Iraq doesn’t want to be caught in a “tug of war” between the U.S. and Iran, according to the chief executive officer of a UAE-based oil and gas company. “It’s perhaps a bit late, but (Iraq is) trying to avoid becoming — long term — a battleground between the two sides,” Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday. Tensions between Washington and Tehran escalated earlier this month after a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad killed Iran’s top military commander Qasem S

DAVOS, Switzerland — Between 6,000 and 8,000 people, including world leaders, staff, security and the media are fed every day from the Davos kitchen during the World Economic Forum (WEF). Well, they are not eating in a Michelin star restaurant — there is no caviar or foie gras — the man feeding the Davos elite told CNBC Monday. “Everybody thinks we are serving caviar, we have never served one gram of caviar,” said Christophe Guiraud, food and beverage manager at the annual meeting, of the twelve

For decades, political and economic policies have been built on the promise of helping people do better than the generations before them. But still today, in 2020, the opportunities we get in life remain largely dictated by the socio-economic circumstances we’re born into. That’s the finding of a new report from the World Economic Forum, which says that most countries are failing to stamp out historical inequalities that prevent people from realizing their full potential. Social mobility refers

Travel-related stocks in Asia fell on Tuesday amid growing fears surrounding an outbreak of a mysterious virus in China that has killed four people so far. Hong Kong-listed shares of China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines dropped 6.7% and 6.51%, respectively, and Cathay Pacific plummeted 4.07%. Outside China, cases have also been confirmed in Thailand, Japan and South Korea, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. SARS killed 800 people — most of them from China

Facebook is set to hire another 1,000 people in the U.K by the end of 2020. London, where Facebook has over 3,000 employees, is home to the company’s largest software engineering hub outside the U.S. A key focus of the growth plans will be boosting the tech giant’s efforts to tackle toxic content. The company is set to employ more people in its team devoted to building tools to identify and remove harmful content across its Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms. The availability

U.S. stock index futures were lower on Tuesday as concerns over a new strain of pneumonia in China spooked risk investment worldwide. ET, Dow futures dropped 96 points, indicating an implied negative open of more than 125 points. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were also lower. Late on Monday, Chinese authorities confirmed that the virus is contagious. Experts called back the economic fallout from the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis in 2003, and the news sent investors f

Those forecasts were detailed in an update to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook report, which is widely read by both public and private sectors globally. Here are five charts that show the fund’s latest assessments of the world economy. Global recoveryThe IMF has forecast the global economy to rebound to 3.3% this year from an estimated 2.9% last year. China’s upgradeChina’s growth forecast for 2020 was revised higher by 0.2 percentage points to 6.0%, according to the IMF. These are the IMF’s gro

The outbreak of a new coronavirus stemming from Wuhan, China has killed four people with confirmed cases totaling more than 200 ahead of the massive Lunar New Year holiday during which hundreds of millions of people are expected to travel. As of Monday evening, the number of confirmed cases in China stood at 218 — with 198 in Wuhan — and four known deaths. SARS, a severe epidemic which emerged in China in 2002, killed nearly 800 people worldwide. “I remember the SARS outbreak very, very clearly

People walk around the city with their umbrellas for the first time in months on January 17, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. More than 80% of Australian business executives believe climate change will damage their companies, a paper published on Tuesday showed, the highest percentage recorded out of business leaders in 19 countries surveyed. With the crisis illustrating the threat of a changing climate, a Deloitte survey of global business leaders showed 81% of Australian executives believe climate c

Some medical workers have also tested positive for the virus, the English-language China Daily newspaper reported. The head of a Chinese government expert team said Monday that human-to-human transmission has been confirmed in an outbreak of a new coronavirus, a development that raises the possibility that it could spread more quickly and widely. Wuhan health authorities said Monday an additional 136 cases have been confirmed in the city, raising the total to 198. The outbreak has put other coun

