|By Matein Khalid| I was in a pensive-philosophic mood last week as I decompressed from a trip to a hauntingly beautiful post Soviet country in the Caucasus, the land that produced Koba from Gori and Prince Pyotr Bagration, the fallen hero of Tsar Alexander’s imperial guard at Borodino. Yet Georgia gave me time and perspective to think about the financial firestorms on Wall Street, Marounuchi, the Gulf […]
|By TAP Staff| With the departure of AC056, Air Canada inaugurated new service between Toronto and Dubai, the newest addition to its growing international network. The new route will be operated using Air Canada’s most modern aircraft, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner featuring its new cabin interior design with three classes of service, including its next generation, lie flat suites in International Business Class. “Air Canada is very […]
AUCKLAND, New Zealand The next revolution in space, making humdrum what was long the special preserve of tax-funded giants like NASA, will be launching next year from a paddock in New Zealand’s remote South Island. The rocket launch range is not just New Zealand’s first of any kind, but also the world’s first private launch range, and the rocket, designed by Rocket Lab, one of a growing […]
Boston-based enterprise storage provider ClearSky Data said it has raised $27 million in a Series B investment round led by Polaris Partners, along with Akamai Technologies. The money will be used by ClearSky to refine its managed service delivery model for enterprise storage, which the company said combines the performance and availability of primary storage with the economics and scalability of the cloud. ClearSky made a splash […]
As the latest figures from StatCounter and Netmarketshare for October show slowing adoption rates for Windows 10, Microsoft is looking at ways to nudge more users into its new operating system. The company revealed last week that it will soon classify Windows 10 as an “optional update” for users with devices still running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. And early in 2016, it plans to recategorize Windows […]
|By TAP Staff| Etihad Airways won a great PR opportunity when a German court allowed it temporary injunction to continue operating all its codeshare flights with airberlin to destinations in Europe, the US and the UAE. The injunction granted by the Administrative Court of Braunschweig is valid until 8 November. It provides an opportunity for the parties to resolve outstanding differences through ongoing consultation between the Governments […]
|By TAP Staff|The United States approved conditional sanctions waivers for Iran on Sunday, international media reported from New York. But it was clarified that the lifting of sanctions would not take effect until Tehran curbed its nuclear program as required under the nuclear deal. “Today marks an important milestone toward preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensuring its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful going forward,” […]
|By TAP Staff| The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has forecast the first fall in U.S. oil production in eight years. Total output of crude and natural gas liquids is forecast to fall 0.5 percent to 12.47 million barrels a day next year, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its monthly market report Monday. The decline is being driven by the fall in prices, which has […]
| By Yaroslav Trofimov| Despised by some, admired by others, the U.S. has been the Middle East’s principal power for decades, providing its allies with guidance and protection. Now, however, with Russia and Iran thrusting themselves boldly into the region’s affairs, that special role seems to be melting away. As seasoned politicians and diplomats survey the mayhem, they struggle to recall a moment when America counted for […]
A Microsoft logo is seen at a pop-up site for the new Windows 10 operating system at Roosevelt Field in Garden City, New York July 29, 2015. Reuters/Shannon Stapleton/Files Microsoft Corp unveiled on Tuesday its first laptop, a line of Lumia smartphones, a new Surface Pro tablet and an updated version of its wearable fitness tracker, Microsoft Band, all running on Windows 10, its latest operating system. […]
JERUSALEM — The Israeli authorities announced Monday night that they had apprehended a group of Palestinian militants affiliated with Hamas who admitted responsibility for the fatal shooting last week of an Israeli couple in front of their four children in the occupied West Bank. “We will act with a very harsh hand against terror and also against incitement,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said in a […]
TEHRAN — As the music ended and the crowd rose in a standing ovation, several women in the audience could be seen with heads bared, the obligatory head scarves draped around their necks. This was no underground concert by an indie band in North Tehran, though. Rather, it was a recital by a classical lute player in Vahdat Hall. As the opera house emptied, the women casually […]
