WASHINGTON — To those who lost loved ones in the suicide bombing of the American Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, in April 1983, it is often called “the forgotten bombing” — overshadowed by an even deadlier attack on a Marine barracks at the Beirut airport six months later. Now, a new book shines a spotlight on the embassy bombing, which killed 63 people, 17 of them American, including […]
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The strike had entered its second day when construction workers at Labor Camp 42 got word that their bosses from the BK Gulf corporation had come to negotiate. Mohammed Amir Waheed Sirkar, an electrician from Bangladesh, scrambled down the stairs to meet them. But when he got to the courtyard, he saw the truth: It wasn’t the bosses who had come. […]
Mark Carney speaks during the bank’s quarterly inflation report news conference at the Bank of England in London Photo: Lefteris Pitarakis/REUTERS Britain’s economic revival has been helped by rising house prices in some parts of the country, but now the Bank of England is signalling that a bubble may have to be deflated. Yesterday, Mark Carney, the Bank’s Governor, felt moved to warn that the housing market has […]
Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Saudi Arabia is considering trade measures against the Netherlands because of stickers resembling the kingdom’s flag and carrying anti-Islam slogans printed by far-right politician Geert Wilders. Local business daily Al Eqtisadiah reported on Friday that the chambers of commerce have received an order to ban Dutch companies from bidding for future projects in the country, halt visits of business […]
Egypt’s weak currency, unstable security situation, energy crisis and a government that’s almost bankrupt after three years of political uncertainty hardly make ideal conditions for a market rally. But even as periodic blackouts hit Cairo and Islamist militants carry out attacks on security forces, Egypt this week is welcoming its first initial public offering since a revolution toppled former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Arabian Cement, a […]
Scientists leading the fight against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome say the next critical front will be understanding how the virus behaves in people with milder infections, who may be spreading the illness without being aware they have it. Establishing that may be critical to stopping the spread of MERS, which emerged in the Middle East in 2012 and has so far infected more than 500 patients in […]
TRIPOLI, Libya — Armed units loyal to a former general in eastern Libya told civilians to leave parts of Benghazi on Saturday as the troops prepared for a new assault on Islamist militias a day after heavy fighting there. The death toll from the clashes on Friday rose to about three dozen, news agencies reported, with more than 100 wounded. There was no fighting on Saturday, but […]
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations is under pressure to ratchet up aid to nongovernmental organizations that can operate in the vast sections of Syria under opposition control, as most of the humanitarian relief sponsored by the organization ends up in the western slice of the country held by President Bashar al-Assad. More than 85 percent of food aid and more than 70 percent of medicines went […]
|By TAP Staff| Sunil John, founder and CEO of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, the region’s leading public relations consultancy, has been awarded the “SABRE Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement”, the first person from the Middle East to be honoured with this prestigious global award. The SABRE Awards, which are presented by The Holmes Group, a leading global public relations publishing organisation, acknowledged John’s position at the “forefront of change” […]
JERUSALEM — President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority met Thursday in London with Israel’s justice minister, Tzipi Livni, the first known face-to-face talks between the two sides since the American-brokered peace negotiations collapsed last month. Ms. Livni, one of Israel’s two chief peace negotiators, and Mr. Abbas had each met separately in London with Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the breakdown of the talks […]
SOMA, Turkey — As grieving families prepared to bury more of the dead from Turkey’s worst mine disaster, the country’s energy minister said on Friday that up to 18 people were still missing and the death toll could exceed 300. The assessment was lower than other accounts suggesting that scores of miners were still unaccounted for. An explosion at a coal mine on Tuesday near this town […]
Happier days: Nick Clegg and David Cameron in 2010 agree to form a coalition government Photo: Getty Images Just before the general election, the Conservatives released a party political broadcast warning that a coalition would bring disaster. “Under-the-table deals will be the order of the day,” we were told. The fate awaiting savers was depicted by a hammer smashing a piggy bank. The process of proper government would […]
