Every week, The National looks at the people and politics of the UAE, as the country steps more confidently forward on the world stage. June 11 New Zealand military visit to Ajman Museum A military delegation from New Zealand visited Ajman Museum and was received by Faisal Al Nuaimi, general manager of Ajman Tourism Development Department accompanied by ATDD national heritage adviser Ali Al Matroushi. Mr Al […]
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Thursday called for a radical transformation of politics, economics and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change, as his much-awaited papal encyclical blended a biting critique of consumerism and irresponsible development with a plea for swift and unified global action. The vision that Francis outlined in the 184-page encyclical is sweeping in ambition and scope: He described a relentless […]
MRC Global announced that its subsidiary, MRC Transmark Middle East FZE, has signed a framework agreement with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), naming MRC Transmark Middle East as one of SABIC’s primary valve suppliers to SABIC’s operations in Saudi Arabia. SABIC, headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies. It operates from more than 50 countries and has more than 60 manufacturing and […]
Visitors at the exhibit “A Brief History of Humankind” at the Israel Museum. The museum is Israel’s largest cultural institution, presiding over Jerusalem from a hilltop site alongside the Knesset and the Supreme Court. By ISABEL KERSHNER June 17, 2015 JERUSALEM — A softly lit case displays a small, gnarled implement that is said to be the world’s oldest known complete sickle, dating back 9,000 years. On a wall […]
The black flag of the Islamic State, left, flew over Tal Abyad, Syria, on Tuesday. After Kurdish and rebel fighters took over the town later Tuesday, they hoisted a Kurdish militia flag. By BEN HUBBARD June 16, 2015 ISTANBUL — Kurdish militias and rebel fighters on Tuesday took full control of the strategic Syrian town of Tal Abyad on Turkey’s border, striking a blow against the Islamic State and expanding […]
Saudi opening may be non-event with no licences awarded RIYADH, 11 hours, 30 minutes ago The opening of Saudi Arabia’s stock market to direct foreign investment on Monday may disappoint traders who have been hoping for large and immediate fund inflows, as the kingdom has yet to announce the award of any licences. Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority announced plans to open the market last July, and […]
BRASILIA/SAO PAULO The United States and Russia are competing for a strategic role in Brazil’s plan to launch commercial satellites from its base near the equator, opening up a new theater in their rivalry for allies and influence. Brazil’s government expects to choose a partner to help provide technology in the coming months, three sources with knowledge of the deliberations told Reuters. Brazil partnered with Ukraine over […]
By THOMAS ERDBRINK June 13, 2015 TEHRAN — With a little more than two weeks before the deadline for a nuclear deal, Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, said Saturday that he expected relief from economic sanctions within a “couple of months” after an agreement with six world powers was signed. Speaking at a news conference to recognize the second anniversary of his election, Mr. Rouhani dismissed reports that Iranians would […]
INTERNATIONAL. This year Ipsos celebrates 20 years of the European Media and Marketing Survey (EMS) or as it is called now, The Ipsos Affluent Survey Europe. The Affluent European whom the survey tracks comes in all shapes and sizes, with a myriad of different wants and needs, yet, these individuals (the Top 13% of income earners) have one thing in common: they have significant disposable income and […]
A logo is pictured at Google’s European Engineering Center in Zurich April16, 2015. Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann Google Inc (GOOGL.O) said on Friday that it is launching a live streaming gaming service called “YouTube Gaming”, creating a rival to Amazon.com Inc’s (AMZN.O) Twitch service. The service, to be available in the form of an app as well as a website, will focus exclusively on gamers and gaming. […]
Emirates Airline President Tim Clark said Tuesday that if the U.S. were to void its open skies policy on aviation traffic rights, then antitrust immunity granted to some U.S. and European airlines to coordinate trans-Atlantic flying would also have to disappear. “If you have an open skies regime, you can get [antitrust immunity, or ATI]. If you shut down open skies, ATI has to go out because […]
Researchers work at a laboratory at a genomics organization in Tianjin, China, April 2, 2014. Reuters/Stringer SHANGHAI/LONDON Years of pouring money into its laboratories, wooing scientists home from overseas and urging researchers to publish and patent is starting to give China a competitive edge in biotechnology, a strategic field it sees as ripe for “indigenous innovation.” The vast resources China can throw at research and development – […]
