DUBAI // Businesses failing to comply with the Dubai Health Authority’s mandatory health-insurance plan face hefty fines, and new visas will not be granted for employees until they fall in line. Phase two of the plan, which includes about 3,000 companies with between 100 and 999 employees, began on August 1, ensuring that another 600,000 people now have health insurance. It has also emerged that the national […]
Emirates Airline said on Tuesday that Gulf airlines were not to blame for overcapacity on services between the United States and Dubai, rejecting comments at the weekend by U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines. Delta said on Sunday that it was reducing flights between Atlanta and Dubai this winter, blaming overcapacity on U.S. routes to the Middle East by subsidised and state-owned airlines, underscoring a trade row. “Their […]
GAZIANTEP, Turkey — The Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda has announced its withdrawal from front-line positions against the Islamic State extremist group in northern Syria, saying that it disagrees with plans by Turkey and the United States to clear the extremists from an area along the Turkish border. In a statement on Monday, the Qaeda group, the Nusra Front, said that the proposed plan was designed primarily […]
Delta Air Lines Inc has scrapped a number of its flights to Dubai this winter in an apparent nod to how competition with three Gulf carriers is hurting its business. Delta, the second-largest U.S. passenger carrier, will fly nonstop to Dubai from its Atlanta hub between four and five times per week starting Oct. 1, down from daily service this summer. The airline revised its schedule on […]
A demonstration on Sunday in Baghdad to show support for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi after he proposed government reforms. By OMAR AL-JAWOSHY and TIM ARANGO August 9, 2015 BAGHDAD — Facing widespread protests against government corruption and poor services as well as a crucial call for change from the country’s top Shiite cleric, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday proposed to radically reshape the dysfunctional political system of Iraq that has […]
SEATTLE Teams of video gamers playing characters ranging from wizards to monsters exchanged virtual punches, fireballs and lightning strikes over the past six days, battling at the main event of the Dota 2 International 2015 tournament in Seattle. And by the end of Saturday’s finals, five players, including a 16-year-old, became more than a million dollars richer. Now in its fifth year and playing to a sold-out […]
UAE. On 20 July 2015, the UAE announced its adoption of a Federal Law, Law No 2 of 2015 on Preventing Discrimination and Hatred (the “Law”). Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, has announced that the law “guarantees the freedom of individuals from religious intolerance … and underpins the UAE’s policy of inclusiveness.” Although the main aim of the Law appears to be […]
UAE. Media outlets in the UAE and elsewhere have picked up on a variety of recent stories regarding the use of social media in the UAE. These stories include one about an Australian expat being arrested, jailed and deported after posting a picture of a car taking up two disabled parking spots. A similar story from earlier in the summer related to an appellate decision to overturn […]
ABU DHABI // The annual inflation rate for the emirate increased during the first quarter of the year by 1.4 percentage points. According to the economic performance report of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, issued by the Division of Studies in the Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi, the annual inflation rates reached 5.0 percentage points in January and 4.6 percentage points in February compared with […]
India-based Rolta, a leading provider of innovative IT solutions, has been awarded smart city and 3D mapping with city modelling projects in the Middle East, for a combined value around $15 million. This recognises Rolta’s unique ability to combine its domain expertise with productised smart city solutions that fundamentally change how agencies and governments fulfil their missions. This is a natural evolution and extension of Rolta’s pioneering […]
While excess capacity and price volatility are among the key challenges faced by the steel industry, digital is shaping the future of metals in a complex business environment, said the managing director of Accenture metals. John Lichtenstein shared his passion for steel and how the industry can address growth challenges in an interview published by Accenture, a multinational management consulting, technology services, and outsourcing company. What are […]
Government overreach is the primary culprit that keeps the Internet from being the free and open source of information and ideas that it could be, according to a leading computer crime defense attorney. Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, addressed the subject of Internet freedom yesterday in her keynote address at the annual Black Hat computer security conference in […]
