When American writer Kate Bolick was in her mid-twenties, she and her boyfriend used to go running after work, jogging through Boston in the early evening. One night, they passed a woman running behind her toddler in an all-terrain buggy. Her boyfriend smiled and said: “Look: there’s you someday.” Bolick’s stomach lurched, like in a scene from a Woody Allen: the career woman horrified by smug maternity, […]
|By TAP Staff| The Middle East is set to witness $640 billion worth of construction projects, with each one exceeding $1 billion in the next five years, according to organizers of the Leaders in Architecture MENA 2015, being held in Dubai from today. These projects are spread across a combination of retail, real estate, leisure, health and education asset developments as well as transport, communication and supporting […]
Dubai’s drive to develop its Islamic finance sector is fuelling growth of sharia-compliant banking but the benefits are unevenly distributed, with some lenders struggling to compete against burgeoning competition. In 2013, Dubai’s government announced plans to turn the emirate into a centre for an “Islamic economy” with sharia-compliant businesses ranging from banking to asset management, trade, food preparation and certification, fashion, education and tourism. This looked like […]
In my previous column, I outlined the innovative German system of cooperative study and universities of applied sciences. These institutes in particular support a practical, hands-on approach to learning about engineering. But where do managers of mid-sized business learn the tools of their trade? As we have seen, traditionally, the answer would be through common sense and trial and error. The majority of world-leading mid-sized enterprises were […]
As chairman of Emaar Properties, Mohamed Alabbar has shaped much of Dubai’s skyline, but rapid growth in his outside real estate interests is raising the possibility of a rarity in the Gulf – open shareholder dissent. Speculation persists that Alabbar and Emaar, the company he founded in 1997, could soon part ways despite a categorical denial from the firm last month. His involvement in other firms’ projects, […]
India has bought the first oil for its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), trade sources said on Monday, marking the start of a round of purchases by the world’s fourth-biggest oil consumer to build up emergency stockpiles. Oil prices have almost halved in the past year due to excess global production, leaving traders looking for any signs of new demand to help absorb the surplus. The sources said […]
Iraqi security forces in Tikrit, Iraq, on Monday. By ROD NORDLAND March 30, 2015 TIKRIT, Iraq — Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations used a visit to Baghdad on Monday to warn the Iraqi government to treat civilians decently after it liberates territories like Tikrit, where a government offensive has been supported by heavy American-led airstrikes for the past five days. “Civilians freed from the brutality of […]
Prince Bishop, ridden by William Buick, won the $10 million Dubai World Cup by two and three-quarter lengths on Saturday as the 12-1 outsider sprinted clear of California Chrome, the 2014 American Horse of the Year. California Chrome, ridden by Victor Espinoza, was the 6-4 favorite to triumph in the world’s richest horse race, but the Kentucky Derby and Preakness champion could only finish second, one and […]
The next big threat to oil prices isn’t from OPEC or Bakken shale. It’s Russian samovars, or teapots. Simple refineries that process crude into fuel oil are scaling back, because when oil prices slump, the government reduces the discount that these refiners — known as teapots to those in the industry — get for exporting fuel. They use less crude, freeing it up for sale abroad, which […]
Yahsat, a UAE-based satellite operator – a wholly owned company of the Mubadala Development Company, has unveiled a new training programme as part of its partnership with Orbital ATK Corporation, the manufacturers of Yahsat’s third satellite, Al Yah 3. The programme will see 15 UAE national engineers from Yahsat work alongside top industry experts for a period of six months, at varying time periods during the satellites […]
DOHA, 23 hours, 10 minutes ago Kuwait’s real gross domestic product (GDP) has been projected to slow this year as the government cuts subsidies before recovering in the next two year as major development projects get underway, according to a report. QNB Group’s ‘Kuwait Economic Insight 2015,’ examined recent developments and the outlook for Kuwait’s economy. Kuwait is well placed to withstand lower international oil prices with […]
DIFC posts 18pc growth in companies DUBAI, 23 hours, 54 minutes ago Dubai International Financial Centre, a leading financial hub connecting the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (Measa) markets with the economies of Europe, Asia and the Americas, has posted an 18 per cent growth in the number of active registered companies. More than 240 new companies were licensed during the last year, compared with 199 […]
