News related to
Ardi

Dubai invites bids for sale of major German business

The private equity arm of Dubai Holding has asked buyout groups to submit binding bids for its German packaging group Mauser, after putting on hold a larger auction which comprised two additional assets, three sources familiar with the transaction told Reuters. The sale of Mauser by Dubai International Capital (DIC) would be one of the largest asset disposals by the emirate since its debt crisis in 2009, [...]

IMF says Qatar labour costs will go up

Qatar will likely face higher labor costs as a result of publicity about deaths of migrant construction workers building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament, the International Monetary Fund said. Britain's Guardian newspaper reported in September that dozens of Nepali workers had died during the summer in Qatar and that laborers were not given enough food and water. Qatar, which has denied the Guardian's [...]

Zach Shahin begins hunger strike in Dubai jail

Zack Shahin, a U.S. citizen imprisoned in a Dubai prison cell since March 2008 , declared a hunger strike to protest his continued imprisonment in Dubai  and the  U.S. government's unwillingness to publicly intervene for his freedom. In an open-letter addressed to U.S. President Barack Obama, Zack Shahin wrote: "I ask you to use all of your effort to strenuously object to my continued confinement, and given [...]

Citigroup reports fraud in Mexico unit

Citigroup Inc  said on Friday that it has discovered at least $400 million in fraudulent loans in its Mexico subsidiary and said employees may have been in on the crime. The bank wrote down bogus loans to a company whose assets Mexican law enforcement officials have now seized. Citigroup's 2013 profit fell by $235 million to $13.67 billion after the write-down. Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat [...]

US attorney sends probe warrants to bitcoin exchanges

Manhattan Attorney Preet Bharara has sent subpoenas to Mt. Gox, other bitcoin exchanges, and businesses that deal in bitcoin to seek information on how they handled recent cyber attacks, a source familiar with the probe said on Wednesday. In the attacks - known as distributed denial of service attacks - hackers overwhelmed bitcoin exchanges by sending thousands of phantom transactions. At least three exchanges were forced to [...]

Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox disappears

Mt. Gox, once the world's biggest bitcoin exchange, abruptly stopped trading on Tuesday and its chief executive said the business was at "a turning point" but gave no details. Several other digital currency exchanges, including Bitstamp and BTC-E, issued statements attempting to reassure investors of both bitcoin's viability and their own security protocols. The website of Mt. Gox suddenly went dark on Tuesday with no explanation, and [...]

JP Morgan rates DP World as Buy before upgrade

JPMorgan Chase & Co. says investors should buy record-low yielding sukuk from Dubai-based port operator DP World Ltd. (DPW) and Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority FZE before credit ratings improve. The yield on DP World’s $1.5 billion Islamic bonds due July 2017 slid 61 basis points this year to 2.6 percent at 2:22 p.m. in Dubai, the lowest level since they were sold in 2007. The yield [...]

How BuzzFeed is reinventing itself

BuzzFeed has come a long way from cat lists. This month one of its journalists was on the ground in Kiev reporting on the crisis in Ukraine, and last December it published an in-depth article on a Chinese dissident living in Harlem, New York. The kittens haven't disappeared, but these days there is serious journalism as well. When Facebook Inc tweaked its News Feed filters in December [...]

Business Bay stages a comeback

Only a thin blue hoarding separates the busy shopping district of Downtown Dubai from the new waterside office and residential area of Business Bay – yet the two locations feel worlds apart. Turn right along a narrow road from The Dubai Mall and you are suddenly faced with piles of sand and heaps of junk. Shiny green glass buildings stand next to half-finished structures of grey skeletal [...]

Emirates, Jetstar agree for codeshare

Emirates and Jetstar have announced an agreement which is set to open up new destinations for Emirates passengers across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia as the Dubai-based airline continues to connect people, places and passions. Emirates’ code will now be placed on a number of routes operated by Jetstar Airways in Australia and New Zealand and Jetstar Asia, giving passengers access to 27 new routes [...]

UAE’s most young employees prefer entrepreneurship

The Bayt.com ‘Millennials in the MENA’ survey, recently conducted by Bayt.com and YouGov Siraj, a research and consulting organization, has revealed that in the UAE, millennials (working professionals 35 years of age or below) are considered to be innovative and hardworking by older peers, and that the majority of them (71%) consider entrepreneurship more preferable than employment. Millennial Careers in the UAE: Current and Future Four in [...]

Indian group to launch AED4b hotel, realty projects in Dubai

RP Group of Companies on Sunday announced ambitious growth plans and said it would invest Dh4 billion in new hotels and mixed-use developments in the UAE this year. The diversified global business conglomerate with strong business interests in the Gulf region and India, said its development projects would generate more than 7,500 new jobs in Dubai. “The group’s new projects in 2014 will create more than 25,000 [...]

