By Nandita Bose | WHEATON, Ill. WHEATON, Ill. German grocery chain Aldi Inc is trying to beat the world’s biggest retailer at its own game: low prices. Already with 1,600 U.S. stores, Aldi has set a minimum target of selling groceries at a 21 percent discount to its U.S. rivals, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), Chief Executive Jason Hart told Reuters. His strategy, previously unreported, centers on […]
11 May 2017 The Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group, Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C (ABG) announced that it achieved a total operating income of US$ 249 million during the first quarter of 2017 and the total financing and investments recorded slight increases at the end of March 2017 compared to end of December 2016. Al Baraka Banking Group has continued during the first quarter of 2017, […]
Just hours after the Fed’s March “dovish” rate hike, when stocks paradoxically surged to all time highs and yields tumbled, Goldman found something strange: “surprisingly, financial markets took the meeting as a large dovish surprise—the third-largest at an FOMC meeting since 2000 outside the financial crisis, based on the co-movement of different asset prices.” Even more surprising is that according to Goldman, its financial conditions index, “eased […]
By Mark Hosenball and David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Trump administration is likely to expand a ban on laptops on commercial aircraft to include some European countries, but is reviewing how to ensure lithium batteries stored in luggage holds do not explode in midair, officials briefed on the matter said on Wednesday. Any expansion of the ban could impact U.S. carriers such as United Airlines (UAL.N), […]
Senators from both sides of the aisle wrote to President Donald Trump on Wednesday urging him to take a tougher line with Beijing in the South China Sea, calling for more U.S. naval patrols to uphold navigation rights in the disputed waterway. The appeal, backed by three Republicans and four Democrats, reflects growing concern in Congress that the Trump administration could be ceding strategic ground to China […]
The lead characters are a Norwegian couple who had Middle East experience and thought they might be able to broker an agreement. This was high-octane audacity. Yet the two of them — Terje Rod-Larsen, a social scientist, and his wife, Mona Juul, an official in Norway’s foreign ministry — pulled it off. Continue reading the main story The play’s Mr. Larsen, portrayed by Jefferson Mays, seems a […]
Jonathan Hunt, Vox Media’s former vice president of international operations, has left the digital news publisher for a job leading National Geographic’s audience development and digital strategy. Hunt’s hire is part of an expansion of National Geographic’s digital team. Also new at National Geographic will be Marcus East, formerly the digital director at retail company Marks and Spencer, who will be executive vice president of product and […]
Retailers were among Wednesday’s biggest gainers, with Next and AB Foods both in demand on broker upgrades. Next climbed 1.7 per cent to £44.01 on the back of an Investec upgrade to “buy”. Investors have been too preoccupied by Next’s short-term trading and have missed its active estate management, Investec said. Rather than focus on refurbishments, Next has been opening and closing stores to adapt to the […]
The Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Sabah, and the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on Tuesday officially inaugurated the start of heavy construction of Kuwait International Airport’s new passenger terminal. The new KD1.31 billion ($4.27 billion) passenger terminal is currently being built by the Turkey-based construction company Limak Insaat, and will have the capacity to handle 25 million passengers per year and accommodate […]
A joint venture between Dubai developer Nakheel and Spanish hospitality group RIU Hotels & Resorts has released a construction tender for an 800-room, beachfront resort and water park at Deira Islands. With an investment value of AED670 million ($182.4 million), the resort – RIU’s first in the Middle East and one of the biggest in Dubai in terms of hotel rooms – is set for delivery in […]
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. Sean Hannity, the eight-figure archetype of selective moral outrage, last night charged the press with going “completely insane” over the James Comey firing. Hannity accused it of “selective moral outrage,” proving it takes one to know one amid wall-to-wall Comey […]
09 May 2017 136,200 sqm City Centre Al Zahia will serve the shopping and leisure needs of more than 1.9 million people by 2020 Strategically located and easibly accessible from all directions, City Centre Al Zahia is also adjacent to Al Zahia, Sharjah’s award-winning, master planned community developed by Sharjah Holding PJSC, a strategic partnership between the Government of Sharjah and Majid Al Futtaim Properties Strategically located at […]
