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Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President for Products, delivers his keynote address during the Google I/O developers conference in San Francisco, California May 28, 2015. Reuters/Robert Galbraith/Files SAN FRANCISCO A low-key style and an unusually firm handle on diplomacy propelled new Google chief executive Sundar Pichai to the top of the search engine giant, former colleagues said, cementing his successes such as creating the Chrome browser. As part […]

UAE. July’s survey data signalled another increase in overall business activity across Dubai’s private sector economy, which marked five-and-a-half years of continuous expansion. However, growth momentum moderated to its weakest recorded since March 2012 amid softer contributions from all three key sub-sectors monitored by the survey. Private sector companies operating in Dubai are nonetheless still highly upbeat about their business activity prospects for the year ahead, according […]

TEHRAN — An Iranian court could hand down a verdict in the trial of Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post correspondent charged with espionage, within a week, his lawyer told reporters on Monday, as a fourth and possibly final hearing in the case was held in Tehran. The lawyer, Leila Ahsan, told reporters that “this was the final hearing” and said that Iranian law called for a verdict […]

A demonstration on Sunday in Baghdad to show support for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi after he proposed government reforms. By OMAR AL-JAWOSHY and TIM ARANGO August 9, 2015 BAGHDAD — Facing widespread protests against government corruption and poor services as well as a crucial call for change from the country’s top Shiite cleric, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday proposed to radically reshape the dysfunctional political system of Iraq that has […]

ABU DHABI // The annual inflation rate for the emirate increased during the first quarter of the year by 1.4 percentage points. According to the economic performance report of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, issued by the Division of Studies in the Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi, the annual inflation rates reached 5.0 percentage points in January and 4.6 percentage points in February compared with […]

A Palestinian man mourned next to the body of Ali Dawabsheh, an 18-month-old boy who died in a July 31 arson attack in the West Bank. The boy’s father, Saad Dawabsheh, 32, died on Saturday from wounds sustained in the attack. By RAMI NAZZAL and ISABEL KERSHNER August 8, 2015 DUMA, West Bank — The severely burned father of a Palestinian toddler who was killed in an arson attack died of […]

Twitter Inc’s (TWTR.N) board is weighing a shakeup that could involve the exit of former Chief Executive Dick Costolo, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The changes may be announced when the company names a permanent CEO, Bloomberg said. The change is intended to make the board more diverse. The board may expanded or shuffled to represent directors from diverse backgrounds, such as minorities and […]

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The days of very easy money are drawing to a close in the rich Gulf Arab oil-exporting economies as money market rates start to rise, partly because of the damage which cheap oil is doing to government finances. Loose liquidity created by inflows of oil money pushed short-term rates in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and neighbouring states to record lows last year, fuelling frenzied competition […]

Big Blue just spent $1 billion to give Watson the ability to see. IBM’s supercomputer is getting an upgrade with technology acquired from Merge Healthcare, which will add data and images to Watson’s advanced image analytics and cognitive abilities. Merge Healthcare has made a name for itself providing medical image handling and processing, interoperability and clinical systems that work to advance healthcare quality and efficiency. The company’s […]

UAE. July data suggested that the UAE’s non-oil private sector regained some of the growth momentum that was lost at the end of the second quarter. Output and new orders both rose at sharper rates, contributing to a robust overall improvement in business conditions. Job creation was also sustained at a solid pace. On the price front, data highlighted divergent trends in July. The rate of cost […]

SAUDI ARABIA. Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector began the third quarter of 2015 on a positive note, with business conditions improving at the fastest pace in three months during July. Stronger growth of the sector as a whole was mainly driven by sharper expansions in both output and new orders, while purchasing activity also rose more quickly. However, data for employment bucked the general trend, as the […]

CAIRO — Egyptian militants affiliated with the Islamic State extremist group have threatened to kill a Croatian hostage within 48 hours unless the Egyptian government releases female prisoners, according to a video released Wednesday. It was the first time in a two-year-old campaign of violence against the government that the militants had kidnapped or threatened to execute a foreigner, raising new fears of more attacks. Many analysts […]