Video | U.S. General Affirms Support for Israel Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accepted an award from his Israeli counterpart and emphasized the American military’s strong relationship with Israel. By HELENE COOPER June 9, 2015 TEL AVIV — The Obama administration on Tuesday ramped up efforts to ease Israel’s opposition to a possible nuclear deal with Iran, as the top American military leader […]
Renovations have started at a 9.5-acre compound in the West Bank that started as a church-run hospital in the 1950s and later became a hostel for travelers. By JODI RUDOREN June 9, 2015 NEAR EL AROUB REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank — The old stone compound set amid Palestinian farmland between the cities of Bethlehem and Hebron has a relatively new fence. The compound, with eight buildings spread over 9.5 […]
UAE. The European football market grew to total $28.9 billion in 2013/14. Revenue growth across all of the ‘big five’ European leagues (Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1, Premier League and Serie A), saw the combined revenues of the ‘big five’ leagues pass the $15 billion mark ($15.3bn), according to the 24th Annual Review of Football Finance from the Sports Business Group at Deloitte. Dan Jones, Partner in […]
By THOMAS ERDBRINK June 8, 2015 TEHRAN — The woman wore form-fitting clothes, and a scarf wrapped around her head that revealed a few of her blond tresses. The men carried backpacks to official meetings. Nothing all that unusual in most places, but enough to touch off a firestorm of criticism this weekend from Iranian lawmakers, who accused their visitors of flouting Islamic law by — as one put […]
|TAP Special| Sections of public opinion in the Arab Gulf see anti-Arab bias and the grudge in losing the bid for hosting World Cup as the main motivation for the campaign against Qatar in the award of 2022 tournament. As it becomes increasingly clear that the corruption scandal can have very negative implications for the hosting of the tournament, the Arab public opinion is also becoming more […]
|TAP Special| The release of a new book, titled The Ugly Game, which claims to contain damning evidence of malpractices within FIFA, is ominously coinciding with a forthcoming debate by European lawmakers on the controversial decision awarding Qatar the right to host 2022 World Cup. The members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have been very critical of the voting process for the award of […]
Tariq Aziz, left, in 1992 at the United Nations as deputy prime minister of Iraq, talking with Chinmaya Rajaninath Gharekhan, the Indian delegate, at a meeting of the Security Council. By ALISSA J. RUBIN June 5, 2015 Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi foreign minister and deputy prime minister who for decades was the most public face of Saddam Hussein’s government on the world stage, died on Friday in Nasiriya, Iraq, where […]
By ALISSA J. RUBIN June 5, 2015 Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi foreign minister and deputy prime minister who for decades was the most public face of Saddam Hussein’s government on the world stage, died on Friday in Nasiriya, Iraq, where he had been imprisoned. He was 79. Adel Aldikhaly, the deputy governor of Nasiriya, said Mr. Aziz had had a heart attack after “a long-term incurable disease” and was transferred […]
By DIAA HADID June 5, 2015 RAMALLAH, West Bank — France is “firmly opposed” to a boycott of Israel, the French foreign minister said Friday, after the partly state-owned French telecommunications company Orange said it would seek to withdraw its brand from the Israeli market. The company’s decision was seen in Israel as the latest in a rapid succession of blows meant to isolate and punish the country over […]
June 4, 2015 Open Source By ROBERT MACKEY While many Israelis were enraged by comments from the chief executive of the French telecommunications company Orange, who told journalists in Egypt that he would like to cut ties to an Israeli cellphone service provider that operates in the occupied West Bank, pro-Palestinian activists working to isolate Israel argued that the statement was insufficient. The Orange chief executive, Stéphane […]
UAE. According to a new report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the UAE outperforms the GCC and the rest of the world in most dimensions – including income, employment, health, education, infrastructure, income equality, civil society, governance, and environment – when it comes to its current-level Sustainable Economic Development Assessment (SEDA) scores. Across these dimensions, the UAE topped the average scores of both the GCC and […]
By KAREEM FAHIM and RICK GLADSTONE June 1, 2015 CAIRO — Houthi rebels in Yemen on Monday released an American freelance journalist who had been in their custody for about two weeks, the State Department and the journalist’s family reported. The journalist, Casey L. Coombs, one of several Americans believed to be held by the Houthis, was freed as a video was released and published online of Isabelle Prime, a Frenchwoman […]
