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Post-Deal Iran Asks if U.S. Is Still ‘Great Satan,’ or Something Less

Middle East Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday of foreign enemy subversions. By THOMAS ERDBRINK September 17, 2015 TEHRAN — Negotiating the nuclear agreement was a torturous, two-year process for Iran’s leaders, but a new kind of struggle is unfolding now in Iran, where the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Hassan Rouhani have begun to tackle a question Iranians have not thought about much since the revolution […]

4 or 5 U.S.-Trained Syrians Still Fighting ISIS, Senators Are Told

WASHINGTON — Only four or five Syrian individuals trained by the United States military to confront the Islamic State remain in the fight, the head of the United States Central Command told a Senate panel on Wednesday, a bleak acknowledgment that the Defense Department’s $500 million program to raise an army of Syrian fighters has gone nowhere. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the top American commander in […]

Survey finds economic outlook worsening

|By TAP Staff| Global investors’ confidence in the world’s economic outlook has fallen significantly due to concerns over China and emerging markets, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey for September. Asset allocators have adopted a “risk-off” stance in response. Some of the responses are: Threat of recession in China increases as biggest tail risk; concern over a potential emerging markets debt crisis also rises […]

Retirement Strategy: The Fed, Your Retirement Portfolio, Your Dividend Income

Oil falls below $45

Oil extended its decline below $45 a barrel in New York as a further pullback in US drilling failed to temper expectations that the global oversupply will persist for most of next year. West Texas Intermediate futures slipped 0.5 per cent after declining 2.8 per cent on 11 September when Goldman Sachs said the surprising endurance of the surplus could push prices down to $20 a barrel. The discount […]

FGB raises $1b loan

|By TAP Staff| FGB has completed its USD 1 Billion three-year loan facility, with an oversubscription of around 33% for its initial launch amount of USD 750 million. FGB will be paying 70 bps per annum above USD LIBOR and has a bullet repayment at the end of the three year tenor. The facility will be used for general financing purposes Commenting on the deal, Christopher Wilmot, […]

German carmakers party under China cloud

FRANKFURT Flush with cash and confidence after years of rising sales, German carmakers are used to reaping industry-leading returns. But with Chinese demand abruptly slowing, the profit engine has begun to sputter, overshadowing the glitz of the Frankfurt auto show which opens on Tuesday. For the home team of BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen, as well as European rivals such as PSA Peugeot Citroen, China’s downturn also threatens […]

Lebanon outlook revised to negative on weakening economic prospects; 'B-/B' ratings affirmed

LEBANON. On Sept. 11, 2015, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services revised its outlook on the Republic of Lebanon to negative from stable. At the same time, we affirmed our ‘B-/B’ long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings. RATIONALE The outlook revision stems from our view that political uncertainty in Lebanon and regional tensions will continue to weigh on economic growth in the mediumterm. In […]

News Analysis: Nuclear Deal Sealed, Obama Must Now Make It Work, and Mend Fences

Middle East News Analysis By PETER BAKER and JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS September 11, 2015 WASHINGTON — Having beaten back a congressional campaign to derail his nuclear agreement with Iran, President Obama now faces a panoply of challenges that may be just as daunting: making the deal actually work while repairing relations with disaffected allies and constraining Tehran’s regional ambitions. He got started Friday even as the House was still voting by announcing […]

FERG ramps up awareness strategy against cybercrime

The UAE’s Foreign Exchange and Remittance Group (FERG), comprising of businesses engaged in money exchange and remittances in the country, has ramped up its awareness strategy to combat cybercrime.  The strategy focuses on disseminating information to member exchange houses to combat cybercrime activities costing the global economy over $110 billion every year, said a statement. Rajiv Raipancholia, FERG secretary and Orient Exchange’s chief executive officer, said: “Not […]

Google Begins Rolling Out Android Pay

In a move to compete against Apple Pay, Google is revamping its mobile payment system. The search engine giant is starting to roll out Android Pay, a “simple and secure” way to pay for goods with your Android mobile operating system-powered phone. In fact, consumers with Android Pay installed on their smartphones can pay for goods at over 1 million locations in the United States. Beyond making […]

Hillary Clinton Backs Iran Nuclear Deal, With Caveats

Video The Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton backed the Iran deal in a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Wednesday. By DAVID E. SANGER and AMY CHOZICK September 9, 2015 WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday embraced the Iran nuclear deal that she paved the way for as secretary of state, but said it would work only “as part of a larger strategy toward Iran” that contained the […]

