Asian shares edged higher on Friday, catching a lift from another record close on Wall Street, while the dollar groaned under the pressure of slumping U.S. yields. The S&P 500 index .SPX posted its third record closing high in four sessions, as investors shrugged off the first quarterly contraction of the U.S. economy in three years and focused on signs of a strengthening labor market. MSCI’s broadest […]
ABU DHABI // The UAE’s support for women in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) was discussed at a meeting of the United Nations commission on the status of women. At the session held in New York this year, Dr Lamya Fawwaz, the executive director of public affairs at Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, talked about the participation of women and girls in those areas, including […]
Barack Obama has outlined his vision for the country’s foreign policy for the rest of his presidency, saying that the country will still lead, but will show more restraint before embarking on more military missions abroad. In a speech on Wednesday, the US president insisted that his country’s reliance on diplomacy over military intervention was working to resolve global crises such as Ukraine and Iran, and he […]
CAIRO — The Benghazi militant group Ansar al-Shariah is under attack by a renegade former general trying to rid Libya of political Islam. But in response, the militia has taken aim squarely at Washington. “We remind America of their defeats in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia,” Mohammed Ali al-Zahawi, the leader of Ansar al-Shariah, declared this week in a videotaped statement, warning that the United States would face […]
Egypt’s apparent low voter turnout in presidential elections could be driven by millions boycotting the process because of objections to the two candidates or simply by apathy to yet another ballot during a tumultuous three years. But wedged in between the boycotters and enthusiastic voters is a group that is carrying on the tradition of spoiling their ballots, often with poignant or whimsical messages to the state. Here’s […]
DUBAI // Engineering student Chibuke Enekwechi has plans to develop a drone that could be used to monitor pupils sitting exams instead of relying on teachers to do the job. The final-year student from the American University in Dubai said on Tuesday that he hoped to come up with a winning design that could help him bag Dh1 million and possibly a further US$1m (Dh3.6m) in the […]
Mount Everest (C), the world highest peak, and other peaks of the Himalayan range are seen from air during a mountain flight from Kathmandu April 24, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Tim Chong (Reuters) – Nepal said on Tuesday it was investigating whether a Chinese woman, this season’s sole climber of Mount Everest from the Nepalese side, used a helicopter to reach a high camp after a deadly avalanche last […]
At least 40 people, including two civilians, have been killed in the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk following a day of heavy fighting, in which the government forces used combat jets and helicopter gunships to reclaim the regional airport. “The airport is under our full control. The enemy suffered heavy losses. We have none,” Ukraine Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a statement on Tuesday. He said […]
French President Francois Hollande has called for the European Union to reduce its role “where it is not necessary” after Eurosceptic parties made sweeping electoral gains across the bloc. Reacting to the spectacular success of parties like France’s own National Front and the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in Sunday’s European Parliament elections, Hollande acknowledged that the EU had become “remote and incomprehensible” for many of its citizens. […]
Alex Salmond’s miscalculation gave No voters a perfect excuse to vote Ukip Photo: Christopher Pledger/Telegraph Has Alex Salmond lost it? The question becomes especially pertinent in the light of the SNP leader’s extraordinary reaction to his party’s decidedly underwhelming result in the Euro-elections. It is one thing for party bosses to be disappointed when their charges perform less well than anticipated. However, it is entirely another when they […]
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Cameron. Photo: AFP Tory MPs may have agreed not to panic in the light of Ukip’s big win, but that doesn’t mean David Cameron isn’t going to come under a huge amount of pressure from them in the coming days and weeks to do something, anything, to show he’s got the message. One of their demands is bound to be that the […]
JERUSALEM — Pope Francis inserted himself directly into the collapsed Middle East peace process on Sunday, issuing an invitation to host the Israeli and Palestinian presidents for a prayer summit at his apartment in the Vatican in an unexpected overture that has again underscored the broad ambitions of his papacy. Francis took the extraordinary step in Bethlehem, where he became the first pontiff ever to fly directly […]
