At the time of kick off of the African Nations Cup qualifying matches, it was expected that the big football nations would walk through the series with ease. With a total of seven groups and two best teams from each group expected to qualify, it was seemingly impossible that any Africa’s big teams would miss out of the tournament slated to kick off in Morocco by January 2015. However, at the end of match day one, the scripts were torn up as some minnows came close to creating upsets while others were successful in delivering surprise results.
Updated 5 Years ago

Dubai’s bourse pulled back in early trade on Wednesday as investors appeared to be accumulating cash for the upcoming initial public offer of Emaar Properties’ malls unit. The Dubai index slid 1.1 per cent as most stocks were down. Emaar itself lost 0.9 per cent. In one of the largest equity sales in the Middle East since 2008, the company plans to float its unit Emaar Malls Group (EMG) this month and subscriptions for the shares will open on Sept. 14.
Updated 5 Years ago

Google announced that it has launched 360-degree street view imagery of the famous Giza Pyramids and five other landmarks in Egypt for the first time. Users of Google Maps will able to get a complete view of the Pyramids of Giza, necropolis of Saqqara, the Citadel of Qaitbay, the Cairo Citadel, the Hanging Church and the ancient city of Abu Mena, it said in a statement.
Updated 5 Years ago

While Chinese consumers do much of their shopping with the click of a mouse or a fingertip, some foreign products aren't so easily obtained. Chinese and foreign e-commerce insiders gathered at the China International Fair for Investment and Trade, which runs Sept 8 to 11 in Xiamen, Fujian province, to discuss challenges to cross-border online retail.
Updated 5 Years ago

Shanghai regulatory authority carried out inspections in supermarkets and removed about 8,700 products suspected of containing tainted oil from shelves, Shanghai Youth Daily reported on Wednesday. Taiwan police busted a ring of six selling recycled cooking oil made from kitchen waste and grease from leather processing plants last Thursday. They found Chang Guann Co, a well-established cooking oil supplier, had purchased recycled oil to produce lard, most of which was sold to nearly 1,000 food companies and restaurants, including a number of leading brands.
Updated 5 Years ago

China vowed closer cooperation with Albania as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang discussed plans to construct a highway linking Albania and Macedonia with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Wednesday. Li made the pledge during a meeting with Rama on the sidelines of the Summer Davos in north China's Tianjin city.
Updated 5 Years ago

Chile is speeding up works to revamp and expand a US$200mn road in the Santiago metropolitan area, public works ministry (MOP) said in a statement. MOP head Alberto Undurraga said concessionaire Autopista del Aconcagua will start preliminary works in theSantiago-Lampa road in September and begin construction in March.
Updated 5 Years ago

A strong US dollar contributed to a slump in base metals prices on Tuesday. Copper lost 4.69 cents to close at US$3.147/lb in London, nearly wiping out gains in the previous three sessions, as the dollar continued its recent rise to trade at 14-month highs against the euro. The red metal was lifted on Monday by solid Chinese import data, having lost ground in recent weeks due to signs of a slowdown in economic growth in the the world's biggest copper consumer.
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E-payment processing group First Data is in the "final stage" of opening two datacenters in Brazil, the company said in a statement. The facilities are being developed in partnership with IBM and are aimed principally, though not exclusively, at supporting the operations of Bin, First Data's newly launched credit and debit card acquiring solution tailored to the local market.
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Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), maker of the Xbox videoGAME console, is in discussions to acquire Mojang AB, the software company behind the popular game Minecraft, for more than $2 billion, three people with knowledge of the talks said. Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, is in serious talks with 4-year-old Mojang, said the people, who asked not to be named because the negotiations aren’t public. The deal may be concluded as soon as this week, though next week is more likely, said two people.
Updated 5 Years ago