Kaspersky Exposes Russian Hackers Stealing Data via Satellite

Russian-speaking hackers with the cyberespionage group Turla have found a way to exploit weaknesses in global satellite networks to steal data while disguising the locations of their computers, the security firm Kaspersky Lab has revealed. Researchers at the firm said the hacking group, which has infected hundreds of computers in nearly four dozen countries over its eight-plus years of operation, has found an “exquisite” way to steal […]

Fed, bank stocks and Wall Street bears

|By Matein Khalid| The Federal Reserve could well raise its overnight borrowing rate at the next FOMC monetary policy conclave on September 17. Though contagion from China’s 40% stock market meltdown has triggered bear markets from Hong Kong to Frankfurt and plunged Asian/emerging markets equities into ta ghastly replay of 1998’s epic meltdown (General Suharto’s overthrow, the Russian rouble default, Malaysia’s capital controls, the run on the […]

Microsoft Touts Windows 10's Momentum at IFA

When it comes to Microsoft Windows 10, the momentum is huge. At least that’s the message Redmond is sending to the masses. Nick Parker (pictured), corporate vice president of Microsoft’s OEM division, took the stage at the IFA 2015 consumer electronics show in Berlin today to talk about the new operating system and how much traction it’s gaining even in the early days of its release. “Our […]

Obama and Saudi King Sidestep Dispute Over Iran Nuclear Deal

Middle East Video The president and King Salman of Saudi Arabia met at the White House to discuss topics including the Iran nuclear deal and the conflict in Syria. By PETER BAKER September 4, 2015 WASHINGTON — President Obama and King Salman of Saudi Arabia met at the White House on Friday in hopes of moving past their differences four months after the king refused the president’s invitation to […]

BlackBerry Bets $425 Million on Good's Mobile Security Tech

Ailing Canadian handset maker BlackBerry Ltd. is working to reinvent itself and spending a pretty penny to do it. The company has agreed to buy Good Technology for $425 million in an all-cash deal. The Good acquisition certainly fits into BlackBerry’s strategy to offer customers stronger mobile security. Good is recognized as a leader in security mobility with solutions that cover all stages of the lifecycle for […]

Automakers, Google take different roads to automated cars

DETROIT From his laboratory at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University, automated vehicle pioneer Raj Rajkumar says self-driving cars will evolve step-by-step, with humans staying in charge for a long time to come.     More than 2,500 miles west in Mountain View, California, Chris Urmson, head of Google Inc’s self-driving car program since 2009, has a different view: A fully automated vehicle that requires no input or intervention from humans is […]

Retirement Strategy: Magic? There Is No Magic To Investing For The Long Term

Man United signs deal with HCL in step towards new digital strategy

People walk in front of the HCL Technologies Ltd office at Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi April 17, 2013. Reuters/Mansi Thapliyal/Files LONDON English Premier League club Manchester United said on Wednesday it had signed a partnership deal with IT firm HCL Technologies to improve its website and app as it gears up to launch a new digital media strategy. The 20-time league winners have struggled […]

Hong Kong, China and the new macro game

|By Matein Khalid| Hong Kong now trades at 9.6 times earnings and 0.86 book value. Hang Seng valuations were gutted by the protest movements in Central and the Shanghai financial meltdown. The Hang Seng index is down 25% since late May and now trades at six times forward earnings, its post Lehman, post 2014 bottom. Hong Kong trades at its lowest price/book value since the Asian flu […]

Gulf management need to take more risks and drive innovation, says global survey

UAE.  Management in the Gulf need to take more risks and develop staff to think creatively, according to a new global innovation survey designed to help companies stop wasting their best ideas and flushing hundreds of billions of dollars down the drain. Announced in Abu Dhabi today by PA Consulting Group, the report highlights an overwhelming view that leadership of organisations in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and […]

U.S. Remains the Great Satan, Hard-Liners in Iran Say

Middle East President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, arrives on Tuesday at a session of the Assembly of Experts,  the country’s top clerical body in charge of appointing, supervising and even dismissing the supreme leader. By THOMAS ERDBRINK September 1, 2015 TEHRAN — Flexing their muscles, some of the toughest anti-American voices in Iran said on Tuesday that the United States remains their country’s top enemy, guilty of “uncountable” crimes. […]

Memo From the West Bank: In West Bank, Speculation Abounds Over Mahmoud Abbas’s Plans

Middle East Memo From the West Bank In the 10th year of a four-year term in the absence of national elections, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has lost the public’s confidence. A poll published on Tuesday showed trust in him falling to 16 percent from 22 percent in March. By JODI RUDOREN September 1, 2015 RAMALLAH, West Bank — Mahmoud Abbas, the aging Palestinian president, may be paving the way […]