Photo A blanket of smog covered Tehran on Monday. Every year, heavy pollution gets trapped by the Alborz Mountains. Credit Atta Kenare/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images TEHRAN — This week, as a yellow blanket of smog settled in for what is typically a winter-long stay, Reza Shajiee, a prominent hipster socialite, posted a picture of himself on Instagram wearing a gas mask under his motorcycle helmet. The […]
Sweden’s Riksbank is debating whether to become the first significant central bank to issue a digital currency as it responds to an increasing move away from cash in the Scandinavian country. The world’s oldest central bank — it was the first to issue paper banknotes in the 1660s — is launching a project to examine what a central bank-backed digital currency would look like and what challenges […]
15 November 2016 Marrakech — The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), as a multilateral credit and political risk insurance corporation, plays a catalytic role in facilitating Renewable Energy projects in its member countries. On the margins of COP22, which took place in Marrakech, Morocco, on November 15, 2016, ICIEC organized a high panel discussion (HPD) under the theme “ECA Risk Mitigation […]
Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) is negotiating with Chad over a record $74 billion fine the U.S. oil company was told to pay by a court in the central African nation over unpaid royalties, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Exxon has appealed the Oct. 5 court ruling, but the appeals court hearing has been delayed because of the talks, Bloomberg reported, citing a lawyer for Exxon. (bloom.bg/2fRpf5n) The court […]
Big changes are coming to Overwatch. In addition to a new character in the form of the hacker Sombra and the new “Arcade” game mode, Blizzard is also changing up the game’s leveling system. It’s that last change that has some players worried. Each time a player levels up they get a loot box, which contains various skins, sprays and voice lines for the game’s characters. As […]
newslide ‘The Rock’ talks a future in politics, including potential White House run The Rock may have been voted Sexiest Man Alve by People, but the 44-year-old is interested in topping a more serious poll. After parleying a professional wrestling career as The Rock into leading roles in Hollywood, Dwayne Johnson is entertaining the idea of jumping into the political ring, including perhaps even a run for […]
Photo Mohamed Morsi, the ousted Egyptian president, during his trial in Cairo in June. Credit Mohamed Hossam/European Pressphoto Agency CAIRO — One of Egypt’s highest courts overturned a death sentence imposed on Mohamed Morsi, who was the country’s first democratically elected president and was ousted in 2013 by the military. Mr. Morsi, who is serving a life sentence in prison for offenses related to espionage and inciting […]
“Phase one is the hope phase,” Stephen Cucchiaro, chief investment officer at 3 Edge Asset Management, says of the reaction in financial markets to president-elect Donald Trump. “As it is a while until he’s president, you can hope for fiscal stimulus getting growth going and reawakening animal spirits.” Evidence of exuberance is not hard to find. S&P 500 financials and heathcare stocks are flying; US 10-year Treasury […]
CAIRO — One of Egypt’s highest courts overturned a death sentence imposed on Mohamed Morsi, who was the country’s first democratically elected president and was ousted in 2013 by the military. Mr. Morsi, who is serving a life sentence in prison for offenses related to espionage and inciting violence, is likely to remain in prison indefinitely. The annulment of his death sentence — as well as the […]
DUBAI // The delivery of more than 1,000 books for children in Pakistan has been on hold for almost seven months after the shipment was caught up in red tape. In April the first batch of books in the Kitaabie initiative, which aims to establish libraries every 100km in Pakistan, were due to leave the UAE but they have been held up in the courier’s storage space […]
PARIS U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will have little choice but to adopt a softer line on trade than the one he has flagged during his campaign, although flare-ups with some partners are likely, former WTO chief Pascal Lamy said. With financial markets wondering whether Britain will opt for a hard or soft Brexit, Lamy said that there was a similar scenario for trade under a Trump presidency. […]
Sharing screenshots or footage of Watch Dogs 2’s full-frontal nudity may get your account suspended by Sony. After accidentally taking down some female NPCs during a playthrough of Ubisoft’s new open world shooter, Adam, a UK QA tester, used the PlayStation 4 Share feature to screenshot a fallen character seemingly wearing crotchless panties. “On Sunday evening I accidentally blew up a few women in a back alley […]
