|By TAP Staff| Dubai’s bilateral trade with was valued at AED 47 billion in the first quarter of 2015, it was revealed. For the whole of last year, Dubai-China trade was worth a record AED 175 billion. The statistics were revealed at a meeting between Director of Dubai Customs Ahmed Mahboob Musabih and Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Dubai, Li Lingbing. The two […]
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 […]
Pedestrians walk past a logo of Toshiba Corp outside an electronics retailer in Tokyo, Japan, June 25, 2015. Reuters/Yuya Shino/Files TOKYO An independent investigation of Toshiba Corp’s accounting irregularities is looking at the role played by top officials, people familiar with the matter said, a move that could force a management overhaul at the Japanese conglomerate. As the probe has widened from looking into accounting errors at […]
Redmond is cleaning house. Microsoft just announced plans to restructure its phone hardware business to better focus and align resources. Part of that alignment translates to layoffs. Microsoft will cut up to 7,800 positions, primarily in the phone business. The result: an impairment charge of about $7.6 billion related to assets connected to its Nokia Devices and Services business acquisition. That’s on top of a restructuring charge […]
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 […]
Innovation key to globalize for top Chinese firms BEIJING, 17 hours, 1 minutes ago Leading Chinese companies are making innovation a strategic priority in their business models to stay competitive in global markets, according to a new report. The Emerging Best Practices of Chinese Globalizers: Develop the Innovation Models report by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Strategy& (a part of the PwC network) was based […]
|TAP Special|Emirates has released a point-by-point rebuttal of subsidy allegations, asserting that the US legacy carriers got the facts wrong, got the law wrong, and set their sights on an outcome that will be wrong for American consumers, communities and the national economy. This is the airline’s response to allegations of subsidy and unfair competition leveled by the “big three” US legacy carriers – Delta, United and […]
Under a new 10-year agreement that starts in 2016, AOL will be taking over a large part of Microsoft‘s display ad sales for numerous sites and services, including MSN, Xbox, Outlook.com and Skype. As part of the partnership, announced Monday, AOL will adopt Microsoft’s Bing as its exclusive provider of search and search advertising services across all of its properties. In a separate deal, first reported Monday […]
People visit the Microsoft booth during the 2015 Computex exhibition at the TWTC Nangang exhibition hall in Taipei, Taiwan, June 2, 2015. Reuters/Pichi Chuang Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) said on Monday it will hand over its display advertising business to AOL Inc and AppNexus Inc, and sell some map-generating technology to ride-hailing app company Uber, as it slims down its money-losing online operations. The moves mean Microsoft will […]
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 […]
GCC construction … buoyant. GCC construction sector in major growth phase DUBAI, 1 days ago The GCC construction industry foresees growth for the next three years, encouraged by factors such as favourable macroeconomics, positive demographics, and rising tourism activities, said an industry expert. “Higher budget allocation towards construction sector, as part of the strategic vision of the member nations, lends an added push to the industry,” added […]
PARIS — Palestinian leaders delivered files documenting what they say are Israeli war crimes on Thursday at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, broadening a new front in the Middle East conflict. The files include descriptions of military operations throughout the occupied territories and in particular last year’s war in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian spokesmen said. One set of papers covers killings of civilians and the […]
Five former members of President Obama’s inner circle of Iran advisers have written an open letter expressing concern that a pending accord to stem Iran’s nuclear program “may fall short of meeting the administration’s own standard of a ‘good’ agreement” and laying out a series of minimum requirements that Iran must agree to in coming days for them to support a final deal. Several of the senior […]
ABU DHABI // At least nine people were killed on Wednesday when a suicide car-bomber targeted a UAE aid convoy on a busy street in Mogadishu in Somalia. Most of the dead were Somali civilians caught in the blast and others were thought to be soldiers guarding the convoy. No UAE personnel were among the victims. At least six people were injured in the attack. They are […]
UAE. The latest Crédit Agricole Private Banking research report, ‘Macro Comment – MENA Update’, noted that the UAE and Saudi Arabia continues to witness growth despite lower oil prices. The UAE even recorded high levels of job creation during this period. “Interestingly in the UAE, once again new orders and new export orders components reflected strong growth, while job creation hit a three-month high. This is reflected […]
BAGHDAD — When Umm Ahmed returned to her Iraqi hometown, Tikrit, in recent days she found a city devastated by fighting with militants from the Islamic State: buildings burned, shops looted, schools shuttered and hospitals inoperable. Still, it was home, and it was good to be back. “Today, I am in the middle of Tikrit,” Umm Ahmed, 39, said last week, preferring to be identified by her […]
JERUSALEM — A United Nations investigation found “serious violations of international humanitarian law” that “may amount to war crimes” by both Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip during their bloody battle last summer, according to a report released on Monday in Geneva. The report, written by a two-member independent commission of inquiry and submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council, said that “impunity prevails […]
SHARJAH // Police have launched an investigation after a woman fell to her death from a 24th floor apartment. The 33-year-old Indonesian fell from the flat in a tower in the Al Majaz neighbourhood on Sunday morning. Sharjah central operations room received a report at 9am and dispatched emergency crews and police patrols to the scene. The woman died instantly, said police. Her body was taken to […]
WASHINGTON — Iran continued its “terrorist-related” activity last year and also continued to provide broad military support to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, the State Department said Friday in its annual report on terrorism. The assessment suggests that neither the election of President Hassan Rouhani nor the prospect of a nuclear accord with the United States and its negotiating partners has had a moderating effect on Iran’s […]
By MICHAEL R. GORDON and ERIC SCHMITT June 19, 2015 WASHINGTON — Iran continued its “terrorist-related” activity last year and also continued to provide broad military support to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, the State Department said Friday in its annual report on terrorism. The State Department’s assessment suggests that neither the election of President Hassan Rouhani nor the prospect of a nuclear accord with the United States and its negotiating partners […]
A second cache of 276,394 documents stolen from Sony Pictures Entertainment — possibly by hackers in North Korea — was posted online Thursday by the not-for-profit media organization WikiLeaks. Posted on the third anniversary of WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange’s asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, the latest Sony documents include confidential memos from executives on coming films, notes on IT strategies, financial forecasts and movie marketing […]
MRC Global announced that its subsidiary, MRC Transmark Middle East FZE, has signed a framework agreement with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), naming MRC Transmark Middle East as one of SABIC’s primary valve suppliers to SABIC’s operations in Saudi Arabia. SABIC, headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies. It operates from more than 50 countries and has more than 60 manufacturing and […]
Trevor Tasin with three of his sons: John, 11; Ben, 13; and Dominic, 2. Mr. Tasin, a pilot who retired as a major in 2014 after flying Predator drones and training new pilots. By CHRISTOPHER DREW and DAVE PHILIPPS June 16, 2015 CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — After a decade of waging long-distance war through their video screens, America’s drone operators are burning out, and the Air Force is being […]
