ABU DHABI // Ramadan is likely to begin on June 18, the Sharjah Planetarium has predicted. The start of the holy month for the Hijri year 1436 is likely to fall on Thursday, June 18, according to astronomical calculations of the planetarium. Ibrahim Al Jarwan, general supervisor at the SP, predicted that Eid Al Fitr would be on Friday, July 17 (the first of Shawwal). “The daylight […]
DP World to start USD bond meetings Thursday DUBAI, 23 days ago DP World, one of the world’s biggest port operators, will hold meetings with investors in the United States, Britain and the UAE from Thursday before a possible benchmark US dollar bond issue, a document from lead managers showed on Tuesday. Benchmark size is usually taken to mean at least $500 million. Sources aware of the […]
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 […]
HR technology trends in focus at Dubai summit DUBAI, 22 days ago The latest trends in implementing technology for human resources (HR) function in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region will be shared exclusively at a conference in Dubai, UAE next week. The HR Tech Mena, under the theme ‘Smart HR Evolution,’ will take place on May 13 and 14 at the Taj Towers Dubai, […]
ABU DHABI // Lunar pioneer Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, shared his space journey and excitement for the UAE Mars mission during a lecture at Al Bateen palace on Wednesday. The former Nasa astronaut addressed an audience of dignitaries and industry leaders who included Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister for Culture, Youth and Community Development, Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed, Chairman of the […]
ABU DHABI // The National Election Committee (NEC) has set up branches in all seven emirates to publicise the Federal National Council elections being held in October. The offices will improve communication between the NEC and the public to increase voter turnout. Each committee will comprise representatives of the Rulers’ Offices, police and members of civil society. The Abu Dhabi office will be situated in the Abu […]
Dubai Islamic Bank has priced a $750 million sukuk with a five year lifespan, a document from arranger banks said on Wednesday, with the cost of borrowing reduced by significant investor demand. The wakala-structured deal, in which one party manages assets on behalf of another, was completed at a spread of 125 basis points over midswaps and carried a profit rate of 2.921 percent, the document said. […]
ABU DHABI // The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre will send students to American universities this summer as part of the UAE’s Mars Mission Hope. They will undergo an intensive programme in space sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Colorado Boulder that will help them along a career path as Emirati scientists and engineers. “We don’t have a proper career path for […]
JORDAN. Technology will be a “game changer” in tackling youth unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa’s emerging Digital Economy, but only if the government, private, and people sectors collaborate effectively, according to a new report released on the eve of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 2015. The report “Re-Dynamizing the Job Machine: Technology-Driven Transformation of Labor Markets in […]
ABU DHABI // A medical report proves that the woman accused of murdering an American teacher on Reem Island was aware of and responsible for her actions, prosecutors told the Federal Supreme Court on Monday. Alaa Al Hashemi, 30, an Emirati, is accused of stabbing to death Ibolya Ryan, 47, a mother of three, last December in a toilet cubicle in Boutik Mall. The defendant had previously […]
ABU DHABI // A woman who attempted to rob a money exchange shop using a toy gun was sentenced to a total of seven years and two months in prison on Monday morning. Abu Dhabi Criminal Court sentenced the Filipina A L, 33, to seven years for attempted robbery and two months for breaching the UAE’s residency laws. The sentences will run consecutively. Police, as part of their […]
ABU DHABI // A family of children as young as 8 is living in squalor and deprivation, with social services powerless to intervene because they have no legal authority to do so. The 10 children, the eldest of whom is 24 and mentally ill, sleep on the floor in two outdoor rooms reeking of urine and faeces and littered with rubbish. Their kitchen overflows with dirty dishes […]
Each week, we will post a Friday quiz question, offering our readers a chance to win exciting prizes. Simply SMS the answer to 3660 (for both Etisalat and du) to enter. The contest is open until midnight on Friday. The winner will be notified on Sunday. Terms and conditions apply. This week’s question: In which country did UAE conservationists recently release 55 falcons into the wild? Here’s […]
The US embassy in Abu Dhabi has sent an email to its citizens warning them to take care in rural and remote areas after someone was hit by a vehicle while walking in Al Bahia. “Due to a recent report of an individual who was hit repeatedly by a vehicle and seriously injured when walking on the road in Al Bahia, a rural area of Abu Dhabi, […]
|Special byTAP Staff|Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments is expected to reap rich dividends from its involvement with Mongolia’s coal industry in the wake of a landmark mining deal concluded recently. Aabar Investments has been the largest UAE investor in Mongolia since 2011 through its investment into Gobi Coal & Energy Ltd, which has been credited with the discovery of the massive Oyu Tolgoi project. Its two main projects, […]
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has launched a $500 million five-year debut bond issued by its Dubai branch, which is set to price later on Monday, a document from lead managers said. The bank, China’s largest by assets, set the final spread at 120 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, the document stated, tighter than the initial price guidance of around 145 basis points over treasuries announced […]
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has picked six banks to arrange fixed income investor meetings from Thursday for a potential benchmark size, U.S. dollar-denominated senior sukuk issue, a document from lead arrangers showed. DIB, the largest Islamic bank in the United Arab Emirates, has mandated First Gulf Bank, HSBC, Maybank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Standard Chartered Bank and itself to arrange the meetings in Asia and Europe. […]
DP World, one of the world’s biggest port operators, has launched a $500 million, five-year bond that will price later on Tuesday, a document from lead arrangers showed. The transaction was set to price at a spread of 155 bps over midswaps, which is at the tighter end of a final guidance of 160 bps plus/minus 5 bps over midswaps. This is lower than initial pricing guidance […]
|By TAP Staff| RP Global – part of RP Group of Companies, a global business conglomerate with an annual turnover of over US$4 billion – made its entry into the Dubai real estate market by breaking ground on its new multi-storey residential tower project RP Heights. RP Global will initially develop two prestigious projects in the heart of the city with a total development value of over […]
|TAP Special| US airlines companies hired secret accountants to unearth how Gulf governments subsidized their airlines, including Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, western media has reported. As the battle intensifies over U.S. airlines’ allegations of unfair state subsidies to three Persian Gulf rivals, American carriers have been gathering data to support their claims sheds light on the vast financial reporting divide between the two sides. The U.S. […]
|By Nafeesa Syeed & Rinat Gaynullin|Saudi Arabia is burning through foreign reserves at a record pace as the largesse of the new king and regional turmoil ratchet up pressure on public finances already hurt by the oil price slump. The kingdom spent $36 billion of the central bank’s net foreign assets — about 5 percent of the total — in February and March, the biggest two-month drop […]
TOKYO—Japan’s Inpex Corp. has secured a 5% stake in Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations, or ADCO, one of the Gulf nation’s biggest oil concessions, becoming the second foreign stakeholder after France’s Total SA . The move suggests that as part of Tokyo’s efforts to shore up its energy supplies, the partly state-owned Japanese energy company was prepared to pay a hefty signing-on fee that other […]
|TAP Special| Citibank has lost a key decision in its defense of a lawsuit in Abu Dhabi accusing the bank of self-dealing, defrauding investors, and attempting to cover-up investor losses. The Abu Dhabi Commercial Court of First Instance on April 14, 2015 determined the lawsuit should proceed and ordered the appointment of a Committee of Experts to review evidence and determine Citibank’s culpability. The Court’s decision is […]
The two main stock exchanges in the United Arab Emirates are trying to attract market makers but some industry professionals say Abu Dhabi is offering more generous financial terms and more liberal rules than Dubai, suggesting it may have more success. Market makers stand ready to buy and sell stocks at all times, improving liquidity on an exchange – something which may be increasingly important as Abu […]
