The oil market is expected to see bullish momentum this week, at least until OPEC+ meets, as traders expect no change of supply policy by the group, despite the extreme market tightness. The OPEC+ meeting is being held on Thursday amidst bearish developments such as China deciding to release oil products from state reserves and a general worsening of Covid-19 cases in Eastern Europe. But the market […]
James M Doresy Sunni Muslim ultra-conservatism is having a field day. Barely three months after the Taliban claimed victory in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the second most populous Muslim-majority state, is moving to join Kabul in becoming an outpost of religious intolerance and Muslim supremacy. In doing so, Pakistan, alongside Afghanistan, has come down on the side of countries like Turkey and Iran that advocate various forms of political […]
Matein Khalid I have been a consistent bear on the Turkish lira from the time President Erdogan, a political populist and former soccer player, decided that he was a better monetary economist than the four central bank governors in Ankara that he sacked in the past decade. I pleaded with my friends in Dubai/Pakistan not to bottom fish in the Turkish lira during the post coup meltdown […]
ZÜRICH, SWITZERLAND – EQS Newswire – 26 October 2021 – Xlife Sciences AG has signed a strategic partnership with the development organization Peace City World as part of the Vision 2030 future program. Peace City World is the official developer of four Smart Cities in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia as well as part of Vision 2030. The program was launched by the Saudi Crown Prince in 2016 […]
By James M. Dorsey The times they are a changin’. Iranian leaders may not be Bob Dylan fans, but his words are likely to resonate as they contemplate their next steps in Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan, Lebanon, and Azerbaijan. The same is true for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The president’s shine as a fierce defender of Muslim causes, except for when there is an economic price tag […]
Arabian Post Staff Dubai-based Damac group has entered a partnership with Dataplex Group Limited, a data centre colocation, engineering and construction solutions company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The partnership will focus on brownfield projects involving retrofitting existing structures and larger greenfield projects, with specific focus on hyperscale and wholesale colocation customers. Damac has also invested in Dataplex, which will result in a shareholding of up to 45% […]
James M Dorsey It may not have been planned or coordinated but efforts by Middle Eastern states to dial down tensions serve as an example of what happens when big power interests coincide. It also provides evidence of the potentially positive fallout of a lower US profile in the region. Afghanistan, the United States’ chaotic withdrawal notwithstanding, could emerge as another example of the positive impact when […]
By James M. Dorsey Two separate developments involving improved relations between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and women’s sporting rights demonstrate major shifts in how rivalry for leadership of the Muslim world and competition to define Islam in the 21st century is playing out in a world in which Middle Eastern states can no longer depend on the United States coming to their defence. The developments fit into […]
K Raveendran Big financial institutions recognize the superiority of blockchain technology, but are intimidated by the prospects of bitcoin replacing them, so they will try to censor, control and manipulate it before ultimately they will be forced to accommodate it on public demand, says Grigory Rybalchenko, founder and CEO of Emirex, an exchange and a marketplace for digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Gregory will be among the top […]
James M Dorsey Societal struggles and reform often take unexpected turns in vast swaths of land stretching from the Middle East into Central Asia. Take education for example. The Taliban have yet to fulfil their promise to allow girls to return to school but primary and secondary Afghan textbooks appear to be a relative bright spot amid all the doom and gloom about the group’s rule. It’s a bright […]
Arabian Post Staff Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE National Rail Network, has announced signing a strategic partnership with Herrenknecht, one of the oldest and largest companies specialised in tunnelling solutions, to develop new tunnel design and construction technologies. The agreement, which took place on the sideline of Expo 2020 Dubai, was signed by Shadi Malak, Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Rail, and Martin […]
Arabian Post Staff Oil prices are currently ruling at such levels that they carry quite some risk for traders, with today’s wild fluctuation illustrating their fragility and vulnerability to market developments. As Monday’s OPEC+ policy decision does not relieve the market tightness further in coming months, oil prices continued their stunning rally this morning. Despite the bullish morning, the API estimate that US crude stocks built last […]
James M Dorsey On their way from Tel Aviv airport to Jerusalem in 1977 then Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Yigael Yadin asked President Anwar Sadat, the first Arab leader to ever officially visit Israel, why the Egyptian military had not moved deeper into the Sinai during the 1973 Middle East war. “You have nuclear arms. Haven’t you heard?” Mr. Sadat replied. Mr. Sadat’s strategic calculations in the war, the […]
Now the Longest Subsea Cable System in the World HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 28 September 2021 – The 2Africa consortium, comprised of China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, stc, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC, announced today the addition of a new segment – the 2Africa PEARLS branch – extending to the Arabian Gulf, Pakistan and into India. This extension will bring the total […]
Arabian Post Staff Dubai’s non-oil external trade surged 31 percent in the first half of 2021 to reach AED722.3 billion from AED550.6 billion in the corresponding period in 2020. Exports grew 45 percent year on year (YoY) in H1 2021 to AED109.8 billion from AED75.8 billion, which supports the goal of the 10 x 10 programme (one of the nation’s ‘Projects of the 50’ initiatives) to increase […]
Matein Khalid Brent crude has now reached a post-pandemic high of $77 and reinforced my conviction that energy will be the best performing sector of September 2021. Saudi Arabia and Russia have ignored the Biden White House’s call to pump more oil and the quota discipline in OPEC+ is intact while Libyan oil remains offline due to the civil war and the US’s Afghan debacle means Biden […]
James M. Dorsey Saudi and Emirati efforts to define ‘moderate’ Islam as socially more liberal while being subservient to an autocratic ruler is as much an endeavour to ensure regime survival and bolster aspirations to lead the Muslim world as it is an attempt to fend off challenges rooted in diverse strands of religious ultra-conservatism. The Saudi and Emirati efforts to garner religious soft power have much […]
In a world where employers no longer hold all of the cards, the fourth annual report provides a roadmap for organisations as they move out of crisis and look to refine or rebuild their cultures SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Media OutReach – 23 September 2021 – O.C. Tanner, the global leader in employee recognition and workplace culture, today announced the release of its 2022 Global Culture Report. In […]
James M Dorsey Indonesian religious affairs minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas set the bar high for President Joko Widodo as well as Nahdlatul Ulama, the religious backbone of Mr. Widodo’s government when he laid out the agenda for his country’s presidency of the Group of 20. The G20 groups the world’s largest economies. Speaking to the G20 Interfaith Forum in Bologna as Italy prepared to handover its presidency to […]
James M Dorsey The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan may help Iran reduce its international isolation. At least, that’s what the Islamic Republic hopes when leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) gather in Tajikistan next weekend. Members are admitted to the eight-member China-led SCO that also groups Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, by unanimous consensus. Iran, unlike its rivals in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and the […]
James M Dorsey The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan perpetuates a paradigm of failed governance in the Muslim world based on a centuries-old alliance between Islamic scholars and the state that, according to scholar Ahmet T Kuru, explains underdevelopment in many Muslim-majority states and authoritarianism in most. The takeover also highlights that, in a twist of irony, a majority of competitors for Muslim religious soft power, leadership of […]
James M Dorsey The US withdrawal from Afghanistan will likely clarify what the Gulf’s security options are. Gulf states are likely to monitor how Russia and China handle the perceived security vacuum and security threats in the wake of the US withdrawal and abandonment, for all practical matters, of Central Asia. It will tell Gulf states to what degree Russia and China may be viable alternatives for […]
