Mustafa Sanalla, the chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation, has called for “concrete steps” to protect the country’s oil assets as fresh fighting that has erupted near crucial oil facilities threatened to reverse recent increases in the Opec member’s output. Forces from eastern Libya carried out on Saturday air strikes around the oil ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf on the country’s Mediterranean coast in order […]
AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan on Saturday executed 10 prisoners with ties to Islamist extremism who had carried out five shootings and a bombing since 2003, a government spokesman said. Among those killed in the attacks were a British tourist, an outspoken Jordanian critic of Islamist extremism and members of the Jordanian security forces. The executions on Saturday were the first since Jordan began a crackdown on Islamist […]
Giant pandas have the scientific community’s attention not only because of the animal’s cuteness but because it has been on the endangered species list for the past decade. Only having been removed in September 2016 — when its population finally increased by 17 percent between 2004 and 2014 — pandas are still considered vulnerable. China, however, disagrees with the removal. Despite the roller-coaster ride concerning its endangered species status, […]
Donald Trump accused Barack Obama of tapping his phones before the November presidential election and compared the situation to the Watergate scandal that forced Richard Nixon to resign. “How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!” Mr Trump tweeted. In an early morning tweet storm, Mr Trump claimed without providing evidence that Mr Obama […]
In Jerusalem — where the governor will spend most if not all of his time outside the airport — he will meet with the mayor, Nir Barkat, and a group of business leaders. Continue reading the main story The impromptu nature of Mr. Cuomo’s trip is not accidental. With a rash of anti-Semitic threats and racist vandalism occurring in New York and nationwide, the governor said he […]
CAIRO: Egyptian police have killed four suspected Islamist militants believed to have been planning a “major attack” in a shootout near Cairo, the interior ministry said.The “takfiri” cell — an Arabic word for extremists who declare other Muslims disbelievers — had been meeting when police raided their hideout in Giza province, southwest of Cairo, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.“When the terrorist cell sensed the […]
Jon Corzine, the former New Jersey governor and Goldman Sachs chief who oversaw the collapse of MF Global, is poised to take the stand next week in a potentially explosive trial over the alleged negligence of the company’s auditor, PwC. The world’s second-biggest professional services firm was the auditor of MF Global, the futures brokerage that collapsed in October 2011 after huge bets on the debt of […]
Saudi Arabia has the most hotel rooms under construction in the Middle East and North Africa, according to STR’s January 2017 Pipeline Report. The hospitality analysts said the Gulf kingdom has a total of 36,742 in 85 projects in the pipeline, ahead of the UAE which has 28,898 rooms in 99 projects. The report also said Qatar 8,462 rooms in 34 projects out of a regional total […]
US immigration officials have put a severe brake on the processing of H-1B visas over the coming months, potentially sowing confusion for companies that rely on foreign engineers and other experts to fill holes in their employee ranks. Friday’s announcement was billed as an administrative move to reduce a backlog at US Citizenship and Immigration Services. It comes as the Trump administration has been considering deeper changes […]
General Motor’s (GM’s) European car brand Opel will soon come under the PSA Group. The French automaker is quite close to completing a deal with Detroit-based car maker GM on Monday, March 6. GM it seems is finally dumping its European car business which was long standing and losing out money making its car business unprofitable. The acquisition was made in order to give a boost to GM’s […]
Uber on Friday confirmed the existence of a controversial programme that used a fake version of its app to confuse unwitting regulators and competitors trying to order cars. The secret weapon — codenamed Greyball — has been used during the ride-hailing company’s battles with regulatory authorities and rivals around the world over several years. It operates by displaying car icons in random locations and automatically cancelling rides […]
Photo Syrians in the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern outskirts of the capital, Damascus, last week. Credit Abd Doumany/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The top United Nations diplomat working to resolve the civil war in Syria reported some progress Friday after nearly 10 days of talks, saying both sides finally had agreed on what he described as a “clear agenda” for further negotiations. The diplomat, […]
