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Kuwait
Former Kuwaiti MP Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Insulting Saudi Arabia
– Former Kuwaiti MP Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Insulting Saudi Arabia:
(MEE) A Kuwaiti appeals court convicted former Shia MP Abdulhameed Dashti of offending Saudi Arabia on Thursday, and sentenced him to 10 years in prison in absentia.
The new term raises the total jail terms handed down to Dashti to 42 years and six months for making comments considered offensive to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and jeopardising Kuwait’s ties with the Kingdoms. The three countries are part of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Read moreFormer Kuwaiti MP Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Insulting Saudi Arabia
Arab Ex-Muslim Woman Gives Jaw-Dropping Interview About Trump, Islam, Feminism
https://youtu.be/AhSQLmfbQ6Y
H/t reader kevin a.
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And Now The Weather … ‘First Time Ever’ Snowfall In Kuwait – Mexico Declares Emergency In 23 States Due To Severe Cold – etc.
– Cold kills almost 2,000 cattle in northern Vietnam:
Biting cold has brought snow to many places, including some that have never had it before.
– Iran – 7,450 people injured due to snow:
The vice president of the Red Crescent society said that of the 9,515 injured in the country during the last week, 7,450 of the injuries were related to snow.
This included 283 road accidents due to snow and blizzard.
– Mexico declares emergency in 23 states due to severe cold:
Applies to 446 municipalities
– Cold brings rare snowfalls to tropical Laos:
Snow has been reported across forested upland areas in northern Laos as extreme cold persists across much of Indochinese Peninsula,
U.S. To Deploy 4000 Troops To Kuwait For Possible Showdown With ISIS
Fort Carson brigade headed to Kuwait for possible showdown with ISIS
– Fort Carson brigade headed to Kuwait for possible showdown with ISIS (The Gazette, Feb 15, 2015):
As Congress mulls America’s war with the Islamic State terror group, more than 4,000 Fort Carson soldiers prepared Thursday to leave for Kuwait, where they will take over as America’s largest ground force in the troubled region.The 3rd Brigade Combat Team bid farewell to the post in a ceremony and soon will serve as U.S. Central Command’s Reserve force in the Middle East – the first soldiers into battle if a major combat force is used to battle Islamic State fighters.
Read moreU.S. To Deploy 4000 Troops To Kuwait For Possible Showdown With ISIS
It’s Not Just Russia: Middle East In FREEFALL, Biggest Plunge In 6 Years
– It’s Not Just Russia: Middle East In Freefall, Biggest Plunge In 6 Years (ZeroHedge, Dec 16, 2014):
Dubai’s Financial Market General Index is now down 40% since the peak in oil prices in June this year. For now, only Qatar is clinging to gains year-to-date as the rest of the Middle Eastern equity markets give up 30-60% gains from mid-year and tumble to negative. Dubai and Abu Dhabi alone are down over 8% since Friday. Saudi Arabia is down 7.3% today – the biggest drop in 6 years.
Saudi Arabia’s worst day in 6 years
Britain And The Kings Of Arabia (Documentary)
30.08.2014
Britain’s support of the authoritarian regimes of the Arabian Peninsula is deeply rooted in their vast economic and military interests through often corrupt partnership between the royal families. In this documentary the history of these relations are studied; and it shows how huge amounts of oil revenue is again invested in Britain by Arabian princesses instead of being spent on the people of these nations and where these funds are needed. The torture and murder of an Afghan laborer at the hands of an Abu Dhabi prince with the aid of the police is also depicted.
400 Missiles Stolen in Benghazi … 20,000 Missiles Stolen in Tripoli … 20,000 M-16s Stolen in Kuwait … Related?
– 400 Missiles Stolen in Benghazi… 20,000 Missiles Stolen in Tripoli… 20,000 M-16s Stolen in Kuwait… Related? ( The Daily Sheeple, Aug 14, 2013):
By now most have probably heard about the 400 surface-to-air missiles that were stolen in Benghazi. An attorney for the witnesses/whistleblowers came out in an interview with WMAL yesterday to drop this bombshell.
WMAL reports:
“I do not know whether [the missiles] were at the annex, but it is clear the annex was somehow involved in the process of the distribution of those missiles,” said DiGenova in an interview Monday with WMAL’s Mornings On The Mall.
