A new Palestinian government is scheduled to be sworn in on Monday in an effort to unite warring Palestinian factions for the first time in seven years. The move would bring together the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is dominated by the mainstream Fatah faction, and its rival Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, under the terms of a unity pact reached last month. The development […]
‘As a scientist, all I can do is tell the truth based on the evidence,’ says Dr Jane Plant Photo: MARTIN POPE In 1993, the breast cancer that had plagued Jane Plant since 1987 returned for the fifth time. It came in the shape of a secondary tumour – a lump in her neck the size of half a boiled egg. Doctors told her that she had only […]
Iran’s smart set turned out in force for this year’s Tehran Art Auction, spending a record amount as the country’s modern and contemporary art scene thrives despite economic sanctions. The annual event on Friday was a sell-out, raising $5.1 million from the auction of works by Iranian artists, more than double the amount fetched last year. While Western sanctions since 2010 on Iran’s oil and financial sectors […]
Dubai home prices, which rose the most in the world over the 12 months through March, slowed in the first quarter after financial authorities took steps to cool the market, broker Knight Frank LLP said. Values gained 3.4 percent in the emirate, slowing from 9.2 percent a year earlier and putting Dubai behind Lithuania, Estonia and Malta for the quarter, London-based Knight Frank said in a statement. […]
The new Palestinian government, scheduled to be sworn in on Monday at 1 p.m. (6 a.m. Eastern time) in the West Bank city of Ramallah, will be led by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and is to consist of 16 other ministers, some handling more than one portfolio. Three ministers are to be from the Gaza Strip following a reconciliation pact signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization, dominated […]
DUBAI // The emirate’s oldest prehistoric resident finally has a name. The long necked, whip-tailed, 155 million-year-old dinosaur was called DubaiDino on Monday. The name was chosen by Johara Al Bayedh, a bank manager and Saudi national. The 24 metre long, 7.6 metre high Diplodocus longus dinosaur from the late Jurassic period has been on display at Dubai Mall for the past three months. Ms Al Bayedh […]
DUBAI // Private schools in Dubai “must address the shortcomings of teaching Arabic as a first and additional language as a matter of urgency”, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority has said in a report. The warning, issued on Monday in the KHDA’s annual report, Key Findings: 2013-2014 Inspection of Private Schools, outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the 141 private schools inspected by the agency and […]
Now that Egypt has held its elections, many in and outside the country will be turning to the new president to see how he plans to pull the domestic economy back from the brink. The economic challenges former army chief Abdel Fattah Al Sisi faces in many ways resemble those of Citadel Capital, one of Egypt’s foremost investment firms which itself is in the middle of a […]
The authority of the free zone Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSOA) announced it plans to set up Dubai Technology Entrepreneurship Centre (DTEC) in order to boost entrepreneurs in the technology field. DTEC is planned to be launched in the first quarter of 2015. DSO is set to encompass over 3,600 square meters that will provide existing and emerging high-tech entrepreneurs and start ups with a work environment that […]
Hospitals, health centers and clinics operating in Dubai are obliged to clarify patient treatment fees before providing medical service, said the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), Arabic newspaper Emarat Al Youm reported. The DHA said in a circular that the medical facilities have to investigate complaints from patients or their families within 72 hours. It stressed that each facility is required to provide notice to the patient or […]
Qatar Airways has delayed taking delivery of its first Airbus A380 by “several weeks” while the planemaker tackles last-minute problems with the cabin, the airline’s chief executive told Reuters. The airline has asked Airbus to address requests it made after the usual pre-delivery customer inspection, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said on Friday. Al Baker was responding to a Reuters query after delegates gathering for the […]
The husband of a woman stoned to death in Pakistan killed his first wife four years ago, police and relatives said. Zulfiqar Hameed, a deputy inspector general for Punjab police, told the Associated Press on Thursday that authorities arrested Mohammed Iqbal for the October 2009 killing of his first wife, Ayesha Bibi. Hameed could not offer details about the killing, but said the case was withdrawn after […]
Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it is recalling 1.39 million SUVs and sedans in North America, most for the possible loss of power steering. About 1.186 million of the vehicles Ford said it is recalling are in the United States. That figure is only 2,200 shy of the total number of vehicles that Ford recalled in the United States during all of last year. Automakers are […]
Asian shares edged higher on Friday, catching a lift from another record close on Wall Street, while the dollar groaned under the pressure of slumping U.S. yields. The S&P 500 index .SPX posted its third record closing high in four sessions, as investors shrugged off the first quarterly contraction of the U.S. economy in three years and focused on signs of a strengthening labor market. MSCI’s broadest […]
WASHINGTON — During the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States military often carried out dozens of daily operations against Al Qaeda and other extremist targets with heavily armed commandos and helicopter gunships. But even before President Obama’s speech on Wednesday sought to underscore a shift in counterterrorism strategy — away from the Qaeda strongholds in and near those countries — American forces […]
DUBAI // Six natural reserves have been formally declared in Dubai to improve the environment and boost eco-tourism. Jabal Nazwa reserve, Al Marmoum desert reserve, Al Wuhush desert reserve and Al Ghaf reserve, Hatta mountain reserve and the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR) will now also be run by Dubai Municipality. They have been established to protect natural wildlife, including plants such as samar, ghaf, and side, […]
(Reuters) – It took a Texas man five days to polish off what has been hailed as one of the most expensive drinks produced at Starbucks, a several-thousand calorie frozen concoction that included 60 shots of espresso and was topped with whipped cream. “It was delicious, very strong, very sweet,” Andrew Chifari said on Thursday. “After the first day, the ice crystals had melted and it was […]
A Ukrainian military helicopter has been shot down in Slovyansk, killing 14 people including an army general, as rebels and government forces continued fierce battles in the country’s east. The acting Ukraine president, Oleksandr Turchynov, told parliament on Thursday: “I have just received information that terrorists using Russian anti-aircraft missiles shot down our helicopte. It had been ferrying servicemen for a change ofduty.” He said General Serhiy Kulchytskiy was among […]
The property game: Help to Buy is also helping Londoners Photo: Justin Sutcliffe The Government is persistently defensive about its Help to Buy scheme, partly because the criticism has been so consistent. Two parts of the scheme have been rolled out by David Cameron in an attempt to improve the route to property ownership, or in his emotive words: “As prime minister I am not going to stand […]
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the former general who toppled Egypt’s first freely elected leader, is on course for a sweeping victory in the country’s presidential election, early provisional results suggested. But a lower-than-expected turnout figure has raised questions about the credibility of a man idolised by his supporters as a hero who can deliver political and economic stability. Sisi won 93.3 percent of votes cast, government sources said on Thursday, with most ballots counted […]
The hotel was honoured at the MENA Travel Awards 2014 and Sharjah Tourism Excellence Award events DUBAI (May 28, 2014) – Ramada Sharjah received two separate accolades honouring its service quality and facilities at the MENA Travel Awards 2014 and Sharjah Tourism Excellence Award this spring. The hotel won its first Silver Award in the ‘Best 4-Star Business/Corporate Hotel’ category at the MENA Travel Awards 2014 on […]
WASHINGTON — A United States citizen working in Syria with a militant group backed by Al Qaeda conducted a suicide bombing there Sunday, in what is believed to be the first time an American has been involved in such an attack, American officials said Wednesday. The suicide attack first surfaced on Tuesday in Twitter messages from the Nusra Front, an Islamist extremist group in Syria aligned with […]
DUBAI // Two Mediterranean olive trees each more than a millennium old have found a new home on The World islands. The trees, dated between 1,300 and 1,400 years old, are being planted on the Heart of Europe chain of man-made islands off the Dubai coast by the UAE-based real estate developer Kleindienst Group. In all, 58 trees comprised of more than 10 varieties native to the […]
Emaar Properties has secured a $1.5 billion sharia-compliant loan from five local lenders, two banking sources aware of the matter said on Wednesday, the latest Dubai-based borrower to take advantage of buoyant markets to reprice debt. A number of state-linked entities in the emirate have sought to refinance existing debts, even if the loans have years until maturity, as market sentiment towards Dubai improves after its debt […]
