CAIRO — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a powerful explosion outside the Italian Consulate’s compound in downtown Cairo early Saturday that killed one person and was the first major bombing of a foreign diplomatic mission since the start of an insurgency here nearly two years ago. The explosion, which occurred about 6:15 a.m., jolted residents awake across the city and brought down slabs of the […]
VIENNA — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday that there were still “difficult issues to resolve” before a landmark nuclear accord with Iran could be completed. Mr. Kerry, who is in his 15th day of talks here, posted that message on Twitter after a meeting with Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, and Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief. Iran’s insistence on the […]
|By Matein Khald| During the 2008 post-Lehman financial meltdown, home prices in Dubai fell by 60-70 per cent and a generation of offplan flippers and leveraged investors/buyers (a mortgage, by definition, is a highly leveraged and speculative financial product. There is a reason the word “mortgage” derives from the French “mort” or death!) were wiped out. However, the Arab Spring, global liquidity and the successful debt restructuring […]
An employee stands in front of the Apple flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York April 22, 2015. Reuters/Brendan McDermid/Files WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO U.S. government antitrust regulators are looking into claims about whether Apple’s treatment of rival streaming music apps is illegal under antitrust law, according to three industry sources. Apple recently launched a new music streaming service, Apple Music. It also provides the App Store platform […]
VIENNA — One of the last major obstacles to concluding a historic nuclear deal with Iran is a dispute over a set of United Nations sanctions that appeared to be resolved months ago and only peripherally has to do with nuclear weapons. The sanctions, passed in a series of resolutions by the United Nations Security Council beginning nine years ago, ban the shipment of conventional arms into […]
UAE. Core Savills, the largest commercial lease transaction and one of the leading international real estate companies in the UAE, is optimistic on the outlook for the Dubai real estate market. Research released today by the firm has suggested declining apartment and villas prices in the emirate since the market peaked late last year will stabilize during 2016 and return to growth later in the year or […]
UAE. Private sector businesses in Dubai signalled further strong increases in business activity and new orders in June, though the rates of expansion moderated to 27- and 53-month lows, respectively. Despite softer increases in activity and new work, Dubai private sector companies were increasingly optimistic towards the year-ahead, with the degree of positive sentiment reaching a 19-month high. Furthermore, increased confidence towards the business outlook underpinned the […]
VIENNA — One of the last major obstacles to concluding a historic nuclear deal with Iran is a dispute over a set of United Nations sanctions that appeared to be resolved months ago and only peripherally have to do with nuclear weapons. The sanctions, passed in a series of resolutions by the United Nations Security Council beginning nine years ago, ban the shipment of conventional arms into […]
TEHRAN — As nuclear negotiations in Vienna grind on through deadline after deadline, Iranian officials have begun a public campaign to blame the United States in the event that the talks fail. Iran’s public diplomacy has long been geared toward selling a possible deal to hard-liners at home. But as an interim agreement between Iran and the West was extended on Friday to give negotiators more time, […]
VIENNA — An interim nuclear agreement between Iran and six major world powers has been extended through Monday so that negotiators have more time to pursue a final accord, the State Department announced on Friday. “To allow for the additional time to negotiate, we are taking the necessary technical steps for the measures of the Joint Plan of Action to remain in place through July 13,” a […]
Oil prices may fall further as the world remains “massively oversupplied,” before markets tighten in 2016 when output growth outside OPEC grinds to a halt, according to the International Energy Agency. There will be no overall production growth outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries next year for the first time since 2008, according to the IEA. Growth in U.S. shale oil supplies will stagnate to the […]
A brief period of high profitability for the world’s oil refineries is likely to come to an end as quickly as it began, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday. Weak crude oil and relatively high prices for gasoline, diesel and petrochemical feedstock have pushed up refining profits sharply over the last six months, helping oil companies cope with much lower profits from upstream production. In […]