How did DiGenova get this information? He told WMAL that ever since he and his wife and law partner, Victoria Toensing, began representing the Benghazi whistleblowers last spring, they have been contacted by several people eager to share information about what really happened the night of September 11, 2012, when four Americans were killed in the Consulate attack, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens.
Is The U.S. Going To Go To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline?
Impossible! … Oh, wait a minute:
Flashback:
Take a look at Afghanistan:
– Former UK ambassador Craig Murray ( The Raw Story):
…
IT’S THE PIPELINE, STUPID
Murray asserts that the primary motivation for US and British military involvement in central Asia has to do with large natural gas deposits in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. As evidence, he points to the plans to build a natural gas pipeline through Afghanistan that would allow Western oil companies to avoid Russia and Iran when transporting natural gas out of the region.
Murray alleged that in the late 1990s the Uzbek ambassador to the US met with then-Texas Governor George W. Bush to discuss a pipeline for the region, and out of that meeting came agreements that would see Texas-based Enron gain the rights to Uzbekistan’s natural gas deposits, while oil company Unocal worked on developing the Trans-Afghanistan pipeline.
“The consultant who was organizing this for Unocal was a certain Mr. Karzai, who is now president of Afghanistan,” Murray noted.
Murray said part of the motive in hyping up the threat of Islamic terrorism in Uzbekistan through forced confessions was to ensure the country remained on-side in the war on terror, so that the pipeline could be built.
“There are designs of this pipeline, and if you look at the deployment of US forces in Afghanistan, as against other NATO country forces in Afghanistan, you’ll see that undoubtedly the US forces are positioned to guard the pipeline route. It’s what it’s about. It’s about money, it’s about oil, it’s not about democracy.”
The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline is slated to be completed in 2014, with $7.6 billion in funding from the Asian Development Bank.
…
Well, it’s the pipeline, the opium (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6(!), 7(!), 8. 9(!)), mineral deposits and more.
We’re spreading democracy (almost everywhere now) and would certainly not do such evil things for the money, or would we?
– Is The United States Going To Go To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline? (Economic Collapse, Sep 3, 2013):
Why has the little nation of Qatar spent 3 billion dollars to support the rebels in Syria? Could it be because Qatar is the largest exporter of liquid natural gas in the world and Assad won’t let them build a natural gas pipeline through Syria? Of course. Qatar wants to install a puppet regime in Syria that will allow them to build a pipeline which will enable them to sell lots and lots of natural gas to Europe. Why is Saudi Arabia spending huge amounts of money to help the rebels and why has Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan been “jetting from covert command centers near the Syrian front lines to the Élysée Palace in Paris and the Kremlin in Moscow, seeking to undermine the Assad regime”? Well, it turns out that Saudi Arabia intends to install their own puppet government in Syria which will allow the Saudis to control the flow of energy through the region. On the other side, Russia very much prefers the Assad regime for a whole bunch of reasons. One of those reasons is that Assad is helping to block the flow of natural gas out of the Persian Gulf into Europe, thus ensuring higher profits for Gazprom. Now the United States is getting directly involved in the conflict. If the U.S. is successful in getting rid of the Assad regime, it will be good for either the Saudis or Qatar (and possibly for both), and it will be really bad for Russia. This is a strategic geopolitical conflict about natural resources, religion and money, and it really has nothing to do with chemical weapons at all.
Read moreIs The U.S. Going To Go To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline?
20,000 U.S. M-16 Assault Rifles Stolen From Unguarded Warehouse In Kuwait
– 20,000 U.S. M-16s stolen from unguarded warehouse in Kuwait (World Tribune April 9, 2013):
The Interior Ministry said thieves broke into a warehouse and stole a huge amount of firearms and ammunition. The ministry said 20,000 U.S.-origin M-16 assault rifles and 15,000 rounds for 9mm pistols were stolen.
“There were no guards during the break-in,” the ministry said on April 7.
Read more20,000 U.S. M-16 Assault Rifles Stolen From Unguarded Warehouse In Kuwait
Kuwait Forbids Gatherings Of More Than 20 People
– Kuwait forbids gatherings of more than 20 people amid protests (The Voice of Russia/Reuters, Oct 23, 2012):
While the opposition is denouncing the recent changes to the election law and calling to protest, Kuwait has put a ban on gatherings of more than 20 people without a permit from the authorities and gave police more powers to disperse protests, local media have reported today.
The changes to the election law undermine their chances in the vote which will take place on December 1, the opposition says.