ISTANBUL — Confronted with widespread protests two summers ago, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered a harsh police crackdown and tarnished the demonstrators as traitors and spies. Faced with a corruption inquiry focused on his inner circle, he responded by purging the police and judiciary. So when Mr. Erdogan, now president, suffered a stinging electoral defeat in June that left his party without a majority in Parliament […]

|By Matein Khalid| Every global recession since the OPEC oil shocks of 1973-74 was triggered by a contraction in the $17 trillion US economic colossus. The failure of Lehman Brothers, the meltdown in US subprime mortgages, the impotence of the implicit “Fed/Uncle Sam” put, the ice age in the commercial paper and interbank money markets all tipped the US economy into recession in late 2008 and triggered […]

An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar NEW YORK Has the “curse of the Dow” finally caught up with Apple? Shares of the iPhone maker have been in a rut since posting disappointing quarterly results in late June, falling to a six-month low of $113.25 on Tuesday. […]

JERUSALEM — He has the pedigree: Meir Ettinger is the grandson and namesake of Meir Kahane, the slain American-Israeli rabbi considered the father of far-right Jewish militancy. He has the record: For years, Mr. Ettinger has joined the radical group of Israeli settlers known as the hilltop youth in clashes with Palestinians and Israeli forces, leading to a ban on his entering Jerusalem or the occupied West […]

Oil has fallen to a six-month low, and hopes of a quick rebound are fading as demand heads into an autumn swoon. Brent crude tumbled below $50 on Monday for the first time since January. Gasoline fell the most in almost three years. The slump may have further to go. U.S. refineries, which turned a record amount of crude into gasoline during July, typically slow down from […]

DUBAI // The guiding ethos of the Dar Al Ber Society, one of the UAE’s oldest charitable organisations, was established many centuries before the first dirham was donated. “Our people have always liked to help others, including the relatives of the foreigners who have visited here,” executive director Abdullah Ali bin Zayed said. “The people who started Dar Al Ber knew there were people out there asking […]

ABU DHABI // A pharmacy that has been offering a free delivery service to its customers is delighted to have been providing the service now for almost a decade. Urban Pharmacy began delivering medication in 2006. “We started it in our Electra Street branch when people could phone in an emergency, or if someone was disabled, and we would take the medicine to them,” said managing director […]

JERUSALEM — The how-to manual in Hebrew reads like a chilling premonition. Among its recommendations, how to set fire to a Palestinian house: “Stock up with a petrol bomb, preferably of a liter and a half; a lighter; gloves; a mask; a crowbar/hammer; a bag to carry it all. When you get to the village, search for a house with an open door or window without bars.” […]

Gold’s tumble to the lowest since 2010 promises to prolong a mergers and acquisitions boom that’s seen transactions at a three-year high as weaker prices slash asset valuations. Deals valued at $9.6 billion were proposed or completed in the six months to June 30, up 7 percent on the previous half, as producers including OceanaGold Corp. agreed acquisitions, according to data complied by Bloomberg. They totaled $22.3 […]

Emirates National Oil Co. increased its offer to buy Dragon Oil Plc to 800 pence ($12.50) a share, winning support from minority owners including billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Advisors U.K. Ltd. that rejected ENOC’s offer in June. Elliott and Baillie Gifford & Co., which hold a combined 13.1 stake in Dragon Oil, have accepted the new price, ENOC said in a statement. ENOC had offered to buy […]

CAIRO — Secretary of State John Kerry told the Egyptian authorities on Sunday that they would not be able to defeat terrorism at home unless they showed greater respect for human rights. “The success of our fight against terrorism depends on building trust between the authorities and the public,” Mr. Kerry said at a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart. “If that possibility does not exist, […]

TEHRAN — Despite the smiling clown, a symbol of the Great Satan’s love for meat, buns and fries, there were no angry mobs punching fists in the air, shouting “Death to America”; nor did the smell of burnt American flags permeate this Tehran neighborhood. It smelled of juicy burgers, flipped by a cheerful Iranian teenager named Jahan. His kitchen was crowned with a flashing logo that looked […]

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