Stocks in Asia were little changed in morning trade on Tuesday, with the Bank of Japan (BoJ) set to release its quarterly outlook report as well as its interest rate decision later in the day. The Nikkei 225 in Japan was slightly lower in early trade while the Topix index was largely flat. The Bank of Japan is set to release its quarterly outlook report at around 11:00 a.m. HK/SIN, which could provide clues regarding the direction of the central bank’s monetary policy. The BoJ will also announce

advertisingFor console players, the complete Monster Hunter World: Iceborne roadmap that was published on Twitter is a little underwhelming, as Capcom focuses on catching up the PC version. Hunters, here is the latest Monster Hunter World: #Iceborne Title Update Roadmap for 2020. pic.twitter.com/abph3jYot8 — The Accursed Undead (@TheAccursedOne) January 19, 2020Monster Hunter World has been a huge success for Capcom, and the ongoing expansion is no exception. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is av

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a pretty awesome homage to the anime that many gamers grew up loving. advertisingRELATED: Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Doesn’t Feature Dragon Ball Super, But Should It? Dragon Ball Z is an incredibly popular anime in the United States, and while Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is missing some major anime moments, the game’s story follows the show’s arcs pretty closely. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. MORE: Funny Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Glitch Sees Yamc

Capcom has shared the development roadmap for Monster Hunter World: Iceborne , confirming that content updates – which currently see console players get new content sooner than their PC pals – will “sync” from April this year. Hunters, here is the latest Monster Hunter World: #Iceborne Title Update Roadmap for 2020.Content will sync up on PS4, Xbox One & PC starting in April. pic.twitter.com/yYhk013yaPJanuary 19, 2020And just in case you were wondering, yes, the Resident Evil / Monster Hunter Wo

Ubisoft is suing the owners of a website that it believes facilitated denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks organised to take down the servers it uses to run Rainbow Six Siege . The website cited in the filing offers payment plans to clients ostensibly looking to “test” website security against DDoS attacks. However, Ubisoft purports to have evidence that the website not only targeted its own servers, but also that “Fortnite, FIFA 20, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4” servers are “potential targets

The Xiaomi Mi Watch is still only available in the company’s home market of China, but the device is now better than ever thanks to a software update. The latest upgrade for Xiaomi’s Wear OS device brings a body energy feature to the smartwatch for the first time. The update also brings a new stress monitoring mechanic to the Xiaomi Mi Watch as well as a way for it to light up when you get a notification. Given that the Mi Watch was announced back in November, we’re hoping Xiaomi will launch the

An image detailing the contents of the Year 5 pass for Rainbow Six Siege has popped up online. Details of the latest pass – not to be confused with the battle pass, of course – intimates we’ll see fewer Operators this time around, as well as the removal of the usual 600 R6 credits, with many players speculating they’ll be bundled in the battle pass instead. “The Year 5 Pass reflects this direction focused on features that benefit all players, not just those playing the newest Operators. It will

Google’s Chrome browser is the most popular browser in the world, but it’s also notorious for gobbling up RAM and battery life faster than market share – but it looks like Microsoft has found a way to reduce its battery consumption – on Windows 10 devices, at least. Back in August 2019, Microsoft spotted a way of potentially reducing Chrome’s power consumption, which impacts battery life, by preventing unnecessary disk caching when users watch videos. When the browser uses disk caching, that kee

Capcom has released a graphic with the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne update roadmap for the first half of 2020, through May, with detailed information on January through April. Notably, the PC version of Iceborne will be synchronized with the console version in April—-both versions will have the same content. Hunters, here is the latest Monster Hunter World: #Iceborne Title Update Roadmap for 2020.Content will sync up on PS4, Xbox One & PC starting in April. pic.twitter.com/yYhk013yaPJanuary 19

The Elder Scrolls 6 could be heading into full production at Bethesda Game Studios, as newly discovered vacancies posted on the developer’s website has led fans to believe that it’s finishing up work on upcoming sci-fi RPG Starfield, and finally moving onto the next instalment in the acclaimed fantasy series. As first spotted by a user on Reddit, Bethesda Game Studios is hiring for a number of programmers to push “the bleeding-edge of RPG development for the PC and consoles” and assist with the