TORONTO The chief executive of infidelity website Ashley Madison’s parent company Avid Life Media has left, just over a week after hackers leaked data about millions of its clients in a massive cyber assault. Avid Life said on Friday the departure of Noel Biderman was by “mutual agreement” and its existing senior management team would take over until a new CEO is appointed. On Aug. 18, hackers […]
INTERNATIONAL. The enduring impasse between Israel and the Palestinians in the peace negotiations and their changing internal political dynamics has made it impossible for them to resolve the conflict on their own. Leaving them to their own devices is no longer a viable option as the continuation of the conflict is hazardous and potentially explosive. The resumption of bilateral peace negotiations with US mediation alone will not […]
The Saturday Profile By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK CAIRO — Mohamed Soltan knew he had one thing going for him when the Egyptian police came to his door: He was a United States citizen, raised primarily in Ohio. It did not mean much in the moment. The police had come looking for his father, Salah Soltan, an outspoken member of the Muslim Brotherhood. But when they found only […]
Middle East Beirut Journal A man sifted through garbage piled in Beirut, Lebanon, on Monday. By ANNE BARNARD August 27, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — Mohammad Rizk sat glumly in his sandwich shop on Wednesday, waiting for customers. The scent of roasting chicken mingled with the fumes of a trash pile just outside. The garbage heap, which seemed to have taken on a life of its own, now dominated the […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Islamic State militants have razed a fifth-century Roman Catholic monastery and blown up one of the best-preserved first-century temples in Palmyra, the ancient Syrian city that is one of the world’s most important archaeological sites, according to government officials and local activists. And that was just this past week — in one Syrian province. Much like the grinding slaughter of human beings, the ravaging […]
Aden // Residents of Aden are slowly getting their lives back on track thanks to thousands of tonnes of UAE aid being distributed across the city. The historic port was left ravaged after it was attacked and occupied by Houthi rebels from northern Yemen. Many from Aden fled to other parts of the country or overseas to escape the fighting. Those that remained have faced a breakdown […]
ABU DHABI // Women who have overcome prejudice to pursue successful careers in the aviation industry have spoken of the challenges they faced. The Etihad Airways event, organised ahead of Emirati Women’s Day on Friday, heard from a panel of women who work for the company. The airline employs 1,269 female Emiratis, who make up 49 per cent of Emiratis in the company and 37 per cent […]
|By Matein Khalid| Geopolitics is now another source of risk for the Turkish lira, government debt and Istanbul equities. The Turkish air force is bombing Daish in Syria and the secessionist Kurdish PKK party in northern Iraq. Suicide bombings have killed Turkish citizens in eastern Anatolian cities on the Syrian border. Ankara has given the US a green light to launch military airstrikes from the Incerlik air […]
ADEN // The streets of Aden are filled with the flag of the UAE – fluttering above checkpoints, flying from cars, and draped over homes, businesses and government buildings. In the weeks since Houthi rebels were driven from Yemen’s southern port city, there has been an outpouring of gratitude from residents for Emirati troops. “The Emirates’ soldiers were in the frontlines of the battle against the Houthis, […]
By THE NEW YORK TIMES August 21, 2015 For decades Cairo was considered safe for residents and visitors. Not anymore. Nearly two years of escalating bombings in and around Cairo are gradually changing the feel of the city. Neighbors are becoming more suspicious of strangers asking questions, and commuters are getting used to changing their routes to avoid police cordons after each bombing. The New York Times asked readers on Facebook, […]
News Analysis By DAVID E. SANGER August 21, 2015 To the most strident opponents of President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, the suspicious behavior at a military base about 12 miles southeast of Tehran has become a rallying call to defeat the accord, especially as it now appears that Iranian officials may be allowed to take their own environmental samples at the site and turn them over to inspectors. It […]
People gathered near the site of a bomb blast on the outskirts of Cairo on Friday. A study found that public turmoil, war and other crises can be associated with declining air pollution in the Middle East. By JOHN SCHWARTZ August 21, 2015 Civil unrest and humanitarian crises can now be detected from space — because of, somewhat surprisingly, cleaner air. A paper published on Friday in the journal […]
