Last summer, Abu Dhabi was scorching hot and immersed in thick, stifling humidity when I started having dreams of fishing along the stony shore of a cold river flanked by tall mountains. I had some time set aside for a week-long getaway, and wanted to do something different. I found little allure in the typical destinations most travellers head to when they want to escape the Gulf […]
At the same time, the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, generally seen as hesitant, or even obstructionist, may to Mr. Trump seem the most accommodating. Continue reading the main story It is at once a case study in why this region is so unpredictable and a test of whether the new president is in over his head or knows something his many failed predecessors did not. “We […]
Oil prices gained further Tuesday, boosting energy companies’ shares, after Russia and Saudi Arabia indicated they could extend an output cut into next year, while the euro struck a six-month dollar high. The world’s top two crude-producing nations raised the idea at the weekend, with a deal agreed between OPEC — of which Saudi Arabia is the key player — and Russia coming to an end in […]
By James Davey | BIRMINGHAM, England BIRMINGHAM, England Andy Street’s mayoral victory in Britain’s second largest metropolitan area may give the best indication yet of just how far Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives are poaching traditional Labour supporters ahead of the June 8 national vote. Street quit his $1-million-a-year job as managing director of department store chain John Lewis to stand for the top political job in […]
One minute I’m in an office in Dubai’s Jumeirah Lakes Towers; the next, I have been transported to the grounds of a villa in the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme. I scan the garden – there’s a ball by my feet, so I pick it up and toss it out of the way. Next, I teleport myself just inside the front door. I take a wander around the […]
By Ahmed Rasheed | BAGHDAD BAGHDAD Islamic State militants are planting bombs near front doors in Mosul to prevent civilians leaving, a federal police commander and witnesses said on Wednesday, as Iraqi forces make their final push against the jihadists after seven months of fighting. Trapped in a shrinking area of the city, the militants are increasingly using the several hundred thousand civilians under their control as […]
Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. A few more Americans now know H.R. McMaster, who resembles an aging Mr. Clean with horn-rimmed glasses. But they don’t know him nearly as well as Tom Ricks. His journalism experience reveals a distinct reason to doubt McMaster’s defense of […]
Over the years, although the government has remained broadly authoritarian, it has oscillated among degrees of democracy. Those fluctuations, while subtle, have often coincided with elections like Friday’s. Photo Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian revolution, returning to Tehran in 1979 after his exile in France. Credit Gabriel Duval/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Islamic Republic: Yes or No? After throwing off their government in 1979, Iranians […]
KABUL Gunmen entered a building of Afghan state television in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Wednesday and engaged in a gunbattle with security forces, the provincial governor’s spokesman said. “We can confirm that a number of insurgents have entered the building,” said Attaullah Khughyani. “Who they are, and what their target is, is still not clear.” (Reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) ‘); $(‘.second-article-divide’).append($(‘.slider.slider-module’)); […]
By Ayesha Rascoe | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday his country would not accept Syrian Kurdish fighters in the region but stopped short of directly criticizing a U.S. decision to arm them. At a White House meeting, Trump lauded Erdogan as an important ally in the “fight against terrorism” and did not mention Erdogan’s domestic crackdown after last year’s […]
Iraqi forces have recaptured nearly 90 percent of west Mosul from the ISIL and jihadists in the city are on the “brink of total defeat,” military spokesmen said Tuesday. Iraqi forces launched the massive operation to retake Mosul from ISIL nearly seven months ago, fighting their way to the jihadist-held city, retaking its eastern side and then attacking the west. Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, spokesman for Iraq’s […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for May 17, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. Ellen Fortini rounds up 10 things to do today in the UAE. Want to see your event listed here? Email us with the details and contact information at [email protected] newslide Abu Dhabi & Dubai Comedy […]
Riyadh, 16 May 2017: Under the patronage and inauguration of H.R.H Prince Faisal Bin Bandar Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Governor of Riyadh, Al Jazirah Vehicles Agencies has opened successfully the world’s largest Ford’s dealer showroom in Riyadh branch of Al Jazirah Vehicles, the sole authorized dealer of Ford and Lincoln vehicles in Saudi Arabia, located on Khurais road. The opening was attended by a number of officials, […]