Special Ops Con, Imaginary Warfare And Non-Existent Enemies (Veterans Today)
– Special Ops con, imaginary warfare and non-existent enemies (Veterans Today, Sep 7, 2012):
With an election book by a SEAL, real or imaginary, out now, it is time for an honest discussion of “Special Operations” from someone who has actually sat through “mission planning” sessions involving three continents.
Thus far, the quotes I have read, of finding an unidentified old man shot but not dead and then shooting his wounded body repeatedly makes sense.
Any old man would do as lying about who it is can easily be done under cloak of secrecy, like lying about the helicopter crash though photos of the downed “carbon fibre stealth helicopter” were in every paper.
Witness also so crash dead, crew and SEALS. We lied about that too.
Someone may have murdered an old man; we have no idea who neither did they. The whole thing was staged, go somewhere, kill an old man, claim it is Osama bin Laden, move General Petraeus to CIA and he can’t claim he killed bin Laden and run for president.
The whole thing was a political con.
Then, noting from this recent book that SEALS are obsessed with leaking information, we had a record number of SEAL deaths in an air crash in Afghanistan reported soon after, totaling as many dead SEALS as the entire Vietnam War.
Read moreSpecial Ops Con, Imaginary Warfare And Non-Existent Enemies (Veterans Today)
U.S. Army Mortuary Unit Deploys To Middle East
– Va. Army mortuary unit deploys to Middle East (Army Times/AP, July 18, 2012):
PETERSBURG, Va. — More than 40 soldiers from Fort Lee are deploying to Kuwait and Afghanistan.
Officials at the Army base near Petersburg say the soldiers from the 111th Quartermaster Company left Wednesday for an at least six-month deployment.
The soldiers are part of one of the Army’s only two active duty mortuary affairs units.
US Plans Significant Military Presence Of 13,500 Troops In Kuwait
– US plans significant military presence in Kuwait (Seattle Times, June 19, 2012):
The United States is planning a significant military presence of 13,500 troops in Kuwait to give it the flexibility to respond to sudden conflicts in the region as Iraq adjusts to the withdrawal of American combat forces and the world nervously eyes Iran, according to a congressional report.
WASHINGTON — The United States is planning a significant military presence of 13,500 troops in Kuwait to give it the flexibility to respond to sudden conflicts in the region as Iraq adjusts to the withdrawal of American combat forces and the world nervously eyes Iran, according to a congressional report.The study by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee examined the U.S. relationship with the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman – against a fast-moving backdrop. In just the last two days, Saudi Arabia’s ruler named Defense Minister Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz as the country’s new crown prince after last week’s death of Prince Nayef, and Kuwait’s government suspended parliament for a month over an internal political feud.
Read moreUS Plans Significant Military Presence Of 13,500 Troops In Kuwait
The 21st-century African land grab by rich countries facing global food and water shortages
Highly recommended article.
An Observer investigation reveals how rich countries faced by a global food shortage now farm an area double the size of the UK to guarantee supplies for their citizens
A woman tends vegetables at a giant Saudi-financed farm in Ethiopia.
We turned off the main road to Awassa, talked our way past security guards and drove a mile across empty land before we found what will soon be Ethiopia’s largest greenhouse. Nestling below an escarpment of the Rift Valley, the development is far from finished, but the plastic and steel structure already stretches over 20 hectares – the size of 20 football pitches.
The farm manager shows us millions of tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables being grown in 500m rows in computer controlled conditions. Spanish engineers are building the steel structure, Dutch technology minimises water use from two bore-holes and 1,000 women pick and pack 50 tonnes of food a day. Within 24 hours, it has been driven 200 miles to Addis Ababa and flown 1,000 miles to the shops and restaurants of Dubai, Jeddah and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Ethiopia is one of the hungriest countries in the world with more than 13 million people needing food aid, but paradoxically the government is offering at least 3m hectares of its most fertile land to rich countries and some of the world’s most wealthy individuals to export food for their own populations.
The 1,000 hectares of land which contain the Awassa greenhouses are leased for 99 years to a Saudi billionaire businessman, Ethiopian-born Sheikh Mohammed al-Amoudi, one of the 50 richest men in the world. His Saudi Star company plans to spend up to $2bn acquiring and developing 500,000 hectares of land in Ethiopia in the next few years. So far, it has bought four farms and is already growing wheat, rice, vegetables and flowers for the Saudi market. It expects eventually to employ more than 10,000 people.