SAUDI ARABIA. JLL, the world’s leading real estate investment and advisory firm, today has released its second quarter (Q2 2015) Jeddah Real Estate Overview report that assess the latest trends in the office, residential, retail and hotel sectors. Mr Jamil Ghaznawi, National Director and Country Head of JLL KSA, commented: “In the second quarter, the Jeddah real estate market remained in the upturn stage of its cycle. […]
DUBAI // Innovation is the driver of progress, and governments and businesses that fail to innovate will go backwards, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid warned on Wednesday. The Vice President and Ruler of Dubai was launching National Innovation Week, which will take place from November 22 to 28. Sheikh Mohammed urged all public, private and academic entities to participate and called on the public to get involved through […]
DUBAI // An estate agent and property management company that went out of business last month was given a series of warnings and fines before regulators finally revoked its licence and ordered it to close. S&K, also known as Smith & Ken, continued operating for more than a month in defiance of the closure order. It eventually ceased trading on July 21 and filed for bankruptcy. More […]
ISTANBUL — Confronted with widespread protests two summers ago, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered a harsh police crackdown and tarnished the demonstrators as traitors and spies. Faced with a corruption inquiry focused on his inner circle, he responded by purging the police and judiciary. So when Mr. Erdogan, now president, suffered a stinging electoral defeat in June that left his party without a majority in Parliament […]
An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar NEW YORK Has the “curse of the Dow” finally caught up with Apple? Shares of the iPhone maker have been in a rut since posting disappointing quarterly results in late June, falling to a six-month low of $113.25 on Tuesday. […]
JERUSALEM — He has the pedigree: Meir Ettinger is the grandson and namesake of Meir Kahane, the slain American-Israeli rabbi considered the father of far-right Jewish militancy. He has the record: For years, Mr. Ettinger has joined the radical group of Israeli settlers known as the hilltop youth in clashes with Palestinians and Israeli forces, leading to a ban on his entering Jerusalem or the occupied West […]
GAZA — The new road known as Jakar Street is a rough dirt expanse that Hamas bulldozers cleared parallel to the fence separating this restive Palestinian strip from Israel. Jakar comes from a slang Arabic term that suggests provocation, stubbornness, an effort to vex or annoy or irritate. Leaders of Hamas, the militant movement that dominates Gaza, have been variously quoted as saying that they built the […]
SAUDI ARABIA. JLL, the world’s leading real estate investment and advisory firm, today released its second quarter (Q2 2015) Riyadh Real Estate Market Overview that asses the latest trends in the office, residential, retail and hotel sectors in Saudi Arabia’s largest city. Mr Jamil Ghaznawi, National Director and Country Head of JLL KSA, commented: “there has been relatively little change in the real estate market in Riyadh […]
The developer Meydan has announced the launch of a new scheme known as Meydan One featuring a 711m-high tower, a huge new mall, the world’s largest indoor ski slope, a 25,000 sq metres indoor sports facility, the biggest dancing fountains in the world, a beach and a civic plaza capable of hosting up to 60,000 people. It is also to contain a 100-berth marina. And, a retractable […]
ABU DHABI // A pharmacy that has been offering a free delivery service to its customers is delighted to have been providing the service now for almost a decade. Urban Pharmacy began delivering medication in 2006. “We started it in our Electra Street branch when people could phone in an emergency, or if someone was disabled, and we would take the medicine to them,” said managing director […]
Viva, Kuwait’s fastest-growing telecom operator, has reported a net profit of KD21.6 million ($71.3 million) for the first half of the year, jumping 14 per cent compared to the same period last year. Total revenues reached KD134 million ($442.5 million), growing 18 per cent when compared to KD113 million ($373.1) in H1 2014. Operational profit increased by 24 per cent, from KD20 million ($66 million) in H1 […]
JALAZOUN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank — Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli forces while thousands of Israelis flocked to rallies, all of them protesting an arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler — a rare instance of mutual shock in a land attuned to bitter violence. Israel’s president implored the country to consider how the attack on Friday morning could have happened; Palestinians pointed to a widespread sense […]
