|By Matein Khalid| As a student of investing and the son of a painter/art historian, I cherish art as a visceral, spiritual value but am also intrigued by its historical linkage to banking and the financial markets. The happiest moments of my life have been spent in the Prado, Tate, Hermitage, Rijksmuseum, Ufizi, MOMA, Met, the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay and so […]
INTERNATIONAL. Africa continues to remain vastly unexplored, and making Africa’s most remote regions accessible for trade will not only promote prosperity in those regions, but also elevate the continent’s continued growth path. This is according to Charles Brewer, Managing Director of DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, commenting on The Role of Trade in Ending Poverty report, jointly written by the World Bank Group and World Trade Organisation, recently released by […]
The logo of U.S. memory chip maker MicronTechnology is pictured at their booth at an industrial fair in Frankfurt, Germany, July 14, 2015. Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach Micron Technology Inc (MU.O) has told China’s Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd that its $23 billion acquisition offer is not realistic because U.S. authorities would block the deal due to national security concerns, according to people familiar with the matter. The Boise, Idaho-based chipmaker’s […]
The rout in commodities deepened with prices touching the lowest since 2002 as the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates sent gold tumbling. Raw materials are losing favor with investors as the dollar gains amid signals from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen that the central bank may raise rates this year on the back of an improving U.S. economy. Higher borrowing costs curb the attractiveness of commodities […]
Turning rubble into homes, the Dutch style AMSTERDAM, 2 days ago In Dutch capital Amsterdam, a mobile factory, the size of two shipping containers, ingests rubble at one end, liquifies it into cement and spurts out Lego-shaped building blocks. Call it rubble for the people, converting the deadly debris from disasters into homes and hospitals, cheaply and quickly. It’s the brainchild of Gerard Steijn, a 71-year-old sustainable […]
TEHRAN — Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, voiced support on Saturday for his country’s nuclear deal with world powers while emphasizing that it did not signal an end to Iran’s hostility toward the United States and its allies, especially Israel. “Their actions in the region are 180 degrees different from ours,” he said. Speaking after a special prayer marking the end of the Muslim […]
VIENNA — One by one, the roadblocks to a nuclear accord between Iran and the United States had been painstakingly cleared. But as the negotiations went into their third week in the neoclassical Coburg Palace hotel this month, a major dispute lingered over whether a ban on Iran’s ability to purchase conventional weapons and missile technology would remain in place. The American delegation, led by Secretary of […]
UAE. Core Savills, the largest commercial lease transaction and one of the leading international real estate companies in the UAE, is optimistic on the outlook for the Dubai real estate market. Research released today by the firm has suggested declining apartment and villas prices in the emirate since the market peaked late last year will stabilize during 2016 and return to growth later in the year or […]
UAE. Private sector businesses in Dubai signalled further strong increases in business activity and new orders in June, though the rates of expansion moderated to 27- and 53-month lows, respectively. Despite softer increases in activity and new work, Dubai private sector companies were increasingly optimistic towards the year-ahead, with the degree of positive sentiment reaching a 19-month high. Furthermore, increased confidence towards the business outlook underpinned the […]
UAE. Non-oil private sector firms in the UAE reported the weakest improvement in business conditions since August 2013 during June. Marked slowdowns in growth of output and new business were at the forefront of the overall deceleration, while employment continued to rise at a solid pace. Meanwhile, inflationary pressures from both input costs and output charges were negligible. The survey, sponsored by Emirates NBD and produced by […]
By ANNE BARNARD and MAHER SAMAAN July 3, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — The fiercest fighting in months raged in the divided Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday, as newly reorganized insurgents carried out a new offensive on government-held areas. Two insurgent coalitions — a new one that includes the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, and one formed in May by local factions long active in Aleppo — attacked simultaneously […]
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged more companies to make electronic and digital goods on Wednesday, reviving his campaign promise to bridge India’s digital divide backed by over $70 billion in investment pledges. Launching a “Digital India Week” aimed at popularising the government’s push to connect 250,000 villages by 2019, Modi spoke of the need to boost local manufacturing of electronics – the country’s largest import […]
VIENNA — Iran’s top nuclear negotiator was heading back to Tehran on Sunday to consult with his nation’s top leadership, as negotiators remained divided over how to limit and monitor Tehran’s nuclear program and even on how to interpret the preliminary agreement they reached two months ago. With all sides now acknowledging the talks would need to continue beyond what was once considered the absolute deadline for […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Terrorists attacked sites in France, Tunisia and Kuwait on Friday, leaving a bloody toll on three continents and prompting new concerns about the spreading influence of jihadists. In France, attackers stormed an American-owned industrial chemical plant near Lyon, tried unsuccessfully to blow up the factory, and left behind a decapitated corpse. In Tunisia, at least one gunman disguised as a vacationer opened fire at […]
A map of China is seen through a magnifying glass on a computer screen showing binary digits in Singapore in this January 2, 2014 photo illustration. Reuters/Edgar Su/Files SINGAPORE Security researchers have many names for the hacking group that is one of the suspects for the cyberattack on the U.S. government’s Office of Personnel Management: PinkPanther, KungFu Kittens, Group 72 and, most famously, Deep Panda. But to […]
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Thursday called for a radical transformation of politics, economics and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change, as his much-awaited papal encyclical blended a biting critique of consumerism and irresponsible development with a plea for swift and unified global action. The vision that Francis outlined in the 184-page encyclical is sweeping in ambition and scope: He described a relentless […]
By RICK GLADSTONE June 17, 2015 The monitoring group overseeing the destruction of Syria’s chemical arms stockpile said Wednesday that almost all effluent from the neutralized weapons had been eliminated, portraying the progress as a great success in the nearly two years since Syria agreed to relinquish its arsenal. But the news from the group, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, was partly overshadowed by outrage over […]
The theme so far this week at the three-day Electronic Entertainment Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center has been video-gaming, with Sony claiming the keynote address slot. Here are nine announcements from the conference so far: New “Doom” on the Way Bethesda got E3 under way by showing off the latest installments of first-person shooter “Doom” and post-apocalyptic role-playing saga “Fallout 4.” The latter game will […]
UAE. Dubai private sector companies indicated a modest rebound in output growth from the 18-month low recorded during April, according to the latest Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker™ report. The latest survey also pointed to a slightly faster expansion of incoming new work, while modest job creation and positive sentiment regarding the business outlook was sustained. Of the three key sub-sectors monitored by the survey, construction was […]
UAE. Economic Insight: Middle East Q2 2015 is produced by Cebr, ICAEW’s partner and economic forecaster. Commissioned by ICAEW, the report provides a snapshot of the region’s economic performance. The report undertakes a quarterly review of the Middle East, focusing on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries (United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait), as well as Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon […]
Plastic caution tape marks a small construction area on the exterior of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington May 27, 2015. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst WASHINGTON A massive breach of U.S. federal computer networks disclosed this week is the latest in a flood of attacks by suspected Chinese hackers aimed at grabbing personal data, industrial secrets and weapons plans from government and private computers. The Obama […]
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 […]
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 […]
Given the lukewarm response received so far to wearable technology, it makes sense that Google would want to expand the definition of the term. So the company has introduced Project Soli, an attempt by its Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division to harness the power of hand and finger manipulation to make it easier to interact with ever-smaller devices and screens. The idea behind the technology, introduced […]
