News related to ARABIAN POST SPECIAL

Israel’s Allies in U.S. Challenge Boycott

A sign in Bethlehem, in the West Bank, calls for a boycott of products from Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. By RICK GLADSTONE June 5, 2015 South Carolina has become the first state to enact legislation aimed at thwarting an international pro-Palestinian economic and disinvestment campaign intended to penalize Israel. Illinois will soon become the second, and advocates say plans are underway for similar laws in 18 more […]

June 06

Talking Point

Grameen Bank and John Nash

|By Rashidul Bari|One may expect the title “Grameen and Muhammad Yunus” to reflect Yunus’ founding of the Grameen Bank (which won the Nobel Prize in 2006) in 1983 to provide miniature loans to the poor—especially women who were trapped in an endless cycle of poverty. Why then does the title involve John Nash, a math genius who won the Nobel Prize in 1994, instead of Yunus? Does […]

June 05

What's On

U.S. Government Suffers Massive Cyberattack

U.S. Government Suffers Massive Cyberattack The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is reporting a cybersecurity incident that affects its systems and data. The breach may have compromised the personal information of 4 million current and former federal workers. “Within the last year, OPM has undertaken an aggressive effort to update its cybersecurity posture, adding numerous tools and capabilities to its networks,” according to a statement on […]

June 05

UAE ranked 7th in the world for opportunities in retail development, with 2014 sales hitting US$70.9 billion

UAE. In a report released today by A.T. Kearney the UAE is ranked as the seventh most-attractive country in the Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), marking the eighth year in a row that the country has been globally ranked in the top 10. The UAE’s retail market continues to grow steadily with retail space growing by 7 percent in 2014 to reach 1.6 million square meters and […]

June 03

Tax Increase in Gaza Weighs on Palestinians Already Barely Scraping By

Men stood on a building damaged during Hamas’s last war with Israel. Gaza’s unemployment rate has risen to 44 percent, the highest in the world. By DIAA HADID and MAJD AL WAHEIDI June 1, 2015 GAZA CITY — On a street here crammed with glittery clothing and electronic shops, Mahmoud Matar flipped through the receipt book for his appliance store, much of it blank: His lone sale that day was a $7 […]

June 02

Foreigners can buy into Saudi IPOs on case-by-case basis

Foreigners can buy into Saudi IPOs on case-by-case basis RIYADH, 23 days ago Foreigners will be allowed to buy directly into initial public offers (IPO) of shares in Saudi Arabian companies on a case-by-case basis, the chairman of the Saudi Capital Market Authority said on Tuesday. The CMA announced on Monday rules allowing foreign institutions to begin investing directly in the stock market, subject to restrictions such […]

May 29

Advertisements
ADVERTISEMENT

Arrests Overshadow Palestinians’ Bid to Oust Israel From FIFA

By SAM BORDEN and JODI RUDOREN May 28, 2015 ZURICH — The protesters outside the arena where FIFA staged the opening ceremony for its annual congress Thursday held Palestinian flags and blunt banners. “Red Card Israel Apartheid,” one read. “Occupation = Segregation,” another said. “EXPEL Israel, Say NO to racism and discrimination.” But as the congress convened, the Palestine Football Association’s proposal to oust its Israeli counterpart from FIFA, soccer’s international […]

May 29

Op-Ed Contributor: Art and Hypocrisy in the Gulf

Op-Ed Contributor By NICHOLAS MCGEEHAN May 28, 2015 LONDON — On May 11, the Lebanese artist Walid Raad was turned away at the airport when he tried to enter the United Arab Emirates, where the government is making a big investment in art with the Saadiyat Island project. The project, in the capital, Abu Dhabi, will include branches of the Louvre and the Guggenheim as well as a campus […]

