The EU is ready to use punitive anti-dumping tariffs on imports — such as steel — after a UK-led blocking minority of countries opposed to the reforms collapsed. Britain had been part of an alliance set on scuppering the plan as unnecessary and protectionist. But on Friday the Netherlands and Austria indicated that they would throw their weight behind the proposal, leaving the UK likely to be outnumbered when […]
Just like the bulk of political pundits and mainstream media commentators, opportunistic internet entrepreneurs were caught off guard by the shock result of Tuesday’s United States presidential election. The day after Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States it was still possible to find “Don’t blame me, I voted for Trump” T-shirts and hoodies online. But the full story of the shock sustained by […]
By Makiko Yamazaki | TOKYO TOKYO Japanese conglomerate Toshiba Corp swung to an operating profit in the July-September quarter, driven by strong demand for NAND flash memory chips from Chinese smartphone makers. That boom in demand has been a blessing for Toshiba, which is seeking to recover from a $1.3 billion accounting scandal by turning itself into a company more focused on chips, nuclear energy and social […]
Dubai businessman Khalaf Al Habtoor has been buying the British pound after it weakened against the U.S. dollar and said he’s seeking to expand in Europe. “We’re expanding overseas right now’’ mostly in “safe regions,’’ Al Habtoor told Bloomberg Television in an interview Thursday. “We also bought a lot of pound sterling.” Al Habtoor is expanding into central Europe and seeking properties in “safe regions” such as Austria, […]
Emirates and the Gulf’s two other major airlines are likely to get pride of place at Frankfurt airport’s new terminal, allowing them to offer bigger premium-class lounges to compete more aggressively with local rival Deutsche Lufthansa AG. Frankfurt’s Terminal 3 will probably house Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways PJSC of Abu Dhabi, as well as Dubai-based Emirates, the world’s biggest carrier on international routes, Matthias Zieschang, chief […]
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Much about Yasir Arafat remains an enigma, in death as in life. The man who came to embody the Palestinian national cause was variously born in Jerusalem, or Gaza, or Cairo. It was never entirely clear what led to his death in a French military hospital in November 2004. The Yasir Arafat Museum will proffer answers to these questions when it opens to […]
TEHRAN — For all of Iran’s attractions — breathtaking scenery and numerous World Heritage sites, among other things — there are plenty of downsides to vacationing in the Islamic republic. Alcohol is forbidden. There is very little night life, at least in public. All women, including visiting foreigners, are obliged to wear a head scarf. Then there are Iran’s politics: its strident anti-Western stance; seemingly random arrests […]
ABU DHABI // Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed welcomed Prince Charles and Camilla in Al Ain to celebrate a year-long collaboration between the UAE and the UK in the arts. The UK-UAE Year of Cultural Collaboration was launched at Al Jahili Fort under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and the Prince of Wales. The evening […]
The University of Birmingham has delivered an interactive digital version of what is very likely the world’s oldest surviving fragment of the Quran to the UAE. It is the first time that this version, which offers the touch sensitivity of a tablet and has become known as the Birmingham Quran, has been seen outside of the UK. Two versions will form permanent centrepieces of next year’s UK-UAE […]
ABU DHABI // The Duchess of Cornwall visited some feathered patients at the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital, on the second day of her UAE tour with Prince Charles. Camilla watched as staff operated on a falcon and other birds being treated at the hospital’s veterinary centre, after hearing about falconry’s role in Arab culture during her visit on Monday. The duchess also met a group of children […]
DUBAI // Investors who say they have lost millions of dirhams in a Dubai foreign exchange scam have turned to private investigators from the UK to help to recover their funds. More than 240 people have contacted Carlton Huxley, a private firm of legal and law enforcement consultants specialising in complex fraud investigations. Experts from the firm visited Dubai this week to interview those claiming to have […]
By Naomi Tajitsu and Chang-Ran Kim | TOKYO TOKYO Toyota Motor Corp is looking at mass-producing long-range electric vehicles (EVs) that would hit the market around 2020, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Monday, in what would be a dramatic reversal of strategy for the world’s top-selling automaker. Even as rivals such as Nissan Motor Co, Volkswagen AG and Tesla Motors have touted pure electric cars as the […]
