Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is to invest up to $10 billion in Russia over the next five years, in a move signalling a thawing in relations between the two countries. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the country’s sovereign wealth investment vehicle, agreed on Monday to invest $10 billion over the next five years approximately in the Russia Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a government-run investment fund. […]
LONDON — Last week, the State Department announced the resumption of “security assistance” to Bahrain. This ended a four-year ban on the transfer of arms that the United States put into effect in 2011, after the Bahraini government’s harsh crackdown on Arab Spring protests. In a statement, the State Department argued that Bahrain had made enough progress in human rights reform to be rewarded by ending the […]
|By TAP Staff| Over 30 local and regional airports have joined a growing coalition that is calling on the U.S. government to open consultations with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to address $42 billion in subsidies and other unfair benefits that the Gulf nations have provided to their state-owned airlines, violating Open Skies policy and threatening hundreds of thousands of American jobs. Airports from across the […]
INTERNATIONAL. This is now officially a Greek tragedy. In many ways, it is relatively easy to understand why the result was a No from Greece. There is little to lose, as a Yes to more austerity hardly was a great choice for a society on the brink of a social break down. The vote clearly was not help by the fact that the actual vote: Yes or No […]
People working for Abu Dhabi Government, the Armed Forces and Abu Dhabi Police are to receive their salaries on July 11, in anticipation of the impending Eid celebrations. Military retirees will also receive their pensions on this day, the state news agency Wam reported. The move was ordered by President Sheikh Khalifa and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of […]
Oil prices tumbled their most in three months on Monday, with U.S. crude falling 6 percent, after Greece’s rejection of debt bailout terms and China’s rolling out of emergency measures to support its stock markets shook global markets. Adding to the pressure on oil, Iran and global powers were trying to meet a July 7 deadline on a nuclear deal, which could bring more supply to the […]
Dubai and the mid- market hotel sector …stable performance. Dubai hotels sector focus shifting to mid-market DUBAI, 11 hours, 43 minutes ago Dubai is seeing a shift towards the development of mid-market hotels, underpinned by government incentives, a growing middle class in key source markets and the rise of a younger, more cash constrained guest profile, a report said. Strong demand for branded mid-market hotels has helped […]
Oil price flux unlikely to hit long-term sector growth BEIRUT, 13 hours, 17 minutes ago The cyclicality of the oil and gas industry is unlikely to impact the long term trajectory of the sector, a report said, noting that the current fluctuations may speed up some of the trends that were already unfolding. The new report entitled “Oil and Gas Reality Check 2015” released by Deloitte, a […]
By ANNE BARNARD July 5, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian government troops and Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon pushed into the Syrian border town of Zabadani on Sunday amid heavy airstrikes, continuing an offensive aimed at strengthening their control of routes between Lebanon and Syria. Pushing insurgents out of the mountain town would continue advances aimed at cutting insurgent supply lines to Lebanon, and would also be a symbolic victory. […]
|TAP Staff| Iran’s oil biggest shipping company has amassed the world’s largest fleet of super tankers and is in talks to sail back into western waters should the Islamic Republic strike a nuclear deal, according to senior officials, the Wall Street Journal reported. The report quotes privatised Iranian shipping company NITC as saying it has 42 very large crude carriers, known as VLCCs, after buying 20 such […]
By ANNE BARNARD and HWAIDA SAAD July 4, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian government forces and their allies in the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah started a new offensive Saturday against insurgents in Zabadani, a mountain town near the border with Lebanon that was one of the first to be wrested by rebels four years ago. Hezbollah’s news channel, Al Manar, showed smoke rising from Zabadani and said that the government forces […]
By ANNE BARNARD and MAHER SAMAAN July 3, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — The fiercest fighting in months raged in the divided Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday, as newly reorganized insurgents carried out a new offensive on government-held areas. Two insurgent coalitions — a new one that includes the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, and one formed in May by local factions long active in Aleppo — attacked simultaneously […]
UAE. According to EY’s report ‘How will the GCC close the skills gap?’, employers struggle to retain nationals due to high salary expectations; however, these employers rank young people’s lack of work experience (53%), communications skills (36%), and required skills and qualifications (22%) as further challenges to retention in the private sector. Three quarters of GCC employers feel the education system doesn’t know what skills employers need. […]
The Yelp Inc. logo is seen in their offices in Chicago, Illinois, March 5, 2015. Reuters/Jim Young Yelp Inc (YELP.N), operator of consumer review website yelp.com, had temporarily decided not to pursue a sale, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The company has had several interested suitors after which it hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) to help find a buyer, Bloomberg said on […]
MUMBAI Indian property firm Housing.com, backed by Japan’s SoftBank, ousted its co-founder and chief executive officer on Wednesday, marking the first major management upset at one of the country’s largest start-ups. Housing.com’s boss Rahul Yadav had been at odds with his investors for months and even resigned in April in a letter where he was highly critical of the company’s investors. He later withdrew that resignation. But […]
UAE. 85 percent of financial institutions from around the world reported that their boards of directors currently devote more time to oversight of risk than they did two years ago, while 79 percent felt that increasing regulatory requirements and expectations were their greatest challenge, according to the ninth edition of Deloitte’s Global risk management survey. In addition, the most common board responsibilities are approving the enterprise-level statement […]
Shares of the biggest U.S. banks fell, led by a 2.2 percent decline in Citigroup Inc., after talks to provide Greece with additional bailout aid failed and the Greek government imposed capital controls. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Financials Index slid as much as 1.1 percent, the biggest decline in almost seven weeks. JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest U.S. bank by assets, dropped 1.9 percent and […]
Two freshly delivered Amazon boxes are seen on a counter in Golden, Colorado August 27, 2014. Reuters/Rick Wilking/Files CHICAGO Amazon.com Inc will launch its business loan program for small sellers later this year in eight more countries including China, where credit is becoming a key factor in competing for new vendors and grabbing market share. Until now, the e-retailer has offered the service only in the […]
Ten thousand Afghans will benefit from the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation’s iftar project this Ramadan. The initiative is carried out in cooperation with the UAE Embassy in Kabul and will result in thousands of meals being handed out to those in need. Other Ramadan projects being carried out on behalf of the UAE include the delivery of 100 tonnes of dates and food packages to […]
Monsoon covers entire India ahead of schedule – weather office Full Article Bad weather, rugged terrain caused U.S. chopper crash in Nepal – army Full Article Union Bank of India gets shareholders’ nod to raise $581 million. Full Article Lankan great Sangakkara to quit during India series. Full Article Batting powerplays gone from ODIs in bonus for bowlers Full Article Bill Cosby’s lawyer says revealing court documents would cause “embarrassment”. Full Article Obama […]
UAE. MENA’s digital market value is expected to reach US$35 billion in 2015, and overall digitization initiatives could add $820 billion to regional GDP, creating 4.4 million jobs by 2020. However, this rapid digitization and the resources of the region make MENA an attractive target for a wide array of cyber-threats, according to a study by Strategy&. The Strategy& study looks into national cyber-security efforts by the […]
