JERUSALEM — Israeli authorities have uncovered a network of Hamas militants suspected of involvement in a shooting that killed an Israeli man and wounded three others in the West Bank in June, Israeli security officials said Sunday. Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency said in a statement that the military and the police had arrested four Palestinians this month — three residents of the West Bank village […]
|By TAP Staff| With the nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers complete, American business interests are looking for opportunities. But before all the sanctions are lifted, U.S. and global businesses will have to clear plenty of hurdles before they begin investing in and selling to Iran, Voice of America said. The agreement, which puts strict limits on Iran’s nuclear development for 10 years, calls for […]
ABU DHABI // Drivers of silver taxis are crying foul over what they call unfair competition from unlicensed cabs offering cheaper fares. Taxi drivers are under immense pressure to meet their targets, often working 12 to 14 hours every day. They say the increasing number of uninsured and unregulated cabs has made it harder for the city’s 10,000 drivers to find customers. Owners of private vehicles are […]
|By TAP Staff| The chief executive of Al Hilal Bank Mohamed Jamil Berro has resigned citing personal reasons. Berro was withe the bank for the past seven years. According to a bank statement, Sarie Asaad Arar has been appointed acting group chief executive. Arar, with 25 years of banking experience, currently holds the position of chief business officer at Al Hilal Bank. In January this year, Reuters […]
Google Inc’s (GOOGL.O) shares soared as much as 16.8 percent on Friday, crossing the $700 mark and adding nearly $68 billion to its market value, as strong growth in YouTube viewership allayed concerns about Facebook Inc’s (FB.O) push into video. The stock’s surge, which sent the Nasdaq composite index to a record intraday high, came a day after Google reported better-than-expected profit for the first time in […]
INTERNATIONAL. Global investors have raised their holdings of cash significantly in response to a weaker global economic outlook, particularly in China, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey for July. Overall, equity allocations are unaffected by the higher risk aversion, however. • Confidence in the global economy falls sharply: 42percent of investors expect strengthening over next year, down from 55 percent a month ago.• China heads concerns: […]
DUBAI // For decades, Dubai Creek has been a hub of activity as traders bring in goods and sell their wares at the bustling markets nearby. Even today, laden dhows can be seen unloading items to be sold at the Spice Market, on the Deira side of the saltwater Creek, and other souqs around the city. Most of these dhows’ captains are Bangladeshis and Pakistanis but, in […]
ABU DHABI // A UAE serviceman died while “performing his national duty” with Saudi-led coalition forces, state news agency Wam announced on Thursday. Lt Abdul Aziz Sarhan Saleh Al Ka’abi was killed while participating in Operation Restoring Hope, in support of the internationally-recognised Yemen government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, said the UAE General Command of the Armed Forces. Prayers over the body of Lt Al Ka’abi […]
TEHRAN — “Happy nuclear deal” said Cyrus Razzaghi, a business consultant here, when he picked up the phone on Wednesday. Mr. Razzaghi has been trying to make a business of organizing seminars and meetings for European and American companies interested in Iran, but it had been a bit slow until now. Even though, technically, many of them could have done business here despite the sanctions, they feared […]
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Five Palestinian men, including at least three members of the military wing of the Fatah faction, were arrested on Wednesday, accused of planning and executing a particularly audacious shooting last month, the Israeli military and police said. The shooting, which killed one Israeli man and wounded another, came amid a wave of attacks targeting Israeli civilians and military forces in the occupied West […]
They are as associated with London as Big Ben. They have a reputation for being as clean as a crumpet plate. And they are as recognizable as Parliament. And perhaps they should be, since they have been around for quite the while. Perhaps the best-known is the Austin FX4, which was made from 1958 to 1994. They also have a reputation for being all-black, but they do come in […]
INTERNATIONAL. A desperate battle was fought last week. It pitted Germany and Greece against each other. Each country had everything at stake. Based on the deal that was agreed to, Germany forced a Greek capitulation. But it is far from clear that Greece can allow the agreement reached to be implemented, or that it has the national political will to do so. It is also not clear […]
