18 March 2017 Dubai, UAE – The UAE’s wise leadership has worked tirelessly to anticipate the future, as a fundamental element of its strategies and plans. The vision of the UAE’s leadership, led by HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE; HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; and HH Sheikh […]
Chuck Berry, who has died aged 90, was to some the greatest rock ’n roll artist of all time: he was certainly among the most influential. All the big British bands of the 1960s, in particular The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Animals, looked to Berry for both inspiration and material. Their early hits such as “Roll over Beethoven”, “Come On” and “Memphis Tennessee” had all […]
March 18, 2017 by: Harriet Agnew in Paris and Reuters The 39-year-old Frenchman shot dead by security forces, after attacking a military patrol at Paris Orly airport on Saturday morning, was a radicalised Muslim who had said he was ready to kill and “there to die by Allah”, according to the Paris public prosecutor. Ziyed Ben Belgacem, who had previously been convicted of several robberies, attacked the […]
British documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis is scheduled to speak about western perceptions of the Arab world at the launch of the BBC Arabic Film Festival in London on Friday. Curtis uses his films to discuss the cultural and political subconscious of the world through a mix of sociology, psychology, philosophy and political history. A recent New York Times profile on the 61-year-old British BBC journalist described his […]
Nicola Sturgeon has backed her demand for another independence referendum with a call for disaffected citizens in the rest of the UK to move to Scotland and a promise of continued immigration from Europe. In a speech closing her Scottish National party’s spring conference, Scotland’s first minister dismissed UK prime minister Theresa May’s rejection of a second referendum, saying that while timing could be discussed, a plebiscite […]
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will travel to Egypt next month, the Vatican said Saturday, giving him another opportunity to promote better relations between Catholics and Muslims. Francis has accepted an invitation to visit Cairo on April 28 and 29 from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Roman Catholic bishops, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox church of Alexandria and the grand imam of Al Azhar mosque, the Vatican […]
Saudi Arabia said on Friday it had completed all necessary arrangements for Iranian pilgrims to attend the annual haj pilgrimage, the official SPA news agency said, an issue that has created tensions between the two regional powers in the past. The news agency said the arrangements were completed after a meeting took place with an Iranian delegation on February 23. Iran’s Tasnim news agency said on March […]
Finance ministers from the world’s biggest economies have dropped pledges to renounce protectionism in a meeting marked by tension over trade between the US and China. G20 finance ministers meeting in the German resort town of Baden-Baden noted the importance of trade to the global economy, but dropped tougher language from last year that vowed to “resist all forms of protectionism”. We have reached an impasse The […]
Photo Part of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system in the Golan Heights on Friday. Israeli officials said a separate system, Arrow, had intercepted a missile that appeared to be heading toward Israeli territory. Credit Atef Safadi/European Pressphoto Agency JERUSALEM — The Syrian armed forces fired antiaircraft missiles at Israeli warplanes that had struck targets deep in Syria early Friday, in what appeared to be the most […]
The world’s temperature sweltered last month. It was the second warmest February of all Februaries in almost 140 years, according to data released this week. Data from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies revealed that the global temperature in February was 1.1 degrees Celsius above average. Last year’s February recorded a temperature of 1.32 degrees Celsius, which was a breakaway from the average records in 137 years. The […]
Brazil’s economy will emerge this quarter from its deepest recession on record and reach a growth rate of up to 3 per cent by the final three months of the year, central bank chief Ilan Goldfajn has said. The recovery would be driven by a combination of easier monetary policy as inflation falls to levels not seen since January 2010, economic reforms that are boosting investor confidence […]
Democrats on a congressional committee have accused Wells Fargo of stonewalling them as they investigate the US bank over sham customer accounts, hinting they may intensify their probe as a result. In a letter on Friday to Wells’ chief executive Tim Sloan, the party’s most senior member of the House financial services committee complained the bank had yet to agree to put forward executives for interviews despite […]