DUBAI // The Vice President and Ruler of Dubai on Sunday launched a development foundation to fight poverty, spread knowledge, build communities and encourage innovation in more than 100 countries. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives will consolidate the work of 28 existing aid organisations, such as Dubai Cares, UAE Water Aid and the blindness-prevention charity Noor Dubai, with an annual operating budget of Dh1 […]
ADEN // Thousands of pupils returned to school in the Yemeni province of Aden on Sunday, following efforts by the UAE to rebuild 154 institutions destroyed or damaged in fighting between Houthi rebels and pro-government forces. The conflict led to the closure of schools in several parts of the country, including the southern province of Aden, which was liberated by loyalist fighters – backed by a Saudi […]
ABU DHABI // Hundreds of pedestrians are risking their lives every day as they use a gap in a median fence to illegally cross one of the city’s busiest roads. On a recent afternoon, a group of men dashed across three lanes of traffic to the central reservation on Muroor Road, between Electra and Hamdan streets. As cars zoomed by, the men waited for a break in […]
RAMALLAH, West Bank — In a letter to the Israeli president just three months ago, Naama Henkin said she had contributed money to a fund for orphaned children, and asked him to do more to protect Jewish families like hers who live in West Bank settlements. The president, Reuven Rivlin, read the letter at the funeral for Ms. Henkin and her husband, Eitam, on Friday morning. The […]
MOSCOW — Russia widened its bombings in Syria on Friday, striking Islamic State territory for the first time, but showed no hint of heeding Western demands to avoid attacks on fighters pushing to oust Syria’s weakened, Kremlin-backed president. The Defense Ministry said its warplanes had bombed seven targets in overnight raids including a command post and training camp near Raqqa, the northeast Syrian city that the Islamic […]
ABU DHABI // The artist who designed the intricate flowers and vines that adorn Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque said the project had transformed his life. Before his work on the mosque, Englishman Kevin Dean was an acclaimed creator of botanic designs and illustrations, but had not worked on such a vast scale. After sending in his portfolio, he was appointed by Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed, the former […]
Middle East Members of the Iraqi security forces outside the Turkish embassy in Baghdad. “Our 16 workers have just been received by our Baghdad ambassador,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey said on Twitter. By CEYLAN YEGINSU September 30, 2015 ISTANBUL — Sixteen Turkish construction workers abducted four weeks ago by a Shiite militia in Iraq were released on Wednesday, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey said in a statement […]
Middle East Video Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, at the United Nations on Thursday, called the nuclear deal with Iran a marriage of militant Islam and nuclear weapons. By RICK GLADSTONE and JODI RUDOREN September 30, 2015 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel doubled down Thursday in his harsh condemnations of the Iranian nuclear deal, describing the widespread international praise for it as a grave misjudgment. “I wish I could […]
Middle East A vehicle at a base controlled by rebel fighters from the Ahrar al-Sham insurgent group that activists said was targeted by Russian airstrikes near Idlib, Syria, on Thursday. By ANNE BARNARD and ANDREW E. KRAMER October 1, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a second day of raids in Syria, Russian warplanes carried out a new round of airstrikes on Thursday that once again — contrary to Moscow’s assertions — appeared […]
People wait in line as the Apple iPhone 6s and 6s Plus go on sale at an Apple Store in Los Angeles, California September 25, 2015. Reuters/Jonathan Alcorn REUTERS – Apple Inc said on Thursday it appointed James Bell, Boeing Co’s former chief financial officer, to its board. Bell, who was Boeing’s CFO from 2003 to 2012, is on the board of several other companies, including JPMorgan […]
ADEN // The smiling, triumphant fighters waving the flags of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen at the Marib Dam were not just celebrating a strategically important victory in the battle to restore stability to Yemen. They were also fulfilling a vow by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. While visiting families of the Emirati […]
When President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority told the United Nations on Wednesday that the Palestinian people “cannot continue to be bound by” agreements with Israel, what was he repudiating? Mainly, he was talking about the Oslo peace accords, which Mr. Abbas’s predecessor, Yasir Arafat, signed in 1993 and 1995 with Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli leader who was later assassinated by an extremist Jew. Those accords […]