But Ethiopia is only one of 20 or more African countries where land is being bought or leased for intensive agriculture on an immense scale in what may be the greatest change of ownership since the colonial era.
An Observer investigation estimates that up to 50m hectares of land – an area more than double the size of the UK – has been acquired in the last few years or is in the process of being negotiated by governments and wealthy investors working with state subsidies. The data used was collected by Grain, the International Institute for Environment and Development, the International Land Coalition, ActionAid and other non-governmental groups.
The land rush, which is still accelerating, has been triggered by the worldwide food shortages which followed the sharp oil price rises in 2008, growing water shortages and the European Union’s insistence that 10% of all transport fuel must come from plant-based biofuels by 2015.
Read moreThe 21st-century African land grab by rich countries facing global food and water shortages
Arab states agree on single currency modelled on the euro in latest threat to dollar hegemony
The Arab states of the Gulf region have agreed to launch a single currency modelled on the euro, hoping to blaze a trail towards a pan-Arab monetary union swelling to the ancient borders of the Ummayad Caliphate.
Traders at the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange
“The Gulf monetary union pact has come into effect,” said Kuwait’s finance minister, Mustafa al-Shamali, speaking at a Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) summit in Kuwait.
The move will give the hyper-rich club of oil exporters a petro-currency of their own, greatly increasing their influence in the global exchange and capital markets and potentially displacing the US dollar as the pricing currency for oil contracts. Between them they amount to regional superpower with a GDP of $1.2 trillion (£739bn), some 40pc of the world’s proven oil reserves, and financial clout equal to that of China.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar are to launch the first phase next year, creating a Gulf Monetary Council that will evolve quickly into a full-fledged central bank.
The Emirates are staying out for now – irked that the bank will be located in Riyadh at the insistence of Saudi King Abdullah rather than in Abu Dhabi. They are expected join later, along with Oman.
The Gulf states remain divided over the wisdom of anchoring their economies to the US dollar. The Gulf currency – dubbed “Gulfo” – is likely to track a global exchange basket and may ultimately float as a regional reserve currency in its own right. “The US dollar has failed. We need to delink,” said Nahed Taher, chief executive of Bahrain’s Gulf One Investment Bank.
The project is inspired by Europe’s monetary union, seen as a huge success in the Arab world. But there are concerns that the region is trying to run before it can walk.
The demise of the US dollar
From the article:
“These plans will change the face of international financial transactions,” one Chinese banker said. “America and Britain must be very worried. You will know how worried by the thunder of denials this news will generate.”
Robert Fisk’s report is accurate and the following denial is just disinformation:
– Oil states say no talks on replacing dollar (Reuters):
ISTANBUL/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Big oil producing nations denied a British newspaper report on Tuesday that Gulf Arab states were in secret talks with Russia, China, Japan and France to replace the U.S. dollar with a basket of currencies in trading oil.
The dollar eased in response to the report, which was written by The Independent’s Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk and cited unidentified sources in Gulf Arab states and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong.
The plan is to bring down the US. The US constitution is still a major threat to the ‘New World Order’ and the elite.
US citizens need to be disarmed, their freedoms and the dollar need to be destroyed, so that the new global currency and the ‘New World Order’ can be established.
The elite wants to turn the US into a Third World country.
Prepare yourself for the greatest collapse in history.
Got gold (silver, food, water, guns and ammunition)?
– Gold Jumps to Record High as Inflation Outlook Fuels Investor Demand
In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading
Iran announced late last month that its foreign currency reserves would henceforth be held in euros rather than dollars.
In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.
Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.
The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.
The Americans, who are aware the meetings have taken place – although they have not discovered the details – are sure to fight this international cabal which will include hitherto loyal allies Japan and the Gulf Arabs. Against the background to these currency meetings, Sun Bigan, China’s former special envoy to the Middle East, has warned there is a risk of deepening divisions between China and the US over influence and oil in the Middle East. “Bilateral quarrels and clashes are unavoidable,” he told the Asia and Africa Review. “We cannot lower vigilance against hostility in the Middle East over energy interests and security.”
