Time magazine named US President-elect Donald Trump its person of the year on Wednesday, citing the upheaval in American politics brought about by the New York businessman’s election campaign and victory. “It’s hard to measure the scale of his disruption,” Time said in its announcement, noting Trump’s career as real estate magnate and reality television star before he won the presidency on Nov 8. The Republican president-elect, who will be sworn in on Jan 20, ran an unconventional and controversial campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton. Time noted that views of him were deeply divided. “For those who believe this is all for the better, Trump’s victory represents a long-overdue rebuke to an entrenched and arrogant governing class,” the magazine said. “For those who see it as for the worse, the destruction extends to cherished norms of civility and discourse, a politics poisoned by vile streams of racism, sexism, nativism.” The magazine said its short list for person of the year included Clinton, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and singer Beyonce.

The IMF left its global economic forecasts unchanged into 2017 but called on governments to take action against the threats of low growth and protectionism. With Britain voting to secede from the European Union and US presidential candidates disfavoring open borders, the International Monetary Fund said populist politics imperiled free trade and economic growth. Global output is expected to grow this year by 3.1 percent before rising to 3.4 percent next year, estimates that are unchanged from July, according to the IMF´s new World Economic Outlook report. The IMF notably cut its outlook for the United States, the world´s largest economy, but upgraded those for Japan and the euro zone.

Iran signed a preliminary agreement with Shell to work towards developing major oil and gas fields as it seeks to boost its output. The deals open the way for Shell to carry out assessments at the South Azadegan and Yadavaran oil fields, both in south-western Iran, as well as an offshore gas field near Kish Island in the Gulf. Hans Nijkamp, a vice-president at Shell, said the deal “opens a new chapter” for the Anglo-Dutch company in Iran. “International markets remain under pressure but the Islamic republic’s return brings stability for the world’s energy provision as well as the country’s economic health,” he said at the signing ceremony.

Pakistan and China embarked on their ambitious and effective project to link China’s southwestern province Yunnan with Pakistan’s largest port in Karachi. According to details, the first cargo train from Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, left with over 500 tons of commodities for Port Qasim in Karachi. This marked the opening of the new route between both the countries, who are ambitiously seeking trade partnerships with each other which could benefit them immensely. These goods are then transported to all parts of the world from the Karachi port. 

According to Chinese experts, the new route will prove cost-effective in the sense that it would reduce transportation costs by as much as fifty-percent compared with past services.

NEW DELHI: Iran overtook political rival Saudi Arabia as India’s top oil supplier in October 2016, shipping data showed, just ahead of a producers’ meeting hammer out the details on output cuts aimed at reining in a global glut. Iran used to be India’s second-biggest oil supplier, a position it ceded to Iraq after tough Western sanctions over its nuclear development programme limited Tehran’s exports and access to finance. But India’s oil imports from Iran have shot up this year after those sanctions were lifted in January. In October they surged more than threefold compared with the same month last year, rising to 789,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to ship tracking data and a report compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research and Forecasts.

Turkmenistan has unveiled a gleaming new international airport with a roof in the shape of a flying falcon. The design echoes the mascot of its national carrier. The $2.3 bn (£1.8bn) airport is located in Ashgabat, the capital, and has the capacity to process more than 1,600 passengers an hour. But few foreigners visit the isolated Central Asian country, known for its autocratic leadership and vast energy reserves. Just 105,000 tourists visited in 2015, government figures show, and it is difficult to get a visa. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov touted his country’s “solid transit potential”.

Pakistan will lower the Sulphur content of diesel imports from January next year, in line with a global shift toward cleaner fuels, said two sources familiar with the matter. As vehicle numbers in Asia have surged, countries across the region, including China, India and Vietnam, have adopted more stringent Sulphur requirements for their fuels in recent years to cap emissions. Pakistan will require diesel fuel with 500 parts per million (ppm) Sulphur starting from January 2017 from the current 5,000 ppm Sulphur gasoil.