Video | Reporter’s Brother on Iran Spying Trial Ali Rezaian — the brother of Jason Rezaian, a reporter for The Washington Post — spoke on Tuesday as his brother’s trial on espionage charges began in Iran. By THOMAS ERDBRINK May 26, 2015 Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post correspondent accused by Iran of espionage who has been imprisoned for more than 10 months, went on trial in a Tehran courtroom […]
|By K Raveendran| Samena Capital, which recently completed the purchase of UAE’s global ceramics leader RAK Ceramics, has acquired a significant stake in London-based private banking and corporate advisory Kleinwort Benson Bank. (KBBL) The transaction opens up the possibility of the bank establishing a new global merchant banking operation in Dubai to offer advisory services for corporate in the region. The transaction is expected to close by […]
JORDAN. Technology will be a “game changer” in tackling youth unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa’s emerging Digital Economy, but only if the government, private, and people sectors collaborate effectively, according to a new report released on the eve of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 2015. The report “Re-Dynamizing the Job Machine: Technology-Driven Transformation of Labor Markets in […]
|By TAP Staff| Qatar currently has an estimated US$220 billion worth of projects in the pipeline. This new work is already positively impacting the interiors and fit-out market across all major sectors and there are no signs of this rapid growth slowing. The Qatar interiors and fit-out market had an estimated value over US$800 million during 2014, with some studies expecting the value to have doubled by […]
ABU DHABI // A woman who attempted to rob a money exchange shop using a toy gun was sentenced to a total of seven years and two months in prison on Monday morning. Abu Dhabi Criminal Court sentenced the Filipina A L, 33, to seven years for attempted robbery and two months for breaching the UAE’s residency laws. The sentences will run consecutively. Police, as part of their […]
By TAP Staff|Arcapita, the global investment management firm, announcedthe completion of the sale of J.Jill Group Inc., a leading US-based multi-channel retailer of women’s apparel, accessories and footwear, to TowerBrook Capital Partners L.P., a New York and London-based investment management firm. The parties did not disclose the transaction value. Originally founded in 1959 and headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts, J.Jill provides inspired styles to its loyal customer through […]
An anonymous painting of Turkish Emperor Mahmud II leading his troops. By DAVID MOTADEL May 23, 2015 CAMBRIDGE, England — THE last several months have brought a dramatic escalation in conflict across the Middle East, almost all of it involving tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims — which are in turn fueled by a power struggle between Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia for regional supremacy. Tehran runs a […]
UAE. The findings of a new study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm and the world’s leading advisor on business strategy, shows that mobile technologies are creating immense value for consumers – value that greatly exceeds the costs of owning a mobile device. In fact, consumers worldwide value mobile technologies at 11 to 45 percent of their income – well above what […]
By PETER BAKER May 21, 2015 WASHINGTON — President Obama denied that the United States and its allies were losing the fight against Islamic State forces in the Middle East, but he acknowledged in an interview posted online on Thursday that more should be done to help Iraqis recapture lost territory. While repeating his refusal to commit large-scale American forces to the region, the president said Sunni fighters in […]
Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president, center, with Ofer Eini, head of the Israeli soccer association, left, in Jerusalem on Tuesday. By JODI RUDOREN May 19, 2015 RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian grievances against Israel are familiar ones: hampering travel, blocking import of equipment, rampant racism and the treatment of settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli response is also a repeat: security concerns, mostly. But this round […]
Slide Show | The Ancient Syrian City of Palmyra Islamic State militants have destroyed historical sites and sold off artifacts in other cities, and some fear they may do the same in Palmyra. By ANNE BARNARD and HWAIDA SAAD May 20, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — Islamic State militants swept into the historic desert city of Palmyra in central Syria on Wednesday, and by evening were in control of it, residents and […]
Market research firm Gartner Inc. on Thursday estimated that 7.3 million Chromebooks would be sold this year, fueled mostly by demand from the education industry. Gartner said its sales estimate was an increase of 27 percent from 2014, when the education industry accounted for 72 percent of sales. Chromebooks, the computers powered by Google’s Chrome operating system, are designed to be used primarily to access the Internet […]
