in the Russian market thanks to its popular Android-powered smartphones.The European...
An EU (and NATO) member just bolstered Putin’s push to re-draw the European gas map
Last month, Russia announced that it will shift all its natural gas flows to Europe via Turkey, instead of Ukraine, in an effort to counter its decreasing influence over the European gas market. “Our European partners have been informed of this and now their task is to create the necessary gas transport infrastructure from the Greek and...