The world’s favourite spy has arrived in Dubai with a licence to thrill – or at least, we have his cars, suits, guns, gadgets and even a few of the women that have helped to make the 24 Bond movies the most enduring film franchise of all time, raking in an estimated US$14 billion (Dh51.4 bn) since Sean Connery introduced us to 007 in 1962’s Dr No. […]
During an interview in his office here, Mr. Omgy acknowledged that his company had provided financial services to Al Qaeda. “We had no other option but to comply with them,” he said. “They were the rulers of the city.” Continue reading the main story But he denied the Treasury Department’s charge that he was a Qaeda member, describing his ties to the group as a business relationship […]
November 15, 2016 by: Kathrin Hille in Moscow Vladimir Putin has urged Donald Trump to co-operate on the war in Syria and develop economic ties in his first push to improve strained Russian relations with the US following America’s election. The Russian president spoke by telephone with Mr Trump, the US president-elect, late on Monday and expressed a “willingness to build a dialogue between partners with the […]
Average annual staff turnover in the Middle East hospitality sector is running at 16 percent, with most hotels’ salary grading systems in need of a review, according to leading HR practitioners. The second annual Hotelier Middle East Human Capital Report found that 94 percent of local hospitality organisations followed a strict salary structure, defined by grade and spanning departments, and 61 percent operated a minimum wage system. […]
DUBAI // A gang loading stolen cables from a du signal station fled leaving even their vehicle when they were spotted by a security guard, Dubai Criminal Court heard on Tuesday. Prosecutors said that on April 18 last year the 22-year-old Pakistani defendant and a number of unidentified men stopped their van near the du station in Jebel Ali at about 4pm and broke the lock to […]
By Corina Pons and Eyanir Chinea | CARACAS CARACAS Multinational companies are selling their Venezuelan operations at hefty discounts – or even giving them away – as they to seek to escape the OPEC nation’s soaring inflation and chronic supply shortages. Six firms, including General Mills and oil producer Harvest Natural Resources, have sold operations for as little as half their assessed value on the companies’ books, […]
Three global trends are reshaping GCC travel distribution business models and threaten to weaken the connection between airlines and customers Rise of digital technologies risks weakening connection between airlines and customers In the Middle East, there is growing internet penetration, with a rapid rise in the use of mobile – around 15% of internet users use only mobile for access By getting closer to […]
Frank West returns to Willamette Mall in Dead Rising 4, and we wanted to follow the photojournalist around for a while to chronicle the story. Please join us all November long on IGN First as we roll out one exclusive new feature after another on the latest iteration of the open-world, tongue-in-cheek, baseball-bat-in-hand zombie survival adventure. This page will be updated all month long as each new […]
The first ferry connection between Qatar and Bahrain will launch by the middle of next year, according to a report. Doha News quoted an industry source as saying that the new service, operated by Qatari firm Gulf Ferry, will have two return trips a day from Al Ruwais port in northern Qatar to Khalifa bin Salman port in Manama. The report said the service will take commercial […]
Tokyo is struggling to find out who is advising Donald Trump on Japan policy, as the president-elect prepares to meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York this week in what will be his first meeting with a foreign leader since his victory over Hillary Clinton. Four former US officials said the Japanese embassy had been contacting Asia experts in Washington to identify Trump advisers on Japan […]
There are few things like a bull market to turn an investor’s head. Just look at China. Having slumped almost 50 per cent from its peak last June to a low in early January, the benchmark CSI 300 Index is now up 20 per cent. The memory-erasing qualities of this year’s rally in Shanghai will soon be given a real test as a trading link between Hong […]
ABU DHABI // Parents can play a role in promoting science education by accompanying their children to the Abu Dhabi Science Festival. As he led officials on a tour of the festival grounds on Monday, Abu Dhabi Education Council director general Dr Ali Al Nuaimi encouraged visitors to make the science festival a family affair. “I urge parents to come and participate with their kids,” said Dr […]