May 28

Yemeni-Americans, Thrust Into Limbo, Say U.S. Embassy Unfairly Revokes Passports

Mosed Shaye Omar, 64, a naturalized American citizen since 1978, sued the State Department and Secretary John Kerry, claiming he was coerced into acknowledging that he had a name different from what was on his passport. By LIZ ROBBINS May 27, 2015 For nearly five hours on Jan. 21, 2013, in a windowless room at the United States Embassy in Sana, Yemen, an American citizen and Brooklyn grocery store […]

May 28

Foreigners can buy into Saudi IPOs on case-by-case basis

Foreigners can buy into Saudi IPOs on case-by-case basis RIYADH, 22 days ago Foreigners will be allowed to buy directly into initial public offers (IPO) of shares in Saudi Arabian companies on a case-by-case basis, the chairman of the Saudi Capital Market Authority said on Tuesday. The CMA announced on Monday rules allowing foreign institutions to begin investing directly in the stock market, subject to restrictions such […]

May 28

Travel tech firm moves to Microsoft Azure cloud technology

Travel tech firm moves to Microsoft Azure cloud technology DUBAI, 22 days ago Microsoft has signed a strategic deal with Illusions, a Dubai-based travel tech firm, to support the transfer of the company’s entire business operating platform onto Microsoft’s cloud technology, Azure, an initiative aimed at enhancing productivity and client satisfaction. The move to Azure will incorporate the existing system on which Illusions operates to provide services […]

May 28

Soldier in Tunis Fires on Colleagues in Deadly Attack

Tunisian special forces taking position on Monday near the Bouchoucha military base in Tunis after a corporal opened fire on soldiers at the barracks. By CARLOTTA GALL May 25, 2015 TUNIS — A Tunisian soldier opened fire on fellow troops inside the central army barracks in the capital on Monday morning, killing seven soldiers and wounding 10 others, the Tunisian Defense Ministry said. The soldier was killed in an […]

May 25

Opinion: ‘Defending the Faith’ in the Middle East

An anonymous painting of Turkish Emperor Mahmud II leading his troops. By DAVID MOTADEL May 23, 2015 CAMBRIDGE, England — THE last several months have brought a dramatic escalation in conflict across the Middle East, almost all of it involving tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims — which are in turn fueled by a power struggle between Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia for regional supremacy. Tehran runs a […]

May 23

Branding on a budget

Branding on a budget DUBAI, 16 days ago How does a lone entrepreneur create a brand image and message and keeping costs low? While this really depends on how lean your start-up will be, there are a number of tools which one can pick and mix to launch a brand, a report said. The fundamental strategy when branding on a budget is to eliminate the need for […]

May 22

World

Consumers worldwide value mobile technologies at 11%-45% of their income, study reveals

UAE. The findings of a new study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm and the world’s leading advisor on business strategy, shows that mobile technologies are creating immense value for consumers – value that greatly exceeds the costs of owning a mobile device. In fact, consumers worldwide value mobile technologies at 11 to 45 percent of their income – well above what […]

May 22

Obama Defends Approach to ISIS Fight but Says More Is Needed

By PETER BAKER May 21, 2015 WASHINGTON — President Obama denied that the United States and its allies were losing the fight against Islamic State forces in the Middle East, but he acknowledged in an interview posted online on Thursday that more should be done to help Iraqis recapture lost territory. While repeating his refusal to commit large-scale American forces to the region, the president said Sunni fighters in […]

May 21

SWIG Hip Flasks

London-based SWIG is a brand specializing in high quality hip flasks. Their contoured 6 oz. chrome flask is a classic and is dressed up with stylish slip covers in materials like Spanish leather & Harris Tweeds. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. -Werd

May 12

Talking Point

Cooperation needed to resolve Houthi crisis

|By Alaa Alghamdi| Recently we have seen heightened security along the Saudi borders in response to the threat posed by Houthi rebels, those same rebels who exerted such power that they forced President Mansour Hadi to leave the country. The leadership of Khaled Bahah as Vice President offers hope that decisive action may be taken to resolve this matter. Meanwhile the UN is referring to the situation […]