By Catherine Cadell | BEIJING BEIJING A top Baidu Inc executive, widely seen as a potential successor to chief executive Robin Li, has resigned after an internal company probe found conflicts of interest involving another firm acquired by the Chinese search engine giant. Li Mingyuan, 32, known as the “prince” of Baidu within China’s tech community, stepped down following the investigation, according to an internal email seen […]
Microsoft Corp said it will be increasing pricing for its enterprise software and cloud services in the UK in the wake of the sterling’s plunge since Britons voted to leave the EU. The price increase, from Jan. 1 2017, will be 13 percent for its enterprise software and 22 percent for its enterprise cloud services, it said. Pricing changes will not apply to consumer […]
By Liana B. Baker Berkshire Partners LLC is nearing a deal to acquire cloud networking firm Masergy, currently owned by another private equity firm, ABRY Partners, for more than $900 million, including debt according to sources familiar with the matter. A deal could be announced as soon as this week, the people said on Sunday, asking not to be named because the matter is […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| A high level panel will examine the effects and ramifications of de-risking for Middle East banks, under which correspondent banking relationships are constrained or blocked by international regulators protecting their banks from perceived risk such as money laundering or financing terrorism. The panel will discuss how banks manage de-risking, how it affects their small and medium sized corporate clients in the Middle East […]
|By Matein Khalid| The Algiers pact was a game changer in the international oil markets. Crude oil prices have risen to three month highs above $50 Brent after OPEC agreed to cut output to the 32.5 – 33 MBD range, with the symbolic Saudi-Iranian deal reinforced by a sharp drop in US inventories and Hurricane Matthew’s havoc in the Caribbean. Unfortunately for OPEC, the US land rig […]
WASHINGTON — The United States formally suspended talks with Russia about the protracted Syria conflict on Monday because of the Russian military’s role in the assault on the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo. The United States also shelved plans with Russia for the joint military targeting of jihadists in Syria, the State Department said in a statement. The American step reflected aggravated tensions with Russia on a […]
By Edward Taylor and Eric Auchard | PARIS/FRANKFURT PARIS/FRANKFURT Alarmed by the threat posed by Silicon Valley firms to their businesses in developing autonomous driving systems, it was evident at the Paris Motor Show this week that carmakers are seeking to fight back by cooperating in areas of technology development where previously they might have tried to compete. Three big carmakers – BMW (BMWG.DE), Daimler (DAIGn.DE) and […]
|By Matein Khalid| When Ben Bernanke uttered the word “taper” in May 2013, he triggered a bloodbath in emerging markets and a free fall in “fragile five” currencies that included the Indian rupee and the Indonesian rupiah. However, Asian equities markets, while not immune to a Fed rate hike, are far better positioned for higher US dollar interest rates than in 2013, let alone 2007 or 1998. […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City without light switches or water taps has much to teach people around the world about saving energy and precious resources. With its low-rise and energy efficient buildings, smart metering, excellent public transport and extensive use of renewable energy, the 2,000 citizens of Masdar City are living in a place which is a ‘green’ example to city planners around the […]
By Francesco Guarascio and Jason Hovet | BRATISLAVA BRATISLAVA Multinationals should refrain from tax avoidance practices and pay their fair share of taxes, the head of euro zone finance ministers said on Saturday, in a new endorsement to the European Union fight against tax dodging. In the wake of the ‘Panama Papers’ revelations of widespread tax avoidance practices, Brussels has toughened up its drive […]
DUBAI // A man who raped a 32-year-old British teacher in her flat in the early hours of New Year’s Day will spend the next 10 years in jail. The woman was returning home at 3am when she met the Nigerian salesman, 30, near the lift of the building. “At first I thought he was a tenant,” said the woman, who added that he asked which floor […]
LONDON Sage Group, a provider of accounting, payroll and payments software for businesses, said cyber attackers had used an internal login to access the data of some of its British customers. The personal details of the employees of about 280 British companies were potentially exposed in the breach, a company source said. “We are investigating unauthorised access to customer information using an internal login,” the company said […]
