|By TAP Staff| September data from Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker signaled a sustained upturn in output levels within Dubai’s private sector economy, helped by growth across all three key sub-categories of activity monitored by the survey. Overall rates of business activity and new orders growth were, however, softer than those seen on average through the first half of 2015. As a result, private sector companies were […]
| 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 […]
The four Emirati soldiers killed in Yemen on Tuesday have been brought home to full ceremony. The General Command of the Armed Forces announced that the soldiers died in suicide bombings in Aden on Tuesday. They were Ahmed Khamis Al Hammadi and Mohammed Khalfan Al Seyabi of Abu Dhabi, Ali Khamis Al Ketbi of Al Ain, and Yousef Salem Al Kaabi of Fujairah. “We are still investigating […]
|By Matein Khalid| 2015 has been a horror story for emerging markets and Asian shares have not escaped the fallout from the 40% plunge in Shanghai/Shenzhen since June. Yet financial markets discount the future while UAE investors invariably extrapolate the recent past. So even while I resurrect the ghosts of 1998 when Suharto’s regime fell amid anti-Chinese riots in Jakarta, South Korea was forced to accept a […]
The Twitter logo is shown at its corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California April 28, 2015. Twitter Inc. cut its full-year revenue forecast due to weak demand for its direct response products, sending its shares down as much as 24 percent on Tuesday.Twitter said it… Reuters/Robert Galbraith SAN FRANCISCO Twitter Inc rolled out its much-anticipated “Project Lightning” on Tuesday, a feature that shows users the site’s best […]
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. […]
UAE. Across the GCC, public pension funds amount to US$397 billion, representing nearly a quarter of GDP and US$15,000 per national. This is according to EY’s GCC Wealth and Asset Management 2015 report – “Fast growth, divergent paths”, launched at the FundForum Middle East 2015. GCC Governments are relooking at existing models of both public and international pension funds to ensure they are sustainable. George Triplow, MENA […]
|By TAP Staff| Mediclinic International Ltd. is in talks with United Arab Emirates health-care provider Al Noor Hospitals Group Plc about a tie-up that would create the biggest supplier of private care in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with further operations in Europe and Southern Africa. The potential deal between the two hospital owners would involve the issue of new Al Noor shares to Stellenbosch, South Africa-based Mediclinic […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Another landmark structure in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra has been deliberately destroyed by Islamic State militants, according to local antigovernment activists and Syrian officials. The building involved this time was a set of triumphal arches, erected in the second century. Since seizing Palmyra from government forces in May, Islamic State fighters have destroyed some of the most beautiful and historically significant monuments in […]
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 […]
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 […]
UAE. Lifting of Iran sanctions in the future will significantly boost its economy and positively affect the neighbouring GCC economies, especially the UAE. According to speakers at a panel discussion organised by ICAEW’s Corporate Finance Faculty in the UAE, this is due to its solid trading infrastructure. ICAEW members and guests gathered at Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai recently to discuss the impact of lifting Iran’s sanctions. […]
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 […]
An attendee at the Microsoft Ignite technology conference walks past the Hewlett-Packard (HP) logo in Chicago, Illinois, May 4, 2015. Reuters/Jim Young/Files REUTERS – Hewlett-Packard Co said its board had approved the previously announced split of the company into two separate listed entities – computers and printers, and corporate hardware and services. Hewlett-Packard said on Thursday that it expected its split into Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co and […]
Jack Dorsey, interim CEO of Twitter and CEO of Square, goes for a walk on the first day of the annual Allen and Co. media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho July 8, 2015. Reuters/Mike Blake SAN FRANCISCO Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) co-founder and interim Chief Executive Jack Dorsey is expected to be named permanent CEO as early as Thursday, while keeping his job as the head of online […]
The Syrian civil war, now in its fifth year, involves multiple countries with overlapping and at times conflicting agendas. Competing visions of how to manage the conflict, which has led to a major global refugee crisis as well as the rise of the Islamic State, dominated discussions at the United Nations General Assembly this week. But despite days of meetings and diplomatic maneuvering, the crisis has only […]
UNITED NATIONS — Over the last four years, as four million Syrian refugees poured into neighboring countries and slipped inexorably into poverty, António Guterres, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, said he had pleaded in vain with world leaders to take their plight more seriously. But suddenly, at the United Nations General Assembly this week, leaders of the world’s most powerful countries want to meet with […]
The Twitter logo is shown at its corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California April 28, 2015. Reuters/Robert Galbraith REUTERS – Twitter Inc said on Wednesday it was partnering with U.S. retailers to help them sell products through a “Buy Now” button in tweets, the latest move by the company to boost flagging user growth. The “Buy Now” feature, which was initially rolled out to a small percentage […]
A Microsoft logo is seen on an office building in New York City, July 28, 2015. The global launch of the Microsoft Windows 10 operating system will take place on July 29. Reuters/Mike Segar Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) joined Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Intel Corp (INTC.O) in tweaking the way it reports results, a move that will help the software giant show off its growing cloud and mobile […]
UNITED NATIONS — President Obama called upon a conclave of world leaders on Tuesday to fight violent extremism with not only weapons, but also ideas, jobs and good governance, a strategy he has long advocated. There are few signs that it is succeeding. Military pressure, Mr. Obama said at a United Nations summit meeting, will be insufficient to vanquish groups like the Islamic State, also known as […]
|By Matein Khalid| Even as China’s President meets the capo di tutti capi in Seattle, its manufacturing PMI falls to 47, a post Lehman low, with new export orders in a slump. I found it significant that the offshore yuan fell 200 pips to 6.4346 after the PMI. This proves my core argument, outlined a month ago. The Middle Kingdom will respond to its economic decline and […]
SANA, Yemen — Warplanes with the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition bombed a wedding party on Yemen’s Red Sea coast on Monday, killing at least 70 civilians, according to two local officials and a relative of one of the victims. The aerial attack, in Wahija, south of the port city of Mokha, appeared to be among the deadliest involving civilians since the start of Yemen’s war this past […]
