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 […]
Customer Hajime Shimada uses his newly purchased Apple Watch in front of Dover Street Market Ginza in Tokyo April 24, 2015. Reuters/Issei Kato NEW YORK When Maximo Cavazzani, creator of the popular mobile game Trivia Crack, learned about Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) plan for a new smart watch, it seemed like a logical step to adapt his game for the new product. But the little watch had some […]
UAE. The Global Economic Conditions Survey for the first quarter of 2015, carried out by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and IMA (the Institute of Management Accountants) also shows that while lower oil prices have helped oil-importing nations such as the USA and Europe, they have undermined performance in many net oil-exporting regions such as Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Confidence has dipped in […]
QATAR. Risk, governance, globalization and technology are among the many risks currently facing companies. Internal Audit plays a critical role in addressing these issues while contending with the challenge of complying with the updated Committee of Sponsoring Organizations’ (COSO) Internal Control-Integrated Framework, which is a widely used framework around the world, in which internal control is broadly defined as a process, effected by an entity’s board of […]
President Obama met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq in April at the White House. By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS June 4, 2015 WASHINGTON — President Obama will meet on Monday with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq to discuss the military campaign against the Islamic State, White House officials said on Thursday, as the militant group continues to make gains despite an American-led counteroffensive. The two men met at the […]
The UAE has launched a comprehensive review of its environmental achievements in time for today’s World Environment Day. The UAE State of Environment Report 2015 was launched in the country’s pavilion at the Milan Expo yesterday by Dr Rashid bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water. Clean energy – led by Abu Dhabi company Masdar – sustainable transport, green architecture and efficient use of resources are among […]
By MERNA THOMAS and ALISON SMALE June 3, 2015 CAIRO — In an unusual daytime attack near Egypt’s most visible tourist attraction, gunmen shot and killed two police officers on Wednesday, a few hundred yards from the pyramids of Giza, security officials said. Tourism is a vital source of foreign currency for the government, and a pillar of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s plan to revive Egypt’s battered economy. The years of […]
By RICK GLADSTONE June 3, 2015 The adjourned espionage trial of Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post correspondent incarcerated in Tehran since last July, will resume on Monday, Mr. Rezaian’s brother said Wednesday. The brother, Ali Rezaian, confirmed via email a report by the Iranian Students’ News Agency quoting the defense lawyer, Leila Ahsan, as saying that said she had been informed of the date for the next hearing in […]
The logo of Alibaba Group is seen inside the company’s headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province early November 11, 2014. Reuters/Aly Song/Files BEIJING/SHANGHAI Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will invest in financial media outlet China Business Network in a deal set to be announced on Thursday, Chinese media reported on Wednesday. The investment in China Business Network, part of Shanghai Media Group (SMG), will be worth […]
A girl lies in a hammock at a slum area in New Delhi April 12, 2015. Reuters/Adnan Abidi/Files NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The government has launched a “Lost and Found” website to help families trace the tens of thousands of children in the country who go missing every year – often abducted for forced labour or sexual exploitation – and are never found. The “Khoya […]
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a town hall meeting with Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Fellows (YSEALI) at the White House in Washington June 1, 2015. Reuters/Kevin Lamarque WASHINGTON President Barack Obama signed into law on Tuesday legislation passed by Congress earlier in the day reforming a government surveillance program that swept up millions of Americans’ telephone records. Reversing security policy in place since shortly after […]
UAE. On managing the work/life complexity Richard Jolly, Adjunct Professor of Organisational Behaviour, London Business School comments: “The demands from work and personal life have never been greater in the GCC. I see two reasons senior managers should take a closer look at the way the complexities of work and personal life are handled in their companies. “It’s what we call the ‘Double Crunch’ a stage where […]
ABU DHABI // For Farzad Bayat, the cameraman on A Place Called Home, travelling to undeveloped parts of the world has given him a new outlook on life. Mr Bayat, 33, who is originally from Norway, was among the crew who went to India, Bangladesh and the Philippines to meet the families who were the film’s subjects. Mr Bayat, who also helped to edit the film, said: […]
Shares in Dubai Islamic mortgage provider Amlak Finance fell sharply as they resumed trading on Tuesday after being suspended for nearly six years. The stock tumbled as much as 23.5 percent shortly after opening but then pared losses to 14.7 percent. It topped trading volumes on the emirate’s bourse, whose main index slipped 0.2 percent. Trading in Amlak, part-owned by Dubai’s biggest developer Emaar Properties, was halted […]
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR June 2, 2015 WASHINGTON — A senior State Department official held talks last week with the Houthi rebels of Yemen, opening a new round of diplomacy aimed at persuading the warring factions in that country to participate in a peace conference in Geneva, American officials said Tuesday. The meetings came just before the release on Monday of Casey L. Coombs, an American freelance journalist who had […]
By ANNE BARNARD June 2, 2015 ISTANBUL, Turkey — Syrian insurgents rushed reinforcements into combat on Tuesday against rival Islamic State militants who have seized crucial territory near the northern city of Aleppo in recent days, building on the momentum the group has achieved in other battlefield successes in Syria and Iraq. Amid increased fears that Aleppo could be the next big prize to fall to the Islamic State […]
Intel Corp (INTC.O) agreed to buy Altera Corp (ALTR.O) for $16.7 billion as the world’s biggest chipmaker seeks to make up for slowing demand from the PC industry by expanding its line-up of higher-margin chips used in data centres. By combining with Altera, Intel will be able to bundle its processing chips with the smaller company’s programmable chips, which are used, among other things, to speed up […]
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 […]
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 […]
Toichiro Mizushima (L), president of the Japan Pension Service, bows as he offers an apology during a news conference in Tokyo, in this photo taken by Kyodo June 1, 2015. Reuters/Kyodo TOKYO Japan’s pension system has been hacked and more than a million cases of personal data leaked, authorities said on Monday, in an embarrassment that revived memories of a scandal that helped topple Prime Minister Shinzo […]
NORWICH, UK // A former UAE teacher has published a book on Islamic art for children that she hopes will help to improve perceptions of the Muslim world. Mary Beardwood spent six years researching and writing Discovering Islamic Art, the second book she has written about the culture and traditions of the region. A retired teacher who worked at Jebel Ali Primary School, Rashid School for Boys […]
FUJAIRAH // Devastated shop owners are counting the cost of a fire that tore through Masafi’s Friday Market at the weekend. The blaze, which destroyed 13 carpet and furniture shops and 16 fruit and vegetable outlets, broke out about 5pm on Saturday. No injuries were reported. But business owners say they face ruin because insurers do not recognise them as shops Carpet shop owner Bustan Jalil, 68, […]
The word ‘password’ is pictured on a computer screen in this picture illustration taken in Berlin May 21, 2013. Reuters/Pawel Kopczynski/Files WASHINGTON At 3:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, the National Security Agency and telecommunications companies will begin mothballing a once-secret system that collected Americans’ bulk telephone records, shutting down computers and sealing off warehouses of digital data. If the U.S. Congress fails to act, key provisions of […]
INTERNATIONAL. Happy passengers are the ultimate goal of airlines and airports and new research from global IT provider SITA proves that technology can help. In a ground-breaking survey, SITA investigated the connection between a passenger’s use of technology and their emotions to discover how passengers around the world feel at every point of the journey. The results reveal that airline passengers are happiest and most excited when […]
