Top 10 Stories From Around The World, January 18, 2016

There are likely others but, for readers to get an overview of what is going on around the world, this Top 10 is a great place to start!

1. Three American contractors have been kidnapped by “militias” in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the pan-Arab news channel Al Arabiya reported on Sunday, citing its own sources. The Americans went missing two days ago, said a senior security official in Baghdad, CNN reports.

2. A bombshell report has been dropped on the world of men’s tennis with a BuzzFeed News/BBC investigation uncovering secret files that point to widespread match-fixing in the sport and accusations that officials in the sport have largely ignored the problem.

3. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared on the Andrew Marr show on Sunday morning and said that he didn’t believe David Cameron would ever choose to fire nuclear weapons.

4. Crude oil, after falling to a fresh 12-year low on Friday, has continued to slide in early Asian trade on Monday. At one point earlier in the session front-month Brent crude futures – the global benchmark – tumbled as low as $27.67 a barrel before bouncing in recent trade.

5. The two largest American and European trade groups have warned of “enormous” consequences for thousands of businesses and millions of users if Brussels and Washington fail to wrap up talks on a data transfer pact by the end of the month.

6. A disillusioned high-profile developer has quit bitcoin —claiming in an explosive blog post that the “experiment … has failed.” Mike Hearn had been a prominent part of the controversial digital currency’s community for years.

7. Share prices in the energy-rich Gulf states nosedived Sunday following the sharp decline in oil prices and the expected rise in Iranian crude exports after the lifting of sanctions. The plunge in the first day of trading in the Muslim week also follows heavy losses in global bourses on Friday, when Gulf exchanges were closed for the weekend.

8. Burkina Faso began three days of national mourning Sunday and the president said security would be stepped up in the capital and the country’s borders after al-Qaida militants killed at least 28 people in an attack on a hotel and cafe popular with foreigners.

9. The richest one percent of the world’s population now own more than the rest of us combined, aid group Oxfam said Monday, on the eve of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

10. A man left brain dead after a drug trial in northwest France died on Sunday, said the hospital where he was being treated. The Rennes hospital said in a statement that five other volunteers were in stable condition after they were admitted last week.

Source

Michael Haltman is President of Hallmark Abstract Service in New York. He can be reached at mhaltman@hallmarkabstractllc.com.