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UAE. In times of economic uncertainty, cold-hearted international investors seek more diversification of their property portfolios; as London provides opportunity for property capital appreciation with prices continuously on the rise in the last five years, reasonable prices and growing yields in Dubai market make an equally attractive income generating opportunity. Mutual InterestFor Middle Eastern investors, London has always been regarded as a strong investment complementary to their […]

|By TAP Staff| Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG) announced a net profit of AED 2.6 billion for the first half of this year ending 30th June 2015, an increase of 24 percent. Full year profits are expected to exceed AED 5.5 billion, the company said. Ahmad Bin Byat, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Dubai Holding, said Dubai Holding will continue to reinforce its successful strategy […]

MOSCOW — Russia widened its bombings in Syria on Friday, striking Islamic State territory for the first time, but showed no hint of heeding Western demands to avoid attacks on fighters pushing to oust Syria’s weakened, Kremlin-backed president. The Defense Ministry said its warplanes had bombed seven targets in overnight raids including a command post and training camp near Raqqa, the northeast Syrian city that the Islamic […]

UAE. Banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) reported a good set of earnings in the first half of 2015 thanks in part to declining credit losses–and despite the continued squeeze on interest margins. But, owing to the knock-on effects of lower oil prices on growth and asset quality, earnings could weaken over the next several quarters. That’s according to Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services’ report, “Gulf […]

Middle East A vehicle at a base controlled by rebel fighters from the Ahrar al-Sham insurgent group that activists said was targeted by Russian airstrikes near Idlib, Syria, on Thursday. By ANNE BARNARD and ANDREW E. KRAMER October 1, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a second day of raids in Syria, Russian warplanes carried out a new round of airstrikes on Thursday that once again — contrary to Moscow’s assertions — appeared […]

The scales do not lie, or so we are told. But in the case of what constitutes being too fat, they just might be telling a few fibs, according to UAE health experts. A new report by the World Health Organisation, says almost half of all women in the UAE are obese, as are one in three men. Insurance provider Zurich International Life, based on a sample […]

When President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority told the United Nations on Wednesday that the Palestinian people “cannot continue to be bound by” agreements with Israel, what was he repudiating? Mainly, he was talking about the Oslo peace accords, which Mr. Abbas’s predecessor, Yasir Arafat, signed in 1993 and 1995 with Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli leader who was later assassinated by an extremist Jew. Those accords […]

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QATAR. Broadband Internet is failing to reach those who could benefit most, with Internet access reaching near-saturation in the world’s rich nations but not advancing fast enough to benefit the billions of people living in the developing world, according to the 2015 edition of the “State of Broadband” report. The report reveals that 57% of the world’s people remain offline and unable to take advantage of the […]

|By TAP Staff| Strong signs of recovery in Dubai’s tourism and hospitality sector are already visible and there are strong bookings from the Russian travel agents and tourists, Marc Bennett, Senior Vice President for International Operations at Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said. Russian tourists, who dominated the Dubai tourism industry landscape over the years, had stopped coming in view of the challenging’ economic times […]

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV- C30) carrying ASTROSTAT, India’s first observatory satellite, lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, September 28, 2015. Reuters/Stringer NEW DELHI India launched its first space research observatory and several U.S. satellites on Monday, part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to expand his country’s influence in the competitive, $300 billion global space industry. The observatory, named ASTROSAT, […]

AMMAN, Jordan — Mohammad Smarat sat gazing at the few plants sprouting outside the entrance of the white stone hospital here, recalling how he had collapsed in a sea of green fields after getting shot. He had been helping farmers pick tomatoes near his home in Dara’a, Syria, when a stray bullet shattered his left hip joint. Though he had obeyed his father’s orders not to join […]

Bloomberg|David McLaughlin| Google Inc. is back under U.S. antitrust scrutiny as officials ask whether the tech giant stifled competitors’ access to its Android mobile-operating system, said two people familiar with the matter. The Federal Trade Commission reached an agreement with the Justice Department to spearhead an investigation of Google’s Android business, the people said. FTC officials have met with technology company representatives who say Google gives priority to its own […]