The report appeared to represent the first time that apartheid — an explosive reference to the institutional oppression of South Africa’s black majority by the white minority, now banned under international law — had been used in a document with the United Nations stamp to explicitly describe Israeli policies toward Palestinians in lands occupied or controlled by Israel. Continue reading the main story Mr. Guterres has said […]
The GCC mobile phone market returned to growth in the final quarter of 2016 after suffering three consecutive quarter-on-quarter declines, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC). The global technology research and consulting firm said the region saw the shipment of 5.98 million units in Q4, up 7.7 percent on the previous quarter. When viewed year on year, however, the shipment numbers for Q4 were still down […]
ADEN: A Houthi missile attack Friday killed 26 members of pro-government forces in a camp east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, hospital officials in the town of Al-Maarib said. The news agency of the internationally recognized government said the attack took place during Friday prayers in Al-Maarib province, eastern Yemen. The death toll is expected to rise, it said. A loyalist military source said the attack targeted […]
AIG’s outgoing chief executive Peter Hancock is in line for a $5m payment on top of his regular pay deal, part of an exit package that the insurer said was “consistent with a termination without cause”. The disclosure comes a week after AIG rocked the insurance sector when the company said its chief was leaving after less than three years at the helm following a series of […]
UAE-based retailer Paris Gallery has announced plans to open 30 new stores across the Middle East over the next five years. The company said in a statement that its expansion would focus mainly on the Gulf region and would see its workforce grow to about 5,100 employees, up from 3,500. The total projected retail area in operation will reach 3.2 million square feet by 2021, it added. […]
A new 10,000 square metre arts centre will open on Dubai Creek at the end of next year. The Jameel Arts Centre is set to be a non-profit contemporary art institution housing a gallery space, research centre, sculpture garden, library, artist studios and a roof terrace with event capacity. Its size and scale mean it will contribute vastly to the art scene already existing in the UAE, […]
Havas, the French media agency, has joined the British government in pulling all of its digital ad spending from Google and YouTube in the UK, after it was revealed that government and corporate advertisements were being displayed alongside videos that advocate extremism. Havas, one of the world’s largest marketing groups, spends about £175m on digital advertising in the UK annually. It said it was also considering a […]
Photo Muslim pilgrims circled the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in Mecca last year. Credit Nariman El-Mofty/Associated Press BEIRUT, Lebanon — Saudi Arabia said on Friday that Iranians would be able to participate in this year’s hajj pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, a rare bright spot in relations between the two regional rivals. No Iranian pilgrims attended the hajj last year because of […]
At 38 years and counting, the clock is ticking against the famed environmental artist for his proposal to create the world’s largest sculpture in the UAE desert. Even though many of Christo’s memories may be cherished, not every anniversary is a cause for celebration. “I am not a masochist, I don’t like to spend 38 years working on this project,” says the white-haired artist who wrapped the […]
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who served as the eurozone’s chief dealmaker during some of the bloc’s biggest crises, may become a high-profile casualty of his national elections, with his Labour party unlikely to remain in government after losing three-quarters of its seats. The drubbing means Mr Dijsselbloem, who has served as eurogroup president for more than four years, may have to relinquish the post before […]
Photo Egyptian workers excavate a statue in Cairo last week. The colossus, originally believed to represent Ramses II, is now thought to be a statue of Psamtik I. Credit Khaled Desouki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images CAIRO — The pharaonic statue that was discovered in a Cairo slum last week, believed to depict to Ramses II, one of ancient Egypt’s best known rulers, most likely is of a […]
The White House has assured the UK government it will not repeat allegations that President Donald Trump was placed under surveillance by GCHQ, Britain’s electronic eavesdropping agency, after London protested over the “nonsense” claims. The allegations, made on Thursday by White House press secretary Sean Spicer, triggered an angry response from Downing Street, an extraordinary high-level spat between two allies with possibly the closest intelligence-sharing relationship in […]