|Special byTAP Staff|Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments is expected to reap rich dividends from its involvement with Mongolia’s coal industry in the wake of a landmark mining deal concluded recently. Aabar Investments has been the largest UAE investor in Mongolia since 2011 through its investment into Gobi Coal & Energy Ltd, which has been credited with the discovery of the massive Oyu Tolgoi project. Its two main projects, […]
Photo Leah Pfeiffer, left, a student at the Culinary Institute of America, and Chuck Yu, a West Point cadet, cooking in a C.I.A. kitchen in October 2013.Credit Mike Groll for The New York Times We are hard pressed to think of many world-class liberal arts colleges with entire student bodies ambitiously studying and training toward a single profession – and in uniforms that are far from Vassar’s […]
|By TAP Staff| RP Global – part of RP Group of Companies, a global business conglomerate with an annual turnover of over US$4 billion – made its entry into the Dubai real estate market by breaking ground on its new multi-storey residential tower project RP Heights. RP Global will initially develop two prestigious projects in the heart of the city with a total development value of over […]
|By TAP Staff| Emaar Malls , the shopping malls and retail business majority-owned by global property developer Emaar Properties, records net profit of AED 433 million (US$ 118 million) during the first quarter (January to March) of 2015. This is 32 per cent higher than Q1 2014 net profit of AED 329 million (US$ 90 million). The revenue during Q1 2015 across all its mall and retail […]
Indosat, Facebook bring easy internet access to Indonesia DOHA, 21 hours, 24 minutes ago Indosat, a member of Ooredoo Group, and Facebook have partnered to launch Internet.org in Indonesia as part of the “Internet Tanpa Pulsa Untuk Semua” initiative for all Indonesians. Facebook’s Internet.org will make the Internet more accessible for all Indonesians through a set of basic services, including useful health, education, social media for communication […]
Talhouk … turning data into insights. Microsoft summit highlights data analysis trends DUBAI, 1 days ago The second Microsoft Dynamics Summit, which concluded recently in Dubai, UAE has provided new insights on how Dynamics tools will enable organisations to more effectively make sense of data and fuel greater speed and precision in decision-making. The summit took place at Jumeirah Beach Hotel and attracted hundreds of business leaders, […]
New initiatives to boost Dubai’s Islamic economy status DUBAI, 21 hours, 17 minutes ago A series of initiatives proposed by the board of Dubai Islamic Economy Develop Center (DIEDC) recently to boost Dubai’s status as the global capital of the Islamic economy, were approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and chairman of the Dubai Executive Council. The initiatives include the […]
|By TAP Staff| The Middle East is set to witness $640 billion worth of construction projects, with each one exceeding $1 billion in the next five years, according to organizers of the Leaders in Architecture MENA 2015, being held in Dubai from today. These projects are spread across a combination of retail, real estate, leisure, health and education asset developments as well as transport, communication and supporting […]
DUBAI, 3 days ago Avaya, a leading provider of solutions that enable customer and team engagement across multiple channels and devices, has opened a new office in Doha, in line with Qatar’s 2030 National Vision. The office is located in the Doha Tower on the Doha Corniche, said a statement. The company plans to help local channel partners expand both technical and specific industry sector skills to […]
Ameen … new role. Deutsche Bank appoints new COO for MEA DUBAI, 3 days ago Deutsche Bank AG announced today the appointment of Javeed Ameen as chief operating officer (COO) for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. Ameen will be based in Dubai, UAE, and report to Ashok Aram, CEO Middle East and Africa, and Karl von Rohr, global chief operating officer regional management. Ameen replaces […]
As chairman of Emaar Properties, Mohamed Alabbar has shaped much of Dubai’s skyline, but rapid growth in his outside real estate interests is raising the possibility of a rarity in the Gulf – open shareholder dissent. Speculation persists that Alabbar and Emaar, the company he founded in 1997, could soon part ways despite a categorical denial from the firm last month. His involvement in other firms’ projects, […]
|By TAP Staff| According to a new study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the banking industry in the Middle East maintained double-digit revenue growth in 2014 with a 10.0 percent increase, stemming largely from major customer segments such as retail and corporate banking as well as international business and treasury. Based on the banks’ 2014 annual results released in the first quarter of 2015, the newest […]