May 12

Columns

Management training in the right context

In my previous column, I outlined the innovative German system of cooperative study and universities of applied sciences. These institutes in particular support a practical, hands-on approach to learning about engineering. But where do managers of mid-sized business learn the tools of their trade? As we have seen, traditionally, the answer would be through common sense and trial and error. The majority of world-leading mid-sized enterprises were […]

April 16

Philips Hue Go

The Hue Go portable lamp from Philips give you the option to light up your space with over 16 million different colors and seven distinct lighting effects you control with your smartphone. It can also interact with over 200 compatible 3rd-party apps for all sorts of special effects. Unplugged it has a battery life of 3 hours, making it easier to take it wherever you want it. […]

April 08

Featured

Alabbar in shareholder dissent row

As chairman of Emaar Properties, Mohamed Alabbar has shaped much of Dubai’s skyline, but rapid growth in his outside real estate interests is raising the possibility of a rarity in the Gulf – open shareholder dissent. Speculation persists that Alabbar and Emaar, the company he founded in 1997, could soon part ways despite a categorical denial from the firm last month. His involvement in other firms’ projects, […]

April 04

Banking & Finance

GCC banks record double digit growth

|By TAP Staff| According to a new study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the banking industry in the Middle East maintained double-digit revenue growth in 2014 with a 10.0 percent increase, stemming largely from major customer segments such as retail and corporate banking as well as international business and treasury. Based on the banks’ 2014 annual results released in the first quarter of 2015, the newest […]

March 30

Economy

Dubai World debt deal wins approval

State-owned conglomerate Dubai World has been granted approval to end court proceedings relating to its $14.6 billion debt restructuring deal, according to a document on the court’s website. The action allows lawyers for the conglomerate to gather the signatures of creditors in support of the deal outside the Dubai World Tribunal, the special court that had been overseeing the process. Formal sign-off for the restructuring could occur […]

March 25

Economy

Amlak to seek trading ban removal

Dubai’s Amlak Finance will hold a shareholder meeting on April 16 to seek their approval for lifting a six-and-a-half year trading suspension on the mortgage lender’s shares, according to a bourse filing on Wednesday. If shareholders agree, the board will then seek permission from the “concerned authorities” to resume trade and determine a date to do so. Trading in Amlak, 48 percent owned by Dubai’s biggest developer […]

March 25

Featured

Dubai move to promote owner occupancy

The proposal by Dubai Municipality to introduce mandatory affordable housing quotas for all new residential developments in Dubai is long overdue and is expected to bring a wide range of benefits to the emirate, while driving further maturity in the market, according to leading international real estate consultants, Cluttons. With the residential market in Dubai now meandering through the second half of the current property cycle and […]

March 08

Kott Motorcycles

Kott Mototrcycles is an LA–based garage specializing in restoration & fabrication based around Honda’s iconic 70s-era CB bikes. Their super-clean custom café builds highlight the motor & mechanics while simplifying the outline and frame geometry. The result: 40-year old CBs that look like they just rolled off the showroom floor. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading […]

March 04

Could the BBC survive without the licence fee?

The BBC’s headquarters in London Photo: AP The BBC’s director-general, Tony Hall, is a man in a hurry. As one of the oldest DGs to be appointed, and already in receipt of his BBC pension, the 64-year-old is acutely aware that the corporation’s charter has less than two years to run, and that the licence fee – the BBC’s bedrock for the 93 years of its existence – […]

March 02

Economy

Gulf banks face risk from regulatory blues

Fast-growing Gulf Arab banks plan to bolster their reserves by issuing capital-boosting bonds, but uncertainty over regulation and ultra-tight pricing increase the risks for issuers and investors. Basel III standards, now being phased in around the world, will require banks to hold more capital. While Gulf banks have very high capital adequacy ratios, their rapid expansion, and the fact they operate in emerging markets with lower sovereign […]

February 03