Americans unruffled by ‘laughable allegations’

Meryl Davis and Charlie White did not lose sleep over what U.S. Figure Skating called "laughable" allegations suggesting the United States and Russia had brokered a deal to help each other win gold medals at the Sochi Olympics. "There was an anonymous report citing an unnamed source that there was some kind of collusion between America and Russia regarding the ice dancing competition," U.S. Figure Skating spokesperson [...]

Airlines warned on bomb material in tooth paste tube

Air carriers flying to Winter Olympics host Russia were warned today to watch for toothpaste tubes containing materials that could be turned into a bomb, a U.S. law enforcement official said. The official declined to elaborate on the intelligence that sparked the warning, which was sent to U.S. and foreign airlines, just two days before the start of the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. Security at Sochi [...]

IT giants disclose secret government data requests

Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google on Monday began publishing details about the number of secret government requests for data they receive, hoping to show limited involvement in controversial surveillance efforts. The tech industry has pushed for greater transparency on government data requests, seeking to shake off concerns about their involvement in vast, surreptitious surveillance programs revealed last summer by former spy contractor Edward Snowden. The government said [...]

Game’s up: Swiss banks seek US amnesty

The top U.S. tax prosecutor said that 106 Swiss banks are seeking U.S. amnesty for helping American clients evade taxes, according to three lawyers who heard her speak at a conference in Phoenix. U.S. prosecutors gave more than 300 Swiss banks until Dec. 31 to seek non-prosecution agreements if they have “reason to believe” they violated tax laws. Banks must disclose how they helped Americans hide assets, [...]

New Dubai move to stimulate hospitality sector

Dubai has initiated a series of bold new measures and incentives including fee waivers and reduced approval timeline for three and four star hotel projects to further stimulate the growth of its vibrant hospitality sector. His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, in his capacity as the Ruler of Dubai, on Monday pronounced a string of directives to this [...]

Airline crews battle surge in drunken behaviour

The arrest this week of Ralph Lauren’s niece Jennifer for pushing a Delta Air Lines Inc.  crew member is the latest example of spiraling inflight misbehavior that industry body IATA says poses a growing threat to safety. The 41-year-old was convicted Jan. 8 of drunkenness and threatening, abusive or insulting behavior aboard an aircraft that had forced her Delta flight bound for New York from Barcelona to [...]

Damac raises $348m in London share sale

Dubai's DAMAC said it raised $348 million from its London share offer on Tuesday, a lukewarm response to the first share sale by a Dubai property firm since the emirate's real estate crash four years ago. The luxury housing firm, which describes its new villa project as the Beverly Hills of Dubai, had hoped to take advantage of a renewed interest in Dubai's property market aided by [...]

Saudi options limited

Saudi Arabia seems to have few viable options for pursuing a more independent and forthright foreign policy, despite its deep unease about the West's tentative rapprochement with Iran. Upset with the United States, senior Saudis have hinted at a range of possibilities, from building strategic relations with other world powers to pushing a tougher line against Iranian allies in the Arab world and, if world powers fail [...]

RAK Hospital to screen 2,000 in marathon diabetes campaign

The RAK Hospital marathon diabetes campaign targeting to screen at least 2,000 people as part of its World Diabetes Day programmes started off with overwhelming public response. The three-day campaign is the biggest such event in the Northern Emirates. The campaign that began on Thursday would screen children as well as adults to detect both type 1 and type 2diabetes. The screenings are held at the RAK [...]

Global insurer takes stake in Dubai firm

Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT), a global insurance provider, has entered into a strategic partnership Insure Direct, a Dubai-based insurance brokerage, by acquiring a stake in the UAE firm. The strategic partnership adds considerable international and specialist expertise to Insure Direct’s capabilities and will enable Insure Direct to satisfy significant and growing demand from clients in several key sectors, a statement said. Insure Direct’s operations in Dubai, Bahrain [...]

Cardiologist who spread heart disease

Mehmood Patel still wakes up early, just as he did when he was a popular heart specialist seeing patients who waited hours for minutes of his time. Instead of surgical scrubs, he climbs into the khaki drabs of the Federal Correctional Complex in Oakdale, Louisiana. He leads health-conscious inmates on a morning walk, then cracks open one of the medical journals on his prison-approved reading list. Counseling [...]

US ready to ease sanctions if Iran acts

The United States held out the prospect of quick sanctions relief for Iran on Monday if Tehran moves swiftly to allay concerns about its nuclear program, although both countries said any deal would be complex and take time. Six world powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - are to hold talks with Iran on its nuclear program in Geneva on Tuesday and [...]