KARACHI: The Panama Papers — a huge leak of documents detailing the alleged secret offshore holdings of global elite — were released in April 2016. The leak made headlines all-over the world, but its impact was probably most keenly felt in Iceland. Just two days after the leak appeared, Iceland’s prime minister had to resign from his office over protests by the people. Thousands of people had […]
In a bill aimed at encouraging asylum seekers to leave voluntarily, Austrian lawmakers are considering halting the provision of food and accommodation to migrants who are denied asylum and refuse to leave the country. Austria took in roughly 90,000 asylum seekers in 2015, more than 1 percent of its population, as it was swept up in Europe’s migration crisis when hundreds of thousands of people crossed its […]
You can’t fire Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold Schwarzenegger fires you! That’s because the former California governor has just quit NBC’s The New Celebrity Apprentice after wrapping up its season last January. What’s more, the Terminator star blames the show’s forerunner, current president of the United States and number one critic of the show, Donald Trump for the show’s less than impressive ratings. It’s not exactly a surprising reaction from the […]
Deutsche Bank said on Friday night that it was laying the groundwork for a “potential capital raise of approximately €8bn” as well as considering several other strategic adjustments as it aims to revive its fortunes after a torrid 12 months. Alongside the capital increase, Germany’s biggest lender said it could garner further funds by selling a minority stake in its asset management arm. It is also considering […]
Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, has been convulsed by civil strife for more than two years. In the west, Houthi rebels ousted the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the United States’ main counterterrorism partner in the country, and have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition of mostly Sunni Arab countries that back Mr. Hadi. Continue reading the main story In the […]
Speaking to American state governors this week in the state dining room of the White House, Donald Trump hit on a point that is of no surprise to investors: healthcare is “an unbelievably complex subject”. The Affordable Care Act, one of the two key pillars of the healthcare reform signed into law by former US President Barack Obama in 2010, is 906 pages long — the table […]
Ismail, a 20-year-old Emirati, has rarely ever stepped into a bank branch. “You won’t believe I haven’t visited my branch for over a year. All my transactions are done online,” he says, as he clicks an app on his phone to make a payment. “I just paid my bill and that’s how it works for me. All the services are at my fingertips and I save immense […]
03 March 2017 The Roads and Transport Authority – Nashwan Atta’ee: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has felicitated its best contractors and vendors in recognition of their contribution to supporting RTA’s achievements in public transport, infrastructure and other services in 2016. Attendees in the award ceremony, which had taken place in RTA Auditorium, included CEOs and Directors of RTA as well as representatives of RTA contractors […]
Three GCC-based retailers have been named in a new list of the world’s top 250, with the UAE’s Emke Group ranked the Middle East’s biggest. Emke, which runs the Lulu chain on hypermarkets and earlier this month announces major expansion plans in Saudi Arabia, posted sales revenue of $6.2 billion. Dubai mall operator Majid Al Futtaim saw revenue of $6 billion while Saudi-based food firm Savola posted […]
Evan Spiegel gazed out over the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, where onlookers were recording him with his company’s retro-cool, video-enabled sunglasses, then rang the opening bell on Snap’s first day as a public company. Breaking the tech titan’s dress code in his suit and tie, he grinned and, unlike his biggest rival, made no grand proclamations about his company’s world-changing potential. Nearly five years […]
Banksy, who rarely comments on his work and keeps his real identity a secret, has made trips to the West Bank for years and has previously, under cover of night, painted the barrier itself. On a recent trip, he painted a mural on the barrier, just steps from his current project, showing a girl being pulled aloft by balloons. Continue reading the main story Last year, four […]
France, which gave the world one of the most enduring symbols of World Expos, the Eiffel Tower, has become the latest country to confirm its participation in Expo 2020 Dubai. The European country officially confirmed its commitment in a letter from Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The letter was […]
