By James M DorseyLong banned, Christmas has finally, at least tacitly, arrived in Saudi Arabia; just don’t use the name in marketing or be ostentatious about your tree.Coffeeshops serving beverages in red cups with snowflakes on them are ok. So is the sale of soap bars named ‘Tis the Season and Vanilla Bean Noel.Christmas trees that sell at up to US$3,000 a piece are slightly more complicated. The […]
Today, investing in cryptocurrency is one of the most rapidly developing and promising trends in the modern financial market. Due to the unstable economic situation, more and more people started thinking about additional sources of income. Primarily, people are interested in how to invest and in finding projects offering the best return. Also, they are worried about safeguarding our investments against losses during spikes in the price […]
By James M DorseyFootballers with diametrically opposed views on homosexuality and alcohol consumption have sparked heated controversy about Islamic mores and human and workers’ rights in Qatar’s final stretch in the run-up for next year’s FIFA World Cup.Two things stand out in the controversy beyond the specific arguments put forward by opposing camps.First, some fault lines cut across community lines rather than pit one community (Muslims) against […]
By James M DorseyThe crown jewel of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) increasingly looks like a powder keg that has exploded.Mass protests have for the past month swept Gwadar, a Chinese-dominated Pakistani port city 90 kilometres from the border with Iran that has long been plagued by intermittent protests and Baloch nationalist attacks on Chinese nationals and targets.Making things worse from China’s perspective, a local cleric, a […]
Arabian Post StaffThe region’s e-commerce sector is growing at the fastest pace globally, with online sales expected to double to $48.8 billion by 2021, according to a report by Fitch Solutions Macro Research, cited at the Global CIO Forum held this week.Undoubtedly, e-commerce has completely transformed the retail landscape. Most recently, two years after spending US$500m to acquire Souq, American e-commerce company Amazon has rolled out its […]
By James M DorseyThe United States has signalled in advance of next week’s Summit for Democracy that it is unlikely to translate lip service to adherence to human rights and democratic values in the Middle East into a policy that demonstrates seriousness and commitment.In a statement, the State Department said the December 9-10 summit would “set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest […]