BEIJING China hopes that Sri Lanka can create a good legal, security and public opinion environment for its investment projects in the Indian Ocean country, Premier Li Keqiang told his visiting Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe. Chinese investment in Sri Lanka has been controversial. President Maithripala Sirisena is struggling to contain popular opposition to land acquisition for a huge Chinese industrial zone next to Hambantota port in […]
By Julia Edwards Ainsley | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Trump administration’s search for a new FBI director hit roadblocks on Tuesday when two high-profile potential candidates, a moderate judge and a conservative senator, signalled they did not want the job. Advisers to Judge Merrick Garland and U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas told Reuters they discouraged them from leading the Federal Bureau of Investigation, cautioning that they would […]
By Yara Bayoumy and Katie Paul | WASHINGTON/RIYADH WASHINGTON/RIYADH When U.S. President Donald Trump meets Saudi princes in Riyadh on Saturday, he can expect a warmer welcome than the one given a year ago to his predecessor Barack Obama, who Riyadh considered soft on arch foe Iran and cool toward a bilateral relationship that is a mainstay of the Middle East’s security balance. Beneath the pomp, Riyadh will be looking for assurances […]
Jamie Dimon endured a rough ride at the annual meeting of America’s biggest bank on Tuesday morning, as shareholders repeatedly attacked the JPMorgan Chase chief over his ties to the administration of Donald Trump. In December Mr Dimon was named chairman of the Business Roundtable, a group of almost 200 CEOs which is among the most prominent lobbying groups in Washington. Mr Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan […]
Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels declared a health emergency in the capital Sana’a after thousands of people were infected with cholera, the Saba news agency reported. Cholera has spread through all the city’s districts, infecting 2,567 people, the rebel-controlled news agency said on Sunday. The disease, transmitted by contaminated food and water, has claimed 116 lives in 14 provinces during the last two weeks, the International Committee of […]
SINGAPORE — Although Singapore and China are different in size, they face common challenges in innovation and governance, noted Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean yesterday as he kicked off a high-level bilateral forum on leadership. Delivering the keynote address during the 6th China-Singapore Forum on Leadership, Mr Teo said the common obstacles faced by both countries included an ageing population, a slower-growing workforce, rising expectations of […]
By Andrea Shalal | BERLIN BERLIN The German defence ministry announced a possible delay in another big arms programme on Tuesday, marking a further setback for a military already faced with a probe into right-wing radicalism in its ranks. State Secretary Ralf Brauksiepe told lawmakers it was unclear if a 1.5 billion-euro purchase of five new military corvettes – spending added to the 2017 budget after delays […]
DUBAI // Hundreds of complaints from residents about people urinating on the walls of their villas prompted Dubai Municipality to remind the public that offenders will be fined if caught. Seven hundred posters have been placed around areas of old Dubai after a string of complaints about urinating on and near people’s homes. Abdul Majeed Saifaie, director of the municipality’s waste management department, said: “We launched a […]
Image: Supplied SAP has announced that its Cloud Platform is now also offered as a multicloud environment, which will allow customers to develop and run apps via their choice of infrastructure providers. Customers will be able to use Amazon Web Services (AWS), in general availability; Microsoft Azure, under public preview; and the demo showcase of Google Cloud, in addition to full multicloud support through the SAP Cloud […]
By Ange Aboa | BOUAKE, Ivory Coast BOUAKE, Ivory Coast The leaders of a nationwide military mutiny in Ivory Coast have accepted a government proposal on bonus payments and agreed to return to barracks, ending their revolt, two spokesmen for the soldiers told Reuters on Tuesday. Neither Ivory Coast’s defence minister nor government spokesman was immediately available to confirm details of the agreement, but a Reuters witness […]
Indian agents have raided the home of the country’s former finance minister as part of an investigation into alleged violations of strict foreign investment rules. India’s Central Bureau of Investigation said it had visited locations in the southern city of Chennai on Tuesday morning, including the home of Karti Chidambaram, which he shares with his father P Chidambaram, a Congress party politician whose most recent cabinet post […]