INTERNATIONAL. Gleaming glass skyscrapers, state-of-the-art technology, and wealthy merchant families have replaced the Gulf’s muddy towns and villages populated by traders and pearl fishers that once lacked electricity, running water or modern communications. The region’s modern day projection of a visionary cutting- edge, 21st  century urban environment masks however the fact that some things have not changed. Gulf states continue to be ruled by the same families, […]

UAE. Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States of America are the world’s five most innovative nations, according to the Global Innovation Index 2015, while China, Malaysia, Viet Nam, India, Jordan, Kenya, and Uganda are among a group of countries outperforming their economic peers. The GII 2015 looks at “Effective Innovation Policies for Development” and shows new ways that emerging-economy policymakers can boost […]

Kuwait’s government spending in August stood at KD4.2 billion ($13.91 billion) fiscal-year-to-date (fytd), marking 22 per cent of the FY15/16 budget, slightly above the historic average of 14 per cent, a report said. The figure, while being 6 per cent lower than during the same period last year, indicates that spending cuts have not yet been fully reflected in the interim figures, added the latest Economic Update […]

UAE. Forbes Middle East has unveiled the names of its Most Powerful Arab Women for 2015 at a glittering awards ceremony that shone a light on some of the region’s most influential and accomplished leaders. The impressive event recognized the achievements of women in reaching the top of their fields in business and government and, in doing so, working towards a fairer and more equal working environment […]

ABU DHABI // European nations need a unified response to the refugee crisis to prevent the situation from worsening, a senior Italian official has said. Andrea Orlando, the country’s minister of justice, said there should be a common policy to deal with the hundreds of thousands of people who are fleeing conflict in Syria, as well as Iraq and Afghanistan, to head to the European Union. “Italy […]

|By Matein Khalid| The world’s emerging markets have been savaged by multiple economic, banking, currency and political shocks since 2011. Global emerging markets are far too diverse and nuanced to be analyzed as a single asset class but now trade at a 24% valuation discount to developed markets. The financial markets now price draconian scenarios for earnings, exports, sovereign credit, industrial production and economic growth. The shortage […]

ABU DHABI // The capital of the UAE is a symbol of the future, the co-founder of a project to circumnavigate the world in a solar-powered aircraft told an audience on Monday. “Abu Dhabi is an oil producer that is diversifying to clean energy technologies and I think it is the perfect symbol,” said Bertrand Piccard, who was in the capital after being named the first Middle […]

A Google self-driving vehicle is parked at the Computer History Museum after a presentation in Mountain View, California May 13, 2014. Reuters/Stephen Lam/Files FRANKFURT German premium carmakers BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi are snapping up software experts as tech firms such as Google threaten to outflank them in the race to develop a self-driving car. Software expertise has become a new battleground for automakers and tech firms as […]

The Dubai Health Authority has awarded contracts worth Dh24 million ($6.5 million) to Emirati entrepreneurs in the last three and a half year, falling under the small and medium enterprise (SMEs) classification, according to a top officials. Eman Khalfan Al Jallaf, director of purchasing and contracts department at the DHA, said that in line with the vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime […]

UAE.  Latest business survey data pointed to a robust and accelerated expansion in Dubai’s private sector output during August. Furthermore, the rate of business activity growth was the fastest seen since May, with all three monitored sub-sectors reporting stronger output growth in the latest survey period. The rebound in activity growth was underpinned by a stronger expansion in new business, which increased at the strongest rate in […]

UAE. Asteco, the Middle East’s largest full service real estate company has released its mid-year UAE market report ahead of Cityscape Global, highlighting stability in Dubai with a continued focus towards the affordable segment, in contrast to the high end market which experienced declines of up to 10%.  Affordable apartment units at IMPZ, Discovery Gardens and Dubai Silicon Oasis showed 3%, 6% and 2% sales growth over […]

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday rallied Republican opposition to President Obama’s agreement with Iran, denouncing it as a “shameful deal” that would risk a new Holocaust and possibly lead to the first nuclear attack since Nagasaki. In a full-throated speech to supporters at the American Enterprise Institute here, Mr. Cheney argued that Mr. Obama and his team had abandoned their own criteria for […]

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