Naomi Campbell during her birthday party At The Billionaire’s Club Photo: GETTY IMAGES Sir Cam makes a stand on Scotland If there’s one thing likely to get Sir Cameron Mackintosh’s goat, it’s asking him to comment on reports about run-ins with locals in the Scottish coastal village of Mallaig. Sir Cameron Mackintosh: Mallaig people ‘unbelievably supportive’ (REX FEATURES) Over the past decade, his nearly 15,000-acre estate in the […]
CAIRO — Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the former army officer soon to be Egypt’s president, promises to remedy Egypt’s crippling fuel shortage by installing energy-efficient bulbs in every home socket, even if he has to send a government employee to screw in each one. “I’m not leaving a chance for people to act on their own,” Mr. Sisi said in his first and most extensive television interview. “My […]
Six young Iranians who were arrested for posting a YouTube video of themselves dancing on Tehran rooftops to “Happy,” the globally infectious pop song, were released on bail on Wednesday as new details emerged of their possible mistreatment while incarcerated amid an outpouring of sympathy — including a subtly supportive Twitter post from Iran’s president. The arrests of the six, who were all under 25 and included […]
|By TAP Staff| Ooredoo has announced a new collaboration with the world-renowned MIT Media Lab, in order to drive cutting-edge ICT innovation and research. Since 1985, the MIT Media Lab has pioneered unconventional research in the ICT sector to radically improve people’s daily lives. Ooredoo joins the MIT Media Lab as a Consortium Lab Member. Dr. Nasser Marafih, Group CEO, Ooredoo, said: “ICT is rapidly converging, and […]
GAZA — For 14-year-old Aseel Radi, the promised reconciliation between warring Palestinian political factions is viewed through a forlorn fountain in a crowded market on the eastern side of Gaza City. Aseel used to visit the fountain in what is known as Palestine Square with her father, Maher, a member of the Fatah faction’s armed wing who was killed by militants from its rival, Hamas, during the […]
HERMEL, Lebanon — For many months, Shiite communities across Lebanon lived in fear as car bombs tore through their neighborhoods, punishing Hezbollah and its supporters for sending fighters to aid President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war in neighboring Syria. But Hezbollah succeeded on the Syrian battlefield in chasing rebels from the border towns where many of the attacks originated. The bombings have since stopped, leaving Lebanon’s […]
Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group said it is considering issuing subordinated Islamic bonds through its South African and Pakistani units to boost their regulatory capital. The Islamic bank’s plans come at a time when sovereign sukuk are expected from both countries later this year. The lender has operations in 15 countries across the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Al Baraka is working with the authorities in South […]
Iran appeared to take a harder line in its nuclear dispute with world powers on Sunday by dismissing as “ridiculous” one idea that could allay Western concerns about a planned atomic research reactor. The fate of the heavy-water reactor at Arak, which has not yet been completed, is one of several thorny issues in talks between Iran and six powers aimed at reaching a long-term deal on […]
Qatar Investment Authority is acquiring joint control of a group of luxury hotels in five European cities including the Carlton InterContinental in Cannes and Amsterdam’s Amstel InterContinental. The Qatari sovereign wealth fund’s Katara Hospitality unit is also taking joint control of InterContinental hotels in Frankfurt, Madrid and Rome, according to a notice on the website of the European Commission’s competition authority. The hotels are managed by and […]
|By TAP Staff| Sunil John, founder and CEO of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, the region’s leading public relations consultancy, has been awarded the “SABRE Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement”, the first person from the Middle East to be honoured with this prestigious global award. The SABRE Awards, which are presented by The Holmes Group, a leading global public relations publishing organisation, acknowledged John’s position at the “forefront of change” […]
Photo: Martin Pope As if the middle classes didn’t have enough to worry about already – what with shrinking pension pots, children who refuse to fly the nest and a ‘hidden’ 60 per cent tax rate, as revealed by the Telegraph – there’s a new crisis on the way: the spelt flour shortage. The ancient grain that has become fashionable among artisan bread-fanciers as a gluten-free alternative […]
Qatar is pledging labor-law reform in response to what critics have called systemic exploitation that traps thousands of foreign workers in low-wage jobs and squalid living conditions. Construction workers at a building site in Doha, Qatar Getty Images The reforms proposed Wednesday include an abolition of the so-called kafala sponsorship system and removing the need for a visa to exit the country. They come as Qatar prepares […]