People queue outside an Apple store to buy the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in Beijing November 16, 2014. Reuters/Petar Kujundzic SAN FRANCISCO Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) stock was heading toward its first five-session losing streak since January on Thursday as investors worried about the economic health of China, a key market for iPhones. Apple shares were down 2 percent at $120.15 in afternoon trade and have […]
Video | Kerry Says He Will Not Rush Iran Talks Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday that he was not willing to rush nuclear talks with Iran, but that they could not go on forever without an agreement. By MICHAEL R. GORDON and DAVID E. SANGER July 9, 2015 VIENNA — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday that the United States would continue to negotiate on a nuclear agreement […]
A black-market fuel sale in Sana, Yemen, where food and fuel are in short supply because of the fighting. By SOMINI SENGUPTA July 9, 2015 UNITED NATIONS — The Saudi-backed government of Yemen has agreed to a “pause” in fighting, starting Friday, so that humanitarian relief can be delivered in the country, United Nations officials said Thursday. The Houthi rebels who control large parts of Yemen have agreed to […]
The mother of Avraham Mengistu, who is said to be held in Gaza by Hamas, before a news conference in Ashkelon, Israel, on Thursday. By ISABEL KERSHNER July 9, 2015 JERUSALEM — Two Israeli civilians are being held by Hamas in Gaza, one of them a man who walked into the Palestinian coastal territory in September, the Israeli authorities said on Thursday. Lifting a 10-month news blackout on the […]
Pedestrians walk past a logo of Toshiba Corp outside an electronics retailer in Tokyo, Japan, June 25, 2015. Reuters/Yuya Shino/Files TOKYO An independent investigation of Toshiba Corp’s accounting irregularities is looking at the role played by top officials, people familiar with the matter said, a move that could force a management overhaul at the Japanese conglomerate. As the probe has widened from looking into accounting errors at […]
|By Matein Khalid| De Gaulle dissed gold as a “barbarous relic” and Lenin sneered the yellow metal was fit only to “pave capitalist latrines”. So what? Gold has been an monetary metal in human history for centuries, back to the time of Pharonic Egypt, the Inca Empire, King Midas and the Spanish conquistadores of Mexico. While President Nixon removed the gold/dollar Bretton Woods linkage in 1971 and […]
SAN FRANCISCO Microsoft Inc’s (MSFT.O) future in mobile devices likely hinges on the software maker’s ability to convince developers to create apps for the phone version of Windows 10 after its ill-fated Nokia acquisition helped trigger 7,800 layoffs. The job cuts announcement is an acknowledgement that its 2013 $7.2 billion purchase of Nokia was never going to help paltry sales of its Windows Phone, and that it […]
UAE. The representation of women on corporate boards continues to increase, but the number of women leading boards still remains low globally. Overall, women now hold 12 percent of seats worldwide with only 4 percent chairing boards, according to the fourth edition of the Women in the Boardroom: A Global Perspective, report by Deloitte. The report outlines the efforts of 49 countries to increase the number of […]
TEHRAN — The chants of “Death to America” and the burning of American flags in the streets are as familiar a part of life here as air pollution and traffic jams. With the United States and Iran on the verge of a potentially historic nuclear accord, however, there has been a distinct change in tone: the anti-Americanism is getting even more strident. The rising levels of vitriol […]
Privacy Group Asks FTC To Push Google on U.S. ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ The failure of Google to offer users in the U.S. the same “right to be forgotten” protection available in Europe violates U.S. law on unfair and deceptive trade practices, according to the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog. The organization on Tuesday submitted a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking the agency to “investigate […]
JERUSALEM — Israel’s strictly Orthodox minister of religious services said on Tuesday that he did not consider Reform Jews to be Jewish, inflaming internal discord over religious issues and underscoring tensions with American Jews, who mostly belong to the more liberal streams of Conservative and Reform Judaism. “The moment a Reform Jew stops following the religion of Israel, let’s say there’s a problem,” the minister, David Azoulay […]
China’s biggest stock-market rout since 1992 has done nothing to erode the bullish outlook of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Kinger Lau, the bank’s China strategist in Hong Kong, predicts the large-cap CSI 300 Index will rally 27 percent over the next 12 months as government support measures boost investor confidence and monetary easing spurs economic growth. Leveraged positions aren’t big enough to trigger a market collapse, Lau […]