Dana Gas, an energy company based in the United Arab Emirates, is trying to leverage its government’s financial aid to Egypt to get preferential treatment on payment for its goods there. Dana has operations in the Nile delta, Upper Egypt and the Gulf of Suez that produced the equivalent of 39,100 barrels of oil a day on average during the first quarter. Yet like other foreign energy […]
Saudi Arabia reported five more deaths on Wednesday from a mysterious respiratory virus that first appeared there two years ago and has since spread to at least 16 other countries, including the United States. The Saudi Health Ministry said the latest fatalities from infections caused by the virus, known as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, brought the total in that country to 157. Saudi Arabia accounts […]
King Abdullah appointed a son, Prince Turki bin Abdullah, as governor of Riyadh Province on Wednesday, strengthening his branch of the ruling dynasty as it approaches a difficult decision on how to transfer power to the next generation. Another son, Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah, was made governor of Mecca Province months ago. The line of succession does not pass directly from father to son but has moved […]
Damac Real Estate Development Ltd. (DMC) is bolstering Dubai’s drive to lead the global Islamic economy with serviced apartments that are Shariah-compliant from their financing to their restaurants and saunas. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC (ADIB) is managing the project’s funding as Damac, which issued its debut sukuk last month, sells the certified Islamic residences, Niall Mc Loughlin, the Dubai-based developer’s senior vice president of communication, said […]
PARIS — An international tribunal that has spent five years and more than $325 million investigating a political assassination in Lebanon without making a single arrest finally got on Tuesday its first look at an accused in the dock. But it was none of the five men charged with complicity in the 2005 murder of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister. Rather, it was the unlikely […]
IZMIR, Turkey — Rescuers battled on Wednesday to reach miners trapped underground after more than 200 were killed in one of the worst mining disasters in Turkey in decades. Despite the extensive rescue operation, a senior official said hopes of finding survivors were “dimming.” More than 200 were thought to be still underground after an explosion in a power distribution unit on Tuesday set off a fire […]
|By TAP Staff| Analysts have estimated that at least $1.5 billion in net new money would flow into the stock markets of UAE and Qatar after the upgrade of the two exchanges by MSCI by the end of this month. Turnover in both countries’ stock markets has doubled this year and at least some of the meteoric performance has to owe to anticipation of the change. On […]
Samsung Electronics Co Chairman Lee Kun Hee, who leads Asia’s biggest technology company and helps generate about a quarter of South Korea’s economic output, remains in stable condition after emergency surgery following a heart attack. Lee, 72, is at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul after being resuscitated following an acute myocardial infarction, Rhee So Eui, a spokeswoman for Samsung Group, said in an e-mailed statement. Lee, who […]
Kingdom Tower, the Saudi skyscraper set to be the world’s tallest building, will probably have construction funding in place by the end of the first half, the developer’s chief executive officer said today. The company is in talks to bring in Riyadh-based Alinma Bank as an adviser and lender, Mounib Hammoud, CEO of Jeddah Economic Co., told reporters today on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai. […]
Gold fell to its weakest in a week early on Monday as the euro hovered near a one-month low on fears of policy action from the European Central Bank, but the metal recovered some losses on safe-haven demand over escalating violence in Ukraine. Spot gold eased 0.2 percent to $1,286.40 an ounce by 0313 GMT, after dropping to a one-week low of $1,279.60 earlier in the session. […]
Iran’s Supreme Leader described as “stupid and idiotic” Western expectations for his country to curb its missile development, striking a defiant tone ahead of a fresh round of nuclear talks. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to mass produce missiles and said the nuclear negotiations were not the place to discuss Tehran’s defense program or to solve the problem of sanctions damaging the Iranian economy. […]
Dubai International Capital, the private equity arm of Dubai Holding, today announced that it has signed an agreement for the sale of Mauser Group to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for $1.7 billion. Mauser, which was acquired by DIC in 2007 in a deal that valued the Group at c. $1.1 billion, is a worldwide leading producer of rigid industrial packaging with approximately 4,400 employees and consolidated revenues […]