This sounds like a dangerous prediction of a future economic war between the US and China over Middle East oil – yet again turning the region’s conflicts into a battle for great power supremacy. China uses more oil incrementally than the US because its growth is less energy efficient. The transitional currency in the move away from dollars, according to Chinese banking sources, may well be gold. An indication of the huge amounts involved can be gained from the wealth of Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar who together hold an estimated $2.1 trillion in dollar reserves.
United Arab Emirates exit leaves Gulf currency plan on brink of failure
Saudi Arabia dwarfs other states in the region and analysts say there is concern that a common currency would serve to concentrate power in Riyadh
A project to establish a common currency for the Gulf has been dealt a near-fatal blow with the decision by the United Arab Emirates to abandon monetary union after disagreement with Saudi Arabia over the location of a future central bank.
The loss of the Emirates to the currency project could accelerate decisions within some Gulf states to diverge from Saudi Arabia’s desire to maintain a currency peg with the dollar. This could lead eventually to the UAE, the Gulf’s most sophisticated economy, floating its dirham, analysts in the region said.
The UAE attributed its decision to quit the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) project to the choice of Saudi Arabia as host of the key monetary institution.
Evidence of mounting rivalry and distrust between the Gulf’s two biggest economies emerged two weeks ago, when a meeting of the GCC voted to locate the central bank in Riyadh. UAE officials expressed reservations about the decision. The choice of Riyadh would enhance the physical presence of Saudi Arabia within the GCC, as the organisation’s secretariat is already headquartered in the Saudi capital.
The UAE is the second state in the six-member GCC to pull out of the common currency, which was due to be launched next year. Oman had said already that it would not take part, but the loss of the Emirates, which has the greatest international trading links, makes it unlikely that the project will get off the ground.
Read moreUnited Arab Emirates exit leaves Gulf currency plan on brink of failure
Profits of Kuwaiti listed firms nosedive 90 pct
Kuwait Stock Exchange has dived more than 53% since late June
Global economic downturn hits 2008 profits of 172 firms listed on Kuwait Stock exchange.
KUWAIT CITY – Overall net profits of Kuwaiti firms listed on the Kuwait Stock exchange plummeted by more than 90 percent last year due to the global economic meltdown, an economic study said on Sunday.
Arab countries have lost $2.5 trillion in the past four months
 Kuwait City’s stock exchange lost 38% of its value last year |
The global economic crisis has cost Arab countries $2,500bn (£1,690bn) in the last four months alone, according to Kuwait’s foreign minister.
Sheikh Mohammed al-Sabah told reporters in Kuwait City that oil-rich Gulf Arab states had postponed or cancelled 60% of development projects.
He did not give details for his figures, which were released days before an Arab Economic Summit.
Stock market falls and a low oil price have contributed to the losses.
The biggest loss was an estimated 40% drop in the value of Arab investments abroad, which had previously totalled around $2.5tn, AFP news agency reports.
“The Arab world has lost $2.5 trillion in the past four months,” Mr Sabah said after meeting fellow foreign and finance ministers.
Related articles:
– Abu Dhabi Wealth Fund Loss May Be $125 Billion, Saudi Overtakes, Says CFR
– Oil Slump Forces Rich Arab Countries to Run Deficits
– Once Booming Dubai Goes Bust
Kuwait City is due to open a two-day Arab Economic Summit on Monday, the first of its kind.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa earlier described the meeting of 22 heads of state as “the largest and most important” Arab event of 2009.
Page last updated at 04:42 GMT, Saturday, 17 January 2009
Source: BBC NEWS
Oil Slump Forces Rich Arab Countries to Run Deficits
What Lindsey Williams said is coming to pass:
The elite is bankrupting the Arabs and driving them back into the desert by keeping the price of oil below $50/barrel. (Here)
Related article: Once Booming Dubai Goes Bust
Oil is taken for sampling by staff at the Esso oil refinery in Slagentangen, Norway, on May 15, 2008. Photographer: Heidi Wideroe/Bloomberg News
Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) — Tumbling oil prices are forcing many of the richest Persian Gulf states to record budget deficits and limit a critical source of foreign investment for poorer Arab countries.
Central bank governors and finance ministers from the 22- member Arab League gathered in Kuwait City today for a week of meetings on the global financial crisis and Gulf efforts to create a single currency. The conference opened with a minute of silence for the more than 900 Palestinians killed in a 2 1/2-week Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Crude is now selling at below the budget break-even point for seven of the Arab world’s 10 top oil producers and Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest exporter, is forecasting its first deficit in at least seven years. Poorer Arab states are facing a fall in foreign investment with Egypt expecting inflows to almost halve this year, according to EFG-Hermes Holding SAE, the largest Arab investment bank by market value.