UAE. Dubai continued to see steady supply growth during the first six months of the year, as performance within the residential and hospitality markets began to soften after a three year period of sustained growth, according to the Q2 2015 Dubai MarketView by global property consulting firm CBRE. According to the CBRE report, Dubai’s rental market continues to outperform the transactional market in 2015, although residential leasing […]
|By TAP Staff| The end of sanctions could bring a rapid economic boom Iran, which had its oil exports halved by sanctions, and its economy cut by about 20 percent. The prospect of a deal has already helped push down global oil prices because of the possibility that Iranian supply could return to the market. Oil prices tumbled more than a dollar on Tuesday after the deal […]
|By Matein Khalid| Last week was a roller coaster and the Nikkei Dow closed at 19,800. Abenomics has had a seismic impact on Japan’s economy, financial markets and banking system. The yen has fallen from 76 on the eve of the election in 2012 to 122 against the US dollar. Corporate profits have exploded. Land price rises, job growth, bonuses, capex and consumer spending have lifted Japan […]
Palestinians carried the body of Muhammad Hani al-Kasba, 17, during his funeral in Ramallah on July 3, the day he was shot by an Israeli soldier. By DIAA HADID July 13, 2015 JERUSALEM — An Israeli human rights group on Monday challenged the military’s account of an episode in which a soldier shot and killed a Palestinian youth who had hurled a rock at his vehicle, saying that video […]
TOKYO Nintendo Co Ltd Chief Executive Satoru Iwata died of cancer on Saturday, months after he led the Japanese video-game maker’s belated entry into mobile gaming following years of declining sales. He was 55. The death of the hands-on CEO and president, announced by Nintendo on Monday, comes at a critical time for the company which is betting that its new smartphone tie-up with online game maker […]
M&A values reached during Q2 is belowits median level of the last six years. Mena M&A market hits three-year low in Q2 DUBAI, 12 hours, 18 minutes ago The Mena M&A market markedly regressed during the second quarter (Q2) of 2015, well behind its prolonged three-year revived activity, with the total value reaching only $3 billion, a report said. With the total number of completed deals on […]
Iranian stocks climbed to the highest level in three months as diplomats from the Persian Gulf country and six negotiating powers moved closer to reaching a nuclear accord. The Tehran Stock Exchange’s benchmark index advanced 1.2 percent on Sunday to 67,646.4, the highest level since April 15, as officials sought to clinch a deal that would help lift sanctions crippling Iran’s economy. Bank Saderat Iran was the […]
Japan’s Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi said it had obtained permission from the Dubai Financial Services Authority to operate a so-called Islamic window, underlining growing Japanese interest in sharia-compliant banking. Islamic windows allow conventional banks to conduct Islamic finance by segregating assets from conventional interest-bearing funds. Industry sources said it was the first time that a bank from Japan was operating an Islamic window in the Middle East. BTMU […]
|By K Raveendran| The Dubai property market, which has of late shown strong signs of weakening, may get support from a very unlikely source. Wealthy Chinese investors cashing out of the stock market carnage are said to be scouting for overseas property markets in leading cities to park their funds. Dubai might be one of them. Around 20 percent has been knocked off the value of Chinese […]
|By Matein Khald| During the 2008 post-Lehman financial meltdown, home prices in Dubai fell by 60-70 per cent and a generation of offplan flippers and leveraged investors/buyers (a mortgage, by definition, is a highly leveraged and speculative financial product. There is a reason the word “mortgage” derives from the French “mort” or death!) were wiped out. However, the Arab Spring, global liquidity and the successful debt restructuring […]
UAE. Private sector businesses in Dubai signalled further strong increases in business activity and new orders in June, though the rates of expansion moderated to 27- and 53-month lows, respectively. Despite softer increases in activity and new work, Dubai private sector companies were increasingly optimistic towards the year-ahead, with the degree of positive sentiment reaching a 19-month high. Furthermore, increased confidence towards the business outlook underpinned the […]
TEHRAN — As nuclear negotiations in Vienna grind on through deadline after deadline, Iranian officials have begun a public campaign to blame the United States in the event that the talks fail. Iran’s public diplomacy has long been geared toward selling a possible deal to hard-liners at home. But as an interim agreement between Iran and the West was extended on Friday to give negotiators more time, […]
