On the face of it, Jordan must be a tough sell to international investors: there is the ubiquitous threat of instability and violence lurking from neighboring Syria and Iraq while the kingdom’s small economy, which is reliant on foreign aid, is strained by high unemployment and budget deficits. Nonetheless, some foreign private equity groups are willing to take the risk. Buyout giant Carlyle Group last year bought […]
|By TAP Staff|The rising popularity of Islamic finance in the West is prompting analysts to conclude that the world is finally recognizing the fact Islamic finance is not just for Muslims and it ready to go mainstream. Islamic finance received a shot in the arm recently with the move by US investment bank Goldman Sachs to revive plans to issue its first sukuk. In June when the […]
Rashidul Bari was born in Bangladesh in 1979 and has been studying in the United States since 2000. He considers himself one-half servant of education and one-half writer. He has earned five bachelor’s degrees, BA in political science, BA in economics, BA in mathematics, BA in computer science and BA in physics respectively, from three different CUNY institutions: York College, City College of New York and Lehman […]
President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden Photo: AP Were it any other US president in recent memory, delivering a rousing White House address promising to “vanquish” the bloodthirsty militants of the Islamic State from the face of the earth would be dismissed as the “easy part”. Recall Joe Biden, the vice president with half an eye on a run for the top job in 2016, […]
When Saudi Arabia lowered its oil prices last week, analysts declared that the No. 1 oil producer was more focused on maintaining its share of a well-supplied global market than on keeping prices at $100 a barrel or higher. AFP/Getty Images “It is fair to say that the kingdom is not in a rush to cut production soon,” said London consulting firm Energy Aspects in a note […]
There was a muted response across the Gulf region early Thursday to a decision by President Barack Obama to begin U.S. airstrikes in Syria and expand the campaign in Iraq to destroy Islamic State. Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council have previously expressed skepticism of U.S. rhetoric for further intervention against Islamic State, without knowing the full details of U.S. participation or the role expected of […]
Dubai private equity firm Ithmar Capital has sold a 7.3 percent stake in Al Noor Hospitals for 10.30 pounds per share, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday, in a deal worth 87.55 million pounds ($142 million). Ithmar offered 8.5 million shares in the healthcare firm in the first such sell-down since the company was listed in July 2013. The sale leaves Ithmar with a […]
Colliers Houses prices in Dubai are cooling, and in some areas, they are even falling, according to the latest quarterly report from Colliers International. Average house prices were up 3% across Dubai in the second quarter, compared with the first three months of the year, and are still up 20% on a year-on-year basis. But average villa prices actually fell slightly from AED1,480 per square foot to […]
A new set of figures was published last week. The figures were released without much fanfare, but they are potentially explosive: a rising proportion of premature babies born at 23 weeks are surviving. More accurately, Britain’s best neonatal units are saving them. Freedom of information requests from 25 hospitals revealed that 120 babies born at 23 weeks survived over the past four years (likely to be more […]
It’s not called the iWatch, but it’s an Apple watch all the same. In fact, it’s called the Apple Watch and the tech giant is billing it as its most personal device ever — chock full of “revolutionary” technologies with a “pioneering” user interface featuring a “Digital Crown” that lets you scroll, zoom and navigate. But what does this device look like beyond all the buzzwords? Well, […]
|TAP Special| With the veil off Iphone 6, the buzz is now on what the tech giant will do to sustain the interest and loyalty of Apple enthusiasts. Apple has played the secrecy card for optimum results, so one can expect this policy to continue for products in the pipeline as well. A major talking point now is how soon the leading smart phone maker would introduce […]
|By TAP Staff| Gold traded near a three-month low as the dollar advanced on speculation the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates next year, curbing demand. Gold has declined 5.2 percent this quarter as the outlook for higher borrowing costs reduced demand for an inflation hedge. Fed policy makers will meet Sept. 16-17. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of 10 […]
By Leila Abboud PARIS Mon Sep 8, 2014 12:50pm IST A computer user poses in front of a Google search page in this photo illustration taken in Brussels May 30, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Francois Lenoir/Files A panel appointed by search engine Google will hold the first of a series of meetings on Tuesday to debate the balance between privacy and the free flow of information after a May […]