“We have to find ways to limit the impact which could hurt the Arab economy and make sure economic growth in Arab countries continues at appropriate levels,” Kuwaiti Finance Minister Mustafa Jassim al-Shimali said, referring to the global crisis. “We are not immune to its negative effects.”
Read moreOil Slump Forces Rich Arab Countries to Run Deficits
Gulf stocks plummet in turbulent year; Dubai shedding almost three quarters of its value
KUWAIT CITY: Stock markets in the Gulf states yesterday ended 2008 sharply lower as the energy-dependent economies were battered by the global financial crisis while oil prices plummeted. Most of the seven markets witnessed their worst year ever with the bourse of the bustling Dubai shedding almost three quarters of its value and the Saudi market, the largest in the Arab world, slumping by more than half.
Related interview:
– Lindsey Williams: The Dollar And The US Will Collapse; Saudi Arabia And Dubai Will Fall; US Will Be Third World Country; The Greatest Depression Is Coming
– More Gulf industrial projects at risk after Dow
More than $515bn were wiped off of their market value as their capitalisation stood at just $600bn compared to $1.116 trillion at the end of 2007. “It was a year of contradictions as share prices rose sharply in the first half but nosedived in the second half similar to the oil price scenario,” Kuwaiti economist Hajjaj Bukhdur said.
“The impact of the global financial crisis on the Gulf economies was much deeper than initially thought. Gulf stocks slumped even more than bourses in the West where the crisis began,” Bukhdur said. The Saudi Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) dropped 56.5 percent to close the year at 4,802.99 points, down from 11,175.96 points at the end of 2007. It was pulled down by a sharp slide in the leading banks and petrochemicals sectors.
Kuwait Stock Exchange, the second largest in the Arab world, shed 38 percent to finish the year at 7,782.60 points, almost a four-year low. However, it was down 50.3 percent from its all-time high set in late June. In the United Arab Emirates, the Dubai Financial Market slid 72.4 percent to close at 1,636.29 points, near its four-year low.
Read moreGulf stocks plummet in turbulent year; Dubai shedding almost three quarters of its value
Dow Chemical’s $9 Billion Kuwait Venture Canceled by Government
From the article: “They said the investment was too large at a time of falling oil prices.”
Connect this to what Lindsey Williams said in his interview with Alex Jones:
Lindsey Williams: The Dollar And The US Will Collapse; Saudi Arabia And Dubai Will Fall; US Will Be Third World Country; The Greatest Depression Is Coming
Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) — Kuwait canceled a $9 billion joint venture with Dow Chemical Co., the biggest U.S. chemical company, following weeks of opposition from lawmakers.
Scrapping the Dow venture with Kuwait’s Petrochemical Industries Co. may leave the U.S. company short of cash it planned to spend on the $15.4 billion acquisition of Rohm & Haas Co. The Kuwaiti government was been under pressure from opposition lawmakers to scrap the deal, which they said was overpriced and came at the wrong time.
Read moreDow Chemical’s $9 Billion Kuwait Venture Canceled by Government
Rich countries launch great land grab to safeguard food supply
- States and companies target developing nations
- Small farmers at risk from industrial-scale deals
Rich governments and corporations are triggering alarm for the poor as they buy up the rights to millions of hectares of agricultural land in developing countries in an effort to secure their own long-term food supplies.
The head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, Jacques Diouf, has warned that the controversial rise in land deals could create a form of “neo-colonialism”, with poor states producing food for the rich at the expense of their own hungry people.
Rising food prices have already set off a second “scramble for Africa”. This week, the South Korean firm Daewoo Logistics announced plans to buy a 99-year lease on a million hectares in Madagascar. Its aim is to grow 5m tonnes of corn a year by 2023, and produce palm oil from a further lease of 120,000 hectares (296,000 acres), relying on a largely South African workforce. Production would be mainly earmarked for South Korea, which wants to lessen dependence on imports.
“These deals can be purely commercial ventures on one level, but sitting behind it is often a food security imperative backed by a government,” said Carl Atkin, a consultant at Bidwells Agribusiness, a Cambridge firm helping to arrange some of the big international land deals.
Read moreRich countries launch great land grab to safeguard food supply