BOGOTA: Colombia's presidential election on Sunday will decide the future of peace with Marxist rebels and the nation's economic model as candidates from across the political spectrum compete with promises of jobs, safer streets and a crackdown on graft.Right-wing contender Ivan Duque, a protégé of former President Alvaro Uribe, has long been polling ahead of five other candidates with about 40 percent of the vote.Running second with about 30 percent is leftist former M19 rebel Gustavo Petro, a combative populist who has galvanized support from millions of young people fed up with Colombia's right-wing status quo.If no candidate gets over 50 percent, the top two will go to a second round on June 17. Unreliable polls mean centrist Sergio Fajardo and center-right German Vargas may have a shot.At stake is whether Latin America's fourth-largest economy will abandon its traditionally market-friendly posture, as well as the future of the peace deal with Revolutionary Armed Forces … [Read more...] about Colombian election to decide future of economy, peace deal
Marked to market futures example
Do market rises mark the start of another Bitcoin hustle?
crypto-currenciesmarkets questioned Some are predicting Bitcoin will hit the 250K mark, others are saying cryptos are total frauds. What's going on? Markets are rising again, that's what By Richard Cook April 16, 2018 7:18 PM (UTC+8) Share Tweet Linkedin Print Email Share 0 Comment 0 While the crypto world seems full of optimism once again, after most crypto-currencies surged in value last week, the reasons behind the price surge remain less clear. But what is certain is the rise certainly brought the good-time crypto crystal ball-gazers out in force. The dailyReport Must-reads from across Asia - directly to your inbox At the end of last week the price sat just above the $8,000 mark, representing a more than a 30 percent rise from the start of April. And this where it has hovered since. This rise was at its sharpest on Thursday, when Bitcoin witnessed the biggest one-hour trade volume in its history and also saw its price pushed up by more than $1,000 in a period of … [Read more...] about Do market rises mark the start of another Bitcoin hustle?
Syrians in Raqqa afraid, angry and frustrated as they try to rebuild 6 months after Daesh’s ouster
By Sarah El Deeb The Associated Press Mon., April 9, 2018 RAQQA, Syria— Across the ruins of Raqqa, the streets are cloaked in grey, the colour of bare cement and rubble left behind by the bombing campaign that finally drove out Daesh militants. Among the people of this Syrian city, the fear, anger and desperation are palpable. Six months after Daesh’s ouster, residents feel they have been abandoned as the world moves on. They are trying to rebuild their lives, but they say they fear everyone around them: the Kurdish-led militia that administers the majority Arab city; the Syrian government, which has forces nearby; criminal gangs who kidnap or rob whoever shows signs of having money; and Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, militants who may still be hiding among the people. “Daesh is still among us,” said a businessman. To give an example, he said, a man lobbed a hand grenade at a recent funeral when mourners played music, something hard-line … [Read more...] about Syrians in Raqqa afraid, angry and frustrated as they try to rebuild 6 months after Daesh’s ouster
How to relieve the pressure on Earth
MEDELLIN (Colombia) • Chicken or beef? Think carefully: Your choice can help determine the future of the planet. After raising the alarm last Friday about the fight for survival of many animal and plant species, which they lay at the door of mankind, scientists stressed that we can still redeem ourselves. And it does not have to be that difficult. "We do not all have to become vegetarians," said Dr Robert Watson, an atmospheric scientist and head of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which brought out the first major global species assessment in 13 years. "But a more balanced diet - less beef, more chicken, more vegetables... can really help relieve the pressure." The IPBES reports, released at a major environmental conference in Medellin, are meant to guide governments in policymaking. But their authors stressed that we all have a role to play. When it comes to diet, for example, Dr Mark Rounsevell, a professor of … [Read more...] about How to relieve the pressure on Earth
Inside the Ivy League’s new startup factory — the tech grad school trying to mint the next generation of Mark Zuckerbergs
caption Cornell Tech grad students John Quinn, Noshin Nisa, Kiyan Rajabi, and Carolina Peisch talk before their Startup Studio class. source Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider Cornell Tech is a new graduate school in New York City that wants to “build a better digital future.” The Studio Program, the school’s core curriculum, helps students build a company from conception to prototype. Over Cornell Tech’s six-year history, 40 startups have raised around $32 million in funding. “We are definitely not the startup school,” Daniel Huttenlocher, the dean of Cornell Tech, said to me recently. One might be forgiven for thinking so. Cornell Tech, a joint partnership between Cornell University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the oldest university in Israel, was born from a public competition launched in 2010 by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg to develop an … [Read more...] about Inside the Ivy League’s new startup factory — the tech grad school trying to mint the next generation of Mark Zuckerbergs