Members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet have a new catchphrase for how they see the future role of the US: not just “energy-independent”, but “energy-dominant”. As Ryan Zinke, the interior secretary, put it at an industry conference in Houston last week: “Dominance is what America needs.” It would be tempting to dismiss that talk as hype, except that every week the US energy sector is coming up […]
Comcast is making it a whole lot easier to manage a home Wi-Fi network, introducing the new xFi platform gunning for top Wi-Fi routers. In recent times, various companies such Eero, Google and others have made efforts to facilitate the setup and maintenance of a home network. Comcast now joins the party as well, announcing its new xFi cloud-based gateway for easy home network management. Smart Wi-Fi For […]
When it comes to international news, The New York Times doesn’t want to be BuzzFeed, HuffPost or The Guardian. It wants to be, well, The New York Times. Whereas other publishers are looking to lure massive new audiences with editions published in various languages, The New York Times is being deliberately conservative with its foreign-language offerings. It has Spanish- and Chinese- language homepages but isn’t planning to […]
Dubai: 09th May 2017 Gulf Islamic Investments LLC (GII) successfully completed a Sharia compliant growth capital financing round for Bion Group and further expands its investment portfolio with a foray into the lucrative transportation and logistics industry. Bion Group is ranked #1 heavy haul transportation company by customer base and ranked #4 heavy haul transportation company by trucks fleet size in the UAE and is a well-renowned […]
In the early 1990s, the Dubai-based Spanish craftsman Pedro de Aranda was called upon to create a sculpture of a solid-gold falcon for Sheikh Zayed, the founding President of the UAE. De Aranda rendered the piece in his Paris workshop and brought it over to Abu Dhabi. A few months later, the then president of France was gifted the bird when he visited the UAE, and it […]
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. The image of power was simple: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump walking off Marine One Thursday, hand-in-hand, and boarding Air Force One for a short trek to New York City with Kushner’s father-in-law. Yes, Jared Kushner, trusted power broker, to […]
Representatives from the Kushner family descended upon the Ritz Carlton in Beijing to pitch wealthy Chinese the EB-5 visa program aka crony capitalism. Nicole Kushner, Jared’s sister, was alleged to be in attendance. The pitch was “Invest early, and you will invest under the old rules,” according to the Washington Post. The event, which was closed to foreign press, was hosted by the Chinese company Qiaowai — who […]
06 May 2017 Darlie Global FZC, owner and manufacturer of natural wellness products, has opened a manufacturing plant in the UAE as part of its initiative to pioneer a range of products catering to a growing number of consumers looking for healthier and more natural alternatives in personal care. The facility will locally produce global personal and oral care brands – Dr. Neem and Mr. Darlie. Dr. […]
May 6, 2017 by: Jeevan Vasagar in Singapore and Michael Peel in Bangkok Puma Energy, the fuel storage and petrol station business backed by Swiss commodities trading house Trafigura, wants to expand in Myanmar across a range of fuel and petroleum products after opening a $100m storage facility at the southern port of Thilawa. The new terminal, with a capacity of 91m cubic metres, opens the prospect […]
Business conditions in Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector continued to improve at the start of the second quarter, with rates of expansion in new work and business activity gathering pace, according to a new survey. Data from the Emirates NBD Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed that firms were encouraged to engage in purchasing activity, which in turn led to the strongest accumulation in stocks of […]
A cyclone more than 9,000 miles away from Omaha, Nebraska, where more than 30,000 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders are gathered for an annual meeting they call the Woodstock of Capitalism, has put a slight damper on the festivities. Profits at Warren Buffett’s company fell 27 per cent in the first quarter to $4.06bn, or $2,469 per share, as the company’s insurance business paid out millions for claims related […]
Barclays was under pressure on Friday after Goldman Sachs said the bank needed to prioritise rebuilding capital over shareholder returns. Regulatory hurdles have moved against cross-border banks such as Barclays, which will be hit disproportionately by regional ringfencing laws, said Goldman. Capital ringfences add to uncertainty around Barclays’ litigation costs, its pension deficit and the likely proceeds from the sale of its African bank, said the broker. […]
