Zika has appeared as a nightmare to many Latin American countries. The number of Zika infected has reached 4 million landmarks since reporting of the first case just eight months earlier. Absence of proper vaccine has made the situation much more terrible. Recently, scientists have escalated the fears revealing climate change may also contribute to the spread of Zika and other mosquito borne diseases.
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Diamond market rebound propels Alrosa's Q4 sales 45% up
Alrosa PJSC has recorded 45 percent growth in sales for the fourth quarter of 2015. The rebound in the global diamonds market helped Alrosa post encouraging performance. The diamonds prices in the global market fell over 18 percent in 2015.
India elbowed out Thailand to take the position of world’s largest rice exporter
India is now the world's largest exporter of rice, with 10.23 million tons of rice exported in 2015. The country outranked the former leader, Thailand whose export numbers have fallen to 9.8 million tons this year, which also recorded the lowest rice prices in the last ten years. It seems the falling prices are also tied to the global oil crisis that has hit the rice importers, thereby affecting their purchasing power.
Hitachi cut 2016 outlook amid poor demand
Hitachi Construction Machinery said that it has revised its earnings outlook for the fiscal year of March 2016. Hitachi blamed foreign exchange losses for its revised forecasts.
Oil rises on production cut speculation, pares losses in January
Oil prices rebounded on news that there may be production cut by OPEC. US Brent futures recouped losses by 6.8 percent and US crude pared 9.3 percent losses during the week. In overall, oil prices rebounded by over 25 percent after hitting 12-month low in January. Oil price hit $27.10 on 20 January 2016.
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Apple has been used to acquire smaller technology enterprises occasionally and is reluctant to discussing its policy or plan. This has been referred as the Apple’s usual nod for purchasing any company by the analysts. Thus the analysts confirm Apple’s Flyby Media acquisition and predict developing of iPhone headsets capable of tracking subject’s motion.
Facebook users will soon be prohibited from coordinating private firearm sales using its platform and also through Instagram. The step evokes strict policies on regulating promotional posts on unlicensed gun businesses . The new rule is only applicable for person-to-person firearm sales, licensed gun dealers will be permitted to use the social network.
The social network giant posted a strong profit. On Wednesday, Facebook reported a $1.56 billion quarterly net income in fourth quarter of 2015.
South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has announced increasing key interest rates by fifty basis points to 6.75% on Thursday. It has also slashed down growth forecast to 0.9%. SARB has increased the interest rates for the second time with an interval of weeks. However, the rate hike will influence the Banks’ expenses and banking industry may witness job cutting as cost minimization effort.
Tesla denies rumor that the electric car maker will launch two new models in March. However, the company will build a third generation platform for its vehicle to support its sedan and SUV model.
WHO on Thursday has warned for probable spread of Zika virus across the North and Central American countries. Ahead of rising concerns for Zika spreading, drug makers and scientists have commented that manufacturing of an appropriate vaccine may even require a decade. These warnings has opened a huge business potential for Oxitec, an Intrexon subsidiary. Oxitec’s gene modified mosquitoes are capable of ensuring security against Zika for large populations.
Google has been reported to conduct secret tests over drones under codename of SkyBender at Spaceport America in New Mexico. The tech giant is using 5G wireless that involves millimeter wave technology which is considered as the future of high speed data transmission technology. Though the test results have been kept secret, but the $300,000 tests bring fortune for Virgin Galactic Spaceflights, reportedly suffering from cash crunch.
At the end of the month, Chinese stocks rallied and closed higher on Friday. Despite this, Shanghai Composite Index suffered its biggest monthly fall in the past seven years. The Chinese benchmark index Shanghai Composite tumbled 22.6 percent in January and this is the biggest monthly fall since October 2008. Chinese currency Yuan was marginally moved up against the US dollar on support extended by People's Bank of China (PBOC).
As an investment bank, a problem in investment-banking operation will damage the overall performance. Deutsche Bank suffered its first annual loss since 2008, followed by drastic drop of its shares.
