Mario Draghi’s grilling by European lawmakers on Monday is the highlight of a critical few days for the European Central Bank as the president considers whether more stimulus is needed to overcome the euro-area slowdown.
Less than three weeks before their final meeting of the year, ECB officials are working on economic projections that will help determine whether their €2.6 trillion (Dh10.8tn) bond-buying programme should be capped as planned. The latest signs -- including a German contraction, a budget standoff in Italy, and heightened global trade tensions -- are testing their conviction that the expansion is intact.
Investors are on the lookout for any sign that bond purchases will be extended or alternative measures such as more long-term loans to banks are on the agenda.
Mr Draghi will be in Brussels a day after the city hosts a summit to sign off on a Brexit deal for the UK’s divorce from the European Union. That would clear at least one of the uncertainties clouding the fragile economic outlook.
In the hours before he’s quizzed by lawmakers, Germany’s Ifo index of business confidence should give an insight into how trade tensions are affecting the region’s biggest economy. Data on Friday showed the weakest private-sector growth in almost four years. Mr Draghi’s top lieutenants are also scheduled to speak: Peter Praet in Frankfurt and Benoit Coeure in Vienna.
Italy -- the key source of political and market tension within the euro area as it fights with the EU over its budget -- reports confidence data on Tuesday. A bigger test comes on Thursday when it holds a bond auction, a week after a sale drew unexpectedly weak demand from retail investors.
The ECB will publish its twice-yearly Financial Stability Review the same day, and Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau will speak in Rome.
The week rounds off with the latest reading of euro-zone inflation, the final one before the policy decision.
The ECB’s Governing Council will hold a non-monetary policy meeting on December 5 -- though it would surprise no one if monetary matters arose. Italian purchasing managers indexes will be published the same day, and Mr Draghi will open a colloquium on banking.
Central bankers then go into a one-week quiet period, but important data will keep coming in. Germany reports factory orders and industrial output, and the euro zone gets a breakdown of third-quarter gross domestic product.
German investor sentiment and euro-area industrial output will be the last important figures before the Governing Council publishes its decision at 1:45 p.m. Frankfurt time on December 13.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Scores
Scotland 54-17 Fiji
England 15-16 New Zealand
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20ASI%20(formerly%20DigestAI)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Quddus%20Pativada%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Artificial%20intelligence%2C%20education%20technology%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%243%20million-plus%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20GSV%20Ventures%2C%20Character%2C%20Mark%20Cuban%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
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How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
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The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
