News Headlines - 20 January 2016

▽FTSE Enters 'Bear Market' As ￡52bn Is Lost

London's leading share index dipped below the 5,700-mark as it shed 3.5% of its value, or 203 points, in a volatile session which knocked ￡52bn off its constituent companies by the close.
It was a similar picture in Europe and in the US, where the S&P 500 was also 3.5% down in mid-session.

▽IEA Sees Risk of World Drowning in Oil - Bloomberg Business

The IEA trimmed 2016 estimates for global oil demand as China’s economic expansion weakens and raised forecasts for supplies outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. While non-OPEC supply is set to drop 600,000 barrels a day in 2016, Iran’s comeback could fill that gap by the middle of the year. As a result, world markets may be left with a surplus of 1.5 million barrels a day in the first half.

▽3 American Contractors Missing in 'Possible Kidnapping' in Iraq - ABC News

Three American contractors are missing in Iraq, senior U.S. officials said today, and the State Department is working with the Iraqi government to find them.
It was not known whether the three were security contractors or some of the many other types of contractors currently working in Iraq, officials said.

▽Taliban Kill 20 in Attack at Bacha Khan University in Pakistan - The New York Times

Taliban attackers stormed across a university campus in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, gunning down students and teachers in an assault that revived traumatic memories of an attack at a nearby school in Peshawar just over a year ago.

▽Donald Trump presidential bid gets Sarah Palin backing - BBC News

Donald Trump's Republican presidential bid has received the backing of Sarah Palin, the populist ex-governor of Alaska who was the Republican vice-presidential candidate in 2008.