Egypt will lower the top tax rate and threshold for companies and individuals in high income brackets and freeze a 10 per cent tax on capital gains within two weeks in order to attract investors and boost the economy, the finance minister has said. “We await the issuing of amendments lowering the income tax ceiling to 22.5 percent as well as amendments to the capital gains tax […]
LEBANON. Byblos Bank issued today, in cooperation with the Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut, the results of the Byblos Bank/AUB Consumer Confidence Index for the first half of 2015. The results show that the Byblos Bank/AUB Consumer Confidence Index declined marginally in January and February, grew in March, regressed in April, and slightly improved in May and June 2015. Further, the Index […]
LONDON — In a significant indication of warming Western relations with Iran after a deal limiting its nuclear program, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond will reopen Britain’s embassy in Tehran, probably on Sunday, British officials said Thursday. Four years ago, in November 2011, the ambassador’s residence there was ransacked and the British flag burned by protesters angry about the economic sanctions imposed on Iran in response to its […]
The UAE, which leads the Arab world for network readiness, must take full advantage of the potential offered by ICT solutions to drive social and economic transformation, according to experts. Considerable challenge is facing the UAE as it seeks to develop the infrastructure, institutions, and skills needed to reap the full benefits of ICTs, added senior executives from Cisco, a global leader in IT. Out of 143 […]
The official launch date for the Gear S2 is still two weeks away, but Samsung is providing a sneak preview of its answer to the Apple Watch via a new video posted on its YouTube channel. Backed by a pulsing, techno-pop beat, the video shows a silver-tone digital timepiece with a round face, and teases at a number of features ranging from voice calls and messaging to […]
RIYADH // President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi has commended the UAE’s contributions in Yemen and praised the level of relations between the countries. The Yemeni leader said his meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, during his recent visit to the UAE had “widened the horizons of the distinguished relations between the two countries”. Mr Hadi […]
Amnesty International issued a scathing report Tuesday on the Yemen conflict, accusing all armed antagonists there of complicity in war crimes, including indiscriminate attacks on civilians. The report, “Nowhere Safe for Civilians,” called on the United Nations to establish a panel of inquiry to “independently and impartially investigate alleged war crimes committed during the conflict.” Donatella Rovera, a senior researcher for Amnesty who has worked in many […]
WASHINGTON — Partisanship has become the pre-eminent scapegoat for American political failure, an all-purpose explanation for Washington’s inability to act. Yet in rare circumstances, it can actually guarantee action. So, notwithstanding an acrimonious debate, polarization makes the United States’ acceptance of the Iran nuclear deal very likely. That is because the mechanism for congressional consideration, agreed on by Republican leaders and the White House, reverses the typical […]
Tech giant Oracle just rolled out new functions to its Service Cloud and Social Cloud. The new bells and whistles aim to help organizations serve up better customer experiences and make data-based business decisions. Specifically, the new social features promise to help brands increase social engagement and mine business insights through a new community self-service solution, as well as beefed up social service and incident routing. Oracle […]
Chip company Rambus, known mostly for its memory technology and propensity to sue competitors, said it is taking a greater role in the manufacture of its chips. To mark the occasion, the company introduced its R+ DDR4 server memory chipset, RB26. The company said the chipset, for RDIMMs and LRDIMMs, is aimed at the enterprise and data center server markets. Rambus, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., develops DRAM […]
ABU DHABI // Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and a 21-gun salute greeted Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at the Presidential Airport on Sunday. Sheikh Mohammed, also Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, welcomed Mr Modi and invited him to inspect the honour guard. He said the visit, the first by an Indian prime minister in 34 years, came within the context […]
ANTAKYA, Turkey — Government airstrikes on a rebel-held suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus, killed more than 80 people and wounded about 200 on Sunday, according to local activists and monitoring organizations. The attacks came one day after the area’s largest rebel group, the Islam Army, announced a new offensive against government forces in a neighboring suburb. While it was unclear if the two attacks were linked, the […]
