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At least 18 people were killed and another 18 injured in a fire at foot massage parlor in Zhejiang province of China on Sunday. Authorities have detained those in charge of the foot massage parlor in the eastern China. The official Xinhua News Agency gave no further details and the cause of the fire was under investigation on Monday.  Workers jumped out of windows to escape the blaze, which broke out at the Zuxintang parlor at around 4:00 pm. China has struggled to improve workplace safety and change a deep-rooted business mentality that puts profits above all else. Recent disasters include an explosion at a hazardous material warehouse in the eastern city of Tianjin in August 2015 that killed at least 114 people, according to AP.....

Published at: 2017-02-06 00:00:05

Cameroon ended their 15-year wait for a Nations Cup title when they came from behind to beat Egypt 2-1 on Sunday, a success that vindicated coach Hugo Broos' decision to overhaul the Central African nation's squad, reports Reuters. The Belgian has endured a testing relationship with local media since being appointed in February last year, receiving criticism for axing some of the team's experienced campaigners and placing his faith in lesser known players. However, Broos was rewarded for his bravery as his revamped squad secured the trophy when substitute Vincent Aboubakar scored a superb late winner after Nicolas Nkoulou's header on the hour cancelled out Mohamed Elneny's opener for Egypt. "When I came to Cameroon a year ago, I found a group of players that were old and unmotivated," Broos told reporters. "I had to change that. "Players were coming to play without enthusiasm, not to play for the national team but because they had to, because the coach invited them," he added. "So I changed the team a bit, brought some new young players in and I think it's worked." Egypt were able to call upon the likes of experienced duo Ahmed Fathi and keeper Essam El Hadary, who have seven Nations Cup titles between them, while for Cameroon only Nkoulou had played in a Nations Cup knockout match before this campaign. In the absence of key figures such as Joel Matip, Aurelien Chedjou, and Eric-Maxim Choupo Moting, youngsters Christian Bassogog and Fabrice Ondoa along with influential centre-back Michael Ngadeu Ngadjui have proved up to the task. "Taking revenge on journalists is the most stupid thing a coach can do," Broos added, when asked whether he was glad to have proved the local media wrong. "I work to get results, and I'm extremely happy to have won the Nations Cup." "This is a good beginning," he said. "I have no problems with the press criticising my players, but I just ask that it's fair and that they're objective. I hope that now we've won the cup, our relationship with the media will improve."....

Published at: 2017-02-06 00:00:05

Asian shares were mostly higher Monday, cheered by the rise on Wall Street after President Donald Trump moved to scale back regulations on the financial industry last week.  Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.1 per cent to 18,934.18. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost earlier gains and inched down 0.1 per cent to 5,615.50. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.2 per cent to 2,078.03.  Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.6 per cent at 23,272.88, while the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.5 per cent to 3,154.78. Benchmarks were also higher in Taiwan and Singapore. US stocks were higher on Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 186.55 points, or 0.9 per cent, to finish the week at 20,071.46. The S&P 500 rose 16.57 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 2,297.42.  The Nasdaq composite picked up 30.57 points, or 0.5 per cent, to close at a record high of 5,666.77. Benchmark US crude added 17 cents to $54.00 a barrel in New York. It added 29 cents to $53.83 a barrel Friday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 18 cents to $56.99 a barrel in London. The dollar slipped to 112.53 yen from 112.89 yen Friday. The euro rose to $1.0775 from $ $1.0749, according to AP.....

Published at: 2017-02-06 00:00:05

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) witnessed upward trend in early hours on Monday as optimistic investors were active on some large-cap issues. After 30 minutes of trading, the key index of the country’s prime bourse advanced 47.28 points while the Selective Category Index of port city bourse rose 66.96 points when the report was filed at 11:00am. DSEX went up by 47.28 points or 0.89 per cent to stand at 5,370.15 points when the report was filed at 11:00am. The two other indices also saw upward trend. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips advanced 17.40 points or 0.88 per cent to stand at 1969.82 points. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) gained 9.20 points or 0.74 per cent to reach at 1,258.56 points. Turnover, the crucial indicator of the market, stands at Tk 1.04 billion on the DSE, when the report was filed riding on LankaBangla Finance and ACI Formulations. Of the issues traded till then, 205 advanced, 38 declined and 13 issues remained unchanged till 11:00am. LankaBangla dominated the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 110 million changing hands till then, closely followed by ACI Formulations Tk 85 million, Appollo Ispat Complex Tk 72 million, Beximco Tk 45 million and Saif Powertec Tk 42 million. The port city bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also saw upward trend with its Selective Category Index – CSCX – advancing 66.96 points to stand at 10,034.36 points, also at 11:00am. Of the issues traded till then, 89 gained, 19 declined and 8 remained unchanged with a turnover value of Tk 55 million. -bb/rmc//....

Published at: 2017-02-06 00:00:05

Oil prices edged up on Monday on fears that new US sanctions against Iran could be extended to affect crude supplies, but markets were capped by further signs of growing US production. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen since a recent Iranian ballistic missile test which prompted US President Donald Trump's administration to impose sanctions on individuals and entities linked to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards military unit. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $56.91 per barrel at 0320 GMT, up 10 cents from their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up 8 cents at $53.91 a barrel. Traders said the strain between Tehran and the United States raised concerns that US sanctions could be tightened further to impact Iranian oil exports, which were only allowed to return to normal last year. "This was countered somewhat by data showing another strong rise in rig activity in the US," ANZ bank said on Monday. US drillers added 17 oil rigs in the week to Feb 3, bringing the total count up to 583, the most since October 2015, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc said on Friday. Rising US production undermines efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers like Russia to a end global oil oversupply by cutting their output by a planned average of almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of the year. Also delaying the market rebalancing are OPEC's efforts to shield its biggest customers in Asia from the cuts, as the group reduces supplies to regions in Europe and North America where demand growth is slower or where other suppliers are more dominant. This is evident in price movements. Brent crude futures are more than 2 per cent below their peak in early January, when the cuts started. Further downward pressure could come from a slowdown in Chinese imports, a core pillar of global demand growth over the past years. "China's crude oil imports will soften in H117, due to a heavy refinery maintenance season and weaker run-rates at the independent teapot refineries," BMI Research said. "Up to 900,000 bpd of refining capacity - equivalent to 6.0 per cent of total refining capacity - could be shut at various points over the Q117-Q217 period, dragging on imports," it added. A reduction in the import quotas for China's independent refiners will also weigh on the overall import demand, said BMI. The researchers noted that the first round of 2017 licenses were 6.7 per cent lower at 68.81 million tonnes than the year ago period.  ....

Published at: 2017-02-06 00:00:05