By Paul Carsten BEIJING Mon Sep 8, 2014 11:12am IST A picture illustration shows a WeChat app icon in Beijing, December 5, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Petar Kujundzic/Files BEIJING (Reuters) – Apple Inc has a lot for which to thank people like Deng. A Beijing-based quality analyst, she gave only her surname as she’s embarrassed by how much money she spends playing mobile games on WeChat, a hugely popular […]
|By TAP Staff|Meraas Holding said the first phase of its ambitious e $2.7 billion Dubai Parks and Resorts project incorporating the Legoland park would be completed by 2016. In addition to the Legoland park, that initial phase will include a Bollywood-themed park celebrating the Indian film industry and another known as Motiongate Dubai promising to bring Hollywood characters to life. Plans also call for a central retail […]
RAK Ceramics For RAK Ceramics, the world’s biggest manufacturer of tiles, 2014 may become one of the most transformative periods in the company’s 23-year history. Investment firm Samena Capital this year bought a 31% stake in the company that in the past two decades has become the flagship business of Ras al Khaimah, the most northern of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, […]
Bloomberg News London Stock Exchange Group ’s two biggest shareholders have adopted rather different strategies over the company’s £938 million ($1.5 billion) rights issue to fund its acquisition of Russell Investments. Shortly after the deal was first announced in June, Qatar Holding sold a third of its stake in the company, cutting its holding to 10.3%. People close to the fund said at the time that it […]
|By TAP Staff| Emaar Properties will launch the initial public offer of its shopping malls and retailing unit on Sept. 14. The developer further said the subsidiary will be listed on Dubai’s main stock market on Oct. 2. The offer would be one of the largest equity sales in the Middle East since 2008, underlining Dubai’s recovery from a credit crisis that forced many state-linked developers to […]
By Christina Farr SAN FRANCISCO Sat Sep 6, 2014 6:41pm IST The leaf on the Apple symbol is tinted green at the Apple flagship store on 5th Ave in New York April 22, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid/Files SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc has invited top fashion editors and bloggers in unprecedented numbers to its Tuesday launch gala, further evidence that the iPhone maker is preparing to […]
By Noel Randewich and Diane Bartz SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON Fri Sep 5, 2014 9:21am IST Visitors walk past the Qualcomm stand at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 24, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Albert Gea/Files SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nvidia Corp has sued rival chipmakers Qualcomm and Samsung Electronics, accusing both companies of infringing its patents on graphics processing technology. The U.S. chipmaker vies with Qualcomm in the business […]
As political unrest continues to grip the Middle East, it is hardly a surprise that many international investors are wary about the region’s business prospects. Whether that is warranted or not, the International Finance Corporation, a World Bank Group subsidiary that promotes the private sector in developing markets, is trying to change that perception by stepping up its investments in the financial and power sectors. “We have […]
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri on Wednesday announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group he said would spread Islamic rule and “raise the flag of jihad” across the subcontinent. In a 55-minute video posted online, Zawahri also renewed a longstanding vow of loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in an apparent snub to the Islamic State armed group challenging al Qaeda […]
Spurred by a rapidly deteriorating economy, the International Monetary Fund has approved a three-year extended credit facility worth $552 million with Yemen, the impoverished Arab nation that has become a breeding ground for the terrorist group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The lifeline will provide some relief for Yemeni authorities who face a myriad of political and security challenges that continue to drag on the economy. […]
Islamic debt could become a source of funding for U.K. infrastructure projects from wind turbines to high-speed trains and airports as Britain cements its position as the first sukuk market in a non-Muslim nation. Investors including Bank of London and the Middle East see scope for the U.K. to issue Shariah-compliant bonds with varying maturities after the Debt Management Office attracted bids for more than 10 times […]