Salim Al Aufi, Oman’s undersecretary for oil and gas, likens attempts to cut the reliance on oil during a price slump to acting “with a gun pointed at your head.” If you have to make decisions under pressure, “you will probably make the wrong ones,” he said March 3 in Muscat during a panel discussion on the impact of the oil shock. Oman relied too much on […]
| By Michael Sasso| If you have to fly from New York to New Delhi on April 1, you can book through one of the three big U.S. airlines for at least $1,100 round trip. Or you can take one of Emirates’ luxurious Airbus A380s for less than $900. That choice is at the heart of the complaint raised by Delta, American, and United Continental with U.S. […]
The proposal by Dubai Municipality to introduce mandatory affordable housing quotas for all new residential developments in Dubai is long overdue and is expected to bring a wide range of benefits to the emirate, while driving further maturity in the market, according to leading international real estate consultants, Cluttons. With the residential market in Dubai now meandering through the second half of the current property cycle and […]
|By TAP Staff| The UAE banks benefit from an improving operating environment, sound liquidity and sound capital ratios, but some asset quality issues remain in Dubai, largely relating to the weak performance of the real estate sector and some large Dubai government-related entity (GRE) problem loans and profit levels, ratings agency Fitch said in a report. But both real estate issues and the problem loans of Dubai […]
Gen Odierno said that British defence cuts are already jeopardising US-UK joint operations Photo: AP Ever since the Cold War ended more than two decades ago, America has never entertained any serious doubts about Britain’s ability to fulfil its commitment as a vital military ally when tackling threats to the Western alliance. Until now. For the dramatic cuts to Britain’s defence budget implemented since the Coalition took power […]
Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power is obtaining a loan of about $344 million from three banks to finance a solar energy project in Dubai, chief executive Paddy Padmanathan said on Sunday. The 27-year amortising loan with an interest rate of 4 percent is being provided by Abu Dhabi’s First Gulf Bank and two Saudi banks, National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group, he told reporters on the sidelines […]
By Edward Taylor and Jan Schwartz GENEVA Sun Mar 1, 2015 11:43pm IST Customers gather for the opening of an Apple Store in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, January 24, 2015. Credit: Reuters/Stringer/Files GENEVA (Reuters) – The main talking point at this week’s Geneva car show is likely to be a vehicle that may never be built: the Apple car. The world’s automakers will gather in the Swiss city […]
DUBAI, 2 days ago STME, a leading IT solutions provider, has upgraded the infrastructure and software requirements of Dubai-based wasl properties, a UAE semi-government property development entity, by adopting an efficient storage reclamation approach. “We understand that organisations today are struggling to accommodate growing volumes of data on a limited, if not declining, budget,” said Ayman Al Bayaa, CEO of STME. “However, by using a more […]
Video | Hollande Discusses Kidnapping in Yemen President François Hollande of France confirmed that a Frenchwoman had been kidnapped in the Yemeni capital, Sana. By ALISSA J. RUBIN February 24, 2015 PARIS — A Frenchwoman who works for the World Bank was kidnapped on Tuesday in front of a ministry office in Sana, the Yemeni capital, according to security officials there and President François Hollande of France, who took the […]
Ooredoo to showcase next-gen smart solutions DOHA, 5 hours, 28 minutes ago Ooredoo is set to showcase a range of ‘smart’ technologies at this year’s GSMA Mobile World Congress, as the company continues to develop new life-enhancing services to serve customers across its footprint. The theme of this year’s congress, which will run from March 2 to 5 in Barcelona, Spain, is ‘The Edge of Innovation,’ and […]
Egypt … struggling to cope with energy demandfrom a population of 85 million Egypt aims to halt gas imports in 2020 – minister CAIRO, 11 hours, 19 minutes ago Egypt hopes to halt liquefied natural gas imports in 2020, Oil Minister Sherif Ismail said on Monday, as projects to develop its own gas fields are completed. The Arab world’s most populous nation is struggling to cope with […]
Video | Israel Remembers Jewish Paris Victims The Israeli president, the prime minister and the wife of one of the four Jewish victims in a Paris kosher market attack spoke at the burial ceremony for the slain men in Jerusalem. By JODI RUDOREN January 13, 2015 JERUSALEM — They were buried Tuesday not in the land where they had made their homes but in what was described as their […]
